Anyways, as I was watching I realized registered developers could get some hot piece of the action before waiting for the official release in Fall. You also don’t need to worry because once the official release comes out, you can update from your beta version to the official version without having to restore. Below, I’ll show you how to install iOS 5 on your device if you are a developer.

First visit iOS Dev center and click on the iOS SDK Beta tab.

Head to the downloads section within that page and download the respective iOS 5 for your device as well as the latest version of iTunes 10.5 Beta for Mac. If you are on a PC, for some reason you have to search the internet for the iTunes Beta of Windows.

Once you have installed iTunes and extracted the respective firmware for your device, open up iTunes and plug in your device. Then by holding the OPTION key on a Mac and CONTROL on a PC (correct me if I’m wrong) press on Check for Updates. This will allow you to choose the firmware you downloaded. Simply choose the extracted file, and just wait.

For some reason, I couldn’t install it and had to use the restore option. I just made sure I backed up my device before doing so. I know, it wasn’t that great restoring, but iOS5 was worth it.

If for some reason you are trying to put iOS 5 on a new device, make sure you add it to your list of devices in the iOS Provisioning Portal within the iOS Dev center.

In order to find the UDID of your device, you can find it in the Organizer within XCode.

So there you have it! The only problem I encountered was that I had to restore but other than that, everything went smooth. I’m loving iOS 5 so far and I plan on putting up my impressions after a few more days of playing around with it. I would do it sooner but I’m currently wrapping up a final project for my Spring Quarter here at UCLA.

Initially, I had the question on how would I test my mobile site if I was doing all this on my local machine? I didn’t want to save my changes to the server and then view it on my mobile device so I looked for something better.

I then found the User Agent Switcher plugin for Firefox. This plugin allows me to simply choose the type of agent I want my browser to behave as. This way, I could easily view my mobile version of the site when I changed my user agent to the iPhone 3.0 option.

When I was able to see my mobile layout working as it should, I thought I hadn’t. Reason being is that I wished I was a better designer. Coding up the content and how to display it isn’t that difficult, but making it look good, well thats another story.

User Agent Switcher

Solution 1: Simply use an external mouse.

I was personally using this option for quite awhile because I had installed the drivers correctly but couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to click with the Two Fingers Secondary Click option turned on in my Boot Camp Control Panel until I found the following two solutions.

Solution 2:Place two fingers on the track pad, and click with a third.

For some reason, this ended up working after trying out a lot of things with my track pad. Not sure why a third finger is required though.

Solution 3: Click, then press SHIFT + F10.

Ok, that must be the hardest way to do a right click that I know of. The context menu will then appear in the left upper corner of the screen too.

Unverified Solution: Stand on your head, and flip your Macbook upside down.

If anyone knows if the following solution works, please let me know in the comments below. If you also find an easier way to right click, please do tell as well.

Source: Right click in Windows with Bootcamp

With a Facebook Group its easy to communicate, share documents, email everyone as a group, chat as a group and more.

Create a Facebook Group

Start by simply creating a Facebook Group. You can do so by looking at your left navigation bar on your news feed. All you have to provide is a group name, add group members, and the privacy of the group.

Share documents for your project

Sure, it’s no Google Docs but it provides basic functionality for everyone to share and edit documents together. Currently you can’t do real time collaborations as if multiple people open it at the same time, its hard to tell which update will be committed and which work will be lost.

I’m currently in the Microsoft Interns 2011 and everyone is creating and sharing documents to document interest groups, where people are from, and more.

Start a group chat

What amazed me the most was the ability to use Group Chat. You can start this by clicking on Chat with Group on the right navigation bar and it will start a chat with everyone in the group. If you’ve used Facebook chat before, just think of this as a chat room with everyone that is in your group.

When Facebook Groups is better

Again, this is only a good option for several reasons.

• If you don’t have a means of communicating already this is a solution with a low entry barrier.
• It also works when you have people that don’t understand how to use other tools available such as Gmail, GChat, Google Docs, Subversion, Git, amongst others.
• If everyone uses Facebook in your group, then its painless since no one has to do anything special really.
• It notifies everyone about any additions to the group, so that way all members know when things are added.
• It provides basic tools for collaboration such as Docs but again, its not the best Docs system.
• Remember, you could always complement this by using Google Docs, Flickr, and other tools. How you do it is up to you.

When Facebook Groups is not useful

Once you have people who are a little more organized and understand how to use various tools then this isn’t the best option.

• When the project requires real-time collaboration on a document Google Docs is better.
• When the project is heavily code based then Subversion or Git with verbose comments on the commits or updates is the better option.
• When not all the users are on Facebook or don’t communicate that much for various reasons then Facebook might not work.

How I use Facebook groups

Currently I’m using Facebook Groups for various reasons. Right now I’m in a Microsoft Interns 2011 group composed of over 300 members. This allows us to easily find and make connections before the start of the event. So everyone is posting interests, asking questions about housing, and more. This is great since it allows everyone to make connections easily.

I’m also using Facebook groups to collaborate on a small project to make a game using cocos2d for iPhone. Since some members of the group don’t really use Google Docs, and aren’t part of the coding team since they are designers, then it really doesn’t make sense to try and make them learn how to use these options when they don’t have to. So I’m currently adding documents, sharing my Talk Binary Flickr account so members can view my progress and more.

Impressions of Facebook Groups

If you haven’t used them and don’t have a means of communcation with a group try it out. May people don’t know that Facebook Groups exist and how useful they can be.

So how does it work? Simply download the iWebkit and take a look at the Userguide.pdf and browse the demo provided in the iWebKit Demo folder. The only skill you’ll really need for creating your mobile website is copying and pasting. If you don’t believe me, check it out. The simplicity comes from the demo that provides sample pages that allows you to simply copy and paste the code and edit to your liking.

You can also go further and create a webapp for iOS devices. A webapp is simply a mobile website that can be bookmarked onto your homescreen of your iOS device. It will already have an icon and even allows you the ability to introduce a splash screen. If you are interested, check out our beta version of the Talk Binary’s Mobile Site. I even created a script to parse our RSS feed to display the items using the iWebkit. Let me know if anyone is interested and I can post the script on the site.

Impressions of iWebkit

So if you are looking for a way to create a mobile website, forget about using those mobilizers online which don’t give you too much flexibility. Sure, this might have a steeper learning curve but it only takes a few minutes to learn how to use. So give it a try. If you have any questions feel free to post them below.

Ever find yourself looking for an e-mail for a second too long on Gmail? Well then read ahead if you want to learn about Gmail’s advanced search operators to find what you are looking for quickly and accurately.

You can use these advanced search operators if you simply click on the Show Search Option link near the search bar but I’ll show you how to use them faster.

Examples of Advanced Search Operators in Gmail

So for example, let’s say you know specifically what you are looking for. You want to find an e-mail from John that contains an attachment. Typically we’d simply search for John but that would give us all e-mails that refer to John anywhere in the e-mail. Using the advanced search operators we can form a query to to find exactly what we are looking for. For example instead of searching for John, we’d search for the following using multiple advance search operators:

from:John has:attachment

The following query would look for e-mails from John that contain an attachment. A lot better huh?

There are a lot more advanced search operators that are extremely useful to use as well. For example, let’s say we were looking for an e-mail that has been read, was sent to Bob and was found in our label Work. The following would be the query:

is:read to:Bob label:Work

Doesn’t that narrow down your search results by quite a bit?

A list of more advanced search operators

Below I’ll construct a brief list of operators with a simple example and brief explanation.

The following advanced search operators are pretty intuitive:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

from:Alice
to:Alice
subect:homework
label:School
has:Attachment
filename:homework.pdf
cc:Bob
bcc:Foo

With the following advanced search operators we can narrow down where to look for the e-mails.

1
2
3
4

in:anywhere (* Messages in Spam and Trash are excluded from search by default )
in:inbox
in:trash
in:spam

With the following we can narrow it down to messages with the following properties.

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2
3
4
5

is:starred
is:unstarred
is:read
is:unread
is:important

We can even specify when we received these e-mails.

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2

after:1/01/1101
before:1/10/0110

Now there are a couple more operators to help us query our information even more specific.

The following find’s e-mails from Bob or Alice.

1

from:Bob OR from:Alice

Find e-mails containing the phrase and containing the set of words in the subject line, respectively.

1
2

subject:"Homework Assignment 1" 
subject:(internship opportunity)

I tried covering all the operators that would be the most useful. If you want me to explain one in more detail or one that I missed please let me know. The list can be found on Gmail’s Advanced Search Operators help page.

Summary

Learning how to use these search operators will make you own your inbox like a king. Never again will you be searching through a list of e-mails once learn how to query for them specifically. So tell me, is there another way you use Gmail that we should know about? Let us know in the comments.

For example, if you were considering buying an Apple product such as a Macbook Pro, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPod, iMac, or anything Apple related, you need to check this guide first. Why? You might end up buying a product which could be seeing a release with increased features and specs for the same price if you would just wait until its release!

Go ahead, and take a look. Their section on iPod Touch or any iPod related device mentions Don’t Buy – Updates Soon. That means, don’t buy it, updates are on their way! The new iPod Touch is rumored to contain a possible front facing “Facetime” compatible camera, and a rear camera as well. Not mentioning the new A4 processor. So yeah, if you were thinking of buying an iPod, don’t.

The MacRumors website itself is an excellent resource for finding out the latest rumors on the internet. You don’t have to be digging into your favorite tech blog to find out the latest, just check this site out.

I’m already ready to upgrade my first generation iPod Touch so I keep my eyes peeled when I see new “rumors” popping up on the net.

I use them especially when I start programming. I devote spaces to usually containing a header and implementation file for a specific class, a terminal window, reference window such as Google, and the final window for IM.

Setting up Expose and Spaces on a Mac

So how do you set it up? Look at the previous and next picture if you want to see how I have it set up.

1. System Preferences -> Expose & Spaces
2. Set up your corners. I prefer having one that automatically starts my screensaver which locks my laptop
3. I have another corner which brings up Spaces
4. Go to the Spaces tab, and Enable Spaces
5. Create the number of rows and columns of your choice
6. If you prefer, set up your preferred applications to open up in a specific space
7. Set up your shortcut keys for Spaces and Expose if you haven’t
8. Have fun!

Overview of Expose and Spaces

I believe its a great way to increase your productivity since you can create spaces with specific tasks in mind. You no longer have to create your “workspaces” using one desktop when you can have them all on multiple spaces. Go on, let us know how you create your workplaces.

The guides themselves are very detailed as they provide detailed images when needed and describe precisely how to follow each step. If you need some parts, they also have some in stock which you can purchase through their store. If for some reason there isn’t a guide on the website to fix your problem, simply post a question on the particular device page.

If you’ve been following my Talkbinary’s Photostream, you would have realized my iPod Touch 1st Gen screen had cracked! Fortunately, I met someone who fixed it for me and it came back looking like it had never happened before.

Overall Impressions

If you ever come across a device you need to repair, be sure to visit this website out first. Maybe it can help you fix your device without having to pay a costly repair fee. Plus, you might have fun while you are at it! I’m hoping that the answer to Optical drive not spinning up for PlayStation 2 Slimline actually works since I have a friend who’s been asking me about it.

Source: Ubuntu – Desktop Features

Using a LiveCD to demo Ubuntu

Before you start, if you haven’t tried Ubuntu you could always try a quick demo by using Ubuntu through a LiveCD session. Simply create a LiveCD, put the CD into your drive and reboot your computer. Then simply select the “Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer option”. This will allow you to try it out without installing Ubuntu to your system. Just remember that nothing you do will be saved since you haven’t installed it yet. To try this option check out Ubuntu Documentation – LiveCD.

Wubi

Wubi is the easiest and fastest option since it installs Ubuntu like a Windows application. Once installed, your system will have a new option when you boot up. So you can choose whether you want to continue to Windows, or your newly created Ubuntu OS. Don’t like it? Simply uninstall it through Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs in Windows and you have nothing to worry about.

This is the method I’m currently using and recommend.



Pros: Easiest way to install and uninstall, Great for Beginners, Only takes about 3 clicks to get started
Cons: Installed as a file and not a partition but if you are new or trying it out it doesn’t matter too much.
References: Wubi – Ubuntu Installer for Windows

VirtualBox

Virtualbox is a powerful virtualization that runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, and OpenSolaris and supports running a large number of guest operation systems such as Windows (XP, Vista, 7) and Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS).

Virtualbox is also another popular method which enables you to run Linux as a running application on Windows. If you have a decent computer, you’ll be able to run it fine. I also use this method but prefer on booting into Ubuntu rather than running it on top of Windows using the previous method.

Pros: Easy way to get started as well, Follow the installation procedure and it will guide you through the process, You can save your current state and load it at any time, You can open Ubuntu anytime you are on Windows without shutting down.
Cons: It may be slow if you don’t have enough processing power or RAM on your computer since you are running on top of Windows.
References: How to install Ubuntu using VirtualBox

Dual-Boot

Dual-Booting Ubuntu is the last method and the most difficult but contains the most benefits. Since it installs as a partition, you will not have any performance hits. In reality, getting Ubuntu to dual-boot is not difficult at all, its just that many things may go wrong if you don’t follow the right steps.

Luckily, there is a document that explains every step of the way so you have nothing to worry about. Also, make sure to figure out how to uninstall Ubuntu, since simply removing it will corrupt your boot sequence. At this point using a Windows Recovery cd to Fix your MBR should do the trick. I’ll post a tutorial on how to do this later.

Pros: Most non-trivial, but not difficult. Best performance wise. Recommended if you are to become a frequent user
Cons: Lots of things may go wrong if you don’t follow instructions, non-trivial to uninstall
References: Chapter 4: Installing Ubuntu

Conclusion

Whichever method you try out will allow you to check out Ubuntu. So make sure to try out Ubuntu with a LiveCD for a demo. Then decide which option makes the most sense for you. If you are a beginner, sticking to using the Wubi method is your best option. Remember to follow all installation procedures correctly and you should be fine. Let us know what option you use and why.