Hijinks Inc.

Blog

  • Do you Plurk?

    I’m not a big fan of micro-blogging, I have a Twitter account that’s been logged into three times since I signed up for it.

    Plurk (if you hadn’t guessed already) is the new Twitter contender, even though it’s just another micro-blogging service I classify it as a contender from the standpoint that it was developed with scalability in mind. Oh snap.

    As Twitter experiences more and more downtime, expect Plurk to gain a following. It won’t be an overnight success, but it certainly stands a good chance at making an impact.

    If you like, you can follow the hijinksinc channel on Plurk by signing up using this link.

  • .Me – Apple’s missing link

    Except it’s not.

    It’s a nice thought that the revamp of .Mac will yield a brilliant and usable service to connect everything in your digital life, but the likelihood of that happening just isn’t very high.

    Colin Pape of Seeking Alpha thinks that Mobile Me (or .Me as some are calling it) is going to be the magic bullet for Apple, and it will suddenly tie all their products together. I’m sure that’s what Apple is aiming for, but they’ve neglected .Mac for so long that I’m not sure an overhaul and a new name is going to be enough to breathe life into it.

    On the other hand, some rumors suggest that Apple will be turning .Me over to Google for a portion of it’s revenue. Though with Steve’s ego, I find this hard to believe. It’s a nice idea though, imagine a Google run service that would allow for unlimited email/file storage and instant syncing of your contacts/calendar/photos/email/music from your phone (iPhone or Android) to the web, and your home or office computer.

    While the promise of an easy solution all in one place is nice, why pay for it? Nothing .Mac currently offers is worth the yearly fee, you can easily find free or cheap alternatives to most everything it offers.

    Only time will tell I suppose. I’d be more than happy to be wrong on this, the more innovative products and services Apple launches the better.

    [ In the interest of full disclosure, I currently hold stock in Apple ]

  • Hijinks Stats – May 2008

    Here are some miscellaneous stats for Hijinks Inc. for the month of May.

    [ Top 5 Posts ]
    iSlsk patch is now available
    iSlsk patch updated
    This ain’t how your Grandpa went fishin’
    3G iPhone coming June 9th
    Terminal Tips: Part 4

    [ Top Browsers ]
    Safari with 45.06%
    Firefox with 28.89%
    Internet Explorer with 24.69%

    [ Top Operating Systems ]
    Windows with 48.88%
    iPod touch/iPhone with 36.68%
    OS X with 13.69%

    [ Top 5 Referring Sites ]
    iappcat.com
    forums.mint.com
    facebook.com
    technorati.com
    geeksaresexy.net

  • Passive Income – May 2008

    E*Trade was kind enough to raise their interest rates mid-May, and I also had a CD account that matured, so my interest income is up significantly this month.

    • Interest: $61.85
    • Dividends: $10.38
    • Credit Card Rewards: $34.85
    • AdSense: $19.32
    • Text Ads: $25.00
    • Misc website income: $15
    • Surveys: $3.00

    Yielding a healthy $169.40 for the month of May, easily surpassing my $100 goal for the month.

    (more…)

  • Mac users suck at sharing

    That is according to Dave Munger of Science Blogs, he conducted a survey a few weeks ago (all because someone wouldn’t share their iPod with him) and says the results point to PC users being almost 3 times as likely to share their gadgets as Mac users.

    His theory behind this?

    I do have a guess at why Mac users might by stingier with their gizmos. It’s because Mac users have invested more in their technology. Not only are Macs considered “luxury” computers, but Mac users have to deal with the fact that their computers aren’t always 100 percent compatible with the rest of the world. If they’re willing to sacrifice this much for their computers, it’s a safe bet that they’re also more protective of their technology. It’s almost the same reason a BMW owner is less likely to let you borrow her car than a Ford owner. The same reasoning can be adapted to Linux users — while Linux computers aren’t more expensive than PCs, there’s little argument that they have a steeper learning curve than Windows PCs, and also have compatibility problems. Just as a person who’s lovingly restored a 1969 Camaro might not let you drive it, so a Linux user might not let you give his new Ogg Vorbis player a test run.

    So, do you play nice with others?