iPhone Springboard

Below, you’ll find my list of apps I like and at the bottom are the also-rans.

All are free except Things and 1Password (which is dually noted below). I jailbroke the phone, so the hierarchy below are the categories (i.e. folders) I set up using the Categories app.

I jailbroke the phone. In addition to Categories, jailbreaking the phone let me change the way Springboard looks. I’ve also added an extra icon to my Dock. All handy. I used QuickPwn and had to give it three tries before I had the right firmware and finger timing to reset the iPhone. Third time was the charm.

dock - with 5 icons because I’ve jailbroken the phone

• Phone (default)
• Text (default)
• Things ($10 iPhone app that works with the $30 alpha-quality desktop app) - GTD todo list. Omnifocus is probably more mature. It’s more complicated. The Things folks plan to release a new mature version for MacWorld this winter. We’ll see how it compares at that point.
• Google - voice-powered search rules. Also: access to the whole Google suite.
• vlingo - voice-powered dialer.

frontpage - frequent use or best-of-breed apps. I only categorize them below (using the Jailbreak Categorize app) if I can stand the wait time while Categories loads a folder.

• 1Password (free with payware desktop app) - keep track of your passwords and account numbers. Much better than the freeware KeepassX.
• Calendar (default) - loses the date on the icon if you Categorize it.
• Earthcomber - location-aware everything searcher (bars, events, routing, restaurants; everything)
• Maps (default)
• SteadyCam - takes clearer pictures than the default Camera app
• Yelp - my preference of the location-aware restaurant apps

apps

• Facebook - solid frontend to the website
• Flashlight - though I hear the jailbroken one is better.
• Google Earth - I never use it, but it’s pretty slick.
• GPS - lists current GPS info
• GPS Tracker - tracks and displays travel route
• Perpetuum - slickly displays moon and sun phase (for equinoxes and solstices)
• ProgCalc - best free RPN calc I’ve found so far.
• TWC (The Weather Channel) - better than the default Weather app

consume - eating, drinking, driving, buying, and saving

• Amazon.com - buy or identify via Amazon.
• Citysearch - older restaurant reviews
• Drinks Free - extensive drink receipe db
• Drunk Dial - common drink recipe db
• Eventful - location-aware event listings
• Flixter - movie listings
• Mint.com - mint.com website. Mint is a simplified version of Quicken. In a few minutes, you can set all of your checking, savings, credit cards, loans, and investments. It’ll display graphs of your investments compared to baseline indexes. It’ll display your overall worth. It downloads your expenditures and automatically categories them. Very slick website. The only thing it can’t do it anything that requires moving money, like Bill Pay.
• Road Trip - track your cars mileage
• Rocket Taxi - location-aware taxi finder
• SnapTell - take a picture of a book, CD, or DVD, and it’ll automatically identify it. Slicker and faster than the Amazon.com version which uses real people to do the searching.
• Twitterific - Twitter frontend. I’d frontpage it if I posted more than once a week
• Urbanspoon - restaurant reviews

games

• Galcon Lite - real time Risk in outer space.
• Mandala - trip toy
• Romi - Rummikub
• Space Deadbeef - arcade game
• Topple - similar to Jenga

media

• Cycorder (jailbreak) - record live video
• FlyCast - streaming radio
• Media (default)
• Photos (default)
• Pick Quickr - upload pics to Flickr
• Shazam - listens and automatically identifies songs
• Stanza - download and read books
• Voicenotes - memo recorder
• What’s on - TV Guide
• WhiteNoise - plays soothing noise: waves, pink noise, etc.
• Wikipanion - clean Wikipedia frontend
• YouTube (default)
• iPod (default)

net

• Mail (default) - I actually don’t use this app much but it’s in the net folder for when I do.
• PdaNet (jailbreak) - use the iPhone as a wireless access point for your computer when your computer needs to be online but you lack a network.
• Safari (default) - loads automatically. Google’s a better frontend to web stuff and loads Safari on demand.
• Terminal (jailbreak) - another term window
• TouchTerm (jailbreak) - a term window
• VNC - control my computers from afar. I’ve tested it; it works, but I like requiring a username and a password for VNC sessions (OSX-only extension). Traditional VNC requires only a password; no username.
• fring - multi IM client. Doesn’t do facebook IM yet but still quite respectable

phone

• Contacts (default)
• Fake-a-Call - generate fake calls so you can graciously escape social engagements. “What? Oh, it’s my mom. I need to take this”
• flipContact - send contacts to other flipContact users. Cleverly uses the speaker and microphone to zmode-squawk your info to the other iphone.
• Friend import - import contact info from Facebook to Contacts/Address Book
• slyDial - call someone’s voicemail box directly, ignoring possible real communication

tools

• AppStore (default) - Apple’s app installer/updater
• AptBackup (jailbreak) - if you install anything with Cydia or Installer, get and use this. It’ll permit you to easily reinstall jailbreak apps from backup. Run this every time after you use Cydia to install/update anything.
• Backgrounds - download and install new backgrounds
• Categories (jailbreak) - drop app icons into folders. Mandatory.
• Cydia (jailbreak) - app installer for jailbroken apps
• If Found - create wallpaper that says “If found, please return to…”
• Installer (jailbreak) - like Cydia but older. Probably superfluous.
• Poof (jailbreak) - hide apps from Springboard (the default app launcher) that you never use
• Settings (default)
• Status Notifier (jailbreak) - turn reminders and notification alerts on or off
• Winterboard (jailbreak) - change Springboard looks (I like Deep and Deep HUD)

jailbreak - installed apps that don’t have icons

• Backgrounder - runs apps persistently in the background by holding down the Home button for two seconds. I don’t use this due to RAM issues.
• Cylay - track your phone if it gets lost. It can remotely delete stuff via Cylay’s website, if you find that necessary.
• Deep (Winterboard theme)
• Deep HUD (SBSettings theme)
• Five Icon Dock - self-explanatory. Might be superfluous - SBSettings may be able to do this by itself.
• MobileTerminal - I think this is the aforementioned Terminal app in net/.
• OpenSSH - install a ssh server on your iphone so you can ssh or sftp in. Awesome. Requires you to change the default passwords - don’t forget.
• SBSettings - Easily turn sshd, 3G, Bluetooth, and other services on or off by swiping across the menu bar. Can also access BigBoss prefs and Dock icons here.
• top - UNIX command that displays all running processes

Tested and discarded apps. Hello-goodbye.

• AIM - fring is better
• Alcohol Aware - attempts to provide your intoxification index. Fails.
• Alert Meteor 2 - Missile Command clone
• Amazing Maze Free
• Armado Lite
• Astro Pachinko - poor frame rate
• Bix Lite - Qix clone. Played through the demo. Didn’t want to buy the full version
• Bounce Trap Lite
• BubblePop
• CompassApp - the GPS programs handle this
• Darts - boring
• FreeContact
• iBricks Lite (Free)
• iCarousel Lite
• Lie Detector Adv (free)
• Max g force - utility displays the iphone’s gravity sensor status
• MazeFinger - played for a week. Now bored with it.
• MotionX Poker Quest Lite - poker dice. Played for two weeks.
• National Geographic: Herod’s Lost Tomb Lite - find objects game. boring
• Navizon Lite
• Parking Meter - doesn’t work when you turn off the iPhone
• Prison Breaker Lite
• Reign of Swords Free
• Remote - would be useful if I owned an AppleTV.
• SayNDial - vlingo’s better.
• The Snow Report - couldn’t figure out how to add new mountains. The ads were lame anyway.
• Songbird Remote - would be useful if I used Songbird (open source iTunes clone)
• Space Monkey - boring game
• Space Rage 3D - played for aweek
• Tap Tap Revenge - played for a week.
• Tap Defense - played for a week
• Trippin - trip toy. Mandala’s better.
• Turkey Hunt - boring game
• uSnap
• Voice Dialer - vlingo’s better
• 3Towers Lite
• 7Colors Lite - played for a week

We’re now accepting payments via Google Checkout and PayPal. Both will take your regular credit cards. In other words, you don’t need to create an account on either.

As of Nov 11, we have $740 donated. That’s enough for some of the necessities of life and a computer. Anything you can spare will help, things or cash. On the list of things, we have an alarm clock and an LCD display.

Update: Nov 12: we’re up to $880 - in only three days, wow!

Final update: Nov 17: The donation drive is done. $950 was collected. Ty now has a big gift card for Freddy’s and a shiny new computer. Thanks for all the help - you guys rock!

Instead of rushing and making more mistakes than I have to we’re going to push back the completion date as much as we need to.

Plan B for camping this year is an 18′ dome. We’ll put our tents in it which will reduce sun and dust exposure. Even with the tents in the dome, there will be a nice sheltered area in front of them for hanging out, getting dressed; that sort of thing.

While she was busy, I drilled holes through the deck and chassis for carriage bolts. After tightening everything up, I realized that I should have laid down a bead of caulk between the layers. Out came the bolts, recaulked everything, and rebolted things, too. 10 minutes with an angle grinder and the bolt excess was trimmed away. Primered and painted them.

The trailer is now ready to make its maiden voyage, out to pick up more plywood and veneer.

On one hand, I could build all the cabinets and they’d fit like a laser-cut jigsaw puzzle. On the other, I could get cabinets that mostly fit, are already built, and move on to other tasks. Oh, and cheap.

I sat down, figured out how much space is available, how big a Yeti Roughneck cooler we wanted (60 qts), and went to The ReBuilding Center to look for cabinets. The ReBuilding Center is massive. They had five long double-sided rows of cabinets. Cabinets for the kitchen, vanities for the bathroom, entertainment consoles for the living room, and 16-18 piece wall units for, um, places with a long of wall space.

I took home a matching double and single cabinet. These will be stacked on one another at the front of the trailer and used for clothing. They’re narrow enough that I can install a horizontal pole next to them which will be our closet. An elastic cord or two will hole the hanging clothes in check while we travel and sleep.

For the kitchen, we have what used to be an entertainment hutch or part of a desk. The cooler will slide sideways into the void. This cabinet is within an inch of the ideal width. (The picture is sideways but that’s to show its final orientation.)

All three cabinets? $20.