Friday, May 15, 2009

iPhone applications anyone?

Okay since you all did freaking amazing sorting out the PDFs issue, I figure I'll throw out another request for applications. I've been madly prepping for my first committee meeting on Tuesday so have had NO time to play with the my new phone. Yet I need to play with it. No seriously, I have to figure out how get the most out it. Right now, I've been using it mainly as a phone and ipod. I really would like to take more advantage of its capabilities. Like getting an application that will be tots awesome for running - ie tracks my runs, tells me when to walk run (yes I do the run 10 min walk 1 min intervals), all those wonderful things. However, I have ZERO time to read through all the reviews and test different applications so advice on the things that you have had or have not had success with, would be AWESOME.

On another note,
I am really confused about this whole filing papers by endnote number??? Seriously? I must be missing something, but why would you file a paper by the endnote number and not just alphabetically? OR do you mean electronically you filed by endnote number. That would make sense to me.

FYI - this is why I have avoided the whole saving PDF's until now...
What is this SKIM you all talk about in relation to papers? How did you find these things? You have all really made me feel my age as there is still something quite comforting about curling up with a research article and a cup of coffee on my couch. Curling up with my laptop just doesn't cut it for me..

10 comments:

Liz said...

Skim is an application (free) for mac that lets you annotate pdfs. I used it for a little while, but digital annotations just aren't as satisfying to me as scribbling on a printout.

One of the nice things about Papers is that it lets you track which papers you've printed so that you don't waste paper printing the same article 3 times (or time searching through all your printouts for something you're pretty sure is there).

Alyssa said...

I've never heard of Skim either, so don't feel bad! I like printed papers as well - I find it tough to read something very long on the computer.

As for iPhone apps, I wish I could help you out, but I don't have one. I do know you can get some awesome games on it though! Hehe!

ScienceGirl said...

I like Skim because my notes are with me wherever I am, and I am really appreciating it now that I am having to pack up for a move. That's not to say I won't print out an article I need to digest in every little detail, but I find that that is a very small portion of the articles I read.

Oh, and I don't have an iPhone. But I will keep an eye on this thread in case I ever get one ;)

Professor in Training said...

I saw several running apps but haven't tried any of them. I've downloaded several apps to play with but have managed to avoid paying for any as yet.

The (free) GPSLite app is pretty cool though as you can use it to give exact distance, time, velocity etc ... I was playing with it while driving the other day and was having so much fun I almost ran off the road. It does chew up the battery time though.

Re filing by EndNote number: if you have a gazillion papers by Dr Smith, it can be a total pain in the ass to sift through them to find the right one so having them tagged by EndNote no. and surname can be v.helpful.

I downloaded Papers btw and am giving it a try. Have also switched to iWorks (Pages, Keynote etc) after struggling to deal with the recent versions of the previously-awesome MS Office.

chall said...

I tried to keep my papers in alphabetical order but gave up since it was too hard to keep them in right order as well as shifting binders etc. I just store them in numerical order and save the number in Endnote. I think the alphabet would have been nice but well....

that said, I have a bunch of articles at the moment that have no numbers and aren¨t really stored... something for the "writing up the paper" i guess ;)

Cath@VWXYNot? said...

I use "RunnerLite" - it's been great for me as I start running from scratch, and you can also edit and customise the intervals. The instructions to walk or run play over whatever music / podcasts you're listening to, and it also tells you when you're at your halfway point. It tracks which runs you've done on which dates, but not routes or distances.

Shazam is good for IDing a song you hear playing, Urbanspoon for finding restaurants, I also like AroundMe for finding nearby cafes etc. Translink has a good app that tells you the next 3 buses scheduled to arrive at your nearest bus stops, although it doesn't recognise some of the newer stops (e.g. on the new 33 route). And the Facebook app is decent.

I also have a couple of snow report apps - REI snow report and SkiReport, they both let you choose which resorts to track, but I haven't yet figured out which one is the most up to date (need to put in some time next season comparing each one to resorts' websites).

As for games, I recommend Superball, Bridges, Sudoku, Wurdle and WordFu. I also have ScoreSheet installed so I don't have to do any adding up when playing real-life Scrabble and other games. I don't know if you play a musical instrument, but I also have a metronome and guitar tuning guide.

TheAppleBlog does frequent app reviews along side other very technical content that I just ignore ;)

Have fun!

Professor in Training said...

Geez, Cath ... have you left the house since you got the iPhone!?? Haha - and I thought I was bad ... now all we need is to get Massimo hooked and we can take over the world :)

Cath@VWXYNot? said...

Yup, miPhone takes me out running and to my nearest bus stop sometimes ;)

ScientistMother said...

Liz - I've noticed that on papers, which is really nice. I really have to get used to reading online..

Mrs.CH - I know its hard to read on the computer, but I also find it hard to lug my computer bag full of paper with notes on them, my gym clothes, monkey lunch, my lunch AND the monkey in and out of the house everyday. If I can become more electronic all I would need is my computer plus a really good back up system.

SG - that is exactly why I am thinking about making the transition

PiT - I guess I have been lucky with not having multiple authors with the same surname. I'll have to try both GPSlite and Runnerlite and see which is better.

Chall - I currently have a HUGE pile that needs to be inputted into Endnote/papers and filed away.

Cath - catching up on blog reading, eh?:)) I was wondering if UrbanSpoon would be good for Canada as some reviews said it was spotty. You're liking it then? I will totally download the SkiReport though. Games! who has times for games! :))

Cath@VWXYNot? said...

Who doesn't have time for games?! (Says the girl from the game-obsessed family who married into another family just like it). Seriously though, we all need to play a little!

Anyway, just you wait until the next time you're on the bus / skytrain / ferry / ferry line-up / waiting outside a PI's office miles away from your office to get his signature on your grant / airport / plane / train!

UrbanSpoon works just fine in the city, don't know how it would do in a smaller town though. Anyway, it's free!