Jonathan Hensley | The Blog | JHensley.org

If you haven’t heard of the JingProject, head over to the site right now.  I’ve been using Jing for several months (since the initial beta) and I use it all the time.

Jing is a free product by TechSmith, the makers of the premier screen capture product Camtasia Studio and screenshot app SnagIt.

Here at my day job I use it to make little How-To videos or document a process.  It’s so much easier for me to just record the steps with Jing and send a link to the video to an end user, colleague or friend than to write out the steps in an email precisely enough for them to follow.  With Jing’s instant publishing integration it takes no time to upload the video to the web and send the link or save it locally as documentation.

Jing does have a 5 minute limit so therefore is only good for quick, informal screen captures.  If you’re wanting to make a longer or more polished video stick with Camtasia.

Here’s a quick lesson on how Jing works and the ideas that spawned it.  Take a look.

The lastest Firefox news:

• Web apps faster with Firefox 3.1
  Firefox 3.1 will run many Web-based applications such as Gmail faster through incorporation of a feature called TraceMonkey that dramatically speeds up programs written in JavaScript, Mozilla said Friday. JavaScript has been very broadly used to add pizzazz or flexibility to Web pages over the years, but in recent years, it’s also become the plumbing for many rich Internet applications. However, because JavaScript has been hobbled by pokey performance, Web-based applications often struggled to work as responsively as “native” software running directly on PCs
• Useful Firefox 3 Configuration Tweaks
  Firefox keeps its advanced settings in a giant configuration file in your Firefox directory, and even offers an advanced interface to edit that file in the browser itself. To make these changes, type about:config in Firefox’s address bar. You’ll get a half-joking, half-serious message about voiding Firefox’s warranty if you change any settings. Press the “I’ll be careful. I promise!” button (because you will be) and you’ll be on your way.
• How to Skip the Installation Delay for Firefox Extensions
  As you may know, Firefox tries to protect you from malicious attacks by setting up a delay before allowing you to install a new extension. But if you’re confident in your browsing habits and you want to avoid the wait, just enter about:config in your address bar, then paste security.dialog_enable_delay into the filter box. Double-click that preference and change the value to 0.

Here are some interesting links from today:

• How I became a soldier in the Georgia-Russia cyberwar.
  After making sure that I wasn’t downloading a virus, I installed DoSHTTP and started playing around with it. Along with offering customizable options to advanced users, there was also a nice option for beginners like me. After entering a URL, I could initiate an attack by clicking something that said “Start Flood.” A flood did follow—war at the touch of a button.
• Dropped calls plague iPhone 3G, and not just in U.S.
  If you’re having problems with dropped calls on your new 3G Apple iPhone, you’re not alone.
  From New York to Stockholm, 3G iPhone owners are complaining loudly about connection failures – sometimes repeatedly – during calls. The problem typically occurs when the device attempts to move from 3G to another network.

Yesterday there was a Microsoft Ad showing on my site. I captured it in the video below (chances are it’s running on the page today since I’m writing about it).  It’s about their new ad campaign, The Mojave Experiment (I first mentioned Mojave in an earlier post July 25th), which takes people with negative preconceived notions about Windows Vista and lets them test out Microsoft’s new beta operating system Mojave.

The catch is… they are really testing Vista!  The Mojave site has some pretty funny videos with the users bashing Vista then doing a 180 when they get to test Mojave. Microsoft has posted some really interesting before and after survey numbers from the experiment.

• 94% of respondents rated Mojave higher than they initially rated Vista
• 0% rated Mojave lower than initially rated Vista
• Average pre-demo Vista score: 4.4
• Average post-demo Mojave score: 8.5

It’s about time Microsoft is finally attempting to dispel the Vista sucks rumors. I’ve been using Vista for two years now (since beta 2).  Ever since RC1 it’s been pretty good except for some compatibility issues.  Since the RTM release though it’s been solid.

Is it too little, too late?  Can Microsoft turn around the reputation the Mac commercials gave to Vista? We’ll see.

I’m a big baseball fan but this is the type of thing Major League Baseball does that drives me crazy.

On Monday Michigan’s Mark Knopper, owner and sole employee of Bulbous Ventures, received an email from MLB Advanced Media demanding that he remove baseball team logos from his program along with a nearly imperceptible MLB logo used on the application program shortcut. MLB Advanced Media also expressed concern people might wrongfully assume his program was an official MLB iPhone App. MLB also made available its own iPhone app on last week, MLB.com At Bat ($5).

iPhone App Maker Gets Hit With Major League Cease and Desist