APPsolutely!
March 14th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Dragon dictation
Okay, so I promise this will be the last iPad post for a while. (At least a day!)
I’ve written a few other posts about my favorite iPad apps…but I just have to do it again because there are a lot of brand new and innovative apps out there!!
Therap…duh! The app for iPhone and iPad allows the reading and writing of Tlogs, attachment of photos and voice files, as well as tracking the author’s location.
Dragon’s app is free and does an amazingly accurate job at transcribing your speech into text.
Penultimate allows you to use a stylus to take handwritten notes and export single pages or entire notebooks via email. It also allows for the viewing and re-ordering of entire notebooks with one easy screen.
Photogene is for easy editing and sharing of photos straight from your iPad and also syncs with Dropbox.
Mashable and Macworld both offer apps to keep up with their daily postings on the tech world. Both are easy to navigate and pretty snazzy looking.
AppStart is a great app that gives the newbie an overview of functions of their iPad and insightful reviews of what AppAdvice considers to be the best apps (and they are pretty accurate and discerning with their reviews).
Aweditorium appeals to the ravenous music seeker like me, always looking for new Indie and Alternative bands. Simply load it, tap on a photo from the wall of photos and the selected band’s song begins with some biographical information (by tapping), lyrics, and photos (by swiping). Very cool.
Sketchbook Pro allows for all sorts of drawing, painting, and illustration, more commonly found in much more expensive software. There are free and paid versions of this app.
Flipboard is not new (I’ve mentioned it before) but continues to be a fantastic, visually exciting application, that allows you to keep up with your social networks and news of interest.
Blogpress allows for publishing to any blog and simultaneously to numerous blogs. WordPress has a similar app for WP blogs. Both of these apps are great in that they allow fast and seamless remote publishing. I just wish they’d allow for tagging, categories and photos within the given blog…
AirDisplay is for when you are on the road and missing the second screen if you are used to an extended desktop. AirDisplay solves this by making the iPad act as a second monitor for your Mac using common wifi to link the two devices.
LogMeIn is for those looking to lose the laptop and take the iPad on its own without fear. LogMeIn allows you to remotely access your Mac if you need something. The one shortcoming currently is that this app will not wake your Mac if it’s sleeping and I’d suspect that it will not be long before they see to this in an update. At least I hope so…
You should note that the majority of these apps were either free or under $5 (with the exception of LogMeIn and AirDisplay which were a little pricier). The apps for iPad, iPhone, Droid, and Mac have revolutionized software shopping,ease of installation, and price points. And there are endless possibilities…just go see for yourself.
iAllison
Calling all iPad Users…
We are continuing to work on making the iOS version of Safari work well with Therap and your input is very helpful.
Can you all please send feedback and report any glitches you run across while using your iPad (first generation or 2)?
Thanks for your help as we improve the iTheraping experience!
Allison
iLove
On Friday afternoon, I waited in line for an hour and a half for the iPad2. They were a hot commodity, based on reports from fellow waiters; stores in the Portland metro area all had lengthy lines. I was fortunate to be within the first dozen or so at this local Best Buy for if I had arrived even a minute later, I would have walked away disappointed. For some reason, this store had only received ten iPads. I got the second to last one because my karma is good (my first iPad went to a friend who really, really wanted one and could make good use of it).
OUT OF THE BOX
When I opened the box, it looked much the same as the original. It was when I held it that the difference was clear: over one third thinner and, as they said, 15% lighter. It felt solid and made its predecessor feel bloated. I synced it with a backup from the previous iPad without incident. It loaded the apps and synced quickly. I was on my way in under five minutes, even with all the apps, video, and material to load.
PLAY TIME
Although the screen is the same as the first iPad, the images appear sharper. The speaker has been moved to the back and sounds better. Apps loaded instantly, even Netflix, which tends to lag. I would estimate it had twice the speed of my previous iPad and the graphics were much cleaner. Considering that the iPad1 did an excellent job, these improvements are significant. It is evident that there is a new processor under the hood–this thing is screaming fast. I have not played with iMovie or Garage Band, the new apps introduced for this release, but my understanding is that they work well and have a very snazzy interface.
THE CAMERA
There are two cameras, one facing the user for Face Time, and another facing away to grab a picture or a video on the fly. Admittedly, the camera is a little underwhelming in its clarity. But I also do not foresee me snapping a bunch of pictures using a tablet either…and it is perfectly adequate for video conferencing or chatting with the other Apple nerds in your life via Face Time.
Overall, the improvements–especially the weight and thickness–make something awesome simply more awesome. I also plan on trying out the display mirroring during a training or presentation sometime soon. If you have a first generation iPad, you may upgrade or not. If you waited for this iPad iteration, go get this thing and watch your reliance on your laptop slip away (although, based on Apple’s website, you will be waiting for anywhere from three to five weeks to hold it in your hot little hands). It is clear why Apple continues to dominate the tablet market.
Allison
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad2
New App…for Blogging
I am writing this blog using an app on my iPad that allows me to remotely post on any of my blogs, and all of them at once if I wish. This is the first experiment of many. 
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:NE Suncrest Ct,Vancouver,United States
Still in Utah, Still a Nerd
Yesterday, Danville’s Salt Lake City division finished up training with a full session. They really did well and with Maureen finishing up in Las Vegas this week as well, it gets Danville poised to be completely live by Monday. Right now, I’m working on more monster training as there are about seven agencies in Utah and Oregon headed down the pipeline for January (eeek!).
Today, I’m trying to make some sort of sense of all my stuff, my schedule and to-dos, as well as doing some training on the interwebz with Oregon…
See my fireplace…on my desk in my room? It’s a nice compliment to the earlier snow outside. 
I know I’m a nerd. Thanks.
Allison
You’re such a NUDGE!
So, a new toy and an old one.
I’ve written about Dropbox before but it is worth repeating. If you have multiple devices like a Droid, laptop, iPad, and never seem to know where files are, try out Dropbox. You will set up an account online, create a local folder on your laptop, dump your files into the folder which syncs with your online account, making your files available from any browser anywhere. On top of that, there are Dropbox and Dropbox-friendly apps for iPad, Droid, iPhone and any other imaginable device that allows you to get to those files from any place on the planet on any of your mobile toys…This is a great app and it is free for up to 2GB of space.
My new thing is NudgeMail. I have tried a variety of applications for To Do Lists like Things and similar software but find myself never using it. I do, however, live in my Inbox. NudgeMail does just that–pokes you when you need to be reminded about stuff. It is simple to use and is in a free, beta version right now. So, how do you use it? Easy. For example, I want to be reminded to make a call in two hours. To do this, I would send an email to “2hours@nudgemail.com” and include some detail in the summary. In two hours, I’d receive the message to remind me. You can do this for daily, weekly, yearly–essentially any timeframe–reminders. Go get nudged.
I’m still in Utah with Danville…and the rest of the week will be with other UT providers. Back home for a bit on Saturday.
Allison
Get your nerd on!
In the next few days, Apple is supposed to release a software update for the iPad’s iOS. It is slated to offer some cool new things including multitasking and folders. (I’m watching Twitter anxiously.)
I’ve done this before but there are some additions so here are my favorite iPad apps for my nerdy friends out there (and there are plenty of you, I know!):
Instapaper: Find a cool article or blog (like mine!) online on your Mac or PC and don’t have time to read it right now? Click “read later” in your bookmarks bar and it will send it to Instapaper’s site and then sync with your iPad to read it later on at your leisure.
Brushes: Who doesn’t like doodling, finger painting, and such? You can do it here without the mess and play with endless texture and colors.
Angry Birds: This game is available for Droid, iPhone and iPad and is pleasantly addictive. You will find yourself dreaming of smashing green pigs wearing helmets.
iThoughtsHD: Mind Mapping software that works very nicely as you try to organize your thoughts and figure out your brain. Exports maps to PDF and MindManager as well. Very intuitive and easy to work with.
Guardian Eyewitness: The Guardian UK ships you a new picture each day from their award-winning photographers. These are stunning images with summaries of their captured event and some tips for burgeoning photographers. This is in association with Canon.
Osmos HD: a soothing, visually exciting game that will waste endless hours as you try to make your mote bigger, destroy anti-matter and fight gravitational pulls. You have to see it for that all to make sense but you will love it. Promise.
MoMA Abstract Expressionists: The Museum of Modern Art put this together for their Abstract Expressionist Exhibit and it is a lovely app with great images from Pollock, Frankenthaler, and Gorky (among others).
Wall Street Journal: Beautiful to look at and read. However, you won’t have access to certain stories until you pay the $3.99 PER WEEK. I won’t be doing that anytime soon but it is still a great app.
The New York Times (formerly Editor’s Choice): The newest version is allowing access to everything for free for a limited time and remains exquisite in its layout and embedded photos. This is a must if you want to know what is going on in the world.
Index Card: I love this. It takes a very low-tech process of brainstorming and gives you a corkboard and cards to work out ideas and organize them. You can color code and write on both sides of the card. This is a very helpful thing.
Amazon Kindle: Amazon knew it would get pounded when the iPad got released and smartly built Kindle apps for every device on the planet so you would still be able to access their gigantic e-book store and your own library whether on your Droid, iPhone, iPad or Kindle. Amazon’s books are cheaper than iBooks and available across platforms. I’m sticking with Amazon on this one.
iA Writer: I think I’ve developed ADD with my computer chirping at me with email, Twitter, Facebook, and there is an app for my Mac called WriteRoom that blocks all applications and gives you a black screen and simple green cursor to allow you to focus without distraction. iA Writer does this for iPad albeit more elegantly with a smartly revamped keyboard, word count, and the ability to fog over all you have written with the exception of the last couple of sentences, forcing you to keep going, and not sitting there admiring the sentence you wrote forty five minutes ago. This works with Dropbox, too. A plus.
Dropbox: Mac, PC, Droid, iPhone, or iPad, this application is awesome. It creates a local folder on your Mac or PC and as you drop pictures, songs, or documents into the folder, it syncs to your account online. Your files are then accessible on any device from wherever you are…Up to 2GB of space for FREE. And you are still sitting there?
Pulse: A customizable news reader with a groovy interface…enough said.
I have come to use my iPad for a lot of things, often taking it with me instead of my Mac. It currently cannot replace a laptop but it certainly can do most of the simple tasks such as web surfing, email, and writing.
Christmas is coming. Ask Santa for one. You’ll like it A LOT.
Allison
Staying in Touch
So, we just got new phones which make Therap like a virtual office…You can call Connecticut and the phone will ring here in Washington for me to answer. That is, once I get my Internet sorted out (don’t ask!).
But as of late, people are finding other ways to get in touch aside from the three phone numbers, Google Talk (yes, some of you have found me there, too!), live help, and plain old boring email.
Some users leave comments on my blog (Ginny!) and others IM me on Facebook (you know who you are!).
Others send messages (Marie…) and write on my wall on Facebook.
I am not complaining at all.
I find this very, very interesting at how my role as a formal, technical support person has merged with social media. There have been numerous articles about how Twitter, Facebook and Yelp have impacted businesses’ images, communication with their clientele, and their overall presence on the Internet. There are few businesses that can dismiss the “interweb’s” potential for advertising with Google Ads and such. And for overall communication, information is instantly available (some say too much so) and it has given people greater access to like-minded folks regardless of geography (for a great read on the role of technology, check out Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky). I personally think that’s awesome.
I can share pictures of Archie, discuss the coolest iPad app, and answer questions about Health Tracking all in one breath.
That works for me…but its overall meaning and impact are bigger than I think we realize; our lives are less and less divided into work, play, home, etc., and are becoming an amalgamation of all of those dimensions using social media mechanisms like Twitter and Facebook.
Some think it is the end of the world. Others will be tweeting away during the apocalypse…like me. 
Allison
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: Archie, Awesome, Cool Things, iPad, Technology, Therap Customers | 
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The Coolest iPad Apps
There are a lot of dead cool applications out there for your iPad. Some are very useful, productive and noteworthy. Some are just cool vampire-killing or molecular bouncing or definition-defying fun (Uzu).
Here are my favorite so far:
1. Instapaper allows you to mark blogs, articles, and anything you want to read later and syncs it on your Mac and iPad…it is like a newsreader but better.
2. Kindle for iPad lets me read books I purchased for my Kindle from Amazon right on my iPad (or Android, Blackberry, or iPhone). Given that the Kindle is getting pounded by iPad, they are working hard at becoming the best ebook seller with the most usable platform. And it may be working.
3. New York Times Editors’ Choice selects their noteworthy articles (including great pictures) and sends them to you daily. For free. ‘Nuff said.
4. Pulse News Reader lets me follow my favorite news suppliers and displays them with a great graphic interface that makes it easy to sort and browse. Much nicer than a simple newsfeed.
5. Speaking of news, the NPR application is equally awesome for those NPR nerds among us.
6. Pages, Apple’s version of MS Word, which was customized to work with iPad allows me to create documents, PDFs and such very easily. Handier with the Bluetooth keyboard, however, as the on-screen keyboard is not ideal for lengthy writing sessions.
7. Draft by 37 Signals is a simple application that allows me sketch and doodle out ideas. This also allows you to email the sketches and dump them into Campfire. Very nice.
8. Dropbox is a storage solution that creates a local folder on your PC or Mac that syncs to an online account, making your material accessible from anywhere–including your iPad if you left your laptop behind.
9. Guardian Eyewitness brings you daily photos from around the world. Some of which are truly breathtaking.
10. Brushes lets you sketch, draw, paint and work with photos on your iPad. For the artist in you, this is a great application…
Allison