e-Readers

I have always been a big reader. It dropped off a bit during college because I was so busy reading textbooks that I didn't have as much time for pleasure reading. But now my whole life has changed because of ebook reading apps on my phone! Currently I use the Kindle app on my android the most. And I have never paid for a book yet - I get the weekly free ones. I also recently figured out how to borrow the Kindle eBooks through my local library (Score!). Sometimes I get a free one and it is one of 2 or 3 in a series. I will read the first one on my Kindle App and get the other ones from the library like normal.

One of the greatest advantages to having books on my phone is that they are always with me. I do most of my reading when I am at work waiting for a program to install, an update to download, or have some downtime. I love that I can read a little bit when I am waiting in line at the store or in the car (as a passenger).

One new thing i tried this past week was an audio book. The next ebook in a series I am reading (7th Heaven by James Patterson) was not yet available to me from the library but it was available as an eBook. I downloaded the OverDrive Media Console on to my computer (it was a wma not compatible with the android app yet but mp3's are) and listened to the book on there. As I got used to being read to I turned the speed up until I was at 2x which is just about as fast as I can read normally. I did enjoy the audio book and will definitely utilize that for books not available in paper or kindle.

I do also have a Nook account and have yet to add some free books to it before I install it on my phone. Overall I am extremely happy with being able to read so many more books. Being able to "purchase with one-click" is awesome and super easy, and I have saved a lot of money on late fees from the library! :-)

Epic Touch!

I sold my Evo3D and went back to the Optimus for a while. The 3D was cool, but it wasn't really something useful. And we knew another phone would be coming out and decided it would be best to sell the Evo3D while we could still get good money for it. The Optimus I had was TERRIBLE! I had one before and it was ok, but this particular one liked to randomly turn itself off and I wouldn't notice it until I went to use it and found out why I hadn't been receiving any phone calls for the past four hours! Anyway. . . I got a Galaxy Nexus S. It was pretty great, I didn't have any complaints.

I was eligible for an upgrade so I had to pick a phone I was going to have for a long time (I paid cash for the Evo3D). We knew that the iPhone was going to be coming for Sprint so they would not be having another good android one for a while (to get people to get the iPhone). So I got the Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch. *whew. . not sure who thought that was a good idea for a name. Anyway I am loving this phone so far. It is super light and thin, and it is very fast. The reception and wifi work great. The camera takes awesome pictures. If you are considering a phone I would definitely recommend the Epic Touch.

Rooted my Xoom!

Wow you know it's been a while since I last posted when I'm two phones ahead of my last posting. More about my new phone later.

So I want to write in this blog more but I haven't felt like I've had enough content. So now I figure as long as I have at least one techie part in each post that will be enough. I don't feel like I have enough tech-ness to be more of a serious tech blog, and there is enough life stuff that the tech and life parts mesh so much that it should just be one blog. Got it? :-)

So I rooted my Xoom and put a custom rom on it!!! I've never done something like that before. It was pretty straightforward - I followed instructions from a web post a friend sent me. I was super excited to have done it, I was almost really upset when literally the next day I found out that they released the update and I could have just updated it like normal. Oh well I'm glad for the experience of rooting.

One other random thing I am so proud I just have to put out there: I did my taxes! And it's not even February - BooYah! I have to thank TurboTax for being so helpful, it was an easy process and I can't wait to get my tax return.

At my job I have more often been helping people with Skype video calls. I have yet to try Google Hangout and see how it compares. When I do try it I'll let you know.