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Stuff I Like
Things That Don’t Suck
Making Life a Little Nicer
Sometimes I find myself complaining about things that frustrate me. Well, it’s actually pretty easy to find things that suck, but I decided to take some time to talk about a few things that have been making me particularly happy lately.
Instaper – This is a simple tool to save web pages for reading later. If you see a page, article, story, or whatever that you don’t have time to read now, you can tuck it away to be read later. You can go back and read your saved stuff later on either your computer, iPhone, Kindle, or even good old fashioned paper. Plus, you can send pages to Instapaper from your browser, RSS reader, Twitter apps, and a bunch of other places.
Netflix Streaming for PS3 – You can instantly stream movies from Netflix to your TV via your PlayStation 3. The best part about it is that the movie starts instantly. That’s right, no stupid credits. I spent two straight days home sick from work recently. I don’t’ think I would have made it without the dozen movies that I watched.
PixelPipe – When I create videos for my tutorials/podcast, I need to upload them to multiple places on the web. PixelPipe allows me to load my videos, images, and updates to accounts on dozens of sites. (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Vimeo, and many, many more.) If you have a lot of videos, images, or updates to make, this service will save you more time than you can imagine.
My New Moleskine Notebook – I got this notebook from the team at Automattic for volunteering at the WordCampNYC conference. It’s just the right size for me to carry it everywhere. It has a nice little pocket in the back to hold business cards, scraps of paper, and other stuff. I use it to plan projects, articles, and other tasks.
Get your own awesome Moleskine Notebook
Windows 7 – I decided that I needed to upgrade to WIndows 7 so that my tutorials were more up-to-date. I started off by installing a new Parallels Virtual Machine on my Mac. First of all, this is easily the best OS that Microsoft has put out. It’s prettier than Vista and as light as XP. My wife needs a new laptop and I can’t wait to set up a full-fledged machine running Windows 7. Nice job Microsoft!
Applications that run on Windows, Mac, and Linux – Being that I’m constantly switching between Operating Systems and it is really helpful to have a few applications that are supported on each. This really eases the transitions. Some of my favorite are: Firefox, Filezilla, Picasa, VLC, and any Adobe AIR apps.
Google Voice – I love the new Voicemail text transcription feature. Isn’t that enough?
Movies in 2D – Because 3D is just retarded! I’m looking at you Avatar. (and Coraline, and the upcoming Alice in Wonderland travesty.)
5min.com Video of the Day
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How to Create a Bulk Software Installer
The Super Fast Way to Set Up a New PC
OVERVIEW: You will learn how to install dozens of awesome, free applications on your computer in 5 simple steps. No money, 200 Point IQ, or Back-Breaking Labor required!
Once you get past the excitement of getting a new computer, then the aggravation sets in. You have to download and install all of the software that you need. This can take hours and hours even if you’re organized.
You can spare yourself so much of the pain involved with this process by using a bulk software installation tool. I recently found a tool that creates an installer that automates the process of installing multiple applications.
Ninite.com gives you a selection of close to 100 free or open source applications that can be added to a 1-click installer. Some of these are my absolute favorite apps of all time. (Firefox, Skype, Digsby, Notepad++, DropBox, Evernote, and many more.)
Follow the steps below to create and run a Bulk Software Installer.
Creating the Installer
Open your browser and go to http://ninite.com.
You will be able to select from a large collection of free/open source applications that are grouped into several categories.
Select the checkbox next to all of the applications that you want to include in your installer.
After you select all of the applications that you want to include in your installer, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the 
button.
You will see the Download page. This page will display all the icons for all of the applications that you selected for inclusion in the installer. The click here to change apps link will return you to the previous page, where you can add or remove applications.
Your download should begin automatically. Use the click here to retry the download link if your download does not begin right away.
You can use the permanent link to get a link to the installer download page. This is convenient if you want to share this collection of apps with other users or computers.
Installing Your Collection of Applications
You can either save the installer file to your computer and launch it, or let it run automatically from your browser.
Saving the Installer to Your Computer
The installer’s file name will include the applications that you selected.
Double click the installer file when it has finished downloading.
Automatically Running the Installer When it Finishes Downloading
If you elected to automatically run the installer when the download finishes, you will see the following window.
Click the 
button to launch the installer.
This is actually the last action that you are absolutely required to take. Everything else runs on its own.
Monitoring the Installation Process
The installer file does not actually contain each applications installation files. It downloads them when it is run.
Click the Show details link to monitor the progress of your installation process.
You will see the list of applications that you included in the installer. You will be able to follow along and see which applications have been downloaded and installed.
When all of your applications have been installed, you will see the following confirmation.
Click the 
button to exit the installer.
That’s it, all of your applications are installed and working as if they were each installed manually.
Printable Instrucitons
Click to Download a Printable Version of these Instructions.
See How it’s Done
The following video tutorial shows how to Install Multiple Applications using a Bulk Software Installer.
What Applications Do I Bundle?
I put a huge list of applications by category at the bottom of this article. (I didn’t want to break up the flow with a huge list.) You can also check out one of my lists of my favorite free applications:
22 Most Useful Free Applications for your PC (2009)
26 Best Free Mac Applications (2009)
32 Free Applications that I Could Not Live Without (2008)
What Applications Would You Put in your Installer Bundle?
I would love to hear what you think. Let me know what applications would you include in a Bulk Software Installer in the comments below. (List OS, then Apps.)
List of Suggested Applications to Include
Here is a list of some of the availabe applications that I highly reccomend:
Web Browsers
Google Chrome
Opera
Firefox
Messaging
Skype
Pidgin IM
Digsby
Mozilla Thunderbird
Media
iTunes
Songbird
Hulu Desktop
VLC
Winamp Lite
Audacity
Spotify
Imaging
Paint.NET
Google Picasa
GIMP
IrfanView
Inkscape
Documents
OpenOffice
Foxit Reader
CutePDF Writer
Security
Microsoft Security Essentials
Avast
AVG Free Anti-Virus
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware
Spybot – Search & Destroy
Runtimes
Flash
Flash Player 10 for other browsers
Flash Player 10 for Internet Explorer
Java JRE
Microsoft .NET
Microsoft Silverlight
File Sharing
uTorrent
eMule
Utilities
ImgBurn
CCleaner
Launchy
Revo Uninstaller
Defraggler
RealVNC
TeraCopy?
CDBurnerXP
7-Zip
Dropbox
Evernote
Google Earth
Steam?
Developer Tools
FileZilla
Notepad++
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Ultimate Google Android Phone Tutorial
How to Do Everything on a Google Android Phone
OVERVIEW: You will learn how to do several basic and advanced tasks with a mobile phone running Google’s Android Operating System.
I Got My New Android Phone, Now What?
If you’re one of the millions of people who have a mobile phone with Google’s Android operating system, congratulations. There are so many things that you can do with your new phone that you might be a little intimidated. Don’t worry, I have a bunch of resources that will help you get up and running with your cool new gadget. Not to mention a few that will teach you some advanced tricks.
Here are some of the things that you will learn:
- Surfing the Web with Andriod’s Browser
- Finding Applications to Download from the Android Market Place
- How to Change the Wallpaper an Android Phone
- Create Custom Ring Tones for Your Android Phone
- Use Your Android Phone on an Airplane Without Getting into Trouble
- Plus more cool and useful tricks
Surfing the Web with Andriod’s Browser
Learn how to browse and surf the internet/web using your Google G1 T-Mobile Android smart phone. Adjust your Internet settings.The following video shows How to Surf the Web Using a Google Android Phone.
Finding Applications to Download from the Android Market Place
Search the Android Market from Your Android Phone – The Android Market has thousands of applications that you can downloaded for your device. You can search for applications, sort out those that are free from those that cost, and more.
The following video shows how to search through the Android Market Place to find the applications that you want to install on your phone.
How to Change the Wallpaper an Android Phone
When you first turn on your new phone, it can be a little boring. Learn how to personalize your Android phone by changing the Wallpaper across your Home screens. This will also allow you to configure your application launchers in a way that is most efficient for your tastes.
Create Custom Ring Tones for Your Android Phone
One of the cool things about Android phones is that you can create custome ringtones out of just about music. (Why my iPhone can’t do that puzzles me.) This video will show you how to create a custom Android ringtone from just about any audio file you have on your Android phone or your computer.
Use Your Android Phone on an Airplane Without Getting into Trouble
Airlines have rules about using electronic gadgets while flying. You also aren’t allowed to use cell phones while in the air. If you turn on airplane mode, however, you can still access applications on your phone but turn all wireless communications off. Perfect for if you want to compose an email, play a game or watch a movie while in flight.
Other Android Phone Tutorials
Here are some other good places to learn cool tricks for using an Android phone.
- HelloAndroid.com has lots of good tutorials and news on the Android Operating System.
- WhyAndroid.com has several good turoials on doing things with and Android phone.
- This article from Droidie.com has 8 very useful tutorials with videos.
- AndroidForums.com has a good tutorial on Syncing an Android Phone with Microsoft Outlook.
What Do You Think?
What other cool or helpful tips do you know of for using the Android Operating System do you have? Please write any suggestions in the comments below.
Use Smart Playlists to be an iTunes Genius
Make Smart Playlists Continuously Give You Interesting Music Selections Do you ever get sick of listening to the same old albums or playlists on your iPod? I know I do. Well, you can use the Smart Playlist feature in iTunes to constantly generate a dynamic mix-tape of fresh music selection. Smart Playlists are like little [...]