Ever finding yourself needing to pee during a movie like Tom Hanks in A” League of Their Own”.  You feel like your head is going explode like that guy in “Scanners” but you know the second you get up you’ll miss that “Luke, I’m your father” moment that defines the movie.  So unless you have a time traveling DeLorean you’re gonna have to see the movie again because you were in the toilet when movie history was made.

Too bad smartphones aren’t smart enough to pee for you…or or they?  The RunPee App helps you find the best time to pee during your favorite movies.

Click hear to learn more about the RunnPee app.

This iPhone and Android app provides a queue such as a line or a scene in the flick.  When you hear or see the queue you can make a run to the bathroom.  It also tells you how long you have and has a timer!

As an added bonus this useful yet hilarious app gives you a synopsis of the first 5 minutes of a movie in case you’re running late and lets you know if there is anything extra after the end credits.  Could you imagine missing the last 30 seconds of Ferris Bueller!

So go ahead and stop at Starbucks on the on the way to the theater and get a super-grande white chocolate mocha.  Feel free to order that bucket sized Coke with your barrel of popcorn.  You can even enjoy a few cocktails before showtime.

Until movie theaters have a pause button like your DVR or smartphone actually can pee for you, RunPee is the next best thing.

Who knew that Siri and Auto-Correct would make a such a great comedy team.  But the hits just keep coming.  Watch out Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert!  Here are some of the comic styling of this online duo.

Click here for more fun with Auto Correct and Siri

The iPad is changing the way we compute. The mobile market is the largest growing demographic on the Web. But if your website is not iPad compatible, you could be left behind.

With over 25 million sold and still growing, if all the iPad owners of the world came together they could and make their own country. And while there are some worthy competitors, experts agree that nothing has touched the iPad in terms of simplicity, power, and popularity.

The revolutionary impact of Apple’s iPad is being compared to television. Here’s a quote from Darryl Zanuck of 20th Century Fox from 1946.

Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night

Don’t be to the iPad and mobile computing what Darryl Zanuck was to TV. Here are few considerations for a website that taps into mobile computing and the iPad movement.

To Flash or Not to Flash
Flash is a proprietary technology from Adobe primarily used to add animation and video to websites. The problem with Flash is that is not supported on many mobile environments. There has always been tension between Flash and the Web. Artistic types like it. But because of security issues, incompatibility with search engines, and being not compatible with many mobile platforms, Flash has fallen out of favor with much of the IT and Web community.

The bottom line.
You should not build your website on Flash or use Flash for your navigation. If you use Flash at all, use it sparingly. I prefer using JavaScript; it is an open system that works well on mobile devices. And if you use video upload it to YouTube and put the link on your website. Then when your website is viewed from an iPhone/iTouch/iPad it will launch the YouTube app and the user can view the video.

Content is King
On the Web content is king. Of course you want a nice looking website, but on the Internet it is more important what you say that just having a pretty frame. And in today’s real-time online world you need to be able to update your website quickly without a lot of drama. Your website should be built on an open source platform where you post updates without having to go your web designer. Then you can save your webmaster for the big “techie” stuff (ecommerce, RSS feeds, social network plugins, etc…).

The bottom line.
If you need to call your web person every time you want to make even a tiny change to your website then it’s time to renovate your website to a content control system. My favorite is WordPress because of its ease of use, plays well with social media, and works well on mobile browsers.

Need Help?

It can be tricky to renovate your website for the mobile market.  Let TechAdvocate Solutions help you with you develop an online strategy that’s right for you. Click here, fill-out the VERY short form, and someone will be contacting you!

This Apple’s classic commercial from 1984 still holds true today in that the iPad breaks the status quo and takes technology to the next level.

The iMap Weather Radio has an App for your Smartphone or tablet that alerts you of life-threatening weather information.  The application “wakes up” your mobile device when danger approaches.

It uses the phone’s location to determine if there are weather alerts in your area.  It is listed for just $9.99 and is one of those “must-have” apps, especially during storm season.

Here’s the iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weather-radio/id314841443

The iMapWeather Radio app features timely video, voice forecasts, verbal, and/or textual severe weather early warnings including the following:

• Alerts
  Receive a “wake up call” voice from the National Weather Service during severe weather events
• Weather maps
  Interactive local radar maps showing your location relative to emergency warnings.
• Multiple locations
  Receive precise notifications for your location and up to four other locations
• Video Programming
  Check in with local TV severe weather programming with real-time streaming video from your local television stations (where available).

For more info see the following video on the iMapWeather Radio app.

Damn-you-auto-correct is a fun website dedicated to all the embarrassing and just plain WTF auto correct moments in texting.   If you text on a Smartphone (like iPhone) then you’ve been unwillingly punked by the auto-correct gremlin, which has a mind of its own and a wicked sense of humor.

Here’s the website:
http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/

Here’s one of my favorites.

If you don’t like this website then YOU CAN DUCK YOUR SELF…I mean…you know what I mean.  LOL

Now that texting and driving is illegal in Georgia we can all take a sign of relieve that the roads will be a utopia of safety.  BUT WAIT!   Here’s a list of stupid things you can still legally do while driving.

• Eating
• Reading a huge foldout paper map
• Smoking
• Fold your laundry
• Apply Makeup
• Load your Gun
• Carve a wood flute
• Shave your legs

And the list goes on!
OH MY!

Of course anyone with an IQ above a squirrel knows that texting and driving is a really bad idea.  But so is eating a big juicy hamburger, putting on mascara, or doing both at the same time.

It turns out the “Failure to Control” laws that have been on the books for a long time could cover texting and driving as well as other stupid stuff.  And studies from places with texting bans show no significant decrease in traffic accidents.  WHAT!

So did we really need to spend millions of tax payer dollars to pass this new anti-texting-while-driving law?
Were politicians just pandering to get more votes instead of dealing with the more important issues of our times?
I think even your average squirrel knows the answer to these questions.



New studies show cell phone bans while driving are not reducing traffic accidents.  Let me be clear, I am not saying you should text and drive.  I just think that our law makers have better things to do than pass laws against cell phones and texting while driving.  Here’s why:

• They are difficult to enforce.
  How does a cop know if I am texting while driving vs. looking at my iPhone map app getting directions?  Does this mean I have to go back to using unfolding awkward maps?
• Studies show cell phone bans are not reducing accidents.  Here are a few links:
  http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=71379
  http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/01/29/laws-banning-cell-phone-use-while-driving-have-little-impact

I have never been a fan of the hysteria around passing laws that ban cell phone while driving.  See post on http://www.biologyoftechnology.com/2008/07/hands-free/.   I think using some good old common sense while driving goes a lot farther than more laws that are difficult to enforce and don’t really make a difference.

What about laws banning changing clothes while you are in route to a date?  Why is it okay for me to play a game of chess (real chess on a magnetic board) with a passenger but can’t punch out a text while waiting at a red light.  There are no laws against arc-welding while driving.  Call me crazy, but that seems a lot worse (and creepy) that looking at an email you just got on your iPhone.  (Did I just admit to doing all that stuff?  YIKES!)

So here’s my armchair psychology on the anti-cell-phone-while-behind-the-wheel trend.  We have a love-hate relationship with our mobile technology.  We love it because it connects us to the world with a device that fits in our pants pocket.  You can reach out and touch someone from anywhere.  But we hate it because that means anyone can reach us.   We love the accessibility to others but hate the accessibility everyone has to us.

If this were a dating situation you might turn to the bottle and scream for attention.  Alas, we turn to the law.  And somehow we think that putting lame laws on the books making our car a no-phone-zone we are screaming to our mobile devices, “you’re not the boss of me.”  Really!

For example, when I was MUCH younger I had a very slight fender-bender because I was trying to tie my shoes while driving.  But I did get all crazy about banning shoe-strings for all cars!  Did I start saying stuff like, “You ARE NOT getting in the car with me with THOSE shoe-strings!”  No, I simply learned that I should not tie my shoes while driving.

Here’s a thought, just use common sense while you’re driving.  And let our lawmakers get back to what’s really important!

Here are the top 5 cell phones as rated by CNET users.
5. Palm Pre
4. Blackberry Curve 8900
3. iPhone
2. Samsung Memoir T929
1. LG enV Touch

Here’s a video review of these top phone contenders.

I admit that I am an iPhone user and love it!
Who are CNET users?  Techies. And who better to rate cell phones.

Here’s a GPS phone app that bends reality.  If only a phone app could actually bend reality, I could think of some other uses.

The abundance of apps for the iPhone is just one of it’s many appeals.  However, I am not certain we need an iPhone app for everything.  While this commercial parody for an iPhone stalker app is good for a chuckle, it reinforces the premise that just because technology can do something, doesn’t mean we should.

What’s even more funny (and kinda sad), if you did actually make an iPhone stalker app you would probably make a fortune!

But what if you are trying not to be a stalker?  iPhone does have an app for that.  Designated Dialer is a drunk dialing lock for your iPhone! It will help make sure you don’t wake up and look at your recent calls list, thinking “Oh no, what have I done?”.

Disclaimer – the iPhone store may have discontinued this one, but here is a link the Designated Dialer app:
http://appshopper.com/entertainment/designated-dialer

Here’s a link to some other off-the-wall iPhone apps:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/10-off-the-wall-iphone-apps.htm

Another disclaimer – I admit that I am a big fan of my iPhone, but I only have found a few apps that are actually useful.  However, that’s not to say there is no place for useless apps.