My Instagram Replacement Apps For The IPhone & iOS

I'm probably not the only one who deleted their Instagram account in protest (and disgust) over the recent user agreement changes that allowed Instagram to sell your photos to third parties without your knowledge and/or providing any compensation.

But many of us have come to love the retro aesthetic that Instagram provided with it's easy-to-use filters. We've also come to love how simple it was to upload photos to multiple services with a single click.

So, what will I will be replacing Instagram with? Read on past the jump to find out.

How To Delete Your Instagram Account (And Why I Did)

To delete your Instagram account go to the Instagram website, sign in, click on your name in the upper right, select "Edit Profile" and look for an "I'd like to delete my account" link at the bottom right of the edit page. Click that link and follow the instructions to delete your account.

Interestingly, even within Instagram's account deletion process they use three different words to describe what is happening. (See screenshots.)

• "I'd like to delete my account"
• "Permanently deactivate my account"
• "Your account has been removed."

I mean how hard would it be to unify those? I was a bit thrown off by "Permanently deactivate my account" be cause deactivating seems to apply that it can be reactivated and/or your information is saved for reactivation.

Regardless of the semantics of the deletion process I did delete my Instagram account today. I wanted to do so before their new Terms of Service come into effect on January 16, 2013.

Deleting My Instagram Account

I deleted my account because I didn't want them to be able to sell my copyrighted photos to third parties to use for advertising (or for what ever else they would use it for) without notifying me or giving me any kind of compensation.

This is bad. get out while you can and tell Instagram (and its parent company Facebook) that you won't stand for these types of money-grabs that make services worse for the user.

I'm not sorry to go.

This is what happens when services stop looking at us as users and start look at as as products to sell (in this case quite literally).

Turn On iTunes 11's Missing "File Edit View..." Menu Bar

TL:DR - Hold Alt > View > Show Menu Bar (Or press Ctrl + B)

If you've updated to the new iTunes 11 and have noticed some of the useful items missing then you're not alone.

After updating I wanted to simply select "File > Add Folder to Library..." which is how I normally add albums to iTunes. The only problem was that there seemingly was no "File" menu to speak of. It just wasn't there.

After hitting a few modifier keys to try to find the menu I stumbled upon holding down "Alt" (I'm on a Windows 7 PC) which temporarily showed the "File" "Edit" "View" etc. Menu Bar.

Holding "Alt" Brings Up The iTunes 11 Menu Bar 

This was helpful but the fact that something as useful as a "File" menu is hidden by default is very bad design in my opinion. We're all used to "File" and "Edit" menus and we can often get lost when we can't find them or even worse think features (like "Add Folder to Library...") have been removed.

If you like the iTunes Menu Bar to only appear when holding "Alt" then simply press ALT when you need to use it.

If, however, you are like me and want the Menu Bar to show up all the time you can select that option by:

• Holding down Alt to bring up the Menu Bar
• Selecting "View" from the Menu Bar
• Selecting "Show Menu Bar" (or press Ctrl + B)

The menu bar should now be visible without having to hold Alt.

Turning Menu Bar On: View > Show Menu Bar

Having to hold a somewhat obscure (or any) modifier key to access something as fundamental as the Menu Bar is really a UI fail in my book. If I hadn't stumbled upon it I would have simply assumed iTunes 11 didn't have a menu bar and therefore was less useful.

Having just started using it I can't say for sure whether iTunes 11 is a step in the right direction but I think hiding much-used and familiar features is not a good route to go.

How to Fix Youtube "This feature is currently not available in your country." Monetization Error.

So I went to monetize my personal YouTube account today only to be greeted with a strange "This feature is currently not available in your country. Learn more." error.

After searching google and the YouTube forums fruitlessly for a solution I think I finally found the reason why I was getting this error.

The possible solution was buried deep in a very unintuitive place inside of YouTube's settings. Read on past the jump for the solution.

My First Day On App.net

Last night I couldn't hold out any longer and went ahead and paid $50 (@jimyounkin) for one year of access to App.net. App.net (often shortened to "ADN" by its users) is a new short message service (read: twitter) that is being built around the idea of users paying for use of the service rather than the service being paid for (and beholden to) advertisers.

While I have more to say about Twitter's recent missteps when it comes to 3rd party developer relations and their increasing push to monetize their users to advertisers I won't do it here. Suffice it to say that in my mind twitter, while still a very useful service, has "jumped the shark" in the last few weeks.

I chose to put my money where my mouth is and commit to paying for App.net even at this early stage because I want a service like this to exist and the best way I can do that is by supporting it now.

So, how did my first day inside App.net go? Did it meet my initial expectations? Where can I see it going from here? Read on past the jump for my impressions.

How To Fix Blogger "Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist." Error

"Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist."

I was a bit puzzled today when I received multiple messages from some of my readers that the store page on my blog was no longer loading. I went to the page and sure enough I got the above message "Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist."

I freaked out a little bit wondering what might have happened to my page. Read on past the jump to see what the problem was and what my (imperfect) solution was

YouTube Pushing Users Switch To Real Names

YouTube pulling your real name from your Google+ account.

I went to make a comment on a YouTube video today and was welcomed with the above pop-up from YouTube basically telling me to "Start using your full name on YouTube" with an example of what my current YouTube account appears like ("jimyounkin") and how it will appear ("Jim Younkin III"). It appears in the image above that YouTube (owned by Google) is pulling your "real name" from your Google+ account.

I already use my "full name" on my YouTube channel but judging from almost every other YouTube channel name I've ever seen I am severely in the minority. Most people don't have their "real name" on their YouTube channel.

Read on past the jump for a few more screenshots of the popup dialog boxes YouTube (and by extension Google) is using to try to push "YouTubers" into using their real names.

What Do The Candy Stripe/Barber Pole Borders On Facebook's Timeline Mean?

New Facebook Timeline Striped Borders

I went onto my Facebook Timeline today and noticed a new (and very distracting) UI element. Apparently some of my Timeline posts have a new border that looks like a cross between an old Mac OS loading bar, caution tape, a candy cane and the stripes of a barber pole.

The funny thing was that it wasn't readily apparent what these new borders are supposed to indicate. Mousing over them gave no information. After puzzling over it for a while it seems that these borders may indicate a story that was added to my Timeline by an application (as opposed to me something to my Timeline "by hand").

UPDATE: As mentioned in the comments below these are likely messages/posts that are visible to you only. I checked a few of the privacy settings for some of these posts and they seem to all have been marked "Only Me". Mystery solved? Maybe.

Do you know what these mean? Is this the best way for Facebook to indicate posts added by other applications if indeed that is what they are?

Mostly it caused me a momentary bit of panic wondering if something was wrong with my Timeline. Usually those type of slanted stripes are reserved for things like caution tape. Usually they mean "warning".

You ideas?

Tools For Building Video Games With Little (or No) Programming Knowledge

I recently asked all the super-smart people on my Facebook to help me identify ways to make video games with little to no programming knowledge. I am not a programmer. I'm an artist. I'm a designer but I am not a programmer.

Frankly the idea of programming frightens me. Maybe it's the "math". Maybe it's the complexity of the "code". Maybe it's simply the fact that I've never done it. For what ever the reason I decided that I had to find away around this handicap be cause I have some really fun ideas for games and I want to make them.

Read on past the jump for a list of the possible resources/programs that my Facebook friends identified as possible systems for me to create a game without knowing hod to program.

OtterBox Commuter Case For The iPhone 4S Video Review

In this 20 minute video I give my review of the OtterBox Commuter Series case for the iPhone 4S. I also go over some history of my love for OtterBox Commuter cases.

I discuss what I loved about the OtterBox Commuter Series case for my iPhone 3GS. I also go over some of the major failings I found in the OtterBox Commuter Series case for the iPhone 4 which I had been using for my iPhone 4S.

If you have any questions or are a company that makes iPhone cases that you would like me to review feel free to contact me at jimyounkin@gmail.com.

Twitter and Google+: How To Follow, Circle Back And Say "Thank You"

Following/circling back and personally thanking those who take the time to follow you on Twitter and/or Google+ is one of the easiest and most fundamental ways to show that you care about your community/customers/followers.

In this short video I go through the mechanics of how to follow Twitter users back as well as thank them. I also go over how to circle back and thank those who circle you on Google+.

If you have questions about anything in the video or about twitter in general feel free to email me at jimyounkin@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

A Super Basic Intro to Twitter

This is a short 20 minute video to be used as a basic introduction to Twitter for all Devil Lopers.

While created for those working on projects with Devil Loper, the things I talk about in the video can help anyone who is feeling lost when getting started with Twitter.