Cool Software For Your Cellphone (...that also threatens corruption, evil and oppression everywhere)

Qik is a website and a free application for your cellphone. The application installs on your phone (Blackberry for example) and allows you to one-click record video using your camera's built in video camera. What's cool about Qik is that it simultaneously uploads your video to your own personal Qik web page. Apparently you can also stream live video from your cell phone too, but the part that caught my eye was the fact that it records (saves) your video in real time on a remote server.

Keeping in mind my previous post of the dangers of the police state, Qik is a new threat to the corrupt. One of the problems with being on the scene or being arrested, for example, is that your camera/recorder etc will be seized and then possibly lost/erased etc. Qik renders the physical confiscation of the camera irrelevant. By the time the camera is taken, the video is on the Internet, and the gene is out of the bottle.

How to get Vlingo 2.0 Back On Your Blackberry After Upgrading To 3.0

1. First, delete Vlingo 3.0 (on most phones, go to BB Options -> Advanced Options -> Applications -> Menu -> Delete). Vlingo does not support downloading 2.x to a phone already running 3.0.
2. Reboot your phone by removing the battery.
3. Determine the operating system (OS) version of your BlackBerry. This can be determined by clicking on Options -> About. The first entry will show your phone model and operating system version. For example, "BlackBerry 8130 smartphone (CDMA) v4.3.0.60". In this case, the operating system version is 4.3 (note that not all 8130s are running 4.3).
4. Download the appropriate version of Vlingo 2.0/2.1 directly to your BlackBerry (not to your desktop) from one of these links:
   
   • a. OS 4.7 (Storm) & 4.6: http://www.vlingo.com/apps/vc_oldclients/2.1.0/4.6/vlingoForBlackBerry_en.jad
   • 
     
   • b. OS 4.3 & 4.5: http://www.vlingo.com/apps/vc_oldclients/2.0.1.19585/4.3/vlingoForBlackBerry_en.jad
   • 
     
   • c. OS 4.2: http://www.vlingo.com/apps/vc_oldclients/2.0.1.19585/4.2/vlingoForBlackBerry_en.jad

Original version of these instructions are here.

Opera May Be On To Something....Big

Opera, the 'also ran' browser of late, may have finally hit onto something big. They promised to reinvent the web, and while I'm not prepared to go that far, I will say what they've done will no doubt have Firefox, IE and Chrome scrambling to copy it's features. Their new product, Opera Unite is here:

http://unite.opera.com/

What does it do that's so cool? Well it basically turns your PC into a server.....easily with point and click "services" that you install (it appears most of what they have now comes with the initial download). For example you can now, super easily:

• Set up a file server and send just a URL to your friends to have them download files. Imagine sending grandma a URL where she can download your family photos, all (at least for now) securely.
• Actually host websites from your PC (your Internet service provider may not be all that happy...)
• Set up a photo sharing site (similar to the file server
• Access your PCs music library and play those files from anywhere over the Internet.
• Set up a private chat room with your friends.
• Set up a virtual 'fridge' for your friends to leave notes

And that's just for starters. I'm sure there are going to be bugs. But rest assured that people at Mozilla Firefox, Google and ID are scrambling right now to copy these very cool features.

It's now available for Windows, Linux and Mac.