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OMG how did I not know about this?? CityMint is an amazing food delivery app that actually allows food delivery straight to your picnic blanket in the park. The system uses geolocation to help the delivery guy or girl find you no matter where you are in the park. And there’s no extra fee! Park delivery is currently available on weekends in my two favorite cities: San Francisco’s Dolores Park (through Oct. 16) and NYC’s Central Park (through Labor Day).
But even in the off season, this is an awesome app. Imagine never needing to go through a stack of takeout menus again. The app saves your credit card info, integrates with Yelp, and even allows you to set up favorites. I’m not sure if it’s as comprehensive as GrubHub, but I’m definitely going to check it out.
(Yes, I order a lot of takeout. Don’t judge.)
I’m an off and on runner. For the past 13 years or so, my running routine has been on an up and down roller coaster – I’ve had various stints of being totally focused and into it, running almost every day of the week. But lately, those stints have been very few and far between, and I had gotten way too comfortable with my lack of a fitness routine.
So today, I made the attempt to get back into it! And I downloaded the Runkeeper Free app to motivate myself a little bit. First off, let me say this: even though I’m not a gung-ho runner, there is definite pleasure in getting a run started with the iPod on full blast on a beautiful morning. It felt good and I was instantly inspired to have more mornings like that. (Mark my words.)
Anyway, Runkeeper is a pretty great little app. It not only uses geolocation to track your mileage, but it also tracks your miles per hour, your route and how many calories you’ve burned. It stores all your info so you can see your progress over time, and syncs up your data with the Runkeeper website, which allows you to review your activities in more detail and make notes for yourself. It’s an excellent tool for people trying to get back into fitness and track their progress – perhaps for marathon trainers. You could probably use it more casually (which is probably what I will do) but I think serious runners would probably get more out of it…
p.s. You may also be interested in this article on 50 awesome iPhone apps for runners.
Yesterday I fell in love with geolocation all over again. I found myself on the road again, this time in Nashville, and I decided to download the Mapquest 4 mobile GPS app ahead of time. Even though I’ve been to Nashville several times, I still don’t know my way around very well so I always rely on some kind of GPS system to get around.
But this time, I didn’t have to pay for it. The Mapquest 4 mobile app is AWESOME. It gives voice directions, it recalculates if you get off track, and it saves all input addresses for easy one-touch searching and finding. And it’s totally free, unlike most mobile GPS apps. It also has buttons to allow you to easily identify nearby restaurants, cafes, gas stations and hotels.
I couldn’t quite figure out how to take advantage of the search function, as I – unsuccessfully – tried to use it to find a nearby Fedex Kinko’s to make some copies. So instead I pulled up the Google app – which is also geolocated – and did a “search nearby” search for Kinko’s and found it right away. So I just entered in that address into the Mapquest field and there I was just 15 minutes later. Amazing.
Yesterday I had a very “smart” day. I rented a car, drove from NYC upstate to Hyde Park, presented at the Roosevelt Campus Network Summit, and drove back. Despite being an incredibly hectic day of nearly 6 hours of driving (this is a feat in itself since I hate driving), the most amazing part of all was that I relied solely on my phone (and of course my natural instincts) to navigate my way through the day.
I didn’t print directions. I didn’t rent a GPS unit. I didn’t print out an outline for my presentation. Everything I needed was all handily packed into my little phone. After I had dropped off my car and was walking home from the train listening to Pandora on my phone, I had to pause for a moment to consider just how unbelievably handy this little piece of equipment had been for me all day. (Interestingly, in Germany the colloquial term for cell phones is “handy.”)
Some might be a little sickened by how reliant people are becoming on their phones, but the sheer convenience of smartphones is pretty incredible. Also not to mention the fact that I saved paper and money:
1) I didn’t print directions or rent a $20 GPS unit, and instead relied on my phone’s built-in navigation system. (Next time I may try out a GPS app, maybe the free MapQuest one.)
2) I didn’t print my rental insurance, and instead saved it in Dropbox.
3) I didn’t print out my presentation outline, and instead emailed it to myself.
Of course, I would’ve been screwed if my phone had died, or if I had hit a pocket without AT&T wireless (which could’ve totally happened). But I brought my charger just in case, and knew I could always stop and ask directions if I was totally in a bind. But ultimately, it was a successful day, and – whether you like it or not – it was due in large part to my handy little phone.