Life with Google.

Using google is like a love/hate relationship for me. Sometimes I love it, other times I'd like to strangle it. Either way I can always say one thing. It owns me. No matter what, its always the go to guy. I've used it for projects, research, laptop backgrounds, shopping, and so much more. Its unbelievable. Come to think of it I hardly ever use yahoo, unless its for my gaming email. That's because Google has the superior search engine. I've used Bing, Ask.com, and so many others over the years. None of which stood up, for me at least, like google did.

With Google, I was able to complete my senior project for high school. I used it not only for research, but as a place to save and do my work. With its Google drive, then I could just add onto it whenever I liked. Then once I got home it was saved on my email. So I never really had to worry much about it. (You know Google is important when you type it without capitalizing the G and spell check says you spell it wrong). That worked wonders when I did my Senior project and I was at a jail with no internet wireless connection. It allowed me to keep notes, and didn't have to worry about losing them unless I deleted them myself.

Now its just common use! I use Google probably hundreds of times daily. Mainly for research on Marvel characters, or past video games. But those are just some of the smaller things. If I ever have a problem, I simply Google it and receive an answer almost instantly. Its unbelievable. Besides, you'd look like a fool if you told a friend to "Bing it". I think not.

What else can you do on Google? Well, you have Google books. Think of a kindle, but replace it with Google and you get the idea. In fact they're both compatible! Like two peas in a pod field of information. Although, I never really used Google books, but I can say one good thing about them. In my System architecture book I am missing chapter 1, so I Googled it. Google books allowed me to preview the entire 1st chapter for free, and some of the later chapters as well. Now there is a time limit for this, so don't get any ideas. Its so many hours a day. Although its still nice to have a back up.

Lets say you don't have Microsoft office, nor a live account. Then you're not going to have access to Microsoft word, excel, power-point, etc. Well if you use Google, you'll get something very similar. Its called Google docs. Google docs isn't the prettiest thing in the world, in fact its quite simple. It doesn't have all the buttons and do-dads like Microsoft office apps have. Yet it still gets the job done, and a pretty good job at that.

In many ways Google has changed the way we look at things. If something peeks our interest we google it. Its like having an infinite amount of knowledge at the palms of your hands. (Don't take that literally.) I've learned a lot from Google. Although 75% of it will probably never be used in actual conversation. Or ever used, but still it works. Now children of the chore how about we all type "Zerg Rush" into google and enjoy ourselves for a bit.

Simple, Yet Wonderful Software

Howdy folks, its me again and today I have a little bit of software to share with you. Now these are some common names, and you probably know about most of them. Personally, I use these on a daily basis. Mostly for work, or for play. But still the usefulness still stands tall. Skype, Outlook, and Evernote (desktop).

Microsoft Outlook is email based software. Now what's cool about this is that if you play Xbox live then you must have a Live.com account. Why is this related you ask? If you have a Live account then you, my friend, have access to a web based outlook. Cool huh? Although the Live account version is extremely different.

Compare the picture to the right to the one up top. Instantly you can see that there are more options on the Live version. Which is true. But lets get back to the topic shall we?

The desktop version of Outlook doesn't have all the bells and whistles as the Live version. In fact it seems quite bland. Microsoft Outlook 2010 looks similar to the top picture. BUT, you have the ability to save your emails. Its quite easy too, all you do is drag a email from the Outlook window to the desktop or to a folder. Instantly it will download the email and you now have access to it at all times. Another cool thing about the desktop version is that you don't need a internet connection to access it. You can still access older emails, download documents, and even write drafts. Nifty huh?

Now there are still some downsides to it. Out of experience, I've had some trouble with receiving emails or it randomly disconnecting. Other than that its a pretty solid piece of software.

Do you have a friend that is out of state, or out of Country? Do you have difficulty communicating with them? Well Skype might be your answer (or facebook, but lets pretend it doesn't exist). Its simple to install, and easy to use. Advert your attention to the right and you'll see the basic layout of Skype.  If you're wondering about the green icons beside black blobs, their online indicators. They come in several colors. Green is online, red is busy, blank is offline, and yellow is away.

To send a message, all you gotta do is click a contact. It'll pull up a small profile picture with several  options. look to the right for examples. Now lets go into more depth. Lets say you want to talk to one another. First go to the contact you wish to talk to. You'll see a green tab that says Call. Click it and let it run. On the opposite end they'll be getting a ring. If the answer it then you'll be able to talk.

The video feature is pretty cool as well. Me and my pal Noah used to play Yugioh over Skype. Mainly because we kept accusing the other for cheating when we did it over the xbox. Now we can see what the other is doing. The downside is the occasional lag spike, but other than that its a pretty solid feature.

Now I've bragged about evernote several times in the past. So one more time won't make a difference. When you think of the desktop version of Evernote, think of google drive. The desktop version of Evernote syncs with the online version. Thus allowing you to edit notes, see past notes, and make new ones. This comes in handy if you're at work and you want something to read. Or maybe you're at a place where there is no internet, that's where Evernote shines. You can still access old notes, create new ones, and once you get a connection it will sync with the online version thus updating it. Amazing is it not?

Now maybe these pieces of software will help. Maybe not. The important thing is that you get the general idea. Heck maybe you know of some better. If you do then post a comment about it.

Evernote vs Springpad

Here you have it folks, two great combatants firing out notes as if it was going out of style. Weighing in at 750,000 premium users, an organized killing machine that not only holds your notes, but takes pictures too. In the left corner you have the unbeatable, all sensational EVERNOTE! To the right we have a lean, mean, organization machine. The new rookie of the year, and direct competition to the champ, we bring to you SPRINGPAD. Lets fight!

What have we gotten into now....

Now with all introductions aside, lets begin our review with Evernote. This outstanding piece of software, that started out as a beta in 2008, has gained a massive amounts of popularity. Tending to well over twenty-million people worldwide; if not more now. Growth of success sprouted out nearly instantly, especially on the android. No longer did the user have to worry about their notes being lost. Because if you used evernote you'd have a offline copy, as well as a online one. Did success go to their heads? No, especially when you compare it to the McAfee guy.

So if they didn't go mad with power, then what did they do? If you're asking yourself this go pat yourself on the back because you earned it soldier. Not only did they focus on the stability of the evernote software, they branched off and made things like evernote clipper or Skitch.

Personally, I don't use a lot of skitch. But I use evernote clipper almost on a day-to-day basis. With it I can save enitre pages onto my evernote all my Warmachine needs. Thanks to it, I can now read about my favorite pieces and form strategies during my down time at work. I can also save some recipes, notes, and even past homework!  Or, I can keep a collection of pictures. Such as posters, wallpapers, backgrounds, funny comics, or just daily use photos.

Next up, we have the underdog. Ladies and gentlemen hold onto your hats for Springpad!.This handy tool has out of this world organization and categorization. Like evernote, they use "Notebooks" to help organize the users things. But what sets them apart is how it goes about it. Especially when it comes to sharing. While playing around with Springpad, I figured out that you can post lists to facebook. These lists do not require user acounts to view and are a dream come true when you're recommending games to friends. Instead of sending one link at a time, one can now send them a large list of links along with pictures.

Now what I don't like is the way they save web pages. Unlike Evernote, springpad likes to save the url and give a brief description of the website. While as evernote will save the ENTIRE webpage. So when it comes to reading at work, I'd give the point to evernote any day of the week. Also another cool thing about springpad, that and I forgot to mention, was that you can also attach videos.

Basics of a Gameboy advance emulator.

I hope you all enjoy this little video I put together. Its about how to use the basics of a VBA emulator. Enjoy.