© Apple

I’m not one for buying warranties. In fact, I usually ignore them altogether as most warranties are excuses for companies to pilfer more of your money (and sometimes used as a scare tactic at the end of your purchase depending on the type of business). However, there are times where warranties are a worthy investment but do your research and weigh the odds.

In my case, AppleCare has proven to be worth the money. Back in 2007, when I bought my first Apple MacBook Pro laptop, I was offered a warranty and ignored it at first but a friend convinced me to reconsider (as Apple gives you up to a year to decide from original purchase). I’m glad he did because it payed off in the end. During the life of the warranty I ended up replacing the following:

• Graphics card (burnt out, lost all display) - $400 repair parts and labor (roughly)
• Hard drive (overheated) - $300 parts and labor (roughly)
• Optical drive (broken, wouldn’t read disks anymore) - $200 parts and labor (roughly)

Those prices are estimates as I only have rough figures from what AppleCare claimed the cost was during those repairs (so I could be a little low or high). Regardless, the point is that AppleCare, which costs around $250, paid for itself and then some.

If you are a developer, like me, who uses a laptop 10 to 12 hours/day in all kinds of conditions (as I did travel to San Francisco and through Chaco Canyon in 50+ miles of rough rock road with my laptop in the top case of my motorcycle) then you might want to consider buying this plan.

In the early part of 2008 I wrote about how I found Facebook to be a glorified MySpace (another service that has since become the trash of the web). These days I grow more concerned about how Facebook tries to get as much personal information out of you in order to use it for its own personal gain. Most people still don’t understand this and are great risk to themselves, their family, and their friends. Ignorance is NOT bliss - it’ll catch up to you in the long run. You don’t need to take my word for it, however, just read/listen to the following articles/podcasts to get a clearer picture (thanks to Roo for the first couple of excellent links):

• A Visual History of Facebook Privacy Settings
• Facebook’s Eroding Privacy Policy: A Timeline
• TWiG 39: Facebook Über Alles
• TWiG 40: Palm Lives
• TWiG 41: Blinking 12:00
• These New Zuckerberg IMs Won’t Help Facebook’s Privacy Problems
• 3 Reasons that We are Moving Away from Facebook as a Platform

My suggestion is to control as much of your information as possible, keep it public, and keep it professional. If you like technology, you can always host your own web server (ideal situation). However, not everyone can do this and so I would recommend using Twitter instead. It is public by default - unlike the confusing terms of service that Facebook employs. Other solutions would be Tumbler, SquareSpace, etc. Whatever service you use, be mindful of its policies, the information you are sharing, and definitely don’t support services that are harmful to you and the open web.

© Heroku

I’ve been using Heroku for some time now. Well, ever since the Heroku Garden days — which was over a year ago. Seems longer. Anyway, I’ve got a handful of apps on Heroku. Some prototypes and some in production. I also have multiple accounts in play. The only problem is that this isn’t the easiest thing in the world to manage. In case you travel down this path, here are some tips.

Requirements

The following assumes you are on the MacOS, already own multiple Heroku accounts, have installed the Heroku gem, and have deployed a Ruby on Rails application to Heroku before. Otherwise, read the Quickstart docs and you’ll be up and running in no time.

Credentials

Let’s start with your credentials file (i.e. ~/.heroku/credentials). This file is usually created for you by the Heroku gem when you setup your first account. It is a text file with your account login (i.e. email address) on the first line and your password on the second line. To setup multiple accounts, I’d suggest the following:

• ~/.heroku/credentials - Your current account that is in play.
• ~/.heroku/account_1.credentials - Your first account.
• ~/.heroku/account_2.credentials - Your second account.

When you need to switch accounts simply copy the contents of the account you are switching to over the existing credentials file (example: account_2.credentials now becomes credentials). I wrote a simple Ruby gem called Heroku Plus that easily automates the switching of accounts for you. Now, from the command line, you can simply type the following to switch between accounts:

herokup -a -s <account>

Security Keys

Right, so we have the credentials files out of the way but there is one last step. You need to associate your public key with each account. Here is my suggestion:

1. Change directory to ~/.ssh
2. Create your private and public keys for each account by running the following command: ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "<email>" -f ~/.ssh/<account>.identity
3. Type heros <account> to switch account and add the new keys for each: heroku keys:add [path to keyfile].pub

For each Heroku account beyond your first, you’ll need to make use of the SSH config file (i.e. ~/.ssh/config) as follows (thanks to the Heroku support team on this one):

• Host official.heroku.com
• HostName heroku.com
• User git
• IdentityFile ~/.ssh/<account>.identity
• IdentitiesOnly yes

Also, for each account beyond the first, you’ll need to switch to each app directory and type the following command: git remote add heroku git@official.heroku.com:<your app>.git. This will allow you to push and deploy your changes back to the Heroku servers and finalizes your setup.

Workflow

From this point forward, you can switch between accounts as follows:

1. Change directory to the app you want to work on.
2. Type: hp -a -s <account>.
3. Make changes to your code.
4. Type: git commit -a -m “Your comments.”
5. Type: git push heroku.
6. Have a beer.

© The Movie DB

A couple of years ago my brother and I set out to frame our own movie posters since the prices for poster prints can add up quickly. In our case, we bought paper prints from places like All Posters, attached them to foam boards (bought via Michaels) with 3M glue spray, built and stained wooden frames (all done by my brother), and finally we worked with a local glass cutter to encase the prints. The result was OK but not great. The use of the 3M glue proved to be tricky to get right and in some cases resulted in minor bubbling of the prints.

That was several years ago. Now I’m researching a different tactic: canvas prints. This would not require glass. Plus canvas would partially work as an acoustic absorber and reduce light reflection from the video source. Ideally, I’d like to obtain high resolution digital images of the movie posters and figure out a clever way to print these images myself onto canvas or fabric. Unfortunately, obtaining high resolution images (i.e. 4500 x 6000 pixels or higher) is proving rather difficult. The alternative is to simply shop for canvas prints, which is easier, and then frame them how you like. Here is what I have found so far:

• All Movie Replicas - Offers movie posters, replicas, busts, memorabilia, etc.
• Movie Goods - Mostly dedicated to movie poster and related images. They supply canvas prints as well a framing abilities.
• The Movie Poster Shop - Supplies movie poster and canvas prints.
• All Posters - A popular place for movie poster prints or canvas versions. They also support framing.
• The Movie DB - While not necessarily related to shops that supply movie prints for purchase, I thought I’d mention this site since it does supply movie-related information including digital images. Most images are in 1920×1080 resolutions. Good for desktop wallpaper.

For me, I’m not sure if I’ll go down this route, but it is worth considering.

I haven’t talked much about Local Dish on this site and I thought I’d shed some more light on the project for those interested.

Local Dish is a new web site, service, and Ruby on Rails application that is about fresh food and healthy eating. Whether you are a cook, wanting to be a cook, or just looking for alternative ways to eat better then Local Dish is for you. We are initially tapping into the local scene which means we are hyper-local and definitely a niche service. That said, the recipe database and articles related on how to cook should be applicable to all no matter where you live. Plus, you should find the shopping list generator handy as well. Here is a high level breakdown of features we’ll be deploying:

• Recipe Database - The heart of this app is the use of the recipe database. You’ll be able to quickly search for and find recipes that might be of interest to you.
• Recipe Sharing - Members will have the ability to share and rate recipes.
• Recipe Management - Members will be able to mark recipes as something they have tried, have yet to try, tried and didn’t like, etc. You’ll be able to categorize and mark recipes as favorites, etc.
• Recipe Import/Export - Capability and support for quickly importing a collection of recipes or exporting them out to a different application will be supported as well.
• Shopping List Generator - Based on your recipe choices and how you configure your daily, weekly, and/or monthly menus this tool will allow you to generate shopping lists easily which gives you back more time to do the things you enjoy.
• Technical Merits - The app is being built on top of Ruby on Rails which in and of itself is pretty sweet. We’ll also be using HTML5, CSS3, and the latest JavaScript technologies. This also means that support for legacy browsers will be not supported initially. We’ll see how this works out. The technical purist in me wants to drop support for Internet Explorer all together and only support Firefox 3.5, Safari 4, and possibly Google Chrome because the stuff you can do with the latest web technologies in these modern browsers is impressive.

We think it is perfect timing since the current economy is in the dumps, people are looking for easier ways to cut grocery costs, and eat healthier without sacrificing taste. We are also scratching an itch to a problem that both Kate and I want solved as well. So bookmark the site and subscribe to the site and twitter feeds. We are very focused on community, so your input is welcome. Eventually, we’ll be opening up the site for Beta invites so that you can manage your own recipe collection, share recipes with others, generate your own shopping lists, etc.

We’re excited about this service and hope you will be to. See you on Local Dish!

As some might know I am a home theatre enthusiast that, at the end of last year, finally got into Blu-Ray partly due to the excellent writings by Roo. I was armed with a Playstation 3 and the Netflix disk service where I payed the extra $1/month charge to get Blu-Ray disks instead of DVDs. Only problem is that I kept getting disks that were slightly cracked or suffered from minuscule disk fractures which yielded the following Playstation 3 error code: 80029940.

Obviously, this was a terrible way to start enjoying the Blu-Ray experience. My only saving grace was that I had bought my own Blu-Ray disk, The Dark Knight, before renting the disks from Netflix and already knew that my player was not at fault.

After searching the various Playstation and home theatre forums and working with Netflix tech support, I discovered the following:

• Blu-Ray disks are more fragile than DVDs and therefor susceptible to cracking and disk fractures.
• Netflix has been working with the USPS to ensure that all mail is not processed by machine which causes the disks to crack. By reporting disk issues and even calling support, you can help Netflix work with the USPS to correct issues with your service.
• I read in some forums that you might need to turn the HDMI super white level off along with a few other custom display settings on your Playstation 3 to prevent the 80029940 code. Don’t believe the hype as I found none of this to be true. More often than not, it is a cracked disk (even if not noticeable by the naked eye).

In the end, after suffering through three Blu-Ray disks from Netflix, the issue was resolved and I’m happy to report that I’m experiencing movies in 1080p and True HD/DTS-HD perfection!

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.

• CrashPlan - Free for personal. Comes with an assortment of features such as continuous backup, scheduling, backup compression, encryption, etc.
• 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, 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.

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.

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

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

Clever.

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.

“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.

• 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.

• DNS 1: 208.67.222.222
• DNS 2: 208.67.220.220

I ended up configuring my router so that all computers on the network would benefit from the OpenDNS settings. While I didn’t do any formal speed tests, web sites did seem to load faster. Ultimately, I ended up setting my router back to it’s default settings. Here’s are some reasons why:

1. I found it annoying when OpenDNS would try to help me out with misspelled URLs.
2. I have concerns about privacy since all my web traffic is routed through OpenDNS.
3. OpenDNS does not play well with Virtual Private Networks (VPN). You can jump through hoops to get this to work, however.

This might be a nice upgrade for the non-tech crowd and general web surfers but not for me. If you search the web for other articles on OpenDNS, you’ll find that the general opinion seems to be a mixed bag.

© Discover Card

Should you be doing a little holiday shopping this season and have a Discover Card in hand, you might think about earning yourself a little money back on their Holiday Mall Promotion. You can find the details below by following the link but here are some quick highlights:

• Get a $20 gift card for every $200 spent at select malls.
• Valid from 2007-11-1 to 2007-12-31.
• Original receipts must be kept.
• Only a max of 5 gift cards can be issued per account.

These gift cards work just like credit cards and can be used anywhere that Discover Card is accepted. You can also use this promotion in conjunction with the current %5 cashback shopping bonus. This promotion seems to happen every year, so keep it mind for future use too.

Started using the FREX to commute into the Denver area and have to say this is a really great service. While it can take around an hour to an hour and a half each direction, this time difference is easily put to good use due to the WiFi service (using cellular technology). Interestingly, I can keep a solid network connection (VPN included) without interruption the entire trip.

From the FREX, I make a short connection via the RTD lightrail system and hoof it the rest of the way in.

I still get better price per mile on the motorcycle but, of course, I can’t work at the same time or ride through the snow.

In an effort to reduce some of the clutter in my life, I have decided to drop my service with LinkedIn. Here are a few reasons why (listed in no particular order):

1. Outdated Information - I’ve noticed that several of my contacts haven’t updated their information in years. To be fair, this isn’t a problem specific to LinkedIn but a common problem with any service that requires upkeep from its clientele. Even a few of the points below suffer this same fate.
2. Injudicious Connections - I’ve always treated my LinkedIn connections with some discretion. My criteria has been that one must be passionate, exhibit excellent workmanship, trustworthy, dependable, etc. All the qualities that I would want should I want to hire someone or have them represent me. I try to adhere to these values as well since I, in turn, am part of someone else’s network of connections. Not everyone does this and in some cases I wonder if people just add connections to seem important.
3. Unwanted Invites - This is along the same vein as Injudicious Connections, mentioned above, where I receive invites from people who I’ve never met or barely corresponded with. Then are those cases where I’ve met people that are a ton of fun to hang out with, yet their professional behavior is less than desirable. Professional connections should be just that: profession.
4. Time Consuming Job Searches - Supposedly, one of the features of LinkedIn, is to find job opportunities but it is a bit more personal if you an e-mail directly rather than via LinkedIn. The other issue is that when you want to keep tabs on jobs, you can’t generate a syndicated feed. I’m afraid that I don’t have time to keep logging into my LinkedIn account to check job updates. I’d rather have my feed reader do all the work and there are plenty of services that can make that happen: Google, Authentic Jobs, Simply Hired, Monster, LifeHacker, and Joel on Software to name a few.
5. Lack of Syndication - It would be nice if benefits of LinkedIn were less manual. It would be far more interesting if I could sync contact information with my address book without always having to sign into the service and then copy and paste the data. This would also allow me to be more mobile with my updated contact information should I be traveling with my laptop or phone and when I don’t have an internet connection.

For me, my address book, which is synced between my laptop and my phone, is far more valuable. Not only that but it is immediate and local. No internet connection required. Granted, my address book requires upkeep just like LinkedIn but it easier to use and requires fewer levels of complexity.

(click to view)

The first image is a view of all my lists and the second image is a view of my buy list. The interface changes slightly when viewed via the Safari web browser on my iPhone:

(click to view)

The first image is a view of all my lists, the second image is a view of my buy list, and the third image is a view of buy list item being edited. As you can see the interface changes slightly but not by much. The design is simple and the features are basic but that is all I am shooting for at the moment.

While the Ta-Da List web application is not optimal it will get me by until more interesting apps come along like Mail 3.0 and OmniFocus.

Tip: A web application is essentially worthless when you loose internet connectivity. I recommend loading up information from each of your favorite web applications on a separate Safari page on your iPhone before leaving an area where you have connectivity. Later you can view the information from cache (memory) without needing an internet connection.

“Rollover Minutes are unused, accumulated, Anytime Minutes that roll over from month to month for up to 12 billing periods. The benefits include the ability to keep unused Anytime Minutes and use them when they are needed. Additionally, you can avoid paying Additional Minute charges by using accumulated Rollover Minutes (also known as your Current Rollover Balance).”

To shed some light on this, here is a snap shot of my latest phone bill (with rollover minutes highlighted in yellow):

This means that out of the 450 day-time minutes I was able to use last month, I only used 144 minutes. The remaining 306 minutes get rolled over into next month which equates to 756 minutes total (450 + 306). Should I accrue more minutes or not use up the 306 minutes rolled over from last month, I will keep accruing minutes until year’s end (year’s end of when I signed my contract, that is).

Obviously, this is a sweet deal and even though I wish the rollover minutes could accrue, unlimited, until I canceled my service contract, I have to admit that having a year to use all rollover minutes is very handy.

• Total Phone Minutes: 1080 (includes both day and night time usage, none of which ran over the alloted 450 daytime minutes).
• Total Text Messages: 65 (sent and received).
• Total Data: 113,554 KB (sent and received).

I opted for paperless billing which allowed me to save the AT&T phone bill as HTML or PDF. The total size of the bill as saved to disk was roughly 3MB in size which includes full details of all my phone, text, and data usage.

Even though the picture above only shows my REI and Hallmark accounts, I ended up putting my Safeway, Albertsons, and King Soopers accounts on the back side.

My recommendation is that you use heavy weight paper and print at high quality for excellent results. I didn’t end up laminating my card might do it in the future. I was happy to shred all seven of my cards and just end up with one card that does it all.

• Rent - A decent service to get started in your searches. Requires one to sign up for free membership. Usually doesn’t have a lot of floor plans available or enough pictures of the apartments themselves (especially the interiors). Allows one to save searches to a favorites list. Gives $100 rebates on select apartments.
• My New Place - Requires free membership to use. Provides $100 rebate incentives on select apartments. Allows one to save searches to a favorites list. Best of all it uses Google maps with little push pins showing the locations on the map of all search results.
• For Rent - Requires no membership and is free to use. Provides the most comprehensive search with a treasure trove of apartment specifications, details, floor plans, pictures, and in some cases downloadable applications.

A few others for consideration are:

• Apartment Guide
• Apartments
• Move

For Quicken users, you might want to set up a category using tax line item Form 3903 as shown here: