sudo life

I’ve spent the morning getting familiar with the new iPhone software.  There is some good stuff here, some mediocre stuff, and some crappy stuff.

First, the crap.

1)  Weatherbug – You can only keep track of three cities.  It advertises that you can get radar images, but it gives you ‘the whole world’ and you have to zoom in on what you want.  Plus, the information isn’t even accurately represented.  This one is already uninstalled from my phone.

I recommend the ‘AccuWeather’ web program instead.  That’s what I’m sticking with for now, coupled with the built in weather app.

2)  Remote -  Is a cool concept but gives you absolutely no information about how to set it up.

3)  Movies.app – wouldn’t let me get out of the zip code box.  The interface here sucks terribly.  I highly recommend Box Office instead.

Mediocre:

1)  AIM – This is not ready for primetime yet, probably due to the fact that Apple’s push notification service isn’t going to be launched until a few months from now.  It keeps you signed in once you exit (which is good), but has no way to notify you when you get messages.  They show up in a bunch whenever you open the program.  To add insult to injury, they messages are blank.  Finally, there is no way to sign out, so I signed in somewhere else.  I expect this program will be improved quickly, though.

2)  Facebook – This is a nice improvment, except you can’t access people’s walls.  Other than that, it’s pretty cool.  I will be sticking with the web interface, however, until this gets updated.

Great:

1)  MLB At Bat – This works well.  The videos are clear, and it integrates with their web interface so you can get game summaries, box scores, etc.  I just wish there was a way to filter out the teams you don’t really care about.

2) Band – This app rocks.  The blues instrument has been providing me a lot of entertainment already.  Definitely worth the money.

3) MPG – Simple app for keeping track of your car.  Can’t get much better for a buck.

4) Twitterific – I had some trouble with this at first, but it seems to have gotten itself together.

5) Box Office – The interface is perfect.  Exactly what I needed.  I only wish I could set my ‘favorite’ theaters, and filter out the rest.

All in all, it’s a mixed bag.  The apps you pay for have a noticeably higher quality to them than the free apps for the most part.  There are a few exceptions, obviously.

What cool apps have you found?

Life Hacks apple, applications, iphone, reviews

Lifehacker is talking about the benefits of skepticism.

Creativity – The best way to prevent new solutions is to believe you already have the answer. Allowing a gap of doubt can allow creative alternatives to flow in. If you are adamant that advertising will not work for your product, you might cut off hundreds of ideas for improving your business.

Amen to that!  There are several others listed, and I completely agree with what is being said.  Skepticism has been the route to balance in my life, the route to understanding.

There is also an amusing story from The Big Room calling for a government War on Science. I find the idea amusing.

Life Hacks creativity, Science, skepticism