iPhone

So yesterday Apple announced the iPhone.  Personally, I want this device, but before I would purchase this, I would want some questions answered:

1. How much would the Cingular charge for the data plan?  Potentially this would use a lot of network bandwidth.


2. How usuable is the UI with a the touch screen, especially without feedback?  I didn't like our Philips Pronto as a remote, as you really couldn't use it without looking directly at it.


3. How are the mail account settings configured on the device?  I don't want this device to check all of the mail accounts that I have configured on my Mac, but only a subset.


4. How durable is the screen?  I normally keep my cell phone in my pocket.  Will the screen get scratched?

iTunes Recent Podcast

This post has a interesting AppleScript that makes it easy to find podcats that have been updated in the last n days.

SlingCatcher

It looks like Sling Media will be coming out with a product that I find pretty interesting (And that I mentioned before.)  The SlingCatcher is a device that you connect to a wireless or ethernet network and your TV.  This will display the video that is being "broadcast" by a Slingbox.

I would use something like this to view the TiVo Series3 that is downstairs on our TV in the bedroom (This would allow us to not have to use the horrible UI on the Comcast Motorola DVR.)  I am sure that the and satellite providers aren't going to like this product.

[via Engadget HD]

SPF records for Google Apps

Today I was having a conversation about spf, and it reminded me that I haven't updated my spf record since moving to Google Apps for Your Domain.  Our mail could have been bounced since Google is is not listed as being authorized for sending mail for our domains.

This Google Help page describes what is needed to set this up.

Google Reader Trends

Google has released personalized statistics for Google Reader.  These show interesting information about your subscriptions in your Google Reader account.  Here is the overview from my account:

From your  312 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 11,450 items, starred 18 items, and shared 3 items.

I have some problems about these stats:

• I haven't actually read 11,450 items.  I have marked that number of items as read.
  Ideally, this count would only show the number of items that were actually marked as read.  This wouldn't include when you do "Mark All As Read", and should only include items where they are selected for some period of time, before going to the next item.  (This would approximate the user actually reading the item.)


• The number of starred items is not accurate.  It actually displays the number items that are starred at the end of the 30 day period, that hadn't been starred at the beginning.
  This doesn't include the number of items that were starred, and where the stars were removed.

OpenID for LifeType

A while ago I wrote about OpenID.  I decided to write a plugin for LifeType that would use the LifeType authentication as OpenID authentication.


A little over a week ago, I wrote an OpenID plugin for LifeType.  I have just updated the wiki page.

Disco

I have been playing with the trial of Disco to burn some DVDs of video we took over the holidays.  This is a very simple application to burn CDs and DVDs.  But not only is it easy to use, but it has some pretty powerful features:

• Disc error protection that uses the motion sensor on MacBooks and Mac Book Pros.


• Easily have burn data to multiple discs, when the total data is larger than the capacity of a single disc.

Also, Disco has a lot of eye candy.  The whole app can be translucent.  And when burning a disc, smoke will float from the burning window.

This app is definitely worth the shareware fee.