Before The Kick » iPhone

Two CTA Bus Tracker iPhone Apps

mattraskin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:08:23 +0000

Over the past year Chicagoans have been granted with the outstanding ability to track when CTA buses will be arriving at stops. Personally, I can’t standing having to launch Safari on my iPhone, bring up the bookmarks, and then select the bus I want to ride to only receive a tiny text version of the tracker. Well, last week Ars Technica posted an article for people like me. The post describes and reviews the two currently available iPhone apps for tracking CTA buses in Chicago. Both CTA Tracker [iTunes] and Buster [iTunes] are priced at $0.99. I chose to go with Buster, a more pleasantly designed application that does just what you need while on the go. CTATracker is a more feature rich app including maps and a near me feature, both are unnecessary if you know the CTA bus system. These applications also have the ability to mark your most commonly used routes as favorites which is a huge plus. I look forward to using this every morning. It will definitely make my morning commute less aggravating.

UPDATE 4/27/09: I used Buster this morning on my way into the loop. It was accurate enough that it made me run after the “approaching” bus. So far, so good.

Follow the 2009 Chicago Cubs

mattraskin — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:09:28 +0000

As a Cubs fan, I am always thriving for more ways to get the latest information about what’s going on in baseball. In today’s technologically advanced world there are a few things required to make the baseball season a great one. From the iPhone to Twitter the following list will allow you to make the most of the year. Use each and every one of these things to keep you on top of the 2009 Cubs as they go for their 3rd NL Central Division Championship in a row.

MLB At Bat 2009 (website/iTunes) – Gameday Audio, Live Scores, Videos, and more.
Slingbox & Slingbox Player (website/soon for iPhone) – Watch every game.
MLB.tv – If you’re out of market this is what you need.
Cubs.com – Duh.
Cubs.com Mobile
Cubby-Blue.com – An illustrated journal about the Chicago Cubs by Tim Souers
Chicago Tribune Cubs Coverage
Chicago Cubs Twitter (twitter)
Chicago Sun-Times Cubs on Twitter (twitter)
Wax Paper Beer Cup (website/twitter) – A Chicago Cubs Fan/Blogger

Those are just are just a few of the many places to get great Cubs coverage. Feel free to comment more ways to access information about the Cubs this season.

Oh… and GO CUBBIES!

Mobile Photo of the Week: Willis Tower?

mattraskin — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:59:42 +0000

Every week we will be choosing a new picture taken on a mobile phone as our ‘Mobile Photo of the Week’. A Feel free to submit a photo by emailing it to mattraskin at beforethekick dot com. Don’t forget to include your name, device, location of photo, photo title, and a brief story about the photo.

Here’s our first winner:

Name: Matthew Raskin (yes, me, no one has submitted anything yet)
Location: Wells & Jackson, Chicago, IL (map)
Device: iPhone 3G
Title: Willis Tower?
Caption: The building soon formerly known as the Sears Tower.