Been watching the build-up and hype for weeks. At the announcement, to my (and a lot of folks) surprise, there was no pre-orders. This is unlike the release last year of the first gen iPad.

But, unlike last year, the actual release was only a week away, as opposed to the 30-days. That seemed to increase the hype in the compressed time from announce to release.

At midnight on the 11th, I was online and had a white 64GB 3G (GSM) in my cart. But the 3-5 business day delivery didn’t sit well. After pondering for a while, I decided to take my chance locally at Best Buy at 17:00 on Friday.

I went to the Dimond Center on Friday. Taking a few breaks, I wandered by BB and AT&T a few times. Found out AT&T had a “very limited supply” and BB will hand out tickets in the line.

Finally went back down about 4:00. Talked to Ben who gave me the skinny. Get in line, get a voucher, and at 5:00 they will let people in. The line was just around the corner outside, BUT, I didn’t have my jacket!

So I ran to the office and retrieved that, and in the short time to get back to “the line” I was WAY back. Ben had said they had about 100 left of different models, but I didn’t push for specifics. I tried to do a quick count of the line from where I was, WAY back. I was probably within the 100, but would they have the one I wanted.

They came through the waiting crowd and made an announcement. They would start passing out vouchers, and go back the line at 4:30. They would start selling at 5:00.

By the time they got somewhere close to where I could see, they made another announcement and said they would be moving the line forward as folks were going to be entering the store. The vouchers would resume at the door.

I was about 10-20 back at that point. It was right at 5:00.

Got to within about 5-7 from the head of the line and they made another announcement. There are no more 32 or 64GB iPads, in either white or black. They had 16GB 3G and some wi-fi versions still available. Skunked!!!

So I broke out of line and hurried to AT&T. Was only a small line. I was talking to a guy in front of me who had also been to BB. He was still trying to decide which model he wanted. I mentioned my experience using the 64GB and it sounded like a 32 would probably suit him just fine. About that time, 5:07PM, they made the announcement that there were no more iPads, but that they could order for you. Dammit, denied again!

I went back upstairs to the office. My MBP was still plugged in. A quick link to the Apple store still showed two to three weeks delivery. I went ahead and picked the white, 64GB 3G (AT&T) model, and the accessories. Got confirmation yesterday that the AppleCare “shipped” and next saw that the cover had also shipped. Should arrive Monday or Tuesday…

I just hope the supply chain in China is cranking them out (as I know they are) and the iPad will only be a couple of weeks behind.

In the end, that 3-5 business days doesn’t look so bad now… In this case, I gambled and lost.

– Posted from my iPad…

So I found an easy way to root the device (z4root.apk). This was the first step in essentially doing anything beyond factory authorized installs and customizations. It is akin to “jailbreaking” an iPhone, but in this case it is far easier than the current ‘untethered’ jailbreaks for the current version of the iPhone on 4.2.1.

The next step was a big one for a ‘noobie’ like me in the Android world. I can’t tell you how many hours I searched, read, and searched some more for information. Of course, “information” isn’t a problem, but it is the sorting, sifting, and filtering of pertinent and then determining what is reliable and verifiable. That is the tough part!

I decided that instead of trying to “roll my own” I would go with what seemed to be a highly recommended way to easily install customized ROMs for the Milestone/Droid. Luckily, the CDMA Milestone that is offered by Alaska Communications is almost exactly like the Verizon Droid.

This means so much more is available for the device. That includes what Motorola said would not be available for the A854; that being Froyo 2.2 (and beyond.) I was pleased to see that the the device from ACS was running 2.1-update1, but there are some really neat, useful features of 2.2+.

Some of those features include being able to work around the RAM limitation of the device and load apps to your SD (transflash) memory expansion card. This is critical, especially for apps such as Flash. In general you can load most apps to a special partition on your SD card and free up base machine memory. If for no other reason, this is the reason to upgrade.

But, there are other reasons… Currently I’m running a pretty cool Matrix animated wallpaper. This is just one of hundred (thousands???) An easy way to impress those Blackberry users in the crowd.

I decided to try the Bugless Beast (0.6.2.1) ROM to start. It installed without issue and allows me to start to explore the 2.2.1 firmware. Cool features, 800MHz overclocking, and other features included in the base ROM. I hear Cyanogen is another very popular ROM. I think I might load that one to try it out, too…

In all, the large free selection in the Android Market, the ability to customize the device, and the relative ease of doing so, make this first venture into the world of Android a pleasant experience.

In the end, do I think I will I give up my iOS devices…? Ahhhh, NO!

So I set out to investigate printing from my iPads. I tried several no-cost options and was reluctant to spend money on an app that may, or may not, work. I tried the CUPS mods from Terminal, the free AirPrint Activator (and even the former AirPrint Hacktivator) but none worked with my wireless (not physically connected to a Mac, or PC) WF600.

I did have success, albeit limited, with PrintJinni. At least I knew it was possible to print from the iPad to my WF600. But the limited ability, and the need to print via an attachment to an IMAP email account wasn’t palatable. Sure, if I could get nothing else to work, it would be better than nothing. But what about printing in the office and elsewhere…?

Then I came across a site that reviewed several options to allow the printing that Apple stifled (for whatever reason.) It seemed there was good press and user reviews for PrintCentral. While researching that app, I discovered PrintBureau. Now I was on to something!!! And, from what I could tell, it really did seem to work!

Of course, for the price ($12.99!), I was still reluctant to give it a try. My lack of success with CUPS printing was in the back of my mind. Sure PrintJinni worked, but what if PrintCentral or PrintBureau didn’t work any better than that free app?

Upon further research, I saw a comparison between PrintCentral and the EuroSmartz PrintBureau. I liked that direct comparison between the different versions of similar software. I saw the major differences were nullified with an in-app purchase. However, it seemed to make more sense to just purchase PrintBureau from the start. I’m glad I did!

The app does take quite a bit of time to configure and explore. It certainly provides $12.99 worth of extra value, and bells and whistles. The ability to write directly to a PDF on the device, by itself easily makes the extra $3 over PrintCentral a smart buy, at least in my opinion.

Just a bit of frustration was involved when I tried to setup my wireless Epson WF600. The app “discovered” my wireless printer. Great! Then, when attempting to do the “test” prints, all I could accomplish successfully was the plain text printing. Graphics, in any mode, were non-existent… That is, until I pressed the “More” button. It was then that I saw the first choice in selecting my printer – Epson specific was at the top of the list. Several other printer manufacturers were listed as well. Once I selected “Epson” (in my case) all the printing issues went away.

All in all, I highly recommend this app, if for nothing but the ability to print to ALL printers (in some fashion) and create PDFs. The additional features are almost overwhelming, and I am sorry to say I haven’t explored them fully. But accessing the iPad as an external “drive”, the links to the cloud, etc., all add more than enough value to justify the price, even if you only scratch the surface.

In summary, this is what I envisioned printing to be on the iPad. (And, I guess it works on the iPhone as well, although IMHO, that is a stretch.) The $12.99 price tag is almost outrageous, but it does what it says, and there doesn’t seem to be anything close to matching it’s capabilities at this time.

– Posted from my iPad…

Occasionally I would happen to notice strange wiki entry references in the logs. I never put two and two together until today. Using Google Analytics, I saw where Google had a number of spam appearances attributed to my domain. So I scoured the logs more thoroughly and found the wiki server had been set up to allow “unauthenticated” posts. Amazing, and even more so is that this is the default!?! I couldn’t believe it.

The “unauthenticated user” had created a “Publications” entry back in 2008. Again, WTF?!? (And that isn’t a reference to the CIA’s “WikiLeaks Task Force” either… ) There were, for the most part some that appeared to be legitimate posts. A lot of the entries had photos that added to the story. There were over 20 pages, each with many posts, going all the way back to 2008. They were posted with somewhat frequent regularity. The latest was posted last night at 02:00 or so.

A quick Google search really didn’t reveal a canned, step by step fix. I did see reference to how this configuration is a spam magnet. How true…

I decided to dive in to the configuration and see if I could figure it out. I don’t know if this will work, but since my address has been a regular target, only a day or two will tell if I have been successful.

In the end, I deleted the offending wiki and blog. I created a group that has permissions to make / edit a wiki post (and I hope this rolls to the blog entries, too.) Essentially, since this is a small server and it isn’t difficult to manage. On a larger scale, an automated configuration should be created. In essence, I just added authorized users to a group that allows wiki posts. The next step was to configure the wiki server to only accept posts from that group of users. (It was here in Server Admin that I finally noticed the ‘Wiki Allows Posts by Everybody’.

Sheesh! For folks like me, I would sure appreciate the default to explicitly reject posts by everyone and require specific permissions. It make me wonder just how many other compromised installations may be scattered around the Internet. Even more interesting, it make me think of some of the Google links I have followed… Some of the posts buried in my wiki / blog server looked suspiciously similar in style and content to ones I have visited.

Sure the idea is to drive traffic to your server… But this is NOT the right method!

Kurumi
Mr. Children

Nee kurumi
Kono machi no keshiki wa kimi no me ni dou utsuru no?
Ima no boku wa dou mieru no?

Nee kurumi
Dare ka no yasashi sa mo hiniku ni kikoete shimaun da
Sonna toki wa doushitara ii?

Yokatta koto dake omoidashite
Yake ni toshioita kimochi ni naru
To wa ie kurashi no naka de
Ima ugokidasou toshite iru
Haguruma no hitotsu ni naranakute wa naa
Kibou no kazu dake shitsubou wa fueru
Sore demo asu ni mune wa furueru
“Donna koto ga okorun darou?”
Souzoushite mirun da yo

Nee kurumi
Jikan ga nani mo ka mo arai tsuresatte kurereba
Ikiru koto wa jitsu ni tayasui

Nee kurumi
Are kara wa ichidou mo namida wa nagashite nai yo
Demo honki de warau koto mo sukunai

Doko ka de kake chigaete kite
Kigatsukeba hitotsu amatta BOTAN
Onaji you ni shite dare ka ga moteamashita BOTANHOORU ni
Deau koto de imi ga dekita nara ii
Deai no kazu dake wakare wa fueru
Sore demo kibou ni mune wa furueru
Juujiro ni dekuwasu tabi
Mayoi mo suru darou kedo

Ima ijou o itsumo hoshigaru kuse ni
Kawaranai ai o motome utau
Soushite haguruma wa mawaru
Kono hitsuyou ijou no futan ni
GISHI GHISHI nibui oto o tate nagara
Kibou no kazu dake shitsubou wa fureru
Sore demo asu ni mune wa furueru
“Donna koto ga okorun darou?”
Souzoushite miyou
Deai no kazu dake wakare wa fueru
Sore demo kibou ni mune wa furueru
Hikikaeshi chaike nai yo ne
Susumou kimi no inai michi no ue e

==========

Title: Kurumi (Walnut)
Words: Sakurai Kazutoshi
Music: Sakurai Kazutoshi

Tell me, Kurumi
What do you see looking at this city
How do I look to you now?

Tell me, Kurumi
When I start to hear the sarcasm in someone’s kindness
What am I to do?

Remembering only the good times
though it makes me feel like I’ve aged a sum
But you gotta be one of the gears
trying to get turning
You can have only as much despair as you have hope.
but still, my heart trembles at the thought of the future
‘what’s going to happen?’
I try to imagine.

Tell me, Kurumi
If time will eventually wash it all away
then life must be a simple affair.

Tell me, Kurumi
since then I haven’t cried once
but, neither have I had many good laughs

Somewhere I did up the buttons wrong,
by the time I notice, there’s one button leftover
and similarly one button hole, in need of a button
If you find meaning in finding someone then fine
you can have only as many partings
as you do encounters
still my heart trembles at the thought of hope.
Every time I encounter a crossroads
I’ll fret over which way to go but…

Even though I want more than I have now
I sing for an unchanging love
that’s what makes the gears turn
with the burden of more than I need,
making a dull grinding sound
you can have only as much despair as you do hope
and still my heart trembles
at the thought of the future
“What’s going to happen?”
Let’s imagine
you can have only as many partings
as you do encounters
and still my heart trembles at the thought of hope
guess there’s no turning back,
so I’ll go on, to a road without you.

So, after all this time, I find that I don’t use 3G. I didn’t even “subscribe” this last month, and barely used tens of megabytes out of the 2GB I receive for $25USD from AT&T.

I thought that 2GB would be nowhere near enough. I have found, and again verified this month (via the data use on the iPhone 4), that it is probably enough (in most cases.) I used somewhere around 1GB on the iPhone, to date, for November.

So, does that hold true for the iPad. I reason that you could (if that was the only device for surfing, etc.) certainly use more than 2GB. I will do a test, starting at the first of the month, to see the “realistic” data use I could expect. I’ll activate 3G again, and take it from there…

Of course, your mileage may vary… But I will check back at the end of December to see where I end up.

– Posted from my iPad…

Location:Anchorage, Alaska

I just received an invite to this early limited release, but so far it is an interesting blend of features and functionality. It allows you to not only share information, but to stay current with your friends, too. A sidebar feature also appear to learn your most visited sites and provide a quick link. However, it is more than just a simple bookmark, and seems to add functionality, depending on the “feed.”

I was also pleased to see that it works well, having been built on top of the Google Chrome browser. There doesn’t seem to be any (or, only barely perceptible, at most) hit on browser performance. It is still quite snappy.

The downside to this is that it requires an Intel processor in your Mac. I guess I still lament that life is passing by my “old” Dual 2.5GHz G5 PPC “Big Mac”. It is still quite serviceable, and does well even considering it is from December 2004, which is eons in computing terms. (Just how many Windows PCs can make that claim, it they are even still functioning at all.) But, that said, thanks to my 17″ MacBook Pro 2.53GHz C2D, I can play in the brave new world, with cool apps such as RockMelt.

There is still plenty of features to try. I’m yet not certain of the fine line between “sharing” and privacy concerns, but that aside for the moment, I’ll continue exploring RockMelt. It’s looks promising, especially for those wanting to stay connected.

Check out a few screen shots of RockMelt in action: Screen shots on FaceBook

When I met him, I mentioned being from Alaska.  He said he would be in Alaska sometime in mid-November.  He wasn’t sure of the location at the time, and we parted ways.

I was wondering and stumbled upon his Facebook page, and noted the date at November 13.  So I planned to attend.

I arrived in time for the performance. There was quite a crowd! Finally edged my way to the railing, on the balcony overlooking the stage.

Arvel, backed up with a quartet of local musicians, put on quite the performance.  It was different than the show at the Pow-wow in Loudenville back in September.  I guess the difference was the live musicians. 

In any event, it was a great show!  Filled in a few more albums from his catalog, and stood in line to get them autographed.  Chatted a few minutes with Arvel and his wife, and reminisced of Ohio.  I understand they are trying to book a music festival there, but having trouble getting the organizers to return their calls or email…  Hey, that would certainly be the festival’s, and in the end, the peoples loss.

All in all, it was a great day.  Certainly glad I went.  Plus there were lots of native dancers and plenty of other things to enjoy.

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Took a handheld shot with the Casio, at 20x zoom, and spot metering. While the moon turned out ok, the shots that included Jupiter, really threw the camera for a loop. The auto-focus and controls just couldn’t handle it…

But in any event, glad I wasn’t too lazy to get outside.

Had a nice visit on Sunday, when my sister and her family brought a boat load of food.  Watched football (Go Steelers!!!) on the big screen.

At the Prime Outlet Mall in Grove City, PA.

Got out and about yesterday…  Went to the Prime Outlet Mall in Grove City, PA.  Only a couple hours away, it is a nice drive and four-lane all the way.  Was a beautiful day, sunny and clear.  Temps were in the mid-80′s, but fortunately there was a little breeze, so I didn’t totally end up as a puddle on the sidewalk.

Was able to do my shopping to tide me over for another year…    Quite a selection and the prices weren’t bad, especially compared to Alaska. 

Taking it easy today.  Looks like we’re going to get some rain.  A line of thunderstorms are just to the west, and I can hear the thunder.  It’s cooled off a little, but still in the low 80′s.  Going to go out to eat later, but not in any rush…

Tags: vacation, Anchorage, East Liverpool, Grove City, Prime Outlet Mall, Polo, Ralph Lauren

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