I wouldn't give up on the Irish just yet. They'll likely be in the top 5 within the next two years as Clausen gains priceless experience as the starting signal caller. - James
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"Microsoft’s ‘I’m a PC’ Ads Created On Macs
September 19th, 2008
I'm A PC
Daniel Eran Dilger
After dumping its $10 million contract with Jerry Seinfeld after just three ads (only two of which even aired) Microsoft has created new ad copy where regular people and a few celebrities say, “I’m a PC!” One problem with the campaign’s credibility: the ad work was created using Macs.
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Flickr user LuisDS found that metadata on the creative copy of the “stereotyped PC user” and other photos appearing on Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” website revealed that they were produced using Macs running Adobe Creative Suite 3. One might expect that Microsoft would use Windows PCs running its own Microsoft Expression Studio software, which as the company advertises, “takes your creative possibilities to a new level.”
Apparently, neither Windows PCs nor Expression Studio are up to the task of taking on Apple and destroying its globe enshrouding “Get a Mac” campaign. The image of John Hodgman as a troubled PC struggling with Vista-re" - James
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IMHO the reason a GOOD review site is hard to find is that it costs the reviewer the price of the app/game before you even factor in the cost of the time to create the review. - Fox Tucker
maybe, but then there is iTMS affiliate programs and Google Ads.? So at least a "professional" version of someone using mechanical turk to gather resources… a niche market? who takes up the idea? - dekay
With the 5% commission from the iTMS, they'll be earning just 2 cents IF someone buys the app using the affiliate link. They'll need a shed load of 'buyers' to make it worth while. - Fox Tucker
…oops, they just need to be really heavy trafficked then ;) - dekay
Check out Kevin Rose's blog at kevinrose.com. He just reviewed Enigmo via a short video and explains how he is planning to do more in the future. Also, check out toucharcade.com which is a site run by the same urologist who founded and maintains the Macrumors site. - James
The iTouch (iPhone and iPod Touch) platform represents one of the best opportunities for any developer today. I haven't seen any sales data regarding the number of iPod Touche sold to date, but a conservative estimate would be that there are now well over 25-30 million iPhones and iTouches in the marketplace. Any talented coder would be crazy to pass up this opportunity. - James
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Blog fodder - Are there any coders that have have actually considered giving up on iphone/ipod touch? Of course not. techcrunch must have had a quiet news day when this was posted. - Fox Tucker
I think this is the best explanation that I've heard for the problems that I seem to be having. I just tried to update an app this morning and went into the "endless reboot loop". This has been happening more frequently as my installed app count grows. - James
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I don't get reboots but I've yet to do a batch of app upgrades that works the first time. I get stuck in a loop where I can't update apps and or can't copy them to my phone. So annoying. - Jon West
It seems as though the folks at Microsoft are finally admitting what many of us have known for years. Heck, most of the Photosynth team is probably running XP via Boot Camp, VM Ware's Fusion, or Parallel's offering anyway - I mean even the folks at MS are smart enough to not run Vista. - James
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Something doesn't seem right here. I'm not really noticing a difference in rendering speeds since I upgrade, although my 3G reception/speed has been great from the beginning. - James
I don't really consider my tastes obscure, but Shazam is successful at finding all but the most local and independant of artists. Midomi never worked for any of the music I tested it on. And I'm not really sure how to hum genres like martial industrial, ambient or EBM anyway. - Robert "Maverick" Haas
I think that's backwards. Midomi out, shazam in. Midomi can't recognize songs when they're played clearly let alone getting it right based on humming or me singing. Shazam is simple and has worked every time. - Jon West
Back to back Shazam just has better recognition. Plus on the upside if I ever do feel the need to just hum a song, its a free app so I can just use Midomi then. - Kevin Doyle
Well I'm gonna keep using midomi 'til it fails me. - Fox Tucker
Count me as one who prefers Shazam to Midomi. Shazam is much better at recognizing the music that I throw at it. - James
i love shazam and it amazes everyone i show it to. - sean808080
midomi sucks compared to shazam. 0/5 with midomi and 4/5 for shazam for grabbing stuff playing on the radio - Ryan
Has anyone else heard of the 3G having a substantially faster processor. Rated at 835 mHz for the 3G vs 620 mHz for the first gen iPhone. I realize that the ARM processor in the first gen was downclocked to 412 mHz, but this is a noteworthy difference if true. - James
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Are those putative analysts still doubting Apple's ability to reach the 10 million goal in 2008. Piper Jaffray seems to be the most rational of said analysts who follow Apple. - James
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you'd think they would have let us have 2.0 for all of TWO full days just for being good sports who bought the frakin' phone at $599, but NOoOooooooo - Robert Seidman
It sure would be nice if they did release the App store early. - Arlan Koizumi
I don't find it so bad now with the iphone. In the UK, orange used to have a service where a human operator would take a message and txt it to you. That was great. - Robin Barooah
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It all just rolls to my email inbox (and my mobile), so still has value. - Norman Guadagno
It's a must for me. I spend too much time in meetings not to have it since I'm an IT Consultant/Systems Integrator. For some people, I suppose it's not really useful anymore though. - Jason Huebel
only use it as an answering machine now... email has crushed it as a medium for group informing IMO - Tim Elliott
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I use YouMail, which sends me an email, sms and transcribes it. Yes, I use it. - Vince DeGeorge
Anymore? I have successfully avoided using it for many years. I never liked it to begin with. - Tom Harrison
Almost 100% email - why leave a voicemail when most people are instantly connected to email throughout the day. - Wayne Schulz
Voice mail is essential, because the most useful feature of a cell phone is the OFF button. - Dewald Pretorius
I find it most useful when I'm out and about in an area of poor coverage - Robin Barooah
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I have a friend who has forwarded his phone to his wife and lets her be his voicemail. He has done this more than once for weeks at a time, and loves it very much. - Tim Wright
@Dewald I couldn't agree more with you. Cellphones are electronic leeches. Voicemail allows us to disconnect ourselves from them when necessary. - Jason Huebel
I use it on my mobile phone. We don't have landlines at the office anymore. I also have it on my home landline, but that's hardly ever used now. People know the best way to get me is via mobile - voice or text, or even twitter DM, which goes to sms anyway. IM is another good way to get my attention. - jjprojects
completely turned it off and I tell people not to leave me a voice mail. been like this for years. - Loic Le Meur
does YouMail have ads or anything? I have a account but not sure if I want to switch?? - Aaron Myers
Coverage is so bad in south Louisiana that I can't go without it or I'd miss too much. - Garrett Guillotte
i use spinvox, i believe you covered it - converts voicemail to text messages & email - Zee from WeDoCreative
Visual Voicemail has made it bearable again but generally I try to avoid it all together. - David Recordon
Call my phone and you will get your answer: I hate voice mail. - Robert Scoble
I hope all the voice mail naysayers aren't the same rude people taking calls in the middle of a face to face conversation, or in a restaurant or any of the other places where calls annoy everybody around? - Brian Sullivan
my voice mail tells you to send me an email. :-) - Robert Scoble
I don't usually use the word 'never', so we'll just say that I 'hardly ever' listen to vm. - Sonciary Honnoll
No one actually calls me, although I might add that I don't personally like leaving voicemail messages. I e-mail people and people e-mail me - so much easier. - Cyvros/fyc
It gets emailed to me as an mp3. If I don't have your number in my phone, or you use Skype that comes up Unknown Numer or 0000012345 - you go to VM and I'll get an mp3 a minute later. - Aaron Brazell
Love YouMail. Let's you customize message to specific caller, as well as choose from many vanity messages, also selectable by caller. I spend at least 50% of my work day in meetings or conference calls so I have to have VM. - Kevin Shannon
You people are sad ;) Don't you have family members that call you? Doctors confirming appointments? The car repair place? The kids' school? I mean really, I'd prefer to talk to my grandparents on the phone, and if I didn't have voicemail (or if they didn't), I'd miss a lot of things... - Gabe Wachob
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@Aaron, there is a small ad with the email and transcript - at least I think - it's small enough or non-intrusive enough that I couldn't say for sure. For the voicemail portion, there are no ads that I've ever "heard." I've always been 100% satisfied with it - though please stay away from the corny greetings they offer and do your own. - Vince DeGeorge
Gabe if one of those people calls I call them back. No VM needed. - Robert Scoble
@Vince Some of the vanity messages are OK. I'm partial to the one with Pam and Michael from "The Office". I was considering the one that says "Due to the recent earthquake this call can not be completed", but it might scare the cr@p out of my mother.. - Kevin Shannon
We don't have a concept of voicemail in India.. and I hope VM doesn't catch up here. - Muthu Ramadoss
Of course I use voicemail. It's becuase I don't pick up the phone. - Gerard Barberi
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Text messages. They are faster and I get them when I'm in meetings. - Travis Murdock
I do have voicemail on my phone but everyone knows I never check it. They text or e-mail me if they really need me. I think I check my voicemail when I realize that I have about 10. - Candace Holly
I use email but a few of my clients still use my Grand Central number. - Jeff L.
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I don't mind voicemail, most people don't bother and text me. Trick is to stay on top of it and not let them pile up, unified messaging is nice. Visual Voicemail is one iPhone feature I did appreciate, when it worked. - Andrew Feinberg
I am completely off of voicemail at work and home, but still access it on my mobile, of course - John McCrea
I use youmail for my cell phone. I would use GrandCentral more if more people called me. - Christian Burns
I stll have it on cell and office but office forwards to email. Cell vm, I forget to check so most people don't bother. - Karen Swim
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Using PhoneTag (was Simulscribe) so just get emails and sms with transcript. Hardly ever need to listen to them and they just come in with the rest of my comms. Saves a heap of time. - Jed White
Likewise - Rolls to my inbox. Instantly screened .... delete ... delete .... :) - Charlie Anzman
I hate hate hate voicemail. Waste of time. Interface sucks. - Andy Wibbels
I get voice mail now and then and it sort of annoys me. I find email so much better for leaving messages. There's a place for phone conversations but voicemail ... I dunno. - AJ Kohn
I am trying to push people towards sending me text, but - Gabe Wachob
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Rarely does anything go to voice mail any more. Reading these comments makes me wonder why mine are note forwarded to my inbox. I need to do that. - Sal Distefano
I HATE voicemail, but it is a necessary evil for me. Visual Voicemail on the iPhone 3G should make things easier to manage for me, but I look forward to a voicemail-free future someday soon. - Granteezy
I don't use voice mail, I have a hearing difficulty... - Jack
I use voicemail but simply for work purposes! - Joe Dawson
i hate voicemail - why can´t people just send me an email? - Dieter Schwarz
i find it very useful with skype and also enjoy my cellular provider's free vm service. let's my buddies async messages pretty much like e-mail. greatly reduces callbacks on missed calls. time and money saver for me. - Berk D. Demir
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I use VM at work so little that I have to "refresh" my memory of the system. Consequently, I usually have about 18 or so messages in the hopper. Anyone important emails me. Most of the VM are from sales or recruiters - Robb
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if a person is not reachable, send SMS/email.. never felt the need for voicemail! - Rakesh
All my voicemail messages ask people to email me, as I'll be slow in responding to email. - Jeremiah Owyang
haha jeremiah - re-read what you wrote :) - Allen Stern
It sounds like Jeremiah is telling callers/emailers -- "Piss off I don't want to talk to you" ? or is it a typo ;-) - Brian Sullivan
all my friends know not to leave a msg and just hang up. We can see who called and if we want to know why, we will call back. - Jack Scalfani
iPhone and SpinVox are both great solutions. but truthfully I hate voicemail. - Sam Pullara
GrandCentral was a great concept but Google doesn't seem to have done anything with it since they bought it. A combination of their web-based voicemail and iphone-style voicemail would be ideal. - Charlie
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I use GrandCentral with email notifications that someone called me. If they're in my address book, it tells me who it was and I just call them back. I rarely actually log in to listen to the voicemails! - Kenneth LeFebvre
Come to think of it, I haven't used voicemail in months. - Carolyn
Visual Voicemail on the iPhone actually makes it very efficient for me. - James
for years now I have switched off voice mail and asked everybody I know to so the same, for two reasons: (1) it always ends up making users pay for more phone time: leaving the message + reading the message + calling back. Also, when a friend calls you and you are using voicemail, they are transferred to voicemail: more money for the phone company, less for your friend. And (2) with the existance of email and (if you want to pay extra) SMS, it just doesn't make sense to use voicemail anyway . - micronauta
voicemail *is* dead. just send me a txt or wait for me to call back. - Jon Price
I had to go through a torturous process to get my cell provider to switch off voice mail - voice mail while overseas is annoying and expensive, should be just an option on the phone itself - Chris Garrett
Just wait till your kid is a little older and running around. It'll be a non-stop workout - Jon Dillon
not sure if you saw my tweet...but in regards to your comment above...you may want to consider joining Gyminee. Its an amazing tool and your gym buddies will keep you motivated. Thats assuming if you are interested. - Carlos Ayala
been there done that robert ,, cycling and walking can be your best friends - johnpiercy
Robert: Congrats. I just started commuting to work via Bike again last week. Isn't it easy to lose sight of physical fitness? - Jon-Paul Bussoli
Congrats on your workouts. I'm in the same boat and trying to stay motivated for more than a week! Nice tip for Gyminee from Carlos :) Thanks. - kbourke
Check out "The Hacker's Diet". It worked for me anyway. - Fred Yankowski
@kbourke no problem at all...feel free to add me when you join up and ask me any questions if you have any. @cma3 on gyminee. - Carlos Ayala
just signed up at gyminee. looks kinda cool. i'll give it a try. my username is mattmusgrave if anyone wants to be my gymbuddy. http://tinyurl.com/5vrdou - Matt Musgrave
Limit your calories, sodium and no refined sugar and you'll fending off the ladies in no time! - Peter Simard
there is a twitter group on gyminee....most of the users in the group are slacking. i am not one of the slackers. :) - Carlos Ayala
eating right is the most crucial step in starting out a new path to losing weight. a bit of sacrifice, but you'll soon want to do it rather than feel like you have to do it. - Cee Bee
Just walking to work in the morning is decent exercise here in SF. Get fit now, Scoble. You need to stick around for your grandkids!! - Steve Lynch
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I just committed to running my 1st 5k in October, Robert. Let me tell you, I can't run. I am planning on learning between now and then, some on my own and then with a trainer. I don't know if I can do it, but I'm gonna try. Runners are always so healthy and strong! - Christine Cavalier
I'm going back to Atkins - it's the only thing that I can consistently do - but, oh how I miss the beer. - Vince DeGeorge
I've ignored my health for too long as well. Was running marathons 8 years ago and now I just sit, read and blog. Decided to jump in a 5k last minute a week ago and ran every day since. Get OUT and get UP everyone! :) - Kevin C. Tofel
Thank God, Robert. What you do now will stand you in good stead when you are my age. So there. - Francine Hardaway
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Robert if you need any help in this area, my offer from 2005 still stands. - shelisrael1
My daughter has lost 60 lbs after she started running. - Michelle Trent
Ok twitter pact to lose 10 lbs.???any takers? - Natallini
It's all about will power, that I don't have. :) - Aaron Myers
In my case the problem is not losing but gaining. I have been consistently underweight even when I exercised and ate correctly. - Andrés David Aparicio
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For me biking has been a good compromise(cross country skiing in winter but that isn't much of an issue for you). Can't stand the thought of a "gym", don't swim very well and running seems futile. Last week biked the Niagara Circle over three days (after a dozen or so shorter rides this spring). Sensible food (kind and quantity) also helped. - Brian Sullivan
Yeah, I'm off the smokes finally, now it's time to get healthy. I agree. - Jim Kukral
I am trying to go to the gym thrice a week as well.. Pants bought earlier in the year feels slightly tight already.. sigh.. - Winston Teo
Garbage in, garbage stay in. Watch what you eat. Excercise is overrated. Check out my flickr photo - a web developer can live a healthy life - Bryan Peters
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Robert and company: Keep your spirits HIGH and be good to yourself!! Remember, we're all sitting here on our BUTTS reading / writing all day on our computers... this is par for the course....so we're already at a disadvantage since we have so much "bench warming time" required in our jobs and even our fun time - Susan Beebe
Trying hard here too. I like livestrong's daily plate for tracking calories and exercise. Good luck on your goals everyone! - Julia
Apparently (my girlfriend is a physiotherapist) the biggest difference between "fat"/non-"fat" people is incidental exercise: walking up the escalator, running to answer the phone, standing up on the bus, etc. - Jon Tirsen
I think the biggest difference is more related to diet and making aerobic activity a priority 3-4 times a week. Standing up on the bus doesn't burn many calories. - James
Ill work out with you bud, just name the time and place. We can go for a walk, jog (HMB), or lift weights at Gold's Gym (I work out there) - Jeremiah Owyang
try yoga for flexibility. this will help your cardio and workout efforts as well. you know it works, check out kevin rose! - sean808080
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The elliptical is great for starting out. Low impact means less fatigue. - Benjamin Golub
I like swimming, it's a great way to escape the heat, very low impact to joints, and really relaxes me as well... love it! - Susan Beebe
Get a water rower. Great when weather is too bad outside for a run. - dennis d. mcdonald
exercise is good, but don't focus on it too much - QUALITY food is more important than quantity restrictions - Health Coach Harry
It really irks me that they are raising the price on the text plans. For example, the same 1500 SMS that I currently pay $10 will costs me $15 with the new iPhone. I'm thinking of just sticking with my 16 GB first gen iPhone Wi-Fi. - James
Louis - we're expecting some updates as you go along. I've got two, but separated by 2 1/2 years. Want to hear about the twin experience. - Hutch Carpenter
@Robert: Just created a 'Babyfeed' room. Working on inviting peeps. - April Buchheit
Congratulations! That is wonderful. Enjoy them! - Abby Martin
YEAH!! Congratulations to you and your *entire* family... Happy Day 1!! - Susan Beebe
louis, i just wanted to provide you with an analysis of how Matthew is doing so far - he was able to grab us 3 scoops away from the other west coast blogs. His content is good, sometimes I have to look out for the drool but he's doing well and I think at this rate he will be editor before he turns one! - Allen Stern
Fantastic! Very glad to hear the whole family is home. Good luck and let the chaos begin! - Rob Diana
Congratulations on the new additions to your family Louis. - James
tip: (probably already know this tho) load up iTunes with some good baby tunes and get the visualizer going, it works wonders for fussy parents, oops, I mean babies! You might even drool as well. (or is it just me) - TheMacMommy
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and I notice you're up at the same time as I (I have a 3 month old). Glad to hear all are happy louis - Jesse Stay
Er, that "happy" was supposed to be "healthy" - guess both work. I'm tired :-( - Jesse Stay
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Excellent news about everyone home now! - Joe Dawson
“Taxi driver has my iPhone. He is returning it. But, I learned my FriendFeed behavior is WAY DOWN because I don't have my iPhone (I interact with FriendFeed a LOT from my iPhone when I'm away from my computer). I hate my Nokia phone for doing the same thing. The Web sucks on other phones. ”
I lost my iPhone on Tuesday in a Taxi. The driver was cleaning out his cab and found it under his seat and called me a few minutes ago. Made me feel a lot better about humanity. I'll be sending him a nice reward. - Robert Scoble
You can say that again. Unfortunately for a lot of Europeans iPhone will be unaffordable. European operators and their scandalous subscription plans go straight against Apple's philosophy in my opinion. Maybe you could write about that Robert. - Rutger Blom
Rutger: I was talking with Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. She said she's getting rid of her iPhone as soon as Google's Android comes out. Think about that for a second and you have your answer right there. Apple is repeating the same mistakes that it made in 1989. - Robert Scoble
Have to agree. Even using the regular FF site (not the mobile version) is pretty sweet. - Jonathon
Yay! Taxi driver! I left my wallet in a Taxi in Brazil. He had a friend call me in the US (since he didn't speak English), and mailed me back my wallet. Some great people in this world... - Mitchell Tsai
cool on the ethical driver - i find myself using my iphone to access friendfeed a ton - mike "glemak" dunn
More often than not people do the good thing. We just hear about the bad more cause thats what TMZ likes to cover. Ha first time I ever referenced TMX please dont hate me \ - Cody Heitschmidt
Glad to hear there are some honest people left in this world. Wonder if he would have contacted Robert if there was not a reward? Or maybe he knew nothing about the reward and was just being a good person. - Jeff P. Henderson
Jeff: he didn't know there was a reward. Andrew: I had texted to that phone to please call me. That text was on the screen when he found it. - Robert Scoble
My taxi driver contacted me with no reward (in Brazil). On the other hand, my first camera was pick-pocketed in Brussels, Belgium. My friends are surprised it wasn't the other way around. :0) I say "give people the benefit of the doubt". Most are wonderful people. .... and the other 5% rob you blind. - Mitchell Tsai
Great news Robert. The world is full of honest and honorable folks. - Tsega Dinka
It's always nice when people do the right thing, like returning a lost phone. Good story! - Niall Connellan
Glad to hear all is well, Robert. Expect my photos soon, there are some great ones! - Andrew Feinberg
wow that's great that he was stand up enough to get it back to you, +1 that taxi driver. - Chris Jones
Glad you have your phone back! I totally ditched my bb after I got my iPhone. Personally, I think its mostly the real estate and the touchscreen. What do you believe are your reasons? - simonpure
I love it when people find things and try to find who it belongs to and give it back. The positive feelings from that are worth more than even the cost of the product. - Thomas Hawk
@ Scoble I think Jobs may know just a little more about the tech business than either Lofgren or you. My money is still on Apple and the iPhone. It's obvious that it has already influenced the entire mobile industry including Android. - James
How wonderful that you're getting it back. And how neat that the taxi driver did the right thing! - Abby Martin
It's slightly sad that the fact the taxi driver is honestly returning the phone is so laudable, isn't it? It means one of 2 things - either we assume the worst as a matter of course, or the world really is full of horrible people and anything good stands out starkly. - John Samuelson
I think we are all pessimists. I've found that most people are *much* nicer than I expect them to be. - Diane Ensey
i agree the nokia sucks for browsing the web, especially because it's hard as hell to type, but windows mobile powered smartphones ain't all that bad. glad you're getting your phone back. - Lynne d Johnson
Joe: I have three phones. Nokia N95; Nokia N82; and Samsung Blackjack II (Windows Mobile Phone). Lynne: I agree, but I still like the iPhone a lot more than Windows Mobile powered smartphones. - Robert Scoble
Tell him to take a pic of himself on your iPhone and then ship it back to you .Then post /blog his pic and your/his story on the web. This will at least give him some j"honesty" juice for which ever city he is on .. methinks that a nice way to promote his services and his honesty and also that city :)- make him mini hero !! - Peter Dawson
FriendFeed works incredibly well on mobile safari, readable and easy to use. I'nm not sure they need a special version for mobile. - fbrunel
Yeah for good karma and decent people. - Mark Forman
Nice to know there are honest people left in the world. - Kevin Shannon
Awesome story! BTW, I love using Benjamin Golub's http://FFtogo.com mobile version of FriendFeed on my BlackBerry 8830 Curve. Excellent 3G service and Ben's app is improving at light speed. Remember, he also created http://RSSmeme.com - so that's where my money's at! - Susan Beebe
