Living Critic

Jourlner is a terrific program that does a lot fo things.  It an be used for note taking, including many types of media.  It’s really awesome for brainstorming.

Everything is auto-saved, dated, and searchable.  The program provides folders to organize your notes, including smart folders, there’s even a cool lexicon function.

Which is why it was sad to hear today when I went to check in on the status of Journler development and found a post from Philip Dow, the developer that he was ceasing development on the project.

It sounds like development was to consuming, without enough financial return.  I could be wrong about this, but I wish Philip had considered a lower price for the program when he first priced it.  It’s listed at 35$ right now, which, while it’s a useful product, seems like a lot for the niché it fills.  Then again perhaps that wouldn’t have been sustainable either.  I would have thought something around $10 would be more appropriate.

Regardless the program is wonderful, and I think a version is still available for download.  If you have a chance I’d really suggest you check it out.

A test post from the latest WordPress iPhone app.

I’m sitting here on my iPhone tapping out a post on Autmattics first iPhone application for WordPress. Essentially what you get is a good space to ppst, review and modify past posts, and add and select categories and tags for new posts.

This is great for getting started with a post or just typing out your thoughts quickly.

I think this is a great start to an app that can only serve to improve a blogger’s access.

The biggest downsides are things Automatic can do nothing about. Perhaps the most glaring omission from the latest iPhone launch was the missing copy and paste framework this is noted in a recent MacWorld article, but I can’t link to it because there’s no way to copy the URL and I can’t link to it. I could write it down but that’s why I have an iPhone right?

The other omision whos necessity could be debated is the lack of spellcheck. There is a limited one in the keyboard autoprotector, but I miss the checking that OSX provides.

Lastly, it’s be nice if I didn’t have to manually enter HTML. I’ve long since forgotten most of my HTML.

One of the coolest features is the ability to save drafts locally. So, when I’m not in range or on my iPod touch I’ll still be able to create a post.

The preview tool does a good job of giving you an idea of how the post is going to look.

The photo uploaded is almost easier to use that the web version of the WordPress client. I can’t place the photo where I want to but it’s easy to grab a photo from the iPhone library.

This is an awesome, well done application. Congratulations and thank you Automattic.