Another week has passed and the events continue.
Our youngest son returned to his home in Copenhagen last Saturday after a great one month visit. As well, a friend returned home to Powell River who had been boarding with us since January while going to school at UBC. It is always an adjustment in a home when the total inhabitants decrease by 50%. Our oldest son and daughter are here for a visit for the next 2 weeks and after that we are home alone again. At least I won’t have to watch or hear the PS3 with Grand Theft Auto blaring away. That is another story.
The iPhone is working out very well. The phone has been dropping calls once in a while out here in the Valley but in Burnaby-Vancouver there hasn’t been any problems. The ability to have one device deliver all of the applications you connect with is really unbelievable. All of us at work have now had iPhones for a month and the glitter still has not worn off. There is only one minor issue, the inability to have your SMS mesages use ringtones instead of the stock alarm sounds. The best and most used downloaded programs for me would be:
• Evernote – Great synching with your Mac desktop.
• Comic Touch – Just add some humour because who doesn’t need it.
• Exposure – decent Flickr app.
• Jott – very usable app with the notes feature.
• BoxOffice – never have to look for a newspaper to see what movies are playing.
• Stanza – the best book reader. Great classics for free.
• Shazam – I finally know the names of some songs after hearing them for years.
• Facebook – a very decent interface.
And the two best!
• Twitteriffic – much better than any other Twitter client.
• OmniFocus – the absolute best program for to dos, projects, etc. Done in the GTD style with synching to your desktop.
As it turns out there are 10. There are a few more that are useful at times and of course the web sites that have a great iPhone interface.
I have started planning for the two presentations I am doing next month. It is always amazing when you start thinking about what you will say, how you will present it, thinking that there ins’t enough material. Then you get started and you have to hack it back because there is too much material. You could probably spend an infinite amount of time always tweaking the end result. One talk will be at Forum Solutions Partnership Symposium in Indiana. The other is at the CUCC 2008 National Lending Conference in St. John’s Newfoundland. After looking at all the other speakers I feel like a lightweight in a heavyweight division.
I have just started a book by Susan Jacoby “The Age of American Unreason”. In it she analyses of the intellectual condition of the US. She does not pull any punches. It has some great writing with inventive and sharp cynical humour. Rationalism at its best.
Have a great weekend everyone! The dog days of summer are upon us.
Tinfoiling 
I look forward to your presentation in Indiana!
Have been following your blog for the CU/FI insights…
Had to comment today on your iPhone programs list…for all of the efficiencies I have gained with this blessed device, the best program for me has been one on your list – Shazam.
I can’t even begin to get my mind around how it actually works but I am constantly astounded at its flawless ability to find those song/band names stuck on the tip of my tongue (or buried deeper).