I love my iPhone, it’s a gadget that I can honestly say saves me time. Being a converted BlackBerry user, there’s a few things that I have missed though. The first of which is having the ability to Cut, Copy & Paste. While this seemed like a no-brainer function to have, up until this release it was impossible to do. The other limitation that drives me crazy about the current 2.0 software version is the inability to attach photos, video and contact info to SMS messages, another thing that the BlackBerry did very well.
Software Update 3.0
In typical Apple fashion, almost all of the shortcomings of the current iPhone software will be addressed in the new 3.0 software update, which will be available for download starting tomorrow June 17th. The update will be free for iPhone users, iTouch users will have to pay a one-time fee of around 10 bucks. Here are the highlights of the new 3.0 software release:
- Copy & Paste Support (finally!)
- Landscape Keyboard option when texting
- Photo, Video, Contact support for SMS texting
- Centralized search capability
- Record Voice Memos
- Improved Calendar with CalDAV support
- Buy movies, TV shows and Audiobooks from device
- Enhanced Stock Application
- Peer to Peer app support for gaming, etc.
- A bunch of other things
Here’s a complete list of 3.0 enhancements from Apple’s website
The primary thing that I don’t like about the upgrade is that they’re not offering Internet Tethering support in the US. This would allow you to hook your iPhone to your Laptop to browse the Internet. I’m sure that has something to do with the AT&T monopoly. I’m sure a not so legal workaround to this limitation will appear within time 
How to Download the 3.0 Update (available 6/17):
1. Simply open up iTunes with your iPhone / iTouch attached.
2. Click on your device under the “Devices” left-hand menu.
3. Click the “Check for Update” button and follow the steps.
One of the most common questions I’m asked is how to get a web site to the top of Google or any other search engine. While there is no simple answer without spending a bunch of money, the following list should help you avoid some of the common mistakes made.
1. Using Wrong Keywords – Keywords are extremely important. You should figure out what keyword phrases mean the most to your website or offering, and to the people who are searching for your site. Try to focus on a small group of the most important keywords that customers may actually be searching for, and not every keyword combination under the sun.
2. No Smart or Solid Navigation Structure – Most optimal URL’s contain relevant keywords with minimal slashes and dynamic characters. Keep the pages and names true to the content, and the engines will appreciate it.
3. Incorrect Title Tags – Thinking that one title tag will work throughout your site won’t work. Each page should have a unique title tag to explain what the page is about. These titles show up in the Search Engine Results and help persuade visitors.
4. Splash Pages – Splash pages can sometimes leave your home page empty without much focus. If you insist on keeping a splash page, be sure to add relevant content and some form of navigation to keep search engines spidering through your site.
5. Balancing Code and Graphics – Your site should consist of a healthy balance between code (HTML) and graphics. This is key both to search engine visibility and conversions.
6. Lack of Keywords in Content – Once you focus on your keywords, modify your content and put the keywords wherever it makes sense. It is even better to make them bold or highlight them.
7. Images for Headings – Many people think that an image looks better than text for headings and menus. Yes, an image can make your site look more distinctive but in terms of SEO images for headings and menus are a big mistake because h2, h2, etc. tags and menu links are important SEO items. If you are afraid that your h1 h2, etc. tags look horrible, try modifying them in a stylesheet.
8. Using JavaScript Menus – Using JavaScript for navigation is not bad as long as you understand that search engines do not read JavaScript and build your web pages accordingly. So if you have JavaScript menus you can’t do without, you should consider building a sitemap (or putting the links in a noscript tag) so that all your links will be crawlable.
9. Not using Sitemaps – Sitemaps are an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling. In its simplest form, a Sitemap is an XML file that lists URLs for a site along with additional metadata about each URL (when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and how important it is, relative to other URLs in the site) so that search engines can more intelligently crawl the site. Almost all the major search engines support sitemaps.
10. Not Keeping Content Fresh – If you want to be successful, you need to permanently optimize your site, keep an eye on the competition and – changes in the ranking algorithms of search engines
I’ve have always been a fan of Microsoft Exchange, primarily because it works so well with Outlook on the desktop and OWA (Outlook Web Access). Once again the developer gods at Google have changed that with the release of Google Apps Sync, merging the affordability of Google with the familiarity of Microsoft Outlook.
What is It?
Google Apps Sync is a workstation plug-in that allows you to sync your Outlook and Google web-based apps such as e-mail, calendar and contacts.
How easy it is to set up?
Setup is cake, taking me about 5 minutes to install the Sync plug-in on my workstation. Once logged in, your existing Outlook contents (e-mail, calendar events, and contacts) are imported to the Google Apps servers automagicaly.
What Versions of Outlook does it work with?
Outlook 2003 SP3 or 2007 SP2
Google Apps Sync has the ability to question the need for Exchange, especially in a small business environment where the initial software purchase and upkeep is a large percentage of an IT budget.
How it Works Video:
I’ve been messing around with the beta release of Fedora’s latest version 11.0 and found it to be one the fastest and polished operating systems I’ve ever used. It takes 20 seconds or less to load the entire operating system, from power on to log in – Let’s see Windows 7 do that.
The features are not bad either, most of what you would need to accomplish day-to-day tasks. Firefox 3.1, Eclipse IDE, etc.
With the move towards browser-based computing it’s only a matter of time before the lines between the operating system and browser begin to blur. Microsoft’s days of being the primary desktop OS will surely come to an end using their current pay-per-device model.
Desktop Screen Shot:
Check out Wordnik, a new dictionary website that not only gives you the definition of the word but ties Flickr images and Twitter matches as well.
A recent report from McAfee outlined search terms that have the highest probability of leading you to websites full of spyware and malware. Most of the terms are related to downloadable contact such as screen savers, music lyrics and free music (imagine that).
The study pulled this data from 5 search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Live, Ask and AOL)
Click Here to download the full study from McAfee.