P100,000 Worth Of Prizes In Manila's First Ever iPad App Challenge

In September 2010, Pixatology will be sponsoring an iPad app development contest.

The 2010 Pixatology iPad Challenge is an amazing opportunity for students to experience the iPad, the next big platform and magical Apple tablet that is making waves worldwide. This competition is open to Apple developers and students with majors in game design and development, multimedia, IT, computer technology and other related courses.

Participants will also have the chance to:

• Win up to P100,000 in cash prizes
• Participate in free, breakthrough sessions to learn how to code powerful iPad applications
• Gain invaluable exposure to the revolutionary iPad
  
• Secure an internship or career opportunities with IT companies
• Earn a share of profits for successfully marketed iPad applications on Apple's iTunes

About Pixatology
Pixatology is the first iPad development group in the Philippines. Its founder, Tiger Bitanga, is the CEO of another technology firm called The Design People Inc. -- a California-based web design and internet marketing company. Founded in 1999 and with over 120 designers, developers and web strategists, we are also the largest web design studio in Manila. The firm has also been recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500.

Website: pixatology.com.
Email: challenge@pixatology.com

Contest Files:
Entry Form
Mechanics
Offical Rules

Mac Data Recovery - Recovering Accidentally Deleted Files On A Mac

I'm one of those people who tend to dump everything on the desktop. To make things look a little cleaner, I put folders on the desktop and dump things in those folders. One day, seeing how messy my desktop was, I decided to create one folder (which I named Under_The_Bed), and just dumped everything there. EVERYTHING.

Imagine my shock when, a couple of days ago, I accidentally deleted that folder. I was supposed to delete this other file, but I must have accidentally dragged the EVERYTHING folder along with it. And then I emptied the trash. And then when I looked at the screen while the trash was being emptied, I wondered a bit why it was taking so long to empty the trash. I even saw the message window display that it was emptying 1000+ files.

Stupid... I know...

It was only a few minutes later when it hit me. Holy @#$%! I deleted EVERYTHING! 2 years worth of files, only a small percentage of which was backed up.

Upon realizing the monumental mistake that I made, I literally felt like I was going to faint. I was walking around the office in a daze for a couple of minutes not knowing what to do. This had never happened to me before. I've had hard drives crash but I've never been in a situation where I had to find a way to get back files that I actually accidentally removed myself. Files that could now be gone forever.

But I did remember a friend telling me one time that deleted files aren't actually deleted even if you empty your trash. Some, if not all or most of them, stay there like ghosts or whatever until the hard drive writes some new data over the space that those previous files used to occupy. So the most important thing to do once you realize that you've accidentally deleted your files is to...

STOP USING YOUR COMPUTER!

The more you use it, the amount of files that you can potentially recover becomes less and less. So the success of your data recovery relies heavily on this: STOP USING YOUR COMPUTER!

So how do you recover those files then?
You'll need special data recovery software. I searched for some Mac data recovery options, and Data Rescue by Prosoft Engineering came up a lot. So I decided to try it out. As of this post, the latest version is Data Rescue 3. They have a demo version which allows you to use the application to scan your disc. After scanning, it will show you a list of the files it was able to recover, but you will only be allowed to recover 1 file that is not over 5MB. So I suggest you try the demo first to see if the application can find anything. If it is able to recover a lot of the files that you need, then you might want to buy the license so that you can recover all your files. The personal use license, as of this post, is $99.

So how do you use Data Rescue 3 for your Mac data recovery?

1. Once installed and ready to be run, you'll need an external hard drive, preferably one that is bigger than the size of the hard drive that you want to recover. Data Rescue will use this external hard drive to recover the files.
2. Next, launch the Data Rescue 3 application and choose which drive you'd like to recover files from. You'll have a few scanning options to choose from: Quick Scan, Deep Scan, Deleted Files Scan, Clone, Analyze and File IQ.
   
   
   • I tried the Quick Scan first and it only came up with just the files that were actually left in the hard drive. I think this one took about less than an hour. I had a 250GB hard drive with only about 50GB left after the accidental deletion.
   • So next I tried the Deleted Files Scan option. This one was able to find some of the lost files - around 30+ GB worth of files. It took about 2 hours.
   • Lastly, I decided to try the Deep Scan. This one took about 4 hours, but found a larger amount of files - around 50+ GB.
3. After the scan, you can choose which files or folders you'd like to copy, and then click on the Recover button to begin recovering the found files. The recovery process after the scan takes a while as well.

So in the end, I decided to purchase the license and recovered what could be recovered. And I was fortunate enough to find most of the files that I needed.

Some other things you might want to know:

1. I was not able to recover all the files. I had lost about 100GB and was only able to recover 50+ GB.
2. After the scan, the files that I accidentally deleted were placed inside a folder called Reconstructed. In this folder, they were further grouped according to type. For example, there was a folder for Movies, and in this folder, they were further grouped into file types - there was a folder for AVI files, MOV files, DV files, etc... So it does not list them in the same file organization structure that you had before you deleted the files. This makes it quite difficult to look for the files that you want.
3. Most of the deleted files that were reconstructed will not retain their original file names. They will be renamed, and appended with numbers - ex. Movie01, Movie02, Movie03 and so on. This also makes it even more difficult to look for the files that you need. You'll have to open them one by one in order to know which file is which.
4. Many reconstructed files were duplicates, and some files couldn't be opened. As I sifted through the files, I found a lot of the same files over and over, while there where some that could not be opened at all. This means that in reality, I recovered even less than 50+ GB since many of the files were just duplicates or could not even be opened at all.

But despite these things, I'd still recommend Data Rescue 3 as a Mac data recovery tool. Some reviews say that they were able to recover a larger percentage of files. I suppose it depends on what you do in that time in between accidentally deleting the files and realizing that you've deleted them. In my case, I had downloaded and saved a couple of files before I realized the accidental deletion. And as I've mentioned earlier, the more you use your computer before the data recovery, then the less the recovery software would potentially be able to recover. It's a great thing that the demo feature enables full scans so you'll know if files have actually been recovered, which makes the decision to buy or not to buy easier. Also, I've learned that I should back up my files more often, and I should stop dumping things on the desktop. :/

Got any Mac data recovery stories and recommendations? Share them in the comments section below.

How To Rename A File In Mac OS X

If you right-click or control+click on a file in Mac OS X, you won't see a Rename option from the context menu that comes out. In order to rename a file, you can choose the Get Info menu item instead. This will bring up the File Info window, which is where you can rename the file. Simply go to the part that says Name & Extension, and type in a new name in the input field. Then hit the Return/Enter key on your keyboard to apply the new name.

Another method you could use to rename a file would be to click on it in order to select it, then wait about 1 second, then click on the file's name. After that, the name should appear within an editable input text field. Then you'll be able to type in a new name, and then hit Enter or Return on your keyboard to apply the changes.

iPhone 4 Can Make Video Calls! Yey!

I've been holding out on buying an iPhone ever since it came out. But I think FaceTime, the iPhone's new video chat app, is finally going to convince me to get one.

123RF.com's Apple iPad Giveaway

Get a chance to win an Apple iPad from 123RF.com - 48 iPads will be given away! There are three ways to join this contest:

1. Register and purchase any credit or subscription package
2. Follow them on Twitter
3. Join 123RF's Facebook Fan Page

Contest period is from March 1, 2010 until May 31, 2010.

Visit 123RF.com for more details.

My Thoughts On The iPad

I read quite often (mostly doing research) and I'm still one of those people that like printing out my reading material. I like being able to pick them up easily, flip through the pages, read them while sitting on a couch or lying in bed. These are things that feel a bit awkward to me when I read things from my computer (it's a little difficult to flip a desktop or read it on my bed... lol). But with an iPad, I'd imagine doing those things would feel a lot more natural. So for me, this device may definitely be the one that will make me go the way of eBooks. It's simple, easy to use, I can easily carry it around and the touchscreen flipping makes for a more natural reading experience. I know it's not just what the iPad is for, but the book related features are something that I really appreciate.

But then the question is... will I get an iPad?

Hmmm... probably not right away. There are still a few features that I'm hoping they would add (or hoping they already added in the first place... I'm just too lazy to google right now):

1. I'm pretty sure it will be able to read PDF documents, but I'm not sure if the PDF reader will have the simulated page flip functionality as well.
2. FLASH, please!
3. I like that it can run Keynote and that I can connect it to a projector. As an educator, that would be quite useful in my line of work. Also, I'm not sure if it does, but it would be awesome if it could work with a wireless projector. That way, I can easily walk around the classroom while giving my lectures (it'll look a lot cooler than using a clicker, too!).

So those are just some of my thoughts. A lot's obviously been said about this product, both good and bad, so it would be really interesting to see how things turn out when the iPad starts shipping.

So what about you? Are you getting one?

My Dead Time Capsule Will Get Replaced.Yay!

I just spoke with an AppleCare customer service agent today who finally confirmed that I will be getting a replacement for my broken Time Capsule. Needless to say, I'm pretty happy about that. :)

Looking around the net, there seem to be a lot of different stories from people about having their dead TCs replaced. Some seem to not have that much trouble, while others just give up eventually and have their units fixed by an unauthorized service provider. My advice is to get in touch with a customer service agent. If you don't have AppleCare and your Time Capsule is out of warranty, ask the reseller where you got the Time Capsule from who you can get in touch to get a replacement request. The reseller I bought my Time Capsule from was pretty helpful. Apart from me calling up Apple's customer service, one of the supervisors was getting in touch with them as well to help work the issues out (I purchased my Time Capsule from Senco Link Technologies. I purchased my MacBook Pro from them as well and am pretty happy with their after-sales support.)

So now, my concern is whether this replacement that I will get is going to last longer or if it's going to go the same route as my first Time Capsule. I guess I'll just have to wait and see (either in another 17 months, or if and when Apple does acknowledge this issue and sheds some light on what's causing these failures). In the meantime, I think I'll be getting an external HD and will just hook it up to the Time Capsule and back up to that one instead. I know it defeats the purpose of having a Time Capsule in the first place, but I might as well be on the safe side.

My Dead Time Capsule

I purchased a 1TB Apple Time Capsule sometime in May of 2008. My old router was becoming increasingly unreliable (kept dropping connections, needed to reboot it often), and I liked the idea of being able to conveniently do wireless backups in the Time Capsule's built-in hard drive. It was a great product. Rarely ever had to reboot it. It was pretty easy to set up and use. And being able to access the files in the Time Capsule hard drive from any of the Macs at home was pretty convenient. How I wish I could still say that I am enjoying the benefits of using this product, but I can't. Because a couple of days ago, my Time Capsule just died on me. I came home one night and found that I couldn't connect to the internet because my computer couldn't detect the home wireless network. I checked out my Time Capsule to find that the power light wasn't on. I tried switching outlets to no avail. It was simply dead. A $499 dollar product that I've had for only around 17 months just died.

Warranty: 12 months. Great...

So, fine, I'll just send it to the service center and pay for the parts and repairs. I assumed it was just the power supply that needed to be fixed so I was hopeful that it wouldn't cost me a fortune. But then, when I sent it for repairs, the engineer tells me that Apple does not allow authorized service centers to fix broken Time Capsule power supplies. They will simply replace it, but only IF it's still within some kind of warranty coverage. How great is that? You have a really expensive machine that's broken and is not even 2 years old. They won't replace it if the warranty has expired. But they won't fix it either. So what you have now is just a really expensive paperweight. I asked the engineer if there really wasn't anything else that could be done, and I was told that they would see what they could do and get back to me.

So in the meantime, I did a little web search on broken Time Capsule power supplies. And to my surprise, I found that numerous other people were having the same problem. Within around 17 or so months of purchasing their Time Capsules, it simply just died abruptly. A topic in the Apple discussion board was filled with replies by people and their dead Time Capsule stories. I even found a website dedicated to dead Time Capsules (http://timecapsuledead.org/) where users can register the death of their wifi router and backup device. Last time I checked, it had 626 entries. Hopefully this site and the issue at hand gets more exposure, and hopefully Apple will respond to this situation accordingly.

And as for my situation, I was fortunately able to find an article on the web that informed me that currently active Mac AppleCare agreements actually also cover Time Capsules (as well as certain other peripherals) that are used with a Mac computer under the AppleCare warranty. I was able to phone the Apple hotline and was told that I could receive a replacement since I have an active AppleCare agreement for my MacBook Pro. So as of now, according to the last customer service agent I spoke with, I should be getting a replacement. And if I do get that replacement, I just hope I won't be experiencing the same thing after another 17 months.

Telestream Releases ScreenFlow 2.0

Mac screencasters rejoice! Just a few months after TechSmith releases Camtasia for Mac, here comes Telestream with version 2 of their highly popular screencasting application, ScreenFlow. I tried out Camtasia when it was released but held off on purchasing a copy after I heard that ScreenFlow 2.0 was coming out soon. Although I was pretty impressed with Camtasia for Mac, there were a couple of features that I was hoping it would have but did not - such as mouse callouts (highlighting/putting focus on the mouse pointer and its actions in order to emphasize it), for example, which has been part of ScreenFlow since version 1.0. And now that version 2 is available, I will be testing it out to see how it compares with Camtasia for Mac so I can finally make a decision as to which one I should get. I think it's great that there's finally some real competition going on in the Mac screencasting arena. Hopefully, this will mean that both companies will work even harder to try and improve their respective applications. And ultimately, Mac screencasters will have better options to choose from.

Check out ScreenFlow.

Apple Unveils New iMac

The new iMac looks amazing! I'm loving it immensely (but only from afar. lol)! :D And that 27 inch display... WOW! The wireless, multi-touch mouse is pretty cool too. I'm always amazed at the innovations they keep coming out with. Watch the [video].

Camtasia For Mac Is Now Available

Great news for all you Mac users waiting for TechSmith's Camtasia for Mac! This long awaited app is now available. For a limited time, you can purchase a copy at a discounted price of $99(USD) (the full price is at $149(USD)). Head on over to techsmith.com/camtasiamac to find out more!

You might also be interested to check out:
- TechSmith's free Camtasia for Mac tutorials
- a comparison chart between Camtasia Studio for Windows and Camtasia for Mac to see which features are available exclusively for the Windows or the Mac version, and which ones are available for both

I've just downloaded the free, fully functional 30-day trial version and can't wait to try it out!

Camtasia For The Mac Coming Soon

I just checked the TechSmith (makers of the popular Camtasia screen recording software) blog and was pleasantly surprised to find an announcement that Camtasia is finally going to be available for the Mac. After months of not hearing anything about the status of the project's development, they've announced that Camtasia for the Mac will finally be available on August 25, 2009 at a special introductory price of $99(USD)! Great! This offer will last through the end of 2009, and after that, MSRP will be $149. I was pleasantly surprised with this bit of information. I was expecting the price to be much higher. Camtasia Studio for Windows costs $299(USD) so I was almost certain that the this release for the Mac will be priced higher. As of this post I don't think there's any info on the TechSmith website that explains in detail the features of Camtasia: Mac, but I hope that the lower price does not mean that the Mac version will have fewer features than its Windows counterpart. Either way, I'm definitely excited for the release. You can watch out for more announcements on their Twitter page, or you can subscribe to email updates on Mac-related TechSmith announcements.

How NOT To Sell A Used iPhone

Would you by this?

Transfer Songs And Videos From Your iPod To Your Mac

If you're looking for an application that will let you copy songs and videos from your iPod (yes, including the iTouch) or iPhone to your computer, then you might want to take a look at Pod to Mac, developed by Chris Devor. This one is obviously just for Mac users, but PC users, don't despair - the developer also has a version for the PC, aptly named Pod to PC. Both apps are free.

Getting The PS3 Eye To Work On A Mac

User TheBlueHour from YouTube has a nice little video that shows how he was able to make the PlayStation Eye work on a Mac.