Category: Of Interest

Those miscellaneous things that just must be published.

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flickr iPhone app 99% upload then fails

My iPhone refuses to upload a picture using the flickr app. It gets through 99%, reports complete, then says "Upload failed. Try later. Try again." Not much on The Googles about this. However, I believe the answer is in Flickr’s monthly upload limit for free accounts. After upgrading to Pro, my upload worked flawlessly. To the flickr iPhone app developers, your error message needs to be altered to encourage the purchase of a pro account.

View pictures mainly from my iPhone at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mccaughan and see excellent photography from Cathy with a real camera at http://www.flickr.com/photos/domesticpsychology.

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Switching Spam Filters

I have been a huge Spam Karma fan for years but the open source community does not seem to be taking the ball and running with it.

As of January 1st, 2009, I am no longer developing, maintaining or supporting Spam Karma. If you want to contribute to its code or download the latest GPL release, you can check out the code repository, over at Google Code. [Source, unknowngenius.com]

So I’m switching to Akismet. The last time I tried Akismet, I had many false positives. That is, it reported real comments as spam. With Spam Karma, I had almost zero false positives for all the years I used it. If you try to leave a comment and it fails or doesn’t show up, just contact me.

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Everybody stop! Hey, what’s that sound?

I’ve spent 40 years thinking I was hard of hearing or just dim witted because I could never fully make out the lyrics in many songs particularly of the rock, punk, or heavy metal genres. No one told me my headphones just sucked. I finally splurged and bought myself some Skullcandy Full Metal Jacket (FMJs) earbuds for the iPhone and am hearing sounds in my music I never knew were there before! (I’m also going to quit complaining to my children that they listen to their music too loudly…even if they do.)

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Suggestions? iPhone password/data keeper

When my beloved Motorola v3xx bit the dust, I bought an iPhone with the promise to myself that I would use it as a business tool to facilitate building iPhone apps for my clients. I have not talked about my iPhone experience much but that’s coming. In the meantime, know this: 1) Steve Jobs is a user interface genius! and 2) I love my iPhone!

Over the past few years, I endeaved to eliminate paper from my life using cloud tools such as Google Docs. The iPhone seems to be the missing link and has helped me take the last steps toward cutting the umbilical cord to paper. Meeting notes go straight to my iPhone. Todo lists, via Jott, straight into the iPhone. The iPhone has helped make my already digital world even more digital.

Now I need a secure password/data keeper for the iPhone. I’m considering SplashID, 1Password, and iAccounts. What are your recommendations?

Related: Best password manager programs for your MacBook and iPhone 3G
Review: Secret keeper apps for the iPhone

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Internet Access a Fundamental Right

In 1988, I was introduced to this thing called the Internet. At the time, I was told there were 25,000 nodes on the Internet. I have since tried to confirm that number and come up with a number more like 66,000. The Internet at the time was somewhat elitist. Today, the BBC published an article suggesting that 4 out of 5 people believe access to the Internet is a fundamental right. Even the UN agrees. This line of thinking places Internet access on par with roads, waste, and water.

It’s fascinating to have witnessed the growth of such a world changing technology. I’m embarrassed to admit that around 1992 when commercialization of the Internet was being discussed that I was among those saying commercialization would destroy the Internet. When the Internet moved from strictly the domains of the universities and military in 1994, I was proven wrong.

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Air America is gone

Announced today at AirAmerica.com:

It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business. … Air America Radio launched in April, 2004. [Source, AirAmerica]

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Grand Central No More

I was fortunate to receive an early invite to Grand Central. Unfortunately, this meant when it became Google Voice, I was stuck with my number unless I paid $10 which is fine because by the time I found out about the $10 I’m sure any number I’d want was taken. I also never took advantage of Grand Central for reasons I won’t get into. I am now very comfortable with Google Voice and am being to direct more of my calls through it.

If you used Grand Central, your old messages have remained available but that ends December 31st.

Dear GrandCentral User (djuggler):

We’re writing to let you know that we will be closing down the GrandCentral website as of December 31, 2009. Get your messages while you can (if you want them).

All GrandCentral accounts were upgraded to Google Voice earlier this year, but since that time, you’ve still been able to log-in to your GrandCentral account and listen to old messages there. You will no longer be able to log-in to your GrandCentral account after December 31. Because of this, we strongly suggest downloading any messages or contacts that you want to keep before December 31.

We suggest you take action now to download any information you want to keep.

– The Google Voice Team