Jonny the Recovering Technophiliac

Welcome to The Plug, where i like to give a review to anything tech and non-tech that i feel needs a shameless plug due to my liking.

This week along with my browsing of blogs and articles, i passed on this page from my friend Paul.  He lists the applications, products and services he personally uses on a regular basis, not because he was paid to, but because he just felt a mention was warranted.  So for this blog post, i’ll might as well join the bandwagon and write my own basic list too.  If i get enough things to add on, i’ll probably turn this into a page, who knows.  Anyway, on with the show:

Software

• NetNewsWire for my RSS news
• Adium for AIM, GTalk, and Twittering
• Safari 4 & Firefox 3 for web browsing.
• iCal for my calendar
• Things for my to-do lists
• iStat Menus for my system monitor tools
• Textmate for text-editing
• Subethaedit for collaborative text-editing
• 1Password for password management
• Transmit for FTP
• Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Soundbooth CS4
• Writeroom for distraction-free writing
• VLC
• hulu Desktop
• Transmission
• Flip4Mac WMV
• Growl
• SuperDuper
• AppZapper
• Sequel Pro
• Final Cut Express 4
• UnRarX
• The Unarchiver
• Microsoft Office 2008
• VMware Fusion with Windows XP & Windows 7
• Keyboard Cleaner
• ScreenFlow
• Quicksilver
• AudialHub
• VisualHub
• Rosetta Stone 3 with Greek (i got my reasons! lol)
• Pixelmator
• pzizz
• Macfusion

Services

• Google Apps for my domain (jkdesign)
• Roadrunner broadband
• Google Voice
• MobileMe
• 1and1.com VPS
• Skribit account
• T-mobile for iPhone EDGE service

Computer Setup

• 13-inch 2GHz MacBook (Black) with 2 GB of RAM and an 120 GB SATA hard drive.
• pirate skull crossbones under the apple logo on the back (see photo)
• LaCie 250 GB FireWire portable hard drive, designed by F.A. Porsche
• ThinkGeek.com Bi-Color LED Blow On-Off Candle
• Targus 4-port portable USB hub
• Targus USB laptop light
• Plantronics .Audio 400 DSP foldable stereo headset

Hardware/Gadgets

• Plain ‘ol CRT Toshiba SDTV (i don’t watch much tv anyway, just online)
• Plain ‘ol Aiwa 3-CD 2-Deck AM/FM Stereo System (i don’t listen to much radio anyway, just online)
• Canon PowerShot SD700 IS Digital Elph with 2GB SD card
• Linksys WRT54G (version 5) wireless router
• 32 GB iPhone 3GS unlocked with T-Mobile
• 30 GB IPod Classic White

UPDATE: Apologies for the uber brainfart as i mistakenly thought this was the 4th babbler rather than the 3rd.  Thanks to Al for noting the snafu! Check out his blog right here.

Welcome to the Babbler, where I condense and summarize what has happened in a period of time since my last post with brief and random thoughts usually because i haven’t had the time to blog in between. Some babbling may make sense, some may not…but that’s the premise, all the babble thats fit to blog! So off we go:

1. i used to be a big fan of voicemail.  back in ye olde days where i had my old pager in high school i’d always check my voicemail diligenty…the thought of having my own personal mailbox was pretty neat.  some people used 60-second song bites as a greeting, others actually said “hello?” while waiting a second before saying “oh im not here, leave a message” in an act of deceptive cruelty.  Either way i hated those two types of VM greetings…i kept mines simple and to the point…i had to!  I mean i was worrying too much about cell minute usage that i had to keep mines short not just for me but for those who called me.  This is where my next grips comes in…I was reading an article from David Pogue of the NY times about how major cell telcos like to pocket up extra cash at your expense by filling up your calls with unnecessary airtime through useless voice mail message instructions before hearing the actual tone.  I liked what he said here:

And then when I call in for messages, I’m held up for 15 more seconds. “To listen to your messages, press 1.” Why else would I be calling!?

So how can we take back the beep?  David writes up a nifty solution in his next article.  I linked it, but i’ll summarize the steps below:

a.) Press 1. If it’s Sprint, you get the beep, and you’re done. If you hear an error recording, go on:
b.) Press *. If it’s Verizon, you get the beep. If not:
c.) Press #. You get the beep for T-Mobile or Cingular.

2. Speaking about voicemails and cells, for those who know me, i am a proud iphone user (not because of my liking for apple, but for practicality/ease-of-use).  For those who know me further, i’m a gadget tinkerer who believes that once i buy something, i own it and have the right to modify it for better use and not for malice.  Case in point, my iphone 3GS is proudly jailbroken and unlocked to t-mobile.  Despite that Apple claims that JB’d iphones can cause an apocalypse in the cell industry, i think they’re just saying it because chances are AT&T are prodding them from behind closed doors.  I think Apple could care less just as long as they make a sale.  So why am i sticking it to the man and jail-breaking my iphone? Here are a few reasons:

a.) because i bought it, therefore i should be able to tinker it…it’s a personal belief of mines.
b.) i am a t-mobile customer and am happy with it.  I don’t need to pay an arm and a leg for voice and data, AND i use MMS too…which works!  I can’t use 3G, just EDGE…but i’m content with it as is.  I dislike AT&T with their bad customer service, poor network reception and their snarky iron-fisted rule over Apple’s App Store.  If AT&T where to improve all of their hiccups, then i’m sure none of this would be happening.
c.) two words: Google Voice.  Granted, i don’t have five numbers tethered to just one universal number, but i think it’s a very convenient way send/receive free text messages, voicemail service and cheap international calls. All which can be managed on a web page too!  Any banned App Store app usually gets bumped to the Cydia Store, the flagship place where any jailbroken iphone user can get apps free (some paid) that really put good use to the iphone.  So when AT&T/Apple banned GV Mobile, the unofficial Google Voice app, the dev simply ported it to Cydia.

3. Ah Beer Garden…it can get crowded …but when having fun for a friend’s birthday, you usually forget it all and just focus on having fun.  After my previous blog post i felt i needed a way to overwrite some memories with fresh new ones.  So i went with the usual entourage composed of Kev, Joe, Candice, Abner, Wayne, and myself.  We meet up with Sherry and her spacious Honda Element and we drive to the Garden where we’d partake on Sam Adams, Sangria, and wings while i played text-based Marco Polo with Alex as he was finding our table.  The rest of the night was fun, and as the night wore out, we all left to have a hot dog by corner enjoying the breezy night of Astoria, NY.  By the time i came home, i was relaxed with a smile on my face…good times indeed

Welcome to the Babbler. This is where i condense and summarize what has happened in a period of time since my last post with brief and random thoughts usually because i haven’t had the time to blog in between. Some babbling may make sense, some may not…but that’s the premise, all the babble thats fit to blog! So off we go:

1. after listening to an episode of CNET’s Buzz Out Loud podcast, i happened to have caught on to a little tidbit that host Brian Cooley happened to say:

…only old people and luddites use AOL

granted, this isnt verbatim, but it made so much sense. sometimes the technology you use can say a lot about you. i love old-tech nostalgia and how it has evolved, but i don’t make it a facet of my life when there are so many other choices out there i can choose from. So here’s my pick on the tech that makes the maker:

- to paraphrase Mr. Cooley, AOL is for luddites who think the “interwebs” revolve around it’s bloatware software…and given the very few people i knew who still use it, they probably think it’s still “hip”.

- 9 times out of 10, t-mobile sidekicks are for trendy luddites who don’t know what a smartphone is. (i say 9 out of 10 because there’s a small majority of people who actually put good use to the device).

- if you use your ISP’s email providor (i.e. roadrunner), you’re probably using it as a trap for all those websites that require email registration just to access content when you know you’re never going to check that email address again. So you’ll not give a flying ducky how much spam gets in there. Your real address is probably elsewhere.

- if you use MSN Messenger or Windows Live or whatever it’s called, you’re probably from another country. Every family and friend i know abroad uses it.

- if you are an ATT customer with an iPhone, then chances are you’re only on ATT because of the iPhone and nothing else because i haven’t heard anyone who has ever told me “wow, ATT’s service is awesome!”.

- if you use myspace, you’re either an aspiring comedian, musician, or a luddite that fills your profile with green butterflies and cheesy animated gifs.

in my life, i have evolved from simple pagers to smartphones to get things done. i figured as a good weekend post while i watch the USA vs BRAZIL final match, i’d give a brief timeline of how i’ve progressed from a pager to a iphone 3gs.  I remember a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, whenever i had to make a call, i had to rely on the house phone.  the problem with that is that when living with parents and 2 brothers, privacy is pretty much null and void.  Soon i upgraded to the almighty quarter and the payphone…but the problem with that is that not only i had to have a supply of coins handy, but i also had to deal with a handset that has been used by the public.  i mean i’m no germaphobe, but you get my drift. Continue reading →