TikTok: The New Vine

The New Vine?

In the future people will communicate via video... oh wait, that's already a thing.
In the future people will entertain each other by making 15 second stories and earn Hearts

That's TikTok

  Without downloading the app or checking out YouTube for re-posted videos, a non-millennial might not know about TikTok.  Even if that person had seen television ads, they might still be confused.  This article is not for anyone who has already downloaded the app and consumed (probably) thousands of hours of 15 second videos.

 The app itself is very simple.  You can either watch other people or make your own.  Watching other people is literally as simple as downloading, installing, and opening the app.

  Making videos is also very easy.  Record yourself, pick a track, and submit.  You can however, stop / start the recording as many times as you wish to capture more, before adding a track and submitting.

  Anyone can follow you and offer hearts if they "like" the video.

How to Watch

This bears no real explanation, once you have an account, you can start watching.  If anything the only hard  thing is to figure out how to stop watching.

       

Interactions 

Double tap on videos that you like, Single Tap to pause / play.  There are some icons down the right side of the screen, Top to Bottom; Profile, Hearts (likes), Comments, Share, Music.

You can check out the profile of the user just as easily by swiping from the right. If you like the video, double-tap it and a Heart Icon will appear, then settle on the "hearts" section to the right.   Hearts are Likes, the more hearts a video has the more popular it has become.  Anyone can comment and many do, that's the next icon down. I don't think I have to say, that kind comments are preferred.

After the comments you can find the Share button, depending on which platform you use, you might be able to share in hundreds of ways.  At this time it's not common to share to the web, but to Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, or just to save a copy is pretty simple.  Lastly and probably most importantly is the Music.  You can add music from the list or you can upload and use your own sounds, or just the sounds from your recording. You can search for music too, or just pick from the Top TikTok list.

How to Make a TikTok video

For starters this is not much different than making any video with a smartphone.  Open the app, tap the button at the bottom of the screen.  But TikTok includes a host of cool effects to make your video different than a stock clip. There are several features listed down the right side of the screen including Flip, Speed, Beauty, Filters, Timer, and Duration.  And across the bottom of the screen; Effects, Record, and Upload.  And if you're really into swiping, you can just swipe right to left and get any of the filters.

A number of users find it useful when performing for the video to use the Speed effect to fit their movements to the music. Speed effects can change the speed faster up to 3 x or slower down to 10%

Beauty mode can be used to even-out the texture of the user's face when recording a selfie video.   It tends to remove bright or dark spots when the users faces the phone.

There are yet still literally dozens visual Filters to change the color of the video.  In the image to the right, there are only the first six filters shown, but the tabs across the top reveal at least 20 more effects per tab.  These filters can be accessed either from the Filters button, which pops the function up from the bottom of the screen or by swiping from the right.  When swiping however, it's a serialized action in that you will have to go through every filter from the beginning. Conveniently however, you get an immediate full-screen visual of the chosen filter.

One of the most commonly used filters is the Timer.  This allows the user to start and stop the video to capture scenes.  Some of the most interesting creators in the days of Vine were those who used this feature best to create some amazing video shorts.

Last on the effects list is Duration.  Users can set the duration of their short video clip to either 15 seconds or 60 seconds.  Sometimes you just can't fit the idea into a quarter of a minute and you really need a bit more. Sometimes you need the full minute.  But considering the length of television commercials which come quarter minute sections, it is entirely possible to convey the whole idea in 60 seconds or less.

Check It Out

It's great to see someone bring back the virility of short videos and to see how people interact with them.  It's a great place to create and show off skills in all sorts of things.  It is yet another platform for interesting videos.   However, BE WARNED you may very well get sucked in.  (This article took way longer to write than usual,... got lost in TikTok-cyberspace too many times)

Get TikTok on your phone

Skeptic's Corner: LetGo App can be a HUGE waste of your time

Skeptic's Corner: LetGo App can be a HUGE waste of your time

What is LetGo?

LetGo is very basic, in fact to get started takes very little interaction from a new user.  Other than the typical actions of downloading the app and creating an account, the process is little more than taking a photo of the item and listing a price.

The concept of selling your stuff is not novel.  The internet is full of websites like Craigslist, eBay, or OfferUp, that all enable anyone to sell. The most well-known site is eBay which has a firm sales structure and is well-adapted to the user. And then there are the more recent sites like OfferUp and LetGo which are the front-runners of the less structured selling methods.  LetGo is probably the least structured site and app.  All these selling sites are more similar to the Flea Market than a retail store, in that the prices are set and negotiated by the users, rather than a corporation.  But there is a definite difference between the Flea Market and LetGo.

The Hidden Details

Humans with money are not typically so naive or gullible to buy something without some discourse.  LetGo will allow the seller to post some further details on the item, but encourages that person to do even more than that.  It is apparent from the constant requests and pestering that the site does to encourage boosting a post, that LetGo makes money from further marketing to the seller.

Within the seller side of the app, there is a ratings system that each item includes to encourage the seller to at least include the option to boost a post.  No post will have the 100% complete level until the option to boost is included. Each item can be boosted in the marketplace for a small fee usually $2-$5.  Although the seller can offset the sale of the item by that fee, (by boosting the price by that amount) there is no guarantee it will work.  The boost merely pushes the item to the top of the list.

In addition, there are many other pitfalls to the LetGo app, that are not obvious from the advertising.

A Terrible Waste of Time

I hope dear reader that I can illuminate the issues that I have personally struggled with in my use of the LetGo app, so that you can avoid either the app or the issues in your attempts to sell through the app. It is important to consider how much time you are willing to waste on several factors, in the sale of your item.

(1) How much detail are you willing to include in the initial post?
This can be the specifications or problems that your item my include. If it is a used item, does it have any defects, like scratches or a part that is broke or missing?  To make all these concessions can take a lot of time.  If you have several items to post, you could find yourself still working on the setup 2 hours later.

(2) How much time are you willing to give to buyers?
There are so many ways that buyers can waste your time, this section could be an article all its own. However as I do not want to go into gross detail, I'll settle on my a just a few points.
(2a) Scams are a ubiquitous aspect of anything that can involve money.  It's a challenge to find them all, but I can assure you that at least half of all buyers I encounter are trying to pull one on me. It's probably the top reason that I do not like second-hand sales.
(2b) Flakes are common, if they're not already a scammer.  So many people ask one question regarding the item, and even if you respond immediately, may never reciprocate the conversation.   It's particularly annoying to go through the task of setting a price, a time, a meeting location, and then get an excuse 30 minutes  before the meeting, or to have that person disappear entirely without a reason offered.

I could wax philosophic for hours on these two buyer-types, but without a doubt they are a waste of time.  And I find myself asking rhetorically, "why do I bother trying to sell anything?"

Summary

The LetGo app certainly appears to be a simple tool for selling your second-hand items, but it is actually a ploy to waste your time and take your money.   Most buyers are not real either because they are scammers or because they are not serious.  Although there are many other apps and sites that do the same thing, LetGo draws you in with flashy colors and the promise that it will all be so easy.  DO NOT use the LetGo App, unless your time has no value or you are willing to give away your stuff. 

Realistically you could do better by selling to a Pawn Shop.

BUNZ Community App

BUNZ: A Local Community Barter App

Community is what brings us together in electronic communications and applications and BUNZ is like that, but with a slight twist.  It's not about the money, it's about the community.

Community-centric Tool

There are many applications and sites available to us today, such as Craigslist, Nextdoor, LetGo, OfferUp, etc, but most of these centralize on one aspect from buying and selling to the sharing-economy.  But none of these applications focus on barter or trade in the local community as the core feature.  While it is certainly possible to use these apps to barter most likely the interaction will involve a fiat currency.

Background

BUNZ did start out about 6 years ago (c. 2013) as a private group on Facebook barter community. It grew in popularity in its home-town of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so much that the founders of BUNZ decided to move outside of Facebook to their own website and app. This allowed that the world could re-discover and appreciate the ancient tradition of barter.  BUNZ makes trading items much easier now, so that rather than dealing with the local marketplace and it's financial woes, one can feel at home with a community.

New Feature: BTZ

While BUNZ began as a local community barter app, it has grown to include a currency, where the founders of BUNZ realized that sometimes it was impossible to trade a physical object for a service or vise versa.  Throughout time humans have tried to figure out how exchange goods and services for a fair price.  Usually this involves haggling, but lately prices have been more hard to negotiate.

In using the BTZ crypto-currency, BUNZ has been able to add value to the items that are given for trade, but stay outside of the fiat currencies of its own nation as well as others.

How does it work? 

Joining the BUNZ community is simple enough, anyone can find the site or app.  Joining can be done by visiting the website or downloading the app.  After that the app and site are fairly similar to other aforementioned services like Craigslist, LetGo, or OfferUp.  There is a section to view local posts, a section to create local posts, and a section to invite more friends to the service.

Of course the latest feature in the app, the BTZ cryptocurrency is being promoted at the moment because it is so new to the app, but the feature is a side note to the actual function of the app.  BUNZ is primarily a barter app. and although we may all agree that we barter in a sense for the money that we carry to pay for certain things; it is merely a social construct, a means to an end. 

Barter where Cash is King

As more people join, the value of the app improves, but this value isn't monetary, it's functional.  Our modern society seems to find more value in experiences than in things.  While a photo of one and one's friends atop Aconcagua may speak to thousands of the heroism and challenge, the experience of doing it cannot be captured in a single shot. Transactions in our society have lost their community and meaning. People try to find themselves in things rather than experiences and community.  BUNZ brings this back to us, recapturing the lost element of community in our lives.


Check out BUNZ on both the Google Play and Apple App stores for free now. 

Scanner Radio App

Scanner Radio App

Initially, I looked for the Scanner Radio app as a way to figure out what was happening in my neighborhood.  In conjunction with the site Nextdoor.com I could help to provide my neighbors a more clear concept of what was happening nearby.  But my general curiosity continues and whenever I see or hear an emergency vehicle; I want to know what's going on.

The Scanner Radio app allow anyone with a Smartphone (or PC with internet), to listen into any of thousands of scanners across North America.  All the contributors are volunteers who appreciate the fact that our community services use a radio band that is widely available.

Although it is entirely possible to use the app to listen to popular fire, police, and air traffic control, I personally do not. I only ever use it to find out what is happening in my vicinity.  Therefore I will not reviewing the full scope of this app, merely how I personally use it.

I live in Roseville, Placer County, California, United States of America as of the writing of this article.  The county is actually quite large encompassing a great portion of the heavily traveled and popular Sierra Mountains, including Lake Tahoe and Folsom Lake.  Tahoe is a very large, fresh water lake, but is far better known for its ski resorts such as Squaw Valley Resort, Heavenly Mountain Resort, and Sugar Bowl Resort.

I listen to both "Placer County Law Enforcement and CAL Fire" and "Roseville Police and Fire".

Finding & Listening to a Station

After you I a station that I like, I tag it in the Favorites section.  I have many options to find scanners in my area or any area, whether by search through the Top 50 or Nearby Scanners, or tapping the Search Icon and entering a City or Zip Code.


 The app includes a great number of features as it has improved and updated over the years of its existence. The most basic listening features are lauded by tools and added functions.  Merely listening as I have done, is still applicable, but there is much more.  Personally, I like to change the Equalizer.  Most of the audio that comes across is in the vocal bands and so very low and very high bands aren't as useful and so I turn them down;. bands like 60 Hz and 14 kHz.
   I also recommend setting a snooze timer, especially if you like I, forget that the app is still streaming.  It's nice to listen to late at night, but if an emergency comes over the app at 3 AM, it is an unpleasant wake-up call.

The app will run well in the background, continuing to stream the audio.  If you have a pair of headphones on, you may notice that the audio is not mono.  Many stations have more than 1 channel, especially for Police & Fire channels. Usually each channel is parsed for one side and the other.  So you may get Police in the left ear and Fire in the right ear. It can be confusing and bothersome when something BIG is happening and both departments are speaking.

Other Features

If you find yourself becoming more interested in Scanner Radios, there are many popular stations and even audio chat via Discord.  If you want to keep an "ear" on what's happening, you can set up alerts, which for the most part will notify you that many people have joined a listening channel.

   As an example, when I lived in Sunnyvale, CA there was a reported incident of a man barricading himself into his home when the police arrived.  He barred his door and fired his shotgun at the police through the door.  This caused a HUGE ruckus and the event took place barely a mile from my home.  The number of people who jumped onto Scanner Radio multiplied exponentially within a few minutes and I received an alert, which allowed me to listen to the harrowing conclusion of the stand-off in my own neighborhood.  (they shot and killed him).

Another interesting feature that has been available for a while within the app, is the capability to change the theme color.  I prefer the default orange because it reminds me of an old World Band Radio that my dad got when I was a kid, but there are several other colors.  It's nothing functional, but it may allow you to distinguish features within the app, and if nothing else make a somewhat flat app, look more fancy.

Conclusion

I have used the Scanner Radio app for so long that (when it was available) I purchased it.  The initial release did not include advertisements, but eventually it did to support the app.  I continue to use it because I do not own a physical Citizen Band radio any more and in the digital age it is not so practical as a Smartphone.  Although there are many extras in the Scanner Radio app, I do not use most of them, I leave that to your discovery.

Let me know in the comments what you think about this app.

           

Whitepages Caller ID App

The name Whitepages, might not be familiar to anyone born after 1995, but the Whitepages was the paper-bound book directory sent to homes for the listing of all residential numbers in your town or city. While we may all still be familiar with The Yellow Pages, which was for businesses, the Whitepages had been the other staple in homes for decades prior to caller-id and mobile phones. 

Ever since cellphones gave us the ability to index our lists phone numbers, we've all but forgotten them.  We use the contact name rather than the number for contact, just as we use domain names on the internet rather than remembering the IP addresses. Recently however, spoofing the Caller ID has become rampant, there are actual apps that allow a person to make a call and fool the system. 

Since the Caller ID Spoofing trend hit the market, many people have begun to get calls from companies that are using caller ID's that are not their own.  These companies do not appear to care about which name or number they slander, as long as their message gets out.  And so many people now get false calls from names and numbers that they would never have had contact prior. 

 Thankfully, Whitepages Caller ID app can help to block both spoofers and spam

A Social App

Whitepages Caller ID works on a principle of social networking.  It is useful to know how everyone is reacting to calls and who better to help our than your friends. Both you and your friends can help the app by reporting spam and spoofed numbers to the app.  That way Whitepages can help everyone else be aware of which numbers to block.

The main screen that you will see shows your friends, the total spam phone numbers that you have reported and the total phone numbers that you have blocked.

Nearly every icon or symbol on this screen leads to another action.  You can add personal info by tapping the icon with your initials.  The Green "Friends" icon will take you to a screen for inviting more people.  The Orange Spam triangle will present all the callers that were either already marked by the app as spam or by you.  And the Red Circle crossed leads to those numbers that are blocked.  It is likely that many of the numbers is the spam list will be in the blocked list.  But the blocked lists is mostly up to you to be active with.

On the bottom, the buttons is a list of the last 5 or so people who either you contacted, or contacted you.  The Green dial pad in the lower right-hand corner is merely a link out to your dialing app.

The makers of the Whitepages Caller ID app, are quite serious about getting you to invite your friends. It only really takes 3 invites at a minimum to get the full blocking feature.  But once you friends see the features of this app, they may actually be grateful for the recommendation.



Call Stats

The app doesn't stop there however, it continues on down to offer stats on the calling of your phone.  Once you begin start making calls after having installed the app, it will begin to offer call frequency info. When you scroll to the very bottom, you will see a donut chart that shows the breakdown of how you call.  Although you may already be quite aware of who you call and how often, it's nice to get a feeling what's really going on.

In the section labeled "Frequent Callers" you'll see images of the phone numbers that you've called the most.  Each of these icons will lead to yet another page of info about calls to that number.  It gives a more in-depth display of how you call that number.   If that caller is in your address book already, then you should see their contact info as well as another chart showing incoming versus outgoing calls to that number.

Whereas your current calling app (whatever the default), normally this level of information is not shown.  You usually only get a list of recent callers, no stats.  It is apparent that Whitepages Caller ID app has groomed itself to be the replacement for your current caller app.

If you use the default built-in text messaging app, then you will likely see the text message info in the stats page for each phone number.  But Apps like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Google Hangouts will not display your text messages data through Whitepages Caller ID app.


Take Back Control

Something that we all deal with, unwanted calls, is the very thing that the Whitepages Caller ID app does well.  Whether on mobile phones or land lines, unwanted calls are a hassle, and at least with landline phones, there is no way to block a call (leaving the phone off the hook is not a solution).  Mobile carriers can block phone numbers on request, but it's not so simply as this app.

With the Whitepages Caller ID app, you have control.  You decide whether a call is spam, or needs to be blocked.  And once you've joined others in inviting people to the app, you too will get the Auto-block feature.

Auto Block feature

Via the social networking aspect and the copious users of the app, Whitepages Caller ID has been able to concoct a significant list phone numbers that are spammy. If you so choose, you can access this feature by sending an invite to three friends. Although the feature is still available, you will need to continually tell the app that you don't want to spam three of your friends about the app, whenever the features are used.

There are several ways to indicate how you would like for the Auto Block Feature to act, but most of these actions can be changed in the settings.

Settings

Caller ID options

One of the first features that you come upon in the Whitepages Caller ID app, is a small circular caller id avatar.  The avatar will show for all calls until you change its behavior in the settings.  Here is where I've found that it is most useful to change to showing only for callers that you do not have in your contacts.   The avatar will float over whatever application that you have open currently, when the phone is ringing, during the call, and shortly after it has ended.  Unless you don't mind having a small circle showing the caller's image blocking your app, I'd set it to be closed in the settings.

Call  Blocking Options

Whitepages Caller ID is heavy into the notifications.  The app likes to help you know what is going on with your calls and so it will post call alerts and blocked call notifications.  If you find all these notices annoying, you can shut them off in the settings.

General Options

Some of the more basic options are found in this last section.  Personally, I don't like hearing dial pad touch tones when dialing a number, it can be turned off.  If you want a full history of all that you've done, you can keep up to 12 months.  And lastly, if you want to keep track of your account on Whitepages.com, the registration is found in the General Options section.

Conclusion

I've come to rely on the Whitepages Caller ID app, I use it daily.  I've got at least 100 numbers on the block list.  The app works great with just about any smartphone, both Android and iPhones.  Check out your version by clicking on the appropriate link below.

Let me know in the comments what you think about this app.

Google Shopping Express

Google Shopping Express App

Google Shopping Express is a new idea for Google.  It only began in Spring of 2013 and appears to be direct competition for Amazon same-day delivery.  Utilizing local and participating stores, Google Shopping has expanded to offer express delivery of things from the stores in surrounding area.  For now, the idea is limited to San Francisco, the Peninsula, and the South Bay, but if the trial is a success, it will be rolled out to additional cities in the US.

Being a hardcore Google fan-boy, I felt that it was my duty to install and review the program.  And I am fortunate to live in the beta testing area. Admittedly, considering Google's Shopping experience, I was skeptical as to whether Express would be worth the while, but so far I am impressed.

Search

If anyone knows Search, it's Google.  This is the most comprehensive search I've had the please of using, while simultaneously not overwhelming the user.  Of course it's also possible to just filter down to what you're looking for.

I've been able to search for the product exactly, or by just one word, or by the concept.  I have yet to search by color or scent, but it seems that Google tried to make sure that I will find what I want, even if I don't know what I want.

Payment

Utilizing both the app and the web, Google requires that you register a credit or debit card, although if you have already signed up for Google Wallet you're probably set.

Delivery

It's an impressive feat, to be sure.  Although realistically, it's no different than asking a servant to retrieve something for you.  At least in the US where servants are paid for their services, Google is not for the first six months that you use Shopping Express. And you will have to live in the SF Peninsula or San Jose South Bay areas.

The primary difference, that I have noticed, in having a Google-paid courier service pickup your delivery and a servant is that courier doesn't have much to do with the rest of his / her day.  On a visit to the Sunnyvale downtown shopping center, I noticed hoards of Google Express Shopping couriers loitering about the garage.  Most of them are resting in their vehicles, but I can't imagine that it's a great use of time to just wait about for something to happen.

Conclusion

Alas, this is still just another Google Beta program.  The goal it would seem is to find the happy medium between same-day delivery and the analytics involved.  Google is all about analysis, although they are primarily an advertising company, the rest of the time (and money) goes to research.

I heard recently someone comparing Google to the IBM of yester-year.  It's a large company with mountains of money and a gross percentage of highly intelligent employees. Often it's not apparent what the most brilliant minds in the world are thinking about, but they occasionally come to some spectacular conclusions.  Here's to hoping that the Google think-tank can find that brilliant idea.

NextDoor: Your Neighborhood Watch on the Web

I am totally stoked about this idea.  NextDoor isn't new, but it may as well be new to many people.  The concept is as old as the idea of neighbors, but through the awesome power of the internet, we can now communicate with all our neighbors.  In a sense, it's like the idea of the Neighborhood Watch program but with the addition of a trade forum.

NextDoor is very exclusive in its idealism.  You cannot simply join like you can when creating an email account on Yahoo or Google email services.  The service requires that you have an address and that you verify yourself either via a personal phone number, Social Security, or credit card.  This almost guarantees that you will only ever seen communications between you and your closest local neighbors.

I've only been using NextDoor for a week and already I've communicated with more than 10 neighbors that I did not know before.  And I've found that I have more things in common with those who live near me than I had previously guessed.  In the past, let's say 30 years ago, the only way to get to know your neighbors was to walk down the street and talk to them (or lose a football over the fence). But today, it's quite possible, if not reasonable, to meet your neighbors online.

One of the things that I am most grateful for in the use of NextDoor is the profile space.  Everyone can fill out this section and give each other a small insight to themselves.  This includes a picture in their profile which will allow you to match name and face to an address.  I now know the people who walk their Siberian Husky dogs around the block because they're in my NextDoor neighborhood.

The app is nearly the same as the web interface with some minor tweaks for compactness. I've gone away from receiving updates notifications via email to only through the app.  And it is quite possible to get daily digests rather than momentary updates for each change.  It is fortunate that NextDoor thought to provide an app for both iOS and Android, but is has yet to release a Windows Phone app.  However, it is possible to view the site from any portable device browser if there is yet an app.

I highly recommend checking out NextDoor if you're interested in the happenings of your neighborhood.  It's quite the experience to keep up with the Schwadowskys, Wongs, Winsoms, Burnhardts, and Joneses, especially if you'd never had the time to meet them or were too shy.

Check out the NextDoor App for Android and iOS
And if you haven't been invited, come join me.