Status Update

Hi. I have a lot to cover here.

Also, please excuse the 2009-2010 layout/colors. I'm setting up a new one... it just takes awhile because I can't do it laying down (literally, laying down).

Note: this may not be interesting/relevant if you don't know me on some kind of personal level. Feel free to browse other things. Enjoy picture of cats in boxes, or look at this inkblog post. Or these assorted images including Hipstamatic iPhone 4 pics (more soon). And join Zurker, a social network you can own so we can become friends.

Miscellaneous personal stuff:

• I think the satsuma mandarin orange season is at an end. Thanks to Chow Lafayette, I've managed to get almost 30lbs of oranges per week since December. Luckily, California has a lot of raspberries!

• This crazy Bay Area weather has been giving me daily migraines. Sometimes lasting up to 20 hours, I haven't had much relief. I think my migraines have been triggered by barometric pressure changes.

• I've been studying/trying to play Chess. Until recently, I hadn't had much interest in the game, but I played Go, then Gomoku, and that led me to Chess.

• I dig Shortmail. Using their iPhone app and my Twitter, @bradtastic, I setup simplified email in one minute. This format is based on the Email Charter — principles to eliminate email overload — found here.

Blog consolidation; goodbye, TypePad.

I've wanted to like TypePad since using MovableType at AIS, years ago. I just... don't. I want to like it; it's got a good team behind it, some interesting features, but poor layouts and themes. I don't know enough programming to make my own, and with time constraints and constant pain, I won't be learning anytime soon. Learning programming isn't just reading, it's trial & error — and not accomplished easily on the iPad.

So unless SAY:Media or someone is willing to pay for my disability blog, I'll be moving the content here. This isn't ideal, but it'll be easier to maintain. It also means gaming info and iOS app reviews will be mixed together with information on my condition.

For now, I'll keep the domain names — they're paid for — I'll just point them here.

Squarespace vs WordPress

I've been reading some blogging guides about setting up WordPress and other things (including Posterous and Tumblr). I want to keep writing and sharing — it's therapeutic — but I also want to keep costs down. Some blogging concerns are stability, aesthetics, typography, and file management. My goal is to share my photography, illustrations and design alongside writing. I love Squarespace's themes and CMS, but I don't care for the blogging/editing UI — it isn't touch and small-screen friendly. I adore their customer service, however.

A real iPad blogging tool, Blogsy, by fomola.

I found this app called Blogsy — subsequently communicating with it's developer/owner — and am now convinced that blogging from iPad will continue to be viable, if not someday preferred. Blogsy doesn't support Squarespace yet, but I've been told that that's a planned addition. I've used each of the services that it does support, and I'm starting to question my Squarespace convictions.

I hope to continue learning about technology and tools while I practice and strengthen my writing. I've been reluctant to share my fiction attempts, but perhaps it's time for more change.

This is a big year with Olympics, elections and Mayan doomsday predictions myths. Hopefully I can learn to better manage my disability and life, and share some of that — you know, before the world ends.

iPad inkblog attempt, 2012

I really don't know how this will turn out. I miss inkblogging, however. If you like it, please let me know.

Legacy of Steve Jobs

I was going to write about my Disneyland trip, or maybe about the iPhone 4S and Siri, but on Wednesday, an icon, a tech hero died. This you know, of course, because Steve Jobs was that important. Millions of lives have been made better by his inventions, and his passion brought technology to market that has reshaped the world. We operate differently because of iDevices, whether you own one or not. Multitouch displays, app stores... MP3 players replacing CD players. The iPad saved tablets from obscurity, and Steve proved that you can defy the status quo and succeed against opposition.

And then there's Pixar. A generation of children grew up watching their computer animated films, and the success of those movies has reshaped Disney — and perhaps storytelling, in general.

I can imagine some of the great things Steve Jobs could have accomplished with more time, but one of the most amazing things about him is that he created things we can't imagine. As a child, I never dreamed that one day, I might have a Star Trek device in my pocket. If you think about what the iPhone 4 is compared to the first iPhone, and compare that to the Palm Treo and other "smartphones" that preceded it, you can see how far things have come.

For me, the iPhone and iPad have been life-changing. Both devices enhance what I do in such simple yet amazing ways, and both are so intuitive and natural, they seem like extensions of thought, or extra limbs. The iPad has replaced my desktop and notebook computers — it does just about everything that I need to do. I also use it as a notebook, sketchbook and journal. And with the iPhone 4S and Siri, I'll have a phone that's one step away from sentience. I was thinking about getting the Infiniti Personal Assistant service, but in a few weeks, I'll have something just as good, built into the handset.

Of course, much of the brilliance of iOS belongs to the software itself and app developers, but having spoken to many app creators, I know that iOS was built to be powerful and easy to create for. iTunes and the App Store are both brilliant tools. iTunes has done amazing things for musicians, authors and programmers.

Steve Jobs created a company that makes my life better, and more fun. He influenced me more than any movie star, storyteller or US President. I've never loved a phone or tablet until I bought one made by Apple.

It's hard to know where to begin or end this. I'll have to add more thoughts later. I'm often compared to Vulcans, but news of Steve's death made me teary-eyed after the initial shock and disbelief. I suppose I'm still trying to process the loss. That's incredible by itself.

ThinkBook app for iPad Review

ThinkBook - Write, Plan, Outline and Take Notes ($4.99) is an iPad app by bitolithic that I’ve recently spent some time using, and I must say, ThinkBook IS AWESOME. I will get into app specifics, but first, I want to comment on the wonderful developer, @bitolithic. Emiliano Molina’s responsiveness, support, and attitude has been exemplary, and he is a developer that should be supported. bitolithic is also responsible for Comic Zeal, a universal comic app with great reviews.

Now, to the meat of the ThinkBook quick review!

ThinkBook has custom keys that are extremely usable; adding notes and navigating the app is a breeze.

ThinkBook is productivity application designed to organize large amounts of information (text) into usable chunks. The beauty of this software is that, by design, it’s as simple or as complex as you’d like it to be. You could use this app to organize classes, schoolwork, research, or your entire life.

If you’re looking for a simple, straightforward to-do list application, this app is probably overkill. It could be used to keep track of tasks, but task management isn’t its main strength. (Information on “Wunderlist” at the end of entry)

However, if you are working on a complex project, ThinkBook is perfect.

From the onset, ThinkBook can seem daunting. The learning curve seems steep. Fortunately, after spending about ten minutes with the app, I realized that it is a lot more intuitive than I’d first thought, and quickly fell into a productive rhythm with the program. Still, I recommend reading the built-in manual — to get the most out of the app. 

ThinkBook has a simple, powerful structure, built around a homepage called “Contents.” This overview page is just like the table of contents in an ebook — from here, you can jump to various pages and books within the app. ThinkBook organizes text on individual pages, and books are simply collections of pages. 

All of your text inside of the application can be found using the search tool on the sidebar. Further, ease of use is provided by a cursor on the righthand side of the screen; this tool allows notes to be moved around freely, and can be used to move entire pages as well.

ThinkBook is only going to get better. I have no doubt that Emiliano will continue to support his apps; bitolithic won’t disappear. Also, if you do end up getting this app, don’t hesitate to give your honest feedback — your concerns or criticisms will only help to make the app better!

You could also let bitolithic know that you read this blog entry ^_^

(For a wonderful FREE task manager, check out Wunderlist — available on all iOS devices, iPhone, iPad, as well as Android, Mac OS X and Windows PC. 6 Wunderkinder GmbH has also released a web app version. Wunderlist stays synced across all devices. Definitely Bradtastic Approved!)

A Glimpse Into Bradtastic's Mind

The photo was taken at night in my building's garage with the iPhone 4. I think that I used the HDR version of the wall pic. The image was opened in SketchBook Pro on my iPad, to add the 'poem.' Aside from the writing, the picture is unedited. Perhaps this post will inspire you — maybe you'll see something else, or something different. Maybe you'll think "he's not normal." Either way, I decided to share this because, here at my blog, I almost never reveal my eccentricities. Also, I haven't finished researching — and writing about — Philippine law and Nat Geo's "Locked Up Abroad."

Squarespace and Tech, in general

Over the past few days, I'd spent some time trying to make some improvements to this journal, some of them, subtle — like trying to get “smart quotes” (slanted quotes) to work properly when posting from the Squarespace iPad app. The iPad is still my primary computing platform, and many entries here are composed on my iPad. Unfortunately, the smartypants code that changes "straight quotes" and apostrophes into “proper quotes” and angled apostrophes doesn't work when entries are posted from outside the web interface. Fortunately (though it pains me to admit), not many people care about this typographer's pet peeve.

Recently, technology, in general, has been frustrating for me. Undoubtedly, some of it makes life much easier — some technologies seem impossible to live without. Therein lies the crux, however; as we introduce more tech into our daily lives, we become more dependent upon those things.

The above paragraphs originally acted as an introduction to the meat and potatoes, my rant about cell phones. However, it's become such an important thing to me, that I've decided to separate it.

Before I end this 'quickie,' another entry that has been composed on my iPad (that'll post without slanted quotes, GRRR!), I'd like to add that Squarepsace customer support has been fairly responsive in an attempt to help me troubleshoot this issue. There was some confusion, and overall, the support ticket I'd opened (after being prompted by @Squaresupport) had a simple answer: what I wanted couldn't be done, yet. Throughout the process, each person I'd communicated with was courteous, succinct, and prompt.

So in closing, I'd just like to say that the overall Squarespace experience is great, and if you're looking for a DIY website solution with minimal programming knowledge required, look no further, and please let them know that I referred you, because (I think) that gives me some kind of credit, and makes you extra cool.

Replacing Japanese Paper with Aluminum and Glass

Over the past year, I've used many different notebook apps for the iPad, and though I tried to love them, none really felt right. Penultimate, a great, highly rated app, has many things going for it, but it lacks the precision that a detail-oriented designer needs. Some apps such as Note Taker HD and Notes Plus also come close to paper, but they're both missing things.

However, iPad owners: I've found the answer — my favorite "notebook" app is "MUJI NOTEBOOK." if you haven't seen it, check out more information. Granted, the style might not suit other so well; the Japanese influence is clear, down to the paper types and formatting.

For true "pen and paper" feel, get a capacitive touch stylus. WACOM recently released a Bamboo stylus, but I haven't used it yet — the demand seems high, and there's a several month wait (I do have one on my Amazon Wish List, however, and my birthday is in three months!). I own styli by Ten One and Boxwave; either is good, but the Boxwave is easily my favorite.

It's not perfect—paper isn't perfect, either

MUJI Notebook has text, writing and drawing support with multiple methods of input. Some are slightly cumbersome; for instance, English handwriting to text is difficult to use effectively because the system doesn't detect letter shape, it assesses stroke order. That said, it's still easily my favorite, and I now take notes in ways I didn't — and couldn't — before, because my iPad 2 is near me so often.

For typed notes, I recommend Nebulous Notes... but my favorite iPad writing app is iA Writer.

Share?

I'd love to hear about your favorite iOS apps, productivity tips and tools, or whatever else you use to get things done on mobile devices. Coming soon: the team behind Day One (Journal) for iPhone and Mac desktop PC released a universal version of their iOS app. Ive played around with it, and believe that there's room for improvement, so I'm going to hold off on a formal review. One of the main new features is the inclusion of "reminders," a feature from the desktop app, designed to help the user remember to write throughout the day at set intervals. Hopefully, I can review OmmWriter for iPad soon as well.

I'll share some more photos and artwork soon, too. If you're curious, you can check out Antipresto, my Tumblr, for photos, videos, links, and other cool things.

iPad 2 Screen Problems

I now have the iPad 2.

This really is a big deal. The original iPad has served me so well, but this thing is twice as fast with graphics (they say) seven times better. I’ve heard that in reality, it’s less, but even so… this machine is amazing — now that I’m using my second iPad 2.

Yes, the first one was defective.

I was using a 64GB original iPad; I was so thrilled about upgrading to a 64GB with 3G. The anticipation from waiting over one month to receive the new iPad — and as soon as I sync it, I realize.

The screen of my iPad 2 is not centered.

Forget light leakage; the screen of my iPad 2 was offset about 1mm to the left, and tilted a degree to the left. This might not sound like much, but as an artist, it’s a huge deal. The untrained eye without magnification could see that the screen was off-center, so I took it back to the Apple Store for replacement. Apple’s customer service is pretty solid. I’ve been using their products for years now, and I’ve loved them since the beginning of OSX, despite some problems here and there. They saw the problem, and offered replacement… except that store didn’t have one. Luckily, an Apple Store twenty miles away did, so I went there.

It was there that I noticed that the offset screen problem could be a greater issue than just my lemon machine.

The problem is much easier to identify on the white iPad. The pixels of the iPad LED lit LCD screen don’t touch the border of the glass cover; there is a margin, a black border, on all four sides of the screen. At least, there should be — and it should be centered. However, this isn’t always the case. I checked several floor models, and noticed that some of the screens were positioned slightly off-center, though none as bad as the iPad 2 I’d first received. This imperfect placement makes me think that this could be an issue for other people. Please let me know if you’ve had something similar.

A screen with a slightly larger margin on one side is still usable, but a crooked screen isn’t.

That’s what I had. This new one, the one that I’m writing from, is much better. I can’t say that it’s perfect. I would’ve thought that iPad quality control would eliminate those sorts of problems. Other owners have reported light leakage and bright spots. At least dead pixels seem to be a thing of the past. “They don’t make ‘em like they used to” is a good thing with regard to LCDs. Despite my initial trouble, Imam happy with the iPad 2. It’s everything I loved about my old iPad, faster, in a better shell. I highly recommend these things; the iPad isn’t just magical, for me, it’s life-altering — in all of the best ways. I wish that Apple sold some kind of cover for the back of the iPad 2 (the aluminum can scratch really easily), but there are third-party covers like InvisibleShield. I plan to get something to go along with my (PRODUCT) RED smart cover. Because I take my iPad everywhere and use it as my mann computer, I need something sturdy and somewhat rugged. Having communicated with dozens of app developers, I feel like this device has some of the most passionate programmers and designers in the world backing it up and building for it. Despite some issues I have with Apple’s approval process and store policies, I give them my Bradtastic Approved label. I only wish they were more neutral in their apps choices and terms. As Playstation Network is still down, I’ll be writing more reviews, tips, tangents and rants in my spare time,, including a beginner’s guide to “becoming bit literate” — with the first step of reducing email inbox/es to zero emails. For now, I think I’ll enjoy this a little bit and continue organizing after a snack.

Day One Journal, no nonsense.

This app is cool. At $0.99 USD, it’s hard to complain about price. (The same cannot be said for the desktop version, however, at $9.99) DAY ONE (journal) for iPhone is a strong example of a straightforward app uncomplicated by features.

But what about Momento?

How can I not mention Momento? After all, I featured it on this blog. Both are currently iPhone only (as iOS devices go). The two do differ, however. Momento could do everything that Day One does, but it’s not really built for just that. Momento is about capturing feeds and tagging posts; organizing a complex weave of photos, tweets, status updates and memos. Day One doesn’t do photos. It doesn’t do tagging, either. It doesn’t have these things… on purpose. What it does, it does so well; it keeps track of lightweight journal posts and quick thoughts, timestamps them, keeps track of particular favorites, and syncs it all with Dropbox. The app syncs with the expensive desktop version (I don’t understand the ten dollar Mac app price tag — at all. Come on, $4.99 tops, more like $2.99 and it’d be a super app), for those crazy enough to buy it. Momento does offer backups and exporting, but it isn’t super clean and automatic. The (current) lack of a desktop counterpart makes the exports fairly useless, too. Momento is like a personal status archive. Day One is a journal.

What else…

DAY ONE is beautiful. Look at it; it’s stunning. It’s compelling; it makes writing easy, and it never feels clunky. I think that the app could use text markup, specifically bold, italics, strikethrough, but even without, why wouldn’t you use it. Day One journal app is perfect for beginner journal-keepers; paper journals can be daunting for newcomers and anyone who hasn’t actually finished a journal cover-to-cover, and this semi-safe little thing is a perfect tool to capture quick thoughts during downtime. To truly take advantage of its plain text self, Day One can be used with Dragon Dictation: on the go, thoughts can be verbalized, transformed to text, copied, and pasted into Day One with a few taps. Granted, a perfect integration this isn’t, but it’s not that bad. The lack of tagging and feeds is a good thing, I think… at least for some people — maybe most people. Integrating text and images from outside sources can mean clutter, and tagging just isn’t necessary for everyone. The tedium of tagging can be a turn-off; it isn’t useful if it’s only done sometimes, and to tag every single quick post just doesn’t seem (or feel) practical in the real world. Dropbox syncing is a far more practical feature. [If you don’t have a Dropbox account, make one NOW] Entries are therefore self-archiving, and the plain text can then be used wherever with simple copy/paste. Rich text would be neat, but it isn’t always better. Adding some kind of markup could mean loss of flexibility; some apps/websites/tools prefer HTML, some use Textile.

Closing thoughts; Bradtastic Approved?

My recommendation is this: BRADTASTIC APPROVED. If you aren’t currently using a journal app, get Day One (Journal). Even if you do have something else, at $0.99 for an iOS app, the risk is small. Play around with it for a while before investing in the desktop app. I was hesitant of this app at first; I thought (and still believe) that the desktop app was overpriced, that it lacked value, and that there were numerous alternatives. Now that I have it, it’s hard to regret. I see this as a replacement for the now defunct IdeaPad app by Glowfilter. [I have no idea why IdeaPad was removed from the App Store; a copyright issue, maybe, because of the name?] Day One is clean and fast; 2.4mb and four dollars cheaper than Macjournal for iPhone. It’s also better looking by far. [and I actually really like Mariner Software in general] Keeping a daily journal is one of the best simple things anyone can do. Too often, people make excuses — “I don’t have time,” • “I’m not good at writing.” Those are decent reasons not to blog, but this journal can stay private. It’s straightforward and isn’t intimidating. I’ve never had someone I’ve recommended journaling to ever tell me they’ve regretted it, or that it was a bad idea. I do hear about a lot of false starts, however, and I think Day One is a decent countermeasure. [AND: Maybe my unendorsed glowing (fair and honest) review will convince the developers to give me a copy of the desktop app to try!]

Update on Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 3:29 AM by Bradtastic

I’ve been told that I may have the opportunity to review the desktop app for you guys in the near future (a few weeks or less). Also, after learning more about the app from the developer and @dayoneapp at Twitter, I can confidently say that I believe updates will arrive soon that will make Day One easily worth the $9.99 price.

As it is, if the desktop app is as slick and crash-free as the iOS app, it’s not money poorly spent, I think. If you have the means and desire to toss ten dollars at a cool app to support the development of making said app even cooler, by all means, I won’t argue!

As far as features go, I’ve been told that markdown is on the way.

In addition to that, I would appreciate a separate title field for entries, and reminders (a desktop feature) on the iOS app [though that’s not as big of a deal].

Stay tuned!

Update on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 2:25 AM by Bradtastic

I have indeed given the Mac OS desktop app a thorough “testing;” I’ve been using the app for over one week now. It is brilliant! The concept behind Day One is something that I’ve come to really love: simple is better. 

It’s not-so-much “less is more” as it is “keep it simple.”

D A Y O N E as they like to write it, is completely different from MacJournal. The iOS app differs from Momento. Day One is focussed—there’s no nonsense, no blogging from within the app, no tagging entries or importing feeds. Day One is a simple, put-your-thoughts-into-it tool. That’s why it is great. 

If you like (or need) that sort of thing, get this app. Even if you think $9.99 might be too much for the desktop counterpart, it’s probably worth it for two reasons: you’ll get your value for money when the app is updated, it’s a small price to pay for a tool you can actually use everyday, quickly. 

Day One is not an app that you feel guilty for ignoring when you need to, and you won’t feel bad about simply writing a few sentences (or phrases even), if that’s what is appropriate—or all you have time for. Day One should absolutely be used with Dropbox; not linking the two is such a waste, since Dropbox is free (or cheap, if you want to pay for it).

NOTE: If you’re concerned about privacy, DAY ONE might not (yet) be for you. The iOS app has password protection, but it’s light, and the data stored isn’t encrypted… and it’s easy to find. The desktop app is far less secure, so: if you think someone will try to snoop, find something else—or censor your writing. But if that’s the case… maybe you have a bigger issue to deal with.