App Review: Blinkist

If you follow me on twitter you have probably seen me talking about a new app I have been using called Blinkist. It is a really good app so I am taking a break from the quest to let you know about it.

Name: Blinkist
Type: Reading
Price: Subscription
Stars: 4


The idea behind blinkist is this: you have a reading problem and they can solve it. Namely the problem is you can't read everything you would like in the time that you have and even audiobooks at double speed can't fix it. I am guilty as charged.

Enter Blinkist, a service for reading non-fiction books in 15 minutes, sort of. You read cliff notes type versions of some of the most popular non-fiction books ever written, and new ones are being added all the time. You pay a subscription for an all access pass to the blinkist library.

So here is the deal each book is boiled down to its main points. Each of those is turned into a "blink," a short version that you can read in about one minute. Each book is comprised of 10-20 blinks.

So far I have really liked this app, although I don't think I am going to have the money to pay for it. I have read about 8 books so far. I prefer reading on my iPhone but the app is universal for both iPhone, iPad.

You can learn a lot just by reading the blinks, and it helps you know if you want commit to reading the actual book. The app itself is very clean and well done. You can browse through the library and add books to your list in a beautiful interface. The only thing I wish was different is that you aren't taken straight to your list tab when you open it, you start an the discover tab, which I find mildly annoying.

I highly recommend that you try out the free trial of this app just to see if it is something that could possibly help you to read and learn more. I think that reading is really important and a way that we can live better.

Gospel Library 3.4.0, new look, new features

Last week the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member, updated their app Gospel Library to version 3.4.0. It was a rather big change for a .x update so I was a little surprised.

Here is what changed (the list is straight out of the update text) and what I think about it:
• Implemented new iOS 7 design
It looks really nice. As a social media person I am especially happy about the new more prevalently placed share button. I wish you could change the color scheme though.


• Improved navigation (tap the title to go where you want)
Yes, drop down menu works much better then the 3.0 side bar. I like being able to see the "layers" you have drilled down through.


• Simplified search feature (group results by collections and sort by book order)
This has been a long time in coming and I am glad they have finally made search work better. What I still find annoying though is that you cannot specify parameters for the search. Normally when I am searching I know the general area where what I am searching for is located, I don't need to search the whole cosmos of church publications on my device. An advanced search option would go a long way to making this better. In addition a "search this page" function would be really helpful, particularly if you miss a reference in Sunday school. This feature should mimic using control f on a computer similar to how Safari and Evernote do it.


• Redesigned bookmarks
I don't really use the bookmark feature (I just highlight things) so this is not bag deal to me, but it does look nice. If you use this feature please let us know what you think of it in the comments below.


• Enabled unlimited screens
I actually did not realize this one was missing, I don't know what the cap was before but I never hit it. If you did would you please let me know in the comments below.

• Added 'favorites' custom collection
This is nice, not really different then what you could do before with a custom collection. I like to be able to keep the manuals I use at church in a place together.
• Integrated with LDS Music app for access to sheet music
I already use the LDS Music app in lieu of a hymnal in many meetings, integration will probably make it easier.

• Improved accessibility
I don't  use any of the accessibility features so I can't say what these improvements are like especially since they were not specific in what the improvements were. If anyone reading this who uses accessibility features please let us know what/if you have seen anything improved by using the comments section below.

• Moved language content and grid/list view selections into settings
This one is self explanatory, just the simple change listed.

• Moved history under bookmarks
Nooooo! This is one change I do not appreciate. The history feature has long been one of my favorite features of gospel library because it was so easy to use, it was easy during a lesson to get back to something you had been discussing previously. Now instead of having its own button it is buried under the bookmarks button.
It is actually ok because if you switch it to history it will remain on history until you switch it back to bookmarks. It just won't change the icon to a little clock like it use to. It is much more accessible now then it use to be though, you just have to know that it is there.


• Simplified settings
These seem fine, I have noticed anything drastic here.
• Fixed bugs and improved performance
We shall see as time goes on how this is, so far so good.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of the updated app. I really think they have made some nice changes. I hope you let me know what you think in the comments below. Have fun, and remember, live better.

LDS Gospel Library app tips

I heard someone in church recently mention how difficult it was two switch back and forth between the lesson manual and the scriptures in the gospel library app. That is when I realized that everyone might not have the knowledge of how to use the functions of the gospel library app as I do, and I might not know everything that others do,so I figured I would write a post to start a discussion about it.

Opening multiple books at the same time
Remember the old paper days when you had to bring three or four different books to church and have them spread across your lap during the lesson? Fortunately those days are over and it is still easy to have both your scriptures and the lesson manual open at the same time. Simply open up a new window in the app by tapping the window button (red arrow) and then the plus button (orange arrow). Now you have a new window where you can open up the other book. You can easily switch between these windows by tapping the window icon again.





Returning to a recently opened spot using the back arrow
If you don't want to switch back and forth between windows you can easily get back to the last place you were reading by hitting the back arrow button (yellow circle). This works very similar to the back button in a web browser.



Returning to a recently opened spot using the history 
Similar to usin the back arrow you can also get back to any recently opened spot by going to the history. You do this by clicking the clock button on the side (green arrow), you will then see a list of all the document you have recently opened in the app organized by date. You can click on one to return to it.


Using links to easily stay with the lesson
When you are in Sunday School, Priesthood, or Relief Society class you can easily be wherever you need to be reading by using the lesson manual in the app. The lesson will have links to most if not all of the scriptures you will be reading. For example see the Doctrine and Covenants manual below with links (blue arrows). You can then, of course, easily return to the lesson page usin the back arrow as mentioned above.



Sharing a passage
It is easy to share a passage to social media, or via email or the messages app. Simply highlight the passage you wish to share and then hit the share/export button (Purple circle). Then choose the way you want to share it. The nice thing about this is it will automatically take out the footnote letters and create a link back to the LDS.org page with the scripture for you.



So that is just a few tips for the app. I have others that I will probably share another time. If you have any please share them with everyone using the comments below. I hope you enjoyed this post, and remember, live better.

Book Review: Platform, by Michael Hyatt

Title: Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World
Author: Michael Hyatt
Genre: Business
Stars: 4

Michael Hyatt is the name in Platform building, probably because he wrote the book on it. This book has been on my to read list for a while. I just recently finished it, and it was excellent.







Summary
In this book you walk through the steps of building your own platform. You learn how to take your wonderful idea, concept, product, or service, and turn it into something people will notice. A big part of this book is dedicated to blogging and social media, teaching you how to do them better.

Thoughts
I really liked this book. It is easy to read because Michael writes in a conversational style and sets up his chapters with subheads and bullets. For me it was fun because he writes the way he talks and I first discovered Michael through his podcast, This Is Your Life, so I could hear him speaking to me through the book.

Reading this book will help you build a better platform. Like with most books I read I did not agree with everything this one taught, but most of it was good advice. I'm sure anyone who follows all the directions in this book will build a great platform. Michael does not want you to spend a lot of money, that is one of the main points of the book. Unfortunately, not spending a lot of money can mean very different things to a former CEO and a college student. For that reason, there are some things the books instructs to do that I am just not able to do.

Recommendations
I would recommend this book to just about anyone. In today's world we all need to be savvy about things like social media, even if we don't want to build a platform right now. However, I would not recommend that you run out and buy this book right away. Much of the actual content of this book can be found on Michael's blog. That is where I recommend you start. If you like what you find there and would enjoy having everything compiled in a cohesive step by step reference then go ahead an get the book.

I truly believe this is one of those books that can help you live better. I think if you do not already follow Michael Hyatt it would be well worth your time to look through some of his work and see if you can benefit from it.

What books have helped you live better? Please share your recommendations, thoughts, and comments below.

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Thanks for reading, and remember, live better.

You can purchase Platform here (affiliate link)

Gospel Library 3.0, new features

Last week the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released their new gospel library app, Gospel Library 3.0. The important thing to note here is that this is not an update to the existing app, so you will not receive an update notification for it. You will have to go into the app store and search for it and download it new onto your device. The reason for this is that the old version (2.5) is being kept on the app store for people running a version of iOS later than 6.1.3 this is a really nice thing for those on older devices.

Note: if you are jailbroken at 6.1.2 you will not be able to install this app but the old version should keep working for you.

The Gospel Library gives access to all the scriptures and manuals from the LDS church, including the new editions of the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.

Lets go over what is new in this app.

New Layout:
Something some of us have been waiting a long time for is a new layout to the Gospel Library and they have done a really nice job with this app. Its close enough that you can still recognize everything but it is much nicer put together.

As you can see here you can access the library from the menu button (red arrow) without having to sift back through all the screens, two taps on the book shelf icon (orange arrow) will take you back to the library home which you see here.

Of course this all looks much nicer with actual covers showing up in the library menu, however if you prefer the old look you can select list view (yellow arrow).



Page Numbers
Maybe not a major new feature but it will prove very useful between those using print and those using electronic scriptures and manuals. Page numbers had previously appeared in only the Teachings of the Presidents manuals. They will now appear in all books (this feature can be turned off if desired), the page numbers will correspond directly to the page numbers in print editions.

Notebooks in Windows
One of the greatest feature of the Gospel Library has been the ability to have multiple books open at a time. This feature still exists in 3.0 and now for the first time you can have study notebooks open in separate windows as well, this is great new as it will make taking notes much easier.

Sharing
A share button has finally been added, both to the menu bar and to the annotation toolbar (green arrows). This will allow you to share inspiring quote and references with FaceBook, Twitter or via email and iMessage. This will be a great missionary tool going forward.



Footnote and Audio Sidebar
By pressing the sidebar button in the upper right hand corner (blue arrow) you can access the new footnote and audio player sidebar. This will allow you start and audio recording of the book you are reading that you can follow along with. Let you jump to the footnotes. Of course this is also available by tapping on any footnoted words hyperlinked in blue.



Custom Collections
By tapping the New button (pink arrow) you can make a new collection to which you can add different items from the gospel library to have them organized. After you create a custom folder you can  add items to it by hitting the edit button (black arrow).

Those are the new features I have noticed so far, if you have found others please leave them in comments below or Tweet to @halduauthor.

The app is not perfect yet, it has a few stability issues but nothing worse than past versions have had and I assume there will be an update soon to deal with those soon. If you haven't downloaded the app you should, let me know when you have.

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Thanks for reading, and remember, live better

How to Make Tracks an Audiobook in iTunes

One of life's most frustrating experiences is when you are happily listening to your music on shuffle and all of the sudden out of your earbud someone starts talking. Then you dig your iPod or iPhone out of your pocket, double click the home button and hit skip; its annoying.

Chances are if this has happened to you its because you've downloaded an audiobook or a talk from a source other than iTunes. The music app simply sees the tracks as MP3s and plays them along with everything else, even if they are marked as the "Books & Spoken" genre, so it shuffles them in with all your songs.

Fortunately there is a simple way to fix this, its just hard to find at first. Normally I don't talk about using a computer directly here, but I only know of a fix for this via iTunes. If you know of a way to do it on iOS please Tweet to @halduauthor.

I just recently got Jon Acuff's book Quitter as a free audiobook on NoiseTrade, so we will use that as an example.

Note that I am using iTunes 11 on a MacBook, but the process is identical on older versions of iTunes or on a PC.

First find all the tracks that belong in your audiobook, this is probably most easily done by typing the book title or author name into the iTunes search bar if you downloaded it from a source like NoiseTrade or Audible.  If you ripped it off a CD hopefully you named the album and author when you did so and it should also work, if not you will have to do some digging.

It should look something like this:

Highlight all the tracks in the audiobook (click on the top one, hold shift, click on the bottom one) then do a right click, and select "Get Info" (red arrow)

You will then be asked if you want to edit multiple tracks at one time, click yes (orange box).

You will see this menu, click on "Options" on the far right (yellow arrow)

It will look like this:

In order to change these tracks into an audio book you want it to look like this:

Change Media Kind to Audiobook, this will force the tracks to show up under the Books tab in iTunes
Say yes to part of compilation.
Say yes to remember position.
Say yes to skip when shuffling (Hurray!)

There you have it, your problem is solved.  Just sync your iPhone, iPod, or iPad with iTunes and you will be good to go. If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comments section below.


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Thanks for reading, and remember, live better.

Review: Adobe Reader

Name: Adobe Reader
Type: PDF reader
Price: Free
Stars: 4

I have a love hate relationship with Adobe. On the one hand you have great little app like this one I'm reviewing here, you also have industry standard programs like photoshop and indesign. On the other hand you have flash player and adobe reader on your computer that need to update practically every other day and always pop up at the most inconvenient times. Needless to say I had some qualms about downloading this app, but I have really liked it so far.
Why did I need it?
In one of my day jobs I work as researcher for BYU's advanced reading class(Student Dev 305). My job is to take the existing reading on paper strategies and apply to reading electronic text books or articles. Many of these strategies require annotating the text directly. Many college student are required to read PDFs of journal articles. Outside of a very basic stripped document reader built into Safari on the iOS there is no default PDF reader on an iPad. If you have iBooks installed you can read them but not annotate them, which is annoying because annotation works great in Preview on my MacBook. So I downloaded this PDF reader to get the annotation ability.
How to do organization 
Of course this is a productivity blog, so organization is important.The app works like a charm. Some people think it is a little simple, but that is ok for me, students come at all different levels. The nice thing is that it will let you organize folders for you PDFs so you can keep track of them. When you are in the documents view, shown below, click edit in the top right corner and you will find this tool bar. Click the +folder icon (red box) and you can make a new folder, like the "readings" folder shown. To organize your documents select the bubble to the left of each (orange arrow). You can then choose from the toolbar options to the right of the +folder icon: copy, move to folder, rename, or delete.

How to annotate
While reading a document if you tap the screen you will get the tool bar below(yellow box). From left to right they are: Send to the adobe cloud(see my article What is the cloud), change view options, comment and annotate, export, and search (see my article Ctrl F on an iPad).

Selecting the comment and annotate option (voice bubble and pen, green arrow) gives us what we want. The toolbar shown below should appear. There are five tools here from left to right: comment, highlight, strikethrough, underline, add text, freehand (blue circle), and add signature. The up arrow will return you to the main toolbar.

Comment, freehand, and add signature will work on any document you can open in Adobe Reader. Highlight, strikethrough, underline, and add text will only work on a document with OCR text. Freehand (blue circle) is my favorite because you can use it wherever you want and you can change the color and size. 

Well I think that's it for Adobe Reader. It's a good free app, check it out here. If you have any question just leave them in the comments below. Don't forget to share this review if you found it helpful. Click here to tweet, and follow me on twitter by clicking the link on the right side of the page.

That's all for now, and remember, live better.