Doc's Mobile Blog

Sony Alpha NEX-5 Unboxing

2011-01-20T10:54:00.001-10:00

DocRock and Topher808 of iFIXpro and Meetoworld Saké Podcast unbox their new Podcasting production equipment the Sony Alpha NEX-5 Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera. This camera has the quality of a DSLR at about half the size and weight.
Features: 14.2-megapixel, up to 7 fps shooting, ISO 12800 sensitivity, AVCHD 1080/60i HD movies, APS-C size HD image sensor, Sweep Panorama, Auto HDR, Live View, Tiltable LCD, E-mount 18-55mm lens

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

Tags: ifixpro, doc rock, docrock, topher808, topher, unboxing, sony, nex-5, nex-3, dslr, review, hawaii, honolulu, meetoworld

Review: iSi Twist n' Sparkle Beverage Carbonating System

2010-12-30T09:31:00.000-10:00

2010-10-06T09:18:00.001-10:00

iPhone 4 Apple Store Ala Moana Honolulu Line Walk

2010-06-24T19:25:00.001-10:00

This is the madness at the Apple Store Ala Moana in Honolulu, Hawaii at about 12:30 in the afternoon. This is the biggest line for a launch product here in Hawaii. Looked like concert tickets for MJ or the Stones.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: apple, iphone 4, docrock, doc rock, honolulu, hawaii, launch day

InfoPhreak Quick Tip: iPhone 4 work with iPhone 1G A/V Dock

2010-06-24T08:59:00.001-10:00

I for some strange reason kept my really old A/V dock from my original iPhone and much to my surprise it work perfectly with the new iPhone 4. Awesome. Arigato @eriokura for the tip.

Formats available: MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: iphone, ios4, docrock, doc rock, honolulu, hawaii, ifixpro, infophreak, podcast

InfoPhreak Quick Tip: iPhone Setup Advice

2010-06-24T08:58:00.001-10:00

Please Watch Before You Setup You New iPhone. This may save you lots of heartache. I give a little advice I learn during my time as a Mac Genius at Apple Retail Store over the last three iPhone launches. Don't let iTunes restore your old phone data to the new iPhone 4. Follow Me on Twitter: @docrock or fb.me/docrock

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: iphone, doc rock, honolulu, hawaii, sync, setup, advice, restore, apps

Infophreak Podcast: iPhone4 iMovie Test Photos and Video

2010-06-24T08:57:00.001-10:00

Just a ditty about Jack and Diane... Ok not really but a simple test of iPhone 4's iMovie editing app. Pretty Cool Stuff

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: iphone4, imovie, testing, honolulu, hawaii, doc rock, docrock

Infophreak Padcast: Moodboard Pro for the iPad

2010-05-20T19:39:00.001-10:00

Moodboard is an amazing design tool built exclusively for the iPad that helps designers, decorators, artists, writers, photographers, and other creatives produce better work in less time. There has never been an easier or more enjoyable way to organize the things that inspire you. Available now on the App Store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gridlocked-rush-hour/id314307997?mt=8

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

Tags: ipad, review, app, application, moodboard, olympics, kyle, tress

Infophreak Podcast - Episode 1

2010-03-19T17:00:00.001-10:00

iFIXpro introduces a new technology podcast to keep you informed of the happenings in the tech world. This podcast is designed for the beginners to the avid users. We hope you enjoy becoming an Infophreak with us.

Formats available: MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: macintosh, pc, google, android, nexus, iphone, ipad, windows, magic mouse

2009-01-01T01:18:00.001-10:00

So sad I can't have noodles this year as I am recovering from throat surgery. It sucks I can't even drink the dashi.. Sad:) Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T01:13:00.001-10:00

There was a huge bomb drop of Thunder here in Kailua like 20mins. ago... I am sure something just got killed by that.

2008-12-29T04:05:00.001-10:00

Found On Mashable: Blogo is the hottest online / offline Blog editor for OS X. http://ping.fm/HUKSw

iPhone eCards = Awesome

2008-12-01T00:28:00.001-10:00

This is so cool. Some of the captions are dumb but many can be added or edited by you so it's still kinda cool. check it out. Now no spamming people.

From: http://ping.fm/TILae

EA+SPORTS%26trade%3B+Football+World%3A+FULHAM+-+MANCHESTER+UTD+1+-+6

2008-11-04T12:05:00.001-10:00

EA SPORTS™ Football World: FULHAM - MANCHESTER UTD 1 - 6

Best Practices for Studying

2008-09-29T22:09:00.001-10:00

Repair Credit Legally

2008-09-24T21:44:00.001-10:00

Repair Credit Legally

The term credit repair is a little misleading - it can be more accurately described as building credit or reestablishing your credit. Re-building your credit can be done entirely on your own or with the assistance of a credit repair company or the assistance of a credit repair "kit" or credit repair book. Regardless of what method you choose to reestablish your credit, the key will be you. You need to become responsible and disciplined about your credit. This may be a long and difficult journey, but living life in the world today with bad credit is nearly impossible. Whether you choose to use a credit repair company or do it yourself, your credit report is always the focal point.

To begin to repair your credit report, obtain a copy of your credit report and begin the process of correcting errors, consolidating debt to pay off past due balances, cancel credit cards you no longer use to eliminate excess credit, contact creditors to negotiate settlement terms (be sure they update the credit bureaus appropriately). By monitoring your credit report on a regular basis, you can ensure that once your credit is repaired, you remain in good credit standing and do not become a victim of identy theft.

Many consumers find themselves experiencing difficulties when paying back their credit card debt. The average American is $25,000 in debt. If you are currently experiencing difficulties with your bills you should reduce your overall monthly payments and interest rates. Whether past due or current, you can consolidate all of your unsecured debt such as, credit cards, medical bills, unsecured loans and student loans into one simple, low monthly payment.

Debt consolidation can help to reduce your overall monthly payments, significantly reduce or eliminate your interest rates, and provide the convenience of one low monthly payment. Plus you become debt free in about 4-6 years as opposed to the current estimates of 20-30 years without consolidation.

If your credit problems are tax related and you need help resolving problems with the IRS there is a resource to help you solve IRS Tax Problems.

Source: Credit in a Nutshell

Twitter Blog: Changes Afoot

2008-09-19T01:08:00.000-10:00

Twitter Blog: Changes Afoot

If you really want the job read this...

2008-09-17T08:12:00.000-10:00

Some of the best job resources on the net. May help you with the dreaded interview. enjoy.

Citizen Eco-Drive Skyhawk A-T Watch - Ideal for Travelers, Aviators and Trotters

2008-08-28T00:26:00.001-10:00

The Citizen Skyhawk A-T introduced by the brand in 2007 is a powerfully designed men's watch aimed at gadget lovers and aviation fans. Based on the 15-year history of the Skyhawk line, the timepiece has smartly combined Citizen's Eco-Drive movement with atomic timekeeping (A-T) technology and a new design.

The Citizen Skyhawk A-T watch strikes by its utmost functionality, having been packed with a great variety of useful features, such as atomic timekeeping, LCD backlight, perpetual calendar, and world time pre-programming for 43 cities and time-zones. Moreover, the watch boasts 200-meter water-resistance.

The Citizen Eco-Drive movement combines the solar technology with, a lithium-ion battery, and power saving functionality, so there is no need for battery changes. The Citizen watch with a full battery, subjected to no light, maintains its accuracy for about six months, or, if the power save mode is switched on, for about two years and a half.

The Citizen watch represents a multi-band atomic watch, implying it will receive time radio signals in the United States, Europe (England and Germany), and Japan. Every morning at 2, 3, and 4 AM, the watch automatically synchronizes with the atomic time radio signal, thus continuously providing supreme accuracy. The timepiece also allows the time synchronization on demand.

The new dial design of the Citizen Skyhawk watch is worth special attention. The black dial, featuring white and orange accents, is completed with the hands and hour indices covered in luminescent material. It provides readability at a glance. Besides displaying two different time zones (one analog, one on the LCD), the watch shows the GMT time in the top sub-dial.

The simple mode dial allows easy control of the watch through the navigation of the functions with help of the crown. By using the two pushers positioned above and below the crown, or the crown itself, the watch's owner can modify the selected mode. The face of the watch is protected by non-reflective mineral crystal.

For better understanding of how the different features work, it is advisable to look through the included instructions or watch the presentation on the watch's functionality recorded on an interactive CD-ROM.

The Citizen Skyhawk A-T watch is available either in all-stainless-steel, all-titanium or a stainless-steel-case-on-a-black-rubber-strap version. The solid case construction, 46 mm in diameter, is remarkably well-balanced and the contoured design 'conceals' the considerable size of the watch.

The well-manufactured slide rule bezel of the watch, moving smoothly and quickly in either direction, is to be used for simple flight calculations, such as fuel consumption, distance traveled, ground speed, and range.

The bracelet of the Citizen watch is fitted with a double hidden push button clasp, with the two release buttons inset into the clasp. The smooth clasp is easy to use, and one can operate the buttons with almost no effort.

The Citizen Skyhawk A-T packed with some very advanced technology features is a real bargain. Its price ranges from about 430 to 600 dollars depending on the materials used and discounts available.

The Citizen Skyhawk A-T watch is created as a great timekeeping companion for everyday use or for frequent traveling. The timepiece may also be successfully used as a true aviation tool.

Look through the list of other useful functions of the Citizen Skyhawk A-T, not specified in the review:

two alarms;

24-hour chronograph with a resolution of 1100th of a second;

99 minute countdown timer;

power reserve indicator.

Nike+ Plus Watchband

2008-08-28T00:18:00.002-10:00

In January, we told you about the Nike Amp+ iPod watch which doubles as a remote control for your iPod Nano. Recently, Nike introduced the Nike+ SportBand which seems to be a variation on the theme with a slightly different focus.

The SportBand answers the question "What if I don't want to run with music?" This isn't as theoretical as you might think since many races ban music players. With the Nike+ SportBand, you can see all the same information that the Nike Amp+ iPod displayed on the screen of your Nano (pace, distance, calories burned, etc.), but on an LCD integrated into the SportBand itself rather than on the screen of your iPod.
Like the Nike Amp+, you can still upload your running data when you get home, so it's just as well integrated into the whole Nike/Apple ecosystem. All you do is pop the Nike+ Link out of the SportBand, and plug it directly into your computer's USB port.

Nike has also introduced a web-based coaching system called Nike+ Coach with professionally crafted programs for a range of fitness goals. Everything from "Walk to run" to "Marathon" is laid out with motivational tools, progress tracking, peer challenges, and more. This might sound trivial, but I'm here to tell you that workout buddies — even virtual ones — are a major factor in keeping up an exercise program. Of course, you probably have to have the hardware to make much use of the virtual coach, but the cost of entry is really pretty minimal. The Nike+ SportBand sells for a very reasonable $59.

Adium 1.3 goes final

2008-08-26T22:25:00.001-10:00

The ever-popular multi-protocol IM client for the Mac, Adium, has reached version 1.3, a milestone that took seven months to meet. Among the major changes are a revamped Get Info Window (now called the Contact Inspector), the inclusion of Facebook chat, and improved support for MSN. LibPurple has been updated to version 2.4.1, too, and there are general performance improvements. In all, there were 261 fixes changes, which can all be viewed here in all their detailed glory (why can't Apple be this transparent?).

For those not in the know, Adium is a multi-protocol IM application based on libpurple, the same framework that the popular Linux and Windows Pidgin (formerly GAIM) messaging application is built on. The list of supported protocols is fantastically obscene (18 in total); you can chat on anything from Google Talk to Novell GroupWise and LiveJournal. The application was originally started by a young Adam Iser many years ago, but has been passed on several times since then.

Of all the new fixes, one of our favorites is one that isn't even discussed in Adium's blog post. When you click into your buddy list and begin typing the name of a contact, no longer are you jumped around to that buddy (or whoever is online that is closest to that name). Instead, a little search box opens at the top of the window—assuming you're not using a borderless window, that is—and the list sorts to show you contacts that match what you have typed in.

Adium 1.3 is a 22.1MB download available on the site or through the app's built-in software updater.

RapidWeaver 4.1 update in the wild

2008-08-26T21:51:00.001-10:00

Realmac Software has updated RapidWeaver, its powerful web design application, to version 4.1 with a handful of significant new features and the usual accompaniment of bug fixes.

At the top of RapidWeaver 4.1's list is a feature that was on 4.0's menu, but was pulled for various issues until now: Quick Look support. Now, users should be able to press the space bar when any RapidWeaver 4.x file is highlighted in the Finder to see a live preview of it. This should save quite a bit of time for anyone using RapidWeaver to manage multiple sites, or especially in a commercial environment.

Quick Look is working properly now, but you have to toggle a new preference for RapidWeaver to begin saving Quick Look previews in site files, which will slow down the saving process. Simply opening a project, then re-saving without making any changes generated Quick Look previews for us, and the additional time during the saving process for a couple of site files with 5-10 pages of content was negligible.

For RapidWeaver users who include pictures in blog posts or across a site, a new preference for automatically resizing photos to a specific pixel width should also save time.

Another major enhancement for MobileMe users is "significantly improved and simplified" MobileMe publishing. RapidWeaver 4.1 can now publish to web.me.com directories in addition to the old 'n' busted homepage.mac.com area, which means that RapidWeaver sites can finally power MobileMe sites with the Personal Domain option enabled, with neither fuss nor muss.

Plenty of other enhancements arrived in RW 4.1, including a progress bar when loading projects, better memory usage when exporting large blogs, HTML previews in list view in the snippet window, Realmac's iMedia Browser running on PowerPC Macs, blog summaries instead of a brief portion of the main entry in RSS feeds, and much more.

RapidWeaver 4.1 is a free upgrade for owners of 4.0 and 3.6, and should be available via 4.0's built-in update mechanism.

My first Madden 09 Highlight

2008-08-12T01:49:00.001-10:00

EA SPORTS World: Madden 09 Video Highlight

The Hot New Presidential Canidate

2008-07-24T10:04:00.000-10:00

Get a Wig for your "Bald Baby's Dome" from the WTF catagory!

2008-07-17T10:53:00.001-10:00

BabyToupee.com is one-stop shopping for bald babies. While many parents worry themselves to death that they’re going to give their children some sort of weird complex, I say to get it over with early by making your baby wear a toupee.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

EasyTweets Offers an Almost Perfect Web-Based Twitter Management Tool

2008-07-16T08:03:00.003-10:00

Hey look another twitter appythingie. Maybe this will help break twitter more often. Does look useful though I wonder if we are getting way to many ways to span the twitterverse.

Go give a go and tell me what you think.

From: http://ping.fm/W3xRv

It's So Official: Ronaldinho To Milan

2008-07-15T23:51:00.000-10:00

Milan have confirmed the signing of Barcelona superstar Ronaldinho, with the transfer fee expected to be 25 million euros, of which 21 will be paid up front.

Reads a statement released by Milan: "AC Milan and FC Barcelona have reached an agreement for the transfer of Ronaldinho.

"Tomorrow, the player will be in Milan for the medical, and to sign the contract which will tie him to Milan until June 30th 2011."

This announcement brings to an end months of speculation over the Brazilian's future.

He had been on the outer at Barcelona pretty much since El Clasico in December, with his private life, his fitness and his bulging waistline making more headlines than his performances on the pitch.

Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard, always one to back him given what they had achieved together, had to drop him due to his dropping fitness levels, and once Pep Guardiola was announced as the new coach in early May, a summer exit for the two time World Player of the Year was only a matter of time.

Chelsea and Milan were the early frontrunners, with the player himself expressing a desire to team up with Luiz Felipe Scolari once again last month. However, Big Phil was not too keen, and Manchester City subsequently came into the fray.

But with Chelsea out, there was only going to be one winner, and that had been clear for two weeks now. City had a superior financial offer for Barca, but as with many things these days, the player's will had the final say and a deal was struck with Milan after intense negotiations between Adriano Galliani, Joan Laporta and Roberto de Assis.

During his five years in Spain, Ronaldinho won two La Liga titles (2004-05, 2005-06), one Champions League (2005-06), the World player of the Year award twice (2004, 2005), and the Ballon d'Or (2005).

He leaves on a low, but when the dust settles, he will go down as one of the best to ever play for Barcelona - as much for what he won as for the way he heralded a new era for the club following the collapse of Real Madrid's 'Galactico' policy.

Some of his best displays also came on the biggest of stages - a sensational left footed strike against Milan in the Champions League in 2004, two more against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that almost saw Barcelona through single handedly later that season, and then that sublime assist for Ludovic Giuly at San Siro a year later - which guaranteed Barcelona's progress to the final.

However, perhaps the crowning moment was his stunning showing at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2005, when he got a standing ovation from the Real Madrid fans after two goals and a mesmerising display of football in a 3-0 win.

The challenge for Milan now will be to get the player back to peak fitness, before we even speak of form. He still has the magic in his feet as we saw from his two goals on his return to football a couple of weeks ago, but whether he can roll back the years and offer the Rossoneri the kind of service he did to Barcelona, remains to be seen. His ability against rigid Italian defenses will also be tested to the limit.

It will also be very interesting to see how he fits into the team, and whether Ronaldinho, Kaka, Alexandre Pato, Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf (who has openly opposed this move) can play together.

Barcelona, in the meantime, are expected to announce the signing of Aliaksandr Hleb, with Arsenal seemingly having given the nod following the signing of Samir Nasri from Marseille.

Living without Twitter with No Regrets

2008-07-14T20:59:00.001-10:00

Living without Twitter with No Regrets: "

I was going through my normal routine this morning of IV’ing my daily allotment of caffeine into my system, reading my email, going through my blog feeds in FeedDemon and then finishing up with a good round of FriendFeed when I realized something. My Twitter client wasn’t running, and in fact, it hadn’t been running for almost three days.

You know what?

I hadn’t missed not seeing all those tweets go by one little bit, which made me wonder if this whole thing about being available all the time wasn’t as important as it is cracked up to be. After all, I successfully get all my important stuff dealt with through either email or IM. As a matter of fact someone who wanted to talk to me about something specific got a hold of me with no problem via both Skype and MSN Messenger because that information is right there on my WinExtra blog’s About page. It wasn’t until this morning when I was checking my email that I even knew that he had followed me on Twitter.

Sure I use FriendFeed and some will say that is the same thing, only a little different. Well if it is the same or even the same but a little different, why do I need to worry about Twitter anymore? The funny thing is that I probably wouldn’t have been interested in Twitter as much as I have been if it wasn’t for the fact that I wrote a desktop client for it at one time. I might have gotten caught up in it the same way that I have with FriendFeed but there is the rub – why do I need both anymore?

As it is, I have enough communication tools running at any one time on my system that if someone really needs to get a hold of me they can. Whether it be by email, IRC, IM or even FriendFeed, I am reachable. Do we really need to have this feeling that we must be in constant contact with people? What is this pressure for constant contact really bringing to the table for us? I always joke in the WinExtra IRC chatroom that ‘Just because it’s called a chatroom doesn’t mean you have to chat’ and I have seen the better part of the day go by before anyone says anything other than ‘pass the coffee.’

Communication is a great thing but over-communication I think can also be a detriment. We seem to want to spend so much time talking about literally nothing in order it seems to justify our use of these tools. Communication tools are meant to enhance our lives and our work but it seems that they have become more of a means to lose ourselves in the mundane instead.

Do you really need this hyper-connectivity or could you live without Twitter as well?

---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:

FriendFeed - Does It Enrich The Conversation Or Add To The Noise?
FriendFeed Brings Twitter Back
FriendFeed Recommendations? Who Are You Likely to Like?
@mashable, Twitter Replies Are WORKING!!
Lifestream.fm: FriendFeed with Twitter’s UI
FriendFeed for iPhone Coming - I’ve Waited For This All My Life
When Twitter Goes Down, You Still Have Twiddict

(Via Mashable!.)

Domain Shortcut Helps Type URLs in Your iPhone More Quickly

2008-07-14T20:19:00.003-10:00

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

iPhone/iPod touch only: The iPhone has sported a .com keyboard shortcut for making quick work of URLs in Mobile Safari since it was released, but reader George points us to an expansion to this keyboard shortcut that can save tons of time for entering email addresses and non-.com URLs. First, in Mobile Safari, just hold down the .com button for a second to see other domain options (namely .net, .edu, and .org). Second, when the keyboard has the @ symbol but no .com key, you can hold the '.' (period) key to get the same domain shortcuts—something that comes in especially handy when you're manually entering email addresses or filling in login credentials in new apps. I'm not sure if this keyboard shortcut is an iPhone 2.0 feature or something that was added when hold-for-accents was added for international language support, but it's definitely one to know. Thanks George!

NetNewsWire spoon-feeds iPhone the news

2008-07-14T03:48:00.001-10:00

Of the several news readers offered in Apple's iTunes App Store to date, NetNewsWire stands out as the most appealing. Unlike Mobile News from the Associated Press, NetNewsWire pulls in stories from multiple sources, and unlike Google Reader, it does so nearly instantly in a true native application (Google Readers whisks you to an iPhone-optimized Web application after you select it from a list of more options on Google Mobile.)

Like many other applications, NetNewsWire is the iPhone version of an already-brawny Web service operated by NewsGator, and one whose desktop versions CNET Download.com editors have already acclaimed for its usability on Macs and on PCs, where it's known as FeedDemon.

NetNewsWire for iPhone is a feeds repository, but a good one. You won't be able to add feeds at this early stage, but the application will syncs with any of your existing NewsGator accounts for NetNewsWire for Macintosh, FeedDemon, Inbox, and NewsGator Online. The application lets new users to sign up from the iPhone. You'll also be able to save posts in a clippings folder for later perusal, and read the full article on Safari.

Football(UK) corruption dossier handed over to prosecutors

2008-07-14T01:31:00.001-10:00

Detectives investigating some of the most high-profile figures in football have sent the results of their inquiries into fraud allegations involving player transfers and agents' fees to prosecutors.

Police delivered their dossier of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service last Thursday after a two-year investigation. Seven well-known figures are mentioned, including Portsmouth's FA Cup-winning manager, Harry Redknapp, and the most powerful woman in English football, Birmingham City director Karren Brady. The development threatens further to tarnish football's reputation amid criticism over player wages and agents' fees.

Last week detectives from the City of London economic crime unit, the country's top fraud squad, formally requested 'advice' from the CPS on whether there was sufficient proof to charge any of the individuals following an exhaustive inquiry.

Prosecution sources last night confirmed that they had been instructed to offer a 'charging decision' after receiving the completed file from the police inquiry, known as Operation Apprentice. A CPS statement said: 'We have received a file in relation to criminal allegations involving the transfer of football players and agent fees.'

Others named in the file include Leicester City chairman Milan Mandaric, Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie, Rangers and former Portsmouth midfielder Amdy Faye, Birmingham City co-owner David Sullivan, and agent Willie McKay. All seven strongly deny any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors will now ask counsel to decide whether police have sufficient evidence to charge any of those investigated.

When Redknapp won a judgment against City of London police last May, claiming that officers unlawfully raided his home as part of their investigation, the court heard that the inquiry was launched to probe 'suspected conspiracy to defraud, false accounting and money-laundering offences', although its focus may have shifted as the investigation evolved.

Corruption claims concerning football have been rife since former Luton Town manager Mike Newell denounced a 'bung' culture in football. His comments prompted the Premier League to launch an investigation headed by former top policeman Lord Stevens into all transfers between January 2002 and January 2004. Instead of naming names, however, the former Scotland Yard chief strongly criticised accounting procedures at several unnamed clubs.

Forensic accountancy firm Quest reported in June 2007, having failed to uncover any evidence of bungs, but passed to the FA 17 cases in which, it said, more evidence was required.

TinyURL finally adds vanity URLs

2008-07-09T01:47:00.001-10:00

Not content to just sit around recovering from Independence Day shenanigans this past weekend, TinyURL released a much-needed feature to its URL-shortening service that others have had for ages: vanity URLs. This means the nonsensical shortened URLs it spits out from your 1,000 character-plus links can now be changed to whatever name you want after the forward slash--that is as long as it hasn't been taken by someone else.

With the popularity of TinyURL and it's automatic integration with services like Twitter, most of the good ones have already been snatched up, so if you're looking to get a vanity mini URL from another similar service, your best bet is to go with one of the little guys. My CNET colleague Nicole Lee did a great roundup on some competitors back in March. Of the bunch, my favorite MooURL has always seemed to have the most open of any, but now that I've told you, the secret is out.

Google Maps takes steps toward walking directions

2008-07-09T01:03:00.000-10:00

Google Maps is starting to roll out a beta of walking directions in addition to driving directions, the Google Operating System fan blog noticed on Monday.

It looks like it's available to select users in select locations for the time being, and indeed, I can't access it from my Google account yet. It's also unclear whether this will get expanded to the mobile version of Google Maps, where the availability of walking directions would certainly help.

This sort of feature can be very useful in cities with lots of one-way streets, like New York, or with parks and thoroughfares that accommodate pedestrians but not cars. Currently, Google Maps directions may suggest an extremely roundabout route when a much more direct one is possible by walking or biking.

Google Maps, which recently expanded its partnership with mapping company Tele Atlas, notes to "use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas," which is Googlespeak for "don't blame Larry and Sergey if you get mugged."

Gmail now blocking fake eBay, PayPal e-mails

2008-07-09T00:41:00.003-10:00

Google on Tuesday said it is now using an e-mail authentication technology to keep phishers from luring Gmail users to fake eBay and PayPal Web pages in order to steal usernames and passwords.

The technology, DomainKeys, uses cryptography to verify the domain of the sender of an e-mail. It allows e-mail providers to validate the domain from which an e-mail originates, and it enables easier detection of phishing attempts by helping identify abusive domains.

Last October, Yahoo announced that it was protecting Yahoo Mail users with eBay and PayPal accounts from phishing attempts using the same technology.

The DomainKeys technology is covered by a patent assigned to Yahoo. The company released it under a dual-license scheme that allows the companies to use it royalty-free under the GNU General Public License (GPL 2.0), which enabled the Internet Engineering Task Force to approve it as a proposed Internet standard.

Originally posted at News Blog: http://ping.fm/xzM9l

R.I.P. Tiffany "Little Tiffie" Takao

2008-07-07T19:20:00.002-10:00

I will truly miss my friend who was always true to herself, nice to everybody, and she always made my friends feel welcome when they came to visit me at work. Having not met any of them before she would always be so inviting to them and provide them with company and a loving smile that warmed everyones heart. When I speak to many of my friends in Japan the often ask me how is Tiff as she left such great impressions.

I grew close to Tiffany as she was the one person who stuck out in a crowd of thousands not because of her beauty but because she had a kindness glowing from her that was so genuine. The many people in my business of promoting will tell you this is so rare to find. She never asked for anything but gained all the respects of a lifelong friend. That is exactly why i love her and always will.

I will miss talking to her about how she thought she could kick my butt in golf and generally hanging out with her. Her caring smile and love for all around her is a big loss to us all. We will always have you in our thoughts Tiffany. I miss you so much already.

Diamond Head Mortuary TIFFANY SACHIE TAKAO Age 21, of Kaneohe, passed away June 29, 2008 at Straub Hospital. Tiffany was born October 30, 1986 in Honolulu and was a dental hygienist assistant for Clyde Uchida, DDS. She was a Junior Golfer who participated in many state major Junior Golf Tournaments. An avid viewer of the Food Network, she had a passion to cook and shared her cooking with her family and friends. Tiffany was always happy because she knew she was loved, and everyone loved Tiffany because of the happiness she gave them. This is the true circle of love, and Tiffany always wore this circle right above her head as her halo. Tiffany was our Special Angel. Tiffany is survived by her father, Dennis; sister, Kimberly Kaneshiro; brother, Christopher; grandfather, Roy Takao; nephew, Haden and niece, Cailyn; as well, aunts, uncles, cousins, and her many, many adopted uncles and aunties of golf, judo, UH football and Wahine volleyball. VISITATION WILL BE FROM 5-6 P.M., SUNDAY (7/13) AT DIAMOND HEAD MORTUARY; SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE AT 6 P.M. WITH A RECEPTION TO FOLLOW. COMMITTAL SERVICES AND INURNMENT WILL BE AT 11:30 A.M., SUNDAY (7/20) AT THE BYODO-IN TEMPLE GAZEBO, VALLEY OF THE TEMPLES MEMORIAL PARK. CASUAL ATTIRE.

Nineteen words that don't belong in your resume

2008-07-03T11:00:00.000-10:00

It's hard to believe that a few words could irritate someone enough to make them stop reading your resume, but it's true. Some hiring managers and recruiters admit that they have their own mental lists of words that annoy them. Resume how-to books may recommend that you pack your resume full of as many verbs, adjectives, and adverbs as you can. But if you aren't careful, you could turn off more prospective employers than you entice. Effective word choice is what really appeals to hiring managers--not action verbs and glittery modifiers. Here's a rundown of some words that hiring managers say detract from the persuasiveness of resumes they see.

Assist, assisted

• Reasons to avoid: Hiring managers want to know what you did, not how you helped. If you're familiar enough with a task to put it on your resume, you can choose a better word than assist.

• Example: Assisted marketing director by researching PDAs.

• Possible rephrasing: Researched PDAs for marketing department.

Experiment

• Reasons to avoid: No one wants to hear about what you tried to do--only what you have accomplished.

• Example: Experimented with new LAN management software.

• Possible rephrasing: Tested and evaluated new LAN management software.

Skillfully, effectively, carefully, quickly, expert, mastered

• Reasons to avoid: Hiring managers often object to words that describe how well you do a particular task. In many cases, it comes across as boastful--and it's unnecessary. "If you aren't good at it, why are you putting it on your resume?" one recruiter said.

• Example: Skillfully managed transition from Windows NT to Windows Server 2003.

• Possible rephrasing: Migrated organization from Windows NT to Windows Server 2003 with no downtime during business hours.

Cutting-edge, detail-oriented; coordinate, facilitate, transform; proven ability, synergy, and liaison

• Reasons to avoid: Hiring managers say such words take up space without communicating much. They've seen them so often that the words have lost their original energy.

• Example: Detail-oriented manager with proven ability to oversee day-to-day network operations and to implement major technology initiatives.

• Possible rephrasing: Supervised an eight-member IS staff; completed two full-scale platform migrations; consolidated equipment and resources following facilities move.

Responsible for...

• Reasons to avoid: You're a manager, so of course you're responsible for something. Specify exactly what your responsibilities are and work in a few numbers to convey the scope of what you do.

• Example: Responsible for managing inventory, overseeing network operations, making new equipment purchases, troubleshooting workstation issues.

• Possible rephrasing: Supervised the support of 70 users running Windows XP and two servers running Windows Server 2003; implemented asset management plan for inventorying equipment; built a network operations team responsible for the internal infrastructure.

Ronaldo going to have surgery: I'm so Sad!

2008-07-02T23:41:00.002-10:00

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is set to undergo ankle surgery in the next ‘two to three days’.

The Portuguese picked up the injury on international duty at Euro 2008 and the problem failed to settle down while he was on holiday in Italy.

Ronaldo was assessed by Manchester United and Portugal medical officials on Wednesday and they have taken the decision that the winger requires surgery.

The surgery is expected to sideline Ronaldo for around six weeks and casts doubt on his future.

Real Madrid are desperate to sign Ronaldo and had hoped to secure his signature before July 7, but the surgery may well force a rethink.

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Who's following you on The Twitter

2008-06-25T23:55:00.001-10:00

TwitterCounter has one simple purpose in life, to give you a counter to display the number of people that follow you, from Twitter, on your website.

Just enter your user name and TwitterCounter will display the number of people following you over a seven day period. To display the updating counter on your website simply copy the available code and paste it to your site for all to see.

If you're really into your Twitter stats, enter your email address to receive daily updates. Because we all know you're only a few followers short of that elusive number one spot!

Use Search Engine Synonyms to Your Advantage

2008-06-25T22:50:00.001-10:00

Lately webmasters have noticed that some pages are appearing very high in Google SERP (Search Engine Ranking Pages) without even a single presence of the search term; albeit topically succinct. This is a significant departure from what is widely known that for a page to appear for the search term "Apple Computer", the term should be used in the page fairly frequently. In fact this has been the basis of a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tactic called Keyword Density.

This then means that when you do a search for "Apple Computers" you will tend to see pages that do not contain this particular term. But they will contain terms like Mac, Macintosh or G4. These are what are termed as SE (Search Engine) synonyms. Evidently Google seems to consider the terms "Mac" etc similar in meaning as "Apple Computers". This is comparable to the way you would use the words "car" and "vehicle" interchangeably. And consequently instead of serving back pages strictly with the terms Apple Computers it also includes pages without the term but include terms it considers similar like Mac and Macintosh.

These SE synonyms are an expression of Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) discussed here last week, peculiar so far only to Google search. But of more importance to a web business is that it impacts significantly on what you can rank for and how you optimize your web pages on this leading SE. Previously, to rank for all the keywords related to "Apple Computer" you would need to write separate pages for each term. But with this development, it seems the same page could appear for any of the search terms - even without those other terms present within the content.

If you particularly use SEs to drive your online business, LSI adds one more strategy into your bag of SEO tactic. The tactic is simply this; when writing content for your website, make a conscious effort to include SE synonyms in the page. So instead of only using the term "Apple Computers" interchange it with G4 and Macintosh. This will greatly improve the relevance of your page. Not only will Google notice your main keywords but also the use of synonyms. This makes the page super-relevant to the synonymic search terms in the eyes of the SE algorithm.

To determine SE synonyms use the toogle key before your search query. The toogle key is the key with the "~" sign. You will need to hold down the shift key. For example, if you type it before the term "Apple Computers" you will notice that in the resulting SERP include the words Mac, Macintosh and G4 in bold. The bolded words are what the SE also considers as synonyms to the search queries.

Press ReleasesEvernote: Now Open to Everyone

2008-06-25T07:18:00.002-10:00

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Evernote Launches Public Beta of Popular Cloud and Desktop 'Memory-Capturing' Service; Offers Free and Premium Subscriptions

Sunnyvale, Calif., June 24, 2008 – Evernote, a web service with full-featured desktop and mobile clients designed to allow users to easily capture and find information, memories, and content in any environment, today announced its public availability and a new subscription model. Access to Evernote is now available to everyone, without the need for a prior invitation, on the Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Windows Mobile, and other mobile devices. Over 120,000 users have participated in Evernote's invitation-only closed beta in the past four months.

Evernote allows users to capture information in any environment using virtually any device or platform, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. The product's innovative recognition and synchronization technology allows users to capture their memories as text, snapshots, digital ink or audio and then easily find and share them. Printed and handwritten text within images is made fully searchable and all notes are automatically synchronized between the network and local devices.

In addition to opening up the service, Evernote also announced details of its new subscription pricing. Premium users will benefit from an expanded 500MB monthly upload allowance, priority access to image recognition servers, stronger security options, and premium support. Evernote will charge $5 per month, or $45 for a full year, for Premium service. Free users will get a 40MB monthly upload allowance and have access to all clients and tools. These limits apply only to information added in a given month, not to the total amount of data that a user can store.

The latest release also features a completely redesigned Evernote Web user interface and a new version of the company's Web Clipper bookmarklet. The new Web Clipper allows users to instantly save the contents and links of a webpage into their Evernote accounts, a feature popular among bloggers, researchers, and online shoppers.

Other features include public notebook Facebook and blog integration, PDF support, encryption, and automatic synchronization of notes, to-do lists, snapshots, and audio notes among all Evernote clients. In recent weeks, Evernote has also released major upgrades to its Windows and Mac versions.

"Our goal is to make Evernote an extension of human memory. Since memorable things can happen at any time, online or in the real world, we realized that we needed to go beyond traditional web 2.0 and develop native clients for the major computer and phone platforms, in addition to a powerful web service. The response has been amazing," said Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote. "Opening up the beta is a huge step for the company. We're excited to introduce the world to Evernote, and we hope it becomes the place to store everyone's memories for months, years, and decades to come."

To sign up, create your own Evernote notebooks, and watch an introductory demo video, please visit: http://www.evernote.com.

Hot new Sony Camera coming soon

2008-06-20T20:59:00.002-10:00

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Sony HDR-CX12 Handycam Camcorder

This is new. The Sony HDR-CX12 Handycam ($900; Aug.) is an HD camcorder with Smile Shutter technology, which captures great photos while recording videos at the same time. It works like this — while recording, the camera detects smiles and automatically takes and saves a photo without you having to lift a finger, and without disrupting the video. The HDR-CX12 can record full 1920 x 1080 HD video and 10-megapixel photos on Sony Memory Stick PRO Duo media and any Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark2) media cards (it ships with a 4GB card). It also features a 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus screen, Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound recording, and a built-in zoom microphone.

Seesmic's Twhirl finally getting Seesmic support

2008-06-18T23:59:00.001-10:00

It's like Twitters that talk.

Seesmic founder and CEO Loic LeMeur is circulating an early release of Twitter client Twhirl with Seesmic support. Seesmic, if you have forgotten, is Twitter in video. Download the new release here.

The test client only plays Seesmic videos at the moment. It doesn't let you record them. Seesmic won't be updating the Twhirl client for everyone until recording is added. That's due in a few weeks. Following that, although it "will take a while," will be a version of Twhirl that lets users show their Twitter, FriendFeed, and Seesmic feeds in one window. That's the version I'm waiting for.

Twhirl was a brilliant acquisition for Seesmic. Not because it makes Seesmic better. Seesmic.com itself is already an attractive and useful site that doesn't really need a desktop client the way Twitter does. Rather, embedding Seesmic support in Twhirl gives the service exposure to all the Twitter users on Thwirl who would likely otherwise never pay attention to it. The real question for me is how any of these services are going to make money, and especially how those revenue plans will be reflected in aggregating clients like Twhirl.

View Original Article

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IBM updates free office suite, launches Lotus Symphony 1

2008-06-15T19:22:00.002-10:00

IBM has put the finishing touches on Lotus Symphony, a free Microsoft
Office competitor based on OpenOffice.org. The company pushed out
version 1.0 of the office suite which has been available as a public
beta since last year.

Unlike OpenOffice.org, Lotus Symphony is not open source software.
While IBM is providing it for free, Lotus Symphony is based on
OpenOffice.org 1.1.4, which is the last version of OpenOffice.org that
had a license allowing developers to modify the code and keep the
changes private.

According to Linux.com, IBM hopes to target the enterprise market with
this software. The goal is to provide Lotus Symphony as a free
alternative to Microsoft Office, while charging $25,000 per year for
support. Of course, if you know how to use word processors,
spreadsheets, and presentation applications, you probably won't need
to spend the money. But you also might not find much in Lotus Symphony
that isn't already available in its open source cousin, OpenOffice.org.

So what's new in Lotus Symphony 1? Here are a few highlights:
• Critical crash and freezing issues have been fixed
• Improved performance when creating new documents, spell checking
presentations of spreadsheets, redrawing a presentation page, saving
PPT files, and performing other actions
• Improved interoperability with Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org,
and SmartSuite documents
• Added support for 4 more languages, bringing the total to 28

Lotus Symphony is available for Windows and Linux. While the only
supported Linux platforms are SUSE Enterprise Desktop 10 and Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5, you can install Lotus Symphony on other
distributions. You just might run into a few errors here and there.

Songbird now has 10K song and growing

2008-06-14T07:56:00.001-10:00

The latest update, version 0.6 for Windows, Power PC Macs, Intel Macs, and Linux, includes the ability to handle turkey-size music collections greater than 10,000 songs, improved memory management, a metadata editor, improved portable player syncing, support for SHOUTcast, and more.

The code improvements have allowed for smoother scrolling, faster filtering, and just overall better management of music collections of any size. Songbird is well on its way to being a serious jukebox. Other fixes include the previously nonfunctional edit menu joining the land of the living and the introduction of in-page text searching.

Some of the improvements are no-brainers, but it's good to know that they've been addressed.

With all the hoopla over Opera and the upcoming Firefox 3 final release, there's a good chance that Songbird's baby beta steps will get ignored, but this has been one of the most promising programs being developed, and v0.6 will only whet your appetite.

I personally use songbird and it is growing on me. Give it a look

Send me your info Please

2008-06-09T12:49:00.003-10:00

Getting ready for mobileme. Please send me updated vCards to docrock@mac.com add photo if you wish. I want a pretty addresscloud. Everyone!

The YouTube Holy Grail!

2008-06-09T07:27:00.000-10:00

In November, YouTube announced plans for HD. They’re now testing it in some of their videos. Add &fmt=18 to the end of a YouTube video page URL to see if an HD version is available. Ergo this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQzUsTFqtW0

…becomes this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQzUsTFqtW0&fmt=18

If an HD version isn’t available yet, the regular version will play.

To get an HD embed, add &ap=%2526fmt%3D18 to each of the two instances of the video URL in the code. Ergo this:

Will become this:

Twitter Expects Hammering For WWDC, Here come the BOOM!

2008-06-08T23:41:00.000-10:00

Twitter is as unstable as it is irresistible. It’s shaky two year history (give it a few weeks to bring home its second anniversary) has been marked by plenty of highs, but just as quickly, infuriating lows.

This time, though…this time it’s going to be different. It’s going to greet its users Monday morning, and as Apple’s global fan club descends on Moscone West in San Francisco, physically and/or virtually, Twitter’s going to take its users through it all. From the grand-opening to the Steve Jobs sermon to the wink-wink-you-know- what’s-coming launch party, Twitter’s got it covered. Probably. Maybe. No guarantees. They’re expecting a ten-fold increase over their normal daily traffic count, so wager as you please.

Given the company’s history, they of course know this micro-blogging thing of theirs isn’t fault-proof. 100% is certainly not in-house Twitter terminology. But if Biz Stone’s portrayal today of what’s to come from the Rails-based platform is anything accurate, Twitter may well make it through Monday’s madness as one whole fully-operable bunch of code. As Stone describes it:

“We’ve moved much of the load off our database by utilizing more memcache, employing more read-slave servers, and by fixing some bugs for improved efficiency. This work is in intended to help handle the load and keep Twitter up and running while Steve Jobs talks about all the new products and services Apple has planned. Of course these improvements will continue to serve Twitter beyond the WWDC as well.”

Otherwise, communication breakdown, folks. Which won’t please anyone. Enter, Plan B:

“In the event that our estimates and preparations fail, we have designed a way to keep Twitter updates moving quickly through the system to their respective recipients. We have isolated and created on/off switches for many Twitter features. Should it become necessary to shed incoming load quickly, we can turn off features such as stats, pagination, and several others to preserve the reliability and timeliness of your Twitter timeline.”

Stone also rips a line out of Jobs’s book of commandments, saying there’s “one more thing.” It seems that they’ve put together something to convenience Apple fans eager to quickly learn about announcements 140 characters at a time. Stone reveals little else, though he advises readers to expect an update on the matter soon.

Holy SpeedBloggin Batman it Ping.fm

2008-06-05T01:56:00.001-10:00

People go check this shizzle out. Especially crack-addicts that have more than 1 blog, microblog, or social networking thingie (yeah that is precisely me, I know i'm a addict). http://ping.fm use the betacode: landofping when asked. Go get it fast cause these codes run out so fast... this shit rocks.. Don't miss out.

Flock, the "Social Web Browser"

2008-06-04T00:46:00.000-10:00

Flock, the "Social Web Browser"

built on the same Mozilla engine as Firefox, has launched the latest stable version, 1.2. The beta has been available for a while now.

In this version, Digg, Pownce, and AOL Mail integration. Digg and Pownce makes sense, but the AOL mail one didn't really excite us all that much.

It seems like Flock is stockpiling partners and features though and are putting together a very nice user experience "out of the box" that other browsers can't offer.

Firefox is perfect for the ubergeek that wants to install his or her own extensions, but for someone like our mothers or aunts who just want to try out this new fangled web thing, Flock is the answer.

Plus, the browser's blog editor is still the killerest app out there for any browser.

The knock on Flock has been stability which we haven't seen issues with on Windows or Mac, but the loadtime for first startup is a known issue that they're working on.

They recently won a

Webby award for "Best in Social Networking"

which is actually quite impressive considering that they were up against Facebook.

Go give Flock a shot

and let us know what me think.

Doc's Tomato Basil Garlic Bisque

2008-06-02T01:50:00.000-10:00

3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lg. onion
1 1/2 tbsp. garlic
1 1/2 tbsp. dried basil or if fresh is used, add more
4 c. chicken broth
1 c. flour
2 c. Italian plum tomatoes or 1 (2 lb.) can whole peeled or fresh tomatoes
2 tbsp. tomato paste
Pinch to 1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute until onions are wilted but not brown in olive oil and butter. Add garlic and saute until tender. Do not brown or burn garlic or butter. Add seasonings and all tomatoes and most of chicken broth saving about 1/2 cup to make a roux with the flour to be added near end of cooking. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Make a roux with reserved chicken broth, add to thicken. Then puree in blender. Cook 15 minutes longer. Serve with French bread or as topping for stuffed cabbage or bell peppers.

The Worst Infomercial Ever

2008-06-02T01:47:00.000-10:00

So I’m watching Comedy Central and soon after those irritating GGW (girls gone wild) Spring Break commercials I saw this little gem. This PC helper software and service is supposed to help you; over the phone, get rid of spyware and virii. As you know most of these things are total crap and can be obtained as free to low-cost utilities from www.versiontracker.com. The best part of the fiasco is the Macintosh computers in the advertisement with windows BSODs (blue screens of death). They are not even Intel Macs but they are shown running Outlook and kicking out windows errors. The clincher is the hero shot of a Mac keyboard during the final hardsell screens. Look and laugh but please don’t buy any of this crap as you will surley be had.

These outfits should be run out of business not given airtime for lousy commercials hocking purely useless software.

Just a thought

Powerset is off the Web 2.0 Hook

2008-06-02T01:46:00.000-10:00

Powerset is excited to announce the launch of our first product, which reinvents the search and discovery experience for Wikipedia articles.

Instead of being limited to keywords, Powerset allows you to enter keywords, phrases, or questions. Instead of just showing you a list of blue links, Powerset gives you more accurate search results, often answering questions directly, and aggregates information from across multiple articles. Finally, instead of leaving you at the search page, Powerset's technology follows you into enhanced Wikipedia articles, giving you a better way to digest and navigate content quickly. This post serves as a jumping-off point for all of the key information about the launch.

If you're all about immediate satisfaction, go straight to Powerset.com and start searching. If you aren't sure where to start, use our query examples at the bottom of our homepage. Powerset is packing a lot of features into this release.

Twitter reportedly closes $15 million funding round

2008-06-02T01:45:00.000-10:00

Microblogging service Twitter has reportedly closed a $15 million Series B funding round, according to Om Malik of GigaOM.

Malik estimates that it will bring the company's valuation to about $80 million and that the round is led by a new investor rather than existing investor Union Square Ventures (though the latter is participating). CNET News.com originally reported late in April that Twitter had signed a term sheet for either $15 or $20 million.

Rumors peg the new lead investor as Boston-based Spark Capital. An independent source hinted to CNET News.com that this is likely indeed the case.

But even as Twitter's valuation reportedly escalates, and it slowly breaks into the mainstream from Silicon Valley (Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody recently discovered it), problems remain: Only its Japanese edition displays advertisements, and executives still haven't unveiled any alternate revenue stream. And despite a recent employee shuffle on the engineering side, the service is still plagued by outages that, while certainly not any kind of global catastrophe, can be quite a bit annoying for active users.

Twitter: Tweet without a keyboard

2008-06-02T01:43:00.000-10:00

TwitterFone is free service that lets you update your Twitter feed using your voice from any mobile or cell phone. You call it, speak your tweet, and hang up. A short while later, your tweet will be posted on Twitter. Magic! TwitterFone is great for when you're on the go - in the car, on a train, or running between meetings - and don't have WiFi or time to log on to the internet.

How does it work?

TwitterFone transcribes what you've said from voice to text, and posts it to your Twitter feed for you.
The service is free and just uses regular minutes from your regular phone plan. There are TwitterFone numbers in many countries, so you should always have a TwitterFone number near you. When TwitterFone answers, just speak your tweet, and then hangup. TwitterFone will then transcibe your tweet and post it to Twitter. A short time after you call - typically 5-10 minutes - it'll be there.

What doesn't it do?

TwitterFone only works with Twitter -- it is NOT a general all-purpose "voice lifestreaming" service. It also currently doesn't do fancy Twitter features like @username and d username.

What do I need to use TwitterFone?

In order to use TwitterFone you need to have a Twitter account and a mobile phone. To get set up with TwitterFone, you need to have an invitation , which comes with a one-time only invitation number. Once you have your invitation, you can register with the TwitterFone service. During registration, you'll be asked for your email address, your Twitter credentials, and your mobile phone number. As a security measure, we'll validate your mobile phone during the registration process by sending you a text message with a code in it, and asking you to enter that code on the website. Once you're done that - you're done! You can start using TwitterFone immediately by dialing the local number we give you when you're registered.

Totus Copy: HOT! Resumable File Copy

2008-06-02T01:37:00.001-10:00

This was just released from the developers site today and it solves one of the greatest problems in backing up, copying, or recovering data. As you know when OS X hits a snag in copying your data or worse yet a file permissions type error this lettle gem will comtinue on like a brave little soldier. No mor ehand picking the files need from a huge folder of aunties cat pics to save momoeirs of ole' Tabatha. Totus Copy is my hottie of the month pick.

Totus Copy 1.0

Totus Copy is a utility for transferring data off of a failing hard drive. OS X has a number of safety features built into it's copy functions, if it detects an I/O error or a stalled read the transfer will fail. OS X also gets file information for all files before it even copies the first one. While these are great functions to prevent further damage to a hard drive it makes it very difficult to transfer data.

Totus Copy will scan a failing hard drive and recover the files from it onto a separate functional hard drive. It does this by using a very gentle non-intrusive scanning method. Unlike other transfer utilities there is no timeout for file copies. If the data is readable Totus Copy will transfer it. Although this will cause more damage to your hard drive it has a high success rate of retrieving data.

WARNING:

Totus Copy can cause further damage to a failing hard drive. Anytime data is accessed on a failing hard drive that drive can become more damaged. Please make sure to read all disclaimers associated with this software before using it.

Totus Copy Manual

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Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Features:

Ignore invisible files and applications, which increases the chance of recovering your important data.
Target files of a specific kind, such as music, pictures, or documents.
Error correcting transfer protocols with no timeout limit.
Transfer partial files, if 99% of a important document is damage other utilities will fail while Totus Copy will copy that 99%.
Handles files one by one instead of in large batches that are more likely to fail.
Target a specific directory to recovery only files that you need.
Scans directories as needed to minimize failures.
Recreates bundles and directories as opposed to trying to transfer them.

System Requirements:
Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
A failing hard disk that still mounts (Can be used in conjunction with Alsoft's Disk Warriors preview feature)

See the Hidden Infobar in iTunes

2008-06-02T01:37:00.000-10:00

Ok so by now everybody knows that iTunes can show you how much music, video, photos and preverbal other you have on your iPod. It is displayed in a bar graph under the summary tab of your device's information screens. Did you know that if you click on the aforementioned bar graph that it will sneakily display even more information. So the next time you plug in your second brain; other wise know as you iPod, give that little bar graph a click. You will see the count switch from size info you always see to and item inventory count. Click that sucker again and you will see how many days you can trip the lights fantastic to your Rick Astley collection of One Hit Wonders, or practice you bad voiceover skills to the hottest episode of Naruto. Give this tid-bit a spin and tell me what you think. Untill I have a chance to release another hot topic, love peace and chicken grease! -doc

Jay Leno nails it

2007-05-15T22:00:00.001-10:00

Jay Leno wrote this; it's the Jay Leno we don't often see....

'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.'

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Jay Leno

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02-24-06_1950.jpg

2006-08-23T04:28:00.000-10:00

02-24-06_1950.jpg, originally uploaded by docrock.

Go Big Red

2006-08-23T04:23:00.000-10:00

Go Big Red, originally uploaded by docrock.

Doc Chillin

2005-12-13T04:02:00.000-10:00

I'm in class thinking bout sleep
--docrock