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2011: A Year In Review

As I sit back and write this retrospective on 2011, I realize just how much I stopped blogging when we got really busy. That’s our resolution: blog more. Easy resolution to keep, I suppose. Onto our stories of 2011!

2011 was a year full of surprises, failures, catastrophes, losses and laughter. We first covered 2011 with Alabama Moon, a movie based on a book by Watt Key about Moon Blake. Supposedly this film took place in Alabama, but it was filmed in Canada and Louisiana. Fail. Read More about Alabama Moon.

In March an Earthquake and Tsunami struck Japan causing manufacturing and supply outages from mega-corporations like Sony and Canon. It took almost the rest of the year just to get some of the companies back on their feet again while others just shifted jobs to other parts of the world. Read More about the Earthquake and Tsunami.

Later in March, the White House called for a “New” copyright crackdown law citing that they wanted the US Congress to fix “deficiencies that could hinder enforcement” of intellectual property laws. Netflix and Hulu later gained an unprecedented momentum (thus filtering out pirate traffic vs. legitimate traffic) and later in the year SOPA took center stage where the Internet went into a rage. Read More about the Call for Copyright Crackdown.

In Late April, the Sony PlayStation Network outage occurred near simultaneously to the Amazon EC2 outage. Foursquare, Quora, Amazon, Sony, Apple, Reddit, Hootsuite, Wattpad – all went down. The only group to naturally take credit was “Anonymous” for the lawsuit Sony rightfully brought against George Hotz aka GeoHot for purportedly jailbreaking the PS3. Read More about the Sony PSN Outage Timeline.

In mid-May, the US State Department drew attention to the effect Social Media was having on the Internet landscape stating that it had become a “must-have communication tool. The Wall Street Journal put out a graph that indicated that while only a fraction of millions of people had visited websites like Coca-cola and Starbucks, almost 10 to 15 times that had visited their Facebook pages. We outline the Social Media aspect and as the question “Is It Time to Shut Down Your Website” in this retrospective.

Steve jobs 2011

On October 5th, 2011, Apple co-founder, CEO and American icon Steve Jobs passed away. Noted with the creation of innovations such as the iPod and iPhone, millions remembered Steve Jobs by e-mailing Apple how he changed their lives. To this day, that memorial can be seen here: http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/. We reposted his Stanford Commencement Address that still inspires many in our blog “Remembering Steve Jobs“.

In mid-October, we announced the upcoming 3rd Annual South Alabama Film Festival which took place in Downtown Mobile November 4th through the 6th bringing commerce and Independent entertainment to the area. Movies such as Wrestling For Jesus, Missing Pieces, Prairie Love, Man of Deeds and The Reconstruction of Asa Carter were featured. Read More about the South Alabama Film Festival.

Later in October, we reposted an article by Tomer Tagrin citing Steve Jobs at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference in 1997 in which he stated “Focusing is about saying ‘No'”. The video of the original conference as well as the article by Tomer can be read here.

The iPhone 4s and iOS 5 launched in late October. As subscribers of Google Voice, we posted some handy instructions for those who wanted to manually swap over their line to a new device. Read More about Activating Google Voicemail on the AT&T iPhone 4s.

On Halloween, we got word that Google had chosen Mobile, Alabama to launch their Mobilize Mobile campaign. At first, we didn’t believe it because of the source announcing it. But it did later happen. Read More about the Rumor of Google Coming to Mobile Alabama.

Also on Halloween, we resounded our own feelings about the banking industry, specifically Regions Bank, charging from $3.00 to $7.50 for debit card usage. We also got pretty ticked off when a “friend” didn’t repay a loan and illustrate just how much Regions can doublespeak when they want to. Read More about Banking: The Importance of Not Bearing False Expectations.

November 1st, 2011 brought some joy to PS3 MMO players around the world when Sony Online Entertainment made DC Universe Online Free-To-Play. Read More about DC Universe going FTP here.

Exciting for us, and maybe not for you, but we had Hibachi On The Go open up in Daphne, Alabama opened in November. Pretty good Japanese food and at a more affordable price than a sit-down sushi restaurant. Read More about Hibachi on the Go. Love the seaweed salad.

Also in the beginning of November, after leaving the area Checkers, also known as Rally’s in other parts of the country, reopened at it’s founding location in Downtown Mobile. The first 100 people got free Checkers fries for a year. Read More about the free fry giveaway.

Amidst the earlier speculation, Google actually DID come to Mobile, Alabama. We got a chance to meet Jason Spero, @speroman on Twitter, Director of Google’s Mobile Division in the Americas, see a few of our competitors, and learn more about the Mobilize initiative. We posted an online schedule of events and a link to the Mobilize website here.

Late November, we posted an important blog about the lessons we’ve learned on Twitter. Namely we wanted to emphasize to engage your followers and those you find interesting. It’s a good read and we hope you find it helpful. Read more about Twitter Best Practices Learned With Hard Knocks.

Client Brad Sundberg, who’s list of achievements are longer than this post, of BSUN Media Systems posted a very helpful guide to the Do’s and Don’ts of Black Friday Shopping. It’s still good for next year so take a look.

Final fantasy vi

At the beginning of December, the long awaited Final Fantasy VI, also known as the SNES version of Final Fantasy III, launched on the PlayStation Network. Listed on multiple blogs, websites and magazines, this game has won top 10 and above in accolades for Must-Have RPGs. Read More about Final Fantasy VI.

The Thomas Hospital Foundation on December 9th announced that artwork by Elizabeth Goree was available to support the foundation during the holiday season. They also shared information on a Family Fun Project that anyone can do. Read more about the Thomas Hospital Foundation Christmas Greeting Program.

GoDaddy Sucks. And this is just Part 1. We illustrate what SOPA is, why GoDaddy was supporting it (we still think they are), and how it’s a major crux to the Internet. PR stunt by GoDaddy? Totally. Read More about GoDaddy Sucks and Here is Why – Part 1 – The SOPA Truth.

Just before Christmas, we shared a rather interesting and concerning video about how Siri, the newest feature of the iPhone 4s, could kill people. It wasn’t true, of course, but technology may concern people like this in the future. Consider yourself warned and Read More about When Apple’s Siri Kills People.

And in the continued SOPA controversy, Anonymous decides to declare war on the Sony PlayStation Network – again. Yawn. These kids are annoying, but if you want to Read More about Anonymous Declaring War on Sony for SOPA Support, be our guest.

Ending the news in December, barring nothing important happens between now and midnight, The day after Anonymous declares war on Sony more companies including Sony Electronics, Nintendo and Electronics Arts drop their support for SOPA. We also outline our stance on SOPA. Read More about Who Dropped SOPA.

From everyone at TurkReno Incorporated, Have a Happy New Year and a Prosperous 2012!

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Google Voice

Activate Google Voice Voicemail on the AT&T iPhone 4s

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Google VoiceWe recently changed back to AT&T for our wireless carrier from Verizon for the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 launch. After a pretty bad mix-up with Sprint (they tried porting the Google Voice number that we use) shutting down our VoIP network for almost 3 hours while things got situated, we decided to give AT&T a second shot. Little did we know that with the release of Apple iOS 5 and iOS 6 that the Google Voice app would be completely out of commission.

Since we also use a VoIP line here at the office, once they released the updated app today for Google Voice, we had to remove our old number since Google recognized it at Verizon and add it back in. One of the critical things that we do is use our mobile phones for voice since Google Voice will transcribe the messages into both e-mail and text messages and send them to us as soon as a client or potential customer calls us. It’s a great way to get at least the gist of what the message is before you even have to call someone back and can save time in getting a problem or question resolved when there’s not a ticket.

So what’s the magical code to get your Google Voice number working?

(As an updated pre-text: When going to the Google Voice website and after selecting Settings for your account, the removal process or installation process may give you more precise method or instruction if this ever updates or changes.)

*004*11234567890# <– Activate a Google Voice number as Voicemail

So it’s Star 004 Star, 1 plus your area code (all of the other instructions just said without the 1, so use it!), your Google Voice number and then pound. Plenty of sites listed other methods, but this is the most recent way to activate it as of today. The instructions are all listed at https://www.google.com/voice once you add your phone, but for those of us who don’t want to add a second line, this can be helpful. You HAVE to have your number activated with Google voice.

##004# <– Deactivate a Google Voice number as Voicemail

Pound, Pound, 004 and then Pound again. Press Call and it should return everything back to the original Google Voice settings.

Here’s THE LINK to Google Voice on the Apple iTunes App Store. We hope this helps someone out there.

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Motorola S9-HD

Motorola MOTOROKR S9-HD Review With iPhone 3G S 3.0.1 OS – Newly Updated!!

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Motorola MOTOROKR S9-HD

Motorola MOTOROKR S9-HD

I have been really wanting something that works well as a Bluetooth headset, as a real headset, to do A2DP on the iPhone 3G S. I decided to try the Motorola MOTOROKO S9-HD over trying the JayBird JB-200 Headset again.  Overall, it works just as bad as the ones with the adapters when playing music (very choppy, very random pauses).  However, you don’t need an adapter to get this pair to do Bluetooth iPhone calls or iPod.

I have been surprised with this new acronym that my iPhone doesn’t seem to be able to do (AVRCP), at least not yet.  It seems to also do the pairing automatically without asking for a code. The instruction booklet says that the code is 0000, but I didn’t ever need to put that in.  I’ll keep it simply for the fact that it does pair with our Broadcom Bluetooth receiver which is actually a Rocketfish Bluetooth Transmitter. It will work well as a diagnostic and day to day tool, and will be great for driving and hands-free.

=== UPDATE: 11/12/2009 ===
We wanted to write an update that these work PERFECTLY with the iPhone 3GS 3.1.2 OS. No skipping, techno sounds great, 100% all the way Motorola S9-HD! Worth the buy!

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Vodafone to Sell Apple iPhone in UK and Ireland

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Vodafone and Apple today confirmed that they have reached agreement to bring iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS to the UK and Ireland in early 2010. The move follows the announcement yesterday that Orange would be selling the phones in the UK before the end of this year.

Beginning today, Vodafone UK and Vodafone Ireland customers can register their interest in iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS at www.vodafone.co.uk/iphone and www.vodafone.ie/iphone respectively. Pricing, tariffs and availability information will be announced locally in the future.

Vodafone now offers iPhone through thirteen of its operating companies.

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Apple iPhone 3GS 32GB White Edition Review – MMS Launched Today on AT&T

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It is based from fact that Apple’s iPhone 3GS has made a remarkable trademark for phone users worldwide with its amazing new features. Now, another innovation for the Apple iPhone is launched today with the use of MMS on the AT&T network.

The iPhone 3GS White Edition with a 32 GB of memory is what we use at TurkReno and in the field. One word sums it all up: “Amazing”. This innovation has outdone the first Apple iPhone 3G and 2G because of its improved features from calling contacts, playing music, camera, video and video editing, surfing the internet down to mapping different places. All these features are possible with the newly introduced Apple iPhone 3GS. Now, we have MMS to add to the features making the iPhone superior to the Blackberry paperweights worldwide! The camera in the 3GS edition is far better than the first iteration because of its automatic still-life capture feature and auto-focus. This allows the photo to balance the contrast and color of the moment an individual wants to capture with the help of Apple iPhone 3GS technology. Another good feature of this smartphone is its voice control. You can command the Apple iPhone 3GS by voice on who to call or what music to play. For example, one can tell it whom to call whether it is straight from the contact list or a new phone number, what play list or album to play, whether to repeat or toggle similar songs or artists. Recently, this was expanded for Bluetooth headset support with OS 3.1.

The 3GS series of Apple iPhone also has a built-in compass and GPS system. Mapping locations has never been this easy. With an app such as WiFiFoFum, you can even map out your WiFi Connections for research. It will provide almost perfect and accurate data of where one is heading to or where you are located. Another feature is the cut, copy and paste feature where one can literally cut, copy and paste message from Safari, e-mail, and text messages and send it to friends with little to no effort. If you make a mistake or something needs to be corrected, you can just shake Apple iPhone 3GS to undo your last action. Stay connected with the app IM+. This is an advantage for a person who would like to share an event with friends or would just like to post something interesting.

Another great feature is the Search feature. If one has a long list of messages in his or her inbox, this feature is useful. All one has to do is to type the word that he or she wants to search, then a list of messages will appear containing the keyword that the person is currently searching. Screening out all the messages will make the search easier and faster. One can do the same thing with contacts, iPod or notes. Another way to search on Apple iPhone 3GS is to use the spotlight search, typing the letters alone, a list of similar post or saved items will appear making the search a lot easier, faster and more convenient.

Regarding MMS, the Apple iPhone 3GS has included this feature. Now, one can receive a text message with videos, pictures or contact information in it, all at the same time. If one wants to view the MMS message, all he or she needs to do is to tap on the video or picture sent to him or her to see in full screen, and he or she can even save it straight to his or her photo library. Apple iPhone 3GS also includes Voice Memos application which lets the user record a meeting, class or any important conversation which can be shared through email, MMS or synchronize it with a Mac or Personal Computer. To get MMS working on your phone, you must have an authentic iPhone (not jailbroken) and update to 3.1 in iTunes. Then follow these steps:

  • Sync your iPhone with your computer’s installation of iTunes
  • iTunes will prompt you for a carrier update. Say YES!
  • Allow the update to finish
  • Powercycle, or restart, your phone.
  • Once you restart your phone, when you begin to message someone, there will be a small camera icon to the left of the text input field. Touch that and you can take a picture immediately or send a photo from your camera roll

A special thank you goes to AT&T for releasing this on time as promised! If you don’t have an iPhone, go to AT&T or your local Walmart and pick one up today! They WILL change your life!

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