Different Strokes for Different Folks….

“What you talkin’ about Willis!”

Guess I just dated myself with a reference to Gary Coleman (who) and the eighties.  Anyway.  The point is, all people are not served equally by technology and all technology is for all people.  In this case Apps.  Unless you are using a smart phone, or other mobile device such as an iPad or other tablet (Samsung Galaxy, etc) you may not know what apps are.

Now, all you other geeks and gear heads, dont start criticizing me cuz I left out computers…  Yes apps are now available for laptops and desktops too through google apps and apple apps stores ( and there are others too).  But this post is about apps for mobile devices-  more to follow.

‘Apps’ for those who dont know are ‘Applications’ – programs for the mobile platform.  Some are games, some are productivity tools, other are for reference & there are many other purposes.  I encourage you to seek out the app store for your device, whether its an Apple iOS device or an Android based device.

For me, games are a nice distraction or reprieve from writing specs or proposals.  Strike Knight, Angry Birds are a few of my current favorites.  Amazon Kindle has proven to be more than I would have given credit as I never thought I’d give up hard bound books or even the paperback.  But I do admit, it is quite handy.

But- today-  I think my App of the week has to be ‘Pages’.   Yeah-  not very sexy or fun.

Pages is the Mac ‘equivolent’ of an MS Word program.  But, better.

I do all of my document creation using Pages and it has become probably my most used program on my notebook.  Now that I am the proud owner of an iPad and I am attempting to be even more mobile, I am trying to see how far away from my notebook I can get with the iPad.

That sounds funny- doesnt it.  We used to want to get away from our desktops using a laptop, then notebook, now that has become too clunky to lug around.

Being that I am an admitted paper pusher- in order for the iPad to replace my MacBook Pro- I need to be able to write my docs and the Pages app for the iPad hits the mark.

It handles text, images and layout very well and even editing on my iPad isnt sooo bad.  (no bluetooth keyboard…. yet)

As an added benefit, syncing with iDisk I can access documents that I am currently working on on my notebook or my iPad; what ever is my fancy.  So truth be told  App of the Week for me is Pages for iPad and iDisk.

What is your favorite App of the week?

This year instead of driving or flying or cruising to a ‘far-away’ destination for the DiStefano family vacation, we invited my brother and his family from NJ to come up to Maine.  Now that isn’t any thing new, as they have come up before and we went to our camp on Cold Stream Pond- but that isn’t a vacation, that is a normal weekend in the Summer for us-

So this year we made reservations in Old Orchard Beach.  OOB for native Maine-ahs.

OOB is the quintessential New England beach community complete with a Pier, Amusement Park and all the rest that goes with what you have in your mind of a summer beach community.

We have been to OOB a few times over the last 3 years.  But never for more that a weekend or so.  But when we began our planning for the 2010 Family Vaca, we had just been there and had a great time.  The year before we were there around the same time when the biggest Storm of the season was coming-  waves were breaking so close to the shore that the water was almost up to the floorboards on the Pier.
For those that know, the Pier at OOB is about 20 feet above the water at high tide!

Anyway- OOB it was.

Searching for a place to stay wasn’t too difficult-  being in the web business we have several client sites, (did you think I’d write this without a shameless plug for our valuable clients?, really!) like the Maine Tourism Association (http://www.mainetourism.com) and our own Maine Events (http://www.maineevents.com).   After searching and viewing the lodging section and reading about the accommodations we selected the Waves Oceanfront right on the beach.  Adjoining rooms so the kiddies could visit non-stop and so that my bro and I could enjoy a brew and cigar on the patio at night.   It was a very pleasant week.  Oh, did I mention that the Waves were part of the Lafayette chain (another shameless plug!)  But I did not know that at the time and was pleasantly surprised upon check-in that this was a recent acquisition along with the SeaView just up the block.  Danny-  nice place, cant wait to see what you do with the new properties-  Next year we may take the ‘Governors’ “mansion” and have the entire DiStefano clan drive up!

Between all of the different places to eat, we really enjoyed Jimmy the Greeks on Route 5- Nice selection of beers from around the world, brick oven pizza and a fantastic spread of Greek food I haven’t been exposed to in a long time.  Uppa!  My 7 year old had her fill of spanakopita (SPINACH!) and I had a Gyro-  YUM.  But wait, there is more!

Breakfast at the Beach Street Cafe was interesting-  the owners(?), very attractive eastern European women, were very friendly  who know how to make breakfast AND by noon are closed and on the beach(we think)!  Tom’s breakfast shack was also an experience (BINGO!)-  we at there al fresco and enjoyed it as well as Joseph’s By the Sea!  Very nice.

Ok-  you think all I did was eat breakfast and drink beer and smoke cigars all week, right?  Nope-  we went to the beach of

course, Fun Town Splash Town USA, too (there were 3 kids 7,9,14); walked up and down Grand Avenue (a lot) and went for assorted drives to get ice cream, dinner and a trip to Portland for lunch at DiMillo’s.  And on Thursday night there were Fireworks on the beach with the amusement park all lit up -  very picturesque and fun.

There was more to do than we had time for, although my brother and I did steal away to Westbrook to visit the Victory dealer-  unfortunately- by the time we got there it was a little late for a test drive on a new 2011 Vegas.  A boy and his toys!

The weather was perfect, even though we got a bit of a scare from Todd, Jarrod and Co -  (WABI-TV) The rain we heard was coming our way only arrived for the drive down from Veazie, and disappeared in the afternoon on Monday-  Even WeatherBug had it wrong the whole way down.  Thank you Mother Nature for changing your mind!

Now with any family vacation, there were ‘those times’ too, where one kid was making too much noise for the other, or someone was being a nudge to a sibling, you know, that’s what being a family is all about.  But all in all we had a great time, and we were sad to see it go by way too fast.

Cant wait to plan for next summer-  Maybe the Seaview, maybe the Governors mansion.

But Maine for sure (pronounced “Shore”)!  And we are back just in time for the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront! and some  Waterfront Concerts to see Tim McGraw and Jason Mraz.

What a summer!

disclaimer:

If any of my comments are incorrect, or mis-leading- I am sorry- All comments are mine (Joe DiStefano) and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in OOB.   All comments were meant in the most positive way and no disrespect was intended!

Sephone has been developing and supporting Real Estate sites for many years.  Most recently- our clients have been using our product called RE/SourceMLS.  As a vendor to MREIS (Maine Real Estate Information Services) we receive hourly updates to MLS data that is reflected on our clients websites who use this service. (Note: they need to be registered with MREIS too!)

Recently, MREIS has made some changes to their offerings, like more images per listing and a few other perks-  Well, RE/SourceMLS has some too-

This service is available now to sponsoring clients!

Coming Soon to RE/SourceMLS
Reflecting the only non-MREIS map search web-based MLS listings engine around, RE/SourceMLS now supports the ability to override map coordinates.  Available in July 2010 ALL RE/SourceMLS subscribers will be able to override push-pin coordinates to make viewers aware of properties as they are closer to water frontage, roads or other notable areas.

For more info on this product, visit the website !

Can you believe this!?

This is the same as our friend from Nigeria who is looking for a trusting soul to move his uncles money-  Only this time it is a “a supposed Captain” in the United States Marine Corp.

For those who are already savvy- please excuse me as it is my obligation to inform the others…

DO NOT BELIEVE “capt.” Collin Lachappelle!  THIS IS NOT REAL, NEVER WAS REAL and WILL NEVER BE REAL!

From: IMCEAEX-_O=BRIDGEWATER+20STATE+20COLLEGE_OU=BSC_CN=
RECIPIENTS_CN=CLACHAPELLE@bridgew.edu
Subject: Personal
Date: February 8, 2010 8:17:52 AM EST
To: noreply@contact.com

I am Captain. Matthew Stamford with the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Hard to believe but, I have $900,000.00, found at the start of Operation Khanjari on July 4 2009, in Poshteh Afghanistan. I need to move this money out to a safer place. Can I trust you to receive it on mybehalf upon its evacuation from Kabul? Contact me on matstamford@admin.in.th

Thanks, I needed to do that-

It is a repeating effort that these low-life’s are using-
hoping that an unsuspecting individual, usually a senior citizen who is unlucky to receive this notice and thinks they are helping- will respond.

My first thought is, “Why did it take so long to retire that guy, the former Prime Minister, Prince, Son of the Prime Minister, Nephew to the Sultan? ”

The fact that they have moved on to US “soil” is disturbing, can they really believe that Americans are that gullable?
Again, unfortunately there are some that are, especially since it relates to patriotism and $900,000.00
So-

Pass this along, share it with your web-connected family and friends. If they want to help someone, donate to the USO, find their local Troop Greeters organization, or send $10 to Haiti;

Karma will know.