Get RemotePC Free For The First Time Ever

RemotePC has changed around their plans, now offering a lifetime free account for one computer instead of a 30 day trial.

RemotePC Remote Desktop Access

It’s a very useful utility that makes it possible to remotely access a PC or Mac from any other PC or Mac. There is also an iOS app so you can use an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. Simply sign up on their website and install the “Host” software on your computer. After that you’ll be able to sign-in to your computer from wherever you are.

Instagram 2.1 Released, Still Aloof on 3.5″ iDevices

Instagram is one of the best apps for easily sharing photos across multiple social networks – if  you have a 3.5″ iOS device i.e. an iPhone or iPod touch.

Today the App Store approved 2.1 of the application bringing a new UI – I like it when companies stray from standard Apple design schemes – an auto-fix feature called Lux, a new filter and few smaller updates.

Burbn, the developer behind Instagram, has indicated indicates it wants to concentrate all of its development efforts on iPhone, from their website:

“We are currently working on making the iPhone experience as solid as possible. Only then will we consider other platforms, but currently we have nothing to announce.” (source)

There is an open API platform for Instagram which has allowed third-parties to create applications for other devices, such as Instacam on Windows Phone, but the results are definitely nothing like Instagram’s native app.

Any good apps out there for Android that you use?

Follow me on Instagram @goldbytes

Follow my Instagram @goldbytes

What’s going to be the No. 1 problem with Google Drive?

The number one problem with the upcoming Google Drive service can be summed up in one word: Google.

Is Google likely to build a native app for iOS so the millions of iPhone owners who use Google can access their data? Maybe, since Apple has so much market share – but Apple hasn’t built a native iCloud app for Android have they? They also haven’t released APIs that allow access to data so third-party developers still can’t fill the gap.

Microsoft has been in the cloud game longer than either Apple or Google yet their service, SkyDrive, has seen little adoption amongst average users. They even build a native iOS app to service that market. I own a Windows Phone, access to SkyDrive and its implementation in the mobile OS is pretty good and much more functional than the iOS application.

For those of us who enjoy gadgets from different manufacturers we require a cloud that can play nice with as many of them as possible. IDrive is perfect choice here. With native apps for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android – the software makes it easy to protect every desktop, laptop, iPhone, iPad and Android you own – all with one easy plan to boot.

Also, developers can choose IDrive EVS to build cloud-enabled apps with code that is far more efficient than Amazon’s S3, affordable and with more accessible support.

Empire Avenue: Turn Your Social Media Existence Into a Trading Game

Head over to empireavenue.com and what you’ll find is a trading game that uses a fake currency called ‘eaves.’ You use eaves to buy ‘shares’ in other people on the site, much like you would purchase stock in a public company.

What you get is fascinating analytics on how well your social campaigns are running and it’s a ripe networking opportunity.

Check out my EA ticker on the right side of the page!

Newt Gingrich is Just Having Fun

It seems to me that the Republican party conceded the upcoming Presidential election many, many months ago when they started promoting people like Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for possible candidacy.

The GOP knows they won’t win this year, that’s why these are the primary candidates we’re seeing out of their camp. No Republican with a decent shot at the Oval Office is going to waste their ‘go’ at the spotlight this year.

Gingrich knows this too. He also knows there are few other ways to get more publicity than to run for President of the United States. He never wants to actually be President. All of this first-class traveling around, the speaking engagements, television appearances, the fancy meals and benefit dinners – in the end all it will help him do is sell more books and make more money. The only one that knows it’s a joke is him.

Newt is out there having a grand ‘ol time at the expense of those who have donated to his campaign. He must think it’s hilarious that millions of people are willing to vote for him even knowing what they know about him – or maybe I’m the one that finds it hilarious. Either way, I found the recent interview on ABC news telling of what kind of administration to expect. That’s the idea behind the campaign. It’s got to be too crazy too win so that he won’t actually become president. Ahem. Lunar colonies.

If the Republican’s behavior in the 2000 elections has taught us anything, it’s to VOTE, VOTE, VOTE. If you haven’t registered to vote click here to find out how and stay tuned for the release of Gold’s Voting Guide, 2012 Presidential Edition later this year.

New to “Classical” Music? Try Mozart’s ‘Beginner’s Sonata’

Yesterday was the 256th birthday of Mozart. I had wanted to post something about it yesterday but have been away from civilization since Friday night – better late than never though!

I have an eclectic music collection but I’d always felt that my breadth of appreciation didn’t include enough real-oldies. I recently have had the opportunity to start taking impromptu music appreciation lessons from a classically-trained pianist with a library full of music I’ve never heard before.

What is known as Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major is also sometimes  called the Sonata facile - the ‘easy’ sonata, or ‘Beginner’s Sonata.’ If you’re not sure of which Mozart piece we’re talking about you would probably quickly recognize the opening theme. (Now I bet you feel classy while you’re reading.)

It’s assumed Wolfgang wrote the sonata as a teaching tool for one of his students as it didn’t appear in print until 1805, 14 years after his death at the age of 35, though he had added to his catalog in 1788.

Today it’s very popular, but he may have been referring to a different piece he had written that year when he wrote to his sister, “Indeed you have every reason to be vexed with me! But will you really be so, when you receive by this mail coach my very latest compositions for the clavier? Surely not! this, I hope, will make everything all right again.”

What did Mozart do to piss of his sister?

Now it’s off to listen to my current assignment: Brahm’s Violin Concerto featuring violinist Ihtzak Perlman.

A Single Cloud for PC and Mac and iOS and Android, Oh My!

When IDrive started out in early 2007 Apple’s global share of the computer market was around 8%. About six months later they would launch the first iPhone with AT&T and a little less than three years later, the first iPad. So now, at the end of 2011, Apple’s share of the desktop/laptop market has risen to almost 11% and iOS is running on roughly 18% of smartphones and tablets and even expected to lose some ground in the coming years due to growing competition.

That’s amazing growth but what’s left out is the other 89% of computers and 82% of smartphones and tablets out there. Microsoft, Apple and Google all have cloud-based solutions like iCloud, SkyDrive and Google Docs – the problem is iCloud is stuck in the Mac ecosystem, SkyDrive is stuck on Windows and you only get the most functional access to Google Docs on google.com or with an Android device.

Since IDrive builds apps and APIs for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android and Blackberry I tend to keep at least one or more of all of those types devices at hand for testing. With the latest updates to IDrive people can ditch propriety cloud services for something more universal, more secure and in some cases SIGNIFICANTLY more affordable.

With my single IDrive account I am regularly backing up files from my home and work computers, my iPhone, iPad and Nexus S AND I have access to those files from any of the connected devices or by logging into the website.

What’s wonderful about the recent shift of IDrive to a new platform is that now there are public APIs available so developers can create custom applications to access IDrive or completely integrate the technology into their own software.

Apple, Android and Windows

So go get yourself some online backup that isn’t stuck on one device or the other, is powerful, fast and has super-friendly support. :)

 

Hey Pandora! Stop stealing my bandwidth!

Sure. I’m listening to Pandora Radio for free through my iPhone app – I thank them from the bottom of my heart for the service and happily listen to the ads they throw in every so often. Again, and this is important – I’m listening – to Pandora Radio. Why then send me a video trailer for Crazy, Stupid, Love? I’m not even looking at the screen.

Using iFile on my jail-broken iPhone I was able to find the file in Pandora’s cache – the file was 2.4MBs!

If you have a 5GB AT&T data plan costing $60/month and have seen this ad you paid around $0.028 for it – just shy of 3¢. If all of Pandora’s 80 million users incurred that same cost (obviously they didn’t because we all live in different countries, with different currencies and different carriers, but what if?) that means Pandora would have been responsible for $2,240,000 in – in my opinion – stolen bandwidth each month.

Unlimited plans are going out of fashion quickly with carriers which means our bandwidth becomes more precious. If you’re going to play ads on my radio app, let’s stick with small images and small audio files. Be kind to us consumers – the carriers get enough of our money each month.