Over 500K Users Rely on Google Voice Daily: Google

Google has responded to FCC questions about Google Voice and restrictions in calling certain regions of the U.S. In doing so, the company also noted the number of Google Voice users: over 1 million and growing.

Of course, Google didn't mean for everyone to see the numbers. Thanks to a formatting error in the PDF version of the letter provided to the FCC, the redacted areas were available to Business wWeek for perusal. The nascent, still invite-only service has 1.419 million users, according to the letter. Of those, 570,000 use it seven days a week.

Although the service is still invite-only, Google recently began giving out 3 invitations per user to give to their friends. I just saw those invitations show up in my Google Voice account (sorry, they're gone already!).

The FCC's questions centered around the fact that Google Voice has taken to blocking calls to certain rural areas of the country. AT&T, which complained, cannot do the same, because of FCC regulations. Certain rural carriers charge phone companies extremely high connection fees to those areas. Google noted, in the un-redacted portion of its letter, that it had experienced an unusually high volume of calls to these numbers and blocked access by its user base to some 100 numbers.

Google argues that Google Voice is not a traditional phone service provider (for one, it's free), it shouldn't be subject to the regulations that require phone companies to connect calls to any number.

Meanwhile, the redacted portion of the document also had some other interesting information: Google hinted that it might go global with Google Voice, saying it has signed contracts with a number of "international service providers for inputs to Google Voice." However, the company added that "none of the contracted services have yet" been launched.

BTW, the document has since been corrected. Additionally, these numbers aren't that big a deal if they are exposed, but it just goes to show you how easy it is for even a corporate giant like Google to make an error that could, in other circumstances, reveal some pretty sensitive information.

This isn't the first time the FCC has looked into Google Voice. Earlier, the FCC began examining the Google Voice application rejection from Apple's App Store (which Apple continues to say hasn't happened). AT&T, Apple, and Google were all questioned on the matter, and have since responded. Critics have complained about the rejection, and it has become the "poster boy" of useful applications seeming rejected, without sufficient reason, from the App Store.

Create a Virtual Machine of your Existing Computer With a Click

Virtualization, in simple English, is a interesting technology that helps you run multiple operating systems on the same machine.
For instance, if you are running Windows Vista on a computer, you can create virtual machines for Windows XP or Ubuntu and run these operating systems on your existing Vista machine just like any other Windows application.

How to Create a Virtual Machine

Windows Virtual PC, Virtual Box and VMware Workstation are some popular applications that allow you to create new virtual machines on a Windows PC but the only problem with these programs is that they require you do everything from scratch.
That is, if you want to create a new virtual machine, you will have to install the whole operating system first using the original installer DVD and then configure it with your favorite programs. This can be both time consuming and difficult.
What if you could use your existing Windows computer, that already has all your favorite programs installed, and turn into a virtual machine?

Convert your Computer into a Virtual Machine

While it has always been possible to convert an existing hard drive into a virtual machine, the process was difficult and often required expensive programs.
Well, not anymore. There’s a new utility from Microsoft that makes it both simple and free to convert an existing installation of Windows into a virtual machine ready to run on any other computer.
Microsoft’s Sysinternals team has released a simple application called Disk2vhd, that lets you easily migrate an existing computer to a virtualized hard drive (VHD). It’s a tiny utility doesn’t even require instillation.

Create Virtual Hard Disks with Disk2VHD

When you run Disk2vhd, it will immediately show you all the drives and partitions on your computer that it can migrate to a VHD.  Simply select a drive that you wish to create a VHD file from and click “Create.” Disk2vhd will convert the hard drive into a VHD file even if the computer /drive is currently in use.



When the Virtual Machine VHD file is created, you can run it in any desktop virtualization program including the free Windows Virtual PC, Virtual Box, or VMware Player. You can also mount the virtual machine as a standard hard drive in Windows 7, and can even boot from it if your computer is running Windows 7 Ultimate.
You may use Disk2vhd to create virtual machines of your Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and higher machines, including x64 systems.

Usage Scenario

Let’s say you have a computer that is already running all the software programs you frequently use, but you now want to move to a new computer or upgrade your operating system. You can then consider creating a virtual machine of your old machine using the Microsoft utility and this will help you use all your favorite programs (with the same settings) on the new machine.
You can also use virtualization to create a ghost image of your hard drive in a single file and this will be handy in the event of a disk failure.
Disk2vhd is an useful tool that will make it much easier for you to enjoy the benefits of virtualization without being too technical.

How to Stop -- Or Live With -- Global Warming

According to research at Princeton, current technologies are capable of stopping (or at least slowing) the rate of global warming by 2050 if properly applied. Using a mix-and-match approach, students who participated in a game-like experiment found that the current portfolio of energy-saving policies and technologies (flourescent bulbs, nuclear power, wind turbines, reducing deforestation, etc.) could indeed keep global greenhouse gases constant over the next 50 years. The trick is to apply these solutions to developing countries, where rapid industrial growth will put them on track to overtake the developed world in greenhouse gas output within the next several decades.

Meanwhile, Live Science has a top-10 list of side effects of global warming, such as more severe allergies, more sinkholes from permafrost melting, a less dense upper atmosphere that will affect how satellites orbit the earth, more forest fires and rapid deterioration of ancient ruins. Perhaps the strangest prediction of all: mountains that lose their glaciers and permanent snow caps will actually "grow" as the weight on them decreases.

Recording of Technology Supports for Writing Webinar is Now Available

Supports for Writing" which we recently released. The 51 page eBook which is accessible with Adobe Acrobat Reader includes a great compilation of resources for anyone who needs to support students in the area of writing. Included in the ebook iare over 12 videos that are embedded that let you actually see how the software works. You can view the videos in full screen and get a sense first hand if you think that the program may have application for the students you are working with. During the webinar we highlighted a couple of reesources, ie. PixWriter, Livescribe Pulse Smartpen, Ginger, and NaturalReaders. You will find the eBook to be a helpful resource to have on your computer which not only includes a breakdown of features and interactive links to the publishers website.

This 51 page cutting-edge video ebook is a rich resource for information about various software and hardware tools to improve the writing process. It includes one video describing how to take advantage of this new "just in time" type of multi-media interactive learning tool and 12 integrated videos showing readers examples of how to use supports built-in to some of the highlighted products.

Topics in our video e-book include:

* Software with customizable drill-and-practice exercises to improve writing
* Software to improve spelling
* Software to help stimulate written content
* Features of word processors and assistive writing technology
* Text-based word processing features
* Text- based word processors
* Picture-based talking word processors
* Stand-alone word bank program
* Dictionaries
* Graphic organizers: technology for organizing written narrative
* Technology to help with the physical aspect of writing
* Speech-to-text and voice recognition
* Initiation of the writing process
* The physical act of handwriting or typing
* Portable word processors

The iPhone Revolution?

The iPhone, released to the public last Friday, is one of the most hyped devices in memory. But is all the excitement justified?

John McCormick of Baseline suggests that the iPhone could blow the market for handheld rich Internet applications wide open, even though the iPhone was designed for the consumer rather than the enterprise market. Om Malik concurs, noting the significance of the built-in Safari browser that brings the full Web experience to mobile phones for the first time. Smart Mobs opines that mobile phones (not just the iPhone) represent a mass medium unto themselves that are revolutionizing the fundamental ways in which we communicate.

Seinfeld Back in the Apple Fold, In "Curb"

The Jerry Seinfeld - Bill Gates ads were an undeniable flop (although the second one showed promise). At the time, I wondered about the choice of Seinfeld, as he was a definite Mac user in his TV show. Money talks, right?

Anyway, Steve Jobs welcomes back Jerry, as on a recent episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Jerry is seen behind his desk with (gasp) a MacBook in front of him. Yes, yes, just because someone endorses a product doesn't mean they really use it regularly.

After all, does anyone really think Tiger Woods uses Buicks on a regular basis?

A bad TV week for Microsoft, as they also decided that Family Guy (or rather, a live special via Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane) was not the right show to advertise Windows 7 on. Hey, you can bet that special will have great ratings, Microsoft. A big loss for you, not so much for Family Guy.

China Gets Its (Wi-Fi-Less) iPhone, And Problems

The iPhone has finally reached China, or should I say, the iPhone has finally officially reached China. There were plenty of unlocked iPhones invading China's GSM Networks, but only Friday was it on the China Unicom network.

The first shipments manufactured for China Unicom, however, are missing wi-fi. It wasn't until May, after manufacturing of the device had begun, that Beijing lifted the existing wi-fi ban on devices.

This will create problems for China Unicom, which has reportedly contracted with Apple for 5 million iPhones. China Unicom hopes to have wi-fi in the next batch of iphones it receives from Apple, saying: "We are talking with Apple and expect the problem to be solved by the end of this year."

Until then, though, what? China Unicom also is at a price disadvantage: unlocked grey import iPhones (with wi-fi, no less) cost around 5,700 yuan ($835) in China’s street markets, while China Unicom charges from 4,999 yuan ($730) to 6,999 yuan ($1,025) for the high-end, 32 GB iPhone 3GS.

Hmmm. An unlocked iPhone for less money, or official iPhone, tied to one carrier, for more money. Which would you choose? To be honest, even with the wi-fi feature, the fact that the unlocked iPhone goes for less creates an issue for Apple, as well as China Unicom.

In other countries, unlocked iPhones go for more, and far more than a locked version. This backwards set-up in China may prove to be difficult to overcome.

How Crapware Slows Your PC

Virtually all Windows PCs contain crapware, the software added to PCs before shipment which includes demos, trials, offers, and the like. While Microsoft itself sees fit to put crapware-less (depending on your point of view) PCs in its retail stores, most OEMs are not so kind. Now a study has shown just how much "harm" these crapware installs do.

The study, performed by PC Pro, showed how much RAM is wasted by the crapware these OEMs install on their PCs, as well as how much slower your systems run because of them.

The report compared "clean" systems vs. normally "loaded" (with crapware) systems, from a number of manufacturers. Some interesting results: the Acer and Sony systems, when compared with clean versions, took about 2 extra minutes to boot. Since slow booting is one of the frequently complaints of Windows systems (which is why SSDs and "stand by" or "Sleep" are loved).

The HP system's boot time more than doubled with its crapware installed. Its 2D benchmark score dropped from 1.06 to 1.00 with all the extra junk installed. The Toshiba's boot time went from an impressive 39 seconds when clean to 2:13 with crapware installed, nearly a 4x change in boot times.

Common sense would say that none of this should be surprising: you can't have programs installed and running without affecting RAM and performance, even if only slightly. All the garbage installed such as this, adds up, however.

One thing to remember, however, is there are plenty of programs that install services and applets that run all the time, taking up memory and slowing performance even when not being used. An example: True Image installs services that are used for scheduled imaging. If you don't want to run automatic imaging, but rather just do so manually, it's a waste of RAM and CPU cycles.

There's also this program called “Apple Mobile Device Service”. You really don’t need it unless you have an iPhone or an iTouch iPod but that didn’t stop Apple from including it as an Service for all iTunes users. There's also "AppleSyncNotifier," which is something that is used for MobileMe. Once again, if you don't have MobileMe, why do you need this as well.

Whenever I install any software, I try to track the new stuff that is installed; you should, too. There's so much extra so that programs can run in the background, you'd be surprised how much is running without your knowledge.

Oh, and about that crapware? Don't expect it to go anywhere soon. Manufacturers seem perfectly happy to pay OEMs to install it on their PCs, so based on that, nothing's going to change anytime soon.

MindGenius 3 Released!

No sooner then I do a review of MindGenius 2.5, I find out that MindGenius Ldt., has just released MindGenius 3. When you first open MindGenius 3 you will see an who new look, complete with the adoption of the Fluid Ribbon Interface. MindGenius 3.0 is much more visually appealing to use but you should feel right at home with the common interface structure. MindGenius 3 kept many of the same conventions as in their previous version such as the Map Explorer and the Picture Gallery Viewer. MindGenius 3 has a clean and inviting look summoning you to jump in and use the program. If you are upgrading from version 2.5 you should be up and running in no time. While it may take some time to get used to the Ribbon, I found the organization of the commands on the Ribbon to be well thought out and relatively easy to find what I was looking for. The Welcome Map and the Getting Started Guide are two useful resources when you are just beginning to use MindGenius 3. Here are a list of some of the new features that you will find in MindGenius as provided by the publisher:

• Ribbon User Interface which allows for improved brainstorming, presentations, analysis and task management functionality and easier access to the most commonly used features and functionality.
  
• improved Analysis capability to help you sort your information and add quick filters to get a different view on your data eg by category, actions due/ over due, cost or task properties.
  
• MS Excel export for use with pivot table analysis, parts lists, costs, task management, and FMEA Analysis, allowing you to work with numerical values as well as words.
  
• Numerical fields added that allow you to record actual work hours, costs and quantities and undertake cost and quantity calculations.
  
• updated image library with a suite of pictures that can be used royalty free by all MindGenius users.
  
• ability to add and edit your own question sets in the Question Tool allowing you to undertake improved planning and brainstorming sessions and create frameworks for meetings and customer facing sessions.
  
• timer to allow you to keep on schedule in brainstorming, meetings and presentations.
  

One of the strengths that comes across in using MindGenuis 3 is the powerful filters and the ability to sort your maps by a specific category. MndGenius really shines in this area and makes for a valuable tool if you are doing consulting and looking how resources are being used in a project. With a click of the mouse you are able to create your map based on the Resources and see things through a different lens. You can watch this video to show you how to assign Resources with the Resources Dropper and how to quickly create a Resource Map within MindGenius 3. In this regards MindGenius 3 has redone the interface and allows you to quickly link resources with tasks on your map. Using the very familiar Eye Dropper you can drop resources in tasks make it easy to track them in a project. You will also find that there were some significant features added to the Task Ribbon. In MindGenius 3 you can now track Work Hours, and Cost for tasks that can then be Exported to Excel for further analysis. If you like you can also Export your Tasks to Outlook with a click of the mouse. Having exported some project information to Excel I was impressed with the formatting and the Report that was generated. Of course if I decide to, I could always export the project to MS Project to give me a full range of tools and a Gantt Chart.

One of the features which is unique to MindGenius 3 is the ability to create Question Sets. A Question Set is a series of prompts or questions that can be associated with a mind map. This is a great feature to use to help you to generate ideas and to get you to thinking about a topic is a new or novel way. While MindGenius 2.5 included this feature you were unable to edit the Question Sets and you had to use them in the standard way. In MindGenius 3 you can easily edit the Questions and use them as you see fit. These custom prompts and questions can help and guide users to be more productive when they are working through an issue and are mind mapping. These Question Sets can be very powerful frameworks for users when they are attempting to solve problems using mind mapping tools.

All in all, you will find Mind Genius 3 to be an easy to use mind mapping tool that builds on it foundations and provides a good foundation for future development. While you will have to gauge for yourself the worth of this upgrade- I for one feel that users will find MindGenius 3 easier to use, more visually appealing and brings with it a clean new interface that should make users more productive.

Illegal Downloaders Spend More On Music: Study

Want to prosecute people who are downloading files illegally? Well, if you fine them, you might be taking money out of the hands of your best customers, a new survey shows.

It's not the first such survey to come to this conclusion. However, it is the latest.

The study, published on Sunday by U.K. think tank Demos, surveyed 1,008 people aged between 18 and 50 last month. It found that those who admit to illegally downloading music spent an average of £77 a year on music, which is £33 more than those who claim that they never do so.

The British Phonographic Industry estimates that seven million U.K. users download files illegally annually, which will cost the industry £200 million this year. Assuming, however, that the survey held true, the extra £33 spent annually by each of those seven million would add up to £231 million. Hey, that's a profit of £31 million!

Seriously, the study also noted that lowering the price for legally downloaded music could result in a significant decrease in illegal downloads. The sweet spot would seem to be 45p per track. Currently, tracks on iTunes run between 59p and 99p; the survey indicated that sales could double at that price.

Naturally, the music industry wasn't too impressed with the survey. Recent proposals, include a "three strikes, you're out" policy which would terminate broadband service if consumers fail to respond to warning letters; the industry believes this will deter illegal downloaders.

Meanwhile, some, including Forrester Research, have a different view. Mark Mulligan of Forrester Research said, "The people who file-share are the ones who are interested in music. They use file-sharing as a discovery mechanism. We have a generation of young people who don't have any concept of music as a paid-for commodity. You need to have it at a price point you won't notice."

This same argument has been made for downloaders of other material, such as PC games; many say they download as a sort of "try and buy" method. In terms of this survey, 83% said they buy more music as a result, and 42% said they did so to "try before you buy."

Of course, this doesn't change the fact that illegal downloading is still stealing. It is evident, however, that many younger people just don't see it that way.

Today's Webspiration Training

Today I was called into a Middle School to do some training with teachers on Inspiration to help support a student with writing and reading comprehension difficulties. Last year I had done a comprehensive assistive technology evaluation and had made the recommendation to the Child Study Team that the student would benefit greatly from using Inspiration on a computer as a pre-writing strategy and to help him to better understand and retain information. When I went into the school today I decided to take a little different tact and worked with the teachers on getting them comfortable with Webspiration. Since all of the teachers did not have Inspiration installed on thier laptops I figured why not try Webspiration a tool that they could use not only with this student but with the entire class. There are lots of advantages to using Webspiration if you are teacher, most notably, you can access your graphic organizers from any computer connected to the internet and you can jointly share your webs and templates with others.

During this short session we were able to create a graphic organizer on the "scientific method" as well as add graphics from the library. We also had a chance to add notes and to look at some of the templates that come with Webspiration. The "aha" moment didn't come until I showed them how they could share their files with others. Within minutes teachers were collaborating with one another and could see just how easy it was for them to share their graphic organizers with the identified student who would need this to support his learning. It was a rell eye opener for them to also learn that the student could then access these files and open them with Inspiraiton 8 which he has installed on his laptop computer.

I had a chance to work directly with the student and showed him how to access these shared files that some of his teachers had shared with him in Webspiration. He quickly grasped how to use Webspiration and was taught how to download the files he needed so that he could use some of the other supports that were only found in Inspiration 8, Text to Speech, and the Word Guide. Using the Listen Tool the student was able to click on any symbol on the screen to hear the text being read. Likewise I also showed him how to turn on the Talking Interface which would then allow him to have the computer read the definitions in the Word Guide.

Apple Gives Out Coal Instead of Candy to Trick-or-Treaters (Not Really)

Some dentists hand out toothbrushes on Halloween instead of candy, with an obvious message sent. So what was the message in Bellevue, WA, where the Apple Store employees were handing out iPod nano sized bookmarks?

That particular Apple store handed out a few hundred of the nano-sized bookmarks to trick-or-treaters. The bookmarks are magnetized as well. Considering the collectability of such an item, it's far better than candy, but of course, to kids, it's kind of like getting an apple.

Still, the bookmarks were gone by 7:30 PM. My idea on the "message," is that it's probably nothing. Or, it could be a message about the rumored tablet device that some say is going to be e-book focused.

Glance to the Rescue

While I have used Glance in the past to do webinars and to do screen sharing, I have never had the opportunity until yesterday to use it to remotely control someone's computer. One of my students called me on my cell phone and shared with me that she was having trouble doing APA formatting in Microsoft Word. I suggested that we do a session using Glance and that I would take control of her computer. I quickly shot off an email with the log-on link to her colelege email address and within seconds we were up and running. I was able to take control of her PC and show her how to use the Reference Tools within Microsoft Office 2007 to create her citations and bibliogrpahy. My student, to say the least was fascinated by the support and my ability to remotely take control of her computer. The whole support call lasted about 10 minutes but after we were through we resolved all of her technical issues and she was then able to focus on her Action Research Project. Having tools like Glance at your disposal was a god send.

Paramount, Kingston Team to Deliver Movies on Flash Memory

Remember the slotMusic format? That is a different way of deliveriing music, using microSD cards instead of CDs. With flash memory prices continuing to drop, it was only a matter of time until movies and DVDs would start being delivered the same way.

On Monday, Kingston and Paramount Digital Entertainment (PDE) announced a new delivery system for movies, on flash memory rather than optical media. Kingston, you might recall manufactures memory, SSDs, and flash memory, while PDE is a division of (what else) Paramount.

According to the press release, the movies will be supplied on Kingston media in as part of bundle packages and for sale. The first such movie, "Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen" is currently available at all OfficeMax stores for $29.99. Customers receive this movie on a 4 GB Kingston Data Traveler drive; there is extra space on the drive that can be used for personal storage.

It's unclear exactly how much storage is left on the drive, but users obviously shouldn't expect Blu-ray quality video. After all, a single-layer DVD is 4 GB in size; that is how most (ahem) ripped DVDs are burned by users.

Meanwhile, a dual-layer DVD is 8 GB. You can see, you are obviously losing quality, just vs. regular DVD. much less Blu-ray. One good thing is you can count on the drives themselves: Kingston Data Traveler drives have a five-year warranty and 24/7 tech support.

Creating Interactive Handouts with Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

Earlier this week I spoke about how you could easily create printed handouts from your Captivate 4 projects. While this is certainly an added benefit and a good approach when you are doing workshops-wouldn't it be even better if you could show your participants how to accomplish the skill in an interactive handout. Why not take the printed handout an add a video demonstration to it to make it even more engaging for your learners. If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro9 Extended it is easy to add a video to your Microsoft Word document and then convert it to a PDF file and distribute it electronically.

In this example I created my video demonstration using Captivate 4 and embedded the SWF file directly into Microsoft Word handout from the Adobe Acrobat Tab within Microsoft Word. Once I have slected the SWF file I can set the Poster view for the video that the user will see when they open up the handout. Because I am creating a PDF file I can be confident that the end user will be able to view the contents of the PDF with nothing else but the free version of Adobe Reader 9.1. Using this technique is a great way to explain and demonstrate to your participants how to accomplish a task on the computer. You now have the best of both worlds- you can print out your handouts or electronically distribute them with embedded videos. Either way I'm sure your workshop participants will appreciate your efforts, having the various level of supports available to them during and after your workshop. If you need a place to host your PDF you should take a look at Acrobat.com a free way to upload your PDF and share them.

Little Buddy Child Tracker: $99 and GPS, But Don't Forget the Recurring Fees

Best Buy has started selling the Little Buddy Child Tracker. The device is supposed to help parents track their children, and it's listed as $99. What isn't mentioned however, are the recurring fees for the service.

The Little Buddy Child Tracker uses real GPS technology to help you track your children. It's advertised as being able to alert you if your child isn't in the location he's supposed to be at a specific time. It does so by sending text messages to you.

The light bulb above my head went off when I read that. Obviously, there's some cellular connection involved with the Little Buddy Child Tracker. Also, unless they are as generous as Amazon.com is with their Kindle device, you're not going to get that for free. And since Amazon.com expects you to buy stuff with the Kindle, and that's not the case with this device, you can see they probably aren't going to be that generous.

And they're not. Although Best Buy doesn't mention the recurring fees, Insignia, maker of the Little Buddy Child Tracker, does on their site.

For unlimited service, of the type that would alert you if your child wasn't in school when he should be, the cost for the Little Buddy Child Tracker is $14.99 monthly. For per-use service, it's $0.99 per use. They aren't specific, but this sounds like a service where you could "ping" the device to see where it is.

Clearly, one problem with the whole idea is that the company claims you should slip this into your child's jacket or backpack. Kids lose backpacks and jackets all the time; hence, they are going to lose this rather expensive thing, too. The Little Buddy Child Tracker also comes in ugly blue and green colors, designed to get your child to leave it in his locker.

The problem with more "portable" types of devices than the Little Buddy Child Tracker, such as those that are similar to wristwatches, is range. There are a few like that on Amazon.com, but they are woefully bad in terms of the user reviews. The fact that this one, for example, was over $100 at first and is now in the $20s, along with really bad reviews, shows you why.

To be honest, you get what you pay for. More expensive devices like these work better. They're also pricier, but some of them have no recurring fees yet can be tracked via Google Earth. For me, I'll pass on the Little Buddy Cnild Tracker.

New Livescribe Pulse Smartpens Announced

Inc. announced the expansion of its line-up of award-winning Pulse smartpens, a computer in a pen that digitally captures and syncs handwriting and audio together. Customers can now select a 4GB and 2GB model in a new, stylish titanium color. The 4GB model holds more than 400 hours of recorded audio and provides ample storage for consumers to add applications such as, entertainment, education and productivity tools to their smartpen when Livescribe launches its Application Store later this year. The 4GB Pulse smartpen has a retail price of $199.95 and the 2GB model is $169.95.

Also, released today is the Pro-Pack bundle, a new option for the business professional. The Pro-Pack includes the 4GB Pulse smartpen in an exclusive black color, an A5 size starter notebook, a premium leather carrying case, handwriting to text transcription software, and the new Pro Charging Cradle. This special bundle is initially available at Livescribe.com for $249.95. The Pro Charging Cradle has a stylish ink-well design and charges Pulse from an electrical outlet or computer.

To meet growing demand and provide greater purchase accessibility, Pulse can be found at several new retail outlets, including Best Buy, select Apple stores nationally and Apple.com. Starting in mid-November, the Pulse smartpen will be available at Staples stores nationwide. Pulse continues to be available at Target and Amazon.com.

“We are thrilled to have broadened not only our product line, but also our retail distribution to reach people wherever they shop for electronics. We know that many people like to see things in person before purchase and our new retail relationships with Best Buy, Apple and Staples will help demonstrate how Pulse can positively impact their lives professionally, academically and personally by never missing a word,” said Livescribe CMO Byron Connell.

Intel Chipset + Windows 7 Blocking iPhone Sync?

It's yet another Windows 7 problem, but at least the new Microsoft OS is not the only common factor in this issue. Some iPhone users are having troubling syncing with iTunes, but besides Windows 7, another common factor is they they are all using computers with an Intel P55 Express Chipset.

The affected users are ironically discussing the problem on the Apple support forums. One thing that seems to have worked for some is disabling Power Management for the USB root hub on the system that an iPhone is connected to.

The exact steps seemed to be:

• Start / Control Panel / System / Device Manager
• View -> Devices By Connection
• Click arrow next to ACPI x64-based PC
• Click arrow next to Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
• Click the arrow next to PCI bus
• Click the arrows to expand "USB" related HW
• Right click on USB Root Hub / Properties / Power Management
• Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power

On the other hand, this didn't work for all. Some tried getting a PCI-based USB card. Some tried a downgrade to an earlier version of iTunes. Nothing has worked consistently.

One thing has been fairly consistent: quite a few people throwing up their hands and saying they might re-consider the Mac.

Bird Population Falls Over Past 40 Years

A recent study by the National Audubon Society has found that bird populations -- even those of common, robust species such as grackles -- have fallen drastically over the past 40 years. The populations of whiporwills and bobwhites have fallen by well over 80 percent, a drop so great that these once-common birds are now seldom seen or heard in the eastern US. Deforestation is partly to blame, as well as global warming, which appears to be affecting arctic birds especially hard. Because cold-climate birds must migrate farther north each year to reach their shrinking habitat, they rarely migrate below the northernmost regions of the US.

"These are not rare or exotic birds we're talking about -- these are the birds that visit our feeders and congregate at nearby lakes and seashores and yet they are disappearing day by day," said Carol Browner, Audubon board chairperson and former Environmental Protection Agency administrator in the Clinton administration. "Their decline tells us we have serious work to do, from protecting local habitats to addressing the huge threats from global warming."

Hell Comes to the iPhone With DOOM Classic

On the PC, first came Wolfenstein 3D, then came DOOM. Such is the way of iPhone gaming ports as well. We saw Wolf3D earlier, and now we see DOOM Classic.

To be honest, it's part of an ongoing trend. With faster CPUs on the iPhone 3G and particularly the iPhone 3GS, more first-person shooters (FPS) are ending up on the iPhone and iPod touch.

You might ask, how much? When id Software first released Wolfenstein 3D, it was $4.99. Since then, it's dropped as low as $0.99 and currently sits at $1.99. DOOM, on the other hand, is a high-priced (for the App Store) $6.99. Ouch!

Don't confuse this with the earlier release, DOOM: Resurrection. That is an all-new chapter, but if you want the full id Software experience in terms of history, you really need to get Wolf3D, DOOM Classic, then DOOM: Resurrection.

On the other hand, that is one minor nit I would have: I would expect that DOOM Classic would cost slightly less than DOOM: Resurrection. Come on, there's a recession on here.

At the same time, the game's description indicates there's probably $6.99 worth of fun there:

Welcome to Hell! Prepare to relive the First Person Shooter that defined a generation with the legendary original DOOM - now on the iPhone. As a space marine stationed on the planet Mars, you are all that stands between the armies of Hell and their invasion of planet Earth!

DOOM Classic includes the original three episodes as well as Episode Four, Thy Flesh Consumed, spread across 36 levels of non-stop carnage and action.

Choose from customizable control schemes, all designed by id Software co-founder and industry legend, John Carmack. Wield unforgettable weapons like the Chainsaw and the BFG 9000 while fighting through notorious monsters like the Imp, Cacodemon, and Hell Knight!

In DOOM Classic, multiplayer action is reborn! With a wireless connection, battle up to four players in Deathmatch mode, or work together cooperatively and fight back against the demons of Hell.

Features:

• Play the legendary first person shooter, DOOM, with an iPhone or iPod Touch.
• Fight through 36 missions in four action-packed episodes: Knee-Deep in the Dead, Shores of Hell, Inferno, and Thy Flesh Consumed
• Experience DOOM multiplayer on your mobile device, including Deathmatch and Cooperative play for up to four players via wireless internet.
• Choose from three different control types and customize the interface to suit your style
• Explore the depths of Mars while utilizing the topdown map to help you explore and save your game on the fly.
• Listen to the original soundtrack or disable it and use your own iPod music

Britain Piloting First Biofueled Train

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group has embarked on yet another venture -- Virgin Trains, which seeks to replace traditional diesel trains with models run on biofuel.

Virgin Trains' pilot project will test a train running on 20% biological material (typically a type of vegetable oil) in Britain for six months. If the test is successful, Virgin Trains will use the 20% mix full-time, with an eye toward engines run purely on biofuel. Virgin Trains says that switching to biodiesel could cut emissions by 14%.

Best Buy Palms Off Used Laptop As New

A San Francisco Bay Area resident received a surprise when she opened her brand new laptop that she purchased from Best Buy. The laptop was used, and full of someone else's files.

It was Nancy Hole's first Laptop. Her niece, Maureen O' Rourke took her to Best Buy and helped with the purchase. However, when they unboxed the laptop, there were a lot of things missing. No documentation, discs, or anything. And upon booting up the system, they noticed there were photos and other things on the laptop dated Aug. 9th, a month before Hole made her purchase.

Worse, rather than taking the laptop back, Best Buy offered them a $50 gift card for her "inconvenience." Hole had to go to a local consumer action service via her local TV station to get what she should have gotten in the first place: a new laptop.

Interestingly, Hole had the Geek Squad set up the PC. For what? A boxed laptop needs to be turned on and a few things filled out. At any rate, with the help of the consumer watchdog, Hole was refunded the Geek Squad charge and also was given another $130 for her inconvenience.

What is most surprising is that Best Buy had to be "convinced" to give Hole a new laptop. Still, it's a warning: don't assume what you buy as new is really new.

Clickfree Transformer Cable Backup Solution

If you have worked with computers for any length of time you know just how important the data that lives on our computers are to us. From our music, to photographs to financial data we all rely on those files being there when we boot up our computers. So the question is, "When was the last time you backed up your computer?" You see it is not a question if your hard disk will fail but a question as to when will it fail. While we go our merry way thinking that our computers will work as they should, there will come a time when you boot up and you get the dreaded error message that your computer will not start up. If a technician can't get the system up an running you will be faced with the option of having to reformat your hard drive and lose all of you files. Wouldn't it be nice if you had prepared for this event and had a backup that you could access to restore all of your data files.? I know the answer to this question, and have been working with a number of products from Clickfree to see how well they work. Clickfree has a number of products that let you easily backup your data files without the need to install any software. Clickfree tries to make the process of backing up your hard drive as fuss free as possible and in this regards- they have accomplished their goal.

I had a chance this week to take a look at Clickfree's Transformer Cable, which turns any external USB drive into a Clickfree backup solution. The Clickfree Transformer Cable is a small USB cable with the attached Transformer pod on it that you simply plug into your computers USB port. Once the Transformer is plugged into your computer you can plug in your external USB drive and within seconds the Clickfree Backup software runs finding, organizing and backing up all of your files. It is really that easy- with no software to install. With the price of external USB drives coming way down in price there is no excuse not to have your data backed up. Clickfree Transformer Cable works with Windows Vista®, Windows® XP and Mac OS X 10.5 or later.

I have to say that the Clickfree's Transformer Cable worked as advertised. I was able to back up my Dell XPS 1210 using the Clickfree's Transformer Cable in a couple of minutes and all I needed to do was plug in my external USB drive into the Clickfree's Transformer Cable. Now I have the peace of mind that my files are safe should my hard drive crash. The Clickfree's Transformer Cable backs up all of your data files and includes a Restore function should you need to restore your files. You can also search for files using the Clickfree Backup Software and access individual files should you need them. Clickfree saves your data files in the native application's file format so that it is easy to access should you need to copy or move them to another computer. The Clickfree Solution backs up over 400 difference types of files from your hard drive so that you can be rest assured that they will be there when you need them. Clickfree Transformer also ships with a small application which you can install to your computer which will remind you to backup your files- you can also set it up the Clickfree Transformer for Unattended Backups as well. You should note that the Clickfree's Transformer Cable Backup Solution does not backup your software applications or your operating system. If this is important to you, you may want to look at another solution (I hope to share this solution with you in another post shortly). But for the peace of mind of having all your data files backed up, the Clickfree's Transformer Cable solution worked as advertised. If you need a simple no fuss method to back up your computer files then this is the way to go- trust me you will be happy you did!

Would You Pay $30 / Month for TV Via iTunes?

Pay attention now. We're not talking Apple TV. We're talking about something that Apple has been pitching to TV networks, according to Media Memo. The question for you: would you pay $30 a month to watch TV via iTunes?

As I said, it's not a proposal to extend Apple TV. Rather, Apple is presenting the offer as an extension of iTunes. iTunes already offers TV shows for purchase, but buying an episode at $2.99 a pop or a season pass at $40+, simply isn't a good option. A subscription model for all you could eat TV, now that would be a good option.

Obviously, there have been inroads in this sort of thing with both Hulu and Netflix. Apple has a ready-made and nearly captive audience with iTunes, though. Seriously, iTunes does have a large base of customers already.

However, content providers already work significantly with Apple and iTunes, and they haven't been exactly happy with the way Apple waves around its "sharp stick" (with all its market prowess). Would anyone sign on for this sort of deal?

According to Media Memo, for now the answer is no. MediaMemo does say, however, that if anyone would jump first, it would be Disney, with its close ties to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Apple would reportedly like to launch this in 2010.

Here's the thing: as I've said before, we have more companies pitching more content via our broadband connections. Yet we also have more companies pitching capped usage at us. You can't have it both ways.

Although, there's always heading down to the coffee shop to use some of the bandwidth, along with a cup of joe, I suppose.

Smart Defrag – Very Efficient Defragger

Fragmentation of hard disk drive space is generally main cause of slow and unstable computer performance. Smart Defrag is one of the most efficient disk defragmenters. With the help of this program you can keep your hard disc drive space from becoming excessively defragemented.

Smart Defrag is very easy to use and maintain. You can just install it and forget it. The program works automatically and quietly in the background while your computer is idle and doesn't need additional user manual intervention for basic maintenance. While working in the background, the program only uses up 14MB of RAM, so it's feasible to run it smoothly on aged machines.

The program also includes a manual defrag option where you are able to set up to defrag whenever you want and schedule defragmentations. Smart Defrag can shutdown your computer after defragmentation.




Smart Defrag has the world’s quickest defragmenting engine. It has been specially designed for present-day, large disc drives, so it eliminates long waiting times.

So, Smart Defrag is a convenient defragger with options for scheduling and more, this is a great choice for both beginners and more skilled users.
You can download the latest version of this Smart Defrag on this page.

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic - Individual Membership is now Free

Thanks to major funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Grant #H327D090001 and support of private donors, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic ® (RFB&D®) Individual Membership is now free to individuals with proper certification*. Member benefits include:

• FREE access to the nation's largest audiobook library of textbooks and literature titles
• Human-narrated audiobooks with descriptions of images, tables and graphs
• Easy-to-use online catalog
• 24/7 online member services and phone support
• Various audiobook downloadable formats, including DAISY and WMA (Windows Media Audio)

Afraid of Flying? There's An App for That

Afraid of flying? My wife is. She is so frightened that a very short flight, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles will send her into a panic attack. Her fear is so palpable, she gets me frightened. Well, there's an app for that.

Mental Workout, working with Virgin Atlantic and its Flying Without Fear course, (which the airline claims has a 98% success rate), has released an iPhone app to help with fear of flying.

Here are the features of the Flying Without Fear app:

• Personal video introduction by Sir Richard Branson.
• In-flight explanation video from start to finish of a flight.
• Common questions answered by General Manager of Flight Operations, David Kistruck.
• Relaxation exercises and fear therapy by Relaxation Counselor David Landau.
• Fear attack button for emergencies with breathing exercise and quick tips.
• Personalized program with daily advice and exercises, preparing you for your next flight.
• 2,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles when joining the program.

It's unclear if a simple iPhone app can take the place of a course, but Mental Workout managed to get the endorsement of Whoopie Goldberg:

"I was a sceptic. I hadn't flown in 13 years but after doing their program, I understood that while my fear was real, there were many things I didn't know or had misinformation about, which they were able to clear up. So what happened? The program works. I now fly. It's that simple."

The price is a mere $4.99, but one might wonder why it's not possible to get "validation" like when you visit a bar (for your parking), and get a refund if the app manages to get you on a Virgin Atlantic flight. On the other hand, you won't be using those miles, otherwise.

Apple TV 3.0, iTunes 9.0.2 Released "Yes, It Breaks Pre Sync"

Apple has released a new version of iTunes, 9.0.2. While admittedly the release has higher aspirations than messing with the Palm Pre, such as adding support for Apple TV 3.0, a new dark background option for Grid View, and additional accessibility support, it does indeed break the Pre's iTunes sync capability, as well.

Apple TV 3.0, released earlier, adds new UI and as well as support for the iTunes Extras (movies) and iTunes LP (music) formats. From the press release:

Apple® today introduced new Apple TV® 3.0 software featuring a redesigned main menu that makes navigating your favorite content simpler and faster, and makes enjoying the largest selection of on-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes® Store even better on your TV. You can now enjoy iTunes Extras and iTunes LP in stunning fullscreen with your Apple TV, as well as listen to Genius Mixes and Internet radio through your home theater system. The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners, and Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for just $229.

The redesigned main menu on Apple TV gives you instant access to your favorite content. Recently rented or purchased movies, as well as other content including TV shows, music, podcasts, photos and YouTube, are accessible directly from the new main menu. The new software also allows Apple TV users to enjoy stunning fullscreen iTunes Extras and iTunes LP, including great new movie titles such as “Star Trek” or classics like “The Wizard of Oz” and albums such as Taylor Swift’s “Fearless (Platinum Edition)” and Jack Johnson’s “En Concert.” iTunes Extras gives movie fans great additional content such as deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album, delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.

Now Apple TV users can enjoy Genius Mixes through their home theater system and listen to up to 12 endless mixes of songs that go great together, automatically generated from their iTunes library. Customers can also enjoy Internet radio, allowing them to browse and listen to thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as tag favorite stations to listen to later. Apple TV’s support of HD photos is enhanced with iPhoto Events, which simplifies finding your favorite photos on Apple TV, as well as iPhoto® Faces, which gives access to photos organized by people identified in iPhoto.

Dutch Hacker Breaks Into Jailbroken iPhones

There's one thing Apple is right about with respect to jailbroken iPhones: they are less secure. At least, unless you take some precautions, that is. A Dutch Hacker took advantage of that situation, but all he really wanted was some pocket change.

According to a forum post, the hacker broke into jailbroken iPhones on T-mobile Netherlands. Typically, SSH is turned on or jailbroken iPhones, allowing a user to log in via Terminal and run standard UNIX commands.

However, if you want to do that, you really need to change the default root password. As is the case with many routers, which can be broken into the same way if unprotected, iPhones all have a default root password that many forget to change after jailbreaking.

Using this knowledge, the hacker then sent what appears to be an SMS message to the hacked iPhones that read, "You iPhone's been hacked because it's really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right now! Right now, I can access all your files."

If a user visits the website, he is directed the user to send €5 to a PayPal account, after which the hacker will e-mail instructions to remove the hack. Or you could just restore your phone and jailbreak again.

Of course, he's just trying to be helpful, he says. "If you don't pay, it's fine by me. But remember, the way I got access to your iPhone can be used by thousands of others—they can send text messages from your number (like I did), use it to call or record your calls, and actually whatever they want, even use it for their hacking activities! I can assure you, I have no intention of harming you or whatever, but, some hackers do! It's just my advice to secure your phone."

There are two ways to secure your jailbroken iPhone. You can turn off SSH when you are not using it (SBSettings is a well-known app for jailbroken phones you can use for this), and / or you can change your root password. For that, you can use Mobile Terminal (another well-known app).

At any rate, this is just another warning to jailbroken iPhone users. While jailbreaking opens up a wealth of applications you can't get otherwise, there are things you need to be cautious about.

Internet Cleaner / Browser Cleaner

Internet Cleaner helps you remove all traces of your online and offline activity, including the list of recently visited sites, browser cache and cookies (IE, Firefox, AOL, MSN, Mozilla, Opera and Netscape Navigator are supported), lists of recent documents in various applications (MS Office, Paint, Media Player, WordPad, Acrobat Reader, ACDSee and more) and protect your privacy by erasing the traces of Messenger, Email, News, P2P programs.

MIT Demonstrates "Wireless Electricity"

 The ability to direct and transmit electrical power through the air, without wires, took a further step from the theoretical to the practical in June when a group of MIT researchers demonstrated their "WiTricity" concept.

The technology works by transmitting electricity as a magnetic field oscillating at a specific frequency. Through "magnetically coupled resonance," the "receiver" can capture the electricity, making for an efficient and safe method of over-the-air transfer.

Wireless transmission of electricity has been understood in theory since the work of Nikolai Tesla in the 19th Century. Safe, efficient and cost-effective wireless electricity could hold countless beenfits, from eliminating the need to install costly copper wiring to lowered reliance on batteries for small devices. However, despite the success of WiTricity, the technology has a long way to go before it is deployed commercially... not to mention the need to better understand side effects such as interference and possible effects on health and the environment.

The One Simple Trick That Can Double Your Adsense

I've invested quite a bit of time experimenting with the program. When I first
signed up, I got some clicks and made a tiny bit of money. That wasn't good
enough. I knew there must be a way to get more of my visitors to click on the
ads.

Google has a strict policy about not pointing to the ads in any way or asking
people to click on them, so there were two things I couldn't do. What else was
there?

Then I remembered reading an article once that discussed the psychological
impact of colors on the human mind. I started researching everything I could
find on the subject.

After a lot of reading, many tests and periods of watching my clicks go up and
down, I found the one color combination that seemed to work the best.
Testing previously done at supermarkets had revealed that the same product
could pull more sales from just changing the colors of the label. What were
these colors? Red and yellow! The combination of these two colors has an
immediate impact on the person who sees them. They make your eyes stop and
focus. They pull your eyes right to that part of the page. They grab your
attention! I'm not sure exactly why the combination of red and yellow does this,
but it does. On one of my sites, I changed my Adsense ads to a bright red
border and a yellow background with black text and URL.

My click through rate more than doubled with just that one simple change.
That's what worked on my site. Your site's color scheme may work better with a
slightly different color combination. Try lots of different color variations. Make a
change in the morning and let it ride for the whole day. The next morning, try a
different set of colors. Change the border, background, text. Change everything
you can. Most importantly, keep detailed records of the color scheme you used,
click ratio and revenue generated.

After you've done all the experimenting you want to, go back to the most
profitable one and let it run for a week or so and see how it does. I'm always
trying different colors even after my run of good clicks with red and yellow.
There are a lot of color combinations to choose from. You never know when
you'll find just the right one.

How to Monetize Your Free Website

For some time now I have been aggressively marketing my Geocities website
without the prospect of any financial return. The site is content based so I did

not expect to generate any product sales and neither was I able to lure potential

sponsors.  

   But that has quietly changed. Google has decided to reward webmasters with
quality free websites the chance to rake in some cash for their hard work.Google’s contextual advertising program Adsense has been around since June
2003. Back then the program was open only to webmasters with their own
domain names and many quickly took up the opportunity to cash in on their
labor of love sites.

When the Big G announced that they were expanding Adsense to accommodate
free sites, some people scoffed at the idea because they believe that freebie
sites are full of junk.

I first learnt of this move while browsing around a few webmaster forums and to
my surprise some persons were against this move by Google. I believe that
Google’s intention is to bring in as much as possible quality websites under the
Adsense Umbrella.

My first application for Adsense was rejected and I got an explanation stating
that my site was still under construction. I thought that this was a mistake so I
reapplied the same day and got accepted. Right away I was able to log in to my
account and start putting the code for the ads on my pages.

The control panel is easy to understand and Google provides stats and figures in
order for you to track your performance. You can also add Adsense for search
where visitors can search the web or your site and you get compensated
everytime someone clicks on the ads displayed.

Developing content sites is key to success in Adsense. Why? Because Google’s
technology uses the content of each page to guess which ads are most suitable.
The higher the quality of the content, the higher quality and paying ads you will
attract.

Please note that getting accepted into Adsense does not guarantee that you will
receive a check from them. Your success depends on many factors.
Some of them include the number of visitors, the placement of the ads, the
value of the keywords on the page where the ads are shown and how many
persons who will clickthru on the Adsense ad panel.

Spring Design Files IP Lawsuit Over Barnes & Noble nook

Barnes & Noble's nook hasn't even seen the light of day yet (it's pre-order only), and it's already embroiled in a lawsuit. In this case, Spring Design, which has its own e-book reader, is claiming B&N has used IP garnered from meetings with Spring Design in its nook.

The lawsuit addresses Spring Design's "Alex" e-book reader, which features two e-ink displays with capacitive touchscreens as well as the Google Android operating systems. This is all very similar to the nook.

Spring Design claims in their press release that they and Barnes and Noble had been meeting since the beginning of this year, with B&N noting very favorable impressions of the device. It seemed there was a possibility that B&N and Spring Design would work together on a device, but the nook emerged instead, without warning.

Here's what Spring Design said in an emailed press release:

Since the beginning of 2009 Spring and Barnes & Noble worked within a non-disclosure agreement, including many meetings, emails and conference calls with executives ranging up to the president of Barnes and Noble.com, discussing confidential information regarding the features, functionality and capabilities of Alex. Throughout, Barnes & Noble's marketing and technical executives extolled Alex's "innovative" features, never mentioning their use of those features until the public disclosure of the Nook.

Alex has been in development since 2006. It was (post-nook) recently announced, and its similarities to the nook were lost on none. It's unclear what effect this lawsuit will have on the impending launch of the nook, or on any such launch of the Alex, as well.