Buster Collings http://www.bustercollings.com/blog the official blog for Buster Collings (not Buster Collins) Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:16:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en Cool iPhone Apps http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/07/11/cool-iphone-apps/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/07/11/cool-iphone-apps/#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:14:23 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/?p=288 so earlier this evening i downloaded and installed the new iTunes 7.7 software and also the work-around install for the iPhone 2.0 firmware (for my 1st generation iPhone). the installs were trouble free and easy enough, although i’d say the iPhone firmware update took 15-20 minutes. after resyncing my iPhone i started exploring the iPhone App Store. there are a lot of apps, free apps, apps for as cheap as 99 cents and i think i saw a few apps for as much as $59.99. i didn’t buy any apps but i did install a few free ones that i found to be pretty cool… and i held myself back from buying the Super Monkey Ball game for $9.99 although it seems like it’d be the coolest game currently in the iPhone app store, since it utilizes the way cool accelerometer.

here’s a few free iPhone apps that i grabbed:

WeatherBug - nice interface with more info than the standard iPhone weather app. i wasn’t happy to see that you could only save 3 locations though that limitation needs to go away.

iTunes Remote - an official Apple app that allows you to remote control the iTunes software from your iPhone. this is a really nice feature. now that i have this capability i’m going to get iTunes installed on my media pc in the living room theater (currently just using Yahoo unlimited).

AOL Radio - this is iPhone app is going to be used a lot at work :) finally an app that will give me access to the talk radio shows and music stations around the country without needed to stream via our company bandwidth (which is a precious commodity). no more reliance on my iPhone’s 8Gb drive of limited music and stale podcasts.

Pandora Radio - if you don’t know about Pandora you’re missing out on more than you can imagine. Pandora is one of the coolest music related websites ever and now it’s on my iPhone. this app too will be used extensively while i’m working.

BoxOffice - very cool iPhone app for looking up movie times and nearby theaters. nuff said, it’ll be handy.

Jott - tomorrow i’ll actually play with this, but it looks like a nice app for voice recordings. seems like a better solution for notes than the ‘notes’ app since you don’t have to type (except to label the recording)

so there ya go, a few ideas for iPhone apps you should check out. in the not too distant future i hope to have a couple iPhone apps of my own creation on the App Store. i’m not saying what they are yet… but i’ll definitely post about them once they’re actually completed.

ok i’m tired and it’s late so i’m crashing.

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/07/11/cool-iphone-apps/feed/ BBQ Blog http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/06/19/bbq-blog/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/06/19/bbq-blog/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:49:20 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/?p=287 Summer is here, my sun burned forehead can testify. i’ve been without my bbq grill for a few months, since i caught it on fire, but not for long. i ordered a replacement grid and i can’t wait until it comes in. in fact, i’m also planning to go buy a new charcoal grill this weekend. my bro JJ, who is a master on the bbq grill, has been blogging about all things barbeque. he’s got some great bbq tips and how tos. so if you’re like me and a lover of bbq, but a relative dummy on the science be sure to check out his bbq blog.

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/06/19/bbq-blog/feed/ iPhone 2.0 - 3G, GPS, 3rd Party Apps on July 11th 2008 http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/06/09/iphone-20-3g-gps-3rd-party-apps-on-july-11th-2008/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/06/09/iphone-20-3g-gps-3rd-party-apps-on-july-11th-2008/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:14:23 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/?p=285 it’s been announced… straight from Steve Jobs himself. the new iPhone planned for release on July 11th will not only have 3G (which should’ve been included on version 1 imho) but more importantly it will indeed have native GPS!! with the open SDK and soon launching App Store this device is a bargain at what the old iPhone sold for. but hold up… the iPhone 2.0 is going to retail for $299 for 16GB and $200 for an 8GB. yeah that is cheap. afterall what’s a decent GPS only device running these days… $200+

sorry Apple haters… they’ve once again pushed themselves out to the cutting edge… and for once their not pricing themselves out of the lions share consumers. i dunno about all you other windows developers but my plans to dabble in the world of iPhone development just bumped up a notch on my endless todo list.

here are some great blogs that ran live during Steve Jobs keynote
News.com
Crunchgear.com

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/06/09/iphone-20-3g-gps-3rd-party-apps-on-july-11th-2008/feed/ Yes You Can, Install Yahoo Jukebox on Vista 64 Bit http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/09/yes-you-can-install-yahoo-jukebox-on-vista-64-bit/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/09/yes-you-can-install-yahoo-jukebox-on-vista-64-bit/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 17:00:07 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/?p=282 so a couple months ago i bought a media computer for the living room… hooked up to my hd tv and home theater sound system. naturally it finally gave me a reason to check out Yahoo’s unlimited music subscription service. but guess what… i couldn’t get the required Yahoo Jukebox music player to install on my brand new Vista 64 bit OS, even though Yahoo’s music blog claimed the new player supports Vista 64.

so like many, i’m sure, i scoured the web.. thanks to google search.. and came up with nothing but a lot of forum discussions with angry and frustrated users. many who got canned responses from Yahoo’s music service technical support (a whole lotta NO support).

well… i say… yes you can install Yahoo Jukebox on Vista 64 bit! what i did was discover that the latest installer for the Yahoo Jukebox music player (version 2.2) is a very weak bootstrap app that downloads the ‘real’ jukebox installer. i discovered this by monitoring the installation process of the yahoo music player on 32 bit XP. i saw the url that the bootstrap installer was pulling the real installer from. i then downloaded that file to my Vista 64 machine and ran it… and it ran… and it installed a completely functioning copy of Yahoo Jukebox music player on my Vista 64 bit OS.

so you see… whomever at Yahoo developed the actual Jukebox application did build it in a way that it will run perfectly fine on 64 bit Vista… but whomever at Yahoo put together the bootstrap installer completely overlooked the fact that all of us Vista 64 bit users would receive the following error when trying to install:

(image found at JP Maxwell’s blog)

ok ok… so here’s where you can get the real installer >> Yahoo Jukebox for Vista 64 bit… currently my commenting is disabled, so you can thank me by linking to this post or my blog in general!

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/09/yes-you-can-install-yahoo-jukebox-on-vista-64-bit/feed/ Free RSS Reader for Outlook http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/07/free-rss-reader-for-outlook/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/07/free-rss-reader-for-outlook/#comments Thu, 08 May 2008 02:16:57 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/?p=281 my friends and frequent visitors have undoubtedly noticed my lack of blogging over the past couple of months… but they probably didn’t know that I’ve been doing better at least with keeping up with their blogs. i’ve tried a few feed readers in the past and nothing really fit my style too well… i’m also not an iGoogle or MyYahoo homepage kinda user. but, i did find a really cool rss feed reader that integrates nicely with Outlook that has made it easier for me to keep up with the double digit number of blogs i try to frequent. that nifty rss feed reader for Outlook is called RSS Popper. it works with Outlook 2000, Outlook XP and Outlook 2003… and the makers claim it works with Outlook 2007… but i’m pretty sure 2007 supports RSS natively. Also, Outlook Express users can pull RSS feeds using RSS Popper!

you can get the RSS Popper here

Here’s a screenshot:
RSS Feed Reader In Outlook

thanks to this little rss reader i’ve gotten see just how much my buddy JJ (Double Danger) has been turning more and more into a garden blogger with each passing day :) and it’s totally cool too… it looks like he and shala are having a lot of fun creating a beautiful yard.. can’t wait to see it one of these days!

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/07/free-rss-reader-for-outlook/feed/ Back in Black - blog upgrade http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/05/back-in-black-blog-update/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/05/back-in-black-blog-update/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 03:12:27 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/?p=280 good things to come my friends… you’ll notice i finally completed a long overdue blog upgrade… and website upgrade for that matter. i cut out a lot of fat and modernized some things! i hope to turn blog commenting back on in the near future. also, you might notice some ads from time to time, i plan on keeping it extremely limited… i don’t think you’ll ever see ads (for revenue) on my blog homepage… only on archives and individual postings.

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/05/05/back-in-black-blog-update/feed/ March Madness Tickets http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/18/march-madness-tickets/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/18/march-madness-tickets/#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:33:18 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/18/march-madness-tickets/ March madness has begun… i can tell from all the buzz at work. the tournament brackets have been set and the road leads to San Antonio’s Alamodome for the Final Four.

for me basketball’s regular season is just a tad too long… but i’m all about the tournament. i’m personally hoping to see the Texas Longhorns take down a national title, but that’s just me.

this year i think we’ve got more tickets for March Madness than any other ticket broker online; so if you want to try and make it out to a session goto >> March Madness Tickets

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/18/march-madness-tickets/feed/ Free membership to TSA Registered Traveler http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/03/free-membership-to-tsa-registered-traveler/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/03/free-membership-to-tsa-registered-traveler/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:13:05 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/03/free-membership-to-tsa-registered-traveler/ > http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9884111-46.html?part=gtb&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5-gtb ]]> if you travel a lot and don’t mind giving up some private information (fingerprints & retina scan) to a federal agency then you could find yourself jumping to the front of an airport security checkpoint with membership as a TSA Registered Traveler.

for more info >> http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9884111-46.html?part=gtb&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5-gtb

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/03/03/free-membership-to-tsa-registered-traveler/feed/ Make St. Patricks Day an Official Holiday http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/02/27/make-st-patricks-day-an-official-holiday/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/02/27/make-st-patricks-day-an-official-holiday/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:25:31 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/02/27/make-st-patricks-day-an-official-holiday/ In these exciting political times aren’t you up for some new legislation that just plain makes good sense?? Guinness is promoting Proposition 3-17 in an attempt to make St. Patricks day an official holiday.

Whether or not this holiday becomes official… I gotta admit.. St. Paddys day is one of my favorite days of the year. As of now they’re needing over 900,000 signatures. This may not be something you’re gung ho for.. but if you’re not against it please sign the petition as a favor for me :) i promise if you need a petition signed and i’m not against the cause i’ll pay you back!!

So, Make St. Patricks Day an Official Holiday!!

]]> http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/02/27/make-st-patricks-day-an-official-holiday/feed/ Vote for the New Texas License Plate http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/02/07/vote-for-the-new-texas-license-plate/ http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/02/07/vote-for-the-new-texas-license-plate/#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:23:09 +0000 Buster http://www.bustercollings.com/blog/2008/02/07/vote-for-the-new-texas-license-plate/ the Great State of Texas is accepting votes for the next license plate look. if you’re a Texan and want a plate that compliments your ride while showing off a certain Texas down home style then vote now!

thanks to Krystal at work for the link.

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