Mac and More, "Quick" Update!

Hey, everyone. Things have been hectic and stressful around here, but I’m hoping to get some writing finished today and tomorrow. I was going to write about markdown and apps straightaway, but I want to address recent revelations about the theft of customer information at Target — the 2013 Black Friday hacks. I don’t like the way Target is handling it, and I’ll explain why in detail. I found out about the severity of the issue because of an email target sent! but almost didn’t trust it because their email is super-sketchy and looks like phishing spam!

I hope that you aren’t affected by Target’s negligence and the data thieves. Everything about identity theft is stressful.

Also, I want to share more Mac OS X (Mavericks) tips that I’ve come across, in particular:

• How to get rid of (disable) the pesky, nigh-useless (redundant, slow) OSX Dashboard… and how to get it back again later if you change your mind.

• How to access the iCloud Photo stream without opening iPhoto.

Sort of like my post about removing apps from Launchpad, these are a few things that I wanted, and believe that it may be of interest to other Mac users.

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Last, if you like strategic cards games and anime, check out Tanto Cuore.

Superb gameplay that really doesn’t have much to do with anime or maids. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Crunchyroll recently.

If you’d like a 48-hour all access pass, leave a comment about your favorite anime or drama, and send me an email!

I need some way to send you the code :-) I only have a few, and it’s first come, first served!

Well, if you get Tanto Cuore and want to play it with me, you’re at the top of the list. ;-)

Bradtastic likes Blogsy!

Says Brad 2014!

Happy New Year! I’m excited about 2014.

2013 didn’t start well for me. I was sick throughout. I feel like I didn’t get much of anything done, like it was a lost year. Looking back at 2013, it feels like it went by before I realized it but simultaneously, it didn’t feel quick. Time feels quite different when you’re sick, and I was sick for probably more than half of the year, including the final weeks of December.

This year will bring more significant changes. I’m going to move out of California! That’s an exciting thing for me; a chance for a new beginning, to meet new people, and find new opportunities to learn, grow, and hopefully work. I’m hopeful that November’s mid-term elections will signal a shift in America as well, and I’m making every effort to get my political site up and running as quickly as possible to share some of my libertarian conservative ideas, specifically regarding controversial topics such as gay marriage and abortion. Far too often, people steer conversation away from these serious matters toward the mundane and inconsequential, all in effort to keep peace and to not offend. I think this is usually done with good intentions, I just don’t think it’s a feasible long-term solution, and has aided in alienating people and polarizing the country in ways I’ve never seen before in my life.

But enough of the serious and personal, onto Says Brad!

For about a month, I’ve been writing exclusively in Markdown, and I’m thrilled with this change. Two critical components that’ve made this pain-free and pleasurable: Daedalus Touch (universal iOS) + *Ulysses III* (Mac), and Byword** (universal iOS, Mac).

Ulysses III is so good that while I’m working on a full review, I’ve spent enough time with it to know — it’s indispensable for anyone interested in a fluid, natural, comprehensive and beautiful writing/note-taking environment. (That it syncs automatically with Daedalus Touch via iCloud is a huge bonus.)

I’ve never used a more beautiful writing app… or had as much fun. Ulysses III inspires me to write more, and helps keep me organized and efficient with everything neatly in one place, sans messy file folders and miscellaneous doc names.

Byword is a fantastic markdown/rich text editor that I’ve written about before, but I really only use it on my iPad and iPhone right now because it includes a markdown preview and live, in-line styling — and Daedalus doesn’t. It’s also possible to post to blogs from within Byword, but it’s an IAP priced at $4.99. I’d use it if it were included. (Having communicated with Daedalus/Ulysses debs, The Soulmen, I’m confident that Daedalus Touch will include these things in the future. If you have an iOS device, there’s no reason not to try Daedalus, as it’s now freemium.)

Switching to markdown has helped me to focus on content and forget about formatting. The text is clean and readable, links can be added in as reference-style footnotes, and words can be emphasized and emboldened without ever using brackets or clicking a toggle.

Blogging, 2014

Over a decade ago, I was happily posting to Livejournal without a care or concern for the underlying technology or the longevity of the platform. As a teenager, I just didn’t think about those things. This changed when a Livejournal admin censored me. I hadn’t been posting as frequently and had just undergone surgery to fix my shoulder (bad idea), and didn’t realize that they’d contacted me by email, instructing me to self-censor and remove someone’s full name. As I hadn’t replied, my site was shut down.

It wasn’t just that my content was pulled from public view. I was locked out.

My account had been suspended for violating one of their rules. I was cut off from my own writing, years of work, completely unavailable. I was lucky; able to save my site, discovering what had happened before my account was permanently closed, but the process alerted me to the fact that my content was not my own.

I decided that I was done with LJ. I didn’t like the fact that someone could put extra restrictions on my content and that those rules could change at any time, that I could lose my writing. Since then, I’ve been very concerned about terms of service and content restrictions and ownership. I used WordPress for several years and then stumbled upon Squarespace, and although I’m presently (mostly) happy with the service, I’m always looking at alternatives.

I think that both WordPress and Squarespace do a remarkable job at managing a full-featured website, but lately, I’ve been intrigued by the “just blogging” platforms like Ghost. I’ve been testing different services: Roon, Posthaven, Silvrback… I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on these services and hope that I can help someone pick his/her best fit blogging platform.

More in 2014

In the coming months, I’ll be adding reader-requested reviews of styluses, including a more-detailed review of Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus and thoughts on Pencil by FiftyThree. Also, some app devs have graciously provided copies of their apps for me to try and write about, so I’ll have that upcoming as well. I’m excited about another year of cool technology and discussing these things with you! (The latest Apple rumor is about an iPad Pro iOS/OSX hybrid device — I really hope that it’s Penabled, wouldn’t that be something?!)

In the interim, if you want to chat, send me a message at Twitter or Facebook! I hope you have a great year!

NSA Needs No Warrants

Rep. Jerrold Nadler has blown the lid off of something big.

Not that I didn't already know this was happening, but now there's confirmation. Naive Americans, oh-so-trusting of big government, believed that there's nothing to worry about — we're just being paranoid. Understand this:

The NSA can listen to your calls, read your email or text messages in secret, without a warrant, and that data is being stored on servers.

Also, President Obama could be fucking your liberty. Do you remember that movie Enemy of the State starring Will Smith? Unfortunately, this isn't a movie.

Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell indicated during a House Intelligence hearing in 2007 that the NSA's surveillance process involves "billions" of bulk communications being intercepted, analyzed, and incorporated into a database.

They can be accessed by an analyst who's part of the NSA's "workforce of thousands of people" who are "trained" annually in minimization procedures, he said. (McConnell, who had previously worked as the director of the NSA, is now vice chairman at Booz Allen Hamilton, Snowden's former employer.)

If it were "a U.S. person inside the United States, now that would stimulate the system to get a warrant," McConnell told the committee. "And that is how the process would work. Now, if you have foreign intelligence data, you publish it [inside the federal government]. Because it has foreign intelligence value."

McConnell said during a separate congressional appearance around the same time that he believed the president had the constitutional authority, no matter what the law actually says, to order domestic spying without warrants.

Read the full details at CNET. Be upset. Share it with friends and family. No matter what the law actually says?! It's not that surprising. However, it is horrendous and people should be pissed.

The technology exists, why wouldn't they use it? Why wouldn't someone abuse it?

People are fallible; is it unreasonable to assume that some analyst with an axe to grind would use his power illegally? Maybe about as unreasonable as the IRS selectively targeting Conservative groups (based, in part, on keywords in the organizations' names) for audits and denying these groups tax exempt status, bankrupting law-abiding, taxpaying citizens and costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Happy Father's Day.

Posted with Blogsy

What Makes Apple's Future So Compelling?

Tim Cook + Tony Stark = Apple's new Iron Man Mac Pro.

Just look at the thing. Incredible. Unbelievable, even. I'm used to seeing powerful, professional computer systems as massive, hulking monstrosities — 90 pound liquid-cooled steel and aluminum towers with 900w power supplies. If the new Mac Pro is anywhere near what they claim, it'll change everything.

"Can't innovate any more, my ass!" – Phil Schiller, Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, WWDC 2013 Keynote

Steve Jobs was Apple. It's taken years, but Apple has finally created a new identity for itself without him at the helm. It's exciting! The recent WWDC keynote outlined big changes and new beginnings for Apple: the next OSX called Mavericks, iOS7, a complete rethink and redesign, and the Mac Pro — what looks like something straight out of Iron Man 3.

There seems to be a pervasive, holistic approach to technologies that will fundamentally change how we think about computers. Everything is intertwined, interconnected. The Internet is fast, always-on, available everywhere. Phones talk to tablets, TVs, notebooks and desktops, cars and cash registers. The next-gen video game consoles will have accurate motion-tracking and handheld components (XBOX Smart Glass, PS Vita — and the Wii U, well... never mind that).

Apple seems to understand this philosophical shift. Six years ago, a phone without a keypad seemed unthinkable, ridiculous. This was in part due to technical limitations, but mostly because it went against the identity and concept a phone. Back in high school, I thought the Palm IIIc was the greatest thing, ever, and if you could've shown me the iPad back then, I'd've called it sorcery.

Mobility is so important to us. We want lightweight phones, light computers — but at what cost? There's an understanding that performance or capacity must be sacrificed when shedding weight, but what if that changed? And what is light (weight)?

iOS7 is a dramatically visual overhaul of an already stunning and swift operating system. It's been visually reworked to convey simple, natural and elegant efficiency. The scope of the redesign reflects incredible, infused passion and dedication, from precision typography to carefully curated color palettes. It's a perfect counterpart to devices like the iPhone 5 and iPad mini — fantastically thin glass and aluminum works of art, beautiful, even when powered down.

Apple-thin is in.

With the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Retina, Apple has shown us that a computer doesn't need to be a simple, cheap netbook to exist without a disc drive. They must've realized years ago that with on-demand streaming video from services like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu and HBO GO, people would stop watching DVDs on PCs. Sure, I sometimes think, conceptually, it'd be nice to have a Blu-Ray player with my MacBook, but I never miss it. I watch those movies on a big screen TV, and every time I have to lift my MacBook, I smile, due to some form of disbelief and think, "how is it this light?!"

The concept of lightweight design has finally carried over to desktops. That's why the new Mac Pro is brilliant — especially for creatives. Its tiny footprint and sci-fi design is inspiring. It'll run Mavericks, blazing through calculations next to iPads and iPhones running iOS7.

This image of the near-future conveys a balance between man and machine; an idyllic, non-adversarial relationship between an artist and his tools. This harmony is the infrastructure that ignites the creativity of thousands of designers and developers releasing the apps that make iPads, iPhones, and Macs so incredible, and so fun.

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Yes, I use Windows, too, but aside from great game optimization and the games themselves, I don't prefer it. I'm hoping this will change once Microsoft realizes that Windows 8 looks like the touch screens at Wells Fargo ATMs and gives more power to independent developers and artists. Fat chance. Have you seen the XBOX ONE? It's basically a gigantic, expensive piece of spyware. No wonder the PS4 preorders are outpacing the PRISM box.

Coming soon.

Later, I'll be posting about very serious matters regarding our government and troubling issues we need to take a stand against. My blog will likely take a more serious tone, but I'll try to keep positive and continue to post some fun stuff like tech tips and app reviews.

Posted with Blogsy

Fixing Adonit Jot and Hex3 Jaja Stylus

Adonit Jot not working properly?

Adonit claims that only 1% of their capacitive touch disc tip styluses have issues with skipping and contact. I've found that to be wholly inaccurate. Every Jot I have has had an issue.

The problem is likely a design flaw that they don't want to admit to. Capacitive touch styluses essentially trick the iPad into recognizing it as your finger. The way the iPad screen works is somewhat difficult to explain, but essentially, a conductive surface of about 6mm is what the iPad looks for.

Instead of the typical soft rubber tips, some styli use discs, like the Adonit Jot series: Mini, Pro, Flip, Touch. Other manufacturers use disc tips as well. The disc is plastic with a metal piece that touches a metal pen, with a small enough surface area to offer precision, and just barely large enough to be detected. In theory, this is great. In practice, well...

If your Jot isn't working properly, Adonit may send you new tips or a new pen. But you will probably have the same problem again.

The most common issue is skipping, where a continuous line drawn on the screen with the capacitive stylus, in this case Jot Pro, is broken into segments and dots. In addition, the stylus may not start a line where you intend, appearing several millimeters after you thought you were touching the screen.

Fear not. There's a cheap fix!

Conductive grease or thermal compound will most likely solve your problem. I improved my HEX3 Jaja the same way. I ordered Arctic Silver Ceramique 2 from Amazon. [Order yours! There's also a link in the sidebar. I get a small credit if you use it. Thanks!] Another brand may work just fine; electronics stores should carry it, places like Radio Shack — or a store that sells motherboards and processors should you want to pick it up at a retail location. Other Jot owners have tried this as well; I actually found this solution on the Adonit forums.

Step 1: Simply remove the disc from the Jot.

Adonit has a guide to replace a disc. Make sure the disc is clean!

Step 2: Place a dab of thermal compound paste on the disc.

You only need a small amount. Just take a tiny dab and put it in the hole where the Jot's ball tip inserts into the disc. You can also rub a thin coating around the ball tip. Afterward, reinsert, and make sure the disc is clean.

And that's it! Your stylus should work 100% better!

I hope I just helped you save your $25-100 stylus, and/or a month of dealing with customer service getting nowhere. I'm sure many frustrated Jot owners have given up on their styluses, so let them know about this!

Problems with Hex3 Jaja pressure sensitive stylus?

The Jaja tips are slightly different. The disc is attached to a 0.7mm metal rod that inserts into the Jaja stylus (or any 0.7mm mechanical pencil). From my experience, it isn't that responsive, and requires uncomfortable, firm pressure and a near vertical angle to work properly.

You can improve the Jaja significantly by adding a bit of thermal compound. Remove the tip, and place the disc on a flat surface. Rotate the metal rod to the side, and put a small amount of paste onto the ball. Next, twist the rod and rotate it in circles, spreading the paste around the part of the tip that holds the rod.

The thermal compound will improve the conductivity of the tip, and your capacitive touch stylus should now work with very little pressure!

Hopefully this helps! Let me know.

Brad Chin uses Blogsy

About Says Brad

[Note: this entry deals with some sensitive subject matter and may anger some people. It's also a little lengthy, written late at night and edited rather quickly.]

Photo taken with iPhone 4, edited with SwankoLab and Snapseed

A few notes about my life and the blog, starting with tech.

I mostly post about technology: iOS, video games, mobile tech, accessories, app reviews. I post some art, too, and I've been messing around with photography again since pocket-sized devices can take such great photos (I never liked lugging around a Canon EOS SLR around).

I haven't written as much on society, life and disability lately — not directly, anyway. I use the iPad and iPhone as my only computers primarily because of my disability, but it's become a preference. Even if/when I get a new computer (hopefully a MacBook Pro with Retina Display), I will still likely use my iPad more.

That has a lot to do with the great apps. I love the art/design/photography apps, social apps and games for iOS, and I like having iCloud automatically backup and sync everything. So cool. Some of the mobile games are incredible, too. Console games on a handheld?! Hopefully Square will release Final Fantasy VII through X for iOS one day. As the iPad continues to improve, who knows, maybe we'll have games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on it!

The iPad mini is likely weeks away, and the iPhone 5 released, but I've been waiting. The purple lens flare issue reminds me of antennagate. Maybe Apple will quietly fix it with later iPhone 5 models. I am excited about the iPad mini. I hope it offers a cross between the new iPod Touch and iPad, with a retina display.

I will be posting a few new stylus reviews as well as some more iPad usability advice. Hopefully the weather improves so I won't feel so awful; I'd like to get a few more things done this month, and work on cleaning and packing. More on that later.

Coming soon: Capacitive touch stylus showdown; Adonit Jot Touch vs HEX3 Jaja

These styluses can't quite replicate the Wacom Intuos/Cintiq tablet experience, but they do offer functionality that the iPad lacked — and in my opinion, desperately needed. I love drawing on my iPad, but the device hasn't adequately replicated the sketchbook/slate tablet experience. This isn't critical for many people, but I love sketching, writing, doodling — insofar as I was even looking at alternatives such as the Samsung Series 7 slate tablet PC and Galaxy Note, just for the pressure sensitivity. However, after using a Retina display, there's no going back. The iPad 2 now looks like last-gen, low-res pixelated crap!

The Adonit Jot Touch is a superb stylus. I'm going to test the Jaja very soon. I intend to create some designs with each and post them here along with my review. I just wish more apps supported pressure sensitivity, and in better ways. Specifically, I'd like to see Paper by FiftyThree, Autodesk SketchBook Ink and Adobe touch apps (like Ideas) support pressure sensitivity, as well as Infinite SketchPad, Noteshelf and Remarks.

A little more with iOS

Blogging (posting entries) on my iPad is fairly straightforward and simple with Blogsy, but editing the website is a challenge. Squarespace isn't iOS friendly. I've been thinking about switching this blog (back) to WordPress — I'm just not very good at creating themes and such. WordPress offers greater flexibility for iOS users; I could post and edit pages and work within the straightforward web UI. Know anyone who could help me build a theme?

iOS6 has added the much needed ability to upload images to websites from Safari. So I can finally add images to my web gallery and sites like dribbble.

However, I'm still having issues uploading to my Squarespace gallery, and in typical, frustrating Squarespace fashion, support simply says that they'll forward a feature request to developers, that Squarespace was designed for desktop browsers, and finally, that I should update from a desktop browser. WordPress is looking a lot more attractive even with less appealing themes.

I've used both Squarespace and WordPress iOS apps — both are lacking. It's very frustrating.

Political season: impacting updates

The General Election on November 6, 2012 is so important. This decade is what's at stake. My feelings are clear; Obama has failed America and has lied about too much.

• Obama said he'd close Guantanamo. Guess where my Army MP friend is going to be stationed next year?
• He said he'd cut the deficit in half. With Obama, our debt has increased by trillions, billions have been wasted on failed clean energy experiments. Obama blames America's reduced credit rating on a conservative unwillingness to raise the debt ceiling. Some people think that at one point, there was a surplus. There was never a surplus. (When has a government ever been satisfied with its cash reserves?!
• Obama said he'd reduce unemployment and get America back on track. Biden admitted accidentally that the middle class has been buried. Employment hasn't gotten easier because upper middle-class small business owners are still under an immense squeeze. Large corporations don't need to worry about offering long-term employment — careers — because they can always get new hires. The median middle class income has fallen by $4.1K over the past four years, and liberals claim that this is a recovery?!

I could go on for hours.

This entry is already getting long, and this isn't a political blog, but being disabled, I have a lot of time to study these issues and I feel obligated to share my opinions and inform people of the truth. I want to find out why people want a larger government with higher taxes, and why wealth is vilified in some parts of America, even though the majority of white collar crime is committed by poor people.

People harp on a few Republican sticking points like pro-life, supposed racism and anti-gay/homosexual attitudes. I want to address these things, and explain how and why the Democratic Party is just as racist and how they restrict and limit personal freedom more than the Republican Party.

There's a lot of misinformation because of lies and infographics on social networks like Facebook, and news networks like to sensationalize information for ratings. Most of the major news networks are liberal, ABC, NBC, CBS… yet FOX is the network constantly lambasted for being partisan. There's The New York Times and Huffington Post spreading inaccuracies as well.

For the record, I'm pro-choice, and GLBT friendly. I do a lot of things that the traditional, religious GOP member would likely frown upon. I've never belonged to the 1%. I'm a Republican because I believe in small government, low taxes, and that protected borders and military strength ensure peace and freedom. Hope is not a strategy, I'm a Reaganite. I believe in the profit motive; that hard work and innovation should be rewarded and encouraged.

(BTW, did you know that Jack Kennedy and Richard Nixon were really close friends and that JFK said that he'd vote for Nixon if he didn't get the Democratic nomination? Although JFK also preferred socializing with conservatives and took steroids to look more presidential.)

A party must be changed from within; if you believe in a conservative government but dislike the Republican Party because of its often backwards social values, join the GOP and help me change it! No Party is going to really change just because people yell at it from the outside. If you believe in a large government, high taxes and many regulations (like Nanny Bloomberg's NYC), why? Listening to Sean Hannity several months ago, I heard Occupy members and admitted socialists attempt to rationalize their views — and I just don't get it.

Politics, Sociology and Game Theory at Says Brad

People have been criticizing Romney for paying 14% in taxes, but for the past twenty years, he's also been donating 14% of his income as well. That's a lot of money going to charity! I believe in a flat tax for everyone. The government isn't a bad thing, it's just poorly run. We don't live in a true democracy, I don't think that everyone realizes that. Ever seen Hardcore Pawn? Our Democratic Republic is under fire from all sides, and needs better leadership and management.

There should be a safety net; people shouldn't starve or freeze to death in America. But mediocre, tenured officials shouldn't be the decision makers. Everything from education to health care needs to be reformed with accountability. We can't afford to continue throwing money at problems — no more blank checks to bad planners and corrupt officials.

These views are complex and perhaps controversial, so I will do my best to explain and clarify. It's so important. I would love to just ramble about iOS and games all day, but America is in trouble. Our status as the best country on Earth is in jeopardy, and that bothers me. America should be the model other countries attempt to emulate.

In this process, I will refer to many historical events and using game theory, propose alternative realities and scenarios to demonstrate concepts. This might bother some people, perhaps even moreso because I will probably still post the fun stuff, too. At heart, I'm an artist and a dreamer, I love technology and video games. Just as I can't ignore these passions, I can't ignore this nagging feeling to demonstrate reality as I understand it, either.

Hopefully I can change a few minds, open a few doors, and learn a few new things along the way. This is life as a highway, driving, but that sunset is just out of reach. Says Brad.

Brad Chin uses Blogsy

Ubisoft for AC3: Using social networks well

Ubisoft just sent me an email that I think is brilliant — it's a notice to "help unlock the world gameplay premiere of Assassin's Creed III."

It goes on to say, "tweet, share, and recruit friends to unlock the footage."

How brilliant is that?!

There's even a progress bar included, ostensibly showing the current status of the effort. Though somewhat transparent, this is still an effective way of getting fans to market for you, to earn** something you would've given away anyway.

What do you think of their marketing campaign for Assassin's Creed 3?

Migrating from iPad 2 to new iPad

The new iPad — so exciting!

But not without its own issues. (This update applies most to people thinking about upgrading to the new iPad from an earlier model) The new iPad, or iPad 3, is slightly thicker and heavier than the 2, but is otherwise similar in look, shape and feel.

I won't go into the specs too much, but for those unfamiliar with it, here are the highlights.

• retina display, 2048x1536 resolution (versus 1024x768), 4x pixels!
• 5MP camera, 1080p video & FaceTime camera
• dictation (translates spoken English into text in the cloud; requires net connection) — works well!
• optional 4G LTE (Verizon model can act as a hotspot)
• still no Siri — come on, Apple, give it to us! Please send them an email and let them know you want Siri on the iPad. Maybe if enough people complain… (let us be the squeaky wheel)

Two things to keep in mind

For $99, Apple offers AppleCare+ protection for the new iPad. This coverages extends the warranty to two years and also covers two instances of accidental damage ($49 service fee per instance). For the price, it's a great deal for the higher end models; it's peace of mind, and will cover screen scratches, coating wear and more.

However, if you intend to get AppleCare+, purchase it together with the new iPad. It must be purchased within 15 days otherwise, and if the iPad is opened, you'll need to make a genius bar appointment at a retail store for an "iPad inspection." Trust me, this is a huge hassle.

Last, if you're "restoring" from an iPad backup (migrating/transferring from iPad or iPad 2 to the new iPad), many apps will sync without converting to retina graphics. Example: although I had the newest version of SketchBook Pro installed on my iPad 2 when I made the backup, when I opened it on the iPad 3, no retina graphics. It's like it was running in iPad 2 mode. Many of my favorite apps ran similarly, and needed to be reinstalled to correct the issue.

Unfortunately, many of my favorite apps still lack new iPad versions. With time, developers will update apps and the retina display issue should be resolved. For now, I'm using it as an opportunity to start fresh — my new iPad will run my favorite apps, and the iPad 2 will be a testing ground for new apps I'm not yet sure about.

Don't let me dissuade you from the new iPad, however. It's awesome. Whatever the hassles, I think it's worth it!

Green Energy Solutions?

Why don't we install wind tunnels, turbines and some kind of water collectors down Tornado Alley and the Gulf coast? Someone should figure out how to turn these tornados, hurricanes and other natural disasters into sources of power. That'd be badass.

Two iPad 2 stylus too cool!

Due to my disability and pain, it's taking awhile longer than I thought it might to write reviews for my new iPad styluses (thanks, Andrew from oStylus Due to my disability and pain, it's taking awhile longer than I thought it might to write reviews for my new iPad styluses (thanks, Andrew from oStylus & adonit!), but I thought I should mention them.

The photo shows an Adonit Jot Pro (red) and a one-of-a-kind oStylus made by Andrew Goss' company in Canada.

The oStylus is particularly cool because inherent in its design is the ability to see exactly where the iPad thinks you're pressing! This is great for drawing and handwriting apps.

The Adonit Jot Pro feels more accurate but it's also more solid (and heavier). It feels like a high quality metal pen, like a Cross, maybe (Montblanc doesn't have something with that kind of straight cylindrical body). The Jot Pro has magnets and a rubber grip that the standard Jot lacks. The magnets are brilliant. It secures well to the iPad 2 screen with or without smart cover, and can attach to the side of the iPad (where the smart cover attaches). The Jot Pro can be used to sleep/wake the iPad like the smart cover. I don't have a "the new iPad" cool because inherent in its design is the ability to see exactly where the iPad thinks you're pressing! This is great for drawing and handwriting apps.

The Adonit Jot Pro feels more accurate but it's also more solid (and heavier). It feels like a high quality metal pen, like a Cross, maybe (Montblanc doesn't have something with that kind of straight cylindrical body). The Jot Pro has magnets and a rubber grip that the standard Jot lacks. The magnets are brilliant. It secures well to the iPad 2 screen with or without smart cover, and can attach to the side of the iPad (where the smart cover attaches). The Jot Pro can be used to sleep/wake the iPad like the smart cover. I don't have a "the new iPad" so I can't comment on how it works with it.

The oStylus seems to make a softer contact with the iPad screen. The Jot feels like its poking the screen — I'm not comfortable typing with it.

I'll write up a detailed review of each when I'm feeling up to it. If you have a favorite stylus, let me know about it!

Touch Tablets & Muji Notebook Inkblogging

The iPad 2 really is a marvelous thing. Even though I can't sit at my desk for more than a few minutes (without tremendous pain), I can write, draw and read on a computer that feels as fast as any notebook or desktop I've used. However, recently — not so much — crazy back-and-forth, sunny-cloudy weather has been giving me migraines, keeping me down, eyes-closed.

Note: (Though it isn't unique to Squarespace) I really love Squarespace's scheduled post feature. When I'm feeling okay, I can write a few blog entries and let Squarespace automatically post them at preset times. That's what I've been doing... I think it's a worthy tip to pass along. (I remember using a similar feature with WordPress; Tumblr has it as well, and I'm pretty sure post major blogging tools/engines have the ability.)

iPad & Tablet Thoughts

iPad capacitive multi-touch is stellar for just about everything except art and design; without a pressure-sensitive digitizer (something like Wacom Penabled or N-Trig), variable line weight (thickness) can only be determined by speed. For artists, dual-input slate tablets are ideal, (active digitizer and capacitive touch) such as Windows 7 devices: ASUS Eee Slate EP121 (or B121) and the Samsung Series 7 tablet. I really want one; even with Windows 8 and the iPad 3 on the horizon.

Art makes me happy. I like creating; designing, doodling, sketching, illustrating, composing. I love mixed media; ink and watercolor, charcoal and paint, handwriting and blogging! Drawing helps my mood and writing helps my memory, and the iPad 2 is like my (virtually) unending, lightweight note/sketchbook. If sharing is caring, why not share what I care about?

To be continued — second part in three hours!

Changes, says Brad

Things have been sort of static. Many changes this year; friends, people, politics, society, work, health. If I had more time during the day to do things, you'd probably be able to read all about it. As things are, I just can't keep up. Kim Jong Il is dead now, though. Merry Christmas.

So here's what's going on. I'm spending time on illustrations, science, physics and general design, and I've been looking into my disability, health and general well-being. Made some discoveries. I've gotten a lot of great ideas this year from Apple, Disney, console video games and iOS apps (and their developers).

I'm going to try to get out more, and use the iPhone's good-enough camera. Instagram, Hipstamatic, Camera+ and a number of photo editing apps make iPhotography really fun. I've been thinking about switching to 4S (8MP camera, Siri and Sprint — AT&T SUCKS), but I'm hesitant, because of the 3GS. I think the iPhone 5 isn't far away and will be a major upgrade over the 4S, and will share hardware with the iPad 3. Why wouldn't Apple do this? The iPhone 4 form factor isn't that great, and it'll soon be surpassed by Android alternatives (some think that this has already happened). I'm excited about a retina display iPad.

If you have an iPad and you like games, oh wow. Infinity Blade II, GTA3, Bard's Tale... how many hours of fun is that?! Enjoy it. This is an amazing time, despite the turmoil that the world is going through. If life outside is looking too bleak, step into Skyrim. It's great there — you can kill dragons!

I want to share more about health, fitness, self-defense (these are crazy times) and my disability, and this is probably the place to do that. I don't need Typepad. I've tried to like SAY's service, but I just don't, really. If I knew how to properly monetize my blog, it might be worth it, but I'm not sure that I'd want to do that. I wouldn't mind advertising on my blog, but I'd want to advertise Bradtastic Approved things, things I use and love. Maybe there's content there worth saving; I'll have to spend a few hours going through it and figuring out what to bring over here... maybe I'll setup a few pages with the best of the best content.

I've decided to change my diet and focus on super foods and micronutrients. Veggies, fruits (I love satsuma oranges) and some mercury-free fish every now and then. No more red meat. More brain foods.

There are a few people I'm interested in spending more time with... I'm going to change my schedule to accommodate this change. I think I need to. I had so much more energy in Disneyland because of the sheer number of people there... it was amazing. It felt like 2008; needing only a few hours of sleep, that sense of true clarity. And now that the weather is more to my liking, it's the perfect time to take advantage. Of everything.

Enjoy the holidays. Life is short.

Don't need a desktop

I'm writing this on my iPhone using the Squarespace app. I haven't used my desktop for over one week; the last time I did use it, I burned a CD. My desktop has become a server.

It stores movies, music and images... AirPlay and home sharing allows me to view my media on my TV (with the Apple TV) and iOS devices. I'm sure that there's an Android equivalent.

What I like is the simplicity. This stuff is easy to use. There's a new notebook computer by Razer and Intel called Blade. It's a custom gaming machine with ten customizable keys and a multitouch screen instead of a trackpad (used to display game information or other data). It'll likely be expensive.

The thing is, most computing can be done on a tablet. I've loved tablets for a long time. I enjoyed inkblogging with Wacom Penabled technology — these devices are incredible for art and design. These new multitouch devices are different; better in some ways, worse in others. These new slates represent a technological revolution — mobility, usability, and augmented reality at its core.

Also, these handhelds are great for gaming. Not just quick pickup-n-play, casual games... great developers, large and small, are releasing amazingly deep games, some with console-quality graphics (comparable to XBOX 360 launch titles, superior to Nintendo DS my iPad is missing many features, lacks some software that is essential, and even more that I'd just like to have.

But here I am, blogging, nowhere near my desk. And when traveling, I know I can leave my laptop computer behind and miss nothing.

Tablets... Game, yes. Work? Not so much.

Mo' blogging options, writing on the run

Even though the iPad market alone is worth like $20B (USD) and tablets are finally being taken seriously, even with millions of apps available on the App Store and Android Marketplace — with millions of people buying apps and downloads every second, still no one has released a decent (or better than) blogging app. There are serious gaps in mobile software.

Mobile gaming is different; there, there's at least six of everything. Anyone know exactly how many tower defense games are available for iOS? I've seen hundreds; maybe a few dozen great ones, twice as many good rip-offs of those great ones, and a plethora of crap. How many versions of Angry Birds do we need? Ten different racing games with the same cars, a dozen FPS offerings, hundreds of sudoku apps... seriously?!

Also, this micro-transaction, in-app purchases (IAP) business is frankly ridiculous — especially the pay-to-pwn model in certain games, such as Glu's Gun Bros. and its clones. The best items cost around $200 USD, and there's really no other way of getting those items other than spending cash. I understand the freemium model; make a game, offer it free, and people can pay for it in increments based on how much they enjoy it. Often, these games have no end, much like MMORPGs — the game is updated to add more, so to continue enjoying the game, players need to spend a few more dollars. Time management freemium games (farming games, building games, restaurant sims) usually offer some IAP that speeds up the process by offering instant gratification. "This plant will take 48 hours to grow, but for $2.50, you can have it now!" This is how hard-earned money is being blown spent.

Freemium is one thing, and some are fair enough that you can play without spending any money. But now there are premium games offering IAP "cheats." Example: Angry Birds offers an instant-win item for $0.99 — an Eagle that automatically clears any level. EA's Dead Space has a in-game store offering power node and credit pack IAPs.

The iPad is clearly a fantastic portable game console; dual processors, large multi-touch screen... there are Android devices with NVIDIA Tegra2 chips that have similar power. Beyond the toy factor, there are a lot of cool utilities and productivity apps. Also, mobile blogging has changed; people use the Facebook wall, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr to share media. That is blogging, though people might not realize it.

There's a market for and a demand beyond casual, social network blogging, however. There are some decent writing utilities for the iPad and some blogging services have released apps (WordPress, Squarespace, LiveJournal), but many of these apps are problematic and lackluster. The Squarespace app is the most complete that I've used (for blogging), but still far from perfect. None of the apps take full advantage of the capabilities of the services and formats. For writing/word processing, Apple's Pages comes close. I could've used it for work far more often if the app supported vector graphics.

I was on the fringes of the Tablet PC community that existed prior to multitouch displays, iOS, Android, Vista and Windows 7. People had inkblogs and used slate and convertible Tablet PCs as primary work machines. On the few occasions that I interacted with some of the GottaBeMobile guys and other tablet enthusiasts, I got the distinct impression that for some, the slate wasn't a passing trend, it was the Grail.

The iPad is my primary computing device. The iPhone 4 has filled my portable point-and-shoot camera desire. With the right software, the iPad could replace notebook computers; it's fast, has front and rear-facing cameras, wireless internet, decent memory and capacity, a good screen and keyboard support. Of all things, it's the apps (and lack of) that retard it.

Mail supports HTML, but it's only usable via copy/paste. The email editor is weak. Safari is restricted to nine windows as a form of tabbed browsing; this might have something to do with memory, but the iPad can run Infinity Blade and Safari with nine pages.

There are some great iOS apps; I've shared and reviewed a few, and with time, I hope this rant becomes irrelevant. ThinkBook is phenomenal, and I'm enjoying Writing Kit, Daedalus, Day One, iA Writer, Penultimate, Wunderlist and Idea Store. Evernote and Dropbox also work well, despite iOS limitations. I can do just about everything on the iPad... but where's Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator for iPad? Where's ecto or MarsEdit, Scrivener or Storymill? Where are the programming tools and font designers? Where's Firefox?!

It's great that the tablet market has made it possible for two-man teams to create and sell apps... I just hope some established developers start taking these devices seriously for something other than gaming.

Squarespace and Tech, in general

Over the past few days, I'd spent some time trying to make some improvements to this journal, some of them, subtle — like trying to get “smart quotes” (slanted quotes) to work properly when posting from the Squarespace iPad app. The iPad is still my primary computing platform, and many entries here are composed on my iPad. Unfortunately, the smartypants code that changes "straight quotes" and apostrophes into “proper quotes” and angled apostrophes doesn't work when entries are posted from outside the web interface. Fortunately (though it pains me to admit), not many people care about this typographer's pet peeve.

Recently, technology, in general, has been frustrating for me. Undoubtedly, some of it makes life much easier — some technologies seem impossible to live without. Therein lies the crux, however; as we introduce more tech into our daily lives, we become more dependent upon those things.

The above paragraphs originally acted as an introduction to the meat and potatoes, my rant about cell phones. However, it's become such an important thing to me, that I've decided to separate it.

Before I end this 'quickie,' another entry that has been composed on my iPad (that'll post without slanted quotes, GRRR!), I'd like to add that Squarepsace customer support has been fairly responsive in an attempt to help me troubleshoot this issue. There was some confusion, and overall, the support ticket I'd opened (after being prompted by @Squaresupport) had a simple answer: what I wanted couldn't be done, yet. Throughout the process, each person I'd communicated with was courteous, succinct, and prompt.

So in closing, I'd just like to say that the overall Squarespace experience is great, and if you're looking for a DIY website solution with minimal programming knowledge required, look no further, and please let them know that I referred you, because (I think) that gives me some kind of credit, and makes you extra cool.

Lion and the iCloud

I really want a new iPhone this year, 'iPhone 5,' maybe? Perhaps Apple is waiting for the release of iOS 5 and iCloud, their new cloud service that they say will be free for iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion users. I just keep thinking about how bad call quality is on my AT&T iPhone 4.

It's not that AT&T is cheaper, either. Sprint and T-Mobile both offer unlimited plans that are cheaper than AT&T's very-finite plan offerings. If a new iPhone model were to release, I would hope that a Verizon version would exist — because I'd switch. Meanwhile, I do have a second line (with T-Mobile) setup as a BlackBerry, and I'm eligible to upgrade that phone for something better. I've been seeing a lot of 4G commercials; I winder if it's any good for talking.

It shouldn't be so hard to get a phone designed to be good at voice calls. Wasn't that the primary job of a cell phone at some point, or has it always been about playing 'Snake' or Infinity Blade? It must've been about the calls; I had a Siemens S40, a phone with a blue backlit screen and no games. I used it to talk, and its battery lasted for about five hours of talk time... that was ten years ago, at least.

I think that 'iCloud' sounds promising, but I'm a little upset with these transitions. First .Mac to MobileMe, and now to iCloud. What's next?! I remember reading an article ten years ago talking about Jobs' intent to drag OS X out as long as possible before cashing out of Apple. Back then, I thought that, surely, we'd be using OS XI or XII by now... oops.

I just hope that the reliance on these service doesn't doom our privacy and security. In theory, I like the idea of smaller HDDs, movies streamed from my collection to anywhere. It would mean that iPhone and iPad hard drives could stay small, and the money and development could go to graphics, RAM, battery life and better screens (better cellular reception would be nice, too).

'Lion' will sell for $29.99 through the Mac App Store. Yay, another "250+ features," aka 'padding;' we're going to be encouraged to pay for a fairly nominal upgrade — combine iOS tech with 'regular' OS X.

Perhaps I'll enjoy a Sprint Android phone, enough to use it... as a phone first.

Squarespace iPhone app, better?

iPad 2 Screen Problems

I now have the iPad 2.

This really is a big deal. The original iPad has served me so well, but this thing is twice as fast with graphics (they say) seven times better. I’ve heard that in reality, it’s less, but even so… this machine is amazing — now that I’m using my second iPad 2.

Yes, the first one was defective.

I was using a 64GB original iPad; I was so thrilled about upgrading to a 64GB with 3G. The anticipation from waiting over one month to receive the new iPad — and as soon as I sync it, I realize.

The screen of my iPad 2 is not centered.

Forget light leakage; the screen of my iPad 2 was offset about 1mm to the left, and tilted a degree to the left. This might not sound like much, but as an artist, it’s a huge deal. The untrained eye without magnification could see that the screen was off-center, so I took it back to the Apple Store for replacement. Apple’s customer service is pretty solid. I’ve been using their products for years now, and I’ve loved them since the beginning of OSX, despite some problems here and there. They saw the problem, and offered replacement… except that store didn’t have one. Luckily, an Apple Store twenty miles away did, so I went there.

It was there that I noticed that the offset screen problem could be a greater issue than just my lemon machine.

The problem is much easier to identify on the white iPad. The pixels of the iPad LED lit LCD screen don’t touch the border of the glass cover; there is a margin, a black border, on all four sides of the screen. At least, there should be — and it should be centered. However, this isn’t always the case. I checked several floor models, and noticed that some of the screens were positioned slightly off-center, though none as bad as the iPad 2 I’d first received. This imperfect placement makes me think that this could be an issue for other people. Please let me know if you’ve had something similar.

A screen with a slightly larger margin on one side is still usable, but a crooked screen isn’t.

That’s what I had. This new one, the one that I’m writing from, is much better. I can’t say that it’s perfect. I would’ve thought that iPad quality control would eliminate those sorts of problems. Other owners have reported light leakage and bright spots. At least dead pixels seem to be a thing of the past. “They don’t make ‘em like they used to” is a good thing with regard to LCDs. Despite my initial trouble, Imam happy with the iPad 2. It’s everything I loved about my old iPad, faster, in a better shell. I highly recommend these things; the iPad isn’t just magical, for me, it’s life-altering — in all of the best ways. I wish that Apple sold some kind of cover for the back of the iPad 2 (the aluminum can scratch really easily), but there are third-party covers like InvisibleShield. I plan to get something to go along with my (PRODUCT) RED smart cover. Because I take my iPad everywhere and use it as my mann computer, I need something sturdy and somewhat rugged. Having communicated with dozens of app developers, I feel like this device has some of the most passionate programmers and designers in the world backing it up and building for it. Despite some issues I have with Apple’s approval process and store policies, I give them my Bradtastic Approved label. I only wish they were more neutral in their apps choices and terms. As Playstation Network is still down, I’ll be writing more reviews, tips, tangents and rants in my spare time,, including a beginner’s guide to “becoming bit literate” — with the first step of reducing email inbox/es to zero emails. For now, I think I’ll enjoy this a little bit and continue organizing after a snack.

Integrating iOS Technology

I'm just relaxing at the moment; I can do that, and type on the iPhone 4 keyboard. I've become rather pro at it; as in, proficient. So here I sit for a moment, trying to drink half my body weight in ounces of water, thinking about these wonderful little devices we carry around with us and what they're doing to change our lives.

Here, in the greatest country in the world, so much of life has become about convenience and accessibility. I've heard that there are European countries that take better care of their disabled people, but groups like the ADA do a decent job making sure that the handicapped aren't left out. And mad props to Wounded Warriors.

I can access the Internet, Netflix "watch instantly" movies, TV shows on Hulu, millions of apps, millions of songs, news feeds, weather and GPS related info from my phone. This iPhone knows where it is in the world, and due to its built-in gyroscope, it knows its orientation and can calculate its own movement through space.

I'm even thinking about changing my data plan to 4GB/month (down from unlimited) so that I'll have access to "personal hotspot" and Internet tethering—I've never gone over 2GB on my handheld, anyway. In practical terms, it'll enable access to the net on my iPad and notebook computer; and because both are slightly better than the iPhone at web browsing and related tasks (though I love the "retina display"), it makes sense whenever I'm away from Wi-Fi. Writing and note-taking is easier on my iPad; at present, emails and blog updates composed (on my ipad) away from my home network get saved on the device and sync whenever I have a net connection.

The fact that this is at all possible is amazing to me sometimes. I think back to life a decade ago, when cell phones with color screens were top of the line and most people never thought about things in terms of terabytes. Earlier still, I remember staring at my Gameboy, thinking about how cool it would be to be able to watch TV on a device that small—seen one of the original Gameboys recently?! They're huge!

Luxuries turn to necessities and our lived become more complex. No one remembers phone numbers anymore; meet someone new—add them at Linkedin or Facebook. This is how many of us operate, and so much of it seems natural.

I have a hard time getting people to exchange handwritten letters with me through snail mail. Handwriting is becoming Latin. I used to inkblog; I'd like to, again, but I think if need to get a functional Tablet PC to do so on, or perhaps a Cintiq. My Fujitsu has a max battery life of around 45 minutes, and I can create artwork on the iPad, using the same software I'd use on the Tablet PC: Autodesk SketchBook Pro.

iOS plus MobileMe; everything synced, tracked, backed up... computers and technology all around us—makes me fear EMPs and solar winds. It makes me think about The Matrix; not so much the war against the machines bit, but instead the jacking in straight into the back of the neck.

Someday soon, we'll have augmented reality sunglasses and we'll wonder how we ever lived without them. And if I had to guess, they'll have two versions: Android and iOS.

Computer Hardware

Despite all this “antennaegate” nonsense, I got myself an iPhone 4, and I’m happy with it. The retina-display is amazing. I also got a Kindle DX last week; the more time I spend with it, the more I love it. At last, I thought to myself, all I need to get is a 3D HDTV and move out of Oakland, and everything will be peachy!

Alas…

Once again I find myself out of storage space on my main computer. My main computer isn’t new, anymore… and I’ve been giving some thought toward getting a new one. I just don’t know what would best suit me at the moment.

Things are changing.

My life was simpler last year; I knew what I was doing, I knew how to do it, and I wasn’t going out much. I’d made dramatic lifestyle changes and had settled into the uncomfortable routines of pain management. This year, I’m trying to be slightly more active, and I’m once again using computers frequently.

Desktop or notebook?

The iPad was the real game-changer. The iPhone did a lot to make some net-based tasks easier, but typing on one just isn’t quick or convenient enough. With the iPad I was able to establish new routines and processes to get stuff done. Apple’s tablet was the first device of its kind to really replace a notebook — it’s so far beyond the netbook that it’s unreasonable to compare the two.

Unfortunately, I can’t do everything on the iPad. Though there are many wonderful apps available on iTunes’ App Store (there are also many dismal ones), many necessary utilities are missing. I still need a Mac for some stuff. But what would suit me best? I’m debating between the iMac and Mac Pro.

Perhaps someday soon, I’ll have both; a work machine, and a media machine. For now, I need to prioritize, and the next two pieces of hardware I need are a printer and a WACOM Cintiq 12WX. Most of my design work starts as a sketch, and my Tablet PC is just too old to be effective. I can’t even find a replacement battery for it. I did add a Motion Computing LE 1600 to my wishlist, however, and at $450, it’d make for a great gift.

With or without, things are happening. I’ve been creating new artwork and I’m going to release some new designs as well as some writing. Somehow, with all of this going on, I’ve managed to set aside time to watch some Star Trek and post journal entries. However, my books and my aircraft design are drifting toward limbo — I need to rectify that.

If you also want to make some things happen, here’s a book I suggest:

Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky