In Personal, Technology on
5 August 2010 tagged iPad, travel, wordpress with no comments
Some quick thoughts on using the iPad as an alternative to a laptop when traveling for a press event:
1. Formatting your text using the WordPress client for iPad is not going to happen, no options available at all for that.
2. The lack of multitasking can be a pain, as you can only focus on doing one thing at a time on the iPad. No alt-tabbing to check on IMs or email in another window. If you’re taking notes and want to switch out, you’ll have to close the notes app first. Can’t wait for iOS4 and multitasking to happen on the iPad.
3. The onscreen keyboard is pretty decent, I could take notes at a half decent clip (even with my two-fingered typing skillz). Didn’t have to bust out the Nokia Bluetooth keyboard at all.
4. Transferring files to and fro with ease will be an issue, unless you have a data connection handy. While images transferred over fine with the camera connection kit, I had to email files from my HTC Desire over to myself at times, and then download the attachment via email on the iPad. Must remind myself to get my Dropbox account sorted out soon.
5. If you happen to be shacked up in a hotel with free Internet, but only on a wired connection, you’re pretty much screwed.
This is still only the second day that I’ve had the iPad out in active field duty, and I’m still figuring out the best way to do things with the combination of apps that i have. If anyone has any better suggestions, I would love to know and learn more.
In Personal, Technology, Travel on
4 August 2010 tagged desire, flip, iPad, travel with no comments
While I wait at the departure hall of Changi Terminal 2 for my flight to board, thought I mint give wordpress for iPad a whirl. The image you should see below is basically my entire complement of tech for this particular press junket, with the exception of my HTC Desire, which was used to shoot the above photo.
What I’m carrying: Flip Mino HD, mini tripod, an assortment of USB chargers and cables, the Apple camera connection kit, and finally, my iPad 16GB WiFi. Not lugging a digital camera around this trip as I plan to borrow one from some media friends based in KL, also because I couldn’t be arced to heave my Canon 550D around, and my Panasonic LX3 is on loan to a colleague.
Just heard the boarding announcement, see you all when I land.
In Geek Toys, Technology on
27 July 2010 tagged 3G, DIY, iPad, microsim, SingTel with no comments
My latest gadget purchase was the Apple iPad, the 16GB 3G version to be exact. While I already did have a data plan on my mobile, I wasn’t about to subscribe to one of the new microsim data plans from either SingTel, StarHub or M1, simply because those plans are a little too rich for my taste.
What’s more, getting data on my 3G iPad wasn’t so tough, all that needed to be done was to sign up for a multi-sim plan, and cut that sim down to microsim size. At a cost of just S$5 a month, I can get a secondary sim card to use in the iPad for 3G purposes, and at the same time, continue using my same mobile data plan. After all, i’ve yet to really come anywhere near the 12GB monthly limit.
To start, @longadin(1) kindly provided me with a handy printout from buy-microsim.com(2), which had a template I could refer to to figure out which bits of plastic on my sim card were safe to chop off.
Once the necessary lines were drawn out, simply whip out the scissors and chop away. I recommend you leave some excess plastic on to begin with, so you don’t accidentally cut off too much. Its way easier (and cheaper) to just trim the sim card down to size, than have to go out and pay for a new one because you cut off too much.
Chopped, and fitted into the microsim tray of the iPad. Not too much trouble, thankfully.
Its also important to note that you can’t exactly get 3G up and running from the get go, as the iPad’s 3G settings need to be configured appropriately. Else you’ll simply face an error message to the tune of “Cellular data not subscribed”.
In the case of SingTel, simply head to Settings > Cellular Data > APN Settings and use the following:
APN: internet
Username: guest
Password: guest
Once done, that’s pretty much it. Took me all of five minutes to tape down my new secondary multisim, mark down the lines, and chop away. Factor in the time taken to get the newly chopped sim card into the iPad and to enter the appropriate APN settings, and you’ll need less than 10 minutes tops.
Links referenced in the above blog post:
(1) www.twitter.com/longadin
(2) http://www.buy-microsim.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=6
In Personal, Self Improvement, Sport on
4 May 2010 tagged Losing the Gut, Vertical Marathon with 2 comments
In typical blogger fashion, putting things down in writing in public is likely a good way to keep myself on the straight and narrow. In this case, keeping track of my progress at training up for the upcoming Vertical Marathon at Swissôtel The Stamford in November this year. It’s now May, and that gives me more or less five months to get my lard butt in shape, and hopefully lose a couple of kilos in the process. Also, I signed up for the Vertical Marathon the last round, but chickened out at the last minute. Ahem.
While I write this, i’m sweating a puddle in my study, having woken up at 630am this morning for day one of my ‘training’ regimen: jogging around my HDB block as a warm up, and then climbing up the 25 floors of my HDB block. Suffice to say, 25 storeys took me approximately 15 minutes to do, resting in between included.
The view from up top was spectacular in the early hours of the morning, totally worth the climb, and I would have taken a snapshot to share, but a) i didn’t bring my phone along, and b) i was already seeing a number of stars spinning around my noggin.
Now to see if I can squeeze in a trip or three to the gym during the week.
In Personal, Photography on
16 April 2010 tagged Canon, Film, Flickr, Fujica, Ixus, LX3, Panasonic, Pentax, SLR with 1 comment
Given that my last post was back in late 2009, it seemed high time that I actually made use of this blog. So here goes.
The picture above shows a pair of film SLR cameras that belonged to my dad; a Fujica AX-1 and Asahi-Pentax ES II. I just picked up a Canon EOS 550D about a month ago, while those two actually came back to Singapore with me after the Chinese Lunar New Year get together back in February. According to my old man, the pair are about as old as I am, having bought them around the time I was born.
While I do edit the top tech magazine in Singapore, I’ll be the first to admit that my skill set doesn’t reach far into photography. Yes, I used to own a string of Canon Ixus compacts since the Ixus V2, and my other compact is the Panasonic Lumix LX3. At this stage, you could classify me as the classic gear whore; owns some damn good stuff, but hasn’t done anything noteworthy since aside from going “Oh yea, I have that one as well”. My Flickr Pro account is evidence enough; one or two half decent shots by my standards, and everything else is pretty much meh. I’m no film user either, and opening the film loading bays of the Pentax and Fujica cameras above took me more than a few minutes to figure out.
So what better way to really start getting into photography than going back to the basics?
Both the Fujica and the Pentax were in pretty bad shape. The shutter seemed jammed on both, while fungus had taken up residence just about anywhere there was glass. Better yet, when visiting the Camera Hospital at Sunshine Plaza earlier today on the recommendation of Lucas, the store owner found that the pentaprisms(?) on both cameras were borked. Replacements go for about S$180 each, not counting the fee for cleaning and servicing the cameras. So I decided to just get the Pentax fixed first, and leave the Fujica for another day when I have extra cash to spare.
This more or less means I won’t be picking up a Sony PS3 anytime soon for my growing stash of Blu-ray movies, but getting down with photography might not be a bad decision after all.
