I get asked a lot about MMS on the iPhone an dhow to make it work with Tmobile. The solution used to be a bit convoluted but the most recent work around works smoothly and results are great.

I used to direct people to help.benM.at (enter this address into Safari on your iPhone) to enable MMS and tethering on their iPhone. The big advantage to this site is that it can help you get the correct carrier profiles for just about any carrier worldwide. With the profile installed you were then directed to add your specific carrier details such as:

APN wap.voicestream.com or internet2.voicestream.com
MMSC 216.155.174.84/servlets/mms
MMS Proxy 216.155.165.50:8080

Restart your phone and voila you have native MMS and tethering enabled.

The problem here is that Tmobile doesn’t officially support the iPhone and the servers that send out MMS to your phone wont recognize the iPhone. So they do what is in your best interest. The servers shrink you message down to the smallest possible size (a thumbnail in this case). Yeah, you get your message but it isn’t very clear when you enlarge it to view. The fix is even simpler than previously used methods and the end result are clear MMS images on your iPhone.

You’ll need to enter into Cydia>Sections>Tweaks and scroll down to the Tmobile section.

Here you will need to locate (currently 2nd in the ‘T’ section) T-Mobile US-Postpaid. This tweak adds the Tmobile carrier profile to your iPhone, the MMSC and Proxy and adjusts a line in a .plist on your iPhone to make it look like a blackberry when receiving MMS. After you install and then reboot the iPhone, you will still need to enter the correct APNs from above but that’s it. You can now send and receive MMS like every other phone out there.

By the way, if you are one of the unlucky that had MMS only to find it failing for the past couple months in getting this message form Tmobile

“the media content was not included due to a picture resolution or message size restriction”

then this method will also work for you also.

 

If you have an iPod or an iPhone, you may have had a need at some point to copy your music files back to the computer. Most commonly this is due to a replaced hard drive and other times it just is more convenient to plug your device in to move a large music library.

This weekend I found that I needed (really just wanted) to pull a few songs off an iPod I had synched with a previous computer. I happily found some lost music I thought was gone forever when my last computer past away. So I did what everyone does when they don’t have the answer..I Googled for a solution. I came across many posts and web pages dedicated to this task.

The first solution I came across from metaphoric labs in a post titled 5 Ways to copy music OFF your iPod (Windows / Mac OS X). The title is self-explanatory but I did use one tool that it linked me too called iPodDisk This tool proved to be easy to use and straight forward by allowing me to browse the connected iPod in my Finder window via album and artist categories. This did the trick for me but then I started to wonder about getting music off my iPhone. Turns out..not as easy of a task but not impossible.

For Windows users, Elena Santos over at onsoftware.com provides easy to follow directions for dusitng off that copy of winamp on your pc and a simple pllug-in you can download. The plug-in allows winamp to communicate wiht the iPhone and all music can be downloaded or uploaded.

For Mac users, like myself, I didn’t find any free elegant solutions. I found one that involved SSH and a reminder of a little piece of software I hadn’t used in years called Senuti. You can download a demo version from the developer. The cost for this app is $18 but is definitely worth the price for its simplicity and utility.

 

I had to take an iPhone part today and had to reference some direction via the web to figure just how to do it. For step by step that you can print out head on over to ifixit.com, for those visually inclined then here is a great instructional video.

 

I was tipped off to this link from Twitter the other day and wanted to share it with you.  It’s a simple web page with the sole purpose of turning your text upside down like sıɥʇ.

You simply type what you want to flip in a text box, click on ‘flip’ and below you have text you can then copy into any application you want.  I use it confuse my friends in emails and on Twitter.

Have fun but don’t get too crazy with it

twitter,text flip,upside down

 

So I talked about this back when there was a lot of whispering going on about the 3G iPhone and AT&T taking over Starbucks WiFI service.  At the time it was rumored that iPhone users and ATT wireless subscribers would be able to get 2 hours of free WiFi access at all Starbuck locations.  At some point between then and now, the service did roll out but was dropped within a couple days.  That was the last I had heard about this until I just happened to be going through the Starbucks web site looking for free samples (who doesn’t want a coupon for a free sample?)

It looks like ATT made good on what it promised and even expanded the offering to included any Starbucks customer.  The only caveat is you must have one of those Starbucks cards (big deal, they’re free) and have had to of used it in the past 30 days.

OK, so maybe this isn’t news to you but it might be to someone you know so pass the word.  I certainly didn’t know, so now I have to head on out to my Starbucks and contemplate the possibility of universal WiFI in my community

 

I’m definitely no poster boy for the green movement but I do drive less, think about what I’m buying at the grocery store and leave store without the complimentary shopping bag when I can.  I recycle more than I ever have before and try to buy products that can be recycled and have minimal packaging.  This leads me to the topic du’jour:  What to do with all these old text books.  I’ve been out of college for sometime and amassed quite a collection of books, I figured I would reference at some point (from some research, this seems to be a common idea).  Although, I have looked at them a couple times over the past few years, there has certainly been no burning need to have them.  Especially with Google at my fingertips.  So I pulled them all a side and decided I was going to get rid of them.  My dilemma was what to do with them since I didn’t just want to throw them in the garbage.

My first thought was to donate them to the library but after a little research and reality setting in, I realized that the books were really too old to be of use to that organization.  I then thought maybe GoodWill but the same problem existed.  "How about selling htem on Amazon?" (effectively, recycling them) but that too proved useless.  I did read about many different organization out West that would send them to developing countries, which sounded great.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any economical way of getting them the books.  Funny thing is in my area there just doesn’t seem to be anything one can do with these well aged volumes of knowledge, which seems strange as I am surrounded by universities.

At my wits end on figuring out what to do with them, I dropped them off with my paper recycling center.  The funny thing is a few hours later I see this post on Twitter from Guy Kawasaki.

One click and in front of my eyes were 10 things I could have done with all these artifacts from my collegiate youth.  Alas, it was too late for me but maybe not for you. What have you done with your old text books?

 

I just finished a project for a client’s marketing campaign.  My part had to do with the creation of a post card and my client provided the basics of what he wanted and an address list of who he wanted it to go to.  I came up with the design of the postcard and then set about on deciding who to use to produce the 1000 pieces needed.  The first printer to come to mind was VistaPrint.

I’ve used VistaPrint in the past and have always ben happy with the finished product and more importantly, with the customer service. Off I went to VistaPrint to place my order.  First I selected the right size postcard to fit what I had designed.  Next, I uploaded my design that was in Adobe Illustrator format.  VistaPrint lets you design and upload your own images in popular formats like Illustrator, Photoshop and PDF.  I recommend the Illustrator as you always get the best quality from the rasterized graphics.  They also can provide you with a free downloadable template so you know for sure that your design meets their printing guidelines for whatever project you are working on.  After a brief automated guideline check I was presented with a the option to order and have the postcards mailer dot me or to upload a mailing list. 

The mailing list option is relatively new and allows you to upload a CSV file with the names and address of intended recipients.  VistaPrint can at this point produce your mailer with addresses printed and send to you for mailing or they can take care of the postage and mailing for you.  I chose the latter option for this project as I didn’t want to be bothered with printing postage or stamps for a 1000 postcards.  The mailing option from VistaPrint is actually a good deal unless you have some kind of bulk mail discount and considering the time saver it is I think it’s and incredible value.  The final step is to select the date I want the mailer to go out and pay for the order.  All in all, I would say the entire process only took a few minutes and was seamless for me.

VistaPrint produces a full line of products you can personalize from
thank you cards to t-shirts.  If you need something printed and in a relatively small quantity, there isn’t a better game in town.

 

So I typically take the weekends to reflect on the previous week and read through those not so pressing emails and catch up on blogs that I wanted to give more than a glance at. One of those emails was a newsletter that I get from a friend who happens to be a personal trainer. One topic in the letter was that on change. Yeah, when you hear ‘change’ you either cringe or you smile. In truth, I have a love/hate with change. I try to embrace it but sometime I just don’t quite make the changes I need to. Well in keeping with my new blog theme and focus (ie. blog change), I wanted to spend a few word son this topic.

First off, I think it is important to remember that change is instantaneous, so you can dis-spell with the idea that changes takes months or even years. I will admit that the hard par tis making those changes last. Or maybe, its not really that hard and its just our own expectations. Think about this :

We expect to try and fail numerous times before we ultimately give up or succeed.

How true is that? We actually go into making a change with some expectation to fail. I’m a pretty strong believer that we all create our outcomes via our own beliefs and thoughts. Thus, if you think you’ll fail…well you probably will. I know I have and yes it is hard to keep positive, especially when someone says that to you. So how do we go about making lasting change?

According to professional speaker and author, Anthony Robbins, it’s the getting ready to change that takes times. In the end there’s an instant when the change occurs. Robbins goes on to outline three specific beliefs that you must have in order to instantly create a lasting change.

Belief #1: Something must change.
Do you kind of want to get into shape or do you absolutely have to lose the weight? Does dropping a few pounds sound nice or is living another day in your current body simply out of the question? In order to make a lasting change you must be convinced that the time is right.

Belief #2: I must change it.
It is vital that you take full responsibility in making the change. Sure, others may assist you, but in the end you are the one who is going to make it happen. You have to want this change enough to make it your personal mission-no one else will do it for you.

Belief #3: I can change it.
Don’t let past failures get in your way. The truth is that you can do amazing things when you put your mind to it. Believe that you are capable of losing weight or making any other positive change in your life.

So what’s the answer? In short, I think it has everything to do with keeping in front of you why you are making the change. I keep me motivated on my blogging, I read other blogs that are where I want to be. I’m not talking about money makers but bloggers that post things that make me want to read and do so consistently. I enjoy how they engage their audience and only hope to get to that point with this blog. Anthony Robbins big deal is to associate pain with the behavior you want to change. Ultimately, we ll want to be happy and try to avoid pain at all costs (regardless of how small the pain is). In the past, I know i avoided some changes because I honestly believed there was more pain in the change than not. The reality is their is more pain in most changes, but it is very short term. Long term results are usually the opposite, more pain with not changing.

Let me leave you with this, go ahead and make that change and remember that you’ll gain infinitely more pleasure from the change than not. Feel free to share any of your thoughts on change in the comments.

 

Widgetbox.com is a one stop source for all kinds of widgets for your desktop, website or blog and wherever else you can think of putting these tasty treats. Widgets range from from fun amusement to news feeds and even calculators. Widgetbox is also a community where you are given the tools to make your own widget and share with others.

Widgetbox™ helps people express, connect, create and inform using web widgets that can be easily shared and distributed anywhere on the web. Our community of tens of thousands of widget makers and over 30 million widget users is growing every day. Widgetbox widgets have been on hundreds of thousands of websites. And, best of all, Widgetbox is free!

You ask what is a widget? I know you’ve seen them on your own blog but maybe you haven’t given it any more thought that that. To put it simply, widgets are little bite size morsels of the web. Candy coated to be easily dropped wherever you want and you better believe they wont melt in your hands either

One of the seemingly popular widgets (at least form the sites I visit) is of a virtual cat called Mauki. I decided to share something a bit different since I thought it to be pretty cool that someone put it together (see below )

So don’t hold back go get your widgets now…

 

Every where you go on the net you see these little ad boxes somewhere on a web page.  They are typically a 125×125 pixel spot and gives the owner a chance to showcase their product or web page.  Now you could use many a tool (I use Photoshop and illustrator) to make these little ads.  Not everyone has these tools available to them or maybe you just need something quick and easy.  Enter free125cards.com.  I first learned about this site over at Orangeinks and was instantly intrigued. 

The service is free and is as easy as 3 simple steps. You first select a background. You can browse all the options or you can narrow the field by selecting a base color.  Then you just need to customize by adding your own text.  This is the biggest surprise.  I was expecting just a simple add text feature but you really have some control over the text you add from the font to sizing and positioning.

Once you are happy with the design, save the image and you are presented with a completed product.  Save to your desktop and share with everyone on the net

125card,free,design tool