goodbyeANALOG’s Very Necessary Android Apps List (MAY 2010)

First things first, go to the Android Market on your phone and download Barcode Scanner. It scans barcodes from books and other products at the supermarket or other stores so you can check if there’s a better price on the Internet. It’l do a Google Search and compare prices. Trust me I almost bought a $20 book at Border’s, found it on Amazon at $11. You can also scan Qr codes (Those weird square barcodes with a lot of black smaller squares). A lot of apps have their own Qr code, so if you’re interested in any of them you can scan them right from here.

Try scanning this one for example.

For Twitter: Seesmic for Android

At least for me it’s the best ad-free, don’t-pay-a-penny app for Android. It looks clean, it does the job, it has all the functions of the twitter page, plus you can choose how to RT your posts (to appear on your friends’ timelines, “via-” or
“-said” etc). Plus, it supports multiple accounts, which is a feature you can only get in “plus” versions of most Twitter Apps.

For Facebook: Bloo

This is the only native Facebook app so far that has caught my attention (native meaning it’s not web-based) Do everything you normally do on facebook except for facebook chat, friend requests and the inbox looks a little weird, but that’s Facebook’s fault. Oh, and it’s free. You can download Facebook for Android and compare.

For eBooks: Aldiko

This free eBook reader (which reminds me a lot of the iPad App and all the controversy it created) links you to thousands of free classic. The ePub format lets you download on your own on PC and then import the book to your device.

UPADATE: Yeah, so WordPress crashed while publishing this, so after 6 more apps reviewed by yours truly, I lost everything after this one. HUGE round of applause.

Blackberry to Android:Day 46

Android 2.0 or "Éclair"

The transition from my Sprint Blackberry Curve 8330 to the HTC Hero has been absolutely painless. I recently powered my old Blackberry and it just felt like this old fat brick, and I immediately had a flashback of my very first Game Boy.

The only thing I can honestly say I miss about the BB is of course, having a real keyboard (I have clumsy fingers, and I even though I’m getting used to the touchscreen I still have a long way to go.) The other would be the ability to uninstall  any application I want. Sprint gives you a smartphone with Sprint TV, some Nascar and NFL crap, Footprints (useless in PR) HTC Peep (for Twitter) and since I updated from “Cupcake” to “Eclair”, Twitter for Android. I use Seesmic for Android, so it seems ridiculous for me to have three twitter clients on my phone.

After the release of “Eclair”, the new Android OS, I had to jump in on the action also. I was scared because it wasn’t a huge release, so I didn’t know if it was official.  Backing up my contacts was a breeze, since they’re synced with Google.  After the update my contacts were there waiting for me. Unfortunately, my apps weren’t and the Market has no History of your downloads after updating.  But I soon recognized what I needed, since the apps I had were so important. Downloading is way easier on an Android. By the time it takes to open and load BB App World, you can finish downloading two apps simultaneously.

I am very happy with the switch I must say. Next: Very Necessary and Cool Apps

Vacations Part Deux

Campsite by ~LeeUmass

I think the only perk of working and being out of school so far has been being able to request vacation time. I chose this week and a week in August, but will not be traveling. I always thought of vacations as a time to get away, but it seems that can only be achieved by the wealthy few, or by those who know how to save enough for a trip. Last year by this time, I was buying my tickets to NYC and I was so excited for my information session at the NYU Gallatin School. Fast forward a couple of months, and zoom in on me, with a borrowed laptop sitting at Starbucks writing my admissions essay a day before the deadline, then cut to me opening the rejection letter the day after my birthday.

And cut to today, and me reminiscing.

I can’t lie, I’m happy. I have a wonderful partner (4 months together on June 5) who loves absolutely everything about me, who trusts me, who shares the same interests as me and sees the world with my same eyes. I have a JOB, which is a privilege, considering the 17+% of unemployed in PR. I have a roof over my head even though I sometimes can’t buy groceries after paying the rent.

But things could be better. In my Utopian world I have a full-time job, I don’t have a roommate (I live with my partner in a humble one-bedroom apartment with small balcony) and today I’d be arriving at NYC or SanFran, or San Diego, calling my friends and telling them to meet me at 8pm after I check-in at the hotel.

But I’m stuck here for this week, and it’s raining and it just sucks. I look at the mosaic I’m making and I just get so frustrated that I don’t work on it (it’s been sitting there at 15%  for three weeks). I try picking up a book and then start thinking of all the books I need to read and haven’t and drop the book again. I try writing but my fear of being passé makes me rip the page off. I used to have photography but I don’t know how to save for a camera due to my lack of making budget-friendly purchases. Working out has been my only outlet to drive my attention away from all these things and from the fact that I’m too scared to start looking for graduate schools again.

I hope this week brings me the peace I need to make decisions, to not be afraid of writing and making art. I have a wonderful partner and amazing friends that believe 100% in me, I just need to join them.