Dan Gilbert - The Surprising Science of Happiness

In this TED Talk, Dan Gilbert's video "The Surprising Science of Happiness" has been on my todo list for a while now and I'm really glad that I got around to watch it.

The first few minutes was so-so, but after that you mind will be blown by the information that you learn from Dan Gilbert. The main take-away is that we have the capacity to synthesize our own happiness. And our ability to simulate future happiness has a bug in it.

This TED Talk was well worth the twenty minutes of my time.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Obol - The Never-Soggy Cereal Bowl and Its Future

I saw the Obol in Brookstone over a month ago and really liked the idea of having the cereal and milk separate in order for the cereal to stay crispy the entire time you are eating.

Recently, I saw a post about it a food blog and started thinking about the idea of Obol again.

Imagine yourself eating out of a regular bowl of cereal with milk. The best bites are the first few because the cereal is the most crispy at that point. But, there is at least two more reasons why the first few bites are typically the best of the bunch. Point number three below I believe affects people on a more psychological level.

At the beginning of eating:

1. Cereal is still crispy
2. Milk is the coldest
3. It is easiest to get a huge scoop of cereal on the spoon!

After determining that these are the reasons why I truly like cereal (besides the overall great taste), it is easy to determine that the Obol is does not significantly help me eat and enjoy my daily cereal. Obol performs task one very well. Task two is iffy. It may take longer for me to eat the bowlful of cereal, thus the milk will be warmer by the end (I am a cereal milk drinker). Obol fails at number three. By only putting a little bit of cereal in the milk compartment, the cereal spreads throughout the entire surface area of the milk, causing me trouble when I try to get a large scoop of cereal on my spoon. If I put any more than a little bit of cereal in the milk compartment, then I might as well be using a regular cereal bowl instead.

An idea for a bowl is to throw it in the refrigerator or freezer overnight and in the morning you can enjoy colder milk for a longer period of time! I haven't actually tried this out yet, but I will! Number two improved.

Another idea for a bowl to add a little vertical strainer on the coming out from the side. Milk will be able to go through the strainer, but the cereal will not. This could be a clip-on that would fit most bowls. Maybe it just have a little lip on it that allow it to sit on an edge. The idea is that you can gather up all the cereal to one side of the strainer, then a big scoop of cereal will be easy again. You could potentially just swirl your milk with the spoon and like magic, the cereal will all be gathered in one place. Number three vastly improved!!

http://www.obol.co/images/

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Heaven's Advocate

As I'm arguing with my roommate the other day, as we do pretty much every day (in a healthy jokingly manner), I know I like playing Devil's Advocate, but I want to introduce a new term now, Heaven's Advocate.

If you don't see the good in something, then the Heaven's Advocate will find it for you.

 - A Devil's Advocate finds the "bad" points in your argument. A Heaven's Advocate will find the "good" part of your story.
 - When you talk with a Devil's Advocate, you are meant to get defensive. When you talk with a Heaven's Advocate, the same thing can be done.

Have any more ways of describing a person that likes to be Heaven's Advocate? (As not related to religion)
~ Simply Advanced ~


NOTE: You don't have to believe in a religion to use these terms. They just happen to coincide with terms that religious books use, but words evolve.

NOTE2: "Evolve" is another word that doesn't have to refer to Darwinism, which it was originally used (just one time in the book).

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Windows 8 Power Users

There is going to be a new paradigm with Windows 8. I'm not just talking about the Modern UI (also was known as Metro UI).

Microsoft provides users many advanced mouse functionalities that hasn't been natively including in an operating system.

Typically, when we think of power users, we think of experts at the keyboard that have memorized many shortcuts and snippets of code. But, the new paradigm shift from Windows 8 is going to provide people the ability to call themselves mouse power users. Perhaps more people will learn about mouse gestures because of this. I'd give it at least another two years before mouse gestures become more mainstream, not just the mouse device gestures.

Personally, I typically prefer the keyboard to mouse, so much so that I created a script that allows keyboards to perform a double-click. But, there are definitely some times that the mouse is faster. Also, for those who don't like to use the keyboard at all there are many programs that you can download to provide your mouse the ability to do pretty much anything.

 - Just Gestures
 - Mouse Gestures

Let me know your experiences with mouse gestures.

~ Simply Advanced ~

*I did not personally try out these programs

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Lease Renewal

Feels like I'm signing my life away to the apartment I'm staying at. One year is a very long time to have a housing lease, especially since I'm graduating in with my Computer Engineering Bachelors in May. There have been multiple job offers, but I'm still thinking of starting my own mobile app development business  Simply Advanced, LLC, which I have already purchased. So, I guess a little structure in my life as I work on the business 120 hours a week might be a little good.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Food is Memory

Computer literate people will know that there are many different levels of computer memory -- more than just RAM and hard drives. As I was preparing my after-dinner snack (delicious Churros cereal), I thought that the food that I eat and have in my apartment is highly analogous to memory in a computer. I will succinctly explain the analogy from fastest to slowest memory.

Registers - Chewed food, ready for consumption
L1 Cache - Food in mouth
L2 Cache - Food in spoon
GPU - Food in bowl (Either eaten one spoonful at a time or gulping it down(parallel processing))
RAM - Food in box
Flash - Food in my room
Solid-state drive (SSD) - Food in the pantry
Hard drive - Food at the grocery store
Tape - Wherever food is before the stores
Cloud - Food that is still on the farm


~ Simply Advanced ~

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Stack Overflow Error

I just got my first stack overflow error when creating an Android app!

Code typically doesn't work well when a function starts like:


    private void setOnClickListeners() {
        setOnClickListeners();

        ....
    }


=]

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Simply Advanced Unit Converter - 50000 Downloads!

It may not sound like much, but this one app has more downloads than all my other apps combined. Unit converters is a big market and this app has at least two features that don't appear in other unit converters.

This is easily my choice and many others' top choice for unit converters.

Testimonials:

• "Simply the best And I tried all of them"
• "Does the job, quickly and cleanly Simple and straight forward interface makes quick conversions a breeze. Enter in your measurement, and all the related units are converted and updated instantly."
• "Simple but the best No more complications just a simple complete unit converter."
• "Great Improvement Looks and works great. Love the new logo. Keep it up!"
• "Look no further Wouldn't even consider any other unit converter after this one."
• "Powerful & straightforward Just what I needed for metric & temp conversions!"

..and that's just the on the first page. =D

Thank you everybody for supporting the app by giving it five stars!

Link: The best android unit converter in Google Play.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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The Future of Memorizing Pi

According to the Pi World Ranking List, the top name has memorized 67890 digits of pi! And there are at least fifteen people worldwide that have memorized over 10000 digits of pi.

Before I quickly researched those numbers, I was thinking would a future record holder be able to calculate pi in their head? Eventually, humans are going to have computers connected to their brains. So, perhaps in twenty years we will be able to calculate pi in our heads and get a world record in the trillions of digits? Tens, of thousands of digits is already takes hours to complete.

I was able to say about 65 digits from memory in a 10 second interval, but this number may be a little lower to include breathing and speaking up for a microphone. So, I will go with about 50 digits per 10 seconds.

That's:
300 digits per minute.
18000 digits per hour.

This means that the Chao Lu of China took around 3.8 hours to say all the 67890 digits of pi. But, I'm going to assume that he paused a few times to drink and eat. So, that would bring the total to over 4 hours.

If you also want to memorize the digits of pi, then you can find the first 100000 digits of pi here.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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LegalZoom: Simply Advanced, LLC

Finally, just submitted all the documents and payments to LegalZoom so that Simply Advanced, LLC could be official. I heard a few good things about them and this is the real test for me. LegalZoom says that the filing process could take anywhere from 20-35 days. I will share with the world how the experience goes.

The application process on LegalZoom is relatively straightforward. On the first page, they say it will take about 15 minutes to complete. I'm sure I spent at least 30 minutes reading every question and help available. Be sure to read about the details of LegalZoom LLC creation before beginning the process. There are a few fees that they don't tell you about during the application process.

One interesting experience while filling out all of the forms was getting a phone call by one of the LegalZoom representatives. I didn't have any questions at the time, but I'm sure it can be really useful. And now I have the email and phone number of a specific representative, rather than an overarching number with menus and submenus.

I've read a lot about starting and running businesses already, but there is still a lot of business materials that I have to read before considering myself capable of running this business. It's time to learn fast by throwing myself into it.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Electronics-Free Zone

I just read an interesting article on Lifehacker about having an electronics-free zone in a home. Even though I am one for having technology and electronics everywhere, I really like the idea of having absolutely no electronic devices or outlets in at least one room at home.

http://lifehacker.com/5977939

And to expand on the idea, perhaps this mentality can added to restaurants, airplanes, workplaces, and Tuesdays 11-2pm. Just throwing ideas out there. That way people have clear their minds by not having to worry about a phone going off or having an email to answer. By clearing your mind, you could potentially achieve a higher level of thinking and creativity.


~ Simply Advanced ~

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App to Clipboard Multiple Items

I may have mentioned this before, but just now I thought of a good way to do this on a desktop computer. If there is anybody else who would like to save multiple items to their clipboard, then please email me or contact me via Google Plus.

I believe this can help me while programming, and I'm sure there are other uses for it too.

The first version would just have the ability to copy different text to multiple clipboards, then future versions would have the ability to save anything.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Why Do So Many Apps Need Location Permission To Install?

Answer: Ads pay more when developers provide user locations to them.

I'm not going to link to any particular ad networks. But, I know about them because every week different ad networks email me telling about how they pay out the most to developers.

If you don't feel comfortable giving out your location to apps that don't need it, then don't install them. Apps would run perfectly well without location permissions.

I am a developer for Android and Windows platforms. Currently, none of my apps give any user information to ad networks. I make enough money from my apps already due to popular use.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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LTE Discovery Update Version 2.0

Huge update to LTE Discovery! We could have called it version 1.34, but these drastic changes made us call this version 2.0. We are not calling this beta anymore!
Recent Updates in version 2.0. 1. Now distinguishes Phantom LTE signals from usable LTE2. Added BSID, SID, NID, date, and time information to GPS list3. The present network is displayed whenever app is open4. Optimized background tasks. (App works in background)5. GPS Coordinates list vastly improved, better formatting6. Ability to store more GPS coordinates of detected LTE signals7. Ability to clear GPS list8. Added a help page9. Change to Dark Holo theme10. Other UX and UI and performance improvements11. Many other bug fixes. All known bugs fixed.
Only available on Google Play for Android users.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.simplyadvanced.ltediscovery

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Music Genre of the Day: 60's Oldies!

The Clovers - Love Potion Number 9

Jimmy Soul - If You Wanna Be Happy

And so many more great 60s. I'm using Jango because they are commercial free. Choose "Decades: 60's" then "Hits from the 60s".s

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Can't USB Connect to Device Through Eclipse?

At first, I couldn't connect to a Nexus 7 or HTC Evo LTE in Eclipse. Windows 7 could see both of the devices, but Eclipse for some unknown reason would not detect them so that I could debug the Android apps.

Solution: Update Eclipse to the newest version and also update the Android SDK in the Android SDK Manager. You can update Eclipse and the ADT plugin by going to Help -> Check for Updates.

If your computer doesn't have the drivers for the devices, then you should download them from the manufacturer's (OEM) website. One starting point would be http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/oem-usb.html to help point you on your way.

Asus Nexus 7 Driver: http://www.asus.com/Tablet_Mobile/Nexus_7/#support_Download_32 (then click USB)

~ Simply Advanced ~

PS - This is assuming that the device is already properly set up in proper developer debugging mode.

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Procrastination Versus Doing Dishes

tldr: Every time, I clean my dishes right after I finish eating or cooking. I don't care for doing the dishes, but I dislike procrastination even more.

• Dishes are easier to clean right after eating.
• I'm going to wash my hands after eating. So, by combining hand washing and doing dishes together I save time by only having to dry my hands once.
• This saves me from procrastinating on other works in the future because my areas are already clean.
• I have clean dishes for next time I eat sitting in the dish rack. Grabbing a dish from the dish rack is faster than open and closing a cabinet. Bonus quick seconds add up.

It feels good knowing that I have a clear mind so that I can focus 100% of my brain power on just a single activity. I wouldn't want it any other way.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Where Windows 7 Sticky Notes Are Saved, Stored

Avid readers of this blog (me!) will know that I like Windows 7's Sticky Notes. It works and it's quick. There are many Sticky Notes shortcuts that most people don't know about also, which I wrote a blog post on a while back.

Now, another thing I wanted to discover was, "Where are Windows 7 Sticky Notes Saved?" The answer follows.

C:\Users\Dan2012\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Sticky Notes

Just change Dan2012 with your own username and you will find a SNT file that can be read for the most part with Notepad++. I didn't check any other text editors.

~ Simply Advanced ~

PS - I hear that Windows Vista Sticky Notes are also stored in the same place.

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How to Completely Cancel All Print Jobs

This method works for at least Windows 7 (and Windows Vista). The following method is the hardcore way of restarting the print spooler if you are having trouble cancelling a print job.

In order to see how what jobs are in the print queue, open Start, then type/search for printer and press Enter. "Devices and Printers" should now be on your screen. It can also be found through the Control Panel.

How to Completely Cancel All Print Jobs (the easy and foolproof method):

1. Open Start (shortcut: press the Windows key)
2. Type/search for "services", then press Enter
3. In the names, look for "Print Spooler", then Right-Click->Restart

You are done. Though, you may have to close and reopen the document queue in order to see the changes.

The harder method is to navigate through Control Panel->System->Administrative Tools->Services.

This is the only method that you need to know in order to completely cancel all print jobs. If you would like to know more ways of deleting print jobs, then don't hesitate in contacting me. =]

~ Simply Advanced ~

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New Years Resolution of 2013

This is the first year that I'm going to create a blog post about my New Years Resolution.

• My main goal for this year is to create at least one truly innovative mobile application.
• Also for this year would be to develop at least two half-innovative apps.
• This year will be the one where I do more hand stands and possibly a vertical push-up!

LTE Discovery was my main innovative app of 2012. If you search Google for "LTE Discovery", then it should be the first link that pops up. After three weeks of being on Google Play, LTE Discovery is still a one-of-a-kind app. =]

~ Simply Advanced ~

UPDATE: Added hand stands as goal.

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Coolest Technology of the Day: Printable Batteries

These batteries, made with research from UC Berkeley, are ultra-thin, flexible, will make other electronics much thinner, and will provide a lot more opportunities for ubiquitous electronics. They will probably be combined with flexible screens.

These new batteries can be printed just microns thick. Read more:
http://gigaom.com/2013/01/08/a-new-battery-that-could-revolutionize-wearables/

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Learn Morse Code Quicker

This should make learning Morse code a little easier than staring at a plain list.

A quick Morse code refresher:

• Dit is the same as a dot. Dah is the same as a dash.
• The duration of a dash is three times that of a dot.
• Letters are separated by a space duration equal to one dash (or three dots).
• Words are separated by a space duration equal to seven dots.

For more information about Morse code, including numbers.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Danial Goodwin On LinkedIn

My LinkedIn profile has not been associated with this blog until now. This blog shows a creativer (aka more creative) side of me and that could possibly scare some HR folks. But, maybe if it does, then I probably don't want to work with them anyways. =]

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Danial Goodwin Online

In order to ensure my continued survival at the top of search engines, I just published my BrandYourself profile, do me a favor and let me know what you think! http://danialgoodwin.brandyourself.com/

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Artist of the Day: Johnny Cash and Panic! At The Disco

Yesterday I was listening to Johnny Cash most of the time because a part of the trailer for "Django Unchained" reminded me of him.

Today's music of the morning was Christmas music and by the evening time now, Panic! At the Disco is taking over my speakers.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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Android: Add Multiple Spinners (Drop Down Lists) to App

Check out my coding blog. Today I talk about how to add Spinners to your Android app.

~ Simply Advanced ~

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