“…normal improvements such as

• making automatic spelling corrections
• personalizing your search by using information such as sites you’ve visited before
• including synonyms of your search terms (matching “car” when you search [automotive])
• finding results that match similar terms to those in your query (finding results related to “floral delivery” when you search [flower shops])
• searching for words with the same stem like “running” when you’ve typed [run]
• making some of your terms optional, like “circa” in [the scarecrow circa 1963]“

“Improvements”…

Deciding that some of what I type in is “optional”…

Basing the results returned on sites I’ve visited before…

Automatically “correcting” my spelling – from the obscure/technical word I wanted, to some meaningless and out of context foolishness…

“Improvements.” Ok…

Anyway, it’s not been just me complaining … well, maybe it has – until recently, when Google did away with the + operator, which previously could be added in front of a word to ensure it wasn’t “corrected”/modified – though that still left all the other “improvements”. Now Google has introduced what it is calling verbatim search, in which none of those “improvements” are made; it simply searches for the terms you type in, and returns the results.

Thank you, Google.

Oh, but … hold on a cotton-pickin’ minute. You can’t set it as default? You have to search, then when the results come up, click on more options or something, and navigate through to “verbatim search”? Sodding pleh.

So. I don’t like that very much. But it turns out I don’t have to. There is a little string, a few tiny characters, that when added to the end of your search string, can make all the difference:

&tbs=li:1

That, my friends, is all you need for searching win.

Update: I’m pretty sure I found that string at Ghacks; I also note that there’s now a userscript called Gooverbatim that adds a “yes, really” button to Google – which obviously performs a verbatim search.

Now, in Chrome, you can set custom search engines. I created one with this string at the end (it also includes another few characters that I added ages ago I think to stop personalised results; I can’t remember … I left them in anyway, though they might be redundant):

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=@search@&pws=0&hl=all&tbs=li:1

Of course you would make it whatever country’s google URL you’re in (or another if you want, I suppose). Set that as the default search engine, and then when you type something into the address/search bar, you’ll get a verbatim search by default.

So. That’s Chrome sorted. What about my other browsers? Atomic on the iPad is easy: custom search engine with that URL: done. Mobile Safari though doesn’t allow custom search engines. Enter Quix.

It can however, be even more betterer. By adding a line to the quix command list (I also deleted a bunch of commands I would have no need for – you can do all that with a simple text editor) you can have it search without having to type ‘g’ before your search terms. The line you need (again, change the country as you wish) is:

* http://www.google.com.au/search?q=@search@&pws=0&hl=all&tbs=li:1 Untriggered search

I would suggest, as well as adding this line, adding &tbs=li:1 to the end of the default search string for google search in the quix command list; that way you still get a verbatim search even if for whatever reason you use the quix command stem (“g”) before your search terms.

You modify the quix command list, upload it (you will of course need somewhere to upload it to), then – in Safari on your computer, not the iPad – go to the Quix extend page, and from there drag the bookmarklet to your browser bar. Synchronise with your iPad (either through iCloud or via iTunes), making sure the info from the computer goes to the iPad (you might need to tick that option in the iTunes “info” pane for your iThing (just realised the iPad isn’t the only iThing with a browser… Come to think of it, it’s not limited to iThings; this is just a JavaScript bookmarklet, so all of my wittering applies to any platform really), and you should have a nice shiny “Quix” bookmarklet in your bookmark bar. Click that, type your search into the box that pops up, and go. Just as quick as the default search box, and proper unmodified search.

I is happy.

As you might have noticed, I post a daily photo on Blipfoto, and have done so for well over a year – and for two months before that I was posting a daily photo to Flickr (I’m setting about adding those two months’ photos to my archive on Blipfoto, but 60 photos, uploaded individually, will take me a few hours ).

Pre-Filterstorm

Anyway, for the first wee while I was stuck with mostly my iPhone, and that led me to exploring the various camera apps and filter-based editors. I mostly used Camera+ both to take and to edit photos. I dabbled in the adjustments offered by iPhoto with some of the photos I took with my wife’s FinePix compact, but that was basically it – even after I got my Lumix G10.

Then, earlier this year, I got my iPad2.

I then set about looking at the photography applications available for the iPad. Photoshop Express, despite the association by name, was disappointing, though it remains on my iPad for those occasions when all I want to do is crop a screenshot.

I used Camerabag a lot. This is filter/preset-based, like the apps I had been using on my iPhone. There are some very cool filters, but it’s quite limited – and I’m not sure if it handles high-resolution images, or image metadata.

Photogene was one I had used on my iPhone, and I found that the new iPad version was great. It has some great presets, but also allows some excellent manual adjustments. In fact it led me into the world of curves adjustments – at first by simple blind experimentation, en by reading about curves and trying to apply what I had read.

Then … Dun dun duunnnnnnnnn… I found Filterstorm. I forget how, actually, but I’m really extremely glad I did. I now have the Pro version (for two reasons: it has its own in-app photo library; and more importantly for me, you can use iTunes file sharing to import full-resolution photos from your computer to edit in Filterstorm), but the editing side of things is identical (except batch editing in Filterstorm Pro only), and that’s what I’ll focus on.

Options

At first I found myself a little intimidated or perplexed by Filterstorm, and kept going back to Photogene. If memory serves, FS3 improved that substantially over FS2. Unfortunately, memory does not serve adequately to describe what I found perplexing – though as I think about it now, and open Photogene for a look, the sheer wealth of options and adjustments in Filterstorm might have had something to do with it. So, not really a bad thing.

Again at first, I had trouble getting as good results with Filterstorm’s curves as with Photogene’s (just what I was used to, I guess), but after more practice – and more reading – it started to fall into place. One of the first Filterstorm-edited images I posted was this evening shot, where I used its masking ability (though I didn’t know that’s what it was) to selectively colour the mirrored windows (and shopping bags):

Masks

This next photo marks when, for me, Filterstorm really came into its own, as this was the point I discovered its masking abilities:

Instead of just cropping, sharpening, and adjusting contrast and/or curves, I found I could sharpen just the lorikeet, and I could apply one curves adjustment to the lorikeet and another, completely different one (even adjusting the RGB curve of one and luminance of another, for example) to the background. From that point I was utterly hooked. To slightly darken the background without darkening a person in the foreground, or to make everything more contrasty but keep a face looking soft, was just fabulous. To darken a sky in an evening scene in order to bring out its drama, while keeping the darker foreground objects visible instead of silhouetted …

… made me extremely happy.

Since then, I’d say the majority of my posted photos, and many that I haven’t posted, have gone through Filterstorm. Mostly I’ve made pretty subtle adjustments, but sometimes something more obvious like selective colouring.

For the most part, I’ve painted on the masks with my finger, or more recently a stylus. There are other masking options though, and the colour match one was absolutely brilliant in this pic of the Moon, where I was completely unable, despite a lot of trying and experimenting, to modify the luminance curve on the Moon without giving it a horrible false edge with the sky, leaving it looking superimposed. Eventually I tried the colour match tool, and instantly I got this:

Black & White

The latest thing that’s grabbing my attention is black and white conversions. Surely one just reduces the saturation, right? Ohhhhhh no. That often gives a greyish photo rather lacking in drama. Filterstorm’s B&W conversion confused me for ages, because it has sliders for red, green, and blue. That seemed to me contradictory – it being a B&W conversion we were doing. Once again, reading saved the day. I found that what it was doing was akin to a B&W photographer using a coloured filter on their lens. Photos accompanying the explanations I found, made it quite clear the different looks that could result from changing those colours (and of course digitally one is not limited to just one filter, but can mix and match different amounts of them).

Most recently, I got Snapseed on my iPad. Because it was free at the time. After I found out that it was by Nik Software (the company that does Silver Efex), I decided to have a closer look … well, any look, to be honest … at it. While it is more preset-based than I’ve got used to, it does some lovely B&W conversions. One in particular really grabbed me, and when applied to some pics of my children gave a result very like the look I have admired in some B&W portraits.

I didn’t like to abandon Filterstorm and more to the point, found that Snapseed halves my file resolution and strips out the exif data – so its not the most useful editor in the world for me. However, what was useful, was trying to duplicate in Filterstorm the results of that Snapseed preset I liked so much. I thought, after a lot of tweaking of the RGB filters, and some contrast, that I had it. However, after applying those adjustments (that I saved as an automation in Filterstorm) to another photo and comparing the result (middle image in the triptych below) with that from Snapseed, I did not. Cue further tweaking, resulting in the right hand image in the triptych, as well as much happiness, as I now think that I’ve cracked it.

So although I’m not big on preset-based apps … I’ve just gone and created a preset (automation, in Filterstorm). In Filterstorm you can do that by a long press on an image you’ve adjusted to your liking. This brings up the option to save everything you did to that photo as an automation – so you can then apply it to other photos.

Anyway, the main point is that Filterstorm, for a few dollars, can do be used to do absolutely amazing things to photographs. While nothing is going to make a terrible photo into a great one, there’s a lot that can be done to enhance a photo, to make it more like what one saw either in reality, or with the mind’s eye. So far I’ve not run into anything much that I’ve wanted to do, but been unable to do in Filterstorm (except for rescuing totally bollixed photos).

Support/Development

The other thing to say is that the developer is responsive and quick. When iOS 5 came out, Filterstorm could no longer see the exif data in my photos, and there was no exif in the photos I saved from Filterstorm. I sent the developer one tweet. He replied, and within a few days there was an update in the App Store that fixed the issue.

Oh, and it seems layers are a planned inclusion for the next version (due soonish, apparently), so I’ll have more to learn again.

After a while I decided that I should put the apps I use most (after those on the dock) on the home screen, to save a couple of taps. These were Zite, Flipboard, Instapaper, Photos, Photogene, Blipfoto, a dictionary, Articles (a Wikipedia app), Dropbox … blah blah anyway … I recently bought two apps that have shifted things fairly solidly – to the point they have assumed pride of place on my first home screen, because I open one or both of these almost every time I use my iPad (at least, since I’m on holiday this week … once I go back to work next week I won’t be using them as often, which is why Pocket Informant will stay on the dock.

These apps are, as you can see in the screenshot below, Soundprism Pro, by Audanika, and Morphwiz, developed by/with the inestimable Jordan Rudess.

Morphwiz is a fantastic synthesiser and … basically new musical instrument. Its absolutely wonderful, and amazing fun. I look forward to recording with it once my musical muse returns…. And once its not so cold at night, so I’m more keen on staying up to make music.

Soundprism is another fantastic app. Its great fun to play around with using the included sounds, but the pro version adds MIDI capability, and it will even connect to your computer over wifi (on an iPad at least; I think it doesn’t on an iPhone) to act as a MIDI controller. I’ve had a play with it in Garageband already, and it is totally brilliant. Absolutely the dog’s bits. When I compare it to my ancient Korg Poly800 I’ve been using to control MIDI instruments it’s a world easier and better. Also, given that I needed to get a new power supply to make my Korg work again, SoundPrism Pro was basically a no cost option (possibly even saved me money, as crazy as it seems).

I’m thinking these apps might even make it to the dock soon; they’d probably swap places with Nebulous Notes and iBooks – as much as I love both of them.

With all of that, I’ve been through quite a few Facebook apps – almost all of them, probably. I’ve tried Friended, Friendly, iFace, MyPad, Facely, the Facebook iPhone app, Hello., Friendcaster, Sobee’s MyFriends, Hootsuite, Facedekk, InTouch, Venus (lite) … before lighting most recently on Liike, where so far at least, it appears I will be staying.

Interface

Not uncommonly these apps appear to be just skins for the mobile website. As such, there can be a bit of flitting about of interface elements as they load: buttons appear on one side of the screen then shift about into their proper position etc. Some (Hello.app I’m looking at you) look quite cool, but it takes some thought to remember what icon is what, and where on the screen it is – which is a problem (possibly with my ageing brain, but still…).

A problem for all these apps is whether to have a menu on the side with the feed on the right (iFace, MyPad), or to allow the feed to take up the whole screen, with a pop-up menu, or heaps of buttons or tabs at the top (Hello.app, Friendly, Friended, Venus). Most are happy in landscape orientation, as you can have both the menu and a reasonable width feed, but portrait is handled differently. MyFriends has an interesting newspaper-style display on one page, and swiping left gives a feed with taps/buttons at the top – but today is the first time that latter has worked for me; every other time I’ve tried swiping left the app crashed. Also, I’ve just tried commenting, and it doesn’t appear to work – or if it does, I can’t tell, because my mother’s status on which I tried to comment still shows “no comments” beneath it.

Checking them all out today one after another I noticed that Friendly is far and away the slowest to start/log in, Hello seems to take the longest to sort out its interface/skin, and Liike is definitely the quickest at pretty much everything.

Some of the apps have not been clear about whether they display the top news or most recent in the feed, and don’t have an option to choose. Again, Liike wins here, with it being very obvious which you are seeing, and easy to switch between them.

Notifications

Notifications are a problem for some of the apps: not allowing you to go to the relevant post/status/comment by touching the notification. InTouch has partly fixed this, but many types of notifications still don’t have a link. Also displaying new notifications sometimes seems quite flaky. None of them are particularly worse or better, though I do recall Friendly being pretty good at notifications when it’s working.

Liike does notifications nicely. I do find I click the wrong thing at times when backing out of notifications with the small arrows at the top – but if they were larger I might complain about that instead. Basically I’m pretty happy with Liike’s handling of notifications.

Stability

My main grumble is the random not-working. Friendly and InTouch kept switching places in my dock every couple of days for that reason. Then I had to shift to one of the others because both of those were stuffed: not displaying my news feed was the most common problem.

So far Liike has given me no trouble in this regard: it works consistently – and is noticeably faster than all the others I’ve tried.

Photo Uploading

Photo uploading is a problem with all of these apps. It’s (for me) the one lacking feature of Liike: there’s no photo uploading in the app; it gives you an email address to which you can send a photo, which will then appear in your mobile uploads folder. Other apps have photo uploading capabilities, but seem unable to let you specify which folder to upload to, putting the photos rather in a folder named for the app. Some will allow you to change the folder, but are unable to see many of my photo folders – so for example I was unable to upload pictures of my kids to my “kids” folder.

Messaging

Messaging is variably well handled in these Facebook apps. For a start, Friendcaster, MyFriends, and Friended don’t appear to do messaging at all. Venus, InTouch, Hello, and MyPad have a poor display that doesn’t show the whole message, and I can’t see how to get at the whole message. iFace has a reasonable implementation, though I’m not a huge fan of the popup style it uses. Once again however, I am pretty much completely happy with the way Liike handles messaging. It displays previews of the messages, and when you touch the message it shows you the thread – not in a pop-up, but in the same pane – with a reply box at the bottom.

Chat is something I don’t really care about in a Facebook app, as I use IMO on the iPad for that. Consequently I can’t and won’t comment on these apps’ implementation of Facebook chat.

All in all, if you have an iPad, and any desire to use Facebook on it, I would suggest you go and download Liike now. It’s the only one that I have consistently liked, and found to be quick, simple, and aesthetically pleasing (though that last is of course a totally subjective criterion).

This evening I was in our little township, where my reception on vodafone has been pretty horrible (at times unable to even make a call, and always too terrible for even twitter – which is pretty pathetic). I was not surprised to find that on Telstra I had excellent reception reported, and excellent data performance.

Really Telstra, you’re making this a little too easy for me. It’s beyond bleeding obvious that Vodafone really truly is completely awful. I thought it might be either the same, or a bit close, but it’s seriously absolute worlds apart.

Tomorrow I will use the Speedtest app and get some screencaps of the results on both Vodafone and Telstra.