170 Spoons

Extend Your iPod to Your Stereo

WHY? Because you don’t have to buy a docking station with speakers to listen to any portable music player.

I’m motivated to write this up because Santa brought my nieces iPod shuffles and I was talking to my brother-in-law about these tips.  I thought I’d share them with you as well.

Do you have a portable music player like an iPod?  I have the iPod shuffle seen above.  In fact, that’s my home stereo I bought in High School!  Old school meets new school!

You see, I don’t always want to use headphones to listen to my iPod (I actually refer to it as my iRob).  If you’re the same way and you have a stereo that has an unused right and left input channel (RCA plugs), then all you need is this cable.  It’s what I’m using in the photo above.   This cable will actually work for any audio player.  One end plugs into the hole where your headphones go and the other ends go into the stereo.  Sometimes I plug my laptop into the stereo using this cable.

Now if you want to extend it even further and you have an input hole on your car stereo the same size that your headphones would fit, you have the ability to listen to your iPod in the car as well.  Using this cable you can plug one end into the headphone jack of your iPod and the other into the car stereo.  I use this as well and I can tell you it’s much better than any other method.  If your car stereo doesn’t have the input this obviously won’t work.  However, newer cars have them. And if you rent cars often, you might consider picking this cable up because most rentals have the input.

So there you go.  Happy listening - and sharing your music with others without headphones! 

You can find more of my recommended products at the Orangejack Mall at http://mall.orangejack.com.

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Conversating on Twitter

WHY? If you are on twitter, you need to know the ‘rules’ for carrying on a conversation.

Have you checked out twitter yet?  I’ve been on it for a couple years now and it’s really gone through some real growth. In short, it’s like a chatroom or instant messaging service only you get to pick who you want to pay attention to (read wikipedia’s definition or watch a video on Twitter in Plain English).  One limit of twitter is that your posts need to be in 140 characters or less causing you to focus your statement.  The character limit is there because the purpose was to allow the conversations to be used on mobile phone text messages.

Here’s my twitter account page if you want an example.

Here’s how it works: you create an account and get your own twitter page, you then find people you want to keep up with and follow them, decide how you want to get their updates, then have conversations with them.

Create An Account

1. Go to twitter.com and join.
2. Please use your real name.
3. Please use your real face as a photo.
4. Please put in a short bio so we know something about you.
5. Please use a web address so we can learn more about you.
6. Optional: make a custom background.

When you do these, it’ll make it a lot easier for others to decide if they want to follow your updates or not.  To be honest, this is what I use to make a decision about who to follow - and I make that decision fast based on the above.

Find People To Follow
There are plenty of tools to find people you might be interested in to follow.  Or do it the old-fashioned way: find a couple people you already know and see who they follow, or ask around.  Start with me if you like.

Decide How To Keep Up
The thing that sets twitter apart as an interesting communications tool is that it’s not tied to a web browser.  Many use their mobile phones for texting or browsing on a web-enabled phone.  You can use RSS, email, or downloadable programs to keep up.  Pick the method you like and go for it.

Conversations
It’s easy to post and read other’s posts.  But it’s even better to have conversations.  There’s a few different ways to talk to others:

• A regular post (or tweet) talks to all of your followers - like an announcement at a party
• If you put @TheirTwitterName (like @orangejack) at the beginning of a post, all your followers can read it, but the person you @’ed will get a notification in the style they choose - like talking to someone at a party across the room
• If you put @ThierTwitterName somewhere else in the post, they may not get a notification but it’s similar to puting it at the front
• If you put d TheirTwitterName (like d orangejack) they will get a private message from you if they are following you back - like whispering to someone at a party
• If you like what someone posted, you can forward it (like in email) to your followers.  This is called a retweet. There’s no standard way to indicate you’re passing on someone else’s post, but it’s in good form to give them credit by including @TheirTwitterName in the retweet somewhere.  Most simply add “RT:” to the front of the post do indicate a retweet, others might put “FW:” like in email. Personally, I surround the retweet in quotes (like “@TheirTwitterName said this”)

So that’s how you talk, but you should listen as well.  In your twitter settings you can get an email whenever someone sends you a direct message (d) or an @ message.  I’ve found this a bit unreliable at times so I also set up a search and subscribe to the RSS.  Just replace your name in this search (include the @) and you’ll find out when someone writes to or about you.

There are other twitter tips on 170spoons as well as my personal blog (personal perspective on twitter) and business site (business perspectives of twitter).  If you have any questions, tips, or anything else to say, leave a comment.  Would love to hear from you.

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Don’t Get Phished

Phishing is the term used when the bad guys try to trick you into giving them sensitive information on a fake website.  Wikipedia of course defines Phishing well. Microsoft does a good job explaining it also.

But here’s a simple video explaining it.

YouTube - Phishing Scams in Plain English

There are ways to protect yourself from phishing scams.  What I recomend is to use a browswer (like Firefox) that has anti-phishing alerts built in already.  You have other software choices as well (notice most are just good, updated browsers!)

There are a few tips you should just be aware of:

• You probably know it’s a common rule to not give out your social security number or credit card number over the phone if you didn’t place the call.  It’s the same with email.  If they contact you looking for information, don’t do it.
• If you got an email from what looks like a company you deal with and they ask for information, don’t use the links in the email.  Instead, log onto the official website and go from there.  Or call them.
• Don’t trust the web links, email links, or phone numbers in a phishing email

Any other tips?

Personally, I’ve found that using a good spam filter on email gets most of them out of the way.  For the ones that make it through, an updated browser can usually recognize the scam.

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Update Facebook via Text Message using Twitter

If you are on Facebook and you tend to update your status line and you like to text message people, there is no reason you shouldn’t also be on Twitter. Let me explain why and how.

I’ve talked before about how I feel the new Facebook design is better for communication (not necessarily layout of extra stuff). The main reason is because there is a better flow of communication and interaction on the site.

Notice in these two images the same status message is on both Facebook (first one) and Twitter (the second one)

Why?

One of the limitations of Facebook is the only way to publish and consume its content is to be inside Facebook itself. At this point you can not update your status line via text messaging (SMS). But you can update Twitter via SMS. And you can link Twitter to Facebook status. Therefore, once set up, you can update Facebook via text messages.

The biggest motivation to do this would be so that you can let your Facebook friends know where you are, what you’re up to, or what you’re thinking about from anywhere. The bonus is that by using Twitter, you can also have a new community of people to interact with.

How?

It’s actually easier to set up than one might think. First you need a free Twitter account from twitter.com. We can talk about building that community later, but for now, just create the account and fill out the simple account information (please!).

Next head over to your Facebook page and install the Twitter application. When you install it into your Facebook profile it will ask for a few settings to link it with Twitter. There is an option to have Twitter updates automatically update Facebook status. Let it do it and you’re set.

Now what?

So now you have Twitter plugged into Facebook. If you post an update on Twitter.com it’ll copy it to Facebook. Now go back to Twitter and link your mobile phone to twitter. Once it’s hooked up, simply send a text message to 40404 and that message will double-post to Twitter and Facebook!

Now that everything is plugged into each other, I hardly ever enter a status line inside Facebook. I just publish it to Twitter instead and let Twitter update Facebook.  This way both communities will get the update - and Twitter offers many more ways to update.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter.

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Access Gmail Unread Messages Fast

Quick tip for Gmail users who need to see sort their email to see what is unread: perform a search by typing in the search box “is:unread“.  You’ll get the entire list.

For more on this, see the Google Tutor.

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Google Reader in Plain English

Oh, hello. Sorry I’ve been away for so long. I have excuses but you don’t need them. So, I’m sorry.

But we’re coming back! With a new way of distributing these 170 spoons. I’ll try to get into all that as we pick the journey back up.

To get us going again, let me point you to a video that explains what I feel is the most revolutionary ‘new’ technology. Knowing how to use a RSS reader like Google Reader changes everything in how you interact with the web. I’ve done a tutorial series about using RSS before, but hopefully this video will be the tipping point to get you to start!

Welcome back!

YouTube - Google Reader in Plain English

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Download Firefox 3 June 17, Break World Record

WHY? Looks like the best browser is about to get better.

Set a Guinness World Record, Enjoy a Better Web

Sounds like a good deal, right? All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours - it’s that easy. We’re not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome.

The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008.

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Or start a blog

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Skype Best Practices

WHY? When you install Skype, there are some settings you should be aware of.

So you took my advice and installed Skype, did ya? Good! Let’s make sure it’s set up well for you so it won’t feel like it’s intrusive or a pain because it really doesn’t have to be!

General Settings

The very first thing I do after downloading Skype is to go into the settings and get a few things working the way I think it should. To get to these, open Skype then on the menu go to Tools then Options. A box should open with tabs on the left. You should be in the General Settings right now.

First thing I suggest you do is chose to “start a chat” when you double-click a contact. It is a pain if you accidentally double-click a name and it starts to dial. This way a chat box will open and the other person won’t be bothered.

Next you should decide if you want Skype to always be on or not. I usually keep it on so that others can connect with me. Therefore I have the box checked that tells it to start Skype when I turn on my computer.

Privacy Settings

The next tab allows you to make sure you are not bothered by people you don’t know.

I have mine set so that anyone can chat with me, but only my contacts can call me. I do this because I know that if they start a chat, I can always block them later. Now I feel more secure with these settings.

Advanced Settings

To me there really aren’t a lot of settings to be worried about in this section.

However, you may consider not allowing Skype to associate itself with callto: links on the web. If this is checked and you run across a link like that online, Skype will be used as your default phone. It’s up to you.

View Tabs and Panels

Skype comes with all sorts of nifty features they call “tabs and panels”. Most of them I don’t care about. To change what shows up in your main Skype window go to View, Tabs and Panels, and uncheck what you don’t want to show. I just have three tabs: Contacts, Call Phones, and History. And that’s all I ever really use.

Change Status

One last item you will find useful is at the top of your Skype window is to adjust your status from time to time. You can enter a statement that will let your contacts know what you are up to. You can also let people know if you need to not be bothered or not by clicking on the green checkmarked icon. You’ll see many choices of how to show your contacts if this is a bad time or not to contact you.

Bonus tip: Do you twitter (I’m not explaining that yet — later) on a PC? You can have twitter updates automatically update your Skype status with Twype.

Text Chat First

One last best practice I’d like to share is if you want to use voice or video talking with someone, send them a chat message first like “can you voice chat”? Sometimes I don’t have my microphone plugged in and it can feel like a stress with Skype ringing while you rustle for your equipment. Just send a text first. Everyone appreciates it! It’s also nice to have that text window open while voice chatting to send the other person (or people in a conference call) notes or web addresses.

What are some of your best practices and/or settings that you have found useful? Happy Skyping!

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Use Your Computer To Talk With Others

WHY? It’s cheap, often free, and can save you a lot of money.

Several years ago we stopped paying our phone company for local and long distance. It was just too expensive. But we kept our phone number so there was no hassle for anyone. We did it by switching to an internet-based phone service. Soon, we may even drop that.

Switching to Internet-based Telephone

There is a technology called Voice-Over IP (VoIP). All that really means for us is that we can use an always-on internet connection to talk with people. The cool thing is that you can, if you want, still use your telephone.

The first step we took was to switch to using Vonage in 2005. They offer two plans: $25/mth for unlimited calls or $15/mth for 500 minutes (we are using the $15/mth plan now). They offer everything (and maybe more) than our local phone company and their International rates are MUCH cheaper. For us it was all about getting the same service and more for much less — and yes, we use our normal phones with this service. We can track all of our calling history online and even have voice mail emailed to us (which comes in handy when traveling). There are other VoIP offers out there so just look around. If you want a referral to Vonage, let me know and we’ll both get a month or two of free service. But do it soon because we may be…

Dropping Land Lines All Together

Recently both my wife and I got new mobile phones and plans. We got a phone plan that allows us to share 800 minutes (rollover) National minutes. It was the cheapest/best deal for us. I know many people now have these kinds of plans and we are now realizing we have less need for a land line at all if we just use our mobile phones. We can be mobile and always in touch. But there is another tool we are using on occasion for talking to people that is very cost effective…

Text Chat, Voice Talk, or Video Talk for Free

Skype is a small program you download on your computer to communicate with others. It’s really amazing. We’ve been using it for several years and I am sold on it and it’s free for most of our usage.

It works like an Instant Messenger program. You add your family and friends to your contact list and then type text chats to each other. You can also create a chat room with a few contacts at the same time. We use the text chatting all the time with people around the world — and often with each other when we’re across the house (instead of shouting)!

Skype is also a VoIP program which means you can also voice chat (or video chat) with your contacts for free. And yes, you can have a voice conference call. I used this feature this week for a meeting with 3 others in Canada. Last year we used it to plan an International conference. Since they have Skype it was all free. When we were visiting our friends in Alaska, I set them up on Skype, they got a web camera, then called their family and got them on Skype and a web cam. It was awesome seeing the Grandparents in North Carolina seeing and talking to their Grandchildren in Alaska (and did I mention this service cost them nothing?)!

If you want to call someone using Skype and they don’t have Skype, you can still do that by calling their phone number. This is when you pay, but still it is dirt cheap (right now it’s $3/mth for unlimited US/Canada calls, $10/mth International).

Though the service is free, you’ll need to make sure you have a couple things first:

• For text chatting and best results have Broadband Internet
• For voice talking have a microphone & speakers or get a headset
• For video calls get a web camera that includes a microphone (and of course speakers)

I know I just gave you a lot to ponder so if you have any questions leave a comment or contact me! I’ve taught many people how to use Skype and love it. Later I’ll create a “Skype best practices” post. Leave a comment if you have some and I’ll compile them.

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Shop Online, Pickup in 24 Minutes at Circuit City

WHY? Sometimes you need an electronic now, but want to research online first.

I’m back from vacation and getting back into the swing of things. I still have a lot of tips, tools, and tutorials to share with you in the coming weeks so lets hop back into it!

Today I’m actually going to share with you a simple little tip that was the inspiration for this blog.

One day my wife and I were driving past our local Circuit City store. As we went by I just happened to mention to her, “Did you know you can buy something at circuitcity.com and pick it up within half an hour?”

“Really? See, you should blog about stuff like that! That’s pretty cool. I didn’t know that and I bet others would like to know too,” she replied.

That began the process of starting this site. And yes, it’s true you can make a purchase online and it will be ready for pickup in 24 minutes guaranteed (or you get a gift card worth $24).

I took them up on this deal once. I needed a web camera for a Monday video chat. It was Sunday afternoon and I didn’t own a web-cam. Normally I go to Amazon.com and look around, but there was no time for shipping. Instead I went to Circuit City’s site, found an inexpensive but decent web-cam, and it was ready for me when I got there about 30 minutes later.

To be clear, I’m not endorsing Circuit City over any other retailer. I’m just sayin…that’s a pretty sweet deal if you have one near you.

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Organized Bookmarks for Vacation

WHY? I’m leaving for vacation today but have found some websites I want to access while traveling.

I am going on vacation with my wife today to Alaska! We cashed in frequent flier miles and are staying with friends who live in Anchorage. We’ve tried to do this trip before but it didn’t work out. We leave Tuesday for just over a week.

I really haven’t scheduled any tips for while I’m gone so I wanted to set that expectation. However, it is possible I’ll post one or two while traveling anyway! This is another great reason to subscribe to this site so that you’ll be notified if and when something new goes up!

Now the personal stuff is out of the way, I wanted to share this little tool that I’ve been using for years. It’s a website with a strange web address: http://del.icio.us (pronounced like the word “delicious”).

Delicious is a social bookmarking website. It’s very similar to saving websites in your browser favorites/bookmarks, but instead all the sites you save are online in your account. Now I realize there are sites that you may want to bookmark and not share. I have them also and I use my browser to save them.

However, there are a couple of advantages to having your bookmarks online:

• Access them from any computer with Internet access
• Organize them quickly by tagging them with relevant keywords
• Place descriptions for bookmarked sites when appropriate
• Quickly search your bookmarks
• Make your bookmarks available to others
• See what others find interesting
• View only your bookmarks from a particular tag

Let me show you what I mean by this. You can see my bookmarks at del.icio.us/orangejack. Since we’re going on vacation to Alaska, there are a few sites I wanted to save for my trip. They are all tagged “alaska“. Now if I need to access my bookmarks from any computer with Internet it will be a snap.

I use del.icio.us tags for all sorts of ongoing lists such as my wishlist, good free software, and travel in general. Think of it as a link-blog using tags (even multiple tags per bookmark) to organize them as the most recent bookmark is always at the top.

Have fun organizing your bookmarks online. There are other social bookmarking sites but I’ve been so happy with del.icio.us that I’ve not changed in about 4 years.

How have you used social or online bookmarking to help you?

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