What I Use — Andrew Ledwith

What I Use

A series of posts profiling products and services I use and recommend.

Messenger for iPhone and Android: Facebook’s Best Kept Secret

By Andrew Ledwith on October 10, 2011 • Geek • 2 Comments

This is one of those apps that doesn’t get much attention but I think it should. Back in August Facebook released an app for iPhone and Android called Messenger. It is a dedicated app for the Facebook messaging system. Maybe you’re wondering why anyone would possibly want an app that could perform only one feature, especially when each of these platforms has a perfectly good app that is fully featured.

Here’s the main reason I really like this app: I don’t have to enter into the rest of the Facebook universe to check my Facebook messages. Messenger will not show you if you have any other notifications awaiting your attention. This is a great thing! How many times have you gone into Facebook just to check a message, only to find that there was lots of other activity that “needed” your attention? Yeah, all the time, right? This app lets you communicate back and forth with friends without risk of distraction.
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Google Reader and Instapaper: How I Read Content on the Web

By Andrew Ledwith on July 18, 2011 • Geek • 0 Comments

Every day I read a tremendous amount of content on the web. I can divide this content into two primary categories: (1) content from websites and blogs I read all the time and (2) content from random sources, usually articles shared by friends on Facebook or people I follow on Twitter. For reading the former type of content I use Google Reader and for the latter I use Instapaper. In this post I will show you how I use these two services.

First and Twenty: My iPhone Home Screen

By Andrew Ledwith on March 21, 2011 • Geek • 1 Comment

I’ve had an iPhone 4 since the day it came out for AT&T last year on June 24. It was not only my first iPhone but also my first smart phone of any kind. I’ve been trying out all sorts of apps since then and I’ve settled on a home screen setup that I’ve been using for some time now. I thought I’d share it with you and talk about why I keep these apps on my home screen.

Upgrade Your WordPress Blog with Standard Theme

By Andrew Ledwith on February 9, 2011 • Geek • 0 Comments

I’ve been using WordPress since 2007. In 2010 I started developing and managing WordPress websites professionally. Hands down, my favorite theme for WordPress is Standard Theme. It’s really simple to use and very well coded. Mashable listed it as one of the eight best premium WordPress themes. I highly recommend it to anyone hosting their own WordPress installation. Let me show you the three websites I’ve made with this theme.

My Personal Blog

jaledwith.com

Ironically, it’s my personal blog that’s received the least amount of tinkering of the three that I’m showing off today. Almost everything you see on my website comes with the theme straight out of the box. I added two major customizations. One is the big footer (which are actually sidebars and widgets, similar to what you’ll find in the 2010 theme). The other is all the buttons under the post titles to Like on Facebook, tweet on Twitter, read later with Instapaper, and clip with Evernote. Don’t worry though; the theme comes with social media sharing options of its own.