This is a killer deal for some killer apps, and it’s probably right up the alley for most shawnblanc.net readers. I’m buying it to finally get Keyboard Maestro and PathFinder. If you pick up the bundle with this link I’ll even get a couple bucks as a kick back.
Standing at My Desk
The IKEA Galant desk that I’ve been using for so many years has height-adjustable legs. And so I thought this week I would try standing at my desk. There are more and more studies coming out about the negative physical effects of sitting for hours and hours every day and I want to keep healthy.
Yesterday afternoon I raised the height from 27.75 inches to 38.5 inches:
I worked here for about 2 hours last night doing my weekly housekeeping bills and email scrub. This morning I’ve been here for a little over 3 hours now. They say the first 2 – 3 days are the most difficult, and then you fall in love with it. So I guess we’ll see.
The thing I was most worried about was typing. But the change in height doesn’t effect the use of my hands on the keyboard or at all. I thought that it would be less comfortable to type and use my computer, but there is no change.
The change is all in the legs and waist at this point. But it’s a good change. Instead of feeling sore from poor circulation I feel tired from standing.
I guess we’ll see how it goes, but I’m anticipating this will end up being a permanent move. (If anything, it will be nice to end my day a little bit tired from standing all day.)
And here’s what the desk looked like before I raised it (I took this shot in the middle of cleaning off the desk, so my computer and what not were not there):
Super Stickman Golf for iPad →
Speaking of word-of-mouth app purchases, I picked up this golf game via Marco Arment’s recommendation and it’s a blast.
Brett Terpstra’s Cheat Sheet for App Store Pricing →
Brett Terpstra gives some semi-serious / semi-lighthearted suggestions for pricing your app in the App Store.
App pricing (and reviews and ratings) are important for those looking to buy your app who’ve never heard of it before. But I for one rarely buy an app I haven’t heard of. When I buy an app it is usually because someone told me about it.
The times I do buy an app that was previously unknown to me, it’s because I’m on a mission for a particular type of app. And when that’s the case, I usually gravitate to the apps that seem to be the right balance of 5-star reviews and slightly more expensive than the rest of their peers. But really what I look for in an app I’ve never bought is the design: does it look like an app that I’ll enjoy using, or does it look like I’ll shudder every time I open it?
But I can’t remember the last time I just perused the app store and bought something on a whim, regardless of if it was a utility app or a game.
Video of Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Launch into Outer Space →
Incredible.
There’s more info on the shuttle and the mission here on NASA’s website, including this video of Endeavour separating from its external fuel tank.
An App-propriate Price →
J. Eddie Smith regarding the $20 price tag of OmniOutliner for iPad:
It might sound weird coming from a non-seller of apps, but I like seeing higher prices in the App Store. If the market will support higher prices, that’s a really good sign that the App Store is becoming a quality marketplace, not just a snack machine.
I use both free and paid apps that are probably worth hundreds of dollars to me based on what they do for me. Value is worth paying for, and the more profit potential the App Store offers, the better development we’ll see in it.
The Omni Group is helping to raise the perception of app value, and I applaud them for it. If you want apps that are free or cost less than a pack of Juicy Fruit, then you should probably check out another mobile platform. But then again, you won’t find apps like OmniOutliner there.
I couldn’t agree more. For example, the $40 OmniFocus iPad app is, in my opinion, the best of the three-app suite. The Omni Group is not just using the iPad to make apps which act as windows into your documents, their iPad apps are, in some ways, their best apps.
“The Omni Group Just ‘Gets’ the iPad” →
David Sparks’ fine review of OmniOutliner for the iPad:
OmniOutliner is not a simple port of the Mac OS X app. Instead, it is a ground up, outlining application built around the iPad’s strengths (and weaknesses).
[Sponsor] CalendarBar for Mac: What’s next in your day? →
CalendarBar is a unique way to keep track of your events. It shows a list of upcoming events and tasks in your menubar where it’s easy to access from any application. CalendarBar supports Facebook, iCal, and Google Calendar so you can keep track of all your events with ease.
The Three Reasons I Use OmniFocus
- Over-the-air sync
- Forecast view on the iPad
- Review function on the iPad
No other to-do list app does all 3 of these things as well as OmniFocus does.
ICONGOODS →
Many thanks to ICONGOODS for sponsoring the feed this week. These guys have some new “softwear apparel” t-shirts that look great. The shirts feature the well-designed and minimal Glyphish icons by Joseph Wain — I especially like “Joe“.
And if you use the discount code “SHAWNBLANC” at checkout you’ll get an additional 20% off.
“Never Punch Someone in the Forehead” →
Episode 11 of The B&B Podcast. Ben and I talk about fighting and cloud-synced music.
Indie Devs Threatened by Lodsys Over In-App Purchases →
Darrell Etherington at GigaOM:
The threats accuse devs of patent infringement regarding Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism, but the patent holder appears to be targeting independent developers individually instead of going after Apple itself.
Hopefully Apple steps up to help their 3rd-party developers. In the meantime, as Marco suggests, the rest of us can buy pCalc to help James Thomson out.
Home in Capital Letters →
Joe Posnanski is one of the best sports writers in America. He moved to Kansas City in 1996 to write for The Star. Now Joe writes for Sports Illustrated and is moving back to North Carolina with his family. This post talking about his past 15 years is just the sort of writing that I most enjoy by Joe: full of humor and stories.
Twitter for Mac 2.1 →
Username autocomplete, the ability to “clone” a view into its own window, and other things. Federico Viticci has all the details.