It’s been awhile and I apologize. I’m not sure why because this is my site and I can post anytime I want to but you know what I mean. I just wanted to take a second before I went to bed to give you a quick update because it’s been so long.

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.

Hiking is one of my favorite Summer pastimes!  If you’ve ever watched me play most any organized sport, you’d think me to be out of shape.  Hiking is different for me.  I’m in shape enough for some real eight hour hiking excursions and that’s in shape enough for me!

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!

This is a guest post by the blogger over at Techloaded.com who Tweets @Techloaded.  I met him at #BlogChat and he’s another techie so you ought to enjoy his writing!

Every year most of us look back at the previous year and whether or not we are pleased with the progress we’ve made over the year, we think of brand new goals and aspirations for the next year. Some of those goals might include getting more done, making more money or losing weight. In case your one of those people who has made a resolution in the past and failed to keep it or would like to make a resolution but knows you could never keep it all by yourself, we’ve got a few pointers and tips for you that will help you get your goals off to a successful start.

Get Organized

Get Rid of that Pesky Clutter

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time creating documents and files. After time your desktop can get cluttered up. In order to clearly see what’s going on on your desktop, you should go through and delete unused unneeded files and resources. You’ll find yourself able to think clearer and focus on what’s important if you’re desktop and documents folders are clear of clutter and only contain the stuff that is important right now.

Backup, Backup, Backup

You’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a million times, backup! But if you’ve ever had a computer or hard drive die on you, you’ve learned that you absolutely have to do it. As there are tons of backup solutions out there, I’m not going to recommend any particular system. If you do some quick looking around, you’ll find that there are many ways to backup from external hard drives, to CDs to automatic off-site backups as well (onsite versus offsite backing up).

One Place for Passwords

There are a number of apps that are considerably useful for backing up and storing information. These apps come in tremendously useful when you’re trying to remember what that password. If you’re like me, if you need to use a website that you haven’t used in a while, you’ll probably have to go through the process of resetting your password. However, if you use an application like wallet, you can store your passwords in one secure place and get to them quickly when you need them. Just one, thing, don’t forget that master-password!

Get Focused

Even now as I’m typing this I have a little digital assistant working in the background. It’s kinda like big brother except it’s watching my activities to help me become more productive. Scary huh? Well, yes, in a way it is a little scary to me because I know at the end of the week I’m going to get a report telling me how much time I spent working, browsing the Web, Tweeting, or looking at Facebook.

RescueTime (free version available) constantly runs in the background and automatically starts up every time I boot up my computer. It also alerts me when I’ve spent too much time on “time wasting” activities during the day like Facebook. I can also use the “get focused” mode that RescueTime when there’s a project that I need to urgently get done. RescueTime makes it easy to keep goals such as spending less time on Facebook and other time wasters and spending more time getting stuff done.

Find Stuff Fast

Launch that App!

Once you’ve learned how to use the Mac OS Dock and the Windows Taskbar, you’ll realize that while they are excellent tools, they have their shortcomings. I use Quicksilver software which can launch any application within a few keystrokes. No matter how fast you are with a mouse, using keystrokes is faster.

Google is Your Friend (Get that Look off Your Face)

I’ve found myself using Google more and more. If I have an idea or wonder how to do something, I do a couple Google searches. There’s a lot of information available on the web and a few Google searches can give you some information that could lead to some valuable tips.

Google Docs is a No Brainer!

I’ve started using Google Docs more and more lately. In fact, I’m writing this piece up in Google Docs because I know that I can work on it no matter where I’m at. No more worrying about where my files are and if I’m working on the current latest version of the document.

Use Google Chrome, It’s Really Fast

At the risk of sounding like a huge crazy Google fanatic (and if you ask me, I may very well be one of those) I’m going to advise that you use Google Chrome. It’s fast and before long you’ll quit going to individual search engines pages and just enter what you need directly into the address bar, hit command and there’s your Google results. Google Chrome is fast and it’s not just the software that’s fast, you’ll find yourself just feeling more fast and productive as you use it.

Collaborate with Others

Another great way to get things done is to realize that you can’t do everything yourself. There are a lot of people probably in your circles that can do things for you, often cheaper than you could do them yourself. You can use Google Docs to develop collaborative documents and you can use social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and LinkedIn to find people and work with those people to accomplish more.

Stay Motivated!

A huge part of productivity is to stay motivated. I can’t really recommend what will keep you motivated, since that is something that is unique to you. I know that there are some things that help keep me motivated such as looking over my goals, reading something I’ve written or accomplishing something.

I also find that listening to music on Pandora or having a chat or reading some of my favorite blogs also helps me stay motivated. Also, even something as simple and silly as watching a funny Youtube video helps me stay on top of things and keep myself motivated to keep going during the day.

Wow, Christmas is here already!  It seems like September was just last week and now we’re looking smack dab in the face of the Holiday season!  Since the big day (Christmas) is coming up soon, I just recently got done ordering Christmas cards.  As it turns out, I was actually able to create and order my own customized photo cards without having to pay a cent.  Am I cheap?  No, just smart.

Don’t worry, the plan of this post is to share the secret.  How in the world was I able to order customized Christmas cards without spending any money?  Sign up with Zazzle!

I’ve been signed up with Zazzle for a couple of years now and I haven’t even gotten all of the use out of it as I should have.  Let me explain exactly what Zazzle is, and how it can help you be able to create and order your own free personalized Christmas cards.

What is Zazzle?

Zazzle is a website storefront that specializes in selling personalized products.  Check out the list of all the products they offer.  They sell anything from t-shirts and clothes to business cards, skateboards, shoes and ipod cases.  The cool part is that any product can be customized by your own photos, drawings or any kind of artwork.

You can also choose from the many other designs they have.  Another cool part about Zazzle is that anyone can design products and have them put up for sale by Zazzle.  This brings me to the second part of what makes Zazzle so cool.

How can Zazzle get me free Christmas cards?

This title may come across a little deceiving because Zazzle can do more than just get you free Christmas cards.  Zazzle actually allows users to design their own products, have Zazzle take care of selling, producing (and the quality is top notch) and shipping the products, and the designer gets to earn a commission on every product sold with their design.  This is cool because you have the ability to earn money just by designing products people want to buy.

Remember the QR Code shirt I blogged about?

As I mentioned before, I haven’t really taken much advantage of Zazzle as I should have (so far) because I don’t really have a lot of products up for sale but I have made money from them.  I have a shirt or two that I have designed that people buy every so often so commissions add up after a while.  If you have a knack for designing and you really get into it, you can earn even more than I have.

All of that being said, this year I had enough money saved up as commissions from Zazzle that instead of getting a check, I opted to order Christmas stuff instead.  Yes, you can choose to spend the money purchasing from Zazzle instead of waiting for a check to eventually be sent.  In the past I’ve ordered a mouse pad, business cards, and this year some Christmas cards.  It might not seem like much but creating a few designs and sitting back and let people buy them isn’t all that much work for some free stuff, know what I mean?

You can even earn referral commissions!

I almost forgot to mention the other way to earn money from Zazzle.  If you have a website, you can put ads up and refer people to the site and earn a commission off what they buy.  You can also promote the designs that other people have created and earn the referral commissions.  In fact, I don’t even think you need a website, as long as you find a way to share the referral links so customers can find the products.  Check out the referral program and see if there is a way you too can earn a bit of cash from Zazzle that way.

All of that being said, I personally wouldn’t go thinking that you can earn an easy living off of designing and referring for Zazzle.  It is a simple way to earn a few bucks and get some free, high quality stuff.

Tell me what you think.  Have you tried Zazzle?  Is your experience a good one or a bad one?  Do you think you’ll try Zazzle for yourself now that you know?

Oh, and you won’t have time to earn enough for some free stuff for this Christmas but sign up now and get busy and you have a good chance for next year!  I just wanted to share how I was able to do it this year

Well, today is Thanksgiving here in central New York and I’ve sure got a lot to be thankful for.  I’m looking forward to a wonderful day with my family and a whole lot of food.  In fact my wife and mother just spent the whole day yesterday baking and preparing the fixings for today’s meal and my mouth’s been watering just thinking about it.

Since today is a special day, I thought I’d write an article that is more about Thanksgiving than tech.  Since this is my blog I can do that.

First off, I want to let you know that I am going to attempt to take pictures and videos throughout the day today and upload them to my Posterous blog.  This means that you can follow my day almost in real time.  My Twitter and Facebook accounts will be updated whenever I post a new pic or video so keep your eyes open.

Secondly, I would like to post a few Thanksgiving questions for all y’all.  Feel free to answer all or just some of them.

1. What are you most thankful for this year?
2. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
3. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving memory?
4. What are you doing this Thanksgiving day?
5. Have you ever tried a turducken? (just wondering)

Have fun answering the questions and have fun this holiday!

I was reading about a Kenyan news group called KNN or Kiberia News Network and I came across this report they did on this jeans designer in their neighborhood.  This young man was forced to stop his education in 1999 when a parent died.  Instead of becoming idle and falling into bad behavior, he chose to do something with his life.  Check out the story:

I was inspired because it seems like so many young people in my society have chosen lives of idleness instead of doing something with their lives and they don’t face anywhere close to the challenges I’m sure this man faced and still faces even now.

Our economy is down a bit but we don’t live like they do.  Disappointed because you can’t find a job you like?  Take his advice and do something.  There’s no time for idleness.

That’s certainly the question, isn’t it?  The economy I am currently in just seems to be getting tougher.  More and more I am hearing about people making decisions based on their current financial situation and then a layoff comes along.  For example, signing a cell phone contract the day before losing a job.  Not fun times.

We also keep hearing about large companies either closing down or going overseas to cut costs.  Everyone’s cutting back and beginning to be more conservative.

That’s why I am writing this post today.  I wanted to give a tip on how to save a few bucks in today’s tough economy.  We can all use a few tips, right?

A while back I wrote an article about whether or not buying refurbished computers is a good idea.  I went through several things to look at but the main point was that buying new isn’t for everyone.  That made me think though.  There are a lot of things that we are just wasting our money when we buy new.  A car is another thing.  I’ve heard it said that many rich people choose to not buy new cars because of the rate of depreciation in the first year or so.  So they’ll buy them a few years old.

The list of things that are appropriate to buy used goes on.  I ran into this list on Billy.com that lists 10 things worth buying used (also check out Billy’s professional movers section and get some local moving help by comparing the prices for movers in your area).  One of the items on the list that popped out to me was books.  This is so true now since we can go online to sites like Amazon and easily find used books for cheap.  College students are always buying used books from upperclassmen who don’t need them anymore.

Anyway, one of the best ways to save a buck in a tough economy is to buy used products.  Maybe a future list should be “XX things NOT worth buying used.”  That could be fun!

Tell me, do you ever buy used?  What type of product will you NEVER buy used?  And What other money saving tips can you give to help us get by in a tough economy?

Family members and close friends, please don’t let that title give you the wrong idea!  You will hear about a baby BEFORE I blog about it so don’t worry!

What do I mean?  Not meaning to sound punny (ok, maybe I am) but this Spring we are going to be getting a dog.  I wanted one when we first bought the house this last Fall but I thought maybe training a new pet in warmer, dryer weather sounded a bit wiser.

Needless to say, I am excited!  We haven’t had the opportunity to get a dog since we were married because we’ve been in apartments and… you know how that is.  Now, with our own house and a relatively empty backyard, we are ready… finally.

We’ve been putting a lot of thought into this thing.  We know what temperament and size we want.  We are looking for a friendly, calm, patient, good with children and cats type of dog.  We’re also looking for something not too big and not too small (I originally thought I might want a pug but I’m not sure if the snoring would bother me:) so a mid-sized breed is what we agreed on.  All of that together, we think we’re looking for a lab or retriever type of breed.

Also, after looking on PetFinder.com we have decided on adopting a dog from a shelter.  We don’t need a puppy exactly but a younger dog would be ideal.  We would like to bond with it while it is still young and trainable.  I think under a year or two should be fine for our needs.

Now just to find a dog that fits the description!  I took a ride to Steven Swans Humane Society today to look around and meet some of the dogs.  Pray for us because I think I may have found just the right dog for us.  We will be going back this afternoon to meet her again and decide.  This means we MAY be bringing home a new family member TONIGHT!

Don’t worry, I will keep you posted!

Being a blogger myself, I love reading other blogs! I especially love reading blogs that help exact change in other people’s  lives. This is true of LifeButBetter.com. Simply put, this blog seeks to help you make life a bit simpler via small changes. The tips are usually short (easy to digest), easy to implement, and helpful.  In their own words: “LifeButBetter specializes in suggesting better approaches to activities that we already carry out. We don’t need to do extra ’stuff’, just do things a little differently.”  From what I have read so far, they are right.

I think I first came across the blog while on YouTube.  You see, they recorded a video showing a simple tip about headphones and uploaded it to YouTube.  Because they branded the video with the site’s name, I was able to find out where the blog was.  Check out the video:

This blog is a fairly new one but already there are many simple tips to make life simpler.  They seem to post every couple of days or once a week.  Let’s take a look at some of the articles I find interesting and helpful.

How long to hold a door open for someone

Have you ever ran into the uncomfortable situation where you go through a door and someone else is coming in behind you but you’re not sure if they are far enough away that you should just let the door go rather than holding it open for them?  This article tackles the age old question of how long you should hold the door open for someone and offers several ways to make the situation less uncomfortable.

How to pair socks quickly

I think I have a whole dresser drawer filled with unmatched socks.  This is partly because some of the matches are missing and partly because I am too lazy to figure out how to match them.  This handy article gives some tips that may make this job a bit easier.

Very Simple Guide to iPad and tablet computing

Keeping with the theme of keeping things simple, this article breaks down the idea of the iPad in a simple guide.  What is a tablet computer?  How are they used?  Why should you buy an iPad?  How might they evolve?  Want some simple answers to the questions?  Check out this article!

How to make decisions quickly

DO you have a quick decision you need to make?  LifeButBetter.com offers a simple solution to making those quick decisions on the fly.  It’s a quick equation that should simplify your decision making life.  I’ll give you a hint:  There are 4 simple steps and it involves the alphabet.

Pen and Paper vs Cloud Computing

In this interesting article (I say interesting often when I find something humorous) the author continues a debate that has become quite common these days.  I find it interesting because instead of following the common “desktop vs. cloud computing”, they take a different approach and make a point of the old school pen and paper.  I think I just recently had this discussion with my wife after I wrote the article about online grocery shopping list tools.  Apparently there are still some uses for the old style data entry method of writing stuff down.

Top 4 things geeks do that we should too

Ode to us geeks!  I couldn’t talk about LifeButBetter.com without talking about the article giving some credence to us geeks.  This simple lists some things that geeks do that everyone else should probably be doing too.  Are we rubbing off on the world?  Well, we’re at least doing these 4 things right!

There are other blogs out there offering tips to make your life simpler.  I like LifeButBetter.com because of it’s simplicity is advice and design.  What blogs do you like that offer similar tips to simplicity?

As a personal update, I want to let my readers know that I am going through a bit of change in my life.  Recently I made a change from a full-time employee to being employed part time while filling the rest of my income by web-working.  In this article I would like to talk about what web-working is, what the pluses and minuses are, why I am only doing it part time, and why I am doing it at all.

What is web-working?

Web-working is exactly what it sounds like: working on the web.  Basically, if you make any of your income working on the Internet, whether from home or otherwise remotely, whether it be for yourself or an employer, you are a web-worker.  In my case, as a blogger, I have been hired on as a staff writer for MakeUseOf.com, a very popular technology blog.  In so doing, I receive part of my income from home writing articles for a website.  That is why I consider myself to be a web-worker.  I guess you can say I am a part-time web-worker.

What are the pluses and minuses of being a web-worker?

I am glad you asked!  The reason being is that the whole idea of working from home, making your own schedule and being your own boss seems very appealing but it may not be all it’s cracked up to be!  It is true, I do LOVE the flexibility of making my own schedule and such, but it is not always easy!  I am learning that there are a few lessons I need to learn.  I am learning to be self-motivated.  I am learning to be more organized.  I am working on being focused (something I have always had a hard time with).  I am even learning how to make my own goals and complete them.  All of these are really awesome things to learn and if I do it will affect other parts of my life positively.  However, you must realize that it is NOT for everyone!  Everyone may not even enjoy it.

Why am I only doing it part-time?

This is a good question!  If I enjoy the flexibility and the learning/growing experience, why not do it full-time?  Well, the main reason is that I need stability.  What would happen if either I was asked to step down as staff writer, or worse, if the site I write for goes under?  I would be on the street!  And nobody wants to hear a grown man weep!  Well, there’s nothing wrong with a man that cries, but you know what I mean!  I like the safety of having more than one stream of income, especially when the economy tanks.  Another reason is that right now I only write for one site, and the income is only a part-time income.  Am I actively looking for more writing gigs?  Well, other than having INTENTIONS on continuing my own blogging, not really.  Would I turn down another gig if I was offered one?  It would depend:)

Why am I a web-worker at all?

One reason has already been leaked earlier in this article: I like the flexibility!  As was also mentioned, I like the growing experience.  There is more though.  I like being able to spend more time home with my wife.  I like working on the Internet because it’s something I know and have enjoyed growing with through the years (I have also grown to respect it as a great power for both good and evil).  Similarly, I enjoy working at a computer (manual labor makes me cry – j/k!).  And I like working in the comfort of my own office in my own house in my own bedroom!  How’s that work for ya!?

Some tips I need to follow!

So, what do you think?  Am I totally off my rocker?  Have you ever thought about taking a similar leap?  Are you currently a web-worker?  Share with us!