My Favorite Healthy Android Apps

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(Source: blogs-images.forbes.com)

Hello, My Name is Angela, and I’m an app addict.

With that said, I’ll share my stash with you over the next few weeks and tell you about the apps I consider essential and/or too cool not to own — but I’ll spare you the expansive list of those I’m currently testing. :)

This week, I’ll share my top three “healthy” apps. Just consider it “Health and Fitness by Android.”

Fooducate – by Fooducate, Ltd. – A barcode scanning app (you can also do a manual search) that tells you if the food you are choosing is a healthy option and offers more healthy alternatives, if it’s not.

Recipes – by Allthecooks.com – For a great, quick way to find a new recipe to try. I use my phone more often than I use a cookbook these days and this is a great option. I used Big Oven with the iPad, but I must admit I like this app better.

Calorie Counter - by FatSecret.com – Not only has a barcode scanner to quickly enter foods, but also offers a manual search with a great database of every food I’ve tried to add so far. It offers a weight diary, exercise diary (which is never used by me) and a great selection of healthy recipes. It’s fast and easy to get started and can be used with or without the “in the cloud” backup (but that is the only backup available, unfortunately).

Although it keeps totals on daily fat, calories, carbs and protein on the food diary screen, Calorie Counter does not offer the option to determine which nutrients to track (which is bad for me, since I track fiber). I have had some crashing issues (of the app, not the phone) when using it, but it’s good enough for me to be patient and hope for continued improvements.

Next time, I’ll share a few of the utilities I can’t imagine living without. :)

A Fantastic New Year!

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There’s something about this year, something unexpected. It’s good. Maybe it’s the sucky economy or the over-publicized notion of December 21, 2012 as the end of times, or maybe it’s the political mayhem and the social apathy that is running rampant… but for whatever reason, I wasn’t expecting much out of 2012.

But here we are, just barely into this year, and I can feel the difference. I thought 2011 was ok, not great, but ok. Things were going in the right direction for me personally, but progress had been slow and, honestly, I didn’t expect improvement to flourish in 2012. (Maybe that’s why I’m so thrilled for the first few days to be going so well.) Maybe things being better than expected really does create a boost — a sense of joy.

Either way, this is going to be a great year! Last year, so many things were up in the air, so many things needed to be decided and done. It was never-ending. By the end of the year, although exhausted, I noticed that things had started to settle down and now they are starting to hum.

So now, completely out of the blue, I’m anxious to enjoy this year. I hope it’s good for everyone else too!

Screw Hulu Plus

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I’ve been a Hulu advocate for several years. I was an “early adopter” — as I tend to be with new technologies and tech-based services. As soon as Hulu Plus was offered, I signed up and started paying my monthly fee. I told my friends, I encouraged family to join, I blogged about how great it was – several times – as new features arrived.

Now, while I was sick over the holidays and was stuck lying in bed for many days (flu, strep and a double ear infection, no less)… I turned to Hulu Plus to entertain me. I had lots of shows in my queue that had been waiting for me to have the time to watch and I started watching.

It took no time before I was disgusted. Every BEGINNING advertisement claims that the “following show is brought to you with limited commercial interruption by” (insert sponsor here). Now, during a 40-minute show, I counted 20 — YES TWENTY — commercials! When I started, there were two, maybe three commercials tops per episode. Now, there’s one ever two minutes of show time, on average? And I’m PAYING a monthly FEE for this? Not to mention that I’m also paying for the bandwidth (I use a 3G hotspot connection for my primary Internet service) — so I get to pay Hulu a monthly fee to watch a slew of commercials and then I get to pay AGAIN for the bandwidth to enjoy them.

So, I’m done. I’m getting off the Hulu bandwagon and hope the greedy little bastards lose many more formerly loyal customers as a result of these poor business decisions. I tried to find a support email or number to let them know how I felt and to ask if they had any plans to change it back — but I couldn’t find a way to contact them easily so I gave up.

It’s easier just to cancel and warn my readers to avoid paying to be pitched so much advertising. And… to ask if someone else has a good solution for TV shows… other than Netflix — which I’ve already signed up for and am enjoying.

NOTE: As I cancelled my account, they finally DID produce a number to contact them: Contact our customer support at 1-888-273-8989, 5AM-10PM PST on weekdays, 6AM-10PM PST on weekends. In case anyone else has looked everywhere for this to no avail.

7 Essential Mac Programs for Writers

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Macbook and the writerIf you are writer, new to the Mac, you may find yourself stumbling around trying to determine which programs you need to purchase and download. Rather than spend hours “shopping” for the programs you need (instead of doing the writing you need/want to be doing) try starting out with my own basic pack of program bliss.

The following seven programs are those, of the many available apps and programs, I consider essential:

Scrivener

This is the program I use for my writing projects. I currently have my in progress novel coming together in Scrivener as well as the final draft of my memoir. I’ve used it for short projects and uber long ones. It’s great because you can use it as a simple distraction-free word processor, or you can view the tutorial to learn all of the tools available therein. I particularly like the character naming tool and the index cards for outlining.

DiskTools Pro

This program helps to resolve and prevent problems on your diskdrive. It’s excellent – especially if you are willing to learn to use full feature set of the program. This is also the program I use for my backup – there’s an option for “bootable” backup – which means that I can keep an external hard drive with a carbon (and bootable) copy of my Mac at all times. The bottom line is if your Mac is ruined (should you decide to drop it in a lake, for example) you can buy a new one and have it functioning the same in about 30 minutes. It’s a nice little insurance plan. I’ve tried many backup options and this trumps them all.

HandBrake

The BEST software for ripping DVDs to digital format (and it’s FREE!). It’s the way I get my personal DVDs in a format I can upload to my iPad or my iPhone. There are several options for format to make it work at any size/definition.

QuickSilver

This launcher makes “hunting” for applications and how to do things a thing of the past. Quick launch favorite programs with a two-key stroke (Free). I’ll admit I use only a few of the options available on this program. Eventually, I’ll learn how to use the rest. For now, it’s worth having just to use as a shortcut launcher.

AppCleaner

This little utility makes sure when you delete apps that ALL PARTS of the apps are deleted to keep your HD nice and tidy. Great tool for those who, like me, download a BUNCH of apps to try out before selecting the best. (Free)

1Password

This is an essential for good security and makes it easy to click a button to auto-fill information in browsers by merely typing in the master password on your own computer. I would be lost without this one. Excellent encryption. Also available in mobile versions for phones and tablets/ipads (I use it on ALL my devices).

TextWrangler

A simple text program for notes and non-formatted text (doesn’t have the bloat — or the features – of a full blown text editor). I’ve tried probably two dozen of these, both free and paid options, and this one is the best. I use it for anything from programming code to making shopping lists. (Free)

This is a great starter list, I’d love to have input from writers who have other programs they consider essential to share!

The Writing Life

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I’m enjoying my new direction. This is the second month on this path. It’s difficult to change gears from client work all day, every day to writing and writing-supporting activities every day, but it’s worth the growing pains.

For years I’ve put off today for tomorrow, I’ve selected security instead of adventure. I’ve been so busy making lists and planning and looking ahead that I seldom took proper time to look at my feet — where they were currently standing. It’s sad how little I have appreciated my life in the struggle to improve it and move it forward. I am glad that I’ve finally stopped. Better late than never, right?

There are still the usual responsibilities and dramas and frustrations, but I see them differently. Aside from the daily tasks (the menial ones that I enjoy more now than I used to) — I’m living for today. It’s scary, it’s uncertain, and it requires a great deal of self-control — but it’s so very worth it.

I’m glad I’m finally mature enough to see that — I only wish I’d figured it out when I was a little younger. But, mostly — I’m glad it didn’t happen later… or not at all.

(photo courtesy of Steve Knight)