Saturday, December 3, 2011

"A Question Of Theories" Goes Live...

Normally I'd be posting iPad-related articles, but this year a family-health issue has taken up a significant amount of energy.  Thankfully it is now solved, so there'll probably be a bit of a speed-up on new posts.

However, today I have an important announcement to make.

As of mid-October, my novel "A Question of Theories" has gone LIVE on:


This is something that has made my family very proud this week and has capped off one incredibly challenging year in the best way possible.

Now comes the next part of the challenge as promotion really starts in earnest.




Thursday, June 2, 2011

A Videoblog Episode Utilizing iPad 2's GarageBand...

The things you can do on an iPad 2...


GarageBand for iPad 2 is great for creating your own tunes/songs.  Here's an example of my first GarageBand creation.


Sunday, May 15, 2011

iPadding With A Bluetoothed iPhone Data Connection...


Unlike my first iPad, my iPad 2 is only wifi.

So if I want to use it outside my house I have to keep my Virgin wireless modem dongle charged. This is one way to access the internet on the iPad 2, but not always practical.  What happens if the wireless wifi modem runs out of power when I'm out?

This past weekend I took a look at my 3GS iPhone and discovered the next best thing.  Since it's on iOS 4.3, it has the personal hotspot setting and can be used with either bluetooth or USB.

My missus on the other hand can access the wifi version of the personal hotspot. She owns an iPhone 4.  Not that she would use it, as she has less data on her part of the phone bill to play with.  So for her, personal hotspotting is out.

I took a look at how practical bluetooth was for connecting the wifi-only iPad to the iPhone.

I activated bluetooth on both devices and paired them, then activated the personal hotspot (see above image). The only hard bit was then waiting for a web page to load.  

It's obviously faster than the old dial-up, but the lead-in time before the page loads reminds me so much of our earliest form of connection.

Once the page loaded, though, I was kind of impressed.  Here was a way to connect to the net on the iPad without having to carry around the dongle and a way to use up that 1 GB I hardly touch on my monthly iPhone bill.

Just to be on the safe side, I reset the usage setting on the iPhone to keep a careful eye on how much of my monthly data is used.

So if one of the kids loses the wireless dongle and I'm in a rush to go somewhere with the iPad 2, at least now I have an alternative.  Just switch on two settings on the iPhone, one on the iPad and I'm still net-capable.

Now if only Steve Jobs would allow 3GS iPhones to have the wifi version of the personal hotspot...

Anyone else want that too?


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Download my novel "A Question of Theories" from Lulu.com

Friday, May 13, 2011

Catching Up To iPad 2...

It has been a bit of time since last I posted, but especially the past five have been busiest.

I also emergency information relaying and collating on Twitter, so a few months' worth of natural disasters both in Australia and around the world have kept me flat out.

Anyway, with it being quieter in that area the past month it's now time to catch up on my tech toy.

It's been well-used, especially with the above...

However, I've passed my original iPad on to the ten-year-old and gotten an iPad 2.

Cameras!  iMovie!  Editing done on an iPad!  Production done on an iPad!

I'll let the finished product resulting from this speak for itself.


Sunday, June 27, 2010

iPads and iOS, The Future of Macs?

I've had my iPad for two months now, but my poor Macbook is now relegated to serving TV from my EyeTV dongle.

The iPad is becoming a versatile little unit in my computing, social media and blogging.

Like all iPad owners, I'm still a month or two away from seeing iOS 4 on it.

My iPhone 3GS already has iOS 4 installed and I'm impressed with it. I'll be very antsy to install it on the iPad and look forward especially to categorizing my apps into various folders. The multi-tasking/fast app switching will be a very welcome feature which will greatly improve the iPad all round.

However, I've been looking over the rumor this past week that Apple may introduce Macs with both touch screens AND iOS 4.

I'm trying to imagine a desktop or laptop running iOS 4.

The current suggestion mooted in the rumor is that it'll be OS X for normal computing, then drop into iOS 4 for anything touch-related.

I'm wondering if we're ready for an OS on a mainstream computer that is the same as what we see on iPhones, iPods and iPads.

There's still some things OS X does a little bit better. There's still a need for OS X.

It does those few things iOS doesn't.

I can still go to OS X for tidying up blog posts. I can still watch Flash video, although I'm liking HTML 5. I can run the main EyeTV program. Then there's the full version of iWork, which has a lot more features than the iPad version.

If Apple were to go along with the Mac iOS idea, there'd have to be a few apps covering the functionality of what we now see in OS X programs. Are developers or Apple prepared to do this.

Or are Apple prepared to go one better and come up with an iteration of iOS which has also the functionality of OS X?

At the moment all this is merely speculative and just rumor.

Then again, we're currently had OS X for awhile now. It IS getting closer to time for Steve Jobs and Apple to come up with something to top it.

It could be quite interesting to see an OS that is effective for ALL the 'i' devices, even the desktop ones.

Apple could ignore this rumor and come up with something entirely different...or it could actually make the rumor reality.

We'll know in the months to come.

In the meantime, I'll be happy just to see iOS 4 on my iPad.

Likewise, I'll be happy to see some more iPad-specific apps, especially an iPad-specific or universal Facebook app.

What about the rest of you?

Saturday, June 19, 2010

The iPad Settles In


I've had my iPad now for well over a month and a half and it's getting to be a worthwhile addition to my kit.

The only time I don't use it and go to my Macbook is when I have to tighten a blog post.  This is more due to the nuances of the blogging interfaces than the iPad itself.

Otherwise, it's become my main computing device.

It's instant-on.  It's lightweight and compact.  It goes anywhere, whether the house or elsewhere.  It's doing more things.  It's even become my favorite portable TV.

Not bad for a new device.

I used to have a netbook computer, but it's replaced that very quickly, especially because the netbook couldn't quite match it in a number of areas listed above.  While the netbook did well for the time I had it, the fact it didn't come with onboard 3G eventually consigned it to lack of use.

Big deal that the iPad doesn't use Flash.  I can't say there's been many websites where not having Flash has been that big a problem.

I find what it can do outweighs the things it can't do.

It's small wonder the iPad has changed the computing landscape in so short a time.

Put up your hands if your grandmother is totally enjoying the iPad.  Put up your hands again if your two-year-old is handling it with ease.  This has always been the point of the ipad.  It works for what you need and is something those scared of computers and OSes find great fun to use.

Believe it or not, there's quite a few people who just want a computing device that works.

And I still think its masochism to accept any OS that has you wasting time fixing stupid glitches instead of  being productive.

So it's been a winner sales-wise in its first two months.  From what I've seen on Twitter this week, it's even been sold-out almost here in Australia.

The apps are especially starting to be great once they've been updated for universal installation on iPhones and iPads.

This morning I checked the latest update to EyeTV's iPhone/iPad app and got a pleasant surprise.  It's now full-screen, works in portrait mode as well as the original landscape AND you can see the channels a lot easier now.  Even in the iPhone version, it still had quite a good picture when piped from my Macbook over wifi.  Portrait or landscape, that's one use I bet a few people didn't think of, that an iPad could be a wifi-served TV.

Of course, I'm still waiting for the Facebook app to go universal, but I expect that won't be too far off.

Admittedly, it's not open-source.  Technically, as everyone keeps saying, it's a walled garden.  On the other hand...all the formats I use are still the same ones I can open on a Windows computer.  It still works using any .doc format, any .png and jpg format and it's fantastic to have note programs on it that mail off as .pdf.

Something else I also took a look at today.  As a games platform...well, it's taken a bite out of Nintendo's and Sony's steam.

The DSi and PSP really are starting to look old now.  And I'm still waiting to see Nintendo do something better with their own online store.  The DSi store looks almost bare.

Whatever else you can say, Apple have set the pace for the whole industry and gotten their competitors to be less complacent.  And some of those competitors needed a disruptive technology to get them to do something really imaginative.

Seriously...Windows Mobile was starting to get boring.  And the Zune was a snooze.

Yep, it got Microsoft thinking anyway.  And Windows Phone 7 is a positive forward step.

On the other hand, Microsoft really need to rethink their netbook/tablet strategy.  Windows 7 won't beat iOS at all in the mobile computer space, especially not with the boot time.  An iPad user could have already typed up a note or document and mailed it off as a .pdf by the time a Windows 7 tablet/convertible booted.

I do, however, want to see what an Android tablet is like to really contrast and compare to an iPad.  At least Android is closer competition.

So how is everyone else enjoying their iPad?

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For my non-iPad tech and Social Media posts, head over to:

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Live Digital TV On An iPad


So what's so special about a picture of @sunriseon7's Kochie and Mel?

It's on an iPad.  Live.  Yes, real digital TV (DVB-T).

None of this recorded stuff in five-minute bursts.  Not Bigpond-Mobile Foxtel.  It's Freeview running live on an iPad.

And as you can see by the little circle in the bottom-right corner, it's the iPhone version of an app, still showing immaculately at double-size.

This is Elgato's EyeTV app running on an iPad, with the TV signal being piped via wi-fi from a nearby Apple Macbook using the EyeTV USB tuner.

I've had EyeTV for a while, using it as my PVR.  It's brilliant for watching TV on the Macbook, as well as recording my favorite programs for later viewing.

This past weekend, though, and after the last update of the EyeTV software, I decided to see how the iPhone app for this worked.

The results speak for themselves.

I now have access to my live TV and my recorded programs and there's also a way of accessing them via 3G.  It requires a signup to Elgato to a free account first, then inputing that username and password into the app.  Once that's done, when you're out and about you have the ability to watch TV on your iPhone or 3G iPad.

Mind you, on 3G and over the Optus network, the picture's a little degraded.  And miles from home, there's at least a two-minute delay.  Still...it's TV on your favorite gadgets and the local TV at that.

I tend to use this more around home now on my wi-fi network.  The EyeTV tuner and my Macbook are attached to the only coax in the house with a decent signal, then I can watch the programs anywhere in the house.  Considering the other TV in the kitchen gets a barely-passable signal on rabbit-ear antennae, this is a nice option now.  And a great way to watch the late movie on cold nights.

The Elgato EyeTV USB tuner and software can be purchased in Australia at any Apple and Dick Smith Electronics store, the iphone/iPad app can be found found on the App Store.

If I were a sporting fan, I'd be watching the World Cup on my iPad this way...

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For my non-iPad tech and Social Media posts, head over to: