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Streaks Seinfeld-esque time management app for iPhone

themes Streaks Seinfeld esque time management app for iPhoneI love to sleep in. I sleep in so long I waste away weekends. It’s a problem and I seriously need to solve it. My goal is to get myself out of bed at 6am every morning. Yes, 6am! It’s going to be tough, but if I can get momentum, I know I can make this my routine.

That’s why I was glad when I came across Streaks – Motivational Calendar in the iPhone Apps Store. It works on the same motivational principle as Jerry Seinfeld uses to be a better comic; he writes every day and keeps tabs of his progress on a calendar. Then, after several days of consecutive productivity, if he feels a bit lazy and wants to slack off that day, a glance over at the calendar motivates him to write in order to not break the streak. The more days that are marked off on the calendar, the more of a let down it would be if you had to break that streak.

Streaks – Motivational Calendar by Fanzter is a light-weight answer to this call for your iPhone and iPod touch (and iPad if you like the zoom-mode). It provides multiple calendars to track all your goals, be they “Exercise,” “Write in My Journal,” or in my case “Get Up At 6am.” Fantzer has outfitted Streaks with four themes for your calendars (unfortunately, you must choose one theme that will be for all your calendars) and a numerical icon badge that shows you the current streak your on with the first calendar in your list.

Get a handle on your goals; download Streaks for US$1.99

What goal do you want to achieve? Please let me know in the comments…maybe we can start an accountability group icon wink Streaks Seinfeld esque time management app for iPhone

Poor Man’s iPhone (Half Price!)

Let’s start off by saying the iPhone is a very cool and unmistakably innovative product. What I’ve got put together here can in no way replace Steve’s gift to the mobile world. But, I think you’ll be interested to find that while you can’t match the style of the iPhone, you can mimic and even best many of its features for less.

The Device

If you remember, the iPhone is billed as three devices in one. One of those is a mobile web browser. To date, the mobile web browser with the best browsing experience short of a laptop would have to be Nokia’s series of Internet Tablets. With the new n800 out, you can score the original 770 for about $200. At press time, Amazon had them for $140 with free shipping.

770 Poor Mans iPhone (Half Price!)

The Nokia 770 has a slightly larger screen (4 inches) and a greater pixel depth (800x400x225dpi) than the iPhone (480x320x160dpi). It browses with a version of the Opera browser that displays web pages in roughly the same way you’d see them on your desktop.

The 770 also does internet radio in addition to playing mp3s – so while its no iPod, multimedia playback (including mpeg video) is there too. And, not to pour salt in the wound – the Nokia runs open Linux, so 3rd party applications are available.

The Phone

Yes, you say, but where’s the phone? This comes in two parts. First, we’ll get the service by signing up for a free account with GrandCentral (rumored to have just been bought by Google). This will give us a free local call-in number.

770grandcentral Poor Mans iPhone (Half Price!)

Now part two: the software. Download the Gizmo Project app for the Nokia 770. After signing up for your Gizmo account, you can set up your GrandCentral number to forward calls to your Gizmo Project SIP account. A call comes in while you’re online – take it on your Internet Tablet. Call comes in while you’re offline, Gizmo Project’s free voicemail takes a message and sends you the .wav which you get in your email on your 770 in a very “visual voicemail” way. For free.

770gizmoproject Poor Mans iPhone (Half Price!)

Now take free mobile calls at any free wireless hotspot. You can buy call out credit for 1.9 cents a minute, or call out free to certain contacts using the Gizmo free calling plan.

And, though this isn’t as convenient as a phone with cellular coverage, you can cut and paste text not to mention, download and edit Word and Excel files (with Abiword and Gnumetric installed). And, yes, Internet Tablet OS 2006 has an onscreen finger-friendly keyboard.

So maybe you don’t feel like dropping $500 on an iPhone. Or maybe you just don’t think they are all that. That doesn’t mean the features aren’t worth ripping off.

Brian

(Humor) My Computer Won’t Turn On

Any troubleshooting questions out there? Any at all? If you have some, please submit them to macmanx@macmerc.com


Well, how about a little tech-support question humor? Let’s see if I can remember it.

Well, there was phone tech support member working for a company (Microsoft?), we’ll just call him “Tech”. He received a call from and elderly woman who’s computer wouldn’t turn on. In the end, it got him fired. Below is what I remember from the transcript.

TECH: What seems to be the problem?

CALLER: My computer won’t turn on.

TECH: Have you tried the power button?

CALLER: Of course.

TECH: Is the power connected?

CALLER: Yes.

*the TECH then went through several PC-related things and neither worked.*

TECH: Do you have the original box to send this back?

CALLER: It’s in the attic.

TECH: Can you get it and make sure it’s the right one?

CALLER: It’s a bit hard to see the box.

TECH: How come?

CALLER: The lights aren’t on.

TECH: Turn them on.

CALLER: I can’t, the power went out 30 minutes ago.

*The TECH then went into numerous profanities that got him fired. Such is the frustration of all techs.*

Remember, if you have a question that you’d like answered, please submit it to macmanx@macmerc.com