Through the power of MINI Connected…
MINI Connected - Web Radio App
Listening to a Punjabi Internet Radio station originating from Norway, coming to me via 3G in a moving car at a stop light, by way of MINI Connected. Is it Magic? No- It’s technology!
Yesterday I wrote an awesome post about the first ever TWIT barbecue, a detailed account of the event and the new “Game On” show with Veronica Belmont (@veronica) and Brian Brushwood (@shwood). I also delved into Veronica’s allergies to adhesives, the subtlety of being in the audience of a show being taped and broadcast live, and how I learn a 1/2-dozen production tips every time I am able to attend one. I then set the article to post this morning, and only now, discover that the beautifully written post never saved… Not even a rough draft. DRAT it all! (I blame GoDaddy’s abysmal support of WordPress)
At least there’s pictures.
Tom and Leo nitpick Skyrim during pre-show
@shwood adjusts @veronica 's mic during setup for Game On
This is how the sausage is made, folks.
TWiT hosts in the i'm-not-posing pose...
More comparative analysis*, TWITtv on the 55″ Sony Bravia, by way of iPad to VGA cable…
Not too shabby! *(Compare to same program on the same TV, via Macbook Pro (also wireless).)
Apple iPad-to-VGA Cable (part #MC552ZM/B) $29.00 @store.apple.com
I am far from being an early-adopter. In fact, aside from reading up on the news, issues, and short-comings of new technologies, I’m usually the last person I know to bite the bullet. However since my job gave loaned me my Macbook Pro, iPhone, *and* iPad2, I figured the least I could do is help them out.
Worth the wait? Um, yeah.
I use the aforementioned devices primarily for work, and as such, am looking at iOS5 as far as its functionally from that prospective.
Caveats:
Oh yeah- a couple mundane details that affect my experiences:
1. I’m on an iPhone 3GS. Whatever features unique to iPhone 4/4s, I didn’t get them.
2. I’m on Snow Leopard on the Macbook. Whatever Lion-only niftiness there is, I don’t have those either.
3. I have not turned on iCloud as of this posting. Why not? Because: a) I don’t care. b) These aren’t my devices and could have them yanked from my at any moment, and c) My job backs up my MacBook regularly anyway.
Part One: The Install. To upgrade to iOS5 I needed to update iTunes. Which required me to update Safari for some lame reason. I read a couple blog and Twitter posts yesterday about installs going wrong and a couple bricked iPhones. I wasn’t one of them. In fact the install process on all devices went about as seamless as possible. The only hiccup was when updating my iPhone it asked me for a password to restore the phone- only, i’ve never put a password on it. After ignoring the request a couple times my phone updated, bookmarks and all. I did have to reset my wallpaper though. (*gasp!*)
On the iPad, I have no news to report. It updated exactly as expected.
Part Two: First look. On first glance, nothing is really changed- Oh the “Music” icon is a little more orange and the Voice Recorder icon is a little more blue. Oh, and there’s a Newsstand app that I can’t seem to get rid of. If you’re not paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice the update. Then little things started to pop-up…
Part Three: The nitty-gritty. I lied about the phone update going seamless- all settings reverted back to their defaults. The advantage of this though- it forced me to take a closer look at all the new options/features of iOS. A few that stand out after just a couple hours:
Auto-syncing over wifi. You’d think this is a little thing- this is actually a really really big deal. Change anything on any device- add or remove an app or photo, make a note, start an email or podcast, re-arrange icons, etc. and the updates are made on all devices. This feature alone is worth the hassle of the update.
Push notifications to the lock-screen. I turned them all on for kicks. It got annoying this morning before I even left the house. I could see where someone might like that though.
A ton more ringtones and alert tones. One thing that always irked me was having only 5-6 alert tone options on the iPhone. If you’re into that, then you’ll enjoy the variety. If you’re like my co-worker who leaves everything on vibrate 100% of the time, you’ll never notice.
Twitter integration. I mean, “post to Twitter” is now an option in like, everything. If you’re into that, then you care. If you’re not, you won’t even notice. It will be interesting to see if Twitter use goes up because of it.
Camera. For still shots you have the option to turn on a grid overlay, if you’re into that whole rule-of-thirds thing. No noticeable features on the video side.
So that’s a look at my first 18 hours of iOS, if you count 5 hours of sleep. (me- not the gadgets)
Feel free to share any of your experiences with the upgrade, or any features you want me to test and document- in the comments!
I have received my Certificate of Appreciation for the “last” TWIT Brick!
I got the last brick!
Okay, so maybe it’s not the last brick, but who’s gonna know? *wink* (You *might* still be able to get one too at bricks.twit.tv)
Filed under “got out just in time!”…
Although I am no longer a student at California State University, San Bernardino, As an Alum I still get email from there. Just in time to get un-noticed by the Google controversy of the week, comes the word that Student Email from my Alma Mater is moving to “Coyote Mail Powered by Google”. Nice branding! I could go on an on for days about how this is such a not good idea, but since most people are already seeing ads giving away their data using Gmail anyway, I’d be talking to the wall.
Not evil. No, seriously.
My favorite line of the free ad Press Release,
Here’s the full text, since nothing says it’s a secret:
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Date: August 5, 2010 3:57:08 PM PDT
To: campus
Subject: CSUSB Student Email Moving to Google
California State University, San Bernardino Is Moving Student Email to Coyote Mail Powered by Google
An email account and access is free and easy for anyone to create in today’s world. Most students coming to campus already have personal email accounts and are frequent users. Over the years email has become increasingly more important to the institution and remains the mechanism for campus academic and administrative student communications.
After more than a year of looking into its offering, California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) is moving forward with a plan to phase out the antiquated and costly SUN/Oracle Solaris student email system in favor of a new relationship agreement with Google. The agreement will provide not only Gmail accounts for communications between the university and students but also additional applications that students can use to interact with each other. The initial Gmail offering, which is already operational at several other CSU campuses, comes to the university at no additional cost.
The decision to transition to Google has been brought to the attention of constituencies such as the Academic Affairs Council, Administrative Council, ASI, Faculty Senate, etc. All are in agreement that the current environment does not make the grade and that Google is a viable alternative with unique benefits. For example, Gmail offers more storage and a more contemporary Web interface.
By using the CSUSB Gmail account, students will have access to Google Apps, a hosted integrated communications and collaboration suite which includes:
Google Gmail:
Each user account has over 7GB of mail storage and an attachment size of 25 MB. Search tools that facilitate finding information fast and performing instant messaging from right inside their accounts using “Google Talk.”
Google Talk:
Send instant messages to your contacts for free anytime, anywhere in the world.
Google Calendar:
Organize your schedules and share events and calendars with others.
Google Docs:
Share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Collaborate in real time with your team or anyone you invite to join.
One of the consequences of this transition is that it will be necessary to separate the email domains for students and faculty and staff. That is, the student’s email will migrate from @csusb.edu to @coyote.csusb.edu. In other words, students email in Gmail will be of the form account@coyote.csusb.edu.
Transition to Gmail system
The process for migrating existing student accounts in their entirety to Gmail will start sometime during the first three weeks of September 2010. The final dates still need to be determined. All of the existing messages, folders, configurations, etc, will move from the current account to the new account. Students WILL NOT lose access to their account, except during the transition period for each individual account. While an individual account is being transferred, the student may not be able to access his/her account for several hours. The main difference is that the Web interface will change from a SUN Web mail navigation to a Gmail navigation.
Access to the new “Coyote Mail” will be provided in several different ways, namely:
i) through a campus website – mail.coyote.csusb.edu, requiring the student’s Coyote-ID and password
ii) directly through gmail.com – requiring full email address (account@coyote.csusb.edu) and password, and
iii) through email clients (Thunderbird, Outlook, etc) using secure IMAP and POP protocols – requiring full email address (account@coyote.csusb.edu) and password.
In all cases, the password will be the same as the password set to access the MyCoyote portal.
The campus mail.csusb.edu site will be updated to reflect the changes and direct students to the new student email Web site
Impact to Campus Business Processes
All business processes that rely on student email-addresses will need to be reviewed and updated to reflect the change in the new domain.
In order to facilitate the transition and minimize the impact to all entities across the campus, email directed to students at their current @csusb.edu address will be delivered to their new “Coyote Mail” (@coyote.csusb.edu) for a period of one-year.
All of this is expected to take place this fall. We are anticipating this effort to go as smoothly as it has at other CSU campuses. An initial message will be sent out to the student community three weeks prior to the change and again one week before to prepare them for the Google transition. Should they need further information, a link to a website containing information, including a list of frequently asked questions, will be located at mail.csusb.edu. As another option, students can contact the help desk at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or xxxxx from on campus.
XXXXX XXXXXX
Information Security Officer
# # #
Personally, I hate Gmail and everything else Google makes you log in just to use *cough*Android*cough, and I always told my friend if CSUSB sold out their email to Google, that’s when I would stop using it. Which is right… about… now…
Since everyone is talking out of their a** about the iPad they’ve never seen or used (excluding Press/Pundits who made it to the actual iPad event to fondle it for a whole… 10 minutes?!), I figure I can pretend I know what I’m talking about too, right? After a couple days of discussions with my tech-savvy and totally clueless friends, I’ve hobbled together my own idea of how I would use an iPad, complete with things it will and won’t do in this first generation.
A Day In The Life Of… The iPad: An Ultimate Use Case Scenario (Complete with real and imagined functionality. And footnotes. Because I’m a nerd.)
11: 50 PM, last night: I fell asleep, iPad in hand, listening to an audiobook while following along with the eBook version (1), because that’s the kind of learning style that works best for me. Sometime during the night, half, asleep, I managed to place it on it’s dock/charger. (sometimes I tuck it under my pillow, because it’s half an inch thin!) (2).
6:04 AM: This morning I woke up and reached for my iPad off the nightstand. Overnight, headlines and stills from my chosen publications, podcasts, and RSS feeds have been updated and show up on my home screen (3). The content is not actually on the iPad, but on my desktop in the computer room, 40 feet away (4). I clicked on “Managing The Gray“, an audio podcast, and it started playing not through the iPad, but over my home stereo/media center/entertainment center (5).
6:10 AM: I walked to the bathroom, made faces in the mirror, and began thinking about my day.
6:14 AM: I grabbed my iPad and went into the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee. I sat at the kitchen and launched Safari while C.C. Chapman resonated throughout the house. In the NY Times I saw an interesting episode of The Frugal Traveler video series. I clicked on the clip and it began playing on the iPad (6). A few seconds in, I decided I would rather watch this video on my giant flat screen TV in the living room, so I select the “Show on TV” option (7).
My TV woke up from standby and my iPad interface was now mirrored onto my giant ass TV, where I could watch videos, scroll the web, and everything else I can do on the iPad, I can do on the TV, using the iPad as a giant, $500, full-screen touch-sensitive remote control device (8). “Managing The Gray” stopped playing through the house, and the audio from The Frugal Traveler switched to my Entertainment Center Audio, which has been set to play “anything that shows on the TV” thanks to the Ultimate Media Center Controller (“UMC”) app (9).
6:26 AM: After getting schooled on finding the best Ramen restaurants in Japan, I launched the Yahoo News website in Safari and went the to “Top Stories Video” section. As video clips played one after another I sat the iPad down and cooked up some eggs and toast. I served myself and plopped on the couch. Eggs, Toast, Coffee, iPad. Not a bad start for a Tuesday!
6:40 AM: I launched the email app and skimmed through some work emails just to get an idea of what to expect that day. A few minutes later I realized I was about to be late for work if I didn’t get off my butt and get ready! I stopped the videos. I went back to my RSS reader and activated the Text-to-Speech option (10), and routed the audio back to my audio receiver in the bedroom. I listened to a few articles from TechCrunch as read by “Vicky”, while ironing some slacks.
6:55 AM: Before stepping into the shower I hit the MobileMe icon, which instantly began syncing up all my content to all registered devices including my home and work computers, my iPhone, the “cloud”, and of course, the iPad.
7:25 AM: As I got dressed I activated the Voice-Memo app and created an audio to-do list, which automatically saved as an MP3 into my iTunes player. I re-synced everything via MobileMe because I’m still getting used to this new iPad-centric work flow.
7:35 AM: Now officially late for work, I launched the Brinks Home Security app and set it to “Active” (11). I had five minutes to leave the house and open and close my garage door. I threw the iPad on the bed and ran out of the house, headed to work, careful to obey all posted speed limits.
(Note: I don’t take the iPad out of the house by choice. It’s a home “appliance” in the most basic terms. I also don’t have a second iPad at my office because who’s got the budget for that!? Although, if I did, imagine the possibilities!)
4:58 PM: After a long day’s work, I grabbed my gym gear and hit the “shutdown” icon on my work computer, which runs MobileMe sync as part of the shutdown sequence.
7:40 PM: After the gym I sat in the parking lot and logged my workout using my iPhone and the RunKeeper app because I’m a nerd like that. I drove home, sweaty and tired as usual.
7:51 PM: I jumped in the shower, changed into something comfortable, grabbed the iPad off the bed, and headed off to the kitchen to make some dinner.
8:15 PM: I decided I was too lazy/tired to cook that night so I launched the Papa Johns® App and ordered a pizza. (A made up app- PJ’s is slacking apparently.) I chose what size and toppings I wanted and clicked the order button. Since I already have an account with them, I didn’t have to enter a credit card because or address since my info is on file.
8:20 PM: Two minutes later I got a call from Papa Johns to confirm my order. I forgot my iPhone in the bathroom, but since calls show up on my iPad *and* my iPad works as a Bluetooth speaker phone, I hit “Answer” and confirmed my order (12).
8:25 PM: With pizza on the way, I launched the AppleTV controller (13). I browsed through my list of saved shows, and launched a classic episode of the Simpsons which began playing on the living room TV (see “7″). I still laugh everytime that kid says, “ha-hah!”. A few episodes later, I decided I’d rather watch a movie.
9:04 PM: I launched the iTunes Store on the iPad, scrolled through some offerings and chose District 9 for rent at $3.99. While the video downloaded onto my AppleTV (not onto the iPad!), I switched over to email. My niece sent me some photos from her recent South African Safari. I chose the “Show on TV” option and flipped through some photos on the big screen. I did the “click-and-hold” on the iPad screen and saved a copies of a few photos onto my Network Attached Storage device (14). I wrote her a quick reply using the on-screen keyboard and sent it off.
9:18 PM: I switched back to AppleTV to play the movie, even though it wasn’t finished downloading. As the movie started to play, I launched the Home Energy Controller™ (“HEC”) app and used the “Movie Time” preset to shut off all the other lights in the house, and dim the lights in the living room (15).
9:28 PM: Ten minutes into the movie, the door bell rang. I hit pause on the movie and used the HEC to turn on the porch light and the hallway light. I walked to the door, greeting the pimply-faced youth. He presented his wireless UPS-like POS device where I simply had to sign my name. No credit card needed! He asked if I wanted some coupons. I said yes and he checked the “coupons” box on the POS. Next time I launch the Papa Johns App I will have some coupon codes! I thanked him and grabbed the pie. Ah, the smell of hot, tomato-scented cardboard!
9:33 PM: I brought the pizza into the kitchen and had to manually turn the kitchen lights on, because I haven’t made a setting for that in my HEC yet. I served myself up a few slices, poured a cold one, and headed back to the sofa. I used the “Movie Time” preset again and hit “Resume” on the iPad’s AppleTV controller app.
11:08 PM: After the movie (a pretty good one I might add), I had to get some real work done, so I headed to my Desktop computer for a couple hours. Next thing I knew, it was time for bed.
12:28 PM: I grabbed my iPad and headed to the bedroom. I used the “Bedtime” preset on the HEC app to shut off all the lights in the house, turn on the lights in the bedroom, and turn down the thermostat. Nestled in my PJs and warm bed, I opened up the Brinks Home Security app to double check all my points of entry, and to set the alarm.
12:38 AM: I opened up an eBook+Audio (16), listening and reading along until I fell asleep.
Not a bad day!
As a point of interest, some of these functions I already do on my iPhone. With an iPad, my iPhone use would dwindle down to, well, making phone calls! If these features ever appear on the iPad, I will have to buy one no matter the cost!
1. Multi-tasking, hello?
2. Did anyone say “half an inch thin” before Steve-o?
3. An app as a home screen? Talk about functional!
4. Wireless Networking
5. Apple “Remote” App
6. No Flash. 
7. No wireless video mirroring
8. Not a giant, full-screen, touch sensitive remote control device!
9. I made up the “Ultimate Media Center Controller” app. It might actually exist.
10. Text to Speech
11. Brinks? Hello? Anyone there Brinks?
12. Speakerphone via Bluetooth! Please someone make this!
13. An AppleTV controller- would sell more AppleTVs!
14. NAS? Mountable Hard Drives? Yes please!
15. I made up the “Home Energy Controller” app, but this one is close.
16. eBook+Audio. Now there’s an awesome idea!
We got this question in the Client InBox this morning. Thought I’d share my response:
Q: “For embedding video clips into powerpoints and projecting them, is there any advantage to wmv format compared to mpg format (or visa versa)?”
A: Embedding video clips in WMV format will require that the station being used to present is
a) A computer running some version of Microsoft Windows
b) Has Windows Media Player activated
Using the MPG format should play on any computer with any fairly recent media player, including Macintosh computers.
Additionally, when you embed video into the presentation, the video is not actually embedded into the presentation. Powerpoint will “link” to the location of where the video is located. If there is a significant difference in file size between the WMV or MPG versions, this may help you decide which format to use, since usually the smaller size is preferred.
These are the only concerns I am aware of when choosing whether or not to embed a WMV or MPG formatted video into PowerPoint.
###
Note: I would provide a link to the “How-to” on the Microsoft website, but when you enter “embedding video clips into powerpoints” into their search (aka “Bing”), none of the search results are from Microsoft. Go Figure!
A: Embedding video clips in WMV format will require that the station being used to present isa) A computer running some version of Microsoft Windowsb) Has Windows Media
Enjoy more content like this at All The Great Names Are Taken
© all original content copyright 2010
Me and eight other people on Internet® can truthfully say “I don’t spend money at the iTunes App Store.” (Heck- I don’t even spend my spare time in the iTunes Store!) This is an important fact to keep in mind as I discuss a new app I’ve only discovered about 10 minutes ago. If I were worth my weight in Snicker Bars, I’d have found it myself instead of hearing about it on the Twitter. Nonetheless, now that I know of it, I pretty much *have* to give it a mention, and my money.
When I read the description, “Turn Your iPhone into a Recording Studio” I figured I’d be looking at a $20 “controller” that works with an existing, $400+ music recording program. Much to my amazement, check out what THREE BUCKS gets you these days!…
While the resulting composition isn’t good enough quality to start shopping around to the record labels (I’m sure some creative person will prove me wrong on this), it does provide a decent enough reference for you and/or your musician friends to remember and learn the parts, or simply to impress the chicks- If you’re into that sort of thing.
Point being, I might actually have to pony up some dough on this program!
You can purchase and download “Voice Band” on iTunes here. But only if you promise not to make lame songs with it!
Related Links:
bitrebels.com
wavemachinelabs.com
iTunes App Store
Funny thing about Internet® is, (s)he always knows the answer to any question I might have. Today I asked Internet, “how do I link to a specific tweet?” Internet®. immediately hooked me up with lexblog.com who already answered this question. So, don’t think I’m all Mr. Smarty Pants. I’m actually Mr. Knows-how-to-look-shit-up.
The short version (thanks for Lexblog for not suing the smartypants off me):
“How do I find the URL of an individual tweet?
To do so, click on the date & time the tweet was published.. Once you click that, you will be brought to the individual page of the tweet. From here, copy the URL of the page and use that in your hyperlink.”
Here’s a photo I’ve illegally hot-linked to from the aforementioned website:
image borrowed from lexblog.com
If you need more specific instructions from there, well, you should just check out the post in its entirety.
