May 24, 2013

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About the Author

A banker-turned-technologist, Sam is programming and technology consultant and self-described electronic gadget freak. He’s been a personal computer user for nearly 25 years (think about that for a minute), and is someone who firmly believes that technology, when used the right way, makes life better for those who use it.

Google Maps for iOS

December 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Just on the off chance you didn’t know – a new Google Maps app is now available in the App Store.

And yes, it’s free.

The timing couldn’t be better, in light of the recent report that Apple Maps almost killed a few people in Australia.

While Apple’s maps are pretty, the app’s accuracy has been a big question mark since its release. Google has been doing maps for a long time, and they’re really good at it. So if you’ve been holding off on upgrading your iPhone to iOS6, now you can feel comfortable doing it without the fear of losing a good mapping solution.

Go get the Google Maps app, because you can’t beat the price.

 
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Is Texting Killing Our Communication Skills?

December 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The text message turned 20 years old this week (hard to believe, I know). It has evolved from being something very few had and used on their mobile devices to now being a staple in millions of daily lives. Unfortunately, it’s evolved and grown at a cost – it’s caused the use of language to devolve terribly, as this article link I posted to our Facebook page would suggest.

While texting someone is quite often convenient and effective, it really is degrading many people’s communications skills. Trying to fit a complete thought into 160 characters (140 for Twitter) is challenging. That’s a big reason I like iMessage (and BlackBerry Messenger before it) so much, as there are no per-message limits. It allows me to complete a thought correctly.

For others, though, text messaging is their primary mode of communication and shortcut phrases are a way of life. The problem is, it’s hard to read. In some cases, I’ve asked people to call me, rather than look for my “decoder ring” to decipher their messages.

I try to use proper grammar/punctuation in my text messages, at least when auto correct doesn’t try to “help” me. If I can’t make it work, it’s time for e-mail or a phone call. Following that plan ensures that I’m presenting myself and my thoughts in the best way possible.

So, do you pay attention to grammar/spelling, or are you a “decoder-ring” type of texter? Let us know here – looking forward to the conversation.

Image Credit Link

 
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GMail Tip – Reply With (some) History

November 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

GMailWant to reply to someone, but include only a portion of the text from the sender’s message?

It’s a built-in feature of GMail – check out this article from Gizmodo that outlines the ridiculously easy steps to use it.

The Best Secret Gmail Feature Is Hiding In Plain Sight

 
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Laptop Buyer’s Guide 2012

November 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Laptop Buyers Guide

Considering a laptop purchase this year for the holidays? Here’s a resource that may help.

All Things Digital has published their Laptop Buyers Guide for this year, offering some basic information on all the flavors that are now available. Technology advancements are both a blessing and a curse – all the new stuff is great, but the sheer volume of new things on the market this year (more than I can ever remember) is making purchasing decisions really difficult for a lot of people. Here’s hoping some of this info will be helpful.

I’ll also throw in a Black Friday shopping tip: if you’re considering purchasing something “fruity”, Black Friday is the one and only day of the year that Apple offers price breaks on their wares. Not everything is discounted, but a number of things will be available at 10-15% discount (if past history holds true). Check it out online at the Apple Store, beginning at midnight PST (3AM Eastern Time).

If you’re struggling with the Laptop-versus-Tablet dilemma, or perhaps you’ve decided a tablet is the right choice but need t know which one to buy, I’d recommend taking a look at these past posts:

If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask them here in the comments – chances are, you’re not the only one with the question. We want to help.

Happy Turkey Day, and Happy Shopping!

Editor’s Note: We’re working on what we are calling our annual Christmas List – so if you’re looking for the perfect geek/nerd gift  (by the way, there is a difference between the two), maybe our wish lists will spark some ideas. Coming soon!

 
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Tablets abound: iPad, iPad mini and the Nexus 7

November 5, 2012 by 2 Comments

There have been an abundance of technology announcements recently from the biggest players in the market – Apple, Google, Amazon and now Microsoft. Everyone’s got a tablet offering now, and honestly, they’re all very attractive offerings. Unfortunately, with so many options, it’s getting much harder for people to decide what they should buy.

Not to worry, we here at Beyond The Defaults are here to give you our thoughts on these things (and to answer your questions as well).  I’m going to start with what I think are the three best tablet options going right now: the iPad, the iPad mini and Google’s Nexus 7. The short version is that they’re all great solutions, but I think for different reasons. I’m not going to regurgitate the specs (you can view them on your own in the links provided), but rather tell you what I think of each device and why it’s an attractive option.

Let’s start with the latest iPad, the new 4th generation variety. It’s by far the nicest of the three devices, but also by far the most expensive (it starts at $499).

So what makes it so great?

  • A new processor makes it blindingly fast. The people who would most notice this would be the “gamers”, or those trying to do a lot of heavy lifting with images.
  • Screen resolution and clarity is exceptional. To me, it’s easily the nicest screen available on any mobile device.
  • Very good cameras, both front and back.
  • The full compliment of apps from the Apple App Store are available.

If you’re looking for exceptional screen image quality, an exceptional camera and something that starts to get really close to what a laptop computer will do, this is the device you want.

 

The iPad mini (starts at $329) is just what it sounds like – a smaller version of the its larger iPad predecessors. You still get:

  • The full compliment of apps from the App Store,
  • Two cameras (but not quite as nice as the ones in the larger iPad), and
  • All the features of the 9.7″ iPad in a 7.9″ screen.

There are differences though, the biggest being (at least to me) the fact that the screen is not the high-resolution retina display in the full sized iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Having used retina devices for some time, the absence of it in the iPad mini is noticeable. Not crippling, but noticeable. The smaller size tends to pack the keyboard into a much smaller space (particularly when it’s in portrait orientation); using it in landscape mode is much more comfortable.

I really like the mini – a lot. I like the size and weight. For reading, it’s far more comfortable to hold than its larger cousin (and the Kindle Reader app works well on it). It’s also a lot more portable. The battery life is exceptional. I used it with Skype and FaceTime, both worked well. I already owned an iPad, so the ability to install previous purchases from the App Store made my “out of the box to being 100% useful” time about 20-25 minutes. So in less than thirty minutes, I’m using Evernote to make my notes for this posting. It’s this investment in the Apple ecosystem that makes choosing an Apple device a very easy decision for me.

Which brings us to the non-iShiny-thing in the mix – Google’s Nexus 7 tablet. Actually, it’s an Asus device with a Google name (if that matters to you).

The Nexus 7 runs on Android (versus iOS for Apple), so for Android phone users, the experience will be very similar to that of the phone. The latest version of Android (named Jellybean – I just report them, I don’t name them) is by far the best version that Google has released. It’s both stable and responsive (particularly to touch gestures), something that’s been a problem in the past in Android-based devices.

The Nexus 7 is slightly smaller and slightly heavier than the iPad mini, but the display is definitely sharper than the mini. Because of the size and screen clarity, using this device (say, using the Kindle Reader app) for e-books and other electronic publications is easily done. Similar to the mini, it’s something that can be held in one hand – but that also means the keyboard is a little cramped as well. I see that as the price for portability.

The most interesting part of the Nexus 7 to me is the price – they start at $199. Now before you start reaching for your wallets because this is such a great deal, there are some trade-offs when you compare this device to an iPad:

  • There’s only one camera (the one facing the user), and that camera is not of high quality. So if the plan is to use this device for video conferences in a professional setting, this may not be the ideal device.
  • The app store, known as the Android Marketplace, is not a moderated store – meaning anyone can post an app to the marketplace, without anyone from Google verifying or vetting apps for “bad things”. As a result, the Android Marketplace is not quite as secure as the Apple App Store. Only a very, very small percentage of apps are malicious, but it only takes one or two to ruin it for everyone.
  • The vast majority of Android apps are not “tablet friendly”. There are literally hundreds of flavors of Android running on hundreds of devices, so it’s harder to optimize applications to best use the available screen real estate on the Nexus (and other tablets). The end result is an app that’s simply “stretched” to fit the screen, something that’s not ideal and in many cases makes applications a little clunky to use.

My take: I like the Nexus 7, it’s a great little device. In fact, it’s the only Android device I’ve used that I like. For the price, it’s an exceptional value – particularly if the goal is to have a tablet that better fits “little hands”.

Now go out there and tabletize yourself.

Image Credits: Apple.com, Google.com

 
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Business Insider: Apple Again Tracking Users’ Locations

October 15, 2012 by 1 Comment

I ran across this article in Business Insider today (thanks to Twitter) – Image: Business Insiderit would appear the good folks at Apple are still looking for ways to leverage your location data.

Apparently, they’ve got one – and it’s buried deep inside iOS 6.

And yes, it’s on by default. You can opt out of it, but it’s not the most intuitive maneuver, as the report shows. As a result, most people will have it enabled because of its obscure location in the Settings.

Oh, I was one of that “most people” group, until about five minutes ago. It’s work your five minutes to take a look at the report, iPhone in hand.

 

 
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WSJ: Web Profiles Haunt Students

October 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In a piece published today in the Wall Street Journal, Web Profiles Haunt Students, it’s pretty clear that too many kids today forget that those social networks – Facebook, Twitter and Google+ – are not nearly as private as they think.

Here’s an excerpt:

About a quarter of admissions officers at the nation’s top 500 colleges have used websites such as Facebook and Google to vet applicants, according to an annual Kaplan Test Prep survey. Of those, more than one-third say they have found something that has hurt a student’s chance of admission, up from 12% last year.

It goes on to say:

Vetting by using social-media sites including Facebook and Twitter still hovers in a gray zone at most college admissions offices. Just 15% of the schools in the survey had an official policy about whether to do so, and more than two-thirds of those schools said they won’t use the technique.

Among schools without a policy, more than a quarter say they have checked out a student’s online persona, up slightly from last year, said Jeff Olson, vice president of data science at Kaplan Test Prep, who conducted the survey this summer. Kaplan has included questions about social media in its annual survey for four years.

“The trend line is there,” Mr. Olson said. “My advice to students is to be smart and think twice about what you post online.”

We’ve said this before (more precisely, Abby said this last February in Talking Tech With Your Kids ), but it’s obviously worth repeating:

Make sure your kids understand how social network activity, if not handled properly, WILL come back to bite in very uncomfortable ways.

Yes, the Grandmother Rule is a good rule: do not post anything online (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that you would not want your grandmother to see.

So as Crosby, Stills and Nash once sang, teach your children well.

(Note: WSJ is a paid service, so access to the full article may require membership. Sorry, we can’t repost it in its entirety here.)

 
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People Searches in your Facebook Activity Log

September 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I stumbled across an article today from Gizmodo: Facebook Is Now Recording Everyone You Stalk.

Yes, the headline is attention-getting – that’s the idea, right?

Before you panic, here’s the short version:

  • A new “feature” being rolled out to Facebook users, that records your people searches in your Activity Log.
  • It’s not retroactive, and is being gradually rolled out to users.
  • Your Activity is only visible to you, and not to your Facebook “audience”.
  • You do have the option to clear your search history as well.

Take a few minutes to read the article (there are links to the Facebook announcement included in it).

And if you’re searching for people (stalking is a harsh word, certainly none of our readers would be doing such things), you will be leaving some breadcrumbs.

 
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Check your Facebook E-Mail Address

September 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Back in June, our friends at Facebook did something kind of “under the covers” – they changed primary user e-mail addresses from the correct ones that we all entered into our profiles to something with a domain of @facebook.com. Nice of them to do so – and better yet, not tell us.

When it was implemented, Lifehacker did a great job of detailing what happened and how to fix it. It’s worth your time to read it here. The short version: check your Facebook profile.

So why am I dredging up June news now? Thank your friends at Apple.

One of the new features in iOS 6 (the operating system for the iPhone, iPod and iPad) is tighter integration with Facebook – as in “how about we suck your entire Facebook friend list down into your device’s contacts app?” kind of integration. So as people are updating their phones and tablets, a good number of them (as detailed in today’s post on TechCrunch) will enable Contact Sync in their Facebook options.

Which means if you haven’t double checked your settings, your friends may not have your real e-mail address. It will be something at facebook.com.

Consider yourself warned.

 

A Note From Us:

Both of the above links appeared first on the Beyond The Defaults Facebook page; if you’re not liking us there, you should be because we tend to post a variety of article and video links in that location.

However, we’ve come to realize that not everyone gets their updates that way. Many of you see our updates in your inbox, telling you we’ve posted new information on the day we post it. Maybe you’re just not a “Facebooker”.

So going forward, we’ll do our best to post in both places, because we don’t want anyone feeling left out.

 

 
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Read When You Can’t Read – with Audible

August 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Back in May, I wrote a 3 Ways post that talked about ways to use your mobile music player; way #3 was titled “Read When You Can’t Read – with Audiobooks”. I’m a big fan of audiobooks – they make mundane tasks like mowing, exercising (ugh) or watering the garden (which in this drought has been more frequent than I’d like) a lot more enjoyable by making them more productive.

My favorite source for audiobooks is Audible. Like its parent Amazon.com, Audible simply makes finding and buying books ridiculously simple. As a result, I recommend it often.

(DISCLAIMER: I’m a paying Audible subscriber; no freebies here, I just happen to like the service.)

The question I’ve been hearing lately, though, is now that I’ve bought the book, how do I listen to it?

Well, there are two avenues to pursue – one is through the music player on your mobile device or computer, the other is using an Audible App.

If you’re an iOS person, iTunes has some functionality built into it that integrates Audible audiobooks into a playlist. When you purchase an Audible book, there’s an option to download it using the Audible Download Manager – which has a feature that will automatically inject it into your iTunes library. Pretty nifty – except now the device has to be synced with the desktop iTunes library. To me, that takes it from nifty to being a little bit of a hassle. And besides, who listens to audio books on their computer?

Enter the Audible Apps

Audible Library - DownloadTo me, the easiest way to enjoy Audible is through their apps – available for Windows/Mac computers, but more importantly for all of the mobile devices – Apple, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. The best part is they’re free.

Once the app is installed and you log into your Audible account, your entire Audible library is available for review; from there, it’s simply a matter of selecting the books you want to download to your device. Here’s an image of my (not so vast) library, sorted by title.

To download a title, simply tap on the gray download arrow (one is displayed for any title that is not present on the device) – which then reveals the Download button.

Audible - downloading

I recommend that downloads be done over a wifi connection versus using a mobile data plan; notice that this 4-hour book is 56MB in size – a pretty hefty download for mobile bandwidth. Once the downloading begins, you can actually start listening to the book once the green Play arrow appears.

Once the download is complete, the gray download indicators disappear. If you’ve started a book, the app will tell you how many hours/minutes remain for that title.

 

 

 

Audible Playback FeaturesThe playback features and controls are really what makes using the apps a much better way to enjoy Audible:

  • A Chapter Listing is available at the top right (so you can keep track of where you are).
  • Swipe controls, for “button-free” playback options.
  • A Sleep Timer, which will stop the playback after X number of minutes or at the end of a chapter (one of my personal favorite features). Think of it as story time for adults.
  • Playback speed controls, which let you listen at double speed (particularly handy for listening to news reports).
  • A 30-second rewind, to pick up when interruptions happen.
  • Bookmarks, to make note of favorite sections.

The 30-second rewind is the only feature that’s comparable in the Music Player app.

The only negative to using the Audible app is that it may not integrate with other components to which your mobile device is paired or connected – say, a car audio system. In my case, I can use the app, but none of the car audio system’s controls will work with it. A small price to pay.

 

Delete a title from AudibleSo what happens when you load up a device with a bunch of books and music, and now you’re pressed for space? Simple – you can simply remove a book from the device with a swipe and a tap.

Simply swipe from side to side (doesn’t matter if it’s left-to-right or right-to-left), and a Remove from Device button will display.

This will only remove the title from the device – not remove it from your Audible library. That library will always stay with you – displaying all of the titles you’ve purchased.

 

If you’ve not considered audio books in the past, give Audible a try – and they’ll let you do it for free. Visit the website, shop around a little, take a look at their plans and member benefits (there are several of each).

And if you’ve got any great audio book recommendations, be sure to share them with us in the comments.

 

 

 
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