TechPastor

Springpad Vs One Note – first thoughts

Darren Chapman — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:07:02 +0000

Many of you know my fascination with Microsoft One Note… it’s a simple but powerful program which lets you categorise and store thousands of bits of info into ‘notebooks’ not unlike an A4 notebook with dividers. Clever!

Since getting an iPhone however I’ve searched for software that would allow me to sync seamlessly One Note notebooks between devices. I found Mobile Noter which has an iPad app too and is pretty good. But simple cut and paste seems to elude it and it’s very clunky.

My friend John Finkelde recommended Springpad via Twitter earlier this week. Since then I’ve been…. fascinated!

Perks of Springpad

Free iPhone + iPad apps
Automatic sync across devices
Full browser integration (i.e. access from anywhere)
‘Magical’ auto assistant – haven’t seen benefits yet but apparently they exist
Cloud backup automatically
Tasks built in
Share items with friends simply (Facebook/Twitter integration)

Advantages of One Note

Powerful MS product with sub links inside other MS products
Auto-saves your work – no save button
Completely searchable including text in images
Clever paste which adds website + other details
Better filing system

The jury is still out but I’m really enjoying Springpad so far and I’m loving using it out and about on my iPhone and iPad too.

EDIT: Just found a One Note iPhone app here!

LibraryThings – brilliant!

Darren Chapman — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 01:51:45 +0000

I was looking for a simple library tool that I could

Easily and quickly add all mine and the churches books to
Share the list easily and publicly
View and search online or via my iPhone.

I found LibraryThing and it’s perfect for us! Adding books is a cinch, I share a permalink with everyone so they can see my library in Cover form.

Check out our list of books at C3 New Life here.

To Do Lists – How do you do it?

Darren Chapman — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 01:40:16 +0000

I’ve tried heaps of different ways to manage tasks. I’ve used Microsoft Outlook, Google Tasks, the Things app, the 2Do app, pieces of paper, notepads… the list goes on. I wanted a simple, easily manageable system that I could access both on my computer (in a browser preferably) AND on my iPhone. I could not find a single iPhone app that would allow me to sync easily with my PC as well as my iPhone. Key word? Easily.

Then Communicate Jesus showed me GQueues. It’s online, you can view it on a mobile site (and save to your iPhone home screen easily) then you have your tasks list everywhere you go AND when you’re at home. You also don’t need to stuff around with MS Outlook or Apps that only sync with Mac software or other complicated task systems.

GQueues… simple, easy, fast, efficient… PC, Mac, iPhone, mobile device. Nice.

Preaching via Skype

Darren Chapman — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 03:42:46 +0000

This Sunday at C3 New Life we’re doing something a little different. We’ve got David Spell from C3 Atlanta preaching live via Skype. Seems to be generating some buzz. Anyone who hears about it seems to be interested in the results. Here’s what we’re doing to prepare:

- Ensure internet connection is fast. ADSL 2 or a 7.2Mb/s speed wireless broadband connection should do the trick. We’ve got the latter.

- Ensure it’s visually engaging. We’ve got 2 new 50″ plasma screens we’ll be hooking it up to and giving David a webcam on our end so he can engage better with the crowd.

- Let everyone know about it. It’s a bit of a big deal for us to have him speak so we’ve been telling the church for a few weeks now.

Will let you know how it goes. Looking forward to it!

Apple TV

Darren Chapman — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:33:29 +0000

Tried out Apple TV at the new Apple Store here in Newcastle. Looks impressive. Can you see any uses for it in ministry?

Which ‘To Do’ App Do You Use?

Darren Chapman — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 01:01:56 +0000

I’ve played with lots of the task manager apps on the Apple App Store for my iPhone and there’s a diverse range out there to help (or hinder!) your productivity.

I spent $12.99 on an app called Things which had a brilliant write up and looked excellent. I have to admit, the price made me think it’d be an upmarket, holistic app. I was wrong! It lacked some basic features you can find in much cheaper apps such as recurring tasks. I decided to check a few others out.

I downloaded some free versions and tried them out but the best one I found is called 2Do. Check it out at http://www.2doapp.com. It’s about $4 on the app store but has pretty much everything you need. The features page is pretty impressive plus there’s an inbuilt tutorial to help you get the most out of it.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Darren Chapman — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:20:55 +0000

There are so many tools you can use to organise yourself and increase productivity that you can get nothing done trying to work them all out. Few tips when creating a new system for life or ministry:
- ask your peers what they use
- what technology do you have available right now?
- what can you afford? A couple of apps for your iPhone can sometimes so the job you need. E.g. I now use JotNot for scanning and faxing documents. Cost me $7.99 on the iPhone App Store but saved me from buying a fax machine!
- what’s free? I use a free WordPress blog for my sermon illustrations I want to store for future use.
- what can you combine for maximum awesomeness?! Today I took a photo of a page from a book I’m reading with Jotnot, sent it to Google Docs to work it’s OCR magic then copied the text into a blog post on my illustrations blog and did it all from my iPhone . Awesome!

Final tip: work out what it is you want to do and ask someone who is more savvy than you. Comment below and I’ll help any way I can.

The Promises – iPhone app that builds faith

Darren Chapman — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 23:00:45 +0000

You gotta love an iPhone app created by the head of your movement which is specifically designed to help you, build your faith and aid in remembering Scripture. This is it!

It’s a simple app that does exactly that. Hit the Next button or swipe the screen for another verse, hit the play button down the bottom to hear Ps Phil Pringle vocalise the verse. It’s powerful because ‘faith comes by hearing the word’ (Romans 10:17) and by listening to the verse your faith is built up! For those in C3, this is awesome to hear the President and founder of our movement vocalise powerful scripture into our lives.

Get it. Search for ‘The Promises’ on the App Store on your iPhone or iTunes and whack it on your Home screen for daily use. Get these promises into you for a bigger, faith filled future. Only $1.19 too.

Streak.ly – Get into better habits

Darren Chapman — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 01:11:22 +0000

Gotta love an application that lets you ‘game your day’. Streak.ly allows you to insert which tasks you want to complete EVERY day then tick them off each day and try and get a ‘streak’. The idea is to try and get better streaks and create the habits you want in your life. Not bad.

Mashable did an article on it with a link to sign up for first 500 people. I got in. Head over and get yours if they’re still available.

LOVE this idea. It can really help anyone create healthy habits. Check it out.

iPad or ‘Other’?

Darren Chapman — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 12:01:40 +0000

Ok, I know I’ve got several iPad hugging Apple hippies who read this blog and I know the iPad is the best thing ever. But what about the new competition? RIM just announced a serious contender in the PlayBook and then there’s Dell, Samsung, HP and others.

8 months ago Mashable wrote this article called 9 Upcoming Tablet Alternatives to the iPad. While most of them are pretty awful now we are starting to see some nice, actual contenders jump in the game. Again, RIM’s PlayBook is one I think could really change things up a little. RIM are renowned for excellent business products such as the Blackberry and this could be the real business tablet people are waiting for. Of course, I’d like a play with a Samsung Galaxy Tab when it comes out and even the HP Slate could be worth a look albeit likely a brief one.

Finally there’s the iPad 2 with unknown specs and unknown release date. This is a serious option for me as Apple always leave out obvious components until their 2nd release to ‘ensure they get it right’ or something.

Ok, your turn. If you were to get a tablet in the next 12 months what would YOU get? What up and coming tablet to you think looks best for life and ministry?