I became an iPhone user back in September and have naturally been obsessed with everything “iPhone” ever since – in particular, DIY (Do It Yourself) iPhone / Touch docks & stands.

I recently set up and configured, what I humbly call, my “ultimate home office” (pics coming soon) and my new iPhone just didn’t seem to fit in very well. I wanted to prop up the iPhone so I could easily watch a video podcast or simply admire it’s beautiful design, but unfortunately didn’t really have a good way of stabilizing it’s tilt.

So, I naturally turned to the web in desperate need of finding the perfect iPhone / Touch dock or stand. Due to these harsh economic times, I steered clear of the manufactured $30 – $40 docks and noticed that their were several DIY iPhone / Touch dock and stand tutorials already out there. However, it took some digging to find good ones, and I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of some of the best DIY iPhone / Touch docks and stands available. Feel free to mention others you find or have built yourself in the comments. Enjoy!

Docks:

Card Paper Dock

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via Dessine moi un objet

Download PDF Template

Binder Clip Dock

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via Lifehacker

Toilet Paper Roll Dock

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via QuiKeys

Cardboard Dock

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via Geeky Gadgets

Download PDF Template

Recycled CD Dock

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via Geeky Gadgets
See Geeky Gadgets website for instructions.

Lego Charging Dock

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via jordanknoxpolk

LEGO Rotating Dock

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via Bricks in my Pocket
Visit Bricks in my Pocket for a video demonstration and see more pics here.

NES Controller Dock

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via Geeky Gadgets

Wooden Dock

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via iPhone Hacks

See iPhone Hacks website for more details.

Wooden Tree Trunk Dock

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via Geeky Gadgets

See Geeky Gadgets website for more details.

Automata Dock

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via Murtaza Lakdawala

See website link above for more details and specific instructions.

Laser-Cut Acrylic Dock

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via Tod E. Kurt

See website for more details and template files.

Stands/Holders:

Laser-Cut Stand

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via Makezine

See website for more details and instructions.

Paper Clip Stand

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via Dean and Ying’s Blog

Download PDF Template

Coffee Sleeve Stand

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via Makezine

Credit Card Stand

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via hondahater21

Pencil Stand

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via Geeky Gadgets

See Geeky Gadgets website for instructions.

Mini DV Case Stand

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via Gizmodo

Video details additional mod allowing the device to sit horizontally – nice touch.

Binder Clip Stand

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via Instructables

Download PDF Template Instructions

Wire Coat Hanger Stand (Holder)

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via Gizmodo

…and some other creative hanging methods:

Dinosaur Stand

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When all else fails, simply cut a hole in one of your plastic/rubber Dinosaur toys and call it good.

via Craziest Gadgets

$100 Bill Stand

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Of course, the obvious DIY stand for saving money – the $100 bill stand.
via Swiss Miss

Lazy Mans Stands

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For those of you that can’t possibly imagine cutting, or glueing anything:

via Gizmodo Post Comments

In case you didn’t know – Google has a free 411 service called Goog 411. It’s pretty simple and straight forward. Simply call 1-800-GOOG-411, specify a city, state, and business name. Goog 411 will either transfer your call directly, or you can have a text message sent to your cell phone with the business details (address, phone, etc.).

Simple, fast, and totally free.

Search is the gateway to the web and Google has undoubtedly dominated this arena for quite some time. With a current share of 85% of web searches, Google has become the leader in connecting people to the web.

Google Search

Google search is incredible, no doubt about it, and until recently was the only source I used for searching the web. Google can’t index everything, but does a pretty good job connecting results with queries. Notice I said “pretty good”. For the most part, I can find what I’m looking for – but not always. Let’s say, for instance, I want to see what people are saying about our “economic crisis” in real time. Hmm, can’t do it. Google indexes websites, not conversations. Sure, you could argue that Google indexes Blog comments, forums, and other discussions online… But not in real time.

Twitter Search

Say hello to Twitter, or more specifically Twitter Search. Twitter Search allows you to search for what people are talking about right now.

Example

For example, let’s say I just finished watching the latest episode of 24 (my favorite TV show) and want to see what people are saying about it online.

1. Google Option: If I use Google search, I may stumble across a few websites on 24 and might (if I get lucky) find a couple threads with some comments where people are talking about the latest episode. But, it’s a needle in the haystack at best, and most likely buried behind a trail of clicks and dead-ends.
2. Twitter Option: And what about Twitter search? It’s easy – I simply enter “24″ in the search field and click search. Not only do I find what people are saying about 24, but it’s in chronological order. So I have no problem finding the most recent conversations.

Conclusion

Google search has it’s advantages, don’t get me wrong…but Twitter search has uncovered a whole new level of search capabilities. Being able to see what people are talking about in real time is incredibly valuable. And, yes…much more valuable then seeing what people are saying about Jack Bauer. :)

Ok, so what? Should I stop using Google and just use Twitter search? No. They both have their purpose, but the fact of the matter remains – the more Twitter becomes mainstream the more valuable it becomes.

Bonus

Ohh, and if you’re a Firefox user (which you should be) take a look at this for integrating Twitter search with Google search. It’s a simple greesemonkey script that plugs into your Firefox browser adding Twitter search results to the Google search results page.

I realize this may be old news for some, but I just noticed a feature in Gmail settings that allows you to retrieve mail from other email accounts.

I can’t tell you how frustrated I was, logging into other email accounts and checking mail in 5+ different places.

Oh, and you can also send mail from outside accounts as well. Sweet huh? Ok, enough talk, here’s how it’s done:

How to add a new account:

1. Login to Gmail
2. Click the “Settings” link in the top right corner of your browser
3. Click the “Accounts” link in your settings area
4. Scroll down until you get to the “Get mail from other accounts:” section
5. Click the “Add another mail account” link



6. Enter the email address for the new mail account in the pop up box and click the “next step” button



7. Fill in the new account’s login credentials: username/password
8. In the “POP Server:” field: Most likely you can just leave what’s already provided in the text field, but you may need to adjust this to match you mail account settings. If you’re still stuck, go here.
9. Select any check boxes that you would consider helpful. I would recommend numbers 2 and 3 for security and organization respectively…but that’s just me.
10. Click the “Add Account” button and assuming everything is set up correctly it should go to the next step. If there are any errors and you’re stuck go here.



11. Fill in the name that will be associated with your new account and click the “Next Step” button.



12. Click the “Send Verification” button to verify your new email account.



13. Go check the email account that your adding, for new email, and look for an email sent from Google containing a verification code. Copy the verification code, paste it in the verification text field, and click the “Verify” button



14. If you would like to send email from your new email account, using Gmail, select the “Yes, I want to be able to send mail as: ” option and click the “Next Step” button.



15. You’re Done! You will be returned to your Gmail settings page and will now be able to use your new email account in Gmail. :)

As a note: Getting mail from a Yahoo account requires you to be a Yahoo! Mail Plus subscriber. Server denied POP3 access for the given username and password. POP access is limited to Yahoo! Mail Plus subscribers. Please contact Yahoo! Mail’s support team for more information.

I also wasn’t able to set up a Hotmail account – I think you need be considered a “Plus User” if you want to enable POP3 settings which requires you to upgrade your account and pay a fee.

If you run into any problems, Google has a support page which is quite helpful, or feel free to leave a comment with a question.

I ran across this sweet new tool online for converting PDF files to Word documents. It’s called PDF UNdo.

To be honest, I was skeptical at first, so I threw a couple of (what I would consider) complex PDF files its way. Just to see what it could handle. I was pleasantly surprised. It actually converted all the images into either images or objects and separated out all of the locked text into editable text.

Not bad for being totally free. Let me know what you think. I’d be curious to know if anyone runs into any hiccups.

I was talking with a buddy of mine the other day about passwords and Leet (1337). He didn’t know what I was talking about and it inspired me to write a post giving the basics.

Leet (1337) is an alphabet of ASCII characters used by ‘elite’ internet users. Purposes for using Leet can vary, but I find it particularly useful for creating passwords. Here’s an example:

Leet sentence: 1337 |$ \/3|2′/ |_|$3|o5|_|1 |o50|2 [|2347||\|9 |o4$$\/\/0|2|)$
Plain English: Leet is very useful for creating passwords

Basically, Leet is just another way to write words using numbers and symbols. I know, incredibly geeky, but it can be a lot of fun! There are several different ways to write Leet, so you kind of have to settle on a standard format for your own use, or you may find yourself using 20 different versions of “M“. For a complete chart, click here.

Like I said, Leet can be used for just about anything, but I like to create passwords using Leet. Reason for doing so, is simply more security. Symbols and characters add a whole new level of security to passwords. It’s not for everyone, but I find 1337 intriguing.

Have you heard of 1337? Do you use it for anything?

Creating online forms can be intimidating. It took me a while before I got comfortable making a simple contact form; including form validation, submission to an email, etc.

It’s not impossible, but not exactly something you can whip out in a few minutes (Well, not me anyway). Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just make a form using some sort of drag and drop online application, and tell it you want certain fields to be required and have the data go to a specific email address and…and…

Well, say hello to Wufoo. Wufoo basically makes all of this stuff incredibly easy. Chris over at CSS Tricks, recently did a screencast giving a rundown of how Wufoo works and how to start using it. The video is about 28 minutes but worth the watch.

I have built several forms from scratch, used wordpress plugins, etc but will now be using Wufoo for ALL of my form creation. It simply cuts the time it takes to build a form in half and offers plenty of flexibility. If I need something truly custom I may resort to building it from scratch, but for everything else: Wufoo.

No, I am not getting paid by Wufoo to post this article (I Wish), I am simply in love with their application. Take a look for yourself, play with it. Tell me your thoughts. How do you create forms?

Let’s say you just got done designing a totally sweet web site for a customer. You show the design to them and they absolutely fall in love with it, but explain that they would really like to update the content themselves without having to call you all the time. You choke, cough a little and pretend you didn’t hear them, hoping they say something else. But no, they ask you again. “We would like to have the ability to edit text, images, etc. Can you build that into this design?”. You say, “yeah sure”, but dread the possibility of actually implementing such a feat.

Finding a good Content Management System (CMS) is pretty easy. Paul Anthony has a wonderful post including 13 free CMS solutions with reviews. However, finding a good CMS that fits nice and snug with a preexisting web template is another story.

In the past I had no problem finding the perfect CMS, plugging in a template and going from there, but doing things the other way around was next to impossible. It meant you had to dig through the CMS source code and somehow sync your design up with the original framework. Not fun.

Welcome to CushyCMS – The totally simple and easy to use CMS system that plugs right into your already designed web template. That’s right. Simply add a website to your CushyCMS account, provide some FTP info, add a couple classes to your HTML source code and your good to go. Kick back and relax, no more calls in the middle of the night for that critical text change.

Do you use a CMS? If so, what has worked for you?