Source: Shutterstock

Most of us feel off track without our cell phones constantly connected to us, so it only makes sense to keep healthy living apps on your mobile device to keep you on track with your wellness goals. There are countless health and wellness apps — many of them free– for you to choose from whether you have an iPhone, Android, etc.  With so little time on your schedule, it’s a lifesaver to be able to access apps for a quick workout or to log your food intake for the day. So check this app list below to see which you should download next to make your life simpler.

Shutterstock

There’s a new app for Facebook that helps you easily clean up your profile. Called Facewash, it is an app that will search through your Facebook activity and content for things you might want to hide or delete. It was created by three Kent State University undergrads, and the app can clean up status updates, photo captions, and comments users left or received as well as pages and links that were liked.

“We realized that there’s a lot of content that perhaps someone might not want a future employer to see,” Daniel Gur, 22, told The Los Angeles Times. Gur created the app with two friends and fellow computer science majors from his school — Camden Fullmer, 21, and David Steinberg, 24. The trio built Facewash in less than two days while at a hackathon at the University of Pennsylvania, reports the paper.

And the app seems easy to use. Log into your Facebook account, then go to the Facewa.sh website. Click “Get Started” and then click “Go to App.” You will have to give the app permission to access the user’s contents. Enter words you want to delete, profanities, for example and the app will scour through your profile content. When the app finds a match, you can either keep, delete or hide the content. You can also use the app to find photos or a status you want to delete.

“This is your face on the Internet, and you might need to wash it,” Gur  said to the newspaper.

Microsoft may be attempting to help people avoid “certain” neighborhoods with their “Avoid Ghetto” GPS app, but they need to concentrate on a short route to avoid the backlash that is coming with this new product. And yes, the name really is, “Avoid Ghetto.”

Already people are having a WTF moment at the sheer irresponsibility of the name for the patent which is currently in development. Now, Microsoft is trying to backtrack and explain itself out of this ghetto mess:

“As a pedestrian travels, various difficulties can be encountered, such as traveling through an unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures,” Microsoft states in their patent claims. “A route can be developed for a person taking into account factors that specifically affect a pedestrian. Moreover, the route can alter as a situation of a user changes; for instance, if a user wants to add a stop along a route.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft has already come up with a “find the poor minority neighborhoods” app or a “hood tracking” device so they can identify these unsafe areas. I want to say the company had good intentions initially but I can’t even give them that. They should have known this was not going to fly.

Would you use an app to help you avoid the ghetto?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

• Fuhgettabout It: 10 Things We Think Men Care About But They Really Don’t
• 7 Hygienic Qualities Some Men Should Learn From Women
• Thank You, Baseball Wives
• The Most Painful Things A Man Can Say To A Woman
• “OOooh Unn Uhhh” and Other Things Black Girls Say
• Do We Ignore Mommy Issues?

by Cortney Cleveland

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Kandi Burruss continues to expand her empire, one well-chosen product at a time. Fans of the Bravo series are already familiar with Kandi’s new adult toy collection, Bedroom Kandi but the starlet recently announced she was adding digital technology to the mix with Kandi Koated Spades, billed as the first “urban” Spades app for iPhone/iPad users.

Critics of the reality star may find her ventures to be slightly eccentric. However, Kandi is showing a refined sense of business savvy. An adult toy line and a Spades app may seem like random products to build an empire with, but both product lines cater to a niche market and are in line with her personal brand.

By definition, a niche market is a narrowly defined group of potential customers. A business that focuses on a niche market is concerned with addressing the needs of this group with a product or service that is not being supplied by mainstream providers. Most people think that a bigger market automatically equals more profits. But, a niche market makes it easier to give customers what they want because they are easier to find and their needs are more narrowly defined.

On her show, Kandi has often spoken of wanting to introduce African-American women to adult toys with her line. Targeting an underserved group not only allows her to face less competition, but also gives her the opportunity to educate her target audience and establish herself as an authority in her industry. This authority status will draw more customers to her brand.

The case is similar with her new app. There are plenty of card game apps available, but few specifically cater to an urban audience. Kandi and her team noticed a void in the market and filled it with a product tailored to their target audience. Kandi Koated Spades was designed to reflect the fast-paced, “trash-talking” style of Spades popular in the African-American community with features such as “Reneg,” “Deuces Wild,” and “Jokers.”

Kandi might soon be making her own “I’m Rich B****” t-shirts with all the ventures she’s dipping into. In addition to being a singer, songwriter, reality TV star, and sex toy entrepreneur, she’s launched a spades app to reflect the trash-talking game style used by most black players.

The Kandi Koated Spades app is available for the iPhone and iPad and allows multiple players to play online while using features like Reneg, Deuces Wild, and Jokers. Kandi, who calls herself a “Spades Pro,” said she and her family are huge card players so she jumped at the chance to create an app for her fans.

The app is available in the iTunes store for 99 cents, will you purchase?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

• “Weave Wisdom” Episode 3: How To Maintain A Hair Weave
  
• Two New ‘Basketball Wives’ Added to Miami Season 4 Cast
  
• Post Breakup Tips to Reclaim Your Mind, Body and Soul
  
• The Questions He Hopes You Never Ask
• Evelyn Lozada and Ochocinco Spinoff Series Coming to VH1
• 9 Inconvenient Truths About Men and Cheating
• Are You in Love Or Lust? Check Out These Signs
  

(Foreign Policy) — The best-kept secret about Africa in the last decade is the continent’s rapid and creative adoption of modern technology. African countries have for the most part leapfrogged the technologies of the late 20th century to adopt those of the early 21st en masse. There are now 10 times as many cell phones as land lines in sub-Saharan Africa, and since 2004, the region’s year-over-year growth has been the highest in the world. When Nokia’s billionth handset was sold in 2000, it was in Nigeria.

Read More…

(Foreign Policy) — The best-kept secret about Africa in the last decade is the continent’s rapid and creative adoption of modern technology. African countries have for the most part leapfrogged the technologies of the late 20th century to adopt those of the early 21st en masse. There are now 10 times as many cell phones as land lines in sub-Saharan Africa, and since 2004, the region’s year-over-year growth has been the highest in the world. When Nokia’s billionth handset was sold in 2000, it was in Nigeria.

Read More…

(Fast Company) — Warner Music Group is trying a new tactic to promote its music in the digital age, and it’s a move that demonstrates the rising power of the App: Its new partner is Tapulous, makers of the runaway success Tap Tap iPhone music games.

Read More…

(FastCompany) — With Square, anyone can accept credit or debit card payments by downloading the app and plugging a little plastic cube into the headphone jack of an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or Android phone. After a quick swipe of the card through the reader, the merchant turns the device over to the customer to sign his or her name on the touchscreen using a finger instead of a pen. The customer can add a tip, either by percentage or a particular amount, and then enters their phone number or email address. In the best case, the receipt message will buzz in the customer’s pocket as an email or SMS text message while walking away with their purchase.

Read More…

(NYTimes) For a little $1 iPhone app, Line2 sure has the potential to shake up an entire industry. It can save you money. It can make calls where AT&T’s signal is weak, like indoors. It can turn an iPod Touch into a full-blown cellphone.

Read More…