These are the apps on my Android - any suggestions for additions?

stst.31415's Android apps on AppBrain

Why QR-codes should be everywhere...

Before I got my smartphone I knew what a QR code was (another type of barcode - well I learned since then). But it was not until recently as I realized the implications to my life. I am a big fan of putting the QR code on your business card, so people with a scanner can have your contact details within seconds on their phone.
 

A collection of codes for mobile tagging

But the QR codes could be used far more often. I am not talking about magazines and advertisments. I am talking about the internet of things or Semapedia. The Semapedia links the real world to the Wikipedia. You might say: But I have GPS on my phone and it finds everything in my augmented reality browser (like Layar).

GPS doesn't work indoors, you are experiencing problems when the houses nearby are high and so on. GPS is a battery sucker, so I would suggest that there is still use for QR codes: in museums, in busstops with multiple bus lines and so on...

And most important: Call me a geek, but I think the QR codes do look nice.

Who do you spend your time with?

Most of us go to the same job every day. We share the same office with the same people every day. The funny thing is that most of the people never realize that they spend more time with their co-workers than with their family.

This is a crucial point. You cannot choose your co-workers. Or?

It is said that in order to change the system you have to implement inner changes. Sounds as the hardest thing there is. I think I prefer nice co-workers.

How do people write their blog posts?

I was sitting in front of the screen, thinking what kind of tools people use to write their blog posts. But I never thought that the question is not that simple.
Obviously the following things are not part of the job:

• Collecting ideas for posts. The ideas come and they go again if you do not catch them and write them down or make a voice memo, picture or something similar. Try to catch even the smallest idea. Where there is only a grain of sand there might be more some time in the future.
• Collecting all kinds of illustrative material for your posts. Most of the time you will have to create this from scratch...
• Drinking tea and staring at the wall. This might be part of the thinking process, but it is not action oriented.
• Planning. A plan is good, but planning is not writing.

I stop here. I think I made my point. I still have no clue, how other people do it. Most of the time I simply write straight ahead and save my writings as a draft directly in the webinterface, sometimes I use a distractionfree editor to write down the main passages and do the finishing in the editor and on some rare occasions I use a mobile software (mostly in connection with a picture). I also discovered a tendency to use the voice memo function on my phone as well as pen and paper to take notes. Is it part of the process to start the writing in your brain and get it out somehow? This might be worth a blog post later but for now let's stick to the writing process.

Tell me: How do you write your texts? What tools do you use? Thank you for any comment.

Please help: I am looking for a new name for my blog

My blog's name is - let's call it "strange without a story". So why stst31415?

Obviously stst is short for my name and if you remember school 31415 could resemble the starting sequence of pi (3.1415...) I remember that easily, but I got the feedback that no one else can remember that easily. So I said: Gotta change that!

So this is where the beehive of the internet comes in. Now I could need some suggestions.

Nothing is too strange,

You can use my name: Stefan or Steve if you prefer the english version.

You can use everything else.

Make some suggestions. I will either use the whole thing or only parts. You can use the comment or the contact form. Thank you.

The difference between flowers and a very bad decision

Of course there is a difference between good and bad decisions. I think there are many pages on the web which tell academic tales on that topic. But they are focusing on the outcome or an the context of decisions. What I want to say is simpler.

A symbol for riddles

A good decision is a decision you make. The outcome might still be good or bad. But if you do not decide what to do, your influence on the outcome will vanish or the number of options will tend towards zero. You still have the option to decide not to take steps leading to action. But there will be a decision and that's the point.

So the next time you walk by a florist it is your decision to walk in, your decision to buy flowers for the man or woman you love. In case of doubt go for roses. I am quite sure that the outcome of this decision is a good one...

What are your favourite Ingredients to kick off learning?

Those of you who read my last posts remember that I wanted to learn programming Android. Did you ever ask yourself what has to happen to start a learning process? So here is my theory of the ingredients to a tasty learning experience:

1. Commitment
2. Clear picture of what you want to learn
3. A plan
4. The steps to your target are small enough you can make them.
5. Cool tools (mental and hitech)

These points are obvious, maybe they are not even a complete list, but do you see the parallels to project management? You can only succeed in learning if you keep to your plan, if you know where you are and where you are going to and how you are going to do that.

But there is one thing which is always true: Do something. If there is no action, there is no change. Even the decision not to learn something is an action. Then you do not have to worry about this point on your list - if you have a list.

BTW: I went to a bookstore nearby and bought a book on Android programming. This is my new side project. Tomorrow I am going to work out a plan with my milestones.

One thing is missing in my list - on purpose. Repetition: What are your favourite ingredients to learning?

My girlfriend is always right...

And the strange thing is that there is no contradiction to the fact that I am right at the same time. Well, the actual problem is: She is right in her reality and I am in mine.

What to read this summer...

So you managed to read all the books from your reading list? That's good. But before you hit the road to the next library, bookstore or just visit your favorite online bookdealer: What will you read next?
I hate this question and usually I end up visiting the store with a hunger for printed letters. You know the saying: Never shop hungry.
These are the times to remember links like http://www.yournextread.com/ (which also has a german flavor - to my delight) and http://bookseer.com/. But these are not the only ones: http://www.booklamp.org/, http://www.whichbook.net/ also come to my mind.

What do you use?