512 Pixels

CaptureNotes [Sponsor]

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CaptureNotes 2 is more than just a note-taking app for the iPad. It lets you record audio while you type.

While there might be other apps that let you take notes and record, CaptureNotes 2 brings an entirely new feature to the experience: Flags.

Flags are intelligent bookmarks, allowing you to place specific marks in time during a recording to follow up on in later review. For example, if you were using CaptureNotes in a class, you could mark things like test questions, text references, follow-up requests, or even make your own custom flag set. In a meeting at work, you could mark action items to follow up on.

When it comes time to study for your test or compile your to-do list, you can sort notes by flag type, taking you back to that specific piece of audio recording and notes.

Note-taking is also available on imported PDFs and email sessions. CaptureNotes lets you store your binders and notebooks on Dropbox.

CaptureNotes 2 was recently selected as app of the week at TiPB, and is sale to celebrate. Capture everything at school, work, or home with CaptureNotes 2.

Marco, on the Kindle Fire

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Ouch:

I expected the Kindle Fire to be good for books, great for magazines and newspapers, great for video, and good for apps and games.

In practice, it’s none of these. Granted, I’ve only spent two days with it, so I can’t share any long-term impressions. But I’m honestly unlikely to have any, because this isn’t a device that makes me want to use it more. And that’s fatal.

What’s on my Home Screen

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IMG 0402

Row 1

The top row is pretty close to stock. Messages, Calendar and Photos are all in their default positions. Camera+ took over for the system’s camera app a long time ago. I like the filters and sharing options, but most importantly, it is faster than iOS’ app, at least on my 4.

Row 2

  • Music is pretty self-explanatory. I’ve got iTunes Match turned on.
  • Instacast is fantastic. Syncing with iTunes to update podcasts seems super old-fashioned after using this app. I listen to a bunch of shows while driving around, and this app is a game-changer.
  • PlainText is a universal Dropbox text editor. I gave up Simplenote earlier this year to simplify my setup, and PlainText made that possible. (On the desktop, I access my Dropbox-based files via nvALT.
  • I’m somewhat of a weather nerd. I love radars, dew points and storm warnings. After lots of testing, I settled on My-Cast as my iPhone weather app of choice.

Rows 3

  • My life is inside OmniFocus. I’m not even kidding.
  • While it is $3 more than the free, first-party Twitter client, Tweetbot is worth the money. It’s got really smart push notification, a great design and a healthy dose of personality. I wish they guys would make an iPad version.
  • Reeder is the Google Reader client not only for the iPhone, but the iPad and Mac, too. It’s not without good reason — Reeder is fast, ties into sharing services and has a great icon.
  • While I use Instapaper more on my iPad than on my phone, it might be my favorite iOS app. I send tons of stuff to the service, and I love having it ready to read if I have a moment.

Row 4

I keep this row empty. It makes my phone less overwhelming to look at, and it gives me a nice place to slide over to the others screens.

The Dock

Nothing too exciting here. Settings has lived in my Dock for years, and I just can’t bring myself to change it.

Protect the Internet

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As written, they would betray more than a decade of US policy and advocacy of Internet freedom by establishing a censorship system using the same domain blacklisting technologies pioneered by China and Iran.