One thing I truly miss about the "old-school" way of reading the newspaper is that I don't get to read the funny pages. No, that's not all I would read (although admittedly it may have been the first page I turned to), but a little levity always makes the day better. I'm not a big fan of graphic novels or even comic books, but the daily funny pages are just my speed.

The biggest problem I have with gaming is that it takes far too long to get "into" games. I'm generally very busy, and my gaming time usually lasts as long as it takes for the dentist to call me in from the waiting room (or possibly how long it takes me to use the bathroom, but eiw, let's not go there).

This is the season of resolutions, and in the technological world we live in, spending time off-line is a difficult but healthy activity. The problem is our lives have become so intertwined with our phones that it's easy to whip out our cell phones inadvertently to check our social networks quickly.

I freely admit I learned about this app from my wife. In fact, I saw a few nostalgic posts on her Facebook timeline and investigated where they came from. It turns out she had installed an app called Timehop.

The "If This Then That" site has been around for a long time, but if you haven't checked it out in a while, you owe it to yourself to do so. The Android app (which had a recent name change to simply "IF") makes it easy to manipulate on the fly, and you're still able to interact with your account on its Web site.

I have a love/hate relationship with the contact manager on my phone. I absolutely love having all of that information available, and I love even more that it syncs with my Google contacts. What I don't love, however, is the cumbersome way you have to scroll around looking for who you want to call.

I have covered a lot of different scientific packages that are available under Linux in this space, but the focus has been on Linux running on desktop machines. This has been rather short-sighted, however, as lots of other platforms have Linux available and shouldn't be neglected. So in this article, I start looking at the type of science you can do on the Android platform.

When I hear the word "copay", I think of the doctor's office. Thankfully, the Copay app from the folks at Bitpay doesn't cost you anything, and it keeps your Bitcoin healthy and secure. I've mentioned many Bitcoin wallet applications and cloud solutions during the past few years, but Copay truly is different. It has features other wallets can't touch, such as:

Google has become the company that we love and can't live without, but at the same time, I think we all worry a little about just how much Google knows about us. With that caveat, it's hard to ignore Google's newest offering: Google Photos.

Although the title might sound like some new-fangled tech jargon, I'm actually referring to a fairly simple Android app called "Unclouded." If you're a Dropbox user who also has things stored in Google Drive, Unclouded is a single interface to multiple file syncing backends.

I've touted the awesomeness of Calibre in the past. And although the Web-based calibre2opds still is an awesome way to access your eBook library, using a native Android app is even smoother.

Ever since my "tiny $20 tablet" project (see my Open-Source Classroom column in the March 2015 issue), I've been looking for more and more cool things to do with cheap Android devices.

I love my latest Android device (see the March 2015 issue's Open-Source Classroom column for details), but for some reason, it won't automatically connect to my Bluetooth headset. When I turn on my headset, I want it to connect to my Android device so I can start using it right away.

As a father of three girls, I have piles and piles of Disney DVDs and Blu-rays. I occasionally look at the "Digital Copy" information and roll my eyes, because it requires some odd Windows DRM software or some other convoluted watching method that usually isn't possible or even interesting for me.

I love Evernote. I pay for a premium membership, and to be honest, I don't think I even use the premium features. I just love Evernote so much, I want to support the company. But in the spirit of fair comparison, I forced myself to try Google Keep.

I really stink at video games. I write about gaming occasionally, but the truth of the matter is, I'm just not very good. If we play Quake, you'll frag me just about as often as I respawn. I don't have great reflexes, and my coordination is horrible.

Controlling a remote computer is something you're all familiar with. Whether that means RDP to your corporate Windows Server (we don't judge), Apple Remote Desktop (which is really VNC) to your OS X machine or VNC/X11/etc. into your GUI Linux machine, it's always a pain in the rear.

I use my phone more often to log in to on-line accounts than I use a computer. I can assure you it's not because typing passwords on a tiny keyboard is fun. For most of us, we just have instant access to our phones at any given time during the day.

For avid readers who can't find the time to visit their local library or struggle to carry giant tomes of awesomeness around with them, eBooks have become a convenient way to consume books. Whether it's on a Kindle, a Nook or in an app on your phone, eBooks are the ultimate in portability. Sometimes, however, it can be difficult to find the book you want in a format you can read.

Apps like Instagram have made photo filters commonplace. I actually don't mind the vintage look for quick cell-phone snapshots, but a filter can do only so much. At first glance, Repix is another one of those "make your photo cool" apps that does little more than add a border and change saturation levels.