In talking with various business relationships I have who have gotten into social networking sites like Facebook recently, one common series of complaints involves all of the 'fluff' that can be found there. Invites to multiple games each day; their home page feed littered with updates from these same games, or other apps they simply are not interested in. One worry of mine, personally is that these complaints seem to be of the, "if I can't figure out this stuff, I'll probably stop using Social Networking altogether" variety.

So I've been planning a simple blog post to detail some of the tools Facebook provides to help here. But then today, I came across a Blog challenge from Tim Ford, otherwise known as the SQL Agent Man (link). The Blog entry was titled, "Whose Blog Is It Anyway?" (link) and the challenge is inspired by the game "Scenes From a Hat" from the improv show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". I considered starting over and writing something else but then I thought to myself, I've started, so I'll finish!

More...

Regionerate is an open-source add-in for Visual Studio which enables developers to easily apply code layout rules in C# source. I've been using it for a few months now, and have found it to be incredibly useful, with only two issues; one not really even worth mentioning, but the other could be a problem for some.

First, though; what it does! From the Regionerate Introduction page:

Regionerate is an automated tool which helps you to preserve your code's layout over time. Regionerate lets you define regions in your code and determine the way members (fields, methods, properties etc.) should be placed inside them.

Regionerate is a zero-friction tool - when setting up, you can choose a Code Layout (the way you want your code to look) or just use the default Code Layout. From that moment on, Regionerate will make sure your code follows that Code Layout.

I got my grubby paws on a brand-new Verizon HTC Ozone at the local Alltel-turned-Verizon store on Friday, three days before the official brick-and-mortar store release date of tomorrow. It has been for sale online since the 29th, and we're not exactly talking about an Apple iPhone or Palm Pre here, so it just took a small amount of whining to get it. The Verizon store being swamped with folks taking advantage of the special deals to switch their Alltel accounts to Verizon (our situation) probably helped, too.

The Ozone is a down to business, Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone made for those who, like me, might have been considering something like a Blackberry Pearl for Verizon's 3G EVDO rev A network. However, it's known as a 'World Phone', which apparently means that it also works on GSM, GPRS and EDGE networks. Also radio-related; It is Wi-Fi enabled, so you can connect to a wireless computer network (802.11b/g) if, for example, the EVDO signal is not available (or if you happen not to have a data plan).

More...

Thanks to a Facebook link my friend Bev Shaw posted, I recently found SimplyNoise.com. This site has a Flash-based 'White Noise' generator which actually goes beyond white noise, to also include pink and red/Brownian noise. You can find a link on Simply Noise to a wikipedia article on what white, pink and red noise are technically speaking. From a simple perspective, though, they can help drown out the noise of daily living to help you concentrate, relax, or just clear your mind. There are desktop programs which can do this, as well as inexpensive 'noise machines' you can purchase, but I've not found anything that I like as much as Simply Noise.

However, I don't like that it's a web page. I like to keep my desktop as clean as possible while working; particularly while working on the things where I would most want to have a white noise generator running. The fewer things are on my task bar, the better. It would be a hard habit for me to break to stop closing the last Firefox instance when I'm done checking e-mail, news, or what have you. The first couple weeks of using Simply Noise, I found this to be a problem.

More...

This is pure troll-baiting, but I've long worked (struggled?) in a mixed Mac/PC world, and the best thing I love about Macs anymore is that, well - they are PCs. Although the price tag certainly reflects the features, my 2-year old MacBook Pro (MBP) has a dual-core, 64-bit CPU, has 4gigs of DDR2, and has the best in USB and Firewire connectivity. I fit easily into any cliquish computer-user group; Mac lovers across the cafe smile warmly at the sight of the softly glowing apple on the back of my screen, while I can share a conspiratorial chuckle with the PC-loving nerds as I boot up into Vista Ultimate.

The Problem

When sitting at my desk, with my external peripherals arrayed around me, I'm in heaven. Nothing is lacking, and there would never be any indication that I'm using anything other than a fully-equipped PC. Those who have gone back and forth between PCs and Macs know that the keyboards are not exactly the same. But my Microsoft keyboard works beautifully while my computer runs as a Mac or PC, with subtle, secondary icons on the keys to note how they work for the Apple operating system.

More...

MyMobileR is a Windows application which allows you to view and interact with your Windows Mobile-based (versions 2003, 5 and 6) smart phone or pocket PC, via ActiveSync.

I keep my phone in its USB dock when I am at the compter to keep the battery topped off, and so I always know where the phone is when I'm ready to rush out the door at the very last minute. I use the dial code for call forwarding (*72[phone number], on Alltel anyway) to set my phone's calls to forward to my location, and even have speed-dials set to forward my cell to home or office, and one to stop forwarding (*73). Since my contacts, calendar, to-dos, notes and documents are all automatically synced, this works perfectly for me, with one big exception: text messages.

MyMobileR is freeware, and is a fairly simple application in scope; It simply provides an interface to your phone. I can type with the keyboard, use the mouse to click/drag instead of the stylus (or finger, for touch screens), and it even includes function key bindings to send the special keys on your phone, such as the Dial, Hangup, volume, and softkeys 1 and 2. The screenshot I've included is of the whole MyMobileR application, but you can also use the application itself to take a screenshot just of the mobile device's screen.

MyMobileR can be set to zoom your mobile device's screen at 50%, 100%, 200% and 300%. I can't imagine why anyone would want to shrink it, but the 200% and 300% options may be nice for some folks. The only minor (looking a gift-horse in the mouth?) issues I found with the program are related to the viewing options; The borders of the regular view are sizeable, but you don't want to touch them. Changing the size does not alter the zoom, and you won't get scrollbars if you size it too small. To reset the borders to fit your mobile device screen, simply change the zoom level. I will note that the program handles the small, square screen of my Treo 700 just fine. Also, there is a 'skinned' view, which uses somewhat less space on the computer desktop. However, MyMobileR did not handle my Treo's screen well on that. But it may work just fine on a device with a more standard shape screen.

Overall, you can't beat MyMobileR's simplicity and price. Note that it only works on phones based on Windows Mobile 2003, 5 or 6. It will not work on a Blackberry, a Palm device running a Palm operating system, an iPhone, or any Linux or proprietary system.