Category Archives: Stuff

Meerkat

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The highlight of my day so far was installing Meerkat on my phone.  It is the App that gathered a ton of publicity at SXSW this year.  It is similar to the App I am most addicted to (Periscope), but Meerkat is now available on Android platforms, whereas Periscope is still limited to iOS platforms.  So now that the video sharing App is on my phone, I can share some of my adventures (like yesterday’s most awesome sunset) with anyone in real time as long as I have a phone connection.  The App is free, so give it a try if you are interested.

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Medium

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I am experimenting with a new App today called “Medium“.  It is an App that allows you to read stories and articles, similar to Reddit, but without the baked in naughtiness. I installed the App and then glanced through the top stories (as voted upon by fellow readers).  The story that caught my eye was in the eleventh spot – about traveling alone.  Since I am thinking about taking a trip soon, I wanted to pick up some sage advice.  I found out about “Whatever The Fuck Time”, which is that time when you just do what you want.  Simple enough.  It is defined in the screen shots below.  I don’t know if I can recommend the App yet or not, but it is free, so feel free to check it out if you like.  ðŸ™‚

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Shining Hope for Communities

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Yes, my Periscope addiction is ongoing.  So now on the Periscope App where you can see the videos from individuals you are following, the Periscope people have begun posting recommended videos that remain for viewing for about 24 hours.  I watched one of the best this morning.  It was from journalist Nick Kristof, who had invited Eunice Akoth (a sixth grade student from the settlement of Kibera in Kenya, Africa) to visit him in New York.  The short, live video showed a brief interview and a performance of a poem by Eunice.  The poem is extremely moving, and can be found here along with several other stories about day to day life in Kibera.  Kibera is Africa’s largest slum where daily challenges can include basic needs like food, water, and shelter.  Shining Hope for Communities is an organization working to help this settlement, and their mission statement can be seen below in a screenshot from their website.  At the very least, you should check out the poem from Eunice.  If you are like me, it will inspire you to learn more about her story and the people who have reached out to assist her and the community she lives in.

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Star Wars: Commander – Update

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Anyone remember my blog post from back in February when I shared my nerdy iPad game called “Star Wars: Commander”?  Well, I am still playing.  I know you were kind of excited when I first started my tiny little base with an initial base rating of 75.  As of today, my base rating is 1085, and this helps determine what kind of battles I get into with other players.  So far, I have won 309 attacks on other unsuspecting people’s bases, and 43 defenses of my own spectacular impregnable fortress of a base.  Now I am assuming that you are totally excited?  Don’t worry, I will continue to neglect my chores and other important things like reading books for example just so I can update you with my gaming progress.  Yay!

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Periscope

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My favorite App for the iPad, iPhone, or iPad Touch lately is Periscope.  It allows you to travel the world, see new things, and hang out with different people.  So far today, I have seen places in Italy, France, Australia, and the UK by watching other user’s live feeds.  From their website,

“For viewers, Periscope gives you a new set of eyes and ears.  Travel the world and step into someone else’s shoes.  See what they see, hear what they hear, and hopefully feel what they feel.”

I’ve added a few random screenshots to give you an idea of the endless possibilities you can experience live, including a Venice Beach sunset and a nice storm cloud in Arizona.  Has anyone else tried Periscope, and if so, are you enjoying it?

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Sharing – Autodesk Pixlr

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From a Sanrio tweet,

“If something wonderful happens to you, don’t keep it all to yourself.  Share it with friends.”

Last week, I was looking for an App that would allow me to overlay one photo over the top of another.  A friend recommended the Autodesk Pixlr photo editing App as a solution.  The “double exposure” feature did exactly what I wanted, and as an extra bonus, the Pixlr App is free.  I have been playing around with this App since then and so far, I really like it.  Give it a try if you are looking for something like this.  ðŸ™‚

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Contigo

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I purchased (with a discount) a new Contigo 24 oz. West Loop Stainless Travel Mug to use primarily at work.  It was still expensive, but my plan is twofold.  One – save money by drinking hot tea at work since the hot water is free and tea bags from the store are not too costly.  Two – drink less sugary drinks from the vending machines or the coffee shop.  This Mug worked like a charm today.  I filled it with hot water and a green tea bag just in time for a 2:00 pm meeting, thinking it might last me through the meeting at least.  Not only that, but the tea was still toasty warm and delicious at 5:30 pm when I decided to stop being a workaholic. I was impressed with my first go, and saved about $2.00 by using my own tea and not purchasing an afternoon drink.  The Mug will be paid for in no time.  Plus, the English dude from Lincolnshire in the UK, who sits nearby, highly recommends this contraption for the perfect tea time!  What could go wrong?

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Windows 10 Technical Preview

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I am a bit of a computer nerd, so I have installed Windows 10 Technical Preview on a tablet for some testing. The screenshot above is an early look at my desktop. I pushed the taskbar to the left side and made it so it will auto hide itself, and used a photo of the Wynn in Las Vegas for my first desktop background. I have installed several Apps, and will know more when I have some more time to play around. For now, I am liking some of the changes to Microsoft’s most recent Operating System. It has kept me up late tonight as I tried to learn as much as possible about what is new. It is past time for sleeping, so goodnight for now…

Lyve

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I am testing a free App called Lyve on three of my devices so far – iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S4, and iPod Touch. There are different sets of pictures on each device, and Lyve has connected to each via the magical interwebs to pull them all into one view sorted by photo date. I’m adding some screenshots so you can get the idea of how it all looks. The first screenshot is the home page when you open the App with my most recent photos, the second is me selecting photos from my visit to Zion National Park back in September 2013, and the third is me selecting one of my favorite photos to send in an e-mail with full resolution. So far, I am pleased with how this App pulls everything together.

If you research their products on their website, you will also see a $300 device that will collect your photos and store them on a 2TB hard drive as long as it is connected to the wireless internet. I’m not sure about spending that kind of dough, but I am researching it in case part of my tax refund needs to be spent on technologies. I need a simple, organized, flawless, inexpensive, automated backup process for my photos, and I haven’t fallen in love with any of the cloud options out there. I could envision having one device at home and one device at work so you could show off all your super cool photography abilities to your groovy coworkers.

If anyone from the Lyve Team wants to provide me with a free trial device, I would be willing to give it a go for you (shameless plug for my highly marketable skills at testing and breaking techie stuff). 🙂

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