Post Christmas stuff

So I worked like a fool to help subsidize the US Post Office, err, get my Christmas cards out on time this year. I mailed them the day before Christmas. Which means they were technically on time. Whether they got to anyone on or before Christmas wasn't my fault.

If you're reading this post, it's possible you received one of my world famous annual newsletters since this blog's web address is published on the newsletter. (And by "world famous," I mean three people I know have heard of it.) And if you read the newsletter, you probably noticed a bunch of bullsh!t interspersed with the banality and trivial events I recounted through the newsletter. Why do I do this? It's a backlash to newsletters I get. It's one thing to get a newsletter filled with references to people I actually know. It's another thing to read a newsletter and wonder aloud, "Who the EFF is this? And why did she accompany Jake to the school's hayride? And who the eff is Jake?" You get my point. Those sort of newsletters are written for an audience of one - the person who wrote the letter. And maybe his/her grandma. But that's about it.


Accordingly, this year's newsletter featured pirate talk, Charlie Sheen, and discussion of a Higgs boson. I'd post a copy of the newsletter here for easy download but that requires more work. And all that mailing a few days ago sucked the life out of me, 44 cents at a time.

So I'm was stuck at Boston Logan ...

I was in Boston for a two day business-related conference. (Don't ask me about the conference. That's work related and I find it energy sapping to discuss.)

My itinerary connects through Baltimore. Leave Boston around 6PM, get into Columbus around 10:45PM. Sort of late but I've flown through Baltimore before and there are certainly worse airports to get stuck in. I check the status of my flight before leaving downtown Boston and it appears that my flight is delayed by an hour. I briefly consider hanging out in downtown Boston for a bit before heading to the airport but decide against it since i) you never know how long it will actually take to get to the airport (Boston traffic ain't something you want to be stuck in) and ii) I have no idea how long it will take to get through security.

The Mud Pots of Calipatria CA

In January 2011, I visited one of my favorite parts of California: the Salton Sea. Below is video I shot of the mud pots near the small town of Calipatria CA. More information is in the description posted on Youtube.

When your spring garden smells like road kill :: Titan Arum in Columbus OH

Ohio State's Biological Greenhouse grows a lot of stuff. One of the plants in its collection is Titan Anum, aka "Corpse Flower," because is smells like putrid rancid meat when it blooms. It bloomed yesterday and the greenhouse opened its doors to the public to show off this rare event.

• When it blooms, it reeks.
• It's a big deal when one of these plants bloom. It blooms around once per ten years.
• It's a huge flower - about three feet across.
• The bloom dies off within 48 hours of the bloom emerging.

More info on the plant can be found here.

The line for the exhibit was long. When I first showed up, someone said it would take about 1.5 hours from where I was to get into the exhibit. I initially considered leaving but then thought, "it's not raining, it's not hot or cold ... waiting in line won't kill me." I'm glad I stayed. I stood in line for maybe 45 minutes (if that) before seeing the flower. It was worth the wait.

This sign was placed in front of the flower. It gives you its stats - size, weight, age, etc.

The good people who work in the greenhouse have a sense of humor.

In person, the flower definitely looks like something out of Jurassic Park.

When I first entered the greenhouse, I didn't really smell anything. One of the curators said that most of the smell was on the "other side" of the plant. I wasn't sure what she meant. Until I got to the other side of the plant. Then I smelled it. It was definitely an unpleasant smell but it certainly wasn't as bad as I was led to believe. I expected it to be smell like a zombie kill-fest ... four days later in the middle of summer. It was more like that bad smell you get if you throw away some packaging that had chicken in it and it sits in your garbage can in the kitchen and it stinks a couple of days later. But not quite as intense.

One of the caretakers cut a hole into the flower near its base. The purple spikes are the female flowers and the yellow buds on top) are the male flowers. The female flowers open first then, a day or two later, the male flowers open up. Apparently, they don't open up at the same time in order to prevent the plants from self pollinating themselves.

Apparently, the Ohio State Biological Sciences Greenhouse has five of these plants. You can see the four other plants in these photos.

All in all, it was an interesting way to spend part of a Sunday afternoon. If you've got one of these plants blooming near you, check it out. I guarantee, you haven't smelled seen anything like it before.

My favorite droid apps

I got a Droid X a few months ago and like it. I mean, I really like this phone. Compared to my old Blackberry, it's like driving a car after traveling via pogo stick. With one leg.

A few people I know have since gotten Android powered phones and have asked me for recommendations on apps. Below is a list of my favorite apps. (Instead of drafting an email for each person, I figured I'd save time by posting this on my blog.) This will not be a static list - I will add/delete apps as I get new ones, fall out of love with old ones, etc. If you have any app recommendations, leave it in the comments and I'll check it out.

The following apps are all free unless noted otherwise.

Amazon App Store
Amazon started an app store to compete with Google's apps store in early 2011. Pros: The Amazon App Store gives away one free app per day. I've gotten into a habit of checking this app store daily to see what they are giving away. Cons: Any app downloaded from the Amazon App Store cannot be updated via the Google App Store and vice versa. You need to remember to update your apps in each store separately. The free app per day, plus the bonus of some apps being exclusive on Amazon App Store (see Plants vs Zombies below, for example), to me, greatly outweighs the "cost" of the extra step of checking for updates in each store separately.

Gesture Search
This is developed by Google and is one of my favorites and easily on my top five apps used. And it seems like no one knows about it. Searching for contacts, apps, songs, etc., can be a pain if you've got a lot of either or both. Gesture Search allows you to search your phone by drawing gestures on the touch screen.

Tweetcaster
There are a lot of different Twitter apps on the Android platform. I've tried several Twitter clients and this one is my favorite.

ScoreMobile
There are several apps that let you track updated sports scores in real time. I've tried several - this one is the best in my opinion. Very clean and easy set up. Nice and simple visual design.

MyTracks
I'm a map geek and anything that allows me to create a map is something I like. This app allows you to create "tracks" (or maps) of any outdoor activity you may be doing - running, walking, biking, etc. Upload the track to the web and share with your friends. Also tracks and records statistics (e.g. distance, speed, etc.).

Endomondo
This app is very similar to MyTracks described above. I tend to prefer Endomondo - I think the user interface is easier to use and a helluva lot more intuitive. Plus, I like the Endomondo icon - it's a green cartoon face with an open mouth.

Angry Birds
Angry Birds Seasons
Angry Birds Rio
Unless you've been living under a rock,  no explanation is needed for Angry Birds. Google "Angry Birds reviews" or something along those lines and you'll see what I mean. Addictive, safe for kids, and clean graphics.

Quick Settings
One of the things that used to make me batty was having to go into different places on the phone for routine tasks. Quick Settings allows you to do the following in one place: Turn on/turn off ringer, put phone in "airplane" mode, turn on/off data, turn on/off GPS, volume control, turn on/off WiFi. I use this app a LOT.

Battery Indicator
The standard battery indicator is a simple graphic display that appears in the upper right corner of the home screen. It's OK but it doesn't distinguish between 80% and 50%, for example - both levels of battery energy appears the same with the stock graphic display. Battery Indicator gives you the actual batter power left using numerical display (e.g. 90, 60, 40, etc.) instead of the display. It uses next to no battery power and it's MUCH more useful.

Barcode Scanner
This is one of those apps that everyone seems to have already heard of so I won't expound on it much. In a nutshell, this app allows you to scan a barcode for an item and check prices for the same item online and/or in competing stores.

Camera360
Camera Fun Free
FxCamera
PicSay
picplz
LittlePhoto
RetroCamera
There are a lot of decent free camera apps that allow you to put an "effect" on a photo you're taking - sepia, black and white, Polaroid, etc. I don't have a "favorite" - I just use whatever strikes my fancy when I'm taking the photo. One minor exception to all of this --> PicSay. PicSay isn't an app I'd use for "effects" - it's "ok" in that regard. But it does allow you to do something with your photos that the others don't - it allows you to put in "dialogue" or "cartoon bubbles" on photos. Very cool.

Carr Matey
There are several apps that help you find your car if you parked it in a large parking lot. It seems like a LOT of them cost money - Carr Matey is the only decent free app that I could find. It works quite well - the tradeoff? It has a pirate theme that you can't shut off. So prepare to see a lot of "aaarrghs" and anchor icons, etc. If you can get past the pirate theme, it's a darn good car finder app.

Compass
I love anything map, map-related, and anything involving directions. Compass is simply that - a compass. Works well, clean and simple end user design.

Dolphin Browser HD
Opera Mini
The stock browser that came with my phone is fine and works well. A couple of browsers you may want to install and check out - Dolphin and OperaMini. OperaMini was my browser of choice when I had my Blackberry. (The stock browser on the Blackberry sucks, in my opinion). OperaMini on Droid is very good. Dolphin, which I think is exclusively Android, is very good. It took a while for me to warm up to it but I find myself using Dolphin 80% of the time when browsing on this phone.

DoubleTwist
The media player pre-installed with the phone is OK and very serviceable. But Doubletwist, in my opinion, is better and more robust.  There's a version of this app that you can install on your laptop (PC or Mac) or desktop (PC or Mac) - this allows you to synch between the desktop player and your phone. Also can transfer your files out of ITunes. Nice.

eBuddy
This app allows you to access all of your instant messaging clients from a single app. eBuddy currently supports MSN (Windows Live Messenger or WLM), Facebook, Yahoo!, MySpace, Gtalk (Orkut), ICQ, AIM (AOL) and Hyves instant messaging.

Google Earth
I cannot figure out a good use for this app. But if you like maps and/or checking out the world around you, I recommend this app!

Google Goggles
If you see something and don't know what it is and/or want to know more about that thing, use Goggles to take a photo of it. It then searches the web for a similar item to help you ID it. It is still a work in progress - but it's gotten better/more accurate over time.

Google Sky Map
This app ROCKS. If you don't become an astronomy geek after using this app, you have no soul. Download this app and then go for a walk on a clear evening. Use the app - you'll see what I mean.

JuiceDefender
Because my phone has a very large screen, it's pretty heavy on energy usage. Instead of leaving your data on ALL the time, what it does is turn on data for about three minutes, then shut it off for about 12 minutes. In other words, for every 15 minutes, your data is on only 3 minutes. I've noticed my battery lasting longer as a result of using this free app. There is a paid version that lets you tweak the settings - and I'm seriously thinking of buying the app, if not just to support the developers of this app.

Lookout
Viruses and malware are everywhere if you're online. Mobile phones are no exception. Lookout is free and includes free updates. There are several other good free anti-virus/anti-malware apps - I personally like Lookout.

Lyrics App
This app figures out what song you're playing and displays the lyrics for you. Great app for all you American Idol wannabes :-)

Pandora
This is a no brainer. If you have never heard of Pandora, please, educate yourself. Free streaming music for up to 40 hours per month. Create channels based on bands and/or songs you like. Discover new music. It's awesome.

Plants vs Zombies
I got this app for free when it was the "free app of the day" on the Amazon Market a while ago. It is now priced at something like $2.99 or $3.99. Given how much I LOVE this game, I'd gladly pay up if I had to. Really love this game. (As of the time I wrote this post, the Plants vs Zombies app is available only via the Amazon App Store.)


Southwest
People seem to either hate or love Southwest Airlines. I love it. I rarely have trouble with its flights being late. And I like that it doesn't charge extra for checked luggage. The only downside of Southwest is that it does not assign seats. You are assigned a group and number that you then use to get yourself in line at the airport. A1 is MUCH better than C29. Instead of showing up at the airport and keeping your fingers crossed (you're guaranteed a C group if you do this), use this app to check into your flight up to 24 hours prior to departure. You'll get a good group/number assignment if you check in early.

Stupid Zombies
I find this game to be almost as addictive as Angry Birds but if you're measuring "awareness" for Angry Birds vs Stupid Zombies where Angry Birds is a 100, Stupid Zombies is (maybe) a 12. This is my attempt to help spread the word - very good game. Nice graphics. A bit on the gory side but it's pretty funny if you have that kind of sense of humor. (I do.)

TV Listings
When I was a kid, TV Guide was a major publication. Everyone seemed to subscribe to it. These days, because of DVRs and channel guides that are built into cable systems, Direct TV, etc., things like TV Guide aren't really needed any more. If you're still part of the stone age (e.g. like me) and do not have a system that has a "built-in TV Guide," this app rocks. Works well. Never crashes and it's accurate. The only thing you have to remember is to change your settings if you change location. (I learned this lesson recently when I was frantically looking for Seinfeld - the app said it was on a certain channel at a certain time. I finally realized I hadn't changed my settings after visiting my in-laws.)

Word Feud
People seem to fall into either the Word Feud or Words With Friends camp. I'm sure Words With Friends is a fine app - if you have an iPhone. Word With Friends on the android platform sucks. Like a lot. Constantly force closing. The only reason I put up with this crap is because there is no Word Feud on iPhone - yet. (They're working on it.) Once Word Feud is released on iPhone (and assuming Words With Friends doesn't get its act together), I'll be switching to Word Feud exclusively. I also play Wordsmith but Word Feud gets the nod over Wordsmith for playability and better visuals.

Vlingo
I haven't used this app much but for someone who is on the phone a lot while away from a fixed location (e.g. sales, etc.), this is a pretty slick app. It allows you to send texts, call, email, etc., contacts via verbal commands.

Voice
This is the Google version of Vlingo. I tend to use this app more so than Vlingo. Vlingo appears to have more bells and whistles whereas Google Voice is straightforward and simple. Both are good - it just depends on what you need this app to do.

Steeler fans never die, they just, errr, watch more TV

Someone sent me these photos recently. I checked out the story - it's definitely real. Turns out this guy passed away in 2005, was a huge Steelers fan, and the funeral home set up his body watching a continuous loop of Steeler clips in a mock recreation of his living room.

The story is linked here.

And ... below are the photos.

Portraits using maps

Someone sent me this site via email. Normally, when people send you stuff on email, it's useless crap. This site, however, is very interesting. Especially if you're a map geek like me.

This fellow, Matt Cusick, makes portraits using maps. Very cool.