Posts by Mike Swire

MobileActive: A Leading Source on How Mobile Phones Can Make the World a Better Place

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Are you interested in using mobile technology to make the world a better place?  If so, make sure to check out MobileActive.org.  They’ve got a great blog and newsletter summarizing various mobile activism projects making a difference throughout the world.

Here is a quick summary of what they do:

“MobileActive.org connects people, organizations, and resources using mobile technology for social change.

We are committed to increasing the effectiveness of NGOs around the world who recognize that the 4.5 billion mobile phones provide unprecedented opportunities for organizing, communications, and service and information delivery.

We work together to create the resources NGOs need to effectively use mobile phones in their work: locally relevant content and services, support and learning opportunities, and networks that help MobileActives connect to each other. With these things on hand, tens of thousands of NGOs will be in a better position to enrich and serve their communities.

The MobileActive.org community includes grassroots activists, NGO staff, intermediary organizations, content and service providers, and organizations who fund mobile technology projects.

MobileActive is committed to expanding the knowledge and experiences about the use of mobile phones and to accelerating the use of effective strategies and tactics while reducing the learning costs for organizations.”

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Posted in Political | 1 Comment »

How to improve the battery life on your BlackBerry

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

As I have become increasingly dependent on my BlackBerry, I have become more vigilant about ensuring that my battery doesn’t die.  Here are some tips that I have found on various sites (CIO, Crackberry):

  • Turn off unnecessary wireless connections - Make sure to turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and even your cellular connections when you don’t need them.  This is especially important in areas where coverage is spotty – your phone increases radio strength to find signals when they are weak.  You can do this through the “Manage Connections” tool.
  • Shut off your device at night – You can set your BlackBerry to automatically shut off each night.  Use the “Options” tool.
  • Simplify notifications - Limit situations in which your phone vibrates or rings.  You probably don’t need your phone to vibrate and ring at the same time.  If you get 100+ emails per day, do you really need to be notified each time?  Use the “Profiles” tool.
  • Dim your backlight - Those beautiful screens can suck up some serious juice.  You probably don’t need the screen very bright, especially if you spend most time indoors.   You can also shorten the time that the backlight is enabled.  Go to “Options” and then “Screen/Keyboard”.
  • Beware of certain apps - Certain apps such as Viigo and Facebook (if you are a social butterfly) are in constant communication with the wireless network.  Delete the apps or see if they have settings that enable you to limit updates.
  • Close apps running in the background - Even if you aren’t using an app it can continue to suck juice.  Hold down the ALT key and then hit the escape key to see what apps are running in the background.  Close those that you don’t need (although I don’t think that the “core” apps like Phone and Messages are closable).
  • Put your phone in standby – This turns off power to the keyboard and backlight.  Hold down the Mute button on the top of your phone.
  • Clean your battery connections – They get dirty over time, decreasing their efficiency.  Be gentle.  Look for products designed to clean electronics.
  • Use the holster – It puts the BlackBerry to sleep.
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Finding a Parking Spot with Your Mobile Phone

Monday, March 29th, 2010

As urban residents know, finding a parking spot can be a time consuming and incredibly frustrating experience. Sadly, it is also quite destructive for the environment. Transportation Alternatives, a great non-profit in NYC which promotes bicycling, walking and public transit, estimates that 45% of NYC traffic is generated by cars circling the block in search of parking.

Thankfully, you mobile phone can help preserve your sanity while saving you gas money and preventing pollution. If you live in New York or Boston, check out Primospot. They have a mobile-friendly website (as well as iPhone and Android apps) that help you find parking spots, garages, and even bicycle racks. Just type in your address, intersection, or zip code. For parkings spots, it provides a map that shows where you can (and cannot) park, shows how much time is left based on the regulations, and identifies spots that are about to become legal. For garages, you can compare hourly, daily and monthly prices on the map.

To access PrimoSpot on your Credo Mobile BlackBerry or other Internet enabled mobile device, open the browser of your phone or device and type http://primospot.com/m in its address field. The homepage will open.

search

The results for the on-street parking will display the best options first, meaning which sides of which blocks you can park for the longest amount of time. The red asterisk* indicates metered parking. If you would like to see more results, scroll down to the bottom and click next.

>results1

After clicking on a side of one of the blocks, you will see a map and the detailed regulations for that side of the street.
details

Good luck finding those spots, but wouldn’t it be easier if you were biking? (Also, please pull over before using this app. Driving while playing with your mobile phone is as risky as drunk driving. Tx.)

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Posted in Green, Productivity, Travel and Maps | 4 Comments »

Creating shopping lists on your Blackberry

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

My Blackberry is my phone, my email device, my camera, and my shopping list. Yes, shopping list. No more little scraps of paper, scribbling on my palm (Sarah Palin has given this a bad name), or straining to remember my wife’s need for wasabi peas. With your Blackberry, it’s easy to create shopping lists for multiple stores and have access to them whenever you are out and about.

You should have an app called Tasks pre-installed on your Blackberry. It looks like a clipboard with a few check marks. Open the app and then follow these directions:

Create shopping lists - I have one shopping list for various types of stores (e.g., Costco, Trader Joe’s, hardware, pharmacy).
- Click the Blackberry button and select “Filter” – this takes you to a list of the Categories for tasks. Each shopping list should have its own category
- Click the Blackberry button and select “New”. Type the shopping list name and hit return.
- Repeat this process to create additional shopping lists

Create a list – Now you can add items to each shopping list:
- Hit the back button to get to your list of tasks. You should see “Find” at the top.
- Hit the Blackberry button and select “New”
- Type the name of the item in the Task line at the top
- The following options allow you to set prioritize an item and create reminders
- Scroll to “Category” and hit enter. This takes you to your list of shopping lists. Scroll to the appropriate list and hit your trackball or space bar to check the box.
- Click the Blackberry button and select close. Chose “Save” when prompted.

View shopping lists - All of your tasks, from all shopping lists, are listed together when you open the Tasks app. If you want to get to a specific shopping list:
- Click the Blackberry button and select Filter.
- Place a check next to the appropriate shopping list(s)
- Now you will see only the items from specific stores.
- As you make a purchase, make sure to check off your items.
- Already purchased items still appear in the list. This is nice because when you run out of “wild Chinook salmon”, you don’t need to retype it; simply find the item in the appropriate list and uncheck it

Tasks can be configured to synch with your Outlook task list so you can also access the content on your desktop. Here is some more detail on tasks from Blackberry.

Sadly, you will now need to find another excuse for forgetting to purchase the wasabi peas.

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Posted in Utilities | 1 Comment »

Improving transportation planning for cyclists through smartphones & GPS

Monday, January 11th, 2010

The San Francisco Transportation Authority (SFTA) has released a mobile application that will improve its ability to understand the traffic patterns of cyclists in the city. Traditionally, the SFTA has used far less accurate and more manual methods of collecting data on bicycle use – e.g., someone standing on a corner counting. By installing an app on your GPS-enabled smartphone and then providing some data on your trips, you can provide rich, accurate, and real-time data to SFTA on how you bike in the city. This is a great step forward in quantifying the growing number of cyclists in the city and making the roads better for them.

The application is currently only available on the iPhone and Android platforms. This has driven some concern for a variety of reasons:

  • It doesn’t provide an accurate view of a very large segment of users. Blackberry has far more current users than the iPhone and the Android platforms combined.

  • It doesn’t provide as representative a picture of users from a variety of income backgrounds. The iPhone is one of the most expensive devices out there ($200 for the newest model). You can get a Blackberry for $50 or often less.

  • It probably undercounts bicycle commuters heading downtown. There are 16 million more enterprise Blackberry users than there are enterprise iPhone users in the US. I believe that addressing the bicycle needs of commuters represents the largest opportunity for taking cars off the road.

  • It isn’t available on CREDO Mobile. Bicyclists such as myself love CREDO Mobile, the greenest mobile phone carrier in America. The iPhone is only available on AT&T, a carrier with a history of contributions to right-wing politicians, including U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) who opposes government spending on bicycle infrastructure. Also, CREDO Mobile is a San Francisco business and woman-owned.

    • If you are interested in having the Cycletracks app support Blackberry, please contact Billy Charlton via email or at (415) 522-4816.

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    Posted in Public policy, Reference, Utilities | No Comments »

    More mobile activism for cyclists

    Friday, December 11th, 2009

    Back in June, I posted on how cyclists can use their cameraphones to clear the bike lanes of cars. I am happy to announce that the City of Belmont has just made parking illegal on Ralston Avenue (thank you!). Hopefully, this means no more cars blocking the bike lane. A victory for cyclists and mobile activism by cameraphone!!!

    Our work is not done, sadly. Cyclists with cameraphones have moved on to yet another very important goal – improving conditions for cyclists on Caltrain.

    Caltrain is the main commuter rail service between San Jose and San Francisco. Caltrain has special bike cars where cyclists can store their bikes. This makes it easier to get to and from the station sans gasoline. As interest in bike/train commuting has grown, however, cyclists have faced challenges in using this service – 1) cyclists still get “bumped” from trains when the bike cars are already full; and 2) cyclists are often forced to sit on the floor, stand, or sit away from their bikes as there is insufficient seating in the bike cars.

    My CREDO Mobile Blackberry Curve is again a great tool for documenting and drawing attention to problems. I can take pictures or videos of bikers forced to sit on the floor. I can then post them to our “Cyclists for a Better Caltrain” group on Facebook and share them with other activists, decision makers, and the press. I can also point out when the conductors have done something fabulous that makes bikers more comfortable and helps the trains run on schedule.

    If you are a cyclist who rides Caltrain, please join our group on Facebook. IF you are looking to join up with other bike activists, make sure to join the incredible San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Strength in numbers!

    Bikers sitting on the stairs and standing due to a lack of seats

    Bikers sitting on the stairs and standing due to a lack of seats

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    Posted in Accessories, Green, Public policy, Uncategorized, Video, cameraphone | No Comments »

    Why Does Apple Censor Political Content on Its iPhone App Store?

    Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

    freedom-time1

    “Defaming, demeaning, or attacking political figures is not considered appropriate content for the App Store.”

    CREDO Mobile is a big supporter of Net Neutrality and the groups that fight for it. One important aspect of the Net Neutrality fight is the ability for telcos to restrict the content that they make available to their customers. Such restrictions often focus on maintaining the company’s market power (e.g., AT&T vs. Skype and Google Voice).

    With the proliferation of the Blackberry and iPhone app stores, however, handset manufacturers are now in a powerful position to decide what you can see or do on your phone. This opens the door to political censorship. Sadly, Apple has already taken some steps in this direction. In 2008, Apple rejected the Freedom Time app from software developer Juggleware. Freedom Time was a harmless app that displayed a cartoon character of George Bush with arms like a Mickey Mouse watch. The application counted down the days until Inauguration Day.

    Apple rejected Juggleware’s application to sell the Freedom Time app through the iPhone App Store, “Defaming, demeaning, or attacking political figures is not considered appropriate content for the App Store.” Juggleware appealed directly to Steve Jobs who put perceived profits ahead of free speech, “Even though my personal political leanings are democratic, I think this app will be offensive to roughly half our customers. What’s the point?”

    The point, Steve, is that you and Apple should not be evaluating what political speech is appropriate. If you need to evaluate this decision from a pure business standpoint, how about listening to the majority of your customers who support net neutrality and would prefer to make their own decisions on what content they should be able to access?

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    Posted in Public policy | 1 Comment »

    Get More Productive with Voicemail on Your Blackberry

    Friday, October 30th, 2009

    Here are some tips for getting your voice mail messages more quickly:

    One-touch voicemail access – Hold down the number one. OK, you probably knew that.

    Pre-program your voicemail password – By pre-programming your voicemail password, you can have one-touch access directly to your recent messages. Keep in mind that anyone who picks up your phone can now easily get into your VM:

    • From your main screen, hit the green button to get to your calling menu
    • Hit the Blackberry button (the one with seven dots)
    • Select “Options”
    • Select “Voice Mail”
    • In the Password field, type your voicemail password followed by “#1″. The “#” is a 3-second pause – this allows your voicemail to accept your password before automatically asking to play back messages.
    • Hit the Blackberry button and choose “Save”
    • Now, you should get right to new messages when you hold down the “1″ key

    . . . or stop using a voicemail password – If your initials aren’t POTUS and you don’t care about the security of your voicemail, you can remove requiring a password for access:

    • Enter voicemail
    • Press 3 for Personal Options
    • Press 1 for Settings
    • Press 1 to skip your password

    Streamline voicemail menus - If you have used voicemail before, turn on Expert Mode. This will simplify the often lengthy instructions from the voicemail lady:

    • Enter voicemail
    • Press 3 for Personal Options
    • Press 3 for Expert Mode
    • Press 1 to turn on Expert Mode

    Stop playback of VM date and time info - If you don’t care much about when someone called (you can always look in your call log), you can stop playback of this info:

    • Enter voicemail
    • Press 3 for Personal Options
    • Press 1 for Settings
    • Press 3 to turn off message date and time. (You can still hear this info during the call as necessary, however, by hitting 1)

    Put your time savings to good use - Now that you have so much more free time in your life, call your Members of Congress and ask them to support a public option!

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    Posted in Productivity, voicemail | No Comments »

    Driven to Distraction: Great New York Times Series on the Dangers of Using Your Phone While Driving

    Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
    not good

    not good

    The New York Times has run a great series over the previous few months on the dangers of mobile phone use while behind the wheel. Studies suggest that drivers using phones are four times as likely to cause a crash as other drivers. The likelihood that they will crash is equal to that of a drunk driver with a .08 percent blood alcohol level. Research also shows that hands-free devices may increase risks by suggesting that the behavior is safe. Sadly, mobile phone distractions kill 2,600 people per year in the US and cause 330,000 accidents that result in moderate or severe injury. The series covers a variety of subjects on this topic, including:

    - Think that you are talented enough to text and drive safely? Try this little simulator. I failed miserably.

    - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2003 withholding of research on the dangers of mobile phone use while driving. The official in charge of the agency at the time says that he was urged to withold the research to avoid anagonizing members of the then-Republican Congress who had warned the agency not to lobby states on the matter. The researchers also decided not to send a draft letter, that they were preparing for Secretary Mineta, warning states that recent hands-free laws might not solve the problem.

    - New York cabbies’ refusal to heed a 10-year ban on mobile phone use. The author suggests that in one-third of his recent cab rides the driver was yapping or texting.

    - The State of Utah’s tough new laws on texting while driving. Offenders who kill someone can get up to 15 years in prison. Unlinke many other states, Utah considers texting while driving a “willful act,” just like driving drunk.

    - How public safety advocates are trying to educate teens on the dangers of using phones while driving. They feature this harrowing Welsh PSA.

    - An increase in laptop and phone use while driving among those who work out of their cars. Businesses are struggling with the trade-off between increased productivity and heightened liability risk.

    - Truckers’ refusal to curb texting while driving, despite evidence of a 23x increase in risk of an accident.

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    Posted in Public policy, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

    QuickPull – Download to Improve Performance of Your BlackBerry

    Thursday, September 24th, 2009

    What’s the first thing that your IT department or PC customer service Rep tells you in dealing with problems? “Have you tried rebooting your machine?” Based on my limited IT background, the reboot is a simple and often effective first step in warding off demons from your machine.

    QuickPull, a free download for your BlackBerry, operates on the same principle. With QuickPull, you no longer need to remove your battery in order to perform a soft reset on your device. Just click on the red QuickPull application icon, wait a minute or two for device to reset, and hopefully all the gremlins are gone. You can even schedule your device to automatically reset (e.g., in the middle of the night), freeing up memory and increasing performance for the coming day.

    quickpull
    QuickPull Lite is available through the BlackBerry App Store – search on “pull”. There is also a paid version for $2.99 that offers a few other features.

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    Posted in Utilities | 1 Comment »

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