Something else to do.. - Page 2

pshrynk · 06-07-2010, 02:01 PM

IMG_0009.PNG

I hope that came up. iThoughtsHD is a "brain map" ap that helps with decision making, presentations, and writing. It is very handy once you crest th learning curve.

Edit: Crap! It didn't. Well, take my word for it, it is a nifty little app.

Maggie Leung · 06-08-2010, 12:39 AM

Question about weather apps: Is there one that's like the built-in iPhone app? I like the simplicity of flicking through a bunch of cities of my choice and checking five days' worth of weather -- just basics such as high and low and a goofy icon for rain or whatever. I use it to pack and such, so I'm not interested in barometric pressure, wind speed, etc. I've checked a few apps, but all do more than I want and aren't as quick. I'm willing to pay more for a simple one than a complex one, for my purposes.

scottjl · 06-08-2010, 12:46 AM

my personal preference is Weather HD. it is simple, has beautiful animations and only costs a buck.

HarryT · 06-08-2010, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Question about weather apps: Is there one that's like the built-in iPhone app? I like the simplicity of flicking through a bunch of cities of my choice and checking five days' worth of weather -- just basics such as high and low and a goofy icon for rain or whatever. I use it to pack and such, so I'm not interested in barometric pressure, wind speed, etc. I've checked a few apps, but all do more than I want and aren't as quick. I'm willing to pay more for a simple one than a complex one, for my purposes.

You can use "Weather Pro" in that way. In landscape orientation, it displays a city list down the right side, and you can quickly see the weather in your favourite places.

petermillard · 06-08-2010, 05:31 AM

My first vote goes to Simplenote (http://simplenoteapp.com/) - it's an app I use every day and it impresses me every time. It does exactly what it says, takes simple text-based notes, but coupled with desktop app. Notational Velocity (http://notational.net/) these notes are synced over the air between iPhone/iPad and desktop/laptop - no docking required.

Vote #2 goes to DropBox, for much the same reason. PDFs of documents etc.. go into DropBox so I have a copy of the original, and the text is pasted into Notational Velocity > Simplenote for editing if required, and that's it - almost everything I need in one place!

Still looking for an app that will let me add text boxes (e.g. dimensions) to a drawing; Pages does it, but the files it produces are pretty big to be DropBoxing over 3G. Lots of drawing/note-taking apps out there, but haven't found one I like yet, so any recs gratefully received!

Cheers, Pete

HarryT · 06-08-2010, 12:05 PM

A very nice free calculator with scientific, bitwise/logic, and statistical, modes. Works very well indeed.

scottjl · 06-08-2010, 12:07 PM

come on people.. give us a bit more than one line. one line reviews are all over the apple store.

HarryT · 06-08-2010, 12:07 PM

OK, I admit it, this App does absolutely nothing useful whatsoever, but it's great. It does exactly what the title says - it's a pocket pond, with fish, sounds of birdsong, etc. Wonderfully relaxing. Touch the screen to "splash" the water and scare away the fish! There's also a pay version which has "interactive frogs"

.

HarryT · 06-08-2010, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottjl

come on people.. give us a bit more than one line. one line reviews are all over the apple store.

As I see it, the purpose of this is to tell people which Apps are actually worth using. For example, there are lots of awful calculators in the App store; the reason I recommended this one is because it's good!

What can you say about a calculator? It does calculations. It does it well.

scottjl · 06-08-2010, 12:14 PM

how about why you chose it over a different one? what does this one have that other's don't? anything about settings? does it support rpn? there has to be a thing or two you don't like about it.. an app store link or developer web page link would be nice too.

well.. my intent for this thread was for people to share some in-depth reviews about apps so people can get a better idea about them. as i said, we've got a few threads out there already on your "top XXX" apps or "go download XXX, it's great!"

take a look at the review i posted at the beginning of the thread, or the excellent review tyche posted.

HarryT · 06-08-2010, 12:22 PM

Fair enough. Well, the reason I selected this App is because I have frequent need for a good scientific calculator. I searched for calculators in the App store - there are a lot. However, most of them are either basic 4-function calculators, business calculators, or else have a screen cluttered up with stuff which detracts from using it. TouchCalc does exactly what I want - it fills the screen, the keys are big enough such that there's no error in keying, the layout is intuitive, and it has good accuracy. It doesn't support RPN, but I've never been into RPN personally. And it's free, which is nice.

drofgnal · 06-08-2010, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

A very nice free calculator with scientific, bitwise/logic, and statistical, modes. Works very well indeed.

I like pcalc. I use the free light version. I like it better than any as it is a RPN based calculator similar to HP. It has all the basic scientific functions one needs. Once you get used to RPN you'll never go back.

Fotoman · 06-08-2010, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drofgnal

I like pcalc. I use the free light version. I like it better than any as it is a RPN based calculator similar to HP. It has all the basic scientific functions one needs. Once you get used to RPN you'll never go back.

I use PCalc Lite also and just wanted to let everyone who might be turned-off by the RPN bit, that this is optional. You can turn RPN on or off for "normal" calculator functionality.

Additionally it includes a unit converter with most common conversions and has many constants included for easy entry (Planck's, Pi, etc.) The paid version adds more constants and more unit conversions but the free, light version will suit most people.

Very nice calculator.

Maggie Leung · 06-08-2010, 11:11 PM

Thanks for the weather suggestions, Harry and Scott.

Harry, have you tried Wolfram Alpha? I tried the app, but I think the Web site is better.

HarryT · 06-09-2010, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drofgnal

I like pcalc. I use the free light version. I like it better than any as it is a RPN based calculator similar to HP. It has all the basic scientific functions one needs. Once you get used to RPN you'll never go back.

Having used HP calculators in the past, I have no desire whatsoever to go back to it

. Even HP themselves, the "champions" of RPN, eventually started providing arithmetic modes of operation in their later devices.

06-07-2010, 02:01 PM	#16
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	IMG_0009.PNG I hope that came up. iThoughtsHD is a "brain map" ap that helps with decision making, presentations, and writing. It is very handy once you crest th learning curve. Edit: Crap! It didn't. Well, take my word for it, it is a nifty little app. Last edited by pshrynk; 06-07-2010 at 02:03 PM.

06-08-2010, 12:05 PM	#21
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	TouchCalc (Free) A very nice free calculator with scientific, bitwise/logic, and statistical, modes. Works very well indeed. Attached Thumbnails

06-08-2010, 12:07 PM	#23
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Pocket Pond (Free) OK, I admit it, this App does absolutely nothing useful whatsoever, but it's great. It does exactly what the title says - it's a pocket pond, with fish, sounds of birdsong, etc. Wonderfully relaxing. Touch the screen to "splash" the water and scare away the fish! There's also a pay version which has "interactive frogs" . Attached Thumbnails

06-08-2010, 12:39 AM	#17
Maggie Leung Wizard Posts: 1,449 Karma: 58383 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Kindle, iPad	Question about weather apps: Is there one that's like the built-in iPhone app? I like the simplicity of flicking through a bunch of cities of my choice and checking five days' worth of weather -- just basics such as high and low and a goofy icon for rain or whatever. I use it to pack and such, so I'm not interested in barometric pressure, wind speed, etc. I've checked a few apps, but all do more than I want and aren't as quick. I'm willing to pay more for a simple one than a complex one, for my purposes.

06-08-2010, 12:46 AM	#18
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	my personal preference is Weather HD. it is simple, has beautiful animations and only costs a buck.

06-08-2010, 05:31 AM	#20
petermillard Evangelist Posts: 496 Karma: 2384998 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London, UK Device: iPad, iPhone, K3 & Amazon - between them they cover my needs.	My first vote goes to Simplenote (http://simplenoteapp.com/) - it's an app I use every day and it impresses me every time. It does exactly what it says, takes simple text-based notes, but coupled with desktop app. Notational Velocity (http://notational.net/) these notes are synced over the air between iPhone/iPad and desktop/laptop - no docking required. Vote #2 goes to DropBox, for much the same reason. PDFs of documents etc.. go into DropBox so I have a copy of the original, and the text is pasted into Notational Velocity > Simplenote for editing if required, and that's it - almost everything I need in one place! Still looking for an app that will let me add text boxes (e.g. dimensions) to a drawing; Pages does it, but the files it produces are pretty big to be DropBoxing over 3G. Lots of drawing/note-taking apps out there, but haven't found one I like yet, so any recs gratefully received! Cheers, Pete

06-08-2010, 12:14 PM	#25
scottjl Reader of Books Posts: 1,632 Karma: 2697 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: none	how about why you chose it over a different one? what does this one have that other's don't? anything about settings? does it support rpn? there has to be a thing or two you don't like about it.. an app store link or developer web page link would be nice too. well.. my intent for this thread was for people to share some in-depth reviews about apps so people can get a better idea about them. as i said, we've got a few threads out there already on your "top XXX" apps or "go download XXX, it's great!" take a look at the review i posted at the beginning of the thread, or the excellent review tyche posted.

06-08-2010, 12:22 PM	#26
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,556 Karma: 93980341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Fair enough. Well, the reason I selected this App is because I have frequent need for a good scientific calculator. I searched for calculators in the App store - there are a lot. However, most of them are either basic 4-function calculators, business calculators, or else have a screen cluttered up with stuff which detracts from using it. TouchCalc does exactly what I want - it fills the screen, the keys are big enough such that there's no error in keying, the layout is intuitive, and it has good accuracy. It doesn't support RPN, but I've never been into RPN personally. And it's free, which is nice.

06-08-2010, 11:11 PM	#29
Maggie Leung Wizard Posts: 1,449 Karma: 58383 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Kindle, iPad	Thanks for the weather suggestions, Harry and Scott. Harry, have you tried Wolfram Alpha? I tried the app, but I think the Web site is better.