Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Communicate
FlyCast Streams Radio To Your iPhone, Runs In The Background
11:00PM Kevin Purdy | iPhone/iPod touch only: Free streaming radio app FlyCast can grab streams from more than 1,000 digital radio stations, but what’s unique about it is how it does so. FlyCast can be set to conserve battery life by pre-buffering minutes of music, and only occasionally using your Wi-Fi or cellular connection to grab more. More importantly for multi-taskers, by disabling the “Quick Play” option in FlyCast’s settings, the app can be set to open audio streams inside your device’s mobile Safari browser, which can be minimised to let you do other things while the audio plays on. For a free application, FlyCast sure solves a major annoyance of owning a web-connected music player. FlyCast is a free download, requires an iPhone or iPod touch running at least the 2.0 software. FlyCast [iTunes App Store via CyberNet] More »
Fix
Run Mac OS X On An Eee PC
10:30PM Kevin Purdy | We’ve shown you how to build your own “Hackintosh”, a computer running Mac’s OS X system with PC parts. Now The Wired How-To Wiki goes even cheaper, detailing a process for installing the Apple OS on the ultra-portable (and pretty cheap) Eee PC. The method explained requires finding a suitably tweaked OS X image, an external DVD drive, and the patience to run through all the system configuration and terminal tweaks. Once you’re up and running, however, the author says it runs decently swift, even with just the stock 1GB of RAM. Hit the link for a complete walkthrough. Run Mac OS X on an Eee PC [Wired How-To Wiki] More »
Organise
CLhack Prioritises Pictures For Craigslist Searches
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | Free Craigslist mashup webapp CLhack puts a tabbed, picture-oriented interface on the free classified ads page, offering a visual alternative to clicking through deals based on over-used, all-caps adjectives. Keep the “has picture” option checked, set a minimum and maximum price, and click on any image result to see the full set of product images and the actual listing text, similar to hardware e-tailer NewEgg. It’s a super-useful hack for those looking for computers, cars, apartments, or anything else for which a visual preview is mandatory. CLhack may not, as TechCrunch notes, stick around forever, but for the time being, it’s a cool Craigslist front-end. CLhack [via TechCrunch] More »
Work
Triple Monitor Plus TV Synergy
9:00PM Gina Trapani | University student tobywuk’s room triples as his living room, office, and bedroom—so he uses two monitors, one laptop, and one wall-mounted widescreen television to get work and play done. Plus he uses keyboard and mouse-sharing application Synergy between computers to save desk space. Tobywuk writes: More »
Communicate
5:42PM Angus Kidman | We all know that network performance degrades the more people are connected, but it’s always seemed safe to assume that commercial mobile phone networks would be able to handle large numbers of people. However, the limitations of current setups have been exposed this week, with the news that Optus has decided to suspend selling its Fusion Wireless 3G broadband and phone packages, which provided both Internet and phone services via the 3G mobile network. The reason? “To ensure that we deliver an optimal service to our customers,” according to Optus, which might be sensibly translated as “we’re not managing to do that with the current bunch of wireless Fusion users”. Whether you’re an Optus customer or not, it’s a useful reminder that relying on a single connection for all your telephone and Internet needs can put you in a tricky position if things go wrong, because pretty much nothing will work if anything goes wrong. I get my wireless broadband from an entirely different company to my mobile and ISP service for that reason; what backup strategies do you use to ensure you’re always connected?
Optus dumps wireless Fusion bundles due to 3G network congestion [APC]
More »
What Happens When A 3G Network Gets Too Full?
5:42PM Angus Kidman | We all know that network performance degrades the more people are connected, but it’s always seemed safe to assume that commercial mobile phone networks would be able to handle large numbers of people. However, the limitations of current setups have been exposed this week, with the news that Optus has decided to suspend selling its Fusion Wireless 3G broadband and phone packages, which provided both Internet and phone services via the 3G mobile network. The reason? “To ensure that we deliver an optimal service to our customers,” according to Optus, which might be sensibly translated as “we’re not managing to do that with the current bunch of wireless Fusion users”. Whether you’re an Optus customer or not, it’s a useful reminder that relying on a single connection for all your telephone and Internet needs can put you in a tricky position if things go wrong, because pretty much nothing will work if anything goes wrong. I get my wireless broadband from an entirely different company to my mobile and ISP service for that reason; what backup strategies do you use to ensure you’re always connected?
Optus dumps wireless Fusion bundles due to 3G network congestion [APC]
More »
Organise
5:24PM Angus Kidman | Saturday September 20 is Software Freedom Day, a global series of events designed to promote the benefits of free software (in the broad, open source, sense of the term, which fortunately coincides with “free as in beer” for most individual users). 20 Australian teams are planning activities for the day, ranging from a a community BBQ in Coffs Harbour to a a series of speeches and demonstrations in Melbourne. Whether you’re curious about free software but find the thought of a command line scary, or you’re a FOSS expert who wants to help others, find the event nearest you on the Software Freedom Day site.
[Software Freedom Day]
More »
Plan Your Software Freedom Day Activities
5:24PM Angus Kidman | Saturday September 20 is Software Freedom Day, a global series of events designed to promote the benefits of free software (in the broad, open source, sense of the term, which fortunately coincides with “free as in beer” for most individual users). 20 Australian teams are planning activities for the day, ranging from a a community BBQ in Coffs Harbour to a a series of speeches and demonstrations in Melbourne. Whether you’re curious about free software but find the thought of a command line scary, or you’re a FOSS expert who wants to help others, find the event nearest you on the Software Freedom Day site.
[Software Freedom Day]
More »
Communicate
10:49AM Angus Kidman | Nokia this morning announced that it is offering the option for phone owners to extend the warranty on their phones by 12 months under its Nokia Care Protect program, effectively doubling the coverage period for most models. I’ve always tended to resist buying extended warranties on electrical products, and it seems particularly strange in the case of phones, where many consumers buy a new model every year anyway. On the other hand, the prices aren’t too extreme — $13 for entry-level phones, $34 for 300-7000 series phones, and $72 for Eseries and Nseries smart phones — and there’s a case to be made for trying to get a longer lifespan out of your equipment rather than relentlessly buying new models simply for the sake of fashion. Where do you stand when it comes to warranty extension? Let’s hear your experiences in the comments. More »
Does Your Phone Need An Extended Warranty?
10:49AM Angus Kidman | Nokia this morning announced that it is offering the option for phone owners to extend the warranty on their phones by 12 months under its Nokia Care Protect program, effectively doubling the coverage period for most models. I’ve always tended to resist buying extended warranties on electrical products, and it seems particularly strange in the case of phones, where many consumers buy a new model every year anyway. On the other hand, the prices aren’t too extreme — $13 for entry-level phones, $34 for 300-7000 series phones, and $72 for Eseries and Nseries smart phones — and there’s a case to be made for trying to get a longer lifespan out of your equipment rather than relentlessly buying new models simply for the sake of fashion. Where do you stand when it comes to warranty extension? Let’s hear your experiences in the comments. More »
Communicate
10:46AM Angus Kidman | I’m currently at the Cisco Networkers conference in Brisbane, where one of the main features is a demonstration of the company’s TelePresence systems (big-screen video conferencing systems for holding chats between office locations). You’re unlikely to install one of those in your living room, but the Cisco crew, who are into video chat in a serious way, did pass on one useful tip that’s equally applicable to webcam systems. Once you’re sure that the camera is positioned correctly, get rid of the window showing yourself. If you keep your own image on screen, you’ll tend to watch that, whereas if all you can see is the other end, you’ll focus more on communicating and maintain better eye contact.
More »
Don’t Watch Yourself For Better Video Chat
10:46AM Angus Kidman | I’m currently at the Cisco Networkers conference in Brisbane, where one of the main features is a demonstration of the company’s TelePresence systems (big-screen video conferencing systems for holding chats between office locations). You’re unlikely to install one of those in your living room, but the Cisco crew, who are into video chat in a serious way, did pass on one useful tip that’s equally applicable to webcam systems. Once you’re sure that the camera is positioned correctly, get rid of the window showing yourself. If you keep your own image on screen, you’ll tend to watch that, whereas if all you can see is the other end, you’ll focus more on communicating and maintain better eye contact.
More »
Communicate
9:59AM Angus Kidman | Facebook has now officially switched all users to the ‘new’ design, so previous tricks to get back to the old interface don’t work. I’m still fuming that the new site doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge Wordscraper even exists, and I hate not having status updates on the front page. Got other new Facebook gripes? Share them in the comments.
More »
New Facebook Is Now The Only Option
9:59AM Angus Kidman | Facebook has now officially switched all users to the ‘new’ design, so previous tricks to get back to the old interface don’t work. I’m still fuming that the new site doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge Wordscraper even exists, and I hate not having status updates on the front page. Got other new Facebook gripes? Share them in the comments.
More »
Fix
