Quick Tip! – Myspace IM

If you are anything like me, then you use social networking sites throughout the day everyday.  I still use and love Myspace.  In fact, along with Facebook, I have an instance of Myspace logged in and open almost 24/7.  I use Myspace IM, and find it to be a great tool for communicating with others.

Here is a quick tip.  If you stay logged in for long periods of time, and use Myspace IM, you may want to sign out every now and then.  Most of the time, Myspace will get to a point where I have timed out, and it logs itself out for me.  Other times, however, I notice that the IM feature becomes very sluggish, and may not provide accurate information, like who is online at that moment.  Logging out, then back in usually resolves this problem.

Quick, easy, and useful, at least that what I hope you get from this tip.  You have any tips to pass along? If so, leave a comment bellow, or shoot me an email: dan@danielvining.com

Hurricane Ida

Just when I thought we (Pensacola, Florida) had dodged any of the storms this season… Bam! Hurricane Ida looks to be headed this way, so if you are in her path, take note and get prepared.  This looks to be a small Cat 1 storm at landfall, which is projected for Tuesday, November 10, 2009.  That said, just the normal Hurricane supplies to get you through a power outage or flash flood.  I don’t plan on doing anything special, other than wearing rain gear to work.

I have, however, added a Weather.com widget to the sidebar of the website for the duration of the storm.

UPDATE:

• Local schools have been closed for Monday and Tuesday and a voluntary evacuation order has been issued for 7 am Monday morning.
• MONDAY morning. So far the rain hasn’t arrived yet, it’s coming though.  Pensacola is still the projected point of landfall.  Local schools still showing as closed, and some government facilities are closing today as well.

Do Not Call List

I purchased a brand new iPhone about a month ago, and with it came a brand new phone number.  It didn’t take long at all for telemarketers to start calling.  In fact, the first call came while I was making my drive home.  I tweeted shortly afterward that I had added my cell number to the National Do Not Call List, and I encourage you to do the same.

This is a free service that takes your phone number off of the registries used by telemarketing companies.  Adding your number to this list takes about five minutes to setup and about a month to become active.  When calling to setup your number, you must call from the phone with the number you want on the list. My household has five phone numbers, and all are setup on the Do Not Call List.  Rarely do any of them receive a call from a solicitor.

The number to call is 1-888-382-1222, and remember… its FREE!

Also check out the website: https://www.donotcall.gov/

Follow Friday 3

I have three interesting users for this week’s Follow Friday.

@bytemonkey

Bytemonkey is an Information Technology Professional in Pensacola, Florida that has been feverishly typing code for over twelve years and fixes his friends broken computers.  His tweets are the centered around many of the same concerns as other IT professionals such as dealing with a company filled with simi-computer literate workers, and does so with great tact and humor.

He also is the author of a very entertaining blog, “The Bytemonkey Chronicles”, where he writes and comments on a wide array of topics from around the Internet.  Bytemonkey using the Blogger platform and as a blogger myself, I find his website and blog to be in very good taste.

@DrewFromTV

This is the official Twitter account of comedian and television host Drew Carey.  Yes, I enjoy his tweets, but more importantly I am on board with his cause.  Drew is campaigning an effort to raise money for Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Foundation, which is tied to cancer research.  Drew has committed $1.00 USD for every follower up to 1 million followers to the foundation.  So please follow Drew and spread the word about this great cause.

@twisst

I follow this for the cool factor.  Twisst will send you a Direct Message when the International Space Station will be in an orbit over your location.  They also send tweets that are ISS and science related, but they do not smother you with tweets of when the ISS is passing over other people’s areas.  So far, I haven’t been able to actually see the ISS, but when I can, I will know when.

Of course, what would Follow Friday be without a shameless plug.  If you don’t already, follow me! I am @danielvining and I tweet about my daily life occurrences, tech news, and I do like to spark up conversations.

Safari Mobile Bookmark Trick

I am still a new iPhone user.  I only got this wonderful device about a month ago.  Up until purchasing my own, I had very little on hands experience with it, and of course I had all the YouTube videos and blog posts from around the internet.  That said, I seem to find something new and useful on the iPhone everyday, like the Bookmarking system in Safari Mobile.

When you sync your iPhone for the first time, or any time, you can also sync up all your Safari bookmarks with Safari Mobile.  If you are anything like me, then you probably have hundreds of sites marked, with a good dozen being sites you visit daily.  That is a nice feature, but it is also totally expected.  What I didn’t expect was being able to create a pseudo-App out of a webpage.

I found this by accident, and at first didn’t know how I would use it… until a few days ago.  I am a Ping.fm user, and had searched for an official Ping.fm iPhone App.  Not finding one, I just went to the main website on Safari Mobile.  I quickly found the Ping.fm mobile site, and then it occurred to me.  I could save this website on the Home Screen to my iPhone.  It is a very simple thing to do.

At the bottom of the screen in Safari are a few tappable options. There are back and forward page buttons, a plus sign to add a bookmark, the bookmarks button, and the open new or existing page button.  When you tap the plus sign to add a new bookmark you are given  a list of options which includes “Add to Home Screen”.  Selecting this option brings to a screen where you can name the bookmark, in this case I named it Ping.fm.  Tap add at the top right of the screen and presto!  You now have an “app” on your Home Screen that opens up Ping.fm in Safari Mobile.

Small feature, yes.  Big time saver, oh yeah!

How to Make a Ghoulish Avatar for Free

It’s Halloween.  Ah, what a great time of year.  Halloween is the start of the holiday season.  Before you know it, New Years will be here and we will be gearing up for CES and Macworld.  Before we get ready for 2010, let’s have a little more fun in 2009.

With the start of the holiday season, also comes the traditional customization of many websites around the net, trying to show their festive sides.  Many sites will take on an orange motif for Halloween, and red and green colors come Christmas.  I, will not.  To show my holiday spirit, I will be customizing my avatar instead.  While doing so, I will share the “how-to” used to create the various avatars.

Starting with Halloween, I decided to go with a Zombie avatar.  To get us started, I will explain how I used a free online service to accomplish this look.  For other upcoming holidays, I may use other mediums such as Photoshop or The Gimp.  This method, however, will use a website service called Picnik.com.

No registration is required for this project, but premium services and options are available.  After pointing your browser to http://www.picnik.com, click the “Get Started Now” button.  Doing this brings you to a tabbed interface that will have many common photo editing options.  After uploading the photo I wanted to use, I jumped over to the “create” tab.

The create tab is where you will be creating you Zombie avatar.  On the left column of the interface, select Zombify 2.0 which is under the Reanimated subheading.  This brings up brush options that recreate decaying flesh tones.  Play with this, get happy with it, and select Apply.

Your Zombie has a taste for blood?  No problem.  Scroll down the left hand column and select Face Paint, which is under the Other subheading.  This will give you brush options that will simulate blood on your face.  I also used the fading slider to tone down and blend the blood into the rest of the face.  Play with this, get happy with it, and select Apply.

Ready to save out?  Okay, here is how to do it.  Once you are happy with your image and ready to save it out, select the “Save & Share” tab, which brings to a screen that provides options on name, size, file extension, and compression.  After deciding on these options, click “Save Photo” and you are done!

Now you can give you Myspace, Facebook or Twitter avatar a ghoulish look for the start to the holiday season.  Next month is Thanksgiving, and I am looking for ideas on what look to shoot for.  Send your ideas my way; I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.  I want to see your personal creations too.  Just post a link in the comments section for me to check out.

This article was originally published by Daniel Vining on http://www.danielvining.com.  Contact Daniel via email; dan@danielvining.com or send a tweet to @danielvining.  Happy Blogging!

This is It

Michael Jackson

This is it.  The time has arrived.  “This is It”, the much anticipated Michael Jackson movie premieres today in theaters around the country for its two week run.  The movie is made from various rehearsal footage shot by Jackson’s team to provide a record of the rehearsal process in Jackson’s constant effort to provide the perfect show.

Will you be attending the movie tonight, or durning the initial theatrical run?  I would like to, but nobody wants to go with me, and I don’t do movies alone.  Instead I will be waiting for the DVD release which will have a ton more features and bonus content that you just can’t get at the theater.

Whether you loved him or hated him, most everyone agrees that his talent, above all the controversy has made him one of the greatest musical talents of all time.  His stage presence, dancing, and most importantly his voice, will carry his name on for many many years into the future, much the same as the late Elvis Pressly.

To those who are going out tonight, have fun, enjoy the show, and post your experience and opinions of what you see to the web.  I look forward to reading everyone’s thoughts.

(HQ) Michael Jackson “Human Nature” Piano Cover

My Wish List

My Wish List

If only I had a few hundred thousand dollars, I too could be as setup as the Great Leo Laporte.  Sadly, I don’t have that kind of cash rolling in.  If I did, here are some of the things I would buy to get me started.

27 inch iMac.

Apple just refreshed it’s line of iMac computers during this month.  I could be totally greedy and wish for a Mac Pro, but considering what you get, and for the price point, I feel that these new iMacs are just right for me.  The biggest reason I that would choose iMac of Mac Pro is the form factor.  Sleek and sexy, few wires, and that beautiful screen.  If money were no object I would order my iMac fully loaded from the Apple Store.  In reality, however, I will be getting the Intel i7 model, then upgrading the RAM myself later.  Besides a RAM upgrade, the only other thing I would change is the keyboard.  I would much rather have the full size Apple keyboard with numeric keypad, even if it means being wired.

Magic Mouse.

I know, the Magic Mouse comes standard with every new iMac.  I am writing this post on a Macbook, so that is why I have the Magic Mouse on my wish list.  I love the glass trackpad on the Macbooks, but there are many times when I would rather be using a mouse, and the Magic Mouse is what I want to use.  As inexpensive as they are in relation to the rest of the items on this list, I think I will be crossing this off the list very soon.

Time Capsule.

Next on my list is Time Capsule.  This is Apple’s eloquent combination of a superb wireless router and external hard drive.  I would be using Mac OS X’s Time Machine to backup my computer data, as well as making it available to other computers on my network.  On a side note, I would recommend that everyone use a service like iDisk, Mobile Me, Carbonite, Amazon, etc. to backup your data in the cloud as well.  I relish the concept of having a great wireless router and external backup as well as off site storage.

Drobo.

The Apple Time Capsule provides a 1TB or 2TB solution to external storage needs.  At some point, however, that drive will fill up.  When it does, I want to use the Drobo external storage system for long term archival storage.  You can have four drives recording your data that can be replaced when full.  Basically, I would use the Time Capsule for immediate backup via Time Machine, and then use the Drobo for data that will not be accessed as regularly.

Bluetooth Headphones & Speakers.

In keeping with the sleek and sexy theme, it would be very nice to have a nice set of wireless Bluetooth speakers surrounding my work area.  They don’t have to be the top of the line in sound technology, just nice, reliable and wireless.  Headphones are another matter.  I spend a great deal of time watching podcasts, TV shows and movies on my computer.  I am usually playing catch up when others are sleeping or when it would be impolite to have loud noise coming out of my room.  As a find myself wearing headphones for longer and longer periods of the day I also find that the damn cord never wants to cooperate.  Wether it is tangled in the arm to my chair or trying to pull my laptop off of the table, the cord always seems to get in the way.  A nice set of Bluetooth wireless headphones is a must have in my opinion.

Powered USB Hub.

Even though technology like USB 3.0 and Lite Peak are just around the corner of being mainstream tech, USB 2.0 is still the standard.  I have a lot of things that fight for the two USB ports on my laptop. Printer, iPhone, cameras, external hard drives, flash drives, mouse dongle, microphone…. this list goes on and on.  I have found a few powered USB hubs online ranging from 4 to 13 ports.  If I could, I would get a 13 port hub to future proof, even if for only a while. Since so many devices are now powered by USB, it makes perfect sense to own a powered USB hub.

Software.

I dabble in various areas of technology, so software is a constantly moving target.  One thing I would love to own if I could would be the Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection.  It is every major program in the Adobe lineup and would give me the tools needed for any project.

To go along with the Master Collection I would like to own a tablet screen.  Wacom seems to be the leader in this genra but maybe by the time I can afford one, Apple will have introduced the iPad, and given it functionality that will allow it to be used with applications like Photoshop.

Camera Equipment.

I am an amateur photographer.  I have a mid-range DSLR, the Nikon D-50.  While nice, I would like to upgrade to a camera body with a better sensor, and video functionality.  To go with my new camera body, I want a couple of lenses that will allow me to take almost any picture I want.  I’m thinking of the Nikor line of lenses.  A remote control and sturdy tripod would round out this segment nicely.

Sound Equipment.

Other than listening to podcasts and TV shows, I don’t really listen to a ton of music.  I do, however, like to dabble in content creation.  This will eventually mean that the built in microphones on my cameras just won’t cut the mustard.  A set of nice dynamic mics to go along with my condenser microphone, the appropriate hot shoe mic for my camera, and a set of lapel mics would add nicely to the content creation process.

Lighting Equipment.

This is something that is on the low end of my wish list.  I know good lighting is very important to making a good video presentation, but I can get by with shop lights and photo umbrellas until I have checked off the other items on my list.  It is on my mind though.

There are a ton of items I haven’t mentioned on this list, and a ton more that I haven’t even thought of yet.  This list is a compilation of the items that are on my mind most often.  I have already removed and item off the list thanks to my recent purchase of the iPhone 3GS.  I will update this list periodically as I find cool new gadgets or obtain items already on the list.

iPhone 3GS << I GOT ONE :0)

Follow Drew, LIVESTRONG!

@DrewFromTV

I know this is not a new topic, but I feel like everyone needs to be reminded.  Drew Carey, popular from his 90s hit sitcom “The Drew Carey Show”, and as the current host of “The Price is Right” is spear heading an initiative to raise money for Lance Armstrong’s L I V E S T R O N G Foundation.  The way that Carey is going about doing this is pretty interesting.  He has committed to donate 1 dollar for every Twitter follower he has up to 1 million dollars/followers.

As of October 25th, Carey has 114+ thousand followers.  That is just a drop in the hat compared to the millions that other users, like new American Idol judge Ellen Degeneres have.  We, the geek community at large, can do a lot to help this cause reach it’s goal.  Let us be the grass roots Twitter effort to encourage others to pledge to this cause.

Being a part of this cause if free.  Drew has committed the dollars for you, so all you have to do is take action, and follow him on Twitter.  Follow http://www.twitter.com/drewfromtv and spread the word by adding him to one of your lists (if you have that feature) and mentioning the cause to your friends, co-workers, fellow bloggers, and of course, Follow Friday.

Sure, 1 million dollars is just a small drop in the bucket, but 100,000 dollars barely makes a ripple.  We have until the end of the year to get this done, so let’s do it!

Toned Down the Layout

Website Design

I liked the Skinpress Layout I was using up until the point that I realized that the CSS images were causing long load times, and cluttering up the feel of the site.  So I decided to find a similar theme that holds some of the characteristics of the previous theme’s look and feel.

This new theme has a few wrinkles that I need to sort out, but I feel like it is a step in the right direction.

I have just installed a plug-in called Twitter Tools.  Among other things, this plug-in will allow me to post a daily digest of my tweets, and is the same set of tools I am using for tweets.danielvining.com.  In addition to the Twitter plug-in, I have also installed a photo gallery plug-in that will allow me to self host all my photos on this website.  I will also be working on my comments section, as well as updating all the various pages throughout the site.

If you have an idea for my site, shoot me a line or two.  You can email, dan@danielvining.com, or tweet me @danielvining.