1. Clipboard History

With the ‘clipboard history’ plugin, you can quickly access a predetermined amount of previously copied text and do with it what you will.

- Tutorial here

2. Home (User Folder)

Quicksilver seemed to always act differently for me whenever I wanted to browse my file structure. Because of this, I made a trigger that will take me to the root of my Home directory. From there I can browse my folders using the arrow keys. You could easily modify this trigger to have it direct to you documents, downloads, or any other folder you frequently need to access.

3. Open Finder

Even when using Quicksilver, sometimes you need to get into the Finder. Why not use Quicksilver to get there?

Another Finder trigger that I use thousands of times a day is my trigger that opens my User folder. This way, I am instantly able to move throughout my folders, files, and documents.

4. Google Search

I had always wanted the ability to do a Google search in Quicksilver, no navigation to Google and then typing the search, just start typing and get your results. Turns out, like most things with Quicksilver, there is a way.

- Tutorial here

5. Scripts

This will save you tons of time burrowing throughout the menu bar by using scripts to take care of little actions that everyone uses is OS X

* Bonus: Control iTunes

I use an excellent plugin that works with iTunes to pretty much do anything you could ever need to do with your music. I have a trigger set to bring up all those controls and then I can select whatever I need, whether it be changing tracks or rating a song.

None of these tricks will help you move throughout your Mac unless you actually use them to save time. Set up keyboard shortcuts that are easy to remember and set out to remember to use them.

- World Clock

Articles

- Expanding Clipboard in OS X With Quicksilver - Short tutorial on how to store more text.

- Auto Refresh Mail on iPhone - Is it a hidden setting, or am I just blind?

- How To Make Digital Polaroids - An application that will make alter images to look like polaroids.

- Bookmarklets for iPhone - Expand Mobile Safari to do much more.

- Redesigned: As If That Wasn’t Apparent - A look at the new design of the site.

- Favorite Podcasts - A round-up of my favorite podcasts.

- Live Mesh From Microsoft - Microsoft launches its MobileMe competitor with similar success that Apple had.

Links

- uTorrent Beta Available for Mac

- 50 Greatest Computer Workstation Setups

- Obama’s ‘O’

- USB 3.0 Specs Finalized

- Think-Make-Think By John Meada

- Embedding High Quality YouTube Videos

- Change Notes Font on iPhone

- How To Be Creative

- Netflix Watch Instantly Available for Mac Users

Please let me know which post(s) you enjoyed the most in the comments section below.

I wanted to share an excellent way to expanding the clipboard functionality in Mac OS X. This short tutorial will show you how to store loads of copied text with the ability to past at any time with Quicksilver, the clipboard plugin and a keyboard shortcut.

How To

Step by step instructions…

1. Invoke Quicksilver and open the preferences

2. Install the Clipboard module under plugins

3. Under Triggers, click the add button towards the bottom and add new hotkey

4. Set up a new hotkey that contains ‘clipboard history’ as the “noun” and ’show content’ as your “verb”

5. Set up your hotkey to whatever you prefer

6. Go to preferences tab at the top and navigate to ‘clipboard history’

7. Make this number fit the capacity of the items you would like to store.

If you are interested in more triggers, check out this post.

Click here to download the beta

For whatever reason my mind could not recall where I had set it up before and I could have sworn it was through the aforementioned Setting panel.

How To Change Settings

If you are needing to change the frequency at which you pull down synced data from online. You will need to go to Settings > Fetch New Data and under the Fetch heading, select how often you would like for things to be refreshed.

Be careful with this setting, the more frequently you refresh, the faster your battery will drain. Furthermore, if you are in a foreign country, this will effect the amount of data you are using and could end up costing you a fortune.

This setting is blatantly obvious looking back but for whatever reason, I skimmed over it. Hopefully, if this is an issue with you, you have now found your resolution.

Have you ever wanted to give a polaroid effect to an image? With Poladroid you can do just that.

Poladroid is a small application (Mac OS X only) that will take an image, process and develop it, then kick it back out as a digital polaroid. Currently, the application doesn’t do much more than that.

It would be great to one day be able to make small edits and corrections to images before developing the photo. It would also be nice to be able to add text to the bottom and format it as you please; You know like “Family Reunion 1977.”

- Download Poladroid

- Check out the Flickr group here

Check out the full article here

The New York Times, has an interesting interview with Sol Sender, a graphic designer that worked on the logo.

“At the end of 2006, Mode, a motion design studio in Chicago, approached Sol Sender, a graphic designer, to create a logo for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The resulting “O” became one of the most recognizable political logos in recent history. I spoke with Mr. Sender a few days after the election to discuss the evolution of his design.”

- Check out the full article here

- Designing the Obama “Hope” Poster

“The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced today that the USB 3.0 specification has been finalized, some 14 months (almost to the day) after Intel first demonstrated a prototype USB 3.0 device. The new standard isn’t expected to start headlining on motherboards until the latter half of 2009 (at the earliest), with compliant devices hopefully appearing sometime in 2010. Expect USB 3.0-compliant motherboards to command a fair premium for the privilege; motherboard manufacturers will jump at the chance to differentiate themselves via support for the new, high-speed Super Speed interface.”

- Check out the full article here

- Detailed specifications: Wikipedia - USB 3.0

After changing the layout of the site a few weeks ago, I have been tweaking and changing things throughout my spare time (and will probably continue to do so), getting things just how I like them.

Overview

I love clean, sleek, simple design that is does not distract and allows the eye to flow toward the content. Therefore, I went with Derek Punsalan’s Grid Focus theme, that I have stripped down and modified to my satisfaction.

Header

Probably the only part of the design I am not 100% set on. We’ll see what happens.

Navigation

Lets start up top with the navigation menu. You will notice that all of the tabs other than ‘Home’ and ‘About’ have a drop down that give you a couple of options such as ways to contact me, a couple of places to view photos, etc.

You will also notice that under ‘Archives’ will drop down a list, by month, of my archives. I also have an Archives page that currently has only a monthly overview but that will eventually have indexed all posts and show all categories.

Entries

Moving on down the page we will get a preview (I am considering including the full post) to the most recent posts which sit on the homepage. Of those recent posts you will notice an asterisk next to some of them. I will use this to notify readers of a post that is based around an article. In other words, it does not contain much content created by me, it is more of a linking tool.

Footer

I have included links to my profiles on several popular site that I use so that if you have any interest in me (why would you?) you can see what’s going on with me elsewhere.

Summary

There we have it, a quick look at the elements of the new design. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

“All I want to be is someone that makes new things and thinks about them.”

- John Meada

I must say that the high quality is actually very impressive. YouTube videos are generally painful to watch due to the fact that it is basically compiled of 24 square blocks of compressed images.

Check out the full article here

Listen Upon Release

• Diggnation - Kevin Rose (Digg Founder) and Alex Albrecht run down some of the top stories from Digg.com.

• You Look Nice Today - Three friends who met via ‘The Twitter’ pal around in this “journal for emotional hygiene.”

• MacBreak Weekly - My favorite Mac podcast. Hosted by famed tech-guru, Leo Laporte.

• TWIT (This Week in Tech) - Leo Laporte hosts the most popular tech podcast on the web.

When I Get Around To It

• TWIP (This Week in Photography) - Scott Bourne and Alex Lindsey co-host this photography podcast which will keep you up to date with new products, the latest news, and tips.

• MacCast - For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Adam Christianson hosts the weekly rundown of Apple news, announcements, and addresses listener questions.

• The Totally Rad Show - Three rad dudes with nothing better to do host this podcast which give reviews of movies, games, TV shows, and on occasion, comics.

• ScreenCasts Online - Don McAllister’s weekly podcast in which he runs through a tutorial for a different Mac application. A paid and free version of the show is available.

There is a compiled list of the podcasts I listen to as much has I can. I frequently listen and watch several more but usually only if I have a lot of time on my hands and feel like listening to small clusters of people talk back and forth with one another.

P.S.
Recently I have begun to listen to The Talk Show, hosted by John Gruber and Dan Benjamin. I would imagine it will soon have a spot somewhere in that list.

There are about a dozen things lacking in the Notes app (syncing, organization, etc.) but there is one thing you can change without any help from Apple. That is doing away with Marker Felt and replacing it with the gorgeous Helvetica. The only downside is that you will have to repeat a couple of basic steps every time in order to have the font be different.

Learn how via The Apple Blog

After hearing mention, and recommendation from Leo Laporte on MacBreak Weekly I thought I would check it out.

I was most excited about having the ability to sync a folder, have uploading be automatic, and have 5 GB of available storage that I could access from anywhere.

Things went according to plan, the installation and setup is simple as can be. The only real downside is having to create a Hotmail address or use another Windows Live ID (I didn’t have one). From there, I just browsed to the folder(s) I wanted to sync and boom.

I then went on about my business. Moments later, I glanced up and saw that my CPU was working quite hard. Clearly, it was beginning to sync to the cloud and then…

Assuming this was just a little crash (it is a beta after all), I relaunched Live Mesh and once again, shortly after signing in, crash. I went through these steps at least 5 more times accomplishing nothing.

Hopefully Microsoft gets this in order pretty quickly because in all honestly, I am looking forward to using this service.

“They’re only crayons. You didn’t fear them in kindergarten, why fear them now?”

Creativity is something that for many people, as they head into the ‘real world’ and into ‘real jobs,’ fades away. In the ‘real world,’ the most important things is making sure that at the end of the quarter, the number at the bottom of the sheet is larger than last time.

If you struggle with creativity or more importantly are looking for inspiration, Hugh MacLeod, wrote a manifesto a couple of years ago that focuses on 26 ways to be creative. The manifesto has a beautiful design and for every ‘way to be creative’ there is a cartoon to go along with it.

Download “How To Be Creative” here

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/11/05/how-to-be-creative/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/11/02/netflix-watch-instantly-available-for-mac-users/ http://claycarson.net/2008/11/02/netflix-watch-instantly-available-for-mac-users/#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:28:00 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=137 Over the last few weeks we have been receiving more and more information about Netflix ‘Watch Instantly’ feature coming to the Macintosh. On Friday, the movie rental service announced on their blog that Mac users can opt-in to the watch instantly service.

“Hi, Brent here with an update on our new player for the Mac and PC. We’re past the first phase of our beta already, so I’d like to give you a chance to join in.”

After a brief installation of and in my case, a relaunch of Safari, you will be able to watch movies and TV series instantly through Netflix.

---

Read the full article here

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/11/02/netflix-watch-instantly-available-for-mac-users/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/11/01/monthly-report-october-2008/ http://claycarson.net/2008/11/01/monthly-report-october-2008/#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:36:56 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=138 Below is a round-up of all of the posts from claycarson.net during the month of October.

- My Delicious Library - My media collection is available online.

- David Pogue - Lecture and Luncheon - The tech-columnist spoke at my university.

- Please Fix the iPhone - A new site with the many complaints of the iPhone all in one place.

- Apple Releases New Notebooks - A collection of results from the Apple event on October 14.

- Stitcher Radio Provides Podcast Feeds for iPhone - Stream a number of popular tech podcasts.

Please let me know which post(s) you enjoyed the most in the comments section below.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/11/01/monthly-report-october-2008/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/31/my-delicious-library/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/31/my-delicious-library/#comments Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:49:16 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=136

Delicious Library is an amazing piece of software that I use to catalog my entire media library. Included in the software is an export to web option which allows you to post your collection to the web for people to see. I use the optimized iPhone web-version to decide on a movie to watch for the night without needing to go to the computer or to show to a friend and let them decided on a movie I have.

If you would like to stay up to date with my media collection or just have a look and see what I enjoy and what I have laying around, check it out here.

Currently I only have my movies available for viewing but I will soon have games and music available as well.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/10/31/my-delicious-library/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/22/david-pogue-lecture-and-luncheon/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/22/david-pogue-lecture-and-luncheon/#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:31:33 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=135 As a student at the University of Texas at Arlington, I was fortunate to have the privelege of sitting in on a special lecture through the journalism depart in which David Pogue, tech columnist for the New York Times, spoke about his career, how he got there, and the future of journalism.

The Lecture

After realizing that our Communication Technology department didn’t have the proper hook-ups for Mr. Pogue’s MacBook Air, we were shortly underway in the lecture.

Mr. Pogue began by talking about how he became one of the most quoted and turned-to tech columnist in the world. Quite an interesting story really; As part of a local Mac user group, Pogue was placed in charge of doing a newsletter that went out to the members of the group. Around this time a software application had been developed that would allow musical notes to be transcribed onto the computer making printing music very simple. Pogue, growing up with the dream of working in music, had a strong desire for this program. However, it ran around $1000. The editor of the newsletter came to him and said, why don’t we get you a copy and you can write a review for it? Pogue agreed and found this to be an easy way to get expensive software that he wanted to get his hands on. This type of work continued until his editor recommended he try making money off of this work rather than just being paid in software. Pogue agreed and worked his way up to admired writer.

Pogue also spoke about the movement away from newspapers and towards online media. He asked the group of appoximentely 75 students, “How many of you read a newspaper?” Too which about half of the students raised their hands (this is the journalism and communication department, keep in mind). He was shocked at the large number. Then one student revealed that it was required in their class, many others agreed and by the time that was sorted out there were about 3 hands remaining. Going on from there Pogue shared some of his videos that he had done for the New York Times.

After a display of his works, Pogue took a handful of questions from students. One of which was in regards to cloud computing; which Pogue feels is good for some people, but that most people do not want to story all of their photos, music and movies online. Pogue was also asked questions such as what his first day at the Times was like, the fued between Mac and PC, etc.

Mr. Pogue wrapped up with a story about his freshman English class in college. In which he claimed to have written wonderful papers but never was given an ‘A’. So he went and spoke to his professor and was told that he is not being persuasive. Pogue responded in a 20 page paper on the word ‘bat’ from the book “Ulysses.” In which he included a farfetched idea that their was a hidden reference from the author concerning the holy trinity. He earned an ‘A’.

The Luncheon and Keynote

The focus of Pogue’s keynote was called “Five Technologies For The Next Five Years.” He spoke about VOIP, television on-demand, Web 2.0, and more. To wrap up his keynote, after taking shots at microsoft, cell companies and copyright lawyers, he sat down and the piano and fired off a few of his tunes. Pogue said that a hobby of his is to take popular songs and add tech lyrics. The final song he played was entitled R-I-A-A and was to the tune of Y-M-C-A.

Overall

David Pogue seems to understand the way users use and interact with technology very well. For this reason, he is able to appeal to such an audience that is captured through the Times and for this reason, he has found such success.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/10/22/david-pogue-lecture-and-luncheon/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/20/please-fix-the-iphone/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/20/please-fix-the-iphone/#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:15:17 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=133

There are many desires that users have for the iPhone; flash, copy and paste, landscape view for email, and tethering to name a few. A new site called pleasefixtheiphone.com, which has been referred to as ‘a to-do list for Steve Jobs,’ allows you to submit a complaint, vote up a complaint, and find issues that have been resolved.

As an iPhone website should be, the site has an iPhone optimized version that has a beautiful design just as the website does.

The site does not require registration or even an email address to cast a vote which is nice because it allows for a more realistic overview of what people want most-not just those who have taken the time to register.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/10/20/please-fix-the-iphone/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/14/apple-releases-new-notebooks/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/14/apple-releases-new-notebooks/#comments Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:58:16 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=130 Apple Inc. announced today the release of a new lineup of notebooks as well as the release of a long awaited update to their cinema displays. Both the MacBook and the MacBook Pros have received aesthetic changes that include a unibody case created from a single piece of aluminum with a curved design similar to most new Apple products (MacBook Air, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch), a glass trackpad (one button), a black-bordered, LED backlit display as well as a reduced width (.95 inches).

Below is a collection of today’s news from Apple.

Products

- New MacBook and MacBook Pro

- New LED Cinema Display

Videos

- Video From Today’s Keynote

- MacBook Design Video

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/10/14/apple-releases-new-notebooks/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/06/stitcher-radio-provides-podcast-feeds-for-iphone/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/06/stitcher-radio-provides-podcast-feeds-for-iphone/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:32:18 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=127

I recently downloaded Stitcher Radio’s iPhone application. I was trying to find a radio app to tune in to the new twit.am in hopes to have some way to listen to recent podcasts from the TWIT Network without syncing with iTunes.

What is Stitcher?

Many users are calling Stitcher, “Pandora Radio for news and talk radio.” If you ask me, not a bad comparison.

Stitcher Radio provides options for Topics, Sources, and Favorites. Topics will give you an overview of categories and when selected will randomly provide you with a feed associated with the topic, Sources will provide you with content from popular providers such as ABC, BBC, Bloomberg, CNET, The Onion, etc., and Favorites allows you to flag a show as a favorite for quick and easy access.

I’m sure that as Stitcher grows out of beta it will continue to provide more shows and podcasts. However, as of now, Stitcher already provides me with my top 3 podcasts and therefore is providing me with quite a functional service.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/10/06/stitcher-radio-provides-podcast-feeds-for-iphone/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/01/monthly-report-september-2008/ http://claycarson.net/2008/10/01/monthly-report-september-2008/#comments Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:49:41 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=139 Below is a round-up of all of the posts from claycarson.net during the month of September.

- Using Facebook Chat in Adium - Chat with Facebook friends in Adium.

- iPhone Macro Lens and Case - An iPhone case with a macro lens embedded.

- Users React to Spore’s DRM - The people have responded and they are not happy.

- Using Google Reader with Fluid - Edit the theme of Google Reader with SSB, Fluid.

- iTunes 8 Visualizer Preview - A look at the new visualizer in the coming version of iTunes

- AT&T Changes Prices Without Notifying Customers - AT&T rips off customers by keeping quiet.

- Amazon Launches “Video on Demand” - Amazon continues to compete with the iTunes Store.

- Apple Event Set for Tuesday, September 9 - New iPods are coming.

- Where Do You Stand on Net Neutrality? - Go read up and learn about Net Neutrality.

Please let me know which post(s) you enjoyed the most in the comments section below.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/10/01/monthly-report-september-2008/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/29/using-adium-with-facebook/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/29/using-adium-with-facebook/#comments Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:41:29 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=126

In a recent update to the most versatile chat client on the Mac, Adium began to support the newly implemented Facebook Chat.

As much as I cannot stand Facebook (and yes, I do use it), primarily for its ‘creep factor’ I do enjoy Facebook Chat. Instant messaging seemed to decline greatly for most of my friends and peers when MySpace became popular. I have remained a fan of instant messaging and continued to use it daily.

Adium treats the chat as if it were any other service. It does not require having the Facebook tab or window open. This is wonderful since using the chat on the site is unbearable.

If you haven’t used Adium, do go download it and set it up with your Facebook account.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/29/using-adium-with-facebook/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/22/iphone-macro-lens-and-case/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/22/iphone-macro-lens-and-case/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:22:27 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=125

Griffin has a new iPhone case out called Clarifi.

Clarifi is a fairly standard iPhone case that comes fit with a slider on the back that covers the lens of the iPhone camera allowing both a boost in resolution and improved focus for close-up items.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/22/iphone-macro-lens-and-case/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/14/users-react-to-spores-ea-drm/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/14/users-react-to-spores-ea-drm/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:17:46 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=124 The people have spoken. We do not like DRM.

In outrageous numbers, users have flocked to Amazon to leave feedback about EA’s new DRM system implemented in Spore; The recently released, evolutionary based game in which you evolve from a single celled organism into a space traveling civilization.

Users Take Up Arms Via Amazon

First of all, the game incorporates a draconian DRM system that requires you to activate over the internet, and limits you to a grand total of 3 activations. If you reach that limit, then you’ll have to call EA in order to add one extra activation. That’s not as simple as it sounds, since when you reach that point EA will assume that you, the paying customer, are a filthy pirating thief. You will need to provide proof of purchase, reasons why the limit was reached, etc, etc (it has all happened before with another recent EA product, Mass Effect). EA, of course, is not obligated to grant you that extra activation or even provide that service. In a couple of years they might very well even shut down the general activation servers, because “it’s not financially feasible” to keep them running. What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing.

-Erich Maria Remarque (Magnolia, Arkansas USA)

My Thoughts

I have been excited for Spore for about a year now and I still haven’t bought it. I refuse to. I want to, so badly, but not as badly as I want it to be unrestricted and unlaced with DRM from head to toe. It is completely ridiculous and I side with the masses on this one. Once EA responds and changes their policy, I will purchase the game.

I did snap and buy the iPhone version. I had to satisfy my fix somewhere!

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/14/users-react-to-spores-ea-drm/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/11/fluid-with-google-apps/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/11/fluid-with-google-apps/#comments Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:28:40 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=122 I’ve been playing a lot lately with Fluid; using it with several Google web applications(Docs, Mail, Calendar). I wanted to try Google Reader and while configuring things I came across a very cool theme that makes it actually look good.

What is Fluid?

…(Fluid is a) Site Specific Browsers (SSBs) provide a great solution for your WebApp woes. Using Fluid, you can create SSBs to run each of your favorite WebApps as a separate Cocoa desktop application. Fluid gives any WebApp a home on your Mac OS X desktop complete with Dock icon, standard menu bar, logical separation from your other web browsing activity, and many, many other goodies.

A Little More

The theme being discussed actually has a similiar UI to that of NewsFire. One word of caution: Be sure to go into the preferences of your created Google Reader application and to the ‘advanced’ settings and make sure that you can navigate to any web page. Without this enabled I ran into some problems when clicking on links.

If you would like to have a look at this simple to install theme, head on over to fling media and check it out.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/11/fluid-with-google-apps/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/05/itunes-8-visualizer-preview/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/05/itunes-8-visualizer-preview/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:37:07 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=121 Rumors have been circulating for some time now about the Apple event on September 9. One popular rumor is the release of a new visualizer that ‘feels the music.’ There are some convincing reasons why this could be included in an iTunes update…

“[Robert] Hodgins built a wonderful iTunes visualizer called Magnetosphere a while back - which mysteriously disappeared from his site a few months back. I wrote him, and he said that it had been sold to a third party. There’s strong evidence that this third party is in fact Apple, and that it may ship with iTunes 8, which could be shown as soon as next week at an iPod Event,” White reports.

If you would like to see a demo video and read more about Magnetosphere, the rumored new visualizer…

---

Check out the full article here…

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/05/itunes-8-visualizer-preview/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/04/att-change-prices-without-notifying-customers/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/04/att-change-prices-without-notifying-customers/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:00:26 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=120 I spoke with AT&T this afternoon. I had been planning on upgrading to a faster DSL plan for some time and finally decided to take care of that.

Short Story

I check the AT&T website and find that their “Elite” package is $35/month, seems like a decent deal. I’ll go with that. I located my most recent bill and noticed that I was paying for the equivalent of their “Pro” plan ($30). This is $10 less/month than what I am paying for the exact same service. Are you kidding me? When a price is changed for a product, it should be made apparent and in a subscription model, the payments should be altered. Who knows for how many months I have been overpaying by $10.

If you are using SBC Global or any other AT&T service I would recommend double checking on your plan and make sure that you are paying the appropriate amount.

Summary

After a brief phone call, fortunately with an American based customer service rep, I am now receiving twice the speed for $5 less/month.

Amazon has launched their new “Video On Demand” service in their effort to expand their online media library to go along with their Amazon MP3 service.

“Much like iTunes, they’re selling TV shows as well as offering movies for purchase and rent. Unlike iTunes, it’s a streaming rather than a download service. Fortunately, they’ve got a number of free videos which will give you a sense of the quality of the service (which requires Flash).”

Check out the full article here

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/04/amazon-launches-video-on-demand/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/02/apple-event-set-for-tuesday-sept-9/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/02/apple-event-set-for-tuesday-sept-9/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:16:48 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=118 Rumors have been stirring for the past few weeks about a new iPod Nano. Perhaps on September 9, we will find out. Apple has announced that it will be having an event that morning. We’ll see what they have in store for us soon enough.

Apple has sent out invites to a Special Event taking place on September 9, which is exactly one week from today. The invite features the iconic iPod silhouette along with the tagline “Let’s Rock.” It will be taking place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco—just down the street from the Moscone Center—at 10am Pacific Time next Tuesday.

Check out the full article here…

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/02/apple-event-set-for-tuesday-sept-9/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/01/where-do-you-stand-on-net-neutrality/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/01/where-do-you-stand-on-net-neutrality/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:17:15 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=117 Have you heard of Net Neutrality? Tech-Crunch has an excellent article outlining multiple views on the cituation.

“Net neutrality is the principle that says all information flowing across the Internet should be treated equally. But with more people streaming data-rich video and playing online games, the Internet faces congestion concerns. Should carriers be able to sell multi-tiered access to heavy users? Should sites that generate massive traffic — like Google and Yahoo! — pay extra fees? The U.S. Government is examining Net Neutrality and its financial, legal and social implications. Do we need federal intervention to ensure fairness, or is this an issue for the market to work out?”

---

Check out the full article here.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/01/where-do-you-stand-on-net-neutrality/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/01/monthly-report-august-2008/ http://claycarson.net/2008/09/01/monthly-report-august-2008/#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:59:21 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=116 Below is a round-up of all of the posts from claycarson.net during the month of August.

Introducing Driv3thru - A claycarson.net sponsored Halo 3 Montage.

Post to Del.icio.us in Safari - Quickly post a link to Del.icio.us with a Java Script based bookmark.

iCal Weather Subscription - Subscribe to a localized calender and have a 7 day outlook on hand.

Photo Gallery Relocated - There is a new home for my photography.

Desktop Overview Part 3: iPhone Home Screen - A look at the applications that have found a home on my iPhone home screen.

Run Extra Scripts Within Quicksilver - Expand Quicksilver to do even more for you.

Please let me know which post(s) you enjoyed the most in the comments section below.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/09/01/monthly-report-august-2008/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/08/30/introducing-driv3thru/ http://claycarson.net/2008/08/30/introducing-driv3thru/#comments Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:17:49 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=114 A little off topic here at claycarson.net but below is a Halo 3 Montage created by a good friend of mine. Hope you enjoy! Head over to the MLG PRO website and let him know what you think.

Special Thanks to Driv3Thru (Jared Walker) for his support of claycarson.net.

]]> http://claycarson.net/2008/08/30/introducing-driv3thru/feed/ http://claycarson.net/2008/08/13/post-to-delicious-in-safari/ http://claycarson.net/2008/08/13/post-to-delicious-in-safari/#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:07:45 +0000 Clay Carson http://claycarson.net/?p=113

One of my favorite add-ons for Firefox is for Del.icio.us. It allows easy access to all of your posted bookmarks on Del.icio.us but more importantly is the ease of use for adding a bookmark; One click and you are taken to the ‘Post to Del.icio.us’ page to add your link, notes, and tags.

For those of you who don’t know, Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site and tool where you can both post your bookmarks as well as view what others are bookmarking.

As a Safari user, there are no plug-ins and no add-ons that support a simple Del.icio.us bookmarking interface. Fortunately, there is a little Java Script that can be used to make this task much easier.

What to Do…

First of all, you will want to head over to the Del.icio.us site and drag their ‘Bookmark on Delicious’ link into the menu bar of Safari (as seen above). Once this is accomplished you could probably be done. But, lets use a keyboard shortcut to take us to that bookmark. If you have placed your bookmark as I have, in the first position, all you need to do is press  + 1 and then you will be directed to the Del.icio.us ‘post’ page in which you can modify the title, add notes, and add tags.

This is the simplest way to bookmark a webpage that I have ever used. Your hands never need to leave the keyboard - and that’s what I’m all about.

The provided keyboard shortcut also works with any other bookmarks that are stored in the menu bar, simple press  + _ (number) and you are directed to that site.

If you are a fan of subscribing to calenders in iCal then here is a little goody for you. With this site you can subscribe to a weather calender for your location. This service is pretty neat because it is constantly updated and continuously provides a 7 day forcast.

By simply selecting to ‘get info’ (  + I ) you can view a few more details about the days weather.

Things are undoubtably moving to a more mobile and instantaneous supply of information; it is hard to decide if this is truly a useful service. For example, I have the forecast at my fingertips with my iPhone, do I really need this? That is for you to decide. I think it just adds to the convenience of information without being obtrusive and since I have iCal open 90% of the time, it is very easy as I go to bed to have a glance at what tomorrow may bring.

What do you think? Useful or not?

Take me to the new photo site…

About a month ago I launched claycarsonphotography.com. My plan for that site is for it to be more of a portfolio gallery with a highly reduced amount of content. Since that time, I have had plans to switch the ‘Photos’ link on this site, over to that domain. The time has come that I make that happen. Don’t worry, I have not removed all of the old galleries; They can be found here.

I wouldn’t imagine that this photo gallery would be updated anymore. However, it is a possibility that it may become a collection for sharing images with family and friends that do not belong in a ‘professional’ site.

My iPhone

Above you see my iPhone home screen. Since the Apps store launched I have played with plenty of apps and been incredibly pleased with the overall stock of the store. When using the all software versions prior to 2.0 I didn’t rearrange my icons, I kept things the way Apple designed them. With all of the utilities that I am now using on my phone, I figured it was time to change things a little bit.

Now, on my home screen I keep the apps that I need and use everyday and I reserve 3 other pages for 3rd party apps, a page for webclips, and a page for the Apple applications that have been replaced or that I just don’t use. Throughout those 3 pages I have my apps organized by type: Games and media (page 2), localized tools and utilities (page 3), webclips (page 4), Apple applications (page 5).

I expect things to change as more applications are released and as I begin to rely more heavily on certain ones. In closing I would like to share my top 10 applications (in no order)…

Favorite Applications

NetNewsWire - While a little unstable, it is so nice to have my feeds sync with my desktop application.

Evernote - Syncing is huge for a ‘notes’ based application. Look forward to updates.

1Password - Beautiful design. There to help manage all user ID’s and passwords.

Texas Hold’em - Well made and a blast to play. Multiplayer over a wi-fi network is a blast.

Motion X Poker - Perfect game to drop in and play a couple of hands. Very addictive though, caution.

Cube Runner - Navigate through a course of nothing but blocks. Challenging and very fun. Advice: Don’t calibrate.

Last.FM - Find artists you might enjoy and stream music from the web.

Remote - Control iTunes over your network.

BoxOffice - Check movie times and see ratings provided by Rotten Tomatoes.

Facebook - An incredibly easy way to have access to all of my friends.

Throughout the week I have been playing with expanding Quicksilver to do anything and everything I want it to. During this time I discovered a plug-in that I hadn’t installed called “Extra Scripts.”

With the Extra Scripts Plug-in, you gain the ability to do many little things such as get your IP Address, quickly change users, lock the screen, empty trash, and many more simple tasks that generally require a move with the mouse.

If you would like to see a little bit more about Quicksilver you can read a couple of older posts that I have written here.

Photoshoot: Kennedale, TX - Shooting stats from a trip around town.

Photoshoot: Independence Day Parade - Shooting stats from a local Independence Day Parade.

Photoshoot: Unicycle UTA Round 3 - The Unicycle guys hit UTA for a third time. Here are the shooting stats.

Photoshoot: Destin, FL - Shooting stats from a recent family vacation down to Florida.

Desktop Overview: The Dock - A look at how I use the dock and what applications I keep there.

New Photo Site Launches - My new photo exclusive site is now live. Check it out here.

iTunes Apps Store RSS Feed - Subscribe to know when apps are updated and when new apps are released.

Photoshoot: Downtown Fort Worth - Shooting stats from a hot afternoon downtown.

Desktop Overview - Menu Bar - A look at what apps run in my menu bar.

Photoshoot: Boston, Mass. - Shooting stats from a family vacation to Boston.

Please let me know which post(s) you enjoyed the most in the comments section below.

Shooting Stats:

Images Taken - 975
Images Eliminated - 814
Images Posted - 40

Elapsed Time:

Shoot - 4 Days
Post Processing - Approximately 4 hrs

Equipment Used:

Camera - Canon 40D
Lenses - Canon EF 17-40mm L f/4;Canon EF 28-135 IS USM f/3.5-5.6; Canon EF 70-200mm L USM f/4

You can see more images from the shoot here.

Now that we have already had a look at my dock and now we will examine my menu bar. Above is a photo of my menu bar and all that I rely on up there.

From left to right, these are the things I keep in my menu bar…

Shooting Stats:

Images Taken - 384
Images Eliminated - 234
Images Posted - 45

Elapsed Time:

Shoot - 2 hr
Post Processing - Approximately 2 hrs

Equipment Used:

Camera - Canon 40D
Lenses - Canon EF 17-40mm L f/4

You can see more images from the shoot here.

RSS Feeds

This morning claycarsonphotography.com went up as my new portfolio/photo site. The point of the site was to have a more professional overview of my photography. I’m not sure what this will do for the photo page on this site. The new site will not have as many albums for a while. I want it to be more select and exclusive.

Go check out claycarsonphotography.com and let me know what you think!

First up, the dock… I keep my dock hidden and relatively small, this prevents distraction. I also try to limit the applications that are permanently stored in the dock to a minimum.

From left to right, these are the applications in my dock…

Finder - Duh!

Mail - I like to use a desktop client opposed to a webapp. I use SMTP server so that anything I update on my iPhone gets kicked back as read or flagged.

Safari - My browser of choice. I tried Firefox 3 and really liked it… for a couple of weeks.

NetNewsWire - I switched from NewsFire a few months ago and cannot imagine going back. NetNewsWire syncs with NewsGator.com, once again, perfect for checking RSS on another computer and not having to sift through the same stories. Also, last week an iPhone application was released for NetNewsWire and while it is currently pretty buggy, I have faith.

iTunes - Wonderful. Once again, syncing everything - podcasts, music, photos. What would I do without it?

iChat - Enjoy the simplicity.

MarsEdit - Using to write this. What a wonderful investment.

Coda - Panic Software’s solution to web development, CSS, site management and FTP.

TextMate - Simple text editor with a lot of power.

Evernote - Store everything I need to remember here. Syncs with web service as well as a new iPhone app.

Awaken - Wakes me up every morning

Handbrake - Sometimes I need to rip movies.

Delicious Library 2 - This is where I catalog all my media and now with V.2, my gadgets.

Pages - Write all my school papers. I no longer have Microsoft Office on my machine.

Adobe Lightroom - Switched from Aperture a few months ago and am very pleased. I love presets, they stimulate so many ideas to make an image even better. I also use the web export tools and support the all new claycarsonphotography.com.

iCal - I want more out of iCal but it works for me.

Next on the series “Desktop Overview” will be a look at what my Menu Bar looks like.

The image stats below are limited to the photography work I did opposed to all the stats from the trip such as family portraits and ‘touristy’ type photos.

Shooting Stats:

Images Taken - 324
Images Eliminated - 226
Images Posted - 50

Elapsed Time:

Shoot - 4 Days
Post Processing - Approximately 4 hrs

Equipment Used:

Camera - Canon 40D
Lenses - Canon EF 17-40mm L f/4; Canon EF 70-200mm L USM f/4

You can see more images from the shoot here. Feel free to let me know what you think and which image is your favorite.

Note: My favorite image is number 24. I would have chose it as the cover shot but I didn’t feel it fit the Florida theme.