GootBlog

Android Apps

2009-04-15T14:52:00.001-04:00

My favorite Android Apps:

(descriptions to follow)

Apps

Barcode Scanner

BetterCut ($)

Chomp SMS

Facebook Sync

Finance

Flashlight

imeem Mobile

Last.fm

Locale

My Account

OpenHome ($)

Pictoral

Ringdroid

Scoreboard

Shazam

ShopSavvy

Sky map
SMS Backup

SMS Popup

SnapPhoto

SnapTell

Toddler Lock

Toggle Settings

Text-To-Speech Service

Tunes Remote

Twitdroid

Video Player

Visa Mobile

Where

Games

Backgammon Lite

Pacman

Solitaire

Sudoku

Suggestions for fun/useful apps are appreciated.

BitTorrent

2009-02-09T14:38:00.004-05:00

People ask me all the time about how to download music/tv/movies. I end up writing to a new set of instructions everytime. Instead I'm going to post them here for easy reference.

1. Download & install PeerGuardian 2(direct link to the installer). This will block anti-peer2peer sites from tracking you. Not going to guarantee you won't get letters telling you to erase that copy of The Dark Knight you just downloaded but it should help.

- Comprehensive guide to installation

-I just use the P2P list, there is better software to block adware and whatnot

-After installing I would recommend going into settings and unchecking the log allowed connection box, you won't read that log anyway

2. Download & install µTorrent. This is the program you use that downloads the actual file. Mac users, I would suggest using Transmission as your torrent program, but you're own your own for setting it up.

-µTorrent has many useful guides you can follow if you run into trouble

-After installing a connection setting screen will pop up, follow this guide. for comcast customers I suggest using 388k for the speed settings. Pay attention to the firewall/router areas of the guide, if your downloads are slow its because your firewall router is blocking a port.

3. Search for the file you are looking for at a bittorrent search engine.

-I primarily use mininova.org for everything, but there are other sites out there such as thepiratebay.org and isohunt.com. eztv.it is excellent for finding tv shows.

-when downloading the more seeds a torrent has, the better. I usually click seeds at the top of the list and download the one with the most seeds.

-aXXo and FXG put out some very good movies, I'd highly suggest their versions of a movie when downloading

-a few of things to watch out for...

check the file's size and extension

avoid downloading/opening .exe and .zip, spyware usually follows after opening

read the comments, you can usually get a idea if the file is any good

Happy downloading. Remember to respect copyright laws. Any further questions you can email me.

Twitter

2009-02-09T11:41:00.008-05:00

A week ago MattP was asking my thoughts on Twitter, and at the time I really wasn't too into it. But lately Twitter has been popping up all over the place and I have bought into it. Last night I was following #grammys on twitter, and it add a whole new dynamic of sharing watching a popular event. Questlove and diplo's (producer for Paper Planes) tweets were particulary funny/interesting. One of my favorites from the night, "qoolquest: claps is kinda silent for country in this post Obama environment." Below are a couple links I've been reading and applications I've been using. You can see my tweets and follow me with the widget to the right.

Starting Over

2009-02-09T10:34:00.004-05:00

I've realized that blogging about my life was pretty boring, I really don't do too many exciting things. I also don't write very well. So I decided to blow up the old gootblog and start over with something that I do well.

What is it that I do well? I am good at surfing the internet and finding stuff for people. So that is what the blog will be about. I'm going to post my daily travels through the internet. My twitter feed and google reader feed will be on the left so you can stalk what I am doing. This will also be my testing ground for the stuff latest and greatest stuff I have been reading about. If I actually do something fun and interesting not internet related, I'll post that too.

What me to try and find something for you or figure out how the best way to do something? Send a message to gootblog@gmail.com and I'll do my best to try and figure it out. I'm also open to suggestions for good sites to read.