RIM vs. Apple: RIM Wins in THIS Are

I sell a product that is used primarily on cell phones, and making a demo video showing it being used is just logical. On RIM, there are tons of free apps that allow this to be done. On the iPhone, one must jailbreak the phone and then use a Cydia app.

I am somewhat surprised that Apple doesn't make this process easier.

Thank You, Dentist

I went to visit my dentist today to have a tooth "filled".

However, this was in all actuality the trip to fill in a tooth chip that I got several years ago. The original filling fell off at some point in the last six months. However, when I got the dentist he informed me that filling the area would require him to take off more tooth than the feeling would protect! So, after conferring with him, I left.

Thank you Mr. Dentist.

Husbanding

If I can end the day with my wife knowing that I love her, then despite what may have happened at work, or whatever other kinks may have happened in the day - that is a good day.

Things Are Settling Down Nicely

Sarah and I had a laid back, fun weekend.

We had a blast listening to whatever we wanted on Spotify. The free version of Spotify meets our needs for now (and makes them money, apparently, via advertising). The library is truly impressive. The only music I couldn't find were obscure Vineyard Winds of Worship albums. But who knows - I may have simply been searching incorrectly. I was even able to find Christ for the Nations albums on Spotify. If I ever make more time to listen to music, or resume a heavier traveling schedule, I think that I will spend the money on Spotify for a premium account.

I tried out several contract apps. I can take customer order signatures directly on my iPad for contracts now. There is a cost to doing this that will limit how often I do so; the contract app wants to charge 1.99 per contract. That isn't a big cost, but if I was ever in a scenario in which timing did not matter, I would not use it. 1.99 per contract is significantly cheaper than overnighting a contract. The quality of the document will be much better than it would with a FAX. I personally hate faxing.

Saturday, I went to the Gunshow in Memphis at the agricenter. While walking in, I was treated to what was perhaps the best signage I have seen in my life. Let me qualify that. By best, I mean most amusing. I will let the sign speak for itself.

As you can see, it starts out with a gun and knife show and lightens up with Kids Town and a Foam Party before coming out strong with Amber's Fight for Life Wrestling Event (I hope the wrestling even raised a lot of money. I'm sure it did, the name is very attention getting).

In many areas of the country, having these events together would have made the news. I'm glad that in this respect Memphis is sane.

One of my friends ended up buying a nice Ruger Super Blackhawk. I've never shot one. One day I want a big bore single action hunting pistol, but I have no way to justify that now.

Church was nice on Sunday. Sarah played in a string quartet and the music was wonderful. The quartet had piano and organ accompaniment. It was very peaceful and soothing. The choir did an nice job as well.

After church, Sarah made a great chicken salad which we had on sandwiches.

We recently read through Hebrews, and are now going back through it with a commentary. We will use several commentaries as we approach the book. I've always been fascinated with Hebrews.

My Wishlist for IOS

I am pretty excited for iOS 5. The state of the smartphone and tablet world in general pleases me and things will only get better. I have a wish list, and since I'm not a developer, I don't know which of my wishes I will get!

1. Ability to create new albums on each device. Even blackberries allow a person to create a new folder! iOS limits you to dumping each picture in the same folder. That stinks - let me organize them ON my device!

2. Profiles (for iPads). I'm not talking about two logins, but something more like driver memory as found in luxury cars. If a car with this feature has two drivers,each can program their seat preference. iPad profiles could include browser favorites, icon/folder locations, push/location preferences... And be synced with the cloud.

3. Better video. I have been on several networks (Sonic Wall and Watchfuard) that allow YouTube playback on PCs but struggle with iOS devices. The H.264 standard is great, and not an apple standard, but apple needs to push better adoption practices. Too many companies have issues with standard firewall settings, video, and iOS.

4. Buy Nuance. Seriously apple, buy Nuance. Reap the benefit of their voice technology. Beat Android on this key mobile interface issue.

5. Better calendar alert options. When I make a calendar appointment in Microsoft exchange and sync it to my iPhone, I have far more options regarding the alerts. I can specify that I receive notifications 1 min., 3 min., 17 min., 42 min., or 984 days prior to a calendar event occurring. But this level of flexibility is not available when I input calendar appointments directly into my iPhone. Instead, I have canned options that I can scroll through available to me. For some people, the ability to scroll through these options is amazing. For customers like me who heavily utilized their calendar, there should be the option to allow direct text and put in this field.