• I almost didn't review Catch, because AK Notepad also uses catch.com. I believed Catch would just be a refinement on the already-unsuitable AK Notepad.

    Boy, am I glad I didn't let my emotions make that decision. Catch rocks!

    Continue reading "Android PIM: Catch"

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  • Continuing the Android PIM Note App Review, we've got AK Notepad. (That's right, I spent so much time massaging my data that, to make up for the delay, you get two reviews in one day!)

    AK Notepad is the stripped-down, streamlined predecessor to Catch. Version 2.3.1 is still for free available on the Android Market, so I thought I'd give it a try. How'd it do? Click through to find out.

    Continue reading "Android PIM: AK Notepad"

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  • First up in the Android PIM Note App Review (I've got to think of a shorter name for that): Note Everything. Sorry it took me so long; I was fooling around with saving my Palm notes in a format suitable for multiple programs, and I didn't want to review Note Everything until I'd tried out its Palm Memo import feature.

    Note Everything comes in free and pro versions. It is nicely-arranged, and has lots of preferences to customize to your liking. An additional free app, NE GDocs, is available for syncing with Google.

    I checked out the free version, 4.0.3a, with NE GDocs. On to the review!

    Continue reading "Android PIM: Note Everything"

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  • Ever since my first Franklin Planner, I've been a big believer in PIM (Personal Information Management). Boy, was I ever glad to get rid of the paper and go digital with my Palm Pilot. I went through a succession of Palm products, including the Sony Clie and a Treo. When I heard that Palm was giving up on smartphones after the Pre, I was devastated; I had no idea what I would do when my Treo finally broke down.

    The decision was forced upon me, shortly after I took my Treo for a swim. (Note to self: ziploc bags aren't waterproof, even three layers deep.) I'd seen Apple's idea of PIM from my wife's iPhone: barely functional, unless you paid for their Mobile Me service, in which case it was tolerable. I decided to go with Android and got a Samsung Galaxy S.

    Good lord the AT&T Samsung Captivate sucks. But the hardware itself is a post for another time; right now, I'm considering the Android PIM software independently. I rate it about equal to the iPhone: barely functional. The one big advantage is automatic sync with Google Calendar.

    Notes are a big piece of PIM, though. Over the next few weeks, I intend to run several note-taking apps through my personal PIM wringer. The winner will get the coveted "place on my phone" award. And I'll have a record of what made the losers... well, losers.

    Let's get to the rules!

    Continue reading "Android PIM: Note App Review"

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  • Everybody on the planet has heard by now that Osama Bin Laden has been killed. My Facebook feed is showing a range of reactions, mostly triumphant, with only two cynics.

    Count me with the cynics. I don't believe "Justice has been done". I'm not even convinced we've made progress, on either justice or terrorism.

    Here's why: terrorism is like spam.

    Continue reading "Analogy Man: Terrorism"