So, I spent this past weekend looking for new software and testing it out (hopefully it hasn’t filled my computer with crap causing it to crash during the next show). Sadly, none of these programs worked out for me. And here they are (in case you have something better to suggest):

• http://www.stickam.com/
  Like: It works, it’s free and it gets the job done for producing a live show.
  Dislike: You can only broadcast your webcam. The service will occasionally restart and kick everyone out of the show.
• http://www.mogulus.com/studio
  Happy: This is a Stickam-like site that allows you to broadcast your video. You can broadcast other videos as well as your webcam.
  Sad: When the other video plays, it takes the over the audio too so that the show host can’t say anything.
• http://www.ustream.tv/
  XP: Another Stickam-like site with more administration options. You can create user polls, assign co-hosts and more.
  Vista: No other video options other than to broadcast your webcam.
• http://www.webcammax.com/, http://www.superwebcam.com/, http://www.splitcamera.com/
  Battlefield: You can mix up your video with effects and text. You can broadcast your video and even your live desktop.
  Sims 2: It feels like a toy. The effects are amateurish. Switching between video sources is horrible.

If you’ve got any other suggestions for me to try, shout’em out. I’m willing to look into anything (except Mac, you damn hippie).

The add-on allowed me to syncronize my bookmarks, cookies, etc across multiple computers. All I had to do was install it and setup my login information. The rest was seemless.

So I am off to find an alternative, one of which I am already testing. I came across a letter from Google that stated the following:

For those of you who want to continue to use Firefox 2, we’ll maintain support for old versions of Google Browser Sync through 2008. After that, we can recommend a few other products that scratch a similar itch. We hope that one of them works for you:

Mozilla Weave [labs.mozilla.com] from Mozilla Labs—Offers bookmark and history synchronization across computers.

Google Toolbar for Firefox [toolbar.google.com]—Store your bookmarks online and access them from any computer online.

Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer [addons.mozilla.org]—Synchronizes your bookmarks across all computers where it is installed.

Regards,
The Google Team

I’m giving the last choice (Foxmarks) a shot at winning over my heart. If it fails, you’ll be sure to hear about it.

If anyone else out there uses my CopyforNotes extension (add-on), I have updated it to work with the new Firefox browser. You can grab it here: CopyforNotes version 1.8.

What extensions do I have installed?

• ColorZilla (not working)
  This plugin allows me to use an eyedropper pointer to select colors on any webpage. It allows me to easily select the color values when programming a website either from an image or the html.
• CopyforNotes (working)
  With this, I can select text on a page and copy it plus the url of the page for placement in my notes. I wrote this for MODSonair topics creation. It will either take the url of the current page or that of the link I am hovering over. More details are somewhere in this blog.. give a search if you want to know more.
• Dummy Lipsum (working)
  When programming a website, sometimes you need text to fill in an area here and there. This allows me to create filler text on the fly that doesn’t actually say anything. However, it looks like real sentences and paragraphs so the client can get the overall picture.
• Google Browser Sync (not working, damn it all!) (read following blog post)
  This extension that I love so dearly allows me to carry my bookmarks across computers without thinking about it. Whatever my bookmarks are at work are at home, which are on my laptop, etc.
  Wait, there’s more. It also saves my cookies, passwords and other authenticated business. I don’t have to keep typing in all that junk when going from work to home or any browser I have installed and setup with this plugin.
• Google Notebook (working)
  I use Google Notebook for taking my initial notes for MODSonair. This allows me to quickly save anything I see online for review later in the week. I then use CopyforNotes to turn those links into topics that easily paste into the final product.
• Greasemonkey (working, but not working) (now magically working without my intervention) (broken again)
  This is an interesting add-on that allows you to program and use Greasemonkey extensions. It’s like a platform of pre-made functions so that you can more easily program your own extensions. I use it for a Greasemonkey add-on that automatically inserts a custom signature into my different Gmail email addresses. I’m not sure what I’ll do without it that feature which isn’t working
• Gmail Signatures (new and working) (link)
  I found this as a replacement to the Greasemonkey add-on crossed out above. With it you can insert a custom signature for any of your gmail email accounts. Since you can send out your gmail from any account that you own (like from gmail, foyleman, or modsonline), you can now assign specific signatures to each.
• IE View Lite (working)
  Right click the screen and have the option to open your current page or selected url in IE. As a programming, websites need to work across multiple browsers.
• MeasureIt (working)
  Measer the width and height of a selection within your browser window. Great for figuring out the size of an area you have to work with to properly size the image you plan on putting in there.
• Screen grab! (working)
  Two clicks and you can copy or save the webpage you are looking at as an image. You can copy the select, entire page or what you see.
• Web Developer (working)
  A necessary tool for web programmings to hunt down problems on any web page.

I have about 5 primary email addresses between MODSonline, Tres, and the rest. Each account requires a specific email signature. I’ve always copied all of my email to Gmail in the event I want to check and reply when I am away from home. Gmail has good spam filters and makes an excellent online interface for all your email. You can even send your email via Gmail as if you are sending it from the person who received it.

I’d now like to make it easier for me to have my archived work email and home email all located in one place. If I can switch to Gmail, that would mean all my email is available where ever I go. Therefore the experiment is on. I am going to see if I can survive without a desktop client to deal with email.

Some issues that I’ve overcome:

• Gmail doesn’t really let you have different signatures for different email addresses. However, there are Mozilla FireFox addons (extensions) that resolve this. A combination of Greasemonkey and Gmail Signatures fixes that.
  One bug though… to save each signature I have to add one sig, restart FireFox , then add next sig… repeat. This also has to be done on each machine you plan to use your signatures on. Oh well. Still works.
• I’m not sure how to synchronize my contacts and calendar with my phone. Using GooSync, I can synchronize my phone without needing a desktop client. It’s all done over the air.

With that in mind, GINA is skinned with a fabric of sorts that can stretch. The doors open like wings or arms. The headlights blink like eyes. The engine opens like a gaping… well, not a mouth, but something that gapes.

Check it out:

For the most part, the specifications for such a device are:

• 7-10 inch screen
• mobile celeron or the new atom chip coming from intel (soon)
• 1Gb memory
• wireless options

As you can see, it’s a real laptop. It’s just smooshed into a smaller package. Exactly what I want… something really small that does the job of a laptop. Great for browsing, email and other lightweight computer functions. No… It’s not going to do too well playing crysis. lol.

Why haven’t I gotten one? Well, it’s probably a reason you’re familiar with. I want the best one that money can buy, but every week something new is announced. So, it’s the idea that the next best version is just a month away. Therefore, I am hung on which I could purchase.

To make matters worse (or better, depending on how you look at it), there is a computer show going on this week where all new models and options are being announced. This isn’t going to make my decision easier.

I’m just going to have to close my eyes and point to one. lol.

Oh, and for an idea of what I am looking at:

• Asus Eee PC 901
  • Expected release June 3rd
• MSI Wind
  • Expected release June 3rd
• Gigabyte M912
  • Just announced
• Acer Aspire One
  • Just Announced
• HP, Sony
  • Too expensive

I found a sudo-game  this weekend that I started playing. I’m not exactly sure it’s really a game… I don’t know what to call it yet. The name of this “game” is The Passively Multiplayer Online Game (link). Yup, that’s the name of this game and not just a description.

Here’s how it works. You install a Firefox extension found at the site linked above. This extension will put a tool bar at the bottom of your browser to track your surfing… or gaming as it were. As you surf, you may stumble upon chests, portal, or mines left by other players. It’s like playing an RPG while surfing the net. As you surf, you earn more points (or gold). As you earn more, you have the ability to level up.

It sounds ridiculous and that’s what made me check it out. Now, I am having fun playing it. I also can’t help but think of the possibilities that this extensions presents. Imagine what could be created with something like this in mind? I picture a community of people sharing things about the internet in real time instead of having to read their blog or their profile somewhere else.

I was going to update the tutorials with some custom code to allow user input and updating. The community needs more access to the tutorials and I have a plan to make it happen. But before I start with these updates, it made sense to update the entire back-end. Of course, that’s another involved task. It’s not just upload and update… it’s upload, confirm, test, fix, test, restore, copy, active, done. That’s just a quick list.

When I get that done, I can move onto the Tutorials updates that I originally planned. At least I hope that is all I have to do. ugh.

I’ve discussed it with my web business partner. We’ve decided that we can help out gamers in need with some pretty nice hosting packages:

That’s not bad, right? If you’re interested, let me know.

Anyway, wordpress blogs send email notifications from wordpress@yourdomain.com (yourdomain being… well, your domain). But that’s a great way to get even more spam, so I don’t have it setup to receive email. Although Spamcop claims not to check for the sending email address validity, it would reject those emails and I wouldn’t see them (unless they caught my eye on gmail).

Well, needless to say, I had to setup wordpress@yourdomain.com (actually at mydomain, but you get the idea). Now I am getting those email from here. At least I now should know when I am getting comments here. lol.

Am I overly redundant in trying to stop spam? I don’t think so. I don’t get too much spam considering all the domain names (currently 36) and email addresses (only about 20) I have to keep my eye on. And it’s great(!!!) not to have to download that spam just to filter it locally.

However, the biggest problem now is caused by spoofing. That’s when someone sends email from your email address… not literally from your server, but pretending to be you. Then you get thousands of bounce backs from those email addresses that don’t exist. I’d love to hear about a solution for that!