Not a fan of AT&T…

then this is pure poetry.

Safari 4 Beta

Here’s an in-depth and thoughtful review of the new (a few weeks old anyway) beta of Apple’s Safari web browser: Usability Post. I especially like the way Dmitry has broken down the tab resizing issues clearly.

I had some usability issues with Safari 4 as well but really only on my desktop computer. I use a stylus or tablet there so when I click on the tabs, if I’m not very accurate and only using a straight up and down motion, the entire browser window moves rather than selecting the next tab. I switched to the old way of displaying tabs after only a day.

If you haven’t tried the new beta, give it shot here: Safari

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Are you using WordPress? Get these stat programs…

I love it when my public relations guru and wife out-geeks me and now WordPress is another of our shared obsessions. She’s gone off the deep end though for the statistical analysis of visitors and how different content can have different effects on her traffic. Also, it’s fun for both if us to see how people get to our sites and what kind of technology they’re using. Anyway, people have all different kinds of reasons to want to look at the stats on their site so I’m just going to suggest a few of the tools/plugins I’ve tried.

1. Statpress Reloaded: It integrates well with WP and gives live results. It also has a neato “spy” feature so you can see where people came from and where they live – if you like that kinda thing.
2. Statzen: Very nice, clean tool built by our friend from right here in Nashvegas, Jackson Miller. Very well done and Margie swears by it.
3. Google Analytics: Tried and true. You still have to go to the Analytics site to check on results though but DAMN! Printable 20 page reports will have your clients thinking you’re an Excel wiz.

These are all plugins for WordPress so I’m sorry if I’ve left you out. I do know that Google Analytics is pretty much universal and if you need a hand getting it installed, just give me a shout and we’ll set it up for you :)

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Google Audio Indexing and how it can help your business

Google has unleashed a new toy for all of us to try – Audio Indexing. It works like this: Google processes the audio contained in the video clips and converts them to text files that are then searchable just like a normal web page. This allows the user to type in a search term that may have been spoken in a video online and return a list of clips that contains that search term.

Pretty cool, but how does it help your business?

Well if you’re tracking new instances of your business’s name being mentioned online using something like Google Web Alerts then this will make a whole lot of sense to you. It allows you to search for names or brands that are relevant to your company, allowing you to further stay on top of your online image.

This tool only works with political clips at the moment but I think we should all be getting ready for the automatic conversion of the existing YouTube database to include this new speech-to-text conversion, giving us one more type of media to watch to control our brand and reputation online.

iPhone Troubles

Image via CrunchBase,
source unknown

I love Apple products. Everyone who knows me understands that I am a fanboy of the (almost) highest order. My only “Meh” area is iPods but only because I usually have something else to listen to music on and we geeks can only carry so many toys. Which brings us to the iPhone.

I bought a first generation iPhone two days after its arrival on the market and have been very happy with it and its newer 3G version since I upgraded last month. But now we’re starting to have some issues. For example: Every time I speak to a client of mine for more than 15 minutes, the call “fails” and I hang up on her. This has happened at least five times in the past three business days.

Next one: The battery life on the 3G is pathetic. If you play with any of the cool features that you bought the phone for, you will easily drain the battery in three hours. I shouldn’t have to carry a laptop or external power source with me if I decide to take my phone to the Titans game. Not that I’d talk on it there but just sayin’.

Next: What is with the eternal freaking backups when you sync? All I want to do is update my Apps and music, not recreate the silicon chips inside! I had this fixed by using a little Terminal script on found on the Intertubes but now iTunes 8 seems to have re-introduced this ahem “feature.”

Now I don’t want to slam on Apple – I own stock for Pete’s sake – but they really need to get this thing sorted out. I won’t go back to a Blackberry either though – it’s bad karma to send money to those guys after the Predators deal and it’s just not that great a phone. To sum it all up, this is by far the best phone I’ve ever owned but it has to perform better for me to continue to sing its praises. There is nothing like it when it comes to the Internet and even being able to edit client sites from anywhere without a laptop (except for power – j/k). I hear there’s another software update on Friday. Let’s hope this is the one we’ve been waiting for.

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