Author: jamesclay

Posted on

Fast, really fast

Most of the time I am using my Vodafone 3G USB stick is with my Mac. I have though recently been using it with a Sony VAIO UX1XN. One of the key differences is that the Vodafone connection software in Windows gives you a lot more information on the connection than it does on a Mac.

Using it recently I was pleasantly surprised by a couple of things.

Firstly speed. Now Vodafone advertises that you can get 7.2Mbps on the stick, which to be honest I believe only happens in London or outside Vodafone HQ! Having used 3G for many years now I was impressed with the 384Kbps I got back then. Using the stick here in deepest Somerset I was pleased to find I was getting a steady 1Mbps.

Secondly warnings. I was using the 3G connection to download some Nokia installation files, there was a fair bit of data coming down, when I hit 50MB a pop-up popped up and said warning 50Mb data had gone through the stick. I thought that this was pretty neat especially if you are on a pay as you go connection or near your fair use limit.

Overall I am still impressed with 3G and if you are in the right spot you wouldn’t realise that you were on basically a mobile phone connection.

Posted on

Want some DTP software for “free”?

No this is not some kind of dodgy eBay scam!

Scribus is an open source DTP package for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows desktops with a combination of “press-ready” output and new approaches to page layout. Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.

Sounds interesting, take a look.

Posted on

Now here’s a good reason for securing your wireless network…

I have mentioned wireless security on the blog before and I am talking about real security not “feel good” security; at the very least you should be using WPA and preferably WPA2.

The Register reports on the consequences that have happened to a poor American expatriate living in India who just so happened to run an open unsecured wireless network.

Indian police raided the Mumbai home of an American expatriate after someone used his open wireless network to send an email that took responsibility for a bomb blast that killed at least 42 people.

Kenneth Haywood, whose internet-protocol address was included on an email sent just prior to the blasts, spent much of Thursday answering questions by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad officials. Police seized his three computers, as well as the machines of several neighbors, and are examining them as part of an investigation.

This story demonstrates a rare but real risk of running an open wireless network.

Posted on

…but I don’t like iMovie ‘08!

I actually quite like iMovie ’08 for certain movie projects, however I do miss certain elements of iMovie 06.

Some people really don’t like iMovie ’08 and if they have upgraded to iLife ’08 or have bought a new Mac then they won’t have the ’06 version.

However Apple have realised that not all movie projects are suited to iMovie ’08 so now you can download iMovie ’06 if you want.

iMovie HD 6, previously distributed with iLife ’06, is available for download for those who have purchased and installed iLife ’08.

Download it here.

Posted on

App issues

It would appear that upgrading Apps on the iPhone (and in my case the iPod touch) is not as simple and straightforward as Apple would lead you to believe.

Over the internet tubes there are quite a few reports about using the in-built App store on the device itself to update doesn’t always work as expected.

Personally I have had a similar issue myself when upgrading the iDrops game on my iPod so much so I had to follow the advice given on the iDrops website.

Following the release of v1.2 of iDrops, a lot of users have reported problems with Apple’s less-than-ideal application update process in iTunes.

To help with the upgrade process, we would recommend trying to uninstall iDrops, and then installing it again (this is easy to do).

You can do this in iTunes if you manage your installed applications manually. Uncheck the iDrops application, and sync with your iPod or iPhone. iDrops will be removed from your device. Check the iDrops application again, and sync with the device again. iDrops will be re-installed. It should now launch with no problems.

So though it is possible to add and update apps on the fly, starting to look like you should avoid doing it on the iPod and if you can add and remove Apps on the computer and then sync to your iPod touch or iPhone.

Posted on

So what is this Flickr all about then…

I have been meaning to write a blog post on Flickr for some time now.

So what is this Flickr all about then...

Well now I don’t need to as TASI have done an excellent guide on Flickr.

This document looks at the ways you can use Flickr and some of its associated tools and services to help organise a collection of images.

Whether you have a small number of photographs you would like to share privately with a few colleagues, or a larger collection you need to make more widely available, Flickr offers a possible alternative to setting up an in-house image database.

I found it very interesting and learnt a lot from it. One interesting fact was the way in which other institutions and museums are now using Flickr to host digital collections.

You can view my Flickr images here.

Post originally appeared on e-Learning Stuff.

Posted on

Explosion in the mobile internet

Silver LG Viewty

BBC reports on research carried out on behalf of Intel says that we will see a huge increase in the use of mobile internet devices.

The world of mobile internet devices is set to explode in the next four years says chip maker Intel.

Research carried out for the company suggests portable net-enabled devices will grow to 1.2 billion by 2012 as the need to be connected increases.

Intel’s predictions were unveiled as it launched a series of chips designed for portable web-browsing gadgets.

I certainly find I am using the internet on mobile devices more then ever.

Posted on

Scrabble’s owners sue Scrabulous

Scrabble's owners sue Scrabulous

BBC reports on how Hasbro the owners of Scrabble are going to sue the founders of Scrabulous.

Hasbro, which owns the rights to Scrabble in North America, is suing the Calcutta-based founders of Scrabulous – a game available on Facebook.

Last week, an official version of Scrabble was released for Facebook users in Canada and the US.

Hasbro said that Scrabulous violates its copyright and trademarks and has separately asked Facebook to block it.

Scrabulous is one of the most popular apps on Facebook.

Photo source.

Posted on

Using the Apps

I have been using mobile devices for years, but I have probably installed more applications on my iPod touch in the last week than I have on multiple devices over the last ten years!

Okay that might be an exaggeration, but installing Apps on the iPod touch (and I guess the iPhone) is so simple, either via the device or on iTunes.

I am getting a lot of use out of the Evernote and Zenbe applications, as well as FileMagnet and the WordPress App.

I read how annoyed the author of iDrops was about the lack of visibility for his game. I went to his website, played the game and understood why Apple may not have wanted the game to be in the top ten – it’s a copy of the Bubble game included with Windows Mobile!  However I did enjoy that game on my PocketPC so after playing the website version for a while, I did go and buy the iDrops game (well it was only 59p ($0.99)).

Overall I am impressed with the apps available (especially the free ones) and unlike others I have only had one crash so far.