My extended family and me will be staying in the Vatican quarter. Not in a hotel, but rather at a residence roma. We were neve thrilled to stay in an 80ties hotel for $200/night, so an apartment complex will be it.
What’s great about rented apartments is the fact that I can bring my kids and cook our own meals without feeling awkward.
The apartment also has free WiFi, so I don’t need to pay for it every day and beg the hotel to set it up for $30/day. Last..the apartment complex we picked has a gym and in striking distance to the Vatican and all the other beautiful things that I haven’t seen. This will be my first time in Rome and after reading 3+ years Latin books in school I finally made my way over there.

Apologies for the offtopic stuff, but sometimes I just get excited and blast out a post like this

Web design companies have always created different strategies, depending upon the type of project they are working on. Now that the mobile marketplace has exploded, every website design needs to have a way to function adequately in the mobile web space.

Even very straightforward websites need to include a thoughtful approach for the mobile experience. The screens are smaller, so the content needs to fit that space well enough so that users may access it adequately. Whether it happens to be a content driven, e-commerce, or interactive application, each website must incorporate a strategy that easily engages the mobile customer.

There are critical aspects to mobile webdesign that differ from traditional sites. Mobile web designers, developers and web site owners all need to consider the process and strategy before beginning to construct a new website. Many websites need to be adapted to include the new design components.

First, mobile webdesign companies should thoroughly understand their client’s business objectives and how they will relate to the mobile website. Secondly, those objectives need to be prioritized and implanted into the design hierarchy.

For existing designs, these objectives will need to be translated to a mobile sensibility using specialized parameters. To that end, the mobile webdesign company focus will be limited to top objectives, since there is a limited space to work within. Study tracking so that the development and design incorporates this very key data.

Coordinate the branding strategy so that it is in sync with the marketing message. This is very important, as the brand will be the most recognizable aspect that the mobile website will need to convey.

Consider the browsers and devices being used by visitors. Build the site keeping focused on device support. Target the browsers through the development, test and launching phases. Optimize the mobile webdesign site to cover the varied landscape of browsers available.

Mobile web designers should simplify whatever is possible, to keep load times and file sizes under control. However, mobile webdesign companies should still be able to create compelling websites. For example, there are tools to effect drop shadows, rounded corners and gradients that are customized for the smaller screen and lessened download speeds.

Technically speaking, mobile web designs do well with single column layouts. This structure helps manage space limitations and to scale for the different resolutions for each device, particularly for landscape and portrait modes.

The mobile web designer should scale the font sizes for reading ease and adapt for clickable elements such as buttons, links and menus to convert them to tapping. This will mean using larger buttons which may be pressed easily with fingers and the thumb. Also, there are various sizes of hands to account for.

Ensure that a button or link changes visually to prevent user confusion. Visual feedback is essential for mobile web design. Consider loading images that are animated so that it is obvious that an action is in process. For example, engage a spinning top picture as subsequent pages load.

Try the mobile website on many devices. You can do this by installing a developer SDK for platforms such as Android iPhone or emulators on the web to accurately review how successful the new sites are.

The most important thing that mobile web design companies may do is to prepare for and be accountable for each component necessary ahead of time, to launch the most effective mobile web site possible.

Forextrader from Forex.com

What we liked about Forex.com’s Forextrader is the fact that you can setup a practice account for learning how forex trading works.
The app has a nice dashboard that summarizes Balance, Positions and orders. The Trade part of the app shows you real-time stats on the minute, which is something every app offers, but we like the way it is displayed.
For the Tools part the app includes Market updates, recent news and forex insider tips. The Economic calendar shows real-time country stats such as unemployment rate or PMI Manucaturing index.
The report section of Forextrader is also quite impressive: You always can pull recent activity, Realized P&L, Rollover history and obviously order history.

Overall a great app for beginners and professionals, who like to be on the pulse of Forex trading.

Meta Trader Version 4

First thing we didn’t like about Metatraader is the fact that they ask you for your phone number. We’ll drop our CC, but I don’t think that for a practice account you should be required to give away your cell number.

Once logged in we were also kind of confused with the setup of Meta trader. The dashboard was a bit confusing, but after reading on their website, it was clear to us how to use it. Trix and Trema indicators are a nice feature and the charts look good once setup right.
Overall the app however is for professionals and not beginners, which we’d like to recommend it only to people, who have trading experience.

FXCM Mobile Trader
FXCM is clearly one of the global market leaders in Forex trading. There app is intuitive and beloved by a lot of people.
The app also offers market news and allows to deposit fund and to place market order. Their charts are also up to date and in real-time. Micro clients will be charged $0.10 per micro lot per trade.

Easy Forex app
The Easy forex Iphone apps shows live rates of over 100 currencies including oil and gold.
Besides that standard features, easy-forex has an inside viewer that let’s you see which currencies are most popularly traded. On top the app gives you a weekly outlook, so you can prepare yourself before putting new orders in.

Forex on the Go’s best features is the ability to use it without signing up or creating an account. Once downloaded the app works and you can instantly use it.
The Lite app also includes all Forex features including a Fibonacci Retracement calcualator and Pivot point calculator

To summarize our impression from all the apps:

All apps seem to cover the basics and can help you understand your Forex needs. Some apps need more time to get used to, but they all do a well job to get your needs covered.

Anyways…if you want this App below, get it here

I am blown away by the functionality and when I spoke to friends recently and bitched about the stupidity of email….I now can see a solution. And the solution looks promising:

Most mobile printing apps are available for download from the digital marketplaces and online app stores such as the iTunes store. There are versions available for your specific mobile device, but the majority are useable by multiple platforms without much hassle. With these mobile printing solutions are offered wireless printing options. This means that you can print online from anywhere to any printing device that is part of your network. This makes for easy printing of documents worldwide with only the mobile printing app and the device it has been downloaded into. This maybe one of the best innovations that has happened in the history of digital technology, but definitely the most user friendly advancement of the information age.

There are several apps for mobile printing available today. Some popular apps include PrinterOn, HP iPrint Photo, PrinterShare Mobile Print and PrintJinni. Nearly every major manufacturer has developed a mobile printer app and the numbers are growing daily. It is almost a fashionable trend to design your own app for mobile printing, but the best apps are currently coming from companies that have their hands in both modern printing and mobile app development. All mobile apps for printing are also dependent greatly on having a printer that is higher quality, so there is still need of a good printer as an end device. Apps are only apps, but quality equipment is still king.

As the wireless technologies advance, so will the apps designed to keep up the pace with these advancements. Innovative apps and higher upgrades in printing devices will continue for sometime by current trends. Soon there will be inevitable changes that come from the testing of current technologies, but the future is sure to see more mobile printing apps being developed. For the market of mobile device users are demanding the ability to print wirelessly and the marketplace is responding accordingly. When you look at your mobile device and the apps available for download think about mobile printing apps, but remember that there are many choices for your needs. Choose the mobile printing apps best suited to your needs and your online devices before downloading anything. Your choices shape the online marketplace.

· FrontPoint Security – This security app can be downloaded to iPhone, Blackberry, and Android phones. The user can then monitor home activity while away by accessing the home alarm system to check status, monitor video, review entry and exit logs, and receive notifications of hazardous conditions in the home. Hazards would include fire, flooding, smoke, or freezing pipes.

· Alarm.com – This app is also available for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android. Home alarms can be accessed and controlled remotely. Many of the national alarm companies use the alarm.com software with just a few branding changes to make it look like their own. Alarm.com does not need an internet connection to access basic functions.

· Vector Security – Customers of this company can use the mobile app to control thermostats, alarms and lights, and they can also monitor video surveillance. This is an alarm.com program.

· ADT – ADT alarms and security systems are a household name, and now the security giant offers mobile access to home systems. However, the user will need a broadband connection to control an alarm system remotely.

· E-Secure for Protection One – this mobile application has improved to not only include remote bill pay and access to alarm date, but it will now control the home security system remotely. The app is available for all iPhone, Blackberry, and Android phones.

Kindisoft is a pretty interesting product, that I just saw. It’s basically a software that protects ActionScript v1, v2 and v3. Scraper tools like Flashscraper and others cannot be used to pull info anymore.

Kindisoft secureSWF stops all known Flash decompilers and disassemblers using the following advanced mechanisms:

Control flow obfuscation.
Dynamic code wrapping.
Statement-level randomization.

I am sure it’s a great product and will cover 99% of Flash pulls as of today. However, 100% is never given.

Backups /Online storage solutions are without question the best way to secure important, vulnerable data. Different forms of data backup provide different degrees of security: merely copying a file to a different hard disk drive on the same computer offers no benefit if a power surge strikes or a burglar makes off with the computer. Similarly, backing up data onto physical media such as CDs or DVDs provides more protection, but is very time-consuming and requires organization and foresight. The most reliable options are data backup services that upload user data to an encrypted account; the redundancy and off-site nature of the backup mitigate nearly all threats.

SafeSync streamlines the off-site backup process. Users pay an annual fee in exchange for a preset amount of storage space; different packages allow users to choose a size that matches their needs. Because SafeSync works with Windows PCs, Macs, and both iOS and Android smartphones, users with a range of devices can rely on SafeSync for easy file transfer. In essence, SafeSync functions as a high-capacity shared folder that users can access from nearly anywhere, improving productivity and data security at the same time.

SafeSync’s range of features includes version-history maintenance, i.e. the program keeps a history of previously saved versions of files in case of accidental edits or damage to a current file. In addition, SafeSync integrates with social networks, allowing users to upload files and photos from any computer or mobile device. Most importantly, SafeSync’s security is military-grade: TrendMicro’s 256-bit AES encryption system is identical to that used by various online banks and many government agencies. AES is thought to be unbreakable by standard methods, meaning that your data will always be safe from prying eyes or anyone wishing to modify it. For peace of mind in the face of data dangers, SafeSync is one of the best choices on the web.