iPhone App of the Week: Guitar World Lick of the Day

If you want to learn to play guitar or already do, then the Guitar World Lick of the Day application is for you.

It has "sample licks" and provides the notes, tabs, and a video demonstration for each. There are six that are provided for free and more that are obtained after "subscribing" for a fee.

Each lick is labeled with difficulty (easy, medium, hard) and genre (rock, blues, metal, country, jazz, bluegrass).

This app is for a very select group, but for those that are in this group, it can be very fun for the short period that it takes to get through the free six samples. After, the user can decide to pay to get more licks to try and play.

More information on the "Guitar World Lick of the Day" app can be found on the official website here and iTunes here.

A free alternative to Adobe Photoshop: Photo Pos Pro

Whenever I need to download or search for software, I always go directly to download.com. As part of a project for a class, I needed an image editing program because paint just wasn't cutting it. I figured that since I'll probably be using this program for other things besides this project, I decided that I'd buy Adobe Photoshop because I've used it before.

Well, the original version is $699 and not free to try while the extended version was $999 but free to try. I changed my mind about purchasing it.

I browsed the Image Editing Software for cheap alternatives, preferably free. The top five are shown first and Adobe Photoshop Extended is the only one that costs money, ranked #3.

I downloaded the top two downloaded, PhotoScape and IrfanView, to try them out and neither were advanced. Maybe I wasn't using it right because I was unfamiliar with it. I uninstalled them and went right to the fifth ranked, since the fourth's, FastStone Image Viewer, description didn't sound like what I was looking for.

The fifth was Photo Pos Pro. Instead of downloading it right away, I went to the website to view screenshots and it looked close to what Photoshop is, so I downloaded it. I was very, very pleased because the set up and tools are pretty much identical to Photoshop's. It's easy to work with once you get the hang of it.

So if you use/used Photoshop, don't have the software, want the software, and don't want to spend a small fortune, I highly recommend Photo Pos Pro. It does everything that Photoshop does... and for free!

More information about Photo Pos Pro and download can be found here.

The App about Socializing Travel: Waze

Since the app store's App of the Week, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, costs money, $4.99, and so does the Game of the Week, which it always does, I needed an alternative and it wasn't hard to find. There was a new section of an application list entitled "Traveling Home App Store Essentials." About half were free and the half that wasn't was mostly very expensive from $9.99 to $49.99, although there were cheaper ones.

I chose to download Waze-Social GPS Navigation, traffic & road reports because it intrigued me that any of that could be considered social.

You need to create an account (it says you can skip creating one but I assume that you won't be able to use it if you don't, since that's usually the case) and once that's finished, it takes you to a map of your current location that's different than the Google map on the iPhone.

There's a bar on top with icons and the very first one (and the biggest) kicks you out of the app, which I think is very strange. It even tells you that the app doesn't run if it's not in the background/previously viewed apps/double tap home button function. I think that it should be moved, but that could just be me.

The next is a red exclamation point and a number, the "events" part. It shows a list that consists of police sightings, traffic problems, accidents, and chit chats (which can be tweets or a conversation thread). It tells you how many of each are and if you click on one, it tells you where and how long ago it was reported. This is probably the most useful part because a lot of other apps that are similar cost money, though they may be more accurate since these are all reported by other Waze users.

Next to "events" are three little blue characters and a number, the "groups" part. I'm not really sure what the point of it is. It shows events by other group members, which can be close to where you are or far away.

Next is what looks like a baby sucking on a pacifier and a skull, the "moods" section. You have to drive 50 miles to use this part, but it seems like it a nice touch. In case no one knew that the traffic jam you reported made you mad, you can let them know this way.

There's also a scoreboard feature, just like in foursquare. You can unlock "Levels of waziness," which is similar to foursquare badges but in a scale format.

Whether you want to use this app just to know how your driving route looks or add zing to your travel, Waze may make a trip more tolerable. Instead of checking in at a place like with foursquare, Waze rewards you for the process of getting to the place.

Why you should download it
(in the app store, it has the reasons listed already, so I'm going to use a couple of theirs)
1. It's free!
2. It has voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation that learns as you drive (which I sort of don't understand, but I'll go with it).
3. See real-time traffic, construction, hazards and police information from other Waze and Twitter users.
4. The little side features make using it more fun.
5. It's integratable with Facebook and Twitter.

More information about the Waze application can be found here.

Fall 2010 Senior Project Presentation Review

On Tuesday, November 9th and Wednesday, November 10th, the communication major seniors that were enrolled in COMM 369-Senior Project presented their projects in the Fourth Floor Boardroom at 6:30PM. Three students presented on Tuesday and four on Wednesday.

Carey's project was "Tweet Me 2010: Personal Branding & Career Development Using the Social Network Site Twitter," a handbook.

Magan's project was "Dark and Light Impressions: An Examination of Skin Pigmentation and Willingness to Communicate among African-American Women," a research paper.

Katelyn's project was "Women at Work: Token Roles and Indirect Aggression Toward Female Group Members in Higher Education," a paper.

Sarah's project was "Social Media Marketing," an e-handbook.

Ryan's project was "The SXU Comedy Festival," an organized event.

Katie's project was "Speakaboo.weebly.com: An Online Outreach," a website.

Morgan's project was "Public Relations Campaign for WXAV 88.3FM."

Jackie's project was "Childhood Obesity: Communication Solutions to a 'Growing' Epidemic," a paper.

Courtney's project was "Saint Xavier University Presents The Harold Lloyd Film Festival," an organized event.

Kelly's project was "Don't Be Silent," an audio documentary of Otep Shamaya.

Mike's project was "Communication and Team Cohesion: A Look Inside a High School Football Team," a paper.

Emily's project was "Computer Mediated Communication Effect on Interpersonal Relationships," a paper.

Jose's project was "Senior Project Handbook: A Guide to Completing Senior Project," a handbook.

Examples of these projects and past ones should hopefully be posted soon, so keep a look out!

Also, if you're on Twitter, follow us @SXUCommDept!

The App about Lyrics: Lyrics World

So a song is playing and you know most of the words, but not all of them. The friend that you're with, however, knows them all, so as you two are singing at the top of your lungs, you feel embarrassed when you don't know the part.

We've all been there and Lyrics World Lite solves all the possible problems.

If there is a song playing on your iPhone's iPod, it will automatically look up the lyrics.
If there is a song that is on your phone's iPod that isn't playing, you can look it up and it will find the lyrics.
If you know part of the lyrics but the song isn't on your phone, you can search them to find the song.
If you know the song name, you can search the lyrics.

It also provides a YouTube video of the song, if available.

This is the most convenient lyric application that I've found because of the fact that it does so much and for free. The paid version doesn't include the advertising and it's currently 66% off at 99 cents, so for the uber lyrics enthusiast (like myself), grab it cheap while you can!

Why you should download it
1. It's free! (it really is the best reason for many things)
2. It does automatic and manual searching.
3. It has the music videos right there for viewing.
4. It's the best lyric app that I can find!

More information about the Lyrics World Lite application can be found here.

Blogger image upload gets fancy

Instead of a blank screen of nothing, the new Blogger image upload screen now shows what photo you uploaded and tells you that it's been added. Also, the "Done" button closes the screen instead of having to be manually X'd out.

Cool? Yes. Necessary? Nah, but it is much nicer. No complaints from over here.

iPhone App of the Week: Instagram

"Fast, beautiful, photo sharing" is the slogan of Apple's App Store App of the Week: Instagram. With 1,152 ratings of 4.5 stars, I expected it to be amazing; and it is.

To use it, you need to create an account. It's integrated with Facebook, Twitter, foursquare, Tumblr, and Flickr so you can share your photo instantly all at once instead of going into each app and uploading it separately.

First, you take a picture. Shocking, huh?

Next is the filters option that resemble photoshop settings and are used so you can spice up your picture. There are 11 different options, 12 if you include "normal" so your picture goes back to the default look when it was taken.

The next step is the posting process. It asks "What?" where you can put what the picture is of, what you're doing, or anything you want. Then it asks "Where?" which is optional. However, this is where foursquare comes into play. The locations listed are identical to what they would be listed as in foursquare.

Then there are the options of where you want to share the picture and information. You'll need to log-in with your account but it only needs to be done once. After you post on Facebook, the picture will show up with the caption "[What?] @ [Where?]." On foursquare, the picture doesn't show up but after filling out there "Where?" it automatically checks you in; the "What?" is noted as well.

Why you should download it
1. It's free! (It's the best reason ever)
2. It's like Places on Facebook and Checking in on foursquare, but to a new level. The picture gives the post a little something extra.
3. It's very easy to sign up and use, including with integrating other outlets' accounts.
4. It's fun to have an option to edit with the filters instead of just a plain photo. It's the perfect app to do this.

More information on the "Instagram" app can be found here.

Magan Marshall featured in Saint Xavier University's first Student Lecture Series

Organizational Communication senior Magan Marshall has had a very busy semester! Between senior project, participating in the upcoming Student Lecture Series, and being interviewed for WorldCat Local, she has a lot on her hands until winter break comes.

Along with other students, WorldCat Local interviewed her about the library search engine, how she uses it, and what she uses it for. It took place in the Bishop Quarter Room and was taped, so once the video becomes available, I'll post it.

Also, on Thursday, November 4th at 2pm in the Butler Reception Room, she will present her senior project for the first Student Lecture Series, which will be similar to SXU's Voices and Visions Speaker Series. Dr. Robinson told her about it over the summer and she agreed. However, she didn't know how big of a deal it was going to be. The other student presenting called and told Magan that the school wanted to take pictures of them for the posters. "I was like, you mean flyers, right? He said, no, posters." President Wiseman, many Sisters of Mercy, and faculty will be in attendance for the event. She presents first and the series goes until 4pm.

Her senior project is about light and dark skin and how it affects the way people communicate with each other. She interviewed ten females, five dark colored and five light colored, between the ages of 21 and 38, and they were staff and students from SXU as well as other colleges. She expected the skin color to be a factor in the communication. What she found out what that it only did to a certain extent; it was more about the characteristics of the person than their skin color.

If you have time, stop by Thursday at 2pm in Butler to check out her presentation. She's presenting first, so if you have somewhere to be, you don't need to stay the whole time.

Twitter lists are actually pretty complicated

First off, Happy November! It was suddenly October and now it's suddenly November. Hope everyone had a fun Halloween weekend.

Recently, Saint Xavier University's Department of Communication's Twitter has been getting a lot of followers. I check every one and follow a majority of them back (not those spam accounts or ones that look sketchy because they have zero tweets but a million followers).

I realized that the account was on two lists and I was proud! I checked one; it was good. I checked the other; not good. It wasn't an irrelevant or obscene list. It was a list of schools created by another school that tried to get transfer students.

Now, I immediately was shocked at how many schools (and well-known ones at that) were on the list and asked myself why they didn't remove themselves. Why risk the potential of losing students to this Twitter's school? That list shows up on your profile for everyone to see.

I googled how to remove an account from a Twitter list and it turns out that there is no simple one-click way. After looking at the settings, I guess there is no way to have an account get permission before adding to a list but maybe I'm missing something.

I did find a website, though, that tells you how to get off of the list, if only temporarily because you can always be added back. You simply block the user, then unblock them.

I hope in the future that Twitter does something to make list privacy better, especially since you don't have to follow someone to list them. If you don't keep up on what lists you're on, it could be potentially damaging to your image. If you don't realize that a porn account added you but your future boss does, that can raise questions.

Just make sure you view your profile often to see what exactly other people are seeing.

List removal website can be found here.
Original photo courtesy of Photobucket.