Following Along with The Digitante…

I wanted to remind you of some tools for reading and keeping up with The Digitante.

• The Web Site – As always, you can simply visit www.thedigitante.com and check out the new content. I attempt to write one new post per weekday. If I find something quick and easy, I might post twice. I generally publish the posts around midnight, on average.
• RSS Feed – This is my method of choice for keeping up with blogs and other websites. You simply click the little orange button and your feed reader gets updated every time there is a new post. It’s one stop for all your reading.If you need to know how an RSS feed works or how to sign up, check out this post. Also, it’s one of the first posts I ever wrote.

  

• Twitter – I usually tweet (post on Twitter) through my personal account, @ahow628. Most of those posts are about my day-to-day activities. I use my personal account to retweet (RT) any postings I make with @thedigitante. I use that account to mostly tweet new posts and tech related news I find interesting. If you don’t care about my personal shenanigans, just follow @thedigitante. Also, if you want to know about Twitter, check out my Twitter post and you can also learn about Twitter lists so you can better organize your tweet reading.
• Facebook – I’ve got a Fanpage for The Digitante set up. Mostly I post a link to the post. Usually these are about a day behind due to my schedule and when I have access to Facebook. Similar to my Twitter retweets, I try to do these at reasonable times when lots of people are using the service. In addition to links, I also have a forum that you can ask questions.
• Email – If you want an email to arrive in your inbox whenever a new post is published, you can use the box over to the right of the posts on the main page of the site. Or you can simply use the one I’ve included below in this post. It will require you to submit your email address and then click a confirmation link in a message sent to your email address. This method would be idea for those wanting the latest Digitante news but may not be able to access blogs, RSS feeds, Facebook, or Twitter at work.
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If you are interested in contacting me directly, you are welcome to email me. In addition, I have a Google Voice widget that allows you to simply click and enter your phone number. Google Voice will then call you and it will then ask you to wait a moment to be connected to me.
https://clients4.google.com/voice/embed/webCallButton
You can find this contact information on the About page as well.

Top Posts for 2009…

By far, the most popular feature on The Digitante was Friday Night Links. It’s probably my favorite post each week as well.

However, I want to give a run-down of the most popular individual posts at The Digitante. Without further ado, let’s get to the list.

1. Note Taking with Facebook – Getting picked up on Lifehacker certainly helped out on this post as it came in at around 600 visitors. It also stirred a bit of controversy as you can see from the comment section of the Lifehacker post. Mostly there were concerns with how Facebook handles privacy, but read on if you want to know how to deal with the privacy issue.
2. Sprint Store vs. Best Buy – When I initially wrote this post, it was a toss up as to who I would buy my next phone from. After continuing to consider the question and having some person experiences with both, I think I’ve landed firmly on the side of Best Buy. Sprint need to pull their head out of the sand and start offering an instant rebate. There is no way they can keep making people wait 8-10 weeks for their $100 check. People are just too price sensitive.
3. Meet The Digitante – Who would have known that everyone would be so interested in who I was and how I got to be where I am. I certainly would not have known it. I am glad I wrote this post because it gave me a chance to figure out who I am. Alright, inspirational speech time is over.
4. Build a Simple PC for $300 – If there was one thing I could do every day for the rest of my life, it would be to order parts and build computers all day long. The fact that I got to share that with everyone was really cool. I am currently designing a PC for a friend that will be used in a recording studio and another that will be used by me as a media center PC. I can’t wait to document that as well.
5. Empty a Water Bottle Quickly – Another hands-on, doing type of post. I am hoping to do some more instructional videos like this. I need to get a better camera for shooting video though.
6. Gifts for Your Techie – This isn’t necessarily one post, but all the gift guides were a hit. I’m hoping to do a little more on gift giving next year and hopefully start a bit earlier (Pre-Thanksgiving) so you have plenty of time to shop.
7. Facebook Privacy – If you use Facebook, this is a must-read post and I would highly recommend you spend 5-10 minutes and check out your privacy settings. I found some very disturbing things, especially regarding the amount of information that could be shared about me by others. I made sure to disable others’ ability to share vulnerable information of mine.
8. Mr. B Picks Up a Pre – This was actually the second in the In Action! series by The Digitante. Mr B was also kind enough to let you all know how The Digitante did. The first was Mr. G’s New TV, so be sure to read that one as well. If you have a tech need fulfilled and you want to be the next installment of In Action!, be sure to contact me and let me know.
9. A Bad Apple Spoils the Bunch – Apple rubbed me the wrong way for the last time. I’ve spent the last 3 months iTunes free and I’m loving it. I wrote about DoubleTwist which recently added the AmazonMP3 store to its interface. I wasn’t totally happy with DoubleTwist though. I’ve got foobar2000 installed currently and I’ve used it a little, but not enough to write about it. Also, Songbird recently added a slew of new features so I need to check that out as well.
10. Upgrade Your Wireless Router – This was a more technical article, but was perhaps the most doable for some setting up their first wireless router. I can’t recommend Tomato and the WRT54GL enough. If you are in the market for a new wireless router, this is the only way to go.

Let me know if you had any favorite posts from this year. What do you want to see more of in the next year? Toss it in the comments section!

Coming Up Tomorrow…

Since it is a holiday week, things are going to be slow on The Digitante, but that is only because I’ve got a couple clients who need some work done, plus I’m going to spend some time with my family. Tuesday and Wednesday, you can expect some posts, but Thursday and Friday will be post-free as I ring in the New Year!

Friday Night Links (12/25/2009)…

Not only is it Christmas, but it is also the last Friday Night Links of the year. I grabbed Flash game that will be sure to suck up the rest of your holiday weekend. Additionally, I grabbed three of the most popular links of the year.

• Winterbells (http://thedig.in/8m) – Its pretty straight-forward: jump on the bells with the bunny rabbit. The only question is – how high can you go? WARNING: SOUND!
• NFL Sunday Night Football (http://thedig.in/3j) – This was by far the most excited about a link that I have been in awhile. You can watch the game on your computer in case you are away from your television. But it isn’t just the game, there are DVR features (rewind, pause), multiple camera angles (and the cameras keep rolling on commercials), and check up on the stats via the sidebar. I might actually start watching Sunday Night Football via the web instead of on the TV.
• Per-Serving Budget Meals (http://thedig.in/4q) – Think of this as a cookbook with a price list. Not only does the author show you how to completely prepare the meal, she also lets you know how much the ingredients cost and what you will end up spending per serving. Considering a chicken meal at KFC costs well over $5, $2.42 for BBQ chicken, broccoli, and potatoes sounds like a straight up bargain.
• Eating Flowchart (http://thedig.in/72) – Can’t decide where to eat? It really doesn’t get easier than this.

  

Happy Holidays!

Ho, ho, ho! This ol’ Digitante Kringle bringing you great tidings. And by tidings, I mean you will be getting some Christmas themed Friday Night Links tomorrow, but only if you’ve been a good boy or girls.

Tonight, however, you are getting these greetings. I hope you enjoy your holidays and time off from work. I know I certainly will.

BlackBerry Messenger Update…

If you are a BlackBerry maniac like me, you may have noticed that BlackBerry services were down for a decent portion of yesterday. When I say “noticed”, I mean most likely your thumbs were in a twitchy, restless state for the day. Turns out it was the fault of a recently released version of the popular IM client BlackBerry Messenger.

The fix is that you need to upgrade to the latest version of BBM – 5.0.57. It is available by visiting the following link from your BlackBerry browser or you can get it from BlackBerry App World.

http://thedig.in/bbm

Posting Tweets to Facebook…

Twitter and Facebook are easily the two most popular social networks around currently. Up until now, I’ve always posted on one or the other. As a result, Facebook has been more or less ignored since I started using Twitter. However, Twitter has a feature that allows your posts on Twitter to show up as posts on Facebook. This is an easy one, so if you haven’t, sign up for Twitter, and then carry on with the instructions.

Connecting Twitter and Facebook

First things first: login in to both your Twitter and Facebook accounts. Then you need to navigate to the Twitter app on Facebook.

By clicking the Allow button, you are affirming that you will allow Twitter and Facebook to interact. Note that your current privacy settings on Facebook will apply to your tweets that post to your Facebook stream. Be sure to review you privacy settings before posting any tweets.

You can also bookmark the Twitter app so it appears at the bottom of your Facebook page at all times for easy access.

Are you using Twitter and Facebook in conjunction? Do you have a favorite app or trick to keep both updated at the same time? Let me know in the comments!

PS Can anyone explain why I have a Twitter widget in my Boxes box on my Facebook profile page but Mrs. Digitante does not? I’m baffled as to how that happened, so if you know, let me know…

KAYAK…

My single most favorite travel booking site is KAYAK. Instead of checking in just one place, KAYAK is aggregator and an aggregator of aggregators. It checks the actual airline sites, such as AA.com and United.com. Additionally, it pulls prices from aggregators and resellers like Orbitz and Travelocity.

While the searches for rental cars, hotels, vacations, and cruises are pretty standard-fare, KAYAK really shines in the arena of flight and deal searches.

Flight search

The flight search flat-out as the best options for finding the best deals on a flight.

From above screenshot, you can see the various options available to you:

• Trip Type: Choose from roundtrip, one-way, multi-city, and weekend. Weekend is interesting – it searches for the cheapest travel days over the specified time period. The time period is specified in both the timing (say, the month of January 2010) and the start and end of the trip (say, Friday through Monday).
• Departure/Destination Cities: If you sign up for an account, you can customize your typical departure or destination cities. Fly to Brooklyn to visit the Barbara Streisand museum once a month? Spend the another weekend each month flying to San Diego to visit the Cher museum? You can enter both as destinations on your custom list and you can quick select them when you search for flights.
• Flexible Travel: If you can leave a day earlier or later, you can save big time. Especially around the holidays, leaving two days before Christmas instead of Christmas Eve can save you a bundle. Instead of leaving the Tuesday after Labor Day, try catching a late Monday flight. You might save more than you would lose by taking a day off work.

Additionally, you can search other sites that aren’t aggregated.

The fun doesn’t stop there either. Once you’ve searched, there are extremely robust filtering tools at your disposal.

The above is only a snippet since the full list of filters would take about 5 more screenshots. As you can see, it is super simple to use the sliders to adjust the departure/arrival times, check/uncheck boxes to select particular airlines, and they even toss in a handy little link to add baggage fees on. Better try to fit it all in a carry-on because nobody is going to remember that you wore the same shirt everyday this week.

One missing piece you might notice if you use KAYAK for awhile is that Southwest is noticeably absent from the list. Southwest does that on purpose (not sure why), but you’ll have to go straight to the source to book with Southwest.

Deals

The deals section is much less interested in where you want to go as what you want to do when you get there. Its more interested in saving you a bundle instead of picking the exact weekend you want to go. It is an excellent jumping off point for planning your next vacation.

The interests column allows you to pick the activities you want while the destinations columns allow you to find the cheapest time to fly there.

As a bonus, if a flight is cheap, its because the destination is not very busy at that time. This is a bonus, especially if you are going somewhere that is typically very crowded at a particular time. You probably won’t find many deals in mid-July to the French Riviera. However, mid-July might be primetime for finding a heck of a deal to the Caribbean.

Bonus: Mobile apps

If you find yourself on the lookout for travel deals and you have your iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android smartphone on you, you can download the Kayak mobile app at http://www.kayak.com/mobile or you can navigate on any web-enabled phone to http://m.kayak.com.

Be sure to do everything you can to reduce stress during the holiday season. The best stress relief would be to avoid the airports at all costs. However, if you must venture out, at least save yourself a couple of bucks and spend part of the savings on a stress ball.

Got any travel sites you use? I’d love to know which ones other people use.

Friday Night Links (12/18/2009)…

After a card game, dessert, and a glass of wine, here I am with the links. I got a bunch, so hold onto your hat.

• English to Foreigners (http://thedig.in/89) – I found this to be completely bizarre. I had never really thought about how English might sound to a person who doesn’t speak it. However, I’ve been on the other end – I always enjoy reading the French instructions on everything I can find in Canada, even though je ne parle pas Français.
• Hoptopia (http://thedig.in/8a) – I’ve mentioned before that I’m a big fan of beer and I’m always on the hunt for something I’ve never tried before. A fellow blogger Lee has taken it one step further: he reviews tons of beer and uses simple language to describe his beers. As he says on his blog, “My reviews might seem a little unorthodox at first, if I smell Cat Pee or Enamel Paint on a beer then that’s what I smell, if I taste Beef Gravy or Strawberry Bubblegum in a beer, then that’s simply what I taste.” I’m heading to the beer store right now to find that Cat Pee beer. Oh wait, I have a can of Coors Light already in my fridge. Never mind.
• Office in the Woods (http://thedig.in/8b) – Sometimes I have to ask myself: Why do I live in Indiana? The weather is all over the place, it is flat as a pancake, and there are no major bodies of water around. Then something like this comes along and completely confirms every single one of those things. A killer view on the side of a hill of the Puget Sound in the notoriously mild-weathered Pacific Northwest. What was I thinking?
• Boeing 787 First Flight (http://thedig.in/8c) – After months of delays, the first 787 flight happened this past week. As I watched the videos (here is a YouTube search), I was shocked that a plastic plane could hold together. Plastic? Yep, carbon fiber is actually more accurately called carbon-reinforced plastic. And most of the plan in built out of the stuff. That makes it super light-weight. Also, check out how much the wings bend upward when it is flying. Incredible.

  http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/Dogko3MkAis&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b

Travel Weather…

Traveling for the holidays? Of course you are. How else are going to eat your way into a Christmas cookie diabetic coma, argue with your mother about the merits of fake Christmas trees, and get snow stuffed down the back of your pants by your man-child of a father?

The problems with all the traveling that happens this time of year is always the same: weather. You can’t control the weather, but you can check ahead of time to see what the weather is going to be like along your route. Perhaps you could even see if there is another day that is better to travel.

Since my mother-in-law is going to be traveling 500 miles to visit us, I decided to find a source for that type of information. Enter Weatherbonk.

Along your route

Weatherbonk gives you the opportunity to type in your starting point and your destination. It then shows you any major changes in weather along the way.

Think this is only for driving? Think again. You can choose your travel speed as well: walk, run, bike, slow drive, highway, and flying.

When should I leave?

Do you have some flexibility in your travel plans? You can also set up a grid to show you weather along your route a couple of days before and after your anticipated travel date. As you can see, Weatherbonk thinks I should leave now since by tomorrow there is a 50-70% chance of bad weather.

Get going!

Or don’t, depending on the forecast. However, remember that no matter what the forecast says, always be prepared with emergency supplies, heavy coats and boots, and a cellphone when you are traveling in the winter with inclement weather rolling in.

What travel sites to you use to keep your travel plans free of wrinkles? What’s the worst weather you’ve ever had to contend with? Anything worse than my drive sideways down the interstate?