@SESweeting aka Snark Twain's #8Essentials

I found a second victim volunteer for my 8 Essentials segment.  This time it's Sharri aka Snark Twain aka @SESweeting.  She's one of the funnier people on Twitter, whether she's live tweeting television or giving a play by play on everyday annoyances.

Sent out invitations via email explaining that all they had to do is respond to that email in order to rsvp thinking it was easier for them
— Snark Twain (@SESweeting) August 7, 2014

40% of the RSVPs came in via text/phone call because Black.
— Snark Twain (@SESweeting) August 7, 2014

Without further ado ...

1. Zebra F-301 Fine Point Pen
I'm a lefty, and this pen never bleeds and lasts forever. Since most pens are designed for right handed people, so when I use them they stop working way before the ink runs out. This pen never lets me down.

2. Air Max ‘90s
These have been my favorite sneakers for just over 10 years now. The old school chunky running silhouette reminds me of the glory days of the ‘90s where all the cool girls wore tennis skirts and sneakers.

3. Galaxy Note 3
I was hesitant about getting such a large phone, because I worried about whether it would fit in my pocket. Then I realized that I usually keep my phone in my handbag anyway so I joined the phablet club. This is the first cell phone where I actually use all of the features: the wifi hotspot, the split screen, document scanning, and yes, I actually create handwritten notes on it.

@AthenaDDixon's #8Essentials

The proprietor of Linden Avenue Literary Journal and host of the Books, Beats, and Blogs podcast tells us what helps keep her creative juices flowing.

1. Red Converse All-Star Lows
I wear these with everything from jeans to dresses. They're so comfortable it feels like I’m barefoot and the red gives a pop to just about anything I wear.

2. Beats earbuds and 80GB iPod Classic
I'm plugged into music most of the day so being able to enjoy all of it is important to me. I shuffle thousands of songs depending on my mood while at work and at home.

3. The Max Fischer Sandwich from Mr. Zub’s in Akron, Ohio
This sandwich is perfect. It combines a fresh bagel, flavored cream cheese, great deli meats, and veggies in a huge portion. I always pair it with fresh hummus and pita.

It's been a long time / My #8Essentials

I know it’s been pretty dormant over here recently, but I have never been quite sure what I was going to do with this space.  I loved posting mixtapes, but I'm seeing far fewer mixtapes worth downloading, let alone posting.  I also thought about opening up more about myself, but I don't think this is the place for that, if I ever decide to do it.

I got the idea for a new segment for the blog when I fell down an internet rabbit hole and ended up on GQ’s website.  They have an interesting feature where they ask people what are some of the things that are essential for getting them through life.  Since it’s GQ and they are often talking to celebrities, most of the things that they mention are expensive as hell.  I figured, why not try to see what gets people like you and I through life.  If I'm going to do this I might as well start with myself.  So here goes nothing.

8 Essentials:

1. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The only bad thing about Fridays is that there’s no Jon Stewart on my television.  I really wish they would have episodes on Fridays.  The Daily Show is the only thing on television I can always depend on to make me laugh on a weekly basis..

2. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
This album is the most influential piece of media on my life, ever.  It’s the only album I remember the exact place I first heard it.  I didn’t really care about music at all until I heard this.  Midnight Marauders and Illmatic are still the only two perfect Hip-Hop albums, I've ever heard.  There's not a single bad or skippable song on either.    Also, you can click on the pic to enlarge the album cover to get a better look at the faces on the cover.  You should checkout Egotrip's oral history for the making of the iconic cover.

Amazon.com Introduces AutoRip

Remember back in August when I told you how Amazon.com might be changing music again?  Well the time has arrived.  Amazon has finally unveiled, AutoRip.  Just think about all of the CDs you've purchased through Amazon over the last fifteen years.

Google's Newest #Android App: Field Trip

Field Trip is your guide to the cool, hidden, and unique things in the world around you. Field Trip runs in the background on your phone. When you get close to something interesting, it pops up a card with details about the location. No click is required. If you have a headset or bluetooth connected, it can even read the info to you.

Video Chatting In Gmail With Google+

Since the introduction of Gmail video chat back in 2008, many of you have told us that you love the direct, personal communication it provides. That's why we're excited to announce that video chat is being upgraded to a more modern video calling technology -- Google+ Hangouts. 

Unlike the old video chat, which was based on peer-to-peer technology, Hangouts utilize the power of Google’s network to deliver higher reliability and enhanced quality. You’ll be able to chat with all the same people you did before and, in fact, with Hangouts you’ll now be able to reach them not only when they are using Gmail but also if they are on Google+ in the browser or on their Android or iOS devices.

All Gmail users will benefit from this upgrade, but if you and the person you're chatting with also use Google+, you’ll get even more from the Hangouts experience. You'll be able to video chat with up to nine people at once, watch YouTube videos together, collaborate on Google documents and share your screen. Plus, Hangouts has a bunch of fun effects that you can try out...because any conversation is better when you're wearing a virtual mustache or pirate hat. 

We’ll be rolling out Hangouts in Gmail starting today and then gradually over the coming weeks. We hope you enjoy hanging out with your friends and family. Arrrgh!

Info courtesy of Official Gmail Blog.

Always On: Google Gone Wild

Molly Wood gives us some of the highlights from Google's I/O conference as well as unboxes the Nexus 7 and the Nexus Q before giving us a peek at a Chromebook focus group and more.

@AppJudgment Reviews Flud News For #Android

Flud News for Android combines your internet interests with your current RSS feeds. Smart news feed have never looked so good on an Android device.

 

A New Android Market For Books & Movies

Yesterday Google announced a new Android Market for all phones running version 2.2 or higher of their Android operating system.  Here's what they had to say about the new market:

In the U.S., you’ll be able to rent thousands of movies, starting at $1.99, right from Android Market on your phone. With the Videos app, available in Android Market, there’s no more waiting for downloads, syncing, or worrying about storage space. Simply sign into Android Market with your Google account, and you can rent movies from anywhere – the web, or your Android phone or tablet – and start watching instantly. You can also download movies to your device so they’re available for viewing when you don’t have an internet connection.

AppJudgment & I Examine Google Music Beta For Android & Web

I definitely agree with 2 of the 3 cons that were listed in the video.

Google Launches It's Music Service

AppJudgment Reviews The Amazon Appstore For #Android

How to: Use Amazon Cloud Player for Android

Play Your Music Anywhere With Amazon's New Music Service

How to Get Started with Cloud Drive and Cloud Player

Step 1. Add music to Cloud Drive

Purchase a song or album from the Amazon MP3 Store and click the Save to Amazon Cloud Drive button when your purchase is complete. Your purchase will be saved for free.


Step 2. Play your music in Cloud Player for Web

Click the Launch Amazon Cloud Player button to start listening to your purchase. Add more music from your library by clicking the Upload to Cloud Drive button from the Cloud Player screen. Start with 5 GB of free Cloud Drive storage. Upgrade to 20 GB with an MP3 album purchase (see details). Use Cloud Player to browse and search your library, create playlists, and download to your computer.


Step 3. Enjoy your music on the go with Cloud Player for Android

Install the Amazon MP3 for Android app to use Cloud Player on your Android device. Shop the full Amazon MP3 store, save your purchases to Cloud Drive, stream your Cloud Player library, and download to your device right from your Android phone or tablet.

For more information see Amazon Cloud Drive & Player.

New Improvements To Google Maps & Navigation In Android

From Official Google Mobile Blog:

. . .Google Maps Navigation (Beta) will now automatically route you around traffic. With more than 35 million miles driven by Navigation users every day, this should add up to quite a bit of time saved!

On a recent trip to New York, I was running late to meet some friends at the Queens Museum of Art. I had no idea that there was a traffic jam along the route I would normally have taken. Thankfully, Navigation routed me around traffic. I didn’t even have to know that there was a traffic jam on I-495, and I got to enjoy a much faster trip on I-278 instead.

Navigation now uses real-time traffic conditions to automatically route you around traffic.

You don’t have to do anything to be routed around traffic; just start Navigation like you normally would, either from the Navigation app or from within Google Maps. Before today, Navigation would choose whichever route was fastest, without taking current traffic conditions into account. It would also generate additional alternate directions, such as the shortest route or one that uses highways instead of side roads. Starting today, our routing algorithms will also apply our knowledge of current and historical traffic to select the fastest route from those alternates. That means that Navigation will automatically guide you along the best route given the current traffic conditions.

Not only can you save time and fuel, you’re making traffic better for everyone else by avoiding traffic jams. Keep in mind that we can’t guarantee that Navigation will be able to find a faster way, but it will always try to get you where you’re going as fast as possible.

You can begin routing around traffic with Google Maps Navigation for Android in North America and Europe where both Navigation and real-time traffic data are available.

AppJudgment Reviews Google Listen App For Android

New Updates For Twitter's Android App

If you have an Android phone and aren't big on updating your applications you may want to make an exception with your Twitter app. Recently Twitter performed a complete overhaul.  Here are some of the changes you will see.

Use Twitter without signing in
You can use Twitter for Android even if you haven’t signed in or don’t have an account. You can view trends, browse your interests and see suggested users in several categories, including fashion, entertainment and travel, or search to find out what people are saying about topics you care about, such as big sporting events. You can now also sign up for Twitter from within the app.

Design
We made some significant changes in the design of the new app. When you first sign in, you’ll see your timeline, along with icons along the top that let you view @mentions, messages, and lists. This layout makes it fast and simple to navigate Twitter on your Android device. Also, the @mentions tab now includes Retweets; seeing replies and Retweets in one place offers a quick way to better understand which Tweets are sparking interest and engagement. In addition, we introduced auto-complete for usernames.

Search
We’ve also introduced universal search to this version of Twitter for Android. This means that when you search, you can find Tweets with the term you’re looking for, Tweets sent by people near your location, or people whose user names include that term.

Info courtesy of the Twitter Blog.


Thanks for stopping by,

8

Google Unveils Android 3.0 aka Honeycomb & Android Market Website

The website makes it easy to discover great new apps with a bigger, brighter interface. You can also send apps directly to your Android device with just a few clicks—no wires needed. We’ve built in new social features, too. You can share apps with your friends through Twitter. And you can read and post app reviews directly to Android Market from the web or from your device.

And what about all those apps you’ve already purchased and downloaded? Sign in to the website with your Google account and click “My Market Account” to see all the apps you’ve purchased or downloaded. It makes managing all your apps quite easy.

Google shows off the newest update for it's tablet operating system.



Info courtesy of Google Mobile Blog.

AppJudgment: Yahoo! Fantasy Football '10 for iPhone and Android

G4 TV Finally Wakes Up And Brings App To Android

It took forever it seems, but they finally got around to people that actually don't have iPhones. Attack Of The Show sucks, but having Sessler's Soapbox & Fresh Ink where ever you go is a definite plus.

Our app will provide you with a fully searchable treasure trove of up-to-the-second gaming news, game trailers, exclusive expert reviews, high-quality videos, interviews with gaming luminaries, unmatched tips, tricks and cheats and much, much more. Then, share the awesomeness you've discovered with your pals via email or Facebook.

But that isn't all. Our apps are also your window into G4. Check out our comprehensive television schedule, and view exclusive clips from Attack of the Show, X-Play, and Web Soup. Access our exciting event coverage from E3, CES, Comic-Con and other nerd gatherings, including press conferences, hands-on demos, and exclusive interviews.

The app is free so you can access through the Android Market on your phone or by scanning the image below with your phone.