iPad… Netbook killer or keyboard killer?

The launch of Apple’s iPad has already come under scrutiny for everything from it’s name to lack of certain features. Steve Jobs said in his keynote (below) that netbooks don’t do anything better than a laptop or smartphone, but the iPad does and fills the gap between the two.

I will go one step further. I will say this fills the gap between keyboards and Minority Report, the sci-fi flick that employed futurists to imagine how people will interact with computers. So between keyboards of today, and fully interactive heads up motion displays of tomorrow, I see the iPad. The iWork portion of the iPad keynote (below) was the coolest part for me… intuitive creation of simple content for sharing with others. That covers the needs of 90%+ of the computer users out there. And it looked COOL. and FUN. and SIMPLE.

And that last bit made me realize… Had the iPad been around a year ago, my sister, mom, and nephew would all have them instead of their Acer Aspires (mom, sister) and Eee PC (nephew). That is why I think the iPad is creating a bridge in interface technology… it could easily become the entry level option of choice among first time computer owners. What will they demand when going to college or doing some computing heavy lifting? Why would they revert to the rigid nature of keyboard and mouse? I don’t think they will have to; I can’t wait for the iPadPro that will surely be called for (and bought by) the masses in a few years…

Are you the Family IT Department, too?

If you are like me, you serve not only as a son, brother, and uncle to your family (or the female counterparts), but also as the family IT department. This quick post is about a recent breakthrough in department productivity: do it yourself.

My buddy Ben (same guy from the Iceland trip), also the family IT dept, turned me onto Log Me In. Its a free software that allows you to connect and control VPN style to any computer added to your account.

Log Me In- Saving time and family.

In 10 minutes, I had talked my Mom through the download and install process for Log Me In. Then in the next 10, she watched as I set up Skype and some firewall settings that had eluded us for well over an hour late last week.  I am going to repeat this process a few more times, then I will have the whole family wired to my single account.

Thank you Log Me In, for saving my cell phone bills, my time, and my entire family’s computer related sanity. Oh, and Ben, I owe you a beer.  Now I get to video conference with the family any time of the… wait a minute, Ben… maybe you owe me a beer…

Alternative Wind Energy, cool video.

One of the first amazing sights when driving to Yosemite from SF is not a natural beauty at all… for me, it is the wind farm just about 30 minutes past the bay bridge, just over the first rolling hills that separate the Bay Area from “inland” California.

Karenne took this shot out the window while heading toward Yosemite.

While not the best shot, it does show a few of the amazing turbines spinning away on the hill sides.  To take in the view really is pretty (dorky &) amazing.

So today I Stumbled Upon something similar, but so very, very different: an alternative wind energy source on a very small scale.  Remember those educational films on the Tacoma Narrows bridge?  This guy used them as motivation to design a new type of wind energy… watch the video here. Amazingly nerdy and awesome.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge: It went all wobbly in the wind before shattering.

So, if you are like me… you thought the video was great… and applications for low cost, small scale energy sources in the third world are amazing.

Have fun out there…