Make mine Samoas, with a Thin Mint chaser

 Original photo(cc) by: Brian LeGate

I was shocked a few nights ago when a little urchin actually came to my front door! Looking through the peep hole I couldn't see who was there so asked "what do you want?" A tiny little voice said, "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?"

Alas, but I had no money to do so, but certainly would have since she was doing it old school, pulling a little red wagon behind her with her supplies on board, momma only along to stand guard for would be cookie thieves, and nothing more.

I've gotten used to hearing a chorus of high pitched voices every time I get near the front door of the Albany Safeway, especially on weekends, mid-February and mid-March.

Though their voices may be high enough to break glass, to the mere mortal, such as I, they are more like the melodic sounds of the Sirens of Greek Mythology, drawing us to their cookie tables with names like Somoas®, Tagalongs®, Do-Si-Dos® or Thin Mints® (among others), only to hook us into a life long craving!!

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A few weeks ago, not realizing it was that time of year, I deleted the Girl Scout Cookie Finder Android app off my cell phone.

A couple days later, I saw a television news piece announcing sales were starting up again. Needless to say, it has been reinstalled! Apple fan boys take heart, the Girl Scouts are equal opportunity and have an iPhone app as well.

These handy apps let a person find the nearest cookie stand, and what hours they will operate.

Additionally, if you don't have a smart phone, you can always go to their website finder and search by your zip code.

I was surprised to see they are going to have stands set up in front of several Peet's Coffee locations. It's one thing for a retail store to allow this, but a coffee shop that's probably undercutting sales of their own pastries and cookies? THAT'S AWESOME!! (Did they allow that last year? I honestly don't remember seeing that).

I did find it odd that they were set up in front of the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Not only is the area rather unsanitary, it's loaded with pan-handlers and homeless who typically beg for money handouts. I can only imagine the constant harassment the poor little girls are being exposed to as they're trying to sell their cookies.

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When I was in Boy Scouts, we had annual fund raisers where we sold things such as candy bars or Christmas wreaths. While these may have been long standing programs, they were nowhere nearly as iconic as the Girl Scout Cookie drive.

I really applaud the Girl Scouts who go out and do their sales, especially any that go door-to-door. They're learning marketing and communication skills, not to mention the basics of math, usually without a calculator; something seemingly lacking in the video game age population.

I always thought it was depressing when parents would come around work selling cookies for their children.

At one place I was at, if one person found out you bought cookies from another co-worker's "daughter," you had to naturally buy them from "her" daughter too. (Needless to say, neither daughter ever set foot in the building!).

While you can use the web to find out all sorts of information on this year's cookie varieties, the Girl Scouts haven't bowed to technological pressure and set up an online cookie sale outlet.

To do so would rub a tremendous amount of luster off the program as I think it's the smiling little faces that make them different, and not just another box of cookies.

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This year, I've seen some posts complaining about the fact that none of the cookie varieties are Gluten-free, and how they need to be made healthier.

If any of you have purposely went shopping for gluten-free ingredients you know how much more costly they can get. They'd never be able to maintain the pricing if they had to factor an ingredient increase from the baker.

Beside, if you're going to wolf down a whole box of Thin Mints® in one sitting, I don't care how healthy there are. That's never a good idea.

Should you decide you just aren't into the whole cookie scene you can still give money to a good cause by donating through the Cookie Share Program. The purchased products will be distributed to non-profit organizations in your area so others, who might not be able to afford them, can enjoy these tantalizing treats.

It may sound silly, but I can only imagine the warm feelings of home our overseas soldiers get when they receive some Girls Scout cookies.

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Samoas, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos and Thin Mints are registered trademarks of Girl Scouts of the United States of America.

iPhone users have Siri…I've got Sami!

(left: Speaktoit, right: Eva)

By now you'd be hard pressed not to know that Siri is the amazing "personal assistant" app that came with the new iPhone 4S during Fall 2011.

You've heard the commercials with the calm female voice offering up info on things from gas stations to rodeos, and can apparently pin point your location in a matter of seconds.

This was what made the jump from the iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S a little more palatable despite still being within a 2 year Verizon contract.

When Siri first came out I wondered why there wasn't something like that for Android. I actually discovered a program called Iris. In all honesty, it seemed to be more about being a sarcastic takeoff of Siri, which added little to my cell phone experience.

Recently, I saw a reference to several new Android apps that would take on Siri. Intrigued I checked things out, planning to avoid what Iris offered. This lead me to Speaktoit Assistant.

Speaktoit is interesting in that it's not just a computer screen on your phone. It's actually an avatar, where you can change hair, eyes, clothes, voice and gender. There are three different skin tones, and both male and female versions for your selection. You can also give her any name you want, in case Sami isn't good enough for you.

After launching for the very first time, she asked me to provide my name. Doing so, I was immediately greeted with a computer female voice that sounded remarkably close to Siri saying, "Hello Robert. My name is Sami!" Fortunately, I had the ability to change Sami's voice to something more naturally sounding, so I choose one with a soothing English accent.

Calling people is as simple as saying, "Call Robert Marshall mobile." Sami tells me "Calling Robert Marshall mobile" and it dials. Sending an SMS text message is just as easy. After it recognizes the person from your address book she asks you want to send? Sammi was able to recognize pretty much whatever I threw at her consistently. It was only when I was using uncommon words that she had a few hiccups. Still, I was quite impressed.

Calling up programs is as easy as saying "Open GMAIL." If you want to look up some info, such as what's the temperature," it's not as polished as the Siri commercials make the iPhone out to be. Sammi says let me check that, and opens its own browser window, which you have to maximize to really see it properly. If you try to maximize it, you're prompted which browser on your phone to use. One funny thing is that when she acknowledges something with OK, she reads it as "awk" not "O-KAY."

Now, for the really annoying feature missing. To use Speaktoit, you have to either push a microphone symbol on the screen, or type your command in. The app does NOT listen for a push of your Bluetooth headset's button. For that matter, even after you've pushed the button on the screen, it does not use the microphone on your headset, and you have to speak into your phone's main microphone. This is a lack of a MAJOR feature as far as I'm concerned. I'm in a Hands Free state, and if you're caught doing pretty much anything on the phone's screen, you could be subject to a citation. At the very least I cannot understand why they wouldn't allow using of the Bluetooth microphone.

Additionally, the app resides in memory so your battery does take a hit, but it's not bad if it's just sitting there. However, any regular usage at all, and it seemed to eat my HTC Thunderbolt's battery for lunch. Granted, the Tbolt is known as a battery hog, but I've got it rooted, and am using SetCPU to turn down the CPU's speed to 300mhz when not in use, which has usually given me a full day's worth of standby life.

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There's another app, called Eva (or Evan if you want a male avatar) which has the major plus of working through the Bluetooth headset. Unfortunately, it's only as good as the headset you're using. There is a huge delay with my Samsung WEP460, which probably explains why I've been having problems with the built-in voice dialing sometimes. It opened any apps on my phone with the command "Open app name" and even reminded me I'd have to upgrade to the paid version when I told it to update my Facebook status. Eva doesn't rely on her own built-in browser. When I asked her where I was located, she actually used the Google Maps app I've installed.

Downfall with this app is it does not come with any normal-sounding voices. However, it works with the SVOX Classic engine, and any of the English-speaking voices they offer. Unfortunately, each voice you add is going to set you back $2.99.

Eva's paid version is a whopping $9.99. However, there is a free version, with most of the same functions. It's missing a few things, but what exactly is missing, beside the updating of your Facebook status, is unclear.

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For those wondering, yes, there is a voice navigation system already built into Android, called Voice Navigator. Frankly speaking, I've never had any success with it, and usually takes four or five attempts for it to understand what I said. Either that, or it will hear me, but then offer to dial some number in some far off land. Rumor has it they're working on a new version called Majel, which is to be the official Google response to Siri. I will believe it when I see it. It will most likely require something like Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean to work, despite 90%+ phones still being on Froyo or Gingerbread.

UPDATE

Just a quick follow-up to my original blog posting. I emailed the maker of Eva asking them what the difference is between the free version and the paid version. Turns out the free one (Eva Intern) runs for a limited amount of time, and then you have to buy the $9.99 version to continue using it. WHY Google Market allowed for a crippleware version in their market is beyond me.

Additionally, I've ended up uninstalling both Eva and SpeakToIt at this point. My battery life was absolutely hideous, to the point of not making it more than a few hours if I used the product much at all. Your mileage may vary, as the HTC Thunderbolt is known as a battery hog. If you experience something different, please post a comment.