Sticker Draw lets children use a combination of brushes and stickers to create artwork. The interface is simple enough for a toddler, but also has enough features to keep older kids busy. The app includes a variety of colors, brush sizes and stickers. Good for keeping the little ones busy the next time you have to wait in line.

Download Sticker Draw from the Marketplace

This is the first application I tried to certify and I learned quite a bit in the process. The main takeaways: failure messages are terrible and support is non-existent. The only indication I had to why it failed is the one line message provided in the failure report: “Content and application name are licensed”. I suspected problems with my Creative Commons attribution or with the name “Shotgun”.

I eventually discovered that I had “WP7Shotgun” as one of the titles in WMAppManifest.xml. Support finally responded almost 4 weeks later. Ah well. I learned something.

]]> http://ideaindustries.net/windows-phone-7-shotgun-finally-in-the-marketplace/feed/ 0 http://ideaindustries.net/windows-phone-7-tips-and-tricks-application/ http://ideaindustries.net/windows-phone-7-tips-and-tricks-application/#comments Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:08:19 +0000 admin http://ideaindustries.net/?p=141 I finally got an application approved in the Microsoft marketplace. I created a tips and tricks application to get some experience with Caliburn.Micro and animation. I’m going to make a post or two in the coming days about the different techniques I’ve settled on for keeping nice view separation while still having shiny transitions and animation. Full description is below. Feel free to comment with your tips here and I’ll add them to the app.

Phone 7 Tips & Tricks is a comprehensive list of tips and tricks for your phone. The tips range from easy to expert. Windows Phone 7 has a host of hidden features that speed you up and make the phone more usable for everyday tasks. Even if you are an expert you’ll find some shortcuts you weren’t aware of.

This is a daily read for me. It’s very tech focused but always has something useful. When I’m looking for a piece of free software to accomplish a task I generally search google for site:lifehacker.com <searchterm>. The comments are a goldmine as well. Very dedicated fans.

ZenHabits (www.zenhabits.net)

One of my favorites. Zenhabits is clean and to the point. Useful tips and motivation on all types of productive life related topics. The beginners guide to Zen Habits is a great place to start.

Stepcase Lifehack (www.lifehack.org)

Yet another great all around productivity blog. This one easily makes the top 5. It’s similar to Zenhabits in content, updated frequently and has some great posts on improving lifestyle and habits.

Scott H. Young

The tagline for Scott’s blog reads: “700 articles devoted to one idea: how to get more from life”. It’s accurate. Scott covers motivation, fitness, life philosophy and goals. Well written and worth the read.

Unclutterer

Unclutterer covers the niche of organization well. Posts are generally related to keeping yourself organized and your space (and online life) clean and orderly.

Tim Ferriss

I wanted to dislike Tim Ferriss but I bought his book and actually learned something. His blog has some great inspiration and it gives me motivation. I highly recommend his book as well.

WebWorkerDaily

Usually has a featured article that is worth the read every few days. The daily content seems more tech related. Great for people who work on the web everyday.

Life Optimizer

Productivity/Life tips. Not as pretty as some of the other sites listed but the content is good and it’s updated every few days. I usually find someone to read here at least once a week.

PluginID

Plug into Your Identity. Personal development stories and lessons. No longer run by the original author so we’ll see where this one goes.

Dave Seah

Dave Seah writes with a focus on design and life development. I don’t read this one religiously but when I do I find something I like.

Steve Pavlina

Author of Personal Development for Smart People and a very prominent productivity blogger. Sometimes hard to dig the gems out of the marketing but still worth subscribing to.

43 Folders

Not the best site to visit if your in the mood for some quick productivity inspiration but there have been some great posts here over the years.

The Positivity Blog

Positivity and happiness related…who doesn’t need a little of that?

On Simplicity

Creating a happier, easier, more enjoyable life for yourself. Focuses on simple steps for happiness and productivity.

]]> http://ideaindustries.net/my-top-life-productivity-and-organization-blogs-for-2010/feed/ 0 http://ideaindustries.net/finding-out-who-someone-is-online/ http://ideaindustries.net/finding-out-who-someone-is-online/#comments Sat, 23 Oct 2010 16:00:43 +0000 admin http://ideaindustries.net/?p=93

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stianeikeland/3696386615

Looking for an old classmate? Interviewing a potential candidate? Finding people online takes practice and perseverance.

I strongly suggest you write down or save the results of the following steps. You’ll need to copy and paste different combinations in later steps and it’ll make it easier. I suggest Evernote if you haven’t tried it. Come back to these questions and fill them in as you find out more about the person.

What do you already know about the person?

• How do they spell or abbreviate their names? Do they usually write Tim Ferriss or Timothy Ferriss?
• Do they have any aliases? nicknames?
• Email address?
• What usernames do they use online?
• Do they have a maiden name?
• Do you know their social security number?
• Where have they lived? Do you at least know a few states to narrow it down? Do you have exact addresses?
• When were they born?
• Where were they born?
• Who do they know?
• Are they married/do they have children? If so collect the same information about the spouse and children.
• Do they have kids?

How popular is their name?

You have to be more specific in your search when it’s a common name or someone well known has the same name.

What am I looking for?

Try to fill in the questions above. Jot down each answer.

Start Looking

Follow these steps in order but be sure to move back as you find more information about the person. Searching on the info you find at later points can be key.

Zabba Search

This is a good place to start. They try to sell you on most of the links or addition info but you can find addresses and phone numbers. Knowing where they live or have lived is key here. I’ve never tried any of the pay services they offer. They seem to be affiliated with intelius.com.

Pipl

Another good place to start. Searches many social networks.

Wink.com

Another social networking search. Surprisingly accurate.

Google

Google is your friend. Accurate searching is a life skill you should master. Narrowing down your search is key here especially if you are searching on a common name. Look for leads into other sites. Look for social networking profiles. Blog posts or comments. News articles. Birth announcements.

• Start with the name combinations you wrote down above in quotes: “Tim Ferris”.
• Try combinations without quotes. Include the state. Include the city and state. Try different combinations.
• You can use other advanced google operators to narrow down your search.
  Use the – sign to remove keywords from the search. If you are looking for a Tim Ferris that isn’t the author try: Tim Ferris -author. Be careful not to remove a word that is common like Facebook.
• Search for their email address.
• Search for known usernames. Try the first part of their email address.

Facebook

Facebook has become the most popular social networking site. Try using the friend finder and narrowing your query down to location or school etc. Keep in mind that some people enter false data. It takes patience to sort through all the results. Try looking for known acquaintances of the person and see if you can spot the person you’re looking for in their friends list. Since Facebook’s privacy changes many people have public information waiting to be found.

Myspace

While it’s not as popular as it once was many people still have Myspace accounts.

LinkedIn

A business social network. Many professionals use this for networking. If you know where the person works or worked you may have some luck here. You need a profile to get more than basic information.

YouTube

Almost everyone uses YouTube. They require an account to watch certain videos so many people register. Try pseudonyms or known usernames.

Forums

These usually show up in the search results on a Google search but when you do find posts you can learn a lot about a person by what they say.

Other Social Networking sites

• Digg
• Reddit
• StumbleUpon

Creating transparent popout Facebook profile pics

There are a couple of tutorials out there for creating your own profile pics. I haven’t tried to use a transparent png but I’m guessing it would work.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Popup_Facebook_Picture/

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-profile-photo-hacks/

Pre-Made images and Facebook templates

Reddit user TheBlasto offered some great silhouettes. I’ve included a few below but check out his picasa gallery for more.

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