Jeremy Castro

Not sure why I’m putting this on my site, but I was a little concerned when I saw at “Facebook Plugin” alert when I was trying to upload some pictures.  It was def the first time I’ve seen this and is actually a bit interesting to think about.

Not only will it be a security/spam/spyware concern for many of the 350,000,0000 users on Facebook but it is also an interesting technology approach for facebook.  From what I can tell, this an early attempt at using a “plugin” architecture on their site.  I wonder what it has in store for the next stage of the site.

I’m curious to see how Facebook can keep their site secure and void of vulnerability to spyware/virus, etc in opening up themselves to plugins.

Anyway, maybe people will good “facebook plugin virus” or “facebook photo upload scam” or something along those lines to see if that warning is indeed something safe to use and click “OK” to.

I wonder how many people will wait to upload pictures until they find out “my friends did it, so it must be safe.”

Well, here is my “it’s safe to click “OK” on the Facebook photo upload plugin warning.”

Facebook plugin certificate authentication

Examining the validity of the Facebook plugin certificate

The facebook plugin is installing

Add details to my new album

New facebook photo upload interface is slick and pretty quick

The uploader sits quietly in the Facebook tray

Files are uploaded, time to tag and bag

It seems that Apple is having some problems with MobileMe and getting some pretty shitty reviews.  I’m still impressed with the service so far despite the problem I found earlier today.

I went to go make a phone call and all my contact’s names appeared in the list but no details (phone numbers, addresses, etc) were anywhere to be found.  All my contacts were still intact in Outlook, Blackberry and also www.me.com but just not my iPhone.

Tried syncing it with the MobileMe application on my PC and within the iPhone but no luck.  After my initial D.I.Y stuff, I had to turn to google with this search, “mobileme contacts empty iphone”.

Four entries down was this link to theiPhoneblog.com with some good insight into the problems MobileMe is facing.  It also gave a link to Apple’s site that gives the solution.

The Solution:

1. Go to this page, http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1672
2. Go to step 10

Recap: Delete your MobileMe account within your iPhone (Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendar).  Then add your MobileMe account back to the iPhone.  It will sync itself again and all your contacts should be there.

I think I’ve managed to use Apple’s new MobileMe service to solve part of this problem.

First off, if you only have one cell phone (like a normal person) and it’s an iPhone – I highly suggest you use the MobileMe service.  It’s absolutely sick and does just about everything they says it does with the exception of handling your other email accounts.  If Apple can figure out how to cross this service over to other email providers and calendar applications, this will be a real killer app.

Here’s what I did for my iphone, windows vista PC and blackberry…

Sync Your Blackberry With Your PC Using Microsoft Outlook

I personally deleted all my Outlook contacts and Calendar entries so I could start from scratch since my Blackberry had the most accurate and current info.

1. Download & install the most recent Blackberry Desktop Manager from Research in Motion (currently v4.5)
2. Connect your Blackberry to your PC
3. Once connected, choose “Synchronize” from the Desktop Manager main menu, then “Synchronization” on the left menu and then the “Synchronization” button (Apple doesn’t follow the redundancy mantra that PC developers do huh?)
4. Choose the applications you want your Blackberry to sync with.  Their options are VERY limited (Outlook, data files and Yahoo)
   
5. Double-Click the “Microsoft Outlook” text so we can make a slight change to how it handles the sync.  This will make sure if you make changes on your Blackberry, Outlook or iPhone it won’t automatically overwrite one or the other without you knowing.
   

   

   

6. Once you complete that, click “Synchronize” and all your Blackberry contacts/calendars will be synced with Outlook.

Setting Up the MobileMe Service On Your PC & iPhone (Windows Vista)

1. Sign up for the MobileMe service.  There’s a 60-day trial period for those that want to give it a test drive.
2. Log into your account at www.me.com
3. Download and install the most recent iTunes from Apple.
4. Go to Control Panel -> Choose Classic View -> Double click the MobileMe icon
5. Login to the MobileMe application and it will link your computer with your iPhone/iTunes.
6. Set the applications to sync your contacts, calendars, etc to Outlook.
   
7. Now, your iPhone and Outlook will sync AUTOMATICALLY when you make changes on either device.  This works amazingly well.  Test it out for yourself.

The Final Step – Using Outlook to Connect the Data Between the Devices

1. Your iPhone and Outlook will automatically synchronize themselves using the MobileMe service.  You won’t have to do anything manually and it all happens in near real time over the internet and your cell phone’s data service.
2. The Blackberry must be manually synced by plugging it into your PC and then using the Desktop Manager to perform the sync.

Overall, this is a pretty simple fix once you get it installed and operational.  I think this will save some people serious headaches and will help keep the data on your various phones and devices relatively organized.

Please note, I haven’t even begun to deal with how to synchronize emails because I don’t use my iPhone to handle email and I don’t plan on using the MobileMe email address/service quite yet.  I already have my work account, gmail and a yahoo.  Too many emails to manage.

Hope that helps.

First off let me say this – Netflix has mastered digital streaming media on the computer and not to your TV too.  Fuck what iTunes is doing & sure you can get everything off bit torrent or www.surfthechannel.com but Netflix is the king with their “Watch Instantly” feature (that
comes free with your Netflix account).  Noted that the selection isn’t the greatest but give them time, it will get there.

And now, to put the cherry on top, they introduced their Roku device that streams their Watch Instantly films directly onto your TV without a computer – all with DVD quality pictures.

Well, last month I took a small chance and impulsively spent the $100 (no additional monthly fee either!) and pressed “Buy Now”.

WATCH INSTANTLY

Since early in 2007, whether at home or on the road (as I often am), I’ve been using the Netflix Watch Instantly feature on a daily/nightly basis.  Their overall selection is not the greatest but it has gotten better and better each week as they continue to add 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s classic movies and TV shows.  Mixed in with random “classics” (Author, Legends of the Fall, Purple Rain, Basketball Diaries, Ghostbusters, A-Team series, Leave it to Beaver series) are some seriously horrible B-movies (King Kong Fu, Karate Dog, Like Mike 2) which unforunately make up most of the catalog.  Hey, they gotta start somewhere right?

Their instant PC streaming technology shines through a small (10,000 plus) online catalog and delivers unbelievably well.  It loads quick and the quality is determined by your broadband speed in order to optimize the speed.  On my widescreen 19″ laptop, it was portable bliss – especially when they got Heroes (seasons 1&2) followed by Weeds (seasons 1&2) and 30Rock (which could be the greatest show ever).  Hours and hours of entertainment built into my already great Netflix account.  At the end of the day, I used Watch Instantly was more than I did using their DVDs.

BUT WAIT…INTRODUCING…ROKU…STREAMING VIDEO TO YOUR TV FROM NETFLIX

When I saw this device advertised on the Netflix site I was intrigued and had to get it.  It was only $100 and there were no additional fees for the service.  The Netflix interface used to select movies on Watch Instantly always sucked and I was def curious when a new “Watch Instantly Queue” suddenly appeared a couple months prior to th Roku announcement.  Little did I know, it was the precursor to the new Roku device that would link streaming media directly to your TV.  Ahhhhh shit!

So, I ordered the device and waited about 6 days for it to show up.  When it showed up via UPS, I almost forgot that I even ordered it because there wasn’t much talk about it online or in real life for that matter.  The box it came in was probably 8″ x 8″ x 4″.  Not big at all, which meant the device was pretty small itself.  Was that a good or bad sign?  Did I waste my money buying something too early?  NOPE.

Like most men do, I opened the box and didn’t read the instructions before trying to set it up.  My excitement was crushed because I didn’t have a cat5 cable long enough to go from my hub to my TV (35″ flat screen) and couldn’t test this new bad boy out.

But, little did I know (would have if I read the info booklet) it had built in wireless!!!!  SICK.  A simple plug in and an easy menu popped up…

• Find a wireless netword & enter the network password
• The device connected and gave me a code to enter in my online Netflix account to link the devices
• Waited like 5 minutes to set up and…

BAMN!!! A cool scrollable visual menu came up with my complete Watch Instantly Queue (from my Netflix account) appeared as DVD covers going from right to left.  You click on a cover with the Roku remote control and it shows you a synopsis of the movie, a rating and options to watch, resume, etc.

I was completely shocked at how fast and responsive the device was.  After clicking a movie, it took less than 20 seconds to begin playing.  And like DVD menus, you can skip to scenes, fast forward, rewind, pause and quickly leave the movie for the home screen at any moment.  And, if you want, you can resume playing where you left off at even if you start watching a different movie/show.

THE VERDICT

As an self-proclaimed early adopter to technology this could have been a gamble.  But $100 isn’t a bad gamble for the potential payoff.  For $100, I got true On-Demand television and movies.  Not bad if you ask me.

In the end, the device has worked flawlessly…

• Easy installation (there’s no way it could be that easy, right?)
• Intuitive and informative menus
• Quick response/loading time
• Great picture quality
• Resumes quickly with cable broadband

But there could be some improvements…

• The movie/TV catalog def needs to improve
• Adding movies to your Watch Instantly Queue is easy enough, but organizing them is near impossible (i suggest using the numbers to order them)
• Finding movies is a pain in the ass because you need to scroll left/right and can’t organize
• The remote doesn’t yet work with a universal

All in all, this device could be the future.  For those of you that sit in front of the TV for hours, it would be a good investment.  But for many of you, give it another 6 months or so and I’m sure it will only get better and better.