Archive for January, 2009
Written by Mark on 20 January 2009
To commemorate today’s inauguration FastMac is selling four Mac t-shirts designed around our new 44th President. These Obama-themed t-shirts are selling today for $4.44. (Shipping to Hawaii runs close to $8.00)
There are two designs based off Shepard Fairey “HOPE” poster, and another with ”OS X, Software We Can Believe In.” FastMac may be running slow because of the traffic, but they are good looking shirt designs on sale today only! [FastMac via Gizmodo]
Tags: mac, President, sale
Posted in Apple, General | No Comments »
Written by Mark on 14 January 2009
From a Newsweek article about Palm and their new Pre smartphone, comes some interesting comparisons to iPhone’s underlying operating system (OS X):
Apple introduced OS X for its personal computers in 2001, but pieces of the system trace their roots back to the 1980s, when they were used in the operating software of computers made by Jobs’s other computer company, NeXT. Palm sees an opportunity to come out with something newer, better and “perhaps most impressive to gadget geeks” faster. A lot faster. “We’re already four times faster than the iPhone, and we’re still optimizing,” McNamee boasts.
Also, another interesting tidbit that allows the Pre ”web OS” to keep applications running in the background, something that iPhone doesn’t:
Palm expects people will keep 15 to 20 applications open at the same time..
If this is true, it means that the Pre could allow apps like website pingers to continually check the status of your site and notify you when it is down, even while you are working on other applications, like posting blog articles.
Read more: Dan Lyons on the Palm Pre [via Gizmodo]
Related article: Can Pre save Palm?
Tags: Apple, iPhone, Palm
Posted in General | No Comments »
Written by Mark on 13 January 2009
An interesting article on Lifehacker about a web site called, TiltShiftMaker, that is allows you to upload your images and then add a photographic filter to it that simulates tilt-shift. What this does is to make those landscapes appear to be miniatures. Here’s my sample of a photo of Waikiki harbor:
Before:
Original image
After:
Tilt-Shift image
It almost looks like those cars are just miniature toys. Of course, your images might be even better. The site has some great examples on their flickr account.
To really see this effect better check out these Keith Loutit’s videos on Vimeo.
Tags: digital effects, Photography, tiltshift
Posted in General, Photography | No Comments »
Written by Mark on 12 January 2009
An article today from eMarketer finds that small business plan to spend more online using social networking tools. These tools might include things like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, even YouTube:
More small businesses said they would increase their spending on social networking than on any other format.
via Small Businesses’ Online Plans – eMarketer
Tags: small business, social networking
Posted in interaction, small business, technology | No Comments »
Written by Mark on 11 January 2009
If you’ve read the paper recently you know that Hawaiian Telcom is facing bankruptcy. What exactly might happen if the company were to shut down is not a pleasant thought:
Speaking at a hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Lloyd King yesterday, PUC Chairman Carlito Caliboso said much of the state’s banking transactions, access to the Internet, alarm services and wireless communications would be affected, if not halted, if Hawaiian Telcom were allowed to be shut down. [Honolulu Advertiser]
However, the stability of service does leave customers to wonder what WILL happen. Our family has a landline still, but have been debating about just killing it off (as so many others have), and just use our cells. One of the reasons we haven’t is our need to occasionally fax.
Yes, fax. That antiquated technology still used by so many businesses. In fact, in Japan, it’s very common to use still. I still get requests from clients that would like a faxed copy of an invoice. So, how to fax without using a landline and modem…?
There are some options that I’ve been looking into that are FREE and not completely horrendous. (Of course, for a monthly fee, there are many other options, however, when you fax only once a month *maybe* it doesn’t make sense to be tied to a monthly contract.) Here’s what I’ve found:
Sending fax: Faxzero.com — free. Print to PDF (use the free plugin to Firefox: PDF Download), then upload it to Faxzero. They will fax it to the number you choose in about 30 minutes. Drawback: coverletter has advertisement on it. (Pay $2/fax to have the ad removed.)
Receiving fax: Drop.io — free. People can fax you documents into your drop for free. Drawback: in order to get to the right drop, they have to use a special coverletter and fax to a long-distance phone number. (Learn more: Drop.io and Lifehacker.). A fax you receive will show up in your drop about 30 minutes for viewing online or downloading.
Since I typically just send faxes to others, I’m not so concerned about the limitations of Drop.io, but it does provide an option. And since so many others have given up their landline, I’m curious if some of you have found a great FREE fax solution…
Tags: efax, free fax, Hawaiian Telcom
Posted in General, hawaii | 1 Comment »
Written by Mark on 11 January 2009
If you own a Mac and love solving puzzles, then you should check out MacHeist. Through solving a series of intricately designed puzzles, riddles, visual clues, and cryptograms, you can get several free programs, including Process. Sign up for an account, and off you go solving clues found in the Briefings.
I tried my first one this week, after learning about MacHeist from their holiday giveaway called, Mac Giving Tree. Reading the briefings, following some of the hints others had left in the forums, visiting the various web sites they had set up, and checking my “Loot” area, I found I had solved one puzzle to get Process.
Be forewarned that if you aren’t familiar with these kinds of puzzles, it will be confusing to begin with. Hang with it, get help from others, and have some fun! Learn more at: MacHeist [This is a great idea for building a community, generating lots of "buzz" (including tons of tweets), and keeping membership high.]
Tags: Apple, free programs, mac, puzzles
Posted in Apple, General, interaction | No Comments »
Written by Mark on 10 January 2009
An upcoming event that sounds very interesting: Unconferenz. Using Pecha Kucha which is basically a open discussion with limitations on each speaker of 20 slides and 20 seconds each slide.
Date: February 7, 2009, Saturday
Time: 8:00am to 4:00pm
Place: JAIMS (in Hawaii Kai)
6660 Hawaii Kai Dr
Honolulu, Hawaii 96825
Attendance: 50 – 100 Limited
Cost: $25 – This will include a t-shirt and lunch
Check out their site to register and get more information!
Tags: conference, hawaii, social media
Posted in hawaii, interaction, technology | No Comments »
Written by Mark on 09 January 2009
Palm released their newest touch-screen smartphone yesterday called the Pre. And while their site is short of details still, there’s been several stories (Gizmodo, ars technica) about it and that it *might* be an iPhone killer. I don’t doubt that Palm can do touch-screens; they have built excellent ones for years. And the reviews from their other cell phones have been fairly positive also.
For me, in order to really get close to iPhone, Palm will have to build up a delivery system similar to iTunes. iTunes makes it brain-dead simple to download music, and more importantly, apps (applications), quickly and easily in one centralized location. This delivery system of iTunes means that developers get paid quickly and can see their competition easily. Users of iTunes can rate and comment on each app. While Palm is going to allow downloads via the phone, as Apple does on the iPhone, this may not be enough to get more apps to more people. Without something similar to iTunes, Palm will either have to rely on third-party sites to promote and sell apps (as was the past with Palm programs), or, try to completely control it themselves via the Pre and their web site. Will it be enough…?
Also, the Pre will have to make better efforts at syncing between various OS, or, at least get one Operating System down completely. (I’ve had too many bad experiences of trying to get Palm to sync with Outlook/Exchange that didn’t end up with me spending hours de-duping contacts.) iPhone was supposed to work seamless with Outlook/Exchange (via MobileMe), but that has yet to happen well. However, iPhone (and Touch) work wonderfully with a Mac (fancy that). While most OS work with Palm, and make the effort to play nicely together, there are still going to be glitches with upgrades… The Pre may sync with Gmail as they say, and that might be enough for the demographics (mobile, cloud-based, social media users) they are targeting, but, it won’t open up new demographics, like my parents for example…
So, will Pre save Palm? I think most people would like to hope so… but…
Tags: Apple, smartphones, technology
Posted in Apple, General, technology | 2 Comments »
Written by Mark on 06 January 2009
University of Hawaii, Manoa campus, has several non-credit web classes coming up for Spring 2009. These are usually great for beginners (and even those who think they know everything!). The schedule is online at: UHM Outreach PNM.
Just a couple of standouts include:
Classes are generally on the Manoa campus or in their downtown location.
And don’t forget about the juried competition for digital images, “Survey of Digital Imagery in Hawaii “. Information about how to enter with your digital images is listed along with the dates and fees. Good luck!
Tags: classes, design, development, social media, web
Posted in General, Training, interaction | 1 Comment »
Written by Mark on 05 January 2009
Mashable has an interesting article, “7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media” — OK, so, I’ll start getting more serious about my online-social “brand”…
Tags: tweets, twitter
Posted in General | No Comments »
