Digital Life

Well, the worst of Sandy has passed. I am alive, as you can see. In fact, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I think this is the first major storm where we didn't lose power, for once. The yard is a mess of course, and a couple lengths of our gutters fell off, as well as a piece of lattice from the side of the porch. Overall though, things are in good shape. A couple trees did fall in the woods next to the house, but it seems like the ice storm a few years back weeded out the worst of ...

If you have a smartphone, you have a very powerful tool for handling hazardous situations like Hurricane Sandy. The weather here isn't bad yet, rain and some wind, which has been getting stronger in the 90 minutes since I woke up. However, it's pretty obvious that it's a matter of when, not if, the power will go out. I am making sure my phone is fully charged and equipped to take full advantage of its utility. Here are some apps I have that I think everyone else should too.

Flashlight ...

I know I'm not the only one in the path of the Frankenstorm, as it's being called. And really, it's actually closer to the Perfect Storm, as it is very similar to the '91 storm of Hollywood fame. The main difference being that it's going to hit land instead of being off the coast. But, like Hurricane Grace, it is multiple systems colliding in a way that makes the weather difficult to predict. A hurricane coming up from the south, a nor'easter (so named because they travel in the opposite direction ...

It turns out I suspected correctly, it was my phone's battery. So I now have a new one. A better one. An extended one. The nice Verizon guy said it would make my phone slightly more bulky. By slightly he meant twice lol. Ah, whatever. And I still have my original as a backup, kind of. It doesn't hold much of a charge but I suppose I can keep it in my car for emergency use. And there's no law that says if it's really annoying I can't get another non-extended one and keep the extended one for longer ...

Cause my phone appears to have self-destructed. Bah. It was working fine for most of yesterday, until it randomly stopped turning on, that is. Can't turn it on, can't get it to reset, nothin'. I know the battery wasn't dead so it's not that. Besides, when I plug it into the charger all I get is a blinking orange light...of DOOM!? I sure hope not.

I'm probably going to take it to the Verizon store and have it diagnosed ("It's dead, Jim.") but I may not be able to do that ...