Down the Drain

It happened. I dropped the HTC One V into the toilet. It was flushing. Not a good thing. I can't turn it off. It has been over 12 hours. The One still works. But the button to restart or turn off is wonky. I can't put the screen to sleep or restart/power off using the button. I can wake it. So it works. There is sound still yet. It seems to work other wise.

I may get rid of it. If I ever sell it, I will tell all buyers of the fate of the One. I still have an extra HTC One V, that no one wants. I may just use that one instead. Time will tell.

Lightning Cables in Color

My mother had lost her Lightning cable and charger that came with her Apple iPad Mini. One the problems she had when looking for it she had to go through all the old Apple 30 pin connectors. I alone have 4. But alas, she has never found them. So I ran to the ATT store and got a Lighting cable for $19.99. Still had money collected for her gift and I was planning on buying her a spare.

After getting home from buying the new cable, I was reading CNET.com. There is a Cheapskate blog on it, which I read. Lo and behold, color Lightning cables. Maybe, because of the colors, she could find them easier, if she misplaced them. It also comes in red, her favorite color. I ordered 2, one red and a green.

Read the reviews, as there are complaints they don't charge or sync. They have worked fine for me, syncing from iTunes, I just loaded some videos onto my mother's Mini, and charging from an ac USB charger. But other people complained.

all4cellular.com iphone-5-charge-sync-lightning-connector-to-usb-cable

I Hate Facebook

Facebook. Love it. Hate it. Facebook has a place in my life. It is a way to keep up with people who I don't have constant contact with. I can see when someone gets a new job. When they have problems. See pictures of people, who I can't see because they live 3,000 miles away. Those things I like. And I don't mean Facebook 'Like'.

I don't like when I see and get all those game request. Or even those game statistics. Farmville. Bejewel. I don't care if people play those things, but why do I have to know. People love to share.  But yet, I don't want to know.

Facebook also seems to not be up to date with information. I can't explain, but it does seem to be wrong on my profile sometimes. I seemed to have 'Like'ed somethings, but it never showed that I 'Like'ed anything on my page. So, if those Like threads would show up, I would write nasty comments. After 2 months, those Like showed up in my profile, so I was able to delete the Like.

I bring this up, as there is an upcoming event for someone I don't know, for something I would never go to and somewhere that is 3,000 miles away, on my page. It should not be on my page. Facebook is irritating. But, there is nothing that can match it at this time.

Everybody is on Facebook,  that is Facebook's strength. But with the poor privacy policies, it is vulnerable to people searching for an alternative. There is none on the horizon, but look at MySpace. Once the giant, but now, forgotten.

Tip about friend requests. If there is someone who friend request you and you don't really want them- just add them. Then later, defriend them. Most people would never know. But then, maybe Facebook would not update your friends and they will still be on your friend list.

I hate Facebook. But I still won't join Google +.

Is + a Good Thing?

So, bought the Spare Phone app from Google's Play Store and I liked it. Thought I should review or rate it. Tried doing that, but I could only do it using Google +. Not going to do that. I have no desire to use Google +. I hate using Facebook. I need to log out all the time, as sites see my Facebook account. I hate that.

I believe Google will be putting more emphasis on logging in using Google +. If that is the case, my foray into Google Android may be at an end. Google Android is Android in which Google apps have a prominent role. As compared to a forked version of Android like Amazon's Kindle Fire line.

I may hate Facebook, but I do use it. Helps me keep up with family. But, it keeps saying I 'Like' this or that. And I keep trying to undo those likes, but it takes weeks. I don't know why. It is just irritating. And now Google wants me to be a part of Google +? No, I won't do it.

I will say, Facebook maybe bad, I find Amazon to be the worst. Kindle Fire. How many have been sold. My estimate? For the whole link of Kindle Fires I would guess 2 million. Prove me wrong.

VoIP Now

Found a Google Play gift card at a brick and mortar WalMart. I got the $10 card, as I needed to buy a $2.99 app. Other card values were available, up to $50.

The app I bought is called Spare Phone. What it does, for my Android HTC One V, is let me make free VoIP calls over wifi. You do need a Google Voice account, so this is good only USA and Canada, I think. I don't live in Canada, so can't be sure if this works there. The app does cost $2.99, hence the need for a payment method.

I have attempted and was able to make a phone call. The call went fine. The sound on my end was good. As far as the other end goes, the receiver didn't say anything bad, neither did he say anything good about sound quality.

From what I have read, free calls are good for all of 2013. This will also work on a Android tablet that has a microphone. Will come in handy as I forget my phone a lot.

Spare Phone

Edit: Canada can't get Google Voice accounts. Google Voice accounts can call in the USA and Canada. Sorry for any confusion. People have made accounts using proxies, but I really don't know for sure.

My Friend and his Auvio

Sent an Auvio Bluetooth Portable Speaker to my friend in Las Vegas. I talked to him the other day and he seems to be having problems with his. Can't say what it is, but he can't get it to sound right. I had sent him a bluetooth headset before, and he couldn't get to work right too. I really think it is him. I know the headset performed fine, because it was mine. I just had no use for it. Hopefully I can guide him into getting it to perform correctly, not leaving much hope.

Greatest Gift of All

Buying apps for your gadgets is a bit tedious. First is finding interesting apps. But the real problem is paying for them. I don't like to link a credit card to anything. Never link a debit card, if something goes wrong, it may be impossible to get your money back.

For the PlayBook's App World, where you buy apps for the PlayBook, I linked my PayPal account. It is not the greatest solution, but it is safer, I think, then linking my credit card.

I like iTunes solution. In a misconception, you don't need a credit card to set up or use an iTunes account. For setup, you need to just skip the input of a credit card number. What I like to use are iTunes gift cards. At times, stores will sell iTunes gift card for 20% off. For $80, you could get a $100 card. But I don't use that much. What I do is turn in my loose change at a CoinStar machine. They have an iTunes option, in which your coins deposited are turned into an iTunes gift card and the fees are paid by iTunes. It's a good deal.

CoinStar also has an option for Amazon, but I hate Amazon. They seem to always required a credit card. They do sell apps for Android, but I think you need a credit card even if you use a gift card.

With Google's Play Store, they now offer you the use of gift card. The only problem, I can't find one. For the past 2 days, I have visited 20 retail outlets and could not find a Play Store gift card. I was not really shopping for them, but I would look at every store l was at.

I like Apple's approach to their app sales a lot. I also like that I can gift an app with them. Of course, the person receiving an app must have an iOS device.