So, I’m not sure how many of you have iPhones, I’m sure a lot of you have Mac’s and out of those of you that have Mac’s I’m not sure how many of you have had a chance to check out my Binary Watch Widget for Mac OS X.
Well, I recently started developing apps for the iPhone, so my first app that I submitted to the App Store for approval was a port of my Binary Watch Widget to the iPhone, which got approved about a week later and you can download that for free from the App Store. From your iPhone you just go to the App Store and search for Binary Watch.
The Binary Watch was my very first iPhone App and is pretty basic in design and functionality but it does as its title implies, it displays the current time in binary format. I wrote a tutorial here a few months ago on how to read a Binary Watch as well.
Given the basic design and lack of functionality of the Binary Watch iPhone App, I was inspired to develop a more robust Binary Watch App and so A Geek Clock was born. A Geek Clock displays binary time in a beautiful array of brightly colored LED’s taking up most of the iPhones screen real estate. A Geek Clock also has a few settings to choose from to allow for a more customized experience. For instance, you can select a color for the LED lights and you can also choose between a 12 and 24 hour time format.
A Geek Clock also allows you to enable or disable a learning mode feature which basically displays the current time on the screen and describes what the LED’s represent in a 10 base counting system. You also have the option to override the iPhones Auto Lock feature so that you can keep the clock on at all times.
You can check out more information and some screen shots of A Geek Clock on my new website Empoc Media. If you haven’t read about my new company yet, you can read about it in this blog post My New Company.
Also, for anyone willing to write a fair and honest review of A Geek Clock on the App Store, I will give a promotional code to, to download A Geek Clock for free, otherwise its $ .99 and I’m only charging so that I can further my development and come up with better applications that everyone will enjoy.
So, I went to the Apple website to check out new products, and the first thing that caught my attention after the big picture of the new 27″ iMac that is. I clicked on store and noticed something called the Nike+ iPod sensor, being the curious person that I am, I clicked on it just to find out what exactly a Nike + iPod sensor is.
I noticed after clicking on the Nike+ iPod sensor that on the left pane was a link for a Nike + iPod Sport Kit. What followed after the click on the Sport Kit was pure amazement.
It seems that Nike has developed a pair of Sneakers called “Nike+”. These special shoes come equipped with a built in pocket that will house a special sensor that Apple sells. This sensor will track your movement during your workout routine and communicate wirelessly with your iPod Touch, iPod Nano, iPhone, etc…
The information that is tracked is stored on your iPod and when you sync your iPod with your iTunes is uploaded to Nike which will track your workout routine, goals, etc…
According to the description you can share your results with other members and even challenge other members to a virtual race. I don’t know how much Nike charges for the shoes but Apple only charges $29.00 for the kit. I’m thinking about buying this kit to try it out.
Has anyone had the opportunity to try this yet? How well would you rate the product? Does it help keep you in shape?
Google just announced that they have released a beta version of Google Chrome for download for Mac OS X. Along with the announcement they have listed some fun facts:
- 73,804 lines of Mac-specific code written
- 29 developer builds
- 1,177 Mac-specific bugs fixed
- 12 external committers and bug editors to the Google Chrome for Mac code base, 48 external code contributors
- 64 Mac Minis doing continuous builds and tests
- 8,760 cups of soft drinks and coffee consumed
- 4,380 frosted mini-wheats eaten
From the sound of it, it appears that a lot of time and effort has been put into Google Chrome for Mac since its Alpha release about 6 months ago. I haven’t downloaded the beta release to test it yet, so I’ll leave that up to you guys. If anyone has had a chance to test Chrome yet please post your comments.
You can download the new beta release here http://www.google.com/chrome
I don’t particularly like ranting and I don’t usually like to talk bad about reputable businesses but my last experience with PayPal deserves to be shared with as many people as possible.
PayPal may make it simple to accept and send payments online as well as giving you several options for withdrawing funds. Don’t let all this simplicity fool you. The fact remains, PayPal is not a bank and your money is not safe with PayPal.
Just yesterday I received an e-mail from PayPal to inform me that my account has been closed ???? What ??? This account has $700.00 of my money in it. Why has it been closed ? Well, PayPal in their e-mail to me says that they suspect that my account may be linked with another PayPal account that has violated their Acceptable Use Policy. Again, what does this have to do with me and my PayPal account ?? Yup, you guessed it, nothing at all.
The e-mail also stated that if there are any funds in the account that PayPal has the right to hold these funds for up to 180 days, that’s 6 months by the way, at which time they will decide if the funds will be released at which point they will issue a wire transfer or send a check. A bank would never do this to you.
It gets better. Supposedly the account that they say has violated the Acceptable Use Policy is in the negative, so after a long conversation with 3 different people at PayPal, they tell me that after the 180 day waiting period, my money may be applied to the account with the negative balance. What ???
I asked them for the persons name that was responsible for making the determination that my account is linked to an account that has violated their policies, they said that they don’t have this information. I then asked them what I need to do to straighten things out, they replied with, “Sir, there is nothing you can do, you just have to wait 180 days”. I then asked if there was anything they could do and they replied, “Sir, there is nothing anyone at PayPal can do”. So I asked, Is there no one at PayPal that has the power to do anything ? The CEO ? Anyone ? to which they replied, “No, Sir, There is no one.” That’s not the entire conversation. As you can probably imagine there were a few more choice word said. All in all the call lasted about 2 hours between being on hold and being transferred around the PayPal cult ring.
I’m done with PayPal, there are plenty of other, real merchants that do not hold your money.
Think about the amount of money PayPal makes, well now its all eBay. So lets do a walkthrough.
- You List Something on eBay, they receive an insertion fee, picture fee, etc…
- Whatever you listed, sold. eBay receives a final sell value fee.
- You are paid to your PayPal account, PayPal receives a percentage.
On top of all that, if its a suspicious transaction, ie ( high dollar item, electronics, etc… ) PayPal may decide to hold the funds so they can investigate. This has taken as long as 3 weeks.
As an example, lets suppose you sell a Mac Pro for $2000.00 ( high value item, and electronics ) so chances are PayPal will investigate. Being that its a Mac Pro, ( Heavy ), you might estimate shipping to be about $100.00 within the US.
So great, you think ok I sold it for $2000, + $100 shipping, $2100.00 in my PayPal account, I’ll ship it out the next day, but wait, PayPal put a hold on the funds because it is a high risk item so you don’t have $2100.00 in your account, you have whatever you had before you sold the item, which might be $0.00
So now you have to wait for PayPal to release the funds so you have enough money to ship the item, in the mean time you try to explain this to the buyer, they get angry and frustrated over something that you have no control over.
By the time you’re done, are you really making any money or would you have been better off just having a yard sale once a week ?
Like I said there are many other merchants that you can sign up with that will treat you with a little more respect and better customer service.
My advice to you is that, if you have a PayPal account and you sell anything or receive any amount of money that you do not want to lose, then take it out the minute you receive it.
If you have been a victim to PayPal or feel like you have been ripped off, post a comment and share your story with the rest of the readers.
eBay and PayPal can go to hell. I will no longer be selling anything
How does it make you feel if you have a parent or grandparent that lives alone and may fall with no one around to help? Imagine them falling down in the house so badly that they cant even push a button because they are knocked unconscious.
Now, you can stop feeling helpless with one of BRICKHOUSE’S products by “Life Alert“. Check out their website to learn more.
It is for in the home and has a FALL Detection detector that alerts 24/7 emergency personnel that they have fallen and cant even push a button.
There is also a MONITORED SMOKE DETECTOR, and a BIG HELP BUTTON, that if someone falls on the ground in the bathroom, they can smack it and will get help, medication reminders, inactivity detector and so much more.
“Life Alert” is the product for you! Contact BRICKHOUSE ALERT for more information!
I was just checking out the Apple Store to see what new products they have and by doing so found something really cool and useful. The Eye-Fi 2GB Geo Wireless Memory Card could be considered an all-in-one solution to digital picture taking.
The Eye-Fi card allows you to wirelessly upload your digital photos to iTunes and what’s even better is that the Eye-Fi card can detect wireless networks around your area to determine your current geographical location, so that when you take a picture it is automatically geo coded, and for only $60.00 from the Apple Store, I think this is definitely a product worth purchasing.
The memory card comes with a USB memory card reader and will work with Mac OS X v10.4 or v10.5 as well as Windows Vista or XP. It’s compatible with digital camera’s that have either an SD or SDHC slot.
Here’s a link to the product Eye-Fi 2GB Geo Wireless Memory Card
Permanent Cosmetics, often referred to as Permanent Makeup, Dermapigmentation or Micropigmentation, has been gaining in popularity since it’s emergence in the late 1980’s. It is a form of cosmetic tattooing in which color pigments are chosen and strategically inserted into the skin to emulate everyday cosmetic makeup.
Most clients seek out Permanent Makeup to enhance their existing facial features; however, more recently permanent makeup has been utilized to help burn survivors, cancer patients and others who have tissue damage. The most common Permanent Cosmetics procedures are: eyelash enhancement, eyeliner, lipliner, eyebrows hair simulation, and full lip color. Other types of Permanent Cosmetics procedures, deemed “Paramedical Procedures,” include: Scar Relaxation, Areola Repigmentation and Corrective Pigment Camouflage.
Silvia Young. With over 20 years of experience in the cosmetic industry, has learned the art of custom blending that perfect shade. The well-known Anastasia who celebrates a list of clients such as Oprah Winfrey, Helen Hunt, Naomi Campbell, and J. Lopez has trained Silvia in Beverly Hills. Being profiled in Allure and D Magazine, Young was also a direct National Make-up Artist for Laura Mercier learning unique techniques such as eyelash enhancement, eyebrow arch enhancement and lip color enhancement. Ultimately, Silvia Young at browlady.com has become the only one in Dallas to achieve the look that so many are seeking.
