digisqueaks

Epipheo – Epiphany/Video

// June 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // applications, design, miscellaneous, online, tech

Great site: Epipheo. I first came across this site when the post, Epiphany Videos to Propel Viral Campaigns ended up in my inbox as a result of my subscription the the Flip the Media blog. The article itself was a brief insight to the site’s beginnings as well as where it might go from here. What most interested me was the embedded video, How Internet Has Changed Advertising. From there, I couldn’t stop watching videos. Each one really does make you think, even if just for a second. It’s definitely not brainless material.

There are videos in a variety of different categories. What I most enjoyed were the videos on advertising, marketing, and the spread of information on the internet. This is why I love the internet, social media, and digital media. There is so much information out there. I can’t get enough of how much there is to learn, how easy it is to get your hands on practically any information, and how people display it. Whether it’s videos, websites, photos, blogs, etc. The variety and depth of material is astounding. Check out the video from my last post if you don’t get where I’m coming from. Amazing.

xmarks/foxmarks and disappearing firefox bookmarks

// June 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // apple, applications, online, plugins, tech

Alright. I guess I’m not alone. I recently came across the bookmark saving site called xmarks. Like most applications, xmarks has its own add-ons/plugins for Safari, Firefox, etc. I thought, eh, why not? Figured it would be nice to be able to sync my bookmarks between Firefox and Safari. This would be especially helpful since I was actually enjoying Safari 4. I installed xmarks on both browsers and was notified that I could lose bookmarks. As I don’t really use all of the bookmarks I marked before moving to delicious, I figured I’d just import them to delicious so I wouldn’t lose my favorite ones. That was all fine and dandy. Delicious actually works.

I went ahead and synced the bookmarks. Of course, it all seemed fine….until it synced again and they all disappeared. Fine. So it was working finally on Safari, but Firefox was having a fit. I uninstalled it on Firefox thinking the add-on was gone. It should work fine now, right? Just make new bookmarks? Working working….restart Firefox. Poof! All bookmarks are gone again. Safari was still working fine, but sporadically choosing which bookmarks to delete. So I uninstalled it for both browsers? Problem solved? Of course not. Apparently this is an issue that remains unanswered by many. But I did get it to work again.

To fix Firefox, the quick and dirty solution is to create a new profile and delete your old one. Apparently it’s a known issue that xmarks messes things up. Nice. Here’s how to use Terminal on OSX to get into the Firefox Profile Manager (For other OS, see articles linked below): /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -profilemanager


I chose to create a new one and then fully delete my default user (along with deleting my files). Some people may want to chose to just delete the profile and not the files.

There may be other solutions to this problem. I suggest people post them because there seems to be a lot of confusion in forums right now with this issue. I’m not saying the profile solution is the best way to go, it’s just best solution I saw out there and it worked fine for me.

Here’s two articles from MozillaZine that might be useful: Lost Bookmarks & Profile Manager

home project – simultaneous media release

// June 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // online, photography, tech, television

I just recently read a post on Mashable entitled Film Released on YouTube, Theaters, DVD and TV for World Environment Day. The film was directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and produced by Luc Besson. Glenn Close narrates the 1.5 hour long video featuring high definition, aerial photography of over 60 countries to tell the story of our ecosystem and how humans have affected it.

I’m going to to watch the full video on YouTube the first chance I get. I looks incredibly interesting and the trailer itself is a work of art. For anyone interested, you can watch the trailer and full feature on YouTube for free.

social media – where is it headed?

// June 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // applications, mobile, online, tech

Social media seems to be transforming not only the internet, but the world, bit by bit. Within the last few months it seems that you cannot turn on the morning news without hearing the words tweet or Facebook. In everyday conversations I find myself referring to these technologies without even meaning to. Many times I am speaking to people who have absolutely no interaction with the internet whatsoever. As I describe my internet explorations, many people are amazed at how connected everything is and how easy it is to accomplish things with various programs. Others could care less and think that it is crazy that people would want to share as much as they do. Both my explanations of these technologies and the articles I have read lately make me wonder if we will take it too far. Most likely, I think we will.

Every time I sit down to update my networks, I am surprised at how long it actually takes. Between posting photos, posting videos, publishing blog posts, updating statuses…not too mention actually generating the photos, videos, and posts. As always, the more work something takes, the harder people try to figure out a way to make it quicker. Such is the case with the our new social media commitments.

Brian Solis, principal of an award-winning Public Relations and New Media agency writes a number of excellent articles on social media. One in particular, The Social Media Manifesto: Integrating Social Media Into Marketing Communications, is especially valid for this post. Surprisingly, even though it was written two years ago, it seems to precisely describe our current relations on the internet.

Monologue has given way to dialog…Content is the new democracy and we the people, are ensuring that our voices are heard…Those who participate will succeed – everyone else will either have to catch up or miss the game altogether. Engage or die.

Of course that is in regards to marketing. Companies will most certainly go under if they don’t grasp this new technology. But even in a broader scope, I think everyone is starting to feel this pressure, little by little. The more they have pressure, the more they will want to interact or feel left out. More and more I’ll find myself say, “Have you heard from John Doe? I saw his pictures posted on Facebook, seems like he’s having a good time.” If they aren’t already on Facebook, the reply has gone from “What’s Facebook?” to “Man, I really need to join that soon.”

But what if people don’t have the time? It takes too much effort…or it’s too confusing to them. What happens then? It seems that companies are taking care of that. (more…)

my take on video games

// May 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // applications, design, gadgets, gaming, mobile, online, tech

I’m in a habit of sharing articles on Delicious, Twitter, and every now and then, on Facebook. The design specific ones I always share with the design group at LSC. From time to time I come across articles that I think friends would like, so I post them on their walls. Sometimes I come across something that I just think anyone who’s interested would love to see, but I don’t necessarily have anyone specific in mind.

The other day, I watched the trailer for the new game, Red Dead Redemption. It’s a Rockstar game that is set to be released some time this fall. From what I’ve read, it is basically Grand Theft Auto, but set in the West during the late 1800s. Usually I’m not into stuff set in the “old West,” but the graphics caught my eye right away. If the graphics are already that good in the trailer and it’s supposedly a huge, open world game from Rockstar, I couldn’t help but be excited. I posted it on Facebook and hours later I get the comment, “You spend so much time in worlds that don’t exist.” Of course it was a joke, not a jab or anything, but I started thinking about why I instantly felt like I had to defend myself.

I’m surprised that given what a digital world we live in, video games still receive such harsh stigma. I’ve loved video games since the first time I played the text game, Zork on our first computer, a tiny Apple II when I was 5. From there I went through several gaming systems including the Turbo Grafx 16, several Game Boy models, several Nintendo models, a Sega Genesis and every one of the Playstation models (PSX, PSOne, PS2, PSP, PS3).

I think the reason that I love video games so much is the challenge. I think another big part of the appeal is that it is the perfect blend of art and technology. Two things I’m very interested in. As time goes on, the challenges get harder and the graphics only get better. The art is no good if the programming isn’t smooth, but even that is making huge leaps. Last year produced some of the best video games I’ve ever seen (Little Big Planet, Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, SKATE, Burnout Paradise, Uncharted, etc.). This year is supposed to be even better. When you think about how much time and work goes into creating a game, I don’t see how anyone couldn’t appreciate it. (more…)

atm card skimmers, they’re out there

// April 8th, 2009 // No Comments » // online, tech, what?!

Card skimming picture via Gizmodo

I honestly had never really heard of this until this week, but it seems that every day there’s a new article in gadget and consumer news about card skimming. Card skimming is a con where people retrofit ATM machines with hidden cameras to read your credit card numbers when you slide your card in. The mini cameras can be hidden behind plastic fittings that look like the usual ATM casing, inside information boxes, and any number of other spots. Sites like the Consumerist and Gizmodo are recommending that you give any ATM machine a look over before you slide in your card.

A few articles on card skimming:

• Credit Card Skimming: How thieves can steal your card info without you knowing it (via NetworkWorld)
• Rogue’s Gallery of ATM Skimmers (via Consumerist)
• Attack of the Card Skimmers: It’s Happening Right Here, Right Now (via Gizmodo)
• A Man Finds an Actual Card Skimmer in the Wild, in the Flesh (via Gizmodo)
• Credit Card Fraud – Skimming (via Wikipedia)

attached to your phone?

// March 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // applications, gadgets, tech

As I was reading through my RSS feeds, I came across a blog post on the Flip the Media blog entitled Can you live with your mobile phone? (I think they meant to say ‘without’ because the first line in the article started the same way.) Either way, I thought it was an interesting question, so I decided to check it out. The post was rather shorter than I expected, but luckily, the author linked to the source of their inspiration for the entry: You phone, your life: New apps change how you use mobile devices by John Boudreau of Mercury News.

They tell us where to eat, how to find friends, when to make a left turn.

Oh, and they can also make a phone call.

What a great starting set of lines. It’s so true. With the dawn of the Apple App Store (and subsequent app stores), you really can get software that perform almost any function that you need at any given time. What, you don’t have Midomi? Even then it’s only a few clicks and problem solved. You can find restaurants, keep track of expenses, make calls, text, update Twitter, check sports scores, etc. all from your cell phone. I think what’s even more impressive is that these services aren’t even limited to Apps on a smartphone. There’s numerous services you can sign up for that let you access information without even having a smartphone, just by using simple SMS (text messages).

I think I could live without my phone, my computer, etc. pretty easily for a set amount of time, but being the gadget freak that I am, I’d start to feel withdrawals within a few days. I have been in the habit lately of trying to avoid plugging in my computer on the weekends (unless I have a job deadline). I also try not to use it too much at night. During those times though, I find that I still have to check my email, Twitter, etc. I just use my iPod Touch. I think it’s a good compromise. I do not own a iPhone or other smartphone (although I may update this Summer). I find that I can achieve a perfect balance between my cellphone (Samsung Alias with flip QWERTY keyboard), my iPod Touch, and my laptop. I use my laptop most days, for the majority of the day. When I’m not “plugged in” I use my cellphone’s SMS capabilities on the go or my iPod Touch if I happen upon a wireless hot spot or in my apartment.

If I don’t need wireless, I prefer my iPod Touch. I keep track of my expenses, track notes, play games, write drafts of blog entries, listen to music, etc. If I need to say, update my Twitter, Facebook, Netflix Queue, etc. and I don’t have wireless, I can easily do all that and more from my cellphone via SMS. I could “live without” my phone, but I certainly wouldn’t want to.

march 12, daily summary

// March 12th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // apple, applications, design, gadgets, online, tech

Articles:

1. Top 10 Social Networks For Entrepreneurs – Mashable
2. Self-healing polymer advance could mean scratch-free iPhones – Ars Technica
3. The Elements of Social Architecture – A List Apart
4. A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy – Clay Shirky’s Writings About the Internet

Useful Apps/Sites:

1. Project Dragonfly “…experimenting in real time with your ideas in 2D and 3D… ”- Autodesk
2. Path Finder “The Mac OS X file browser with moxie.” – Cocoatech
3. MacJournal “Mac journaling and blog software” – Mariner Software
4. Blip.fm – Be a DJ Online (listen to different music online)
5. XPenser.com Track personal expenses (by SMS, email, etc.)
6. Dial2Do.com Access different services via cellphone (voice commands)

Exciting Tech News:

1. iPhone OS 3.0 – http://bit.ly/OvdwI
2. iPod Touch 2g Jailbreak – http://bit.ly/h00Gn
3. Google Voice – http://bit.ly/DcmXa
4. Sirius XM iPhone App – http://bit.ly/aYGMY

great Mac|Life article – calling all Mac geeks

// March 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // apple, applications, online, tech

In the past year, there’s quite a few magazines that I subscribed to. A few are worthwhile while others don’t really cut it. One of the ones I am planning on renewing is Mac|Life. It’s usually got great articles, great reviews, and just enough ads so that you don’t find yourself flipping through 5 pages between every article. This month’s cover article was: 50 Things Every Mac Geek Should Know. It’s probably a good thing that I can honestly say, I actually learned quite a few things that I didn’t already use on my Mac. Here’s a few of my favorites with the corresponding numbers from the article.

#9 Spotlight Can Do Math – Definitely didn’t know this one. I always find myself opening Calculator to perform calculations. Apparently OS X Leopard has a built-in feature where you can simply press Command-Space to pop open Spotlight, start typing in an equation, and press Return. Tada!

#13 Safari’s Private Surfing Is Not So Private – Fortunately, I don’t use Safari anyways, and my computer is my personal machine. BUT, if you are often at work, school, or some other public place, and enter pages you may not want people knowing you enter, this may be helpful. Private Browsing actually stores your preferences so anyone (boss, IT, etc.) can see your history by using the Terminal and typing: dscacheutil -cachedump -entries Host . You can purge this by typing this into the Terminal: dscacheutil -flushcache

#15 How To Reset Your iPod or iPhone – Okay, so I already knew this one…but since it’s extremely useful if you have an iPod touch or iPhone (and something I’ve had to use numerous times), I’ve included it. Just press and hold the wake/sleep button (top of device on the left) and the Home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears. Let go and let it reboot. (For clickwheel iPods it’s the Menu and center buttons at the same time.)

#18 Play Tetris In The Terminal – This is awesome . (1) Launch Terminal, (2) Type emacs and press Return, (3) Press Escape, then type x, (4) Type tetris

#20 The Dock Is Cool, But It Ain’t Perfect – Add A Recent Items Stack: (1) Open Terminal, (2) Type defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add ‘{ “tile-data” = { “list-type” = 1; }; “tile-type” = “recents-tile”; }’ and press Return. Type killall Dock and press Return, (3) When it restarts, Control-Click to customize….or….to make dock icons magnified really big if you have them really small, just hold Shift-Control when you mouse over them.

#32 The Finder’s Not the Only Way to Access Files On Your Mac – Shares info on the app Path Finder ($39.95) which you can use as a replacement Finder with more features. Cool.

#33 Zap Your PRAM – Delete your parameter RAM: (1) Shut down the computer, (2) Turn on the computer, (3) Press and hold Command-Option-P-R before the grey screen appears, (4) Release once the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.

#36 Use Encrypted Disk Images to Hold Super Secret Files – (1) Launch Disk Utility, (2) Choose File > New > Blank Disk Image and enter a name for your image. Notice where it is going to save and change if necessary, (3) Select size, (4) Choose 128-bit AES encryption from the drop-down, (5) Choose read/write disk image from Image Format drop-down, (6) Create.

#45 Use FSCK If Safe Boot Isn’t Enough – Reboot your Mac while holding down Command-S. At the command-line, type: /sbin/fsck –fy. Let it do its thing. If you get: ** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK, then everything is good. If you get: ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****, then keep running FSCK until you get the first message. When you’re done, type: reboot, in the command-line prompt. Your Mac will restart.

#46 Fix Startup Issues With Safe Boot – Hold down the Shift key when you start or restart. Once you do that successfully, restart it in normal mode.

#48 Essential Third-Party OS X Utilities – PRODUCTIVITY: Quicksilver (free beta), AUDIO: Audio Hijack Pro ($32), MENU: FruitMenu ($12), ICON: CandyBar ($29), BACKUP: Déjà Vu ($24.95), CLEAN-DESKTOP: DragThing ($29)

#50 Play Snake in the Terminal – (1) Launch Terminal, (2) Type emacs and press Return, (3) Press Escape, then type x, (4) Type snake

And that’s that. Again, these are just a few of my favorites or ones that I find especially helpful. Here’s the link for the official Mac|Life article.

reduce your cable bill, part II

// February 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // applications, music, online, tech, television

Part II – PlayOn & MediaLink – For those of you who have a Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or HP MediaSmart TV, there’s software out there that can stream content from your PC to your system. It’s called PlayOn. This software just came out of beta yesterday and until February 8th, this software costs only $30. The price goes up another $10 after that, but in my opinion, it’s worth it. Of course, there’s always a 14 day trial for those who aren’t quite sure it’s for them.

I’ve had this software for quite awhile, as a beta tester. The most convenient thing about PlayOn, in my opinion, is that it allows you to stream your instant queue from Netflix. You can also browse through Hulu, CBS, YouTube, CNN, and ESPN content. I’m sure they’ll probably add more down the road. There were quite a few bugs during beta testing, but that’s to be expected. Seems that everything is relatively stable at this point. Very convenient for the PS3 owner who wants to stream Netflix and other content.

One thing about PlayOn is that it needs Windows to stream off your computer to your system. Just fine and dandy if you have a PC running Windows by default. If not, just simply run Windows through Parallels or VMWare on your Mac. It works great.

The other app I mentioned is NullRiver’s MediaLink. It’s $20, but again, pretty useful. Especially if you have a Mac and a PS3 (they also have an Xbox 360 version). MediaLink allows you to stream media from your Mac to your PS3. It acts as a server and shows up right in the XMB menu. You’ll instantly have access to iPhoto, iTunes, Aperture, etc. I find this very useful because sure, I can set up my hard drive and stream my music off of it, but have you ever tried to set up a playlist on the PS3? It’s a pain. With MediaLink, I can view my iPhoto albums and iTunes playlists instantly, just as I have them set up on my Mac. Want a different playlist? Just set one up and refresh and there it is. Check it out if you have a Mac and have been looking to integrate it with your PS3.