iPad 2017

Yes, I’m still an avid iPad user. My wife bought me the 2017 iPad on sale for $250 at Target over the holidays. I briefly had a Lenovo Thinkpad and enjoyed it for a few months, but battery life seemed to really bother me. I’ve always loved the battery life on the iPad and I like the fact that it’s always ready when I open it.

The new 2018 iPad has just recently been released and is a really good deal for $329 and supports the Apple Pencil which is $100 extra. I just received a Bamboo stylus for my birthday so I think that will tide me over until I decide whether I really want an iPad Pro or not.

I think I will eventually move to the pro and pencil, but the price is holding me back for now. Yes, I do use the iPad as my main PC and that is why I’m considering the pro. It would really be nice if Apple puts their desktop OS on the iPad Pro, but we’ll see what happens.

Digital Brainstorming

I know humankind has many achievements in the last decade, but I can't help but feel we are a little stagnant. 

Whether you agree or disagree, God is the source of spiritual and created both spiritual and physical, then man, who is spiritual and physical created digital.

I wonder what is next for man?

I suppose since God became flesh through the birth of His son, we will want to enter the digital world we have created.

What will that look like?

I have noticed the big push to VR today and it would seem that we want to use the digital environment we created to rule and reign.

I do of course see a problem with us spending too much time in the digital world without taking care of our physical world and even then we must maintain the spiritual which is the source of everything.

Back to iPad 2

I know it's been a while since I've blogged about anything, but I'm back. I have used a number of computers in my life and have narrowed it down to what fits me best. I think that anyone looking to use tech should search for reliability and affordability.

I have a 2013 11" MacBook Air and it works just as it did in 2013, but even though it is small and portable, I found myself wanting something less powerful and more portable. Like many people, I use my smartphone a majority of the time. I had an iPhone 3GS, then the iPhone 4 and decided to switch to Android because they had bigger screens. I now use an "old" Samsung Galaxy S5 and it is good enough for me but I do miss having the apps I paid for when I had an iPhone and an iPad 3 briefly before I sold it.

I know the iPad sales are down and people aren't buying one every year, but I noticed my wife's iPad 2 is slow but still working. I also heard that the iPad 2 was still the most used iPad still going strong in 2016. So, after I pondered these things and realized I could get a used one for cheap on Amazon, I decided to get an iPad 2.

I have used the iPad 2 16GB version and realized I would need the 32GB and that's what I got.

I may upgrade in the future, but I'll save money and wait for Apple to really impress me.

How Often Do You Upgrade Your Gadgets?

Okay, I know I haven't blogged for a while, but I'm going to do better.

I want to know just how often you upgrade your gadgets.

Here's my stats:

Laptop: 4 years

Desktop: N/A

Tablet: 2 years

Phone: 2 years

Game Console: 10 years

TV: 10 years

Limited time free offer - Blaze Video Smart Show - Windows Only

I saw this on my friend Chad Smith's blog and had to repost it. I love free stuff. It is however Windows only software.

Just wanted to let you all know about a free offer I have been told about, just in time for Mother's Day. Blaze Video Smart Show is a video editor that lets you mix still photos, video clips, music, and voice overs for a custom video of your very own.

It is available for free at this address - blazevideo.com/promotion - but only until May 15.  (Normally it is $49.95.)

They also have other software available for a discounted price.

Loving the Brackets

I have been looking for a lightweight program to do my web coding. I tried Google Web Designer (Beta), but it is beta then began to like Sublime for Mac, but I didn't like the price tag. I then ran across another code editor called Brackets and I love it.

I have found that I code best and faster if I use a program that is stable, fast, and has changeable themes. Brackets has all those things. I was surprised to find out this program is free and it is from Adobe.

I had no idea Adobe had an open source community and open source programs. In this economy I recommend finding programs that help get work done and cost $0. I am a big fan of the open source community.

I really hope Adobe and other companies do more open source projects.

If you write or edit code, I strongly suggest you try Adobe Brackets and enjoy a quality program for free.

Best FTP Program for Mac

I have used FileZilla which is a great free FTP program and I have used Fetch which is a good paid FTP program, but recently I have been wanting an FTP program that offers me features I never knew I wanted.

I scoured the web for an FTP program that claimed to be the best and I found Transmit. Transmit is just under $40, so it doesn't break the bank, and it works seamlessly with my Mac running Mavericks.

I haven't used all the features yet and may never use them all, but I like having them available to me. So, what sold me on using Transmit FTP? First of all, I like the speed. It is very fast in opening connections to my many FTP links. Waiting for a connection? "Ain't nobody got time for dat!"

The other feature that sold me on Transmit was the Amazon S3 integration. The company I work for is heavy into media storage and we have saved a lot of money by using Amazon for cloud storage, so I no longer have to login using a web browser, yay!

I'll be sure to update as I use more features from Transmit, but for now, I am very pleased with it.