Adam Jackson

May 17, 2012

Issue: Spotty Wi-Fi service is not available everywhere on BART despite promises that it would be available by 2010.

There was some Wi-Fi on BART back in 2009 but it was spotty and rarely worked. Then there’s this little nugget:

The work costs the company about $100,000 a mile, Lee said.

I think I see what your problem is. You’re overpaying.

May 14, 2012

The Ticket Package for EDC 2012 in Las Vegas is Amazing (Unboxing)

0 comments

I thought about naming this post, “How Ultra Music Festival Sucks.” Seriously, why can’t Ultra do things like this? These tickets are magnetic card style, the welcome package is full-color glossy and it includes a key-chain, stickers and a pack of seeds. Yes, seriously. A pack of seeds. It also has a booklet that covers everything you need to know about the festival with what you can and can’t bring in full text written out. No confusing small print like the UMF tickets or site. This is exceptional and so well done. Good job, Insomniac Events!

I’m actually not going to EDC this year. I wanted to and, of course bought tickets but I was then asked to go to Europe for work. I get back on June 4th but EDC starts two days later so it’s just not feasible with my work schedule. I sold the tickets at face value to an awesome fellow EDM lover. Hoping they have a great time in Vegas! This is going to be a great festival!

May 14, 2012

The Hitchhiker

0 comments

Sometimes, I see people walking on the road I take to work each day. Not the highway but the road with no markers, signs or road lines. It’s a road that goes for a few miles before turning into a dirt road and it’s the road that carries me home each day. Most people go 50MPH on it. There are no signs and no police but, since it’s lined with houses, I usually go 30MPH. There’s no rush so I just take it easy and that speed has saved me three times from hitting deer that occasionally stop in the road to look around. The people that walk my road are hard to place. We all judge. IT’s in our nature and I judge the people walking. Where are they going? Why are they walking? All I have to go on is their clothes. Those with workout clothes or walking beside a bicycle or with a walking cane must surely be out for a stroll to pass the time or get some exercise. Then, there are people with plain clothes that walk slow and rigid like they have somewhere to be but they’re in no hurry to get there. Those are the people who perplex me the most.

Today, I creeped up on a man in a white shirt, worn jeans and half-laced boots. He was walking the opposite way and had a clean shave. I stopped to have a conversation. At the very least, I could find out what he thought about the weather. I was hoping for answers.

I slowed and asked where he was headed. “Into town” he said. I said I’m in no rush to get home and was gonna grab some beer anyway so I’ll take him. He looked relieved. Unintentionally, I apologized for how dirty my car was then realized it actually wasn’t dirty but just like my grandmother who apologizes for the lack of food while we sit around a loaded up dinner table, I didn’t really think too much about how dumb that sounded.

“I’ve seen you walking before” I said and that’s when he told me that’s not surprising. It turns out he walks into town every other day for work. His car broke down and the only way to get it fixed is to make money so he has to make it to work some way. We talked about local things, crops, food and the weather. Soon, we were in town and I let him out and gave him my number to call if he ever needed a ride. I gave him my work schedule and maybe we could carpool. Before he left, I asked how many times he gets rides. I was surprised when he said that people pick him up every other time. Twice a week, someone gives him a ride and they’re usually strangers and rarely does the same person give him a ride more than once.

——–

This got me thinking about life and situations. I have a car. It’s not a great car but it runs well and is in warranty. I can afford insurance and gas for it and it is reliable. It reminds me of the book I’m currently reading, “Man’s Search for Meaning” and the existential vacuum that can form when life ceases to have meaning or when life becomes mundane. The men who had hardship were less likely to suffer from depression than the men who could always rely on things working out. Those that went to work every day, collected a paycheck and paid their bills with little disease, tasks, debt or fears tended to be more dissatisfied with their lives compared to those living paycheck to paycheck with a sick child or, in the book’s example, the people in concentration camps. There is no comparison between the last two examples but are both modern examples of “hardship”.

The man I picked up is always aware that this is the day he may walk 5 miles to work or he may get a ride from a stranger. The fact that his journey to work is unknown makes his day more stressful but it also leads to an overall happiness where you savor life’s small successes. My drive to work is boring. I take the same route, sit in the same traffic and sometimes find myself parking in the same spot. Everyone at my work parks in the same spot every day. The walk this man takes can and will be different each and ever day and, although I would choose not to trade with him, I now recognize that advantages to living a lifestyle of uncertainty.

Sure, we all live a life of uncertainty but it’s different and each of us have our own uncertainties. For example, I know my car will start each morning but I don’t know if I”ll have an accident but, when problems arise so infrequently such as traffic accidents and speeding tickets, the fear of it tends to subside. It’s almost like fearing every day that you’ll get cancer. Very few of us fear that on a daily basis. Modern society has very little that is worth fearing daily. To meet someone who has an unknown in their life that is very transparent and recurring is something you don’t often whiteness.

I’m still not sure how I feel about it if I had something so uncontrolled in my life each day. You can call me privileged or out of touch but, more of us have lives of certainty (day to day) than lives of uncertainty. IT’s easy to say I may not have a job next month or I may get cancer next year or my car might break down at some point this year but, those are big picture matters of life. To not know if you’ll be walking 10 feet or 5 miles when you leave your house every other day….that’s uncertainty and it sounds both freeing and scary.

May 11, 2012

A Summary of my Summer Travel – Am I visiting you?

0 comments

I live my life like a marathon. It’s actually the wrong approach because I am burned out easily. I take on something new and then stop for a while or switch gears. It’s dangerous and it’s also often a turn off to people. I did that with beer from January to May. I’m still enjoying beer but not sprinting as much anymore. I only hope that the time I spend on beer today is sustainable and ongoing. It’s something I enjoy very much. I’ll be brewing my first batch tomorrow so that will be a lot of fun.

Knowing I’m like this doesn’t actually lead me to avoid getting caught up in something. I traveled a lot in 2010 and 2011 then, I just stopped. I went home for Christmas but I really took my foot off the gas and spent more time at home. I love where I live so it’s a great thing to be home alone with my thoughts, working on new things and writing. Well, this summer, the travel bug has hit and I’ll be on the road again. I’d like to share my schedule because it’s great to meet readers while on the road, make new friends and get travel tips from people who live in or have visited the places I’m going. From now until mis-September, I’ll be busy every weekend. The good thing is, almost every thing planned involves Elizabeth so maybe she can stop saying I don’t take her anywhere. I am a homebody so it’s hard sometimes to get out of the house and go do things. I’ll spend all day in the yard but don’t like spending the money do to things. It’s also a flaw but one I understand a bit more than my obsession for new things.

A brief update on my job since a few people have asked. Things are great. I am now 1 year and 9 months at my job. It’s not a long time for a career but it is now the 2nd longest job I’ve held. I work with amazing people all around the world and I am in love with Microsoft Products even more than before. Most of the hate around MS products stems from three distinct group:

Those who don’t understand technology
Those who are given old hardware, old software versions and a terrible IT infrastructure
Those who don’t collaborate on huge datasets in an organization that employes thousands of people

I have been trained on the tools, have a great support team with great hardware and work on very collaborative projects so things like Sharepoint and MS Communicator are integrated. It’s an awesome setup and one that I love. Microsoft has done a pretty good job with Macintosh integration but it’s not quite there yet.

Also, TomTom is hiring. If you want to work for an amazing company with a global outlook, let me know. I can recommend people I know via LinkedIN which increases your chances or you can apply via our jobs site.

Anyway, let’s talk about the future travel planned:

Europe: May 23- June 4 (Skip past this section if you’d like. It’s pretty detailed)
I’m going back to Europe. It’s my 4th time in Amsterdam and my 2nd time in Belgium. It’s also going to be the 1st time I’ve set foot in London (outside of Heathrow as I’ve flown through there before).

Wednesday May 23rd: Boston to Amsterdam direct. Arrive May 24th at 5AM and check into the hotel. I have two full days of workshops in Amsterdam with my team and other groups we don’t see in person often enough. It’s going to be great. I will probably have dinner with my 3 counterparts that evening but, if I’m free I am going to try and sync up with a few iOS developers recommended to me by my friend, Dom Sagolla. A night of great beers and tasty Dutch food would be an awesome way to spend my one night in Amsterdam. After work one day, I’ll drop by a beer store in Amsterdam. I’m doing a trade with them in exchange for 3 beers from the brewery 3 Fonteinen. They have 3 of the 4 “Armand Seasons” Lambic beers. These were released a few months ago and I’m happy a store still has them at an affordable price (price of a few USA craft beers).

Friday, May 25th: After meetings are over around 17:00, it’s time to hop a train down to Gent Belgium via Antwerp. I’ll check into the hotel and, of course, grab a beer. My first of my beers in Belgium on this trip.

Saturday, May 26th: one of my co-workers has graciously offered to take me around the country on a beer tour. We’re going to the St. Sixtus (Westvleteren) Abbey, makers of one of the highest rated beers in the world. I have a few already in my cellar but would love to try this beer fresh at the brewery cafe and, of course by 24 of their beers to bring back with me. 24 of the best beer on the world costs a whopping 39 Euros. Not a bad deal but you also are committing to not selling the beers and enjoying them yourself or with friends. That day, we’re also visiting two beer stores. One in Gent proper and another outside of the city. Both stores are holding beers for me…about 30+ 750ml beers from some of my favorite breweries that make beers almost impossible to get in America. I’ll leave the 6 boxes of beer with my co-worker and go out that evening with one of my American colleagues to see the city. There are a couple of clubs in Gent that play the kind of music I like so I may check one of those out. Europe is where Dance music started!

Sunday, May 27th: Check out of my hotel and board a train to Brussels Belgium! I loved the time in Brussels last year with my friend Oliver. I arrive Sunday at 10AM and will be playing tourist at some places I didn’t get to go last year. At 2PM, I get on a local train to a small town called Buggenhout for the 2012 Weekend of Spontaneous Fermentation. It’s their 21st year of the festival. It takes place Saturday and Sunday and there will be over 70 beers available to taste for a very low price. I’ll get to meet some fellow RateBeer users and try some delicious beers impossible to find in America. That evening, I’ll be spending time at a couple of places that I wanted to to last time. Then, it’s off to bed.

*Sundays in European countries are generally very quiet. People truly don’t work on the weekends and a lot of shops are closed. I’ll have a limited number of things to do especially since Monday the 28th is a public holiday in Belgium. I’ll be in Brussels for most of Monday and it is the largest city in Belgium but there will still be a lot of places closed.*

I check out of the hotel Sunday afternoon and take the train back to Gent for work on Tuesday! This is going to be a great work trip. Tons going on and I get to work right beside my colleagues which is a nice change from day to day here in the US.

Tuesday, May 29th: I am going to a beer tasting that evening at someone’s house who I know from the beer forum online. That should be a great time! He invited me on Monday night to the Metallica concert but I am going to pass on that one. I don’t stay up late on work nights.

Wednesday, May 30th: Typical work day but after work, I’m heading to Antwerp which is a port town about 30 minutes north of Gent. I’ll be visiting the world famous Belgium In a Box warehouse where the owner, Kurt has generously opened his shop to me to pack up some beers. He is a professional beer lover and part-time beer salesman who specializes in shipping delicious Belgian beers all over the world. Instead of chancing my 6 boxes of beer to my own skills and perhaps getting stuck by Customs, I will enlist Kurt to help me out. I pack and he ships (for a fee of course). This means my amazing beers will be waiting for me at the UPS depot by the time I get home. After that, I’m going to the world famous Kulminator beer bar. The husband and wife team have beers dating back decades and you can enjoy deliciously rare and aged beers with beer lovers. It’s a very personal experience that the couple takes seriously. I’m VERY excited and it’s no coincidence that I’m shipping the beers off in Antwerp so I have that extra excuse to hop over to Kulminator.

Thursday and Friday are all work with some after work bonding with colleagues. There are a couple of shops in Belgium that sell specialty cheese, chocolates and mustard that I’ll be visiting. for the most part, those are free evenings with no plans.

*I was hoping to go to France or Germany on this trip. I badly wanted to visit France (again) and Germany for the first time but, I chose somewhere else because of timing*

Saturday, June 2nd: I wake up VERY early, check out of my hotel, and board my first high speed train direct to London. I have tons of friends in England and many more in Ireland but sadly that’s not in my plans this time. I’ll be in London around noon and staying with my friend Alex who I’ve known for close to 5 years now but maybe more. It’s been a while. I’ve only ever seen Alex in San Francisco and he and I are going to enjoy London. There are so many people to see while there but I can’t see everyone. I have a 4AM flight out of London back to Boston on Monday the 4th so it’s really only a day and a half I get to spend there.

*The great news is Alex will be coming to America for the Apple WWDC so he’s coming through Boston on his way back to London and hanging out with me up at the cabin for a week at the end of June. We’ll be having a great time. It’s awesome to see friends twice in a month especially English friends who I never get to see!*

and THAT is my European TRIP!

——————-

Beyond Europe

Now, let’s talk about the rest of the summer. It’ll be MUCH shorter. I promise.

As soon as I get home, I’m going to keg my home brewed beers that are being done this weekend. BIG deal for me as I’m so new to this but also very exciting!

June 15th – 20th: ALEX!!! My buddy is visiting New Hampshire as I mentioned above. There will be guns, fires and manliness out in the woods of New England! We’re also heading up to Burlington Vermont to see my best friend Lee and her husband.

June 17th: Sunday night in Boston seeing Cirque Du Soleil. I couldn’t get Alex tickets but he’s a grown man who’s gonna explore our nearest big city for the night. There’s a lot to do in downtown Boston.

June 23 – 25: Alex leaves, I scrub my cabin top to bottom because I have AirBNB guests EVERY weekend for the entire month of June and then Elizabeth and I drive down to New York to hang out with her best friend who’s flying in with Husband from Monterey. We’ll be staying in a nice hotel, doing touristy stuff and, of course, visiting Apple Stores! DUH!

June 30th: I’m hosting a BIG RateBeer BBQ at my house. Inviting a few people who are welcome to stay at my place over night or bring tents and camp out in the back yard with a bonfire and I’ll be smoking meats and serving some home brewed beers and some cellared beers + a few Belgian Treats!

July 1st: Friends from New York and Boston and maybe a few others will arrive. I’m thinking my Sisters may come up as well to spend a few weeks with me so they’ll all be arriving that Monday for my annual FOURTH OF JULY EXTRAVAGANZA. Preliminary plans: Kill one of the pigs and do a pit roast, fireworks, other tasty treats, movie nights, hiking the nearby Cardigan Mountain and more. Friends are welcome to stay as long as they want…well, at least until the next AirBNB Guest

July 14th: The Southern New Hampshire Brew Fest. Tons of local breweries will be represented. Elizabeth and I have VIP tickets and we’ll have a total blast.

July 21st: The Vermont Brewery Festival. This is a big deal. A lot of my favorite breweries will be there and we’ll get to stay the night with my friend Lee if she’s in town or stay the night before. Not sure yet.

August 4th: Ommegang Brewery’s “Belgium Comes to Cooperstown” event which is an annual overnight camping event. There are a HUGE range of Belgian based and Belgian style breweries from all over the place. Great food, live music. It’s going to be a BLAST!!!!

August 11th: Hill Farmstead’s Annual Festival of Farmhouse Ales which is also AWESOME or so I hear. It’s a lot smaller than Ommegang’s event and that will make it awesome.

August 24th – 28th: SAN FRANCISCO! Going to San Francisco for my 26th Birthday (Plans are coming, I promise). We’ll be seeing an SF Giants game, going wine tasting (maybe) and going down to Monterey for the last leg of the trip. I’m glad I kept my Zipcar membership for this trip.

September 8th: The Hampton Beach Seafood Festival. Lobster will be at it’s peak and we’ll be enjoying some great seafood. I’m also going to be visiting a great friend, David Sakolsky who is now head brewer at Blue Lobster Brewing Company. It’s going to be a blast. A weekend of fun, that’s for sure!

September ??: Visiting my BFF in Cape Cod. Whenever he’s home for a few weeks, we’ll go down and see him. Not sure when that will be. Maybe October. Not sure yet.

And, that concludes my summer. In between travel, on free weekends, I’ll be brewing some great beers, taking care of my crops and animals and, when I’m gone, my neighbors I’ve promised some eggs and meat to if they help me with animal duties. So don’t worry, my chickens and pigs will be just fine!

It’s going to be a very busy Summer and, this was an exercise for my sanity and for my friends who are all over the world. I have to find time to go down to Florida to see family. Miss them so much! That’s all for now. Thanks for checking in!

May 4, 2012

A Complete Shift in My Media Consumption

Comments Off

I think we all saw this coming. How long could I sustain so much intake of technology articles and independent YouTube videos and cute cat videos and Tumblr GIFs? My first blog was published in 1999. I get emails from young guys who read this blog with birthdays in ’99. I’m an old-timer and I just can’t deal with the cycle anymore of being all blogger or all independent content that I take in. My blog has been so quiet because I’ve been trying to find a balance of my new style of content intake. The last 30 days?

Subscribed to CableTV
Picked up a Home Phone that plugs into the wall
Upgraded to the iPad 3
Subscribed to New York Times. Tried to get home delivery but they don’t deliver here. So went for mobile edition tablet+phone
Re-Subscribed to The new Yorker
Expanded my subscription to Audible to support more books per month.

What did I get rid of in the last 30 days?

Completely ditched RSS feeds (Reeder, Google Reader, email notifications of new blog posts)
Unfollowed on Twitter a few hundred more people most of which ONLY talk about technology. I now follow 42 people
Removed more things from Facebook. Now, it’s only status updates. No location, likes, photos or anything there.
Deleted my YFrog and TwitPic accounts. I now use only Tumblr and Flickr for photo sharing
Moved 1100 of my 1200 Facebook friends to the Acquaintances group meaning I don’t see their updates anymore. This was easier than unfriending them.
Got rid of my Boxee Box
Cancelled my Usenet subscription
Made a promise to no longer read comments on blogs or click links I see on Twitter and Facebook.

Holy Hell, that’s a lot of changes.

It’s been amazing. I don’t have any more free time but, when I think about watching a YouTube video, I open the New York Times instead. I read The paper on the treadmill instead of gaming videos. I watch well produced documentaries and movies instead of watching YouTube comment from amateurs. I choose now to spend an hour reading about the world than seeing what celebrities are doing (something I never really did anyway). I have no idea what Apple is up to. Their next product announcement won’t hit me until I see an email from Apple announcing it. Since ’99, I’ve watched every Apple announcement unfold live. Now, I get an email just like everyone else.

On the flip-side, I can talk to you about things beyond technology. I’m reading long-form books and news articles. I’m amazed at how great television shows are in their production value. Game of Thrones on HBO Go is really awesome compared to an hour of FailBlog videos.

I am happy with my decision but I don’t know yet how it will affect me. It’s too early to tell how this shift will affect me in my job or among my geek friends. Forgoing Podcasts, youtube and blogs for polished but corporate backed content that is loaded with ads well…I don’t know. We’ll see. For now, it’s a lot of fun!

May 4, 2012

Linking to New York Times Content

Comments Off

A lot of the things I’m reading are behind pay walls. The Times and New Yorker have some free content but most of it is behind a login and a pay-wall. In the last two weeks, 5 articles have interested me enough to share on this blog along with feedback on those posts. I can’t share it here because most of you aren’t subscribers to those two sources. Not sure what to do actually. Of course, I can’t copy content from these sources word for word outside of a small snippet. I’m not sure what to do so I may STOP with the link blog or at least it won’t be as much content as before. That’s a bummer. I know some people liked it but if I can’t link to what I’m reading, what’s the point?

May 4, 2012

Reading More Books in 2012 – My Progress so Far

Comments Off

In January, I promised to read more books. Prior to 2012, I might have barely started a book each year. The last book I finished was an assignment to me in grade school so I had gone without reading for 7 years. I’m not a fan of fiction so I picked up a few books that appealed to me. Some are fiction but not all. Here are the books I’ve completed from January to May 1st:

In total, I’ve spent as much time as possible taking in these books. 4-Hour body and The Prophet & The Wanderer I went through twice so I could take in as much as possible. I’ll probably read The Prophet again on my flight to Amsterdam in a few weeks.

I pick books that are classics in they take me back to another time such as Sherlock and Huckleberry Finn. I also pick books that take me to another part of the world such as Yogi and Behind the Beautiful Flowers. Most importantly, I try to find books that expand my understanding of myself. I want to understand more about why I am this way both the good and the bad and this comes from books that talk a great deal about psychology.

I would have liked to read twice as many books this year but have been lacking mostly because I spend a great deal of time reading news and opinion on today’s world. I’ll do a better job at balancing that since reading is so new to me.

April 30, 2012

Linked: “Why the iPad Is My New Laptop”

0 comments

ShawnBlanc

And I’m not the only one. Within my circle of friends, I know several people who are also using their iPad as their portable computer. I even have a handful friends who have an iPad as their only computer.It is not a sacrifice to use the iPad as a primary device. I wanted to take a look at some of the most compelling reasons to use an iPad as your portable, if not your only, computer.

What? I did read the entire article. I’ve confessed my love of iPad and it’s many advantages. I use it daily until the battery dies but, when I go somewhere, my 13″ MacBook Air and iPad 3 are in my bag side by separated by a smart cover.

What did Shawn miss on his piece? Well, he does actually cover what will be my biggest complaint in the post:

Two prime examples for me are my use of QuickBooks and InDesign. And then there are the things which can be done on an iPad or a laptop, but which are done more efficiently on the latter. Another personal example: email. I am much better at processing email with my laptop because of the many AppleScripts and keyboard shortcuts I use in order to file and act on my messages.
Which is why I could not get by with an iPad only. But I am comfortable traveling without my MacBook Air, and there are often times when I prefer to work from the smaller device rather than at the comfort of my Mac. The iPad is a compelling computer, and it is quickly maturing right before our eyes.

I don’t use QuickBooks or InDesign anymore but I use a lot of applications that DO require I manipulate items on screen with my track pad. The difference between my trackpad and the iPad’s touch screen? The fact that I don’t have to literally life a finger to manipulate items on my MacBook. I once worked for 8 hours in a cafe on my iPad. After an hour, my shoulder was in pain not just from muscle fatigue but from an old shoulder injury I have. Switching hands didn’t help.

I tried the other day editing a roll of film from an SD card on iPad. An operation that takes 5 minutes in LightRoom took 1 full hour in iPhoto. I tried blogging from my iPad but inserting photos from Flickr code and holding my index finger over words…waiting and then selecting them to edit took forever. If you’re a man that doesn’t use the arrow keys, the iPad is for you but don’t come crying to me when your shoulder begins cramping up from raising it above up a few hundred times an hour.

I use my iPad to 0% each day but I use it for reading the times, watching YouTube, television and quickly reviewing emails if I’m walking to a meeting. To abandon my Macbook Air that is almost as thin and light as the iPad seems insane. If you were to give me a choice, I’d go with MacBook over iPad.

April 18, 2012

My Condensed iPad 3 Review

0 comments

Everyone has weighed in on the iPad 3. Anandtech published the only review that I will recommend. It’s the only iPad review that is a real review covering everything a potential buyer would like to know. I will be speaking in bullets because it’s important to keep this review short. I’ll wrap up with some overall thoughts.

The Good:

iPad 3 is slightly snappier over the iPad 2 and a lot snappier over the iPad 1.
The speed at which apps open and close isn’t that great but camera opening or refreshing of a web page is all faster. more tabs remain open in Safari but I don’t keep tabs open in Safari so I had to intentionally test it. I believe this is more related to the increase in ram. The CPU is unchanged and the GPU is “four times as fast” according to Apple but it’s a claim I can’t test.
The screen is beyond gorgeous. I don’t see this as too amazing because this should have been included last year. Price point be damned! The iPad 3 has the screen the iPad 2 should have had. It’s still not right against the front though like the iPhone. It’s not sealed to the front glass which is a bummer but it’s still a step up. I’d like to see screen and glass flush together.
More on the screen. Text is wonderful and apps updated to take advantage of the new screen benefit. Webpage logos and images look like crap and older apps look bad. If you noticed non retina optimized things on the iPhone, you really notice them on the iPad.
The single biggest reason you’d buy this iPad is for text and the second being the free WiFi hotspot that you get through Verizon with a data plan. If you live in an area with 4G, lucky you. I don’t but travel to places that do.
The buttons feel more solid on the front and top. Then again, it’s new so maybe not.
This felt like the first complete iPad from a setup point of view. I say that’s mostly due to iOS 5 and iCloud. I unboxed it and set it up completely wirelessly…almost. We’re getting there on completeness of this being a singular devices but not there yet.
The camera is better on the back but no on the front. Who uses the back camera? No one. I’d prefer the front facing FaceTime camera saw a better quality than VGA.Maybe the next version.

The Bad: (Setup)

I unboxed the iPad. It was at 90% battery life. It was covered in scratches on the back and over the speaker grill. There was glue all over the body I had to remove with rubbing alcohol and fingerprints all over the screen. Worst unboxing experience ever. I live in the woods so I’m used to things being dirty but, an iPad should arrive spotless and it didn’t. This isn’t white America entitlement. This is Apple user for 10 years expectations. I’ve never had a device arrive in such a bad condition.
iCloud restore took 40 minutes on my 50 megabit connection. This is way too long. Apple fix this.
App installs took 30 minutes before I gave up and connected the iPad to my iMac and installed them via the machine as they were already downloaded. The iPad was not happy with this. I had to do multiple hard resets of the iPad and force quits of iTunes to get this going including putting the iPad in airplane mode to keep it from auto-downloading apps.
Total setup time was over 3 hours for a device with 50 apps and a thousand songs. Windows XP is faster to setup. Hell, my restore of an iMac from Time Machine backup over Firewire 800 is faster than that and my iMac drive has 1.5 terabytes of content.

The Bad: (The Device)

It’s noticeably thicker. iPad 2 users, you will notice how much thicker it is and it’s very disappointing. iPad 1 users won’t. This aligns with my thoughts on Apple upgrade cycles now being every 2 generations and not every 1 generation.
The iPad is also noticeably heavier than the iPad 2. You feel it as soon as you pick it up. For the iPad to be heavier and thicker is, as many have said, the iPad battery is almost twice as large because of the screen, new chip and 4G LTE built in. Fine. I am a bit bitter because I don’t have 4G where i am but still suffer this thickness. Oh well.
The iPad is incredibly hot. It’s hotter than my i7 MacBook Air. I melted a stick of butter and slice of cheese on the back of it. My hand sweats while holding it which isn’t good for a device that’s aluminum and gets slipper when wet. Seriously, this thing is hotter than any PlayBook or Galaxy Tab that I have used. It’s hot and I hate that.
The battery life is noticeably worse than the iPad 2. I used to never really watch or see the battery life dropping. Now I do and it’s very noticeable. Half a day of use meaning half of the day it was on the dock and the other half of the day I was using it casually from time to time and the iPad was dead by midnight. This is with the iPad cellular service completely disabled as in the radio is turned off and I’m only using WiFi. I’m using this at home the same way I used my iPad 2 and battery life is NOT 10 hours. This does not get 2 days of use now. It only gets 1 and that’s very disappointing.
I wouldn’t care too much except charging it takes more than one evening. I get 6 hours of sleep a night. Getting the iPad from 0 to 100 % takes more than 6 hours. It takes 8 hours. By my calculations, it takes longer to charge it than it was actually operated. I get 8 hours of use and over 8 hours to charge it. That’s with the iPad plugged into the wall via the included adapter. One night, I put the iPad in airplane mode (from the previously cellular off, wi-fi only mode) and it charged in 4.5 hours to 100%. I shouldn’t have to put my iPad in airplane mode to charge it overnight.
I did a full restore of my iPad. These issues still exist.
Out of the box, fresh iOS installation and my iPad can’t handle my calendar. Neither can my iPhone 4S. I have 8 calendar items a day and meetings are all repeating so I have some that go through the next 12 months. Loading Calendar on iPhone and iPad takes 45 seconds. I hoped my iPhone was just needing a reset. Nope. The iPad has this issue too. Apple can fix this, right? Am I too busy to be an iPad user? Maybe.

Apple has embraced the 2-Year upgrade cycle. Apple doesn’t expect iPad 2 users to buy the iPad 3. Why would they? Within the last 12 months, they paid $500-$900 on a device so why buy another one? Exactly. So, iPad 1 users who upgrade will be in awe of the new device. The iPad 2 users won’t notice it’s thicker or heavier or has worse battery life. They’ll skip this and move right to iPad 4 next year which will be thinner and improved in every way over the 3 and they’ll be happy.

I’ve noticed not to be too mean to Apple or at least, if I am, that I put in my reviews that I buy EVERY new model. iPhone 3GS to 4S (as my girlfriend did) is a HUGE upgrade to her. For me, going to iPhone 4 to 4S is a meh upgrade and one that I sort of regret. If you don’t want device remorse, buy a new Apple devices every 2 years. rust me on this.

The iPad 3 is disappointing for a lot of reasons as you can see above. I’ve spent 8 hours setting up the device then resetting the device trying to fix issues with heat and charging. I’ve killed the battery down to zero every night with normal use. I read the iPad NYTimes App for 2 hours in a cafe on Monday and used 50% of the battery. Once again, I’m not activating Verizon on this until I travel so I’ve had cellular deactivated since I unboxed it. The first thing I did was go to settings and deactivate the cellular radio. That should give me an extra 10% of battery according to Apple. That’s a bummer.

The new iPad looks like the iPad 2, is heavier and thicker than the iPad 2 and is not that much faster or better than the iPad 2 and has worse battery life than the iPad 2 and is very hot compared to previous iPads but the screen is nice. That’s about it. The screen is pretty cool looking and that’s the only really great thing about it. If you’re not a big reader of books or newspapers, skip the iPad 3. Well, if you’re an iPad 2 owner (as the majority of you are), skip the iPad 3. If you have an iPad 1 then it’s a good time to upgrade. iPad 2 users should wait.

I give this a 3/5 as an iPad 2 owner a 5/5 as an iPad 1 owner. It’s important to differentiate that. This is the most negative iPad review you’ll see. I’m critical of my devices. Please not death threats for this post.

April 17, 2012

Recipe: Steamed Mussels with Pasta

0 comments

At the grocery store, I see they had fresh day old Maine Mussels at the seafood counter. They were cheap at $4 for a 3-Pound bag so I picked some up. I don’t usually shop for specific recipes so I took them home and tried to find what I had and if it matched up to any recipes online that I could follow. I found this recipe.

I substituted: