TwitPic is a free web service that lets you attach a photo web link to a Twitter tweet. Here’s how you do it, head over to TwitPic and sign-in with your normal Twitter account name and password. Then, click on Settings and add the special email address it shows you to your cameraphone’s email contacts list. The address is in the form of: twitterusername.secretstuff@twitpic.com. If you send a photo to this email address, the email subject line will become your tweet text and a weblink to your photo will appear beside this text. Anyone who clicks on your TwitPic photo link will be able to see your photo.
Monthly Archives: May 2008
Windows Mobile Voice Command, Alarms, and Bluetooth
The T-Mobile Dash running Windows Mobile 6 has one really annoying bug: Once you set the phone to vibrate profile, event notifications always vibrate even if the profile is set back to normal. However, there is a workaround if you use a Bluetooth speaker or headset. The Dash comes with Voice Command in firmware. If you set it to send voice notifications to the Bluetooth device, the darn Dash will still vibrate for event notifications, but it will provide a text-to-speech notification via the Bluetooth device.
Fedora 9 Linux Live USB Portable Desktop
Just read this article over on Information Week about Fedora 9‘s (Linux) USB Live feature that lets you store your preferred desktop on a 2GB USB flash drive. This desktop is not from your own Fedora desktop. Instead it is a prepackaged image that Red Hat calls CustomSpins.
Red Hat’s Fedora 9 Loads Portable Desktop On USBs
These desktops can be booted and run directly from the USB flash drive. I haven’t tried it yet. But, it is on my list of things to do 🙂
You can find more information about this on Fedora’s web site at…
Addendum: Just found an additional Linux on USB flash drive article on Information Week: How To Run Linux From A USB Flash Drive
kwiry: Text or Email a Topic to it and Retrieve Search Results on the Desktop
I usually don’t mention a service I haven’t tried yet. But, I’m almost ready to hit the sack and don’t want to start playing with anything just now. And, yet, this service seemed interesting enough to blog it as a kind of reminder to myself to try it out tomorrow.
kwiry (which I suppose is pronounced “query”)
…is a free service that helps you jot something down from a phone and lets you retrieve the results from a desktop web browser. They push the idea of text messaging queries to the service. This caused me to lose interest at first. However, reading on I noticed it also lets you send the query via email too. My phone plan only includes a handful of free text messages. But, my email is free (unlimited data). So, that is a much better fit for me.
It apparently somehow ties in to Twitter (another favorite of mine) and other social network services. So, I’m definitely going sign up and take a closer look at it tomorrow.
Good night, all!
iPod Sleep Issues?
I sometimes use my iPod video’s Sleep Timer. One nice side effect I found is that the Logitech speakers I use also turn off it is on battery power (vs. plugged into a wall socket) after the iPod shuts down. One oddity, though, is what happens the next time I turn the iPod on, it immediately turns off again. This only happens once though. However, I remember being surprised the first time I noticed this.
I’m not quite sure what the cause of the other iPod sleep problem I’ve noticed. That is, every once in a while (perhaps a couple times per week), the iPod won’t turn off the usual way. I found that locking and then unlocking the iPod (it starts out unlocked) restores the ability to turn off the iPod.
I’ve never used the iPod touch’s sleep feature since doesn’t work with the dock on the Logitech speakers I have.
Information Week says: Most Companies Don’t Have A Mobile Device Management Plan
I went on a rant a few months ago chiding Microsoft for their assumption that most of their Windows Mobile customers live in an IT Utopia where mobile devices are managed by dedicated highly trained IT mobile device support staff with exactly the right management tools. Well, according to this Information Week article…
Trouble Ahead: Most Companies Don’t Have A Mobile Device Management Plan
Not only have most organizations in InformationWeek’s recent survey of 307 business technology managers not adopted mobile device management strategies, most of them–52%–don’t even have plans to buy or implement tools that would help them corral proliferating wireless devices.
The article goes on to report: Those who haven’t adopted such products and don’t plan to cite three reasons: lack of need, cost, and complexity.
So, it looks like most of us, whether inside or outside the enterprise, are on our own when it comes to mobile devices.