* Change the way Firefox looks using Personas.
* Keep your plug-ins up to date.
* Watch full screen video.
* Enjoy typography on the web using WOFF fonts.
* Feel the speed with improved JavaScript performance, browser responsiveness, and start-up time.
* Get the most out of the web with support for new CSS, DOM, and HTML5 web technologies.
* See the release notes for a full list.

If the above list tickles your fancy, then be sure to download the 3.6 beta 1 from the Mozilla site here;

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Apple today released iTunes 9.02 adding support for the also released Apple TV 3.0.

iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility.

Apple TV supports a new welcomed interface with a new menu and additional features such as photo viewing and face and events recognition similar to that offered by iPhoto ‘09.

“The new software for Apple TV features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favourite content,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “HD movies from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV customers, and with Apple TV 3.0 they get great new features including Genius Mixes and Internet radio.”

Full details on the Apple TV 3.0 release can be read here; http://www.apple.com/au/pr/library/2009/10/29appletv.html

More information on Apple TV in general can be found on the Apple’s website here; http://www.apple.com/au/appletv/

You can download the latest to iTunes via Apple’s software update.

Social Bookmarking takes this process one step further and breaks all barriers and shortcoming associated with using local favourites.  Here are some of the caveats to Internet bookmarking via the “legacy browser method”

• Bookmarks saved in your preferred browser are local to that computer/browser.  If you operate on multiple computers on a daily basis, accessing Internet favourites stored on another machine is problematic.
• Bookmarks cannot be easily shared between your peers.  This is where social bookmarking really comes into play allowing you to easily share your internet favourites in the same way that the world wide web and in particular web 2.0 has allowed us to easily share photos, videos, blog posts and other meda quite easily.
• Most browsers including Internet Explorer restricts you to organising your Internet favourites in folders or categories.   Most social bookmark services encourage users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags allowing to apply multiple tags to a single web page that has been added as a favourite.

There are a number of Social Bookmarking services including Delicious, Digg and Stumble Upon, with today’s focus on my favourite being Delicious.

Delicious (formerly del.icio.us, pronounced “delicious”) is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks and pioneered the use of tags.

As an example, my Delicious account which is publicly shared (you can also set it to private) can be accessed via http://delicious.com/georgekhalil

You will notice that most of favourites would commonly have a number of tags against it which makes it a lot easier to search for and locate at a later date.

So what are you waiting for?  Sign up for a delicious account at no cost and begin saving your bookmarks to the “cloud”.  This will make your bookmarks available anywhere at any time.  Once you have your friends on board, you can subscribe to each other’s bookmarks promoting bookmark sharing.

You can signup for a new account here.

Happy bookmarking

It will be 2.5 years next month since I went live with Windows Vista and deployed it on my network of over 100 machines.  Was it smooth sailing? Did we have any application compatibility issues? Did my printers stop working? Did everyone think I was crazy?  Well, nobody goes in with a blind eye and there were many months of testing and re-testing and piloting before I took the plunge.  However, after the long nights and some hair pulling moments I am happy to say that I have not looked back and even with the slight hiccup here and there I would be more than happy to manage a Windows Vista network over a Windows XP network any day.   Are you sold yet?  Okay enough with the ramblings, the reason for this post isn’t about Windows Vista, but about the up and coming Windows 7 and how much better it is than Windows Vista.

Windows 7 has already been released to business customers under a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement and will be released to the general public on 22 October 2009.

Well, you have probably guessed it, I am already running Windows 7 as my primary work machine and I can’t rave more about it!  I am sure you have read the publicity around Windows 7 being the saviour for Microsoft and I am not disagreeing.  I am sure Windows 7 will bring a lot more faith to end users who have been scarred by Windows Vista bad publicity and its shortcomings.  I am lucky to have been introduced to Windows 7 since its beta days and I am more than happy with the way Windows 7 is progressing.  It’s snappier, more responsive with a few nice touches.  I won’t go into them in too much detail at this moment but have provided you with a link to the Microsoft Windows 7 site http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx .

Here are some screen captures from the new Windows 7 operating system;

Windows 7 starting up

Windows 7 default theme

Windows 7 comes with a number of installed themes (new Windows 7 feature) including a country theme depending on your system locale.  Example below has Australia as the country theme listed.

Windows 7 “Australia” theme selected

Each theme comes with pre-set sounds and backgrounds.  Backgrounds alternate every 30 minutes.  Notice the ability to click on Next desktop background in the below screen.

Windows 7 Start Menu hasn’t changed much since Vista, however does come with some nice touches such as “Jump lists”

Windows 7 has gone big and bold with their icons and taskbar.

Well that’s a small snippet of what to expect from the upcoming release.  How will it compete with Apple’s latest Mac OSX Snow Leopard?  Only time will tell… And if you are lucky to be running both like myself, then you are definietly experiencing the best from both worlds.

Will you be upgrading any time soon?

Push email has been available to iPhone users via other services such as Apple’s “paid” cloud service MobileMe or via a corporate Microsoft Exchange Server or through obtaining a Yahoo email account.  Google now offers the same capabilities to their Gmail service, however there is one catch or limiting factor.  If you are already syncing your corporate email via Microsoft Exchange then you will not be able to also have your Gmail account setup via the push method as it utilises the same ActiveSync protocol used by Microsoft Exchange.  At the moment, Apple only supports one ActiveSync account on your device.

Recall that Google first offered the ability to synchronise your Google Calendars over the air not that long ago via Google Sync, and now this has been extended to contacts and email.

More information regarding the setup of Google Sync/Push Email can be found on the Google Mobile site; http://www.google.com/mobile/products/sync.html#p=apple

Do you have a Gmail account that you will now activate for “push” or are you happy with the current “fetch” method?

1. Improved Syncing with the iPhone/iPod Touch

The most welcomed improvement by Apple is the ability to not only synchronise your applications (we could do that already) but the ability to re-arrange our applications on various home screens via the virtual interface that is provided within iTunes 9.  iTunes will then automatically sync your new Home screens with your iPhone or iPod Touch when it is docked.  I’m a classic example of most iPhone/iPod Touch users who may have dozens and dozens of applications spread across 5 or more home pages and re-arranging these in the past was a cumbersome and tedious task and limited to the actual hand set’s touch screen interface.

2. Home Sharing

iTunes 9 now allows you to share and browse through your iTunes library with up to 5 authorised computers in your house.  I was quite surprised at how easy this was to setup allowing me to have a central store of all my music and videos without necessary duplication on my other PC’s.  As an example, my home Mac contains my Music Library which can now be accessed by my Windows 7 Toshiba laptop without copying any music across.  This is all accomplished by the inbuilt Home Sharing feature of iTunes 9.  The Home Sharing feature will only work on PC’s and Mac’s that are located on the same network, whether it’s wireless or wired and all computers participating must be running at least iTunes 9.  Oh, and you will also require an iTunes Account which is pretty much a given if you have purchased anything from the iTunes store.

Once you have created your Home Share, you can then navigate to the second PC or Mac and do the same.  It will recognise that the host home share has already been setup and should begin synchronising the library as per the below screen captures.

Below is the official video from Apple showing Home Sharing in Action.  It’s definitely worth the watch.

Is there room for improvement? Sure there is, but iTunes 9 is a good start in introducing some of these new features and am sure there will be improvements to these in later revisions.

Have you updated to iTunes 9 yet?  You can access the download from the Apple website here, and why not? It’s free!

So this is how it works.  When updating your status you can “tag” other users by using the @ symbol and then the person’s name.   Facebook goes one step further and will generate auto-suggested drop down based on what you have typed after the @ symbol.

The tagging feature or @mention isn’t restricted to your friends.  You can pretty much tag anything in Facebook including pages, groups, companies, brands, artists etc.

So let’s see it in action.

I’m surprised this wasn’t introduced earlier in the piece considering Facebook’s popularity and adoption, but never late than never.

You can read more about it on Facebook’s blog here.

The most common home complaint that I receive is, my computer was so quick when I first purchased it and now 6 months later it is SOOOO slow.  There are some things we can’t defy like ageing of hardware components, but there are things we can do to prolong the life of your PC.  Straight from the horses mouth, I have a Toshiba laptop that is almost 4 years old running the latest Windows 7 operating system which runs just as good as how I had received it on day 1.  So let’s begin our quest for a “better” running PC.

Physically clean your PC

Believe it or not, the first step involved is actual physical cleaning. Your PC’s components can heat up while they’re powered up. This heat can wreak havoc with your system, so all computers come with fans to draw in cool air and drop the temperature of the system. Unfortunately, these fans can also draw in dust, especially if your PC is sitting directly on carpet. You’ll need some canned air, which can be purchased from most computer stores.  With your computer powered down, open up the case and use the canned air to blow the dust off your hardware components in particular your internal fans.   If you have a laptop, you can by pass this tip because the last thing I want you to do is to attempt to open up your laptop which is not only a daunting task but will void your warranty.  I also recommend sitting your PC so it is elevated from the floor.

Remove the all so common dozens of shortcuts on your desktop

Tip number 2 is all about removing and re-organising your desktop!  One of things I see too often is the amount of files, pictures, video and audio files that are residing on people’s desktop. Do you need immediate access to all those files on your desktop? Not only does it add to the clutter and at times painful on the eye, it will actually slow down the loading of your Windows profile when you first log in . You should minimise your desktop to application shortcuts and categorise your files in your My Documents, Photos and Music folders under your user profile eliminating the clutter on your desktop.  By organising all your files into these respective folders you are also making it easy to back them all up in one go as part of your back up plan.

Remove unwanted programs

Most new computers purchased from Dell and HP come with pre-installed applications commonly referred to as bloat-ware.  My philosophy on applications is, if you don’t use it, remove it.  You can easily achieve this by navigating to Control Panel / Add Remove Programs (if you are running Windows XP) or Control Panel / Programs and Features (if you are running Windows Vista).  Select your application and click on remove/uninstall.

Defrag your computer

De-WHAT??  As you add files and applications to your computer over time, the information that is being stored on your hard drive becomes fragmented, i.e. it’s stored in bits and pieces wherever there is space.  Defragmenting your hard drive re-arranges your files so the bits and pieces are in one contiguous order.

To access the defrag tool click on Start / All Programs / Accessories / System tools / Disk Defragmenter.  Or you can utilise Vista’s “Start/Search” and type in Disk Defragmenter.  This utility can also be easily scheduled to run automatically once a week behind the scenes.

Run Windows Update

Microsoft release updates, security and Microsoft application fixes through Windows Update which is available via Control Panel.  There are a couple of settings that we will need to check in order to have this task automated ensuring your PC is secure, patched and up to date.  I highly recommend having the option of “Install updates automatically” selected and have a set schedule for when you want these updates to be installed.

Clear your Temporary Internet Files

Internet Explorer and most well known browsers have the ability to cache certain information from web sites such as cookies and pictures to speed up your loading time when you come to re-visit the same page at a later date.  This time saver may actually work in reverse when your cache gets bigger which inadvertently begins to slow your browsing experience.  The 2 most notable advantages with deleting your temporary internet files is clearing redundant web site information and freeing up disk space.  In Internet Explorer version 7 and 8 you can clear your cache by navigating to Tools / Internet Options.

Click on Delete.. under the section Browsing history.

Leave the default options ticked and click on Delete.  This process can take a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the size of your internet cache.

Remove unwanted “Temp” files

“Temp” files are actually different to “Temporary Internet files” and refers to temporary program files that may be lying around after a newly installed application that is no longer needed.  It is safe to always clear these files and will not affect your system in any way apart from keeping it clean from unwanted and unneeded files.  In order to clear these files you will need to run Windows Disk Cleanup wizard or Disk Cleanup depending on the version of Windows you are running.

The below screen capture will appear when you first launch Disk Cleanup.  This will take a few moments as it begins its calculation.  You can access Disk Cleanup via All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup.

Upon completion, the below screen will appear and if you scroll down the list you will have the ability to select various options including “Temporary files”.

Re-format and Re-install

As crazy as this sounds, re-formatting your hard drive usually brings new life to your PC and it is almost like starting anew.  It’s a mammoth task as you will need to backup all your files and settings and then re-install the operating system, your applications and copy your files back, but definitely a rewarding experience that can be done between year 2 and year 3 of owning your PC.

So there it is.  Above are a number of small tasks that you can easily accomplish as a home user to pro-long the life of your PC and ensure it is in good working order.  If you have other suggestions to add to this list, feel free to do so via comments below.

• iPod nano now shoots video.  Yes the rumours were right!  The new iPod nano lineup now comes with a video camera, a larger screen and FM radio!  I think the latter feature is kind of a surprise as FM radio tuners are beginning to be phased out, but nonetheless a welcome addition.  iPod nano also adds a pedometer.  You can find more information and a full list of features on the iPod nano directly from the Apple website here.
• iTunes is now version 9. You either like it or hate it, but iTunes goes hand in hand with you iPod or iPhone and today comes with many new features including the welcomed feature of Home Sharing allowing you to transfer your music and or movie collection between your home PC’s or Macs.  Amongst other features that are advertised on the Apple’s website here, iTunes has also gone “social” with Facebook and Twitter integration.  So what are you waiting for, download your free iTunes update now.
• iPhone/iPod Touch Software update.  Whilst not a major upgrade to the operating system, 3.1 for iPhone and iPod Touch provides a number of handy enhancements including the ability to organise your applications through iTunes.  You can now drag applications onto virtual home screens through iTunes which once synced will update your iPhone or iPod Touch seamlessly.  This is a welcome addition especially for those that have pages and pages of applications…hmmm sounds like someone I know.  Word of note, you will need to download iTunes version 9 first before the software update becomes available when you plug in your device.  You can download iTunes version 9 from here.  Instructions for updating your device to 3.1 can be found here.
• iPod touch is now cheaper.  The 8GB now starts at A$269 and a 64GB version has been added to the line up at A$549.

In summary, Apple continue to be innovative in the MP3 market, and whilst this event may have been a non-event for many (where is my updated Apple TV and the rumoured Tablet), there are still some worthy upgrades just in time for Christmas.

Below are some pictures from Apple’s Rock & Roll event, September 9, 2009.

In summary, here are some the statistics coming out of this revolution!

Social Media in general

• 3 out of 4 Americans use social technology
• 2/3 global Internet population visit social networks
• 4th most popular online activity ahead of email

Facebook

• More than 250 million active users
• The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older
• More than 5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
• More than 30 million users update their statuses at least once each day
• 1,000,000,000 amount of content (weblinks, news, stories, blogs, posts,photos) are shared on facebook each week

Twitter

• Twitter grew 1,382% year-over-year in February this year
• Approximately 3,000,000 tweets a day

YouTube

• 13 hours of video uploaded every minute
• 100,000,00 videos viewed each day

Enjoy the short video below which by the way has great music behind it “Right here Right now” by Fatboy Slim.

Can we say that social media is not a revolution but actually a way of life?  Let me know what you think…