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kernelpanicshow · 13 years ago

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Readability for iOS

Move Over Instapaper

Instapaper's met its match. It did a while ago as a service, but now that the Readability iOS app is out, I can safely say that I'll never use Instapaper again. I used Instapaper for a long time. I was a paid Pro user back when it was still $10. Instapaper lost me a while ago. After the major update that added that stupid browse bar, friends and changed the stars to hearts, I just hated looking at the iOS app. I tried out Readability since it was new and pretty and immediately loved it. It didn't have social features tacked on, it had beautiful themes, and it had better Kindle integration than Instapaper ever had.

Looks

Readability is gorgeous. Unlike Instapaper, it actually has a nice icon! It's a very non-standard iOS UI. It's got five great themes with modern fonts and both daytime and nighttime reading modes. There's a "Reading List" button at the top that accesses your unread items, favorites and archived items. Just the basics and that's all I need. There's also "��・・" button that gives you a few more things to do. You can search your articles, move and delete them in batches, add articles from URLs or start a Google search and lastly access the settings. There's not a whole lot to do in the settings. You can choose a look and log into your Twitter and Facebook accounts for sharing purposes. I also love that there's no "back" button while you're reading an article. You just swipe to the right and you're back at the "Reading List". If you tap once on the screen, you get a menu at the bottom that lets you star, archive, delete, adjust style or share the article. And I'm so glad Readability uses ☆'s. I despise the ♡'s in Instapaper.

Mechanics

Readability is where Instapaper was, functionally, a few years ago. Readability is all about you. There aren't any social features, you don't have "friends" but you also don't have folders or feeds you can subscribe to. I'm cool with this. Folders in Instapaper led me to hold onto articles I should've just archived, the "friends" I had in Instapaper either had the same things I had saved or had articles that I had no interest in reading. It's my reading list, not yours. I've never enjoy reading the articles that people link to. I usually enjoy the stuff that I randomly come across through web searches more.

Karma

I feel good about using Readability. Sure, it's a free app and a free service, but if you choose to become a contributor, 70% of your contribution goes to the sites that you're reading (provided they integrate Readability into their site) and 30% goes to Readability to cover maintenance and employee salaries, I suppose. I paid $10 dollars for Instapaper and I'm sure no one beside Marco Arment (or Apple) ever saw a cent of that money. Sure I've given about $20 to Readability in four months, but the sites that are getting money from me are happy to get it, I'm sure. If you want to be a good Netizen, try using Readability. You'll feel better about yourself for giving some money to the writer of that article you ripped the ads out of instead of helping Marco pay for his self-important coffee.

#Instapaper #review #ios #Readability

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kernelpanicshow · 13 years ago

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Tweetbot Is the Word

I've been a Tweetbot user for a long time. (I'm an OG beta tester, yo.) I've seen Tweetbot when it lacked most of the features it has now, and I've seen it grow into the best Twitter client out there. Not just for iOS, but for all platforms. Tweetbot gets called "heavy" sometimes, and while the description isn't all that descriptive, I get what people mean when they use that term. All Tapbots' apps have non-standard UIs. That's their thing. Most of the time, I hate non-standard iPhone UIs. Tapbots is one of the few developers that does non-standard right.

Tweetbot for iPhone 2.0

Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone isn't an earth-shaking update. It just refines what was already the best Twitter app. The colors in the app have been softened a bit, which makes it a little more readable, and Tweetbot got Readability added to its mobilizer options (and Readability's display is way better than Instapaper's.) There is also a new DM view that looks more like the Messages app and it's much easier to read and reply to people. Tweetbot 2.0 also got image thumbnails in the timeline. (It does a good job parsing things like Instagram images even!)

Buy Tweetbot for iPhone here.

Tweetbot for iPad

Then there's the new app: Tweetbot for iPad. In design conscious circles, people have been clamoring for a version of Tweetbot to use on their iPads. I knew in the back of my mind that it was an inevitability, but I was still surprised when the beta download link landed in my inbox. And Tweetbot for iPad looks like the iPhone app, not blown up, but expanded. The UI concept is roughly the same. The account selector and panels (tweets, replies, etc.) have moved over to the left side of the screen. It's got all of the little features that the iPhone app has like mobilizers and image and link services.

Buy Tweetbot for iPad here.

#twitter #ipad #iphone #ios #Tweetbot

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kernelpanicshow · 13 years ago

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Tom Bihn's Empire Builder and Synapse Reviewed

Empire Builder

I've been in the market for a larger, briefcase-style bag for work for quite a while. I wanted to get away from taking a backpack (a messenger bag or a briefcase seemed more suited to work) as a backpack lacked a lot of the organization that I need for the papers and teaching materials I carry with me to and from work. I used a Timbuk2 messenger bag for a little over 6 months, and it was okay, but it was a bit small and the build quality felt cheap in a few places. Now that I'm a Tom Bihn convert, I thought it's time that I upgrade to a better class of briefcase.

Size

It's hard to gauge just how big a bag is from looking at an image of it on the Internet. When I first opened up the shipping box with my Empire Builder in it, I was shocked at how large it was. It's a beast of a bag. (It holds 22.5 cubic liters.) And if I have one thing to complain about with the Empire Builder, it's that it's huge. At the same time though, that's its reason for being. It's huge because it can carry a ton of stuff. And that's what I wanted. I was constantly running out of space in my Timbuk2 bag and I needed something bigger. I think it's because I've been used to carrying around such a small bag the last 6 months, I've forgotten how heavy a big bag can be. For most people (those who drive, especially), the size will never be a burden, but I'm often on a bicycle, and wearing the Empire Builder across your chest like a messenger (which isn't what it was built for) can be pretty heavy. It's not a strike against the bag. It's more about it not matching my commuting style. Right away, I found myself wishing I had gone with the Zephyr, which is the Empire Builder, only smaller. But who knows, I may have wound up finding the Zephyr too small, and ultimately have wished I had got the Empire Builder.

Organization

Tom Bihn bags are always well-organized. The pockets always seem to be just the right size and the number of pockets on the bag is perfect. The Empire Builder is no different. It's got a monster main compartment that eschews the trend of putting zippered pockets inside the main compartment (I never use those kind of pockets and it's a place for pointy things to stab at your stuff and make things generally lumpy) and adds nifty little clips to hold an optional (man I wish I had ordered one) Brain Cell laptop holder in place.

There's a large flap that closes over the bag and on the outside of the flap are two zippered pockets and one open pocket. I've found the two zippered pockets are great for things like earphones, my wallet and my Pocket WiFi (think MiFi). The unzippered one is just large enough to hold a Japanese canned coffee. Under the flap is a large wide pocket with spots just the right size for an iPhone, index cards or Field Notes, three slots for pens or pencils, and one small slot where a pack of gum or an eraser would fit nicely. (I'm using it for a USB-charging battery pack.) With the remaining space, I've been keeping my Kindle in a Tom Bihn padded organizer. And below that pocket is another zippered pocket That is also large enough to find a Kindle (in a case) as well.

Construction

As with all Tom Bihn bags, the Empire Builder is built like a rock. It's made of the same durable materials as all the other bags, the shoulder strap clips are heavy metal, the handles are well-padded (and quite comfortable) and all the zippers are YKK. (I hope you realize how important the quality of your zippers are!) In addition, the zipper teeth are covered from end-to-end, which will help keep dust, dirt and water from getting into your bag. I also love that the Empire Builder will stand all on its own and never wobbles, even on a bumpy train ride.

As far as gripes go, I wish the bag didn't waggle so much when worn messenger bag style. This might be due to the placement of the shoulder strap clips at the top of the bag on opposite sides of the zipper instead of being on the actual sides of the bag under the zipper. Doing that wouldn't allow the bag's zippers to go as far down as they do now (which is very nice). The zippered pockets on the flap are easily used when opening the pockets, but because there's only one clip in the center of the flap holding it down, there's nothing keeping the sides held to the bulk of the bag, and it makes it hard to zip those flap pockets up one-handed.

My gripes are very minor to be sure, because the Empire Builder is a very fine bag. If you're in the market for a large and durable briefcase, the Empire Builder will take care of you. It's currently $180 on Tom Bihn's site. If you love the style but are afraid of it being too big though, it's little brother, the Zephyr ($170), is also available.

Other Option

If you're like me and your commute involves riding bikes and running to catch trains, check out The ID. It's a messenger bag with an optional quick-adjust strap and most of the same style of pockets as the Empire Builder. It's slightly smaller than the Empire Builder at 20.9 liters, but in a lot of ways, it's the bag I wish I had got instead of the Empire Builder. I would love to do a review of The ID sometime to compare the two.

Synapse

I've had a lot of bad luck with backpacks. I'm hard on backpacks. Really hard. I've destroyed every backpack I've ever had by either ripping holes in the material or pulling zippers off. This time around, I wanted a tough backpack that would stand up to my rough treatment, would have lots of pockets (without adding a lot of bulk) and would be comfortable. The Synapse is all of those things, and might be the best bag I've ever owned.

Size

The Synapse is not a big backpack. It's actually no bigger than the Adidas one I was using, but where the Adidas bag had just two pockets, the Synapse has six, including the main compartment. The Synapse is big enough to do light grocery shopping, go on a day trip, or just run around downtown. As everything I own keeps getting smaller (MacBook Air, iPad, Kindle) I don't need a huge backpack. I've got all my work and all my books on just two slim devices, and I've still got plenty of room left in my Synapse after that.

Organization

So the Synapse has a big compartment and a deep pocket inside of it. The pocket will fit a laptop or an iPad, no problem. On the back of the bag, there's a super deep pocket that's great for a mini umbrella or a big water bottle. (I've got a 22 ounce glass Life Factory bottle in mine.) There's a shallow pocket just above that that is handle for small things like earphones or a wallet. On the sides of the Synapse are two vertically zipped pockets with o-rings for key rings. The right side pocket has a suede pocket that's perfect for an iPhone (although if your phone's in a case, it might be a tight fit). In the left side pocket, there are slots for pens and other stuff. On the bottom of the Synapse is a long pocket that I've been using to keep cables in.

Construction

All the things about how well-built the Empire Builder is can be said about the Synapse as well. The bag is super tough. It comes with chest and waist straps to keep the bag snuggly against your back and has a little clip on the right strap that can be used to keep headphones from getting in your way. (You can switch which side the clip is on). But my favorite part of the Synapse might be the straps. They are dense. They feel soft enough when you're wearing the bag, but when you take it off and are slinging it around, you'll notice that they don't squish. They are very firm.

The Synapse is a tough backpack and super comfortable. If you need a good backpack, the Synapse is it. If Steve Jobs had ever done a keynote about the Synapse, he would've called it magical. It's $130 on Tom Bihn's site. You should buy one.

Accessories

Snake Charmer

When I'm traveling, especially between the US and Japan, I take a lot of electronics and their accompanying cables with me. So I was quite excited about Tom Bihn's Snake Charmer. There might not seem like there's a lot to the Snake Charmer at first glance, but it's its simplicity that makes it so great. The Snake Charmer's sides are mesh while the encircling part is solid. This gives it the chance to show off its contents to you while still having a sturdy feel to it. The Snake Charmer is also split into two compartments. Dual zippers line the top of it and it makes organizing say your portable game system's cable separate from your MacBook's various cables. There's also a loop on the end that makes it easy to hang your Snake Charmer for easy access.

Packing Cubes

Something that I wish I had bought when I got my Aeronaut this past summer was a packing cube. The Aeronaut is quite a large duffle bag and I really wanted to be do some organization in the main compartment. I finally got a couple of the large packing cubes. You can fit two large cubes or one large and two small cubes into the Aeronaut. I've found them quite useful for separating casual clothes from business attire or just clothes from everything else. The large cubes go for $20 while the small cubes run $17.

Clear Liquid Pouch

I'm no fan of security checkpoints at airports. If you are looking for a sturdy see-through pouch for your liquids, the 3D Clear Organizer Pouch is nice to have.

Padded Organizer

I didn't know there was a Kindle Fire/Kindle Keyboard pouch coming when I made my last order, so as a replacement for my noisey velcro-fastening Kindle cash, I picked up a Padded Organizer Pouch (medium). There are various sizes and prices varying accordingly. The medium one is priced at $13 and while it's slightly larger than my last generation Kindle, it's worked out very well. At this point though, I'd recommend you buy the real Kindle Pouch for $15.

Other Goodies

Assuming your have any touchscreen devices, do pick up an Ultrasuede Screen Cloth or two. I got a black one, and my only regret is that I didn't get a handful to keep in different bags and one to leave at work.

I really want one of Tom Bihn's new Travel Trays. They were announced after my order arrived. They are a super quick way to gather up all your stuff and go. If you go to a hotel, throw your various pocket items into a travel tray on your bedside table and when you're ready to checkout, just pull the drawstring and throw the Travel Tray into your main bag. You'll never forget another little thing at a hotel again.

I don't have a dog, but if I did, I'd get one of these Citizen Canine bags. They are good for walking the dog, with space for your stuff and your dog's stuff. (Even has a nifty spot for poop bags.)

Lastly, if the Empire Builder is too much for your needs, check out the new Cadet which has less emphasis on document management and more emphasis on your computer. If you're looking for a lightweight laptop-friendly briefcase, the Cadet looks awfully nice.

#bag #review #Tom Bihn

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kernelpanicshow · 14 years ago

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My New Favorite Email Client, Sparrow

Email Ennui

I've had a love/hate relationship with Apple's OS X Mail app for quite a while. I loved it because it was well integrated with OS X and unlike Outlook Express on Windows, Mail was actually quite functional. But Mail has its issues. I've had lots of crashes, every OS X update seems to break some add-on I'd installed, and searching old messages wasn't very effective. I tried the power user-focused Postbox and liked a lot about it, but it was too much for me. I then hoped that Lion's Mail would be the update to finally get everything right. While I think Lion's Mail app is a good email app, I didn't like the layout as much as I hoped I would (although I don't hate it as much as some people seem to). I decided it was time to find something better.

I had tried out Sparrow when it was in beta, but I held off buying the app when it launched because I wanted to stick with Mail if possible and I was waiting to see how Mail in Lion turned out. Well, with me being disappointed with Mail in 10.7 and Sparrow having come a long way (now up to 1.4), I was happy when I got a copy to try out from its developer. After just two days of use, I'm sure I won't be opening up Apple's Mail again any time soon. I'm extremely happy with Sparrow and here's why.

Email Excellence

Sparrow looks a lot like the original Tweetie for Mac. Accounts are laid out in the app's sidebar and things like inbox, starred emails, and search are listed the same way as @replies, DMs and search are in Tweetie. The biggest difference between Apple Mail and Sparrow is that Sparrow was originally designed for Gmail. It now does normal IMAP as well, but if you're a Gmail user, Sparrow handles starred email and labels like a champ. It even shows priority inbox tags if you've enabled the feature in the Gmail web app. Sparrow also features Cloud integration for sharing attachments, but don't worry, you can still send them the old fashioned way too. The app can connect to Facebook too for acquiring contact photos of email senders. My biggest gripe about Apple Mail was its crappy search. The app had issues (for me, at least) with searching through messages back on the server. Sparrow does a great job syncing messages and allows for great searching (offline even!). There's also a nifty "new message" shortcut option so that you can quickly start a new email no matter what application you have

The app sells for $9.99 (as of October 17, 2011) and I can't recommend it enough. It's lightweight, fast, and is built to wrangle Gmail like a pro.

#Mac #os x #review #mail

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kernelpanicshow · 14 years ago

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Koku Will Sort You Out Financially

I have wrestled with finance software more times than I care to admit. I've tried going iPhone only, Mac only, and a combination of the two. After a while, I settled on the belief that only a software package that syncs over-the-air would be worth using, but none of them ever got me to keep my financial records in order. Then I stopped using finance software for months. I then had the notion a few weeks ago that I wanted my finance software to be as easy as a GTD app. By that, I mean, I wanted an inbox. In Omnifocus, I can just add a bunch of tasks to the inbox and it syncs back to my Macs and I can process them all later at home (or on the iPhone if I'm so inclined.) The point is, I don't need to be able to do everything on my phone. And to be honest, I hadn't found a Mac finance app that fit my needs either. MoneyWell had too much going on, Squirrel didn't work out for me, and none of the other apps felt right. (Cha-Ching was the exception but the developer of Cha-Ching were a bit scummy. If you used Cha-Ching, you'll remember they didn't keep you up to date on the progress of Cha-Ching's Mac beta, the iPhone app was buggy as Hell, and when they got bought out by Intuit, they pulled all the software down and customers were given the proverbial "middle finger.") Then I remembered Koku. I had downloaded a demo of Koku and I liked the look of it, but I had written it off because there was no iPhone app.

With my new plan of keeping financial tracking down to an inbox on the iPhone, I was free to try out Koku again. I started keeping a list of what I spent money on and how much in Simplenote, which syncs OTA back to nvALT on my Macs, and when I had the time, I could fire up Koku, whose library file I'm syncing over Dropbox, and process all the inbox items. Once in Koku, I could date, title and tag all my transactions. Koku doesn't have MoneyWell's buckets and doesn't allow for budgeting, but I've found that budgeting for things is a waste of time, for me at least. I wanted software that would keep all my transactions together, make them easy to drill down through, and tagging does the trick. Koku is also smart enough to know when one kind of tag is a sub-tag of another automatically without you having to actually create a hierarchy.

For example:

train ticket tagged as travel, train

hotel room tagged as travel, hotel

Koku will automatically associate both as travel items, but you can drill down inside of travel and you'll find train and hotel on your distribution reports. Oh yes, there are reports. Koku does three kinds of reports: summary reports, which list balances on all your accounts, distribution reports, which create pie charts from the tags you've associated with transactions, and history reports which give you a bar graph showing income or expenses over time. For each kind of report, you can tell Koku which accounts to use, which tags to use, and what time period to use. For time periods, you can use day, week, month, quarter or year, including this…, last…, and in the last…. After tweaking the settings, I've come up with seven or eight really useful reports to see things like my daily spending for the month, what I spent money on this month, how much income came from my day job versus the private English lessons I teach in the evenings. I was shocked to see how much of my total income private lessons had become. It never dawned on me how much I was relying on them until I saw it in a pie chart.

One of Koku's biggest selling points is its Direct Connect functionality. You can connect to American banks directly and import up-to-date financial data. Koku can do this automatically in the background once you set it up. It won't work for non-U.S. banks though, so if you aren't in the U.S., you're stuck manually downloading and importing statement data at the end of your billing cycle. My Japanese banks of course won't work with Koku's Direct Connect, but my American accounts would, if Koku could work with two different currencies! The biggest gripe I have with Koku is that you can only use the currency that is the default for your Mac. This means that if you're like me and want to manage a library for one currency and a second library for another currency, you're S.O.L. I emailed Fading Red, the developer, but got no answer about when it would be possible to manage multiple currencies. I'd love to have a "Japanese" library and an "American" library with separate yen and dollar settings.

Some people might not like that Koku has no iPhone app. You can check balances or add transactions when you're away from your Mac, but for the most part, I'm very happy with Koku. Should they create an iPhone app eventually, I hope it maintains the simplicity of the Mac app and I'd be very happy to see a "transaction inbox" included. Koku is just $29.99 in the Mac App Store.

#finance #Mac #productivity

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kernelpanicshow · 14 years ago

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Outliner Showdown: OmniOutliner Pro vs. Tree

I remember my teachers always harping about us needing to create outlines before we started in on reports in school. I had it in my head that I was a good enough writer and that I could just sit down and go to town and I’d pump out a great piece of writing. About halfway through, I’d realize that I had meandered off-course and had no idea where my report was going. Then I’d tell myself that I should’ve created an outline. Even in today’s world of advanced text editors and word processors, outlines are still a necessary evil (or joy, depending on how you look at it.) In my efforts to write more and better, I’ve found that I have to create an outline for anything more than 500 words. Unless it’s me ranting about something, an outline is going to make my words more coherent. I took a look at two outliners. In the blue corner is the reigning heavyweight champion, OmniOutliner Pro. In the red corner is a fresh lightweight, Tree. Each have their strengths, and weaknesses.

OmniOutliner Pro 3 is a powerful outliner. Version 3 brought many new features that put it out in front of the outliner pack. OmniOutliner 3 lets you add file attachments to your outlines. You can add photos, videos, links, clickable email addresses and in the pro version you can record audio directly into outlines from the menu bar. OmniOutliner lets you add multiple columns to your outline. You can add as many as you need to make your outline work as you need it to. And similar to Omnifocus, there’s a clipping service (currently not available in the MAS version, but installing the demo from the Omnigroup Web site seemed to circumvent that for me) so that you can grab data from other applications and throw them into an outline.

For me, one of the biggest advantages that OmniOutliner has is its ability to mix file attachments with outline text. It’s extremely handy to throw screenshots you intend to use in a review directly into the outline that you’re working on. You can get a rough idea of what the flow of the review is going to be, images and all. If you’re doing an outline for business, OmniOutliner can let you add contact details to outlines so you can easily see (and get ahold of) people who are in charge of different things represented in your outline. And the ability to record audio is a huge addition to note-taking. I used OmniOutliner years ago in college for note-taking, but if I had been able to record the audio from my professor’s lectures and add my own notes to them along the way, that would’ve been amazing. Imagine going back through your notes and anytime you don’t quite know what your note is referring to, you could listen back to the audio and quickly find out. If you’re worried that audio files will start eating up your hard disk, OmniOutliner lets you tweak the compression of the audio files from Apple lossless all the way down to whatever the worst sounding thing could possibly be. A lot of iPad apps have attempted to do similar things, but having the ability to adjust audio quality, have a real keyboard, and have a fully featured outliner beats a silly iPad app with a notebook paper-stylized UI any day.

Unlike every other outliner I’ve used before, OmniOutliner Pro 3 lets you create multiple columns in your outline. You can designate them as different types of content too. You can tell OmniOutliner that the column will be used for checkboxes, rich text, dates or currency. Telling OmniOutliner what will be in the column will then make it easier to work with the data later and sort it. In a lot of ways, OmniOutliner Pro has replaced Numbers for me. I used to use Numbers to make schedules and draft budgets, but OmniOutliner Pro does the mostly the same things.

Another nifty feature of OmniOutliner is its clippings function. The clippings service allows you to take links, text, and photos from another application and import it into your outline. If you’re using OmniOutliner as a note-taking tool or researching a large project and want to organize your data as you go along, using the clipping service is a great way to collect research information and have it all in one place, ready to be reference when you start writing a first draft. OmniOutliner has a default clippings template, but you can create different layouts to suit whatever project you’re working on.

My only complaints about OmniOutliner Pro is that sometimes the sheer power of the application is overwhelming. There’s so much stuff to tinker with that sometimes you might spend more time adjusting settings than working on your actual outline. My advice to tinkerers would be to create templates for different types of outlines you’ll want to create. I’ve created a class schedule for one of my schools, and while it’s pretty basic in style, I saved it as a template so I can go in and make changes as they arise and I can even filter out checked off days so I can print fresh schedules throughout the month that include changes but exclude past days that I don’t need to see anymore.

The other outliner I looked at was Tree from Top of Tree. If OmniOutliner Pro is a the power user’s outliner, Tree is the everyman’s outliner. It’s a clean, simple, and easy to use outliner. I found myself taking to Tree faster than I did to OmniOutliner Pro. The UI feels a bit more modern, it has a menu bar button for quickly adding color labels to items and the keyboard commands felt a little more natural. The basics of OmniOutliner’s inspector tab, like labels, colors, and fonts are right in the toolbar in Tree. Things like file attachments, multi-column outlines and a clipping service are all missing from Tree though. At first I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but after having them in OmniOutliner Pro, I really missed them in Tree. Tree is very simple, and for a lot of people who just want a basic text-only outliner, Tree will do the job. If text-only is a problem for you though, you might want to pass on tree.

The biggest selling point of Tree is its “tree-like” branching outline mode. While Tree has a normal vertical outline mode, it has an interesting horizontal tree mode as well. When you invoke tree mode, Tree starts looking a lot like a mind-mapping application. You get to see how your outline spreads out and it takes on a much different shape than a standard outline. I think the best way to use tree mode is to write out your outline in the standard mode, and then switch to tree mode to view and edit. From tree mode, it’s very comfortable to drag parts around and adding color labels helps a lot as well.

While Tree is a good outliner, it doesn’t have the power features that OmniOutliner Pro has. If you want to add files, columns or use its clipping service, OmniOutliner Pro is your best bet. If you’re a more visual person in the way you think, you might get a lot of use out of Tree’s “tree” mode. I myself prefer OmniOutliner Pro in most cases, but for creative projects, I’ve found that visualizing where a story’s going and how it’s spreading out from the opening scene helps me get a better idea of how it’s going to play out.

#Mac #os x #OmniOutliner #productivity #Tree #outliner

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kernelpanicshow · 14 years ago

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Review of Tom Bihn's Aeronaut and Co-Pilot

Repost from Brandon's blog.

I first heard about Tom Bihn from John Gruber on an episode of The Talk Show. They were discussing good iPad bags and Tom Bihn’s Ristretto came up. I had just gotten an iPad like everyone else and was looking for a great bag for it. I planned on ordering it while on a visit back home to the US, but it was out of stock. It was something I wasn’t accustomed to. Tom Bihn is frequently out of stock of certain colors of bags. It’s partly because they’re great bags and just sell out, but also because these things are carefully made in just one shop in Washington. If you want to buy one in a store, you have to visit their shop in Seattle. They aren’t mass market bags. And because of that, there is more thought and care put into the design and manufacture of these bags than of any bag I’ve ever used. I had a very cool bag that came for free with Grand Theft Auto 4. (Hold your laughter.) It was a big duffel bag and had a good looking Rockstar monogram on the inside liner. It was thin and felt slightly cheap, but it was a great size for the gym. I also took it to the grocery store on my bike. One day, I had an extra heavy load of food in the bag and the straps just snapped off like the Macho Man attacking a Slim Jim. Ever since that day, I’ve been obsessed with the bindings that bags use on straps and handles. All the Tom Bihn bags have reinforced bindings on their straps, and they look like it’d take even a Rottweiler gnawing on them for a few hours to rip them apart. Tom Bihn also uses ballistic nylon for their bags. They are tough bags, and throughout my travels through airports from Ohio to Japan, I never worried about the bags ever being damaged. It was also very important for the zippers on any bags I used to be YKK zippers. I’ve had nothing but trouble from cheap zippers, and more than once I’ve wound up throwing a bag in the bin because of the zippers breaking, and it was easier to just lose the bag than to replace the zipper. The people at Tom Bihn must also believe like I do, because on every product page they state that each product uses YKK zippers. Don’t accept anything but the best zippers.

The bag I was most interested in testing out was the Aeronaut. It’s touted as the largest size a bag can be and still be a carry-on. When compared to most duffel bags, the Aeronaut might seem a little strange. With most duffel bags, you sit the bag on its bottom and unzip open longways from end to end. Most of the time you end up with one gigantic compartment with a couple smaller pockets on the inside. With the Aeronaut, you lay the bag down on its backside (not the backside your grandma switched you on) and unzip a large U-shaped flap that flips back to reveal the Aeronaut’s main compartment. It’s a rather large one, that will fit close to a week’s worth of clothing (assuming you're not wearing a fresh pair of jeans every day). If you’re using the bag for a business trip, you could get three days worth of clothes in their with multiple sets. I don’t think you’d wanna be cramming a suit into the Aeronaut, however. It’s far too cramped for that. If you’re not a suit-wearing traveler, you could definitely get away with just this bag for a long weekend. On my most recent trip back to Japan, I used the Aeronaut not as a bag for hauling clothing, but for all the electronics and fragile souvenirs I picked up while in the US. Anything that I didn’t trust the baggage handlers wouldn’t smash went into the Aeronaut. Even with a stack of 10 video games, an Airport Extreme, portable game systems, all the cables associated with said electronics, the Aeronaut had plenty of room left to even put my Co-Pilot (more on that in a few paragraphs) in the bag. Oh, I even got a neck pillow fully inside the bag at the same time. There’s even a mesh flap pocket on the inside of the main compartment that’s great for tucking away things you might need to find and get out quickly (think liquids).

The Aeronaut has two very large end compartments as well. I read on the Tom Bihn customer forums (they’re fans are so crazy about Tom Bihn that they chat with each other about the bags!) that the end compartments can fit a US size 12 pair of sneakers. I wear a size 12 so as soon as I got the bag from UPS I immediately tried stuffing my shoes in the end compartments. I’m pleased to report that they fit just fine, and even dressier shoes that are slightly wider fit without undue finagling. On the flight to Japan, I wound up using one of the ends for an extra set of clothes (in case my checked luggage was lost) and the other one for a bunch of cables. The ends make a great place for longer than average items that you couldn’t find room for in your main compartment. These compartments would also make a good spot for putting dirty clothes to keep them separate from your clean ones. There’s also one additional but smaller zipped pocket on one of the ends. I wound up using this as a place to stick a book I forgot until the last minute. It’s a bit shorter than the real end compartments and substantially less roomy too. On the other end, there’s on final pocket that has no zipper. I struggled to figure out what the purpose of this pocket was. I didn’t want to put anything in there for fearing of something falling out as I schlepped the bag around from airport to airport. I poked around on the Tom Bihn site and couldn’t find a stated purpose either. Lastly, the ends have handles attached so that you can grab onto the bag easily from not just the top usual handle, but from either end, making it easy to pull the bag up off the floor or out of overhead compartments onboard the plane.

There are three ways you can carry the Aeronaut. The first and by far the most useful way is using the built-in backpack straps. For me, the most useful feature of the Aeronaut is the backpack straps that you can hide away inside the back itself. There’s a zipper on the bottom of the bag that opens up to reveal very comfortable straps. You pull them out the top and snap them into place at the bottom of the bag. There’s a cross-chest belt attached as well. If you don’t need the straps, you can unclip them, tuck them back away, and no one but you would even know they’re there. The straps have their own space and never get in the way of the stuff you want to carry. Except for when I was stowing the bag overhead, I used the Aeronaut as a backpack. I was able to keep my hands free while walking around the airport and I didn’t wind up with aches in one shoulder from the over-the-shoulder bag I would’ve been using. Wearing the Aeronaut as a backpack also came in handy onboard the plane too, since I could keep it on my back during boarding and deplaning. When not using the bag as a backpack, there’s a sturdy handle that you can use as well. Adding to the backpack straps and the regular handle, there are also rings for a shoulder strap. I remembered hearing John Gruber on The Talk Show mentioning how nice the “Absolute Strap” was, so I made sure to add it to my order. The strap is an extra $30, but it’s very comfortable, with just a bit of stretch to it so that it will usually stay in place as you move around, even though you may be pulling at it.

If you couldn’t already tell, I love my Aeronaut. Yes, it’s my Aeronaut. Get your own. I have a couple small complaints about it though. First, the handle on the bag splits in two, but it’s not like it’s splitting the sides of the bag like normal duffel bags. There’s no zipper to be found on the side of the bag where the handle is, and yet it splits out. It even has one of those wrapping grips that snaps closed to keep the two parts of the handle together. Unless you’re splitting the handle so that two people could stand on either side and hold the bag up between the two of them, I don’t see any reason why the handle needs to be this way. Doesn’t affect my use of the Aeronaut in any way, but it seems odd. Second, as I mentioned before, there’s a pocket on one of the ends that doesn’t zip shut. Maybe there’s some guy out there with a crazy long thing he wants to travel with, but for me, having a zipper on this pocket would prove much more useful, as I was afraid to put anything in there for fear of losing it. My third and final gripe is that the bag doesn’t come with zipper pulls. The smaller and cheaper Co-Pilot came with zipper pull cords and tabs to make grabbing zippers easier. For some reason, the Aeronaut doesn’t come with any. I didn’t realize the bag didn’t come with them, or I would’ve bought a set for it. The pulls can be purchased separately on Tom Bihn’s site and only cost $3. I would’ve ordered another set but my flight was just a couple days after the bags arrived, and the flat rate shipping (while great for large orders) would’ve cost four times the cost of the product for even the slowest delivery method.

If you’re going to buy an Aeronaut, I have a few additions you’ll want to make to your order. The bag is already going to run you $240, but you might want to add on these things as well.

Buy a set of zipper pulls. You’ll thank me later. The zippers aren’t hard to get a hold of, but the pulls are much nicer.

Get some packing cubes. These zipped bags meant for separation aren’t necessary but I wish I had a couple. They would’ve helped keep the contents of my Aeronaut a little more organized after sliding around overhead. There’s also a Packing Cube Backpack ($40) that can be turned inside out and used as a packing cube inside the bag, and then turned right side out later to be used as a backpack. It could be quite useful as a secondary bag to take out of the hotel room during your trip.

You might want to check out the Snake Charmer if you should happen to carry a lot of cables with you. The Snake Charmer was designed with computer backpacks in mind, but it would fit in an Aeronaut, no problem.

Check out the 3D Clear Organizer Cube ($30) for all your liquids. Going through security and having to pull out your tiny soaps and shampoos can be a real pain, but it doesn’t have to be. While the 3D cube is pricier than a ziplock bag, it’s tougher, more secure and will last you a lot longer.

Lastly, I might recommend getting one of Tom Bihn’s lights ($20). You can clip it on to the D-ring inside the Aeronaut, and might make it easier when digging around in the dark.

If the Aeronaut is the perfect carry-on bag, the Co-Pilot is the perfect personal bag, as long as you have a small computer. My traveling computer is an 11-inch MacBook Air. (I’m sitting on a train, writing this review on one!) Should you happen to happen to use a small-form notebook computer, the Co-Pilot can be used as a briefcase and still have room for a few other things you’ll need while onboard a plane. If you have a large laptop, the Co-Pilot may not be for you. But if the computer you’ll be pulling out while flying is a netbook or an iPad, you’ll be happy with the Co-Pilot. The main compartment of the Co-Pilot is just wide enough to fit an 11-inch MacBook Air inside a Tom Bihn Cache sleeve, or an iPad with plenty of room to spare. While traveling to Japan last month, I was able to fit my 11-inch MBA, my iPad, and my Kindle all into the main compartment of the Co-Pilot. Inside the main part of the bag, there are two pockets for separating out documents and books. The pockets were great for keeping my passport and boarding passes together, and I’ve seen people fit Lonely Planet guides into the pockets too. On the back of the bag, there’s an open pocket that’s just the right size to fit a magazine or two into your bag. There’s also a zipper that opens up to allow you to slide the Co-Pilot down over the handle of wheeled luggage. Better yet, there’s a small lip even after unzipping the sleeve so that even if you put the bag onto the wheeled luggage’s handle, your magazines won’t fall out. It’s a brilliant little touch that blew my mind. On the front of the bag, there are three pockets. In the right pocket (if you're wearing the bag) is a pocket with padding for a phone. I didn’t see specific mention of the iPhone on the Tom Bihn web site, but it just so happens that it fit my iPhone 4 like a glove. After that, there was still plenty of room for my wallet and I affixed my keys with the included strap to a ring inside the pocket. Inside the left pocket, there are slots for pens and pencils, another ring, and enough room to fit a compact video camera. In my case, I popped my 3DS in there with no trouble. In the middle is maybe the coolest thing I’ve seen on a bag ever. There’s a pocket that zips straight up and down and is designed specifically for a bottle. There’s a small hole at the bottom of the pocket to allow condensation from the bottle to drip out of the bag and not pool up inside the bag. In order to keep my purchases at the airport to a minimum, I took a Bobble water bottle that filters the water as you drink it so that I could fill it up at drinking fountains and keep the bottle in my Co-Pilot. Saved myself a few bucks! Even after my flights were over, the Co-Pilot quickly became my everyday bag when I knew I wouldn’t be carrying much stuff. It surely won’t replace a backpack when you need that much extra space, but for walking around town and keeping the essentials handy, the Co-Pilot is pretty great. If you’re thinking about getting the Co-Pilot, definitely get an Absolute Strap since unlike the Aeronaut, you will be putting the Co-Pilot over your shoulder. The bag comes with cord zipper pulls, so no need to buy an extra set for this bag. If you want to want to attach multiple items to the O-rings in the bag, you might want to pick up an extra clip strap when purchasing the bag. If you have a netbook, an iPad or a Kindle, definitely check out Tom Bihn’s line of sleeves. I use the MacBook Air Cache sleeve everyday and it’s been great. Most sleeves use velcro or zippers, but the Cache uses just a flap that tucks inside the the sleeve. I worried that if would be secure, but surprisingly, the Cache’s flap manages to hold in the Air even when turned upside down. Don’t test your luck with it too often though!

I’d like to thank Tom Bihn for building the best bags I’ve ever used. I’d also like to say that they’ve utterly ruined all other bags for me. Every time I use any other bags, they feel cheap and unworthy of use. I’m going to have to replace my backpack with a Tom Bihn Synapse backpack, I need to replace my iPad and Kindle sleeves, I’m going to have to buy a new awesome 3D Clear Organizer Cube to replace my flimsy liquids bag that I’d been using for security checks, and my messenger bag I’ve been using for work is going to have to be replaced by an Empire Builder If you’re a serious bag enthusiast (those people exist, right?) then you have to check out Tom Bihn’s offerings. They certainly cost more than a lot of the bags on the market, but they’re durable enough to last years and years, and the layouts of their bags are more forward-thinking and better suited for their tasks than any bags I’ve used before.

#bag #travel #Tom Bihn

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kernelpanicshow · 14 years ago

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Brandon takes a quick look at defragging and [iDefrag](http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php).

#Mac #utility #review

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kernelpanicshow · 14 years ago

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Kernel Panic 046: I Need More Macs!

![](http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqacc55FOe1qz4erv.png) > Photo via [Neatorama](http://www.neatorama.com/2011/08/04/mac-box-furniture/) Kernel Panic has returned! We promised you that we weren't dead and that we'd be back and here we are! After a long hiatus due to our traveling schedules, we return with fan favorite [Mike Bernardo](http://greenvolcanosoftware.com) as our guest and talk about Google , Mac OS X Lion and even delve into iPhone 5/4S rumors! # Software Picks - [Conquist 2](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=YxypF2sxHEo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fconquist-2%2Fid421205743%3Fmt%3D8%26uo%3D4%26partnerId%3D30) - [The Last Rocket](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=YxypF2sxHEo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fthe-last-rocket%2Fid429747672%3Fmt%3D8%26uo%3D4%26partnerId%3D30) - [Jamie's Recipes](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=YxypF2sxHEo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fjamies-recipes%2Fid398011800%3Fmt%3D8%26uo%3D4%26partnerId%3D30) - [Groove Coaster](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=YxypF2sxHEo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fgroove-coaster%2Fid442689429%3Fmt%3D8%26uo%3D4%26partnerId%3D30) [**Kernel Panic 046**](http://brandonpittman.net/podcast/kp046.m4a)

#Mac #iOS #iPhone #iPad #games #software #Mike Bernardo

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kernelpanicshow · 14 years ago

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Brett and I just released nvALT 2.1 with a lot of bug fixes, UI improvements, and some new features. Some of my favorite additions:

- TextMate style auto-pairing of matched characters like parenthesis, brackets, and double quotes.

- Shortcut (CMD-Shift-L) for Inserting [[Links]]