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    Solve Actual Problems

    Imagine you are taking a test. You are presented with several word problems and are instructed to pick one to solve. Instead what you do is write your own problem – one that you think is a good one to solve, and answer that one. You’re so confident that the teacher will be impressed because you thought of it and you love it and you think it’s a great solution. But when you get the test back, it has a big red F on it. How could that be? Your solution is sound and well thought out. You were invested in it! The teacher explains that while the solution seems like a good one, you didn’t solve any of the problems he asked you to solve. You made up your own based on what you believe. This is a bad way to take tests. But this happens all the time with new products or services. I will come up with an idea I think is great, sink time and money into it, and ultimately it will fail. The reason is I’m trying to solve problems people don’t think they have. The key to a successful product or service is to solve actual problems.

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    Quick Tip: Learn new Languages for Free with Spotify

     So it’s been a while and for that I apologize, but I have been writing for a bunch of other blogs. Today I come to you with a quick tip  that came to me just this morning. Over the weekend I ran into an guy who spoke Italian and after talking for a while I decided to resurrect my New Year’s Resolution to learn Italian. While Rosetta Stone can get expensive, there might be a simpler freer way to learn certain languages.

    There are tons of CDs to  help you learn languages, so I  went to Spotify and searched, “Learn Italian.”  Low and behold, a bunch of CDs came  up for me including Let’s Learn Italian!. And Italian isn’t the only language that’s there. You can do the same for Spanish, (some) French, and even Chinese.

    If you’re not on Spotify, you can sign up for free.

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    10 Android Apps the Make my Life Easier

    It’s no secret that I love Android as a platform, and I favor Android phones over the iPhone. I did my Master’s Thesis on the G1, bought the Motorola Droid- the first Android phone available on Verizon, and recently upgraded to the HTC Droid Incredible. One of the reasons I like Android so much is because of the openness of the Market Place, and the ability to install non-market apps on your phone. Apps are very powerful for any platform because they make your phone more personal. Today I want to tell you about 10 Android apps that have made my life easier!

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    My Thoughts on Twitter for Mac

    I’ve been using Twitter for Mac for a few days now after TweetDeck went AWOL and started using up all of my CPU on me; I’ve got some thoughts on it. I used Tweetie (the amazing Twitter app for Macs) for a while and loved it (who didn’t?); when they stopped updating it, I stopped using it. Now that it’s back as the official Twitter app for Macs, I’m back in and have high hopes. Here’s what I think.

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    Why iTunes Proves Apple is Only in it to Make Money

    I know what you’re going to say; “All companies want to make money.”  As a red-blooded, meat-eating, American capitalist, I think that’s a good thing. But there seems to be a thought among computer nerds (and most Apple product users) that Apple is the white light to Microsoft’s Eye of Sauron (sorry…I recently watched Lord of the Rings). That simply isn’t true, and iTunes proves it.  It also proves that you don’t need to have the best, you just need to market it the right way.

    Let’s take a look at a few reasons why iTunes is the bay window looking into what Apple really cares about most (hint: it’s money).

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