Blog
Cleese is awesome (as usual) in this video about creativity. As a designer and generally “creative” person, all of the points in this video really hit home – especially the parts about “open vs closed” mode and the critical need for time to “play”. A highly recommended watch for anyone who is (or knows) a designer, programmer or creative person.
So I decided I wanted to tryout a keyboard and stylus with the new iPad. Not really sure why – other than the fact that I really *don’t* like the onscreen keyboard, and just wanted to test the waters.
After several hours of research online, I eventually went with the Apple wireless keyboard and the InCase Origami Workstation. There are a plethora of options out there, and this combo seemed to be the most versatile. I didn’t want an “all-in-one-case”, because I only intend to use the keyboard once in a while and didn’t want it attached in any way. Hats off to Apple for including “Energizer Advanced” batteries in the keyboard and not some knock-off generics that will burn out after a couple hours.
Pairing over Bluetooth was painless, and the keyboard works very well with no apparent lag. You’d be amazed how much more you can get done with a keyboard – and how much more useful the iPad becomes. Pseudo-laptop would be a good term for it. SSH’ing to various machines, typing email, composing word docs and notes, writing blog posts (like this one) and instant messaging are a lot more enjoyable (and usable) now. It’s a shame however, that there aren’t some built in shortcuts to get back to the home screen or navigate around the iPad via the keyboard. There are ways to do it using the VoiceOver function that I experimented with, but they turned out to be more of a pain in the ass than they were worth. Easier to just use your finger. Overall, I’m very pleased with the setup. Folds up nicely and is out of the way when you don’t need it.
My god are there a lot of styli out there – and corresponding programs for the iPad to use with them. You have your basic “crayon-looking” stylus, which I wasn’t after. Then you’ve got a ton that look like pens with large foam tips. These didn’t thrill me either. Wacom makes one called the “Bamboo” that has a smaller rubber tip, (which is what I eventually went with) but in my travels I found another couple that are using Bluetooth and/or Infrared + Ultrasonic receivers to triangulate the position of the stylus on the screen (Byzero, Cregle, Apen, Adonit). These promised a more precise “pen” experience, but were also upwards of $100-150. That’s a lot more than I was willing to drop on a stylus and the jury was still out on them working well with the new iPad, so they were out of the question.
The Bamboo feels great and works as advertised. After trying several apps, I’ve settled on Notes Plus and Paper as my favorites. The stylus is more of a novelty at this point – I’ll need a few days at the office taking notes to see which I lean towards more. My guess will be the keyboard at this point.
And if anyone is wondering what that is on my iPad and MacBook, they’re “skins” from the place where I work, DecalGirl.com (the iPad skin is “Frozen Dreams” by Iveta Abolina, and the MacBook skin is a prototype that we’re working on… sshhh)
Field Report for December, 2011
————————————————————
Based on the incredibly low numbers of eagles this year, I’ve stopped going. Getting up before dawn to make the trek out to Harford county each weekend just wasn’t worth the effort for me anymore. Things started looking grim about midway through November and the eagle numbers never really picked up at all. After several weekends of sitting on those rocks thinking “I could be doing something else worthwhile right now”, I knew it was time to throw in the towel for a bit. I might head back down once in a while after things start to get really cold … but this year is turning out to be a bummer down on the Susquehanna.
Field Report for Sunday, November 6th, 2011
————————————————————
Size: 30-35 Eagles. More juveniles today than two weeks ago.
Activity: Three to four bursts of fishing/chasing. Birds were more active, but it was still a very slow morning.
Location: More eagles perching on the towers rather than the far side of the river, catching fish and heading back into the trees behind the parking lot.
Weather: 41 degrees @ 7am. Light fog burned off early. Zero wind. No clouds early, then high level cirrus moved in as the morning went on.
Time: 7am-10:30am
Equipment: 1D4 + 500mm on the Gitzo GM5561T Monopod
Additional Notes: While there were a few more eagles this week, there still aren’t as many as I remember seeing in years past. The dam was still operating in spill mode, with anywhere from 1-4 gates open on the eastern side and 5 small turbines and zero large turbines running. I don’t know what could be the cause – weather/flooding, shad levels, eagle population… or a combination of them all, but there is a noticeable drop in eagles there so far. I’m optimistic that maybe once things start to get really cold, more will show up.
Field Report for Sunday, October 23rd, 2011
————————————————————
Size: 20-25 Eagles. Mostly mature, not many juveniles.
Activity: One burst of fishing on the far side of the river. Five eagles fighting over one unlucky shad. Super slow morning.
Location: Far side of the Susquehanna was where they were all hanging out, on the electrical towers and the other side of the island.
Weather: 38 degrees @ 7am. Incredibly dense, heavy fog due to cold air & warm(ish) water. Fog didn’t burn off until almost 10am.
Time: 7am-10:30am
Equipment: 1D4 + 500mm on the Gitzo. Next time I’ll be using the monopod, forgot how much effort it takes to get the tripod setup on the rocks.
Additional Notes: Port Deposit is still cleaning up after the flooding but the roads are clear. New loose rock was laid down along the top of the fenceline at the fishermans park, be aware of this and watch your footing. This outing felt like a waste of time, but taking into consideration the fog and the time of year, it was still good to get out for a few hours and get re-aquainted with the rocks.
Katia’s swell arrived this afternoon and around high tide there were some spotty shoulder to overhead sets showing up. A moderate onshore wind was keeping things a bit bumpy and making the waves closeout, however. For this reason, I didn’t get in the water and decided to just shoot from the beach with the 500. [...]