This past Wednesday Apple had another special event. They unveiled the new iPod lineup, Apple TV, and iTunes 10. Inspired by the new updates I spent some time in the store and ended up downloading some new apps.

With all these newly acquired apps, I had to figure out how I was going to organize them on my phone and as I began designating apps to folders I started to think about how I defined their specific uses. I began to see themes to the app madness, and it seems like I break them down into the following:

Free: These are the apps that seem interesting at first glance and trigger the ”Why not download? It costs me nothing” reaction. You use it for maybe a day then never open it again. Example: Crazy Lighter, the whole purpose of the app is to make your iPhone appear to be a lighter. It can be useful to pretend your rocking out to some classic rock at a concert but ultimately provides only a cheesy, sorta-funny moment.

Social Life: For all the millions of social networking apps out there that you check multiple times a day. It’s how you stay conceted to your friends. The phone is no longer to call Bob to see how his day went but more to just check his Facebook status or twitter feed. Examples: Facebook, Twitter, AIM – we know the drill here.

iLife Apps: These are the apps that, in common with the iLife suite, run your picture taking, music listening, and video recording life. All very useful, but nothing life or death. The biggest problem with this category is figuring out which is the best Photo app out of the million available – especially when forced with that big decision of should I actually pay for the app or just download the simpler, free version. Examples: Hipstamatic, Pandora, Remote, ShakeitPhoto

Last Screen of Apps I just can’t delete: This is the shoebox in the back storage closet of apps that you still think can one day be useful and dont have the heart to delete. You can always justify why you might need that unit converter someday or the CPK app to order your food on the go but really never use it.

Actually useful Apps: These can really depend on the user, but I personally can’t live without Highrise, Shazam, Mint.com, Pandora, Google, and PayPal.

Is your phone dominated with impulse buy apps or only the select few you really cherish? Any favorites the world should know about? Do you organize by folders, screens, or is it a free for all?

How do you Define your apps?

P.S. Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for some great apps R29 has in development.

“Bad Typography is Everywhere, Good Typography is invisible.” —Craig Ward

As designers, we live this quote daily. Whether it’s a horribly kerned sign on the train, or a flyer in the local paper completely set in Impact. It makes us cringe, wince, and gasp. All of us “type snobs” have been there:

“Why on earth would you think typesetting your resumé in Brush Script would make it seem more personal?”

“Really, real estate agent? You thought Chalkboard would make your boring paperwork more fun for me to read?!”

We all have our own personal tragedies, but sometimes there comes one so horrible that the masses turn their heads. It’s not that these typefaces are terrible; it’s more that their applications were so out of place that it made us take notice. So take a walk down memory lane with us and read about our favorite typographic controversies of the last few years after the jump.

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I awoke a couple of days ago to the morning news anchor spouting off the day’s top stories. Usually the morning news is full of fluff that goes in one ear and out the other, but the last report I heard before leaving my house caught my attention.

The Internet is running out of addresses. [Gasp!]

Yes, it was always inevitable, I suppose, but in the story the anchor declared a time limit—one year. By the end of 2011 there will be no Internet addresses left. I laughed at first, but during my commute I couldn’t stop thinking about this foresight. Could it really be possible? Do we really only have a year before we all start scrambling for any address we can get our hands on? There have even been reports that an IP address black market will arise.

It turns out that with all the mobile devices and the growing number of Internet users in general is the primary cause for our imminent IPv4 (Internet Protocol version four) failure. First introduced in the 1980, IPv4 is what today’s Internet was built upon with its 32-bit addresses allow for approximately 4 billion IP addresses. Unfortunately, experts say we will use all these up by next September. So what’s the world to do? In the meantime, check out this countdown on Twitter to either induce an emotional collapse or perhaps just a laugh.

Good news is there is a solution: IPv6 (gold star to anyone who can explain the leap over IPv5). Without this 128-bit address protocol (that’s 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 addresses) Internet growth is slated to go downhill. The problem, like with most other global issues, is all about the benjamins—millions of devices need to be updated to be compatible with IPv6. Without the upgrade businesses could lose out on traffic from users connecting to the web on new IPv6 addresses.

So, will this make people go pre-Y2K crazy, or will it be more like the actual Y2K? Will we break the Internet? No, but either way I’m sure hilarious T-shirts and hysteric Facebook statuses are just around the corner.

Do you need to take an umbrella today? Sometimes here at Rule29 all we care about in the weather report is if we need to take an umbrella with us in the morning. Luckily this site was made just for folks like us (iPhone app available too). Just type in your zip code, and Umbrella Today? will tell you if you will require one. You can even sign up get text message alerts for you on the days that you do need an umbrella!

So, do you need an umbrella today? Are rainy days even that bad? Do you like to sing or dance in the rain? Let us know in the comment section.