I think in the spirit of trying to make things work, and also challenging myself a bit, I’m going to try to use the iPad 2 as a writing/blogging tool as often as I can. Let this post serve as the first-ish example of that.
I say -ish because I’ve already done at least one or two with the iPad 2, but that was before. Now, I’m going to take it more seriously and consider it more of an experiment, or test , then I did before.
One of the first questions to ask when embarking on a journey such as this is do I use the built-in keyboard on the iPad 2 or do I use an external one? It’s an important question because, to be honest, my fingers do get kinda sore when using just the iPad 2’s touchscreen keyboard.
However, that may be more a function of the fact that by the time I start using the iPad I’ve already been typing for a few hours. Maybe my fingers would hurt no matter what? I suspect they would.
So, with that in mind I think I will try to use the touchscreen keyboard for now and see how it goes. I’ve got an extra Bluetooth keyboard I could use but that sorta defeats the purpose of using the iPad if you have the also lug around a keyboard.
At any rate, I’ll know soon enough if my fingers can’t take it and then I will consider other options. Fortunately, as I discussed in an earlier post, the rest of the writing/blogging experience shouldbe pretty good on the iPad 2.
I guess I’ll find out.
In case you’re the sort of person who likes to know the more technical, nuts and bolts kinds of things, I’m going to list the tools I will be using during this experiment. Here they are:
Apple iPad 2 (of course) – Apple’s device excels at so many things and has a battery that lasts a long time. It has become an indispensable part of my daily work (and fun).
Blogsy – This is the primary blogging app I’m using. It allows for complete control over posts and offers the ability to insert photos and video. Pretty much everything you need and pretty easy to figure out and use.
IResize – This is a great app that allows you to resize images to fit in a blog post or other writing. You can load any picture from your Photos on the iPad and change the size, resolution, etc. and then save the changed version for use in other apps like Blogsy.
IAWriter – This app let’s you get back to basics and just write. It removes distractions and lets you focus on the words. Plus, it syncs with Apple’s iCloud and its own OS X desktop version to allow you to work on whatever you want and have it available on the iPad or your Mac with whatever changes you’ve made already there and synced.
Other tools:
Pages – Appple’s own writing App is pretty good and I used it quite a bit before IA Writer and Blogsy came into the picture. Now I use it less frequently, especially as oit doesn’t support sync across the mobile and desktop versions using iCloud as IA Writer does. At least not yet.
FDX Reader – Sadly, my favorite screenwriting app Final Draft doesn’t have and iPad version yet. I’ve been assured one is on the way, but until then, I still need to use the MacBook Air when I want to write in Final Draft.
However, I can at least read scripts in Final Draft format (instead of PDF) on the iPad by using the terrific FDX Reader app. This app allows you to load scripts written in Final Draft and saved as .fdx files and view them in their native format. Very useful and saves you the time and effort of saving scripts as .pdf files plus if your a writer on the go or collaborating with another writer it also makes it easier to quickly review the current draft.
So, this is my challenge and those are the tools of choice. Of course, figuring out what you want to do and choosing the tools to accomplish a task is often the easy part.
The hard part is doing the actual writing. I’m goin’ in, wish me luck.
Chris
Thanks Giving
Posted on November 25, 2011As it happens to be Thanksgiving I’m inclined and motivated by the day to list the things I’m thankful for. So, here goes (in no particular order):
My LB
My friends
My life
My health
My Mom still being with me
My talent
My self-awareness
My luck to do what I love every day
My people who put up with my plethora of issues
My love of fun
My optimism in the face of cynicism
I’m sure there’s more but those are the ones that jump out first.
All the best for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving to all of you.
Writing On the iPad
Posted on November 22, 2011Since the iPad first came out I was hoping it would completely take the place of my laptop for most things. I was especially hoping it would allow me to use it when I go to events like Comic-Con in San Diego and other places I’m covering for The Flickcast that require me to post to the website during the day.
Unfortunately, as an early adopter, I got one of the first iPads released. And although the hardware was darn good, the software, and in particular apps for blogging, left something to be desired.
Cut to today and I’m using the iPad 2 and there are lots more apps out there to do most of the things you want to do on the iPad. Sadly, there’s still a shortage of good blogging apps. Fortunately, all you really need is one.
I think I’ve found that one. Or, at least I’ve found one that’s as close to perfect as I’m going to get right now. What’s the name of this amazing, life changing blogging app? Blogsy.
It does most of what I need it to do in the writing area. I can write a post in either HTML or visual mode, add photos and videos and set it to publish. Combine that with resizing photos using the great iResize app and the iPad has become almost a complete replacement for my Mac laptop.
It does take a bit of time to get used to blogging on the iPad and also, typing on the screen itself is a bit hard on the fingers. Still, for short things like blog posts (just like this one!) it works very well.
I’m going to be using Blogsy more and more and I’m sure I will find things I don’t like about it. Still, it has enough going for it already that I’m very pleased and happy I found it. Also, I’m sure they will improve it over time with updates.
A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs
Posted on October 31, 2011This was written by Steve Jobs sister Mona Simpson and given at a ceremony for the late Apple co-founder and all-around genius. I thought it was worth reposting and preserving here for me, and for you.
—
I grew up as an only child, with a single mother. Because we were poor and because I knew my father had emigrated from Syria, I imagined he looked like Omar Sharif. I hoped he would be rich and kind and would come into our lives (and our not yet furnished apartment) and help us. Later, after I’d met my father, I tried to believe he’d changed his number and left no forwarding address because he was an idealistic revolutionary, plotting a new world for the Arab people.
Even as a feminist, my whole life I’d been waiting for a man to love, who could love me. For decades, I’d thought that man would be my father. When I was 25, I met that man and he was my brother.
By then, I lived in New York, where I was trying to write my first novel. I had a job at a small magazine in an office the size of a closet, with three other aspiring writers. When one day a lawyer called me — me, the middle-class girl from California who hassled the boss to buy us health insurance — and said his client was rich and famous and was my long-lost brother, the young editors went wild.
This was 1985 and we worked at a cutting-edge literary magazine, but I’d fallen into the plot of a Dickens novel and really, we all loved those best. The lawyer refused to tell me my brother’s name and my colleagues started a betting pool. The leading candidate: John Travolta. I secretly hoped for a literary descendant of Henry James — someone more talented than I, someone brilliant without even trying.
When I met Steve, he was a guy my age in jeans, Arab- or Jewish-looking and handsomer than Omar Sharif.
We took a long walk — something, it happened, that we both liked to do. I don’t remember much of what we said that first day, only that he felt like someone I’d pick to be a friend. He explained that he worked in computers.
This Movie Looks Awesome
Posted on October 18, 2011Can’t wait for Marvel’s “The Avengers.”
[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/hJh3gtfscAA width=”525″ height=”316″]
I like This movie
Posted on August 3, 2011I may have mentioned it before but I like this movie and especially this scene. If you haven’t seen it, watch this and then go watch the whole movie. It’s worth it.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCf46yHIzSo?rel=0&w=480&h=390]
Behind the Scenes of ‘Blade Runner’ with Sean Young
Posted on May 28, 2011I don’t think it’s much of a secret that I’m a film nerd. I love movies of all genres but have a special place in my heart for sci-fi. Among my favorites is Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner.
The film, an adaptation of Phillip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” made quite an impression on me as a young man. I saw the film at a rough cut screening in San Diego after having won tickets on a local radio station and was treated to a version somewhat different from the finished product. It was a great experience.
I’ve watched the film so many times since that day and each time I still see something new in it. It was definitely before its time and not something soon to be repeated — any potential reboot/remake notwithstanding.
One of the stars of the film is Sean Young. She played Rachel, the replicant who thought she was human. During my travels in Hollywood I almost worked with Sean on a film but she ended up doing it and I ended up dropping out. At least I had the pleasure of meeting her once during pre-production.
She could not have been nicer during the meeting and towards the end even put up with a few Blade Runner questions from me that had absolutely nothing to do with the project we were talking about at the time. I enjoyed that meeting very much.
Recently, Sean put up a bunch of polaroid photos of her, and others, taken during the Blade Runner shoot. They are pretty cool and show a lot of my favorite actors as their younger selves. They also give us a glimpse into the friendship and bond that takes place during the making of a film.
I’ve often heard people in the business describe the filmmaking process as like going to war. You have a mission and you have a group of people all working together to reach a common objective. I’ve never been to war nor do I ascribe the same significance to filmmaking as I do to the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform.
However, I get what they mean. Long hours, sometimes difficult working conditions and a sense that you’re isolated except for the rest of the people working with you can lead to that esprit de corps often talked about in military circles.
I’ve experienced the bond and friendship that comes from hours, days, weeks and months “in the trenches” and often it is an amazing experience that you keep with you for the rest of your life. It’s one of the things I miss most about working in the business, on set, helping to create something.
Still, I do like what I’m doing now. Writing is, in some ways, much harder. But is also very rewarding when you know you’ve done a good job on something. As you often work alone, you don’t develop the camaraderie and bond as you would on set but the sense of accomplishing and creating something is certainly there, and often more pronounced.
No, I don’t think I would change how things are now. I’ve got my memories of the good times and I’m still great friends with many of my comrades in arms. For me, those are enough.
Looking For Inspiration
Posted on April 11, 2011No matter what I’ve achieved in my life, occasionally I find myself in need of some inspiration or motivation (or both). Usually, whatever I need comes from inside me and I end up making it work somehow.
Other times, I need to look elsewhere for what I need. Today is one of those days. So, to help me move forward and do what I need to do, here’s a little inspiration from my man Steve Jobs.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc?rel=0&w=480&h=390]
Whatever you may think of him or Apple, he certainly knows his way around public speaking. We could all hope to be this good at something someday.
Money quote:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition.”
Yep. I needed that.
Some New Pics, New iPhone 4 and Some Cool iPhone 4 Photo Apps
Posted on February 25, 2011I’ve recently returned from the land of Android (and the HTC Incredible) to the land of iPhone 4 and IOS. To be honest, it’s great to be back. Not that the Android platform isn’t cool, it is.
It’s just that the iPhone and iOS 4 are cooler. Case in point is all the great applications you can use to take some really cool photos with your iPhone 4.
I’ve been using quite a few of them and in particular Hipstamatic, Instagram, Plastic Bullet and Camera Bag. These apps, and the included Camera App from Apple on the iPhone, allow me to take and make some pretty cool photos. Sure, I can still take “normal” photos as well, but using these Apps is way more fun and the photos often turn out way different and better than you expect.
To demonstrate, I’ve included a few here from the new iPhone 4. Some are taken with Hipstamatic, some were taken with the iPhone’s native Photo App and then processed in Plastic Bullet or Camera Bag and some are just normal. Check ’em out.
As I get better at taking pics and discover more of what these Apps can do I will post some more here as well as the usual places like my Facebook and my Flickr.
What’s Up?
Posted on December 30, 2010This site feels lonely. In fact, it is. I haven’t been updating it at all during the last few months because I’ve been spending the majority of my time over at The Flickcast and trying to make that the best it can be.
However, all is not lost. Part of my plan for the new year is to start taking more photographs. I’m going to be exploring my photography skills and trying to improve them. I will be posting the results here and, of course, over at my Flickr page.
So, stay tuned for more from this site. I haven’t forgotten it and will get back to it soon enough. Until then, all the best for 2011.