Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Best App Way

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Which do you prefer for testing an app before you buy: a free app with adds, an app with partial functionality or full functionality a trial period? Initially, I preferred free apps and I didn’t care whether there were adds, really. They were mildly annoying, but harmless- or so I thought.

As it turns out, those adds that support your free app use a lot of battery, especially if the app continues to run in the background, periodically pulling new adds onto your phone without your knowledge. In fact, this sometimes reduces your phones longevity by a few hours, which is a big deal if your phone barely makes it to the end of the day in the best of circumstances. My preference has shifted, evolved, and returned to the free apps with adds again.

I used to want to never pay for an app, so I preferred to partial functionality option, which usually worked fine, but I really like to get the whole program at once. I always ran out of trial period before I was ready to pay for the app, so I didn’t like that at all. My new philosophy is that I believe in supporting the developers of apps that I like. I want them to succeed and continue updating these apps and develop other apps that I might also like. I’m happy to pay for a good app that I regularly use and will migrate with me to new phones as the years go by. Despite that, it would still be worthwhile just for the increased battery life. So I download the free version first, and if that app works it’s way into my habits, I buy the no-adds version.

Image background courtesy of photos-public-domain.com. Foreground created in the GIMP by Jack Turner.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

New Podcatcher



Last time I went to work, I left my mp3 player in my desk. It is too far to justify going back just to get my mp3 player when I have a new perfectly good smartphone that can download and play podcasts on its own. I finally had the impetus I needed to look into android podcatchers.

I settled on BeyondPod. It’s not free, but I just didn’t think I was going to end up being satisfied with any of the free options for the long haul and I didn’t want to shop any more. It impressed me in the trial period and I’m fully satisfied with its functionality. I do miss having a physical button for skipping to the next track, but that is the only downside to using my phone to listen to podcasts.

On the up side, there is a button for skipping 30-seconds and one for going back 5 seconds. When I skip to the next track, I have it set to delete the listened-to track automatically, so I never have to clean up after myself or get confused about which ones I’ve listened to already. The volume rocker does work even when the screen is off, so I don’t have to miss that feature of my old mp3 player.

Emergency Chocolate

New Picture (3)1/4 cup chips (I prefer mixed butterscotch and dark chocolate chips)
1 Tablespoon smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup oatmeal (I prefer rolled oats)

Microwave chips and peanut butter on high for a minute. Mix.
Add oatmeal. Stir.

Enjoy. With milk.

Notes: Makes 1/2 cup- just the right size for a XS Round Bowl from Glad.This recipe actually makes just a little more than I want in one sitting, so I measure small. 2/5 of the calories come from the oatmeal, 2/5 from the chips, 1/5 from the peanut butter. The rolled oats take a bit of chewing, which allows you to savor the chocolate peanut butter that much longer and makes your brain think you’ve eaten a lot.20111117_201926-1

This isn’t something I would serve to someone, but when there’s no junk food in the house, it can be just what The Doctor ordered. Pictured is 1/2 a recipe.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa...& Veggie Salad



You can google cuppa cuppa cuppa cake to find out about it's genesis, but it sounded interesting enough to me to give it a go. Super simple. A cuppa flour plus a cuppa fruit cocktail with it's juice plus a cup of sugar; mix and bake. The blogger I got this idea from said it was awfully sweet so I used the whole can of fruit and went heavy on the flour and light on the sugar. I also used half flour and half oatmeal with making soda and baking powder because I didn't have self rising flour.
So it's not pure cuppa cake but it is super good. The upper crust tastes surprisingly like graham cracker. I had no ice cream to compliment it, but milk did a good job.
On a somewhat unrelated note, I also madea veggie salad. One bag of brussel sprouts, one bag of corn, and what was left of a bag of peas with garlic salt, mrs. dash, and a hint of salad dressing. Yum!


Friday, October 14, 2011

Carmela’s Laugh

Tamara and Carmela have so much fun. We love watching our baby grow.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Frosting the Yellow Cake Muffins

IMG_20110724_182219Today, Tamara made yellow cake muffins. We didn’t have any frosting around, so I made some. Below is the correct way of making frosting like mine. You can know that it’s the correct way because it’s the way that I did it. Quod erat demonstrandum.

First, you put the amount of butter equal to about how much frosting you want in a bowl. Use the butter that has been sitting on the counter for a few hours because that will be nice and soft. If the butter on the counter is all the butter you have in the house, then you might just use all of it. This is the limiting factor for how much frosting you can make. Use real butter, not unsalted or margarine- especially if that’s all you have.

If your wife got out vanilla for you to put in the frosting, you should put some in. Since vanilla, in my experience, sometimes overpowers things, you should probably pour it into a measuring spoon first so that you can pour some back in the bottle until you have the right amount. Dump it right on the butter.

Powdered sugar and cocoa powder can both be scooped in with a spoon. Keep adding more until it tastes right. If it becomes too thick or dry, you can put in a very tiny bit of milk. A little goes a long way, so be careful.

The best place to frost a muffin is in the middle. These muffins aren’t as sturdy as English muffins, so try not to destroy it with your table knife- either while cutting it open or while frosting it.

Monday, April 25, 2011

What the Devilled Eggs?

2011-04-25 10.50.50Making devilled eggs was much faster with leftover Easter eggs than it was starting with raw eggs. I made devilled eggs a couple weeks ago for a munch-n-mingle after church. I devilled a dozen eggs and only got to eat half of one. I’ve been wanting to make some more ever since.

I tried something new today. It didn’t turn out as well as the eggs I devilled for church, but it’s pretty good. The sliced olives looked like they were going to be fancy, but they were a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping to chop up some sun-dried tomatoes into my eggs, but I guess we’re out. It’s not something we use often enough to keep it stocked.

Tamara made egg salad last night. I hadn’t really realized how similar that was to devilled eggs: mostly just a little more chopping and a little less paprika.

Normally I dump the mixed yolks into a Ziploc freezer bag and squeeze the yolks back into the eggs like frosting, but today I used a cookie scoop. The frosting-like method works better (if you beat the yolks completely smooth and use a large nozze), but the cookie scoop was more convenient.I just had to pat the yolks down with the back of the scoop afterward to make them look halfway decent.