After nearly a year of neglect I’m officially closing up shop. The flame fizzled. My interest has waned. It’s time to move on.

I learned a lot from building and running LivSimpl. Through the site I met a lot of terrific people and had a lot of great experiences. Thank you!

Time to move on though.

I still blog at The Other Drummer, Write In My Journal and Social TechCast.

I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with the LivSimpl URL or the content. Anyone who might still be out there have any suggestions?

Image courtesy of here.

I find myself at a bit of a crossroads. I haven’t updated LivSimpl in months and feel like I’ve lost my spark with it. Occasionally I’ll roll ideas for a post around in my head but nothing seems interesting enough to write about. I’ve heard about blogger burnout and I guess this is it (although I’ve kept up my personal blog and other site pretty well).

To top it off, my subscription with my hosting provider is up and I’m debating whether or not to continue with the site. While I’ve made a little money from the two ads on here it’s not nearly enough to cover hosting expenses for another year, especially considering I haven’t been able to come up with a topic to get excited about.

So I have a favor to ask: will you please tell me what I should write about? I’m looking for some inspiration.

Please leave any ideas in the comments. I look forward to reading them!

Image courtesy of here.

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I realize this is a very niche-y thing to write about, but I’m really excited about this (yes, I’m a geek) and I’m guessing there are lots of other iPhone users out there who have been frustrated with the lack of notes synchronization. For crying out loud, the phone can find my geographic location using a combination of cell phone tower triangulation, nearby wifi hotspots and global positioning sattelite, but it can’t get notes from my phone to my computer??

Can you tell I was a bit bugged about it?

Last week Note*spark was released. For two bucks, notes will sync from your phone to a web app and vice-versa. You can tag notes (work, personal, to do, etc.), email them to people and even share notes for collaboration. For example, you could have share your grocery list with your spouse so it can be updated from the web or your phone and it’s always up-to-date. Perhaps best of all, you can add and edit notes even if you don’t have a data connection and it will sync when you get back in range.

There’s only one thing I’d realistically expect from the app that isn’t included, and that’s typing in landscape mode. I emailed the creators and they said they’re already working on that feature for a future, free update.

Note*spark is selling for an intoductory price of $1.99 (soon to be $4.99) and is well worth it. Heck, my wife would have probably given me fifty dollars to spend on it just to keep me from complaining about the lack of this feature.

While this may sound like a paid ad for Note*spark, it’s not. It’s just a good app that has been tremendously useful and, dare I say it? has actually gone a long way in simplifying my previous notes experience which entailed composing an email, addressing it, sending it, retrieving it on my computer and then copying and pasting the contents to another file.

You can check out more about Note*spark by clicking here (iTunes link).

Do you have any other must-have apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch or even Blackberry/other smartphone? Please leave word in the comments!

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When someone says they’re chasing the American Dream what do you think of? Working hard, buying a house in the suburbs, driving a Cadillac and retiring at 65 to spend your golden years traveling in a motor home?

I think there’s more to it than that.

The original American Dream was to live in a country where anything was possible because of the freedoms it afforded. Could these dreams materialistic in nature? Sure. But I believe at the time of the Founding Fathers and those living at the time felt life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were more about religious, political, economic, intellectual, and academic freedoms than striking it rich and retiring early.

Yet somehow along the way the American Dream has become tied to wealth and achieving it. Otherwise, you’re not following the American Dream, right?

I think it’s time to step back and reevaluate the American Dream. Having done so, here is what I think the American Dream is:

It’s the ability to write and publish whatever I want. It’s the freedom to explore different faiths and religious affiliations. It’s the opportunity to go to school and choose my profession. It allows me to be vocally critical of the government, and call out for change without fear of retribution, imprisonment or death. It’s packing my family into our car and going on a road trip to visit family without checkpoints, permits and papers.

Yes, accumulating wealth can be a result of these things, but I don’t think it’s the end-all-be-all of what our country stands for. The freedoms we enjoy are the true American Dream and they’re open to everybody.

This weekend I challenge everyone (including myself) to consciously, thoughtfully and (dare I say it?) reverently experience the the true American Dream. Learn more about our system of government. Attend a church or other religious meeting. Enroll for a class at a community college that you’ve always wanted to take. Write a journal entry, blog post or editorial for your local news paper about something you’re passionate about. Most of all, express your gratitude to someone for the blessings we enjoy by living in this country.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

LivSimpl

This post was inspired by a post at On Simplicity.

Please subscribe to LivSimpl by clicking here.

If you want to keep your life simple and remain productive so you can focus on what’s really important in life, never try Guitar Hero.

*sigh*

In the meantime…feedback? What do you think? Please let me know in the comments – I’ll be checking them regularly.

I’m thrilled you’re reading/subscribed to LivSimpl and don’t want to lose anybody during the transition, so please take a moment and check the following:

- Please make sure you’ve bookmarked LivSimpl.com, NOT livsimpl.blogspot.com.

- If subscribed via RSS, please make sure you’re subscribed to http://feeds.feedburner.com/livsimpl

If you have ANY problems or questions during the switch, after the switch, or about life in general, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at LivSimpl *at* gmail (dot) com.

Thanks for your patience and support!

- David

Please take a minute or two, check out the linked posts if needed, and leave me a comment with your opinion! (I’ve also put a poll at the top of the right column.)

Everyday tips
Posts about topics like how to make doing laundry easier, why your check engine light is on, and simple ways to protect your identity.

Technical tips
Spend less time managing e-mail, take advantage of online bill pay, online to-do lists, other resources, etc.

Perspective posts
Personal thoughts. For example, how humility, character in old stuff, and small gifts can create a simplified life.

Other
What did I miss? Is there another type of post or topic you’d like to see here? Consider this an open request line.

Let me clarify that I’m not running out of ideas for posts. :) I just want to make sure I’m addressing topics that are of value to you.

I’m excited to hear what you think!

Thanks,

David

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