20 November 2010
What a relief!
13 November 2010
Remember the Poppies!
12 November 2010
BlackApps: ScreenShot FREE
Enter my second installment of BlackBerry App reviews: ScreenShot FREE by S4BB Limited.
For the full list of BlackApp options, visit http://tinyurl.com/BlackApps or go to https://spreadsheets3.google.com/ccc?key=tzaQAeEd4i1RrTG4_ZO5Klw&hl=en_GB#gid=4
Vendor explanation:
What it all means is that you get a free ScreenShot app to use on your BB. It will take shots and save them to your SD card and make a camera shutter sound when it takes the shot. You can then email the resultant file as an attachment. If you want to pay up, you get a host of additional options and features, including choosing file formats for your images and custom directories for saving the files. Of course, the FREE version watermarks the pictures, which is a downside with this app, but it still does the job and while somewhat limited, the FREE version still allows you to incorporate a convenience key and is integrated into your BB menu button.
PRO's of the FREE version:
For the full list of BlackApp options, visit http://tinyurl.com/BlackApps or go to https://spreadsheets3.google.com/ccc?key=tzaQAeEd4i1RrTG4_ZO5Klw&hl=en_GB#gid=4
Vendor explanation:
With ScreenShot you can take a screen shot of your current BlackBerry® screen with just one click. Features: * Takes screen shots and saves them on the sd card / internal memory * Illustrated how to for setting up ScreenShot on a convenience key for 1-click screen shot taking * Real camera shutter sound * After screen shot is taken it can be sent by email easily * No time limitation * This FREE version DOES NOT allow for program options change - if you want to do the following, please purchase FULL version. http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/3301 * Screen shots can be queued up for easy batch sending by email * No branding in screen shot * Options can be adjusted: -- File name conventions -- Alert settings (camera sound, vibration, dialog can be turned on/off) -- Time delay before screen shot is taken -- Image format (PNG, BMP, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, WBMP) -- Storage settings: custom directory
What it all means is that you get a free ScreenShot app to use on your BB. It will take shots and save them to your SD card and make a camera shutter sound when it takes the shot. You can then email the resultant file as an attachment. If you want to pay up, you get a host of additional options and features, including choosing file formats for your images and custom directories for saving the files. Of course, the FREE version watermarks the pictures, which is a downside with this app, but it still does the job and while somewhat limited, the FREE version still allows you to incorporate a convenience key and is integrated into your BB menu button.PRO's of the FREE version:
- FREE
- Easy to use
- Integrated into menu
- Can email screenshots
- Supports convenience key
CON's
- Watermark
- Relatively large when compared to alternatives
- There appear to be better alternatives, but I haven't reviewed them yet.
ScreenShot FREE can be located here:
S4BB Limited can be located here:
BlackApps: SMSRelay
I have a confession to make: despite owning a BlackBerry handset for almost six years I didn't really bother with BlackBerry App's until about two weeks ago, and since I started to dig into them I've found quite a few that are really fantastic - almost ESSENTIAL (oh boy, here BrYan goes again).
I've decided to entitle my series of BlackBerry App reviews "BlackApps" because it sounds cool :)
My first BlackApp review is going to be about SMSRelay by Manse eSolutions Inc.
Getting the date and time right: YY/MM/DD vs. DD/MM/YY
A recent comment made by one of my readers (yes, you know who you are, since you're the only reader :)) has spurred me on to writing this reply. It's simply to put the world in the know, because I fear South Africa will forever be trapped in the cycle of inefficiency and stupidity until we see the logic in the way the date should be organised:
First of all, I don't change the time standard as my esteemed reader alleges. I USE THE LOGICAL time standard. Have you ever wondered why the USA is leaps ahead of RSA in terms of efficiency and development? Here's why:
USA uses the date format of YY/MM/DD vs. the RSA standard format of DD/MM/YY.
If we had a phone bill received on the 1st of every month, then they would be sorted by date as follows:
USA:
2010/01/01 (January)
2010/02/01 (February)
2010/03/01 (March)
and so on
RSA:
01/01/2010 (January)
01/02/2010 (February)
01/03/2010 (March)
and so on
If we want to file all of our telephone bills into folders, if they all arrived on the 1st of the month, then in the USA they'd be filed in a cabinet labeled 2010 in a folder labeled "January", "February", "March" and so on. In RSA they'd be filed in a cabinet labeled "Day 1" in a folder labeled "January". In the USA you'd need one cabinet per year, and in RSA you'd need one cabinet per day (i.e. 31 cabinets per year).
If we wanted to filter out the a phone bill from November 2010, if it was sorted by RSA format we'd need to dig into the file of "1st's" and sift through piles of notes from January through to December 2000 through to 2010 before we found the one we wanted. In other words, to find November 2010's phone bill, you'd dig into a folder of about 120 notes because they've been filed by the Day and then the Month and then only the Year.
The US standard of YY/MM/DD is much more logical because to find November 2010, you start in the 2010 (YY) folder, then the 11 (MM) folder, and then hey presto, there's only one phone bill in that folder.
I am not for the illogical pounds and ounces and inches stuff, but the date sorting makes sense, and that's how I've always used it.
To verify my explanation, go ahead and see for yourself: click on the DATE tab in your explorer and see how it sorts your files - if it's DD/MM/YY does it help you to find your date-organised files as efficiently as if you sorted by YY/MM/DD?
First of all, I don't change the time standard as my esteemed reader alleges. I USE THE LOGICAL time standard. Have you ever wondered why the USA is leaps ahead of RSA in terms of efficiency and development? Here's why:
USA uses the date format of YY/MM/DD vs. the RSA standard format of DD/MM/YY.
If we had a phone bill received on the 1st of every month, then they would be sorted by date as follows:
USA:
2010/01/01 (January)
2010/02/01 (February)
2010/03/01 (March)
and so on
RSA:
01/01/2010 (January)
01/02/2010 (February)
01/03/2010 (March)
and so on
If we want to file all of our telephone bills into folders, if they all arrived on the 1st of the month, then in the USA they'd be filed in a cabinet labeled 2010 in a folder labeled "January", "February", "March" and so on. In RSA they'd be filed in a cabinet labeled "Day 1" in a folder labeled "January". In the USA you'd need one cabinet per year, and in RSA you'd need one cabinet per day (i.e. 31 cabinets per year).
If we wanted to filter out the a phone bill from November 2010, if it was sorted by RSA format we'd need to dig into the file of "1st's" and sift through piles of notes from January through to December 2000 through to 2010 before we found the one we wanted. In other words, to find November 2010's phone bill, you'd dig into a folder of about 120 notes because they've been filed by the Day and then the Month and then only the Year.
The US standard of YY/MM/DD is much more logical because to find November 2010, you start in the 2010 (YY) folder, then the 11 (MM) folder, and then hey presto, there's only one phone bill in that folder.
I am not for the illogical pounds and ounces and inches stuff, but the date sorting makes sense, and that's how I've always used it.
To verify my explanation, go ahead and see for yourself: click on the DATE tab in your explorer and see how it sorts your files - if it's DD/MM/YY does it help you to find your date-organised files as efficiently as if you sorted by YY/MM/DD?
11 November 2010
Prepare your clocks! 2010/11/12 @ 13:14:15
Yes, you got it; another fancy time moment is upon us, and this one is kinda nifty...
12 November 2010 at 14 minutes and 15 seconds past 1pm it will read:
2010/11/12 @ 13:14:15 ... that's 10/11/12@13:14:15 ... set your alarms!
Cool huh?
12 November 2010 at 14 minutes and 15 seconds past 1pm it will read:
2010/11/12 @ 13:14:15 ... that's 10/11/12@13:14:15 ... set your alarms!
Cool huh?
05 November 2010
Google Chrome Options
I've recently taken the plunge to Windows 7 from Windows VISTA (yes, I know... enough said about that the better), and I have had to re-install GOOGLE CHROME (although I still think FIREFOX is my favorite browser ATM). With the new installation comes the usual tweaks, and here are the ones that I recommend you put in place before using CHROME extensively, since they are quite useful and in some respects ESSENTIAL tweaks:
Under Google Chrome Options
Under Google Chrome Options
- Basics
- On startup: reopen the pages that were open last
- Personal Stuff
- Sync: if you want to set this up to synchronise across CHROME sessions on various PCs
- Under the Hood
- Download location: "ask where to save each file before downloading"
And that's about it. Gosh, I thought there would be more before I started to post this. That's quite embarrassing. Well at least the blog is living up to its purpose: being a reminder to me for things I need reminding of!
Okay, um... then how about those CHROME TOOLS, huh? Some essential ones (IMHO) are:
- Google Mail Checker
- IE Tab
- Session Buddy
- Show Tab Count on Extension Icon
- Sexy Undo Close Tab
Do you recommend any others?
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