Volume Locker - don't let your pocket change your ringer settings

I was frequently a victim of my pocket changing my ringer settings on my phone.  It wouldn't vibrate, or would ring when it shouldn't.

I found a nifty app called Volume Locker which solves the problem.  I've been locked into Vibrate for about a year and couldn't be happier.

Android users:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hourdb.volumelocker

Google Project Ara - modular phone

http://www.wired.com/2014/04/google-project-ara/

This has been around a while, but just got demod.  Ironic that the screen broke. What's the most common part which fails for folks... yeah, screens.

I wonder if Google will do better with this than their other hardware devices.  The Nexus one was a little bit of a flop (as much to do with HTC's hardware as anything).  Google TV didn't really go anywhere.  Google has a history of hardware failures.

And getting people onboard with a hardware ecosystem like Apple has takes years.  Will they have the might and persistence to stick with it?

After all, they sold Motorola in just 18 months.  Wouldn't Motorola have been a great component for this?

COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-15/for-45-per-month-all-the-coffee-you-can-drink

Great idea, if you live in the city and travel by/near coffee shops frequently.  NYC is a great place to start.  I think it would work in SF, Berkley, Seattle, Portland and other urban environments as well.

As a coffee lover and former partner in a gourmet coffee company, I wish them nothing but the best.

From the too big to fail corner

http://skepchick.org/2014/04/godaddy-released-my-personal-information-to-a-spammer-troll/

GoDaddy exposed woman's personal info to a spammer who spammed her - and how he's going after her.

Shame on GoDaddy.  Sure, they're protecting they're paying customers over random internet folks but man - who wants to be responsible for causing someone to get stalked.

The risk you run when you rely on someone else...

Here's why its a bad idea to build any kind of branding or marketing on someone else's service.

They own what you do and will take/change/exclude it - and normally their TOS prevent you from being able to do anything about it.

Case in point...  This guys' wife lost her cool username on Instragram because an Instagram employee wanted it.

https://medium.com/p/5c546662abc0

Bad business? yup.
Rude? yup.
Anything you can do about it? Nope.

Sucks, though.  Don't ever think if you have something cool that you'll get to keep it.

Why Free isn't a business model

Excellent read about why "Free!" isn't a good business model.

http://blog.trak.io/freemium-vs-free-why-we-ditched-our-free-plan/

I hadn't thought about Free! not being a competitive advantage before (but, then, I never considered it a competitive advantage - just a way to open the door to conversation).

And free users needing the most support is spot on.  Spot on.  They're the hardest to get rolling because they have no resources.

There's another point I'd add - and he kind of touches on it discussing Google Analytics.  You value what you pay for.  Something that's free often has less value to you than something which has a cost.  Because you pay for it, you engage in it and use it and it becomes part of your life.  Free... is just something you expect to be there and work, but often refuse to invest the time in understanding.

Car Tipping, you say...

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Suspects-Flip-Over-Smart-Cars-in-San-Francisco-254177981.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_BAYBrand

Apparently urban youths prefer Car tipping to Cow tipping.  Who knew?