Happy Independence Day!

F.U.N.K.Y. Statistic: Did you know that Independence Day was actually voted on July 2 1776 - hence approved and accepted? The written Declaration of Independence from Britain was then written on July 4, but wasn't signed until August 2.

Did you also know who sewn the first American Flag? It was sewn by Betsy Ross in 1776.

Another little known fact - the origin of the term "Uncle Sam" started when Samuel Wilson provided meat to the USA's Army. The initials US (United States) were imprinted on the meat packages. A joke was then coined that the initials US stood for "Uncle Sam".

For you iPhone and iPOD Touch users - download a cool mobile app from Handmark called Handmark Fireworks to watch some amazing fireworks right from the palm of your hand. http://budurl.com/IndependenceDayApp

You can find many, many more cell phone and mobile tips by getting your copy of "How F.U.N.K.Y. is Your Phone?" on Amazon today! Click here.

• www.iKeepItFunky.com
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iPhone 4 Tip for lost Bluetooth Connections

Today iPhone 4 was released! WOOHOO!!

Great OS and Smartphone choice for those seeking even greater power, additional choices in features, and innovation.

It is no surprise that Apple continues to lead trending in mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPOD Touch, and now even the iPAD. Even with the upgrade to IOS 4 (Apple's iPhone version 4), the iPhone 3GS displays some considerable changes for the better. The graphics are crystal, the wallpaper choice is great for personalization, and numerous other upgrades to the previous 3G IOS.

One drawback that is not perfected is the battery life UNLESS you 'purchase' the iPhone 4 (hardware and all). A bigger physical battery will definitely give more juice for power.

Now for the tip for users who have upgraded their iPhone to iPhone 4 and appear to have lost their Bluetooth connection. Never fear, iKeep It Funky is here!! The simple trick to regain your Bluetooth connection(s) without having to go through the process of having to 'pair' your device again is this:
1) Restart your iPhone
2) Restart your Bluetooth device
3) Then on your iPhone go to 'Settings'
4) Then select the 'General' option
5) Then select 'Bluetooth' option
6) Then turn off your 'Bluetooth' option
7) Wait about five seconds
8) Then turn your 'Bluetooth' option back on

You should see a populated list of your prior 'paired' devices.

There it is. A quick fix brought to you by 'iKeep It Funky'

New year, new goals, new mobile cell phone tools!

"The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results." Anthony Robbins

It is that time of the year. A chance to start fresh and anew. We all have achieved our 2009's goals - or have we? Regardless, it is now 2010 with a new set of priorities. We can all use tips to reduce and eliminate stress, cut costs, and promote a healthier lifestyle in our personal and professional life.

Let's describe creative ways to build your business, lose those holiday pounds, promote a productive and healthy lifestyle, and maintain good fiscal health! With the rapid adoption of cell phones and PDAs, you are empowered to do more tasks more conveniently using mobile technology.

You may be under pressure to accomplish more tasks in less than half the time to achieve even greater results. You cannot do this without the assistance of mobile technology.

You can take the convenience of the office on the go! Monitor and track your expenses from the palm of your hand. Maintain your lifestyle by being smarter when shopping using tools for comparison shopping. Promote a healthy lifestyle even while you are eating out. For example, even while dining out, you can record your ingredients directly into your cell phone, find the appropriate restaurant, or alternative foods.

Those of you who are resolving to stop smoking can also receive support dynamically and directly via your cell. Were you aware of this?

Stop Smoking
For those of you working to kick this the bad habit of smoking there are aids to support you.

• STEPP - If you live in the state of Colorado, there is now a program called State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership (STEPP) that is a message system on cell phones using an Internet quit program. http://www.steppcolorado.com.
• FixNixer - This is another program that is free. This is an anonymous and customizable program that helps you to quit smoking in 21 days. You can receive text messages to assist and motivate you in staying strong and successfully quit smoking. http://www.fixnixer.com.
• Quit Doing It - is a very handy resource of text messaging quit tools, patches, support etc. http://quitdoingit.com.
• MentorMobile - This is a very cool subscription service that you can receive daily motivational quotes to encourage those working to stop smoking. You can receive these daily coaching directly to your cell phone as text messages for this. http://www.mentormobile.com/smoking.htm
• STOMP - Healthphone Solution's launches (Stop smoking Over Mobile Phone) - a second generation Stop Smoking through your text message service. STOMP sends a series of personalized text messages over 26 weeks. http://www.1888pressrelease.com/healthphone-launches-second-generation-stop-smoking-via-text-pr-64536.html.

Get Out Of Debt
Mobile Banking provides many options to manage expenses while traveling, entertaining a client or relative, or checking your eWallet.

Let's discuss some options.

• Mint.com - Has a cool SMS feature that adds access to over 7,500+ banking and financial institutions. This is a great tool to budget your expenses dynamically. This tool has reward points so that you can gain additional advantages in saving money.
• Obopay.com - Is a service that lets you purchase, pay, or transfer money directly from your cell phone using the mobile App, mobile website, or through a mobile browser directly. Here is the cool thing with Obopay, you can add money from your bank or credit card account or even send money to anyone with a mobile phone number. No sign up fee and no charge accessed to receive money!
• Citi Mobile® - Owners of iPhones, Blackberrys and many other cell phones are able to conduct mobile banking directly from a cell phone. Go to http://citibank.com/citimobile.
• USAA - Free iPhone App that allows you to deposit a check using your iPhone's camera. You can find this Mobile App in the Apple Store.
• US Bank - US Bank has an awesome service to alert you whenever you use your debit or credit card to receive a SMS alert. In addition, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, HSBC and other banks offer mobile banking via mobile browser access, SMS services or mobile App.
• Check Please - An iPhone App that calculates the costs of splitting lunch or dinner - and includes the amount for a tip also.

Using tools dynamically while on the run, you can increase savings, reduce your debt, and watch your virtual wallet increase. With these tools you can add some powerful techniques to your arsenal so that you can achieve your goal to eliminate debt!

Save on gas!
Let's talk about how to save money for gas. Eliminate the guesswork of where to find a gas station and how to get to your destination. Many cell phones now come equipped with GPS. USE IT! Also, don't be shy in using your traffic app to avoid traffic jams which always eats those fumes during those commutes and waiting in traffic.

Here are a couple of suggested tools:

• Cheap Gas - iPhone App that can be purchased in the Apple Store
• Gas Buddy - iPhone App that can be purchased in the Apple Store
• Where - iPhone App that can be purchased in the Apple Store
• Gas Buddy Text Services - Text the words "gasbuddy" and a zip code or city name to '368266'. This works in the US and Canada.
• Traffic.com - Receive traffic alerts sent to your cell phone. http://bhelp.traffic.com/features-alerts
• Yellowbook/OMG! - This cool service provides information for gas stations, locksmiths, plumbers, electricians, towing companies, taxi, or veterinarians. There is a mobile App for G1 Android Google and iPhone. http://www.yellowbook.com/yb-mobile-applications

Paperless ways of doing things
Now let's talk about how to reduce your carbon footprint and do things "green." For many of us that are earth friendly trying to find ways to reduce paper waste, save trees, and eliminate anything that destroys the Ozone Layer, let's talk about ways to do things electronically.

Pay your bills electronically. Request for your bills or statements to be sent to your email address rather than your home or business address. This saves both you and the company on printing costs. Use the extra money to treat yourself in accomplishing meeting your New Year's Resolution of debt elimination.

• Payitgreen - Learn about how you can save a few bucks by using the Green Calculator and make a positive environmental difference. www.payitgreen.org

Funky Tip: Use your calendar for bill reminders

For those of you desiring to carry less paper weight around when traveling via airplane let's talk about paperless boarding passes. Did you know that there are at least five major airlines and about 30 airports in the US that are now testing and piloting paperless boarding passes using your cell phone. The following airlines are testing this:

• Continental
• Delta
• Northwest
• Alaska
• American

Another thing you should consider is to search for mobile versions of Expedia, Sidestep, or Hotwire.

Also peep TripIt! This is an awesome mobile App and service that allows you to manage all of your travel arrangements in one central place. http://www.tripit.com.

Shipping
You can receive free shipping alerts using www.freeshipping.org.

Using PriceGrabber's services for personalized list of items you are looking to purchase, buy, or just do comparison shopping. You can have SMS alerts sent to your cell phone. Save not only bargains but also free shipping.

Shopping On The Fly
So now let's talk about those of us on a shoestring budget. There are alternatives to shopping in the traditional sense. Usually, at the beginning of the year we are looking to upgrade our computers, laptops, or swap cell phones. Let's talk about tips for finding bargains, save on our purchases, and even more save time in our busy schedules.

Here are some tips to find a great deal.

One technique is to do comparison shopping using our cell phone and mobile devices. Comparison shopping avoids wasting time.

• eBay App - use this iPhone App to monitor sales or bids.
• Benjis App - This is an iPhone App that you can use to enter keywords or barcodes to find cheap prices for a product.
• SnapTell - iPhone App you can use to take a picture of a book or CD cover using your phone's camera. You will see a display of prices local stores that sell the product. You will also receive option for the directions to the location. (There are mobile Apps for Google's Android, Blackberry, and Palm).
• Amazon's TextBuyIt - Amazon will send you a text message with the product name and the Amazon selling price.
• ShopSavvy - This App is installed by default on the GZ Android.
• Pricerunner Mobile - A free service that mobile professionals can use for price comparison by texting "PR" to 60009. You will then be provided instructions.
• Kelkoo Mobile - Peep this mobile service. When you are in a store about to make a choice or in a hurry but not sure if you are getting the best deal, you can go to this mobile site to find out immediately if you are getting a true bargain. All from your cell or mobile phone. http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/co_15574-kelkoo-mobile-online-shopping-price-comparison-on-your-phone.html.
• SCCOPC - For those of you without data service on your cell phone plan, this bargain shopping alert provides a text message price comparison service. You can type a product name and model to "662555" and you will receive a list of matches, stores, and prices. www.sccopc.com.
• Buy.com - Buy.com sends alerts on Twitter - hurry up and follow!
• Sears2go - A mobile website you can use on your cell phone. www.sears2go.com.
• Walmart - Receive alerts for sales and discounts directly to your cell phone from Walmart. We all know that Walmart is an awesome place to find tons of discounted prices for products. Go to www.walmart.com/mobileinfo for these savings alerts.
• Cellfire - Provides mobile coupons in your Area. Saves paper too.

Funky Tip: Plan your gift purchases ahead of time.

Promoting A Healthy Lifestyle
Now that we are past the holiday season and enjoyed our good eats, it is time to jump back on the track - physically as well as monetarily. Many are people are suffering from physical ailments, disease, or weight problems. Were you aware that you can have the assistance of your mobile device in promoting good health. Any business professional working to increase their business ROI - this includes both physical and fiscal health.

Now texting for healthcare is still in its infancy in the US, but there are plenty of options to take advantage of these types of tools.

Weight Loss
There are some really cool Apps for Blackberry, iPhone, Palm, Windows Mobile to assist busy professionals in assisting them with calorie management, workout schedules, meal planning, or general coaching assistance - right from your finger tips. Sprint, Tmobile, Verizon, and ATT has some cool free weight loss counters.

Marinate on these tools you can use for calorie management:
Lose It - Free weight-loss iPhone App.
Livestrong Calorie Counter - Blackberry, iPhone has an App called Livestrong that you can use to map your workout when you run, bike, or hike. You are able to track your calories intake and burned. There is also a WAP version of this App for those who have other devices. http://www.livestrong.com/calorie-counter-mobile.
My Food Phone - This cell phone dieting service allows consumers to take a picture of their food and send it for evaluation by a nutritionist. You can receive and analysis and advice on improvement for your diet. http://www.mycanutrition.com.

Let's briefly touch on personal training right from your cell phone. Need a virtual personal trainer to put some fire on your butt?

Here you are:

• Nike+ - A accelerometer and pedometer you can use to track your progress and route. There is also an iPhone App for this you can get in the Apple Store. There is also a SportsBand you can purchase.
• Personal Training Business Management Software - This is a very comprehensive service that includes text messaging services. http://www.mindbodyonline.com/en/products/personal-training/full-feature-list.
• MUSC Weight Management - Offers a free service to everyone (not just patients) in which daily weight-loss tips can be sent to your cell phone via SMS. www.muschealth.com/weightmgmtmessaging.

Here are some more tools to spend more time with your family and less time in the kitchen trying to plan a recipe for dinner.

• SparkPeople - Free recipe App for Google Android G1 and iPhone (Blackberry users can use web browser version). http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/mobile.asp
• Calorie King - Diet Diary App for Palm from Calorie King. http://www.calorieking.com/software/ckmobplus.php.
• American Heart Association - For Hispanics and Latinos, the American Heart Association is providing users with 45 weeks of health text messages for free as part of the "Conozca Su Corazon" program. The texts are to provide heart risk factors, prevention, healthy cooking tips and suggestions for physical activity. Participants can enroll by texting the keyword CORAZON to short code 52733 (English speaking participants can text the keyword "HEART" to short code 52733).
• Heart Healthy Mobile campaign - The health messages give information on heart risk factors, prevention, healthy cooking tips and suggestions for physical activity.
• BLC Mobile - This is a companion mobile service to its highly successful BiggestLoserClub.com online program (http://www.biggestloser.com). The BLC Mobile service allows members to access information via their phones, such as weighing in, weight loss progress, logging meals, receiving recommendations for daily workouts and more.

Disease Management
For those needing diabetic log and guidance for monitoring blood sugar here are a couple of tools to keep in your arsenal.

Diabetes

• Calorie King's "Diabetes Log - Palm App to monitor blood glucose levels. http://www.calorieking.com/software/ckdiabetespalm.php.
• My Diabetes Guide - Sensei's "My Diabetes Guide" is an iPhone App to help diabetics manage their sugar levels and other proactive healthy living tips. http://www.senseicorp.com/Sensei-Solutions/Diabetes-Guide.

You now have some "funky" mobile tips and tools to assist you in meeting your 2010's New Year's resolutions. You can manage your wallet to reduce expenditures, increase savings, get in shape, manage your health and reduce your carbon footprint - all from the palm of your hand.

Be on the look out - iKeep It Funky's book is soon to be released. See "101 Practical Ways To Use Your Cell Phone" for details.

Keep It Funky!!

Give the gift of "charity" this Christmas!

This Christmas give:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling.
~ Edna Ferber

Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind.
~ Valentine Davies

This Christmas give directly from you cell phone or mobile device.

Help your loved ones, family, and friends fight cancer by donating directly from your cell phone. American Cancer Society has some great options to do this.

Charity begins in the home, but should extend as far as our cell phone can reach. Give charity to a child this season to receive resources for support for food and shelter.
1) Text "GIVEHOPE" to "90999" to give $5
2) Send a message to save a life and donate $5 - Text "ALIVE" TO "90999"
Find more donors at mGive

Are you on the go and still need to send out Christmas Greetings? Send a greeting directly from your cell phone. Use Christmas SMS.

Hey here is a thought for you. Ever think about donating your cell phone or mobile device instead of tossing it in the trash? Collective Good has a variety of donors or charities you can donate to.

SMS Donations
Learn How to Increase Donations via SMS. Peep MobileCause.

Now let's talk saving money and shopping for presents and gifts. I am sure most of you have heard of Yowza by now. Greg Grunberg has certainly illuminated the possibilities of how you can use this Mobile App to shop. I encourage anyone using iPhone or Blackberry to use this App!

Some other Apps and services to consider:
Cellfire - alert based service to your cell phone (one I personally use)
Coupon Sherpa app for the iPhone and iPod Touch
Coupious - iPhone, iPod Touch, or Android phone


"iKeep It Funky" develops user-friendly tools tailored for people who want to take the convenience of the office on the go. "iKeep It Funky" also translates geek speak into everyday language, and removes the fear of using mobile technology. "iKeep It Funky" utilizes sound bytes to produce targeted nuggets of information.

For more information visit iKeep It Funky at:

www.facebook.com/iKeepItFunky

http://twitter.com/iKeepItFunky

Try on that new dress using your cell phone

Okay ladies. Those of you in Japan now have some very creative options to use for shopping. KDDI has a very cool App and service to provide shopping women the option to simulate trying on a that new dress, shirt and more directly from their cell phone. This saves time in the stores trying on clothes. This is a great way in reducing pollution of gas to fuel your car to run to the department store.



This is an Adobe Flash based App you can use to see how you look in that outfit before you buy. You are also able to change your hair type and/or body type - 'virtually'. Next time you are stuck on the train during your commute or just can't seem to make it to the department store - shop with ease. Check out how that outfit looks on your directly from your phone by trying it on virtually. Then you can also order it!

Peep the demonstration at http://budurl.com/kddi

Bio:
"iKeep It Funky" develops user-friendly tools tailored for people who want to take the convenience of the office on the go. "iKeep It Funky" also translates geek speak into everyday language, and removes the fear of using mobile technology. "iKeep It Funky" utilizes sound bytes to produce targeted nuggets of information.

For more information visit www.ikeepitfunky.com. You may also join on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ikeepitfunky.

For You Gamers On The Run!

With the holidays on the horizon, kids will continue to be kids and entertained in a variety of ways during their learning development. One considerable way we see this is with the use of games. Whether online gaming, console games, and now for those on the run - mobile gaming devices or a mobile phone.

Not only do children enjoy games for both entertainment and educational purposes, but many students and adults enjoy the amusement of games also.

Along with the notorious popular games such as Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo, now there is a couple trends on the upscale to consider. WII has definitely changed the way in which gaming is conducted. But now wireless carriers offer subscription based gaming services. The Mobile Game Show provides users with the opportunity to play games such as Family Feud, Double Jeopardy, or Deal Or No Deal.

Another game that is very interesting for those who enjoy questionnaires to test there "brain power" or what they know is Gab To Go. This is a cool travel game where family and friends can test each other by asking questions. Especially en route to Big Momma's or their traditional location for Thanksgiving Dinner. This is a great ice breaker for starting conversations with the family.

Disney Games has a game that is a community membership based game.

This is quite a small sample of quite a few options and changes in gaming on the run. "iKeep It Funky" will be providing more resources for you parents who would like to use games to better educated your children, you travelers who would like to be better entertained while sitting in the airport, and for hard core gamers looking for gaming tips, cheats etc.

Thanks to Jesse Stojan for cool tips and information on today's gamers!

Be on the look out for "iKeep It Funky's" resources in the forthcoming book "101 Practical Ways To Use A Cell Phone" to be launched soon!

** Website - www.ikeepitfunky.com
** Join us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/ikeepitfunky
** Follow us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/ikeepitfunky

Best Battery for the iPhone!

"iKeep It Funky" evaluated several iPhone 3G extended battery packs (greatly needed for a serious power user).

Choices were:
**Mili Power Pack(2000Ah)
**Richard Solo (1800Ah)
**Incase Power Slider
**Mophie Juice Pack 3G Air
**Mili Angel Battery (this one is really cool for a on the go extra juice for a while solution).


"iKeep It Funky" chose The Mophie Juice Pack™ 3G Air due to the sleek design. Especially for women who have enough to carry in their purse (as you all know a woman's purse is a bottomless pit :-)). The Mophie Juice Pack 3G Air, is a Lithium Polymer technology (as most batteries nowadays). It comes with a one year warranty (also typical). The advantage with the Mophie Juice Pack 3G Air, is the tad' bit more talk time, video time, music time, and Internet use. Especially without having to carry extra cables, or a bulky design - this was very cool!

Some battery tips:

Green Tech Tip: Don't leave your cell phone plugged into the wall. When your device is fully charged and still plugged in, you are using unnecessary energy.

Additional Tip: Don't use cheap wall chargers! They use extra energy - who wants that.

"iKeep It Funky's" tips to save battery power on your cell phone or mobile device:


1) Use Lithium-ion batteries which are better due to lighter weight and higher performance (up to about 20%).
2) Don't expose your battery to extreme temperatures.
3) If you are in a remote area, and are most likely NOT to be using your cell phone, turn it off. Here is why, your mobile phone will try every so many minutes (or even seconds) to search for a signal. Which results in your battery being drained.
4) If you don't absolutely need to use both vibrate and ring - turn vibrate off! More use of your battery unnecessarily.
5) Turn off your phone's back light. Or don't turn it up so high if you are in a well lighted room. If you must absolutely use this, set the seconds to a limited time out so that it will automatically turn off after so long.
6) Avoid using unnecessary features.
7) Disable Bluetooth when you are not using it.
8) Disable GPS (Location Based Services) when not in use.
9) Disable Wi-Fi when you are not using it.
10) Never leave your cell phone plugged into the charger for more than 12+ hours. This really wears on your battery and leaves it performing less than optimally. So those of you sleeping in late, set an alarm and unplug your cell phone or mobile device after it has fully charged.

"iKeep It Funky"
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www.iKeepItFunky.com

Mobile cell phone safety!

I have just installed a Zerofon Ladybug on my cell phone. This unique little tool is great for any mobile Blackberry, Palm, iPhone or any cell phone user that wishes to minimize the chances of cancer from electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones.

This ladybug reduces cell phone radiation that we mobile users (Blackberry, iPhone etc) are exposed to - specifically and especially our brains (we hold our mobile devices to our ear right next to our head).

How this handy little ladybug works is by neutralizing and absorbing the electromagnetic waves from cell phone radiation.

Simply affix the ladybug as you can see I have done to your cell phone.

For more information you can visit http://virginiahopkinstestkits.com/ladybugzerofoninfo.html to learn more about these ladybugs any Blackberry, iPhone, or cell phone user should be using.

iKeep It Funky!
www.ikeepitfunky.com
Twitter - http://twitter.com/ikeepitfunky
Facebook - www.facebook.com/pages/iKeep-It-Funky/147529423972

New! Cool Mobile CRM App from Akvelon.

Mobile CRM Express 4.0 is an awesome mobile customized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution! For those of you who need access to a flexible yet highly reliable and functional CRM tool - this is it!

Akvelon has recently just developed this cool mobile application. I tell you, I was impressed with the functionality after testing Mobile CRM Express.

Features include creating Accounts, Cases, Contacts, Leads, or Opportunities - all directly from your mobile device! Using an iPhone I was able to do all of this while I was on the go.

Tasks you can perform directly from a mobile device viewing your accounts - Active or Inactive. You can search for a Contact without scrolling through a list which can be handly. You may add an industry so that you can keep up with your associated contacts' business or field of interest.

What I find really cool is Akvelon's CRM 'Leads' Feature. When you meet a contact and you need to recall information that is associated with that particular Contact, say to assist in closing a deal (or close to) - you can refer to your list of Leads you created. You can use this feature when you meet a Contact or gain information regarding a contact (say, from a colleague). You can create a Title for the Lead, state details such as the State, Estimated Closing Date, along with adding an Estimate Revenue. Now tell me this is not useful!

Another feature that I have to mention is the ability to create or access a Support Case directly from your mobile device. You can view your Active or Inactive cases. If you can't recall the exact Title or the Case Number, you can perform a Search using Mobile CRM's 'Search' Feature. And peep this, you can also see the Stage Of the Case, or set the Severity for the Case.

Ultimately, Akvelon's Mobile CRM Express mobile application is a very clean and powerful tool all professionals should have in their arsenal. It is a flexible and yet an awesome centralized management system. The cool thing is that with Akvelon's Mobile CRM Express is easy enough to have up and running almost immediately.

Check out Akvelon's Mobile CRM Express at http://www.akvelon.com.

iKeep It Funky!
Twitter - http://twitter.com/ikeepitfunky
www.ikeepitfunky.com

How I Have Used My iPhone for Business

I use many applications on my iPhone for multiple purposes. But here is some quick tips on how I have used applications for business purposes. I believe these applications work on any iPhone though I am using a iPhone 3Gs with 3.0.1.

1) Jott: When on the road and needing to send a text or quick blog, I was able to use the Jott App to use voice to text service to do this.

2) Google Calendar: Using Google Email or Calendar as a bookmark saved to my homescreen. I have been able to view, create, edit or send calendar events using Google Calendar as a bookmark on my home screen. This site is optimized for mobile use which works TERRIFIC!

3) Twitterific: Speaking of terrific, Twitterific is an awesome Twitter tool to use as a mobile app for those who like to stay connected and send a tweet on the go. I have used this app to tweet while waiting for a flight in the airport.

4) Google text for 411: Now this particular tool is just so handy to me. I have sent numerous texts looking for a phone number to an establishment or business just by texting the words "GOOGLE" (466453) - the business name, city, and state to obtain a phone number or address. Example "Mosaic Coffee Seattle WA" and it returns a listing of all businesses with these words combination (must be in the same order that is). I get my request sent back to me via text with the phone number and address included. LOVE IT!

5) LinkedIn: I use LinkedIn more and more these days, so a mobile app for me to quickly update my profile or send a referral from my iPhone is handy, especially when networking with new people.

6) Facebook: Being involved as much as I can with Social Networking, I use the Facebook app for my business. I am able to update my status using Twitter. Also being able to send a message to a Facebook contact is useful.

7) Paypal App: Now this App is really handy when trying to send funds to or from your Paypal account on the go, without having to wait till you get home to your computer.

8) FileMagnet App: This app is very handy for me when I needed to view a PDF or Document on the go. I was able to read documents transferred directly via wirelessly while at a coffee shop.

iKeep It Funky!
Twitter @iKeepItFunky
Blog http://blog.ikeepitfunky.com

Interesting New Search Engine Technologies - Wolfram Alpha And Bing (Powerset)

Today let's talk about some cool new Search technologies such as Bing (Powerset) which is a Natural Language technology, and Wolfram Alpha.

Technology is growing at such a rapid rate. It is hard for most of us to keep up with the pace, let alone adopt the new technology at the speed at which it is developed.

Along with the new mobile phones, computers, MP3 players, PDAs etc, now to add to to this list are some brand new Search Engines. Let me rephrase this, Search technologies (Search Engine).

Historically Search Engines included those such as Excite, Dogpile, Altavista, Ask Jeeves, Yahoo, and MSN. Now the most popular are Google, Ask Jeeves, and Bing which was released this year of 2009 (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search) .

Customarily, a Search Engine are composed of indexed directories of numerous elements such as URLs, graphics, images, multimedia elements, file formats, font/typeface selection, screen real estate etc.

There are also Meta Search Engines and Invisible/Deep Web Search Engines. Meta Search Engines such as Dogpile or Metacrawler directs your search to other databases and presents the data to a user in a compiled list. Invisible/Deep Web is the Internet portion of the World Wide Web that is not easily visible or indexed by traditional search engines such as non HTML pages, PDFs, documents, and dynamically generated data.

Google is the dominant and most popular search engine known to individuals, communities, and corporations around the world. Google uses a technique of matching text to find and aggregate web pages that are relevant to the user's search. Google's technique as a search engine doesn't compute answers based on human knowledge.

For some of you the name Google is a derivative of the number "Googol" which is a number one followed by a hundred zeros (1x10100 in Decimal Representation).

How Google aggregates data is by scanning web pages to find instances of the keywords you have entered in the search box such as "Recipe for making Lasagna." Google then returns a compiled list (in order by ranking) to the user that has the keywords "recipe" "for" "making" "Lasagna."

Google creates a directory to organize Internet resources into categories. Something called Bots (otherwise known as web crawlers) that browse the web to gather data and updated information for search engines to create directories. These Bots are computer programs that do this in a automated fashion and on a schedule. This information is indexed to for faster search results provided to user when they enter words or search data into the Search box. Included in this data gathering technique URLs are also learned and gathered to be included in a directory the Search Engine indexes. These are General Directories or Subject Directories that cover a specific topic.

Former Search Engines included those such as Excite, Dogpile, Altavista etc. Then came along Ask Jeeves, Yahoo, MSN, and now Bing's (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search). Bing's underlying technology is powered by Powerset, a company Microsoft purchased (more on Powerset later).

Users perform several types of searches such as General Browsing, Keyword, Full Text, and Proximity (Phrase or Near Operator Searching). This also includes Boolean which uses Logic Operators AND, OR, NOT. In a Boolean search operators such as the following are performed:

• AND = Subject + Subject
• OR = Subject OR Subject
• NOT = Subject NOR Subject

Other types of Search techniques include Truncation which allows you to search variations of a word (Example: meth* which will obtain all items or documents that start with "meth"), Proximity (searches for the occurrence of a phrase within separate documents in a specific proximity), or Case Sensitive searching. Being that Google generally is case insensitive when doing a search (searching on a keyword such as "Bill" and "bill" are synonymous), there is a Google tool to perform a Case Sensitive Search using "Case Sensitive Google Search" (http://case-sensitive-search.appspot.com).

Moving into newer technologies for Search Engine options are the current traditional "Search Box," and now "Natural Language," or "Answer Engine."

There is a new Answer Engine developed by Wolfram Alpha. This is a technology very different from Google. As Google is generally a very large Lookup system similar to a librarian for the Internet. Wolfram Alpha does not compete with Google. Wolfram Alpha is geared to compute factual answers to questions in a Search query. Think of Wolfram Alpha as a calculator, or a brainiac right at your finger tips. A tool that will compute a variety of answers to questions, calculate formulas etc. As Wolfram's team has phrased this as a "Computational Knowledge Engine." It is similar to Wikipedia but much more.

Wolfram Alpha computes numerous types of data such as factual answers to questions such as location of a particular GPS coordinates, chemistry or biological questions, averages or specific details to mathematical equation etc. The techniques, heuristics, algorithms, methods used in traditional and conventional Search engines are totally different than with Wolfram's technology.

As there is billions of billions of data on the World Wide Web that is accessible. Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc can very effectively search for specific terms, phrases, keywords etc. Wolfram is now able to compute data from this data pool using algorithms to calculate information and responses to questions.

Another type of Search Engine such as Natural Language has been developed by Powerset, a company in northern California. Microsoft's Bing Search Engine uses Powerset's technology for it's search engine (Microsoft purchased Powerset in 2008).

Powerset applies Natural Language techniques to extract a concepts out of text or a phrase. It then builds a index (similar to Google) and then separates the results by combining the primary Keyword with related verbs and nouns on a web page(s). It can also search by a date. Powerset is able to dynamically compute results and information in a Search. What this means is that a user can type a question in a search box the way they would verbally ask the question and get a result returned in the search. The advantage to this is that a user is able to receive information directly related to their search (question(s)). An example of this would be, a user would type "What is the poorest city in United States?" The results returned would not return data based on the Keywords in its database. It would return a relevant answer based on a totally different answer based on a Natural Language algorithm which is more likely to provide a user the information they are seeking.

There you have it. A high level overview of today's new Search Technologies. As innovation continues to progress we will see Google, Wolfram, and Bing (Powerset) advance and become perfected. Also be certain that new techniques will continue to be developed.

Sincerely,
iKeep It Funky!
http://blog.ikeepitfunky.com
Twitter - @iKeepItFunky

Tech Review of 10 iPhone 3.0 Most Noticeable Upgrades And Tips!

I will also be comparing mobile devices and other Smart phones besides the iPhone, PDAs, and Cell Phones to share pros and cons and tips to help you choose the best device to use personally.

Though this is not a comprehensive list, here is some useful tips in regards to Apple's iPhone 3.0 software upgrade differences.

1. Missed Call: Missed calls no longer shows an alert dialogue box if you have a browser window open.
2. Forward Text Option (Tip): Great iPhone 3.0 feature. This is not obvious until you click the "Edit" button, which shows on the bottom of the screen in a blue color button.
   
3. Share a Contact (Tip): This iPhone 3.0 feature shows within a text message only for information type of text messages (not from a personal contact). You will see a blue colored circle to the right of the message in order to get to a screen to select this option.
   
4. Photos App (Tip): Within the "Camera Roll" Photo Album, if you select the left bottom button (arrow pointing to the right), you will now see an option to "Share," "Copy," and "Delete" at bottom of screen. Cool! Now you are able to do more with your photos a bit more inherently within the App. Great iPhone 3.0 feature.
   
5. Auto Sync Stops iPod: Unfortunately, if you are listening to music and decide to plug in your iPhone into your computer, say... to charge it, by default this will initialize a sync. If music is playing, it will stop. You will have to go back into the "iPod" App and re-select the song you were last listening to in order to play music again. iPhone 3.0 feature :-).
   
6. Home Screen Transitions: iPhone 3.0 has much better transition when sliding icon Apps from one home screen to another.
   
7. Email: Reading email in landscape does not zoom in and out as smoothly when pinching in and out with your fingers. iPhone 3.0 feature :-).
8. Re-Installation: Some Apps will have to be reinstalled after upgrading to iPhone 3.0. This sucks!
   
9. Messages: The bubbles within the "Messages" App on iPhone 3.0 is now different. You will see a bit more of a text bubble look. Cool! Your messages bubbles are not only green, but have a slight tail to the right. The other person's texts show a bubble text slight to the left.
   
10. Apps: There is a progress bar when installing and updating Apps on your iPhone 3.0 right within the App icon (and not under the icon).
    
11. Messages: You will see a red exclamation (!) in unsent text messages. If you send a text message that for some reason doesn't go through, you will see a red "!". iPhone 3.0 feature :-).

I will continue to post more observations and tips in regards to iPhone's 3.0 Software Update.

Sincerely,
iKeep It Funky!
http://blog.ikeepitfunky.com
Twitter - @iKeepItFunky

Immediate gratification of using iPhone 3.0!

I am still testing the new features in iPhone 3.0. But I can say that immediately what I noticed and enjoyed right off the back was when I look at my phone log, 'locations' of the callers are now showing up. I don't know about you, but I know that many times I have searched online trying to see what area code was (702) or (832) etc.

Now Apple has made my life a bit more flexible with an intuitive approach for the iPhone. I love that I can see at a glance the location of a phone number right along with icons that display any missed calls (instead of just a red color phone number).

The other feature I certainly use on my MacBook Pro is the Spotlight feature. But now having this on the iPhone to search multiple types of data in a streamlined fashion, I am lovin' it! Just a quick flick of a finger to the left from the Home Screen, and 'whalla' there is the search feature Spotlight.

More tidbits to come soon!

~A happy iPhone 3.0 user

A power tip for 411...

A power tip to save money on 411 information calls: text Google on your dial pad of your mobile phone with the information, city and state. You will receive details for the information you're requesting. Example: "Safeway Seattle WA"

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COOL Google Apps & Docs

I am hyped at the recent innovation of "Google's Apps" & Sites. This is great to work with applications and documents directly online. In addition, a private site is possible for projects, collaboration etc.

I am really taken aback at the technology that Google is pushing to work with documents, spreadsheets, presentation documents (such as PowerPoint etc).

Google Docs works with RTF and HTML formatted documents (including other formats). Here is the kicker that takes this technology to the edge...you can work with all your documents in a central repository directly within the Google Sites. This is a great way to collaborate with others, work on projects, and any other documentation. There is also a revisions feature.

Comments are able to be posted and visible to everyone projects or documents. I was astonished on the ease of use of creating documents directly from within the Google Apps or Google Docs site.

Can you believe it? Students who seek a method to work on educational projects or research subjects (amongst other possibilities) have a slick way of doing this using Google technology. They can also invite other students or professors to view or contribute to their projects or documents and provide feedback directly on the site.

In doing all this you can publish your data directly from within the Google Sites and send a pubic link for others to view.

I suspect quite a few features will continue to be added as Google continues to lead cutting edge technology. I also believe that as usual, you will find other competitors mimicking this technology to keep pace.

For more information you can visit the following links:

1. Google Apps Overview - http://services.google.com/apps/resources/overviews/welcome/topicDocs/page16.html
2. Google Sites video overview - http://www.google.com/sites/help/intl/en/video/sites_overview_video.html
3. Setup a site - http://docs.google.com

Parallels Virtual Machine used by other application

Have you heard of the cool application that runs Windows on your Mac? It is a very handy app!

I love it except I had one major thing go wrong that I learned the hard way 'how' to avoid (if at all possible) in the future. Well I was running Parallels and I inserted a USB dongle to view some pictures on a SD card. I ended up removing the dongle and suspending the virtual machine. Later when I went to resume the virtual machine I was presented with the following message:

"Virtual machine cannot be started because of the following problem:

Parallels Desktop is unable to access the virtual hard disk image file /Users/../Documents/Parallels/../*.hdd. The file is used by other application."

I tried so many things to get my virtual machine up and running again so I wouldn't lose my data...but alas...hope was gone! I went through all the knowledge base articles and Googled as many articles I could in hope of finding a solution but sadly - nothing.

I actually was determined to find a solution to this so I walked my Mac Laptop to the Parallels office in Renton, Washington. I know this was not normal protocol but asked to speak to someone. I worked with a lady named Tracy who was very helpful - though there is no known solution to date. But interesting - I did find some very interesting information about some best practices:

1) Try not to use snapshots (this is more of a VMWare feature that Parallels does include)
2) Backup the *.hdd file to an external hard drive if possible. If something goes kwirky - you got your backup via copy n' paste.
3) When closing down the virtual machine - Shut Off Windows within the virtual machine "first"

Look for more tech tidbits to come...
Find Denise Online!