(Insert stupid Blog name here)

Those sound good too. a 28" pizza that should be here in Texas

 

I'm just outside of Candelari's delivery range, but it's only 6-7 minutes away. I go there a 2-3 times a month for their lunch buffet (and I tend not to care for buffets).

I'm a little concerned... I saw this on my pizza tracker tonight:

 

 

Does that mean they licked it or something?

 

And does that count as a topping? Do I have to pay extra for that?

 

Sometimes too much information isn't necessarily a good thing...

While not an app, Domino's updated their website to work on the iPhone

 

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/22448/

Haven't tried that yet (had Round Table last time), but did download a couple more iApps... GeoDefense Swarm (an excellent sequel to the already-addictive GeoDefense), and Alias SketchBook, which is the best drawing program I've seen on the iPhone yet.

 

Not that I've drawn anything worth keeping with it. But I'm still not used to drawing with my finger.

I don't have one of these... but I think it's one of the most clever ideas for an iPhone case I've ever seen. I love the fact that its mouth is wide open, and the touchscreen is inside it. Brilliant!

 

Whoa.

 

I just tried out RedLaser, thinking the reviews were too good to be true... but it actually works! It turns your iPhone into a barcode scanner! Using the camera, you line up a barcode in the brackets, and it automatically scans it, then checks online for what the product is, and what prices are available for it. (The idea being you take this shopping with you, to see how much cheaper you can find stuff elsewhere. I'm sure stores love this. ) On Wi-Fi, the whole thing is nearly instantaneous.

 

I've been walking around my apartment, scanning stuff, trying to stump it, and it's remarkably good. It had trouble scanning a couple of odd barcodes, but it did manage to get their numbers correct, even though it couldn't find specific products associated with a few of them (it checks online at Google and Amazon, so if an item isn't in their databases, it can't identify them). Even if it didn't know a product, it would usually associate a company with it. A few products it just couldn't locate online, which didn't surprise me since I threw some pretty obscure CDs at it which haven't been available in years.

 

CDs, DVDs, food items, books... it's managed to identify better than 90% of what I've thrown at it. (I've resisted the temptation to dig out my LPs... so far. )

 

The biggest surprise? It correctly identified Ms. Pac-Man for the 2600!

 

This is a way cool app.

Some more iApps I've downloaded:

• 
   
  
• Food Network - watch episodes of your favorite shows. Unless of course, you don't like shows about food.
  
• iRadioSuite - listen to internet radio stations, including Big R Radio, which has a great 70's Hits station.
  
• Wolfenstein 3D Lite - freebie version of the classic first-person-shooter. Only three levels, but hey, it's free. Maybe I'll splurge and spend the $1.99 on the full version.
  
• Asphalt 5 - much, much better than Asphalt 4. A caveat though - all of the reviews complaining about the Cop Chase levels being too hard were right. Once all you've got left are those, the game grinds to a halt since it's impossible to get past them. According to the product page, an update to fix that is on the way. Still not as good as Need For Speed Undercover, but very good. Kind of pricey at $6.99 though. And it really sucks up the battery life.

Just picked up Star Wars: Trench Run. I've only played it a little bit in "Arcade" mode, but I can already tell you - it's just as much fun as you'd hope it would be. A lot of games of this type (notably Star Wars games - regardless of platform) tend to disappoint, but this just "feels" right. It manages to capture a lot of the feel of the Atari arcade game, yet with modern 3D graphics. It probably doesn't offer much depth (I have yet to try "Mission" mode), but for a quick pick-up-and-play Star Wars game, it's perfect.

 

In other iPhone news... I think this commercial is just hysterical:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JgrBtn8XdU

 

Yes... I think the iPhone is awesome, and am a big supporter of Apple, so on the one hand, I kind of hate to see the iPhone getting dissed. But what makes it work is that even the iPhone is sad about being on AT&T. The point of fact is: AT&T had it coming to them - I can't even get 3G service in my office at work. Now AT&T is suing Verizon over these ads because they're "misleading". Nonsense. Most people shopping for a smart phone at this point (especially those likely to buy an iPhone) are going to know that a lack of 3G doesn't mean it won't work - it just means internet access is slower when you're not on Wi-Fi. As someone already pointed out, maybe AT&T should spend less time suing, and more time improving their 3G network.

 

This is just good, solid, competitive advertising, and AT&T just got "pwned", as the kids would say.

Thanks for the heads up on the Star Wars game, pretty slick. Only thing that threw me off was the screen is rotated the opposite way of all my other apps.

Yeah, I noticed that right away too. Weird.

Another game to check out is Civilization Revolution. It's a port of the DS version of the game. Manual here: http://downloads.2kgames.com/civilization/revolution/Civilization_Revolution_Expanded_DS_Manual.zip

 

I hang around forums.civfanatics.com 'cause I have the PS3 version. (Identical save the graphics & controls.)

I recently tried out Remote Tap (allows you to remotely control your Mac with your iPhone), but it responds so slowly, it's borderline useless. However... that could in part be attributed to my iMac which often responds so slowly, it's borderline useless. This came after a bad technology day at work that saw me spending nearly eight hours in the server room, and wishing I could have accessed my office Mac remotely while waiting for the server to do its thing. Eh. Five bucks. Maybe it'll work better with a new iMac.

 

Elsewhere in iPhone-dom, is something I saw in a Kohl's flyer this weekend:

 

 

So now they're making completely-unrelated knock-off products that look like the iPhone. It's the iMac all over again. Just smaller.

Just splurged and picked up three more apps:

• Solebon Solitaire (Because I think I've played their free version enough to justify the $1.99.)
  
• Tetris (Atari2600land has a very nice homebrew version in development, and that rekindled my interest in playing it.)
  
• The Moron Test (I assumed it to be just some dumb joke, but there were so many good reviews, I had to check it out. Turns out, it's a very fun and clever game.)

Also available now is a version of Dragon's Lair - using the original game's animation. It's tempting... but I never really got into Dragon's Lair all that much. (Apparently, Space Ace has been available for some time.)

 

Now if Atari (or someone) were to port Rampart or Quantum to the iPhone - I'd buy those in a heartbeat.

And some more...

• Virual Pool Online - an excellent pool simulation. How excellent? I'm just as lousy at this as I am at real pool.
  
• Driver - The PS1 classic comes to the iPhone, with better graphics. I'm still getting used to the steering controls on this one, but it looks to be a pretty good port. Supposedly, all of the levels are there (although some people are already complaining it's too hard, but the original Driver was pretty tough, too).
  
• Labyrinth 2 - I never bought the original, but the reviews were so good with the sequel, I decided to try it out. I'm glad I did, it's very addicting.
  
• IMDb - A handy, free app that lets me look up useless information about movies anywhere. Now if Rotten Tomatoes and Box Office Mojo would just follow suit...

Up next will have to be Need for Speed: Shift. That looks amazing, and the first NFS iPhone game is still one of the best driving games for the system.

 

I've also gone back and revisited Asphalt 4 some while I was waiting for the Asphalt 5 update (to fix the Cop Chase difficulty). It's a better game than I remember, but Asphalt 5 is still far superior. I'll go ahead and finish 4 though, even though 5 has now been updated, and the difficulty has been evened out a bit.

Didn't know about the IMDb app. I often hit their website via the iPhone when I'm watching TV and see someone that I think I recognize. The app looks to be much nicer than using the website.

Didn't know about the IMDb app. I often hit their website via the iPhone when I'm watching TV and see someone that I think I recognize. The app looks to be much nicer than using the website.

Well, my blog is here to serve!

 

And to that end, Need For Speed: Shift is now on sale for $6.99! I just picked it up, and although I've only gone through the tutorial track, it's really amazing. The graphics are first-rate (I still have to remind myself... this is a phone), and the controls are exceptional. This was also the first app I've downloaded directly to my iPhone - which worked great over Wi-Fi.

Need For Speed: Shift has lived up to its hype. It's probably the best racer on the iPhone. One thing I didn't expect: I actually like playing in cockpit view mode. In most racing games, I don't like it, since I never get a good sense of where the boundaries of the car are, but for some reason, in this game, it really works well. Highly recommended.

 

Less so is Uno™ - one of my favorite card games from my youth (you know you're getting old when you start using phrases like "my youth" and "back-in-the-day"). It's $4.99, and a bit overpriced. Sure, it's about the cost of a real Uno™ deck, and you get computer opponents with the app version, but it just feels a bit cheap. Maybe that's because I'm used to the Gameboy Advance version which includes a better interface, a lot more game options (including changing the background), and Skip-Bo™ (another favorite). Maybe they'll update it someday, or make Skip-Bo™ a discounted add-on for owners of Uno™, but I doubt it. Still, if you want Uno™ on an iPhone, this is good enough.

Well, since I've referenced Domino's in this thread before, I might as well do it again.

 

In December, I had what I figured to be my last Domino's pizza. They're basically an acceptable means of getting pizza, when I don't want to drive up to Round Table (20 minutes away). The last two orders I had, the sauce tasted... funny. Sweeter or something. Anyway, it was off-putting, and since Domino's was hit-or-miss for the most part, I decided I was done with them.

 

Then, they changed their recipe. New crust, sauce and cheese.

 

So, being entirely too lazy to make the drive up the 14 tonight, I ordered Domino's. And guess what? It actually was better. Great? No. But good? Yes. Pretty good, in fact. Definitely "fresher" tasting than previously, although still definitely Domino's (their meats and other toppings appear unchanged). I still prefer Round Table on a good night (they're inconsistent as well), but Domino's has won me back for that too-lazy-to-go-get-anything-else good-enough pizza fix.

 

Now there's a ringing endorsement.

 

I'm also pleased they fixed the whole "deliciousness" check problem (which may account for the off-putting taste from before). Now, they check for "perfection".

 

The breadsticks I got with it though were pretty awful. I should've just had a salad or something.

Yet more iApps. Curse you Apple, and your addictive technology!

 

There's now a Rotten Tomatoes app, which is free. Free is good. Now if there was just a Box Office Mojo app...

 

I also picked up Doodle Jump. The reviews on this thing were off the chart, so I risked a whopping 99¢ on it. It's quite fun - a little like a vertical version of Swoops' Splatform (although in hindsight I didn't write a very thorough review of that game...).

More apps. Mostly racing games (one of my favorite genres).

• Raging Thunder 2 - Never played Raging Thunder 1. Anyway, Raging Thunder 2 a pretty-good knock-off of Burnout. I'm hoping EA brings the real thing to the iPhone though.
  
• GT Racing: Motor Academy - Basically, Gran Turismo on the iPhone. While Firemint's Real Racing still has the edge, GT Racing has licensed cars in it. Real Racing's are made up.
  
• Jet Car Stunts - A lot of fun for a mere $1.99. The title says it all: stunt driving in a jet car. What more could you want in a game?
  
• MLB.com at Bat 2010 - $14.99 is a bit steep, and if I lived in Seattle (so I could follow the Mariners on local TV and radio), I wouldn't pay it. But I'm not there, and this app allows me to listen to every game live, from anywhere. Less than a dime a game. That's worth it. Plus, you get pitch-by-pitch stats, news feeds, and semi-instant replays in streaming video.
  
• Oh yeah, I also downloaded the AJA video bitrate calculator. It was free.

 

Incidentally, Doodle Jump has turned out to be the quite-addictive little game.

The Simpsons Arcade Game is on sale for 99¢. Arcadey goodness!

 

I don't know if this has anything to do with the original Simpsons Arcade Game or not, but it's quite good. The only problem is since the controls are onscreen, my thumb often covers critical action. But such is life with an iPhone.

 

Jet Car Stunts has turned out to be one of my favorite games on the iPhone. Very addictive!

 

I've resisted the urge to buy the MythBusters app. Seems overpriced. I'm a big fan of the show though.

MythBusters emoticon

 

/:€

MythBusters emoticon

 

/:€

Excellent.

Okay, I bought the MythBusters app. The mini-games on it are kind of silly, but then that's the whole point. If you're a fan of the show, it's a little over-priced, but a nice geek badge to have on your i-Device.

 

I also downloaded the WRC app. The main reason is that HD Theater seems to have stopped carrying highlights from the World Rally Championship. At least I haven't been able to find them with repeated searches of their website or with my DVR. They never carried the New Zealand rally at all. Anyway, this weekend they're in Portugal, so I can at least find out who's winning.

 

On my phone.

 

Rather than going to the WRC website.

 

Which would accomplish the same thing.

 

Well... it's free.

 

The Rotten Tomatoes app has now been rolled into Flixster. So I downloaded that. (Still would like a Box Office Mojo app though.)

 

I picked up yet-another racing game: Cubed Rally Racer. This could just as well be called "Cute Rally Racer". It's a fun little isometric racer that generates randomly created tracks each time you play. The controls take a little getting used to (isometric racers have always been a little weird that way), and it's a little merciless when you crash into things, but it's still fun.

 

The winner this time around though is Spectre 3D. If you've been on the Mac platform long enough, you'll remember Spectre as one of the classic Mac games of the early 90's. They've brought it and its sequel over to the iPhone in one nifty $4.99 app, and it's never run so silky-smooth. It just shows how much faster the chips running our phones are now than those running our computers were not so long ago. Well worth picking up for the nostalgia value alone, but Spectre has always been a fun 3D Battlezone-genre run-and-gun game anyway, and it translates very well over to the iPhone indeed.

 

Now if someone would just revive Battle-Girl.

 

And as an update - Jet Car Stunts has turned out to be very, very addictive. It's one of those games where you'll play a level over and over obsessively to get it right. Lots of fun!