techSOAP

Location based services are going to explode

I can't wait to see how the new iPhone app store from Apple is going to revolutionize location based services. I write this after having just updated my Twitter profile with my current latitude and longitude with a tap in the twitterific iphone app. Stay tuned this is going to get interesting.

Summer Blog Break is Over....

I took the summer off from blogging in an effort to refocus myself both professionally and personally as well to just have some good old fun! 

Welcome back to the faithful followers if there are any left.

What was the best thing you did this summer?

Whats a wiki? In plain English...

Watch this video from the commoncraft show for a plain English explanantion of what a wiki is.

Click To Play

Technorati tags: wiki, web 2.0, collaboration, explanation

What is RSS? In plain English...

I frequently get asked what blogs are and why should someone start reading them.  Followed promptly by, how do you know the author isn't a nutjob just making stuff up? 

I won't go into my full monologue about blogs, rss, etc.  Rather, let me say that reading blogs through an Reader like NewsGator/FeedDemon, Google Reader, Bloglines is like building your own personal newspaper.

Watch this video from the commoncraft show for a plain English explanantion of RSS.

 

 

Click To Play

 

 

Technorati tags: rss, blogs, readers, mass collaboration

iPhone from Apple ANNOUNCED today....

Some details from TUAW.com

• Single front button.
• 3.5 inch widescreen display featuring the highest pixel density ever shipped in a portable device.
• 2 megapixel camera.
• iPod dock.
• Proximity sensor which switches between modes and screen orientation based on how a user holds it.
• 11.6 mm thick.
• Syncs with iTunes
• GSM/EDGE
• Wifi
• Bluetooth
• Cinglar only.
• Visual voicemail - shows a list of your voicemails like you see a list of emails.
• Error correcting on-screen keyboard.
• Gestural interface
• Mail.
• Safari.
• Google Maps.
• Widgets.
• Switches seamlessly between EDGE and WiFi.
• Free Yahoo! IMAP email to all iPhone customs.
• GPS
• 5 hour video battery life.
• 16 hour audio battery life.

The 4GB costs $499 and the 8GB $599 (includes a 2 year contract). It is shipping in June.

Increasing Productivity in 88 simple steps....

I am smack dab in the middle of a book that has begun to change my entire workday.  The book is from Gina Trapani,  one of the writers of lifehacker.com.  the book contains 88 lifehacks to improve your life as it relates to the technology that so many of us have come to rely on day in and day out.

I must say that using this as a follow up book to Getting Things Done has systematically begun to change my every day work life.  Chad over at tech2point0 has joined me in this search for sanity in our daily lives that are flooded with information from so many different streams.

click here to purchase the book from Amazon.com.

Online File Conversion Service

FROM TechCrunch

 

Zamzar, a free online file conversion tool, launched last week. Like a similar tool, Media Convert, Zamzar allows users to upload a file and have it converted into a number of formats.

Common uses for Zamzar include converting PDF documents to Word, iTunes AAC files to MP3, and Flash (flv) files to MP4 for iPod use. Up to five files can be converted simultaneously. The process takes a few minutes - Zamzar emails a link to the converted file when it is done. It worked well in our testing. Note, however, that Zamzar is not able to convert DRM’d files. The maximum file size is 100 MB, but there are no limits on the number of files converted. For more on Zamzar, see Go2web2.

Zamzar has a better interface and design than existing service Media Convert, although we found Media Convert to convert files more quickly in our testing. Media Convert also allows input files to be locally stored or from a URL, saving users an extra step if a file is on the Internet. Also, Media Convert converts the file while you wait, and gives a download link on screen when the process is completed. Since no registration is required, users are not required to give up an email address as they are with Zamzar. However, only files that are 50 MB or less can be converted using Media Convert.

Both services are useful, particularly when converting flash movies (from YouTube, etc.) to MP4 for viewing on an iPod.

Microsoft's Charity Program....

Microsoft has some great deals on software for charities.  Here's a little summary with links to Microsoft.

Link to Microsoft’s charity pricing list … it gives all the SKU’s and retail prices open to us non-profit orgs. If you’re not already taking advantage of charity pricing you should be slapped…or at least firmly nudged. We’re talking big discounts here! Here are a few retail prices for popular products…

Windows Server 2003 Standard R2 = $135
Windows Server Client License = $4
Exchange 2003 Standard = $214
Exchange Client License = $4
Small Business Server 2003 = $223 with 5 client licenses
Office2003 Pro = $67
Windows XP Pro (upgrade) = $72

Say what you want about Microsoft … I really applaud them for making access to industry standard technology affordable for us non-profits. Sure you could get free open source stuff … but at these prices it’s a very very … very hard sell.

 

thanks - Microsoft Weblog.

The first airfare prediction site....

  So they give you basic recommendations on whether fares for a particular trip are going up or going down, and then a basic tip.  Buy or Wait.  This seems like a great tool.  It will deliver the list of airlines flying the route that you chose and their % market share.  Even sliders for what times of day offer the best pricing for each leg.  I love it!! 

The only bump I ran into was that it will only search for a trip spanning 8 days or less. 

 

Farecast on Technorati

Web 2.0 Logo generator....

So probabl y only the geeks will get this one....and based on my current readership that will amount to Chad or maybe TheAlbinoBowler and luke...

 

Here is a web 2.0 logo generator Scoble told everyone about.