The views expressed on this website/weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
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I baked pecan pie today. This was for work. In 10 days I’ll take a whole day to bake more pies for Thanksgiving. If you need recipes check elsewhere on the blog.
This post is for my sister who also just moved to an Android platform phone. (Her BlackBerry will be on eBay soon; let me know if you’re interested. lol.)
Now that you’re geeking on Droid, here are a few other services you may want to consider:
- Twitter. Post “micro-blog” updates in 140 characters or less. Follow me on Twitter. I’m @MaxWalker. (The userid to follow is “MaxWalker”. The convention on Twitter is to indicate the userid by @MaxWalker, since that’s how you target a post to someone in particular. It’s called a “mention.” All posts are public.) BTW, when I post new things on my blog (www.maxwalker.name), it gets tweeted automatically with a link.
- TweetDeck. I installed TweetDeck to handle all my “social” posting: Twitter and Facebook. I keep the native Twitter and FAcebook apps for when I want to do more than just post or review posts, but I rely on TweetDeck for the real-time visibility. I have 2 Twitter accounts: one personal (@MaxWalker) and one professional (@MaxWalkerPMP).
- Skype for Android. Your phone may have already come with it. You’ll need to confirm with your carrier how SKype calls are handled. On Verizon, Skype-to-Skype calls are free and do not charge minutes on your plan. I’m beginning to get Mom and Dad back onto Skype; they used it during the mission for mission business sometimes.
- Lookout. Lookout virus scans your phone and provides a bit more complete phone backup than you may get natively with your carrier. But the best feature is that if you lose it under the sofa or in the car, you can login to mylookout.com and make your phone scream loud — even if you had it on silent settings — so that you can find it!
- Gospel Library. This is the official app for LDS scriptures and such. The Android version is not yet as robust as the iPhone version, but they’re actively working on it.
- ShopSavvy. This is a popular shopping bar code scanner. Let’s you scan the bar code in a store and compare local and online prices.
- Goggles. Use pictures to search the web. For example, take a picture of a landmark and let Google tell you about it.
- Astrid Tasks. Common task manager. Google Task sync is in beta, but didn’t work for me. I sync it to Producteev.com instead. (I’m experimenting with another task system, but am probably going back to Astrid this weekend.)
- Evernote or SpringPadIt. These are “junk drawer” apps. Make a note; take a pic; scan a barcode; upload a PDF; whatever. Store it in one of these apps on your Droid and it’s available on the web. Or store it on the web and it’s available on the phone. I’m still playing with both these apps. I prefer Evernote’s interface, but they have space limits and charge for more space. Springpad’s interface is less nice, though fully workable, but they have unlimited space. I haven’t chosen for good yet.
- Listen. This is Google’s podcatcher for Droid, if you’re interested in subscribing to any podcasts. I’m sure there’s a block on the Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh drivel, but you can get KUER and PRI.
- Scripture A Day. This little widget will put a new scripture on one of your home screens each day.
All these are available in the Droid Market. And then there are the games: Angry Birds, Tetris, Labyrinth. There are various NetFlix queue apps. There are a few TV apps, but they’re limited in choice and battery hogs, of course. And lots more.
Have fun! See you Monday for lunch and we can compare Droid devices…..
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-parental-Filter.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmosbest+%28Gizmo%27s+Best-ever+Freeware%29
I don’t use the solutions discussed in this article. This article does provide good advice and perspective if you looking for content filtering solution.
I use a paid solution called iBoss that seem s to combine the best of both worlds: it provides a lot of the same features as desktop-installed solutions, but it runs on the home network.
It’s that time again. Thanksgiving (USA) is just around the corner. Alas, a few tries at getting aan online recipe book have all failed to one degree or another, but I still have the recipes posted in a blog posting.
Want my pie recipes? Click here to see my Thanksgiving Pie Recipes. These are the pies I bake each year. Yes, I bake at least 1 of each, but usually a lot more. Each year is between 8-12 pies. It takes a day. But it’s a day well spent!
My first experience with Spideroak Support was very positive.
Recall that I recently wrote about organizing your files and what I do to back them up. (Yes, you should be backing them up. By now, folks, that’s a total “duh,” so man up and start really backing up for your files!)
Anyway, Spideroak starts you out with 2 free Gig. Then, you can earn up to 3 more free gig (total = 5 Gb) by referrals. Referrals are done via a referral URL that you can give to friends or post on your blog — whatever.
After I set my wife up using the referral URL, it seemed that the supposed automated setup didn’t work; we each still had only 2 gig, but should have had 3. I couldn’t see how they were technically tracking that info, so I emailed support and kindly described what appeared to fail.
Support got back to me quickly and committed to a rapid turnaround. In the end, the automated process had work, but needed some turnaround time. That’s the good news.
The even better news was that support gave us each other free gig just for our troubles.
Now THAT’s good customer service!
Do you hate looking for files on your computer? Is it a totally jumbled mess? Sure you can use increasingly good search solutions, like Google Desktop, but it just doesn’t feel as good as going straight to your files, or seeing all your related files listed together where they belong.
I adopted a simple file organizing solution last year. You might like it, too.
How I organize my computer files
I use a personal file structure that is recommended by the authors of The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your Email Before It Manages You (Bk Business) . The Hamster Revolution discusses strategies for handling email effectively and for handling file storage effectively so that you can store and retrieve your files quickly because of a simple file organization standard.
For personal files, Hamster recommends 3 primary folders: PEOPLE, ACTIVITIES, ORGANIZATIONS. Or PAO, for short. The folders are put in that order because they reflect a priority. For example, if you’ve got a file that could go in People or Activities and it’s a toss-up, then put it in the higher folder, People. Later, if you go looking for that file in Activities instead of People, then recognize that this is your logical preference after all and move the file.
To keep the folders sorted properly on a computer, I name the folders like this: 1-PEOPLE, 2-ACTIVITIES, 3-ORGANIZATIONS.
In each folder are sub-folders, of course.
How I name my computer files
The next step that helps is to name your files in a standard way. I use a naming that will sort the files well. If I have a letter to the school principal, I may name it something like this: 2010 10 23 – Letter to Principal about Carter’s Schedule.odt. Putting the date up front and in that format will sort all the files by their date. My preferred date format is YYYY MM DD; a perfectly sorting date format. This file could go in People (for Carter) or in Organization (for the School). Which is right? Neither. It’s whatever works in your mind. And you adjust over time.
Organizing files this way keeps things really simple.
How I back up my computer files
Backing up your computer files is, well, duh. Check out how I do this here with SpiderOak.
I listened to the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) last weekend. I enjoyed the conference.
During the conference, Elder Boyd K. Packer discussed some of the challenges of gay members of the church. He offered hope, support, and love. He counseled all members of the church and people of good will everywhere not to reject or persecute gays in our society. Such persecution is not in line with what we learn from Jesus Christ.
Elder Packer also restated, however, our firm stance regarding the nature of men and women on the earth and the eternal plan for the family. He restated that marriage is defined as being between man and woman. The church will not acquiesce on this important doctrine. But no one should infer from that firm position that abuse of gays is in any way acceptable.
I am grateful for the clarity with which Elder Packer spoke on this important topic. It is an important perspective that I can use to help teach my children about right and wrong — both involving the morals of physical intimacy within marriage and the morals of how we treat properly all of our brothers and sisters.
Agreement with the gay community about the status of marriage is not likely. But disagreement should not be interpreted itself as persecution. Unfortunately, many in the gay community have responded with venom, misrepresenting the overall message of the church on this topic.
To that end, the so-called Human Rights Campaign (HRC) presented a petition to the LDS church this week asking for corrections and retractions to Packer’s address. The church responded with an impressive statement, I thought. Here are some links that will be helpful for those seeking more information.
I have gay individuals in my extended family. We love them. We look forward to their frequent visits and staying in our home. We do not do it as a particular favor or in response to their gay lifestyle choices. We do it because we love them just as we love the rest of our family members.
Dishonest statements, rhetoric based in selective interpretations, and misguided pressures in the press make things more difficult for such families. Such politics create discord where there was none, and introduce strife where there was peace. I denounce them as we should denounce all liars and deceivers who would rob our American society of our peace and happiness.
There really is nothing quite like the sensation felt when someone whom you love and respect takes a swipe at your core beliefs.
Recently, I got a fun email from one of my sisters. It was a cute play on words. The word play involved a swear word, one that we often consider innocuous unless uttered by our children. No one took offense; we all enjoyed the joke. My sister mused that it was cute enough to put on her car, but that it may not go over well when she drove up at church with that plastered on her car. (I’d argue that it might not go over too well if you drove up at work, either.) She joked that “you never know, I might do it anyway!”
Fun joke. Fun interaction. Made me smile.
Then someone on the distribution list who is dear to me and who is a key figure in some of my strongest and most favorite childhood memories responded in huge red letters to the list:
“YES ………………….. ANOTHER ONE JUST MIGHT STEP OUTSIDE THE BOX???????????? NOT FAR…………… BUT MAYBE JUST A TOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The box is presumably the framework of our faith. In a few short words, he both celebrated those of our family who have left our faith and encouraged others to do the same. He belittled my core faith and beliefs, marginalizing them as so much foolishness of childhood that should be left behind by mature thinking people.
We don’t share the same beliefs. But I don’t recall ever having mocked or degraded him for his alternative lifestyle. I don’t recall ever having criticized him for anything, except possibly for not showing as often as I’d have liked at family reunions during my much too infrequent trips home. And that hasn’t been an effort. He’s a fixture in my memory and affection. It smarts when one so dear marginalizes you.
I could be over-reacting, but I know that during my childhood, he’d had such words with my parents. They were all wise to shelter us children from such disagreements. But I was later made aware of the history and the pain associated with it. But I’d hoped that time had softened those things.
I’m LDS. A mormon. Devout. In some ways a little atypical. But not rebellious. I’ve never experienced direct mockery. I’ve had friends and colleagues ask questions and even expression confusion at some of my beliefs. I even had one catholic friend express very deep feelings of offense at the doctrine of restoration through a prophet (Joseph Smith). He felt free to be very direct with me, something I cherish, and in that directness he still was not disrespectful to me or my choices. He did not mock my fidelity. No one has ever expressed disrespect to me because of my beliefs. At least I can’t recall any such time. I’ve always felt encouraged by those not sharing my faith to be faithful to my beliefs.
I’ve known members of my faith who’ve been denounced and dis-owned by family because of their faith. It’s as confusing to me that this should happen to any person of any faith as it is that any person of faith would do similarly to anyone else, including family members who choose alternative lifestyles. Such disrespect to people we love is untenable, inexcusable.
Perhaps my family member meant so such offense. I’m left now wondering if I’ve ever made such offense to anyone in my circle without knowing it. I sure hope not.
I’m not an Apple fan. I’ve not been an Apple enemy, but also not a fan. I know some real Apple fans. They’re great technical and business guys. The differences between me and them:
- Hardware aesthetics don’t impress me much. I don’t say that being impressed by them is a negative, it just doesn’t do anything for me.
- I prefer hardware that lets me manage things the way I want to. Apple is the antithesis of that idea. But if you like Apple’s management tools, one could consider the devices as well-managed.
- I have a hard time calling “smart” something that can’t do both “dumb” and “smart” things. iDevices can only to things that Apple calls “smart,” which amusingly precludes most “dumb” and logical tasks, like easily dumping MP3 files to the device.
- I’m cheap.
- I’m a linux user. You thought Apple expressed a hidden rage about Flash? That’s nothing compared to Apple’s approach to linux. You’d think an OS who’s underlying architecture is Unix-based would be a bit more friendly to linux. Turns out Apple’s not really friendly to anything, so it’s nothing personal against linux.
iTouch … Joy?
My 13-year-old wanted an iPod Touch. He mowed his grandparents’ lawns all summer and saved up quite a little pirate’s booty and wanted to buy it himself. Once I figured out that the iTouch had fairly decent “restrictions” — or parental controls, as I call them — I decided to let him have it. He wanted 2 things: a solid music player … and apps. So, he bought one — he’s not quite as cheap-natured as I. After spending 6 hours trying to set the %!%@%#$ device up, I intend never to own or touch another Apple device.
Despite Apple’s attempts to make you manage your very expensive device only in ways they approve, we have seen some success with iPods on linux over time. After 4 hours with the iTouch, it was clear that this was not going to be the case for the iTouch.
So “smart” that it can’t do “dumb” things. It’s like the nerd characters on TV that are brilliant but lack the most basic of common sense. After spending $300, the device is only capable of serving as a shiny paperweight until you sync it with Apple’s favorite and famous bloatware, iTunes. Despite the pretty eye candy, I can’t call anything “smart” that can’t walk by itself without a nanny, as it were.
Control freak. Apple is also freakishly manic about its proprietary approach to handling music on iThings. One ought to be able to simply dump MP3 files to the device. I can do that on “dumb” MP3 players. A “smart” device should be able to do both “dumb” and “smart” things. Instead, you have to use iTunes. iTunes should be so much better and smoother that you’d never dream of wanting a simple USB drive connection for the iThing. iTunes is not all that, but Apple presumes to forbid any other channel.
(In fact, iTunes is so bad that even Windows users moan about it, and it has spawned its own niche market of replacement and improvement packages. iTouch is so persnickety that only a few of these niche products are even able to manage it.)
What’s yours is mine. While I have no direct experience on it, other Apple users have complained that once you are foolish enough to put your music into the iTunes prison, it suddenly becomes difficult to move your music, copy it to your own other computers or any of your other devices. We’re not talking about “illegal” music sharing; we’re just talking about my own use of music that I legally bought. Apparently, Apple things that we’re too “dumb” to handle it ourselves, so it will do it for us.
Going Droid
Since my household is all linux, and since iThings are so sensitive that they can’t be mounted in a VM (“dumb” devices can do that), my son has concluded that if he wants to keep the iThing, he’s going to have manage at a friend’s house.
So, I checked out Droid. Turns out there are some non-phone Droid music devices that have full access to the Droid apps market. They’re like iTouch only better. I didn’t even finish my explanation of that before my son blurted out, “Oh, droid! They’re so cool! I want that!”
So, the iTouch thing goes back to Best Buy this weekend where it can be properly coddled like children savants need to be, and we’ll go get an equally flashy Droid device that can operate on its own sans nanny.
I’ve really begun enjoying using Mind Mapping Software lately at work. I’ve used a few packages over time, but finally settled this year on XMind. The free version is not a “crippled” version; it includes a rich set of fully functional features. The pro version includes a few additional features. What I like best is that XMind is fully cross-platform (Windows, Linux, and Mac) and even includes a “portable” version that you could run from a USB flash drive on any computer.
Last weekend, I used it to include some very legible pricing tables on a new page I put on this site for my daughters’ high school production company fundraiser. It was pretty easy to create the pricing tables, align them neatly, and export it as a PNG image file. The export is nice and crisp, which isn’t always the case in every software package.
I used the package over the last few work days to do some early-stage project planning. I needed a way to take the project team’s contributions so far and put them in the context of a more complete project plan (high level view) so that they could easily spot where their work fit — and where we still had some core planning ideas to lock down before we went much further.
Anyway, I have finding new use after new use for capturing notes, building out ideas, documenting “current state” of systems, and presenting findings in meetings.
Check out other ways that I use Xmind here.
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