Book Review – Head First, WordPress

I’ve been using, off and on, WordPress to maintain a blog of what is going on.  My advanced skill (joking) has gotten me to the point of being able to add entries and tag them.  I stumble through the setup but really relied upon the Cpanel to install it on my site and then the WP Admin to maintain and update it.

This head first book provides a lot of direction that allows the simplest of technical users to install, setup, configure, customize and take advantage of WordPress’s features.  I really like that it goes into detail on modifying the look and feel of the site.  As you can tell from my site I am pretty basic but with this book I will be endeavoring to make this site a bit more interesting to look at.

If you are new to blogging I would suggest you look at using WordPress and pick up a copy of this book.  Even reading it piece meal will provide you enough information to get started.

TSA – Bottled Water Absurdity

I recently just took a trip with my family and the experience of going through the airport was amusing.  I have two kids and one stroller which translates to a lot of baby necessities.  I have small aluminum canisters that hold about 10 ounces milk and use them to keep the milk cold for up to 4 hours.

On this leg of the trip our highly skilled TSA agent stop out baby stroller and informed me there was a fluid container in it.  It turned out to be a sealed bottle of water and they informed me that it had to be disposed.  That in and of itself is not news.  What is news is that my backpack with a metal 12 oz metal container was passed through without even a notice.  This container is not sealed nor is it transparent.

I feel really safe that TSA staff are quite adept and finding bottled water but blow it when it comes to metal containers with “unknown” liquids in them.

Book Review – iPad: The Missing Manual

I recently joined the O’Reilly Blogger Review program and this is the first book I chose to review.  The entire “Missing Manual” series is dedicated to providing a solid users manual for a given product.  This one is dedicated for the iPad and it does a very good job at providing a broad overview of the device, it’s software, and basic functionality.

If you are an experienced iPhone or iPod Touch user you will not find a lot of value with this book.  If you are new to iOS devices or are buying one for some then this book is a great starting point.

The chapters are organized to progress you through the usage of the device.  The earlier chapters walk you through the iPad itself while the later chapters cover how to work with it.

The only criticism that I have is that I wished the author would have include a chapter regarding things you can’t do or can’t do very easily with an iPad.  Topics like printing, website downloads, and other are thing real people will run into and need to know where they can go or what are the limitations.

Week #2 with the iPad

It’s Friday and I’m on my way home. As I sit here on the train I feel like I’ve kicked my iPad into 2nd gear this week.

Apple’s iBook app is great but the prices of the books at the store are a little high. I bought my first novel ebook from Amazon (epub) and uploaded it via iTunes. A little extra work but it save me a little change. The great new is that I finished the 250 pg novel and the experience was great. Very readable, easy to navigate, all in all a nice experience. I didn’t miss the real book at all.

I’ve settled into using Things (Cultured Code) as my todo list manager. They got some improvements/features to add but it’s a good start. The good news is things like repeating tasks, areas, and people are all creatable on the desktop.

I went kind of low tech for the moment with capturing meeting notes. I’ve found that Apple’s Notes app (built in) is simple and very workable. The best part is all those hand written sheets are being tossed out each day. I don’t thinks this works because of notes, but because the iPad is easy to pull out and update.

Some co-workers see this as a toy but the reality it’s slowly becoming as essential as a pen and notepad for me.

Side note: SF Bags Smart Case for the iPad is fantastic!

A week with the iPad

I’ve had my iPad now for a week and so far it’s been great. There are a couple things I don’t like but overall I’m both impressed and happy. Let me start out with the the things I don’t like.

iPhone only apps: the little mini screen drives me a crazy and only a few of them in 2x mode look good.

Dock connector: it’s on the bottom and when I place it in the dock it’s in portrait mode. Unfortunately apps like Mail and Twitter just work better in landscape.

Those are my two main beefs so far. I’m here using the WordPress app and typing at a good pace. I’ve watched two movies and it was great. I’ve got a pair of skull headphones and enjoying my music as I type here.

My poor iPhone, after day in and day out used is sorely being set aside for my iPad. While I’ve always liked my iPhone it just doesn’t have the same appeal/need with my iPad around. I do use it to keep a quick version of my calendar, Things, contacts, and music.

I’m a happy iPad owner!

When I got home from work today I found my iPad sitting at my front door. I’ve started to mess around with it and I’m so glad that I bought it. I’ve got my base apps installed, the 3G activated, wi-fi to my home network on, Mobile Me configured, email account setup, and my Gelaskin skin applied. Right now I’m typing this on my iPad.

Oh where are these iPads?

I’m anxiously awaiting my 3G iPad but something dawned on me, I haven’t seen one in the open. I ride a commuter train each day to and from Chicago and I would expect to see some city chic person with one. Plus I live in what would be considered an upscale neighborhood and would expect to see someone with one. But as of today I haven’t seen a single iPad. Maybe like me everyone is waiting for the 3G model. Time will tell.

I iPad therefore I am…

After riding the rails for a good amount of time I broke down and decided to plunge into iPad land.  I’m still not sold on the costs of the 3G contract and it bothers me that I would have to pay for both my iPhone and iPad.  But then again I know how I am and I will probably want to activate the 3G plan at some point.

I decided that purchasing the 3G model but not activating the plan is my best bet at this point.  This way I can see how I like it without the plan but be able to upgrade to it if I want.  If I just went with the wi-fi model then I’m already stuck.  I’ve got a 16gb iPhone and have been fine with the space so I’m sticking to the 16gb – 3G model of the iPad.

Apple says I will receive mine by 4/30/2010 so I’m anxiously waiting.  I’ve already created and received my custom skins from gelaskins.com.  I’ve also received my keyboard dock from Apple.  I’m still waiting on SF Bags to send my slip case for the iPad but I have a feeling it will arrive after I get my iPad so I will make sure I transport it in something safe for the time being.

To iPad or not to iPad?

Here I am riding the train and writing this on my iPhone. It works but it’s not very fast. But how much easier would it be on an iPad?

I do believe that I would spend less time hitting the backspace button because the virtual keyboard is larger. I’m severely doubt that I would be able to type with both hands.

At my desk is a different story. I would have access to a dock and keyboard. When I say desk I mean my desk at work. At home doesn’t make sense since I would be at my iMac. But at work it’s attractive because I would be able to use Things a little more productively.

The price to do this is still very high. It would be around $800 for the 16gb / 3G iPad with a keyboard dock and case plus $30 per month. That means year one would be $1,160 and year two and on would be $360. That’s a lot of money for a convenience.

If I stuck with the WiFi model it would around $650 in year one and $0 for year two and on. That seems a lot more reasonable.

Apple Macintosh – I lost my hard drive but no worries!

I’ve got a modern iMac running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).  Beyond being a Mac geek at heart I have always felt that OS X makes it easy to do things so I can focus on the work and not the machine.  I was so glad when Apple introduced Time Machine, a utility that runs by itself in the background and constantly makes backup of your data, because I always have this fear of losing my digital archive.  I’ve got some many pictures, movies, and music that I would be devastated if I lost my data.

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