I live and breathe social media. I'm excited about this stuff, and use it daily at work and in my personal life.

I'm thrilled with Twitter, to which I am addicted, and I have harnessed everything from Facebook and Flickr to YouTube and Posterous in fun and fulfilling ways.

Writing about social media for the Pioneer Press is a delight. I dissected www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com">Social Media Breakfast Twin Cities in today's paper, and have a piece on Foursquare hitting very soon. In the process, I've met fascinating people using social media in powerful and ingenious ways.

Social media has been fantastic for "crowdsourcing" to find the people and information I need for my stories (Twitter is especially effective for this now that I have nearly 7,000 followers). This technique has put me in touch with even more folks I'm now honored to include in my source list.

Even with all of this, I was surprised and flattered to be included today on a list of 20 top Minnesota "social media innovators." Wow. I am humbled and grateful. Thank you.

End of commercial :-)

I have just returned from a week of personal time, spent mostly in hard labor as I helped erect a retaining wall outside my house. (I hurt in places I never thought I’d ever feel pain.)

Now I’m playing catch-up with a few of the topics I covered prior to my “vacation.”

Google Voice. I earlier reviewed this nifty service, which assigns you a special phone number. When someone calls you at that number, all your phones (cell, home, work) ring. And that’s just for starters.

I complained in my column that Google was rolling out its voice service only to users of generic Google accounts and not domain name-customized ones (also known as Google Apps for your Domain). At least, that is what a Google PR person told me. Per one of her e-mails:

Right now, (Google Voice is) only integrated with consumer Google Accounts/Gmail accounts.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I received a Google Voice invite and had no trouble associating the service with my own domain name-customized Google account. Either that PR flack was tragically misinformed, or Google has quietly broadened Google Voice compatibility beyond its generic accounts.

Regardless, I’m pleased.

In a related note, a friend pointed me to this nifty iPhone app that integrates Google Voice with the Apple handset better than browser-based access does. I’m holding out for an official Google Voice app from the Googleplex, though.

Data backup. In another recent column, I discussed a variety of data backup options. These include Dropbox, a service for selectively archiving files up into the cloud. I praised it as an elegant option that is more Mac-friendly than its rivals. I wrote:

But while SugarSync, Syncplicity and Dropbox all work on Macs, only the latter doesn't make it feel like an afterthought.

I was hardly surprised, then, when Syncplicity e-mailed me over my vacation to inform me that the service’s Mac software and support were being yanked after their much-publicized unveiling earlier this year. Oh, good riddance, Syncplicity.

CrashPlan, a Minnesota-based data-backup service also featured in my column, comes up during my recent co-host grand debut on the Minnov8 Gang Podcast.

Tipped off by my Twitter pal Nick Coleman today about Apple's newly remodeled Mall of America retail store, I drove over and took these pictures.

The old theater with airport-style seating in the rear is no more, and the Genius Bar has been moved from the right side of the store to the rear. This and other layout tweaks have opened up a ton of room for additional tables in the middle of the store.

The new arrangement is simpler and more user-friendly with space for hands-on training without inconveniencing visitors who are just there to look around.

I snapped these and other photos with an iPhone 3GS. I then parked myself on one of the middle tables to upload them to this new Posterous blog via e-mail and the store's Wi-Fi.

Thanks, Nick.

I was on a beach outing with my family and my loaner iPhone 3GS the other day when I glanced at the phone’s display and saw the ominous message embedded here.

It was the first time I had seen that scary-looking screen. But, as it happened, I had left the handset in direct sunlight on a superhot day.

So, my reaction was, “Like, duh, of course the iPhone just overheated. Be more careful from now on.”

I tucked the iPhone into one of my backpack’s outer pockets to cool down and, when I checked on the device a half hour later, it was working just fine – and has worked perfectly ever since.

I wasn’t surprised, therefore, when Apple this week released an iPhone advisory about this very issue.

However, this has since seemingly been misconstrued by some to be an Apple admission of an iPhone-overheating problem. Nonsense, says CNET, in a piece titled, “iPhone heat issue much ado about nothing.”

I agree.

Update: Are iPhones burning up in the infernos of processor overtaxation, or is it all a big misunderstanding? (Engadget)

I am delighted with Apple’s just-released third-generation iPhone, and especially with one of its marquee features: an upgraded still camera that also shoots video.

This makes the iPhone 3GS one of the big reasons to spend extra moolah for an Apple handset instead of going for a deal; a version of the second-generation 3G version of the iPhone is still being sold for $99. (Read my iPhone 3GS review.)

I’ve been snapping lots of pictures and videos with my 3GS loaner and I generally like the results, especially compared with the much-crappier photos I have taken with the 3G’s camera.

Resolution has been upped from 2 to 3 megapixels, and still imagery looks nicer overall. And in a twist, settings such as focus and white balance can be adjusted with touch-screen taps. If you want to focus on something in the foreground, just touch that part of the screen. There’s even a macro feature for up-close shooting.

As for video, I am thrilled to have the option of capturing moving pictures on a moment's notice, with the device that is already in my pocket at all times. The quality of my iPhone clips is surprisingly decent. Parents in the market for an Apple phone should definitely go 3GS; I’ve taken lots of shots of my kid already.

See above and below for examples of still and moving images I've recorded. I uploaded the videos to YouTube directly from the iPhone, which is a terrific trick. Uploading videos and photos to Apple’s MobileMe is another option. I'd like to see more options -- especially uploading to the popular Flickr and Facebook.

Digital broadcast television is all about reception.

To get over-the-air channels in standard or high definition, you need a properly deployed antenna. Other factors, such as your geographical location and any physical obstructions in your vicinity, can affect your reception.

I’ve been lucky in this regard. In three locations in or near downtown St. Paul, I have been able to pull in most or all available digital channels using a low-cost indoor Radio Shack antenna hooked up to a low-cost digital-converter device or a plug-in computer tuner.

As a result, I’ve become a big fan of free high-def TV as an alternative to costly cable. (You can read about all my DTV adventures, among other DTV-transition topics, in articles and posts here or here.)

But not everyone sees such good results, as you would have gathered from this blog post and this related article. Some people may need fancier antennas and may still see issues, especially if they’re on the outer fringes of the Twin Cities.

Even in the heart of the Twin Cities, close to Shoreview television transmitters, many will have reception issues. This can be due to signals bouncing around in areas with lots of buildings close together. Those near hills can have reception interference, as well, with their direct line of sight to the transmitters blocked.

Stephen Margolis has seen this first-hand. The retired electrical engineer has spend a lot of time driving around with digital-television equipment in his trunk, just to see how DTV reception fairs in different places. I mentioned him in this article.

Margolis’ recent testing has revealed several problem areas in the east metro. He writes:

I suspect that the dead zones in St. Paul are:

1) the rectangle bordered by Bayard and Eleanor on the North and South and Fairview and Cleveland on the East and West.

2) West 7th between Montreal and St. Paul Avenue and St. Paul Avenue between West 7th and Cleveland.

Both of these are in the shadow of hills.

West 7th Street in St. Paul is at an elevation of about 810 feet above sea level. It runs along the bottom of a hill in Highland Park, and the top of this hill is 970 feet above sea level. Hence, there is a hill 160 feet high between West 7th Street and Shoreview.

This would be West 7th Street between Montreal Avenue and St. Paul Avenue. St. Paul Avenue, which intersects West 7th, is also about 810 feet above sea level, and is at the foot of the same hill.

At the corner of West 7th and St. Paul Avenue, there are two garden apartment complexes which have very tall antenna towers -- maybe 100 feet (I will try to get a better estimate). These must have been installed long ago to provide Community Antenna Television (CATV) sending analog TV to these two apartment houses.

Bayard Street in St. Paul is 887 feet above sea level in the shadow of the campus of The College of St. Catherine which is about 933 feet above sea level. Hence, Bayard Street is in the shadow of a hill 46 feet high between Bayard Street and Shoreview.

Hoo-boy. When I asked local antenna-TV users how they were coping with the digital-television transition, I got an earful.

These are all people with whom I’ve corresponded in the past about antennas, digital-converter boxes for old analog TVs, and the like.

The question I posed: Are you getting all your channels via over-the-air DTV since the June 12 transition occurred?

Many said they were having no problems. Many others said they were having issues.

Here’s a Pioneer Press article that quotes some viewers, but I had more material than I could use for the story. Here’s some of those extra e-mails:

Penny: No I'm not and I'm really annoyed. I live in Cathedral Hill if that makes a difference. I bought a new TV, I bought a new antenna that needs to be plugged in. I followed your sage instructions to add a longer cable. Yet when I get the "No Signal" display for a station that I could get perfectly the night before, I'm doing the antenna dance around my condo to find stations. Reception seems to correlate to the weather conditions (really bad with rain).  As you mentioned, it's not unusual to be watching a show and the pixelation comes out of nowhere and then it's time to wave the antenna around searching (hoping) for a signal. My neighbor across the hall has the same complaints.

Tom: No, it is very strange, one day cannot get channel 5, the next day channel 5 comes in but I have lost channel 9 and 11.  We are about 70 miles from the metro area. Have not gotten all channels yet, will be hooking up an amplifier to see if that helps.

Jim: We have Direct TV at home, but I like the option of having over the air in case of storms or other instances. I just have a rabbit ear antenna on the TV but it still "pixelates" most of the time. I am going to have to invest in an outdoor antenna to get better reception.

Sharon: My husband and I both read your great article this morning and found it very interesting due to the DTV situation we are presently encountering. We own a resort in Wisconsin and have been virtually "tv free" since June 13th.  Hard to try and explain to our guests why they have very limited reception if any.  Some cabins can get a channel or two and some can't. Our home can get channels 9 and 11 but do lose signal more often than we want. Before June 12 switch over we were able to get channels 2, 4, 5, 9, and 11 without any problems in our cabins and main house whether they have a VHF antenna or VHF/UHF antenna. On our home we have a 30 foot antenna with a rotor on it and have never had problems with reception prior to the 13th. The morning of June 13 we installed 6 converter boxes in the 6 cabins and the best we could do is getting channels 9 and 11 in some cabins and also get the "NO SIGNAL" black screen.  Our house we get channels 9 and 11 and also get the "NO SIGNAL". We have contacted the FCC twice and they tell us our area has either no signal or a weak signal.  Why could we get the signal before on analog and now we can't in digital form??? Tom is in agreement with the gal you related to in your article that said their is a conspiracy with the cable companies. They had to have known before they changed over that there would be areas that would get no signal; they should have been more prepared for this.

Harry: We live in rural Hastings, just northwest of town in Dakota County. I have a large UHF/VHF antenna located inside our attic. All the DTVs and Digital Stream converters work perfectly and receive all 16 digital channels available in our area. The only glitches we have are momentary (1 or 2 second) interruptions of sound (not picture) at random times, usually during news broadcasts from Channel 5.1 and it happens with all our TVs.

John: I am in the Aitkin area. My analog TV is about 7 years old. Prior to June 12, I was using rabbit ears for reception, and could pick up WCCO, KSTP, KMSP and one PBS station. I purchased a DTV conversion box in late May, hooked it to my TV, and took it for a test drive. With the rabbit ears, the only reception I could pick up prior to June 12, was 6 PBS stations. No problem, because it wasn't June 12 yet. June 12, and continuing through June 21....I lost WCCO, KSTP, KMSP, but retained the 6 PBS stations. I purchased one of the square "superior" RCA DTV Antenna's, tried different heights, different directions, etc. etc. Still could only get reception form PBS (Barney and Kermit do look real good).

Tom: I have trouble with channel 5 and have taken to rescanning the channels about twice a day. We get some stations better during the day (including channel 5) and some not at all at night (including Channel 5). I did reposition the antenna, but am not doing some research on how to "aim" the antenna for the best reception at our location. It does seem that we are not able to get some of the stations we used to get. For example, we were able to get some of the Duluth stations on occasion. Not anymore. However the stations we do get are much more clear. It is interesting!

Dave: Ch 2.3 is a pain in the ass; continually have to adjust the Terk antenna.
I don't get any ION channels but that should change when they move to Shoreview. I don't get any low power digital channels but those are all religious so don't care.

Sally: I'll tell you what I say to anyone else who asks how we like digital TV. It's great...when we receive it. We live in the country near Barron, Wisconsin, about 80 miles from the Twin Cities. We "receive" channels 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 15, 23, 45 and various subchannels from Mpls./St. Paul and 13, 18, 28, 48 and various sub channels from Wisconsin stations. I wrote receive in quotes as reception is intermittent on most of them, often receiving signals versus not receiving; but still not at all a sure thing. We have 2 converters, a Digital Stream and a Zenith DTT901, and a digital TV. The digital quality is about the same for all three. We also have Direct TV for our main analog TV.  For each converter we paid $20 over the converter box coupons and $400 for an antenna/installation. Luckily we already had an antenna tower and a rotor. We have to use the rotor often to try to zero in on the digital signal. Since we've spent $440 to try to receive digital transmissions, I would not call it "Free DTV." So all in all as a rural customer, I am not a huge fan of digital TV.

Pete: I get all the channels, pretty much all the time. But I never know when they are going to drop out (usually some weather condition). Right now 2 & 4 are giving me the most problems (were some of the best analog channels). One day channel 4 was not coming in at all. This DTV stuff is pretty pitiful. I just asked my family if they noticed any other channels dropping out and they said 5 & 9 do it also. The above is using a Magnavox TV below.  We also have a Zenith DTT901 converter box which has a better tuner but pretty much just use that for recording with our DVR. I also am using a different amplifier, a Pico Macom TA-25, that seems to be a bit better than the one mentioned below. So to sum it up I am disappointed at best.

Lois: The TV which is not hooked into cable and which has a converter box and antenna now in place does receive more channels than previously. Four flavors of hmm...TPT I think it is, for example. However, the thing needs to be retuned nearly every time a different channel is selected -- thus reports its user, my adult daughter. She has tried aiming the antenna toward Shoreview, which is where we understand most of the signals are originating. Things are both quite good and fairly abysmal, simultaneously, depending on the channel, within a single viewing session. Rescanning has been done, repeatedly.

George: I'm still having a problem picking up all Channels. Channel 9 I couldn't get at all then I kept scanning the channels then 9 came in. Channels 45 & 2-3 come & go,  they have the square boxes & bad sound. Other times they come right in.

Bill: It's very erratic: I still have only rabbit ears, and the dropouts are so severe that some channels are unusable. I'll put up an outdoor antenna this summer, but even with a rooftop antenna, I don't think DTV will be as reliable as the old analog system. DTV is clearly made for cable or satellite, NOT over-the-air transmission.

Cindy: Some things have changed since I first emailed you. I work in White Bear Lake and right after the switch talked to people in town who also could not get channel 9 even Monday morning. However by Monday evening we are getting excellent channel 9, it also give a high meter reading. My mother in law who also could not get it is also getting it very well- did they tweek it somehow?  I also checked channel 11 that evening and was getting a good signal. However since then channel 11 has gone way downhill. On the converter meter now it only registers around 20, and breaks up.  I went to rescan my brother in law's converter tonight, he is getting all the channels well (including 9) but cannot get anything at all on 11 , meter shows under 20 reading also.  He also got 11 fine before last week, he lives just northeast of Somerset. The problem out here seems to be with 11 now.

The big event known as “Jesus Phone: The Third Coming” is now over, and I have a handset to play with for a while.

As I used the iPhone 3GS today, I was particularly interested in features specific to the device since I have already put the new iPhone 3.0 software through its paces on an iPod Touch.

The 3GS-exclusive features include:

Internal compass. Big whoop. It’s pretty, and it works. Next! All kidding aside, I look forward to apps that put this compass capability to creative use.

Voice control. I was initially befuddled about how to access the new iPhone’s much-ballyhooed voice-recognition features; a friend reminded me that I have to press down the phone’s one physical “home” button for a few seconds.

I promptly ran into a problem; the phone wouldn’t respond to my voice prompts.

Turns out the earbuds I was using, Atomic Bass models from Radius Products, flat-out would not work with the iPhone 3GS (for calls or anything else). The basic buds that ship with the iPhone, as well as a pair of fancier Apple In-Ear Models, did function just fine.

The iPhone was pretty good at understanding my requests to call people in my address book, but tended to mangle Latino surnames.

Just for the record, my surname is not pronounced Oh-JAY-dah-ZAP-ah-tah, and that of my high-school chum Julio Sanjurjo is not pronounced San-JOOR-joe. Trust me on this, Apple.

The voice that reads back the names sounds vee-eery familiar; that’s right, I’ve heard her before.

Also, as the esteemed Chris Breen of Macworld points out, voice-controlling iPod items doesn't work very well. This is disappointing since Apple's touch-screen handhelds have always struck me as clunkier-to-use than the ones with physical click wheels. I had hoped the voice features would remedy this; seemingly no.

Video camera. The iPhone now shoots video, and even lets you edit it before sharing it online. Apple has made all of this drop-dead simple. I was shooting video with just a few taps, and could trim my recorded footage via a couple of touch-controlled sliders.

Uploading to YouTube was then a breeze, and didn’t take very long at all. My attempts to publish video via Apple’s own MobileMe didn’t go as well. Upload attempts seem to work as intended, but the footage never showed up online.

E-mailing the footage did go fine. This is going to be a hoot; brace yourself for gazillions of kid vids, Mom.