iPhone apps

Lately, people have been asking me which iPhone apps I use. Here’s the ridiculously long list of the ones I’ve downloaded, with notes about each one (I’ve marked my favorites with a *)

*1Password: This is an awesome app that goes with the indespensible 1Password desktop app. Truth be told, I don’t use the iPhone version often, but it gives me a warm feeling all over to know that I have it.

2D Sense: This is a barcode scanner app. I don’t really use it.

A Free Level: This app purports to be a level, which would be handy if it worked. It just seems… well… off. Maybe my accelerometers are broken.

AdHoc: This app is useful for developers who need to see the SSID of their iPhone. For normal people, not necessary.

AdrPoolLite: Want to play billiards? This app does the trick, but only online. Boo!

Aerolite Free: This is Asteroids. I don’t like it.

AIM: This is AOL’s instant messenger. It would be useful if it stayed connected when not in the app, but it doesn’t, despite Apple promising that feature.

Air Sharing: Excellent app for using your iPhone as a wireless thumb drive. I wish I had a use for it.

AirMe: This tells you what’s on TV, I think.

*Aki Mahjong: Great Mahjong game.

*Amazon.com: Have money to spend? Get this app and find yourself browsing Amazon.com all the time.

AOL Radio: A radio app. Cool. Don’t use it.

Arcade 2: I think Sammy uses this app, which is some kind of game. I don’t.

AroundMe: Who is near you? Eh.

Art Gallery: A virtual art gallery. Another app I don’t use.

*ASL Ultimate: Learn American Sign Language with this ASL dictionary. YES!

Audi A4: This driving game should be more fun.

*Banking: Bank from your iPhone. Sweet app!

Barcode: Another barcode scanner. If there were barcodes worth scanning, I might use it.

BClassicLite: This is Breakout for the iPhone.

Black and White: Othello.

Bloomberg: Cool finance news/stock ticker app. Watch your money vanish with great graphics.

BoxOffice: See what movies are playing near you.

Brain Toot Lite: A trivia game. After a couple plays, it’s boring.

Brain Tuner: See above. Same thing.

Brushes: iPhone, meet MacPaint. People with talent can make this app do crazy stuff.

Bubbles: For my five-year-old. She loves “blowing bubbles.”

BubbleWrap: See above. (Except, in this one, she gets to pop them.)

CannonGame: Learn physics with this cannon game. Fun for a while.

CarriesDots: Classic “dots” game.

Chase: Banking app for Chase customers. Nice.

*Checkers: A checkers game that is maddeningly difficult!

CheckWord: Scrabble dictionary.

*City Guide: A guide to Washington, D.C., establishments. Worth it, if you ever go out. (I don’t.)

Classics: Great books on your iPhone (in text form). Why not?

Cowabunga: Cow sounds.

*Crash Kart: Fun driving game. Addictive.

*Crayon: A sweet physics game where you draw rocks to move other rocks around.

Crazy Eye: Just plain silly eyes. Sammy loves it.

Crazy Mouth: See above. For the mouth.

*Cro-Mag: Another wicked fun driving game.

Cube: I’m not really sure what this is.

Cube Runner: A first-person shooter. I can’t make it work.

Currency: See how little the dollar is worth. Yippee!’

Darkslide: Something to do with Flickr, I think. I don’t use Flickr, or this app. (note, I use Flickr now, but still not this app.)

*Darts: A darts game. Pretty fun, I have to say.

Dialer: I think this is a voice-activated dialer. I don’t use it.

Dictionaire: A dictionary, if I’m not mistaken.

*Dizzy Bee: A fun accelerometer-based game. Really fun, actually.

*Easy Wi-Fi: Make connecting to AT&T wifi hotspots a cinch. This is a must-have.

*eBay: Follow your activities on eBay. Handy, if you use eBay.

Enigmo: A fun desktop game that doesn’t translate well to the iPhone, IMO.

eReader: An electronic book reader.

Evernote: A notes recording app that I have yet to find a use for.

EyeTricks: A collection of optical illusions.

*Facebook: Probably better than the full-fledged Facebook site!

*Flight Update: An awesome flight tracking app.

FlightTracker: Same as above, except far less awesome.

Flixster: I don’t even know what this is, to be honest.

Football: A paper football simulator. About as stimulating as the real thing.

*FourFree: Connect Four. I’m addicted to this game.

French: A French-English dictionary.

Frenzic: A fun game that gets a little old after a while. It’s kind of like Tetris with Trivial Pursuit pieces.

GarageBuy: An eBay app that I don’t really use.

gingerbread: With this, Sammy can make gingerbread houses.

*Go Out: Want a good place to go to? Look it up in this app.

GoodGuide: Look up “green” products. Seems kind of time-consuming to do this, if you ask me.

Google: Google’s search app. It’s cool, but I just use Safari search.

*Google Earth: The coolest app ever, I dare say. Google Earth in the palm of your hand.

GPS Tracker: Track your movements. (Wait, that doesn’t sound right.) I don’t get the point.

Hangman: Not hard enough for me, but Sammy likes it.

*HoldEm: Great Texas Hold ‘Em game.

i Say Free: Simon Says. Fun.

i.TV: See what’s on TV, at theaters, etc.

iBowl: iPhone bowling. All the fun of bowling without the grease.

iDoodle2lite: A doodle app

IM+: A multi-service instant messenger app. Works well.

iMaze: A maze game.

iPet Pets: Tomagachi (sp?) comes to the iPhone.

iScopes: Horoscopes. (Cynthia downloaded this…)

*iStat: See your iPhone’s stats, as well as those of your Mac(s).

iSteam: A goofy app in which you blow on your phone to make it steam up, and then draw on the steam.

*iTalk: Make your iPhone an audio recorder.

iTarot: Tarot cards. (Cynthia bought this app too.)

*iWant: Look up stuff (ATMs, gas stations, etc) around you. Really handy.

*iWOL: Wakes up your computer over the Internet. Wicked.

iXmas Tree: See gingerbread app. Replace gingerbread house with Christmas tree.

*Jaadu VNC: Control your computer via the iPhone. Oh yeah.

JawBreaker: Not sure, actually.

JellyCar: Cute game. I don’t really get it. Sammy loves it.

JirboAvatar: Set up an avatar for the Jirbo service. Eh.

JirboBounce: Game with above service.

JirboMatch: Ditto above.

Jobs: Find a job. Pretty relevant these days.

Joost: Watch crappy Internet TV on your iPhone.

Jott: Another note-taking app that I don’t have a use for.

Knots: Twister for your fingers.

Labyrinth: Cute maze game.

Lander: This “chopper” game never works for me.

*Last.fm: Great Internet radio app.

Light: Funny how handy the iPhone is as a flashlight.

Lightsaber: Fun, once. Then really, really annoying. It makes lightsaber sounds.

LinkedIn: For the LinkedIn service, a service I have yet to see the value in (thus, the same is true for the app.)

Loopt: Social network locator app. Eh.

Mancala: Fun game that takes a lifetime to master.

Metronome: Well, it’s a metronome. It does what it says.

midomi: Very cool app that can translate singing or wistling into the name of the song.

MiniPiano: Fun app in which you play a little piano!

Mobile News: The Associated Press’s news app. I just visit news sites instead.

*MobileFiles: Access your files on MobileMe (.mac). I love it.

*mondo: Great solitaire games. Hundreds of them.

*Monkey Ball: Super Monkey Ball. Great fun, really hard.

Moo: Cow sounds.

MooBox: More cow sounds. (Really? More cow sounds?)

Moonlight: Mahjong game.

Motion Alarm: Alarm goes off when your iPhone is moved.

myLite: Flashlight.

myTo-Dos: Another to-do list.

NBC DC Traffic Cam: See traffic cams live. Sounds better than it is, but for those for whom it’d be helpful, it’s great. (If also slow.)

NearPics: See pictures taken near you.

*NetNewsWire: RSS reader that syncs with the desktop version. Nice!

Now Playing: See what movies are playing near you.

NYTimes: Nice iPhone app from the NY Times.

Obama ’08: Obama’s iPhone app for its volunteers. Interesting use of the technology.

Othello: It’s, um, Othello.

PAC-MAN: Yeah, Pac-Man. So-so.

Pandora: Great Internet radio app.

PapiCatch: Catch flying sandwiches or something. It’s a game Sammy enjoys.

*PayPal: Use PayPal from your iPhone. Really handy at times.

Pboat: Powerboat racing game. Kind of fun.

PegJump: You know that peg game at Bob Evans? It’s on your iPhone too.

Penguin: Access Penguin books from your iPhone. Unimpressed.

People: Look up people’s addresses, etc. I should use this more.

Pets: Another tomagochi thing, I think,

PhoneSaber: Another lightsaber app.

*Quordy: Best. Boggle. Game. Ever. Play against other people via e-mail.

RC Physics: Use your iPhone to determine acceleration. Great for Tesla owners.

*Remote: Control Apple TV or iTunes via the iPhone. LOVE IT.

reMovem: A game in which you remove contiguous-color balls. Funnish.

*Rolando: Pretty cool game that is hard to describe. It’s kind of a moden-day version of Sonic or something, but way better.

Say Who: Voice-activated dialer. I don’t use it.

*Scrabble: Scrabble for the iPhone. Fun, though would be better if it had non-real-time multiplayer capabilities. For example, if it interfaced with Scrabble on Facebook.

Scribble: A doodling app.

Shakespeare: Complete works of Shakespeare, on your iPhone. That’s a no-brainer.

Shazam: Like midomi. See above.

Simplify: Hmmm… I forget. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, eh?

Slots: Slot machine for your iPhone. Too bad the iPhone doesn’t have a change dispenser.

SnapTell: Take a picture of something and have Amazon put it in your cart.

Sol Free: Solitaire. Fun enough, I guess.

SpaceMonkey: A monkey game I haven’t had a chance to play with.

SpeechCloud: Honestly, I don’t know.

Speedtest: See what kind of Internet connection speed you have to your iPhone.

*Spore: Pretty fun pint-sized version of the new Spore game.

Stars: See the constellations on your iPhone. Boy, wouldn’t this have been handy 400 years ago?

Sudoku: It is what it is. Not a sudoku fan.

Tap Tap: Like Guitar Hero, but without great music.

TapDefense: Desktop Tower Defense for the iPhone. Just as addictive.

TicTacFree: Tic Tac Toe. Sammy likes it.

TicTacTouch: See above.

To Do: Why so many to-do lists? I guess they were free. I don’t use this one either.

*touchPhysics: Another game in which you draw objects in order to influence the motion of other objects. It’s drop-dead fun… and cool.

Toy Bot: Hmm, I don’t know what this one is.

Trace: Some kind of drawing game. Haven’t played with it.

Traffic: Tells you the traffic situation around you.

Translator: Guess.

Tris: Tetris.

*Truphone: Voice over IP for the iPhone. Sweetness! Esp. useful for those making overseas calls.

TWC: The Weather Channel app. As ugly as the cable station.

*TwitterFon: Best. Twitter. App. Ever.

Twitterrific: Pushed aside by the above app.

TypePad: If you have a TypePad blog and want to post remotely, here you go!

*Units: Phenomenal unit conversion app.

Urbanspoon: Cute way to look up restaurants by shaking the iPhone.

USA TODAY: The USA TODAY news application.

Virgin Radio: Another Internet radio app.

VNC: Similar to Jaadu VNC, this allows you to control your computer remotely.

Voice Dialer: The name says it all. I don’t use it.

WeatherBug: Cyn LOVES weather apps. I just look outside.

WhitePages: White pages on your iPhone.

Who is Hot: Links weather information with your address book. Always crashes my phone.

WhosHere: Locates people around you.

Whrrl: Same as above, I think.

WiFinder: Tells you where to find WiFi hotspots.

Wikipanion: Wikipedia in your pocket.

*Word Warp: Fun game in which you look for all the words you can make with a set of letters.

WritePad: Really cool gestures app where you can write on the phone with your finger and it recognizes the text. In other words, turns your iPhone into a Newton.

*X-Plane: A flight simulator for your iPhone. I don’t use it, but cripes, is it cool!

Y. Painter: A painting app. Fun.

Zenbe: MORE to-do lists. Pass.

ZIPcodes: Look up ZIP codes.

Zippo Lighter: It’s a lighter. Virtually.

Sammy’s letter to Santa

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for my five-year-old (sorry, five-and-a-half!) making out her last-minute pitch to Santa. You can hear Sammy read it herself, plus see her on Christmas morning:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE3CcZabJbA

Alternatively, you can read the translated version below:

To Santa,
I want:

  • a toy Christmas tree
  • a toy elephant
  • a robot
  • a toy book.

From Sammy.
And some candy. Love, Sammy.

Then she left cookies (actually, peppercorn crackers) for Santa.

Shooting children and puppies

When shooting children and puppies, be sure that they are sitting still. That’s rule number one.

Wait, wait, wait… that sounds bad. I don’t mean shooting children and puppies. I mean, taking pictures of children and puppies.

Anyway, this past weekend was our annual holiday card photo shoot. Here are a few sample shots, none of which was chosen as the “winner.” You’ll have to wait for that.

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When good dogs go bad

Poor Milo. Just when he thought the indignity of being a puppy was almost over, along comes Halloween. Several weeks ago, Cyn bought this doggy bat costume, apparently not recognizing the speed with which Milo is growing. Suffice to say, it no longer fit by the time all hallows eve came along. That’s okay… we had a backup plan:

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Milo goes swimming

Aren’t Labs the best? They fetch, they swim, they eat their own poo. Wait, well, two out of three ain’t bad. And some even play soccer! Watch Milo do his best Pele and Michael Phelps imitations:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGVfdDjeyzk

Grey squirrel

It’s hard to believe Sammy was once shy. Here, she sings (and dances) the “Grey Squirrel.” Please don’t ask about her rendition of “Shake Your Booty.”

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZurcKeKRs9s

Video from Paul and Erin’s wedding

We didn’t shoot much video at the wedding, we were too busy being in it or eating, or simply enjoying the setting. However, I did manage to capture a few of Paul’s final moments (below) … and a brief snippet (farther below) of Sammy serving as flower girl:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G52WTmwdKtE

Milo’s first day as a Hatch

It was just a few weeks ago, but looking back it’s easy to see how much Milo has already grown. For one, there’s no way I could hold him with one arm and Sammy with the other. Here he is, exploring his new environs:

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PaintBall Paul

To prepare our good friend (and good guy) Paul for marriage, we needed to expose him to the closest thing: war. Since he’s too old for the Army, we took him instead to Maryland for some paintball action. James Cromer took the video, since he wasn’t able to participate:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSHEMpgRj2c

Meanwhile, here are some pics:

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