Google+ seems to work smoothly and do what it’s advertised to do. I just don’t see any compelling reason for people to use it, given that most are already on Facebook. After all, there’s no FARMVILLE on Google+! Well, maybe that’s a good thing.

Oh, I did see one cool thing: If you delete a circle, the circle actually ROLLS OFF THE PAGE. Seriously.

If you’d like a Google+ invitation, I just saw a note on Google+ that they are shutting down invites for the night! But you can leave me a comment below, using your Gmail address as the email address, and I’ll send you an invite when they open up again. Don’t worry, no one will be able to see your email address besides me.

…..
Empire Avenue has been around a little longer. I noticed it because a Twitter friend joined up and was auto-tweeting messages about it one day. It’s a social media stock market game/networking website. You can buy and sell stock in other people (or companies with social media accounts). You can try to increase your own share price by being active in social media (it tracks your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube activity) and by getting other people to buy more shares in you. You can also try to increase your net wealth by buying and selling the right stocks. It’s all free; you’re just dealing in virtual money (unless you want to put real money into it).

I’m not really sure what the point is (although there are explanations out there). But I’m having a little fun with it anyway, and it does keep me posting on Facebook and Twitter (and here, I get credit for posting here!).

If you’re interested in joining Empire Avenue, you can use my referral link if you would like to, which awards me 2,000 eaves (virtual currency). And if you’d like to buy shares in me, I’m KMCDADE.

But most of what I’ve learned about using technology, I’ve actually learned by doing. Something doesn’t look right on my computer? I open up the settings and start playing around with them.  And I mess up all the time, but that’s part of the learning experience. I learn what doesn’t work along with what does.

Right now, I’m learning about the Postalicious plugin. What’s a plugin? It’s a piece of code that helps WordPress do something specific that you want it to do. It’s one of the great things about WordPress — if there’s something you wish WordPress could do, you can write and/or install a plugin to make it do that.

I don’t write plugins. I just use them. Postalicious is a plugin that takes your bookmarks from other sites (like Delicious) and automatically pulls them into blog posts. I installed it the other day, and made sure I added some bookmarks to be posted, but then nothing happened! I quickly realized I had the Feed URL wrong, and fixed that. And then later I realized that I had never updated my blog to Daylight Savings Time, which meant Postalicious was using the wrong time, too, so I fixed that.

And then the automatic post finally happened! But it was kind of ugly. The title included both the date and from/to times, which I really don’t need. And the format, once I got to see it, clearly leaves space for a description of each link, which I hadn’t bothered to enter, so the entries looked weird.

But never fear, I’ve tweaked that now, too! I edited the Post Title settings to say what I want to say, and tweaked the Post Template while I was at it. And I’ve started adding descriptions when I add links to Delicious, so those should show up in the next post as well.

Many people recommend trying out things like this in a test environment, rather than on a live site. I don’t mind learning in public, though. I think it’s good to share these experiences — and hopefully you can learn from them, too!

Lately, I’ve found myself feeling too tired to get things done — but not too tired to play around on the internet! Sometimes I fool myself that I’m getting things done on the internet. It’s true that I do a lot of things on the internet — pay bills, blog, write articles, communicate with other people — but not everything on my to-do list requires a computer.

So tonight, I decided to print out my to-do list (because I keep THAT online too, and it becomes one of my excuses for being online) and then shut the laptop. And what happened?

• I made dinner, and we all ate dinner together.
• My middle daughter completed her chores without having a meltdown so that we could play catch together.
• We played catch, and I got some exercise (which was on my list).
• I got some Girl Scout paperwork finished. I did have to open the computer to download and print one form, but that was OK.
• I did my toning/strength training exercises.

That’s not the most productive evening I’ve ever had, but I’m happy with it. And I’m happy to be back blogging, too.

In the geek world, 10/10/10 is important because it’s a binary number. Or at least we can pretend it’s a binary number. Binary numbers are made up entirely of 1s and 0s. So 10102010 is NOT a binary number, but if you use the two-digit format for the year, you get 101010, which is binary. And 101010 is the binary equivalent of 42, which (according to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) is “the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.”

So that’s the geeky reason for recognizing 10/10/10. There is another.

Another (possibly overlapping) segment of the population has designated 10/10/10 as an International Day of Doing, especially in relation to reducing one’s carbon footprint.  I knew there were plans afoot, but I didn’t know why 10/10/10 was chosen as a significant date.  Here’s how Green.Blorge explains it:

10:10 is the name of a movement to decrease carbon emissions by 10 percent a year starting in 2010.  October 10th, 2010 is also a day similar to Earth Day when individuals and companies are asked to engage in activities to reduce their carbon footprints.

Ohhhhh…I see what they did there now! And you can find out more about it on the 10:10 website. Or on the 350.org website.

So are we doing something for 10/10/10? I have nothing special planned. Actually, when I think something is important, I tend to devote more than one day to it, so I ride my bike every day, and I grow/buy/preserve local food, and I keep turning the thermostat down when other people aren’t looking.

But I know that awareness and action days do help draw more people in, so I am glad to see that people are taking action throughout the world.

Happy 10/10/10!

The Couch to 5K running plan was developed by Cool Running. It’s a nine-week program that starts you off by alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking, and changes the intervals gradually. By the end of week 5, you can run 20 minutes without stopping.  By the end of week 9, you’re supposed to be running 3 miles (or 5K) in 30 minutes.

I finished week 5. I ran for 20 minutes. But I don’t run a 10 minute mile. It’s probably around 13-14 minutes. I’m doing a 15-minute combined walk/jog mile right now, which is down from the 19 minutes per mile walk/jog I did at the beginning.

For week 6, the program puts you back on intervals for the first two workouts, and ends with a 25 minute run. I have to do the 25 minute run today. I’m a little apprehensive.

I don’t think I’ll be running 5K straight after nine weeks. The program has you running 5K (3 miles) in 30 minutes at the end. I don’t see that happening, so I may need a little more time to work up to actually running in a race (with the very simple goal of finishing).

So how do I manage the timing? I tried a similar program before, and carried a kitchen timer to time my intervals. This is not a good system.

Now I use my smartphone. I downloaded the C25K Lite Android app, which has all of the workouts pre-programmed. All I have to do today is click on Week 6, Day 3 and press Start.  The app dings when it’s time to switch between jogging and walking, and it shows on the screen which I’m supposed to be doing and for how much longer.

I do listen to music while running, so I have to set that up before starting the C25K app. Otherwise, as I found out, the program will stop if I switch to the music player during the workout. C25K Lite will not run in the background. The music player will. So start the music first (there is a premium version of C25K which will run in the background, if you want to pay for it).

Next, I start up my Endomondo training app. I originally downloaded this to track my cycling miles. It uses the phone’s GPS to track where I go, how far I go, and how fast I’m going. All of the information, including a Google map of my workout, is uploaded to the Endomondo site, where I can log in and view all of my workouts. I can also choose to let others view my workouts, or I can keep them private. For running, I just want to know how far I’m going, because the C25K app doesn’t track this. Endomondo also includes voice coaching, so it tells me when I’ve reached one mile, and how fast I got there. I can set an overall goal, too, and it will tell me whether I’m on pace to reach that goal in 30 minutes. Endomondo will also run in the background, so I start it up after I start the music and before I fire up C25K.

Finally, I start up C25K Lite, select the correct day, and press Start. Every workout starts with a 5-minute warm-up and ends with a 5-minute cool-down.  I walk/jog primarily on the streets in my neighborhood. I started out by going away from my house for about half the workout time and then turning back toward my house. I’ve gradually added more distance; I’ve added a section through the park and a few more blocks out away from the house over the past several weeks.

Even though I’m not on track to run a 5K race in September, I’m pleased with my progress in this program. It would be nice if Cool Runnings recognized that not everyone is going to run at a 10-minute mile pace (especially if they’re really starting from the couch), but the method does work. I look forward to completing the 9 weeks and then working my way up to the full 5K.

The Times article tells us why we’re addicted to the Internet and technology use:

The stimulation provokes excitement — a dopamine squirt — that researchers say can be addictive. In its absence, people feel bored.

So, for instance, getting notification of a new email or a new tweet gives your brain a little ZING! So does surfing the web, discovering new and exciting things.

The article also discusses focus and multitasking, citing a study in which people were asked questions to determine whether they were heavy multitaskers, and then tested on their focus level and ability to switch between tasks. The results are not particularly encouraging.

Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information, scientists say, and they experience more stress.

Scientists also found that heavy multitaskers had more difficulty switching between tasks.

Sample tests were included with the article, so of course I took them myself. I don’t know whether I qualify as a heavy multitasker, because they didn’t include that questionnaire. I did very well on the focus test, getting only one item wrong, but apparently I’m very slow at switching between tasks.

I’m not sure whether that’s a good or bad result — or whether there really is a good or bad result. Perhaps we’re just all different in the way we process information?  It might be more informative to test a group of people who haven’t been exposed to technology, then have them use computers or other technology for some period of time, and then re-test them.

Here are the tests, if you want to take them yourself. Come back and report on how you did!

Test Your Focus

Test How Fast You Juggle Tasks

So when my nearly worthless Tracfone was stolen recently, I was ready to buy a new phone anyway.  I chose a Motorola CLIQ because

• It runs on the open-source Android platform.
• It’s available through T-Mobile, so I can share a family account with my husband.
• It has a full, pull-out QWERTY keyboard.
• It has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
• It has a 5 megapixel camera and video recording capability.
• It has better performance ratings and more memory than the G1 and MyTouch phones (Android phones also available from T-Mobile).

You may now be asking yourself why I didn’t jump straight to the Nexus One, the newest (and possibly best) of the Android phones. It’s because of cost. The Nexus One would be a little more upfront, and a little more per month, mostly because you can’t add a Nexus One to an existing family plan (it wouldn’t be an upgrade for us).  That little bit does make a difference for me.

So far I’m very happy with the CLIQ. I did have to learn how to use it, but it basically ships ready to go. The phone was already activated when it arrived, with the same phone number I had before. The SIM card was installed, but it had been inserted backward (I don’t know whether that’s done on purpose or not). So once I figured out that that was the reason it thought there was no SIM card, I was underway.

The CLIQ comes installed with MOTOBLUR, which is a service that can combine your email and social networking feeds into one, pushing notifications to your phone. You have to open a MOTOBLUR account upon starting up the phone, unless you have one already.

I haven’t really been using the MOTOBLUR system, though. I’m used to doing my Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter separately, so I’ve been using the respective apps for those services. I think the phone is still using MOTOBLUR to notify me when I have a new email, though (I turned off notifications for Twitter and Facebook). You can also use MOTOBLUR to post a message to several services at the same time.

The phone itself has a touchscreen interface with three buttons below: menu, home, and back. The keyboard slides out with the phone in the horizontal position. It’s small but easy to use, and feels quite sturdy.

The home screen is pre-loaded with several widgets, which you can easily rearrange or remove, and is actually five screens wide; you can access the other sections by swiping horizontally. At the bottom of the screen are tabs for phone, apps, and contacts.  A number of apps are pre-loaded, and others (free and paid) are available throught the Android Market (look for Market in the Apps tab or one screen to the right on the home screen).

I’ve downloaded some apps, but I’m definitely still exploring and learning, so I can’t really recommend anything so far except my Twitter client — Twidroid. It works great, and I’ll probably upgrade to the premium version, which includes multiple account support, soon.  Another app I use often is WordPress; I can use this app to access all of my WordPress blogs, approve or delete comments, and even write a new post if I want to.

One thing you don’t have on an Android phone is iTunes syncing. There are apps for this, but I haven’t bothered with them. I just plugged my phone into the USB port on my MacBook, which recognized the SD card on the phone as an external drive, and copied the music files over. There is a music player app pre-installed on the phone, and it doesn’t mind at all that the music was purchased through iTunes.  There’s also an Amazon mp3 app provided for purchasing music directly from the phone.

Speaking of Amazon, there’s an Amazon app for browsing and purchasing, but there is NO KINDLE APP for Android, like there is for the iPhone. I’m still figuring out the ebook situation. I did download Aldiko, which allows me to download and read public domain books. I’m not sure how to go about buying and reading books otherwise, or whether it’s even possible. Barnes & Noble’s Nook reader actually runs on the Android operating system, so it would be nice if they could also develop a Nook app for Android phones. I’d pay for it!

One thing I had trouble with was the sound settings. I initially chose a ring tone and a notification tone from the standard set, but then later I downloaded (through the Android Market) a set of Star Trek sounds/ringtones. I successfully changed the main ringtone to (cue Worf voice) “Captain. Incoming message,” but couldn’t get the notification tone to change to “Console Beep 2.” It turns out that you have to change the notification tone in the MOTOBLUR settings through the Messaging app, as well as in the phone’s main settings.

I’m still enjoying exploring the phone and the apps. I haven’t got it all down. Two helpful tricks I’ve learned are to always try pressing the menu button to see what comes up, and if I’m stumped, to try pressing and holding on one of the items on the screen — this will often pop up a menu, too.

If you want or need a phone that performs multiple functions — photography, video recording, email, messaging, music, blogging, social networking — you’ll be very pleased with Android. I would caution anyone who’s not really comfortable with technology, but that caution probably applies to most smart phones.

UPDATE/NOTE 3/6/10: I just saw a TV commercial for CarToys that said they currently have this phone on sale for $23. WTH? I paid $149.99 through T-Mobile! But anyway, if you’re interested in this phone, try CarToys! No, I have no affiliation with them and get no compensation for this. Just letting you know.

Here are a couple of photos I took today with the Motorola CLIQ’s 5-megapixel camera. Click on the picture for a larger and clearer image.

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On What’s the Mission, I post spiritual reflections and book reviews (I belong to a great program called Viral Bloggers in which I get free books!).  Latest reviews include Picking Dandelions by Sarah Cunningham, Thy Kingdom Connected by Dwight J. Friesen, and A New Kind of Christianity by Brian McLaren.

Six Boxes of Books was started by my sister Wendy (who once read all of the Newbery Award winners), and has expanded to include all three Burton sisters. We mostly write about children’s and young adult books. Some posts are reviews and some cover other book-related topics, like school book orders.

ParkroseGateway.com is a local news site/blog that I started for the neighborhood in which I live. It runs on the Neighborlogs platform.  I write about local schools, community events, sports, crime, businesses, or whatever I see that is interesting. Neighbors are invited to post, too. My most recent post is a roundup of coverage on the Aaron Campbell shooting, which occurred not far from here.

You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook pretty much every day.

Blogger Kiera Butler posted complete instructions for coiling an old power cord into a coaster. It’s from a book called 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer: (And Other Discarded Electronics). Yes, seriously. Other projects include the Scanner Compost Bin, the Walkman Soap Dish and the Power Strip Bird Feeder.

Sure, you could just turn it all in to your local electronics recycler, but where’s the fun in that?

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Disclosure: Yes, if you click on one of my Amazon links and buy something, I will get a tiny commission! Thank you for supporting this site.

If there’s one thing we like in Portland, it’s the whole sustainable and green movement. If there’s another thing we like, it’s the whole shiny technology object thing. So why hasn’t anyone around here had the gumption to marry those two oh so Portlandy things into one great “you got your techie peanut butter in my green chocolate; you got your green chocolate in my techie peanut butter” you might ask?

That would be Earthtechling. Sounds like a good match for someone who dubbed herself TechnoEarthMama, yes?

EarthTechling, the place where Earthlings come to learn about green consumer technology, is a destination for readers seeking to better their lives and the world around them through the use of green technology

Do they deliver?  For starters, Earthtechling is a WordPress site. As a proud WordPress user and coordinator of the Portland WordPress User Group, I approve wholeheartedly.

On the front page are several feature articles and section links for Buying Guides, Previews, Interviews and How-To. There’s also a section of Recent Reviews and Latest News.  Recently reviewed products include the Vers 2X (a green iPod speaker system) and The Little Green Genie (a software program that is supposed to help offset your computer’s carbon footprint). Latest news stories cover electric bikes and the Water Cube building designed for the 2012 World Expo.

Not all of the gadgets and software programs covered are actually useful to the average person. I’m not likely to buy a Tesla car, and we don’t buy each other stuff for Valentine’s Day, even if it is green stuff. However, there are some really interesting products and companies, such as Green Plug, which is developing smart power adapters. Green Plug is working on adapters that would use less energy, but that would also be universal and could be used by multiple electronic items and appliances. This would eliminate a great deal of electronic waste; I know I’ve got a drawer full of power adapters at work that work fine but don’t go with anything we’re currently using.

Earthtechling looks like a great way to keep up on green technology news, even if you’re not in the market for new gadgets.