The Geekorium

This tutorial is for people with a grounding in InDesign already. You should know the basics of creating a new document, adding Paragraph Styles and manipulating text. I’ll be covering the “gotchas” I found creating an eBook from InDesign. Creating an eBook in InDesign will give you the option to export as EPUB, PDF and HTML all from the same source, with minimal changes. What follows is my preferred flow.

Regular readers might want to tune out now. Go read an old Rex Havoc or something.

Before you start you’ll need Calibre. Calibre is a “swiss army knife” for eBooks. It converts to and from all sorts of formats. To keep the code as pure as possible though, I only use it for the final conversion from EPUB (eBook format) to MOBI (Kindle format), which is not currently possible straight from InDesign.

Create all the different visual styles as Paragraph Styles.

As you create them, fill in the Export Tagging options at the bottom of the Paragraph Style Options window.

Be sparing with the H tags

Chose an appropriate Tag for both the EPUB and HTML section and the PDF section. You can choose P (paragraph) or H1 through H6 (heading sizes 1-6), but keep it simple. If you’re used to working with HTML, this will be straight forward, but you want to keep most text as Paragraph text and leave the Headings for your actual title and book headings. For instance, I’ve used H1 for the title of my book, H2 for chapter titles, H3 for the Author style, and H4 for the book subtitle.

Add a Class under EPUB and HTML. This will add all the relevant CSS to the exported document to give it a semblance of what you actually intend it to look like.

Also make sure you turn off Hyphenation on each paragraph style. Kindle reflows the book to match the reader’s text options, and hyphens won’t make sense the minute they leave your carefully formatted book.

Create a Table of Contents, but do not insert into a page. Leave it as overset text outside the flow of the document. When you export it, you have the choice to include it and you should do it then.

When you export the document, choose the Contents as shown.

Remember this, there’s a Quiz later

Fill out at least the first tab of the File Information ( File > File Info in the menu.) This will pre-fill a lot of the metadata your eBook needs.

Metadata is always important

1. Export your file. At this step you can export as PDF, HTML and of course, EPUB.

   • In the EPUB Export Options tick Include Document Metadata and fill in your details of you care to.
   • Select Use Existing Image File and select a cover image. It’s better that you don’t include this image in the actual InDesign document.
   • Under Formatting Options you can choose to leave the defaults, or set Bullets to “Map to Unordered Lists” and Numbers to “Map to Static Ordered Lists” (I’m actually not sure what the difference here is.
   • You can leave the Image options as default, or tweak to your liking. The books I’ve done so far have been light on images, but if I do anything more in-depth I’ll update this page with what I find.
   • Fill in the Contents section as previously shown.

2. Open your EPUB file in Calibre. Check the conversion. I only got this process right after much trial and error, and some of my settings have become default for me. If things aren’t working right for you leave me a comment and if I had the same issue I’ll update the tutorial with how I overcame the problem.

3. Click Convert Book in Calibre.

   • In the Metadata section, fill in any further metadata necessary.
   • You can leave most of the rest as default, but under Structure Detection you may wish to use an XPath expression to force page breaks in your kindle document if you haven’t already done so in InDesign. To do it in InDesign, choose the Paragraph Style that will force a new page and under “Keep Options” in Paragraph Style Options set “Start Paragraph” as Next Page. EPUB and MOBI will honor this setup.
   • Under Table of Contents ensure “Force use of auto-generated Table of Contents” is unticked.
   • In MOBI Output, untick everything.
   • Click OK. If I’ve remembered all the steps I used, you should have well formatted EPUB and MOBI files.
   • From Calibre, select the new title and click “Save to disk in a single directory” and put your new files somewhere. Share and enjoy!

The MOBI file that this process produces is perfect for uploading into Amazon. The files I’ve uploaded don’t change at all and look exactly the same once they’ve been processed by Amazon’s software.

The EPUB file can be loaded over the net into iBooks on your iPad or iPhone by opening the file in Safari. The software will ask you if you’d like to add the file to your iBook shelf.

You can check out the results of this process by downloading my first Rex Havoc ebook for free, or the third Time Diversion directly from Amazon.

David Hawkins at What Culture! asks Can Marvel Digital Comics Conquer The Comic Readers of the World?

The Marvel Comics apps for Chrome, iOS and PSP let you read a large swath of the Marvel back-catalogue online or on your Apple/Sony devices. You can subscribe for $60US a year, and read a lot of classic Marvel comics, as well as a selection of the new stuff.

“You wouldn’t like me on a tiny screen”

David has been collecting printed comics for 20 years, and says he was spending hundreds of dollars on comics in a month before trying out the Marvel Digital route.

I too have been going digital, but I’ve been coming at it from a different direction. As an Android user, I discovered the Comixoligy comic store before I discovered the Marvel store. For the uninitiated, the Comixology store offers comics from a range of publishers (except Marvel) on iOS devices and Android, as well as through your browser. For the first time in my life, I’ve been enjoying comics the way I imagine most of my comic-loving peers used to when they were younger.

I’m going to go through my experience with Comixology as it compares to the Marvel experience using the couple of dot-points David used:

Price

I’m a comics late-starter. I’ve always loved the idea of comics, but never had the disposable income to spend on them. As I’ve gotten older and gradually come into a bit of spare cash, I’ve found comics have gotten more expensive to match, and the value I perceive from them has decreased. When I was a kid and could get my hands on a comic here or there, I was always somewhat disappointed that they were so chock full of ads, and never finished an arc in the one I happened to have then and there. For most comic-book nerds, the huge sweeping arcs are the draw card to buy the next one, but for a poor Aussie kid, the chances of seeing the next story in the saga was exceedingly slim. Comixology offers a number of free comics including a back-log of FCBD comics, and first issues from popular series. The remaining comics start from 99c up to $5 for some of the more esoteric comics available, but are very fairly priced compared to their off-the-shelf couterparts.

Range

Range is the first point where Comixology beats the Marvel store hands-down. Take a look at this list of publishers. There are 46 publishers of varying popularity and quality, and most tellingly - DC gets pride of place on the web store. I don’t know which came first, but it makes sense that DC would use Comixology’s infrastructure rather than build their own to compete with Marvel. The remaining contributors are a diverse bunch, including Dark Horse, Image (publishers of my current favourite comic Chew), and even Comixology’s own brand.

*Marvel on iOS only…

Age

This can vary a bit on the Comixology store. Like David, I was worried all I would find would be old comics, but I’m finding a nice mix of old and new. Every week seems to bring a release of old classics such as Batman #1 through #25. I recenly got to read the (sadly ridiculous) Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight Saga during a movie inspired Green Lantern 1/2 price sale. On the flip side, I’ve decided I’ll use my new-found comic-powers to actually read some history-making comics as they’re released, and I’m following DC’s latest universe editing Flashpoint story as it unfolds. I think it’s a few issues behind (at writing I’ve read #2 in the main story), but this is only to be expected - as David points out, “You are never going to get the newest comics that are currently sitting on the shelves. If you did you would find many small comic stores going out of business”

Ease of Search

Search is search. I’m 99% certain that the reason I haven’t found certain comics using the built-in search is that they just aren’t in the store. One neat feature of the Marvel store that the Comixology store is missing is a “search by character” feature to bring up all appearances of certain characters. With just the Marvel universe to cover, this might be more straight-forward than keeping all the various “Ultraman” characters from every comic publisher in order, so it’s no real surprise. On the other hand, the mobile app lets you browse by genre, creator, publisher and story arc and the web interface integrates these into the search feature, so you can find all of Alan Moore’s work (well, everything they have) in an instant.

Ease of Use

The mobile interface has a few quirks navigating the store, and the web-app is Flash-based and feels clunky at times. These are minor quibles though, as the comic reading experience is first class. Using Guided View^TM^ Technology (that name is pulled straight from the app’s marketing), single panels and pages are carefully cropped and shown as big as your display will allow and carefully edited for clarity and dramatic impact. Compared to the Marvel reader, this is far-and-away the biggest and most important difference between the two experiences.

Atomic Robo

After using Comixology’s reader, I found the Marvel version clunky and inelegant. Both guide your reading across the page, but only Comixology seems to know what it’s doing. Admittedly, this is only a software upgrade away on the Marvel store, but at the moment it’s a big difference. Tellingly, I also find myself wishing to read paper comics a panel at a time now - I find I enjoy it just a little more not to be able to see the secrets revealed further down the page until I get there.

Experience

I haven’t been a comic collector long. My earliest experiences with comics were devouring my Uncle’s Duck Tales and Mickey Mouse comics whenever I visited him, but I never had comics to call my own until I started making select purchases at comic sales when I could. I enjoy pulling them out now and then including a fun Deadpool special that’s essentially “Back To The Future” with Spiderman, and a collection of goofy Amalgam comics that I’m stupidly happy with. However, my collection leaves a lot to be desired, and I’m annoyed I haven’t had the chance to read some of the important stories that make up my favourite comic universes. So I can’t really compare reading comics on a tiny screen to the joy of poring over a freshly minted book, as I’ve really only done the latter recently on a very low-key scale. Additionally, my first chance to read some classic tales like The Dark Knight Returns and the Spiderman Clone Saga were thanks to my oddly well-informed local library, but they’ve been bound in hard cover or omnibus versions, so it’s not the same thing true comic collectors experience anyway. As someone just coming into comics though, the experience of the Comixology store and reader has been revolutionary. The prices are what I used to wish comics would be at the local store and, most compelling of all, the titles are all ad free.

DC available on iOS too!

I’m not sure if Marvel or Comixology will conquer the readers of the world, but they offer a new way to consume comics if you aren’t hung up on having them on paper. Digital comics are here, and Comixology offers a classy hassle-free way to get your fix.

This might be my next phone…

In about June or July my iPhone contract expires. Looking at the new 4.0 software that won’t run on my 3G phone, and knowing that the next model will be out about then with (hopefully) the newer faster processor and better battery life, I’ll probably be looking to upgrade. The problem is despite loving my iPhone, and what is to come, I abhor that what my iPhone can run is subject to the whims of Apple, and I hate that I’m tied to iTunes in any way.

So this is my wish for all the makers of Android handsets and iPhone/iPad competitors:

Get your shit together by July. Get a decent range of Android competitors out here to Australia by then. Bring your Dell Pads and Smartphones, provide me with some choice! Everyone will get a fair viewing - I’m prepared to sacrifice the money I’ve invested in my iPhone apps if you’ll provide something compelling! The Dell Tablet sounds great - I’d like a bigger screen, but I want only one device to make calls from - so make a bluetooth headset standard kit and I might get one. Or I’ll get a Nexus One, or one of the HTC range. I’m not fussy so much on brands, but I am fussy that the experience be as fun and intuitive as the iPhone. I’m fussy that it not lock me in to software that makes me fume. I’m fussy that it not be a step backwards - that I can surf the net, that I can get some great apps, and that it remains the hub of my communication.

Please think of Australia. You have 4 months max to make this decision difficult for me. If the next iPhone gets here before you get it together, you’ll have blown it for at least another two years. The next iPhone promises to be a cracker. Make yours a cracker too!

When I was 13 I was around at my mate’s place as often as I could be just to play Wolfenstein 3D on his better-than-mine system. He had colour graphics and a sound card, while my Commodore 64 only had enough grunt for side-scrolling platformers and breakout clones¹ and my IBM clone could barely muster monochrome. Wolfenstein was the pinnacle of gaming. It was just like you were there, with your little gun waving in front of you and meals left on the floor. And B.J. Blazkowicz’s face peering out at you to remind you to keep away from big men with chain-guns. I couldn’t play it enough.

Seriously. Couldn’t play it nearly as much as I wanted. My mate wanted to play too, and I couldn’t really stay there all the time playing his computer. Multiplayer was not invented for 3D shooters until Goldeneye,² so I had precious little time to play it. Add four strict Christian parents hovering around and I never got to play more than a few levels.

I still remember clicking space at every wall panel to try and find the secrets on the precious few levels I played. Remember the glee at finding a new gun levels before you we due to find it just lying around in the course of the game later on.

Every first-person shooter to come since has built on wolf3d.exe - adding a bobbing gun, smarter bad guys, and polygons, but they’re all trying to capture the same sense of joy 13 year-olds got playing this game for the first time. Knowing instinctively that this was the beginning of something monumentally fun. For me, every first-person shooter since has been just as frustratingly out-of-reach for me too. I’ve never had the hardware required to play the groundbreaking games that have been released.

But not today. Today I have Wolfenstein 3D on my iPhone. Lovingly re-crafted by the man who made it the first time round. Full of the same bad-guys, the same weapons and the same secrets. I have in my pocket something I couldn’t run on the machine on my dad’s desk. It’s my proudest purchase, and one of my fastest.³

Wolfenstein 3D Classic (App store link) [hat-tip to oliyoung]

Good Design in Wordpress 2.7

The latest Wordpress update, 2.7(Announcement of the Coltrane Wordpress Update), manages to get WIN all over my keyboard. It fair shoots out of the screen and all over the place with its sexy sexy curves and simple lines. I want to give it a hug.

The 2.6 update was pretty good. It was good enough that 2.5 is all but erased completely from my mind. 2.7 however, looks gorgeous, plays nice with all my extensions and adds a couple of neat features that make me want to go home with it, and I barely even know it.

Awesome Feature Number 1 is automatic site software upgrades. Untested as I write this, the idea of its existence is enough to make me “ghee” with joy. Found under Tools > Upgrade on the new left-hand menu, it offers simple upgrades to the latest software that bypasses the old “upload each new file/directory” that some have been subjected to, and even cuts out the middle man web-hosts who have been offering something similar for a while¹.

Awesome Feature Number 2 is plugin searching and installation RIGHT FROM THE FRIGGIN ADMIN PAGE! This makes plugins so easy to install that it practically guarantees broken Wordpress installations across the world as people just install new plugins ‘cause they can! No more tossing up if it’s worth it to upload and install something new. Why waste a second thinking about it when you can just press install and see? In minutes of upgrading my site tonight I had a working iPhone version of my site, and (hopefully) some integration with my FriendFeed account. That is the “killer feature” of Wordpress right there my friends, found under Plugins > Add New. It makes me so happy I could cry².

So go and update it today. It’ll be the last painful upgrade you do.

I’ve tried a number of Twitter clients for my iPhone now. Most of them have something that makes them stand out, and all of them have flaws. Here they are, a little mini-review:

Twitterific (and lite version)

This was my client of choice for a long time. The design is brilliant, and fluid. The paid version has no annoying ads (actually they weren’t that annoying) but I know most of my friends didn’t bother paying for something they could mostly get for free. It makes direct messages and replies very obvious when you’re scrolling through, and gives a nicely laid out bio of people when you go searching for their user info. The feature I got most used to was that it would refresh the stream, but leave the view where it left off, so I could continue reading. I didn’t realise it was a feature until I started trying other clients. The built in web browser is good. And a day or so after thinking “they should make the default twitter page it uses the mobile version”, they did it.

Things that could make it perfect: a way to follow/unfollow from the interface. Search?

Twinkle

This could be a good client. I know some friends of mine quite like it. It emphasises sharing media, and ties in with an online service when you post photos. I stopped using it after about ten minutes because the interface looked like they let someone at it with crayons. Plus side: it’s free.

Things that could make it perfect: make a similar client with a completely different user interface

Tweetsville

By the same people that made Twinkle, this app was the client I thought I was looking for after trying Twinkle. The interface is much improved (in fact, you can streamline it even more if you want) and can even be customised to put the things you find most important in easy reach. It does search, trends, retweets and all the regulars. It lets you follow from within the app, and check out a persons tweets without opening a browser (another feature I didn’t know I wanted till I tried it). The browser is a little simpler if I recall (I’m getting to that), but nothing I missed. It’s about $5 which is a lot cheaper than Twitteriffic Premium. Really it could be perfect except for a few show stopping flaws.

Things that could make it perfect: keep the stream where I left it. I have to scroll back through to find my place and then read up. Not cool. The other thing? Stop crashing! I truly thought this was the one for me, but it just stopped working one day, and won’t open for me anymore. I’m not doing a full restore of my phone just for one app… Sorry Tweetsville. I’ll try again if you update.

Twitterlator (and lite version)

I’m not sure why only Twitteriffic has a light version that’s just as pleasant to look at as the “pro” version. With the other clients I’ve tried, the free version seems synonymous with “we didn’t try very hard with the interface”. Twitterlator is no different. So I skipped the lite version and tried the paid one. And it’s OK. It’s not drop dead gorgeous, but it’s not as butt ugly as the lite version. And it’s got the usual trimmings. It actually seems more feature-packed than some of it’s brethren, but it comes across as clutter to me. The interface is not very intuitive either. Double-tap on a tweet to get details of the persons mentioned in the tweet. Click on a tiny icon to access a URL that’s mentioned. I think it might be deliberate, but interracting with it just seems clunky and slow. I kept trying this when Tweetsville fell over, but it just doesn’t work for me.

Things that could make it perfect: improve the interaction stuff. make it fluid and smooth and easy to grasp (single clicks, swipes etc.).

Twitterfon

I can’t remember why I’m not using this. A few of the Twitterers I follow have mentioned it in the last couple of days. I went to try and use it tonight to remind myself what I found lacking, but it’s got the same annoying crashing problem as Tweetsville. An article linked below suggests it’s something that can be worked around till a fix is pushed out, and maybe the fix could work for Tweetsville too. I’ll take another look at this when the fix is made.

Things that could make it perfect: work

Tweetie

My network raved about this app. Stephen Fry said it was the “best yet”. Unfortunately I have to agree. I say unfortunate because it’s got a number of shortcomings, but is still probably my current client of choice. Mainly due to it’s remarkable “not-crashingness”. It is fast - I’ll give it that - and it is very intuitive and clean. I like clean. It does trends and searches (including #hashtags), and lets me follow and unfollow from in the app. I can check out anyone’s recent tweets, and manage multiple accounts (not strictly necessary for me, but a nice feature) and the browser is as good as any other.

Things that could make it perfect: Let me use a less “bubbly” look. I hate it in the SMS app, and I don’t need it in my tweets. I’m getting used to it, but that’s not the same as liking it. Let me start where I left off. This is doubly annoying, because to get back to where I was, I have to load it page by page like I do on Twitter. I might as well use the web site.

The apps I’ve listed here aren’t exhaustive (‘cause we need thirty eight Twitter clients for each platform)¹ but they are the main ones that people use. If your favourite isn’t covered, I’m sorry - tell me about it in the comments. If one of them has a killer feature that I haven’t mentioned, let me know below. If you think I’m wrong, or think it’s unfair that I’ve reviewed apps that I can’t actually get working, tell me what you think of them.

Hopefully this info can help you get started finding a client you like. Check out the articles below for more info on some of the clients I’ve mentioned.

My mate Andrew thought my last post was a bit technical for him, and fair enough - it was something of limited value to some of my readers. So this post is for him.

Andrew asked how he could create a ringtone for his new iPhone. He knew it was possible, but it’s really not straight forward (in Australia at least, elsewhere iTunes has this functionality built in). So I’ve whipped up this little tutorial for him to remind him how to do it.

Some rules:

• You need to have the right to use the music you’re using. The music should be DRM (Digital rights management) free. Technically I don’t have the right to use the song in my example.

• The ringtone has to be 30 seconds long, and no longer. It’s worth spending time finding exactly the section you want

• You can use music you have created yourself. You can create and export it as AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), or you could just drag it into iTunes and follow my instructions

{{< vimeo 1778106 >}}

Creating iPhone Ringtones

I hope this tutorial is helpful. I know there are a ton of pages that go through this process, but Andrew reads this site. I’m also not sure if it will work on Windows, maybe someone can try it and tell me.

Thank you for watching.

I have a small dilemma.

I want to upgrade my media viewing so that I can access all the digital media I have on my various computers, including photos, iTunes music and downloaded movies. At the moment I have a standard definition PVR for recording TV, a DVD player and my Television. All my content is on a Mac Mini in another room. I’ve thought about my options, and included a handy chart that spells out my desired features and how close the different options come to my ideal.

What I need is a few people to review my chart and tell me if I’ve missed anything, and maybe offer up some suggestions. Price is a big consideration. I have very few funds to throw around and currently all I can afford is the iPhone Dock option which would satisfy my “Essentials” list. What I need to know is whether to take that option now, or save my pennies (and goodness knows how long that will take) to get something better.

The final two options on the chart are my “homebrew” options - to use an old computer I have knocking around and add the necessary hardware to achieve my plan. They seem the best, and most feature-rich options and it might seem obvious from the chart that a Windows-based media centre is the answer. The reason I haven’t already started is that the job, whilst doable, would be relatively complex (compared to the other options) and I don’t want to waste all my time fiddling with this when I could be playing with my [new daughter]({{< ref “/posts/welcome-home-amelynne-grace.md” >}}). It’s also a fairly costly option.

The last to rows on the chart should be weighted to “time” - that is: the more costly or complex, the longer it will take. And I’m impatient by nature so I’d need a good reason to hold off and spend lots.

Are there any easier/cheaper options I’ve not thought about? I’ve deliberately left off the option of a hacked XBOX, as I felt it lacked a few to many features, please correct me if I’m wrong.

The iPhone is awesome. Lets just get that out there. You can deny it, or call me a fanboy, but let’s be honest - Apple has made a very good (and attractive) product that has stomped on the competition. It’s easy to use, powerful and extensible. And it’s done something the competition hasn’t been able to - captured the imagination of content providers like nothing else. The Windows Mobile platform has been around for years with a handfull of tools for it, but it took only six months for half the web (I’m exaggerating[^probably]) to make iPhone compatible websites and tools. I’ve got to believe that’s due to having a decent platform, rather than rampant fanboyism.

But the iPhone isn’t perfect[^duh]. What follows is a list of a few things I would like to see for and on my iPhone. Before I start, can I just clarify so I don’t get interrupted in my flow: Anything I ask for I’d like as a native iPhone app, through the App Store - not some Jailbroken app that’s going to require me to tinker.

• Cool new apps. I’m waiting on a native Remember the Milk app. It’s imminent. There are alternatives, but I’d love one that’s off-line and fully integrated. I love the idea that missing iPhone features are just a clever app away. Over time, my iPhone will just get more and more useful. They’re coming, and I can’t wait.

  Update 2008-09-16 I caved and bought Todo by Appigo. RTM was taking to long, and would give no indication of timeframe, and I wasn’t using my iPhone properly without it! IceTV, Tumble, Showtimes, Passgen, LinkedIn, Instapaper, ReaddleDocs, Evernote, VoiceRecord and Zenbe are all fantastic apps that fill a bunch of holes for me too.

• A way to switch off battery hogs quickly and painlessly. Currently there’s an easy “Airplane Mode” that switches off the phone, but I’d like a switch for 3G and Wifi too. Then if I’m struggling for juice I don’t have to crawl through three sub menus to switch them off. Maybe a third party can make this.

• Better battery life. I’m not complaining with this one. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the thing[^battery]. But by the time my battery dies, and I have to take it into the store to have it replaced, Apple better have a stronger, longer lasting battery to replace it with.

  Update 2008-09-16 This is slightly improved with the 2.1 update.

• Give me iTunes on Linux. I know Apple make their money on sales of OSX. But I also know they bowed to the awesome market of Windows users who needed iTunes on their Windows boxes - so it’s not impossible. I hear Steve Jobs now: “Call me when Ubuntu is as popular as Windows… Heck, call me if it’s ever as popular as OSX, we’ll do lunch.”

• Let me synchronise my Google Calendar directly with the source, not through my desktop but wirelessly. And proper push email direct from my Gmail account. Seriously. Yahoo did it, how hard could it be? And while we’re wishing, direct contact synchronising. You get the idea - I hate having to sit down at my Mac desktop more than once a month this should all just happen without my involvement.

  Update: 2009-07-14 Done and done. No push gmail yet though.

• A way to connect to my work’s WiFi network. This isn’t really a problem with the iPhone, but an issue with my network. It’s all locked down and difficult to connect to at the best of times. Trying to connect my iPhone involved downloading the enterprise deployment tool and installing that on my workstation, then configuring it all as best I could and emailing the configuration to my iPhone. When it didn’t work: lather, rinse, repeat. I downloaded about ten different configurations, and I still don’t have it working. Again, this is not apple’s fault but this is my wishlist though, so I wish for an easier way to do this.

  Update 2008-08-19 OK, got it connected. Turns out I was trying to connect with WPA, when I should have used WEP[^wep]. But my point still stands - this process could be made simpler. Further, every time my iPhone locks, it drops my connection and tells me I have entered an “incorrect wi-fi password”, even though it was just connected, and can connect again from the settings screen without trouble. This ModMyiFone forum thread suggests others are having the same trouble. Why?

• A media centre app to rival the Apple TV, iTunes, iPhone Remote app combo. This sort of setup sounds pretty sweet. But I’m using Linux, and I’m not paying $500 (Australian) to buy a device who’s content is a handful of TV shows I can’t get for less than three dollars a pop. What would be nice is a polished app that runs twin tuners, a DVD player, plays my music, fetches my email and has a nifty iPhone application to do my bidding from the comfort of my couch. And runs on Linux. Of course there’s MythTV and Freevo, or even MediaPortal on Windows, but so far I don’t think there’s iPhone integration.

• A Wordpress application that is as flexible and useful as the web-based admin panel. To create the magic of nunnone.com, I use a lot of useful plugins like Flickr Photo Gallery to pull in my Flickr photos and Zemanta for quick relevant photos, links and tags. I like to use the “code” view when I write to better wrangle my custom classes. The Wordpress app is terrific, but in translating to the iPhone, it’s small and light and almost useless to me. About all I can do with it is start a post and finish it off later when I’m at a proper computer. Since the app is open source it might eventually get some of this stuff, but so many webmasters use so many different plugins and tools, this would be very tricky to do. Still want it though.

• Location-based reminders. I’m driving along, and I’m passing the library, and my phone says, “you have a library book to return”. Or I’m passing a shopping centre and I’m reminded that I need to pick up laundry detergent. This is not so impossible, but still some way off yet as the iPhone isn’t permanently pinging it’s location. Perhaps in future iterations, when battery life is better and people are less concerned about the privacy implications of having a device capable of sending data aware of your location at all times… Maybe this is something I don’t need.

• My iPhone will make me more sexually attractive to the ladies. By now you’ve realised that I’m wishing beyond my iPhone’s reach here. So far, nothing I’ve asked for is beyond the realms of possibility, but some are so unlikely, and so like magic, that I might as well wish for the one thing that I really bought the iPhone for in the first place - sex appeal. Let’s face it, if a developer can make an app that can remind me to get milk as I pass the store or manage my entertainment centre from my couch, then why not magically make me even more awesome? An app that makes M&Ms and coke would be nice too.

  Update 2008-08-26 Extra peeve: leave my apps where they are when I update them!

  Update 2008-09-16 I hear this is fixed in the 2.1 software update.

Bonus list - a few things my iPhone doesn’t need:

• Cut and paste. I might eventually want this, but I haven’t needed it yet.
• Flash. As above. I really haven’t noticed its absence.
• Background apps. I love the idea of a computer in my pocket, but I’m happy to accept that the iPhone isn’t quite it. I can’t afford to sacrifice more battery power just to be in constant contact with my twitter friends. And the coming push service sounds like an acceptable compromise to me.
• Turn by turn navigation. What? Who cares!?

What do you think? What are features you’re missing from your iPhone?

[^wep]:I know [^battery]:Although you don’t truly get it until that first time the 20% battery alarm sounds

A quick obligatory post using the new Wordpress iPhone app. Useful, and might mean more frequent personal posts. Missing Zemanta and the Flickr Photo Gallery plugin for quick links and Flickr integration. Can’t seem to easily link to those two useful tools for instance. I might use it to post about things in the “real world” as they happen.

I’m writing this, my 100^th post, from my iPhone. It’s making me dizzy, as the screen jumps with every key press. I may not do this again till there is a native iphone app to do it with.

Congratulations to me anyway.