new group* - Windows Phone 7 app

Windows Phone is a great operating system, I don't care what other people say. Everyone I know who has used it is a big fan of it. One thing that needs improvement is the start screen. Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows Phone 8 will add a new start screen. But until the upgrade to 7.8 is available or you buy a new Windows Phone 8 device, I have a great app that will help you organize your apps a little better. The app is called new group* and essentially creates headers to organize your apps into groups. Check out the video to see how to set it up.

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*Update* Evernote - PC/Mac/iOS/Android/WP7

Ok, so I finally finished the video and got it uploaded. This week we are taking a look at Evernote, a note taking app that syncs all of your text, picture, and voice notes across all of you devices. It's a completely free service and can help with remembering basic things, collaborating on projects, or planning events. Check out Evernote's website to sign up for your account to get things started.

I'm working on this week's video tutorial for you guys. It will be up in about an hour or so. Thanks for your patience and check back in bit!

*Update*
I'm using a new video program and it is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I will have it up as soon as I can.

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Movies on the cheap! - Redbox

Redbox at a local Walmart

Going to the movies is expensive and taking a date just doubles the cost. A new release movie can cost upwards of $20 for a pair of tickets, and then add on the concessions which cost about four times as much at the theater than the grocery store. You can easily spend $40 for a few hours of entertainment! That's ludicrous! For $40 the movie better be good. If you are like me and have very little money to spend on entertainment then I have good news for you.

If you have ever seen the red kiosk pictured above in a store but never bothered to figure out what is was for, you are missing out. That is a Redbox kiosk which allows you to rent DVDs and BluRays for cheap. For as little as $1.20 you can take home a very recent movie for one night and since you are at the store you may as well grab some popcorn and drinks. For the same night of entertainment you can spend less than $5. Sometimes you can save even more with promo codes inside boxes of popcorn for free Redbox rentals.

Christmas is coming up and that usually means spending a lot of money on gifts. By using services like Redbox you can keep yourself entertained and still have plenty of money left for your gifts. Download the Redbox app or head over to Redbox's website to see what's available and have a date night tonight!

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Post pictures to your blog from you WP7 using updatemyfeed

Remember MySpace? Looks like they redesigned it to resemble Windows 7. I don't know how long ago they did it. I mean, I haven't checked my profile on MySpace for years. Anyhow, it looks like Microsoft doesn't mind, unlike another computer company. I'm looking at you Apple.

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Updatemyfeed is a Blogger client for WP7

I'm posting this from my Nokia Lumia 900 right now from the app. This is my first attempt so we will see how it goes. You are able to post with pictures, but I will test that feature in my next post. Leave comments about this app if you have used it before and tell me what you think.

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Tips For Creating Better Passwords

More and more websites are requiring more complex passwords to create an account. Your cat's name is no longer a good option (it wasn't a good one in the first place) for a password to create an account. Google requires a password that is at least 8 characters long with at least 1 number and 1 upper case letter. For example "newyorkjets15" is not a good password, but "NewYorkJets15" is a good password.

The reason websites are requesting more complex passwords is that it is much harder to use "brute force" to get into an account. "Brute force" is simply a term of using a program to try every possible password containing a certain amount of characters. The simpler the password, the less time it takes for the program or "bot" to figure it out. If you add a capital letter to an existing password it effectively doubles the difficulty at guessing the password.

So how can you create a more complex password and still remember what it is? Well, one trick I use is to mover the position of one of your hands to the left or right by one letter. So "Pickles123" becomes "Oucjkes123". I moved my right hand over one letter to the left, so P becomes O, I becomes U, K becomes J, and L becomes K. This allows your mind to remember your old password of "Pickles123" but makes it unique and complex. Another trick is to use what is called a passphrase. A passphrase is just what it sounds like, a phrase you will remember like without any spaces. For example, "Ilovemywife09" is a simple to remember password but it is long enough to be complex. The "09" being the year you were married adding a little more complexity to the passphrase. Make the numbers something you can remember but try not to use things that can easily be researched online or in a library, such as a birthdate or part of your SSN.

There is more and more identity theft occurring and you should take your online presence very seriously. My friends just recently had their identities stolen on their tax returns and up until this past week they still hadn't filed their taxes. Protecting yourself can be simple and I hope that this post has helped you realize that creating passwords are easy.

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5 Reasons to Buy A Smartphone and 5 Reasons to Keep Your Dumbphone

5 Reasons to Buy a Smartphone

1. Save time and money

With the ability to stay connected to the internet wherever you go you have tremendous money and time saving tools in your hand. If you need to get gas, you can use your phone to find the cheapest gas nearest you. Forgot to clip coupons? There are plenty of websites and apps that you can use to digitally clip coupons and add them to your discount card. If you have lost your way to an event that is out of town and you need directions, a smartphone has GPS built right in so you can find your way again. You can even scan barcodes at stores to comparison shop on the fly!

2. Get rid of your devices!

Consolidate your devices into one smartphone and save yourself a lot of headaches keeping track of them all. Let's list all the devices a smartphone can replace: watch, calculator, calendar, organizer, GPS, mp3 player, digital camera, digital camcorder, TV, digital voice recorder, torpedo level, gaming device, compass, flashlight, oh and let's not forget our regular cell phone. I'm sure there is more, but I just listed off 15 devices that do the same thing a smartphone does.

3. The purchase price is about the same as a dumbphone

With many dumbphones running $50-$150, you can get mid-range to high-end smartphone for the same price and sometimes cheaper! Why not get a better phone if you can get it for a better price?

4. Trade up for a better phone

More and more retailers are taking trades for new phones. A smartphone is far more valuable than a dumbphone when trying to trade them in. If you take a dumbphone that cost $50 on contract and a smartphone that cost the same, you can get between $30-$100 more for your trade even though the purchase price was the same. Let your money work for you by trading in your old smartphone.

5. Get with the times!

Everyone has a smartphone! That is if you consider about 46% of cell phone owners everybody. But a smartphone can really increase your status socially and professionally. Carrying the right device can make you appear to have a higher status than you might actually have.

5 Reasons to Keep Your Dumbphone

1. Extra monthly charges

I'm not even going to go into the fact that some companies are eliminating unlimited internet usage because the fact is that most people do not approach their limits. Instead, I'm going to focus on the guaranteed cost added to your bill to own a smartphone. You can add anywhere from $20-$50 per phone or $50-$150 per family plan. That's every month! If you don't utilize the money saving features of a smartphone then it's probably not worth it.

2. More complicated

Smartphones generally have a large learning curve if you have never owned one before. The operation is going to be totally foreign if you haven't had one in the past. Gone are the physical buttons and tiny screens. The new smartphones of today have large, glass displays and hardly any physical buttons. With the displays being so big there is no room for anything else, which means that all those physical buttons are moved to the touch screen. That might be a little hard for you to get used to.

3. More expensive to maintain

In order to insure a smartphone, expect to pay about $2 more per month than your old dumbphone. On top of that, the deductible is more than twice that in some cases reaching up to $150-$200 to fix or replace a lost, stolen, or damaged phone!

4. Longevity

With all the extra functions and features these new smartphones have, the battery life is generally expected to last only a full day with moderate use. If you get better battery life than a full day that is considered exceptional battery life for a smartphone. Most dumbphones can last several days without needing to be charged.

5. Carrying around extra devices isn't a big deal

Maybe you are the type of person that doesn't mind carrying several devices around. I mean, who needs to carry a nice digital camera with them to the grocery store? Or a gps to work? Sometimes a smartphone is just too much even though you have fewer devices with you.

I love my smartphone and I would have a hard time living without it. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it sure would be difficult. I find value in my phone everyday that makes the extra monthly cost worthwhile. If you are contemplating upgrading to a smartphone then I believe that should be your measure for deciding on if you should get one or not. If you just recently upgraded from a dumbphone to a smartphone, let me know what you think of it! Do you find more value in the daily use of your smartphone or is it too expensive for what you use it for?

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