1) Metro Vacuum DataVac: this is leaps and bounds beyond using compressed air.  An electric duster gives you more power and an even stream of air.  It also will never run out like compressed air, and won’t leave any residue.  Just be careful you don’t blow anything away during use.

2) Desiccant Silica Gel: after applying a protector, there may be some moisture trapped between the screen and the protector.  Using a desiccant tool like this will absorb any residual moisture and help form an amazingly tight seal.  An added bonus is that when the gel stops working effectively, you can just stick it in the oven to recharge it.

3) Screen Cleaning Kit: it is important to have good screen cleaning solution and an excellent cloth that won’t leave any residue.  I’d recommend a set like this.  It helps to have several cloths, so the whole operation can rest on one, and then you have another to use to clean and wipe the screen.

Hopefully you’ll find this equipment helpful.  To read my comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to apply a screen protector perfectly, click here.

1.  Pick out a good protector. This means that it should be thick, and probably not the cheapest.  This becomes especially important with portable video game systems, which are plagued by sub-par peripherals.  I like Boxwave, Invisible Shield, and Power Support.

2. Be careful with the protector as you take it home. One of the main reasons that a protector doesn’t apply well is that it becomes slightly bent, and won’t adhere well.  Be sure to keep it flat until you’re home.

3. Prepare your workspace. The biggest key ingredient here is a flat space with lots of light.  Light is critical so that you can be sure to spot any flecks of dust in advance.  I like to lay down a shami on the table.  Shamis are well suited because they are soft, water-absorbent, and don’t generate lint nor hold much dust.

4. Wash your hands. before you start the process, make sure your hands are clean.

5. Clean the device. I recommend using glasses cleaner and special lens cleaning cloth.  You never want to use a towel during the process, since it will leave little bits of cloth and don’t wipe away evenly.  You should probably go through cleaning the device down twice to be certain everything is clean.  I recommend using a small circular motion with the cloth.

6. Blow away any dust. Use a can of compressed air and blow away any small bits on the surface of the device.  Be sure not to shake or hold the can upside down, as that can shoot the liquid onto the screen.  IF this does happen, just wipe it back down.  Really examine the device under the light from different angles and be absolutely certain there is no dust on the device.

7. Remove the screen protector. This is when you remove the screen protector’s protective film in advance of application.  be careful to not nick the protector with your fingernail when you’re removing the film cover, since this can cause it to not apply evenly.  Once the thin film is removed you should be very careful to not touch the side that will be in contact with your screen, since it will absord and oils or grease on your fingers and ruin the clean application.

8. Spray down the protector and surface of the device. This is perhaps the least well-known step in applying a screen protector.  You should spray both the device and the protector (the side that will be in contact with the device) with the glasses cleaner.  You don’t want to over-douse each piece, but you want a good layer of lubricant on each.  The liquid layer helps with alignments and making sure there aren’t bubbles.

9. Apply the protector. Be careful to line it up well with the device.  When you have it aligned, you should have enough liquid between the two pieces for the protector to float on the device, which should give you the chance to adjust it a bit.  Now you should take a credit card and squeegee away the liquid.  Be careful to hold it in place at the starting point so the squeegeeing doesn’t cause the protector to slide around.  You have to be very thorough at this step to make sure you are getting all of the liquid out.

10. Let it sit. That’s it!  If you worked carefully and took your time you shouldn’t have any bubbles.  However, there might be a bit of liquid left that needs to evaporate, so be sure to let it sit for several hours.  It may take up to a day for it to be completely set.

Good luck!

So I am now an owner of the new “iPhone 3G”.  I picked up the white version (it matches my Nintendo DS), and am digging the high-speed internet acccess and location-based services.  The main attraction, however, is the application platform.  I love Yelp, Shazam, and a bunch of others that are really making the iPhone more of a tiny computer to me, and less of a phone.

Perhaps this exists, but one app I would love to see is one that turns my phone into a wireless modem.  Back when I was in college I had a Sony-Ericsson T610 that I could tether to my Mac and use to connect my laptop to the internet while I was taking the train to and from school.  With the iPhone, my understanding is that it doesn’t support OBEX, which is a bluetooth protocol necessary for dial-up networking.  However, the iPhone does have wifi, and I have seen apps using Apple’s Bonjour zero-config networking protocol.  It seems possible to create an app that would share my iPhone’s 3G data plan with my laptop via wifi.  I haven’t dug through my terms-of-use with AT&T, so perhaps this isn’t possible, but it would be incredibly useful.

My favorite instant messaging client on the Mac is Adium. It is a robust open-source project that supports a variety of IM protocols (Yahoo!, AIM, MSN, etc.) all from one client. I have been a loyal user for years, but the depth of the product features continues to present me with surprises.

The most recent discovery I stumbled across by accident one day when I was trying to do a “Spotlight” search. It turns out that all you need to do to search your contacts is start typing a query. For people like me, this is a great way to avoid scrolling through a lengthy list for the right person. Enjoy!

I recently came across this handy tip for the Mac OS I wanted to share.  This hint comes courtesy of my friend, Hans, who in turn discovered it through his mother.  So now I am passing it along to you…

On a Mac, you can use the “F4″ or “F5″ keys to change the volume.  However, these adjustments are always accompanied by a little chirp to help you gauge the levels.  While this might be useful in certain scenarios, there are also situations where you would rather not have to hear the quasi-quacking noise.  In these moments, hold down “shift” while raising or lowering the volume.  You will still be presented with the visual cues, but will get your alteration without having to listen to the accompanying sound.  Enjoy!

After getting the Mini, the first thing I did was snag the right cables and accessories. This included a DVI <–> HDMI cable, the Apple wireless keyboard, and the Apple Mighty Mouse. With these gizmo’s, I was ready to enjoy some couch-browsing. This is when the first problem arose. I realized I was out of HDMI ports. This problem was compounded by the fact that my receiver doesn’t handle HDMI switching and was out of digital inputs. After a great deal of searching, I found a company called “Octava” that makes this wonderful product. The fantastic thing about their HDMI switcher is that it switches digital-optical signals as well. I ordered one immediately.

After the switch I arrived I got everything hooked up and was ready to rock. Actually, I wasn’t. You see, the DVI-to-HDMI setup was causing severe overscan issues (where the pixels extend out of the visible area of the screen). In order to correct the overscan, I had to spend way too many hours tweaking with SwitchResX. I finally found a custom set of settings that corrected most of the overscan. Alright, so now I was ready to sit back and enjoy some quality Front Row time.

All of my machines are now running Leopard, which features a fantastic VNC-style client built in called “Screen Sharing”. I was using this feature to manage my Mac Mini while watching my PVR etc. This caused another problem. Apparently, when the Mac Mini senses that it has lost a video output signal, it automatically goes to sleep. This meant that every time I switched from the Mini’s input on my TV onto any other input the Mini would go to sleep, kick me off remotely, and have to be revived via mouse to work headlessly. I also use this Mac as a fileserver and a webserver, so this was not an acceptable solution. After some great tips in the Apple support forums, I was pointed in the direction of this product from Gefen. The “DVI Detective” fools a computer into thinking that a display is always connected precisely to prevent this kind of problem. I went ahead and ordered it, and hopefully this will solve the last of my problems.

Despite these setup woes, it is really fantastic having a HTPC. Front Row rocks on the big screen, and it is like having a super-useful Apple TV. I set up some automated backups, and it mirrors my complete iTunes library. Now I can finally catch up on my backlog of “TED Talks”, and thanks to the excellent codec pack, Perian, my Mini can handle most any audio/video format you can throw at it.

Well, enough blogging. Back to enjoying some excellent music courtesy of Jack Rose.

I have found myself recently spending a fair bit of time in hotel rooms, and am certainly not a fan of the standard sub-par programming, nor do I want to line LodgeNet’s pockets by paying for their content. Luckily, I had the right equipment around to create my own portable VCR of sorts.

The main components are:

1. an iPod with video compatibility
2. Handbrake conversion software
3. a video output cable
4. a universal remote

The first thing you need is stuff to watch. You can get a great deal of content from the iTunes store, but Handbrake helps you get your DVD’s ready for the road by converting them into an iPod-friendly format (I should point out that while Handbrake could be used for the forces of evil and cause the MPAA to come break down your door, you should only use it in legal, law-abiding ways). Handbrake has a variety of settings to help you quickly jump into the world of video transcoding, but feel free to play around to get the quality you want.

Once you have your videos ready, you can load them onto your iPod through iTunes. Then you can hook your iPod up to your hotel room’s TV with a video output cable. These can be purchased at any Apple Store or through their website, as well as at many electronics retailers. Not every hotel offers auxiliary video input on their televisions, and so this is why it is critical to choose your hotels based on the TV models in the rooms.

Now, here is the clever part: bring your own universal remote. This is key, because many hotels use proprietary remote controls that lack the “TV/Video” button that you need to switch the input. You can use any old universal remote, but this “spy remote” looks especially cool.

Well, there you have it. Go forth and enjoy being liberated from the shackles of crappy hotel programming.