Pacer Featured on Traxee.com

The good folks over at Traxee.com, an online community of women runners, has a feature on its blog about LogMyRunPacer that you can check out here.  Beth Moore, a blogger at Traxee says:

I'm a lunatic for cool iPhone apps, so I really wanted to share this with you guys. . . . Just visit http://iTunes.com/apps/LogMyRunPacer to download this app free and try it out! If you like it or hate it, go ahead and rate John's app on iTunes and help him out! I'm sure he'd love the feedback.

iPhone SDK Article Database Updated

Squinber's huge Evernote database of the best iOS SDK articles that we have run across has just been updated with over 200 additional articles, bringing the total to over 600 articles!  You can dig in here: http://bit.ly/gXMcHL 

iPhone Life: Creating A Bestselling App

Author John Painter's closing remarks in a interview with Owen, the developer of MathTime and MathTime EX:

What I find most inspiring about Owen’s story is his willingness to learn and work hard to achieve success. Owen has had some financial success in his business, but the bigger payoff will be the discoveries he makes. One of the most important of these will be the understanding that, when you challenge yourself to learn something new, even when it’s a difficult subject, you gain the intellectual tools you need to succeed in life. As Thomas Friedman puts it… invent your way to prosperity.

The iPhone Mom Review

theiphonemom.com on MathTime and MathTimeEX:

These are two simple and effective apps that will help your child practice their math facts. I love having “flashcards” that don’t have to be flipped through and cannot be lost.  Now here’s the cool thing about these apps. They were designed by an eleven year old boy named Owen. (One of my favorite boy names by the way.) Owen and his brother Finn have been featured in many news stories and even on the Rush Limbaugh show. You can read all about their press here. As the mom of a ten year old I’m thoroughly impressed with what these kids have accomplished. Owen has mastered a new programming language and  built a useful app that he should be very proud of. Math Time and Math Time EX are well done, effective and helpful to all the other kids who need that extra bit of practice with math.

Creating a Best Selling App

by John Painter

MathTime is an app version of the tried-and-true flash card method of learning math and includes drills for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  And while it doesn't have a lot of visual or audio glitz, the app's power is in its simplicity - it's a textbook example of an intuitive interface.

. . . 

At the age of 11, Owen learned a computer language, wrote his own app, and started his own business.  He sets an example for the rest of us on how to survive in Friedman's flat world.

For more of John Painter's interview in iPhone Life Magazine, check out page 73 of the online Flash version of the magazine here or pick up a copy on newsstands now.  For the full article in PDF format you can also click here.

Creativity Through iPhone Development

Preteens Build Top Selling iPhone App

By: Nathaniel Whittemore

A great little article published by Inc. Magazine [on July 1, 2009] tells the story of Finn and Owen Voorhees, 9 and 11 year old brothers who recently designed an iPhone application that became one of the top selling apps. . . .

First of all, it's such an affirmation of the creativity and capacity of young people. If you encourage them to explore instead of boxing them into stereotypes of what they can achieve, amazing things can happen. The other piece of this though is how different it is for these young creatives to have a platform for their work. Photoshop and the Apple App store coding platform gave them the tools they need to build something; the App Store gave them a place where they can be affirmed for their good work and where they value they created could be accessed by others. This is one of the powers of technology that I've been most excited about. I've had the lens of an extremely precocious younger brother to see just how both hardware and software can unleash creativity.

Brothers Learn a New Language to Help Kids

From Gordon Simmons' Blog:

Some things never change. Kids need to learn math, and one tool to help them has always been repetitive flash cards.

Well, inspiring kids Owen and Finn Voorhees have taken flash cards to a new level—to the iPhone, in fact.

The brothers had the idea that the iPhone would be a great delivery system for a flash card program, or app, that would help students memorize math facts. There are over 35,000 apps for the phone, and there is a large community of programmers writing programs for iPhone users to add to their devices. However, up to 9 months ago, Owen and Finn were not part of that community. Together, they learned the programming language, and came up with graphical icons and for the app. The Chicago tribune article ishere.

Like so many inspirational children, Owen and Finn saw a need and filled it. Sure there are flash cards out there already, but what kid wouldn’t rather pick up an iPhone instead of a pile of cards? Kids helping kids, once again!

Congratulations, Owen and Finn.

Smarty-Pants Kids Build iPhone App

An 11-year-old kid straight outta Illinois named Owen Voorhees (nephew of Jason?) developed his very own iPhone application called MathTime.

Wow!

...

My money says these kids will soon develop an app to rule the world and enslave us all before they are 21. Just sayin’…

Read more:http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/697086/Smarty-pants-Kids-Build-iPhone-App.html#ixzz0KovmC9PX&C

11 Year Old Develops iPhone Math Application

From MacGetIT.com:

You heard that right. Owen Voorhees, an 11 year old, developed an iPhone application along the old flash card math “mad minute” drill idea. Not only is Own learning a new skill, but he’s learning to run his own business and making a little money off of his time and energy.

Way to go, Owen!!!

We need more kids like Owen, and more parents like his Dad encouraging such ambition.

Young Brothers Invent Bestselling iPhone App

From the Gimundo Blog:

If you’ve got an iPhone, there’s no doubt you’ve discovered the addictive world of iPhone apps. From the teensy versions of Sim City and Scrabble to the bizarre Photoshop-esque Face Melter to Twitterific (one of the many apps that lets us Twitter addicts keep an eye on our streams at all times), there’s an app for every person and every purpose. But have you ever tried to build one yourself?

It may seem like the sort of challenge that only an ultra-tech savvy genius could accomplish, but you might be surprised to learn that one of the online store’s bestselling apps was created by someone who’s still years away from high school, let alone an illustrious job in Sillicon Valley: 11-year-old Owen Voorhees.

Freedom: Kids Design iPhone App

Excerpt from transcript of July 2, 2009 Rush Limbaugh Show:

RUSH: Here is an amazing story, and I want to share the details of this story with you, within the context that Obama is saying, that government's going to mandate the invention of solar power and wind power. All these new green technologies, all this magical new energy, Washington and Obama are just going to dictate, just going to say, "Go do it," and it will happen. And, of course, that's not how things happen. This is a story of 11-year-old Owen Voorhees. "[F]or the last nine months he climbed a mountain of doubt, overcame unfamiliar programming languages and poured over college-level computer science textbooks -- all to develop his very own iPhone application. Last month, his app, MathTime, debuted in the App Store [at iTunes] and quickly rose to No. 13 in the paid, educational apps section.

The full transcript is available here: link

11-Year-Old Builds Top-Selling iPhone App

The Huffington Post picked up the Inc. Magazine article here: Link

Kid Entrepreneurs Build iPhone App

By Alexandra Cheney

Owen Voorhees may seem to be an unlikely tech entrepreneur, because he's just 11. But for the past nine months, he climbed a mountain of self and parental doubt, overcame unfamiliar programming languages, and pored over college-level computer science textbooks--all to develop his own iPhone application. Last month, his app, MathTime, debuted in the App Store and quickly rose to No. 13 in the paid, educational apps section.

See www.inc.com for the full story: Link

Local Boys Create iPhone Application

MathTime Featured by the Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune, May 25, 2009  

You might think of flash cards and work sheets when you think of grade-school math. But now, thanks to two young brothers from Hinsdale, there’s an app for that.

Link.

Madison School Brothers Develop App

Grade school mathematics has always been synonymous with wading through a pile of flashcards, memorizing hundreds of equations one-by-one. But now, thanks to Hinsdale 5th grader Owen Voorhees and his brother Finn, there’s an App for that.

For the rest of the story, check out Mick Swasko’s story on TribLocal at this link

MathTime on MacBreak Weekly 140

Thanks to Leo LaPorte and the rest of the crew at MacBreak Weekly for the kind mention on MacBreak Weekly, episode 140. You can listen to a clip from the show where Leo talks about MathTime by clicking the link below.

To listen to the entire podcast or to subscribe to MacBreak Weekly or Leo’s other great podcasts, visit www.twit.tv or subscribe via iTunes.

Play Clip from MacBreak Weekly 140