ultimate geek girl » Geek Girl

What are your favorite Android apps?

Ellie — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:02:27 +0000

Inquiring minds want to know! Let’s hear it in the comments! Tell us the name of the app(s), what it does and what you like about it! Related posts:9 Months Later – My Favorite Android Apps 10 Great Android Apps for the new Android Owner My Top Android Apps for the Geeky User Related posts:

Check me out on Women with Droids

Ellie — Sun, 02 May 2010 01:07:07 +0000

I’ve been busy playing with my new Android phone (Samsung Moment) and writing about Android Apps over at Women with Droids. While all of the contributors are women, the posts are geared toward any Android user who wants to discover tips and tricks, great giveaways and helpful apps.

Check us out, feel free to comment and visit soon!

Looking for a Laptop (again)

Ellie — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:58:35 +0000

I just got word that I am being considered for another position at the company I work for – and it will require me to get another laptop that runs Windows, instead of my trusty MacBook.

I’ve been looking at Toshiba and Lenovo machines as a new work machine. It doesn’t have to be super powerful, just budget friendly and lightweight.

Lenovo has some neat netbooks, but that’s not the size I’m looking for – so I’m looking in the 13.3-15 inch range. The prices online look pretty good, but then again, everything looks great at 3am, right? If I stay within budget, I could probably find a nice machine for around $600, which is a fraction of my MacBook and have a nice work computer.

What do you guys think?

My Top Android Apps for the Geeky User

Ellie — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:20:19 +0000

I love the Android platform for smartphones. Not only can I satisfy my need to be connected via Google 24-7, I can use great apps to make my life a little easier. Not in any particular order are my top Android Apps for the geeky user. Let me know in the comments what apps you like to use. I’d love to find out about new apps from fellow Android users!

First, get the awesome barcode scanner to scan the accompanying barcodes: Barcode Scanner

Starbucks Card

eBuddy

Tip Calc

Ringdroid

Startup Auditor

Pandora

NYC Bus & Subway Maps

Seesmic

Calorie Counter

BeMeWeightPoints

Amazon

The Weather Channel

Quick Settings

USA TODAY

Jewels

Twidroid

SMS Backup

Fandango

Backgrounds

Mobile Banking

PayPal

Listables!

Facebook

App Dragon

Why SEO is not as hard as people think

Ellie — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:10:54 +0000

There are a lot of SEO (search engine optimization) “gurus” out there, peddling their services to help you become SEO savvy and work on website optimization. They make it seem as if SEO and web optimization is so hard that only the highly skilled can do it, but that could not be further from the truth!

Actually, anyone with a high school reading level and a basic understanding of SEO could optimize a website and generate traffic and business for their website. SEO works off of the theory that properly placed keywords can catapult you to the top rankings in search engines, thus increasing your click-throughs, and potentially people who are going to view your ads or buy your product.

People use keywords when searching using search engines – so try to replicate this behavior by using popular or common (or not so common!) search keywords in your website text or blog posts. Knowing what keywords work best for your target audience is most important. It usually takes using different variations of the same keywords to get the full effect of keywords on your site. For example, if I am writing about Android Apps, I am going to use the keywords Android, Android Apps, Android Applications, Android Programs, etc. Hopefully, the use of different keywords will give me a better chance of ranking higher in search engine results.

Go back and edit old posts or copy to add new or updated phrases and keywords. Watch out for making sentences awkward or completely changing the tone or meaning of old posts or text – but instead enhance the reader’s experience – thus generating more traffic or sales!

Check your website’s stats and see what the popular search terms are; where are people coming from? Is your blog or website about cooking, but you keep getting hits on beach bikinis? Maybe you should stop writing about your summer fun and more about cooking – or change the focus totally to having fun at the beach! It’s really up to you to make SEO fun and easy – and you might not need that SEO expert, afterall!

10 Great Android Apps for the new Android Owner

Ellie — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:10:31 +0000

We’ve covered Apple iPhone apps here quite a few times, but now Android is on the scene in a major way! I’ve gotten the Samsung Moment and I’ve been loving every moment of finding awesome free apps for it that make my life easier or are just plain fun!

Below you’ll find my handpicked list of 10 great Android apps that are a must for new Android owners. Tell me your favorites in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!

Note that I’ve included QR code for each download, too, so you should get Barcode Scanner (go to the Marketplace and search for “Barcode Scanner” and install on your device) before using the QR codes with your phone’s camera.

1. Twidroid is my favorite Twitter application for Android. It comes in a free version and a paid PRO version, but both offer great features. I use the free version because I don’t need bit.ly support or multiple account support, either. The color scheme is a little perky, but you get used to it. If it bothers you, get the PRO version and change the theme!

2. Get your shopping done with the Amazon.com app! Securely log in to your Amazon.com account, view your cart, shop for items and check out all from your Android device. The interface is clean and easy to use, and I have used it a couple of times, including ordering for Christmas.

3. Last.fm is a great music streaming application. The user interface is easy to navigate and the selection of music is as vast and varied as your preferences allow! There are limits to how many hours you can stream music on your phone and online. However, the quality is good and I experience little buffering.

4. Along the same lines as Last.fm is Pandora. When I run out of free listening on Last.fm, then I switch to the very popular Pandora for listening to tunes while I’m on the go. My only complaint is that you can’t save the streams to your phone for listening when you don’t have a data or wi-fi connection.

5. CardioTrainer keeps track of my exercise routines, how much I’ve walked, run or biked using GPS or maps, plus the paid version unlocks more features that would be useful to anyone interested in a healthy lifestyle.

6. Love movies? Fandango makes it so simple to view movie trailers, buy movie tickets, find theaters and read movie reviews from your Android phone.

7. Google Sky Map will make any iPhone user insanely jealous and make you look cool to your friends and kids. By using your phone’s GPS, you can navigate the night sky and show off constellations and other heavenly bodies with minimal effort but a big cool factor.

8. Jewels is a free Bejeweled knock-off, but don’t let the pricetag fool you. You can play in Normal or Timed mode, save games and come back to them later and keep track of your high scores. The game is challenging and the colors pop off of the phone’s screen.

9. Just because Android allows you to run programs in the background doesn’t mean you have to let programs run in the background. Get Advanced Task Killer and quickly exit out of programs that are running. I find it most useful for quitting Sprint Navigation, which comes bundled with my phone but I don’t use. You can whitelist programs from being forced closed by ATK, too. Very helpful for saving battery life and freeing up memory.

10. Google Voice was banned from the Apple App Store, but it is offered in the Android Market for users of Android phones. Make all of your calls via Google Voice or select the option on a call by call basis. You can also view Google Voice voicemail transcripts and text messages on your phone from the native-looking client. It’s a great addition to a good phone.

Sync Android Phone with Mac

Ellie — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:51:05 +0000

I just got an Android phone – the Samsung Moment to be exact – and I wanted to sync my phone to my MacBook just like PC users could. However, it was easy and fast to figure out how to connect my Mac to my Android phone, and I can now sync files between my MacBook and Android phone! Here’s how:

Restart your Android phone. (This step may be skipped by some users; others will find the computer doesn’t recognize the phone’s SD card without a restart of the phone.)
Plug your USB cord that came with the phone to the phone, and connect to the Mac.
Go to Settings > Applications > Development on your phone and click on USB Debugging.
Drag down the notifications window and click on USB Connection. Click on Mount.
Now you’ll see the drive “No Name” on your desktop. You can now copy files to/from your SD drive.

Be sure to eject the disk from your Mac when you are done using it, then unmount via the phone’s notifications dialog.

Sync Android Mac

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Ellie — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:55:47 +0000

Happy holidays! Most of us in the US will be celebrating Christmas on December 25, but this is also a holiday season for people of other faiths and cultures. For me, the holiday season is a time to show appreciation to the people I love and care about by exchanging gifts, spending quality time with each other and enjoying great food.

Below is my list of some great gifts for anyone on your list. They can all be purchased at Amazon.com and delivered by Christmas. I have ordered from them in the past, and their gift wrapping is professional and seasonal.

Amazon Kindle – The electronic book reader by Amazon is the most popular e-book reader on the market. At $259, it is affordable for most people and a great gadget for the geek on your list.
The iHome Clock Radio for iPods and iPhones is a great addition to any bedroom or kitchen. I’m getting one for my bedroom this year, so I can listen to my iPod via speakers and consolidate speakers and my clock radio.
No Christmas is complete without jewelry for the special woman in your life – Amazon’s Sterling Silver Butterfly pendant is delicate and feminine, yet strong enough for daily wear. I love this piece.
Have a chef on your list? What about a cookbook for crockpot cooking to help them expand their cooking skills and save time while adding healthier options to their menu selections?
Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever! is a great gift for a child on your list. I would suggest this book for kids up to 8. The stories are easy to understand and the illustrations are top notch!

Do you have gift ideas? Let’s hear it in the comments!

3 Exceptional Features of Gmail You Must Use

Ellie — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:10:06 +0000

Just about everyone uses Gmail for managing email. It has some great features such as useful filters, the ability to set Gmail as your default email client in Firefox and Gmail Labs, which offers all sorts of additional add-ons for your email enjoyment.

There are three more exceptional features that I think are must-haves for any serious Gmail user. They are: drag and drop, Google Voice in Gmail and keyboard shortcuts.

Rolled out across all accounts is the option to drag and drop emails from your inbox (or label view) to another label and drag and drop labels onto messages. You can now make it a bit easier to sort through and organize emails. Simply click on the little dots right before the checkmark box on your email and drag the message to the specified label or the trash.

Photos courtesy of Gmail Blog.

Google Voice is only available by invitation only, but if you are one of the lucky ones who secured an invite, why not make it easier to listen to voicemails by adding Google Voice to Gmail? In Gmail Labs, search for the “Google Voice player in mail” and enable. Remember to save your updates. Now, when you get email notifications of new voicemails, you’ll see a mini audio player at the bottom of your email. Click play and listen directly from Gmail to your new voicemails.

Gmail is a great tool for productivity – you can add gadgets to your sidebar and enable all sorts of features using Gmail Labs. But no tool is as useful as the keyboard shortcuts built in to Gmail. Be sure you’ve activated the keyboard shortcuts by going to Settings and selecting “Keyboard shortcuts on” and saving the changes. Press the question mark (?) to bring up a cheatsheet of shortcuts or print a copy of the shortcuts from Gmail’s help page. Once you learn the shortcuts, you’ll save a lot of time and your mouse might miss you using it constantly!

What’s your favorite Gmail feature? Let’s hear it in the comments!

10 Things to Know about Getting Started on a Mac

Ellie — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:51:22 +0000

Macs are easy to use, even for native PC users who are learning how to use a Mac for work or want to switch to a Mac from a PC.

Some people feel that Macs are more intuitive than PCs when it comes to function, but I simply feel that Macs are easy to learn if you are willing to be patient and ask questions. These are my 10 tips on how to get started on a Mac. If you have a tip, leave it in the comments!

Instead of the taskbar in Windows, the Mac has a Menu Bar, which runs across the TOP of your screen. After a few days, you will stop looking for the START button and taskbar at the bottom of your screen. I promise.The default status of the Menu Bar looks like the screenshot above. When you open different programs (applications), the Menu Bar will change to give you menus for those respective applications.
Launching programs is easy, thanks to the Dock. The Dock is similar to the Quick Launch bar on a Windows PC, where shortcuts to programs (applications), file folders and files reside and sit, waiting on you to click on them. It is simple to add new programs or folders to the Dock, which, by default, sits at the bottom of the Mac desktop.The Dock can be moved to the left or the right (I have mine on the left) and open programs are identified by a small glowing dot below or to the side (if docked on left or right) of the program’s icon.
What’s the best way to launch programs than the Dock? Look in your upper right hand corner of the screen for the magnifying glass – this is for “Spotlight” – a built-in indexing program that allows you to search your entire hard drive. Type in the first few letters of the program you are looking for and click on the name to
start the program.

How do I open files on my Mac? You have a couple of good options – either use “Spotlight” to search for files by name. Or click on the name in your folders to start the program, or open the application you want to use and select File > Open from the Menu Bar.
Your existing hardware will work on a Mac, although you may need to reformat your iPod to work on a Mac. Yes, this means that your music will be deleted, so be sure you have backup copies on your external drive.
The Mac comes with a lot of software preinstalled (Apple calls them applications) such as iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, iCal, Mail and Safari. While Microsoft Office does not come preinstalled, you can purchase a version for the Mac or choose either OpenOffice, a free office suite, or start using Google Documents or Zoho, both free online office suites.
All software is not Mac compatible, so here’s a list of Mac alternatives to PC software you are accustomed to using:
- Microsoft Office … OpenOffice – OpenOffice is a free software suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office.
- MediaMonkey … VLC media player – A free audio program with cool features, low CPU consumption and supportive community.
- Windows Uninstaller … AppCleaner – You can delete programs by dragging its icon to the trashcan (in the dock) or make sure you get all of its files and settings by using the free AppCleaner.
- Google Talk, AIM, MSN Messenger … Adium – Multi-client Adium makes it easy to chat with friends and family no matter what IM service they use.
Many programs that work on PCs also work on Macs. They come in Mac compatible versions that offer the same basic features, and sometimes cool features just for Macs. The programs may look slightly different, but don’t worry – the programs work on Macs.Some great cross-platform programs that are must-haves are:
- Evernote – Keep notes, photos and information handy and organized.
- Gimp – A free alternative to PhotoShop
- Firefox – One of the most popular webbrowsers on the market today.
How do I install programs (applications) on my new Mac? Download the installer file from the software vendor’s website, then drag the installer file to the Applications folder in Macintosh HD > Applications. Some programs will have pop up windows to make this process faster or easier, but some won’t, so don’t panic if all programs don’t have more advanced installers.

No, you don’t have to use a mouse! The Mac’s standout feature is the large number of keyboard shortcuts that make it easy to use Mac software and programs without ever touching the touchpad or a mouse. These printable shortcut lists from Make Use Of make it easy to learn the most commonly used shortcuts. The shortcuts shown below are the most common shortcuts on a Mac.Other shortcuts can be found every program’s menu. If you are going to use a Mac a lot, or just like working faster, make notes of the shortcuts you need most for every program you use regularly and memorize them.

In all, Macs can be just as “easy” to use as PCs. With a little patience and enthusiasm, you can learn to love the way Macs work and do all of the same things on a Mac that you learned how to do on a PC.

What Mac questions do you have? Did I miss a tip? Have you made the switch or thinking about it?