Month: March 2011

[Video] 1968, Bell Lab’s Thinking Machines, oldie but goodie . . . .

I remember watching this movie as it was called then, you know the kind with the projector and movie reel, (yeah I’m that old) way back in Jr. High School in the late 70’s.  Amazing how accurate it still remains today (to some degree).  Lots of innovation has been made on media storage (gigabytes on chips smaller than a postage stamp), languages (think BabbleFish & Google Translate), and recognition (both video and voice).  Let this serve as a reminder of just how far we’ve come since 1968 . . . .

Source: AT&T Tech Channel, via: Engadget

Machine Screws Drill/Tap Info App – v1.3.0 Update

I bet you’re saying wait a minute, he promised a v2.0 update!

Well, as part of that effort, I have found some corrections, quick fixes, and other bugs that really needed to be fixed before going too deep into the version 2 design process.

Major fixes include:
– Adding ALL Metric screws, from M1 to M30  (Course and Fine, ISO, etc added)
– drill chart cleaned up, and optimized – I think you’ll like this.
– fixed a bug where change from Metric back to English happens during device rotation
– added localization for Italy (Italian)
(thanks goes to Google for noting I needed this added Market)
– application size reduction by ~75% !!!  now ~410 kb  (was ~1650 kb)
– can still move to SD Card

Please comment in this post on your review and feedback!

Again this is part of the process . . .    now on to version 2.0 !!

Machine Screws Drill/Tap Info App – v2.0 update planned

As Machine Screws Drill/Tap Info App approaches an unbelievable 500 users, plans are now being made to update Machine Screws Drill/Tap Info to version 2.0 to add common screw heads / washers / nuts.

It will take a couple of weeks, as I want the UI to be simple and effective (common screw heads / washers / nuts)  without going overboard.  The hardest part is ensuring that the data is correct and presented well.

Trust me, I want to do this as it was part of the original plan – so it may come in stages w/ screw heads first (I’ll have to see how it goes).   Be sure to check back here for updates.   Ideally, I would like see some additions (if not all) by the end of this month if that is possible.

New Android App – Jim’s Date Calc

Late last night I published my 3rd Android Application – Jim’s Date Calc.

Jim's Date Calc

As a project engineer / project manager I needed an easy to use and accurate date calculator.  I didn’t find the simplicity and ease of use I wanted in the Android Market so I created one!

Also since I work on a 9/80 work schedule, being able to know how ‘off-Fridays’ impact available working days was a must functionality I included.  Additionally, Jim’s Date Calc’s calculations match those expensive project scheduling applications everyone uses on their desktops.  Be sure to pick your copy in the Android Market or App Brain today!

Here are some screen shots of Jim’s Date Calc.

Google’s Two Step Verification – Two Phone Trick

Google’s Two Step Verification is a great way to ensure your Google account is well protected.   If you only have one Android phone/device stop – you need to go no farther, just follow the instructions on your Google account here.  But how do you use it with two Android phones/devices?

If you’re like me, you’ve found that when one phone is setup the other fails to authenticate and vice versa.  To get them to both to work, I went through the process of setting up one as a new device here.   Now here is the trick, when asked to scan the QR Code, have BOTH phones/devices ready to scan.  Scan them at the same time before proceeding.  Now when asked for the verification code, just pick one code from either phone (odds are they will be different at the start).  Now they will be synchronized and will authenticate without problem.  I found that if both were running the Google Authenticator App, eventually they would show the same codes (but displayed at different times).

My guess is/was by scanning them individually (and not at the same time), each phone’s secret keys are different and thus were generating asynchronous codes. Which is why only the last setup phone would work and not the other.

Hope this works for you like it did for me.  Enjoy!