A New App Review

Accupedo Pedometer
by Corusen

Pedometers

It dawned on me today as I walking, I wonder if there’s an app for that? Well of course there is!

Pedometers rely on GPS tracking, so if you don’t like the satellites knowing where you are, these aren’t going to do much for you.

They come in a variety of options, but most will count your steps, track how far you’ve walked, estimate how many calories you burned and how long you walked. Some more advanced versions will track your speed as well. They are good for walking or running. And there are some that cross over from pedometers to cycling meters, but those seemed expensive. If you do more cycling than walking, look specifically for the stand alone cycling meters.

I tried out three different apps as I was walking and looked at two more when I got home. Since I didn’t try the two I checked out from home, I’ll have to hold off on their review for now.

Check out the three I did try out in my Android App Review.

Android App Review

Sep10

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

A Long, Continually Running Android App Review

It’s only been a few weeks since I upgraded my phone to a Galaxy Nexus, but I’m already an app addict. I’ve tried out a number of different apps that offer the same service and made comparisons between this and that. I try to do some research on the apps before I download them. Read the reviews and consider how many people are using the app and the over comments. But even then, you can end up with an app that simply doesn’t do what you want it to do and you have to start over.

I’m a retired IT geek, but I’m by no means a professional software critic or reviewer. I simply know what I like and as a Mom with a busy schedule. I get to stay at home and write articles and books. So what I need may not be the same thing as what a professional workaholic requires.

So these are simply what I like and what I’ve learned about the apps that do what I need them to do. I should mention these are not in any particular order. Continue reading →

Using Your Galaxy Nexus

Aug27

The Home Screen

Some Tid-Bits For Apps & Features

Updated: 01/18/2013

Here are some things I’ve learned as a newbie with my new phone. I love this thing! I’ll probably be adding quite often here. So check back for new things I’ve discovered. You might also want to check out Things To Know About Galaxy Nexus

Remember you can always access the online manual and search for help: Galaxy Nexus Help

– How to access apps and widgets:

From the home screen, click the app icon button. It’s the (:::) button at the bottom, in the center.
Apps that are already installed on your phone will be listed in alphabetical order and you can scroll through pages of apps by swiping your finger across the screen.
At the top of the apps page, you’ll see the word “Widgets” in the menu. Click that to see the widgets currently installed on your phone. Continue reading →

Things To Know About Galaxy Nexus

Aug25

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Updated: 09/04/2012

I LOVE my new phone! Now I understand what everyone means when they say “There’s an App for that”!

We picked up my new phone on Thursday and I spent the rest of the evening and much of Friday learning the basics and finding information about smart phones in general and specifics about the Nexus. Or as the Prince calls it the “Nuke-sus“.

Before I get into the apps, here’s some money saving advice. Don’t buy a phone cover or stylus for your phone from your local stores. They are WAY over priced! Go to Amazon and you’ll find the same things for about $5.00 or less. I bought a cover for my phone and instead of spending the $30+ at Target or Wal-Mart, I picked it up for $5.95. I also picked up a set of 6 colored stylus pens for less than $4.00. Continue reading →

How To Backup Your Blog!

Aug13

Don’t Lose All That Hard Work

We often think about backing up the data on our computers, but how many people think about backing up their articles and pictures on their blog? What about the comments and discussions? What would you do, if something happened and you lost all that work? It can happen, by accident, by virus or by changing to a new host. Not everyone helps you port your old blog to your new one.

If you use WordPress for your blog, you’re in luck. There’s an easy way to back up your blog and keep it safe. And you don’t even have to be a techno-geek to do it!

If you’re running the newer versions of WordPress, you have a Dashboard where you can create new posts, update media, add or manage your links, pages, comments and feedbacks. Here where you customize your appearance and plugins, you’ll also find a menu item for the WP Tools. That’s where you’re find your back up utility.

You should back up your blog at the end of every week. You can put an appointment in your calendar to remind you to do this every Friday afternoon. That way you’ll schedule the time for it and a reminder. It only takes 10-minutes, if that, and you’ll have peace of mind knowing you can recover all that work if you have to. Continue reading →

Must Have Utilities For Your Computer

Aug13

Recovering from a PC Virus – Some Lessons Learned

Protecting Your PC

Yesterday I allowed our 9 year old Prince to play on my computer. That turns out to have been a mistake. About an hour into his foray of watching some lego video, he receives a message over the browser window. Instead of reading it and asking his dad or me about it, he clicked a button and went on with his video. Something he has been told NOT to do. And he discovered the reason…he infected my computer with a pretty nasty virus!

Thankfully both SirEvil and I are IT geeks. But my IT skills are more related to mainframes and corporate servers, than desktop computers. Thankfully SirEvil is the desktop King. It took the entire day from about 10am to midnight to fully correct the infection and ensure everything was ok, running right and safe again. With a few extra checks and tweaks this morning, my laptop is virus free and more tightly secured. Which includes not allowing our little Prince to touch my laptop again!

Yes I already had virus software..sadly that doesn’t help when someone doesn’t ‘read’ and volunteers to install the virus. Virus software alone may not be all you need to find worms and protect your machine from invaders. So here is a list of helpful, reliable and FREE tools and advice to help keep your pc and your information safe. Continue reading →

Battery Plugged In, Not Charging

Jul14

Windows 7 and Vista Software Issue

I can’t believe this is even an option in battery management. What in the world was Microsoft thinking?! Why would you NOT want to charge the battery when it’s plugged in?!

So here’s the issue, no matter what brand of laptop you have, HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer or some other brand; if you’re running Windows 7 or Vista you will eventually have a battery management issue. It’s NOT a battery problem, a driver problem, or a BIOS problem. It’s a Windows OS problem! Now it’s a good idea to double check your system now and then and ensure you’re running the latest versions of all that software. But that’s probably not the problem with this issue.

The problem seems to occur after a Windows update. If you have automatic update turned on, you may not even know that has occurred.

Update: 07/15/2012
If you have applied the latest Windows update, you may have noticed that your laptop stops recognizing the battery in the middle of a session. That means, while this fix may probably work for you, there are no permanent fixes to this problem as yet. The following and other processes like it, will only work for a short time. Before this latest Windows update, it would correct the issue until the next update. That’s no longer the case. Isn’t that special?! Friggin’ Windows!

Update: 08/20/2012
After the latest batch of Win7 updates; this problem has gone away for me. We’ve always known the issue is an OS problem, not a physical computer problem. So it appears Microsoft may have corrected the problem in their software. At least for me..the issue has been resolved and the battery recharges simply by plugging in the AC adapter as it should. Continue reading →

The Physics of Santa

Dec24

Santa’s Sleigh

While having lunch with The Prince yesterday, we discussed how Santa is able to get to all of the kids houses overnight. So I did some back-of-the-napkin calculations to figure out if Santa’s excursion violates causality. I should probably point out that I am neither a physicist, mathematician or doctor, but I play all of them on the Internet.

Ok, so… just how many places does Santa have to hit worldwide? According to Wikipedia (Yeah I know… and if you’re reading this and don’t know, don’t bet on facts from Wikipedia. It’s just a good starting place.), there are 2.1 billion Christians on Earth. Now, since it appears to me that most of them are in Texas, I’ll use the average family size from the U.S. Census: 3.14 people. Hmm… Pi. That means Santa has to hit 670 million homes.

Next I’ll assume that they are evenly spread across the earth. Several sources indicate that the total area is about 150 million square kilometers (The Prince says, “What’s a kilometer?” so make it 93 million square miles). That works out to 4.5 km²(1.7 mi²) per home. Now make that area circular and we get a radius of 1.2 km (.75 mi). So from house to house is about 2.4 km (1.5 mi). So the total length of the trip is 360 million km (220 million mi). That’s more than a thousand times farther than my Chevy truck has gone. Continue reading →