·:[ Jason On A Shtick ]:·
• • • • •

Gotta roll right when you go to do an afternoon’s work in the network closets around campus…

• Tool box?  Check!
• Charged drill?  Check!
• Vacuum cleaner?  Check!
• Extension cord?  Check!
• OLPC?  Check!
• iPod hooked to DeWalt radio/battery charger?  Check!
• New network switch gear, cables, connectors?  Check!

Rollin’ in style!

For our good friends in physical plant…

1. A “rocket tower” exhaust unit that serves chemistry labs in the science building.
2. A painted outline of where a new rocket tower is going to be installed… in two days.
3. The primary microwave dish that provides Internet connectivity for all of campus and requires line-of-sight access to a dish downtown… see a potential problem?
4. Communication between departments to provide a heads-up of possible issues – FAIL.

Well, it’s official – our house now contains a sampling of every Apple mobile device – frankly, it’s sickening.

We have been enjoying our iPod Touches for quite a while and Jenny recently sold her Blackberry soul to the iPhone devil.  I had been thinking about getting an iPad just because I was so intrigued by the idea of it as a replacement for our mini laptop.  But as with any purchase over $100, I have to research and mull and fret for a while before I can commit (you should see what it is like if we are shopping for a car).  Finally this weekend, I grabbed a 32GB wifi-only model.

Having now spent some time with all of these devices, here are my ranting points (you weren’t expecting anything else, were you??)…

• It sucks to have to pay for OS version updates for an iPod Touch while the iPhone gets them for free.
• The iPad is actually a little heavy, weighing in at 1.5 pounds naked and without a case.
• Why doesn’t the iPad dock-to-VGA connection output video all of the time?  Only certain apps do so, and only for certain functions, Safari browsing being the most notable absence: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4108
• Let’s not even open the can of worms about Apple not supporting Flash.
• I know the iPad OS is based on the same stuff as the Phone and Touch, but it would be a whole lot more useful if it could multitask in some way and if it supported a limited file system of some kind.  Having to sync files for apps through iTunes is a pain.
• After having the iPad for a few days, the screen and buttons on the Touch seem really small!

OK, all complaining aside, there is plenty good to say…

• I love my iPod Touch and you will have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers.  Dare I say it, the thing is prettier and better than my precious Blackberry at many things.  If it weren’t for the iPhone being exclusive to AT&T, I may well have one.  But until some other carrier offers me UMA or similar access to make and receive calls over wifi like T-Mobile, that’s where I will stay.
• The iPad is hands down better than a netbook, especially if you just use your netbook casually to browse, check mail, etc.  Safari is lightning fast and there’s no booting, waiting for it to come out of standby, etc.  I think netbooks are dead with the advent of tablets akin to the iPad.
• Free apps like AP, NPR and New York Times will probably render my Sunday paper obsolete.  It is so easy to read on the iPad while sipping coffee, and some of the apps will even grab local news for you.
• You really and truly can type on the iPad.  I never saw this working on the iPhone/Touch and having a tactile keyboard is one of my reasons for keeping a Blackberry.  However, the screen size (and resulting key size) on the iPad make it totally doable, so $10 for the iPad version of Pages is worth it.

Of course, the next question about my iPad is when will it become the “old, first generation” iPad?  Probably not too long from now…

YES, I believe that you can clean ANYTHING with the proper vacuum!

Take a street sweeper truck, modify it so that it has a big hose that you can drag around.  Roll up to a property, vacuum up all of the old mulch, flip a switch and blow in all new mulch.  Why does this vehicle not exist?

Until then, I will just use my Shop Vac to pick up all the little pieces of old mulch that get washed into the yard…

A handful of our students volunteer long hours each week to crank out the weekly school paper.  They work out of an old sandwich shop that has been converted into a student publications office in the basement of one of the dorms.  Their adviser is a former newspaper lady that puts in a lot of effort to help them produce a professional looking rag.

After a recent grant money ordering fiasco, we found ourselves with some leftover play money to burn.  We decided to help these dedicated folks out with some new gear for student publications.  They had been using some much older PCs that were underpowered for their needs with Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

Needless to say, the students were thrilled with the new machines and I think the upgrade has made them more productive.  We even helped them rearrange the office when we delivered the gear.

I stopped in one night while they were hard at work on the next issue.  I was amazed at how seriously they took their work – it was like standing in a real world newsroom.  For me, this is another example of how good technology on campus can make a big difference for students, and something that our IT staff can be proud of having made better.