just an asterisk

In truth, I get it. The idea is so simple: click a button, pay $100 for a year and receive your push mail, contacts, calendar, storage for your photos and files, plus a “find my iphone” application all in one handy interface to your computer. However, it forever irks me when I’m told about these services as if they are the only game in town. I mentioned my doubt to the Mac Store genius a few days ago and was told “yes but MobileMe is seemless and far less complicated”…

That sounded like a challenge to me, so I wrote out my alternative to MobileMe system.  I thought it would take longer, but it’s actually quite simple.  Here are my choices: Read more »

If you’re trying to decide between the hot new Nexus One vs. the iPhone 3Gs, here’s the skinny on what sets them apart. Both phones sport the aesthetic appeal of that sleek “wow” factor sheen, but there are a few differences you should know about which may make one a better fit for your needs than the other. Read more »

Dear reader,

In a discussion about possible posts with some colleagues, I realized that there were subjects that you might want to know that I either don’t want to or simply shouldn’t write about.  I say shouldn’t because it’s not an area of expertise or more realistically – someone has already written about it better than I ever could. This post will be a mishmash of links to sites that do what I don’t.  Hopefully, it will provide useful reading.

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There is a purity to the idea of music as the primary goal for the iPod (the phrase “it used to be about the music” always reminds me of Almost Famous and this scene above).  I’ve written about the feature craziness of the iPhone (here), but recently got an iPod Touch for Xmas, so I thought I would try an experiment.  You see, the iPod touch really has only two features – it plays music and video, like any iPod these days, AND it has a WiFi connection, a feature that leads to all sorts of mischief.  I wondered what I could get up to with only the WiFi connection.  Would the device still be useful if it were not about the music at all?

The results were entertaining.  I spent my vacation downloading apps and trying to get as much mileage out of the Touch as I could.  In fact, I’ll give you a preview of the ending: it was a lot of fun.  Let the games begin…

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I was listening to skullcrusher island (a song) today and thought I’d share.  Here is the second verse, just to give you a taste…

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don’t like it
What’s with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don’t like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn’t it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

Something about this video just appeals to my mood right now and the description of a monkey-pony makes me think of the Iphone.  I heard about it first on Mental Floss, a blog that makes a nice change for the normal techie gibberish.  Anyway, here is the video.

Enjoy!
~ab

This, my dear readers is a telephone.  It has one function – you pick up that funky looking handle on the top and hold it to your ear.  Then you grab that doohickey on the side and crank it up.  Once completed, you can speak to someone on other end.  We refer to this procedure as making a “call”.

Apart from this “call” functionality, this object is nothing more than a paper weight – or something for braining your next burglar.  My point, that is perilously close to drowning in my sarcasm, is that the object has one function.  It’s a telephone.  That’s what it does and even in 1896, it did it pretty well (although Rikstelefon is no longer in business in Sweden).

A few days ago, a friend of mine was complaining that his GPS running application on his Iphone didn’t work perfectly – he wasn’t getting absolutely accurate readings while jogging… (cough) His phone was not giving him accurate GPS readings while jogging? This wasn’t even a complaint about the GPS while calling.

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I admit, I’m a strong proponent of pirate press releases.  We’ve made a little upgrade to the Just an Asterisk.  From this point forward, Iphone, Ipod Touch and Blackberry touch-screen users will see a new page designed for their diminutive browsers (in a good way).

It’s just another way for us to show you how much we love you. See the glorious pictures below.

Thanks for reading!

~ab

If Just an Asterisk had an Iphone app...

So you got an iphone…(I am very jealous!). Everyone you know has a bunch of cool apps on their phone – apps for finding movies, food or parties, apps for connecting with friends, checking bank balances, or posting to blogs. The question now is simple: which apps do you choose? There are simply too many good apps out there and despite the fact that you (or someone who loves you) splurged and got the 16gb version, it’s probably not reasonable to download all the apps… (There are 10,000 + in the store now). Also, to put it as classily as possible: some of these suckers are expensive. You have some tough decisions to make, but as always, we’re here to help. What follows is a roadmap for getting yourself up and running. It is not a list of important apps – that would be out of date… now. Instead this is a resource list that will hopefully allow you to be ahead of the curve.

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