JC Web Concepts - Custom Web Developments

One of the things that people talk about in the computer world is password strength. They talk about how you should not use the same passwords for everything. They say you should not use your kids names, date of birth, social security number, etc… Some people I know make 2 passwords. They make a real tuff one for important sites like banking and credit cards. They use the other one for sites they do not care about like forums.

I came across this nice piece of software called 1Password. What this software does is it makes an encrypted database to store all your passwords. It then will integrate itself into Safari and Firefox. When you install the software you make a master password. This password is something that you want to make pretty difficult so nobody can guess it. Now I will not go into more detailed since there are already a bunch of videos and stuff about this. Below is a video from the company that developed the software. Watch it and I think you might like the software as well.

Well it appears that Apple has released the next version of the iPhone/ iPod Touch software. I have played around with the new software and for us first generation users there are some updates. One of the things Apple has done is integrate Genius into the app store. So in other words you can view what Genius thinks you would like in their App store. Basically it looks to see what applications you have and then will inform you of some other applications you might like. Now there are other things that the update has done but with having the 1st gen iPhone I cannot see them. To get a complete list visit Apple’s website.

Well coming from the 1st Gen iPod Touch it is a relief to have the iPhone. Now the version I got was the one with EDGE and not 3g. So far I have not noticed a slowness in EDGE. Now I know this is due to not using 3G but it works for me. It is nice that I now do not need to use a headset to listen to music, movies, or YouTube. I am enjoying the applications that I could not use with my iPod.

So far the only con I have seen is the mail sound is really low and can be hard to hear with it in my case. The camera quality is an upgrade compared to my cell phone pictures. I will keep you updated on what is going on with the iPhone.

I was looking around and I thru bits of pieces of pages I found out how to make your own ringtones to use for your iPhone. Now I am not sure this is illegal cause you own the music. At least I hope you are not stealing. So open up iTunes and lets begin.

1. Find the song you want to use for a ringtone.
2. Listen to the song and find 30 seconds of it that you want to use. Write down the start and end time.
3. Right click on the song and click on get info.
4. Click on the Options tab and check the start and stop time boxes. Enter the time you wrote down and click ok.
5. Now right click on the song again and click on Create AAC Version. You should see a new song with a 30 second time.
6. Right click on the 30 second one and click delete. You should get a prompt about keep file or delete it. Move to trash if you are on a Mac. Do not move it to the trash.
7. Now locate the song. If you are on a Mac it will be in your iTunes folder under your username. Windows users it should be in My Documents I believe.
8. You should see the filename with an ext of .m4a you need to change that to .m4r In Windows world you will need to enable to see file extensions before you will see the m4a.
9. After you renamed the extenstion you just double click it and iTunes will import it into the Ringtones Library instead of the Music Library.
10. Now go back to Get Info of the full song in the Music Library and uncheck the start and stop times.

And that is all to making your own ringtones for your iPhone. Below is a video of the process cause I realize it might be easier to see it than read it.

Now I found this cool site that has some pre-made ringtones. Take look at the site http://iphone.audiko.net/#

Well after much debate it appears that I will be getting an iPhone. Now it is not going to be the 3G or the 3GS but that is ok. So of course you want to know why am I doing this? Why when you have an iPod Touch do you want to get an iPhone? Well I am just tired of carrying two devices around. I am tired of having a cell phone and the iPod. Geez I need to get a man purse just to carry my gadgets. I want to get 1 device that does both functions.

Of course I will get some features that I currently lack with my current setup. My iPod Touch needs to have a headset plugged into it to listen to music. Now this is not bad but when I am alone I do not want to have ear buds on. Some of the applications that I have use location to find where you are. This feature is not that good in the iPod’s. Internet access almost everywhere is a plus that is nice to have. A camera on the iPhone so I can instantly upload pictures to Facebook and things.

Now there is only one con with doing this and it is the cost. After purchasing the device and adding at least $30.00 to my plan is going to hurt. I mean you would think that AT&T would say since this is on our slower network you will not have to pay pas much. Well maybe someday.

Well on the 17th of this month the software was released for the new iPod Touch software. Now this review is geared towards the 1st generation version of the iPod Touch. Now of course you guys know that we don’t have the bluetooth technology or the microphone capabilities. So what do we actually get with this new software? Is it worth the $10.00?

Spotlight
I say yes you should get the update. Lets talk about the features that you get that I see is worth it. The first thing I like is the spotlight integration. Its just like my Mac. I can type an application name to a word in an email. I can type a subject of a calendar event. This saves me time  because I have multiple pages of applications or hundreds of emails.

Buy Movies
I am not sure if everyone is doing this but I love to buy my movies from iTunes. I think that feature is just great. Now thru your iPod Touch you can get those movies right from the device.

YouTube Login
I create and view many videos on YouTube. I have my list of favorite videos that I like to watch. Now thru my device I can see those and not have to search for them.

There are other features that the device does but they are not major to me. If you want to see a complete list, see that on Apples site.

So I have been thinking that it may be time for me to learn another programming language. I have thought for some time now and since I have switched to Mac I think it might be cool to program apps for it. I know what would I program? What would I get from learning it. Then I though what about Linux applications. I work in an environment that uses Linux computers. My knowledge of GUI programming is very slim. I took VB a long time ago. Lastly I thought about iPhone programming. The only issue here is that I would have to apply and pay for a developers kit and hope Apple would give it to me.

So this is what I ponder. What will I do. Do you guys have any thoughts?

One of the things I looked at when I bought my first Mac, was Mobile Me. This is a service from Apple that helps you out. Are you the type of person with multiple computers? Or what about an iPhone/iPod Touch? If so then Mobile Me is for you. The feature I use the most is the contact and Calendar synchronized. So if I add a calendar event on my iPod Touch and go to my iMac, the event is there. If I edit it there and go to my iPod it is updated there. The sync is pretty instant. Only requirement is everything needs to be online. So both computers need to be online. If they are not they will not get the update till it does go online. This service is not limited to just Macs.

Now Mobile Me does more than just contacts and calendar events. It also works with emails, bookmarks, and even setups up a remote storage center. You can use this to get files while away from home. The last feature that you get with this is free web space with picture gallery support. With the gallery support if you own a Mac will allow you to upload your albums right from iPhoto. Now that is convenience. 

As far as price it is $99.99 USD for the year. This needs to be paid up front and needs to be renewed every year. Now if you look and your typical hosting accounts it is almost $10.00 USD a month. So it is not too expensive but well worth it. It was great when I reformatted my Mac. Once the OS was installed Mobile Me downloaded to my computer, e-mail, contacts, calendar, and bookmarks. I could even go into iPhoto and pull my albums down from the cloud.

Overall it is worth getting and you should not go with out it.

Well I have been looking at an application for the Mac call Xcode. With this application you can create applications for the Mac and the iPhone/iPod Touch. There might be more but at this time I am not aware since I am just starting. So the reason I want to get into this is cause I think it would be cool to make some of my webpages an app that can go on the iPhone or a my Macs. So I will post a part 2 of this with more information.

If anyone has any tips or good sites that can help me with this please post a comment. Thanks.

So let me start of to say that I am an owner of the iPod Touch. Now I am going to be honest here and have played a little with the iPhone. So if I miss something please let me know. When I show people my iPod Touch the first thing they say is that the iPhone? I answer no and of course I get the response what is the difference. I respond with one can make calls anywhere and the other need WiFi. I think that this is the biggest difference between the two. Of course there are other differences. The iPhone has GPS in it where the touch does not.

There was a difference of a speaker but that has changed with the new version of the iPod Touch. So you ask why not just get the iPhone since it sounds better. The main reason I do not own an iPhone is due to the monthly cost to own it. The e-mails I get are just not worth it. Yes it would be nice to be able to carry one device but the amount of money I would spend it is just not worth it. Now if I did get the e-mails that I needed instantly then yes I would choose the iPhone. To me GPS is not needed. I own a GPS unit for the car so I do not need the phone.

Camera is another thing the iPhone has but I only use a camera to take a picture or two of the baby but that is it. Other than that I use a digital camera.  So to wrap this up if you have  money for the monthly fee then take the iPhone. If not the iPod Touch will do what you need when on the WiFi connection.