Author Archives: Mike Labrum

About Mike Labrum

I'm a father of two and husband of one living in the heart of Seattle. I manage a coffee shop called "The Bridge Coffee House" and am also a Community Pastor. I've been a long time Apple enthusiast and love technology that can help me accomplish my day to day tasks and goals with greater efficiency so I can spend more time doing things that really matter to me - spending time with people. On the technical side, I've managed to install Android on my iPhone, designed iPhone skins for jailbroken iPhones, and barely squeaked out an app which goes to show that with a little elbow grease and a good google search you can usually attempt just about anything.

Taasky – a beautiful task & to-do list for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (mini)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Taasky – a beautiful task & to-do list for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (mini) Chances are either you are great at coming up with big ideas and your “finally going to wrangle the details in your life” or you’re already pretty studious with your task management and are looking for something to better maximize your time and effectiveness. Regardless of where you land, Taasky might just be the app you’re looking for to help you keep on top of the to-do’s in your life. Like any app, if the main features take more than a few minutes to figure Continue Reading →

The Top Two iPhone 5/5s Wallet Cases

Posted on by — Leave a reply

The Top Two iPhone 5/5s Wallet Cases Phone, wallet, keys. It’s been my routine for countless years that’s translated into the post-leaving pat down. Phone in the front right pocket, wallet in back right pocket and keys in the back left – check… ready to go. My desire to be more minimalist and simple has always waged war against the boy scout motto of “always be prepared”. Any opportunity that seems to arise where both preparedness and simplifying is always a win for me, and it finally struck me the other day that if I could find a decent iPhone/wallet Continue Reading →

A Sleek and Surprisingly Useable Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad Mini

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓

A Sleek and surprisingly useable bluetooth keyboard for iPad mini Owning an iPad mini has been far more impactful than I originally anticipated. Having owned an iPhone and a MacBook for many years, I didn’t quite understand the role that having a tablet would actually play. Since purchasing an iPad mini this last year, I find that I’m much more inclined to take the iPad over lugging my laptop around with me to different meetings. Since connecting with people on a regular basis over coffee is a big part of my job, mobility and ease of use is king. While Continue Reading →

The Top Note-taking app for iPad (mini)

Posted on by — 4 Comments ↓

Notability – The Top Note-taking app for iPad (mini) There are a rare few iPad (mini) apps that actually make it onto my dock. Today I’m excited to introduce to you one of my most favorite note taking applications called “Notability”. Notability’s features, ingenuity, and ease of use have made it my top note taking application that I recommend to anyone as a “must-have”. Here are some of the features that really drew me to this app over other note taking apps such as Paper and Penultimate: Cloud Syncing and Backup: Notability supports back ups utilizing Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Continue Reading →

How to use your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch as a Point of Sale and Cash Register System

Posted on by — Leave a reply

How to use your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch as a Point of Sale and Cash Register System using Square. As the Manager of The Bridge Coffee House in North Seattle, having a simple and straight forward Point of Sale Unit (POS) is essential. When our old “Sharp” cash register started malfunctioning after being stolen twice and left soaking in the rain in our parking lot, I knew it was time for two things… a better security system and a new cash register. As a longtime Apple user, naturally my first instinct was to begin researching the different avenues of utilizing Continue Reading →

Apple’s “take back” program for third party USB Chargers for iPhone, iPad (Mini) and iPod Touch

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

Apple’s “take back” program for third party USB Chargers for iPhone, iPad (Mini) and iPod Touch: There are many 3rd party USB chargers out there for iPhone, iPad (Mini), and iPod Touch. However, many of these chargers may not be as safe as the stock charger that comes with your iOS device. So, in response to some tragic accidents that people have had with 3rd party chargers, Apple has announced that they will be rolling out a third party USB charger “take back” program. Originally targeting only the US and China, reports now show that the “take back” program will Continue Reading →

OneReceipt (track receipts) for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad (mini)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

Receipts… fewer words strike fear into the hearts of the average person trying to keep on top of their finances. Today I’ll be reviewing OneReceipt for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad (mini) which is an app that finally helps you wrangle the endless amounts of paper receipts that seem to spew out at us from every store we find ourselves swiping our credit or debit cards at. Long gone are the days of check registers (for most of us that is!) which now leaves many of us with the daunting task of how to keep a tight reign on where Continue Reading →

Automate simple tasks – IFTTT for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad (mini)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

If you’re like me, then you’re one of those people that is always looking for ways to get things done faster all the while better maximizing your time. As a long time mac user I’ve frequently played around with the built in “Automator” tool that allows you to make simple scripts (or applications) that automate redundant tasks for you. While Automator isn’t available for iPhone, the new mobile application IFTTT (If This Then That – pronounced like gift without the “g”) allows you to build simple, yet powerful “recipes” as they call it that are both useful and help automate Continue Reading →

FullBlast – Stream music from your iPhone, iPad (mini) and iPod Touch

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓

FullBlast – Stream music from your iPhone, iPad (mini) and iPod Touch I’ve been a long time Playstation 3 owner, and while there are many similar features between the PS3 and the Apple TV, I just haven’t been able to bring myself to purchasing an Apple TV… yet. One of the main benefits of owning the Apple TV that I’ve found myself longing for has been the draw of Apple’s Airplay feature. Airplay enables you to play videos, photos, slideshows, and even mirror games you’re playing from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad (mini) up on your flatscreen or jumbotron (pending Continue Reading →

Hands on with iOS 7 beta for iPhone and iPod Touch

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
Apple 2013 WWDC Keynote Summary (iOS 7 Features with Photos)

Hands on with iOS 7 beta for iPhone and iPod Touch First Impressions of iOS7 As soon as the WWDC concluded I quickly jumped on Apple’s Developer site to see if I could get my iPhone 5 setup to test the iOS 7 Beta. With my phone added to the developers portal, I made quick work of downloading the beta software for my phone and a fresh update to Xcode to do the install. After a little trouble shooting (couldn’t get my phone to activate without actually installing iTunes instead of Xcode) I was finally up and rolling. Responsive Display Continue Reading →