When it comes to a contact management program for the Mac you just cannot beat Daylite’s program. Last week when Marketcircle announced their beta versions of 3.9rc1 in the forum in anticipation of the launch of Daylite Touch I was ready to make the switch from 3.8

Previously, I had setup Daylite to run on my desktop Mac Pro and had it also installed on my Mac laptop. While I had purchased two licenses initially in the previous versions I found I really did not need them yet.

When I got up the courage to install Daylite 3.9 they had rc2 out, reading through the forum I really did not see any challenges to making the move. This time since I was going through all the effort of a major upgrade I wanted to move it to my Apple Leopard Server in preparation for Daylite touch.

In order, to take my existing database and move it to the new machine required a few extra steps. First I had to download and install the Daylite server on my current Mac Pro, then launch the program and convert the database over to 3.9, after adding my license to the the new database server.

Once the conversion was done, then I performed a backup of the new database. Next, was to install the Daylite server software on the Leopard Server. Once this was done, all that was needed was to restore from the backup I had made on my desktop.

The next step was to download the Daylite productivity suite 3.9rc2 on both the desktop and laptop. The next step was the moment of truth connect both to the new Daylite server. Talk about joy when everything just worked, it could not have been a simpler installation – migration.

Over the course of the week Marketcircle released rc3 and the updates went just as smooth as the initial installation. Today, Daylite Touch was finally released along with the final version of Daylite 3.9.

The Daylite Touch server is already installed when you install the server package, all that is needed to activate it is a license. At just under $50 per user I’m not sure how many people will actually want it, yet if they actually see it work on the iPhone I’m sure they will want it.

The phenomenal integration still amazes me, now it really does not matter where I’m at I have complete access to my customer – prospect lists just about anywhere. When using the Daylite touch program on the iPhone it seems more intuitive then that actual desktop program.

Overall I would have to give Marketcircle a two thumbs up for this latest contact management program and the addition of the Daylite Touch application just makes it even better, they have really raised the bar now when it comes to a well though out contact management system!

Moving two of my blogs to the Thesis WordPress theme now completed; I wanted to use my favorite blog software Marsedit.

The feature I really like is the preview function, being able to see what the post will look like.

This is where I ran into an issue with Thesis, I had pretty much left the settings to the defaults as far as font size etc… I did however change the font to use Arial. When viewing the preview in Marsedit with the Thesis theme, it would not display correctly.

The theme’s body was only about 80 percent of the width of the header graphic. I spent a few hours chasing CSS etc… trying to fix this display issue. I was finally able to solve it within Marsedit by changing the font size.

The font size in Thesis was set to Arial 1.4em, setting the Marsedit main preferences to Arial 16px fixed the preview display issues with the WordPress theme.

Of course changing the default font size also meant that my Drupal sites would not display correctly in the preview mode.

After a while of playing with the CSS for the Drupal sites, I arrived at a happy combination that finally displayed My Drupal sites preview almost perfect and my Thesis blogs as well.

I think using an external editor is the best way to go, especially if you’re using WordPress with its incessant pinging. While there are many different versions and manufactures of this software, if you’re a Mac user in my opinion Marsedit is the best.

Today Apple Released Safari 4.0 Beta for both the Mac and Windows platform. Of course doing a little digging before downloading this latest browser discovered numerous problems. Being the daring kind I downloaded and installed the browser on my MacBook Pro laptop. This Laptop is really finicky when it comes to software, more so then any of my other Macs.

The issues people where running into where numerous, remember it’s a beta version, expect it. Some of the items where; the progress bar is missing, causing mac messenger to act strangely "I use Adium, no issues."

Others included, that it was very slow, yet I found mine to run much quicker then Safari 3.2.1, there where also issues Apple mail crashing – related to Growl. Safari 4 Beta does not work with Windows Live, "is that really a problem!" Quite a few reports of it crashing and not opening anymore.

My First Impressions

Where is the tab bar, well that was kind of strange they had relocated it to the top of the browser, ok I can live with that yet it does break from the normal conventions previously found in Safari, Firefox, and I.E. 7.

When I first ran the program I found a huge difference in the speed compared to Safari 3.x. It was also noticeably faster then Firefox, and speed is everything these days.

Cover Flow View

The new cover flow, while it looks cool I did not think I would be using it anytime soon. The more I played with it, I found it really useful for is going back and looking at the history of web sites you’ve visited, now that part I could find useful!

When I really think about it, it could really be one of its best features especially if you do online research. If you’re like me, sometimes I know what the page and information looked like, but don’t remember the web url, so this could come in handy.

The Top Sites View

Now this is a really cool feature, up to 24 of your favorite sites that you can pin. Which can be locked into position giving you instant access to these web site.

When you set it to the large view it displays six of your favorite web sites. The medium view displays 12 sites and the small view displays 24 sites for those of you that have numerous favorite sites.

With over 150 features built into the Safari 4.0 Beta it will be interesting to explore all the different features.

The bottom line when it comes to any software, does it make you more efficient with the use of your time, or is it merely cosmetic. It will be interest to see where Apple takes this web browser in the near future. Before you decide to download this browser keep in mind that it is a BETA Version. If you cannot afford to have your browser system giving you problems, then don’t install it.

One of the questions I often ask people who are involved in marketing and sales is if the product is so good would you recommend it if there was no monetary gain for you. Often we will buy a piece of software, that truly does make our lives much easier.

About one year ago, I moved to a new contact manager designed for the Mac. The contact manager I was using before had the dialer built into it so long as I had an internal modem connected.

With my Mac and new contact manager I wanted this feature up and running again, once you get used to a feature like this along with the tracking it almost forces you to do you don’t want to be without it.

The program I found is called Dialectic a Mac Telephone Dialer, it is without a doubt the best program I’ve found. In my opinion and John if you read this don’t take it personally but the price is to cheap, for what your offering.

As I’m writing this John still lists the price at twenty-five dollars. I mainly use the program with my contact manager as I’ve pointed out. If I’m doing a search for a local business on the internet, goto their contact page of course there is there phone number. In the past I would then dial the number, now I simply highlight the number send it to Dialectic and it does it for me, so ok call me lazy but it works.

The more I dug into the program, and believe me it integrates with quite a bit of software I discovered even more things I found useful. For example, what if I wanted to use my Laptop and cell phone it was possible.

I use an Iphone with the Macbook Pro via bluetooth to do the dialing, and it works great. I recommend you try it, you can download it and take it for a 14 day trial. You will have to take sometime to really explore what the program has to offer, but I’m convinced that you’ll see the same thing I did, just how useful this program is!

Life is all about change, just a few short years ago if we wanted training or to demonstrate something we would have to travel. As the Internet becomes more ingrained into people’s lives, we no longer have to do this costly travel.

If I’m not traveling I’m doing my part in being eco-friendly, no I’m not some left-wing environmental extremists. But, I do believe in doing my part to conserve the resources we have.

Up until just a few years ago I used a program by another manufacturer that provided a solution, yet when I switched my office to all Mac computers I found myself looking for a new solution. The manufacturer of that software did not provide a solution for the Mac.

During my search for a new solution for online web collaboration, I found a program called Yugma. What I found was an even better solution than the manufacturer I was using before.

What I found is one of the primary reasons that I switched to Yugma and will stay with it, this is its cross platform capability. Now I can have users that use Windows, Mac, or Linux, operating systems.

In the past I used to become completely frustrated trying to work and train individuals, often with-up to 100 people on a call. When you are trying to do this on a conference call and get everyone on the same page without them being able to see it, it is next to impossible. By using this software, It is almost like having them sitting right next to me watching and it does not mater what operating system they are using!

Now I can convey information in 1 hour that used to take months of weekly one hour conference calls. Where Yugma really shines is in its ability to share desktops quickly and reliably, as we can often utilize another individuals application for demonstration purposes.

Since I deal mainly with people in a home business environment, I work with them by helping them become more familiar with their version of contact management program. Basically just about anything that can be done over the internet on a computer can be demonstrated or worked on via Yugma.

Sure you can read the manual and get quite a lot out of it, yet often you wonder just who wrote some of the material. Then you have to really stop and ask yourself what is my time worth.

As a small business owner you often don’t have time to waste learning new software, you need to be able to implement this into your business quickly. This is where I think Yugma really shines, when you can bring to the table one-on-one personalized instruction.

When you can demonstrate to someone on their computer how to work their program, then follow that up by having them demonstrate and explain the steps back to you while you’re watching it live you are creating better value for your customers.

Personally I love running Yugma on a Mac. With the triple combination of the Mac, Parallels and Yugma, I can demonstrate just about anything I want to quickly and easily via a virtual machine.

Late in 2008, I finally upgraded to Parallels 4.0. Anyone with common sense, will do a little research in the forums to see what challenges have cropped up before updating any software.

I updated a Mac Pro and a early 2007 Macbook Pro, while you would think that both computers would have the same upgrade issues crop up in reality they did not. Both computers had similar problems, yet the MacBook Pro actually gave more indication of what the problem was in converting the 3.x version to 4.0.

Before we get into the issues with the upgrade, the question is was it worth it? In running it for awhile now I would have to say it definitely is if you need to run a version of Windows. With each update I’ve done it just gets better.

With Parallels 4.0, I found the graphics display to be a great improvement. I don’t use Parallels and Windows for gaming, just business applications that I’ve not found a replacement for on the Mac side. The upgrade really gave me the appearance that I was running the applications on a pure Windows Xp machine, not a virtual one.

This is important when using a program like ACT a contact manager. When you’re trying to read a Tahoma size 8 font, you really need it to be sharp and crisp. This was one of my major complaints with the earlier versions of Parallels.

The almost seamless integration between Mac and Windows makes it well worth it. Since I do a lot of tech support for individuals having a working copy of Windows Xp and Vista makes life a lot easier. Running Yugma on the Mac side gives me the ability to teach both Mac and Windows applications, this is extremely important!

One perception at least to me is that Vista seems to operate better via Parallels then it did on a PC, now that maybe just my perception of it. Windows Xp runs great as well. There is a huge difference in performance between the Mac Pro and the MacBook Pro, this is to be expected though. With 4.0 bringing multiple processors to the table it is an improvement over 3.x.

The Upgrade Nightmare

I have to admit, I experienced all of the same problems that everyone else did during the conversion from 3.X to 4.0. It was not until I was already about halfway through the process on both machines that the conversion problem was probably more my fault then Parallels.

I say this because, I had learned a few things during earlier upgrades. One of the major complaints everyone had was during the conversion the system would just hang, as if it were waiting for some action to take place. It was the MacBook Pro that actually brought this out into view. I should have remembered just two things, that I’m sure would have made this go much smoother.

1.) Un-install Parallels Tools.
2.) Un-install the Virus Software.

The Macbook Pro, was the machine that actually got back to Windows and sure enough that was what was hanging the conversion process up, the virus software! Sure I was pissed off but not at Parallels but at myself, I knew better. It may have even been in the upgrade instructions some place, yet we all know we don’t read the instructions right.

The second issues cropped up after the installations where complete, their where now two instances of Parallels Tools installed. The 3.x version and the new 4.0 version. Trying to uninstall the 3.x version failed with a message about not running in a virtual machine.

There are ways to get the earlier version of the tools removed, yet I’ll not cover them here. I don’t want to be responsible for trashing your Windows Installation. Since the initial release there have been a few updates, each one correcting bugs. With each update things only get better.

Overall I’m quite pleased with the latest version, it works just fine. There are still a few items I would like to see work better, on the integration side with Apples USB Modem which I use as a dialer for contact management programs

So if you’ve not upgraded yet, keep in mind about what I said about removing the old version of Parallels Tools and removing not just disabling your windows virus software during the upgrade.

For the longest time, I’ve experienced kernel panics with my MacBook Pro Laptop. I ran numerous diagnostic tests, often it would point to a memory issue. Talk about frustrating the kernel panics with the macbook pro where so random, narrowing it down to the actual cause was a royal pain.

I should also point out this laptop had been back to apple for this exact same problem, where they did diagnose and replace a few components. The problem seemed to point to Firefox, when it was open and surfing the web it would occasionally kernel panic.

It seemed to happen when scrolling with the mouse. This is where it gets real interesting. I was using the Logitech MX 600 cordless laser mouse with the Macbook Pro. I really like how this mouse fits my hand, nice and comfortable.

I was using the latest drivers from Logitech with the MX 600. I even went so far as to completely remove the driver and re-install it. Things would seem to work ok for awhile. Then it was back to kernel panic time, which always seemed to happen at the worst time possible.

I had bought the Apple wireless Mighty Mouse awhile back but just never really like how it fit in my hand. Finally I decided to completely uninstall the MX 600 and Logitech drivers once again, I never really liked having the USB dongle hanging out there in the air anyway just something else to break eventually.

In early December, I setup the laptop to run the Mighty Mouse again. This mouse does take some getting used to, and still just does not feel as comfortable as it could be.

One of the nice features of the apple mouse is that it does fit well inside of a laptop case for those days when you are traveling.

One of the decisions to switch back to the mighty mouse, had to do with the way Parallels 4.0 responds to the Logitech mouse.

Now I can not really blame parallels for the poor mouse performance, after all they cannot possibly conceive every possible combination you have attached to your laptop.

Since switching back to Apple’s Mighty Mouse my almost daily MacBook Pro Kernel panics appear to be solved. I’ve not had a single kernel panic since switching but only time will tell.

In November, Apple rolled out the update for the iPhone to version 2.2. I have to admit it has probably been the best update yet, the installation was smooth with no issues cropping up at all.

I held off on writing about this update, so I could get a good feel for it. The battery issues appear to be solved on my first generation iPhone, I have noticed over time that the there is really hardly any battery drain that seemed to plague the phone before that really required you to take extra steps to ensure that applications where completely shutdown.

Having the google street view, is just awesome, yet kind of a novelty. I really don’t know who would use it, I guess if your a tourist walking the streets somewhere it could come in really handy, since you can also get walking directions with it.

For example if you and your significant other got separated you could pin point your location, send an email to the other and generate walking directions so you could reconnect.

I Just Received My BE-1C’s

Wow is all I can say! Now all I need is an adapter to work with the iPhone. You maybe wondering what the Big Ear BE-1C is? It is probably the finest hearing protection product you could own especially if your a motorcycle rider!

I used it briefly with my iPod and what a difference it makes, custom fit to my ears. I’ve used a Bose noise canceling headset for quite some time which works just awesome, yet it is designed to cancel out noise electronically.

Since this custom hearing product is designed for your ears, it is next to impossible to try them until they are made for you.

When I put them on I was amazed at the sound suppression, all the noise, wife, tv etc… gone. Then I plugged in the iPod with the volume turned all most all the way down you could still hear it clearly.

Listening to Harley riders talk about them as the only thing they can put on and listen to while riding I can begin to see what they are talking about.

Now I can see why this product rates 5 Stars with their customer testimonials, they are just that good. I hope to have a full report on them as I get more use out of them in noisy environments soon.

Back in September, I wrote about the battery issues not being resolved with the iPhone 2.1 update. Sometimes you have to admit when your wrong and in this case I maybe wrong.

When I wrote about it I was seeing the same issues as before the iPhone was reporting that it was continuously in operation. I think it is clearly more of proper operation, essentially making a conscious effort to close any application that I opened.

I do this by holding down the home button for about 7 seconds to ensure that the application has quit. I remember reading about this last year but, hey I’m getting older and often don’t remember when and where.

I’ve been watching the battery usage and it is holding up very well now. I really do think that they’ve fixed the problem! I know some individuals probably really do expect miracles out of their iPhone battery but lets be real.

Even though it feels and works like a small hand held computer, you only get a little over 1 hour on a windows computer with a battery that is 5 times the size of the iPhone!

Apple really does give some good advice in maximizing your battery life by turning things off, something I recommended in one of my previous posts, do you really need all the bells and whistles running.

One of the things they recommend is turning off bluetooth. I can see this point if your not using it. Yet I use my bluetooth headset quite often and leave it turned 24/7 along with bluetooth enabled on the iPhone.

I’ve not seen this affect the battery life much at all. With 51 minutes of usage in the last 1 day and 8 hours since full charge it is still at about 90 percent battery capacity. To me that is pretty good.

If you use your iPhone or cell phone quite a bit you probably get tired of most of the bluetooth headsets out there. Just wearing them for a while gets quite uncomfortable.

What you need is a custom made ear piece that is the perfect fit to your ear. I have one and will never go back to a plain old uncomfortable ear piece again.

Big Ear Inc. makes these custom pieces and generally has a local provider in your area. When you couple these to a Jawbone noise canceling headset the communications are just great.

After updating my iPhone to the latest software version 2.1, which by the way went very smooth I might add. I wanted to put some Aperture video podcasts on my iPhone. I wanted to have some great educational videos to occupy my time when I’m out waiting in line somewhere, like the department of motor vehicles.

After Downloading the 15 video’s, when I tried to install them on to the iPhone it would give me an error. The error was “Some of The Videos in your itunes library, including video xxxx, where not copied to the iPhone because it can not be played on the phone.

The Videos where the right format, yet they would not install. iTunes really does not tell you what or how to accomplish this. Once you’ve downloaded the podcasts to iTunes, selecting the file and then selecting from the menu Advanced you can convert them to the correct format for the iPod and iPhone.

So now that you’ve converted them, you try to install them and get the same error, now what?

What I found was while in converts the files the new files are located in the movies section of iTunes.

I guess it just goes to prove that we can have all this wonderful technology, yet if we do not take the time to really understand how it works it just leaves us frustrated.

So if your having trouble syncing Video’s to the iPhone with the error that it cannot be played on the iPhone I hope this post will provide the answer that will work for you.

Todays iPhone 2.1 Update

Is supposed to fix quite a few bugs and add some improvements. The one that was of particular interest to me was the better battery life issue. I had previously written about the Shortened iPhone Battery life issue.

After updating, i did notice an improvement in the download and update of a couple 3rd party applications, they seemed to download and install very quickly, maybe about 1/3 the time then it used to take.

The sad part is the iPhone 2.1 update did not fix the battery issue! After a full charge and one 15 minute phone call, it sat idle for 10.5 hours. When I checked the phone it still indicated that it had been in use for 10 hours and 33 minutes.

I would have to venture to say they still have issues with the battery problem that needs to be fixed. It’s obvious that something is not shutting down and it could be related to a third party application.

So I’m sure we will see a new update coming along soon!

Now for an update, back in August I had written about Shortened iPhone 2.0 Battery Life I commented again on it when it in this post in September as I’m sure you read above. I had expected a new update to come out, yet as this is written in October there has not been one.

In October I wrote one again about the iPhone Battery Issues with version 2.1, read the post for more details.