What is the user agent for the Apple iPad?

If you are a web developer and want to code Apple iPad-specific pages, then you’ll need to know the user agent for two reasons:

1. To be able to code your scripts to look for it

2. To change your user-agent in your browser/client to make HTTP requests

As of the pre-release Apple iPad, it is:

Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like

... (more)


Google Public DNS Servers

Did you know that Google has its own public DNS servers? And they’re free? And FAST!?

Just add these to your computer (and router):

8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

More information: Using Google Public DNS


FireFox 3.5 Annoyance: Closing Last Tab Does Not Close Window

I don’t know about you, but I live in my web browser, day-in and day-out.  My browser of choice is FireFox.  They recently released an update from 3.0 to 3.5 and it’s great, except for one thing… and it’s bloody annoying.

Previously when you opened a new window, opened a few tabs and surfed around, then eventually closed all its tabs, it also closed the main window.  Unfortunately, in the ... (more)


Backing up your stuff to external drives

Backups are one thing most people neglect, until it’s too late.  I admit, I’ve been subject to drive failures in the past where I’ve lost important data that I could never get back.  I even had two separate computers lose a drive on the same day.  If only I was smarter about my backups.

These days hard drives are cheap, fast, and most feature FireWire 400, 800, and eSATA interfaces ... (more)


The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth

Boston Dynamics has just released a brand new video of their DARPA-funded Big Dog robot.

This robot must be seen to believe… watch it all the way as it is kicked (and recovers), slips on ice (and recovers), jumps, climbs, and does all sorts of eerie things.  It’s so cool!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww]... (more)


PicLens: The most awesome FireFox add-on EVER

If you have FireFox, oh boy do I have an add-on for you. Thanks to Tek for this tip… it’s such a great find I had to break my blogging drought and say something about it. It’s called PicLens and what it does it turns your desktop into a full 3D browser for the images on the page or in the gallery you are viewing, such as Flickr, Google images, ... (more)


How to create a custom iPhone or iPod Touch WebClip bookmark icon

Now that the iPhone and iPod Touch allow a user to save a WebClip bookmark to your site on their Home Screen, most web developers are wondering, “How do I customize this so it doesn’t look so horrible?” To specify a bookmark icon for all pages of a web site, place a PNG image named “apple-touch-icon.png” at the root directory of your web server – similar to the “favicon.ico” ... (more)


How to Make a Desktop Shortcut in Mac OS X

Since I switched over from Windows to Mac OS X, one of the more puzzling things was how to add desktop shortcuts.  This was real easy in Windows’ Internet Explorer.  Just right-click your desktop and select “Create Shortcut”.  On a Mac (FireFox, Chrome or Safari) this is not an option.

I finally found the answer, and like most things on the Mac, it’s easier than the PC.

If you want ... (more)


9mm-thin 50″ Plasma TV

One of the more amazing new technologies to come out of CES 2008, IMHO, is this 9mm plasma screen TV from Pioneer.  Watch this video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-D2n0Tze6s]

There are some photos at Gizmodo. If you think your current LCD/plasma TV was thin, this is what the future holds…


Roxio Toast 8 and TiVo Transfer problems

If you are a TiVo user and have a Mac, you are probably using Roxio Toast 8 Titanium. This is probably because there are no other solutions out there to transfer programs from your networked TiVo boxes to your Mac. It’s great software, but upon upgrading to the latest version of Toast 8.0.3, I encountered a problem. The “TiVo Transfer” option was still on the Extras menu, but it ... (more)


Office Space related videos

Check these out, if you are a fan of “Office Space” (the movie) you’ll appreciate both of these.

http://www.glumbert.com/media/officespace

http://glumbert.com/media/baddayoffice


Mac vs. PC vs. Santa?

Apple’s home page today features a different kind of Mac vs. PC commercial… featuring ol’ St. Nick in classic stop animation like the old classic Christmas shows we’ve come to know and love from Rankin-Bass.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJVIiZ4qlXg]

To view the high resolution version, visit the Apple Get a Mac page.... (more)


iPod Touch knock-off sells for $109

Are you looking to score an iPod Touch for the holidays but finding the $300-$400 price tag a bit hard to stomach?  mp4nation.net is selling the Optimus Touch (how Transformers-sounding is that?) for a mere $109.  So how does this differ from the iPod Touch?

Optimus Touch lacks WiFi, has a touch screen that is stylus-friendly only, has a small memory capacity (2gb or 4gb), and a smaller screen than ... (more)


5 Browsers, 1 OS

This is one of the reasons I’ve switched from Windows to Mac:

As a web developer, it’s essential to be able to test a fresh page in as many browsers and environments as possible.... (more)


Play nostalgic Nintendo games… online now!

Remember all those really cool Nintendo classic games like Donkey Kong Jr, Super Mario Bros., and Galaga?  Well I do, and those are three of my favorites.

Nintendo8.com now has all of these games online, right now.  They are all Flash based.  Up until now you had to download an emulator to play on your Mac, PC, PDA, phone, or other device.  Finally, someone took the time to ... (more)


Amazon Kindle: amazing tech, but kinda ugly

Now this is innovation… Amazon has just done for books what Apple has done with the iPhone: innovate to a whole new level. This is the iPod for readers. You can download books, newspapers, blogs, and even your own content to a hand-held device that has an innovate new newspaper ink-like display, plenty of battery life to keep you going for a few days, is lighter than most paperback books, ... (more)


I’m in the NY Times today!

Well, I’m not, but one of my sites is!

My sister just called me… turns out her husband, Hank, was reading the New York Times today and came upon an article that mentions RUNNER+! Holy cow… I’m so stoked! I seriously never thought anything I’d do would wind up in the NYT!

I’m going to run out later and pick up a few copies of today’s paper. It’s in section ... (more)


Webcams that work with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5

Apple puts their tiny “iSight” webcam into the monitor of every computer they make, except for those of us who have purchased a Mac Mini or a Mac Pro and have opted for a non-Apple monitor solution. Personally, I’m rocking a 27″ DELL Widescreen that does not have a built in camera. It has everything, but that! After much research and futzing around with the latest webcams, I ... (more)


Soda, snacks, and iPods

I’m staying at the Las Vegas Hilton this week for the SEMA Show, and down by the elevators they have the most amazing vending machine for Apple fanboys… BOOM! It’s an Apple vending machine. Chock full of iPods, cameras, headphones, cables, adapters… everything you might need in a pinch. They even have the latest toys, such as the iPod Nano, iPod Video, and iPod Touch. Check this out. Got any ... (more)


Mac OS X Leopard delayed for good reason?

I got this (finally) late this evening from Apple:

To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Dear Apple Customer,

Thank you for your recent order with Apple.

Due to local emergency conditions in your delivery area, our carriers are unable to deliver to the address listed on your order. As a result, your Apple shipment is currently being held at your local FedEx facility.

Understanding that you may need your order sooner

... (more)