8tracks app review

Remember back in the day when you used to make mix tapes or CDs for trips or your buddies?  8tracks is that but in the new age. It's a website that allows you to upload songs and makes playlists then share those via the app or Website.  I know there are a good amount of these sites out there but I honestly don't know of any that do it like I want it other than 8tracks. This has become my go to for new music. Nearly every time I look up a band and find a mix with them in it I find at last 2 bands that I wouldn't have heard of otherwise.

The good:

New music everywhere!  People put their own bands or local bands in the mixes so you hear a lot of new stuff.  You can search for tags, artists, genres, and mixes so you can find all kinds of crazy new and sometimes unexpected music. I enjoy seeing what other people have for summer mixes, etc. I've heard people go from Will Smith to bands like shadows fall, so is always interesting.

The bad:

The only bad things I can see so far are the small amount of skips and the lack of mix creation from mobile. 

Final thoughts:

If you're looking for a new music app and new music this is one of the best. Find me and send me mixes! I'm mapexonly and I'm ready to rock.

Final score: 4/5

Play store link:

8tracks

How To Fax From Your Android Smart Phone For Free!

Nikon Coolpix L810 16.1MP Digital Camera with 26x Optical Zoom - (Google Affiliate Ad)

So a while back I needed to fax my resume every which way I possibly could being a new guy in a new town I needed a job. Job = Found, but getting there was kind of rough. I often found myself searching the web and finding places I'd love to work at but just didn't have the fax machine to fax a resume (in some cases they needed things faxed rather than email and I'm not sure why). I was without hope until I realized I have one of the greatest (at the time) smartphones of all time in my pocket. So i whipped out that OG Droid from Motorola and spent hours hunting for some sort of apps to maybe fax stuff that I took a picture of to a fax number. This turned into a 3 step process.

Step 1: Find an app that will allow me to scan a document for clear reading. Step 2: Find an app that will allow me to fax said document. Step 3: Air high five myself for being so awesome.

The scanning app wasn't hard to come by there are a number of apps designed to scan documents. The fax was a little harder, actually it was a great deal harder. I must have spent well over an hour scouring the Play Store (Android Market at that time) before actually finding a free app to fax with. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of great apps out there that will fax for you but it usually costs 25 cents or so every time you fax and I was throwing down some heavy packs of paper. This brings me to where we are now I finally found Files Anywhere for my faxing needs and Cam Scanner for my scanning. Both are free but there are paid versions of at least Cam Scanner and you can pay to make Files Anywhere pro which would be awesome if you use it a bit.

Cam Scanner:
Great app with a newly updated interface that allows you to take a picture of a piece of paper or whatever and have it scanned to send however or just to keep to read later. It turns whatever you have into a PDF file which is good for most of the world. Don't worry about getting the shot perfect but try to get it close. Cam Scanner comes with some editing tools to crop perfectly and stretch that baby out to perfection so it looks awesome. Examples are below.

The finished product doesn't look the best but looks pretty good considering it's from a phone. Point is don't replace that scanner just yet.

Part 2 of this app adventure is...

Files Anywhere:
Files Anywhere is the fax portion. You have a set amount of space via Files Anywhere that is cloud based so you can upload whatever you need to be faxed. This is not enough space to fax a book so unless you want to pay extra for space keep it simple. It does what it is supposed to do fax wise and actually gives you a space for a cover letter to be added which I loved so you don't have to actually include a cover letter you can just type it on the fly ( great option in my opinion ). Its interface hasn't changed since I got it but it is still simple and one of the most useful things I have on my phone.

Final Score: N/A

Play Store Link: CamScanner

Play Store Link: Files Anywhere

New Web Address Monday, Hold on to yer Butts...

So to my few Subscribers or people who actually care enough to read what I say I will be moving this blog to another address as of Monday which should be http://manalanche.blogspot.com  so point those browsers, flipbook, pulse, or whatever you have in that direction.  This new address will come with a new post if not a few.

Why the name change? 
Well to be honest I for some reason was thinking about graphical work I did a while back and realized what awesome stuff I had before my computer was stolen at my house in what I will call the "Hillbilly Heroine" capital of the United States.  I remembered before I signed up for xanga way back in the day I used to code html and make my own blog sites.  I had intentions of doing this then but was somewhat disheartened when my computer was stolen with my graphics for the new site.  My Manalanche v1.0 graphics were all gone all drafts and layouts I had saved to throw out at the world (not like anyone really cared but it made me happy) were gone and I'm assuming the person who stole my computer probably didn't even know how to even get into my computer or wipe it.  My graphical work, mp3's, and a good deal of my pride was lost to a thief whom probably either broke the computer (because they couldn't figure out the password) or just sold it for a few oxys and moved on which is just sad.  Anyway when I named the blog to begin with I couldn't really think of anything that I liked so now I have something that I like which is whats really important... to me anyway.

Why manalanche?
Why not?  An old friend of mine used to say I was fat back in the day when I was much skinnier than he and to most a normal size.  We joked at this often until he decided he wanted to get out a guitar and make a song about it.  The title manalanche an avalanche of man. To this day I still laugh at that song mostly because of the name but the lyrics were stellar as well. At this point in my life yes I happen to be quite overweight in my opinion.  I'm fine with it and at some point I'm sure I'll do some things to get into a little better health but its not on my top things to do at the moment.  Manalanche is very catchy and one of the funniest things I've ever encountered in my life. Other than drunk boxing a golden gloves champ and winner of tough man when you have no boxing experience ever I can't say I've ever laughed at myself so hard.  So the name stuck.

Why not just keep the imovechickens.blogspot.com and change the name?
New beginnings my friend and I'm looking to expand my blog into a 2 or 3 person blog so a few of my friends that enjoy the same things as I can post about stuff as well and maybe one of those will let me throw out some manalanche  shirts or an oldie but goodie "Drunk Team Go" shirts (I've lived a weird life).

Hope to see you all on the new one.

Short review of Madden for Android!

So I saw this game was available for cheap and I remember playing it a while back on my RAZR.  I thought I liked the game before so I decided to give it a go again since Madden 13 just came out. Every single person in the United States of America knows of this game in one form our another but this version its a bit different.
The good: There are lots of plays to throw at your opponent. Quick passes, runs, some blitz d and pretty much everything you'd expect from Madden. Switching people on d is as simple as pressing them. The best thing about this game is drawing out custom routes for the receivers. You just click a receiver and change the route by drawing one! So awesome!
The bad: The Game play is very slow choppy and just bad. Forget a running game it's pointless. Scoring is this simple: pick pass play, wait to throw, launch a Hail Mary and touchdown. This game could be good and hopefully with updates it will be but buying it full price, no.
Final score: 2.8/5 (for future updates if not is a 1.3)

List of Android apps I always find myself going back to/can't live without

So a friend of mine just recently purchased his first android phone.  With my advice he went with a google galaxy nexus which if you know me you know I just traded my Razr maxx for a galaxy nexus the other day.  I had to re download all of my apps for the new phone and since I recently got a galaxy tab 10.1 I also had to re download for that as well.  Point of that is I'm pretty familiar with what I use on the regular and need to survive.  That being said I'll also be including at least 1 tablet only app which will cut out a good deal of my phone apps. Just so you know this is not  reviews its a list. I'll also tell you what other hardware I'm rockin'! Game on!

Hardware: Samsung Galaxy Nexus (CDMA Verizon) phone, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 WiFi tablet, and HP Pavilion dv6 computer.



Tablet Apps: I decided to start with this because it will make most of my phone apps obsolete (most are camera effect apps)

Photoshop Touch - photo editing app



Phone Apps: What you've been waiting for... Quite a few are paid but it will give you an idea of free ones

8tracks - great music app that couples with a web page good for mixes and discovering new bands
AfterFocus Pro - Photo Editor, lite version available
Amazon Mobile - For all your shopping needs
App Cache Cleaner - exactly what it says
Amazon App Store - free app of the day is mostly crap but sometimes you get lucky
APW (Widgets) - Great set of widgets that I use just for the calendar widget
Atooma (Private Beta) - its a private beta but its worth requesting an invite. It creates functions EX: I have a night time function to where between certain hours the ringer is off
Baby Connect(activity logger) - keeps track of your baby's entire life from crappy diapers to pictures per day to growth charts... I was floored. Best purchase of an app ever.
Big Oven - Recipes and lots of them
Call Control Call Blocker - call blocker for those pesky telemarketers
Cam Scanner - Turns your phone into a scanner
Cerberus - The single best theft defense on the planet.  Pony up the dough its sooooooo worth it I'll be doing a review on this later on in the week. (yes its that impressive)
Chrome  - Chrome web browser by google... need I say more?
Android Classifieds - awesome craigslist app to post and review postings!
Current Caller ID (by Whitepages) - Awesome Caller ID with some good info about who you call/text/etc includes awesome widget
Currents (by Google) - Great news/blog reader
Cymera - Really good photo editor/camera
Dead Trigger - Awesome Game about shooting Zombies and Such
Dish Network Remote Access - This only works if you have dish but allows you to watch dish from your phone/tablet
Ebay - If you don't know about ebay you need not be here you need to be learning about the Internet in general
Emit - Stream your movies/music from your computer to your phone (tested but not thorough yet)
Evernote/Evernote Widget - A note taker and a great deal more! Its a must...
Files Anywhere - Files on a server that actually allows you to Fax from your phone
Fotodanz - Gif maker that's pretty impressive
GifBoom - Another gif maker
Google+ - Social media at its best.  The only reason this is on the list is I'm not sure it comes standard on all phones but it should.
Grocery IQ - Grocery app that allows you to sync with others which is why me and my wife love it
Hipster - Camera App/Social Media think instagram but called hipster (honestly I like it more but not as many people use it)
Instagram - Camera App/Social Media
Key Ring - All of those annoying cards on your key chain put in one place on a phone forever so get rid of those cards people! + sweet widget (its an ugly widget but useful)
Mint.com - to keep all of your finances in line in one simple app.  VERY useful though I still find myself using my actual bank app every now and then
Netflix - Yeah awesome to watch on slow days at work or on a car ride.
One More Clock Widget - A great clock widget that has many nice options
Paper Camera - Fun camera/video app
Pittsburgh Penguins Mobile - My Penguins fix
Perfectly Clear - image correction software
Phonto - Allows you to write on photos, I got it for the font options
PhotoWonder - Photo Editor
PicsArt - Photo Studio/Editor
Pixler-O-Matic - Photo Editor (if you only get one get this one)
Pocket - Saving things on the web to read later
Power Toggles - Toggles as far as the eye can see
Pulse - News/Blog reader
QR Pro - make qr codes, scan qr and bar codes
Scope - Social Media app, consolidates all and puts them in one app that's easy to navigate
Shoebox - Scan old photos and keep them on the web.  Its great for people who grew up before the digital camera
Sleep Time - Great alarm clock that wakes you up at the perfect time... weird but its awesome
Slice - Keep all of those purchases organized and see on a map where exactly they are in route
Smart Tools - A handyman's dream an all in one bundle.  You can also get all of these 1 by 1
Sport TV - For those "less than televised" sporting events also look for sport tv nfl for nfl sports
Tapatalk - Forum app for all of those awesome sites like android central or xda developers get on those forums people!!!!!
The Pensblog - Penguin fix 2
Where's My Droid - Extra protection for theft... actually helped my wife get her stolen phone back a year ago and its only gotten better since!
Zedge - Ring tones Wallpapers etc
Utorrent Remote - Remotely keep track of files downloading, pause, or add new torrents to your computer at home! Its been buggy lately but I'm sure a fix is in the works so its quite awesome.

So folks there you have it my list of must haves.  That is by no means my whole app collection as I do have a problem and keep downloading them.  I must confess I'm a live background junkie as well so maybe a post on that in the future. Hopefully this is a good start for some of you out there so get started and android your face off!!!!!!!

Short review of Luma live background for Android

Luma is a great little background I found in the play store today that I was pretty impressed by as far as options and all. Luma comes with a standard few (actually a lot) backgrounds and it also allows you to customize and make your own. There are a few holiday themed ones which I'll admit I'm a sucker for and a few nice ambient looking cool backgrounds. My favorite ones for my phone are the starships and the space ones but on the tablet I like to keep it a little less sharp as far as graphics go. The only thing I wish you could do would be add your own custom picture to the background. So all in all its worth a look, not too crazy not to plain.
Final score: 3.4/5

Shortest review of Adobe Photoshop Touch for tablets ever...

Publisher: Adobe
This is an app I couldn't wait to try. I'm a big fan of the desktop version but not a fan of the small Photoshop express app which is nothing special what so ever.  The price tag is pretty steep but I'll touch on that in a second. I'm familiar with how to work the desktop version so this should be easy right? Little did I know how easy. This has almost all of the functionality of the desktop version but on a tablet so you can use a stylus or your finger to draw, do corrections, select areas, etc. 
Most people are not like me in terms of loving html, coding, graphical work, etc so the awesome thing about this is the tutorials. You have quite a few to show you how to do some sweet stuff. Anyone could pick this up and do it. The tutorials themselves are actually fun and keep you going as well. if you're into simple stuff that looks good it comes with effects built in. The price tag of $9.99 seems step but considering the price for actual Photoshop this is the deal of a lifetime. I suggest anyone with a tablet pick it up its far exceeded my expectations.
Final score: 5/5 (probably the only perfect score I'll ever give)