The Official iSmalls Blog

"Jose V."

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:15:47 -0500

“Jose V.”

- has invited you to check out Lala.com

"I can fit in there. And you wanna know why? Because im little."

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:39:06 -0500

“I can fit in there. And you wanna know why? Because im little.”

- Christopherson from Fantastic Mr. Fox.

amuze project aka. MUZE.

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:10:14 -0400

Working on a new concept. Legal music libraries for Mac OS X with unlimited music. amuze gives you the ability to search songs over the net and save them to your playlist rather than downloading them. The playlist is displayed in a jukebox like application.

Looking into Google Chrome for plugin ideas. I think this could be a great way to extend the application for Windows users. Having in the browser makes sense right? I mean it is a web based application after all. A Google Chrome tab that serves as an application.

If I can get it running as a tab, it will fit on the next distribution beta of SpaciousOSX.

Today I finished the beta version of Spacious Lite. This is a...

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:39:12 -0400

Today I finished the beta version of Spacious Lite. This is a web browser that fits in a USB drive. Takes up barely 30KB. The web browser is still spacious but doesn’t have the floats like the heavier version of Spacious. Here is a look at the spacious installation.

NEW!! BirdMuter v1.0

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:57:21 -0400

I just created a BirdMuter, for those with pet parrots. I have a Sun Conure and a Jenday Conure that are always driving me crazy with their high pitched voices and morning wake up calls. So I did some studying on what noises they like and feel happy with. So I got on garageband and created a steady beat with a few disturbances so that the birds don’t get used to it. The birds will tend to make little noises still but nothing too bad for your ears.

If your interested you can download it.

No post for a while?

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:45:08 -0400

Not posting for this long doesn’t mean anything but the fact that this is the best summer of my life. =).

Will post more later.

Firehouse Subs Guy on Vimeo (via Vimeo) I took this in West...

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:10:03 -0400

Firehouse Subs Guy on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

I took this in West Meadows, Tampa FL

Turtles!! Not!!

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:46:31 -0400

Yesterday I showed up with some friends to Pinellas Park, Fl with some friends to watch baby turtles being born to then help them into the water. The only problem was that they never came up all the way. So it was 2 hours of nothing. But like always, it was still fun. They are heading over their to nest #1 tonight again. But i am happy not to come. Im about to head over to my friends. IKYP.

Sandhill Cranes (via ismalls) Im so happy to be back home. Some...

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:29:00 -0400

Sandhill Cranes (via ismalls)

Im so happy to be back home. Some things about Tampa.

1. My house looks in better condition than it was initially. =)

2. But the grass looks like as if it was incinerated for a week.

3. The girls are hotter than ever. =)

4. Warm weather.

5. Houses are back on sell. Economy is coming back to its form.

Woahh, Do you know a browser than can load everything you are...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:52:36 -0400

Woahh, Do you know a browser than can load everything you are searching for instead of links. Well check it out. Spezify has done that. Please check it out and search “iSmalls” to read my shit first. haha

Spezify results for iSmalls (via ismalls)

Big Tip: Do NOT SYNC ADDRESS BOOK WITH YAHOO!. Yahoo makes great...

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:32:24 -0400

Big Tip: Do NOT SYNC ADDRESS BOOK WITH YAHOO!. Yahoo makes great services but when it comes to their contacts management system they simply arent reliable. My contacts duplicate 2x after every synchronization. So after 2 syncs it multiplys by 4x. This is rediculous. And going one by one is hell. Im gonna stick to Plaxo. Screw Yahoo.

PS: Yahoo host my images for my blog posts. lol

My Address Book Duplicated (via ismalls)

Chi.mp + Free Domain = No Question, Sign Up

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:38:19 -0400

Wow, have any of you heard of Chi.mp. A great new service that offers free domains (.mp) to all users. Chi.mp creates a profile for you that feeds in most of your web content all to one place, just like tumblr. Except its not a blog. Now why would i use this rather than tumblr. Well personally I am using both. The reason being is because Chi.mp has a feature that autobackups your contacts on facebook even when a new one is added to your friends. The contacts can then sync with my Mac’s Address Book (third party software called facebooksync). Chi.mp not only syncs your Facebook, but your Flickr and any other service that you may provide. On top of that it combines all the services into one simple RSS channel instead of multiple ones for your flickr photostream, twitter updates, recent blogpost and more. =) Sign Up Today

Literary Share Anything You Want Anywhere You Want.

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:29:21 -0400

Ok so i found this great web application called “Skitch” and it comes with a neat application for your mac toolbar. Whats great about it is that you can actually use it to capture any part of your screen, draw, scew and even take photos with your iSight camera and it will easily public the content to the web.
Here is an example of something that Skitch did for me. You simply drag the “snap tool” onto your screen and select the area you want to capture”. After you capture it you can export to flickr, ftp, mobileme, .mac, or even your blog. by default your photos upload to webpost.

Tweet your Flicks

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:13:54 -0400

Flickr has added “Twitter” to your “Add Blogs” page. Now you can tweet your photos directly from Flickr. Now all they need to do is add Tumblr.

The best part about flickr2tweet is that Flickr has also created a short URL service so that your tweets stay short. Go check out some example tweets from flickr’s twitter account

The free alternative to apple's mobileme (me.com).

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:24:21 -0400

As a mac user mobileme is nothing shy of convenient. But for its price many of us are even scared to try it. The free trial ends up charging you if you dont close your mobileme account by the 60 days.

But their is an alternative to this $99 subscription. Yet it involves several applications. The first application I want you guys to know about is called plaxo. Plaxo is a Contact autobackup website with an appl that can integrate right on to Address Book. Now you may be wondering, well that doesn’t exactly sync with my provider. Wether its Gmail, Yahoo, AOL. But if that is what you want to do then just open up Address Book and under “General” you have the option to synchronize your provider “INCLUDING EXCHANGE”.

Now moving on to your iCal. What’s greater about iCal is that it also lets you sync with Google Calender. Google create a product just for this called Calaboration. And the best part is that is free. Sadly this program only works with Google Calendar.

For Apple Mail well just need to setup up its POP or IMAP.

For iPhoto i suggest you start using Flickr to host your images that way you can use the Flickr exporter for iPhoto 09 or download the one for iPhoto 08 so you can organize your Flickr albums natively. PS: Flickr Pro is only $19.99 and its worth it.

For iMovie I would use the Youtube exporter. Personally I prefer Vimeo for video hosting but their is no exporter for it yet. =(

For Photobooth, yes their is an exporter for it. Behold, Flickrbooth the Flickr and Youtube exporter. Flickrbooth allows you to take pictures and or videos and upload them to Flickr and Youtube. My favorite part is that you can set it automatic so the photos just uplaod after they are taken without ever asking you. This is a great blogging tool.

Thanks for reading this post. Ill add more solutions as I learn. Please Syndicate it.

I LOVE KINGS!

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:21:09 -0400

I don’t think that I have ever been into a series as much as now. Kings is the most beautiful show on earth. The quality of it is remarkable. Its sad that it is nearly to air off “AGAIN” like last month for its money problems. A show that good is hard to keep up. Shows like that are very expensive to shoot.

NBC promises to keep the show airing if enough visitors can rate it on hulu and sign the petition.

Petition: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/savekings

Please sign it, no account necessary since you may log in via twitter.

This episode definitely just spiced up the show, ALOT! Hulu -...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:08:03 -0400

This episode definitely just spiced up the show, ALOT!

Hulu - Kings: Pilgrimage - Watch the full episode now.

Facebook, Twitter and peers for sale - privately

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:01:00 -0400

No acquisition, no IPO, no problem: Private exchanges springing up to combat lack of liquidity

NEW YORK (AP) — Scott Painter makes his living betting on startup companies, having played a role in launching 29 of them over the years. But with the bad economy choking initial public offerings and acquisitions, Painter is now backing an idea that makes it easier for insiders like him to sell shares in their companies even before they go public.

SharesPost, which was founded by Painter’s business partner, Greg Brogger, launched publicly in June. Through SharesPost’s Web site, Painter is trying to sell shares in several companies he helped found, including car pricing startup TrueCar.com. He also wants to buy shares in companies that are far from an IPO, like short-messaging site Twitter and business-networking site LinkedIn.

SharesPost is one of a few private stock exchanges that are emerging to fight what venture capitalists call a liquidity crisis. These exchanges give stakeholders an alternative way to trade their shares in hot startups like Facebook for cold, hard cash — without having to wait years for an IPO.

Employees at startup employees often put in long hours but get salaries that can be 20 percent less than their peers at public companies. In return, they get stock or options that they hope will be a path to sports cars and summer homes after their company goes public or is bought out.

Given this, services like SharesPost could help startup workers get some cash while awaiting a distant IPO that might never even get off the ground. Most people won’t be in on the action, though, since these exchanges are only open to a small pool of buyers.

And it’s not clear how much — or how little — stock has changed hands through them. In its short life, Santa Monica, Calif.-based SharesPost said it has executed one $25,000 transaction, while another service, New York-based SecondMarket, said it has completed about 40 transactions in the past year worth about $150 million.

Still, if they manage to thrive, these exchanges could help the economy. By selling shares on a private exchange, an investor can free up funds to put into other startups. And institutional investors could use these services to broaden their holdings to include fast-growing companies that have yet to go public.

The methods of these private exchanges vary. SharesPost uses an online bulletin board to introduce buyers and sellers. SecondMarket links the parties and lets companies set up their own mini-markets that they control, while Redwood City, Calif.-based XChange is rolling out an online system that will allow buyers and sellers to connect and directly trade shares for cash.

All are open just to institutional investors — organizations like venture capital firms or pension funds that manage at least $100 million in assets — and individual accredited investors. That category includes people with a net worth of at least $1 million, or salary of at least $200,000 for the last two years.

The concept is not entirely new. Nyppex, formed in 1998, facilitates private-company stock trades, and a few companies with similar offerings emerged during the last economic downturn but failed to gather much steam. Among the problems: Determining a fair price for a private company’s stock is tough without much public information.

This time, however, employees and investors are more aggressively looking for a way to get a return on their dedication and funding. More than a dozen companies have priced IPOs in the U.S. this year, down from 35 in the first half of 2008, according to research firm Renaissance Capital. In the same period of dot-com-crazy 2000, there were 219 IPOs in the U.S.

Besides the economy, startup investors say the high costs and regulatory requirements associated with going public have also stymied many smaller, younger companies. According to the National Venture Capital Association, the median span from a company’s founding to its IPO was 9.6 years in 2008. In 1998 it was 4.5 years.

One factor is compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley anti-fraud law, which was enacted in 2002 after accounting scandals at companies like Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. A key part of this law requires public companies to file reports on the strength of internal financial controls and fix any problems — steps that can be costly for a startup.

Issues like this have “just made it more and more difficult for companies to make it to that next step,” said Thomas Foley, chief executive of XChange, which he developed with venture capitalist Tim Draper.

SharesPost founder Greg Brogger believes his site has one solution to the slowdown in IPOs: Bulletin boards for more than 100 startups that allow buyers and sellers to post the price and number of shares they want to purchase or unload, and the ability to e-mail one another directly.

Parties wishing to make a deal can find the relevant contracts on the site to sign, and an escrow company completes the transaction, charging both sides $2,500. So far, a $25,000 deal — the site’s minimum transaction size — has been completed for 2,500 shares of electric car startup Tesla Motors at $10 apiece.

That reflects a great deal of optimism for a company that has only sold roughly 500 cars and had to get additional funding from the U.S. Energy Department. A report from one of SharesPost’s research providers, NeXt Up Research, valued Tesla at $1 billion, or $9 per share. The car company had no comment.

Anyone can sign up for free to see startups listed on SharesPost. Only qualified investors can buy shares, and SharesPost makes money by charging buyers and sellers $34 a month.

XChange, meanwhile, enables buyers and sellers to share confidential information necessary for making informed purchases, and it has a platform for users to trade shares. When it is fully launched later this year, XChange will be an automated online exchange, much like E-Trade, where users can instantly trade shares for cash.

But while these services may be able to speed up dealmaking, users must still grapple with another key issue: how to determine a fair price for stock in a company that isn’t required to regularly disclose its financial information and doesn’t have that many potential buyers or sellers.

At SharesPost, Brogger wants to solve the problem by offering as much information as possible about companies it lists, from analysts at Next Up Research and VC Experts. SecondMarket CEO and founder Barry Silbert said companies can decide to share some details with investors and potential bidders on his site.

SharesPost doesn’t believe the research on its site will cause any problems should the company file for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as these types of analyses are published by investment banks during the IPO process.

Still, the lack of public disclosure and limited number of traders on these services makes Kathy Smith bristle. A market with limited transparency, participation and disclosures “is not a solution to the markets we have now,” said Smith, a principal at Greenwich, Conn.-based Renaissance Capital.

And trading is not always as simple as posting a sales opportunity and an asking price. Startups often restrict what their employees can do with their shares and stock options — commonly imposing the “right of first refusal.” That generally means employees who find buyers for their shares have to let the company decide if it wants to buy the stock back instead, for the same price. Companies can use this stipulation to keep competitors from snagging a stake.

Even if these services help startup employees and investors, they’re not likely to eliminate the need to someday go public.

For one thing, this kind of market can only get so big. Private companies with more than $10 million in assets are required to file annual reports with the SEC if they have more than 500 shareholders of record. This rule prodded Google Inc. into filing for its IPO in 2004, and it could happen to others as these exchanges distribute shares among more shareholders.

Several of the private exchanges say it’s up to companies to keep track of their total shareholder count. Foley said XChange helps companies keep tabs by revealing who their shareholders are at any given time.

Another reason IPOs won’t vanish: Companies usually go public first to raise cash for their operations, and then to set a price that will eventually let insiders turn their holdings into cash. While some of the private exchanges do let startups themselves — and not just their employees and investors — sell stock, it’s not likely to be lucrative without a large base of potential buyers.

Still, some buyers, sellers and startups may see trading through these services as the way to go until the IPO market improves.

“At the very least, it’s going to be spring training for companies before they go public,” SecondMarket’s Silbert said.

Rachel Metz can be reached at rmetz(at)ap.org.

Original Post:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Facebook-Twitter-and-peers-apf-3349628532.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

Mobile Desktop (via ImprovEverywhere)

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:25:44 -0400

Mobile Desktop (via ImprovEverywhere)

Peek-a-boo con huevos - YouTube - Truveo Video Search

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:42:37 -0400

Peek-a-boo con huevos - YouTube - Truveo Video Search