via youtube.com
Just some random stuff. But wait! there's more!
You do not need a license plate to drive a newly purchased vehicle directly home within Michigan within three days of purchase. Carry the assigned title with you. Never use a plate from another vehicle as a substitute.
When you receive a chat, you are notified audibly with a sound notification. Sound notifications are enabled by default in Gmail, iGoogle and orkut. Of course, you can always disable them at any time. Here's how:
In Gmail:
In iGoogle and Orkut:
Note: Disabling sound notifications in Gmail will not disable them in iGoogle and orkut (and vice versa) automatically. However, if you disable sound notifications in either iGoogle or orkut, the change will automatically reflect in the other.
| Review by Jon of Sweet-Ass-Deals |
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 Solid, dependable, quality, iPhone fits WITH my case, January 6, 2012 by J. Murphy Over the last few years I have tried several docks. My main issue with most is that my iPhone will not fit in them with a case on the phone. I have tried a few cases with various removable bottom halves for use in a dock, however they tend to be a little inconvenient and end up pealing off the bottom portion of my screen protector as a result of sliding the bottom on and off several times. My objective for a dock is that I wish to simply pop my iPhone in it while at my desk at work, still able to view its screen, taking up minimum desk space, then simply grab my iPhone when I leave my desk with minimal effort. This dock fits that bill to a T. I am currently using an iFrogs 8mm thick case and this dock accommodates it nicely without the need to remove it. At first the base/footprint seems a little larger than needed, however it adds stability and the ability to remove it from the dock with one hand since there is ample area to press the dock down with a couple fingers while pulling the iPhone up with your thumb and a finger or two. |
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This review is from: Kensington K39257US Charge and Sync Dock for iPhone, Including iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S (Electronics)
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Kensington K39257US Charge and Sync Dock for iPhone, Including iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S
In Stock |
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Please note that product prices and availability are subject to change. Prices and availability were accurate at the time this e-mail was sent; however, they may differ from those you see when you visit Amazon.com. © 2011 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Amazon, Amazon.com, the Amazon.com logo, and 1-Click are registered trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Amazon.com, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210. |
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Volkswagen turns off Blackberry email after work hours
UK unions have warned that VW-style email restrictions might not suit other companies
Volkswagen has agreed to stop its Blackberry servers sending emails to some of its employees when they are off-shift.
The carmaker confirmed it made the move earlier this year following complaints that staff's work and home lives were becoming blurred.
The restriction covers employees in Germany working under trade union negotiated contracts.
Campaigners warned that the move would not be suitable for all companies.
A spokesman for VW said: "We confirm that this agreement between VW and the company's work council exists", but would not comment further.
Under the arrangement servers stop routing emails 30 minutes after the end of employees' shifts, and then start again 30 minutes before they return to work.
The staff can still use their devices to make calls and the rule does not apply to senior management.
"We wanted to take a preventative approach to tackling the issue," said Gunnar Killian, VW's works council spokesman.
"At Volkswagen flexitime is between 0730-1745, with our new arrangement workers can only receive emails between 0700 and 1815."
Spare timeThe move follows criticism of internal emails by Thierry Breton, chief executive of the French information technology services giant, Atos. He said workers at his firm were wasting hours of their lives on internal messages both at home and at work. He has taken the more radical step of banning internal email altogether from 2014.
Last month the maker of Persil washing powder, Henkel, also declared an email "amnesty" for its workers between Christmas and New Year saying messages should only be sent out as an emergency measure.
Industry watchers say the moves reflect growing awareness of a problem.
"It's bad for the individual worker's performance being online and available 24-7. You do need downtime, you do need periods in which you can actually reflect on something without needing instantaneously to give a reaction," said Will Hutton, chair of the Big Innovation Centre at The Work Foundation.
"Secondly it has a poor impact on an individual's well-being. I think that one has to patrol quite carefully the borderline between work and non-work.
"So I can see why some firms are taking this action, the problem is that a universal response is impossible... but certainly we should have the capacity to be opted out of it rather than be opted in."
ConsultationsUnion officials in the UK have also cautioned other firms against repeating Volkswagen's move without consultation.
"The issue of employees using Blackberrys, computers and other devices out of working time is a growing one that needs to be addressed as it can be a source of stress," Trades Union Congress (TUC) secretary general Brendan Barber told the BBC.
"However other organisations will need different solutions and what works in VW may not work elsewhere.
"By working in partnership with their union, Volkswagen's policy will have the support of all their employees. Where employers simply introduce policies on their own, however well-meaning they may be, they are unlikely to be successful."
There are two ways to jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 untethered. If you are already on a tethered jailbreak, you can just download a Cydia package, and if not you will just need to run Redsn0w on your computer.NOTE: This will not work for the iPhone 4S or iPad 2, although those jailbreaks should be coming soon. Also, this will not work on iOS 5.0, so update to 5.0.1 before you try it.
Option 1: Already Jailbroken Tethered
If you already have a tethered jailbreak, just reload your data in Cydia and search for the package “Corona”. Install it and you jailbreak should now be untethered.
Option 2: Not Jailbroken
This will probably be the case for most people, and means that you have not had any jailbreak applied to your device. If this is so, jsut follow the directions below to jailbreak your device untethered.
Step 1: Download the latest version of Redsn0w (0.9.10 beta 1) from here.
Step 2: Open Redsn0w. You should see this screen:
Step 3: Select “Jailbreak”. You should now be at this screen:
Step 4: Plug your device into the computer and turn it off. Then click “Next >”.
Step 5: Follow the on screen directions to put your device into DFU mode. Your screen should look like this:
Step 6: Let Redsn0w complete the process, and you should be done! Leave a comment telling us how it worked for you, and subscribe to our newsletter below to be notified if and when the jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is released.
Charlie Wood is the CEO and founder of Spanning, makers of Spanning Backup for Google Apps. For years Wood has worked closely with the Google Apps team and possesses unique insights into the Google ecosystem for businesses. You can read more by Wood here.
For more than five years now, people have speculated about a not-so-secret Google product called Google Drive, or GDrive for short.
If you look closely, plenty of evidence reinforces that Google Drive is real and its release could, in fact, be imminent. With every leaked GDrive screenshot, test page or UI element, we creep closer to the product’s official launch, expected any time now. Heck, even Microsoft announced its Dropbox competitor.
Cloud storage is no longer in the early adopter phase. Businesses have adopted Google Apps so wholeheartedly that it only makes sense for Google to capitalize on this chunk of the market.
All the hype and excitement aside, Google will need to overcome some serious challenges if it’s going to succeed. Here are five things Google needs to do to make GDrive a success and to tap multiple markets in the coming year.
1. Google Apps Users are Already Using a “GDrive” – Keep it Intact
The earliest rumors define Google Drive: “With infinite storage, we can house all user files, including: emails, web history, pictures, bookmarks, etc and make it accessible from anywhere (any device, any platform, etc).”
But my company’s data suggests that businesses are already leveraging Google Docs to store critical files and data safely in the cloud, some of which is native to Google, but most of it actually is not.
In fact, 53.2% of the files backed-up by users in our sample were non-native files – mainly PDFs, songs, movies, photos and Microsoft Office Files. The rest (46.8%) were “native” Google files created in Google Apps — spreadsheets, presentations and word processing docs.
Google is no stranger to this behavior, and I’d argue that the company already has a very clear understanding of what’s at stake by owning the prevailing file system in the cloud. Other players like Dropbox, Microsoft’s Docs and iCloud are all contending for the same title. Believe or not, Google has essentially been in this business even longer — the company just never called the service by the same name.
The reason a prevailing system has yet to be fully realized is due to the difficult task of engineering a highly extensible storage infrastructure with a dead-simple user interface.
Google needs to take a close look at Google Apps user behavior when storing files, and make sure GDrive leverages the same strengths as the existing Google Apps setup. The company also need to integrate GDrive with Google Apps in a way that doesn’t cannibalize or interfere with existing workflows.
2. A Simple Desktop-Cloud-Mobile Sync that “Just Works”
If Google nails the desktop-to-cloud and mobile-to-cloud sync, it will be crowned king of cloud files. Think iCloud for the rest of us.
In order to pull this off, Google needs to build in support for Android devices, Chrome browsers and the ChromeOS. Outside of Google properties, we’ll require virtual drive extensions for Windows, Mac and Linux. If Google Drive is ubiquitous and seamless between the cloud and our devices, it will undoubtedly snatch up the majority market share for businesses.
With Dropbox valued at $4 billion and reportedly generating tens of millions in revenue per year, I’m confident its business looks like an appetizing snack for Google. Dropbox’s simplicity makes up the majority of the secret sauce, but Google can crush it if it keeps Google Drive dead-simple and pairs it with excellent sync capabilities.
But syncing anything is notoriously difficult and buggy, and it absolutely must “just work.” If not, the whole idea is a non-starter. Google Drive needs to be so effortless that anyone can use it without thinking too hard, and Google has long been one of the best at keeping things clean and intuitive. If it’s so straightforward that everyone can use it, they will.
3. Google+ Integration for Consumers, Google Apps Integration for Business Users
Google+ is still finding its place among the social networks. Consequently, brands and businesses continue to experiment with the platform. Recently, Google integrated Google+ data into Google Apps, a nice gesture towards consumer data ownership, but highly influential for businesses.
Think about it: At work, we would be able to share with sub-organizations, groups and circles from Google Apps domains. Yes, please build that. GDrive, if integrated well with Google+, could be the mesh that binds Google Apps and Google+ together to make an incredibly powerful, full-featured business collaboration platform. At this point, Google merely needs to stitch the various pieces together.
4. Picasa, Google+ Photos and Google Music Integration
Our photos and music already live on Google services — why shouldn’t they also exist in top-level folders on my Google Drive? By allowing me to upload photos and music to Google Docs, Google is forcing me to fragment my files and determine their intent. It would make more sense to consolidate and store all my files into one place, regardless of where it’s uploaded.
Amazon does this nicely with Amazon Cloud Drive and MP3 purchases. I shouldn’t have to think about which Google application in which to store specific stuff. They should all be in easy-to-access folders within my Google Drive.
If GDrive is one storage location to rule them all, it will become the hub of my digital life, not to mention, amplify the value of all the other Google services I use. Google needs to address this opportunity in the first release; otherwise, the company risks losing the market’s attention.
5. More Free Storage, Then Current Pricing for Extra Storage
Google Docs currently includes a satisfactory 1GB free storage. Google should bump that to at least 5GB in order to compete with Amazon Cloud Drive and iCloud (Dropbox starts at 2GB free storage). Microsoft’s brand new SkyDrive provides 25GB. That’s the kind of offer that makes people pay attention. Of course, Google could retain its current pricing for extra storage — $5 per year for 20GB, and $100 per year for 400GB.
Regardless, pricing will be a key factor for businesses and consumers alike. By maintaining current pricing, Google has the opportunity to substantially undercut Dropbox (where $100 per year only gets you 50GB).
In truth, businesses will gladly pay the existing storage prices, particularly if the above integrations are in place. But a little price reduction will go a long way in making up for Google’s late market entry.
Conclusion: It Could Be Awesome In A Google Drive World
All wish lists aside, Google Drive has the potential to introduce a ubiquitous drive exists for both consumer and commercial use, which would accelerate the way by which we find, discover, consume and share valuable data. Not to mention, it would enable much more (and better) sharing from all the other Google services we already use.
Our files, data and content are the lifeblood of every application and service we use for work and personal entertainment. If Google Drive can pull off the above five features, it won’t just own the applications and services that millions of people rely on every day, it will own the mesh that holds it all together.
The sum is worth much, much more than its parts here. This could be the keystone of business computing in the cloud era.
Dropbox, Box.net and Apple still can’t compete on all those fronts, which means Google has an enormous opportunity to capitalize on multiple business and consumer computing markets.
Here’s hoping they can pull it off.
This gift is better to give AND receive.
We’re only a few days away from Christmas, and while not everyone celebrates that particular holiday, this time of year is a cause for celebration for many all over the world. It’s a time for reflection, a time for companionship and a time for giving.
The Western world tends to get really caught up in the giving part — or more accurately, the receiving part. That’s not something that can be deterred easily. Getting people to be more into the giving than receiving is a tough sell. It can be done, but it takes a lot on the part of many to break through.
But what if that sell could be much easier? What if I told you that the one giving the gift could also receive the same gift in kind — and yet it would be completely different than the one they gave? Better still, what if I told you that this gift is the ultimate holiday gift?
Now that I’ve got your attention, I’ll tell you.
The ultimate holiday gift is attention.
How is attention the ultimate holiday gift?
- Attention is valuable, but only if it is paid.
- Attention is free, but also has a price.
- Attention is short-term, but can have long-term impact.
The Value of Attention
When you pay attention to someone or to something, you add value to it. Whether it is a family member or friend, a piece of software or a work project — when you give it your full attention it increases in value. And not just for the person or “thing” receiving it. You receive the value as well.
That value can be returned in knowledge, expertise, love, gratitude and — yes — even monetarily. The key to determining the value rests in how much of your attention you give. The more you give, the more you get.
How do you give more attention? By connecting and disconnecting. Connect as fully as possible with the person or thing you want to give attention to and disconnect from everything else. This doesn’t need to — and shouldn’t — be permanent. But it does need to happen in those moments.
The currency of attention is time. How much you want to spend is up to you, but remember that quality is always more valuable than quantity when you’re dealing with “time economics”.
The Freedom of Attention
Attention can be given and taken freely. It can also be applied when giving gifts other than attention.
For example, you can start planning now — or giving attention to — those who you want to give gifts to next holiday season. Rather than wait until it must have your attention (and likely less than full attention at that), you can take small moments to build up the list of people and corresponding gifts throughout the year. This means you’ll be better prepared going into next year and don’t need to focus on holiday shopping in the six weeks leading up to Christmas. It also means you won’t forget anyone that might not make the cut due to simple forgetfulness or a constrained budget.
The end result is a less stressful holiday season, which is better for everyone. And you’re able to do that by giving attention to a list like this over a longer timespan and taking your attention away from it whenever you want because you’re on top of it.
The Span of Attention
Even when you offer your attention for a short period of time, the effects of that full attentiveness can have a big impact over the long term.
You may work really hard on a small project and leave everything else in the dust over a 2 week period. Then when the project is finished you move your attention back to other things while that project begins to live a life of its own. A book that you might decide to write and self-publish or an app you’ve developed would be perfect examples. As these items sell, you’ll make money over the long-term because they have a longer shelf life than the time you spent giving them your utmost attention.
Relationships can benefit from both short and long term attention. Client relationships for small projects may only last a few weeks, but they’ll have a lasting impact on both them and your reputation. Longer term relationships with family and friends can be handled by giving attention to the little things (occasional phone calls/emails, connecting on social networks, etc.) and also the larger things. But the bottom line is that in order to have a give and take happening with attention, you need to be as fully engaged as possible.
The Power of Attention
Attention is the ultimate gift, but it is also the hardest one for many of us to offer. In a world where our attention can be easily taken away from us and to things and people that don’t warrant it, we must actually pay attention to, well…attention.
Which means that attention is the ultimate gift you can give not just to others, but to yourself as well.
I’m wondering how many of you were able to give this piece your full attention while reading it. Did you shift away from it? Was it because I couldn’t hold your attention or that you couldn’t (or wouldn’t) give it? I’d be interested to know in the comments.
(Photo credit: Christmas. Gift woman showing beautiful red gift box. via Shutterstock)
Mike Vardy is a writer, speaker, and "productivityist". You can follow him on Twitter, listen to him regularly on his podcast, ProductiVardy, and read more from him at MikeVardy.com and at Vardy.me.
Sometimes the Home button on the iPhone just starts getting a little funky, a little laggy, a bit unresponsive.
Most of the time, those issues are software based, unless of course you’ve dropped your iPhone in water while feeding your pet fish.
For us non-fish owners, we’ve confirmed that a simple recalibration is usually all that’s needed to fix most issues with the iPhone’s Home button. Take a look at our video tutorial inside…
How to Recalibrate Your iDevice’s Home Button
Step 1: Open a stock app, like Weather or Stocks.
Step 2: Press and hold your power button until “slide to power off” appears and release.
Step 3: Press and hold your Home button until the “slide to power off” goes away, and the app force quits. Your iPhone’s Home button should now be more responsive, because it has been recalibrated.
I realize this is a known trick that’s been floating around for some time, but I just used it myself personally for the first time and I got good results. What about you?
