Ipad and the digital life

I win an iPad at the Celtics exective offices and I feel like won the NBA Title!

The end result is that I am looking at applications on all three major platforms, Blackberry, Android, and iPad.

Currently the toy of choice is the iPad:
I have been researching and testing the best free applications for the iPad.

The first application I have tested is:

1. Dragon Dictation from Nuance --  the application records speech and converts in to a word document.
   I have a iPad application that you uses to convert speech into text, Dragon dictation. I'm speaking in to the iPad and it is supposed to be writing down what I'm saying is. Trying to determine if the dictation software will actually save time eliminating typing the words. I just learned that the accuracy of the software improves if you speak directly in to the microphone or use a iPad head set. Seems to be a pretty cool application.
2. I am still working to incorporate video and sound into my blog so stay tuned!

Fall Colors -- Ivory Towers

As falls color burst and the weather cools, it time to reflect on aspirations and levity. The hard work in the spring and summer bear  fruit to a successful fall season.

The successful marketing plan, web development project, delivers new customers.  The well coordinated campaign brings victory at the polls. The new security protocol saves lives. Fund raising and volunteer work delivers a cure and ends suffering.

Some where in our hectic, busy lives, we find time to reconnect with a friend. Before the snow falls, we turn a leaf, renew the journey. The epic journey to the mountain top, ivory tower, in search of pristine condition. Enjoy the season and reflection.

Mobile development

As mobile devices become increasingly popular, opportunities to develope applications has increased.

Looking at developing applications to increase productivity!

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Programming and Development

The programming field has been in a state of fluctuation over the last few years due to out sourcing. Many companies have out sourced their programming functions to countries where the cost of labor is significantly cheaper than in the USA.

There still is plenty of programming jobs here in the USA related to mobile technology and social media design. So what are the hot programming skills in demand now?

The building blocks of  a good programmer starts which basic knowledge on C# and .net language.  A very good way to program is using design patterns. A design pattern allows you to reuse a solution to common problems.  The design template  can be used to solve many different complex problems which reduces the amount of programming work involved.

Developing good programming skills can be a valuable skill.

Motorola Droid X Android review

The Motorola Droid X and the Android platform is a very nice package. I have had my Droid X for about a month and it is an excellent phone. The high definition resolution of the screen is amazing. The typical things you do on a computer I can now do on my phone, such as: browsing the web, reading email, video, updating Face book.

The second great feature is the Social Networking that ties together all  service: Face book, Twitter, My space  all into one screen where I can instantly stay up to date with business, family, and friends. An added feature  is social networking friends are added to your contact list automatically. Hopefully, this will result in new business.

The smart phone essentials such as email and text messaging appear as shortcuts on one of 5 customizable home touch screens which makes navigation a breeze and feels like a iPhone. You end up saying to yourself, wow, that is cool.

One of the touch home screens is automatically set up to pull in RSS news feeds which keeps me up to date on the latest economic and business news. This is great for causal reading and to follow developing stories. If you want more information, the feed links out to the published article.  This is another nice feature.

The latest thing that is useful is the built in GPS  that I have car mounted with Blue tooth technology.  This included Google maps, latest traffic conditions, voice navigation which comes in pretty handy during the daily compute.

The down side is battery life. If you are going to be away from your charger for a full day, (amusement park, beach) you will have to manage your battery life. Since smart phones run applications automatically, you have to manually turn off application that are not needed. This conserves battery and takes a little bit of practice on how to do.

One word of cautions is, when installing free application from Android market place, read user reviews, to ensure you are getting good software. I can say this is the most complete smart phone I have had up to date.

Economic Conditions

The economy has been mostly up and down for most of 2010. In the first quarter the economy started to pick up. The private sector and the government were hiring for census and the economic stimulus program.

The housing market has started to show signs of recovering and the stock market was growing again. In the last two months growth has leveled off and we lost more jobs than were created.  The major problem is, many people are unemployed and it is still very difficult to get a new job.

Even though the latest economic news has not been great, we seem to headed in the right direction. I have found it very interesting that many American companies who have moved their operations to China, are moving back the the United Stated due to cost increases.  The cost of labor in China is no longer cheaper than in the U.S.A, (in some cases) and the cost to shipped product has dramatically increased overseas.

I anticipate many qualified U.S. workers will begin to get good well-paying jobs in the fall.  I will be designing a new talent web site to help get unemployed U.S. workers good jobs. Be sure to check back in the next week or so!