Adam White

I’ve just had to learn another lesson the hard way from God but sometimes that is the only way we listen.

I am good with computers, I always have been. In recent years this has turned into the useful skill of being able to fix other people’s PCs. I have a loft full of spare parts to help me out and I enjoy doing it.

So when I was asked recently to take a look at someone’s PC because it was running slowly I thought I would go and upgrade the RAM and hard drive and that would be it. I knew at the time that I was really busy and I should say no but it was such a simple job what could go wrong?

How about seven days of stress? That’s what I ended up with! For a start the motherboard wouldn’t support more than 256MB RAM so that meant the only option was to change motherboard. I should have stopped at this point and said no but I carried on.

Cutting a looooong and painful story short I’ve had boot failures, blown motherboards, blue screens of death, registry corruption, dead monitors and data loss. However, after lots of late nights and a lounge that now looks like a Maplin’s warehouse I finally have the PC back as it was when I first got it. I’ve spent countless hours and effort and achieved nothing.

So, I’m going to accept this lesson from God and shut the doors on this computer repair shop. Now only family and very close friends get to have access to my time. For the sake of my sanity I’m going to have to say no to anybody else from now on.

So, please don’t take offense when I say no to you in future. Trust me, it’s for the best!

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The battle between the iPhone and Android devices heated up recently with the fumbled release of the iPhone 4.

Let’s ignore the fundamental issue with invalidating the warranty with a sweaty hand or left-handed people not being to make calls and instead focus on performance alone.

I think we have a clear winner! But the important thing is that Android is a constantly improving platform with the new versions coming out all the time. iPhone ha a much longer turnaround time and is going to need to run faster to keep up.

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Microsoft have just released a possible vision of the future using technologies they are currently working on. It is things they “believe will happen over the next 10 years.” Pretty cool stuff and not one flying car in sight!

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It’s been a while since I posted anything techy on my website so I thought it was about time I concluded my short series on my new phone.

The one topic I haven’t really covered yet is the applications. Phones are all about the applications these days. With the Apple iPhone app store hosting over 200,000 applications and the Android Market quickly catching up it is turning into a big business. But I’m a cheapskate who would rather have a free version of something if it is available.

So here are my top 10 free Android applications that I have on my phone (in no particular order):

1) ACast (http://goo.gl/jkDg)

I listen to a lot of podcasts and one of the first things I looked for was a podcast manager for my phone. What I found was ACast and it is excellent. I recommend anyone who listens to podcasts to install this app. It automatically downloads and allows you to set up filters on your feeds. Listening to my podcasts has never been easier!

2) Air Control (http://goo.gl/pbDf)

While I am waiting for the Android port of ScummVM I have installed and uninstalled a lot of games on my phone. Air Control though is the one that has stayed. The aim is to guide the various planes to their landing strips without them crashing into each other. So simple but so addictive. The free version comes with two maps, it is so good I still haven’t looked at the second map!

3) Bible (http://goo.gl/alvB)

An unimaginatively titled app which is a shame as this app is excellent. It gives you full access (Internet connection needed) to lots of translations and is very quick and has a lovely interface. The winning feature though is with the YouVersion.com reading plans. I can do my daily bible reading wherever I am and whenever. I have done it in bed as soon as I wake up or I have even done it while queueing for a theme park ride!

4) Dolphin Browser HD (http://goo.gl/ON06)

The standard web browser that comes with Android is ok but the Dolphin Browser takes it to the next level. It adds pinch zoom and an excellent interface. The HD version is only for Android 2.0 and above and makes a great app even slicker. Everyone should replace the standard browser with this.

5) Google Maps with Navigation (http://goo.gl/p3Dm)

With it being a Google operating system you’d expect it to work well with Google maps, and it does. It makes such a difference to have a GPS system on my phone with me and with the recent addition of Navigation I have a fully blown SatNav. A must have app!

6) Movies (http://goo.gl/H9ql)

"Movies” from flixster is great for me as a movie fan. It tells me what movies are coming to the cinema soon along with trailers and reviews from Rotten Tomatoes but more importantly it uses the GPS to find the nearest cinema to me and displays for me the showtimes. Excellent!

7) My Tracks (http://goo.gl/9IFs)

I’m a runner and a walker. This app integrates with Google maps and drops breadcrumbs on your journey. When you finish you can see all kinds of stats about where you have been, your speeds, times and distances. Then it can upload all that automatically to Google Maps and Google Docs for future reference.

8) NewsRob (http://goo.gl/r72Q)

RSS reeds are how I read the news now and this app grabs them from my Google Reader feed, downloads them and allows me to catch up wherever I am. Not the best looking app but it does what it is meant to well.

9) Seesmic (http://goo.gl/uswT)

I tweet and have gone through many apps (Twitdroid, Twicca, Swift, etc.) before settling on this one. The reason this has won for me though is it includes all of the advanced features of Twitter (multiple accounts, etc.) without needing to upgrade to a paid version.

10) Trap! (http://goo.gl/A54v)

And finally I finish with one of the first and most addictive games I ever installed. The premise is simple; draw walls between bouncing walls to block them off and slowly reduce the space on the screen. Every level adds a ball. Give it a try and be addicted!

Honorable mentions

Beebplayer – Full access to the BBC iplayer on your phone. So cool!

Fring – Skype on your mobile. Thank you very much!

Handsent SMS – A much better text message manager.

LogMeIn – Access other computers remotely. The potential is amazing!

Notepad – A simple notepad that syncs online. Very handy.

Spotify – The app is free but you need a Spotify subscription to use it so it didn’t really qualify for the list. My favourite app by far though!

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For more information on the pCubee research project checkout their website: http://hct.ece.ubc.ca/research/pcubee/

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So, now that I have had my shiny new phone for three months, what do I think of it? Has it lived up to my expectations?

Let’s start with the hardware. The Motorola device was quite weighty and felt fairly solid when I bought it and the hardened glass screen has already come in handy a I have been known to knock it off the odd table or drop it onto the floor. It has a few minor scrapes around the edges of the phone but the screen is still as good as the day I bought it.

The slider is starting to loosen up but it still functions as it should and still satisfyingly clicks into place when opened or closed.

The keypad got a little getting used to as I would often spend a while searching for the symbols like @ and ‘ but I have now got used to their locations and can happily tweet or text while walking home without falling over.

The battery life is not great as the high resolution screen does drain if left on. However I have got used to having it plugged in whenever I am near a PC (which is when I am at work or at home). When out and about it can last the day as long as I remember things like wi-fi and don’t run battery consuming applications when I don’t need to.

The main selling point of this phone though has to be the Android operating system. It was the first phone to run version 2.0 and if the rumours are to be believed, version 2.1 with all of its improvements should be made available to me before April.

It does everything a smart phone is meant to do and it’s hooking up to Google is superb. I now manage my contacts, emails, documents and calendar from wherever I am. It is like having a mini-laptop in my pocket.

Surprisingly it has had a few issues with being an actual phone. I have had a couple of instances where I’ve not been able to make phone calls without restarting the handset first. Thankfully I don’t make a lot of calls but a heavier phone user might find this annoying!

But what has really made this application great and the reason that I believe that the Android operating system is the future of mobile OSs is the vast (and I mean vast) number of free applications that can be downloaded. I have everything from task managers, music players, replacement texting applications, a bible with every translation you want, weather notifications, games and so much more.

I’m planning on writing a couple of posts on some of my favourite applications but trust me, there is something here for every need you might have.

So, in summary, 3 months on I am still really happy with my choice and have become a permanent convert to the Google operating system. With new Android phones coming out all the time this is the platform to watch.

To be continued…

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The geek in me can’t help but find this amusing…

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I’ve always been quite techy and know what I’m doing where computers are concerned. A lot of my friends and family know this so I have a number of calls over the years to fix technology related problems.

So it was again tonight: I was sat with a friend’s laptop which didn’t want to connect to the Internet anymore.

However, thankfully, I have been in this position before with other people’s PCs. Lots of times. So I knew exactly what to look for first.

A quick check through the installed applications highlighted immediately what the problem was: Norton Anti-Virus software.

McAfee and Norton anti-virus software are the most annoying applications I have ever come across. They are bloated and cause more problems than they fix. Why else would a program come with a special uninstaller that you can download from their website? Because they break your PC and are a pain to get rid of!!!

They scare the public into buying their products at ridiculous prices when people really don’t have to. If there is anybody out there who has a Windows PC heed my next piece of advice: Never pay for anti-virus software for personal use.

My advise is to use one of the following products instead which are all free, all really good and don’t mess up your computer:

Microsoft Security Essentials

The latest application to join the party but the one I am going to mention first as it is my current product of choice. It integrates extremely well into Windows (you don’t notice it is there most of the time), it rates highly on virus catching capabilities and is developed by a household name for that extra piece of mind.

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

AVG Anti-Virus

This is the product that I loved up until Microsoft’s offering and is still installed on a number of PCs I have fixed over the years. Again it is free, rates highly and is very popular. Get it if you have an allergy to Microsoft products! Be careful when navigating their website though as they try and confuse you with links to the pay for version. Just keep clicking the link for the free version though and you will be fine.

http://free.avg.com/gb-en/homepage

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