HerringLaw: Civil Rights & Discrimination Law in Iowa

Storm Tracking for your iPhone

From MakeUseOf, another list of free apps - this time, for storm tracking on the iPhone:

Stormtracking

Free Audiobooks

A resource list from MakeUseOf which provides gobs of useful information for those dealing with technology in our lives, virtually anyone:  FreeAudiobooks

Cross-referencing, News Aggregators

Just thought I'd mention that I did a separate blog post with links regarding news feed aggregators at my JourneyZing blog.  

How to save Battery Life on your iPhone

Did a little quick research and found loads of info [the title above is a good search term] but here's a synopsis:

Saving Battery Life on the iPhone - notes from articles [2/2/12]

<http://ipod.about.com>

1. Go to Settings and adjust what you can to limit the constant operation of the iPhone [fetch, don’t push, mail;  turn off Location Services not needed, etc.].  In iOS5 & the 4S, there are other Location settings you can adjust.  turn on auto-brightness or reduce screen brightness
   1. turn off Bluetooth, 3G or Wi-Fi, if not needed.  Usually turning off Bluetooth is not a major issue but unless you’re away from 3G or free Wi-Fi, the other two may need to remain on.  Turn on Airplane Mode if you want all connection off.
   2. avoid using battery hogs:  videos, games and Siri, sometimes.

 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com>

1. Some of the above 
2. Turn off Notifications you don’t need and turn off Push Notifications especially.
3. Close your Background apps - to multitask, Apps you’ve opened remain open and available [quick two-taps on Home button shows them across the bottom of the screen] - every now and then go in and turn them off by clicking the little red dash.  
4. There are other tests and possibilities you can find out at the Genius Bar.

 

How do you move things between your Mac computer & iOS devices?

I was just talking to someone about what she's going to do because her Mac is too old to be updated to Lion and use the iCloud.  The iCloud will make sharing between all your Apple devices [computer, iPad, iPhone, AppleTV] much easier, the idea being that the information/material is in the 'cloud' and resourced by the devices when needed/wanted.  [n.b., nothing is totally safe, so you're wise to have backup copies of your most important and irreplaceable things, whether they're in the cloud or not = Murphy's Law].

Thinking a bit, I realized that I'm doing this myself now [I don't yet have iCloud].  I'm not sure about music [but since they're digital files they can be copied elsewhere, I think].  I have the following Cloud accounts, all free:  3GB at Dropbox, 5GB at SugarSync and 5GB at Evernote.  With each, but particularly with dropbox and Evernote you can email things to your account and they will be there for you.  Then you go to your desktop or iPad or iPhone apps [all free] and access the document or item you need.  Remember that anything you take out of the Dropbox on the Cloud or computer/pad etc. is removed, not copied and moved.

So, go to Dropbox or Evernote or SugarSync [I'm sure there are others!] and read the explanations for what you get.  You can run some tests [after all, they're free] and see which you like.  At least til you join the iCloud, this might be sufficient.

 

[I'm researching cloud computing as backup storage and hope to write about that in the near term.]

A note to a Windows user moving to a Mac

About a year ago, I prepared a short memo to a family member who has always used Windows computers and was moving to a Mac [she inherited Ryan's MacBookPro].  Some of the points are standard suggestions from me and I thought worthy of a blog post:

1. At Apple.com/Support there are loads of materials, written and video, to help ‘switchers’ or Windows users trying Mac for the first time, get comfortable.  There is a bit of a difference, but I’m not certain it’s all that important.            
2. I suggest that the first thing you do before you try anything at all is go to the Apple Menu [upper L corner] and drop down to System Preferences.  Go thru them one by one and set them to your liking or at least get some familiarity.    
3. Word Processing:  there are two [or maybe 3?] excellent FREE WP programs that convert and work with Word docs on the Mac - NeoOffice and OpenOffice.  You can find them online.  Might as well get them and use them.    
4. I always suggest some regular cleanup and maintenance.  Two excellent resources for this topic, among others, are:  the Missing Manual series [http://oreilly.com/] and the Take Control series [www.takecontrolbooks.com]
5. I always suggest backing up.  Get an external hard drive that is about 1.5 x the internal startup drive so you have plenty of room.  Then set up TimeMachine [it's part of the OS X operating system and operates automatically in the background] to back it up.  There are other free or shareware backup programs as well.  The topic of Backing Up is amply covered in the resources in ¶ 4, above.  Just remember - it is not IF you will experience a disaster, it is WHEN - always have a backup and, if possible, an off-site/cloud copy of the most important items.  Think Katrina.

 

The Apple Experience

Here's a recent example that proves the point of my essay the other day:  I have been having issues with my iPhone's battery use and took it to the Genius bar at the local Apple store.  The guy checked the battery and its health was fine;  he suggested that it might be some issues with the software and how it was interacting with the battery and that I would have to restore as if the phone was new and then add back my apps and information.  So, I went home and backed up my pictures and items I wanted to save.  I hit 'Restore' and the iPhone was wiped and returned to pristine condition.

I then needed to put back the Apps and information I had, but in the meantime, my mobile applications folder had all sorts of duplicates/triplicates of some apps and was a real mess.  So, while in the area I walked into the store and casually talked to some of those blue-shirted people standing around, trying to be helpful.  They were:  I could safely delete the Mobile Applications folder in iTunes [it's in the iTunes Media folder on the computer] and I could then go to my account in the iTunes Store and go to Apps and download any or all of previously purchased apps and they'd be reinstalled on my iPhone.  I did, and they are.  Sure, it's a bit of a hassle but so is taking my car to the dealer or calling for some appliance repair service.  This was all free help, it was meant to get me back up and running - and to facilitate me being the one who fixes and controls my iPhone, empowering me.

Certainly, not for everyone.  But a reminder to me of why the Apple Experience is so positive.

My Thoughts on Steve Jobs

Like many I have read the articles and posts about the death and life of Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, and like some, I’ve been moved by his passing.  I wondered why his death, out of so many each day, seems to have impacted my mind and emotions so much.

I was not always a techie/geek sort of person;  I’m not a high level one now, but I do enjoy working with my various Apple devices.  How and why have I ended up that way?

It all started back in my teens when my father, the prime mentor and light of my early life, explained to me that a reason he enjoyed having a manual transmission on a car was that the car did not control him, he was in control of the car.  For a good part of my life I followed his advice and enjoyed having the sense that my use of a manual transmission in some way gave me control over my car’s actions and more of a partnership with it than might be otherwise.  Thinking back, that may have planted the seeds of my enjoyment in working with my computers, in having them truly be an extension of me, in challenging myself to see just how much I could be in charge of such complicated machines.

Later, when it came time to set up my own law office in the early ‘80s, I gravitated to methods where I retained some measure of control over my workplace and production.  I was a solo and many of my papers had to be written and typed by me rather than by a secretary.  At that time the other machines were fancy typewriters [which could ‘only’ type words as they rolled off my fingers] and IBM/Windows computers which called for me to interact with a black screen and light greenish letters and symbols.  I opted for hiring a paralegal to work with me, helping with cases and creating some documents, and buying a Macintosh computer to allow me to write my own pleadings and briefs.

For most of the rest of the 25+ years of my law practice, that was how I operated.  I had the assistance of several wonderful paralegals and law clerks and a trusty Mac computer as my production machine of choice.  I easily became one of those Mac fanatics, somewhat defensive when everyone else thought I was merely playing with toys and not using a ‘real’ computer, but proud that my writings stood up equally with those of larger and fancier law firms. [And fortunate when my pride led me to buy Apple stock at its nadir.]

Over the years I’ve had a number of different Apple computers and devices:  I still have my Classic [can’t part with it and can’t figure out what to do with it!];  I still have two Cubes [same thing] and I’ve moved through a number of other machines:  iMacs, Powerbooks, to my present use of a MacPro and MacbookPro, iPhone4 and iPad.  Each of these gives me the feeling [whether accurate or not] that I am in control of my technology, that the various devices work at my behest and produce things that I wish produced, as I wish them produced.  That they meld with me to result in a meaningful work product [whether legal arguments as a lawyer or photographic images as a photographer].  That my creative urges, in writing and photography, find themselves promoted and enhanced through these machines, not contradicted and stifled by my need to follow the strictures of how the machine wants to me to produce.

All this may seem nuts, but the fact that I can and have been able to do some of my own upgrades [adding RAM, adding harddrives, mainly] easily and that I truly enjoy playing with and using my various devices, means that since so much of my life involves creation and production of writings and images using them, it’s not drudgery, it’s truly enjoyable.

So, when Steve Jobs died the other day I was moved as I haven’t been by the death of a public figure in years.  Not because he was the sole creator of Apple products or that he was a brilliant marketer and promoter of them.  But because his dedication to making sure that they were devices that worked with us, that were an extension of us, that were pleasing to view and fun to use, meant that I was able to enjoy many of my working hours, even at tasks I really dreaded doing.  His dedication to and insistence upon absolute perfection in the Apple experience meant that from the opening of the box it came in to having it just start up with its distinctive chime, to using it, was really a joy.  It was as if his decisions as head of that company were meant for me to anticipate and enjoy my new Apple product and that I would be in control of it, that I could make it bend to my desires and whims, and that we were really a partnership.

Two last thoughts:  no, he wasn’t perfect and there are plenty of stories of him as an insensitive and demanding taskmaster, but negative qualities are often necessary to balance an abundance of positive ones.  And while several people criticize him for not having the same wonderful philanthropic streak as Bill Gates or turning his many talents to finding a cure for the cancer which killed him, who’s to say what he did in his private time and who has a right to demand people use their talents in the way a certain way rather than how the person feels impelled to act.  In this society some of us are lucky to be able to decide how to use our skills and talents and the freedom to make those choices is an important part of and reason for the success of the American experiment.  And who is to say that heading a company which could make machines enabling others to be creative, productive, inspired and inspiring, isn’t the best way to use one’s talents and skills?  

 

Who doesn't like FREE????

I am on the subscription list for MakeUseOf and for Mashable, both of which provide lots of interesting information and content which is helpful to me [and, no doubt, others].  Today's MakeUseOf post had the following article on finding free ebooks for your iPad and I thought I'd pass it along.

 http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-websites-find-free-ipad-ebooks/

There are many other useful articles and downloadable guides at MakeUseOf, not only for Mac afficianados but also for those using other operating systems and machines.

Places to go for Help with your Mac Devices

Having an iPhone, iPad and laptop, all by Apple, I'm always on the lookout for helpful resources to answer questions and deal with helping me to understand the machines and the software.  Some which I have gone to repeatedly for valuable help and advice are listed below.

 

Take Control Books:  PDF or ePub books on a variety of topics to help the new or experienced Mac [or iOS] user.

ScreenCastsOnline:  Video tutorials providing assistance with various pieces of software.  You can find the free Podcast through iTunes and test it out.  Each show demonstrates the features or how to use the software.  And it's just long enough and not too long.