Ye gods, I have 34 iPhone apps . . .
November 24, 2008
Can’t live without’s:
Beijing Taxi Guide = unbelievable value for $5. Well over 2500 listings for everything you can imagine (25 listings for duck restaurants alone), with cards in Mandarin to show taxi drivers, reviews, links to web sites, etc.
KTDict-CE = searchable Mandarin dictionary by handwriting recognition. Almost certain to be useful when looking at street signs. (I also have DianHua, same idea.)
AirSharing = yes, the 3G should have direct USB file sharing, but this is the next best thing.
Beejive = elegant multiprotocol IM.
Fring = SIP and VoIP calls in China, sounds good to me. Now if they could figure out how to sort the buddy list I’d use it for chat as well. And AT&T, you already have my money, so could you please let me make Fring calls over 3G? Thank you.
Instapaper = Caches web articles for later reading. Sounds dumb on paper, indispensable in practice. Will be a huge timesaver when I only have WiFi for an hour at a time.
Stanza = e-book reader that also reads .prc, .pdf etc. Probably good for class notes.
Google Mobile App = I think the jury is somewhat out on this one, but I like Reader for RSS feeds.
Pandora = how else would I listen to “Sounds Better In The Song”? They need to get with Apple and let this play in the background.
Tweetsville = nice Twitter app.
QQ = 400+ million subscribers can’t be wrong.
Fun, but limited . . .
Urbanspoon = the dials are fun, but where are the Beijing restaurant reviews? C’mon folks, there is even a Zagat’s now.
GPS Tracker = hope I never need someone to use it.
Uh, maybe I’ll use it . . .
Jott = one review put it best: an app in search of a function.
Truphone = more expensive than Skype, so it’s plan B.
NYTimes = somehow I just find myself on the webpage instead. Same for the Facebook app.
Constitution = I wish there were cases and commentary, not just the text.
Shakespeare = same. Pretty bare bones.
WTF?
Fliq = beam a business card? Not exactly a robust app.
SnapTell = take a pic of music, compare prices . . . deleted that.
Wish list
Could we please have a better calendar app that adds contacts and lets me call them, kinda like what every other smartphone has??
How about multi-tasking? Is that too much to ask of the company that gives me a wide-open desktop?
Playing with code
June 14, 2008
Spending this morning trying to unlock the wonders of CSS. I’m trying to create a better look for this website than the template provided by WordPress. Of course, I have no experience whatsoever with CSS, but what the heck, that won’t stop the experimentation.
I like the overall look and feel of this page, and especially the header, but the all-caps title screams way too loud & I can’t change that. Sorry, I’ll do what I can to turn down the volume.
Update Sun. a.m.: looks like I’ve run into the limits of “WordPress.com” vs. do-it-yourself hosting via “WordPress.org.” More investigation required.
Update Fri. a.m.: well, we tossed the whole thing and started over. Hope everyone likes the new look when it’s done.
