ImportanTweet – Tweets that matter to you

I am very happy to announce that today I’m officially making my project named ImportanTweet available on the web!

The idea behind ImportantTweet is to show the tweets that are important to you so if you follow a considerable number of accounts on Twitter and it becomes difficult to keep track and you feel like you miss on tweets you find interesting, IT is the tool for you.

Why I Will Never Shop at Overstock.com Again

Three weeks ago I wanted to buy a present for my beautiful wife for having carried our recently born baby girl, she did it magnificently for over 9 months and I thought that a small token would be the least I can do to show my appreciation for bringing an amazing present into our lives.

I looked online and found a pair of very nice white-gold earrings that I had hoped she will like on Overstock.com,  a site I had heard good things about and thought is a reputable brand that I could trust. The fact that they had online chat on their site bolstered that feeling as I’m a LivePerson employee I can now recognize and appreciate the value of live chat on a retail site. Overstock is not a LivePerson customer by the way (perhaps that should have tipped me off).

I have ordered the earrings on December 23rd, 2011 and of course I knew they will take some time to arrive, after all it was just before Christmas but that was fine with me, I had hoped they will arrive a few days after the new year.

After they did not arrive for a while I looked at the confirmation email I received and used the tracking link they provided, this took me to the DHL tracking site which very “usefully” told me it couldn’t find the details for the tracking number. I thought to myself, alright, I will try in a few more days, surely it will appear soon.

More on getting Froyo (android 2.2) for your Galaxy S

A few weeks ago I wrote about how to get Froyo (Android 2.2) for your Samsung Galaxy S even if you’re outside of Nordic countries and Kies doesn’t let you upgrade.

The article explained how to trick the Samsung application into thinking your phone is from the Nordic variety by changing some registry values. I believe that Samsung already blocked this approach on their servers a while ago but its not important because for most countries the official version of Froyo is out.

Get Froyo (android 2.2) on your Galaxy S now

Important! Read this article first: More on getting Froyo (android 2.2) for your Galaxy S

If you’re like me and you already heard that Samsung released their version of the Android 2.2, Froyo update but can’t wait until it reaches your region then you might want to read on…

Some areas like in Scandinavia have already been officially getting the update but here in the U.K. apparently it will take a few more days. Well, I’m not going to wait even that to get all of that Froyo goodness:

• Pinch to Zoom homescreens overview.
• Flash 10.1
• Big speed increase
• Auto updating Android market
• Hebrew support
• and more…

To get the new update you first have to make sure you have the latest Kies software which you can download here. You can check which version you have by opening Kies and then clicking on the top left of the screen where it says  “Kies” and then “Program Information”.

If you don’t have the 1.5.3.xxxx._82 then use the link above to download it.

Once you have done that, follow the instruction in this forum thread, instruction copied here for convenience:

A new Android geek on the block

About a month has gone by since I received my Galaxy S, the flagship Android phone by Samsung.

I think its time to share my thoughts and initial impressions about it and list the first apps that have found their way onto my phone.

Great Point and Shoot Windows Desktop Backgrounds

Ever since I got my first digital camera, a Konica Minolta Z2(which I loved), I was fascinated by taking photos.

Mostly photographing for me isn’t about people, it is about the places, the landscapes and scenic views. Typically what I try when I take a picture is to get the location in its “quietest” form, meaning without any moving entities like people or animals. Obviously I do take photos of people, like family and friends or even something more random like a couple sitting on bench in a pretty park or a squirrel running up a tree. but the ones I like to go back to, the ones I like looking at the most are those that are clean of animated figures. I guess for me those are the purest.

Out of the thousands of photographs I’ve taken over the years, I continuously use the ones I like best as my desktop background. I thought to myself that I could share these photos with other people who are perhaps tired of their boring one-colored desktop background or default Windows ones.

Out of the many photos I have used, I’ve chosen 10 of the best ones, at least I think they are, to share. The photos have been taken in different places in Europe.

Important to mention is that I’m by no means a professional photographer or even use anything close to a professional camera, all of the photos below were taken with my Minolta or my point and shoot Canon camera.

Autumn Garden (Czech Republic):

Word of advice – Check your Twitter Connections

Yesterday I posted on a Twitter about a little known Twitter settings page I think everyone using the service should be aware of.

Hopefully, more people will read this post than that ephemeral tweet because there is a security/privacy issue at hand here.

Song: Private Dance (Rikud Prati)

I finally had the opportunity to upload to YouTube a clip with the song I wrote earlier this year as a wedding gift for my wife’s sister and her husband.

The song was beautifully composed by Liron Grossman a singer/songwriter.

And was performed at the wedding party as a surprise by Liron and the very talented  Yoli Kesten-Harel.

Billie Jean Cover by David Cook

In case you haven’t heard this cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” by David Cook (winner of American Idol Season 7) then take my strong advice and listen to it here.

In my view if this is not the best cover ever made it most definitely comes close to it.

This is one of those covers that completely suppress the original song and takes into a whole new level.

Like most people i used to be a huge MJ fan, i had all of his cassettes (yes! cassettes!) and i would occasionally sin and try to do the moon walk in my room But Billie Jean was not one of my favorites, the lyrics were of course great but i never connected to its rhythm or its melody.

However listening to Mr Cook’s rendition – the power and energy he delivers his version of the song with is to me completely astonishing, its like a punch in the stomach only in a good way.  The cover transforms the song into a very powerful, mysterious and grabbing musical event.

So Simply click Play and hear for yourself…

What do you think?

Interesting Quote About Religion and Politics

An interesting proverb i came across in the book im currently reading, the book is “Dune” by Frank Herbert and it appears in the “The Prophet” section of the book.

It goes like this:

“When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget that a precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it’s too late.“

I’m not planning on delving into politics or religious views in this blog, its just that this short statement sums it up so nicely I just couldn’t resist…