Here is a sneak peak at the new design for the website. This is my “lifestream” page with the new design applied. There is still much work to do, and LOTS of coding. Almost all pages on the site will be generated dynamically in some form, making it much easier to maintain, and more modern. If you have any thoughts on the design, please let me know, I am looking for some input!

The iPad has been out for a little over a week now, and I thought that I would give you my quick review. I got the iPad the day of release and have been using it on a daily basis. There is much to love about it, and a few things are left to be desired.

The screen is the most important part of this device, and it is wonderful. Bright, with vibrant colors, and very responsive to touch. That being said, the glass is both a blessing and a curse for the iPad. It helps show off the display, but at the same time it’s an oily mess after just minuets of use. I understand Apple wanting to keep the price down and keeping the packaging simple; but come on, include a polishing cloth! With the screen being so reflective, it makes it nearly impossible to see out side on a bright sunny day, even with the brightness turned all the way up. Another problem to me is the screen resolution, 1024 x 768 is not good for a device like this… I would prefer a widescreen resolution.

The multi-touch is very responsive, and much easier to use than the iPhone. The UI is very intuitive and one of the most responsive out of any modern computer. Apple kept to the simple design interface that was introduced with the original iPhone, with a few minor improvements. iPhone OS is looking long in the tooth, and is starting to get cluttered.

The lack of multitasking might be a deal breaker for some, but with the future release of iPhone OS 4 this will be addressed. For me, I don’t think of their solution as multitasking and much as suspending apps for latter use, which they can do now. Another feature of iPhone OS 4 that I have been missing from the beginning is folders. This will be an added addition to the iPad and iPhone.

Back to the iPad, after a week I have only charged the battery twice, making this one of the longest battery life devices I have ever used. With normal use, you can easily get the touted ten hours of battery life, if not more. As I mentioned earlier this device is supper snappy, and responsive, something you would not expect from a device with such great battery life. One of the biggest problems for me was the added weight from the battery. At 1.5 lb., it gets hard to hold after just a few minutes.

The apps are very nice looking, and well thought out. The iWork apps are also a great addition to the app store. All this benign said, the price for some apps is a large barrier and some are just out right over priced. With the price out of the way, another problem is just how buggy all the apps are. This is partly the fault of Apple because they didn’t seed developers with ipads before launch. The overall bugginess of the apps will improve with time, as will the lack luster selection of apps in the app store.

Over all my impressions are very good. The iPad is less of a revolutionary device and more of a evolutionary device. It has it’s place, and while some say it is more of a toy, I have replaced my laptop with it. I can use my desktop computer for doing the heavy lifting and my iPad for the more day to day work, including writing this blog post.

There’s something in a simple hug
That always warms the heart;
It welcomes us back home
And makes it easier to part.

A hug’s a way to share the joy
And sad times we go through,
Or just a way for friends to say
They like you ’cause you’re you.

Hugs are meant for anyone
For whom we really care,
From your grandma to your neighbor,
Or a cuddly teddy bear.

A hug is an amazing thing -
It’s just the perfect way
To show the love we’re feeling
But can’t find the words to say.

It’s funny how a little hug
Makes everyone feel good;
In every place and language,
It’s always understood.

And hugs don’t need new equipment,
Special batteries or parts -
Just open up your arms
And open up your hearts.

-Jill Wolf

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply,

‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’

He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him,

‘I don’t get it!’ ‘You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?’ He replied,

‘Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or…you can choose to be in a bad mood I choose to be in a good mood. Each time  something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or…I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of  life.’

‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.

‘Yes, it is,’ he said. ‘Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life.’

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied,

‘If I were any better, I’d be twins…Wanna see my scars?’ I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied. ‘Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.’

‘Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?’ I asked. He continued,

‘…the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked.

‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,’ said John. ‘She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude…I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

‘Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

You may recall the rumors about a new iPod Nano a couple of weeks ago; well it looks like they may be true, at least in part. Tom Krazit of Cnet has been invited to the rumored Apple event!

Apple has sent out invitations for a music-related event next week, and the smart money is on new iPods.

The invitation, titled “Let’s Rock,” went out Tuesday morning inviting media to the Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts in San Francisco next Tuesday at 10 a.m. PDT. Rumors have been building for weeks that Apple is set to introduce new iPods at what will be its fourth September iPod event in as many years…

Read the full post

While this does not mean that we will see a new iPod, it does seem a little more likely! Go Apple! To read more from my post on the rumord iPod, click here.