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Archive for July, 2009

Software Bundles Prove Golden

Posted by GNC at 6:32 PM on July 22, 2009

So here I am working on a side web design job.  As I look at the programs I am using to get it all done I realized they were, for the most part, all from software bundle purchases.  If my memory serves me correct I have taken part in 3 different purchases from MacUpdate and Macheist.  The price was never above $59 and I usually received 8-12 different titles.

Big discounts and great deals on Mac software every day - MacUpdate Promo

“What is so golden as you certainly cannot have found all 30 programs as useful?”  I can read your mind and you are correct.  I am probably only using six or seven of them on a regular to daily basis and another ten of them occasionally.  Six of them I use all the time.

  1. MacHeist » Welcome1Password (Retail $40)
  2. Vector Designer (Retail $70)
  3. Pixelmator (Retail $60)
  4. CSS Edit and Espresso (Retail Package $80)
  5. Task Paper (Retail $30)

The total retail cost of those alone would be $280.  By my calculations that would mean by participating in the promotion I saved about $130 off retail of just these six programs. That does not include the programs I use occasionally such as AppZapper ($13), Snapz Pro X ($69), and a bunch of others.  Golden, I tell you golden.

All of the promotions send a substantial portion of the income to charities.  I am not trying to avoid paying for great software.  The developers chose to participate either to help the charity or to get the word out about their products.  So why not take a shot and try one out?

Please know that I do not participate in every promotion.  I look closely at the titles being offered to see what I have need of.  If the cost benefit is not at least the equivalent of 2 for 1 I don’t buy.  Chances are I can get along without it for a while.  But I must admit it is hard to resist such a golden deal!

AT&T EPIC Fail in Hawaii

Posted by geeknews at 5:23 PM on July 21, 2009

Up until several weeks ago I was a 12 year loyal T-Mobile customer. Never a service interruption never a issue not one and the best part the plan were reasonable.

Since i picked up my iPhone 3GS a couple of weeks ago and made the switch I get disconnected at least 8 times on a typical route I drive that I never got disconnected from T-Mobile ever. Top that off this afternoon the whole AT&T wireless system here in Hawaii has failed. The signal strength, when it is working is the worst of any carrier, just ask anyone in Hawaii on another carrier how many bars they have and they always have more than AT&T!

I love the iPhone I hate AT&T EPIC Failure to allow an entire Wireless system go down par for the course for these clowns. I bet to many tourist showed up with iPhones and just like SXSW the system crumbled.

Apple, Yes Apple better fix this situation and fast because ultimately it’s their fault and no one else for partnering with AT&T I am simply blown away that in this day and age when the sun is shinning something like this can happen. Yes sure during a typhoon or hurricane they can catch a break but not when the sun is shining.

WordPress only Pinging Hourly?

Posted by geeknews at 1:14 PM on July 21, 2009

Under the category of what was someone thinking!

When I read this morning that since the introduction of WordPress version 2.8 that WordPress only Pings sites once and hour I just could not believe. Can you imagine having the hottest news story of the year and when you publish your post that WordPress can wait as much as an hour before it pings the variety of sites telling them you have new content to be indexed.

This change was introduced obviously by someone that does not have a clue on how the real world web works these days. So a word of warning if you have published a couple of articles in a row and have a big scoop to publish you better post the scoop first so that it pings the quickest or hope someone comes out with a simple patch.

Note: PowerPress users do not need to worry we ping iTunes separately so this bug does not affect the updating of your show on iTunes.

GNC-2009-07-20 #495 Do you Like Math?

Posted by geeknews at 6:01 PM on July 20, 2009

Do you like math do you live math, i have a request of the Ohana today to help your geek pick something out. Details in the show. Lots of tech today, rare daytime recording enjoy the podcast and be sure to check out the other shows at PodcastMadness.com

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Listener Links:
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A 2010 space odyssey beckons
Where is the Plunger on ISS
Sprint does not itemize text messgaes
World roll playing game.

Show Topic Notes:
TwitCam versus CamTweet
Qwest Upgrades DSL Offering
Eye Telescope amazing medical techology!
TweetMe way Cool!
In flight Wifi Tips
Digg Diggs a Deeper Hole for itself!
Airforce says Ares 1 escape system unsafe!
Apple has lost there minds!
ISS Spacewalk #2
Apple supposed to have Record Quarter!
Microsoft heads off EU Antitrust makes Browser change!
How hacker got access to Twitter via Hotmail
iPhone App approval process in meltdown!
Space Memories past 40 years!
Google Voice to compete with Skype?
Rejected Papers get new voice online!
Japanese Kibo just more gear!
LRO takes picture of Apollo 11 landing site!
Google Moon is live!
Why Japanese Phones are not in the United States!
The ever bigger AT&T iPhone Mess!
Is Internet Business DOA?
Mac Office 2008 SP2
Apple Loves Moms!
RIAA says DRM is Dead!
Online Meeting Schedulers Review.
10 Stats about Twitter.
Real Password Issues.
Data Says were going Mobile!
T-Mobile Going Socials? What For?
The Real cost of the Cloud!
Time Warp and S3 Backups
Kazaa goes Legit
New Apollo 11 Images!
AT&T Loosing Voice mail
Can the Pre Grow Up?
Why you need to Lie to be Secure Online.
256gb USB Drive
Get a cheap notebook!
Toshiba Wifi Picture Frame Integrated with other Services!
Blackberry desktop for Mac soon!
IE8 growth chart

Snatch An Iphone Remote

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 6:59 PM on July 19, 2009

Do you have an Iphone or Ipod Touch? Do you watch video on your computer, while sitting on your couch?. Do you lose your apple remote control in your couch? If you answer yes to these questions, there is an application you might be interested in its called Snatch. It cost $3.99 and can be downloaded through the Itunes store. There is a free test version which you can download to try it out. You will have also download the Snatch server from the Snatch Web site and install it on your computer. This allows the application to talk to your computer. Once you set it up you can sit on your couch and use it to launch programs, as a remote control, a track pad and to scroll. The track pad, scrolling screen,and launch pad all come installed when you download the application.

The fourth icon says keyboard if you tap on that there is a blank screen, this is where the remote controls are installed, and where the really power of the application is. There are two ways to get a remote control on the application, the first is to downloaded an existing one from the Web site. There are presently 23 remotes available, including ones for Plex, Hulu, Keynotes and more. The second way to install a remote control is to create one yourself for an application you use. For example I use Miro, there was no remote available for Miro so I created my own directly on my Iphone. I then uploaded the file I created to the Snatch forum, where now anyone can download it.  If the application uses keyboard shortcuts you can create a remote control for it.   You can have up to 8 remotes installed on you Iphone or Ipod Touch and you can switch easily from one to another by scrolling from screen to screen.  The one thing they do recommend and I agree with, is that if you do download a remote from the  Web site make sure you check the  properties of the keys on the remote before using it.  You want to make sure the keys do what they are suppose to.  The properties on the keys on the remote should be similar to the keyboard shortcuts for the program. 

The track pad and the scroll pad also work really well. I had a lot of fun last night using the scroll pad with Google Earth.  Scrolling around the terrain was much easier and more fun than it is on a key board or using a mouse. I can see the track pad being used to point something out on a screen or to click on it during a Keynote speech. Although I think it has less useful for the casual user. There are some problems I did notice with the application; the first is it does use up a lot of battery life,  the second is if  the Iphone shuts down you have to reconnect the remote with the network, which can be an irritation. Finally, if  you prefer tactile buttons, this is not the remote for you.  To me this application is well worth the price I paid for  and I would recommend it. 

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P owered by Qumana

Dropbox — File Sharing

Posted by fogview at 3:11 PM on July 19, 2009

dropbox-logo A nice item to have in your geek toolbox is a way to share files on the Internet. Sending large photos or videos through email is simply not possible so you need another way. There are a number of sites that allow you to do this, but there is one that I’ve been using that has some unique features. It’s Dropbox.

Dropbox is a file sharing site that works on the Mac, PC, Linux, and even through your browser. You go to GetDropbox.com and sign up for a free 2 GB account. You download and install the program on your computer and it creates a Dropbox folder where you simply copy the files you want to share. Anything placed into the folder is sent to the “cloud” and can be accessed by you on other computers or after logging on to the GetDropbox.com website. You can also place files in the Public subfolder and send the unique URL through email or place it on your blog to share photos, videos, and documents. There’s even a mention of using the Public folder in Dropbox to host a small website.

If someone you know has a Dropbox account, you can send them a link to a folder you want to share on your computer. When they accept the shared folder, it appears in their Dropbox folder. Any items placed into the shared folder appears in the other’s shared folder. It’s a great way to share project files.

I’ve been using Dropbox to make some documents and photos available so I can access them later and as a way to move them between my Mac and PC computers. Since it keeps older copies of files you place  in your Dropbox folder, it’s a great way to keep backups of your important data and you can even access files deleted from your Dropbox folder.

One word of caution about storing anything sensitive in your DropBox folder.  In theory only you have access to the files, but this is the Internet, so it’s possible that others could gain access. I would encrypt any file containing sensitive data before placing it in the Dropbox folder.

If Dropbox is free, how are they making money? Well, the site is still very new but for the moment they are offering two additional storage accounts for those who find the service useful but need more storage. They offer a 50 GB account for $9.99 USD a month, and 100 GB for $19.99 USD a month.

You can sign up for DropBox by going here. Using this link will give you 2 GB of free storage plus an extra 256 MB as a bonus (you won’t get the 256 MB bonus if you go directly to the GetDropbox.com site). As a disclaimer I must mention that if you use my link for the bonus data, I get credit in the form of extra storage in my account.

There are a number of sites offering free cloud storage and there is nothing stopping you from signing up for a few. You never know when they may come in handy.

73′s, Tom

No Kindle Required — iPhone App Review

Posted by fogview at 4:46 PM on July 18, 2009

iphone-kindleI’ve had my first generation Kindle for a year and a half and I drooled when the second generation Kindle came out. I drooled again when the Kindle DX was announced earlier this year.

I tried using my Kindle to replace my daily newspaper but found the experience wasn’t up to the task. I got use to reading my news online but the serial viewing on the Kindle left me feeling that I was missing something. I do use my Kindle for reading books and have purchased a few reference books that allow me to use the Kindle’s search feature. Typically Kindle books are cheaper than their print cousins and most cost $9.99, but I didn’t think I used it enough to justify another $350 gadget when what I had, served my purpose.

When Apple announced the new iPhone 3GS and 3.0 firmware, I heard about the Kindle application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I downloaded this free app and was impressed. It now feels like I have a new Kindle — on a device I already own.

When I installed the application on my iPod Touch and entered my Amazon account information, it showed me that I had a number of Archived Items. These were books that I had purchased and downloaded on my Kindle. I could then download a copy for reading on my iPod Touch. The cool thing was it opened up to the last page that I was reading on the Kindle. It turns out that this goes both ways. If I’m reading a book on the Touch and switch to my Kindle, it opens up to last page read on the Touch.

So how was the reading experience on the iPod Touch? Even though the screen is much smaller, I thought it was a great experience. The pages show up in portrait or landscape (depending on how you’re holding the device) and the menu and controls disappear after a few seconds. You navigate the pages by touching (or swiping) the screen. Touching the right side of the screen moves you forward and touching the left side moves you back. Page turns are very fast (faster than on the Kindle) and you access the menu by touching the center of the screen.  Bringing up the menu gives you access to changing the text size and color, setting/accessing bookmarks, and going back to the Home screen.  The Home screen allows you to select a new book, download one of your archived books, or search the Kindle store for another book.

One nice surprise came when I downloaded a photography book I had been reading on the Kindle. To save power the Kindle screen only shows shades of gray and the photography book was mainly text with a few photos thrown in. These photos showed up in color on my iPod Touch.

One of the best things (and a smart move by Amazon) is you don’t need to own a Kindle to read Kindle books on your iPhone/Touch. You can download the program for free from the iTunes Store and set up an Amazon account (if you ever ordered anything on Amazon.com, you already have an account). You can then download and review the first chapter of books from the Kindle store and purchase books right from the device.

I can’t say that having access to my Kindle books on my iPod Touch is going to keep me from getting a new Kindle someday because I’m find myself using my Kindle more these days. It’s a nice feeling knowing I can have my books with me even when I leave my Kindle at home. Like I said before, a very smart move Amazon!

73′s, Tom