A Screen Background for Every Space in Mac OS X

We’ve done this topic before, when all there was was spacestationd.  Which worked great, but it was a inconvenient to switch your background images very often and the process of doing so was ad hoc.  Now we have found an application that does the same thing with what looks like a better algorithm and drag ‘n drop ease for changing images.  Enjoy!

Dockland Software – SpaceSuit

SpaceSuit is Spaces’missing feature: 1 different background image for every Space.

Now you can customize each Space with its own wallpaper and identify it quickly everytime you switch from one Space to another.

57 things to try

Some brainstorming on how to leverage web 2.0 to your advantage.  Nice creative starting points for those that want to innovate.  

57 Internet Possibilities to Investigate | chrisbrogan.com

The future is now. Sometimes, we don’t look outside our little angle of it, and that means we miss some possibilities. Other times, we realize something’s out there and we have part of the puzzle, but we’ll catch a different view that gives us even more.

GrandCentral is indeed on the way

The 2.0 version is “imminent”.

GrandCentral 2.0, Almost Ready to Be Released

David Pogue adds: “Everyone from GrandCentral still works on GrandCentral, and the 2.0 version is imminent. A PR guy explained to me that it’s taken a year to merge the GrandCentral servers with Google’s, but they’re nearly done.”

How to set up ShoutCast Server on your Mac

I haven’t tried this, but it seems like a fun thing to try out.  As the author says:  set up your own internet radio station for free.  

ocp – operador de cabine polivalente: How To Set Up Online Radio For Free in Mac OS X

After downloading the SHOUTcast server, open the .tar file, rename the folder to “radio” (suggestion for faster access) and place it in your home directory.

Technological Stone Age

As it turns out, ValleyWag took the right approach to this story.  But their final prescription of “suck it up, pal” might be short sighted.  Maybe the correct tone to take is: “so stop whining and start signing executive orders”.  I’d start by pointing out that using Windows to ensure national security sounds a lot like using gasoline to quench a fire.

Whiners: Technology’s White House of Horrors

This is not a story about digital pioneers getting cast back into the Stone Age; it’s about a privileged elite learning how the rest of the country has to work. Those “six-year-old versions of Microsoft software”? That must mean Windows XP. If you haven’t noticed, most people still prefer XP over Microsoft’s clunky, buggy, annoying new Vista. Here’s a suggestion for the Obamans: Stop whining about the tools taxpayers have paid for, and get to work learning how to cope with what your employer gives you, just like the rest of us.

Lessig’s article on the FCC

A must-read net-neutrality article.

Lessig: It’s Time to Demolish the FCC | Newsweek Technology | Newsweek.com

This is policy by committee, influenced by money and power, and with no one, not even the President, responsible for its failures.

The solution here is not tinkering. You can’t fix DNA. You have to bury it. President Obama should get Congress to shut down the FCC and similar vestigial regulators, which put stability and special interests above the public good.

Alternatives to Google Notebook

If you’re using Google Notebook, this article may be pretty handy.

8 Replacements for Google Notebook – Stepcase Lifehack

Last week, Google announced that it will be ending “active development” for Google Notebook. … With that in mind, it may be time to start exploring alternatives to Google Notebook even though it’s still available. There are more than a few ‘notebooks’ available online these days, although choosing the right one will likely depend on just what you use Google Notebook for.

The inauguration Round Up

So amid the stack of inauguration news, here is a sample of some pretty spiffy Two Point Obama posts.  The first is a word cloud analysis of the speech.  Following that is a “that was then this is now” look at the White House web site.  Zooming in for an even closer look at the site, we see the changes the new administration has made in the robots.txt file.  Like the openness?  It seems that Scott McNealy may be writing a white paper on open source in government for the POTUS, since he knows how to fend off the clutches of proprietary software. There is a photosynth site for browsing pictures of the moment and lastly, who knew the Bush administration twittered? 

Word Cloud Analysis of Obama’s Inaugural Speech Compared to Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Lincoln’s – ReadWriteWeb

What words were used most often? We ran the full text of the speech through tag cloud generator Wordle.net for one view of the event, and just for the sake of historical context we ran George W. Bush’s second inaugural speech through as well. Update: After one reader suggested it, we’ve also added word clouds from Bill Clinton’s second inaugural speech and Reagan’s first below. Second update: By reader request, we’ve added Lincoln’s first and second inaugural speeches as well.

The White House Website: Today Vs. When Bush Took Office

Comparing the two makes it perfectly clear just how much has changed since 2001, and what we hope will come tomorrow

The country’s new robots.txt file

Here’s
a small and nerdy measure of the huge change in the executive branch of
the US government today. Here’s the robots.txt file from whitehouse.gov
yesterday:

BBC NEWS | Technology | Calls for open source government

The secret to a more secure and cost effective government is through open source technologies and products.

The claim comes from one of Silicon Valley’s most respected business leaders Scott McNealy, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems.

He revealed he has been asked to prepare a paper on the subject for the new administration.

Another Presidential Transition: @TheWhiteHouse on Twitter

Today, along with the rollout of a new Whitehouse.gov, the account is now featuring updates (and a new avatar) from Obama’s new media team, with links to the text of the inaugural address and the new White House blog.

Grand Central still standing admidst Google Shut Downs

ReadWriteWeb points out that Google is hunkering down for the downturn by shuttering various services (and laying off engineering contractors and external recruiters).  The most significant service beneath the axe is Google Video – but that still leaves them with YouTube.   Amid the carnage, they note that Grand Central was not targeted (at least for now).  That’s good news.

Google Giveth, and Taketh Away: Google Video, Notebook, Catalog Search, Jaiku, and Dodgeball to Shut Down – ReadWriteWeb

One service in Google’s line-up we have always wondered about is GrandCentral – another service that was acquired before it even went public. Just like some of the services that Google is closing now, GrandCentral never came out of its invite-only mode after being acquired by Google. The fact that it is not being closed now, though, leads us to believe that Google is still having plans for this service.

Update: Oops … Make that recruiters (no modifier)

A free alternative to Jott at Dial2Do

There is a new post over a TechCrunch where they catch on about the demise of Jott.  That’s old news.

But the comments yielded a choir of endorsements for a replacement service with a price point that the Scotsman can truly appreciate:  Free.  It called Dial2Do.  So thanks to Lenny, Fergus, and Greg; their tip is really handy one for us Jott ex-pats. 

No More Free Jott For You

The free version of Jott is going to end on February 2, CEO John Pollard told me today. The terrible advertising market, he says, means every customer has to pay their own way from now on. Customers will need to pay $4/month to continue the service, the current price for a premium account. This includes users of the Jott iPhone application.