Setting Contexts

Yep I Drank the Kool-Aid!!

Posted in 37signals, Apple, applications, iPhone, Software, Ta-Da, Twitter by jquig99 on July 15, 2007

I bought an 8G iPhone on the first available weekend. For weeks before I was saying I was going to wait – and yet, Saturday morning I’m in (and out) of Apple Soho in 10 minutes with my shiny new gadget and case.

Impressions after two weeks – it’s exceeded all my expectations. My Twitter feed that first weekend was full of hyberbole (even from usual low-key developers) but it really lived up to the hype.
– It’s easy to navigate with the touch screen (the “Calamari” commercial is a real-time example)
– Developers (especially after iPhoneDevCamp) have been churning out new apps
– The iPod sound is so clear, a definite step ahead
– The Text Feature is fun (looks like iChat bubbles) and I’m using it so much more than previously
– The Web app (Safari) turns horizontally and vertically (I really like the the keyboard input while on it’s side)
– While the keyboard was a little challenging at first, I was a pro after just a couple of days.
– The battery life (I have heard others have had issues) has been great. I turn off the Wifi when I’m not using it as I think the sniffer uses a lot of power
– I have a lot of email accounts and all are now on (except work, I need help from my Network guys on that)

Favorite Applications (so far) –
Mockdock (an online dock for iPhone apps)
PocketTweets (Twitter on the iPhone)
gOffice (Microsoft Office for iPhone)
Meebo (Chat client that includes AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, etc.)
Ta-Da (37Signals Ta-Da – to do list maker)

Resources –
Top 25 Web Apps for iPhone (Rev2.org)
iPhone Appr
iPhoneDevCampsApps(BarCamp.org)
Macenstein.com’s test for dead pixels
iPhone Typing Test
Simple Spark

Acknowledgements –
These resources and applications have been gathered from a number of places, including my Twitter feed, Pownce, Daring Fireball, The Macalope, Scobleizer, TUAW, and probably more.

Thanks to everyone who shares resources/apps/etc!

I am slowly incorporating the iPhone into my GTD system – more as it becomes ingrained.

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I’ve made a change…

Posted in NetNewsWire, NewsGator, productivity, Pukka, RSS by jquig99 on July 11, 2007

I’ve changed my NewsReader from NewsFire to NetNewsWire. Again – using a newsreader has changed me from an instant-gratification girl to one that enjoys the anticipation.

What I love:
– using just the space bar, I can fly through my (137 at last count) feeds
– I can “clip” articles I want to save
– I can post to this blog or my del.icio.us account(w/my Pukka account)

From the website:
– New! Desktop integration – Spotlight, Address Book, iCal, iPhoto, Growl, Twitterific and more.
– New! Great new look – improved combined view, feed “cover art”, full-screen mode, and tabs with thumbnails and animations.
– New! Performance enhancements – all new article storage system, memory optimization, and more.
– New! Synchronized clippings – read your saved articles from the web or another NewsGator reader.
– New! Microformat detection for contacts and calendar events.
– New! Automatic checking for newer versions of the software.
– Automatic download of podcasts and transfer to iTunes.
– Smart lists to aggregate news from your feeds based on criteria.

It automatically downloads my new OmniFocus builds and my podcasts. The Online component (NewsGator), let’s me access my feeds and clippings from any computer.

NetNewsWire has a Support section, Forums and Resource feeds. It’s been a terric pleasure working with this app for the last couple of weeks. Maybe it’ll inspire me to edit my feeds (not likely!)…

Also – read the blog!

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Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense

Posted in Twitter by jquig99 on July 11, 2007

Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense: ”

WIRED MAGAZINE: ISSUE 15.07
TECH BIZ  :  MEDIA  
Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense
Clive Thompson 06.26.07 | 2:00 AM

Illustration by W. B. Jones
START
PREVIOUS: Infoporn: Despite the Web, Americans Remain Woefully Ill-Informed
Twitter is the app that everyone loves to hate. Odds are you’ve noticed people — probably much younger than you — manically using Twitter, a tool that lets you post brief updates about your everyday thoughts and activities to the Web via browser, cell phone, or IM. The messages are limited to 140 characters, so they lean toward pithy, haiku-like utterances. When I dropped by the main Twitter page, people had posted notes like ‘Doing lunch and picking up father-in-law from senior center.’ Or ‘Checking out Ghost Whisperer’ or simply ‘Thinking I’m old.’ (Most users are between 18 and 27.)
It might seem like blogging taken to a supremely banal extreme. Productivity guru Tim Ferriss calls Twitter ‘pointless email on steroids.’ One Si”

(Via Twitter Blog.)

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