Well, I am a big fan of watching people do Me Today videos on Viddler, so I decided it was time I joined the group. For those that don’t know, a Me Today is just a quick video where you talk briefelly about different things that are going on. It is nothing speical, but I wanted to share it with everyone!

In early October, I will be attending the 2008 Webmaster Jam Session. This is a 2 day web development conference that is taking place here in Atlanta, GA. It is very rare that a major web conference be on the east coast and not be up in NYC. I very much enjoy web development conferences but with the high cost of travel, and the high price to registration at these events hinders my ability to attend. Well, you can bet I will be attending one that is here in my hometown.

The Webmaster Jam Session is an all around web developers conference. It covers web design, coding, SEO, and social networking. I plan to use this as an opportunity to network with some of the biggest names in the business. Registration for the 2008 sessions is limited to 240, so if you are interested, be sure to sign up soon. The price is $199 for a standard pass, and $399 for a platinum pass which includes some extra special sessions. If you are interested in registering use promo code “BLUEDOG” and save 20% of the standard prices.

I will be attending all day everyday, so if you are attending, be sure to let me know and we can meet up at the event.

So, what is GrabUp? GrabUp is screen capture product from a London, England based software developer. GrabUp is a screen capture program unlike any other screen capture program out there. It that makes taking quick screen shots a snap. Prior to getting GrabUp, to take a screen capture, I would:

Command+Shift+4 > Open up my FTP program > Connect to my FTP server > Browse to the folder I want to upload it in > Upload it > Open FireFox > Browse to the image > Copy the link > Paste it in an email, IM, or else where.

Well, with GrabUp I:

Command+Shift+4 > Command+V to paste the link to the screen capture.

As you all already know, I am loving my new iPhone. While the phone itself is awesome, the true enjoyment of the phone comes from the third party apps. Below I am going to walk you through the useful apps I have choose to follow me everywhere I go. This list is only the useful apps; I am going to review games in Part 3 of my iPhone coverage.

If you think I am missing some great apps, please let me know so I can check them out.

WeatherBug

The default weather app on the iPhone SUCKS! It is missing a lot of information that one might want when looking for a weather report. WeatherBug gives you all the normal stuff like current temp, heat index, humidity, and a few day out forecast, but what I really find useful is that WeatherBug allows you to view radar maps that use the Multi-Touch pitch zoom functionality.

While I have had some issues with the radar maps not loading completely, it has not really bugged me. WeatherBug also allows you to view weather webcams around your area. Also, you can track multiple locations very easily.

iTunes Download Link: WeatherBug

Twitteriffic

As most of you know, I am a twitter fanatic. I love posting tweets when I am away from my computer. I have been doing this for sometime via text message, but now I can easily post tweets without using up my text messages.

Twitteriffic has some nice extras too. You can post photo tweets directly from Twitteriffic as it is integrated with the Twitpic.com service. Twitteriffic also uses the built in iPhone GPS to update your profile on Twitter with your exact location. I find this to be a little to intrusive on my privacy. I don’t want people knowing exactly where I am all the time so I don’t use this function.

There are 2 versions of this app, a free version and a pay, I use the free because well, it is free. The only real difference is that with the free version, you see an ad appear in your Twitteriffic home screen. This does not bug, because the ads are tastefully done, and placed in non annoying locations.

Additional Note: Twitteriffic is very complex and might be overwhelming at first, but read the hints and give yourself some time to figure out how it all works then you will love it!

Associated with: http://www.Twitter.com/
iTunes Download Link: Twitteriffic

OK, so I was not planning to purchase an iPhone, but about 3 weeks ago I was told that my company was taking away our Blackberrys. They were scheduled to shut them off on August 1st, and I found out it was for sure on July 24th. Well, that didn’t leave me much time to get a new phone so I rushed over to the AT&T store to order a 16GB Black iPhone. I ordered it in about 15 minutes. The store clerk said 5 to 7 days arrival, so I was not to worried that it would make it to me by August 1st.

I started reading up on Mac Rumors and the Mac Forums only to find that people were seeing 2 to 3 week waits on 16GB iPhone orders. This got me worried so on July 29th, I woke up at 6 A.M. to go stand in line at the Apple store. I didn’t want to wait in line, but at this point I had no choice. Got in the line at 7:15 A.M. to find about 30 people in line ahead of me. At 8 A.M. the store opened and around 8:30 A.M. I was given my “Chocolate Factory Gold Ticket.” At this point I could have left and came back to the store later that day to pick it up but I didn’t have to be to work till 10 A.M. and I worked about .5 miles away. So I waited and waited and waited. 10 A.M. comes and goes, I am about 5th in line so I am just waiting. After I call into work and say I am stuck in traffic, I finally get into purchase my iPhone at about 10:15 A.M. I was a new AT&T customer and I was NOT porting a number so I figured the activation process would be easy. Well it was, it took about 15 Minutes and I was on my way with a working iPhone.

As for my AT&T order, I called and was told I had to wait till the iPhone was received in store to cancel the order. So I waited and waited. Well today, August 5th, I finally got a email that the iPhone was in store. I went to the store, and canceled my order. Oh, and it took about 25 minutes to cancel the order which is CRAP!

OK, so I have been a full week with my new iPhone. Let me remind you that I never even touched a 2G iPhone. I did have a iPod Touch that came with my new MBP. Yea, so let me just say:

I don’t normally post items like this, but this video is awesome. The Verizon Wireless Network follows a guy around in real life!

A couple of days ago, I got my hands on a Flip Mino video recorder. The Flip is by a company called Pure Digital. This model, the Mino, is the 3rd generation of the Flip camera family. I did an unboxing, put up some sample videos to show the quality, as well as a text review. I am having some issues getting my videos posted in 100% original quality, so these might not show the true quality.

UnBoxing:

Pure Digital has defiantly taken notes from Apple on packaging. Below are some photos from the unboxing of the Flip Mino:

OK, so lots to update you on. First off, let me start by saying that my trip plans changed a bit. My grandmother passed away the weekend before I was suppose to leave, so I had to take an emergency trip to Gettysburg, PA for my grandmothers funeral on Monday 14th of July 2008.

As a result, I had to cancel the San Francisco portion on my trip. I was suppose to fly to San Francisco on Monday but I was in Gettysburg for the funeral. I did still take the second portion of my trip which was a trip to Las Vegas for a 3 bachelor party.

Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas

I arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday, July 20th, 2008. I was the first of the group to arrive so I had some time to myself. I took a cab to the MGM Grand which was where I was staying. From there I dropped my bags and headed downstairs to the casino to drop $1 in a slot machine. I won $5 so I knew it was going to be a good trip. After my one play, I headed outside to do some exploring. It was about 105 degree’s outside, but it was equal to about a 95 degree day in ATL with 100% humidity! I started walking down the strip past New York New York, Planet Hollywood, Bellagio, and Caesars Palace. This was about as far as I could go because the heat and the fact that I had walked about 10 miles when you factor in exploring the inside of each of the hotels.

Each of these hotels was pretty unique and amazing in its own. New York, New York was visually stunning from the outside. Planet Hollywood was very trendy on the inside with lots of shops and restaurants. The Bellagio was amazing with the pools and the fountains out front. Caesars was pretty awesome in and out, it was very visual with a lot of stunning replica style architecture from the Roman days.

Tweet Tees is a website that sells t-shirts inspired by Twitter. I have developed a good relationship with the creator of Tweet Tees, Albert. I currently own 2 different Tweet Tees: Eat, Sleep, Tweet / That’s what she Twittered. The reason I bring this site up is because there is a lot going on over at Tweet Tees. They just released a new babydoll tee for the female Twitter lovers and a pretty cool Army style hat.

Along with Twitter t-shirts, they also offer hats, tanktops, and boy shorts themed with Twitter phrases. The site is not limited to Twitter gear though, they offer a wide range of non twitter t shirt designs. You can check out the whole catalog at http://store.eatsleeptweet.com/.

Happy 4th of July everyone. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July. My weekend consisted of work, fireworks, the lake, and painting.

Friday, I was stuck at work. I had to go in for a few hours by request of my property manager. It turned out to be a good time to catch up on all the work I needed to catch up on. I got done there at around 6pm and went home to relax for a while. From there I then went to the Buckhead area of Atlanta to watch the Lenox Mall fireworks which is one of the the biggest, if not the biggest, fireworks displays in Atlanta. The property I run is very near Lenox Mall, so I had access to an area where most people were not allowed. From there I set up my camera and tripod to see if I can get some good photos of the fireworks. I stuck around and shot some photos of the crowd and the traffic afterwords. I was mainly just trying to work on my evening long exposure shots. I am pretty happy with my results. Overall it was a very enjoyable evening.

On Saturday, I went up to my parents house for a day on the lake. I was not feeling great so I only took a few photos. We had a good turn out and I got a good action shot of Matt (my soon to be brother in law) jumping off the dock.

Sunday was a relax/house work day. I helped my roommate paint the spare bedroom in our house. The painting was fun. With 2 people it goes quick. The paint is a bit to yellow, but it looked OK once it dried. I will be moving into that bedroom soon because it is bigger and has a bathroom. We are going to do some more work on it over the next few weeks before I move in.

Oh and one final note, I leave for my San Francisco and Las Vegas trip in 1 week! I am getting pretty excited. See this post for more info.