Category: software

  • Leaving Mozy’s online backup and switching to CrashPlan

    What do you think you’ll do then I bet that’ll shoot down your plane It’ll take you a couple of vodka and tonics To set you on your feet again Maybe you’ll get a replacement There’s plenty like me to be found Mongrels who ain’t got a penny Sniffing for tidbits like you on the…

  • The future of Apple computing isn’t all led by Apple

    There’s a great video up on Macworld’s site of a conversation between four highly knowledgeable Mac pundits about the “future of the Mac.” The participants were Daringfireball’s John Gruber and Tidbits’ Adam Engst along with Jason Snell and Dan Moren from Macworld. The discussion was interesting and worth the 48 minutes or so of my…

  • How to get rid of iTunes ugly new blue icon

    The most recent versions of Apple’s overstuffed iTunes app made an almost universally hated change by switching to a boring, blue icon. I was among the masses who wanted to figure out a way to switch the iTunes icon to something better. It’s not as easy as it used to be to swap icons. There…

  • What a year – more ideas and more clicks

    It was another year of growth for the GravitationalPull blog in 2010, with total visits up about 25% to 45,000 and total page views rising 23% to around 54,000 according to Google Analytics. I wrote 45 posts, up slightly from the 42 you got in 2009. As per the last few years, traffic spiked dramatically…

  • Not so simple way to grab screenshots on the Nexus S

    As I’ve noted a few times, unlike the iPhone, there is no simple way to grab and save a screenshot on the Nexus S phone, or on any Android phone that hasn’t been rooted. There is a complex work-around, however, that delivers beautiful screenshots. Credit to this post from Androidcentral for getting me started. To…

  • Cool and useful Android apps that aren’t on the iPhone

    I’ve only been an Android phone convert for a few days, but I’m coming to appreciate the Google portable OS more and more on my new Nexus S. The notification system, the widgets and the far greater opportunity for customization are all welcome changes from my iPhone. Integration with Google Voice and my Google contacts…

  • Google eBooks review: Liked the rough edge, not much else

    Google’s long-awaited electronic bookstore has finally arrived with the promise of great “openness” for all. But in the end, Google’s offering is merely another in a long line of ebook platforms that offers some pluses and minuses but in no way, shape or form revolutionizes the market. Whether you want to talk about pricing, selection,…

  • Verizon’s stingy 4G Internet pricing and other downers of the week

    I had a really busy week at work and I’m just catching up on some of the tech news of the week. None of the stories are positive developments for we the denizens of Internet nation, sadly. Headline A that caught my attention was Verizon Wireless announcing pricing for its new super-fast, fourth-generation mobile broadband…

  • Living in the future, Apple style, some day

    Tech journalist Harry McCracken has an excellent post up about the implications of the latest Macbook Air line. He noticed a bit in Apple’s press release that I had overlooked: Apple® today unveiled an all new MacBook Air®, the first of a next generation of notebooks which will replace mechanical hard disks and optical drives…

  • How to use Twitter to promote your blog: go narrow

    In the beginning, the old-school media man is stuck to his ways. But over time, he evolves. When I first started blogging, I blogged about anything of interest to me — sports, books, gadgets, the weather, whatever. Eventually, I realized that was no way to build an online audience. I am not a personality of…