Brian Booher

Review: Quickoffice for iOS and Android

If there is one function that I want most of all in mobile devices in the ability to inter-operate between platforms. Since I like to get the best of all worlds, in this case iOS and Android, I don’t like the idea of being locked down to a particular device just to be able to do work. I don’t want to assume that the device I have my work on will be with me at all times, as I have had times where I needed something and the device I had at the time didn’t have that item I wanted as it was on something else. This is why I have come to enjoy “Quickoffice”.

Quickoffice is not anything new as for coming onto the app platforms, it has been out for a few years. Google bought them back in June 2012. If you don’t remember this app from last year, here is the original logo.

I’ll be honest that I had forgotten about Google buying this app last year, so I thought this was a completely new app. Oh how time flies.

The biggest thing they do promote in the app, regardless of platform, is signing into your Google Drive account, so you can make documents, spreadsheets, and presentations on your phone and have it uploaded to Google Drive to be accessible from a web browser or another device. You do have the ability to save directly on the device, but as suggestion, it would be best to save to both for backup purposes. Saving directly to your phone will allow for offline access in case you are in an area that does not have cell phone service, like a subway.

During my testing of both iOS and Android versions of the app, I found it to be very simple to use. The document creator was as simple as tapping on the screen to pull up the keyboard and type away. The spreadsheet was the same way, only if I wanted to do something like calculations, I would have to search through the list of functions like SUM. The presentation creator was as simple as double tapping on the cells to create titles and descriptions, just like on a desktop computer.

I wish there were some really awesome functions that isn’t found on any other office productivity app, but I couldn’t find them, though they are probably there and it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you on this review.

The app is free on iOS App Store and Android Play Store.

The iOS version is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. One app to rule them all!

If you use Apple’s productivity apps like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, I say give Quickoffice a try. Look at it as more of a backup of your documents to the cloud where you are not locked down to a single location. iCloud is a good place to store your documents, but it’s only viewable on an Apple product. There might come a time where you need a document, but don’t have access to an Apple device. Whereas iCloud gives only 5GB of free storage, Google Drive begins with 15GB of free storage. Any documents that you make on Google Drive does not count to your storage, although I want to say that I am not sure if documents you make on your phone or tablet will count. I will research that and update soon.

So go out there and have fun with making documents on the go, if there is a fun side to that.

Have Fun and Geek Out!

An open letter to the people of the World of Warcraft

by Brian Booher

To my fellow players of the Alliance and the Horde,

I have been playing “World of Warcraft” since 2007, which puts it in the time of “The Burning Crusade” expansion. I have grinded for hundreds of hours slaying monsters, gathering and processing resources, and leveling characters. It is unlike any other video game that I have ever played before.

The greatest thing about playing World of Warcraft is the ability to interact with people from all over the country and sometimes from around the world. It is a fun time when I get into a raid with people and we are able to collaborate with the group on how to overcome a difficult boss, sometimes repeating the process over and over until that boss is finally taken down. The reward of beating these bosses are great, ranging from money to better gear for that character or a rare kinds of gear or weapons that are seen more of as trophies to show off.

I am fully aware that this is just a game. At any point could I get up from my computer and walk away, never to play World of Warcraft again. However, I have encountered people on different realms who take the gameplay a whole lot more seriously. People who have such determination to get that highest piece of armor, weapon, mount, pet, etc. at all costs. The people who study, for hours on end, different strategies of how to defeat bosses. The people who play new characters the same way every time, like clockwork.

It is these people who tend to have an attitude that they are superior to everyone else because they know they best way. They are the people who will criticize other players for not reaching a certain level of fighting, yet the group as a whole is marching forward, like in dungeons. They are people who will verbally abuse other players through chat if an attack on a boss or monster results in the whole group dying. These are the kinds of people that make the game as a whole not fun to play at times.

I have observed that these people are typically the tanks of the raids or dungeons. They are the ones who have to take on the monsters head on while the others heal them or help with causing damage to the monster in order to kill it. Some like to complain about how they are carrying the team in that the damage they are doing is greater than the others who are supposed to have the ability to cause high damage per second, or DPS. They will even have players kicked out of the group for not performing well enough, yet the team moves forward.

They know they can get away with the abuse because everyone is practically anonymous. Nobody knows who the real player behind that character is. If that character is seen as a problem, then the player can just jump on another character and nobody could tell the difference, unless they acted the same way.

All I really want to say to all those who take this game very seriously, IT’S JUST A GAME!!! You have no right in abusing other players for not performing the same way you do. A lot of people play it for the fun of it, but you take things so seriously that you make it seem like less of a game and more like a job. Unless you work for Blizzard, you are not being paid. I am sorry that your time may be wasted, but realize that people play at different levels. There are people in the game, including me, who do not want to sit around watching YouTube videos of how a fight will go on because they only way we can learn how to fight properly is to be in the action ourselves. I could watch YouTube videos on how to beat Garrosh Hellscream until my eyes bleed, but I still wouldn’t feel ready until I was actually facing him. There is a difference between watching someone learn how to swim and yourself learning how to swim, you have to get into the water to really understand what is going on.

If you’re really good at playing “World of Warcraft”, then become a leader to others and teach them how to be great players too. Don’t become a snobbish dick to everyone else because they don’t know what you know. That only leads you to becoming angry at other people to a point where you may want to quit because you think everyone else is too stupid to play the game.

It’s only a game and life is unfair, so deal with it!

Have fun and geek out!

The greatest announcement since……last year!

by Brian Booher

Did you hear the biggest news in the history of forever? This is going to bigger than sliced bread!! It’s so amazing I can hardly hold in my excitement! Nothing like this has been announced since….last year!

What could it be that drives so many people crazy? Well, we know it’s nothing out of Washington D.C., so it has to be something bigger.

That’s right! Apple is going to have another product announcement on October 22, 2013.

(Queue screaming teenagers at a rock concert)

In case you don’t follow everything Apple, the subject at this announcement on Tuesday will be new iPads. If this event follows the same idea as the September announcement of the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, then we will also see new covers for the iPads too.

There is also the expectation of the new Mac OS “Mavericks” to be released and also the new Mac Pro.

This is an exciting time for all the Apple fans out there. I wonder how many people will call in sick on Tuesday to watch this announcement, whether Apple possibly streams it on their website or they watch it with people like Leo Laporte of TWiT or CNET.

I, of course, will be covering all the news from that day. Maybe someday I will actually be able to travel to an Apple event and see the announcement in person.

Stay tuned!

Have Fun and Geek Out!

The journey of a thousand blogs begins with the first post

by Brian Booher

Greetings readers! I am Brian Booher. I am the new tech blogger for ManhattanDigest.com. I will be making blog posts from the vast world of computers and electronics. Everything from the ongoing battle between iOS and Android, to what’s cool in the video game arena, to the new products and services coming out intended to make our lives better.

I have been working in the computer support field for almost a decade. In that time I found that the best kind of support I can give is face to face with people. I believe that anyone can become a certain level of computer geek, it’s just a matter of explaining the technology in a way that makes sense to most people. Working with people on computer problems face to face also allows me to interact with them that you just can’t do on the phone. Let’s be honest here, who get’s excited about calling tech support when their computer starts to act weird?

As for blogging, I have been involved with that for at least the past 5 years. I have posted several reviews of products such as the 2012 edition of the Nexus 7, iPad 3, Apple Tv, 5th generation iPod touch, etc. Yes, most of those items I listed are Apple products, but I am not a die-hard Apple fan. I prefer to stay technologically neutral as it will allow me to write better blogs and reviews if I can eliminate as much bias as possible. I like the give the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of products that I can get my hands on.

As for what technology I use, I like to go for “the best of both worlds” or multiple worlds. I do not want to lock myself down totally to one system. I don’t like the idea of becoming jealous because some kind of technology that I don’t have can do something that something I do have does not. I own an Android phone and an iPod touch (Android/iOS). I own a Mac and a PC. I own an Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii.

I am very active on social networking, especially the big 3: Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. I post a lot from Google+ which is then sent to my Facebook and Twitter accounts using a service called Friends+me.

Follow me at any or all of these sites:

Google+

Facebook

Twitter

I look forward to blogging on the latest tech news of the day on ManhattanDigest.com. I look forward to keeping people informed on what is out there and what is to come, but also improving my skills as a blogger to become better and better as time moves forward.

Now if you will excuse me, I need some time to start thinking of what to write for my first review.

Have Fun and Geek Out!

ReadQuick – Speed Reader for iOS” from Action Now

by Brian Booher

I’ll be honest, I have never been a fan of reading books. I always found them boring as compared to the thrilling action of a video game. Reading web articles can get boring too as I sit and stare at the screen, having to scroll down every few seconds. After a while of either staring at a computer screen or in a book, the words seem to fade away as the background, which is typically white, seems to bleed onto the words. Well, now I have found a new way of reading web articles that makes it seem fun. I now use “ReadQuick – Speed Reader for iOS”.

“ReadQuick” is an app that helps you learn how to speed read. You might think that learning how to speed read will be hard, as you might not be able to understand what the message is. This app is able to help you develop that skill of speed reading by showing you one word at a time. The science behind it is that your brain will recognize the word without having to read it letter by letter. The length of how long that word is on the screen depends on how many words you want to read in a minute. It ranges from 50 to 800 wpm (words per minute). If you think 50 wpm is a lot, try to read this article word by word every second, equaling 60 wpm and you’ll get the idea that it may be too slow for most people. By default, the app is set to run at 250 wpm.

When you open the app for the first time, it will ask if you want to subscribe to their mailing list for “updates, tips, and speed reading info.” There is also information on how to use the wpm slider and how to access articles directly from the web or from you news stream using Instapaper or Pocket. Personally, I use Google Currents to search for articles that I can save to Instapaper to read later, then go log in my Instapaper account on ReadQuick and speed read the articles there.

The top left button will bring up the menu on the left side of the screen. Some of the options are reading articles from Instapaper and Pocket as well as a “Featured” section that has at least 8 different new sources that make ReadQuick really useful. In the “ReadQuick” section, there is an article that will give you a description of what the app is and how it works.

You can track your stats of how well your speed reading is going. It can track how many words you have read in a week, month, and year. It will also give your average speed and top news sources.

I could write a ton more about how awesome this app is, but that would take the fun out of your experience in trying it out yourself.

The only downside I have found is that the app costs $4.99 on the Apple App Store. It’s not a cheap price, but I think you get your money’s worth since you can access tons of articles on the web and learn how to speed read through them. It one app that works on iPhone/iPod touch and the iPad. It has a native resolution on the iPad so it doesn’t look like the crunched down version from the iPhone like some other apps do.

I’ve only had the app for less than a month and already I am up to 350 wpm. At times I have attempted to read an article at 800 wpm, of which I know I am getting better at since I am able to get bigger pieces of information at that speed than in the beginning when it was all a blur.

This app is a good way of impressing other people when they happen to see you staring at your iPhone or iPad and they just see words flashing in a split second and wonder how you can read that fast.

I doubt that you will be able to speed read so fast that you will flip through books in like 5 seconds much like what Data from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” could do in some episodes. If you can, make a YouTube video of your ability and prove it to the world.

If you want more information from the creator of this app, just check out http://readquickapp.com/. They will have the link to the App Store there too.

Have fun and geek out!

Brian Booher

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