Why You Shouldn’t Use Postmates

If you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel, you might have watched today’s video. What was the topic? Uber acquired Postmates for a lot of money. I go on to talk about how we’re not really fans of meal delivery apps because they’re almost all problematic. Then, while I’m combing through old drafts on our blog, I found this gem. I didn’t change the title. I’m not going to mess with the photos that I uploaded over a year ago. This was first drafted on May 8th 2019. We haven’t used Postmates since.

Jul052014

An Easy Way to Switch-Up Your Workouts

I’ve found something exciting. Or rather, they found me. It’s a new app, released January of this year. An app that even Apple featured in one of my new favorite commercials (see below). What does this app do? Let’s first visit the topic it relates to: workout routines. We all have our routines, whether they focus on lifting, endurance, body weight, etc. I know, at least personally, that sometimes I’m not into my typical workout, that I get somewhat bored with it. This app is here to shake that boredom up.

See that guy on the beach doing his step ups and push-ups? (Pretty sure that’s Santa Monica, by the way). That app is the Johnson & Johnson 7-Minute Workout app created by Chris Jordan. It’s an app that allows you to create more than 1,000 (yeah, ONE THOUSAND) variations for your workout. 36 exercises and 12 additional workouts too. As you may be able to tell, I’m pretty excited about this. I always like to shake up my workouts because if I get bored in my routine, it simply will not be a good workout. I will get distracted or not push myself. Then this app comes along.

So many options!

This is perfect for people who aren’t sure of what they want to do for their workout, want to shake it up, or need to do a home workout. Oh yeah, one of the highlights of this app is that it can be done anywhere. No need for a gym membership for this one. It’s useful for all levels of people regarding fitness. The customization is great for people who know exactly what they want. And for beginners or people not used to creating their own routines, each exercise is shown by video while you are doing it as well as audio instructions and tips. I find it incredibly helpful. And finally, another feature I appreciate, is an eye-appealing timer-like function. You’ll see a circle of red dots around the instructional video that counts down your time for that exercise. Perfect for counting down the seconds of when you can end your plank.

This app is all about working out “smart” and it is science-based. This means no “bro-science,” no fads, and no nonsense. It means you’ll be working out according to proper form, function, and efficiency. It means working out safely while improving your fitness in the way YOU want to. It gives coaching tips that helps you maintain that fitness into your lifestyle. I really appreciate that. I detest fitness fads and unsafe instruction. I’m all about playing it smart and safe to build up into a powerful fitness level.

You can download the app on your iPhone or Android. And the best part–IT’S FREE! No need to pay money to get the “premium” version or any monthly subscription. This is a free app that will guide you to wonderful workouts. I know that I will be using it each week to shake things up and test myself. I’m going to have lots of fun playing around with customization and seeing what kind of tough workout routines I can create. Let me know if you have any questions about the app. Download the Johnson & Johnson 7-Minute Workout app to stay hungry and fit!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Fitfluential. All opinions are 100% ours (we actually love this app).

Sep262013

iOS 7 Review

This is a personal review. It is not professional. Although I have a lot of experience with technology and cellular devices, I want to talk about this update as a “real” person.

I have never been happy with Apple operating system updates at first. iOS 6 grew on me but I always regretted updating. One of the major issues that I faced was a battery bug that resulted in my phone randomly turning off whenever it was under 40% charged. At that point, despite having battery power, it would not turn back on until it was plugged in again. When it was plugged back in the phone would have the same charge that it had when it shut off randomly. You can imagine how frustrating that must have been for a 4S in perfect condition.

With that being said, I have had a Macbook since 2007 and it is still my only laptop. I broke the logic board when the computer fell off of my bed, but it is still fully functional with the exception of the built in speakers. I have never had a problem with any of those operating system upgrades although I can’t say that I certainly got leopard, snow leopard, lion or mountain lion yet (The purpose of this paragraph was to show that I don’t automatically hate all Apple operating system changes).

This is the point where I start to actually talk about iOS7 for the iPad and the iPhone. I currently have an iPhone 5 and a 4th Generation 64GB iPad. I updated the two at the same time and the update took nearly 15 minutes for each. I had them attached to a strong wifi signal and they were also plugged in at the time. I decided to not use them in order to hopefully speed up the process and it may or may not have worked.

Upon resetting the devices after the download and the installation, there was a setup that included basic questions such as: do you want to enable location settings, do you want to set up airdrop and iCloud, do you want to register with Apple, what language would you like to use, do you want to enable passcode restrictions, etc. Nothing too complicated but make sure you think about the passcode restrictions since it makes it much more difficult to quickly access features.

Oh, quick side note, you NEED 3.1 GB of free space on your hard drive before you can start the download.

In Colorado, it seems as if talking and texting while driving is not illegal. This is a stupid law. It needs to be changed. Nevertheless, if you are driving and using your phone and now need to unlock it as well that may increase the risk of accident or mishap. Just a warning.

The layout is much smoother and more attractive, in my opinion. With that being said it does take longer to move from one screen to another. It may look smoother but it takes longer as a result. I haven’t timed it but it seems pretty obvious. That doesn’t mean that it’s a painfully slow process, I just notice the little things.

You no longer need to swipe left in order to get to the screen to search your device. You can simply swipe down so that eliminates a pointless screen. If you pull the top menu down it is relatively similar but much less cluttered. If you pull the bottom up you receive a new menu that is quite clean and useful. My problem with that is now you can access the flashlight (you get a new FREE built-in flashlight! which is worse than the one I have always had), calculator, camera, and clock multiple ways. You can access the camera three different ways. It makes your device more cluttered! The nice part of that swipe up menu is that it gives you very easy access to changing the mode of your device. You can go into airplane, silent, locked, sleep, wifi, and bluetooth mode easily now.

Speaking of the camera, it has some new features and it laid out in a much more organized manner. It includes built-in filters and allows easy access to video, panorama, and more. Safari also presents an interesting interface when you have multiple tabs open. I think it is quite attractive and practical enough.

The only other practical change involves closing out your apps that are open. You can still double tap your home key on the bottom of your phone but now your screen is taken over so that you can swipe the apps upwards in order to close them.

Other than this I have not found other practical changes that are worthy of me mentioning. A lot of the changes are just aesthetic, some work for me and some don’t. All in all I like iOS6 for my personal use on my iPhone but I prefer iOS7 on the iPad. I don’t think this new setup works for people who have very streamlined efficiently working phones that they use at work and in the gym and on the go. It is slower which is why I do not mind it on the iPad. If I could, I would go back to iOS6 for my iPhone and keep iOS7 on the iPad.

My recommendation for you is to find a friend that has the update and see if you like it first. I told Alana not to get it on her phone and she has not yet decided. Half the population loves it and half hates it. I’m sure people will get used to it but we all know the old saying, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

My FAVORITE part of the update pertains to a matter I have been bothering Apple about for years. The newsstand is a waste of space, especially since it is not collapsible and cannot be put into a folder. WELL NOW IT CAN! Technology is a complicated way that can or cannot help you stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Kitty pile on Alana for Castle marathon!

Aug062013

Techie Tuesday: CARROT To-Do App

So I’ve become obsessed with getting things done lately. Which is GREAT. Great for me, great for the house, great for everybody. But why? Well…I give all credit to my new to-do app, CARROT. I constantly struggle to find apps that improve my productivity and organization, and still would like more, but as far as to-do apps go, CARROT really works for me.

CARROT is brilliant for gamers or competitive people because here’s the thing: it’s an AI to-do list with personality that gives you points for completing tasks. So I started at Level 1. I’m now at Level 41. Yeah, I’ve been going crazy. But at Level 1, I didn’t have many capabilities. Some people may be turned off by that, saying if I’m paying for an app, I should get all the capabilities right away before me! I totally hear you. But I’m okay with this because it actually improves my productivity. I want to complete more and more tasks so I get more and more upgrades. So at first, I couldn’t set reminders, now I can. I couldn’t rearrange my list, now I can. And so forth. Even though it holds back all it does until you gain levels, that is one of the biggest reasons you want to keep being productive.

My to-do

Obviously, it’s very different from other to-do apps as it’s interactive. It gets mood swings. CARROT will be happy if you complete many tasks, but if you slack, CARROT will turn angry and turn all black and red and make me scared. It’s not always an upgrade when you level up, sometimes you get a KITTEN (yup) or sometimes he tells you a story. Or asks you to sacrifice bunnies for him. I think it’s a female, but I always change the gender.

All in all, CARROT has all the features other to-do apps have, but it makes you work for them so that you are improving your productivity. It makes getting things done fun because who doesn’t like leveling up? I think I may have found my to-do app, finally! Check it out here: http://www.meetcarrot.com/. Use this app to stay hungry and fit!