Hello, I'm Evan. I write about tech from my perspective – that of the average tech geek, sometimes with my lawyer glasses on. You can also find me on Twitter and at my real-life job as a lawyer. MORE ABOUT ME.
Google+ now supports brand pages, and 40Tech is there with our own page. We’re working out exactly how we’ll be using the page, but if you want to keep up with all things 40Tech, head on over and circle us. We’re still digging around, looking for other great pages to follow, and we’ve listed some below. If you have any suggestions, let us know in the comments.
When it comes to buying apps, trust the hive mind. I should have learned that bit of wisdom long ago, but at times I need to learn from my own mistakes. My selection of a blogging editor was one mistake, where I could have just listened to the wisdom that I saw espoused all over the Internet. My selection of a Google Reader app for my Android phone was another. Shortly after getting my phone, I tried out the official Google Reader app, then dropped money on another app that I’ve long since forgotten. Finally, I surrendered and tried out NewsRob, the app that received everyone’s praises. I’ve been using it ever since.
Flurry posted the results of a recent study of app usage, taking a look not only at how Android stacks up against iOS, but also at app retention rate – the percentage of users that continue to use an app in the 12 months after acquiring it. The results are somewhat stunning, showing that the retention rate in the first month after acquisition is only 38%. That number then drops steadily, reaching 4% after 12 months. Do you find yourself discarding apps at such a fast rate?
If you’re over 40, this probably won’t apply to you directly, but might apply to one of your children. College Scholarships.org is awarding a $10,000 college scholarship to a college student who blogs. To win, the blogger must be nominated or nominate himself, via a 1000 word essay. All of the possible essay topics are blogging related, such as “why did you start blogging?” The deadline for nominations is November 14, 2011, so get cranking.
LastPass, our favorite password manager, has just introduced support for two-factor authentication through Google Authenticator. Two-factor authentication is a form of security that requires a user to present a second form of confirmation before being able to log in to an account. We previously wrote about how, for Google accounts, that second form of authentication can come via a one-time code generated by the Authenticator app for iOS, Android, and Blackberry. That same app can now be used with LastPass.
