Simplenote ~ iPad
Simplenote
Placed Simplenote onto the iPad to keep a backup of blog post. I will use Simplenote to compose the blog post and then copy and past into the WordPress app.
Outstanding Customer Service
Both SmileOnMyMac and Simplenote were very fast with my questions as to why I could not get the snippets to work in Simplenote. They both gave me the correct solution to the issue and now I am writing this post using the HTML snippets.
Sonos System
Sonos System
The Sonos Player/System is a very easy and modular system to set up. I just set one up in my own home and it was very straight forward to set up. You just plug in one of the components such as the zone 90 bridge to your router/network. Install the included software and connect one or more ZonePlayers.
Zone, any Zone
Having different zones is the name of the Sonos game. I have the ZonePlayer S5 in the living room and one in the master bedroom. The S5 is also very portable, it can just be unplugged and placed outside on the deck for instance. I also connected a ZonePlayer Z90 to my home theater system in the Man Cave to play music from the centralized iTunes library. The Z90 may be put into serve to connect to a pair of powered outdoor speakers if I can find some that I like.
Internet Raido
The Internet Radio stations that are available on the Sonos system are extensive. Several of my favorite stations are available so you can listen to local stations or international stations as well. You also have the option to add stations to a Favorites list for fast access to those stations.
iPhone and iPod Touch
If you have an iPhone or iPod TouchThere is a free app that connects to your Sono System which enables you to control the Sonos system. If not you will need to purchase the Sonos controller which is a bit pricey. If you don’t have an iPod Touch I would purchase one to control the Sonos because it can so so much more than the Sonos remote solution.
More to Come
There is an iPad app in development that Sonos has already previewed and it looks to be a very nice way to touch and control your Sonos system.
I will be using and listening to more music and experimenting with multiple iTunes libraries and I will post those impressions at a latter date.
iPad
The iPad 3G
I just picked up an iPad 3G the other day and I have been using it in place of my MBP for browsing and making post to my blog. It has been pretty serendipitous that some of the coolest apps for the iPad have either been released or the iPhone versions have been updated with universal binaries.
Textexpander is one those that have been updated as of today. It is a great app for snippets and writing rich html on the WordPress blog app. Also, the new hulu app was released today with limited functionality until the user gets an invitation from hulu for full content at $10/mo.
The iPad is a great device for content creation and casual use such as reading rss feeds, catching up on twitter or checking mail. As with any Apple product it will only get better with time. The hardware as well as software. The interface is great and a pleasure to use.
Welcome to the Future
Using this device feels like the future, it seems to be such a different way of “computing” so to speak. I find myself getting pleasure from using it. I am big fan of Star Trek especially the Next Generation series and it reminds me of Captain Picard setting in his ready room reading a book or checking on the ships status with a similar device.
The future is now and it is so much fun
Textexpander for iOS Devices
Textexpander
Now as a universal binary for the iOS devices, it allows one to use it to compose notes for other apps that do not yet have the built-in support of textexpander snippets.
WordPress is just one of those apps that is begging for textexpander support. It would nice not to have to write this in the textexpander app first and then copy and paste into wordpress.
Other updates
hulu has an iOS app out for users to preview before the paid monthly service goes live for them soon.
If some of the major sports leagues such as The NFL Network, NBA and the NCAA would have apps that streamed like hulu I believe that the cable and satellite companies would need to rethink there pricing structure.
iPad
New iPad
Just picked up a new iPad 3G today. It truly is a magical device. I have set up word press on it and so far so good. I still need to find some apps that I like but the ones I have so far are very written.
Reeder, rss reader
This an rss reader for the iPhone and the iPad. For the iPad it uses the pinch gestures that the photos app uses on the iPad. It is my default reader for both the iPhone and the iPad.
I am really enjoying the iPad. I have not tried out the 3G data usage on the iPad yet. I plan on trying out if we travel soon.
iOS 4
It is finally here, the new os for the iPhone. I am trying out fast app switching. ” fast app switching with saved state is a very welcome feature which allows you to, say, exit the app, copy some text from another app and quickly go back to what you were doing before.”
Finally!
Pretty Permalinks
I was finally able to get “Pretty Permalinks” to work on both of my blogs. I had to get my host support on board. Apparenty I did not have a .htaccess file in the root directory of each of my sites. They added it and I was able to modify theme with the code that WordPress generates when the Apache mod is not present on your server. Once that was done I now have nice, neat permalinks.
Site Updated!
Sub Navigation Buttons
I just updated my home page with a great new Stack from Gary Byrd of rapidweaverthemes.com.. I follow Gary on Twitter and in the RapidWeaver forums, I have also done some mock up work for him. I saw that he released a set of stand alone button stacks. So I made a request of him to see if he would make a stack that was basically a sub navigation for a site that does not use the built in RW tool bar function. I had a make shift sub nav on my site made up of a Blocks page and the blocks built in button block. I then used the great PlusKit plugin to import it into a text Stack on my home page.
A More Elegant Solution
Once I saw that Gary had release the Awesome Button Stack I was pretty sure his talents would be called into play for my request. So I tweeted a message to him with my request and he was more than glad to oblige me.
Great Devs and RW Community
I cannot thank Gary enough for this great Stack and his efforts. Also, the great RapidWeaver Community of plugin and theme developers that I follow on Twitter and on the RW Forums. I just love that on Twitter you can be in contact with the devs of the products that you use.
Keep up the good work RW devs and thanks again!
Great Apps for iPhone and Mac
Great New iPhone App
Pastebot is a great new app from Tapbots. They make some very cool iPhone/iPod Touch apps that are very well designed and are easy to use. I own two of them, Convertbot and now Pastebot. Pastbot is the new release and the more I use it the more I wonder why this was never done before.
Clipboard on Steroids
With the companion Mac app, Pastebot Sync, you can now transfer photos from the iPhone directly to iPhoto or any other place that you would like on your Mac. Or you can copy a photo from iPhoto onto your iPhone. Think about this for a minute. Say I want to just put one photo onto my iPhone and I do not have the time to plug in the iPhone, allow it to do its backup and then sync everything. Now, just select the picture you want and copy it to your clipboard and there it is on your iPhone. Wow, that makes things so much more convenient and handy. It is one of my favorite new apps.
A new Bird on the Block, meet Kiwi!
Kiwi is a new Twitter App for the Mac from YourHead Software, the RapidWeaver plugin devs. YourHead is venturing outside of the RapidWeaver area and branching out to a standalone Mac app.
What makes Kiwi unique is the ability to apply a different theme or style to the app for a more personal touch. It is now my primary Twitter app on my Mac and I know that it will only improve over time.
Try this out and see for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
GeoDefense Swarm
Great New iPhone Game
Geodefense Storm is a great game for the iPhone and I have to say that it is very addictive. There is already several post online with strategies for completing the more difficult levels.
Gaming Platform
The iPhone is such a wonderful, portable gaming platform. It is very easy to play each of the games and Gd Swarm is a great example of that.