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iPod Touch Apps - Marktopia
One week with the iPod Touch and I feel it is time to share some apps that I have found interesting or useful. All of these are free apps, I have not found an app that I have wanted to actually purchase yet.
Pandora - For those of you familiar with Pandora, you will love this app because it brings everything Pandora has to offer to your iPod or iPhone. You can listen to any of your stations, thumbs up, thumbs down, etc. If you are not familiar, go to pandora.com and check it out.
NetNewsWire - While not perfect, it does fit well into my news reading workflow. Using the NewsGator service, I can sync what I have read on either the iPod or my Mac. The browsing experience isn’t great on the iPod, but I can save items to the Clippings to read later on my Mac.
Twittelator - One of 4 or 5 Twitter apps, this is my preferred one. It has no ads and doesn’t try to do a bunch of other things. Simple and works well, that is what I am looking for in a Twitter app.
Labyrinth LE - The Lite (read: free) edition of Labyrinth. This is a great example of the accelerometer in action as you tilt the device to move the ball around just like you would a real labyrinth board. The physics of the ball are also amazing, making this a great app to show off the abilities of the device.
Mobile News Network - Basically a pull from the AP of stories nationwide and locally. It has a nice collection of the day in pictures as well. I like this better than the NYTimes app because of it’s simplicity.
Wordpress - The official application to post to a WordPress blog, this has most of the features of the standard web posting. The only thing it is missing is the ability to do rich text editing of posts, meaning you have to know basic HTML to do any linking or whatnot.
I should note all of these are first generation applications. It is pretty impressive to see this much quality stuff initially and it just whets my appetite for bigger and better things to come down the line in the next 6 months or so.
iPod touch - Marktopia
So just short of a week ago, I became an iPod touch tester for ITS. While I admit that I am not upset about this, I have done my fair share of testing for the enterprise apps. Things that work well include the email and calendar syncing, global address list searching, and overall stability of the device. I even tested out the remote wipe feature today, sucessfully “bricking” my phone in the instance the device is lost or stolen. Overall I am really impressed with the new software for the device. Tomorrow I will post thoughts on some of the third party apps I have installed.
Bookmarks & Link Reorganization - Marktopia
For those of you subscribed to my del.icio.us feed, I apologize for two reasons. First off, I apologize because there has been no activity on it for months and months. Second, I apologize because you got bombarded with a bunch of stuff today. All of this was due to my new organization for bookmarks and stuff to read. I had been gathering links all over the place, Firefox, NetNewsWire’s flagged items, old del.icio.us links, etc. This made it difficult to figure out where stuff was and what I had read already. I decided to put everything together on del.icio.us now. Stuff I have read and want bookmarked will get thrown up there for everyone to see and stuff I have not have had a chance to read yet will get the clever toread tag on it. If you are curious about stuff I am reading or going to read, feel free to follow them.
Gravatar - Marktopia
As you may have noticed after the redesign of my site, in the comments area there is a nifty little icon next to people. This feature is called a Gravatar, and it is my pick of the week. Gravatars allow you to have a common icon on any site that uses that service. It is really easy to sign up for an account and upload your picture. Then each time you make a comment on a site that supports them, it will grab the picture by the email address you use. It is a simple idea, but works really nicely.
Note: If you don’t have a Gravatar, my site automagically generates an icon for you, so you don’t have to see some weird grey figure next to your name.
I am a typefaces fan, and I am proud of it - Marktopia
My wife has known this for awhile now, but I am now willing to publically admit it, I am addicted to typefaces. The more and more I designed for the web, I began to notice how important the selection of typefaces, or fonts if you choose, was to a site. I then watched Helvetica, a documentary about type throughout the 20th century, and I was hooked. Now I notice type all over the place. It is very easy to fall into this because type is all around you everyday. Look at a road sign, an entrance to a resturant, various web pages or whatever, and you can start to notice trends. You will see styles you like and others you don’t like. If you get more interested in it, you will even find typefaces you prefer and start to remember the names of them, it is crazy.
The point of this post is that content is always king, but how that content is displayed is a close second. You can write a great story, make a great web page, or make a clever sign, but all of that is supported by the choice of type you use. If you are more curious about the subject, I would recommend checking out ilovetypography.com. It is a great place to start out to learn about type and find other resources if you are so inclined.
This American Life & You Look Nice Today - Marktopia
Since I am going with podcasts this week, I thought I give you two different options as Picks of the Week. The first is This American Life, a podcast that takes one topic each week and looks at it from a number of different angles. It sounds weird, but it is wonderfully hypnotic. You can find out more about it at their site and it is for free on iTunes.
My second pick, You Look Nice Today, is completely different and could even be for a different audience. It is a collection of three guys basically doing stream of conciousness discussion about random, odd or even gross topics. That being said, it is hilarious if you are up for bizarre humor, which I am. It is also available for free on iTunes.
Proposal for the Fruit Break - Marktopia
Today I decided to take a break and run down the street to buy an apple from the local food market. Walking back, I decided to start eating it. I was getting close to work again and had some apple left, so I sat on a bench outside to enjoy the rest of the apple. I got back to work invigorated and ready to get going again. It made me think that with smoke breaks going the way of the dodo, people might not have a good excuse to take a breather during their busy work day. If more organizations offered free fruit, people could take a fruit break for a nutritious snack and take a rest from their work. I am looking to organize a committee here to investigate the feasibility of fruit breaks. I encourage all of you to do the same and we can start a change in the eating and break habits of the American workplace.
Simpsons quote of the day - Oculon
Homer: Is it Batman? Marge: No, he’s a scientist. Homer: Batman is a scientist Marge: It’s not batman!
On the phone - Asstastic
I admit it, I was one of those people who made sarcastic comments when the first camera phones came out several years ago. At the time, it felt like an arranged marriage between two uncomplementary technologies. Many “Nuts and Gum, Together at Last” jokes were made. At any rate, I was wrong. I use my phone [...]
6 Months from Home - Marktopia
A little halfway through the year and I thought I would give an update on albums I have listened to so far in preparations for the top 2008 albums. Here is the list so far:
All India Radio - Fall
Breathe Owl Breathe - Ghost Glacier EP
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Coldplay - Viva la Vida
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth
The Dodos - Visiter
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Jim Noir - Jim Noir
The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
Matmos - Supreme Balloon
Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
No Kids - Come Into My House
Nomo - Ghost Rock
Portishead - Third
Shearwater - Rook
Sun Kil Moon - April
Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album)
I already have a few albums I am aware of to listen to, listed below, but if there are other ones you think I shouldn’t miss, feel free to add them to the comments.
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Santogold - Santogold