People warned me about the Seattle rain…


…but not the spike pits and Wall of Death.I’m going to be walking past this every day on my way too and from school. I hope this isn’t an omen.

On the bright side, I’m happy that my new iPhone 4G (yes, I broke down) takes such nice photos! My old camera was 4 years old and being held together by duct tape, so this is a nice replacement. And while I’m rambling about iPhones, App suggestions are welcome.

Comments

  1. says

    If you can make it through there without getting plowed down by a cyclist, skateboarder, rollerblader, jogger, a shopping cart, or BMX freestyler… You’ll be just fine. While biking home I’ve taken shelter there waiting for the rain to let up on several occasions, pondering the ridiculousness of this installation. Have you met the Fremont Troll yet?

  2. Staticfoo says

    One Bus Away is a must if you ever take the bus in Seattle.Atomic Web is good if you want a browser with adblock and background tabs.

  3. LS says

    Speaking of which, how are you enjoying today’s downpour? Personally I’m a huge fan of the rain, which is part of why I like this part of the country so much. We’re just starting to enter into the rainy season, and I can’t wait. It has been a dryyyyyyyyyyy summer. FUCK, did I just leave a blog post commenting on the weather? Um…damn, nothing witty to close on comes to mind D=

  4. says

    I ride by it on the way to Foege every morning too…it’s so weird! I did a bit of reading on it when I moved here last year, apparently it’s a public art installation from the early 90s; it’s supposed to be a reference to the classic circus act in which performers ride a bike around a floorless ring (see http://www.metacafe.com/watch/… ). It’s pretty much the worst piece of public art I’ve seen in Seattle. Well, maybe second worst…the creepy clowns by the Fremont bridge might take the top (bottom?) spot.

  5. stephasaurus_rex says

    Apparently there’s an app that you can put on the end of the bed while having sex, and it will measure the mattress movement, and tell you how many calories you burn. It’d be what I would download first if I had an iPhone. (If only to prove it doesn’t work.) Have fun!

  6. Three Ninjas says

    Dude, this fucking weather is the fucking best. I once walked around the Ballard Locks with a young lady on a rainy night. We walked through the gardens, and then we went into the fish ladder. We were completely by ourselves. Our clothes were soaked and we could barely see because our glasses were foggy and covered in rain, but we were having a great time and it was so romantic.Anyway she chose some douchebag over me who ended up being a real jerk to her, but I’ll never forget that night.

  7. says

    Oooo – you should get Plants vs. Zombies! HearPlanet will give you a virtual tour of nearby landmarks. And of course, you should download the Creationist Claims Index. Oh, one more: the Tasa Geology Geotimescale is also a fun reference app to whip out at parties.

  8. says

    Pocket Universe is absolutely the best app around. It takes your GPS position, then you point your phone at the sky and it shows you where exactly all the constellations and planets are. It’s amazing.

  9. says

    My very favorite app is Star Walk – awesome for astronomy geeks like me =)The Instapaper and Kindle apps are indispensable to me.As far as games go, the most fun and addictive ones I’ve tried are Words with Friends and Chess with Friends (basically Scrabble and chess you can play against other people who have the apps), Implode, Auditorium, and the very pretty Chaos Rings.Oh, and you should know that there’s an iPhone version of Civilization!

  10. Vicky says

    I think the Pandora app should be standard, since its free :) It’s great when you want somthing other than your iPhone music.I have the Urbanspoon app, not only finds restaurants, but can also “decide” for you where to go, great when no one can make a decision. Also free!

  11. says

    I prefer Last.fm over Pandora. My list of essential apps:PanoPhotoshop ExpressFacebookTwitter for iPhoneFoursquareBumpStar WalkGoogle MobileAccuWeatherCNNNYTimesNASAScoreCenterAT&T Mark the SpotAT&T myWirelessConsumeConvertFlixsterNetflixRedLaserFor games, I’d suggest the following:Angry Birds <== I CANNOT STRESS THIS ONE ENOUGHBejeweled 2Doodle JumpFlight ControlFly Kiwi Fly!NinJumpPegglePlants vs. ZombiesShopping Cart HeroIf you’re looking for a good set of headphones that don’t suck like the ones the iPhone comes with, I strongly recommend the Skullcandy 50/50 in-ear with inline mic/volume/playback controls. I have these and they’re fantastic.

  12. mike says

    Jen -Wolfram Alpha is a must have. It’s better on my iPad, but still needed on my phone. The TED app is also a great brain stuffer. 1Password is nice to store all your passwords in one convenient place, but it’s 14.99 (or was), so it’s pricier than most iPhone apps. Well worth it though. Dragon dictation is fun, as well as many of the barcode reading apps and barcode storage apps, although I’ve had mixed luck with storing my grocery card and getting it to work at the grocery store. YMMV. Get a currency converter and some travel help software (I use KAYAK cuz thats what I had on my laptop). And I have an actual GPS app (MotionX) to help when hiking. People already mentioned the restaurant apps Yelp! and UrbanSpoon, but if you’re cooking at home Epicurious and Cook’s are apps I use every freakin’ day.Plunderland is a great game, as is Enigmo2 and the World Tour of tossing paper into a wastebasket (I’ve whiled away many airport hours throwing paper). Scrabble of course is great, and I also recommend CrossWords if you’re into brain candy.Picture-wise, I like transfer to wirelessly transfer photos and RetroCamera to modify any pix you take (although your 4 display and camera is better than my 3GS).I have the following book readers: iBooks, Kindle, eReader, WattPad, Nook, Overdrive, B&N Reader, and eReader. Well, I am a sys admin in a library, so I can say they’re all work related, but I like iBooks and the Kindle the best by far. Also get the Marvel and Comics apps if you’re into comics. They are gorgeous!The weather channel app is better than the silly weather app that comes with the phone, but you can also just use Safari to go to the National Weather Service page for Seattle and then create a bookmark on your phone.I also have to put in my kudos for iSSH, which is better on the iPad, but still keeps me connected to my work servers 24×7 from anywhere in the world, although the text is very teeny tiny on the iPhone. I’m looking forward to getting an iPhone 4 and seeing if the better display helps!Oh and get a couple of medical apps. I only have 2 for my pets, but there are many that can provide useful info for people too.Enjoy Seattle. I really had fun the 5 years I lived there!

  13. shac says

    OK you need some science apps. Although I don’t use them a lot it is nice to have in the lab. BioGene, caBio, Bio-Rad PCR, genome pad, NEB tools, Promega, Daily calcs, NASA, EMD PTE, GeneIndex, and PubMed Tap.

  14. says

    I own most of Carl’s list. For Seattle Specific apps, I recommend One Bus Away and the Seattle Public Library app. For new iPhoners I recommend Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies, Bejeweled 2, Multiplex Madness, Words With Friends, and Netflix.I also am a big newshound so I use Reeder and Instapaper. Then there’s Twitter/Facebook apps…

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