My Top 10 Free Blackberry Apps (for the Storm 9530)

Ever since I got a new Blackberry Storm, I've been on the lookout for apps for it that were really useful and yet free. I've done many Google searches on the subject and for the most part, people keep mentioning the same set of apps. You know, they're the ones like Viigo and the Opera browser. Now don't get me wrong, these are great additions to the Blackberry, but they get boring after a while. I like to try new apps all the time.

I was even looking into learning Java just so I could create my own programs that would do exactly what I wanted and looked exactly how I wanted them to look, however, my job at the time took up all my free time and I never got past buying a "Java for Dummies" book. I still have the book, as new and unused as the day I bought it...

So here I am, quite a number of months later, creating my own list of possibly little known apps (though many of them are well known in the BB App World) that I have found to be of good use to me. These are not in any particular order, just the 10 I've used and liked the most. You may not agree or like them, but hey, this is my blog and this is what I like. But remember that these are apps that work on a Blackberry Storm 9530 and may not work on other BB phones. To make sure, you'll want to check out the app's site or the app's place in the Blackberry App World.

So without further ado...

1. QuickPull Lite
   
   The one downside of using a Java environment for the BB is that it tends to gradually lower the available Application Memory over time. There have been a couple apps I've tried which try to remedy this, but fairly unsuccessfully. Therefore, eventually, I would have to take off the outer rubber casing, open up the back and pull out the battery to restart the phone and thus increase the available memory, for a time at least. Then came QuickPull. As long as I have a shred of available Application Memory, I can use QuickPull to simulate what I used to manually have to do for a battery pull. It is a pretty simple, but useful program and you can even schedule an automatic "pull" to automatically restart your phone. You can find this app in the BB App World.
   



2. Poynt
   
   This is an awesome app that I use constantly. The newest edition of this app includes Business search, People search, Movie search, Restaurant search and a "Map It!" feature. Each of these features are based from your specified search location which you can type in or you can use your phone's GPS capabilities. With the Business search, you can look for any business by name, pretty simple. With the People search (my favorite), you can look up people by phone number, address or name. It's really neat too! With Movie search, you can look up movies by name, genre or top ten at the box office. You can then read the movie's synopsis and even download or just view a trailer for the movie in high, medium or low resolution. You can search what movies are playing in theaters around your search location. The Restaurant search allows you to search for restaurants in the area, by name or even by cuisine. And finally, the "Map It!" feature lets you map your search location using BB Maps or Google Maps. This is a very neat application to have. You can find Poynt in the BB App World.
   



3. WeatherBug
   
   I know, I know, this is one of those apps that appears on most "Top 10 BB Apps" lists, but it is pretty neat. And because it was on all those lists, I didn't try it out until a week or so ago. (Note: I don't like to follow hyped up stuff until the hype has simmered down a bit, so that's why the big delay.) With WeatherBug, you can the temp, wind speed and direction, the highs and lows, the heat index, dew point, humidity and much more! Plus, the main little icon shows the current temperature and the high and low for the day. I'm not a weather fiend by any means and I don't watch the news, but I do like knowing when I'll be melting or not here in Tucson, Arizona and this little app tells me just that. You can find this app in BB App World.
   



4. Google Maps
   
   I wasn't a huge fan of the Blackberry Maps that comes standard with the phone and I was familiar with Google Maps and Google Earth on my PC, so I naturally went searching for Google Maps for my phone. It was a very short search as I just went to m.google.com which is just a list of the available Google apps for mobile devices. While some of these "apps" (or products as they're called by Google) are basically links to the mobile site of whatever they advertise (such as the Blogger "app"), a few are actual apps that you can download. This is the case of Google Maps. The best part that I like about this app is that it has the backbone of Google which, no offense to anyone, is quite a bit bigger than RIM in some areas of technology and therefore has a great deal more access to information about the locations. You may disagree, but that's what I have found out in my experiences. You can find this app at http://m.google.com and is easier to download from your phone's browser.
   



5. YouTube
   
   This is another app that you can download from Google. It is more of a fun app than a useful one, unless you look up informational videos all the time, I guess. But I use YouTube quite often to watch new music videos of a new song that I just heard on the radio. It has (at least almost) the same functionality as the full web version in that you can add a video to your favorites, rate the video and see related videos. I haven't found if you are able to share the video yet, but if there isn't a way yet, I'm sure they'll add it later on. A short, sweet and to the point app that can fill in some extra time. You can find this app at http://m.google.com and is easier to download from your phone's browser.
   



6. PatternLock Lite
   
   I have three kids under 3 years old, two of whom are very fascinated with my phone and grab it as often as possible. I tried to remember to use the phone lock button as often as possible, but my kids would often beat me to it. That's where PatternLock comes in. You can set this app to automatically lock your phone using its various options. Then, when you want to unlock your phone, you have to input whatever pattern you have set on the 3 x 3 dot grid. It's pretty neat graphics for such a simple program. It works both in landscape and portrait view as well. You can find this app in the BB App World.
   



7. ScreenLock
   
   One problem that many people have encountered is that the Storm's screen does not lock when you are on a phone call and many (including my wife) put themselves on mute or put the call on speaker when not meaning to. Then I found ScreenLock. This is an incredibly simple app that has only one function, to lock the screen while you are on a call. It doesn't have any fancy options or icons. It instead automatically starts when you are on a call, both incoming and outgoing. If you do need to use the screen, simply hit the back button and it unlocks the screen. Then you can hit the menu button and lock the screen again. Very easy, very simple, very effective. You can find this app at http://m.crackberry.com in the free Blackberry Storm apps directory and is easier to download from your phone's browser.
   



8. Capture It
   
   I'm sure there are a few screen capture apps out there, but I haven't searched a around for any of them actually. In all reality, I don't use this app very often, but when I need to, it comes in handy. I normally use it to send pictures to friends who have recently purchased a Storm when I am trying to explain something to them. The Capture It option is embedded in the menu, but I also have it linked to a convenience key and when hit, the phone vibrates to tell me that it took the shot. Capture It precisely takes a picture of whatever is on the screen and automatically saves it to the Memory Card. I like it and it works for me, plus it's free. You can find this app at http://m.crackberry.com in the free Blackberry Storm apps directory and is easier to download from your phone's browser.
   



9. Berry Unit Converter
   
   Now I don't know about you, but I am terrible with conversions. I have no idea how many inches are in a meter or how to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. Luckily, the computer was invented so I don't have to keep all that knowledge in my head, which saves room for random movie trivia and my anniversary date (an important thing not to forget!). With this non-graphical app, you can pretty much convert anything to anything within the logical groupings. This app has everything from weight to torque to energy to even film (film frame, second, etc.)! It works consistently without the bugs of other conversion apps I've tried and it has a range of different measurements so I will never be left out in the cold if someone asks me how many Newtons are in an ounce force (0.2780139 I guess). You can find this app at http://m.crackberry.com in the free Blackberry Storm apps directory and is easier to download from your phone's browser.
   



10. FileScout
    
    When it comes to computers, I am a control freak. I am used to File Manager and FTP. I like seeing the actual files in a tree format with the size of the file displayed. That is exactly what this little app does. It shows the file, the file extension, the size of the file and the file location, just as if it were File Manager on my computer. Under the menu, you can zip a file, view a file, put the file on the clipboard, send the file, view the details of the file and more. I wouldn't really recommend this app to anyone who isn't comfortable with computers or the Storm as you could probably do some damage if you accidentally deleted a needed file, which is very possible. But this app suits me just fine, even though I haven't had a practical reason to fully use it yet. You can find this app at http://m.crackberry.com in the free Blackberry Storm apps directory and is easier to download from your phone's browser.
    



11. Bonus App: FlashLight by App Pro Shop
    
    This app is one I use more for fun than for anything useful, although it worked well in a power outage recently when lighting hit a nearby power pole. There are different color options that turn the screen the solid color of whatever you chose. The part I think is neat is that the LED light changes to match the screen! I like the little things in life, what can I say? The app suggests that the different colors can be used in different situations. For example, the red light "does not impair night vision, provides excellent contrast and is not visible to the human eye over long distances". I included the name of the developer of this program because in can find many apps with the same name. This one is free however and is pretty neat. You can find this app in the BB App World.
    

There you have it, my own, personal top 10 list of free apps for the Blackberry Storm 9530. I hope this was useful in some way and helped you find some quality apps for your phone.

If you have any suggestions for any other free apps, please leave a comment.

- J

Why I Hate Politics; Part II

Another reason I hate politics, at least regarding the President, is that the President is very nearly becoming a figue head, much like the Royal Family of England. Most of what comes from the government is from others besides the President. Albeit, it's people he's (or she's) put into office, but still, he even has people who write his speaches for him!

And all it ever seems like is talk, not "grown-up" talk either, more like middle-school "he said/she said" talk. That's all we ever do is talk, talk, talk. Peace talks, treaty talks, get rid of your nuclear weapons talks. I'm not much of a talker, I'm more of a thinker and action person. That's why I was for the war, but that's another blog. But I hate talking things out because it just makes people get heated over nothing! It makes everyone's opinions wrong and nothing gets resolved quickly. In all actuality, as inteligent as we think we are, man responds to actions and examples more than words. I can tell you that I don't like you, but it really won't hit home until I act on that statement. You'll notice me not talking to you, deleting your email and text messages without responding, getting mad and yelling at you, picking at every little thing you do that I don't like, etc. Actions speak louder than words.

When a President or another official gets elected, no matter what, they get picked on for EVERY little thing that they might do that someone doesn't like. People are people. The presidents is a person. People make mistakes, it's inevitable. You try "leading" a country and tell me how easy it is. There's that cliché that says "...you can't please all the people all the time" and it's very true. We've gone through nearly 50 Presidents (Bush is #43/#42 depending on how you look at it) and none of them have been perfect. None of them.

So now you know a little of why I don't like politics. I won't talk very much about them because I don't care to get yelled at by people who disagree and I just don't follow politics in general. But hopefully I've given you something to think about, whether for good or bad.

 - J

Why I Hate Politics; Part I

My hatred for politics is a complex, multi-faceted view which has derived from years of being a United States citizen.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-American by any means. I love my country. From my little research, it's the most abundant land with a variety to suit most any needs. But loving my country does not necessarily mean that I like my government. I dislike it immensely because it is run by people and people are very fallible and easily manipulated and even more easily persuaded, especially by money and power.

But I think one of my biggest reasons for hating politics is that it divides us more than it brings us together. Once the race for office starts, it's basically Republicans versus Democrats with a little sprinkling of other political parties. Republicans think Democrats are dumb and vice versa! How does this bring us together as a nation? I mean, we are picking our next national "leader". Shouldn't we be more unified? At least a little? We even divide our states into colors depending on which state votes for whom!

This division may even pit brother against brother or friend to friend. And people don't think about the other side. They don't think about what REALLY happens. They just think that they are right and anyone who opposes them is completely and utterly wrong. For example, a work-place associate and friend of mine almost started a brawl with me because I wouldn't vote for Obama! We had been talking and I had told him that I didn't register to vote this time because I didn't want to have to do jury duty and I don't really care for either McCain or Obama. Also, if I DID vote, I would vote McCain mainly because he's Republican and I would agree with his views more than I would ever agree with Obama. He pretty much wanted to call me a "stupid, idiotic retard". You could see it on his face. However, I have proven him wrong on many, many occasions because of our disagreements and I am 6 years older than he is. Yet with all this, he still saw me almost as a child who didn't know anything.

And as he was yelling at me about how wrong my opinion was, I stopped him and told him that that was the exact reason why I never talk about politics. It gets people upset, defensive, accusatory, etc...

My View on Politics

Hate them.

 - J

My thoughts on obesity...

First off, let me define what "obesity" is. Actually, let me just copy off of Wikipedia:
Obesity is a condition in which the natural energy reserve of humans or other mammals, which is stored in fat tissue, is expanded far beyond usual levels to the point where it impairs health. Obesity in wild animals is relatively rare, but it is common in domestic animals like pigs and household pets who may be overfed and underexercised. In humans it is considered a major challenge to health.
So, now that we have that taken care of, I have two main points.

1. Obesity should not be a handicap

The other day I saw some guy in a Circle K (a convience store much like a 7-11, Plaid Pantry, etc.) who was rather large himself. He was purchasing three hot dogs, two bags of chips, a soda and some assorted candy. I thought to myself how he shouldn't be buying stuff like that with his weight, but that's about as far as it went.

Then, as I was getting in my car, I noticed he had a handicap license plate. Now I was upset. Especially since he got the handicap space up front and I had to find some random place to park around the back because the parking was all full.

See, the reason I was so upset was because it was pretty much like he got all this extra care and extra bonuses (like an up-front parking space) because he's not responsible enough to manage his own weight! Seriously, why? I mean, I work hard to have enough money to pay my bills (hopefully), have food for my family and maybe have enough left over to buy something extra for my growing five-month old baby boy. And they make me park out in the boondocks because I'm not fat.

Another time a while back, I was in a McDonald's eating a quick dinner before I had to be at church. I literally saw three different people, all who came in seperately, all who had trouble walking because of their weight, all had the large extra value meals with a few extras besides that. Now if you've seen the movie "Super-size Me", you're probably saying that money-hungry McDonalds is at fault for making them fat or some such nonsense.

The truth is, those people were walking in on their own, ordering on their own, paying with their own money, sitting down on their own and eating that fat-laden food on their own. McDonalds stock-holders weren't holding a gun to their heads and the CEO wasn't shoving the food down their gullets. It was their own choice to eat there and to get that much food.
To finish off this point, why are people able to be considered "handicap" because of their own choices? If I chose to blow off my own legs, would I get as much attention an even sympathy as them? Probably not.

2. How is obesity an "epidemic"?
I know, technically it can be an epidemic. Let's look at what Wikipedia says again:
An epidemic is generally a widespread disease that affects many individuals in a population. An epidemic may be restricted to one locale or may even be global (pandemic). An outbreak of a disease is defined as being epidemic, however, not by how many members or what proportion of the population it infects but by how fast it is growing

Personally, when I think of an "epidemic", I think of someting like the Black Plague, the West Nile Virus, etc. I think of it as something that can't be helped, is contagious and causes a panic of some sort. So, if I use my definition: obesity can be helped, is not contagious, and hasn't caused a real panic. I'll break it down even more.

Obesity can be helped - People don't have to be overweight. They just are. Either they're lazy, they can't stop eating or a combination of both. "Studies" have "shown" that you are "more likely to be fat" because of "hereditary reasons". I think that's hogwash. I've known people who's whole family is large, but they decided not to be, so they worked at keeping fit. By "worked", I mean that they watched what they ate, they didn't just sit in front of the boob-tube and they were active somehow, whether it be walking, running, riding a bike, working out, whatever. The point is, they made a decision, they stuck to it and the results were very positive.

Obesity is not contagious - Self-explanatory, you can't catch fatness.

Obesity hasn't caused a true panic - If it had, people would be trying to not be fat instead of eating three double cheeseburgers, a large fry and a biggie Coke. People who have the flu most of the time try to get better as fast as they can. People who are fat most of the time, just stay fat.

Now, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I'm just stating my personal opinion. I just don't understand people ever because they don't make sense, especially when you put logic into the equation. For example, if you smashed your thumb with a hammer, it hurts you, so you try not to smash your thumb again. Being fat hurts you, so why not try to keep from being fat or if you already are, why not do something to solve the problem?

Just my thoughts.

- J

Pharaoh Syndrome

So now I'm pretty convinced that I have what I call "Pharaoh Syndrome". Let me explain...

The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs built large monuments and increasingly larger pyramids to remind everyone who they were and to create a permanent place in history for themselves.

I work at a pool supply retail store. I do the same thing every day. I do about 25 water analysis tests, I "help" customers get rid of their algae problems and then act like their problem is unique when actually the other 3 customers in the store have the exact same problem and the exact same solution, I fix pool cleaners that have a total of 5 different things that could go wrong with them (and again I pretend that this never happens except this one time), and on and on until I get to go home 10 hours later. It's like the movie Groundhog Day where he gets trapped in the same day over and over and over...

Many of these people I help don't stick in my mind at all. In fact, the only ones that do are the ones that I complain about (I'm sure you'll hear ALL about them later on in this blog) or the ones that are extremely nice to me. Other than that, they are just a way for me to get my paycheck. Nothing sticks in my mind about them. Nothing. And some of these people even act like they don't even care that they're not remembered. It's as if they could not even exist and it wouldn't affect me at all.

That's what I'm scared of in my own life. I know, I know, my friends and family will all miss me if I suddenly wasn't here. But beyond that... Who (not in my circle of friends or family) would have their lives changed by me not being here?

This may sound pompous, but it's not that shallow. I believe it's something much deeper. I want to make a significant change in this world. I not only want people to know me or know my name, but I want them to know me because of how I changed the world for the better, even if the act was miniscule in comparison to maybe something the UN might do.

My family has done great things. I'm very proud to be a part of my family, both my mother and my father's sides. For example, my grandfather on my mother's side is part of an organization called the Gideons. You know that Bible that you can always find in a Hotel or Motel room? That was placed there by the Gideons. My grandfather might have actually placed that there for you to pick it up, read it and maybe change your life forever. And my grandparents on my father's side actually created, printed and published (on a small scale because of certain complications) the world's first international trade directory. Coincidentally, it was the first book entirely created on a computer!

And my parents; they moved up to Portland, Oregon with not very much, but a dream to publish a free family Christian newspaper. And we did it. 20,000+ copies every month. And that was back when you had to paste everything onto a big board which you turned into the printers. Now you just put it on a CD or DVD and hand it in.

But I still want to do something greater. I want to be known like how Elvis, John Lennon, Ghandi, Donald Trump, etc. are known. You can go to many different countries and they'd still know who Albert Einstein or Christopher Columbus or even Steven Spielberg was/is! I want to secure a place in time for my memory and for my family's honorable name.

I don't know how I'll get there yet, but I'm always working towards that goal.

The first step is getting out of this job...  :P

 - J

Welcome!

Welcome!

This is pretty much just a blog about me and my opinions. Same kind of thing everyone else has. Hopefully though, it'll be a little humorous and what not. But this is where anyone can learn more about my inner workings and a place where I can rant about stuff (usually the public and how stupid it is).

So hopefully you can find something amusing or interesting on here. Or better yet, something you can actually take away from here and use in real life. That'd be pretty neat. Yes, I said "neat". I know, we don't live in the 50's anymore, but why not?

Please, visit often and see you soon!

- J