iPad Class

 

The Virginia Department of Business Assistance recently offered a free class for business people to learn some tricks with their iPad.  Lots of people have an iPad and there are scads of things you can do with it.  But most people don't use it to its full potential.

The class was held in the Greenfield Center.  I was familiar with Greenfield because of a few occasions I have had to sit in on the Board of Supervisors meetings.  It is a beautiful place.  It has plenty of parking and friendly people to direct you.  Go check it out.

 


A lot of the class covered the new features you get with the latest ios7 update.  I wanted to download the update, but my iPad kept telling me I was no longer connected to the internet.  This despite the fact that I was getting my emails.  I mentioned this to the instructor, Sandy Ratliff, before class and she explained this happened some times and I needed to do a hard reboot.  I felt like Bill Cosby with his Noah routine.  ("Riiight.  What's an ark?")  What's a hard reboot?  She explained that it was similar to turning off your computer to restart it when it freezes.  Simply hold down the power button in the upper right corner and the home button in the center of the bottom edge of the screen.

I had to do it twice and then the computer recognized that I was connected.  But it was going to take about 4 hours.   And I would need to be plugged into a power source so the computer wouldn't die in the middle of the download. Oh.  I waited until I got home and did it there.

Already it was worth the cost of the class.  OK.  The class was free.  But already it was worth the trip to the class.

The new update does tons of things.  More than I could grasp in one class.  But then it also did the things I hate.  The icons look different.  The computer forgot the password to our Wi-Fi.  My email looks and acts differently.  You know.  All those annoying things that make it a pain to figure out what you knew how to do a few hours ago!

Do you know how to get Siri, your personal assistant?  Not anyone connected to Tom Cruise.  Once you go to SETTING, then GENERAL and turn on Siri you can do a lot of things by voice command alone.  You can look up things on the Internet and send emails without touching the iPad.  And she is very responsive.  And she types faster and more accurately than I do.  Plus, she doesn't even need to use spell check!  You can even correct her pronunciation. That's fun for me, but imagine someone who is disabled.  Now they can send emails or get into tweeting.  I don't tweet or twitter, but I do send emails!

A lot of time was spent on saving information in the cloud.  Then if your computer or iPad dies or is stolen you can still have access to all your data.  There are a lot of free sites for a limited amount of data.  If you need to store more data, you will need to store it in different places or just pay for the additional space.  I am not ready to  explore this, but will need to do so soon.  Or perhaps I can hire a third grader to come and help me.

Ms. Ratliff showed us a bunch of useful apps that you could get for free and some she liked that cost a few dollars.  She was good at explaining things and used humor to keep us listening.  A great teacher. 

The iPad will also do some photo and video editing, something I would like to explore.  Maybe I need another class for that.  Or just time to sit and fool around with it.  Or that third grader.

 

She also showed us how to get Emoji on our keyboard.  This lets you expand way beyond a smiley face.

 

This is an app that allows you to add a bunch of different emoticons to your typing/emails. 

 

I don't know how much I will use it, but it was fun to find!  ( SETTINGS/GENERAL/KEYBOARD/INTERNATIONAL/EMOJI)
 
 

Sure, she showed us a bunch about remote printing and data storage and work related things, but we had time to do some fun things, too.

It was a fun class and I am looking forward to taking more classes at Greenfield.

Modern Technology

Lee bought me an iPad for our anniversary.  That means I have to use it up to it's full potential.  Right now I mostly use it for emails and playing solitaire.  The totally BEST thing about it is Skyping with my kids. Trista gave my visiting aunts a tour of her home in Nottingham, England.  How cool is that?  I can't wait to take it to my mom's and let her Skype with the Grands.  I also downloaded all my unread Nook books to it.  I save those mostly for when I travel and don't want to take a pile of books.

I am getting comfortable with the things I already know how to do on the PC, so now I have to expand my horizons.  A couple of days ago I figured out how to use my cell phone as a hotspot for the iPad.  Going gangbusters, now!

   

We read the Roanoke Times.  That is because we live near Roanoke and that is the only daily newspaper.  In my opinion, you have to read a paper.  How do you know what is happening in the world?  Sure, I read the news blurbs on the computer that interest me and I watch the news on TV.  Different channels at different times.  But I also think you need to read a paper to stay informed.  Is this because I was a journalism major or was I a journalism major because I like to stay informed?  Chickens and eggs.

Well, I read in the Times that I can also get my subscription on my iPad for free.   I can download it when traveling and stay current.  Or look up old articles rather than digging through our recycle bin.  I hope to be able to copy recipes for later use, rather than having an ever growing pile of torn out articles on my kitchen counter.

And all I needed to do was email in to the Times and they would send me the password for the App I downloaded from the App store.  I waited two days.

This morning I finally called in for the password.  If you do this, make sure you have one in mind as they will ask you for it and then your brain will freeze.  Or try to tell the person on the phone WAITING for you the password you use for your bank account.  This would be bad.  So have one in mind.

   

And LOOK.  Now I can read the paper when traveling.  Or if it is snowing and I just don't want to go get it.  Or if Lee has the section I want.  Yay!

So now I need to figure out how to use the iPad to edit a post for my blog that I started on my PC.  So far that is a no go.  Any suggestions?

Book Review and eReaders

Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh! Scott Sigler commented on my blog. I would respond to him but I can't. So here is my response. I love the fact that he commented on my blog. I am glad he didn't critique it for glaring errors. Even better, he is coming out with a new book in the series, Pandemic. It is not for some time, though, so it gives you time to read the first two and build some anticipation. I sent both books via Amazon to my brother Roland for his birthday. He works for the Department of Energy and has a long commute by train into DC. He was also on the trip to Tonga and read The Puppet Masters quite a few times, so I know he will love it.

This series screams out to be made into movies. If someone hasn't optioned it, maybe they should. When I win the lottery (my fall back financial goal for retirement) I will do it myself. I took some screen writing in college! My English major daughter Trista (UCLA summa cum laude)who then went to England for her Master's could do the editing. Okay, this series screams out for a movie or two done by professionals. And I'll leave it at that. Except for the fact that it is written in such a way that I can see how it would be adapted to the screen very easily, hopefully WAY better than The Puppet Masters was!

While we spent 2 hours today clearing more rusty oil barrels and wires out of the gully..the Super Bowl starts late on this coast...most of this weekend has been spent researching eReaders. Every time I go somewhere on a plane I have to take a book a day and a couple extra. This is in case I get stuck in an airport or I don't like one or two I brought. In addition, it was just decided by the consortium of libraries in Roanoke and Botetourt counties that they will purchase ebooks that can be downloaded to just about every eReader except Kindle. Now that I can get free books I am getting excited about an eReader.

I read about a book a day. I get a lot from the library, but I buy a lot, also. Because I read in such volume buying new does not make sense. I spend $30 to $50 a month on used paperback books. I like to buy them because I read everywhere. I read while doing dishes and vacuuming. I read while taking a bath. (Is it bad that I read when I iron? I do it when I shift the item being ironed to a different spot or change garments. I know, the kids always tell me that I can do any job more quickly if I am not reading, but the fact is I like reading more than these other jobs and have a hard time putting down the book to get to it ...just one more chapter..) I read while Lee drives. I don't read while I drive, though. I like a small paperback to fit in my purse so I can read whenever the opportunity occurs. I like the books small and portable and cheap in case I ruin them in the water!

Now that I can get free books, an eReader makes sense. I will still buy a lot of paperbacks and get hardbacks from the library, but for travel I love the idea of an eReader. I also like the idea that I can keep up with email and my blog when out in California. I checked and found that my old library in California has ebooks, so I can fill up out there, also. Or even grab one from Barnes and Noble via the Internet.

My dilemma was, do I get an eReader or an iPad. The iPad was larger and therefore heavier, but way more versatile. On the other hand, I can't get interested in games or a lot of the options, so I can take or leave that. I went to Best Buy and tried out all the available options and spent a lot of time Googling (is that a verb, like FedEx a package or Xerox a page?)to find out what other people think. I heard that iPad will have built in camera in the next generation. I love that idea. Then it will be easy to Skype with Trista in England, Tara in Northern Virginia and Travis and Vanessa in New Orleans. So I will wait until then and get one next year or so. In the meantime I will get a Nookcolor based on the reviews and my needs. But I will NOT be using this for the books I read in the tub!

Here is what I really want. I should probably tell Barnes and Noble so they can get cracking on it. If libraries can lend you an ebook and have it magically disappear in two weeks, and I don't want to keep a book I download from Barnes and Noble, why can't they offer a service kind of like Net Flix? The books I only want to read I pay $2 or $3 for and the disappear in two weeks. If I need more time I "rent" them for more money. I want the author to be paid for his work. I want the publisher to be paid, but if I don't get the printed paper and I can't lend or resell the book then why should I pay more than the cost of a paperback? It is cheaper for the publisher, who gets the lion's share of the book cost.

When this happens I will buy tons more books online, kind of like watching a pay-per-view movie. Watch it once and then it goes away. This does not mean I won't buy books to keep. I still do that even though I work in a library and spend more than enough at used bookstores. Books are also a favorite gift to give and to receive. But I would use it way more if I could do so at a reduced rate for a one time read and I expect it will happen when all libraries offer free ebooks and the bookstores have to compete.