Ian Scott

Good news and bad news on the imminent 3G iPhone front. O2 apparently got another batch of 16 giggers in stock, since it’s currently accepting orders, while the 8GB remains out of stock, and both phones remain unavailable on the US and UK Apple Stores. More encouraging, however, is the new listing of an ‘iPhone Black’ model on AT&T’s account management site. There’s nothing else on the site to hint at specs or release or whether this is indeed the upcoming 3G iPhone, but it does fall in line with the word we have on a glossy black back for the much anticipated phone. Whether all this means we have weeks or months to wait is anyone’s guess, but there are plenty of encouraging signs out there for the true believers to cling onto.

(Via Engadget.)

Web site Mac OS X Hints details how to create an iTunes audiobook (i.e., an M4B audio file) from any text in just a couple of clicks. The process involves installing a new service to your Services menu, then selecting your to-be-audiobooked text and choosing AppName -> Services -> Speak to iTunes Audiobook. When the conversion is complete, the resulting audio file is automatically imported to iTunes in the Audiobooks section. The service uses the new Alex voice in Leopard, and the results are actually very listenable.

(Via Lifehacker.)

A laptop microphone can be pretty handy, but not all computers have them built in. Narae Inter’s Recorder Mini is a tiny microphone that will fit in any standard mini jack microphone port and pick up sounds within a 30-foot radius. Released only in Korea at the moment, we’re not certain about the price, but the magic of the internet could surely make the product part of your mobile arsenal. Like your USB hub. And your gun. [AVING via TechFresh]

(Via Gizmodo.)

To edit HTML- and CSS-code you only need a simple plaintext-editor — the rest depends on your skills and your creativity. However, to make your life a little bit easier, you can use some more comfortable source-code editors with advanced editing features. These features can effectively support you during coding, debugging and testing. Powerful modern editors provide developers with syntax highlighting, diff, macros, plugins, code-snippets, preview-option and an integrated FTP-management tool. Some editors go even further and offer a complete integrated development environment with numerous features and functions.

In the list below we present an overview of 35 established or rather unknown — but useful source code-editors; you’ll probably find ‘usual suspects’ — your favourite editor or the editor you’ve once been working with. But you’ll also find some rather unknown alternatives which are definitely worth considering when choosing an optimal source code editor.

Some of the ‘ancient’ text-editors such as EMacs or Vi are still alive and have achieved a remarkable level of quality over years. We’ve presented them below proving that sometimes it is really better to consider preferring a rather old editor to a ‘fresh’ one. The position of the editors in the list is rather random and doesn’t necessarily correspond to our personal evaluation of the editors. Please notice: even although this overview presents quite many editors, it doesn’t mention all of them.

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Todd Cochrane is the CEO of Raw Voice, a longtime podcaster at Geek News Central and helps connect podcasters with advertisers via his Blubrry podcast network.

He’s also known for having strong opinions, on topics ranging from the PodShow/Mevio name change to the quality of podcasters’ RSS feeds.

I asked Todd about his perspective on user-generated content and the state of podcasting:

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SIMable May Be Easiest Way to Unlock 3G GSM Phones [Cellphones]: “

A company called SIMable has produced a little chip that they call the ‘10-second solution’ for unlocking carrier-tethered GSM handsets. The gimmick is that, instead of unlocking the phone itself—and risking invalidation of your warranty— the chip works on the SIM card, provided you punch a hole in the SIM.

Yes, I said ‘punch a hole.’ The SIMable card lies flat against the SIM, and you first have to perform the following surgical procedure. At least the hole-puncher comes free with the £16.99 chip:

For certain 3G phones including the 8GB Nokia N95, Nokia E51, Sony Ericsson W200 and others to maintain ‘full 3G functionality,’ you will have to make an addition cut to the card itself:


It’s not clear if SIMable is shipping to the US, though there’s no reason to believe it wouldn’t work here. There’s also no mention of Apple’s iPhone on the site, although the Inquirer mentions it in the first paragraph of their own writeup. Hopefully SIMable is just getting around to that, after testing on 70 or so other, more popular phones.

Update: Corrections were made to the post following some clarifying comments (thanks!). As far as this being a copy of other products, that may very well be the case, although SIMable maintains that it is not:

NOTE - SIMable is not linked in any way to other similar products and enables full 3G functionality. We include a free customised cutting press ruling out any messing around with scissors.

[SIMable via The Inquirer]

(Via Gizmodo.)

The Belkin GoStudio is a portable podcasting studio designed to let you capture high-quality audio recordings on-the-go and then publish directly to iTunes when docked.

Features:

• Dock lets you record directly to your iPod
• Built-in microphone
• Built-in speaker for playback
• Inputs: Dual XLR,  1/4 in
• Battery powered
• Recording meter
• Gain control and a compressor/limiter

The Belkin GoStudio is expected to be available this summer.

(Via Podcasting News.)

On May 6, 1998 Apple announced the iMac. A new concept in computers, the all-in-one, sexy, translucent “bondi blue” iMac involved some very controversial design decisions that changed computing. Photographer Dave Ward teams up with model Dana for a photo-tribute to the ten-year-old iMac.

read more | digg story

Who Kicks More Ass: Batman or Iron Man?: “Batman is darker, has a tortured soul, rubber pants, and all those sexuality issues with Robin, but come on, does he have a stripper pole in his private plane? Of course not. And what about all the rest? Can he make his own gadgets without having to go run for help to daddy’s company? Can he let girls do their make-up while they look at his…”

(Via digg.)

Since starting to use Twitter more regularly I’ve been asked by quite a few readers for tips on how to grow the numbers of Twitter Followers. Today I’m going to give a few tips on how I’ve grown my own Twitter Follower numbers up over 5500 in the last few months:

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