Have you seen this shit? It’s one of these apps that just sits quietly in the App Store, where thousands of other apps reside. The difference between this one and all those others is that it’s pumped full of THE FUTURE.

Word Lens, to put it simply, is a translator. It takes one language and turns it into another like so many of the other translation apps that are out there. The only difference is that Word Lens does it on the fly, in real time.

Hell, I’m going to stop blathering about this bad ass application and let this video show you. WE’RE LIVING IN THE FUTURE!

The iPod was my gateway drug to the iPhone. Two years ago, being tired of carrying around a phone and an iPod, I decided to take the plunge and invest in a 16GB iPhone 3G. It was the best purchase I’ve ever made. I fully anticipate snarky comments, illuminating me to the wonders of the other smart phones on the market or dismissing Apple as a cult of hipster-Jobs-worshipping-zombies. But you know what? I don’t give a shit about any of that. I have no brand loyalty or nerd rage either way. I just know what works for me. And for two years, the iPhone 3G was my best friend and my most-used tool. I took it everywhere, used it constantly, and rarely did it let me down.

However, over the past several months, as my storage began to run out and my needs increased, I noticed that the 3G was becoming sluggish and quirky. Syncing was hit or miss, sometimes taking ages, and performance was spotty. Even more aggravating was that I was having to “clean the fridge”, constantly making room for new apps or albums. As much as I loved my 3G, I had outgrown it.

Luckily, Apple releases a new product about once every two days (or so it seems), and my two-year contract was just about up. So, when the iPhone 4 was announced, I made my preorder and on launch day I had a shiny new phone sitting on my front steps. So now that I’ve had a week with my new best friend, I figured I’d post some thoughts on the new Apple hotness, just in case some of you are making the upgrade.

The first thing you’ll notice about the iPhone 4 is the form factor. No longer contoured on the backside, the new phone feels more “brickish” than the past three models. The result is a more sturdy and solid feel. Not necessarily “better” or “worse”; just “different”. I can’t say that I prefer the separate buttons for volume, or the new “sound off” switch, but neither do I dislike them. The 1/4″ headphone jack now actually clicks when a cable is plugged in. These changes feel a bit more “industrial” in design, but as I mentioned, where the phone looses some of its sleek sexiness, it makes up for in a feel of durability. Little things like that make me less wary that my phone is going to shatter if I drop it.

Much has been made about the iPhone 4′s “retina” display. If you watched the press conference unveiling, you probably remember Steve Jobs boasting how the display would make you blow a load in your pants due to its unbelievable clarity. Or something like that. I forget the exact wording. Nevertheless, the fact remains that visual sexiness was promised and visual sexiness has indeed been delivered. Games, videos, and pictures always looked nice on my 3G, but on the iPhone 4 they have all reached a new level of quality. Street Fighter IV looks absolutely stunning, as do Espgaluda II and Plants vs. Zombies. And having such a high-quality movie-viewing screen in such a small portable size is nothing short of amazing. So yes, it turns out that all the gross marketing hyperbole was actually based in fact. Who woulda thunk?

Software-wise, many of the updates can be enjoyed via an update to iOS4 if you’re a 3Gs user or own a recent iPod touch. Hell, even my old 3G can be updated to use a few of the new features. But the iPhone 4 has a few additional touches not available on the older models. For example, all you narcissists out there will be able to gaze at your own beauty and take pictures and video of yourself via the new front-facing camera. Flashes were added for the dark times, and a new feature called “Face Time” allows you to video chat with other iPhone 4 users through a WiFi connection. I haven’t used that yet, because I don’t know anybody else with an iPhone 4. Seems like it would be handy, though, especially for deaf users.

In addition, a scaled-down version of iMovie is available to use so you can edit your videos, add effects, and more. I’ve played around with it a bit, but found that while it’s a nice little program, it can be a bit cumbersome to use on such a small screen.

Aside from the sorely-needed additional storage space, the most noticeable upgrade to the iPhone 4 for me has been the system’s speed. My 3G would crawl when loading certain apps. For example, Plants vs. Zombies would take over thirty seconds to boot up, and now the game is instantly loaded to where I last left off. Twitter loads more quickly, my news feeds are almost instantaneous, and my other games zip along quickly. Any frustration I ever had with my 3G has all been wiped out with the iPhone 4.

So yes, I spent $300 on the 32GB model. But, frankly, I would have gladly spend an extra $100 for a 64GB model. Again, this device works perfectly for my needs. I am never without my iPhone and I use it all day long. When something fits my life as well as this does, I have no problem shelling out the cash. And, in two years, I’ll probably do it all over again.

Okay, okay. So I’m calling it iApp of the Week and everyone hates the “i” at the front. I get it. I’m just getting sick of saying and typing iPad/iPhone every time I want to talk about a cross platform Apple App. And now look. You’ve gone and made me type it anyway. Thanks.

This, in what I hope to be a weekly occurrence, is a way for us to highlight some of the better Apps that you can buy for your Jesus Phone that stand out from the crowd. Overall, the programs highlighted here will be Apps you can use on a regular basis and make your life a bit easier.

The App that I’m talking about today is called Good Reader and it is a rather full featured PDF viewer for your iPhone/iPad. Brought to us by Good.iWare.LTD, Good Reader has become an essential part of my daily iPad use. The main reason I acquired an iPad was for use as an instructional tool in my job as a teacher. In order to use the iPad effectively in my classroom, being able to read PDF files is a must. The one big problem with something like the iPad, however, is getting files onto it that are not Apple specific or do not fit into the common flow of Mac centered programs. The lack of any sort of USB port or CD drive being the biggest detriment to this workflow.

With the Good Reader app, this problem is solved in a number of usable ways. First off, if you have a pointer to any PDF file on the web, you can enter this URL into the Good Reader app, and it pulls down the file to your iPad/iPhone. This is a very handy tool and many websites are actually providing pages for doing exactly this. For instance, this page over at Sweetwater.com is an example of this. Sweetwater is a store that specializes in recording/music equipment and have made their catalogs available online for a long time now. However, this iPad specific page shows just how easy it has become for companies to deliver things such as online catalogs to the iPad. In addition, if you have a local file hosted on your WiFi network, you can also download from there using the WiFi Transfer option that is built into the App.

Browsing your PDF files on your iPad is a pretty easy affair, with everything laid out in a very organized fashion. The app is very quick and responsive and I noticed very little load times despite the PDF files being pretty large. I must admit that this was all done on an iPad, however, and your results will be slower depending on what Apple product you happen to be using. Files are easily viewed using built in tools from zooming the pages to changing page orientation. Bookmarking pages (a must for going back to a certain set of pages in a large PDF document) is easy and intuitive as well. The Good Reader app also supports high resolution files, Office and iWork documents, HTML archives and audio/video files. It’s all laid out in a clear and concise way and if you get stuck, a full featured Help section is also available to guide you through any questions.

The Good Reader is available in the App Store for $.99 and it’s a must have for anyone needing to view large PDF files on their portable device.

It’s that time of year where I get to, once again, put out the disclaimer that a self-proclaimed Apple fanboy is writing an article on a new piece of Steve Jobs tech. I’ll try my best to keep any hyperbole to a bare minimum and instead try my hand at a rational explanation as to why anyone should care about this new Jesus Slab.

To many of us, fanboy and hater alike it seems, the idea of an Apple tablet that does shit all your other shit already does was a head scratcher at best. I believe my own Twitter record has me stating something to the effect of:

“Great, so I have this already. Only it’s smaller. And called an iPhone.”

That rather snarky statement, however, isn’t far off from the reality of what the iPad actually is. Sure, there are some new features that the iPhone doesn’t have and it clocks in as a much faster machine. Yet, even with those things, any iPad owner is going to have a tough time trying to defend the Apple tablet as the next level convergence device at face value.

The truth is, I already have plenty of books, CD’s, DVD’s and Blu-Ray filling my house. I have at least three physical calendars hanging around my home. I have a fairly up-to-date laptop and a larger Mac that serves as the all purpose family computer. I have an iPhone that serves as my convergence device and my entire life seems to be housed on it. I have more games than I have time to play and boxes upon boxes of comics and magazines stored away. I have boardgames, card games and library card. I have high definition television, FM radio and photo albums full of both embarrassing and adorable pictures in equal measure. All of these perform their individual functions exceedingly well and I have nothing but tiny complaints about each of them.

So why own an iPad? For me, the answer has less to do with what the iPad does as a list of individual features and more about how the device combines these things into a cohesive and multi-faceted electronic tool. It’s what the iPad represents as the logical continuation of Apple’s philosophy that makes the tablet stand on its own. For this reason the iPad becomes a difficult thing to talk to others about in a convincing way. All the regular benchmarks we use to evaluate electronic devices don’t amount to much until you’ve used the iPad as a part of your daily life. A list of bullet points fails to demonstrate what using the iPad elegantly reveals: the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts.
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iPhone 3GS: I know, I know. The obvious choice for the Apple Fanboy in the audience but bear with me. I never bought a 3G back when Steve and Co. debuted the new “faster internet” version of the iPhone. My old 2G hooked into the web just fine, ran Apps decently and did everything I wanted it too. Or so I thought. With this little beauty, not only do I have a much needed compass to help me find my own house when I’m lost, it allows me to stream podcasts and music on the fly and take videos of my kids before they turn into teenagers tomorrow. Hell, I can even mistakenly send that picture of me with no pants to my loan officer instead of just texting him insults to his mother. Technology is, truly, grand. What was already a device that had my very life housed inside it has somehow become an even more important and valuable piece of equipment. I’m never without it.

Vintage 1952 Telecaster Reissue: Like every red-blooded American boy, I’ve always wanted to be a guitar player. Aided by the impending Classic Rock inspired Shmopera 3.0, I decided it was time to stop fucking around and do it. I’ve had my eye on this guitar since I first saw Springsteen playing on an actual 1952 Telecaster as a kid and when it came time to buy my first serious guitar, there could be no other. It may be a reissue but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t rock the shit out of everything you play. It’s a dream and plays like a classic American guitar should: loud and sexy. Add in a new VOX tube amp and I’m in rock and roll heaven. Tom Petty cover band, here I come. If I wasn’t married, I would sleep with this thing. I’m in love.

Up!: I’ve heard tell of animated movies that made crowds weep with emotion. I’ve never had an animated movie move me that way, until Pete Doctor’s Up!, that is. In the course of about three minutes, the story of a man and his wife goes by and ends with the main character sitting alone and holding a balloon after the funeral of his wife. An animated movie had me crying in the theater. Call me a baby, call me a wimp. I call Pete Doctor and the artists at Pixar some of the best storytellers and craftsmen that have ever lived. Thank God they exist.

Twitter: Hilden from 2008 wants to punch the Hilden of 2009 right in his pussy fucking face with this pick. It’s true, however, that Twitter has become one of the most important communication tools for Drunken Gamers Radio and it’s community of kick ass listeners. Not to mention, it’s a great way to keep in touch with what’s going on in world of entertainment, politics, comedy, music, comics and anything else I have an interest in. It’s everything I love about forums but without all the shit I hate. It’s what I wanted Facebook to be before a shit ton of people I didn’t even talk to in High School made the social network the equivalent of a yearbook popularity contest. Twitter is how I like to keep in touch with people. Short and to the point communications with a link to more shit if you want it. Twitter, I hate to say it, is the missing piece to the DGR/Robot Panic puzzle that started with a forum burned to the ground by a merciless robot. I love to Tweet. There. I said it. Fuck you.

LOST: For a show that really started to flounder around Season 3, this show really found it’s stride and once again sits as one of the best shows on television. In it’s 2009 Season, the element of time travel was used, not as a groan-inducing “we don’t know where to go from here” cop-out but as a brilliantly executed tool that was integral to a compelling and pivotal story arc. With only one season to go, LOST has taken it’s place as one of the most engaging stories I have witnessed on television and in 2009, it consistently delivered on it’s promise. My only regret is that it’s only got one more season before it’s over.

The Beatles Re-Masters: I’ve always been a Beatles fan but I’ve never seriously delved into their music. I’m not sure if it just wasn’t the right time in my life or what, but I’ve always had a passing fancy with the group. When the Re-Masters hit this year, the aspiring audio engineer in me decided to pick them up just to learn something about the mastering process. What ended up happening is a multiple month long voyage of musical discovery regarding song writing and construction. Those lessons ended up infusing most of my contributions to the ZomBOOsical! and gave me a whole new insight into what makes a great band great. My only regret is that it took me this long to really understand what the Beatles were all about. The new versions of these classic albums not only sound fantastic but they also restored my love of the physical medium of the CD for my music purchases. While I still download many songs digitally, if it’s anything of worth, I’m back to buying it on CD thanks to these albums.

The Protomen: Act II-The Father of Death: We’re obviously big fans of the rock “opera” thing here at Robot Panic. As such, The Protomen’s latest offering is one of my favorite albums of the year. Yes, it tells a great little story that is set in the world of one of my favorite videogames. However, it’s the songs themselves that set this album apart. They all have great hooks, some fantastic 80′s synth action and they’re catchy as hell. It’s a really well produced album and from a musical perspective, it sets the bar high for other folks hoping to do much the same. Um..yeah…that would be us.

Dexter: I’m a bit late to the party on this one, but I have to mention that Dexter goes down as one of the most cleverly crafted shows to appear on television. It got my wife and I to plunk down another $10.00 a month we don’t have just to see them all in time. I was in love with Season 3, even though many didn’t like it as much. I, however, thought it would be pretty hard to top. With Season 4′s scary, disturbing, brilliant and completely shocking story now over, I have NO idea where things go from here but I’ve never been more anxious to see a season of television start.

And that season finale ending scene will haunt me for months. I’m fucking serious.

All of You: Excuse the bit of cheese that’s about to be written here. I have to say that one of my favorite things of 2009 was all of you who read, listen and contribute to our little home on the web. I’m not gonna lie. A little over a year ago, I was done with websites, forums and podcasts. For reasons of my own addled brain, I was fighting hard to kill everything and shut it all down. Thanks to my good friends talking me down off the ledge, we managed to find what was missing and move things in a more positive direction for the three of us.

In turn, all of you who have been with us since the beginning of Team Fremont (or even GWX) and those of you only a week old have written in, called, submitted articles, left iTunes reviews and (most shockingly) donated your hard earned money to our show. There are simply no words to express how grateful I am for all of you and your contributions. I only hope that our show and site continue to entertain you or at least make you laugh once before you unsubscribe in disgust.

Thank you for making 2009 the best year we’ve ever had.

There’s a chapter of gaming history in my life that I had completely forgotten about until Moe mentioned the game Karateka on our show a few weeks back. The Apple II was a large part of my childhood that had been overshadowed by my memories of the Turbografx-16. Before the Turbo came along, most of my gaming was done on an “Apple II-compatible” computer that my mom had purchased for me from Sears. It was an archaic machine, even for its time. It had two old-school floppy disc drives, a clunky color monitor, a massive keyboard that was connected to the computer itself, and of course a dot-matrix printer that was constantly running off the tracks. It was bought for the sole purpose of homework and school projects, but I had other ideas. While I did slave over numerous school papers using Bank Street Writer, it was the games that I was most interested in.

Fortunately for me, copying games from floppy-to-floppy was incredibly easy back then, making the dual-floppy drive configuration I had convinced my mom to buy an incredibly sound investment. And since the well of “edutainment” titles like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and The Oregon Trail ran dry, I had trouble convincing my education-centric mother to buy me kick ass arcade games. What I didn’t have trouble convincing her to do was buy me blank floppies so I could “save my homework assignments”. My real scheme, of course, was to harvest the surprisingly massive library of titles found at my school’s library. Hours were spent pirating games like Karateka and Lode Runner. And shortly, the bulky, clumsy machine that I used to toil away with became my primary source of entertainment. The problem was that the games weren’t very well-made or user-friendly. Sometimes you’d have to reboot the disc five or six times just to get it working. Oftentimes they didn’t have joystick support and the keyboard configuration was clumsy as hell. The rules were sometimes hazy, and the difficulty was often unforgiving simply because of the hardware limitations. But at the time, this was all I had. My Atari 2600 had long been sold, and because the of the “crash”, my mom saw gaming as a fad and not something she wanted to invest more money into.

After Moe talked about Karateka, all those memories came rushing back. I couldn’t remember many of the game titles, but I distinctly remembered laboring over those games, milking every ounce of enjoyment out of them that I could. I wanted to find out more about those games, so naturally I headed over to Google. And what I found was nothing short of a jackpot: VirtualApple.org, a website with a complete online archive of all the Apple II games that I loved as a child. The best part is that they’re all playable within your internet browser.

Amazing!

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