What is Coda? It’s the app I use to do all my web development. It does text editing and FTP all in one. It also does a bunch of other things that I should probably use more.

I’ve been using it for a while with no updates. There are all sorts of things I’d like to be able to do with it. File management is a pain. It doesn’t autocomplete my own functions. I hope these are a little better in the new version.

It looks like I’m going to like the enhanced CSS features and the code clips. I think code clips are already available, but I never used them and they look to be more easily accessible in the new version. I’m very interested to see if the MySQL editor works with my setup and if AirPreview (real-time edits show up on iPad) works as well.

I haven’t looked too hard for an iPad app that does similar things. I haven’t ever really needed it, but have considered that at some point I’d need to update something on the go. Of course, that means an iPhone version is what I really need. Still, I’m in for the iPad app.

My only concern now is how much this will all cost. Since it’s going on the Mac App Store, there isn’t a hope of an upgrade price. The first day both apps will be 50% off I think that means less than $40 for Mac and $10 for iPad.

I spent a lot of time looking for the right stand when I got my original iPad two years ago. I wanted something that I could use in landscape mode (Apple Dock, you’re out). There were a lot that were adjustable. There were a lot that were ridiculously expensive.

I eventually decided on a BookArc. It was a little pricey at $40 and was not adjustable. It wound up being exactly what I needed. It’s a solid piece, no worries that the iPad is going anywhere. I liked it so much that I wound up buying another some time later. A nice bonus: the price had dropped to $30.

The only problem I’ve had with the BookArc after two years was that one of the rubber feet came off. Not too surprising, I move them around a lot and even took one of them with me when I’d travel. Luckily I didn’t lose the foot and it glued back on just fine.

Like I said, I have two of them. I keep one next to my computer. It’s almost like a second monitor. It works a little better since Lion handles the second monitor in such an odd way. I usually use it to play videos while I’m on my computer. Here’s how it looks:

The other is on my night stand. Again for videos, sometimes Netflix (not sure why, I have 8 different ways of watching Netflix on my TV), and recently the SlingPlayer app to watch my TiVo that is in my living room. I don’t have cable in my room, just XBox, a Blu-Ray player, and Google TV (which I’m not even sure is hooked up).

I now have an iPad 3 and the BookArcs sill work fine. I bought a Smart Cover with the iPad 3, but it is no where near as sturdy as the BookArc. I only use my Smart Cover when I need to put my iPad in a bag to take it somewhere.

I’d recommend getting as many BookArcs as you think you’ll need. They really should sell a 2-pack.

Get it on Amazon

There are so many amazing things about the self-driving car that I didn’t take the time to think past how it would improve things for current drivers.

With blind drivers, I imagine a lot of things would need to be changed a bit. In the video, I was curious how the drive-thru person would react. What about the gas station?

How far can it go? Can you send your kids to school in a self-driving car?

Found at 9to5 Google.

First, I’m using Google Sync on my iPhone (and iPad). That enables me to have push Gmail and use multiple Google calendars. This has nothing to do with the Gmail iOS app. For Gmail, you setup your iPhone to what the iPhone things is an Exchange server to sync emails, contacts, and calendars. You use the regular Email app that comes with the iPhone to access your Gmail. The problem with this setup was when you attempted to delete an email, it only removed it from your inbox. It would still stick around in your ‘All Mail’ in Gmail. While I like having the ability to Archive things, I delete A LOT more.

I got home today and saw this tweet:

You can now configure Google Sync to delete messages on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. goo.gl/T9mSX

— Gmail (@gmail) January 12, 2012

After you follow that link, you are instructed to load up the Mobile Sync settings on your phone: m.google.com/sync. All you have to do it check a box for each device and then things actually get deleted. Also in this screen you can pick which calendars show up on your phone. There is a ‘send as’ option too, which I think lets you change your ‘from:’ field.

Is it sad that finding out about this was the best part of my day?

The class is Computer Science 101. It’s offered by Stanford. They have been offering some free CS classes, a lot of my fellow Google interns signed up for some of them this summer.

CS 101 starts in February and I think you should take it. You means everyone, not just tech-y types. In fact, those are the only ones who shouldn’t take it because you already know way more than an introduction to Computer Science would teach you.

Here is the quick overview:

CS101 teaches the essential ideas of Computer Science for a zero-prior-experience audience. Computers can appear very complicated, but in reality, computers work within just a few, simple patterns. CS101 demystifies and brings those patterns to life, which is useful for anyone using computers today.

In CS101, students play and experiment with short bits of “computer code” to bring to life to the power and limitations of computers. Everything works within the browser, so there is no extra software to download or install. CS101 also provides a general background on computers today: what is a computer, what is hardware, what is software, what is the internet. No previous experience is required other than the ability to use a web browser.

It doesn’t sound advanced at all, they really stress that you don’t need to know anything. Any code you write is in the browser, the biggest headache in getting started it getting used to the program you use to write the code and figuring out all its quirks.

Here are my reasons I think you should take it:
Computers aren’t scary, coding isn’t scary. Ok, if you go far enough, it will get very scary. Coding, that’s on the surface and easy to understand the basics.

You might get some idea of what is possible in software. When people tell me what they wish some things on their computer should do every once in a while it’s a brilliant idea that I hadn’t though of. That’s rare. Usually it’s something impossible or possible but so complicated to be implemented or understood by all users that it would never be done.

You might follow some problem solving processes that are a little different than you are used to, maybe more structured thinking will help you outside of this class.

Reason you shouldn’t:
It’s all a lie. I’m not that smart. If you take this you will realize that. You’ll all being writing your own code for a variety of things and they will all be better than anything I’ve ever done.

Head over to the page for the class. I signed up and if I have time I’ll check some of it out. I hope some of you give it a shot and tell me what they think of it.

Once you master CS 101 there are a few others listed. Most seem to start around the same time, but I’m hoping they’ll just leave the material up so anyone can take these at any time at their own pace.

I assume this was a first attempt, you’ll get better kid …
I downloaded the beta and added the last.fm app and … ugh. It offers a window into your account page. Gives you some album or track recommendations. A listing of your recent and loved tracks. When you are playing a song in Spotify, it will tell you some things similar to what you are currently listening to. Some of that is nice, but it isn’t at all what I was hoping.

The quick last.fm overview: it can track what you listen to. You can get an add-on to upload what you listen to in iTunes and on your iPod, and it is built in to Spotify (even with out the app). It then offers you some radio options. My favorite is the Recommendations Radio, which looks at what you like to listen to and plays songs it thinks you will like.

I was hoping for that last.fm Recommendations Radio feature but bolstered by the backing of the vast Spotify library. I’m not sure how many songs last.fm offers, but Spotify is much more in-depth. After getting that running inside Spotify, it would be easy to add the new tracks you find to your existing playlists.

It’s about time Spotify …
Today, Spotify finally added some recommended radio to the app, it has nothing to do with any of the app integration (or last.fm) that was apparently such a big deal. It works a lot like Pandora. Give it an artist or track and it will play similar songs. I like this. I tried it out for a while today and was pleased with the results.

I still have a request …
I only ask for one more step. Recommendations to add to Playlists. One problem with Spotify is the effort you have to put in when getting started to create the playlists that you want. Another problem is adding tracks to those playlists after you create them.

Problem: I have two main playlists. One of my favorite music that I hear about through various websites that I follow. I keep up with new stuff on my own. The other is a hits playlist that usually gets populated from new things I hear when listening to Sirius. With Spotify, I’m listening to less and less Sirius in the car and am thinking about ending my subscription. When that happens, how will I add new songs to my hits playlist?

Tips on how you discover new music would be appreciated.

A solution: Spotify figures out what is going on with your playlist and offers suggestions on what to add to the playlist, including new tracks. They have this recommendation radio now, it should be as simple as feeding all the tracks in a playlist into that and seeing what gets the most matches. A list is generated from there giving you a selection of similar songs to your playlist, and if you want it can give a little more weight to new songs.

Oh, and give me some recommended radio in the iPhone app.

Laptop: MacBook Pro 13″ (base model, early 2011)
After getting back from South Africa in March, my first stop after getting back to the states was the mall to get this laptop. My old one had died during finals the week before I had left. It turned out it was a hard drive failure. I was able to fix it, but I had been waiting for Sandy Bridge MacBooks for a while.

I bought the base model, it was all I really needed. I upgraded the RAM to 8gb on my own. I need that much to run Windows smoothly in Parallels. I need Windows to run a few things for school, mostly Excel add-ins that I need to grade assignments for the class I TA.

I love the laptop, and I think there was just a spec bump a few weeks ago. If I were recommending, I’d make sure you weigh this against the MacBook Air. I want an Air next, when I don’t need so much RAM (Air tops out at 4gb).

Pros for Air: higher res screen, smaller, lighter, SSD.
Pros for MBP: bigger hard drive options (non-SSD), DVD drive, better battery.

I use my laptop connected to a monitor and other devices when I’m home. I’d really like a dock for it. I had a Henge Dock for my old MacBook but the ports on my new one are different. I decided not to get a new one. I have the idea that I’ll use the laptop as a second screen, it rarely happens, but I still expect that I will. I’d really like a Thunderbolt dock to limit the number of things I have to plug and unplug everyday when I take my laptop with me.

Monitor: Dell P2310H
I bought this a few years ago when I decided to jump to 1080p and it was really cheap. I’m not a huge fan. I considered sending it back because the colors just felt flat. I eventually adjusted. I’ve been thinking about replacing it, but my next move is likely to an iMac. I’d rather mark a few hundred toward that purchase.

Webcam: Logitech C910
Why do I have a webcam when I have a MacBook? On my desk, my laptop is almost always closed, so no webcam. I had been using Skype more and Google+ Hangouts seem cool so I bought this a few months ago. Its best feature is that it works on Macs. The few times I’ve used it, it has been great.

Speakers: Altec Lansing 221
I bought these in 2004. I remember because I was on co-op in Minnesota. They’ve served me well. I’ve seen no reason to upgrade. I do think it’s time that wireless speakers should be common, but I haven’t come across any (not that I’ve looked very hard). Same with replacing my monitor, if I get an iMac next year, the purchase of new speakers now would be a waste.

Mouse: Logitech Performance MX
Finding a mouse is such a pain. I need a certain number of buttons and comfort, it would also be nice if it were Bluetooh. This one covers everything but the Bluetooth, I have a little plug in my USB hub for it. It’s getting a little old so pieces have fallen off and sometimes that leads to glue getting on my fingers. It also doesn’t do a good job alerting me that the battery is dying, and I don’t have an outlet in the right spot to easily charge it while still being able to use it.

I’ve debated the Apple Touchpad, but I’m not sure I’d like that on my desktop setup. I feel like the touchpad works better on a small screen. At this point, Lion supports enough gestures that a touchpad is a viable option.

Keyboard: Apple Keyboard
Having a wireless keyboard isn’t as a big a deal as a mouse. It would be if it were the only device I had to plug in. I have the wired version because the Apple Wireless Keyboard doesn’t have a number pad. That still makes no sense to me. The smaller version looks nice, but isn’t functional for me. I like the looks of the Logitech K750 for Mac. It isn’t Bluetooth, but uses the same Unifying Receiver that my mouse does. I haven’t seen the need to spend $60 to get one just yet.

I’ll try and update this after I make major changes. I’ll try and do more of these for what I have hooked up to my tv, apps on my Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and if I think of any other random things.

It’s useful to have because it’s an easy way to archive or label messages, things you can’t do easily in the Mail app. Also, push would be awesome. I could stop using the confusing Gmail on Mail since I have to choose between push and being able to delete.

One problem, push is awful. It just does sounds and badges for notifications. Meaning your phone will beep or buzz and there will be no noticeable alert. At least until you look around and notice the Gmail app badge has increased by 1.

Ok start and I’ll use it for Gmail specific actions, but no dice on it being my main way of using Gmail on the iPhone

I’m one of the few who still hang around on AIM. My Buddy List has become a barren wasteland. I’m down to one friend from undergrad and a handful of grad school friends who are old enough to still think AIM is the way to go.

AIM’s new preview seems to answer a lot of the problems I’ve been talking about when it comes to messaging (I was excited for iMessage).

I’ve been using Meebo for the last few weeks and while it did a better job than everything else I’d tried, I was growing tired of its shortcomings. Here’s what I like about the AIM Preview from using it on my iPhone and Mac today …

Desktop and Web App
Web Apps seem to be the simple solution that everyone follows. AIM has one and it seems pretty solid. This is worth mentioning to me since I only remember the old days of AIM Express, which was a terrible web app, although at the time it was probably pushing what was possible inside the browser.

Even better, a desktop app! It looks good but it’s a single window solution. I’m not a tabbed IM person. I like to have all my individual windows. I could get used to it but with it’s a wide view, meaning the buddy list is next to IM window. It doesn’t fit well on my screen since I like to have my buddy list visible next to my browser window.

Messages Stored on Server
I’ve wanted this forever. No matter which platform, your history is there. Meebo has this feature but it was hit or miss in my usage. Trying AIM out so far, it has worked perfectly. History pops right up on the phone.

Notifications
They are almost as much as I could have hoped. When you get a new message all sessions are alerted (web app, desktop, mobile). Makes sense. When you read the message, the alert then goes away on all devices. So if you read a message on your desktop, the badge the iPhone letting you know you have a new IM goes away, and it happens really quickly. The one issue on the iPhone is that while the badge updates, the notification doesn’t go away. So if I’m chatting on the computer I will come back to a lot of AIM notifications on the Lock Screen. This works with emails on the iPhone, so I assume it can be done for this.

Group Chat
Worth mentioning because it works on mobile too.

Favorite Contacts
I talked about this for iMessage, AIM has it on all the apps. Favorites are saved on the server so they follow you no matter how you connect.

GChat too
At first thought I was worried because not many people are still on AIM, but a lot have moved to GChat since they use GMail. AIM supports both Google and Facebook. I hooked it up to Google and it seems to work just like an AIM account. I don’t like Facebook chat all that much, but it’s also an option.

Now for the few things AIM really needs, besides the ones I’ve mentioned …

iPad App
No iPad app yet, but there is still the old AIM app. Since the system is backwards compatible with old apps, it will save your messages on the server. You just won’t see them on the iPad. Since there was already an app, I’m hopeful for this to be updated soon. (Vote on the AIM Feedback page!)

Active Device Awareness
Still not sure what to call this, but Meebo had this right. When you are engaged in a conversation, not every session needs to be alerted to new IMs. I really think this is the biggest issue for complete adoption. When I’m chatting on the computer, I don’t want my phone buzzing every time I get a response. It should be easy to figure out that I’m actively using the desktop client and then not send messages to the phone. Meebo does this in the web app by making it active when in use but after a few minutes it goes inactive and alerts being going to the phone again. (Vote on the AIM Feedback page!)

Publish Current Device
Another one I’m not sure what to call. Somehow the person you are chatting with should know if you are on a computer or phone. That will help when chatting to know if they may take a while to respond or may only be able to have short responses. (Vote on the AIM Feedback page!)

It also looks like it can attach to social networks to collect status updates and you can read news too. I haven’t tried these features yet, they are just extras to me.

Overall, I’m really impressed with what they’ve released and excited for what they hopefully have in store. I thought I might have to wait for ChatOn to get released on all devices. AIM is really close to what I’ve been begging for. It’s the first time AIM has gotten any love in forever. I hope they are serious. I think people will return. I think most people have fond memories of AIM and just need their friends to go back first. I’ll be there for a while. Also, this might be the best option for using Google Chat.

I just need to find a new Buddy Icon.

Here is a quick look at how each client I use behaves when I click Delete.
Outlook – Delete
Apple Mail – Archive
Gmail on iPhone Mail – Delete (there is a setting asking you if you want to use archiving, I leave it as deleting)
Gmail (as Exchange) on iPhone Mail – Archive

That last one is important, because that is the only way to get push mail to work for Gmail on the iPhone. I’d also like Apple Mail to work. For the next few months I still need to use Outlook for school, so I’ll have it open a lot. Once that is gone, I’ll hopefully be rid of Outlook.

I looked around for which services offer push mail on the iPhone. All I could really find was Yahoo! and iCloud. I’m not going to use Yahoo! Mail. iCloud is free and I was curious to give it a shot. Yes I’d be going even further into the Apple ecosystem, but it seemed fairly harmless. It’s IMAP afterall.

Why I gave up on iCloud Mail after after a few hours …

• Rules don’t have Make As Read as an option. This was the no question dealbreaker. I have tons of rules in Gmail for all the mailing lists I’m on. I don’t want to unsubscribe from them, but I also don’t need my phone alerting me to those emails coming in as new, I’ll get to them later.
• No Send As option. I have my domain which I forward my email to whichever service I’m actually using. I’d prefer everyone use that email in case I find a new service I want to switch to. In that case, which could have been now, I won’t have as much pain telling people to start using a new email address. They likely won’t even know.

iCloud Mail works as simple email. The web app looks nice, it works well on the phone and email apps. Most importantly, delete actually deletes. I’d recommend you try it out if you are in the market for just email. If you are looking for something a little more than basic, then maybe stick to Gmail.

I’m open to something new. As usual, I’m going to keep my eye open for new email servies. They don’t seem to pop up that often anymore.