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It is interesting to watch a predictive market that is comprised of international security analysts:

[Link--->]

There is a lot of buzz over the past several months about the Drobo data robotics storage device including coverage on Tekzilla, TWIT (with an eventual TWIT sponsorship), and hundreds of other sites and podcasts.  Given the extensive coverage, I thought I would share my experience with this device, which has not always been positive.

Drobo lies

My Drobo lies to me.  For months it has been checking autoupdate and telling me it has the current software and firmware, when in reality I am several versions behind on both.  Knowing that there was new firmware, my attempts to force it to update all resulted in the same message that I was up to date.

After several emails with tech support (telling me to reboot, etc) and still no luck, I determined that the Drobo software checker was not making it to the Drobo site.  Given my firewall allows everything out, I don’t see how that could be, but when connecting directly to the Internet, I was able to download the new versions and update.  First big issue here is that Drobo reports an inability to connect as if there were no new firmware to download.  If it can’t connect it should alert the user so they are aware of the problem.

Drobo versus DroboShare

With both a Drobo via USB connected to my computer and a DroboShare on my ethernet network, I’ve had problems with Drobo dashboard not recognizing the USB device which is directly connected.  The drive shows up in Mac Finder, but it is not seen by Drobo dashboard (needed for drive maintenance). The only drive that shows up in Dashboard is the DroboShare drive on the network.  Not good and no apparent way to deconflict except take the network device down.

Drobo with a pause and a skip

Before I upgraded my firmware, my Drobo via USB worked like a charm.  I used it to store my iTunes library and never had a single playback issue.  Since upgrading the firmware it is pause city.  This is very frustrating for me as the sole purpose of this Drobo device is to store media files. I hope this issue is addressed in a future firmware update, but taking a step backwards with the current update is no enjoyable.

Overall, I think this device has a lot potential but is clear they have some issues to work through which you may want to consider before purchasing one.

The long awaited “first-ever” documentary shot entirely in Second Life (as claimed by HBO films which bought the rights to this film) started airing last night on Cinemax.

Cinemax Reel Life presents an unusual film that tells the story of a man who doesn’t really exist, at least not in the flesh-and-blood world: Molotov Alva, a virtual character that filmmaker Douglas Gayeton conceived to escape the real world. The first documentary shot entirely in a virtual online platform, Molotov Alva and His Search for the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey explores this new plane of interaction, and introduces us to its inhabitants. [Link--->]

This has been a long time coming, and to be honest, I can’t understand what took so long given the simplicity of the film and short duration of the episodes (5 minute dispatches).  It is also disappointing that in something that is more “art” than “entertainment” that Cinemax has taken the blended media approach of airing part of the series on TV, part on its website, and only a teaser in Second Life.  I attended the teaser last night which included the first two dispatches and a Q&A with the creator hosted on a newly unveiled Cinemax Island (created by Electric Sheep).

The premise of a virtual avatar fleeing the real world into Second Life and then searching for his creator is an interesting one and the narrating is incredibly well done.  In the first two episodes the avatar describes his attachment to his former self (memories, pictures, etc) that he brings with him in the virtual world, but then doesn’t understand why.  It also describes his struggle with the material preconceptions of living that he brings with him and then seeks to abandon.  Why does an avatar need a house in a virtual world where there is no rain?  Why do we re-create our first lives in Second Life complete with bathrooms for avatars that can’t use and them and kitchens for those that never eat.

The remainder of the dispatches detail his encounter with a Second Life homeless person who serves as his tour guide of all things Second Life and the ultimate quest for the creator (spoiler! - there is no creator, it was all created by many people constantly changing).

Unfortunately, I can’t watch the middle dispatches as I am not going to subscribe to Cinemax just to see 1/2 hour worth of content and Cinemax/HBO have really botched the delivery of this art by not allowing it to be shown in its entirety on the web or in Second Life itself.  I’d give this a 4.5 stars on the content itself and 1 star on the delivery vehicle which proves again that big media just doesn’t get it.

Thanks for your patience.  Has not been fun.

Employers should be informed of a known flu epidemic set to hit mid-week, which could significantly impact employee turn-out and/or performance.  (Link—>)

I am comprising this entire post using MacSpeech Dictate. I’m incredibly impressed at how well the speech recognition works. I’ve use the software already to send several e-mail messages and to converse with people on Instant Messenger.

This concludes this portion of our test.

Some interesting factoids coming out of the hearings held last week on multiplayer games/virtual worlds like Second Life.  The most insightful (in my perspective) having to do with the amount of money that flows out of SL:

To prevent money laundering or financial crimes, Second Life polices the financial activity of its members, and scrutinizes any withdrawals over $10, Rosedale said.

“We believe that the degree of scrutiny that is created by [policing methods] is quite rich and the pattern recognition of non-standard behavior … is easy enough to spot,” according to Rosedale. (Link —>)

Rosedale also goes on to state that the average withdrawal from SL is $1.00 USD.  Yes, that decimal point is in the right place. Obviously, SL isn’t going to be that attractive to terrorist or money launderers until there is more noise to hide the signal in.  Also, I’d like to see some stats about the average current holdings of Second Life players.  Is the average in-game bank account balance $100 or $1,000.00.

Laughing Squid notes that CBS is placing its back catalog of television shows online for free.  Brilliant move as this will allow them to gain additional advertising revenue from older shows.  I’d happily watch the old seasons of Star Trek if I can do so at my own pace and on demand.  Sure, I can buy the DVDs, but I am not a big enough fan to do that and DVDs have to be stored and maintained.  I’d rather have that content in the cloud. The only issue will be making sure the quality is good enough to watch.  I’d love to see more archives come into the cloud, especially old historical material such as presidential debates and old newcasts which would be interesting to watch and put in today’s context.

Well, that sucks.

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