Gogo Internet Wi-Fi on American Airlines Flights Rocks!

Every now and then, I am truly amazed by a new experience with technology. After signed up on an American Airlines flight with Gogo Internet Wi-Fi Service on a free promotional one day trial offer ($12.95 per flight/$24.95 per month regular price). While the plane was in flight, I checked my email, facebook, twitter then decided to try and answer the question, what will the airlines allow you to do and not to do.

1. Email - I was able to retrieve my POP email and send messages from my Google account.

2. AOL AIM - I found my daughter on AIM and did a video chat with her. She then added the W or my wife and we did a 3 way video chat. They could not hear me from my microphone which might be an issue with my MacBook Pro but I could certainly hear them. How cool is that!

3. Skype - I tried to dial a land line and struck out. I did sent a text message for a small fee.


Gogo Internet can be found at: http://www.gogoinflight.com/

On American Airlines Wi-fi with GoGo - Promotional Coupon

I just left the Dallas Fort Worth Airport on American Airlines headed West toward California and saw the sticker as I was boarding the plane that the S80 Aircraft has wi-fi. American Airlines uses the Gogo Inflight Internet wi-fi service. Luckily, the last time I was in the Admiral's club, I found a Free Wi-Fi coupon on the table and stuck it in my wallet. Believe it or not, I fired up my laptop, clicked the Buy One Day Pass button ($12.95 per flight), entered some profile info and my promo coupon code and without entering my credit card info, I am now online! This is very cool!



Gogo Internet can be found at: http://www.gogoinflight.com/

Facebook - How to Leave a Regional Network - Workaround

A client of mine asked me to help her remove the Facebook Regional Network from her Facebook profile. She has moved to a different city in the United States and did not want to be listed under the old city. When she originally joined Facebook over a year ago, in order to signup for Facebook, she had to select a Regional Network. When Facebook removed this feature this summer, the Regional Network or city was still showing up under her Facebook Profile when members performed a Search Query on her name. Here is a work-around or hack that a woman named Joyce posted it (thank you Joyce!). It has worked for some people and not for others.

1. Go to Networks and Join the University of Santo Thomas Network in the Philippines. I searched on the Philippines to find it. It allows you to enter any email address.

2. After joining the Network, a [Leave] button will magically appear for your old Regional Network. Click that button and return to your Facebook Home Page.

3. Return to the Network tab and click the [Leave] button to leave the University of Santo Thomas Network. You will also need to go back to your Status feed and remove the Santo Thomas network message as weel as your Education tab to remove the entry that you attended Santo Thomas. (I think that is all the entries!)

Your Regional Network will possibly be removed now like it was for my account and when other FB members enter your name in the FB Member Query box, the Regional Network should not appear under your name. That all said, it worked for my account but did not work for my friends.

I really wish some FB employee would address this issue or put up a form user's can use to request the change to their profile.

Beware of Facebook Phishing Email Spam

I've recently noticed a large number of Email Phishing Scams that appear to look fairly legitimate. Here is one I received the other day that was mailed from an Internet Service Provider in Romania with a return email address from Taiwan.

With the recent FTC Disclosure Rules and potentially large fines against Internet Bloggers, I'd really like to see the FCC and Global Internet Regulators address the Email Phishing issue.




From: Facebook [mailto:update+qnpjretdcwdb@facebookmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 2:39 PM
Subject: Facebook account update

Received: from 89.40.50.150 by max.sinorich.com.tw; Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:39:14 +0200

inetnum: 89.40.48.0 - 89.40.63.255
netname: SC-DIGINET-SA
descr: SC DIGINET SA
descr: STR Calea Nationala Nr. 99
descr: Botosani Romania
country: ro
admin-c: MSP23-RIPE
tech-c: MSP23-RIPE
status: ASSIGNED PA "status:" definitions
remarks: Registered through http://www.jump.ro/ip.html
mnt-by: RO-MNT
mnt-lower: RO-MNT
mnt-routes: DIGINET-MNT
source: RIPE # Filtered

From: "Facebook"
Subject: Facebook account update
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:39:14 +0200
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0006_01CA57FD.F28279E0"
X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook, Build 11.0.5510
Thread-Index: Aca6QM9IHL27JKUHH4Z7RX16H2QSW3==
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4927.1200
Message-ID: <000d01ca57fd$f28279e0$6400a8c0@maharaneesidn97>
Return-Path:

Recover Formatted Hard Drive Files

One of my friends recently gave me his Windows XP hard drive that had been inadvertently formatted and re-installed with Windows XP. He wanted to know if some family photos could be recovered from the hard drive. It's been several years since I've looked at Windows System Utilities for File Recovery or Hard Drive Recovery, especially the Freeware for free programs out there.

I tried several different freeware file recovery programs (OfficeRecover, PC Inspector File Recovery, Padora Recovery, DataRecovery) and finally found Recuva thanks to a PC World Review. In less than 20 minutes, Recuva was installed and found the majority of the missing files although it took my friend an hour or so to manually search through all the thumbnails on the drive.

If you use Microsoft Windows and need to recover files from a formatted hard drive, I would check out Recuva! It is Freeware, although I told my friend he should find his Paypal account to leave a little something for the Recuva developer!

Here is the link I used to download Recuva.
http://www.piriform.com/recuva

iPhone 3.1.2 Update to address iPhone Coma Mode

Several weeks ago at http://twitter.com/martinog, I twittered:

"At times my iPhone 3GS does not make outgoing phone calls until I power on and off. Is it Sofware, Hardware or AT&T? #iphone #att #apple9:15 PM Sep 19th from Tweetie"

This bug is also known as iPhone Coma Mode. According to Apple, iPhone 3.1.2 should address this bug.

I am now installing this Apple iPhone 3.1.2 release. It offers bug fixes, but no flashy new features. You can get it now by plugging in your iPhone and clicking "Check for Updates" in iTunes. Here's Apple's list of what's fixed in this update:

* iPhone Sleep bug - Resolves sporadic issue that may cause iPhone not to wake from sleep
* iPhone Coma Mode bug - Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular services until restart
* iPhone Video Stream bug - Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video stream

The update is 306.2 MBs. It took less than 15 minutes to download on a Mac and about 35+ minutes on a PC.

iPhone MMS - Restart Your iPhone - check for the camera icon!

MMS finally arrived on the iPhone which now means you can finally send photos to your friends or business associates who have a Blackberry or a phone that doesn't support receiving email pictures. Texting a photo is so much quicker than sending a photo via email, you will find this is a great feature!

If your iPhone MMS is not working, make sure you restart your iPhone after updating the carrier settings? First of all, you wil need to update your carrier setting by connecting to iTunes then installing this small update. Make sure you restart your iPhone after the update!

1. Restart your iPhone.

- Hold the power button until "slide to power off" appears.

- Slide to power off your device.

- When it is off, press the power button to turn it back on.

2. After restarting your iPhone, you should see the camera in your new and existing SMS messages.

Apple iTunes 9.0.1

Yikes, a new Apple iTunes 9.0.1 already! Here's the list of fixes that Apple provided.

Apple iTunes 9.0.1 provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

• Resolves issues browsing the Apple iTunes Store.
• Addresses a performance issue where iTunes may become unresponsive.
• Fixes a problem where Apple iTunes may unexpectedly quit.
• Fixes a problem syncing Podcasts in playlists to iPod or iPhone.
• Fixes a problem sorting albums with multiple discs.
• Improves application syncing for iPod touch and iPhone.
• Genius is now automatically updated to show Genius Mixes.

iTunes 9 comes with many new features and improvements, including:

• An improved look and feel, including a new Column Browser for easily browsing your artists or albums, movies, TV shows, and more.

• The Apple iTunes Store has a brand new look, with improved navigation for quick and easy exploration.

• iTunes LP and Apple iTunes Extras create unique experiences that feature exclusive interviews, videos, photos, and more — available with select album and movie purchases on the iTunes Store.

• Home Sharing helps you manage your family's iTunes collection between computers in your home. iTunes can automatically transfer new purchases, or you can choose just the items you want.

• Genius Mixes are created for you by Apple iTunes and play songs from your library that go great together.

• iPod and iPhone syncing now allows you to organize your iPhone and iPod touch home screens directly in iTunes. Syncing is now also more flexible, allowing you to sync individual artists, genres, or TV show and Podcast episodes.

• iTunes U items are now organized into their own section in your iTunes library.

• Sync with iPod nano (5th generation), iPod classic (Fall 2009), and iPod touch (Fall 2009).

• iTunes 9 also includes many other improvements, such as HE-AAC encoding and playback, more flexibility with Smart Playlists rules, simpler organization of your media files inside an iTunes Media folder, and more.

Reference: Apple

Google Search Query: This site may harm your computer message

This morning I was performing a Google search query for identity of the suspect in the Annie Le case. The police have not issued the name of the Yale Lab Technician yet, and I was curious if the suspect's identity had been released to the public by the blogosphere or the Twitter community. I noticed that there are some sites listing the name "Lei Zhang" but appears these sites are posted by Phishers (Wikipedia: those engaging in phishing or the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as user names, passwords, credit card details), spammers and possibly black hat affiliate marketers. If you see a warning message from your browser: "This site may harm your computer" you should immediately close your browser window and not click on any of the links on that site.

Update: Raymond Clark is now being named as the suspect in the Annie Le case.

http://gawker.com/5360215/report-suspect-in-yale-killing-is-identified

Shino is the Asian Line Judge in Serena Williams U.S. Open Incident

If you want to know the identity of the Asian line judge in the Serena Williams U.S. Open tennis match, her name is Shino.

According to the New York Times in an article that was later changed, the identity of the Asian Line Judge or Asian lineswomen is Shino which would probably make her of Japanese ethinicity or heritage.

Whenever there is a breaking news story, I personally believe I can find just about anything on the Internet. This morning someone called to ask me if I knew the name of the line judge. I told them I would try and find it, so here it is.

Finally, does it really matter what the race, ethnicity or heritage is of the line judge? Why does the media always use the race card?

Source:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/serena-williams-tennis-tantrum/

Airlines Twitter - A list of Airlines on Twitter

See the link below to the list of Airlines on Twitter. If you haven't added these to your Twitter Friends list, you should do so now!

List of Airlines on Twitter

Here’s the list of Airlines with Twitter Accounts.

@AirFranceUS - Air France Twitter account
@AlaskaAir - Alaska Airlines Twitter account
@AAirwaves - American Twitter account
@Continental - Continental Twitter account
@DeltaAirlines - Delta Twitter account
@JetBlue - JetBlue Twitter Account
@FlyHawaiian - Hawaiian Arilines
@SouthwestAir - Southwest Airlines
@SpiritAirlines - Spirit Airlines
@UnitedAirlines - United Airlines Twitter account
@USAirways - USAirways Twitter account
@VirginAmerica - Virgin Airlines

Updating to iPhone 3.1, iTunes 3.1, iTouch 3.1

I started updating some of my iPhones today. The first thing I noticed is that there is a new iPhone Configuration Utility that is downloaded and installed with my iPhone Windows installation. This program is downloaded and installed separately.

Here are the software items that were downloaded:
- QuickTimes (Mac 59.4MB)
- iTunes 9 upgrade (Mac 85.5MB)
- iPhone Configuration Utility
- iPhone Software Update (306.2 MB)(iTouch Mac 238.2 MB)

Here are some iPhone 3.1 and iTunes 9 installation tips.
- The download and installation process could take 45 minutes to 1 hour+
- The size of the file downloads is large so you might want to ensure you have the fastest Internet connection.
- You will need to restart your computer during the installation.
- The iPhone Configuration Utility is only for Windows PCs.

Here are the updating steps:
- Extracting Software
- Backing up "User Name's iPhone".."
- Verifying iPhone update with Appple...
- Preparing iPhone for software update...
- Waitng for iPhone...
- Updating iPhone software...
- Verifying updated iPhone sofware...
- Updating iPhone firmware...


Here are the iPhone 3.1 Features
- Genius recommendations for Applications
- iTunes 9 Support
- Genius Mixes
- Organize apps directly in iTunes
- Improved synching options for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts and phots
- Itunes U content organization
- Redeem iTunes gift cards, codes and certificates in the App store
- Display available iTunes account credits int he App Store and iTunes Store
- Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll
- Option to "Save as new clip" when trimming a video on the iPhone 3GS
- Better iPhone 3G Wi-Fi performance when Bluetooth is turned on.
- Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode with MobileMe
- Use Voice Control on iPhone #GS with Bluetooth headsets
- Paste phone numbers into the Keypad
- Option to use the Home button to turn on Accessibility on the iPhone 3GS
- Warn when visiting fraudulent websites in Safari (anti-phishing)
- Improved Exchange calendar synching and invitation handling
- Fixes issue that caused some app icons to display incorrectly.


Other Notes
- On my MacPro, I also run Parallels.

iTunes 9 and iPhone 3.1 to be available today

iTunes 9 and iPhone 3.1 should be available later today according to the Apple Keynote today.

iPhone Tethering

We'll see if this works after the iPhone 3.1 Update.

iPhone Tethering

ttp://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/simple-secret-iphone-tethering-fix

iPhone Mobile Safari Link
http://help.benm.at/help.php

Michael Beasley - Top Google Search Term Today

On Sunday afternoon, I was reading my Twitter account and read some not so nice things about Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley. At the time, I was angry at one of the
local reporters for posting a blog entry about it and decided not to comment on his blog in the best interests of Beasley. I have been following Michael Beasley and some of the other Miami Heat on Twitter and I thought that this use of social media was great for both NBA basketball, the fans and the players. Unfortunately, today the top Google Search term of the day was "Michael Beasley", his Twitter account is closed and he is now in rehab.

In retrospect, since I am a loyal Heat Season Ticket holder, I guess it may not be all that bad. After spending some time in rehab, maybe Beasley will start the 2009-10 season with renewed explosiveness after finding his way once again in the media for an off the court incident.

As far as the social media angle, let's hope this incident doesn't deter any other NBA players from twittering. As a fan, Twitter is a great insight into the players lives.

Finally, what's the World come to? An NBA player goes into rehab and he becomes the top Google search query term of the day?

Bose Quiet Comfort 15 Getting Great Reviews!

The Bose Quiet Comfort 15 Headphones are getting great reviews on PCMag.com site and others. If you have an old pair of the Bose QuietComfort 2 and are looking to upgrade, it might be the perfect time. I checked the American Express Rewards site and they don't yet have the new headphones on their site. I did notice that the Amazon.com site says that Amazon is now shipping them!

AMEX Membership Rewards - A website that's hard to find in Google!

If you have an American Express card and are looking for the AMEX rewards site and you are performing a Google Search Query, you're not alone. Every time I go to their website, it always leads me to some bogus www.AmericanExpress.com webpages and I can never find the rewards site from my American Express account profile. So here's the link:

http://membershiprewards.com

In Google, I tried searching for "American Express Membership Rewards", "AMEX shopping", "American Express Shopping", "American Express Rewards", and "AMEX membership rewards". Even "membership rewards" does not return a description for the site, but the words, "process direct".

BTW, I usually redeem Apple iTunes 50 song e-certificates for 8K points. A gift code is delivered in less than 3 hours. I am also a big fan of Bose Headphones and the Quiet Comfort 2 are 35K points and are usually delivered in a few days.

102 Famous People Picture and Answers

I was forwarded the 102 Famous People Picture so I thought I would publish the picture and the answers in a separate blog post.





















View Answer

102 Famous People - Answers

Here is one possible answer.























1. Socrates
2. Cui Jian (father of Chinese rock music)
3. Vladimir Lenin
4. Prince Charles
5. Ramses or King Solomon or Sinuhe of Egypt
6. Bill Clinton
7. Tsar Peter The Great Of Russia
8. Charles de Gaulle
9. Margaret Thatcher
10. Ulysses S. Grant
11. Bruce Lee
12. Winston Churchill
13. Raphael Sanzio or Matisse (French Painter)
14. Robert Oppenheimer
15. Elvis Presley
16. William Shakespeare
17. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
18. Genghis Kahn
19. Napoleon Bonaparte
20. Che Guevara
21. Fidel Castro
22. Marlon Brando
23. Lao zi or Hokusai
24. Marilyn Monroe
25. Yassar Arafat
26. Julius Caesar
27. Mike Tyson
28. George W. Bush
29. Luciano Pavarotti
30. Salvador Dali
31. Empress CiXi
32. Liu Xiang
33. Kofi Annan
34. Prince Charles
35. Ariel Sharon
36. Ho Chi Minh or Qi Baishi
37. Osama Bin Laden
38. Qin Shi Huang
39. Mikhail Gorbachev
40. Mother Teresa
41. Song Qingling
42. Otto Von Bismarck
43. Saint Peter or Rabindranath Tagore
44. Li ZhenSheng
45. Voltaire
46. President Hu Jintao
47. Dante Alighieri or Julius Caesar
48. Pu-Yi or Dai Dudu
49. Saloth Sar (Pol Pot)
50. Yi Sun-sin líder or Yue Fei
51. Michael Angelo
52. Hideki Tojo or Hiro Hito
53. Michael Jordan
54. Dwight Eisenhower or John Calvin Coolidge
55. Corneliu Baba, Romanian painter
56. Claude Monet
57. Mahatma Ghandi
58. Vincent Van Gogh
59. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
60. Marcel Duchamp
61. Confucius
62. Noah
63. Li Bai the Chinese Poet or Caravaggio
64. Mao Zhedong
65. Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, German Writer
66. Zhou Enlai
67. Marie Curie
68. Abraham Lincoln
69. Pablo Picasso
70. Stephen Spielberg
71. Freidrich Nietzsche
72. Karl Marx
73. Leonardo Da Vinci
74. Josef Stalin
75. Queen Elizabeth II
76. Lu Xun, Chinese Comunist Writer
77. Jose Francisco San Martín
78. Deng Xiaoping
79. Sun Yat-Sen
80. Theodore Roosevelt or Gen George Custer or Maxim Gorky or Philippe Pétain
81. Saddam Hussein
82. Benito Mussolini
83. Adolf Hitler
84. Guan Yu
85. Pele
86. Bill Gates
87. Audrey Hepburn
88. Ludwig Van Beethoven or Chopin
89. Charlie Chaplin
90. Henry Ford
91. Lei Feng
92. Victor babes or Norman Bethun
93. Mike Tyson
94. Sigmund Freud
95. Erich Honecker (leader of the GDR)
96. Vladimir Putin
97. Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Caroll)
98. Shirley Temple
99. Chang Kai Chek
100. Leo Tolstoy
101. Albert Einstein
102. Ernest Hemingway
103. Franklin Roosevelt
104. Woman from photograph by Cartier Bresson or Mother Teresa
105. Dolly (The cloned sheep)

Media Getting Edgier - Flo Rida and the Residue Is Evil Ad

If you don't think TV and Online media is getting edgier and edgier lately, here are two recent examples. On the NBC Today Show this morning, viewers and their children were having breakfast to the tunes of Flo Rida Right Round - "You spin my head right around, right round, when you go down... I understand that these are the songs our teenagers/children are listening to anyways, but I was a bit shocked because of the some of the subliminal or not so subliminal messages in the lyrics in these songs.


Example 1: Flo Rida Low on NBC Today Show

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Example 2 - An Internet Ad - What is This?



The ResidueIsEvil Ad believe it or not is an Old Spice Men's Deodorant ad. This ad appears on many of the twenty-something men's websites for sneakers and X-box items, which I'm sure are also includes teenage boys. And if you you don't think there are any subliminal messages in this ad, then I'm not sure you are living on the same planet.

So many of you may not be surprised by this, but it seems like just the other day Howard Stern was publicly criticized by the language he used on the radio and then there was the Janet Jackson incident during the Superbowl.