tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27614208001592939072024-03-13T19:57:00.434+00:00Julie's musingsRandom thoughts of a geeky girljuwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-80908161409781215162020-11-09T11:50:00.020+00:002021-11-17T15:51:39.292+00:00How to deliver excellent software support<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7peeGQZgrkLDFQwW2f54ptdcTfdchqIzrFaUkcoqFfoG-waIe_QkdqhCKLs4rP1e1hozrf0XHEDomlC8up7j6X87FqwlSAdMPrwG51Q1pziPoVetl3E-DfwSTOXFbdQQNumqDkX6p5SU/s1280/digital-dreams-1155366-1280x960.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Digital dreams" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7peeGQZgrkLDFQwW2f54ptdcTfdchqIzrFaUkcoqFfoG-waIe_QkdqhCKLs4rP1e1hozrf0XHEDomlC8up7j6X87FqwlSAdMPrwG51Q1pziPoVetl3E-DfwSTOXFbdQQNumqDkX6p5SU/w200-h150/digital-dreams-1155366-1280x960.jpg" title="Image courtesy of Flavio Takemoto via freeimages.com" width="200" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">I'm an application/user support engineer at heart, even though some of my recent career history might suggest otherwise (life has a way of doing that), so I particularly appreciate good support when I receive it. I've always prided myself on getting behind the initial question to the root of an issue, and I was delighted to be on the customer side of exactly that scenario this week.</p><p style="text-align: left;">One of my former employers who is a software developer put it very well when he said:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>"Technical support is the area that makes or breaks the customer experience"</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">This is the story of a recent experience I had of great software support.</p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>In some ways, the article is going to read like an advert for the product concerned. I have no affiliation with the company other than as a customer, and this is not a product review, but I did choose this particular one over a whole host of similar apps for some of the particular features that are useful to me, and I make no apology for singing its praises.<h1 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Background</span></h1><p style="text-align: left;">For many years, Andy and I have used a succession of shared, synchronised Grocery List apps. The idea is that whenever either of us notices that we’re running low on something, we can add it to the list, and whoever next goes shopping will know what we need to buy - and will have their phone with them to access the list. </p><p style="text-align: left;">A dedicated Grocery List app can be an improvement on using a generic note taking / checklist app (such as a shared note in Google Keep) in a number of ways. Grocery apps generally work on the basis that you have a list of things that you will need to buy over and over again, so they remember what you put on the list, and allow you to quickly and easily add the same items next time you need them. This means that they can remember whatever details about brand / size / quantity / price, etc. that you might want to make a note of, keep track of prices if you want to (great for budgeting), and - with a bit of initial effort - group the items you need by aisle, and arrange your shopping list in the order that you reach the aisles in your local supermarket. </p><p style="text-align: left;">As the way we shop in a global pandemic has changed, depending on the social distancing rules in force at any given time, having your list sorted in at least roughly the order that you have to walk around a one-way system in a store can be a huge help.</p><p style="text-align: left;">You'll find a whole host of Grocery List apps in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, each with a different feature list, and some of which offer shared shopping lists (a must-have feature for us). We've used at least 3 different apps over the years.</p><h1 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anylist<br /></span></h1><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmPCKHM-Ne0mIersi-_QA0msG7Vz-12ifgrQn1wE0Ah88NL67LwGEtHVG4oTHx8ZY0zNW7QEpwUBc2TuFnMegkIzc1lBRMtdRVYsBkWpk2btdbPaipYH1pVciqJxqbi5XiOaamcwx-oY/s474/Anylist+logo.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Anylist logo" border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="474" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmPCKHM-Ne0mIersi-_QA0msG7Vz-12ifgrQn1wE0Ah88NL67LwGEtHVG4oTHx8ZY0zNW7QEpwUBc2TuFnMegkIzc1lBRMtdRVYsBkWpk2btdbPaipYH1pVciqJxqbi5XiOaamcwx-oY/w200-h200/Anylist+logo.png" title="https://www.anylist.com/" width="200" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">Our current app of choice is <a href="https://www.anylist.com/" target="_blank">Anylist</a> by Purple Cover Inc. It’s available on Android, iOS and as a web app, and allows you to create multiple colour-coded private and shared lists. It also includes recipe and meal planning sections. There is a free version, but we have a paid family subscription for the Pro version - partly because it offers extra functionality, but also because I like to support developers who offer great solutions.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Purple Cover is a small company, with (as far as I can tell from publicly available information) just a handful of employees. I think that's often a benefit: everybody involved is passionate about what they do, and it's a reasonable bet that they use the product in their day-to-day lives. Nobody's there just because they need to earn a living.</p><h1 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The issue</span></h1><p style="text-align: left;">The latest Android version of Anylist (Version 1.7 / Build 89, released in October 2020) introduced a new feature of dark mode for the app, based on whether your phone is working in dark mode at the OS level. Normally, I’m a big fan of dark mode, but for some reason, I was finding the UI to be less clear in this app in dark mode, so I looked for a way to override it, and manually switch to light mode.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I couldn’t find a way to do it, so I clicked on Send Feedback from the app settings menu, to email a request for an option to manually set the mode to light / dark / same as phone.</p><h1 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The response</span></h1><p style="text-align: left;">Jason replied to me the same day, not only considering my request as stated, but also probing into <b>why</b> dark mode wasn’t working as well as it might for me. At this point, I was already awarding 10 out of 10 for listening to feedback, not asking me questions that I had already answered in my initial report, replying promptly, and not only being willing to make changes, but also wanting to understand the underlying cause of the problem to fix that, rather than just addressing the symptom.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I took a more careful look at the app, and once I had worked out <i>why</i> (some of) my lists weren’t as clear for me in dark mode, I sent Jason an explanation accompanied by some screenshots showing the differences between the theme previews in the app. I also made some suggestions about how it might be possible to improve the advanced theme customisation already available in the app to give more control over headings separately from content, which would make it possible for me to resolve my issue in a way that would suit me well.</p>Light - with clear category headers (in this purple theme)<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUl3RLgW3mUpf84cZXp761aRZQmJgieJXNZW2FpH-kXLkJwrmNAf099MIqWm5U79LfTQ1qwYPqrzAdOtSNoIGBICJjyxL0ujm9Uily1S3yn7lOxnoBxSR0I6iXqPfkkizaCMFkDYXzH_c/s1076/IMG_20201106_093319.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Screenshot" border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="1076" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUl3RLgW3mUpf84cZXp761aRZQmJgieJXNZW2FpH-kXLkJwrmNAf099MIqWm5U79LfTQ1qwYPqrzAdOtSNoIGBICJjyxL0ujm9Uily1S3yn7lOxnoBxSR0I6iXqPfkkizaCMFkDYXzH_c/w320-h134/IMG_20201106_093319.jpg" title="Light mode preview" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dark - the main text is fine, but the purple text in the header doesn't contrast well with a dark background. In this particular theme, I would have preferred to be able to have the theme colour as the background in the header, with the text in white, rather than purple on dark grey. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3aZLerNu-ijXkNZ7o3CkMeOnek-cXPGIDWhXKiIsrfWADHxGpzKbYfw79HP2fOyYzHgb9biq4hA7aP_eD_ZvwQi24nKMB-m-vFm9orVN5o1MgdmquEk5WQFfnXWbjdBwLGkVvRe-Ycc/s1080/IMG_20201106_092522.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Screenshot" border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="1080" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3aZLerNu-ijXkNZ7o3CkMeOnek-cXPGIDWhXKiIsrfWADHxGpzKbYfw79HP2fOyYzHgb9biq4hA7aP_eD_ZvwQi24nKMB-m-vFm9orVN5o1MgdmquEk5WQFfnXWbjdBwLGkVvRe-Ycc/w320-h136/IMG_20201106_092522.jpg" title="Dark mode preview" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">However, while that may be true for this theme, the developer needs to have an overall solution which will work in all themes - white on a yellow background would be equally unreadable, so changing the code to do that would be a little more involved. </p><h1 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 20pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 20pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Excellence with a bonus</span></h1>Jason's second email was when the whole support process stepped up another level. <br /><br />This was his reply:<br /><i><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><i><br /></i><i>“Hi Julie,</i><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><i>Thank you for the additional details and screenshots. They are very helpful and I really appreciate you taking the time to write them up.</i><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><i>In addition to having a setting to force AnyList to use a light theme, we'll see if we can tweak the text colors used in the list a bit to make them more legible.</i><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><i>Adding the ability to choose a background and font color for the category banner is also something we may also consider doing in the future.</i><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><i>I'll be sure to reach out when the ability to force the app to use a light theme is available.”</i></blockquote></i><p style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"> </p>And then, an extra little touch:<p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>“On another note, we got a bunch of reusable shopping bags with the AnyList logo on them, and I'd love to send you one to thank you for being a supporter of the app.”</i></blockquote><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>My interaction with Jason thus far had already impressed me. He had<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>been friendly yet professional throughout</li><li>made me feel that my feedback was valued</li><li>probed behind my original question</li><li>understood the underlying issue</li><li>offered to make quick changes that could make a difference for a relatively small coding effort</li><li>promised to look into the changes that I had suggested, and</li><li>promised to follow up with me once any changes were made (which implies the use of an effective issue tracking system)</li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">In addition to the actual product support, the final paragraph of his email may only have been the offer of a free shopping bag - nothing major in the greater scheme of things, not materially valuable, and of course it incorporates advertising for the product - but it was still a lovely and unexpected touch which made me feel valued out of all proportion to its cost to the company. It almost certainly made the difference between me writing this post, and just being very happy with the support I’d received.</p><p style="text-align: left;">All in all, this was a fine example of excellent customer support.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Update</h4>Less than a week after my first email, a new update was available, which fixed the issue. It didn't incorporate the change that I had initially requested (being able to specify light mode), but brightening the colours of the fonts to work better against a dark background <b>did</b> fix the real issue that my lists were less readable in dark mode.</div><div><div><br /></div></div>Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-14872571786047187202018-12-18T22:07:00.066+00:002020-11-09T10:29:01.427+00:00Personal heating solutions<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgga_oAhX5BBKIqOwNZ0OAoNUbuIwqcpa32Ffo2LN2fyotKR9u9eGEdAYO2BG2QX5KV-1PZurjAjpRZXxp6QvikKKXr3Dv0M4MCv3nyQcpn2UMTYdtvpoTtINIW1YoHgBJzT7svowE7Y/s1200/campfire-1190974.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Camp fire" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZgga_oAhX5BBKIqOwNZ0OAoNUbuIwqcpa32Ffo2LN2fyotKR9u9eGEdAYO2BG2QX5KV-1PZurjAjpRZXxp6QvikKKXr3Dv0M4MCv3nyQcpn2UMTYdtvpoTtINIW1YoHgBJzT7svowE7Y/w150-h200/campfire-1190974.jpg" title="Image courtesy of Emre Yar via freeimages.com" width="150" /></a></div>
I'm what my mum always called "nesh" - a Yorkshire term (I think), which Wikipedia defines as "unusually susceptible to cold weather", so in the colder months I'm always on the lookout for solutions that make my life a little easier (i.e. warmer), whether that's in the office (which can be a little colder than I find ideal), when driving, and when out and about.</div><div>For driving, Andy's last car had heated seats and - joy of joys - a heated steering wheel. Pure bliss. My own little cars, and Andy's current one have had no such luxuries, so I needed other solutions. </div>
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<br /></div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">Heated gloves<br /></h2>
<div>Many battery operated gloves tend to be unisex, and therefore far too big for me to wear on my small hands to drive in safely, and there's certainly no chance of the occasional prod of a phone in my car mount (to accept or decline an alternative route in Google Maps, for instance), even with the ones with "touch screen" bits on the fingers. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_A7E3AeCRLMIEZGtq4dXf76LQn0haIxXCQkATk24xVewAE5ewdPpr8eKHDBjKbGmVdNBDtcUx75qDMMDl1ZX2DoeROoSnaMdtgftAO2cTlG43ocnDvoJ_gNHzHgj3s23VkN4WnRCegwU/s4000/IMG_20201109_101320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_A7E3AeCRLMIEZGtq4dXf76LQn0haIxXCQkATk24xVewAE5ewdPpr8eKHDBjKbGmVdNBDtcUx75qDMMDl1ZX2DoeROoSnaMdtgftAO2cTlG43ocnDvoJ_gNHzHgj3s23VkN4WnRCegwU/s320/IMG_20201109_101320.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>However, I have found some <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07X2NY346" target="_blank">fingerless gloves</a> with heated pad inserts and fold-over mitten ends that allow me to drive safely, and operate the phone when necessary. The heated pads are removable, so could even be used in other gloves if you prefer. They have a long-ish Y-shaped cable which you can thread through your sleeves for safety. (How many of you had your gloves or mittens attached to a piece of string threaded through your coat sleeves as kids?) At one end is a barrel connector for the pads, and at the other is a USB-A plug, which can be plugged into a power bank in your pocket, or into a USB port in your car, if there's one in a suitable position. I would have preferred the cable to be a bit longer to make connecting to a USB port more achievable in most cars, and for it to be black, rather than white, to be less obvious against my clothing, but hey, they work!</div><div>£9.99 per pair from Amazon. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Heated gilet / vest / waistcoat</h2>
<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPfHMON8YjtZf5WjKeYZcJK03uDfocsmnkjonBa-IhoNrvy6Rmumk0Dlzp7dmb7pbWti7AhkPNF6P09rPzBihed0MqJbIo6EaqDmG6VoNw_dQdSuFE16ci7wc4MV3jpNiUjBJf3taqbY/s4000/IMG_20201109_100713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwPfHMON8YjtZf5WjKeYZcJK03uDfocsmnkjonBa-IhoNrvy6Rmumk0Dlzp7dmb7pbWti7AhkPNF6P09rPzBihed0MqJbIo6EaqDmG6VoNw_dQdSuFE16ci7wc4MV3jpNiUjBJf3taqbY/s320/IMG_20201109_100713.jpg" /></a></div></div>A few years ago I bought a battery operated heated gilet. It takes 8 AA batteries (I use eneloop rechargeables) which go in plastic cases in pouches at the front (one of each side), and heat up two panels in the back via a USB A connector. It's unisex (for which read "a bit too big for small women"), and it does the job, but doesn't leave much room for actual pocket contents, as the battery pocket and hand pocket sort of interfere with each other a bit, and it's not the most attractive piece of clothing. Battery life is reasonable (a few hours, if I remember rightly from last time I wore it - to the cinema, where they always have the air-con turned up to eleventy-stupid, for those of you who are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvdrj/episodes/downloads" target="_blank">Wittertainment</a> fans).</div>
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But I was looking for something a bit sleeker and that looked better, offered me more usable pocket space, and stayed warm a bit longer.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-aXxt_1hJHlVz1UGxVrEeWhsR9apv3ML8twZfiKLwMV6ioMT_yQHYK58umbEzice8Dhw-N_QLiwq8X3E3LsmPSrBJlA82xXSr6gRE5O3b_0gvpxWRWkv1Na-IQp0R9gyyMs4FfSDfJU/s4000/IMG_20201109_100743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-aXxt_1hJHlVz1UGxVrEeWhsR9apv3ML8twZfiKLwMV6ioMT_yQHYK58umbEzice8Dhw-N_QLiwq8X3E3LsmPSrBJlA82xXSr6gRE5O3b_0gvpxWRWkv1Na-IQp0R9gyyMs4FfSDfJU/w200-h150/IMG_20201109_100743.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I'm delighted with this <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07XGFZLT6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">heated vest</a>, and it's a bargain price at under £20 (garments of this kind are often priced around £80-£120). Somewhat confusingly, the pictures now show two different designs, but I got the one with the stand collar, which is much more attractive that the V-necked design.</div><div><br /></div><div>Battery life obviously depends on the capacity of the power bank that you plug it into. I can get a few hours from the little 2200mAh ones that are often given away as free gifts at conferences, etc.<br /></div><div><br /></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Other ideas</h2><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br />Hand warmers in a running pouch</h3>
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I already had a running pouch, which is essentially a long stretchy tube with a few slits in it through which you insert your keys, phone, money, etc. Running is not at all my thing, but these are also good for carrying stuff around in other situations. On a recent trip to London in the cold snap, I stuffed it full of those reusable hand warmers with the discs in, plus one HotRocks rechargeable hand warmer. Not bad, and I had always planned to use the hand warmers serially, as they typically only last an hour or two, so the full collection was a bit bulky - but, unlike the gilet, it had the advantage of being worn <b>under</b> most layers of clothing, so you get the best benefit, and your outer layers help to keep the heat in. </div>
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<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheU533kRExFCyQ7WF7zWGl04p0yQUpNkiBlg7kkk3gzgEe8U-QvB2ej-JDgcLXHKD3fvMrCEklaXThT1RfcGkd-kEmAfJFemXw7PeyOYBu0BhPXIPeAeLn7LgZZORA-YduviBgqnq_SIg/s1253/Letouch+handwarmer.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheU533kRExFCyQ7WF7zWGl04p0yQUpNkiBlg7kkk3gzgEe8U-QvB2ej-JDgcLXHKD3fvMrCEklaXThT1RfcGkd-kEmAfJFemXw7PeyOYBu0BhPXIPeAeLn7LgZZORA-YduviBgqnq_SIg/s320/Letouch+handwarmer.jpg" /></a></div>
The Hot Rocks hand warmer lasted longer, but I only had one, it uses a mini-USB cable to charge (I don't have many of those around the house!) and they're currently not available anywhere I can find in the UK.</div>
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<br />So I went looking for alternatives, and found a selection of USB hand warmers / battery packs, available in a few different colours at varying prices. There are a number of identical ones with different brands, so I'm guessing they're all manufactured by the same people, and rebadged. I have a Cookey branded one and a <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N8TXOI4/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=ISYVVMCBGJZZK&colid=RJ9UKEG5DH3K&psc=1" target="_blank">Letouch</a> one. Which one you get will probably depend on offers and delivery timescales at any given time. </div><div><br /></div>
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As per the description, they also doubles as a USB phone charger if necessary. The Hot Rocks one lasts about 3 or 4 hours and charges via mini USB. The Cookey and Letouch use the more common MicroUSB to charge, and last pretty much all day. At least, I haven't run out of power just for heating yet. It has three heat settings: scorching hot / really rather warm / keeps the chill off (although I don't think those are the descriptions that they use!) </div>
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I've also bought an extra running pouch. The hand warmers are quite slippery beasts, and I was worried they may slip out of the slots in the waist band, so I got one with a <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B076P8M1MW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">lanyard and clip</a>, and attached the hand warmers' lanyards to it, which means at least I won't lose them completely if they do slip out. The pouch size I got is a touch too large for me, which means that the contents are not held quite so tightly against your body, so there's more potential for slippage. They're plenty stretchy enough, so if you're in doubt about what size to get, don't worry about not being able to get them on, and err on the small side. </div>
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For me, the most effective way to use them is with two hand warmers, one roughly over each kidney. They seem to warm the back better than the stomach, for some reason, and if you place them just "wide" enough, they don't get in the way of a backrest on a firm chair. </div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Microwaveable wheat pads</h3>
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Another option that I tried was a much larger (non-scented) wheat-filled bag <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004E851P8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">like this one</a>, which needed a bigger running pouch. I got the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MDJUGO6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">Hip Hug Pro</a> to use with it, which is much taller that my others when worn, allowing larger contents to be carried. The wheat bag goes in the microwave for a couple of minutes to warm up. Since it's a bit fiddly squeezing the wheat bag through the slots in the pouch - especially once it's hot - I decided to put the bag in through one of the slots, and then manipulated the wheat through from the outside end of the bag to the inside end first (like sand running through the neck of an hour glass), and then microwaved the wheat bag inside the pouch. Unfortunately, the wheat bag is quite thick, which makes it uncomfortable if worn in on your back in a seat (e.g. a car seat), and the heat doesn't last all that long - maybe half and hour to an hour, so I've come to the conclusion that those are probably best used as a top up on your lap, or draped around your neck, in places where you have access to a microwave to top up the heat.</div><div><br /></div><div>I even have some wheat-filled microwaveable slippers, bought for me as a gift. They're lovely to warm your feet when you get in from the cold, but totally impractical to walk in!</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Scarves hoods and snoods</h3><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8FY9OVULcpJbCsGnu4L5TLMi_H2q7Q9UQyyPdr2BC_XcJm6tJRdHcaSUHFFO99zKZcMwq0EaL-GlKXCemcFQbZwteQl3vhoooFnffgTrKPy2dXt5etUH56rUG9R_8cE-fLNQLVfBU_8/s4000/IMG_20201109_101649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8FY9OVULcpJbCsGnu4L5TLMi_H2q7Q9UQyyPdr2BC_XcJm6tJRdHcaSUHFFO99zKZcMwq0EaL-GlKXCemcFQbZwteQl3vhoooFnffgTrKPy2dXt5etUH56rUG9R_8cE-fLNQLVfBU_8/w150-h200/IMG_20201109_101649.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>For a completely non-tech option, I love wearing decorative scarves, and I'm always conscious that what I wear around my neck makes a big difference to my overall warmth. </div><div><br /></div><div>For versatility, a snood-style (a loop that you can wear in a number of different ways) in a soft jersey fabric take a lot of beating. I love them.</div>
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Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-78446682246152501752017-12-02T14:22:00.000+00:002017-12-19T23:11:56.502+00:00Goodbye BeyondPod; Hello Podcast Addict<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<h3>
My Podcast app history<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIrUglLF1ZKVo85uxuag-DucRqBvV9D7fISQXC98pTMETb_I4HvGVEmfmzF4FOT77zpVqRH9Jk2DtBk3eIOzR117CQW-yQ0YyuKvWRoZAh-kUA1Y5ZennHKCsNE_7odB4w-THX3Y1cWs/s1600/20171202_134425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbIrUglLF1ZKVo85uxuag-DucRqBvV9D7fISQXC98pTMETb_I4HvGVEmfmzF4FOT77zpVqRH9Jk2DtBk3eIOzR117CQW-yQ0YyuKvWRoZAh-kUA1Y5ZennHKCsNE_7odB4w-THX3Y1cWs/s320/20171202_134425.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</h3>
Years ago, I used to use Doggcatcher. I can't even remember which apps I used before that. I'd evaluated others, including "everybody's favourite" PocketCasts, but few had the sort of control and customisation I was looking for. Then, in around 2011 or so, following an online discussion about podcatchers, I decided to try out BeyondPod 2.x, and was hooked, despite some quirks in the UI.<br />
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Version 3 was in beta at the time, and resolved many of those from my point of view; one thing led to another, and I agreed to work for BeyondPod's developer for a few hours per week, mostly handling support in their online forum (technically as a self-employed consultant, mostly just because it made international payments that much easier).<br />
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In my opinion, Version 4 had some different UI issues, but it did have a lot of functionality that worked for me, and I didn't actually see the UI much in day-to-day use, because for me a Podcast app isn't something that I spend a lot of time interacting with. I just play my downloaded podcasts. I may see the player, and occasionally add or delete feeds, or tinker with my playlists sometimes, but that's about it.<br />
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Fast forward 5 years or so, and the ownership of BeyondPod quietly changed hands in March 2016. Since then, development has slowed down significantly, as it's now just one of many products being handled by a larger company, instead of previously being the only product being developed by the owner and founder.<br />
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A year later, after nearly 4 enjoyable years, followed by one rather more frustrating year of helping to support the app, I gave notice that I was leaving, wrote a detailed analysis of the state of play with the test version at the time, and walked away. That was in March, eight months ago. </div>
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They released a new beta version, 4.2.19, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to check the reaction to that in the forum.<br />
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<h3>
What I want from a Podcast app</h3>
Due to the slower pace of development, including a lack of updates to address the issues I'd raised in that February/March report, and the lack of some features that I particularly wanted, I started looking for a new Podcast app which could provide the sort of functionality I'd been used to with BeyondPod, but with more active development.<br />
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I know I'm not typical, but what <b><i>I'm</i></b> looking for in a Podcast app is complex in setup and simple in use. I want multiple "set it and forget it" playlists. The vast majority of my podcast consumption is done whilst driving, and I really don't have the time or inclination to look through episodes, decide what I want to listen to, and manually build a playlist according to my requirements at the time. What I <b>do</b> want is to listen to a predictable collection of different feeds, depending on the circumstances. Over time, I'd created four different playlist types that I use for different situations. For instance, I have some podcasts that I listen to on my own, and others that are saved for when Andy and I are listening together; one for general commuting, and one for longer journeys. BeyondPod has Smart Playlist rules, and all I had to do to access each of my playlists was to tap a shortcut on my home screen to play the one I wanted at any given time. (I like having a personalised / customised launcher just as much as any other app, and using <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pierrox.lightning_launcher_extreme" target="_blank">Lightning Launcher</a>, I have a separate driving-friendly home screen with larger icons than on my normal home screen, and a black background for use in the car.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXRPohpUrZK7Z0HhRjAN5nDfUnxG1_jO2jkeXvnaiwXa9tYKY7BQtFFZlaNmhQzjC8SWVPoVgwuPKghzp_ldidbdW02ERUMgGI0kI_wjW2rM00HdTTgmpAROMwVzvkS_3EM64HaTV9BY/s1600/2+December+2017+125144+GMT%252B0000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXRPohpUrZK7Z0HhRjAN5nDfUnxG1_jO2jkeXvnaiwXa9tYKY7BQtFFZlaNmhQzjC8SWVPoVgwuPKghzp_ldidbdW02ERUMgGI0kI_wjW2rM00HdTTgmpAROMwVzvkS_3EM64HaTV9BY/s400/2+December+2017+125144+GMT%252B0000.jpg" width="400" /></a>What did I find?</h3>
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After much trial and error with various podcast apps, none of which quite fitted the bill for me, I found and paid for <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bambuna.podcastaddict" target="_blank">Podcast Addict</a> in August this year. It doesn't have the detailed Smart Play rules that BP has, but I <b>can</b> categorise my feeds (into as many categories as I like - not just the two that BP allows), and give each feed a priority. It also has a number of features that BP had been promising for some time, or that had been requested and denied, including some that I wanted, and some I couldn't care less about, but had come up from time to time in BP's support forum, including:<br />
<ul>
<li>automatic intro/outro skipping</li>
<li>global volume boost (rather than per-podcast boost only)</li>
<li>silence skipping</li>
<li>chapter support (something I've never needed, but it seems popular for German podcasts in particular)</li>
<li>bookmarking</li>
<li>shake to reset sleep timer</li>
<li>concurrent downloads (this never bothered me, as I download in the background when I'm asleep, but again, it's been requested in BP)</li>
<li>various options for what widget components you want</li>
<li>a recycle bin</li>
</ul>
It also (like BP) has <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm" target="_blank">Tasker</a> integration, and there are a whole load of <a href="https://podcastaddict.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/217903-how-to-control-podcast-addict-from-3rd-parties-app" target="_blank">intents</a> to control PA from Tasker.<br />
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Although I don't have the same level of precise control that BP's Smart Play rules offered, I was able to create substantially the same custom playlists by carefully setting up categories and feed priorities with enough variation that feeds that might be low priority in one playlist could be much higher relative to other feeds in another. I exported my feed list from BP, and imported it to PA, prioritised and categorised my feeds, marked all the older episodes in my feeds as played, and created my custom playlists.<br />
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Like BeyondPod, Podcast Addict has a number of other features that I use, including:<br />
<ul>
<li>speed control - play at speeds from 0.4x to 5.0x normal, which is remembered per feed, rather than as a setting for the feed</li>
<li>Chromecast support</li>
<li>Android Wear support (although I can only vouch for AW1, as I don't have an AW2 device) </li>
<li>Android Auto support (which I can only access using the AA app on the phone, as I don't have Android Auto in a car)</li>
<li>the ability to share feeds and episodes (although it's a bit misleading in its menus about what / how it's sharing)</li>
<li>external player support</li>
<li>pull to refresh feed</li>
<li>automatic feed update time and frequency</li>
<li>dark and light themes</li>
<li>settings for how you like to view various bits of information about your podcasts</li>
<li>the ability to limit the number of episodes you download and/or automatically delete played / old unplayed episodes by criteria</li>
<li>support for removable SD cards</li>
<li>flattr support</li>
<li>the ability to mark an episode as a favourite to prevent it from being autodeleted</li>
<li>sleep timer (including stop at end of current episode)</li>
<li>probably other things that I take for granted!</li>
</ul>
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<h3>
What was missing?</h3>
The biggest thing that was missing for me at this point was the ability to start up a custom playlist from a home screen shortcut. For a few months, I left it at that, manually switching to my desired playlist in PA's UI, according to what I was doing. But the dropdown list is closely packed, so it was a bit fiddly, especially in the car.<br />
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However, when I got in touch, PA's developer, Xavier Guillemane, was happy to add some arguments to the Tasker intent that already existed to open the current playlist, to allow users to select and play (or not immediately play) any playlist, with or without bringing up the PA UI. By creating a general Tasker task to play a selected playlist using those parameters to control the details, and a selection of other tasks, each with their own distinctive icon, that simply passed the names and required behaviour for each playlist to this task, I could then create Tasker shortcuts to those tasks on my home screen, and one tap starts my preferred playlist.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_4yn0jGqVP-vtDkY2_a6IeKBh6heE3wxAMdwNvVhUweDx0hwJOsdvy2Tv4GHZ-xZ4wxnfZDIan3T1Uo7iCjTji_QuzKOm8VR0V7_GcK2GWDUNU9OPiP81AdEk4K_ovLsSw5AkZSfufo/s1600/Screenshot_20171202-130950.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="1062" height="78" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5_4yn0jGqVP-vtDkY2_a6IeKBh6heE3wxAMdwNvVhUweDx0hwJOsdvy2Tv4GHZ-xZ4wxnfZDIan3T1Uo7iCjTji_QuzKOm8VR0V7_GcK2GWDUNU9OPiP81AdEk4K_ovLsSw5AkZSfufo/s320/Screenshot_20171202-130950.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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So now I'm a happy bunny again.<br />
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One thing that's still missing is cross-device synchronisation, which is a feature I had enabled but never really made use of in BP, and I believe that's in the works for PA too.
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<i>More detail added on 19 Dec 2017</i></div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-16777679489199378072015-04-09T21:33:00.000+01:002015-04-10T14:51:57.191+01:00One ring to rule them all ...
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I'm looking for neat ideas to get the most from my new NFC ring. </div>
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The <a href="http://www.marchofthedroids.co.uk/whats-on/" target="_blank">March of the Droids</a> event last month included a couple of NFC-related highlights. One was a presentation about NFC implants; the other was a trade stand for NFCRing.com. I was looking forward to both. </div>
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For those who don't know, NFC (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication" target="_blank">Near Field Communication</a>) is a technology whereby a powered device such as an NFC equipped smartphone can exchange data with a passive NFC tag or another powered NFC device. The tag doesn't need any power (it draws what it needs from the other device). It's really short range - for all practical purposes, you may as well assume that the device and tag need to be touching to work. You can also use NFC between two powered devices (e.g. 2 smartphones) to initiate data transfer, such as sending a photo or your contact details to another phone, although the devices will generally use Bluetooth or WiFi direct for the actual data transfer; NFC is just used to set up the connection.</div>
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The same technology is used in Credit Card machines (the powered bit)
and modern Debit cards (the passive bit) for Contactless payments. Many Android and Blackberry phones and tablets have NFC radios, and the iPhone 6 and 6+ have it too, but Apple have restricted it so that it can <b>only</b> be used for Apple pay.</div>
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Anyway back to the point. Mathew Bloomer Brack gave a fascinating presentation about NFC implants - or more specifically, his own NFC implant, which he had done having been inspired by the farming applications for controlling cattle gates depending on the data on the cows' ear tags, and his own inability to keep track of the tag he needed to open doors, etc on campus. I would have been more than happy to have an NFC implant myself - after all, it's much the same principle that vets use when they inject microchips into conscious puppies and kittens every day of the week, but £125 for the chip and implantation seemed a bit on the steep side when I wasn't really quite sure how I was going to make use of it (despite loving the idea just for the pure geekiness of it) ... and anyway, as it turned out, the guy who was going to be doing the implants couldn't make it to the event. Still, if you fancy a bit of implantation yourself, the place to start is <a href="http://dangerousthings.com/">http://dangerousthings.com/</a>. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizwWMGb_p8DVNHa5RIN6bAqLSSiqOKEKM78zb9-NOEUmVK_ytBiTGktXC0OA8VrUbYJg3jspnTfSyEr8By65PR0YcfpkBsOA6jFK6pFQekl9kortV_blKM0P0hH5Vp_ZpRiuoIMLyFXL4/s1600/2015-03-21+14.18.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizwWMGb_p8DVNHa5RIN6bAqLSSiqOKEKM78zb9-NOEUmVK_ytBiTGktXC0OA8VrUbYJg3jspnTfSyEr8By65PR0YcfpkBsOA6jFK6pFQekl9kortV_blKM0P0hH5Vp_ZpRiuoIMLyFXL4/s1600/2015-03-21+14.18.50.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Between presentations, I had some interesting discussions with Alex Sullivan (Customer Support / Ring Evangelist) from NFCRing.com who had a stand at the event, showing off their rather less invasive approach to "magic" door opening (amongst other things), namely the NFC ring, plus the Samsung NFC door lock. At £30, a ring seemed a much more affordable, if slightly less geeky, option. On a side note, we've had keyless remote door opening and ignition on our car for years, and it's really useful not to have to fumble for keys when you've got your hands full - or, if I'm honest, even when you haven't. I'd dearly love to have an NFC door lock for similar functionality on the front door of our house, but unless you go for something hideously expensive, they're only available for wooden doors at the moment, and our front door is a UPVC one. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8HqRbG0Diq0xvrIhyIidqG3mgwZKveG5anaA-idoQ7FjwOkcGLY8x87OtUBSYURc-d3KXf9YmI40IpEPGrIrdzIHHUsCm-nqc_Y_nWB-YTJFCW2qJJ4Dykb8IC04ldjKIvyvrv-OsaPQ/s1600/PICT_20150321_164548~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8HqRbG0Diq0xvrIhyIidqG3mgwZKveG5anaA-idoQ7FjwOkcGLY8x87OtUBSYURc-d3KXf9YmI40IpEPGrIrdzIHHUsCm-nqc_Y_nWB-YTJFCW2qJJ4Dykb8IC04ldjKIvyvrv-OsaPQ/s1600/PICT_20150321_164548~2.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhNppb4rXSRcoO70-ijx_MJjeO-g-WHwVi6eR-rbysoLVpPRaxMDgef6vjZGJw7oo-0JRmlGJMZ4O2kKWtM0PTolxQsaNPxUyZh4cmgyaEce1_kLxY8WS8NF4p42ndrWgiTKy9Iyt8xk/s1600/2015-04-05+18.34.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhNppb4rXSRcoO70-ijx_MJjeO-g-WHwVi6eR-rbysoLVpPRaxMDgef6vjZGJw7oo-0JRmlGJMZ4O2kKWtM0PTolxQsaNPxUyZh4cmgyaEce1_kLxY8WS8NF4p42ndrWgiTKy9Iyt8xk/s1600/2015-04-05+18.34.01.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a> After the event, Andy and I headed out to Argos (the "proper" jewellers were closed on a Sunday) to determine what ring sizes we'd need, converted the UK sizes to US sizes, and I placed our order - the Signature, partly because I prefer the look of the black stripe on one side, and partly because having one black side and one clear side (you can see through to the circuitry) makes it easy to know which data is on which part of the ring. We've had a couple of days to play with them, and now we're looking for clever ideas on what to use them for. </div>
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<div>
I've scoured the web for ideas, but almost all of the ideas that I've found are things that I can (and already do) do automatically without needing to tap my phone to anything at all. A lot of my phone use, and some of my home is already automated. My phone knows when it's at home because it knows what my WiFi network is called; it knows when I'm in the car because it automatically connects to the car bluetooth; it knows when it's time to switch into Sleep mode because - well, because it knows what time of day it is (and the Sleep agent that I use has a delay option that I can use if I'm out/up later than usual, and don't want my phone to go into quiet/sleep mode yet). I use my SmartWatch as a trusted bluetooth device (in conjunction with SkipLock) to keep my phone unlocked as long as it's with me, so I don't need a ring to unlock it.</div>
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The bottom line is that all the things like unlocking my phone, setting certain profiles, starting certain apps, etc., because I'm in a particular place or it's a particular time of day just don't need a tag at all. The car's (aftermarket) bluetooth unit is in the glovebox. so one vaguely useful one I can think of is to program an NFC tag so that occasionally when the car audio has decided to connect to the wrong phone, I can easily reconnect my own phone to it, without scrabbling in the glovebox or digging into the phone's bluetooth settings ... but even then, that's a job for a tag on the car dashboard, not for something I'm wearing.</div>
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<div>
Andy and I have a ring each, both of which have two separate storage areas that can be programmed. Andy's an amateur photographer, so he's programmed one of his tags to be the address of his Flickr account, so that if he's at an event and taking pictures, he can easily give the link to somebody for later. (And if he's really organised, he can create a Flickr folder for the event beforehand, and put that link on his ring.)</div>
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<div>
Alex from NFCRing has two useful things (for him) on his ring - a door key code (which, as I've already said, I'd LOVE to be able to make use of on my own front door, but can't), and an email stub with his email address, subject and a the start of a message, so that when you meet him at events, he can easily get you started on sending him an email message. </div>
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For me, it's unlikely that I'll want to give my personal email address to somebody that I meet out of the blue, and the chances of using the technique with my work email address is pretty unlikely in the veterinary industry, where faxing information rather than emailing it is still surprisingly common. I currently have my blog address and my G+ URL programmed on mine, but that seems pretty boring, so I'm looking for some other ideas - things that I haven't already automated by time or location. </div>
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<div>
If it helps, I already have/use the following automation apps/equipment</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tryagent" target="_blank">Agent</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.benhirashima.skiplock" target="_blank">Skiplock</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm" target="_blank">Tasker</a></li>
<li><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dolphin.lightwaverf" target="_blank">LightWaveRF</a> (in conjunction with a <a href="http://www.megamanuk.com/lightwaverf/products/jsjslw930/" target="_blank">LightWave Link</a> to connect to our router, and some <a href="http://www.megamanuk.com/lightwaverf/products/power-control/jsjslw321blk/" target="_blank">LightWave Remote On/Off</a> socket adapters)</li>
<li>Some other NFC tags and fobs</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
So I'm open to ideas ...? </div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-68341917114865201332015-04-05T13:24:00.000+01:002015-04-06T15:39:30.846+01:00Tesco Hudl2 Bluetooth keyboard case - a reviewIn January this year, I bought the amazing value Tesco Hudl2 to replace my aging original Nexus 7 as my primary tablet. I bought a purple one, together with a matching purple "Soft Touch" folio case.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FfLarvKM1N4SuNy59tYN_sWQ3h-vD_kQPYEfB6_Rfx_0i3EtDhtOj5c32Z19UE77o5kDlWbwfsM8Ad8yKwz1GvK9tCRRy4Dx2nl0ye3M10tMGZzNPpeMsH_NeSzW5s1v0uJnYkqpCIU/s1600/IMG_20150406_132303+Hudl2+Keyboard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FfLarvKM1N4SuNy59tYN_sWQ3h-vD_kQPYEfB6_Rfx_0i3EtDhtOj5c32Z19UE77o5kDlWbwfsM8Ad8yKwz1GvK9tCRRy4Dx2nl0ye3M10tMGZzNPpeMsH_NeSzW5s1v0uJnYkqpCIU/s1600/IMG_20150406_132303+Hudl2+Keyboard.JPG" height="320" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purple Hudl2 in use in the keyboard case</td></tr>
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I've always been a fan of physical keyboards. I can type much faster than I can write - certainly for any sort of prolonged periods - and definitely faster than I can get the words that I want (with or without autocorrect interfering) with a touch keyboard of any sort on a phone or tablet. In particular, a soft keyboard in landscape hides so much of a phone or tablet's screen that it drives me mad. I've tried a number of portable bluetooth keyboards over the years, but have been mostly disappointed. My favourite is still the Freedom, which folds in half, and opens out as more-or-less a full-sized keyboard, but it's a bit of a faff unless you're sitting at a table with some serious typing to do. <br />
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So with that in mind, this weekend, I spent some Tesco vouchers on a <a href="http://www.tesco.com/direct/hudl2-bluetooth-keyboard-case/598-0516.prd%20%20http://www.tesco.com/direct/hudl2-bluetooth-keyboard-case/598-0516.prd" target="_blank">bluetooth keyboard case</a> for my Hudl2.
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<h3>
Bluetooth keyboards</h3>
As I've said, I've always liked my <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDEQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffreedom.helpserve.com%2FKnowledgebase%2FArticle%2FGetAttachment%2F46%2F20&ei=QYYiVbykI4vxau2lgbAN&usg=AFQjCNFrh8dpm2prbM8RYwPZSmXC55JxEg&sig2=reyar8ZaUd9YV1ZEvil8JA&bvm=bv.89947451,d.d2s&cad=rjt" target="_blank">Freedom Pro</a> folding bluetooth keyboard, ever since I got it. But, because it folds, it's really only suitable for use when you have a table or other hard surface to stand both the keyboard and your device on. I wanted something that would be a little more versatile and usable in slightly less perfect conditions. <br />
<br />
I confess that I've been interested in the <a href="http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/multi-device-keyboard-k480" target="_blank">Logitech K480</a> for a little while - the slot at the back of the keyboard in which to stand your devices and the fact that it's switchable between three devices definitely appealed to me. In my case, the three candidates would be my Z3 Compact phone, my Hudl2 tablet and probably my Z-Ultra. However, I took my Hudl 2 along to John Lewis to try it out a few weeks ago, and found that<br />
a) the Hudl in its folio case didn't really fit in the stand, and<br />
b) I could get it to pair, but not to actually work (although the keyboard would pair and work quite happily with my phone). <br />
<br />
So I put the idea on the back burner for a while.<br />
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Then this weekend I thought I'd see if I could find out whether anybody else had had problems with the Hudl2 and bluetooth keyboards, and Googled Hudl2 Bluetooth keyboard. I didn't find anyone else who'd had the same problem, but I <b>did</b> discover that Tesco sell a Hudl2 Bluetooth Keyboard case. It's £40, but as with all Hudl2 tablets and accessories, it's eligible for Tesco Clubcard boost. So off I went to my nearest Tesco Extra, armed with £20 worth of Tesco Clubcard vouchers to see what I thought of it.
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There weren't any on display (out of the packaging), but I figured it was worth a shot without closer inspection at that price. I had some other shopping to do in town, so having handed over my vouchers, I slotted my Hudl into it, and plugged the keyboard into my car charger to get it started; then when I stopped for lunch, out came my Anker wireless charger to give it a bit of a top up so that I could have a play.
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<h3>
<div>
The hardware</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9gw4zgu3Z74gEjWkRq6NAuh-_meBFoqDwKRCeTd5ysrt7k2fQSVAEvVSnkBBQ9H8tlba8RE547jC-AvQm8T-L46kUQmdqR72u0Zn5NpTFbTw-ojylii3SJKssE-SzLXuic9wC_iIfnI/s1600/2015-04-05+13.48.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9gw4zgu3Z74gEjWkRq6NAuh-_meBFoqDwKRCeTd5ysrt7k2fQSVAEvVSnkBBQ9H8tlba8RE547jC-AvQm8T-L46kUQmdqR72u0Zn5NpTFbTw-ojylii3SJKssE-SzLXuic9wC_iIfnI/s1600/2015-04-05+13.48.52.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mostly standard UK keyboard layout ...<br />
with a few "small keyboard" exceptions, <br />
and an inexplicably red Enter key</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The first thing to note is that with the best will in the world, you couldn't possibly claim that it's built like a tank. It's actually very lightweight, slightly flexible and rather plasticky. However, for my use, that's actually a bit of a bonus. It means that I can leave the case on the tablet all the time, and continue to use the Hudl2 in my usual preferred portrait orientation with the keyboard switched off and folded back out of the way when I don't need it, without it feeling like it's getting in the way, or that it's adding much more significant weight than my old folio case. That may not sound like much of a recommendation, but it certainly doesn't feel as though it's in danger of snapping any time soon. <br />
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The outside of the case is only available in black, and has a perfectly pleasant feel. It's not faux leather, but it doesn't feel like shiny plastic, or rubber (which I hate) either - I would guess it's made of the same material as the ordinary colour co-ordinated "Soft touch" case that my Hudl has been living in since I bought it. Inside, the keyboard is stepped, with a raised shelf at the top, containing the on/off switch, and a step down to the keys themselves, plus a couple of raised rubber "stops" in the bottom right and left corners, at the same height as the shelf at top, so that the keys don't scratch the screen of the tablet when the case is closed. You might think that these stops would get in the way and be annoying; all I can tell you is that when I'm touch typing, I simply don't notice that they're there.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Case closed</td></tr>
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<div>
The closure flap is slim, and uses magnets to hold it closed. It doesn't feel like it's in the way whether the case is closed or folded open but not in use, which is good - I'm not a fan of bulky flaps and closure tabs: they always seem to catch on things. </div>
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<h3>
Set up and use</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Initial set up is much the same as for any other bluetooth keyboard - put it in pairing mode (as described in the brief instruction leaflet), and search for devices from the Bluetooth settings on the tablet. Once you select the keyboard, you'll be prompted to type a 6 digit code on the keyboard and hit Enter. Job done.
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<br /></div>
Once paired, the keyboard is fairly fast (a second or two, perhaps) to switch on and connect with the tablet, so it's perfectly possible to leave it switched off and tucked behind the tablet most of the time, as mentioned, and then switch it around and turn the keyboard on to type a reply to something when you need to. I'm glad the keyboard came with a brief instruction leaflet though, or I don't think it would have occurred to me to <b>unclip</b> the case from the top of the (landscape) screen before folding it into the usual triangle to form the stand for the screen. There are magnets to hold it in place (the same ones that hold the flap closed), but they're a bit weak. They just about do the job, but you have to be a bit careful to fold them into exactly the right spot. Once everything's in place though, unless your working environment is in a very bumpy moving vehicle, it should stay put.
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<h3>
How well does it work?</h3>
The keyboard feel is surprisingly good, and I'm a bit picky about that, since I touch type. In my world, many a portable keyboard has been bought in optimism, and returned in disappointment. Portable keyboards that I get my hands on always get compared against my memory of the one on my old beloved Psion5 - frequently to their detriment. (I'm prepared to believe that after all this time, I may be looking at the Psion keyboard through rose tinted spectacles. However, I used to run my life on that thing a couple of decades ago, and touch-typing was key for me then too.)<br />
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<br /></div>
As you might expect from a Hudl product, the keyboard has a UK (not American) layout, with the £ and " keys where you'd expect to find them, above the 3 and 2, respectively. And it does have a separate row of numeric keys, which is definitely good news in my book. My main gripe with the Hudl2's keyboard is the position of the aprostrophe (Fn-L, rather than two keys to the right of the L as on a full-sized keyboard), but with a little practice, I suppose it's not too bad to get used to. And unfortunately, that (or some variation on it) seems to be quite common in portable keyboards.<br />
<br />
The question mark is on the bottom row, out of position too, but that doesn't seem to bother me as much. It's a little frustrating that there is physically room on the keyboard to have added an extra key or two to the right of the P, L and M without compromising the raised stops on either side of the bottom row of keys, which could have avoided this non-standard layout.<br />
<br />
On the other hand (see what I did there?), a very good point in its favour is the presence of a Shift key on both sides of the keyboard. I've tried so many keyboards that only have one on the left, like a soft keyboard, which makes proper touch typing impossible.
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<h3>
Your soft keyboard choice makes a difference</h3>
After a few anomalies whilst typing, I realised that some of the keyboard functionality depends on which Android on-screen keyboard you're using. One of the things that confused me at first was that when using Swype, suggested words still get offered, and using the left and right keys allows you to select one of the options offered ... sometimes! I haven't quite worked out under what circumstances this fails to work (and I'm guessing its not intentional), but it's a bit annoying that it's not entirely predictable. Having said that, you can always touch one of the suggested words on the screen to pick it. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of that is that you can't use the usual Shift-Left/Shift-Right keyboard shortcuts to select characters to be deleted, copied, etc. However, I found that if I switched to the standard Google keyboard, that particular problem went away - largely because so did the word suggestions! - and I <b>could</b> use Shift-Left and Shift-Right to select text as I'd expect. Maybe with different settings, Swype would behave differently too. When I switched to the TouchPal keyboard, things got even more funky, so it seems you get the hardware keyboard sort of overlaid on your screen keyboard of choice, which might make some functionality a bit unpredictable, depending on what provision for hardware keyboards your software keyboard has.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WDAHE05ZF80YE0-grAp4N_HfUkqeZmDUP1s2hk3DB5VKn-UHD-zAvgV4CLFfGdb09wLWV1HkQ72IMyBzVRoZ_Tl4j-NBcwZNNCoRvlcO3IFr0frfVSpkat7P7Wm8JoLkMKCrj2ijnrY/s1600/Screenshot_2015-04-05-14-19-41~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WDAHE05ZF80YE0-grAp4N_HfUkqeZmDUP1s2hk3DB5VKn-UHD-zAvgV4CLFfGdb09wLWV1HkQ72IMyBzVRoZ_Tl4j-NBcwZNNCoRvlcO3IFr0frfVSpkat7P7Wm8JoLkMKCrj2ijnrY/s1600/Screenshot_2015-04-05-14-19-41~2.jpg" height="112" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In use in conjunction with Swype's word suggestions - pressing on the right arrow will select the next suggestion</td></tr>
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<div>
<br /></div>
Regardless of your choice of soft keyboard, other common keyboard shoftcuts (Ctrl-A, Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V) all work as expected, and you can use Alt-Tab to cycle between 8 recent apps. The top (numeric) row of keys also double up as function keys, with symbols for their actions when used with the Fn key. The full set consists of: Search, Copy, Cut, Paste, Email (as you might expect, Android prompts for which app to us when you press it for the first time); audio controls for Prev, Play/Pause, Next, Vol Down, Vol Up; Lock (and unlock) the screen, and Initiate pairing.
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<div>
<br /></div>
There's also a Home key in the top left corner, and a Back key to the left of the space bar (with KitKat-style symbols -- not surprising for a keyboard intended for a tablet running KitKat), both of which behave exactly as you would expect on Android.
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I'm not sure why the manufacturers saw fit to make the Enter key stand out in bright red. I'm sure I'd have managed to find it without the extra "help", and it's a bit unnecessarily garish, but I suppose I can live with it.
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<div>
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<h3>
My Verdict</h3>
In summary, I typed this review almost entirely on the Hudl2 keyboard case (except for a few edits just before posting), and although I definitely made a few more mistakes than I would have done on a full sized keyboard, it wasn't bad at all - definitely one of the better miniature ones that I've tried. I may have to investigate whether I can set up a (non-rooted) Tasker task to switch soft keyboards when the hardware one is connected and disconnected though. And from that, you may have gathered that the verdict is that although it's not perfect, I'll be keeping it.
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-1512824859621401652014-08-24T20:20:00.000+01:002014-08-28T10:45:41.337+01:00Social Extortion - a worrying trend<div style="text-align: left;">
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<h3>
A personal view, and a call to break the chain</h3>
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I recently casually "liked" somebody's amusing but rather bizarre post on Facebook. As a <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPU3vpPbTLin6k4wcaUNmgGgt4wgIlE8CJdmvrivZ5cvl7geSC62EHB4bMrnVQU8T998X06qYg4BME3YgEqgmSLsLu4yv4yWG984UISX-eXsMF19Bu9fF9SwMmQD9WZgRepEkNUYgXNE/s1600/money-clip-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkPU3vpPbTLin6k4wcaUNmgGgt4wgIlE8CJdmvrivZ5cvl7geSC62EHB4bMrnVQU8T998X06qYg4BME3YgEqgmSLsLu4yv4yWG984UISX-eXsMF19Bu9fF9SwMmQD9WZgRepEkNUYgXNE/s1600/money-clip-art.jpg" height="320" width="296" /></a></div>
result, I received a private message from that person inviting me to post one of fourteen equally bizarre posts on my timeline, with no explanation. The stated reason for this was to raise awareness for a particular charity. Setting aside the fact that the only person whose awareness would be raised was me, which therefore calls into question the whole point, I declined. I won't name the charity, because I strongly suspect that they don't even know anything about this particular "campaign". <br />
<br />
This may be an unpopular view, but I see this as a worrying trend in social media, akin to old-fashioned chain letters, first on paper and then by email, which claimed wonderful things would happen to you if you continued the chain, and promised dire consequences for those who broke it. <br />
<h4>
Social chain letters are not an ethical way to raise money or awareness</h4>
Put simply, it's social <b>extortion</b>, public <b>bullying</b>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
What we donate to doesn't even necessarily have a lot of logic to it, as discussed by Julia Belluz in <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6040435/als-ice-bucket-challenge-and-why-we-give-to-charity-donate" target="_blank">The truth about the Ice Bucket Challenge: Viral memes shouldn't dictate our charitable giving</a> <br />
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The latest fashionable example is the ice bucket challenge. As I understand it, you can protect yourself from being nominated by donating to the charity and posting evidence of your contribution. So I suppose that's one way of raising money. But what about those who accept the challenge? How does the charity benefit then? Is the person who nominated you supposed to sponsor you? If so, that seems to have been very much lost in translation.<br />
<br />
Is it trying to raise awareness for the charity? If so, it's failed miserably. I've actually made a point of looking to see what the cause is on the last few posts I've seen about it, and I still can't tell you what the charity is, much less what it's raising money for. I suspect I'm not alone. Do you know?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #073763;"><i>Edit: For a more pragmatic view on how to choose a worthy charity to support (other than those that support causes that you have personally been affected by), see Scott Gilmore's post, <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/why-the-ice-bucket-challenge-is-bad-for-you/" target="_blank">Why the Ice Bucket Challenge is bad for you</a>. The TL;DR version boils down to this:</i></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #073763;"><i>"We, as individuals and as a society, have finite resources to donate to medical research and other worthy causes. When we decide where to spend our charitable dollars, we need to consider three factors.<br /><br />1. Where is the greatest need?<br />2. Where will my dollars have the greatest influence?<br />3. What is the most urgent problem? "</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
...</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #073763;"><i>"This is why the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is bad for you, and me, and all of us. Instead of supporting what is most needed, we support what is most amusing.<br /><br />But you can change this. Print the simple reminder below, fold it up, put it in your wallet. And the next time you reach for your credit card number, pause and actually think. </i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #073763;"><i><span class="entry-content" itemprop="articleBody"></span></i></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><i><b>Good reasons to donate</b></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><i>1. Need<br />
2. Influence<br />
3. Urgency</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #073763;"><i>
</i></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #073763;"><i><b>Bad reasons to donate:</b></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763;"><i>
</i></span><span style="color: #073763;"><i>1. Ice Buckets<br />
2. Wristbands<br />
3. Mustaches"</i></span></blockquote>
<h4>
How to ruin your cause for me</h4>
I may just be being belligerent, but the best way to make me unlikely <i><b>ever</b></i> to contribute to or raise awareness of your charity is to try to trick or guilt trip me into it. <br />
<br />
I contribute to charities, and I'm fairly sure that the majority of people do, when they can. However, when I do, it's because I <i><b>choose</b></i> to, not because it's the latest social trend. If you want to win me over to a cause, please credit me with the intelligence to make an informed decision.<br />
<h4>
Unforeseen consequences</h4>
The particularly worrying part about using social media for a campaign though, is that most people have online connections with other people that they don't actually know very well. Many people in my internet social circles have no idea what challenges I've faced in my life, or whether my friends or relatives have been affected by particular situations or medical conditions, terminal or otherwise. If you challenge me to something on behalf of a charity, you probably have no idea whether either the challenge itself or the related charity may trigger upset or bad memories for me. <br />
<br />
You also don't know my personal circumstances or financial situation. I may be unable to afford to protect myself from nomination, or sponsor the next person in the chain. Or I may simply not agree with the charity you're supporting. <br />
<br />
For the record, my recent nomination didn't trigger any reaction other than annoyance. However, a nomination for some other cause might have triggered a bad reaction related to some things in my life. Whether I choose to share those events with you depends on how well I know you, and how I feel about telling you about them. I may choose to share them with you as a way to support and help you because you're experiencing something similar yourself, for instance.<br />
<br />
Actually, I'm not a particularly private person, but there are some things that I choose not to share with the world at large. And that means that some people who are my Friend on Facebook or who follow me on G+ or Twitter probably don't actually know much about me outside those areas where our lives intersect, and can't anticipate what things might upset me. The same applies to many, perhaps the majority, of the other people you know online. <br />
<h4>
Think before you challenge</h4>
In my case it's fairly unlikely that you'll trigger anything serious, but for all you know, your challenge
could trigger a relapse for somebody. Even if it only brings up sad
memories, is it really worth it? <br />
<br />
So please, before you nominate somebody for the next "fashionable" social challenge, whether it's fund-raising or something apparently more benign (there are lots of other types of apparently helpful/encouraging challenges and nominations going around, apart from the fund raising ones), stop to think how your challenge might affect them, and whether it's the most appropriate way to do what you're trying to do. If you're supporting a charity, maybe you could raise more money and awareness by publicly declining the challenge and doing something else instead? Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-46165997811500922752014-03-06T11:28:00.000+00:002016-01-07T14:15:24.452+00:00KitKat and removable SD cards<br />
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There has been a lot of panic and online discussion lately as Samsung <i>(edit: and now Sony)</i> have started rolling out KitKat to their devices, and people have suddenly found that things don't work as they used to with their SD cards.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Headline News: SD cards have NOT stopped working - but some methods that apps used to use will no longer work.</h3>
<br />
Back when Honeycomb was released, Google introduced a new method of accessing SD cards, which was largely ignored at the time, but is now being implemented by Samsung (and maybe by other manufacturers who have devices with MicroSD card slots). There's a long <a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/02/17/external-blues-google-has-brought-big-changes-to-sd-cards-in-kitkat-and-even-samsung-may-be-implementing-them/" target="_blank">Android Police article</a> about it, but here's the TL;DR version.<br />
<ul>
<li>Every app still has read access to every file on your SD card.</li>
<li>Every app can still write to your SD card, <b>but</b> it will have to use one of the new methods. Simply having write access to the card won't work any more. </li>
<li>You do NOT need to root your device to regain write access to your SD card. </li>
</ul>
If your app doesn't support one of the new methods of writing to the card, you need to contact
your app developer to ask them to
update their app. Be nice: this change has rather been sprung on developers without much warning, so use whatever feedback method they request,
rather than leaving a bad review in the Play Store. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Apps can use the following methods to gain write access to your SD card:<br />
<ul>
<li>A private folder, which is created programmatically by the app, and will be named according the app's package name, e.g. Android/data/com.example.foo (to steal Android Police's example). This is appropriate for apps which download and otherwise manipulate files on your behalf, without you ever knowing or needing to know their filenames or location (e.g. podcatchers).<br /><i><b>NB: If you uninstall the app, this folder and all the files in it will automatically be removed from your card</b></i></li>
<li>Use the <a href="https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/document-provider.html" target="_blank">Storage Access Framework</a>. This is appropriate for apps that use a file picker to allow you to open / edit a particular file (e.g. document editors).</li>
<li>MTP (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol" target="_blank">Media Transfer Protocol</a>) which has historically (well, recently,) more commonly been used by PCs (rather than apps on the device itself) to transfer and manipulate files when your device is attached to a PC as a mass storage device. Anecdotally, it does seem to be slightly unreliable in some cases. This is appropriate for apps that mass-manipulate general files and folders under user control, such as file managers. </li>
</ul>
<strike>Unfortunately, the mechanism to create and use the special private folders was only introduced with KitKat, so there's a Catch-22 situation in that it's not possible for apps that take that approach to proactively move files they've previously had access to into a private storage folder <i>before</i> a KitKat update. That means that each app will have to wait until after the update to move them, and you'll need to then use some other method (i.e. a file manager) to tidy up the files that they can't delete on your behalf. Alternatively, you could temporarily move their files to your internal storage (if you have room) before the update, and back to the SD card, in the new private folder after the KitKat update</strike>. <i>Update: Actually, this is not true. There is nothing special about the folder on an SD card other than its name and path. </i><br />
<br />
<h3>
Apps that have been updated / do work</h3>
<ul>
<li>BeyondPod 3.3.68 / 3.30.68 onwards (private folder)</li>
</ul>
<h3>
Apps that don't yet work (can read, but not write/delete)</h3>
<ul>
<li>MX Player </li>
</ul>
Please feel free to feedback apps that you know of that do or don't work
with SD cards on KitKat, and I'll update the list above. (As you can see, this started
as a very short list!) Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-63159017612004487252013-08-04T09:40:00.000+01:002013-11-06T12:15:54.058+00:00ChromeCast in the UK<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0T00lGNPjvc/Uf1MpjZEh2I/AAAAAAAABmI/2AAQaTxYsg8/s1600/2013-08-03+19.16.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="ChromeCast dongle" border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0T00lGNPjvc/Uf1MpjZEh2I/AAAAAAAABmI/2AAQaTxYsg8/s200/2013-08-03+19.16.17.jpg" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ChromeCast Dongle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My "other" boss - the one in the USA - managed to get hold of some of the first batch of ChromeCast devices, and was kind enough to post one to me to try out.<br />
<br />
Of course, it's not officially available over here yet, which meant I was expecting that there might be some problems, so how did I get on?<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><h3>
Packaging</h3>
I had said that there wasn't much point in sending the US power brick, so I wasn't expecting any packaging, but when the parcel arrived, it actually contained the full box and contents:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQ894O91ZBY/Uf1OORvkR1I/AAAAAAAABmo/nZ8y5NVT04A/s1600/2013-07-31+10.52.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Chromecast Box" border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQ894O91ZBY/Uf1OORvkR1I/AAAAAAAABmo/nZ8y5NVT04A/s320/2013-07-31+10.52.38.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ChromeCast box</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aJpwBGV7l7k/Uf1OOcJ5_0I/AAAAAAAABmk/fa6FQgFC0j4/s1600/2013-07-31+10.53.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Open box with dongle" border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aJpwBGV7l7k/Uf1OOcJ5_0I/AAAAAAAABmk/fa6FQgFC0j4/s320/2013-07-31+10.53.56.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Open box, with dongle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TsREwN9roKI/Uf1PiM7N6QI/AAAAAAAABnI/Yw1qgAlAPhA/s1600/2013-08-03+19.41.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Open box with dongle (and USB cable) removed" border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TsREwN9roKI/Uf1PiM7N6QI/AAAAAAAABnI/Yw1qgAlAPhA/s320/2013-08-03+19.41.05.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Open box with dongle (and USB cable) removed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RCLhQCI_EzU/Uf1OOZevPTI/AAAAAAAABms/cE6MMme-DjM/s1600/2013-07-31+10.54.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The entire contents of the box" border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RCLhQCI_EzU/Uf1OOZevPTI/AAAAAAAABms/cE6MMme-DjM/s320/2013-07-31+10.54.41.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entire contents of the box</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Look at all that wasted space! Without a power brick, the box could have been two thirds of the size. Still, a box measuring 12 x 12 x 3.5cm can hardly be classed as large.<br />
<br />
As a Hitchhikers' fan since the original radio series was first broadcast, I was delighted to find that this is, indeed, the mysterious media streamer with model number H2G2-42 that was submitted for FCC approval in May this year, as reported by <a href="http://androidcommunity.com/?s=h2g2-42" target="_blank">AndroidCommunity.com</a>. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Installation</h3>
The petite instruction leaflet says you should plug in the supplied USB cable to one end of the dongle (with the other end attached to a power source - a USB port in your TV if you have a suitable one, or some kind of power adapter if not); plug the HDMI end into your TV, and follow the instructions.<br />
<br />
It took a couple of minutes for anything to appear on the screen, during which time the only activity was a flashing light on the dongle. Once it did, I was instructed to go to google.com/chromecast/setup, where I was prompted to install the Chromecast app - which is where I hit a stumbling block:<br />
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<br />
So, one email and a side-loaded app later, I ran it. (Yes, I probably could have used the Chrome browser on my PC to complete the installation, but there was a principle at stake!)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>Update: As of October 2013, the ChromeCast Android installation app is available in the UK (and worldwide, as far as I can tell).</i></span> <br />
<br />
From then on it was simply a matter of following the simple instructions. The ChromeCast comes with a default name, which is used to start off with.<br />
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<br />
Check that you've switched your TV to the correct HDMI port by confirming that you can see the code on the ChromeCast picture: <br />
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<br />
Give your ChromeCast device a meaningful name (for various reasons, I didn't set it up on our Lounge TV):<br />
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<br />
Tell it the SSID name and password for your WiFi network: <br />
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<br />
... and you're done. That's really all there is to it. <br />
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<br />
To prevent screen burn in when idling, the background changes periodically, the "Ready to Cast" and the cast icon both disappear completely from time to time; in the smaller text, the line fades between different colours quite frequently, and the text moves up and down to different positions almost imperceptibly as you're watching, but covering quite a lot of ground over time.<br />
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<br />
<h3>
Casting</h3>
So, the 6 million dollar question: Does it work in the UK?<br />
<br />
I'm pleased to say that the answer is an emphatic "YES"!<br />
<br />
On an Android device, you need a compatible app to cast to your TV. Currently, these include YouTube, NetFlix, Google Play Movies & TV, and Google Play Music. <br />
<br />
The basic premise is that you start by connecting to the ChromeCast by tapping the ChromeCast "screen" button in a sending app. <br />
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<br />
Once you have done so (and chosen your ChromeCast device) the screencast button turns blue, and your options depend on the sending application, but all will allow you to play and pause, and, of course, disconnect from the ChromeCast by tapping on the button again. You can also control the volume using the sending device's volume controls (up to the level currently set by your TV's own volume control). Once you're connected, anything you play in that app will be Cast to the TV.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Google Play Movies and TV</h4>
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<br />
We have fibre broadband here, and watched the free episode of BattleStar Galactica right through without a hitch. Play/Pause (when we needed it for comfort breaks) was very responsive. It was easy to forget that we weren't watching recorded TV or a DVD. The sending app acts as the remote control, of course. <br />
<br />
<h4>
YouTube </h4>
YouTube was the first sender we tried, and gives you options to either play directly to ChromeCast, or add content to the queue (even though YouTube doesn't have a queue as such if you're not Casting). <br />
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<br />
Here you see the YouTube queue, which includes a history, the currently playing episode with a progress bar, and the episodes in the queue. You could tap on the Play button to play any one of them. You can't move things around in the queue, but you can remove them.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Google Play Music</h4>
Play Music starts each track by displaying large artwork and track details, and then reduces the size of the artwork and gently bounces it around the screen as a screensaver. Unlike the video apps I've tried, when switching between local playback and Casting, music tracks always start at the beginning.<br />
<br />
The Video apps resume quite accurately where they left off - but so far, Google's in control of the server end for all the supported apps I tried, so I would expect resumption of streaming to be pretty accurate. Once there are more sender apps, allowing access to other servers, the accuracy of the resumption will depend on how the host's servers are set up.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Netflix </h4>
I don't have a NetFlix account, so couldn't try that out.<br />
<br />
<h4>
iOS devices</h4>
Again, none of those here, so can't comment.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Chrome Browser</h4>
To Cast from a PC, you need the GoogleCast Chrome extension (not ChromeCast, which is something else entirely). With that installed, you can Cast any Chrome tab, which could be showing a photo slide show, video, or anything else you can see on the internet - as long as it's using a codec that ChromeCast supports. Exactly what you see on the TV screen depends on the content - some pages are ChromeCast-aware, so you just see the content (photos, etc.) without the page background. Unless I've missed something, you can't install extensions for Chrome on Android, so this is a desktop-only option for now. <br />
<br />
<br />
Regardless of the sending app, once you've Cast something, you don't need to keep the source on your screen, or even running. ChromeCast just gets on with it without needing the sender. The only thing you need the sender for is remote control functions - and in the case of Android senders, these are available from the notification drop down. I've started a YouTube video playing and rebooted the phone without the ChromeCast apparently even noticing - and my phone was the only connected device at the time. To regain control, I just had to run YouTube and connect again.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Multiple Users</h3>
The slick bit about ChromeCast is that once it's set up, anybody connected to the network can use it. All they need to do is connect to it using a supported sending app.<br />
<br />
However, how well this works depends entirely on the sending app.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qc1KMs3vwZw/Uf2KeHZlk5I/AAAAAAAABqo/gE5uMTrMp80/s1600/2013-08-03+23.54.07.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qc1KMs3vwZw/Uf2KeHZlk5I/AAAAAAAABqo/gE5uMTrMp80/s320/2013-08-03+23.54.07.png" width="180" /></a>YouTube has the best implementation of those I've tried. As soon as any user connects to the ChromeCast from the YouTube app, a new item called TV Queue appears in the YouTube menu drawer. <br />
<br />
From there, you can see what's playing, what's in the history and what's in the queue - regardless of who put it there. Any user can add items to the queue. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p123soySRDQ/Uf2KsIQGLKI/AAAAAAAABqw/CY4DL33KAKY/s1600/2013-08-03+22.00.06.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p123soySRDQ/Uf2KsIQGLKI/AAAAAAAABqw/CY4DL33KAKY/s320/2013-08-03+22.00.06.png" width="180" /></a></div>
Google Music has the most rudimentary support. A second user can't see what's playing, and in fact, if they start Casting something, the original user actually gets disconnected. That seems a bit antisocial. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoLEColP4Lg/Uf1plxE1_1I/AAAAAAAABqM/oekRl6Knx5A/s1600/2013-08-03+21.24.29.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoLEColP4Lg/Uf1plxE1_1I/AAAAAAAABqM/oekRl6Knx5A/s320/2013-08-03+21.24.29.png" width="180" /></a>Google Movies & TV is somewhere in the middle: A second user can connect, but the only place you can see what's currently playing is in the notification bar.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoLEColP4Lg/Uf1plxE1_1I/AAAAAAAABqM/oekRl6Knx5A/s1600/2013-08-03+21.24.29.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
The ChromeCast itself is nicely implemented. Incidentally, it updated its software yesterday - it politely displayed a message on the TV screen while it was idle, to say that it was about to update, and then got on with it. To tell what version it's running, you need the ChromeCast app. (For the record, it updated to Build 12840.) <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2XpSyYujRco/Uf13VwXQx9I/AAAAAAAABqY/wbbgACNo1aY/s1600/2013-08-03+22.32.24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2XpSyYujRco/Uf13VwXQx9I/AAAAAAAABqY/wbbgACNo1aY/s320/2013-08-03+22.32.24.png" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
Once past the installation of the Android ChromeCast app (which is really only needed for the initial setup), the fact that I'm in the UK had no impact whatsoever. <br />
<br />
Ultimately, ChromeCast will live or die by the quality of the apps that support it. As I've already said, YouTube currently has the best implementation of the current sender apps that I've tried, and should perhaps be used as a benchmark by other developers. Of course, from the UK point of view, the most obvious sender apps that I'd like to see support ChromeCast are the on-demand TV apps - BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, etc. Offer that, and you can turn any TV with an HDMI port into a SmartTV for a very small cost - as long as you also have a Smartphone or tablet to control it, of course.<br />
<br />
Is it worth having? Definitely. I already want one plugged into every TV in the house! And at that price, why not? I'm really looking forward to these being available over here. As it is, I find myself unplugging mine and moving it to other TVs (and looking for nearby power, or using a portable charger), depending on where I am and what I'm doing.<br />
<br />
The real power, however, may turn out to be the possibility to create receiver apps in the Chrome browser, which would allow any PC running the browser to act as a receiver. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Possible enhancements</h3>
<h4>
Unified TV queue</h4>
I'd quite like to see a unified queue for all sending apps to use, rather than each app stepping on the toes of what's being Cast by any other app. A unified queue would also make it possible to use a small generic app to simply connect to a ChromeCast and get access to Play/Pause buttons without having to know which app is currently Casting to it. Or at least identify which app is currently Casting. Given that it supports multiple users, it would be good to have a little more co-operation between apps and their users. <br />
<br />
<h4>
Optional restrictions for sending devices</h4>
For some households or situations, it would be useful to have ways to lock control of the ChromeCast to certain devices (to prevent mischievous intervention by some members of the household) - either by configuration, or using a more on-the-fly approach - blacklisting or whitelisting certain devices. Of course, this needs to include a fall-back to other devices if the allowed devices are no longer connected (e.g. the allowed devices' owners have left the building), so that you don't get into a situation where nobody can hit the Pause button.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Multi-Chromecast synchronisation</h4>
Finally, for distribution around the house (something we rely on quite a lot for our normal TV/PVR viewing), it would be good to be able to connect to multiple ChromeCast devices simultaneously, and send the same output to each of them. The application for a "party mode" is obvious. <br />
<br />
I'm not a developer (and my computing degree rather pre-dates ubiquitous networking), but I suspect that this would be rather more complicated, as I imagine it would require the connected ChromeCasts to share the same data stream (which would also mean that you wouldn't need to use 3 times as much data to play the same thing simultaneously in 3 different rooms) to keep the playback in sync for all devices involved - and that's probably asking rather too much of this particular device. Still, I can dream. <br />
<br />
Maybe the solution our house needs for this kind of distribution is a small PC running Chrome, with receiver apps, connected to our AV distribution system ... but that's definitely starting to drift off topic!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i><b>Hardware and software versions used:</b></i></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>ChromeCast model H2G2-42; Build 12840</i></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>(Android) Google Play Music v5.1.1107K.753159</i></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>(Android) Google Play Movies & TV 2.6.9 [GB] [GB]</i></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>(Android) YouTube 4.5.17</i></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>2 x Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphones running the sender apps </i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-42749572126461646732013-02-23T13:02:00.001+00:002013-02-24T08:40:22.694+00:00Swype vs Swiftkey Flow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Sha45P3aPA/USi00shhKbI/AAAAAAAAAHk/jMImx-d_Glw/s1600/Swype+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Sha45P3aPA/USi00shhKbI/AAAAAAAAAHk/jMImx-d_Glw/s1600/Swype+logo.png" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IVOV8_oyV_s/USi04yyVDII/AAAAAAAAAHs/8OQrGKd2ny0/s1600/Swiftkey+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IVOV8_oyV_s/USi04yyVDII/AAAAAAAAAHs/8OQrGKd2ny0/s1600/Swiftkey+logo.png" /></a>I just commented on Land of Droid's comparative review of <a href="http://landoftechnology.com/2013/app-review-swiftkey-flow-vs-swype/" target="_blank">Swype vs SwiftKey Flow</a>, and it struck me that my long comment about the differences that had been missed out in that review nearly amounted to a review in itself, so now that SwiftKey Flow is out of beta, here is my own take on the differences between the two.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<a name='more'></a>Swiping vs. Tapping</h3>
I've long been a fan of swiping keyboards. Over the years, I've tried a number of them, including
TouchPal and SlideIT, but I've never been inspired to stick with them, and have come back to Swype. I know they're a Marmite thing - you either love them or hate them - but I find that tracing out words on the screen is far more enjoyable than stabbing at it repeatedly, and I can type much faster using them. Having said that, I had previously tried (and paid for) SwiftKey. I didn't stick with it for long though; despite the clever predictions, I missed the swiping. <br />
<br />
As a touch typist on a QWERTY keyboard, I don't watch my hands or the keyboard; I watch the screen, or look at whatever else I'm referring to as I'm typing. This means that I've never been the type (pardon the pun) to keep stopping and checking what's just been entered (something that predictive keyboards rather rely on). Whether I'm typing on a physical QWERTY, or tapping or swiping on a virtual one, that does mean that I'm going to make mistakes (with a QWERTY keyboard, you'll get the odd strange character; with anything that guesses or auto corrects, you'll sometimes get an entirely spurious word). That's life. Nothing's perfect. <br />
<br />
Swype isn't available from the Play store. You have to either buy a device with it pre-installed, or join the beta test group and sideload it, which I've been doing on every device I've owned for as long as I can remember, going right back to my Nexus One. It used to be pretty tortuous to get updates, but that's improved enormously in the last year or so.<br />
<br />
However, I'd got frustrated with Swype sometimes being slow to load, so when the opportunity arose to join the SwiftKey beta test group and try out SwiftKey Flow, I jumped at it.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Swiftkey's alternative words (Pumpkin theme)" border="0" height="320" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-70o2fefGz8M/USiZMwaHWaI/AAAAAAAAAGs/IFAoKyo33GI/s320/Screenshot_2013-02-23-09-51-37.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Swiftkey's alternative words (Pumpkin theme)" width="180" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SwiftKey's alternatives for "Hello"<br />
(Pumkin theme and "normal" height keyboard)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I9KsgrYOkQI/USiyqgLdYiI/AAAAAAAAAHU/PcwLa1iSBb0/s1600/2013-02-23+09.50.50.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I9KsgrYOkQI/USiyqgLdYiI/AAAAAAAAAHU/PcwLa1iSBb0/s320/2013-02-23+09.50.50.png" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swype's alternative for "Hello" (you can't see them all)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Of course, the first thing to note is that as with all virtual keyboards, Switfkey and Swype have chosen different layouts for their keyboards - not the basic characters, of course, but the punctuation and other characters. <br />
<br />
I like SwiftKey's wide range of skins - I chose the Pumpkin theme - orange characters on a dark background, with the alternate characters picked out nice and clearly in white. Swype has themes too, but not such a wide and varied range. I also like the fact that SwiftKey allows me to have the arrow keys permanently on the keyboard (although they're only a swipe away in Swype); reducing the height of the keyboard in SwiftKey minimises the amount of screen real estate that this requires.<br />
<br />
Having stuck with SwiftKey Flow for a month or two, I've found no significant difference in my personal error rate between the two keyboards (YMMV, depending on your use pattern) - they just get diffferent things wrong. However, I've decided to go back to Swype. My reasons for this are as follows.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Swype vs SwiftKey Flow - the devil is in the detail</h3>
<h4>
Tutorial</h4>
<div>
First things first. With any keyboard that has unusual or unexpected features, you may muddle along just fine by trial and error, but I prefer to learn how to get the most out of it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Swype offers a tutorial when you first start it up. If you choose to use it, it teaches you all sorts of useful gestures and helps you to get the best from Swype. You can access the tutorial at any time by long pressing the Swype key and choosing How to Swype, and you can find out about Swype's gestures by choosing Gestures from the same menu. There are also a number of well illustrated help pages on their website. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In contrast, SwiftKey offers only a few short and fairly simplistic videos via a long press of the SwiftKey button, Settings, How-to videos. Maybe it's because SwiftKey Flow doesn't have as many features to tell you about in the first place. </div>
<h4>
Swiping in auto complete fields</h4>
In Swype you can swipe in fields where the app will autocomplete (e.g. URLs in the browser, email address in Gmail, and many more). SwiftKey disables flow in these fields. There's been quite some discussion about this and Google's intentions for such fields in the forum, but so far SwiftKey are sticking to their guns. <br />
<h4>
Punctuation</h4>
Swype handles swiping of explicit punctuation. As far as I can see, SwiftKey have completely ignored it. I can swipe "e.g." in Swype using the path e>.>g>. If I try that in SwiftKey I get ""en gb", which is not quite what I intended. Worse, due to the way SwiftKey add spaces (see below), even if I <b>tap</b> e.g. in SwiftKey, I get "e. G.". To get what I want, I have to tap "e.<backspace>g.", which hardly flows easily. <br />
<br />
In Swype I can also easily add apostrophes etc. as part of the swipe (e.g. I can swipe "it's" using I>t>full stop>s - because the apostrophe is the alternate character on the full stop key, and Swype intelligently decides that it makes more sense in this context than a full stop). In SwiftKey there's no way that I've found to force an apostrophe (which is the alternate character on the "v" key) other than by long pressing "v". I happen to know the difference between "its" (belonging to it) and it's (it is), and it slows me down to swipe i>t>s and then have to check whether SwiftKey picked the right one for me. And if I want to add "'s" to the end of a word (e.g. Julie's), Swype lets me swipe it. With SwiftKey I have to tap - and delete spaces and long tap at that. It's just clunky.<br />
<h4>
Adding spaces</h4>
It's subtle, but Swype is the only keyboard I've used that does allow you to enable automatic spaces, but doesn't add the space at the end of a word until I move to the next one. This has a number of implications, but in general, it's more natural and involves less going back to remove spaces (and related capitalisation, in the case of spaces after full stops), and is particularly important when it comes to including punctuation. If I'm hyphenating two words, I don't want to have to type the first one, backspace, type the hyphen, and type the next one. If I'm typing a URL or email address, I don't want to backspace after every full stop.<br />
<h4>
Word suggestions</h4>
SwiftKey seems reluctant to suggest words that start with a different letter, especially when going back to correct a word if you spot that it's got it wrong after the event. This tends to manifest itself most in words beginning with s, d or f, which are close together. Also, SwiftKey only ever offers 3 alternatives. Swype offers many more on a scrolling display. For example, if I type "sorry" in Swype, I get the option to substitute worry, worrying, story, dirty, party, sorely, worth, Larry and sporty. Quite a varied list!<br />
<h4>
Keyboard shortcuts/gestures</h4>
Swype has keyboard shortcuts (or gestures, if you prefer) for a number of useful things, such as select all (Swype symbol to A), cut, copy and paste (Swype symbol to X, C and V, respectively). That works a lot better than long tapping on the screen, hoping that Android doesn't select some text when you wanted some empty space to paste into, etc.). <br />
<br />
You can get to the numeric keypad (as opposed to the "alternate" keyboard) by swiping from Swype Symbol to 5, or by long pressing the number (123 +!=) key.<br />
<br />
Swiping from the backspace to the space bar prevents a space from being added after this word, so you can "build" a longer word.<br />
<br />
Swiping from the Swype Symbol to the number key brings up what Swype refer to as the Edit keyboard, which includes the arrow keys for precise positioning in text, plus buttons for cut, copy, paste, space, backspace, new line, and others. <br />
<br />
You can change the capitalisation of a word by selecting it and swiping from Swype Symbol to the shift key. Swype offers 3 variations of the selected word: word, WORD or Word.<br />
<br />
Swype has other gestures too, but these are the ones that I use the most. <br />
<h4>
Explicit Capitalisation</h4>
Most keyboards allow you to choose automatic capitalisation at the start of a sentence or new line. In general, I find that it's an option that works well for me. However, sometimes you need an initial capital letter for other words, such as proper names. Julie will normally get capitalised properly anyway, but Mark is a word as well as a name, so needs to be done explicitly, and there are many other situations where you might choose to type a capital letter for a word that wouldn't normally need one. Swype allows you to swipe up past the top of the keyboard to capitalise a letter. SwiftKey requires you to <b>tap</b> the Shift key, just as you would if you were using a normal (non-swiping) keyboard. It's a small thing, but one more little interruption to the flow of swiping. <br />
<h4>
Word deletion</h4>
<div>
At the end of a word, if you press backspace in Swype, the whole word is deleted. This can be a blessing or a curse. To delete just the last letter, you first have to add a space. In SwiftKey Flow, you can long press the backspace key in SwiftKey Flow to delete a word - just make sure you let go of it before it starts repeating the word delete! (SwiftKey's normal swipe left to delete gesture is disabled if you enable Flow - for obvious reasons.) In Swype, holding the backspace key repeatedly deletes singles characters. </div>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
All in all, I admire SwiftKey's contextual predictions, and their predictions for the next word in a sentence - although Swype is catching up with this feature too. However, in day-to-day use, I find that both give me roughly the same number of incorrect guesses, and I find Swype's approach, and particularly a number of their gestures too useful to give up. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Swiftkey's suggestions for the next word" border="0" height="320" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Ker_iIzz82k/USiZPEQg5eI/AAAAAAAAAHE/Dptz18E5FgU/s320/Screenshot_2013-02-23-09-51-52.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Swiftkey's suggestions for the next word" width="180" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SwiftKey's suggestions for the next word</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WZKRPBahQAE/USiZOHYGp3I/AAAAAAAAAG8/dGSZTJJxX4Q/s1600/Screenshot_2013-02-23-09-52-21.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Swype's suggestions for the next word" border="0" height="320" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WZKRPBahQAE/USiZOHYGp3I/AAAAAAAAAG8/dGSZTJJxX4Q/s320/Screenshot_2013-02-23-09-52-21.png" title="Swype's suggestions for the next word" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swype's suggestions for the next word</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I would love to see Swype adopt some of SwiftKey's contextual information for word selection though - maybe it would give it the ability to better decide to use "or" rather than "our" more often. I'd also like the ability to <b>remove</b> obscure words from the built-in dictionary (or at least some way to persuade Swype that they're a pretty unlikely choice).<br />
<br />
All in all, I think I'll be going back to living with the occasional slow loading.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Versions reviewed:</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">SwiftKey Flow 4.0.0.106</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">Swype Beta 1.4.5.12537</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WZKRPBahQAE/USiZOHYGp3I/AAAAAAAAAG8/dGSZTJJxX4Q/s1600/Screenshot_2013-02-23-09-52-21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Ker_iIzz82k/USiZPEQg5eI/AAAAAAAAAHE/Dptz18E5FgU/s1600/Screenshot_2013-02-23-09-51-52.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> </div>
Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-24491998287157972362012-11-02T16:10:00.000+00:002012-11-02T16:10:59.660+00:00Scan as you Shop comes to TescoAnything that helps to streamline supermarket shopping is fine by me. I'm not a fan of supermarket delivery services (I prefer to pick out my own produce). So, as I'm going to be cruising the aisles myself, in my ideal tech-assisted grocery shopping world, I'd have:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>To create a shopping list</b><br />a smartphone (Android in my case) shopping list app that </li>
<ul>
<li>allows us to have a shared shopping list that either of us can add to when we spot something we need </li>
<li>can be told or will learn what we buy regularly and prompt us to add those items to the list if the normal amount of time has passed since we last added them </li>
<li>allows optional easy-to-add-or-remove ad-hoc notes for any item on the list (e.g. Urgent; have coupon; special offer ends on ..., etc.)</li>
</ul>
<li><b>To do the shopping</b><br /><ul>
<li>Something other than a wretched £1 coin/token system to release chained up shopping trolleys. At branches without chained-up trolleys, I can take just my Android phone and credit card. Unlike a man, I don't conveniently carry coins in an easily accessible pocket. In fact, my cash is carried in a rucksack-style handbag, and is deliberately as inaccessible / thief-proof as possible. I don't use cash much for anything!</li>
<li>The shopping list should allow me to teach it the order I'll navigate the aisles to find different types of items in different branches or stores. I'm mad enough to actually take the time to do the intial set-up once (and tweak as necessary when the supermarkets move things around) to streamline subsequent trips. Even better would be a <a href="http://blog.juwlz.co.uk/2011/05/tesco-trials-location-aware-shopping.html" target="_blank">Location-aware shopping list</a> - although asking supermarkets to come up with an Android app I'd be happy with is probably a tall order, based on any I've seen so far! </li>
<li>A way to avoid having to put everything in my trolley, queue and take it all out again at the till, and then repack it all after the checkout operator has scanned it.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
Back in the real world, we use the <a href="http://www.ourgroceries.com/overview" target="_blank">Our Groceries</a> shared shopping list, and I make do with a categorised list that isn't in aisle order (most apps can categorise and allow you to set up categories sorted in <b>one</b> order by judicious naming of the categories, but I do most of my supermarket shopping in any one of 4 different branches of Tesco, each of which has a different layout, of course).<br />
<br />
<h2>
Scan as you Shop </h2>
<br />
As to the queuing at the till part of things, I've been a huge fan of the Waitrose scan as you go system for many years, and disappointed that other supermarkets haven't introduced similar systems, as I don't often shop at Waitrose.<br />
<br />
So I was delighted to discover that the Wokingham branch of Tesco has just introduced their own version, and it seems they plan to gradually roll it out to other branches too. (I believe some other supermarket chains have now started to introduce similar systems as well.)<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttLaGp59YK0/UJPmVeBj55I/AAAAAAAAAEk/R1drsRQ3_5s/s1600/2012-10-19+12.50.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ttLaGp59YK0/UJPmVeBj55I/AAAAAAAAAEk/R1drsRQ3_5s/s1600/2012-10-19+12.50.31.jpg" width="320" /></a>Registering</h3>
Before you use the system for the first time, you need to register. As this is Tesco, you do this using your Tesco Clubcard.<br />
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Once you've scanned your card, you need to agreed to the T&Cs (available separately), and enter your Post Code (presumably to confirm that you haven't just found / stolen a random Clubcard).<br />
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<h3>
Accessing your scanner</h3>
The scanners are locked in individual holders in a big bank near the entrance. Once you've registered, you then need to scan your card here to release one of them. Once your card has been recognised, one of the scanners will be unlocked, and its holder flashes so you know which one to take.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Rr9hpI0YCw/UJPn6RHDAkI/AAAAAAAAAEs/sdiS-ZaOyqM/s1600/2012-10-19+12.52.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Rr9hpI0YCw/UJPn6RHDAkI/AAAAAAAAAEs/sdiS-ZaOyqM/s1600/2012-10-19+12.52.49.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
The trolleys have a holder for the scanner built into their handles.<br />
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<h3>
Shopping</h3>
And you're off! As you pick up each item from the shelves, scan it and pack it into your bags. The scanner will keep a running total of your purchases (useful just to keep track of how much you're spending, and especially so when they have "5p off petrol if you spend £50" or other similar offers). It also alerts you to multi-buy offers.<br />
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If you add something by mistake, or change your mind, there's a "-" button to remove it. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ub9DVEMplhI/UJPosKyzGJI/AAAAAAAAAE8/-AuVUHxm8fk/s1600/2012-10-19+13.06.21-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ub9DVEMplhI/UJPosKyzGJI/AAAAAAAAAE8/-AuVUHxm8fk/s1600/2012-10-19+13.06.21-1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_mt4wrXUB58/UJPomuEudgI/AAAAAAAAAE0/8e4a_iFMMF0/s1600/2012-10-19+12.59.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_mt4wrXUB58/UJPomuEudgI/AAAAAAAAAE0/8e4a_iFMMF0/s1600/2012-10-19+12.59.19.jpg" width="240" /></a> <br />
<h3>
Paying</h3>
Once you've finished, you go to the pay points, near the rest of the tills. I can't guarantee that there won't be queues, but at least they should be short, as there's none of that unloading and repacking to do. <br />
<br />
If you had any problems with anything scanning as you shopped, staff there can help. Otherwise, you just scan the special barcode at the paypoint to show that you've finished, and from then on, paying is just like paying at the old-style self-service tills - you can use cash, vouchers or credit card, and get our receipt as usual. <br />
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<h3>
Security</h3>
Tesco staff may scan a random selection of the items in your trolley before you pay, to deter you from putting things in your trolley without scanning (and paying for) them. They did do a spot check on me the first time I used the system, but I'd expect the frequency to reduce as people get used to the system.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Conclusion</h2>
<br />
I said at the start that I'm a fan of these type of systems. The only downside is that I can't use multiple scanners to do two different lots of shopping (I quite often buy stuff for work with the company credit card, separately from my own personal shopping). I can live with putting a small number of items through a regular or old-style self-service till once in a while though. <br />
<br />
So now I just need that shared, aisle/location-aware shopping list, and a tech-friendly way to unlock a trolley :).Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-14171314999592511292012-06-16T11:44:00.001+01:002012-06-21T18:22:39.913+01:00BeyondPod<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ztt-HcEDGus/T9xK6ZM9yvI/AAAAAAAAAC4/rrCyMrjGZXQ/s1600/BeyondPod+Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ztt-HcEDGus/T9xK6ZM9yvI/AAAAAAAAAC4/rrCyMrjGZXQ/s1600/BeyondPod+Logo.png" /></a></div>
For some time now, I've been meaning to build on my mini reviews of <a href="http://www.pscforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4153#p4153" target="_blank">DoggCatcher</a> and <a href="http://www.pscforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4207&sid=ff9227ab82b8dee26b2459ee1ffcc30e#p4207" target="_blank">BeyondPod</a> in the PSC Forums, and perhaps do a comparative review. However, this intention has been overtaken by the news you'll find at the end of this post.<br />
<br />
I was involved in the beta testing of BeyondPod 3.0, which involved a major redesign of the UI. This addressed the vast majority of my gripes with BeyondPod 2.9.15 and transformed it into something which (to my mind at least) is much more intuitive.<br />
<a name='more'></a><h4>
New Views </h4>
There are now 3 top level tabs, or Views (Feeds, Episodes and Player), and the Categories can be selected from a drop down list by tapping the tabs for Feeds and Episodes - both of which now identify themselves as such, as well as showing which category is selected. The Category choice is consistent across both views.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cc0jDgV5SoU/T9xT6Uje64I/AAAAAAAAADE/02-d1ePAVoY/s1600/BP+All+Feeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cc0jDgV5SoU/T9xT6Uje64I/AAAAAAAAADE/02-d1ePAVoY/s200/BP+All+Feeds.jpg" width="120" /></a> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dSSs8WzYoIA/T9xT9KsZvyI/AAAAAAAAADM/JxOMxUUrLBU/s1600/BP+All+Episodes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dSSs8WzYoIA/T9xT9KsZvyI/AAAAAAAAADM/JxOMxUUrLBU/s200/BP+All+Episodes.jpg" width="120" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-75UELUp6EIU/T9xU5exe5yI/AAAAAAAAADc/1pymj4TEzWs/s1600/BP+Player.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-75UELUp6EIU/T9xU5exe5yI/AAAAAAAAADc/1pymj4TEzWs/s200/BP+Player.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>
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The feed list is now accessible (as before) by opening up an individual feed in the
feed view, but is now subordinate to the Feed view (i.e. you return "up" to the Feed view from it, rather than it being sandwiched between the Feeds and Episodes view in 2.9). Category management is accessible from the bottom of the category drop down list or from the menu button. Settings are accessible from the menu button in all views. <br />
<h4>
Easy access to Sleep Timer / Stop at End </h4>
A sleep timer button (including stop at end of current podcast) has been added in the player, and you can configure your choice of timers (or take the defaults). I have set my default to be sleep at end (i.e. stop at the end of the podcast), so that when I'm in the car and know I'll reach my destination shortly after the current podcast ends, I can quickly tap the button to tell BP not to start playing the first few minutes of the next podcast in my playlist; I have also set additional options of 10 and 30 minutes, which I genuinely use for falling asleep to.<br />
<h4>
Why I like it </h4>
In short, the things I already liked about BeyondPod 2.9.15 still apply (including its readable fonts and colours in the dark theme). In addition to that, <b><i>all</i></b> of the cons listed in my original mini review have been addressed.<br />
<br />
There are lots of options for more advanced use, including default sort orders for episodes and feeds, the ability to lock (i.e. disallow automatic deletion of) certain feeds or individual podcasts - useful for some BBC podcasts which are only available to download for a limited time after transmission, so you don't want to accidentally delete an episode, and Episode Cleanup mode, where you can select multiple episodes to be deleted in one fell swoop ... and much more. <br />
<br />
Of course, if you want a simple, minimalist podcatcher, all this functionality is a bit overwhelming, but I love being able to have a playlist that always contains the things I'll want to listen to, in the order I want to hear them in, without me having to do anything at all, now that my SmartPlay list has been set up. As I do almost all of my podcast listening whilst driving, that's an important feature for me. And yet, I can still change my mind and pick another category to listen to just as easily. <br />
<br />
For the sake of completeness, one thing in the main text of my mini review that hasn't been addressed is the inability to order feeds within a category ... but unlike DoggCatcher, where the feed order in the category mattered, as that defined the order they were played in, BeyondPod can play the episodes in date order within the category anyway, so in practice I don't find that to be an issue. Also, you still can't choose "All" episodes in a category when constructing a SmartPlay list, but you <b><i>can</i></b> manually play all episodes in a category - again, in practice it's never been an issue for me.<br />
<h4>
Active Ongoing Development</h4>
<br />
The <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.beyondpod&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd" target="_blank">BeyondPod</a> version in the market is currently 3.0.19, and beta test versions are available to anybody who's interested from the <a href="http://www.beyondpod.mobi/Android/BETA/Default.aspx" target="_blank">BeyondPod website</a> (although at the time of writing, this is currently 3.0.19 too). BeyondPod is a full time job for its developer, and the team is keen to make it work as well as possible for as many users as possible - they welcome feedback on the forums and try to find ways to implement solutions where they can. Ongoing development is very active. <br />
<h4>
Why no comparison or proper review? </h4>
I said that the outset that I'd been intending to write either a comparative review, or a more in-depth review of BeyondPod on its own. So why haven't I written the post as intended?<br />
<br />
The answer is that, as a result of my beta testing involvement and contributions to the BeyondPod user forum, I am delighted to say that the BeyondPod team have offered me some part time paid work to get involved with the product on a more formal basis, and I have accepted their offer. Writing a comparative post (or even a full blown review of BeyondPod on its own) as a paid member of the team seemed unethical. <br />
<h4>
Future developments</h4>
I'm looking forward to the new developments in BeyondPod - just the next beta release, due out within the next week will include some interesting new features (which in turn open up other possibilities for future features), and 3.1 will introduce some important new functionality too. Exciting times!Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05820275226866762782noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-66869195453410293632012-02-26T20:00:00.023+00:002012-02-27T13:55:00.170+00:00Phones Show Chat 120 and my quest for a very portable laptop substituteOn a recent episode of the <a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/downloads/smartphones-show/psc120.mp3" target="_blank">Phones Show Chat</a>, I talked briefly with Steve and Tim about my quest for my perfect second device, so I thought I'd add some more detail here. As a bit of background, I have 2 active SIMs - my main one is in my phone (currently a Nexus S) and is an AYCE contract from Three UK. In general, I'll use this as a hotspot for other devices when I need to. My other one is on <a href="http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/juwlz" target="_blank">GiffGaff</a>. This is a PAYG SIM that can be made to work like a contract if you want it to by using "Goodybags" and/or automatic topups, and uses the O2 network. Most of the time it's in PAYG mode (so costs me nothing when not in use) and I keep it in another phone in my bag, partly for emergencies - if the battery dies on my other phone, or if I can't get Three coverage - and partly to increase my chances of coverage when we're away in the campervan and don't know what to expect on any given campsite. For this purpose when we're going away I add a £10 goodybag that gives me unlimited data for a month (tethering not permitted), plus some inclusive calls and text messages. It occurred to me recently that if this SIM was in a small tablet with an optional decent keyboard, I could effectively have a pretty competent laptop replacement in my bag all the time.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/2005-04-16_Psion_Serie_5mx_PRO_24MB_beschn_unscharf_scharf.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>For me, a laptop replacement has to have a decent physical qwerty keyboard good enough to touch type on (so a little thumb keyboard is NOT going to work for me in this scenario, despite its portability) and a screen big enough to view full desktop websites. On the other hand, for media consumption (including ebook reading, podcast viewing/listening, etc.) a small tablet is a better option, as it's lighter and more comfortable to hold for long-ish periods. In terms of form factor, a slightly squarer version of my old beloved Psion5/5mx (i.e. the same width in landscape mode, but a little taller to give a 16:9 display) would be a good size - after all, I did used to carry one around in my bag in the days long before touchscreen PDAs and smartphones, so it clearly passes the handbag compatibility test. The keyboard may have been smaller than even the original eeePC's, but it was absolutely <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">superb</span> with good feel and travel and a conventional layout, so with my small hands I could use it to touch type completely normally. 7" would probably be the upper limit on size to fit in my bag, and even then, only if it's a slim device with small bezels. In with all the other stuff in my bag, it would need to wear a protective case. A 6" device with good display resolution would probably be the sweet spot for me. Oh, and it'll be running Android so that I can make use of all the apps I've already bought and use regularly.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1gyrZXgMvL85ly1vrINVQoJBBfMz-DHpbfT7TPRMHea46k9Pwqb9acHzq23EbNAINVkRR_Oe5m0A_Z9v-HDrBJrQqWxHWLcynZi6NOnvo_04GcgqbeoaaU-L-jVEyRSbtFPMhFoZEwpd/s1600/Psion5mx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1gyrZXgMvL85ly1vrINVQoJBBfMz-DHpbfT7TPRMHea46k9Pwqb9acHzq23EbNAINVkRR_Oe5m0A_Z9v-HDrBJrQqWxHWLcynZi6NOnvo_04GcgqbeoaaU-L-jVEyRSbtFPMhFoZEwpd/s320/Psion5mx.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
In short, I'd like a cross between a Psion 5 with its great keyboard, and an eeePad Transformer with its removable keyboard dock (but inferior keyboard) packaged in a form where the tablet part is about the size and thickness of a Kindle. In addition to that, I want it to have WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, and to be able to send or receive a call or text message in emergencies. In the case of phone calls, that could be via a phone-style speaker and microphone arrangement, or using a wired or Bluetooth headset or car hands free system, etc. Hopefully that's one way in which Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) for 3G tablets will improve on 3.0 (Honeycomb), which left out the phone functionality.<br />
<br />
Of course, I know I'm not going to get that, so what options are more realistic?<br />
<br />
The keyboard has to have shortcuts to switch between applications, select, cut/copy and paste (which the Transformer does); the dock with adjustable screen angle would make it usable as a laptop substitute on a table, and on the lap in a chair or sitting up in bed. GPS would allow it to be used as a large screen navigation device (given a suitable car mount). USB and HDMI ports would be handy too. I couldn't get on with the non-standard layout on an eeePC 901 that I owned briefly, and the travel and feel on the original eeePad Transformer's dock wasn't great. I suppose I'm not a fan of chiclet keyboards. Worse, the Transformer's keyboard randomly failed to register keystrokes regularly enough to prevent it from being used with any confidence. I suspect that was more of a software issue, but it was the reason I didn't keep that device either. I did have a play with a 10" Transformer Prime in a showroom the other day, and it does seem to have improved compared with the original. Maybe a 7" Transformer Prime would do the trick? If Asus ever produce one, that is.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitlvKY-29aTcCFy1qYSxswCQpbX0fGzz43nXNn9_XWXNjONGn6qJr20tZFUTt_Uex40ka9ySX9xw091bZczUmhMsIugxlYl1300tnA1QgBzYcfEKuiumg7ELyXx8t99BvarrXd9RsYHIw/s1600/Freedom+Pro+plus+stand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitlvKY-29aTcCFy1qYSxswCQpbX0fGzz43nXNn9_XWXNjONGn6qJr20tZFUTt_Uex40ka9ySX9xw091bZczUmhMsIugxlYl1300tnA1QgBzYcfEKuiumg7ELyXx8t99BvarrXd9RsYHIw/s320/Freedom+Pro+plus+stand.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKCLUhpkNbAEnhz0iPy5nkCu39aEB1pRzHHzO9RJhA4F39KqBxOqpE5PGP9JNFfMMZsVqvEpFNc_3kqZl0kksAFf1b5vS97GAbxtfYkXv9z610O2PUQedvFx5PV9IMMjs9RwPup4-OIq_/s1600/Freedom+Pro+plus+case.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKCLUhpkNbAEnhz0iPy5nkCu39aEB1pRzHHzO9RJhA4F39KqBxOqpE5PGP9JNFfMMZsVqvEpFNc_3kqZl0kksAFf1b5vS97GAbxtfYkXv9z610O2PUQedvFx5PV9IMMjs9RwPup4-OIq_/s320/Freedom+Pro+plus+case.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGU3mrhYqHv8vZLmycdLZUEaUg0GGTw1JIyt6JF59Iki0BK59ht6I9fQ6VpH542v56G7lu7NgZ89dzb-rCxyD_QP7-7qXZl4FaRGGyaWtUe9K9sCclwByCiB816MyWonSsNCLFOdJlA5wX/s1600/Galaxy+Note+(5.3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGU3mrhYqHv8vZLmycdLZUEaUg0GGTw1JIyt6JF59Iki0BK59ht6I9fQ6VpH542v56G7lu7NgZ89dzb-rCxyD_QP7-7qXZl4FaRGGyaWtUe9K9sCclwByCiB816MyWonSsNCLFOdJlA5wX/s200/Galaxy+Note+(5.3).jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Currently, a combination of the Samsung Galaxy Note and a folding Bluetooth keyboard (such as the <span class="il">Freedom</span> Pro Universal Bluetooth Keyboard) is probably about as close as I could get to my ideal, but although the Note has great resolution (better than the larger Samsung Tab 7.7, for instance), at 5.3" it's a bit on the small side for a tablet. Also, presumably because it's marketed as a phone not a tablet, I haven't (yet) found any cases for the Note that could be used "inside out" as a landscape stand. On the other hand, I could obviously use it as an emergency phone.<br />
<br />
There seem to be a number of slim 7" tablets on the horizon. If the bezels are small enough to allow them to fit in my bag, maybe one of those could be a candidate. I'll wait to see what gets announced at MWC. A 10" Galaxy Note is on the horizon, so a 7" Note (plus Bluetooth keyboard) is another possibility, if Samsung decide to make one. <br />
<br />
An iPad-style smart case with incorporated keyboard would be great, but I somehow doubt that anybody will produce one for a 7" tablet, as most people would consider the keyboard to be too small. And even if they do, they'll probaby keep prices down by using a chiclet keyboard. From my perspective, I'd argue that good key travel/feel and layout can make far more difference to usability than size, as the 5mx's keyboard clearly demonstrates, but I'm prepared to admit that I'm probably in the minority.juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-20023539289905410352011-08-22T18:17:00.005+01:002011-08-25T12:25:23.470+01:00Party time! Phones Show Chat 100The Phones Show Chat reaches its 100th episode in party mood, with regulars Steve Litchfield and Tim Salmon joined by Jon Satherley, Kev Wright, Rafe Blandford and myself to discuss what's been a pretty busy week or so in the mobile phone world, plus the usual features, including App of the Week. This time, mine was <a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/digital-clock/com.socialnmobile.clock.digital">Digital Clock</a> for Android. <br />
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You'll find it <a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/downloads/smartphones-show/psc100.mp3">here</a>.juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-19757510466828883442011-07-09T12:20:00.001+01:002011-07-09T12:21:50.295+01:00MechCAD / AceMoney developer Alex Simanov dies with family in Russian plane crashYesterday I saw the sad news that Alex Simanov and his family were all killed in a plane crash, as reported by the <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/21/2277780/russian-plane-crash-kills-weston.html">Miami Herald</a> and elsewhere.<br />
<br />
In parallel with this, users of the <a href="http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/acemoney/">AceMoney Yahoo group</a> have been unable to post, although for some reason that I don't understand, I seem to be the only person who still can. I have to assume that as a long-standing group member, Alex had either forgotten to set my profile to require approval, or did not feel it necessary. Whatever the reason, we have no way to control it, and I don't know of anybody else who has been able to post without awaiting approval, which is, of course, unlikely ever to be forthcoming.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Some group users have contacted me offline with some suggestions, so I thought I'd post here to give people a way to discuss options in the comments. Primarily, Linda K has suggested that:<br />
<br />
<ol><li>"We" (i.e. the users - any volunteers?) should set up a new user group that doesn't require posts to be approved by moderators*. The user group need not necessarily be a Yahoo Group, of course.</li>
<li>Any AceMoney user should take the opportunity to download and save the current version of AceMoney, in case Alex's website ceases to exist. </li>
</ol><br />
* Unfortunately, experience with other forums that I'm involved with suggest that that's likely to be a recipe for spamming and porn-peddling disaster, so does anybody want to volunteer to set up a group somewhere and/or to be on a team of moderators? <br />
<br />
On behalf of all AceMoney users, I hope that Alex had the foresight to make provision for what should happen to MechCAD in the event of his death, and/or that somebody will take over the company and continue to develop the product. From a purely selfish point of view, I was looking forward to the imminent release of an AceMoney Android app.<br />
<br />
If you have any ideas for how/where to host/set up a new user-only AceMoney group, please add them to the comments. It's not something that I feel able to take on, but I wanted to at least offer a place here for others to discuss this and offer their ideas and/or services.<br />
<br />
Please can we keep the discussion relevant and suitably respectful. Thank you.<br />
<br />
Juliejuwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-76345613052334448812011-06-28T08:48:00.007+01:002011-07-02T08:13:30.810+01:00Phones Show Chat 93I was Steve and Tim's guest on the <a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/downloads/smartphones-show/psc93.mp3">Phones Show Chat</a> again this week.<br />
<br />
Discussions included<br />
<ul><li>my ever increasing frustration with the Nexus One's lack of application memory, and intention to wait until Samsung release the NFC-enabled version of the Galaxy S2 in the UK</li>
<li>a quick overview of my impressions of the Milestone 2 (kindly lent to me by Steve while my N1 was away for repair)</li>
<li>the Palm Pre 2 in brief (very brief!)</li>
<li>the pros and cons of hardware QWERTY keyboards</li>
<li>an update to Google Sites and Blogger which now allows the publisher to switch on a mobile-friendly version (now enabled on this blog)</li>
<li>Motorola Atrix / eeePad Transformer / ASUS padphone - transformable phone/tablet/notebook devices</li>
<li><a href="http://blog.juwlz.co.uk/2011/06/glympse-for-android-and-other-platforms.html">Glympse</a> - a short review</li>
<li>My app of the week: <a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/camscanner-phone-pdf-creator/com.intsig.camscanner">CamScanner</a> for Android</li>
</ul><div>... and much more. Full show notes can be found on the <a href="http://www.pscforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=692#p3232">PSC Forum</a></div>juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-38545589785546660672011-06-27T08:33:00.043+01:002011-06-27T17:26:21.159+01:00Glympse for Android and other platforms - a review<div style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuShjdF3EsVw1rL2IQJ7WFMd3LlCGH6KDImIfmxMAhWRZPR7K7HpKOKyhee0Soh3e8SYu-p4lfgAw7-6H-zavxZgwlalmH34zZv1SVu5X6201T_1MnSv8ZzUTMVGXN6QQ2uW6q9z4PWYm/s1600/Glympse+icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuShjdF3EsVw1rL2IQJ7WFMd3LlCGH6KDImIfmxMAhWRZPR7K7HpKOKyhee0Soh3e8SYu-p4lfgAw7-6H-zavxZgwlalmH34zZv1SVu5X6201T_1MnSv8ZzUTMVGXN6QQ2uW6q9z4PWYm/s1600/Glympse+icon.png" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Over the years, Andy and I have had occasions where we’ve wanted to find each other in an unfamiliar place. Both of us have smartphones with GPS and navigation software, but sending a location and using the received location to navigate to always used to be a bit of a challenge. Then Google’s Latitude provided one possible solution - but only once you’ve set up who you want to share your location with. <a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/here-i-am-2/com.codesector.hereiam">Here I Am 2</a> (for Android) and other similar apps allow a snapshot of current position to any email address or SMS number, but can be a bit fiddly to use. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Recently, I discovered <a href="http://glympse.com/">Glympse</a>, and we’ve been using it partly for fun and partly for real while we’ve been away on holiday. The more I use it, the more I find it can do. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b></b></span></div><a name='more'></a><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>What is Glympse?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Glympse is an application that you install on your smartphone. Once installed, and without any user configuration or any other setup, you can send a “glympse” to anyone in an email or text message. A Glympse consists of</span></div><ul style="font-family: inherit;"><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a unique URL</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the amount of time you want the glympse to be active for (various options from 10 minutes to 4 hours, which you can manually expire or extend at any time while the Glympse is still active)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a short optional message (to which Glympse will add its own), and</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">an optional destination</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtN0Salx1l6RwkGpdNhDmlQwNPMmJheQpZW80PCbY3n4aTZbX_NmZ8GzFxucOtv1nH4IgRaVdMQOTVRBG4-kYGjNqh2EiNN7xnHIocuab0WDJKSaKPvx4uuJz-BCtoaG1h-Gz5KRbIDo8/s1600/Sending+a+Glympse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtN0Salx1l6RwkGpdNhDmlQwNPMmJheQpZW80PCbY3n4aTZbX_NmZ8GzFxucOtv1nH4IgRaVdMQOTVRBG4-kYGjNqh2EiNN7xnHIocuab0WDJKSaKPvx4uuJz-BCtoaG1h-Gz5KRbIDo8/s320/Sending+a+Glympse.jpg" width="179" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You can select recipients either by clicking on the +person icon at the right hand side of the "Send a Glympse to" field to get a long list of contacts which you can then expand to choose a particular email address of phone number. Alternatively (and much more quickly) you can type part of a name, phone number or email address to use the lightning fast text matching to select a contact's details. You can repeatedly add recipients to</span><span style="font-size: small;"> send a Glympse to a number of email addresses or SMS numbers at the same time.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Selecting the message bubble in the message field will retrieve previously used messages, and the destination flag will retrieve previously used destinations. Or you can type whatever you want in the field. In the case of destination, the fast text matching against your contacts will refine a quick pick list, or you can use the search button to match with whatever else the standard Google search can find for you. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The recipient will receive an email or text message (whichever you sent) containing the link and either your personal message or the default Glympse message. On a PC or a smartphone without Glympse installed, clicking on the link will show the glympse in a browser. If Glympse is installed, you also have the option to view it within the application (which gives you the ability to compare their location with yours). </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">What the recipient will see is the sender’s near real-time location, and a track of the sender’s route since they sent the Glympse. If a destination was included, you will also see an ETA, and if the user has set Glympse up to send it (which I believe is the default), you will also see their current speed, although I'm dubious as to how accurate this is sometimes. In tests I’ve done, the “current” location reported is typically anywhere between 5 and 30 seconds behind live - assuming the sender has a good data connection, of course.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is no way to set the frequency of updates, so be aware that this is going to be a bit of a battery killer unless you’ve got the phone on charge, e.g. in a car. I haven’t tested how much data it uses, but since it only needs to transmit your co-ordinates, I would expect it to be small. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-size: small;">If a Glympse user chooses to track a received Glympse within the application, they will be able to switch between their own location and that of any currently active Glympses that have been sent to them, and in the case of others’ Glympses, you can see their location relative to your own. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcBeXAzNARx83japHzJY6kt7o7t7MJAoI8aecfKqwUQcH53JGLoMCbGCJcQ6jCqzEVCnWVBLTAWhRZZlQd1fIkuE_1XlmMsFZUqxePDdv7_owRHVv8VWPVis1kPRfuafKniyWqz2AmmFQ/s1600/Glympse+satellite+desktop.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcBeXAzNARx83japHzJY6kt7o7t7MJAoI8aecfKqwUQcH53JGLoMCbGCJcQ6jCqzEVCnWVBLTAWhRZZlQd1fIkuE_1XlmMsFZUqxePDdv7_owRHVv8VWPVis1kPRfuafKniyWqz2AmmFQ/s640/Glympse+satellite+desktop.gif" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlN-atP64j5mQS5vAwl7cWqcVI_gsaTI_NmLmPo7CyTCSqPvi4AJXszP4PYVyWo-OXuQp4QZMvbqa584ods7lcAqwGMKUcXskpYXzsQREfQw7deCPh6Wnc-AytSKSvwhpbRJRvI_j6Vd3S/s1600/Glympse+desktop.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlN-atP64j5mQS5vAwl7cWqcVI_gsaTI_NmLmPo7CyTCSqPvi4AJXszP4PYVyWo-OXuQp4QZMvbqa584ods7lcAqwGMKUcXskpYXzsQREfQw7deCPh6Wnc-AytSKSvwhpbRJRvI_j6Vd3S/s640/Glympse+desktop.gif" width="640" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">What platforms are supported?</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At the time of writing, Glympse is available for Android version 1.5 onwards, iOS, Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile 5.x/6.0/6.1/6.5, and Blackberry. Any device (including PCs) with a browser can receive and track a Glympse. You can find links to <a href="http://www.glympse.com/get_glympse">download the application</a> on the Glympse website.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>What happens when a Glympse expires?</b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If a recipient looks at an expired Glympse, they’ll see the location that was current when the Glympse expired, but no track of the journey to that point. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">What is it useful for?</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Uses range from the trivial to the potentially life-saving. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">On holiday in our Campervan recently, I was struggling to walk due to an injured ankle. We had walked around the town, but I just couldn’t go any further, and had to find a bench to sit and wait on, while Andy went to collect the ‘van. By sending a Glympse to Andy, he was able to drive to where I was in an unfamiliar town and collect me, and because he sent me a Glympse, I could also see how far away he was, and how long it was likely to take him to get to me.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was fun to be able to track his progress as he walked to and from the chip shop one evening too ;-).</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’ve used it to keep family members up to date with my progress when I’ve been held up in traffic on my way to a meeting with people visiting their house.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In case of breakdown it could be used to send an email or text message to your breakdown company or the emergency services, without even needing to know the email address or SMS number to send it to in advance. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have a shortcut favourite to Andy on my home screen with the destination set to home, which I can use as I’m leaving work, so he knows when to expect me home. That way, he gets something that’s so much more useful than a simple “I’m leaving now” message, as he can tell exactly where I’ve got to. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Glympse can be used to keep others up to date about your whereabouts when you’re meeting up somewhere. Each participant can send a private Glympse to every other participant, or (if it’s at a public venue) could post a Glympse on Facebook or Twitter. Next time there’s a PSC Pub Meet, we can all Tweet a Glympse on our way there, so we know who we’re expecting to arrive and when ;-). </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">What else can it do?</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Disclaimer:</b> I have only used Glympse on Android phones, but I assume that similar settings are available on other platforms.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Settings</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the settings, you can</span></div><ul style="font-family: inherit;"><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Set up a Nickname (name) for yourself</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Assign yourself a picture, e.g. a photo</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Associate Glympse with your Twitter account, so you can tweet a Glympse*</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Associate Glympse with your Facebook account, so you can post a Glympse on Facebook*</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Set whether or not you want your location and speed to be included in the glympse (although I can’t see much point in a Glympse that doesn’t share your location!)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Set what you want Glympse to do when you reach your destination (if you set one). Options are Nothing / Prompt me to expire / Expire Glympse automatically</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Set your preferred location provider: Google or Skyhook</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Set units for speed: mph or km/h</span></li>
</ul><div style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>* Warning:</b> For security reasons, unless your home address is already well-known to the world at large, I would advise against publishing a Glympse that involves travelling to or from your home, or one that includes your home as a destination. If leaving home, wait until you’ve got a reasonable distance from home before publishing your location. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">If travelling to home, don’t include your destination in a Facebook update or Tweet, and either set the duration short enough to expire before you arrive, or manually expire the Glympse before you get there. Similarly, don’t publish a Glympse including the home of any other private individual as the destination, as the name of your destination, including the name of the person if you picked it from your contact list, will be included in the Glympse.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don’t forget that even an expired Glympse continues to report what your location was at the time it expired long after the expiry date. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Favourites and Shortcuts</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Any combination of recipient(s), duration, message and destination may be saved as a Favourite for future use. Favourites’ names by default include the destination, message, recipient and duration (in that order), but you’ll probably want to edit those down to something a little more snappy! Favourites may be accessed from within Glympse. You can edit a favourite’s name, but you can’t (currently) change any other details or reorder them in the list. You can, however, select a Favourite, change some details and then save the result as another Favourite. You can also create a homepage shortcut from a favourite - in which case you’ll definitely want a shorter name for it than the default one. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Where Glympse falls down is that from then on there's no option to manage Favourites. You can explode the list to see the details of each Favourite, and Rename them or Delete them, and create a shortcut from them but you can't change the order of the Favourites within the list or change any of the shortcut details, and you can't add/change/edit the icon used. You can't expand a single Favourite to view or edit the details of just that one, either, so if you have found something you want to change in a long list, you'll have to find it again in the expanded list.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, there is no way to export your Favourites or any of your settings to transfer them to another device. Maybe this is something that Glympse might consider in a future version?</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Navigation</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If the recipient of your Glympse also has Glympse and navigation software installed, they’ll get the option to navigate to your location. This passes the sender’s current location to Google Maps/Navigation (on Android phones, at least). However, if the sender moves before you arrive, Google Maps won’t know about it unless you re-set your destination from Glympse again.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUq9Ql0lHxblUwTgkbJn9jAAAaogjHPoueuyFWvzXTbv7wFsqHOysL0PNcr0ICSMyYT_gZciQ6T1XWXPjQowd3ykZkIZ5wYLgirlP699OSx1xu3rfuHJ1wQdj6u-dqTa-NDGI1S4aMqzh/s1600/Glympse+history.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUq9Ql0lHxblUwTgkbJn9jAAAaogjHPoueuyFWvzXTbv7wFsqHOysL0PNcr0ICSMyYT_gZciQ6T1XWXPjQowd3ykZkIZ5wYLgirlP699OSx1xu3rfuHJ1wQdj6u-dqTa-NDGI1S4aMqzh/s320/Glympse+history.jpg" width="179" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">History</span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You can select History to see a list of recently sent Glympses, including all the details of the Glympse and the recipient(s), and when they last viewed your Glympse. The time of the Glympse expiry is also included (so if you set up Glympse to automatically expire Glympses when you arrive at your destination, or if you expire them manually, you automatically have a record or your arrival time too). </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finally, you can resend a Glympse from this screen, which is just like using a Favourite - you can update any of the details before you re-send it.</span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Warnings</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Unlike other Android location software, Glympse WILL keep your GPS active even when it’s in the background. For anything other than short Glympses, you’ll want to have your phone plugged into a charger if you don’t want the battery to die. This may be different on OSes that don’t have multi-tasking.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Obviously, Glympse also needs an active data connection to be able to send its location data, so if you hit a reception dead spot, it won’t be able to update your position</span>.</div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Conclusion</span></b></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Glympse is a well thought out and well-implemented idea, and a great way to let anybody with a browser know where you are without having to set up any social network or list of friends in advance. Support (if you need it) is also prompt, and helpful.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Version reviewed: 1.28 (build 130) on Android 2.2.1</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://glympse.com/">http://glympse.com</a></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Android screenshots by kind permission of Glympse, from their website</span></div>juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-46409406192762197812011-05-27T17:08:00.000+01:002011-05-27T17:08:01.323+01:00Tesco trials location aware shopping listsTesco has just announced a trial of its new <a href="http://techfortesco.blogspot.com/2011/05/in-store-sat-nav-up-working-now-in.html">"SatNav" electronic shopping list</a> Android software ... not that there's any "Sat" involved, but any electronic shopping list that can be sorted into aisle order according to the store you're visiting is great news as far as I'm concerned ... always assuming the app itself is any good, of course.<br />
<br />
I've been using electronic shopping lists, manually sorted (as best I can) into aisle order since I had my first Psion5, 12 years ago. I currently use <a href="http://www.ourgroceries.com/overview">OurGroceries</a> to maintain a shared shopping list with Andy, but getting it in aisle order for minimum-fuss shopping is a bit of a lost cause, especially as we regularly shop in 3 different Tesco stores, so grouping by product type is as far as it goes.<br />
<br />
Sadly, the trial is only available in the Romford Tesco Extra store, or I'd be trying it out in a flash! Let's hope that the Reading Extra is the next test site :o)juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-57662425811955073642011-05-17T07:36:00.018+01:002011-08-25T12:15:20.774+01:00The Arc reviewSteve's Phone Show review of the Xperia Arc with a little help from me is now available to <a href="http://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/ss139.html">view</a> (complete with hideous thumbnail, courtesy of YouTube!)<br />
<br />
A quick summary:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Slim hardware in the middle of the phone, with thicker top and bottom, housing the phono and microUSB slots. Sadly, these are on the sides, not the top (my preferred location for headset socket) and bottom (my strongly preferred location for the charger, to make it easier to use Brodit powered car mounts or desktop chargers). To be fair, Brodit have created a sideways slide-in mount for this phone, but those can never be quite as elegant as a "drop-in" design. </li>
<li>Quite angular corners on the handset - I like it to look at, but not so much in use, but that's really just a personal preference.</li>
<li>Crisp screen, but no automatic brightness display, and some slight distortion in the review copy I used. However, this was only noticeable on close inspection of vertical lines close to the edge of the display (e.g. when playing WordFeud ;-) ).</li>
<li>A triumph of form over function for Contacts - graphic designers gone mad, without any apparent thought for usability.</li>
<li>I couldn't get the WiFi to work with either of the two routers I tried it with. However, Steve didn't have any problems. This is clearly one of those situations where both the phone and router affect the situation.</li>
<li>See Steve's views on the camera.</li>
</ul><div>This won't be my device of choice (even without the show-stopping WiFi issues), but I quite enjoyed using it for the week. </div>juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-48729567665450028482011-05-03T19:55:00.001+01:002011-05-04T08:34:56.933+01:00Playing with the Arc<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib3LNinL1XUagSIFNrd5wNtYNM98VKQ1xRXym3F6_ztOCzO-ZU2muxd1WbSgHKq37DIG81XbcI9cm0pm8x-LADd2GznJM17Y-CmeEnPi2zYdWZ5XzKXz6u6OjknjQx9MK5l2MiUkeNNSsY/s1600/se_xperia_arc_main.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib3LNinL1XUagSIFNrd5wNtYNM98VKQ1xRXym3F6_ztOCzO-ZU2muxd1WbSgHKq37DIG81XbcI9cm0pm8x-LADd2GznJM17Y-CmeEnPi2zYdWZ5XzKXz6u6OjknjQx9MK5l2MiUkeNNSsY/s1600/se_xperia_arc_main.png" /></a></div>My Nexus One is stubbornly refusing to recognise my (or any other) SIM card, so while it goes for repair, I'm temporarily using the Sony Ericsson <a href="http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/xperiaarc">Xperia Arc</a> as my main phone this week, as kindly lent by Steve Litchfield. My thoughts and his to follow in the <a href="http://stevelitchfield.com/sshow/index.html">Phones Show</a>, probably in show 139.<br />
<br />
I'm also coming to the end of my contract (which was originally for the Nokia N97!), so I'm starting to look around for my next phone. However, I don't think this is going to be the one for me. And this time round, I won't make the mistake of getting something for which Brodit don't make a powered mount. (There <i>is</i> one for the Arc, but with the power plugged in and a headphone / speaker connection, it really does look as though it's sprouted ears, as the charging socket is on the top right, and the headphone socket is on the top left. Not the most elegant setup in the car!)<br />
<br />
When I bought the Dext and found that no Brodit mount was available, I realised just how much I rely on them ... and with the Nexus One's charging socket being sensibly positioned on the bottom of the phone (manufacturers, please take note!) I really appreciate just being able to slot the phone into the cradle with no fiddly cables to plug in separately, especially in my own car where I have a <a href="http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/bluetooth-hands-free-car-kits">Parrot MKi9000 A2DP Bluetooth handsfree</a> to stream podcasts through the car speakers, so that I can literally just plug it in and go. In my partner's company car, I have to slum and plug in an extra headset cable wired to the car stereo. I even have a <a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/setting-profiles-full/com.probeez.profiles">Setting Profiles</a> rule set up to start my podcatcher/player automatically when it detects power + headphones or my Parrot ;-).juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-40697761373817245612011-03-06T12:49:00.005+00:002011-04-06T08:27:02.071+01:00Words with Friends vs Wordfeud for Android<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksrIsZvqYCmdXNw-8JWpdIjjqK2-ACvWOEKvbU4T_uIzBrFu9jOFAqp-boOXmIWhsHyuxDoWeS-C-nE0AeD4Ch1iwJDmr24w-_Qmnt2gzcf0eZSfeyH74NJcC7ruPW53hKO2B5XF8v6KK/s1600/Words+with+Friends+icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksrIsZvqYCmdXNw-8JWpdIjjqK2-ACvWOEKvbU4T_uIzBrFu9jOFAqp-boOXmIWhsHyuxDoWeS-C-nE0AeD4Ch1iwJDmr24w-_Qmnt2gzcf0eZSfeyH74NJcC7ruPW53hKO2B5XF8v6KK/s1600/Words+with+Friends+icon.png" /></a></div>I don't know how I first heard about Words with Friends. I knew it existed back in December 2010, and was looking forward to trying it out. When I discovered that my best friend of 30 years' standing played it on her iPhone, I was even more keen for it to be released on Android. It arrived in the market on 15 February 2011. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6iFWYANF-Ns/TXNJF-2TAUI/AAAAAAAAAC4/9,l5ITCqQsR0/s1600/Wordfeud+icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGmkILHDQrdofKJSW_XmfAYGet8qPMqcNKxJotd5XagDHn7qGyObYcmo3e5DDn2g_Fm7pk2KCufDgW9urWlVZLO2ZiIt_W0g-7oCNBkrclde2omSBzmdsHtt68JiZKhUx8Sg0jfOkhSu3/s1600/Wordfeud+icon.png" /></a></div>Then I found mention of Wordfeud in the comments about <a href="http://hemorrdroids.net/words-with-friends/">hemorrdroids' video review</a> of WwF, and I've now been playing games in both for a week or so. Wordfeud has been around since before September 2010 (I haven't been able to dig back further than that).<br />
<br />
Thank you to all of the various opponents I've been playing against - you know who you are - for providing (often terrifyingly high-scoring) opposition.<br />
<br />
Here are my thoughts, observations, likes, dislikes, wishlist and finally a conclusion about the two games head-to-head. <br />
<br />
NB: All graphics are taken from the Android Market and/or the developer's website.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What's in a name?</span></b><br />
<br />
If you've played the board game Scrabble (a copyrighted name, of course), you'll know what the basic premise of these games is all about. Of course, wisely, neither of the developers mention the original by name, and searching for Scrabble in Appbrain or the Market won't find either of them. But almost everybody knows what Scrabble is, and how to play it.<br />
<br />
As to the Android apps, "Words with Friends" conjures up pictures of nice cosy, friendly games with ... well, friends.<br />
<br />
"Wordfeud" conjures up a much more adversarial picture.<br />
<br />
Does it matter? Who knows? I'm just sayin'.<br />
<br />
Maybe it's because of the more widespread use of WwF on the iPhone, but I'd heard of that well before its release for Android. In contrast, I hadn't heard of Wordfeud until I found it mentioned as an alternative to WwF. To be fair, I hadn't gone looking for alternatives, so I don't know whether I would have found it if I had. Maybe it's just marketing; maybe it's the "iPhone effect" - who knows?<br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A comparison</span></b><br />
<br />
Both games have many similarities. You invite somebody to play against you, and you get a square board, consisting of mostly blank spaces, plus a starting point star in the middle (which doesn't count as a Double Word score, unlike the board game), and a selection of other squares denoting Double Letter, Double Word, Triple Letter and Triple Word scores. If you've played the original board game, you'll see differences in the layout, but the fundamental principles are much the same. <br />
<br />
Both apps allow you to search for a user name, but if there's a match, both just send an invitation to that player. Neither return a list of matches for you to choose from. <br />
<br />
Each player is given 7 random letters from the pool. You can rearrange the letters on the "rack" at the bottom of the screen by dragging them around, or you can get the app to randomly rearrange them for you (which can sometimes throw up some helpful combinations that give you ideas for your next go). To play, drag the letters to the board. Once you play your letters, your "rack" is topped up with letters from the pool, until there are no more letters left in it. All pretty straightforward and intuitive.<br />
<br />
The app has a dictionary of words and will decide whether anything you play is legal or not, so there is no concept of challenging your opponent's dubious word if the app has allowed it. There is no penalty for words that are not allowed. This does, of course, mean that if you're stuck, you can just try out words that you're not sure about by playing them and seeing if they get accepted or rejected<br />
<br />
A scoreboard shows your score, your opponent's score, and the number of unused tiles available to draw from. Once there are no more letters left, what you <b>can't</b> see (which you would in the original board game) is how many letters your opponent has on his/her rack.<br />
<br />
In both apps you can have a number of games running at once, against different opponents, or multiple games against the same opponent. You can play at your own pace, over a number of days or weeks, although if you don't play within 72 hours of your opponent in Wf, you forfeit the game. I don't know whether there is any time limit in WwF. (Definitive information about Words with Friends seems difficult to find.)<br />
<br />
Each app has a list of games, divided into sections for your go, your opponent's go, and completed games. The latter can be removed. <br />
<br />
On the game board, your turn can be to play your word, pass, or swap 1 or more of your letters. <br />
<br />
Both apps have in-game chat with your opponent.<br />
<br />
I've been playing both on my Nexus One, running Android 2.2.1.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" rules="all"><tbody>
<tr valign="top"> <td width="20%"></td> <td width="40%"><b>Words with Friends</b></td> <td width="40%"><b>Wordfeud</b></td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Developer's web page</td> <td><a href="http://wordswithfriends.com/">Zynga</a><br />
<a href="http://newtoy.zendesk.com/home">Help desk</a> (NB: You have to go to the Facebook page to find a link; the official web page doesn't link to it)</td> <td><a href="http://wordfeud.com/">hbwares</a> (complete with contact / support information)</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Twitter</td> <td><a href="http://twitter.com/wordswfriends">WordsWFriends</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/zyngawfriends">ZyngawFriends</a> (active, including #wordoftheday)</td> <td><a href="http://twitter.com/wordfeud">WordFeud</a> (low volume)</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Facebook</td> <td><a href="http://www.facebook.com/WordsWithFriends">Words with Friends</a></td> <td><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wordfeud/176245792414572">WordFeud</a> </td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Blog</td> <td>Haven't been able to find one</td> <td><a href="http://wordfeud.com/blog">wordfeud.com/blog</a><br />
includes changelogs for updates</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Version tested</td> <td>3.17 and 3.20</td> <td>1.2.1</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Size</td> <td>4.7MB;<br />
No option to move to SD card</td> <td>1.61MB for the free version, + 472KB for the paid unlock;<br />
Both can be moved to SD card</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Aesthetics</td> <td>Cartoonish gold tiles with black letters on an off white board<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzOXyRtU2lgEIRqWuOfd1_QUgM0weyOwz1NCUttR1HzubdXButtNcCfwWpNowSA2VPmdZ5gVLvncrPrQW4bNfqnBGR_i6RsSH9NbgzcXxzqDPB9EGLaIsnlmOypIs7IO8TiMrr4UXGXNH/s1600/Words+with+Friends%252C+zoomed+in.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzOXyRtU2lgEIRqWuOfd1_QUgM0weyOwz1NCUttR1HzubdXButtNcCfwWpNowSA2VPmdZ5gVLvncrPrQW4bNfqnBGR_i6RsSH9NbgzcXxzqDPB9EGLaIsnlmOypIs7IO8TiMrr4UXGXNH/s320/Words+with+Friends%252C+zoomed+in.png" style="cursor: move;" width="192" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLIBFBx1wMmTbb_Cy3ZCJdKA4BztPJK9HkQmXx87E80fFjBDTGWywlNyZ5Rk2xmAJva39BBtfX6fZ7kzw4uqE3QetPu07SZZv76KKbXrubbXif0yH0Np0ueRGpyO6y9pIYOTlXosQ7g4R/s1600/Words+with+Friends%252C+zoomed+out.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLIBFBx1wMmTbb_Cy3ZCJdKA4BztPJK9HkQmXx87E80fFjBDTGWywlNyZ5Rk2xmAJva39BBtfX6fZ7kzw4uqE3QetPu07SZZv76KKbXrubbXif0yH0Np0ueRGpyO6y9pIYOTlXosQ7g4R/s1600/Words+with+Friends%252C+zoomed+out.png" /></a></div></td> <td>Crisp white tiles with black letters on a charcoal board<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEP7QZ-a7EsxEKgnrvjfM9EMMiBz1mVKS4wB3-MdY4If5zwz58yNJu0nYGrGmzy6kWqftY6c1vfI6CFidrz2JgeOGpkoH72Gx9fiCeU97pCcyExP6QswxqEOA3WPn6nZe9ZpuYIVe6XD1V/s1600/WordFeud+zoomed+in%252C+normal+board.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEP7QZ-a7EsxEKgnrvjfM9EMMiBz1mVKS4wB3-MdY4If5zwz58yNJu0nYGrGmzy6kWqftY6c1vfI6CFidrz2JgeOGpkoH72Gx9fiCeU97pCcyExP6QswxqEOA3WPn6nZe9ZpuYIVe6XD1V/s320/WordFeud+zoomed+in%252C+normal+board.png" width="192" /></a></div><br />
</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>UI</td> <td>Clearly ported from iPhone. Doesn't use Menu button at all</td> <td>Settings and other less frequently used features accessed via Menu button</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Number of concurrent games</td> <td>20, including multiple games against the same opponent</td> <td>30, including multiple games against the same opponent</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Opponents</td> <td><ul><li><b>Contact List*</b></li>
<li><b>User Name</b></li>
<li><b>Random Opponent</b></li>
<li><b>Pass and Play</b> (you can play on a single device by passing it between you)</li>
</ul>*including inviting non-registered users by every email for them in your contact entry via the Share interface - which lists every application to send your email from)</td> <td><ul><li>Invite a Friend (choose from Friends* / Contacts** / Recent opponents)</li>
<li>Invite by email or username ***</li>
<li>Play with random opponent</li>
</ul>* Friends are opponents that you have defined as friends within the game<br />
** including sending email to a non-registered opponent using the Share interface - only email / Bluetooth apps are offered<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">*** this doesn't offer the option to invite a non-registered opponent. Given the options in Invite a friend, this entire option seems unnecessary</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>To my mind, this could be simplified by removing the first two menu items and replacing them with the Friends / Contacts / Recent options from the invite a friend submenu.</i></div></td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Game list</td> <td>Longest wait at top<br />
Opponent denoted by a tile showing the first letter of their user name</td> <td>Longest wait at bottom<br />
Opponent denoted by a user-configurable avatar</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Game list options</td> <td>New game, Settings, News, Account settings - all by tapping on icons/hot spots<br />
<br />
Long press on individual completed games:<br />
select delete</td> <td>New game (+ icon)<br />
<br />
Via Menu button:<br />
New game, Remove (all) finished games, Settings, Help<br />
<br />
Long press on individual games:<br />
Open chat, Add opponent to friend list<br />
<br />
Additional long press options for completed games:<br />
Rematch, Remove game</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Board</td> <td>Normal</td> <td>Normal or Random.<br />
The random board has the bonus squares placed randomly on the board, so they tend to get bunched together, and you can score Triple-Triple words if you get lucky. It tends to make games more a matter of luck than the standard board does.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>UI - board</td> <td>Double tap to zoom in/out<br />
Auto-zoom after first letter when playing<br />
<br />
<b>Buttons on game board</b><br />
Before playing a letter / with a letter on the board<br />
Pass / Play<br />
greyed out / Recall (retrieve all your letters from the board)<br />
Swap / greyed out<br />
Resign<br />
<br />
Shake to randomly rearrange letters on the rack. (IMHO, this is gimmicky, and movement sensitivity is inconsistent. Rearranging the letters by shaking the screen means that I can't continue to look at the board as I wait for inspiration from the rearranged letters.)</td> <td>Double tap to zoom in/out<br />
No auto-zoom, but it seems easier to place letters accurately on zoomed out board in Wf than it is in WwF.<br />
<br />
<b>Buttons on the game board</b><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">Before playing a letter / with a letter on the board</div><ul><li>Pass / Play</li>
<li>Shuffle / Clear (to retrieve all your letters from the board)</li>
<li>Swap / greyed out</li>
</ul><b>From the Menu button</b><br />
<ul><li>Resign</li>
<li>Chat</li>
<li>Add Friend (save opponent as a "favourite")</li>
<li>Settings</li>
<li>Help</li>
</ul></td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>UI - returning to a game</td> <td>Board is always zoomed out when returning to a game from the game list. The order of the letters on your rack is lost (so if you'd rearranged them into a word ready to use on your next go, you've lost it). Personally, I consider this a bug, not a feature!</td> <td>Zoom level remembered. The order of the letters on your rack is remembered.<br />
<br />
You can plan your next move by putting the letters down on the board, and when you switch back, your unplayed word flashes a few times, and then is displayed slightly greyed. If your opponent plays in that space, your letters are automatically returned to your rack. A nice idea, especially if you have many games on the go, and/or are playing against somebody who only plays a word every day or two.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Notifications</td> <td>Via periodic polling. I've reduced this to once per hour in an effort to get my battery to last for the day. However, I frequenly return to the game to find my opponents played hours ago and I haven't had a notification - presumably because WwF had been swapped out of memory by the time they played.</td> <td>Push notifications. Sound/vibrate configurable</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>In-game Chat</td> <td>Via a chat icon at the top of the screen; <br />
long chats always displayed from the top, so you have to scroll down to see the latest message;<br />
Notifications only via a speech bubble in the game list</td> <td>Via a menu button; <br />
long chats displayed at the most recent message, so no scrolling required unless you want to look back through older parts of the conversation;<br />
Notifications as for "your turn"; speech bubble in the game list or a popup prompting you to press the menu button if you're looking at the board when a message arrives</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Settings</td> <td><b>Account settings</b><br />
<ul><li>User name</li>
<li>Mobile # (but no clue as to what this is used for or whether it's public)</li>
<li>Email</li>
</ul><b>Password</b><br />
<br />
<b>Misc</b><br />
<ul><li>Sounds (On/Off)</li>
<li>Background notifications (5 / 15 / 30m / 1 / 6 / 12h / Never)</li>
</ul></td> <td><b>Account</b><br />
<ul><li>User name</li>
<li>Email address</li>
<li>Password</li>
<li>Profile picture</li>
</ul><b>Notifications</b><br />
<ul><li>Enable (On/Off)</li>
<li>Vibrate (On/Off)</li>
<li>Notification light (On/Off)</li>
</ul><b>Miscellaneous</b><br />
<ul><li>Buy to remove ads</li>
</ul></td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Languages</td> <td>Who knows? US English, I guess</td> <td>Danish<br />
Dutch<br />
English International (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOWPODS">SOWPODS</a>)<br />
English US (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Tournament_and_Club_Word_List">TWL</a>)<br />
Norwegian<br />
Swedish</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Stability</td> <td>Very poor. You pretty much have to get used to seeing frequent Force Close screens on a regular basis, letters hanging in mid-air as you try to move them, etc. </td> <td>Good. I've had very occasional issues with connecting to the server - presumably in busy periods - but no crashes.</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Ads</td> <td>Standard banner ads across the bottom of the gameboard screen, plus S-L-O-W pop-up ads after every turn. These can take some time to both appear and dismiss, and sometimes you even have to hit a continue button before the ad even appears.<br />
<br />
No paid version available, but this is coming soon, according to Zynga</td> <td>Pop-up ads after your turn in the free version. Can be quickly dismissed.<br />
<br />
Paid version costs $2.91 (approx £1.85 at current exchange rate)</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Help</td> <td>None that I can find, either in the game or on the developer's website</td> <td>On-board help - a web page giving the basics of game play, rules, scoring, and letter distribution and scores</td> </tr>
<tr valign="top"> <td>Platforms</td> <td>iPhone<br />
Android<br />
Can play against users on either platform</td> <td>Android<br />
iPhone version coming very "<a href="http://wordfeud.com/blog/2011/02/09/wordfeud-for-ios-sneak-peek/">soon</a>"<br />
Will be able to play against users on either platform</td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">Unfortunately, WwF is as buggy as ****. I've genuinely lost count of the number of crash reports I've diligently sent off. Of course, for all I know, I'm sending them into a black hole. It's variable - I had a couple of days recently when I got very few crashes, and then suddenly it got worse than ever. (I don't know why, as the timing is not related to updates.) It's not unusual for every 3rd or 4th action (open the app, place a tile, etc.) to bring up the dreaded Force Close box.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">And don't get me started about the ads. I'm no gamer, so maybe this is normal for ad-supported games (as opposed to ad-supported apps, which generally have a banner ad at the bottom of the screen and leave it at that), but WwF has <i><b>the</b></i> most annoying, intrusive ads I've ever seen on any app on any platform.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">Word with Friends is a real battery killer, even when you're not actively playing. I assume that this is as a result of Zynga's decision not to use push notifications so that the game can be installed on Android 1.6. Devices running anything less than Android 2.0 make up an increasingly small percentage of the total Android installed base, so this decision seems an odd one to make. If the app had been release a year or even 6 months ago, it would have made more sense. Not any more. And btw, WordFeud (which uses push notifications) is available for Android 1.5 onwards.</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Updates and Transparency</span></b><br />
<br />
<b>Word With Friends - What's New (from the Android Market)</b><br />
Here is the What's New section in the Android Market for the WwF update from 3.17 to 3.2 (the third version of WwF to be released within three weeks)<br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"></div><div class="doc-whatsnew-container" style="font-weight: normal;"><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This update adds a lot of good stuff under the hood for a smoother game experience. As always, we appreciate your feedback and are working continually to improve and enhance Words With Friends Android.</span><br />
</li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">PLEASE NOTE: it highly recommended to uninstall before upgrading to get the most out of this update.</span><br />
</li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Coming soon: Ad free version and a special Honeycomb build for all you tablet lovers!</span><br />
</li>
</ol>My notes and observations on the above:<br />
<ol><li>a. The official website for Words With Friends is a single page and offers no support link, no "official" way to contact the developer to report bugs or suggest improvements, so how are users supposed to give you feedback? (I found the Helpdesk via the Facebook page only.) I know all apps in the Market have an option to email the developer, but why no contact us / support page link from the game's official web page?<br />
b. There is no acknowledgement of bugs, nor any suggestion that any have been fixed. Apps have bugs. It's a fact of life. I don't have a problem with that (within reason). I DO have an issue with developers who don't feel they can admit that bugs exist, or who don't make it easy for people to contact support. Transparency is important guys.</li>
<li>Why should you uninstall "to get the most out of this update"? There is no information about the consequences (e.g. what happens to existing games when you do?) It may not be appropriate to expand on this in the brief information in the market place, but a link to a changelog page on the website with more detail about why it's important would be helpful. As it happens, there don't appear to be any consequences, but some reassurance would have been nice. <br />
Unfortunately, since the update I'm seeing new bugs I never saw before (more hangs, failure to refresh the screen until I've left and re-selected the game board). I continue to report most of my crashes and hangs through the standard Force Close screen, but it's getting tedious.</li>
<li>A tablet version. Perhaps it might be wise to work on eradicating bugs in the phone version first?</li>
</ol><div>Frequent updates are not an issue. In fact, if bugs are found and fixed promptly, it's a positively good thing. It's the lack of admission to the high number of serious bugs, and the relative difficulty in contacting support to report them that I object to.<br />
<br />
</div></div><div style="font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"><b>WordFeud - What's New (from the Android Market)</b></div><div style="margin: 0px;">In contrast, here is the What's New section in the Android Market for the most recent update to Wordfeud:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><blockquote>- Fixed a few minor graphical glitches.<br />
- Fixed a bug where old profile pictures were being cached for too long.<br />
- If a game you've chosen to hide receives a chat message, it will now reappear so that you can read and respond to the message.<br />
- Fixed several "force close" issues.</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Clear, honest admission of bugs and the fixes.<br />
Changelogs for all recent versions are available on the Developer's blog.</span> </span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"></div><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In Summary</span></b><br />
<div><br />
</div><div>To my mind, WwF for Android was released before it was ready. It's way too buggy and unstable, and doesn't conform to Android user interface conventions. Of course, this lack of conformity is partly down to lack of any enforcement in the market for an open platform.<br />
<br />
In fairness, from what I've heard, the iPhone version doesn't suffer from these issues - probably because it would never have got AppStore approval if it did! A paid ad-free version is already available for iOS.</div><div></div><div><b>In favour of Words with Friends</b></div><div><ul><li>I like having the games that have been waiting longest for me to go at the top of my games list, rather than at the bottom</li>
<li>It's easier to see at a glance whether any of my games are waiting for me (or whether I'm waiting for all of my opponents) because the My Turn section / header is always list shown on the game list, with a note that I'm waiting for a turn (this may be just a side-effect of the fact that the user settings are accessed from an icon at the bottom of this section, but I like it anyway). In Wf, the header is not shown for any section that contains no games.</li>
<li>Good marketing, including regular Wordoftheday in Twitter; possibly because of the iOS user base, lots of people have heard of Words With Friends</li>
<li>Pass and Play option to play a game by handing your device to your opponent</li>
<li>Inviting others to play is intuitive</li>
</ul></div><div><b>In favour of Wordfeud</b></div><div><ul><li>Stable</li>
<li>Follows Android UI conventions</li>
<li>Random letter shuffle on a button (not motion sensor)</li>
<li>Cleaner, better looking board and UI skin (IMHO)</li>
<li>Rematch option - replay the same opponent with the same options. A nice touch</li>
<li>Ads in the free version (even though using the same pop-up ad system as WwF) are less intrusive and faster to dismiss, and there are no additional banner ads on the main screens</li>
<li>Paid version available to get rid of the adverts altogether</li>
<li>Basic help available, including scoring and letter distribution info</li>
</ul>I hope that the iPhone version of Wordfeud is just as good. I can't wait to introduce my iPhone WwF-playing friends to it!</div><div></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Wishlist</span></b></div><div>Both apps could do with a more user-friendly way of finding and choosing opponents by user name, i.e. search for a user name and return a list of matches or near matches, with some clues to help the user choose the right one, rather than only finding and inviting an exact match with no confirmation. In my case, somebody else had already chosen user name juwlz in WwF, so everybody who knows me by my Twitter handle and expected to play against me by choosing that user name was connecting with the wrong person. <br />
<br />
For curiosity, I'd like to see some statistics added, both for a particular game when it ends (e.g. highest scoring word for each player, average word score, average number of letters per word, total number of words played by each player, etc.), and historically (different sets for Normal / Random boards where random boards are supported), e.g. best 5 or 10 words ever played - what they scored, and who you were playing against, and the date, overall average word score, change in average word score over time, etc. It should be possible to reset the start date and/or a rolling date range for historical stats, e.g. to throw away information for all games before a certain date in the past, or to calculate all stats on the most recent games on a rolling basis (with configurable length of time or number of recent games to be included). </div><div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>Wordfeud</b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><ul><li>The new game invitation menu is confusing, and could be made much more intuitive as suggested in the relevant section in the comparison box above.</li>
<li>An option to auto-zoom on play in Wordfeud would be nice, but I can live without it ;-).</li>
<li>I would appreciate an option to always see Your turn / Opponent's Turn headers in the game list, even if no games qualify, and also to sort the games in the reverse order, i.e. with games that have been waiting the longest at the top.</li>
</ul></div></div><div><b>Words with Friends</b></div><div><ul><li>Stability and bug fixes. IMHO, WwF for Android is barely ready for Beta testing in its current form.</li>
<li>Different skins</li>
<li>A shuffle button instead of using the gimmicky shake</li>
<li>Android-style UI using Menu button, etc.</li>
<li>Larger, non-italic font for the number of tiles remaining</li>
<li>Option to mark / delete multiple completed games at once</li>
<li>Restrict apps in the "Share" list to those that can communicate with others when inviting a contact</li>
<li>Paid version to get rid of the ads</li>
<li>More information about the app on the official website, including ways to get support</li>
</ul></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span></b></div><div></div><div>You've probably worked this out by now, but to my mind, <b>Wordfeud</b> for Android beats <b>Words with Friends</b> for Android hands down - and all that in an application with approximately one third of the footprint of WwF.<br />
<br />
My only niggles with it are the confusing options in invitations to new games, which could very easily be made more intuitive by reorganising how the options are presented, and a couple of other minor UI preferences (with are a very personal opinion). Those aside, playing Wordfeud is an altogether more polished and enjoyable experience.<br />
<br />
I'm only sticking with Words with Friends for now because I have iPhone-owning friends that I want to play against. The ads in WwF are absolutely horrible, and to my mind it's unforgivable to release an app with such intrusive ads without offering a paid version to allow users to get rid of them. Having said that, WwF is currently so buggy that I doubt I'd buy it anyway.<br />
<br />
<div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Update 6 April 2011</b></span></div><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wordfeud/id428312806?mt=8&ls=1">WordFeud for iOS</a> was approved for the App Store on Monday 4th April. </div><div>Zynga have been continually updating Words with Friends, and as of version 3.28, once I'd had some initial teething problems with lock-ups etc., it has settled down to being much more stable than the initial versions. Their "Recently changed in this version" information has also been changed for recent updates to note that they have fixed bugs.</div><div></div></div>juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-50743624779540089802011-02-08T22:57:00.000+00:002011-08-25T12:17:14.659+01:00Guest on Phones Show ChatMy turn to guest again on this week's <a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/downloads/smartphones-show/psc74.mp3">Phones Show Chat</a> podcast number 74, with <a href="http://stevelitchfield.com/">Steve Litchfield</a> and Tim Salmon.<br />
<br />
Discussions included Doggcatcher and SafeWallet amonst various other topics.juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-80263070442076218682010-11-13T11:15:00.004+00:002010-11-13T14:44:00.191+00:00Storing passwords and other secure data - at last, a full multi-platform solution<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Since my <a href="http://blog.juwlz.co.uk/2010/06/storing-passwords-and-other-secure-data.html">original post</a> on the subject of secure storage of passwords etc. on Android (and other platforms), there has been a significant update. Today, SBSH Software has released SafeWallet for Android, hot on the heels of SafeWallet 2.0 for Windows <span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">which includes Dropbox support</span>, and a few weeks after the release of versions for Mac and iPhone. A Symbian client has been available for some time. </span> <br />
<div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><a name='more'></a></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The table below shows a quick summary of information about the (non-web) solutions I've investigated - but not necessarily used. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><table 60%;="" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr> <th align="left" valign="top">Product</th> <th align="left" valign="top">Platform</th> <th align="left" valign="top">Price</th> <th align="left" valign="top">Synchronisation</th> <th align="left" valign="top">Links</th> <th align="left" valign="top">Import from</th> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">Keepass desktop</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Windows, *nix<br />
with Mono</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Free<br />
<br />
(Open source)</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Via Dropbox (or<br />
other file synching)</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://keepass.info/compare.html">http://keepass.info/compare.html</a><br />
<br />
</td> <td align="left" valign="top">CSV, XML,<br />
various formats, see<br />
http://keepass.info/help/base/importexport.html</td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td align="left" valign="top">Keepass Droid<br />
(unofficial)</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Android</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Free</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Via Dropbox</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.keepassdroid.com/">http://www.keepassdroid.com</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.android.keepass">http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.android.keepass</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">Via Desktop<br />
version</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">Handy Safe<br />
Suite for Symbian</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Windows and<br />
Symbian / S60</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$34.95<br />
<br />
14 day trial</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary via<br />
PC Suite</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.penreader.com/s60-3rd-edition-software/Handy_Safe_Suite.html">http://www.penreader.com/s60-3rd-edition-software/Handy_Safe_Suite.html</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">Developer One<br />
Codewallet Pro<br />
<br />
Illium Software eWallet 1.x and 2.x<br />
<br />
Web IS Flex Wallet 2006<br />
<br />
SplashData SplashID </td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">Handy Safe<br />
Desktop Professional for Android</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Windows</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$24.95<br />
<br />
14 day trial</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary via<br />
USB cable</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.penreader.com/android-software/Handy_Safe_Desktop.html">http://www.penreader.com/android-software/Handy_Safe_Desktop.html</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">SpashID,<br />
eWallet, FlexWallet, CodeWallet Pro;<br />
<br />
Converts data from Desktop for Symbian format<br />
<br />
</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">Handy Safe Pro<br />
for Android</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Android</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$24.95<br />
<br />
14 day trial</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary via<br />
USB cable</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.penreader.com/android-software/Handy_Safe_Pro.html">http://www.penreader.com/android-software/Handy_Safe_Pro.html</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">Via desktop<br />
version</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">eWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Windows, MacOS,<br />
WinMo, BB</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$19.95 for all<br />
platforms except iOS</td> <td align="left" valign="top"></td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="https://www.iliumsoft.com/site/ew/ewallet.php">https://www.iliumsoft.com/site/ew/ewallet.php</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">(Windows<br />
desktop version only)<br />
<br />
CSV, CodeWallet, SPBWallet, SplashID, and TurboPasswords (Cloak)</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">eWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">iOS</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$9.99</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Prioprietary<br />
via WiFi</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="https://www.iliumsoft.com/site/iphone/products_ewallet.php">https://www.iliumsoft.com/site/iphone/products_ewallet.php</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">Via desktop</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">eWallet viewer</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Android</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Free</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Prioprietary<br />
via WiFi to Windows only</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="https://www.iliumsoft.com/site/ew/ew_andrmain.php">https://www.iliumsoft.com/site/ew/ew_andrmain.php</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">Via desktop</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">SafeWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Windows</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$14.95*</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary<br />
(local) AND Dropbox </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.sbsh.net/products/windows/safewallet">http://www.sbsh.net/products/windows/safewallet</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blog.sbsh.net/2010/11/02/safewallet-v2-for-windows-released/">http://blog.sbsh.net/2010/11/02/safewallet-v2-for-windows-released/</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top">DataVault<br />
<br />
eWallet<br />
<br />
FlexWallet<br />
<br />
HandySafe and HandySafe Pro<br />
<br />
MiniSafe<br />
<br />
SafeWallet<br />
<br />
SplashID<br />
<br />
CSV</td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">SafeWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">MacOS</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$14.95*</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary<br />
(local) AND Dropbox </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.sbsh.net/products/mac_os_x/safewallet">http://www.sbsh.net/products/mac_os_x/safewallet<br />
</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">SafeWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Symbian</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$5.95*</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary<br />
(local) AND Dropbox </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.sbsh.net/products/symbian_s60/safewallet/description">http://www.sbsh.net/products/symbian_s60/safewallet/description</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">SafeWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">iOS</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$2.99</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary<br />
(local) AND Dropbox</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.sbsh.net/products/apple_iphone/safewallet">http://www.sbsh.net/products/apple_iphone/safewallet</a> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">SafeWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Android</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$3.95<br />
introductory</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary<br />
(local) AND Dropbox</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.sbsh.net/products/android/safewallet">http://www.sbsh.net/products/android/safewallet</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://blog.sbsh.net/2010/11/11/safewallet-for-android-released/">http://blog.sbsh.net/2010/11/11/safewallet-for-android-released</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top">SafeWallet</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Blackberry</td> <td align="left" valign="top">$5.95*</td> <td align="left" valign="top">Proprietary<br />
(local) AND Dropbox</td> <td align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.sbsh.net/products/blackberry/safewallet">http://www.sbsh.net/products/blackberry/safewallet</a></td> <td align="left" valign="top"></td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><br />
</div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Unofficial / contributed Keepass applications are available for various platforms. See <a href="http://keepass.info/download.html">http://keepass.info/download.html</a> for more details.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">* Discounted prices are available for registered forum members.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Solutions</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><b>HandySafe</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"> is good (but pricey) for Symbian + Windows users or ex-Symbian Android + Windows users, but you can't synchronise between platforms (the desktop clients are different). </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><b>KeePass</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"> can import data from Handy Safe and various other formats, and is pretty much cross-platform (although apps for most platforms are not considered "official", and in addition they may be read-only.) There is no Symbian app. Supports Dropbox, and apps on all platforms use the same file format, so no conversions are necessary. Syncing is handled by Dropbox and is at file level (i.e. changes on multiple devices between syncs may result in loss of data). However, the Android app, KeepassDroid - the only mobile app I've tried - doesn't show all of the fields. The developer tells me that this, together with write access to the data is in the plan, but I have no idea how far ahead. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><b>eWallet</b></span><span style="font-size: small;"> now has Desktop apps for both Windows and Mac, plus a wide range of mobile devices, but not Symbian. Android support is (currently?) read-only. However, for other platforms, item level synchronisation is supported, and it appears to be the only multi-platform solution that fully supports all the fields in the database. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><b>SafeWallet</b> has recently introduced Dropbox support, and has just released an Android version, and also imports Handy Safe files (amongst others). Desktop versions are available for $14.95 each for Windows and Mac. Mobile versions are available for Symbian, iPhone, Android and Blackberry for $5.95, so it's not a cheap option, but it's an option. I haven't investigated in detail yet, but multi-platform bundles appear to be available. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">So, if your multi-platform world includes Symbian, Android and iOS, there is finally a solution which will synchronise with everything. (Previously, the lack of Symbian apps for KeePass and eWallet, and the infuriatingly distinct desktop versions of Handy Safe put paid to that). </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">I haven't tried importing any data yet, to see how well it works, but I'll post an update when I do. </span></div></div>juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-22341954638062020222010-10-18T18:30:00.007+01:002011-08-25T12:17:14.659+01:00Guest on the Phones Show ChatMy <a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/downloads/smartphones-show/psc59.mp3">first appearance</a> on PSC, with Steve Litchfield and Tim Salmon. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to Steve and Tim for inviting me, and for putting in all the hard work behind the scenes!juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-50022140409440377462010-06-24T09:28:00.002+01:002010-08-23T12:40:12.526+01:00Storing passwords and other secure data - migrating from HandySafe Pro to an Android solution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTRBVPcbDFW9FIcDcvfELhrKEi6fRL6QmUr1dDk9rXfCVumEi6tE0dFEw1tdTr516O163ud93ipKmoRQL_sMdwtSPtAXG8nEJldFWNKqqNfjUKhTc8yUXgi8NNrJysGdbGWeeWl6fMzSHI/s1600/HandySafe+Pro+icon.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTRBVPcbDFW9FIcDcvfELhrKEi6fRL6QmUr1dDk9rXfCVumEi6tE0dFEw1tdTr516O163ud93ipKmoRQL_sMdwtSPtAXG8nEJldFWNKqqNfjUKhTc8yUXgi8NNrJysGdbGWeeWl6fMzSHI/s320/HandySafe+Pro+icon.gif" /></a></div>One of the biggest issues for me - and other ex-Symbian users - was the lack of an encypted home for my passwords and other little useful snippets of information. HandySafe Pro gave me a (paid) synchronised Windows and Symbian where I had access to my passwords on 2 Windows PCs (home and work) and a Symbian handset, and synchronisation between them - in this case via the phone, using PC Suite. I needed something that would give me the same functionality with an Android handset.<br />
<div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, Evernote (at least the Premium version) allows me to encrypt snippets of text for privacy, but I had a whole database of information already in HandySafe Pro that I needed to migrate to a solution that would allow me to access the same information on my desktop PCs and Android handset.</span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a name='more'></a>Android/Windows software candidates</span></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The biggest hurdle to cross appeared to be the fact that HandySafe Pro will <b>only</b> export in XML format ... and almost everything else I could find in the Android Market will <b>only</b> import from CSV files (and they would no doubt involve a lot of tweaking in Excel - or in my case OpenOffice Calc - before I could actually transfer the data, even if I could do the initial, non-trivial conversion from XML to CSV - not an option I relished taking on). </span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlziB5Sxff0KwCJHfwLamOjixeHAC0Ksmq7H-qRlWBXJgL3CpprFqePD7nVPmHlS9VyID66ElWKHQtXg6KCw_UkIknT9lRqXPU6OoLZ30KUzd5Dr1Cc4BSGWjGcOv2RdyvT-zdtS2s7O21/s1600/LastPass+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlziB5Sxff0KwCJHfwLamOjixeHAC0Ksmq7H-qRlWBXJgL3CpprFqePD7nVPmHlS9VyID66ElWKHQtXg6KCw_UkIknT9lRqXPU6OoLZ30KUzd5Dr1Cc4BSGWjGcOv2RdyvT-zdtS2s7O21/s320/LastPass+logo.png" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">One option that I looked at was <a href="http://lastpass.com/">LastPass</a> - an online encrypted system. It's free for Windows / Mac / Linux, and the Premium version ($1 per month) gives you access to imports from other systems, plus the Android client (which is also available as a free 14-day trial). I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted to commit my data to an online service, but given Lastpass's assurances, I was prepared to give it a go (with the thought that I would perhaps restrict storage of really sensitive stuff such as banking information to only those bits I couldn't remember, thus still making it difficult for anybody to access my financial info just using the information stored there). Their website suggested asking them if there was an import option that wasn't already available, so I fired off a question to support asking whether they currently support or had plans to support import from HandySafe Pro / XML files. Now maybe something has gone wrong in the submission process, but I still haven't received an answer.</span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">So, back to the drawing board. </span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildSHWSQNNUuiQ2yotDbHEkr4SYYItcV8_EfwG1BV_8jlvisJf9kA3H0mPemAdNWMs68TZctG0umCwIrBTCDaGiJ4JKqeVz-myVA1LX7P5wnI6WazOZXWEE7XPIV7j9WA9IGKq9xxoNlSu/s1600/B-folders+icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildSHWSQNNUuiQ2yotDbHEkr4SYYItcV8_EfwG1BV_8jlvisJf9kA3H0mPemAdNWMs68TZctG0umCwIrBTCDaGiJ4JKqeVz-myVA1LX7P5wnI6WazOZXWEE7XPIV7j9WA9IGKq9xxoNlSu/s320/B-folders+icon.png" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I looked at B-folders, which has a free <a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.jointlogic.bfolders.android">Android app</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">and paid ($29.95) <a href="http://jointlogic.com/b-folders/2/">Desktop version</a>, but I never got around to trying it, as it wouldn't import Handysafe XML files. Note that B-Folders styles itself a general note-taking / GTD app, as well as a secure password repository. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Synchronisation is done using SSL with no intermediary. In practical terms, I'm not sure how I'd sync my home and work computer using this model, since (apart from the simple issue of them being able to "find" each other) my work PC is normally logged off when I'm at home and my home laptop is switched off when I'm at work. And I don't have WiFi at work to synchronise with/via the phone. </span></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnr778MWIOJBk0jeySxuNqbgnrxyEFl7BFXvCgTD8AWTlzgLmmPJCQqHg2mZYXWDLy-c4lYIBUyVNMqfreQJeECfxdYKW4fVsXiCW_Lour54-w2eXsEXiAOGYU21Y5dyDytRi-BTk5NTCW/s1600/KeePassDroid+icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnr778MWIOJBk0jeySxuNqbgnrxyEFl7BFXvCgTD8AWTlzgLmmPJCQqHg2mZYXWDLy-c4lYIBUyVNMqfreQJeECfxdYKW4fVsXiCW_Lour54-w2eXsEXiAOGYU21Y5dyDytRi-BTk5NTCW/s320/KeePassDroid+icon.png" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Then I found <a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.android.keepass">KeePassDroid</a> in the Marketplace. I had already tried the Open Source <a href="http://keepass.info/">KeePass</a> Windows application a few years ago, but never found a compelling reason to use it while I had HandySafe working so well for me. KeePassDroid only supported the .kdb file format used by KeePass 1, but there were requests to support KeePass 2's .kdbx files. With all this in mind, I had another look. KeePass 2 on Windows is a little more user-friendly than I remember the original being (although I may be kidding myself - it was a few years ago), but unlike KeePass 1 it does use the .NET framework. However, its trump card was that <b>KeePass 2 could import HandySafe pro XML files</b>. There's a full list of other file formats and password managers that KeePass can import from and export to on the <a href="http://keepass.info/help/base/importexport.html">Import/Export help page</a>. Also, it'</span>s possible to export from KP2 to the older .kdb format (and CSV and others), so if nothing else, I could use KeePass2 as a stepping stone to another solution. </span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ5qAg-8hab2qJMwizgUV8MxqctukYfJbAChsYthblRnVHtnLGDYeqpxuS2GqzMqlMoKv7Y3jxGG2UboRTUiNVt_GLl8znZFI7cWTGX5QfkgOyif1l-QWicbQBGZTI2H_Jjh2yMnv6wQD/s1600/Dropbox+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="51" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZ5qAg-8hab2qJMwizgUV8MxqctukYfJbAChsYthblRnVHtnLGDYeqpxuS2GqzMqlMoKv7Y3jxGG2UboRTUiNVt_GLl8znZFI7cWTGX5QfkgOyif1l-QWicbQBGZTI2H_Jjh2yMnv6wQD/s200/Dropbox+logo.png" width="200" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Then, before I'd got round to doing the conversion, I got a notification that the latest KeePassDroid had (beta) read-only support for .kdbx files. What's more, I came across an old LifeHacker article on <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5063176/how-to-use-dropbox-as-the-ultimate-password-syncer">using Dropbox for KeePass synchronisation</a> across machines. In fact, KeePass Droid's FAQ page also suggests Dropbox for synchronisation. I was already a long-time (free) <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/">Dropbox</a> user on Windows, and had the Android Dropbox client too, so all of a sudden, this was starting to sound like a workable solution.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Synchronisation and Security</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span>If the thought of even your encrypted data being in the cloud worries you, both KeePass and KeePassDroid support the use of Keyfiles - either instead of or in addition to your keyphrase. If you use a keyphrase AND a keyfile, then you can add an extra level of security by putting your keyfile on the devices you want to access your password database from, and DON'T put it on Dropbox (or your chosen online syncing solution) - no access to the data IN the cloud, because the keyfile isn't there. Just make sure you have a safe backup of it somewhere you CAN retrieve it from if disaster strikes.</span></span><br />
<div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Both the desktop and Android versions allow you to save or not save the location of the keyfile, so if you choose not to save it, that makes it even more difficult for people to hack your data. And it goes without saying that the longer and more convoluted your passphrase is, the less easy it will be to hack. Obviously, that has to be tempered with ease of actually entering the passphrase on a small/touchscreen device. There's no reason why you can't have more than one keyfile though, so you could choose an easy-to-enter passphrase for the less sensitive data, and a fiendishly difficult one for the more sensitive stuff. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Note that if you use Dropbox to sync the files, the Dropbox client on Android doesn't monitor and update files on the fly in the same way that it does on Windows, so if you want to make sure you have the most up to date password file, you'll need to navigate to it via the Dropbox UI and open it from there, rather than opening it directly from KeePassDroid. On the other hand, you can use that to your advantage if you don't want to "waste" data by updating the file over 3G to get access to information that you know hasn't changed since the last sync. Just use KeePassDroid directly to open the file that currently exists on your device. You don't have write access to the data, so you can't get out of sync with your up to date master copy. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If you don't fancy sending your data via the cloud at all, there's still good ol' manual file transfer between PC and phone - using either ftp or USB. In this case, since there's no record-by-record sync tool, being read-only on the phone can be considered an advantage, since there's no chance for different things to have been changed in two places since the last sync (something that shouldn't be an issue for the Windows update-on-the-fly Dropbx client). </span></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vGsBZorNZdgnzwdrne28IjhbWjnScjE8Le_bt-cqHCmRTa5nFJwezZDtN_lN9vu701vsceHOXFfaIOXY6cDJPn64DmtbNgiAVwAt1gF5CDwWOlIaz7ExPXX2A5KRAYaVchiscuQrRhaM/s1600/portableapps+USB+stick+icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vGsBZorNZdgnzwdrne28IjhbWjnScjE8Le_bt-cqHCmRTa5nFJwezZDtN_lN9vu701vsceHOXFfaIOXY6cDJPn64DmtbNgiAVwAt1gF5CDwWOlIaz7ExPXX2A5KRAYaVchiscuQrRhaM/s320/portableapps+USB+stick+icon.png" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">KeePass for Windows is also available in Portable form, so you can carry both the application and data on a USB stick or SD card (within a file container encrypted with <a href="http://www.truecrypt.org/">TrueCrypt</a> for good measure, if you like) for a cloud-free, multi-PC solution, with manual syncing to the phone. </span></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOUdNd_Iy9z4pnwXlX35lu1-G9uezAlcdCZqjN_b73e6R3wId6VjICEDJH1GcKMwDt5087ta2bDdDbMPYZ_OZgdP2uxM4wHFSKYrrzAf2G-xFiYw-bugHi1JzPSVcnfQuYHc9CwvxS98o/s1600/TrueCrypt+Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIOUdNd_Iy9z4pnwXlX35lu1-G9uezAlcdCZqjN_b73e6R3wId6VjICEDJH1GcKMwDt5087ta2bDdDbMPYZ_OZgdP2uxM4wHFSKYrrzAf2G-xFiYw-bugHi1JzPSVcnfQuYHc9CwvxS98o/s320/TrueCrypt+Logo.png" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As far as I'm aware, there is no Android version of Truecrypt, although I found a web page </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">suggesting that the Linux version of TrueCrypt will run on Android, but it's no longer online, and I have no idea whether you would need to compile the source to get it to work. If it would work, you could create a small encrypted file container within your Dropbox folder, and put your KeePass database in it for a double layer of security on the phone too. However, I suspect that in practical use, it would be a bit of a pain to access the Truecrypt folder and then the KeePass database unless you're particularly paranoid ... or you're planning to leave Government secrets in the back of a taxi.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The Conversion</span></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRAF3Geq3Sxe0crvZy-L0z-DBYDN03JMnbkBAetgB30FHMkvCS5vEjOlcgYlIDaeZWLmUG8MpId_DOFo-dwqYnfTAgonykDgVTPLaxLSc42tIXlDpgrJVdU1qtlR9zMQ3miLLmLnlR-Q-/s1600/Handysafe+Twitter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRAF3Geq3Sxe0crvZy-L0z-DBYDN03JMnbkBAetgB30FHMkvCS5vEjOlcgYlIDaeZWLmUG8MpId_DOFo-dwqYnfTAgonykDgVTPLaxLSc42tIXlDpgrJVdU1qtlR9zMQ3miLLmLnlR-Q-/s320/Handysafe+Twitter.png" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZ8-RjUATZAxdXAzs6_m9xKc6JXwE5WehyphenhyphenZTXecr8n9zT0b6G4FgCX9-4E9fTPdjKtx36mfMazIkFvADq7kk6b4TN_XncXOfiiyLWlDY_2H1UyCy4JoiuK1CZh4SigG9mUBC_4Z-nbIzR/s1600/KeePass+Twitter.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZ8-RjUATZAxdXAzs6_m9xKc6JXwE5WehyphenhyphenZTXecr8n9zT0b6G4FgCX9-4E9fTPdjKtx36mfMazIkFvADq7kk6b4TN_XncXOfiiyLWlDY_2H1UyCy4JoiuK1CZh4SigG9mUBC_4Z-nbIzR/s320/KeePass+Twitter.png" width="305" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span>The import of HandyPro's XML files seemed to go smoothly. However, there isn't a one-for-one correlation between KeePass card fields and HandySafe Pro entry fields. The import does appear to make some reasonable decisions based on the field names though. KeePass is really aimed at website and their logins and passwords, so tries to match HandySafe's web-relevant fields to a card title, user name, password and URL. Anything it doesn't feel it can make intelligent decisions about gets put on an "Advanced" tab in KeePass - and the information in this advanced tab isn't available in KeePass Droid 1.5.3. </span></span><br />
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<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXMixMlOYzlnRu3x3T4w92TFUuSvDHikM19L5K1tkHZdF-glWkKp4ZgRRSA_ogAVRfv7pMXRgseAUgF9AbNRsrrA9SWTWn8ubD0aOHp5MqeYSpwkoRMcObynN3nsZcIRqAx-DzZBX7qam/s1600/Handysafe+bank+entry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline ! important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXMixMlOYzlnRu3x3T4w92TFUuSvDHikM19L5K1tkHZdF-glWkKp4ZgRRSA_ogAVRfv7pMXRgseAUgF9AbNRsrrA9SWTWn8ubD0aOHp5MqeYSpwkoRMcObynN3nsZcIRqAx-DzZBX7qam/s320/Handysafe+bank+entry.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeP-L3tZK8C1wFcIM_B4AK7jYu01_gx5CHilr9mYCgytHPqn8-XVYJe42wyhl-8yHhrvppupUi86QChaDJGI_B-x5vpHTJdm6u0Fbt78Jnn9y_H9cqaiCH-1PwNzpqprRkdMdz-CdUDllY/s1600/KeePass+bank+entry+-+main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeP-L3tZK8C1wFcIM_B4AK7jYu01_gx5CHilr9mYCgytHPqn8-XVYJe42wyhl-8yHhrvppupUi86QChaDJGI_B-x5vpHTJdm6u0Fbt78Jnn9y_H9cqaiCH-1PwNzpqprRkdMdz-CdUDllY/s320/KeePass+bank+entry+-+main.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUrnJncmMTJJynPz0pswF9SXhlIdAzhsHxMW9fJOkBWQib60E6TcixkymG22bHj0o_KKXrsJ-aMY7lv8Ufih-W_uieyzl_0pBLd2ZIVoMrxnznvAmG90zw-GJvgU1YKqL9cyUwyXXkSZz/s1600/KeePass+bank+entry+-+Advanced.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifUrnJncmMTJJynPz0pswF9SXhlIdAzhsHxMW9fJOkBWQib60E6TcixkymG22bHj0o_KKXrsJ-aMY7lv8Ufih-W_uieyzl_0pBLd2ZIVoMrxnznvAmG90zw-GJvgU1YKqL9cyUwyXXkSZz/s320/KeePass+bank+entry+-+Advanced.jpg" width="305" /></a></span></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span>Of course, any conversion process will involve some things not going quite as smoothly as you might hope for. In this case, because KeePass is really geared up for website passwords, KeePass Card Titles often appear with several pieces of comma separated information in them, especially for credit/debit/bank account cards (e.g. the HandySafe entry name and the Account name, which are often the same, plus account number in the title). The only obvious thing that I can see that doesn't get converted is the expiry date - that's put on the Advanced tab, rather than in KeePass's own expiry field. But at least all the information is there - as far as I can tell!</span></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It'll take a little tidying up, which I can do piecemeal, as and when I have the time. And of course anything on the Advanced tab won't appear in KeePass Droid, so it's not perfect - but it's still the best solution I've found. </span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The Android App</span></span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QxPIno_f4YjJL8uFJeyz6dBgXFd0Dk_qZLHNRHE5JNXeA39JCw3QrKxgeP0jtPahWxSsVZxl5HSrJ44SkFZadfMee5TOFnUuHJnte8lUkPj_TD0s28dWhlRKmI8umk5XnnQcMcJZxqri/s1600/KeePassDroid+login+screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QxPIno_f4YjJL8uFJeyz6dBgXFd0Dk_qZLHNRHE5JNXeA39JCw3QrKxgeP0jtPahWxSsVZxl5HSrJ44SkFZadfMee5TOFnUuHJnte8lUkPj_TD0s28dWhlRKmI8umk5XnnQcMcJZxqri/s200/KeePassDroid+login+screenshot.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">KeePassDroid is a little utilitarian. In its current form (1.5.3), it's not going to win any prizes for style, and I'd like to see some more font size choices (including something between the current Large and Medium) and for it to be able to display the icons that are used in the desktop version (including embedded custom icons).</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On the other hand, its main function is to show you encrypted data on your handset, so I can live with the lack of frills in the display.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Screenshots courtesy of KeePassDroid's author.</i> </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTibLAbpurPR6qSPa33WzixQhtsm55ayUvF8GkPwREqAwrTv61D5lZtW6Zc61w2mAtG3bZ20lf-_poU3EtY8QAojQ8UeQIoqhG77zNwS4lzrCC8x8us8FYuCYgIh1B7bbbl7f5WBujjX1T/s1600/KeePassDroid+list+screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTibLAbpurPR6qSPa33WzixQhtsm55ayUvF8GkPwREqAwrTv61D5lZtW6Zc61w2mAtG3bZ20lf-_poU3EtY8QAojQ8UeQIoqhG77zNwS4lzrCC8x8us8FYuCYgIh1B7bbbl7f5WBujjX1T/s200/KeePassDroid+list+screenshot.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The default font size for the Group list (and items within the group) is enormous, but that can be changed in the settings (with choices of Small Medium or Large). However, there appears to be a bug that requires you to exit and restart the app to see the change. My own opinion is that the large font is way too large, but medium is a bit too small, and the small font makes it difficult to select the item you want from the list. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmEyC4SkTB01F76Fnt3sEhswsrHyIRUdpXN7svZYtl0Rt76wkWUo8Ry14kWyPWN5gLn-XRKrvtdBkPurvwlUjBNl-lrRFdqiBEk_yAbFngerZVZzVzgu18iN8Cf35LOBVP1YRTi2DuRL0/s1600/KeePassDroid+entry+screenshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmEyC4SkTB01F76Fnt3sEhswsrHyIRUdpXN7svZYtl0Rt76wkWUo8Ry14kWyPWN5gLn-XRKrvtdBkPurvwlUjBNl-lrRFdqiBEk_yAbFngerZVZzVzgu18iN8Cf35LOBVP1YRTi2DuRL0/s200/KeePassDroid+entry+screenshot.png" width="200" /></a></span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Once your card is open, the font size for the header info is fine, but the detail is in a tiny font which isn't configurable. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><photos an="" and="" card="" here="" list="" of="" open="" screen=""></photos></span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">And, of course, as already mentioned, it doesn't display anything other than the "standard" KeePass 2.0 fields. What I haven't tried is to convert a .kdbx file to a .kdb file and see if KPD handles that any differently. Development seems to be fairly active, and it's definitely usable if not pretty, so it seems that I have a solution, and one which seems likely to improve. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Functionally, the thing that would make the most difference will be if KeePassDroid starts to provide access to the String fields in the desktop version's Advanced tab. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The best bit of all is that, although the developers of KeePass and KeePass Droid have the facility to accept donations so that we can all choose to support their efforts, this solution needn't cost you penny :o) - unlike HandySafe Pro.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"></span>Platforms</span></span></b></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Dropbox desktop is cross-platform (Windows, Max, Linux), and there are mobile clients for iPhone, iPad and Android, with Blackberry "coming soon". </span></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">KeePass desktop is Windows only, but is supported under Mono on Macs and Linux boxes, and there are also Portable and U3 (USB stick) versions, and a contributed <a href="http://www.keepassx.org/">Linux version</a>. There are contributed mobile apps for PocketPC, iPhone, Blackberry and PalmOS (convertor) ... and, of course, Android.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">B-Folders desktop is cross-platform: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.5+, Linux 32 and 64bit versions, and it supports import from eWallet - historically my Windows/WinMo solution from years ago. Currently, the only mobile client runs on Android. </span></span></span></div></div></div><span style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761420800159293907.post-5867293906264382882010-06-21T08:46:00.002+01:002011-08-25T12:17:14.659+01:004 minutes of fame (well, almost)Steve Litchfield interviews me for a User Story on <a href="http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/ss114.html">The Phones Show</a> video podcast episode 114 (there's other news in the Podcast too!)<br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FKc0Jk7n-iE&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FKc0Jk7n-iE&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>juwlzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07306166445872115520noreply@blogger.com1