Pigeons!!!

What up, ya'll.  I'm here to show you the best (worst) video on YouTube.  Let's make this go viral and confuse people as to why it's so popular.  This really is a waste of time, if I'm being totally honest.  But nonetheless, here ya go...

I can't remember the last time I've had birds this close to me.  I know pigeons get a bad rap, but they're just trying to survive like you and me and all other cute animals out there.  

Hope you enjoyed it.  

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

Happy Birthday to my lovely little girl Evelyn.  She turns one-year-old today!  So cool, man.  It's amazing how fast time flies.  One year already.  Crazy crazy crazy.

Well I have not much else to say here, I just wanted to post a picture of her on here from one year ago today and to say how much I love her.

Things have been wild and crazy around my apartment lately.  With Evie's birthday and subsequent party for said birthday, we've got a revolving door of family visitors this week, and especially this weekend, so needless to say, I've been busy.  I'll use that as an excuse as to why I promised to be a better blogger, then took three weeks off between posts...

Well, have a fine day, today.  And again, happy birthday, Evie!

Vloggerated Returns!

Yeah, dude.  I've made a video blog, or "vlog."  I know you know what that is, I'm sorry for wording it that way, but I was trying to be funny.  Okay, enough trying to fill up space with words, just watch the video, dudes.

Let's Do This

I need to quit over thinking this thing.  I've started each post lately the same way, and this one is no different.  My aversion to writing is seriously getting me down.  Back at the beginning of the year, I wrote a piece summarizing 2011, and in that post, I set a goal to work hard to make this an excellent blog in 2012.  A quarter of the way into this year, I have completely failed.  I was building momentum, and I may have ruined it.  Just have a look at this chart of my blog stats.

Just look at that drop off.  Ugh.  Well, All I'm saying today is that I'm ready to take this back to a new level, or perhaps only back to the previous level I was at until I got all worried about what I wrote and if it was good enough for you all to read.  So yeah, I might just start posting for the sake of posting again.  I think it'll help me get out of this funk I'm in. 

Also, this week, I personally guarantee the return of VLOGGERATED. Now that I got a haircut, I ain't afraid to step in front of the camera again.  Let's do this! I'm pumped! 

Autography

Hey, I just got over 10,000 all-time page views.  How cool is that?  I'm thinking that probably about 7,000 of those were just from my mom alone, but nonetheless, to me, that's an impressive number.

What Does This Say?

Today I want to talk about autographs and signed memorabilia.  What's the point, people?  Seriously, let's take a look at what an autograph means to you and me.

For some reason, everyone asks famous people for their autograph.  We all know that an autographed item is unique for obvious reasons.  It adds value, in certain cases.  An autographed Babe Ruth baseball is worth a lot of money and is generally quite a prized possession. Other people get autographs to prove they met such and such a person.  But what does an autograph really mean in this day and age?  For me, and autograph is supposed to be proof that you met whoever it is you claim you met.  "Look, he signed this!  I met him!  I swear!"  But in this day and age, I believe a picture with a person is much better proof than any signature for proof that you met someone.  Everyone has a camera in their pocket now.  There's no excuse not to (unless the person refuses, I suppose.)

First off, most of the time, when someone signs something, they are signing a lot of different things for people at the same time (maybe) so they're signature is just a scribble.  There are people and agencies out there that verify signatures and authenticate things like this.  Okay, fine, but to you and me, that's someone's, anyone's, scribbled Sharpie on a picture or a sports-related item or a receipt or a t shirt or whatever it may be you had them sign.  That doesn't prove a whole hell of a lot to me.  "Hey look at me I got a picture with Rodger Clemens!" and I say "Wow that's really cool!"  But if you say "Hey look, Roger Clemons scribbled some crap on this ball!" I say, "oh wow, me too, look at this ::scribbles on ball::"

Now taking this a step further, just having an autographed item in you possession means nothing if you didn't actually meet the person and have them sign it.  I have an autographed copy of the album Ghosts by the band The Gay Blades, but that's the only way you could buy their cd off their website when I was buying it.  All their copies for sale on their website were signed.  It makes it special because it's a little bit more personalized, but it doesn't really mean anything if everyone's is signed, right?  If you have an item autographed by someone you actually met, it means something a bit more, because you met them and they signed it. That's the point of autographs in the first place.  So that's why I'm amazed at all these people selling signed stuff on eBay, and people buying it.  Clearly I'm in the minority on the "signed stuff means nothing" point of view.

But honestly, who cares about an autograph?  It's usually just a scribble, and it's not like this person hasn't already signed 4,000 other things, making it not worth a whole lot of money.  Now if someone never signs stuff, like, refuses to do it, and he signs something for someone and it's now a collectors item because of this fact, then sure, that's pretty cool.  But the fact that everyone signs everything all the time, no ones signature is worth anything anymore, unless it's really old.  So next time you're in the Apple Store at the mall and Robert Plant walks in, don't ask for his autograph, ask for a picture with him.  It'll mean a lot more.  At the very least, say hey to him and he'll shoot you a thumbs up.

Not Sure What To Title This, Really

I know I started off a post the same way last month, but man, talk about blogger apathy.  I always think about this space, how updated it has not been, and how I need to just do it.  Well right now, I've dropped everything to just come here and put out a quick post.  It must be done.

The other day I was walking our dog, Bowser, here at our lovely apartment complex.  As we headed over to the "dog area", I noticed that there was a lady and her dog already there.  Now, with a normal dog, this isn't really a problem, but with our dog, he likes to investigate stuff, like people and other dogs, rather enthusiastically.  So, because I saw that lady and her nice, calm dog already in the space I was heading, I decided to hang back until her dog did it's business and they went on their way.

Well as I was waiting, I couldn't help but watch what they were doing, you know, so I knew when they left.  As I watched, I noticed that the dog was about to poop.  Now, everything poops, right?  That's not the real point here.  At our complex, we are asked nicely to pick up after our dogs, so that there isn't poop all over the place.  It's something I've gotten used to over time, and I really don't have a problem picking up poo.  Whatever.  So, this lady is there with her dog, and she's got her bag out, and I'm thinking "great, good, she picks up after her dog, too."

That's when she bends over and sticks the plastic bag directly on the dog's ass, and the dog poops directly into the plastic bag, without hitting the ground.  Now, am I wrong to think that this is totally weird and messed up?  I mean, wouldn't a normal person just let the dog go on the ground and then pick it up afterwards?  You don't have to catch it.  Do you catch you're dogs poop?  And not to mention, one of the ladies from the office was returning from showing two people an apartment that they were thinking of renting.  They had the paperwork in their hands, that's how I know.  And this lady, bent over behind her dog, catching dog poop turns to her and the prospective tenants and asks if their day is going good.  Imagine that scene.

So she threw the poo bag into the compactor and went on her way, and as Bowser prepared to do his thing for himself, I couldn't even imagine doing the same act to Bowser.  It's bad enough he has to poop with an audience, but to have someone catch it while addressing other members of society at the same time?  I don't know I just thought it was weird.  Like I said, there really isn't much of a problem picking it up off the ground. But catching it in a bag? You still have to bend over, so it's not like a "I can't bend over" thing.  I'm not sure what the reason for it is, but there's probably a good one.  But you won't see me catching poo directly into a bag anytime soon.  

10 Great iPhone Apps for Free (mostly)

I love my iPhone.  I really do.  Chances are, if you have one, you love it as well.  If you're anything like me, you're always looking for a great new app to check out.  And hey, maybe sometimes there are older apps that you hadn't heard about that are great as well, but you somehow missed the boat along the way.  Maybe you're new to the iPhone?  Whatever the reason, everyone could use a suggestion or two when it comes to good apps for the iPhone.

So, I've decided to tell you what's good, in no particular order.  Pay attention, there will be a quiz.  (this is not true) There are some obvious apps that are essential that I'm not going to even list because you should probably have them already, like Angry Birds, Facebook, Words with Friends, Instagram, things like that.  These are the "other" apps that I use just about every day and I think you should check out.

Okay?  Okay, let's get to it.

1. What's On TV?  - 

What's On TV?

This app is pretty good for seeing what's on TV, obviously, judging by the title of it.  I don't have cable or satelite at home, I only get my TV from over the air, DTV.  This is perfect since I really have no other TV guide to go off of.  I think they still put a guide in the Sunday paper, or something, but might as well get this app instead because it's convenient and it's free. You can personalize it to you're area and it'll tell you what's on locally.  Pretty good.  I use it often.  You can set your favorites and set alerts when your favorite shows and episodes of shows are coming on.  If you like TV, you'll like this, I think.  

2.  Tiny Review  

Tiny Review

This is a picture based app, like Instagram, but instead of putting filters on the pictures, you put a caption over the picture.  You can follow people or just look at what's "trending", which just seems to be a mix of some of the most recent pictures taken from all over the world.  I think the original idea was to have people leave short, three line reviews for business and things like that.  But people started using it as a general picture posting place, with captions, not necessarily reviewing things.  Anyway, it's a fun little app.  I like it.  

3.  Flipboard 

Flipboard

Do you like to read the news?  Me neither.  But with Flipboard, I do a little bit more now.  If nothing else, it's fun to just make the pages flip up and down.  Not many apps on my phone do I just open and play around with it aimlessly just because I like the way it looks.  Flipboard is one of those apps, though.  You can also hook up your Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts to look at those in a completely unique fashion. You know how your friends post boring stuff you don't feel like clicking on?  Well this makes those boring links look more appealing, and you will probably actually click on them and find what was so interesting. There are several different sites you can hook up to it, from major news outlets like USA Today, BBC news and ESPN, ABC news, stuff like that, to tons of others that are perhaps lesser known like, oh I don't know, "I Love Dogs".  Anyway, there are a lot of choices to personalize it, and I just think it's the best.  I'm pretty sure this is a fantastic iPad app, as well.  Not sure, I don't have one of those. (yet)

4.  Swackett 

Swackett

You know, there are a lot of weather apps out there, but few are as snazzy to look at as Swackett.  Swackett tells you what sort of layering you should be wearing when going out of the house, like if you should be wearing a warm jacket, or if just a hoodie will do, based on the current weather.  Why just look at the weather, when you can look at the weather in style?  It also tell you if you need to put sunglasses on your cat.  It's got extended forecasts and hourly forecasts, just with the 90 degree rotation of the phone.  It's got radar to see if that storm is coming right at you or not.  I don't know, I tell everyone to get this app.  It's the first app that pops into my head whenever someone asks what apps they should get.  It's pretty much the inspiration for this blog post, really.  

5.  Sportacular

Sportacular

For the sports fan, or really anyone who want's to know who's playing when, and against whom, this is a must have.  I've noticed a lot of people use ESPN's Scorecenter.  Okay, that ones alright, I have it too, but I rarely ever use it.  I think this Sportacular app is better.  It's cleaner and faster.  Personally, I like to pick the winners of games in Football and Hockey with this app, just to see how I stack up in predictions.  You can set your favorite teams and it'll tell you the next game each of them has coming up.  You can set score alerts, for when the game starts, when there's a score change or when a period/quarter/half ends.  It updates very quickly when you need to monitor a game on the go and can't watch it.  It's my personal favorite sports app.




6.  Project365

Project365

Any regular reader of this blog knows that I've written at least two, maybe three different posts about how much I love the Project365 app.  Briefly, it's an app where you post a picture to it everyday, with the idea that you'll never forget a day for the rest of you're life.  If you want to know what happend on, say, October 4th, you can pull open the app, go back and see what you did that day, because you took a picture and wrote a description.  Personally, let me see what I did on October 4th, 2011...  Ah yes!  The guy from the carpet cleaning company came and cleaned the carpets in our apartment and I walked around with wet feet all day.  I apparently also watched some baseball.  Thank you, Project365.  I remember that day now!

(Note: with this app, I have the paid version.  There is a free version, but it doesn't overlap into the next year.  Once you've filled up one year, it's done.  The paid version offers multiple years and also, you can upload your pictures to a website where you can look at it and it's saved there forever, too.  If you want it, it's probably worth the 99 cents for the pro version, but the free version works just fine, too.)




7.  Paper Toss or Paper Toss World Tour

Paper Toss World Tour

The best iPhone games are the ones that are the simplest.  This game is exactly that.  It's simple enough that you can be good at the beginner stages right away, and yet difficult enough to make you keep on playing it, whether it's trying to get a huge streak on one of the easy stages, or to make at least one shot on the ridiculously hard stages.  Seriously, I have wasted a lot of time playing this damn game.  It's so addictive.  It's so simple, I don't even need to talk about it anymore.




8.  Taco Bell Locator

Taco Bell Locator

Ever find yourself in an unfamiliar place, yet have a crazy craving for some delicious Taco Bell goodness?  The Taco Bell Locator app is the perfect app for you.  It'll take your location, then show you on a map the nearest Taco Bell locations, within a given radius.  Perfect if you're traveling or if you've recently moved. It goes all the way up to 10 miles out, so if you know you're going to a particular area, you can see where a Taco Bell is.




9. Wikipanion

Wikipanion

If you're like me, you like to read up on stuff from Wikipedia, even with all the warnings from people about how it's not necessarily always the best place to get some facts.  Well, I've found it to be extremely useful, and Wikipanion is your gateway to Wikipedia.  Yes, there is an actual Wikipedia app you can get, but Wikipanion is faster and easier to use.





10.  Echofon

Echofon

Why I waited until the tenth spot to mention the very best twitter app?  To save the very best for last.  I like to tweet (follow @BradPerala or for you sports fans out there, follow @BPsportsTweets) and I've tried NUMEROUS Twitter apps.  Pretty much all of them, actually.  There are some decent things about some of them.  Some have features that you can't do on Echofon (like being able to set pending tweets with Hootsuite.  In fact, if you don't want Echofon, get Hootsuite.  It's a solid runner-up) but no other Twitter app is as easy to use and as easy to read as Echofon.  What it does, and most other apps don't do, is in your Twitter feed, it highlights the links, usernames, hashtags, pictures, and everything else that isn't regular typing, in blue.  It makes in infinitely easier to read.  It picks up where you left off when you open it, it refreshes fast.  It sends you push notifications on mentions and new followers.  Trust me, I've used them all, and this is the best.  Twitter is a rather simple concept, and it's pretty amazing how many apps screw up that mindset.  Echofon keeps is simple.  With Twitter, that's the point, in my opinion.





That's the skinny, people.  These are some of my most heavily used apps, so I say they must be good.  I think you'll like them and find them to be very useful.  I hope you've found this helpful in some way.  Let me know what you're favorite apps that I should try out are in the comments.  Also, let me know if I've helped you out with these suggestions.  Your feedback is very important to me.

Have a fantastic day!