As a long time Google Reader user I am not very happy with the recent news that Google will be shutting down the service on July 1, 2013. 

I just finished reading some of the latest coverage, analayis, and recommendations at:

• Google Reader is dying, but we have five worthy alternatives (CNET)
• Five Best Google Reader Alternatives (Lifehacker)
• The Economist on the end of Google Reader
• PC Magazine's interview with Dave Winer
• Seven Google Reader Alterantives (Mashable)

At this point I don't have a good solution recommendation for myself or others that like what they have currently in Google Reader.  I'll be check options out over the next month or so.  I don't have a huge sense of urgency as there is still time to make a discriminating decision.

Things I liked about Google Reader:

• mostly text-based outline views;
• can view content & sync in browser, iPad, & Nexus 7;  
• simple to add & delete feeds;
• search through all my feeds;
• can organize feeds in folders;
• easy to mark folders read;
• see only new posts;
• star/mark posts for future reference; and
• easy to share what I find interesting.

If you have a good recommendation then please let me know.

Just a friendly reminder to all my fellow runners, joggers, walkers, etc. out there exercising on the road -- the all electric cars are 'super quiet' and if you are listening to audio with headphones on they are even harder to hear.

I almost got hit by one the other morning.  Mostly my fault for not being as aware as I should.

Stay safe and be aware!

My friend Mark Horstman readily shares that his favorite part of John Brown's Body (Poem) by Stephen Vincent Benet is ...

If you take a flat map

And move wooden blocks upon it strategically,

The thing looks well, the blocks behave as they should.

The science of war is moving live men like blocks.

And getting the blocks into place at a fixed moment.

But it takes time to mold your men into blocks

And flat maps turn into country where creeks and gullies

Hamper your wooden squares. They stick in the brush,

They are tired and rest, they straggle after ripe blackberries,

And you cannot lift them up in your hand and move them.

It is all so clear in the maps, so clear in the mind,

But the orders are slow, the men in the blocks are slow

To move, when they start they take too long on the way -

The General loses his stars, and the block-men die

In unstrategic defiance of martial law

Because still used to just being men, not block parts.

Very powerful, thoughtful, and meaningful words that have now become one of my favorites also.

I recently noticed that Mark (who is co-host of Manager-Tools.com) read this part of the poem in a Career Tools podcast entitled How Not To Multi-Task (Part 2).

I took the liberty to edit a version of just the poem from the podcast.  It is going in my Monday motivational playlists and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I've noticed recently that since I carry my iPad around with me everywhere that I've been getting a lot more questions from people I know and meet about what type of tablet they should get.  While I follow the mobile market as close as possible, all my current experiences are with an iPad.

I am a huge fan of the iPad for me (see previous posts), but recently I've been really curious if all the buzz around the Nexus 7 and the latest Andriod OS 4.1.2 and future 4.2 (Jelly Bean) were true.

Related to this topic, is my ongoing evaluation of Windows 8 on a touch screen enabled HP laptop, the release of Microsoft Surface/Windows RT (no experience), and the new Apple iPad Mini (no experience).

So, I decided to expand my experiences and look for a used Google Nexus 7.  I was able to pick one up locally here in San Diego for $150 (25% off list) so that sealed the deal.

So here is my first impression after opening the box.  Nice hardware -- the rubber back feels great in my hands, and the smaller form factor (~7-inch) is excellent. To be honest it really brings back memories of the Apple Newton.  In fact, one of the cases I had for my Apple Newton, that I was using for my Marantz recorder, easily holds the Nexus 7, so that is my case at the moment.

After using the device pretty much full time this past weekend, the current Andriod OS (4.1.2) is suprisingly easy to use, and I haven't found too many issues or problems I couldn't solve on the device.  It is defintiely more technical than Apple iOS, but that shouldn't cause any real issues, even for a novice.  The comments from others in the mobile analysis arena that there is now parity between this version of Andriod and iOS. I think this is a pretty accurate assessment from my short testing.

I find the integration with Google very tight, and if you are a heavy Google user (Gmail, Docs, Reader, Maps, Play, etc) than the Nexus 7 is an excellent tablet.  The new Google Now is a very good tool that floats up information that is pretty meaningful to me (weather, calendar items, sports scores, traffic, etc).  I also think the Widgets on the home/main screen are very power for getting quick updates to key information.

Some things that are working against me with the Nexus 7: no rear-facing camera (I use my iPad camera daily); trying to not purchase any software that I've already paid for iOS; screen seems to get dirtier than the new iPad (about has bad as the original iPad); and missing some core applications that I have on iOS (some games, native Toodledo app, iThoughtsHD, etc).

Some useful Nexus 7 features: integrated GPS and NFS; micro USB charger; Google Wallet; integrated speaker is similar to the iPad (maybe not as loud but good enough); and software buttons on the front for back, home screen, and running applications (ie. scrolling app switcher).

While I had some application gaps, there was a relatively high parity in standard applications that I use regularly on iOS: Amazon shopping, Bible, Camera+ alternatives, Drive, Evernote, Hulu Plus, LastPass, Dropbox, Netflix, PocketBible (alpha), RedBox, and Stitcher.  It is also good to know that there are really two main application stores: one from Google (Play) and one from Amazon (AppStore).  I recommend checking both to see if there is a possible deal between the two.

So, am I going to keep the Nexus 7 in my toolkit? I think so, but it might not be my main tablet. I'm going to keep using it as my main tablet for the next week or so and then re-evaluate my options.  

That would also include trying out the iPad Mini.  And I think another option is one tablet for home (aka the iPad) and one for being out-and-about (the Nexus).

I was able to successfully upgrade to Apple iOS 6 (Apple's What's New Page) on my iPad without any issues.  Here are the "new" things I enabled:

• Siri
• No Not Disturb: 9 pm to 6 am
• Limit Ad Tracking
• Reviewed all my Privacy Settings
• Clock (setup a bunch of cities)

I also had no problems updating Conrad's iPad 2.  Conrad is very happy with the new iOS 6, but when I asked him what specifically made him happy he wasn't able to pin any one thing down. ;-)

I am kinda bummed that Passbook isn't for the iPad yet. And the Panorama feature for the Camera that is in the iPhone/iPod isn't available on the iPad.

I also agree that Maps are in the need of work.  Here is a picture of downtown San Diego where the Star of India is at: just an outline of the Star of India (ghost ship?) and there is a monster of some sort coming out of the water at the pier to the north of where the Start of India is at.

UPDATE (3/23/2012): I was also able to update Christy's iPhone without any problems. 

I am reading through the following articles before doing the Apple iPad iOS 6:

• Is there a WIFI glitch?
• Social Media and iOS 6
• PC World on why you should upgrade immediately
• How companies can manage iOS devices
• Lab tests between iOS devices and iOS versions

Are there other recommended reads?  Anyone have any issues?

NOTE: As of October 16, 2012 the official Twitter API turned off RSS options per this article.  What I wrote here doesn't work anymore.

I personally like keeping track of some Twitter accounts (especially security related ones) using Google Reader.  Unfortunately, I've found lately though that Twitter keeps messing with RSS urls, and getting subscribed without errors can be hit and miss.

Here is my understanding of the current format as of this posting ...

If you have a Twitter account like @johnswayer that you want to follow in Google Reader.  Then take the following main URL (twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/) and add <twittername>+.rss -- for example:

"https://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/" + "johnhsawyer.rss"

Becomes:

 "https://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/johnhsawyer.rss"

And use that for the subscribe url.  I usually use a text editor to this (Notepad+ on Windows or TextWrangler on Mac).

Did I get this right? Did Twitter change this already? Is there a better way?  Leave a comment or send me email and I'll update this post.

One of the reasons I've always liked using an Apple Macintosh is AppleScript.  I know there is PowerShell on Windows but I don't find it as easy to just solve a problem as seamlessly with AppleScript.  

Here is an example ...

I have been subscribed to an email feed from DefenseLink that gives you pictures taken by DOD photographers.  However, the links get messed up (BLOCKED) by the anti-malware software on the mail servers at work.

So I take the messed up URLs and save them to a text file.   Then I run this script when I want to review the pictures:

property myURL : ""

tell application "TextWrangler"

activate

select line 1 of window 1

set myURL to contents of selection

delete line 1 of window 1

end tell

tell application "Google Chrome"

activate

set myTab to make new tab at end of tabs of window 1

set URL of myTab to myURL

end tell

Pretty easy.  Meets my needs. Solves a problem.  Good deal.

As a "new" iPad owner, one of issues outlined as a possible negative impact of having a Retina display was that application memory storage was going to be much bigger.  Since my plan was to move from iPad 2 with 16-GB to the new iPad with 16-GB, I was a little concerned since I seemed to have between 500-MBs to 1-GB free.

So, after a couple of recent updates where I noticed "Retina display' updates listed in the new feature list, I decided to try and track file sizes as updates were happening.  Here is the first sample of applications updated:

And this is the summary of increases for these apps:

• Stitcher v4.8.1 (13.9-MB) went to v4.8.2 (14.1-MB)
• Wikipanion v1.7.5.4 (2.5-MB) went v1.7.6 (4.9-MB)
• Khan Academy v1.01 (1.8-MB) went to v1.1.1 (1.9-MB)
• iThoughtsHD v3.3 (7.1-MB) went to v3.4 (12.7-MB) 
• The Weather Channel (TWC ) v2.3.2 (8.2-MB) went to v3.2.0 (97.7-MB) 

My second sampling included (less than a week ago):

With the following analysis:

• USA Today for iPad v2.0.8 (3.7-MB) went to v2.09 (6.6-MB)
• Redbox v2.4.0 (2.4-MB) went to v2.4.1 (2.8-MB) 
• Bible v3.8.1. (8.6-MB) went to v4.0 (15.9-MB)
• Where's My Water v1.4.1 (20.8-MB) went to v1.5.0 (38.1-MB)
• Google+ v1.0.10 (17.4-MB) went to v1.0.15 (17.7-MB)
• iThoughtsHD v3.4 (12.7-MB) went to v3.5 (12.6-MB) 
• Toodledo - To Do List v2.1.19 (5.5-MB) went to v2.2.0 (19.5-MB)  

So, it does appears that in general 'new' iPad applications are larger, and based on my sampling it looks like about 1.5x larger on average.  Most of the applications I tracked are all new Retina-savvy applications, but they also have other upgraded capabilities, new features, fixes, etc.  As the saying goes "correlation does not mean causation."

It was interesting that the iThoughtsHD most recent update went down in size (but did increase when it added "Retina display" feature).  Also the Google+ application is not Retina-savvy  per the application notes but it did have a small increase between versions.

The impact to my own iPad seems relatively minor since I seem to have between one to two GBs free (mostly changing based on music or video uploads) since moving from iPad 2 to new iPad.  I'll keep monitoring and will do an update post if something significant turns up.

Thoughts?!?

There are a lot of reviews on the new 3rd generation iPad.  Here are some of my thoughts after 48+ hours of use:

• The screen is amazing. The Retina-display is probably worth the upgrade all on its own. One thing that is very noticeable is that iPhone 2x applications are much clearer and crisp than on the iPad 2. 
• The dictation software with iOS 5.1 for iPad is surprisingly good. I have used it a bunch of times vice typing for both emails and web searches.  It has been 99% accurate for me.
• The camera is a great upgrade from the iPad 2.  I used the camera a lot with the iPad 2 and was pretty disappointed with the quality.  This was one area that I wanted to see some improvement in.  I'm pretty happy with the ~20 pictures I've taken so far (inside & outside).  I do need to play more with it, but for now I'm very satisfied.

A couple of other things to mention:

• Upgrading from the iPad 2 to the new iPad was pretty successful.  One issue I've had pretty consistently is that you do need to delete all network settings after an upgrade to get the iPad to work consistently on my Wi-Fi network.  I had this problem going from the original iPad to the iPad 2 last year, and again this year when I upgraded my son's iPad to my old iPad 2.
• It is also kinda interesting that some applications move over with no new user/password logon issues but then others require re-entry of user name/password.  I guess re-entry is probably better from a security perspective, but it does slow you down if you are using a bunch of complex passwords like I am across many different services/applications.

Bottom line: As someone who has used the original iPad (16-GB, Wi-Fi) , and then the iPad 2 (16-GB, Wi-Fi), I definitely think that the new iPad (16-GB, Wi-Fi) is an excellent upgrade for me. I'm very happy with the purchase.