Oct 30, 2012

Annotate the Weather on Your iPhone or iPad

RadarScope, arguably the best weather radar app for iOS, is useful for watching storms, spotting tornados, and more.  With the incredible amount of wind and rainfall in the Northeast United States from Hurricane Sandy, it's a very useful tool for staying abreast of conditions.

The app is now even better with a feature that allows you to annotate by drawing directly on the radar image. To do this, simply click the pencil icon in the upper-left corner and start writing with your finger. If you click the pencil icon again, your annotations disappear. Your annotations don't come back when they're gone so this is primarily a way to share radar images. When you share an image, it includes the annotation.

The example to the right is one I shared with myself via email.  It shows total surface rainfall for Hurricane Sandy. In this image, I point out an area that has received 10 inches of rain due to the hurricane.

Special Note: While we are on the subject of Hurricane Sandy, please pray or continue to pray for those affected by this storm. Just last year, Alabama was devastated in an incredible tornado outbreak. People prayed, charities and individuals stepped up in big ways to give and server, and many affected are back on their feet again. I pray that the same response happens in the Northeast. Please consider how you might help those hurt by Sandy and continue to pray for them.

Oct 9, 2012

Watching College Football or Basketball on Your iPhone or iPad

Clearly the best way to watch football or basketball is either in person or on a large screen TV (with surround sound, of course). However, if you find yourself away from home, you don't have to totally miss out on actually watching the game.  Thanks to the CBS Sports app for iPhone and for iPad, you can watch college football or college basketball live. The games that are streamed are only selected ones that CBS airs on TV. However, for football, that's the SEC game of the week, which is one I typically care about.

The app itself is unremarkable for anything other than streaming live games but it's the streaming that is the killer feature. If you have a decent data connection, whether wifi or cellular, the picture is good. I watched part of one game on a 3G connection and it was quite clear. I'm sure it looks even better on the new iPhone 5.