This is not in any way an exhaustive review of apps for iOS. It is instead a list of apps I have personally found useful. I may not have tried alternates so while I welcome alternate suggestions in the comments, please accept my apologies in advance if I’ve made a choice in ignorance of an app superior to the one I’m recommending. As I don’t have unlimited funds, I’ve made some of my choices based on user or editorial reviews … Read the rest
Ever since Sparrow Mail went the way of the dodo,1 the search for a good email client has been on. Sparrow continues to work, but it never fully matured as an email client and will never again be supported. Sparrow therefore is not a good long-term option. I still use Sparrow on my laptop and on my iPhone, but I’ve moved back to Apple’s Mail.app on my desktop system. Mail.app’s interface has improved substantially in the time I … Read the rest
Today I grieve for American politics.
I’ve been watching my friends on various social networks as they reacted to the results of last night’s election, and it has struck me odd to see how happy so many people are that Barack Obama won. It’s alien to me not because I don’t understand — and to some extent approve of — the reasons he won. I do. I predicted months ago that Obama had the election pretty much sewn up. Mitt … Read the rest
I wanted to get this out there before the election results start coming in, in case we have a situation where the electoral winner of the election is not the same as the candidate with the most popular votes. If that happens, anyone complaining will be seen as a sore loser and I want to be clear no matter how this election goes, this campaign season has convinced me that the electoral college causes more problems than it fixes and … Read the rest
This morning’s email includes an email by the makers of my favorite email client for the Mac and for iPhone: Sparrow Mail. At the top of this email is a simulacrum of Sparrow’s logo, but drawn with Google’s trademark colors. The email starts off with this cheerful news:
… Read the restWe’re excited to let you know that Sparrow has been acquired by Google! You can view our public announcement here, but I wanted to reach out directly to make sure you were
Just thinking out loud here for a moment. I’m sure that any flaws in my logic will be pointed out in the comments.
My only problem with a balanced budget amendment is that times of economic downturn could be the worst time to cut back spending. I’m not going to go full keynesian and say that if the economy shrinks that it’s time to increase spending, but I will concede that cutting back at those times is likely to be … Read the rest
My Moto Guzzi has been running pretty rough lately. It wouldn’t start on my trip into San Francisco for a doctor’s appointment the day before Independence Day and I had to get it trailered back to Alameda. A couple of months ago I had a similar-seeming issue which was an electrical problem, but this did not seem electrical. The starter motor turned the engine over with vigor but the darn thing would not catch.
Next on my list of usual suspects … Read the rest
It’s way past time for the rear brake pads on the Guzzi to be replaced. I’ve been putting it off for too long thinking that I don’t really use my rear brake that much anyway. Of course, that’s terrible reasoning for at least three reasons.
First, it’s terrible reasoning because I ought to use my rear brake. The front brake is always going to do more work, but why not let the rear brake do its part too? Novice riders … Read the rest
We could not have asked for better weather for the Independence Day Ralph Appezzato Charity Event 5K this year. The RACE is a great event for a few reasons. The 5K is on the parade route for the Alameda Fourth of July Parade. People line up to watch the parade along the entire route, so there are spectators, many of whom cheer enthusiastically, from the start to the finish. The spectators don’t dwindle at the end either; most … Read the rest
I’d never gone for a run on sand before. I’ve heard some advocates of barefoot running claim that running barefoot on sand encourages good form, improves ground feel, and so on. Since now I live so near to a stretch of beach it seems that I have a good opportunity to get some variety in my workouts, even more so because I’m not in a position yet to be working on getting fast. Keeping it interesting while possibly helping to … Read the rest