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Sci-Fi Motorola Droid Theme

March at last! My Blackberry has been dying for some time now because it was unable to handle all of the data I loaded on it. Frustratingly, it kept dumping its memory, causing me to lose all my texts, emails, bookmarks, and app data. It was time for a new phone!

Around January, Verizon began sending me upgrade notices so we looked into it, but as it turned out, it wasn’t time for the “New Every Two” upgrade that comes with steep discounts… I had to wait until March for that. Why Verizon kept sending me “You’re eligible for an upgrade” emails and mailers, when I wasn’t eligible until March is a mystery to me. Unfortunately, looking into it made me start coveting the Android mobile operating system from Google, and thanks to some deliciously sci-fi commercials by Verizon, the Motorola Droid in particular.

Verizon’s deceptive upgrade advertising aside, I waited patiently until March, but when the beginning of the month arrived and I didn’t jump at the chance to run to the Verizon store, Jaci began to wonder. I dread going into that store because of the soul crushing customer service I’ve had in the past, which may have explained my reluctance. However, as the Ides passed and my Blackberry complaints became more verbose (and slightly vulgar), Jaci finally confronted me.

I explained that I was now awaiting the release of Google’s Nexus on Verizon. Even though I held no hope of the iPhone on Verizon, Nexus seemed like an Android iPhone killer, whereas Droid had only been doing ok. Google’s phone page said Nexus would be available to Verizon customers in “Spring 2010″. Jaci finally convinced me that waiting would only cost me more frustration, and that since she was also eligible for an upgrade, she would get a Droid as well. I could have held out on my own, but with her mobile life, I knew we needed her phone smart. So we spent the next two hours at the Verizon store, and left with our souls mostly intact, but our wallets lighter.

It was worth it.

Android is an amazing OS, and the phone is solid. In fact, I have written this entire post on my phone in the Android Wordpress app! The browser, the screen, and the speed is amazing. Only the keyboard is a bit tough… and my thumbs are hurting from this post, but otherwise, I’m very happy she talked me into this!

In fact, one of the first things I did was design custom wallpaper for our phones. Android wallpaper is 640 x 480. Below are some examples of what I came up with. (Note that these were beginner attempts, and in fact, neither Jaci nor I are using any of the wallpapers!). Here’s the thing- even though you can of course add your own pictures as your iPhone wallpaper, Android is open sourced, so it makes customization seem infinitely possible. I can’t wait to try writing some Android apps!

Anyway, this is a really long post to write on a phone, no matter how amazing it is, so feel free to make comments below!

Flarewords Android Wallpaper

Splosion Android Wallaper

Dancer Solid Wallpaper

Dancer Satin Wallpaper

I drive about three hours a day- a potential hole in my day that could suck the life out of me and any productivity I have along with it. It seems like a waste- just sitting behind the wheel doing nothing, staring endlessly into space. Probably the rest of my family would agree that when you leave time for your mind to wander like that you can very easily become stressful. I need my mind to be engaged especially during drives so that I can stay focused and so that when I do get to school I’m ready for the day. Usually this means a healthy dose of NPR, especially Morning Edition, and All Things Considered.  (By the way, if you don’t already, please support public radio- support your local station.) But the news can often become repetitive, and I need breaks from it, but I have found a solution.

Now basically all digital content has been made available on demand via the Internet. You can get streaming radio- or podcasts downloaded to your iPod (or other mobile audio player) and listen to them when you want to. For instance, I listen to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me- an NPR news quiz that is hilarious and informative during the week. Unfortunately it comes on during the weekend when I’m not available to listen live, so I download it as a podcast. My Chumby streams live internet radio and podcasts from my iTunes, so I can listen while I work. If you are not doing this already, I highly encourage it- there is a lot of great content out there that can really add a lot to your daily routine.

To carry this forward, I want to talk about two services that allow me to get varied intellectual content that I couldn’t get elsewhere- Audible.com and iTunes university. Audilble.com is a repository of all sorts of audio files from audio books to speeches, to the daily newspaper read out loud to you. But more on this in a second. iTunes university is a download service from Apple that allows you to download lectures and other academic audio recordings from professors from schools all over the United States. Talk about ways to keep your mind engaged while you’re driving!

While iTunes University is mostly free lectures- Audible.com is a paid for service. You can either purchase audio content individually for a premium price, or pay a subscription fee (of varying levels) that give you monthly credits to purchase audio works. Personally, I am on the subscription plan, and I have already “read’ (heard) many great audio books as a result. Each reading is a performance, and they have some really excellent authors and narrators. I highly recommend it. Don’t have an iPod? Don’t worry- Audible has 5 different formats that you can download to- so you won’t be stranded just because you went with the Zune.

My father-in-law has just got a new job driving a tanker out here- and we are already getting him set up with these services. They keep you sharp and engage you, all while allowing you to do other things. People have been predicting the demise of radio- but audio content is still very accessible and very important- certainly it is much better than TV and much more engaging! Stay tuned for some podcast and Audible recommendations!

Some of you may know this, but I am in preparations to run the Fargo half marathon in May. I figure that I need to do something to prove to myself that my back can get better- and I figured a half marathon was a much better idea than a whole one! So I have strapped on my running shoes and gone out to the (indoor) track at the campus gym and have been running laps for the past three weeks. In the end, its either going to kill me or make me stronger, and I figured either of those options would be better for my back than nothing! Training has been going well so far, but I haven’t been running too far, or too fast for that matter, and I have been in a lot of pain while running, so I decided it was time to buy a new pair of shoes, and in the process I discovered an amazing new toy!

When I started looking for running shoes I thought my main concern would be things like comfort, stability, shoe size, running appropriateness, etc. How little did I realize that the main motivating factor would be technology! After comparing several brands- Adidas, Under Armour, New Balance, and Nike, I realized that they all had pretty much the same thing going, and I could get whatever I needed. The deciding factor was Nike’s relationship with Apple. Nike and Apple have teamed up to create Nike + runs, a gadget that I would highly recommend to any serious runner.

So here is how it works. You put a little chip into your left shoe, under the insole. The chip is activated when you step on it, so you can only wear these shoes for running- don’t take them out to the mall or battery life will plummet. Next, you plug in a tiny data chip into your iPod- don’t worry it looks exactly like the charger and isn’t too big, it fits in most arm bands. Once plugged in, the iPod (if you have the right version of the iPod software, which you should if you bought your iPod in the past two years) you have access to Nike runs on your iPod.

Nike Runs basically plays a music track of your choice while you are running. But on top of the music track a little voice lets you know how far you have gone, what your pace and time is, and even gives you little coaching tips. You can do distance, time, or pace workouts and customize each one so the little voice tells you what you want to hear. In addition you can select a “Power Song” that when you need a little boost, you hit the button and the power song immediately comes on to pump you up!

The chip in your shoe tracks distance and time (and therefore also pace) very accurately. In fact, with no configuration at all, it was only a half lap off of 2 miles (my first run with it). If you know a distance, you can then configure it so you don’t have to run that extra half lap.

But that’s not the end- plug the iPod into your computer, and it uploads the data to Nikeruns.com. And here is where things really get interesting. At Nike Runs you can compete against your friends (around the world), you can track your workouts, you can create customized workout plans that download to your iPod, you can set goals and milestones and have them tracked- all without having to input any data, it all comes from the iPod. Also, Apple and Nike have commissioned original music tracks specifically devoted to running so that you have the right music to keep you on tempo or pace. They even have celebrity coaches that help you learn to run better, faster, or stronger.

The experience was easy- easy setup, easy tracking, easy use. And the design and interface are beautiful. Combine that with the precision, and I think I have myself a very handy tool that might get me 13.1 miles yet! I highly recommend this to anyone that is planning on getting new shoes soon.