Google Project Fi

Every Cell phone plan has advantages and Disadvantages. Having used T-Mobile for the last 15 years I have come to realize that the perks a cell phone company offers can either make or break that company.

Recently I became aware of Google Project Fi (Fi as in Wi-Fi). This is a cell phone plan created by Google. Although this plan doesn't include many of the perks of other plans such as T-Mobiles ability to stream music and videos without using data it has a couple of major advantages that make it worth checking out.

First, Project Fi uses both the Sprint and T-Mobile cellular network. Although neither of these networks is as large as say Verizon or AT&T together they provide very competitive coverage. T-Mobile has decent coverage where I live but I have noticed when I travel to places such as Idaho or rural parts of Utah that the coverage is not as great. Sprint on the other hand has some decent and surprising coverage in certain rural areas. Project Fi gives the best of both worlds. You can use both networks and it strives to place you on the data network that has the fastest speeds in the location you are at.

Second, You don't have to pay for the data you don't use. I am not really a heavy data user. On T-Mobile I had a 1 GB per month plan. I used maybe 300 MB on any given month. Although Some data plans allow you to carry over your data to the next month and build up a reservoir of unused data I personally like Project Fi's Idea better. If you don't use the data you don't have to pay for it. 1 GB of data - $10 or $1.00 per 100 MB. With Project Fi you only pay for what you use. This means that you don't have to pay $40 per month for 2GB of data that you will never use. Instead you get reimbursed for the data you don't use so you may only pay $23 + Tax if you only use 300 MB's. To me this is a great service. It also works out well for people who use a lot of data. If you go over your assigned allotment they will simply add the excess amount to your next months bill. You don't pay overages either so its a winning situation.

Third, If you use the Google hangouts app then you can receive text messages on all your devices. This includes computers and tablets. As long as your Google account is connected to that device. This can be extremely convenient. I don't really like carrying my phone around with me so if I am nearby a computer or using my tablet it is nice to have text messages show up on that device.

Despite these two advantages Google Fi has one major flaw. The network currently only supports three phones, the Nexus 5x, 6P and 6. Having used a Nexus phone for the last two years I am fine with this. However, if you are a fan of the Samsung Galaxy line or iPhone you are out of luck. Nexus phones are cheap but they may not have all the features that you are used to with your galaxy or iPhone.

Overall if you don't mind using a Nexus phone I would definitely give Project Fi a try. The base price is $20 per month which is also a great deal. Over the past month of using this service I haven't had any problems.

Photoshop CC (2014)

To those not familiar with the many hats that librarians wear, it may come as a surprise that I use Photoshop all the time for work. To be perfectly honest I had a small amount of knowledge concerning the program when I started my current job two years ago. However, having been in charge of creating displays, short videos, and creating posters for events I have found the program indispensable.

Who doesn't want to create a blue tree?

The current Photoshop CC (2014) brings many new features to the table not included in previous

releases, including the ability to render flames and trees. While I don’t use these two tools regularly, I do find that Photoshop is perhaps one of the easiest and most useful photo editors to use and learn.

I realize that I say this having years of experience using the product but it is true. Having a basic knowledge of Photoshop will allow someone to edit a picture, a more advance knowledge will allow someone to further manipulate images and create original pieces of art that don’t even start with images.

In addition, much of the layout for Photoshop is similar to other adobe tools such as InDesign and Illustrator, although I do not claim to be an expert at using these tools; however, I do find their interface familiar with my limited experience.

Photoshop can be used to manipulate an image; I find that I like to use it in creating original works of art. Just recently, I used it to create this video covering the profession of being a librarian. I am new to making characters, but with my knowledge of Photoshop, it makes it a bit easier. For someone who is not good at drawing, this is actually simple and fun.

For those who are not familiar with Photoshop, I would highly recommend learning how to use this, Adobe offers some basic instruction online. Also you should be able to find a class in your community on the product.

The one negative side to Photoshop CC is the cost. For most individuals creative cloud will cost anywhere from $119 - $359 per year depending on the package you buy. Some employees and university students can probably get the program at a discount through their school or employer. Also, Adobe does give discounts on its products for students (see: https://creative.adobe.com/plans).

Besides the price, Photoshop is a tool that I would recommend that everyone at least try using. Besides my personal use, I have also found it helpful to know Photoshop for job security reasons. Since I am familiar with this technology, I am able to help others learn this software and use it to complete projects.

Remember the Pager?

The LG G Watch.

Smartwatches are not a new thing. In fact, the first one I remember hearing about was the Timex Fossil Wrist PDA. You also had the Microsoft SPOT watch, which received information over FM frequencies.

While the idea isn’t new the concept has been getting a lot of press attention lately. With Google’s Android Wear just released a couple of months ago I decided to try an LG G Watch.

The G Watch definitely has some power to it. It comes with a 1.2 GHZ processor as well as 4GB of Storage. For those who don’t speak tech that means it has the same stats as a cheap Android Phone. It doesn’t have Wi-Fi or cellular service on its own. Instead it connects to your phone via Bluetooth (Requires Android 4.4 or newer) and gets its data from there.

This brings up my one major complaint about this device. With the amount of power that it has, all it does is give you notifications from your phone. Sure, it is nice to read your text messages and emails as well as see map directions on your watch but why have such a powerful device do this? This device could be doing so much more. It has the power but it falls short. Also for $229 this is an expensive notification device. If the price came down to about $100 I would say that it is worth it.

Let’s go over some of the aspects of the watch in more detail.

The Display is quite nice on the device. You would be surprised how easy it is to read most emails on a 1 by 1.5 inch display. The display is easy to see. The one exception to this might be if you are in direct sunlight. However, since I work inside most of the day I haven’t seen this as a problem.

The color screen works well indoors

The device has no knobs or any physical buttons for that matter. Everything is done with a touch screen. It also uses a wireless charger for power. One of the major complaints I have heard about the watch is the battery life. While it is true that most watches have batteries that last for at least five years before being replaced; I have not had any problems with the watch dying on me. In most cases, the watch will still have about 60percent left when I take it off at night. That is after being used all day. Even when the navigation had been used and I had it on for about 18 hours, it still had plenty of life left.

Along with using the touch screen, you can also interact with the device by talking to it. This works the same as Google Now where you say “OK Google” and then give your command. This works OK for text messaging. For the most part this is only useful in controlling your phone. You can tell the watch to open a certain app or website on your phone and it will do it. I don’t really see the point in this though since I could just as easily type in the Web address or open the app on my phone.

Ultimately, all the watch is just an extension of Google Now and your phone notifications. I guess it gives us an excuse to be a bit lazier, now we don’t even have to reach for our phones. The nice thing is that it does vibrate on your wrist instead of in your pocket or desk. This makes it easier to know when you have a notification.

You can also control your phone camera with the watch. Although I haven’t done this yet I could easily see how this would be helpful in taking group pictures or selfies from a distance. Other than giving notifications, the watch doesn’t do much. I am hoping that they change this in the future, as there is a lot of potential here.

Another downside for some might be the width of the watch the watch is probably about twice the width of a regular watch. This might be OK if it had a rounded screen but it doesn’t. This makes some awkward space on the sides of the watch where you can see light going through. After using the watch for a week this doesn’t bother me but I am hoping that later itineration of the device will be thinner.

The Watch is probably about 1.5 CM in width

At its current cost of $229 the LG G Watch is not really worth the cost. Yes, I have enjoyed having this device and I can see potential for growth, but I don’t think the technology is quite there yet. If the device ever comes down to about $100 then it might be worth it, but for most people I would tell them to wait at least a year or two for the devices to get more functionality and fashion. On the other side, this device could be exactly like the pager? Remember, those notifications devices from the 1990s? They were replaced by cell phones because the phone had more usability.

Day One - journal app

Main menu

Day One is an iPhone and Mac journaling app that seeks to simplify the arduous (ok, just remembering to do it is half the battle) task of keeping a journal. First off, why keep a journal? The creators of this app released two excellent posts, one about why to journal, the other about how to get started/in the habit of it.  To summarize, keeping a journal effects many-to-all aspect of your life (a "keystone" habit) because it can change your thinking.  It helps you organize your thoughts, understand yourself better, keeps a record for the future, and for you to look back on. I find when I keep a journal my mind is much clearer and I can remember things better.

I have and am reviewing the iPhone version of Day One, but I assume the Mac version is very similar (unfortunately, there is no Android version I am aware of yet, but similar apps exist for Android). The interface is simple and does everything I would want it to do plus a little more. The goal of the design team was to make keeping a journal as simple as tweeting or text messaging, I think they have done a good job, especially considering the app costs about the same as a nice hardbound journal ($4.99).

Journal entry view

A basic entry (for me) is a photo (only one per entry) and some text. The app can (if you want) adjust the date, time, and location to that of the photo (if geotagging was on), which I have been using to back-fill from before I had the app using my photos. The text has basic formatting (bold, lists, etc) which I don't bother with. Current weather (or past weather if you change the date and location) will automatically be added (if you turn that on), which I think is a super cool bonus feature. You can tag posts to make it easy to filter/search. These are all the basic features I would want in a journal, you can read about some more on the creator's website.  You can view your entries by date on a calendar, as a long timeline (chronological list), as tiled photos, by year, or by tag. Several styles (kind of like skins) are available if you like customizing things like that.

Now, the all important export and saving features. What good is a journal on my phone if I can't put it somewhere in a permanent format (AKA printed)? What if I want to send it to a someone else, or what if my phone crashes? All of the data can be backed up to the icloud or dropBox. The app can export your entry(ies) as a .pdf or send it straight to the e-mail app with the photo as an attachment.  A very useful feature is exporting only entries with specific tags. For example, lets say I just had a baby and some of my entries are about her. I can tag those (very easily), and export only those as a pdf, then send it to family members. A new ("publish") feature lets users publish a mini-webpage with the journal entry, and allow it to be shared to whomever they wish.

Cons: The app only lets you attach one photo per entry. This isn't too big of a deal because I can just make another entry right after it. When scrolling through entries, the top and bottom quarters of photos are cut off (to make more room for the text?). The photo can be viewed full screen with a simple click, but I would still rather see it all there. The top often has faces in it, so the photo I see when scrolling is a bunch of headless folks. When iOS gets updated, entries may disappear. The help guide lists a few ways to get them back, which worked for me.

Three primary ways to view entries. Timeline, photo, and calendar.

Conclusions: Having a sleek and elegant journal app (like Day One) makes me much more likely to actually make journal entries because I almost always have my phone, and I can take 5 minutes (or less) anytime (like sitting at the doctor's office, the bus, car ride, what-have-you) to make a little photo-entry and have it forever. This will be $4.99 well spent*.

*I actually got this for free from the iTunes store anniversary, this is the best app of the bunch in my opinion (its the only one I actually use).

Little Inferno

Welcome to the first attempt of creating a video review! This does have some issues, however, it works well enough to review the game Little Inferno.

Little inferno is a very strange fireplace simulation game that is more about being a pyro than anything else.  It has a very dark sense of humor.  At the same time, it also is a good game to relieve stress.  Especially for those of us who liked to burn stuff up in the fireplace as a kid.

The game will set you back $10. If you enjoy weird games and burning stuff up I highly recommend it. The below video is perhaps the best description I can give it.

Has it aged well? Monster Bash

Who doesn't like an intro with a green Zombie?

Compared to my last review Monster Bash is a plat-former that has stood the test of time quite well.  Unlike Jazz Jackrabbit this game is more about solving puzzles than speed.  While the first three levels are quite easy, level 4 takes the difficulty level up a couple of notches.

For this review, I only looked at the shareware version of this game.  This version includes part 1 of 3. 

For those who have not played this game before, the main point of this game is to free all the captured dogs and cats throughout the level.  In some cases the animals are hidden, while in other cases they are in plain sight.

Overall this game is still fun to play and includes many challenges to keep both adults and children entertained.  I recommend you download the game today from 3D  Realms and play it for Halloween 9/10 Skeleton Hamsters.

In order to play this game you will need an MS-DOS emulator such as DOS box.

Has it aged well? Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare

What is that red flying thing? An angel? or an Angel daemon.

As a kit who grew up only playing PC games, Jazz Jackrabbit was perhaps one of the best DOS games there was besides Hocus Pocus and Raptors: Call of the Shadows.  I remember playing the shareware versions of all of these games over and over again.  As a kid these were really fun games.

I have replayed a few of these games as I have gotten older, some games such as Hocus Pocus are alright, however Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare really has not aged all that well.  Looking at the screenshot above you can see that the graphics are alright.  However, the controls are what really makes this game loose its playability.  You move way to fast and you are bound to run into multiple bad guys before the end of the level. 

I really have nothing against a green rabbit with a gun, or the artistic style.  Considering the time this game looks quite good.  But if you try and play this game even on easy, you will die.  Not because the game is hard but because the screen does not give you enough space to see ahead. 

Overall as this game looks alright but hasn't aged well I give it 6/10 tomatillos.