The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

I admit, I am a fan of Disney and Disney-related paraphernalia. Theme parks, figurines, movies, all of them are popular at my house. Our honeymoon was to Walt Disney World, and in general we take vacations to go to Disneyland. Oh, I could go on, but I'll save it for anther post.

Yesterday the Disney.com iPhone app [iTunes link] was released. It's free, and it's pretty snazzy. When you first launch, you're given a ring of apps to scroll around in a nice 3D setup. You can take pictures and place them in character themed photo frames, play "name that tune" with Disney music, and get the latest news from Disney. There's also a section where you are shown an image from Disney's site and if you find that image and snap it with your iPhone camera, you get a little bonus animation. If I were a kid I would play with that all the livelong day. (I'm not kid-aged and I still had fun with it!)

Where it really gets fun though, is the games you can play. I went through all of them: A couple of personality quizzes, a matching up jewels that disappear game, and a trivia game are all included, with the option to buy or download further games. Yes, Dear Reader, in the name of a thorough review, I took the Jonas Brothers Rock Fashion Quiz.

Then there's Tigger Bounce. Tigger, perched on his tail, waits for you to tap the screen in conjunction with a power meter on the side of the screen. Then you tilt him side to side, bouncing off clouds and getting boosts from friends he goes by in the air. Once he runs out of momentum, Tigger falls back to the ground, the whole endeavor measured in "hang time". You are scored based on how long you were in the air. I found myself playing this over and over again to get just a little higher.

Overall what I liked best was that it had a nice mix of older and newer Disney properties. I cannot tell you how refreshing this is. As someone who has braved Disney Stores at the height of the High School Musical craze, seeing that Disney added content older than I am was a breath of fresh air. Bonus points for not using this as another angle to foist more princess or fairy stuff upon me!

My complaints are minor: navigation is super sensitive so the slightest touch sends the ring spinning pretty fast, the "interact" section is not as interactive as I'd like (quite a few characters are limited to photo-frames only), and it's called the Disney.com Mobile App but it isn't really a portal or interface to interact with Disney.com. Like I said, minor.

Even if this weren't free, I'd recommend it for Tigger Bounce alone. There is a lot of variety here, and if you have any young'uns around who like to play a game on your iPhone every now and then, this is a really good option. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to see a tiger about some hang time...

It's likely you've heard of GelaSkins before. They make stickers to cover a variety of gear. They are of a nice thickness with a slight texture, and removal won't hurt either your equipment or the GelaSkin itself (if you're careful).

Here's the latest project from the GelaSkin folks: They have partnered with Dark Horse Comics to release skins featuring art from Dark Horse titles. You may remember the announcement earlier this year at San Diego Comic-Con that these were coming; and now they are available for pre-order (the first wave is available next Friday). They're starting off properly, too: Buffy, Hellboy, Mr Toast, and Umbrella Academy to name a few. (NOTE: While GelaSkin makes skins for a variety of devices, the Dark Horse line is limited to 13"/15" laptops and iPhones.)

One of the things I have always loved about GelaSkins is the quality of the printing on them, and these skins are no different. I have laid my eyes and hands upon the iPhone varieties of the Buffy Season 8 #1 skin and the Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite skin, and they are beautiful in person. Add to that the coordinating wallpaper created to go with each skin, and now you have covered the front AND the back of your iPhone with something pretty cool.

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To start with: I am a Disney fan -- to be precise, it's a lot like the way Jack Nicholson is a Laker fan -- so on my very nearly annual expeditions to a Disney park, I don't really need the map. I have memorized shortcuts and low-traffic restrooms, how to get all the good stuff done in one day, and loads more random bits (look closely in the Hall Of Presidents; molds for their faces are used on other animatronics around the park), mostly because carrying them around in my head was the easiest way to carry them.

Then I got my iPhone (my first smartphone) and was able to put data on my phone (which I always carry with me). Enter the Walt Disney World Notescast. This $0.99 app is a handy planning/informational tool that can guide your entire Walt Disney World trip, from vacation packages to tips on annual events and park history. I tested the iPhone version of this app, but TimeStream Software also sells a $1.99 version for notes-capable classic iPods and nanos. It doesn't rely on a data connection and you can carry all this info with you easily.

When you first launch the application, you get a list of options to choose from. I liked the variety of options, but I wish I could customize or at least re-order it so I could get at a few of the options more quickly. There is a bookmark system available, but I ended up bookmarking a lot of things so that list went non-functional pretty quickly. And while I understand not having a ton of information on one page, I had a hard time figuring out why there were breaks between, for example, "Tours of EPCOT I" and "Tours of EPCOT II". I love the list of phone numbers, especially since I can tap the number to make the call. In the now cutthroat world of Disney Dining, having that number handy -- as well as the ticket line and even the camping and Magical Express numbers, not usually easy to find on the WDW site -- is a huge convenience.

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I'll be honest, I adore Twitter. I don't mean "Oh it's so cute and Oprah's on it," I mean in a way that is likely unhealthy. It was just another technology I had an account for but only sort of used until I found out that the Iconfactory created an application for my desktop called Twitterrific that allowed me to have a little corner of my desktop devoted to microblogging. So then I used it a little more.

Then I got my iPhone 3G and the Iconfactory made a version of Twitterrific for that, too. Today, here I sit more than sixteen thousand updates later. Twitterrific was among the first desktop and mobile Twitter apps and terribly exciting. Then some other folks came on the scene, having re-imagined what an iPhone Twitter app could look like. We got Twitterfon and Tweetie, and I found myself very disappointed to have bumped Twitterrific from my home screen.

All of that has changed. Twitterrific 2.0 is out and once again I have an Iconfactory app on my home screen. There are loads of changes, but the standout feature is the option to turn some of these off and on as you desire.

Multiple account support was the revolutionary feature of other clients, and it has now been added to Twitterrific. Adding more is a piece of cake, and the nice thing about it is that your account(s) live on a "Sources" page with the public timeline, saved searches and a list of the current trending topics. I really like this view and it makes things very convenient, especially if you want to check the trending topics on the go.

You'll notice you get three views of your timeline: A "mini" view with just a name and a tweet, the "standard" Twitterrific view of an avatar and bold name with a tweet, and an additional "mega" view, with a larger picture and the text a bit bigger as well (including the client). So far I am loving the mini view, since I can scan easily.

In case a black background with lighter text isn't your thing, you also have the option of three different color schemes, Raven (the classic black), Snowy (lighter, with some 3D elements for selected tweets), and Basic (a black and white option). Right now Snowy is the one that's working for me. I really like the way selected tweets stand out.

Now you can also pick your reply method which is one of the most impressive features. If you have a tweet selected when the entry window comes up, you get your pick of whether or not to tweet, tweet a public @ reply, or DM the author of that tweet based on which tab you choose at the bottom of the window. You can also hide the keyboard to peek back at the timeline in case you want another look at the tweet. This is a really elegant method for entry since a lot of times I want to reply via DM to someone who sent me something publicly, or inadvertently have a tweet selected but I don't want to reply to it. Every time I use this interface I am happier with it in a new way.

To keep from using a lot of screen for the buttons for different views (one each for your timeline, replies, and DMs) there's a little funnel you tap that pops up a bar with those view options in it. As a fan of the mini view this helps me pack even more information on the screen and I like how it's implemented. Next to this icon is a little snowflake/asterisk icon you can tap to get buttons for a link to a selected tweet, retweet, reply to the author, the author's info page, see the conversation thread, email it, or favorite it. You also get a button to mark a tweet. Marking a tweet is like a favorite, but currently those marks are only saved on your phone (it has been mentioned that this will sync with the desktop version eventually).

Other features I really like: the left-handed option made it forward from the previous version, configurable options for tapping an avatar (1, 2, or 3 taps can be set to different actions like show the author or the conversation, add it as a favorite), and there is a notes field on authors so if you are out and about and add someone you can take note of where you met them or how you know them or whatever else you can sometimes want to keep track of.

I love the new version, and I like to think it came about because others came along and innovated which made the Iconfactory step up THEIR game, so now there are a variety of easy to use and nice looking Twitter clients for the iPhone. Now, on to the desktop!

Tomorrow, as Naven Johnson might say, "The free comics are here! The free comics are here!" Because tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day, one glorious Saturday when comic shops are filled with titles specifically for giving away to just anyone in order to perhaps lure in some brand new folks and maybe get back some fans who have lost touch over time. Either way it's a prime opportunity for you to let your Geek Flag fly.

I assure you, there's nothing like a personal Stormtrooper escort walking you to your car and one of the few opportunities you have for that (locally) is tomorrow. There are a fair number of comic book stores around here, not to mention Dark Horse Comics World Headquarters, the source of All Star Wars Comics Including Those Manga Ones (or as I like to call it, One Reason Kelly Will Never Leave Portland).

What's that you say? You don't know where your local comic book stores are? Have no fear! Today iVerse Media (creators of those Star Trek Comics in the App Store) released the free iPhone app Comic Shop Locator [iTunes] for just this purpose! You can enter your zip code or let the app use your location and it will give you the three closest shops (in the USA). Tap one and you can either see it in Maps, or give them a call. Not only is this handy if you don't spend a lot of time in comic shops, but if you happen to be in an unfamiliar city you can still find out where to pick up the new Aliens/Predator or that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 25th Anniversary Reprint you've been looking for.

A list of events for tomorrow is also online for your perusal. I hope there's something awesome happening near you!

Howdy! (That's a traditional greeting from Out West.) I'm a new blogger here on TUAW. I made an appearance here from Macworld 2008 when I demonstrated software on the show floor. I've been a Macintosh user in some form or another since very early on (I drew with a turtle and don't understand versions of Oregon Trail that are anything but green), and I'm currently Leopard Certified.

I live in Portland, Oregon, which is a great place to be a Mac Geek since we have three Apple retail stores and loads of Mac places besides. My current setup is a Unibody MacBook and an iPhone 3G, but I still get some mileage out of my 80gb iPod and I still have a PowerBook G4 and a blueberry iMac DV around in case I need them -- you never know!

My house has a lot of gadgetry (right now the network has about a dozen IP addresses assigned) and general geekery: Star Wars, Disney, and Lord Of The Rings tidbits are all over the place.

As writing goes, I've written all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons/groups/publications such as Mac|Life and local computer magazines, blogged here and there, and written short stories and other pieces just for fun.

In my copious amounts of free time, I help organize events within the Portland Tech community including Open Source Bridge and Beer and Blog, and I am the head of the Portland WordPress User Group, spreading the blogging love wherever I can.

I am very excited to be part of TUAW and as I'm sure anyone who knows me will tell you, I can't wait for you to hear what I have to say! :)