I recently downloaded and installed a cool new app from Banana Security.  What does it do?  It uses a web cam to “enroll” your facial structure as your windows credentials.  Huh?  It recognizes your face as yours and unlocks your computer like your password does.  Pretty cool idea.

It says that it is for Windows XP but I don’t find anything about Vista.  So what do I do?  I install it on my 64-bit Vista Ultimate machine at home.   It actually installed just fine!  Super!  Upon a restart (which it did not prompt me to do, but it wasn’t working yet so I figured that I needed to do something) it came right up.

It worked great! I took the time to enroll my face, and after that it worked.  My computer would lock after 60 seconds and would only unlock when my webcam scanned my face and recognized me.  I tried to have my wife and my son unlock the computer with their faces and it wouldn’t let them.  Cool.  Oh, one BIG downside: once the computer locks up with the banana security there doesn’t appear to be a way to switch between users.  That’s a real problem if I’m not around to smile at the camera.

Now the not-so-cool part.  One more restart later and it all went sideways on me. One of my two monitors (c’mon…who doesn’t use dual monitors?) would flicker like crazy to the point that I couldn’t get it to stay on long enough for me to see what was happening.

Then my accountability software, Covenant Eyes, completely crashed.  If that isn’t working you can forget about internet access…no DNS translation!  So I was kind of dead in the water there.  Then any active window that I had open that had a scroll bar…well, this was just crazy.  I would put my mouse over it and it would freak out. The scroll bar would go back and forth really quickly and everything would shake on the screen.  Weird.

So the punch line of this story is that I uninstalled Banana Security.  Sure, it was cool and all, but it REALLY messed up my computer.  I would like to know how it works on an XP machine though…

Summary Review (scale of 1 to 5)

• Sexiness: 4
• Ease of install: 5
• Does it do what it says? 3
• Usability: 3
• System Compatibility: 1

Something that is intriguing me: I get about 1,000 hits/readers a day, yet I only have about 100 readers subscribed through RSS.  Why?

A couple of years ago I switched over to TypePad with the idea to write mostly about technology.  I have greatly expanded my repertoire of writings, almost too much. I think I need to have more tech posts.  But I digress.  I think it’s interesting that for a blog that is rooted in technology, very few readers are actually leveraging technology the way it is intended!

Folks, if you are not subscribing to my blog (and others that you read) through RSS then you are burning up way too much time clicking around.   For those of you that ARE using feed technology, just stop reading now.  Those that aren’t, please read on, I need to help you out a little bit.

RSS (really simple syndication) is a technology that turns blogs and other written sources into “feeds” that can then be read by a feed reader.  What does this mean?  Well, it’s like taking all of the blogs that you read and instead of clicking through to each page, new posts magically appear all in ONE place. 

In the morning I open up my Google Reader and read all of my subscriptions (over 100 as of this writing) in one place.  It’s like flipping through the headlines of the local newspaper (remember those things?  You know…that stuff you use to wrap dishes with when you pack?).  In about 20 minutes I have skimmed or read hundreds of posts.  If you are not using an RSS feed reader than you probably cannot keep up with more than a few blogs.

Here is what I want you to do.  Follow these instructions.

1. Go over to Google Reader and sign up for an account.  It’s quick and it’s free.  Yes, there are many other feed readers that you can use but since I use this one and I’m writing the how-to, this is the one that I will steer you to.
2.   Go to the main page of my blog. There are two ways to subscribe.  The easiest way to is click the RSS button that I have on my blog in the upper right corner.  It’s a big orange button right below a title bar that says “RSS Feed”.  Internet Explorer also “detects” the feed and so the RSS button in the IE menu bar is a nice bright orange, indicating a live feed.  You can drill that down also.  One you click on the RSS button you are taken to a text only page.  You are now looking directly at the feed.  See the address up in the top?  It says http://feds.feedburner.com/MattSingley-quipsAndMusings.  You just copy that (highlight/right click/copy or CTRL+C) and then go back into Google Reader.
3. Google Reader has a pretty easy-to-use layout.  Look in the upper part of the blue navigation bar on the left side of the screen.  See a little green box that says “Add subscription”?  Click that and it will expand (you gotta love AJAX!).  Paste (right click/paste or CTL + V) the information into that section and choose “add”.
4. Ta-da!  You are there!  You have now subscribed to my feed.  Now go out and do this for every blog you read.  “But Matt, how do I find blogs to read?”  Good question.  I often link to blogs that I read, so just click on those links.  I only read brilliant blogs, so you will have a 100% satisfaction rate.   Or, if you want my OPML file you can click here. That is a list of EVERY blog that I subscribe to. But now you are on your own to figure out how that works. Muhahahahaha…

I love my Xbox 360 and I know that many of my readers love theirs too!  Microsoft has just announced that they are setting aside over $1 billion for repairs and updates on the 360 system.  That’s a pretty hefty amount of moolah to set aside.  The 360 is the console market leader right now and I think this is a very strong attempt to stay there.

As for me I haven’t experienced the "red ring of death" (the three flashing red lights that indicate the console is kaput), but it’s nice to know that Microsoft is making some moves to take care of that for me if it ever happens.

Now if Halo would hurry up and get released…

The iPhone is here, but so far I’ve only read a couple of my blogs authors reporting picking one up (I subscribe to about 110 blogs, only two authors have mentioned it).  But…it’s here and it’s popular.

I just watched this short little video over at Podtech (just over one minute)…the company that Robert Scoble works for.  A couple of observations:

1. Robert Scoble is my favorite tech blogger.  If you don’t know who he is, he is probably most famous for being THE Microsoft blogger, and then a year ago (maybe it’s longer than that now, I don’t remember), he left Microsoft to move to Podtech.  What’s so interesting about that is that he LOVES his iPhone.  Loves it.  So we have a (former) Microsoft evangelist talking up the iPhone.  Cool.
2. Check out how Mac is cheering all of the customers that come into the store.  Very cool!  I love that.  It cements the ownership of the iPhone buyer.  They are being cheered for as they plop down $500 for a phone.  I’ll bet that any buyer’s remorse that they were feeling went away when two dozen Mac clones where yelling as if they were at the tip-off for the NBA finals.
3. Sure, Mac pumped the iPhone a ton, but the viral marketing is really what sold this product.  People waited in line for 3 and 4 days to get one.  What the heck?!?  It’s a phone.  But it’s the iPhone.  There is now a huge buzz, there is a cult of inclusion.  Drink the kool aid, it tastes great!  Okay, enough sarcasm, I really think Mac hit this one out of the park with their promotion.  Of course I’m still not confident the actual hardware is going to be all that (no 3G? *sigh*) but it doesn’t matter at this point.  The buzz is too big.

Okay, lest you think I have lost my zeal for church, I am going to tie these three observations into church life.

1. People (not programs) get buzz going.  People that used to "play for the other team" really get buzz going.  If you want people to catch a glimpse about how great life in Christ is, why not make a bold move and ask some of the former atheists that attend your church to write a blog post or two, or perhaps even talk in front of the congregation.  Don’t wait until they have been coming to church for years, get them now, while they are still fresh and remember what "life on the other side" is like.
2. When somebody visits church for the first time, do they get the impression that you are glad they are there, or are they just another person walking through the door?  Are you so stinkin’ busy that you bury yourself in your busy work and don’t even notice that some fresh faces are coming in?  They are nervous and excited to visit your church, and you should welcome them!  Or you can ignore them and kill their enthusiasm quickly.  It’s up to you.
3. Are you really excited about the conference your church is having this summer?  Or the kids’ event?  Are you preparing your direct mail piece right now, ready to blast the neighborhood?  I’m not positive, but I don’t think Mac sent out any direct mail pieces. If they did, I sure didn’t see them.  Instead, Mac unveiled a sweet product months ago and then let the bloggers take over. (Yes, they also pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into metro ads and the like, but I still think the social networks pushed this thing forward). What would it be like?  How would it work?  Could I get one?  What kind of excitement are you creating for your conference/study/day camp?  Get a few key people excited and encourage them to talk about it.  Through blogs, through forums, through email.  Create some excitement.  Quit serving the same warm milktoast that everybody does…do something fresh!

Oh…I still love my AT&T 8525.  I bought it two weeks before the iPhone came out.  I have no regrets.