No need to buy digital cameras anymore I suppose

I recently was hired for a job with requires that I take pictures often.  I was all set, got my Sony 7.2 MP digital camera, a nice memory stick and storage bag.  One problem, I took some pictures and they all  stunk.  This is coming from someone who knows all the adjustment dials on the camera.  Meanwhile, being stuck in this position of having to take pictures with a crappy camera, I looked for an quick alternative, my iPhone.  Amazingly it took better pictures than my dedicated camera, at a full 2MP less resolution.  If this is always going to be the case, why would anyone buy a dedicated digital camera anymore?  The cameras on smartphones are almost (in my case better) than the digital camera.   I can only imagine what the quality is of the iPhone 4S camera. 

It survived a night in the rain...

Somehow my son, Christian, took his (my old) iPhone 3GS outside and left it there overnight.  Of course it rained and rained and rained.  I had no idea that he left it out until a neighbor brought it back to me tonight.  Fortunately it was in a battery pack case, thus it was protected a bit from the rain.  The neighbor was also an iPhone user and took good care of it during the day while he had it.  The only problem, it will not turn off, a pretty acceptable problem to have after a night out in the rain.   This story reminds me of a tip that I often tell people who get their phones wet.  First, remove the battery.  Next, place it in a ziploc bag of uncooked rice (ziploc bag is important, rice naturally soaks up moisture, so if its not in a ziploc, it may soak up moisture in the air in the room and not from the phone).  You can also use Silica gel packs (you know, those white baggies that typically come packaged with your phone, or other small electronics).  Wait and wait, this should be easy, it's not working, so you have to wait.  After a couple of days you may be surprised to see that it still works.

50GB of online storage for free and for life..

There is a new service in town.  Box.net has arrived.  Similar to Dropbox, it allows you to store files online and access them from any networked connnected device.  Dropbox has there service of 2GB free, Box has 5GB for free.  They both offer tiered pricing for more storage, but until December 2, if you download the free Box.net app for your mobile device, you will be automatically upgraded to 50GB for free and for the life of the service.  50GB is usually enough to back up the content of your hard drive, so if you own a smartphone, it would be wise to sign up for the service, after all, the upgrade is free...for now

iPhone app responsible for the divorce

It was bound to happen and make news someday, but, we have a confirmed divorce as the result of an iPhone.  In New York, a suspecting husband installed a new iPhone app, Find My Friends and used it to confirm what he already suspected, a cheating spouse.  The app, when used as intended, uses GPS to locate your friends on a map, ideally with the intent of you joining them at said location.  Well, when installed on a cheating spouses phone, it can provide great evidence for a divorce proceeding, lol.  Check out more here.

Some great apps removed from Ninite

For the past couple of years I have recommended Ninite.com as a place to automate your updating of essential apps.  Well, now it's not as useful as it used to be.  Piriform, the software company that makes one of the most popular system cleaners, CCleaner, has taken their software off of Ninite.com.  I also like some of their other software such as Recuva and Defraggler.  Now you have to download and install their software separately.  If you go to Filehippo.com, you can at least download the latest version all from one site.

50% of cell phone users are spies, sort of...

Harris Interactive has just released a survey indicating that 50% of Americans use their cell phone cameras to spy on other people.  Well, it's not really spying, it's more like when we see somebody doing something stupid, we take a picture.  We all do it, I've done it.  Harris indicated the favorite "spying" activity is taking pictures of people in embarrassing clothes.  Don't think so, check out People of Walmart, a site dedicated purely to pictures taken of people in embarrassing outfits while shopping.