(Semi?) DIY Purikura & Photo Strips

I’ve been having a lot of fun with my new sticker maker (Xyron 150).

My friends love to go out to Cue and Sticki Picki to play with their Purikura machines. However, the cost can add up quickly; as much as $10 per sticker sheet.

For less than the cost of a sticker sheet, I was able to get the Xyron 150; it was about $8.00 after a 40% off coupon at Michaels. The refills are $5.00 per roll of 1.5″ by 20′ (or about $2.50 – $3.00 after coupon; they have them almost weekly, so be patient!).

The Xyron machines come in various sizes, but for my purpose, the 1.5″ width was good enough. Besides, the prices of the refills just aren’t worth it after you hit a certain size.

Using various free “purikura” apps on my iPod Touch, I was able to have my own photo booth in the palm if my hands. Literally!

Individually, the each of the free apps only have so many stamps and frames. But with patience and just transferring your picture between apps, there’s more than enough to keep you busy.

My friends don’t seem to mind this method. It may be a bit of a hassle for those who lack patience (admittedly, it is a little hard to keep track of which app has which stickers…) but it hasn’t steered my friends away from the fun.

If you don’t have a camera capable iDevice, you can opt for editing your photos online as well. Just do a quick Google search for something like “online puris.”

After transferring the pictures onto my computer and resizing them to my liking, I go ahead and print them on photo paper (the price of the photo paper is negligible, for I was able to get 20-packs of 8.5″ x 11″ sheets at Frys for $1.00).

The other option for printing is to resize your pictures into a drawing program (I use GIMP) to fit on a 4″ x 6″ sized print and have them “professionally” processed.

After that’s all done, I cut up the pictures as I like and run them through the Xyron. Instant stickers from your puri-fied photos

For photo strips, I use the PocketBooth app. It was the first app I’d ever purchased and I’m sure glad it did. Of all of the photo apps, PocketBooth is one of the most used apps on my iPod.

Again, I just transfer the stickers, cut them up as desired, and then run them through the Xyron.

BlogPress

Apparently, I’d never written up my thoughts about BlogPress.

Very quickly, it’s a $2.99 (apparently “on sale” from $4.99??) blogging app available through the app store that caters to various platforms such as Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal, Tumblr, Joomla, etc.

At first I didn’t like it because it was duplicating some of my posts and/or deleting them.  But after the most recent update (I believe back in mid January of 2011), everything works quicker and better than ever.

It’s probably one of my most used apps next to FaceBook and RSS Mobile.

Some things I love about it:

• It supports landscape typing.  I’ve tried a few other blogging apps (well, at least the free or lite ones) and a few of them actually don’t support landscape.  It’s surprising really, as you’d think that developers would automatically include that considering that we’d be typing on a small screen.
• The photo uploads directly to the album of your choosing.  I can’t recall the exact ones, but I chose Flickr for mine which was a great improvement.  Not only that, the photo uploads to your post is automatically resized to best fit.  If you click on the picture from your post, you have the option for custom resize and position which is a major plus.  Back when I was using the WordPress app, I was forced to resize from the desktop when I got around to it.  It was such a hassle to have to remember which posts had pictures and then go onto the desktop to resize each and every one of them.  With BlogPress, that’s all eliminated; I can do it right then and there within the app.
• You can actually use HTML.  I recall using BlogBooster and having no option for that whatsoever.  BlogBoosters sucked anyway.
• I’ve never used this option, but apparently, you can also upload YouTube videos.
• I love that it’s Facebook (and Twitter) integrated.  Before figuring this out, I would post up a mini status update (picture + caption) and that was it.  Then I would have the detailed post on my blog.  In this way, everything is linked automatically.
• The labels/tags and categories are easy to use.
• There are plenty of options after you type up your blog, including Save Local/Online Draft, Save and Publish, Save and Preview, and lots of others.  I mainly just publish on the spot.  Only once in a while do I save drafts.
• You can edit font, font size, and even color.  That’s something I’d never seen in a blogging app before.

All in all, it’s the best blogging app that I’d ever tried.  Had I paid for any of the other ones, I’d have been quite disappointed.  But this one impressed me.  I wish for the sake of others that they at least have a Lite version so that we could see if the setup was right for us though.  It took weeks of contemplation before I’d actually decided that I was willing to put down my $2.99 to “try” the app.  Best decision in terms of purchasing apps I’d ever made. 

** I’ll add screen shots when I get the chance.

TextNow Versus TextFree + Voice

I’ve done reviews on TextNow and TextFree separately before. But now that TextFree has Voice, I will do a comparison. Their texting services both work perfectly fine; to be honest, when it comes down to just a texting app, between those two, it’s just which interface you like, really. Both now have the ability to send and receive both SMS and MMS, so I will only do a comparison on their calling features.

Having your own number:

• TextFree + Voice: TextFree has an advantage in that they’ll provide you with a local area code simply by asking for your zip code. After doing so, you’re given a list of numbers with that same area code to choose from. Simple as that; just choose the number that tickles your fancy. Not that the area code matters since everything is done over WiFi, but it does make it more convenient since I believe that your friends would be more likely to pick up your phone if it were a local number.

• TextNow: It was a little confusing selecting my number since it was all over the place. It may have changed since I first started using TextNow, but when I had first gotten it, it was one long list of randomly placed area codes and numbers. It looked something like this: California (949), Texas (xxx), Florida (xxx), California (626), California (312), Texas (xxx), etc. There was no order to it.

Winner: TextFree + Voice
Interface:

• TextFree + Voice: It’s got the same simple interface as ever. I don’t really like their choice of backgrounds or alert messages. I do like the ability to have “favourites” saved though. Overall, the interface kind of just looks too simple and tacky. 1990′s tacky.

• TextNow: I love TextNow’s interface and all. It looks simple, yet sophisticated. I think overall it’s more user friendly as well.

Both have the ability to use your contacts, which is cool (it didn’t use to, before; had to add them in separately). You can also assign photos to your contacts. Both apps have a great team constantly updating. However, I think TextNow’s team is nailing it with their support. TextNow used to constantly crash, but since the last update, I’ve had no problems. TextFree’s team is doing alright, as I’ve never had problems with the app crashing, but have been having problems with their service overall. I’d constantly get messages saying that the service is unavailable and such.

Winner: TextNow

Call Quality and such:

• TextFree + Voice: The calling is pretty good on this one. It’s pretty clear if you have a decent WiFi signal. I love that in the upper corner, you’ll see the little “light” that tells you if it’s Excellent (green light), HD (green light), Good (green or yellow, I don’t remember which), or Poor (red light).

• TextNow: I haven’t had a bad call with this app either. Sometimes though, the person on the other line might fade out for a second. I don’t know how to explain it. Overall, it’s good. I’d wished that they’d have a call quality indicator like TextFree’s though. Right now, you’d just have to hope that you’re in a damn good WiFi area. But it’s good.

Winner: I’ll say it’s a tie. Both call qualities are good, though I’m leaning a slight bit toward TextFree + Voice for its indicator “light” as well as not having the weird “fading” problem of TextNow’s. But hey both do have good service and TextNow’s fading problem is minute. Cost: (just for minutes) I’m only going to evaluate the cost of the minutes, as you’ll have to determine for yourself whether or not you want the apps to be ad supported. Both have the option to buy calling minutes.

• Paid TextFree + Voice: 100 minutes for $1.99, 250 minutes for $4.99, and 500 minutes for $9.99.

• Paid TextNow: 100 minutes for $1.99, and 500 minutes for $9.99.

Both apps also have the option to “earn” calling minutes by downloading apps. (I’m focusing on only the free apps.)

• TextFree + Voice: This one varies. Depending on the app you download, you get a different amount of minutes. It averages about 12 minutes per app though. Be forewarned, the amount of minutes it tells you you’ll earn isn’t always the case. I’ve downloaded apps that promised 15 minutes but only gave me 10, apps that promised 24 and only gave me 20… It’s not a major difference, but they add up. It’s not a major deal since they are free minutes, but it is a minor inconvenience. At the rate of 12 minutes per app, you’re looking at downloading 8 apps for 100 minutes.

• TextNow: TextNow’s is a little more straightforward. Each free app earns you 3 credits. With 30 credits, you can redeem a month’s service with 100 minutes and then 20 credits for 100 minutes thereafter. Every time you redeem your month of service, all of your minutes rollover to the next month. At that rate, you’re looking at downloading 10 apps each month including the 100 minutes that comes with the service, and then 7 apps for every 100 minutes thereafter if you need more minutes that month.

One thing to add is that both apps will be slightly delayed in getting you your credits. Sometimes it’s almost instantaneous as you open your newly downloaded app, but other times, it can take at least a half hour. Sometimes you won’t even get your credits… but they’re free and only take up so much time. Do it while you’re watching TV or something.

Winner: TextNow. TextFree + Voice has this little disclaimer saying that your minutes will expire after (x) amount of days of non-use, but doesn’t give you an expiration date for when and how many minutes will expire. TextNow’s on the other hand,rolls over their minutes to the next month as long as you continue redeeming your monthly service and gives you an exact date as well as a reminder text as to when your service will expire. Overall winner is TextNow for subtle reasons, really. The major tie breaker for me in this case would be TextNow’s “calling plan.” I like the idea of rolling over minutes, even if it means having to redeem credits for the month’s service. But from the looks of it, it’s almost the same amount of apps downloaded for the same amount of minutes. TextNow’s service and interface is a little better in that they have a team working on their users’ wishes all of the time. Plenty of updates to come.

I still would keep both apps, however. At my office, I make lots of phone calls (long distance!) and the
reception for my cell phone is spotty. 99% of the time, I have no signal there. The other 1%, I get cut off. When it’s raining, I don’t even bother with the cell phone. So by all means, I resort to using VoIP phones (the office doesn’t supply me with a landline phone, unfortunately). Having both apps makes it so that I can have a couple hundred minutes each month for business reasons. And having 2 separate phone numbers allows me to remain a little more anonymous.

Update: (27 December 2010)

After using the apps for about a week at the office, I’ll have to say that the call quality of TextFree + Voice is a whole lot better, even with the same WiFi strength. TextNow’s has a tendency to fade in and out and break up a lot too; no dropped calls, but plenty of breaking and static. TextFree + Voice is quite clear and with the signal indicator, you’ll know where the problem lies. TextNow’s calls are only clear in EXTREMELY high WiFi service. Lately, it seems as though TextFree + Voice is actually updating their downloads section for free minutes quite frequently. TextNow’s hasn’t changed much,which makes it kind of hard to earn credits toward minutes.

Update: (28 December 2010)
Hmm. WordPress app needs to quit changing titles andsuch on me. This title for this wasn’t ever supposed to be Platypus.

Back on topic. I was downloading apps like mad last night in order to make up for over 70 minutes used after a session with customer service. TextFree + Voice is the only one giving me minutes. Delayed by about a half hour as Pinger had mentioned, but I’d received them nonetheless. TextNow, on the other hand, hasn’t been crediting me at all. And they haven’t updated their list either. Boo.

I apologise for how my  blog has been looking.  I’d finally just gotten on the laptop to fix a couple of the entries.  WordPress really needs to work on their WordPress iDevice app.    From changing my titles to messing up the entire entry’s formatting… it’s not worth the hassle.  Maybe it’s time I paid for a blogging app.

Update: (07 February 2011)

At the time of this writing, I’ve come to the conclusion that for voice, I prefer TextFree + Voice.  TextNow’s server takes forever to give you your credits (IF they give you your credits).  TextFree’s gives your your minutes almost immediately upon opening up the downloaded apps.  I’d realised now that the 180 days is a great time span for you to use up your minutes.  Even if you don’t, just give yourself a quick call every now and again to make sure that they don’t go to waste/expire.

I still keep TextNow since all of my friends text me at that number though.  And because I like the interface.  But that’s probably all I’ll be using it for.  I don’t think I’m going to waste my time and effort downloading apps for their almost non-existent credits any more.

I’ll admit that my opinions may change again, as both companies are trying their best to outdo the other.  They’ve both have had some updates in the past few months that have greatly enhanced their service.  Unless something big develops, this will probably be my “final” conclusion.  TextFree + Voice > TextNow.

Platypus

It’s been a pretty rough week with work and finals and all. To make matters worse, the girl next door won’t stop arguing with her mom; 5:30 am I wake up to what? A 13 year old arguing with her mom. 10:30 pm I’m going to sleep to what? Arguing. Sometimes 2:00 am and I’m lying in bed listening to what? Yet more arguing.

So all of these nights, staying up without much else to do but think, I worry about school and work. So much so that I start to have a pretty negative outlook on life. It was almost as though I was being conditioned to hate what was going on in my life; just like how disappointment is conditioned into a child.

So much excitement is built up only to be followed by disappointment. The first couple of situations, no big deal. But it becomes so ordinary, so much a part of your life that you willingly accept disappointment as fact, and you actually perceive upcoming events as being a disappointment. There is no more joy in your life; nothing to look forward to. Why? Because you’ve conditioned yourself to expect it as a disappointment.

This is when I started looking for a way out. I didn’t want it to be a pitfall of my life where couldn’t bring myself out. Soon after this realization, I talked to a few close friends and they’d recommended some books and audio to me. However, they just made me think even more.

One night, I decided to listen to the free version of Andrew Johnson’s Relax. It worked wonders, as always, but it always woke you up. The free version’s program only has 2 options; to listen to the program with or without instructions. I decided to budge and get buy the full version at $2.99 so that I could have the sleep, awake, and delayed awake options. I had the best sleep of my life.

Two nights later, I bought the Positivity app. I figured that the Relax app worked so wonderfully that perhaps the Positivity app would give me a better outlook on life. Boy, did it ever. I’m not really sure how, as I would always fall asleep within a few minutes… But I guess it works with you on a subconscious level. I’ve never been happier.

I don’t stress over school or work, I get wonderful sleep, and neither school or work bring me down whatsoever. There used to be days when I dreaded waking up to go to school or work, and while I don’t exactly look forward to going to either right now (I’d much rather be enjoying the outdoors and being by myself and escape for a couple of hours), I don’t mind it.

So in all, I think that Andrew’s apps are wonderful and definitely worth the $2.99. In particular, the Positivity app is definitely worth the $2.99 just to have a good outlook on life; if not, it’ll still get you a well deserved, good night’s sleep.

Update: (15 December 2010)
I took 2 days off from listening to the audio and boy did my outlook change. I went back to dreading work, longing for the day to end. I didn’t want to go to school. I had the most negative thoughts ever. EVER. It wasn’t close to suicidal or anything, but I just wasn’t at all happy. And to be aware of that feeling stinks. Back to listening to the audio I go. I guess this is why Andrew suggests that we listen to it on a daily basis for a minimum of 3 weeks…

Smule Ocarina

FAAD has answered my app prayers! Smule’s ocarina app is free for 24 hours. I was actually about to buy it since I was trying to use up my gift card, but since it was free, that made me one happy child.

For those of you who aren’t aware, the Ocarina app is an ocarina in your pocket! Blow into your iPod Touch or iPhone’s app, maneuver your fingers over the “holes,” and create music.

The ocarina is popular in the Zelda game series. Time to practice!

The app is a fun little one, so get it for free while you can! And if it’s too late, sorry. But it’s a $0.99 app and I say that it’s worth it for a fun little “gadget” to pull out to show your friends.

Burt Goldman Apps

I’ve been pretty curious in regards to hypnosis apps for a while. My favorite apps are still Andrew Johnson’s but I found another interesting set of apps from Burt Goldman.

These apps are not hypnosis and such like Andrew’s, but rather, involves the use of intention and energy. Instead of lite ing to his voice and following his directions, you listen to piano music in which he transcribes his intention into the energy of his music.

In any of his apps, you can listen to a roughly 15 minute explanation of how believes this all works. I’m not quite sure if they work, but I do know that listening to the soft music helps me to cope with life’s unexpected turns.

None if his apps have any ratings at the time of this writing. Also at the time of this writing, he has well over 12 apps, all of which are free of charge from the app store.

They’re alright. But I think I’ll still keep to my Andrew Johnson apps whenever I need to meditate and relax, help cope, or just need some good sleep.

CoupSmart

Ugh. So the WordPress app keeps crashing in me so I’m forced to use BlogWriter Lite. It’s alright; I just can’t type in landscape mode, which is a major hassle for me.

Anyway! CoupSmart! I love the app. As a child, I’d always lived scanning things. When self service check out stands came out, I had the time of my life. Then there was that one toy, Skannerz. Awesome toy. Imagine my excitement when I found the CoupSmart app!

As you scan your items at home, the company uses that information as a way to determine what sort of items each geographic region purchases; all the while earning entries into the month’s raffles as well as coupons and samples based on the items scanned.

I didn’t believe it at first, but I actually did get mailed a $10 bill the other day. The app I legit. I’m still waiting for the day I win the $200 though.

I love that there are ways to win daily, weekly, and monthly. The thing that kind of sucks is that you can’t scan the same things twice, even if you had bought multiples. But its only fair; otherwise I’m sure there would be people scanning one item 50 million times a day. But at least everything resets at the end of the month, so I can go ahead and re-scan my stuff for the following month.

By all means, give it a try. Truly is legit.

TextNow

Move over TextFree! TextNow is definitely my go-to app when it comes to texting now. Not only do I get a legit phone number, I’m also able to text SMS and MMS… AND with the addition of TextNow Voice, I can even make calls!

The downside is that my number is not of my area code. However, TextNow says that the area code does not make any difference; the person on the other line is not charged long distance. It’s been written into their app’s description, but I’m not sure how true it is. I suppose it’s true seeing as how we’re calling over an internet connection rather than through a phone provider.

Anyway. TextNow Voice is great! I love the fact that I can “pay” for this service via “credits,” which can be earned by downloading apps. It takes only 30 credits for the month (@ 3 credits per “featured” free app that changes on a regular basis). With the “purchase” of the service, you’re also given 100 minutes. If more minutes are needed, they can be bought at the rate of 20 credits per 100 minutes. And if you continue using the service, you get the 100 minutes per month that the subscription is valid for including any unused minutes (yes, they roll over!).

The connection is VERY clear. At least, where I live and use the app. Why bother calling over the internet? For one thing, free minutes. For another, it really comes in handy at the office. Where I work, the reception on my cell phone is HORRIBLE. There’s literally 1 bar of service at most. And oddly enough, we don’t have an office phone hooked up; the business operates on call forwarding to cell phones. However, with such a strong WiFi connection, I no longer have to worry about dropped calls. Or long distance charges, for that matter.

At my rate though, I think I’ll be purchasing the year of service (I think it’s about $30.00??). For the use that I’ll be putting it up to at work, it’s definitely worth it.

Update (18 Nov 2010):
With the most recent update, v4.3.3, there are no more crashes. There use to be a lot of crashing of the app upon opening. With this new update though, that’s all fixed.

I hadn’t gone the route of purchasing the Voice package (yet) as I still have minutes that have rolled over from the previous month. Since I found another app, iCall, that is also a Voip service but uses my number, I use that for work and TextNow’s number more for anonymous calls.

I’ll still continue to “renew” me TextNow voice though. Roll over minutes + 100 more minutes for every month that I renew. All for just 30 credits! All I ever do is check on the free apps each night and make sure that I get at least 30 credits before the time to renew.

With the new update, there is also the option to mass text. We’re all just waiting for the update that allows us to receive picture messages now. At the time of writing, picture messages can be sent but not received.

Can’t wait for future updates!

Deep Sleep with Andrew Johnson

Wow.  So I was pretty amazed by the free version of Relax Completely with Andrew Johnson already and decided to use my (first ever!) iTunes card to get Deep Sleep since I often have trouble falling asleep at night.

This app blew me away!  I had no idea that I’d even fallen asleep.  I just woke up when my alarm went off…  It was AMAZING.  Probably THE best sleep I’ve had in ages.

The layout and set up and whatnot is the same as all of the other Andrew Johnson apps.  It’s very easy to use and quite effective.

I can’t wait to get my hands on some of the other ones…  Definitely try out the free version of Relax though and then move on to the paid versions to see for yourself.  As Tony the Tiger would say, “They’re grrrrr….eat!” 

Relax Completely & Relax with Andrew Johnson Lite

It’s been quite a stressful week.  But a random look through the App Store lured me toward the “relaxation” or perhaps, “hypnosis” apps that were available.  Of them all, it seemed that Relax Completely and Relax with Andrew Johnson Lite were getting the best reviews.  Then again, the rest were just ambiance music. 

Anyway, I decided to try them out both last night.  And surprisingly, it really did put me in a better mood and I got the best sleep of my life out of it.  I had my doubts, but I gave it a chance and for me, it really did work.

I think I like the Relax with Andrew Johnson Lite over the Relax Completely App.  I found that Andrew did a better job in relaxing your entire body, going through each individual body part slowly and completely, whereas the Relax Completely app just told you to “relax your entire body.”  Andrew went into the trouble of making sure that each body part was relaxed.

Both apps had soothing voices.  The downside to Andrew was that his counting kind of threw me off; he counts kind of abruptly, especially when he’s counting up from 1 to 10 to wake you back up.  But other than that, it was great!

Though I personally like Andrew’s app over the other, I would recommend that you try both and see for yourself.  They’re both free, so it’s definitely worth a try.

Update: [21 October 2010]

It’s been a while since I’ve last used this app.  But I’m sure glad that I still keep it around.  Exam 2 for Chem 185 is today and I was really sleepy and tense from the lack of sleep the past couple of days.  Well, not so much lack of sleep, but just drained from all of the studying that I’ve been up to.

So anyway, I listened to Andrew Johnson and boy, did I feel great afterwards.  I’m so ready for my test now.    The thing that amazes me is that you feel as though you’ve been relaxing/sleeping for a while, but in reality, probably only 5 minutes has passed.  The entire track is maybe 10 to 15 minutes long and I’ll assume that it’ll take half that amount to get situated before you’re so relaxed that it feels as though you’ve dozed off.  Gotta love this app!  I highly recommend it.