I know some other ISPs have caps, but I don’t care. I’d like to know the actual reason for our current DSL service to require a bandwidth cap. I don’t experience a decrease in speed, unlike cable users who share bandwidth.
If there’s truly a tiny percentage of users that will be affected, I don’t understand why AT&T feel the need to drive another wedge between their customers.
I don’t like hand writing as much as typing simply because I’m a slow writer. The faster I write, the less legible my words become.
It’s incredibly easy to get going with a MacBook Air (Oct 2010), especially since it wakes up from sleep so quickly.
You can type the program name after pressing the Windows key.
Once you’re done writing, Control + S to save your document, then Alt + F4 to close the program.
Which programs do I use to write? The following are essentially free simple text editing programs, designed with minimal features so you can focus on writing. If you like any of them, please donate to the developers.
I save these small text files to a dedicated folder within Dropbox[1. Affiliate link to Dropbox. "For every friend who joins and installs Dropbox, we'll give you 500 MB and your friend 250MB of bonus space (up to a limit of 16 GB)!"] only for text files, with a specific prefix to help me find it later. (e.g. BP means blog post in “BP – Pronto writing in six steps.txt”.)
Why not use Microsoft Word, Apple iWork Pages, or OpenOffice.org Writer? If you’re only working with plain text, you don’t need the extra features and bloat.
If you don’t know the HTML tags for post formatting, copy your text[2. Select All for: (Windows) Ctrl+A; (Mac OS X) Command+A], paste it[3. Paste for: (Windows) Ctrl+V; (Mac OS X) Command+V] into your blog post, then format and/or add links accordingly.
As soon as I ordered my MacBook Air, I quickly went to WaterField Designs. While I could’ve bought a case from Incase, Etsy, or Timbuk2, I chose a WaterField Designs SleeveCase[1. Horizontal, Lead Indium, add flap, no strap or Piggyback pouch.] for $52.
Several years ago, when I used a bulky Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop, I also bought a SleeveCase from WaterField. I liked it’s durability, design, and simple elegance. I didn’t look anywhere else when I ordered my MacBook Air.
Even though it’s a bit more expensive, high quality means it’ll last for a long time.
Inside my WaterField SleeveCase and “Jack Pack” messenger bag, I feel confident my MacBook Air will be protected from bumps and scratches.
After much consideration, I finally bought a MacBook Air. It’s my first Mac.
I chose the 11-inch model with a 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of memory, and 64 GB of SSD flash storage.
I almost bought my Mac from MacMall. But, when I got to the payment step, the math wasn’t correct. The MacBook Air, USB ethernet adapter[1. I bought the USB ethernet adapter just in case.], shipping, and tax didn’t add up to the estimated subtotal (which was six dollars more).
Next, I stumbled onto Oregon-based PowerMax. Their site was visually much more pleasant. After over an hour of reading through their company information about pages, warranty information, and plenty of good feedback, I made my purchase.
Another bonus: I saved on sales tax and opted for free shipping.
After two days of processing and six days in transit, it finally arrived. Thanks PowerMax!
By the way, I finally heard back from MacMall. It took four business days (six days total). While I explicitly stated I did not want to order over the phone, the MacMall Account Executive replied:
If you call my extension I will be able to place the order for you with the correct price.
Wow. No explanation about the math error. That’s a shame.
Opening the box was an elegant experience. I wasn’t rushing. I couldn’t help but snap a few photos.
I’ve been following the directions and suggestions from “How to Switch to the Mac” by Tao of Mac. To minimize any botched accounts, creating a standard user after creating the first Administrator user was stated several times in the article. Once I got that out of the way, and skimmed through the booklet, I was ready to get going.
I updated from Mac OS X 10.6.5 to 10.6.6, plus a slew of other updates, totaling 529 MB. That took about 40 minutes. After rebooting my Mac, an iDVD 7.1.1 Update (36 MB) also needed to be installed.
Another security measure for working at public WiFi hotspots is to configure PPTP VPN to connect to my DD-WRT router at home. (See DD-WRT PPTP Server Configuration for Mac OS X. I needed to force encryption on my router. I should probably update my router firmware, then use OpenVPN.)
I’ve installed the following:
The boot and wake speeds are ridiculously fast:
With Google Chrome, OpenOffice.org, Bean, Stickies, iCal, and Activity Monitor open, my system is using 1.66 GB of memory, leaving 2.34 GB free. I would be usually running Thunderbird, too, and possibly iTunes. The best part: the system feels incredibly snappy. (I don’t think it’s just cool and new to me. Honest!)
Easter Egg: If you’re on Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6), try holding Shift while clicking a stack or folder in your Dock for some slow, smooth opening action.
I wanted a MacBook Air since it was first released January 29, 2008. With the switch to SSD, it was even more tempting. I don’t need a lot of storage space this laptop won’t be my primary computer.
With a few textbooks, my messenger bag was already heavy. I didn’t want to carry a separate bag for my laptop, nor did I want to lug around one huge bag.
Furthermore, I’m not necessarily biased toward PC or Mac. I see strengths in both. While you can get a PC for much less than a MacBook Air with similar or better specs, it’s not all about specs. It’s a beautiful feeling to put my laptop to sleep in a couple seconds or less, then to jump back into my work much later without missing a beat.
After reading Marco Arment’s thoughts on the 2010 MacBook Air, then trying the 11” MacBook Air at the Apple Store, I felt pretty confident that sacrificing screen size wouldn’t affect my usage. I love that it has a full-size keyboard.
So far, I’m extremely happy with it. I write, read (Google Reader or Instapaper), and check email. Speed isn’t a problem. Even right now, I’m typing this blog post from Bean while relaxing on my couch. The screen brightness is set at “4” and I can see everything on my screen pretty comfortably.
As I get accustomed to Mac OS X, you’ll probably start seeing related posts in the near future, so I’m stoked for another layer of diversity here.
If you have any articles for new Mac users, recommended software, or other usage tips, please leave them in the comments.
I haven’t written about my Android in awhile, but I’ve been messing with it a bit more lately. The following has been rattling around in my head for the past few weeks. Please excuse the partial lack of structure.
Some background:
I’ve since purchased the Seidio extended battery, I can get between 30-48 hours of battery life, depending on usage. While I haven’t been keeping track like before, I’ll just say that I’m around 60-65% after being unplugged from 07:00 to 13:00 (six hours). Using the with the stock battery, it went down to 20-25%.[1. The six hours comes from being at school, using Audiogalaxy, Google Voice, and TweetDeck heavily between classes.]
More recently, Marcus demonstrated some features of CyanogenMod over a Monday lunch at school. A couple days later, my phone is running CM6.1, but I’ll probably upgrade to CM7 RC1 for kicks. (Interested? Backup first.)
With a rooted phone, PicMe and ShootMe are two awesome screen grabber (screenshot) apps.
I didn’t realize that the Mount USB Storage option in ClockworkMod Recovery allowed my to plug my phone to my computer with the USB cable, then copy files off my SD card. I copied my ROM backups to my computer for safekeeping. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have a way to revert back to the stock ROM since my 8 GB MicroSD card died, and I didn’t know about this feature. (I hope I won’t need to do that, though.)
Oh, and use Titanium Backup to uninstall apps you don’t want. (Why? I believe Twitter and Facebook were only included because of the Google Apps install. Oh, I nuked YouTube as well in favor of HTML5 videos.) No need for Terminal, unless that’s how you roll.
Finally, some screenshots:
My 8GB MicroSD card on my Android phone basically died on me a few weeks ago. I’m glad I save my photos and sync my text files to @Dropbox.
You really should get a free Dropbox account, especially since you get 2GB free. (Disclaimer: That’s a referral link. If you use my link, I get 500 MB and you get 250MB of bonus space, up to a limit of 16 GB.)
I’ve given up on extending my battery life by means of software, such as JuiceDefender. Maybe I need more patience to configure it, but sometimes, I just want it to work. From what I’ve been reading across various blogs and websites so far, the iPhone holds that title.
I’m going to buy an extended battery. I’ll be alright with the bulk.
When I’m away from home[1. School, primarily], my usage consists of:
After six hours, I’d find my battery around 20-25%. Boo. (Yes, I adjust my screen brightness as low as I can tolerate and usually keep all GPS-related features disabled. WiFi is usually disabled.)
On a few work days, when I forced myself to use my computer for Google Voice and TweetDeck, I didn’t touch my phone and it barely got to 85% after eight hours.
Specific Android app-related posts to come. Sit tight.
Overall, I’m very happy with the experience using my HTC Droid Incredible. I’ve had it for about ten days.
After a couple of days with it, I root my phone with unrevoked3. (Ambitious, huh? I guess Wil Wheaton recently did the same with his HTC Droid Incredible. Wheaton!!!)
Side note: Why did I want to root my phone? To uninstall apps pre-installed by Verizon Wireless that I wouldn’t use. (Crapware.)
The following is a list of Android apps I’ve installed and used so far:
After I root my phone, I uninstalled the following pre-installed apps:
From what I’ve read so far, it’s only bad to have rampant apps installed if they constantly use your CPU in the background. The Android memory system is pretty solid.
On Friday, I used my phone pretty heavily between classes. (TweetDeck, texting several friends with Google Voice, and Pandora.) It was unplugged between 7:00 AM and 1:45 PM. When I got home, my battery was down to 25%.
I might have to try the bumb charge method outlined in this HTC forum thread, plus remove the calendar widget. I technically don’t need it.
Actually, I should try one thing before trying another. That way, I know which factor was relevant. For now, the calendar widget is gone.
Otherwise, I’ll upgrade to the Seidio Innocell 3500 mAh Extended Life Battery shortly.
Note to self: With Auto-sync disabled and Background data enabled (Settings > Accounts & Sync), I still got notified of a text message through Google Voice.
Update 2011-01-09 22:10 — TweetDeck also updates with Auto-sync disabled. What apps are dependent on Auto-sync? (I’ll search for the answer eventually if nobody leaves a comment. Hehe.)
Update 2011-01-10
For now, I’ve (sadly) uninstalled K-9 Mail and will resume using the built-in Mail app. I’ll resume my testing and publish a new post at the end of the week (so I don’t keep adding “clutter” to this).
Nineteen months with an LG Dare (dumb phone) is over. While I was considering waiting for the Apple iPhone coming to Verizon Wireless, I decided to go with the HTC Droid Incredible (Android OS).
I’m glued to Google Voice and my life is in Google Calendar. I also have a Gmail account, but my primary email account (IMAP) is through my web host, Media Temple.
Of course, open source software is big plus.
I’m aware of the awesome Apple iOS apps, but I also see lots of good ones for Android. I won’t necessarily install a lot of Android apps, but it’s nice to have the option.
Most importantly, I still don’t want to leave the Verizon Wireless network.
Over these next two days, I’m importing, consolidating, purging, and organizing my contacts into Google Contacts with tips from:
I’m also looking forward to:
Yes, I have an 10GB Apple iPod (3rd Gen). And a DSLR camera. And paper. And my Kindle.
At the end of the day, I’m just a geek.
Oh, I ordered the HTC Droid Incredible from AmazonWireless for $0.01 with free two-day shipping. They check your account upgrade date. Their purpose (my emphasis added):
AmazonWireless is a new website by Amazon.com that offers cell phones and wireless plans, easy shopping without rebate hassles, and FREE two-day shipping.
Last week, I finally got the Kindle 3G (Graphite). Finally! My precious.
I’ve had my Kindle 3G for a little over a week, and I’ve logged about 20-25 hours of use. (Total guess.)
The short version: I love the Kindle 3G and highly recommend it.
I’m subscribed to a lot of sites in Google Reader.[1. If you don't know about RSS, see Common Craft's super simple and informative video, "RSS in Plain English." Looking to subscribe to someone else? View my Google Reader Shared Items.] Rather than starring items for later in Google Reader, I save lengthy posts in Instapaper.
Since I don’t read books as often as I’d like, I was hoping this would nudge me in that direction.
The Kindle does one thing very well: allow you to read comfortably.
While I could read and do much more on an Apple iPad or notebook (the usual comparisons), it wouldn’t be comfortable for long periods of time.
The other day, two and a half hours flew by reading on the Kindle. I stopped to get a drink of water.
I love being able to bring my Kindle everywhere with ease. Before, taking my [now unused] laptop to Panera was a hassle. Most of the time, I’m reading more than typing at length.
When you send an email attachment to your Kindle free email address, it will only go through to your Kindle once you connect to a WiFi access point. Bypassing the 3G network is how you can transfer documents for free. (See Transferring, Downloading, and Sending Files to Kindle)
I can manually trigger Instapaper downloads from the actual website using the built-in experimental web browser.
If I need turn-by-turn or text directions, I can access Google Maps wherever I have a 3G signal.
There are three methods you may use to download content on your Kindle:
I use Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. So far, I’ve used the following software and services:
I’ve used Instapaper since January 2008.[3. The oldest item I've saved is from January 28, 2008.]
Since I have over 200 items to read in Instapaper, I’m saving Wordcycler for later.[2. I had some errors, but rather than trying to troubleshoot, I'll see if a lower number of items helps.]
Calibre is the Swiss Army knife of e-book management. While the UI isn’t the prettiest, it’s an incredible piece of software.
Unlike Wordcycler, Calibre won’t automatically archive Instapaper items once you’ve read/deleted it on your Kindle. So, I’m manually reading the article listing on the Kindle, and simultaneously archiving them at the Instapaper website (on my computer). It’s a kludge, I know.
You can also schedule Calibre to automatically download items (especially from Instapaper) to your computer, then email them to your Kindle.
At the moment, Instapaper doesn’t support using the free Kindle email address. Calibre does. But, the $0.15/MB fee is cheaper than leaving my computer powered on at home.
By the way, you’ll be surprised at the small filesize of Instapaper deliveries. (20 items seems to be the max, and my latest delivery was 268 KB.)
I’d say the cost of running a dedicated (always on) computer to fetch Instapaper items is more expensive than an automatic daily delivery through Instapaper + Amazon Whispernet. If you transfer 1 MB/day, here’s the math broken down:
And, you can email your Instapaper account!
You can email links or forward long email messages, such as newsletters, directly to your Instapaper account. Each account has its own secret, random email address. Anything sent to that address gets added to Instapaper.
Try forwarding your most recent painfully long email message to it now, or send a link from any computer or iPhone app that can email links. (Instapaper Extras)
Problem: I’m not sure if Instapaper will keep sending items to my Kindle if they haven’t been archived.
For instance, I’m going to Philadelphia and New York next week for one week. If I enable the option to have items sent to me daily, and I don’t have a computer to archive the read items, will I keep getting duplicate content? (Yes, I’ll email Marco.)
When I get an Android phone[3. Late December 2010 or early January 2011.], Instafetch is another option to help save items to Instapaper, mainly because bookmarklets aren’t supported in the Android web browser.)
But, it’s too easy to send an email to your own Instapaper email address from an Android phone. Unless you’re saving stuff into your phone, you don’t need an app.
Amazon won’t let me remove her photo from the “screensaver” rotation when you put the Kindle in Sleep mode. Earlier today, I faced my fear and took a photo of her. I was going to include it here, but I changed my mind.
Just search for “Emily Dickinson Kindle” with Google Images.
I haven’t tried any.
The Instapaper bookmarklet(s) will also function while in Google Reader. It takes the permalink of the item you’ve selected. (Also, see “Can You Read Anything with the Kindle? Almost . . . with Google Reader” by FilterJoe.)
I wrote some of this like a supplement to the following:
Please share your thoughts on the Kindle in the comments. No flame wars, please.
Update: Added Kindle 3 First Impressions written by Marco Arment.
