Waze App

This is the first app that I've done a long review with screen shots. If you have any feed back please let me know.

I have been a Google Maps App user for the last two or three years. I have heard about the Waze app but never downloaded it due to my satisfaction with the Google Maps app. Recently while listening to the podcast "This Week in Google" https://goo.gl/Es8RNG two of the show members discussed how much they love the Waze app and how it saved them a lot of time. I also thought of an article that I read that talked about how the app allowed users in the community to report police officers. Their was some indignation that this defeats the point of speed traps or that is was akin to having a radar detector.

Waze (Free. iOS, Android, and Windows) Owned by Google this app has a lot of great features and an easy to use interface. It combines users data and Google Maps to suggest the best route. It also alerts users of police or stop light camera presence. Informs of hazards such as accidents, flooded streets, and road closures. The app illustrates areas of high traffic telling how many additional minutes it will take to use a given roadway or how slow traffic in the area is moving, it even shows icons for points where traffic is backed up or at a stand still.

As you can see in the above screen shot it gives: current direction, what is next in directions, when you should arrive, the distance in miles and time, it displays certain businesses Dunkin Donuts, Wells Fargo, and KFC), other Waze users, and hazards. You might also notice that I have the speedometer display turned on (I did this because I place my phone over where the speedometer goes). The silhouette shows you how many of your friends are on the road.

Here are some of the things that users can report to help other users know. I have not used the map chat but I suppose you can send other Waze users a message. I have reported traffic jams, police, accidents, hazards, and road closures. I think that the picture feature is helpful if you are looking for a building you've never been to before.

You can navigate to a favorite place that you have saved, you can type in an address, or put the name of a place. One of the cool features of the app is you can search for a place with a variety of search engines: Waze, Google, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Four Square, or your contacts' information.

This shows how you can choose from a variety of routes and you can inform Waze if a certain route is your favorite.

You can customize your profile with a picture. You can see what friends use Waze. Users get points for reporting map problems, hazards, traffic, etc, so you can look and see where you are on the scoreboard.

I have been so impressed with all the information that it provides that I deleted another app I had on my phone that provided only gas prices.

Users can choose what Waze icon that they display to the world. It also shows up on the menu where it says "My Waze" it displays the icon you chose. I chose "Nerdy". I highly recommend this app but I will point out a few things that may or may not bother users. There are pop-up ads sometimes when you stop at a stop light; these ads are for movies, restaurants, or banks. You can choose what language / voice gives you directions but I didn't find any that I found particularly pleasant so I turned voice directions off. Also a neat thing is that it will give you directions with the phone closed / locked if you have to save battery life or something. The app notices when you are moving and unless you notify it that you are the passenger it will not allow you to type anything while you are moving.

If you want to learn more or get a link to download the app checkout their website: https://www.waze.com/

Learn Computer Programming

Code.org
 – This nonprofit foundation website is a great starting point for coding novices. It shares lots of useful online resources, apps and even local schools for learning coding. There are materials that are appropriate for children from early elementary through high school. There are even adults that use these resources to learn Python and JavaScript.

Scratch
 – Designed by MIT students and aimed at children ages 8 to 16, this easy-to-use programming language lets kids build almost anything they can dream up. No crazy lines of code here. Instead you arrange and snap together Scratch blocks as if they were virtual Legos. It seems simple but it can get very complicated and you can do a lot more with it then you might think.

Stencyl – Inspired by Scratch's snapping blocks system, this software lets users create simple games for iOS, Android, Flash, Windows, Linux and Mac. Users have to down load their development environment software. If you or your child is serious about coding / programming, there are paid pro plans that come with advanced lessons.

Khan Academy – Known for its extensive and challenging math games, Khan Academy also has basic programming tutorials.

Code Academy – This interactive website is very user-friendly and teaches all users how to code through fun and simple exercises that feel like games. I will say from personal experience that it is very picky on the code, you can write some lines of code that do exactly what they are asking but if it isn't exactly like the website expects it will tell you that you didn't do it correctly.

Hackety Hack
 – After a quick download to your computer, kids can learn Ruby, an open-source programming language that's easy and intuitive.

Code Monster – Particularly good for kids, Code Monster features two adjacent boxes. One displays code, the other shows what the code does. As you play around with the code with some help from a prompt, you learn what each command does.

Apps to Learn to Code and/or program:

Daisy the Dinosaur (Free. iPad only) This app is good for children 7 and up. It is really teaches more beginning logic and sequencing, not really programming or even coding, but it is a good start.

Cato's Hike: A Programming and Logic Odyssey (4.99 iOS only) Cute story based adventures takes users on a journey collecting hearts and stars. The lessons are basic logic and sequencing but not really writing any code or assembling snippets of code. A nice game to prepare children 8 and up for Scratch.

Hopscotch (Free. iPad only) Target ages 10 and above it teaches sequence and logic but not a lot of "code".  It has great colors, a great interface, and can become challenging (even for adults).

Cargobot (Free. iPad only) For ages 8 and up it teaches logic, sequencing, and some basic ideas of how to create commands but not actual "code". It is fun and tough, I wish it better explained what it is trying to teach because although it is teaching through gameplay it could be clearer and straight forward in "this is the best way to do this because..." type stuff.

Kodable (Free - 6.99 iPad only) The company that created Kodable has a full curriculum for parents and educators to teach elementary school children programming concepts. Receiving high marks from reviewers it has activities and teachable moments that reinforce lessons from the app offline (real world). The first lesson is free but additional lessons are 6.99. Pricing for curriculum depends on the number of students and educators.

Lightbot Jr. (1.99 iOS, Android, and Amazon) Ages 4 to 8 Teaches writing code snippets and put them in an order to execute basic commands, they refer to them as coding puzzles.

Lightbot (1.99 iOS, Mac, Android, Amazon, and Windows) For ages 9 and up this game app teaches programming through puzzles that help users understand concepts required for creating a program.

Move the Turtle (3.99 iOS only) Teaches ages 9 and up programming concepts: loops, procedures, variables and conditional functions. Allows users to learn creating and manipulating graphics, spatial orientation, and programming sound. Provides additional inspirational examples they can try to duplicate or edit. 

L2Code CSS (2.99 iOS, Android, Amazon) Aimed at adults teaches users HTML and CSS basics through short easy to follow lessons. Examples help you see what you should do or what you are doing wrong.

Codea (9.99 iOS only) Used as a mobile environment for writing X code used to create Mac and iOS apps. It doesn't teach programming but allows users to write code on their mobile device, transfer to other devices, or share with others.

Tynker (Free. iPad only) Use problem solving skills to play a game that uses drag and drop blocks of code. The website has a platform for schools and educators, along with resources for children www.tynker.com

Bee-bot (Free. iOS only) The app is based on a floor robot by the same name and it uses the robot’s keypad functionality. The app enables children to improve their skills in directional language and sequencing.

ScratchKids Lite (Free. iOS only) The app has a series of videos arranged by type of coding activity the user is trying to accomplish in Scratch. It gives nice step by step instructions.

Free Web resources for learning how to code:

A new website created by Facebook that has a lot of resources to learn programming:
https://techprep.fb.com

Very basic to intermediate: http://code.org/learn

C# and .Net languages (beginner to advanced) http://asciiwarriors.com/resources

College level classes: https://www.coursera.org/courses and http://www.oeconsortium.org/courses/category/2717/

An assortment of languages (beginner to advanced): http://www.tutorialspoint.com/computer_programming_tutorials.htm

Learning HTML, CSS, and Java Script: http://www.w3schools.com/

To practice / work on projects: www.programmr.com

Learn to program for Android: http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/Android/article.html

Online Java Compiler:  https://ideone.com/

Keeping your Computer Safe

Two of the things that I am asked about a lot is “what can I do to make my computer faster” and “how can I protect my computer from viruses”. Below I am going to give you some advice for both of these and if you want to learn more I have given you links to articles that will give you more information. Knowing what scams and malicious actors are doing is a form of protection that I highly recommend, the old adage “knowledge is power” and “prevention is the best protection” come to mind.

One of the websites that I frequently read is called Krebs on Security http://krebsonsecurity.com/ and it is by a Internet Security expert Brian Krebs. He has three rules that I have passed on as mantra, “1) If you didn’t go looking for it, don’t install it; 2) If you installed, update it. 3) If you no longer need it, get rid of it!”.  To read more about the three rules and why they are so important check out this article: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/05/krebss-3-basic-rules-for-online-safety/  

One of the software he recommends (and I use) is File Hippo’s App Manager http://www.filehippo.com/download_app_manager it let’s you know what programs on your computer need to be updated and will update them for you if you choose. 

Cleaning off temporary files, deleting cookies, and fixing registry mistakes will make speed up your computer and get rid of records of your web activity so that websites can not view / collect that data. The program that I recommend to do this (again I use it) is CC Cleaner http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ . People ask about defragging their computer, most computers do this automatically now but if you’d like to learn more I recommend this article http://lifehacker.com/5976424/what-is-defragging-and-do-i-need-to-do-it-to-my-computer  

To get rid of malware, adware, and certain types of bloatware I would recommend Malwarebytes (again I use this program myself) https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/  

People ask me about installing a firewall, most computers have a built-in firewall. If you have a PC running Windows you can look at your firewall settings by going to the “Control Panel” and selecting “System and Security” {Windows 7} or “Microsoft Firewall” {Windows 8}.  

Windows 8 computers also have an antivirus program pre-installed called “Windows Defender”. If you do not have that version of Windows or if you want a different antivirus there are a lot of free programs that work very well. This article lists several different good choices http://krebsonsecurity.com/tools-for-a-safer-pc/ . If you feel that you would like the added features or need a paid version buy it from a store or online; do not choose auto renewal because many companies charge more for renewals than to just buy a new program (besides they may not be the best for you the next year). 

JavaScript and Adobe Flash allow for added functionality but they can also be holes that allow for malicious programs and hackers to exploit. There are extensions that you can install that will give you more control over when a website uses JavaScript or Flash, they are discussed in the “Tools For a Safer PC” article linked above. If you are very worried about it you can go to your settings menu in Chrome under privacy you can turn off JavaScript and “prompt you for when to use plugins”. 

Another great article about what to do if you have a virus written by Malwarebytes is available here: https://goo.gl/0XYVT1 . If you have something like ransomware or there is a malicious program that you cannot clean with the above mentioned articles, your best bet is to find a reputable local computer repair business to thoroughly clean your computer.