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New Year’s Resolution: Find the Apps that Motivate You

19 Replies writerevan

New Year’s resolutions are a funny thing because most people make them with the expectation that they won’t keep them. As the excitement of the turning year begins to fade away into the monotony of work and everyday life, so too does our resolve to make this new year the best yet by losing weight, saying goodbye to cigarettes, and making the effort to stay connected to family and friends.

But if you really want your resolutions to stick this year then you need to make a plan that keeps you on track for success, and modern technology can help. Here are just a few apps for Apple devices that are sure to help you keep all of your resolutions this year!

TraxItAll

If one of your biggest problems with your New Year’s resolutions in the past has been tracking your progress in order to stay motivated and see how far you’ve come, then this app will certainly solve your problem. With a user-friendly interface that allows you to enter goals and report on progress daily, a simple system for tracking that involves yes/no answers (Did you work out today? Did you count calories? Did you call mom?) and a section for notes (30-minute workout, 1,500 calories, blood pressure 110/70), and a chart to view monthly progress, you’ll quickly see the rewards of your efforts, and all for $1.99.

Resolutions 2012

There are actually two apps by this name in the iTunes store, but the better version by far was made by 2Morrow Mobile and comes with a price tag of $0.99.

You’ll have to start by entering your resolutions, and from there you’ll be prompted to make a plan of action that will help you to reach your goals. With a step-by-step approach and reminders to keep you on track (not to mention optional sharing via Facebook, Twitter, and SMS), you’ll have a much better chance of getting to your goal weight, laying down the cigarettes, or finally saving up for that dream trip to Paris this year.

Jillian Michaels Slim-Down Solution

If you ever wanted this pocket-sized personal trainer in your pocket, now you can have your wish. With her free app for the iPhone (or other iDevice) you can now take Jillian from The Biggest Loser everywhere you want to be. You’ll get 30 slimming recipes and 30 fat-burning exercise routines with this version (plus daily tips, weekly podcasts, and more), or you can get much more with the paid service. At $3.99 per month it’s cheaper than a gym membership or joining a diet program.  And having a personal trainer in the palm of your hand? Priceless.

LIVESTRONG MyQuit Coach

For fans of the LIVESTRONG series of apps, this little freebie will be a welcome addition.  With a simple approach to finally quitting that sets reduction goals and prompts you to track your cigarette consumption, you should have no problem kicking the habit. With more than 1,500 satisfied customers (those are just the ones that rated the app), it could just provide the motivation you need to quit for good.

Skype WiFi

In the world of cheap internet innovations, this could just be the best service to hit computers, phones, and tablets. No matter where you are in the world, if you can find an internet café you can talk to your friends and family practically free with this amazing app. You only pay $0.06 per minute (via Skype credit) and it allows for unlimited talk, text, browsing, download, etc. And if you can’t find a hotspot, it will locate one for you from more than a million locations. So if staying connected is one of the many New Year’s resolutions you’re bound to break, this app could make it a lot easier (and cheaper) to get in touch.

Are broadband speeds on the rise?

14 Replies Christopher Roberts

Many providers will be increasing their broadband speeds from 100Mbps to 120Mbps at the start of 2012, with an estimated completion date in mid-2013. The increase will be really good for customers in the UK, who are looking for faster internet speeds for both personal and business use. Faster speeds could boost the economy, as well as change the way households and businesses use the internet.

Giving access to a super-fast internet is all part of building a newer and improved economy in the UK. The government alone has set goals to expand broadband speeds within the next three years. By the end of 2015, investors predict fibre optic broadband will be available to two-thirds of the UK. Many providers are doing their part to support the economy, understanding that the internet is such an essential part of the everyday lives of their consumers. People are using the web to assist them in every aspect of their lives these days, so having a fast and reliable internet connection is important now more than ever.

Investors will be bringing even faster speeds to the UK. It is thought that around 300Mbps speeds will become available in limited locations within the next few years. Currently, many providers are trying to keep up with these investors by doubling their speeds, allowing customers to upgrade from 10 Mbps to 20Mbps. Those who subscribe to their highest speeds of 30Mbps will be upgraded to 60Mbps. Some providers aim to roll out the changes free of charge, so customers may be pleasantly surprised by the change in their broadband speed! Users will be able to benefit from streaming television, movies and music twice as fast as before.

An example of some optical fibre internet cablesThe increase is good news for the UK, which currently ranks somewhere between 10th and 40th globally in terms of average broadband speeds – depending upon where you get your figures. Once upgrades are complete, the average UK broadband speed could increase to around 16.46Mbps, a massive download speed increase!

Consumers will be gaining this speed boost at the most opportune time, since the highly popular Netflix, this week launched its service in the UK. Such services require high bandwidth speeds and will undoubtedly attract large numbers of costumers, all of whom will need super-fast internet to watch their favourite movies and television shows.

Does Security Have to be Technical?

14 Replies Alan

I had been a software engineer for at least 3 years specializing in digital security. A month ago, I attended a small workshop which talked about IT Security for corporate and the speaker said this somewhere in the middle of the workshop:

“Security is a process. It does not have to be really technical and the most important part is the process.”

I stunned for a while and suddenly my mind wondered away from the workshop deeply thinking, what is the speaker trying to deliver? I started this serious thinking simply because it is not said by some non-technical or sales person. Instead, the person speaking in front of me is a Certified Ethical Hacker.

A padlock key on a keyboardAt the end of the workshop, I begin to understand what he is trying to deliver. After 3 years of writing programs for the benefit of security, I turned out saying that security is a process. Why would I say that? Look around us. All the tech that you need to protect yourself from cyber crime is there. Anti-virus, firewall, anti keylogger, parental control, password manager and many more are all available in the software market. There is no reason for us to say in terms of technology, we are not good enough in security.

What makes so many of us a victim of computer or internet threat is the lack of proper process in computer and internet security. Security is not a short process where you only apply if you need it. For instance, you don’t only apply security when you had just downloaded a file from an unknown site which required a security scan.

Security is an end to end process. This means that the moment your computer boots up, security should be applied until the time your computer shuts down. People usually failed to stay secure simply because they don’t apply security from the very start. Agree?

So what’s your view? Do you still think that security has to be something technical?