Pocketables Editor Spotlight: John Freml
With the launch of the bigger, better, and completely revamped Pocketables, we thought you might like to get to know us a bit better. This is the first installment of a recurring weekly series that will shine the spotlight on each of the editors here at Pocketables, starting with our own Editor-in-Chief, John Freml.
If you have questions for John, send him an email, or get in touch on Twitter or Google+. Who knows – he might just answer some of your questions in a future post!
As much as I enjoy writing, I don’t really like writing about myself – but oh, well; here I go: I recently got my M.A. in the humanities at the University of Cincinnati, and I’ve been writing and editing at Pocketables and G&E for about one year. As you can probably tell from most of my posts, I’m pretty obsessed with the HTC EVO line, as well as the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime; in fact, my current devices that I use on a regular basis are my EVO 4G LTE, my EVO View (I use this mainly as a fancy ereader), and my Transformer Prime. Here are a few quick screenshots of the home screens on each of these devices, in order:
As you can see, I’m not always very creative with my wallpapers. However, I am pretty much in love with my beagle Bentley, who always greets me when I power on my Transformer Prime. I’ve also got two other dogs and two cats, and they sometimes find their way into my articles here on Pocketables, too. In addition to my animals, I also love to travel, even though I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like.
I’ve recently rediscovered my love for Sonic the Hedgehog on the Transformer Prime, and I love using the HTC Scribe stylus on my View to draw really bad pictures in Draw Something. (I’m also notoriously bad about forgetting games for weeks at a time, and then “nudging” everyone else impatiently if they don’t respond to my drawings right away. I am also really bad about keeping up with Words with Friends.) But anyway, the other editors thought it would be a good idea to ask me a few questions, so here they are:
Jenn K. Lee: What do you normally do with gadgets you don’t want anymore?
John: It depends: I’ve sold old devices on Craigslist or eBay, I’ve got a box full of electronics that I never use anymore, and sometimes (if I’m feeling generous) I’ll give old phones to family members.
Calob Horton: What was the device that made you realize you were in love with technology?
John: Probably my Samsung Blackjack II from AT&T. It’s the first mobile phone I was ever really obsessed with: I messed with the registry, installed unofficial Windows mods, and generally couldn’t put it down for at least a couple months.
William Devereux: What was the topic of your first article?
John: The first article I published was on G&E, and it was about using GrooVe IP to make WiFi calls. It was published as a guest post, and ended up being the article that got me my job here! The first article that I actually published myself was a simple tutorial on using voice actions to set the alarm clock on the original EVO 4G – exciting stuff, I know!
Bryan Faulkner: How many email addresses do you use on a regular basis?
John: Let’s see: I have my main, personal Gmail address, my Pocketables email address, my Illinois College alumni address, my University of Cincinnati alumni address, and my alumni email address from the Deutsche Akademische Austausch Dienst (I got that after they funded my year abroad in Germany). Realistically, I only use the first two on a regular basis, although email occasionally comes to the rest of those and is forwarded straight to Gmail. I’ve also got old Yahoo and Hotmail addresses that I keep around for no particular reason other than to keep up with how those email providers are evolving.
Paul King: What is the craziest tech repair you’ve ever made?
John: Back when the HTC EVO View 4G got its Honeycomb update, I somehow managed to brick the tablet. To this day, I’m still not quite sure what happened, but I remember not even being able to get past the bootloader into recovery. I had also somehow re-locked the bootloader, which didn’t help my situation. Finally, after days of searching through forums and posting desperate pleas for help, a kind developer – one who had actually figured out how to unlock the bootloader to begin with – remotely connected to my desktop, troubleshot my device for well over four hours, and finally figured out how to get me up and running again. So I can’t really take credit for the repair, but it was a crazy experience, nonetheless.
Andreas Ødegård: What’s your favorite gadget or device right now?
John: It’s got to be a toss-up between my HTC EVO 4G LTE and my ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Between the two of them, I barely have any free time during the day! If we expand to include gadgets that aren’t quite so pocketable, my current obsession is DJ Hero for the Wii. I found it last weekend at a garage sale in perfect condition and bought it for under $8. I’m really not much of a gamer, but dang, those turntables are fun.
Aaron Orquia: What device will you never get rid of, no matter how obsolete?
John: That’s easy: my original 8-bit Game Boy from 1989. I don’t have many games for it, other than a few Mario, Donkey Kong, and Tetris titles, but it is a classic. When I was little (six or seven years old), I’d get into my games so much that I’d throw temper tantrums when I lost; I remember even throwing my Game Boy on the floor as hard as I could several times (I was a brat). Somehow, it never broke, and it even works to this day – it’s a tank with a green screen that I hope will never die on me.
All of John’s posts can be found on his author page, so be sure to check it out! Next week, Jenn K. Lee takes the spotlight.
