10 October 2008

Vodafone mobile wireless broadband

I have a mobile wireless broadband account with Vodafone. I opened it in Kalgoorlie, mainly for the kids to access the internet from their computer, and for me to use when travelling.

It offers 3G speed in areas with access to the Vodafone network, but only dial-up elsewhere, including Mount Gambier unfortunately.

Vodafone is meant to be expanding its network at the end of this year. Read more »

Tags: mobile, Technology
0 comments


22 September 2008

Sync your mobile data online

I don’t use my mobile phone much for taking photos. At various times I’ve bought phones with ramped up camera capabilities, but for various reasons I haven’t utilised them much.

My brain hasn’t tuned into the fact that phones today are also cameras, voice recorders and music players among other things. They do almost everything except vacuum and turn the lights out.

My JasJam mobile takes a reasonable photo, however.

While browsing for the latest Windows Mobile freeware I discovered a relatively new web-based data sync service called Dashwire. Read more »

Tags: mobile, photography, Technology
2 comments


13 July 2008

iPhone not such a big deal

The introduction of the iPhone to Australia on Friday was a marketing success for Apple. They created a real buzz and a perception the product was so sought after you’d be lucky to get one.

That turned out to be the case. Whether it’s true, or whether release numbers were deliberately restricted, I can’t be sure.

There were none for sale in Mount Gambier, apparently. In Melbourne, only selected stores were stocking them. Some people queued for hours to get one. Read more »

Tags: communication, mobile, Technology
1 comment


4 July 2008

Identi.ca: Unique or clone?

I was never a big Tweeter, but found the concept strangely compelling. There are many people ranting on the web about service disruptions, but I never used it enough to be troubled.

Nevertheless, I like to try new things and stumbled across Identi.ca yesterday and set up an account with the short, early-adopter user name of mjg.

The service is Open Source and I like the fact I can login with openID. There is the promise of things to come in terms of integration and updates, such as SMS, Facebook and WordPress.

There is a good in-depth discussion here.

Tags: blogs, internet, Technology, web-2.0
0 comments


29 June 2008

rssHugger worth a look

I’m taking a look at rssHugger.

It claims to be a unique website that aims to bring bloggers and readers together.

“rssHugger aims to provide blog owners with a unique easy-to-use way to promote their blogs by sending them traffic, building backlinks for search engine optimisation, as well as attracting new rss subscribers if the content is interesting to the reader.

“rssHugger aims to help visitors be able to easily find blogs that write about subjects they are interested in.

“If the visitors find a blog that they had not previously heard about, they can easily add it to their RSS readers or bookmark it.”

It sounds good in theory. By writing about the service here I become entitled to a free listing for this site. That offer is available to anyone.

As with other such tools I’ll monitor its impact on site traffic with interest.

Tags: internet, Technology
0 comments


19 June 2008

Another webmail service goes

I logged into Gigya webmail tonight. I’ve always liked its clean, open layout and speed of operation. It also has lots of other sharing features and things I never used.

On logging in I was greeted with this announcement:

Note: the Gigya webmail service will be discontinued permanently on June 15th. We recommend that you forward any email containing important contacts or content to another email service of yours by July 15th. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Read more »

Tags: email, Technology, web-2.0
0 comments


9 June 2008

Government services online

I read earlier this year the new Rudd regime plans a whole-of-government approach to Commonwealth IT services.

Labor believed the Howard Government wasted money allowing an ad-hoc uncoordinated system to develop whereby individual departments and agencies contracted their own services.

Labor is right in this this regard. While decision making at a local level should be permitted, the big picture issues such as architecture and development should be centralised and properly co-ordinated.

I can relate a personal experience of government departments with conflicting systems from a user perspective. Read more »

Tags: government, internet, Technology
0 comments


7 June 2008

Kontera text advertising

This is a short audio post (890kb) I made on Kontera: in-text web advertising.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 6 or above) is required to play this audio clip. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Update: I’ve removed the text ad links; found them too annoying.

Tags: blogs, Technology
0 comments


7 June 2008

Tech briefs

I’ve been trying several new web services lately. Here’s a short summary report on three:

Orgoo: More than just a webmail service, Orgoo does provide that and a whole lot more. The interface is very clean and users can add IMAP and POP3 accounts. Contacts can be easily imported.

Other features include instant messaging across multiple accounts, video chat, video mail and SMS (US and Canada only).

It’s still in beta test mode with the promise of more features to come, including a calendar. I have 12 invitations to give away if anyone is interested. Contact me to enquire. Read more »

Tags: Technology
0 comments


21 May 2008

New video camera

I bought a Sanyo Xacti nine-megapixel video camera through eBay from Hong Kong before it was readily available in Australia.

The gadget has only just arrived and I haven’t had much time to experiment with it yet, but first impressions are very positive.

It’s small and shoots high quality. There are recording options for television standard or web.

I plan to use it on our drive across the country to hopefully film a scene of the Great Australian Bight and the houses we previously lived in at Ceduna and Port Pirie. If they work I’ll post the clips here in a couple of weeks.

More importantly, I hope Dad will be well enough and willing to speak on camera. That was a great suggestion from a friend of mine to capture a special memory.

Down the track I hope to use the camera for recording some web news at Mount Gambier.

Tags: photography, Technology, video
0 comments