So, I’m going to be shameless today and plug a personal project that I and a team of 6 other NU people are working on.

We’re making a web platform that allows businesses to create audio tours for the iPhone. Businesses can mark points of interest on a Google Map and upload relevant content using a simple (and might I say, attractive) web interface.

We’ve got everything set up so that the tours are automatically generated for the iPhone. The app uses GPS to tell the user where they are, which helps users to select which audio clip they’d like to listen to.

It’s definitely still in progress. But I think we’re moving along pretty well, and things are really looking nice. We’ll be launching soon, so keep an eye out so you can download the app and try it out for yourself! It will be available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, though you won’t get GPS with the Touch. Also, check out the website at http://enthusiastapps.com and try out the web platform. Leave some feedback, and your comments may directly affect the changes we make to the app!

For more info: 30 Things in 30 Days

This is probably the worst day that i could have to write about “my phone”, as many people know that I can talk about it forever. However, I’ll attempt to make this somewhat readable.

I use a Sony Ericsson z520a, from the Cingular era – circa 6/2005. I’ve therefore been using the phone for nearly five years. Amazingly, it is only now starting to die on me. It’s got lots of features that are standard on phones now, like Bluetooth, a VGA Camera, MP3 playback, and a personal organizer.

I’ve managed to squeeze far more functionality out of the phone than I should be able to. Over the years, I’ve used it as a Bluetooth media remote for my Laptop, a personal organizer (calendar and contacts and notes!) syncing over Bluetooth, as well as my ever handy laundry timer. Plus, the battery still lasts me multiple days.

It’s in pretty good condition, with no significant scratches, but obvious wear from the finish rubbing off the plastic. I’ve gone through several snap covers, where there were periods when my phone was red, then green, and now back to the stock blue. Lights also glow through the plastic when I get calls.

The one problem now is that the screen is inverted, likely due to some hardware failure. It’s ok though – the phone’s been with me for a long time, so I’ve definitely gotten lots of functionality out of it. Although it will soon be replaced by the Sprint EVO 4g, HTC DROID Incredible, or the newest Apple iPhone, I’ll definitely be keeping it around.

For more info: 30 Things in 30 Days

Basically, the Nexus One is probably the best phone I have ever used (though the HTC HD2 comes in close second – I only played with the hardware). Apps marketplace is pretty robust, though it might not be as big as the App Store. Managed to kill the battery once by forgetting to turn off a GPS app (phone was dead by dinner) and also managed to get hit by a $200 data fee (luckily diverted by a last minute $15 unlimited data addition). But really, that just highlights how Google Apps connectivity is just baked into the phone so you’re always connected. Love it!

I went to the Chicago Auto Show the first night i got the phone, and took some pics of new cars! Since I am pretty car illiterate, i just call them “shiny” and “faster than my van”. Photos were taken on the Nexus One’s 5MP camera. Apologies for pieces being cut off.

 
Cars are fun, and it was a good night out with Chenfei, John, Matt, and David. We went to Lao Sichuan in New Chinatown afterward. It was spicy and good.

Following was a week of class, and lots of busy work.

Programming in Tech for 10+ hour shifts is always fun! But is OK because the night it was due, I was able to go to a David Choi concert! He is an amazing singer and a funny guy. For the NU-ites out there, look for him at KASA show this Spring!

What a good singer. Apologies for the fuzziness in any pics – I am still getting the hang of taking dark photos (as in, I have no idea).  I also notice that this was the first “this is what I did” blogs in a while. Enjoyable?

But then look at Google buzz. At the end of the Google press conference, the product had already launched for the media who were there, and by the end of the day, many people already had it. It is built into Gmail, allowing – no, forcing – users to be force fed updates from their friends. And really, it’s quite interesting what has resulted from it.

Over the first 24 hours of launch, Google logged over 9 million posts and comments (http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/11/google-buzz-security-stats/). That is an insane amount of activity. I can actually see this as supplanting Twitter as the go to microblogging page. Twitter did a good job as the first to market, and trained people to type message in sub 140 characters. Now that people get it, Google doesn’t need to limit “buzzes”.

I personally have already seen people’s messages with up to 15 comments following it, many of those people who have never used Twitter. Google incorporating the Buzz inbox in your Gmail just makes it so easy. This is really just my own prognosticating, but people are likely to pick this up, and continue using it. That is, if they aren’t sick of all the updates and turn Buzz off altogether.

Lenovo U1

Google/HTC Nexus One

Skiff Reader

Google has been all over the news in recent days due to their huge amount of products coming out, Namely Google Music and Google Navigation, the new maps app on Android 2.0

Folks who know me and see my computer at any time during the day will see that my entire life is basically utilizing things that are made by Google.

So a huge list of what things I use is probably too boring for you to read, but it’s just interesting to see how much information, time, and effort i have invested in Google. I’m sure they could create a clone of me, learning my interests from GChat and Google Reader, my voice from Google Voice, my friends from GChat and Gmail, what things I have to do from Calendar and Gmail, and the work I am doing on Docs and Wave. I guess it’s a little scary to see that they have so much information about me, but i guess when you’re good, you’re good. All I know is, whatever Google comes out with next, I’m sure I’ll be one of the first on the bandwagon.

If a huge list of things is really what you want to see, It’s below. The graphic below eases you into it by showing the various products I am currently using in order of how often I feel i use them. After is the fatty list that mentions some of the things I use them for. Got any suggestions or questions? Let me know, I am always reachable! (on Google talk and Gmail)

Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/byroncheng

1. GMail. This is the big daddy of Google products. I use this to aggregate my personal, Northwestern, and TechCrunch email. It’s sorted into various categories, and I try to utilize some pseudo form of Inbox Zero that John turned me on to (ask me for details)
2. Google Talk. I use the program when I am at home, and GChat when I’m not. It’s gotten more popular, and IM is always useful
3. iGoogle. Currently my home page, it holds various useful at a glance info, including North by Northwestern, CNN, BBC, and the Weather. I’ve also got Google Voice (and Latitude for kicks)
4. Google Reader. Simple RSS feed reader that channels all the information I will ever need about technology (and food) to me directly. Yeah, TechCrunch says that RSS is dead (I agree, it’s really slow compared to twitter) but it works when I’m not always connected.
5. Google Calendar. I organize my life around this. Probably the most critical to my mental health – I need to know what i am doing.
6. YouTube. Biggest time sink in the world. And I love it.
7. Google Voice. One of the newer guys in the party, Google Voice got a lot of press for being rejected from the App Store. Was really useful when I had no cell signal in Slivka, but with the addition of cell phone repeaters, was not as useful. It’s there as a stopgap measure if i get a new phone number
8. Google Wave. Probably the most cutting edge and WAY demanded ( get @ replies asking for invites still), I’m using Google Wave for some work with TechCrunch. It’s also being used for other collaborative work.
9. Google Docs. Was really useful before I discovered Dropbox (link) but now used for more info distribution.
10. Google Chrome. Something that will soon become an OS. It’s my browser of choice for work on my 2133 because Firefox sometimes slows it down a bit too much.
11. Google Analytics. The product I started using the most recently. It’s what I use to track my views and clickthroughs on this page.
12. Goog-411. Use it on the road all the time to find out information of my destination. Great when I’m late for a dinner reservation – I just get connected to the restaurant and push it back.
13. Google Maps. Although I had some problems with nonexistent addresses before, it’s gotten better. I’m sure if i pick up and Android phone I’ll  definitely take advantage of its increased capabilities.
14. Google Apps. U.Northwestern runs on this. I go to NU and have an @u email. That’s about it.

TechCrunch often writes pretty firey articles about Facebook (in jest and in all seriousness), so I guess Facebook decided to strike back. I’m part of the TechCrunch network on Facebook as I worked on the CrunchBase product last year, so I got hit with this bit here.

More information from the TechCrunch site here (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/10/yeah-ok-so-facebook-punkd-us/)

In other news, TechCrunch50 is this weekend! It means that it has been nearly a year since this blog has been started!

Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/byroncheng

So for those to whom I have not yet extolled the virtues of Dropbox, it’s this really cool program you install on your computer (or not) that allows you to sync folders across computers.

I use two computers – a Dell E1505 I got at the beginning of summer before my freshman year, and an HP 2133 Mininote I got during the summer. Before this spring, I was doing a lot of extra work to figure out how to use my computers efficiently. During fall quarter, I would bring the HP to my systems physiology class. As my professor would always upload the presentations to BlackBoard (NU’s course site), I downloaded them onto my computer. During class, I would put the slides into  OneNote and take notes on them with the laptop. I synced the OneNote notebook to a Flash Drive (a physical one) so I could keep the OneNote notebook on both laptops updated. However, this was extremely unwieldy, and I ended up not using the functionality too much.

During winter quarter, I just gave up completely on syncing, and relied on the thumb drive to do the classic “drag and drop files that you want to work onto the drive and then download onto the workstation”. This was really a hassle.

During spring quarter, I brought my laptop to take notes in my Social Networks class.  Now, this class went FAST and was all PowerPoint, so I used a combination of computer typed notes and paper sketches. I no longer used OneNote at this point, as the program was more resource intensive. During spring quarter, I finally realized that my HP was not anywhere near powerful enough to treat like a full time machine (Think 1.0 Ghz processor. Really.) So I used Google Docs to take notes. This was a very good solution, as not only could I edit the notes online (which would be instantly saved online), I could still use Google Docs online. However, over time, I noticed that Google Docs just had a lag due to my computer being fairly weak.

At this point, I came across Dropbox for the first time. I used it to sync my school files between computers – I had a bunch of files that I needed to be able to access using either computer as I was doing work on the run, and at my desk. Dropbox allowed me to not spend so much time copying and pasting files (it turns out I’m really bad at picking the right files to copy). Unfortunately, I never ended up using Dropbox for my Social Networks class, but I imagine that I can use a simple Text Editor to write my notes now, since I can sync those automatically.

I late on discovered that another strength of Dropbox was the ability to share folders. This way, anyone you select is able to access the folders you share with them, open, and edit the files that are there. They can also add and remove files. Needless to say, this was a great method to share some music with friends, as the size restrictions that email has are now removed.

The best thing about Dropbox is that you can use it for free. Free users get 2Gb free, while $100/yr will get you 50Gb and $200/yr will get you 100Gb. It’s actually a pretty good deal, and the concept is great. Not only will files be replicated across systems, there is also a web client that allows you to access files from any computer, even if Dropbox is not installed.

If you’re interested in using Dropbox, please use the referral link. By using the link, both of us will get an extra 250Mb – and we can get up to 5Gb total for free accounts by inviting people. If you’ve got any questions about Dropbox, send me an email and I’d be happy to chat!

Sign up for Dropbox here.

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