Music Player (Remix)

In addition to Uberkernal and Govnah (for turning up CPU speed) there is another great reason to Homebrew. Music Player (Remix).

Stronger Than Ever

I love HomeBrew!!

Palmed On

The new multi-billion-dollar Canada Line (built for the Olympics) was built with full 3G (or 4G) coverage, so you never lose  your signal in the tunnels, in fact it may be the best coverage in town.

\l It looks the close relationship I have with my Pre is safe and secure. I was a little concerned that it might be relagated to second fiddle, but I think at this point I can see how things are going to shape up.

I have grown too fond of mobile writing and blogging. It seems like I do some of my most productive writing while on Transit or just walking down the sidewalk, or standing in line somewhere. I can never predict when inspiration will strike. I have found it to be pointless to wait until later to write. I need to go with the flow when the going is good.

My laptop is not nearly as portable - or as immediately accessible - as my Pre. And the unlimited data plan on my Pre sure is nice. I have a 3G Rocket stick from Rogers on my laptop with tighly monitored (and billed) data usage so I need to do as much on my phone as I can.

What I think is going to happen is that my laptop is actually going to play second fiddle to my phone! I love the twenty-first century. This second decade is going to be amazing as humanity really becomes connected and the rest of the planet joins the Information Age. I plan to be there for all of it - don't miss a thing!

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube mashups

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Paid Deletion

I am going to be deleting some paid apps. I think I may have deleted a couple cheap games, but nothing else that I paid for. 

I have two apps in mind. And they are both good apps. I think I paid $5 & $3 for them. But I don't need or use them any more. Scratch and ClassicNote were both good apps for writing with, and I'be  blogged with both apps. 

But Notes is just so much better, for myself at least. I now use notes exclusively for nearly all my writing. I even compose my emails on it. I also write up my lengthier facebook posts (of which I have many) as well as posts I make to various online articles and essay. Same with forums. I find it too difficult to make longer posts in those little boxes. So I just paste them in after I've written them up in Notes.

I am hard pressed to say just what it is that makes Notes better. A lof it is "feel". Notes feels better. It's just more pleasant to use. And the updates seem to be weekly. The only things I wish it could do is edit my blogspot posts, but I think I need a real computer for that.

I have been doing lots of writing lately, which means this app is getting lots of use. It just may be my most used app right now. It's a close race between Notes, GrooveShark and the default music player for what get's the most use.

It will be interesting to see how my Pre's role in my will change now that I have a laptop. It is currently not connected so it's impact has really begun. I have come to realize that an unconnected computer is next to useless. I need to figure out how sync a laptop that isn't on the cloud with my Pre, then I will be good. I am seriously considering a rocket stick. I hear that the data usage can be pretty expensive if you're not careful. We'll see what happens, but I don't think I really want to have to go for coffee everytime I need to get online.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube mashups

-- Sent from my palm Pre

A kick in the Lap

My priorities seem to have been in flux lately. The main reason I had thought to make this blog my top priority was because I thought it would be the easiest to write for. It turns out I had a bit more inspiration than I thought and just haven't had a lot left for here. What has really eaten up my time and attention is the new laptop I just picked up. I have no internet yet either, which is delaying the integration process considerably. Been working allot as well.

I will probably take a few weeks to re-establish a little more discipline in my routine and find a new rhythm that works for me. I acquired the laptop to allow me to write and communicate more effectively. It is my intention that the end result will be even greater ease and ability to express my self.

Despite all that, the other really significant reason for getting my own computer was so I can finally homebrew my phone. I will write all about that. Lots of apps to discuss as well. I will be more active here soon enough.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube mashups

-- Sent from my palm Pre

FaceBook on my Pre (14 Sep 2010)

FaceBook seems to have taken over my phone. I have no idea how it happened. Only that it did. At least I am having fun and meeting really interesting people. And some of the discussions are quite substantial. 

The experience can be a little hampered by the phone itself (or by webOS). For the most part I do like the FB app, but it does have a few short-comings. I can't like individual comments (just the original post). There are lots of pages that won't load in the app, so it will fire up the browser. It will often not show all my notifications, but it is not as bad for this as the mobile browser. Notifications in the mobile browser is terrible, with way too many not being listed. For example, the only way I can even see the palm discussion that Rahul Sood is a part of is on the full browser. And loading the full browser is difficult. Even when I am able to get it open it will often reload as the mobile. Frustrating for sure.

The app is the most responsive, except when it loads the browser. I have on a few occasions been able to use FB chat, but only from the full version, since it is not supported in the app or on mobile. 

I am really getting to rely upon FaceBook throughout the day. I look forward to seeing it work better under 2.0. In the mean time I try a little harder to get on a real computer every day just to maximize my FB experience. I hope to not always have to. I will probably have a new computer before then...

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com - my personal blog
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/ - webOS & Palm
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/ - youtube mashups

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Less is More

I am regularly surprized by how many apps I have. And by how many of them I have never (or nearly never) used. And the many that I have used but still haven't really figured out. The craziest part is that I have already deleted every app that I am willing to. I do so at least every week or so. At the moment I actually believe every app on my phone is useful.

Or it is one app in a niche I haven't fully flushed out yet for myself. Even for documents I am still not completely settled. I am feeling pretty satisfied and comfortable with Notes, but I will not be deleting Scratch or ClassicNotes any time soon. The fact that all are paid apps may provide some protection from deletion. If space does become a premium it is nice to know I can reinstall them any time should I decide to erase them.

There are two areas right now where I need to perhaps trim some fat. I have too many list apps and too many money (financial/bills apps).

Daily and ShopList serve similar functions, but have different functions for me. Daily I actually try and use every day. It's main purpose for me is to help me discipline myself on a daily basis. Shoplist I don't use every day, but I do use it regularly as more of a custom Agenda for special days or as a simple breakdown of more complex tasks. I use TrackMyWork to track my blogging, martial arts training and my work. MyLists and Checklists are quite similar. I think I prefer Checklists and may very well uograde to the paid and delete Checklists. We'll see.

For finances it is my hope that Dough will allow me to delete the other two apps. I have been using cashbox, but often forget to use it. Financial apps seem to work best when I actually use them consistently. When I am broke it is easier to stay disciplined.

I still don't get twitter, but I sm learning and I think I will purchase Bad Kitty soon. In the mean time I will figure things out first on the free twitter apps. I am still new to the various social media apps. I've only been on FaceBook a few months after all.

I am still not comfortable with the gps-based apps. Mainly because I am not very confident in that area of my Pre's performance. Google Maps just isn't that impressive, and I guess I judge other apps by the same standard. So I have Yelp and Foursquare but haven't really used them (yet). But I mean to, one of these days.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/
(604) 753-8108
-- Sent from my palm Pre

Mobile Docs (8 Sep 2010)

It took me awhile to realize I could so much more than I had been on my pre. After using my email app and gmail to transfer docs to the cloud (Google Docs) and back for a few weeks I decided to look around a bit in the app cayalogue and see if there might be a better solution.

Until now I had been mostly snagging games and maybe a few other minor apps like flashlights chronometers. But I had started getting more interested in what I might stumble across in there.

My first real discovery was Evernote. It had an app on my phone, and a page on any browser I might access. It allowed me to work on the same document from a desktop or my phone. Which was a step in the right direction. It just really do what I needed the way I wanted. I didn't like writing within the app or on the desktop so really I just used it as a conduit between me and the cloud. But actually doing all the work in other apps. It looks like it was a good thing I moved on since Evernote's developer has decided to abandon webOS.

I tried out a few other apps, but none had decent syncing with google docs or had a decent editor. That finally changed when I purchased the Scratch Word Processor. It syncs with Google Docs better than anything else I've seen on webOS. You can actually import or export to any folder in gdocs. And the editor is decent, as good as anything else out there.

For some reason it hasn't quite grown on me the way I would have thought. If I had known from the start how well it integrates with gDocs I would have been more enthusiastic about it. I just can't seem to put my finger on what about this app turned me off. I was never fully satisfied so I kept looking and stumbled onto ClassicNotes which felt more comfortable for some unknown reason. It doesn't sync as well but it just seemed a more pleasant experience. 

For the past week now I have been using Notes pretty much exlusively, and I am really liking it. These two buttons at the bottom are annoying but I still like it allot. I am thinking that next I will get poster and then I wll have my final blogging solution all figured out.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com
http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/
http://ferenczymu.blogspot.com/
(604) 753-8108
-- Sent from my palm Pre

New Software Updates

I have noticed some new features have appeared in my phone, in mutiple apps. Or two at least. I know I updated Notes today, and the upload menus are new as of today. I've been using notes quite a bit so I would know. Most of my blogging is done on Notes.

I wonder what other apps have seen this kind of upgrade.

http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com/

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Map Envy

Coming back on the B-Line from UBC last night I watched guy with an iPhone4 fire up his Google Maps app and was I ever jealous. I fired right up immediately. The best description would be to say it "snapped into place." it was also very responsive as he moved arond on the map. That is the way it should run. I hear that on a Pre Plus with a little homebrew it does run like that. 

My computer at work won't allow me to install anything. Lot's of computers at UBC that I now have access to. Hopefully I will be able to finally start brewing my phone. I sure hope so. If not I will go to a cafe. My phone has been getting sluggish, and all the best fixes need Preware. Soon enough...

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Rahul Sood post on FB (8 Sep 2010)

I was trolling around for interesting webOS tidbits when I found this discussion board mentioned in the guest article on the Official Palm Blog by Rahul Sood.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=15251&uid=32915930478

An hour or so ago he added a really nice response to some of the commets left by the webOS community. I especially liked where he said:

"BTW, I am currently using webOS 2.0 on a daily basis, I'm very bullish about it ----  
Roland, Fritz, Guilaume.... I'm sorry you've been disappointed with webOS, but I'd like to offer a counterpoint. I had a partner meeting today with a major hardware vendor from the valley. One of the guys sitting across the table was talking about the benefits of Android and wondered why we didn't release an Android phone... I was like "Are you kidding me??" - then I showed him my device, shared with him the cards, multitasking, and I offered a general use case scenario using the calender, email, phone, and a game for fun..by the end of a 5 minute demo he was sold. He now gets why HP PSG is investing massive resources into Palm and webOS. "

Go over to the Palm FaceBook page to see the entire post.

http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Documents on my Phone

It seems that every week I am writing more and more. Not only am I doing more writing overall, but I am doing a larger portion of it from my phone. I started back into writing at around the same time as I acquired my Pre. It took me a couple of months though to realize just how much I can do on this device.

When I (re)started my first blog (I had started it a couple years ago but had neglected it for the past year or so) I did all my writing at the library. I started doing email on my Pre right away, but not blogging. This was mainly due to the nature of the essays I was writing. I would do a fair bit of research which meant lots of cut and paste (especially the dictionary definitions and quotes) which even today with what I've learned and the apps I've acquired it is still too much hassle to want to do on the phone very often. I also used to put allot of links into my essays, links with separate mouse-over text, and where words in the essay were hyperlinked. I still have yet to figure out how to build those kinds of links in my essays from my phone. 

Google docs has long been my primary resource for writing. Since I haven't had my own computer for a few years now, I definitely needed a cloud-based solution. No matter where I was when I logged in, I could always access my work. I have really grown to love the resources available through my google account. It's a good thing Android was still so unstable back in April or I would never have stumbled upon webOS (seeing as how I loved all things Google).

After a month or two of extensive email correspondence through my phone, it started to occur to me that I could write more than just emali on this thing. At first I just needed a way to take my rough notes from my Pre and get them on a real computer where I could polish them up and then upload them into Blogspot. I also wanted a way to take some of my rough essays from Google Docs and edit or add to them on my phone. Knowing I could write on my phone any time I wanted was quite liberating. Not that I immediately took advantage of this newfound freedom as fully as I could have, but I'm getting into the swing of things now...

My first solution was to keep using what was already working. Which was the email app on my phone, and Google Docs on browsers. I would copy the document I wanted to work on from Docs into my Drafts folder in gmail. I would do this by selecting and copying the text to the clipboard and then pasting it into a new email, and then saving that email in Drafts. Or vice versa for transferring an essay out of my phone into Docs for polishing and publishing.

At this point it also occurred to me that perhaps this entire process could be made easier by something in the app catalogue. Which is when I finally started to learn what a smartphone is all about, especially one running webOS....

... to be continued

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com
(604) 753-8108
-- Sent from my palm Pre

I really need a Brew

I am becoming an App Junkie. In the past two weeks I must have bought a dozen apps. And tried out at least half that many free apps. It is too early for me to review any of them, but I will eventually. 

I've been going through the "my apps" page (the little cart button on the bottom right) from the app catalogue and posting short reviews for the apps I have straight into the catalogue. From now on I will do that before I remove apps as well. I've deleted a few dozen apps by now. Either because I found something better or I upgraded to a paid version.

I finally decided that I am going to give my Pre the full homebrew treatment. But I can't because I am unable to instal software on the iMac at work. I know a cafe where I will be able to. I really want to overclock my phone. And I want the thread killer - the app that tracks hidden processes and shuts them down. I think a few of my newer apps are still running in the background half the time, bogging everything down. I may buy a laptop just so I can HomeBrew my phone! 

Here are some of the paid apps I have picked up in the past ten days or so.
Galcon
Angry Birds
Hockey Nations 2010
Crusade of Destiny
ExZeus arcade
SuperKO Boxing2
FamilyGuy Uncensored
Buka
Everlands
Minefield
Galactic Beacon Vol1
Notes
Workout Tracker
TrackMyWork
Dough 

Free apps recently installed:
UberAppCat
Raging Thunder
Rednecks vs Aliens
TileStorm Lite
KeepScore Free

I've probably missed a  couple. I don't really see myself maintaining this  pace for the next while, but then I guess that depends on what PDK surprises appear in the catalogue. Once 2.0 hits the scene then I expect some really cool new stuff.

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com
(604) 753-8108
-- Sent from my palm Pre

Top Fives (6 Sep 2010)

With the app scene really picking up lately - especially the new PDK stuff - I thought I would update my top app lists. It goes without saying that I intentionally do not include the default apps, which see allot of use on my phone. Each list is in order 1 to 5. 

Most used:
GrooveShark
Facebook
pReader
AccuRadio
AccuWeather

Most useful
Scratch
P2Snippets
Shoplists
OutlineTracker
YellowPages.ca

Games
Galcon
Ex Zeus
Angry Birds
Buka
Hockey Nations 2010

Specialized website apps.
PreCentral (unofficial)
webOS roundup
CBC
Flixter
engadget

I had originally had the PreCentral and webOS roundup apps on the first list but moved them to website apps to  avoid duplication. But they see quite a bit of extensive daily use and used more than almost every other app.

http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com

-- Sent from my palm Pre

Settlers Review

This is the best RTS game on webOS. It is also the only RTS game. It's RTS combat elements are pretty weak. The best part of this game is building up your infrastructure. This is more simSettlers than it is about fighting. You have almost no control over your troops. You can tell them where to hang around, or set up patrols, but that's about it. No formations, no way to group select (other than everyone). Once contact is made they will generally fight until one side is exterminated. The game can be difficult and some levels take hours. I forget what level I am on but I have given up. I have 600 soldiers and after defeating the mayans I get rushed by nearly 1000 vikings. I will probably remove the game one of these days. I definitely did get my money's worth and enjoyed many hours of fun. 

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com
(604) 753-8108
-- Sent from my palm Pre

[Scratch]: Grooveshark

Grooveshark

I really love Grooveshark. It has become my primary source of music. I not only run the app on my phone, I also use it in a browser on the computer work. Which I share with my coworkers. Because of GS I was able to remoove nearly half the songs from my phone freeiing up a few gigs of space for more apps - i was nearly out of space before finding this awesome app. 

I tried it out for free first, but after the first 50 songs (i think it is 50) it stops working. I was already sold though so I immediately bought myself a VIP account for $3 a month. Which gives me immediate, on-demand access to (as far as I can tell so far) pretty much any and every song I could possibly want to listen to. I have not yet been stumped. I end up supplying the music at allot of friends houses when they find out that I have that song they've been dying to hear for the last few years.

The app itself runs pretty well. It will burn the battery dead quicker than playing mp3's stored on the phone, so battery life is an issue if you are streaming music on the go. I used to stream quite a bit of stuff off of youtube, but then I couldn't put my phone in a my pocket or mutli-task. Now I can do both. AccuRadio is nice, but with GrooveShark I get to stream whatever I want. It has taught me to always plug my phone in every chance I get. I really hate it when I run out of juice.

One thing I have noticed is that when running GS and the FaceBook app i have a hard time opening new cards, with the "too many cards" message being all too common. If i shut down at least one of the apps then all is good. I think it is probably the FB app that is causing the memory leak though. If I turned updates off I'd be ok, but I prefer leaving it on. I am never that far between power sources so it's not that big an issue.

Overall this is now one of my favourite and most used apps. I find it an incredible deal at $3 a month. It's much cheaper (and less hassle) than by buying cd's. And I hate iTunes. Haven't really started buying music online, and now I don't have to. I just hope Apple (or anybody else) doesn't buy them out and shut them down. 

http://ferenczyram.blogspot.com
(604) 753-8108
-- Sent from my palm Pre

AccuRadio

AccuRadio is awesome! It's basically digital radio for your phone, for free! This was the first music app that I was actually satisfied with.

The sound quality is really quite good. Load times are quite reasonable and the variety is extensive. I am never unpleasantly surprized when I explore different channels, and finding something I like is never a challenge.

The only real drawback would be that you can't choose specific songs. If you have an artist in mind that you would like to hear, you can find out which stations you are likely to hear them.

You can save stations to your favourites, and see your listening history. You can also hit the skip button anytime you feel the urge.

AccuRadio is digital radio for your phone - minus the monthly fees!

 Here is a PreFerred app I think you will like: AccuRadio

http://ferenczypre.blogspot.com

-- Sent from my palm Pre