Yes, Tumblr and Tumbleblogs do this, but I just don’t see the same level of needing to keep track of particular link blogs just for the sake of finding and reading cool new things.

Of late I’ve been actively stashing a ton of stuff into Evernote. Pretty much anything I think could be interesting or useful to me later, I clip over to Evernote. Before I really got into Evernote as a budding power user—thank you Alex Samuels—I was using IFTTT to pull articles I stashed in Instapaper into an Evernote notebook. That worked okay, but the problem is that the Instapaper to Evernote trick I’m using taps into my Instapaper RSS feed—which doesn’t include the post content—so the "I think this article will be valuable to me later" value is diminished.

Yesterday I came upon Postach.io and started trying it for quick and easy blogging from Evernote—Tris Hussey | Tris Shells Out. The idea behind Postash.io is pretty simple (I found it through Techvibes). You use the Evernote API to hook up a specific Evernote notebook to Postach.io. When a note in there is tagged "published" it’s live. If it isn’t tagged published, it’s a (private) draft.

I gave the system a little test drive last night and thought it was pretty simple and easy to use, so…what’s next? How about creating a simple link blog? Sounds good. I clip tons of stuff every day, so I have plenty of fodder.

Except…

When I clip articles into Evernote I clip the whole article into Evernote. I need the entire article in Evernote for my research and archiving needs. Just wholesale copying that note intp the Postach.io notebook wouldn’t be a good idea then. I don’t want to mess with folks’ content like that. Regardless that the post would have a link back to the original, it would be their entire post on my blog—and that’s just not kosher.

Then thinking about IFTTT again. I had the recipe already set up for Instapaper to Evernote, how about just pointing the Instapaper posts to the Postach.io notebook and tagged with "published"? That, actually, works pretty well (as you can see if you visit the link above). The only flaws I’m seeing in this model right now is that the navigation on Postach.io to read more than a few posts at a time is lacking (that could be a theme choice) and still the Instapaper feed doesn’t give even a short snippet of the post.

What would be really cool, though is something like an Evernote to WordPress connector. Last time I looked, such a tool doesn’t exist, but I think IFTTT could add it.

Working like Postach.io, you just need to pull more Evernote data (notebooks and tags mostly) and if something matches certain criteria (new note in a notebook, tagged in a certain way) use XML-RPC to post to a WordPress blog. IFTTT has the WordPress posting part and can create a note when I create a new public note link in Evernote, but the flexibility of Postach.io is missing.

Putting all this together, if you could get better data from Instapaper and more info from the Evernote API on IFTT you could create something where you could send posts directly to an Evernote notebook that could be automatically posted via XML-RPC to a blog.

Most of the parts are there…just a couple details remain.

So why bother?

Permanence.

The posts and links and cool stuff we share (and find) on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are really, really hard to find later. Unless you click and stash everything to something like Instapaper or Evernote (or both), chances of you finding that helpful or inspiring post that you remember vague bits from, are slim.

Hence the return of the link blog.

Not just (though these are certainly appreciated) funny stuff we find online, but the important stuff, the interesting stuff, stuff that might matter to people a few months or years from now. Yes, I’m talking about a return (reemergence) of your own curated content archive shared to the world. Not like Flipboard’s Magazine feature (I’m dying to try it soon), which you don’t own or control, but on a site you own and control (and can export your data from at any time).

I know that owned curated content won’t become a mainstream thing. I know that only a few people will bother to do it. However, that’s always been the case. Not everyone kept libraries in their homes of more than a few books. Not everyone blogged. Not everyone saved and kept links for later. Not everyone shared what they found.

But a few people did and they helped all of us find the interesting things that shaped the world.

Maybe we can get back to that. The modern librarians of information and content.

The pieces are here, some just need to be polished and refined and we’re there.

This was a little experiment for trying to post from Evernote to WordPress automatically using IFTTT. Didn’t turn out as expected. That’s why we experiment!

But, depression doesn’t really care about that. Sometimes, the smallest thing can start the cascade down, and regardless of all the tricks I’ve learned over the years, I can’t always stem the tide of sadness. I just can’t.

Today I wanted to get a lot of writing done; Catherine and I have a book to finish and I have another book to start. Dawdling isn’t an option right now. But, for the past week I haven’t been able to be productive on the weekends. Last weekend I just recharged. I know I need that to keep myself on an even keel. This weekend I wanted to hit things head on.

I couldn’t.

On the other hand, I’ve learned that if I’m feeling creative in another way when I’m a bit down that I should roll with it and do that. Being creative, the whole aspect of creating, helps me. A lot. Throw in an app I’ve been dying to put to good use…and we’ve got something.

I’ve been really impressed with Haiku Deck. I tried the first version that came out and just knew that it would be a great tool for my non-teaching presentations. The problem has been I haven’t had a non-teaching presentation to give for a while.

Then today I felt inspired. I wanted to see if the combination of simple words and photos would help me express how I’m feeling. I wanted to see if using Haiku Deck to tell everyone about what is stirring in my mind would kickstart something.

It did. Here is the result:

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

I always approach a public declaration about my struggle with depression with more than a touch of trepidation, but I stand by the feeling that by speaking out I might help someone else.

So there it is. I suffer from depression. I take medication for it daily. I try to keep my feelings in check, but I don’t always succeed. Today I let all the feelings out and now I feel better.

Now I might be able to bring some focus to my thoughts….in fact I’m sure of it.

Intro to WordPress
This course is designed for the WordPress.org user who wants to learn how to manage a site, edit themes and troubleshoot problems. Through in-class demonstrations and exercises, discover how to maintain and customize a self-hosted WordPress website, including manual installation, configuring plugins and creating child themes. Learn alternative uses of WordPress, as well as how to manage multiple WordPress websites. This class is intended for experienced computer users who are already familiar with WordPress.

Note: Build a Website with WordPress (IM810) or equivalent experience recommended.

Standard Fee: $350+tax

(UBC Continuing Studies)

The thing about this course was that it was born from students asking about editing themes in the intro class. So, I built a class around installing WordPress and creating a simple child theme from Twenty Ten or Twenty Eleven.

This wasn’t the right way to approach the class and the needs of students.

See, most of the time, no one needs to modify their theme. Sure, lots of people do modify their WP themes, just by and large people are paying someone else to do it for them and this isn’t intended to be a “learn how to make a WP theme” class. Heck, I don’t even think I could teach that class on my own. I’m betting that Catherine Winters and I could teach a six-week course together, but that’s a horse of a different color. This is about me helping people run and maintain their WP.org-based websites.

So, coming up on Saturday the class is going to be a new class from the ground up. Much like I did with the WP.com (intro to WP) class in January (it will be offered again May 25th, but registration isn’t open yet), I’m stepping back and making sure I cover all the fundamentals that someone needs. To give you an idea of what I covered in the WP.com class (and what you should be generally familiar with if you’re taking the WP.org class), here are the slides from the intro class:

So for the Advanced WordPress class/WP.org class you will be installing WordPress on the class machines; installing and configuring core plugins; installing and configuring a theme or three; and learning how to administer all parts of the site. When you leave the class (brain suitably bursting with info), you’ll know how to/about:

• WordPress is installed and where the core files are
• Picking, installing, and configuring core plugins
• Picking, installing, and configuring themes (we’ll pick a couple the class finds to play with)
• Using demo content to help test a new website
• Troubleshooting and fixing common WordPress errors
• Tuning your site for SEO
• Tuning your site for heavy traffic
• Making basic theme edits
• Making advanced theme edits.

I’m looking forward to this class and this more pragmatic approach to “advanced WordPress”.

A week ago, I announced that I was leaving iPhoneHacks as the Editor-in-Chief. To say this threw me into a bit of a tumult would be an understatement. It might not have been a perfect job, but it was a job that paid the bills and allowed me to write full time. It’s never a nice feeling to have the world up ended on you.

Well, my world wasn’t topsey-turvey for very long.

Starting tomorrow I’ll be joining SoMedia Networks as the Social Media and Communications Manager.

Yes, tomorrow.

Yes, I just wrote my last post on iPhoneHacks.com today.

It was all very fast, but it’s also a great story about not closing doors and keeping connected on social media.

See, I interviewed at SoMedia a while ago, over a year ago for sure. I had a great interview with the CEO and thought what they were doing was really, really cool, but…

I wasn’t right for the job I was interviewing for.

So when the CEO asked to connect on LinkedIn, I pushed aside any thoughts of “why connect with someone who just said you weren’t right for the job” and connected. Why? I had a great chat and interview with the CEO and I thought we connected really well. He wanted to keep things open and possible for the future. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Good thing I did connect with him, because when I wrote last week that I was leaving iPhoneHacks, that same CEO read my post on LinkedIn and emailed me. It happened that right now is the right time for me to join SoMedia to work on blogging, social media, and some really, really cool things that…well…you’ll have to wait to find out.

I am very excited about this new job. Back in an office (with Nerf guns galore) with some really cool folks and not to mention my commute to work is only three blocks.

You’ll hear more about this job, what I’m doing, and some of the things that are going on in due course.

Until then, I have to pick a coffee mug to take with me tomorrow morning.

That happens.

So this is my last week there. I’ll be wrapping things up and moving on at the end of the month. Which brings up the inevitable question:

What next?

Right now, honestly, I’m still processing the change. My primary goal at the moment has to be financial. Bills have to be paid, that’s just the reality of life. Right now, yes, I’m looking for another full-time writing job to stay doing what I love to do. In the meantime, if you have some piecework writing, reviews, or how tos you’d written for your site, let me know, I’d be happy to talk with you.

Events like this not only shake you, but they do offer the chance to take a bit of a step back and see if you’re on the right course in life. I’m doing a little of that as well.

In the end, I wrote a lot of posts on iPhoneHacks that I’m proud of and what I think is some of my best work. I recorded a bunch of how to videos that I think are good and gave me a chance to test and try some things. And was back in the daily news game for a while. Exciting, busy, and, often, tiring stuff.

On to the next phase and chapter…

This past weekend’s WordPress class went very well, nearly full class and the new approach hit the mark. Next up on February 2nd is my podcasting and video blogging class and like last week’s WordPress class, I’m taking a new approach to the whole class.

As much as I love podcasting (that is audio only), video is really where it’s at. On the video side, I think video blogging might have had it’s day as well. What’s left? Actually, everything…

Because while people might not podcast or video blog as much as they used to, the how you shoot video or record audio hasn’t changed. Today people need videos for Kickstarter or product demos. Maybe a voice over for a screencast or slide deck you’re posting on Slideshare. This means that it’s just as important now, maybe even more so now, that you know how to record great videos with great audio for social media, marketing, and frankly being able to get your message out to the world.

So on February 2nd the class will cover how to shoot better videos—including a focus on mobile video—and post them online. And I’ll go beyond just “regular” video and get into screencasts of apps and websites. Audio? How about tips and tricks for recording voice overs? And since podcasting isn’t dead, we’ll cover audio and video podcasts as well.

The key here is that while “podcasting” might not be the in thing, posting videos online has only become more popular.

The question for you is, then—do you want to learn how to shoot, edit, and upload great videos?

If you do, join me in a couple weeks for a full-day of audio and video fun and learning. Heck, maybe we’ll make a parody video or something fun.

You never know, I haven’t finished updating my class outline yet…

Info on registering for the class is below.

Learn the basics of audio and video podcasting in this one-day, hands-on workshop. You learn how to record, edit, encode, and post audio and video podcasts. Topics include hardware, software, how to add music and titles, where to post your podcast, search engine optimization and how to host a live Internet radio show. One day is all you need to get on air and podcast with confidence and ease.

Standard Fee: $350+tax

(UBC Continuing Studies)

This Saturday (January 19th) I’m teaching my Intro to WordPress class down at UBC Robson Square. The original goal of the course was “Building a Website with WordPress, For Regular People”, but the class has morphed and changed into something much better I think.

Here is the info from the UBC Continuing Ed:

Learn how to make a professional looking website using the WordPress blogging platform. Beginning with WordPress.com, you learn the basics of how to turn a WordPress blog into a website, how to tune it for search engines and how to choose the right theme. This workshop teaches you how and when to use WordPress.com or WordPress.org, including domain names and hosting, and using WordPress.org to build dynamic, elegant and professional looking websites quickly and easily. You don’t have to know how to code to have a great website, you just have to know how to click.

Standard Fee: $350+tax

(UBC Continuing Studies)

Now that I’ve been teaching this class for a few years now, this time I’m going to take a completely new and fresh approach to how I teach the subject. Oh, I’ll still cover making a “website” using WordPress, and as I’ve done for the past year or so, the class will use WordPress.com as the platform. This time I’m going to spend a lot more time up front on WordPress basics. Not just because WordPress.com has so many more new features to show off, but also the nature of how to build a “website” in WP has changed a lot in the intervening years.

By the end of the class you’ll have a much deeper sense of WordPress (focusing on .com) as well as the tools for making a WordPress site “more than a blog”. Last I checked there were about 15 people signed up and the class can only seat 25, so if you want in…better to sign up now than miss out until next term.

That’s this week. February 2nd I’ll be teaching my intro to Podcasting class:

Learn the basics of audio and video podcasting in this one-day, hands-on workshop. You learn how to record, edit, encode, and post audio and video podcasts. Topics include hardware, software, how to add music and titles, where to post your podcast, search engine optimization and how to host a live Internet radio show. One day is all you need to get on air and podcast with confidence and ease.

Standard Fee: $350+tax

(UBC Continuing Studies)

I’ve been teaching this class as long as I’ve been teaching my Intro to WP class and, again, it’s time to shake things up a bit. A year ago I started teaching the video portion first because video just takes longer. This go round I’m going to stick with video first, but I’m also going to put more focus on mobile video and video on the go. Oh don’t worry, I audio podcasting (my first and true podcasting love) will get its due, but really audio podcasting isn’t nearly as popular as posting video missives. So even if you just want to learn how to shoot better video to post online, this is a good class for you. Typically this class is taught in the Mac Lab at Robson Square so we use iMovie and GarageBand as the tools of choice. Sticking with the mobile focus, I’m going to include iMovie and GarageBand for iOS (iPhone and iPad) into the demonstrations.

Finally comes my Advanced WordPress class February 23rd. This class grew out of students from the first class asking about editing themes and managing WordPress.org sites. I’ve taught this class twice now, and I think I finally have the swing of how it needs to flow for students to get more out of the class:

This course is designed for the WordPress.org user who wants to learn how to manage a site, edit themes and troubleshoot problems. Through in-class demonstrations and exercises, discover how to maintain and customize a self-hosted WordPress website, including manual installation, configuring plugins and creating child themes. Learn alternative uses of WordPress, as well as how to manage multiple WordPress websites. This class is intended for experienced computer users who are already familiar with WordPress.

Note: Build a Website with WordPress (IM810) or equivalent experience recommended.

Standard Fee: $350+tax

(UBC Continuing Studies)

I haven’t gone through all the feedback from the last class, but I know myself and how to read a class that I missed the mark last time. Given that I only teach the class once every three months or so, it’s easy to get rusty, not to mention I don’t get too many chances to practice it.

So like my intro course, I’m going to spend much, much more time on the basics of maintaining a WordPress.org-based site. Much, much less time on hacking an coding themes. I think this is going to be the right balance for the class.

Hope I’m right, because I love teaching the class and want to make sure I’m meeting student needs and expectations as well.

I’ll push out reminders for the February classes as the time draws near, but don’t forget spaces are filling up for this week’s class—Build a Website with WordPress. And with all the awesome, new stuff at WP.com, I think it will be an awesome class for people who want to get started with WP.

The problem was simple:

My writing sucked.

Now, almost 20 years later, I think my advisor would be pretty stunned that I’m a published author and I write for a living. The path to getting here is another story, today the story is that while I write well now, I don’t think that my writing could pass muster in science.

I write too clearly.

I found this post today and it isn’t just scientific papers that make no sense, it’s a lot of other “professional” writing too:

Why Good Writing Matters:

Years ago now, I recall a senior scientist who’d read a piece of my work saying doubtfully, ‘It’s very well-written. Very literary.’ The implication was clear: ‘But is it good science?’

With hindsight, I can agree: that particular effort wasn’t ace. I can’t even remember its title, and the obscurity’s well-deserved. What did stick was my surprise that my colleague (undoubtedly a good scientist) saw good science and good writing as not just independent, but even perhaps opposed, since science is all about precision and language is irretrievably vague.
(Via FreshlyPressed)

I don’t know when science writers decided that being obtuse and obscure was better science writing, but it’s a true shame. Why? Because it only promulgates the perception that science is an impenetrable wall of terms that aren’t even put together well. The examples in the post are just…mind blowing. As I said, sadly, it’s not just scientific writing that suffers from this problem, it’s a lot of other writing too.

Have you read a job posting lately? Just for kicks, go to Monster or wherever and read a few of them. I don’t know who writes them but not only do they make absolutely no sense, but sometimes it’s even hard to figure out what the job is and what skills are required. Ironically sometimes the bigger the company the worse the job post is. HR must have some kind of rule that you can’t really say anything about the job lest you let people actually know what they are applying for and what the qualifications are. The posts just aren’t written to do more than say we’re hiring for some job, it could be the CEO or help desk, but teamwork and passion are important to us!

The shame is, there is a belief that “good writing” has to be full of complex sentences and great Scrabble words. But the truth is simple:

Good writing is clear. Good writing makes sense. Good writing is engaging. Doesn’t matter if it’s a blog post, job post, or a 20,000 year history of climate and vegetation around Clear Pond, SC, if you want people to understand what you’re trying to say and convey some sort of valuable information.

It has to been written well.

It has to be good writing.

Yahoo has three big sources of traffic: the homepage, mail, and search.

Two out of three of those are declining precipitously fast, according to new ComScore numbers cited by Kara Swisher at AllThingsD.

From: Business Insider

Every time I hear dire predictions for what could become of Yahoo!, my first thoughts go to Flickr. Flickr might have been one of the last great purchases Yahoo! made and the only one that has remained an identifiable part of Yahoo!. Ahead of Instagram's gaff, Flickr started to give real attention to its mobile client. Then once Instagram and Facebook did stumble, they jumped on that chance with an offer of three months of Flickr Pro to new (and existing) users.

Clever.

Clever for Flickr, but dangerous for Yahoo!.

I know I'm a bit of a broken record on Yahoo! selling and who would buy Flickr. I think I've written a post like this every year or so. However, I'm betting that either Yahoo! will turn on a dime, ditch most of its other assets, and totally focus on mobile—which Flickr would certainly be a huge part of—or Yahoo! will have to find a way to infuse some cash into the company and selling off valuable assets is a way to do that (again looking at Flickr).

Maybe Flickr could come back to Vancouver. Might be a nice addition to Tiny Speck or HootSuite. Maybe even Automattic could get in the game. Anyone but Facebook…

The deal is this:

Download an app to your phone (iOS, Andriod, and even Blackberry) and then you can play interactive games with the audience before the movie starts.

So, yeah, you still have to put your phone away for the movie, but…

I’m betting that that will be drawing to a close too. I think the second screen that we enjoy at home with shows and movie could come to a theatre near you.

Yeah, frought with problems and peril that one. Sure, getting details about the movie while you’re watching it would be fun, but of course someone is going to have their ringer on or sound on so you hear all the clicks, taps, and beep.

Still…it would be fun.

Want to join me? Looks like I’ll have a couple extra tickets to share with folks…

Gee, anyone interested?

While blogging on your iPad wasn’t too great at first, now it’s pretty easy and in this how-to I’m going to give you the ins and outs of getting it done. With caveats along the way.

Getting Started

Before you start off blogging on your iPad you need to make sure your blog is ready (and able) to accept posts from your iPad. If you’re blogging already, I bet your typical posting routine is something like:

• Find something interesting to write about
• Open your web browser
• Post

When you’re posting to your blog like this you’re posting directly on your blog. You’re going through a web browser to log into your blog and create something. Now, blogging on the iPad you can (sometimes) blog directly through Safari (or other browser), but many blog engines (most, actually) don’t have an iPad-optimized posting area. Which means you’re working with a screen layout designed for larger screens, physical keyboard, and a pointing device (that’s not your finger). Sometimes this works out okay, sometimes it doesn’t. WordPress, for example is okay in a pinch, but not great on a regular basis. Here on the Future Shop Tech Blog…it’s hopeless. Not the fault of the engine (Lithium), it just isn’t built for writing and posting via an iPad (or tablet), and that’s okay.

So if you can’t (or don’t want to) post directly you need to be able to post remotely. This means an app will connect to your blog and send all the right information to it to make your post…post. It’s pretty much the same scenario as using Mail to read your email versus going to Gmail.com. Most blog engines support remote posting through a protocol called XML-RPC, however for security reasons, XML-RPC isn’t usually enabled by default on most blogs. For WordPress, all you have to do is click one check box and you’re done (see below), for other blog engines, you’re going to have to look it up. I do know that Drupal and Typepad both support XML-RPC and Tumblr is into remote posting, so the capability is there, you just might have to turn it on (like in WordPress). Figuring out how you can post to your blog from your iPad (directly or remotely), is essential to getting to the next step—picking the apps you’ll need.

Turning on XML-RPC in WordPress

I’m going to focus on two types of apps in this how to post: writing apps and image apps. Yes, there are lots of apps for gathering content and reading news, but you’re probably doing that already (if not, you should be!). For writing apps there are two groups of apps, apps that will post to your blog and apps that will just let you write. If you can’t post directly or remotely on your blog, then you’re looking at just a writing app. If you can post remotely to your blog, then a writing and posting app will be cool. I will say, however, that although I can post to almost all the blogs I write for remotely I use both pure writing and writing-posting apps for my posts. Sometimes I need to start a post on my iPad and finish it on my laptop (like this one for Future Shop)

Writing and Posting Apps

• Official WordPress App Free. Only works with WordPress.org or WordPress.com blogs. Basic image support.
• Official Tumblr app. Free, iPhone optimized. For posting photos, etc on the go.
• Blogsy Paid. Supports most blogging platforms, good image support (auto resize on upload).
• Writing Kit Paid. Text and Markdown editor for iOS. Built-in browser. Lots of export options (what this post was written in on my iPad). Dropbox syncing
• Byword Paid. Great basic text editor with Markdown support. Fewer creation options than Writing Kit, but my backup editor on my iPad. On my Mac, it’s my primary post writing tool. Dropbox and iCloud syncing
• Elements Paid. Another solid, basic, Markdown-aware text editor. Dropbox syncing.

What do I use…

For the most part when I’m writing a post or article on my iPad I head for Writing Kit. It’s a solid editor that supports Markdown (Sidebar: What is Markdown? Here is the skinny—Daring Fireball: Markdown), syncs with Dropbox and its built-in browser let’s me add links into my posts with a couple taps. That said, when I was on an extended holiday/family time, I needed to post from my iPad to several WordPress-based blogs. Writing Kit can’t do that. It can generate HTML that I can paste into the web-based editor, but…that’s about it. Since you can’t (yet) upload images from your iPad to WordPress (iOS 6 has the functionality to do it now, but WordPress hasn’t been updated to take advantage of this new feature yet), I needed something with more oomph. Enter Blogsy. I’ve tried a few paid and free blog editors on my iPad, but Blogsy is the only one that I find works and is constantly updated. Using Blogsy I can either write posts in rich text right there or paste HTML from Writing Kit (sometimes I do this so I know I have a backup of the original post on Dropbox). Blogsy lets me upload an image from my Photos to my blog and set that image as the Featured Image for the post (a lot of WordPress blogs I write for make heavy use of that function). Of course within Blogsy I can set (and create) Categories and Tags for Posts as well as Pages (well not the Categories and Tags part…those aren’t used for Pages). Between Blogsy and Writing Kit I have content creation pretty much down pat.

Images, however, are another kettle of fish.

Managing Images

• Skitch Free. Great for basic cropping and a few adornments.
• iResize Paid. Just resizing and cropping, thank you very much. But it’s the fastest and easiest app I’ve come across to do just that.
• iPhoto Paid. This is my go-to photo editor on my iPad, except for one thing—it doesn’t make it easy to open a screenshot, crop it, and scale it to the correct size for your blog.
• Snapseed Paid. This is my fallback photo editor. It does a few things better than iPhoto, and has some cool effects.
• FX Photo Studio HD Paid. This is a fun editor whose claim to fame are the myriad effects you can add, and remove selectively, to your photos.

What do I use…

In large part, I take a screenshot of a page on my iPad, take a photo (shared through PhotoStream), or save a photo to Photos, then crop it in Skitch (or process in iPhoto), save, then resize as needed. While Blogsy does have a great automatic photo resizer, you can only set one global size (say 640 pixels). Some of my blogs need 640, some 600, others 450-500. My process now is to have an original image, scaled to 640, and scaled to 600. If I’m in a rush, I’ll just do the 600 size and let Blogsy do the original to 640 resizing. iResize is the only app I’ve found that makes it easy to just scale an image down without doing anything else to it.

Apps are great, but the reality is that the final essential bit to blogging from your iPad is one essential piece of hardware—a physical keyboard.

Hardware

Apple Wireless Keyboard. My favorite portable keyboard, but at 12″ long, it can be cumbersome to carry. I have an incase Origami case for my keyboard when I’m heading out (it holds the keyboard and serves as a stand). Not too portable, but an amazing keyboard.

ZAGG keyboard When I have to be more compact this is my fall back keyboard. Like the Apple one, it’s a Bluetooth keyboard (and has amazing battery life), but also combines with an integrated case-stand. The keys are smallish, but you get used to them quickly. Might not be great for epic typing sessions, but you can manage just fine.

Logitech thin I haven’t had the chance to use this one yet, but I’ve heard nothing but great things about it. If I could have found it locally when I was picking up the ZAGG, I might have opted for this one instead.

Pulling It Together

With all these apps and tools, how do I write and post? It’s pretty simple. I write the post, usually in Writing Kit, then switch to my Mac if I’m at home or close by to post by opening the file from Writing Kit saved to Dropbox in Byword for Mac. From there it’s having Byword create HTML for me, opening Safari, and posting. If there are images to be managed, then I will usually deal with all of them on my Mac then. I have far more (and better) tools on my Mac than on my iPad. If I’m not going to be back home before I need the post to be up, then I’ll post in Blogsy with images managed with one (or many) of the image tools above.

You might wonder why I do all this writing in Markdown. It’s simply this: Markdown lets me write in “faux HTML” that can be quickly parsed into “real HTML” by all the apps I use. Read the post on Markdown and you’ll see how my time a good Markdown editor can save you when you need to write things that will later need to be in HTML.

And that’s it! I find that I can write better, longer, and with more focus on my iPad than I can on my Mac. I’m hoping a couple of my other go-to editors become more iPad aware (that being Scrivener), but until then, I can certainly make do—and be very productive with a few apps, a keyboard, and my iPad.

Originally posted on the Future Shop Tech Blog.

Get ready to be wowed, the worthy alternative to the build-in Calendar, Calendars by Readdle received a big update recently and I think you sound take a look at it if you manage any kind of complex schedule.

There is no question that I’m a huge fan of the apps that Readdle offers. I have many of them, and several stay prominently on my homescreen or close at hand. Since I’ve been using the apps so much, Readdle let me take a look at the beta of the new update. I installed it, looked at it, configured it.

And I didn’t get it.

At first I just didn’t see what the big deal was. It looked like a calendar to me. So I emailed back and said…“um, what am I missing here?”

Turns out I was missing a lot.

Unlike Calendar, you have lots of ways to look at your schedule and tasks. Tasks connect with Google or Reminders, so you can have your to dos with your appointments. The app works well offline (data are synced in the background). Most of all, though, is the fact that it’s actually easy to book appointments. Just a long tap or drag on a day and it’s there. Multiple calendars? No problem. While you can only connect to one Google account (so pick your primary one), if you add other Google accounts (and their calendars and tasks) in under Accounts, you can view those calendars by turning on the “Local Calendars” option.

Now, this is one of the places where I was a little grumpy at first. Suddenly I had lots of duplicate appointments and I couldn’t figure out the best mix of ons and offs to make things look the best. Honestly, that was just me. Calendars makes picking and choosing which calendars to show at any given time a breeze. One thing that bugs the snot out of me with the Calendar (Apple) on both OS X and iOS is when I need to book an appointment that is at the same time as something that one of my shared calendars already has an appointment. It’s a real pain to have to start an appointment at an off time and the set it straight. With Calendars you just long tap anywhere on an open space and just drag to the right time. Sure you have to start in a blank, but it’s just one smooth motion to get an appointment into the right time slot.

At this point you’re probably thinking, “Awesome! Let me grab it now!” and if you go to the App Store you’ll see that it’s $7. This sticker shock might scare a lot of you away and, frankly, that’s a shame. Calendars is a really solid app that does what it does really well and better than the default. If you have a lot of calendars to keep track of, tasks to manage, or appointments to juggle…this is a great app. Readdle makes great apps. Readdle also constantly improves their apps (PDF Expert for iPad is my fav PDF reading app and it just gets better and better with every update). Readdle apps aren’t cheap, because great apps cost money to develop, improve, and support. Yes, I receive a lot of Readdle apps for free to review. but I also buy a lot of Readdle apps myself (Remarks and Scanner Pro for example). So I can say with conviction that the money you spend on an app like Calendars isn’t money wasted. Period.

Links:

• Calendars by Readdle—main website
• Calendars by Readdle for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store—iTunes link
• ‘Calendars by Readdle’ Re-Launched For iPhone & iPad | iPhone in Canada Blog – Canada’s #1 iPhone Resource—another review.

Disclosure: I received a promo code for this app for review.

Originally posted on the Future Shop Tech Blog

You know where I consume the vast majority of my news and other reading? My iPad. Why? Because I truly prefer to hold something that I'm reading.

When I want to catch up on the news of the day, I grab my iPad and fire up Zite or Fever or Reeder. I don't think I'm alone in this either. Why the excitement about an iPad mini or other tablets?

Because we like to use them to consume media—like reading.

Which is why this morning when I saw (on Zite) the post on GigaOm about Marco Arment's new app “The Magazine”, I downloaded and subscribed right away—Instapaper founder Marco Arment launches magazine on iTunes — Tech News and Analysis.

You just have to read the Forward and you'll probably be hooked. Of course if you subscribe like I did, you'll really get hooked on the first articles (posts?)—for examepl Stables and Volatiles-The Magazine—which I've read two of thus far.

But why do I think that Marco is onto something? It has nothing to do with his impressive track record, it has to do with another GigaOm post from Mathew Ingram that I recently read—Digital first isn’t an option for media — it’s the only way forward—if digital first is the only way forward then launching a curated, niche-focused, digital magazine makes sense. The subscription price isn't dear ($2 a month) and if the subscription is going to authors, primarily, then that sounds like a decent model to try out.

And this is also an important point here, Marco is fully prepared for this venture not to work out. He said in the forward:

I’m starting this with a staff of one. I can develop the app, procure and edit the articles, and write occasional articles myself. There’s no venture capital funding, no corporate backer, and very little starting capital. My biggest fixed cost is the up-front design and development of the app, and my biggest recurring cost is paying writers. If it doesn’t turn a profit within two months — just four issues — I’ll shut it down.

He's willing to take a risk on this venture, but not a foolish one.

I think the entire philosophy of The Magazine makes sense. Focus on great content, pull in great content that might be “old” but still resonates, and don't lock authors into writing for only him. Don't try to make a digital experience, just try to make a digital edition of great content. Of course great content costs money to be written, so pay the writers. Instead of trying to sell a slew of ads (which then complicates the basic, no frills design), just charge a fair price for the content.

Now, why can't the Vancouver Sun do this? While I did enjoy the multimedia experience in the app, I'd be fine with a much simpler app that just focused on content and not layout.

Mathew is bang on with his asertion of digital first and I think Marco might be the first person to actually put it into practice.

Now, I just have to find out how I can contribute to The Magazine.

I’m also a huge proponent of iPads (or any tablet really) in schools. Beyond the ability to carry all your text books on something that weighs less than one text, the ability to take notes, collaborate, share, and get work done just trumps all other arguments for me.

Yes, I think giving all kids in Grade 6 or 7 and up a tablet for school (with a supplemental “real” keyboard for typing) is a solid investment. I’ll stand by that, no problem.

As far as e-textbooks go, there are more and more coming out all the time, but I think one of the barriers to the books hasn’t just been the cost of the e-copy or the hardware for students, but the availability of a wide range of texts.

Now California is  taking that problem head on and I think this is going to start the death spiral of the printed textbook:

“This week, California took a big step forward in the march toward online education. Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a proposal to create a website that will allow students to download digital versions of popular textbooks for free.

The new legislation encompasses two bills: One, a proposal for the state to fund 50 open-source digital textbooks, targeted to lower-division courses, which will be produced by California’s universities. (Students will be able to download these books for free or pay $20 for hard copies.) The other bill is a proposal to establish a California Digital Open Source Library to host those books.”

(Via The Atlantic.)

“What? You’re nuts Tris!”

Uh huh. Let me put this in context. California has the same population as all of Canada (close to 40 million people now). Regardless of how you slice up numbers of students or kids or learners…that’s still a lot of people.

Next, whenever California has taken a stand for something like emissions standards (remember hearing on game shows that a particular car came with “California emissions”?) the rest of the country gets a trickle-down effect.

You can’t ignore changes or requirements legislated by the state with the largest population. (By the way, the next states to round out the top five are Texas (25.7 million), New York (19.5 million), Florida (19.1 million), and Illinois (12.9 million) via Wolfram Alpha).

So if California is doubling-down on electronic textbooks, which will likely cause a dip in orders of new texts over the coming years, what do you think will happen to the over all textbook printing industry?

Right.

However, I think this is a great thing for textbook publishers and writers. If you don’t have to print giant books that are expensive to move around and update, then you can afford to update texts more often. Schools could get updated textbooks more often. Kids could be reading history and science texts that are much more up to date than they currently are. In the end, I think school boards will get more bang for their buck and kids better texts to learn from.

The next barrier: extremely affordable and durable tablets for schools that students can haul around and won’t break in the first month of school.