technology – Page 3

Addicted to Learning

October 29, 2012December 30, 2012Education, TechnologyLeave a Comment

As mentioned in a previous post, I have an irrational fear of losing brain cells. Now that I’m out of school, it’s up to me to keep fueling my brain, so now I am kind of addicted to learning.

Not only am I reading whenever I get the chance, but now there are a handful of online sites that provide university level courses for free. I am currently doing a course that teaches the fundamentals of Python coding on Coursera. I enrolled in a bunch of Coursera courses, but they are time sensitive and none of them have started yet. Most of the courses have start dates that are still far off in the future.

Other useful learning sites I am looking into include interactive programming community Code Academy and Udacity. I like these sites because they provide relevant courses for today’s modern world, something that my traditional schooling did not always consider.

Have any of you tried free online courses? I’d love to know your stories and experiences.

Unplugged For A Day

September 5, 2012September 5, 2012Art, Photography, Social Media, Technology2 Comments

With a view like this. Who needs the internet?

As my previous post mentioned, I went to my uncle’s cottage last weekend. It was 3-4 hours up north, and a boat ride across the lake. I was surrounded by nature and 3G was sparse.

I previously wrote a post, Could You Give Up the Internet for $50 million? where I admitted that I could not give it up. However this weekend unplugged for a day I learned that I was able to (at least for a day). I also realized that there were benefits to it. It was stress-relieving. I didn’t need to constantly check my e-mail, think of what to tweet or give a damn about what my friends were posting on Facebook. I didn’t even have the urge to instagram photos of our BBQ’d food.

Instead I taught Teddy how to swim, went hiking and took some breath taking photos of my surroundings. The only time I did use my 3G was to download Sky Map, an app that names all the constellations in the night sky.

Though I will probably not quit social media or the internet, sometimes I wonder how much of the real world we’re missing as we sit in front of blinking screens.

It’s a big and beautiful world out there.

How to Win at the Genius Bar

August 28, 2012March 10, 2013Business, Shopping, Technology, ThinkingLeave a Comment

My iPhone 4S’ wifi stopped working. I decided to take it in yesterday and ended up getting a replacement phone for free. I was in and out of the store in around 20 minutes.

Here are some tips to make your trip to the Genius Bar efficient and productive.

Backup your device. That way if you get a replacement product, you won’t have to waste time typing all your contacts and losing your photos. Also if the Genius Bar guy needs you to restore it, you can do that too.

Do your research. If there’s something wrong with your iPhone/iMac/iPod (or any other Apple product), make sure you read the Apple support site and try some of their suggestions. At least, know what those suggestions are so you can fire them at the guy saying you tried them before he tries to suggest them to you. Although there should really be something wrong with your device if you’re looking for a replacement, because they will fight you hard.

Be persistent. I wasn’t going to let the guy talk me into any solutions that were temporary. I assured him that nothing he suggested was going to work.

Prove it. From the beginning of my appointment, I showed him my phone did not detect wifi. He opened it up and said nothing was wrong. Then I proceeded to let him restore it, which temporarily fixed it. I knew in 5-10 minutes it would fail again. So we sat there. And waited 5 minutes. Sure enough, the phone had disconnected from the wifi and did not detect any networks.

Whether it’s a replacement or a repair you’re after, make sure you are prepared when going into the Apple Store. It will make your visit quick, efficient and less likely to end up in multiple trips!

That Is Old News…

August 22, 2012Social Media, TechnologyLeave a Comment

Yesterday we all learned the existence of Chadvil. An hour later I turned to Nash and said something along the lines of “WHY ON EARTH ARE PEOPLE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS? IT’S OLD NEWS. WHY ARE THEY JUST FINDING OUT NOW?” Then he asked me how something from an hour ago is considered old news. It made me ponder.

Before social networks the phrase “That’s yesterday’s news” was still a thing. Now with Twitter and Facebook we are inundated with vast amounts of information, and we are able to find out about things almost instantly. It’s scary to think that maybe years from now an hour ago will be too slow. Imagine what our future kids would say. That’s 5 seconds ago’s news.

Whether it’s celebrity deaths, world news, the viral video, they’re instantly forgotten about as soon as they are posted. It also makes me wonder how fast actual news outlets have to be in order for them to survive. That’s a bit frightening.

An iPhone Without 3G Is Like Popcorn Without Butter

August 7, 2012August 7, 2012iOS, Life, TechnologyLeave a Comment

willitblend — Without 3G you might as well blend it.

I went over my 1GB data plan today. I decided to turn my phone off instead of incurring any more fees. I’ve only had a smartphone since Christmas but I already feel like a cripple without it’s data-eating ways. Having an iPhone without 3G is as pointless as popcorn without butter.

Here are some things you can’t do without 3G:

iMessage: By default, iPhones running iOS 5 and higher send iMessages. I couldn’t receive messages from any one with an iPhone or send any without manually clicking “send as SMS” first. In addition, without data you can’t sent people pictures of your dog.

Social Networking: Can’t tweet, Facebook, Pinterest, Chime.in, Tumblr or Foursquare what I’m eating.

Find Out Where I am: I had to go pick something up in an area I’m not so familiar with. I took a streetcar, but didn’t get off on time. I even turned on my 3G (getting lost seems like a valid reason to). However, the service must disable itself after you too much over your data plan, because it would not work. I was stranded and had to ask Nash where exactly I was in relation to where I wanted to go.

Without internet to distract you, here are things you end up doing:

Looking at people on the bus: Since my head is not down and immersed in some sort of social network, I have to focus my eyes somewhere. Looking out the window resulted in a lot of sand in my eyes so I started looking around inside the bus. There’s a ton of funny looking people in the world.

Reading other people’s things: I ended up accidentally reading part of someone’s erotic novel.

Listening to brown people talk in circles: “you know?” They seemed to be having something delicious for dinner though.

Thinking to yourself: Sometimes I write blog posts while I’m on the train, but today I thought this one up in my head.

Thank goodness my cellphone billing period restarts tomorrow. One day of this nonsense was enough.

I’m A Fruit Ninja Black Belt

June 29, 2012iOS, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

When Fruit Ninja first came out, I thought it was pretty stupid. Then I got it on my iPhone and I liked how I could play quick games when I was waiting for the train.

If you don’t know, it’s a game where you simply slice the fruit that is popping up on the screen. Arcade and classic mode has bombs that either lower your score or kill you. Zen mode you just slice to a timer. It’s pretty simple. There are also bonus fruit that can be bought that raise your score.

The game would have probably been not as interesting if it weren’t for the Dojo. It is where the “unlockables” were listed. They were mainly for aesthetic values, such as different designs of blades and backgrounds but a goal is a goal and I finally unlocked them all.

Unless you care about raising your score, the game doesn’t really have too much replay value. So off in the vault of beaten games it goes.

Angry Birds in Space is So Much Better

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012iOS, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

It’s been a while since I have beaten an iOS game. But now that I commute (A LOT), I have a few on my phone to amuse myself during down times. The majority of my iOS gaming still happens on the iPad that I don’t really carry around with me any more.

Angry Birds I’ve never actually beat yet. I think I got stuck and gave up. However, Angry Birds In Space, adds a whole new level of complexity, gravity. The whole premise is there are planets and their orbits can suck you around in a loop and you must use this to your advantage. Some of the birds are the same as in previous games, but a few have changed.

The addition of gravity gives the game a whole different feel. You’d think winning a level was a fluke before? Well, you never know where on earth the orbit will swing you sometimes. The only thing I didn’t like about this new game was that harder levels had to be purchased for another 99 cents.. so for now I am going to cross this game off as beaten!

Just Mobile

May 29, 2012May 29, 201230 Day Challenge, Inspiration, iOS, Life, TechnologyLeave a Comment

I am sending my laptop in for a makeover. Although I do have a decrepit backup laptop, I am going to challenge myself to live on just mobile devices for as long as Ursula is still in the shop. Yes, my laptop has a name.

Perhaps this is what the future will be like. I don’t think there is anything my laptop can do that I can’t find a way for one of my devices to. I have a first generation iPad and an iPhone 4S. One day in the not-to-distant future it will only get easier. The biggest challenge will be maintaining my script heavy music blog.

As long as I can blog, all will be merry. I will keep you updated on the journey.

This post was written on an iPad.

3 Year Twitter Anniversary

April 23, 2012Life, Social Media, TechnologyLeave a Comment

Today marks 3 years for me on Twitter. I joined the social networking site in it’s earlier years, when most people thought it was just a place for glorified Facebook statuses. In the beginning, I probably was even guilty for using it in that way.

However, I realized it was much more. It was a way to keep up with news, read some interesting stories and last but not least, meet some great people. I’ve met some of them offline who were not just local people, but from different parts of the world. I’ve heard and seen some great music that I would not have otherwise.

If I were to give up one social network, it would be Facebook before Twitter. I will be tweeting for many years to come.

5 Types of Really Unnecessary Tweets

April 19, 2012Social Media, Technology1 Comment

I’m reaching my 3 year anniversary soon on Twitter (@tianafeng) and it has become a valuable tool for information, as well as networking with interesting individuals. Unfortunately with that also comes spam, and clutter of people who post things that are well, unnecessary.

1. Tweets about going to the gym. Unless you work in the fitness industry as a trainer or a blogger, I feel like your followers don’t need to know you are trying to work off that burger you instagram’d 10 minutes ago.

2. Retweeting your praises. I already think you are somewhat awesome if I follow you. You don’t need to keep retweeting how much other people think you’re awesome. Does this raise your awesomness level? No. Remember, people who don’t follow you won’t see these anyway and those that do might see you as an egotistic jerk.

3. Tweets about how much your life sucks. Maybe there is a reason your life isn’t turning out the way you want it to, because you enable it to. Broadcasting it to the world isn’t helping you in any way and shuts the doors to any opportunities that may come your way such as new friends or even job openings.

4. Tweets about your crush or the boy/girl you are stalking. Yes, these exist. Whether it’s the attractive person at the coffee shop, or the friend of a friend, don’t do it. You appear excessively creepy, and maybe that’s why you aren’t in a relationship. Stop looking at Craigslist’s Missed Connections and just go talk to the person. The time you spend tweeting about them can be well spent actually talking to them.

5. Passive aggressive messages to a specific person. Whether this person is actually following you or not, these are very unnecessary. If you have a feud in real life, resolve things offline. The online world doesn’t need to know you hold silly grudges. Besides if you post something stupid like “I HATE YOU!!!!”, someone might mistake it as to them.