I was at Best Buy today for an iPad case. Another iPad owner was doing the same. He had waited in line and eagerly bought one on April 3rd like the rest of us. But he hadn’t used his yet. He couldn’t. His MacBook was 10.4 (Tiger) and couldn’t run the required version of…

I set up my Google nexus one…

Apps
There isn’t a lot out there yet that is iPad optimized. I only found about a dozen apps I wanted to download and use… Amongst those:

• The requisite iWork suite (Pages, Numbers,

…

Purchase
I got in line at 8:30 and was out the door with my iPad by 9:15 (actual arrival time at the Apple store was 7:45 in case it was mobbed, but only 50 people were there and it was cold. Lounging in Starbucks was a hell of a lot better).

In the Apple…

The most elegant feature of the iPad is that it gets you to the stuff you want more quickly than any other device. Time reduction between a dark screen and destination is the game changing attribute that makes me want one. I want efficiency.

A laptop or netbook may have more…

Would you like them with Scott or Phil?

I would not like them with Scott or Phil.
I would not like them without vids or stills.

Would you like them in Jobs’ house?
Would you like them, they have no…

Apple’s tablet is about to change the software development ecosystem and we mobile developers are rethinking existing and future projects. The tablet becomes the next app gold rush.

The App Store and the iPhone command a monstrous market share for mobile apps. There are a limited number of mobile app developers (20…

Apple is opening up the In-App purchase to free apps. This is going to change the App Store landscape drastically…

In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services.

You can

…

AT&T confirms tethering is, “a matter of when and not if,” but the when is farther away than most of us would like.

As for tethering, by its nature, this function could exponentially increase traffic on the network, and we need to ensure that some of our current upgrades are in place

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According to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, home values in Philadelphia increased 1.7% in the second quarter of 2009, compared to the second quarter of 2008. Nationally, home values decreased 12.1% during this same period.

For the longest time, the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi has been the most widely used camera on Flickr. With a 10.1 MP Lens, an image sensor vibration cleaning system, 9-point auto focus, and a mid-range price point, it’s easy to see why the Canon camera has been so popular with the photography enthusiasts

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1. iRa Pro – $899.99 (or Direct – $499.99)
2. MATG – SAP BusinessOne – $449.99
3. PDR Quote – $349.99
…

From IE6NoMore:

“We think we can have a huge impact: For those users that are just unaware they are using an old browser (mothers, grandmothers), we’d like to encourage them to upgrade and have a better experience using our sites. For those users in corporate environments, we’d like to start putting pressure

…

The bloodbath at GE’s propaganda station has reached critical levels: according to Nielsen, CNBC has lost 28% of viewers year over year, and 24% in the 25-54 age group category. This is obviously a stunning failure in an environment where the top stories on any other medium are finance and economy

…

Photo of Philly air this morning

Got this in my morning Weather Channel Local Severe Weather Alerts:

Local Severe Weather Alert for Philadelphia, PA

…AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM TO 10 PM EDT TUESDAY… THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION HAS DECLARED AN AIR QUALITY ACTION DAY FOR THE REGION…IN EFFECT

…

“The touch-based user interface is something we got from the handset market,” Kuittinen said. “And now that you have this innovation, it’s easier to go back to the tablet concept, and say, “Wait a minute, let’s add this.” All of a

Now, analytics and research firm StatCounter has released their July numbers for search, and they?re telling the same story: Bing is gaining traction. According to the report, Bing has gained 1.24% market share, up to 9.41%.

I’m still using Google, personally.

Idiot move…

The criminals probably didn’t realize that they were installing their ATM in a hotel that was soon going to be flooded with more than 8,000 security professionals.

Book publishing is getting expensive. Profits are way down. Readership is declining for printed books.

Ebooks, yes. POD books, yes. But books published by a profit-seeking publisher are limited to

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We don’t need a full blown Google Voice application…

I made the jump from the iPhone’s included mail application and may swap out the Phone app for a Google Voice web app later, too. The above image is my iPhone dock. Sean McKeever on Facebook asked how I get notifications for new mail being received. Here’s how I do that…

First off,…

There’s a lot of noise about Apple rejecting the Google Voice application in the App Store. While a native app would be fantastic, I’d be fine with a good web app. The existing rev is little more than a WAP site and requires three clicks to dial a contact.

It would be…

I’ve wrapped up my set up and migration to Google Voice. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m linking to Paul Stamatiou’s review. He sums up my impressions, likes, and dislikes perfectly and has good instructions and screenshots, too.

His experience of getting calls intended for prior phone number holders hasn’t been the…

“I believe I’ve done all I care to do here at this point. Flesh and reality and silence are calling.” @trent_reznor, July 17th 2009 (account deleted)

It’s a stylish and absolute completion. What would your last words be?

In the “vision” stage of ebook adoption, which ended with the launch of the Kindle in November 2007, authors were

…

View from the back deck

My wife and I are off for a few days at Lake Ariel in PA for some R&R. Water skiing and much needed chill time with great friends are the only things on the agenda. The pic is the view from the back deck.

Verizon is planning to launch its own app store. Their latest radio ad describes “…hundreds of apps … Twitter…” They have a developer conference later this month, too.

Obviously building an app store seems like a good idea to any cellular service or handset maker. They’ve got app store envy. Apple has…

I hope this news about the ISS doesn’t come true. How messed up would it be to have one of our best space efforts come crashing down so soon after completion?

“Content is going to continue to be consumed in digital and physical format, and if you don’t somehow add value to the equation, in terms of

…

Check your app updates today. Looks like Apple had a busy 4th of July weekend and approved a ton of 3.0 compatibility updates.

My last check for updates was on Saturday, the 4th at 9:00pm. Only the AOL Radio app had an update. The other dozen came in between then and this morning.

The phone trail: BlackBerry Pearl 8100 -> iPhone -> BlackBerry 8800 -> iPhone 3G -> BlackBerry Bold 9000 ->…

- Apple’s download + 3.0 device sales stats = ~17%
- AdMob reports 44% of ads served…

Hope all my readers are having an equally wonderful weekend!

RunKeeper Pro 1.5.0.7

Tweetie 1.3.2

WordPress 1.3

Downloading All…

Most of the announcements from @cnnbrk don’t include links to the breaking news article. They should. And they could do it with style since they’ve got a 3-letter domain.…

+

It was April 6th, 2008 that I posted How to post images to Twitter and Flickr at the same time from an iPhone. It has been one of the more popular posts on this blog.

Flickr now makes it possible to post to Twitter directly via an emailed photo AND via…

I’ve switched back to a BBerry instead of an iPhone. Again. This is the second time I’ve found I’m working less productively on the iPhone. This isn’t a switch because I enjoy working on a Blackberry. The Blackberry simply handles messaging more quickly…

Twitterlike post…

Grabbing a late lunch and testing a blog post via email. Early this morning I finally set up a cron to check for posts via email.

This post traveled from a Blackberry Bold to Gmail, then the cron ran and the email was pulled by Postie and imported as a…

Over the weekend I created two blogs for my parents, Heartsong Studios and Earthsea Pottery. I’ve used my own hosted server for sites in the past (and do with solyoung.com). I used WordPress as the host this time… Their distributed servers and pricepoint…

Last year I ran Broad Street with 25,000 other runners and live blogged it (actually, live Twittered and Utterlied). It was a blast. I’m thinking about something similar this year, but probably a modification based on an iPhone app… More on that later this week.

Something cool happened this year…

Let the Twitter backlash begin. Or not. If you have real friends, who cares? ;-)

Until now it was impossible to offer decent linking, which is one of the most important aspects…

– Posted via iPhone 3G

“On March 17, Apple presented the blueprint for iPhone OS 3.0, the next version of the world’s most advanced mobile platform. In addition to previewing its innovative features, Apple gave members of the iPhone Developer Program immediate…

This year’s annual review process swung around fast! It seems like the team joined Ingram Digital just months ago. I’ve done them a few times, but this was the first review process I’ve done at ID. Reviews are a time for reflection. A time…

Photo by iamtimmo

Last night my friend Marc dropped me an email with the pilot’s and ATC’s view of 3407, including the MP3 archive of the fateful flight. Here’s his email:

If you’re interested – Callsign – Colgan 3407
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kbuf/KBUF-Feb-13-2009-0300Z.mp3

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/CJC3407

Approach plate KBUF ILS 23:

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Newspapers aren’t dead here, but they’re definitely in decline. A…

We visit the Philadelphia Auto Show every year. This year was a little bit different since I walk past the convention center every day and have been peeking in the windows to see everyone setting up.

My favorite car for the last three years has…

I was impressed to click a video headline and have QuickTime immediately launch and stream the video. Very clean implementation.

I received the Mini DisplayPort Dual-Link DVI adapter yesterday. It works great on my 30-inch Dell monitor. From my point of view, the reports on distortion are just hype. The adapter is still a pile of junk compared to having…

The first is Guy Kawasaki’s latest, Reality Check, 2008, published by Penguin Group. I follow @guykawasaki on Twitter and bounce over to his site from time to time. To be honest, I didn’t plan on buying the book but I was browsing in…

I described in December that Market Share for Apple would hit 9.5% at the end of December and break 10% in January. So far Apple exceeded expectations and reached 9.63% in December. That’s a 0.76% gain of the operating system market in one month!

Look for January to carry another increase and for…

Steven Wells gets the cover of Philadelphia Weekly with Scene But Not Nerd. For anyone curious about the tech sector and a city with a thriving and rapidly growing geek community, it’s a must read. I’m honored to be quoted, especially amongst some of the most innovative and ]]> http://solyoung.com/2009/01/07/steven-wells-on-the-geekdom-in-philadelphia-quoted/

Apple’s OS X operating system base grew by 0.66% between October and November to 8.87%. If they simply maintained the prior month’s pace, they will reach 9.5% in December and 10.1% in January (assuming a continued consumption of 0.6% from other operating systems per month).

Vista being a monstrous ]]> http://solyoung.com/2008/12/31/prediction-apple-breaks-10-marketshare-in-january-2009/ Taking the train beats driving, hands down in this city. The price is about the same even with $2 gas, but travel time is shorter and hands are free to write code and read.

This week, the week between Christmas and New Years, I’m back to driving. Traffic is nearly non-existant so one can blaze…

I rent out a few apartments in Philadelphia. Each year around the holidays I try and do something to show appreciation to the tenants. They could have selected other properties, but they chose mine. They have treated the apartments with respect and have made them good homes. I am grateful.

This year I went…

…

If you’re a diehard fan of the Twitter service, rooting for their profitibility is counter-productive. You should realize a move towards…

Fixed the Nokia N82 after describing in my previous post how to effectively break it…

It’s a blast to ride a long board or motorboard to the office and around Philly. Sometimes you bail. If you’re always recording video, sometimes you bail while recording the whole thing… Stuff happens.

Nokia makes freakishly strong phones. Despite a slam and slide down a sidewalk with 160 pounds on…

The Senior Struggle
A little bit of you can pull them through the winter.
Pay a visit, run an errand, lend a hand. Your support means everything.

Call 215-765-9040 or visit pcaCARES.org for ideas and resources. You…

Age Demographics from Quantcast – Twitter.com

On Wednesday my wife and I were out at Flavor by Thai Pepper, enjoying some insanely good food and drink. Two conversations took place in adjacent booths, too loud to ignore.

In the booth behind Galina a group of late-twenty-somethings laughed loudly about replacing the contents of…

Found a funny little bug with Apple’s dashboard weather widget this week. It comes installed and running by default when you set up a new OS X installation or buy a new Mac. I just got a new MacBook Pro a…

Twitter Tools, a WordPress plugin by Alex King, blew up my blog last night. For those of you following my RSS or Twitter updates, this meant you got 45 copies of a weekly Twitter update (and you would have gotten 8 more that were in the queue to be published if…

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EMS, you’ve got great deals so stop worrying about my frequenting REI (I only hooked up with REI…

Attending an Apple Tech Talk at the Millennium Hotel New York was a good use of time today. The evangelism team, despite evangelizing, is highly competent and I came away satisfied with decent knowledge consumption.

The event had a massively different feel than John Resig described last year.

There was a lot

…

It’s Christmas shopping season and I hope you’re not planning on giving a digital picture frame. Besides being the scorn of Adam Frucci (of Gizmodo) by buying a tasteless, tacky, gadget, these things really suck.

And…

Michael Lewis’s article The End is covering Portfolio’s December issue. It’s a fantastic read on his forecasting the death of Wall Street back in the eighties in his book Liar’s Poker.

It highlights many of the insanities and irrational modes of operation amongst the firms of Wall Street and is an entertaining…

It’s Thanksgiving, 2008. Happy Turkey Day! I am thankful for many things. Today I am thankful for sqeezing the bejeezuz out of a Fit’s average miles per gallon. Check the above vid… Seriously… From Philadelphia, PA to Gaithersburg, MD, a 136.9 mile drive with minimal total change in elevation, I averaged 42.1 miles per…

My dev team uses JIRA for bug tracking. It’s a flexible project management and defect tracking system. As with almost any bug tracking system out there (Bugzilla, Trac, etc), web based defect tracking from a mobile handset is not very user-friendly.

Enter JIRA Mate (formerly JIRA Buddy), written by Shaun Ervine, an…

On September 23rd, 2003 I rented a plane with friends in Colorado Springs (COS) to fly to Denver (DEN). It was a calm, warm, clear, evening and made for a great night to fly. It was the typical $100 hamburger flight (in to a major International).

The pre-flight was fast and we fired…

At first thought, there will be lots more app ratings and this will help Apple kull (my favorite word this…

Traffic is always there. You can hop lanes and try to beat the overall flow, but the speed of…

Mike, our IT coordinator dropped this on my desk this morning. It’s still shrinkwrapped. 1991. We have a USB 3.5″ drive, but unfortunately we don’t have an earlier version to get this installed. Would Boot Camp support it?

Amongst the highlights:

• “Online Help from the shell or command-line interface…” – Online help has

…

Amazon released CloudFront to public beta today. It’s a simple way to get free content publicly available to the edge of the network (closest to the recipient downloader).

From the AWS announcement:

Amazon CloudFront is a web service for content delivery. It integrates with other Amazon Web Services to give developers and businesses

…

Maybe it’s Winter preparedness, or maybe it’s a slow news day… But I’m reviewing the blogs I follow, deleting the old, and subscribing to new. I was breaking well over 300 and realized many were dead (in my opinion, a blog that isn’t updated for 6 months is dead).

It’s cleaning time. I’m under…

Philip Greenspun is giving away his tank to charity – pretty nice, and he’s paying for the moving expenses…

The tank is complete with filters, lights, cover, etc.  I will pay for delivery, including a crane if necessary, to the school.  The tank is about 8?

…

Twitter is currently down for database maintenance.

We expect to be back in about an hour. Thanks for your patience.

I wonder what kind of hell will break loose when it comes back up and sucks in the queued SMS updates… My phone is gonna go nuts.

One of the few competitors to Twitter that had some traction, utterli (originally named Utterz), has a nasty weak point. You can’t easily stop following another user.

Typically one can Unfollow, a lá Twitter, directly from the user’s page as well as one’s list. On utterli, not so much.

Utterli make it…

A new trackpad firmware update, version 1.0, is available for the new MacBook and MacBook Pro models (listed as late-2008 models).

This firmware update addresses an issue where trackpad clicks may not be recognized on MacBook (Late 2008) and MacBook Pro (Late 2008) systems.

Christopher Clark, a lawyer for Mr. Cuban:

“We’re shocked. We find it incredible that given all the important issues that the SEC has to address with regard to today’s economy they’ve sought to bring a $750,000 case relating to a he-said she-said about one trade against a person whose integrity has

…

A Google search for Apple Dual-Link DVI yields a ton of product pages and blog posts about the greatness of Apple’s use of DVI. You’ll get quite a few of Apple’s own product pages, as would be expected. But only a few blogs are calling Apple out.…

Before Quantum of Solace, last night, a Coke commercial ran in which the lead actor-singer walks around his Christmas party describing everyone he’s invited. Amongst those…

Besides an absolutely killer Aston Martin opening chase and an even better dog-fight and parachute scene later, two things stuck in my mind from the latest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.

First, James Bond driving hybrids. Ford got lots of hybrid vehicle product placement (listen for the electric motor during takeoff and…

So I shut down for last weekend. Took no calls, just Twittered a bit…

During the…

This was a first. I’ve been using a G1 for a week, and other than the phone…

Your current plan is not compatible with the T-Mobile G1. Please visit T-Mobile.com on your computer, dial 611 from your phone, or visit a retail location.

Today I had my most dissapointing experience with T-Mobile. I’ve been a customer and serious fan of their service since it was still Voicestream. Today they shut off…

An impressive bit about this post is that I’m using the web version…

This wasn’t the case before the airlines began charging extra for checked bags. Many people are carrying 2 of more bags as carry-on. The effect of the minor…

After looking around on Craigslist for some type of faster transportation I came upon an ad…