It has been a while since I shared some of the new features we have been working on for the iPhone Siddur. Again, you can see the full feature request list over here. We have not yet released a new version, we are hoping to fine tune this version to a solid 2.0 version. So here are some of the more visible things, besides for a lot of code cleaning and minor bug fixes.

(1) Gave the user the ability to specify their Candle Lighting (when Shabbat starts) times and Havdalah (when Shabbat ends) time. Go to settings and you'll see this:

Tap your finger on the time to change the "default" to anything you hold.

My congregation does 45 minutes after sundown:

(2) You can also change the font style in preferences. Note, only two fonts work with nekudot, so here they are:

(3) Finally, you can now see upcoming holidays on the Luach. How? Well, open the Luach:

Now, shake the iPhone or iPod Touch. Yea, give it a little shake and presto, it flips to this list view:

Can't see all the info? Just rotate it horizontally and you can view more.

Those are some, not all, of the new features coming to iPhone Siddur 2.0.

Posted at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google and Flash, revisited. Negative keyword tool need for Webmaster Tools? Search penalties scare me. Google shows ads under search results. Google updated Java API client. Google and Mozilla renew deal. Ask Kids launches. Search in Pictures shows a Yahoo Safari.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. How Google Handles Flash in 2008, Former Googler Bergy Chimes In
2. Negative Keyword Filter for Google Webmaster Tools?
3. Search Engine Penalties Are Scary, Says Most SEOs
4. Google Displays Ads at Bottom of Search Results
5. Google Updates Java Client Library for AdWords API

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google & Mozilla Extend Default Firefox Search Provider Deal
2. Ask Kids Relaunches With Cute Kids Features
3. Search In Pictures: Mandi Perkins at Yahoo, Google Dance & Yahoo Safari
4. Google Tests Displaying Ads Under Search Results

Daily Link Finds:

This is the August 29th, issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for August 29th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 28, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Google contra las herramientas que comprueban los rankings, adseok.com
• Google Tests Displaying Ads Under Search Results, Search Engine Land
• rare r2-d2 fridge for sale: one cool droid, technabob
• SES at San Jose Provides A Fascinating Insight Into SEO, Search Engine Optimization Journal
• Social Media Analysis Session at SES San Jose, The Analytics Guru

Posted at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

So now that you know what activities we did in Boston, I wanted to share the places we ate. Boston was selected as the destination not only cause it is a fun place and it is not too far, but also because they have kosher places to eat.

The majority of kosher places in Boston is about a 5 to 10 minute drive from Boston Commons, in Brookline. I had my car, so driving there was a breeze. In fact, driving anywhere in Boston took no time (everything feels like it is within 10 minutes, where as in NY everything is an hour).

Before we went to the hotel, we stopped off at Rami's Felafel, which is on Harvard St, like the rest of the places but a little further up. It was really good food. I got a burger in a pita bread, it was tasty. My wife got a shawarma and she loved it. The best thing about the place is that the people working their took pride in their food. So, I recommend it, if your nearby.

That night, we decided to try out Taam China. I called before hand and they said they had no room. But we decided to see anyway. They had room, and they sat us down and we ate. Maybe I am spoiled living in New York, but the food was not all that great. Again, maybe I am just use to better chinese food or maybe it was a bad night there. We did have the chocolate cake, which was really good - I think because the other food wasn't all that good.

After that, we went to Kupel's Bakery, which is a block over, to get food for breakfast. The people in the bakery were very very nice. The food was good also.

The next day, we ate at the kosher pizza store named Cafe Eilat. The pizza was okay, the people were also nice. It was a pizza store, and I would recommend it. I think the pizza store was diagonal to Kupel's, if you need assistance in finding it.

That night we went to the deli, named Rubin's Kosher Deli, it is suppose to be a New York Deli and it kind of looked like an old fashion NY deli. The food was pretty good, I got a chicken thing that night. The only issue was that it was packed. But the food and service was not bad. We actually decided to go back there for breakfast the following day, before leaving, because they had a breakfast menu. It was pretty empty when we got there, but the breakfast food was also very good. We packed up deli sandwiches on ice for the ride home and those were also good.

So that was our Boston Kosher dining experience. Hopefully this will help someone looking for places to eat while in Boston.

Posted at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Category: Food , Travels | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

So what else did we do on our trip to Boston? Well, I told you about the big CITGO sign, going to Cheers and walking up Bunker Hill Monument, but we did have time to do a few more things in our two day trip.

We jumped on Frog Pond Lily, to check out the Duck Boat Tours. The tour guides are interesting in a weird way. The guy we had, wore a rubber ducky around his waist, and had elmo arm floaters. There were others who were dressed a lot weirder, but they were all enjoyable to listen to. And yea, they made us quake.

Speaking of ducks, we stayed right by Boston Commons and here is a duck from the park:

We also ventured to the USS Constitution, which was closed on Monday, but we were able to go into the museum there and play with the canons:

I don't have pictures of the science museum, but we did go there. We saw an IMAX showing of Sea Monsters, I love IMAX. :)

I think is all or most of what we did in Boston. We do actually plan on coming back for these short, two day (Sunday/Monday) vacations. We would like to do some whale watching (I hear they are interesting to look at) and check out Sam Adams (we go way back) and a few more things we did not have time to do this trip.

Posted at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google fixed the traffic estimator API. Slow that Google spider down. Burn your site or fix it? Internet Explorer 8 is in beta, while Yahoo promotes Firefox. Fox to speak at SEMNE. Google Suggest is tearing up the SEO industry. Google credits Google Apps premier users. Google tests one line video results.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google Fixes Traffic Estimator Service API Numbers
2. How To Tame GoogleBot
3. Cleaning Up A Penalizes Site Versus Burning It & Starting Again
4. Internet Explorer 8 Live & Yahoo Promotes Firefox
5. Vanessa Fox to Speak at the Upcoming SEMNE Event
6. Google Suggest to Change the Ways of Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Gives Google Apps Users Credit & Adds Communication Policies
2. Google Testing Two Videos On One Web Search Result

Daily Link Finds:

This is the August 28th, issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for August 28th, 2008:

• PPC News Roundup for 8/27/2008, PPC Hero
• links for 2008-08-27, www.e-strategyblog.com
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 27, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Cloak and Dagger: The Many Motives for Cloaking and their Consequences, Ward on the Web
• Google Blocking Scrapers, WebProNews
• Google New Algorithm, Anchor Text No More Important, Pogung177.com
• Google's Cost Per Query, beu blog
• How Google Suggest Changes SEO, SoloSEO Blog
• links for 2008-08-28, pamelaheywood.com
• Techmeme: Search , Techmeme

Posted at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

Last year, I took my iPhone to Israel, but turned off all data services, while only using WiFi. I was bummed that a year ago, AT&T didn't support Israel for just the iPhone when traveling. Meaning, they didn't have a plan you can buy for when you travel to Israel, like they did for the BlackBerry.

A couple days ago, AT&T announced that they expanded the international data offerings for iPhone users to more countries. One of those countries includes Israel. Not only that, because of the manner the iPhone downloads stuff, they added more packages with higher download capacities.

You can see the new international packages at the AT&T site, they include:

• $24.99/month: 20MB Data Global Add-On gives you 20MB of usage within over 65 countries
• $59.99/month: 50MB Data Global Add-On gives you 50MB of usage within over 65 countries
• $119.99/month: 100 MB Data Global Add-On1 gives you 100MB of usage within over 65 countries
• $199.99/month: 200 MB Data Global Add-On1 gives you 200MB of usage within over 65 countries

The best part is, that you can only buy the plan for your stay, so before I leave, I activate it and then when I get home, I deactivate it and only pay for the time I was in Israel. I don't think this means I get voice, just a discounted data plan. I would probably opt for the highest plan:

200MB Data Global Add-On Overage rate is $.005/KB within the over 65 discounted countries. Rate outside these discounted countries is $.010/KB.2 Does not include data usage within the U.S. Qualified domestic plan required.

The AT&T Travel Guide wizard confirmed that the iPhone 3G is compatible with these new discounted roaming rates.

In any event, I seriously need to get planning SMX Israel. :)

Posted at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Last night, I went back to one of my most favorite places to eat, Noah's Ark - with the family and a close friend. My brother-in-law was there and he was a bit peeved that he did not get what he won from Noah's Ark.

Several months ago, he told me he ate what is called the "Ginormous Burger." If you eat the whole burger, Noah's Ark promises to give you a T-Shirt and put you on their web site. Neither has happened!

I snapped a picture of the menu from the restaurant, to show you (at least) part of the claim:

So, today, I scanned their web site and found no mention of any winners or even the Ginormous Burger. So, I did a Google site search for "ginormous" and found nothing. Clearly something is wrong here. I doubt my brother-in-law lied to me about finishing that burger and even if he did, I am sure someone else was able to do it but yet, there is no mention of anyone stepping up to the challenge, on the Noah's Ark web site.

Now, I can understand that the web design company might not be around to update the site. But at least give the man his T-Shirt.

Noah, I still love the food. :)

Update: They finally crowned him, a month after this blog post.

Posted at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Category: Food | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

The hotel we stayed at was just two-minutes from the famous Cheers bar. Yea, the one from the popular TV show that was on the air for 11 seasons. So, the first day we arrived, we decided to check the original Cheers Beacon Hill out.

Here is me at the stairs down to Cheers:

When we walked in, it looked nothing like the real cheers. But it was a bar, outfitted with tons of promotional stuff for the TV show. Three floors of bars and t-shirts, mugs, hats, etc.

I personally hate buying stuff at these places, cause I know I can buy the same thing, online, for half the price. But we bought things anyway. Hence, they knew my name from my credit card...

Posted at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google AdWords quality score is messed up. Google changing up their HTML. Google Ad Manager is live to all. Google hides AdSense in cache. FeedBurner got issues. Google asks for popular thread help. adCenter releases new tools. Google Checkout spices up icons. FindLaw gets a PageRank penalty.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google AdWords Marking "Great" Quality Scores as "OK"?
2. Is Google Changing Their Search Results HTML To Mess with Scrapers?
3. Google Ad Manager Opens to All Publishers
4. Google AdSense Stops Displaying on Google Cache Results?
5. FeedBurner Subscriber Stats Having Major Issues
6. Google Solicits Webmaster Help for Popular Picks Thread
7. Microsoft adCenter Updates Keyword Research Tools

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Checkout Steps Up Promotion Through AdWords
2. FindLaw Hit By Long Arm Of The Google Law Over Paid Links

Daily Link Finds:

This is the August 27th, issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for August 27th, 2008:

• Day Four: SES San Jose '08 Recap, Search Engine Land
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 21, 2008, Search Engine Land
• SES San Jose 2008 Wrap Up, Sheara Wilensky . com
• Link Building this Week (34.2008), Wiep.net
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 22, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Techmeme: Site Explorer Gets a Makeover (Yahoo! Search Blog), Techmeme
• Yahoo Interface Indents, Stepforth
• links for 2008-08-23 - Internet Marketing Blog, www.e-strategyblog.com
• Coverage of Advanced B2B Session at SES, WebMama
• Google Quality Score Update, Ophir Cohen
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 26, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Ses San Jose 2008 Rckblick, q48.de
• Andy Feit Connects at Search Engine Strategies, Mark Logic CEO Blog
• More on Local at SES San Jose, Kelsey Group Blogs
• Related Videos and YouTube - Greg Jarboe gave me very useful information, WebMetricsGuru
• Top SEO blogs: The Ultimate Rank, Moon Viper Web Services
• Weekly Search Buzz (25 Aug 08), ankitrawat.com

Posted at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

While driving in Boston this week, I noticed a huge CTIGO gas station sign.

Why am I telling you about this sign?

(1) It is really really really big.

(2) It may be bigger than the Amoco sign that I saw in St. Louis a couple years back.

So when I spotted it, I made my wife take a picture, so I can simply blog about it.

The sign does not look as big as the Amoco sign but it may be. The Amoco sign in St. Louis was not all that high. This CITGO sign was mounted on top of a building, but the Amoco sign was just on top of a gas station. So it is hard to visualize which was bigger.

Posted at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny , Motor Vehicle | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

The most surprising part of the trip, which is over 200 miles one way, probably a total of 500 miles driven the whole trip, was that I did not get one ticket.

I did not get a speeding ticket, I did not get a parking ticket, I did not get a ticket for J-walking.

Before leaving, I warned my wife, that I would be lucky if I did not get at least one speeding ticket. The roads were wide open, mostly straight, conducive to going very fast, without noticing.

I did see several cars pulled over by police cars. I was, fortunately, not one of them. I did use a radar detector the whole way there and back, so that might have helped. I wasn't going 100mph, but I was not always going the exact speed limit.

I was lucky.

Posted at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Category: Motor Vehicle , Travels | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

I am back from vacation and there are a few things I would like to share with you about that vacation. Let me start with one of the trips we took that I will really never forget.

My wife and I went to check out the USS Constitution. It was closed Monday, so we scoped out the museum there and stuff. After that, we decided to take the five minute walk up to the Bunker Hill Monument. When we got there, we walked inside to see a sign that says, "warning..." something about 294 stairs to the top. My wife and I looked at each other and said, sure, why not.

We start the climb, up these narrow steps... First 50 stairs down, then 100, then 150, then 200. It is at 200, where we both started feeling it. By 250, I felt like I was going to explode, I was breathing extremely heavy, legs were a bit wobbly, my head was hurting and I was dripping sweat. We keep going, because the people we passed at about 150, were starting to catch up to us and these stairs are incredibly narrow. Plus, we were about 10 years younger then they were...

We finally made it to the top, to not really see much but a nice view. I was hoping for a vending machine or oxygen tank, but got only the view. The breeze was good, and it cooled us off. We took several minutes to catch our breath. Notice, the picture above, that is me, at the top, a few minutes after catching my breath.

Then we decided to go back down. I went first, because it is a bit scary going down. I was literally dripping sweat on the way down. I looked like a basketball player at the foul line, at the end of a long grueling game. Im surprised my wife didn't slip from it.

Our legs, the whole way down, were shaking. Once we got to the bottom, which felt a lot longer then going up, it was a relief. But walking around the rest of the day, was incredibly weird. It felt that my legs would give way at any moment. Just from walking, and especially walking down any stairs on that day.

In any event, this is proof I climbed Bunker Hill and I survived.

Posted at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

I'll be taking a couple days off from blogging. Taking a very short vacation.

Everyone, have a great weekend.

Posted at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Category: Daily Grind | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

SES day three is over, well, day four is almost over now. Google News can be rejecting. Search Marketing Standard is sold. Google fixed the 404 widget. Google releases Java API update. Microsoft shuffles, while Yahoo loses. Yahoo Search goes iPhone. Yahoo tests new Site Explorer design.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. SES San Jose Roundtable Live Coverage Day Three Recap
2. A Rejection Letter from Google News
3. Search Marketing Standard Magazine Acquired by iNET Interactive
4. Google Fixes 404 Widget Scripting Errors
5. Google Releases Major Update to AdWords API Java Library

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Day Three: SES San Jose '08 Recap
2. Microsoft & Yahoo Shuffle Business Internally
3. Yahoo Search Launches iPhone Safari Version
4. Yahoo Beta Tests New Site Explorer Design

Daily Link Finds:

This is the August 21st, issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for August 21st, 2008:

• Google Penalties : Manual vs Algorithmic, Search Engine Journal
• links for 2008-08-20, e-strategyblog
• PPC News Roundup for 8/20/2008, PPC Hero
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 20, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Day Three: SES San Jose '08 Recap, Search Engine Land
• Getting back into the SEO game, Michael Dammann's Blog
• links for 2008-08-21, e-strategyblog
• SEO Daily Reading - Issue 99, Raven SEO Tools
• SES San Jose and the Google Dance, Sheara Wilensky
• SES Sessions Quick Review, The ClickEquations Blog
• Yahoo Grouping Search Results, Sphinn

Posted at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

One of the biggest points of confusion in the iPhone Siddur was editing your location manually. Beforehand, we asked the user to provide their zip code and GMT offset, if they were based in the US. If not, they needed to provide their GMT offset and their longitude and latitude. Besides for this causing confusion over daylight savings time, no one really knew their longitude or latitude, let alone their altitude.

Hence, version 2.0 of the location discovery tool. To access this tool, you go to Zmanim, Click on the location at the top and it opens up this "edit" screen:

You flip the auto-location feature to the off position and type in the new location. You can be very specific, like a whole address, or just a city name, it will try to find the best match:

I am heading to Boston soon, so I plugged that in and clicked on "done".

It then uses your Internet connection, yes this is the only piece of the software that absolutely requires Internet, to get the data. It calls the Yahoo Maps API to get the longitude and latitude of your search. Then, we need to get your time zone and altitude, so we use the GeoNames WebService to get that data. In short, we make three quick API calls, to two different provides, to get this data into the application, for you.

Here are the results the APIs returned for Boston, MA:

Then I clicked on "Save" and it took me back to Zmanim with the times for that location, plus it put "Boston, MA" at the top:

At the same time, it updated the Settings section, to use this location. Clicking on "About" will show you the Zmanim data points:

Pretty cool?! Yes, the times are accurate.

Not done, it also changes the Minyanim data to be based off this location.

Of course, you an always change it back to any location easily.

That is version 2.0, location manager.

Comments and question also at Google Groups.

Posted at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (18) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Why not, we just released a fairly comprehensive iPhone Tefilla Pack for the iPhone and/or iPod Touch. It basically has a collection of popular prayers (tefillas) and 'segulos' that Jews say. Yes, we have three version; Nusach Ashkenaz, Sefard, or Edut Mizrach. How much? Only $1.99.

Here is what is included:

• Perek Shira (פרק שירה)
• Shir HaShirim (שיר השירים)
• Nishmas (נשמת כל חי)
• Iggeres HaRamban (אגרת הרמב"ן)
• Tefilas HaShlah (תפילת השל"ה)
• Parshas HaMann (פרשת המן)
• Parshas HaKetores (פרשת הקטורת)
• Tefila for Parnasa (תפילת על הפרנסה)
• Segula for Finding Lost Object (סגולה למציאת אבידה)
• Birkas HaMazon (ברכת המזון)
• Birkas Me'ayn Shalosh (ברכה מעין שלוש)
• Borei Nefashos (בורא נפשות)
• Tefilas Haderech (תפילת הדרך)

Here are two pictures:

More information at http://www.rustybrick.com/iphone-tefilla.php and feel free to sign up for notification.

Posted at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

SES day two is over. Web Position Gold is releasing a new update soon. AdWords hiding low volume keywords. Google does 404 widget. Domains length plays into SEO. Search Marketing Standard has been acquired. India loves Google.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. SES San Jose Roundtable Live Coverage Day Two Recap
2. WebPosition Gold To Release Fix For Ranking Report Issues Soon
3. Google AdWords Hides Low Volume Keywords
4. Google Enhances "404 Not Found" Experience, Creates Broken Page Experience Instead
5. Domain Quality, Length, and Memorability Matter

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Day Two: SES San Jose '08 Recap
2. iNET Interactive Acquires Search Marketing Standard
3. comScore: Google Has 81% Share In India

Daily Link Finds:

This is the August 20th, issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for August 20th, 2008:

• En serio que sabes de lo que ests hablando?, adseok.com
• How to Get Included in Google News, Shimon Sandler
• links for 2008-08-19, E Strategy Blog
• Puppy's Picks - SES Coverage 08/18/08, Search Engine Guide
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 19, 2008, Search Engine Land
• SEO forums and blog Recommended, Mr.Cubo
• Google se burla de una oferta de intercambio de enlaces, SEO Femenino
• Igniting Viral Campaigns - SES SJC 2008, Daver's Blog
• SES San Jose 2008: Top Stories from Day 2, Search Engine Watch Blog

Posted at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

I know they have VNC, SSH, etc, and those are all incredibly useful, but they just released Remote Desktop Lite for the iPhone. I use a PC for very limited tasks, so Remote Desktop for those purposes are great. In fact, I blogged about switching from Parallels back to Remote Desktop, due to speed.

But now I can do the same thing, just smaller, on my iPhone. Here are screen captures of the program and me using my PC on my iPhone:

The Start Screen for the Program:

My PC's desktop, I zoomed out by pinching:

Zooming in on IE on my PC:

Typing with the keyboard on my PC:

This phone can really do everything, it is just amazing.

Posted at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

So, as you know, Verizon FiOS installed TV and phone in my home today, to compliment the Internet I had with them. When the tech came to install, the first thing he said was that I ordered the Multi-Room DVR, but I have all HD TVs. He said, the HD boxes do not work with the Multi-Room DVR and gave me a face, like - its stupid that they don't, but they don't, so don't ask me why.

At that point, I said, fine, install for me a single, normal HD DVR and give me a normal HD box for the other TV.

The sales rep knew this, but sold me the wrong one. I was convinced that it would be an HD option, heck - who has non-HD TVs anymore (kidding).

So after careful research today, the DVR page (which I linked to above), has this disclaimer in small, gray font (kind of like fake-non-hidden links):

Multi-room features are supported on the Multi-Room DVRs and Standard Definition Model 2500 Set Top Boxes

So, you order one Multi-Room DVR and then you need the Standard def boxes to go with it. The HD boxes will not work with the Multi-Room DVR. Confusing? Yes.

I think it will just be a matter of time until Verizon gets their hands on an HD box that works with the Multi-Room DVR feature, until then, I am where I was with Cable.

Hopefully this helps out someone else, who is looking into this option.

Posted at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Category: Computers , Homey | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

SES is well underway. Yahoo does indenting. Yahoo launches Buzz to all. Is the Olympics killing your earnings? Google Maps phone verification is buggy. Google gets sued, once again. Google leads in satisfaction study. Google sorting web results by date? Google launches a 404 widget.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. SES San Jose Roundtable Live Coverage Day One Recap
2. Yahoo Begins to Indent Search Results
3. Yahoo Starts Buzzing the Whole Web
4. Did the Olympics Reduce Your Google AdSense Earnings?
5. Google Maps Business Phone Verification Bug Continues
6. GraphOn Sues Google for Patent Infringement

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Yahoo Buzz Opens All Publishers & Web Sites
2. Day One: SES San Jose '08 Recap
3. Survey Says: Google Leads In Consumer Satisfaction
4. Yahoo Grouping Results & Google Tests Sort By Date Or Relevance
5. Google Launches Enhanced 404 Widget

Daily Link Finds:

This is the August 19th, issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for August 19th, 2008:

• At SES San Jose / Silicon Valley 2008 Day 1 , David Dalka
• Google Mocks Link Exchange Offer, Sphinn
• Search Engine Strategies San Jose - Day 0.5, Metamend
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 18, 2008, Search Engine Land
• SES San Jose Blog Coverage, Joe Duck
• TaT:..., Internetmarketing-news.de
• 9 Simple Video Search Engine Optimization Techniques, By: Gregory Markel, ankitrawat.com
• AdSense: Google testuje czarne ramki boksów bez wiedzy klientów - Webhosting.pl, webhosting.pl
• Day One :: SES San Jose '08 Recap, Search Engine Land
• Google Pays Back in Kind for a Link Exchange Offer!, PageTraffic SEO Blog
• Man asks for link exchange with Google - Google Blogoscoped Forum, Google Blogoscoped
• SES San Jose 2008: Top Stories from Day 1 of Conference, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Wan't To Exchange Links With Google ?, ankitrawat.com
• Yahoo Grouping Results , Search Engine Land

Posted at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

So Verizon installed today, all went pretty smoothly. So after the install, I had to call Cable Vision and Vonage to make sure my services would be disconnected.

I called Vonage, and after a really long time I got someone on the phone. That person took all my information down and then had to get a manager to process the disconnect.

When that person came on, they told me I would be charged a cancellation fee. It came out to just under $100. After arguing a bit, I said, fine - charge me.

So how can you save 50% on your Vonage? Easy. She offered me the same plan and service for $14.95, as opposed to the $29.95 I was paying.

So call Vonage, ask for disconnect, and then tell them, you scheduled Verizon or your cable company to install the triple play or whatever. They will argue with you and then give you a better price.

So call now and save $15 a month, this way I feel that my $100 disconnect wasn't completely wasted.

When I called CableVision, they didn't give me an issue or charge me a fee. They asked why? I told them, "I wanted to be fair and give the other guys a shot." The rep laughed and said okay.

Posted at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

While I sit here waiting for Verizon to install triple play, I was thinking, when did blogging become respectable?

I mean, in the past, maybe when I first started, I was a bit embarrassed to say, I blog. I use to say, I write in a very specific niche, on a specific topic. But now, I proudly say, I blog about a niche topic.

I can't remember when I stopped saying, "I write," and began saying, "I blog." But it did happen at some point.

Blogging use to be consider child's play, a diary, a game. But now, blogs can be just as authoritative, or more, than an industry news site. That message has really been learned and understood over the course of the years and I am happy to have been part of that.

Of course, this blog, is just fun and games. :)

Posted at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

We have tested and submitted version 1.8 of the iPhone Siddur. I have updated the version history to reflect the changes, but let me demonstrate them here, with pictures. First, let me explain that many of the features came via the discussion groups and emails we received, so keep sending them and we will add them to the list and try to knock them off as often as possible.

iPhone Siddur 1.8, what is new?

(1) Major updates to the Siddur for Edut Mizrach (Sephardic) version. We not only fixed a ton of mistakes, we also added a lot of Brachot. I am sure there are still issues, so keep them coming. We do hope to add Nusach Ari/Chabad, but we have no ETA for that yet.

(2) Altitude always worked with the Zmanim, if you had a GPS mode, but we never showed you the actual elevation, now we do, if you click on "About these times."

Note, I tested this a lot, and often it comes up with zero. I think it is a limitation on the GPS device. It does work, but not all the time.

(3) Rotating the phone to landscape mode, no longer looses your place. So if you are at this point:

And now you want to rotate it, it will keep you at the same point:

(3) We added two more times to the Zmanim, the most popular version of Magen Avrohom. If you want more, for now, go to a web version. We may add more, but later on.

(4) Greatly improved the Minyan database, thanks to working hand in hand with GoDaven.com. So check this out:

(A) Ranks minyanim nearest to your location:

(B) Cleaned up the detail view, added functionality and added a lot more data. So, it looks nicer, loads faster, no web access is needed to view the data. The address hyperlinks to the iPhone Maps application, so you can get directions. Email and URL, if available, work respectively with a tap of the finger.

Scrolling down, you see the times of the various prayer services. Yes, I know it says "zman" but it is hard to dynamically replace those words with a real time, because the words are used differently by different shuls and locations.

Scrolling down, more times (it only shows you times that are available, to not waste scroll time). It also has the Nusach, the long/lat (clickable) and the source of the data, which is hyperlinked to Safari.

(5) Added more settings options:

"Smart Siddur" is default on, but only really works in Ashkenaz now. We will add it to other Nusachs for version 2.0. "Hebrew Systems" is a switch for those who installed a hebrew keyword on their phones, which reverses some of the texts.

Added an elevation override, more overrides, including the "Limit to Miles" for the Minyan database:

Other changes include:

• Added Torah portions added to all Nusachs
• Remember last location when you close Siddur (might have some bugs)
• Changed hebrew date format in Luach
• Add kidduah livana
• And more minor things

Released this now and will continue to fix up things and hopefully release another version as soon as the end of the week. Obviously pending how quickly Apple approves this version.

Posted at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

I posted my video recap. Google does a link exchange. AdSense forcing users to switch to Google Account. Google confirms font tests. Are you AdWords dependent? Google changes SEO friendly FAQ. Google tests blog links as Sitelinks.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: August 17, 2008
2. Google Mocks Link Exchange Offer
3. Google AdSense Forcing Publishers To Update Login Account Now
4. Google Confirms New AdSense Font Tests, Again!
5. How Dependent Are You on Google AdWords?
6. Google Redefines Search Engine Friendly Content

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Testing Showing Blog Results Instead Of Sitelinks?

Daily Link Finds:

This is the August 18th, issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for August 18th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 15, 2008, Search Engine Land
• links for 2008-08-16, e-strategyblog.com
• Product Search OneBox Results on the Move, ComparisonEngines.com
• AdSense para feeds, ojobuscador.com
• Google Patches Up the Blogger Crawling Issues Along With Pending Sitemaps Concerns!, PageTraffic SEO Blog
• Google Speaks About Ranking Software Blockade, Search Newz
• Google Still Playing With AdSense Ad Fonts, ankitrawat.com
• Google, please may I have a link from your homepage?, Bloggle
• Pilgrim's Picks for August 18 - Leaving on a Jet Plane Edition, Marketing Pilgrim
• US-Blogs 15. August 2008, Alexander Bauer
• Weekly Search Buzz (17 Aug 08), ankitrawat.com

Posted at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

I have been getting a lot of emails, asking if I am at SES San Jose. I am not there.

I am sitting this one out.

No specific reason, just need to take a break.

I will see you at SMX East and PubCon Vegas and maybe SES Chicago.

Posted at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (3) |