tinyurl... seriously

Receiving long links in your e-mail? Maybe the links you've been sending to your contacts have gotten cut off or formatted because of their length? I am sure many of you have seen the tinyurl.com domain before. It is usually included in any random link that is sent out in e-mails. the name 'TINY' is not an exaggeration, in fact, the name describes the product perfectly.

Here's what the service does, you go onto this wonderful site and you can turn a URL such as http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/19/survive-workaholic-spouse-entrepreneurs-human-relations-workaholic.html into a cute little thing like http://tinyurl.com/yj7gymg.

I've even included a handy tinyurl input box below for you to sample. You're welcome. ^_^

Enter a long URL to make tiny:

If you're anything like me, you probably thought that you have to pay for this, subscribe to the service, or give up your first born. Thankfully curiosity got the best of me and I ended up heading over to http://tinyurl.com and found that the kind souls at tinyurl don't charge a penny but would appreciate a monetary assist (via paypal) to help out with maintaining their site and services.

hardcore gamer

can i claim that? i sure hope so being that, back in the day, i played Wolfenstein 3D in all of its 2fps glory on my old system, 486 dx2. it doesn't seem so hardcore if i leave out the details. well, every 15 minutes of gameplay was followed by a sprint to the restroom for a hurling break. this eventually led to me being so sick i couldn't make it to class for a whole week. don't believe me about the fps? you can check it out for yourself, Wolfenstein 3-D.

that isn't the only thing i got from gaming... i received the N64 Stigma on my palm a couple days before i was to head off to E3. i either got it from zelda or mario... all i remember is having to reel in some fish and needing to spin that center stick as fast as i could. thankfully it wasn't a debilitating injury. :)

how'd i get into E3 you may ask? i had a legitimate, licensed business selling lots of video games. why'd i stop doing that? well, i needed health insurance, job security, and furthering my education seemed like a good idea as well.

guess what? Wolfenstein in all of it's crackishness glory is on its way back with a better fps to boot. will i play it? very, very likely.

realizing that geeks are more than...

more than RCs, SPs, and IRC. we are people who live outside the world of routers, switches, firewalls, VoIP, and troubleshooting.

we are GAMERS!!!

from chess, checkers, and othello to resident evil, ghost recon, and worms. we are also part of the gaming community and i will be sure to begin touching on that soon.

with the economy as it is and a good chunk of us going onto unemployment... where else can we vent our initial frustrations?

my buddy, KeePass [freeware]

let's talk about password security. are you like me and are paranoid that someone is going to see a password of yours and run through all your files and destroy you? it's okay if you're not, it may just be me spending too much time in the realm of network security. however, if you do have a billion different passwords for all your documents, applications, accounts, and websites, you will be relieved to know that there are others like you and they've created KeePass which is a free, open source password manager.

this program not only holds and sorts your usernames and passwords, it also encrypts the passwords so that an unauthorized person cannot access the data even when the password file is retrieved. SCORE!

you may be wondering how useful this app can be if it lives on your desktop or laptop. you can have multiple installations of this program and run them off of the same database file (.kdb) AND the creators and contributors of this program must be geniuses because they have a KeePass Portable for your ever so handy USB memory stick.

if you haven't been wowed yet, you should check out the plug-ins and extensions available to KeePass ( http://keepass.info/plugins.html ):

• additional encryption


• browser integration


• scripting utilities


• backup options


• reporting


• imports and conversions

this program is simple enough to run if you are already experienced enough to have a need for it. if not, there is a place where you can go for help:

moi, lazy?

nah, i'm just busy with church, friends, work, and all the other shtuff.

i don't think i'm as bad as the guy in the video. i'm mostly a retweeter. i'll tweet news stories that some of my subscribers and friends might find interesting. please don't call me a twit. ;p

i believe this video is a friendly reminder that we all should have friends outside of our virtual worlds.

how'd they do this?

i had to post this because it was just so nifty! really, how'd they impose my name everywhere?

back to digsby (w00t!)

"i'm back on digsby!" see, i even changed the widget on the right from meebo to digsby. :)

although my toastmasters experiences have taught me not to say, "that's it or that's all," i'm going to inject it anyway because it is so apropos.

this is all i had to say. i needed to share a little bit of my happyGEEK self with everyone out there. :D

you may have noticed that...

i have a little chat widget to the right on this page. you may have also realized that it's a meebo widget. :/ i know, i know... i remember the high praises i gave for digsby and i still give that product a happy 5+ stars; however, the laptop i am on at work previously belonged to an IT nazi and now i am left without a password for something that blocks some very useful sites, downloads, and installations. ;p

to make a long story short, i'm using meebo as a workaround; for these rare situations, meebo has two thumbs up.

viigo is the winner! [freeware, beta]

alright, so i didn't hold an official competition of sorts but i did install both viigo and freerange to my blackjack II to see which one i would favor the most and why. i couldn't feel right with judging a product just for its looks.

what i had previously said for the free freerange newsreader, about it not needing more than 10 feeds for my device is a crock of bleh.

i need to know how things are going in the NHL (3 feeds), general local news (3 feeds), national news (4 feeds), international news (3 feeds), health news 4 feeds), technical / health / devices/ scientific (5 feeds)... etc.

as you can see, i well surpass the 10 feed limit that one is allotted with freerange.

both readers can be managed from their web interfaces

viigo: i can't e-mail the news to my contacts; but, i can tweet it to the world.
freerange: 10 feeds, really... just 10 feeds?

final say, go with freerange if you don't need more than 10 feeds and go with viigo if you're a news whoring retweeter like me and don't care about seeing the words "beta" on the client.

----------------
Now playing: 07 - Mike Doughty - I Got the Drop on You
via FoxyTunes

freerange freereader vs viigo... [freeware]

this is yet another rss reader.  i'm sad to admit this but i've found myself breaking up with viigo because of the easy to use pretty features of freerange.   sure, the free version allows for 10 feeds but i've found that i do not need any more than that.  the feeds can be managed in their online user interface to make life easier for us who do not have the ninja skills necessary to input the rss addresses.  the display is gorgeous and the theme, configurable.

just as i did before, i will continue "playing" with the applications i post and will most definitely update when i find better options.

i'll let you compare products on your own.

features:

freerange (public)   ||    viigo (beta)

my reasons for choosing freerange:

• updatable feeds via their web site
  
• it is NOT beta, if possible i'd rather keep beta products off of my devices
  
• you can e-mail stories to your contacts
  
• easy to use
  
• it's pretty  (i'll post some screenshots later)
  

this may look totally one sided but i did put in at least a month of viigo use before i mentioned it a couple posts ago.  

i happen to be open minded to the sampling of freerange; and,  it has turned me into a fan.  :)

photobooks online -> print for $2.99 [deal]

i read about this the other day, thought it was cool, and was too lazy to write anything up on it.  why should i?  so many people have done that job for me already.  i was just thinking, this is darn affordable and that it would be a waste to not spread the word.  afterall, facebook users make a good dent when it comes to worldwide internet usage.  i'll post those stats another time.

to  sign on to this nifty service:

1. log into your facebook account
   
2. click the empty search field on the upper right of you facebook page
   
3. enter 'hotprints' into the search and go from there
   

hotprints will be the first returned result and you can add it to your facebook apps.

for the protective, somewhat paranoid mobile geek [freeware, beta]

so, you keep your workstations and laptops well protected from cooties and n00b hackers; but, what about your smartphone?

with so many new applications out there and curious end-users like me how are you to keep your devices safe?  well,  at least for the common freelance geeks we don't have to worry much about endusers.  however, we do need to fend for ourselves in this geek pawn geek world that we live in.

that said, i bring to you a beta mobile security suite developed to address the increasing threat of viruses, spyware, malware, bluetooth attacks, etc....  on mobile devices.  there's also a nice firewall and intrusion prevention system plus data protection and backup.

flexilis is now on beta release 4 and  you can read up on it on their blog or sign up for it either on their blog or main site.

laid off camp SF for my IT peeps! [news]

i wouldn't do a second post on any given day unless i thought it was something that needed attention.

a laid off camp will be hosted in san francisco. it looks like they are still working out the details but if you're interested in helping with the planning or other volunteer work, just go here and sign up. Or if you don't want to take the time to look through the page just follow the instructions below:

Planners and Volunteers

* Wanna help plan and organize LaidOffCamp? Email planning@laidoffcamp.com
* You can also talk to Chris Hutchins (@hutchins on Twitter / email: chris@chrishutchins.net) and Kevin Buecher (@kevinbuecher on Twitter / email kevin.buecher@gmail.com )

When / Where

* Tuesday: March 3rd @ 10am
* Searching for a venue in San Francisco for 75-150 people (or more)
* RSVP for LaidOffCamp on Facebook, Upcoming and LinkedIn


Session Ideas

* Living on a budget
* Building your personal brand
* Finding a job / work in this market
* How to freelance / be a consultant
* Finding co-founders

You do NOT have to be unemployed to attend!

viigo newsreader [freeware]

this is a beta news reader, 3.0 being their latest release; however, this product helps make your mobile device even more indispensable.  it's a program that gathers the latest news from a LOAD of content providers.  best part of it all is that it's free.  it better be since it's still in beta.

i added this application on right after i loaded the latest mobile 6.1 onto my blackjack 2 and i haven't had any problems with it yet.  the registration is a little tricky if you forget about doing it to begin with.  you start off with a guest account and perform the steps below to register.

Guest accounts cannot be used to manage feeds. You must first create a registered account within Viigo before you can manage your feeds from this console. To create an account, launch Viigo and go to: Options > Account > Create New Account

i feel as if i can't be without this application now.  it gives me a mobile connection to the global loop without having to run through multiple websites or applications to get to what i need to know.  i love it how i can mark a story to be saved and that i can update channels individually.  before, i just used my phone for its e-mail, calendar, and phone functions; but, now it's my daily newspaper.

if you couldn't already tell, i highly suggest installing this app on your smartphone.  :D

mobile IM apps, oh my [freeware]

yes, there is an 's' in apps.  there are serious options out there beside the basic IM client that came on your smartphone.

i used to use 'palringo' but as of today i found out that there are many similar 

[freeware] apps that cover the same stuff.  i'm hoping that they do so in a cleaner fashion that what i'm used to.  i am going to try out 'fring' next.  i had a good time with palringo but i have the feeling that there may be something better out there.

i am not advertising/backing a specific client as of yet but i am open to hearing your take on any of the below programs for your smartphone.

• palringo
• fring
• eqo
• nimbuzz
• yeigo

nsa certified smartphone? [news]

the presidential smartphone is a new concept and before we can soak in that news, we find that there's already a NSA approved presidential phone. a secure smartphone for President Obama has a price of $3,350 with a two-year warranty. ouch! i don't think i'll be able to whine / complain about the prices of my smartphones anytime soon.

fire the bugs [freeware]

this post is for my newly found firefox plugin, firebug.  thanks to my san diego colleague, jason, i have a new toy to assist in killing code related headaches.  this is really, really, really useful for ANY web developer out there.

firebug integrates with firefox to put a wealth of web development tools at your fingertips while you browse.  you can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

scary times

what's scary for a geek?  well, layoffs is one but i believe that is true for most everybody.   however, layoffs and bankruptcies of the big boys in the industry is a very frightful thing.  i had to message my hubby last week that our daddy, nortel, looks to be out of the game.   :/   this is not as pervasive as the bad practices which caused the dot.com bubble to pop back in 2000. this is a bit of bad management, bad choices, and an even nastier economy.

this morning when i pulled up the news i got to see this, "Microsoft slashes up to 5,000 jobs."  yes, it's normal to be afraid but don't be afraid and helpless.  be prepared and if you are laid-off, work with what ya got.  try not to get mad, the anger will just block your vision and way to achieving your goal; anger is generally a waste of time... try to take care of it through a nice, non-addictive video game.

you can definitely stay geek and be unemployed; however, how is one supposed to afford tools to tinker in the trade without monetary backing?  you can't really,  without the help from corporate or fellow geeks who don't mind sharing or offloading their gear to you.

here are some ideas for the unemployed tech on keeping geek:

1. if you're like me... you may be living off of some of your the gear that your old company "retired" and although retired, you can still play with the interfaces.  get creative and don't let those skills disappear on you.
   
2. this may sound a bit wacky to the average tech geek but get together with fellow geeks or if you don't have many of those who you can peaceably hang around with, head off to a cool tech conference in your industry and start making friends.   =D
   
3. social networking!  some of y'all might not have liked parts of #2 above but it shouldn't be painful to join linkedin, facebook, plaxo, myspace, or friendster.
4. don't disappear - keep friends updated with the use of tweets on twitter.  this is cool because it's possible for you to update your twitter profile and have that status go out to plaxo and facebook.  
5. k.i.t. - keeping in touch --  there are so many ways to get a hold of and catch up with others.   i prefer to use digsby, a multi protocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list. on top of that, you can take a look at and update your twitter, linkedin, and facebook status'.  digsby is the client to go with for e-mail notifications, social network updates, and instant messaging all in one free client.

kinoma, a handy mobile media product [freeware]

kinoma freeplay is a freeware program that i've been using on my smartphone (blackjack 2 w/ windows mobile 6.1).

i love the media management and online searches. it is soooo nifty to have youtube in the palm of my hands. notice how i said nifty? it is not a requirement of mine to have youtube at the drop of a hat. besides, all that will kill my device's battery.

almost all the things i'm about to list about kinoma are battery killers; however, if you are like me and have your smartphone at the side of your hip 24/7, then you probably also carry a usb connector to keep your phone charged every chance you get.

either way, this multimedia organizer is a must have for me, especially with the history function that allows the user to go back to a youtube stream they watched earlier in the day.

one common complaint i heard from customers was that their battery life is short. well, that'll happen when you are sitting around playing with all the new nifty features of your device. no sarcasm there, i wooork my smartphone too.

leave it to "the servers that be"

yep, i'm going back to geek.  i just had a nice explanatory conversation with a customer and it resulted in me stating that we have to leave certain things up to "the servers that be."  i like that variation over "the powers that be."  i thought it was kinda cute and in the above instance, it was true.  ^_^

i've always been a geek, i just didn't have a role model to reinforce the fact that geek is chic.   it's a bit tough especially since Revenge of the Nerds  was out and popular when and where i grew up.

again, this post is to announce my geek intentions for this blog.   i'm going geek, again!

i will be touching on things such as games, news, hacks, announcements, and personal tweaks.  you will notice my inclination to favor news on smartphones.  the motorola good technology experience hasn't found its way out of me, yet.  

important note:  i am not the geek that is being addressed in this -> post.

**oh yeah, there will be a mention of my sj sharks every now and again.**

my tinkeRy

don't be jealous.  ^_^

yes, this is my ryan who i adore.  he loves tinkering with anything and everything.  it's no surprise that he became an engineer.
i like the above animation 'cause it looks like he's trying to figure out how to get behind the door.  in actuality, he was inspecting it to undergo some fixin'.

NYE in SF 2008 -> 2009

we had a good time for new year's eve. ry surprised me when i got home asking me to prep up to head out to the city and to keep warm.

this was my first time taking the BART train since the wheelchair bit. it's an amazingly convenient option for those of us who can't drive. heck, even if i could drive, i wouldn't take BART to the area we're going to. parking is scarce and pricey.

it looks like we weren't the only ones who were feelin' like cheering on the professional pyros.  thankfully, all those people were behind us and there and nobody blocked our view.  well, all that is true but i have to say that the fog and building did get in our way of seeing a spectacular show.

it's all about the experience with the scenery, friends, family, police, and strangers packing the streets.  =)