Avoid Google+ lock-in by using Picasa with Dropbox

#“Avoid Google+ lock-in by using Picasa with Dropbox” We all know that Picasa Web Albums will be shut down in 2013. Or given a lobotomy and renamed to Google+ Photos. But desktop Picasa is a decent enough photo management tool that you can use without any reference to Picasa Web or Google+. And Dropbox is fab. However I find the Dropbox photo import mechanism both unreliable and crude. Everything gets dumped into one folder, and that’s when it works at all. »

Author image Conor O'Neill

Adam Savage's home office cabinet - Wow.

#“Adam Savage’s home office cabinet - Wow.” I’m having a fantastic time watching Adam and the gang on tested.com. The older kids are enjoying some of them too. The omelette episode caused 11yo Oisn to make his first ever omelette and I fully expect Adam to announce Dishbusters soon. But this cabinet. I kept saying “no way” throughout. Just watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0rX7t1J0Q p.s. And I am so getting a Success Kid model. »

Author image Conor O'Neill

Amazon 'Send to Kindle' should be built on RSS to replace Google Reader

#“Amazon "Send to Kindle" should be built on RSS to replace Google Reader” I’ve seen a few mentions today of a new “Send to Kindle” button that you can add to your site/blog. It means people can send clips of your web content to their fave e-reader. It just struck me that Amazon is missing a serious trick with the Kindle here. An RSS-based reader which works on E-ink, Fire, Android and Cloud Reader could be something awesome. »

Author image Conor O'Neill

My Second Spring Cleaning

#“My Second Spring Cleaning” Were living in a new kind of computing environment. Everyone has a device, sometimes multiple devices. Its been a long time since we have had this rate of changeit probably hasnt happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago. To make the most of these opportunities, I need to focus otherwise I spread myself too thin and lack impact. So today I’m announcing some more closures, bringing the total to 70 Google features or services closed since my spring cleaning began in 2011: »

Author image Conor O'Neill

My 1.37 Shrimp Computer

#“My \u00a31.37 Shrimp Computer” I heard about the Shrimping It project a few months ago and loved it immediately. Based in Morecambe in the UK (hence the name), it’s an initiative to get Arduino compatible boards in the hands of anyone for less than 2. I couldn’t resist and ordered the necessary ATMega chip plus Xtal from Farnell in Ireland along with the usual cheapo bits from DX in China. »

Author image Conor O'Neill

A simple tool to bulk import your RunKeeper data into Endomondo

#“A simple tool to bulk import your RunKeeper data into Endomondo” UPDATE 17th Aug 2013: The tool should now be able to import Sports Tracker files into Endomondo too. TL;DR - Download the Windows RunKeeper to Endomondo tool. I’ve been using RunKeeper as my main mobile running app since January of last year. I liked it so much, I moved to the paid “Elite” tier pretty quickly. For almost a year, I really couldn’t fault it and liked the social interactions with other Irish users along with its rock solid stability. »

Author image Conor O'Neill

OpenVPN on Windows 8

#“OpenVPN on Windows 8” I’m two months using Windows 8 64-bit on my desktop and I’m still ok with it. The only real weirdness is a lot of disk churning even when nothing is happening. I turned off indexing but to no avail. The only major annoyance has been OpenVPN. Whilst it works fine when it’s on, the problem arises when I disconnect or shut it down. The routing gets all messed up and I cannot connect to any external site. »

Author image Conor O'Neill

Using a Wii Nunchuck instead of Cheese to control i-Racer RC car on @Raspberry_Pi and @Arduino

#“Using a Wii Nunchuck instead of Cheese to control i-Racer RC car on @Raspberry_Pi and @Arduino” Following up from the Cheese After the enormous attention that the Cheese Controlled Car got, my thoughts moved to what else we could use with the i-racer. Two immediately came to mind: the Wiimote and a mousepad. But both went in directions I didn't expect. I'll write up the mousepad at a later stage but this post is about the Wii. »

Author image Conor O'Neill