Tag: iPad

Categories
BlahBlahBabble

What’s In My Bag? (30 Days of Lists: Day 8)

Yesterday was a crazy, crazy day. Matter of fact, it started the night before. I went to my studio to have a meeting about the upcoming Photocamp Houston (whoo hoo!!!) and Mike went to a 5 course dinner with beer pairings at Beaver’s. As our meeting ended and I hopped in the Mini to head home, I thought that I should take a moment to check in with Mike. Good thing I did, because it turned out it was five STRONG beers that they served up with dinner, and since he doesn’t drink often it hit him hard! Oops! He had no intentions of driving home, but since I was there I was able to go get him instead of him taking a cab. Of course, that meant I had to drive him back there yesterday morning to get his car! I needed to get in to get my hair trimmed before SXSWi, so I made a quick call to the salon and got in there as well.

The whole thing threw off my working plans for yesterday though, so today is crazy catch up day! And as I went to sleep last night, I realized I never wrote this post. That made me sad, which I considered a good sign that I’m getting back into the swing of regular blogging! Yay!

Today’s List prompt is “What’s In My Bag?” I should note here that it gave me pause as I looked around and wondered to myself, “Which bag???” Seems that I have a thing for bags. Lots and lots of bags. It doesn’t help that as a knitter, I often have projects in bags too. But I’m going to go with my main bag, my cute concealed carry purse. So let me see, what do we have in here?

– Business cards to pass out for Wholly Matrimony.
– Business cards I got from others at WPPI – I’m still working on emailing everyone that I met!
– Several Sharpie Pens – they are the best!
– Receipts
– My latest sock knitting project – hoping to finish it while on the road to SXSW
– My wallet
– A fortune from a fortune cookie
– Cash
-9mm pistol
– Debit cards, drivers license, health insurance card
– Two tubes of lipstick
– Lush lip balm
– my iPad
– my Sprint MeFi for my iPad (looking forward to the upcoming iPhone update to use that instead!)
– a thumb drive

Best part about making this list? I cleaned out my purse at the same time and threw stuff away!

I should add that I love my purse. Mike bought it for me for my birthday, but took me to the Fossil store so that I could try out the purses and make sure I got one that my iPad fit into, that way I can easily carry it around with me!

Categories
Geek Love

Kindle vs the iPad – 3 Reasons Why the Kindle Wins!

Have I mentioned that I live in Geektopia? I do. And as a gadget junkie, I have both a Kindle (the original wedge-shaped one) and an iPad (64gb WiFi only). When the iPad was coming out, I heard many people say that they weren’t going to get a Kindle or another similar electronic book device because they would use the iPad for it.

I’ve tried both. And as much as I love the iPad, it doesn’t beat out the Kindle in this area.

– The Kindle is lighter in weight, making it much easier to hold and read for long periods of time. I’ve read mine for 8+ hour stretches before, and I could never hold an iPad for that long.
– The Kindle is not backlight, so it is easier on your eyes. If you’re like me, reading a backlit device for several pages of content is painful. I can’t read books on a computer monitor either and even taking a Outback Vision Protocol treatment to improve my eyes for this reason, since I have been using glasses for a long time.
– Since the Kindle isn’t backlit and has a matte screen, you can use it outdoors on a bright, sunny day. I tried to read a book on the iPad in the car (while Mike drove, of course!) and I couldn’t even see the screen.

Bonus reason:
– Kindle books can be ported to several different devices – I can read the same book on my Kindle and through the Kindle app on the iPad, the iPhone, my Mac and our PC. My Kindle books can go to many electronic devices – and books from the iBook store can only be read on the iPad. (Not necessarily a perk for the Kindle device so much as for the service itself over Apple’s new iBook store.)

I love my iPad, and the Kindle app that is available for the iPad is fantastic. Much, much better than the iPhone app. But when you find me curled up with a good book to read, it will be with a Kindle in my hands.

Side note about the Kindle: I love paper books. I really do, and I honestly thought that the design and development of Kindle would never be as good as reading a real book. Then I tried one out, and I discovered that it is lightweight and so much easier for me to hold – I have a weak right hand and problems with my thumb. I’ve read more books since I purchased my Kindle in 2008 then I did in the 5 years before that because using the Kindle is such a pleasant experience. I almost forget the books are electronic once I get in to them because the digital ink technology is so impressive. If you haven’t gotten your hands on a Kindle yet, you should!

Knitting books are the one exception. They just don’t translate well to the Kindle at all. I also tend to purchase books written by anyone I meet and get them signed for my collection!

Categories
Geek Love

My Beloved iPad…

As a destination wedding & boudoir photographer, I had a justification for an iPad as soon as they were announced because I knew it would be a great way to constantly carry my portfolio around, but I didn’t pre-order one. Even as a die-hard gadget junkie, I wanted to get my hands on one first before I did it. Then Clint and others started talking on Twitter about how wonderful they were.

Before I knew it, I was up at the Apple store testing them out. True, they don’t have Flash. Whatever, Flash is so 2004 anyways – unless you’re a photographer. Oh wait, I am. But my blog is the first page you hit when you visit my wedding & lifestyle photography site and my boudoir site, and the Flash portfolio is tucked away inside. (I want my site to be as iPhone & iPad friendly as possible! Plus the search engines *love* it!) Of course, the iPad had only been out for a week or so, so the Apple store didn’t have any in stock. I added myself to the wait list for a 64gb iPad, and picked it up on April 22nd.

I opted to go with the WiFi version. I didn’t want to pay $130 extra for the 3G version, plus monthly fees for 3G access, and I already have a Sprint Overdrive with 4G access that I can link up to. Most of the time I have WiFi access anyways.

I’ve had it for three weeks now, and it is fabulous! It does actually fill a gap in my computer lineup for me because it can help me with a lot of stuff that I couldn´t do on my computer, I can now transcribe audio to text with a cool app.

– The battery lasts for 9-10 hours. My MacBookPro lasts maybe 1 hour, if I’m lucky.
– The Photo app is a GREAT way for a photographer to show off their portfolio. Or for a parent to show off photos of their kids.
– It is small and light weight. I can put it in a large purse or small bag. Easy to always have with me.
– The apps that have come up so far for the iPad are pretty fabulous. (I’ll be sharing my thoughts about them!)
– Being self-employed means I’m on my computer all the time. It is nice to put it away when I want to catch up on my RSS feeds, read Twitter, and play on Facebook.
– In the end, I opted for the 64gb so I’d have lots of space for photos and for music, videos & movies when I travel.

When I’m in the car on a road trip, my iPhone is still my go-to device. I tried out the iPad, but the larger surface just wasn’t good in the bright sunlight – I struggled to see the screen. I’ve never had that problem with my iPhone, or my Kindle for that matter.

Have an iPad? Thinking about getting one? What apps do you have & love? Which ones are you looking forward to getting?

Categories
Geek Love

With my iPad, I can rule the world!

Testing out WordPress on the iPad. Yes, it is slower than my usual typing speed, but considering everything else I can do on it, I’m smitten.

More to come as I test things and figure it all out.