Hawaii Web Consulting

Handy iPhone Apps For Staying Connected

Mark — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:07:02 +0000

If you are like me, you’ve got to live in a mixed OS environment, at home is Mac and at work is Windows. And, you’ve got an iPhone or iPad which works great with Mac, but doesn’t play quite so nice in a corporate environment. Here are some great apps for your iPhone that will help you bridge the gap between those worlds.

DropBox: FREE — sync files — with this iPhone app, you have access to your files on the go. And since the storage is cloud-based, and dropbox works on both Mac/Win you can have your files synced effortlessly. See my previous Dropbox article about the software versions and how to download and install on both platforms with FREE 2GB + 250MB of storage.

Evernote: FREE — sync notes — while the iPhone app isn’t as robust as some other Note applications, it will sync with their incredibly handy Mac and Windows application. So, if you’ve made notes or clipped screenshots at home for your big presentation at work, you can edit it on the way with the app, and then have it synced and ready on your work PC. See my previous Evernote articles for more details.

LastPass: FREE (requires $12/year subscription) — sync passwords — there you are visiting a favorite website at home or on your iPhone, but you can’t remember what password you used. Not any more with LastPass. LastPass works as a browser add-on that will store and sync your login information. Plus, anywhere you travel, you can log into the LastPass.com site to find those passwords. Find out more about LastPass with my previous article on it.

Skype: FREE — cheap talk — sure iChat is great on the Mac, but it’s limited to the Mac. Skype works on both platforms and even on your iPhone. With Skype, if you subscribe to one of their unlimited talk plans (US = $3, Japan = $6), you can not only talk all you want at home, at work, and on your phone. (NOTE: Skype currently requires you to use WiFi to make calls on your iPhone. To get around this limitation, you can use the FREE Fring application, which allows you to make Skype Out calls over the 3G network.)

Pandora: FREE — cheap music — if you love music, this is one app you need to have. Set up “stations” of your favorite music and let Pandora stream that music to you via this iPhone app. Pandora.com works great in Firefox and Safari also, so you can listen to those stations at work or home too.

Toodledo: ($3) — sync to-do’s — with this iPhone app you can edit/add/delete your To-dos. Toodledo’s website offers links to sync your account with both Mac and Windows, so those changes you made will be reflected wherever you go.

Photo apps: — see your photos — there are several good apps to show and upload your photos to a photo site, including Shutterfly (FREE), Flickr (FREE), Eye-fi (FREE), and Picasafoto ($.99, for Picasa) . If you take a lot of photos and want to see them on the road, these apps will help you stay connected to those images.

Yelp: FREE — great tips — Yelp’s iPhone app can help you find local businesses quickly. The “bookmark” feature is really great for keeping your favorite places’ phone numbers handy. So, you can order your favorite Thai dish in advance for quick pickup. User reviews can also give you tips what to order or avoid.

MAC ONLY:

AirMouse: ($2) — control your Mac with your iPhone. This app will work with your local WiFi network to become a trackpad to control your Mac wirelessly. Much more robust than Apple’s free Remote app, and cheaper than a Magic Mouse.

Prowl: ($3) — get PUSH notification on your iPhone from any Growl messages on your Mac. If you have Growl installed to display notifications on your Mac, Prowl allows you to send those notifications to your iPhone. You can be notified of things like disk errors, completed downloads, or whatever you want.

Well, I hope that’s helped you with some cool apps for you iPhone.

[Note: originally published on HMAUS.org ]

Try Dropbox to share your files with ease

Mark — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:22:27 +0000

I’m someone who works in both the PC and Mac worlds. My home machine is a Mac. But at work I use the Windows machine. There are plenty of times when I need to share files easily between machines. I can email them to myself to get on the other machine, or, I can use a “dropbox” solution — drop files in and get them later.

Dropbox allows you to easily set up a “cloud” storage space that you can see on ANY computer, anywhere in the world. That’s 2GB of FREE storage that you can share, backup, or even sync files.

I’ve tried many solutions and found that Dropbox is one of the easiest. Dropbox is similar to Syncplicity and Humyo but for me, Dropbox was easier to set up and use.

Once you’ve signed up for a free account, you download the install and run it on your home machine that you want to sync up. It installs on PC, Mac, and Linux with a mobile version, including a iPhone app. And you can visit their website to upload/download your files.

You can set up “hidden” (only for you), or “public” folders — public if you want the world to see files without logging in. You can also set up “shared” folders that allow several people you designate to collaborate on a set of files.

If you are looking for a fast, easy, CROSS-PLATFORM and FREE solution to file storage and syncing, check out Dropbox.

Right now Dropbox is offering an extra free 250Mb to their free 2GBs of storage!

Send large files in 5 easy steps: YouSendIt.com

Mark — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 02:12:22 +0000

When I’ve shown some people just how simple Yousendit.com is and they’ve been really impressed. For fast, free emailing of a LARGE document, Yousendit.com is pretty great!

(click image to view larger with steps highlighted)

Step 1: go to www.yousendit.com

Step 2: fill out the To: and From: email addresses,

Step 3: browse to find your document, and hit upload. If the file is really large (but under 100MB) you might be asked to create a free account by entering in a password.

Step 4 (optional, but recommended): add a subject and message into the email — like, “here’s that file you requested from our conversation yesterday.”

Step 5: Then click SEND and away your file goes.

Your recipient will get an email notification about the file to download. Fast and free, check it out: Yousendit.com

WolframAlpha is more than search

Mark — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 02:28:49 +0000

If you’ve never visited WolframAlpha.com you are in for an interesting treat. This site is called a “computational knowledge engine”. It’s kind of like a mix of a scientific calculator, Wikipedia’s knowledge, and Bing. There is a goodintroductory video to help explain all the various things this site can do for you. Their site is also available as an iPhone app and Firefox plugin.

In this example photo, I compared the life expectancy in India (69.9 years) to that of Japan (82.1). While it might take a little time to learn the syntax of asking questions on WolframAlpha, there are LOTS of examples to help you.

Got a question? Get it answered at: WolframAlpha.com. (Just don’t ask if it’s an ALIEN !)

Microsoft Security Essentials — free anti-virus for Windows computers

Mark — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 02:26:34 +0000

Looking for an anti-virus software for your home PC? Want a great application for FREE? Try out Microsoft’s Security Essentials. This program will run in the background protecting your computer from all the nasties out there that might come your way on the Internet.
After suffering from years of bad publicity about how susceptible Windows computers are to viruses, Microsoft came out with this free software for users. And, it works really well.
So, goodbye to the those other free anti-virus programs like AVG Free and hello MSE.

[Secret] Tech Support Cheat Sheet

Mark — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 02:33:42 +0000

Here’s the cheat sheet that can turn ANYONE into a computer support genius:

[Geek Humor]

No Related Posts Found

Using Box.net for file sharing in 10 simple steps

Mark — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 02:17:05 +0000

Now that drop.io is dieing, you’ll want to find another way to share your files with others. Of course you can email them, but often these files are large. Plus you may want to share a collection of files, rather than just one or two. That’s where box.net comes in so handy. You can create a box.net account and be sharing with others in minutes!
Here are the 10 steps you’ll need to do to upload and share files with others:

1 Go to www.box.net

2) Choose the FREE, Personal account, and you get the following:
* 5 GB + of web-storage
* 25 MB file size limit
* Simple sharing and collaboration

3) fill out the form with email, password, etc.

4) You’ll receive an email to validate your email address. Click on that link from box.net and log in

5) choose the icon to Create New Folder. Type in the name of your new folder. Choose “JUST ME (keep private for now)” to keeping it hidden until you are ready.

6) Click on the Folder name that you just created, and click the text that says “Or browse for files” to upload all your files to that folder

7) When you’re finished uploading, click “All Files” to go back to the home listing that shows that folder

Click the “SHARE” text that’s near your folder, to allow you to share the entire folder.
9) A link will appear that you can COPY (Control+C)
10) EMAIL that link to anyone you want to be able to get all those files within that folder

That’s it, you’re done! Simple, right?!

If you have another conference or group you want to share with, just repeat steps 5-10 again with a new folder name. If you just want to share a couple of files instead of ALL of them in the folder, find the file and click the “SHARE” text next to it. Then copy and paste that link to whomever you want.

Two Great Web Apps Together: LastPass Acquired Xmarks

Mark — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:58:55 +0000

If you are looking for two really great ways to stay synced across multiple computers and platforms, Lastpass and Xmarks are at the top. So, I was very happy to hear that LastPass was the company who acquired Xmarks.
As a web developer, I found LastPass (reviewed here) amazing for keeping all my passwords synced across all the various computers I use. I can’t tell you how many “test” sites I build, review, checkout — sometimes I go back, sometimes I don’t. Either way, LastPass keeps those records safe and sound.
And Xmarks works just as well for bookmarks — keeping your “cool sites” ready at hand, on Mac, PC, Safari, Firefox, and other browsers, plus a mobile version for iPhone.
There are premium editions of both that offer greater mobility and features with a lost cost for both, making the two a terrific deal for people on the go.

Geek Day 2010: This Saturday!

Mark — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:42:40 +0000

This Saturday, October 23rd – HMAUS (Hawaii Macintosh & Apple Users Society) and Leeward Community College partner again to present Geek Day 2010. Last year was packed and this year should be even better! Geek Day will be full of FREE demos and hands-on workshops introducing iPhoto, Mac 101, iMovie, Illustrator, Maya, Mobile Technologies, Social Media and Garage Band. If you just got your iPhone, are an Apple Fanboy, or just want to make new geeky friends, it will be a great day of fun.
Get all the details:
Geek Day 2010 Saturday, October 23, 2010
8:30am-2:30 pm • FREE • LCC

Looking for great, local training for Apple and Web 2.0 products? Become an HMAUS member!

Mark — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:37:07 +0000

It seems like every week there’s some new product or service that HMAUS is demonstrating. HMAUS (Hawaii Mac & Apple User Society) offers help to people looking to expand their world a bit with discussions and training on things like social networking, photography, iPad, and much more.

In fact this week there are two great sessions coming up:

1) Google Analytics – the Numbers Speak! 8/26/10 — learn how to get detailed statistics on your web site using Google’s free Analytics product,

and

2) Boot Camp #2 – Get on the Bus! 8/28/10 — get tips to iLife ’09, Apple’s suite of products for imaging and photography: iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD.

And be sure to become a member of HMAUS also to help keep great events like these coming!