How I am glad

... that I workout often!

All I needed was a jolt of motivation and I signed up for gym membership last January. Ten months through the journey, I am still hitting the gym few times in a week as my work schedule permits. I have skipped out few times, but I always go back.

I didn't exactly lose a lot of weight. But I definitely feel more powered, energized and happy. Weird, but yes, it keeps my mind off from stress and worry, and everything else in between. My stamina improved and I can do more things without feeling tired. 

Oh, and I did lose some weight :) 

Today, I was grateful I made the decision to invest in gym membership and make time to workout. Why? Because, I was able to wash my SUV all by myself. I did bring my car to the usual car wash saloon but they were packed today (being weekend and all...) and I had no option but to somehow figure out a way to wash it. 

So, it's self-wash day then.

I came back home and parked the car only to realize the hose which is usually long was replaced with a shorter version (whatever happened to the old one). It was really short. 

So I can't wash the car using a hose. I had to use a bucket to catch the water and splash it on the car - top to down. This alone required a lot of energy and strength. And I managed to get it done. In about 2 hours or so. But it was all worth it to see Buster 2.0 gleam and sparkle. Partly because, the car was just polished 3 weeks back and I used wash+wax solution for the car wash. And of course, the effort I put in to wash it carefully.

I also wore my gym clothes to wash the car! The idea initially came as I thought I will be sweating a lot, but it helped to keep me dry from all the water splashing activity! I felt this was a marvelous self-discovery on my side :P

The best thing was, I did not feel tired afterwards.

Top 5 Applications on my Android

I have a total of four (yes, four) Android devices out of which three are in constant daily use. 

I have two mobile Androids running Gingerbread and Ice Cream, and one tablet running Ice Cream. One more mobile runs Froyo. So here's a list of top 5 application that is a must in all my devices (and these are FREE!).

Feedly

This is my favorite application of all. A news reader with a simple interface and so easy to use. The best part is, it integrates nicely with my Google Reader account. On my tablet, this applications turns my news feed into a magazine-like browsing experience. Highly recommended if you have plenty of reading materials that you follow online.

Million Moments

I had to admit Android's version of Gallery, although not the worse, but isn't the best either. And that is why I love Million Moments - it's yet another application for photos but with ease of use and has a wonderful layout! I just need to create some labels (for example, "food") and every time I take a picture of food (more often I do), I just have to tag the picture with the labels. What the application does, it turns the labels into wonderful "photobook" like gallery.

Any.DO
Having too many things to track is no longer a hassle with Any.DO for me. I add list of things I have to do in this simple little app and it keeps track everything for me, and reminds me when I do forget. I can strike out things I've completely and a shake clears everything done from the screen! The interface is simple, easy and clean. New version includes sync-ing with your Google Tasks. My favorite feature is the phone reminder (keeps track of missed calls and reminds me when I have to return a call).

Dolphin Browser HD
Chrome is one of my favorite software on my PC, but on my Androids Dolphin takes the reign being the best browser for awesome functionality and ease of use (easy for me that is, but it could still be intimidating for those who even think IE is daunting). It's just a browser, but there are so very little browsers out there that works properly on Android platform, so this one takes home my vote for being the best one (crashes less).

StumbleUpon
Given an option, I would want this application to be my #1 favorite app in Google Play. Unfortunately, this is also the most unstable application out there, but then again, I can't live without it. StumbleUpon is something that was discovered by Sathyan on its early days and he always shares a lot of interesting "stumbles" that he stumbles upon. It's one of the apps that I'd recommend to people who messages me, "I'm bored". So, if you're always boring bored and had to do something with your hands in a good way, have this installed, choose your interests and have fun exploring what's out there in the world wide web! :)

So there you have it, now you know what Leena uses on her mobile devices all the time. It is interesting to note that there are people who are keen to find out what application I have installed on my Androids. Of course these are not the only ones I have. Probably when I have more time at hand, I'll try to come up with Top 5 Android games installed on my Androids. 

An app for everything

Today I found an amazing mobile application from Citrix. Citrix Client Receiver for Android. I call it amazing because with this nifty technology my work is now mobile!

I am now able to access almost everything I need to do my work using my phone. I can even remote into and reboot a server from my phone! I can run database queries, approve change tickets, run through my incidents and the list goes on. It's really cool.

Ok, here comes the best part. This application is not limited to Android alone. Those who has Blackberry, Windows, or even iPhone/iPad can use this and turn their mobiles for business use. I find it very useful, because now I don't have to carry my notebook around with me when I'm on-call. I can take care of everything from my phone alone. :)

Here's a picture of a remote server on my phone using Citrix Receiver. It is really awesome.

Now, I have all the reasons I need to get a tablet...soon!

Shoot in RAW

"Always try to shoot in RAW".

Sathyan always tells me RAW is the best format to shoot, because you have the much needed freedom to control the exposure and other stuff when you open it in PC.

For those using Nikon imaging systems (like yours truly), this means NEF files. You can always use ViewNX to view these files but more often what I really want is to preview the NEF file before opening it in Photoshop (or any other photo editing software).

Today I found out there is actually a codec from Nikon that allows a thumbnail preview of the raw file in the explorer (I'm using Windows 7). It makes NEF files almost as easy as working with JPEG, which makes the word RAW less daunting now, doesn't it? :)

The codec can be downloaded from here. Happy previewing!