embedplus + dictionary = Awesome!

I received an email from the good folks at embedplus, a really great site that I wrote about last June.  Well they just came out with something that I think is really great.  A website that teaches you and shows you how to say a word.  The Embedplus Dictionary is the perfect tool for any ESL student of any age.  Here is how it works, you enter a word, the site tells you how to pronounce the word & how to use it!  It also appears that the site will implement more features such as videos to assist a student in pronouncing and using the word correctly.  I say this is a winner and i can't wait to hear how folks us and implement the fantastic tool. I forwarded the site to the district speech and ESL teacher for their review and will update the post with their thoughts.

Facebook on Scribd

I recently read an article with a link to Facebook on Scribd.  Scribd is a self publishing site where users can publish information for anyone to read.  Facebook has posted multiple documents that explain everything from the new timeline to installing apps.  This is a great place to check out some great information on Facebook.

enjoy

Social Media For Business

Why use a Social Media Site for your business?

This is why =)


Learn More here

Sign in to an @youtube account when trying to access Android Market

I recently wrote to the fine folks at the Android Marketplace because I was unable to access the store from my Android Incredible.  My account which I also can not sign in or out of has been changed from my email@gmail to email@youtube.com  I am unable to force stop, clear data, uninstall, download from the website, etc.  I am very frustrated and would like to know what to do.  The reply was quick, apologetic, and I hope helpful.  First they acknowledged the issue and told me they are working on a fix. I really appreciated that they are admitting a problem and that they are trying to fix it.  It made my frustration level go down a bit.  Below is the instructions that were given to me.  I look forward to hearing how you made out.

From your home screen, Menu & Settings, Accounts & Sync

account" at the bottom of the screen. 

You may see a @youtube account listed. Tap the account, then tap "Remove

If you don't see an @youtube account listed, not a problem, you can still proceed with the other steps outlined below to resolve the issue.
Clear the cache and data of the Market app and the Download manager.
Here's how:
    - Visit Menu &, Settings &g Applications; Manage applications
    - Tab over to "All"
    - Select the Market app, and then tap "Clear data" and "Clear cache"
    - Select the Download manager, and then tap "Clear data" and "Clear cache"

Temporarily uninstall updates to Android Market by following these steps:
    - From the home screen, go to Menu & Settings; Applications; Manage applications
    - Tab over to "All" (or, if your device is running Android 2.1 or below, press Menu; Filter; All)
    - Scroll down and select the Market app
    - Touch "Uninstall updates"

If the issue persists after taking these steps, you may need to perform a factory data reset on your device. Please note that this will reset your device to its original state. I suggest contacting the Android Customer service before doing this.  While your media content (photos, music, etc.) will not be deleted from the SD card, applications and their related data will be uninstalled.

To perform a factory reset:
1) Go to Home; Menu, Settings; Privacy (or Phone storage; depends on the device)
2) Press "Factory data reset"
3) Press "Reset phone"

After you perform the factory reset, make sure you sign into your device with the same primary Google Account you were using before. If you have any questions or concerns before performing the reset, or if doing so does not resolve the issue, please let me know so I can continue to investigate. 

Update From HTC

hit the 'back' (physical) button on your phone when it asks you to log in. The screen should then show the 'loading' screen, now quickly press the 'menu' button and select 'accounts'. You have to do this very quickly. Then you should be able to select the account you want to use and log in using the correct details.

You do not need to clear the cache in the Market for this to work. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to email us.

Android continues to display "Low on Disk Space" :-/

I have an HTC Incredible which continues to display low on disk space.  I have posted in the past about this problem.  I am blocked from accessing my Google talk and Gmail.  This has become a routine problem.  I have tried to restart and update my system however everything is updated and this didn't help.  My operating system is Android 2.3.4 I also tried to un-mount and remount the SD card where I have 1.6GB of free space.  HTC told me "the low storage error is a general system error with the android operating system. There is no "fix" for the error per se, but careful management of your apps on the device can greatly reduce or correct its occurrence. If any apps become too full of data, this may cause a Low Storage error. This is not due to the phone running out of available storage, but that the app has reached the maximum allotted amount of space that it has been assigned. The error is most often caused by mail, text messages, or Facebook. Optimization of these apps is the key to solving this error."

HTC instructed me to manage apps and clear the data from Mail, Facebook, & Dialer Storage.

Here are their instructions

To see the data stored in an app, go to Menu > Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All > Menu > Sort by size.

In Mail tap on Menu > More > Settings > Send & receive. Look for things like attachment options, how far into the past you get mail, size limits, and downloading headers only. 

If you have multiple email accounts, the settings will need to be adjusted for each one. Obviously the more accounts you have, the higher the chance that this error may present itself.

If your Mail is still having the issue after clearing out old messages and optimizing the settings, you may need to remove and re-add the account. Once removed, connect the phone to your PC in Disc Drive mode, open the removable drive (under My Computer), and delete the mail folder located in Removable Drive/.data/mail. This is the storage folder for mail temp files. Deleting this folder in addition to removing the account should alleviate the error message for you. Just re-add the account after you delete the mail folder.
Text messages and Facebook may cause this error as well, so make sure you manage the size of these accounts too. If you use text messaging a lot and like to keep old messages, you may want to consider using a backup app like Handy Backup or SMS Backup & Restore. These are free apps from the market that can create a data file to store messages for you which can be retrieved later.

If the issue is being caused by Facebook, then signing out of Facebook for HTC Sense should help. Go to Menu > Settings > Accounts & sync > Facebook for HTC Sense > Remove account. Then soft reset the phone by powering off, remove the battery for at least 30 seconds, replace, reboot, and add Facebook for HTC Sense back to accounts & sync. You may also want to clear data from Facebook for HTC Sense and the Facebook widget if you use it. Do this in the manage applications area.

 
As always, HTC is there to answer any technical questions or concerns you may have between 6am to 1am EDST, 7 days a week for your convenience, by phone at 1-866-449-8358.

Free Android Apps

Gotta love a freebie!  Especially when its something as cool as OfficeSuite Pro 5.  This $14.99 app is free for you if you go to Amazon and check out the App Store for Android.  Every day Amazon will post another free app that normally has a cost associated with it.  I check this out everyday and am amazed by all the cool and useful apps they offer.  

RSS and Feeds

 So what is a feed? Feeds are a way for websites to deliver their updates to you.  You can subscribe to Facebook, Twitter, Blog, and website feeds.  Just look for the feed symbol, and once you select it you will receive an address to paste into your reader.  There are online reader services like;

Google Reader

News Gator

Bloglines

Pageflakes

Netvibes

For Mac Users

Netnewswireapp

Newsfirerss

Cyndicate

I love using my Google Reader.  I subscribe to multiple Blogs, Twitter & Facebook accounts, Websites, & more.  It would be extremely inefficient of me to visit all of these sites multiple times a day to read the updates.  Now the updates come to me.  I also create alerts where I tell the reader some keywords I am looking for.  When the reader finds these keywords it sends an update to the reader.

I suggest exploring these tools and begin using the reader that best suits you.  

I am a bad blogger

I have become a bad blogger as of late.  I used to be very consistent with the frequency of my posts as well as writing content that was well developed and well thought out.  I can write tons of excuses however I would only be saying them to myself.  I would like to thank the 30 or so visitors who have been reading my blog during my bloging outage.  

Since Android issues continue to drive the most traffic to the site I will concentrate on writing topics that relate to the Android.  I am currently researching issues regarding the Android Market Place.

Thank you again everybody

Masters Of Information Technology

I received a nice note in my contact me form from Bill Morton over at Masters Of Information Technology.  He wanted to let me know of an article he wrote called 27 Spectacular IT Journals and Publications. This is a great list of websites that you should subscribe to in order to stay up to date with all things technology related.  I especially enjoyed the descriptions of each site so I knew I was going to the right information.  I have my own list of blogs I follow here.  Of course you should use your reader to manage these sites.  You can learn more about readers here.

Apple Care+

Thank You PC Mag for this great explanation of Apple Care+  I have seen some devastating iPhone mishaps and this plan really seems worth it.  $99 covers "Personal Handling" issues!

Google+ Thoughts

Just curious how many out there are using Google+  IBT wrote a nice write up about a Google+ programmer who called out Google for making a flawed social networking site.  I will admit that I am unimpressed with Google+ but will wait to see what will happen before I make a final judgement.

Notes From Apple

With Steve Jobs passing Apple has issued 2 statements.  Thank you to TechChrunch for posting them;

Tim Cooks message to Employee

From the Apple Board of directors

So is the iPhone 4s release really iphone 4 Steve?

www.youtube.com/teachers

Google has launched YouTube for Teachers.  Whats different than YouTube is the way videos and subjects are organized, by classroom subject.  Also there are no adds.  At least that I could find.  This helps keep students on task and focused on the video that I want them to watch and keeps embarrassing adds from running or showing up next to a video.  I like this and I will probably sign up in the very near future.  

Facebook and Google+ Privacy side by side

All Facebook, a blog I love.  Posted an awesome infographic on the privacy differences between Google+ and Facebook.  Fantastic work A.F.

Droid Incredible Low On Space

This is now my number one searched post.  Seems a lot of us are having issues with some apps on the droid.  I know Facebook and Dialer Storage have been a bit of a nuisance for me recently too.  Just do a simple blog search here to see what HTC told me to do when you get the low on disk space message.