We apologize for the recent downtime we experienced here at Timmyjohnboy.com. We had some database errors but our webhost was nice enough to help us through them and we reverted to a backup they kept for us. Needless to say, we are happy to be back up and running again.

Also, if you are a subscriber you may very well have received an update by mistake having something to do with Victory Bible Baptist Church’s website. It had to do with a test site I set up for a church’s site I am working on. The mistake has been resolved and you’ll not be receiving any more strange updates like that, if I have anything to say about it.

Thanks for hanging around with us! We’re sure they’ll be much more to look forward to here at Timmyjohnboy.com!

Now they finally give you the option to switch them around. Whereas the highlighted stories were always on top of your stream, now you can choose either to keep it that way or to place the newest stories at the top.

For me, it may just depend on the day so I’ll probably be switching back and forth quite a bit. Thanks, Facebook, for the choice!

I have not given up on Timmyjohnboy.com; I have just been really busy. The fact is, I have a few other blogging jobs and they’re taking up quite a bit of my time. I’m not upset by it because I love it and it pays my mortgage but it does mean that Timmyjohnboy.com has hit the proverbial back burner.

I’ll be back, blogging as usual. I’ve got a few ideas to throw on here and I hope this site continues to be a fun outlet of mine. OK, now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Is your BlackBerry hazardous to your health? The health effects of radiation spewing from mobile devices has been debated since the first cell phone hit the market years ago. Tawkon has released an app for BlackBerry that measures the level of radiation coming from your device so that users, regardless of whether they believe it is harmful or not, can at least be informed. The Tawkon app is also available for other popular mobile devices including Android and Apple (main site).

The Tawkon Radiation App for BlackBerry monitors the radiation levels being released from your device and alerts you when the levels reach a predefined threshold. The app works by collecting your phone’s dynamic SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) using Real-Time Radiation Indication technology.

These highly-technical terms translate to an app that provides real-time radiation level indications while you are using your BlackBerry. The app alerts users visually with indicators of High (red), Moderate (yellow), and Low (green). Tawkon will also make suggestions based on the level of radiation detected in the form of prompts that can be visual, audio, or vibration alerts. It will then provide feedback on whether the action taken was successful in reducing the radiation levels to the user.

Being that the Tawkon Radiation App for BlackBerry is free at BlackBerry App World (there is also a premium version available with no ads), why not give yourself a little peace of mind. It is important to note that the health effects of cell phone radiation have not been proven to cause long-term health effects. Tawkon has dedicated a page of their website, appropriately called “The Debate”, that discusses the ongoing studies about the dangers of cell phone radiation. With this app, you will at least be able to make an informed decision on the possible effects of prolonged cell phone use. Sounds like a good idea to me!

William Starkey – WesWare Online – All About BlackBerry Cases

Ringdroid allows you to do several things that culminate into the creation of your very own ringtones.  It allows you to choose MP3s to make into ringtones by making it possible to clip them and save them as ringtones.  If you’re running Android 2.3, it also allows you to record your own ringtones using your phone’s mic.  As you can tell, with these features the sky’s the limit!

Let’s go and do a walkthrough to geet a better look at how simple it really is to create your own Android ringtone.

As you can see, Ringdroid shows up in your app draw like any other app.

Ringdroid is really cool in that it will find an MP3 file anywhere on your SD card, as far as I can tell.  I think at one time you would have had to place them in the media folder but the more recent versions will find them anywhere.

If you have a phone running Android 2.3, you’ll notice the button labeled Record Now for opting out of using an MP3 and choosing rather to record your own sounds.

Once you find the MP3 file you want as your ringtone, you can then clip it to be as long or as short as you’d like it.  Drag the tabs to enlarge or shrink the selected portion and you can even click and drag the selected portion as a whole back and forth.  You can even zoom in for more delicate clipping and preview the clip you’ve selected.

Tapping the disk icon will allow you to save your clip.

You can save the clip in several formats: music, alarm, notification, and ringtone.

Once you’ve saved the ringtone, you are presented with a popup that asks if you’d like to set the ringtone as something right off the bat.  You can make it the default ringtone or set it to ring for a specific contact.  If you’d rather not do that right away, you can always click close and chose to set it up later in the sound settings.

Now that you’ve got a bran spanking new ringtone, you can go into the settings on your phone and double check that it shows up on the list.  One way of doing so is to go to menu –> settings –> sound –> phone ringtone and just scroll through the alphabetized list until you find your new ringtone.

If creating a new ringtone for your Android phone is a new skill for you, I hope you were amazed at how simple it really is using Ringdroid.  If the fact is that you’re still struggling, however, feel free to ask questions or share opinions in the comments section below.

via: thedailybuggle.com

Use Speaker Phone

The trick is to not keep your phone stuck to your ear day in and day out.  They’re telling us to start using speaker phone (most phones have it).  I’ve already begun to see people walking around town holding their phones out in front of them speaking loudly while their phone is shouting back.  Frankly, I’d father not hear everyone else’s conversations; it’s already annoying hearing their choice in obnoxious music.

Use a Bluetooth Headset

Going along with the same principle, anything you can do to get that phone from your ear would be a help.  Many people opt for the wireless Bluetooth headsets.  You can pick them out from a crowd easily.  They’re the ones you’ve got pegged for talking to voices in their head.

Text Instead

Yes, one of the wonderful pieces of advice is to send a text instead of call, as if we aren’t already enough disconnected from one another in this modern society we live in.  Let’s stop talking to one another altogether.  Less cancer and less interpersonal issues from actually dealing with other people!

What’s Your Answer, Tim?

These solutions will help reduce our exposure to cell phone carcinogens (if they’re there), but each at a cost.  A real solution, I think, is to begin to change the way we interact with each other and get back to spending time with one another IN PERSON.  Put away your Facebooks and your Twitters for a bit, put your cell phones back on their chargers and make real time to spend with real, in the flesh, friends and family.  Maybe spend some quality time soaking up the fresh air enjoying the creation God has given us.

Just my $0.02.

PS: Stay tuned because there is an article coming (by guest author William of WesWare Online) about an interesting App that actually measures the level of radiation coming from your phone!

UPDATE: Check out William’s article “How much radiation is your Blackberry zapping into your head?”  Thanks a bunch, William Starkey!

(blogged using my HTC Evo)

The internet has brought about ease to many transactions we do. This is because the internet has proved to be a very fast means of sending information across long distances and places. Most of the things that were done with days and sweat in the absence of the internet are now done very easily on the internet, such as mail correspondence, money transfer and so on.

The success of doing something very fast on the internet can be determined by the type of internet provider you use. If you are a high speed internet user and you want to know what makes a good high speed internet provider then you are in the right place.

There is a lot to benefit from using a good high speed internet provider but you need a way to know whether your high speed internet provider is good or not. How can this be done without stress? In this article, we will be giving you four major tests to help you find a good high speed internet provider.

Bundle Plan Offers (unlimited data)

This is a formula of broadband internet whereby you don’t pay per the amount of data you transfer or send and receive. This option makes it easy for you to be able to pay for your internet connection without the fear of running into debt. It also makes it possible for you to be able to predict your budget before the month runs out and allows you the opportunity to save more money. If your high speed internet provider does not offer you the option to make your payments by purchasing bundle plans, then you can do with a better high speed internet provider. Good broadband high speed internet providers should have great and effective bundle plans available to everybody and not make you waste your hard-earned money browsing the internet.

Popularity

A good high speed internet provider should have a level of popularity that commands respect. The value of the service a high speed internet provider offers its client would determine how popular it will be. If a high speed internet provider is not popular, it probably means they don’t offer good services that will increase their popularity among people. When you are going to choose a good high speed internet provider, make sure that high speed internet provider is popular to a substantial level. A high speed internet provider that has no image to save itself can do unbelievable things. But a popular high speed internet provider that has a good reputation to save will surely do everything at its reach to save the good name it has earned itself.

Good Customer Support

The level of customer support a high speed internet provider offers should be very high before it is considered a good high speed internet provider. The way a high speed internet provider handles its customers should be respectable and of good standard. If your internet provider does not treat you well as a customer, then there is something wrong somewhere and you need to act before it gets out of hand. Before you consider going for a high speed internet provider, you need to consider how good their customer support is.

Quality of Service Offered

A good high speed internet provider should be able to fulfill the promise of good quality service to its customer before it is considered a good high speed internet provider. There should be stability in service rendered and the assurance that such good service will continue in the future. If there is no stability in the service your high speed internet provider is rendering you, you are better off with a good high speed internet provider that can promise you stability in service. If you want to know whether a high speed internet provider is a good one, you should try to know the quality of service it renders its customers.

This guest article was written by Paul who helps you learn how to choose the best broadband high speed internet providers

Anyway, I love hiking in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York, especially in the High Peaks region around Lake Placid.  While hiking mountains in the region, there are some beautiful summit views.  If I can capture even just a part of those scenes (it’s impossible to really capture them, you have to see it in real life), I am happy.

There are several Android apps in my current arsenal that can really be an asset in capturing the beauty of an Adirondack hike (or any hike for that matter).  Check these out and don’t be caught on a hike without them!

1. EveryTrail

EveryTrail is an awesome app that actually uses your Android’s GPS to track and record your journey.  If you take pictures along the way, and I hope you would, it places them on the map where they were taken.  When you get home you’ve got this really cool map and pics telling the whole story so you can save your memories and share them with anyone.  Check out the article I already wrote about it.

2. Photaf

If you go on a hike with some sort of summit or another type of cool 360 degree view, wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to take a panorama shot?  Photaf is an app that makes it super-duper easy to do it!  With it you can create the panorama (it steps you through taking the photos and then it stitches them for you), share the stitched panorama, and even upload it to their site for further sharing choices.

Personally, I had real issues uploading to their site (like, it never uploaded) but you can also take the JPG file and upload it to another panorama site such as ClevR.com (for ClevR, make sure you resize the JPG to at least 400 pixels).

via: AndroidTipguys

3. Pro HDR Camera

If you’re not sure what HDR is all about, you’re not alone.  I didn’t either until I read up on it.  Basically, HDR stands for high dynamic range and it’s taking several pictures at different brightnesses and putting them together to make one picture with a lot of detail.  Done right, photographs come out beautiful bringing out wonderful colors.

This Android app makes the process quite simple.  Just take the photo through the app, hold the camera very still throughout the capturing process (you’ll probably want to use a tripod for best results), and the app takes several pics and puts them together for you.  Think about the hiking photos you’ll have after using such an app!

via: AndroidTipguys

4. PhotoCloud

This app ought to sound familiar seeing as though I just mentioned it in a recent post.  Basically, as you’re taking all of these awesome hiking photos, you may want to have them automatically backed up to your Picasa or Facebook account.  This way, even if something happens to your precious Android, you’ve still got the photos when you get back to civilization.

via: me @ AndroidTipguys

There you have it!  Now go on out hiking and bring back those memories!  With your Android in hand you have no excuse!  Oh, and don’t forget to bring extra batteries, or a solar charger, just in case!

Learn more about it on AndroidTipguys where I wrote an article all about it.  Check it out: Automatically backup your photos to the cloud

BTW, you can look forward to me writing more articles for AndroidTipguys.  Check the site out!  Great tips and app reviews for Android users!