How many pictures do you currently have on your computer? 100? 1,000? 10,000? When was 5-hour slideshows, but we also don’t have albums organized for our children to look at so they can learn how hard it was ‘in the old days’.

Photographs have become somewhat disposable. We make sure to take them at big events, and because every picture we take is essentially free, we’re taking more pictures than ever – but without a good way to organize this HUGE collection of photographs, why are we taking them at all?

After I had my first digital camera for a year, I had amassed over 1,000 photographs. I threw them in a folder on my computer. Sometimes I uploaded some to a photo service like Shutterfly, but most the time they just sat there on my computer. Perturbed, I went out and found Adobe Photoshop Album. There are a number of alternatives, but I have yet to find a better organization system than the one Adobe has created. I should mention up front that Adobe’s brilliant solution is offered for free.

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Do you constantly find yourself aimlessly wandering your way through your huge bookmark library looking for something new to read? Do bloggers with random posting schedules like me totally annoy you because you never know when to visit their site? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then it’s time someone talked with you about RSS Aggregators.

RSS is a technology many sites now use (including this one) that basically equates to a news wire. Think of it as their own personal broadcast station that constantly loops the most recent items from that site. Now, just like you need a radio to listen to AM stations, you need something called an aggregator to sort out these feeds to view them and also alert you when something new is added.

So now you’re thinking, “Well that sounds great, Vince! Where do I start?” Well, there are a LOT of different aggregators out there, probably hundreds, and they vary quite widely in their use-ability and compatibility. I have tried a number of different approaches but I think I’ve finally found my RSS nirvana, and I would like to share it with you all.

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There has been a lot of talk around lately about how Microsoft’s new Origami/UMPC might be the solution to everyone’s mobile computing needs. I normally don’t write about this kind of thing but the conversation has really gotten me thinking.

It seems that a lot of people within the tablet community are frustrated because they’ve realized that they’re not using their tablets as much as they’d like to because they aren’t taking them everywhere they might need them. The general consensus is that a smaller device would be more likely to make the trip, therefore giving them more use and more productivity. As a general rule this makes sense to me, but I still have one major issue with the concept – a UMPC still can’t fit in your pocket. (I have partially been corrected once, though I also consider it somewhat of a joke.)I just can’t see myself whipping one of those things out at a moment’s notice, and unless you’re a European Carry-All owner, I can’t imagine this would go many more places than a slightly larger, more functional tablet.

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Just as I was polishing off my review of the PPC-6700, I stumbled across a forum post that announced that Sprint had finally made a new firmware available for the device. After reading what was included, I can’t release my review as-is.

I had a few gripes which seem to be fixed out-right by the new firmware, so I’m going to spend a week with the update and see how it changes my view of the device. I’m still very happy with it, and hopefully I’ll be even more happy with it next week.

So, those of you who have the Sprint PPC-6700, go login to your sprint account and go to ‘Phone Details’ then ‘Software Download’, select ‘Windows CE’ as your OS, and the upgrade application should be the first link. Make sure to use your USB cable to install the update, Bluetooth connections are too finicky for such a major transfer.

If you can see this post, you’ve made it to the new server!

Let me know what you think of my new site design in the comments. I’m straying a little from the wordpress pack by ditching the sidebar, but I think the menu system is much cleaner and allows more focus on the posts. Please let me know if you find it difficult to get around, if something doesn’t work properly, or if you miss a feature that I threw out.

New content is coming soon!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. My job has been very crazy, but rest assured: I have been working on a complete site redesign and am in the process of switching web hosts. So as soon as I complete things I’ll flip the switch on the DNS and move everybody over.

I have so much built-up content for this site it’s driving me crazy. I just need to get the site in order and I should be able to finally get some posts up about my PPC6700 (which is awesome), a 6-month follow up on my X41 Tablet, some new features for my SageTV STV and a bunch of podcasts.

So stay tuned! Lots of good things are on the way.

I was looking around today on the news wires and noticed that Microsoft has finally published the suggested specs for Vista compatible systems. To my surprise, it appears as though my X41 tablet will be able to deliver a “Windows XP-comparable graphics experience”. So basically, it won’t work with all the super-cool eye candy, but it will be able to take advantage of all the other new tablet enhancements that Vista has promised.

You can see the whole list of desktop, mobile, and enterprise requirements here.

I’m really behind on my RSS reading lately, so this isn’t as timely as I would have liked it – but I’ve recently won an Ink Blot Award for the Best I Felt The Earth Move Experience When Finally Ordering A Tablet PC!

This is surely as a result of the strange coincidence I experienced when I was ording my Tablet, and there was an earthquake while I was on the phone with the sales person. You can read my account of it here.

I want to thank Warner for this wonderful honor. It is truly touching to be recognized by such a prolific TabletPC auteur.

I’m sorry I’ve been a little busy lately. I really have been thinking hard about TabletPCs, SageTV, and smartphones though. I haven’t forgotten about you.

In fact, I have been thinking SO much about you all, that I decided to take one for the team and make the switch from my Treo 600 to the new PPC-6700. I’ve only had a few minutes to play with it, but the first thing I decided to do is test out how fast EVDO was really going to be. After hearing all the hype I was a little worried I would be dissapointed, I was definitly not:

I know it’s blurry, but my crappy Treo 600 camera was all I have at the moment. If you can’t read it, it says: “1028kbps”. Seriously!?! Over 1 megabit per second wirelessly!?!

I think I’m going to have fun with this thing.

Another bunch of features you all seem to want.

Release Notes:

Meekell 0.5.0

Features:

• mlbdude’s External Program List (“Advanced->Configure Menu”)
• Malore’s Custom Guide Menus! (add via Menu Customization)

-All Malore’s menus can be renamed via ‘options’ command while in menu

• Nielm’s RSS NewsReader, w/ internal viewer! (add via Menu Customization)
• Enhanced Disk Space Widget (like v3 hidden feature) (“Advanced->STV Enhancements”)

UI Changes:

• 1st Run Marking in Guide (“Advanced->STV Enhancements”)
• Added “Programs” and “Shortcuts” main menus.
  Shortcuts menu populates with Malore’s Menus automatically
  See install instructions to get programs to show up

Bug Fixes:

• Menu Configuration now reports correct menu being modified
• Fixed all Watch Conflict popups (I think)
• Added FSE Toggle to Settings Menu
• Included Stanger’s fix for Data Import. (fixes production year, and directors)

All users should download the entire package listed on this page. You can find the SageTV forum thread by clicking here.

To all my loyal Tablet PC readers: I promise I’m working on some great new articles and podcasts. They should be ready by next week.