Useful Android Widgets

Widget time!
Here are some Android widgets that I think are worth knowing about:

Shazam
With the Shazam widget, you can tag a song from your desktop with one touch.
Enough said.

Foursquare
The Foursquare widget, will try to display the location you are at, allowing you to check in almost immediately. In case the location is not correct, a "next" button will cycle you through other nearby locations.

Waze
For those that don't know, Waze is a crowd sourced navigation application. The Waze widget will give you at-a-glance estimated travel times to your home or your place of work, and a one-touch shortcut to launch Waze and have it navigate you to that location. Additionally, the widget exposes a "Commute-O-Meter", which is a chart that shows what your commute time might be if you left at different times plus or minus 30 minutes of the current time.

Pandora/Rhapsody/etc
Various music services have widgets that will present your basic music-controls (Play/Pause/Previous/Next) directly on your desktop.

Shortcuts
While technically not widgets, shortcuts are also useful features of the Android interface. On my phone, the following useful shortcuts are available:
- Direct Dial - dial a specific phone number
- Direct Message - text message a specific phone number
- Directions & Navigation - navigate to a specific address
- Person - open a specific contact
- Gmail label - view emails with a specific label in gmail


Know of any other useful widgets, shortcuts, or tips & tricks? Please share in the comments.


Disclaimer
I have had a horrible experience with my Android phone, and a good number of my friends with Androids would also rate their experiences as "bad" or worse. I highly recommend people stay AWAY from Android phones. And no, I am not an Apple fanboy.

My dog ran away today...

I am spending this weekend in Orange County visiting my parents. Of course, I brought Buggy with me. He enjoys being here, seeing the different people, and running about in my parents' large backyard.

Today, I sent him off in the yard in the morning for an hour, brought him in for an hour, and then sent him out again. It was windy, but he it didn't bother him a bit and he was having a grand old time.

Around 1pm my mom called me into the kitchen for lunch and we began to eat. Suddenly I stopped, and announced, "I better bring Buggy in."

I pulled open the sliding glass door to the backyard, and called out for Buggy. He didn't come bounding in, but that wasn't really much of a surprise. When Buggy is absorbed in something new and different, he'll usually savor one long last lingering moment before turning and sauntering over to me. So I called again, and then one more time using my "stern" voice. But nothing. So I slipped on some shoes, and checked around one side of the house... he wasn't there, and to the other side... and found something that I wasn't expecting to. The gate to the front yard and the street was idly bumping back and forth, ajar, apparently blown open by the Santa Ana winds.

I briefly explained to my parents what had happened and ran out to the front yard. Buggy was nowhere in sight.

My parents house sits on a ridge on the plateau of a long hill. Beyond the plateau, the street continues downhill in both directions. I guessed south, and set off running until I hit the end of the plateau. A neighbor was out watering his lawn, and responded to my hurried inquiry that he had not seen my dog, but that he would consider himself on the lookout.

I turned around and ran back towards the house, where I took a quick sweep, and then continued past and to the north. Buggy was not anywhere before the end of the plateau, and I continued without stopping onward down the hill. Here I found a group of five men working on a front yard. I asked them if they had seen a black Boston Terrier in the last hour. They assured me that they had been 'out front' all morning, and that no dog had gone past.

So off I ran, back up to the house, this time in hopes that someone had called my phone, having found Buggy and gotten my number off of his tags. But alas, no calls. So I took a moment to finally tie the laces on my shoes, picked up my keys, and went out to the street to where my car was parked. As I reached for the driver side door, I heard my mom scream out.

I looked to her, and then to where she had been looking.

Coming from the south, walking up the street, was my dad, carrying something in his arms. For some reason, I can't remember what I was and was not able to see as I ran towards him. But the bundle in my dad's arms was Buggy, perfectly fine, and only mildly curious as to why my dad was carrying him, or why he was being carried at all.

I pause here for an important Public Service Announcement: My dad is an awesome dad.

I took Buggy from my father's arms and carried him the rest of the way back to the house. Apparently he had only made it down that south hill a few hundred feet before deciding that it was too hot and lying down in the comfortable shade of a large tree on an unknowning and unknown neighbor's lawn.

Thank you sun. Thank you Boston Terrier shortened breathing passages. Thank you large tree. Thank you unknown neighbor.

As I write this, Buggy lies fast asleep at my feet, possibly dreaming of his big and yet small adventure. But I sit here wondering at something else.

This afternoon, after all of the hubbub was over, I saw something that I have never seen before. I saw my mother reach down and pet Buggy lovingly. Now don't get me wrong, my mom has love for Buggy as she understands that he is important to me. But the deeper truth is that the concept of dogs as pets is foreign to her and she has struggled to be comfortable around Buggy, especially physically, for the entire two and a half years that I have had him as a part of my life. In another half-an-hour, I found my dad and my mom and Buggy happily playing tug-of-war and fetch together in the living room.

I guess what they say is true... sometimes it takes nearly losing something to truly appreciate it.

Sending hugs to all of your animals and to everybody that means something to you,

K & the Love Bug.

Navigating Change

I went to a Navigating Change seminar.
Here is the Quick Sheet:

FLEX

Face your emotions

• Remain calm
• Get clarity on your feelings
• Realize that difficulty may come with change
• Consider the impact of your words

Learn everything you can

• Ask questions - positive questions
• Decide what will be challenging
• Determine real benefits of the change
• Identify examples of success

Explore ways to help the change go well

• Offer ideas
• Address issues one at a time
• Make time to learn new things
• Be patient

eXpress yourself in positive words and actions

• Focus on expected advantages
• Avoid negative body language and tone of voice
• Help others see benefits
• Avoid whiners

I hope you find something in here that will help you through challenging times!
Mr. Brightside

Networking is your lifeline to Career Advancement

Meeting People Essentials

1. Smile
2. Make Eye Contact
3. Introduce Yourself
4. Shake Hands

Where Can I Find People to Network With

1. Current Coworkers
2. Former Coworkers
3. College Alumni
4. Industry Groups (Digital LA, Think LA, IGDA, Women in Games, etc.)
5. Industry Conferences (GDC, E3, Comic-Con, etc.)
6. Social Media (LinkedIn, facebook, twitter, etc.)
7. Neighbors
8. People you interview who may be good but not get the job

Social Media
Actively use Social Media to keep individual relationships in your network alive.

• When facebook tells you to "Reconnect with...", just take the suggestion and do it.
• When LinkedIn tells you someone got a new job, send them a congratulatory note.
• Join LinkedIn groups.
• Profile can include links to your: company, product, private site, blog, etc.
• Create an email signature that includes links to your facebook/LinkedIn/twitter pages.
• Become an active part of online communities

Business Cards

• Get Business Cards
• When meeting someone, AFTER it is established in conversation that the OTHER party would like further contact, GIVE THEM YOUR business card.
• After exchanging business cards, go home and connect with the person on LinkedIn.

Study Up
Prepare a 30 second pitch for each of the following:

1. What do you do?
2. What does your business unit do?
3. What does your company do?
4. Why do you like working where you work?
5. Be positive and honest.

Be "In the Know" about your business.
Be aware of available career opportunities.

*These notes from a workshop I attended at Disney.

"Live and In-Person" Networking will be covered in my next post.

Roman Cavalry Choir

Every day I get in my car abour 4 times. For the last week, every day, one of those times the first song on the radio was "Viva la vida". I wonder when "Viva la Vida" will viva it's last vida.

The song is catchy, but since I hear it so much, something has caught my attention and won't let go.

What is a Roman Cavalry Choir? To that end I have googled "Roman Cavalry Choir". Other people are similarly curious. But no one knows the answer.

One fellow has formed a claim, but responses to his claim debunk it.

Amusingly I found another blog singing the praises of "Viva la Vida", stating that it, in contrast to other modern pop songs, actually had worthy and meaningful lyrics. That is fine with me. But one thing caught my eye.

The title of his blog post was: "Roman Cavalry Choirs".

A Community of Individuals

Folks, we practically have an epidemic on our hands.

It seems that there is an affliction that can be caught by merely seeing an infected individual at the right time of day. It creeps into your system, initially seeming benign. But it is a REAL threat to your well-being, and the well-being of those around you!

So I am here to put an end to it, and say:

STOP HOLDING THE DOOR OPEN FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LIGHT YEARS AWAY!

As far as I can tell, this behavior seems to have spread to almost everyone in the West Los Angeles area if not everywhere.

HERE: It is polite to hold the door open for the people in your party. It is polite to hold the door open for the young, the old, and the disabled. It is wonderfully generous of you to hold the door open for someone who is carrying packages, or is in any other way going to have a challenging time getting through the door. I also believe there are perfectly good reasons to hold the door open for a stranger if they are coming through at more or less the same time as you. I am not trying to compel you to act rudely.

THERE: What I have witnessed, and what I am witnessing more and more, is people putting themselves out holding open doors for long amounts of time waiting for fully self-capable people to traverse unreasonably long distances to take advantage of their "kindness". Often times the "fortunate" person who the door is being held for even feels obliged to hurry up or even jog/run to the door so as to not inconvenience the person who so desperately is trying to provide a convenience for them. "He's going so far out of his way to help me out that I should go out of my way to make sure him going out of his way is as little out of his way as possible :)".

Just add John Cleese and you've got the next great Monty Python sketch.

And when all said and done these poor saps more often than not give each other a "heartfelt" nod for being so thoughtful and selfless. Selfless?! Guy #1 just made this Guy #2 run to a door which he normally would have just mosey'd up to, opened and walked on through without giving it so much as a second thought!

What's the harm? I assure you there is harm in this. If you are interested give me a buzz, but I won't pollute this space at this time with the details.

So, please, Please, please... the next time you are at a doorway, think of me, and don't give that self-righteous atomaton holding the door open for you at 30 paces one ounce of hurry up. And if that atomaton is you, please, think of me, and set yourself free...


THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Making Non-Casual Games Accessible to Newbies

Here is an op-ed video discussing why there is a barrier for "newbies" to play non-casual games. This is something I have believed in for some time, and am glad someone decided to put it down since I haven't yet. Try not to get hung up on the details (e.g. he is not really talking about one particular feature of one particular game), and the bigger idea should come through.