Compare rates of iPhone 4S Data Plans

Let the race begin! Who will sign up the most iPhone 4S account starting in just 4 days?

I’m putting money on AT&T taking the lead as they have the most established customer base to date.

In my 20+ years in technology, I must say that on the whole Verizon will give you the least dropped calls and best call quality. Sprint will have the best rates for unlimited data. ATT will most likely bWe’ll see if the new features of the iPhone 4S help with call quality on all 3 networks.

This is the first time Sprint gets an iPhone. Wonder if they’ll have any tech issues. The best part about Sprint joining the iPhone fray is their data plan rocks! They’re the only one of the Big 3 that has unlimited data for the iPhone.

This won’t sway me, I’m sticking with Verizon and waiting 2 weeks, if I can hold out, to buy the iPhone 4S, as there are always inevitable bugs to be worked out (remember attenae-gate?)!

The big question I have and the battle happening on the www.ITMComputing.com front is that should the iPhone 4S become the main phone line and my Droid Pro become the personal line or vice versa. I must say, on the whole, I have not been too pleased with the Droid Pro. As it’s my 2nd droid phone, the first was the Droid X, I’m not sure if it’s the Phone or the Google Android OS. All of my clients who have non-physical keyboard Droids are in love with these phones. Their major complaint, which is a common complaint of current iPhone 4 users is battery life. The big questions for me is how I will adjust to a non-tactile keyboard, since I started with Palm (the inventor of the Smart Phone) to Blackberry to the Droid X to the Droid Pro. Too bad the Droid 3 doesn’t have 4 G.

Go to PCMag to see an in depth comparison on the rates for the the new Apple iPhone.

Wanna see who has the fastest data plan in your geographical area? Once again check out PCMag.

Concert & Movie Schedule

Music on the Square Redwood City – RWC
Fridays,   6-8pm
May 27th – October 7th, 2011

July 8th Aja Vu Steely Dan Cover Ban

Santa Cruz Friday Night Music on the Boardwalk SC

2 shows for each band: 630 pm & 830 pm
June 17th – Sept 7th

July 29th – Edgar Winter Band

Sausalito Jazz and Blues by the Bay SA
Fridays, 630 pm – 800 pm
June 3rd – August 26, 2011

Saturdays

Vasona Vibraions Los Gatos, Vas
Saturdays, from 5-7 pm
June 4th – July 30th
Vasona Lake County Park 333 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos, (408)354-2608

On the lawn near the Ranger Office, and just down the hill from the pedestrian entrance at University Ave and Pepper Tree Lane.

July 9th –  Red Hot Chachkas - klezmer fusion: the next generation of Jewish music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twilight Concert Series, Palo Alto PA
Saturday, 630 pm – 830 pm
July 2nd – August 20th

Sundays

Los Gatos Music in the Park Artist Line Up LGP
Sundays, 5-7 pm
June 19th – August 28th, 2011

Stern Grove San Francisco SG

Sundays at 2:00 pm
June 19 – August 21, 2011

August 17th – Aaron Neville

Wednesdays

Sunnyvale Music Series Svl
Wednesdays,   5:30pm-8:30pm
June 22nd – August 31st, 2011

Starlight Cinema’s Outdoor Movie Nights – San Jose 11 Free Movies
700 pm
June 8th – August 31st, 2011

Thursdays

San Jose Music in the Park SJ

Thursdays,  5:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.
Plaza de Cesar Chavez (Market Street between San Fernando and San Carlos streets)
June 2nd – Aug 25th, 2011

July 7th - Led Zepagain – Led Zeppelin Tribute Band

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds of the Shore RC
600 pm  – 800 pm
June 23rd – August 11th, 2011 (3 shows)

Waterfront Flicks in Jack London Square, Oakland OAK
Time: Sundown
July 7th – September 29, 2011

Sample – Free Concert Schedule

Probably the biggest names in all the Free Concert Series – The Santa Cruz Friday Night Music – Here’s their line up:

June 17	STARSHIP starring MICKEY THOMAS	“We Built This City”
June 24	ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS	“The House of the Rising Sun”
July 1	THE FAMILY STONE	“Thank You”
July 8	GREAT WHITE	“Once Bitten, Twice Shy”
July 15	LOVERBOY	“Working for the Weekend”
July 22	AVERAGE WHITE BAND	“Pick Up The Pieces”
July 29	THE EDGAR WINTER BAND	“Free Ride”
Aug 5	GIN BLOSSOMS	“Hey Jealousy”
Aug 12	BERLIN featuring TERRI NUNN	“Take My Breath Away”
Aug 19	SANTANA original lead singer GREGG ROLIE	“Black Magic Woman”
Aug 26	EDDIE MONEY	“Take Me Home Tonight”
Sept 2	PAPA DOO RUN RUN	“Santa Cruz” BEACH PARTY

Alltel
[10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com
Example: 2125551212@message.alltel.com

AT&T
[10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
Example: 2125551212@txt.att.net

Boost Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com
Example: 2125551212@myboostmobile.com

Metro PCS

[10-digit-phone-number]@mymetropcs.com
or [10-digit-phone-number]@metropcs.sms.us

Nextel
[10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com
Example: 7035551234@messaging.nextel.com

Sprint PCS
[10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Example: 2125551234@messaging.sprintpcs.com

Oh, BTW, when was the last time your backed up your computer? If not last night/today, then back it up immediately! If you’re not sure what to do – go here and set up online backup – click on first product on the page. This is a wonderful way to back up all your data to “the cloud” so you never have to worry losing your data to theft, fire, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other acts of Nature.

T-Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 4251234567@tmomail.net

Verizon
[10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
Example: 5552223333@vtext.com

Virgin Mobile USA
[10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com
Example: 5551234567@vmobl.com

Oh, by the way, there are other ways to send a text message other than email. You can send a text message using apps on your phone with your voice. Most phones have a way for you to just click on a voice link and send a text message with your voice, but these apps provide more features. These are iPhone/iPad apps which you can most likely download on Android Marketplace as well.

Funmail Free Texting – Free text and picture messaging with loads of images to use in text messaging.

TextFree with Voice – Free text and picture messaging – with a free number (while they last)

Textie Messaging – The creators of Tweetie and Borange are proud to present Textie™ Messaging, the unlimited texting app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. If you and a friend both have iPhones but are still paying to text each other, we definitely recommend you try using Textie Messaging instead–and communicate for free.

Source

Here are a few of my favorite things… I mean shopping sites:

Google Products. They have everything here, from AAA rechargeable batteries to Zumba DVDs. If money can buy it (and it’s not evil), you can get it here.

Google: not evil!

Go to Google Products, type in any purchasable material object and use the Invisible Hand Extension or the Price Blink Extension to see if you’re getting the best possible price. (FYI, an extension is a button that sits in the frame of your browser and works with your browser to improve your internet experience. These will work with Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla and Chrome.) It’s almost like having a personal assistant out there, looking for the needle in the haystack, while you get to surf the reviews pages. And seriously, what could possibly be more entertaining than this review page?

Price Grabber. The granddaddy of price comparison shopping. I used to use this all the time, but now I find Google Shopping a bit more versitle. Still a great site.

Tech Bargains. How does an Apple Outlet for less than $1000 sound? Sounds good. Also, ,this site looks for sweet deals from competing sites, like this bargain on a Monster Cable PowerCenter 8 Outlet Surge for $24.99.

Slick Deals posts multiple new coupons every single day. Like this Nike Windproof Umbrella for $51.

Woot offers one deal, for one day. Today they offered a groovy solar powered Bluetooth kit for $15. Tomorrow, who knows?

Daily Steals offers limited time deals on all kinds of stuff, too. New one every day, such as a $30 8GB Nano mp3/mp4

Deal Sucker. Another daily deal offerer. This one has a “Mystery Box of Crap” Friday. I’m not making that up. I haven’t taken the plunge yet, but the mystery box has a 4/5-star rating. Hey, at $9.99, it’s not that huge of a risk!

Wherever you go – wherever you buy – make sure to look at the reviews. Just type into your favorite search engine “productname review” and someone usually has an opinion on it. If you’re not sure, just pose the question on my Facebook Business Page. Happy to Help!

Here are a few FREE options for your Webinar Hosting convenience. And when your boss or clients hear your proposal to NOT meet in the boring banquet hall of Hotel Superchain Express, well…they should be impressed. (If I’m not mistaken, some one might save some money, too) Webinars are the latest and greatest social-networking device to hit the business world since the Facebook ”Like this!” button on webpages.

These are super-easy to use. Most require no installation (woohoo!) and work with all Internet Browser and Windows/Mac. All you need is a webcam, like the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000. If fact, you can just share your screen and talk on the phone – no need to even show your wonderful face! This is a common way I do trainings with many people.

Any Meeting

Any Meeting - Free Webinars

Any Meeting is a 100% free webinar service – which gives you phone – and webinar access for up to 200 participants. This is definitely the best service I’ve seen to date and your sure can’t beat the price – $0!

Koowy (formerly MeBeam) – Free

Oh, yeah, that’s right Koowy takes the coolness of the one-to-one Skype call and lets you have multi-person conferencing.

Quick tutorial on using Koowy w/Skype. Wanna record that webinar, try Pamela out.

ooVoo

ooVoo is a free video conferencing software that imports your instant messaging folk, allows up to 3 way video conference calls for free (upgrades up to 6 simultaneous video conferencing and desktop sharing for $29.95/month). Easy to use – Mobile compatible.

Yugma

Yugma is quite similar in nature to GoToMeeting. It starts off with Free Edition (up to 20 users) where you can share your screen with up to 20 users. To get fancier with it and add more features, you have to start paying $$, starting at $9.95/month as of this writing. Unlike the other 3 mentioned here, each participant and the host will have to download a program. There is also a “Skype” plug in. Most unusual, this program also supports Linux in the stand alone version.

GotoMeeting – Paid

GotoMeeting is fantastic for techies like myself to be able to use your computer from a remote location. It costs $50/month.  So instead of me asking you to open the control panel and read everything you see, I can just do it myself. You can be on the phone answering questions for me, or catching up on your filing and handwritten thank you notes  while your computer’s cursor runs around the screen and the magical keyboard re-enters an isp address for the tech on the line.

Web-Ex – Paid

Web-Ex works on your iPad and smartphone. They know become super price-competitive offering a basic level of service for $50/month. You can use up to 6 videocams and have up to 25 people in a meeting. They do offer a two-week trial, so if you take them up on that, please let me know!

To you, the reader

Which of these tools have you used? Which one do you recommend? We’d love to hear your experiences with webinars, web conferencing and video conferencing.

Surfing the web safely with proper ad-blocking software

This is the 2nd of a 2 part article on Protecting Your Privacy while Surfing the web. Yesterday, we covered Google Chrome. Today will be covering Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

There are many way companies track your information while you’re surfing the web. While they’re tracking your information, you want to protect your privacy. The main way they keep track of your information is through “cookies,” which is a small piece of code (crumb – following analogy of cookie) on your computer when you visit a site. These cookies are left when you click on ads. Every time you visit the site where you clicked an ad, they track what you click on and show you ads related to what you click on. There are HUGE tracking companies like “Doubleclick,” who consolidate data from thousands of websites, and your web surfing habits are on their servers.  None of these cookies are actually harmful to your computer, they’re just a major violation of your policy.

Following are some plug-ins you can use to customize your web browser to either erase these cookies or block them in the first place. I’ll only be covering these 3 Internet browsers – Google Chrome,  Mozilla Firefox, and Safari.  About 95% of the clients we visit use one of these browsers – whether they’re on Mac or Windows. FYI – Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has plug-ins as well.

Mozilla Firefox

AdBlockPlus Blocks Ads on Firefox

Windows/Mac: AdBlock Plus

This is one of my favorite extension of all time – it blocks ads – both the flashy kind and still kind.  It’s made by a different developer than the Google Chrome AdBlock guy. If you’re signed up with a freemail service like Hotmail, Gmail, AOLmail, Yahoo mail and hate all those ads – this will make your email viewing a lot more enjoyable. Word of warning: Occasionally it will block content you need. If you feel this is the case, click on icon of stop sign on your extension bar in upper right corner and tell it “Don’t run on this page.” It even blocks the text ads to the side of your google AND those annoying ads on Facebook!!

Better Privacy - Removing Long Term Cookies (LTO)s

Windows/Mac: Better Privacy

This plug-in will delete “Long Term Cookies” (LTO)s which are put here by Flash Ads, which are the twirly ads you see. This is supposing you still get Flash Ads after implementing a version of AdBlock

Private Browsing

In Firefox, you can click on “Tools, Start Private Browsing,” Firefox won’t keep any browser history, search history, download history, web form history, cookies, or temporary internet files.  However, files you download and bookmarks you make will be kept. This is a great way to protect your privacy while surfing on a public computer.

Safari

Windows/Mac: Adblock for Safari

This is one of my favorite extension of all time – it blocks ads as they name says so clearly – both the flashy kind and still kind (as in images). It’s one of the best ways to protect your privacy while surfing on Safari. It’s made by the same guy who does AdBlock for Google Chrome.  If you’re signed up with a freemail service like Hotmail, Gmail, AOLmail, Yahoo mail and hate all those ads – this will make your email viewing a lot more enjoyable. Word of warning: Occasionally it will block content you need. If you feel this is the case, click on icon of stop sign on your extension bar in upper right corner and tell it “Don’t run on this page.”  It even blocks the text ads to the side of your google AND those annoying ads on Facebook!! Oh, BTW, if you use this extension – give the guy $10 – it’s his full-time job keeping this program great!!

Surfing the web safely with proper ad-blocking software

There are many way companies track your information while you’re surfing the web. While they’re tracking your information, you want to protect your privacy. The main way they keep track of your information is through “cookies,” which is a small piece of code (crumb – following analogy of cookie) on your computer when you visit a site. These cookies are left when you click on ads. Every time you visit the site where you clicked an ad, they track what you click on and show you ads related to what you click on. There are HUGE tracking companies like “Doubleclick,” who consolidate data from thousands of websites, and your web surfing habits are on their servers.  None of these cookies are actually harmful to your computer, they’re just a major violation of your policy.

Following are some plug-ins you can use to customize your web browser to either erase these cookies or block them in the first place. I’ll only be covering these 3 Internet browsers – Google Chrome,  Mozilla Firefox, and Safari.  About 95% of the clients we visit use one of these browsers – whether they’re on Mac or Windows. FYI – Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has plug-ins as well.

We’ll discuss Google Chrome in Pt. 1 and Firefox/Safari in Pt. 2.

Google Chrome

Blocks Ads on Google Chrome

Windows/Mac: Ad Block

This is one of my favorite extension of all time – it blocks ads as they name says so clearly – both the flashy kind and still kind (as in images).  If you’re signed up with a freemail service like Hotmail, Gmail, AOLmail, Yahoo mail and hate all those ads – this will make your email viewing a lot more enjoyable. Word of warning: Occasionally it will block content you need. If you feel this is the case, click on icon of stop sign on your extension bar in upper right corner and tell it “Don’t run on this page.”  It even blocks the text ads to the side of your google AND those annoying ads on Facebook!! Oh, BTW, if you use this extension – give the guy $10 – it’s his full-time job keeping this program great!!

Click & Clean - Remove Cookies - Scan Malware

Windows Only: Click & Clean is a very powerful extension that prevents cookies as well as does malware scans. It’s extremely powerful and thorough and has tons of features.

Going Incognito on Google Chrome

Click on Wrench in the upper right corner, click “New Incognito Window,” which will give you a totally private web browsing experience. Pages you view in this window won’t appear in your browser history or search history, and they won’t leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.

As previously mentioned, we’ll be covering Mozilla Firefox and Apple’s Safari Browser’s tomorrow.

Click the pic to get your own cartoon.

1. South Park yourself.

2. Create an original portrait from scratch with the Portrait Illustration Maker.

3. My DaVinci has an incredible variety of caricatures for a small fee.

4. MessDude is good, clean fun.

5. Get a Mii! You don’t have to have a Wii to interact with other Miis. The Mii Channel’s options are endless! And if you have a Wii, your Mii will show up in some of the games.

6. CartoonStylist.com – Submit your photo, and these guys will set you up with a shiny, new cartoon. $15 will get you in black and white, old Betty Boop and Steamboat Willie style. Upgrading to Fantasia colors will be $30.

7. You can get lost in a world of Meez. Interact with thousands of other Meez. Even your pet can have a Meez. Meez will work with other various sites, so they are also somewhat addictive.

8. Cartoon Draw Software is FREE! You do it yourself, without even using the internet once it’s downloaded on your computer.

9. MyWebFace claims to make cartoons just like Disney. You might not see it, but I’m sure my neice will like the idea of looking like a modern Belle (from Beauty and the Beast).

10. Androidify Yourself

Make a cool Android Persona of yourself. You’ll need to do this one from your Android phone. You can make several – save them – email them – post to Facebook. Fun!

Also, check back at SimpsonizeMe, WeeWorld and CartoonMe. Their services are so popular, the sites are overwhelmed!

FotoFlexer Love the effects this one offers. Try “sketch” for those cool drawn-looking photos that everyone’s getting, and of course try “wrinkle cream” for those one-of-a-kind, yet less flattering pics. Make a collage and upload it at lightning speed on Facebook and other social media sites.

Wow! I didn't know I even needed "Wrinkle Cream!" Thanks, FotoFlexer.

FixPicture makes it incredibly easy to resize photos.

Picnik is similar to FotoFlexer. It doesn’t have as many effects to offer (at least, not to non-account holders like myself) but it’s as easy to use. Also, you can get your collage keepsake fix right there.

Picasa – You don’t even need the internet for Picasa!  Once you’ve downloaded the editing software made by Google, you can retouch your friend’s wedding photos, saving her thousands of dollars. This one is an old fave of mine. Many meaningful cat-photos have I added sepia-tone nuances to.

XNView is my favorite despite its previous Windows-Only status. It’s another free download, and you can even work with screenshots.

MeeSoft (Windows only) offers advanced image editing, enhancement and analysis software. The creators claim that it offers the most image enhancement features found in conventional image editors plus a number of advanced features not even available in professional photo suites. The software is usable with scanners, too.

ImageResizer was created as a clone of the Image Resizer Powertoy for Windows XP (which allows you to right-click on one or more image files in Windows Explorer to resize them) to extend support to non-XP and 64-bit versions of Windows (including 2000, Vista & 7).

Woah, look at me astral projecting in Pajaro Nat'l Forest with this super cute dog! Okay, you're right. It's weird. Using FotoFlexor's "Blended Image" function is more fun for those "If they mated..." pics.

We can use all of the chat operators we want with just one of any of these chatter boxes. And since everyone is at facebook, you might as well be able to chat with your friends, without even logging into facebook.

Digsby is the first 3rd party messenger to support facebook’s chat feature. It is a cross-platform messenger available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. No hacks or plugins are required. Just register for an Digsby account and login with it. Once you are logged in, click Add Account. Now in the Accounts tab, click Add IM Account and select Facebook Chat from the list

Pidgin is an opensource 3rd party IM that has a large user base but sadly till today there is no official support for facebook chat. The only way to connect with Facebook chat is through a plugin. Grab the Facebook Chat Plugin for Pidgin and with it you can log into the Facebook servers, grab the buddy list, send/receive messages, add/remove friends, receive notifications, search for Facebook friends and set your Facebook status.

Once you have installed this plugin, you will find Facebook listed among the supported IMs.

Adium is a free opensource IM for Mac OS X. The latest version(1.3.3) has a built-in support for facebook chat, just login with your facebook account and you are good to go.

If you are only interested in using the facebook chat and not all the other chat funcions, you can try the Facebook Chat Standalone.

If you’re looking for the app that does it all, look for Trillian. Chatty interoperability on just about every device I have (not the Atari, sadly).