Category: Resources

Street Techie Andrew Plumb writes:

One big challenge when traveling is finding enough power adapters to plug your 120-240VAC compatible devices into.

Then it suddenly hit me – I needed a power bar! …but good luck traveling light with a full-size bar. Instead, I picked up one of these medium-duty, multi-outlet extension cords. You want something reasonably heavy-gauge, since technically, it’s not designed for 240VAC. This cable is 14 Gauge, 15A, 125V; much heavier than most of the extended-voltage device cables I’m plugging into it, so quite safe.

It fits comfortably in my laptop backpack and is flexible enough to redirect socket-access from many a cramped hotel room outlet.

Podcast User is a new, free PDF magazine dedicated to podcasting. It covers the medium from both a listener’s and a producer’s point of view, with news, reviews, how-tos, opinion pieces, etc. All very professionally presented. Overall, a nice job. Hope they can keep it up. Issue 2 is scheduled for March 1st.

Did you know that if you type “movie:YOURZIPCODE” in Google you get a listing of local theaters, shows, showtimes, and aggregated reviews (via IMDB)? This was news to me. Cool!

[Via Gigaom]

There’s a wealth of free music out on the Internet that is actually perfectly legal to download: authorized bootlegs. This is live concert music recorded by fans – often plugged into the boards of the band, getting very high quality sound. The only downside is that fan sites that post these files often use the FLAC format, which makes for large downloads, and that can’t be played on most portable audio players.

The solution is the Magic Jelly Bean SHN Shortener. It takes FLAC files and converts them en masse to MP3 files of any specified bitrate. Very handy tool. It takes some time (maybe 30 seconds per song) and the UI for the MJBS is a little on the spartan side, but it’s a very straightforward program that does what I need it to do, and costs nothing. I’m currently working on converting some Elliot Smith and it’s working like a charm.

Watering down the term “hacks” even more with the title “Firefox Hacks You Must Have,” Wired News has an otherwise good piece on the latest and greatest extensions for Firefox 1.5.

Mozilla has released the latest version of their monopoly-fighting open-source browser Firefox 1.5. The latest release includes faster browsing, better security, more customized interface, improved pop-up blocker, and enhanced privacy (read: ability to hide the naughty bits in your history). The most interesting feature is the “live bookmarks” feature that scans your favorite sites for updates and shows the fresh content right in the bookmark icon. Pretty cool.

In another interesting twist, Mozilla has gone dotcom. That’s right, you won’t find the new version at Mozilla.org – all you’ll find there is a redirect to the new Mozilla.com website. The new corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to support the development of the Mozilla software suite. So the new corp is supported by the non-prof, which in turn feeds the profits back to the foundation? I’m confused. But I’m happy as long as somebody’s getting rich other than Bill.

Wapedia is a site that offers the content of Wkipedia in a more mobile device-friendly format. Just point the browser on your PDA or web-enabled phone to wapedia.org and you’re good to go.

You’ve probably noticed that there is an increasing number of sites that cater to individuals uploading, storing, sharing, tagging, etc. video files in the way that Flickr handles digital photos. So which services are worthy of your sharing all those Kodak memories of precious little Biff and Tiffany’s soccer games and ballet recitals (Biff looks SO adorable in his toe shoes)? TechCrunch offers a handy comparison chart of features. Reader comments on the piece tell of their experiences and list additional similar services.

A wise cyber-philosopher once said: “The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it.” The latest rerouting is aimed at China, Iran, and other countries (is YOUR homeland next?) where Internet censorship is common and serious business. “The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents” is a free online guide created by free speech advocates Reporters without Borders. Quoth the piece on CNet News:

…The booklet offers technical information for dodging government censors, including tips for thwarting filtering technology that can block access to select Web pages. The book also covers e-mail encryption, online pseudonyms and anonymous proxies, discussing ethics and how to attract an audience.

Available here in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi.

God bless that Google API. People are doing such nifty stuff with marrying database content with Google Maps. These maps show you the registered cell phone towers in your (select) area and who owns ’em. This way, you’ll know where to point your phone to try and maintain a complete conversation without a dropped signal. What a concept. Check out the user comments on coverage in your area too. There are even sat photos showing the tower locations.