Over time I have filled my life with countless computers, and portable devices just from the nature of what I do. I am a technology worker and I do read a lot of things on screen, or more appropriately I should say screens. Also due to the nature of what I do I have to read quickly and react quickly. Add that with all the messaging options so that people can get a hold of me I am bombarded with emails and other messaging types, there are a lot of things I need to keep track of. Additionally, when people message me, they often expect a reply right away. All of this leads me to a problem I see in others only after identifying it in myself. Reading comprehension in today’s society sucks.

I will admit it that I have responded to emails without completely reading the thread, or glossing over details. This can lead to embarrassment when someone calls you out on asking a question that was already answered in the previous emails.  Not only that there are times when I look at an article online and gloss over it taking in only some of the details and not others. This is not good and does not help when I am working with other people. The problem with myself, I believe, is that I am programmer. I have trained myself to look for patterns in code, or try and follow along with the flow of the logic behind it. Does programming contribute to the e.A.D.D.? Or is it that I just need to slow down a bit to process things.

So what can be done?

There are multiple site online that talk about how to improve your reading comprehension. Some of which refer to kindergarten, however I don’t think I need to go back that far. Some however are useful and here are a few tips that I found here.

• Location - Find a place to read that isn’t too busy or distracting.
• Sound - Much like location, noise can be a huge distraction too
• Read Something That Interests You - Read something that is interesting to you.
• Put away other devices - Of course phones notifying you of messages and iPods with music can take your focus from what you are reading.
• State of mind - Keep a relaxed mind and focus on what you are reading rather than the events that happen during your day.

If you haven’t guessed it yet this is all part of my New Years Resolution(s). Hopefully, a couple of changes and taking a little time for myself will help with my own problem. In the year to come, I plan to take small breaks from the electronic world and disconnect, and I also plan on more creative reading in 2011. (See this post here)

Do you experience e.A.D.D.? or do others you know experience this as well?
Also, what have you done to reset yourself?

Before iCloud there was MobileMe from Apple.  I had setup my google mail account to download my MobileMe mail via pop3, set it to read status and archive past inbox. So I had a nice hidden searchable backup in case MobileMe lost my data.

Like most folks I moved my MobileMe to iCloud.  Turns out starting Dec 21 the pop3 access quit working. Best I can tell is iCloud is now only supporting IMAP syncing.

So how to restore my backup.  After talking with @johnfbraun I gave the forwarding option in iCloud a try.  It works when paired with an appropriate filter rule in gmail.

1. In iCloud go into preferences via the web page once logged into mail at iCloud.com.
2. In the general tab, check the box to forward and enter your gmail or google apps email address.
3. Do NOT check the box delete after forward if you want to still interact with that mail through the iCloud account on your devices.
4. Next go to your gmail.  Go into the Mail settings and filters.
5. Make a filter based on the TO: matching your @me.com address.
6. Use the actions to Skip Inbox, Mark as read, Apply label

You want to use a label so you can quickly jump to all mail that came to your iCloud account.

That is it.  Works fine for new mail, though we have noticed a few delays in mail making it over to google.  Perhaps Apple is batch processing forwards.

I made a brief tutorial on two factory authentication here on the Friends in Tech Blog last December. So I wanted to make a follow up post for this December.

In the previous post I mentioned you can use two factor authentication with Paypal, World of Warcraft and Google. There are a few new places that have added the feature.

Logmein for remote access lets you set your account to send a code by sms to your cell phone. This even works with the iPad application Logmein Ignition. Just start to log in normally. As soon as you enter your password it will send a code and prompt you to enter the code as received on your phone.

** UPDATE CORRECTION** Logmein lets you email a code.  Just tell it the email address matching your phone’s sms address and you have SMS based codes.

Yahoo just added sms code authentication to your account as well. You need to log into Yahoo, on your name and choose to enter your account settings. Once in scroll down to the Sign-In and Security section. Click the Setup your second sign-ing verification. Now you can tell it to send to your phone as an sms code and even force prompt you for the answers to your secret question instead of the code. The point of two factor though is to tie something you know (password, question answer) to something you have (your phone). So I opted to use only my mobile phone number for verification. From now on when you log onto Yahoo from a new device or computer it will also send a code to your phone.

Personally I like Google’s two factor implementation best out of those targeted at the non uber geek set. But even SMS is better than passwords alone.

Today was the annual Christmas cookie event of my nieces coming over to make cookies.  I always take photos for them.  This year it was easier than ever.  I used an Eyefi X2 pro in my Canon camera.  That is setup to sync automatically onto my iMac into iPhoto.  Now that Apple has put out iCloud with Photo Stream anything that imports into iPhoto is propagating to my Photo Stream.  Then I can easily show them off to the girls within a few minutes of shooting a photo.

GeekTool has been around for years for the Mac.  It is a great utility for overlaying information onto your computer desktop. Recently it was released through the Mac App Store.  A friend of ours Don McAllister of Screencastsonline.com also recently did a members introduction show to GeekTool.

I have been playing a lot with IFTTT.com and Yahoo pipes.  But what if we want to monitor some site and web service statuses directly and have it show up on our Mac desktop all the time?

That is where GeekTool comes in handy.  Just add a couple of Shell Script objects to your desktop.  Make sure to set the display status to feedback image, choose a reasonable refresh period and a suitable title via the override text fields as seen below.

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Here are two shell scripts.  One monitors status for a WoW Realm I made for some friends.  The other is the example of monitoring the FiT Web site status via downforeveryoneorjustme.com.

WoW Realm Status:

curl –silent http://us.battle.net/api/wow/realm/status?realms=thorium-brotherhood | grep -m1 -E ‘status’ | awk -F “:” ‘{print $5}’ | awk -F “,” ‘{print $1}’ | grep true

FiT Site Status:

curl –silent http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/www.friendsintech.com | awk -F “</span> is ” {‘print $2}’ | grep up

I know it is way early.  But my dad gave me one of these Swiss Army Victrorinox multi-tools years ago.  I had actually lost mine. At the time I lost it they had quit selling the tool. But it has been back for a while and I have a replacement.  The thing I like about this design is that when you fold it out to use a pliers nothing else is in the way.  A bit reversed from cheaper design.  It is even solid enough I have used it as a hammer before.

• Swiss Army Victorinox SwissTool

Yahoo pipes has been around a number of years.  I have only played a little with it up until last week.  I discovered a new site called ifttt.com (If This Then That).  IFTTT lets you perform various actions based on what data is detected in various online sources.  Those sources can be RSS feeds, mail matching tags in your gmail etc.  You can have it send you sms, email, google talk IM and various other alert actions.

We accidentally let the friendsintech.com domain name expire briefly.  Fortunately I noticed it fast enough to get it renewed.  So I wondered how could we detect when the site is not available.  I am sure you have seen www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com for checking if web sites are really down or is it just a problem on your end.  A great way to check site status.

So it made me wonder. Can I scrape downforeveryone for site status using a yahoo pipe and feed that to IFTTT for automatic alerting?

The answer is yes.  The real work is all in the yahoo pipe.  You can find the FiT pipe: HERE at Yahoo.

Now for the explanation:

Read the rest of this entry »

With information coming at you from all directions how do you keep up with the news that is interesting to you? Do you use RSS feeds, social networks, Google Alerts, or do you visit a bunch of sites by hand. There are so many ways it’s almost over whelming and if you don’t do it right it can be just that.

I  recently asked this question on Google+ to see if people were doing it different from me. I mean to say..if RSS is dead (not true) like some have said I wanted to know what everyone else was doing then. Of course it looks like most everyone is much like me, I use RSS feeds for sites that I want to make sure I read regularly, Social Networks for more immediate, timely, or “Breaking News” information that can come and go, and some Google Alerts for things like searches of my day job company and of course myself.

I am going to assume that you know what RSS, Google Reader, etc. is. No need to reinvent the wheel here.

My primary use for Google Reader is to share out stories that I think are interesting enough to use in my Podcast Technorama. Chuck Tomasi (my co-host) will look at the things I have shared (see here) and will look at things he has shared (see here) also and grab items to put together our shownotes. I have a list of about 159 sites that I currently read (its been as high as 200+). Some I read infrequently and others I take notice when they post things. I found most of these sites by seeing what others were reading, and just finding them on my own. Google Reader can help you with both.

Google Reader has a section at the top left with information about your stuff. One of the options is Browse for Stuff, this is where the rubber meets the road and you will get ton of feeds to read. Here you will find bundles to get you started such as News, Sports, Staff Picks as well as bundles from your friends if you are also following people with Reader. Above the bundles, you can search for feeds and look at recommendations. Recommnedations are “new feeds are generated by comparing your interests with the feeds of users similar to you.” (quote from Google). There should be plenty here to get you going.

Also note the People you follow section. Once you start sharing items and you have a share items page (see my link above) others with Google Reader accounts can follow you. This gives Reader a little bit of a social network feel. If you start following people you will see when they share and like items in the articles themselves. This section, once you follow some, will also let you only see items that others have shared so if you follow people that are similar to you there is a good chance you will see topics that you are interested in. You can also filter out and see items that they commented on and not just reshared!

As you end up with a lot of articles popping up in your reader, you will find that you just don’t have enough time to read them all, and that is ok (remember to breathe!). I regularly Mark All as Read when there are a ton if items especially after I have been on vacation or not been on reader for a few days. Remember, if something is important and happening and you miss it the first time around, it will come around again. So don’t try and kill yourself thinking “What did I miss!”

I am a web developer by trade and I always have all the latest browsers at my ready. I try and keep up with them because I want to make sure whatever I am doing is consistent across them all. Now a days that concern is becoming less and less a problem as standards are starting to take more of a hold, with the exception of supporting some earlier versions of IE.

I know you have seen, as I have, comparisons of IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari talking about which one is faster and what features they provide, but I think some of this charting is a little off balance. I find that my time is divided between several OSes including Windows, Mac, and Linux so if I was choosing a default browser that would leave IE out of the question. I know that Windows (collectively) is the most popular desktop, but IE only runs on Windows and for some IE is not an option. (IE9 is not an option if you run XP even)

With the OS a factor, IE is out of the question and has been for me at least for quite some time. So, I am left with Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. Safari isn’t a bad choice, but if you are not running a Mac or an iDevice, it feels like an app that is running in an emulator…sort of the same way I feel when I run Windows apps on Linux with WINE. I like a native feel, and I just don’t get that.

Now I am down to two, Firefox and Chrome. I really see these as mostly equals at this point, with a couple of differences that sets them apart. First off, and I know not everyone cares about printing, but I have to give Firefox an edge here. Chrome does not provide print previews, so at print time you have to choose wisely. I do have some apps that rely on printing at work, so this is something I noticed. I read somewhere that Chrome does not provide previews because of licensing of the PDF engine is problematic (citation needed) I am not buying that, Goole includes Flash in Chrome as a partnership with Adobe, certainly they would get this done. (Update: I just read that print previews are coming in Chrome 11)

Both Firefox and Chrome are both pretty much feature peers I almost have to call this a tie. I really love them both. Firefox is very flexible and configurable. Chrome is smooth and polished, it’s hard to choose. They both have syncing services which is important to me now. However, I will give Chrome a slight edge because to me it seems a little quicker.

Note: I am not an Opera hater! I like Opera, but just never really used it for day to day.

I just bought a used iPad off of my friend Chuck Tomasi. After all this thing has been through I think I found a security hole. Let me explain.

First off, I know Chuck wiped and restored the iPad before he sent it to me because iTunes was required for me to register it when I got my hands on it. When iTunes came up it asked me if I would like to restore a backup from my previous iPad, I did. During that process iTunes puts back all the apps that I had by reinstalling them. Afterwards everything looked great…until I opened Pandora.

I opened Pandora to play some music and I noticed I wasn’t logged in, but Chuck still was with all his stations and everything. I have not heard of anyone else having this problem, but I thought is could be a potential security hole that people need to watch out for when selling or buying used iPads.

Has anyone else had this happen? Leave comments below.

I have an older Mac Mini that I use for recording my podcast, Quicken, iTunes and other typical uses, but lately I have taken to working on my Macbook Pro while ensconced in my easy chair. I figured I could make better use of the screen on the Mac Mini so I went looking for possibilities.

When I first saw mention of DEXTR, I thought it might finally provide an easy way to get the “lean back” Twitter ticker I always wanted. I can’t always have my Twitter client in the foreground. (I have to work SOMETIME (LAUGH)), so DEXTR provides a great way to casually monitor and consume my Twitter feed while I doing other work. It is especially great for monitoring when breaking news is happening and I like it a lot better than leaving the TV tuned to CNN as the news I find in Twitter is directly related to me.

Even better, DEXTR requires no software downloads or install. It runs in your favorite browser. To try it out, visit http://dextr.riglondon.com, login to your Twitter account using OAuth (so DEXTR doesn’t need your actual password) and resize the window as large as you wish. In my case, it runs full screen so I can read it from across the room. If I really want to geek out, the Mac Mini is also connected to my big screen TV, so I can make it big enough to read from the Moon (well, almost).

I find that DEXTR can run for hours on end with no crashes of the browser or slowing of the computer — something that can’t be said for some Mac apps, or even some Flash-based web sites.

How do you consume your social media? Do you use tools like this to make it easier? Let me know in the comments.

Douglas writes on a variety of topics on several blogs and podcasts including TechnologyIQ, the original source for this article.

Feed your Christmas geekiness over at 8bitchristmas.com, where they have a collection of 12 Christmas Classics all done in the style of retro-videogame music, hence the 8-bit in the title. You can stream the entire collection from their site, donate any amount to download the tracks or even (how retro) purchase a CD of your very own.

Do you know what two factor authentication is?  Typically to gain access to a system you provide what we call a factor of authentication.  Usually this is a password.  Which is something you know.  And hopefully only YOU know.  Here is a quick introduction video based on something I made at work to get the point across.

• Paypal Security Key
• Verisign Mobile Device Apps (can use with Paypal)
• World of Warcraft – Battlenet Authenticator Key
• World of Warcraft – iPhone Authenticator App
• Google Authenticator

For those that are curious.  I made this with nothing but Camtasia for the Mac and Apple Keynote.  The animated FiT logo was already created by Victor Cajiao using Motion from Apple’s Final Cut Studio.

Intro Two Factor Authentication [ 4:38 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Let’s get back to some BASICs.  Commodore BASIC to be exact.  This week I stumbled onto the iDevice (iPhone, iPad) app called “Hand Basic.”  This is currently a free C64 BASIC emulator, complete with ability to save programs.  You can even move them in and out of iTunes to backup and share them.  If you make any good ones, post a link to the files in the comments to this post so others can download and drop them onto their app to try out.  I am not sure sid audio is supported in the Hand Basic app.  Otherwise it’s awesome.

There is another app that has been around for iDevices for a while called “Commodore 64.”  It is $4.99 USD and comes with some installed games.  It is not as friendly to actual coding though it does have a built in BASIC emulator now.  The emulator does not let you save, load or share program files.

What if you do not have an iPad or iPhone?  You can try out more C64 emulator projects.

• c64 – The VICE Emulator – Multi Platform – Free
• C64 Forever – Windows – Free and $14.95 Versions
• cbmbasic – BASIC as Scripting Project – Multi Platform – Free
• CCS64 - Windows – Free

Where can you learn more about the BASIC programming?

• C64 Programmer’s Reference Guide – PDF
• C64 Programmer’s Reference Guide – TXT
• Commodore 64 Quick Reference – PDF

Where can you learn more about the C64 and other resources?

• www.commodore.ca
• Commodore Free Magazine
• Lemon64
• C64 Walkabout Podcast – it seems on hiatus.  It sounds stellar, write the hosts to show support.

Keep in mind there is a huge C64 enthusiast world out there, just google it.  Plus I have it on good authority the rebooted C64 from Commodore USA should be coming out soon.  So crank up the 80s music and get back to the BASICs.

If you need a little C64 Christmas Spirit, please check our our holiday special from last year.  A Geek Christmas Story.

Do you have a problem like I do?  Remembering to do the things necessary in a geek home like checking UPS batteries, smoke alarms etc?

Try making a sub calendar in your favorite calendar app with recurring reminders.  That will help you group all recurring tasks together and hide them from view as needed. But even with alerts those are easy to ignore on their own.  I then used a google doc to make a form that records the results in a spreadsheet.  Now I can track exactly when I did the various items on my list.

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Really you should perform backups on a regular basis.  But the fall is a good time to get started.  I picked up one of these NewerTech Voyager drive dock to make it much easier to slap in a sata drive and backup the large files I tend to neglect in my regular backups.  Things like audio and video project files.  These unit come in a variety of configurations.  I picked up the quad interface because I use firewire 800 with my large external RAID drive where I keep my big files like my iTunes library, final cut and audio files.  But you can even get one in a new USB 3.0 configuration.

Just remember to use something like a Brother Ptouch labeler to label your drives with what you have backed up on them.

I learned about these great cleaning cloths from Clayton Morris.  I went and picked up the three pack of cloths from Home Depot’s cleaning supplies department.  They are large enough and made slightly different than most microfiber cloths.  So a couple of quick swipes and your iPad screen looks new again as it takes all the finger prints away.  You can find them over at Home Depot for about $6.

I grew up with the Commodore Vic 20, then the C-64 and my last Commodore machine was an Amiga 1000.  So you can imagine the temptation I feel in getting one of these NEW rebooted Commodore 64 units due out this year.  You can find the units and watch for them to go on sale over at http://www.commodoreusa.net/

The New Commodore 64

Today marks 6 years of podcasting for Friends In Tech member Douglas E. Welch so he deserves a special mention and highlight on this blog. His blogs are listed below but be sure to check out the main website at welchwrite.com for more information and links to his other communities. Congratulations once again Douglas!

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES PODCAST
Helping to Build the Career You Deserve

CAREERS IN NEW MEDIA
New Media Tools and Answers

TECHNOLOGY IQ
Control your technology – don’t let it control you

A GARDENER’S NOTEBOOK
Join me in my garden

MY WORD WITH DOUGLAS E. WELCH
An eclectic personal blog
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES PODCAST
Helping to Build the Career You Deserve

CAREERS IN NEW MEDIA
New Media Tools and Answers

TECHNOLOGY IQ
Control your technology – don’t let it control you

A GARDENER’S NOTEBOOK
Join me in my garden

Friends In Tech was mentioned on the Mike Tech Show in reference to our Child Friendly Surfing Flier – here is the link and our original posting information.

It is the return and refresh of the Friends in Tech Child Safety Flier. Feel free to share this flier with anyone whom has kids and is concerned with online safety. We have links for everything from blogging, cyberbullying to advice for parents. We managed to toss in a couple of software and podcast picks that are family friendly. The flier looks great printed out as well as the electronic PDF. Please respect all the sites we cover and do not modify the flier if you share it. FiT nor any of its members derive any financial benefits from this flier or its mentioned sites. We are simply tech geeks with children, nieces, nephews and young friends we want to be safe and happy.