Google Tablet

Most of us have seen the prototype Motorola tablet with the Honeycomb version of Android (3.0?) that Google's Andy Rubin showed earlier this month (available without ads via Youtube after the jump/below) --Now Motorola has put out there a teaser video (also after the jump/below) of the tablet at CES next month. The Youtube teaser video documents the evolution of tablets since the B.C. era. It takes some cheap shots at both the ultimate competition and the friendly competition.

Beware of Electronic Pickpocketing

Normally we praise technology and all it can do. In this case, however, we show how technology can be used against us. Or so I thought when I learned about this.

The focal point of this very disturbing news report video (after the jump) is RFID. But like Bluetooth and other technologies that have proceeded it, it comes down to how the technology was implemented. In this case, the manner in which it was implemented was a little too personal.

Outlook Anywhere Without VPN

MS Outlook
Many of us rely on MS Outlook® for our day in and day out email needs. It's not just our email medium, but our communication, calendar/scheduling, contact and even a document management tool of choice. But in order to do any of that, most organizations require VPN first. It's either that or Outlook Web Access (OWA). The latter, even when using IE, still lacks the features one is accustomed to seeing and/or using from the full fledged application.

What if you can access the full fledged application, with your personal folders intact (assuming the PST file is local) along with all of its features? Well, that is possible now with Outlook Anywhere©. I urge you to enable the Outlook Anywhere settings ... and render your fob/VPN the exception, and not the rule.

As for how it works, and not work, I highly recommend you read this. Enjoy.

The HTC Incredible - A Late Review

HTC Droid Incredible by Verizon
I've owned the HTC [Droid] Incredible since it launched on April 29th, 2010. Several things kept me from writing a review although I intended it from day one. At times it was the need to have a complete picture of all that's out there on the phone --All of its quirks, issues, etc. Other times, it was just about me wanting to get to know the phone myself. But more than anything else, it was about me getting to know Android as a platform for the first time. A review on Android apps, tips, tricks, etc. is sure to follow soon.

In a time when new phones worthy of mentioning are released as fast as every three months, waiting this long to evaluate the HTC Incredible probably offers very little. However, I'm hoping the collection of resources is worth it.

A Time Snapshot

At the time of writing this article, several contenders to the HTC Incredible have emerged: On the Sprint network, we now have the HTC EVO 4G Android phone. Within the last few weeks, the iPhone 4G has also launched (AT&T). And, of course, the latest Android addition is the Droid X by Motorola, which launched by Verizon recently.

Google Magazines

Google Books, a digitized library of print materials, has quite a few magazines available in addition to all their other high quality offerings. I remember reading that publishers can choose whether they provide free access to back issues via Google Book Search, or use it to draw traffic to pay-to-view archives, so we assume the same goes for magazines. That said, all of the searches we tried led to free-access page images.

Life Magazine on Google Books
Although there hasn’t been a whole lot of publicity on this, Google books began adding full text magazines. They have digitized at least 100 magazines from cover to cover, showing us the ads, pictures and articles. In addition to the historic aspect, they are really interesting and fun to look through. By digitizing every page, it is almost like going to the Periodicals stacks on the second floor of a library and flipping through them right there on the shelves.

Amongst their digitized work are

Must-Have Firefox Extensions & Add-Ons

Firefox Extensions, Add-ons and Plug-ins
If you're a Firefox user, then you already know that one of the things that make this open-source browser so popular is its extensibility --the big galaxy of useful extensions you can use with it. I for one, have a couple of add-ons/extensions/plug-ins that I simply cannot continue online without. I'll even go out on a limb and say that Firefox's extensibility is the reason the browser has become my very desktop. But what are those browser extensions that turn Firefox from a regular browser to a down-right necessity?

Let's think of this in a different manner. When you buy a new computer, or you land a new job or whatever it is that presents you with the opportunity to start fresh, what are the first things you do?

You see for me, the first thing I do is jump on the native browser that came with the machine and go download Firefox. And I won't go into what other applications I download and/or seek; but for Firefox itself, I immediately start looking for the following core extensions:

Your Online World After Your Death

Skeletons
In today's online World thinking about what happens to one's online accounts, which to many is a big chunk of their World, after their death might be morbid. Perhaps even a tad superstitious and pessimistic. Unfortunately, it's a necessary evil.

Now I wanted to write about the topic, but after doing a bit of research (as I always do for an article) revealed that blog site MakeUseOf covered it, and covered it quite well. According to the article, email services like Hotmail and Gmail allow next of kin to access accounts of deceased individuals as long as the family can provide proof of death. My guess is that anonymous accounts, where incomplete or incorrect information is provided, mean that the accounts get locked over time due to lack of usage. Whereas other services, like MySpace, will simply delete the account upon request. The infamous Facebook will also delete an account if asked, but they also go out of their way and turn the user's page into a memorial one, if the family so wishes. I highly recommend reading the MakeUseOf article as it covers quite a bit.

The GPad: Based on Open Source Chrome OS

The Google Tablet - GPad?
Google's innovations may have bud heads with the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo! with such flagship products like Gmail and Google Docs (GDocs). But it should come as no surprise that Google is challenging many others just the same. For example, with the Google's Android mobile platform & OS and their phone, Nexus One, the company may well be changing the face of mobile communications as we know it. Who and how many companies it's challenging is yet to be sized up. With Google Voice, the company is taking on companies like Skype, Vonage, could easily be taking on Verizon with its FiOS/IP phone, and may even be taking on some Executive Assistants. Google's Chrome browser is challenging ... well ... browsers. Browsers like Internet Explorer (IE), although that's not much of a challenge; Opera, Firefox and many others. As you can imagine, the list goes on to cover several industries and markets.

Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, up until July, 2009, was on Apple's Board of Directors. With Google's advancement into the OS and mobile-phone spaces, both parties, I'm sure, saw the writing on the wall.

This last week, Apple unveiled its much anticipated iPad. Jokes aside, and in my opinion, the iPad was a flop. There are at least 10 things missing in the iPad, which made the device more for the non-computer-savvy, and possibly for the older generation (for mothers, aunts, grandparents, etc.) and not "all that" for the geeks amongst us. Within hours of its launch, Twitter was filled with mixed emotions about it. Not exactly a good sign. And within a couple of days, I saw such tweets as "iPad, no thank you. I'll wait for Google Android tablet" (paraphrasing).

Wouldn't you know it? The open source project behind Google's Chrome browser and the Chrome OS, Chromium, today delivered pictures of what the Chrome OS table might look like.

Shrinking Long URLs with bit.ly and j.mp

The URL shortener space is getting increasingly crowded, with a ton of new and existing companies bringing their offerings to the table. A few come to mind like: is.gd, tr.im, cli.gs and TinyURL. Although not yet for public consumption, Google has even launched its own service called Goo.gl. Google's launch comes on the heels of Facebook having quietly launched its own URL-shortening service called FB.me. Heading there in your browser simply takes you to Facebook's home page, whereas sharing links through Facebook's mobile site will shorten them for you using a shortened FB.me URL. Surprisingly, I've not seen much from Facebook about their new service.

As usual, I digree.

bit.ly Logo
The one service I've failed to mention, and the one that I use the most ... the focus of today's article is bit.ly. Actually, I use the bit.ly powered j.mp, which's two characters shorter. J.mp ("jump") is in fact bit.ly but with a shorter domain name. You can learn more about it here. And in a World where every character counts (especially on the likes of Twitter), j.mp with the power of bit.ly is the best all around URL-shortener (IMHO, of course).

Although I use bit.ly's j.mp domain, I will be referring to the parent company, bit.ly, from here on.

Besides the basic functionality of shortening URLs, it also provide feature for URL analysis. You can track number of clicks, locations, referrers, time of clicks for any bit.ly URL without having to register, login or install any software. Bit.ly also offers customizable URLs, tracking, 301 redirection and a mobile version among many other features.