Steve Jobs: Remembered by a Non-Apple Brainwashed Techie...

First off let me start with this, I HATE CANCER. It’s a horrible disease and I wish there was a cure. Death is natural, but there is nothing natural about something manifesting itself in your body then taking over until it ultimately kills you. My Mom was born 4 years before Jobs and cancer took her away from here in 2004, one of my bestfriends would be 31 this year if it wasn't for cancer taking him in his mid 20's, not to mention the kids who suffer with Cancer every year, that’s the saddest thing ever, and as a parent it terrifies me. But I digress...

Steve Jobs was definitely a genius, a visionary, and a huge reason for a lot of the great things we have today. I'm not saying that he created all the great technology that we have come to love, but he pushed the envelope and forced creativity from others to make better products as well.

As a kid I owned a Mac Desktop, used it for basic gaming, learning activities, creating signs and banners, and I believe I typed school work on there too. That would be the last Apple Desktop that I owned, but far from the last that I would use. As Computer Graphics major Mac Desktops were my best friend in High School and College, the machines just handled the animation, 3D modeling, and Adobe/Macromedia application better than a Windows PC (Imagine that Adobe & Apple being a match made in Computer Graphic heaven). As an adult I've owned a few iPods including one that still had 4 buttons above the wheel. The iPod has been great for me, I own tons of music and I love being able to take it with me in the car on vacations and whatever else. Not to mention the interface on the iPod and on the Desktop (iTunes) is still the best interface for browsing through a large directory of music. Recently I have also become an iPad owner, as an Android user this might sound weird, but it gives me the ability to enjoy the best of both worlds, not to mention there are more apps currently available and made for the iPad than there are on other tablet devices. I'm sure at some point I will own an Android tablet, I'm just letting them catch up and improve some things like I know they will.

All of that is said to say that his technologies have had an impact on me, but even if I never owned any Apple products it would still have an impact on me.

Without Apple OS X, Windows Desktop Computers would still be running an OS that looked like Windows 98. Sure it would do its job, but it wouldn't look as good or have as many added user friendly functionality.

Without the iPod what would MP3 players look like? Would they look like a Sony MiniCD player or like the original Archos MP3 player?

Take away the iPhone, and what type of "Smartphones" are we using? A Blackberry with the sidescroll, a Treo, HTC Windows Phone?  Sure all of those things worked ok, but none of them compare to the plethra of options we have for smart phones.

Not to mention Tablets, they would still be the laptops that had the screen that you could flip around and write on, not the advanced devices that we have on the market today.

So with all that said, Thank You Steve Jobs, your life made a huge difference in the lives of many.

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.)"



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]"

A DJ at Your Desk!!! For Free, FTW

DJ DUBLEE Your Personal DJ On The Go!

http://www.djdublee.com/mixes/

I gotta give a huge shout out to a fellow UMBC Alumni and the man that puts the mixes together that helps to get me though the day. Sure some of you go to Panadora and other streaming sites that play commercials and make mixes that you don't really understand, but DJ Dublee puts up mixes that are blended and scratched on just like you would hear at a club or happy hour to take your away from your cubical for a moment.

His mixes are high quality and free to stream or download to listen to later.  The music ranges from the Classic Soul, R&B, Neo Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Go-Go, Independent, Mainstream, practically anything you could possibly be looking for.  You can submit request and he'll throw the song(s) into a mix, you can search the history of his mixes to find a particular artist.

Below is a quick preview of his mixes over the past month, but I suggest you check out the site for yourself to browse some of the older mixes as well.  I guarantee you will find a mix that perfectly fits your mood for the day on any given occassion.  Right now I'm rockin to his Go-Go mix from May 4th.

Oh yeah did I mention its 100% free, the mixes can be downloaded and listened to whenever, and will work on Android/iPhone/iPad/Blackberry devices, what more can you ask for.  DJ Dublee is your personal & portable DJ! Enjoy People.

(Also you will notice that DJ Dublee clearly labels his mixes to let you know ahead of time whether there is any foul language in the mix)  

June 15, 2011 12 O’clock Drop

The Love Unlimited Orchestra – I Wanna Stay Q-Tip – Vibrant Thing Beenie Man ft. Janet Jackson – Feel It Boy Ol’ Dirty Bastard ft. Kelis – Got Your Money Busta Rhymes – Do The Bus A Bus Babyface – There She Goes Kool & The Gang – Too Hot Coolio – Too Hot    A [...]

June 13, 2011 12 O’clock Drop

   Soul II Soul – Keep On Moving Ralph Tresvant – Sensitivity Sybil – Don’t Make Me Over Janet Jackson – That’s The Way Love Goes PM Dawn – Set Adrift on Memory Bliss Suzanne Vega – Tom’s Diner Nikki D – Daddy’s Lil Girl Dwele – Find A Way Seal – Fly Like An [...]

June 10, 2011 12 O’clock Drop

Jay-Z & DMX – Money, Cash, H*** Snoop Dogg ft. C-Murder – Down For My Eve – What Yall Want Lil Kim – No Time For Fake Ones Swizz Beatz ft. Cassidy, JadaKiss, Snoop Dogg – Bigger Business Young Buck – Let Me In Cassidy ft. Mary J. Blige – I’m A Hustla Noreaga & [...]

June 8, 2011 12 O’clock Drop

June Da Kid ft. Born Undadogz – Back Then K. Sparks – Hip Hop June Da Kid – My Choice Tonight Laelo Hood ft. Pro-Verb, Lyriciss – Cool Tree Gotti – Butter Ball Naked Tre-Dot ft. Kimia Colins – Keep On Hatin Bobby Creekwater – OJ Simpson Dugee F. Buller – I Burst Lega-C – [...]

June 6, 2011 12 O’clock Drop

T.I. – 24’s Juvenile & UTP – Nolia Clap T-Pain ft. Yung Joc – Snappin’ Bun B ft. Trey Songz, Mike Jones – Hold You Down Snoop Dogg ft. R. Kelly – That’s That Cam’ron – Touch It Or Not Styles P – Good Times Ice Cube – Today Was A Good Day Lil Boosie [...]

June 3, 2011 12 O’clock Drop (Shaq Retires)

After an outstanding carreer, Shaquille O’neal retires after 19 seasons as being one of the most dominating players to ever play the game. Shaq accumulate four championship rings through out his career and also recorded four albums. Here is a mix I put together with some of my favorite Shaq songs sprinkled in! Shaquille O’neal [...]

June 2011 Mix Of The Month

Meek Mill ft. Rick Ross – Tupac Back YC – Racks Drake ft. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled – I’m On One Dirty Money ft. Trey Songz, Diddy – Your Love Lil Wayne ft. Rick Ross – John Rihanna – Man Down Jerimiah ft. 50 Cent – Down On Me Trey Songz ft. Drake [...]

May 30, 2011 12 O’clock Drop Memorial Day Mix

Kool and The Gang – Summer Madness Will Smith – Summertime Beyonce ft. Ghostface Killah – Summertime Travis Porter – Bring It Back David Banner – Play Ray J ft. Lil Kim – Wait A Minute Gyptian ft. Nicki Minaj – Hold Yuh Beenie Man – Drinking Rum Mad Lion – Take It Easy Notorious [...]

Sexual Activity by Smart Phone Brand

http://www.androidcentral.com/android-users-supposedly-getting-less-sex-iphone-blackberry-owners

This has to be THEE most random survey and comparison of two things that I probably would have never mentioned in the same sentence.  They used it to come up with an actual statistic.  Some people have too much time on their hands...

BUT! Since I'm looking at the "statistics" lets analyze them and try to come up with an explanation.

• Women in general appear to be more active than men.
• iPhone is a "fun" phone.  More fun less business.  Therefore lets assume iPhone owners are the "funnest" of the smart phone owners.  They party more, work less, and tend to be more openly wild.  This appears to be an excessive truth for female iPhone owners. LOL.
• Blackberry is more of a business or corporate phone.  So lets say their owners are more about business and don't really have as much time for fun as the iPhone owners.  But then again since Blackberry has been multitasking for the longest, we can also assume so has their owners.  Especially due to the fact that the people in corporate power positions are known for having extra marital affairs.  But lets face it, its usually with someone at their job because they spend more time at work than home. So they are a active but not as active as the "fun boys" and "fun girls" that own iPhones.
• Finally the Android the newest of the smartphones.  The Android has been said to be a mix of Fun and Business.  The Google Android OS is a dream operating system for internet geeks and programmers.  Open Source, create your own apps, the ability to overclock your phone's processor, root you phone and customize the operating system, etc...  With all that said I guess its easy to believe that most of the Android owners are computer geeks and techie people, must I say more?  LOL

Warning: Fellas if you meet a girl that has an iPhone when you meet her, watch her carefully she might be a wild one!  (j/k)

Confusion: I've never owned an iPhone, I've gone from Palm for 1 year to Blackberry for 2 years, my next phone will be an Android, but I do look forward to going back to Blackberry if they make the proper updates and upgrades to their hardware and operating system in the near future. 

Blackberry App World 2.0

I'll let you know how it goes...

I'm upgrading now, I'll add to the post some screen shots if anything seems better or more fluid about it.  Look at the version differences...from 1.1.0.35 to 2.0.0.26...wow! Thats a huge upgrade (supposedly).

If you want to upgrade as well, click here to join the Blackberry Beta Program. 

You can get the newest versions of App World, BBM, AIM, Windows Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, and not mention an app called Feedback which allows you to tell RIM what you think about any and everything on your Blackberry directly from that particular app (even if it's a 3rd Party application).

Ok I got a few screen shots and a bit of info for you, post install.  The looks is slightly different. The screenshots and images for the applications seem to load faster and everything has a side scroll to it to give it the "new age" smart phone feel, you know like a iPhone or Android, not the old school side scroll that gave people sore thumbs on the fat Blackberry's.  We'll here's some screenshots and comments where needed. 

The buttons changed a little bit..

I think this remained the same, but then again I never opened up Categories before.

When you Click on the Trophy from the main screen this is what you get, and you can scroll sideways to get to the other categories of the Top 25.

This section had a good feel to it, I think this is where the update is most noticeable.  Honestly if I'm looking for an app, I look for the Top Downloaded and Top Rated apps anyway, unless I know a specific app I'm looking for based off of a review I read somewhere.  I like how they added a "Recently Updated" section.

This screen seems the same, I didn't try an actual Search though.

Now this part I like.  You now sign into you App World and it creates an account that can save your PayPal info and it keeps track of the Apps that you have downloaded to your phone.  All the apps that I had from before showed up in my list with out a problem.  The other times that I've done updates to AppWorld it wiped out my list of applications and I would have to redownload them from AppWorld if I wanted a notification about upgrades for the app.  So this is a great convenience improvement from AppWorld v.1.

 

Guess what else!? It immediately told me I had an update to my BBM too! Oh boy!