audioNat

New Projects

2006-01-07T00:27:00.000-06:00

Well we haven't posted to audioNat for a long time! This is greatly due to us both moving on to different projects. Once these projects go live we will post a link but I think this is about it for posting @ audioNat. It was a good experiment and it was fun tracking random technology...thanks for visiting and best wishes.

-r

del.icio.us

2005-12-19T18:00:00.000-06:00

The social bookmarking tool del.icio.us links is back up and working after a long weekend of being out of service due to a power outage. The power outage cripled del.icio.us and many of its users who depended on del.icio.us for their links. Many of the users however were very understanding of the company which was recently acquired and we are looking forward to the fruits of it being part of the Yahoo! family.

With del.icio.us back up and working we here are audioNat are looking to make the switch over from Furl links; greatly due to their intergration with Firefox 1.5. My links can be found at http://del.icio.us/jensenrf.

We highly suggest checking it out even with an outage or two I think it is still worth it.

Using Outlook's Draft Folder

2005-12-14T12:35:00.000-06:00

Do you find yourself wasting time looking for an old email just to resend it with a few changes. Well if you are using MS Outlook there is an easier solution. Instead of using old emails to send new information you can create a template from old emails that you have sent using your Drafts folder.

To do this in Outlook simply drag one of your old emails you find yourself resending all of the time to your "Drafts" folder. When it comes time to resend this email double click on it, next in the "Actions" toolbar select "Resend this Message…". From this point you can edit the email including what is in the To:, CC:, and Subject fields. After your edits just click "Send" and you are done; your updated email will be sent off and your template will stay in your Drafts folder.
You can also edit and save your template anytime by going into your "Drafts" folder and double clicking on the email. Simply edit the template to your liking and in the toolbar click "File" and "Save".
Well that is it for today's edition of Outlook Helpful Hints, come back next week when we take a closer look into scheduled emails. ;)

Flickr's photo printing Target

2005-10-26T17:25:00.000-05:00

Flickr a photo-sharing community site is working with Target stores to bring a photo printing solution to its users. With this service users will be able to order prints online and pick them up at Target or have them home delivered.

For more information on the deal check out the article at News.com

Google breaks records

2005-10-21T22:19:00.000-05:00

Google is setting all new records and bring in high profits. On Friday at the close of trade on NYSE shares were up more than 12% at $339.94. This is greatly due to Google reporting a third quarter net income of $381.2 million. This is up from $52 million in the same period last year. Google found many of these earning coming from advertisement revenue, but are not the only ones that are up. Yahoo! also rose almost 0.17% and is competing with Google in many different project levels.

Video iPod

2005-10-12T21:11:00.000-05:00

The news has been confirmed...there is a Video iPod and it is everything we dreamed of. It is feature rich and just because its an iPod you have to have one.

This new iPod brags up more battery life than its previous versions. Up to 5 more to be exact bringing you 20 hours of portable entertainment.

It also comes in two sizes, a 30 GB and 60 GB. When you break it down that is 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or 150 video hours. Which is just beautiful on its 2.5 inch screen.

Compared to the nano how does it stack? Well of course its going to be a little bigger, but the overall size is still 45% slimmer than the first generation iPod.

For more information check out the information posted on Apple. Also check the updated itunes music store to see what TV shows are available for download already.

Yahoo! Podcast Beta

2005-10-10T06:19:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! has opened their beta site for podcasts. The site is complete with a great guide to podcasting, their own version of a Podcast manager, "subscribe" buttons, and tags for searching for podcasts.

To use the site you do need a Yahoo! account. The podcast manager (or "music engine") also only works with Windows machines 2000 or higher and requires Internet Explorer 6.0+ and Windows Media Player 9.0+. When installing the manager I recommend taking your time and looking at the options. The install comes packed with the Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! toolbar for IE and makes Yahoo! mail your default email program. At the end of the install it also brings up checked options to make Yahoo! your default search engine and homepage.

For more information visit the Yahoo! site, and even if you decided to never use their system for your podcasts I do highly recommend their guide for anyone wanting to know more about Podcasting as it also links to other sites supporting it.

Stolen laptops

2005-10-09T22:23:00.000-05:00

Bank of America customers with prepaid debit cards are being warned that their information may have been compromised due to a laptop theft. Some of the information on the laptop includes account numbers, names, transit numbers, and credit card numbers.

The bank was notified of the lost in early September, but didn't begin sending out letters until two weeks later after completing their investigations. The missing laptop was not encrypted. Similar events have occurred in the past with several large financial companies and always become a costly event.

Web 2.0

2005-10-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

There is a buzz word out there ringing in everyone's ear, and no matter how many times it is used it is still really unknown what it means. Many have tried to explain the "what is" of Web2.0, but it wasn't until recently that it was all over the web...

Tim O'Reilly explains in a recent conference that Web2.0 is an "architecture of participation", and is further explained that "This architecture is based on social software where users generate content, rather than simply consume it, and on open programming interfaces that let developers add to a web service or get at data. It is an arena where the web rather than the desktop is the dominant platform...".

Web2.0 isn't great technology advancement, but it is a change in how we interact with the web and in how we can use the web to interact with each other. There are many sites dedicated to tracking Web2.0 and the companies it has given birth to. While following Web2.0 watch for other terms such as RSS, tags, AJAX that have played a crucial rule in its development.

Take control of your screen

2005-10-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wanted to reach into your screen and just pick the object in the monitor to move it? Well now you can with TactaPad. This USB device connects to your computer to replace the mouse with touch based interaction.

This technology is different from other touch screens found in laptops as it also uses force feedback to allow the users to actually feel the work being done. This provides a natural experience with every level of a computer user.

One of my favorite features of using this system is that it also allows for multiple touch control making work extremely intuitive and can increase user productivity.

As seen in the image the end user will also be able to keep their bearings as they can see a transparent display of their hand on the screen.

For more information on TactaPad visit http://tactiva.com and be sure to check out their demo movies.

Share you images with Flickr

2005-10-06T15:55:00.000-05:00

Sharing you digital photos has now been made easier. Flickr is a web site dedicated to sharing and organizing your digital photos and images while enjoying the benefits of belonging to a community of other serious to recreational photographers. With Flickr you can share you digital pictures to the whole World Wide Web or keep them private only to be seen by a select few.

Some Flickr’s other features include:

Its members - Flickr already has a large audience and a variety of interest groups are already establish and easy to network with. The feel of flickr is “photo blog” and members can leave comments about your picture, track views, and even mark them as favorites
Flickr badges – Flickr makes it easy to share your photos on any website by creating badges. This includes a vertical, horizontal, and flash layout
Tags – Using tags you can easily search for photos that you are interested
Organize – Within flickr you can create photosets and themes

Flickr is a quick and easy way to share you digital images. It is robust and easy to use, and there are many more features not listed in this blog so check it out and sign up for your free account at www.flickr.com.

Windows AntiSpyware Beta

2005-10-02T08:51:00.000-05:00

Microsoft is developing their own anti-spyware program available for free to those with a "genuine" copy of the Windows operating system. It orginally came out in January 2005, and has undergone several refreshes as a beta one client.

An advantage to using this over other free anti-spyware applications like Adaware or Spy-bot SD is that there is an option to run AntiSpyware in real time. For those of you who wish to conserve processing power you can also take the option to have it scan nightly. 2am is the default value, which is a great time even for those late night gamers, but even for those up a little later don't worry because the time can be adjusted. If you adjust this time you may also want to look into adjusting the auto updater which is scheduled to run daily at 9pm.

One disadvantage is that it is still a beta client which is continuing to be tweaked, modified, and will expire. As seen in the screen shot after install the copy is only good for 90 days which then will require grabbing a new copy of off the Mircrosoft site.

If you are in the market for additional protection for your PC check out AntiSpyware it is another much needed free solution to a growing threat. For more information check out this site: Windows AntiSpyware (Beta).

Google Wi-Fi in San Francisco

2005-10-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

Mainly seemed to be rumors at first but articles have been published on several news sites confirming talks about Google's new move to bring Wi-Fi access points through out all of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Parts of San Francisco already have hot spots thanks to Google as a pilot program, but now there is also a client in beta to allow for a more secure connection and the bid is in with the city to move forward. While the current proposal is to make this a free service to the public Google should still be able to turn a pretty penny from their ads.

For more information check out http://wifi.google.com/faq.html, or run a search for 'Google + San Francisco + Wi-Fi'.

Vonage hits 1 Million

2005-10-01T10:12:00.000-05:00

Vonage announced that they have hit one million lines, and to celebrate they are kicking things off with a new sweepstakes, "Thanks a Million". Prizes include a million frequent flyer miles, a Vonage Ambassador trip to one of several destinations around the world, $1,000 cash in U.S. dollars, a year's worth of Vonage Home Service, and iTunes^®+ gift certificates (or cash equivalent) just as starters listed on the site. Congratulations Vonage!

For those of you who haven't heard of Vonage:
Vonage allows for consumers to bring VOIP (voice over IP) to their home. This allows for cheap phone service with no worries about long distance phone calls, but does require broadband internet access. The quality of VOIP is slightly less than traditional phones, but those who use cellphones as their primary number should hear improvement to call quality and not have to worry about loosing a signal in their own house.

For more information about Vonage please visit www.vonage.com.

Another Tech Site

2005-09-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

I created this blog as a quick way to enter the world of podcasting and other tech news. Unlike my other blog which is just ramblings of work and other stuff going on in my life this blog/audioblog will focus on the latest trends in technology, tech news, gadgets, and other related subjects. I will also have several links to opensource projects I'm tracking along with a few noteable freeware programs.

My one fear for this site is that it just becomes another mirror of other tech sites so any suggestions of what you, the readers, would like to see would greatly be appreciated. Additionally unlike my other blog I will be recruiting friends to help contribute. If you are interested shoot me an IM/email.