The comics aren't worth $330/year, and are on other websites, for free.
So I was thinking about that when the cell phone, again, started throwing low memory warnings. A phone that will run all the apps I want, with a screen big enough for what I want, with a usable keyboard, is about $300. It's also a bit too large to be truly pocketable.
A top of the line iPad is $900 (including tax and accessories). Hmmm. If I get it instead of the new phone, and going e-replica for the Post, I'm out an extra $400. Assuming it only lasts a year. If I keep it two years I come close to breaking even.
So on Friday I went to the Apple store, and 10 minutes later walked out with a 64 GB iPad with Verizon LTE service (not turned on yet), a smart cover (need to find a good sleeve, any recommendations?), and the camera kit. Got it with the Verizon service because Dad doesn't have WiFi, and I visit him twice a year.
Using the camera kit I can import video files. I have 4 seasons of Miami Vice, all of BSG, and a selection of SG1, plus other random movies, that I ripped to mp4 with Handbrake. I was worried about how they'd look, given that they're ripped from standard def DVD's using presets for the Archos 605 and the Nook Color, both of which are much lower resolution than the iPad.
They look pretty darn good. Even in full screen mode. Hope the battery will last for the 4 hours or so of a cross country flight.
Importing video to the iPad is a stupid process. Basically, Apple figures that you'll either import from iTunes, or the camera, or iCloud, and nothing else. So if you have other video sources, such as a stack of SD cards (so you can watch videos on an airplane, or somewhere else with no signal), you have to fool the iPad into thinking they're from a camera.
iPad Video Importing HOWTO:
Format the SD card with a FAT32 file system, which your camera (probably) uses. Create the "/DCIM" directory. Give the video file(s) 8.3 filenames of the sort a camera uses. They must be 8.3, and a letter followed by 7 numbers in the 8 part. Example: "P1234567.mp4". Put the video files in the DCIM directory. Put the card in the camera connection dongle, plug the dongle into the iPad. The iPad will ask to import. The files will be imported into the photo app.
I need to see if the Pages iPad app stores locally, so that I can put together an index file for the video file names. Or just play with the photo app to see if I can store the episode/movie name in metadata that is accessible. I wonder if anyone has made an app for this, or if it's something that I can do?
All weekend, when I wanted to surf teh intarwebs, I just grabbed the iPad rather than firing up the iMac. I'm thinking that the iPad will be the go to device for most of my home computing needs. So when the new iMacs come out I may get the 21" instead of the 27", since I won't be using it all that much anyway. In which case the iPad pays for itself pretty darned quickly...
Really need a new, softer seat, for the bike. Every bike shop I go to the people there say "You'll adjust!"
I'm not adjusting. Something nice and padded is needed.
Went on a long ride this weekend. Well, Herring and ObviousTroll wouldn't find it long. But long for me. 16 miles round trip from Falls Church to Reston and back on the W&OD Trail. From I-66 to Hunter Mill Rd is fairly level, with easy hills. But there's a nasty hill where Virginia Lane goes over I-66, and a set just past Hunter Mill where the trail departs from the old railroad where it goes through a narrow cut which the power lines go along. Didn't have to shift to the lowest gear on any of the hills for the first time! Yay me! The goals for the summer are to get all the way to Reston Town Center and back without having to hit the lowest gear on the rear sprocket set, and without leaving the middle sprocket on the front set. Short term goal is to make it to Reston.
Dreading the summer a bit. If it's this hot and humid in late May, what's July going to be like? Did my riding this weekend before 9 AM so it wouldn't get too hot before I got back. But during the week my rides will be at 3:30 in the afternoon, which is the hottest part of the day. Or maybe just after dinner, when it isn't much cooler. Before work, or later in the evening, won't work because of my having a real life.
Saturday I helped a friend move. We did it in the morning to avoid the worst of the heat. His wife is Filipino, whose cousin has a catering business, so lunch was Filipino marinated and roasted chicken with Filipino spring rolls. Very yummy.
Sunday was the long ride, followed by a visit to the Vienna Memorial Day celebrations, which included food trucks and random vendor stalls. Fun to walk around, but very hot. The local volunteer fire department had an aid station set up which was doing a brisk business in heat exhaustion treatments. That evening a line of strong thunderstorms came through which didn't cool things down at all.
I think that the invention of air conditioning has dome more to fuel the growth of the Federal Government than any policy espoused by any President or Congress.
Monday I rode from Falls Church to McLean in the morning, and did nothing the rest of the day.
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