A Muse's GuideFood, technology, yoga and music. . . is there anything else?

Since I first starting playing with my iPad, I have been enjoying the large screen and quick zippiness of the tablet.  The fancy calendar application, the extensive abilities of the Maps application and the beautifully clear and visually pleasing Video application have made my experience with the standard iPhone applications on this iPad an unbelievable experience.

Yet, I couldn’t help but have a feeling that something was missing. Just like that uneasy feeling in your stomach when you leave your credit card on the table at a restaurant after paying  -  you know you are missing something, but can’t put your finger on it. Its only once you are in the middle of trying to pay for the movie tickets do you realize you were missing it.

This week, in the midst of a busy day, I realized what the iPad was missing! Just when I needed it most.

The CLOCK application!

Of course, how did I not realize this sooner? Well, I was still using my iTouch as my bedside alarm clock, and it finally ran out of battery this week (yes my iTouch can keep a charge for over 7-10 days). In my enamored belief that my iPad could replace my iTouch’s role in my life, I came to the sad realization that it was missing the very thing that I rely on from all of my electronic devices. I use the aSleep application to give me soothing music to fall asleep to, but have always relied on the Apple Clock application to wake me up the next morning.  I am a bit of an insomniac and make a point of not looking at the clock at any time within the night, otherwise I would be checking every 5 minutes. My alarm clock application has been a lifesaver, it tells me when I can check the clock, get out of bed and all with personalized tones to accommodate my alarm clock needs and with additional alarm clock slots for @nachoman wake-up times too!

I must be mistaken, why would Apple remove a perfectly fantastic and reliable alarm clock? What is the purpose of my iPad sitting on my bedstand? An overpriced nightlight? Wait, what else was missing other than my alarm clock? – My World Clock of course. How am I suppose to organize my online video conferences without my world clock? Yes, you might say that I could just do the math in my head, but when trying to organize four or more different time zones, the World Clock can be instrumental in planning. Alas, no Clock application on the iPad means I have to likely use another less intuitive purchased application.

My hope is that in future updates to the iPad, or future generations, that Apple will include the Clock application, but it looks like for now, I am in the market for a reliable and good alarm clock application for my iPad that will run in the background. Nothing you say? Oh well, looks like I have to go charge my iTouch again, and deal with a tiny screen.

If you hadn’t realized that there was not a Clock application on the iPad just yet, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.  If you had already noticed the missing application and are just as annoyed as I am, I share in your pain.

~Deanna

So I have a shiny new iPad sitting in front of me. It is sleek, smooth and looks like an oversized iTouch. What is the draw?

Plenty! The ability to read articles, books and my email without having to squint at my tiny iPhone screen to name a major one.

Now what I was looking forward to with the iPad was to be able to access the iBooks application and use the fancy new iBooks bookstore, yet sadly being in Canada, my canuck Apple ID does not let me do that.  Oh well, at least I can purchase apps for my iPad using the app store just like I do with my iPhone… Nope! Since there is no iPad App store yet in Canada, I am stuck having to purchase my apps on my computer or iPhone, then transfer those purchases to my iPad.

Looking around the internet, to see if there is any news on whether the iBookstore will be available in Canada once the iPad is released up here, I am inundated with speculations, rants and here-say: no real information or news. It may be possible for me to try to get an Apple ID that would be recognized by the American AppStore, but of course the only way to get an American Apple ID is to have an American Credit Card or iTunes Gift Certificate. Why can’t I just buy an American iTunes store Gift Certificate online to set myself up with an Apple ID you ask? Well, it is a cache-22, without an American Apple ID, I cannot purchase an American Gift Certificate, without the American Credit Card or iTunes Gift Certificate I cannot set up my Apple ID. Ah the circle of frustration – All I want to do is have my iPad function like it is suppose to!

When I open my iPad, various other applications are non-functional on it as well.  It seems that Last.fm’s app doesn’t even want to open.  Whether that is due to a non-compatibility to the iPad or my being in Canada, I am not sure, all I do know is that I am disappointed that I cannot use the Last.fm service on my iPad (which for the record, I pay for).

The big problem I find with the iPad up in Canada, is the inability to access the Canadian iTunes store.  What if I wanted to purchase some songs or purchase some apps? Nope, that can’t happen since I don’t have that fancy American Apple ID for the American iTunes Store.

All in all, everything else is absolutely amazing on the iPad, though I will be waiting with bated breath to see what emerges when Canada gains access to the iPad iTunes/App Store. Fingers are crossed that the iBook application/store will be available.

~Deanna

I am excited to say that I have in my possession, a brand spanking new iPad.

Now I could describe the various reasons that I think that it is a beautiful piece of machinery, though instead I figured I would tell you all about the most important part – the Calendar application called iCal.

Traditionally on the computer, be a Macbook Pro, MacMini or iMac, I have found that iCal’s functionalities are limited by the interface.  While I can enter my calendar entries with relative ease, viewing the weekly or daily events and notes lacks a relative fluidity.  The desktop iCal application functions very much like a calendar on my wall, where I enter information only to glance at it and the view does not change based on what time of day it is – I simply am able to see where in my day I should be by the little line with red-dot that is placed horizontally on my screen to indicate the time of day. Due to this basic wall calendar function, I tend to rely on the month-view more often.

On my iPhone and iTouch on the other hand, don’t even get me started on the limitations of the iCal application.  Viewing the Month-view is a pain, since due to the small screen size, the only indication I have that a date has a pending item or scheduled event is by a tiny little grey dot placed under the date.  Upon tapping onto the date, I am only able to view 2 events at a time, being forced to scroll up and down my typically lengthy list of daily events. Yes, I could just use the list-view option, yet frankly that does not accommodate my list of events well enough – as when you have more than 6 events in a day, you have to continue scrolling down to view more. What has also limited my iCal use on the iPhone and iTouch has been the fact that you cannot control the calendars that you view, you are stuck with EVERY calendar on your iCal showing up as a long list to torment you.

I have long awaited the day that iCal would get revised, and with the iPad that day finally came. Not only is the iCal application on the iPad much more intuitive, it gives me exactly what I have always wanted – a fluid user experience.

Opening the iCal application brings me to the month-view, and it looks relatively similar to the month-view on my Macbook Pro – But wait! there is a pretty transparency to the events and all-day events, cleaner lines, and a executive office appearance to the border.  In month-view there isn’t that much different at first glance, until selecting an event – it pops up with speed and efficiency, stating all the information including my notes and locations within a little pop-up box.

Selecting “edit” on an event brings up the familiar window of editing events, almost identical to iCal on the desktop –  Thank goodness for that.  Another welcome component of this process is that unlike the iPhone/iTouch, the rest of my calendar is not blocked by entering this edit or new event.  I can still clearly see the other things going on within my calendar.

Week-view: How fabulous, similar to regular desktop iCal, yet wait – what is so different, where is the rest of my appointments and meetings from this morning? Why does it seem like I have  so much more room to enter information? A quick scroll, and I realize that this version of iCal automatically took me to the current time and applicable events.  It is currently showing from 2pm through 11pm for the entire 7-day week, no having to view what already happened this morning, since realistically I likely am going to this view to look at where I am suppose to be right now.

Day-View: In my opinion, the very best part of this application! It looks nothing like the regular Day-view – which basically was a unnecessary full page of the day’s events expanded the event box horizontally.  What is so different about this Day-view you are thinking? Well if you haven’t seen it, it not only shows the regular Day-view calendar on the right hand side, it has a simple month calendar at the top left, and the best part is the list on the left-side of the events of the day! Take a peek below, it really changes the way I work with my calendar, making it appear to be a desktop journal that can have pages flipped back and forth.

Now the best part of the entire application is not only the fact that it seems to accommodate my ever calendar need, it also allows me to select which calendars I want to view.  A simple drop down menu at the top left corner lets me select which calendar I want to see – just like in the desktop version. How fantastic is that! Not only does it look more stream-lined, Apple really delivered on their revamping of the iCal for iPad.

Gone are the days of scrolling on my iPhone, squinting my eyes to find out what time or date the next hockey game is at. Opening up my iPad and opening iCal have refined the hectic mess of trying to organize the day. How did I ever use my iPhone as my primary input device for my calendar events before?

Now all I require is for Apple to provide this version of iCal for my laptop and desktop Macs. I am itching to get back to my iPad calendar whenever I am forced to use the “traditional” iCal on my Macbook Pro.  I like the change, but it needs to be continuous across all my computers.

So there you go, my opinion and first uses of iCal for the iPad.

Cheers,

Deanna

There have been rumors and rumblings for the past couple years about a Apple Tablet that combines the iPod, iPhone and Macbook all into one nicely sized tablet screen.  I have been eagerly awaiting hearing any news about this, and am always on the look out for any new comments on the Internets.  Every month it seems there is a post promising the Apple tablet’s emergence into the world “next month” or “any time now”, yet it never shows.

This week, the Nook by Barnes and Noble was released, which of course has spun much discussion on this being the precursor to the Apple tablet.  This fascinating eBook reader seems to put the Kindle to shame, yet as I was looking at product demos it seemed vaguely similar to something I have seen before.  Now, the Nook has a much fancier screen (in color), with 3G and Wi-Fi, yet the more I looked at it, the more it seemed reminiscent of the Apple MessagePad 2100 a.k.a. the Newton.

So I immediately tasked myself to go find a Newton to confirm my suspicions.  Lo-and-behold, a wonderful professor of mine had one in his possession.  So I took a peek at it.  This MessagePad 2100 (Newton) was created in 1989, has a bright blue/green back-light, decent sized 8″x4″ screen, weighs about 1.25 lbs, but seems as sturdy as an Otterbox Case.  This “tablet” style mini-computer has a stylus that you use to write on the screen, which uses a writing recognition software to convert the writing into text (Plus the writing recognition learns from your writing style – more than I can say for many of the writing recognition applications built for the Apple iPhone).

With different sound capabilities, a 28.8k modem (though quite zippy since the files maintain a very small size on this machine – and keep in mind this thing’s battery life far outshines my Apple iPhone which only lasts me 12 hours when not using it), mail.app, notes, calendar, organizational assistant, games and more, I was intrigued by this machine that is 20 years old. Yes,  this tablet style computer with a word processor, with a touch screen, address book, writing recognition, and with Internet (and the ability to fax), seems too good to be true. Yet, I sat there holding it in my hands wondering how the long awaited Apple tablet doesn’t sound like it has changed all that much, expect with the addition of color screens, better resolution, and access to the Apple App Store (But any critics of the potential new tablet are skeptical about it being able to maintain enough battery life).  The Nook and Kindle also don’t seem to have come very far in comparison either, they are simply eBook readers with Internet (and a white case).  I think a modern day revision of the Newton would be a welcome product,  seeing as Apple already pretty much has had the beta out for 2 decades.

I am not going to stop waiting with baited breath for a glimpse of a modern tablet from the Apple store.  Though now that I have seen what Apple was capable of 20 years ago in a tablet style portable computer, I think I will wait on buying a Nook or Kindle, and just hold out for the Apple Tablet.  If history proves anything, it will definitely be good.

Cheers,

Deanna

So after all the hassle of waiting to get my Macbook Pro (Zappy the Lappy) fixed, between the problems with the zapping, the bad optical drive, the kernel errors, the glitchy mouse after the replaced logic board, the problem has been solved.  Well, the problem with the old laptop has not been repaired or figured out, but yours truly ended up getting a brand new laptop replacement!

I am the proud new owner of a Macbook Pro 15″ laptop (still waiting to name it). Since the Apple store doesn’t keep any old stock in their store, I ended up getting the newer swankier version of the 15″ Macbook Pro!  It has a 7 hour battery life, lighter weight, and a little bit speedier too. Ahh, after all the stress and hassle of having a glitchy laptop, I now have a happy, faster laptop.

So happy that everything worked out in the end. Though the funny thing is, this laptop emits a small electrical charge (zap/buzz) off of its top case as well. I think I can live with that though. I am just happy to have a functional laptop, with all my files, so I can sit on my couch, curled up with a blankie, and mark papers in peace.

Cheers everyone, and have a great weekend.

Deanna

I have been dealing with the Apple Store (Pacific Centre) and the telephone Applecare support centre for the past few months, trying to get my laptop fixed.

It all started with my laptop zapping me when I was typing, and there was always a consistent buzzing feeling emanating from the top case.  I didn’t think anything of it until my keyboard started to become a little more violent with its zaps to my little finger tips (sometimes it actually hurt, and for my fingers that is saying something – I played piano for 2 decades).  So I took my macbook in to get fixed.  The guys at Apple were so cheerful and nice, and I had high hopes.  They replaced the topcase on my laptop, and sent me on my way.  Lo and behold, it did not fix the problem, and even worse, my trackpad was now totally wonky.  So another visit to the Apple store needed to be scheduled.  They then replaced the top case again, and this time the logic board.  Alas, after this fix, the laptop not only seemed to be a little “off”, it was having Kernel errors on a daily basis! I couldn’t win.

After consulting with the Applecare phone support, numerous troubleshooting strategies and testing and testing and did I mention testing, it seemed like the laptop just had a weird problem. So today @nachoman was nice of enough to take my laptop back over to the Apple Store to see what is to be done about it now.

Fingers are crossed that I either get a new replacement laptop or they can find the magical way of making my poor little laptop feel better.

I will keep you posted.

Deanna

Every time I end up at the Apple Store at Pacific Centre, I stand there in the sea of bright orange, light blue and dark blue shirts, that scurry around looking for their appointments to take care of.

Now that I have been there a few times, I know the drill:  Make an appointment a week in advance, show up 5 minutes early to said appointment, then wait for another 20-60 minutes for someone to call your name.  In the 20-60 minutes you wait for a blue shirt to call your name or walk up to you, you eagerly watch all the hustle and bustle around you, hoping somehow that things may be on time.

Typically, I end up finding out that there is an über long wait for my pre-scheduled appointment, and go shopping next door. (Ooh! H&M, Hollister Co, Miss Sixty and more!)

Today was lucky, I only waited 20 minutes. I have to say, either they are getting quicker and more expedient at their booking appointments, or they decided to hire more people to wear blue shirts.

I handed my precious MacbookPro over to the blue shirt guy, who is absolutely cheerful and awesome, and he tells me that I will have my computer back tomorrow as good as new.  I am skeptical, as this is what they told me last month, and not only did they not fix the problem, they made it worse.

(The problem with my MacbookPro: From day one, my laptop has zapped me. It gives me a continual buzzing feeling in my finger tips, though this is nothing new.  I also can reproduce an electrical charge to other objects and people when holding my laptop.  Well, @nachoman informed me that this was not normal, and since I wanted my laptop in ship shape for this term of marking papers, I took  my laptop in last month to get checked out)

I have never had any problems with my Macs over the years, yet this laptop has been giving me grief. Oh well! Alas, I will find out *fingers crossed* tomorrow if they are able to fix this shocking problem (har har!).

Not that you really need to know, but I will keep you updated on my laptop’s status.  As we all know that I am like a lost puppy without my laptop around, leashed to the desktop iMac in my home office.

Have a great evening.

Ciao

Deanna

Sale! Sale! Sale! or Is It?

This morning I was stuck in the sea of people at Pacific Centre, where there was shoving, and yelling, and people scurrying everywhere with their shopping bags and oversized purses, with a mission to shop.  Now I normally don’t have a problem with crowds, as long as I can find a nice calm quiet place for me to sit every once in a while, to take a breather from the madness. Today was especially insane, as it is two days until the beginning of the school year.  On the news, all I hear about is that the economy isn’t doing well, and that people aren’t buying as much as they used to; well I would like to find out where they are getting their data from! The mall was just as packed and bustling as the week before Christmas, people did not seem to be curbing their spending habits due to their financial problems, and they were being vocal and ranting about their money troubles.

There were sales at every store stating “25% off all items”, or “buy one get one 50% off”, yet the prices of sweaters, jeans etc. are seemingly higher this summer.  Since when did a plain cotton sweater at American Eagle Outfitters cost $65? Did bushels of cotton suddenly double in price, driving the cost of t-shirts and tank tops up to $20-25 a piece in the past year? I somehow doubt that. Yet teenagers, adults and even little grannies were flocked around the “bargain” tables in a variety of clothing stores to take advantage of these so-called “buy-one-get-one-half-off” deals that are invading every apparel shop across town. Are they really getting a deal? I somehow doubt it, yet just by having the “SALE” sign posted over top of the table, with a little red sticker with a minutely lowered price, we somehow think we are saving ourselves money.

I went further into the back of the American Eagle store (where normally Sale items would be kept) and noticed that there were sweaters almost identical to the ones at the front of the store, where the throngs of Sale Seekers were revelling in their bargain finds, these very similar coloured and styled sweaters were markedly lower in price, yet not labeled a sale.  Many a shopper was walking by these items and barely glancing at them as they would comment to their shopping buddy, that “these ones aren’t on sale, so I don’t want to bother trying them on” or that “this sweater back here is the New Arrivals, and is obviously more money, since the Sale sweaters up front are Buy-one-get-one-half-off!”.  I am not sure whether these shoppers are just not able to do math in their head or that they just do not realize that the words SALE are not always a good financial deal for them, but more likely a marketing and inventory ploy by the store.  

The Apple Store Repair Shop: Picking Up My MacBook Pro

I only lasted about 15 minutes in the actual mall, where the whirlwind of drone-like shoppers were bumping and shoving to get to their next location, before I quickly rushed to the retreat of the Apple Store.  I was sadly mistaken that the Apple store would be my quiet place of refuge, the calm blue and white glow from the rows of iMacs and MacBooks was polluted by the sheer amount of people swarming the shop.  All I needed to do today was to go and find a representative to get my laptop from the back room where it had been getting repaired. No payment needed, no other assistance, I just needed my MacBook Pro to be picked up, I had even confirmed before hand on the phone with the Repair team that everything was ready.  Alas, the laptop acquisition would not be so easy.

I first had to wait in line to speak to one of the Apple Reps in a Orange shirt, though this seemed fruitless (no pun intended) for about 15 minutes.  I then caught sight of one of the numerous Blue Shirt reps, and she kindly told me that she was taking care of appointments, and that the Orange shirt could help me shortly.  Turns out, Orange shirt guy was the Concierge, and that is the only person who could help me out. (Would have been nice to know from the get-go) Again I waited.  Upon speaking with Orange Shirt, he took down my info and told me to wait for the manager who would bring out my laptop.  Progress! I then proceeded to wait for another 10-15 minutes for the Light Blue Shirt to say I could pick up my laptop from the front desk.  During all this waiting for a Orange or a Blue or a Light Blue Shirted representative, there were multitudes of shoppers buzzing around the store, looking for their copy of Snow Leopard, or looking for a new iPod nano and so on and so forth.  In the midst of all these shoppers with numerous questions for Orange and Blue shirts, there were about 8 other people I could see that were just waiting to grab one of these reps to just say “Hey! You have my computer in the repair shop back there, GIVE ME!”

The waiting and waiting, while other people pushed their way in front of us, in the madness of all the shopping and browsing, could have been easily averted if the store had considered to have a “Repair/Drop-Off/Pick-up” counter or individual. I wouldn’t even care if they made that person a “Red” Shirt, it would just be helpful to be able to get through the masses of people with questions about “this laptop case” or “that iPod colour”, and not have to guess at which Apple rep is in charge of picking up my laptop that is in their Repair Shop.  Now once I actually got the attention of and spoke with any one of these Blue or Orange Shirted Reps they were absolutely a delight to speak with, and they really were knowledgeable, cheerful, and even apologetic if they weren’t able to help me just yet.  It just was quite the experience to be in the Apple store and feel like a little fish stuck in a current, not knowing which way to go!  Or perhaps a fruit on a conveyor belt at a farm.  “Pick me! Pick me!”

Apple seems to have cornered the market on a stream-lined user experience, yet seems to have fallen short on their retail experience.  Their gleaming white and silver walls exude simplicity in an environment where a little more guidance would be more than helpful.  A simple sign stating that “This is the Concierge Counter, where you go for the following services”, and “Go to any one of the Dark Blue Shirts to pay for your purchases, if you have MasterCard or Visa”, or even “Pay Here!” would help solve quite a lot of confusion.  The amount of glares and shoves I received from customers waiting to pay, when I got waved to the front counter to pick up my laptop that was in for repair, would have been avoided had they realized that I was in a completely different queue than them, and that the Cashier only takes up one individual at the counter, the rest of the Light Blue Shirts up at the counter were either Repair Specialists or Specialists waiting for their booked appointments.  I wasn’t getting preferential treatment, I was just there for a completely different purpose.  After all of that, I got my precious MacBook Pro back, in wonderful condition with a brand new top cover/keyboard, therefore I cant complain too much.  I do hope that I wont have “Alice-in-Wonderland”-esque nightmares tonight about chasing Blue and Orange Shirted people.

~Deanna