Tom Gromak
The Detroit News
Category: mobile telephones
Posted by Tom Gromak (The Detroit News) on Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 9:53 AMiPhone app RunPee makes movie bathroom breaks less stressful
You've spent $9 -- or more -- on a movie ticket. Who wants to miss a key plot point just to relieve yourself of the 48-ounce soda you foolishly bought on your way in?
Not the folks at RunPee, who first started a website, and now offer a 99-cent iPhone app to help you figure out which parts of a movie are safe to skip out on.
It's brilliant, I say. I thought the website was a neat idea: You browse in, find the movie you're seeing, and it lists out key plot points along with key non-plot points, letting you know the best times -- in minutes and seconds -- to dart away from the silver screen and off to the porcelain throne.
But I feared that using the site to plan ahead would allow me to see spoilers that might ruin the experience. Worse, I worried that firing up the site on my iPhone's Safari browser in the theater would raise the blood pressure of those sitting around me.
But the iPhone app is well-thought. Its yellow and off-white text on a black background isn't likely to get you tossed (or to get popcorn tossed at you). Like the website, you browse for the movie you're seeing, and you're presented with a series of times (displayed in terms of minutes into the movie) and cues (usually a line delivered by an actor) telling you when it's safe to run and for how long. The app includes a timer for tracking your progress into the film. A planned update not yet implemented can even alert you by vibrating the phone as each potential bathroom break approaches.
Before the iPhone app version of the service, creatore Dan Florio came up with the idea for the website RunPee.com during the 3-hour run time of Peter Jackson's King Kong, where he said he wished someone could have told him when to duck out from the movie and, well...run pee. Since then, Florio has seen a lot of movies, paying closest attention to the parts that are okay to miss. The Global Mail reports, "Florio looks for scenes that can easily be summed up in words "like a long car chase" or (are) simply so unexciting they can be recapped without sacrificing drama."
Oh, and there are other bonuses: If you do miss something, you can read the spoilers while you're in the restroom to keep up with what's happening. And, because the app tracks everything that happens, it'll even let you know when a movie has those extra bonus scenes tucked into or after the closing credits.
Finally, a way to take advantage of movie theater refill policies.
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Greenbor iPhone App
If you've been looking for an iPhone application to keep all the things (To-do) you need to get done in one place, then the Greenbor app for the iPhone/iPod Touch is definitely what you're looking for.
If you think it's easier to manage your to-do list on many other To-do iPhone app that are available at the apple store then you are completely wrong; most iPhone app in Apple store are for sale from $4.99 or up and none is FREE, Greenbor is a wonderful, intuitive and flexible To-do list app, which can be entered online at www.greenbor.com and can be accessed in your iphone app; your data is always intact and you don't have to worry about it; none of the To-do app in apple store matches this feature and that too for FREE.
Not only can you set To-do for today, but tasks for "someday," or even schedule something for later down the road--get it out of your brain and on your iPhone. This way, you can hide tasks that are later on down the road to unclutter your mind, and it will show up on your today list when it's ready to be done.
What's great about the Greenbor app is you can not only setup To-do but also you can have friends list and can microblog and send messages to your friends, which is something a lot of other to-do list apps don't offer. An example scenario for Greenbor To-do usage will be, say you have to paint your daughter's room. You would set that up as your To-do folder in Greenbor iPhone app, and then you could list each step--say, tape off trim, buy paint, primer application, and so on. Then, you can mark the little parts of the To-do folder off as you complete the large project altogether; folders are much like projects.
I have tried other To-do task apps from iTunes, both free ones and the one that I need to pay money for but none of the iPhone apps just doesn't compare with Greenbor To-do, all of these application cannot be synchronized to your PC or Laptop, unlike Greenbor where all your information are stored in www.greenbor.com and their database, so you don't really have to worry about your data loss even if your iPhone turns into a brick you can always access your To-do on the website or from another iPhone.
There are a few things at the time of writing that could have been added or improved with the Greenbor iPhone app. For example, Greenbor To-do doesn't send notifications of when things need to get done. It would be great if there was some sort of push notification. If you don't open the app, you will never know what needs to be done. So be sure you put it on the first page of your iPhone to have it catch your attention.
Regardless of the few flaws and upgrade potentials, the Greenbor iPhone app is a wonderful To-do list for you OR your spouse. Greenbor, the company that created this app, is always listening to their users and making updates to the software, so you can be assured that your voice is heard when you mention possible additions to the software or fixes; you can go to their website and always provided your input on their suggestion box.
About Greenbor iPhone Application as described in Apple Store or iTunes:
Greenbor (your green loving neighbor) is an easy way to keep in touch with your friends, and manage To-do list. All features available online at www.greenbor.com will be supported in iPhone in a phased approach.
Using Greenbor 1.0 iPhone Application you can do the following:
1) Send short messages to your friends and let them know what you been up to by using Greenbor's Be "In Touch" functionality.
2) Manage your To-do list effectively online at greenbor.com and using this iPhone application; it is synchronized all the time.
3) You can view and send private messages to complete list of Friends that are In Touch with you at greenbor.com.
Thanks for the coverage
That's a great review of the app - thanks Tom!
I personally am very interested in making the app as easy to use as possible and not irritate others in the theater. That's why I can't wait for the vibrate feature to be added.
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