Piques of the Week - Volume 4
Here’s a few things that are piquing my interests this week:
Associate
Associate is a new app from Squibner, makers of Blink. Like Blink, this is an app for individuals who use affiliate/associate links on their websites. But instead of using iTunes, Associate is an app for those that use the Amazon Affiliate Link Program.
Much like it's iTunes counterpart, you simply search for an item within Amazon that you want to share, and you can generate and/or share the link right from the app. Associate doesn't have everything from Blink yet (like a URL scheme), but this is a solid 1.0 release.1 I would really love to see the same preview layout that Blink has for the detail view, so that I can visually see what I'm linking to; the current way makes it so that I can't tell by just the link. With time, there will be improvement, and I'm really looking forward to the updates in the future.
Associate and Blink are the best way to get your affiliate links, period. If you link to anything iTunes or Amazon, these will pay for themselves over time. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Update: Associate by itself is $5, but for those that are new or already purchased Blink, there is a bundle deal that ends up making it $8, or $3 if you already own Blink. Both apps together for $8 is a no-brainer for those that use these affiliate programs.
Anker Ergonomic Mouse
I sit at a computer every day of the week, except for maybe the weekends. Using a mouse on a daily basis has some issues over time, and when I found myself in need of a mouse last week, I wanted to get something ergonomic to prevent any RSI from happening.
After some searching on Amazon, I found the Anker Ergonomic USB Mouse. The mouse has a nice soft-touch feel, and is really comfortable in the hand. The "vertical" setup makes it so your forearm isn't turning, and keeps your arm & hand in line. It doesn't have as many buttons as some other mice out there, but with what I use it for at work, having the regular right/left buttons, a scroll wheel, and two side buttons for forward/back for navigation are perfect.
One setting in particular that I like is the sensitivity button that allows you to control the speed of the mouse movement on the fly. When I'm working in a CAD model, it's nice to slow down the movement when I need to zoom in on a feature.
It only took me about a day of use to get really comfortable with it. I've had zero issues with it, and I'm really happy to have found it.
Apple Leather Case
I've always used a case on my iPhone.2 I've tried some cheap TPU cases, some Speck cases, and even Lifeproof cases — but I've never really found them to be a good fit.
When I got my iPhone 6s Plus, I opted for a silicone case in charcoal gray. But with time, there were a lot of wear marks that made it visually unappealing. So I returned the case and got the Apple Leather Case instead (also available for the iPhone 6s).
The leather case is slippery at first, but now that it has had time to wear in, it's perfect for what I need. It is showing signs of wear, but unlike the silicone case, this case is looking better with age. The Genius at the Apple Store had a saddle brown one that looked awesome due to the wear marks he had. I'm starting to see similar results in mine, and I love it.