Two new apps on my iPad

I recently downloaded a couple of new apps to my iPad about fitness and nutrition. The first is Myfood from Pomegranate Software.

This was a free app to download, but the real value seems to come when you unlock it (only £1.49) and can access more information and you get rid of the ads! I haven't fully explored it, but it does look helpful for my nutrition studies and it might be worth a look even in its free form for anyone interested to see what's in their food.

What I like about what I've seen so far is the clear information you get. It would be nice if you could re-order the foods by diet type, but that a fussy thing for those of us that want to be able to see where to get say vitamin B12 if you don't eat meat or dairy.

Then again, I don't think it is meant to be that flexible or comprehensive, but it's good as it is.



The second app is Fitness Planner:




This looked interesting and it actually is quite interesting but probably only to someone keen enough to do all the work of entering data and leading a well ordered and disciplined life. I'm not sure I fit into that category, so I'm not sure it's going to be as useful to me as it might be to someone else.

If, on the other hand, you are planning some serious training and need a schedule then this might be the app for you. Again there are areas that you can unlock, but I haven't done that yet.

Of course there's still MyFitnessPal that I mentioned some time ago as a useful food tracker and diet analyser.

These are not the only offering out there, and if you're using an app or web-based fitness and/or nutrition resource, I'd like to know more about it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Kindle's and iPads

Of the things that I find really useful about my iPad is the ability to stick pdf's on it and read them wherever I might be. It doesn't matter about the style of the pdf, it just works and I haven't had any problems at all as far as I can recall. My iPad has a number of articles and short papers that are colourful and easy to both read and navigate on the nice bright screen. But it's not the most efficient reader, and an iPad is a complete waste of money if all you want to do is read stuff.

The Kindle, of which Anne as the Wi-Fi version with the keypad and I'm getting the non-keypad version for Christmas (yes, I know how lucky I am!), is just one of the alternative e-book readers out there. One of the things I like about the Kindle is the ability to email pdf documents to it. The problem is that the Kindle renders the pdf by page, which can make the typeface very small indeed.

For documents that I write, the solution is simple. All I have to do is to create a custom page size (90mm by 120mm) with 1mm margins and no headers or footers (they're not really needed). I then change the font size to 10 and email the pdf from the print menu of my Mac. Nice and simple, even if a bit time consuming.

Of course the big plus is that I can email this pdf to anyone who wants it, and they too can read it on their Kindle too if they have one. Perhaps there is already a neat and easy solution to generating readable pdfs for Kindle from applications. I know there is something that will convert a document into the correct format for Kindle, but I haven't explored that yet.

I wonder if some bright spark hasn't already, or maybe would like to write an app onto which you can drop a document and it will reformat it for you. Rather like the way Tofu puts a file into columns to make it easier to read.

The glory of Romans

I downloaded a great free application for my iPhone this morning. It's called SpokenWord, an audio Bible app. There are two versions, an Old Testament one and a New Testament one.

It does exactly what you want it to do, or at least what I wanted it to do this morning as I set out for my morning walk.

I listened to Paul's letter to the Romans as I walked the 5Km circuit from home. It's just such an easy way to spend time in the Bible. Of course it can't replace sitting and reading, studying and reflecting. But I love to get the bigger picture of the letters and narratives, and this is a great way to do just that.

So I walked and found encouragement and challenge as I listened to Paul pour our his heart to the Christian community in Rome. I was reminded of the place of faith, the sacrifice made for me, the finished work of the cross, the power of the gospel, the joy of freedom, the choice to walk in the Spirit, the lack of condemnation, the hope of the kingdom, the commitment to others, the call to leadership and service and so much more. Can there be a better way to spend an hour?

If you have an iPhone, you might want to check out this wonderful app.

Two more online collaboration tools

Here are two more tools I'm exploring. The first is somewhat similar to Wridea and is called Symbyoz. I signed up and created a goal page but sadly I can't seem to get access to it today. Perhaps there's an internet problem, but the stuff I did yesterday seems to have disappeared. not a great start.

The concept is simple enough. You create an idea and other people can comment. There are tabs for people and resources and you have your own ideas and network ideas. There is no facility to add files to share.

In the end I think it will be a preference thing, not withstanding today's lost idea issue, between this and say Writeboard, that does the same sort on thing and does it well.

The second tool I've had a quick look at is Reviewpad. Now this looks very promising. Easy to navigate, able to add files (in fact you can't crate a "pad" without adding at least one file). Actually the whole point fo Reviewpad is to give you a place to review files with others. You can add comments, give permission to download the file and all with a free account with 500mb of space. You can even save a pad as a pdf which show everything including all the file contents. So if you wanted to, you could take a pdf version with you your mobile device to read on the train! No internet access required!

In looking for something simple and easy to use for less adventurous partners, this might just win the day.

Writeboard

I've just signed up to Writeboard and the difference with huddle and GoogleWave are immediately apparent.

If you are looking for a shared space to have that conversation I mentioned without the bells and whistles of file sharing, task management and other things, this could be just what you are looking for in the world of online collaboration.

Easy to set up, simple to use. even the most technically averse person would surely be able to contribute to a discussion using this tool.

Online Collaboration

So, with the demise of GoogleWave at the end of the year I've begun my search for a possible replacement. I had a quick squint at a few offerings but settled on giving Huddle a shot.

It looks quite promising although it takes a bit of getting used to after the style of waving I've been exploring. There are certainly features in Huddle that didn't exist in Wave and of course the inverse is also true.

What I liked about Wave was the concept of a single conversation. I guess in Huddle this is replicated by the idea of multiple workspaces where each idea or project has its own set of files and discussions. The free version only allows one workspace, which with some thought can be adapted to hold several active projects. I just feel that having easily identifiable space for a few projects would suit my needs better. I can get this facility if I opt for a paid version of the product (a monthly subscription is required).

Having said that, the extra features of being able, for example, to assign tasks to team members and send them an email reminder is very nice. I got one this morning about inviting people to enter my workspace.

Uploading files is easy and smooth, although I haven't tried uploading a file again after editing it. Huddle keeps an audit trail for each file you create or upload, which is useful too. I work with pdf's a lot because I don't use Microsoft software if I can help it. As a Mac user, I find Pages really easy and flexible for producing all my documents. Sadly Word is the standard for most people, so a pdf is almost guaranteed to be openable on every platform. Huddle accepts all sorts of file types and provides an online editor for excel and word files.

So, my first impressions are that although it doesn't have the feel of Waving, Huddle looks like a really useful online collaboration tool. Used properly I think it could help all sorts of groups and businesses to work together more effectively. These tools allow you to reduce the clutter of an inbox full of rabbit trail emails and they allow you to centralise a single copy of the most up to date version of a file. Everything in one place for every project.

Of course if you just want to share files, then Dropbox is great for doing that. But what Huddle gives you is all the facilities to discuss and organise around those files.

The downside of Google Wave was that it didn't work in the most common browser (Explorer) and it didn't work on one person's G4 Mac for some reason. Huddle doesn't look like it will suffer from those problems.

The question is, can I get the technologically averse to dip a toe in the water of online collaboration and join the Huddle? That may well be the defining criteria for success.

And by the way, thanks to the company for the courtesy call I got yesterday for signing up to Huddle. Both unexpected and thoughtful.

An alternative to Huddle might be Writeboard, but I haven't explored that yet.

Goodbye Googlewave

So I found out today that Google is to wave goodbye to its innovative online collaboration tool. Googlewave is to be no more. Apparently the lack of user uptake is the issue.

I thought Googlewave had tremendous potential for planning and developing ideas, but as I found out, not everyone is keen to explore new technology. Having a continuous conversation that is easy to review rather than an inbox full of emails was really exciting. I mourn its demise.

So, I will have to look elsewhere and I've already begun to have a look at what might fill the gap.

Wridea looks promising, but I've only seem the overview. Again the issue is less about finding something to use and more about getting others to try it too.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPastor App fix

iPastor has been updated with a fix to the "review by strategy" problem. Just in case you were waiting for me to tell you!!

iPastor update

I sent some feedback to the developers about this app and got a reply very quickly. Apparently the thing with the review sorting on the first item in a list only is a bug that they hadn't picked up before. So I guess we can expect a fix when they can resolve the problem.

This just goes to show that it's worth the effort of letting someone know, just in case it's not meant to work that way!!

iPastor

iPastor is another little app that comes from the same stable as Prayer Journal. It is designed to be a simple way of recording and tracking ministry needs. The basic idea is good and the interface very simple to use, but it does suffer from one or two minor limitations.

There is something GTD-like (Getting Things Done) about the organisational structure of iPastor. You can assign both a situation (health crisis, grief, chemical dependency etc.) to a need and also a care strategy. Then, when you review the needs, you can do so by strategy or situation. You can also delegate care and review by delegate too. All very useful.

Recording a ministry needs allows for a fair amount of detail. You have space for name, address details, contact numbers, email etc. There's one interesting box 'connections' that allows you to select from a short list of things like small group member, church member, family or friend, prospect and referral.

But this is where the application begins to let itself down. The lists are a little restrictive and there appears to be no way to edit them or add to them. Maybe you don't want too many categories, but it would be nice to be able to make a few personalised adjustments.

Another improvement would be in the way the reviewing process works. As far as I can tell, fields such as 'situation' and 'care strategy' are sorted on the basis of the first item you choose. So, for example, if yo choose "send a card" and "home visit" for your strategy, when you review by strategy it will only show up under "card". That means you have to be careful to check each recorded need for any additional data.

Hopefully these are just minor things that can be fixed or will be fixed as the product develops. I still think I'll persevere with it for a while, just to see how helpful it can be.

One last thing. When you're filling in the details of a particular person and their need, it would be great if it could use your contacts to grab information. I know very little about the internal workings of the basic  architecture of the operating system, but if this can be done easily, it would speed up data entry, at least for some people. Thinking about, being able to add them to my contact list would be good too, rather like you can when you get a 'phone call or message from someone who isn't yet in your address book.

Prayer Journal for iPhone

A few weeks ago I came across this app for my iPhone. It works on iPod Touch too, so don't worry, you don't have to get the phone to get the app!

At £0.59 it won't break the bank and it might just inspire you to pray a little more often.

The interface is simple and easy to use. Simply add prayer requests as you go and then choose how you want to pray. There is the option to go through the whole list, a specific person, or a portion of the list.

It is a really helpful and simple application that can only get better. But then again there's not much I would change, except maybe the ability to group items in some way. And maybe a desktop version with synching would be nice but not a reason not to try this app out.