Mobile

Best Instant Messengers

/ Apple, Electronics, Internet, Mobile, Software

There are many instant messaging options for communicating with your friends and colleagues. In order for instant messengers to work together, they need to use the same protocol. To avoid interoperability issues, consider one of the messengers listed here that supports multiple systems.

Windows and Linux

Pidgin works with all the major IM systems: AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr.

It is also highly customizable with lots of plugins. Lifehacker.com lists their ten favorite plug-ins.

Mac OS X

By default, the Mac comes with iChat which is the best videoconferencing solution for Mac. Unfortunately, iChat only works with Macs.  It uses a Jabber transport and connects with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), .Mac, ICQ and XMPP.

For instant messaging and more interoperability on the Mac, Adium is similar to Pidgin and works with all the major IM protocols.

IM + Video + Calling Land Lines

If you also want videoconferencing, Skype is the most popular solution. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and even some mobile devices like Windows Mobile PDAs and the Sony PSP (pictured). It also has the paid options of Skype Out (calling a phone) or Skype In (getting a phone number that rings your Skype account). On the downside, Skype is a proprietary protocol that only works with Skype.

iPhone App Follows the Presidential Election Polls

/ Apple, Electronics, Mobile, Software

Living in the Washington D.C. area, I meet a lot of political junkies. A great application for them is Election ’08 for iPhone & iPod Touch by Aaron Brethorst. It costs $0.99. While the information it provides is freely available from electoral-vote.com, Election ’08 displays the information well and is easy to browse. It gives you the polls and trends by state, as well as historical data for past elections.

I’ll be watching my state of Virginia because it is a close swing state. Election ’08 shows that Washington D.C. is the most skewed state with 90 to 9 currently for Obama.

If you are interested in the election poll results as they come in and you have an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, Election ’08 is worth the $0.99.

Watch Your Home Team with Slingbox

/ Electronics, Internet, Mobile, Software

Slingbox is a device that hooks up to your cable, tuner, or DVR. You connect to it remotely using the SlingPlayer software to watch TV from wherever you are on the Internet. It costs $150 to $240 depending on the version you want.

Because it is a one-to-one connection and not a broadcast, it isn’t illegal. So if you want to watch your home TV while you’re on the road, or if you want to watch the football team that isn’t shown where you live, Slingbox is a great solution.

The quality isn’t perfect. It depends on the upload bandwidth at the Internet connection where the Slingbox is located. Sports programs unfortunately will suffer the most from the video compression because they have a lot of action. Sometimes you just need to listen to the announcers to figure out what really happened.

If football is very important to you, then consider purchasing DirecTV and then adding the Sunday Ticket for $300. But if you can handle the reduced video quality, Slingbox is a great solution.

UPDATE: Slingbox just released the Slingbox Pro-HD, their new top-of-the line version. This box can now send high definition video over a local network.

Encryption on USB Flash Drives

/ Apple, Mobile, Software

USB Flash Memory Drives have become the replacement of the floppy disk.  You can get a 16GB flash drive for around $50 so they offer a great backup and travel option.  But what if you have your important data on it and you lose it?  Then whoever finds it will have easy access to all your data.  That’s why encrypting your data on a flash drive is so important.

Mac OS X Disk Utility

Some operating systems like Mac OS X have built in features to create encrypted volumes.  This can be done through disk utility.  You create a file of whatever size you want and that becomes a new mountable volume once you double click it and enter your password.  Without the password, you just see a single file that you can do nothing with.  This is a great option for Mac OS X but then if you find you need to access your files on Windows or Linux, you are out of luck.

TrueCrypt

The best multi-OS solution is TrueCrypt.  You can download versions of TrueCrypt for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.  You should then copy each of these versions to your flash drive.  Then you can run the appropriate version on whatever OS you are on.  With TrueCrypt, you can create an encrypted file of whatever size you want. Within the program, you can then select the file to mount it as an accessible drive.  In Windows, that means you’ll assign it to a drive letter.  On Mac or Linux, you should see the volume appear on your desktop.  Then use it like you would any other volume.  When you are done, you can unmount it and remove the flash drive.  

It does take these few extra steps of mounting your volume to get to your data but it is well worth the ability to access your encrypted data from any OS.  If your data is at all sensitive, you should definitely consider using TrueCrypt.

Find WiFi networks with iStumbler for Mac OS X

/ Apple, Internet, Mobile

iStumbler allows you to find and determine the strength of WiFi networks. It works only with Macs.

iStumbler is useful when you need access to the internet and need free WiFi. iStumbler will tell you if the network is secure or open. Although connecting to an open WiFi point is of questionable legality, there are some networks from coffee shops and other locations that welcome you.

iStumbler is also useful in setting up wireless networks to see where best to place your access point.

While you can just use the built-in AirPort connection information, iStumbler provides you the signal strength information that might help you.

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