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And now, for some total geekery!
I don’t know if this always existed or if this feature appeared during some update. However, you can create subtask in OmniFocus on your iPhone. I didn’t know…
I went to the T-shop to check on my phone because I hadn't heard anything yet, and I noticed they had the wrong number on my form. Turns out, they had my (replacement) phone there. The lady was very nice and I hope this one works better than the other one. At least it doesn't have any dead parts in the screen (so far) and it seems to work properly. I give it another week before I slap my Zagg shield on it.
Unfortunately, I had to continue my iPhone saga. The iPhone I received worked but showed some issues. It took a while before I figured out what exactly, but it turned out that randomly, the middle part of the screen would stop responding to touch. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't (as shown on the picture). Sometimes the entire screen would stop responding, which I could usually solve by pressing that top-button to lock it and then unlock it.
I returned it today and expect it (or another one) back in a week or two. In general I've had no issues with the process, just too bad I got a bad phone in return. When I pick it up, I'll make sure to test it before taking it home though :)
I crawled out to the T-shop to pick up my phone and got a replacement one. As far as I can tell, I got a brand new one, yay! I didn't put the backup back; instead, I went for a clean install, selecting the apps I wanted and setting it up from scratch. So happy to have it back!
The T-mobile site updated my repair status with:
bq.. Result of repair: You can pick up your phone at the T-shop. Warning: if you get the confirmation that you can pick up your phone, it could take up to 3 workingdays before you can.
p. They should give me a ring from the T-shop when they have it, hopefully Thursday or Friday. I suspect they'll send it out today, so maybe even tomorrow, yay!
So far, everything went pretty smoothly and if it works when I get it back, I'll feel very happy %{color:purple}{:)}%
I miss my touchscreen...
Because my favourite shopper app has now gone mental, I decided I should write my own. I have no idea how to, and have so far not tried writing anything for the iPhone, it should turn into a neat little adventure.
So far, I have read a little on Apple's iPhone Developer site about Human Interface Guidelines and Planning your app. I've also did some looking around and thinking about a database structure, and what kind of things I do and what I don't want in my app. Currently I have:
I haven't made my mind up about coupons / discounts, because I rarely use them. However, when I do, I like them showing up in the price.
I'd also like to make it so that the lowest price has a visual feedback if you have selected a store -- something Handyshopper always did very well. I want the interface as clutterfree as possible, and from what I can tell, I have some pretty good options with the default iPhone thingies.
I've not used my iPhone for a little over a week now, and I miss it somewhat. Every now and then I think %(quote)oh, I want to play 'Spider'% or something like that, and then realise I no longer have my iPhone. I've noticed I don't really want to use my current replacement phone. Pressing those buttons hurt my fingers too much. I love the touch-interface. I didn't know -- though I suspected as much -- how much easier that touch-interface works on my hands.
Currently, the repair status (which I can check online) says "Your phone is in repair.". The next step will tell me what they found, if anything, and what will happen next. I hope it'll update before the weekend, but suspect it might take a few more working days.
I like the online status check. Thank you, T-mobile.
I loved Shopper for quite some time. It was one of the first (paid) apps I bought for my iPhone, and I have stuck with it for over a year. Recently though, the business model the developers have chosen started to irk me. I started getting 'suggestions' and 'FDA alerts' (whatever that means).
With the latest update, they introduced ads. Ads in a paid app. I have not yet received my iPhone back, but I looked at the screenshots and read what other users wrote. Their screenshots don't show the real result, and in fact, the screencast on the website shows no sign of these annoying 'features'.
p(clear). They state on their website (in the forums):
bq.. As you might have noticed, we have introduced a messaging capability to Shopper with this release. We are using it to deliver a number of different types of alerts, hints (based on your feedback) and brand messages. We think there are a lot of innovative and useful things we can do with this capability.
Over the past week, over 14,000 people have checked out an alert from the FDA or USDA and 30,000 people have checked out a Shopper usage hint. So while they don't please everyone, a great number of users find these features helpful.
p. So, not only do they introduce an annoying 'feature' they also track your clicking behaviour. First of all, you can't really avoid clicking on one of those stupid 'messages' because they clutter your screen and get in the way. Second, eh.. hello... wtf do you check what I click on? They may or may not have mentioned that in the t&c, accessible from inside the app, so no way to read before you buy.
They also write:
(...) just so you know, the costs associated with all of the recent upgrades are now much greater than the $0.99 download fee. So in order to keep the platform up and running, while continuing to build your suggestions into the most capable shopping app available (including this months addition), brand sponsorship is needed. We hope you understand and stick with us, but if not - we will be offering an opt-out subscription in the next release (...)
I can only imagine that this opt-out subscription will consist of a paid subscription. When I bought Shopper, it cost me around €3, a price I happily paid. Why on earth they didn't keep it there, or even now increase the price, still baffles me.
Instead, they have chosen a business model that forces ads onto loyal users, defending it with numbers and the current low price. When you as a company choose to take the more expensive route -- not necessarily a bad thing -- you of course have to get that money from somewhere. But with ads in an already-paid-for-app? Seriously?
Goodbye, Shopper, too bad our relationship had to end so horribly.
Today I went to the T-Mobile store to drop off my iPhone. The Customer Service didn't phone me yesterday and I didn't want to wait till after the weekend. Unfortunately, I have no way of informing them they don't need to phone me anymore, so I suspect they will still do it Monday.
The guy at the store looked at my -- complete -- copy of the receipt and asked what I brought last time. I pointed it out and he said I brought enough, the guy should have taken in my phone.
This time, the other guy filled in the forms, gave me a copy and told me they'll call me in about a week or two. Keeping my thumbs crossed. And fingers too.
Now that my iPhone has gone hysterical, I have put my SIM in my old SE K810i. As a phone, it works pretty well, and I like the camera in it more than the iPhone's. The buttons however need a harder push than I usually give them, which annoys me a little, and doesn't feel too nice on my fingers -- the reason I got the iPhone in the first place.
I went to the T-mobile store where the kind gentleman looked at my phone and said %(quote)Oh, that looks bad!%. He explained that I needed to bring a full copy of my receipt (silly me, I forgot to copy a certain part) or that I could fill in the online form and arrange it with Customer Service that way. He said I have a two year warranty by default, I've only had the phone for fourteen months, well within those two years, yay! I filled in the form online and the CS will phone me tomorrow to arrange everything.
I worry slightly that it will take a couple of weeks to get this resolved, with the holidays coming and all. On the other hand, I immediately noticed how much I rely on my iphone and I'll take this iphone-less time as a sort of experiment to see how I handle life without the iphone. It feels weird.
Funny how easy one get used to things.
Can you imagine not having an internet or mobile phone connection? Ten years ago I had my first mobile phone and used dialup, I think my first digital camera followed later. Now I have a mobile phone with internet and camera. And DSL. Not that I mind.
Today I ran some errands. I got prints from my lab-work and then headed to the pharmacy to pick up my medication. My MTX(Methotrexate) went up in dosage so I had to get new prepared syringes. I left my prescription there on Saturday and they told me then to pick it up on Tuesday / Wednesday. So I went today. Unfortunately, when I got there and after waiting for a bit, they told me they wouldn’t give me more because I picked up my prescription two weeks ago already. I explained that I got a new prescription for a higher dosage right after I picked the other one up. The girl at first thought the prescription said 15mg (old dose) but upon closer look, it did indeed say 20mg. The note, made by the person accepting my prescription Saturday, said 15mg however — someone screwed up. She did promise me to order it right away and to come back tomorrow. A bit annoying.
I then went to the supermarket around the corner to buy some fruit (tangerines and bananas) and some crackers. I happily listened to my music, feeling slightly annoyed by the pharmacy thing but also looking forward to some nice tangerines. When I got outside and checked my iPhone for the time, the screen had gone nuts. All the while my music played, but the screen won’t display anything sensible.
I suspect tangerine-envy.
Tomorrow I’ll go back to the store to have it repaired. I miss it already.
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My mom commented recently about how many digital cameras I have. I have my trusty [Canon Powershot A620][1], an older [Canon Ixus 400][2] and a [Minolta Dimage 5][3], plus ofcourse the [Sony Ericsson K810i][4] phone…
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I bought [Brushes][1] the iPhone app and tried my hand at a few drawings. I have no real clue what I’m doing, but these are my first two.
[1]: http://brushesapp.com/…
[Updated: 2009-12-11: I no longer recommend Shopper, as of version 5.0. This paid app started to display ads and other cluttering info. See my newer post for more info ]
I generally make a shopping list when I go out buying groceries (about once per week). I used to go nearly every oter day, and spent money on food I hoped I could eat (but usually couldn't) which turned into one big waste pile which didn't feel good, money and waste wise.
I put myself on a 'shopping list diet' basically, not buying anything that's not on the list. I check the pantry and the fridge before I go out and note what I need to buy. I read somewhere that if it wasn't important enough to put on your list while checking pantry and fridge, it's certainly not important enough to buy in the store just because you see it.
I do stray from this a bit, sometimes, when in the store I remember I need to buy dog-cookies (not in my pantry, so I don't see that I need too) or better, when they're on sale. I want to have a good enough stash of dog-food and treats for my dog. So occasionally I will stray from the list a bit, however, in general, the list really works. I have basically cut my grocery spending by at least 40% (yes, I did overspent horribly on groceries for a while).
For my shopping list making I've used Shopper for iPhone since September last year (and I admit I've strayed from the list a lot until last month, nothing to do with the program). I love the way it works, though I have flirted with other programs in the meantime. See, what I missed was the option to set the price based on store (to see where I could get the best deal). Realising today I had never e-mailed them to tell them that, I went to the website and found an entire page about Shopper v3 with all the functions I missed.
Now I can't wait for it to come out. I'm sure I'll love it. I love Shopper v2 for its simplicity already. Can only get better... ;)
After several days of OmniWeb use I remember why I so happily used it before. It zooms through pages and (yes, get this!) I can actually watch (YouTube) movies again. For months every time someone sent me a link to a YouTube or other movie I'd either have to say 'Sorry, can't watch that' or forward the link, I'm almost afraid to say, to my iPhone so I could watch it there.
Yes, you got that right, I could watch internet-movies on my iPhone but not on my laptop. Yes, I have an old laptop, but I love it.
With OmniWeb I can actually watch most of them (though a bit staggering sometimes) because the browser itself doesn't eat up too many resources (looking at you again Firefox! this hate will soon pass but I will indulge in it a bit). So far I have not once had to close my browser or other programs to reclaim memory / cpu. Closing a few tabs does the trick. Now, I may have to do this every once in a while, but having to do it every two hours (you know who I'm talking about) gets really really annoying.
Aaah, the small pleasures in life... YouTube movies...
