Find My iPhone: Yes, My Teenager Lost Another Phone

A True Story, brought to you by Find My iPhone and my occasionally forgetful teenage son.


My 15 yr old son has an iPhone.

The same phone that he used his Christmas and birthday money to buy about 7 months ago.

Firs you need to know this:
He doesn't have the best tract record with cell phones.
He's dropped one down the sewer.
He's gone swimming with one.
He's dropped one in the toilet.

But, after few years and some gained maturity and responsibility, and his own money,
and he's ready for a smartphone.

He's done a surprisingly great job of keeping up with it ...
until a few weeks ago.

He left his phone at our apartment complex pool.
Overnight.
And realized the next morning that it was missing.

So, he calls me at work.
In a panic.

 Enter: Find My iPhone. (accessed through Apple's iCloud.)

This is so wonderfully cool.
With Find My iPhone, through GPS, you can see on a map
where your phone is currently located.

You can send a message and/or sound to it, remote lock it and/or remote wipe it.
The sound emits at full volume, even if your phone was on silent, for two minutes.

My son did this, with no luck.
So, when I got home from work, we went searching.

I downloaded the free Find My iPhone app, and then started searching for his phone.

The GPS showed his missing phone was still in our apartment complex,
but located near another building.

So, we went a-knocking.
We knocked on every single door in that building.
No one answered.
except one.
A teen boy was working with a crew putting in new carpet in an empty apartment ...
but he said hadn't seen the phone.

We were about to give up, when I decided we needed to access the Find My iPhone app again and have it send the noise ... and then we heard it.

A pinging.

From the bushes right by the apartment with the carpet installers.

We found the phone!

Someone had ditched it (probably freaked out by all the noises it was making and all the message we had sent). They'd stripped off his OtterBox Case, darn it.

Thank goodness for Find My iPhone!!

FYI, Find My iPhone must be enabled in the iCloud settings on your device for you to locate it with this app.

 Because my with my son's track record, there's no way I was buying him a replacement.


 (This post was not sponsored in any way by Apple or iPhone. It's a true story, and I'm SO thankful we were able to find the phone.)


 

Good Morning, Texas

This morning, as I pulled out of the driveway, I had to stop and snap a quick photo with my iPhone of the sunrise.






And then I put it through Instagram and shared it on Facebook and Twitter.






How do you take quick snapshots?
Do you use your phone?
Do you have photo editing software?
Where do you share?

My thoughts about the Kindle

I put one on my wish list for Christmas.

I wasn't sure I really wanted one,

but I thought I'd try it out.

OK, the real reason?

My mom and sister had one,

and I felt left out.

I love electronics and new technology,

and I love books,

so while I had some hesitations about combining the two,

it seemed like something I should check out.

I received the Kindle for Christmas, to my suprise...

and slowly fell in love.

It wasn't a full blown immediate, passionate love affair,

but a slow, kindling kind of fire.

hehe

Pun intended.

I personalized it with a cool-looking skin and found a nice purple case to keep it safe,

and it fits in my purse and goes with me everywhere.

I've downloaded free word games...
to further my addiction of word games.

And I can connect to Amazon anytime I want via the Kindle...
to browse books and download the first chapter FREE of any book I want.

The instantaneous access is powerfully addicting.

The cheaper price of new hardbacks and best sellers is extremely gratifying.
I don't have to feel guilty about buying the latest Karen Marie Morning or Kim Harrison novel.

(Amazon hasn't paid or compensated me in any way to write this post!)

Also cool? 
You can loan some books to anyone else with a Kindle. 
And, since my mom and sister have one,
and we all read voraciously, this is awesome...
although not many books are "loanable" yet. 

I have a Kindle App on my iPhone now where I can read any of the books on my Kindle, on my iPhone.  The Kindle and the iPhone share knowledge
and keep track of where I am in a book. 
How smart is that?

I love technology. 
And I love reading. 
And I now love the Kindle.

Have you tried an electronic reading device?

Are you for or against them?

I don't want hard and soft cover books to go away, or bookstores for that matter,
but I love the buying convenience and the ability to store thousands of books on my Kindle.

What the Smurf?!

I thought slavery was dead.

Boy, was I wrong.

My 8 yr old son has slaves.

He makes them grow crops, eat things, work, etc.

They're blue.

They're called SMURFS.

It's a game called Smurfs' Village.

These little guys are familiar to me from my childhood, 

and they seem to be making a comeback through a game app for the iPhone/iPad/iPod.

And, a new movie is coming out next summer called Smurf Happens 

.

 I'm not smurfing this up.  This is REAL. 

Who knew these little blue creatures were coming back?!

These are a few of my favorite apps.

I wanted an iPhone for a long time, and then I finally got one for Christmas 2009.

I've found some strange apps for the phone,

but these are the following FIVE applications that I use every single day on my iPhone

(not in any particular order):

1. Facebook - It's so easy to update my status while waiting in line somewhere. Most my family and friends are on Facebook and it's so fun to keep up with people when I'm too busy to talk.

2. We Rule - This game is so much fun! You own a castle and build houses and businesses (a tavern, a bookstore) and grow crops (magic aspargus!).

3. We Farm - Very similar to We Rule, but you own a farm, raise animals (cows, chickens, ostrich) and grow stuff (lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant).

4. Words With Friends - It's similar to Scrabble and you can play anyone who has an iPhone! I have 7 games going right now with friends and family.

5. Email - I have my gmail account connected to my phone and can check mail wherever I am.

6. Maps - Ok, I don't use this every day but the times I do use it, indespensible!!!

7. The Weather Channel - I need to check the 10 day forecast regularly.

8. Messages - This is where I text everyone, and it formats the texts like a conversation. Unlimited and extremely useful.

What are your favorite apps?

Do you have an iPhone?

Do you want an iPhone?

Words with Friends - NewToy

As I've mentioned before, I LOVE my iPhone.

It's become a staple in my life that I can't live without!

One of my absolutely favorite apps is called Words with Friends.

I think I have about 10 games going right now with other iPhone users...I play my 13 yr old son, my sister who lives in California, a friend from high school, and a few blogger friends I've never met! 

It's a blast!

I'm a word freak.

I love playing word games.

This game is so much fun.

AND, guess what I just discovered?

The company that developed it , New Toy Inc, also made Age of Empires, 

my 13 yr old son's absolute favorite game ever...

and they made a HALO game, which is another favorite game in our household.

And, I also discovered...they are my neighbors!

They live here in McKinney!

It's fate.

And, if my hunch is correct, 

they work out of one of the coolest looking old warehouses downtown 

that I love to take photos of...

I've just decided to check out their Chess with Friends free app...

because I am an avid fan of chess as well.

The Poo Log, the Pimple Popper & the Vibe

I have an iPod Touch that is just awesome.  It's really incredible.

But, I really want an iPhone.

I'm very into apps these days.

There's an app for anything and everything.

I download mostly free ones, but...

The most expensive app is iRa for $900.

iRa Pro and iRa Direct are used to view and manage super-expensive enterprise surveillance camera installations. Clients could include corporations, schools, government, etc.

There are useful apps like maps, GPS, dictionary and other reference apps.

There are fun, crazy apps, like the koi pond, the bubble wrap popper and silly games.

Then there is the crazy.

Like the Poo Log where you can keep track of your bowel movements size, frequency and consistency.

Based on the best-selling book, "What's Your Poo Telling You?" by Josh Richman and Anish Sheth MD, Poo Log is the top choice app for discerning Poo-ers everywhere. Don’t be fooled by imitations, and don’t miss “What’s My Pee Telling Me?” coming this fall to bookstores everywhere.

Reviews of Poo Log, the book:
***** Great gift for the poop lover. – Sandy, Amazon reviews
***** The Poo Log gives you a giggle while you dribble – Larissa, Amazon reviews
***** Hi-Larious! – A. Miller, Amazon reviews

Finally! What every iPhone and iPod Touch has been waiting for – the Poo Log, a digital timer and journal for recording and studying the wondrous uniqueness of each bowel movement. With a clever mix of bathroom humor and legitimate medical information, Poo Log allows you to track your digestive workings and graph your poo – all with one hand. With handy references, trivia, and interesting nuggets throughout, this digital Poo Log makes every trip to the can an e-loo-cidating experience. Who knew one could learn so much from poo?

There's a pimple popping game where you can pretend to pop pimples.  ewww.

And then the one that sent me over the edge in disgust...a vibrator app!!

I'll never look at the iPhone the same again.  lol

I still really want one...but not for poo or pimple or vibes.

Seriously.

Let Me Tell You Why

5 reaons why I really, really need an iPhone.

1.To help my 12 yr old son do math while watching my younger son play baseball.(it has a calculator!)

2. To play games myself, I mean, keep my boys occupied when we're stuck in line. (sudoku, tangram, Bejeweled, chess!)

3. To play music on when babysitting toddlers to keep them distracted, I mean, teach them the importance of classical tunes.

4. To compare apps with strangers make friends with other iPhone users.

5. To set alarms to wake myself up when napping in my car during my lunch hour working so hard I forget to take a break..

You can do EVERYTHING (get on the Internet, find maps, look up info, listen to music, find places to pee, play games,  and do just about anything and everything under the sun with an app)

Can you tell how badly I want one?!

Sit or Squat

We've all been out and had to go to the bathroom urgently.
It's a fact of life, and it happens.


The worst feeling is needing to go...and not being able to find a toilet.

I've rushed into fast food restaurants...Starbucks...gas stations...

Once, when I was around 13 or so, my family took a trip to Italy.
And we took a tour of Pompeii.

Please tell me you have heard of Pompeii?

It's a ruined and partially-buried Italian town, from a volcanic eruption
of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.



It's an amazing place to visit.
The history there is incredible.

But, mid-tour, my mom, my sister, and I all needed to pee.

Badly.

In the middle of an ancient-volcanically preserved historic town.

I'm ashamed to admit it...but we did it.

We found a spot to...squat.

Does anyone know the Italian statute of limitations on a crime like that?

Could I be arrested next time I end up in Italy?

Can my own blog be used against me in a court of law?!!




Anyway, I recently found out, from the same above-mentioned sister,
that there is an iPhone/iPod app that is called...

Sit 0r Squat.

And it's a free app to help you find a toilet while you are...anywhere.

What a brilliant idea!!!


Do you have any good app ideas to create your own? Do you own any good apps you want to share?



photos courtesy of Wiki Commons