The Mallorys Online

Going into the weekend the Mallorys were looking forward to relaxing and doing “family things” like going to the park and shopping for home stuff.  Saturday morning we got up, had coffee and breakfast and fed Jacob.  The sun was out for a break between rain storms and it seemed our plan was going to work!  We got the family loaded into the car around 9:30am when Jennifer asked if I could grab the diaper bag because her phone is in it.  I grabbed the bag and she rummaged through for a while before declaring the phone must be somewhere in the car and we’ll find it later.  We had a great walk around downtown Sacramento and by 11am Jacob was ready for a long nap.  We headed home, still unsure where her phone was.

Once we got home we emptied the car looking for this phone… it was missing, but at this point we don’t think it’s lost or stolen.  We sit down for lunch a little after 12pm when all of the sudden my phone rings, but it only rings once and then stops.  I pick it up and I see a missed call from Jennifer’s phone!  My heart drops. Read the rest of this entry »

A buddy of mine sent out a note asking for iPhone app recommendations.  Since I went through the effort to put the list together I figured I might as well share it on the site.

• WeatherBug – replaces stock weather app and provides more detailed forecasts and weather maps
• Wordpress – I run a couple Wordpress powered blogs and this provides publishing on the go
• Facebook – This one needs much improvement.  It’s rumored they’re working on a 2.0 that closely resembles the web based Facebook
• Pandora – Internet radio that adapts to your taste.  You can create custom stations by seeding the player with a favorite artist or song.
• eBay – Obvious
• iChoose – Free app that offers a coin flip, yes/no, dice roll or card choice when you need a little help making a decision!
• myLite – Flashlight app with some cool effects.  Great way to cut Jacob’s fingernails while he’s sleeping at night.
• Simplify – App that allows iTunes library sharing between users.  I share mine under NorCalAngler
• SportsTap – Instant access to scores and news for all major sports
• Last.fm – Similar to Pandora, Internet radio that adapts to your preferences
• Dual Level – Bubble level app that uses the iPhone sensors to make sure things are level
• Exposure – Tap into your Flickr photo library anywhere.  Great for showing off pics of Jacob without loading my iPhone will gigs of photos
• HoldEm – The best iPhone Texas Holdem game
• Enigmo – Fun puzzle game where you use various tools to direct water into buckets
• Air Hockey – 1/2 player air hockey
• Sudoku Free – Obvious
• Tris – Will be removed from the app store on Wednesday due to copyright issues – Tetris clone

What are your favorite apps?

For my birthday this year (May 25) I asked my family for Apple store gift cards so I could get the new iPhone when it is released.  Well, that day has come and gone and I don’t have an iPhone.  Why?  Well, that’s a great question that I would love to answer.  The reason I don’t have an iPhone is that I have a family and a job.  While I was helping our country with its gross national product, college kids and unemployed people across the country were standing in line for up to 8-9 hours to get an iPhone.  How can I compete with that?  I asked Jennifer to head over to the Apple store at 8am.  She had Jacob with her so there was no chance she was sticking it out once she saw the line.

I figured the line may die down toward the end of the day so I headed over to the mall at 3:30pm and saw a guy walking out with an iPhone bag.  I asked him how the line is moving inside and his response was, “it’s still pretty slow, about 4-5 hours is my guess.”  My natural follow-up question was how long he waited. “Oh, I’ve been here since 7am.”  WHAT?!?  These people are nuts, but they have an iPhone and I don’t.  I have been messing with the new software on Jennifer’s iPod Touch and it’s awesome!  Hopefully the Apple store gets some more stock (they’re currently out) this week.

On another note, I found a cool plugin for themallorysonline.com that optimizes the layout for iPhones and Touches.  The only person I know that looks at the site with an iPhone is my older sister so I’ll have to ask her if it actually works.

Update: Thank you, big sis, for the screenshot of the site in action on the iPhone!  She said it looks good and works great.. awesome!