Writing Inspiration

January 21, 2013 by Chris · Comments Off
Topic: Lessons Learned

“Never give in–never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

~Winston Churchill

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Writing Inspiration

January 14, 2013 by Chris · Comments Off
Topic: Lessons Learned

“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write something worth reading or do things worth the writing.”

~Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)

photo credit: [JO]² – Immortal Lens -( Youssef Hanna ) via photopin cc

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Writing Tip: Apps to Help You Replace Your Laptop with a Tablet

January 9, 2013 by Chris · Comments Off
Topic: Lessons Learned

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the seriesReplacing Your Laptop

My name is Chris, and I am a self-professed geek. I’ll admit it. I have two smartphones (one I use only for music), a tablet and a laptop. Sound familiar? It doesn’t take a genius to see that there is some redundancy here.

Smartphone aside, the laptop and tablet do many of the same things. However, can a tablet really replace a laptop? The fact that my laptop is over four years old, and the display is starting to act wonky, I set forth on a quest to someday part ways. To do that, I needed to find the apps that could do everything I needed my laptop to do. Here’s what I discovered.

Word Processor

The Play Store is filled with word processing apps. Many tablets even include one as part of the standard group of pre-installed app. My Transformer Prime came with Polaris. It’s okay, but not as intuitive as I might like. I rely instead on OfficeSuite Professional 6 . The UI sold me. Everything you may commonly need is right there. You needn’t go searching around to do common tasks.

Another bonus is integration with cloud apps like Box and Dropbox. I rely on both apps for storing important files. You only have to go through the misery of moving files from one computer to the next to really appreciate what these apps have to offer.

Dictionary

A good dictionary is a must. After all, you do want to make sure you’re using a word correctly, don’t you? And isn’t it fun to drop in an obscure phrase or word now and then just for snicks? I’ll admit a loyalty to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the dictionary I’ve used since college.

The app has a clean UI that is easy to navigate. Each entry includes details on the origin and history. You can also listen to a pronunciation of the word so you can drop it conversation. Being a person who likes words, the favorites feature is a real treat.

Image Editor

I use images often for blog posts and other writing. Some WordPress themes have specific guidelines for images; you also want to make sure the file size is manageable. My go-to app is Adobe Photoshop Touch . Again, part of my reasoning is past experience. Photoshop, IMHO, is still the gold standard of image editing. The fact that I can have access to a similar platform on my tablet is fantastic.

If you don’t do a lot of tweaking, another app to consider is Snapseed. It isn’t the powerhouse that Photoshop is; instead, it’s just plain fun. You can add a myriad of effects to your images, such as vintage, center focus and grunge. You can do the basics too, like cropping and auto correct. The learning curve is a walk in the park too.

A tablet may not replace everything your laptop can do, especially if you do high-tech things. However, you have many options for tweaking your tablet to be the device you need. Next time, I’ll go over some niche type of apps.

photo credit: mbiebusch via photopin cc

Tags: android apps, tablet, word processor