January 2010 Archives

A 5-year-old girl gives the contents of her purse, and the purse, to a West York, Pa. fire victim who is also a fellow student.

Donations help victims of a Jan. 17 fire get necessities.

Ctrl+Alt+Del on the physical keyboard will boot the Motorola Droid without going though the shut down menu and physical shutdown switch.

Ctrl is the key furthest most left key in the third row with the arrow and line above it. Press all three keys down at the same time and phone will boot.

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A free app called "1Kill" in the Android Market will reset the desktop without booting the whole operating system.

The action takes a split second and will correct occasional kinks with widgets and desktop actions.

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TasKiller, a free app from the Android Market that offers a quick kill of multitasking apps.

I like it's desktop widget that tells you how much memory is left and lists the apps running. You can also set it to close apps when the screen is shut off and custom set an ignore list.

Mike and Phil Mengelkamp drive a GMC Jimmy out from beneath a tree that fell during Monday's wind storm in York County.

The family Bulldog leaves a parting comment on the 25 year old tree in Dover, Pa.

People have poked fun at Gmail's eternal beta status, but it makes sense with an interface that is constantly in evolution.

On Android based phones, you don't have to wait for operating system updates pushed to the phone to try new features in development.

Currently in the Navigation are labs for a scale bar, terrain overlay, popular categories, a layering button and compass arrow.

You can access labs navigation by accessing "More" from the menu key.

If you like the YouTube embed lab in Google talk chat in the web interface, it's also part of the Android Google talk chat on the phone, embedding a thumbnail and quick link.

As stated by Google, "Labs is a testing ground for experimental features" giving you a chance to see what the developers are working on for future updates.

"They may change, break or disappear at any time."

About 100 people stood in the Crispus Attucks gym Monday afternoon, their hands clasped together at the end of Crispus Attucks' Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service celebration.

A prayer for a student with family in Haiti.

The idea is that electronics change rapidly, while cars are in service for years.

Deploying a development layer that can be swapped out easily, extends the life of the car's electronics so that today's Sync doesn't become tomorrow's 8-track player.

Sync now can be used by third-party applications such as Twitter and Pandora. It even provides a Web browser and Wi-Fi hotspot. The new version of Sync is based on the Microsoft Windows Embedded Auto platform. Separately, Ford has announced it has opened the Sync interface to third-party applications running on smartphones. The driver controls the device and application through Sync and the touchscreen. gearlog.com

Current app syncs include, hearing your tweets as they come in, Pandora and Stitcher radio.

More mixing 720 x 480 Android phone video with stills. All sound on video was generated by a Motorola Droid.

It's great to just pull out a phone and supplement a story with a quick video hit, one less piece of junk to drag along and weigh you down when you need to hit and run.

Record-holder Howard Helmer's claim to fame is cooking up 427 two-egg omelets in 30 minutes. He is demonstrating at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.

Update: PoliceStream asked me for my order number. I went to the receipt stored in my Google Checkout list and the app verified

sal gullo writes: I bought police stream app for my g1 and my touch and I can't get it to work.always asks for order number,when put in say number already used, just so many differant problems, I would have paid much more than 99 cents just to have a good reliable police steam app,could u help me?

PoliceStream has updated their app constantly. You must now enter your original Google order number that came with your emailed receipt to update.

If you have trashed the email receipt, you can get it by logging into Google Checkout

A widget for the desktop was recently added that displays a start/stop button for your most relevant the feed without having to directly open the app.

I haven't had to enter the Google order number yet for any updates, so I haven't had the opportunity to experience your issue.

I would contact the app developer directly at gmlvsk@gmail.com

Beyond the most obvious shortcut on Android phones, the notification shade, lurk many ways to jump between tasks.

The notification shade pulls down from the top of all screens and jumps you to updated content pushed into apps.

Googe Talk is a quick way to reach people on your Gmail list in "real" time. It's the same chat that resides in the Gmail web interface and standalone Windows desktop application.

On an Android phone, Google Talk is integrated into the operating system.

You can reach a person by seeing their status from the contact list. (Here a green dot means they are available) or you can reach them via the green dot embedded in a Gmail.

Floating over the Gmail link to Google Talk will give you a slider of all available connections to that person, email address, facebook, etc. (Here the red dot means that the person is busy)

By sliding Google Chat windows side by side, you can scroll though people avalable for chat or multi-task between multiple conversations.

The first line of a new chat, like texts, will appear momentarily at the top in the phone's status bar before a notification icon appears and stays until the chat is responded to.

Need more chat on Android? Check out the Android Market for apps for Yahoo, AIM, and others.

Android 2.1 implements the speak-to-text function across the platform into any text window.

For those of us who don't have a Nexus One and are waiting for the Android OS update, the function is starting to appear in apps.

Currently, Motorola Droid users running 2.x, can use this function for searching by a long tap of the magnifying glass key.

You can search the web or by saying key words, like "Map", before the rest of the search ties you into different functions.

Try, "Map of Restaurants" and the results will give you a push pin map of restaurants in your GPS location. Tap on the pin's label and you can navigate, call etc.

SpeaknTweet Lite, an incredibly simple free app, appeared in the Android Market today.

SpeaknTweet Lite only has two buttons. You speak, than tweet !

If only life was that simple.

I found SpeaknTweet Lite text speech recognition as accurate at the search function, which is pretty good.

Text to speech on Android can be tweaked by selecting "Text-to-speech" from the menu key. This will give you the ability to select between six languages and customize according to your speech rate. There is also an example of speech synthesis in English.

A handy, free widget to push another time zone to your desktop.

I text and chat with a friend all the time who is in Germany for four months and our communication hasn't changed much.

Instead of thinking about the time difference all the time, I went to the Android Market and pulled a free time zone widget that uses the phone's internal clock and pushes your desired time zone to the desktop.

Go to the Android Market on the handset and search "time widget" for a list of options. and download the widget.

To use stand alone widgets and those incorporated into apps go to the menu key > Add > Widgets, for a list of available widgets.

Note: if your desktop is full, "Widgets" is grayed out. You can add widgets to any of the three desktops on the Droid by sliding to an alternative desktop.

Another of my favorite widgets syncs an abbreviation of the current Google Calendar event on the desktop. The widget doubles as a link to the full calender.

A dedicated free Yahoo app called Yahoo Mob pushed to the Android Market today that allows access to your Yahoo mail, news and search.

It complements the IMAP solution (greenmesh 11/11/09) and the paid Yahoo premium solution that allows POP access to your Yahoo account though the combined inbox on the Droid.

I tested Yahoo Mob. Sending and receiving emails worked as did receiving attachements. There is also access to a Yahoo News categories and Yahoo Search.

I still prefer the IMAP solution for Yahoo as it combines your contact lists and sends notifications for emails automatically.

Manual settings to set up Yahoo Mail as IMAP in the Droid combined Inbox as the original link I referred to is down.

Check require sign-in and input your usernam/pass

Reader writes:

By Randy on January 9, 2010 10:10 AM
Just one quick question for you...you said, "phone comes with 16 gigs of memory on a removable card, with an easy swap to 32 gig." I was wondering if you have found a 32 GB Micro SD card out there anywhere? I have been looking and looking but unable to find a place to buy one.

Phone cameras that create large image file sizes help maintain a usable picture resolution when zooming and then editing on mobile photo editing programs.

Since most camera phones don't have a mechanical zoom lens, the actual file size is trimmed to simulate zooming. Zooming in makes the file size smaller.

On the Motorola Droid, the maximum file size is 2592 x 1936 pixels.

I have found no reason to preset at the smaller file sizes as it doesn't slow down the image processing and sizing up a compressed image later (if you want a large print) is always a bad idea.

The phone comes with 16 gigs of memory on a removable card, with an easy swap to 32 gig, so there isn't an issue with storage either.

If you crop down the picture to give it a custom crop or edit out things that distract, the final image file size will also be smaller.

On the Droid, you can crop and rotate the image in the phone's gallery.

I prefer to crop in the camera before opening it up in an editing program, since most of the photo editing programs currently available in the Android Market only work with a trimmed down file size.

Next: Taking a look at Photo editing apps Photo Droid, Photo Effects, Photoshop and PicSay Pro.

You can forget about your text (SMS) message restrictions entirely by using Google Voice.

Update: Google pushed an update tonight for Google Voice and corrected double text issue in landscape mode using the virtual keyboard.

The interface is similar to the standard text messaging on your Verizon Droid without any fees. You can SMS to any other mobile number.

You must have a Google Voice account . Google voice is free and can be used in it's web interface without an Android (or BlackBerry) smart phone.

Next, go to the Android Market on your handset and download the free app "Google Voice"

At left, the Google Voice app on a Motorola Droid with text threads and a voice mail transcription.

On the Droid, Google Voice coexists with Verizon's native calling and SMS or can replace the functionality of the existing phone number and SMS.

Google Voice SMS does not support (MMS) picture and video messaging.

For phone calling GV is unlimited and free 24/7 to Canada and the U.S., same for text messaging.

Like with calling, the web interface offers robust features for text messaging. Threads are grouped, saved and can be accessed, started and continued on the web.

You can move between the web and handset at any time.

By default, after installing the Google Voice app, the Droid will automatically push a GV text through the Verizon system charging you for an out of network text.

Going into the GV dashboard Settings>Edit> Uncheck: Receive SMS on this phone

This will separate the GV app from the native Android/Verizon SMS/MMS application.

There is a software glitch with the current Android OS build or the app on the Droid that sends two SMS messages when sending on the virtual keyboard (touch screen) when using Google Voice for SMS. This doesn't happen when using the physical keyboard and pressing the downward arrow send key.

Once it's all set up, you can just go into your contacts with a choice to send a GV SMS or make it the default text engine. New messages to your chosen GV phone number come in via the GV app and appear in the notifications.

I still use my Verizon messaging for in network, picture and video messaging.

You can set the polling time of the GV app to check for sms messages to a minimum of 5 minutes. The default is much longer.

More than 70 years after living through the Great Depression, four men from the Windy Hill Senior Center talked to students about their experiences.

But they weren't face-to-face. They weren't on a phone. They hooked up through an Internet program that allowed the seniors and students to see and hear each other.

Honors history students from Spring Grove Area High School asked Carl Alwine, 92; Russ Stine, 89; Harry Baer, 87; and Herm Myers, 79, questions about what it was like to live through tough times in the 1930s.

The senior center, which is in Spring Grove, has a history of interacting with the high school, executive director Tammy Miller said. This time, high school history teacher Michelle Ludwig suggested using Skype, a program that connects people through the use of a Web cam, laptop and a projector.

Story: By NICHOLE DOBO Daily Record/Sunday News

Sound from this video was recorded with a Motorola Droid

Kim Bracey was inaugurated as York's 24th mayor this morning on the steps of City Hall.

The little girl who trembled when National Guard tanks rolled past her city home "stands before you as mayor of York," she told the crowd, which gave her a standing ovation. "One York for all people."