Lullabot!
Wow. I just realized that I never posted an entry about Lullabot, the new company that I started with Matt Westgate.
February 22, 2006
January 25, 2006
Jeff, Jen, and Arlo
Cori's blog inspired me to go to the South Park Studio site and do up the Robbins family.
January 12, 2006
Google Earth For Mac
Just when you thought that the internet was getting boring, along comes another mind-blower from Google. Google has just released Google Earth for OS X (10.4) and now I understand what all the excitement has been about! You get to fly around the world like Superman and visit just about anywhere you can think of. If like me, you feel like you've been spending too much time inside, it's nice to see what's going on out there - and to finally understand where that creek behind your house leads (without getting your shoes wet). Of course if you've got Windows, there's a version for you too. It's free. Go get it!
October 12, 2005
What I did with my summer vacation
Drupal. Drupal! Drupal! For the past 10 months I have been neck deep in Drupal. Drupal is an free open source content management system with an eye toward online communities. It provides a framework to handle much of the heavy lifting involved with developing an interactive website. And much to my surprise, out of necessity and curiosity, I've become quite an accomplished Drupal developer.
And in the past two weeks, I've launched two sites:
FearlessLiving.org is the big one. If you were to make a check list of all of the features possible for a website, this site would mark all of the boxes. It truly tests the limits of Drupal with about 50 modules enabled including functions for ecommerce, message boards, external rss aggregation, mailing lists, and access control to paid content. The site launched with about 600 pages and continues to grow. Many custom Drupal modules were developed for this site and most of them are now available for free as Drupal contributions.
Participate.net is my other site and while it has a more focused feature set, it goes even further in sculpting Drupal into something far different from the "out of the box" version. Created in conjunction with Adaptive Path, this site gives all registered users their own blog. Users can assign their entries to one of the social action campaigns and those entries will show up along with others on that subject.
After all that work, it's great to finally have these sites "out there". There's still a lot of clean up work to be done, but I think that I might actually get some free time in November or December. What a way to spend a year.
May 31, 2005
Weird UFO Video
Josh Presseisen (a.k.a. Marumari), IMmed me yesterday with a link to this news video that shows a guy summoning a U.F.O. in Las Vegas. Seems as good a place as any for a close encounter.
May 13, 2005
I'm on Mythbusters!
Actually my idea is on Mythbusters. Well actually I think it might have been Jen's idea. But I was the one who posted it on their message board.
The idea: "Can an opera singer really break a wine glass with their voice?" See it on next week's episode, entitled "Breaking Glass". The episode premieres Wednesday, May 18 @ 09:00 PM on the Discovery Channel.
I'm Back
Okay. Okay. It's just embarrassing how long it's been since I've posted here. I've been deeply embroiled in a big web project using Drupal, a PHP-based content management system that's really got lots of potential. Anyways, friends have been hassling me post, so I'm back - with a commitment to post once a week for the next few months. We'll see how that goes!
January 17, 2005
Cool Cassette Adapter for iPod
Getting audio from the iPod into your car stereo is always a bit of a challenge. I usually opt for a cassette adapter over my iTrip because it's easier and the sound quality is better. Of course, the best solution is to use a car stereo with a line input, but this is a rarity. I've been keeping an eye on the Dennison Ice Link, which fully integrates the iPod into your car stereo, showing song titles on the stereo's display and allowing transport from the stereo's controls and/or steering wheel stereo controls. Very slick, but it costs $200 and requires installation.
Now Griffin has come up with a cassette adapter that offers many of the same features, only costs $25, and doesn't require any installation. The SmartDeck "allows you to control your iPod using the built in controls of your cassette player. Using patent-pending sensing technology, the SmartDeck determines which commands the cassette player sends to the iPod." Change songs without driving off the road. I'm all for that! And at only $25, it's hardly more expensive than other cassette adapters. Good stuff!
November 24, 2004
Froogle Does Wishlists For The Web
Amazon Wish Lists have ruled the holiday season with my family for the past few years. I'll admit a certain lack of romance, but it's nice to know I'm getting my second cousin something that he actually wants. But of course this system only works with Amazon and so we end up with a lot of smile boxes. And if Amazon doesn't carry it, you can't put it on your list. But now Google has gotten into the game with Froogle Wishlists.
Want one of your own? Just go to Froogle, search for a few things from thousands of online merchants, and click 'Add to list' for any item you want to add to your Shopping List. You'll need to sign in to your Google account or create one if you haven't already (if you have a Gmail account or Groups 2 login, you already have a Google account). If you want to share items, just click the 'In Wish List' checkbox and whammo, you now have a web page of your holiday wish list to share with friends and family. -- from Google Blog
Here's my Froogle Wish List of all the ridiculously expensive audio gear and stuff that I've got on my radar.
November 21, 2004
Using the Nokia 6600 as a Bluetooth Modem with a Powerbook
A month or so ago, we spent the a week traveling around the Bay Area. I brought along my PowerBook and found that while the two hotels that we stayed in both offered wireless Internet access, they were both spotty at best: working one day and not the next. It would have been one thing to know that I was out of touch, but it was extra frustrating to tell clients, "I'm traveling, but I've got email," and not be able to get on-line for days at a time.
About half way through the week, I realized that I'd put some research into setting up my cell phone, a Nokia 6600 with T-Mobile service, as a bluetooth modem. In fact, I'd set it all up, but never tested to see if it worked. I clicked the "connect" button and within a few seconds my PowerBook was on-line connected through T-Mobile's access point!
Now this connection is not nearly as fast as wi-fi (802.11x). It's reminiscent of speeds that I was getting dialed in through a 56K modem -- good enough for checking email and basic web browsing. All this with T-Mobile's "Unlimited T-Zones" service for just $5 a month!
Okay, here's how to set it up. This should work with any OS X Mac with Bluetooth (either built in or USB dongle) and a Nokia 6600 (or probably any Series 60 Nokia including the 3650):
1. Sign up for T-Mobile's Unlimited T-Zones service. You don't need the Pro version. The $5/mo version works just fine for me.
If you already have your phone paired with your Mac, jump to step 5.
2. Turn on BlueTooth on your phone.
3. Pair the phone with the Mac by opening the Bluetooth Preferences Panel. Click "Set Up New Device" and follow the guided instructions. When you get to the "Select the services..." screen, check the box saying "use the phone to connect to the internet". Hit "Continue".
4. You'll be presented with a screen prompting for login information and dial in numbers, etc. Leave Username and Password blank. Type "*99#" in the box marked "GPRS CID String". The "Nokia Infrared" is the correct modem script. Click "Continue" and the pairing should be complete.
5. Open up "Internet Connect" from your Applications folder and select the Bluetooth tab. The phone number *99# should already be entered. If not, put it in there. By clicking "Show modem status in menu bar", you'll get a lovely little menu that will allow you to connect without opening Internet Connect.
6. Click "connect" and keep your fingers crossed.
This is by far, the best back-up internet connection I've ever had. It's saved me when I've been traveling, when my cable has gone down at home, and even when I've been out running errands and a client called in a panic. I can go anywhere that there's T-Mobile service and get online.
Some notes:
- The 6600 actually has its own POP/IMAP email reader and you can install the Opera web browser. So you if you don't mind fiddling with the keypad and tiny screen, you don't even need to involve the Mac. I'll write more about that soon.
- The hierarchy of your net connections is set by selecting Show: Network Port Configurations in the Network preferences panel. If you drag "Bluetooth" up to the top then this connection will be used first when it is connected. This solves the problem of being at a Starbucks or airport with pay hotspot service. Just hit connect with your phone and your surfing for free... well free-er.
- If you don't have a T-Mobile contract, you can get the Nokia 6600 for $49 after rebates from Amazon (when you sign up with t-mobile). Gonna buy one? Use this link and support this site.
Links:
MobileWhack
John Chang