22 November 2011
As many of us head into the holidays with plans to see family or friends, I offer two bits of advice for getting along:
“If you can’t say something nice… don’t say nothing at all.”
-Thumper, Bambi
“Do everything without complaining or arguing.”
-Philippians 2:14
Happy Thanksgiving!
13 October 2011
One of the things I am looking forward to about heaven is that none of my friends will be dating and getting married (Mark 12) and none of us will be pressed for time. Seriously, 2010 was a record-breaking year of weddings and I have had six friends get married so far this year. Don’t get me wrong, I love to celebrate my friends’ happiness but I grow weary of “losing” and missing one close friend after another.
Most of the time, I enjoy being single. Something I dislike, though, is being left out because I do not have a significant other to do social activities with my friends and their sweeties. Some friends vanish when they start dating someone. Some manage to squeeze in “hang out time” until wedding plans get busy. After the wedding, the happy couple moves or is busy spending time together, with their families, and with their “couple friends.” If I was friends with the wife first, the two of us might get together occasionally (especially if I ask often). If I was friends with the husband, we don’t really hang out anymore unless we travel in the same social circles.
I’d Like to Tell Them…
You should understand I knew you were fantastic long before you met your sweetie
You should understand I am absolutely thrilled that you are happy together
You should understand sometimes I just miss my friend
I understand we are all busy
I understand we both prayed for you to find this person (and I don’t regret that!)
I understand wanting to spend lots and lots of time with your sweetie
I understand friendships change over the course of time
I understand life has seasons and this is a crazy one
I understand we still care about each other
I understand quality time means more to me than to some
I understand wanting to have “couple friends” when you are part of a couple
I understand, but that does not make me miss you less
I understand.
Life Lessons (or How to Cope)
Step 1: Realize that not everything is about me.
Step 2: Weigh the opportunity cost. If I am upset, hurt, or annoyed by the changes to our closeness, I can choose to stew in that emotion or I can put more effort into staying maintaining the friendship.
Step 3: Decide that my close friends are, of course, worth the extra effort that it may take to get through this hectic season without losing touch completely.
Step 4: Be the social instigator. Invite friends to do things we both enjoy. Initiate social events for groups of friends. Try setting up a standing appointment. I have coffee* with two girl friends on the second Thursday of the month. Sometimes one of us misses or we cancel altogether, but the recurring plans mean that we still get together more often than when we tried to remember to set up one appointment at a time!
Step 5: Recognize that there is a season to let a friend go, but still remember and appreciate the past relationship.
*For us, “having coffee” means we will get together and talk and, at some point, we will discuss having coffee. Coffee consumption does not always occur, but that is still what we call it.
1 October 2011
If you like making lists, using your own handwriting instead of the iPhone keyboard, or doodling on your iPhone/iPod Touch, the Use Your Handwriting (UYH) app could be for you.
What it is: An app that lets you create lists, doodles, or other documents in your own handwriting.
Likes: UYH Gold offers the ability to change colors and line styles, a special setting for lefties, embedded lists (lists with sub-lists), lets you attach entries to an email, and the ability to move items between lists. I particularly like to change colors or even line styles between entries and use small doodles to enhance my lists and notes.
Dislikes: I would like the ability to sync or back-up my notes to my computer. In addition, Christmas-themed background is visible year round. I would like the ability to toggle the specialty backgrounds between hidden and unhidden.
Other: UYH Gold is currently $0.99 on iTunes but all you cautious, type-A people may like to try out the free UYH before buying the gold version
Bottom line: This is one of my favorite, most used, and most recommended iOS applications. 
If you try UYH or UYH Gold, leave a comment to let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: UYH is not my application (except that I bought it for personal use, of course!). This is a tool and how you use it is up to you. Do your own research and make wise decisions!
29 September 2011
If a link to your file breaks, look for the space you accidentally added to the file name. If you must ask the web designer, she will find it in under 5 minutes and you may feel silly.
24 February 2011
If you are an “iStudent” trying to get a handle on your class schedule and assignments, the inClass app available from iTunes could be for you.
What it is: A student planner application for iOSx on iPhone or iPod Touch; .
Likes: The ability to view tasks by class, due date, and priority, having professors’ office hours available, seeing what classes and task due dates occur on a given day. For people with an iPod Touch, this app works offline but you will need wifi to share notes or back up your data.
Dislikes: the only priority options are high, medium, and no priority; when viewing the schedule you cannot tap on classes or tasks to view them.
Other: I am not sure how I would use it, but there is also a Notes section. While taking class notes by tapping a small touch screen does not appeal to me, I could use the area for capturing photos of diagrams drawn on the board, short notes, or even audio recordings. There are also options for sharing the notes via email, Facebook, or file sharing with a computer.
Bottom line: I would have loved to have this app when I was an undergrad. This could be a handy tool for students trying to manage a number of classes and assignments with varying due dates. When I last checked, this app was free, so why not try it out? Also, be sure to take advantage of the email backup feature in the Settings.
If you try inClass, leave a comment to let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I don’t own or have any vested interest in this or any other apps nor am I responsible for how you or anyone else choose to use them. Do your own research and make wise decisions!
25 November 2010
This week, a friend asked if there is an iPhone app to help her manage her Christmas card and gift list. I suggested SimpleNote because it will let her copy/paste and enter new notes from her iPhone. In addition, she can view and edit all her notes online from any computer. If she wants something that gives her embedded lists and the satisfaction of checking things off, I would go with UYH Gold, but I think SimpleNote would be more convenient in this case. UYH Gold is $0.99 and SimpleNote is free.
If you want an app that is specifically designed for gifts, Better Christmas List and Better Gift List both seem to be highly reviewed, although I have not used either. Personally, I would rather use a more versatile list app. How do you keep track of your Christmas lists?
19 November 2010
As the “techie daughter/sister/friend” to many, I am frequently asked what applications I recommend for iPhone/iPod Touch. Most of these are free or offer a free “lite” version that you can try before purchasing the full app.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these apps and am not paid to recommend them. Just pretend you asked your sister or your best friend’s sister which apps she uses and she told you. That is how much responsibility and ownership I have here.
Organizing
-Simplenote Write notes and sync them online (cleaner look than the built-in Notes app!).
-ShopShop Quickly add or cross off items on your shopping list (or any other kind of list).
-UYH Gold Create embedded lists in your own handwriting.
-HomeBudget Handle personal finances and sync to another device if desired.
-Gas Cubby Record and track gas mileage and auto maintenance.
-LastPass Keep all your passwords secure and sync them to your home computer.
-Dropbox Access your free web-based file storage and download files for offline viewing.
-WeatherBug Check the… seriously? If you need an explanation for an app called “WeatherBug,” you can’t handle the iPhone.
Tools
-Battery Magic Find out how much longer your battery will last, depending on the activity.
-Dragon Dictation You talk, it types, you edit and paste.
-iTranslate Translate words between languages. I am resisting the urge to say “duh.” Oh, oops!
-Dictionary Your English teacher was right, it is your friend. It also comes with a Thesaurus, which is not a dinosaur.
-Convert Units Possibly the best tool ever, especially for those of us who can never remember conversion formulas or do math in our heads.
-iHandy Level Yes, it really works!
-Metronome Not much use unless you are musically-inclined or you want to annoy someone with annoying incessant ticking.
-Wallpaper Labeler Add text to any photo. I put my contact information on my lock screen.
Communication
-Textfree Text your friends via wifi from your own number. You can also sign up to beta test voice calling.
-Skype Just like Skype on your computer, except smaller.
Health
-SleepCycle Monitor sleep patterns and set an alarm to a song from your library.
-Ambiance Download and play whatever background noise is calming to you.
-WebMD Look up your symptoms for a little self-diagnosis.
-Lose It! Lose or maintain weight with a calorie-counter that factors in [daily allowance] – [food eaten] + [exercise]. Plus I really like the graph for weight changes.
Entertainment
-Remote Control iTunes from anywhere on the same wifi network.
-TouchMouse Turn your iPod into a wireless mouse via wifi.
-Pandora Listen to streaming music from your favorite artists and discover similar ones.
-Netflix View your Netflix queue and stream video from your instant queue.
-TV.com Watch clips and full episodes of selected shows.
-IMDb Look up movie and television information on the Internet Movie Database.
Reading
-Stanza Read purchased or free ebooks.
-Instapaper Save webpages to read later, even offline.
-Bible (from YouVersion) Search and read online versions or download translations for offline use.
-Mobile RSS Import your online feed reader and read posts, even offline.
Games
-Unblock Me Shuffle blocks around to free the red one.
-BubbleWrap Warning: Aggressive or competitive types tap the sreen a little hard in their bubble-popping frenzy.
-PaperToss Yes, you try to toss a virtual wad of paper into a virtual trashcan while a virtual fan is blowing. No, I have virtually no idea why this is addictive.
-Stick Wars Defend your fort from the attacking stick people and their siege weapons. Warning: There is some blood. Who knew stick figures could bleed?
Do you agree? Disagree? Have a question? Want to add an app? Leave a comment.
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