Tim Lenahan

Rob Clymo writes about all things Android for Broadband Genie. Enjoy his view about the dominance of Android

Latest figures suggest that the Android operating system is now more popular than ever, with the dependable platform now proving to be a number one hit with software developers too, alongside countless domestic and business users enjoying it’s charms. A new survey by research group Ovum in the US has discovered that the OS is now nearly top of the tree when it comes to software developers, who are increasingly using it ,instead of the iOS from Apple.

The iOS remains a key player in the development of mobile applications, but research found that developers were reporting that Android was being adopted quicker than anticipated. Although the BlackBerry and Windows platforms are certainly players in this marketplace, it’s really down to Google versus Apple in the race for app development supremacy.

Traditionally, the same developers have been using popular mobile application development tools including the likes of Java, Flash and WAP, but are now turning their attentions to HTML 5. This is a newly developed Web-based standard that offers much more versatility and therefore proves appeal to coders who want their software apps to work across a whole variety of different platforms. With tablet devices now becoming a huge chunk of the marketplace there are clearly valuable opportunities open to developers who can tap into this area.

Selective users

At the same time, it has been revealed that the Amazon Kindle Fire eReader mobile device has actually seized over a third of the total Android tablet user market, which isn’t bad for a gadget that has only been on the market for less than three months. That means it’s currently in the same ballpark of ownership

and app usage as the Samsung Galaxy Tab range of mobile devices. Meanwhile, app releases continue to increase for the platform, which has previously played second fiddle to the enormous selection of mobile applications found over at the Apple App Store.

According to latest figures, there are some 7,000,000 Android devices being activated each and every day around the world, which means that pretty soon Google will able to push up their current figure of 52% dominance of the smartphone market, while the iOS accounts for just 15%. However, Microsoft and its Windows-based phones are lurking in the background and their new deal with Nokia to produce handsets featuring the improved operating system might also manage to put a dent in those figures.

Whatever happens, it’s pretty certain that the popularity of Android will continue to grow. With the latest Ice Cream Sandwich OS update set to appear on new devices, as well as being installed as an update on many currently owned gadgets, then things could be about to enter an even greater period of frenetic

activity in the software development camp. That said, with the newly updated Apple iPad 3 due out in the next few months and a brand new iPhone pencilled in for later in the year, the battle for mobile operating supremacy is clearly far from over.

About the author: Rob Clymo writes about all things Android for Broadband Genie. Follow the link for the latest Android tablet deals and reviews

We apologize for the recent downtime we experienced here at Timmyjohnboy.com. We had some database errors but our webhost was nice enough to help us through them and we reverted to a backup they kept for us. Needless to say, we are happy to be back up and running again.

Also, if you are a subscriber you may very well have received an update by mistake having something to do with Victory Bible Baptist Church’s website. It had to do with a test site I set up for a church’s site I am working on. The mistake has been resolved and you’ll not be receiving any more strange updates like that, if I have anything to say about it.

Thanks for hanging around with us! We’re sure they’ll be much more to look forward to here at Timmyjohnboy.com!

One of the parts of the Facebook “highlighted” story listings that I haven’t liked is having to scroll through all of them to find the newest stories posted. Sure, Facebook does a pretty nice job trying to figure out the stories I would like to read most, but I still like to know what’s the newest coming down the pike.

Now they finally give you the option to switch them around. Whereas the highlighted stories were always on top of your stream, now you can choose either to keep it that way or to place the newest stories at the top.

For me, it may just depend on the day so I’ll probably be switching back and forth quite a bit. Thanks, Facebook, for the choice!

It’s been awhile and I apologize. I’m not sure why because this is my site and I can post anytime I want to but you know what I mean. I just wanted to take a second before I went to bed to give you a quick update because it’s been so long.

I have not given up on Timmyjohnboy.com; I have just been really busy. The fact is, I have a few other blogging jobs and they’re taking up quite a bit of my time. I’m not upset by it because I love it and it pays my mortgage but it does mean that Timmyjohnboy.com has hit the proverbial back burner.

I’ll be back, blogging as usual. I’ve got a few ideas to throw on here and I hope this site continues to be a fun outlet of mine. OK, now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

This is a guest post by William Starkey.  He runs a site all about BlackBerry cases and has a great deal of knowledge about mobile devices in general.  Since the recent news coming out about cancer, brain tumors and cell phones possibly a culprit, William was kind enough to share about an app that just may help.

Is your BlackBerry hazardous to your health? The health effects of radiation spewing from mobile devices has been debated since the first cell phone hit the market years ago. Tawkon has released an app for BlackBerry that measures the level of radiation coming from your device so that users, regardless of whether they believe it is harmful or not, can at least be informed. The Tawkon app is also available for other popular mobile devices including Android and Apple (main site).

The Tawkon Radiation App for BlackBerry monitors the radiation levels being released from your device and alerts you when the levels reach a predefined threshold. The app works by collecting your phone’s dynamic SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) using Real-Time Radiation Indication technology.

These highly-technical terms translate to an app that provides real-time radiation level indications while you are using your BlackBerry. The app alerts users visually with indicators of High (red), Moderate (yellow), and Low (green). Tawkon will also make suggestions based on the level of radiation detected in the form of prompts that can be visual, audio, or vibration alerts. It will then provide feedback on whether the action taken was successful in reducing the radiation levels to the user.

Being that the Tawkon Radiation App for BlackBerry is free at BlackBerry App World (there is also a premium version available with no ads), why not give yourself a little peace of mind. It is important to note that the health effects of cell phone radiation have not been proven to cause long-term health effects. Tawkon has dedicated a page of their website, appropriately called “The Debate”, that discusses the ongoing studies about the dangers of cell phone radiation. With this app, you will at least be able to make an informed decision on the possible effects of prolonged cell phone use. Sounds like a good idea to me!

William Starkey – WesWare Online – All About BlackBerry Cases

Of all the many aspects of your Android phone that you can modify, customize and personalize, the ringtone is one of the simplest… if you’ve got the right tool.  The classic (and still probably the best) app for the job is of course Ringdroid.

Ringdroid allows you to do several things that culminate into the creation of your very own ringtones.  It allows you to choose MP3s to make into ringtones by making it possible to clip them and save them as ringtones.  If you’re running Android 2.3, it also allows you to record your own ringtones using your phone’s mic.  As you can tell, with these features the sky’s the limit!

Let’s go and do a walkthrough to geet a better look at how simple it really is to create your own Android ringtone.

As you can see, Ringdroid shows up in your app draw like any other app.

Ringdroid is really cool in that it will find an MP3 file anywhere on your SD card, as far as I can tell.  I think at one time you would have had to place them in the media folder but the more recent versions will find them anywhere.

If you have a phone running Android 2.3, you’ll notice the button labeled Record Now for opting out of using an MP3 and choosing rather to record your own sounds.

Once you find the MP3 file you want as your ringtone, you can then clip it to be as long or as short as you’d like it.  Drag the tabs to enlarge or shrink the selected portion and you can even click and drag the selected portion as a whole back and forth.  You can even zoom in for more delicate clipping and preview the clip you’ve selected.

Tapping the disk icon will allow you to save your clip.

You can save the clip in several formats: music, alarm, notification, and ringtone.

Once you’ve saved the ringtone, you are presented with a popup that asks if you’d like to set the ringtone as something right off the bat.  You can make it the default ringtone or set it to ring for a specific contact.  If you’d rather not do that right away, you can always click close and chose to set it up later in the sound settings.

Now that you’ve got a bran spanking new ringtone, you can go into the settings on your phone and double check that it shows up on the list.  One way of doing so is to go to menu –> settings –> sound –> phone ringtone and just scroll through the alphabetized list until you find your new ringtone.

If creating a new ringtone for your Android phone is a new skill for you, I hope you were amazed at how simple it really is using Ringdroid.  If the fact is that you’re still struggling, however, feel free to ask questions or share opinions in the comments section below.

via: thedailybuggle.com

It was recently released that it is possible that cell phones may increase the risk of brain tumors and cancer.  In other words, they don’t know.  Could you possibly have been using that phone for years and unknowingly have been putting yourself at risk of tumors?  We don’t know.  What we do know is that there are a few percausionary steps we could be taking, just in case.

Use Speaker Phone

The trick is to not keep your phone stuck to your ear day in and day out.  They’re telling us to start using speaker phone (most phones have it).  I’ve already begun to see people walking around town holding their phones out in front of them speaking loudly while their phone is shouting back.  Frankly, I’d father not hear everyone else’s conversations; it’s already annoying hearing their choice in obnoxious music.

Use a Bluetooth Headset

Going along with the same principle, anything you can do to get that phone from your ear would be a help.  Many people opt for the wireless Bluetooth headsets.  You can pick them out from a crowd easily.  They’re the ones you’ve got pegged for talking to voices in their head.

Text Instead

Yes, one of the wonderful pieces of advice is to send a text instead of call, as if we aren’t already enough disconnected from one another in this modern society we live in.  Let’s stop talking to one another altogether.  Less cancer and less interpersonal issues from actually dealing with other people!

What’s Your Answer, Tim?

These solutions will help reduce our exposure to cell phone carcinogens (if they’re there), but each at a cost.  A real solution, I think, is to begin to change the way we interact with each other and get back to spending time with one another IN PERSON.  Put away your Facebooks and your Twitters for a bit, put your cell phones back on their chargers and make real time to spend with real, in the flesh, friends and family.  Maybe spend some quality time soaking up the fresh air enjoying the creation God has given us.

Just my $0.02.

PS: Stay tuned because there is an article coming (by guest author William of WesWare Online) about an interesting App that actually measures the level of radiation coming from your phone!

UPDATE: Check out William’s article “How much radiation is your Blackberry zapping into your head?”  Thanks a bunch, William Starkey!

(blogged using my HTC Evo)

This is a guest post by Paul from BroadbandExpert.com.  He shares with us several ways to tell if a high speed internet provider is a good choice.  You’ll notice that these tips are good while looking for almost any service provider so I am sure this article will be of some help to you!

The internet has brought about ease to many transactions we do. This is because the internet has proved to be a very fast means of sending information across long distances and places. Most of the things that were done with days and sweat in the absence of the internet are now done very easily on the internet, such as mail correspondence, money transfer and so on.

The success of doing something very fast on the internet can be determined by the type of internet provider you use. If you are a high speed internet user and you want to know what makes a good high speed internet provider then you are in the right place.

There is a lot to benefit from using a good high speed internet provider but you need a way to know whether your high speed internet provider is good or not. How can this be done without stress? In this article, we will be giving you four major tests to help you find a good high speed internet provider.

Bundle Plan Offers (unlimited data)

This is a formula of broadband internet whereby you don’t pay per the amount of data you transfer or send and receive. This option makes it easy for you to be able to pay for your internet connection without the fear of running into debt. It also makes it possible for you to be able to predict your budget before the month runs out and allows you the opportunity to save more money. If your high speed internet provider does not offer you the option to make your payments by purchasing bundle plans, then you can do with a better high speed internet provider. Good broadband high speed internet providers should have great and effective bundle plans available to everybody and not make you waste your hard-earned money browsing the internet.

Popularity

A good high speed internet provider should have a level of popularity that commands respect. The value of the service a high speed internet provider offers its client would determine how popular it will be. If a high speed internet provider is not popular, it probably means they don’t offer good services that will increase their popularity among people. When you are going to choose a good high speed internet provider, make sure that high speed internet provider is popular to a substantial level. A high speed internet provider that has no image to save itself can do unbelievable things. But a popular high speed internet provider that has a good reputation to save will surely do everything at its reach to save the good name it has earned itself.

Good Customer Support

The level of customer support a high speed internet provider offers should be very high before it is considered a good high speed internet provider. The way a high speed internet provider handles its customers should be respectable and of good standard. If your internet provider does not treat you well as a customer, then there is something wrong somewhere and you need to act before it gets out of hand. Before you consider going for a high speed internet provider, you need to consider how good their customer support is.

Quality of Service Offered

A good high speed internet provider should be able to fulfill the promise of good quality service to its customer before it is considered a good high speed internet provider. There should be stability in service rendered and the assurance that such good service will continue in the future. If there is no stability in the service your high speed internet provider is rendering you, you are better off with a good high speed internet provider that can promise you stability in service. If you want to know whether a high speed internet provider is a good one, you should try to know the quality of service it renders its customers.

This guest article was written by Paul who helps you learn how to choose the best broadband high speed internet providers

Hiking is one of my favorite Summer pastimes!  If you’ve ever watched me play most any organized sport, you’d think me to be out of shape.  Hiking is different for me.  I’m in shape enough for some real eight hour hiking excursions and that’s in shape enough for me!

Anyway, I love hiking in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York, especially in the High Peaks region around Lake Placid.  While hiking mountains in the region, there are some beautiful summit views.  If I can capture even just a part of those scenes (it’s impossible to really capture them, you have to see it in real life), I am happy.

There are several Android apps in my current arsenal that can really be an asset in capturing the beauty of an Adirondack hike (or any hike for that matter).  Check these out and don’t be caught on a hike without them!

1. EveryTrail

EveryTrail is an awesome app that actually uses your Android’s GPS to track and record your journey.  If you take pictures along the way, and I hope you would, it places them on the map where they were taken.  When you get home you’ve got this really cool map and pics telling the whole story so you can save your memories and share them with anyone.  Check out the article I already wrote about it.

2. Photaf

If you go on a hike with some sort of summit or another type of cool 360 degree view, wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to take a panorama shot?  Photaf is an app that makes it super-duper easy to do it!  With it you can create the panorama (it steps you through taking the photos and then it stitches them for you), share the stitched panorama, and even upload it to their site for further sharing choices.

Personally, I had real issues uploading to their site (like, it never uploaded) but you can also take the JPG file and upload it to another panorama site such as ClevR.com (for ClevR, make sure you resize the JPG to at least 400 pixels).

via: AndroidTipguys

3. Pro HDR Camera

If you’re not sure what HDR is all about, you’re not alone.  I didn’t either until I read up on it.  Basically, HDR stands for high dynamic range and it’s taking several pictures at different brightnesses and putting them together to make one picture with a lot of detail.  Done right, photographs come out beautiful bringing out wonderful colors.

This Android app makes the process quite simple.  Just take the photo through the app, hold the camera very still throughout the capturing process (you’ll probably want to use a tripod for best results), and the app takes several pics and puts them together for you.  Think about the hiking photos you’ll have after using such an app!

via: AndroidTipguys

4. PhotoCloud

This app ought to sound familiar seeing as though I just mentioned it in a recent post.  Basically, as you’re taking all of these awesome hiking photos, you may want to have them automatically backed up to your Picasa or Facebook account.  This way, even if something happens to your precious Android, you’ve still got the photos when you get back to civilization.

via: me @ AndroidTipguys

There you have it!  Now go on out hiking and bring back those memories!  With your Android in hand you have no excuse!  Oh, and don’t forget to bring extra batteries, or a solar charger, just in case!

Have you ever found yourself craving a specific type of food but didn’t know quite where to order it from (check out OpenTable, KidsEatFor, FoodSpotting, and UEatCheap)?  As someone who admittedly enjoys to eat, I have found myself in this situation.  I’d be sitting there on my lazy derrière thinking “Mmmm, I could really use a calzone right now!”  Try and tell me I am the only person who has ever been there.

In the past, Google has done a pretty good job helping here.  You do need to know how to search just right and how to sift through the results but the effort is usually worth it.  However, what if there was a site dedicated to view and search through any restaurant menu in your area?  I could then just type in “calzone” and my city/state or zip code and up would pop all of the calzone listings in restaurants in my area.  I have found just that in OpenMenu.

OpenMenu helps to bring restaurants and customers together.  They offer benefits both for the restaurant and the eater.  Let’s look at both.

How OpenMenu Benefits Restaurants

OpenMenu offers several benefits to restaurants.  It’s a place to put your menu for customers to find and search from.  Restaurants should be happy to partake in a free service such as this.

Your Menu In One Place

Are you tired of attempting to maintain a menu in more than one place?  You probably have at least a limited version of your menu on your website and there are also other food sites you may be maintaining your menu on.  OpenMenu tries to become the one place for your menu.  Check out these tools making it easy to maintain your menu in one place:

• If you want your menu on your website, OpenMenu has released a WordPress plugin allowing you to do tasks like putting specials in your sidebar, adding a menu page with your OpenMenu menu on it, and more.

• If you have a Facebook Page for your restaurant, and you should, you can add a tab containing your OpenMenu menu.

Your Menu Searchable

Imagine the publicity you can have if people in your area can search for menu items they want and your food shows up on their list.  Just having the text of your menu online getting indexed by search engines is helpful enough but now you can have your food show up where the people can more easily find what they are looking for.

How OpenMenu Benefits Eaters

Since I don’t own a restaurant, this is the category I fit in and the area that caught my attention with OpenMenu.  I fell in love with the idea of searching for a food item I am currently craving.  They call it OpenMenu Search and it offers several ways to search.

First, you can search for what you want to eat.  Are you visiting Chicago and wondering where you can find a good steak?  Go to openmenu.com/search and type the food item and the city information.

The search results should give you everything you need to find the item you want including the dish, price, restaurant name, and the address.  Clicking the link will bring up the rest of the restaurant information.  Very cool.

You can also search for restaurants which are listed in your area.  Go to openmenu.com/search/location.php, enter your city information, and click Check Location.

It will give you a map and tell you how many restaurants are listed for the city and offer a link to the current list.

Downfalls?

There’s a lot of good things about OpenMenu but there are a few things that need to improve.

• First off, they should design the main site to be a little more intuitive.  For instance, it took some stumbling around to find links to the various search pages.
• Secondly, although there are listings in my area, they are largely chain restaurants.  I would like to see some mom & pop restaurants jump on board.  Often you can find some of them via a Google search but they ought to get on sites like this also.
• The other thing is that most of the restaurants currently participating are in the United States.  Maybe that’s the target market?

Restaurant owners, head on over and create your menu today.  Hungry eaters, try running a food search and see what you find.  Then come back and tell us your thoughts.

As a child I was never a real good speller.  I never participated in any spelling bees to save myself from the embarrassment.  I’ve improved a bit through the years but there are still always going to be those words whose spelling is going to elude me.  For those of you who are in the same occasionally-can’t-spell-a-hard-word boat, there are Android apps for that.

If you ever catch yourself in a situation where you need to quickly find a correct spelling, your trusty Android can come to your service!  The next time your pals are sitting around arguing about the spelling of some obscure word (happens all the time, I’m sure), try out some of these Android apps that will help you figure out how to spell a word.

Spell Checker (Voice)

The first app I tried out and loved was Spell Checker (voice).

This app is very quick to access because it sets up a shortcut for you right off the bat.  Once installed, all you have to to is long-hold the search button and up pops the option to open it.

From there, for further ease, you can even choose to speak the word.  How awesome is that?  Alternatively, if you find some text on a website, copy the text and then just open the app and the copied text is automatically entered for you.  With support for nine languages, I’m sure this app is bound to help a lot of people.

ASpell

ASpell is a very simple spell checking app and that happens to be its appeal.  It checks words by the GNU ASpell dictionary.  Its basic function is to tell you if the word in question is spelled correctly and to give you a list of alternatives.

Another helpful feature is that, although English is the only language supported, it has a check box to check for the British spelling.

Aside from spell checking apps, try out these games that make spelling fun.

Speak & Spell

Do you remember the children’s spelling game from the 80′s?  I don’t but perhaps some of you do.  The Speak and Spell Android app is basically an emulator of that game.  They say it’s for nostalgic reasons but try it out, you might like it.

If you don’t know anything about the game, it basically tells you words and you need to spell them.  Being an emulated game from 30 years ago, the graphics seem corny and the voice is a very annoying computer voice.  This is because that was how the original game was so don’t go hatin’!

Seek ‘n Spell

Seek ‘n Spell is a newer game that makes use of GPS technology on your Android phone or iPhone.  The idea is somewhat similar to Scrabble but outdoors.  The game scrambles a bunch of letters across the fields, gives you a map showing their locations, and the players race to collect the letters.  When they make words with those letters, they score points.  This almost looked fun enough for me to go out and try all by myself.

Check out this video to get a somewhat better visual.

What apps on your Android do you use to find out how to spell a word?

You don’t have a Google Android phone yet?  Why not?  Going by many opinions out there, Android phones are the cream-of-the-crop. Without trying to start an all out flame war with the iPhone fan boys, I think you should take a look at Google’s prize of a mobile operating system.

Truly the Android is not just any phone.  Yes, you can talk and text on it, but it doesn’t stop there.  Your Android phone works hard to connect your digital life to your real life.

How many awesome articles have we shared with you so far talking about all of the cool stuff you can do with a Google Android phone?  Try some of these on for size:

• The 4 Must Have Android Phone Applications for Students
• 5 Cool Android Apps with GPS Activities For Kids
• Using An All-In-One PDA & GPS For Geocaching [Android]
• Map Your Adventures With a Free GPS Mobile Tracker for Android
• Print From Your Android Phone With PrinterShare
• Post To WordPress From Your Android Phone with WpToGo
• 10 Free Android Apps A Busy Mom Will Love
• 4 Android Phone Applications That Every Programmer Will Love
• 5 Android Finance Apps To Save & Manage Money With Your Android Phone
• And of course Turn Your Android Phone Into A Real Star Trek Tricorder

Sold yet?  If you’re like I was and are in the market to get an Android phone, you need to know some things about the cell phone services offering them with their plans.

What Android Phones Do The Cell Phone Services Offer?

These days most companies offer at least some Android phones.  AT&T offers a few, so does Sprint. You can also get a Verizon android phone. Who should you go with?  Do some research and see which phone you actually want.  For instance, I was originally looking for the Droid 2 and only Verizon offered those at the time (screenshot from the Motorola site).

Then I was looking for the HTC Evo (which I finally decided on) and Sprint offered those at the time (screenshot taken from the HTC website).

My suggestion?  Do some research and narrow down a few of the best services in the area and only look for the phone you’re looking for within their offerings.  Then and only then narrow down the phone you want.  What good is your favorite phone with a bad plan or coverage (we’ll get into those next).

What Kind Of Plans Does The Cell Phone Company Offer?

Price is a big deal for most people.  When you begin looking, you will notice that most companies require some sort of minimum data plan to come with all smart phones.  This, I believe, is because when data-centric phones began hitting the market, people were inadvertently using data without knowing it.  The problem comes when a data plan is not purchased, the as-you-need-it basis is very expensive.  Now, they make you get some sort of data plan to avoid much of the trouble.

Personally, I found a company that offered me the best deal on unlimited data.  This gives me all kinds of room to use and test all the many Android features.  One example is if you are planning on using services that stream music such as Pandora you will be using a lot of data (the app even warned me before getting too far into using it).  Also, think about how much data you’ll be using if you stream or upload a lot of video.

If you are planning on making full use of the Android Market with all of the free apps for downloading, you’re going to want a good amount of data to use.  My advice, do what I did and find a good deal on unlimited data.

Then there’s the minutes and texting.  I also chose unlimited texting because I use it all the time.  If you don’t, don’t waste the money.  You may even be able to find a plan offering free cell-to-cell and considering how many people these days have cell phones this kind of deal could be a decision-maker.  As far as Android phones go, watch the data.  You may talk and text very little but depend heavily on Internet-based apps and services.  Watch… your… data!

Coverage Can Make Or Break A Google Android Phone

You can have the best phone the market has to offer and could have even scored yourself the best cell phone plan on the planet but if you have no coverage where you are, what’s the point?  Look closely at the maps all of the companies  should have on hand.  They ought to be able to show you where you can and can’t get service and whether or not roaming charges will apply.

If you are thinking about adding 4G on your plan, make sure it’s offered in your area.  Don’t waste your precious money on something you can’t use.

My Conclusions From Personal Experience

Before I share my personal opinions, realize they are relative to my own needs and my area.  If something is not true or available in your area, it’s not my fault.

As far as coverage and service goes, Verizon rocks the Central New York world.  Everyone knows that Verizon has the largest strongest reach and the fact is never really argued.  They offer a few of the cooler Android phones like the Droid 2, Droid X and Droid Incredible.  I believe their data plan is one of the most expensive, however.

The other big player, in my opinion, is Sprint.  They offer a good plan that includes unlimited data, talk and text.  The price is very reasonable so they got my attention.  They didn’t have as good coverage as Verizon but they roam off Verizon’s towers for free so all is good.  Offering the HTC Evo sealed the deal.

Do you have an Android phone?  What kind do you have and what kind of service are you sporting with it?  Tell us what you think.

Have you heard of Facebook Places yet? (Facebook’s announcement)  Places is basically the new ability to use Facebook to share with your friends where you are.  It’s kind of like FourSquare but it’s integrated into Facebook.

It’s cool because you can tell your friends where you happen to be in case they want to join you.  You can also see where your friends are.  It’s Facebook’s way of integrating your online life with your “real” life.

It’s true that a lot of the real fun comes with using it on a mobile device, but you can also get some use from it on your PC.

There have been some rumors going around about it though.  People saw it appear and began to think that their locations were automatically being broadcasted to the whole world.  Think about the security implications a move like that would have made!  Let me be the one to tell you that it is certainly not the case.

Another problem I have begun to see several users run into is not understanding the privacy features of Places.  We’ve been trying to figure those things out for a long time and it seems every time we finally do work it out, they change everything again.  Go figure.  Check out some MakeUseOf articles that will help – links are at the end of this article.

Facebook did however, come out and share with us the ins and outs of Places’ privacy settings.  Let me quickly share some tips and links that should put you on the right road.

Decide What You Want To Share & How It Is Shared

There are various aspects of Places you have privacy control over.

Check-Ins

A check-in is when you tell friends in a post where you are.  For instance, if you’re hanging at a coffee shop, you can check in there to tell friends you’re there.  You can control who sees your checkins in the privacy settings area.

You’ll see the check-in setting on the overview.

Notice that you can also customize the setting by clicking on Customize settings.  Scroll down until you see Places I check into.  Realize that you can go beyond limiting your privacy to just sharing your location to friends and limit it to either a contact group or even just an individual.

Tagging

We should be familiar with tagging by now.  We know we can tag people in photos and even tag people via the @ symbol within updates.  You may have also experienced being tagged in a note where someone either mentioned you or wants you to read it.

With Places, people can tag you if they know you are in the same location as they are.  This can be cool.  People can use it to get together and connect with friends and colleagues.  Some people may be a bit squeamish about it though.  If I wanted to check in this place, I would have myself!

OK, so you don’t want to be tagged in a place.  There are several things you can do.  You can remove the tag just the same way you would any other tag, or you can disable the ability for your friends to tag you altogether (a bit draconian, don’t you think?).  Just hit up the same Customize settings and go to the Things others share section.

Here Now

When and if you do decide to check in some place, you’ll notice an area showing who else of your friends are there.

You actually have control over whether or not you show up in this section when someone checks in.  Go to things I share –> Include me in “People Here Now” after I check in and you can chose to enable or disable the option.

There are even more options when it comes to your Places privacy settings.  Check out this video Facebook put together to learn more:

Get More Help & Give Feedback/Suggestions

Since there has been some confusion about Places, what it is, what it does, and the privacy settings, Facebook went ahead and put together a whole help section that should help some.  Go to Help Center –> Places and you’ll find all kinds of helpful information, Facebook style.

If you want to give some constructive suggestions, Facebook has posted a form just for you.

Here’s some MakeUseOf articles that will help out with your Facebook security settings :

10 Solid Tips To Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy – Mahendra
Take Control Of Your Facebook Privacy With Privacy Defender – Evan
6 Simple Tips To Protect Your Privacy On Facebook – Brett
8 Steps To Regain Control Of Your Facebook Privacy – Mahendra
8 MORE Steps To Regain Control Of Your Facebook Privacy – Mahendra

I hope some of these tips will aid you in your future Facebook Places endeavors.  Tell me, have you begun using Places?  Did you find the original proposition a little creepy like a lot of other people did?

If you have ever searched for a WordPress theme before, you will have probably noticed that some theme designers use some weird text when showing off their themes which looks like Latin.  I have always wondered what it was, why designers choose to use it and where it came from.

After a bit of research I have some answers.

What Is Lorem Ipsum?

Lorem Ipsum is a group of text that people commonly use as filler text, or dummy text.  It’s basically a bunch of mumbo-jumbo (at least that’s what it looks like) that people use to show what a design layout will look like when the proper text has been inserted.

Why Do Designers Use Lorem Ipsum?

What I kept asking myself is why they would use this jumbled up mess of a foreign language and not some English text?  It all comes down to focus. It’s a known fact that if they were to use actual copy, someone trying to look at only the design would be distracted by what the text says.  That is one of the major reasons people choose to use Lorem Ipsum. With text that is unrecognizable, there’s nothing to read.

Where Did Lorem Ipsum Come From?

As it turns out, Lorem Ipsum did come from Latin.  It’s actually a modified version of it.  What does it actually say?  According to Lipsum.com,

Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum” (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC.

Lorem Ipsum has been used since the 1500′s.  It was made popular in the 1960′s and has survived into the digital age with desktop publishing programs like Aldus PageMaker.  As we also know, it is still being widely used among web designers such as WordPress theme designers to show different design elements.

Can I Use Lorem Ipsum For My Projects?

Sure, why not?  It is still widely used so join the proverbial club. In fact there are many tools out there that make using it so easy.  Here are a few of them.

Lipsum.com

I have already quoted from this site because it contains quite a bit of information on the subject.  It also contains a tool to generate a portion of the text.

MakeUseOf’s Directory contains a writeup about it.  Since that time they have released both a Firefox plugin and a Chrome plugin.

Lorem2: “Lorem Ipsum” Text Samples

This isn’t really a software program or tool per se.  It’s really a website containing different sample Lorem Ipsum texts.  It contains short paragraphs, long paragraphs, short list items and long list items.  Web designers should add this site to their tool belt.

HTML-Ipsum

This tool takes Lorem Ipsum usage to a whole different level for web developers.

They offer much of what the last tools offers but with the HTML tags included, making development that much easier.

Tell us, do you use Lorem Ipsum?  If so, in what way?  What tools do you use that we should know about?

If you blog using WordPress as your blogging software, you will know that it offers a lot of flexibility in design. You can run a blog, run a normal website, and even a create a  social networking site. You can also run a newspaper or magazine site using WordPress.

There are specific elements that make a site more magazine-isque (if that’s a word). Some of which have to do with the layout of the front page. Another characteristic of a magazine that you can now implement on your WordPress magazine site is that of multiple columns of text in pages and posts.

If you have ever read a magazine, you will know what I mean. A normal WordPress site will typically have only one column of content text much like any blog. If you read a magazine, you’ll notice how there can be multiple columns like in the screenshot below:

Now with the proper plugin you can do this with WordPress in posts and pages. The plugin is called “Magazine Columns” and it can be found in the WordPress plugin directory (author’s blog post). We know though, that for plugins found on WordPress, we can just install them via our WordPress dashboard. If you search for “magazine columns” it should come up as first on the list. Make sure the author is “c.bavota” for this particular plugin.

After installing the plugin, all you have to do to create multiple columns in pages and posts is to insert “<!–column–>” where you want to begin the next column (up to 5 columns):

You’ll also notice that there are added buttons in the HTML tab for easier implementation.  Using the “start columns” and “stop columns” buttons, you can easily have text before and after columns. The result could look like this:

Here’s a full screenshot of how my BloggerDoggie theme looks with multiple columns:

You may be asking, “And that’s all there is to it?” Yes. Really.

Another cool part of this whole topic is that there is actually more than one plugin that does this for you. Similar plugins to try are:

• WP Post Columns – If you visit the author’s plugin homepage, you’ll see that there are quite a few options via short codes.  This could be a positive or a negative depending on how easy you want the process to be.
• WP Columnize – This plugin also has buttons in the HTML tab.  With them you can highlight the text and just hit the appropriate button.  Check out the author’s plugin homepage.

Whichever plugin you use, you’ll find you have quite a bit more flexibility. Using WordPress for other anything other than blogging becomes a bit easier. I know you can mess around with tables in HTML but why would you if a plugin can do it for you?

Do you use columns in WordPress to make it less like a blog? What method do you use?

Have you ever felt like running your very own social networking site?  I know I have.  Have I actually got up and done it?  Not yet.  But with WordPress 3.0 it is now easy to set one up.

A while back Damien wrote an article about how to install and run your very own social network using WordPress.  At the time you had to download and install WordPress MU (or WordPress Multi User) in order to install BuddyPress and therefore to have your own social network.

Since the advent of WordPress 3.0, regular WordPress and WordPress MU has now been merged together.  In other words, if you have upgraded your blog to WordPress 3.0, you have the features of MU built right in.  You just have to activate them.

This is good news for someone who wants to use BuddyPress because they don’t have to download and install WordPress MU.  Check out how easy it is now to install BuddyPress now that we have WordPress 3.0.

1. Activate Networking Abilities Of WordPress 3.0.

It’s kind of a mystery to me why the multi-site abilities of WordPress 3.0 are hidden behind a few hacks but they are.  WordPress 3.0 does not act like MU right out of the box.  Check out this article about how to turn your WordPress blog into a blog network using WordPress 3.0.  Do what’s outlined there and you’ll be ready to move on to the next step.

2. Install The BuddyPress Plugin

Installing the BuddyPress plugin (it’s actually a group of plugins packed together) is as easy as installing any WordPress plugin.  Just head to the plugins section of the Admin screen and search for Buddypress.

Just make sure it is the correct plugin and you’re good to go.

3. Activate A BuddyPress Compatible WordPress Theme

After installing the proper plugin, you’ll probably get a message saying: “You’ll need to activate a BuddyPress compatible theme to take advantage of all of the features. We’ve bundled a default theme, but you can always install some other compatible themes or upgrade your existing WordPress theme.”

If you don’t have one downloaded already, click the “install some other compatible themes” link.  For the time being I chose to use the default theme.

That’s all there really is to setting up BuddyPress on WordPress 3.0.  It’s as easy as enabling networking, installing a plugin and installing a compatible theme.  From here it’s up to you to find a niche and users to use this tool.  Take some time and become familiar with some of the features before you get too many users asking for help.  Check out these features:

1. Activity Streams – See What Everyone Is Up To

You can view the activity streams of individuals, groups or even the whole site.

2. Extended Profiles – “About Me” Pages For Users

You have control over what fields users can fill in to describe themselves.  They can upload an avatar too.

3. Private Messaging

Private messaging is like an internal email system.  Send messages to other users that only they can see (image from the BuddyPress homepage).

There’s also other features common to social networking like friend connecting, blogging, and discussion forums.  Check these out at the BuddyPress homepage.  Also try out the test site by going to testbp.org and signing up for an account.

Is BuddyPress the only way to create your own social networking site?  No.  There are what Damien called “3rd party social network providers.”  Check out Groupsite to create a free network without having to handle all of the installation and setting up.  As we know, there are pluses and minuses to both but your needs may dictate which direction you choose to go in.

Do you run a social networking site?  What do you use to do it?  We want to know.

Having the ability to share large files is very important to a lot of people.

For instance, the other day I wanted to send a 25MB video file to a friend. Most email programs only allow for up to 10MB at a time so email was not an option. Who wants to put it on a USB drive and drive over to their friend’s house?

I wanted to be able to just send it to them. No hassles. No installing funky programs. No waiting to upload to some server in cyberspace and have them wait for it to download again. So what to do?

Let’s narrow down what the file-sending needs (or wants) are:

1. Free – as in no charges whatsoever
2. Browser-based – no installation of some program and, therefore, cross platform
3. Peer to peer – no waiting for uploading and downloading; just the send time
4. The ability to send large files – no file-size limit

When I began to search the Internet for file sharing sites, I wasn’t sure what the easiest solution would be.  What I found out was that there are quite a few file-sending options, but I had criteria. We all have standards, don’t we? Check out these five choices which meet the criteria shared above.

FilesOverMiles

FilesOverMiles does what it sounds like it does: it helps you send files over miles.

Their subtitle “Browser-to-browser Filesharing” tells us that it fits our criteria. When someone sets up a file to send, a URL is created. Just share the URL and stay online for the actual sending.

JetBytes

I like the name “JetBytes” because it speaks to the speed in which peer-to-peer transferring actually affords.

This file sharing site makes it easy referring to “on-the-fly” transfers and all that. Be careful, just as in any of these peer-to-peer tools, don’t try to open the created link yourself. Doing that will only be letting you download the file back to yourself and blocking your friend from downloading it. No too smart.

PipeBytes

From the site: “Instantly send music, movies, presentations or any other files to anybody!” Thanks, for telling us what any of these peer-to-peer tools do for us. OK, I’m just kidding around.

You’ll notice that PipeBytes actually gives some sharing options. You can either send the recipient the URL or a pick-up code which they’ll enter at the home page. Easy-peasy either way.

xFiles

Oh, you have to love the name for this one. Some weird television show is creeping around in my mind now.

All sci-fi weirdness put aside, this file sharing site puts peer-to-peer into easy to understand words: “Exchange big files directly without uploading to a server.” If you are transferring peer-to-peer, the uploading and downloading all happens at once making everything quick and easy.

Dushare

Dushare is a tool not recently mentioned here on MakeUseOf. You can share a file peer-to-peer, password protect it, and even chat while the transfer takes place because who wants to pick up a phone?

Seriously though, out of all of the rest of the file sharing sites mentioned here, I think Dushare has the prettiest looking website design.  Oh, and in case you are wondering what sequence things will happen in, you have some nifty icons showing you.  You can’t beat that.

You’ll notice that there wasn’t much to say about each of these tools. That’s because they all pretty much do the same thing: send any sized files, directly to another person quickly, easily and for no charge. And that’s about all they do. Test them out and see which performs the best and which is the easiest to use. Then come and tell us in the comments which is best.

How do you send large files over the Internet and why do you use that method?

Have you ever heard of Steganography? Wikipedia defines it as “the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message…” This method of hiding secret messages in pictures has been around for many years but these days with computers and all that, the methods have become more attainable for the every day person.

One method of putting this art to use is to hide a message within an image. You can send messages to anyone you’d like to without anyone else being the wiser. This could also be used to put together games and puzzles for website visitors or blog readers by hiding messages in specific images allowing people to hunt for the messages. This isn’t the first time the art of steganography has debuted on MakeUseOf – Tina showcased a desktop client for Windows and Jackson wrote about iSteg for Mac; both of these apps can be used for the exact same purpose.

Whatever your reason for hiding secret messages in pictures, you can now do so regardless of your operating system — thanks to a web-based tool offered to us by mozaiq.

While being a site dedicating to helping people turn images into mosaics, if you head to a subdirectory on the site you will see they offer the ability to encrypt messages in images also.

The process is simple: upload an image, type a message, enter a password, click a button and download the image with the message encrypted in it. Sounds easy enough but let’s take a closer look.

Go to mozaiq.org/encrypt. When you do, you are immediately given the fields to begin the process. Off to the left there is an introduction to the art/science of steganography and mozaiq’s encrypting tool. To the left is where all of the action takes.

Choose a picture to upload.  Make sure it us under 128KB or it won’t work. Once you have chosen the image, enter the message you would like to share.

Before you go and hit the “Hide Your Message!” button, you can enter a password to further protect the privacy of the message.  This is optional and totally up to you.

Once you hit the magic button, you are able to download the image file. Notice that the image will only be available for download for 5 minutes making it imperative that you download it immediately.

Also realize that you can’t change the file in any way other than renaming it. This includes cropping, resizing or even converting it to another file extension.  Once you download it, you are able to send it or post it anywhere you please.  When you do, make sure the recipient knows to go to mozaiq.org/decrypt in order to see the message.

Try out this image for size:

Right-click and save the image of the cell phone and go to the decryption page. I gave it the password “hello” so you can see how it works. See if you can find out the encrypted message. I think you will find it to be both incredibly enlightening and not that surprising (seeing as though it’s also in one of the screenshots above).

So now that we have a way to hide secret messages in pictures, in a way that will not provoke attention, what ways can you think of to put it to use?