Five Free Apps Every Man Should Have

There are thousands of apps. Apps you couldn’t even imagine. What’s more amazing is there are almost as many blog posts about apps. And while this may be just another, but this one is good, I promise. I directed this one towards guys though, because I am one.

Like everyone else, I use my phone a lot. I’d like to think I use it less than most, but probably more than others. I check the standard social media and my email. I check my WordPress reader to see new posts. Other than that, I don’t use them everyday.

While apps are great, I don’t like paying for them. I’m sure there are plenty of advantages to them, but I’m not going to pay $3.99 for a distraction from real life. So, for other cheapskates like myself, here are five free apps that I found incredibly useful:

• Instructables– “Share What You Make” This app shows you instructions on everything. Think of something you want to make and do it. Or teach yourself and share it with others.
• SAS Survival Guide Lite-Full of  basic survival tools, you’ll be equipped for any expedition to the outdoors with this entry-level guide. There is also the original app, but it is not free (see above).
• 5-0 Radio Police Scanner Lite-Cops and 911 dispatchers don’t use Twitter. Important news travels first by radios. That’s why your grandpa still has his CB hooked up in the cab of this truck.
• Goodreads– “Meet your new favorite book” This is from the world’s largest book recommendation site. I’ve talked about it several times and this won’t be the last. Guys need to read. Find a book list and comb through it.
• The Holy Bible-Whatever your faith is, you need to take it with you. I’m a Christian. I use this app (from YouVersion) and it is great. It’s incredibly easy to use and has tons of features.

So those are my suggestions. And if I can add one thing, it’s that apps are great to be used, but not to the neglect of other things. I love playing on my phone, but if you’re always looking down, you’ll only look up to see the things you’ve already missed. I wish it was advice I didn’t need to tell myself.

On a final note, here is a free item for your phone. I’ll be debuting more later as time approaches another announcement.

Wallpaper for your phone from gtylermills.com

LIT(erally)

Some books have straight-forward titles like The Pearl or The Old Man and the Sea. Others have more cryptic titles like The Catcher & the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, and a few others (shameless plug).

But what if you took these titles literally? It could definitely cause some confusion.  So here’s a few literal looks at some  literary classics.

David Copperfield

Tale of Two Cities

A Streetcar Named Desire

All Over But the Shoutin’

The Outsiders

War of the Worlds

or

The Grapes of Wrath

So there they are. On a deeper note, it’s been documented that the confusing lines in Macbeth caused Tolkien to imagine an army of trees.

My confidence is failing. I’m starting to doubt the lies the devil told me, which sounded like truth. “Don’t worry until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane.” And now a wood is coming to Dunsinane. Prepare for battle, and go! -Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5 (as told in modern text)

Any thoughts on the books featured? How impressed are you with my artistic skills? Leave a comment below. 

Mid-Week Review: Mud, Sweat, & Tears

This post is apart of a series of reviews that will appear on Wednesdays.

Let me start by saying that I’ve been a fan of Bear Grylls for several years. I always enjoyed his televisions shows, most notably Man vs Wild, even if they were somewhat overly sensationalized or surrounded by some controversies. That stuff really didn’t bother me. I knew from the start that this guy was the real deal. He may not have done the safest things to get from point A to point B, but that’s not what he was doing. He was being put in a situation and asked, “What would you do? With all your training and experience, how would you take this situation?” Sometimes it would work and sometimes it would not. Either way it was still entertaining television.

And while I watched the show I began to notice a few things more about the man than just what he would do in the wild. I noticed he often talked about his faith, his Christian faith to be more specific. It was refreshing.

It was refreshing to see a guy out in these crazy situations, tackling nature, a man’s-man, who was able to admit that he drew strength from somewhere else. He wasn’t preachy or dropping Jesus’s name all around like a celebrity story at a cocktail party. He was honest and would mention it in passing. Sitting next to a campfire while talking about his family or while standing on mountain overlooking the miles of landscape surrounding him, he’d mention how it made him think of his Christian faith.

I say all this because when I saw he would be releasing an autobiography, I knew it was something I was going to read. The book did not disappoint.

It describes the background of his family and his childhood all through his early adulthood, military career, and culminating with his attempt to climb Mt. Everest. Along the way you learn how his personality was formed and the values that make him who he is. He discusses his very personal decisions involving faith, leadership, education, and even his stance on premarital sex. It’s an open and honest account of a man who is known around the world yet isn’t ashamed to share his faith.

I highly recommend this book. I’ve included a few of my favorite quotes below.

Fear forces you to look tough on the outside but makes you weak on the inside.

Despite all my friends thinking I was utterly mad, deep down I felt a determination to try to keep my virginity for my wife one day.

No one will do it all for you. That is left to each of us: to go out, to grab life, and to make it our own.

What I did know was that I needed something to give me back my hope. My sparkle. My life. I found that something in my Christian faith, in my family, and also in my dreams of adventure. My Christian faith says that I have nothing ever to fear or worry about. All is well. At that time, in and out of hospital, it reminded me that, despite the pain and despair, I was held and loved and blessed—my life was secure through Jesus Christ.

Life doesn’t often give us second chances. But if it does, be bloody grateful.

Click here to see more of my highlights from this book or click here to see highlights from additional books I’ve read.

How to Pretend You Are Cool

I wear a shirt and tie everyday. I wear khakis and sweaters. I’m pretty much a grown-up. I still try to keep up with what the kids are listening to. I can name a few new rappers, even though I’m a near middle-age average white guy, kind of like Danny Blaze. Here’s how it can be done:

1. Go to iTunes and look at Top Singles
2. Download a few songs in the Top 25. Make sure you get the clean version. Don’t want explicit lyrics to come on the iPod when your kids are riding in the backseats.
3. Learn the songs and the artists who sing them. DO NOT learn the lyrics. You won’t be able to remember them and you’ll just sound stupid.
4. And here’s the final step: Use the what you’ve learned in status updates. Don’t try using them in conversations. You’ll either use it wrong or people will ask you more questions than you’ll know. Apply your knowledge in a tweet and people will think you’re cool without you really having to prove it.

Great song title usage!

And that’s it. Pretty simple. Now put your knowledge to work and get ready to start living the way you’ve only dreamed you could. This is life changing stuff people!

Five From Michael Scott

This  is a series where I’ll feature five quotes from a few favorite characters.

Tonight’s episode of NBC’s hit series, The Office offers the ending of an era. This show will always be one of my favorites so with the series finale it will be sad to see it all end. It became a staple among nearly every person who, at one point or another, has spent time behind the carpeted walls of a cubical. And for them they found a television show where they can look in a carnival mirror and laugh at their own reflection. The scenes they saw on the show didn’t look exactly the way their lives did, but they were eerily similar.

So here’s a few quotes from the “World’s Best Boss“.

“Hi. I’m Michael Scott. I’m in charge of Dunder Mifflin Paper Products here in Scranton, Pennsylvania but I’m also the founder of Diversity Tomorrow, because today is almost over. Abraham Lincoln once said that, ‘If you’re a racist, I will attack you with the North.’ And those are the principles that I carry with me in the workplace.”

 

“Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject, so you know you are getting the best possible information.”

 

“Everyone always wants new things. Everybody likes new inventions, new technology. People will never be replaced by machines. In the end, life and business are about human connections. And computers are about trying to murder you in a lake. And to me the choice is easy.”

“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.”

 

“You know sometimes, to get perspective, I like to think about a spaceman on a star incredibly far away. And, our problems don’t matter to him, because we’re just a distant point of light. But he feels sorry for me, because he has an incredibly powerful microscope, and he can see my face. [looks towards the sky] I’m okay. No, I’m not.”

 

A Graph-ic Post

I’ve always liked infographics, but I don’t have the skill to make those. However I did take some basic computer courses at my Alma mater. So I thought I’d apply my talents and express my feelings through a few simple graphs.

 

Well I hope you enjoyed them. Let me know what you think with in the comments below. 

Novel Wisdom: London & Durham

This is a series where I’ll discuss some of my favorite quotes from books.

The books I chose for this post of Novel Wisdom are Walk Through Darkness by David Anthony Durham and White Fang by Jack London.

At first glance these books are incredibly different with not a thing in common. But both of these books are written by incredible authors. Jack London reached heights of fame and renown that few authors can ever hope to achieve. David Anthony Durham is a new author, but has already gained significant recognition for his work. Though the premise of these stories are incredibly unique they both deal with common themes. Each story revolves around a character being in a life that is not his own. They are attempting to navigate through their world and the conflicts they encounter.

“Slaves think about being free all day every day. Each time a bird flies overhead he wonders how come that bird can come and go but not me? Each time a white child walk by going to school he wonders why my child was sold away from me? Why my body ain’t my own? Why God says he just, but then make a world like this? How come my massa says I’m a beast no smarter than a horse when we both know that no horse ever worked a tobacco field or sung a hymn on Sunday or gave birth to that same massa’s child?”

It is not the way of the Wild to like movement. Life is an offence to it, for life is movement; and the Wild aims always to destroy movement. It freezes the water to prevent it running to the sea; it drives the sap out of the trees till they are frozen to their mighty hearts; and most ferociously and terribly of all does the Wild harry and crush into submission man–man who is the most restless of life, ever in revolt against the dictum that all movement must in the end come to the cessation of movement.

For more information on these books find them on Amazon. You can also follow along with other books I’ve read and my highlights from them on my Kindle profile. If you have any thoughts on these quotes, books, or their authors, let me know by leaving a comment.

Wait, What Does That Car Say?

I drive a lot. I have a daily commute along the interstate and I usually have to make a few trips on the weekends. During my time on the road I see a lot of people and I see a lot of cars. Some of the most interesting things I see are the ways people express themselves with their vehicles. So I decided to draft up a few bumper stickers myself.

So which one of these describes you? Which one describes your husband or wife or someone else you know?

Mid-Week Review:The Traits & Habits of Successful Bloggers

This post is apart of a series of reviews that will appear on Wednesdays.

I came across this when I was looking for a book on blogging tips and one of the names I kept seeing was Kevin Muldoon and his book The Traits & Habits of Successful Bloggers. After visiting his website I not only purchased this book, I also purchased The Art of Freelance Blogging and I subscribed to this website.

This book had a lot of great information for bloggers. Each page covers an important part of being successful as a writer, not just blogger. The information covered was also applicable to other areas of life. Eating right, getting sleep, get organized, work on your craft and don’t wait for it to get better. These may sound obvious, but they are habits that we all have to consciously make each day. This was a great book to break down how this will affect your success in writing.

I also like the advice offered specifically for bloggers. It covered everything from the technical aspects of blogging such as HTML, editing software, and SEO to basic information such as note-taking, professionalism and making sure you are honest in your writing.

After reading this short book I not only felt highly informed but also encouraged. I’d recommend this to anyone even thinking about writing.