Technically Speaking

It's been a wild weekend here at WCCO, so I haven't had much time to blog. I will however point you in the direction of the CNET Holiday Tech Gift Guide now on our site. It's hard to go wrong with gadgets.

I suggest the GPS navigation units. I have two. One of them doesn't work, but the other I use frequently and absolutely love it.

My broken one is a Magellan. When I bought it a few years back it worked well. Then, I installed a free downloadable update available on their Web site. It was bugged however, and prevented the unit from connecting to any satellites. They quickly took the update down from the site, but months went by without a downloadable fix for those who had installed the bugged version. Magellan told me to mail the unit to them for repair, an offer I didn't take them up on. There have been numerous updates since, but I never bothered.

I decided to buy a Tom Tom instead, and I've had no problems with it. It's one of those things you won't know how you lived without once you have it, like a cell phone.

Usually for a subscription, most brands offer live traffic updates, construction information, traffic camera locations, gas prices, etc. I only use the basic model with no frills (free after the purchase price), but you might throw in a years' worth of an extra or two as part of the gift.

As I sit writing to you, I'm not wearing glasses or contacts. Well, yesterday I wore sunglasses. But they weren't prescription. My coworkers took this picture and laughed at me.



I had my LASIK procedure done Thursday morning (click here to read about my initial exam and consultation). My wife came along so she could drive me home after the procedure. I was instructed to bring my prescription eye drops and the consent form.

Upon arrival, I was brought back to the room with the comfy chair, given numbing drops, offered a Valium (I took it), and told to watch another video. This one was about what to do after the procedure. I have four kinds of eye drops. The instructions are simple. I have four "eye drop sessions" a day.

After the video I was led to the operating room, where I took off my glasses for the last time. The surgeon made a final check of my eyes with the microscope, and I lay down on the table. I wasn't immobilized or anything, just instructed to focus on a red light. Some sort of apparatus gently held my eyelid open and a loose patch was placed over the eye not being worked on. Probably so I couldn't see what was happening to me.

I know what's involved in the procedure, but I really had no idea when they were doing what. They probably didn't announce the play-by-play because it would make most people more nervous. I mean, who wants to hear "Now we're cutting a flap in your cornea?"

I didn't realize the laser had begun sculpting until I smelled it (I was warned about a "faint acrid smell"). It wasn't until hours later I realized the clear, wet, plastic-looking object that passed over my vision was my corneal flap being put back into place. The entire procedure was totally painless, albeit bizarre. Just out-of-this world weird. I couldn't possibly describe the sensation. I don't know if it was the procedure or the Valium or both, but I felt very disoriented afterward.

When I stood up, I had what I'd estimate to be a 65 percent improvement in vision immediately. By morning I was seeing a little better than 20/20, which was confirmed by a next-day eye exam. They want to see me again in three weeks.

I do however see the "halos" around lights I was told about, which should fade over the next few months. If you've ever seen a streetlight on a foggy morning, it looks a lot like that. Which isn't to say my vision is foggy, lights just sort of "bleed" in the same way, as though they were illuminating all that water vapor.

I realize I'm a couple of years late to the "tips on how to find a Wii" party. In fact, since it would seem most people who wanted one now have one, the price was reduced in September.

However, the tip I've got for you is useful for not just the Wii (though that's what the service started for), but other hard-to-find items. It's November, so if you are planning on buying one of the higher-demand products for somebody this season, now's the time to start looking. Or at least comparing prices.

Earlier this year, I used WiiTracker to find a copy of Wii Fit. The site works really well. But it also tracks things like TMX Elmo, Playstation 3, iPods and phones -- and I'd bet once this year's super-hot item surfaces, it will be added as well. Bookmark it and check back.

The scripts on the site track availability on retailer's sites, and when your product becomes available, an alert shows up.

The service is free. All the WiiTracker folks ask is that to get to the retailer's site, you click on their link. That way they are credited as a referral for the sale, and get a small cut.

Image credit: Associated Press

Monday we reported on the "Little Buddy Child Tracker," a GPS device made by Insignia, marketed at parents who want to be able to keep track of their children.

It's available at Best Buy and at $100, it's a fair price for what it does. Unfortunately, it's on back order.

But there are alternatives. If you have a special needs child who might wander, check out Project Lifesaver. It uses a radio transmitter instead of GPS, so if there's a program in your area and your family is approved, you could pay $30 a month to maintain the bracelet and batteries. That may be more expensive over time, but it's specifically designed for this use.

But if your problem is a wayward teenager you feel you can't trust (I won't judge), consider a "logging" or "passive" GPS. Rather than sending location information to you in real time, it records the data and you can plug it into your PC later to see where the tracking unit has been. The upside is that it's less expensive and there isn't as much battery drain. The unit is also usually smaller.

Where to buy? Online, mostly. GPS tracking hasn't really taken off in most retail stores, but I know Radio Shack sells a few models.

But whatever you decide, it's important to shop around. Check out the features, expected battery life and warranty. You might come right back to the Buddy Tracker, but at least you'll know it's what's best for your family.

Image credit: Best Buy

I think LASIK is one of those things everyone things about all the time, but never really considers following through with. I mean, what's the rush? When the technology was new, everyone said to wait until it got better and cheaper.

Well it's been about 15 years since it started really taking off. I haven't read about any horror stories in a long time. I'm in my late twenties, which is the youngest you should seriously consider getting it. I'm done fantasizing. And my wife's probably as tired of hearing me complain about smudges on my glasses as I am of seeing them.

So I figured undergoing this procedure without sharing it with you would be a missed opportunity.

Admittedly, I only looked at two places and didn't do much shopping around. But my mother did before she got hers, and she's definitely the Angie's List and Consumer Reports type. I think if my own mother trusts Joffe Medi-Center with my eyes, I can trust them.

I made my appointment for a free consultation about a week in advance. They told me not to wear my soft contact lenses for three days before my appointment.

When I arrived, I filled out a personal information and medical history form. There were a few things they asked about that you wouldn't expect, like some medications that have nothing directly to do with your eyes. It's really in your best interest to err on the side of being too honest here. I checked a couple of boxes and when they didn't ask me about them, I brought it up.

Then they called me to the back for a pre-exam. I got a mini-eye exam. They measured my glasses. They scanned the shape of my eyes with a couple of flashy instruments I hadn't seen before, but nothing painful. The toughest part, although it wasn't that tough, was when they measured the width of my cornea. They have to stick an instrument right up to your eye, which I suppose might make you want to blink if you've never worn contacts. They gave me some numbing drops followed by some pupil dilation drops (the dilation drops sting otherwise).

Then I went to a room with a very comfy chair where I watched a 10-minute video. It started with how awesome the clinic, LASIK, and their surgeon are. Apparently he's some sort of hot shot. Then it talked about what's involved in the procedures. They offer LASIK, PRK, and Custom Wavefront LASIK -- I wanted a place that performed all three, so I could be sure they would be doing what's best for my eyes, not telling me I needed something I really don't, just because it's all they offer. Lastly, the video detailed the possible side effects. The most common being eye dryness and "halos" around lights, which they said almost always fade with time.

I was in the room for several minutes after the video. There were magazines, but I couldn't read them because my pupils were dilated. Thanks!

Then they took me for another, more thorough eye exam and asked if I had any more questions. The doctor told me up front what my chances were, results wise, in my particular case.

Then another person came in to go over scheduling and pricing. It'll cost me a little more than $1,000 per eye. If I need a revision within the first 12 or 18 months (depending on if I keep my 1 year follow-up appointment), it's included. After that, it's half price. They said this is rare, however. They want me there an hour before the procedure and I should be leaving 90 minutes later. Someone has to drive me home, but I should be good for going to work the next day. I'll just have to do some prescription eye drops for awhile.

I'll let you know how it goes!

And now the conclusion of my Microsoft series.

If you've seen the "I'm a PC, and I (blank)" ads featuring "real people" talking about their lives or shopping for computers, and it's a safe bet you have, I wouldn't blame you for being confused.

"What do you mean, you are a PC? You mean you use PCs?" you might ask. I know I did.

See, it's an attempt at branding. Apple's ads try to brand the PC as the dumpy-looking guy with glasses (John Hodgman, pictured), so these ads from Microsoft try to change that image to something people can relate to. Only the metaphor is less obviously a metaphor when you use normal-acting people instead of caricatures.

While we're on the subject, you can watch a lot of the ads made by our brilliant team at WCCO-TV online and even "Know More" about that song we use.

Have you ever been to an Apple store? There are four in the Twin Cities. I guess the first word that comes to mind is "trendy."

Not to be outdone, Microsoft announced over the summer they'd be opening their own flashy stores, starting with locations in Arizona and California, this fall. Reuters reported Friday that the shops should open in the coming days. In January, they opened a "retail experience center" aimed at small business owners.

The announcement immediately caused bloggers to quip, "Isn't every retail outlet basically a Microsoft store already?" After all, Apple has historically been a bit more exclusive in which retailers may resell their products. Best Buy only started carrying Macbooks in a few stores in 2006, and the iPhone in 2008.

I will get to the other Microsoft stuff I promised you, but wanted to take a break since I didn't intend to get so involved in covering just one company. I'm not very good at being brief, as you may have noticed.

Something that's been making rounds on the internet in the past few days is a program called PhotoSketch. Its creators, reportedly students in China and Singapore, claim it's a program that can take basic doodles and convert them into convincing photographs.

The video, which I suggest you watch, says it takes basic shapes and words from the user, searches the internet for matching images, asks which ones would work best, then blends them together.

The official PhotoSketch Web site, hosted by Tsinghua University, has been taken down, possibly due to heavy traffic. Fortunately, you can still see Google's cached version.

Of course, human beings skilled in Adobe Photoshop have been faking photographs convincingly for years. The techniques used are pretty consistent from photo to photo. But are computers smart enough to apply those techniques without a human touch, or is this a hoax?

I think that this software is possible, but only in ideal circumstances, such as images with high color contrast between elements. It would have serious trouble getting an image of a poodle running through the snow, for example. I also suspect using the program would involve a lot more user input than its creators are letting on -- at the end of the day it might actually be easier to craft the image yourself, if you have the skills. And I have serious concerns about how it may be getting its images. As we here at WCCO.COM know, you can't just go grabbing whatever you find on the internet all willy-nilly; everything carries a copyright.

And of course, if it is real, I doubt it will be cheap. The full version of Adobe Photoshop is about $700, and though powerful, it still makes you do a lot of the heavy lifting.

All the same, breakthroughs like this are exciting to think about!

By the way, that image up there is from Timothy Nelson in our slideshow during the Minnesota State Fair, in which viewers submitted their own edited images of Jason DeRusha.

Kim Keefe writes, "What are they planning to do for us that have Vista and are stuck with it?"

You have a few options, Kim. You can either keep what you have and Microsoft will continue to release updates for the next several years. Or you can upgrade to Windows 7. Or if you're really angry, you could get a Mac. You wouldn't be the first person to think 7 should be free to Vista owners.

In June, Microsoft released their suggested retail prices (I sound like Drew Carey on The Price Is Right!) for the various editions of Windows 7.

There are three versions: Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. Each of those has two versions: A full version, and a cheaper upgrade version you can install over Windows Vista or XP.

For Windows 7 Home Premium, it'll cost you $119.99 for the upgrade version and $199.99 for the full version. It's like an $80 discount for customer loyalty.

If you install the upgrade version over Vista, you get to keep all of your old files where they are. I suggest backing them up anyway -- you can burn them to a DVD, put them on an external hard drive or on a large USB flash drive.

If you don't have any of those, the DVD burner will run you about $50, the external hard drive at least $60 and the flash drive anywhere from $10 to $150, depending on the storage capacity you need (ranging from 2 gb to 32 gb).

But if you install the upgrade version of Windows 7 over Windows XP, you will not be able to keep your files. You'll have to back them up or lose them.

After I finish my Microsoft series here on the blog, I will show you my favorite method of data backup. Favorite because it's difficult, but has its advantages.

Regardless of what you do when you upgrade, for computer performance reasons, I suggest you back up your files and do a clean install. That means reformat your PC (a process that erases everything) then install a fresh version of the operating system. Guides on how to do this are everywhere on the internet.

Upgrade versions are fine if you want to save a buck, but for people like me who prize performance, the full version is where it's at. You'll squeeze just a smidgen more speed out of your computer that way. Though to be honest, unless you do a lot of gaming or professional graphics work, I doubt you'd notice.

Oh, and if you didn't recognize it, that photo up top is what your hard drive looks like naked.

There are three things I want to talk about that Microsoft's been up to lately. You can call it a three-pronged strategy if you like. Unfortunately I only had room to write about one of them here, so stay tuned.

If you haven't heard of Windows 7, I wouldn't blame you. It's the next operating system (OS) from Microsoft, and after the poorly-received launch of Windows Vista, they're keeping the fanfare a bit lower, at least for now.

That's the danger of a near-monopoly: Windows Vista had to compete with Windows XP. But for many who upgraded, Vista had compatibility problems with applications and hardware that worked fine with XP. That led to ads like this one from Macintosh.

This time, Microsoft is doing a better job of touting compatibility mode, which lets the OS work with applications from yesteryear (I don't think this mode will often be necessary, but having it makes people feel more at ease). And rather than leaving the task of developing new hardware drivers to the manufacturers (a slow and uncertain process), Microsoft plans to bundle enough drivers right in the box that should be good enough to get you started. To boot, these features will be more automated. Ideally, you won't have to go looking on the Internet for a solution to your problem (though that might be a bad thing for guys like me.)

For proof that Vista had a less-than-ideal launch, look no further than Minnesota-based company Best Buy and their reportedly leaked memo  advising employees that Windows 7 "isn't just a 'Vista that works,'" but that it has a set of tantalizing features all its own.

There are too many to list, but one of the themes seems to be ease of use and automation -- but not to the point where it infringes on control. System resource-hogging features won't turn on unless you use them, and they'll ask to turn off if you don't, for example. For another, connecting to a device (like a printer, camera or wireless internet router) should be faster and more intuitive -- something even I will admit my wife's Mac does better than my PC. It appears Microsoft is trying to hit Mac right in their main selling point, which is ease of use, and they're doing so aggressively.

I shouldn't harp on Vista too much. Microsoft took care of it after the launch and thanks to numerous free updates, most of the problems are resolved. But you know what they say about first impressions.

We're going low-tech on the blog today.

Sunday my wife and I went to a charity gala for the Liz Logelin Foundation, which has been featured on WCCO a couple of times.

With Help From Strangers, Dad Raises Child Alone (Jan. 23)

New Foundation Helps Widows, Widowers With Kids (Sept. 16)

Simply put, they help families who've lost a parent. Check out the links to know more.

To be perfectly honest, I was hoping to run into something tech-related to justify a blog. To my delight, they had a fortune-telling robot from India, seen here with my lovely wife.



She tells me Matt Logelin, the founder of the foundation, bought it when he and his wife were there, despite her protestations. Way to go, Matt! She came around to the idea eventually. It is pretty cool, after all.

I must apologize for the cell phone-quality pictures. I forgot my real camera, and wasn't really expecting to run into something so cool. Invest in a high-quality camera phone, people. You never know what you won't want to miss.



When you turn the robot on, it emblazes with dancing colored lights. As you can see, I'm very excited. I'm going to have to take Matt's word for it that it tells fortunes, since I don't speak a word of Hindi.

These robots are, it would seem, kind of a big deal in India. Through the link you can even see several images from Matt himself. Flikr is a fine way to share images, incidentally.