Kindle Fire Impressions – Insert Bad Pun Here

Yeah, you can make the bad joke yourself because I really don’t want to go there. That said, for anyone who isn’t interested in reading a few paragraphs of observations, I’ll save you the trouble and cut to the chase right now: the Amazon Kindle Fire is a good deal for $200, but it’s by no means the best tablet available, or even the best Android tablet (never mind that Amazon tries to hide that it’s Android). So with that out of the way, let’s dive in a little bit and get into some of the meaty bits. Amazon’s overall design of the unit is good, except for the placement of the power button. Stereo speakers are on the top of the device, the back of it is textured and grippy and says “kindle” (nice and subtle… sort of), and a headphone jack, micro USB port, and power button are on the bottom. There’s no SD card (or micro SD card) slot any no other connections. However, as stated initially, the power button (a small, circular thing) is in a terrible location. You’ll hit it accidentally while reading, browsing the web, watching video, basically while doing anything that involves holding the Fire in your hand. And you’ll do it over and over again. Interestingly enough, there are no other physical buttons on the Kindle Fire. In a RIM sort of move, Amazon doesn’t have a single button on the front of the device, and instead uses soft buttons (read: on-screen buttons) for all controls. It gives the device a nice polish and a clean, uninterrupted look. It feels good...

Finding My Waze

If you’re a Rush junkie like me, you may have noticed what I did there. Or else you may have noticed, but also thought, “Waze?” Either way (or if you’re not a Rush junkie, now’s a good time to start), Waze is something I’ve been playing with for the last week or so. Aside from being a writer, I’m something of a GPS nerd. I’m not a level 10 by any stretch, but I do enjoy a good GPS, or as is the case here, a good GPS app. Waze, however, is not just a GPS app, but a social one. Before I get to Waze, I picked up MotionX-GPS some time back because Google Maps is, quite frankly, unreliable for navigation. While it’s certainly useful, and can quite often lead you exactly to where you wish to go, I’ve lost count of the number of times it has led myself or someone else astray. After a particularly vexing experience with it about a month ago, I figured I should go ahead and spring for a “real” GPS app for my phone. Thus, MotionX. I have to admit: I haven’t used it yet. By all accounts, MotionX-GPS is quite solid, and I think the nominal charge for turn-by-turn directions (something the iPhone isn’t natively capable of) is fair, especially if it works. But why pay when you can use something that does it for free? Thus enters Waze. I’d seen Waze a couple of times when looking at the app store (Apple is going to be mad I didn’t capitalize those two words since they’re trying to trademark the...

The Joys of Deadlines

At least when a deadline is self-imposed, you only have yourself to disappoint. And perhaps anyone else you may have let in on your deadline that is interested in what you’re doing. Oops. About that: sorry! As it turns out, waiting until a couple of weeks before you’re finished with the final revision of your manuscript to hire an editor (at least a well-known one (or ones) with a good reputation) is all but impossible, especially with the holidays looming. You see, much as you might want to delude yourself that you’re the only one aiming to get a book ready in time for Christmas, chances are reasonably strong that someone else is, too. Of course I know that I’m not the only one who’s been trying to hit that deadline, but I really did drop the ball on my timing of everything. It’s easy to say that life has gotten in the way, and while that’s true to a degree, it also comes down to planning. Then again, this is still a new experience for me, so I haven’t quite gotten the hang of how far in advance I need to be booking people. However, as noted above, more than two weeks notice is definitely required. My first go-round, it was a little different. I’m intentionally doing things differently now because I learned a fair amount with my first book. However, for as much as I learned with that experience, there’s still a lot more to learn. I can only assume this will continue to be a learning experience for quite some time. Because things are bound to...

Steve Jobs

I sometimes find it crazy how the death of someone you didn’t even know, let alone never met, can hit you so hard. I’m speaking of Steve Jobs, of course. Maybe it’s because I’m such an Apple fanboy, or maybe it’s because I understand where he came from with his design philosophy, or maybe it’s because I appreciated his minimalistic design aesthetic, but it’s a painful loss. For me, personally, I’m fine and I’ll be fine. I’ve always been able to roll with the punches where death is concerned–call it a bit of a curse, realization, understanding, and acceptance that death is an inevitable component of life. But for others–his family and friends–they likely aren’t in that same position, and for them, I’m sad. I’m also sad for us, those who didn’t know him but have been touched by him. It’s not overstating it to say that he changed the world. Don’t believe me? Look at every phone that has come out since the iPhone. There were predecessors, you say? Yeah, but did they have anywhere near the same success? Steve Jobs was a genius. I don’t know if his IQ would have placed him in MENSA, and frankly it’s not important. His genius was in seeing into the future, in seeing how and why a product would be useful and be desirable. He was also a hell of a marketer, but that doesn’t take away from the absolute fact that his decisions, his inventions, his vision has shaped the world. iPod. iPhone. iPad. Oh, and that little thing called the personal computer. Remember that? You can thank Steve...

Omni Now Available on iBooks

It took a few weeks (I’m not sure why, but at this point I don’t much care), but Omni is now available on iTunes via the iBooks store. Woo! Omni on iBooks. Now back to your regularly scheduled program. For me, that means revising my next...