You see, I downloaded a 2.2GB GPS app, NDrive USA (ndriveweb.com), and while this app is horrific at memory management it’s a good little GPS program that gets the job done at a cost of only $2.99. So what’s the big deal? Well, I downloaded it from my iPhone (I do all my app management on my phone) and iTunes just refuses to accept it. I’ve “Transfer Purchases” 4 times and while each time it puts the app in the “Mobile Applications” folder, iTunes still refuses to load it, saying it’s “not a valid application”. This means if I sync my phone iTunes will rip that app off of it like a day old band-aid on a hairy leg.

Typically this would not be that bad (the app thing not the band-aid thing, that would suck) since iTunes let you re-download purchased apps for free, unlike purchased music. So I’d just download it again and off I would go. Well, here’s the twist. That app has been pulled from the store so I can’t download it again. This means if I lose it from my phone for some reason it’s gone. NDrive says they don’t know why the app was pulled and their working with Apple to get it back on the store. Good luck with that.

So let’s recap:

• I bought a huge (2.2GB) GPS app that has super crappy memory management but does what $50 GPS apps do for $2.99
• I purchased it from my phone and downloaded it via wifi so it only exists on my phone
• “Transfer Purchases” moves over the app file, but iTunes refuses to load it as an “app”
• The app is no longer on the app store so I can’t re-download it meaning if I lose it from my phone it’s gone forever
• A sync would erase it (as it’s not in iTunes) and a sync is required to upgrade to iOS4

Oh yeah, that last one…there’s the rub. If I want to upgrade to iOS and get all the awesome features that should have been on the iPhone months ago I’ll lose my app. So, what do I do? I haven’t talked to Apple yet but I plan to. I doubt they will even care about my problems, I mean, they’re not Google. So I’ll keep plugging away trying to find a solution myself. If you have any bright ideas please leave me a comment.  If I figure this out I’ll update the post.

Photo by Justin McIntosh

Even at a young age I was aware of personal privacy. When I was about 13 or 14 I got a CB radio for my birthday because I thought the concept of an open medium for people to communicate was pretty cool. (I’m sure I didn’t express it that eloquently back then.) Still, I was aware these people were in fact strangers. Even before my parents had the “you don’t know these people so don’t give them any information about yourself” talk with me, I was very careful about hiding my age, where I lived, my real name, etc. This was in fact my first brush with social media.

Little did I know how big it would get. Now with the countless outlets for social media online and everything being “indexed” by Google, it’s hard to keep some things private.  For instance, I found a old friend online the other day and sent her a message asking if she had kids, where she was living now, who she married, etc.  Before she could reply I did a Facebook, Google, and Yahoo search and got all the answers to my questions and more. A little freaky. (Hopefully she wasn’t freaked out.)

Another great example. Foursquare, a new (to me anyway, I resisted for some time) social media app where you “check in” real time to real places and get points, allows you to add locations that it doesn’t already have in it’s database. It has some good privacy features, like allowing you to check in as “off the grid”, thereby hiding where you are, but you have to know to use them.

I thought about adding my home as a location but I wanted to be sure I could “hide” it. When I couldn’t quickly see how to do that I decided not to add it. However, I did a search for “home” near my current location. Four entries came up (just within my local area), with GPS locations, addresses, and “Mayors” listed. (A Mayor is a person who checks in to a location a lot.) I realized these “Mayors” just published their home locations to the world.  As I was looking at each one someone checked in, virtually telling me, a stranger, they were home. Also, by looking as when the mayor last checked in I could just as easily tell who wasn’t home.

So while all this social media can be fun don’t let the anonymity of the Internet give you a false sense of security. Remember, you are only anonymous until you are not, and if you start posting about your private life you lose that anonymity while those who are reading your information retain it. My suggestion, make sure you have someone you trust and who knows about social media privacy check your account settings for all the various sites and apps you use. They can give you some feedback on your social media services and you may be exposing more than you realize. Sometimes without a friend watching your back you may never know just how much personal data you’re putting online.

(When looking for computer help please stay away from people who you describe as “knows about this stuff”, “is good with computers”, or “whiz kid”. We call those people “Best Buy Geek Squad”. Make sure you could describe them as a “Online Privacy Expert” or “Computer Security Professional”.)

Seriously, I can’t even remember all the things I did that made this app crash there were so many, but I’ll highlight a few big ones. Turning on sound navigation prompts (the default is voice prompts) made it crash. Adding multiple stops in the directions screen made it crash. Once it crashed when I changed the route options (turning on “avoid highways”) but it did work later. It also crashed once when I plugged in the FM transmitter/car charger while the app was running but it did work one other time.

It also has it’s little quirks. For example, when you do get the settings to change you need to restart the app for them to take affect. Also, when you go “off route” a nice little button comes up to ask if you want to reroute. If you press no or don’t press anything for a period of time it goes into the “off route” mode where it will not recalculate or start directions again unless you get back on course.

So my vote? It’s a keeper! Surprised? Well, it is free, the directions it gave me were correct, and, as long as you keep the settings set to the defaults and enter only one destination it works great! Also, the prompts are dead one and not disruptive. There are two warnings and a “turn now” and the turn now cue is right at the correct time. A friend’s GPS prompts you at every exit on the highway to “stay straight on route blah blah blah”.

My only other issue, WTF Google? You let AOL beat you to the iPhone with a free voice guided, GPS enabled mapping app? The maps on MapQuest are kinda crappy and even if Google released a Google maps iPhone update with the same features and all the bugs I would switch to it just for the better maps. I’m a little embarrassed for you Google.

So go get this app before AOL smartens up and starts charging for it.

So I took a look at the pictures, the trailers, and all the other stuff I got access to and I came to one conclusion.  Babies are pretty much the same the whole world round. This movie covers 4 babies for one year from 4 locations around the world. They are all cute, all funny, and watching them gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. Having two growing kids myself I do sometimes miss their baby years.

So I’ll share some of the content with my blog readers here and if I get more I’ll post an update.  Below you can find the trailer, some exclusive photos, and other info.

As a BzzAgent I do receive discounts, free items, and other exclusive benefits for spreading information via this unique word-of-mouth program.  All programs are opt-in so I only promote what I want to. If you are interested in finding out more visit via the button below.

First off, how about a $5 discount for using the online service?  That’s call an “incentive”. Penalizing people for going to a branch is called a “deterrent”.  We all know that the greedy, grubby hands down at the RMV, DOT, and governor’s office wouldn’t think of offering to charge less for something. That’s just silly.  Secondly, you should be giving the poor people who have to go down to a RMV branch $5 just for having to deal with some of the state’s worst employees. Most of the people I have dealt with down there are nasty and rude, not to mention they seem put out when you ask them to do their job. There have been some exceptions, but they are by far the exception.

This has to stop. The state just keeps asking for more and more and continues to give less and less. We need to start holding our elected officials accountable for this nonsense. Unfortunately I believe we need to remove them from office.  The fact is the elected officials today have a mindset that they can do anything they want and the people of this state will just take it. We need to start sending messages to beacon hill, continue your nonsense and you’ll be out of a job.

Next time you vote I hope you remember all the fees and taxes the state charges you and the very little you get in return.  I know I will.

Ref: Effective March 1, Online, Mail & Automated Services Will Cost Less than Branch Services

Oklahoma has a new law that makes it a crime to “fortify” a citizen’s home against possible entry by law enforcement.

State Rep. Sue Tibbs was one of the sponsors of a bill that makes it unlawful for “any person to willfully fortify an access point into any dwelling, structure, building or other place where a felony offense prohibited by the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act is being committed, or attempted, and the fortification is for the purpose of preventing or delaying entry or access by a law enforcement officer, or to harm or injure a law enforcement officer in the performance of official duties.”

The law took effect Nov. 1.

The law states that to “fortify an access point” means to willfully construct, install, position, use or hold any material or device designed to injure a person upon entry or to strengthen, defend, restrict or obstruct any door, window or other opening into a dwelling, structure, building or other place to any extent beyond the security provided by a commercial alarm system, lock or deadbolt, or a combination of alarm, lock or deadbolt.

The law carries punishment of imprisonment of not more than five years or by a fine up to $10,000 or by both.

Source: Tibbs’ law makes it illegal to ‘fortify’ a private home | Tulsa Beacon.

Anyway, I thought I’d do an attack ad with the equivalent intellectual prowess the “This Bush is Brown” ad.  Here it is:

This Martha is a crook.  This crook is a Martha.

Both of these women have robbed people of their personal property.  One by lying, cheating, and being downright dishonorable. The other by lying, cheating, and being downright dishonorable. By continuing to support either one you send the message that lying, cheating, and being dishonorable is how you want your country to be.  It will continue to corrupt our great country and continue to cost us more.  Here is a quick comparison:

As you can see, neither Martha is right for this state.  Make sure on January 19^th you don’t pick a Martha.

Ok, with that said, I’ve been really bad about spreading the word on this particular campaign, talking to many less than I normally do for other campaigns I have been in, so I am going to do something I have never done before.  I am going to use my blog to spread the word.  Now, this isn’t an advertisement, it’s my personal opinion based upon my experience and the people I have talked to about Boston Market.

Personally, I like Boston Market.  I have liked them since they opened years ago when I was a kid.  My mother and I used to visit the one in Burlington, MA and for fast food I never though it tasted fast.  I still like it today as an alternative to pizza, burger places, or sub shops.  When you want something fast but you don’t want to eat junk it’s a good option.  I’m also lucky to have 2 in the area about equidistant from my house.

One thing I didn’t know, that I have learned as part of being a BzzAgent is that they also cater.  They have many options and I encourage you to check them out at the following URL: http://bostonmarket.com/catering. It’s cheaper then going out to eat, it’s the same great food you are used to from Boston Market, and they do all the work.  You can even get 10% off an order of $100 or more by using the code: BZZAGENT.  (There are some limitations.)

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to comment here and I’ll respond (or on Facebook or Twitter as this post is cross-posted over there as well).  Thanks for helping me get a few extra Bzz’s out before this campaign ends.

If the widget is a little confusing (I think it is), here is the link to the site: http://www.letssaythanks.com

Hopefully this blog post will save someone else from making the mistake I made.  Check back soon for an update and I’ll report what, if anything, happen to my PC from pressing this little button.