ej’s blog-o-matic

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-18

July 18th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

RT @RizzoTees RIP George Steinbrenner — Me: He'll always live on here –> http://is.gd/dqoZL #
I love you #grails #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-11

July 11th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

Trying to stay dry and watch some fireworks! (@ Bluebird park w/ 6 others) http://4sq.com/akdGuH #
After playing with my new iPhone4 this wknd, I have a sinking feeling that the Retina display will be on the next iPad…and I will upgrade. #
Messing around w/ Camera+ (app) on my phone. http://campl.us/bPL #
Quite possibly the best kebobs I've ever made! http://campl.us/bQo #
@rhyolight Dude…have you seen the autotuned version? http://is.gd/dm3BX in reply to rhyolight #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-04

July 4th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

@MarioAquino bat shit crazy is one of my favorite phrases. in reply to MarioAquino #
Awesome! RT @migueldeicaza http://is.gd/dcYXw #
New iPhone successfully setup. Old iPhone conversion to Mini-Me's games+movies device also complete. #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-27

June 27th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

@hospadam That's a pretty bitchin' video with the 7D. Were you using the kit lens? in reply to hospadam #
@al3x Now that's commitment to functional programming. in reply to al3x #
@hospadam No…we still have our old Rebel XT we bought 4 yrs ago. I would love to upgrade sometime though. in reply to hospadam #
@hospadam oooh…I like the price of that T2i. Wife and I are trying to convince ourselves currently. Might be an anniversary present. in reply to hospadam #
@michaeltomko Whenever I hear the phrase "F'ed in the A", I think of this (SFW) –> http://is.gd/cZjlM in reply to michaeltomko #
Since I have an iPhone 3G….is there really a reason to upgrade to iOS 4? I feel an upgrade to iPhone 4 in the near future. #
@wangjammer5 Thanks for the screencast on #Grails mail-plugin….it's exactly the info I needed last night! #
@Vkirnaloo Nuts to you….we're probably waiting until August or so. in reply to Vkirnaloo #
@RizzoTees "Excuse me while I whip this out." in reply to RizzoTees #
@JavaSTL Yep….took Mini-Me to see it this past weekend. Agreed that it is a damn fine movie. in reply to JavaSTL #
@MrHallas @rizzotees Awesome. If I were a funnier man, I'd have a different quote, but all I've got is this: http://bit.ly/aiYNXE in reply to MrHallas #
#reeder for iPad now crashes every time I launch it. Anyone else experiencing this? #
Any STL geeks heading to #OSCON this year? #
@daveklein @puredanger @jeffscottbrown ….I'm about 99% sure, just have to get final approval. Cool!…looking forward to hanging out! in reply to daveklein #
OK…2 iPhone 4's on (for @jdanker and I) order at West Co. Apple Store. Now we wait…. #
RT @TechCrunch Hilter. iPhone 4 Antenna. You Know The Drill. http://tcrn.ch/dqdnTF #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-20

June 20th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

@MarioAquino oh no! in reply to MarioAquino #

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4 days with the iPad

April 10th, 2010 | 2 Comments | Posted in Geek, Uncategorized, tech

I tweeted (and cross-posted to Facebook) the fact that bought an iPad a few days ago. A few folks asked for my thoughts on it. Rather than email everybody individually, I figured this would be the best place to publish my thoughts on the device. This will not be an exhaustive review, the web abounds with those this week. Start here if you’re looking for very detailed analysis.

Overall, I’m fairly smitten with the device (32GB WiFi-Only version, BTW). I find myself using the iPad for the following activities:

Web Browsing

Email

There is nothing really sexy about the email app, but it’s definitely serviceable. The biggest plus I’ve had with it thus far is more of a compliment for Google. My mail, calendar and contacts are all part of my Google account. I had already set everything up once before (to sync with my iPhone), so getting everything on the iPad took only a few minutes. Both Jen and I keep our Google Calendars up-to-date and shared with each other, which adds tremendously to family harmony. Having a consistent view of mail, contacts and calendar across my desktop, iPhone and iPad is pretty bitchin’.

News

Web Browsing is very pleasant. The first thing I noticed here is how incredibly fast it is. For a device with a 1GHz processor and only 256MB of RAM, it smokes. Most major news organizations have built custom applications for the iPad. I’ve only tried the NPR and BBC applications. I’ve been less impressed with the NPR app, but the BBC application is pretty nice.

If you’re the kind of person that still consumes a lot of news via RSS (news feeds), the NetNewsWire application is pretty nice ($10). The benefit of this application (versus using Google Reader via it’s standard web page interface) is that NetNewsWire will let you view webpages linked from the feed without having to leave the app and launch Safari.

Social “Stuff”

I find that Twitter is starting to replace Google Reader as my default source for surfacing the day’s news. I’m using Twitterrific (free version) as my default Twitter client on the iPad. So far, I’ve got no complaints. I’ve also heard that TweetDeck is nice, but haven’t taken it for a spin yet.

I don’t spend a ton of time on Facebook and I haven’t seen an iPad-specific version yet. Any facebookin’ that I do currently on iPad is via Safari. It works, but is not optimal. The current Facebook interface is not optimized for browsing with a touch-device. The buttons and links are just a bit too small to be clicked via a big (some would say fat) finger like mine. The current iPhone Facebook application is fantastic…my hope is that they release a version for the iPad that leverages the larger screen.

Entertainment

IPTV

The two applications that have gotten the most use thus far are Netflix and ABC. Both applications are fantastic. I believe a Hulu application is in the works. Clearly the world is going this way, and the iPad is shaping up to be a great video consumption device.

Games

This is a great gaming platform. I’ve download a half-dozen games (Plants-v-Zombies, Minigore HD, We Rule, Let’s Golf among others) and have been very impressed with quality of the games. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, as more and more kids are getting iPod Touches as gaming devices.

Music

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the iPad is a very capable iPod. iTunes and the iPod application work as you would expect. What I love more than that is Pandora….oh sweet, sweet Pandora. The only negative currently is that you can’t have Pandora running in the background (something the iPod application conveniently gets away with). I believe this should all be rectified when iPhone OS 4 is released for the iPad in the fall.

Comics

I’ve never been much of a Comic Book guy…but Ethan is in a major super hero mode these days so comics have been creeping their way into my life. We installed the Marvel Comics app and I’ve got to say, it’s awesome. It’s free and there are a half-dozen comics that you can also download for free. Paid comics are either $1 or $2.

eBook Reading

iBooks

iBooks is Apple’s default application. I’ve not purchased a book yet, but have downloaded a few of the free books (made possible by Project Gutenberg). The iBook application is very nice. You can customize typeface, size, brightness and a host of other items to ensure that you can find a setting that’s comfortable for your eyes.

Amazon Kindle

I have purchased a few Kindle books (they have a software version of Kindle for iPhones and desktops/laptops). The Kindle app for the iPad works well. It’s not quite as awesome as iBooks, but it gets the job done and I like the fact that it keeps everything in sync (last page read, etc) across all my devices.

PDF’s

I already have a fairly significant investment in technical eBooks, the majority of which are in PDF format. I bought the $1 GoodReader app, and it is amazing. I actually keep all my PDF eBooks in my DropBox account, which GoodReader integrates with. Everyone has to work with PDFs on a regular basis, pay the $1 and get GoodReader.

Expensive Children’s Toy

Ethan is cut from the same cloth as his father and is infatuated with the iPad. We have watched a few movies from Netflix (Iron Giant and Scooby Doo), checked out a few comics and downloaded some educational games. While I do not endorse procuring $500+ items for 3-year-olds, it has proved effective and entertaining with adult supervision.

Final Thoughts

Should you rush out and buy an iPad? It depends. If you were already considering purchasing an eBook reader like the Kindle or Nook, I would get the iPad. While you could argue that the Kindle is a bit easier on the eyes, I don’t think that it justifies the cost considering reading books is all it can do. The iPad is a very good eBook reader along with all of the things listed above at which it excels.

I have the follow computing devices at home: iMac, MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone. Clearly this is not going to replace my phone. I also have a need to have a nice desktop that I can get “real work” done with. What I see the iPad putting the squeeze on is my MacBook Pro. While I think that I will still want a laptop in some fashion (the iPad’s software keyboard is nice, but I wouldn’t want to work on it all day), I believe that the few times that I’ll need it going forward, I could get by with something much less expensive than an MBP…maybe something like a Linux-based Netbook.

The part that really has me excited about the launch of the iPad is that I believe it has set the bar for what to expect from a tablet device. I believe that this will play out exactly in the same way as the launch of the iPhone. Everyone else in this space will have to bring their A-game and within 2-3 years, you should see a decent crop of tablet devices that *may* rival the iPad in features/functions and most likely be less expensive, at which time a much-larger percentage of the populous will be adopting these devices.

The iPad can only be considered a primary computing device for the least-demanding web consumers. For everyone else, it’s a fantastic secondary device. If you already have a family computer, but would like something portable that can be shared by other family-members, the iPad is a good bet.

Tags: Apple, iPad

Former Clinton Superdelegate Switches to Barack Obama

February 14th, 2008 | Comments Off | Posted in Uncategorized

“I now support Barack Obama because he has brought about a new wave of hope and energy to this country, especially among our young people, who represent our future. People want to see change. Barack can help unite this country and help us embrace our diverse nation.”

read more | digg story

Microsoft Has No Answer For Their Broken XBOX Live DRM

February 13th, 2008 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

I’m quite fond of my Xbox360, but I too have fallen into this trap because I’m already on my 3rd 360 (2 previous boxes had “general hardware failures”). So, if you’re like me and have quite a few XBLA games, pray that your 360 doesn’t break.

read more | digg story

White House Changes History: Erases ‘Mission Accomplished’ Banner

June 30th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

A video of the president on whitehouse.gov edits out the controversial banner.

read more | digg story

Daily Show Viewers Know More About Current Events Than Fox News Fans

June 29th, 2007 | No Comments | Posted in Uncategorized

More than a decade after the Internet went mainstream, the world’s richest information source hasn’t necessarily made its users any more informed. Americans know less about politics than they did in 1989.

read more | digg story

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-18

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-11

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-07-04

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-27

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-20

4 days with the iPad

Web Browsing

Email

News

Social “Stuff”

Entertainment

IPTV

Games

Music

Comics

eBook Reading

iBooks

Amazon Kindle

PDF’s

Expensive Children’s Toy

Final Thoughts

Former Clinton Superdelegate Switches to Barack Obama

Microsoft Has No Answer For Their Broken XBOX Live DRM

White House Changes History: Erases ‘Mission Accomplished’ Banner

Daily Show Viewers Know More About Current Events Than Fox News Fans

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