I hesitate to write this because many of you may already know about it, but it is worth it anyway. I’ve not met one person in day to day life that has used it before and when I tell them, they love it and now use it all the time.

SMS Google is a really neat way to find things when you are not around a computer. The steps are simple:

1. Compose a text message with what you want. For example “Costco Las Vegas”
2. Send the text message to “46645″ (which spells GOOGL)
3. Then a few moments later you will get the info texted back to you.

You can get all kinds of info:

• For addresses: hospital San Jose CA
• For reverse phone lookup : 2122269817
• For driving directions : pasadena CA to santa monica CA
• For Movie Times : batman begins 94043
• For Weather : weather dallas tx
• For Stock quotes : aapl
• For Answers to questions : population of Japan
• For Definitions : define prosimian (Awesome for when you’re in a game of scrabble.)
• For prices of products : price iPod (Great for when you’re shopping and need to compare prices.)
• FOr Zip codes locations: 94043
• For Area code locations : 650

There are a ton more. If you want to test it out visit this site and type in the text, and it will show you what you would get in return.

Another neat feature is the ability to search a movie database. You can find a movie by character, quote, genre, theme, etc. To do this, visit google and type “movie: ” and the info you know already. For example:
movie: humperdinck
movie: Johnny Depp

This is a great way to look for new movies, or to remember old ones.

So, next time you are at a dinner table and looking for a conversation, teach your company about this. I’m telling you. They’ll love you for it and think you are the smartest person in the world.

The most recent video has brought so many first time visitors, I thought it’d be beneficial to be sure they can find the first five videos in the series. I will list them below. Also, there are more coming, including how to set up a mail server.

The Videos So Far:

• Initial Set Up Of Your Mac
• Enable The Web Server To Host Your Web Site
• Setting Up VNC On Your Mac For Remote Control
• Setting Up FTP On Your Mac
• Setting Up PHP and MySQL
• How To Host Multiple Web Sites On A Single Mac
• RSS Feed For Future Post In The Series

In this Mac Server Series screencast I explain how to host multiple web sites (domains) on a single Mac. In Apache parlance this is called setting up “virtual hosts”. Just as FreeMacBlog.com, FreeMacWare.com, FreeMacUnix.com, etc. all run on a single Mac at Macminicolo.net, with these instructions you can do the same.

Watch it here: How to Host Multiple Web Sites on a Single Mac

Show Notes:

• Smultron text editor
• Apache Virtual Host documentation
• Mac Mini Colocation
• How To Set Up Just One Site on a Mac
• RSS feed for this Mac Server Video Series

While it may appear Luddite, I must confess that my Mac is a 3 and a half year old titanium Powerbook. It’s kept up so well that I haven’t felt the need to get a new Mac yet. (I have a beautiful 20-inch iMac at work.)

My biggest complaint about my old Powerbook is how slowly it syncs with my video iPod. My iPod has USB 2.0 but no Firewire, while my Powerbook has Firewire but only USB 1.0. It takes forever to copy new songs to the iPod.

This week I bought a $10 USB 2.0 expansion card off of eBay. It plugs into the PCMCIA Cardbus slot on the side of my Powerbook and provides a USB 2.0 connection for my iPod. It feels like a breath of fresh air! My iPod now synchronizes must faster!

My only complaint is that the iPod battery doesn’t appear to charge through the expansion card. Other than that, this new USB 2.0 card has been great — definitely suggested if you’re in the same situation!

Tim was kind enough to mention FreeMacWare.com and all the FreeMac sites in his podcast at MacReviewCast.com. The mention of us occurs in episode 77 at about minute 2:05. Thanks for the kind words, Tim!

I read a post this morning about why the new Mac ads don’t work. I suppose it was an interesting article. It’s basically a PC guy saying that PC guys don’t like to be made fun of. I suppose that’s fair.

(Note: Although I do think the ads are good. I’ve had more friends ask me about Macs than ever before because of these commercials.)

But, it got me thinking about advertising and public relations in general. Not counting the continual great advice from Seth Godin, it’s mostly a sad state.

I am offended when marketers and PR people think their audience is dumb. Marketers will tell you that you want their product, and if you don’t than you aren’t thinking straight. ( Example: The LG Chocolate phone has had incredible marketing, but it is still a cell phone with bad reception and hard to use music options that cost too much and keep you tied to a two year contract.) When a sports figure does something inappropriate, his public relations person will try to spin it for the public. (Example: Terrell Owens and his ridiculous public relations agent.) A politician tells you how well they are doing their job and how the other candidate wouldn’t be able to do the job. (Example: Read anything about Las Vegas politics and you’ll know. Scandal after Scandal.)

This makes me wonder if it has something to do with human nature. I think that most humans feel that they have something to teach and that others may not know as much. I think this is a prerequisite for marketers, public relations agents and politicians.

Just for kicks, please participate in this poll: