Listingly Web App that allows you to share Lists

While I was getting ready to go out and do our weekly grocery shopping this morning I started transferring my written paper shopping list on my TODO list on my iPhone I started talking to my lovely wife about what I was doing.

Now, if anyone knows Kathy she is very much a list person. She loves lists. and when she commented on whether she had a Todo or list program on her iPhone it got me to thinking that it would be nice to have an application that we could share the information back and forth on our iPhones that we would also have access from a web browser as well. This is my big thing, I want to have all of my data where and when I can get at it from most any device I sit down with or touch.

So I sat down and began the search for the golden chalice. listingly is what I finally decided on. I failed to find anything that was a web based app and had a standard iPhone app as well but I was pleasantly surprised how well listingly works through Safari.

Once you have signed yourself up you will want to edit or add your own lists to your account. This has to be done using your computer but once you have your list setup and shared you can easily add items, subtract items and manage your list from either the iPhone or your computer screen. You will use your computer for setting up your lists primarily, and your iPhone for working with the lists.

Your account comes predefined with three lists, grocery, wish list and to do list. It uses your first name to define the owner of the list so the wish list is named in my case, Bobs Wishlist. This is something that you will want to make sure that you put on your list in case you share the list with someone, it will make it easier for them to know where the list originated. When creating a list you will choose a name, pick one of four types of lists:

• Grocery (Smart List) – This type of list allows the site to remember items that can be added back into the list over and over again as your need for them recurs. It will also help you build your list by auto suggesting items based on what you are typing. You can also categorize by adding a comma and entering a term for your categorization. For my grocery list I used the aisle names to group the grocery items together to make it easier to get all the items from the same area.
• Free Style List – use this list item for just general lists. You can still categorize the list the same way as listed above. And as in all the lists you are able to add a note to your list item to give yourself more info about the listed item.
• Wish List
• To Do List – has an extra field for you to add a due date for each item.

To add button on your iPhone to go directly to your lists, press the plus symbol at the bottom of the screen (image #1), then press the button for Add to Home Screen (image #2), name your new icon (image #3) and position it on your iPhone where you would like it to show up (image #4).

This is a shareware product and if you find that you are using it and want to help with the continued programming and possibly new features, you should consider helping the cause by donating some money to the author.

Good luck with this, and have fun!

Quick overview of the AutoStitch Program

I need to apologize for the resolution of the video but it will give you an idea of how to run through the stitching of your iPhone pictures. I am still working on coming up with a good video capture routine for the times that I want to capture things I am doing with my hands in close quarters. I had hoped that the Flip had better macro focus then it does. It could have been a problem with light levels as well. I’ll keep playing and we will see what happens. I wanted the HD capabilities of the Flip but if I need to drop back to my Canon then I will. We have some new Canon Video Cameras at the store that I will probably try out as well. Again. it is the macro capability that I need to work with.

 

The completed image is shown below:

AutoStitch on your iPhone

I threw this image up on our family site and I thought once I started looking at it that this application might be of general interest to those who happen to have an iPhone and also enjoy using your iPhone to capture special events.  I find myself at times, being in a situation that presents an image of something I would like to share that is panoramic and nature.  If I were to take only one shot it would not capture the total experience that I am viewing.  Here is a great example of a scene that if I had taken just one image would not have portrayed what I was seeing.  There are not a lot of controls that you can use when taking a picture with your iPhone. With this tool in your bag you can take multiple images and then stitch them back together as a single image. AutoStitch is the application I use to accomplish this on my iPhone.  The image below is made up of 31 separate pictures.  I missed a few snaps in the lower left but the rest of the images  turned out really well.  So, if you have an iPhone and you find yourself in a situation where you want to be able to capture a panoramic view, think about downloading this application. It’s a whopping $2.99 to buy and I think it is well worth it.

Tricks: How I worked around Mozy’s NAS device limitation

So the other day I went ahead and signed up for the MozyHome backup subscription, and when I began setting up what I wanted to have backed up I immediately found out that I was unable to back up any files are located on my NAS (Network Attached Storage) device.  Now, I use my NAS box has the central point where I store all of my shared files on my Home Network.  I have a USB drive attached two my NAS box that automatically backs up all of my files on this device, locally, but I also wanted to have offsite backup of these files as well.

My primary interest was in my digital photographs, I have never lost any pictures but I don't want to ever have to suffer that anguish.  So I was looking for simple way to work around this problem and I came up with setting up the scheduled task that runs xcopy with a few switches after it to make it functional and quick after the initial transfer.  Luckily, Mozy works with USB drives that are attached to your computer, and I currently have a 1 TB USB drive attached to my system that I haven't filled up yet so I setup a simple xcopy command that will back up any files that have not changed in my picture directory to my USB drive.  This also gives new one extra copy of my picture files locally as another backup.

xcopy L:\share\pictures\*.* e:\Pictures /d /s /v /c /j

Switch Definitions I used…

• /D:m-d-y     Copies files changed on or after the specified date. If no date is given, copies only those files whose source time is newer than the destination time.
• /S           Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
• /V           Verifies the size of each new file.
• /C           Continues copying even if errors occur.
• /J           Copies using unbuffered I/O. Recommended for very large files.

XCopy command structure and full set of switches:

Copies files and directory trees.

XCOPY source [destination] [/A | /M] [/D[:date]] [/P] [/S [/E]] [/V] [/W]
                           [/C] [/I] [/Q] [/F] [/L] [/G] [/H] [/R] [/T] [/U]
                           [/K] [/N] [/O] [/X] [/Y] [/-Y] [/Z] [/B]
                           [/EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...]

  source       Specifies the file(s) to copy.
  destination  Specifies the location and/or name of new files.
  /A           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
               doesn't change the attribute.
  /M           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
               turns off the archive attribute.
  /D:m-d-y     Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
               If no date is given, copies only those files whose
               source time is newer than the destination time.
  /EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...
               Specifies a list of files containing strings.  Each string
               should be in a separate line in the files.  When any of the
               strings match any part of the absolute path of the file to be
               copied, that file will be excluded from being copied.  For
               example, specifying a string like \obj\ or .obj will exclude
               all files underneath the directory obj or all files with the
               .obj extension respectively.
  /P           Prompts you before creating each destination file.
  /S           Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
  /E           Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.
               Same as /S /E. May be used to modify /T.
  /V           Verifies the size of each new file.
  /W           Prompts you to press a key before copying.
  /C           Continues copying even if errors occur.
  /I           If destination does not exist and copying more than one file,
               assumes that destination must be a directory.
  /Q           Does not display file names while copying.
  /F           Displays full source and destination file names while copying.
  /L           Displays files that would be copied.
  /G           Allows the copying of encrypted files to destination that does
               not support encryption.
  /H           Copies hidden and system files also.
  /R           Overwrites read-only files.
  /T           Creates directory structure, but does not copy files. Does not
               include empty directories or subdirectories. /T /E includes
               empty directories and subdirectories.
  /U           Copies only files that already exist in destination.
  /K           Copies attributes. Normal Xcopy will reset read-only attributes.
  /N           Copies using the generated short names.
  /O           Copies file ownership and ACL information.
  /X           Copies file audit settings (implies /O).
  /Y           Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /-Y          Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /Z           Copies networked files in restartable mode.
  /B           Copies the Symbolic Link itself versus the target of the link.
  /J           Copies using unbuffered I/O. Recommended for very large files.

The switch /Y may be preset in the COPYCMD environment variable.
This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line.

Interesting Insight into your Win7 System – GodMode Folders

Just finished an interesting article in TechRepublic by Mark Kaelin that discusses a hidden feature in Windows 7 that provides some extra control over your Windows 7 Operating System. The first one that I looked at is called the Monster Control Panel that provides access to 278 items that you can tweak on your system. Microsoft creates these undocumented shortcuts to make it easy for them to test systems.

File Folder Format

To create one of these GodMode files manually, create a New Folder in Windows Explorer, and when it asks for a folder name, type in a name followed by a period and then one of the codes. The resulting file folder will take on the characteristics associated with the code. For example: Monster Control Panel.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

 

Here are 17 other folders that you can create as well.

Monster Control Panel	{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Enter a default location	{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
Use biometric devices with Windows	{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
Select a power plan	{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
Select which icons and notifications appear on taskbar	{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
Store credentials for automatic logon	{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
Install a program from the network	{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
Choose the programs that Windows uses by default	{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
Assembly Cache Viewer	{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
Manage wireless networks	{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
Network	{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Computer	{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Devices and Printers	{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
RemoteApp and Desktop Connections	{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
Windows Firewall	{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
Windows Explorer	{62D8ED13-C9D0-4CE8-A914-47DD628FB1B0}
System	{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

Hope you find this as interesting as I did.

Video Conferencing on the Cheap

Skype has been around for a long time now and I find that it still is an essential tool in my arsenal daily used applications. It works into our environment at the office even more because our main service ticketing system utilizes will make use of it to dial out from the customer contact pages. It gained even more of my appreciation this past Friday when I spent most of the afternoon in video conference with our public relations person. We have been working on prepping for this weeks video projects about CES and were able to work online, with full video and sound and sharing files back and forth between our computer systems while in our separate offices. Not that this is something recently available, it was just that it was geeky neat! We were able to easily bring different people into our office and review captured video and each of were able to process the work that we each needed to complete and share with each other.

Items needed: Skype Account, Computer, Web Camera, an Internet connection and someone with the same basic setup. If you are connecting computer to computer your Skype account is free. If you want some of the other basic features that are available from Skype like calling to a non-Skype user or a land line, or having a Skype Phone Number then these services make Skype that much more useable.

How do you map a network subdirectory as a mapped drive in Windows 7?

Here is a simple video showing you how to map a network drive in Windows 7

New iPhone App for publishing to your SquareSpace Blog

This is my first posting made from my iPhone to my SquareSpace blog. Of course, I can't possibly type as fast on this keyboard as I do on my PC, but if you are on the road and you want to put something up, this seems pretty simple to do.

It provides a rolling list of all your categories, you can adjust the publishing date and time, and you can add pictures on the fly either from your stored images or you can take one on the fly. One drawback on the photos, I don't see any formatting capabilities like I have with LiveWriter. I know, picky, picky.

You can save your post as a works-in-progress or post it up very simply. And, if you have multiple sites you can set them all up and have them handy. I'll work up some screen shots when I do my follow up.

Close All Windows

When I get the call in the evening telling me that it is time to come home, I want to drop what I am doing, close down my machine and get moving. So… a little help to find all the open programs and get them closed down more efficiently is a great boon to my life. If you are running Windows 7 you  have probably fallen in love with the Taskbar once you have gotten used to it but when you are closing down it is a little hard to see what all you still have open. In comes Close All Windows [NTWind Software via Addictive Tips]. Download this application and then Pin it to your Taskbar. Now one click and all your applications will close. If you have unsaved documents you will still be prompted to save so don’t worry about losing work. It doesn’t use any system resources, great!, all it does is send a close signal to all of your open windows.

You can use this with earlier versions of Windows if you add this program to your Quick Launch Bar. Works great.

iPhone Tethering

AT&T still hasn’t provided us with tethering to the iPhone and if you are tired of waiting and are willing to jailbreak your special friend here is  a link to Adam Pash and MobileCrunch for details.

Adam Pash writes:

The multi-step process isn't all that difficult, but you'll want to set aside a little bit of time. In the brief overview, enabling tethering works like so:

1. Jailbreak your iPhone with blackra1n (available for Windows and Mac).
2. Unlock your phone with blacksn0w—which you can do through the blackra1n icon on your iPhone post-jailbreak.
3. Install a custom IPCC file via mobile Safari.
4. Turn on tethering in your iPhone settings.

Tutorial: How to Tether on an iPhone 3G or 3GS running OS 3.1.2 [MobileCrunch]

Google Voice Quick Reference Guide | Cool Geex

Looking for a Google Voice Quick Reference Guide jump to this site for printable cheatsheet…

Google Voice Quick Reference Guide | Cool Geex

Syncing Contacts from Outlook to Gmail

Question for ya. I’d like to import all of my outlook contacts to my Gmail but I can’t seem to find the CSV or vCard files on my C drive. Any hints on where to look???

Answer: The process is pretty simple if you have ever played with the import/export feature of Outlook. Google requires a CSV or vCard file to upload a contact or contact list into Gmail from your Outlook database. Here’s a quick overview of the process. You are limited to one contact at a time.

Creating a CSV file of your contacts will cause you to create a file of all the contacts that in the folder that you are exporting. If you want to limit the contacts that you are planning to import into Gmail then you will want to place a copy of the contacts you want to export into a temporary contact folder before running the export function. Then you will need to import that CSV file back into Gmail. Here is another quick video showing this process.

How to use Windows 7 Upgrade Packages

There have been a lot of questions about whether you need to purchase a full install package or an upgrade package when upgrading your machine to Windows 7. You will be able to perform a full install if you go through the custom settings so don’t hesitate buying the Upgrade Package and save the money if you already have a previous Vista or WinXP package on your machine. For more detail on procedures and lots of answers to nagging questions take a look at the following two blog posts:

Finally, some answers to Windows 7 upgrade questions

by Ed Bott TechRepublic

Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

by Paul Thurrott SuperSite for Windows

TechRepublic Windows 7 Installation Flowchart

For all you techies out there that want a little helping hand to make sure your are covering all of your bases for your Windows 7 upgrade/installation, take a look at this article/flowchart by Rick Vanover that will guide you through each decisional step. Included in the zip file is both a .vsd (Visio) and .pdf documents showing the same information. Choose the one that will work best for you. The .vsd will allow you to make your own changes to the information that you need for more detail in the process that you determine works best for you.

The 10 most useful Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com

I’m sure we are going to see a lot of these “10 of”  articles coming out. Here a couple of keyboard shortcuts that can help you speed through screens and programs in Windows 7.

The 10 most useful Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com

Microsoft Tag Beta

Microsoft is working on a new barcode implementation that is designed to be used with your cell phone’s camera. Called Microsoft Tag it is pegged as a system designed for the way you live your life, this new system puts a new twist on the way you view barcode designs.

To the right you see a square that if you take a picture of this will send you to my blog site.

What do you need to get started? First you need a phone that has a camera and that the software has been written for. If available download it to your phone. I have an iPhone and to acquire the free program and install it all I did was  go to the page that allows you to send a text message to your phone, type in the phone number for your phone, and press the send button. It will analyze what phone you have and if there is an app available for it take you to the appropriate link to download and install. You can also go to http://gettag.mobi to see a list of phones that are supported and download the software from that site.

The next thing that you will want to do is make a tag.  Press the Make a Tag button and you will go to your personalized tag management screen. Make a tag and save it to multiple image formats. Now place it in a document, on your website or anywhere that you want someone to be able to click a picture and access the information that you programmed into your tag.

The possibilities are limitless. Using this process you can make it easy for people reading your advertising, billboards, product packages, information signs, in-store merchandising or video images to launch into more detail on their phones. Link to videos, websites, promotional information that will give users more in depth information or practical information. Your imagination is the limit.

How to sign documents with the Tablet PC

Electronic Signatures With the Tablet PC

The vocabulary of digital signatures is a bit confusing.  The term "digital signature" refers to a certificate administered by a trusted third party, certificate authority, similar technology. The term "e-signature" refers to a digitized signature created with a stylus and digital ink.

Digital signatures are not supported by TheraWriter.PT, however using a Tablet PC or a graphic file of a signature, e-signatures can be hand written onto the document.  The below example shows how to sign a document using the Tablet PC.  To use the electronic ink, Microsoft Word 2003 or above is required.  Also, TheraWriter.PT's editor must be setup to use the external editor.  To change from the internal to external editor, please refer to the following article. 

1. Start by generating a report from TheraWriter.PT Documentation.
2. Microsoft Word 2003 will launch.
3. Locate the ink toolbar.  The ink toolbar will look similar to the following:
   
4. Select a pen from the toolbar. 
   
5. Finally scroll to the signature line at the bottom of the report.  Sign the report using normal hand writing on the line itself.  (Don't use the Tablet PC writing pad)
   
6. Save and lock the report as normal.

Windows 7 Upgrade Options from HP

HP has a site to guide you through the eligibility and upgrade process for you to upgrade your HP computer that you purchased (June 26,2009 – Jan 31, 2009). Check your model eligibility, and if you qualify you can order the Win7 Upgrade Kit. If you don’t meet HP’s eligibility requirements, you may be able to upgrade to Windows 7 upon public availability. Click on the more info link to see what will be involved.

Read Before you Order

HP has contracted with a third party company to fulfill the Windows® 7 Upgrade Option Program from HP. Orders will be accepted June 26, 2009 until February 15, 2010. Proof of purchase must be submitted and postmarked no later than March 1, 2010. You will receive your Windows ® 7 Upgrade Kit after Windows ® 7 becomes publicly available October 22, 2009. For additional information, please read Know Before You Upgrade

If eligibility requirements are not met, you may be able to upgrade to Windows ® 7 upon public availability.

Windows 7 Search Features

When asked for some compelling reasons for moving to Window 7 one of the newer features that has vastly expanded in Windows 7 over Vista is the search capabilities. In Vista I loved how the search indexed all your documents, files and Outlook items to make it easy to search for information on your system. I am a hoarder when it comes to programs and data so it is important for me to be able to easily find and access data everyday. I use a lot of these features constantly and once you watch the video below you will see why you want to spend a little extra time updating the metadata on your pictures, videos and music files as well.

http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/ch9/4/0/3/5/3/4/Windows7FindSearchOrganize_ch9.mp4

A new feature in WIndows 7 called Federated Search gives you the ability to search external sources as well. This can be within your organization with data found on different servers or different SharePoint searches. But there are scripts that you can install for accessing much more. These are put together using search connectors that you can download.

There are already few search connectors available for download:

• Neowin Connector (Created by -Hiroshi-, more information)
• Flickr Search Connector
• YouTube Search Connector
• Google News Search Connector
• Google Blogs Search Connector
• Twitter Search Connector
• MSN Search
• Deviant Art Search

In Part 2 of Search and Find this video shows and talks about how this works.

http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/ch9/1/8/4/5/3/4/FindOrganizePart2_ch9.mp4

Expanding your horizons on using you USB flash drive

If you have multiple computers that you need to share data between quickly and easily then I am sure you have probably already used a flash drive for this purpose. While I lean more towards on cloud storage to move data between machines especially in different locations, I still find this one use of a flash drive to be extremely valuable. Bill Detwiler, Head Technology Editor at Tech Republic, has put together a little video that talks about some other uses for a USB flash drive that you may not have thought about.

---