Category Archives: Tech

Padre Pio Quotation Meme

I absolutely love this image I created the other day with the InstaQuote iPhone app. (They have an Android app, too!) I’m embedding it from Instagram:

Prayer is the oxygen of the soul. -Padre Pio

A photo posted by Jo Hawke (@jo_hawke) on

I got the app on sale a while back but really haven’t used it much. However, it really does make creating nice-looking images easy. They have a lot of cool backgrounds, and you can type in your quotation and alter the color scheme.

Warning: If you’re used to Photoshop, it will probably get frustrating for you not to have much control over sizing and spacing of individual words.

P.S. If you don’t know much about Padre Pio, google him. He is an amazing Saint with all kinds of miraculous specials! <3

My Favorite Apps

When I had to replace my DroidX last month, it was quite an ordeal. I couldn’t believe how many apps I’d acquired — more than 100!

It was frustrating, but I was able to install them and get them where I wanted within a day or two. And it gave me a chance to decide whether or not I really wanted an app.

So here are my top apps right now:

1. Gmail. Free. I use this more than any other app, hands-down.
2. Facebook. Free. This app has come a long way since I first used it. It really needs a like-this-comment feature, though.
3. Browser. Free. I can’t say I love the browser app, but I definitely use it a lot. It doesn’t save my windows, for some reason, but it does keep my favorites.
4. Laudate. Free.
5. BeyondPro. Paid, but does have a free version.

Review | Instaframe for Instagram Android App

Just Like Pic Stitch App?

This app doesn’t work on my phone in the same way the identical Pic Stitch app doesn’t work. It will not let me add pictures at all, though it teases me with a maybe-this-time hope when it sends me to my gallery like all’s well.

Also, adds “Playtime” shortcut to the home page without asking permission. Bad business, IMHO.

LINK | Hard Reset Droid X — Technipages

Hard Reset Droid X — Technipages.

I was busy uninstalling each of my 100+ apps on my beloved Droid X (that has been aggravating me with freezing and shutting down and such for far too long, hence the need for reset) when Kevin, fresh home from work, said, “I’m sure you can find directions for doing that all once.”

So, yeah, DUH on me again today.

At least the old phone is free of my stuff now. And the new one is almost set up the way I want it.

And, by the way, I found my keys. They were, in fact, not in my car, but in the small zippered compartment of one of our suitcases. Sigh.

Evernote: Amp Up Your Notes

When I was reading through the comments on this Happiness Project post about note-taking last week, I realized that I need to write about Evernote.

It’s basically a website, a desktop program, and a mobile app that all sync so you can access your info anywhere anytime.

And it’s free! Up to a certain amount of space.

I’ve been using it for…

1. Song lyrics. I tag all of them “lyrics” and then tag the recognizable ones by their original artist. The songs Kevin and/or I wrote, I tag “originals.” Oh, and I ‘ve also been attaching audio clips of what I call my pieces, those lines, verses, choruses that are still forming. (If I don’t record them, either the melody or words will sometimes evaporate before I’m back to them. :()

2. Recipes. When I find I’d maybe like to try cooking sometime on GoodHousekeeping.com or Pinterest or Facebook, I can click on a little Evernote button on my browser toolbar and add the link, a highlighted section of the page, or the whole page to one of Evernote folders. I tag them “recipes,” “main courses,” “desserts,” etc. so I can access them easily, even from an aisle in Walmart!

True story: The other week I was running late and hadn’t added the ingredients to “my” “famous” Mexican Shells to my shopping list yet. So I picked up my phone and took a picture of the page in the cookbook. Then I went to my Evernote in Walmart and zoomed in on the picture to purchase those ingredients.

3. Trip planning. If I come across a website or picture or anything that looks like something we may want to explore sometime, I save it to Evernote. You can set up “notebooks” (like folders on your computer) to hold notes on specific trips and add text files (like a list of your planned itinerary or things you want to do) to your notebooks.

In my “NYC 2012” notebook, for example, I have 14 files right now. One is an itinerary that lists each day and what we were planning to do. Another is a “Things we want to do” file where we brainstormed the activities we most wanted to experience. There are three websites for Broadway shows saved (Porgy and Bess, Once the Musical, and Spider-Man on Broadway). There’s a link to my NYC Google Map, where I’ve pinpointed landmarks, places we’ve been and want to go, and subway stops over our years of exploring the city. And there are assorted websites, links, and details on concerts in the area when we planned to be there, and churches, museums, and other places we wanted to visit.

I’m sure we’re just scratching the Evernote usability surface.

Have you used Evernote? Tell us what else we’re missing!

Podcast: The New Yorker Fiction

My latest favorite listening treat is The New Yorker’s Fiction podcast, which asks writers to read and discuss short stories and novel excerpts.

This morning, I heard author Nicole Krauss reading one of Bruno Schulz’s stories: http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/downloads.newyorker.com/mp3/fiction/120217_fiction_krauss.mp3