When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
 A fireman and a park ranger.

What’s one thing that few people know about you?
I studied archaeology in college.

What animal are you most like?
I’d love to say an eagle or a dolphin, but I’m probably more like a zebra – or a loon.

What superpower would you most like to have?
The ability to be two places at once… if that’s even a superpower.

You’re stranded on a desert island with one book, one album, and one object of your choosing. What items do you have?
Book: Ulysses (though the choice is kind of pretentious, I’d at least have time to finish it)
Album: “Alien Lanes” by Guided by Voices
Object: sunscreen

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
A desert island.

In this first post, I’m focusing on the process of customizing an EditText view. This customization is important because the standard EditText view in Android is fairly plain.  It comes with a default orange border on most versions which doesn’t necessarily complement every UI design:

For our newest Android app, PostTV, we wanted something a bit jazzier that would work with the general theme of the application.

Here’s how we achieved the look:

Notice that we placed an ImageButton and an EditText field together in a RelativeLayout.  By doing this, we made it appear as if the black search icon was a natural part of the EditText element. Next, we used a custom drawable for the background of the EditText element to achieve the black background with the light blue border.

The Results:

Want to learn more tips and tricks about Android? Stay tuned for the next post in the series, which will focus on the interactions between Android Fragments and Activities.

All it takes is a quick scroll to the bottom of the page of any popular YouTube video or highly trafficked news site’s top story to be reminded that, online, people are shockingly rude to one another, in ways that most would never dare to be in real life.

Why is negative commenting online such a pervasive problem?

A recent Wall Street Journal story points out the obvious reason for the relentless torrent of negative comments that plague every popular site with a community component: anonymity. But it turns out that even when people use their true identities, as they typically do on Facebook, they’re quick to devolve into childish, insult-slinging versions of themselves.

The story cites soon-to-be-published research from professors at Columbia University and the University of Pittsburgh that suggests that Facebook lowers an individual’s self-control. Interestingly, it turns out that presenting a filtered, more positive version of oneself on a social network (Myspace angle, anyone?) boosts a person’s self-esteem, leading to a loss of inhibition.

“Think of it as a licensing effect: You feel good about yourself so you feel a sense of entitlement,” said Keith Wilcox, co-author of the study. “And you want to protect that enhanced view, which might be why people are lashing out so strongly at others who don’t share their opinions.”

People seem to forget that they’re speaking out loud when they opine online, said Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and professor at MIT. And the rise of the smartphone has made things worse. “You are publishing but you don’t feel like you are,” she said. “So what if you say ‘I hate you’ on this tiny little thing? It’s like a toy. It doesn’t feel consequential.”

Perhaps that’s partly to blame for the amount of homophobic language online. The ongoing problem can be seen on the No Homophobes site, an equally disheartening and fascinating visualization of homophobia that uses a simple Twitter search for common anti-gay phrases.

“This website is designed as a social mirror to show the prevalence of casual homophobia in our society,” according to the site’s description.

It shows the casual use of the terms, but also the aggressive, mean-spirited use.

This complicated problem doesn’t seem to be getting any easier to tackle. But it’s important to step back and remember that, as Turkle noted, commenting on a story or tweeting an off-handed, obnoxious statement, is indeed speaking out loud. And as politicians, job-seekers, and countless others have learned, the internet never forgets.

Greg contemplating his laundry list of lottery winnings

When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
How young? A racecar driver or pilot when I was in elementary school wouldn’t have been far off, but a Linguistics professor would have been a better bet once I got out of high school. I never really settled on something – and I guess I’m not done growing up yet because I still haven’t settled on something.

What’s one thing that few people know about you?
I’ve driven through every state in the U.S. except Alaska and Hawaii… and Mississippi.

Whom do you admire?
My Grandpa. He’s the most interesting, humble, and genuine person I’ve had the pleasure to know. How many 96-year-olds have you met that grew up on a farm, went to Columbia, navigated planes in WWII, taught high-school physics, tuned pianos, and can still sit cross-legged?

You’re stranded on a desert island with one book, one album, and one object of your choosing. What items do you have?
A desert island is a tough place and it’s hard to predict where your mind is going to be. I figure that the first few days will be spent worrying about food and water, which makes some sort of book about how to survive on a desert island seem practical. But if the island is small I’ll figure it out, get bored, and wish that I had a better book with me. The last thing I’ll be thinking about is music until about the second, maybe third month. Heck, I read Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island and I don’t remember a thing about music.

Oh wait, this question isn’t really about an island at all…

Book: Something that takes a few readings to understand, I suppose. Maybe Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I’m ¾ of the way through it right now and would definitely re-read it a few more times.
Album: Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.”
Object: Some kind of computing device. It doesn’t need to be the latest MacBook Pro, just something that I could execute scripts on. I’d take a TI-82. I’m happy when I’m creative and my most creative outlet is programming.

Getting a head start on his desert island music selection

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
A good lawyer. Wait, we’re not just being practical? In order: A brewery, a plane, then this bike, then water for the world, then biolites for the world, then laptops for the world, then the rest to Amnesty International.

What animal are you most like?
A pika. I’m small, I like the mountains, and I tend to make loud noises. I also like bourbon, and think pikas should too. I speak for my brethren.

For the past couple of years, there’s been a digital revolution in the country, powered in part by a government-sponsored program aiming to create Latin America’s own version of Silicon Valley.

That initiative, Start-Up Chile, is inspired by business accelerators in the United States. It aims to attract foreign entrepreneurs who are willing to spend a year building their business in Chile (instead of the typical U.S., European, and Asian hotspots) by offering a $40,000 grant, free office space, and all the connections that come with being supported by the government. And all without requesting any equity stake in the finished business.

Start-Up Chile aims to "convert Chile into the definitive innovation and entrepreneurial hub of Latin America."

Sounds like a great opportunity for the entrepreneur, right? Well, it’s also a major boon for Chile, whose students and young professionals won’t have to leave the country to interact with and, the country hopes, be inspired by the tech industry’s rising stars.

One of the program’s early successes has been Babelverse, a real-time voice-translation tool that was named the “Audience Choice” at Techcrunch Disrupt NYC in May; it announced its seed round last month.

Chile’s initiative has made news because the government has been so present, but it’s certainly not the only country battling for Latin America’s tech crown.

Inspired by young and wildly successful founders like Mark Zuckerberg, a crop of “technolatinas” has risen up throughout the region, most notably in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.

The latter two countries have thriving scenes in part due to the head start they had in terms of high internet penetration and engineering talent, as ABC News reports. But Mexico is quickly catching up. In fact, Juan Pablo Capello, a Miami-based entrepreneur, told the outlet that he sees a “tremendous opportunity” there.

“Mexico is the market that has been overlooked and will outperform many of the other markets in the next 18 months,” he said.

To that point, Mexican start-ups raised $459 million through 22 deals in 2011, compared to $211 million the year before, according to the Latin America Venture Capital Association.

“The tech boom in the U.S. has ignited the imaginations of entrepreneurs in Latin America,” Capello said.

Judging by the region’s quickly developing innovation centers, it won’t be long until entrepreneurs in the United States say the same about the influence of the “technolatinas.”

But despite these myriad advancements in mobile technology, one feature remains lamentably the same: cell phones run on batteries. And batteries must be kept charged.

Most of the time, keeping a cell phone battery charged isn’t a difficult task. But take away conventional circumstances and suddenly, the problem becomes more complex. What if there’s an extended power outage after a big storm? What if one is out of range of electricity – camping or hiking, perhaps – and there isn’t anywhere to plug in? What about mobile users in the developing world – and there are a lot of them – who must depend on problematic infrastructure? What happens then?

Finding an answer to this deceptively simple question has resulted in an incredible amount of diverse, innovative solutions. Below, we round up some of the most impressive – and unconventional – ideas from inventors around the world:

Hand Crank Generator

K-TOR's Pocket Socket Hand Crank Charger

One of the simplest solutions, a hand crank generator, works in a pinch in nearly every situation imaginable: weighing under a pound, the $60 water-bottle-sized device is easily portable for outdoor excursions or other travel. It can be stored in a drawer or dashboard for use during an emergency. The generator is easy to use and supplies enough electricity for most devices, including smartphones (up to 10 watts of electricity at 120 volts). And, best of all, it would look right at home in your homemade bomb shelter.

Powertrekk

myFC's PowerTrekk fuel cell charger

Powertrekk, a fuel cell charger developed in Sweden, takes manual labor out of the battery-charging equation and replaces it with another kind of power: water. The fuel-cell technology uses a chemical reaction between the hydrogen in water and special electrodes and electrolytes in fuel cells to generate electricity. Adding one tablespoon of water to the device creates four watt hours of electricity. And it will only cost you… $300. But look on the bright side: the water’s free!

nPower PEG

The nPower Personal Energy Generator on the go

The nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator) claims to be “the world’s first human-powered charger for hand-held electronics” – it creates electricity from kinetic energy. Movement from walking, running, or biking creates a charge that can be harvested by a user’s cell phone, mp3 player, or other hand-held device. But the payoff of all that sweat is somewhat limited: 11 minutes of walking provides just one minute of talk time on an iPhone 2G. If you love to run marathons, though, the $200 PEG could be the just the gadget for you.

Pan Charger

TES NewEnergy's Pan Charger on a picnic

If you’re more into roasting marshmallows than running marathons, the Pan Charger might be better suited to your outdoorsy lifestyle. Developed by Japanese company TES NewEnergy in response to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people in March of 2011, the $300 Pan Charger is a thermo-electric cookpot that converts the heat from boiling water into electricity. Smartphones and other devices can be connected to the pot via a USB port; one iPhone can be charged in the span of three to five hours – while you enjoy a leisurely picnic lunch. And then you can upload an Instagrammed photo of your clean plate to Facebook! Win/win.

Sound Charge

The Sound Charge t-shirt

Last, but certainly not least, Sound Charge is an option for people who couldn’t be less interested in the great outdoors or running marathons, but love a great rock concert. The prototype t-shirt converts sound waves into an electric charge, which is stored up in a small reservoir battery that connects to a mobile phone. The wearer can thrash around in a mosh pit while simultaneously charging his cell – developers estimate six watt hours of power for sound levels of around 80 decibels, or the same noise level a bustling city street. Just watch out for those flailing elbows.

For more on innovation in the tech world, check out the WaPo Labs blog’s Technology section.

How would you describe WaPo Labs to someone unacquainted with the team?
At WaPo Labs we’re working to generate the news experience that my 11-year-old daughter will take for granted.

Senior Linguist Extraordinare Linda Uyechi

What’s one thing that few people know about you?
I edit liner notes, and occasionally contribute pictures, for CDs. In fact, the latest CD I worked on has the honor of being on the preliminary ballot for a Grammy in five categories.

If you’re curious, you can check it out at http://danielho.com/For_Your_Consideration/Grammys.html. Then listen to “Illumine.”

When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was young and naïve, I wanted to be a stewardess – I mean, a flight attendant (!) – and travel the world. When I was young and less naïve, I wanted to be a recording engineer and be immersed in music.

Whom do you admire?

I really admire my husband. He’s patient, organized, uber-neat, well spoken, extremely patient, highly respected, talented, and – did I mention? – unbelievably patient!  As a bonus, his work allows us to travel the world and be immersed in music.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would buy?
Would it be enough to buy Lanai from Larry Ellison?

Linda preparing for her desert island getaway

You’re stranded on a desert island with one book, one album, and one object of your choosing. What items do you have?
If a Kindle can count as one book(-like thing), then I want one on my desert island – fully loaded with non-fiction and compelling fiction. A single album would drive me crazy so I will opt for a durable pair of bachi (drumsticks) and make my own music. And the object? Maybe that’s the Kindle. Ha! Two-in-one on a desert island! Nice.

As this blog reported earlier this week, top U.S. colleges are jockeying for position on a new ranking: most powerful presence on popular social media sites. And it turns out this stuff matters to students. A lot.

38 percent of survey respondents said they used social media as a resource when deciding where to enroll in college.

A recent survey of 7,000 high schoolers by online education resources Zinch and Inigral found that more than two-thirds have used sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest to check out prospective universities. About 38 percent of respondents said they used social media as a resource when deciding where to enroll.

We’ve come a long way since the days of glossy brochures and gargantuan ranking books. Today’s high schoolers pay attention to whether admissions counselors offer video chats. They notice whether there is a Pinterest presence or a Facebook promotion.

“Social media has revolutionized university engagement,” said Dean Tsouvalas of StudentAdvisor.com, which has its own list of social media-savvy colleges. The best, he said, use “social media to keep their own communities informed and show the world what they are all about.”

As Duke University’s social media manager, Cara Rousseau makes sure the North Carolina school is reaching out to high school seniors online.

“We know that prospective students use many tools to research schools they’re interested in applying to,” she told U.S. News & World Report. “Our social media handles and pages have been a big way for us to communicate with prospective students.”

Choosing a college in the digital age is about more than just sifting through rankings

Not surprisingly, Facebook is the most commonly utilized social media platform among high schoolers, according to the Zinch and Inigral data, with 53 percent of respondents using the site multiple times each day. And 55 percent of those students reported using Facebook to research schools.

That makes Facebook, which fittingly began as a social networking site for college students, the most important platform for universities to use, according to Rousseau. “We’re seeing more and more that high school and college students are going to Facebook before they go to Google,” she said.

And certainly before they go to the library to flip through the latest edition of the 1,000-page, photo-less ranking books upon which their parents relied. Those were (not) the days.

Which universities top the social media list?

And now, thanks to a recent report by Top Colleges Online, there’s a new criterion for prospective university students to take into account when sifting through the 8,990 (and counting) choices for higher education: social media engagement.

The list, which compiled data from colleges’ official core alma mater pages, ranked each school’s presence on popular social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, and Klout.

Which universities came out on top?

Perhaps not surprisingly, Harvard – alma mater of Mark Zuckerberg – took the top spot for Facebook users, with the official page garnering 1,946,391 likes – more than two and a half times as many as its runner-up, LSU. In fact, the report points out, Harvard’s Facebook page has 281 times as many likes as there are students enrolled in the university. Thumbs up, indeed.

On Twitter, the competition is much closer – second-spot Harvard is edged out by the University of Phoenix by a mere 1,466 followers out of a total 156,897. And although MIT’s official account comes in at a distant eighth, the school is mentioned on Twitter approximately three times per minute.

One school dominates in two of the remaining four categories: on both Google+ and YouTube, Stanford University leads the pack, with 10,975 Google+ followers and 45,405,502 official YouTube views. The highest Klout score goes to Harvard (97), although there’s a three-way tie for third place between Indiana, Syracuse, and Cornell, all of which claim a 90 rating. And last, but not least: where are the Pinterest pins flying? Texas A&M, with 3,311 pins.

The complete infographic from Top Colleges Online is posted below. Where does your school stack up?

How is your school represented in the social media rankings?

One of the recent stars to emerge from TED is Brené Brown. Brown is a professor at the University of Houston whose research revolves around the study of human connections, with an emphasis on vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. Her research was relatively unknown until her 2010 TEDxHouston talk launched her into Internet stardom — the video has garnered more than six million views — and put vulnerability on the cultural table as a hot topic.

Brené Brown

Since that first TED talk, Brown’s work has continued to evolve. In 2012, she gave another notable talk at TED in Long Beach and published her latest book, Daring Greatly. The book gets its title from Teddy Roosevelt’s quote that it is not the critic who counts, but rather “the man who is actually in the arena,” and that “if he fails, he at least fails while daring greatly.” In Daring Greatly, Brown delves deeper into vulnerability, defining it as “uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure” — and the gateway to love and creativity.

But what does vulnerability have to do the Labs team and its mission — to focus on digital innovation and the future of news?

For starters, in her 2012 TED talk, Listening to Shame, Brown noted, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation and change.” And in a September Q&A with Fast Company, Brown discusses why embracing the myth of vulnerability is a key ingredient to any successful business: According to her, the myth is “that vulnerability is weakness, that we can opt out of it, that vulnerability is unfiltered disclosure, and that we can go it alone.” And this is simply not true.

In the same piece, Brown explains that to successfully battle vulnerability and encourage innovation, an organization must “create a culture of engagement. Where work is humanized, where relationship is valued, where very explicitly, people feel safe making mistakes, asking for help, and trying new things.”

Where people take risks — and dare to dare, greatly.