iPhone apps I really like... (not in any particular order) - but there are exactly 26 of them (A-Z).

I started this earlier but ran out of time to right notes about each one. You can figure them out probably quicker just by trying them or reading the online blurbs and reviews.

-------------------

A. Cinch http://www.cinchcast.com
It's more than just a voice-recorder for sending voice updates to Twitter or Facebook. It's more like a mini-podcast.
You can create a 'show' and then send voice recording (commentary on 'real-time' events or interviews or just your thoughts during a walk or drive). There are posted in the Cinch stream (as well as to Tw or FB if you like) like a series of mini podcasts (without going through iTunes).
I can see an educational application for this one -- especially for language learning and global exchanges between classes or individuals. It integrates with its own website http://www.cinchcast.com

It has easy sign-on (using your Facebook log-on or Twitter id).

B. ScribbleLive (also integrates iPhone app with website) http://www.scribblelive.com
This is a simultenous multi-user blog site that is great for keeping a live blog
with various users on different platforms / devices. You can write text, upload photos, and video, or post a live webcam. Viewers can participate by writing comments which can be moderated. The 'event' stream can also receive live Twitter updates from viewers / attendees, and bloggers.


C. Good Reader (Lite) --
Although you can only download 5 files at a time on the free version, it's still handy to be able to access your file on your Macbook or PC desktop. Moreover, the built in email server connection allows you to get files from Gmail, and other POP3 or IMAP servers. There's also a built in browser to let you download website pages for off-line reading. There a lot more too in the paid version

D. Knocking Live Video, and Knocking Live Pics

Show what's going on around you to a friend by 'knocking' them the video from your iPhone (It works of iPhone G3 and G3s). It's only a one-way show up, but you iphone becomes a portable webcam for a single user, the friend you have 'knocked.'
There is a separate paid app ($0.99) to be able to do similar with iPhone photo pics and albums.

E. Ustream Broadcaster http://www.ustream.tv

Broadcast video from your iPhone. It works on 3G, too - even where the 3Gs supposedly has the technical specs for video.
The video can be recorded and save to iPhone or uploaded to the your own upstream.tv video site. It integrates with Twitter, too.

There is a separately downloadable PC / Mac application called Ustream Producer.

F. iCatchall -- this is a sweet little suite of useful apps. Most of them do only one thing, but they work well. There are about 25 separate apps in the bundle that range from a simple File Storage (make your iphone a USB flash memory stick, Digital Clock (and alarm), Flashlight, Tip Calculator, Today's Moon Phase, Dice, Coin Flip, plus the silly ones like Flatuence.

G. Touch Meeting - allows you and 3 other to participate in an online meeting. Share files, show a presentation, chat by phone (there is a US call up number provided that allows for a conference call).


H. Glympse -- Give your friends and family a website live map that allows them to follow (glimpse) your whereabouts, and how you are progressing on your journey.

I. CoolIris -- similar to the same PC/Mac desktop application

J. Trip It - send it your travel confirmation (emails) and it will create an itinerary for your upcoming trips

K. Personal Assistant

L. Ebuddy / Palringo (Chat with friends across multiple instant messagers platforms)

M. Recall - Speak to your iPhone to keep your calendar and to-do lists.

N. Kindle (there are several alternates too), and also Audiobooks has a free library of books read to you by a human voice

O. PhotoShop Mobile

P. Evernote - integrates with a Mac downloadable applcation, and other assorted software.

Q. Dragon (voice dictation)

R. Printer Share

S. Pointer (control a Powerpoint on your Mac using your iphone as remote) , requires WiFi

T. gFlash+ (create flash cards in Google Docs to test your knowledge or learning/drill)

U. Facebook

V. Dropbox - online storage (virtual harddisk that works that accessible from Iphone, PC, Mac anywhere)

W. Skype

X. Truphone - similar to Skype except it works on 3G networks (when you don't have acces to Wifi). Cheap Intl calls.

Y. Brightkite / Twitxr

Z . Echofon - nice Twitter client that works on iphone and integrates into Firefox brower

Recently (July 18, 2011),   I located two other interesting potential wine-growing investments:

In Argentia, you can buy a 5-acre vineyard for $71,500 (US), and let the resident winery/lodge harvest and market the grapes under its own label.
http://www.gavilanvineyards.com/gavilan/index.html

Also, much closer to home (or rather to Tomi in Mountain View) is a small 10 acreage near Boulder Creek, CA
 http://www.vinesmart.com/wine/real_estate/land_for_sale/vineyard_potential/615_10_acres_perfect_site_for_your_new_vineyard
   While you are developing the land as a potential vineyard, you could live in small cabin home for under $80,000 about 1 mile away in Boulder Creek.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/185-Cliff-Vw_San-Lorenzo-Valley_CA_95006_M12916-84450

See local vineyards and wineries in Santa Cruz County (some near Boulder Creek):
http://www.hwy9.com/Directory/Category/wineries.aspx

Also, in Somona County,  CA,  there is an already producing Pinot Noir vineyard, olive orchard, and custom 4-bedroom, 4-bath home at:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Petaluma_CA_94954_M21086-94933


Original Posting is below:
-----------------------
Here is the set of Argentina vineyards and agricultural land and residential properties on VineSmart.com http://www.vinesmart.com

I was interested in the one with two wineries, 50+ acres, and also the future hotel, restaurant and wine-tasting resort. However there are other much small and less expensive properties.

http://www.vinesmart.com/real_estate/listings/south_america/argentina/argentina_vineyards_for_sale.html

There seems to be more to it than just the land, it appears that you also get deeds and licenses for wine export and import (to the US) as well.


The real estate agent for the above is:
http://www.byronlutz.com/

I would certainly want to speak with him directly by phone or in person. He has a lot of info-mercials about wine in Argentina, and tries to 'prove' that it's a good investment.

By the way, the wine he mentions and so does Forbes Magazine is called 'malbec'. The articles seem to focus on how Argentine wines will be steadily more and more popular. (a con job or true.. I don't know).

Maybe Selby would be interested, but likely, just asking her would get one of two reactions:
A short 'no' - which might mean she's already considering or doing it, or that she's already found out that it a bummer. You're right - global warming may be driving up or changing grape production in that region and the locals (Argentines) can already what is going to happen in 5 - 10 - 25 years.

She might utter a puzzled 'what?' -- Pretending not to know.
But she might be honest (or tricky) and say that she'd like to find out more.


Even if it a good investment, I don't have or want to go into debt to buy a $1.4 lemon or even potential cash cow - that is sitting there now rotting away (the vines may be withering and the grapes turning to raisins on the vine).

Certainly a lot of logistical questions and contractual ones need to be answered.


1) The grapes are certified as organic.

See Mr. Lutz listing here direct:

http://www.byronlutz.com/organic.htm

2) Current production is 200,000 bottles per year, but he 'says' it could have a capacity of up to 2,000,000 bottles (although they are exporting the grapes mainly China and Russia now) - that there is capacity at the 2 wineries to bottle that much annually (either our own wines or for others) with a winery bottling cost of about $0.65 cents each.


So..... we'd have to know how much the various wines actually sell for (retail and wholesale) and what the 'hidden costs' and operating costs are. Lutz details some of that in his advertisement in VineSmart and also on his site.

It sounds interesting but then again.. you know more about wines than I do. But you may not know as much about investing. Do you know anyone who does?


Argentine Vineyards Buyer's Guide

Another site http://www.argentinevineyardsforsale.com/book.html bring us a lot of good questions (which he says he can answer - if you buy his book (like dud!).

Here are just a few of the issues he says you will confront when shopping for a vineyard and are discussed in the book (they want you to buy):

1. Why you need someone who speaks Spanish and your language
2. Why you may need a Vineyard Manager
3. Why you need an Agronomist who provides a Report before you buy
4. Why you should inspect the vineyard with your Agronomist
5. Why you should use a Vineyard Manager to interview Vineyard Worker(s)
6. Why you should inspect a Worker's House
7. How to use a NEW Survey that will evidence CURRENT water rights, boundaries, grapevine quantities, grape types etc.
8. Ghost grapes and why you need to review the "Official" receipts for the prior year's grape yield
9. Reviewing the Vineyard's Registry Documentation
10. Why you should inspect the condition of electricity, gas, water, septic, water well etc. for the Worker's House and all other buildings
11. When to instruct an Escribano to conduct a Title search
12. Can you get and do you need American Title Insurance?
13. Firing a Worker before hiring him, when you need to talk to an Argentine Accountant regarding current and past Vineyard Worker's wages and benefits
14. Why you need to establish Argentine AFIP Form
15. Why you need to open an Argentine Bank Account with AFIP #
16. When you need to have your Escribano create a Boleto (contract) spelling out details of your vineyard purchase
17. Reviewing the Boleto with your Argentine Attorney
18. Signing the Boleto and tendering a 10% – 50% deposit
19. Instructing the Escribano to prepare a "Bill Of Sale" for all vineyard chattels, e.g. tractor, implements etc.
20. The proper protocol to wire money to your new Argentine Bank Account and proof of where the money came from
21. Why you will pay a 2%+ Escribano Fee plus a 2% Transfer Fee based on the vineyard's sale price
22. Closing the deal with your Escribano. A wheelbarrow of cash

P.S. The (hidden) email address is the one to my personal blog: http://dbrooks_tokyo.blogspot.com/
Please use that address with caution (since it posts stuff automatically).

David (otherwise known as Dad)

The Secrets Inside Your Dog\'s Mind

The Secrets Inside Your Dog's Mind

By Carl Zimmer Monday, Sep. 21, 2009

Hare and greyhound pal Bruno take a deserved break.

D.L. Anderson for Time

Brian Hare, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University, holds out a dog biscuit.

Related

Video

Canine Cognition: How Dogs Think Like Us

Photos

Canine Cognition

Photos

Puppies Behind Bars

Photos

Color My Dog!

More Related

• Covetous Canines: Why Dogs Get Jealous

• Honor Among Beasts

• He’s a Dog’s Best Friend

"Henry!" he says. Henry is a big black schnauzer-poodle mix--a schnoodle, in the words of his owner, Tracy Kivell, another Duke anthropologist. Kivell holds on to Henry's collar so that he can only gaze at the biscuit.

"You got it?" Hare asks Henry. Hare then steps back until he's standing between a pair of inverted plastic cups on the floor. He quickly puts the hand holding the biscuit under one cup, then the other, and holds up both empty hands. Hare could run a very profitable shell game. No one in the room--neither dog nor human--can tell which cup hides the biscuit. See pictures of Presidents and Their Dogs.

Henry could find the biscuit by sniffing the cups or knocking them over. But Hare does not plan to let him have it so easy. Instead, he simply points at the cup on the right. Henry looks at Hare's hand and follows the pointed finger. Kivell then releases the leash, and Henry walks over to the cup that Hare is pointing to. Hare lifts it to reveal the biscuit reward.

Henry the schnoodle just did a remarkable thing. Understanding a pointed finger may seem easy, but consider this: while humans and canines can do it naturally, no other known species in the animal kingdom can. Consider too all the mental work that goes into figuring out what a pointed finger means: paying close attention to a person, recognizing that a gesture reflects a thought, that another animal can even have a thought. Henry, as Kivell affectionately admits, may not be "the sharpest knife in the drawer," but compared to other animals, he's a true scholar.

It's no coincidence that the two species that pass Hare's pointing test also share a profound cross-species bond. Many animals have some level of social intelligence, allowing them to coexist and cooperate with other members of their species. Wolves, for example--the probable ancestors of dogs--live in packs that hunt together and have a complex hierarchy. But dogs have evolved an extraordinarily rich social intelligence as they've adapted to life with us. All the things we love about our dogs--the joy they seem to take in our presence, the many ways they integrate themselves into our lives--spring from those social skills. Hare and others are trying to figure out how the intimate coexistence of humans and dogs has shaped the animal's remarkable abilities.

Trying to plumb the canine mind is a favorite pastime of dog owners. "Everyone feels like an expert on their dog," says Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist at Barnard College and author of the new book Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. But scientists had carried out few studies to test those beliefs--until now.

This fall, Hare is opening the Duke Canine Cognition Center, where he is going to test hundreds of dogs brought in by willing owners. Marc Hauser, a cognitive psychologist at Harvard University, recently opened his own such research lab and has 1,000 dogs lined up as subjects. Other facilities are operating in the U.S. and Europe.

The work of these researchers won't just satisfy the curiosity of the millions of people who love their dogs; it may also lead to more effective ways to train ordinary dogs or--more important--working dogs that can sniff out bombs and guide the blind. At a deeper level, it may even tell us something about ourselves.

For the rest of the story, go to TIME Magazine (online):
The Secrets Inside Your Dog\'s Mind

Podcasting Basics

Trip to Kunming, China (via Hong Kong) Nov 30-Dec 5


Kunming, the City of Eternal Spring is located in the province of Yunnan in southwestern China.

SHILIN ?? Stone Forest
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site just a short time ago, the Stone Forest has been considered by the Chinese population to be one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. I would not quite go that far -- but it was a beautiful place and offered a glimpse at a very unique natural phenonmenon but also into how the today's Chinese live and celebrate their own national heritage.
I had looked into going to the Stone Forest ever since June when I decided to travel to Kunming to attend an educational conference at Yunnan University there from Dec 1-3, 2005. I had read that it was overrun by hordes of Chinese tourists so I had looked into and even tried to arrange a tour bus trip for a small group of conference attendees to go the nearby Naigu Shilin (Black Stone Forest).

As it turned out, three of us ended up hiring a taxi driver to take up to Shilin (for 400 yuan) (including taking us onto the airport for our flight back to Hong Kong for one night transist before returning to Narita (Tokyo) Japan the following day.
We left Yunda Hotel (the university hotel) at around 8:30 am and arrived at about 9:45am at the main entrance of Shilin. Although I had given the driver (who spoke not a word of English) a written note asking him to take us to the Naigu Shilin (Black Stone Forest located about 7 km from the main Shilin entrance). He either forgot or thought we would enjoy the main Stone Forest better. If fact, I think he was right. It was not as crowded as I had expected -- probably the advice I had received about the massive crowds was by people from less densely populated countries than those of us who live and work in Asia.
It was still early in the day so that may have accounted for the fewer tourists -- still it was quite crowded around the central viewing area and at the peak tower observation platform.
Just before we started into the site, we decided to find a toilet and followed some people into a guest house. Everybody seemed to be heading to the same point -- the head. There were long lines at both men's and women's toilets. I had never seen so many people packed into such a small space standing 3-4 deep just behind each other. In some cases, the Chinese stood two together so that two guys could take a piss at the same time while just behind us other were taking a crap in the long trough that served as a continuously flushing toilet. Nobody seemed self-conscious and hardly anyone gave us (the few foreigners) a second glance either in the toilet or outside on the grounds of the 400 acres of the Stone Forest park.

Hong Kong Trip Nov 30 (Wed) - Dec 5 (Mon)
United Flight 853 NRT Nov 30 (Wed) 18:45;pm dep to HKG arr 22:55pm

Flight to/from HKG <--> Kunming Dec 1 return KMG - HNL on Dec 4 (Sunday)

HKG-KMG DragonAir 760 Dec 1 (Thurs) dep Hong Kong 11:45am arr Kunming 14:20pm KMG-HKG DragonAir 761 Dec 4 (Sun) dep Kunming 15:15pm arr Hong Kong 17:35pm

United Flight 852 HKG Dec 5 (Monday) dep 09:45am to NRT Dec 5 arr 14:30pm

Hong Kong hotel Wed, Nov 30 and Sunday, Dec 4

Tatami Hampton Hotel
11 Chang-Sha StMong Kok, Hong Kong China
tel (852) 318-89-068 or (852) 318-89-893fax (852) 323-73-418

Kunming, China Dec 1-4 Staying at University Hotel below:
Yunda Hotel (Yunda Binguan):
Near west gate (Ximen) of Yunda University
Tel: +86 (0)871 5034181 or 5034179 Fax: +86 (0)871 5034172

------- only Conference Dinner on Friday, Dec 2 6:30-9:30pm
Yunda Education Hotel, (Kunming Jiaoyu Binguan)
61 Xuefu Road Kunming, Yunan 650231
Tel: +86 (0)871 5152082 Fax: +86 (0)871 5121989

Conference contact: PacCALL 2005 Conference
Prof. Yuan Yichuen
Department of Foreign Languages
Yunnan University
Kunming, China(0871) 50 341 82

Hong Kong Trip Nov 30 (Wed) - Dec 5 (Mon)
United Flight 853 NRT Nov 30 (Wed) 18:45;pm dep to HKG arr 22:55pm

Flight to/from HKG <--> Kunming Dec 1 return KMG - HNL on Dec 4 (Sunday)

HKG-KMG DragonAir 760 Dec 1 (Thurs) dep Hong Kong 11:45am arr Kunming 14:20pm KMG-HKG DragonAir 761 Dec 4 (Sun) dep Kunming 15:15pm arr Hong Kong 17:35pm

United Flight 852 HKG Dec 5 (Monday) dep 09:45am to NRT Dec 5 arr 14:30pm

Hong Kong hotel Wed, Nov 30 and Sunday, Dec 4

Tatami Hampton Hotel
11 Chang-Sha StMong Kok, Hong Kong China
tel (852) 318-89-068 or (852) 318-89-893fax (852) 323-73-418

Kunming, China Dec 1-4 Staying at University Hotel below:
Yunda Hotel (Yunda Binguan):
Near west gate (Ximen) of Yunda University
Tel: +86 (0)871 5034181 or 5034179 Fax: +86 (0)871 5034172

-------> only Conference Dinner on Friday, Dec 2 6:30-9:30pm
Yunda Education Hotel, (Kunming Jiaoyu Binguan)
61 Xuefu Road Kunming, Yunan 650231
Tel: +86 (0)871 5152082 Fax: +86 (0)871 5121989

Conference contact: PacCALL 2005 Conference
Prof. Yuan Yichuen
Department of Foreign Languages
Yunnan University
Kunming, China(0871) 50 341 82

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

New public diary for David Brooks

Hey, welcome to my private (and public) musings on the nature of experience and existence in the 21st century.

I can't write much now since I'm just testing this to see if it works and how well.

Cheers and stay away from New York City for a while. “ú–{Œê‚Å‚«‚Ü‚·‚©�B

David