The Kindle Fire was announced today and already some bloggers and tech journalists are proclaiming it as the iPad killer. I think they are dead wrong. I do not even think that the two devices are even in the same arena to compete. What I do think is that the ecosystems in which they reside will be at battle with each other for users.
A very humours look at being the spouse of a geek by Alison Way.
What I really wanted for Christmas was a good, simple flat iron. What I got was a high tech monster! Sure, it was a hair straightener; but this thing was stainless steel, digital, and, with the right calculations, could contact a space station. I am terrified to let him pick me up any feminine products for fear of what he might bring home. Perhaps the original iPad?
Take a look at the other 13 way at Net Tuts+. I am sure it will be at least one chuckle.
For some the idea of being able to control your phone’s functions through voice seems to be the ultimate function one can get in a phone. It is rumored that Apple will release their next version of the iPhone with a fully featured voice activated “assistant”. I say who really cares.
Don’t get me wrong I am all for putting new features into a phone, but let’s make them useful features that a majority of people will use. I do not think voice command is that feature. Even with Apple at the helm, voice command will have a stigma using it.
That stigma is that prevents the wide acceptance of voice command is the appearance and comfort factor for the user. Most people like to give the appearance of being normal when out in public. What is not considered normal? Well, I know at least one thing currently, that would be talking to your phone. In effect that is what you would be doing using voice command instead of tapping and typing to interact with the phone.
Even if you did not care about that stigma you run into a problem with using voice command in public. The ambient sounds will render it almost ineffective unless you are in library or other quiet zone, and then using voice command will draw unwanted attention to you and your phone.
The alternate would be to find a corner far away from everyone and then speak to your phone in a hushed tone so no one heres. Of course that may backfire as the phone may not understand your hushed commands, causing you to raise your voice to make yourself understood. This in turn may attract that unwanted attention to you and your phone.
So for now some system wide voice command is not a feature that would drive me to buy any phone, but I will not completely shut the door on it. For all I know by the beginning on the next year we will all be talking to our phones.
Earlier this week I read two great articles discussing one screen vs. multiple screens workflows and wanted to share my thoughts on the subject having done both for quite some time. Before working in the remote support field I had always worked with a single monitor whether it was attached to a laptop or desktop. The idea of having a second monitor seemed foreign to me.
So when I created my first blog about a year back I was using a site at wordpress.com. I thought that it is a great platform for creating blogs and not really having to worry about the backend “stuff”. The platform worked well for me while I was running my old blog. A year passes and much has changed.
When I decided to start writing a blog again I decided to design my own site, host it on a free server and the post articles to it. So far the system is working fairly well with one exception. While it does not take long to post an article, there is a focused work stream that I must go through to post an article. If I am not at my MacBook Air then posting gets even more complicated.
I have discovered that some of my favorite blogs are also done on the WordPress platform. It was a surprising discovery as they do not look based on a template at all. At that point I decided that maybe I should look to going back to WordPress for my blog.
I started to do some more research and discovered that there is a WordCamp being hosted right here in Louisville. I figured this would be a great opportunity to learn a lot more about WordPress and to also meet and network with some of the other Louisville geeks.
So come October 1 I will be spending the day learning about WordPress and meeting some good folks. Sometime after that the site will switch over. I am not sure how long the process will take, but I am looking forward to learning and hoping to share the experiences with you.
Trying to juggle two jobs, two kids, my wife and some personal time can, at times be overwhelming. Some days things go smoothly and everything gets done. Other days the time seems to go by so fast and it feels as if I get nothing done. I complete tasks in a haphazard manner as I go along the day reminiscent of a forgetful dog who just found a bone that had been missing for days. Those tasks that I do get done seem to not be found on any list of goals or tasks that I may have made for myself. Over the weekend I decided that it was time for a time management a makeover.
I read this excellent article about time/task management on macstories.net. it is a well thought out and written article that gives great information to both the new and experienced at time/task management systems.
Looking at my system a third person perceptive, it seems to be a hodgepodge of methods with no ryme or reason as to what tasks get put where. I write lists of things I would like to get done in my paper journal. I also try to keeps tasks in my iPhone and iPad using different apps. Finally I try to just remember what it is that I want to do during the day in my head. Each of these methods have the advantages and disadvantages. What I needed to do is figure out what works best for me and then implement that system.
To completely overhaul my system I needed to layout how I keep myself “organized”. I use iCal on the mac, iPad, and iPhone to keep my primary job’s work schedule and other events as I learn of them. I need to become much more resilient at scheduling my time and time for tasks. I am thinking that I may begin to completely plan out my day instead of just letting things happen as they do.
For tasks I just do what I feel like for the day. Probably the worst system in the world as I forget quite a few things. Writing down a todo list in my journal works well for around the home but once I leave the house it becomes unusable unless I carry my journal all over the place. This is something that I am trying to avoid as do not want to have to carry around extra items and I do not want to end up losing it somewhere.
For goals or long term projects or tasks I use the notepad app in iOS and mail. I created a note called promises and then filled it in with things I would like to get done one day. As I complete items I remove them from the list. It works, but there is no way to remind me that they are there and to look at them to see if I can work on them.
Being a computer orientated geek my solution will be primarily a computer based system. I think that I will still use my journal to write down quick tasks that I want to do at home. I’ll continue to use iCal for scheduling, but will be more steadfast in using it. I think that using the great add-in Fantastical will really help improve my calendar use.
Now it comes down to choosing a task management application. It need to be something that has an application for the iPad and iPhone as well so no matter what device I have my list will be with me always. I think that location aware tasks may also be helpful in reminding me what tasks I can complete when at certain locations.
Omnifocus comes to mind right away. I hear and read a lot about it. The only drawback I see to it is the cost. $79.99 for the Mac app, $39.99 for the iPad and finally $19.99 for the iPhone version. So the price of entry is approximately $140.00. This really seems like a steep price to pay for a system that I may or may not like. There is a trial version of the Mac application, but nothing for the mobile apps. I can try testing half the system and see how it works, not too sure how effective it would be though.
I have not heard of many other all encompassing systems other than Omnifocus, so unless I do find something that that may be my only option to go with.
So today thus far has been a pretty good day. I put in four hours of work and they went by fairly quickly and I never really thought about how much time I had left to work or how annoyed I was. My primary job completed for now, I will be putting in a couple of more hours tonight, I moved onto my secondary job duties.
I decided the first thing I would do today is setup the Lion Server again. This time instead of trying to get it on the internet and being all fancy, I would keep it on the internal network only. So if you recall I had I great difficulty the first time setting up the server, but after a couple of frustrating days I did get it to run for the most part. I ended up having to reformatting the Mac mini do to other issues and the the time I left server off as I really could not think of a great reason to keep it on there.
So what prompted me to want to do this again? It was the development of my website. Normally I make changes on the live server which has its ups and downs. After reading a sponsored posts on one of my favorite sites I decided that maybe setting up the Lion server for local development and testing of my sites and other project might be a better idea.
I will go out on the patio with my daughter and blow some bubbles to celebrate the day!
Well, I am proud to say that after an hour which included downloading and installing the server app from the Mac App Store my server is up and running and doing a great job! We are using it as a file server, time machine server and an internal web server. Everything is working just like it should and I could not be prouder.
So with the server up and running I fired up my FTP program and copied all my files from the live server to the test server and tested it out. Again everything is working great.
If all my days could work like today, it would be amazing! Everything just seems to fall into place and clicked. For now I think I will go out on the patio with my daughter and blow some bubbles to celebrate the day!
Professionally I am happiest when I am working on what I like to call my secondary job. In a nutshell, I like to pretend that I am web designer/developer and writer. I say pretend as I do not have any paying clients to design or build site for. What I do have is my brother and his business and he is not paying me, which is fine as I am doing it for the experience. All my writing is currently published on my personal blog and again I am not paid for writing.
The thing is whether I am designing a site, writing the HTML or CSS for a site, or writing an article the time just flies by. I can start working in the morning and the next time I look at the clock it is time for me to go to the bust stop to pick up my son from school. The time is mine, I can decide on what I want to work on and for how long I want to work on it for.
The other thing I notice is the stress or frustration levels that I experience. There are time when I run into a problem getting the coding right so a page will display correctly, but I don’t get upset or angry about it like I do with a problem at my primary job. Instead I see it as a challenge for me to learn and then apply my new found knowledge to solve a problem, it may take me a few minutes to a few days to figure out a solution, but I do figure it out and I am excited by the learning experience and knowing that the next time I will have the knowledge to solve the problem.
I really do not think that there will be a clean cut answer for one to find happiness in their job. I am going to think about it some more tonight and then work the same like I did today and see if I can see any other reasons that I may find and then write them up tomorrow.
For those of you keeping track, I know that this is not really a tech article, but I figure that I am writing about what I do and that is tech related so there.
If I had to name my favorite and most used new feature in Lion it would be Mission Control. With a MacBook Air as my primary computer, screen space is always at a premium. Mission Control and full screen applications resolves the problem by letting me have as much screen space as I need.
I have been a user of Parallels for Mac since version 5. Prior to that I was a dedicated PC user. After switching to a Mac I ditched Windows and never looked back. That was until I switched job positions at the company I work for. My new position was that of a Remote Support Technician.
Mornings are my favorite time of the day lately. In the early hours of the day before the sun peaks out from the eastern horizon the house slumbers in an erie calm. This is saying quite a bit when you have 2 children running around after the sun has risen The house can take an entirely different life then. I take this early morning refuge and make it my own. zand I are not coffee aficionados, but we do get whole bean coffee and grind it fresh for each pot we make. So it is not too bad.
A really great article about design and coding and why it is important for a design to understand how to code.
"A designer who does not write markup and css is not designing for the web, but drawing pictures."
If you are interseted in design check it out
My primary job and how I pay the bills, allows me to work from home. Well actually it is requirement as there is no office space for us. I provide remote support for clients. This can be either technical support or customer support depending upon what the situation is. My non-paying job is working on this website coding and writing articles as well as a few others for family members and their businesses.
Looking over the stories that I wrote and posted last week it seemed I sounded like I was a geek hell-bent on techno-rage. This would be far from the truth. I was frustrated at times when trying to setup the server and indeed I felt that there was definitely a lack of support when help was needed. This frustration though did lead me to learn some things that I did not know before this experience.
At this point the server has been up and running with no issues and life has gotten back to normal. I did move my site back to a hosted server as the personal server was not being too stable for me and I think that was the right choice. Granted not too many people visit the site, but for those who do I want to make sure you can get to it.
As you can see I am still working on the layout and format of the site and you will probably see more tweaks throughout the coming weeks. Right now I really like the way that the site is looking. Once I have the look and feel down I will begin to clean up the backend and get the code in peak shape.
I want to take the time to thank code school with their HTML5 and CSS3 online course. Without that course my site would not have some of the nifty looks that I have included. I am looking forward to seeing what future topics classes will be offered on and then translate that to a more interactive site.
If you are interested in learning HTML5 and CSS3, Ruby on Rails, or jQuery I suggest taking a look at the site and trying out their free class.
Looking forward to this next week with high hopes and positive thoughts.
Tech rage can come in many forms. I experienced some of this rage over the last two days with a prolonged server install. Because I have a fairly wide breadth for technical knowledge ranging from programming to hardware repairs I think and feel that I should be able to instantly understand how something computer related works even if I have never heard or seen it before. These past two days has been quite a learning experience for me.
This rage is normally brought on by the inability to get a piece of technology to function in the manner that the owner feels that it should operate. This tech rage may also be because the user thinks that they know how to make something work when in actuality they do not. I have been, unfortunately, a victim of both. Most recently this rage was the result of me thinking that something would be simpler than it was and a case of over estimating my knowledge in all things technical.
So a couple of days ago I decided that I wanted to play with some of the feature of OSX 10.7 Lion Server. I say play in that what it would be, but in the back of my mind I had a grand scheme to make everything awesome with this server.
Reading the apple site for the Lion server made it even more tempting
Thanks to OS X Lion, it’s never been easier to install, set up, and manage a server. The set of applications in OS X Lion Server turns just about any Mac into a powerful server that’s perfect for home offices, businesses, schools, and more. Lion Server is available from the Mac App Store for $49.99.
Reading that well written prose, one would think “What could be easier?” Well two days later since the start of this little project and a half working server up and running I can say I can think of quite a few things, like learning to write HTML and CSS in a couple of days and then creating awesome sites.
Don’t get me wrong while frustrating and inducing some moderate tech rage in me the entire experience was educational. That is what I enjoy about technology I am always learning about something new even if that was not the goal. I think that many of the successful people in the tech related world understand this quite well. They know that they do not know everything and that they are open to new experiences and learn from them.
Now that the installation is done, I will continue to learn about Lion Server as I play with the setting and tweak things to my liking. I am sure that I will still have few more tech rage sessions because of this, but I also know that I will be learning as well.
I am spending this morning working in a new application called Byword. It was been part fun and part frustration to understand how to properly use the application. This is not the fault of Byword or what it does1, or how it does it, but a problem with myself.
I seem to think that if it has to do with technology then I should be able to master it moments after acquiring it and if I can not then I begin to get frustrated. I think it can be broken down and faulted on the desire of instant gratification. If I can get the application instantly from the Mac App store, then why can I also not get the knowledge needed to use the application instantly.
This frustration that I feel can go one of two ways; destructive or constructive. I will either get upset, start grumbling to myself and then finally give up on it for a time or it turns into the desire to to learn everything I can about the technology. I use this desire to fuel my learning by reviewing what information that I can find on the internet and then apply that I have information into actual use. This can help to lesson the frustration and make for a much more pleasant me.
By this afternoon, I love writing in Byword it is a pretty amazing application. Very nice presentation and has the brains behind that beauty to allow me to do many things. I think this is the start of a long relationship with Byword and markup.
Byword is a markdown language editor ↩
So now that I have some pretty cool tools to design and create a website, I decided to put my skills to the test. My brother, Sister-in-law, and parents all own a Brewery/Pub in Orcutt, California. Their website currently looks like this
I went through and gave the site a facelift. You can see my finished product. I think that it looks better one could say a bit more professional, but I am sure as my web design skills grow and become more refined that I will look back at this attempt and laugh. It was excellent practice though and will probably keep refining it.
It has been a busy weekend on the site. If you have been by you have probably noticed some changes each time you have visited. We have a new tool called Hype that is outstanding at creating HTML 5 animations. Those are the new parts of the site. The next major overhaul will be the Pack 237 page. I will be focusing primarily on a new photo gallery.
I am still evaluating HTML editors for the site. Coda is by far one of the best all in one editors that I have used, right now I am also test Hyper-edit. It is an older editor, but has some nice features. Unfortunately it is not an all in one solution so I will need to look at FTP applications as well. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.
The start of the school year is just around the corner. Jefferson County Schools start on the 15 of August. Quinn will be entering the first grade. I hope that much of what he has learned in kindergarten has been retained over the summer.
We have been getting him back in the habit of reading every night and he reads quite well. This really should not be surprising as the last reading test scores that we received showed him reading at almost a 2nd grade level. Quinn does love to read when ever he can. We are hoping that he has retained some of his math skills as well, but we have not tested them yet.
The house will be quieter on the 15th of August. It will just be Alison, Issabel, and I. Soon after the start of the school year Alison should be getting sub jobs so that will leave me and Izzy by our selves. I am looking for to that father and daughter time that I enjoyed last year. This year should be even better as Izzy has gone quite a bit and is becoming more talkative although I still don't understand much of what she says.
Looking forward a few months this Fall should be a busy time for us with visitors from both sides of the family. Al's mom is coming out in October and then my parents come out in November. I will need to look into some local activities to keep everyone busy during the day so I can work in relative peace.
So this site is my latest attempt at creating a blog style website. I enjoy writing about technical topics and family events, but using sites like wordpress and tumblr while nice really don't let me fell the pride in creating the site. Sure you select the template that you want and go from there, but for me it was lacking in the ownership factor. You know that pride that you feel when you make something from scratch. For me it is this site. Having taken to website development classes gave me a good start to HTML, CSS, and all that other web stuff and the fruition of those two classes is this site.
As the site matures you will see changes as I learn more and more coding techniques some will probably work well and others will probably fall flat, but you have to learn somehow. If you do see something that looks really good or really bad, please let me know.