Don't Tase Me, Bro!

If you haven't seen this yet, where the hell have you been? This brings up a few questions:

Freedom of Speech? Well, I think that freedom of speech isn't a free pass to say whatever you want, wherever you want. When you cease to act in a civil and respectful manner, you forfeit the right to expect civility and respect in turn. This kid went into this thing with the intent to disrupt and get attention. I'm not sure the disruption was so successful, as Kerry kept talking while everything was going on, but he sure got some attention. YouTube is chock full of remixes, spoofs, and video responses.

Excessive force? Yeah, maybe, but I wasn't there. When the cops say to leave, you leave. It's as simple as that, especially when you're there doing something you know you shouldn't be doing. And then when you get arrested, you resist? There were about a half-dozen cops there, though. They couldn't get this kid in cuffs and carried away? Anyway, they tell him to stop or he'll get the taser. So he acts like a moron and gets tased.

Maybe if more people got tased, there'd be a lot less stupid in the world.

More Than Just a USB Drive

In the spirit of more than what you use it for, I wanted to share what I do with my USB drive. Just like you can run a program installed on your computer, you can run certain portable programs from anywhere. Just plug it in and go.

PortableApps: An all-in-one install onto your drive. Includes such programs as Firefox Portable (surf the web without leaving traces) and Pidgin Portable (all-in-one IM program), both of which I use daily. Also has anti-virus, zipping, sudoku, email, etc. The main selling point here is that you can pick which program to open immediately after plugging in your drive. Plus you keep all your settings!

Portable Freeware: A whole site of programs ready and waiting to go on your USB drive. There's something for everyone here.

I use my drive all the time at work for installing programs and transferring files, plus at home for surfing the 'net. These programs really help me out.

P.S. - Use a USB drive and backup your important data! Do it now!

Even More Than Just Text Messages

Well, I've found a couple more SMS services worth sharing in the past couple of days. Without further ado:

CallWave: Forward your cell phone voicemail to CallWave, and they'll send you text messages with what they said. I signed up for it because I hate listening to voicemail. Seems to work great. Free during it's beta phase.

Edit: Callwave is no longer free.

Mosio: Have a quick question that you need answered? Text it to Mosio and an actual person will send you an answer back. I haven't tried it yet, but I signed up. I'll have to think of a question...

4INFO: Pretty much the same thing as Google Mobile (two posts back), but has a better movie lookup. I also found their drink recipe feature useful. They, too, have a demo on the page for testing before you text. Plus they seem a bit more responsive than Google.

If anyone knows of any other good ones, leave a comment.

Quick Tip

Instead of typing www. and .com before and after websites, type just the domain (eg. myspace, facebook) and hit Ctrl + Enter. Your browser will automatically add them in. I found out not too long ago and have been using it non-stop. Just doesn't work for .net or .edu domains, etc.

More Than Just Text Messages

Me, Eric, and Maya all have unlimited text messages. And I am so glad we do. Besides, who likes actually talking to people? But you can use your cell phone to send and receive more than just regular text messages. The following are some of the cooler uses I've found and use:

Google Mobile: Google from your phone! Possibly the most baddass text message app! Search locally, get weather, lookup definitions, get sports scores, lookup movies, check your stocks, get directions, translate words, and more! I used it the other day to check baseball scores, find a local pizza place, and get the weather for the next couple days.

Twitter: An away message for your life. Up to something? Post it on Twitter through the web, your cell phone, or a computer app and it shows up on your Twitter site. Go even further and have it show up on people's cell phones or Widgets on Facebook, MySpace, or any other website, like this blog.

Ping Me: Instead of asking what you're doing like Twitter, this site asks what you should be doing. Login and add reminders to be sent via email or text message. I'm all the time forgetting appointments or other important things, and this site keeps me on track. Maybe I'll even add birthday reminders soon! The other awesome feature is to add reminders via text message. Another web app without the browser!

PayPal: Pay through your phone! If you've ever split a bill or owed someone some money, send it through your phone and they can cash in via PayPal. I just sent Maya a dollar, so now she can withdraw it by paying for something with her PayPal account or transfer it directly into her bank account (if it's linked), for free! Money, money, money! Maybe I'll pay my share of rent this way...

Amber Alerts: Receive Amber Alerts on your phone. If none of the other options seem like something you'd use, maybe this one will. Sign up on the site and you'll get Amber Alerts, free of charge. Do your part to keep kids safe.