MacRumorsLive Gets HACKED Covering Macworld Expo 2009
This is just plain silly. The MacRumorsLive site (http://www.macrumorslive.com) got hacked only about 25 minutes into them covering the keynote. I took a quick screen capture of when the hack ...
Ongoing Roundup of Macworld 2009 News, Products, Links, etc.
I will be at (or currently am at) Macworld 2009 this week. As you can see, they have been waiting for me (GRIN – see picture below). I'm hoping to ...
Fix It: Opening Control Panel Crashes Windows Explorer on XP/Vista
Have you ever tried to open your Control Panel on Windows XP (or Vista) and every time that you attempted it, you received a “Windows Explorer has Stopped Working” message ...
First Attempt at Script Writing for Video on Cloud Computing
A few weeks ago, I wrote up a script designed to help people understand the concept of Cloud Computing. The idea was to create a short video that explains the concept in a way that everyone could understand. Modeled after the “In Plain English” video (you can see some of those on YouTube, I highly recommend them), I wrote up the script for the video below, along with some visual concepts to go with the script. After that, a coworker who is in charge of the UI for our product, GoGrid, did the rest (drawings, production, editing, voiceover, etc.).
We are pretty pleased with our result, and we hope to provide more videos like this in the future where we drill down into Cloud Computing and other topics in more detail.
Let me know what you think!
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Preview: San Francisco’s New Academy of Sciences
A few weekends ago, I was lucky to get a preview of San Francisco’s new Academy of Sciences complex in Golden Gate Park. The area has a lot of memories for me as I used to go there as a child many years ago. It was a magical yet historic place with beautiful older architecture that packed all sorts of displays (from the Morrison Planetarium, to the Kimball Natural History Museum to Steinhart Aquarium). I remember well the alligator pit as well as the two-headed gopher snake that excited kids of all ages.
Originally established in 1853, the Academy is one of the 10th largest natural history museums in the world. According to Wikipedia, the Academy was founded only 3 years after California joined the United States and was the first society of its kind in the Western US. The first official museum opened in 1874 and it was moved to Golden Gate Park in 1916 after the original site was impacted by the 1906 Earthquake. Various building were added over time to make it what came to be a monument in San Francisco. The building (see picture to the left) was damaged again in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and parts were closed down. After inspection, it was decided that it would be more expensive to retrofit than to rebuild and thus started the mammoth process that brought about today’s structure.
I personally did not follow the construction of the new facility and had no expectations on what the design would hold. However, I did have my memories and hoped that what ever the architects had decided to do would not ruin those images in my mind.
Unfortunately, what I eventually saw with the Charter Member Preview was quite different than what I had envisioned. Now don’t get me wrong, it is an amazing work of engineering and is elegant in its own ways. And, it is a work that does reflect our modern times and concerns over energy and the environment. I DO recommend that you see it and experience it. I think that I need to go back again (and will do so) once the “dust settles.” What follows are some pictures that I took of the Academy and some of the surrounding Museums to provide some perspective.
Happy Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day 2008
If you are reading this on September 19th (of any year), you are probably seeing it in “pirate-speak.” September 19th has been designated as official “Talk Like a Pirate Day” around the world. There seem to be many “official” sites out there about it. Here is one of them. Wikipedia weighs in as well.
If you want your WordPress blog to automagically transform your regular writing into that of a drunken, crazy pirate, then you should grab this plugin (known as Text Filter Suite or “TFS” for short). Every September 19th, your site will growl with pirate talk.
Be sure to spread the word since this only happens once a year. I wonder if the side effect is more or fewer people dressed as pirates for Halloween?
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Review: LaCie’s USB-powered Speakers
Just in time for back to school, LaCie just launched a new set of USB-powered speakers. Designed by Neil Poulton, these reasonably priced, simple-yet-elegant speakers compliment LaCie’s previously released FireWire Speaker set. Since not all computers and laptop have the ability to use FireWire, LaCie felt it important to release a set that could be use universally, by Macs and PCs alike.
These speakers are designed for ease-of-use at a price point that make them a near essential for any high school or college-bound student. What’s really nice about these is that there is minimal configuration required to quickly be enjoying crisp, clear sound in minutes.
The original FireWire version of these speakers were awarded the Janus 2007 Seal of Quality by the French Institute of Design and were listed in Time Magazine’s Design 100 issue. Not only that, this unique design also received a 2008 Design Observer Star from the France-based Agency for the Promotion of Industrial Creation (APCI). More information about the designer, Neil Poulton can be found on his website.
What most people will like about this product is how truly easy it is to get up and running on any computer. Simply locate the USB plug and then based
on whether you are using a Mac or PC, select the output device for your sound. I followed the Mac path here. The steps are very straight forward, but even I messed up at first and had to quickly go back and read the manual. One simple has to connect one speaker to the other (the connections are clearly labeled) and then plug the USB into your Mac or PC. When I did this the first time, there was no sound coming from the speakers. I found the following in the short manual (which is written in 18 languages, 1 page per language):
Note: If you have connected your LaCie USB Spekers but you don’t hear any sound when playing an audio file, you may need to select the speakers manually as your audio output device.
Windows Users: Control Panel>Audio>Playback>USB Audio Device
Mac Users: System Preferences>Sound>Output>USB Audio Device
Humor: Your Servers are NOT Bulletproof!
Having some fun with servers (traditional vs. the “Cloud”). There are more videos coming at NoHardware.com.
HTD says: Hope you liked it!
iPhone: Quickly Launch Apps, Website & Phone Calls with QuickGold
Today I installed an application on my jailbroken iPhone that I personally think Apple should incorporate into their next release of the firmware. It honestly is this GREAT! I have over 6 “pages” of applications on my iPhone and have all but sprained my fingers from flipping through all of the pages as I attempt to find a particular application. The developer of the application “Om P (zataang)” really hit this application on the mark in terms of quick productivity on the iPhone. More details on QuickGold can be found here.
The application is summarized within Cydia (the installer app) as such:
“With QuickGold, you can launch apps, webclips or call phone numbers in your address book quick. Tap the Home (Menu) button while at the SpringBoard and a search bar will appear. Enter a few characters, see the matches and tap on the one you want! Also, if you enter just a number and tap on “Go”, it will dial that number. It works similarly for a web address.“
Can I just say WOW!?! This is sort of like a “command-line” utility for the iPhone and it really works well. For example, I have about 4-5 twitter clients that I use interchangeably. It’s a pain to try to find those buried in my pages. Now, I just go to my “Desktop”, click the Home button once and QuickGold launches. Then I just start typing the name of the application or contact, in this case, I typed “Tw” and all of the applications that had “Tw” in it show up. Just click on the name and then the application launches. Huge time saver for me. This is the initial screen:
Fix It: Outlook Calendar and iPhone Calendar Events Hours Not Synched Correctly
Just a quick fix-it tip here. I have a co-worker who was having some issues with his iPhone and Outlook 2007 calendar times being off or offset by 1 hour. I guess that this fix it would apply to anyone who is getting calendar notifications on their iPhone earlier or later than what is showing up on their Outlook 2003 or 2007 client. Basically, his iPhone was showing all of his Outlook events 1 hour earlier than Outlook was.
Here are the steps to fix this issue:
- Check computer to be sure that you have set the proper Time Zone
- Check that your iPhone is set to the same Time Zone as your computer. To access the settings, go to SETTINGS > GENERAL > DATE & TIME and be sure it is set to “Automatic” (note: you can manually set this as well if you need to).
- Now, assuming you have ActiveSync enabled, go to SETTINGS > MAIL, CONTACTS, CALENDARS and scroll all the way down to the “Calendar” section (at the bottom):
- Click on “Time Zone Support”. Turn it “ON”. Then look at the “Time Zone” field. This is probably where you have something incorrectly configured. (Note, the image below is my setting which is correctly set.)
