Yoga travel

I’m currently loading a metric asston of my favorite music onto my phone with its shiny new microSD card, so I figured I’d answer a question from Melissa about traveling with a yoga mat.

There are a lot of ways you can go with this, all of which will depend on what kind of yoga and how much of it you’re going to do while traveling.

For example, when we went to India we had a limited amount of luggage and I wasn’t sure how much room I’d have to spread out – not to mention the space a yoga mat would fill could hold a lot of souvenirs. I went with some yoga paws, which are gloves and almost-footies that have contact points made of the same material as an inexpensive ($10-15) yoga mat. They take up almost no space and are good for yoga on the move, but not for a lot of seated or kneeling poses.

There are also travel mats, designed to be folded, which I haven’t personally used.

What I’ve done for almost all my travel is carry my mat on with me. I’ve got a nice little bag which is mat-shaped with an extra pocked on the inside and outside. It provides great protection for the mat (rain or shine) and has just enough space for keys/i.d./towel/small stuff that would be useful in a studio. I use that as one of my personal items and then usually carry a regular carry-on bag rather than checking luggage. Et voila – two bags, no baggage claim.

The reason I carry on my mat is because I’ve got a Jade Harmony mat worth every bit of the $50ish I paid for it. It’s a natural rubber and no matter how much I sweat (I’m looking at you Forrest Hip Hop Yoga class in Boston and Urban Yoga Spa in Seattle) I do. not. slip. Since I sweat like a center for the Detroit Lions, it’s a huge bonus to have my own mat with me unless the circumstances require otherwise (see: 14 hour flight, foreign country).

Dreadnought and DroidX

Let me start with the good – once the story gets underway, it doesn’t slow down. Set in Cherie Priest’s Clockwork universe, the Civil War is still raging and the country is carved into (at least) 4 distinct regions all with their own baggage, complications and torn loyalties. For those who’ve read Boneshaker (which I liked a bit more, I must admit) the Sap won’t come as a huge surprise but the story ticks along with plenty of acrobatics.

The bad: it took me FOREVER to get into this book. I started it and stopped at least a half dozen times and I don’t really have a good explanation why. Maybe I liked Mercy (the main character) less than the characters in Boneshaker? At any rate, once I got through that first stretch it was much more smooth. In comparison, I DID like Boneshaker better. I found the story more compelling and latched onto all the characters a bit more tightly.

All things considered, I’ll keep on with the Clockwork books because they’re entertaining and make a nice change of pace from the usual mass-publishing.

On the DroidX front, Verizon customer service (win again!) thought the update may have b0rked my SD card and fo sho,they were right. They mailed me a new one post-haste (and free as it’s still under warranty) and as of installation today all my apps and my camera seem to be functioning again. Yay! Once again I have to give love to Verizon for great service, although their new data plan stuff seems to indicate I’ll make a change when our contracts are up.

I’ve been using Google+ on it quite a bit (more than twitter, to my surprise) and despite all expectations, I’m enjoying the Google datamining pointing me to people I might/will like. The only thing the app is missing is connectivity to Google Reader, where I could share the articles I like on GReader with G+ (which in retrospect is a failure of the GReader app). Because I AM doing that (like, share in Greader), if you follow me in the Buzz tab you’ll see the stuff I share but that only seems accessible on the web – please correct me if I’m wrong.

Also, anyone still wanting an invite please feel free to hit me up.

We’ve got apps for that

Since I go on AT LENGTH about my phone and how generally awesome it is to live in the future, I thought I’d share my favorite apps and (aside from the obvious) how I use them.

Sudoku Free – This is my number one time killer. At work, on break this is my go-to distraction. For whatever reason, maybe late adoption, I don’t find Angry Birds all that addictive. This game I use every day.

Dolphin Browser HD – This is my go to browser, in no small part thanks to the Last Pass add on. Easy to use (swipe to the right for bookmarks, to the left for add ons) and it opens new tabs rather than new windows (unlike the default android browser).

Note Everything and the NE GDocs extension - A recent addition, which is pretty whip ass. It takes text notes, voice notes and paint notes (which means you can doodle on the screen). Two best features: note from barcode – when there’s a book you’re interested in (or other item) and don’t have time to write it down. What I use most often: Note from Google Docs. See, I like my phone but it’s not the easiest method for creating a shopping list. I like to do that when I’ve got my cookbook nearby, so I can also note the page numbers of the recipes for which I’m purchasing. I do this with Google Notes and then, at the store, I open my Note Everything and access the shopping list (which is formatted by department) to make sure I get everything I need. LOVE.

PowerAMP – A pretty awesome music player which scrobbles data to send to iTunes (number of plays, playlists) and vice versa, it’s also got an excellent equalizer.

Stitcher – Live updating podcasts,no downloading. Great for when you’re in the signal zone and, depending on how long you let it buffer, it can survive my 40 minute commute where my signal is gone for at least 20 minutes.

I feel like maybe I’ve already raved about Gentle Alarm but it’s good enough to merit revisiting. It’s got 4 different customizable profiles for different kinds of alarms. It’s got the pre-alarm feature where a sound of your choice will play a half an hour (or a time of your choice) before your actual alarm. I use the rowing boat and set the volume to 15% so that my brain hears it and I don’t. You can also adjust the light settings so the light on your phone comes up and to what percentage. The alarms fade in and out based on how long you want, sound of your choice, number of snooze options AND snooze-kill options. In short, it’s a fantastic and easy to adapt app. My alarm hasn’t woken my husband – a very light sleeper- even once.

iSyncr and iSyncr WiFi (worth the tiny add-on cost) are what keep my Droid talking to iTunes. It also allows me to upload items I download onto my phone from the Amazon cloud so that I can share all my music cordlessly.

I’ve got the Kindle and Nook app, but I only use them as a last resort – stuck somewhere and I don’t have my Kindle.

BBC News – Maybe the best news app in the market, honestly. Customizable to the topics you want to read about and not a space hog. It also looks pretty.

Calorie Counter by Fatsecret – I started using this last week because I’ve gone cold turkey off soda and I find it helps if I’ve got a monitor to keep me honest. This is great because not only does it have a huge item database, it also searches by barcode. The absolute best part: you can choose how you want to use it – weight loss (fast or slow) or maintenance. Not only that, it’s got a TON of exercise options to enter – everything from driving, standing and deskwork to running and badminton. It’s kind of cool to see what your body needs to run and be able to graph what you’re giving it.

I use a Jorte calendar with a 5×4 screen so I can see the month at a snapshot. It’s clean, easy to update and syncs with my Google calendar. Especially nice when you want to let other people add events.

Goodreads allows me to update on the fly or add books to my TBR list without needing scratch paper.

PasswordCard is a fantastic way to create safe passwords on the go, if you don’t have access to something like LastPass. I’ve used it a lot.

Real Simple’s No Time to Cook – Another cooking app, great for when you’ve got a protein (or not) and aren’t sure what to do with it. Press the screen, choose your protein, choose how much time you’ve got to cook it and you’ll get pages of options. Every Real Simple recipe I’ve ever used has turned out fantastic, so for me this was worth the cost of a single magazine issue.

These are the apps that all have shortcuts or widgets on my screen, aside from the Amazon MP3 and Amazon shopping apps. I also have a shortcut for Voice Commands.

Sync – free audiobooks all summer

If you haven’t already checked this out, you should. Sync has free audiobooks (totally painless sign up and they don’t spam you with email) and their selection tends to be one current(ish) novel and a classic. I’ve still got my downloads from last summer and was really disappointed I hadn’t found them sooner. This summer’s offerings have been pretty great as well.

In related news, DoggCatcher has decided to STOP WORKING on my phone. Mother fucker. So I’m open to your podcatching app recommendations. Currently I’m using iSyncr to grab some of my faves from iTunes and Stitcher for the ones that update while I’m at work.

Verizon is awesome part 67

1. My calls don’t get dropped.

2. When I call customer service, they HELP.

3. When I called customer service about this phone situation, they didn’t make me do the shit I’d ALREADY done (factory reset, sd card format) but talked me through some other options. And then told me they were sending me  NEW PHONE. No hassles, no hoops, no bullshit.

I know there are haters out there but there’s a good reason I’ve been a Verizon customer for 8 years.

More on the Droid X

Well. After two factory resets and erasing my SD card, I’ve narrowed the problem to the camera. Everything works fine and yesterday I even took some pictures. I came home, plugged the phone in to charge and looked at the shots I’d taken. This morning when I tried to find them, the phone told me there was no gallery. Searching via File Manager, I found the older photos I’d transferred but the ones from yesterday are gone. W.T.F.

Despite the fact that everything else about the phone is working, I’m finally contacting customer support. I suspect they will be less than helpful.*

Update: As predicted. Motorola wants me to send my phone in for repair. Turnaround is 5 to 7 days from the date they receive it. Right. Thanks for the utter lack of help, Motorola.  I guess Verizon’s the next stop.

Android love takes a hit

But first – WTF. No one on the internets told me The Big C made its comeback last night! I’m very disappointed in you all.

Back to the phone: Yesterday my phone went insane. It’s running the new Gingerbread update and is not rooted. After using it all morning (Stitcher podcasts and then my music from the SD card) all of a sudden it shuts off. And then when I boot it, as soon as it goes to sleep I can’t wake it. I boot it, rinse repeat for like 4 hours. W.T.F. This is weird mostly because I haven’t had any real problems with it. I attempted to erase the SD card and factory reset, neither of which actually completed but THEN when I booted it, it worked JUST FINE. W. T. F. F.

Intermittently the camera has been giving me shit (like tonight) and the phone only froze once today (corrected with soft reset). I went to the Verizon store yesterday because WHAT THE HELL ASS BALLS but there’s not a good answer at this point. If the phone is working fine, I can keep it as is but I may run a factory reset this weekend just to see if that helps. Otherwise, Verizon will be replacing my phone.

Yeah. My HTC phone was pretty much all love all the time. This will probably be my last Motorola phone.

Related, I love that smartphones allow geekage with people who wouldn’t normally consider themselves ‘geeks’. One of my drivers and I were doing app comparisons today (AND he’s got a Kindle now) and talking voice text, ringtone makers and remote security apps. This is an older guy who doesn’t consider himself a nerd AT ALL, but we spent 20 minutes fansqueeing about Android. I love the future. Where’s my hoverboard?

Random nerdery

Friday I updated my DroidX with Gingerbread. It was a rocky transition, I won’t lie, but the end result is good. So good in fact, that this morning I updated Spouse’s phone. If you want to know how much of a geek I am, I was thoroughly stoked to add PasswordCard, Shazam and Netflix (among other things) to his device. It’s the first time since activation that I’ve really gotten my hands on his phone. Also, demonstrated voice texting. w00t!

What I learned this week: Smartphones are wasted on at least 50% of the population. This because one of my work contacts (also owns a DroidX) was asking me what kind of things to do with the phone. He’s had his longer than I’ve had mine. I introduced him to Swype and Google Voice Search. He was impressed.

I love living in the future.

Dogshit Tuesday

No really, that’s how I started the morning. We’re sitting for our friend’s dog who apparently had some intestinal distress. This morning, in the dark, I went to the basement and was going into the laundry room when I felt the unmistakable (even at 4:30am) squish of a relatively fresh pile under the ball of my right foot. It threw a bit of a wrench into my morning.

On the bright side, I laughed out loud with the Doug Loves Movies and Nerdist podcasts this morning to help me regain my cheer. I also left work an hour early in order to compensate for hour fuckery which will almost inevitably occur on Friday. When I arrived home, I found a smaller pile of dogshit on the rug in front of my kitchen sink. Awesome.

At any rate, I’m not in love with any single app for corralling my podcasts. Currently I’m using DoggCatcher, Isyncr and today I added Stitcher. My issue is that I haven’t found a single app capable of pulling up all the podcasts I want with the most recent eps. DoggCatcher refuses to pull The Bugle. Stitcher doesn’t pick up the most recent Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe or Hardcore History. Isyncr is currently pulling what I want but I have to sync it with iTunes. Thus far it’s not cumbersome but it doesn’t have the benefit of updating the 404 while I’m at work for my drive home.

I suppose I’ll test run them all this week and see which are worth keeping or whether or not I can get a single one to jump through all my hoops.

In unrelated news, Tuesday is one of my favorite summer TV nights thanks to White Collar and Covert Affairs.