Apple Mediapad

Apple is rumoured to be creating a device that is noted as a "MediaPad". It would be similar to the now famous pc versions of netbooks. Netbooks look like laptops but are much smaller and are meant to be used for basic email/web browsing. These units are also usually cheaper and less than $400. Apple's version has been rumoured to be something similar to an ipod touch but obviously larger. It quite obviously can also replace the "Kindle" that Amazon created. Kindle is a single application unit that reads e-books and basically replaces actual books you read and buy from any bookstore. Apple's MediaPad will probably replace the Kindle because it will be able to run more things and be more functional. Apple's MediaPad is rumoured to be able to use multiple apps. It will also be in colour view as opposed to Kindle monochromatic screens. So if you are looking to purchase the Kindle which is only available in the states at this time, you might want to postpone this purchase and wait for the rumoured Apple "MediaPad".

How much do you make?

It's quite a simple question right? How much do you make a year? What is your salary at work? Are you paid hourly? Is it better to be paid hourly or to be salaried. These are numerous questions that most employees do not like to divulge to their cohorts. Why, you ask? Maybe they are embarassed to state how little or how much they make? Maybe we psychologically think differently of the person depending on how much money they make. If they make less money we think less of them as a person and if you make lots of money it's vice versa. No matter what the reasons are we can all agree we don't think we make enough for the exception of a few, mainly athletes and celebrities. Do you think advertising the salaries of a company would be beneficial to a company and it's employees? These are interesting questions that can surely be debated for time and time again. Here is a couple of websites that showcase salaries of various companies in the US for free. These are inputted by employees themselves. I wonder if they have a canadian version of this site.

Glassdoor


Salary

Iphone Apps you can use.

I own an iphone and I must admit that I enjoy this phone more than any of the others that I have owned in the past. Previously owning hunky old cellphones or flip phones are nice phones at the time but it is truly the iphone that has revolutionize the way we communicate and interact. It is more advantageous if you own a data plan with your provider. To be able to check multiple emails accounts is just awesome. To surf the Internet from anywhere is also another benefit of this phone. I basically don't have downtime anymore. If I'm waiting in line at a restaurant, I can surf the restaurant's website for a menu. Just a big time saver in my opinion. I haven't even talked about all the applications you can download right from your phone. From different applications such as games and entertainment to even having a GPS navigation application. I look forward to the upgrades that Apple has mentioned with the new 3.0 software release. Until then I have included a link that should keep you happy with Iphone apps for the time being Iphone Apps Enjoy!

13 Mac apps that make your lives easier.

Welcome back to another week here at ClickFlick.ca. I hope you all had a great weekend. This past weekend here in Toronto was a little bit crazy with sunshine mixed with thunderstorms. Go figure! Anyways, I just want to explain a little bit about this blog/site if you are a new viewer. This site is about everything Technology and how it can make our lives easier. There are several ways for you to interact as well. After every blog post you have the opportunity to leave a "Comment". I always like to hear what you have to say. It could be good or bad comments, I take all comments with constructive criticism and use it better to shape my upcoming blogs and ideas. If you are someone that does not like to type in a comment you can also leave a voice record by just entering your email and start voicing your comments which can be heard by others that view this site. The 3rd way you can interact with me is if you follow me on Twitter. My Twitter handle is @clickflickca and I post regularly on the site about anything techonlogy-wise or just things in general. You can follow my Tweets right from my site on the right hand coloumn. I have also added the Ustream LIVE feed. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of this site you will able to see me the odd time broadcast LIVE. So I hope you continue to follow my blog. Here is a link from "SmashingApps" that showcases several Mac Apps that can make your life or workflow easier. I personally like Carbon Clone because it duplicates your computer hard drive in the event your computer fails. This particular program is also free and works similar to Time Machine on the mac. Thanks for visiting and hope to hear from my readers in the near future. For those that have left comments, I appreciate the feedback as I received them directly via email. Here is the link to the apps; SMASHINGAPPS

Freedom Fridays

Winding down to another work week and an exciting warm weekend ahead it's the tradtional Freedom Friday video. Blogging every week can be time consuming at times and it's sometimes easier to just watch a simple video to understand things. This week I've chosen a video on how to properly maintain your computer. We have all gone through that phase in which we need to upgrade our computers. I'm sure some of you are still using really old computers and want to upgrade. I highly suggest you do since prices have dropped with this economy. Let's this blog be one more reason to push you to take action and buy a new one.

As for maintaining a computer, it's so important to properly have a workflow and backup system because you store so much info such as photos and music on the computer. A can of compressed air is probably one of the best cheap purchases for maintaining the life of your computer. Until Monday, take care and enjoy the weekend!

Lifestraw

Lifestraw is an amazing piece of technology that can literally save lives, especially those that live in areas where clean water is not readily available. More than one sixth of the world's population are without access to safe water supply(source: gizmag.com). The Lifestraw has been referred to one of the top 10 things that will change the way we live. In keeping with the Earth theme this week this is extremely important especially for those without clean water. The lifestraw is different in a sense that it has no moving parts. It does not need to be plugged in or have to be charged. It's a device that is basically a filter with two chambers. In a basic explanation without going into too much detail is that the bacteria in the water is filtered with a mesh and also kills bacteria with iodine inside the contraption. This is created when a person sucks water just like a straw into the water.



Lifestraw has drawn some criticism because of the cost to make the units. It has been stated that Lifestraw cost are up to $2-$5 per unit. The makers of this product have decided to make it in China to keep cost as low as possible. Unfortunately the problem with the unit is that the people using the Lifestraw do not live close to clean water. In India it is usually takes 1 to 2 days to get access to water but by the time they get to the water and purify it, it's too late before they are already sickened with diarahea or disease. So accessibility to clean water makes using the Lifestraw difficult especially when most of the water usually has to be carried from long distances to a location. The cost per unit and the time to collect the water is not feasible according to UK's WATERAID With income at $1 per day the cost of the unit being $2-$5 is not cost effective. They are obviously working on solutions and education to help these people and others around the world. To read more info on the Lifestraw check it here at LIFESTRAW

Earth Day and Greentuity

Every April 22, millions of people around the world celebrate Earth Day. Through various events, activities and environmental initiatives participants promote awareness of environmental issues. It seems to be the topic on most minds lately, which is the health of our own Earth. "GREENTuity" is an EarthWeek event which has already started on April 18 and goes through until April 26 to raise money and awareness for the Toronto Green Community. It was started with 6 local volunteers who met through social networking sites such as Twitter.

The name of GREENtuity was a play on word with "gratuity" and in this case, GREENtuity is a tip to the environment. How does the GREENtuity event work? When you go to a particpating locations, you can add a one dollar donation to your bill. All the money raised will go to the Toronto Green Community. Ultimately our goal is to help bring awareness and to help local green initiatives in Toronto. Toronto Green community was chosen because it is a local non-profit grass-roots organization. The money raised will go to future green iniatives. Some examples of their current programs are community gardens and summer camps for kids. Another example is the Apartment Greening Initiative which aims to divert up to 50% of waste in high-rise buildings.

This is the 1st year of this event and hopefully becomes an annual event that can hopefully make a difference even if it's a small change for the better. A small start can lead to bigger things. Just remember that Earth day began with just a few scientists and environmentalists that became increasingly concerned that pesticides and sewage were poisioning our air and water. Now it has become a world wide event that is so important today. The members of Greentuity is smaller in scale but can eventually affect change one step at a time. The group has also taken the initiative through the internet and social networking sites. One way for you to even help out today is to change your avatar on Twitter to " I Support Greentuity" avatar and you have a chance to win a $100 prize. Effectively this will help bring awareness to GREENtuity and their initiatives. If you would like to help the environment from the seat of your computer right now just go to AVATAR and "right click" and download and place into your Twitter photo. This will give you a chance at winning a prize that will be randomly selected on the last day of Earthweek. For more details about GREENtuity and how you can help support check the website at GREENtuity. If you do not live in the Toronto area and would like to support the cause donations can be made on the website.

What is the most important Technology to you?

Have you ever asked yourself that question? What is the most important technology to you? Probably not. Technology is everywhere around us. We can see technology phyiscally or it can also be invisible. The best way to answer this question would also depend on the individual. Everyone uses technology in a different way. I for one like to express my ideas through this blog using a computer or laptop. A driver going to work would say that his vehicle is the most important technology. Depending on how you use technology, the answers will vary. However one important thing that is common with all the technology is that it should make our lives easier in some way. Some will beg to differ but for the most part it' true. My idea of technology is that it allows us to communicate/interact with people more easily. The driver in the vehicle(car) can visit someone across the country. The person on the internet can communicate a message throughout the world wide web. This brings us back to the initial question. What is the most important technology to you? For me, I would have to say that the computer is the most important technology easily followed by the cellphone. These are two of the most basic forms of technology in my opinion.

Social Media and Celebrities.

Twitter has been the talk everywhere lately. It has been mentioned in the newspapers, talk shows but mostly through celebrities.
It seems that celebrities have jumped the bandwagon in using this social site to power influence or change. Oprah Winfrey has been one of the newest tweeps.The most popular celebrity and King of Twitter would be Ashton Kutcher-@aplusk. Ashton has over a million followers which is greater than anyone else at the moment. Twitter gives the celebrities a chance to engage with their fans in a more natural way. It shows they live normal lives like any other human being. It enables celebrities to cut out the middle man. Celebs can control their images in a way that paparazzi cannot control. A classic example is "PDiddy" the hip hop star and multi talented artist. He is frequently on Twitter creating powerful Tweets or messages of motivation. He is also broadcasting live in most cases which give you a glimpse into his lifestyle without no commercials or PR media person controlling his actions. He can express himself in any way. He can swear and use profanities. He can broadcast as long as he wants. He is basically using the medium of the Internet to use his freedom of speech. It also showcases the power of influence. One person on Twitter can affect change which is a very powerful tool. For example earlier this past week, Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN News that he can hit more than 1 million users before CNN. During this contest Ashton actually won and also used the contest as a platform to promote Malaria. He told everyone that if he won he would donate 10,000 Mosquito nets. With this donation other celebs and even CNN matched the offer all to help this worthy cause to eradicate Malaria.
This is another example showing how social media and the internet can affect change for the better and good of the people.
Please read previous post for more details on the KUTCHER vs CNN popularity contest.

Freedom Fridays

Here is a video and link to the "David and Goliath" competition between Ashton Kutcher(the person) vs. CNN (the empire). Ashton Kutcher had made a call out on Twitter by stating that he can reach one million followers before CNN News. This was basically like a popularity contest on the internet. Ashton came out the winner by surpassing 1 million followers around 2am this morning.
With this contest it showcases how one person can have as much or more of the power to influence than CNN the conglomerate.
Throughout the week Ashton has been trying to get followers by using his celebrity status and his celebrity friends such as PDiddy and Britney Spears. CNN chose to use Larry King and frequent updates on the newscast. Ashton also promised to ring the doorbell of Ted Turner(previous owner of CNN) and leave, which is undetermined if he will at this point. Ashton did state that he will donate 10,000 mosquito bed nets to charity if he won which he did. CNN said they would also match the offer. Overall the winner in this popularity contest are the folks at World Malaria Day

Here is link to Ashton's victory video: ASHTON VIDEO

In a footnote to this event, Ashton Kutcher will be on Oprah today to discuss the recent win over CNN News. It should be interesting because Oprah Winfrey has recently opened a Twitter account so it should be interesting to see what the next challenge or competition that will happen online. On a side note, if there is a person to follow on Twitter right now for #followfriday it would be "@nextdaypair". This person will attempt to wear a different pair of sneakers for the whole year starting April 24, 2009 until April 24, 2010. Should be interesting! Thanks again for reading and enjoy the weekend and I'll see you guys back here on Monday!

Keeping up with Technology

There is one thing I'm learning from maintaining a blog on technology. Do you know what it is? But before I get to that answer I want to explain the reason I began this blog. This blog was to compliment my actual website which is still being worked on as of today. Maintaining a day job and part time job and having normal activities outside of work makes it very difficult to manage. It's all about time management. The only problem is their is only 24 hours in a day. Adding sports and volunteer work just adds to more time being required.

The point here is that technology is suppose to make your life easier, but in fact in can make it more frustrating. Technology is everywhere you look. Just take a look around you right now. You are probably at work or at your home office reading this blog.
You have your usb stick, cellphone, laptop/pc, remote control, printer all things technology. The one thing I've learned from maintaining this blog is that you can never keep up to date with Technology. Technology is always in a continuous mode of change. If it's fast now, it will only get even faster. Remember 1.44Mb floppy disk and all that storage space? Now we are 1 Terabyte and beyond. Technology will continue to make our lives easier but will it really help all of us? Automation is costing jobs for most workers. All the technology has to be created; so this has to influence the environment in a negative way. Cars are a perfect example of technology that may have a detrimental impact to the environment. Improvements are being made with more fuel efficient models. So where does this leave us with technology? Let's hope someone has the answer because it's just getting overwhelming to keep up with technology when it's always changing. I feel like a dog trying to chase it's own tail, it's neverending.

PINK SLIP PARTIES

Recession is the key word this past year and we are all affected by this economic slowdown. The fall of the economy has given rise to the popularity of Pink Slip parties. These Pink Slip parties are basically an event in which culminates with a majority of people who have been recently laid off or are looking for jobs. These parties usually have recruiters or just the odd person who happens to be at the bar the night the event is happening. These are great opportunities for networking, to re-establish some leads for possible job openings and to exchange business cards. These events can also be targeted for specific industries such as banking, design or medical. Here is a clip of an example of a party in New York. Visit the site at PINK SLIP

Police use Twitter

Twitter has been around for approximately 3 years now but it has only hit mainstream in the past year. It use to be a small group of tech savvy users and now has blossomed to millions of new users. Companies have jumped the bandwagon realizing the potential to interact with customers in a more personal and quick responsive way. It was only a matter of time but even the police are now using Twitter. Milwaukee police wanted to get word of a shooting out quickly, they did it in 113 characters on Twitter.

Milwaukee's department is one of a growing number of police agencies using social networks to relay important information the public might want to know. The only problem with this type of engagement is that false information can be mentioned in a tweet.
Anyone can also go on Twitter and claim they are the cops. Credibility can still be an issue with using social media this way. In Toronto, the police department has utilized youtube to post reenactments or descriptions of criminals which can reach a vast audience that goes past border and boundaries. The FBI is also now on Twitter too. They are using it more to dispel the way they are portrayed on television. It is being used more as an educational way to represent the FBI and to report sucessful operations. The FBI twitter handle is @FBIPressOffice.

One way I see Twitter being helpful is in the use of traffic control. Numerous news agencies will now tweet that there is an accident in a particular area which helps drivers manoeuvre their routes. The police have also used this to relay traffic delays especially when there are major events in a city. This replaces or substitutes the regular fax of traffic warnings from police to local business because Twitter is more instant. In a recent local news story, a girl went missing but their was no "Amber Alert" mentioned by police in which timing is in the essence for this type of crime; instead word got out through Twitter quicker than some news desk were able to report to general public.

Overall, Twitter can be used as an additional tool for the Police and other public agencies to engage with there constituents and residents. Only time can tell how the future use of social media will be used in solving criminal activities and reporting.

Stalkdaily.com worm

I hope you all enjoyed your chocolate eggs over the long weekend. Over this past weekend some other interesting happenings occurred on the Internet. A site called http://www.stalkdaily.com which looked and had the feel of a Twitter-style site created havoc amongst many users. StalkDaily was a site that stated you would also be able to incorporate adding video and photos to your tweets. So you can imagine the popularity of this website. This site basically had the same look and feel as Twitter but offered more.

Unfortunately as soon as you sign-up at this site, you are spreading a worm.
So if you signed up at StalkDaily.com and then visit a users profile on Twitter you were infected. It would automatically tweet "Dude, www.stalkdaily.com is awesome.What's the fuss?". This was created all by a 17 year old by the name of Mikey Mooney. Mike codes in XSS which is the programming language used in this apps. Mike later admitted to spreading this worm. He reason being was that he was bored and he enjoyed looking for vulnerabilities within websites. It's interesting to see how one 17 year old can affect and entire nation of "Tweeters". The worm has been rectified and patched by the Twitter folks and you can now use Twitter safely again. At least for now before the next computer hacker creates something new to amuse us all. I'm pretty sure this 17 year old kid will have a nice job after all the dust settles. If you want more info on this virus/worm just do a search on #stalkdaily on Twitter.

Freedom Fridays

I hope you have great long weekend. It's always good to take a break from the computer and enjoy the finer things in life.LOL
So here's just a little funny video to start your weekend. This video just pokes fun about Twitter. Here is also a link that tells you if you are a Twitter addict.Are you hooked on Twitter?

Websites and Links.

The upcoming Easter weekend means a long weekend of rest for most people. This is a good time to catch up on some reading or browse some interesting things on the internet. So today's blog post is more about links that may inspire or get your creative juices going. Hope you enjoy these links:




RedFlagDeals

NYTimes

DDOI

PreQuel

StanleyTang

Photoshop Disasters

Layers




These are just a few of the links that I enjoy viewing at this time. I will post my DELICIOUS bookmarks with more detailed links in the future. If you have a link you would like to share, just post a comment or if you already started your long weekend and are too lazy to type a comment you can just post a voice message on the right sidebar and leave your comments or links you like to visit. Speak your mind and if you want to rant something off, feel free. No sign up required, just your email is needed. Enjoy browsing the links above and see you tomorrow.

Seesmic Desktop

If you frequently use Facebook and Twitter you may find yourself toggling between both applications frequently on your desktop.
Fortunately a new application SEESMIC can help DE-clutter your desktop. If you have used "TweetDeck" this program is very similar and can do much more. The first thing you will notice is that the interface is more "Twitter-like" than the interface of Tweetdeck. Seesmic will allow you to update your Facebook and Twitter status. You can create particular groups of people and also track particular hashtag items for specific searches. All of this activity is now conveniently all on one window. The cool thing I like about this application is that you can maintain multiple accounts.
This application is still in Beta but can be downloaded for free at their site mentioned above. Here is a short clip and explanation of the new Seesmic Desktop.

Technology for the road.

Most of our lives is spent travelling. Think about this for a second. We travel everyday from home to work or school. The most important technology created besides the computer can be also said of the car. Without the car people would not be able to travel far distances. Back in the days it was the horse and carriage. In today's society the car is the backbone to most countries economic development. Lately in the news, it's all about how car companies require a bailout during this recession.

Today, I want to talk about several more positive aspects of cars and technology. The first one is a company called "Proxpro.com", they offer very detailed routing that is better than most GPS systems. The system is called "Prompt" which is used with Blackberry phones. If you have a planned meeting at a location it will map out the best route but also give you an estimated time of reaching your destination. It will also notify you if there is upcoming construction or accidents on your route.

Link: Prompt


Another similar type of software is called "Traffic". Download the software at the site and use it with your phone and you can receive email alerts, text messages or a phone call telling you when there's a traffic jam coming on your route. If you know your route in advance it can give you notice of any delays prior to your trip.

Link: Traffic


If you are a person that is always "on the go" then this could make your life easier. It is called "Ilane". It enables you to listen to your emails while driving. A computer voice will read your emails out and you can respond back with short often used phrases which would be translated back to an actual typed email. All of this interacts via bluetooth and works through voice commands.
Here is a quick video and explanation of the technology:

Link: iLane




One final technology to make your driving experience more pleasant is the ability to control and start your car from an Ipod Touch/Iphone. This following technology may not be as simple as donwloading software as the previous three ideas. This technology takes a little more tinkering. This is just exciting to know it exist as it is just watching this video. See for yourself here:
GPS
Link: GEEKmyRIDE

Pay It Backward Day.

On Saturday April 4, 2009, a group of "Do Gooders" attempted to break a World Record of 490 "Pay It Backwards" coffee buys. Fortunately they were able to break the record within an approximately 4hr span of 602 coffee buys. The key to this event was that 100% of the proceeds are going to Sick Kids Foundation which is a great cause because that is another group that is doing amazing things for so many children who are sick or in the hospital. This was for all to witness on a live stream on the internet around the world. Now this is the first time it was being held in Toronto but I'm sure that this can take on to being a tradition or an annual event that will even get larger. As the word gets out about this event especially during these tough economic times it will show the power of people to influence or create change for the better and good for everyone. I was made aware of this event through Twitter and the internet. This event as stated has inspired kindness for people here in Toronto. Let's hope it continues on across other cities and around the world.

Here is a new video of the event from
DailyChallenge (Video Source: SpotlightToronto.com).

Freedom Fridays

Well another Friday and the end of a work week. Above is a video sourced by Mr. Currie from New York. I must admit that this makes me want to mod my macbook. If you follow my blog, every Friday I try to slow it down and post some sort of video that is funny or interesting. This looks to complicated for me to create on my own mac so good luck to those that try this.

The upcoming weekend should be a great one here in Toronto. If you are looking for a world breaking event to join this weekend come check out PAYITBACK on April 4 in Toronto to help support SickKids Foundation. For more information just click on the badge to the right. Hope you all have a great weekend and see you guys Monday. Thanks to all the readers for your comments and suggestions.

Have you ever "Googled" your name?

Have you ever "Googled" your name? I will admit that I have typed my name in to find myself associated with various websites or links to other websites. I'm sure we have also "Google" our friends/family/girlfriend/boyfriend names. If you are one that values how you are represented on the internet then you should pay particular interest to your profiles. For some people the use of the internet is not a concern. If you are an occasional user of the internet who just checks email the very odd time chances are that person has no concerns. On the other hand you may be a person of respected authority in your company or even just a person who makes a living in Sales and has to deal with many people the same cannot be said. If you belong to any of the main social networking sites online chances are those sites are at the top of the SEO of Google. SEO- stands for "Search Engine Optimization" which means the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from a search engine such as Google.

Since Facebook and Twitter are the most recognized sites at this time chances are your profile or pictures of you will be the first things to show up on a "Search". If you are the CEO or Head of Sales for a particular company this is important. The last thing you want your organization to deal with is why "Joe the CEO" is gallivanting with 2 pitchers of beer and 4 shots of tequila in a drunken stupor. Most companies now will search or Google potential employees to see if they are a perfect fit for the company. If an accounting company "Googles" a profile of "Joe the accountant" and finds that he is a math major from Harvard, has pics with the family and dog then I'm sure he stands a better chance then the other guy who has pics of himself scantily naked or he's the captain of the beer chugging group. Your virtual presence on the internet or branding is key to your success in which most people tend to neglect. That is a choice for the person to decide if they want a positive or negative profile for others to see. It comes back to the old saying, "What you see is what you get".

Blackberry App World

As an Iphone owner of the original version and now the current 3G model I've been very happy with the phone introduced by Apple. I'm able to do pretty much everything and anything with the phone. I can do the basics such as text messaging, email, take photos and the list goes on and on. I now can also control my home computer from my phone. I can also check Tv listings from the phone. I can even update this blog from my phone with just a few clicks. It is quite obvious that the Iphone has become revolutionary in the new "Smartphone" category. The great thing about the Iphone is that their are thousands of applications that can be downloaded for free or paid right from the phone or computer. This has created a new area for developers to monetize their skills. The owners of Iphones are the beneficiaries of so many options in applications. Applications can range from video games to productivity or organizational tools.

As of today, Blackberry which in someways is a competitor to Iphone has now launched an App store. This will directly compete with Apple's App store. Most of the Apps will also be available on both storefronts. These stores are being created because it is a way to generate more income and it also encourages users to stay with a particular brand. The more selection of applications the more likely you will continue to use that smartphone. Apple and Blackberry will continue to focus on pushing content in an organized way on their websites and it's only a matter of time before Palm,Google Android and Microsoft join in on the party.

Here is the link to the new Blackberry App Store: BLACKBERRY

As of yesterday I had mentioned in my previous post that Skype is now available for users to download. Unfortunately at this time it is not available in Canada due to patent/copyright license law. There are some work arounds but I have been unable to test or determine if they work in the following link here: Skype for Canada