Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
First Look: Twitter Peek Dedicated Tweeting Device
Mar 10th
Seems like the Twitterverse is expanding at break neck speed these days.
If you’re tweeting from your cell phone using text messaging, most likely you’re on an unlimited texting plan. Or so we hope.
Tweeting is fun, and it sure is convenient to tweet on the run via your phone.
BUT if you’re anywhere close to being an ubertweeter, or just someone that has come to embrace the Tweetworld, tweeting via text messaging ain’t going to be enough.
You need something that can store and easily shuffle through the hundreds of tweets you received daily. You’d also need a quick way to scan your own @ messages and DM (direct messages) received via Twitter so that you could respond.
Enter the Peek Inc’s Twitter Peek device. Billed as the world’s first (and only so far) dedicated Twitter device, it is a simple do-on-thing-only device. And did we mention there’s no contract, or expensive billing plans either? They even have a lifetime service plan so you can forget about costs for the rest of your life!
Here’s a first look at the product I received from Peek Inc recently to review for you here on essistme.com. Over the next weeks you’ll hopefully see more of the TwitterPeek as I tweet with it and find out what it’s good at . . . and NOT.
I’m looking forward to trying out this device since I get A LOT of Tweets on just one of my accounts and have lots of interaction with the thousands of tweeps on my following/follower lists.
GOT A TWITTER PEEK? Leave a comment below with your own thoughts about the device and share your experience.
How To Download YouTube Videos
Mar 6th
Sometimes you need a video clip that’s available online for offline use – like using it as an example for a class or workshop.
Other times, you may want to be able to play it offline for your own review at a later time when it’s more convenient for you, or when you know you won’ t have internet access (like on a plane).
There’s definitely a bunch of sites available now that let you download videos from YouTube and other video sharing sites out there.
Usually all you have to do is copy/paste the video page URL from Youtube, MetaCafe or other video site into the form on the video download site and you’re all set to go.
But once in awhile, your favorite Youtube video grabber site can’t download the video file. That’s when you have to go looking for other options.
Other than Kisstube and Vixy, I found another favorite that seems to work for me . . .
SaveVid.com works just the same. This site does give a couple of download options including flv format, mp4 as well as HD video which YouTube presents sometimes.
SaveVid.com also shares some of the videos that others have used the site to download so you can get a sense of what people are watching and downloading.
Do you have any other favorite sites to download videos from online video platforms? Please add them in the comments below.
Full Screen Countdown Timer
Mar 3rd
Today, we have an event where several groups will be going back to back giving presentations.
Time is of essence, so we’ll have to tend the clock closely. The question is how to do it so that each presenter can be aware of it and not get the gag-music as they do at the Oscars.
We won’t have or need the music cue, but a countdown timer would be nice so they are not caught off guard.
Here’s a neat web-based countdown (or count up) timer that is also able to go full screen. So all we need is a laptop in the room and we should all be ok.
The site is clean and intuitive for both counting up (stop watch function) and counting down. Below is a walk-through of the simple steps to getting it to work. . .
The max is 99 HOURS of counting down. That’s a couple of days worth of waiting! But for our own use, we set it for a 7 minute countdown. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Deal Alert: Free Apple iPhone 3G 8GB (No Rebates Either)
Feb 27th
Here’s a straight-forward deal alert:
If you’ve been saving up for an Apple iPhone on the AT&T network, you don’t have to break open your piggy bank any more.
BestBuy usually sells the Apple iPhone 3G with 8GB Memory in shiny Black for $99 with contract or upgrade for existing customers.
In fact, if you want to shell out your 100 bucks for the iPhone, you can see the regular offer on their website right now. Just go to www.BestBuy.com and search for the “iPhone 3G”.
You won’t be able to buy it on the internet like you can from AT&T Wireless or Apple.com because Best Buy only sells the phone directly to you in their big box store locations.
But if you can get $100 off the price of an iPhone 3G, wouldn’t you be willing to drive to the store to pick it up?
This offer is extremely tempting. . . Read the rest of this entry »
Look Ma, No Hands! Part II: How To Search Google Without Typing or Saying a Thing
Feb 27th
Google search is one of my favorite resources for me while I’m on the road. Personally I love being able to look things up via text message on the fly — faster than 411 can deliver results.
Sometimes I’ll use Google via my mobile browser on my phone.
But there’s a new mobile search app which Google has released to the Android phone platform which takes mobile search to a whole another level.
They already have the ability to take any voice recording and integrate it into their searches. It is a matter of time before voice search becomes widely available to mobile phones.
But in the meantime, wherever you may be, you are now a SNAP, not a click, away from search results.
Here’s how . . .
Look Ma, No Hands! How to Tweet Via Voice
Feb 26th
Sometimes you don’t have a PC with you.
Sometimes you don’t want (or cannot because you’re driving for example) text your Twitter status update.
Sometimes you just want to shout it out to the Twitterverse.
What if there wasa voice transcription service that will take your call and transcribe your voice message into a Tweet via your Twitter account?
All you would have to do is register your phone number so that the service will recognize your caller ID and know which Twitter account to use to put out the voice-transcribed tweet.
And I’d set it up so that it is a toll-free number so that you can use ANY phone to call in your tweet.
Wouldn’t that be cool? Guess what. . . Read the rest of this entry »
How Mass Unfollow Your Following On Twitter
Feb 24th
This past week I’ve decided that some of my twitter accounts have gotten unwieldy with the auto-follow features set to “ON”.
At first, I took my Twitter following list and purged all the tweeters that are, well, not tweeters – since they haven’t sent a tweet in over 90 days. I was able to filter the twitter people I follow list based on date of last tweet and then do a mass unfollow via a service called untweeps.
But that wasn’t enough. What I really wanted was to “start over” as some other famous Twitteratti have done.
But tools like Twitter Karma have disabled the mass unfollow feature.
So I tweeted for help. And @xanpearson came to the rescue.
She had recently suggested a list of 30 different twitter friend management tools to check out. And there were plenty to poke around with.
So far, ReFollow.com has a decent interface and it does the bulk unfollow feature I have been searching for.
There’s a bunch of other neat features that this site does. It’s definitely worth checking out if you want to manage your follower/following lists in bulk.