World Readable: a personal blog about anything that comes to mind for anybody who cares to read it.
Last month I purchased Podcaster for my iPhone (thanks to this thread over on the TiVo Community Forum) and have now been using it for a few weeks.
Podcaster was originally rejected by Apple back in 2008 so the developer put the app on Cydia instead for jailbroken phones. Then in 2009, a slightly stripped down version called RSS Player accepted into the App Store. Finally, this past June, Podcaster for iOS4 devices was approved by Apple (RSS Player is still available for older iOS3 devices).
After over 13 years of using (mostly) PalmOS and (some) Windows Mobile devices as my PDA and/or cell phone, I now own my first device that runs … OS X. Yep, I got an iPhone.
We’re in the early stages of testing the iPhone with our corporate e-mail infrastructure: Microsoft Exchange and GoodLink. Since my AT&T account has been upgrade-eligible for some time (the last time I “officially” upgraded was when my Treo 650 was the hot new device), my boss told me to go ahead and get an iPhone (16gb model, but I paid a little out-of-pocket to get the 32gb one since my current iPod is 30gb). I need to start learning how to use it so I can eventually support it as we roll the device out to other users in the office. It’s been two weeks now since I abandoned my trusty Treo 680 and I had some free time while on vacation last week to really spend some time with the iPhone. Here’re some of my thoughts …
There’s an app for everything, right? Another of the big draws of the iPhone is the thousands of applications available in the iTunes App Store. One of the first things I had to do was find iPhone equivalents of the applications I used on a daily basis on my Treo. Here’s what I’ve got so far.
Like anyone, I have a lot of passwords, logins, and various personal private information I need to carry around with me. To keep all of this sensitive information secure and portable, I’ve used Ilium Software’s eWallet application for many years. Luckily this switch was easily since Ilium has PalmOS, Windows Mobile, PC, and iPhone versions of eWallet, and now I’ve used them all. Migrating my data was simple, although synchronization between the desktop and iPhone versions is a little cumbersome since you have to initialize the sync on both devices at the same time over WiFi. Still, being able to access all of my passwords, accounts, and other stuff I store in my wallet on the iPhone is great.
I also keep a lot of random information on my handheld: gift ideas, vacation days, clothes sizes, various house information/measurements, lists of all sorts! So Ilium Software’s ListPro was another application I relied heavily on, using it both on my Treo and desktop PC. Unfortunately, Ilium hasn’t produced an iPhone version of ListPro yet so I had to search for alternatives. I ended up trying Evernote, which has iPhone and PC versions (in addition to many more, including via a web browser). Evernote requires you to create an account on their website, so technically your notes are being stored on their servers and then synced with your different devices. You can store text, images, documents, etc. but keep in mind the only notes you can actually edit on the iPhone have to be plain, unformatted text (so no checkboxes, bullets, etc.). Creating notes on the iPhone has the benefit of automatic location tagging, using the phone’s GPS. The basic free service has a limit on how much you can upload a month, so there’s a premium service you can pay for without those limits and also includes things like extra security. I had to manually copy/paste all of my lists out of ListPro into Evernote, which was a bit of a pain, but it did give me the opportunity to clean up and re-organize some of my lists.
With GoodLink on my Treo, my e-mail, contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes from Outlook were all synchronized in near real-time. The iPhone handles the e-mail, contacts, and calendar, but not the to do list or notes. I am a heavy user of Outlook tasks so I really wanted those synced to my iPhone. For whatever reason, Apple decided not to bake that in. Instead, I had to purchase RERLSoft’s IMTasks app. Once I entered my Exchange information, the app downloaded my to do list and keeps it synchronized (although only while the app is open). Hopefully the forthcoming GoodLink client for the iPhone will include this (update, 07/2012: almost three years later and it’s still not part of the Good app), but for now this was a must-purchase function for me. RERLSoft has a version that includes Outlook notes synchronization (and also allows you to manage your out-of-office setting), but since I’m using Evernote now I decided to stop using Outlook notes altogether.
Some other data I keep on my phone is car information: gas mileage, repair history, etc. On my Treo I used TealPoint’s TealAuto application to store and track fill-ups, repairs, maintenance, etc. Without an iPhone version, I tried out a few of the vehicle apps in the App Store, including the free “lite” version of Gas Cubby and eventually ended up purchasing the full version. Using the Windows version of TealAuto, I was able to export all of my data from my Treo into a CSV file. Then, using App Cubby’s unsupported import feature, I was able to load it all into Gas Cubby. The import only supports gas events, though, not maintenance, so I manually entered our 2009 maintenance events into the app later (not a big deal since there were a lot less of those compared to fill-ups). If you’re a multiple iPhone home and purchase multiple copies of Gas Cubby, you can even keep the data synchronized across devices, which is a cool feature.
If you read this blog you know I do a lot of reading on my PDA. There’s not a version of iSilo for the iPhone so I had to try out a few free e-readers. I settled on Stanza. Using the desktop version, I was able to convert the book I’m reading from the Baen free library from HTML into a format for the Stanza reader and transfer it to my iPhone. Having the larger, higher resolution screen on the device is great for reading. Plus you can change font sizes, colors, and themes (black on white, white on black, textured, etc.). I’ve also installed Amazon’s Kindle Reader (free), in case I decide to purchase some new e-books. No need for a Kindle now! Interesting, though, that Stanza is actually owned by Amazon. I wonder if eventually they’ll combine these apps?
Why do I like remoting into my Linux server from my phone? Because I can, of course! iSSH let’s me login to my Ubuntu box at home via command-line or tunnelled VNC. The free iRdesktop utility lets me connect to my Windows servers at work when I have my iPhone connected to the VPN. Amazing. There’s even a free Citrix client (but I haven’t gotten it to work properly yet).
My daughter loves playing iRogue on my Treo and I like it too, so of course I needed the iPhone version! 😀
Some other apps I’ve purchased/installed include:
The iPhone is a really slick device. The first few days were rough for me, since I was really set in my ways with my Treo and doing things in a certain way. Over the past two weeks, though, as I’ve had time to get better acquainted with my new shiny toy business tool, I have to admit it is a well engineered piece of hardware and software. Now I have a single device that really covers all the bases. Pretty incredible.
Got any other must-have/must-try apps for me, or other iPhone advice, tips, or tricks? Leave me a comment!
Listening to TWiT episode #204 the other day I heard (at about 40:47 in) Dwight Silverman mention he had written a blog post some time ago about about 15 geek movies to see before you die that keeps resurfacing on Digg. He did say that he took a lot of flack for not including “Blade Runner” (and others) on the list. As with any “top xx” list, there will always be people who can’t believe you didn’t include this thing or that thing. Check out the comments on his post for other good movies he “missed.”
Anyway, on Dwight’s list there are only three recommendations I haven’t seen: “Brazil,” (which surprisingly I hadn’t heard of even though I’m a big Terry Gilliam fan), “Dark City,” and “Repo Man” (Emilio Estevez … really?). I’ve added these to my personal “watch” list so I’ll get to them at some point and decide for myself if they belong on that list with the other twelve.
Now future space travelers won’t have to enjoy their morning coffee through a straw from a bag. Astronaut Dr. Don Pettit invented a zero-G coffee cup during his current stay on the International Space Station.
I heard about this on episode #859 of Buzz Out Loud and from there found the clip above on collectSPACE. Starbucks should license this invention immediately, just in case.
In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched.
Jerry Pournelle is a frequent guest on TWiT. That, coupled with a recent mention by Steve Gibson on Security Now (episode #151) and the fact that I’ve never read any of Pournelle’s work, prompted me to purchase and read “The Mote in God’s Eye” (by Pournelle and Larry Niven). This book is an excellent example of hard science fiction, about as far as you can get from the last classic SF text I read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The story is about mankind’s first encounter with intelligent life: an alien probe, having travelled for hundreds of years in “regular” space is discovered. A combination military/scientific/political/religious/commercial mission is launched by the humans to the Mote system, where they meet the Moties and begin learning about their culture, their history … and their dark secret. I can’t even begin to describe the plot here with any justice, so I recommend checking out the wiki page (just beware of spoilers!) if you’re interested.
My favorite thing about this book is that the aliens are … well, alien. This isn’t “Stargate SG-1” or “Doctor Who” or even “Star Trek.” There are no universal translators, the Moties don’t speak English (at first), they don’t look human, they’re so … unfamiliar. Pournelle and Niven do a great job of creating an entirely alien race, complete with physiology, theology, mentality, architecture, technology, the whole nine yards.
They wrote a sequel, “The Gripping Hand,” some 20 years later (“Mote” was published in 1974). I’ll probably read that one as well. I seem to remember reading and enjoying Niven’s “The Integral Trees” when I was a kid, so it’s probably time to revisit his works as well.
By now you’ve probably seen the new Microsoft commercial featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld which premiered during Thursday Night Football last week.
When I first saw it, I wasn’t impressed. “The future. Delicious.” Seriously? This is Microsoft’s counter to Apple’s hilarious “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC” ads? Churros, shoes, and moist, edible PCs? What? (Ok, I did laugh at Bill’s mugshot on his Shoe Circus Membership card).
That being said, Ryan Block (formerly of Engadget and now part of gdgt) had an interesting analysis and breakdown of the different elements of the commercial on this week’s episode of TWiT (#159). Some of it actually made sense to me, though it still sounds like a bit of a stretch. The gang starts the analysis at the 1:10:13 mark. Judge for yourself … I’ll wait for the next one.
Craziness! During DL.TV’s video podcast review of “Spore” last week (episode #248-1), the sprinkler system went off, sending Scott Asnault and Jeff Green scrambling to grab equipment and get out. You can follow the details on their twitter feed. They’re still trying to determine which equipment in the studio can be salvaged. Ouch!
Last month I had my e-mail about our corporate experience with AT&T’s Enterprise Data Plan and GoodLink read on Buzz Out Loud. Since then I had come across some new information so I sent another message to Tom and Molly and they read it on episode #768 (at the 31:00 mark).
Tom and Molly read my e-mail about AT&T’s Enterprise Data Plan (and the lack of text messaging) on yesterday’s episode of Buzz Out Loud (#743). The text of my e-mail is in the show notes and their discussion of it starts at the 30:28 mark in the podcast.
This is the second time I’ve had an e-mail read “on-air” by the Buzz crew. My first was back on episode #521 (Veronica’s last episode) when I pointed out that Molly mistook X-Wings for TIE fighters. The fun in that one starts at right at the very beginning and then continues 32:00 in. I felt kinda like the comic book guy on “The Simpsons” after pointing that out. Sorry, Molly! 😳
If you don’t listen to BOL (“CNET’s podcast of indeterminate length”), give it a listen!
I heard about all three of these sites on this week’s episode of Windows Weekly (#62):
More stunning examples of how people will register any domain name and find something cool to do with it. Liven up your next meeting with one of these!