Take the SuperHero and SuperVillain Personality Quiz!
Your results:
You are Green Lantern
|
Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.
|
Your results:
You are Dr. Doom
|
Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.
|
- January 8, 2007
Segway's Revenge
This is my nephew, Martin. We were down in Celebration, FL, for Thanksgiving when my brother, Les, broke out the Segway for the kids to try out.
And this is Martin riding the Segway for the first time. He kind of looks like he knows what he's doing, yeah? Well, once the adult supervision heads indoors, the kids go to work... or should I say...play. =] Take a look at my nephew's skills... And make sure to have your volume up, the foreshadowing comments are amazing. =]
Awww...it's okay, Martin. We still love you!
- January 3, 2007
The Best of 2006 - Technology
Technology I could not live without for 2006
Wow... I spent an entire evening and then some writing this list! But I guess since I basically disowned my website for a couple of months, it's OK to sit down and spend some time writing something that may have an impact on others.
And that is, indeed, the point of this post. Since I find that I'm typically a bit more into discovering and using the latest and greatest the web has to offer than many of my friends and family, allow me to share with you the hardware, software, and websites that I found most useful/interesting this past year. Many you will have heard of. Some you will not. All of them are quite useful, though, I assure you. And if you decide you'd like to delve into some of them and need some guidance, please let me know (email goes here). I'll be happy to help get you started.
Anyway, you may be wondering why I nixed the "Best of" title above... Upon further reflection, I'm certainly not qualified to tell you what's best, and by no means did I track down and try all the competitor applications to what I use. So you might, indeed, be using some apps that fit your bill nicely. But for those of you who are interested, here's my list of the technology I could not live without in 2006...
Hardware
MacBook
Why!!!! Why switch, that is? Well, because Macs just look cool. And it's a great deal for the price versus comparable PC's. And they sell the MacBook complete with a bunch of cool software bundled in the iLife suite (namely iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand). All the things I want to learn to make the most of all the digital photos, music, and videos I have accumulated. This software would set me back more than a couple hundred dollars in addition to an already more expensive PC.
Seriously though... I was worried about the switch to a new operating system. Yeah, Mac's OSX Tiger is all the rage in its simplicity, its elegance, and its security. But why go and spend all that time learning a new system after I've "invested" all those hours in Windows?
2006 has been all about change for me...so what the hell! And besides, in a pinch, now that the Macs are Intel-based, I could always run Windows on my MacBook using Bootcamp. Or with Parallels, you can run both simultaneously. DOPE!
You feelin' the urge? Get yourself a MacBook!
Video iPod 30GB
I bought my first iPod earlier this year. I must admit, I was anti-iPod for a long time. But after checking out the field of competitors at the time, it had no equal. There are lots of great players out there, so I'm not touting the iPod. But the fact that it does work so effortlessly with iTunes makes it a phenomenal 1-2 punch. Of course, you all know all this already...
Software
Firefox
There are alternatives (http://www.alternativebrowseralliance.com) to the almighty IE (Internet Explorer). Opera, SlimBrowser, Safari, and Flock to name a few. But in my humble opinion, Firefox leads the pack by far. And their 30% market share and gaining is the proof in the pudding (IE still reigns supreme with 60%). What makes Firefox so good?
Extensions extensions extensions! This is what makes Firefox stand heads and shoulders above the other browsers. Firefox is a basic browser without too many frills, except for tabbed browsing capability which IE7 has finally come around to supporting. For any additional functionality, it relies on extensions created by its users. In this way, the user can customize Firefox to their own liking, not depend on almighty Internet Explorer to have all the answers figured out without any ability to change it. To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, check out some of the extensions on the mozilla site.
I have over 20 extensions loaded into my browser and am still adding each passing month. But seven of them are worth mentioning. I won't describe them in detail here. Instead, I'll link them to their page on the Mozilla site so you can read it if you choose. In no particular order, check out Cooliris, Foxmarks, All Peers, Adblock, Greasemonkey, StumbledUpon, TabMixPlus. They just make browsing fun again.
Should you switch to Firefox? The short answer is... Abso-freakin-lutely! You won't miss IE at all. And if you do, there is an extension that lets you render pages the way IE would. So take control of your browsing experience. Be master of your own...er...domain. And call me if you need help or guidance. Or, if you're a do-it-yourself-er, then check with Lifehacker for some guidance. They've written TONS about Firefox.
Dashboard (Yahoo Widgets)
I happened upon widgets early this year, way before I bought my MacBook, so I was using it on my PC. What's a widget, you ask? Widgets are just little programs. They can be alarm clocks, calculators, can tell you your WiFi signal strength, will fetch the latest stock quotes for your preferred symbols, give your current local weather, and even do much more intricate things like let you post messages to your blog.
They are extremely cool, and you can cover your desktop with them! If you have a Mac, they are a built into the Dashboard. So you can have all that information at your fingertips without having to visit website after website. One warning, though. be sure you have plenty of RAM (at least 256MB). Otherwise, it can be a pretty painful exercise in patience.
Google Earth
All I can say is that if you have not ever seen this application in action, you are truly missing out on a wonderful experience. You might think you've seen it all with Google Maps hybrid views of satellite and street maps combined. But they pale in comparison to fly-bys of your favorite spots and former dwellings. C'est magnifique!
VLC Media Player
VideoLAN is a software project that makes some really cool software at a really cool price... free! The VLC media player is a cross-platform multimedia player for various audio and video formats. That's just fancy language for a media player that works on most any computer (PC, Mac, Linux) that can play damn near anything, no matter what it's native format. If you find yourself having trouble playing a video or a song you just downloaded, then run it on this baby and you shall not be disappointed (don't hold me to that!).
Tivo Desktop
DirectShowDump
Galleon
The TiVo revolution is no longer revolutionary. It's an expectation. The wow factor is gone... kind of like bullet-time in The Matrix Reloaded. But some new innovations have me going wow!
First, the TiVo Desktop. It's a software that lets you download anything recorded by your TiVo directly to your computer's harddrive (assuming you have it connected to your home network via ethernet or wireless). This is too cool. But unfortunately, the files are in a proprietary .tivo format, not .mpg or .avi. So you need a special software that TiVo wishes to sell you for $35 or so.
Well, my first response is always to seek a freeware or shareware to solve a problem like this. And behold! DirectShowDump is there to save the day. It strips the mpeg file out of the .tivo format. Now I should be able to play it with Winamp or Windows Media Player. But not so fast! Those players lack the codecs necessary to play the dumped mpeg. That's where the VLC media player comes in to save the day. Like I said before, this baby will play damn near everything!
A final innovation that needs mentioning is Galleon. This thing seriously rocks! It basically hijacks your TiVo and allows you to do a helluva lot more things, allowing your TV to be a lot more like your computer and your computer to be a lot more like your TV. Sound strange? Well, check out this video to see what I'm talking about.
iPhoto
I've been hoarding photos for a couple of years now, and the best thing I've used to manage them was Picasa. That is, before I bought my Macbook. Now I have iPhoto, and I don't think I'll be turning back ever again. Granted, you have to have a Mac to use this product, but it's simply stupendous. The ability you have to tag your photos rather than only being able to file them away in folders is super smart design. But the slideshows you can create with this thing are truly wonderful and awe-inspiring. Three words for you...Ken Burns effect.
iMovie
I'm not a director. So it's hard for me to come up with great clip sequences. But it is certainly fun to try. And iMovie's ease of use makes you feel as if you could create your own masterpiece that people will actually want to see. I'm still working on my first "film", so I can't say too much about iMovie just yet. But it certainly seems like a fun idea to create my own magic on the screen.
iTunes
Do I really have to go into this one? What I can say is that having used iTunes on a PC as well as a Mac, I think the application just "feels" better on the Mac. Call me crazy.
What does need mentioning are podcasts. If you have not downloaded and listened to a podcast yet, do it now. =] Go to iTunes and check out the wide variety of programming available. Initially, there were many amateur efforts. But as the technology gained popularity, the quality and professionalism improved greatly. From radio programs like NPR to professional publications like BusinessWeek, and from educational material like ChinesePod to entertainment like Vintage ToonCast, podcasts can run the gamut. And they are my secret addiction...
NeoOffice (in lieu of MS Office)
Did you know there are alternatives to the ubiquitous Microsoft Office? While OpenOffice is the most common open-source office applications software (that I know of), NeoOffice ain't too shabby. So if you need to work with documents like those from Microsoft Office, such as Excel, Word, and Powerpoint, but don't want to shell out the $$ for MS Office, try out some good open-source software. It works on both PC's and Mac's. Given the choice (and the money) I'd go with Microsoft Office.
PhotoBooth (sorry no link!)
Just like the name, this program makes you feel like you're at the mall... You just sit in front of your Mac's iSight camera and produce crazy pictures. The only thing missing is the privacy curtain!
Quicksilver
A fairly new addition to my arsenal of killer apps. It's lean. It's mean. And it'll make you the most adept mac-user in your bunch. Trust me. This will save you time and effort. I will say no more, except that I'm sorry for you Windows folks. It's exclusive to Macs.
FolderShare
So you use two different computers. One for work, one for home. And you're tired of transferring files back and forth. You just wish you could sync them, kind of like you would synchronize your Palm or Treo. Or maybe you want to have a way to access your files off of your home computer.
FolderShare answers the call for all your file synchronization and remote access technology needs. Yeah, yeah, it's a Microsoft product, but never fear. FolderShare was acquired.
I'm new to the product, but it's pretty cool so far. Ever since I got my Mac, I've been struggling with working with my files when on the road. It was nothing short of sucky. And it involved at least an hour or so before every trip to ensure I had all my data packed up and backed up. Life is so much simpler and sweeter now with FolderShare. Note, there are other free options such as VNC. Or, if you have some money to burn, you could splurge for a product like PC Anywhere. Either way, once you've enjoyed this sort of flexibility, you'd be glad to pay for it than to return to the dark ages of manual file transfers.
Internet
Gmail
Man, could an email app(lication) get any better? Now, if you use Yahoo mail or Hotmail (soon to be Windows Live Mail), you might be content with your web mail, but having email accounts with all three, I swear Gmail takes the cake as the best app. I've been using it since 2004, but it's changes a lot since then, and of course, always improving.
It's a bit different at first. You must get used to label (or tags) instead of folders for organization. You also have to learn to manage your inbox by archiving mail instead of deleting it. And if you're truly a keyboard master, Gmail has incorporated keyboard shortcuts to make the user interface as functional and robust as a desktop application. And finally, the spam filter is a helluva lot better than Yahoo's and Hotmail's.
If you don't have a Gmail account and you want one, just drop me an email and I'll send you an invitation. I'm cool like that. =]
RSS
If you're still reading up on the news and your favorite sites by actually clicking through your favorites, you're in the Dark Ages of browsing. Get with the program! And start using some Really Simple Syndication to aggregate feeds from all of your favorite sites.
You can use a desktop aggregator or a web-based one. I personally use a web-based aggregator called Netvibes. I like the interface, but realize there are TONS of them available. Here is a list broken down by the platform of your choice. You can even use a feed reader on your phone! If you're too busy to bother with all of those choices, you can just use your Google Personalized Home Page. After all, you visit Google all the time anyway, right? Just start using it.
Lifehacker
This site has taken up sooooo much of my time. It's a totally great website with tips and tricks on making our computers bend to our will. Geek to Live, baby!
Mashups (especially with Google Maps and Flickr)
Developers are getting creative out there, taking APIs from multiple websites and merging them to form new, innovative applications. Most of the ones I've been using involve Flickr and Google Maps. You've probably already seen a mashup before and just didn't know it. But if not, check out the following links... you won't be disappointed.
From the links above, you will find that these mashups are super fun, and some are super useful! I've spent hours toying with them (one of the perks of not having a job)!
My favorite by far is #1 on the list... gmap-pedometer. The link you will see is a map of a walk I do fairly regularly from my house to the beach. Try it in your own neighborhood! And #15 Fast Food Maps is really interesting, too. I mean, come on, the nearest KFC to my house is about 4 miles!!! Enjoy the rest! Other favs for me are #3 Look up a US zip code, #4 Measure Area, #28 Flight Tracker... If you're hooked, there are even more fun mashups to see!
And for some fun with pictures, check out the list of mashups using Flickr, a photo community on the web. It just may change forever the way you interact with photos! My favorite here is Retrievr. If you like browsing photos, you'll never find a more interesting interface for finding photos. And for a Flickr game to play when you are totally bored, check out Fastr. =]
+++ +++ +++
WHEW!!! And that's all she wrote. I hope this list has been fun for you... For me, it'll be something to reflect upon in a few years. But I hope I have shed some light on some of the new technology out there.
Have a happy and prosperous 2007!
- December 29, 2006
