8.26.2011

Hurricane Advise For People Addicted to Technology

This is from a post I just read on Android Central, and I was actually thinking the same thing yesterday when I was thinking about what my household needed to prepare for this hurricane.  A few of my technology related thoughts were that we need to have our phones charged and on the charger until or just in case the power goes off.  We have Xfinity digital phone lines, so I assume that means if we have no power we have no phones.  Signing out of twitter and turning off all auto-sync/background data apps will probably be necessary too.  The iPad and Laptop will be fully charged as well, although if the power goes out that mean no wifi and tethering would be required for Internet access.  The spare batteries and taking pictures of your home prior to for insurance reasons is a good idea.  Also tonight I plan to do a back up of all the pictures and documents on my Desktop PC to a portable hard drive.  When the backup is done I am going to put it somewhere in the house that I feel is safer than the top floor.

If you have any other suggestions or thoughts please post them.  Stay safe people.

I'm still hoping this thing takes a turn to the east, I have my money league Fantasy Football draft this weekend... C'MON MAN!!!! lol.



Here comes Hurricane Irene: Charge 'em if you got 'em
By Phil Nickinson 26 Aug 2011 9:12 am







Here's a quick no-brainer or two from your hurricane-prone pals at Android Central for those of you in the path of Hurricane Irene, scheduled to make landfall along the North Carolina coast on Saturday:

•Charge your phones. Now. Keep them charged. And once the storm starts, keep them off. You'll likely lose power at some point, and there's a good chance your local cell network will go down for a bit, even with generator backups.

•Spare batteries. If you got 'em, make sure they're charged, too. If you still have time to get some, do it.

•After the storm, text messages work best. Any carrier will tell you this, and we saw it again with that little shake the mid-Atlantic states got on Tuesday. If the network's up, it's going to be clogged, and calls might not go through. Text messages have a much better chance.

•If you're worried about damage and don't have a traditional camera, use your phone to take a few pictures of your home and your belongings. It'll make insurance claims much easier, should it come to that.

Any tips you folks want to share? Let's hear 'em.




http://www.androidcentral.com/here-comes-hurricane-irene-charge-em-if-you-got-em

8.12.2011

How To Get Your Facebook App to Deliver Notifications Correctly [Android]



I'm sure plenty of Android users that just don't like the Facebook app and probably use the website more for their various reasons.  I'm not promoting the app or trying to convert anyone, but one of my main reasons that I've been using Tweetdeck for twitter and facebook is that it delivers notifications to my phone that I won't get from the Facebook app unless I'm actually in the application looking at the main screen.  Yesterday I read a post about a weird fix that someone came up with, so I decided to try it. 

The fix is simply to log into the facebook application on an active blackberry (or active your old one temporarily) turn on notifications in the blackberry app and go through the motions of setting it up as if you were going to use it daily.  When you are done log out of the app and banish the blackberry to the dungeon it deserves to reside in (j/k). Next thing you know when you get notifications your Android will get them and actually buzz and add an icon in your notifications tray.  Just make sure you go into the settings in the FB app and turn the notifactions on.

This was figured out by a person who has a daughter that just got an Android phone after having a Blackberry phone and their notifications were coming through flawlessly, where as the parent (much like myself) wasn't getting any notifications.  I actually should have been, but I remember clearly going into my Facebook settings from the web and disabling the blackberry notifications because I no longer had a blackberry.  My fiancee on the other hand told me she always gets the notifications, so this confirmed what I had read in the article.  I tested it out this morning and its been non stop notifications popping up on my Evo.  A simple and quick fix, now go find one of those

Here's the original posting describing the fix: "FaceBook Push On Android Not Working For You? BlackBerry Could Remedy That [Changing Simple FaceBook Settings On A BlackBerry Fixes Buggy Push Notifications]"

"- Find someone with a working BlackBerry. This could be a friend or any store that has activated demo phones.

- Using the Facebook app on the BB log into your account and wait for your stuff to start appearing. I did not log into email or anything else, just FB.
- After you see your Newsfeed updated with your information simply log out.
- Go into your FB settings on your Android phone and check the Notifications box. The refresh interval doesn’t matter (it can even be set to Never).
- Notifications should start appearing as you get them (Comments, Wall Posts, Pokes, Likes, Messages, etc.)"




Hello, Is It Me You're Lookin' For? [Photo]


This is just hilarious to me for some reason.  Maybe its just the look on his face.  Or maybe its the fact that someone made this simple poster and people have gone around actually printing it out and posting it places.  Do a google image search on "Hello is it me you're looking for" Matter fact I think I'm going to do the same.  There are always random posters like this at my job trying to sell things, I'll post this with those and see how long it last.  It's going to be hard not to laugh every time I pass it in the hallway...






8.09.2011

The Top 5 Things A DAD Wishes Someone Had Told Him Before the Baby Came

Please note that this post is originally from http://www.expectingwords.com/the-top-5-things-this-dad-wishes-someone-had-told-him-before-the-baby-came and posted by http://www.dudetodad.com/. I thought it was a very interesting and entertaining post, plus it has some good informational value to it so I decided to reshare.

The Top 5 Things This DAD Wishes Someone Had Told Him Before the Baby Came
by Hugh Weber


1. Parenting isn’t a situation where MacGyver or Mr. T are going to be of any assistance to you. There are no solutions to this dilemma.

Perhaps the biggest misconception that I had coming into fatherhood was that I would somehow be able to “figure out” my child. Oh, I knew there would be stages. I had heard about the terrible twos and teething, but I imagined that between these milestones I would figure the super-secret song or noise or funny face and that I would magically disarm the greatest of tantrums and tears.

This was incredibly misguided and now feels borderline stupid. Any “solution” you come up with lasts 30 minutes at most. In many cases, it only lasts about 30 seconds. Get used to it. Keep trying. Go Dad!

2. You will never again be able to make a single decision without considering the impact on your child.

Since the birth of my daughter, there have been no decisions that have been made without considering the impact on her. This is true in use of money, use of time and prioritization of life’s many scheduling conflicts. This doesn’t mean that I always make the perfect decision, but it means I consider them in light of her.

Prior to the baby, there were purchases that would be made very impulsively without a consideration of impact. Prior to the baby, I worked some long nights and extended social gatherings engaged in without a handwringing thought about a waiting meal or wife.

I can be honest in saying that even marriage didn’t have this impact on me. (My dear wife, Mrs. Dude, wasn’t terribly excited to hear this, but it is absolutely true.)

If fathers were being completely candid, I think they would have to admit that even in their actions that are less-than-fatherly they still consider the impact on the family.

3. Picture the worst possible imaginable disturbing (borderline criminal) thing that could be done to you by a child, increase it by several orders of magnitude and expect it to occur weekly.

I’m going to leave out some details here. It’s for your own good. You see, my daughter has had some digestive disorders in these first couple months that have required group participation in the process of waste excretion. I know this is vague language, but I can assure you it’s better that way.

In less eventful activities, my daughter has managed to project formula vomit into my ears. I have been covered from elbow to shoulder in a goop that most closely resembles the most incredibly foul baby poop mixed with a liquid form of death.

There is nothing sweet or adorable about this. It’s just a fact.



4. Your wife at her best will be a fundamentally different person than the woman you met on your first date. Your wife at her worst will be an infinitely more terrifying person than the monster you imagined under your bed as a child.

There is no judgment implied in this. Plain and simple, the rules have changed. Learn the rules and it will all be fine. (Editor’s note: Mrs. Dude smiled and nodded when I read her this realization.)

5. Know your limits. If you don’t know your limits, trust friends and family when they tell you that you’ve reached them.

This is not to say that we are all ticking time bombs, but I have heard too many fellow moms AND dads say through tears “This is never going to end. I am never going to sleep. I can’t handle this anymore.” to believe that I am the only one.

Speaking personally, there are times (each and every day) when parenting is completely overwhelming. You are exhausted, the baby is inconsolable and the tension between you and your wife is high. Unless you learn to recognize when you just can’t handle any more stress (emotionally, spiritually, physically), there is a high likelihood that you will put yourself in a position to do and say things that you wouldn’t normally think possible.

So step away. Take a deep breath. Call a friend. But most importantly, acknowledge that you are overwhelmed and don’t take it out on your spouse or child.

BONUS # 6: This change…this baby…represent an opportunity to change life for the better. Please, please, please take advantage of it.

I don’t care whether you’re fighting addiction, have crappy financial management skills or just need to “grow up”, this baby gives you an excuse to become a better person. It’s like a reset button in life. Focus on the future and on something other than yourself and you’ll be amazed at what’s possible. I have friends and family members who struggled with all sorts of demons. Their decisions to embrace fatherhood and become good dads have made all of the difference in their life. Take the challenge. Make a commitment. Be a great dad and an even better person! Your kid is depending on you

8.05.2011

How Much Do You Love/Need Your Phone? [SURVEY]


The above is a survery conducted by telenav to show how much American's love their cellphones and what they would rather give up for a week opposed to giving up their phone for that same amount of time.

Honestly, I would just give up the phone, its just like going on a cruise.  As long as I have a laptop or tablet device, I'll be sstraight.  What about you?


For more on this survey check out the this article, "One-third of Americans would give up sex before their cell phones [infographic]"