Taiwan: Buy Tea To Get an iPad 2

You know you're a media and social icon when people use your likeness in other formats. A Chinese tea company in Taiwan is trying to duplicate Steve Jobs and his reality distortion field with a look-alike to sell tea in this witty commercial.



Well, given the shortage of iPad 2 in the region, there are worse ways to getting an iPad than to drink potentially tainted tea.

Top Privacy Settings For Google Plus

I really like Google Plus because of its ease of use in general.  More specifically, I like the better control (as far as my perception goes) than what we get on Facebook.  And on top of that, many government agencies on three or four continents are watching Google's use of user information or have sued and won judgments against the search giant.

Courtesy of Macworld, here are their top five privacy settings that you'll want to know about.  Information like hiding your e-mail or even quitting the new social network are very important.  In general, most people will not care.  But I disagree.  They will care when things go wrong - identities stolen or they've been phished.

So, the Plus privacy post is a recommended read.

For those of you on the outside looking in (I'm working on getting invitations for those who have e-mailed me), bookmark this handy little post.  You'll need it.  I recommend the first thing you do is to obfuscate your e-mail and tweak the re-sharing settings.

Samsung Profit Warning - A Sign of Things To Come

I am not sure I'm ready to go out on a limb here yet but Samsung's warning due to poor LCD and TV sales could be a sign that consumers are changing their ways.

During the last holiday shopping seasons, many retailers warned of possibly not being able to meet TV forecasts.  And it was largely due to the iPad.  And with sales of the iPad continuing to be hot and other tablets from Android, Web OS, and RIM already on sale all hitting the market around the same time, there really is only so much dollars to go around.

And Android tablets are about to go 2.0 with new releases just in time for the coming shopping season.  

I'm fairly certain this will put a lot of pressure on segment of consumer tech products - namely TV and PCs.  

In this BBC post, analysts expect Samsung to recover the rest of the year based on sales of their mobile devices - the Galaxy lines of phones and tablets.  

See what I mean?

False Alarm - Steve Jobs Not Attention Executive Conference; But I'll See Him At the Next iPhone Unveiling

According to Macdailynews, Steve Jobs is set to join a retreat with executives from other companies.  I don't' know about that but I think this is a good sign, eh?

The only problem is that the Bloomberg post they sourced from was from a year ago.  They had me all excited.  Really really excited.  That was what I was gonna share with you.

But so what? I fully expect Steve to be at the official unveiling of the next iPhone in August or whenever Apple deems it the right time to do so.  

Here's another thing. My experience so far is that thorn at people's sides are hard to get rid of.  And Steve Jobs has been a thorn at the side of a good many companies across vast disciplines.  And I'm pretty sure he'll be a pain-in-the-ass for these guys for a long time to come.

Source: MacDailyNews, Bloomberg 

Green and iPhone - It's All In the Apps

Just as much as I like to talk about the iPhone, I am also very passionate about trying to be as carbon neutral as possible. Living in LA, it's very hard. With my busy schedule, it's mostly one small step at a time for me. Buying locally grown food. Taking public transportion despite a fifty-fifty chance that I may throw up each time I step onto a bus or train. Then I came across this list of five iPhone apps for staying or trying to stay green as it is in my case.

I particularly like Carbon Tracker, which tracks your carbon footprint, and Green Genie, a social network for green, recycling, and conservation efforts. I think I'll go ahead and download the other three. The Green Gas Saver isn't for me but I think I'll give it a chance anyway.

How about Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phones users? Any good apps you can suggest for other users

Source: Cleantechnica.

Looks Like Google Plus Is Now Accepting Invitations (Updated: It's gone again)

Update: Looks like I spoke too soon. I managed to get about 10 people in before the icon disappeared. I've managed to get most people who requested a Plus invitation in but there a few left still. Again, if you want one and have a bit of patience, let me know and I'll do what I can to put you through.

Looks like Google is allow Plus members to invite people. There is no loop hole required this time.

I don't know how long this will last but if you want one, e-mail me at at paul.public.acct@gmai.com sooner rather than later. Or if you know someone who has Plus, beg for an invitation from your friend.

Exodus from Facebook continues.

Spotify Accepting US Sign-Ups

Hello, everyone!  It's a new day!

Spotify is now accepting sign-ups for services.  Here is the link to their sign-in page.  And yes, I've already put my name forth.  

I started using this a while back, courtesy of Dave the Mobile Warrior who helped me set it up.  

No pricing has been announced but expect it to be free for a few hours of streaming and if you can't get enough of it, you can sign up for a subscription.  According to Macrumors, €5 to €10 per month for European users.  I think we'll see about $10.  But to do well, I think they would need to go as low as $5 a month.  After all, you already get Netflix streaming for $8 a month.  It would not make sense for a music service to cost more than video streaming.

So, what are you waiting for.  Sign up now!

Note:  Remember those unlimited data plans I mentioned yesterday that are going away.  They're pretty handy when I needed to catch up on some TV shows.  Now with music streaming, those plans are even more valuable.

Another Note:  Amazon and Google both offer music lockers for users to stream their own music while Apple will have iTunes Match for $25 a month that allows users to store their music in the cloud.  I love competition!