I’m sitting here with my son, watching ”Tales of the Gold Monkey” on DVD with my son, and it strikes me (not for the first time) that making memories is awesome.

httpv://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YdFN6agkNnQ

I watched this show with my granddad and dad when I was about the same age as Conner, and it stuck with me to the point where I bought it on DVD so I could do the same with my son. Of course, the airplane in it (a Grumman Goose) doesn’t hurt much either, particularly after he and I went to the Watsonville Air Show yesterday.

Making memories is more than just watching 80s TV shows and going to air shows, though. It’s about spending time. It’s why I try to make time with both kids – even if it’s just helping Gillian with her Spanish homework, taking her to get an ice cream,or building some Lego thing with Conner.

The tough part is MAKING the time. Actually setting aside things that are screaming at you like pagers, Blackberries, iPhones, and the like so you can make a memory isn’t easy – particularly when you work in tech. I’m not perfect at this by a long shot – heck, I’m scribbling the idea of this post while I watch TV with my kid – but I do what I can.

Gotta go, gotta make the most of the time I have before bedtime. :)

PS: Just jotted down the idea for this while watching TV with the kids… and waited until everyone was in bed to actually flesh out the post and get it down. Had to sit through one of those “ghost reality” shows with G, but it wasn’t all bad as she does the MST3K thing with it. :) I’m not new to being a dad, but I’m still learning how to make better use of my time.

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If you follow me on any social network you saw these pictures from the Watsonville Air Show, but I’m going to take a few of them and toss them here. Social network stuff seems so ephemeral, and I wanted to put a more permanent pointer to them here as they roll off the collective radar of the internoodle. So, here they are. If you want to see the whole gallery, I’ve got them up on Flickr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the great things about today’s technology is how mobile things have become, seemingly overnight. For instance, I’m typing this on a glass screened Star Trek PADD look-alike – one with magical high speed communications built into it – while I watch my son practice at his Tae Kwon Do class. I can jot down thoughts, answer emails, manage servers at work, and even write from just about anywhere. Do you remember that old AT&T commercial with Tom Selleck doing the VoiceOver – “Soon, you’ll be able to send a fax… from the beach.” Well, Tom’s future is here, now, with the Apple iPad and other tablets that are out on the market today.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kfIFDX9kE4

Getting used to blogging or writing on an iPad definitely takes some getting used to. First, you need to decide if you want need a “real” keyboard, or if you want to give the virtual on-glass keyboard a try. It may seem alien at first to type on a tablet’s screen, since there is no feedback and having your fingers find the home row keys by touch is impossible. But it can be done, if you practice enough. I’m not as fast as I am on a full keyboard, but I can get a fast enough speed now with the on-screen keyboard that I don’t feel like a total gimp while doing stuff on the iPad. One of the things to note in particular about the iPad is that the on-screen keyboard’s size and layout when you have the tablet in landscape mode is nearly identical to a MacBook keyboard. Like most things Apple, this isn’t an accident. This feature is probably the main reason I actually don’t mind doing stuff on the iPad – it’s not that much different from my laptop.

If you do need a real keyboard, there are a bunch of Bluetooth keyboards out there. However, if you’re on an iPad, I recommend getting the Apple Wireless Keyboard (there’s only one, and it’s the same one they sell for the desktop Macs. Along with that keyboard, I’d recommend the Incase Origami Workstation. This little guy folds around your keyboard to protect it when not in use, but folds out during use to form a little easel for the iPad, holding it at a perfect angle for work. It’s also very reasonable, price wise.

If you already have a Mac and would like to use the Mac’s keyboard for data entry on the iPad, check out the Mac App ”Type2Phone”. This app lets you pair your iPad with your Mac via Bluetooth– and when the Mac App “Type2Phone” has your Mac’s focus, your Mac’s keyboard acts just like a Bluetooth keyboard, letting you do data entry on the iPad quickly. Some of you may ask why you’d do this, Bill? Well, I actually DO use this from time to time – usually, when I’m at work and need to jot something down on my iPad quickly. Why not use the laptop? Because the iPad is mine, and the laptop belongs to work, that’s why.

On to the apps… And like most things in the App Store, there are a TON of writing apps. I’m going to detail a few of them, and what I use them for. There’s enough apps out there, though, that you should really check them all out and find out what works best for you. My workflow, writing-wise, kind of changes depending on what I’m writing. So I’m going to go ahead and just do a mind dump of writing apps I have, and how I use them.

• Drafts: Drafts has become my default go-to starting place to write. It’s a pretty basic text editor, and specializes in just giving you a place to dump text. It’s setup to capture ideas quickly - when you first fire it up it dumps you into a new document right out of the gate, so you can simply just start tapping out whatever’s on your mind. For blogging and other hypertext type uses, Drafts supports Markdown, which is a quick and easy to learn markup language for basic HTML stuff. Getting stuff out of Drafts is easy – it supports a lot of export options within the app, and there’s always a “copy to clipboard” option so you can drop your Draft into a more formal editor for formatting or blog posting. There’s also an iPhone version (sadly, the app isn’t universal), and Drafts includes basic cloud syncing ability so you can start a thought on your iPhone and then move to your iPad when you want to flesh it out more. $2.99
• Blogsy: Are you a blogger who wants to use your iPad to blog? If so, check out Blogsy. It’s a great blog editor for the iPad. Supports all kinds of blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, and Tumblr, and lets you upload pics to Flickr or Picasa and then hotlink them back to your blog. It also makes embedding YouTube videos a snap. If I’m blogging, I do first drafts in Drafts, then copy/paste the Markdown into Blogsy and continue editing. Good stuff, though the app is iPad-only (there’s no iPhone version.) $4.99.
• QuickOffice HD: If you spend a lot of time in Microsoft Office when you’re on your PC or Mac, then check out QuickOffice HD for the iPad. QuickOffice can read and write Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files, so you can bring a lot of your more desktop-centric work with you. It also support cloud services like Dropbox and Google Docs, so if you’re the type who digs the cloud you can pull copies of your files down, knock out some work, and upload the changed files back. QuickOffice HD isn’t a universal app, unfortunately, but there is an iPhone version if you need to make quick edits from a more pocketable device.$19.99.
• WordPress: If all you do is light blogging, the FREE WordPress app may be just what you need. This works with self-hosted WordPress.org installs as well as hosted WordPress.com installs, and lets you do everything you should do with your blog. It’s not flashy, but what it does, it does well. Free.
• Textastic: Textastic is an excellent text editor – matter of fact, it was my go-to editor before I stumbled upon Drafts. It supports all the groovy Markdown features and such, and talks to Dropbox just fine. The main reason I moved to Drafts was that I seem to do well with the most basic text editor possible when writing. If I have formatting features, I’ll start using them mid-document, when I should just be head-down hammering out text. If you buy just one editor, though, Textastic should be on your short list. The iPhone version is a separate app, so if you need it for both platforms you’ll have to buy it twice. $4.99.
• Vim: The graybeard UNIX standby. Vim is a great editor when you’re on a computer, but on an iOS device the experience doesn’t translate well, even though the iOS version has 80% of the horsepower of the desktop version of Vim. The fonts are non-proportional, and the lack of friendliness is jarring when you’re flipping from app to app, trying to reference hyperlinks and other things. However, if you just can’t live without Vim, it’s available on iOS, and works quite well, aside from being an ugly duckling. It’s Free, too.

There are a bunch of other editors out there for the iPad that I don’t use, and I don’t want this to be a full featured review/comparo of iOS editors. There’s already a really good breakdown of iOS text editors out there, and and Brett did a way more thorough job than I could have. If you write and want to check out the features of a particular editor before you buy, check out Brett’s listing.

In closing, if you’re on the fence about trying to write on an iPad, don’t be. It’s something that absolutely can be done well, without sacrificing ability or causing you to pull out your hair in horror.

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Yes, I’m reviewing something here that’s two years old. Why? Mostly because I’m a putz. But that’s not important now. I happened to be wandering around in Target not long ago, and noticed that they were literally BLOWING out their Kindle inventory, price-wise. Since I don’t have ENOUGH gadgets, I picked up one of the Kindles. This unit advertised free 3G, and the price was CHEAP, so I figured why not - I needed a hacking project anyhow. So I picked it up… And I’m pleasantly surprised. Why? Read on….

Kindle Keyboard with 3G

Much like the Barnes and Noble Nook, the Kindle Keyboard is an e-ink device. If you’ve never used one before, they take a little getting used to. The screen isn’t lit from behind like a tablet or laptop, rather, it’s actually microparticles of an ink like substance that respond to electrical charges. Unlike a laptop or tablet, an e-ink screen uses zero power while displaying an image, and doesn’t have “pixels” in the traditional sense. However, they are currently limited to black and white, and have an abysmally slow refresh rate. These qualities are exactly what make them perfect for an e-reader, however.

Unlike the 1st Generation Nook 3G, though, the Amazon Kindle with 3G has an “experimental” web browser in it, and Amazon allows you to access the web via 3G, and not just limit the use of the 3G to buying books in their online store. Oh, yeah, as an added bonus, the Kindle’s 3G is “worldwide”. You could have one of these puppies with you on a trip to Zimbabwe and you’d be able to surf the net from the bush (in stunning slow black and white, but you could do it.) That’s where the “real” keyboard on this little guy comes in really handy. Most web services like Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook work adequately on the Kindle (again, they are NOT fast - do not assume a desktop experience here) - so you could definitely use the Kindle as a device to stay in touch with the outside world in a pinch, while also having a great e-reader to read on. Be careful, though - as Amazon’s been limiting some users in non-US cellular areas to 50MB/month of free 3G.

Kindle… or Hitchhiker’s Guide? (thanks to XKCD)

The Kindle is also very hack-friendly. Since it runs Linux, it’s not terribly hard to make it dance to a slightly different tune. There’s a great user community over at the Mobileread Forums in the Kindle Developer’s Corner. Check it out if you don’t mind lifting the hood on your Kindle to see what makes it tick. I’ve got a couple of favorite tweaks… one of them allows me to swap out the Amazon-provide screensaver images for ones that I like, and the other is a Frotz Interpreter to play Infocom Z-Machine Interactive Fiction games on. Up for a round of Zork, anyone?

The other thing I want to talk about is Amazon Prime. When I first heard of it, I thought “$79 a year for free 2-day shipping? Nice, but I don’t use Amazon enough.” However, I got a free one-month trial with this Kindle, so I figured I’d give it a go. Come to find out, there’s other perks you get besides the free shipping – like free streaming video via Amazon Instant Video, and special pricing from time to time on various goods. My favorite perk right now is the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. In a nutshell, you can “check out” a couple of books a month for free, directly on your Kindle, if you’re an Amazon Prime member and a Kindle owner. If you figure the average Kindle book runs about $7, you’re talking a $168 value over the year. Not bad for your $79, if you’re a voracious reader, and you’re not even taking advantage of the free two day shipping deal. Speaking of that, now that I AM a Prime member, I’m finding myself getting more and more things via Amazon. I can wait two days for most of my junk. :)

In closing, if you’ve been on the fence about getting an e-reader, specifically a Kindle, go for it. They’re nice units, and the Kindle Keyboard is worth its $139 list price. If you can find it cheaper, POUNCE on it, it’s a helluva deal.

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Disclaimer: I’m an Amazon affiliate - but only became one after I got the Kindle. I’m that satisfied. :)

A few people have asked me why I jailbreak my iOS device, and what aftermarket jailbreak packages I install on my device for what purposes. Instead of answering this over and over, I figured I’d go ahead and make a list here of some of the things I use on my iDevices.

• BiteSMS - an iMessage-capable SMS replacement program. Supports group messaging, quick reply, scheduled messages, and a ton more. Recommended if you do any texting at all. $7.99.

• Multicleaner - Provides a quick method to close apps for better memory management. $0.99.

• NCSettings - Puts a bunch of toggles for wifi, Bluetooth, cellular data, and other system-level functions in your Notification Center so you can quickly toggle things with a couple swipes. Uses icongraphy that matches the black/white icons of the iOS status bar. Free.

• OpenNotifier - This hack can put little icons near the battery indicator on your iDevice when new mail/IMs/texts are received. Very handy to see if you have messages waiting without unlocking your device. Free, but there’s an optional icon pack (OpenNotifier Premium Pack) that’s $0.99.

Bottom line is, there’s a bunch of packages that let you extend the functionality of your iOS device in ways that Apple never intended. Don’t be afraid of jailbreaking, it’s pretty neat stuff.

Oldie but goodie, gives you single-swipe toggles plus IP address info, etc.