DynDNS and Apple Airport

I recently learned of DynDNS, a free dynamic DNS service, from Paul VanderLei. As most know, the connection to your ISP is always a dynamic IP address which means that you might have a 24 hour window (roughly) where you can hand out your IP address for others to connect to your home server before it changes again. Obviously, this is not optimal. Enter DynDNS. They allow you to create a domain name that others can depend on without worrying about the IP address changing underneath. The following demonstrates how easy this is to set up:

1. Create a free DynDNS account.
2. Add a new hostname where you can choose your name and then pick from a selection of suffixes. Example: aeonscope.homeip.net.
   
3. Download the DnyDNS client. This is what updates DnyDNS with your new IP address as it changes.
4. Finally, launch your AirPort Utility, click on the Advanced tab, select port mapping, and then personal web sharing or whatever service you are planning to host:
   

In my case, I choose to use only port 3000 since I’m mainly just hosting my Rails apps to share with others for development purposes. Thanks Paul, for the tip. Hopefully others will find this useful as well.

Useless iPhone Application Receipts

I am not a big fan of e-mail spam. Who isn’t, right? Well, as of late, I have started to get that funny twitch in my eye due to what I am now calling receipt spam from Apple. Yes, Apple, with all their shiny toys. Although, the shine is beginning wear off as I upgrade and download applications (free ones mostly) for my iPhone. The problem is that I keep getting these kinds of messages (and they don’t appear on the same day but a day or two later):

(click to view)

Does anyone really care about this? If I had to pay for something then, yes, I would like a digital receipt. Otherwise, why bother me? Instead, I see these messages and start wondering what it was that I purchased only to find out I didn’t purchase anything! I can see the gang at Apple now saying: “Ha ha, made you look. Sucker!”

Yeah, thanks Apple, you just wasted my time.

Online Backup Services

It is not enough to simply backup your data with optical disks or external drives in your home (which you should already be doing). You also need a way to backup the data to an off-site location. One of the ways to do this is to use online storage where data is backed up and encrypted using a secure connection. The following are a few services for making this happen:

• Jungle Disk - Costs $0.15 per 1 GB of storage. Requires no monthly service fee, commitment, or startup fee. Data is encrypted at all times. Compatible with multiple operating systems.
• Carbonite - Costs $49 per year with no restrictions on the amount of data you store. Seems to only work with Windows systems.
• Mozy - Comes in three packages: Home (free for first 2GB), Pro ($3.95/month or $0.50/1GB/month), and Enterprise (unknown). Seems to support Windows mostly.
• .Mac - Costs $99 for 10GB of storage a year. There is a 100GB/month data restriction. Primarily supports the MacOS.
• IBackup - $9.95/month for 10GB of storage. Sports a web browser and downloadable client for connectivity. Works on multiple operating systems.
• Backup - Uses similar pricing to IBackup. Supports the Windows operating systems only.

All solutions seem to support industry standard secure connections and data encryption algorithms. For further information, watch the Unwired video and my related article about Online File Storage.

Twitter

© Twitter

Twitter, in case you were not aware, is a free micro-blogging web service where you can write about what you are doing at any point in time. You can post updates by sending an SMS message from your cell phone, instant message client, or directly from the Twitter web site. These short messages are generally called “Tweets” and are limited to 140 characters of plain text, no HTML markup. Any URLs that are included in the text message will be automatically converted to hyperlinks (although you can use TinyURL to convert longer URLs into shorter ones).

I have been using Twitter off and on for a while now but recently have started to use it more frequently. Feel free to check out my Twitter profile and/or subscribe to my feed. You can also learn more about Twitter on my my Twitter page.

Tags: Twitter

Facebook Deactivated

I created a Facebook account partially due to an invite from a friend and partially from curiosity. After playing with Facebook for a while I came to the conclusion that it is nothing more than a glorified MySpace that also suffers from some of the same reasons that caused me to leave LinkedIn.

I simply am not fond of the walled garden Facebook creates. Instead, I am more interested in sharing information in the open. Besides, if you have something that is truly private then why would you put it online where there is always the potential for it to be exposed?

With that said, I’ll be moving on:

For those of you who sent me Facebook invites, sorry. I suggest you subscribe to this site instead.

Tags: Facebook

This Week in Photography (TWIP)

In case you didn’t pick up on the latest announcements for TWIP in the Leo Laporte podcasts and you enjoy photography, then I recommend subscribing to both the web site and podcasts feeds. I’ve been listening since the start and it is shaping up to be a rather interesting source of photography information.

Podfitness

© Podfitness

Your personal music collection + a workout program + the voice of a professional trainer = Podfitness. See how it works for more info.

Clever.

Netflix “Watch Instantly” Experience

Introduction

During the course of the weekend I started making use of the Netflix “Watch Instantly” feature which means that I am able to watch video content streamed via the internet.

Technical Requirements

Unfortunately, the tech specs are limited:

• Windows Vista or Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
• Internet Explorer version 6 or higher.
• Windows Media Player version 11.

Since I am a Mac OS user, I ended up using VMFusion to load my Windows XP VM. Had no issues.

Questions & Answers

In case you are a current Netflix member and wondering how the “Watch Instantly” feature works, here are some official answers from Netflix:

• What are the limits?: “Netflix membership plans that come with unlimited DVDs per month come with unlimited instant watching, regardless of the number of discs you may have at home at any given time. Plans with a cap on monthly total discs come with a specific number of instant watching hours per month. Click here to view the full details for your plan.”
• How does is this feature related to my queue?: “Watching instantly and your DVD Queue are unrelated. Even if you have the same title in your DVD Queue, watching that title instantly won’t delete it automatically.”
• How does my internet speed affect the video?: “The speed of your Internet connection can change frequently based on network conditions in your residence and your Internet Service Provider’s system. The faster your internet connection, the better your video quality. Still, we automatically adjust Instant Viewing video quality to give you the best possible image for your connection speed.The faster your internet connection, the better your video quality. Still, we automatically adjust Instant Viewing video quality to give you the best possible image for your connection speed.”

Experience

Not all video in my queue is available for playback but I was happy to see that Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex was available (notice the play button next to each disk):

(click to view)

Clicking the play button will launch the player. Depending on whether you have the necesary software installed, you might have to proceed through some software upgrades before viewing the video. If all is good, then you’ll start seeing the Netflix load screen:

(click to view)

Once the movie loads, you can then switch from player to full screen mode. The video stream tries to keep streaming ahead so that you have a sufficient buffer. However, sometimes the movie will pause and you will get something like this:

(click to view)

In my situation, I was the only one using a dedicated network (jacked in directly to the router). I’m sure there are a bunch of performance tweaks that could be made for the hard core user of this service.

Verdict

At times I noticed some choppiness when the camera would pan across the screen. I also switched to a wireless connection and noticed that the video was still good but the load times were longer. At one point, I noticed my connection being so bad that the video was being corrected to stream at a much lower resolution where the video became quite pixelated.

The video quality is much better than Joost but openHulu might prove to be a strong competitor. However, being a home theatre nut, I’ll most like use this to service to sample video before adding to the queue for watching properly on my home theatre system. Even if I hook the laptop up to my home theatre system, I’m getting video and audio quality that still pails in comparison to DVD and even Blu-Ray.

My search for digital video on par or better than Blu-Ray quality still continues.

Tags: Netflix

Denver Open Media

I recently learned about the Denver Open Media group while chatting with Matthew Moore and via Tony’s comment on Refresh Denver web site. What is interesting about Denver Open Media is that they are allowing the general public to generate media content using their own equipment or equipment provided by Denver Open Media. Here is a direct quote from the Denver Open Media web site that explains better:

“Denver’s New Public Access TV Station, Denver Open Media is a revolutionary new approach to TV. Employing a participatory user-driven model in every aspect of its operation, Denver Open Media is part of the next phase of user-generated media.

YOU use the equipment, YOU create the shows, YOU provide feedback as viewers, and YOUR votes determine the broadcast schedule on Comcast Ch. 56, 57, and 219. Coming soon to your TV screen: YOU!”

As for me, I found the class descriptions to be rather interesing and am considering signing up for the web video workshop as soon as it becomes available.

Online File Storage

The following services might be of interest in case you are looking for an alternative to host and share files (rather than use a web host like GoDaddy):

• Box - Probably the easiest and best designed of the services listed here. You can upload files via your web browser or use e-mail. Check out Robert Scoble’s interview with Aaron Levie as he demos some of Box’s features.
• MediaFire - A free service that allows decent customization and organization of files. Has a 100MB restriction on files and uses your web browser to manage files. If you need a free, quick and dirty solution this is the place to go.
• Strongspace - Unlike the rest listed here, this service focuses on keeping your files secure (including the uploading and downloading of files). Files can be managed via your web browser or by using secure FTP clients. This service has no free account plans.
• DropSend - Uses e-mail as the primary means of storing files. Another quick and dirty solution but not as flexible as MediaFire.

Check out these 20 free online storage solutions as well.