I have had an iPhone for over a year now and I must say that it is a great device. Today I’m posting some tips (in no particular order) of things that I have found useful and helpful. Also, I’m (trying) to post this article using the new WordPress application that is now available in the iTunes store (having some parse issues with it though).

Note that some of these tips might not work in the older version (1.x) of the iPhone software.

The Lovely iPhone 3G

Let the tips/tricks begin: …click here to read more

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While Twitter seems to be ruling the airwaves of Social Messaging Platforms, there are plenty of other services that do just as well (or better) at keeping in touch with or sending messages and status updates to your friends, colleagues and family. These services can be broken out into different segments: services that just provide status updates and ones that are considered micro-blogging. There are nuances and slight distinctions between the two but it seems like they have been blending more and more. For example, on Facebook, Plaxo, MySpace, you can post a status update and also post other messages using other components [more micro-blogging]. With LinkedIn, you are limited to simple status updates (that will probably change soon). And with other more social networking tools like Pownce, Jaiku, Twitter, Tumblr, Plurk, Identi.ca, and Brightkite, the communication takes on short (e.g., 140 character) messages where the senders can be followed or be-friended [sort of a combination of status updates and micro-blogging].

The problem is, these social messaging and communication tools are growing quickly, with new ones popping up weekly. The latest two hot ones seem to be Plurk and Identi.ca and there will most likely be a newer, “better” one soon or an enhancement to a service like FriendFeed. It is impossible to keep up with all of them, so you need to decide which one suits you better for your needs. For many, Facebook is the only option, for others Twitter via SMS/text is the fastest and most effective method. Personally, I use Twitter for most quick communications (I’m @hightechdad for those who want to follow), but I do post to other services depending on my needs (look for “hightechdad” on those as well). I use Twitter mainly as as way to communicate business messages, ask questions about technology, provide tips and tech trick, send quick personal messages to acquaintances and just generally vent about one thing or another.

However, sometimes I use two services to “bulk send” some updates and communications: Ping.fm and HelloTxt.com but I use these sparingly. You have to realize that if you send out to multiple services, you may have to go back and check each of these services individually for replies, otherwise, you might lose some replies or even your credibility. The two mentioned above have been around for a while. I tried Hello.txt last year and at that time it wasn’t moving very quickly and I moved to Ping.fm because of its integrations that it already had under its belt. Now I’m back to Hello.txt.

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My world is ruled by women! I have a lovely wife and 3 wonderful girls. So, how does one spend quality floor time with girls? I can’t say that I dress up as a princess (even if my girls would want it I don’t think I would fit in a yellow Belle dress). What is “floor time”? Basically it is a time that you spend with your child where you are truly down at their level, on the floor doing activities that they want to do. This is where you don’t structure the interaction with them and truly let them lead. It can become a bit chaotic at times and be prepared to do anything and leave a wake of disaster (e.g., destroyed rooms, for example).

While I wouldn’t trade my girls for ANYTHING in the world, sometimes it’s hard for a dad to find ways to interact and connect with his girls. So what did I do? I invented the “Daddy Spa” and don’t regret it the least! Let’s face it, girls love dressing up, putting on make-up and generally taking care of “people,” whether they be dolls or Webkinz or just each other. My girls are no different. I just integrated “Dad” into the mix.

Here’s how I do Daddy Spa:

• Give your girls a heads up - “Time for Daddy Spa” gets them going in terms of prepping the “spa”. This is good for them to set up some structure and let them be the leader and controller of the environment.
• Environment - their room (or yours) is great. My recommendation, a bed or the floor with LOTS of pillows. My girls close the shades, dim the lights and put on a sound machine of ocean waves in the background
• “Spa Activities” - there can be many, here are a few that we have found to be successful:

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Just a quick post here. Last weekend as I was installing a 3rd party app, I managed to freeze my iPhone. I could only restart the iPhone but it would freeze at the Apple logo upon each restart. So, since it had been a while since I had Jailbroken my phone, I had to find the latest and greatest iPhone Jailbreakers and Unlockers (I only Jailbreak).

With iPhone 2.0 just around the corner, some people may not be ready to jump ship and lose all of their 3rd party apps. Or, if you are thinking about selling your iPhone on eBay or something, you would want to set it back to a “reconditioned” status. Also, Jailbroken and Unlocked iPhone seem to be fetching a higher value in sales. So, if you want to stick around in the 1.1.x realm or if you want to prep your iPhone for sale, here are some apps that I found and used. Some worked better than others.

I’m going to flip this article around a bit and talk about the one that I liked the best first. You can stop reading this article after that or keep reading for curiosity’s sake.
The winner in my mind, was Liberty+ for its simplicity and easy-of-use, AND the fact that it automatically installed App Installer on the iPhone. Download is here. The reason I liked it, it just worked and was quick. I first had to Restore my iPhone in order to bring it out from a frozen state. This was done through iTunes. Once it had the standard 1.1.4 firmware on it, I simply fired up iLiberty+ and within minutes of choosing the Jailbreak option (and there are others), I had my phone Jailbroken with the App Installer installed. I did it a couple of times for good measure. A quick tip though, unselect the synching of Music and Videos, the whole process will go a lot faster.

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All kids get sick. Colds and flu’s are just part of a child’s process of building immunities for their future health. When a child is sick, it is not a fun experience for either the child or the parent. But it is part of life. It’s when an illness becomes a child’s life that is the most devastating. It is truly not fair.

I have been blessed with healthy children. Sure, I have one child with severe peanut allergies but that sort of thing is manageable through education, awareness, and training. My wife and I are always in a state of constant alert when our child goes to birthday parties, camps and schools. How do you avoid the staple that makes up a majority of kids’ daily menus…the peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Trust me, it’s not easy. But this post is not about allergies but rather about something much more serious.

Some friends of our family whose daughter is in the same kindergarten class as mine recently found out that their child has Leukemia. As of this writing it is unknown what type she has but that doesn’t really matter. It is an unjust act of Nature or God when something like this happens. This child’s family is changed forever as of this point. Anything that was the norm is now only dreams and wishes.

I must admit I know next to nothing about Leukemia, or any other life-threatening disease for that matter. Call it “living in denial” or just not focusing on things that don’t affect me. Now I think differently. It is truly devastating as a parent to have your own creation affected in this way. Of course, you could live your life in fear that this could happen to you or your child, or you could live your life to the fullest, enjoying every second of the day. Most people live somewhere in between…until you are touched by the hand of fate.

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This is a re-post of an article I wrote on the GoGrid blog.

Clouds are sexy right now. In this article, I tracked how “Cloud Computing” is becoming a hot, up and coming Google Search term. But why is it that there are so many new user communities that are conglomerating around “the cloud” versus other more traditional hosting concepts. I would say because of the social environment where this technology is emerging.

Asking the Question

Where does one learn about technology trends? How does one test it out or know if it is a match for your offering?

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Being a good dad means protecting your kids. That can be by physically keeping them from danger, or, by preventing their young innocent eyes and minds from being corrupted by seeing content that they are too young for. With technology, connectivity and communications pervading all aspects of our lives, it has become increasingly difficult to control what our children see, when they see it and how long they see it.

What can you do to protect your kids? I can offer a few possible solutions. Remember, I’m a tech-oriented dad and offer hardware and software solutions. However, I also try to educate my kids about WHY I’m restrictive. It is important to help them understand the risks and the dangerous types of people who exist on the Internet. So, the list below are just some techie things that I can recommend:

1) You can start by not allowing them to have any access to computers whatsoever. However, this isn’t very practical nowadays as teachers are requiring that kids get computer experience more and more, using computers for research and investigation. There is also the social appeal, starting earlier and earlier with Webkinz, for example and then moving to MySpace or other social networking sites. If you ban computers at home, your kids will seek them elsewhere (friends houses, school, neighbors, etc.). You probably can get away with this for a while while children are young, but not forever.

2) Use Parental Controls. I use mainly Apple computers at home for a variety of reasons. One of these is the Parental Controls that now come with the Leopard Operating System. Windows XP doesn’t really seem to have very robust (if any?) parental controls and Vista has dramatically improved support, but in my opinion, still pales compared to the Mac. All administration can be done remotely, meaning, you can manage the Controls of various Macs in your household via a central computer. Things you can control are: applications, content/sites, mail/chat and time spent.

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