Brigada » technology

1) How do You Manage and Track your To-do list? –

brigtoday — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:59:51 +0000

Might sound like a strange question to some, but to others, you know exactly what I mean. At any one time, I have about 100 things on my list of things to do. Trying to figure out which one to do next (or which 3 to do at the same time) is a constant challenge. Being able to hide the ones that I can’t do yet, because I’m waiting on something from someone else, keeping like-things together so I can “see the forest and the trees” side by side, and knowing when deadlines come… Yikes. It scares me like the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. (And that’s a lot.) For me, for this phase of my life, I’ve settled into an app on my new iPhone called ToodleDo. They have a companion web app (so you don’t *always* have to type on those little on-screen phone keys). Learn more by using your favorite search engine to search for info on the title… or just go to…

http://www.Toodledo.com

But what are *you* using — and why? What works best? My wife swears by her paper Day-timer. Says she likes the “non-volatile memory.” :-) (She has a very good point.) How ’bout you? Just click “Comment” below and tell us your favorite pick and why. Thanks in advance.

7) How do you Remember Random Stuff? Springpad? …Evernote? –

brigtoday — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:53:59 +0000

Or maybe you just write it all down. The trouble is — how do we store all those random bits of information we learn — and how do we find that info, once we need it again, after years have passed. You know the type… the random facts about the unreached people group in Mali, the quote from the sermon last year, the list of prayer requests for Tunisia, your favorite hotel in Paris, the to-do list to help stage a prayer meeting for Libya — where do we store all this info?

First, evaluate Evernote. Maybe Evernote is a better option.

http://www.evernote.com

It promises better security, more platform options, and an offline application for your PC and/or iPhone.

But I’ll be honest: I *want* to like Springpad. See it at…

http://springpadit.com/how_it_works

I don’t know if it’s just . . . a more attractive interface, or what. Maybe it’s because their iPhone app just seems cooler. :-) Trouble is – for now, for our purposes, it seems severely limited because it doesn’t offer the option of securing a page for one person or group at a time. Note that if you use https: for log-in and for the first (secure sockets) setting, it now “sticks” in my browser… meaning that the site is finally (apparently) secure sockets. However, the chatter indicates that they hope to start offering some kind of security feature by the end of January. So let’s keep my eye on it. They have a nice iPhone app. But — until they get secure, is this an option we should snub?

4) What’s your Favorite iPhone Prayer Request App? —

brigtoday — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:56:26 +0000

I’m still tempted just to use Evernote. In this way, I have the same set of prayer requests on my iPhone, my laptop, and the web itself. By using appropriate and relevant tags, I can easily sort prayer requests by category (Church, Mission, Family, work, etc.) or status (Answered, Current, Daily, etc.). But I’m less certain about how to feature a particular set of prayer requests each day of the week or month. For example, our organization prays for a set of countries each day of the month, so that, by the time we get to the 30th or 31st, we have prayed through the whole world. On the next day, the first of the next month, we start the process all over. (By the way, in this manner, I’m happy to tell you that nobody on our team is shocked any more when someone mentions Tuvalu, Mauritius, or Vanuatu.) So, having not found an easy way to do that in Evernote (without some workarounds), I’m intrigued by using a custom app. The one on which I’ve settled for now is simply called, “Pray!” and is available in the App Store. I like it that it can be date-driven or tag-driven. Title, details, “prayer areas” (tags), and reminder (dates, which can reoccur) and — bam — your request is ready to roll. Simple, fast, convenient, and effective. With the size of our organization, for my own purposes, I really didn’t have the luxury of patching into some global network of prayer requests from countries, churches, and organizations on a broad level. I’ve got more than I can manage just with family, church and org. But maybe your life is different. Which app has become your favorite and why? Please click into a comment box at the web version of this item — and thanks in advance for giving your opinion.

8) Just for Fun: The Most Ridiculously Effective Fun iPhone App —

brigtoday — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:52:21 +0000

So I have to ask, in your opinion, what’s the most ridiculously effective iPhone app you’ve seen. Is it some scan-and-send solution? Perhaps something related to a map or location? For me, I tell you… the one that I keep coming back to … the one that seems utterly impossibly beyond a shadow of a doubt weirdly amazing, has got to be [drum roll] SoundHound. First, realize — it’s totally free. Second, keep in mind, you can *sing* to it. Third, it just *works*. So what does SoundHound do? Suppose you’re driving along in the Land Rover and some radio station suddenly plays this gorgeous rendition of a song you used to hum when you were a kid. You can’t remember the words or title though. You want to tell your spouse when you get home… but … how do you describe it? Even if it *were* on YouTube, how do you know what search terms to use?

Enter SoundHound. You just hold the iPhone up to the radio speaker, click the big button, and in 20 seconds, it’s collected enough sampling to go to work. (Granted, it relies on a connection to the SoundHound hub — so you have to be within cell range. But even if you’re not, it’ll at least log a history of your search, so when you get back to town, it’ll still dutifully go to work.) So what does it *do*? It takes the music you played and studies the chord construction, analyzes the words or melody, then somehow magically searches through all the music that has ever been written or recorded! In about 15 seconds, suddenly, all the famous “Name that Tune” experts are obsolete. I’ve used it dozens of times and — only once have I stumped it. (It was on an NPR program. The jazz pianist was covering something so unique, I don’t even think it had a name.) In every case but that one time, it has come back with the name. “Pass it on.” “There’s Something about the name.” “Yellow Submarine.” You see, it really doesn’t matter. It knows all.

So please — Match that. What’s *your* favorite amazing iPhone ability. Just click in the “Comment” box of the online version of this item. Thanks in advance for your response.

3) Best iPhone Outliner –

brigtoday — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:57:47 +0000

What’s your best or favorite outline program no the iPhone so far? I’m loving Carbonfin Outline. In the first place, their iPhone app just works. Quick, elegant, yet plenty talented. It’s got most all the right stuff — endless indenting, numbering, attaching a note to each outline entry, and more. What’s more, hit a button and your iPhone outline is now synced to a free web-based outliner (free if you’ve purchased the iPhone app, that is) — that actually works! You can import and export to several formats, including the new and popular OPML — which will let you transfer the program into lots of other outline languages. We’re also *loving* the online Checkvist.com outliner which is all but free and lets you go a step farther by attaching tags, dates, goal-owners and more — but, alas, there’s no iPhone app, per se, although Checkvist’s outliners look great when viewed using a mobile device. It was *fantastic* for doing our annual goal-setting, especially because it’s real-time unlimited multi-user. And with two-way OPML importing and exporting, you can at least take the Checkvist outline with you using Carbonfin Outliner. Check them out as a duo. It won’t set you back much — and the payout is huge.

5) Great (iPhone) Connector-app for Evernote: FastEver —

brigtoday — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:55:47 +0000

We reviewed, earlier, Evernote. Sorry if we gushed, but it’s a great app. Now, if you can believe it, you can make it even better by using “FastEver,” an app also available in the appstore. FastEver is perfect for the times that you’re trying to make an Evernote entry on the fly. If you’re trying to save crucial seconds, making an Evernote entry in an instant, FastEver will take the information for you, then update Evernote later, when you have more time. So, to send an item to Evernote, now you really don’t even need connectivity at all.

3) Is the “Best Apps for iPhone” Series Too Late? We Don’t Think so –

brigtoday — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:57:49 +0000

Over the past two editions, we’ve highlighted the best new iPhone apps for tracking your ministry miles, for a calculator, and for expenses while traveling. We’ve also highlighted a calculator and an intranet, along with a handful of news and weather apps. We’re getting lots of great comments on these apps. I’d encourage you to go back and read some of the responses. I’m convinced that our Brigada readers are some of the sharpest cross-cultural travelers on earth. One reader responded by asking, “Isn’t this series about 5 years behind the eightball?” We replied, “The iPhone 1 sold just 500,000 units.

The next model (3G) sold 2 million.

The next model (3Gs) sold 3 million.

The next model (4) sold 5.5 million.

The next model (4s) is the one I bought. :-)

Too late? Only if the value-added has somehow ended.”

Believe me — it hasn’t. So if you’re interested in apps for your cross-cultural iPhone, or if you’re considering buying one, read on!

4) Best iPhone Note-taking app –

brigtoday — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:56:38 +0000

This is a very crowded field. There are *dozens* of great note-taking applications for iPhone and several of them create brain-trusts for your mind. Before you know it, you’ll be writing, saving, and importing more resources “than you can shake a stick at” (if you’ll excuse my having ended with a preposition). As far as I’m concerned, the best of the litter, hands down, is Evernote. Available in the App Store, Evernote is absolutely free in its basic form. As is the case with many ‘basic software packages,’ you can purchase a few more bells and whistles in very affordable fashion, offering you faster scanning speeds and more space. You literally have to experience Evernote to believe it. You can import *anything* and Evernote will index and keep track of it, then retrieve it lickety-split. This is what computers were made for… to remember all the things we can’t. And see the item directly below about how to import the notes from your Bible studies and sermons into Evernote on your iPhone, via Olive Tree’s Bible Reader. With the iPhone 4s, you can take a picture of any page of information, email it to your Evernote account, and in moments, Evernote online will have scanned the page for you, then converted it into full-text searchable and readable text. Amazing. And it doesn’t matter if you’re searching through hundreds or thousands of pages of material, Evernote is still just as fast and furious. Use tags, multiple notebooks, and even share your notebooks with co-workers if you want (one notebook at a time, selectively). This is a must-have App.

5) Best iPhone Bible app –

brigtoday — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:55:26 +0000

True Confessions here: The Bible application that I was using on my old Windows phone was simply horrible. It took forever to get to the scripture reference, and when I finally clicked through all the steps to get there, the buggy software took much of the joy out of reading through the Lord’s teachings, I’m sorry to say. Enter the iPhone and all that changed. For my own tastes, I settled on Olive Tree Bible Reader (in the App Store). The initial “base version” (with King James version) is absolutely free… but if you’re hankering for other translations (like NIV), as well as commentaries, Bible dictionaries, word studies, devotionals, etc., they’re all available — but it’ll set you back just a bit (not as much as you think). Once you get the translation you like, the experience is amazing… with a clean and clear reading experience, simple library functions to get to your other helps, a super-fast “Go to” function, and a search function to beat the band. Plus you can track bookmarks, highlights, ribbons, tags, and notes — and the notes sync across the Internet by automatically sailing into your Evernote vault (see Evernote immediately above). Honest — I don’t see how it could be any slicker, but maybe someone here will find a way. After all, personal Bible study software is inherently, well, personal. And we’ll no doubt have our Logos lovers nearby. Let’s hear it: What’s your favorite Bible app and why?

3) Maybe we should actually Read those End-user Agreements —

brigtoday — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:57:28 +0000

Recently, while evaluating a service called “KickSend,” I figured I’d better evaluate the end-user agreement. Found a copy at…. http://www.appappeal.com/app/kicksend/

Toward the end of the agreement, take special note of the section entitled, “Your Content and your rights.” The exact section reads, ” You agree that this license includes the right for Kicksend to make Your Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals who partner with Kicksend for the syndication, broadcast, distribution or publication of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use.” Read this end-user agree carefully. Basically, Kicksend is saying, “We can do anything we want to share the information, regardless of its source.” Be sure to know the potential danger that might result — if someone named in one of your files is suddenly exposed, interrogated, or, worse yet, expelled, you’ll know some of the dangers of using KickSend.

7) Best Apps for iPhone” Cont’d: Best App. For Your Intranet –

brigtoday — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:53:51 +0000

Have you tried Yammer.com?

http:/www.yammer.com

Use it for free if all your users have the same ‘domain’ on the end of their email. For example, if your entire office has teamexpansion.org email addresses, ask them to log onto Yammer and you’re in business! Instant Intranet! Learn more at the site. No charge as long as you don’t mind allowing things to be a bit “loosey-goosey” on administration. The network will be encrypted, mind you, so outsiders won’t be able to see or learn about your personnel nor about an of your sensitive fields. And along the way, you’ll pick up free calendaring, free discussion threading, free Facebook-like status updates, and much much more.

8) Best Apps for News and Current Events –

brigtoday — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:52:33 +0000

What are your favorite new apps for iPhone? The USA Today iPhone app is great, except the news can easily be 24 hours old by the time you read it. Because of that, I’m preferring the BBC News app. It’s “real-time” and also includes audio and video updates. Other news apps by ABC, CNN, NPR, WSJ, Flipboard, and Pulse are all worth examining. But perhaps the most interesting of all is the little app, “Zite,” which “learns” your news preferences by giving thumbs-up/thumps-down to the items your reading. Over time, you create a custom set of reading preferences in which everything is relevant. These apps are mostly all free. In only one or two cases, you’ll be asked to pay a small subscription fee. Got a favorite news app of your own? Click comment — please

9) Don’t Forget about “The Weather Channel” app –

brigtoday — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:51:46 +0000

Planning a trip or something outdoors? Sure you could use the built-in app for weather, but honestly, it seemed a bit lame to me. However, the Weather Channel app more than made up for any shortcomings I had seen in the built-in applet.