The Power of the iPad

Just now, on one device while sitting in bed I have done the following things:
Added posts to my hockey website
Watched Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution"
Read a few chapters of Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food
YouTubed a few videos
Wrote a blog post
Listened to music
Played Angry Birds HD
Went online shopping
Played the guitar, drums and piano on a touch screen
One device less than two pounds. How is this even possible? How can we put a man on the moon, make a device that works like this, and do generally awesome things yet still struggle to feed everyone in the world? How is that a possibility. Think about it, because it just doesn't make sense.

Blogsy: A Review

My computer is from 2003, when I graduated high school and purchased a desk top with television input for college. It had a DVR before they were known. That same desktop still works today (just barely) and when I needed something a bit more portable I had to choose between a laptop, a netbook, and an iPad. I chose the iPad.

As someone who runs a hockey site (for a little over a year now) having access to a computer at all times was needed. I had an iPhone, which I love dearly, but the small screen really didn't help me run the site. As a blogger, writing a post in the iPhone could be done, heck I could even get a wireless keyboard and use that, but it was difficult. The blogging apps on both the iPhone and iPad were sub-par to say the least, and using Safari to login to the site and post that way was a pain in the rear. Trying to scroll down took forever, pieces couldn't be scheduled but rather saved in 'Draft' form to which I would have to login on the computer and set up the scheduling. Overall, it wasn't as convenient.

My Uncle called letting me know he had finally purchased an iPad 2. He put his name on the list at the Apple store the day before like I had instructed him to, and they called him the following day. He picked up a 64 GB white iPad 2. He was clearly excited and wanted to know a few apps. I had shown him several before, and as he is also a fellow iPhone user I knew he had a few favorites of his own. Thinking of apps he should use I headed over to my app store to the 'Featured' section and perused the options. Blogsy was on the front, at a discounted price of $2.99 while they worked on the update to allow you to add pictures from your own gallery to the blog post. Reading the reviews, seeing the features I figured it was worth a try. After all, $2.99 and a chance to make blogging fun, easy and seamless again? Why not, right?

As I sit in bed typing this piece, and after I have already typed up three other blog pieces on Blogsy, I can honestly say it was the best $3 in app purchases I've ever made. I love Pages, Numbers, Presentations and of course all three Angry Birds HD, but nothing makes The iPad quite as useful as Blogsy does. If you're a blogger and you have an iPad, there's no reason you shouldn't have Blogsy.

*Blogsy works with my personal site here at blogspot, my writing portfolio at wordpress.com, and our hockey site (with a little finagling) a self-hosted wordpress site. It truly rocks.*

The Value of FourSquare

I'll admit that I was hesitant to join FourSquare; I saw it as a creepy stalker tool and being a single female didn't think it was the best idea to use it. I resisted, I didn't use places on Facebook, I didn't tweet with my location on, and I certainly wasn't going to use an application whose sole purpose was location based check ins. Then suddenly, I decided to give it a try for a month and see how I felt. It hasn't been a month yet, but I can guarantee you that I will be using FourSquare for the foreseeable future.

Privacy Options: First and foremost, let's talk about my biggest fears when it came to FourSquare; the unintended stalkerazzi. Stalkers have been a part of many of my friends' lives and even though I live in a secure apartment with a dog and roommates (one of them being Katy's boyfriend so double the reinforcements!) I was still weary of this application. Telling people where I am and at what time I was there? How about just asking them to rob me or attack me? Well in actuality the only people who can see my check-ins are friends who also use FourSquare and who I have to approve. If I decide to share the information on my Twitter (which I do) or my Facebook  (which I don't) that's up to me and can be turned on or off in the settings OR can be turned off based on the check in. My whereabouts and who has access to them is entirely up to me, it's no different than me tweeting or updating my status that I am heading to the pool. It's all about being smart.

Privacy Tip: I do check into my work and my home. However, I do not share that information on Twitter and don't necessarily do it right when I arrive.

Free Local Advertising: While Twitter, Facebook, and even email campaigns are wonderful for targeting your audience with deals FourSquare allows companies to offer immediate discounts or loyalty discounts. The user need not plan ahead to receive an incentive and forgetting the coupon or print out doesn't have to prevent them from coming to your establishment. Users can come whenever, unlike special deals that are emailed out once every so often and are only good for a certain period of time, FourSquare allows first time visitors and frequent visitors a chance to use their discount whenever.

Location Based Services: Places won't give you credit (points to try to rule the leaderboard of your friends) if you are too far away. Need to eat? Open FourSquare and see what discounts and deals are available to you for trying a new place.

Fun Extras: You can upload pictures even after checking in. Your friends can comment on your check in. If you are at an event (like say, a concert or hockey game) and you didn't know one of your friends was at the event it will tell you afterwards. You can also give tips about locations - what to eat, what to avoid, why it's good, etc. Many services are pairing themselves with FourSquare including Yelp!

The Lost Art of Mail

It's been awhile since I've received an electronic e-greeting and other than my new Canadian friend and fellow Chick Sarah, it's been awhile since I've received a piece of mail. It started a few years back, when Facebook wasn't open to the general public and Twitter was just startng up. It is a slow change in the lack real connections to that of the digital world. Instead of sending a card people started sending e-cards. Then those died out as Facebook fanatics started posted well wishes on the wall, first fighting for the first 'Happy Birthday' to missing the birthday by a day and sending a belated post to finally not acknowledging that person's birthday at all.

Technology was created to make our lives more simple, to allow for instant contact with friends and family in different places. In my personal experience there are now individuals who cannot function without technology in their everyday livelihood including their jobs. There are companies that rely so heavily on technology that a snowstorm or power outage leaves the entire workforce isolated and unable to complete anything. People rarely call anymore; voicemails are considered a grave offense and most households couldn't find their book of stamps if it were a life or death situation.

I'm not against technology by any means, I love new tech trends and all the wonderful new toys they bring. I am, however, making a real effort to inject human interaction back into my relationships that technology has stolen from me.

Two years ago I was in my own situation. It was most certainly not life or death, but it felt like hell at the time it was happening. So many things going on in my life that I had absolutely no control over. Family stuff reaching a boiling point after going through four years of hurt and suffering and work stuff not happening the way I had hoped. I remember feeling utterly defeated, run down and just plain sad. I had bailed on my friends Katy and Brittany to get together because I was just too exhausted to go out. In fact, I was downright negative and stubborn when they wanted to get together. I felt awful about it afterwards, knowing they had only wanted to take my mind off of things and help. I went to work the following day and in my boss' mailbox were two envelopes addressed to me. I opened the envelopes to find hand written cards inside. Brittany and Katy each sent me a card telling me everything would work out. They were there for me and if I ever needed to go out for a drink, to vent, or just watch Friends in my pjs with a friend, they were there. I started crying at work. I tucked their cards into my gold wallet clutch and they remain there still today. Whenever I have a bad day or feel like luck is not on my side I open my wallet and read their kind words. I'll never forget how much I needed that pick me up that defeated day or what it meant to me then and what it still means to me now.

So the next time you go to send a text message or email, think about sending a hand written note instead. While I may save a kind email it usually ends up on page 59 of my inbox. Cards, on the otherhand, are placed in a special spot and revisited often.

To Upgrade or Not

Recently many previously free services have been offering upgrades. This past month I have received emails from LinkedIn, Pandora, and the New York Times. Is this a sign of the times and a change brewin'? Currently these three companies are offering free versions that work just fine for most people, but could these previously free services be disappearing for a monthly subscription? Would charging for usage help or hurt the company?

Currently the NYT is offering a certain amount of information for free, and once that amount of information is consumed the consumer will be shown different pricing options for upgrading their usage. For Pandora users they can use the free version but have banner ads as well as commercials. The upgraded version offers better quality audio, no ads, and unlimited listening hours. But honestly, how many people listen to Pandora THAT much? For LinkedIn the cost is quite astronomical, ranging from $20 - $75 a month. What do you get? Bigger search results, the ability to see anyone's expanded profile, and guaranteed responses 3 - 25 users depending on the package selected.

Do you currently pay for any of these services? Is it so amazing you can't live without it? Let me know :)

Email Forwarders Be Warned!

My Dad called my Mom today - a CDOT employee may be terminated due to sending around an inappropriate email.  The email was a picture of President Barack Obama shining the shoes of Sarah Palin and the caption said "Looks like he finally found his niche."  There is an investigation that is going on as this email was forwarded at work, using work email, to fellow co-workers.  For more information please check this link. 

This is just a reminder to be mindful of emails you forward, my personal practice is to copy paste and send to my friends in my personal account - saving it as a draft and emailing it later.  Just remember that everything can be traced, and employment is at will.  Hopefully my Dad's former coworker learns her lesson & we all learn our lessons.

Fox Channels Gone?!?

According to the LA List Time Warner and Fox have not reached an agreement which could leave many viewers without Fox, and most importantly....GLEE.  Time Warner said they will probably do a temporary agreement, however Fox is asking for an unprecendented amount of money per viewer versus any other regular network.  If the deal goes through many of us might have to pay more money for cable.  Still unsure if this is just in the LA area or affects the entire U.S.  Click here for more details!

The Art of Social Media

It's a delicate line between being out there & available in social media and being OUT THERE in social media. In age where we can access conversations between friends (Facebook), pictures of the President in intimate meetings (Flickr), and just about every schmuck has a blog, a twitter, and a facebook profile, where is the line drawn between respectable and harmful to one's professional and personal reputation?




As we should have learned from Watergate scandal one should never keep or allow anyone to record or keep any 'evidence' of information they would not want aired out in front of others. We've all learned this lesson, yet we continue to allow others to obtain our dirty laundry. Take Josh Duhamel for example. He supposedly had an affair with another woman, he denies it. However, the woman has text messages to prove their relations, dirty text messages, known to those hip cool people as sexting. There's no faking those messages, because even if he never sent them and she planted them in there, what was she doing with his phone?? How about Tiger Woods? He is up a foul smelling creek without a paddle. His biggest mistake was probably leaving evidence via voicemail. Speculation is hard to prove, but leaving evidence that you know will get turned over to the papparazzi, that's asking for trouble.


Here are some words of wisdom from my Father regarding Twitter, Facebook, & Blogs:
- NEVER complain about work. Current employers can find it, future employers can find it. It makes you seem difficult to work with, and in this economy it makes you seem ungrateful.
- Everything can be cached, just because you delete it doesn't mean it's gone.
- Public access to your Twitter and Blog mean your Grandma or your employer could be reading.
- Private access isn't really private, employers can ask for access and are given it, my father has done it when researching candidates for job positions.
- Delete any picture of you holding a beer bottle, red solo cup, or looking intoxicated, privacy means nothing. I now make it a common practice to ask everyone in the picture to put down their drink. Even if we're at a restaurant (not a rager) I find it inappropriate to put up pictures in my office if there is alcohol present.

A friend once told me, when it comes to social media and casual hook ups "don't discuss anything heavy." If you do discuss such topics tread lightly. While freedom of speech still exists today, most employment is at will. Meaning they can terminate you at any point for any reason. Discussing the health care bill? I like to do so all the time. However, bashing of any side is unnecessary. Encouraging others to read articles you find - approved. I highly encourage you to read the opposing sides articles as well, if they suggest it, you should know it.

In essence, save your deepest, most personal thoughts for those that have earned your trust and respect. Or, follow in the steps of President Barack Obama or Senator John McCain when it comes to social media. Both politicians 'tweet' if you will, but they discuss politics, send well-wishes and refrain from most personal things. Although, Senator McCain did let us know he recently purchased an iPhone. However, I'd hardly say that poses a political problem for him in the future by releasing that information. All in all just make sure if your Grandma reads it, she won't have a heartattack from your posts. Keep it clean, keep it smart. Happy blogging, tweeting, & facebooking.

New Website!

I have decided to make a virtual scrapbook of my thoughts & my personal pictures. To visit that site click here! My hope is to one day be able to create an actual photo site to showcase the photos I will take once I have the time and energy to go and pursue a community class & brush up on my skills. So this is my practice website, enjoy!

Google Does It Again

Just when I think Google can't get any cooler, they invent 1.800.GOOG.411 (1.800.466.4411) a free 411 service via phone or text. And if you're just prefer to text, text whatever question you have (names of restaurants, driving directions, sporting events results, etc.) to 466453 (aka GOOGLE). Service is free from Google but your phone company may charge you....

311

No, I'm not talking about the band. In Minneapolis if you have any complaints, concerns, to apply for permits, or need to report something there's a great resource called 311. Check out their website to see if they can help you out in any way.

I know I'm excited to move to Minneapolis knowing I have this great resource at hand. Does that make me a dork? I don't even care I'm so excited.....

Google To End Microsoft Monopoly?

For some reason when I was purchasing a computer I decided to NOT get the Microsoft package. I have Microsoft word but was previously unable to use Excel Spreadsheets or Powerpoint. Enter my friend Lindsey. She tells me that with my gmail account, I am actually able to access a calendar, Excel, and Powerpoint. What's even better? Well I am able to share these documents with whomever I want, without using space to send the documents.

Create a slideshow and can't burn the project onto a dvd or cd? No problem, just share it with your friends via gmail and google. Have a spreadsheet and need your sister to look over it, improve it, etc but she doesn't have Excel? She doesn't need it with Google docs.

It's quite possibly the coolest thing ever. Ever forget what your friends are doing or your family is doing? Well with google calendar they can share specific events with you. Let you know if they will be out of town, if your mom's birthday is coming up, or if your cousin has a huge baseball game they're playing in.

With technology, more specifically with Google streamlining our technology, life can sometimes be a little easier. And if you don't have a gmail account, get on it by checking them out here.