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I live outside of Chicago so there are a lot of options for mobile high speed internet. My cellular carrier is Sprint which has amazing LTE service and I’m getting on average 24Mbps down but there tethering plan is not worth the monthly cost for my usage. I first heard about Freedompop via a podcast called Tech News Today a couple of years ago so I started to get familiar with it back then but really didn’t have a need for it at the time. I would use mobile internet when I need too, which is mainly during commute to and from work to work while on the local rail service. I tried tethered to my phone in the beginning but founded it stupid to pay so much to use so little of my mobile data plan. I tried did from November until January and then I figured I would pick up a Freedompop online for a great deal. I was leery at first with the fact that runs on the Sprint WIMAX network which use to be owned by Clear Wireless but I figured let’s give it a ride and see it was a small investment oppose to keeping on paying Sprint. The cost of hardware was 25 bucks which included shipping, first month of service, what they call Freedompop premier, and 2GB of data for the plan. After that all that would cost me 20 bucks. But I figure I would cancel and drop down to the free plan of 500mb of data after the first month. The first thing that impressed with the quick time to delivery, I ordered my unit on a Monday afternoon and received it by Thursday via FedEx oppose to UPS Mail Innovation or UPS Sure post or some other hybrid with the USPS.

Each I give my time and money to many causes. The way I handle giving my time and money to causes is simple. Through the Jaycees I’m able to give my time to many causes in the way of service to my local community and of course my favorite is Hospital Care-a-van which was run by the Mount Prospect Jaycees. Now as for money, each year I pick a different organization I’m interested in and give my money to them and I ask my friends to join in and support me in making an impact in that organizations cause. Last year I picked the United Nations Nothing But Nets organization which help prevents Malaria by providing bed nets around the world. This year I’ve chosen St. Judes Children’s Hospital. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. St. Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute and we all know cancer sucks. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. You can help out by making a donation to www.mystjudeevent.org/rlewis.

Now that we’re in the final day of 2012 I figure it was a great time to toast the apps that make my life easier throughout the year. These apps are crossed platform you can use them and their services on both Android, IPhone, and in some cases Blackberry.

1. Tripit
2. Evernote
3. Spotify
4. Hulu
5. Netflix
6. Flipboard
7. Gasbuddy
8. Amazon Kindle Reader
9. Xbox 360 Smartglass
10. Ride Metra

When I interviewed with Coyote a discussion came up of passion and I said my passion at work was turning data into insight for my coworkers. During my presentation about myself to our Executive team and my coworkers I realized what my true passion is… it’s to help people. Every job I’ve had involved helping people and at Coyote it’s no different I’m just using my technical skills to help our coworkers and our customers; outside work I love to volunteer with the Jaycees because we help people and make an impact with the work we do around the world. In our organization’s creed we’ve got this line that can sum it all up for me “Service to Humanity Is the Best Work of Life” so let me ask you what is your passion?

So only my old AIM friends would get that title. But just last week grooveshark.com went through a full revamp of their website, switching from a flash based website to the new internet language of html5. Which seems to quickly becoming the standard. I’m excited about the switch for two reasons. First technically you can you use the site now on your iPad and iPhone in the near future. I’ve tried it on my iPad the other night and i got a notice saying my computer was not running flash and asked if i want to continue. Second you memory footprint used by the site will be significantly smaller. Check out the new site layout below in the picture and try it for yourself.

I thought it was time to put together a little list of my favorite computer things i use to make my life easier. No big deal just the things i use everyday no matter if I’m at work or at home. I find myself using these products all the time.

Hope you enjoy my list and post comments and share your thoughts

1) Evernote – I first found the app for my the iPad before i knew about the website. But it’s be came one of my favorites and there’s a desktop version and one for my blackberry too.