Last week the University had a sale for all University Staff and Faculty on Apple products:  no sales tax.  It was a perfect excuse to get an iPad.  I’ve wanted one for quite some time, and finally, after my wife had a chance to play with one the weekend before, I was given the OK to plop down the cash to get one.  So, on Tuesday morning at 7:20 AM I got in line for an iPad.  In line is right, there were over 50 people in front of me, and it seems that the Bookstore sold out of all the iPads by the time I got to the register.  But I was able to get one on order.  It was the longest week of my life, waiting for the iPad, but it finally came in on Friday. 

It’s much smaller than I thought it would be, with the surrounding bezel smaller than I thought I remembered seeing on the device Steve Jobs showed in January.  It is also very hefty, feeling very solid.  I thought I might have needed a hard external case for the iPad, but it the device is solid enough I don’t worry about it now.  The only thing I would be concerned with is scratching the glass, which can be fixed with a good screen cover. 

So what was the purpose for purchasing one?  Well, I had a laptop that was a G4 Powerbook, and it was starting to show it’s age.  The battery didn’t run long enough for me to be able to do anything while going to work.  And mostly I just wanted to write or play games while listening to music.  I could play games and listen to music with my iPod Touch, but I couldn’t for the life of me get any writing done.  The screen was too small to type well, and so many ideas would be lost in the frustration of trying to type it out with my thumbs (I am not a texter, and therefore I have no aptitude for texting).  I wanted something larger that could take the place of my Powerbook and fulfill those needs. 

Well, I did look at a Netbook for a long time, thinking I could use one, but they have one problem:  their clamshell design.  Not that huge of an issue, unless you are sitting in a cramped seat on the bus and want to type,  The clamshell monitor cannot open far enough for me to see what I’m typing, and while I can touch-type pretty well, I would rather not guess at what I am writing.  So that idea was thrown out.  I wanted a tablet like the iPod Touch, but with more space. 

Finally, I got the iPad.  My first impression using the Notes app was that it was amazingly easy to type on, as long as I didn’t used my pinkies.  That’s because the Shift key isn’t quite where it should be for a normal sized keyboard.  But, as I only need it for some punctuation and capitals (which Apple’s spell check often fixes), I don’t worry about it too much.  And if I really need a full-sized keyboard while on a long trip (like on Vacation), I can use a bluetooth keyboard paired with it.  And I like the fact that I don’t need to worry about the hard drive failing, keys being picked off by my son, or any other such nonsense that comes with moving parts.  A capacitive multitouch screen is perfect for traveling.

But the real thing that makes the iPad, or any new device, is the software.  I tried running native iPhone apps on the iPad, but most were very pixelated, looking terrible in general.  So I limited them down to those that looked the best from what I had, and started looking for iPad specific apps. 

ForScore

I sing in a choir, and often I have trouble turning pages on music.  Ever since I first saw the iPad, I thought how great it would be to be able to have it display music for me.  Of course, I would need to have a way to scan in my music and use it, preferably as a PDF.  But it should be much more than a PDF viewer, because I need to be able to make annotations directly on the iPad while I’m practicing.  ForScore does all that, and gives me a metronome that is silent (visual outline that blinks to the time) so I can keep on beat.  All in all, it’s a great app.

Pocket Legends

Some games are pretty basic on the iPhone and iPad.  Some have fantastic graphics and 3D effects.  And still many say that an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game would be too restrictive on the iPad.  Well, as a proof of concept, I present Pocket Legends.  This is everything I have wanted in an MMO, including the option to quest alone (you start your own quest, password protect it, then continue from there).  It’s great because it shows just what the iPad is capable of doing with the right hardware in place.  Honestly, I see the possibility of a true 3D Second Life or WOW client being made for the iPad…  if someone makes the effort, that is.

Cloud Readers

This is a great PDF reader app, and solves a problem I have with iBooks:  it will only read ePub files, and I have some PDF eBooks.  And while I can’t read encrypted PDF’s with the Adobe DRM in this app, I can read all my other PDF’s just fine.  It’s a great little app, and I’m glad to have it. 

eBook Readers

I love to read, when I have the time, and so I tend to collect large libraries of books.  The problem is, I want to have them with me wherever I go, and so far I don’t have the backpack big enough to fulfill this need.  So I have been downloading and purchasing eBooks for many of my reading needs.  I started on my iPod, and it worked great, though I couldn’t see a lot of the book at once.  I really wanted to have more of a view of each book, and so the iPad makes eBook reading nice.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved reading on the iPod, I just like being able to use the full real estate on the iPad for reading as well. 

Of my eBook readers, I think I like iBooks the most for the experience, Kobo for the night reading option (black background with white text seems to be easier to read for me), and I like the Kindle for overall device compatibility (syncing).  Kobo offers that as well in it’s fashion, as will iBooks when iPhone 4.0 comes to market.  I would love to see a Stanza iPad-native app come soon, though, as Stanza was my favorite eBook reader on the iPod Touch. 

So that’s a quick outline of some of the many iPad Apps I’ve found useful in their full real estate glory.  I’m looking forward to seeing quite a few new apps in various areas replace the iPod apps I currently use because they do not have a satisfactory replacement. 

But needless to say, I see tablets like the iPad quickly taking over much of our mobile experience, relegating the Notebook to either replace the Desktop, or breathing new life into the Desktop platform. And I like my iPad.  ^_^

This week I got an email from the developers at FizzBrain about their apps for children with Autism.  They offered to give me some free time to try out their apps and consider writing a review.  I checked out the website and liked what I saw, so I replied and offered to try them out and review the app.  Here is the write-up they gave me about the games.

"Look in my Eyes," a game to help children on the autism spectrum

"Look in My Eyes" is a game for the iPhone and iPod touch designed to help children on the autism spectrum practice eye contact. The game rewards children for quickly focusing in on a person’s eyes. Through repeated practice we attempt to develop a habit that families can transfer to real life settings as they remind children to use the skills they have practiced in the game. The game makes practice fun as players use the points they earn to buy items for their own virtual world, such as a restaurant or autoshop – a unique reward system that grew out of our decades of classroom teaching experience (we are both teachers, one with a masters degree in special education). We have combined this experience with our extensive training in best education practices and many years of close personal relationships with children who have Asperger’s Syndrome and autism to create a social skills game we hope will benefit your child! We also have some promo codes available for free downloads to families who could benefit. Contact abbiejcort@msn.com if you are interested. We have many more games to come in the future so check back frequently. Read more about the games, read reviews from parents, and see screenshots at www.fizzbrain.com
or http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/fizzbrain/id349835342

These two apps are designed specifically to help those with Autism and Asperger’s to look someone in the eyes.  The idea is simple:  provide some detail in the eyes (in this case a briefly showing number), ask the person to identify the number, and they receive a reward.  Once they have built up their rewards, they can use it to "purchase" additional rewards. 

As those with Special Education experience will no doubt recognize, this is simple, effective, and commonly used Behavior learning techniques.  Ideal, I might add, for most if not all children in on the Spectrum.  It’s not surprising when you learn that the developers have the benefit of a Masters in Special Education.  And it works.  It works very well.

I downloaded the apps and tried them on my son.  At first I just opened it and let him go at it, at which point he promptly switched out of it and into his favorite apps.  Realizing this will take some time, I then sat him down next to me, started an app, and played with it a little bit.  He then was hooked.  He didn’t play it as it was designed to play, as he didn’t really care about amassing the reward dollars.  Instead, as he is learning his numbers now in preschool, he did it purely for the number recognition. 

This is something the app doesn’t advertise, and yet does beautifully.  My son is excellent with his letter recognition, and can’t be tripped up with the wrong letter.  But he’s not so strong on his numbers.  So the application does two things:  teaches him to look into the eyes of other children and adults, while also helping him with his number recognition.  It’s brilliant! 

Now, I did bill these apps as unique.  Why?  Because they don’t focus on communication.  At all.  Instead, they focus on behavior, which children with Autism really need along with their communication skills.  So while a lot of Autism billed apps focus on helping children recognize words, learn to speak, for speak for them, these apps help children deal with a basic social experience:  looking someone in the eye. 

I can highly recommend these apps for any parent with a child on the Spectrum.  Don’t be surprised if they don’t play the game as you would expect, but as long as they get the basic idea (look in the eyes, see the number, touch the number), you will see benefits.  I only hope to see more apps like this coming from the Autism community that focus on real social skills beyond simple communication. 

If you are interested in learning more about the applications, feel free to contact them.  They also said they would be willing to offer free promotional codes to parents to read the review on this blog, so if you are interested email Abbie at the address above, and mention the blog. 

Thanks FizzBrain for the work, and I’m looking forward to other programs you have coming down the pipe!

First off, I want to point out that I like mysteries, and ancient mysteries are great. There are few organizations in history that have taken the imagination of the world like the Templars, a 200 year old fighting brotherhood that rose quickly, and declined almost as fast. Fascinated with where the story would go, I kept reading.

The writing was great in a lot of areas, but a little, um, forced in others. jumps in logic needed to be made, and sometimes obvious decisions were ho-hummed by the characters for so long it became tedious. There were also some inconsistencies in the way the characters were thinking. Some characters even started to blend in together, and when not specifically identified, were difficult to tell apart. Also, the standard epic formula was pretty transparent, though I admit I look for it in every book I read.

And then the religious agenda was thrown in, questioning the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. Regardless of your personal beliefs, attacking a religion isn’t good form in my book. This was a personal aversion to the obvious bias of the author, and not a reflection of the literary abilities of the author.

But the good parts of the book were fabulous! I loved the historical references, the focus on the past and the future. And the knowledge that each location in some form or another exists today was great. The author clearly did his research. This book kept my attention about 2/3rds of the time, if not one hundred percent of the time.

I’m a Mac user.  I’ve been a Mac User since 2007, and before that I was impressed with the Mac OS X line.  Why?  Because it uses UNIX as a core (version of BSD), and I could install retail software on it along with my open source software.  That was huge.  Before Mac OS X, I liked Linux, and used several distributions.  Before that, I used Windows like everyone else (though I preferred the DOS command line). 

But one thing I like about Microsoft is their Office Suite.  It’s a great product overall, and very well done.  I’ve been teaching Office 2003 and 2007 classes since I started at the University of Utah, and the more I teach, the more I like it.  It’s flexible, it’s clean, and the Ribbon makes it easy to get a lot of things done. 

Yesterday I had a chance to download Microsoft Office 2010′s Public Beta and give it a try.  Here are the initial impressions I got while running through the basic tools.

Excel 2010:

• No more Office button:  Now you have the File Tab, which does the same thing.  This is a transition tool that would have been helpful with Office 2007 – less confusion with a button that previously didn’t do anything.  Now it’s just going to confuse those people who just got used to 2007.  Microsoft, make up your mind and stick with it please!  As you can see, this is a pet peeve of mine.
• Sparklines:  I like them!  Mini charts in a cell that are not objects.  I like the concept, and it makes some of the conditional formatting tools obsolete.
• Slicers are cool too, because they make using PivotTables that much easier, and I love PivotTables.
• Equations:  Now you can write an equation in Excel.  For a program that is all about Math, this was a long time coming.  It also equalizes the Office Suite. 
• Adding Screenshots:  I’m not sure when I would use this in Excel, but I like it in Word and PowerPoint!  This is a good tool for training in particular.  Nice work!
• Automatic Themes updates:  This is cool, because there is a lot of potential in the Themes formatting tool. 

Word 2010:

• AutoText:  This was seriously lacking in Word 2007, but it looks like it’s back in some form in 2010.  I had county clerks that refused to switch to Office 2007 because this feature was no longer available.  They will be happy now!
• Insert Table of Figures:  This is just cool. 
• Restrict Editing:  Nice, though I suspect it requires SharePoint for it to work.  That and Block Editors, so real-time collaboration can work properly.  Of course, this same feature is available in SubEthaEdit for the Mac, and without purchasing an expensive SharePoint Server.  ^_^

PowerPoint 2010:

• Equations:  Here again, I like it. 
• Animations and Transitions Tabs:  I like that they separated the two.  There is so much one can do for each, they needed to be in different tabs.  Not that you SHOULD be using all the transition options, or all the animation options, but it’s nice to know you can separate what you want from what you need.  ^_^

Outlook 2010:

• Microsoft wisely didn’t mess with Outlook much in 2007, because it is the lifeline of many in the business world.  They let everyone get used to the Ribbon before they threw it in Outlook, which they did in Office 2010.  I like the ribbon in Outlook, because you can see the features for which you normally have to hunt.  The only problem is, will it go over well in the office?  That’s going to be an adjustment, and I’m thinking we will finally need to start offering Outlook classes just to get people used to it. 

That’s about it!  I didn’t get a lot of time to play with it in relation to collaboration, as I was the only person in the office who had it installed, but from what I see it’s a good move.  Outlook is the only iffy thing, but other than that I see it being a much improved version of Office 2007.  But there are a lot of changes I’ll need to make to my curriculum before I can start teaching the classes.  Luckily I’ll have some time in the Christmas Holiday to get it done. 

If you are a Microsoft user and haven’t upgraded to 2007, then upgrading to 2010 will be a good move.  Will you need to upgrade from 2007 to 2010?  Probably only if you want to have the new features, or need the new features.  Now I’m waiting (im)patiently for the Mac release, which will probably be Office 2011.

Yesterday I installed Mac OS X 10.6 on my work computer to become familiar with the new operating system.  Unlike other Mac OS X IT instructors, I haven’t had access to the seeds for 10.6, so I couldn’t beta-test the OS.  But, the wait has definitely been worth it. 

1. The first thing I noticed is the install:  No longer do you have to select the Printer drivers you want to include because it will detect the printers you are using and install only those drivers!  This saves a ton of space on the computer, and part of the reason why the install is so small.  You also have optional installs for Rosetta. 
2. The next thing I noticed is automatic software installs on demand.  For instance, I needed to install Adobe Photoshop CS2, which runs in Rosetta, because it’s a PowerPC app.  While running the Installer, Mac OS X 10.6 realized that Rosetta was necessary for the app to run, and as such installed Rosetta for me then and there.  Brilliant! 
3. In Stacks, you can now navigate through folders within your Stacks folder, so you don’t need to open into Finder if you don’t want to.  This is far more useful than using Finder all the time, keeping the search all within one flow. 
4. Exchange Support:  The first and best thing is exchange support!  Finally!  I don’t have to feel like an outcast at the University of Utah because everyone else is using Outlook and the best I could come up with is Entourage (which is embarrassing, to say the least).  Now iCal and Address Book both support Exchange.  When you set up your Exchange email (you don’t even need to set up any of the server information if there is automatic configuration available), it will give you the option to configure your iCal and Address Book as well.  And that’s it, that’s all you need to do.

   If you want to add your delegations, you do so through the Preferences.  Click on iCal, then Preferences, and then Accounts.  Select your Exchange calendar account, and click on the Delegations pane.  To add an account you are delegated to, click on the + and start typing in the name of the person you are a delegate of.  It will add the user info, as well as the permissions you have been given. 

   To add delegates to your calendar, click on the Edit button, and then the + sign to add a new delegate.  You can set their access (from read only, read and create, read and write, or no access) for both your Calendar and your Tasks.  Click OK, and you are all set!  They can now manage or view your calendar. 

There are a couple of other minor things I like, but that will be it for now.  So far, it’s definitely worth the $29.00 price for an upgrade, as long as you have an Intel Mac on which to install the OS. 

Now that I have been using my iPod Touch for over a month, I can’t imagine being without it.  I’ve found it more useful than any of the PocketPC’s that I have owned, and far more useful than any of the cell phones I have had in the past.  But what makes it so useful?  Simple:  the apps.  It’s all about the apps, and mostly about the free apps.  So here is my list of favorite apps that I use on a regular basis: 

Stanza:  I would be lost without Stanza!  I have a long commute to work using the Bus and Traxx system, and as such a good read is necessary.  But most books that I want to read are very bulky and difficult to haul around between stops (particularly when the bus is late and I have to run to catch the train).  Having (currently) 107 books in my pocket is wonderful.  And all the books are free, as they have long been in the public domain.  Stanza is a good app, and even if they should require a purchase, it would be well worth it. 

Scriptures:  Because Stanza can’t support eBooks with DRM, I needed an app to carry my scriptures with me.  Scriptures is a free app, and allows me to do my daily readings while on commute.

Free RSS:  As I no longer have a radio to listen to NPR in the morning and evening, I get my news through the free RSS reader. What’s nice about this reader is that I can completely customize it, catching the feeds from specific segments of the news world, those that I feel are least biased one way or another.  

Last.fm:  While in WiFi country, if I don’t want to listen to the music I currently have, I can listen to a radio of sorts.  Last.fm has all my favorite genres, and it’s all on my iPod.  

Facebook:  Yes, I finally caved in and joined Facebook.  This way I can keep up with friends I haven’t seen in years, and know what they are up to.  It’s fun, and helps me feel somewhat more social than I ever have been.  

Evernote:  I was going to give this a miss entirely, because my uses for Evernote would be the same as my uses for Google Docs….  Except you can’t use Google Docs from your iPod Touch.  Argh!  But Evernote allows me to throw together a quick list of notes that I want to keep for a long period of time.  The good news:  I have another writing project in the works once I finish my first one.  Now if there would only be an app that would help for a writer on the go…

Fring:  This was the clincher app for me, because it allows for VoIP with SIP or Skype.  That’s huge, as it gives me a phone in my iPod Touch.  Since I rarely stay outside of a WiFi connection, it gives me an alternative to a cell phone, which I rarely use anyway.  And it’s a heck of a lot cheaper.  ^_^  It also ties in Twitter and my various IM clients, so I don’t have to have more apps than one.  I love consolidation.

Files Lite:  I can transfer documents to my iPod, and view them all within Files.  I can read any Office doc, which makes reviewing a presentation very handy.   It also supports iWork documents, which is better than other alternatives.

To-Do:  A great to-do list that let’s me check off items as they come due.  I can also use it as a shopping list, to the great relief of my wife who sends me to shop and finds I forget at least one thing. 

iStethescope:  Now that I’m trying to lose some weight and get to a more healthy me, I find monitoring my pulse to be important.  This is a handy app to do just that, as long as I have an iPhone headset.  Good thing I bought one for fring.  ^_^

Tally Counter:  As my new calling in church is ward clerk, it’s my responsibility to count the number of people attending each meeting.  Tally counter has been invaluable in that, since it’s noiseless and accurate.  

Games:  Yes, I do play games from time to time to relieve stress, when I’m not reading or jotting down ideas.  My favorite games are Rolando, Armado, Spore Origins, Topple, Toy Bot Diaries, Solitare, and Bubbles for my son.  

So that’s about it for now.  I’m looking into another applications, and there are new ones coming up all the time.  I do have several that I don’t use a lot, but I have on hand as a “just in case” scenario.  Do any of you have favorite apps for your iPhone or iPod Touch that you use?

This is another one of those books that I thought I had read, but never got around to it.  Finally, after my older brother gave me a copy for Christmas, I sat down to read “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”.  

Jules Verne has a very unique style.  He’s not fettered down by absolute facts, and loves to sport myriad theories of his time.  But first and foremost his books are travel logs.  While fantastic voyages, travels, and even technologies are introduced, the basic premise is the journey itself.  You are transported to other countries, cultures, and places so easily with his books.  

Another enduring and fascinating piece of his writing is his hero, the narrator, who is fundamentally flawed.  He either lacks fortitude, courage, resilience, or some other ideal that is instead reflected in another character.  I love it, because he can then explore the faults in humans in a way that brings sympathy instead of condemnation.  

Finally, there is the science!  Much of the “facts” he presents in his books are theories of the time, many of which have either been proved right or wrong.  Also, there is the way problems are surmounted, usually by the application of some technology that is either real, experimental from the time, or completely non-existent.  At any rate, it gets the juices flowing in the mind, if only to puzzle a way to make it work.  

The Journey was fabulous, as I have seen just about every version made for film, whether big or small screen.  The book, as always, outshines each presentation, and makes for interesting comparisons.  I just can’t help comparing versions with the original story, trying to find reason in their changes. 

If you have never read Journey to the Centre of the Earth, I would highly recommend it.  The story is fascinating, making for a great story even before they enter the cave marked by Sarcaris.  The prose is reasonable for a translation, though it does make me wish I had a better grasp of the French language, so I could read the original.

Let me preface this review by stating that I have tried PDA’s in the past, all of which have not kept my interest for very long.  I often quickly find a limitation that turns me off the platform, and generally it’s something that is critical to the reason why I have purchased a PDA.  For this reason, I have primarily used sticky notes for my contacts and notes that I carry around.  But recently, with the growing number of books that I tend to carry around for teaching and the move to produce my own content, I found that I finally need a platform that can cater to my chosen platform and needs.  

When the iPhone was first announced, I thought it would be perfect with several additions.  Those additions were slow in coming, but even with the arrival of the App Store, the cost of ownership was still too high for an iPhone.  Then the iPod Touch was released, and my heart began to race.  Yet again, the lack of VoIP on the first generation was a halting point. 

Then the iPod Touch 2G was released, with the capability of VoIP.  Recently, software was released that consolidated most chat platforms with VoIP, taking it a step further.  So I thought I would jump at the chance to try the platform and bought one.  My wife will be getting hers soon.  ^_^ 

1.  The Platform

The first reason why I have not liked most PDA’s is the stylus.  I constantly misplace one, or my son tends to wander off with it, never to be seen again.  The first thing that attracted me to the platform is the fact that you use your finger, and don’t have to worry about scratching the pressure film.  

A big concern was the keyboard, as it is not physical and hard to touch-type.  But touch typing is all about knowing where to put your fingers when you type, not necessarily whether or not a key is actually pressed.  I find that I can actually type pretty fast with my thumbs on the thing. As such, I was sold on the touchscreen.  ^_^

2.  The Hardware

The wireless works well with the 802.1x authentication setup at the University of Utah, so I have wireless at work and at home.  This makes VoIP very possible, with only the transit between them (and various other travels) taking me away from my VoIP phone.  More on that when I get to the apps.  

I did want bluetooth in the platform, which is not available.  So much for my bluetooth headset that I have currently with my phone and iMac.  It also would be nice to have a tethered keyboard, essentially making the iPod Touch a Netbook.  

3.  The Apps

All the great hardware in the world wouldn’t make up for really bad applications.  Luckily, there are some really decent applications that are available for free in the App Store.  Here are the apps I have on my iPod Touch: 

Calendar:  I’m still not really happy with this.  You can tether your Calendar to a Microsoft Exchange calendar, but not to an iCal Server (or Google Calendar).  Google Apps resolve this as viewing, but it’s still not the same.  I ended up having to sync the calendar with my iMac.  Unfortunately, the colors don’t match, and it only works if you don’t use Microsoft Exchange for a mail account.  So I had to set up my uMail account as an IMAP account.  

Contacts:  Nice to have them, but the same problem as the Calendar.  It’s either Microsoft Exchange, or you can use Google and sync from your desktop. 

Photos:  iPhoto for the iPod Touch, let’s you use the photos as your “Wallpaper” on the device.  

Go Figure Lite:  Quick figures for every day.  Nice because the formulas are created for you, you just plug in the numbers.

TouchTerm:  SSH terminal for the iPod Touch.  Works very well, makes accessing my web server very simple. 

VNC Lite:  VNC Client for iPod Touch.  

eBay:  Quick access to My eBay, search online, bid or buy it now.  You can’t leave feedback, which is too bad. 

PayPal:  You can send money, but it’s also a really quick and simple way to check your PayPal balance. 

Files Lite:  Transfer documents, presentations, and other files to your iPod Touch.  This one can display PowerPoint and Word docs without any additional plugins.  Very convenient.  The Lite version, while free, has a limit of 200 MB storage.  The transfer is done by turning your iPod into a WebDAV server.

Bubbles;  A game primarily for my son.  You touch/drag your finger on the screen and create bubbles, then touch to pop them.  My son squealed each time, so it’s a keeper.  ^_^

Armado Lite:  Very well designed game, with a very simple and easy gameplay.  I highly recommend it, even though you can only go up to 3 levels in the free version.  

Tap Tap Revenge:  Fun for a time-waster.  

Pac-Man Lite:  Classic game.  ^_^

S.Deadbeef:  I still am out on this one…  It’s a side-scroll fly and fight game.  Seems pretty fun, but difficult to get used to the controls.  

SQ Lite:  Same thing, but more like the Chopper game from the old 8088, just with better graphics.  ^_^

The Scriptures:  Very convenient for reading, and better organized than the Microsoft Reader version I had with my previous Windows CE devices. 

Stanza:  This is the best eBook reader I have found in a long time.  Easily reads any non-DRM book in just about any eBook form, it’s great!  I can read PDF versions of printed books and have them readily available without having to cart them around.  The only drawback is getting the books from your desktop to the iPod:  It has to be transferred across WiFi in order to get it on.  But you can also download directly from the Gutenberg project website.  That’s convenient.  ^_^

WordPress:  Manage my WordPress blog easily from the iPod.  I haven’t posted anything yet from the iPod, if only because I don’t feel comfortable enough with the keyboard yet to make a decent post.  

Google Apps:  A quick access center to your Google apps online.  Very nice, except you can’t write to a Google Doc.  Huge problem there, as it would be nice to have that functionality.  As there are other Notes apps available, I can live without for now. 

Last.FM:  Invaluable.  I have very targeted music tastes, so an internet radio is ideal.  Steampunk music is my stable for Last.FM.  ^_^

LinkedIn:  Track my connections and their connections for LinkedIn.  

PHD Comics:  I love this comic, as will anyone who is currently or has been in Graduate school.  Very liberal in it’s political leanings, the stories are really funny, and frighteningly true.  If one is planning on becoming a Graduate student, sanity comes from this comic. I was so excited when I found they had created an app.  ^_^

2Fat:  Track your BMI and body fat ratio with this application.  As I have started exercising in order to increase my health, this is something that has interested me greatly.  

NaturalCures:  I love real cures that are simple, and this app gives you various options to have.  The only thing I would warn against is trusting this more than your doctor.  And don’t ever take “natural” medicines without your doctor’s knowledge, or at least your pharmacist’s knowledge.  You don’t want to have a severe reaction and end up faint, or worse. 

iStethoscope:  If you have the iPhone headphones for your iPod Touch 2G, you can use this app.  It uses the microphone in the headset, which is pressed against your pulse point in your neck, to let you hear your pulse and display your pulse rate.  I love this for checking my heart rate during exercise.  

Fring:  This is the wonder app that clinched my purchase of the iPod Touch.  This app integrates Google Talk, Yahoo! Chat, AIM, MSN Messenger, Twitter, Skype, and an SIP phone together into one communications app.  And the VoIP works fine for the iPod Touch 2G!  Yes, I tested it, and I had no trouble talking and hearing what was going on.  All of a sudden the iPod Touch 2G becomes the ideal VoIP phone.  It’s small, and the battery lasts all day and a good portion of the night. 

So, that’s been my experience so far.  There were a number of apps that I ended up deleting because of duplicate performance or very poor performance.  While there are a number of other platforms out there other than the iPod Touch or iPhone that work well for many people, this one works for me.  ^_^

Being a fan of Steampunk, this is a classic read. I’ve loved each movie that was made, and now I hate them all. The book is far better, as the story is more believable. The prose is, as one would expect from Wells, phenomenal, drawing you into the moment as the Traveller tells of his adventure into the future. 

A clarification that needs to be made about this book is the clear preference to Socialism/Communism to which Wells leans. The “future” is supposed to be the apex of socialism, but instead is the anticlimax of capitalism. That was a little harder to believe, as nature is completely ignored in this exploration. 

I highly recommend this book, in any format.  In this case, I read the book in Stanza on my iPod Touch.  The book was from the Project Gutenberg library.  I’m now working on my next book.