As part of the Wired For Gadgets relaunch, we’re giving the power to the people! Instead of me guessing what you want to read about (and generally guessing wrong), the new WFG is turning the tables, and looking for writers, giving Wired For Gadgets an online community feel.

You can write as often or as little as you want… there’s no quotas or requirements.

Requirements to be a writer for WFG? A passion for tech and decent grammar skills. No past experience is required!

Oh, and did I mention the best part? You can write about whatever you want, as long as it’s tech related! (We’re talking gadgets, software, robots… anything that involves computers or technology)

So if you want to give it a shot, fill out the writer application and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

In the coming weeks, I plan on revamping the website to make it more social media oriented. Instead of me writing the content, you’ll write the content… almost like a social blog.

Okay, these changes are going to take some time so be patient. But I assure you, WFG will be back at it better than ever in just a few weeks.

Stay tuned!

- Jake

Good Morning once again- It’s Monday, so you know what that means- it’s Manic Monday. Let’s go:

• Facebook’s new vanity URL’s were the highlight of the weekend.
• In fact, 200,000 users added vanity URL’s in 3 minutes (me included).
• Sadly, though, the best one has already been taken.
• Moving on, WWDC was this week.
• The iPhone 3GS was announced, but it’s not as important as the previous one.
• Apple’s super MacBook Pro battery has been extended down the line.
• Safari 4 was also finalized- and was downloaded 11 Million times in 3 days.
• And if you’re looking for an iPhone 3GS, it’s too late to pre-buy; they’re out!
• Moving on, Ubuntu is looking for another milestone: A ten second boot time.
• Microsoft will soon have free anit-virus software. Yea right!
• And this month is the 10 year anniversary of Napster.

And that’s this week’s Manic Monday. I mentioned last week in my WWDC coverage that I would purchase one of the new MacBook Pros very soon. I am happy to announce that I have made that purchase, and it should be at my door by the end of the week. Again, I will keep you posted, and I’m going to try and post some un-boxing photos. Enjoy!

Time to talk internet. This one, I couldn’t help but talk about. Last week, Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show brought back “In The Year 3000″ from his former Late Night show. Inside, a joke that everyone thought was funny that really wasn’t a joke at all.

The joke is about 30 seconds from the end:

In inside, Conan says “YouTube, Twitter, Facebook will merge to form a super time wasting website called ‘YouTwitFace’”. Turns out Conan was way wrong- the site already exists! In fact, it was started in late March, as a parody website.

As it stands right now YouTwitFace is still under development (in fact, I can’t even be sure what the website will really do). However, they do have a tweet box posted to you can tweet from YouTwitFace. We’ll see how the website develops.

YouTwitFace

Good Afternoon. As promised, a round up of WWDC 2009.

The NEW MacBook Family:

• 13″ Unibody MacBook now part of “MacBook Pro” line. White one simply called “MacBook”.
• Backlit Keyboard is STANDARD!!
• Express Card slot is now an SD Card slot, added to 13″.
• Firewire 800 now on 13″ MacBook Pro.
• Price drops all around: 17″ starts at $2499. 15″ starts at $1699. 13″ starts at $1199.

They the MB’s ship NOW. More MacBook Pro >>

Snow Leopard:

• A full demo was given as part of the Keynote.
• Finder is the same as before, but has been rewritten for better performance.
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 support in Mail.
• Snow Leopard takes 6GB less space and installs 45% faster (sweet!).
• Trackpad will support Handwriting recognition.

Snow Leopard will work on all Intel Macs. It will be released in September for $29 (Yes, $29- that’s a steal!) More Snow Leopard >>

iPhone OS 3.0

• Users will now be able to rent and purchase movies from the phone, along with audiobooks.
• MMS will be available from 29 carriers at launch; AT&T is not one of them.
• Tethering over Bluetooth and USB for Macs and PCs is also enabled. Available from 22 carriers- again AT&T not one of them.
• Safari now does JavaScript 3X faster, supports QuickTime X-style HTTP streaming of audio and video.
• There’s also AutoFill for forms, and improved HTML 5 support including audio and video tags.
• Find My iPhone tracks down your phone using MobileMe from any browser. It locates the phone on a map, and also allows you to remote wipe the device, or even play a sound on the phone for locating it around the house — even when it’s on vibrate.

The new iPhone software is available June 17th- free for iPhone users, $9.99 for Touch users (Myself being one of them- what a ripoff!!). More iPhone 3.0 >>

iPhone 3GS:

• Now 2X faster than the iPhone 3G
• Built-in camera now does Video- sweet.
• New Voice Control dials contacts or changes songs.
• New Compass app helps you find where you’re at.
• Cut, Copy and Paste (finally!)
• Landscape Keyboard available in all apps.
• Voice Memos built in.
• iPhone Tehtering- allows you to share your iPhones internet connect with your computer via either USB or Bluetooth.

The new iPhone comes in two 16GB for $199 and 32GB for $299. The previous generation iPhone 3G is now 8GB for $99. More iPhone 3GS>>

Odds and Ends:
• Safari 4.0 is out of Beta, and availavle now.
• TomTom has partered with Apple to make a iPhone3G car kit, with turn by turn for traveling.
• And so no one has to ask, I plan to by the new 13″ MacBook Pro. I’m to let this all cool for a week or two before I buy.

That’s this years WWDC. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment.

Good Morning- we are just an hour away from the WWDC Keynote where (hopefully) a new iPhone will be announced. I’ll deal with that later. But now: Manic Monday.

• Soon, you’ll have to pay for Hulu. No more Tapioca for Alec Baldwin…
• You now control Microsoft with Project Natal- okay not really…
• Pirate Bay Nemesis Has Name Changed By Pranksters.
• Not far from me: Monticello, MN beats the phone company; Internet a “utility”.
• Hmmm: Six months later, no ISPs joining RIAA piracy fight.
• Well the RIAA claims it’s not about the money. Yea right!!
• Did Bing Just Leapfrog Yahoo Search? Yep.
• Study: Top 10% of Twitter users do 90% of the tweeting. Yea, that’s accurate.
• Twitter to roll out ‘Verified Accounts’ this summer.
• Rumor: New iPhone to be called “iPhone Video?”. We’ll find out.

That’s this week’s Manic Monday. I WILL be back this afternoon for an update on WWDC- some cool stuff ahead. Enjoy!

So why exactly would I want to open a word document with Camino when I don’t even have it? I’m not sure, but Mac OS X thinks I might want to. If you’ve got apps that you have since deleted, you should delete them off of the “Open With…” Menu. Here’s how:

1. Go to your Home/Library/Preferences folder
2. Find “com.apple.LaunchServices” file and trash it (you can back it up if you want)
3. Test it out!

There you have it. The next time you right-click on an item and select “Open With” in the Finder, only current applications will be listed. Some items may return if the application that controls them adds itself back to the list. You can delete the file again if you are having problems.

Just like that, your Mac is cleaned out once again.

Tutorial: Clear the Finder’s “Open With” Menu [via Lifehacker]

My apologies for being late today- it’s almost Tuesday and Manic Monday is not done. I got called in to work this morning, making me unable to get it up. That said, Manic Monday.

• Hulu now has a desktop application- Your brain is now easy to turn to mush.
• Microsoft Update Quietly Installs Firefox Extension. Shame shame….
• Resurrecting a cooked video card- yep, it can be done.
• Zune HD is official, heading your way this Fall. Apple, watch out.
• Justice at work: Pirate Bay Judge Indeed Handpicked.
• Downloading 3322 Copyrighted Movies is Okay in Spain. Ugh…
• What’s Cooking for Apple WWDC ‘09.
• New Version of Skype Adds Screen Sharing.

My apologies for posting almost nothing last week. I am currently coming up with a new way to put up content, as the current way is not working for me. Thanks for sticking with me.

As you (hopefully) recall, last Thursday I told you about Notepad++, a text program that was very lightweight and great for coding. I couldn’t really find a comparable program for the Mac, that is until I found Smultron.

Just like Notepad++, it’s a TextEdit replacment, but does a whole lot more. You can have multiple documents open and a viewer on the right pops up. But it’s more powerful feature is when it comes to coding. I mentioned how I used Notepad++ for working on the KNDS website. I took those same documents I worked on before and did some work with them in Smulton. I tried using a few other programs, but Smultron really made it easy to use.

And as mentioned, Smultron isn’t just limited to coding. Why pull up Word when you have to? Smultron allows you to quickly create simple text documents on the fly.

In short, if you are doing something simple, or something very advanced, Smultron is your answer on the Mac. Smultron is Mac OS X only, and free to use.

Smultron [Tuppis]

Good Morning- and for those of you (like me) in the US, Happy Memorial Day- While you enjoy your day off, take a moment to remeber the reason of Memorial Day. That said, let’s go- it’s Manic Monday:

•  Is the Pirate Bay mad about the recent verdict? Let’s just say they want a new judge…
• Harvard professor Charles Nesson tells judge that P2P filesharing is “fair use”.
• In fact, he is demanding the RIAA repay $100 Million. Interesting….
• The reality? Artists don’t want the pirates disconnected…
• On to Apple news, they’re building $1 billion server farm.
• And are Macs going to be soon available in Walmart?
• 300 Movies on one disc? Don’t laugh- it’s coming!
• One new twist with a family death- dealing with their Facebook page.
• Finally, Google can now predict when you will quit. There goes the element of surprise…

And that’s weeks Manic Monday. Stay tuned for more content, and be sure to check back later this week- there will be an announcement regarding the website (not a huge change). Enjoy!