Tech
Apple iPad
Jan 29th
When the Apple iPad was announced on Wednesday my immediate reaction was… “I want one!” Then, the more I thought about it I asked myself… “Why?”. About a year ago I was wondering why Apple didn’t release an iPod Touch that had Wi-Fi + 3G capability & now we know why they didn’t as they were developing the iPad. If something like that was out then, I wouldn’t have bought an iPhone. The iPad isn’t a breakthrough device and people are calling it the Kindle Killer. I disagree with that as the Kindle is a true eReader & will survive in the marketplace. They should have named it iPod Touch 3G XL instead & I’m perfectly happy with my iPad Nano (iPhone 3G).
Google Chrome
Jan 25th
I’ve been using Chrome for the past several months and haven’t looked back since. Today, Chrome released extensions & bookmark syncing to their stable channel of Chrome. Here’s a better list of what’s in the latest release including security fixes. Those using Internet Explorer, should stop now & use Firefox or even better… switch to Chrome. Also, those addicted to Firefox, I challenge you to use Chrome for at least two weeks & I’d be surprised if you went back to Firefox.
OpenDNS SmartCache
Dec 19th
Just another reason why I use OpenDNS & another reason why you should start using OpenDNS. I’ve mentioned OpenDNS plenty times here on The Glitch, so hopefully you have listened. Earlier this month, they released a new feature called SmartCache for all their versions of OpenDNS… including their free version.
A few weeks ago we made the decision that SmartCache, one of OpenDNS’s most significant DNS caching innovations, would be available for free to all of our 15 million users around the world, regardless of which version of the service you’re using. SmartCache keeps track of the last known good IPs for Web sites that are experiencing an authoritative DNS outage and hands them back instead of returning no answer. In many cases, the IPs associated with the web server or other services you are trying to reach work just fine and the Web site loads successfully. Without SmartCache, it’d feel like the site was down. So in effect, SmartCache makes Web sites that are down and unreachable for the rest of the Internet load for OpenDNS users.
In order to take advantage of SmartCache, you still need to take action and enable it on your network. Here’s how to do it:
- Log in to your OpenDNS account.
- Go to the Settings tab.
- Select the network you want to enable SmartCache for.
- Choose Advanced Settings.
- Select “Enable SmartCache on this Network” at the top.
Google Wave Invites
Dec 8th
I have 10 Google Wave invites to hand out. If you are interested, please leave a comment on this entry using a valid e-mail address as that’s where the invite will go.
Skullcandy Ink’d
Oct 12th
I just bought a pair of Skullcandy Ink’d earphones tonight to replace the cheap ones that came with my iPhone. I know these don’t have a mic, but I didn’t use that much anyway. These are great earphones and would recommend them to anyone. However, the only problem I had was trying to distinguish the left & right channels. I started to search the internet to find the answer & found people giving them bad reviews due to them not being able to distinguish the left or right channel. Then, after looking carefully at these under good lighting… I did find the L & R (left channel pictured below). It’s on the black cord at the very top where it meets the earbud itself. So, hopefully people find this article helpful.
Skullcandy Ink'd (Left Channel)
Security Essentials
Sep 30th
Looking for a good antivirus solution? How about a free one? I’ve used AVG for the past several years, but when Microsoft released the beta of Security Essentials I removed AVG to give it a try. One thing that you’ll notice off the bat is that Security Essentials is fast and doesn’t use as much resources compared to AVG or even Avast. Yesterday, Security Essentials was released to the public and I would recommend this to anyone wanting to try a different antivirus solution.
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.
Supported Operating Systems:
- Windows XP 32-bit
- Windows Vista/7 32-bit
- Windows Vista/7 64-bit
You can download it from here to give it a try.
Google Sync vs Gpush
Sep 22nd
Earlier, Google Sync announced the ability to have Gmail messages pushed directly to your phone. Before this announcement, I’ve been using IMAP to read my mail on the iPhone. That still didn’t allow me to use Push, therefore I’ve been using a separate app called Gpush. I was so excited with today’s announcement, so I deleted the IMAP setup and turned on Mail via Google Sync. I didn’t have to set it up as I’m already using it for Calendar & Contacts. After using it a little while, I reverted back using IMAP and Gpush. There are a few reasons why & I’ll explain. The first reason, which I’ll quote from their website;
Google Sync offers some advantages over using IMAP on your phone. Most importantly, it allows for content to be pushed to your phone within seconds after changes occur on the server. On the other hand, using Gmail Drafts from your phone is not possible via Google Sync.
Not being able to start a message on my iPhone and complete it via the web interface & vice versa is a huge drawback, at least to me. Another reason, is that while I can still see my folders (Labels)… I was only able to load messages back one month. However, with IMAP, I could load the last 50 messages & more if I wanted. If there is a way around this, please leave a comment correcting me, but I searched for a way & was unsuccessful. With Gpush, it’s using Apple’s push notification system meaning it displays a snippet of whom the email is from & the subject. Using Google Sync, I lost that ability. For whatever reason, Yahoo! has been the only provider to allow Push natively within the Mail app. Using IMAP with Push turned on via the Mail app for Gmail would be the ultimate setup. So, I’m going to stay loyal to Tiverias Apps (Gpush) as their service is great. It may be rocky at times, but overall it’s a great app and well worth the $1.99.
UPDATE: 09/22/2009 @ 11: 12 PM
I know a few folks that like to preserve their battery throughout the day. Here is another reason before you decide to go with Google Sync which is quoted directly from their Gmail blog;
While this type of speed is pretty awesome, push connections tend to use more power than fetching at intervals, so don’t be surprised if your battery life isn’t quite what it used to be. We’ve done a lot of work to optimize power usage, but if you prefer to save battery life, you can always turn off push in your phone’s settings and fetch mail every 30 or 60 minutes instead.
Google Sync just got Better!
Sep 22nd
Earlier in the year, Google launched Google Sync which allows you to synchronize your Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar with your iPhone. Today, they completed the hat trick allowing the iPhone now to synchronize Gmail messages.
Using Google Sync, you can now get your Gmail messages pushed directly to your phone. Having an over-the-air, always-on connection means that your inbox is up to date, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Sync works with your phone’s native email application so there’s no additional software needed. Only interested in syncing your Gmail, but not your Calendar? Google Sync allows you to sync just your Contacts, Calendar, or Gmail, or any combination of the three.
[SOURCE: Official Google Mobile Blog]
Tech Support Cheat Sheet
Aug 24th
Want to become a computer expert or fix your own computer problems? If so, just follow this flowchart;
[SOURCE: Lifehacker & xkcd]
Back to School
Aug 18th
I was over at appadvice and they have a “9 Apps For Back to School” list for iPhone/iPod Touch. I thought it was a decent list, but wanted to suggest two more apps that are free*:
- Convertbot: It is a unit conversion robot. Convert currency, length, mass, time and much more. Over 440 different units supported. Requirements: iPhone/iPod Touch and iPhone OS 2.0 or later.
- Wikipedia Mobile: Wikipedia is now officially on the iPhone. It’s a simple, yet fast way to access the popular online encyclopedia. Requirements: iPhone/iPod Touch (2nd generation) and iPhone OS 3.0 or later.
*Convertbot is free for a limited time.
