Memo/DOC App for iPhone/Touch

I was looking for a simple Memo/DOC App similar to that found on my old Palm IIIxe PDA. The standard “Notes App”, which comes with the iPhone/Touch is OK, but lacks some of the features of my Palm.

I downloaded the following freebies from the Apps Store:
NoteStuff Lite
Notes n More
AyeNotes
Password Notes
Safe Note

Some of these were too complex for my purposes, some did not provide adequate instructions. Of the ones I tried, I chose “Safe Note”. The application prides itself on its simplicity and ease of use. It also employs variable length fields so the user can enter anything he likes. Other programs have fixed length fields and are limited to “template-like” entries.

I also appreciated the fact that the data files are password protected. And that each file can be given a real title, and not just listed with the first few lines of its text as a pseudo-title.

Import/export of files from a desktop machine to Safe Note can be accomplished with email and the copy/paste capabilities of the iPhone/Touch.

Please let me know if others have a favorite Memo App that I haven’t tried yet.

AppleScript- A Short Report for a Very Long Book

I must admit that, at first glance, “AppleScript 1-2-3” by Sal Soghoian and Bill Cheeseman was a daunting experience. In today’s world, a printed volume that weighs nearly four pounds, and has 880 pages can be an unusual and intimidating document.

Yet, upon sitting down with the book and my MAC along side, and going through the numerous examples of the first chapter, I realized that, “Hey! This book is READABLE!”

Now, I won’t pretend that I’ve read the rest of the book in any great detail, but from what I’ve gleaned so far, the authors continue their hands-on, example-driven approach throughout- making the learning of AppleScript a very doable undertaking.

To those who are unfamiliar with AppleScript, let’s just say that it is an unbelievably powerful object-oriented language, built into every MAC from the beginning. It allows the user to manipulate the MAC applications in ways which add tremendous utility to the original programs.

For instance, my project involves taking a “whole boatload” of very old Microsoft Word files for MAC, and converting them into files that can be read by a modern WINDOWS PC- a daunting task if it were not for the MACRO capabilities of AppleScript.

AppleScript uses high-level, English language sentence structure and compiles it into a program that the machine understands. A built-in AppleScript Editor makes programming easy. An example of a command might be:

tell application “Finder” to open the startup disk

Nothing very cryptic there…

If you need your computer to do something different, or something not originally designed into a “Standard” application, you may want to give AppleScript a try. The book has a list price of $49.99. If you want to see if AppleScript is right for you before you make a commitment, look for a copy at your local public library.

Published by Peachpit Press
Copyright 2009
ISBN13:978-0-321-14931-2
ISBN-10:6-321-14931-9
mm
Ron K

Dave Marra presents at macs@pacs Feb 21st

February 21st
Dave Marra from Apple

Meeting will start promptly at 9am and end promptly at 11:45
Come see iLife'09 and iWork'09 Apple's newest tips, tools, and applications
Some really cool new ways to work with photographs and movies, etc.
A must see to believe!!!!
Come and enjoy
and
Have your wish list enlarged....... �