Tech
Writing On the iPad
Since the iPad first came out I was hoping it would completely take the place of my laptop for most things. I was especially hoping it would allow me to use it when I go to events like Comic-Con in San Diego and other places I’m covering for The Flickcast that require me to post to the website during the day. Unfortunately, as an early adopter, I got one of the first iPads released. And although the hardware was darn good, the software, and in particular apps for blogging, left something to be desired. Cut to today and I’m using the iPad 2 and there are lots more apps out there to do most of the things you want to do on the iPad. Sadly, there’s still a shortage of good blogging apps. Fortunately, all you really need is one. I think I’ve found that one. Or, at least I’ve found one that’s as close to perfect as I’m going to get right now. What’s the name of this amazing, life changing blogging app? Blogsy. It does most of what I need it to do in the writing area. I can write a post in either HTML or visual mode, add photos and videos and set it to publish. Combine that with resizing photos using the great iResize app and the iPad has become almost a complete replacement for my Mac laptop. It does take a bit of time to get used to blogging on the iPad and also, typing on the screen itself is a bit hard on the fingers. Still, for short things like blog posts (just like this one!) it works very well. I’m going to be using Blogsy more and more and I’m sure I will find things I don’t like about it. Still, it has enough going for it already that I’m very pleased and happy I found it. Also, I’m sure they will improve it over time with updates.
The Setup
Its been a long process, but I’ve finally managed to set up every bit of my home entertainment center. The biggest pain was running all the cables and trying to find enough power and the best way to have all the devices that need the internet be able to connect. But finally, it is done.
Here's a pic of the final setup. For a bigger one, complete with notes, check out the photo on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisu/2567411081/">flickr</a>.
<img src="http://cullrich.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/finalsetup.jpg" alt="finalsetup.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="331">
So long HD-DVD, I hardly knew 'ya
Guess it's time to put away the HD-DVD player attached to my XBox 360. Why? HD-DVD is going bye-bye.
Well, it was fun while it lasted. At least I don't have to worry about which player to use to watch movies. My PS3 will be so happy.In truth, I always thought Blu-Ray looked better anyway and the upsampling for standard-def DVD's is also very good. So, not a huge loss.
I need to spend less time in front of the TV anyway.
RIP: Netscape Navigator (1994 - 2008)
Starting in February 2008, current owner AOL will no longer support what was once one of the most popular web browsers of them all: Netscape Navigator. The browser will now be relegated to the anals of web history. Although, surely at some future date, Netscape Navigator will be inducted into the as-yet unrealized "Web Hall of Fame" located, one might assume, somewhere in Silicon Valley.
Does 1994 really seem that long ago? I guess it was -- especially in technology years. Things do change rather quickly, don't they?
One Laptop Per Child
As I love laptops, am also pretty fond of children and education and OLPC seems like a worthy cause, I went ahead and donated. Feeling left out? Want to know how you can do something? Well, don't worry as you still have another week to do a good thing for some kids.
Plus, if you act now, T-Mobile will also throw in one year of free Hotspot access on top of giving one and getting one and that great feeling that comes from doing a good thing. How can you pass that up?
I know, some may argue that this isn't what children really need but access to technology is important (as is food, shelter, medicine and clean water) but we're talking about laptops at the moment so get those credit cards or Paypal accounts going and donate.
Family Business
At the moment, I am dealing with some rather dire family issues so I won’t be back for a bit. I hope everything ends up getting worked out.
But in the meantime, here's a pretty interesting video from Mr. GTD himself <a href="http://www.43folders.com/" target="_blank">Merlin Mann</a> about how to handle your hopelessly clogged email inbox. Give it a look and I'll be back later.
<code>[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=973149761529535925&h1=en]
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Trying Out an RSS Service Thingy (sorry, its technical)
Sorry folks but I’m just doing a quick experiment to see if something works. Afterward I will return you to your regular programming. Thank you for your patience.
Microsoft Does Something Else Interesting
Well, if you think <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/surface/">touch sensitive tables</a> are interesting, that is. Really, I kinda do. Although, Surface, as its called, seems to work much like the screen of the iPhone so I wonder where they got the idea? Maybe it was the movie <em>Minority Report </em>that inspired them? Sure, that could be it. Whatever it was that made them think of it, the technology is pretty cool so check it out.
<img src="http://cullrich.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/surfacedrawing.jpg" alt="surfacedrawing.jpg">
Moving Again
No, I’m still sticking with Wordpress but I’m moving to a new host that will give me better control over the site. Wordpress is a great program and I will continue to use it over at the new host.
For the next day or two we may experience some issues as the URL of this here site changes hands to new hosts. I appreciate your patience and promise that this will be the last time I move this site around. Well, probably the last time anyway.
In the meantime, check out my <a href="http://www.laist.com/archives/2007/03/27/ask_the_macist_getting_an_appletv.php" target="_blank">article at LAist</a> concerning the new AppleTV. Should you get one? Read and see.
iPhone - Yes or No?
Over at LAist I've written a little piece answering a question from a reader who asks if they should get an iPhone or not. As an unapologetic Apple and Mac fan, I think my answers were put as well as I could put them. There are a lot of other pros and cons but I tried to settle on the main ones that I feel are worth it to normal cell phone users when considering an iPhone. Anyway, the piece is up so if you get a chance, feel free to take a look.
Saved by a Prius
[youtube=“http://www.youtube.com/v/GkJ109Z3iOg”>]
As I am a recent, and proud, owner of a Toyota Prius, this video I saw on YouTube give me some comfort that I won't die if I'm ever in an accident. Although, I have to admit that when I first started seeing the Prius around town one of the things that always concerned me about getting one was if it would be safe during an accident. Fortunately, I haven't had very many accident in my life (only two I think) so safety wasn't the most important thing to me. Although, it was up there.
Anyway, so far I've been lucky and haven't had to test the Prius in any real-world crash test scenarios. If I was superstitions, this would be the time when I would knock on wood or something. Unfortunately, I'm not 100% sure if this Starbucks table is made of actual wood or just a shiny wood substitute. Oh well, I guess it can't hurt to do it anyway.
Walking When You Shouldn't Be
well, i got some interesting news the other day. it seems i have what the doctors call “walking pneumonia.” and no, it does not come with the “boogie woogie flu” as much as i was hoping it did. really, all it comes with is chest pain when breathing, coughing, headache and a general feeling of crappiness that makes you just wanna sleep until its over. don't worry, i'm going to live and got some good drugs.
so, that's what i have been doing a lot of for the last few days -- sleeping. that also means i haven't been doing much of anything else like writing for LAist, Cinematical or any other sites. plus, haven't been working on my scripts either. at least i have a good excuse this time and not the usual one i use -- procrastination.
i'm going to keep this short but i had a moment or two of lucidity and felt like at least writing something. gotta keep the machine working if you can -- at least at extremely low capacity. one other bit of news before i go, i have changed phones yet again (yes, its true) and gone back to the blackberry 8700g. the treo 680 is history and although a fine piece of tech, is just not for me. blackberry is where its at and i count the days until the blackberry 8800 comes out for t-mobile. soon my friends, soon.
also, i have decided to try an experiment and only use one mac instead of two. normally, i have a desktop mac (at the moment a 20“ intel iMac) and i also used a laptop -- my trusty 12” g4 powerbook. i have decided to try and use only one mac and make things simpler for me. to that end, i am now the proud owner of a shiny new 15“ macbook pro. yes, i know i said 15” was too big and i would never get one, etc. well, i'm using it to write this and i gotta say, its pretty nice.
i was going to attach an external monitor (a 23“ apple cinema display or a 24” dell ultrasharp) but this screen is almost big enough not to need another monitor. plus, i'm kinda in a quandary regarding my loyalty to apple and paying a thousand bucks for a monitor when i can get a potentially better one for only about six hundred bucks from dell. everything i've read about the dell leads me to believe that its a great monitor and every bit as good as the apple. or, i could just use the macbok pro without another monitor. its only five inches smaller than my iMac so i almost don't notice the difference. plus, as its a laptop you tend to sit closer to it than you do a bigger monitor and that, at least for me, makes things easier to read and see.
the other major reason i decided to try this was to avoid the “oh, that file is on my other computer” problem that seems to crop up often. if you have two computers it stands to reason you will work on one of them sometime and the other sometimes. unfortunately, that probably means you will run into the same problem i often did. an article draft or a file i need is on my desktop and i'm on my laptop at another location and can't get to it. sure, i could vpn and ftp the stuff to me wherever i am but why bother and why open up any holes in my firewall if i don't have to? it seems much easier to me to just have one computer, an external monitor and external drives and go from there.
i'm sure this new paradigm will also present its own problems but for the moment, it seems to make sense. besides, it was a good excuse to get a new mac and who doesn't love that! i know i do. ok, that's it. time to go back to bed. see you on the other side.
Steve Jobs and His Thoughts on Music
This is a very interesting read especially coming from a guy whose company also has DRM on its music from iTunes. Still, you have to give him credit, he sure seems to be pretty darn smart. I guess you have to be to do what he's done with Apple over the years. Enjoy.
How to make a Spider-Man Costume
Well, it seems I can’t put the video in here so here’s the link instead. Enjoy.
News of the World
First, just to state the obvious, I’m still alive. And now the news:
Microsoft started offering downloads of HD and standard-def content late last week on its XBox 360 console to a mixture of success and problems. The problems now seem to be getting sorted but now they just need more HD content. I don’t really want to wait 2 hours to download episodes of The Nine.
CBR has the latest edition of its weekly talk with writers from the hit NBC show Heroes. Sadly, i didn’t contribute this week but I think I do next week so check back then. In the meantime, enjoy these exclusive insights into the show.
The Spirit Award Nominations were announced this week with Little Miss Sunshine and Half Nelson getting the most noms. Nope, I’m not nominated this year either.
Copying DVDs to your iPod (and other devices – whatever they might be) was rejected by the US Copyright Office. So, no more ripping your store-bought movies or those DVDs you rent from Netflix because that’s officially a no-no. The Copyright Office did have some good news though for you and me – cell phone owners can now take their handsets with them to other providers instead of being locked into one carrier forever. So, one step back and one step forward. I guess you can’t have everything.
You will soon be able to watch videos from YouTube on your cell phone. That is, if you’re a Verizon customer. Great, just what I need – more TV.
If you’ve ever wanted to know where your tax dollars go, this guy has it figured out for you. Interesting. Makes me want to move to Monaco.
If you happen to be in LA (that’s Los Angeles not Louisiana) and are in need of some free Wi-Fi love then this site is for you.
Britney Spears has some trouble keeping it in her pants (Note: This link is definitely NSFW). As they say at the other site: “Oh, the humanity!” I think that pretty much covers it.
Oh, and one more thing. I decided to go a little more green and replaced my SUV with a shiny new Toyota Prius Hybrid. For those keeping score at home its a 2007 model in Magnetic Grey Metallic with Package 5 options (Navigation, iPod Connector, Bluetooth, JBL Stereo etc.).
As I’ve only had the car for a short time, a full-blown analysis is not possible at present. However, on first observation and short use, I have a few notes:
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I like the exterior color and interior color very much. That’s it there in the photo.
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The car is very quiet except for certain times when the smaller tires and proximity to the ground make it seem a little louder.
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I love the way the computer interface is designed including the touch screen for controlling most everything from the AC to the GPS to the Radio.
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I don’t love the way the touch screen gets dirty from my fingers after only a few days. Kinda annoying.
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The car is pretty roomy inside even for a man of my stature. And, the seats are not as bad as some people said they were. Although, no long trips yet but as I plan on taking the car to San Francisco for Macworld in January, I’ll find out for sure about that.
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The backup camera, while somewhat useful, is pretty much unnecessary (at least for me). Plus, the annoying beep that sounds while you are backing up is, well, annoying. Although, I plan on hacking the car to turn that off soon.
That’s it for now. Eventually, I will have more on the car. In the meantime, for all your Prius needs, check out Prius Chat.
Blackberry Blogging (again)
Its fun and so good for you. Well, not really but it could be. Just testing something. Sorry to bother. More and better soon.
I know, I know, how could it get much better than this?
Ask the MACist
Just in case you don’t get enough Chris in your day I am now writing a weekly Mac help column for LAist called “Ask the MACist”. Today is the first one so please take a minute and check it out.
And, if you have any Mac or Mac-related questions, feel free to send them in. Maybe I will be able to answer one for you and as an added bonus, you can see your name in print! What could be better than that?
Nice weekend all.
Format Wars - HD DVD and Other Stuff
Over at LAist I have posted a rather good (IMHO) article about the HD DVD format wars. So, as I don’t have anything cool or witty to say here, how about just going over to LAist and reading the article? That would be great, thanks.
Here it is.
Or, if you insist, here are a few other great things to read. One, written by me and others, written by some equally intelligent and fantastic people.
Enjoy!
