Claus’s iPhone App List

As promised, here is a listing, semi-categorized, of iOS iPhone apps I’m using on my iPhone 5.

All links will be to the iTunes App Store page unless otherwise noted. I’ve added a permanent link on the sidebar under “Claus’s Toolbox”.

I’m only listing Apps that I use (or plan to purchase relatively soon for use). There very well may be “better” apps of a similar function, but the point is these are the ones I am using. If you want to drop a comment on a recommendation of your own, that’s fine and if it is on-topic and something I would actually consider using, I might just approve it. If the comment seems like comment spam or is for an App that I’m not at all interested in for whatever reason, it probably won’t be added. This post isn’t to create a marketplace; it’s for me to self-reference and primarily be a way to recommend/share Apps with the few family and friends who have iPhone discussions with me.

A mini price-range key:

• free = free. May or may not be ad-supported. That said, if it is ad-supported or pop-up in-app notifications to upgrade to a paid-version are too annoying or obtrusive, the app is deleted.
• $ = $.99 to $2.99 range.
• $$ = $3 to $7.99 range.
• $$$ = $8 to $9.99 range
• $$$$ = over $9.99

Note that when posted, some apps may be on a special pricing discount for holiday or promotions. I’ll try to keep an eye on things but it’s only a rough guide.

I’m not sure I have my categorizations really dialed in quite the way I want yet. Those may change.
I’ll eventually get around to adding very-short app descriptions.

“Default” apps that come installed/bundled with the iOS don’t get listed.

I have a few great Apps I won’t list for privacy reasons; banking/insurance/shipping/specific shopping/vendors, etc. Just because you don’t see those listed, doesn’t mean I don’t use them.

Finally, just because all these apps fit on and run on my iPhone 5 (64 GB), currently iOS 6.0.2, doesn’t mean they will all fit on your own iPhone.

Here’s the list.

Core Apps

• Byline - $
• Chrome - free
• Gmail - free
• Google Maps - free
• MiniKeePass - free
• Wave Alarm - free (note I sprung for the in-app $ paid version)
• Wave Timer - free (note I sprung for the in-app $ paid version)

Productivity/Organization Apps

• Agenda Calendar - $
• Clear - $
• Due - $$
• Easy Note + To Do - $
• Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! - $

Weather Apps

• NOAA Hi-Def Radar - $
• The Weather Channel® Max - $$
• WeatherMap+ - $

Text/Reading Apps

• Adobe Reader for iPhone - free
• Byword - $
• Kindle - free

Networking/IT/SysAdmin Apps

• Deep Whois - free
• Emerald Time - free
• Fing - Network Scanner - free
• Mocha iSys - free
• Mocha VNC for iPhone - $$
• IPv4 Subnet Calculator - $
• Network Ping Lite - free
• Networking Toolkit - free
• Nice Trace - traceroute - $
• Speedtest.net Mobile Speed Test - free
• TeamViewer HD for Remote Control - free - (note seems to work best on the remote system with an installed version of TeamViewer rather than TeamViewer Portable…maybe that was just me…)

Media Apps

• ABC Player - free
• ESPN ScoreCenter - free
• KUHF News/Classical 91.7 - free
• Naturespace - free/in-app $
• NBC - free
• NPR Music - free
• NPR News - free
• PBS - free
• PRI - free
• Science Friday - free
• SomaFM Radio Player - $$
• TED - free
• TV.com - free
• Vimeo - free
• YouTube - free

Specialized Utilities

• Converter Plus - free
• Decibel 10th - free
• Find My iPhone - free
• iHandy Carpenter - $
• Spyglass -$$
• Survival Guide - free

Photography

• Adobe Photoshop Express - free/in-app $ upgrade

Health/Fitness/Education/Fun

• iHikeGPS - $$
• Learn German: Babbel - free

Hardware Support
These are the primary “hardware” items I use (or will be using) with my iPhone. Note: Price rating system suspended here. Do the research if you are curious.

• Jawbone JAMBOX Wireless Speaker - Christmas present from Lavie.
• Jawbone (version 2) - (obtained back in 2008) - still running strong, though highly battered.
• Jawbone ERA - I don’t have this unit yet but will almost certainly be purchasing it in the next few weeks. Since my original Jawbone unit is almost six years old, has survived numerous traumas and still works great, I’m pretty much sold on the quality and performance of this manufacturer rather than others out there. I’m mostly just upgrading to the ERA model since it can support Bluetooth syncing with two devices concurrently. That is a must -- having multiple phones on my person. I considered the ICON model as well but I’ve come accustomed to the version 2 size so there you go.

Previously Used Apps (free) Upgraded to Purchased Versions or Alternatives
These are apps that I previously had on my iPhone but later upgraded to purchased versions and/or removed to make way for another/different version of the same app function. They are still highly recommended.

• Commander Compass Lite - free
• iHandy Level Free - free
• Mocha VNC Lite - free
• MapQuest - free
• MyRadar Weather Radar - free

Still pending purchase/installation - (sooner or later)

• Hurricane Tracker - $
• Hurricane - $
• iFileExpress - free
• Documents To Go - $$$
• Photo Manager Pro - $

Hope you find this helpful.

--Claus V.

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iSurrender: iPhone Linkfest

Enough iOS already! It’s following me around and multiplying!

I love the iPhone 5 I now carry and am getting very comfortable using it. I confess I’m still not yet scratching the surface of the features it is capable of, but I no longer consider an iPhone noobie and that is saying a lot.

iPhone 4’s got delivered to work. I’ll be working on a project very soon to migrate our BlackBerry users to them.

Alvis announced she bought (on her own, the little scullery-maid!) an iPad Mini from the Apple-store online for a Christmas-cash present. Delivery expected this week. Fortunately she publically went on the record that she is an iOS girl and has no love or desire for Mac laptop/desktop platforms or OSX so she didn’t receive a grounding for her cheekiness.

And I now subscribe to a number of RSS feeds for iOS matters to stay on top of tips/apps and iOS trends.

iOS News and Scuttlebutt

• In bringing Office to iOS, Microsoft is playing a dangerous game - Ars Technica. I’ve not installed any apps yet to deal with MS Office document viewing/editing yet. I’ve been considering Documents To Go & Documents To Go® Premium, but if the Verge is accurate, Microsoft may soon be dropping a set of free apps to allowing viewing of those files on iOS. That would be good enough for me.

In case you are an iOS user and been living under a rock lately…Google Maps for iOS dropped a few weeks ago. I love it but miss not having a terrain layer provided. Hopefully that will get added in eventually by the Google Map App team. Yes there is a way to get it via Cydia but that’s way past my comfort level so I personally won’t be making any recommendations with Cydia anytime soon.

• Google Maps is now available for iPhone - Official Google Blog
• Official Google Maps App For iPhone With Street View, Voice Directions - AddictiveTips
• Google Launches Native Maps For iOS, And Here’s The Deep Dive On Navigation, Info Sheets And More - TechCrunch
• First impressions: Google Maps for iOS [Updated] - TechBlog
• Here’s why you can see that iPhone app, but can’t yet grab it - TechBlog
• Google Maps for iPhone shows Apple how to do mapping right - Ars Technica 

Then came an iOS minor upgrade…Hurrah!

• Apple releases iOS 6.0.2 software update, bug fixes - iMore.com
• Apple addresses another Wi-Fi bug with iOS 6.0.2 update - Ars Technica
• Apple Releases iOS 6.0.1 Update For iPhone 5, iPad Mini - The Next Web

…which may cause battery-drain issues…oh-noes!

• Is there a problem with iOS 6.0.2? - Borns IT & Windows Blog
• iOS 6.0.2 suspected of draining batteries - Ars Technica
• Apple: iOS 6.0.2 provides shorter battery life for iPhone 5 and iPad Mini - Caschys Blog
• Iphone 5 and IOS 6.0.2 is draining my battery! - Apple Support Communities. May have a “fix” until the next iOS update comes out to fix this problem…if there is a problem.

At first I thought I was also having this post iOS 6.0.2 update battery-drain issue, but now I’m not convinced. Is the battery actually draining faster? Or am I just more conscious of battery usage levels when I’m using my iPhone 5 to do light-web surfing around the house when I’m too lazy to use my main laptop system?  That Retina display rocks and dazzles and probably gobbles up the juice.  Maybe with a more stable Wi-Fi connection I’m just using it more that I realize….

Tips and Tricks

One of the challenges with “new-to-me” technology is getting up to speed so I feel I have some level of mastery of it. I’ve always had fun being challenged by new things and becoming comfortable in using and managing them.

Needless to say, the iOS environment is certainly rich with opportunity for learning both basic and new things!

• Top 10 Handy iOS Tweaks That Don't Require Jailbreaking - Lifehacker
• How to Turn Any Song Into a Ringtone for Your iPhone or Android (for Free) - Lifehacker.
• Beyond the Silence: How to create ringtones for iPhone (m4r) for free - Beyond the Silence. This process works like a charm and once you get comfortable doing it it’s hard to justify purchase of a utility to do so.
• The Best Desktop File Explorer for iPhone (And All the Cool Things You Can Do with It) - Lifehacker.  See the main product page: i-FunBox v2.1 and the supplemental iOS app iFileExpress. Both free.
• How to edit Inbox order on your iPhone and iPad - iMore.com
• How To: Take a Screenshot With the iPhone - iMore.com
• iPhone 4S: Ultimate DIY repair guide - iMore.com
• Best paid iPhone apps - iMore.com
• Siri: The ultimate guide - iMore.com

iOS Apps I’ve Installed (and kept) since Last Posting

Once in a blue moon I will purchase a video (movie/TV show) from the iTunes store. Generally we buy BluRay disks and drop a few more dollars for the package that includes a digital copy. That works for us. I like the idea of iTunes rentals but the prices are (generally) crazy for the super-short rental “lifespan.” That doesn’t work for me.  I will pick up music (usually singles) from time to time. Again if I really “like” an album, I tend to order the physical CD and then import it into iTunes.

If I find a must-have, not-free app, I prefer to buy an iTunes card at a local store and then use that to purchase the app.

Otherwise, despite the number of iOS apps I’ve added/purchased recently as a new iPhone owner, I generally just wait until someone drops me an Apple iStore/App/Tunes gift card or I find a $20 for some “mad-money” and then splurge on some apps.

So the paid app purchases below are from Alvis’s Christmas gift card to me. Thank you Alvis!

• Google Maps - free - iTunes App Store. Enough said.
• Emerald Time - free - iTunes App Store. I’m a time junkie. Maybe from watching too many Dr. Who episodes? Anyway, while I can’t adjust the time on my iPhone, at least I can compare it to several NTP servers. It also lets you quickly see what the GMT time is. Geeky free app.
• Networking Toolkit - free - iTunes App Store. Paul Borghese’s app is top-shelf stuff for networking admins. Super handy.
• Due - $$ - iTunes App Store. Took me a while to find this one, and at $4.99, it isn’t “cheap” by most iOS app standards. Allows for creation of highly customized reminder alerts and timers. Lavie has a medication she must take every three days and sometimes we forget when the last dosage was given. This app allowed me to easily set a recurring three-day reminder. The UI is great and its power lies in its simplicity. Highly recommended.
• IPv4 Subnet Calculator - $ - iTunes App Store. There are lots and lots of “free” IP Subnet Calculators out there. I have a few Windows utilities on my systems for the heavy network planning I do. However, while the Networking Toolkit already mentioned above met my basic -- in case of emergency needs, when I say Alex Buzov’s app, I couldn’t help but buy it. It is drop-dead gorgeous and practical at the same time. I don’t expect we will be dabbling in IPv6 anytime soon, but hopefully when that time comes, Alex will have a version released. I’ll stand in line to buy it!
• Clear - $ - iTunes App Store.  Currently 50% off for a limited time. My brother tipped me off to this little gem. While I already have a note management app, and there is “Due” for reminders, this super beautiful fun app makes creating To-Do action lists fun. No, you cannot set calendar items or reminders but if you want a easy way to make lists you will come back to, this app is worth checking out.
• Byword - $ - iTunes App Store. For when you need a more full-featured and full-sized app for composing text. It doesn’t do a who lot, but covers the basics of creating and editing larger text-based documents much more comfortable.
• Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie - $ - iTunes App Store. There are a lot of free and $ “grocery/shopping-list” makers out there. What sold me on this one was a simple and easy to organize/navigate interface couple with the ability for me to share an on-line account with Lavie and Alvis to use to add needed items to the weekly grocery list. Sure, my handwritten 3x5 index card grocery list making system seems to work OK but hopefully this can help supplement it a bit. Multiple lists are supported so it doesn’t have to be limited for lists at the grocery store.
• Naturespace - free/$ - iTunes App Store. The free app comes with a small set of nature-sound loops. Additional sound-atmosphere loops can be purchased in-app for a few dollars per sound loop.  There are more free sound-loop apps out there and I haven’t really scratched the surface but this one came highly recommended mostly based on the quality of the free app player as well as the quality of the sound loops themselves. Just wished they would have tossed in a rain/thunder-storm loop in the free package as well. That’s more my thing for relaxation but guess that’s how they get us hooked!
• iFileExpress - free - iTunes App Store. Extend the ability to manage and share files between your iOS device and your PC/Mac system. Mainly for the geeks.

Coming soon I’ll be working on getting up a regularly maintained post to track and list my iOS iPhone apps in a single place for quick reference and for the curious.

Cheers,

--Claus Valca

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Windows 8 Phone: Minor Linkage

Although I ended up going with an iOS platform after-all, I have been able to finally get my hands on a Nokia Lumia 920 Windows 8 Phone that a co-worker picked up -- at least for a few minutes.

Tellingly, he hasn’t ditched his secondary non-Win8 smartphone just yet, but did find a special deal that allowed him to pick up two units for the standard price of one; gift one and get one!

While I didn’t have an opportunity to really take it for a full test-track session, I was impressed with the 920’s screen brightness and resolution. Popping between screens/apps was super-fast. The unit had a nice heft and the feel in the hand was comfortable.

One thing was very clear to me; the Metro Windows 8 app style format really shines on the smartphone platform where it doesn’t impress me one bit on a more traditional desktop/laptop/Surface platform. That’s one thing that seems to set (for now) the Windows 8 Phone app eco-system apart from iOS and Android; style consistency across apps. As I’ve spent more and more time in the Apple App store, I’ve come to learn there are some app designers who work very, very hard to reflect a polished and “modern” UI style…and others look like crap despite how awesome the app might actually be. That holds true regardless if they are paid or free.  Props for good design work and attention to detail.

I may have previously posted this but Scott Hanselman over at Computer Zen recently posted the process by which he updated a Windows 7 Phone app of his to Windows 8.

• Updating my Windows Phone App to Windows Phone 8 - Scott Hanselman

Scott provides a great review of the process a Windows 8 Phone app designer needs to go through to make a quality product…even from a GUI design and layout angle.

I’m probably not looking hard enough, but I’ve not yet found any good treatises yet on designing and implementing an iOS app from a modern-ui standpoint consistent with other Apple UI’s.  Can anyone suggest any links on the subject or if Apple even has any “standards” in GUI design for current iOS levels?

In the meantime, here is a smattering of Windows 8 Phone linkage.

General Discussion

• Google Nixes Apps For Windows 8, Windows Phone -  InformationWeek
• Two new reports says Windows Phone 8 still can't gain traction - Computerworld Blogs
• Apollo Plus: Microsoft's next Windows Phone update to include Wi-Fi, audio, and other fixes -The Verge
• Windows Phone 8: The Complete Review - MakeUseOf
• An update on Windows Phone 7.8 - Windows Phone Blog
• The secrets of the Windows Phone 8 keyboard - Windows Phone Blog
• Verizon slashes HTC Windows Phone 8X price, matches Lumia 822 and 920 - BetaNews
• Windows Phone 8 vs Windows Phone 7.8 – What’s the Difference & Should You Upgrade? - MakeUseOf

Windows 8 Phone Apps that Caught My Eye 

• Discover New & Top Rated Apps On Windows 8 Store With Great Windows Apps - AddictiveTips
• Essential apps and games for a new Windows Phone - Windows Phone Blog
• Windows 8 Apps for IT Professionals - WindowsNetworking
• Download Any File Or Media Stream On Windows Phone With GetThemAll - AddictiveTips
• Get Weather Updates By The Minute With SkyMotion For Windows Phone - AddictiveTips

Usage Tips

• How To Get Back Bing Maps On Windows Phone 8 - AddictiveTips
• How I set up my new Windows Phone—and what I learned that can help you - Windows Phone Blog

HTC Windows Phone 8X

• Review: HTC 8X is the best Windows Phone 8 handset out there - Ars Technica

Cheers.

--Claus V.

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Windows 8 Linkage: A final 2012 Huzzah.

…for the record…no Valca Win systems have yet been upgraded to Windows 8.

I am still running it in a VM.  Lavie mentioned she was interested in picking up a new, sub-15” Windows laptop in the new year but isn’t impressed with Windows 8 or the Surface platform so she will continue to wait to see how things develop in the new year.

Win8 - Start Here - Get It

• How to create a custom Windows 8 image to restore to - Tenniswood Blog
• What’s the best price on a Windows 8 Pro upgrade? - Ed Bott

Win8 - Install It

• Windows 8: Create a USB Installation Stick - Borns IT & Windows Blog
• Not Sure About Upgrading? Then Why Not Dual Boot Windows 8 With Windows 7? - MakeUseOf
• It's Not Easy, But You Can Uninstall Windows 8 And Revert To Your Old OS - MakeUseOf
• Windows 8 Upgrade Error 0x8007025D - Borns IT & Windows Blog
• Set Windows 8 Start Screen Background To Change After Specific Time - Addictive Tips
• Customize Windows 8 Installation & Create Unattended Setup ISO - AddictiveTips
• Flushing the crapware: A guide to reinstalling Windows 8 on a new PC - Ars Technica

Win8 - Under the Hood

• Windows 8: repair components Goals - Borns IT & Windows Blog

Win8 - To Go

• Certified Windows To Go USB flash drive - Borns IT & Windows Blog

Win8 - Tweaks

• How To Disable AutoPlay & AutoRun In Windows 8 - AddictiveTips
• StartW8: Windows 8 and again from the Start menu - Caschys Blog
• Chameleon Adds Custom Backgrounds to the Windows 8 Lock Screen - Lifehacker
• Increase the Windows 8 Taskbar Thumbnail Size - Cybernet News
• StartW8 Is A Simple & Elegant Start Menu Replacement For Windows 8 - AddictiveTips
• Start Menu for Windows 8 - (free) - StartW8 application home page.
• Complete Guide How to Change Windows 8 Metro App Install Location - Windows 7 Hacker
• Disable Windows 8 Start Screen Launch Animation To Make It Feel Faster - AddictiveTips
• How To Fix The Limited Wi-Fi Connectivity Issue On Microsoft Surface - AddictiveTips
• IObit’s StartMenu8 Got a new Update with Better UI, Still Keeps the Free tag - Windows 7 Hacker

Win8 - Deeper Insights

• I. Windows PE: Create Repair Disk - Borns IT & Windows Blog
• II. Windows PE 4.0: These programs - Borns IT & Windows Blog
• III: recovery drive with Win RE create - Borns IT & Windows Blog

Metro Apps That Caught My Eye

• Windows 8: Store disappeared - Borns IT & Windows Blog
• SkyMap Turns Your Windows 8 Or RT Device Into A 3D Planetarium - AddictiveTips

Win8 - Usage Tips

• How To Reveal Saved Wireless Network Password in Windows 8 - Windows 7 Hacker
• RemoteApp for Windows 8 & Surface - Tenniswood Blog
• How To Change Location Of Default Screenshot Folder In Windows 8 - AddictiveTips
• Backup solutions for Windows 8 - Borns IT & Windows Blog
• Windows 8-Backup: With onboard tools - Part 1 - Borns IT & Windows Blog

Win8 - Miscellanea & Rumors

• Windows 8: No one wants to start menu - no one? - Borns IT & Windows Blog

Windows 8 - GSD Previously Posted

• Windows 8 Linkage: “Majestic Metro” version
• Windows 8 Linkage: “Passage Public Metro” version
• Windows 8 Linkage: “Metro Santiago” edition
• Windows 8 Linkage: “Metro at Nightfall” edition
• Windows 8 Linkage: Product Name “Something or Another”
• Windows 8 Linkage: In Which a Name is Chosen
• Windows 8 Linkage: A Bit Behind the Ball
• Windows 8 - “It’s here” edition
• Windows 8 Linkage: Call me maybe?

Cheers.

--Claus V.

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GSD Linkfest: Updates, ForSec, and a whole lot more…

Let’s not waste any more time here. The clock is ticking…

Updates Galore

• TightVNC - Version 2.6 has been released at the end of October. I use this one around on our home network Windows systems and really like it. Mostly bug-fixes, screen rendering performance has been improved. Read the complete announcement.
• Apple releases QuickTime 7.7.3 for Windows, patches critical security vulnerabilities - ZDNet . If you use the Apple Quick Time plugin, then you will want to get the update. Some more details in this post QuickTime for Windows updated to close security holes - The H Security.
• Security updates for Flash and Air - The H Security - Well you knew Adobe plugins wouldn’t want to be left out of the patching discussion!
• VMware Player - version 5.0.1. Building on the VMware Player 5.0 improvements, version 5.0.1 adds support for Ubuntu 12.10 as host/guest and resolves some issues from 5.0. VMware Player 5.0.1 Release Notes
• Updates: AdExplorer v1.44, Contig v1.7, Coreinfo v3.2, Procdump v5.1 - Sysinternals Site Discussion -  AdExplorer becomes more stable, Contig adds more detailed analysis reporting, Coreinfo covers more features and Procdump adds support for Silverlight and JIT debugger support.
• Wireshark - Wireshark 1.8.4 and 1.6.12 Released and include vulnerability and bug fixes. 1.8.4 release notes & 1.6.12 release notes. Grab your updates via the download page.
• Nmap 6.25 holiday season release! 85 new scripts, better performance, Windows 8 enhancements, and more - Nmap Hackers mailing list archive. See the Nmap Change Log for all the juicy bits!

For

• Encrypted Disk Detector - Forensic Methods
• Links - Windows Incident Response blog - In this posting, Keydet89 has some Forensic Scanner tool tips, a link to the great post by Branden Williams on “Non-Observables”, and some prefetch info.
• OSForensics Part One - video introduction by the computer forensics students at Champlain College. Full paper review in this OSForensics Part One (PDF link) paper.
• Private Browsing Forensics: Introduction - video introduction by the computer forensics students at Champlain College. Full paper review in this Private Browsing Forensics: Introduction (PDF link) paper.
• l2tViewer v0.0.1 - Mark Woan’s woanware - From the page: “l2tViewer is designed to improve timeline analysis for the output produced by the excellent log2timeline. Viewing, sorting CSV files via spreadsheet software does not work well due to the volumes of data involved in modern timeline analysis, which is where l2tViewer comes in. It is designed to be fast when importing with minimal overhead and dependencies.”
• USBDeviceForensics v1.0.11 - Mark Woan’s woanware - New registry key extractions, improved output layout, OS specific output formatting removed, and fixed “Modified Date/Time” output for correct value display.
• The Sleuth Kit (TSK) & Autopsy: Open Source Digital Investigation Tools
• Nov 15, 2012: Autopsy 3.0.1 was released. It has a faster database ingest scales better and has some bug fixes.
• Nov 13, 2012: Sleuth Kit 4.0.1 is now available! It has bug fixes and some new minor features.
• Convert Endace ERF capture files to PCAP - NETRESEC Blog
• HowTo handle PcapNG files - NETRESEC Blog
• DEFT 7.1 Introduction and Videos (by Casey Mullis) - LoveMyTool - Wonderfully detailed write-up and review of the DEFT 7.1 forensic LiveCD. Casey goes beyond just a tool description and provides excellent and valuable feedback on this distro. He has supplemented the article with four videos on YouTube exploring how to successfully work with Deft 7.1.
• Imaging with DEFT 7.2 series 1 of 4 - YouTube
• Imaging with DEFT 7.2 series 2 of 4 - YouTube
• Imaging with DEFT 7.2 series 3 of 4 - YouTube
• Imaging with DEFT 7.2 series 4 of 4 - YouTube
• NTOSBOOT Prefetch File - Journey Into Incident Response - Corey Harrell has a detailed post on the NTOSBOOT prefetch file and the value it has for malware infection analysis.
• (IN)SECURE Magazine - Issue 36 released and covers some great topics, including “Computer forensic examiners are from Mars, attorneys are from Venus” written by Keith Chval.
• A few words about the cache / history on Internet Explorer 10 - NirSoft’s coder has some interesting information regarding IE 10 cache and history files and accessing them while IE 10 is running. Thought others might find the observations helpful.

Sec

• Redline 1.7 Now Available! - MANDIANT Forums. Redline - download and info.
• One of the very first malware-busting tools I used was SpyBot S&D. Couple that with AdAwareFree and HiJackThis and I could usually clean a Windows 98 system with confidence of malware/spyware.  Well, I don’t use those tools any longer and my cleaning and incident response has matured into a much more nuanced and low-level process with a variety of tools and techniques. That said I was overjoyed to find that SpyBot has now released a major update to version 2.0. Congratulations team!  Maybe HiJackThis 3.0 isn’t far behind? ;-)
• Spybot - Search & Destroy - Product level comparison chart.
• Spybot - Search & Destroy gets a major update on Monday - BetaNews
• First look: Spybot - Search & Destroy 2.0 - Betanews
• Spybot - Search & Destroy Portable - PortableApps.com
• Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit Is Powerful Rootkit Scanner And Remover - AddictiveTips blog
• The shortcomings of anti-virus software - ISC Diary
• Police Ransomware: Evolving At a Tremendous Pace - Security Intelligence Blog | Trend Micro
• The Ins and Outs of Spear-Phishing - Security Intelligence Blog | Trend Micro
• Microsoft Security Essentials flunked AV-Test - Borns IT & Windows Blog (GTranslated) and Microsoft Security Essentials fall at AV-Test - The H (GTranslated)

Apps and Stuff of Note

• XBOOT - Nice utility to assist in creating a multi-boot USB drive from bootable ISO files.
• Birthdays - free app from Skwire Empire to help you just track birthday data on all your favorite peeps. Super simple and easy to use! spotted in this MakeUseOf blog post: 4 Homemade Applications To Help You Around The House [Windows]
• Nest Thermostat Review 2nd Generation - Every consumer electronic device should be this polished - Scott Hanselman ComputerZen. Everyone should probably have a Nest Learning Thermostat. Not only is it cool but with the WiFi support and a smartphone app, you can get tons of data on your heating & cooling usage. Our electric company provider offers a Nest unit as part of a special contract package. Scott does his usual above-standard review and details its installation and usage wonderfully.
• ToolTip: System Sherlock Lite - Anything about IT. System snapshot change differ. Handy tool for base lining systems before and after updates and installations. May be good for malware analysis as well. One of many tools in this class.

Good to Know

• Microsoft Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool 2.0 - bink.nu notice on update to OCAT.
• The spy in your inbox - Ars Technica - I’m not sure who exactly this Outlook add-in would appeal to, but it is a bit creepy to me.

For the SysAdmins

• The Case of the Unexplained FTP Connections - Mark's Blog. The Sysinternals Guru strikes terror in the heart of unexplained Windows problems and clears another case.
• Case of the Panasonic TOUGH Book Barcode Settings Failure - chentiangemalc - Great troubleshooting exercise and track down.
• Case of the ADODB.Connection Provider Not Found Error - chentiangemalc - Another episode in troubleshooting.
• Chrome insists that the browser's Java plug-in is out-of-date but it is current. - Google Groups - I had this problem on my system two weeks or so ago after running a scan with Qualys BrowserCheck. My version said it was updated by Qualys said not. Ended up fixing it by manually re-downloading/installing the latest Java version manually as well as the JavaFX nonsense. Go figure.
• Defrag Tools | Channel 9 - This advanced video-cast series profiling the Sysinternals toolset is running strong with consistent releases.
• Defrag Tools: Live - //Build/2012 - Defrag Tools | Channel 9
• Defrag Tools: #15 - WinDbg - Bugchecks (BSOD) - Defrag Tools | Channel 9
• Defrag Tools: #16 - WinDbg - Driver Verifier - Defrag Tools | Channel 9
• Defrag Tools: #17 - WinDbg - Driver Verifier - Part 2 - Defrag Tools | Channel 9
• Enable printing or Windows Installer in Safe Mode - Sweet tip from TinyApps bloggist!
• How to use Group Policy to change the Default Lock Screen image in Windows 8 - Group Policy Central
• Creating and using VM Groups in VirtualBox - The Fat Bloke Sings

Map-Tastic!

I’m a sucker for maps. Paper and digital kinds both. They are an art-form to themselves.

• WunderMap - Interactive Weather Map and Radar - Weather Underground. This layered mashup of fantastic weather and radar data is tops! A new bar has been set. The radar images (as of now) seem to be almost true “real-time” images. Overlay on Google Maps with a wealth of other image data layers for your geekiness. Truly awesome!  More info in this Lifehacker post: The New Weather Underground Wundermap Offers Current Conditions, Plans Trips, Even Helps Buy a Home.  Now if they would release an iOS app version, I’d buy it! Until then it looks almost OK in my Chrome app for iOS.
• m2i (Map to Image) - amazing and fun way to render map images as artistic images. Pick a place on the map, choose a map to image style, set your image size, and render away. Spotted on and with more details: Create Awesome Map-Based Wallpapers for Your Desktop with ‘Map –> Image’ via How-To Geek .

I’m particularly partial to the “watercolor” filter…

Ubuntu Talk

• Updating Ubuntu OS & Applications: The Essentials Any Ubuntu User Should Know
• What Is The Easiest Version Of Linux To Learn?
• Journey Into Incident Response: Finding An Infection Vector After IT Cleaned the System
• 8 bits: How to install Paterva CaseFile on Ubuntu Linux
• Is Linux Confusing? Here Are The Key Terms You Need To Know
• Review: Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal a mix of promise, pain | Ars Technica

Congrats to Navy for their win in the Army Navy game. I was rooting for the Army Black Knights and their QB Trent Steelman and the sudden unfortunate turn of events during what was to be an amazing 2-minute drill conclusion and upset over Navy was heartbreaking. That said, I was warmed by the open emotion the QB displayed. There was much to be proud of all the way around in this game and it was as an exciting treat to watch.

Likewise congrats to the A&M Heisman Memorial Trophy Award winner from A&M Jonny Manziel. A lot of folks I know are cheering proudly at the moment. Congrats.

Cheers.

--Claus V.

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iPhone mini-linkfest

Just a quick post for some iPhone notes.

I finally got around to upgrading the default iPhone calendar app to Agenda Calendar. I liked the interface and layout views and that it was able to pull/sync from the default Reminders app that comes with the iPhone. I tweaked a few of the settings and what isn’t clearly evident from the app page is that there are quite a few alternative themes included if you don’t quite like the black/white look. It took me no-time at all to get up and going with the UI and at just a $0.99 price point, it is hard to go wrong.

I seriously considered both the Fantastical and the Calvetica Calendar apps before settling on Agenda. Fantastical really, really looked good I totally get the to-do view appointment layout. However according to the reviews this version didn’t sync with the iOS Reminders so that was a bit of a drawback. Calvetica is very nice looking and I love the bars-on-calendar visual for appointments but the price point was a bit steeper than I was willing to bite into.

Gmail - free - (Apple Store) - just got bumped to version 2.0 this week. This is a very refreshing update as it now supports multiple Gmail accounts in the same app. That was something I was wishing for. I like the UI and after using it less than a week find that it has become one of the most-used apps on my iPhone. Love it. Now I only wish it had a “unified” Inbox view option so you can see all your incoming messages in one place rather than having to tap a few times to switch between your different accounts. More reviews below:

• Gmail for iOS Gets a Completely New Look, Finally Supports Multiple Accounts - Lifehacker
• The Gmail app for iPhone and iPad: version 2.0 - Official Gmail Blog
• Gmail 2.0 For iOS: It Doesn't Suck Anymore - ReadWrite
• Gmail for iOS gets a major update - BetaNews
• Gmail for iPhone and iPad gets redesigned, adds multiple account support, more - iMore.com
• Hands-on: Gmail 2.0 for iOS is more Google-Plus-ified than ever (Updated) - Ars Technica

About the same time, we also have a nice YouTube -free - (Apple Store) app update as well. I didn’t have any complaints about the first version but I see they have made some changes to the category pick and a few other things that might appeal to some.  No biggie either way to me. I enjoy using it pretty well. iMore.com has a quick review and AddictiveTips blog goes into a more detailed review as well.  Don’t forget Vimeo for iPhone also has a new update (Vimeo - free - Apple Store) that works nicely.

I still haven’t read an iPhone 5 manual at all and I’m sure there are a lot of navigational and usage things that I’m missing out on. So until that time comes, I’m collecting and reading a lot of tips and trick posts from iPhone focus sites such as over at iMore.com.

• How to replace the volume buttons in an iPhone 4S - iMore.com
• How to manually transfer media to your iPhone and iPad with iTunes 11 -iMore.com
• How to fix auto-brightness issues with iOS 6 - iMore.com

Likewise, I’m liking the new iTunes 11 release but as ArsTechnica points out, it’s a bit of a handful to take it all in: iTunes 11 review: Simple is as simple does - Ars Technica

Finally, there are bunch of quality iPhone wallpapers out there if you know where to find them.  Because of the standard square icon size of the apps, depending on the number of apps you have you might not get as much of a chance to see the background as much as you wish…unless perhaps on your lock-screen. Accordingly I think subtle goes a longer way than bold and detailed images.  Here are some to pick though if you desire.

iPhone 5 Wallpaper Pack - FiftyFootShadows.net. John Carey is an amazing writer and photographer and his blog is a must-follow read for me. His iPhone wallpaper pack is hands-down the very best (IMHO) of graphical goodness for refined and sophisticated images for iPhone. I selected one from this collection on the same day I brought home my iPhone (and though tempted at times) still haven’t found anything to make me want to change it.

iPhone 5 Wallpapers - Tumblr. This Tumblr blog is filled with iPhone 5 specific wallpapers. It’s a great place to check in daily at for some great high-quality wallpapers.

iPhone 5 Wallpapers HD - Retina ready, stunning wallpapers. This is a great site as it not only has more than a ton of HD iPhone 5 ready wallpapers, but it also has some gadgets to make your own customized wallpapers in a few themes. Nicely categorized for easy navigation and searching. If you notice, each image has two smaller icons underneath, hover over the padlock and you will see a sample of what the image would look like on the “lock” screen. hover over the four-grouped-icons and you will see a sample of the background covered with app icons.  This is a super-nice touch assessing the visual appeal of the wallpaper on an actual phone.

20 Unusual Wallpapers For The iPhone 5 - noupe. Nice roundup of some a bit more non-traditional wallpapers.

The Shelf iPhone Wallpapers - Barlelme.at - The standard iOS icon size and grid layout makes “shelf” wallpapers very appealing for some users. It’s not my thing but these are well done it it is yours.

iPhone 5 Internals Wallpaper - iFixit - These are simply brilliant and geeky! Wallpapers are in a perfect to-scale internal view of the iPhone components under the glass and a just-smaller-than-scale version to include a few more of the techy-bits if you want to see them.

Great iPhone 5 Wallpapers - MacStories.net - Nice collection of links to other wallpaper sites for iPhone.

Aperture Logos Modern Style (iPhone) - Damien Erambert - If you are a Portal fan, then you definitely need to consider these. Super fun for the “don’t eat the cake” fans!

Cheers!

--Claus Valca.

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Brief list of port monitoring tools

A while back we deployed some special purpose server systems. They are pretty simple in terms of function but do provide some critical infrastructure support.

So when they go off-line for whatever reason (power failure, unplugged network cable, etc.) we need to respond to get them back online.

Proactive monitoring is pretty thin and currently we have more of a reactive monitoring solution. Someone needs one of these systems, finds it is down, and call us to fix it fast.

Nice.

So one solution developed was as simple batch file that ran a ping against the server IP’s. If a ping failed, then notice would be auto-emailed to selected staff to check it out.

That seems ok, but what happens when the NIC is up and responding to ping, but the core applications/OS has actually hung and it really isn’t “operationally” on-line, though the NIC is? Kinda gives the impression you don’t have a problem that you really do.

These systems are very simple and we can’t run any additional “client" software on it to “phone home” for service health and availability…something like Paessler's PRTG Network Monitor.

I did identify a few critical network services running on the systems and found that they communicated out on specific ports.

If we could run port-scans against those ports and found them open/listening, then that might provide a more accurate assessment of the servers’ health rather than the basic ping reply/no-reply feedback.

So here are a few of the tools and utilities I considered in that approach.

• Advanced Port Scanner 1.3 - free - Radmin. I liked this tool the best. Not only is it small and light, you can specify a set list of IP’s to scan against, as well as specific ports. The IP’s of our servers were loaded as well as the ports in question and I quickly can find out which systems are up and have the targeted services running.
  
• Microsoft PortQry Command Line Port Scanner Version 2.0 & PortQryUI - free - This is a command-line tool to query ports and get output. This is a great tool for a wide-number of network administration tasks, but really shines in that it is at the core a single exe file and can be used in batch files. The GUI tool version makes things a bit more visual if you need the functionality but without the CLI. Some additional resource information on the PortQry tool are provided below:
  
  • New features and functionality in PortQry version 2.0 - Microsoft Support
  • How to Make Portqry.exe Only Report Listening Ports - Microsoft Support
  • How To: Mastering PortQry.exe (Part 1) - WindowsSecurity.com
  • How To: Mastering PortQry.exe (Part 2) - WindowsSecurity.com
  • Thread Batch file for checking port status of multiple IP Address - BoardReader forum thread.
  • Simple Admin Tricks: Quick & Dirty Monitoring - Vircom Blog
    
• Angry IP Scanner - free - It had been a long time since I checked in on this IP/Port scanning tool. It has been in my utility toolbox for a long time, but the newer version supports running on Linux, Mac OSX and Windows. The Windows version in both a 32 and 64-bit version. It does require Java.
  
• SoftPerfect Network Scanner - free - This is my go-to favorite network scanner. It always provides very fast scan results and you can also specify port scanning feedback.
  
• Blue's Port Scanner - free - Nice and simple port scanner in both GUI and CLI versions.
  
• YAPS - free - another nice CLI/GUI support port scanner.
  
• PortScanner - free - a simple port scanner by Richard Moss
  
• SLCheck 2.0 - free - This is an alternative CLI port checking tool somewhat similar to PortQry but with a lot more bells and whistles.
  
• Nmap - Free Security Scanner - free - this tool is like serious overkill for our simple task but if you need to do extensive port/network monitoring, it might be the trick.
  
• Service Availability Tool - free - Fluke Networks.  This is a pretty cool network monitoring application tool although it does have it's limits. Set up IP/Servers you are monitoring, define services on those IP’s by port numbers or services names and let it run. Worth checking out if you need a more GUI/reporting-based tool. Download available from link with registration or from CNET Download.com

If you have any additional utilities or tricks for remotely monitoring server/service availability please drop a tip into the comment jar!

Cheers,

--Claus V.

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More iPhone apps

Having a smartphone is an insidious thing.

Before you could be quite content to use your phone to check the time/date, maybe snap a photo, communicate via some texting, and -- of course -- make phone calls. Life was simple.

Then a smartphone comes along and you discover a world of applications that you must have to survive. Most are free but some are indispensible and mean dropping some $-$$ so you can be well kitted.

Sigh.

So in my last post, I shared a list of Apple iOS apps I had loaded up on my new smartphone to get started with.

A few weeks later (and an Apple iTunes 11 update to ice things off) I find I’ve now dropped a little mad-money on some paid apps as well as uncovered a few more free ones.

So here is a list of the most recent apps to supplement the ones previously installed.

• TeamViewer HD for Remote Control - free - iTunes App Store. For inside-the-network remote-control support I am really liking Mocha VNC for iPhone. But when I am in the field and remote-support of a family member’s system is required from the smartphone, I’ve turned to TeamViewer. I just point them to this TeamViewer Portable app to download and “install” to their local system and then I can connect at will. If I am at home and on my Windows systems, I still prefer the Remote ShowMyPC app, though subscribers do have a HTML viewer option available.
  
• MapQuest - free - iTunes App Store. My brother put me on to this one. It’s major selling point is that you can have voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation.
  
• Until the Google Maps for iOS app is re-released to the public, you can also follow these simple steps from PCMag.com on How to Get Google Maps on iOS 6.
  
• Survival Guide - free - iTunes App Store. Works great as long as your battery is running. Probably better to study ahead of time and then refer if needed.
  
• Wave Alarm - Motion Control Alarm Clock - free/$ - iTunes App Store. I really like the design interface for this alarm clock app. The ads are pretty obtrusive to the beautiful design, particularly in the horizontal orientation. Nice compliment to the same vendor’s free Wave Timer app I had previously downloaded.
  
• Vimeo - free - iTunes App Store. Just released a few days ago, this new upate is very slick and works great for watching the very best Vimeo has to offer. (review)
  
• NOAA Hi-Def Radar - $ - iTunes App Store. This is marginal improvement over the free MyRadar Weather Radar app I had previously downloaded. The radar image quality is much better, but it doesn’t seem to provide the true “real-time” radar imagery data I was hoping for. It seems to run about 3-4 minutes on average behind the current time. Not a “waste” but not quite what hoped. I also considered the $$ RadarScope app (review) but decided against it for now.
  
• WeatherMap+ - $ - the iTunes App Store. Sure I have The Weather Channel® Max app which does a great job on providing current and future weather conditions and projections, but the WeatherMap+ takes it to next level by displaying advanced data in precip, temps, wind speed and pressures.
  
• Spyglass - $$ - iTunes App Store.  I had been playing with and using this same vendor’s Commander Compass Lite and liked it a lot. I had looked at upgrading to the Commander Compass app they offer but found out that it was superseded by Spyglass so I went with it instead. Besides advanced compass data, it also adds viewfinder/HUD, gyrocompass, map support, GPS tracking, rangefinder, sextant, inclinometer, and a few other neat things. Super geeky but super cool!
  
• iHikeGPS - $$ - iTunes App Store. Having had a fun day-long walkabout in a state park recently with my brother and a friend, it stuck me that having some orienteering/topo maps handy could be a good thing. After a bit of research and study I went with this app. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet but just playing with it for the local area, it seems like it will fit the bill nicely. I also considered Topo Maps and Trails.

Still pending purchase…maybe just before the 2013 hurricane season?

• Hurricane Tracker - $ - iTunes App Store. (review). Tons and tons of maps, charts, alerts, and tropical storm data for us hurricane data/tracking junkies.
• Hurricane - $ - iTunes App Store. This one seems to be comparable to the Hurricane Tracker app above and seems to be beloved by many, many fans and reviewers.

I wish there were “trial” versions so we can try out some of these side-by-side before committing.

Other iOS tips, tricks, and news bits

• You can have iPhone 5, I'll take Google Nexus 4 - BetaNews
• i-Flash Drive HD for iPhone5, iPad mini, iPad 4G - Borns IT & Windows Blog (GTranslated)
• iMore.com - iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV owner news and info site
• iPhone.AppStorm - iPhone App Reviews, Games, Roundups & Giveaways
• How to send texts using iMessage - iMore.com
• How many Apple IDs should your family have? - Apple News, Tips and Reviews
• The 50 Best Free iPhone Apps of 2012 - PCMag.com

Cheers,

--Claus V.

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I Blame it on the Pizza Box (and my brother)

Over the past month or two I have shared a number of posts regarding my desire to explore upgrading my text/voice-only Samsung Mythic/SGH-a897 mobile phone.

It has been a solid performer and I love the haptic virtual keyboard.

Both Lavie and Alvis have iPhone 4 models. Mom and Dad both have iPhones. My brother has recently upgraded to a wicked iPhone 5.

I’ve been quite happy with just unlimited texting/mobile calls and supporting the family in the iOS phone arena.

Or so I thought.  The more I supported them, the more the disparity between my phone and theirs became clear.  At night I would ask Lavie to borrow hers when I didn’t want to pull out my laptop to check a TV schedule or look up an arcane fact on a whim.  Alvis would roll her eyes when I asked her to look up something when we were running errands.

The writing..as they say..was on the wall. Future Mobile Phone Upgrade?

So, timing being what it is, I’ve pretty passionately followed all the buzz and technical details on the Windows 8 Phone. Windows 8 Phone: Linkage Round-up.

I liked a lot of what I saw. The hardware seemed solid. The OS seemed fresh and different. And Windows Phone 8 seemed to resolve a lot of the issues that hampered Windows Phone 7/7.5.

So with an offer of an early Christmas Day present from my brother and the image of a takeout pizza box lid in my mind, we went last Saturday to a local corporate mobile carrier and I walked out the door with an…Apple - iPhone 5 (black - 64GB), and a handful of accessories.

Whatever observations and parallels may have already been drawn along these lines by others in the past, I am struck by a feeling that I am reliving a lot of the Monolith interaction/awe first experienced in 2001 A Space Odyssey when I behold this object. I’m not sure if it is here to monitor and guide me or if I will be changed (positively or negatively) by it. It is an amazing tool to be sure.

It is seriously serious and I’m seriously and passionately in love with it. Samsung may have that sexy Galaxy S III ad and does a great job mocking a particular group of smartphone users, but when I reach for the black iPhone 5, I can’t help but think (guiltily and wrongly) of this Fiat 500 Abarth commercial.

Please bear with me as I explain just a bit.

• My brother’s early gift was a significant factor, but maybe not the way gentle readers may think. He is a super-cool dude and I am forever indebted to him for this early and generous delivery. However, while it did influence when I made the iPhone jump (now rather than early next year), and what iPhone I jumped to (iPhone 5 at a 64 GB level), I have no doubt that I would have still gone with the iPhone…with it only being an iPhone 4/S at maybe a 16 GB level. That would have been well within my personal budget point with shelves being cleared for the iPhone 5 products and you can get them for $100 or so with a 2-year contract, or much less.
• The more reviews I read, and the more ads I saw, and the more videos I watched on line, two “features” really stood out regarding the Windows Phones. I came to seriously find the “live” tile feature/notifications way too “noisy” and the phone and its app base seemed to be centered around online social media/interactions. The tiles constantly called out for attention and response. And all the core apps featured called for sharing information with others and getting information from others. Identifying these trends (fairly or not) was a clarion call that the Windows 8 Phone and I were likely not to be BFF’s. Being borderline OCD, I have enough trouble with my in-box at work not stressing me out and I’m continually challenged to not let my inbox drive my agenda/tasking. And while I get the whole social-media thing, I’m not a Twitter user, not a Facebook user, I do blog and love sharing info…but am at the core an introvert and prefer to interact with a small core of folks and emails and texting does me just fine…thank you very much. Having a phone that seemed centered around the on-line social experience and chattering at me all day long just didn’t seem like a good idea.
• The more I researched and compared the apps available in the Apple App Store against those in the Windows Phone Apps+Games Store, the more the (current) disparity seemed clear. I could find some free apps for the Windows Phone I might use, I could find way-too-many apps in the Apple App Store I would actually need and…wait for it…purchase
• Hardware wasn’t as much a deciding factor as I thought it would be. Almost all current smartphones (Android/Apple/Microsoft) all have an acceptable level of power for their OS platforms. And since I was going from a voice/texting platform, almost anything I picked would seem like a sports-car in comparison. Sure I read the tech specs and crunched the numbers, but any of the platforms I considered would have done a super job for my needs.
• I could with some minor work, port our still growing iTunes library of music/video to the Windows Phone but with no work it could be added to the iPhone.
• My whole family is happy dual-natured and I can support them fine: Desktop/Laptops are Windows OS. Mobile devices are iPhones/iPads and I can support them fine.
• As I recounted in the last post, the cellular store sales folks practically ignored the latest Windows 8 Phones on their display shelf. They weren’t busy when I visited them and there was no concern they didn’t operate properly, or even at all. That sent a signal to me loud and clear…intended or not about that product line.
• And then there was the pizza box. That was the clincher for me. See, I had dropped by a major pizza delivery chain on the way home from work a few weeks ago to grab dinner for us. I called ahead on the road and placed my order. I picked up the pies and while we were digging them out of the boxes, I noted that on the (very graphically overloaded) box lid, that they offered smartphone apps for both the Android and iPhone for placing your pizza order. But not for Windows Phone. And I really couldn’t imagine them placing one there for it. Ever. Once that became burned into my awareness, I suddenly found that MOST places and businesses and services I use and go do had Android and iPhone apps but none for Windows Phones. Not my bank, not my insurance company, not my grocery store, not my electric company, not my cable company, to name just a few. That is serious.  To be fair, I’m sure that with time, maybe these places I spend my money at will eventually pay someone to develop a Windows Phone app. But they don’t have them yet…and I need them now.  Maybe Microsoft’s Windows Phone will mature and go on to live in an app-rich eco-system. But right now it isn’t and I don’t need a chatty junior-high school BFF. I need a mature and trusted platform…especially if I’m going to be shelling out $-$$ for apps.

The iPhone 5 is slim (almost 1/2 the thickness of my former Samsung Mystic phone), super fast (is there a quad-core in that thing?), video display is the Retina type and super crisp and rich, all apps I’m using so far open super-fast; no crashes or hangs. Reception is way better than my Mystic ever was. I paired my quite old Jawbone Bluetooth to it. It’s taken me the better part of a week (and some loving and patient coaching through iOS idiosyncrasies from Lavie and Alvis) to get used to the navigational tricks but I never feel frustrated or lost. Siri is like having Zooey Deshanel in my pocket all the time. And yes, it is joined to our home Wi-Fi to save on data-plan usage.

For posterity (or the curious) listed below are the free/$-$$ Apple Apps I have loaded up on it right now to get started. I also have collection of playlist music loaded from our iTunes library along with three full-length digital movies. I’ve not even scratched the surface of the 64 GB of storage it holds.

Note: all links point to the application’s page in the iTunes App Store unless otherwise specified.

The Core Apps

These are the ones I expect to use the majority of the time for information intake.

• Chrome - (free) - While the Safari browser on the iPhone is fine, I prefer the Chrome browser.
• Gmail - (free) - I use this for one of my primary personal accounts…though sadly it doesn’t yet support multiple Gmail accounts at this time. I use the Apple Mail app for the rest of my email accounts.
• Kindle - (free) - for all my Kindle books on the Amazon cloud.
• Byline - ($$) - An RSS feed reader. I’ve uploaded my Omea Feed Reader OMPL file to Google Reader and linked Byline to that. I like that I can sync all my RSS feeds via home Wi-Fi and cache them to the iPhone to read at my pleasure on the go without hitting my data-plan balance if I don’t want to. It is very fast and hasn’t choked on any of the feeds I follow yet.
• YouTube - (free) - Guilty entertainment pleasure.
• ESPN ScoreCenter - (free) - I don’t have it set to push notifications/alerts but wanted an easy location to check my favorite teams. This does the job much easier than checking Google and is very customizable.

Daily Utilities

These are apps that I may not use quite so frequently, but think I am going to need from a practical standpoint.

• MiniKeePass - (free) - able to read my KeePass database on the go.
• Wave Timer - (free) - timing made simple for hard-boiled eggs and other cooking fun.
• Decibel 10th - (free) - for when I’m checking up on the sound-desk operations.
• MyRadar Weather Radar - (free) - Adequate for now but I’m looking into other more HD quality radar apps ($-$$) with closer to “live” imaging. I’m a storm/radar junkie. Recommendations?
• The Weather Channel® Max - ($) - no ads like the free version has. One of many weather apps available but this one seems to have a good balance for my personal needs.
• Find My iPhone - (free) - enough said.
• Converter Plus - (free) - got it for metric and IT unit conversion support.
• iHandy Carpenter - ($) - got the full set of apps so I can make sure those server/switch racks are pretty level (or not).
• Easy Note + To Do - (free) - may not be the final choice. Wanted a simple (but visually neat) note/task list…not looking for a full PIMM app. Tried Franklin-Covey back in the day and we just didn’t get along in the long-term.

A Bit More Specialized

• Adobe Photoshop Express - (free) - for some quick touch ups and effects.
• Adobe Reader for iPhone - (free) - I carry a lot of PDF whitepapers, manuals, and digital media magazines. Should supplement the Kindle app nicely.
• Learn German: Babbel - (free) - I’m got a German family background and always have felt guilty I know more Spanish than German. Who knows…?
• Commander Compass Lite - (free) - more “manly” compass than the stock Apple one. May yet spring for the ($) version.

News

• NPR - (free) - for when the radio isn’t handy.
• PBS - (free) - to check our local PBS programming schedules.
• PRI - (free) - more news.
• Science Friday - (free) - Science news fix
• TED - (free) - motivations and outside-the-box visioning.

For the IT Guy

These are currently mostly helpful to me and the personal Wi-Fi/networks I have and support. They also provide useful lookup information for IT research and troubleshooting. Pretty cool stuff and capabilities, even around a mostly (still) wired world. 

• Speedtest.net Mobile Speed Test - (free) - for checking data-transmission speeds.
• Fing - Network Scanner - (free) - who knew a super-cool network scanner I loved in a desktop version is available in a mobile version? Easy to keep an eye on my home network connections.
• Deep Whois - ($) - super cool appearance and handy for IP/Hostname lookups.
• Nice Trace - traceroute - ($) - This is a really handy and easy-to-use traceroute tool. Must have.
• Network Ping Lite - (free) - Neat subnet pinger/sweeper with a few other tools tossed in.
• Mocha iSys - (free) - While it isn’t a Process Explorer or Process Monitor app, it does provide a wealth of key technical info on the iPhone unit.
• Mocha VNC for iPhone - ($$) - VNC remote viewer app to connect to a VNC-based server system. I use this around the house (and at the church-house) to remote-connect to our desktop systems. This paid version has enough bells and whistles to justify the expense over the free Mocha VNC Lite version which I tried for a few days. That was stable and easy so I jumped to the paid version. It worked flawlessly with my TightVNC server/apps.  Cool Trick: connect my home laptop via Cat-6 to our 1 GB router port (Wi-Fi ok as well), connect laptop HDMI video output to our home TV with the HDMI cable. Jump on couch and watch streaming movies via Hulu outputed to big-screen and use Mocha VNC on iPhone as fancy remote to control streaming content selections on laptop. I remember as a kid when the BetaMax “remote” was a corded remote strung across the living room floor. How far have we come?!  Alternative I considered was VNC Viewer for iPhone but there wasn’t a free version and I didn’t want to drop the ($$$) for a VNC Viewer I couldn’t trial first to be sure it worked flawlessly with TightVNC.
• I still need to pick out a subnet/mask calculator. I’ve got several desktop apps I use, but would find a iPhone app version handy to have. I found a few so far but didn’t feel the love just yet for any I have uncovered so far.
• Any additional IT/network support/reference App recommendations?

Additional Reference Links

• Best iPhone Apps - MakeUseOf blog
• Getting Location Aware & Other Useful Tips On Getting The Most Out Of Siri [iPhone] - MakeUseOf blog
• The 50 Best Free iPhone Apps of 2012 - PCMag.com
• 6 Best iPhone VNC Clients & Remote Access Apps - (2008 post) - VoIP-Sol.com
• iOS - AddictiveTips
• iPhone.AppStorm - iPhone App Reviews, Games, Roundups & Giveaways
• Why I might switch from an iPhone to an Android smartphone [Updated] - Dwight Silverman’s TechBlog
• First impressions: Apple’s iPhone 5 is better than its specs - Dwight Silverman’s TechBlog
• Follow-up: Did I make the right decisions sticking with iPhone & AT&T? [Updated] - Dwight Silverman’s TechBlog

Expect considerably more iPhone OS postings and diminished Win 8 Phone posting here at GSD. If that bums you out, blame the pizza company and my brother.

If you have any advice and/or favorite apps you have found beneficial please consider sharing your experience in the comments. They would be well appreciated.

Cheers!

--Claus V.

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