Map Your Mouse's Back and Forward Buttons on a Mac

I've been using OS X as my main OS for almost five years now. But one thing that's bugged me for a while was the lack of support for Logitech and other mice's forward and back buttons. These are mouse shortcut buttons found on many gaming mice. As much as I enjoy Apple's trackpad, I still like to use the mouse for gaming and other things.

Here's a picture of my mouse with the buttons that under Windows, normally maps to forward and back in the web browser.



By default, OS X does not have such functionality. Interestingly enough, my Ubuntu Linux machines has them working by default, same as Windows.

So I did some googling and came across this article: Logitech Mouse: how can I use additional buttons?

There's a app called BetterTouchTool that lets you customize and map both of these buttons to forward and back.

Just download and install the app and here's what you need to do:

Open BetterTouchTool app and it should prompt you to change a Security & Privacy settings to allow the app to work.

Under System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy, click on Accessibility tab and enable BetterTouchTool.app from the list on the right.



From there, you'll then be able to add the mappings by selecting Normal Mice on the top, then click on Add New Button. On the bottom left, select a mouse button by actually clicking it, then in the Custom Keyboard Shortcut section, press the Command + Left Arrow or Command + Right arrow buttons on the keyboard to add the mappings to the corresponding mouse buttons. It should look like the screenshot below.



And that's it! Now in your web browser you'll have back and forward shortcuts working!

Download at: BetterTouchTool

Instagram, the Better Twitter?

I like Twitter for following interesting people and entities. But lately, I've taken to Instagram more because it can also be interesting and more visually pleasing since each post has a picture telling a story.

I know Twitter has updated features to display images in web and mobile apps now, but most tweets do not have any picture whatsoever-- even though tweets with pictures have twice the amount of engagements over those that do not have a picture. See: 10 Surprising New Twitter Stats to Help You Reach More Followers.

So it's possible for Instagram to have many of Twitter's features, but none of its limitations. This raises the question: Can Instagram be a better Twitter?

Twitter

I've been using Twitter since about 2006, when they first came out. But after about a year I closed my account because I thought it was stupid and represented more of a firehose of information that I couldn't possibly read. In 2008, one year later, I reopened my account.

I returned because Twitter had matured a bit and represented a more open way to communicate than Facebook-- which then and even to this day is more for personal friends and family than the entire Internet. So in a way you could say there was something I liked about Twitter that made me rejoin.

I also learned from some social media experts how to ease it to be sips instead gushes of water going up my nose with a Tweetdeck client. Anyone remember when this client app would have a notification sound and popup for every new tweet? It was going off every few minutes and was quite distracting and annoying. @GuyKawasaki, I'm looking at you here.

What brought me back was the amount of real time, informative, and interesting posts that people were tweeting. There was only so many baby and party pictures I could take seeing on Facebook-- hopefully not at the same time.

However, there are two things that bother me about Twitter:

1. The 140 character limit
2. Horrible for conversations

The biggest gripe I have about Twitter is the 140 character total limit. Twitter handle(s), links (shortened), hashtags, and the link to the picture all eat into this limit-- not to mention the actual tweet of what you want to say.

I understand the history of the why there's a limit, but it's just really becoming outdated now-- does anyone still send/receive tweets via SMS?

We are a media rich Internet, and although tweets are easier to read than long posts, let the community decide if what's being presented in a tweet post is too long or not-- not by this hard 140 character limit. Twitter is digging itself further into a hole.

I know many embrace this limit, saying that it requires that tweets are succinct and to the point-- which definitely has some truth to it. A vertical scrolling stream of tweets can fit more with this limitation. But it also invites many to create link bait text-- the kind computers are so good at generating now.

Conversations are really horrible on Twitter, much to do with every character in a Twitter handle counting towards the 140 character limit. Yet so many still try to hold conversations on it.

Instagram

A while ago, I didn't like Instagram (IG). Similar to Twitter, I closed my account, and about a year later opened a new account with a new handle: @sunpechphoto (They don't allow you to reopen closed accounts). I now find IG to have a higher level of engagement-- possibly because every post has a picture and the community is just there to absorb in the pictures, hashtags, and even to a small degree whatever description is there.

However, there are several things I find annoying about the culture on Instagram:

1. Hashtag overload
2. Web links aren't clickable
3. Mobile first centric
4. Low resolution pictures (612 pixels)

The typical post on Instagram has an absurd amount hashtags-- which isn't really human readable by any means once it's beyond 4-5 tags. I find it to be rather stupid when the majority of an Instagram post are hashtags that I wouldn't ever look up to begin with. But the numbers don't lie, 11+ hashtags leads to more interactions. See: 8 Surprising New Instagram Statistics to Get the Most out of the Picture Sharing Network

Any web links that are in the posts and comments aren't clickable. This makes it incredibly hard to push traffic anywhere else-- it's like IG is the final destination once you get there. I think it would be hard for a business to link a product's picture right to their digital storefront.

Instagram is a mobile focused service. Currently you cannot even sign up for an account on their website-- you must have a smartphone with their mobile app downloaded to get started. Once you have an account you can login and see your stream on the website, but it's mostly in read-mode, as you won't be able to upload any pictures except from the mobile app.

The low resolution picture limitation on Instagram is going to bite them in the butt later. They only allow lower resolution square pictures to be uploaded, max size of 612x612 pixels. Sure it's nice for mobile and smaller screens, but what about the future when the term mobile goes away and we just simply have a complete experience of viewing pictures and information anywhere-- phone, door, wall, refrigerator, car, etc. A time and place where 612 pixels isn't a high enough quality to scale up to larger resolutions.

Also see: Instagram is embracing its inner Twitter

Final Thoughts

By no means is Instagram in its current form is the great end-all-be-all of social networks. I think there's plenty of room for improvements based off the list of dislikes above. But Instagram seems to be the "active" community where as a non-celebrity you can find an audience to enjoy and engage your posts.

See: Twitter has almost 430 million inactive users

Instagram is very straight forward to use. It's an app to upload and share pictures with everyone. You can make of it what you want with little of the limitations that Twitter has imposed on their service. It seems then that Instagram can grow to be the better Twitter if they improve and current trends continue. Instagram already has video clip capability like Vine, but again without the many of the limits. See: Instagram Video Vs. Vine: What’s The Difference?

Also see: Execs At Instagram Believe They Will Soon Eclipse Twitter As They Head Toward 1 Billion Users

Many would argue that they are two separate social networks and comparing them is like deciding between eating an apple or an orange-- that it is all a matter of preference. Which I do agree with, to some degree. It's not an either/or situation where there can be only one.

But to me, it's about presentation.

The analogy I would put forward is making a speech in front of a group. You could go up and verbally say all that you want with a 5 minute limit, with little to no slides-- which is like Twitter.

For Instagram, you would be to go up with slides to help illustrate your points with a 45 minutes limit, not a measly 5 minutes. This by far seems like a better format for a presentation-- no hard limits.

This all said, the communities are vastly different. I definitely tweet a lot more, but most of which never get retweeted or favorited. See: Sad Tweets shows you all of your biggest Twitter fails. The experience of Instagram is more rewarding per post, as it seems to reach someone that's willing to engage. For me, that makes all the difference.


Above: Screenshots of the Jessica Alba's recent Instagram and Twitter posts. Engagement on Instagram far higher than Twitter.

Converting Your VHS and Betamax Tapes to Digital

I've started a new initiative to help my parents convert all their VHS and Betamax tapes over into the digital world. These tapes are those precious family home videos. These are mostly tapes from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and even part of the early 2000s.

In today's times we should all be capturing everything in digital format already. From DSLRs, HD camcorders, to even our smartphones. We just need a way to bring the past thirty plus years of our lives into the modern age.

A few years ago, we had a VHS to DVD recorder for the house. But these were and are expensive-- $150-200!! Plus, they save to DVD, which may as well join the VHS/Betamax family as being old and outdated!

The world is digital now and the future isn't in CDs, DVDs, or even Blu-ray discs. The present and future is in local hard drives in many of our devices and PCs, which should be syncing to another backup or cloud solution. All these choices are cheaper and better than ever.

What You Need

• A computer running Windows or Mac OS X.
• A VCR or Betamax player that works still.
• Elgato Video Capture Device (~$80).
• Enough hard disk space on your computer.

Below we have both a VHS and Betamax players.


Uses the standard RCA cables as input/output.


The video capture device. It's USB.

Extras

So here's a quick list of what I recommend as extra if you got the cash or really care about backing up your stuff.

• Drobo 5D (~$575) - For backup and redundancy for your data.
• Seagate Barracuda 3 TB HDD (~$100) - I recommend 3 or more, depending on how much you need. Or...
• WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drive (~$125)- Even better, get the NAS optimized hard drives. Just avoid purchasing any green drives as they don't perform well and even Drobo doesn't recommend them.
• Handbrake - Software to convert DVDs, CDs, or other digital formats.

The Drobo 5D.


The three internal hard drives, and two unused bays.

Do It Yourself

So these are my recommendations. I do not recommend you take them to CostCo or some other store to have them convert your tapes to DVDs/online. No! I personally consider the tapes to be too valuable to leave with a store or stranger to convert. You can easily do this yourself with the peace of mind that your valuable memories won't get accidentally lost or destroyed.

How it Works

Here's how the conversion process works for video tapes. You put the tape into the VCR and play them as you would normally. The video/audio feed then connects via the capture card and goes into your computer. Your computer's software will record all this digitally. The space required varies depending on how long the videos are, but I find that it's between 500MB for 30 minutes, and 1.7GB for 2 hours of video. The software allows you to trim the beginning and end in case there's blank or empty space.

A screenshot of the video capture software running on Mac OS X (Mavericks)-- pretty straightforward guide.


If you have some DVDs that you want to convert, there's Handbrake software. What it does is detect the video/audio source files needed to convert into a single video file output.


I recommend naming the files something that makes sense to you. I personally use the following format:

YEAR-MONTH-DAY - DESCRIPTION.mp4

So a video of my Halloween in 1985 would be named: "1985-10-31 - Steven's Halloween.mp4"

If the month or day is unknown, it's okay. Not all our videos are timestamped that well. But year and description are the most important. So something like, "1989 - Steven playing in the backyard.mp4" is still good.

This is similar to how I organize my photos in Lightroom. The date is first so it gives you a sense of when it happened. They also align by date when your file manager like Windows Explorer or Mac's Finder organizes by filename.

The purpose of the Drobo 5D is so you can backup your files and have redundancy. Imagine if you only had an external hard drive to backup your work-- and if that failed and you didn't have another copy anywhere. You might be devastated! Hard drives do fail. It's not a matter of it, but when.

So with Drobo, if you have two or more hard drives attached, one of the drives could fail and your data would still be safe. Or if there's a red light, it'll be warning sign that something is wrong and to replace that hard drive as soon as possible!

Yes, you pay a lot for the Drobo enclosure and proprietary software, but the internal disks are getting cheaper and bigger every year. You can easily add more drives to it and it will reconfigure itself automatically-- little to no work on your part!

I hope you found this post useful. As a final note, I'm teaching my parents how to do this-- and it's a bit of a struggle for them since they are computer illiterate. But it should be very doable for you if you born after 1970-- i.e you know how to open a program, copy&paste, rename files, etc... then you should be good to go.

Related

• My Cloud Storage Services Review (Google Drive, Copy, Dropbox...)

Removing a HDD from a Western Digital Elements USB Drive

I have an old Western Digital Elements External USB HDD (3TB) that that mostly sits on my shelf since I've moved my data onto a formal network area storage (NAS). After doing some research, it turns out that these external USB hard drives actually have full 3.5" SATA hard drive inside! All you need to do is pry open the back with a knife or flathead screwdriver and remove the hard drive, and remove the USB adapter. Simple!

My hard drive in it's original case.


After removing the back, you can see there's a 3.5" drive inside.


Unfortunately it's a green drive, which isn't ideal for NAS. As to why, check out this video by GeekBeat TV: The Best Drives for Your NAS.


I put it inside my Drobo 5D, at the very bottom, and Drobo takes care of the rest!


Here is the video I viewed on how to remove the drive:



Hope this helps you repurpose/remove hard drives from your external USB drives. Sometimes these external hard drives are even cheaper than buying the drive of the same size itself!

Cloud Storage Services Review

There are so many cloud storage services out there now vying for our attention and data. I thought I'd share my thoughts on the popular choices out there. I'm only looking at the personal or free plans. I'm leaving out anything for businesses or enterprises-- those are just a different beast with very different needs altogether.

Things I try to consider:

• Size of free storage (either from the start or earned through referrals)
• Sharing and collaboration on files
• Ease of use
• Anything else more than storage

Amazon Cloud Drive

I really do not use this service. It just does not fit into any workflow whatsoever. They currently offer just 5 GB free and no referral plan, but they do offer storage subscriptions.

Music purchased through Amazon is stored for free-- it does not count towards cloud storage. They do offer 250 imported songs for free-- which really isn't that much.

They offer a 100 GB plan for $50 per year.

Box.net

They once had an offer for Android users to receive 50 GB of storage by signing up and installing their app. I very much took advantage of this deal and ended up dropping Dropbox because Box offered me such a large amount. But normally, they offer just 5 GB free.

They offer several pricing plans for both business and enterprise-- which seems to be their target client. Other than basic storage and file sharing, that's as far as a free personal account goes.

Their desktop client sync tool isn't easy to find on their site. Their site isn't very user friendly overall, it's as if only an IT guy would refer his/her company to use them because the average person probably wouldn't enjoy using their product personally.

I'm moving away from using this app. It's causing me a lot of problems with my Mac OS X. It's just eating up a lot of storage space. Here is a screenshot of the log folder that just grows to outrageous size over a few days:



The command I ran in the terminal is:

du -sch ~/Library/Logs/Box Sync

This will give the size of the logs folder for BoxSync. So my workaround is to just remove the log folder altogether and disable automatically syncing-- which basically defeats the purpose of a desktop app.

Copy

The latest I suppose in the "Game of Storages". What I like about them is that they are currently offering 15 GB to start, with an additional 5 GB if you are referred by someone (5 GB is also given to the member that referred). This is a really nice promotion going on which helps new and current users spread the news about this new service. This is yet another reason for me to just not use DropBox.

They offer monthly pricing plans. They offer 250 GB plan for $9.99 per month.

My Copy referral: https://copy.com?r=1u9vhV

DropBox

Possibly the most well known and most senior of all the services. This is what everyone started using at first. But their referral rate is only at 500 MB per friend. Their setup and sync tool is much easier to setup and use than Box's. They start you off with just 2 GB of storage.

They offer a 100 GB plan for $99 per year.

I don't really use them anymore as other services do everything they offer and give more storage.

My Dropbox referral: http://db.tt/pHCTifn

Google Drive

What I love about Google's implementation is that it spawned from Google Docs, which I was already a big fan of.

Here it is in a nutshell: If you use Google Docs, you already use Google Drive. It's just a nice perk now that you can upload other files into the cloud-- such as PDFs.

I'm not sure how to measure how much storage they offer as Google is always upping the amount of free storage across their products, which all add up to some amount. I personally have 30+ GB of storage across my Google services. I want to say that average users probably start off with 15 GB free storage, but I'm not 100% sure.

SkyDrive

This is Microsoft's cloud storage service. I don't use it as much as I don't really use Windows too much these days. But they should be mentioned because a lot of people still use PCs and devices. What's nice about them is that they have both a Mac desktop sync client as well as an Android/iPhone mobile apps.

They start you off with 7 GB, but I went to a Microsoft event and got upgraded to 15 GB.

iCloud?

You may have noticed that I left out iCloud. Well, right off it just doesn't work for me. I have only one Apple product that I use regularly-- a Macbook Pro. I also have several Android/Linux devices, which iCloud isn't available on. I have a Windows virtual machine on my Macbook, but I already have Skydrive for that. So the question is, what the heck would I be syncing with iCloud? Nothing, so I don't use it. Plus, it's a bit of a pain to setup. I've set it up for my mom, and I find it to be not terribly useful. It just doesn't work the way I would want it to-- wirelessly.


Speaking of apps, on my phone I have all the apps installed, but really only use half of them.


screenshot of my Android phone's folder of Cloud apps

Conclusion

My current favorite is: Copy.



It may have to do with the fact that it's pretty darn easy to sign up and set up. Their referrals are crazy good by giving 5 GB to both people. Their pricing plans are monthly, so commitment is friendly to individuals. Using my referral link starts you off with 20GB! I believe if you tweet out a link, you can earn another 2GB!

Box does offer me more free storage currently, but they are geared more for businesses than individuals.

Google Drive is really great for Google docs, but their folder structure can be confusing for storing anything other than their documents. Note: If you love Google Docs, continue using it! Nothing wrong with using multiple services!

So straight up, Copy is a clear winner that stands above the rest for cloud storage. But to be honest, other than Dropbox and Amazon Cloud Drive, I still use the other storage services. If they offer a substantial amount of free storage, I tend to use it for something.

Your needs are different from my needs. My pick and opinion may not the same as yours, so go forth and try these services out yourself if you don't like or trust my pick.

Apple Compatible External Hard Drives Are Over-Priced

Buying any technology related products online is still by far the best way to save money over buying from traditional brick and mortar stores. The likely products you would buy for your PC/Mac are keyboards, mice, external hard drive, and headphones.

I'd like to focus on the external hard drives, since they are currently priced differently between the PC and Mac market. For all intents and purposes of these drives are to backup data of a machine running either Windows or Mac.

Comparing 1TB and 2TB external USB 3. 0 Hard Drives for Macs from Amazon and Apple's web stores:

1TB: $116 (Amazon)

(Note: above product not sold directly from Amazon, but a reseller)

1TB: $120 (Apple)

1TB: $120 (Apple)

2TB: $135 (Amazon)


2TB: $150 (Apple)




Comparing 1TB and 2TB external USB 3.0 Hard Drives for Windows:

1TB: $80 (Amazon)


2TB: $128 (Amazon)


Note the screenshots of the prices above were taken on June 13, 2013.

The 1TB Mac drive is 45-50% more expensive than the comparable PC drive.

The 2TB Mac drive is 5-17% more expensive.

Comparing them, they are the same size and basically do the same things. It's just this Mac compatible product is priced at a premium.

Well, yes the file system for Macs, HFS+ Journal, is different than Windows' NTFS. But here's the kicker, Mac OS X can format NTFS drives to HFS+. Simply formatting it will make it function just like the marketed Mac compatible product.

I verified this with an Apple genius when I asked what difference would be between a 1TB external hard drive sold at the Apple store, and a 1TB external hard drive with the same specs sold for a PC, but formatted into HFS+ Journal in Mac OS X. He sighed and said, "None".

I just don't think an intelligent person should spend $10-40 more on something just because it's marketed as an Apple compatible product, when there is a functionally equivalent PC compatible product that is cheaper that can be used instead with a little know-how. See below.

Here's how:
After connecting the external drive to your Mac, open up Utilities -> Disk Utility, and find the drive and select Partition tab, and choose Format Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

A screenshot of my system with my external drive(s) already formatted:


If you want to have an external hard drive that is compatible with both Mac OS X and Windows operating systems (OS), choose to format in exFAT in this program. Both OSes will be able to read/write to this type of partition without any third party program.

This is just like how geeks wouldn't let their friends/family, or anyone really, buy Monster brand HDMI cables at Best Buy, when they're so much cheaper to buy online. The marketing is misleading and is trying to part more money from you than it should.

So in a nutshell, these Apple compatible external hard drives are over-priced. They're functionally equivalent drives that does the same exact thing that's much cheaper.

What's In My Messenger Bag

Not long ago I posted what's in my camera bag. I thought I would follow up on what I carry in my other bag-- especially when I travel. Here's what I typically have in my messenger bag.



Going from the top, left to right:

1. Canon 5D Mark III
2. Apple adapters
3. Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone
4. Kindle Fire (version 1)
5. Kindle Paperwhite
6. Business cards
7. Lens cleaner pen
8. Pens
9. Apple AC charger/adapter
10. Micro USB charger
11. Headphones
12. 15" Macbook Pro (mid-2010)
13. ONA "The Union Street Camera and Laptop Bag" - Ranger Tan

You're probably wondering why I have so many mobile devices/readers. The Galaxy Nexus is my phone of course. I always have this with me.

The Kindle Fire I have I use mostly for playing a game or reading my Twitter feed. It also runs a custom ROM, Jandycane. I blogged on how you can root the Kindle Fire and put a custom Android ROM on there. a while back.

The Kindle Paperwhite I use for actually reading ebooks. It's actually really nice and clear-- very easy on the eyes for reading anywhere. I while back I tweeted about winning the device at a Amazon Cloud Services meetup in Los Angeles.

Besides all the gadgets, I highly recommend the messenger bag from Ono. They're well made, stylish, and just holds everything you see here.

Laptop Warranties are Worth It

I've owned three laptops over the last nearly twelve years. Each of them, I've gotten some kind of warranty with. And I'm glad I did. If you don't want to read this blog post, here is the shortened version:

Get a 2-3 year warranty for your laptop.

In 2001, I got my first laptop-- a Dell Latitude C600 (15" screen). Over my years using this as my main PC, the screen, hard drive, and battery all broke at some point. With a warranty, Dell was able to replace the parts as needed. I retired this laptop around 2005.

In 2006, I got a Lenovo Thinkpad T60 (15"). This was a solid machine, or I should say is-- since I still use it today as a secondary laptop running Ubuntu Linux. The only thing that ever went wrong with this was the battery, which all models were replaced with or without warranty.

In 2010, I got my first Mac, the Macbook Pro (15", mid-2010). Almost two years ago, in 2011, when I upgraded OS X Snow Leopard to Lion, the hard drive failed. I brought it into the Apple store and they replaced it. Recently, I went into the Apple store to look at Macbook Airs. Speaking with one of their reps about how my current MBP's battery charge just doesn't hold anymore, the rep told me if my MBP was still within the 3-year AppleCare warranty, that I should bring it in and have it looked at. I checked, at my AppleCare doesn't expire until April 30, 2013-- just five days! So I brought it in, they checked it-- and normally a battery is rated for 1000 cycles. I was at around 326. So I was covered. I got my battery replaced for free. I probably saved around $129. They put in a brand new battery too, so it's like my MBP got a new lease on life! It can probably last me another 2-3 years!

From these past experiences, there are a few things that generally can go wrong with laptops:

1. Hard drives
2. LCD screens
3. Batteries

I tend to use my equipment a lot. I bring them with me on road trips, to offices, around the world and back. They go through a lot of wear and tear. I'm careful with my stuff, I don't just drop it or pour food/water on it. It just gets a lot of use.

I highly recommend getting some kind of warranty in the range of 2-3 years for laptops. That's about the age of how long you should keep a laptop before looking into getting something new. If you really take care of you laptop, maybe you can squeeze 4-5 years out of it. My Lenovo Thinkpad is going on 7 years!

What makes it worth it is not having to go through the headache of spending time and money to order parts to replace what's broken, if it's even something you can fix yourself. Warranties probably run a few hundred dollars-- about the cost of parts and labor if something were to break. To me, that's worth it.

Here's a picture of both laptops, still in use today.

Why I love Google Reader

Yesterday some sad news hit me with Google's decision to close Google Reader on July 1, 2013.

Why? As The Next Web wrote, Former Google Reader product manager confirms our suspicions: Its demise is all about Google+. See Brian Shih, former Google Reader Product Manager's answer on Quora.

This is sad for me because other than Gmail and Search itself, Google Reader (GR) is the service I use the most from Google, and is a browser tab I always have open. I did write a post years ago my favorite Web App is Google Reader. You could say that GR is my gateway to the Internet!

As much as I like Google Plus, it's no Google Reader in terms of importance for my daily reading.

What I love about Google Reader

It syncs my read items as a web-based RSS Reader. I use multiple devices, so having a central place is key. This is why I don't care for fat/local client apps.

I have the choice to socially share an item to a Facebook, Twitter, and G+. It's not socially driven by default. I have no idea how I'm going to keep up with a mess of streams on social networks I already listed.

It's simple. I know what websites I like, there's not many, but I do like to at least skim the headlines every day. That's right, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

My Reader Trends screenshot shows I have read 300,000-plus items! Although I'm pretty sure I used Reader since maybe 2007 or so.

What it means to see Google Reader shut down

In short, it makes me feel that no Google service is safe from being shutdown. I use Blogger, which is also owned by Google, as my blogging engine. But are they one day going to take it down in favor of Google Plus? Should I switch to some other blogging platform in anticipation that G+ is going to swallow everything else that is Google?

Google's axed other services that I didn't care for much, such as Google Wave and Google Buzz. But those services were short-lived and never got much traction to begin with. They never housed so much useful data for me, and maybe most anyone.

Going Forward

Are we to believe that Twitter feeds and G+ posts are a good replacement to RSS? I certainly don't think so. The social web is certainly great, but not everything needs to be social or curated material. This is especially true when your social network doesn't even cover the material you're interested in!

The point of RSS feeds is for me to go over the content on my own time and speed. With the large fire-hose stream of material from social networks, I just don't bother to even skim over the thousands of tweets/posts from a mere eight hours ago. It's just not feasible as it's more suited for real-time or rather, recent-time.

As Mike Elgan points out, Google Reader is used by tech-journalists and bloggers. These are the people that generate content that social networks share with each other! If GR is also the gateway to the Internet more so than social networks-- it's going to have a dramatic change in workflow.

If and when Google Reader really does shut down, I'm going to have to figure out how I view the Internet. I remember using iGoogle and Netvibes several years ago, but immediately switched to Google Reader because it was such a better way to view and consume information. This is very sad news for me. :(

More Info

Thankfully, Google is giving the option to download your stuff via Google Takeout. I'll be sure to do that before the end.

As my Facebook friends have pointed out, there's a petition to keep Google Reader Running on Change.org. I've signed it, but I doubt it will do anything.

On reddit, there's a nice AskReddit thread: What are some good web RSS readers to replace google reader?

Fixing an Android Error Message - Error retrieving information from server

I have a Galaxy Nexus that recently got an over the air (OTA) update to Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). Coming from 4.1.2 I was thrilled to see the new changes, particularly with their new panorama feature. But after the update I had issues with updating apps on the Google Play Store.

The Problem

I got the following error message:

Update for "Foursquare" could not be downloaded due to an error. (Error retrieving information from server. [RPC:AEC:0])



This would apply to any app, but for my case both Foursquare and Google Music.

I tried a lot of different things from clearing the cache of each of these apps as well as the Google Play app, to even uninstalling the Foursquare app and re-downloading it. None of which worked.

Solution

In the end, I found this link which pointed me in the right direction.

The workaround is to simply to go to Settings->Accounts&Sync->Google and removing my Google account. Afterwards, just add it back again. Then the error message disappeared and I could update/install apps once again.

Installing Windows 8 Pro on Parallels Desktop 8

Last week I went to a Microsoft launch event, New Era of Work, and got a free copy of Windows 8 Pro. I had already tried Windows 8 Preview as well as have Windows 7 Ultimate running as a virtual machines (VMs) through Parallels Desktop on my Macbook Pro (MBP). I didn't like the preview edition that much, so I uninstalled it after a few days. But after attending the event, I thought I'd give it another look.

Please note that the latest PC I own is a Lenovo Thinkpad T60 from 2006, which the wireless card just broke the other day. So my MBP from 2010 is the latest hardware I own.

The problems is that the current Parallels (version 8) does not support upgrading from any Windows OS to Windows 8. Here is the screenshot of what Parallels sent to me via email:



I learned this the hard way when I installed a preview edition of Win8 and upgraded to Win8 Pro, and things were just wacky. The following was screwed up:

1. Screen resolution was not fully supported. I have a 2560x1440 native res that wasn't supported-- instead I had to run it at 1920x1400, which was pretty sub-optimal.
2. The path to the shared home folders was not supported. I couldn't access my Mac's home folder of \\psf\Home, which is an inconvenience.

The preview edition of Win8 ran better than the upgraded Win8 on Parallels Desktop through the upgrade! There's no way I was going to try upgrading my Win7 Ultimate that already runs just fine!

But there's a workaround. If you do a full install, it should run just fine. Here's how:

Through Parallels 8, I'm not sure about previous versions, you have an option to install other virtual machines to whatever you already have. From the virtual machines list, click on new.

The window that opens up should allow you to download and install a preview edition of Windows 8 for free. Do that and pick whatever architecture you want (32 or 64 bit). I chose 64 bit and highly recommend that.



Let it download and install fully. From here, as per the instruction given to me from my copy of Windows 8 Pro, go to: http://www.windows.com/nfrdownload. Follow the instructions there to begin the download process of Win8 Pro. Once that finishes the download, there should be a screen that comes up that asks where to proceed with some options.

Choose to save the Win8 Pro as an ISO on your local computer to install later. Do not choose to install immediately!

Once you have the ISO saved, you can do a full install of Win8 Pro from that. At this point you can go ahead and delete the Win8  preview VM you just installed on your Mac.

Now you can install Win8 Pro from the newly downloaded ISO. The product key I had worked. If the product key you were given was for an upgrade only, there are workarounds for that even-- via some registry edit. See: Probable Fix: Problem in Activating Windows 8 After Clean Install

Note, this is all because Parallels 8 currently doesn't have a clean upgrade path for current Windows OSes. Once that fix is made, then this is probably the only way to get Windows 8 Pro to run on Parallels on your Mac OS X.

Upgrading my 2010 Macbook Pro to SSD

I recently upgraded my 15" 2010 Macbook Pro's 500GB HDD to a 512GB SSD. The directions you find in this blog post, you should easily be able to find using a search engine. I just want to document what I did, hoping to help fill the Internet with something useful, maybe.

The didn't have a problem with the CPU or even memory. Well, I do constantly run out of HDD space every two-three months, but I do regular backups to an external USB 3.0 1 TB hard drive. But this is due mainly to the large image files from my photography. I don't keep many applications open nor do I install apps left and right.

The problem I was having was with the speed of my hard drives. My apps were taking too long to open up and to read/write files. So I took it upon myself to invest about $400 to breathe some new life into my two year old hardware.

Here's what I bought:

1. Crucial 512 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT512M4SSD2 (~$384)
2. Maxtech 16521MX 32-Piece Precision Bit Set (~$10)
3. 2.5 inch SATA Hard Drive to USB 2.0 Adapter Cable with Silicon Protective Case (~$10)

The SATA to USB 2.0 adapter and cable with the SSD attached.


Next, I cloned my current hard drive over to the SSD. I used a free cloning app: Super Duper. Install it and just choose to backup all files. This may take a while, depending on how much data you're transferring over. Interestingly enough, the USB adapter used two USB connections.

Transferring my files over to the SSD via USB, aka cloning the hard drive.


Next, I needed to remove the screws. As shown in the picture, the three screws on the top right are longer than the others. A Phillips Head #00 is required (in the screw set I recommended above).

Preparing the take the screws out.


With the bottom lid removed, the hardware is exposed. The hard drive is on the bottom left. To remove that, you'll need the Torx T6 screwdriver (also found in screw set I recommended).

I also recommend getting a dust remover to help clean the inside of the Macbook Pro. It's amazing how much dust got into mine!

Removing the hard drive




Then I simply attached my SSD, and screwed everything back in, and ta-da, done! Well, I also recommend to enable Trim with Trim Enabler.

My Macbook Pro runs considerably better-- it boots faster, the larger apps like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom open up lighting fast. Smaller apps I don't notice anything faster. When I work with RAW files, it's also nicer than before.

I should note that I opted to clone because I just had the hard drive replaced and did a clean install just a year ago. It's pretty much better to do a clean install if you have everything in place and are willing to. I'm still using OS X Lion (10.7.5).


I recommend the following youTube video: Crucial M4 SSD 2010 MacBook Pro Install for detailed instructions. It's what I used as a reference to upgrade my MBP.

Putting CyanogenMod on the Kindle Fire

After seeing the Nexus 7 tablet make its debut at Google I/O yesterday, it made me realize how my Kindle Fire (KF) is kind of lame. I reviewed the Kindle Fire back in November 2011.



To be fair though, my needs have changed. When I initially purchased the KF, I didn't want an iPad2 or a 10" tablet. I just wanted a simple reading device that could browse the web a bit and play some games. And that's exactly what the KF was, and still is.

My needs have changed in that I want more. I want Gmail. I want YouTube. I want more apps.

The problem is that over the past eight months, I haven't seen any big improvements happen from Amazon. The Amazon App Store has fewer of the apps I like available compared to Google Play. On top of that, the Google Apps such as Gmail and YouTube aren't available. To me, the biggest reason to use Android is Google's products and services: Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, etc. These are all solid apps that should be on any Android device.

Besides the lack of Google Apps, there's no native Facebook app! The one in the Amazon App store simple redirects to a browser of the mobile site! This is incredibly misleading.

On top of all of this, there are other nuances with the KF: The UI sucks. The carousel and bookshelf is just stupid. I'm sure there are folks that like how this UI is rather simple. It's just not for me. I ended up installing Go Launcher EX alongside it. (See instructions on how to install it.) The volume UI also is not readily available-- requires an extra click to get there. The rotating wallpapers cannot be customized either.

Recalling all these frustrations, I got pretty close to pre-ordering the Nexus 7, which is priced exactly at $199, very competitively against the Kindle Fire.

But I didn't. Instead, I decided to just hack my Kindle Fire and see how close to a vanilla Android I could get.

Below are instructions I followed to get a custom ROM (Simple CyanogenMod 9) onto my Kindle Fire by rooting it. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for anything that goes wrong with your device if you attempt anything I have written and linked to below.

The instructions are pretty clear and I highly recommend reading and following them.

1. Get Kindle Fire Utility (I used v0.9.6). See instructions here.
2. Unzip the Kindle Fire Utility and install the drivers.
3. Root the device.
4. Install TWRP Recovery. For instructions, see: How to Root and Install Custom Recovery on Kindle Fire using Kindle Fire Utility.
5. Install Simple CyanogenMod 9 ROM (6-10-2012). For instructions, see: Amazon Kindle Fire: Flashing the Simple CM9 custom ROM.

Note, for the developers out there that have the Android SDK installed, the KF Utility has adb packaged in it already.

So, I was able to put Simple CM9 on my Kindle Fire using the instructions in the links listed above. Here's a picture my KF running Google Play that's downloading Google Chrome browser.


Here is a screenshot of my homescreen after some customizations.


Another screenshot of the Settings and tablet information.


Overall, it was a pretty simple process. Just follow the instructions. I was able to re-download my Kindle books again using Kindle app in the Google Play store. My Kindle Fire is just awesome now. Maybe I'm speaking too soon, as it hasn't even been a full twenty-four hours of running it just yet. I do notice that it sucks up the battery a lot more, but that should be obvious as I'm running a heavier UI and more apps.

These are exciting times aren't they? Microsoft has entered the tablet space (once again) with their Surface. Or at least the announcement of it. There's rumor of a new Kindle Fire from Amazon next month. A lot of competition, which in the end the consumers win.

**Update (January 8, 2013)**
Just wanted to add that there is a way to root the Kindle Fire from a Mac. Just use BreakDroid. The Kindle Fire Utility doesn't work on my Windows 8 Pro virtual machine like it did on Windows 7 Ultimate.

Also, I switched to use Jandycane instead of CM. Still basically the same steps as above, but it gives me Jelly Bean on the tablet. I don't expect any more updates for custom ROMs on KF simply because Google Nexus tablets are superior in every way.

**Update (August 7, 2013)**
A few weeks ago I switched back to using Cyanogenmod on the Kindle Fire (1st Generation). Overall it's been pretty good, but my KF is now my secondary tablet device since I got a Nexus 7 (2nd Gen).

My HTPC Setup

A few months ago I blogged about my new purchase of the WD TV Live Streaming Media Player. I still enjoy it immensely, and a few people have inquired about what is needed.

So here's a list of what's in my setup:

1. WD TV Live Streaming Media Player
This is the heart of the Home Theatre PC (HTPC).

2. WD Elements 3 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive
I don't recommend attaching more than one external hard drive via a USB hub. It's just too slow and cumbersome. So instead I recommend a nice big external USB HDD.

3. HDMI Cables
Assuming you have a nice and modern TV, you should really be using HDMI to carry the video/audio. Also applicable if you are using a receiver. Do not, I repeat, do not purchase HDMI cables at your local Best Buy-- they are ripping you off! These should cost no more than a few dollars ($4-6) each.

4. Belkin 7-Foot RJ45 CAT 5e Snagless Molded Patch Cable (Gray)
There are nice services such as youTube and social network plugins available with the media player, so I highly recommend you attach the device to your home network's router.

5. Belkin Pivot-Plug Surge Protectors
This is my favorite surge protector. The swiveling heads is a godsend if you have a variety of devices to plug in.


I will also add that the media player plays most movie files you may have. I've only come across a few files that it won't play correctly. Also, if you should come across some general problems with  any video file stopped working, just restart the device.

Hope this helps.