tollie.org/blog thoughts and reflections of Tollie Williams

Among other things - removes the "Podcast" flag from files so they'll show up in the regular library. (PS. Weird things happen when you have a ringtone with the "podcast" flag set, so it's best to unflag them.)

From the "What On EARTH" were they thinking department... They asked not just for your social network usernames (acceptable, IMHO), but your PASSWORDS to log in? A) What idiot thought this was reasonable? B) What idiots gave them their passwords?

This could have some free-speech implications. Also, "Because it's new " -- *NEW*? Credit for that quote, calling affiliate links new, goes to Rich Cleland, assistant director in the FTC's division of advertising practices. Way to be in touch RIch...

EXCERPT: Existing FTC rules already ban deceptive and unfair business practices. The proposed guidelines aim to clarify the law and for the first time specifically include bloggers, defined loosely as anyone writing a personal journal online.

"It's sort of a recognition that word-of-mouth marketing in whatever form, whether electronic or not, is a significant part of the marketing strategy of modern companies," Cleland said. "Because it's new, I think it is imperative that we provide some kind of guidance."

If approved, bloggers would have to back up claims and disclose if they're being compensated - the FTC doesn't currently plan to specify how.

Any type of blog could be scrutinized, not just ones that specialize in reviews.

After formatting and reinstalling OS X (the key chains were behaving weird, and it was time) I realized that I had forgot to backup *one* thing -- my "Perfect EQ" for iTunes. Much to my surprise, it's still the #1 Google result after almost 5 years. Of course, there's no true "perfect" EQ - I know that, and I also know that EQ's are intended to be tuned per the speakers, the room, and the music itself - however, give this EQ a try. To me, it sounds fuller and pulls out the words - kind of like an open air concert stage. YMMV.

ASCAP (the same folks who went after Girl Scouts for singing around a campfire) appears to believe that every time your musical ringtone rings in public, you're violating copyright law by "publicly performing" it without a license.

ASCAP's outlandish claim is part of its battle with major mobile carriers (including Verizon and AT&T) over whether ASCAP is owed any money for "public performances" of the musical ringtones sold by the carriers. The carriers point out that the owners of the musical compositions (i.e., songwriters and music publishers) are already paid for each ringtone download, but ASCAP claims that it's owed another royalty for the "public performances" (i.e., ringing in a restaurant) of those same ringtones.

1. Twitter Is a Tool and Thus Difficult to Censor
shutting down Twitter.com does little to stop the offending Twittering. You’d have to shut down the entire service, which is done occasionally for maintenance.

2. Tweets Are Generally Banal, but Watch Out

Each update may not be important. Collectively, however, the tweets can create a personality or environment that reflects the emotions of the moment and helps drive opinion.

3. Buyer Beware

Nothing on Twitter has been verified.

4. Watch Your Back

Some Twitterers may even be trying to trick you.

5. Twitter Is Self-Correcting but a Misleading Gauge

For all the democratic traits of Twitter, not all users are equal. A popular, trusted user matters more. In that way, Twitter is a community, with leaders and cliques.

6. Twitter Can Be a Potent Tool for Media Criticism

Just as Twitter can rally protesters against governments, its broadcast ability can rally them quickly and efficiently against news outlets.

camera shoots 3-megapixel stills, and thus could be commanded to shoot 720p video--it's got more than enough pixels to spare, and the speedier 600MHz processor in the phone should be easily capable of the increased bandwidth required by 720p video. Why has Apple chosen to limit it to VGA resolution? It seems a slightly odd move, given that there are smartphones out there that shoot still imagery at 12-megapixels and can do full HD video.

The answer is a mystery, but we can guess one probable cause. It's the same reason why the 3G S's new processor, which is capable of 833MHz speeds, is choked down to just 600MHz: Battery life.

Bookmarked for future reference. "Interesting" discussion.