Category Archives: Gadgets & Apps

All posts that don’t obviously fit in one of the sub-categories go here.

iPad turns on instantly

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I haven’t posted on the iPad for a while because we’re transitioning the little slab of magic from a Steve Device to a Barb Device. I’m sure it will still by lying around the house and I’ll pick it up as needed, but it’ll have her stuff on it.

I was pleased to see that Scott Adams appreciates the iPad for some of the same reasons we do:

“By far, the iPad’s most wonderful feature, compared to laptops, is the fact that it turns on instantly. There’s no boot-up sequence. That one advantage makes the iPad an entirely different product from a laptop. Once powered on, the iPad doesn’t start begging me to update things nor force me to make decisions. It doesn’t remind me of all the ways it is protecting me. It doesn’t tell me to order printer ink or ask me to fill out a survey. A regular laptop is like your boss: always making you wait before giving you busy-work assignments. The iPad is more like a punctual lover. It’s always ready for fun. And if you are tempted to do some work on the iPad, its non-keyboard quickly changes your mind. You wouldn’t say a lover is a crippled version of a boss. (Insert your own inappropriate humor here.) So any comparison of an iPad to a laptop simply doesn’t work.”

“Another interesting phenomenon of the iPhone and iPad era is that we are being transformed from producers of content into consumers. With my BlackBerry, I probably created as much data as I consumed. It was easy to thumb-type long explanations, directions, and even jokes and observations. With my iPhone, I try to avoid creating any message that are over one sentence long. But I use the iPhone browser to consume information a hundred times more than I did with the BlackBerry. I wonder if this will change people over time, in some subtle way that isn’t predictable. What happens when people become trained to think of information and entertainment as something they receive and not something they create?”

I believe iPads are among the prizes being offered as incentives in one of the sales contests underway at our company. And our company chairman placed an order after watching some of the Mac heads playing with theirs at the Coffee Zone.

Frankly, I’m a little releived to be handing off our iPad to Barb. I LIKE creating informaiton and with the iPad it was so easy to just lean back in a big stuffed chair and graze.

Protecting the new iPhone

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A common observation upon first holding the new iPhone is how nice it feels in the hand. The next is usually: “It would be easy to drop” …or something like that. The glass front and back makes it look fragile. And it might be, although I’m inclined to doubt that. Nevertheless, I have one of the little bumper guards on the way.

But I didn’t want to take a chance on breaking the new baby before the bumper arrives so I headed out to Best Buy where I purchased the cheapest case I could find. It’s  stiff, clear plastic that appears to be made of the very same plastic your grandmother used to cover the sofa.

And it’s a pretty nice case. Feels good in the hand. Easy to remove. Looks like it would protect the phone without getting in the way. But just a little too much like a cheap condom. The iPhone “feels” good and that is just as important as making calls (or babies).

Photos: Box ’em up and scan ’em

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I shudder to think of the hours I’ve spent scanning photos. In the early days, I scanned one image at a time and was so clueless I scanned at very low resolution. A lot of those poor scans are still on line, but I just don’t have the time (or will) to re-scan.

So I sent about 120 prints off to ScanCafe. I believe the prints wind up somewhere in India where they are “scanned by hand.” Costs 29 cents an image. About $40 by the time I was done. I could not have scanned and cleaned them for that price.

When they’re done they send you a link to a web page where you can review and pick the images you want (or don’t). They they send you a DVD.

I’ll probably try another service, just to compare. Watch this space.

Google Voice now for everyone

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Google Voice was “invitation only” for a long time but now they’ve opened it up so I’m going to start using the number I’ve had for a while. Only way I’m going to get the hang of it. Video above runs about 90 sec. The link in the sidebar will probably take you to my voice-mail, at least until I learn the ropes.

Image above is the Google Voice in-box. Google Voice does a fair job of transcribing the voice mail message (close enough). I can also play the message, of course.

I also received an email that had pretty much the same thing. You can also set it up for a text alert.

Google voice does a lot more but I’m not going to try to explain it until I have a better grasp. And the video at the top of this post really has all you need.

While I might not wan to give out my mobile number to everyone, I can safely give out my Google Voice number (573-200-6776) and rely on Google to help me manage it all. For example, I can have Barb’s calls come straight to my iPhone… while sending calls from her sister right into voice-mail.

Pandora

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I really, really hope small town radio stations figure out how to survive and thrive in this new media world in which they find themselves. If I had The Secret Nazi Formula, I send guys out on motorcycles (with sidecars) to each and every station. But I don’t.

I’m taking a vacation day, sitting in the Coffee Zone fine-tuning one of my Pandora channels (“stations?”). I’d like to share just a couple of features:

For those unfamiliar with Pandora, it’s a streaming music service. You start by picking a song or artist and Pandora starts playing songs based on that information. You vote thumbs up or thumbs down on each song, and Pandora just keeps refining the music you hear.

If it all starts sounding a bit too similar, you can “Add Variety” (see image above). For example, I added Paul Simon and Brandi Carlile to my Pomplamoose channel. The result is so finely tuned to my musical tastes, I don’t see how any radio station could match it. They could not. And with every song I listen to (or don’t) my channel gets better.

Pandora also gives me the option to share my creation and find others who like the same music.

So. What’s missing? Commercials? Weather? Sports? News about the oil gushing into the Gulf? A funny guy to talk over the beginning of my songs? Weekly specials from my local supermarket? Maybe.

iPhone 4

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I knew I’d upgrade but I didn’t expect to be excited by the new iPhone 4. The front-facing camera and video chat didnt seem like something I’d use that much (I believe I said that about the original iPhone). But after watching the FaceTime video I’ve changed my mind. Once again, Mr. Jobs knows what I want before I do.