My Dream App

John (Minerva):
Blog
My Idea
About Me
Judge's Comments

Welcome to My Dream App!

The event where 24 finalists compete for a chance to have their dream app made into reality.

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John Bell

I’ve been a Mac user since 1985 when Apple released “Mac XL” which enabled my Lisa to emulate a Mac. And that isn’t even my oldest computer, as I still have my CompuColor II from the late 1970s. (There is no truth to the rumor that the disk drive uses a hand crank.) In my many years I’ve worked as a photographer, programmer, tech support rep, and technical writer. I’m a Principal Technical Writer for a large California-based software company. Most of my writing assignments are on server admin subjects, which is unexciting but it has to be done and I have the requisite technical background to handle it. I’m looking forward to doing some end-user oriented writing, such as a User’s Guide to Minerva (grin).

A native Cape Codder, I now live in Loudoun County, Virginia with my wife and three kids.
Favorite quote: “Don’t take life too seriously, you can’t get out of it alive anyhow.” — Walt Kelly

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Contestants

Anders
Stick-It
A modernized sticky solution that lets people use virtual stickies just as they do in real life.
Andrew
Desktop Wars
A real-time strategy game that brings the battlefield to your desktop with network play, voice commands and more.
Bob
Savant Carde
Takes the Hypercard concept into the 21st century through direct manipulation. Could this be the next big breakthrough in hyperlinked media?
Bogumil
Herald
A modern update to the newspaper, combining the power of RSS, simple newspaper creation and sharing, and an eye-catching user interface.
Cameron
Atmosphere
A virtual window to the outdoors for your desktop. View a virtual representation of your area's weather when too busy to go outside.
Dan
Blossom
A virtual plant that responds to productivity, not sunlight and water. Had a good session in Excel? Your plant will thrive. Play too much Warcraft? Expect some withering.
Dillon
Bookroom
Get back into reading, with Bookroom. Presents e-books in a beautiful interface, and supports annotations and Leopard's VoiceOver support.
Farzad
Portal
File syncing from the future. Sync folders and documents between Macs effortlessly and watch transfer progress through a cool, highly visual wormhole user interface.
James
Destinations
Plan vacations and trips with ease and tie related photos and notes to locations on the map as an interactive travel album.
Jeff
iGTD
A Mac implementation on the popular "Getting Things Done" productivity system with iCal and Address Book integration, iPod sync, and more.
Joe
Puppet Constructor
Create simple 2D animations with the ease of manipulating puppets. With Puppet Constructor, keyframes are replaced by users manipulating their "puppets" with their mouse.
John
Minerva
A virtual secretary for your Mac. Minerva can automatically process new contacts, aggregate news, remind you of appointments and more, speaking with Leopard's voiceover.
Josh
iGotPets
Keep track of your pet's well-being with iGotPets, and share your pet's profile through the web.
Kevin
Hijack
A full Cocoa interface for browsing and participating in your favorite discussion forums.
Marshall
SweepIt
The solution for messy desktops and download folders. Set folders for automatic cleaning based on user set rules.
Michael
Chatboard
The virtual, network-enabled whiteboard that adds real-time shared visuals to group collaborations.
Michael
Cookbook
The ultimate cookbook application, with online grocery shopping, thousands of recipes, Leopard voiceover technology integration, shopping list sharing, and more.
Mickey
iVlog
Photo Booth for videos, with easy to use video logging (or "vlogging") support.
Mike
iSightSee
An alternative control method powered by your Mac's iSight. Control your Mac with hand gestures and movements.
Peter
Bubble Fish
Bubble Fish is the friend who knows everything, but without the annoyance factor. Ever curious to learn about a word or phrase beyond a dictionary definition? Wikipedia, Google, Flickr and more would be just a control click away.
Raven
Telepath
Turns your phone into a Blackberry lite. Push important emails, news items, and more to your phone from your Mac via SMS.
Richard
Whistler
Ever had the urge to create a song until you realized it was harder than it was worth? With Whistler, just whistle, hum, or tap out your creation into music app importable form.
Russell
Ground Control
Dashboard done right, with a unified design and modules for your most used apps and important information at your fingertips.
Windy
iStyleIt
Bring your wardrobe into your iLife with iStyleIt, a virtual closet on your Mac. Pick your clothes with ease, store and rate your favorite outfits, and share them with your friends.