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What Apps Do You Use?
Happy Friday All!
Yeah, this is some filler stuff, but it crossed my mind and I wonder what apps you use for your work. There are some apps that I use daily, and others are available when I need them. All my apps are Android as I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone and an Asus tablet. If you have i-apps, I bet you have some good one there. So, here is my list:
DroidEdit Pro: This is on my tablet. I use this to edit web pages on the fly and as a text editor if necessary. The pro version has FTP support built into the app and if you use Dropbox (I don’t) it will connect with that.
ElectroDroid: I use this as a reference. Comes in very handy. If I see myself using it more I will purchase the full, pro, version.
Evernote: Daily use. I love this service. The app works well, though I think their interface can be a bit better. It syncs to all my devices, so I am a happy camper. Having notes that I take at the office available at a transmitter site has been invaluable. I’ve had calls while out and about and I have the information handy. Invaluable.
GPS Essentials: A new app I am playing with is handy. Compass and GPS information. Still in the eval stage.
HootSuite: Yup, this is where I post to my Twitter feed and catch up on those I follow. I do not use Facebook that much, so that part doesn’t help. Now if they added a Google+ feed that would be awesome.
OpenSignal: We do a lot of 4G LTE broadcasts. Yes, we do. We have one today. When out in the field checking on broadcast sites, I whip out the phone and use this app to tell me all the information about where the cell tower I’m connected with is, whether it’s 3G or 4G, data rate, voice quality, and mapping. This app has improved over the years and continues to serve as a useful tool.
RealCalc Plus: Paid version of RealCalc. This is a very handy scientific calculator. If I do not have my trusting HP with me, this fills in nicely.
Report-IT: Of course I had to add this. We are a Tieline shop for our remote codecs. This app we have on our Apples and Androids. It has saved us much time and effort on some multi-location, single venue events.
RF Terrain Profile: I just found this one and testing the free version. This looks useful for a quick evaluation of STL paths. It gives you the profile of the path and you can add a link budget. The paid version allows import and export to a KML file for use in Google maps/Earth. It shows the first Fresnel zone on the profile.
SatelliteAR: I had this about 4 devices ago. This is an awesome satellite tracker, finder, and then some. I use it to track the ISS, too! If you need a rough way to point a satellite dish, this will help tremendously.
Shush!: How many meetings do you go into and set your phone to vibrate or silence? How many times do you forget you did that? This app is awesome. You use your phone’s volume control and set either silence or vibrate. Then you set the time, e.g. 2 hours, and click Shush! After 2 hours, the phone will go back to normal volume settings.
Smith Chart Matching Calc: I have not had a real use for this, but it doesn’t hurt to have in the arsenal, especially if you work on AM arrays.
Splashtop2 Remote Desktop: A great find by our IT dude. Remotely access all your necessary computers via phone or tablet and operate them as if you were sitting right there in front of the machine. I can check up on our main remote control computer for an overall look, access my Importers, and of course my work desktop if I need something on that. Good stuff.
Ulysse Gizmo: Another GPS compass that I’ve use for years and it just gets better with upgraded devices as the GPS receivers in said devices get better. Compass, speedometer, GPS status, bubble level, clinometer, magnetometer, map viewer, etc. With this you don’t need to carrier that GPS device with you any longer.
Weatherbug: I keep bouncing between weather apps, but always come back to this one. I would settle on Weather Underground, but that one seems to really slow my device, so back to this. The upgraded interface is nice and covers all my weather needs.
WolframAlpha: Just becuse! Have you every used this? It is very cool and fun, in a geek way. Check it out.
I have the whole Google Suite thing going for me, too. All the obvious with GMail and Maps, but I also use Voice and Sky Map. I just started getting into the Google Now thing. So far it is pretty good, but very basic. Not the most useful stuff, yet. I know they will start tracking me more as I use it.
There you have it. A bunch of apps that I have on my Android devices that help with my work. I know there are others, so feel free to suggest more. I’m always looking for improvements and upgrades.
Cheers!
First Post On Asus Transformer
We decided to deploy some tablets for work. Testing stage as we call it. IT guru JR chose these ASUS Transformers, so I get to test one, too. This led me to think about the applications I use for work. There are a couple that I just like and use on multiple devices. There is one that is the main reason we are testing the ASUS.
We use Google Apps, so the GMAIL app is the major winner. Email is the app of daily use, multiple times a day. We all know that. How much of you email is done on a computer today? We all seem to have smartphones, tablets, and i-Somethings.
The Messages App for text messaging is used too. How else can you get info in a a timely manor and in 160 characters or less and not disturb them with a phone call. Say what you will, but I find text messaging efficient over the phone call formality, especially if what you need is not need it now moment. That’s when the phone comes in the best.
Speaking of social media apps, I use TweetCaster for tweeting on Twitter. It allows me to post to Facebook simultaneously. Even though I do not use FB much anymore, it is there. The interface is nice. It is easy to use. I’ve tried HootSuite, but grew tired of it. I may try again because the first company that incorporates Google+ into the mix will win my business, at least to start. Google+, or G+, is my first choice of social media over FB, now. The G+ app is on all my devices. Rounding off social I have Foursquare which is just fun to use sometimes and I do have LinkedIn. This one is a good connection site and some of the groups do have interesting topics under discussion.
Productivity leads me to Evernote. How does anyone in the connected world not get by with this one. Sure I have Google Drive for documents and the like, but Evernote seems to be there for everything. Hmmm? Thus the “Ever?” With the desktop app and a web interface my notes are synced to all devices in a jiffy. I mentioned Google Drive. That is now getting more use as we expand to our mobile world. For me, I upload and sync important manuals since they all seem to be in PDF format today. That way if I’m at a transmitter site I have the latest information with me.
Now for a very big one that comes with the ASUS and I find almost indispensable now. It is called SplashTop. With the VPN connection, and soon to be a Flash version (yes we are beta testing), you can connect to your desktop from anywhere and operate it as if you were there. Very similar to Remote Desktop. Full control. All you do is install the desktop app to run in the background. Very cool, very useful. As for the VPN, as we use “legacy” Cisco concentrator JR discovered the one VPN app that actually seems to work properly called VPNcilla. It works. It’s easy. As we upgrade to Pix or other more modern devices, then the phones will get access too.
Now for a list of other apps I use:
DolphinHD browser. I find this one has worked the best in the smartphone and tablet world. I can even connect directly, yes, directly to my Nautel NV transmitters. I use this to connect to the web interfaces of my Burk ARCPlus remote controls. The new version 3 has a cleaner look and looks to be promising. I plan a write-up on the Burk soon.
Maps by Google is very useful, too. Locating sites and getting to where you need to go.
Under a folder I made named Utilities I have Ulysse Gizmos the BEST GPS compass ever. Used this many times and it is pretty accurate. Satellite AR for when I need to quickly spot a satellite for rough dish alignment. Intel’s CPU Decoder if you ever need to get specs on Intel CPUs. ElectroDroid when I need to cheat on some electrical thing be it simple calculation because my old brain doesn’t work any longer or need a quick pin-out on a connector. IP Calculator quick subnetting if necessary. RealCalc is a full featured scientific calculator. It even does RPN, so it feels like my HP calculator. I even have FuncGen, an audio function generator if I need quick audio for tests, sweeps, and various waveforms.
Any geek would not be complete without WolframAlpha. This one is pretty fun to use. I live in earthquake country so I have Earthquake Alert. My optional field of work would have been geology. Also we need our coffee, so yes, I have the Starbucks app. I use Pulse as a news reader.
I can go on. What useful apps do you have? I obviously have WordPress as I am writing on my ASUS right now using the app. Please share your discoveries.
As for this ASUS, I’ve had it 5 days. I have grown very attached to it this weekend. The optional keyboard that doubles as it’s case is great. The tablet itself is smooth and does what I need. You might say I’m digging it.
Device list:
HTC Thunderbold Smartphone
ASUS Transformer
B&N Nook Color, hacked with CM7 android so it works as a tablet.
Amazon Fire for books.
Apple iPad for the child and games.
Cheers!
Tablets: For Once The iPad Wins
I see the light, I think. Here is a major difference between the iPad and Android tablets: VPN. The iPad handles IPSec inherently while the Android does not. One must root an Android to get a VPN client that can do IPSec, and then that does not always work.
I did a comparison yesterday between the two. I found my Android VPN client can make the connection, access the page I wanted at work, but failed to log me in through the browser. I set up the iPad and did the same steps, and I was able to access the web source and log in. Why would one pass the information and one not? Thoughts?
In stores I have lookd at the Android VPN clients built into devices and none have IPSec. Even my HTC Thunderbolt does not provide it. Is this a manufacturing thing? Does Cisco not want to expand to more users? Because of this the Android tablets are a bit less desirable for business. Then, again, I am writing on an Android tablet now.
I could go on and on why I like Androids, but this VPN thing bugged me the must. Oh, I must say the battery life on the iPad is bad, very bad. If I used it for work, I bet it would not last a fraction of a day.
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VPN, VNC, & the iPAD
By digging up some spare parts and unused hardware, my assistant honed his skills on rebuilding a computer that will access our transmitter network via VPN and various applications via VNC. He done good.
I have to say it is cool and our IT dude accessed the computer, opened the browser, and we connected to the Nautel AUI. Very nice. I now others have done this with their iPhones and such, but I still find all the “steps” to access something very annoying. First do this. Then do that. What I would like is for companies, like Nautel, to create a native application for the iPad, iPhone, and Android that can be called up once a secure VPN connection has been made. I wish I could code and create one, but that is not my forte.
Some day, maybe. I am teaching myself Visual Basic, but I am not wired to be a coder. Anyone out there doing such work? I’m curious to know what you have and how well it works.
Tech Notes from the Field 