The 5 most annoying Twitter usage trends

From Shine comes a great article on how NOT to use Twitter.  Here's a two I thought were pretty apt.

DM People Who Just Start Following You With an Advertisement for Your Company

I can't tell you how many messages I got from people after my following binge that said something like "Thanks for following me back! Want to make lots of money? Let me show you how http://spammy-scammy-stuff.com".

SERIOUSLY? Is that the very first thing that comes out of your mouth at conferences or networking events? No? Then why the HECK would you do that on Twitter?!

People Who Just Tweet Out but Don't Respond to Others

This annoyance is definitely a very fine line -- I really don't care if this is how you want to use Twitter - this is a free country (and a free Internet). And there are some people who I still follow who do this -- but that's because their tweets are either still valuable or interesting. I have to REALLY like you to follow you when you aren't willing to engage in the conversation - but for the most part, it comes off as elitist to me and I don't have time for that.

If you don't get Twitter I understand, but then don't use Twitter.  By the way, you can always find me on twitter at http://twitter.com/thebigklosowski - I won't spam you, much!  :-)

Read the whole article here.  It's well worth your time if you are a Twitterati.  

10 features the iPhone needs to beat Android

TechRadar.com has another great article detailing the 10 features the iPhone needs to beat Android.

While I think features like "Shake to Shuffle" would be a pain (think about jogging), there are a few I particularly agree with.

Cut and Paste
Why, oh why has it taken Apple so long to add this? It's frustrating that you can't do it, and it's so obvious how it would work on the multi-touch screen – just tap and hold, then drag your finger over a block of text to select it. That functionality is currently reserved for the magnifying glass, but that could easily be shifted to a double-tap.

A better camera with a flash
This is a no-brainer. The next iPhone will have to have a better camera, or we're going to bin it without even opening the box (possibly). The current 2-megapixel effort just isn't up to the job. Oh, and we also want a flash to brighten up those dull indoor shots, too.

Video recording
When your mate's phone (that he got free) can record video you know it's no longer a premium feature. Without the ability to record video iPhone owners are second-class citizens in the mobile phone world. Come on Apple, sort it out.

Picture messaging (MMS)
See above. Just because nobody in the US wants to send picture messages doesn't mean everybody in Europe has suddenly changed the way they've been using mobile phones for years.

They also list "Stationary in Email", but I'm most concerned with the ability to have HTML signatures that are per-account, like they are in Mail.app

Pandora internet radio gets a second chance - for now

Saturday, Pandora founder Tim Westergren issued a "call to arms" to its listeners. He pleaded with fans and supporters of the popular music-streaming service to urge their State Representative to vote for the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008. This Act would give web radio broadcasters more time to negotiate outrageous royalty fees that have caused some to go out of business and put many more under the same pressure.

A sigh of relief has been heard across the web, as that bill has been passed in the House. This means that Pandora gets a brief reprieve.

The NAB dropped their efforts to eliminate the bill after a Saturday night meeting with Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) that addressed some of the groups concerns. Additionally, the NAB has expressed that they will not oppose the bill when it moves to the Senate. When NAB's efforts stopped, the bill was able to pass unanimously through the House according to CNET.

Hopefully, the flood of Pandora listeners that stepped to the plate through sites like SaveNetRadio.org helped Congress understand what was really at stake.

But there are rumors that NPR played a major role in saving internet radio by cutting some last minute deals with legislators to appease traditional broadcasters.

The Act will allow web radio broadcasters to negotiate with the music industry only while Congress is out of session. They have until February 15th to settle upon a new royalty rate. It looks like they are now closer than ever to reaching a rate that everyone can agree with it.

My fingers are crossed that Pandora has a long and healthy life!

What is the best linux distribution

Lifehacker has a great Faceoff Battle posted regarding the best distribution of Linux.

Their conclusions?

Fedora is for "Anyone who likes their Linux on a USB stick (with persistent data and setup), and anyone looking to try out a general purpose Linux distribution without having to monkey around with too many settings."

OpenSUSE is for "Anyone keen on trying out virtualization tools—OpenSUSE has got a serious jones for VMware and similar tools—or any PowerPC users who don't really dig Fedora. Also, given the roughly 22,000 packages in OpenSUSE, anyone missing a key piece of connectivity or functionality that just can't be found elsewhere."

Ubuntu is for "Newcomers to the Linux game, especially those looking to dual boot or replicate as many Windows apps in Linux as possible."

Read the whole article here. It's really a great article that weighs all of the pros and cons.

I prefer Ubuntu, but I guess that makes me a n00b?

How to legally pick a lock with a beer can

Think I'm kidding this this headline? I'm not.

A recent Chicago Tribune article that outlines it all:

This is how: During a recent interview at a North Side bar, Michaud, a prominent lockpicking hobbyist (you read it right), cut the top and bottom off a can and carved a wavy M-shape out of the middle. He then folded and refolded it in such a way that it could be inserted between the lock and the shackle. A twist and voila! The lock popped open.
...
Lock pickers, whose hobby is legal in all 50 states in case you were wondering, have a creed of sorts. It goes something like this: You can pick your own locks, you can pick your friends' locks (with their permission), but you can't pick anyone else's locks.

To read the whole fascinating story visit Pick a lock. For fun. (It's legal too).

Of course, guys have been using beer to pick locks for centuries, but that is another debate.

iPhone Firmware 2.2 to bring refined Safari, maybe Cut & Paste?

iPhone Atlas has posted screenshots of the new iPhone 2.2 features.

Looks like a redesign of Safari is in the works, along with a slew of new features.

While details regarding the newly released (for registered developers only) iPhone OS 2.2 are still trickling in, sources report that the MobileSafari interface has been tweaked. The new iteration of MobileSafari eschews the magnifying glass and refresh buttons at the top of the screen, instead displaying the URL bar and search fields side-by-side, much like the desktop version of Safari. Page refreshes are now accomplished via a tiny icon located inside the URL bar.

Wired.com is speculating that it will be bringing the Cut & Paste feature as well. We can only hope, that is the one feature that really limits the iPhone as smartphone in my opinion. I mean, really, no cut and paste after a year?

Read the whole story here.

Is the Military going Open-Source?

ZDNet is reporting that the military is pushing a new open-source initiative to run intra-departmental computer systems. Sounds very interesting.

“The committee is concerned by the rising costs and decreasing security associated with software development for information technology systems. These rising costs are linked to the increasing complexity of software, which has also resulted in increasing numbers of system vulnerabilities that might be exploited by malicious hackers and potential adversaries. The committee encourages the department to rely more broadly on [open-source software] and establish it as a standard for intra-department software development.”

Is Linux going to war? Read the whole article here.

What not to do on Facebook

TechRadar.com has a great piece on the Top 15 things you should never do on Facebook. I happen to agree with most of them, while some are just filler.

Here's a few I thought were spot on:

1. Use Facebook mail instead of proper email
Are you silly? When you Facebook mail me, I have to log into my real email to find that I then have to go and log into my Facebook account to read and reply to your message. If you've got my real email address, please use it.

7. Write on a wall instead of communicating privately
The driving force behind the success of Facebook is... vanity. People love the idea that others are watching what they're doing. Tell me this: for what reason would you invite someone to a private party by writing on their wall, other than to show off to all the people on their friends list who you don't want to come? It just makes you look like a tit, so don't do it.

10. Upload drunken pictures the morning after
Have a little common sense. If you go out for a big one on a Wednesday night, posting humiliating, drunken photos of your friends on Thursday morning is a recipe for disaster. Because when I call in sick at 9am, the last thing I want my boss to say is: "I've seen the pictures of you crawling in the gutter last night. I'm not amused or impressed, now get to work!"

11. Joining ridiculous chain-mail groups
Why do people insist on joining groups such as "On the X of May, everyone has to panic buy carrots"? Come on people, how stupid are you? There's one group on Facebook devoted to nullifying the vegetarian moral crusade, and it's called: "For every animal you don't eat, I'm going to eat three". That's a good group name. "I think Ryan Seacrest is the best presenter ever" is not.

If you haven't read it yet, I suggest taking a look at my piece on social networking best-practices here - Want to be President? Better shut down your Blog, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts

Help support aspiring filmmakers at Rootclip.com this weekend

You might not have noticed that my project Rootclip.com is hosting two contest voting periods this week. We encourage you to vote and comment on both to support aspiring filmmakers.

Rootclip has some incredible, fantastic, and awe-inspiring submissions in the final round of their film Chance Encounter. These films are all amazing in their own way, and we need everybody to help us pick the best one. Filmmakers in this competition are competing for the $2000 Grand Prize and ultimate bragging rights!

Click here to see the videos and vote for Chance Encounter's final winner!

Also, Rootclip has gone to colllege and is hosting the University of Tennessee Knoxville 2008 Fall Film Project. These future filmmakers need you to weigh in with your opinion and votes. Please give them support and go check out their excellent films.

Click here to see the videos and vote for the UTK 2008 Fall Film Project's Chapter 2 Winner!

If you are feeling left out by all this action, and now have the urge to get in on the filmmaking action, we have your fix. Rootclip.com's newest competition, Doctor Frank is currently underway and taking submissions. The latest contest revolves around a mad scientis named Doctor Frank, his assistant Igor Johnson, and a rather ordinary switch that opens up endless possibilities.

Click here on more details regarding the new Rootclip.com contest - Doctor Frank!

Thanks everybody for your support of Rootclip.com, and good luck to everybody competing this weekend!

Rootclip.com was created to give filmmakers, writers, actors and anybody who just likes to watch movies the ability to collaborate on a video project. It's a new approach to collaborative filmmaking. Rootclip team members create a short video clip or "Rootclip" to start the story. You watch the video, then shoot your own rendition of what should happen next in less than 2 minutes. Once you've created your video, upload it to Rootclip.com during the submission period and compete for votes against the videos from other users.

iTunes is getting unsigned artists

In what is surely a great move for the indie music artists everywhere, PurePlay music is teaming up with iTunes to get new, unsigned acts, some exposure.

Pure Play Music has reached a digital distribution deal designed to bring its catalogue of 1.5 million tracks from unsigned artists to iTunes, eMusic, Amazon and Napster. As part of the partnership, one of the four distribution channels, iTunes, will be giving Pure Play Music its own drop-down category on the front page of their Web site. Music enthusiasts can log onto iTunes, listen to the artist’s song, and, if they like it, click on a link that directs them to the artist’s personal profile page at Pure Play Music.
...
Pure Play currently features and promotes over 6,000 acts from a total of 42 countries, all of whom have been vetted through the stringent Pure Play A&R selection and legal process.

As a long time indie music supporter, I'm pretty stoked about this. Currently I get most of my music from eMusic.com, which is a lot of indie bands that are just getting exposure or never made the really big deals. eMusic.com does have quite a selection of big names as well, but that's really not what I'm out for. I like hearing that new, undiscovered talent, that often offers so much more.

Now, this would be really great news if iTunes finally went to a subscription based service!

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Leica introduces the S2 with large format sensor in DSLR form

As many of you know by now, I am a professional photographer in Denver, Colorado. While I have always had the best cameras and lenses that Canon has had to offer, I'm really a large format sensor fan. That's why an announcement this week from Leica really caught my eye.

Leica has today unveiled a brand new autofocus DSLR system designed for professional users, which is configured around a 30x45mm sensor (i.e. 56% larger than 35mm full-frame). The S-system will utilize an advanced new dual shutter, with both an in-body focal plane shutter for fast lenses, and in-lens leaf shutters for high flash sync speeds. The first camera, the S-2, will feature a 37.5 megapixel CCD sensor in a weatherproof body which is similar in size and handling to conventional 35mm-type DSLRs. The new ‘Maestro’ image processing system provides twice the operating speed of current medium-format backs, significantly reduced power consumption, and allows production of in-camera JPEGs. The company has also developed a range of nine new lenses, including macro, ultra-wideangle, and tilt-and-shift designs.

The lens range will consist of 24mm ultrawide, 30mm tilt-and-shift, 35mm wide, 70mm standard, 30-90mm standard zoom, 100mm short tele, 120mm macro, 180mm telephoto, and 350mm telephoto optics (all of which will apparently incorporate leaf shutters).

Basically a large format camera with a DSLR form factor, combined with Leica lenses - this thing sounds like a winner.

Why large format (larger digital sensor) vs. just more megapixels with an new Canon 5D II?

• More options with Depth of Focus
• Less noise
• Larger/brighter viewfinder
• Generally cleaner images
• A unique look that differentiates your images from other digital shooters
  

Drawbacks of course are that a camera like this could never be used for action/sports, and you'd have to invest in a whole new rig.

Currently I'm leaning toward the Mamiya 645AFDIII for my high-end bridal portraits, but this new Leica might just give me pause.

T-Mobile G1 Google Android Phone - Hands On

Engadget is posting one of the first hands-on with the G1 Google Andoid Phone.

Yep -- there it is. We finally, finally got our mitts all over the very first Android device, the T-Mobile G1 -- hanging out in the crowd, waiting for the official announce, naturally -- and so far we like what we see. The phone is surprisingly thinner than we thought it would be, and it feels pretty solid in your hand (though they've opted for an almost all plastic device, no metal here). The keyboard seems usable and reasonably well thought-out, and the slider action is like butter, with a nice little swoop for good effect.

They report that the browser is much choppier than the iPhone Safari browser. And it appears that there is two separate mail apps, one for Gmail and a separate IMAP app. There also is no multi-touch functionality like that of the iPhone.

I wonder about 3G? T-Mobile is struggling to get a 3G network in place, so the data speeds have to be slower than the iPhone right?

Google Android phone to cost $199 on T-Mobile

The first mobile phone to use Google Inc's Android mobile operating software will cost $199, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Wednesday.

The phone, which features a slide-out keypad, is being manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp and will be sold by Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA unit, which plans to unveil the device at an event in New York on September 23.

The Android powered HTC Dream is designed for the core functions like the e-mail, text documents and YouTube. The browser also downloads large files in stages to cut the time it seems to take to bring them onto the phone.

AT&T Inc, the only U.S. operator selling Apple Inc's iPhone, set the price of the latest version at $199 in July, setting a benchmark for smartphones that can surf the Web, manage email and other multimedia features.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said T-Mobile USA plans to release new data service plans in conjunction with the Google phone that will be "aggressively priced."

The story of developing the features for the G phone is quite an interesting one. The company introduced an open challenge to come up with useful application for this Android operated handset. Ten teams won $275,000 each and ten won $100,000 each for their interesting and useful application submissions. Just a few applications worth mentioning are cab4me, which helps you find a cab wherever you are GoCart, which allows you to scan product barcodes and compare product prices at local stores.

Rootclip.com launches Doctor Frank series, check it out

Rootclip.com announced the launch of the first in the Doctor Frank film contest series today. The new storyline revolves around a mad scientist, an unknown experiment, and an awe-inspiring switch (or not). This story has the most creativity potential so far of all of the Rootclip.com contests.

Knoxville based Rootclip.com was created to give filmmakers, writers, actors and anybody who just likes to watch movies the ability to collaborate on a video project. Our goal is to be the catalyst that gets people thinking and being creative with video in such a way that it infects the masses and brings a new life to the art of filmmaking.

Rootclip creates a short video clip or "Rootclip" to start the story. Filmmakers watch our video, then shoot their own rendition of what should happen next in less than 2 minutes. Once they've created your video, upload it to Rootclip.com during the submission period and compete for votes against the videos from other users. Gain the highest percentage of user and judge votes during the voting period and your video becomes the next chapter in the story.

A new story, and new prizes too:

Grand Prize is a $2,000.00 VISA Gift Card and a Porta-Brace SS-2 Side Sling Pack, Retail Value $199.

Chapter winners 2-5 will recieve a $250 VISA Gift Card, a RichardSolo.com Backup Battery for iPhone / iPod, Retail Value $49.95, Boston Bill Sunglasses, Retail Value $30, and The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap by Stu Maschwitz, Retail Value of $44.99. (ARV: $374.94).

To enter, submit your videos at Rootclip.com here.

Death of the Audio CD?

We already knew that album sales have been steadily declining, and digital distribution is increasing everyday. But is the physical album dead? Maybe, maybe not.

With increasing MicroSD card slots in cellphones, car stereos, etc., the music industry unveiled a plan this week to sell complete albums for $7-10 on SanDisk MicroSD cards. So it might just be the CD and Vinyl on it's way out - not the physical album.

Here's the meat of what the article had to say:

• Price: SanDisk won’t say more than that it expects the price at retail to be about the same as a CD. One executive of a major record label told me he expected the albums-on-a-card to sell for $7 to $10. Since Wal-Mart is selling a 1-gigabyte MicroSD card (the size used for SlotMusic) for $15.98 these days, that seems like a fine value. (Yes, you can erase the music and use the storage on the card for something else.)
• What’s on the card: The music will be in the form of MP3 files, with no digital rights management restrictions. It will be encoded at 320 kilobytes per second, a higher quality than most download services. The labels also hope to add value to the cards with liner notes, lyrics, videos and other digital goodies. SanDisk is working on adding other enhancements, like songs that can be played a few times but then must be paid for to be unlocked.
• Easy to use: If you want to get music onto a cellphone that has a MicroSD slot, sticking one of these cards in the slot is easier than trying to download songs and transfer them to the phone. (Sure, you can download songs over the air, but that will cost you $2 a track, thanks to the labels. And lots of people don’t have data plans on their phones.) If you want to listen to music on your PC or on your iPod, downloading it from iTunes may be easier, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another segment that would find the tangible experience of buying the package in a store to be more attractive (particularly if the price and bonus features made it a better proposition than iTunes).

It actually sounds very attractive to me. You gain an extra storage card, pay equal to or less than a CD, and get the music in high-quality MP3 that is DRM free. Could they be onto something with this?

Personally, even as digital as I am, I still buy CDs. I like to rip my own clean copies of music, and I like having a backup that I can rip into the next format when MP3 becomes outdated. This new format wouldn't give me the same flexibility, but if the price was right, I just might be game.

Apple recalls iPhone 3G power adaptors - risk of electric shock

Today Apple posted a warning to users that certain versions of its iPhone 3G ultracompact USB power adapter are prone to breakage and should not be used.

According to Apple, many users have reported that the prongs in the plug have been breaking off and sticking in the outlet. This is resulting in a safety hazard by putting users at risk for electrical shock. No injuries were reported (publicly) in any of the incidents.

The recall only affects power adapters sold in the Americas and Japan. Users in other areas, including Europe, are not affected by the recall. The recall also does not cover newer two-prong adapters which have a green dot on the bottom.

The USB adapter is an accessory which ships with the new iPhone 3G models. The company is advising all users with affected models to stop using the USB adapters immediately and instead charge their handsets by connecting the USB cable to a computer.

Apple plans to begin a free exchange program starting October 10th. Users can exchange the recalled plugs at a local Apple Store or receive a replacement through the company's web site here.

http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter/exchangeprogram/

How to force your iPhone into restore mode

When an iPhone 3G locks up hard, and I mean really hard, your options are limited. Typically using the sleep plus home button reset trick (hold both for about 10 seconds) will set things right again. But when it doesn't, you need drastic measures. This can happen when the iPhone won't get past the initial Apple logo while booting. Plugging it into iTunes can simply cause iTunes to freeze. There is a fix on hand!

There is a trick for forcing the iPhone to go into restore mode. WARNING: This is a last resort! All the data on your iPhone will be cleared and it will be reset to factory defaults.

1. Turn off the iPhone (Hold down the Sleep button, or use Sleep + Home trick above and then release as soon as the screen shuts off).
2. Open iTunes on your computer.
3. Hold down the Home button while connecting to your computer with iTunes already open and ready for a connection.
4. iTunes will prompt you to perform a software restore.
5. The iPhone will be wiped clean completely and be totally reset
6. Enjoy your working iPhone!

Happy 17th Birthday Linux

On 17 September 1991 Linus Torvalds was announcing the first version of Linux 0.0.1. The rest is history.

Here's what Linus said at the time:

Hello everybody out there using minix -
I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things).
I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40), and things seem to work. This implies that I'll get something practical within a few months, and I'd like to know what features most people would want. Any suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)
Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)
PS. Yes – it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs. It is NOT portable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(.

Never support anything other than 386's and AT harddisks - hardly! Now it runs the major IT backbones all over the world. One man truly can change the world, if the idea is right and the community agrees.

Thanks Linus, and thanks to the incredible number of programmers over the years that have given us a truly great operating system!

How to change your iPhone theme

Did you know that there is a whole world out there of themes for your iPhone that can change the basic look? But be advised it's not for the faint of heart.

A good place to get started learning about the available themes is at the Apple iPhone School.

There are themes for WinterBoard, SummerBoard and Customize. For information on how to add a theme manually to your iPhone via SSH check out their How do I get themes onto my iPhone? post.

Keep in mind the process can be rocky and unstable, and it requires jailbreaking your iPhone, something I am still not comfortable with. But if you are brave, good luck and maybe post a screenshot of your freshly themed iPhone for everyone to see.

The Google Phone is here, T-Mobile to introduce phone with Google's Android software next Tuesday

T-Mobile USA said today that it would unveil the much-anticipated mobile phone loaded with Google's Android software next Tuesday at a press conference in New York. The "G1," which is being manufactured by HTC, won't go on sale until October. But expect T-Mobile to finally divulge some key details such as pricing.

T-Mobile is just the first carrier to market the phone. Other cellphone manufacturers and carriers are expected to dial for dollars using the Google brand as bait, but they apparently have hit some snags. The Android phone is being positioned as a rival to Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.

For Google, this seems like a no-lose proposition. The Internet search giant wants to make sure that all of its services, including its lucrative advertising, are available on all cellphones. So it created software for mobile phones that does that.

Google showed off the handset at a developer conference in London this morning.

Could this be a true iPhone rival? I hope so.

As with Microsoft, and in contrast to Apple, there will be no attempt to lock down the system to prevent people running whatever applications they like.

According to The Wall Street Journal, T-Mobile is expected to announce the phone on September 23. The story says:

The phone's manufacturer, HTC Corp., forecasts sales that are rosier than analysts' estimates. HTC says it expects to ship 600,000 to 700,000 units of the smart phone, dubbed the Dream, this year, a person close to the situation said Monday. The target exceeds analysts' estimates of 300,000 to 500,000.

See the introduction video here:

Your iPhone is taking screenshots of everything you do.

From Wired comes a disturbing article.

If you've got an iPhone, pretty much everything you have done on your handset has been temporarily stored as a screenshot that hackers or forensics experts could eventually recover, according to a renowned iPhone hacker who exposed the security flaw in a webcast Thursday.

While demonstrating how to break the iPhone's passcode lock in a webcast, iPhone hacker and data-forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski explained that the popular handset snaps a screenshot of your most recent action -- regardless of whether it's sending a text message, e-mailing or browsing a web page -- in order to cache it. This is purely for aesthetic purposes: When an iPhone user taps the Home button, the window of the application you have open shrinks and disappears. In order to create that shrinking effect, the iPhone snaps a screenshot, Zdziarski said.

The phone presumably deletes the image after you close the application. But anyone who understands data is aware that in most cases, deletion does not permanently remove files from a storage device. Therefore, forensics experts have used this security flaw to gather evidence against criminals convicted of rape, murder or drug deals, Zdziarski said.

...

Other methods include taking data from the iPhone's keyboard cache, Safari cache, Google Maps lookups and so on. Experts and hackers can also recover deleted photos or e-mails from months ago.

Good for me I've got nothing to hide, but this is pretty scary! They need to fix this before iPhone can be taken seriously in the enterprise.

How-to disable auto-correct as you type on the iPhone

The iPhone auto-correct function is very useful, but can be a pain if you are in an industry where you use a lot of slang or uncommon terminology. Sometimes, you just want to turn it off. It's a bit of a pain, but it can be done.

The auto-correct feature is tied to the language that you are typing in. If you disable your English keyboard, the auto-correct feature will be disabled.

Sounds easy enough, but the iPhone will not allow you to disable the default keyboard if only one is activated.

To get around this, simply activate at least one more keyboard in your Keyboard Preferences. Here's how.

1. Home Screen » Settings » General » Keyboard » International Keyboards. Here you can turn on your alternate Keyboard. Try the Italian QWERTY keyboard, for instance.
2. After turning on your alternate keyboard, you just turn the slider to "off" for the keyboard where you want to disable auto-correct.

If you ever find yourself in the wrong keyboard later, it's easy to get back. Simply switch keyboards while typing by tapping the globe icon to the left of the space key.

Now there is no more auto-correction!

Truth in Advertising - Very Funny Must Watch

Here's a must-watch YouTube video on what advertisers are really thinking. It's long, but worth every minute. Watch out though, there is some language.

How to disable iTunes store arrow links in iTunes 8

In iTunes 7, there was a preference to disable the links to the iTunes Store, those small arrows that appear when you select a song in your library. In iTunes 8 that preference has been removed and those little arrows are everywhere.

However, there is a solution to make them go away.

To disable the iTunes Store link arrows, first quit iTunes. Then open Terminal, and run the following command:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes show-store-arrow-links -bool FALSE

When you relaunch iTunes there will no more arrows! To turn the arrows back on again, simply enter the above command but replace FALSE with TRUE.

Now go enjoy your iTunes 8 without the constant nagging of the iTunes store!

iPhone Firmware 2.1 released - claims to reduce dropped calls

As announced on Tuesday, the iPhone 2.1 firmware is out now, downloadable via iTunes. The list of promises looks great. Let's hope they deliver!

According to Apple's website, updates include:

• Decrease in call set-up failures and dropped calls
• Significantly better battery life for most users
• Dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
• Improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• Faster installation of 3rd party applications
• Fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes for users with lots of third party applications
• Improved performance in text messaging
• Faster loading and searching of contacts
• Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• Repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages (in case you missed the beep the 1st time)
  
• Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

To get the update, connect your iPhone to your computer, load up iTunes 8 and click "Check for Update."

How to take screenshots with your iPhone

Did you know that there is a built--in screen capture utility in iPhone 2.0 firmware or higher installed.

Simply hold down the Home button and press the Lock button at the same time, and your screen will flash. Now an image of your phone's screen gets saved to your Camera Roll's images.  See my example screenshot below.

Be careful not to hold the buttons down too long though, or your phone might reset!

Kill your TV! How I got rid of cable and satellite TV using Hulu, Netflix, and Tivo

Did you know that I have almost every gadget under the sun?  I don't read books - I have a Sony eReader, I don't buy CDs - I have an iPhone/iPod, and I don't listen to FM - I stream Pandora or listen to Sirius satellite.  

I love TV & Movies, and I have a Tivo hooked up  6.1 Stereo Surround Sound, High Definition, 51-inch Sony widescreen.  But did you know that I haven't had Cable TV for almost 2 years? Could that possibly be true?

You might ask yourself how this could be possible.  How could a man with as many gadgets as I do not even have basic cable?  Where do you get your news?  What do you do with your time?  

Over the years I've found that Cable TV and Satellite TV bills often run anywhere from $50-$100 per month.  That's a lot of money.  $600-$1200 per year.  Think about it.  And what are you really getting?  A bunch of channels that you'll never watch.

Personally, my dream is IPTV, or a-la-carte per-channel pricing that many people have been proposing.  But those technologies are a long way off, so let's deal with the here and now.

Tivo and Over-The-Air HD Programming

Did you know that you can hook a Tivo HD up to a pair of regular old rabbit ears, and suddenly get 10-20 channels of HD programming?  Did you also know that it can rec

ord TWO shows at the same time using ONE pair of rabbit ears?  

That's right, and it's free, except for the $12.95 monthly subscription.  So most major sporting events, news, and network television can be recorded in HD for you to watch later without having any cable or satellite hook-up.  Many channels like PBS will provide 2-5 channels of programming, including children's programming, documentary channels, and the regular PBS channels.  My Tivo streams internet radio stations, and I can watch YouTube as well.  

Hulu.com - Internet TV done right

Did you know you can watch almost all of your favorite shows online with less than half of the advertisements?  That's right, many are all online at Hulu.com, and they are available in 480p.  Simply hook a HDMI cable up to your laptop or PC, and you have hundreds of movies and the full season of television shows ready to watch immediately on your big screen TV.

Daily Show?  Yes.  30 Rock?  Yup!  Arrested Development?  Yes indeed.  It's Always Sunny in Philadelpia?  Uh-Huh!

The best part of Hulu.com is that the advertisements last only 15-30 seconds between breaks, that's about five times shorter than your regular TV advertisements.   Full lengt

h movies are available as well.  

Hulu.com is truly TV re-imagined.  Is it perfect?  No, because it could still provide support for mobile devices like the iPhone or Windows Mobile.  But perfect or not, it's very usable.  

Netflix for TV and Movies and more

Basically, if you haven't heard of Netflix, you've been living in a cave.  Netflix has over 100,000 titles in total, including movies, TV shows, and live performances.  Why mention it?  Because who needs HBO/Showtime/Etc. when you have a subscription movie service.  For the same money I could spend on one month of HBO, I get unlimited movie rentals with Netflix. I always tend to turn to HBO half way through a movie, and often watch parts of a movie several times.  Not anymore.

This year, Netflix will be offering streaming by the Roku Box, XBOX 360, and through your browser.  Instant gratification, and more selection than ever.

So that's great, what's the downside?

Well, combining the Netflix service and the Tivo service, I'm still paying around $30 per month to get my video entertainment.  I don't have access to premium sports packages, such as many NBA and NCAA games - which is a bummer.  I also do miss some shows that run on the premium networks like HBO as a series.  

However, I realize that I save myself almost $70 per month in the long run.  That's $840 per year, and it buys a lot of tickets to major league games, or drinks at the local pub during the game.  And really, that experience is much more fun than sitting at home and screaming at my TV.  Luckily I live downtown, in Denver, where there are literally professional baseball, basketball, hockey, and football teams within walking distance.  I'm not sure the same argument could be made when living in the suburbs.   

Even with the drawbacks, I say the best benefit is getting out of the habit of sitting down everyday and watching programs that I don't want to watch just to pass the time.  That's what I used to do with cable, and it was killing me one reality show at a time.  No more!  Now I only watch things that truly interest me, when I actually have nothing better to do. 

Has the iPhone overloaded the AT&T 3G network?

So I'm sitting here working through technical problems with a vendor tonight, and to my surprise my iPhone with all the reception problems is working great. I haven't had a dropped call or choppy conversations all night.

That's very strange. During the day I can't carry on a 5-minute conversation without dropping a conversation, or at least getting a complaint about the quality of my voice.

But at 1:40AM? No problems. I live in the heart of downtown. My neighborhood is congested during the day with thousands of iPhone users at any given moment. Evenings are normally packed with the bar/restaurant/theater/concert crowd. But at 1:40AM you are taking your last drink and heading home (safely of course - we have mass transit in Denver). The point is that the number of people on their phones is decreased dramatically.

So this got me thinking...

Could it be that the iPhone is overloading the AT&T networks? iPhone users tend to use 30 times as much data as regular cellphone users, consuming 100MB per month on average. Even though the article refers to Germany, that's been my approximate data usage month-to-month as well since last year.

So each iPhone user is equivalent to 30 regular AT&T subscribers.

Doing the math, that means if you sell 6-million iPhones, you've really added the equivalent of 180-million phones worth of traffic to the AT&T 3G network. We know that AT&T's already struggling to catch up with the infrastructure for their 3G network, so maybe this is making the problem worse?

Keep in mind that this is less than a scientific observation, but it is an observation. Has anybody else experienced anything similar?

How to enable Entourage syncing to iPhone and iPod touch

Entourage contact and calendar syncing to your iPhone is easy. It requires the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.5 If your Microsof Office isn't already updated, download the latest updates here. or use the built-in Microsoft AutoUpdate application.

Once you have installed the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.5 Update, the Sync Services option in Entourage will be available (In Entourage, choose Entourage > Preferences and click Sync Services under General Preferences).

Select the check-boxes for Synchronize Contacts and Synchronize Events so Entourage contacts and calendars will sync with Address Book and iCal. After that, iTunes can sync the data to iPhone and iPod touch.

Select the sync option that represents where you keep you information up-to-date. If all of your information is in Entourage and not Address Book, then select "Replace Sync Services items with Entourage items." If all of your information is in Address Book, then select the "Replace Entourage items with Sync Services items." If you have a mix of information in Entourage and Address Book, then you may want to select the "Merge Entourage items with Sync Services items."

It's also good to note that Entourage does not need to be open when syncing iPhone or iPod touch, so you don't have to keep all of your windows open.

Apple releasing iPhone firmware 2.1 on Friday

At today's Let's Rock event, Apple announced a new iPod Nano and and a new iPod Touch, an updated AppleTV, as well as iTunes 8.

But the biggest news to me is the revelation that Firmware 2.1 for iPhone and iPod Touch is going to be out on Friday - hopefully. The current firmware suffers from frequent application crashes and major iPhone 3G reception problems. Firmware 2.0.2 was pushed by AT&T and Apple as a fix to the reception issues, but that iPhone firmware made things worse.

I'll post an update as soon as I have been able to download my 2.1 firmware. I'm hoping that it fixes the reception issues, otherwise that Nokia N96 is looking pretty good right now.

Nokia N96 Review

Looks like the initial hands-on reviews of the Nokia N96 are starting to roll in. As my reception problems with my iPhone 3G continue, this is the phone that I am leaning towards replacing it with.

While the iPhone is probably going win in the long run on the number of available applications, the N96 is very attractive. While the iPhone camera is a paltry 2 megapixels, with no flash and no video, the N96 is 5 megapixel, with flash, with 30fps video recording.

Other features include:

• 32 Gigabyes of total storage - 2X that of the iPhone
• Wide variety of available S60 applications for almost every need
• Ability to sync music with iTunes

For me the biggest draw is the camera. As a professional photographer, I find that I often want to take pictures of everything around me at all times. However, I don't always want to carry another piece of equipment with me. Examples are times when hiking, or at music concerts, or even just walking to lunch in the city.

What did I learn from the review? Well, it appears that the camera's pictures are decent, but still seem a bit muddy. They appear to suffer quite a bit of red/blue noise in the dark areas, and suffer from muddy image/noise patterns that remind me of early Panasonic models.

While it is tempting for me to switch at this point, the biggest sticking points for me are lack of a touchscreen, slow GPS response, and no QWERTY keyboard.

So for now, I guess I'll wait to see if firmware 2.1 for the iPhone fixes the reception problems. If not, I might be phone shopping again. I just can't keep a phone that drops calls 3-5 times per conversation, and that's what is going on with the iPhone.

How to format your Wordpress blog theme for iPhone

From Theory is the Reason comes a great way have your Wordpress blog theme automatically format for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

The Plugin is for Wordpress 2.1 or higher, and is called WPTouch and is available from BraveNewCode.com.

Now I need to figure out how to do the same thing for Blogger!

Firefox 3.1 introduces new goodies

Looks like the latest Alpha 2 release of FireFox 3.1 is bringing a whole slew of new goodies. It supposedly adds new video support and boosts the speed of some JavaScript computations.

Alpha 2 is initial support for "web worker threads," enhanced scripting functionality that lets site developers shift JavaScript computations to a background thread where they don't hit the performance of the Firefox user.

Other adds and changes to Firefox 3.1 showing up for the first time include the between-windows drag-and-drop, new support for several CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 properties, and a performance boost when viewing images with embedded color profiles.

Unfortunately, the biggest feature that I'm waiting on, TraceMonkey JavaScript interpreter is not included in Alpha 2, however. The engine, which Mozilla recently said executes JavaScript as much as 28% faster than Chrome.

Keep in mind that it's not for newbies or daily use, but if you are interested Alpha 2 can be downloaded from Mozilla's site in versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

With all these new browsers hitting the market, it makes me glad I'm not actively involved in coding websites anymore.

Want to be President? Better shut down your Blog, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts

We live in a new world where personal information is shared faster, and in higher quantity, than ever before. I'm more guilty than most.

I was out with friends last night, and remarked that there weren't many embarrassing pictures of me in college because it was still the age of film, where each picture cost money. Before digital cameras were cheap and available, you had to really go out of your way to take embarrassing pictures. Not anymore.


I have relatives and friends going through college now, and the sheer number of embarrassing pictures I see is overwhelming. It reflect the reduced cost of taking pictures, and the ease of sharing our lives.

They then post those pictures to their Facebook profiles, put them on their blogs, share them on MySpace, post videos to YouTube, and tweet them to random people around the world using Twitter. Esteemed colleagues do the same. They say it helps them add character on the web, and they like to share their lives with friends. But sometimes, being too open can get you in trouble.

It's exciting, it connects us, and it's also very dangerous, and pictures aren't the only problem!

Think about your existing blog rantings in the context of applying for a CEO position, or running for public office, 20-30 years from now. Chances are, if you inventory your publicly accessible social networking and blog information today, you wouldn't even make it to city council or head of the PTA!

Go ahead, Google yourself right now, I'll wait. What did you find?

Am I saying that you are a bad person? No, but fact is, we are sharing the most intimate details of our lives to thousands of strangers, but not always thinking about the consequences. Especially young professionals and people still in high-school and college. Our parents did all of the same things we do, but they didn't make an underground newspaper about it and pass it to their friends. That is in essence what we are doing.

Pictures that seem funny now, might haunt you the rest of your life. Blog posts where you fly off the handle and stream expletives about that, "$%^&* guy that ^&U*I cut you off was a stupid &#$%^", very well might cost you a lot in the long run. Drunk-dail Twitters about your latest one-night stands are NOT such a good idea.

Here's a few tips to keep your public profile PG-13 while still having fun.

• If you are prone to using a lot of language, make sure your public streams are available only to those that know you and can take it in context. Lock your profiles down so that only friends can access what you are writing.
• Keep any public pictures on your blog or social networks as clean as possible. No nudity or lewd poses. Post all the good stuff in your private by-invite only profile.
• Share your private by-invite profile with only those that you trust completely. Over 20-30 years, relationships change, and you would be very surprised by who might turn against you in the long run.
  
• Use an untraceable alias when making comments on the internet, one that can't be traced back to you. Unless you carefully think about everything you post, anything you say can and will be held against you.
• Think about how anything you write publicly might sound if read in the court of law, or by an angry newscaster.
• Maintain a countering public profile that your professional network can access. It can contain some character, but not too much.
• Remember that even if you delete something, Google is forever. There might be archives accessible of your blog or pages available for the rest of your life, and much longer.
  

Take a look at how the press found Levi Johnston's MySpace page and dissected it as soon as the McCain campaign announced Bristol Palin's pregnancy. The rantings of a 18-year old "f**king redneck" can look pretty serious when put into a newspaper.

So my suggestion to you is to be careful about what you are posting for others to read. It might just come back and haunt you.

Many people forget that at 13-30 years old we are all pretty angry and say things we don't mean in the long run. It used to be locking yourself in your room and blasting the music, or sneaking out at night to dance in an abandoned barn in the country.

So instead of that angry blog, have you tried cigarettes, drinking, and dance?

Twitterrific for iPhone gets update to 1.1

The best iPhone Twitter client, Twitterrific, has been updated. Version 1.1 is now available for download in the Apple App Store.

Here are a some of the notable updates in Twitterrific 1.1:

• Scrolling is Teh Snappy™
• Added a new “everyone” setting to view the public timeline
• The number of tweets downloaded has been raised from 20 to 100
• Photos are saved to the camera roll before being sent to TwitPic
• Scroll positions are now preserved when refreshing and launching
• Added image caching for avatars
• Many more new features and bug fixes!

To find out more and to download Twitterrific for free go to the App Store. The free version of Twitterrific is supported by ads from The Deck. A premium ad-free version which includes a second interface theme is also available.

Seriously, if you have an iPhone and a Twitter addiction, this is the client you want.

Check out my video entry in the Rootclip.com commercial competition

I've created my first edited video ever - if you don't count the bachelor party invite I created years ago.

This one is for the Rootclip Commercial Contest.

Even though it's just a mashup of some of the best cilps, I'd still love to hear what you think. The soundtrack is just some loops I put together in Garage Band.

Think you can do better? Enter the Rootclip Commercial Contest and win an iPhone.

What's new in iTunes 8

From KevinRose.com comes new details on iTunes 8.

• There will be a new Grid View to browse your artists and albums visually.
• TV Shows will be available to download in in HD quality from the iTunes Store
• A new new music visualizer is included.

iTunes 8 includes Genius, which makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together. Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have.

I'm interested to see how Genius works, the rest is meh. If Genius works like Pandora, I'm in, especially if that feature can be ported to things like the iPhone.

Here's what I want to see that isn't mentioned yet.

• iPhone backup speed needs to be dramatically improved.
• Hopefully they fix the iTunes store to make it faster and easier to use.
• Support for a wider variety of video formats.

Here's to hoping.

Scooters and motorcycles can pollute 90 times as much as SUVs

Ecomodder has an interesting article that claims scooters are not environmentally friendly options for transportation.

...the EPA that tested a Yamaha YZR R6 and found that it emitted 90 times more hydrocarbons than a Dodge Durango SUV. Hydrocarbons are the pollutants responsible for forming ozone and smog, which is both a serious health risk as well as an extreme eyesore.
...
On the other hand, however, you’d be getting 2-4 times the fuel economy and emitting fewer green house gases. However, the magnitude that these are reduced is tremendously outweighed by the magnitude that smog-forming pollutants are increased. Nevertheless, you will save money on gas, but riding a scooter isn’t quite as safe or air-conditioned as a car.

I tend to agree with their conclusion. If you are taking a short trip, ride your bike. It's much safer, it's better for you and keeps you in shape, and it is the best option for the environment.

Top 10 Weird Things Sent Into Space

From the website Null Hypothesis comes an interesting article about the Top 10 Weird Things sent into space. Items include things like Scotty's ashes from Star Trek, and Luke Skywalker's light saber!

10. Golf Balls
9. Salmonella
8. Luke Skywalker's Light Sabre
7. Sweet Potato
6. Bird Droppings
5. Inflatable Space Station
4. Scotty's Ashes
3. Cosmic Dancer
2. Sea Urchins
1. Anything you want

In the category of "Anything you want", I wonder if I can shoot things into space that really need to go, like the entire band Maroon 5?

Hilarious Joker/Batman Interrogation Spoof Outtakes

Watch out there is language, but this is too funny!

Rootclip.com announces the Chapter 4 winner

JakusB has won Chapter 4 of Chance Encounter with their entry Unwelcomed Help. Congratulations and good work JakusB!

Again, this round had some intense competition with Tony's entry Back in Black: Out of Time, bryceanderic's entry True Colors, and a comedic sping with Dynomar's submission Homerun.

Great work by everybody this round! Thanks for your patience while we tallied the last judge votes coming in over the holiday weekend.

Just a reminder that JakusB, FungusRidden and joshutk are ineligible to compete until the final chapter, so we need your submissions next round!

JakusB you've won a $250 VISA Gift Card, a really cool Balance Beam from Trig Industries, Retail Value $249.50, a "Video for the Web" training DVD by VASST, Retail Value $80, and The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap by Stu Maschwitz, Retail Value of $44.99.

Also, JakusB is now eligible to compete in the final chapter for the $2,000.00 Cash Grand Prize.

Google's new web browser not compatible with Apple OS X or Linux

Google has announced a new web browser called Chrome to compete with Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera. However, the new browser is not going to be available for people running Apple's OS X operating system or Linux.




Does the world really need another web browser? Where is Chrome's advantage?

Google Chrome is said to be redesigned completely from scratch and promises to load pages faster and more securely. It also includes a new engine for loading interactive JavaScript code, dubbed V8, that is designed to run the next generation of not-yet-invented Web applications.

Chrome is going to be available for downloading Tuesday in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft’s Windows operating system only. Google said it’s still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.’s Mac computer and the Linux operating system.

Google is touting Chrome as a more sophisticated Web browser better suited for displaying the dynamic and interactive content blossoming on the Web as people migrate from television, radio and newspapers.

Personally, since I'm an Apple user, and since I'm completely dependent on Firefox's plug-in architecture, I'll be passing on Chrome for now. It will be an interesting project to follow however.