Techie Love

Maybe you could blame it on the freak snow storms happening all over the country. Maybe you can use the age-old excuse that you don't believe in Valentine's Day, it was just a holiday invented by the card and candy companies (by the way, NO ONE buys that).

But for whatever reason, you have woken up this Friday with egg on your face. Because you forgot it was Valentine's Day and you now need a present idea. Never fear, Tech-Know is here! We helped all you unfortunate planners on Christmas Eve, and we can most assuredly help you woo your techie love.

Let US help YOU.

Here are some great ideas for the nerd in your life this Valentine's Day. No, no need to thank us. We will accept your leftover chocolates as payment.

And if you can't find these at your local tech store, just blame it on UPS. That's what I always do.

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The Death of Flappy Bird

As some of you may know, the owner of Flappy Bird, Dong Nguyen, toldTechCrunch that the success of the app was "something that he never wants". Nguyen says he is not willing to sell the app, despite the fact it is the number one free app on the Apple Store and Google Play. He has not given any reasons to taking the app down, siting only to the press that he "wants peace". To find out more, read the full TechCrunch article here: http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/08/flappy-bird-going-down/ 

Please Excuse Our Progress

Hey all! I know there has not been a lot of Tech-Know for a while, but we are getting ready to relaunch with a whole new look. Please be patient!

Thanks to all the faithful techknows!!

5 Apps To Help You Through Your Back-To-Work Week

Hello all! I hope your holidays were merry and bright - and I hope you stayed safe in the polar vortex (how epic is that name, seriously? Polar vortex)!


I don't know about you, but this week certainly has been a one-way trip on the struggle bus. According to research, the Monday back from the holidays was called "Blue Monday" - because it was supposed to be the most depressing day of the year.

So how do you bounce back from the holiday blues? With a little help from technology, of course. These apps have helped me come back swinging after New Years...or at least have kept me awake at my desk.

Coffitivity (iOS& Android) is a bizarre but absolutely brilliant concept: for those of us that can't work along to music but can't stand complete silence either. Coffitivity emulates the sounds of a coffee shop with three settings: Morning Murmur, Lunchtime Lounge or University Undertones. You can add your own music as a background, or simply listen to the soothing coffee shop sounds by themselves.

Happier (iOS) is a 21-day course that helps boost your attitude through short daily lessons. The course costs $50, or you can get the free app here. If nothing else, this app will help you keep your perspective as you are remembering how late you got to sleep over the holidays. Sigh.

Have a really great quote that always helps you get through the day? Write it down, put a really cool background behind it and then share it with the world using Quollective (iOS). Or, if that just seems to hard, just browse around the Quote Library. Someone's quote will be sure to inspire you. How do I know? Oprah uses the app. Bam. Your argument is invalid.

Need help getting your life back into shape after the holidays? Meet your sadistic new friend, Carrot (iOS). Carrot  promises to be "your new task master" and will get upset if you "persist in sloth" (Carrot's words, not mine). Complete the things on your to-do list and Carrot will reward you. It makes crossing things off of your to-do list not only fun...but necessary. 

Color Zen (iOS & Android) is an addictive soothing game that combines a gorgeous interface with soothing music that will have that four hour budget meeting becoming a distant memory. As much of a puzzle as it is an addictive zoning-out program, the object of Color Zen is to match the shapes with colors to fill the screen with one outside color. Check out the trailer, it is about as soothing as the actual game is:

What apps have got you going this work week? Tell me by commenting below!

New Year, New Apps: My Interview With Creators of yAPPer

Happy New Year, Techknows! Here's to 2014, a year that will bring new opportunities, new ideas, and of course, new technology and apps.

To ring in the new year, I decided to focus on an exciting new project that will be launched in mid-January: the yAPPer app, created by three George Washington University graduate students and an iOS developer who have taken on the challenge of closing the gaps in modern communication.   

Think about this: have you ever been at an event, and wondered who else might be there? Have you seen something in your neighborhood and thought - "Am I the only one that saw that?" 

Enter yAPPer a localized chat app. yAPPer allows you to create a message board that anyone within five city blocks, or, to be more precise, 750 yards, can see.  

What sets yAPPer apart from other chat services is after 30 minutes of inactivity, your message will be deleted, not only from the app, but from the yAPPer's servers. 

"That helps our users to be candid", yAPPer President Rob Wyant stated. "People can use the app with the confidence of knowing that what they say on our boards won't come back years later to haunt them."

Another great function of the app is the ability to privately message your friends who are around you. By using a hashtag in your message subject line, the app will know to make your chat private and will only be seen by those that you invite to the chat or use the hashtag.

"Bar and restaurant owners or event planners can use this function to create their own unique hashtag in order to send special messages out to people in attendance," Wyant explains. "Anyone within 750 yards who have the specialized hashtag will be able to see the messages, which is great for sending out special promotions or just connecting with the patrons of your bar". 

In the summer of 2013, Wyant and two of his colleagues, Justin Lichtenstaedter and Dane Hinnen, came up with the idea of creating this app on a whim. "We didn't set out to create an app, the idea just came to us while in conversation", Lichtenstaedter stated.

The three colleagues realized they had a great idea and quite a lot of business experience between them, but no experience at developing apps. That's when they found the fourth member of their team, Anthony Agby, a skilled self-taught developer who had a passion for bringing other people's ideas to life.

 Recently, they have gained notoriety by becoming one of 64 apps to be chosen by South By Southwest, the famous Austin, Texas media conference, to compete in their Startup Student Madness tournament. On January 3rd, the judges will choose eight apps to go on to be the "Entrepreneurial Eight", who will be judged by a celebrity panel of judges and compete for top honors at the SXSW convention.

The founders say that none of their success would be possible without the help of the DC tech community and those at the George Washington University, who have mentored them and supported their project.

"A lot of what we have accomplished is through talking and networking with the community around us," Wyant stated. "Each day has been a learning experience, and each day I realize I don't quite know what I am doing. But my partners and I found great help through the GW community and those who are willing to support our start-up."

For more information on yAPPer, click here. To learn about SXSW's Studemt Startup Madness, click here. 

13 Things We Learned in 2013

Before we lay 2013 to rest and welcome 2014, I would like to take a moment to recap all the things that we saw in 2013: things that were good, mistakes that should not be made again, and ponderings of what the year has shown us. Unbiased politically but probably biased in almost every other way possible, here is my list of 13 Things We Learned in 2013:

1) Google Glass is for celebrities and Google tradeshows. Seriously, is that thing ever coming out on the market? Speaking of things that won't come to fruition...

2) Drones. Amazon got us all a-flutter when they made the announcement that drones were soon to be a part of the Amazon Prime package. But unless someone comes out with really great, all-encompassing drone legislation, there are just way too many problems with this. Darn you, Jeff Bezos! I will never be fooled again by one if your hare-brained marketing schemes. Until the next one rolls around. 

3) Who runs the world? Nerds. One even single-handedly took on the NSA and FBI and won. Sort of. 

4) Apple could slap gold or a fancy new color on ice and start selling it to Eskimos. 

5) The government is NOT listening to your telephone calls. Don't be ridiculous. They just know who you are calling and when and where you are located. Oh, and they also read your Facebook messages. But calls? Nah. 

6) It is now safe to search on Google! They won't give your info away to marketers! Unless, you know, they pay enough. 

7) We realized all too well that Big Data sort of sounds like Big Brother.

8) Beyoncé does not need advertising. Beyoncé can release a CD out on social media and it can be an instant best seller. It is also true that the Earth's gravitational force actually revolves around Beyoncé. 

9) Are you are a cat with a facial deformity? Congrats! Instant internet fame! 

10) We lived through the Twerkpocalypse and we survived. I tell you what, humans are a sturdy race. 

11) Farewell, honorable Nelson Mandela. We will never forget you nor the legacy that you left behind. Except for the kids that thought you were Morgan Freeman. Sigh. If you will excuse me, I have to weep for the future now. 

12) If the government gives you millions upon millions of dollars to make a website, you should probably make it suitable for, oh, I don't know, more than 10 people to be on it at one time? Maybe you could also make all the web site options work properly? Heck, just make the thing viewable for goodness sake. 

13) Pretty much the world cried when Breaking Bad ended. And I have yet to watch a single episode (at this point, it is just my pure stubbornness and a refusal to follow the crowd, although I am 'Breaking' down fast. Breaking...see what I did there?).

Tune in next time for my interview with the makers of YAPPER App, the app I will be supporting in the Student Startup Madness, a collegiate digital media tournament at SXSW! You won't want to miss it! 

Merry Christmas from Tech-Know

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope your morning was filled with family, good food and good presents!

This Christmas, the best tech gifts I got were a subscription to Wired Magazine and Roku, which will stream my Netflix to my TV.

At this rate, I will never leave my room.

What was your best tech gift this Christmas?