When visiting my new favourite website yesterday, I noticed the toolbar at the foot of the site which has lots of interactive features. Once I did a ‘view source’ and tracked the toolbar down to Wibiya, I signed up for a beta invitation so I could get in on some of this action and test it out. 24 hours later my invitation came through.

Once logged into the Wibiya Dashboard you can start setting up your toolbar. You’ll find a number of applications you can add to it such as Facebook Community, site and web search, live notifications, twitter gadget, sharing tool, photo gallery and more. Once you have set those up you can choose a toolbar theme to match your website. There’s quite a selection to choose from…

As you can see from the screenshot below, visitors can also translate the site into up to ten other languages, aswell as search the site, view recent posts or generate a random post…

By clicking the ’share’ button you can share the post on up to 11 popular social networking and bookmarking sites including Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed. If you don’t want to see the toolbar then you can simply click on the down arrows at the right of the bar which will hide it…

Installing the toolbar is easy. You can select to Install on Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad or other blog platforms. For Wordpress you add a small piece of code to footer.php in your theme and you’re ready to go.

For those that enjoy offering their visitors various ways of sharing their content and interacting with them, Wibiya seems to be a fast and easy way to do so.

Today is iPhone 3GS launch day. So, you’ve probably picked up your new shiny device and are wondering what wonderful productive and time-wasting apps you can download to fill it to it’s capacity. Let me help you.

Here’s a list of some must-have apps, for every iPhone user.

Tweetie [iTunes] : If you have a twitter account then you need this. Don’t try or buy the others because like me you’ll only regret having spent more than you need to: Tweetie does it all with a beautiful and uncluttered interface. The best twitter app bar_none. Great price of £1.79 to boot. Tweetie for Mac is also available.

Shazam [iTunes] : The gem of the app store if you are a music lover. How many times has that DJ played a song on the radio and doesn’t mention who the artist is? For me Shazam is a DJ in my pocket – he knows pretty much all there is to know about every song ever made, almost! If you hear a song on the radio and don’t want to take a chance on waiting to see who’s behind it, just fire up Shazam, point it to the speakers and press Tag Now. It will listen to the song, send it, analyze it and bring you back the results with name of the artist and track. There are rare occasions where the results come back as unrecognised, but 99 times out of 100 it does it’s job. And it’s free.

QuickPigeon [iTunes] : This is a new app for me and I have yet to see whether it can be something I will use regularly, but is an awesome idea which is what gets it on my list – along with the fact it has push notifications especially for iPhone OS 3.0. Say you want to ask a friend something which requires a Yes or No answer, such as “Coffee at 1?”. You fire up QuickPigeon, ask the question, pick ‘members’ (that’s people in your address book) click on their e-mail address and then it will send that question to them via HTML e-mail and when they hit the Yes or No button then it will send that notification straight back to you, like so…

If I can get my other iPhone friends to install this (hint hint), which is absolutely free, then I could see this proving handier and much quicker than going into Mail app to ask a simple question. You can watch a video demonstrating it’s usefulness here.

Peggle [iTunes] : After reading a review of Peggle and then downloading the trial version for the Mac, it was 10 minutes in before I bought this for the iPhone. A wonderfully addictive game which just keeps you going back if you fail to get through a game. I completed the Adventure in around a week and now I’m desperate for Peggle 2. If you aren’t entirely sure what Peggle is all about, like I was, then I recommend downloading the Mac or PC version so you can get the hang of it. Peggle costs £2.99 in the app store.

Chop Sushi [iTunes] : From one addictive game to another. I’m on my second round of the Adventure stage and this game NEVER gets old. Great music, great colourful graphics and characters. Tom wrote an indepth review of this game over at tomacintosh.com, complete with screenshots. Priced at £1.79 for the full version with Lite version also now available to try it out.

Convertbot [iTunes] : Aside from this being one useful little app for converting everything from currency, length, speed, temperature and more, Converbot has a beautiful sleek interface. An app just to fire up for it’s sounds and UI. Thankfully this app has beauty and brains for just £1.19.

Paper Toss [iTunes] : if you’ve ever sat in the office bored, rolled up a piece of paper and see if you can throw it into the nearest rubbish bin then this is for you. Strangely addictive – and free.

FStream [iTunes] : Great app for listening to radio stations on your iPhone – even the BBC stations. Read my indepth review here.

IM+ [iTunes] : Now, I’m not the biggest IM-er in the world admittedly. Infact I can count on two fingers the amount of times I’ve opened iChat this year. But, it’s good to be prepared for any eventuality and IM+ is the nicest Instant Messaging app for the iPhone. I grabbed this for the sale price of £2.99 earlier in the year and at the time of writing it’s at the sale price of £3.49. This has push notifications, so is OS 3.0 compatible.

SKY News [iTunes] : I was pleased to finally see an app for SKY News for the iPhone as it’s the news channel I tend to watch. Excellent app with Top Stories, UK News, Sport, Business News and more. Also includes a video section and ‘Your Report’ so you can snap a photo of a potential newsworthy story and send it directly to SKY News from the app.

Instapaper [iTunes] : With Tweetie having Instapaper integration so I can save links my contacts have tweetes to look at another time, Instapaper Free is a great solution for me. Basically it’s saving web pages for offline reading later. Instapaper for your browser too!

So, those apps should keep you going for a little while. My faves list changes all the time with wonderful new apps being introduced regularly, but the above are with me all the time. Touch Arcade is a great resource for discovering newly released games and price drops of existing games.

It’s been 9 months since I bought my iPhone 3G on o2 and chose the £35 per month tariff which got me 600 inclusive minutes, 500 texts and unlimited data. As a fairly low user it came as no surprise that I wasn’t even touching the edges of this allowance each month.

With o2 in the UK, we can downgrade our tariff after 9 months. So, last week I called o2 and downgraded to the £30 per month tariff which gets me 75 inclusive minutes, 125 texts and unlimited data. As you can see there is quite a big leap in allowance between the two tariffs for the sake of £5, but it’s better off in my pocket than o2’s. I’m sure the £30 per month tariff will be more than enough, but it’s good to know that I can upgrade again at anytime if my usage increases especially since MMS uses 4 SMS messages. I think popping back up to the £35 per month tariff may come sooner than I anticipated

Which brings me neatly to the iPhone 3GS that was released today. AT&T in the USA and o2 in the UK released their pricing and eligibility for upgrade details shortly after the Apple event at WWDC last week. Unlike July 2008 when existing iPhone 1st gen customers could upgrade to the iPhone 3G by simply signing another new 18 month contract, customers must now wait until their current contract expires before being eligible for an upgrade, or they can pay up their existing contract and then sign a new contract for the iPhone 3GS.

As the features of the iPhone 3GS were being announced at the Apple event, the improved 3MP camera and video was something I was very pleased to hear. However, since my current contract doesn’t end until March 2010 then I don’t have the eligibility to upgrade right now. However, o2 have outlined ways of getting the new device, one of which would be to pay the remainder of your monthly line rental in one payment and sign a new Pay Monthly contract. Not an attractive option for me with 9 months left, but also signing a new 18 month contract means when the next new iPhone is released next June I wouldn’t be eligible for that one, which is bound to carry even more new great features than the 3GS, plus a new design I’m betting.

The other alternative is to buy the PAYG iPhone 3GS 16GB for £440, pop in my existing pay monthly SIM and then sell my 3G. That means I own the phone outright and my contract ends next March as usual, leaving me free to get the new iPhone in Summer 2010 (and sell the 3GS). This is a far more attractive offer and very many of my online friends have opted for this so they can have the latest and greatest device today. This is the route I would likely take, should I decide to get the 3GS.

Have you bought the new iPhone 3GS today? Are you going to buy yourself out of your contract? Wait until your 18 month contract has expired? Or like me are you considering the PAYG iPhone + your existing SIM?

The much anticipated iPhone OS 3.0 landed this evening at approximately 6pm, British Summer Time. Everything went smoothly for me which I most definitely wasn’t anticipating, given that major releases usually cause the iTunes servers to collapse and curl up into the foetal position. However, I know the updating procedure didn’t go smoothly for everyone, with some reporting activation errors and a 2-3 hour wait before everything was complete.

Something else that I wasn’t expecting to be activated so quickly was MMS by o2. I received a text message, then an MMS message from o2 shortly after applying the 3.O software update letting me know that picture messaging was ready to use. I didn’t need to do anything to get that message, it came to me automatically. I know there has been some confusion over whether a persons iPhone is set up and ready to go with MMS, but you should receive this message when you’re good to go.

o2 tweeted this evening…

Huge backlog of requests for MMS. We are working as fast as we can to process the requests and everyone should be set up within a few hours (via @o2)

I’ve sent and received several MMS this evening and although I had initially thought it would be a feature I wouldn’t use much, now I’m not so sure. It is pretty convenient for sending photos quickly to people that you know haven’t got regular access to their e-mail accounts – or an e-mail account at all!

UPDATED

I’ve had a lot of people asking how I got MMS activated on my iPhone so quickly. To my knowledge I didn’t do anything. However, I know that I did activate Find My iPhone on my phone which may be purely coincidental (settings > mail, contacts, calendars > clicked on my MobileMe account > switched on Find My iPhone). Then I logged into me.com and clicked ‘Find My iPhone’ which located my phone. It wasn’t long after that when o2 sent me confirmation that MMS was activated.

Now, that may or may not play any part in activation, but worth a try if you still haven’t been set-up. I would recommend a call to o2 if you are still waiting for activation, just so they can investigate. There have been no further updates from o2 on twitter.

Another update: Twitter friend Sam received text from o2 stating…

“We know you’re waiting for MMS activation; you should be set up in a few hours”.

More of my twitter friends are reporting having received this message now. Hope everyone will be firing on all MMS cylinders by this evening

With the WWDC 09 Apple event tomorrow, I am getting increasingly excited about what we will be seeing. I don’t follow the rumour sites intensively thesedays as I would rather like a surprise, although to be fair it does seem like the iPhone will be getting all of the attention. More about that in a moment.

My laptop needs have always been fairly low. My main machine is a 20in iMac which I use 95% of the time. I also have a 15in PowerBook G4 that is perfect for using in the garden, on the sofa or in bed. However, the 1hr 30min to 2hrs that the battery charge used to last me for is declining rapidly, meaning I’m lucky to squeeze half an hour out of it. Unless I want to trail the power supply around the house with me then it’s not really practical anymore and I feel will soon be redundant.

So, my thoughts turn to netbooks. A perfect alternative to my aging PowerBook. I know there are small machines out there which are capable of running OS X – the Hackintosh, but I want something legit. An Apple computer running OS X. I’m a stickler for the genuine article.

My needs, like with most people in the netbook market, are really quite basic and leisurely. The ability to check my e-mail in Apple Mail, surf the web in Safari, chat with iChat and mess around in Photo Booth with an integrated iSight (this for the younger family members, obviously!!). A small 10-incher which is light and portable would be perfect. I am not particularly bothered about touchscreen as that would just send the price up.

As for the price range, I think for a netbook I’d be more than happy to pay anything up to £500. When we’re talking basic and leisurely needs I think it needs to be aggressively priced otherwise you’ll have people thinking they may aswell just plump up a bit more cash and go for the MacBook. £449 would be a great price, I think.

Since there have been no rumours, to my knowledge, of an Apple Netbook imminent then I doubt we’ll see anything of the sort tomorrow. All the news seem to point towards the new iPhone and some of the rumours I have heard are pretty exciting, although how much of those will materialize remains to be seen. I think a front facing camera for video iChat would be very well received. I don’t so much do video chats, but I would love to see an iPhone Photo Booth app if we do get the front facing camera…again for the young family members to play with that I alluded to before Ahem.

So, let’s see what tomorrow brings. Aside from what I mentioned above, I would also love to see the unveiling of Steve Jobs back on stage as the ‘one more thing’, but that’s just a personal request that will unlikely be fulfulled!

What are you hoping for tomorrow?

Panic, the makers of shockingly good Mac software are having a 3-day sale from 12:01 AM PST May 27th through to 11:59 PM PST May 29th. Coda, Transmit, CandyBar, and Unison all have a massive 50% off.

I’ve been looking around for a canvas art print for my home office to brighten the place up, but everything felt so manufactured and common. I wanted something a little bit unique, something that wouldn’t be hanging on everyone else’s wall.

That’s when I decided to look at myself. What was stopping me from grabbing a blank canvas, some paints and my creativity? I’m quite handy in the art department when I put my mind to it The tools for the job cost me around £20. That’s for a canvas, a big box of acrylic paints and pack of 15 paintbrushes. I got down to it this afternoon and this is the result.

For my first time painting on canvas with acrylics I’ve got to say I’m pretty pleased with this. I shall be finding a suitable wall to hang it tomorrow. Now that I’ve mastered the technique, I rather have the taste for creating some more of my own artwork and it won’t all be Apple though I’m sure. But, I do think a favourite iPhone app logo on a black background would look quite striking. But which one? Stay tuned.

At the end of February I wrote about ordering the Finder icon pillow from Throwboy and the positive (and friendly) experience when doing so. Two weeks into my home renovations, my beautiful pillow arrived. It was a bittersweet occasion. There it was infront of me but because I was elbow deep in dust and debris I couldn’t open it from it’s plastic wrap for fear of it getting harmed.

It wasn’t until 10 days later that I could finally remove it from it’s plastic bag and give it a jolly good squeeze. It was worth the wait. These things are *so* well made.

I know many people have commented on both Flickr and Twitter in the past few days when sharing photos and have asked me where this wonderful pillow comes from, how big it is, how soft it is, etc…! So, here is a little FAQ just for you:

Where can I order one? Throwboy.com
How much was it? $29 (+ $8 shipping to UK)
How big is it? The Finder icon pillow is 11 inches by 9 inches.
Is it really soft and cuddly? Yes, 100% fleece with polyester fiber filling. Very squishy and huggable!
Was it easy to order? Yes, very simple order procedure and very friendly service from Throwboy.
Would you recommend them? Absolutely, infact I’m thinking of ordering another pillow but can’t decide which one to go for!
How long did it take to arrive? I ordered on February 24th and got notification of shipping on 3rd April – it arrived at my door on 8th April.

I know from some comments I’ve received on other sites that people are a little put off by the 3-6 weeks estimated for shipping due to the fact that they’re handmade. My response would be don’t be. The sooner you order, the sooner you will have it in your hands. It’s well worth the wait – the time absolutely flew by for me and just think how great it will look alongside your Mac set-up or on your sofa/chair/bed. It’s the ultimate Mac Geek Accessory

Yesterday Tweetie for Mac was released. It was the application many of us Twitterers-on-a-Mac fanatics have been ancitipating following the sneak-peek video posted on their site a few days ago. It didn’t disappoint and within 5 minutes of downloading and testing, I had purchased it for $14.95.

My requirements for a desktop Twitter client have always been pretty simple: the ability to quickly see @ replies and Direct Messages and search the public timeline within the app, the way one can in Tweetie for iPhone. I regularly miss @ replies in Twitterrific unless I scroll through the list of tweets. With Tweetie I’ll never miss an @ again thanks to the blue indicator shown in the left hand menu bar of the client window.

Of course, Tweetie for Mac comes with many more features. Things I never thought I’d need but of course now that I have them I’m wondering how I managed without them, such as the viewing of images without having to crank up Safari or leave the app itself, view my contacts credentials and see whether they are following me back, all by simply double clicking their icon…

I can even stop following that person within Tweetie, not that I’d ever want to stop following the lovely @chrisdejabet, mind you

There’s not much about Tweetie for Mac that needs improvement, in my eyes, apart from a refresh button without having to go to the menu bar > Twitter > Refresh. I’d also like to see what the current refresh rate is. I’m thinking 3 minutes but it’s a bit hard to tell and there’s no way of changing the default.

Tweetie for Mac is $14.95 for a 2 week introductory period, until May 4th. After that you’ll pay $19.95. You can, of course, download and use the app completely free, as long as you don’t mind ads. The great thing about purchasing Tweetie is the license which allows you to use the app for all your Twitter accounts on as many computers as you (personally) own. How awesome is that?

You can view all of the features on the Tweetie for Mac site. If you have any questions about the app before you buy then feel free to drop me a line in the comments section.

Today is the first weekday in 21 days that I have been able to get up post-6am and do what the hell I wanted with my day. Yes, the electrical rewire and subsequent repair work finally came to an end yesterday. I’m a few pounds (in weight) lighter and also a few pounds (in sterling) lighter. Not quite so happy about the latter!

When I wrote about the impending rewire last month, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on what was about to happen, what the disruption would be and what kind of mess I’d be met with each day. I’d been briefed by the team who were about to kick seven shades out of my house and believed I’d prepared myself sufficiently. I was actually way off. These past 3 weeks have been some of the most stressful in my life. Living out of boxes for 3 weeks, coming home to clouds of dust, broken walls, broken floors, men in and out of my house as if they owned it. Relentless work for 21 days, 8am to 4pm daily.

Now that I have my privacy back I now have the task of re-decorating every room that was affected. That is every room in the house, every wall and every (upper) floor. The lucky room to get attention first is, unsurprisingly, the home office. One of the things I have missed desperately during these past 3 weeks is my routine and structure. The home office was always my cocoon to get things done and focus. Not having that place to escape has been extremely draining – instead I’m having to sit in a broken shabby room with my PowerBook on my knee, looking around at a sea of cardboard boxes and ripped wallpaper. Not a chance of me being productive or creative, not that I’ve needed to be, mind you.

So, that’s where I’m at right now. Painting of skirting boards have been done today, tomorrow and the rest of the weekend will be repairing walls (covering with wallpaper), emulsioning said wallpaper, laying a new wood floor and fitting a new door. I hope to be back in The System Attic early next week.

One of the things I will do when I’m moving my things back in is hug my iMac. Next Monday will be exactly one month since we parted and I have so many gifts to present it with from the MacHeist Bundle I bought a few weeks ago. All year I waited patiently for the bundle and it was released on the eve of my rewire when the iMac was packed away. What are the chances?

My posts here, naturally, have been greatly reduced and affected during my downtime. I didn’t have regular internet access for 2 weeks as my router was packed away and my only source for getting net access was the iPhone. I had hoped to write occasionally, but inbetween the work I had only a few hours to eat, drink, shower and sleep and that’s pretty much all I wanted to do. Once I’m settled back into my office then I hope to get my writing routine back as soon as.