Agility Loop

I have continued to have a hell of a time getting my music to sync to my Droid.  I have now tried to install, uninstall, sync, and un-sync using Doubletwist several times.  Without fail, when I try to re-sync data at a later time, DoubleTwist hangs. I think I might have finally found a solution in the form of an app called iSyncr. iSyncr costs $2.99 and is run directly from your phone once it is plugged into your computer.  Although it takes a little more work to find the program and run it (it is actually copied to the root of your phone when you install it), once you do run it is lets you chose from your iTunes playlists and then it JUST WORKS.  The sync still took awhile (9 GBs took 2 hours or so), but IT WORKED.  Since then I made changes to playlists and the changes synced. It also syncs play counts which was a nice bonus. Definitely worth the $3...just hope it continues to work!

I have become an avid Android user.  Although I do have a bit of device envy at some of the new Android devices out there, my Droid 1.0 is still a great phone.  However, navigating through the maze that is the Android Market on Android 2.1 is painful.  It will get better with the 2.2 upgrade (although still bitter I don't have it.  Maybe I should have installed it myself), but there has to be a better way. Today I stumbled upon AndSpot while reading Wired's Gadget Lab.  It is the latest of several alternative markets that you can install on your Android device.  It looks like it has promise, until I read that it appears that they want to build their own social network for the app rather than leverage an existing social graph.  This is a non-starter.  I do not have enough techie friends who are willing to start another social network for a niche app.  Instead, use my friends I already have on Facebook or LinkedIn.  The app does integrate with those networks, but it appears to be only for sharing apps (please correct me if I am wrong). Yes, Facebook may be evil in some ways and take up way too much time, but it has over 500 million users.  As an app builder, that is a huge network that you can leverage to make your app spread like wildfire.

It feels like it is a bit of a necessity for every blog to post some lists of some sort.  I'd love to say that we are different. However, we are not (or at least I'm not). The corporate world is flooded with Blackberries...in fact they rule that roost.  However, over the past couple of years I have noticed that more of my personal friends have the privilege of carrying around the Blackberry ball and chain.  This is either because they have bought one personally, or they are now in the ever lovely middle manager role. What irks me somewhat is that the Blackberry can do so much more than just be a phone/email device.  Like the iPhone, there are other apps that provide some utility.   Granted, there are certainly not quite as many applications...but who needs 25 fart applications?  So I assembled a list of  FREE applications that I have found useful in my years of Blackberry use. BUT, first and foremost I recommend that you upgrade your Blackberry to the latest Operating System.  V4.5 is an especially BIG improvement for older devices (Curve, Pearl).   Blackberry has an update page dedicated to updating your device (Internet Explorer required). Viigo Viigo describes itself as a great way to "stay current with what's going on in your world".  I couldn't agree more.  I would say this is my most used application and it still amazes me that is free.  It allows users to read RSS news feeds, show the weather for multiple cities, track your flight itinerary including delays & flight times, sports scores for every sport you can think of, stock prices, and even movie times.  What's more is that it runs in the background so it pulls data throughout the day.  I find that this app is especially useful when you do not have connectivity to the network (plane, elevator, bathroom).

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