BrothaTech » Random Tech

A Brotha’s Tweets for 2010-07-23

Terrance Gaines — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:47:00 +0000

New Internet Real-Estate Available: .CO Domains Go Public | BlackWeb2.0 http://bit.ly/doDue5 #
Windows Phone 7 OS looks good for all you Microsoft fans out there (walkthrough video) http://brotha.tk/c /via @slashgear #
I just unlocked the "Superstar" badge on @foursquare! http://4sq.com/9ExV2S #
Waiting on the "bosses" (@ Sirius XM Satellite Radio) http://4sq.com/aInel0 #
Smart Pad tablet by Toshiba promised before October http://bit.ly/cpEsOr /via @engadget #
'Bout Time! Jobless benefits extension clears Senate hurdle http://bit.ly/dvtBlx /via @TechZader #fb #
In the studio if the Mario Armstrong Show watching @marioarmstrong do his thing #
Boss Lady @ABenton is in the house as well #fb #
1 hour goes by fast on the set of a live radio show @marioarmstrong @ABenton #
Doing a tour of XM studios in DC @marioarmstrong #
My main man @marioarmstrong got me hype (stay tuned!) #
?estion: you live in a one story house made completely of redwood. What color would the stairs be? #fb #
@klysha some dood chopped up a speech by the secy of agriculture (black woman) discriminating against a white farmer… in reply to klysha #
@klysha NAACP got mad and jumpedmon the lady…and she soon resigned… in reply to klysha #
@klysha come to find out the ENTIRE speech was taken out of context, and NAACP apologized in reply to klysha #
@klysha but as it stands, shes still jobless (somebody correct me if im wrong) in reply to klysha #
@ABenton Have to say it was good meeting a colleague, a peer, and my check signer all wrapped up in one person in reply to ABenton #
@jaredgibbs just downloaded it a sec ago and it appears to be pretty slick (I smell a blog post coming) in reply to jaredgibbs #
Gotta get some work done [going off-line in 3, 2, 1...] #
@ChrisPirillo Will have to look into this. As a trade, U might want 2 look into Flipboard for iPad (twitter and facebook content curator) in reply to ChrisPirillo #
Test tweet from my blog #
@rahsheen its definately hot for the iPad [calls dibs on the BlackWeb write up] lol! in reply to rahsheen #
@rahsheen nevermind @misssmith11 already beat me to it lol! in reply to rahsheen #
RE: @blackweb20 Been playing around with it this morning…All I can say is this one of the hottest content aggregator… http://disq.us/hqwyf #
Is the Digital Divide Headed In the Right Direction | BlackWeb2.0 http://brotha.tk/d /via @BlackWeb20 #
@rahsheen *double shrug* when I got flipboard, I was already putting the words together in my head for the site #doh in reply to rahsheen #
@misssmith11 You beat me to that flipboard story @blackweb20…dats what's up! in reply to misssmith11 #
@misssmith11 hit me with it! <<< keep it in context – (no Sherrod) lol! in reply to misssmith11 #
Hoping @Flipboard improves their servers soon. I want to do a video review tonight but can't access my facebook profile #SOS #
Teen Uses Craigslist to Barter Phones for a Porsche http://bit.ly/cRbtZM /via @techeblog #
@klysha boo on you…T is for Tennessee. S S.T.A.T.E. U University – TSU! in reply to klysha #
@gadgetfeed this is a cool image in reply to gadgetfeed #
2 accounts, 1 Porn reference: Coca-Cola considers dropping Ad Agency over botched Facebook campaign http://bit.ly/agTtrZ /via @blackweb20 #
Just taking the time to say "Yo!" to all my new followers! #
@calinative BURR! I think I may need your assistance (WP stuff) #
‘App’-titude: 6 Ways to Step Your Droid X App Game Up | BlackWeb2.0 http://brotha.tk/e #
@couturefreak Today I can say so without a doubt! #moreworktodo in reply to couturefreak #
Add Function To Form With an End Call Sticker For Your iPhone 4 http://post.ly/oIt9 #
Check Your Website’s Stats Anytime With Mobile Analytics Apps http://bit.ly/dhfXAK /via @smallbizgomobile #
Mic check one, two. Facebook can you hear me? #
…Check two, three, four… #
@calinative sent to your blog addy (let me know if that's wrong) in reply to calinative #
IPv4 addresses will dry up in a year | Neowin.net http://brotha.tk/f #
Verizon to drop unlimited data plans this month? http://brotha.tk/g /via @engadget #
25 must-have iPhone apps for productive geeks | Tech Sanity Check http://post.ly/oK6l #
(I need 2 step my game up!) 14 features you need on your wordpress site http://bit.ly/d46Lyl #
RT @blackweb20 Tech for a Good Cause: Mobile Tech Aid to Africa http://bit.ly/dg1dap #
@RandomNimrod which is prolly why they are nixing it! in reply to RandomNimrod #
@luvvieig man I need a headshot but a brotha is cheap #cheapguysfinishlast in reply to luvvieig #
@RandomNimrod WERD! in reply to RandomNimrod #
@kevinmd like anything else on the web, patients & doctors should keep topics general. Details should require private channels in reply to kevinmd #
RT @aishatyler …It took 4 hours to make a 2 hour drive. Where's my jetpack? #thefuturesucks #
Yeah, I've been sleeping on @instapaper Plays very nicely with @Flipboard and @Twitterrific! #

Tech Review: Brothatech Demos Flipboard « Black Web 2.0

Terrance Gaines — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:33:52 +0000

via blackweb20.com

This was my first video review. I’m not a pro, but I’m working on it. Look forward to more videos in the future.

*I would GLADLY use your products to work on my game, so If you got any, hook a brotha up!*

25 must-have iPhone apps for productive geeks | Tech Sanity Check

Terrance Gaines — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:38:13 +0000

Having trouble sifting throught the literally tons of iPhone apps just to find some decent apps for productive geeks? Check out this article via Tech Sanity Check

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=5543

Add Function To Form With an End Call Sticker For Your iPhone 4

Terrance Gaines — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:20:04 +0000

via etsy.com

You can get this little sticker as a reminder to stay away that general area of the phone OR actually use it as an additional “End Call” button that when pressed, drops…I mean, ends your iPhone 4 call.

Available at Etsy for $4

BlueLounge Cable Box

Terrance Gaines — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:43:13 +0000

While searching around YouTube, I stumbled across my main man Marquez Brownlee’s channel and saw an unboxing of a cool gadget for all you cable-management ~~freaks~~ enthusiasts.

It’s called the Cable Box from BlueLounge and essentially, it’s a box that covers up your surge protector and all the power cords bulging from it. It’s pretty straightforward and makes everything behind your desk or workstation look nice and neat.

Below is the video of his unboxing of the Cable Box (make sure to subscribe to Marquez’s channel and follow him on twitter @MKBHD)

My Father’s Day Gift

Terrance Gaines — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:42:08 +0000

Somebody got his Father’s Day gift early. My family knows what a brotha wants and I don’t mind gift cards…only if they’re the right ones.

Happy Father’s Day!

- A Posterous Joint

Father’s Day Tech Gifts

Terrance Gaines — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:24:15 +0000

We like gifts too you know?!

I’ve been reading some of the plans the ladies have for their husbands & dads and I ~~want to slap them~~ just shake my head at the lack of effort that goes into getting Dad a gift for Father’s Day. If that same effort was put into Mother’s Day, the ladies would be screaming bloody murder!

So while there is still time, I’m gonna give you some good tech gifts to get that special father in your life.

Kodak Playsport Camcorder
Waterproof, shoots in HD, wrapped in a bump, scrape, drop, and nudge-proof tactile rubber casing (did I mention it was waterproof?) What more could a dad want in a camera/camcorder…since it’s dad who does all the picture taking/movie making anyway! Why not just shell out 140 bucks and let him come up with new and fun ways to capture those special shots no matter where they are.

Apple iPhone 4
Got an Apple fanboy as a Dad? I guarantee he will worship the ground you walk on (at least until Game 7 of the NBA Finals comes on – yeah, it’s going to game 7) if you showed him proof that his shiny-new iPhone 4 would be delivered right to his doorstep before the month is out. Apple’s latest iPhone Generation comes with a front-facing camera for live video conferencing, a super-sharp display for photo/video playback, and fly new slim design, that he will more than likely ugg up with a rubber case of some sort. It comes in black or white and the 16GB version starts at $199 (with a 2 year contract with AT&T of course)

Sony Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds
Now your dad can listen to music without yanking the headphones out of the jack when making the slightest move AND take phone calls without looking like a douchebag with one of the bluetooth earbuds (because he can listen to music while he is not on a call) with these wireless bluetooth earbuds from Sony. In addition, the earbubs have Noise suppression and echo cancellation functions so he can hear and speaky clearly. They also come in blue and are reasonably priced at $80 dollars.

Logitech Harmony Remote
This gift might also work out in your favor ladies! Does your dad have a bunch of remotes to work all his equipment and only he knows the right combination to get it all to work? Well the hook to the Harmony Remotes by Logitech is the setup. It’s as simple as hooking up the remote to the computer, using the supplied software to find all the gadgets he will use (via brand/model#) and bam! A full-functioning remote in minutes. Imagine the extra ~~chores he’ll do~~ points you’d get if YOU set it up and re-wrapped it to make it work right out of the box? The remotes start at 50 bucks and with it, you will now be able to watch a DVD movie without calling that special guy for the uber-secret combination sequence!

Men’s Remember Ring
I put this last one in as a joke, but if there’s a lady out there whose husband/dad is a geek, but forgets that special day when you traded rings and joined in holy matrimony, the ‘Remember Ring’ is what you should pick up for him. Inside the ring is a chip that can be programmed to heat up to remind ~~the poor bastard~~ your husband that your anniversary is fast approaching. The heat will make him notice, but not bad enough to burn his finger off! It comes in several styles, but as as far as men’s wedding bands go, isn’t cheap at $760 dollars. But hey, the anniversary is all about you anyway, so why not shell out some dough if your ROI is likely to be greater if he actually remembers the date!

So there you have it. Some decent (and a little crazy) Father’s Day tech gifts that will show you do in fact, put some effort in making him feel special (a gift certificate to the Home Depot will NOT cut it this year)

Tech Wedding

Terrance Gaines — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:01:28 +0000

If you had a techie partner, would you let them use all that technology during the wedding?

I think it's cool. What do you think?

- A Posterous Joint

The Lowdown In Tech This Week: 5-7-10

Terrance Gaines — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:10:40 +0000

Bit.ly Shows Off Their Revamped Site
image via: InterAwesome

Those of us who are heavy into sharing links via social networking sites should be pleased to know that the popular URL shortening site Bit.ly has done a revamp that includes automatically shortening URL’s (before you have to click ‘shorten’), and adding more functionality like quickly searching your short link history and recovering deleted links. They’ve also added more real-time tracking and analytics so you can obsess over how many people are clicking your links up-to-the-second.

Google Touches Up Desktop & Mobile Search Pages
image via: BloodHoudBlog.com

Google has added a left side search optimization bar to both its desktop AND its mobile search page. It’s similar to the current bar at the top of the search page that has the ‘image, web, videos, etc. options; but with more options that will enable you to further zero in on the actual results you were looking for. It reminds me of the Bing search engine by Microsoft, or eBay’s search options. Either way, I think it’s a nice addition, especially to the mobile page. You could for instance narrow your search without repeatedly changing your initial search words.

Scribd and Opera Jump on the HTML5 Bandwagon
image via: andyuk.net

You could say it has been a rough couple of weeks for Adobe seeing as their Flash product that has pretty much been a web developer’s must have to bring media content to the web has been loosing support in favor of HTML5, the new web language. HTML5 isn’t fully adopted and integrated yet, but recently, Apple slammed Flash and is NOT adding it to ANY of it’s mobile devices, and Microsoft sees a bright [web] future with HTML5 and is making plans for future developments around it. Slowly but surely, more and more companies are following suit. Next on that list is media sharing/publishing site Scribd, and mobile web browser platform Opera.

Scribd says it doesn’t need Flash because its content isn’t really heavy enough to need a powerful web plug-in like Flash, and Opera said that using Flash on a mobile device was similar to cooking an egg on the concrete in the sun. So both of the them are endorsing HTML5 and as a result, delivering another blow to the future of Flash.

Apple Fanboys/girls Need Love Too!
image via: Cupidtino

The new site Cupidtino (a mash-up of the ‘Cupid’ & Cupertino, CA where Apple’s HQ is located) plans to be the “hook up” site those in love with their Apple Products. In addition to just provide a place for Apple fans to date, mate, and birth entire Apple families, members will also have access of exclusive social and location-based apps for the iPhone and iPad.

I will leave you with a quote from Techcrunch, that I happen to cosign:

“On the other hand, making sure that Apple fans only date other Apple fans is a good way of stopping them from spreading their Apple fan genes to the general population, I guess. So maybe this site isn’t all bad.

Apple iPad 3G…A Brotha’s Take

Terrance Gaines — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:50:17 +0000

That's my site...and my thumb

*In my typical, nonchalant attitude*

“It’s cool”

The wifi version has been out a little over a month and the 3G version just dropped last weekend. I decided to wait for the 3G because I knew I would be in places where free and open wifi would not be available. So I had to ride the bench while seemingly everyone else got to partake in the “firsties” enjoyment.

But my time came, and my iPad (32GB) hit my door last Friday at 1pm – Shout out to FedEx.

So instead of giving you the same features/benefits type of post everyone else has done already, I will give you my quick observations, and go into what I have done thus far with my new toy.

Observations:

- A little heavier than I thought it would be…but I like a little junk in the trunk
(see: Erykah Badu’s ‘Window Seat’ video)

- I find myself cleaning the screen often
The gadget just looks good, and the finger smudges seem to “stank it up”

- Photos, music cover art, videos and movies all look gorgeous
Nothing witty to add, just stating fact

- I think it’s cool that iPad-specific apps have settings you can change in the global settings menu in addition to app-specific settings in the app settings menu
(That makes sense in my head)

- I would like to have access to the file system
I have OCD when it comes to organization

- 50% percent of the time, the camera connection kit works 100%
I could only get the USB dongle to work and not the SD card slot version.

- AT&T 3G is just okay
But I already knew that

- I thought the lack of Flash and multi-tasking would be noticeable, but it actually isn’t
*Crosses fingers for HTML5 and a download of OS 4.0 in the fall*

- Mrs. Tech hates it
*Just wait for the “newness” to wear off sweetie*

Having said that, the first thing I did (after being forced to hook it up to a computer for basic setup) was look for iPad apps. The iPhone apps are okay on it, but I paid for an iPad, not an iPhone…so I’ll wait (step it up devs!). I went to sites like Gizmodo and TUAW to look for apps they recommended. The apps I decide to download are:

FeddlerRSS – RSS Reader
PrintCentral - Wireless printing
SplashID – Password Manager
Dictionary – Do I really have to explain?
Zinio – Digital Magazine Reader
Dropbox – Cloud Storage
Pandora – Streaming Music
Netflix – Instant movies and Queue Control
PDFReader Pro – PDF Reader
Photobucket – Online photo storage/sharing
Craigsphone – Craigslist…but nicer
eBay – Buy and sell stuff
ABC Player – watch ABC shows
Twitterrific – Twitter Client (just barely edged out TweetDeck)
Evernote – Online note storage
WordPress – Blog control
Wikipanion – Wiki stuff

Most of the above apps are free, and there are only a couple of paid apps. But none of them are more than 10 bucks, and they are WORTH IT. If the two of you who read my blog have some suggestions, hook a brotha up.

Next up was getting my email accounts, contacts and calendars set up. I use Gmail & Google Apps for all of this stuff so it was pretty easy. The only hitch is that the iPad can only synchronize ONE set of calendar/contacts via Google Sync. There are ways around it, but I’m cool for now (don’t mind going to the web for the others) and I’m hoping Google/Apple will resolve this on their own.

In the meantime and in-between time, I reorganized my iTunes Library and just synced my playlists instead of trying to sync my entire library. I also bought a movie or two (‘Aliens’ and ‘Transformers: The Movie’ (the cartoon version) just to see how they would look – Those are my two all-time favs, and I was impressed. I will be researching ways to put my movie collection (as a copy, not for resale – take that piracy!), so if you have any tips, let me know.

Last on the list was firing up the AT&T’s 3G service. Like I said before it was just “okay”, but I didn’t expect much. I just wanted it to get the job done, and so far so good. I only signed up for the 250mb plan, and based on my current usage, I could stand to upgrade to the unlimited plan. But I am gonna hold off because I feel my usage will stabilize after I get the hang of the device. Set up was a cinch and it is all done in the iPad setting menu, no registering or logging into a website to get started. You can also view your usage there as well.

So there you have it. If you have any tips, tricks, guides or comments about the iPad feel free to drop me a line.

Note: I did NOT write this entire post from my iPad…just in case you were wondering.