Fun stuff happening…

My good pals at AlkaliMedia [website] are working hard on a new, secret project.  Not even a peep as to what it is.  You’re scarin’ me guys!  I can’t wait to see what is in store for 2010!  Be sure to follow them on Twitter [@AlkaliMedia - Twitter page link] for the latest updates and random coolness (see this Twitter page)

After weeks of “TwitterTension“, @RazorianFly and @HeresIsJames have announced Sparepot [website], an all-in-one development shop for the iPhone.  This is going to be one of the coolest things of 2010 and I cannot wait to see what evolves out of this.  They are looking for talented people to join the team so check out the website link above and get in touch with them if you are interested!

Twittelator [website] (both free and pro versions – iTunes links) received a MASSIVE update recently!  I can’t begin to list all the features this iPhone Twitter client has.  There are just too many!  But not in the bad way where its over stuffed and difficult to maneuver, they did a damn good job on making them all easy to find and customize.  The free version is enough for the average Twitter user, but the Pro version looks to be the real deal for those of serious tweeting.  I will be picking up the Pro version over the holidays and attempting a full fledged review (I don’t know what I am thinking, I must be insane!).

I was recently introduced to Boxcar [website] [iTunes link] and I have got to say, this is my favorite utility for push notifications!  In short, it delivers alerts for various services such as Facebook, Twitter, RSS, etc. and it does it REALLY WELL!  Actually, I have been notified in times where various Twitter clients, or even Twitter @reply/mention services were going haywire!  That saved me because I personally like to thank anyone who re-tweets (RT) any of my messages.  Not only does it push alerts, but it also saves preferred applications to launch when receiving an alert!  Now that is slick!  Get this app!  There is no question about it, this is a must have for iPhone users!

Lastly, I have been testing RandomPlay, an upcoming app from ChilliX [website].  I like this app a lot and I can’t wait to see it on the app store.  For some reason, I am not able to find the bug(s) that Apple is claiming to have experienced though.  Thats fine by me, I get to listen to more music while I write blogs or read.  Check out the latest update on RandomPlay at ChilliX’s blog along with a screenshot of it in action.

Check out the previous installment where HSBC addresses the traveler in you.

So, it seems I still get millions of emails and questions despite the fact I direct them to this site, kinda annoying huh? So I am gonna create a hugeeee stock pile of questions, and information. I’m not gonna go through it by size of ear, so just attach your size of ear to the question and it should apply.

I’m also gonna run into looking after your ears, as where I live it is cold, and some peoples ears (including mine) act horribly during the winter. So, please refer to this page before emailing me, and I may love you forever.

So, things that will be covered, Blow outs, tears, rips, swollen, puss, blood, downsizing, thickening up, stretching, tape, teflon, bondage, and jewellery. All very summarized, but will go into more detail down below! Lets begin.

Questions

Q: My ears are thin, what can I do?

A: Downsize, is generally the first point of conversation. A lot of people hate downsizing, because its going backwards. Well, to be honest, it’s not generally for long, and the re-stretch is 10x easier! If my ears are looking a bit thin, generally what I do, is take them down 2 sometimes 4 sizes, and do vitamin e rubs. They’ll be loose for a few days but they’ll tighten around the jewellery, then when it comes to re-stretching, your ears will be full of blood and new cells will be developed for the re-stretch! Some people I know at much bigger sizes say that down sizing is the reason they got to the size they got to. I always downsize when I can, but not normally during winter as the ears are under a lot of stress.

Q: My ear is bleeding / pussing / oozing.. HELP..

A: Well, anything bleeding, pussing, or oozing is never a good sign. I’ve seen some peoples ears, where they have thick green stuff coming out of it, I’ve seen purple ears, blue ears, yellow ears, ears which are so crusted, when you took out the jewellery there was still a perfect circle formation!  So, what can you do? Well, firstly, as per usual downsize. But first you have to clean thoroughly your ear. Saline solution (either pre-bought (contact lens cleaner is amazing, as its distilled water, and salt)) which is 1 part salt to about 250ml water, and clean the ear. Maybe take a shower with the jewellery out, as that’ll soften to ear up a bit not to mention cleaning it too, but please don’t “wash” the ear with body wash. Make sure your hands are clean, if possible, wear gloves, not always an option but make sure your hands are at least clean. Using a cotton bud (Q-Tip to our American counterparts) and rub slightly across the ear infection, and make sure its clean. Sometimes removing crusties will cause the ear to bleed, sometimes what I do in this situation is dip the cotton bud (fresh one) into saline, and leave it on, so as to not be abrasive with the actual wound.

Once thats all done, stick in the downsized jewellery and keep an eye on it. Honestly you’ll find within a few days the swelling will go down and the ear will almost be 100%. I say give it a week to 10 days and the ear will be ready for stretching!

Q: I can’t find jewellery.. Where do you get yours?

A: Lots of places, but in 3″ its a lot harder than people who are smaller than 2″. One of my favourite and most trusted sites is http://www.bodyartforms.com and http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com! Both are amazing sites, and have everything you would need to stretch up to 3″ sometimes depending on their stock levels! There are a few custom jewellery sites, like http://www.aestheticbodymods.com they do custom pieces up to 4″ which is pretty intense.

Q: Best lubricant to use on ears

A: I use Vitamin E oil, because it massages as well as works as a good lubricant. Never use just water, spit, baby oil or vaseline. Water doesn’t work, and will dry almost instantly. Not to mention it’s not a good lubricant. Don’t spit on your finger and use that to get a plug-in, this isn’t back yard sex. Baby oil, its scented, and just won’t work, especially if your ear tears, you’re talking mega infection. Vaseline is the worst. It’s not water based, it’s almost a paste. It may work, or seem like it works but what you’re doing is setting up a bacteria trap. Use: KY Jelly (embarrassing to buy.. but still), Emu Oil, Bio Oil, Jojoba Oil. Those are the best, and I’ve used all. If you’ve got an infection, use non scented KY Jelly, as its water based, and won’t irritate an infection.

Q: OMGZ You’re a faggot why are you doing this? What you gonna do when you turn 90, you look like a paedophile, etc..etc..

A: Now, there isn’t an insult I haven’t heard. Everything ranging from, “I wouldn’t leave my child with you” to “You are a sadistic freak”.. Now, I’d like to think people could be a little bit more constructive in their feedback, but lately I’m finding on my YouTube videos that this is impossible.

What will I do when I’m 90? Nothing, probably sit there, drool and shit my pants like the rest of the 90 year olds. To be honest, I have a job, I have an education, I have a loving family, what more do I need? Seriously, my parents don’t care, my brothers and sister don’t care, and guess what, I have like 7 nieces and nephews who love their alternative uncle. If you ever decide to have a conversation, you’ll find that I am just like you. I am no more a sadist than the person in the suit next to me. Does it mean I like to have sadistic sex in the blood of an animal? No. People will stare, people will giggle, people will point, people will take pictures. You know what? If I’m that interesting to them to take time out from doing what they do, then let them do it. I’ve had people almost crash cars look at me, I’ve been called everything, I’ve had people start fights because of me, hell my brother has almost smashed someones camera because of me. Stretching your ears takes commitment, and I won’t say that it does come with a price. I’m not going to say it’s not socially acceptable, because I don’t care. But it’s certainly considered deviant. Sometimes, it does get to you, I won’t lie, other times I just laugh at people’s stupidity. But you’ve got to, and you’ve got to have confidence to carry it off. You know what.. If I lost my ears tomorrow, I’d be sad, I’d miss the attention, negative or positive.

I do what I do, because its me. My dad taught me how to do it, and its something I will continue doing until the day I see that it becomes a problem, and no amount of negative feedback or comments will make me take them out, it will be my decision, and MY decision only.

Q: They don’t make tapers in 50mm what do I do?

A: People think I stretched using giant tapers.. Can you imagine the weight of a 60 – 65mm taper, it’d weigh the same as a small bag of sugar!  Taping or dead stretching. Dead stretching is ok, but can cause problems. Forcing jewellery in is never the best idea, thats why I tape. I used to use electrical tape, but I now use Bondage tape! Unfortunately the only place to buy Bondage tape is from Adult shops, so you might as well combine the shop with some KY (all for the ears of course!).. But it comes in awesome colours! Anyway, I would say that 5/6 full wraps, around the jewellery is about a size. So I would start off by adding one, and leaving it a few days even if its still loose, and then adding more to eventually close the gap! When I was stretching to 3″ I had plugs, which were 59mm, but 3″ is 18mm.. So, thats right it had nearly 18mm of tape around the plug. It was uncomfortable, and heavy. But it was cheap and did the job. Buying plugs to dead stretch can sometimes be a waste of money, think about it, you’re sitting at 25mm, you want 28mm, and it pops right in and it’s still loose.. What a waste of time. With tape you can eliminate the need for stupid expenses, and just set yourself goals. Tape your 25mm plug, buy 30mm jewellery, and so on.. Or in my case, tape my 59mm plugs and buy 76mm jewellery, haha..

Q: Weights…

A: Weights are controversial to say the least. I made two videos with weights, purely as a demonstration piece at how big my ears actually were. I haven’t really used weights to stretch much, except in the later sizes. Weights can be helpful, but I don’t think they should be used longterm. I certainly don’t think people should be using things like padlocks either! Weight stretching can cause uneven stretching, and can cause thin ears too. Especially if the weights have a thin hanging point. Because this puts a lot of stress on one part of the ear, and can cause the ear to thin in one point.

People think that by using weights it evens out blow out. Well it doesn’t. If you are going to wear weights, please remember that they are a huge inconvenience in the real world, especially if you have fairly large lobes, the swinging and the dangling, it doesn’t make for turning your head very fun. Not to mention incase anything bad happens, for the paranoid of you. But if you are going to wear weights, please buy weights which have a big surface area, as this will decrease the chances of thinning, and will increase the chances of your ear actually gaining a bit of width with it. Also, using weights doesn’t speed the transition up any more than normal stretching.

Well I hope this helped you lot out there!

Check out my profile page  ( appboy.com/mochasync ) at AppBoy, the social networking site for mobile application developers and fans.  I have posted some app ideas in hopes some one with more developing knowledge could help me launch one of them!  I’m especially proud of this one!

And if you are a developer, launch your own profile page and app store over on AppBoy.com – for free! TODAY!!

It seems every month, I find myself back in a familiar debate with myself: which iPhone Twitter client do I like more?  And this month has not been any different than the past.

Thanks to @Official_Jane [Twitter page link], and several others, I was introduced to Twittelator [iTunes link] Free (Pro version available too).  This one is really awesome!  You can customize the Live Feed colors and you can customize the bottom tab bar.  Thats one of my wishes for any application!  Although, the whole application still feels blocky, or rigid to me somehow.  It sure packs a ton of functionality though.  The free version locks about 15 or so features that the Pro version opens up.  I spent about one week demo-ing the free version and I feel that I wouldn’t need the paid version features aside from saving my UI color preferences.

Then there is the two I always battle over: TweetDeck & Twitterrific – [both are iTunes links].

Both of these clients have a desktop version available as well and there is no question that TweetDeck is my desktop client choice for good.  It integrates seamlessly with Facebook and LinkedIn while still giving me total control over my two Twitter accounts at the same time.  I found the Twitterrific desktop version hard to navigate and pretty basic.  As I have said before, simplicity can be a double edged sword.  In this case, Twitterrific’s desktop client simply did not offer the functionality and ease of use that TweetDeck does.

As for their iPhone clients, I am at a draw.  There is a side of me that feels better knowing that I am using the same client on my mobile as I do at my desk.  Yet, the other side of me is wanting to explore the new and fresh as if I was bored or feeling unappreciated.  Honestly, the latest reason for my digital infidelity was a long period where TweetDeck for iPhone would crash consistently when launching the application.  I had tried everything I could to rectify the issue, but nothing seemed to work.  So while waiting for an update to be release, I gave in to my curiosity and checked out some other clients.

Twitterrific still didn’t maneuver as easily as TweetDeck, though, it does look extremely polished and very cute.  One big plus for Twitterrific is that the buttons feel adequately sized.  I found myself accidentally sending incomplete, misspelled, or misdirected tweets/status updates because the account button on the compose window in TweetDeck are very small and hard to touch.  No one likes to read crappy tweets.  No one like a Mr. Bungle.

So which one did I settle on?  None.  I still have all three on my phone.  I find myself using Twittelator more than the others though.  It’s very very snappy, reliable, and it still gives me a feeling of uniqueness by letting me choose my UI.

However, in searching for a new mobile Twitter client, I was introduced to Tumblr (thanks @xdeliriumx!).  This micro-blogging site is so close to perfect for me, it’s hard to define what I want it to contain!  I can post a simple short blog really quickly with the free Tumblr iPhone App and it updates my Twitter account as well as my Facebook account too.  I will post a short blog here about it in a bit, but I want to reiterate the biggest reason I love Tumblr:  Simple access across many platforms and social networks.

Ministry & Leadership (formerly Reformed Quarterly) is the very nicely produced quarterly magazine of Reformed Theological Seminary. Some readers of this blog — perhaps even both of you — may be interested to know I contributed a short article entitled “Three Christmas Mysteries” to the Winter 2009 issue.

Ministry & Leadership gives a great overview of the mission and ministry of RTS. If you can see the value of the seminary’s work in training and equipping people for Bible-based gospel ministry, please consider making an online gift to support that work.

I am certainly not a fan of reality TV but how can I miss a show that is relevant to my personal interests and in this case BBQ? I saw the first episode last week and while the show consists of your typical producer induced drama scenes, I was generally pleased with the overall focus on what the show is actually about – BBQ competitions!

Back to the drama though, this show has several distinct personalities including the cocky king of BBQ, the nerdy Californian, a family man, the old timer, the courageous female and the young know it all. A good mix of characters and smack talking to keep the viewing audience captivated.

The nice thing about the show is that the pitmasters actually share some of their secrets on screen. In fact, they also outline a few on the show’s website here. Additionally, I like the fact that you get a good insiders view on some of the events that take place during a BBQ competition. I know there is a lot more to it than meets the eye but it serves as a good primer.

The two episodes on air were filmed at the Mesquite BBQ Championship in Nevada and Murphysboro Barbecue Cook-off in Illinois. The next episode took place at the Decatur Jaycees Riverfest in Alabama. Let’s hope they made their way down to Texas!

Whether you are into BBQ cook-offs or not, I suggest you tune in. For more information, click here.

In a world where social network sites out number people on earth (sarcasm found!), one is actually unique!  Introducing AppBoy!  A social site for developers and fans of mobile applications.

The idea is simple, really simple.  Give developers a place to network and promote their ideas while app fans can give feedback and share new app ideas for developers.  You can even sell your apps right on the AppBoy site too!

No silly mafia games, no anti-productive surveys, none of that garbage that comes with every social site in existence.  Just a wonderfully laid out, refreshing site for developers.  Not just iPhone developers too, ALL mobile developers!  WebOS, BlackBerry, and Android developers are welcomed just the same!

Head on over to check out the site.  Signup is free, so start posting your ideas now!  There  is even a chance to win $250 if you submit an app (details available on the AppBoy site)!  What are you waiting for?!

Get more AppBoy:
@AppBoy on Twitter
facebook.com/appboy

Woop, over 1,000 views! Thanks for the hits guys, hopefully you’ll keep coming back and I can turn this into a huge dedicated page all about stretching piercings and modification!

I uploaded a new video today;

Nothing too new to report, but people seem to live my videos. So, yeah I am hopefully going to expand this site onto a full blown domain, with proper hosting. I won’t mention the URL, as I don’t want anyone to steal it . But atleast then I can have a bit of advertising to cover the costs of the pages, unless you guys want to donate

Peace,

Roger.

Santa has dropped off a ton of blanks for the elves here at the shop. We’ve got a long list… are you on it? Get your orders in now for the holidays.

I came across this app last night, just after I wrapped up my 3 of my favorite minimalist productivity apps!  This is such a unique approach to Task management, I could barely wait to promote this!

Have a look at Today Todo [iTunes link] by Spielhaus [site link]!

It is beautiful!  A little cartoon-ish, but really awesome and crisp!  Speilhaus has created a highly unique way of managing your tasks and wrapped it in a stunning design!  The whole app makes use of two of the many iPhones key features: accelerometer and touch screen.  It’s so easy and natural, you’ll wonder why you haven’t thought of it!  I did!

First, the methodology:  Tasks are shown for just today.  Each day starts a fresh clean screen for you to enter new tasks.  You can review past tasks by sliding the Sun to the left… very neat!  To enter a task, you tilt the phone 90 degrees… BAM!  Landscape task entry!  Comfort anyone?

As with all of my favorite productivity apps, it’s back to basics here.  There are no due dates, no notes, nothing too complex at all.  Typical gestures that users are already familiar with are used here instead of buttons and icons.  Swipe to delete, double tap to edit, everything you’re already used to.

I haven’t purchased the Pro version [$2.99] yet, which includes more features such as sorting, priorities, and an option to carry over unfinished tasks to the next day.  There is also a sync feature that the developer is looking to include in a future update.  I am definitely all about this app!  Please do yourself a favor and check it out!

]]> http://identitychef.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/new-hsbc-printed-ads-an-appeal-to-the-universal-human-experience/ Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:15:22 +0000 Darine Sabbagh http://identitychef.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/new-hsbc-printed-ads-an-appeal-to-the-universal-human-experience/

Last week, when we were in Jordan, my prince charming  and I had a whole 15 minutes prowling around the hotel room and shoving out camera and mobile chargers into all the three-wholes sockets with hope of energizing our appliances. And hasn’t every traveler gone through that?

And that stretch to the inner ‘aha moment’, that establishes a positive interaction and sentiment is what makes this ad simply genius!

Not many task managers keep things simple.  Most over stuff features that a fair amount of us wouldn’t think of using.  Well, those of us without OCD.  Today, I want to share the last of the three that I found to capture the iPhones simplistic UI and capabilities.

The last is Listable [iTune link] by StackBuilders [website].

Take a deep breath, and trust me… this is much more than just a task / todo app.  This my friends, is team based task management with push notifications… for free.  Yeah, free.

First off, this is exactly what I am aiming to make so I have a very soft spot for this app right off the bat!  At the same time, I am amazed at the developers ability to offer push notifications for a free app!  Many kudos to you guys!

At first, I was a bit apprehensive about this app because I like really fancy UI stuff like themes or unique designs.  After reading that tasks can be “shared” with other people, and the push notification system, I had to try it.

So I downloaded it to mine and my wife’s iPhones, added a few test tasks to test the push option out… and it worked!  Pretty well too!  I was up and running in just a few minutes (there is a signup process when you first launch the app, but no worries, its quick).  I started to see some use for this app at my job, so I began inviting members of my IT team so we could share tasks and keep track of the progress.  Again, it proved to be a very handy tool for those of us who had iPhones.  But what about those who didn’t?

StackBuilders thought of that too.  They have included an equally simplistic web interface for the low low price of… yes, free.  I still can’t figure out how, but this is really cool!

The site allows task creation, editing, and sharing from the comfort of your desk or bed – I typically wake up with work ideas pounding in my skull, and with a simple interface on both platforms I don’t have to fumble around trying to capture that idea when I’m half asleep.  You laugh now, but it really did help!

The sword of simplicity (sounds like a progressive rock album) is a double edged one.  On one hand, it allows you to focus on productivity, enter tasks quickly, and performs quicker.  On the other, features are often left out like notes, separate edit history, or progress indicators.  I don’t knock the developer for not including these though, not everyone would need them.  Even still, incorporating them in such a way that is unique and un-obstructive is really challenging.  There in lies the beauty of updates (see Update Addiction).

All in all, this app is bound to help you and your friends, family, or co-workers stay more organized and productive without even costing you a red cent.  It really does a killer job!  Great work StackBuilders!

Earrings with ear posts right now are one of the hottest trends along with plugs and stretchers.  If you haven’t heard of them earrings with posts are a earring with a design that hangs, on top of the design are two holes in which the posts go through to keep them in the ear.  So basically you just have a design of your choice hanging from your ear.  These earrings are for both men and woman (how cool).  A lot of people think that you have to have your ear stretched to fit the posts in through your ear but you don’t a s long as you have your ears pierced your good so don’t be fooled by the post that most people confuse with a stretchers.    One particular material that is  very popular and inn at the moment are wooden ear post.  These ear posts are high in quality and give you a very modern artistic feel.  These ear posts are also very light weight and comfortable.  The great part is there very inexpensive so if you want to try them out or want to buy new ones it doesn’t put a hole in your wallet.  Ear posts are definetly the item that will make you the talk of the party.

Yesterday, TweetDeck [website link] released a HUGE update to their desktop client, bringing us to version 0.32 Beta.  The change log is amazing and jam packed with tons of cool new features but most suprisingly to me was the slightly fresher appearance they gave the entire app!  See the change log for the full details and a YouTube video showing some of the new features in practice here!

Great job guys!

Underneath my desk, no one can hear you scream.

It’s drowned out by the maniacal laughter of that crazy-ass Cuhthulu lookin’ extension cord rapist.

Now that’s what I call Tough-Love(craft)!

Bath City Farm switches on its renewable energy systems using solar and thermal energy to generate green electricity…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: city jobs. The blog is also related to: fattest city.

Live blogging… excuse the tenses.

So apparently this isn’t the finale. I’m not sure what happened. I even heard on the radio that the finale was going to be postponed an hour because Obama wanted to talk to us. We were all wrong. Next week is the finale. This week is about the 60 days between the last day on campus and the finale.

The remaining four (Rudy, Liz, Amanda, Danny) go home to see their family and friends. They all give speeches about how hard it’s been and how much they’ve lost.

Time for bullets:

• I like that Danny says that he was a rock star.
• Amanda has a Bob at home. I think her friend had two pierced ears and I think that means he’s gay. I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong a few times before.
• Rudy is finally opening up about his sister. Looks like he’s going to try to struggle through it.
• Liz. “I was bitter. I was angry.” Uhh yeah. You still are. Watch yourself.
• Liz and her husband know they need to work through some things. It was touching when her husband cried. I don’t know if they can make it work, but I’m glad to see that they’re going to give it a shot.
• I love Rudy’s teeny tiny television.
• Rudy’s wife is gorgeous.
• OH MY GOSH! A commercial on Amanda’s DVD. RIDICULOUS.
• Stephen thinks that Danny’s wife looks like Tracey.
• The contestants find out that they are going to run a marathon. They shouldn’t be surprised.
• Wii commercial. Complete with Biggest Loser commercial music in the background. This may be one of the products I can get on board with. I’m okay with that commercial. It’s reasonable. Unlike chewing a piece of gum instead of eating a cookie.
• Curtis Stone went to Danny’s house to cook. They made baked potatoes but I missed most of the segment because Rookie had diarrhea during the day and she started fussing so we rushed her outside to prevent more explosions. I don’t want to talk about it.  
• It appears that Liz lives alone, her husband comes home on the weekends. What a lonely life.
• Sounds like Rudy has it hard. I want to know why he works 12 hours a day. That’s just not right. To make it even worse, his daughter never wants him to leave the house because she’s scared he’s going to leave again.
• WOW. Danny’s realization is the struggle that every single BL contestant has gone through but haven’t been able to verbalize. “We had all these problems at home so I went to the ranch. I came back and it turns out that my weight wasn’t the problem.” The Biggest Loser won’t solve your problems or fix your marriage. “It improves your self-worth and self-esteem so you can come home and have the strength to fix the other things.” WELL PUT JILLIAN.
• Erin from last season’s finale came to plug the Biggest Loser Resort. Then they all ate Subway party platters. ($ chick $ ching $)
• Time to start the marathon. But not before a Biggest Loser Protein Powder plug. UGH. ENOUGH.
• Danny is really looking young. I’m impressed,
• There isn’t much to report about 26.2 miles of running. But I’ll keep going because that’s my (unpaid, self-imposed) job.
• Tara, blue team chick, Amanda’s maybe-gay friend, Liz’s husband, and Danny’s wife all showed up to run along.
• Amanda is having some awful pain. I feel really bad for her. You can tell she is really hurting. And also, what the heck is she wearing around her waist?
• Rudy finished first and he did it under his five and a half hour goal. Amazing. And Alison, Helen, and Mike were there to greet him. Ugh Helen, I thought I was done with you.
• Amanda was next. Oh the joy in her face!!! And she was also under five and a half hours. And the joy on Bob’s face!!! So cool. So very cool.
• If I were Danny’s wife, I don’t think I would enjoy running along with him and Liz while Liz repeats, “Come on baby!”
• Danny and Liz finished in just under 7 hours.

Weigh-in! Bad dress choice for Alison. Don’t they know this is the final weigh-in?? She should have a better dress! This is a huge weigh in since they’ve been home for 60 days, what do you expect? A big number? A tiny one? Plus, only three people will be finalists. Two will earn their spot tonight, the third will be chosen by us.

Liz – 16 – 8.0%
Amanda – 16 – 8.6%
Danny – 59 - 20.49% – FIFTY NINE POUNDS!! He’s lost 201 pounds since he came to the ranch. And he’s very handsome now! Un-freakin-believable!
Rudy – 43 - 14.53% – Fantastic. Nobody really celebrated though. Bob and Amanda were probably mourning since Amanda just got pushed below the yellow line.

 So now we have to decide between Liz and Amanda. I think we all know who I am voting for. (Hint: not the bitter, angry one.) I think that as faithful Loser lovers, we all need to vote. I’ll make it easy for you. CLICK HERE. You’ll have to register but don’t worry, they won’t send you any Extra Sugarfree Gum ads  unless you ask them to. They just need to make sure you aren’t voting over and over. So on the count of three, go vote. 1… 2…. No wait. First comment, then go vote. I won’t count. Just do it.

Not many task managers keep things simple.  Most over stuff features that a fair amount of us wouldn’t think of using.  Well, those of us without OCD.  I want to share another application that I found to capture the iPhones simplistic UI and capabilities.

My second find is NotifyMe [iTune link] by PoweryBase [website].

Let’s say you’re in a meeting at work and your boss asks you to make a call to a very important vendor for a quote.  Typically you would likely jot down a note on your paper pad then forget it over lunch.  Then you get slammed with several emails, all of which include a copious amount of capital letters telling where you can go with your forgetful self.

Not anymore.  May I introduce, NotifyMe.  This is the digital brain-backup you’ve needed for a long while.

The premise is simple: quickly capture a reminder and the phone will remind you at a time you specify, without fail!  NotifyMe has nailed this without losing focus on style and ease of use.

It is clear to me that the developers were in tune with the desire to capture thoughts extremely quickly while on the go just by looking at the startup screen.  They give you 5 screen options to customize your startup, however, none loose sight of this fundamental objective.  In my use, I’ve found the default (pictured above) to be the best for me, as I tend to only open the application when I need to enter a new reminder.  The extra large ‘New Reminder’ button actually helps you focus on what to do next, rather than searching a table of UI buttons or for an icon to add a new reminder.  In the event I need to reference upcoming reminders or see what I have completed, the options are there as well and just as easy to identify.

When adding a new reminder, you are presented with a large subject field, a category selection, a reoccurrence selection, and a time and date dial for the reminder time.  I just love it when apps are straight to the point!  Even if you need to give yourself a few more details on the reminder, a quick swipe up above the time and date dial exposes a notes field!  Genius!

I do 90% of my “looking back” via the superb web interface which is available free for users of the paid version of NotifyMe.  The web interface allows me to manage my reminders at the comfort of my desk and full keyboard.  Typically, I modify or create reoccurring reminders at the desk unless I happen to be riding shotgun in a coworkers car while heading to or from a meeting.

I’ve been very careful as to not use the word task for a very particular reason: this isn’t a task management system.  At least not for me.  Tasks to me, don’t always require a reminder because most of the tasks I deal with have dynamic due dates or none at all.  Therefore, constant reminders or editing becomes a deterrent to my productivity.

It’s easy for me to forget to call someone or to follow up with some random item that was said in passing.  NotifyMe gives me the ability to capture new reminders quickly, remind me at the appropriate time, all the while being extremely reliable to boot!  This is the quintessential app for working professionals who own an iPhone.

greets plebeians…