Ralphtips Tech Buzz!

Unpacking and Setup of Garmin Nüvi 2460

2011-08-28T01:57:00.002+03:00

It's Been a while since the last post, today's post is going to cover the unpacking and Setup of the Garmin nüvi 2460 GPS device, I have tried to minimize the large bulk text so have a look bellow...

Lets Start with the Specifications:

voice-activated 5'' large screen . It’s hands-free calling compatible. A multi-point route planner automatically sorts multiple destinations into an efficient route. Includes lane assist with junction view, trafficTrends™ historical traffic, myTrends™ predictive routing, and speaks street names.

Experience nüRoute™ Technology with trafficTrends and myTrends
Make Hands-free Calls
Know the Lane Before It’s Too Late
Plan Ahead
Get Turn-by-Turn Directions
Select Fuel-efficient Routes
Navigate City Transit
Go Beyond Navigation
Display Size (WxH): 11.1 x 6.3 cm
Display Resolution (WxH): 480 x 272 pixels
Display Type: WQVGA color TFT with white backlight
Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion
Battery Life: up to 3 Hours
Unit Dimensions (WxHxD): 13.7 x 8.3 x 1.5 cm
Weight: 192.0 gr

Package and contents:


Package


City Navigator Maps SD card (Bought Separately)


Package Contents (Manual, Suction Cup, Car holder, car charger, USB cable)

Front View

Back View

Front View 2

Setting up

I will guide you through the Major points of setting up this device, errors I faced any quick info that Might be useful , Connect the device to your computer using the cable provided and wait for it to install its drivers. Launch your Browser (Avoid Google Chrome as I faced Problems with it ) and go to gamin.com/dashboard to install the Garmin Communicator Plugin


Plugin Installation on Firefox


If the page is loaded again after plugin installation searching for device starts


Dashboard where you can manage your device, register it and update the software


The info. on Garmin page is outdated as I was informed by Customer Support when I called them .. It is ok to Manually turn on the device even if your device doesn't restart automatically

I still didn't test its software thoroughly but after using it for 3 hours its pretty good much better than my older Tomtom Sat.Nav ... there is no lag while browsing through the device and the big Screen is an amazing advantage.

Hope you find it useful :)

25/5/2011 Jordan's 65th Independence Day

2011-05-24T22:55:00.000+03:00

Happy Independence day :) The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan Celebrates its 65th year of independence

25/5/2011

25 May 1946 marked the End of British League of Nations Mandate.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan please feel free to visit the official site of the Jordan Tourism board visitjordan.com

or visit Jordan's Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan

Once Again Happy Independence Day to All Jordanians.

May God Bless Jordan, His Majesty King Abdullah II, Her Majesty Queen Rania and The Jordanian People

www.kingabdullah.jo/

www.queenrania.jo

http://twitter.com/#!/queenrania

Gmail Motion !

2011-04-01T12:23:00.000+03:00

Gmail has introduced a New feature called Gmail Motion, a technology that allows you to control Gmail with your body will keep it short have a look at the video and link bellow

Link Bellow...

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/motion.html

Happy April Fool's Joke

We all love Google :)

Skype is Down UPDATED 5X

2010-12-22T20:54:00.008+02:00

Some of Skype users have problems signing – Skype has confirmed the news and sent an apology through their twitter page and are currently investigating,

This issue started surfacing about at 6:40 PM GMT 22/12/2010 , at the start it was announced that 8 Million skype users got affected by this outage but news say that all 560 million registered users can't access their accounts, this is a major outage just like the one that occurred in 2007

Last year Skype accounted for 12% of All international calling minutes

This is a Global Outage and Twitter is going insane, A river of tweets about this issue

The last tweet by Skype engineers thats 45 min ago :

"Our engineers and site operations team are working non-stop to get things back to normal – thanks for your continued patience"

Will keep you updated..

UPDATE 1> 7:05 PM GMT New Skype Tweet

Some insight into Skype downtime today: http://bit.ly/edtjxB – thanks for your continued patience while we return things to normal

UPDATE 2 >7:05 PM GMT Details of tweet

Skype downtime today

Earlier today, we noticed that the number of people online on Skype was falling, which wasn’t typical or expected, so we began to investigate.
Skype isn’t a network like a conventional phone or IM network – instead, it relies on millions of individual connections between computers and phones to keep things up and running. Some of these computers are what we call ‘supernodes’ – they act a bit like phone directories for Skype. If you want to talk to someone, and your Skype app can’t find them immediately (for example, because they’re connecting from a different location or from a different device) your computer or phone will first try to find a supernode to figure out how to reach them.
Under normal circumstances, there are a large number of supernodes available. Unfortunately, today, many of them were taken offline by a problem affecting some versions of Skype. As Skype relies on being able to maintain contact with supernodes, it may appear offline for some of you.
What are we doing to help? Our engineers are creating new ‘mega-supernodes’ as fast as they can, which should gradually return things to normal. This may take a few hours, and we sincerely apologise for the disruption to your conversations. Some features, like group video calling, may take longer to return to normal.
Stay tuned to @skype on Twitter for the latest updates on the situation – and many thanks for your continued patience in the meantime.

UPDATE 3> 08:30 PM GMT
Skype is now gradually returning to normal – we expect it may take several hours for everyone to be able to sign in again, however
UPDATE 4> 08:40 PM GMT
More insight into what happened today – http://bit.ly/fGzJ05 – Skype now returning to normal

UPDATE 5 >6:46 AM GMT New Tweet

Thanks for your continued patience while we get everyone back online – sorry especially to those of you who are still waiting

Confusion over Saudi Blackberry ban (UPDATE 1X)

2010-08-07T12:48:00.001+03:00

Updates added to the end of the Article (1update)

Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries expressing concern that the Blackberry device is a security threat because encrypted information sent on the phones is impossible for local governments to monitor.

The Kingdom Announced that Blackberry ban will start on Friday the 8th, But Users have reported that The service is still working and as I checked all operators' sites still have blackberry plans and offers.

The Service had a slight disruption on Friday Morning that lasted for 4 hours.

Operators when asked about this confusion by AFP said that they have not been officially notified about the ban date and time! Therefore they didn't ban the service.

If Operators do not follow any service ban they will be fined 5 Million SAR thats about 1.3 Million $US compared to a reported profit of 900 Million SAR/year so that's a very tiny proportion, and it's easy to understand why they didn't follow the law.

The Blackberry manufacturer and the Saudi government have been meeting to discuss how the dispute over access to data could be resolved, They have reportedly agreed on providing data to the TRA when needed.

The Confusion still didn't clear up and things don't make sense, I personally was amazed yesterday by all the offers that operator had running on their sites and that shows in the video added to the previous article as a quick update.

Saudi Arabian BB users are reported to be around 1.2 Million of the 41 Million BB users worldwide, the last couple of days had a negative impact of RIM's shares they slipped on Thursday by $1.2 (2.2%) to $52.2, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

UPDATE 1
**************
Saudi's telecoms regulator has said it postponed a ban on BlackBerry until Monday so that suggested solutions to the kingdom's security concerns offered by the Canadian maker can be tested.

UAE to suspend Blackberry service on security fears (UPDATE 3X)

2010-08-01T17:46:00.004+03:00

Updates added to the end of the Article (2 text updates+1 video added)

The United Arab Emirates Will suspend the use of the Blackberry Services in October, due to security risks, this ban will affect an estimated half a million users in the country.

As mentioned by the "Mr.Mohammed Al Ghanem" the director of the TRA , censorship is not the reason but its all about compliance with the TRA Rules.

The objection is because Blackberry service is the only service that requires data to be exported offshore and that data is managed by "Foreign, commercial operation"

This is shocking news to all nationals and residents in the UAE and we hope to see both the TRA and Blackberry reach a common ground and solve this issue.

Link to TRA article: CLICK ME!

Ban will start on October the 11th.

Etisalat, The leading Wireless provider said on a notice on the site:

"Etisalat was informed on August 1, 2010 by the UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) to suspend BlackBerry services providing email, web browsing, instant messaging and social networking from October 11, 2010 until an acceptable solution can be developed and applied which brings the BlackBerry services in line with the UAE’s telecommunications regulations. This is an important decision made by the Regulatory Authority and we fully understand the legal and social considerations behind the decision.

Etisalat has an obligation to act within the law and the regulations of the TRA, while at the same time, providing our customers with the best service. It is very important for us to ensure our customers enjoy continuity of services.

Etisalat's focus at the current time is to make sure its valued customers experience continuity of mobility services. In line with its commitment towards its customers, Etisalat will soon be announcing a range of alternative mobility products and services for its existing blackberry customers.

"

UPDATE 1
**************
*Etisalat The leading telecommunication provider in the UAE announced plans and offers as a replacement to the Blackberry these include

Bundled SMS, MMS
Bundled data usage
Bundled Voice minutes to choose from
Alternative Smartphones

Full offer details available at http://www.etisalat.ae/blackberry/alternative.html

*Du (another provider) is expected to offer similar offers in the coming days.

UPDATE 2

**************

* The kingdom of Saudi Arabia Announced that Its banning the Blackberry Messenger Service, I check The Saudi TRA site and found no press release about this. but this is from a BBC Article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10860491

UPDATE 3

**************

This is a Quick Update .Today Friday the 8th of August the Law is KSA should take effect, but when visiting the operators sites there doesn't seem to be any Ban notice its just the opposite They have BB offers. watch the video.
pardon me for any mistakes in the editing or narration its a quick one.

What's new in iTunes 9.2.1 ?

2010-07-26T21:44:00.000+03:00

I have been noticing a lot of iTunes updates being release lately and was wondering if they are adding anything thats worth the headache of downloading and installing iTunes that seems to me to be the slowest installation time. Here is what's New in the new edition of iTunes 9.2.1

iTunes 9.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

• Addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items

• Addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2

• Addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups

• Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance

iTunes 9.2 came with several new features and improvements, including:

• Sync with iPhone 4 to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on-the-go

• Sync and read books with iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 and iBooks 1.1

• Organize and sync PDF documents as books. Read PDFs with iBooks 1.1 on iPad and any iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Organize your apps on your iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes

• Faster back-ups while syncing an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4

• Performance improvements make scrolling much faster

Youtube Now supports 4K content

2010-07-14T16:22:00.000+03:00

It hasn't been long when we all felt amazed by YouTube supporting Full HD and now what, its 4K! At VidCon 2010 YouTube announced that it now officially supports 4K videos that 4096 x 3072.

There aren't many people who currently own a camcorder that can shoot at this resolution and am sure an even less number of people have screens that support this resolution but anyways am very happy that YouTube is staying ahead in this and I congratulate them for speeding the advancement of technology.

Here is a link to YouTube's official 4K playlist choose any video and enjoy make sure you choose the quality as original http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5BF9E09ECEC8F88F

Enjoy!

iPhone 4 stainless steel band and reception issues

2010-07-14T15:08:00.002+03:00

You have all heard the buzz of the Iphone 4 and new "wow" features, I personally didn't bother writing about it because it just doesn't compare to some other touch screen phones such as the HTC EVO 4G.

To be fair I have to mention that I found great improvements in the new iPhone compared with the older iPhones ...Just to be fair :)

I am writing this article to point out the issue that has lately circulated among tech sites about the iPhone 4 's antenna reception problem and Signal Indicator problem.

The first issue was about the stainless steel band that goes all round the iPhone giving it structural firmness and acts as an antenna and here comes the problem when the iPhone is held from the place pointed out in the picture bellow, the signal almost dies and that's a hardware problem that no one is really sure what Apple is going to do about.

Cnet TV made a video to test phone calls' quality to point out how serious this issue is Watch bellow

video not playing watch here Click !

The second issue is the Signal bars indicator, Apple issued a statement that saying that the bars indicator isn't working and they will be issuing a software update soon to fix this, thats software therefore easy to solve but not really sure about the first hardware issue.

Lets see what happens, but if you want my opinion I would say buy an HTC!

Social Media Revolution 2 You gotta Watch this !!!

2010-05-31T17:15:00.004+03:00

Social Media has grown enormously in the past couple of years and its impact has become huge, it has affected and integrated it self in every aspect of our life. am going to keep it short because I want you to watch this video, am sure you'll be impressed

God Bless the Internet, Social Media and ralphtips.com ;)

I recommend watching it in HD, Full Screen, full volume :)

Enough Said..Enjoy!

Destroying a Flash USB Drive! (UPDATED)

2010-05-30T20:42:00.001+03:00

Every Flash Drive has a Estimated Number of Read/Writes before it dies, and that is usually noted on the pack, Our friends at Dangerous Prototypes have designed a flash Destroyer which will write and verify a piece of flash memory until there is an error. sounds interesting right? :)

They have created a live webstream of a flash memory under destruction, at the time of writing this article the flash drive passed 4.1 Million! Bellow you can watch the live stream

Live TV : UstreamAlternative link to live stream : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/flash-destroyer

Enjoy Following this and Comment with your guesses, I would say about 10 Million and then it's going to die :)

-------------------Update---------------

Device Died at 11,494,060 I had the closest Guess :) Rest In peace

25/5/2010 Jordan's 64th Independence Day

2010-05-24T21:13:00.001+03:00

Happy Independence day :) The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan Celebrates its 64th year of independence

25/5/2010

25 May 1946 marked the End of British League of Nations mandate.

If you are interested in knowing more about the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan please feel free to visit the official site of the Jordan Tourism board visitjordan.com

or visit Jordan's Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan

Once Again Happy Independence Day to All Jordanians.

Photojonet Closed Down (Reopened Under Snap2shop.com) UPDATED

2009-12-04T14:33:00.003+02:00

I though its worth it publishing this as a new post instead of an update to previous post, The Jordanian Online photo printing company that I reviewed in September 2009 (Photojonet) has announced that it's closing down, The company has not completed even one year in operation !! I have gone deep into how this company started and how creative and hard working is the Founder Issam Hijazi.. It was a shock to know they are suspending all services by displaying a Notice on the Home page for about 2 days and after that the Home page displayed a domain parked Page

I tried contacting Rami and Issam and bellow is the reply I got.

Dear Amer,

I am afraid Issam can not reply to you at this time.
Yes, the system will be shutdown soon, and we posted a message on our website to propagate the information to everyone.

We are very sorry to do this, but we are going through some business difficulties and it will be difficult for us to continue at this time.

Hopefully we will reopen in the future.

regards
Rami

I hope things will get better and the company reopens soon.

-----------------Update-----------------------------------------------------------

The company Reopened on March 6^th, 2010 under its new name SNAP2SHOP

Partition Manager 10.0 Personal (English) For Free

2009-09-30T22:29:00.002+03:00

Partition manager as the name suggests is a tool that allows you to manage and partition your hard dive, you could use it to install windows 7 on one drive and Vista or XP on the other. and for the next 10 hours this software which normally costs $39.95 is being given for free From software-freebie site Giveaway of the Day. Click here to download There are no strings attached to this except that you cant reinstall it because the setup is date fixed. you need to hurry as this offer ends very soon. please note that You have to install it before the Giveaway offer for the software is over.

Software Features

Partitioning your hard drive(s)
optimization and de-fragmentation tools
Backup option
Recovery-CD option
Boot fixer

The software runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7 and you have the choice between 32bit and 64 bit edition.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/partition-manager-10-0-personal-english/

Spread the word, there is a retweet button next to the article

Music composed from Windows 98 and XP Sounds Only !

2009-09-27T15:00:00.001+03:00

Its amazing how this person managed to use error and warning sounds to make this amazing piece of music, This is Talent ! Enjoy the video

Geek Romance: “You are the CSS to my HTML”

2009-09-27T14:20:00.000+03:00

Geek Romance: “You are the CSS to my HTML”

What do you think ? ;)

Dubai's Salik RFID Toll system

2009-09-25T15:15:00.003+03:00

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a technology that consists of an integrated chip and an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal. RFID is usually Found as a TAG. there are two types of RFID systems one (active RFID tag) which functions with a battery and can transmit signals autonomously, the second (Passive RFID tag) needs no battery and can transmit signal but needs a device to provoke that. The RFID tag that I took apart is used in Toll systems in the City of Dubai- a city in the United Arab Emirates, it is of the second type the Passive RFID. Bellow are pictures of the RFID tag with a description under each.

1.The Front of the RFID tag

2. Tag placed on the inside of the windshield of your car

3.I removed the tag this is the back side

4. I took 2 layers off (the one in Pic3 and the layer under that) and reached this layer where you can see the RFID chip (black) and the silver is the antenna.

As your car approaches the RFID scanner it gets detected and scanned, scanning in this case will deduct money from your account.

I find this technology very interesting and its future is very promising , Do search Youtube for RFID and you will see many sectors of the industry using this technology and its shocking how things get sooo much easier with the use of RFID.

How to run mutiple Yahoo Messenger accounts at the same time.

2009-09-23T10:49:00.004+03:00

Do you have multiple Yahoo accounts?, Want to login to your accounts simultaneously, instead of having to switch between accounts all the time

Here is how you can login to multiple accounts at the same time just follow the steps bellow.

1.Click START >> RUN >> type REGEDIT >>click OK

2. The Registry Editor will open, Navigate through the left pan to HKEY_CURRENT_USER >> Software >>Yahoo >> Pager >> Test

3. Right Click TEST >> NEW>>DWORD (32bit)VALUE >> Name it Plural

4. Right click on Plural and click MODIFY >> Change Value data to 1 >> Change Base to DECIMAL >> Click OK

CLOSE THE REGISTRY EDITOR AND YOUR DONE :)

NOW YOU CAN LOAD AS MANY YAHOO MESSENGERS AND LOGIN WITH A DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS.

bellow you share and Rate this tutorial

What happens to Online Data after you pass away?

2009-09-12T12:47:00.006+03:00

Online life after death is something not too many people think about, even though the amount of data that we currently keep online is enormous. Almost everyone has at least one email account, a social networking account (Myspace, Facebook, hi5 etc.) and most currently, online banking. with all this data available online, one must consider what happens to all this data when the worst happens; the unfortunate, yet inevitable event of death. To help you protect those dear to you and yourself from invasion of privacy.

I have spent the last week reaserching this, I have emailed several companies that will probably hold sensitive; personal information about users. I asking them what happens to user's data when he/she passes away and what measures have they taken to protect users. Here is what each company ** said...

I am going to analyse * four aspects for each company; the work required to get things done, the security level, the possible actions that the company can take in the event of death and the time needed to take action.

Yahoo Stated that they WILL NOT give access to the deceased account but can TERMINATE and DELETE any accounts associated with the deceased, but will require the legal representative to send three papers by FAX or MAIL.

1. A letter containing request and stating the Yahoo! ID of the Deceased.

2.A copy of a document appointing the requesting party as the personal representative or executor of the estate of the deceased

3. A copy if the death certificate of the Yahoo! account holder.

I think Yahoo handled this issue in a very professional and balanced way, they have not over requested information but did request enough data for Authentication, also they have refused to give access to account which ensures the privacy of the deceased person's account. Bellow is the summary in a table.

Well done Yahoo! You have nailed it this time.

As a Small reminder Facebook has been one the worst companies in writing terms of use and privacy as most of you have noticed the uprise that happened in the past few months, that forced Facebook to change their terms and conditions several times. Now back to the topic. Facebook at request can MEMORIALIZE the account, what they mean by that is to remove certain sensitive information like status updates and restrict access to confirmed friends, they WILL NOT give access to the account. They don't seem to ask for any paperwork to confirm such case and "ANY" person can submit an ONLINE FORM by answering the following:

1.Full Name

2.Date of Birth

3.Account Email Address.

4.Network Names.

5.Relationship to person (note: They don't seem to request any proof !! )

THAT'S ALL!!!

Oops! They also say they do honor requests from close family members to close account completely (seems this will require some kind of proof although nothing mentioned)

Honestly if they do not ask for any proofs after the form is submitted (they have not mentioned anything) and the above is everything required to memorialize the account, Mark Zuckerburg should seriously close down his legal department !

Maybe they felt sad and decided they should not add any pressure on the deceased family and they should make it SUPER easy to Memorialize the account not taking in mind that this is a huge vulnerability and anyone with bad intentions will be able to submit such a simple form . Bellow is the summary in a table.

Gmail stated that they WILL GIVE ACCESS to the content of deceased email and in order to grant access they will require the following info to be either MAILED or FAXED

1.The requesting party Full Name and Contact information including a verifiable email address.

2.The Gmail address of the individual who passed away.

3a.The Full header from an email message that the requesting party received at the verifiable address, from the Gmail address in question.

3b. The entire contents of the message.

4.Proof of death.

5.one of the following (a) if the decedent was 18 or older, please provide a proof of authority under local law that the requesting party is the lawful representative of the deceased or his/her estate. (b)if the decedent was under the age of 18 and the requesting party is the parent of the individual, please provide a copy of the decedent's birth certificate.

Google did it again as always, they are pros. too . As you might have noticed Yahoo! and Gmail requirements are similar with small differences, I like that they divided the age part that's making it a bit easier without risking any privacy... FACEBOOK!!! . Although I do respect their choice to give full access to the account because at times it could be helpful But it would have been better if they didn't to maintain the users privacy. Bellow is the summary in a table.

Myspace made me laugh for 5 min maybe 6 :) after I read their response, will come to that in a min. they stated they WILL NOT give access to the account but can DELETE PROFILE, REMOVE CONTENT, CREATE MEMORIAL GROUP. and to do that they require the following info to be sent by EMAIL:

1.Proof of Death.

2.Relation to the deceased (from personal email address)

3.Deceased user myspace ID

4.Request to either delete or remove content.

Now the funny part.. remember above they said they cant give access to the account ?! sure u do ...I dont know what to say ... Myspace is trying to be SMART! they are teaching the sender a way to hack into the deceased user's account. They tell you to use the forget password option if can get access to deceased email account. why would they mention this in the email !!! so not in place and does not sound right. OK .. Bellow is the summary in a table.

Windows Live Mail stated they WILL GIVE ACCESS to email account by resetting the password and to do that they require the following info. to be sent either by FAX or MAIL.

1.Request faxed or mailed to custodian of records.

2.A document that shows that the requesting party is the executor to the deceased's estate.

3.A photocopy of the executor's Driver's License.

4.A photocopy of the death certificate.

5.Account Name.

6.First and Last name of the person who owns the account.

7.Date of Birth

8.City, State and Zipcode/Postal Code.

9.The approximate date of account creation ( WHY?)

10.The approximate date of last sign in (WHY THIS ONE TOO?)

OK, Microsoft is professional but at times I feel they get too confident which leads to what I like to call mistakes. I find the last two question silly Why would they need the account creation date and last sign in date! its just stupid and I am sure most people wouldn't know. I have to point out that they have a very fast response rate (2 business days). I find that they have asked too many questions thinking comlicating things would make them look even more professional (that's a joke :) ) Off to the table.

I emailed maktoob.com and this is what I got.

" Dear Valued Customer,

Thanks for using Maktoob.

Our apologies; the information you required is not available by Maktoob. We advice you to refer to our Search Engine on Maktoob Homepage.

We are always at your service. should you have further queries or if you have nay suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you an best regards

Customer care"

I don't get it! not available by Maktoob !! seems I have to go look for a Maktoob question on Microsoft.

Twitter as always.. Busy... server down.. sorry twitter is over capacity, their response to my email wasn't much different.have a look, (double click the image to view full size) they sent me this email after days of submitting my question to them, they are asking to confirm if I still want them to email me back because they are busy with spam !

I hope you have enjoyed this article, wish you all a Healthy and lengthy life :) , please feel free to leave your comments.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* this is an analysis so please please refer back to the concerned company to verify information

** Companies reviewed are welcomed to request correction if there is a mistake and are also welcome to provide any addition or clarification. the logos used belong to their respective owners

Upload and Print your Photos Online (UPDATED)

2009-09-02T16:58:00.007+03:00

Updates added to the end of the Article

Issam Hijazi a Young Jordanian Citizen and a recent University of Jordan Graduate, Moved the idea Of online photo printing from the United States to the Hashemite Kingom of Jordan ; therefore he founded Photojonet. in the Capital Amman , The Founder seems very passionate and has lots of ideas in mind for the future quote:

"My Future vision is very big. Jordan is going to witness a new era and I'm going to be a big part of it"

The words of a passionate Computer Science Graduate Issam Hijazi the founder

A very promising service that is currently about 2 Months old, so its just the start. After this small introduction to the founder, I am going to review and analyse the service from A to Z so please bear with me, will try to make it as interesting as possible ... here we go

I am going to elaborate and give you further details of the options summarized in the picture above. Photojonet is only available in the Capital of Jordan, Amman.

In order to use the service you need to sign up as a user using a classic format form. when your logged in you start by creating and uploading photos to albums. you have unlimited storage but you need to stay an active member on the site for you pictures to stay on there, according to the terms and condition An Active member is one who places at least ONE order in 365 days, also pictures of file sizes more than 10 MB might be down-sampled . I have uploaded 10 photos of varying file sizes, Only jpeg, Gif, and PNG Files are accepted which is very convenient as most pictures are usually within these extensions. The website uses the Microsoft Silverlight engine for the Upload tool which worked very smoothly, but Silver light add-on is a must to use the advanced uploader otherwise you can use the classic uploader which is way slower, has no progress indicator and No compressing option.

Silverlight uploader

(Thumbnail view, Compressing, Progress indicator, 1GB limit/upload session)

Classic uploader

(NO Thumbnail view, NO Compressing, NO Progress indicator, 10pictures/upload session)

The compress option available in the advanced upload tool makes uploading a lot faster but is not recommended if the pictures are already in low quality or the print size to be selected is large. So be careful!

Next you will have you album with all the pictures uploaded and ready for printing just add to cart Choose the sizes that range from 9x13 to 80x120 and confirm address and details and submit your order. I have placed my order on Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 1:19 AM, Got a call from the customer service in the morning confirming that I will be home unfortunately I was not at that time so I asked them to come in about half an hour and they did it was about Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 2 PM . That was great! payment is also on Delivery and should be in cash

So to sum up the first part of this, I would say they have a great service for a start, very smooth uploading tool, easy to use website, and great delivery and ON time. NO complains :)

There is currently a special offer, you get 10 free copies of 10*15 cm size so make sure you choose the correct size when ordering, also referring your friends get you 2 free credits for every referral.

As for the second part the Suggestions and Concerns.

I have thought it would be great if a Quick Simple Edition Feature is added after pictures are uploaded

As represented in the picture on the left the top one is how its currently working and the bottom Is my suggestion for improvement, the editing option does not have to be sophisticated but just couple of feature like Cropping, Borders and Similar . I had an ideas in mind that till a minute ago I was not planning to share :) as its kind of too advanced and not fully framed for integration into Photojonet. It's adding a GPS Map linking so users can exactly point their address, something like integration with insideJo.com in further stages as insideJo is also New. This idea is sure too early for Now but would contribute to greater accuracy and better service.

As for the Concerns, Privacy is the main issue I have spent the week asking people about their impression of this service and most would express this concern especially when I tell them Photojonet is functioning only online therefore they have no shops. about four of five people would say "can you trust them with your personal pictures?" So I looked it up on the photojonet and found the they assure you full privacy because the process is automated.

"You control who have access to your account through your email and password. And regarding printing matters, the whole process is automated, and treated in professional manners."

I can slightly understand people's concern and honestly speaking ;) (writing) I have though this matter for hours with the people who were concerned and alone and no one could suggest anyway to eliminate such concern.... therefore I would pass it on to the founder to think about it and possibly either implement a new measure to prove to people that they should not be concerned and their privacy is 100% protected or Explain In an elaborated way the current mechanism of privacy protection. As I am sure although the pool of people That I selected to ask about this service is small in number but does represent a large amount people who are reluctant to use this service and possibly any online service revealing private information.

It is going to be a tough job convincing people, especially because E-commerce has not penetrated the Arabian Market properly.

To conclude this I would highly Recommend this service as honestly few services run as perfect and flawless as this one from its first few months. So give a try.

Here are link related to this service Website, Facebook Page, Facebook group, Arab Crunch Article , Contact us page., help page

UPDATE 1

Photojonet Accepts Online Payments Now! - September 13th, 2009
Photojonet announced that they started to accept online payments now through credit/debit cards.
Currently they have integrated Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Cash payments upon delivery are still available for those who prefer it.

Google Chrome Not supporting Google Toolbar!

2009-08-27T15:08:00.004+03:00

Seems That Google Doesn't want to support its toolbar in it's own browser Google Chrome. I know this might sound sensible because toolbars is a technology of the past as most people see it. when you try to download Google toolbar while browsing Chrome you get the following message

We’re sorry, but Google Toolbar 5 is only available for Internet Explorer and Firefox

I do not think this is the message Google wants to be sending to curious Chrome users.

and on a small note they do not mention Internet explorer bellow the download box, Just Firefox! Wake up Google!

Requires Firefox 2+

Protect and track Your images Online

2009-08-26T17:36:00.004+03:00

SignMyImage is an application and a service allowing you to protect your images online invisibly, SignMyImage 1.0 was released on July/21/2008 they are currently running version 3.05

No one would want their photos published on other sites without permission or linking back, Publishers have used several technologies to prevent illegal copying of images, Disabling the right click used to be an effective method in the past days, knowledgeable tech users did the trick of disabling JavaScript from the browsers settings,
so soon after this trick got spread over the internet few websites kept using it . so people switched to Visible Watermarking, Which proved effective if made to cover a big portion of the image, but for a pro-photographer or anyone concerned with details this is not suitable. Bellow is an example of my friend Dexter* image before and after watermarking

Therefore SignMyImage was introduced to overcome the problem faced while securing online images, SignMyImage allows you to sign your images using an invisible sign that is added directly to the image data. It doesn't use EXIF or stream file properties. The sign is invisible. The sign stays detectable after jpeg compression, scaling and cropping or for example PrintScreen&Paste. THEY COVERED IT ALL! Further More, they have a Service called Image Spider which is a web crawler, that searches through whole internet for signed images. If it finds a signed image the owner of the image will be notified .Image Spider has two basic modes, random crawling and custom crawling. Custom crawling means testing images on URL given by users. The internal work of this web crawler has not been explained but I am a bit skeptical on effectiveness of the crawler. Unfortunately for the time being I am not able to test this service as its only available for registered Members, I did request a registration key for reviewing purposes and waiting for a reply from Filip Krolupper the developer. I will update you on this matter as soon as I get a reply.

Going back to the Image signing process, its simple it works by a three step image protection.
1.Open the image in the application
2.Press the sign icon on the toolbar and enter your sign
3.You save the images to the desired location.

An Example of an image before and after signing

Not signed Signed

As you can see no visible difference between the two images, Which is amazing, The only drawback of this is the file size. The size of the image before protecting was 646.51 KB after applying the protection the file size increased dramatically reaching 1389.39 KB !

Sign verification can be done by using the software by two simple steps
1.Open the image in the application
2.Press the detection button on toolbar and the result will be shown.

The bottom line ... This is a wonderful application if works as claimed and the best way is to see take down notices sample or law suites against people who illegally copy images and detected by this software :)

Give it a try download 32 Bit Edition from http://bit.ly/z78OJ
64 Bit Edition from http://bit.ly/42XhoE

*Dexter's Image is believed to fall under the fair use clause of the United states copyright Act. copyright is believed to belong to the record label or the graphic artist

Ooooo yeah! ralphtips.com is Mine

2009-08-21T11:30:00.009+03:00

Time stamp

6:00:09 PM GMT Time

09:00:09 PM Jordan Time

10:00:09 PM UAE Time

20/8/2009

Ralphtips Has aquired the domain

www.ralphtips.com

From the domain registrar Go Daddy

Ooooo yeah!

So from now on you can access Ralphtips techBuzz! through the new

address www.ralphtips.comor ralphtips.com but dont

worry Both www.ralphtips.blogspot.com and www.ralphtips.co.cc

are still online and will redirect you to the New Domain.

Support & feedback email has also changed to support@ralphtips.com

this support email is alsolinked to the chat gadget on the Home page,

So feel free to take advantage of the support & FeedbackChat for

faster Response when its Online.

To advertise a dedicated email has been created advertise@ralphtips.com

Thanks for people who subscribed to our email updates.

Have a nice day. and spread the word :)

The New GPS Navigation in Jordan. (UPDATE 4X)

2009-07-22T12:44:00.021+03:00

Updates added to the end of the Article (4 updates)

I Can't Say except that this is a Dream Come true! The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan Has been leading in many sectors of the various industries. unfortunately the advancment of GPS Navigtion systems has been almost ZERO! There has been Very Few Detailed maps Even of the Capital Amman Until recently when a Company Named insidJo DID IT! FINALLY! insideJo Is a Fully Jordanian company and their GPS Navigation System is created and designed entirely by Jordanians. The system is still in Beta and their GPS device should be released in July 2009 as advertised . Their English edition site is fully functioning with detailed maps with Finding route ability,the Arabic Site is supposed to be launched in few days time, its was expected to launch on Monday but seems there's a delay. This is Going to Be a detailed review Pointing Out the outstanding and Downfalls of the service. So Please bear with me for a while :)

This is the Homepage of the site. Has a simple clever design, When I first looked at it I remembered Google Maps. as you can see in the above 2 pictures they are very similar with very few differences, This is not a criticism as for a maps browsing site I guess there aren't many formats that you can use, Have a look at Yahoo, and Microsoft(BING) Maps they are almost the same too, So I am going to put this aside. The insideJo Homepage has suggestion Search Feature which really makes things easy especially Because Name spelling can really be a headache because as you Know Jordan is an Arab Country and street names are in Arabic, When typing a street name, users can come up with several ways to spell, so the suggestions puts an end to this confusion. The GET DIRECTIONS Features Gives you the Route, Distance and Taxi Fare. In the Bellow Image I tested the routing Function From The University Of Jordan to Kempinski Hotel, Amman. The result is a Detailed Route Map with zoom feature, a distance of 7.8 KM and a taxi fare of 1.6 Jordanian Dinars (JD)

1.60 JOD

=

2.25035 USD

That is a cheap fare compared to US Cabs :)

The Third Feature is Community based, allowing users to Add locations, this is a vital feature in this advancing world, the users are no more just recipients of Information but they have become Senders. As for maps options you can Get a link, Embd. feature and a Map print. Bellow I Embedded a map, Have a look!

we are done with the Homepage and the maps Features. Before I Jump to the GPS Device, I want to point out City Search where you can look for Hotels, Restaurants etc. all organised in categories. The Weather page shows current local weather and a 2 day forecast. The Entertainment Page Shows Cinema Guide which is Currently up and running, it also show a TV and Radio Guide which still don't seem to work.

Moving on the physical Part, The GPS Device, its branded under the name GNav® it is being advertised as a no hassle easy setup device.

the Device specs are as follows as the site lists:

4.3 widescreen, high-quality touch screen
Automatic routing with voice prompts
Auto re-route
Fast and Accurate Positioning with Lane assist
Auto Night View
Birds eye 3D view
Easily find what you need
Speed and heading
Fully customizable Lock-on-road feature
Automatic zoom feature
Track recording, waypoints
Heading towards the destination point, and ETA
Customizable route methods
Rechargeable battery
Mp3 Player with Audio book Player
Picture Viewer

Seems Like other GPS devices, The trick in GPS systems is that You cant fully review it until you really practically test it, Unfortunately The device is has not been released till now, so we couldn't get a hold of a device. The company posted a video of a test Navigation but No VOICE in the video have a look.

As for the price of the device I would speculate that it would be an average. a High price will Prevent a huge Slice of the Jordanian population from buying it and a low price is not possible because the company has worked hard and probably invested a big sum of money to get this project running, also the company is almost a monopoly in the Jordanian GPS Market. But I can't give an approximate price.

I have suggested that they add a Road Bumps (Humps) Map guide to Their maps and the suggestion has been accepted and I was informed it will be added in Phase 2, not sure when is that but we should give them some space as I am sure they have a lot to do. my other suggestion was adding map compatibility of other GPS systems to The GNav® therefore targeting a greater portion of the Jordanian Population who are residents of other countries and visit Jordan in the summer holiday, if the GNav becomes functioning in Countries around Jordan, I am sure that sales will increase among Jordanian Nationals, in addition to users form the other Countries. This idea has also been welcomed but Making for example Garmin Maps compatible the GNav seems to be very hard or not possible as they have different systems, therefore the company as I have been informed has future plans to expand its market outside Jordan by making its own maps.

I would like to mention that I have emailed the company with three email with suggestions and questions before writing this review, reply To the emails where a bit slow but they are excused as I am sure they are hands full with work, an Employee in the business Development Section (Mrs. Noora Shanak) replied to all my emails and I felt from the emails that they are thinking in a very positive manner and they do care about fans and users suggestions and nothing is ignored, a Big Thank you to Mrs. Noora Shanak and all the team in the background.

If you find this interesting, Please do boost the spirit of People at insideJo by Emailing them, but we don't want to clog their pipes with thank you email :) so keep it balanced, support them by spreading the word especially if you are Jordanian.

Follow them on Facebook CLICK HERE, Twitter CLICK HERE

They Made me a MORE PROUD JORDANIAN :)

My Support all through the way! So keep it up.

UPDATE 1
**************

GNAV DELAYED TILL 2010
ARABIC EDITION DELAYED
TWITTER UPDATE FROM INSIDEJO ""sorry been busy working on the next phase for the site.. preparing arabic version :))"" lets give them a chance and wait...
Video On Jordanian Site Aramram about insideJo... watch here www.aramram.com/episode/342

UPDATE 2

**************

They have just released the Arabic website in addition to the Arabic maps.
Search in City Search is now available.
8000 New POI (Points of Interest)
Advanced Add Location
Categories/Sub categories Enhanced

UPDATE 3

**************

insideJo has been trying to educate people on the right click options on the map and the possibility to drag the Start/End icons on the map when getting directions, they have released a video(thanks to Anonymous for posting a link) Have a look http://www.insidejo.com/demos/get_directions.htm

UPDATE 4
**************Sorry for the late update

InsideJo paused its work on GPS Device the Site is still up and functioning
I personally have hope that sometime soon insideJo will be back ! :(
"Unfortunately, due to certain external circumstances; InsideJo project has been postponed until further notice"
"The project is now being handled fully by a company in the US and the company is no longer based in Jordan"

A Tribute to GAZA

2009-01-01T13:29:00.004+02:00

No words can describe the situation in Gaza, I have thought for a long time and nothing can properly describe the situation! We all hope things will get better very very very soon.

OUR HEARTS AND SOULS WITH GAZA