Facebook:

This Facebook application enables you to view the news feeds, your friend’s profile, photos, take a photo, view notifications, post a status update and view your own profile. I can’t say it doesn’t have features, but it is still lacking compared to the iPhone application which features a Facebook Chat. With this new Facebook update, one can view pictures within the app though tagging is still not enabled. They’ve also added an inbox so I can view my messages within the application which is a huge improvement. I can comment or like a status or post, and if I have to view a link it opens in the native browser . If you could bear with the shortcomings of this application then you should have no problem using it. FYI no Farmville or Mafia Wars .

Seesmic:

There are many twitter applications available on the Android OS and Seesmic is one of them. Released around December ‘09 Seesmic for Android has been a very reliable application to use when tweeting. No force closes and the basic features are straight forward and easy to use. You could view the timeline, mentions or @replies, direct messages and view your profile. It also allows one to use multiple accounts and switching between them is a breeze.

Palringo:

This is a multi-platform chat application that allows you to chat with your buddies from different services, Gtalk, MSN, Yahoo, Facebook and so many more. You have the option to appear online or offline or invisible for various IM services. You could send a picture via chat and the person receives it as a link, which they could view from any web browser. It is very simple to use and very straight forward.

Gtalk:

I use Gtalk to communicate with my close friends and associates. Its a great messenger to have on your android phone, whenever you are on the go. Not too many people use Gtalk but it is fun to use regardless of it’s popularity.

FourSquare:

Foursquare is a location sharing application. Some people consider it unsafe to share their location, I consider it to be my breadcrumbs. You get badges and mayorships depending on how much you use the application to log your location. I sometimes forget to use it for godsake and I am missing out on the badges :/!!!

Twitter for Android:

Twitter for Android was released a few weeks ago. It is light, and easy to use, most of all its the official Twitter application for android. You have the options to view tweets, your list, your @mentions, retweets, direct messages and your profile. No you can’t add a second account and  you can’t edit retweets.

Do you have applications that you use regularly for social networking and it was not mentioned? Please share your apps !

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion and in no way did I receive compensation for these application reviews.

Mobile Defense is an application now in its beta form for Android Phones. I’ve seen where people refer to it as the Lojack for Android as that is what it does. I am really impressed by this application, praying that I do not have to actually use it one day, it could be a great app to have on your phone.

Locate and Find: 

The locate and find feature states that it will take up to 4 minutes to find your location. However it depends solely on the GPS transmitting your location. A text message is also sent to your phone which enables Mobile Defense to connect to your phone and your GPS to activate. Surprisingly it gives you a very accurate location so you know exactly where it is.

Details:

Once you click on the details option the tracking details are shown. You could view the location info, the phone status and the location providers. It gives you a very detailed tracking information, which is impressive. You could email yourself the information or simple close the box.

Alert:

You do have the option to play a sound (which is LOUD) and send a message or require a pin to unlock and send a message. Both are very effective and should aid with finding your phone. Only one issue it could be deactivated when pressing the back button . Hopefully they will address this problem.

Lock and Unlock:

Speaks for itself, it unlocks and locks the phone remotely. So if you have the pattern lock it will unlock your phone. One other issue it removes the pattern lock.

Mobile Defense is a very comprehensive app that could help with the easy recovery of your phone. With room for errors I should say, it is indeed a great application, with only a few minor issues. So it is therefore a great app to keep handy. If you hold your phone as close to your body as I do I doubt you will need it, its however better to be safe than sorry.

It takes a trigger to make you wake up and realize that something is wrong, and that you need to do something about that problem. You meet new people and realize that they have more issues than you, but then you learn about yourself as you try to help them. You realize that life is not as bad as it seems and therefore you stop wading in your misery, pull up your socks and you decide enough is enough. My favorite quote for the year 2009 is: "Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege."~Unknown. I think it’s self explanatory .

As I reflect on the year 2009 I cannot dwell only on the bad things, as that is not good. It was a good year despite the shortcomings and I am appreciating my blessings, my family and the friends I have. Life is too short to dwell on the bad, so many lives were lost suddenly due to car accidents, murders and illness. Cherishing your loved ones till your dying breath, loving them unconditionally (minus having to pay their expenses when it’s their fault) and showing them that you care is living happy. Learning to love yourself and cherishing yourself is also a way to see happiness.

I will not make any resolutions for the coming year 2010 as life is what you make of  it. Life is so unpredictable at times and therefore I see it fit to deal with the circumstances as they come. That does not mean however that I do not have a plan for a “just-incase-matter”. I do wish upon myself as I will wish for others that they will have a prosperous New Year and that good things may come their way. Despite any shortcomings they appreciate life and whatever it dishes out to them. We all have to make sacrifices, but in the end the reward is satisfying.

As the New Year dawns upon us I wish everyone a bright and a prosperous New Year.

Here are some of the things I loved about Spotify:

Search:

The ease of searching for a song and finding a whole CD or even a few of the artist’s songs is really what should I say, impressive? I searched for Buju Banton and had the pleasure of finding some old hits, and even some songs that were practically stuck in my head for days. The good thing is you could play the whole list from the search results. Which brings me to the next  pointer:

 Offline Play:

With each search result, you could right click and add that song to a personalized playlist. Mine for example is called just for play. The offline mode allows you to virtually add the song to your playlist without buying it and so you could play it at will on that device whenever you want. Disadvantage to that is you will have to buy the song if you want it to play on other devices. I have no need however to add my songs to another device, and so I am quite comfortable with my playlist.

  Home:

The home tab shows you all of the latest and most popular songs that are available and those that are being played by other users. Plus they give you access to new releases which is actually a great opportunity to hear an album before purchasing it .

 Desktop Application: 

The desktop app once signed in gives you the same access as it would on the phone. Your playlist is available and you could also search for songs and add them to your playlist. Please note that your playlist would be updated on the phone almost immediately and vice versa.

Spotify is a work in progress however, and I do hope they reconsider their pricing as no one would want to pay such a high price just to listen to music that cannot be transferred. A great application that could possibly curb  your appetite for illegal downloads and an excellent choice if you want to listen to an artist’s hit songs without buying the cd. So far I am loving my run with Spotify, it sure gives itunes a run for its money. Hopefully you can try it too when it is released hopefully in 2010.

Disclaimer: I am using a fully paid and active version of Spotify Premium.

I’ve seen a few of James Cameron’s movies, Titanic, Terminator and a few others, he is a man who could set almost anything on screen and make it EPIC.  First off I will say awesome graphics, maybe I should have used a better word to describe it but this is my true feeling. This is cinematography at its best. I admit at first I did not want to go to see it, but after looking closely and seeing my friends excited over it made me decide to go.

Here is my interpretation of the movie. There will be no spoilers as I do not want to take away your spirit to want to see the movie.

First off I saw a political side to this movie, and my hubby mentioned it to me while we discussed it after. Certain things that were said in the script had a political connotation to it, however that did not take away from the movie. Watching the movie in the IMAX 3D theater at the AMC made me see how advanced this movie was in terms of its use of technology. I mean 500 Million is a lot and Cameron put it all into good use. The whole movie from start to finish was color filled and after a while I forgot that it was 3D as I’d gotten used to the action on screen. My son however reminded me that it was 3D when he continuously tried to grab the particles.

The movie was practically predictable, as I had an idea of what was going to happen next. However, I was not bored to death because I was interested in the story line of Jake and how well he adapted to the Na’Vi. Even though you know what is coming next you still want to watch. As Dave said earlier we have sort of shied away from SCI-FI movies as they have gotten boring and its the same old alien mess. Cameron however is showing Hollywood that they have to step their game up in order to capture the attention of the audience. Their movies may not be as good as Cameron’s but that will force them to do better.

Back to Jake and the Na’Vis it is a world that was basically untouched. A world that has a niche that was connected down to the dust. A world that is only in the imagination yet it seemed so real. The characters seemed so real, everything seemed real, I even wondered if Cameron visited a world like that and it was his little secret. People are fussing about the name of the planet Pandora, for all I care it could have been named Tim-buck-two and it would not have made a difference. The way Jake adapted the actions of the natives, all brought the story together.

Jake’s brother Tom who was his twin died. He was a scientist working on the Avatar project, and since Jake is his twin their gnome matched so it was no problem fitting him to his brother’s avatar. The scientists and the military had two different agendas as the cooperation funding the project had one aim and that was to get the natural resources from the planet. At first Jake went in obeying orders but as he adapted to the natives, he began to see the evil around him. In turn for becoming one of them he betrayed the humans. He learned their language, how to walk and appreciate the forest. Having turned his back on the humans he created a catalyst to what was going to happen anyway. Destruction happened faster and was more brutal.

Even with a predictable story line Cameron still manages to capture the audience’s attention and there was never a dull moment. Kudos to Cameron.

I will post my first experience and update you on why I love the Droid.

At the time of clicking continue to the next step you will be asked to update your privacy settings which basically remains the same unless you want to make some changes.

What does the new privacy announcement mean?

1. Better Control Over Who Could See Your Status.

For some time there was an option where you could control from the privacy settings who could see your status. Now the option is directly in the status bar so at the time of updating you could select from the various groups. In my opinion that is easier. Maybe that could help avoid conflict when certain people decide that it is in your best interest to share their  opinions.

2. Better Security Settings

I have seen first hand what someone could do when they hack into your account, not that this feature would help if someone actually got into your account. It at least makes you feel safer that the password has to be confirmed before making any changes.

3. Concise Settings for Applications

You have the options to select what you share and what your friends can share about you. If you did not know, some of the applications that your friends use and what you use has access to your information and your friends information. You could reduce how much of that information you want the applications to have access too. That could help reduce those ads for example the “your friend so and so took the IQ quiz and scored 110 take the test to see what your IQ is”.

4. Ability to Hide Friends

You could show up to 12 friends on your profile or none at all.  They actually changed it from showing no friends on your profile which is not so good, but I consider it a whatever. This is what my profile looks  like to others:

Facebook has also added a video that could help you better manage your privacy settings:

Even though I hate the things Facebook does at times, I have to commend them on the privacy.

Here is the transcription it provided.

Don’t get me wrong I still love  my Google Voice, but if I were you I would not rely on the transcription .

Things happen that could change your perspective on life. I no longer have the same view of life as I did when I was younger, and no I am not old…but in a sense things happened and they opened my eyes. I used to get so excited because I knew some present was coming, and yes I did get a lot. Birthdays now however, have a different meaning to me, I reflect on the year, what I’ve accomplished, and what I’ve missed.

Life is not a bed of roses, and its not an easy road. There are many hills and valleys in life, some that you could climb over with ease and climb out of without effort. Then there are other times when the valley is so deep that you wonder if you could get out of it, or the mountain is so high you struggle to get over. In order to learn and be wise however, our experiences gives us a chance to understand. To understand the true meaning of why we go through what we go through.

Some have it easy in life, but everyone has a tough time now and then, even with the rich, because money cannot buy happiness or love. One thing I’ve learned is that being grateful for the tiny things, goes a long way. Being cheerful and having a smile even through trying times, helps a lot. It takes courage to get through some of the pain, and hurt, but that is life right? Not really life is what you make of it, taking those trials and turning them into something good, makes life easier.

In life moving around and being on a roll helps, but if you never reflect on what really happened then you will never get the moral of the experience. There are times you should just sit by yourself and reflect, look back and see, then look ahead and remember. We are all human and we make mistakes, but those mistakes could be beneficial to us or they could be detrimental. I always say this in my mind to every disappointment is a blessing.

Those down times are in a sense the perfect times for you to reflect. Cry a little, scream, beat the pillow up, let it all out. We do not have to play strong, but instead admit to it. At times another person may be targeting you but that is no reason to give up, its the best time to show that you are stronger than they expected. It is always good to give the “BOOM BOOM POW” effect, in your face kind of gesture. Never let them see that they could bring you down.

Life is not a bed of roses no, but you could at least plant your own roses and then sprinkle your bed with the petals . What I am trying to say is in life we have to compromise in order to gain happiness, everything is not handed to us. Its a major test to see how would we use the things around us to succeed. Throw aside the self pity, and stop wading in your sorrows, wipe your eyes, and pull up your socks. Put those those brain cells to work and think of the things that you could accomplish with what little you have.

Smile, work with the things you have, and gain your happiness. Learn from your experience. Common sense is not given but earned. I thank the Most High for letting me see another year. For giving me the courage to go through the trials. For helping to open my eyes. Because without him I could not have made it. Be grateful for everything that you have, because in a blink of an eye it could be all gone.

I am grateful for my sons, and my husband, my mother, and my dad, my aunt and my siblings and I most grateful for my life.

“In life nothing is free, everything is earned.”