My first and only project before abandoning the app was a simple record of expenses. The spreadsheet had only three columns…. a column for the DATE, another for the AMOUNT and the third for COMMENT. I envisioned using the tabs to organize the data by months. There was no calculation but had the project progressed I may have summed the amounts, but it never got that far.

The problems began with formatting the DATE. I wanted to see something like 05 Jan or Jan 05. I did not want the year and certainly not the time. I was able to accomplish this for individual cells but attempts to format a column failed. Numbers kept insisting on inserting the year and time. After several attempts I finally got rid of the time but the year would not go away. I could have lived with that bug until Numbers started to display an incorrect date. I would enter Sept. 16, Numbers would display Sept, 11. Deleting and re-entering sometimes helped and sometimes did not. And, by the way, deleting the contents of cell was a tricky operation. A double tap on the cell sometimes brought up a delete option and sometimes did not. Apparently, tapping is somewhat an art in this app.

At this point it was clear that Numbers was too buggy for actual use. Nevertheless, I went on to setup the monthly tabs. I tapped the “+” tab.A blank sheet appeared. I mean really blank without grid lines or anything. Huh??? I soon found that only by copying and pasting from my first sheet could I get a new sheet with column headings and grid lines. This may or not be a bug but it is certainly non-intuitive and certainly a nuisance, This was my point of abandonment  Perhaps I’ll try it again one day when the bugs are fixed, After all, it is gorgeous.

I went on to set this project up in Quickoffice in about 15 minutes. Using an app that offers compatibility with Microsoft Office formats does have some advantages that I will discuss in a future post.

The first problem (incompatible format) can be solved by transcoding the video to a compatible (mp4) one. Using the free cross-platform Handbrake app, I transcoded a 700MB .avi file in about 40 minutes. While it did play well after moving it to the AirStash, the procedure was time consuming and would be quite a nuisance to perform on every .avi. It also did not solve the second problem of having only the built-in player with limited features to watch videos. Here is a much better solution.

There are at least two, and probably more, iOS video apps that will play streamed media. The two that I am familiar with are the OPlayer and the BUZZ Player. In this this tutorial I will reference the BUZZ Player although the instructions are similar for any player that supports streaming media.

Preparation: Install BUZZ Player in your iDevice. With it’s USB plug, insert the AirStash into your desktop computer. Open the AirStash icon on your monitor and copy/move the desired .avi file(s) into it. The file will upload into the AirStash. Repeat for other files as you wish. Safely eject and unmount the AirStash from the desktop computer.

Step One: Start the AirStash by pressing its button until the green light blinks.

Step Two: Go to Settings on your iDevice,select Network and switch to AirStash.

Step Three: On your iDevice, launch a browser (Safari will do) and browse to http://airstash.net/files. A list of files on the AirStash will display.

Step Four: Select your .avi file, longpress on it until the menu displays.

Step Five: Tap COPY to place the URL on the internal clipboard.

Step Six: Quit Safari and launch BUZZ Player.

Step Seven: At the bottom of the screen tap the “+” button to bring up the URL dialog.

Step Eight: Longpress in the URL box until “Paste” is displayed.

Step Nine: Tap “Paste” and enjoy your movie!

Although the iPad is currently the front runner due to the astounding number of available apps, all tablets have many things in common.. touch screens, lightweight, ultra-portable and unfortunately limited storage capacity. While desktops and laptops have hard drives of at least 320 GB, tablets are offered in 16, 32 and 64 GB models. This is sufficient for quite a few software “apps” and their related data but when you start adding videos, full length movies, photo albums and etc. the space gets gobbled up.

Most tablet owners will want to store  files and media on some sort of external device. Storage on an external device not only saves space on the tablet but (if networked) will  provide a location through which the owner can share files with others  Apple iPads do not have USB ports. However, many iOS apps do provide connectivity to remote  servers, Depending on your needs you can use several types of remote external storage.

Cloud storage gives you the ability to share files on a remote server accessible to anyone with proper credentials (password). For several years Dropbox has been avaiable and is extremely popular. For “small” users, Dropbox provides 2GB of free storage. Users who need more will have to pay a fee, but it is reasonable. That is, it is reasonable only if you truly need to share files remotely with others, via an Internet connection. For sharing via a local network, or just taking your files with you when you are away from home, other solutions may be more practicle.

You can share files with others on your local network, including your own tablet computer by installing a local file server on your desktop machine. The easiest way to do this is to enable a WebDAV server. If you are not familiar with WebDAV, it is a replacement for old fashioned FTP but is much simpler to use offering a “drag and drop” interface and accessible via a web browser. WebDAV is built into both Mac OS X and Windows 7. Ubuntu users will need to install “apache2″  if it’s not already there. In all cases a few steps must be taken to enable it. I am providing three “howto” links that were good as of this post. Otherwise put the keywords “WebDAV’, “setup” and your OS name into your favorite search engine.

• Windows 7 users look. here. Windows Vista/98 users go here first.
• Mac OS X users look here.
• Ubuntu (or other Linux) users look here.

Users of Apple’s iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) on the iPad take note! iWork apps will, of course, connect to Apple’s own iCloud service that is now in beta and will be available to the public soon. iCloud will offer 5GB of free storage and will be a serious competitor to Dropbox, at least for small users. At this time iWork apps will connect to a WebDAV server.  With or without iCloud there is an an incentive to enable a WebDAV server on your local computer.

Recently appearing in the maeketplace are some gadgets that also provide portable WiFi storage, They are expensive (as compared to a USB stick) but can easily pay for themselves if you are now paying for cloud storage, The Kingston Wi-Drive and the AirStash devices are available now. The Hitachi G-Connect drive will be avalable soon. Personally, I like the concept of the AirStash drive. It costs $99 and uses standard SD memory cards (not included) for storage. SD cards are small and easy to carry. They currently retail for less than $3/GB. I have a couple of 8GB cards on hand and I have ordered the AirStash device. Upon arrival, I will share the device with my wife and give her an SD card. In a future post I will review the product.

Which solution is right for you?

Hackers quickly discovered that the missing multi-tasking gestures could be enabled by Macintosh users. Many “how to’s” quickly appeared on the Internet. For your convenience, here is one of many links. I have enabled the gestures on my iPad and while I highly recommend the procedure I will point out some caveats. First, and obviously, only Mac owners running the latest OS version (Snow Leopard) can implement it. Second, the procedure requires the installation of the Mac XCode package. This package is over 4GB in size. It took me several hours to download. Finally, after installation, running xcode will not be obvious to a Mac newbie. It does not appear in the Applications folder. There are several ways to bring it up, the easiest being to type “xcode” into the “spotlight” box in the upper right corner of the screen. Another is to go to the /Developer/Applications folder and double-click on the xcode icon. As of this post I have not seen any comments from Apple.

The first I that I found is Things. Originally this was (and still is) a Mac application. The interface is very simple and elegant. The user names a project and lists all the tasks associated with the project. Activities are described, due dates are assigned and high priority tasks are identified. Mac users can download and tryout Things for 15 days before they need to register it. If you like it, you can also download the companion app for your iPhone or iPad. There is little to criticize about this app except for its price. The desktop edition costs $49.99. The companion iPhone/iPad apps cost $10/$20 respectively. At these prices I would reconsider pencil and paper.

The second that I found is Wunderlist. In the above description of Things, if you replace the word “project” with the word “list”, you will have an accurate description of Wunderlist.  At their website the devlopers have provded links to both Mac and Windows desktop apps, companion iPhon/iPad apps, promise an Android app and an app tat wlll work via a web browser. Surprisingly, the price of all this functionality is FREE! For Windows users this is a no-brainer. For Mac users it’s almost a no-brainer unless you have very deep pockets. Try them both, as I have, and if you disagree please post a comment!

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Several manufacturers have announced tablets that will run on Google’s Android OS. Hewlett Packard will soon release a tablet featuring Palm’s WebOS. If you are not already aware, both of these operating systems are Linux based. It would not surprise me to see others and, of course, Microsoft could come out with some tablet running a version of Windows. If not, Microsoft will at least file complaints about violations of their “intellectual property”. It appears that 2011 will at last be the “year of Linux”, although not as a desktop distro as the Linux advocates have imagined. Does it matter? Many enthusiasts believe that tablets will replace desktops and laptops. Some even envision schools passing out tablets instead of textbooks.

The difficulty with Apple’s iOS is Apple’s unwillingness to open the devices’ file systems. Apple tightly controls what goes into and what comes out of the Apple products. Firmware upgrades can only be done via iTunes. Data input for many apps is done with iTunes. It’s usually not difficult but the user is required to have iTunes on his/her PC. Linux users are challenged as there is no Linux version of iTunes. Technically advanced users will “jailbreak” their devices to overcome some of these restrictive Apple policies. Jailbraking an Apple device will install the Cydia app. Cydia is sort of a rogue app store allowing the installation of apps not acceptable to Apple. The downside of jailbreaking is that the device cannot be upgraded without losing the jailbreak benefits. The user must wait until hackers figure out how to jailbreak the current release of the Apple firmware. This can be weeks or even months and there is little assurance that the loosely knit jailbreaking teams will continue their efforts.

Some apps do have the ability to connect with external servers such as Dropbox, thereby allowing data to enter the device via an Internet connection. The GoodReader app has a built-in webserver. Not only will it connect to Dropbox and other servers, it can connect directly to shared folders on network connected PC’s. Any filetype that the Apple device natively accepts will be viewable or playable in GoodReader. In my Goodreader I have several mp3 recordings of verbally read short stories. They are short audiobooks. While I would prefer to listen to them as bookmark-able audiobooks, I have yet to find an audiobook app that will connect to a local server. In the meantime Goodreader gets the job done. Before spending the $2.99 for this app, you might want to visit their website at goodreader.net.

Of interest to book readers, another remarkable program is Calibre. Calibre is not a device app but is a server for ebooks with (free, donationware) versions available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Calibre will load your ebooks into your Kindle, Nook or other device via USB. It will convert most popular ebook filetypes into that needed by your specific device. It also features a web based content server. On your Apple device all you need do is to open the web page with Safari. Select your ebook from your collection and it will open in iBooks. Most ebook readers are Linux based tablets. If you don’t have a stand-alone reader there are many apps to choose from including Nook and Kindle. Some critics have said that the ebook apps on tablets are “killers” of the dedicated devices. I can assure you that the serious reader (I’m married to one) will opt for the feather-weight hand-held with an e ink display.

Available hardware specifications from the major manufacturers indicate that most will be worthy competitors of the Apple products.. Their success will depend on available apps, pricing and, as discussed in this post, open operating systems. I am looking forward to my untethered tablet later in the year. The choice will be difficult.

Technorati Tags: iPad, Android, WebOS, Nook, Kindle’ iTunes

A Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9×9 grid of cells sectioned into 9 3×3 blocks. When completed, each row, column, and block will contain the digits 1 through 9 once and only once. Many cells are left empty for the solver to find but enough are already filled in so that a unique solution exists. Although using numerical digits to distinguish the cells only logic, and no calculation, is used to solve the puzzle. In fact some Soduko puzzles replace the digits with colors to emphasize this. The solution begins by examining the peers of a vacant cell. This consists of all the other cells in  its row, column, and block. Any digit (or color) not occurring amongst the peers is a candidate for the cell. A good way to begin a puzzle is to select a row, column or block for which many of the peers are given and pencil in the remaining candidates. As the solution progresses penciled candidates will be eliminated until only one remains. 

Sudoku puzzles are rated by difficulty. The names given to difficulty levels vary but the beginning solver will quickly discover that some puzzles are easier to solve than others, and some are so difficult that the solver uses trial and error as a last resort. One might think that the more difficult puzzles start out with fewer cells (the “givens” or “clues”) filled in. Actually the difficulties arise as known “patterns” or techniques fail to match the puzzle. It is often the case that a puzzle is half completed when it becomes difficult to solve. The best way to learn the “patterns” is to discover them yourself through practice. The key to learning is really simple. Begin by tackling puzzles that are rated “easy” or “simple”. Solve enough puzzles until that skill level is no longer challenging to you. Then progress to the next level that might be called “medium” or “moderate”. As you progress, you will learn more and more patterns. Soon you will be ignoring puzzles rated at the easier levels.

There is an iOS (Apple devices) app called Sudoku Takeout. It has four difficulty levels.. easy, meduium, hard and evil. I used this app for most of my learning. I started at the easy level and before playing at the evil level I solved over 200 puzzles. The evil level is a bit of a misnomer. Many of the puzzles are at best of medium or hard difficulty. However I have encountered a few that truly live up to the name to the point where I have entered them into another app with a “newspaper” mode discussed below.

At some point it will help to read a printed guide. You will find an excellent one at www.sudocue.net. Here you will be able to put a name to the patterns that you discovered yourself and to learn a few that you did not. The list of patterns documented here is quite extensive. The content probably goes beyond any video that you might purchase and it is provided at no cost. You might want to print it out for reference. Another site that you will certainly want to visit is www.enjoysudoku.com. At this site not only will you find extensive instructions but you will be able to solve actual puzzles at a difficulty level of your choosing. What I really like about this site is the ability to get hints for the more difficult puzzles. The hints, when I have needed them, taught me a few advanced  techniques. The site developer (Jason Linhart) has also published Sudoku apps for various platforms including Mac OS X, iOS, WebOS, and Android.

Some of the Sudoku apps feature a “newspaper or magazine” mode. This allows you to copy the “givens” from a puzzle published in printed media. Combined with an app by Mr, Linhart that provides hints, you can solve nearly any Sudoku puzzle on the planet. This brings up another challenge. Sudoku apps provide enough options to make solving too easy. The challenge (and fun) lies in your ability to solve the puzzle without them. Most apps have an “autofill” feature that will fill in all the possible candidates for the vacant cells. Personally, I do not use this feature. Correctly resolving the candidates is part of the puzzle. Also, you will find that as the candidates are entered, patterns will be seen, and you will enter the solution to many cells long before all candidates are determined.

Finally, in a really difficult puzzle, if you must resort to trial and error, use an app with an “undo” feature. You will soon know that an error exists when no candidates remain for a cell. Then, hitting the “undo” button back to the point where you made the wring guess will allow the solution to proceed normally.

Scopa is a “fishing” style card game. The objective is to take tricks and collect as many cards as possible. There is a similar Anglo-American game known as Cassino. Cassino is played with a 52 card Bridge deck but it is believed that Cassino is a derivative of the older game of Scopa.

Of course nearly any iPhone app can run on the iPad in 2X mode, but Scopa has come to the iPad in the iPad only form of iScopa. Gosh, how predictable a name is that? As I would expect of a game priced at $2.99 the gameplay and graphics are excellent. Amongst the many options are to select the playing table and card backs. The developer has faithfully reproduced many (perhaps all) of the Modiano designs. There is an option to customize the rules so that the game plays  according to your personal preference. The AI has three levels of difficulty.. Easy, Medium and Hard. I don’t think the game cheats at the harder levels, I believe it simply has a better memory of played cards and implements some strategy in it’s play. If I have any criticism of the game it’s that I had some difficulty in changing the default difficulty of Medium to Hard (I was winning too many games at Medium). The game can played against a local opponent on a LAN. I have no way to report on how well this works as I am the only member of my home network.

As you can tell, I am very pleased with this game and will be playing it often. In fact I played it nearly all afternoon before writing this review. I hope the developer will consider making an iPad only version of Briscola. My suggestion to iPad owners  is to first try a free version in 2X mode. Then if you like the game, invest the $2.99 and really have some fun!

There is long list of texting apps in the Apple Store. Some are FREE and carry ads. Others have “Lite” versions that carry ads and are limited in the number of messages that can be sent. The ads and message restrictions are removed by paying for the app. All are only “pocket change” so your decision should be based on features and not on cost. I selected three for review and at this point I have spent no money.

Textfree Lite is ad supported and allows up to 15 messages per day. Registering with textfree willow you to choose a user name to which text messages can be sent via email, e.g. user@textfree.us’ Upgrading to the paid version for $5.99 not only removes the ads and restrictions but gives you an actual phone number for friends to use when you are not online. And when you are online, the add features “push notifications” so you get an alert if your running something else.

TextNow Lite will allow 30 messages a day for FREE. If you buy the paid version you can have an email address for texts. The pricing of this app is a bit odd. Buying the app for 99 cents gets you 3 months of service. After that the service costs either $3.99 a year or $7.99 for a lifetime.

Finally we take a look at TextPlus. TextPlus is ad supported until you pay the $2.99 purchase price. There are no restrictions on the number of messages. It has a “group texting” feature that allows you to specify groups of individuals to text simultaneously. This should be very useful to crew leaders and committee chairmen. The app also features an SMS “shortcode”. Friends not using the service or not currently online can send a text to 60611 with YOUR TextPlus user name or the name of one of your groups to begin a dialog. Push notifications are supported.

Do you want a recommendation? For myself keeping TextPlus installed is a no-brainer. It’s a recent entry and might not be free forever. The ads are not annoying. I’m also keeping Textfree Lite installed. I like the ability to have text emailed to me and I don’t need to buy the app to have it.

Happy Texting!

The Fluent News Reader is available for both the Touch and the iPad. Of the three, it is probably the most newspaper-like. The app opens to a list of top news around the world with snippets of information on each. Tapping on a headline brings you to the complete article including its source and photos if available. Alternately, you can browse the paper in sections including Weather, Sports and etc. Articles can be saved for offline reading. This is a good news app if you don’t own an iPad.

If you do have an iPad you will want to take a look at Skygrid. It’s features are similar to Fluent’s however navigation between articles is different. In landscape position either Feature articles or Categories are listed in a column on the left. When an article is selected, it is displayed in a square window on the right. When the iPad is rotated to portrait mode, the articles list disappears and the square window expands to full screen. In my opinion, this speeds up navigation a bit.

The Guardian Eyewitness is officially classified as a photography app and not a news app. Actually it’s a hybrid. The app displays photos of current events around the world taken by local news sources. A brief description of each event accompanies the photo. A photography tip relevant to the photo is also displayed. Photos can be browsed in several ways and saved to your Photos directory if you especially like one. By default they are displayed as a slide show going backwards in time with a limit of 100 photos.

All of these apps integrate with Facebook and Twitter. You can share your articles and photos with friends. Eventually, as my iPad gets crowded, one of the news apps will be deleted. Fluent will stay on the Touch but might be deleted on the iPad as I really do like how Skygrid navigates. Of course the deciding factor may not depend on appearance or navigation but on the news content actually delivered. Only time and use will tell. The only certainty is that it is not likely that I will ever again buy a printed newspaper!