according to jeff

I’ve added WeatherBug Elite to my iPad. This simple app gives me a snapshot of the current weather conditions, including weather radar, temperature, dew point, and temperature predictions. There’s even a playback mode that will animate the radar image to show how a storm is moving.

While I always perceived WeatherBug on the PC to be a gateway for unwanted applications and/or adware, the iPad version isn’t hampered with any of these concerns. (And, to be fair, my impression of the PC version of WeatherBug is based upon a version from several years ago. That software may have changed its ways.)

Not only is WeatherBug able to show my current weather conditions, but it can also show the weather conditions of other locations. So, whether I’m traveling, or want to see the weather where some one else is traveling, or am just curious about the current weather conditions in, say, Sydney, Australia, I can find out!

What are people saying about PocketBible on the iPad?

“… I’m almost in heaven.”
— Gaijin

“I can honestly say it’s awesome–it has already changed (and improved!) the way I do my own Bible study.”
— Jen

“I’m feeling completely justified for having based my iPad purchase on this app… maybe not sanctified, but indeed justified.”
— J.Sam

“This is one of, if not the finest app in the App store. It is everything you said it would be and more. This is by far the best Bible software available for the iPad, and makes my iPad into the “study friendly” device I had hoped for.”
— Steve K.

“This is by far the best Bible software I have ever used.”
— Phil

“Woo-hoo! It is awesome. This is the best app for my iPad! Really!”
— Brian

“Loaded on my Ipad last night. All I can say is that it is stunning and incredible.”
— John C.

“The first app in the App Store to cry out for 6 stars!”
— NNR

“Beautiful iPad app!!! Love it. This update made my week.”
— Carolyn

“The iPad version is truly the killer-app. Just knowing it was coming had me drooling, and the release didn’t disappoint.”
— Aardwolf

“Verily, I am thankful unto God for leading me to this application … Like the skillful work done by Bezalel and Aholiab, I commend your work. Well done.”
—gomo

“If the AppStore gave out awards for the best app, this would win it hands down. It has the cleanest and easiest to use UI of any app I’ve used on my iPad. If I could I would give it 10 stars not just 5.”
— RS.C

“I’ve been using Laridian products since they were founded and consider them the absolute best of the mobile Bible apps. This latest is no exception and is already my preferred app for the iPad. It’s fast, has a great user interface and tons of resources. It has earned a place on my dock.”
— naapitb

Because we’re fair and balanced, we offer an opposing viewpoint, offered by the user of another Bible product.

“The interface for this app is confusing. Make a wrong move on the touch screen and you can really get yourself lost within the program.”
— Quaczar

Read Matthew Miller’s first-impressions review of PocketBible on his iPad. A more in-depth review is promised soon.

PocketBible for iPad now available in the App Store

Read John Fidel’s review of PocketBible on his iPad.

Laridian’s PocketBible for iPad is Here

My phone system upgrade is complete, and I’m happy to report that I’m happy with the results.

Here’s what I previously had.

1. An office phone number through QWest.
2. A home phone number through QWest.
3. A cell phone plan through AT&T.
4. A two-line phone in my home office to manage my “work” and “home” phone lines.

As I previously wrote, my two-line phone started having problems and needed to be replaced. This opened the door to think about alternative solutions.

So, here’s what I’ve done.

1. My office phone number has not changed, but my office phone line has been disconnected. My office phone number now rings to my cell phone.
2. My home phone number has not changed.
3. My cell phone number is now my “work” number.
4. My two-line phone in my home office has been replaced with a one line phone and a bluetooth gateway to connect my cell phone to the system.

Now, my “work” number is my cell phone, not a land line into my office. So, even when I am working off-site, I’ll have access to my business phone. When I am home, then the bluetooth gateway connects my cell phone to my home phone system, so I can make and receive cell calls using either my phone system or my cell phone.

Switching my cell phone number to my work number was easy, but did take a few days and a few phone calls to work out.

In summary, I’m pretty happy with the new system, and would recommend both my new Panasonic phone and the XLink bluetooth gateway.

I splurged today and bought a new app for my iPhone: FlightTrack.

One of the features that makes the iPhone such a great experience is the ability to find and download apps via iTunes and the AppStore, either directly on the phone or from the computer that I synchronize with my iPhone. So, as I was sitting in the airport, ready to send Bethany off on her flights to Oberlin, Ohio (actually to Detroit and then to Cleveland), I found, purchased, downloaded, and configured FlightTrack to show the status of her “to” and “from” flights.

At $4.99, FlightTrack is one of the more expensive iPhone apps. However, it is super easy to use and very convenient.

FlightTrack provides the same information that is available at www.flightstats.com. It provides arrival and departure times, gate numbers, weather information, and even a flight map. For instance, Bethany’s flight is currently over Lake Michigan at 29,000 feet and traveling at 475 mph.

While it’s kind of fun to follow a flight, I expect that it will be most useful to determine if a flight is on time or delayed.

I’m in the midst of replacing a 2-line Siemens Gigaset 8825 with a 1-line Panasonic KX-TG1063 and an XLink BTTN Bluetooth Gateway.

The Gigaset has been a great phone. The base unit is in my office, and we have satellite phones positioned around the house. It’s been configured to ring only base unit for line one (my office number) and to ring all handsets for line 2 (our home number). The only issue that we’ve had with it is that the microwave interferes with reception of the wireless handhelds.

However, the LCD screen has been gradually degrading, such that now only the bottom two-thirds of any phone number is shown, and the answering machine has recently stopped working altogether. Interestingly, it gives you (the caller) the impression that it is working, but it isn’t.

I’ve opted to replace it with a 1-line phone, and will probably request that the phone company disconnect my office line. Thus, the Panasonic purchase. I opted for a phone with a handset so that my Plantronics headset can still be used with it.

Since I’ll use my cell phone as my primary business line, I looked for a base phone unit that would connect to the cell phone via bluetooth. There are some available, however, the various options didn’t meet my other requirements. So, instead, I’ve opted to try an add-on unit (the XLink) that will pair the cell phone with the base unit, allowing the cell phone to be used from any handset. It should work well for incoming calls, though outgoing calls may still require that the phone be “on” and “unlocked”. Another advantage of the XLink is that it will let me see what home service is like with a cell phone instead of a land line.

So, is it an upgrade, or not? I’m going from two land lines and one cell line to one land line and one cell line, but am connecting the cell line to the phone system so that it behaves (mostly) like a land line when within range of the base. I think I’ll like it. Economically, it will take 6 months or so to hit the break-even point, where the savings from removing the second land line will pay for the new equipment. After that, there will be monthly savings. So, it seems to be an economic upgrade.

Practically, even though I’m switching from two land lines to just one, I think it will work just fine. So, I might not call it an upgrade, but it isn’t a step backwards either.

But geekly, it’s a huge upgrade!

Yesterday, Apple announced the iPad, which is projected to ship in the US in March (WiFi version) and April (WiFi + 3G version). My status as an iPhone developer doesn’t get me any super-secret inside information. Apple didn’t rush a review copy to me. I don’t know if the three Laridian iPhone apps are among the “most” of the 140,000 apps that will “just work” on the iPad. (However, I expect them to work just fine.)

So, just like most of you, my faithful readers, I’ve only seen the information at the Apple Web site, watched the video, and read some reviews and opinions from other Web sites, such as:

• Wired: Would You Buy an iPad? Wired Readers Weigh In
• Wired: How Will the Apple Tablet iPad Change Our Kids’ Lives?
• CNet Poll: The Apple iPad: Will you buy one?
• Telegraphs (UK): Apple iPad review
• Engadget: Apple iPad first hands-on!
• LA Times: The iPad shows up the Kindle; will Apple’s iBooks store challenge Amazon?

Some of these articles and article commenters seem to get it, such as the author of How Will the Apple Tablet iPad Change Our Kids’ Lives?. However, I’ve been surprised how many are not getting what seems so clear to me.

This quote from Wired’s Would You Buy an iPad? Wired Readers Weigh In article reveals the confusion.

Though Apple’s Steve Jobs introduced the iPad as a device that would occupy the world between smartphones and laptops, potential customers aren’t convinced. A full 71 percent of 934 readers polled said they won’t buy an iPad, because they are happy with their smartphone and notebook.

To understand the iPad, you have to first understand what it isn’t. Steve Jobs makes that clear in the above quote. The iPad isn’t a phone. The iPad isn’t a laptop. That is, the iPad isn’t expected to do all of the things that you might do with your phone or your laptop. Yet, 71% of the poll respondents “won’t buy an iPad, because they are happy with their smartphone and notebook.” These 71% don’t understand what the iPad isn’t.

So, if the iPad is not a phone or laptop, what is it? From the Apple video, it’s pretty clear: the iPad is a mobile media machine.

• Surf the Web.
• Read a book.
• Listen to music.
• Watch a movie.

Sure, you can install the iPad version of Pages and write a term paper on it, but that’s not the primary purpose. So, comparing it to a laptop isn’t reasonable.

But comparing it to my iPod and Kindle is. And, based on what I’ve seen and read so far, the iPad is looking pretty good. Yes, it costs twice as much (or more), but look at all of the extra stuff that it can do!

Here are some of the common complaints or concerns that I’ve seen.

• The iPad name suggests that Apple has a serious lack of women in it IT department.
  Seriously? I never made that connection. iPad is just a derivative of iPod. And beside, the IT department has nothing to do with a product’s name. That would come largely from the marketing department.
• “Ink” technology (i.e. Kindle) is better on the eyes than the backlit LED that the iPad uses.
  I really like reading my Kindle, so I’m a fan of Ink technology. Still, I can’t read it in the dark without a pretty bright light shining on it. And, I usually spend most of my day in front of a computer screen, and my eyes don’t feel fatigued at the end of the day. So I’m not yet convinced that this is an issue.
• The iPad doesn’t allow multitasking, so I can’t listen to Pandora streamed from the Web whilte I read.
  OK, you have a point. On the other hand, the iPad is an iPod. My iPhone doesn’t multitask either, but I can listen to music from the iPhone’s “iPod” feature while doing anything else. Plus, I don’t listen to Pandora. Now, if you were to tell me that something important was missing, like that MLB won’t have an app for listening to live baseball games, I might agree with you.
• The Web browser doesn’t support Flash.
  OK. This might be annoying every now and then. However, my Kindle not only doesn’t support Flash, it doesn’t support ANY Web browsing.
• Once again, Apple comes out with an overpriced toy.
  I admit, when I saw Apple introduce the iPad as a magical and revolutionary device at an “unbelievable” price, I was skeptical. I wouldn’t classify the $499 price for the least expensive model as “unbelievable”. While it is expensive, it’s not necessarily outrageous.

The iPad has been “announced” for a full day now. I haven’t seen one in person. But, based upon what I have seen and read, I think it looks very promising as an upgrade to my Kindle.

I make Bethany’s harp Web site with Apple’s iWeb. Unfortunately, today when starting iWeb, I received this error: “iweb quit unexpectedly while using the SFWordProcessing plugin.”

The error happened consistently.

A google search revealed that the error might be related to the “Hoefler Text” font family. Indeed, disabling this font allowed iWeb to load.

Unfortunately, since I use that font in my site, it wasn’t an ideal solution.

A little more googling resulted in a better fix. A few other sites confirmed it, which made me more comfortable that it was indeed a fix and not a hoax. I tried it and it resolved my problem. If you are having a similar problem, see
the million dollar trick or how to fix iWeb in 10.6.2.

Several months ago, my associate Brett made a passing Twitter comment lamenting how few WordPress blogs were mobile browser friendly, especially since it was easy to do.

Well, I tucked that comment away until I had some free time (i.e. “today”). And what did I discover? That thanks to WordPress Mobile Pack, it really is easy. So easy, in fact, that even a cave man, um, I mean, I, can do it.