Wally World

Auto On/Off on your Berry

2009-03-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

Another built-in goodie that I thought everyone would already know about, but found out last week that's not the case. At a training session for our region I had a short-lived issue with my Berry which I asked someone about. That someone was a lead service guy for our area and carries a Berry himself, so I asked him if he had ever seen what was happening before (the issue is not important and turned out to be a problem with my magnetic case, not my berry). He said no, and another service guy sitting with him asked me if I ever turned my device off. I politely answered that I did and even pulled my battery once a week or so for good measure. I said that I had my auto on/off set during the weekdays, to which I got "you can do that?". For those of you who don't know, your Berry (or any cell phone, for that matter) should be power-cycled regularly. They're mini-computers these days and need to be restarted just like your desktop or laptop to run smoothly. RIM has conveniently made that easy by including an automated feature to do this for us. Just go to Options>Auto On/Off and you can set an automatic time for your Berry to turn itself on and off. There are separate settings for weekdays and weekends to accommodate your work and personal schedule. Now go and set it so you'll have less Berry hang-ups!

Review: iheartradio for Blackberry

2009-03-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

There are several radio apps out there for your Berry, all with different pros and cons. My current favorite is Slacker, which does quite well for me. Other options are Flycast or Nobex RC, which I haven't tried. Now we can add iheartradio to the mix.
iheartradio has a little different twist to the internet radio which could be considered a negative by some: it streams terrestrial radio stations. You read that correctly. Seems kinda strange considering most of us tech-savvy folk are going with satellite radio or internet radio to avoid commercials and ridiculous banter from dj's that just takes up our precious music-listening time and annoys us to no end. While I get commercials on the free version of Slacker, it is one at a time for 20 seconds, not several minutes of commercials for every 20 minutes of music (plus the talking). I can only imagine that they are marketing to those out there who are somehow unaware of Slacker or Flycast. I suppose, however, that there are still people out there who find their disc jockey talk endearing, and for those this is a good app, because it supposedly culls the best stations from around the country (based on whose opinion I don't know). So if you used to live in Charlotte, NC and really miss 106.5 the End, here's your way to hear it on the go, just like the good old days.
I don't mean to criticize iheartradio so much. It's the idea of terrestrial radio that annoys me, not the delivery service here. All-in-all it's a good app for what it does, and I may wind up using it some. But not as much as Slacker or the music on my memory card.

Lock your Keypad, Pocket Dialer!

2009-03-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

I see people on forums all the time asking how to quickly lock their keypad and I also see lots of responses on how to make sure the lock icon is on the main screen or setting one of the side convenience keys to the lock function, which I did for a short time until I realized what I'm about to tell you. I have a Curve 8330, and I know this works on some other models, but I'm not sure if it works on all or not. The mute button on top of the Curve puts the Berry into standby mode (locked and screen off to save power) until it is pressed again, unless of course a call comes in. Notifications still ring, but the screen stays out until taken out of standby. This is the simplest way to make sure that you are not dialing someone when you throw your Berry in your pocket or purse (this is sooooo annoying). It doesn't require any setup, it's a single keypress, and it leaves your convenience keys freed up for other things. Perfect! If you have your Berry set up for shortcuts from the main screen rather than home screen dialing, you can also use the "k" key to do the same thing.

Tons of Shortcuts on Your Blackberry Keypad

2009-03-11T07:21:00.000-07:00

Most people, I think, leave their keypad settings as they come out of the box on their Berry. A few months ago I was introduced to an alternative option that I really like. If you turn off dialing from your home screen, it turns your keypad into a smorgasbord of shortcuts! To do this, go into your Phone options by Send Key>Menu Key>Options>General Options> and set "dial from home screen" to "no". The only downside (I am used to it now and it doesn't bother me) is that you now have to press the send key before you dial a number on the keypad, but here is a list of shortcuts you now have from your home screen:
r = alarm
t = tasks
u = calculator
o = options
p = call history (phone)
a = address book (contacts)
s = search
d = memo pad
f = profiles
g = Gtalk (Gmail chat if you use it)
h = help
k = lock (everyone seems to always be looking for a 1 touch lock shortcut)
l = calendar
c = contacts (address book, not sure why there are 2 options for this)
v = saved messages
b = browser
n = Blackberry Messenger
m = messages
All this is in addition to the 2 side convenience keys that can be set for whatever you want, so you have a lot of options for navigating to the most commonly used functions in a much quicker manner .
One last thing: if you download a small program called Qsms from here, you get a shortcut on "q" to compose a text message (except on the Pearl, where the shortcut key won't work). Enjoy!

Making GPS on your Blackberry Useful

2009-02-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

With Verizon customers getting their GPS on now that the overly-restrictive wireless carrier has finally unlocked the feature to 8130 and 8330 customers, I though it a good time to write a post about how location-based services can be very helpful and fun. Obviously RIM includes Blackberry Maps as an app with its OS, and it works fairly well, but personally I find it to be an inferior product in many ways to some third-party apps that are available.

The first mention has to go to Google Maps. It is a superior (IMHO) replacement to Blackberry Maps and offers search and approximate location based off cell tower triangulation when indoors or whenever GPS positioning is unavailable. I use Google Maps not only for mapping directions to or from somewhere when traveling, but as my information service as well. While Beyond 411 and other similar apps work well, I don't see the point when you have google maps. You simply choose search from the menu and you not only get a spot on the map that you can navigate to, but the phone number, typed address, Ratings, link to their website, and information like types of payments accepted and store hours, depending on the information available. You can also save the search result as a favorite for future reference. The one feature that is lacking that would be nice is the ability to save a result directly to your contacts, like Microsoft's Live Search mobile app has. The newest feature for Google Maps is a social feature more than a business tool. Latitude allows you to broadcast your position to whoever you have friended through the service. For example, two people at, say, Disneyworld, could see where each other are in order to meet up after being separated during the day. There are tons of useful applications for this service that I can think of, but you can use your own imagination to apply it to your lifstyle and activities.

If you travel a lot and want a GPS navigation system such as the in car systems, you can purchase a lifetime subscription to Garmin's mobile system for Blackberry for only $99 .99. This gives you turn-by-turn voice instructions and allows you to use the navigation while talking on the phone.

Another brilliant feature that I wish RIM would integrate into their system is location-based alerts. Until they do, this can be handled by got-2, which is primarily a task management application which bundles your tasks and calendar events from the native Blackberry apps into a single list. This function of the app is a bit cumbersome and slow to me, and cannot be disabled, which is why I deleted it eventually. But the location-based alerts part I loved, and I wish that I could get it separately. With this you can set your current location or search for a location and set a task or reminder to alert you when you come into close proximity of the location, for instance, to pick up milk when you drive near the grocery store. This could be a real lifesaver for those of us who need lists and reminders to remember what to do throughout our day.

There are many other services out there which use the internal GPS on your Blackberry for different things, like geo-tagging photos when you upload them or tracking your travels. Are there any good apps I'm missing out on? Comment to let me know or catch me on Twitter(@petersonwally).

Saving Pictures To Your Blackberry's Memory Card By Default

2009-02-21T08:31:00.001-08:00

Using the camera on your Blackberry is fun and useful both as a business tool and for personal stuff, but the pictures can eat up memory quickly on the device, particularly some models with less internal memory like the Pearl. The answer to this is to have a memory card inserted and to set your options so that your pictures save to your memory card automatically, but people often look in the wrong menu to try to do this. I got this question from a follower on Twitter the other day (I am @petersonwally if you want to follow me, btw), and they were doing what a lot of folks try to accomplish this, which is Media>Pictures>Menu>Options. This makes sense logically, but it is not where the option is found. The correct place to do this is Camera>Menu>Options, scroll down to Store Pictures: and choose On Media Card instead of In Device Memory. This will send pictures to the card every time you save one, freeing up your device memory so that your Berry can run smoother.

Help with your BlackBerry

2009-02-10T18:43:00.001-08:00

Does anybody ever read the "about?" file for their software? What about the owner's manual for your cell phone? Most of us will figure these things out through trial and error or just asking someone how to do this or that. When it comes to a Blackberry, you can do the same to a degree. However these amazing devices are so feature-laden that even those of us who constantly play and explore with them and their capabilities still never master all of the intricacies embedded in them. They don't even come with a user's manual, do they? Just a CD or DVD with some general info, but not what you were wanting to find. So what's up?

The answer is pretty great as far as instructions go. The Help feature, shown as a question mark icon (not "Blackberry help", which takes you into the browser), is a fairly complete instruction manual built right into the device, so you can look up what you need anytime and anywhere without the need for some badly written glorified pamphlet, like most phones get. When you open the help app, you get a fairly detailed list of options ranging from basics to shortcuts to third party application control, and everything in between. Click on a subject and you get a sub-menu for that topic. For instance, if you click on Phone in the main menu, you get sub-topics like phone basics, speed dial, conference calls, call logs, smart dialing, etc. Click on one of these options and you get fairly succinct but good explanation of how to do whatever it is you're trying to do. A built in owner's manual that is easy to navigate and actually tells you what you need to know most of the time. Genius. But most people will never know it's there, because most of us never look at the help files :-).

How and Why to Twitter

2009-01-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

There are almost as many Twitter guides out in the blogosphere as there are people on twitter (tweeps), but most vary to some degree on the best or proper use of the site. Since there are many varying opinions and posts, I'll throw my two cents in and hope that you'll get something out of it.

Getting Started
The How to part is mostly mechanics and is more straightforward than the Why, so I'll start there. To sign up, you just go to www.twitter.com and choose a username and password. Next you need to write a short profile description (nothing fancy) and upload a photo for your profile. I personally will not follow anyone who doesn't do these basic things. Then you are ready to go, but to do what? This is where I sat and looked at the screen and wound up leaving this site for almost a year before giving it another shot. This is part one of why I wanted to write this post. I had no idea what to do , how to do it, or what the purpose was (the why). So here's what you do. First figure out the layout of the page. In the center you've got the "what are you doing" box (where you type whatever you want to say, your "tweet") followed by your "feed" or "stream" below, which is a list of what others are saying. You won't see anything at first, because the Home section (the default screen) shows only the "tweets" of the people you are "following". "Following" is just what it sounds like, you follow what other people are tweeting about, in chronological order down your screen. Now, who to follow and how(that could almost be a tongue-twister!)

Finding people to follow
There are some great tools to find people to follow, but you won't find most of them on the Twitter pages. Try Twellow for a list of tweeps by interest category, go to Twitter Grader and check out the "Twitter Elite" to find who the most popular people on Twitter are (they have lots of followers that you can look through to find more), or use the "find people" feature on Twitter to search by username, first or last name. Follow @MrTweet, a service that will find people with similar interests for you. Look at people's profile and what they tweet about to see if they would be interesting to you. Here are some people I follow as some examples to get you started(usernames are @somebody): @Scobelizer, @Pistachio, @brooksbayne, @chrisbrogan, and @PRsarahevans. This is just a small sampling of quality people you can follow who have a lot of followers, have a lot to say, and are engaging and will either follow you back or at least respond to you. I like to follow a variety of people: political views, random quotes, tech talk, random thoughts, etc. You can choose as few or as many people and streams of thought as you like.

The Rest of the Home Page
At the top right is your information: how many people you follow, how many people follow you, and how many times you've posted a tweet. Below that is the default Home button, which we've discussed, followed by @Replies and Direct Messages. @Replies are tweets that you have directed towards a particular person, but that everyone can see. You would type the username first, eg.@petersonwally, and then the message you want to tell them. This is the way to engage in conversations with people, rather than just watching what people are saying or posting to a mass audience. This section will record the @replies you send and the ones you receive separately. Direct Messages are messages you send someone that only they can see, that don't show up in either person's stream of tweets. Below DM's is Favorites. You can tag any tweet you see and want to reference later as a "favorite". Next is Everyone, which changes the view of your stream from tweets of the people you follow to the tweets of everyone on twitter. I rarely use this. Below Everyone is Following, with thumbnail pics of some of the people you are following and links to view everyone you are following and to add new people to follow. Finally there is Device Updates, which enables updates to your cell phone from anyone you choose via sms or email.

Search
There is a search feature at the bottom of the main page which lets you search for people or topics on twitter. Many tweets are grouped by subjects for easy searching or following of a conversation. This is done with hashtags, such as #conversation. Hashtags are used quite a bit and are very useful in grouping conversations between lots of tweeps. You can also search to see if anyone has mentioned a keyword, such as your name, company name, something you promote, or something you are interested in.

Website vs Desktop apps or Web apps
There are many different ways to view and track Twitter other than the actual website, and that list is growing rapidly. Right now I am using a desktop Twitter client called Tweetdeck that I really like. There is also Twhirl, Twinkle, the web-app Peoplebrowsr, and many others. You can find many web 2.0 tools like the ones listed here at Go2Web2.0, a very helpful site for finding cool new internet tools and toys that was developed by @Orli. Tweetdeck, Like many other Twitter apps, offers many views at once. You can have up to 5 columns showing at once, like everyone you're following, groups of people you've set up, conversation topics you're following, etc. There are several other really cool tools built in, but I won't explain it all in this post.

I've covered how to sign up, get started, find people to follow, use the website, and find different tools to use with Twitter. The next question is Why do you want to be on Twitter?

The Why
Why would you want to be on Twitter? This is the second reason I'm writing this post. How many of you who are already tweeting have fielded the questions "what is it?", "what do you do with it?", or the statement "I don't see the point" ? I have tried to reply to all of these when trying to explain Twitter to someone, and I usually wind up saying something like "it sounds stupid when I try to describe it, but once you try it you'll understand", which is a really stupid thing to say and doesn't help much. I had the same questions and apprehensions about the site when I first tried it, as I stated before. In addition to not knowing what to do, I didn't know why I would want to do it. When I made my way back on to Twitter after some nudging from a friend, I still didn't "get it", but I thought I would try it out and see what happened. Now, of course, I'm addicted. Here is a list of some reasons to use Twitter.

Meet People
One of the reasons any social media sites have been successful is the social aspect of them, finding old friends, communicating with long-distance friends in a more real-time way than IM and in more of a group setting, and finding new friends. This is pretty obvious, and is also part of the reason I use it, in a focused kind of way.

Learn Things
There are a lot of experts in different areas on Twitter, and they have interesting things to say, or links to new information about whatever it is that they do or are interested in. You can also follow companies or websites that are on Twitter. For instance, I follow @mashable , and I get updates to the newest posts on the site in the same place that I get info on what people I'm interested in are doing right now. There are news organizations tweeting, individual reporters, and just individuals reporting things because they happen to be there. Recent examples of events being tweeted as they happen are the airplane landing in the Hudson, the attacks in Mumbai, and another plane crash which a twitter user was on and was giving updates in almost real time as to what was happening. You can get a wide variety of information in one place while communicating with people involved with what's going on.

Network and Promote
In the same way that you can use it to make casual friends, you can also use it to make business acquaintances or promote your business, product, website, blog, etc. There is a great post on using twitter as a tool by a master of Twitter networking, @guykawasaki. If you acquire a large following, you have a large captive audience for anything you want to say or promote. The key is to be a personable tweeter, though, and not a promotion machine. People are more likely to listen to you if they like you.

Communicate with Colleagues or Groups
Collaborate, communicate, or brainstorm with co-workers, classmates, friends, etc. in real time. Set up a group, follow each other, and any ideas you post (and replies) will be seen by everyone instantly for a fast and effective exchange of ideas. Subject matter can also be grouped and searched with #hashtags for future reference. It's like super-advanced sms.

And so forth
There are many different uses for Twitter, limited only to peoples' innovation and ideas. I've outlined some broad and general uses, but the specifics depend on want you want or need out of the site. There is a good chance that you find something useful or fun to do with it.
Anybody have a good suggestion for a unique use for Twitter?

Must...Focus...

2009-01-14T07:43:00.000-08:00

Just a quick blurb to say that after some thinking and having read a blog post from Robert Scoble (@scobleizer on twitter), I have decided to focus this blog on tech and create a separate blog for music or any other topics, as the new header of the page now reflects. I'll leave the 2 music posts that are here and copy them to the new blog as well. This change will only be noticed by the 2 or 3 people who actually have read this site, but I thought I'd point it out anyway since I was bored.

SocialScope for BlackBerry

2009-01-13T05:35:00.000-08:00

I got an invite yesterday to test the new alpha of SocialScope. It's a Twitter/Facebook client for BlackBerry that so far I really like. At least the Twitter side.

The Facebook side needs more functionality before I can completely replace the native Facebook client on my Berry (which is due this year for an upgrade itself, all the more catching up to do here). On Facebook you can update your status and see your feed. That's about it. You can't message, write on a wall, poke anyone, or upload a photo. Needs some work.

The Twitter functionality is much better, with the ability to update status, DM someone, @reply, or view your favorites. You can also choose "more from sender" which opens another tab with just the stream from that person. Nice! It could be even better, though, with the ability to add a tab for a search item, like following hashtagged conversations.

The interface, however, is just incredible, much better than my twitterberry interface. SocialScope shows your Facebook and Twitter feeds in-line together, or you can choose the tab for one or the other. Twitterberry offers "public timeline" and "follow" as options, but on my mobile device I only want to see who I'm already following. You can also see your friends list on twitterberry, which would be a nice addition to SocialScope.

All-in-all I love this app. With a few tweaks and additions, it could easily become the Twitter and Facebook client of choice on the BlackBerry.

Replacing Outlook with Gmail

2009-01-11T16:48:00.000-08:00

So I drive some of my friends crazy hounding them to get rid of their Outlook, among other microsucks products (please switch to openoffice if you are reading this). I can't help it, I'm a fan of things other than Microsoft, and I like to do things just a bit differently when I can. Maybe it makes me feel like a superior snob, I don't know. Anyway, Firefox and Google are certainly doing their part in making it easy for me to never use a Redmond product. I have replaced all of my desktop calendar, email, task, etc. tools with Google products and Firefox add-ons.

Gmail is the hub. I have several email accounts converging there and Gmail let's me send mail as whichever identity I like for a particular email. With the 7+ GB (and growing) size of the mailbox, I never have to delete anything or worry about running out of room. They good folks at Gmail have been steadily adding features lately that allow me to do more there and to get rid of some of the FF add-ons I had for things like tasks. You need to have the "labs" section enabled to get some of these things working. So the email part is obvious, for the most part. I get objections like "but it doesn't have folders for my email". If you're using FF(and you should be), a few add-ons are a must until Google gets native support for this and a few other things. See my post about FF add-ons. Better Gmail gives you hierarchical folders for gmail, just like your precious Outlook. And Xoopit organizes the pictures, videos, and files you receive in your email automatically and awesomely. Choosing an email or a contact will render a complete (Xoopit-based) list of any files sent from that person at any time. The search for your mail is from Google, of course, and is a billion times better than the search feature in your puny Outlook. You can find that needle in your million-email haystack whenever you need to, with ease.

Alright, so we've established that you need Firefox as your browser and Gmail as your email client. Then there's the calendar. I use Google calendar for a variety of reasons. It may not have all of the features of some other calendar clients, but it has most of them, it's easy to use, and it is integrated well with Gmail (obviously). You can easily share and manage multiple calendars of your own or your family, staff, etc. I have a personal and a work calendar and share my wife's calendar, as well as 9 or 10 shared calendars from different people at work. You can show any of them you want at a given time to see overlaps or conflicts, and easily drag and drop items to change times or copy items from one calendar to another. Gmail labs now has an integrated calendar view sidebar so you can see your month at a glance and upcoming agenda items on the same page as your email. You can also create a new calendar event from emails or, with the (awesome) Ubiquity FF add-on, from anything on any web page. The calendar is also easily sync-ed OTA with my BlackBerry.

Using Google Docs and the integrated Docs sidebar for Gmail allows quick access to text, spreadsheet, slideshow, and other documents. Gmail labs also now allows you to create a document out of any email, a very nice feature indeed. I use Google Docs extensively and convinced my company to use it for central storage of and distribution of company documents, so these kinds of features are invaluable to me.

The new integrated tasks feature in Gmail is very basic, but very functional and meets my needs. It has a nice feature of making a task out of an email with a click or 2, which helps me to remember things I need to do from emails without having to remember which colored stars I use for what (another labs feature).

This addresses the basic needs of an office suite, but there are many more advanced functions you can squeeze out of your Google/Firefox environment that will do just about anything you can think of to make you more productive and organized. What tricks do you make your Gmail do to replace other apps?

My Favorite Firefox Add-ons

2008-12-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

Firefox. Browser of the gods. I'm a freak over it. From time to time I find myself browsing their add-ons page for hours on end looking at possible additions to my browser for new and interesting features. Then every few months I realize I've added stuff that I've never used and will never really have a use for, and I cleanse the system by deleting them. There are plenty, however, that I have kept though the years and some newer ones that I love. Here's a list for your reading pleasure.

All-in-One Sidebar (AIOS) - A carry-over from my Opera days (the browser, not the music). This puts a collapsible sidebar in to see add-ons, downloads, history, recently viewed pages, and more.

All-in-one Gestures - Although this has many other mouse gesture features, the reason I use it is because of another Opera feature that I loved which this allows in FF: forward and back through web pages with mouse clicks. Instead of clicking the back and forward arrows in the browser toolbar, simply hold the right and click the left mouse buttons to go back a page, and vice-versa to go forward.

Better Gmail2 - While Gmail is doing an excellent job recently of adding features and allowing me to delete some add-ons, there is still one feature they lack that I love in this little package-hierarchical folders, making your gmail labels more like the folders in Outlook, etc.

Clipmarks - Like many other similar add-ons, this allows you to clip sectons of web pages instead of saving the whole page. I like this one better than the others I've tried.

Cooliris Previews - One of my all-time favorites, this allows you to preview any link in a pop-up window that stays as long as you keep the mouse on it. Saves having to open new windows or tabs to see where the link leads.

Customize Google - Enhances your Google search results and lets you remove ads and spam, such as viewing your search results and Gmail without ads in the sidebar.

Fire.fm - Last.fm music streamer for your browser. While I like Pandora much better for my music, this is convenient with a toolbar in the bottom of the browser.

Foxmarks bookmark synchronizer - Synchronizes bookmarks and passwords (if you choose) between multiple computers that use Firefox. Also convenient if you regularly upgrade or reinstall your OS like I do.

Google Gears - Although it doesn't work properly with FF3 yet, it allows you offline access and backup of your Google Docs.

Quick Restart - Adds a quick restart button to your toolbar, especially useful when you add new add-ons and need to restart to apply them.

Read it Later - Lets you mark pages to read later without having to clutter your bookmarks.

Shareaholic - While I really haven't utilized this yet, I can foresee a great future for it in relation to my recent foray into social media. Allows you to share anything on the web with multiple social media sites with a few clicks.

Speed Dial - Another Opera copy, but more customizable. When you open a new tab, you get a grid of sites you choose, like a bookmark group. Simply click on the thumbnail of the site you want.

Tab Mix Plus - Many features, but I like the session restore feature. Restore previous session, the one before that, etc.

Ubiquity - The future of browsing. Set your custom open keys (ctrl-space for me). Use dynamic commands in the pop-up window to email the current page to someone, highlight text and translate it, map it, whatever. Try it and you'll see what I mean. It's awesome.

Wisestamp - Fabulous personalized signature tool for your Gmail. Set a personal and a business signature with text, html, and links to social media and IM for contact purposes.

Xoopit for Gmail - Powerful indexing tool for your Gmail. Indexes and gives quick access to any files, photos, or videos sent or received in your emails.

And while a lot of these have right-click options (I'm a context menu lover) there are a couple context menu search add-ons I really like: Context Search (go figure) and Termblaster. Both add a huge selection of search options.

And of course you need a theme to personalize your browser's look. I alternate between Noia Extreme and Gradient iCool, but there are hundreds if not thousands for you to find what fits you.

Any suggestions for something I should try? What are your favorite FF add-ons?

What's on my Blackberry

2008-12-13T18:57:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of questions from people I know about Blackberries and what you can use to do this or that, partially because I manage a cell phone retail store and partially because I tout the Blackberry as the greatest device ever invented. So I decided to put up this post for their benefit and anyone else who may learn anything from it. I use an 8330 Curve with OS 4.5 on US Cellular.

The first thing I tell any new Blackberry user to do is to download the Berrystore app. This little app has a listing of a lot of the must-have free apps (as well as others that are not must-have), and you can download them directly from the berrystore app without having to go to each site. Just open your browser on your BB and go to www.berrystore.com. Some of the apps listed in there as "free" are actually trials, but I'll list some of the best free ones here. I'll add additional posts for options in different categories of apps and what I do and don't like about each one. Here is what I have on my Blackberry right now:

Viigo
The best mobile RSS feed reader out there, hands down. Choose from hundreds of sites in every category, create your own search channel to get just the info you want, sync your Google Reader, My Yahoo!, or Bloglines subscriptions, get weather, sports info including live scores from the NFL, NCAA, and more, local interest items like Craigslist, stocks and finance, entertainment news, and soon (can't wait) podcasts. This is one of my most used apps.

Opera Mini
This is a really great alternative web browser to the native BB browser(which is not horrible) for a couple of reasons. First, there are sites that don't render correctly in the BB browser that will in Opera. One example is the Blackboard site for our local University. With the BB browser you can get to the site, but it won't let you sing in to the site. With Opera it works just like it should. Second, Opera is smokin' fast compared to the BB browser, because it renders sites at the server end and then sends the results. I recently tried out the much touted Skyfire browser on a friend's Windows Mobile device, and there was no comparison to Opera Mini. Opera's startpage is also an improvement, with 10 "Speed Dial" bookmarks, rss feed aggregator, recent history links, saved pages, and a search bar with options to search with Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, and Ebay built in (and you can customize it with more search options), in addition to the normal address bar.

Google Mobile App
Really this is just a Google search bar with shortcuts to a bunch of other Google apps, some of which you should install but you can access with their own icons. The rest are Reader, Notebook, News, Calender, Docs, and Photos (Picasa). I should probably delete this app, but I haven't and I occasionally access things through it. You can use it to download other Google Mobile apps that you should have, like...

Google Maps
This one is indispensable. It is better all around than the native BB maps that comes built in. It will track your position through cell tower triangulation if GPS is unavailable for some reason (like being inside) and provides the excellent search features you would expect from Google. I am waiting for Google to add turn-by-turn voice navigation, but it is a non-negotiable app to have even without this.

Gmail Mobile App
You don't need this to get your Gmail, obviously. You will undoubtedly have it pushed to your Berry just like any other email. The point of having this app, to me, is when you need to search for something in your Gmail. You can see your labels, starred items, etc. just like in your browser. So at times it can be very helpful, even if you probably won't use it on a regular basis.

Google Sync
Another awesome mobile app from Google. This will sync your calendar and contacts with your Google Calendars and Gmail contacts (recently added feature). This essentially gives anyone on BIS the same feature set as BES without business-specific exchanged items. If you're a heavy Google user (and I am), the Blackberry/Google combo is really coming a long way fast in offering an incredible suite of tools to synchronize wirelessly a lot of information (not to mention backing it up in case of having to wipe your Berry or if it is lost or stolen).

Vlingo
This is a really good voice service with a rich feature set including voice dialing (better than the built in voice dialing), sending text and email messages with voice, opening apps, and even updating your Facebook an Twitter status. It learns your voice the more you use it, so it gets better with age. You can also do quick web searches with your voice, or add a new task or memo. I don't use this all the time, but I could probably make good use of it if I thought about it regularly.

Twitterberry
Mobile app for Twitter. Has all the features you need. If you are a Twitterer like me, this is a must have.

QuickText
Speed dial for texting.

Qik
Stream live video online using your Berry's video camera. (This is not in the Berrystore app)

3rd partyapps that came on the device that I use:
Facebook mobile app - newer version coming out in 2009.
Gtalk - gmail chat, IM

And of course you need a cool looking Theme. There are thousands out there for every taste, and I recommend looking through www.pimpmyberry.com, but there are many others. If you use Opera Mini, keep in mind that some themes don't allow you to see their browser menu, so you'll want to find one that is "opera friendly".

Enjoy your 'Berry!

Why I Use Linux

2008-12-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

I am not a programmer. I am not a developer. I couldn't tell you the first thing about writing code. To me C++ is almost a B on a report card and Python is something you don't want wrapped around you. But I love Linux. Some people think I'm some kind of computer guru when I tell them that I use Linux, or they look at me sideways and ask me what exactly I'm talking about because they've never even heard of Linux. So I thought I would write a little piece to explain why I use it and what I love about it, as well as how easy it is to use for those with any sense of computer adventure at all. I'll also run through some of the downsides (everything has downsides, come on).

Let me start by explaining what it is that keeps me away from Windows or Mac systems whenever possible. I can sum up a lot of my disdain for these two in one word: proprietary. Both of these systems are hell-bent on forcing you to use their (usually costly) proprietary software systems, from media to office suites and everything in between. I don't blame them for doing so. After all, they are not non-profit organizations, so the more things they can sell the better. More power to them, I am a big believer in free-markets and capitalism. But there are better alternatives out there for most types of software, and they are usually free. Let me just address a couple specific cases that grate my nerves more than most.

iTunes
I detest iTunes. Absolutely hate it. Yes, I know, I am an outcast, a know-nothing loser. How could I hate the most beloved digital music system known to man? It is the epitome of proprietary. Unless you are fairly savvy, you fall into the endless black i-hole of downloading your music through iTunes (in M4a format), loading it on your ipod or iphone, and carrying it with you to play through your i-car's system, hook it up to your friend's i-stereo, or use it however and wherever your i-life takes you. But if I hear a song I like on it, I can't transfer it to my Zune or Sansa or Blackberry because it's a protected and proprietary file. So, so frustrating. Yes, there ways of getting past this, but these are hurdles even I don't like to jump. Another point in case: I work in the cellular industry. Most phones play digital music now, but I cannot count how many times a month I get people who have bought a new phone asking why they can't play their itunes songs on their phone. If you buy your music almost anywhere else, you can play it on whatever you like and share it with whoever you want. And don't lecture me about sharing music, either. I know all the arguments about DRM etc, but they are all crap in my view. So there.

Microsoft Office
Another issue that really gets under my skin is Microsoft office. Please, for the love of God, please tell me why, why, why anyone would pay a couple hundred dollars or more to get an office suite that can be had for free in the form of OpenOffice? Not only does it do everything that Microsoft office does and more, but it is also completely compatible with it, and allows you to save your docs, sheets, etc in .doc or .xls formats, even in the version you want (excel 2003, word 95, etc.), so that your idiot friends who refuse to see the light never have to know the difference when you send them a file. My daughter was required to take a course at her University in Microsoft Office 2003. What? That's right, not in office software, but specifically Office 2003, and was required to purchase the software for the course. This, my friends, is what they call a racket. I don't blame Mr. Gates. He and his crew are marketing geniuses, and I blame the University for this insanity, but it still gives me a bad taste in my mouth for Microsoft. Onward.

Opensource
Now you can use OpenOffice and any number of alternative media players/downloaders in both Windows and Mac OS's, so how does that bring me to Linux? I'll get there shortly, but first let me exhort the praises of opensource software. Opensource, in a nutshell, means that the software is (usually) developed by and updated by a group of computer geniuses who just want to come up with a good piece of software and share it with everyone. Then if some other computer genius gets it and says "Hey, I could make this better by...", they are free to do so and distribute it again. What a great system. There is opensource software out there for anything you need, and many times the programs are better than what you could buy at your local Best Buy or through, say, Norton's website. You just have to go look for it and download it. For instance, anybody out there use Adobe Reader for your PDFs? Try Foxit. Sure, Adobe Reader is free, too, but it's a huge bloated piece of software compared to Foxit, which does the same and more, and faster. There are hundreds of examples like this, and I will probably write a post with some links for you to other stuff, but for now you get my point.

Finally, the Point
Okay, so I've given you a brief backdrop to some of the many issues I have with Windows and Mac, now let me get on to the point of this article: Why I love Linux. Now I am not some Linux guru, as I have already stated. I have not tried all or even many of the myriad of linux distributions out there, and there are lots. I use Kubuntu linux, and I used to use Ubuntu. These are two variations of the same theme. These OS's are free to download from here, and they fit on a cd which is bootable. This means that you can download it and try it out before you install it just to see if you like it or not. One thing you'll notice after you run or install it is that there is a part of the menu called Add/Remove Programs. This is a little different than the Windows control panel item of the same name. It has a very long list of programs to install for whatever you need to do, and the list can be expanded by adding more repositories (I'm not going to get into any technical or how-to issues here). Suffice it to say that it's pretty darn easy to find what you want and install it, whether it's a photo-editing program, a scientific calculator, a virtual planetarium, or a video game, they're all there and much, much more. Just click to download and start using. Easy! ...for the most part. As I said, I'm no computer whiz. However, I do appreciate a challenge and I'm not a complete dummy when it comes to them. I will let you know on the front end that there are challenges with Linux that you may not run across with the others. It may take an extra step before you can initially play your mp3's or videos. You may have an issue with your printer that takes a bit to figure out. There are programs you can't run on it, like itunes (a plus for me), or the desktop manager for my Blackberry (arrrgghh), without having to jump through some hoops. It is not a perfect system by any stretch of the imagination, but to me the challenges are well worth the results.

The two main advantages for me are cost efficiency and not needing to run and update virus protection . The OS is free, upgrades are free, new versions of the OS are free, the software you use is free, etc. And... you have a slim to none chance of getting a virus or spyware. It just doesn't happen. Partially because of the way the OS operates, and partially because nobody writes viruses to attack Linux computers. So no more paying for Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, or having them as one more program to keep running and taking up your RAM. But if you did get something, or if something got screwed up and your computer stopped working right, or at all, then what? Well, if this happened with your Windows or Mac system, you're paying Best Buy, Apple, or some local outfit a considerable wad to get it fixed and running again. Assuming it's not a hardware issue (hard drive goes bad, etc), in which case your screwed no matter what you're using, you will be up and running again in no time and with no cost if you're using Linux. Just pop in the cd you used to install it originally and start over. Download your programs again and voila! Just like new. BTW, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to install a linux system (this includes reinstalling all the extra programs you had), with just a few questions you have to answer (time zone, etc) vs. hours of painful waiting and clicking to install Windows (if you even have the disk to reinstall it yourself). I upgrade my system twice a year, usually (when they come out with new versions). I just back up all my files on an external hard drive or on DVDs regularly(which you should be doing as well), and copy them back onto my computer after upgrading.

The bottom line is this: if you're savvy enough to find your way around a computer, try out linux. It's free and it's fun. If you're still using Internet Explorer instead of Firefox, baby steps.

The Killers (New) Day and (Better With) Age

2008-12-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

So I've been listening to the new Killers album, Day and Age, and it sounds great. They've always had an eighties-influenced sound, but their past efforts have had more of the post-punk early eighties rock influence, whereas the new release takes a more mature, mid-eighties type sound, making much better use of vocal melodies and harmonies and smoothing out the guitars and synths. They haven't exactly lost their edge, but I think this album will appeal to a wider audience.

You first notice the difference on the first track, "Losing Touch", which includes a great horn section blended in the mix, followed by "Human", which could almost be an old Depeche Mode song, except that it's much happier sounding. Overall there's a more synth driven sound here, and I for one am digging it. I love the sax thrown in here and there, the bouncy rhythms they employ ("Joyride"), and the generally more experienced sound throughout. I'm still a fan of older tracks like "Mr. Brightside" et al, but I love it when a band shows their range a little. I give this album a thumbs up and encourage you to check it out.

The New Frontiers

2008-07-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

Getting sick generally sucks. However, it does occasionally allow me to catch up on music and movies, since I can't do much else when I'm lying in my bed or on my couch feeling like I'm going to die. I am a movie and music freak, so this past week when I had a horrible summer cold I made the best of it. I watched a few movies I hadn't seen (Be Kind, Rewind was really good) and some old favorites (Donnie Darko), and listened to a lot of music. When I say I'm a music freak, I'm not exaggerating. Ask my friends or family. My 14 yr old son actually called me a freak recently after a stretch in the car with my Sirius satellite radio (can't live without it) blaring for a couple of hours. No matter what station we switched to, I was singing along with almost every lyric of every song that came on. Which is one reason I love indie music. It gives me a chance to hear stuff I don't know by heart and find new stuff to fall in love with. I eat it up. When I find something new that is really great (and generally unknown), I want to tell everyone about it. My top ten albums of last year included stuff that I still don't hear anywhere but in my collection but should be played at least on indie stations. I've emailed Sirius' Left of Center channel several times about Siberian, whose album With Me was my top pick for last year and who are incredible new group from the Seattle area (which has an awesome music scene these days), yet still I hear nothing.

When I get in these listening moods what I usually do is click through my digital collection on my hard drive and randomly throw 2 or 3 songs at a time from artists and albums that I've not listened to much (or sometimes at all- I collect more than I have time to get to) into a long and ever expanding playlist and see where the mix takes me. Ocassionally it takes me to great album that's been neglected and I get hooked. This was the case this past week with The New Frontiers' debut album Mending. This album had been on my hard drive for months and had not seen the light of day. Several days and many, many listens later I need to share it.

The New Frontiers are from the Dallas area and are thus far in the lead for best album of the year in my book. They have been compared to Coldplay in comments I have seen here and there due to their slower-tempo, introspective style. They also make masterful use of keyboards, in my opinion, blending them wonderfully with the guitars, but not letting them stand out too much. I would say that they are bulding on the legacy of Toad the Wet Sprocket as much or more than Coldplay. This album is like a really great book or movie that leaves me wanting so much more when it ends.

The first thing you notice on Mending is that there is melody. Lots of it. These songs are not built around attitude, volume, rhythm, or guitar hooks, although they incorporate all these at appropriate levels. Primarily, though, there's great melodies, sung by a really good voice. Singer Nathan Pettijohn makes me feel the songs. His voice is soothing and pretty, but not in a bubblegum way. Think Glen Phillips from TTWS on I will Not Take These Things For Granted or Crowing. There are a few songs that I think are album tracks which work best in context rather than standing alone, but to me that's a good thing. I'm really an album guy. I can't stand the modern idea of buying single tracks from itunes or wherever. Even if I don't care for the other songs, I have to have the whole album for that context. "Passing On", "Spirit and Skin", "Who Will Give Us Love", and, to a lesser extent, "Mirrors" are all album tracks, but are great songs in context and the album couldn't do without them. The stand-outs, though, are the rest of the tracks. Starting with the opener "Black Lungs", an alt-country tinged track, and followed by the beautiful "The Day You Fell Apart", the mood is set. Then comes the money track, "Man Down". It just knocks me out. Really the whole album knocks me out. I can't say enough about "Strangers", "This is My Home"(maybe the most Toad-like song) and "Walking on Stones". From the production to the music, the lyrics to the vocals, this album is a must-have in any music lovers' collection.