I absolutely LOVE this application - despite the fact that it only runs on Windows (c’mon guys, make a Mac version soon, pretty please?)…..VisitorVille. is fun, enlightening, and highly addictive. With its “Sims”-like interface and comprehensive reports, keeping track of your web site stats has never been this much fun. Add in that it’s “real time” reporting (you can watch and even interact with visitors WHILE they are on your site) and you have a web site stats package that’s not just fun but highly useful as well.

With VisitorVille, your site is shown as a “virtual city”. Pages of your site are represented by buildings, and site visitors are (naturally) people. They arrive on buses that represent the various search engines that deliver them to your site, and then wander from building to building (page to page) as they browse your site. The 3D graphics are amazing - as nice as high-end video games (and don’t worry if you have an older PC - their 2D graphics are still great and fun to watch). The package comes with the ability to interact with your site visitors via Live Chat, and you can even “push” Chat to initiate contact, which is useful if you think someone may be having trouble finding what they need, or filling in a form or completing an action such as a purchase.

Below the surface of what looks like just fun and games is a robust reporting package that can utilize both the stored cookie data (from a small snippet of code that you put on all your pages) as well as your log files, in order to give you a full and sophisticated suite of reports, including in-depth visitor data, repeat visitor behavior, conversions, and sales data (if your site sells a product or service).

I’ve tried and abandoned numerous web stats packages. Omniture, ClickTracks, WebTrends, Sawmill, and a fair number of others. Some were great but expensive, some were difficult to implement and use, none of them really impressed me until now.

I have a Windows PC close by that I use for testing web site designs in various Windows browsers, so I installed VisitorVille on that, and I have to admit that I can’t stop watching it - the little buses driving around and the people walking around are just enthralling to say the least. If you work in a ultra-conservative corporate enviroment (translation: very little sense of humor in the office) then this may not be for you. But for anyone who needs or wants live web stats, VisitorVille is a fun, affordable, and really darn good reporting package.

If you sign up through this link to VisitorVille be sure to use coupon code tk10 to save 10% off the already low price.

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After spending some time browsing Conversation Agent, the brilliant Blog of Valeria Maltoni, in particular her post titled Why I Blog, I am inspired to write my own top 5 reasons for why I blog, so here they are:

Why I Blog:

1. First and foremost, to help people - there is so much in my head that I often take for granted until someone else asks me a question - so for those who don’t know me personally (in order to ask), I decided to post what I know in the hopes that someone looking for that small piece of knowledge might stumble across it and find it helpful in some way. I post reviews of software I’ve tried so that others can find an honest, unpaid assessment, or tips on how to save time doing some small task that can otherwise be intimidating.
2. Because I have so many words running around in my head all the time - if I don’t write them down I’m afraid I’ll lose them
3. Because I’m an introvert - I know that sounds contradictory, but the very nature of the internet is perfect for introverts, because you - the reader - come to me (my site) to seek some answers or conversation or a laugh. Introverts often find it difficult or intimidating to approach others, so the fact that others must make the approach to come to our blogs frees us from our insecurities and allows us to give freely without worrying that our advice or comments are unwanted.
4. Because I often find humour in situations that can sometimes be frustrating or intimidating, and by pointing out what I find funny, and getting others to laugh too, it can make the frustration just a litte more bearable and what’s intimidating just a little bit less so.
5. Because I’m practicing my writing skills in preparation for that great novel I hope to write someday…….when everyone else switches to a Mac and I have more time on my hands!

Valeria, thanks for the inspiration! I look forward to spending more time reading your posts!

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Recently a friend gave me a iTunes gift certificate to thank them for some help I gave them with their computer (I have terrific friends!), along with a note suggesting that I use it to buy a movie or two to watch on my new iPhone. So here I was browsing the iTunes Store and I found that I was really struggling with this, even though there were a number of movies offered for sale that I haven’t seen. As I was pondering why I was having such a hard time picking a movie, it occurred to me that this was because I am SO frugal that I hated to spend $10 to $15 on a movie I haven’t seen because there’s always the risk I won’t really like the movie. And out of the available movies I have already seen, although some were good, there weren’t any that I loved enough to watch again - and not just watch again, but watch enough times to make it worth spending the $10 to $15 on them.

This is exactly why I rent movies - the risk is much lower, since movie rentals average between $2 to $4 (depending on where you rent from and how often), and if there is one I’ve seen that I want to see again, it’s still cheaper to rent it 2 or 3 times than it is to buy it.

So come on Apple - how about a “movie rental” program for iTunes? If you already have the technology to limit how many times a song can be burned to CD or how many computers it can play on, surely you have the technology to limit how many times a rented movie can be viewed? Or how many devices it can be viewed on?

I suggest having a two-play limit - once on your computer and once on another device such as an iPod or iPhone - with enough smarts to know if I’ve had to interrupt my viewing and want to finish watching it later. After the number of viewings has expired, then it can either automatically disappear or remind me to delete it, since it can’t be watched again.

If Apple were to introduce such program, I wouldn’t hesitate to rent movies via iTunes often - if I don’t care for a movie, so what? It hasn’t cost me that much. And if I really like it, enough to buy it, then a little discount of a couple of dollars (since I’ve already spent that much renting it) would be nice too.

What do you say, Apple? Do you have what it takes to become the king of online movie rentals? I’m betting you do.

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Okay, this qualifies as a rant, but this article over at PC World by Harry McCracken just chaps my hide…….and not in the way you might be thinking…..

Yes, I am a Mac fan, but I’m more a fan of logic and fairness. So I’m not upset that this guy didn’t like the iPhone (after trying it for a week), because I realize it may not be right for everyone. And he does have a lot of nice things to say about it. And I’m not knocking the AT&T 8525 - by all accounts it’s a great phone. But I am upset that a good number of his “reasons” don’t appear to be accurate, which makes it sound as if he really WANTED to not like the iPhone, despite his nice comments……I just think in the interest of fairness folks who are still thinking about whether or not to get an iPhone deserve to hear a more balanced perspective based on facts, not just opinions.

Lets’ break this down (using his reasons):

1. The iPhone isn’t 3G. True, but Edge is available in many more places than 3G is right now, so it’s far more useful when traveling (most of his reasons read as if based on his “business travel”). So in most places the AT&T 8525 is still using Edge. And the iPhone’s SIM card is replaceable, so when the 3G version comes out (and nationwide 3G coverage is adequate) it will more than likely be just a SIM card upgrade required, not a new phone purchase.

2. The iPhone doesn’t serve as a modem. True. But I too travel for business and I can’t even recall the last time I wasn’t able to find a hotel that offered free Wi-Fi, but if finding free Wi-Fi is a problem for you, try searching on WiFiFreeSpot (or one of dozens of similar sites), or consider a Boingo account (monthly fees are cheaper than most Mobile Broadband/WAN accounts).

3. The iPhone doesn’t “talk to Lotus Notes”…..not entirely true. It will download the email, and you certainly don’t need to go through the shenanigans he went through to get your Lotus Notes Calendar onto the iPhone - heck you don’t need to involve Google Calendars at all! Just export your Calendar from Notes and import it directly into iCal. You don’t need the “missing sync” software app for that either. Just select that new iCal Calendar in the iTunes interface and sync it. The same goes for Outlook if you’re a Windows user.

4. The iPhone doesn’t have a chat client. Actually, several 3rd party developers have already written chat clients for the iPhone, a couple of which support multiple IM protocols, like JiveTalk by BeeJive.com. It has all my various buddy lists and works great.

5. No Slingbox client for iPhone. True. Finally, a truly good, logical reason why Slingbox users might want to hold off on getting an iPhone until Slingbox gets wise and develops a client for it.

6. The iPhone doesn’t have enough storage to be his “primary media player”…..hmmm, okay so the 8GB wasn’t enough to carry all his music etc, but he paid extra to add 2GB to his new AT&T 8525 and he’s syncing his music to that? Hmmmm……ookaaay………

7. The iPhone requires too many clicks to get things done.

8. The iPhone is “remarkably uncustomizable”……anyone involved in the tech world should know about the SCADS of information coming out already from 3rd party developers that let you customize the iPhone. Take a look at BarCamp. Some of these nifty apps were written even before the iPhone’s release, and updates, improvements, and new apps are appearing almost daily.

9. The iPhone doesn’t let you edit Office documents. True, it currently has no built-app for that. However, you can create and edit them using the 3rd party apps gOffice or ZoHo. I’m not trying to downplay a reason that may be very important to some folks, and I’m sure the AT&T 8525 has a nice built-in app for that, but in all fairness people should know that there are 3rd party apps that allow one to create, edit, read (and email) office docs from their iPhone.

10. The iPhone doesn’t have a “to do list” …. Check out Listingly or TaDa List (two of several To Do List apps for the iPhone). Personally I think this solution is even better than a built-in To Do app since it saves storage space on the iPhone for more of your favorite media.

11. So the AT&T 8525 has an “array of 3rd party alternatives” to its built in note-taking app……well so does the iPhone! …..and the couple that I checked out will most certainly work on the iPhone even when it is “offline”……pages stay on the iPhone until you delete them and all of them sync back to the server when you are online.

12. The two-year contract rankles [him] I understand that everyone has personal opinions about the different cellular carriers - I’ve tried most of them out there and have been happy with AT&T for the past few years, but that’s my own personal opinion. But the logic doesn’t make sense here - if he’s okay with AT&T (seeing as how he is still with them), is it just the 2 year commitment that bugs him? Most of the best phones require a commitment to get the price down, so that’s not really a reason to “not” buy an iPhone, that’s just a fear of committing to a contract….hey, I understand that - lots of guys have “commitment-phobia”. Let’s just call a spade a spade here.

13. The AT&T 8525 has a better keyboard than the iPhone. You’re kidding, right? I’ll admit that it did take me roughly a week or so to get used to the iPhone’s keyboard, primarily because I couldn’t “feel” the keys, but I’m glad I stuck with it. After I learned how to use it, and it “learned” how I type (and that’s the really smart thing about the iPhone - it really does “learn” your typing style and habits) I believe it’s the best smart-phone keyboard out there - it’s much easier than the others I’ve used.

I do want to point out that I fully respect Mr. McCracken’s personal opinions and his right to prefer whatever phone works best for him - and reiterate that the Apple iPhone may not be for everyone - but I just think it would have been a more balanced article if Mr. McCracken had taken the time to do just a little more research on some of his issues, if for no other reason than to be sure his readers have ALL the information available. But hey, a rant’s a rant, right? He can have his, and I can have mine.

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By now everyone knows that the Apple iPhone does its synchronization - Contacts, Calendar, Email, Photos, Songs, Videos, etc. - using the iTunes interface. All in all it works pretty slick, but I’ve heard a few complaints from other iPhone users I know - primarily because they don’t fully understand how to best manage the sync process.

This advice is based on my own personal experience and needs - keep in mind that your needs may be different, but this approach works well for me. Although described more fully below, basically in a nutshell I created the lists, folders, or albums I want to synchronize to my iPhone, and then chose those instead of the “all” options. This way, I don’t “clutter up” my iPhone with items I don’t need, thereby saving more space for the TV Shows or Videos I like to carry with me for those rare times when I am stuck somewhere without my laptop and some time to kill.

Contacts - I have a fairly huge list of contacts, but only a very small number of them would I ever need to call when I’m away from my office, so from within Address Book, I created a New Group (I called it iPhone Contacts) and then did a click-&-drag on those contacts I want/need to have on my iPhone. Then in iTunes, on the Info Tab for my iPhone, I choose “Selected Groups” and just choose the new Group I created - iPhone Contacts.

Calendars - Since I sit at my computer pretty much all day, every day, I get all the reminders I need regarding birthdays, my travel schedule, and making my credit card payments on time, so the only Calendar I need on my iPhone is my Appointments - since I keep good notes on where I should be going (with a link to the Google Map if I need it), the phone number of where I’m going, etc. - all of which get synchronized along with the Appointment, I’m all set if I’m out of the office and forget the address or get stuck in a traffic jam and need to call them to let them know I’m running behind schedule……so from within iTunes I just choose “Selected Calendars” and then check my Appointments Calendar.

Email - Sure, getting email on the iPhone is cool, and even though many cellular providers and phones also have that feature, it just looks way cooler on the iPhone with its beautiful visual interface. But I have around a dozen email accounts and get, literally, a ton of email - most of which I definitely do not need on my iPhone. Only a small percentage requires a response, and those are not urgent, so I prefer to let my laptop continue to handle the vast majority of my email. I did however, set up the Yahoo email account I have on my iPhone, because of its “push” capability, so that should there be some urgent need to email me something, those nearest and dearest to me can do so. It works great!

Photos - I’m probably one of the very few Mac fans who does not use iPhoto. Not because it’s not a great app - it is, but in my work doing graphic design I acquire, use, and store hundreds of thousands of photos so I prefer to keep them organized a different way. And yet I do have some great shots I want to keep on my iPhone - friends and family photos that can be assigned to their respective Contacts so their photo shows up on my iPhone when they call me. The iTunes sync interface allows you to choose between iPhoto or Folders, so I just created a Folder called iPhone Photos, and copied the shots I wanted to that Folder, which I then selected from the sync menu.

Syncing the Music, Podcasts, and Videos are all pretty straightforward, but by using the above settings I have a lot of space for all of my music library, audiobooks, podcasts, four TV Shows, and 2 full-length movies, and lets face it - that’s why I really got the iPhone in the first place. So next time I’m stuck waiting 45 minutes at my doctor’s office, I’ve got plenty to keep me entertained!

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This Apple iPhone plugin is absolutely brilliant…….called the iWPhone, it’s very simple, but very cool. It detects the Apple iPhone user agent, and serves up your blog using a very simple stylesheet perfectly formatted to be easy to read on the Apple iPhone without using the zoom-in feature.

I have it installed and activated on this blog - if you view my blog using your computer you’ll notice it looks very different than if you view it using an Apple iPhone, but on the iPhone you don’t have to strain to read it or zoom way in. You can certainly customize the iPhone stylesheet if you want to, but the default one is so perfect that you don’t need to.

With the some estimates regarding sales of the Apple iPhone at around 525,000 sold in the first weekend, and some estimating as high as 700,000 sold, any serious blogger will want to be sure that their site is iPhone-friendly. This plugin will do exactly that.

I love it - for more information or to download a copy visit http://iwphone.contentrobot.com/. If you like it, throw a donation their way. [Disclosure: I have no affiliation whatsoever with ContentRobot or the plugin developers. I simply really like this plugin and wanted to "plug" it ]

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No, this is NOT the same as iPhony, the Palm OS app for Treo that emulates the iPhone look and feel - this is iPhoney, a “pixel-accurate web browsing environment” to help web developers design web sites for the iPhone. And in case you’re wondering, it’s also not a full-featured iPhone emulator, so you can’t make phone calls with it.

Simply put, iPhoney is an iPhone Browser Emulator - it uses the Safari rendering engine to give you a canvas on which to test the visual quality of your web site designs. iPhoney allows you to zoom in and out, rotate the view, simulate the iPhone User Agent (to test browser redirection scripts), and turn off plug-ins not currently supported by the real iPhone (flash, javascript, etc).

While iPhoney still has a few limitations, it’s open-source, and developers are encouraged to participate in making it even better and more useful (maybe even some actual Apple iPhone developers will pitch in? C’mon, it’s in Apple’s best interest to make the iPhone as useful as possible, and this tool will certainly help!).

iPhoney currently requires Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later, but hopefully a PC version will come along soon.

For more information or to download iPhoney, visit MarketCircle.com/iphoney/ or if you’re a developer and would like to contribute to this project, visit the SourceForge iPhoney Project page.

Another useful link for web site designers is Apple’s iPhone Web Development Guidelines.

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I’ve tried a number of different Application Launchers for Mac, and my favorite by a huge margin is Drag Thing ($29 shareware with free trial and free updates), an amazingly customizable and easy to use application launcher extraordinare.

Using Drag Thing is a breeze - you simply create Docks, which consist of Tabbed Layers, and upon each layer you add whatever you want to launch - applications, documents, or URLs. Docks can be free-floating, or “pinned” to any edge of your screen, and can remain visible if you wish, or “slide” off the edge, like a drawer, leaving only the tabs visible and then slide back out when hovered over.

You can have as many Layers and Docks as you like, limited only by your screen real estate and imagination. Not being all that imaginative myself, I have just one Dock that contains 7 Layers. My “Home” Layer contains icons for Mail, iCal, Address Book, iChat etc, I have a Layer for Games, Multimedia (such as iTunes, GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto, QuickTime Pro etc), Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, etc), WebDev (HTML editors, graphics apps, my FTP app, etc), and so on and so forth.

The real beauty of this application launcher lies in its ability to be customized exactly as you’d like it to be - not only does Drag Thing come with a number of nifty “skins” but if you’re comfortable editing XML files and modifying graphics, then you can easily create your own skins if you’d like to, and the developer has written easy to follow instructions for doing so. You can determine the number of Layers for each Dock, how many items each Layer can contain, the opacity level, colors, if you want text in addition to icons, the relative size of each Dock, Layer, and icon, and which direction they appear (horizontal or vertical), just to name a few.

I really don’t think that there is any other application launcher available that is as beautiful, customizable, and easy-to-use. Drag Thing is well worth it’s price and more!

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