Bob Findlay Blog: Facebook

Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Music In Your Pocket

Mobile application development is rapidly becoming the most powerful tool for a developer to make the world even more compact than what it has already been compressed into. Merely a touch on the phone screen or a button press can get you whatever you need, where ever you are. Other than conversing (basic phone feature). It can make us laugh and cry (instant messaging), Guide us to our path (GPS navigation services), fulfill our business needs (email configuration), do social networking (Facebook, Twitter etc), share stuff (File sharing using Bluetooth), listen and even make music and videos (media applications), play and develop incredible games (mobile games development) and a lot more.

An Advertisement hub
Mobile advertising is rapidly growing in the area of providing brands, agencies and marketers the opportunity to connect with consumers beyond traditional and digital media and directly in a personal level through their mobile phones. It optimizes campaign effectiveness and strengthens consumer satisfaction.Mobile application development is the process by which applications are developed for small low-power handheld devices such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones. These applications are either pre-installed on phones during manufacture or downloaded by customers from app stores and other mobile software distribution platforms like Apple app-store, android market etc.Many big names of the world are associated with Mobile application development. It includes Apple (i-Os in i-phone and i-pad), Google and Open Handset Alliance (Android), RIM (Blackberry), Nokia (Symbian) etc.

Something for Everyone
Gone are the days when smart phones were seen as a high-end gadget only for the techies and business people. Now the Mobile world has got a bunch of Mobile applications for every individual, be it a banker, a shopkeeper, a housewife, a mother, a student, a sports trainer, a cook, a business man, a gamer, a music lover, a musician, a dancer, a teacher, a police man, a doctor, a cab driver, a kid, a retired individual, an insurance professional, a manager, an accountant, a law professional, a security officer, a cyclist, a runner etc. Whatever you are and whatever you do, you will definitely find applications fitting into your work and life in the mobile app markets.Some of the far-reaching mobile applications include Talking GPS for blind people, Language converter application, Real-time games, Real-time GPS tracking apps, Waze: Real-time crowd sourced traffic data application, Parker app: Real-time parking space info tracker and many more and guess what? The best apps are yet come.

A Developer's point of view
Mobile applications development is done on many platforms: Apple's I-OS (running on i-phones and i-pads), Google's android, Blackberry, Symbian, MeeGo/Maemo, Windows phone 7, Java ME, Air/Flash Lite, BREW, BREW MP, Samsung BADA and WebOS etc. Now, if a Mobile application developer has to choose from one of the available platforms then, each one has its own unique set of features, which attracts a developer to go for them. Apple's app-store is offering more than 300,000 mobile applications and other competitors like are coming close rapidly.

As far as the cost factor is concerned, most of the mobile applications are available in the market starting from as low as free to $.99 to $6, along with trial versions of these apps for free. But it does not mean that we have to pay to get any application to work in our phone. There is a bunch of very useful apps which are available free in the market, For example Skype, Google voice, Word press, AppMiner, I-Books, Facebook, Pandora-radio, Find my phone etc can be downloaded free of cost. The utility of these applications does speak for their value-for-money aspect, which is making us buy them, to help us live a better life.Though, taking every aspect into account, including the brand popularity, consumer demand, ease of development, future technology, competition, flexibility, increasing number of users etc. Apple's I-OS and Android are on the top.

Android's best feature is that it uses the open source java as it's development medium, which is attracting developers with any development background to go for it. As, it reduces any kind of dependency to develop its applications where as i-OS development is done in MAC environment only.

So, let's get mobile!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Commit To Your Creativity

Yes Live in 1974 (Photo credit: Hunter-Desportes)

As creative people, many of us struggle with commitment. Sure, sometimes the well runs dry and we struggle to generate creative ideas, but more often, we have so many creative ideas that we have difficulty committing to one and getting started. We can get really creative about how we avoid creating-surfing the internet for "research," checking Facebook to see what our creative friends and colleagues are doing, baking cookies, watching TV, talking on the phone-the list is likely endless.

We trick ourselves into believing that in order to commit to something, we need to feel sure-sure that it will be a "success" (however we define that), sure that we have the skill to carry through on our vision, sure that we'll complete it, sure that we'll be pleased with the outcome, sure that others will like it, sure that it will sell, sure that when it's done we'll look back on it as worthwhile investment of our time. We want a clear "Yes" or a guarantee. Even though as creative people we have chosen a path that often offers little security, we continue to crave security and certainty, when often these are simply illusions to which we cling.

Creative expression typically offers no guarantees, and sometimes it doesn't come with a clear yes. We may think we have a clear vision when we finally begin, but as we give it voice or form, we learn that it begins to take its own shape, and often it is somewhat different than how we first envisioned it. That's one of the beautiful things about creative expression, if we can simply learn to enter this flow and allow our idea to show us the shape that it wants to take. We may judge it as "better" or "worse" than our original vision, depending on a variety of factors that day, including our sense of self-worth, our mood, and how well we have eaten, slept or managed stress that week. Days later, we may feel differently about our creation, depending on the above-mentioned variables or something else that arises.

What would it be like to commit to the exploration of our creative ideas? The truth is that most commitments are followed by imperfect actions, and our thoughts and feelings and therefore our subjective judgment of our work varies from day to day and sometimes from hour to hour. What does it take to commit to our creative expression in light of the fact that life is always changing, our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are always changing, and there are no guarantees about anything?

Imagine beginning your week with making a list of creative ideas that have haunted you for days, weeks, or months that you've refused to give voice to and utilizing the process of discernment to rule out some of them and to commit to the one that calls to you the loudest. Imagine doing this with ease, because you've learned the skill of managing your own self-doubt and anxiety. Now imagine making a commitment to the one vision that you have chosen and beginning the process of giving it voice or form. Imagine accepting that you will have days that you're cranking out work that you love, and you'll have days that you won't like anything that you're doing, because that's the nature of life. Emotions come and go, our feelings of subjective wellness, happiness, and satisfaction come and go, and so too does the flow of our creative energy. We can learn things that we can do to increase our feelings of subjective wellness, attempt to stabilize our moods through mindfulness practice, cognitive behavior therapy, or medication and increase our sense of satisfaction, and we may achieve a greater sense of equilibrium, and still the nature of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors is that they change.

What would it be like to commit to a creative vision about which you felt sure enough-to move toward an idea and begin it, because it calls loudly enough to you, even if there's no resounding "Yes!" because it allows for deeper exploration of yourself or an area of interest, because you're tired of how it feels to continually not commit, or because you're ready to open yourself up to see where your creative expression can take you even if the outcome isn't perfect? What would it be like to simply go with the flow of change in life, take risks, and remain curious about the outcome?

Make a list of your creative ideas. Begin with ruling out several to shorten the list. See which one you feel most drawn to. What can you do today to commit to giving expression to your idea? If you're perpetually hung up by a degree of fear, anxiety, or self-doubt that keeps you from moving forward, what can you do today to begin to attempt to get past it?

...............................................................................
If you have found this blog entry entertaining or informative why not subscribe to

my Feedburner notifications?

...............................................................................

Related articles

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Facebook and Google Plus

Image via CrunchBaseDon't worry, readers, I'm not going to launch into a mind-numbing rundown of Facebook and Google Plus or, indeed, Facebook versus Google Plus. I can't because I simply don't know about them at that sort of level. I shall simply be commenting on my experiences over the last week or so.

Just over a week or so, I gently stepped into the world that IS Google Plus. Before I knew it, I had over 200 people in my various 'circles' and had been added to just over this number in other peoples circles. This initial influx seemed, on the surface, to be great for a self-confessed computer idiot.

After a few days, I decided to delve further but was disappointed to discover that 'this is it.' You have your profile and can share whatever content that you wish. The trouble is, that you soon vanish into the realm of 'me and everybody else.' There is nothing that you can share that hasn't been shared before or can be shared elsewhere. I did, however, find that Twitter was the most successful way of drawing attention to Google Plus.

After spending some time flitting between Facebook and Google Plus, it struck me.

The only major differences between Google Plus and Facebook, the only difference is that Google Plus seems to have a lot more articles of 'substance' as opposed to Facebook where people can share anything from a flying ant to a fuzzy, framed quote from someone that they probably haven't heard of.

I then discovered that you can have a Google Plus Business Page. I should have done it the other way around but I didn't so I'll be onto promoting my business page in the upcoming week.

So....I have no beef with Facebook or Google Plus. I would, however, take this opportunity to weigh up

what Facebook and Google Plus offer and don't offer. The biggest advantage that I've found is that if you have a purpose outside of socialising, Google Plus is not for you. If you're looking at sharing and receiving more purposeful and long-lasting media, then Google Plus IS for you.

At the end of the day, it is not a time-consuming task to operate both Facebook and Google Plus together....and I would most definitely recommend this.

Related articles

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Warren Papas And Cherish Photography

My how life can throw you curves....and not always for the worst.

My son started High School two years ago. I was taken aback to see that one of the teachers, Warren Papas at his school shared accommodation with me back when I was 17 at a purpose-built facility for students who lived in remote areas in relation to the College. He's a year younger than me and I always recall that we got along well; mainly through humour.

I caught up with him on Facebook and soon discover that he was a more than accomplished photographer. Having recently started one of two online papers that aims at the arts in Tasmania I asked him for some for some information on what he did. I cannot express it properly myself, so below are his own words from his official website:

"Welcome to Cherish Photography – Newborn and Wedding Photography. We are a boutique photography company who specialise in newborns and weddings. That’s all we do. It’s what we love and are passionate about. You get a true expert when you choose us and our results are sure to amaze you. Cherish Photography are the North West Coast’s premier newborn photographers and are rapidly becoming well known in Launceston. Cherish Photography are true professionals. You get outstanding images in the comfort of your own home. Your more comfortable at home and it’s one less trip out. Book today!"

Warren goes on to add: "The current issue of The Advocate’s Tummy to Two parent magazine features one of our images from last year. The image was of a cute little three month old boy who had an old man style hat on. A little like the baggy green Australian cricket cap. It made for a very cute image."

To see the quality of work produced by Cherish Photography, visit their website: http://www.cherishphotography.net.au/

Custom Search

Pages