Technology and nature don't mix? Yeah, right!

Technology and Nature Don't Mix? Yeah, Right!

I recently took up flyfishing after many years of being away from the sport. Brett from the Blue Ridge Outfitter showed me a great stretch of water and we started out early in the morning.

The weather was beautiful . . . sweltering outside but stone cool under the trees at the edge of the water. Feeling rather "Hemingwayish" with nothing but the stream for company, we found what was hatching, and started catching some nice fish. The river rushed all around me and the sound was like meditation. I was totally immersed in the perfect outdoor experience. Then, at once, I was jolted back to reality. Then . . . my cell rang . . .

There is nothing I like more than being outdoors. We work with technology all day, everyday, and nothing heals more than disconnecting from the network and connecting with nature.

Even though a part of me rebels against the idea of using anything electrical in association with a trip into the woods, there are actually a lot of great apps that you can use to enhance the outdoor experience.

Here are a few things that can help make your outdoor adventures easier, safer and more enjoyable! You can look these up on the Android Marketplace or Apple App Store.
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Geocaching:
Like treasure hunts? Then Geocaching is for you! It’s played throughout the world by anyone using a GPS enabled device. Most phones support this now so usually that’s all you need. You use the GPS to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, which contain notes, trinkets, toys or even money. Geocaching isn’t just for the outdoorsy types . . . you can geocache in the city too!

These apps will help you find places to look for, and give hints to finding your next cache.

Groundspeak's Geocaching
The iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4G use a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi positioning and cell towers to determine your approximate location. Groundspeak's iPhone Application then queries the Geocaching.com database in real-time and provides a list of geocaches near you.
Android's leading compass, featuring location display and geo-tagged notes. The #1 compass app for Android, featuring different styles, location display, and Catch Notes integration for easy location notes.

SeekCache
If you like to hit the geocaching trails without a lot of prep and hoopla, then check this out. Open the Seek Cache app on your iPhone and wait a few seconds for it to determine your GPS coordinates. A list of nearby caches pops up in a Safari browser window, and you’re off. What could be easier?

Nature:

Weather Channel
Planning any outdoor adventure requires you be in touch with the weather, and the Weather Channel app is a must since it provides the most accurate info you can get.

Google Skymap
This app allows you to easily and quickly identify and locate stars, planets, constellations and more with a just a touch of the screen or by simply pointing to the sky. Have fun with family and friends discovering the night sky. Looking for a planet or star? Just use the finder and let the arrow guide the way.

iBird Pro
During your down-time while you sit back and relax and enjoy the outdoors this year, try out the iBird Pro app. This app, iBird Plus, is an interactive guide to the most popular bird species found in the backyards of North America.

Wildflowers
The North Woods Wildflower Identification Guide is filled with 68 different beautifully drawn wildflowers growing in North America today. Identify flora while you hike!

MyNature Animal Tracks
Animal tracks can be found in nearly every square mile of North America! With the MyNature app you are now equipped with a database with 7 search-able track categories fully illustrated by size and shape for quick selection plus a complete description of track measurements, full color digital images of an actual track in the wild and even range maps showing each animals distribution across North America.

Butterfly Collection
Get Butterfly Collection and explore a picture library of butterflies and moths from all over the world. Flick to browse 240 of these enchanting insects. Their unique shapes, patterns, and colors are captivating, whether you’re a butterfly enthusiast or simply looking for some artistic inspiration.

Camping and Hiking:

Trails.com
The Trails app is the single most useful app I have found for Hiking and Camping. The Trails.com app offers over 48,000 trail guides from the top outdoor publishers. Trail guides cover over twenty-four different outdoor activities including everything from mountain bike trails to off-road trails. You can search trails nearby, view details of specific trails and even get up-to-date weather conditions to ensure a quality outdoor experience.

Knot Guide
Knots are used in sailing, climbing, tree trimming, jewelry making, and everyday tasks such as attaching a load to your vehicle. Knot Guide has 17 different categories include: Bends, Binding Knots, Climbing Knots, Decorative Knots, Fishing Knots, Hitches, Lashings, Loops, Rope Care, Sailing Knots, Scout Knots, Shortenings, Splices, Stopper Knots, and Whippings.

Camping Recipes
When mac and cheese doesn’t cut it, check out Camping Recipes for iPhone, where you will find delicious and easy camping recipes that will satisfy big or picky appetites. This app offers easy, delicious recipes for camping and hiking!

Bug Repellent
Keep pesky mosquitoes and other insects far away with Bug Repellant. This app emits a high frequency that is harmless to humans, pets and plants. It can be used while camping, hunting, fishing, farming and sleeping

Flashlight
Simple but often overlooked, the flashlight app can really be handy in a pinch.

CompassGo
Given a “thumbs up” by Macworld, this simple GPS compass allows you to set a certain location in its memory so you can find your way back with ease. It’s great in the wilderness but even more helpful when trying to find your car in a crowded parking lot.

Army Survival
With more than 1,400 pages, Army Survival is a comprehensive guide pulled straight from the U.S. Army Field Manual 21-76, titled “Survival.” It includes psychology of survival, basic survival medicine, shelters, water procurement and more.

Maplets - Maps for All National Parks, Subway, Ski Resorts and more
The most comprehensive map app on the app store, with over 5000 maps in the US and worldwide including Yosemite, New York Subway, London Tube, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, State Parks, and more!

Running

Get Running! – Couch to 5K
I like to run and this is a great app for those just starting out. Targeted more for beginner runners, Get Running provides users with a specific training regimen over the course of nine weeks, with the end goal of being able to run for 30 minutes. Audio prompts guide users through each workout and even provide encouragement along the way.


Ghost Running
Sometimes, the best motivation is competition, and who better to compete with than yourself? Ghost Race enables you to track your times on various routes and compare your performance from day to day. The app’s audio function also keeps you updated on your progress against your ‘Ghost’ in real-time.

RunKeeper
RunKeeper Pro is probably the most well-known of the running apps on this list. This is a feature-rich app that enables GPS tracking, distance, speed monitoring, caloric output and activity history for any number of activities you partake in including sports such as running, cycling, hiking, skiing and swimming. You can also sync all the data to RunKeeper’s website to monitor progress and share publicly. RunKeeper also offers a simplified version of the app for free.


Other Sports

FishMate - Fishing Times With Tight Lines
A great fishing app, FishMate, gives you information on the major and minor feeding times, moon phase as well as weather forecasts to help you plan your fishing outings. Developed by former touring professional bass angler and the host of the syndicated radio fishing show called Tight Lines, Sammy Lee, this app is full of Mr. Lee's 30 years of fishing experience. The app features Fishin' Time, which tells you everything you need to plan your fishing trip, current weather conditions for your area and places to store photos of your catch.

Surfline
For surfers and bodyboarders, finding the perfect beach means finding the best surfing conditions. Surfline has a free iPhone app that lets you monitor surf conditions at local beaches. It is location aware and automatically shows the conditions of the beaches closest to you. Each location has current conditions, 5 day forecast and if available, a live stream of the actual location.

iNavX Marine Navigation
Never lose sight of land with iNavX Marine Navigation. This app turns your iPhone into a detailed NOAA RNC U.S. waters marine chart, then plots your position in real time. Before you set sail, tap to get the latest weather, tide, and current forecasts.

iTrailMap 3D
Designed for skiers and snowboarders, this application gives you 3-D tracking on mountains and trails. You can record your tracks and also upload them on the web. There is also a free version that doesn’t include the 3-D aspect.

RiverGuide for Kayakers
If you’re thinking about kayaking, rafting or canoeing in the near future, consider this app. In moments, it gives you the cubic feet per second of most U.S. rivers.

Trackback - Hunting Edition
Tag GPS waypoints for your car, base camp, stand, etc. and navigate back to them whenever needed.

Orvis Fly Fishing
I could have used this on my last fishing trip. The Orvis app provides
Animated Knots and flycasting instruction including the 10 most common casting mistakes.
You also get the field guide to top 100 trout flies, Orvis fishing reports, Podcasts, glossary and equipment guides.

Virtual Nature:
If the outdoors aren’t your thing, you can still reach out to nature from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy.

A Real Tree
This app plants a virtual tree on your device. You can watch it grow over time. The cool thing is that when you buy the app for $.99, A Real Tree plants . . . you guessed it . . . a real tree somewhere in the world. A Real Tree works with organizations that provide materials and education to local communities to plant trees in an ecologically-beneficial manner. Local communities learn how to plant trees while avoiding toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Local communities plant trees that produce nutritious fruits and crops that they can live off of and make a living on.

Koi Pond
The classic Koi Pond. Peaceful and fun. This app is one of the most realistic water-based simulation apps available on the iPad. The water is multi-touch reactive, there is plenty of customization like lights, decorations, and plants, eight different breeds of koi, and you can shake your iPad to feed them.
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So nature and gadgets can live in harmony after all! Who knew! Whether you get outside with or without your devices, make sure you get outside and enjoy all that your area has to offer. And read Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River." It'll make you want to go for a hike!

What are Tablets Really Good for ? Available Technology Inc - June 2011

What are tablets really good for?

As technology changes and develops without our consent, new devices (and new ways of using old devices) pop up frequently. This frequency of change makes it impossible for any of us in the business world to get too “dug in” to the way we do things. I once had a client promise to give me his brand new laptop if I could find him an IBM Selectric typewriter, and though I suppose that’s one way to circumvent the tide of time, I doubt anyone could stay that course over one or two tech generations.

I am a creature of habit. I still run Windows XP on my main workstation. My Nikon SLR is approaching 8 years old. When things work, I stick with them. But part of what we do everyday is sort out the “tools” from the “toys”, and help our clients decide what new technology will really help them in their everyday business processes, so we stay on top of every new phone, processor, screen technology, etc that rolls off of the Chinese assembly line. I love to see new devices come from concept, to prototype, to adolescence, then finally to mainstream reality, and because of this, I love the concept of “the tablet.”

I beta tested a tablet computer in 2000. It was from Cisco, had a 7 inch screen, ran Windows 98 . . .and it was useless. It was one of the first implementations I had seen of wifi in a portable device, which was nice to see, but you couldn’t USE it. Over the years, the tablet has evolved to a usable and even profitable device. For some things. Let’s explore some of the things that your business can do with a tablet.

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The first recorded use of the word “tablet” was in 1880 when it was used to refer to a pad of writing paper. Previous to that, “tablet” was most often used to refer to the Mosaic Ten Commandments, flat stone slates that contained the original Ten Commandments inscribed by the hand of God and given to Moses to present to the Israelites.

Steve Jobs would like you to believe that his tablet, the iPad, is as historically significant as Moses’ engraved variety. Although Apple, Samsung and Motorola have designed some amazing and useful devices, I don’t think anyone would attempt to say that the tablet is on par with any Divine revelations to the human race. In fact, I have observed that the biggest social accomplishment of the tablet in general may be that instead of retiring to the restroom with the Sunday paper, folks are now heading to the loo with an iPad under their arm. Congratulations, Steve Jobs.

Jaosn Hiner of TechRepublic (http://tek.io/lh8gRr) says that the iPad is only good for 3 things: reading, playing, and taking notes. I agree with this assessment. Tablets are consumption devices, not creation devices. Some artists have made beautiful works of art with a tablet and a stylus, but these accomplishments are the exception that proves the rule.

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Can a tablet replace a computer? Yes, for some people. If you primarily use your computer to check email, read news, surf the web and play simple games, then you may be able to ditch your bulky PC and settle down with an iPad or Xoom. Just don’t expect them to do everything your computer did, like cut and paste easily, edit graphics, or work with spreadsheets and documents in any quantity. Your attempts will soon become frustrating, and your tablet may not last long enough to see the light of morn.
The tablet can be very useful for your business, and here’s how you can get started taking advantage of the tablet’s size and flexibility.

• Take credit card payments
Apps like Square and Intuit’s GoPayment allow you to take payments from your customers right on an iPad or Android based tablet. Card swipers that connect wirelessly are available for these devices, and if the tablet has 3G capability, your technicians or representatives can take payments at the customer’s door. Businesses love 3G access since they can take payments even if the internet in their building is down. It makes a great cash register backup!

• Let your Clients Book Their Own Appointments
Personal Trainers, Salons, and other service based businesses use applications made for their industry to book appointments. The customer comes in and in the waiting area, they are handed an iPad or other tablet, on which they can choose their services and even their stylist / trainer, tap a confirmation and be brought back to their room at their scheduled time.

Plumbers, HVAC service providers and others can deploy the tablet to their technicians who take them onsite. Their appointments are pushed to their device, from which they can give estimates, take orders, and even get signatures right from the pad.
Many of these apps are free, or require a monthly fee. But if nothing exists for your particular business, it can be written especially for you. Interested? Call us!

• Present Your Company to Clients in an Interactive Way
Businesses are also using tablets to show their customers and prospects what products and services they offer in new innovative ways. Mercedes dealerships have deployed iPads to their salespeople who can easily pull up financing options and vehicle specs on the device to show the customer. You can also use a tablet as an interactive brochure. Rather than have them read last month’s “Guns and Ammo,” why not hand them an iPad with a multimedia presentation of all the services you offer? Customers and clients can peruse your website while they wait, or as a presales warmup before a big presentation. If your sales folks are used to carrying a laptop with a Powerpoint presentation, have them use a tablet instead. It lends credibility to your business and creates an elegant professional impression.

• Take applications and increase your paperless-ness
Many doctor’s offices have begun accepting medical forms and other paperwork from a tablet rather than handing patients paper to fill out. The filler-outer can easily type into the document and save when finished. The office personnel can then print or file the document without ever touching a sheet of paper.

• Tablets are a great way for new employees to watch training videos and take training exams
Because of the tablet’s portability, a new employee or applicant could comfortably watch video material or fill out job applications on a tablet.

• Grow your marketing list
I heard of an Orthodontist that handed a tablet to each patient that came in, with the company’s facebook page up on the screen. They asked the patient to sign in and “like” their Facebook page while they sat. This helped the practice to grow their Facebook friends by 200% monthly.

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There are many other ways that tablets can be utilized in the workplace. They are truly versatile, inexpensive, accessible and fun devices. Rather than playing “Angry Birds” on your Samsung Galaxy, think of ways you can put it to work for you.

If it all seems like too much to take in, take 2 “tablets” (the aspirin kind) and give us a call! We’ll help you sort it all out.

Mike Lane
Available Technology Inc
http://www.available-tech.net/

Achieving the Paperless Office - Available Technology Inc.

Achieving the Paperless Office

Why go paperless?
• Reduce Clutter
• Save on Storage Costs
• Find Documents Quickly
• Backups!
• Access documents from anywhere

Secret Weapon? OCR! (Optical Character Recognition) Does exactly what the name suggests. Scans documents and indexes every word so documents can be located quickly and easily

Get Started!
1. Reduce Incoming Paper
a. Unsubscribe from mailing lists and trade publications. Get online versions of magazines and newspapers
b. If you don’t read it, cancel it!
c. Check the little box that allows vendors to send you “electronic statements”

2. Reduce Outgoing Paper
a. Don’t print it if you don’t absolutely have to
b. Utilize email, “Drop Box” (www.dropbox.com), and internet faxing (www.metrofax.com)

3. Reorganize the paper you already have



Tools You will Need . . .
• Unwavering Patience and Stony Determination

• A Scanner – Fujitsu Scansnap or Xerox Documaster (http://scanners.fcpa.fujitsu.com/scansnap11/index.html)
(http://www.xeroxscanners.com/en/us/)

• OCR Software – Adobe Acrobat or ReadIris Pro
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro.html
http://www.irislink.com/Readiris


The Result:
1. Spend less time organizing and less $$ on paper

2. Save some trees

3. Have your files always with you

4. Instantly Search all your Documents

5. Less Clutter = More 