Upgraded to WordPress 3.0 and it is Awesome!

Jun 30th

Posted by Ed Gray in Software

1 comment

I upgraded this blog along with all of the others on this server this past month without any issues. I was running WordPress MU 2.9.2 and the upgrade went smoothly with the exception of the Google XML Sitemap plugin which does not yet support the multi-site feature. Hopefully, it will soon.

Some of the key improvements that stand out to me are:

  • The merger of the single and multi-user versions of WordPress. Now I no longer have to wait until the MU version catches up. Multi-site features are better integrated and security updates should arrive more quickly.
  • The menu editor is very flexible and easy to use. Pages, posts, categories, links, tags and images can now be menu links. Not all themes support the menu feature yet, but it should be just a matter of time.
  • Theme and plugin updates are much easier. Multiple updates can be accomplished with one click now.
  • The new Twenty Ten default theme is a big improvement over the Kubrick theme. It is very easy to customize the header and background images.

The other big feature that some others are excited about , are custom post types. I do not have a use for it yet, but I can see where I might use it in the future. The Custom Post Type UI plugin is must and Justin Tadlock has a good write-up on the subject.

Here is a video that highlights the new features in 3.0:

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The New Safari 5 Web Browser is Fast

Jun 10th

Posted by Ed Gray in Uncategorized

Apple Safari icon
Image via Wikipedia

Apple recently quietly released an update to their Safari web browser on the same day as they announced the new iPhone 4.  I just downloaded it today and it is noticeably faster, even compared to Chrome which is my browser of choice. In addition to improved speed, Apple has finally officially added extensions. They are not enabled by default, but it is easy enough to turn them on. The official Apple Extension gallery is not expected to be online until later this summer, but that has not stopped developers from getting a jump start. Check out http://safariextensions.tumblr.com for a extensive list of available extensions. Plug-ins have been available for Safari for a while, but there were not many of them since the process of creating them was more involved than creating extensions for Firefox or Chrome.

Although Apple may be the last to add extensions, like many other things, Apple has added their own touches that improve on the process. Like Google Chrome and unlike Firefox, extensions install without having to restart the browser. An extension builder is embedded into the browser making it easier to create extensions.

In addition, Apple has improved HTML 5 support. Check out their HTML 5 demo page, which requires the use of Safari to view them, although technically any HTML 5 enabled browser should be able to view them. There are some very cool items, including a typography example which illustrates the potential of improved font and layout possibilities on web pages. By the way, Safari is available for Windows, as well.

And if you like to read your web articles distraction free (and who doesn’t), the new Reader option is interesting. The browser automatically detects an article or long block of text and displays a Reader button in the address bar. Select it and the entire text of the article displays in a new window in front of the web page in a larger font free of ads. You can easily zoom, print, or email the text.

One last new notable feature is the addition of Bing as a built-in search tool along with Google and Yahoo.

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Blind soldier uses tongue device to see

Mar 16th

Posted by Ed Gray in News

A  camera sends electrical pulses to lollypop-like sensor in mouth allowing Craig Lundberg to visualise surroundings

via Blind soldier uses tongue device to see | Society | The Guardian.

When I first saw this headline, I thought to myself,”What?!” Has someone figured a way to tap into the nerve endings of the tongue to send visual sensory data to the brain? In a way, that is what is happening. Think of it as the brain is what sees things, not the eyes. Visual data can be delivered to the brain in other ways.

The device works by converting visual images into a series of electrical pulses that are relayed to the tongue. The differing strengths and patterns of the tingles can be interpreted to build up a picture of surroundings and enable users to navigate around objects.

The device consists of a tiny video camera attached to a pair of sunglasses. It is linked by wires to a plastic lollypop-like sensor which users place on their tongue to receive the electrical impulses.

“It feels like licking a nine-volt battery or like popping candy,” Lundberg explained. “The camera sends signals down onto the lollypop and onto your tongue, you can then determine what they mean and transfer it to shapes.

Learn more at BrainPort Technologies, the developers of the technology. Below is a video of a man blind since birth testing an early prototype of the device.

Below is a video of man who has been blind since birth testing an early prototype of the device:

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YouTube Offers Automatic Captioning for All Videos

Mar 11th

Posted by Ed Gray in Web

Google is leveraging it’s machine voice recognition technology to automatically caption videos on YouTube for those that want to. This is significant in more than one way.

First and most obvious is that videos can now be enjoyed more by the hearing impaired. I have been requested to caption videos produced in our office and while there are some free open-source applications to assist with the task, it was basically a manual job that required transcription skills I do not possess. Nor do I have the time, so captioning was just not something I could not realistically offer. Granted the auto-captioning is not going to be perfect, but with clear audio it could do the bulk of the job pretty well. Afterward, I think you can edit the captions.

Besides helping the hearing impaired, captions also help with searching for videos and translating videos while helping Google amass more data to improve their technologies: voice recognition, search, and translation.

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Ok Go Creates Another Viral Video Hit

Mar 6th

Posted by Ed Gray in Fun

Ok Go is the band that acquired widespread recognition via a successful viral music video released on YouTube in 2008 for a song titled “Here it Goes Again” and features the band members dancing on a set of treadmills facing each other. It received over 50 million views.

The band is at it again with a new music video for the song “This Too Will Pass” which features an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine built in 10,000 square feet across two floors in a warehouse. They contracted with Syyn Labs to create it. The machine ran successfully and was captured in one video shot. There were 60 takes and three full shots after months of planning which did not help much, learn more. Here’s the video if you have not already seen it:

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137 Years of Awesome Gadget Geekery

Mar 4th

Posted by Ed Gray in Fun

Popular Science has scanned their entire 137-year old archive of magazines and posted them online for users to freely search and browse. In partnership with Google, visitors can search and read entire issues of color scanned Popular Science including the original advertisements.  It brought back memories of when I read Popular Science as a kid before the Internet and sites like Engadget and Slashdot were ever conceived.

It is fun to search for flying cars, robots or jet packs to see how the future was imagined in the past. The interface is lacking. You have to do a search before you can access an issue. You can zoom in, but the viewing window cannot be resized. Google would benefit from borrowing some user interface ideas from Scribd or Issuu.

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030310_1722_Bloggingwit1.jpg

Blogging with Word 2007

Mar 3rd

Posted by Ed Gray in Software

I was only recently made aware of a feature in Microsoft Word 2007 (sorry, earlier versions of Word are not applicable) that allows you to publish directly to a WordPress blog, as well as, other blogging services, such as, TypePad, Blogger, SharePoint Live and any other service that supports Atom or XML-RPC protocols. This article was created in Word and is a test of the various features that are available in Word.

Personally, I am very comfortable with the editor built into WordPress. I prefer the extra tools and options available in the editor screen. However, I have some co-workers that are stuck in Word and just cannot seem to break the habit of writing everything in Word even if it is intended for the web. Then for those of us that need to publish that content, it often needs to be reformatted or cleaned up.

You can insert clip art, shapes, WordArt, symbols, tables and charts. As you can see with the photo on the left, even the drop shadow is retained, but the formatting of the table is not the same. The rows were supposed to be shaded.

Word Does make editing tables easy.
You can apply styles
Format cells
And do pretty much whatever you want to do… …In your table.

You can assign categories from your blog, as well as open existing articles for editing. I think this may be useful for those that love Word. Learn more in this article.

NOTE: I did edit the final version within the WordPress editor. First to see how it looked and if the images loaded correctly and then to add tags, related articles and links with Zemanta which helps to automate those tasks. I also like using the After the Deadline plugin. By the way, loading photos is much simpler than the setup instructions imply. Simply insert the images like usual and let Word do the rest. The images will automatically be uploaded within the WordPress media gallery and appears in the posted article the same way they appeared in Word. The HTML code is clean and does not appear to contain the usual garbage that appears when you copy and paste.

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Plants vs Zombies: A Bushel of Fun

Mar 1st

Posted by Ed Gray in Fun

Plants vs Zombies (PvZ) is from PopCap, the creators of the classic Bejeweled game. PvZ is a new take on the classic tower defense genre. On one hand it simplifies game play, while at the same time it adds a great deal of variety to keep the game continually interesting. The PC/Mac version is $19.95, but the iPod Touch/iPhone version is only $2.99 and is well worth the investment and worth every entertainment dollar. How often have you rented a movie for $3.99 that only last on average 90 minutes and then many times wish you didn’t bother? PvZ should give you hours of entertainment.

Everything about the game is well done. The graphics and music are fitting and often humorous. The learning curve is gentle, but persistent. It is hard to conceive that PvZ was not originally designed for the iPhone interface. It is very easy to see why the game is so popular, breaking sells records on the iPhone.

Here is a music video based on the game:

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Share and Collaborate Everywhere With Drop.io

Feb 26th

Posted by Ed Gray in Software

I had heard of Drop.io and just thought it was another easy to use online file sharing and transferring service like Dropbox and Box.net. However, I took a deeper look at it today while researching different methods for our magazine staff to transfer large files other than as large email attachments. It turns out that Drop.io does much more than just make it easy to move a file from point A to point B.

The free service offers the following features:

  • 100 MB of free, non-searchable storage with ability to upgrade up to 25 GB of storage for $10.00 USD/year/GB
  • Password protection and flexible expiration settings
  • Full formatting and design customizations
  • The ability to store and share images, documents, video, audio, and other digital content
  • Free e-mailing into and out of drops
  • Free custom phone number and extension to add voicemail that gets converted into mp3 format and can be listened to directly in a user’s drop
  • Free voicemail sent into drops
  • Realtime Chat and File Sharing
  • Realtime web-presentation mode

You can use Drop.io in a variety of ways:

  • As a place to leave verbal notes to yourself. Call your Drop.io phone number and leave a voice mail message that is converted into a MP3 file.
  • Share files directly via Twitter.
  • Backup files via email, web interface, Firefox extension or an embedded widget.
  • Send and receive faxes via Drop.io.
  • Send voicemail, faxes, files, photos and videos directly to Facebook.
  • Post family photo albums with easy access for your relatives.
  • You can deliver an audio or video podcast via Drop.io.
  • Hold a web conference and chat in realtime with those that you share your Drop.io address with.
  • Use your imagination.

If you need more space, there are various subscription levels. GIven the flexibility of the service, it looks like a very useful tool for teams of people who are geographically separated but need to work together closely, quickly and easily. So move on over FTP, because Drop.io is moving on in.

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Tech Show Caller Complains About Disappearing Stolen Wi-Fi

Feb 24th

Posted by Ed Gray in Hardware

Linksys BEFW11S4 Router Sitting on a Cable Modem

Image via Wikipedia

A female caller on Leo Laporte‘s Tech Guy radio show called in to complain about the sudden disappearance of a Linksys Wi-Fi signal she has been using for a year and a half for free. She wanted to know if a wi-fi extender would help. Leo had to gently explain to her that she was stealing that signal and that she was putting her own data at risk by using an unsecured wireless signal.

The call was humorous, but unfortunately the subject is all too common. Many people do not bother to read the instructions when installing a wi-fi router for their home and the manufacturer doesn’t want them to return it if it does not work, so they enable an insecure default setting to allow for easy connection if the consumer does nothing but plug the box into the outlet and connect the cable/dsl modem.

However, that default setting is insecure for multiple reasons. The neighbors, such as the caller in the video, can get a free ride on your internet that you are probably paying $40 or more a month for. You get a few people streaming Hulu at the same time and you’ll be wondering why your computer is so slow when in fact it is the internet connection being shared by the neighborhood. In addition, without any encryption anyone with some knowledge could see in plain text what you are accessing on the web including your email passwords.

Therefore, the lessons to be learned here is do not use someone else’s wireless signal, get your own Internet connection. Secondly, read the instructions on your wi-fi router. Change the name, add a password and enable encryption.However, if you are really concerned about privacy and speed, a wired connection is the way to go.

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