On my daily fix of twitter addiction, Cali lewis, of GeekBrief.tv, sent out her invite to the new social sensation, Plurk. Obviously trying to stay up on the latest and greatest, I flew to the site, signed up, and was Plurking in no time. Although there is not a Twitter friend import option yet, everyone is sending out their personal friend link to get people to their page.
Plurk is pretty much Twitter on steroids. But not that ugly, vantiy obsessed, addicted to steroids type. Just enough to make it that much better. Ok It’s like Twitter on Kreotine. There are just a few more subtle aspects about this site that make it more interesting, and ake you feel more involved. Unlike twitter, you have a few things you like to keep track of:
Friends- I like Twitter because you follow who you want and people who want to follow you do the same. Plurk allows for the same thing but also adds the “friend” option to add their avatars to your friends list.
Karma- This is an actual number that rates your activity on Plurk on a DAILY basis. Activity means how 
much you plurk, how many friends you invite, replies…etc. The more Karma points you have give you access to small perks to add to your page and such.
Say more- Twitter asks that age old question, “what are you doing?” With each Plurk you update you can choose from a ton of statements to send to everyone. For instance each Plurk starts with your name, i.e. Jake___, and with that you choose from: loves, likes, shares, gives, hates, wants, wishes, has, will, asks, was, feels, thinks, says, is, or you can freestyle and write your own.
Embedded photo, or video- by placing in a Youtube, Flickr, Picassa, Photobucket, imageshack, or tinyURL link.
Now this is not to say I have given up on Twitter. After all Plurk, you can tell, is still in its baby stages, and has a bit of growing to do. From dead time, to the eyesore of a timeline that they have. From what I see right now, this is my second most frequented social site next to Twitter. Thumbs up.
Click this icon and friend me up on Plurk!
-Jake
During my latest Twitter post I noticed the one and only Cali Lewis requesting an invitation to a beta site called Evernote. To tell you the truth I have never heard of this so decided to check it out. I had to wait about a day for an invitation, but since then my internet life has become more organized and interesting than ever.
Evernote is a superbly innovative site, which combined with a desktop client (for Mac or Windows), and mobile support, makes it a great way to keep all of your internet happenings readily available for use anytime. Here is how it works:
-Sign up at Evernote.com
-Install the desktop client for your Mac or PC (not necessary but very useful)
-Drag the web clipper to your bookmark toolbar for easy clipping
-Rock it.
I wont go into explaining much, but in a nutshell, Evernote will allow you to highlight, any section of any website for future reference, with all links in tact. You can view them offline (with the desktop client). You can upload photos (via email using a special Evernote email) that will save in your notes online, which again, you ca view online or with your desktop client. Evernote also has an amazing integration with the a search bar on the desktop client, which can detect words in pictures you so happen to be searching for. Just take my word for it, check out the video (Below) and get registered with Evernote.
-Jake
The day is nearing when the new iPhone will be announced! Most likely June 9th during the Apples WWDC. Although what do we have to look forward to? There had been a lot of talk and speculation ever since the SDK was released so, Lets explore that shall we?
First off, we can obviously check off 3G support because that has already been confirmed. Surprisingly enough not only is the public ready for it, but so is T-Mobile!! Kind of strange how they just so happen to roll out 3G when we are among word of the hi-speed iPhone. Coincidence? Probably, but after speaking with a T-Mobile rep (fixing up some internet issues) it seems the iPhone is an everyday set-up for them. T-Mobile knows a lot of their service is supporting the AT&T exclusive device so why not take it up a notch with 3G. To also clear up any speculation about T-Mobile’s 3G, it was stated by blogs that it will be voice support only, when in fact T-Mobile’s press release leaves open the possibility of voice and data service.
Everything from here on out people can only guess and use their sources to their capacity. Kevin Rose had made a prediction a while back saying there will be 3G, ichat, video support, and front mounted video for video chat. With the recent unveiling of Video Recorder, 3rd part app that gives your iphone video capability, it makes the possibility seem more likely. The reason i think it may NOT happen is because I feel there i not going to be a major change in hardware. It’s just like a Blackberry. They do not add all of those extras, and in doing so sales hardly suffer. Plus with confirmation of the new $199 price tag, i doubt you will get a whole bunch more than the 1st generation iPhone.
This leads to the re-design of the iPhone. There was a whole bunch of rumors that the Phone would turn out to be an all BLACK design, which was supported with photos. This turned out to e some 3rd party Japanese housing you can buy online. Then Gizmodo gives us a story, from iLounge, which details specs for the “new” iPhone from peripheral manufacturers. These new specs show a new sensor arrangement, which could bring us back to the possibility of a front mounted camera, and a whole new color scheme (White, Red, or Black). This is probably the most influential source of material i have received thus far.
The fact of the matter is, there is not any one person that knows more that 3G for sure. For all we know we may be seeing a completely revamped, better working iPhone that will make the first gen obsolete, or the “new and improved” iPhone will pretty much be the same, saving all of us early adopters the time of putting them on eBay to upgrade.
Photos via Gizmodo and Engadget.
-Jake
7/11/08 UPDATE: see http://applechannel.net/2008/07/08/n95-8gb/
For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to decide on what my phone of choice will be. Right now i own the one and only iPhone 8GB version, which I LOVE. After seeing native apps like GPS, and services like QIK, to name a couple, I cant help but feel somewhat inferior to N95 owners. After much consideration, time, and inquiries, there is only one way I can go with the decision….
From day one i had not been a huge fan of big social networking sites. I could not get into Live Journal, I don’t really care for MySpace, and did not understand the use of Twitter. Now after tons of trial and error, to see what really keeps you in touch and what doesn’t I am now very much within the social networking..network. But with careful consideration, I feel there are only a few worthy of getting the job done.
First and foremost, the reason I am giving these needed suggestions on protection is i have got plenty of emails asking what’s good, what sucks, and what’s unnecessary. Ok here we go. After investing in something beautiful like a Macbook Pro, you will want to treat it like its your kid…a very expensive kid. Those of you owners know what I’m talking about. After spending lots of time and money i think a have come up with the perfect bundle that will take care of your laptop and make it look good at the same time. All of these products can be purchased from their websites, or get a deal on eBay. I will also go over what the best kind of carrying case is. Click story for the list…
As a long time Starbucks employee, I can now safetly say, “It’s bout F@##ing time!” A while ago there was some rumors, going around about AT&T taking over Starbucks Wi-Fi, which would not only kick T-Mobile to the curb (which is what they get for the bull crap price of $19.99 for hotspot service), but offer FREE wireless to frequenting starbucks customers. Even as an employee I still could’nt get a WiFi “hook-up.” Today a San Antonio Starbucks cafe was shown to have the AT&T service pop up when connecting to Wi-Fi and their favorite store. This is good…very very good. I hope this roll-out happens FAST! The way i understand it is: People with a Starbucks Card (gift or Duetto) will get 2 hours of free WiFi every day for as long as they have the card(s). I guess to show that you are at least a customer. This is a good deal. Finally Starbucks gets smart. Oh yeah if you still pay for T-Mobile HotSpots you can still access them at Starbucks. ::High Five::
-Jake
Alright ladies and gentlemen, the moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived: The return of our beloved Demonoid. A couple of hour ago everybodys favorite torrent site was re-established. Everything seems to be as good as before and I am testing it out now, so head to Demonoid which is now open to the public with nothing added other than a disclaimer on the front page that says:
“Welcome back!
Since a few months ago, Deimos, the site administrator, lacks the necessary time to take care of the website, because of personal matters he’s been needing to attend to. For this reason, he has decided to leave the site staff.
Before leaving, he assigned a new site administrator from among his friends to take care of the site. The old moderator team will continue helping with the site, unchanged. We will try to keep running everything just as it always has been.
The trackers and website seem to be working properly, and should any issues arise, they will be taken care of as soon as possible. The site might be going on and offline over the next days as we work out any problems.
Welcome back, and enjoy your stay!
- Umlauf
Demonoid Site admin”
Is anybody else as excited as I am?
-Jake
My favorite web host, and producer of Mahalo Daily, Veronica Belmont is going to be the new Co-Host on Revision 3’s Tekzilla with Patrick Norton. The former CNET show creator, who has also been on shows like DL.TV, MSNBC, CNBC, the G4 Network, “PC Gamer,” and “This Week in Tech” , will add a sort of fresh take on the already failry good podcast. A few episodes ago she co-hosted, and it made the show that much more enjoyable….and more good lookin. Great choice by Revision 3 and be sure to subscribe to Tekzilla with your favorite podcast reader.
-Jake
It was reported today (via Gizmodo) that AT&T’s Mobility CEO, Ralph de la Vega, stated to PC Mag’s Sascha Segan, that AT&T expectes to 
have all of the smartphones on their network with 3G. So as any good journalist would inquire, about the most successful phone known to man, she asked if the iPhone would incule this integration. He stated, and I quote:
“Let me repeat what I said: I think that you’re going to see our integrated devices be 3G devices in the not-too-distant future, and I mean months. That should be clear enough.”
To add to this, if you have not noticed, Apple has had quite a shortage on iPhones! Warehouse stock on iPhones are low. Online is backordered and refurbished are being pushed so much so that, At&t now carries the refurbs. They are almost giving them away. Put it all together and know that, 2.0 firmware and 3G will be hitting us in the face soon, causing a massive amount of iPhones to be listed on eBay, to earn for the upgrade. I give it a few months
-Jake
There has been quite a bit of controversy in the last couple of days dealing with everybodys favorite iPhone-Dev Team. If you recall the stories from before they were the FIRST to successfully do a full hack of Apples upcoming 2.0 firmware for the iPhone. The eidence was proven with some great youtube videos demonstrating their claim to fame. However, yesterday they said they WILL release the Pwnage hack software today for the community. In an interesting turn of events the release was delayed due to some “legal” disruptions. At the end of the workday today their site has only a white page with the following text (via a png file pasted to the main page):
My money says that is it an April Fools joke and the site will be up on the 2nd with the most anticipated Pwange hack.
see video of pwnage in action after the jump
via iphone-dev.org
-Jake
Keeping up with Zibri’s Blog , I noticed today that in light of the new upgrade in the: Unlocking, Activating, deBugging, downgrading powerhouse that is ZiPhone, Z also throws in that it is”THE favorite tool in Apple Stores”. Could this be true? Do beloved Mac Geniuses use the simple one-click fix for iPhones? Of course they do. You’d be a fool not to utilize it. The worry of a jailed, AT&T only iPhone and left our minds and now the only decision we need to make is, “Which software do I use”. As a Mac user i will forever say: ” ZiPhone all the way”
Download the new 3.0 version here
The new features and fixes include:
- No more need of fix nvram
- Solution for GREYED wifi
- No need for YouTube Fixes
- Embedded apps installer
- Customized plugins
via ziphone.org
Good Job
-Jake
Introducing iLibertyX from the theiphoneproject.org. Its very simple, These good people have developed a beautiful GUI app, for your iPhone or iPodTouch that will let even the dumbest people in the world unlock and jailbreak thier device! Don’t worry about your baseband, bootloader, software version, etc. just plug, click, and you are done 
OH! Did i mention that you can use this same program on Mac and Windows? Well you can. Please donate to them via their website HERE
click story for download
-Jake
I have just downloaded the beta 4 version 3 of the ever so popular Firefox Browser. Although it is a beta I do have to say that I am quite impressed already, maybe because they are at the final stages of the new version but i am going to recommend anybody to download this right away. The speeds of page downloads seem to be accelerated beyond compare, even to Safari 3 browser. Test prove it has far surpassed Opera, and IE, and put them to shame. same tests show it is “up to par with Safari”, but in my book it is way better. On top of that the newest skin as a default is sweet!! Get it here.
-Jake
