How to get your iPhone $100 rebate

For those of you who purchased an iPhone (like me) before August 22, here’s how to get your $100 Apple store credit:

1. Go to the Apple iPhone Store Credit request page
2. Enter your mobile number and your iPhone serial number
3. Within 5 minutes, you’ll receive an SMS message with a store credit access code
4. Enter the access code on the store credit request page and you’ll get a printable store credit coupon

There were rumors that the early, early adopters (i.e., those of us who purchased before August 22) weren’t eligible for a store credit but I can confirm that I received it. And, I purchased my iPhone 2 days after it was released (July 2?).

Now, go get your $100 credit!

EDIT:  Forgot to mention that the deadline to submit your claim is November 30, 2007.

Filed under: Apple, Apple Store, How-To, Mobile Phone, Smartphone, iPhone

iPhone Tip: How to type a period with one tap

If you own an iPhone or have been reading all of the reviews/comments, you’ll notice that typing a period is a pain in the ass. More specifically, it takes 3 taps to type a period. Not very user friendly, right? Well, David Pogue has posted instructions on how to type that period with one tap:

The iPhone doesn’t register most key presses until you *release* your finger. But Andrew discovered that the Shift and Punctuation keys register their taps on the *press-down* instead.

So here’s what you can do, all in one motion:

1. Touch the “.?123” key, but don’t lift your finger as the punctuation layout appears.

2. Slide your finger a half inch onto the period or comma key, and release.

Incredibly, the ABC layout returns automatically. You’ve typed a period or a comma with one finger touch instead of three. In fact, you can type ANY of the punctuation symbols the same way.

I’ve tried it and it’s pretty slick…and much easier. It’ll take some getting used to because my natural tendency is to tap instead of tap, hold, drag, and release. Nevertheless, it’s easier and quicker than tapping three times so give it a try!

Filed under: Apple, Cellphone, How-To, Mobile Phone, Smartphone, Wireless, iPhone

18 ways to use Google Calendar

Anne Zelenka, of Web Worker Daily, has a great post titled, “Rock your Google Calendar in 18 ways.” You probably know some of them if you’re using Google Calendar but I’ll bet you don’t know all of them.

Here are some of the more interesting ones:

• Add events to Google Calendar without being in GCal (thanks to a GCal Quick Add Firefox extension)
• Receive event reminders via SMS
• Get a daily agenda emailed or text messaged to you
• Add a pop-up notifier of upcoming events to the Firefox status bar (via a Firefox extension)

I would add one to her list: GooSync. Being able to do a 2-way sync from a mobile phone or smartphone with Google Calendar is a HUGE bonus for some people. You can read more about this tool in my GooSync review.

Filed under: Calendar, Firefox Add-On, Google, How-To, Software

How to upgrade the hard drive in Apple TV

I’m sure you’ve already read about people upgrading that measly 40GB hard drive. Well, Engadget has some sweet step-by-step instructions with pictures.

Personally, I’m not planning on doing this since I haven’t maxed out the hard drive…yet.

Filed under: AppleTV, Digital Movies, How-To, Video

Upgrading to NewsBreak 2.0? Backup your RSS channels

I just upgraded to NewsBreak 2.0 and everything went smoothly. However, backup your list of RSS channels before upgrading. Even though Ilium Software calls it an “upgrade,” it’s more like a reinstall because none of my settings were preserved and, at first, all of my RSS channels were gone. Here’s how I got them back:

1. After the “upgrade,” I went to Menu –> Options –> Data Storage
2. I checked the “store data & podcasts on card” checkbox
3. Upon doing so, NewsBreak displayed a message stating there is already a list of channels on the storage card and asked if I wanted to overwrite those channels – I chose “no.”
4. Then, all of my channels were back

Apparently, NewsBreak just needed to be pointed to the location of my RSS channels. Thankfully, it didn’t automatically overwrite the data on my storage card during the installation. Now, I’m not sure if NewsBreak would overwrite your channels if you had them stored on your device so backup your channels *before* you upgrade to v2.0. I received confirmation from Ilium Software that the reinstall will not overwrite your channels that are stored on the devic. But, I would still recommend backing up your channel list – just in case if the upgrade/reinstall fails.

So, when upgrading to NewsBreak 2.0, you need to do two things: backup your channel list and, after upgrading, reconfigure all of your settings under Menu –> Options.

The page where you download the 2.0 installation file contains instructions on how to install the upgrade but it doesn’t tell you how to get your RSS channels back. I’ve emailed this feedback to Ilium Software so, hopefully, they’ll add some verbiage to this page.

Update (3/19/2007) Post has been updated since Marc, from Ilium Software, has confirmed that the reinstall will not overwrite any RSS channels that are stored on your device. Thanks, Marc!

Filed under: How-To, NewsReader, RSS, Smartphone, Software, Windows Mobile

How to reclaim disk space on a Motorola DCT6412 III DVR from RCN

Have you been an RCN customer using a Motorola HD DVR (DCT6412 III) with the Passport Echo DVR software? If you have, you may have noticed that over time your available record time (i.e., free disk space) gets smaller and smaller. I didn’t notice it until my available recording time (for HD shows) went from around 15 hours –> 4 hours.

The reason for this is because of a bug in the Passport Echo DVR software. My guess: when you delete a show, the software doesn’t reclaim all of the freed-up disk space. Here’s how to fix the problem:

Filed under: DVR, How-To, Motorola

10 User-Friendly Windows Vista Tweaks

Laptop Magazine has a list of 10 Windows Vista tweaks that you may want to check out. The most interesting tweak is the ability to disable the annoying “allow/deny” pop-ups whenever an application is installed or needs to access the registry. However, doing so creates a security risk with IE 7.0.

Here’s the list:

1. Turn Off User Account Control (this allows you to disable the ‘allow/deny’ pop-ups)
2. Bring Back the File Menu
3. Customize the Start Menu and Taskbars
4. Create a Flip 3D Shortcut
5. Activate Multi-file Tagging
6. Automate Your Defragmentation Routine
7. Expanded Right-Click Options
8. Activate Three Clocks
9. Activate Parental Controls
10. Make Mobility Center Ever-Ready

Filed under: How-To, Microsoft, Vista, Windows

Daylight Savings Time for Windows, Windows Mobile 5, and Mac OS X

In case you haven’t heard, the U.S. Government changed when we change our clocks for Daylight Savings Time (DST). Here are the deets of the change: (I copied it from Sun Microsystem’s Sun Developer Network)

“The United States has planned a change to its DST observance beginning in 2007. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates that DST will start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. In 2007, the start and stop dates will be March 11 and November 4, respectively. These dates are different from previous DST start and stop dates. In 2006, the dates were the first Sunday in April (April 2, 2006) and the last Sunday in October (October 29, 2006).”

Due to this change, everyone with a computer, smartphone, PDA, etc. will have to install a software patch to account for the change. Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass and Microsoft doesn’t make it easy for you to determine if you need to patch your system (Apple auto-includes it in the Software Update). So, I thought I’d make it easy for you all and just tell you what you need to do:

Filed under: Daylight Savings Time, How-To, MacOSX, Mobile Software, Software, Vista, Windows, Windows Mobile

How to Stop Spam Email

Tired of being spammed? Not happy with your email’s spam filter? Well, believe it or not, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a VERY effective email address that you can forward your spam email to. After forwarding your spam email to the FTC’s email addy, your spam email will decrease by 90 – 100%. All you have to do is forward any spam email you receive to the following email addy: spam@uce.gov. After about 1 – 2 months, you’ll notice a dramatic drop in spam email. Now, you may still receive a handful of spam per month but keep forwarding them to the FTC and they will eventually stop.

I started doing this about 6-8 months ago when my .Mac email account was compromised and, after about 2 months, all spam email stopped. I find this to be much more effective than relying on spam filters. With this method, you’ll never have to worry about your spam filter catching false positive emails and you help the FTC get back at the spammers.

Filed under: Email, How-To, Reviews, Spam