I used to use a Targus Wireless Presentation Remote for presentations.  I love the sleek design, and the fact that the USB wireless connector would fit inside the remote.  It was easy to use, and flawless in execution.

And alas, easy for me to lose the USB dongle.

I recently attended a conference where I presented my paper on eTextbook pricing (more to come on THAT later) and I found myself in desperate need of a remote.  Nothing is worse than wanting to be able to roam the room to connect with the audience, and yet become trapped to the front of the room hitting the “ENTER” key.  My first thought was that I would need to walk a mile or two to the closest office equipment store.  But then I realized that I had a IOGEAR Bluetooth dongle already on my computer.  It was a simple matter of finding the right software to run on my android phone.

Enter PPT Remote Control.  I searched the Google Market and found a number of options.  I read the reviews, and then downloaded the “free” version of the application (limited to 15 slides.)  I liked it, so I went ahead and bought the full version.

So what did I like?

First, it did exactly what I needed it to do.  It controls my PowerPoint presentations, but there is more to it. The app downloaded the slides to the phone so I could look at my phone and see where I was in the presentation, and it also downloaded any notes.  I was able to have my crib notes right there in my remote control!

Some of the additional details (after the break):

• Bluetooth support.  Obviously what I was looking for
• WiFi support. If you happen to be on the same network that is a great option! ¹
• Requires an app to be running on your computer, but that is the extent of the set up. Effortless.
• Use it in “pointer” mode.  Puts a “red dot” on your screen you can move using the remote as a “mouse.”  Who needs a laser?
• Many other features–go check out their site.

Download the app using the QR code below, or visit the main website at: http://pptremotecontrol.com/index.html

Be sure to visit our Real Tech for Real People Facebook page and listen to our podcasts every week!  You can find the podcasts over at RTFRP.com or subscribe via iTunes.

And don’t forget–you can save 20% on any order from ZAGG.com simply by using the discount code RTFRP at checkout!  (Good until the end of 2010.)

For those of you that have been following along, you know I co-host Real Tech for Real People, a podcast for “people with Tech in their lives, but who don’t live for the tech.”  We have created a Facebook page (and I encourage you all to visit and subscribe) and as part of that page I am going to be doing “tutorials” for things people want to know how to do.

WebCamMax is the perfect tool for me to record this.  I want to be able to switch between cameras, and screen shots, when preparing the tutorials.  So if you go watch the first video I did, on how to create a book from a collection of Wikipedia pages, you will see I start with a camera shot of me, and then switch to the screen shots, live as I edit.  I switch back and forth between me, and the screen.  WebCamMax makes that as simple as selecting a different button on the main WebCamMax screen.

WebCamMax also allows me to just select an area of the screen, or a window on the screen, and transmit that.  I have used that when Tony and I are recording our podcast on skype, so Tony can get a good video recording out of skype, while I transmit the audio AND NOW VIDEO to the chatroom as we record our podcast live (come join us in the chat room on Tuesday nights at 9PM ET– http://tinychat.com/realtech)

WebCamMax also has a few other “interesting” features, some I like, some I won’t use…

First, I do like that it will allow you to use a different background image, without a green screen.  All you have to do is step (or roll) out of the image for a few seconds, while it captures what it sees as your background. It then will replace that background with whatever image you choose to insert.  I will be using this down the road to insert the Real Tech for Real People graphic behind me, for recording the videos and the podcast.  One critical note: Don’t wear something that matches your background.  Just like you shouldn’t wear green when working with a green-screen, if you or your clothing match colors in the background, you will “disappear.”

I also like that, in addition to switching between cameras and screen shots, you can play media files.  This will be useful for me when I record a “how to” video using my Kodak Zi8 digital video recorder.  I can have the file “ready to go” and then just embed it, either with it’s own audio or with my dubbing over it.

You can also add on those “fun” graphics such as hats, faces, and beards and such.  Not exactly my cup of tea though.

I have a few issues with it, but I suspect that my problems are more of my inability to understand the intricacies of the program. For instance, I don’t like having to move my mouse back to the WebCamMax screen to click to change “views” when I have it set to follow my mouse pointer.  That is distracting.  Hopefully I will find a keystroke combination that will let me do that more smoothly.

I also would like to see it be licensed for use on two computers, for those times when I am mobile, and will be using my notebook rather than my desktop.  The software is affordable ($50 for a “lifetime” license) but paying an additional $50 for the privilege of being mobile seems a bit excessive.

Overall, I like it, and I have already recommended it to several colleagues who like what they saw in the video tutorial I put together.

And with the Kindle for the iPad/iPhone that feature became even easier with the ability to highlight with your fingertips rather than a joy stick or a wheel.  One of the more recent additions to the various Kindle incarnations is the showing of passages that others find useful as well.  This is done through underlining and when you touch that section of the book it tells you (for instance) “76 other people highlighted this part of the book” which is what it has for a section of “SuperFreakonomics” (The quote being:  ”Doing the math, you find that on a per-mile basis, a drunk walker is eight times more likely to get killed than a drunk driver.” Italics original to text).¹

Of course, all this was made easier by the Whispersync network, ensuring that I could easily move between devices (and moving us one more step closer to ubiquitous reading.)

When I switched over the Android Captivate (AT&T) I was elated to see the Kindle app there as well.  But that enthusiasm was quickly reduced to a sense that I would only read “leisure books” because the Android did not support highlighting, or note taking, although it would “sync” to the furthest read location in my other device(s).

That changed a couple days ago.  The Android Kindle was updated to include the features I wanted most:  adding, editing and deleting of notes,  and the ability to highlight. But the Kindle Krew also added full text search (find those pesky quotes you KNOW are there, but can’t quite remember where² and wikipedia and dictionary look ups.  There are other fatuers added with 1.1 as well as bug fixes.  It even added voice search!

I downloaded it immediately, and upon opening it went to the book I am currently reading, Wrong: Why experts* keep failing us.  I am happy to report that the Kindle App took me to the part of the book where I left off (correctly identifying that I was last reading on the iPad.)  It also showed immediately the highlighting that I had created with the iPad, let me add highlighting, and add notes.  Most importantly when I closed the app and switched to the Kindle on the iPad my new highlighting was there (and it moved me to the latest spot–from my Captivate Kindle!)

No other eReading platform is as diverse or as available as the Kindle platform, and with this revision Amazon once again asserts their commitment to digital books and the eReading public.

I am still left with one question though:  Will the Android Kindle version port well to the Barnes and Noble Nook? After all the Nook is based on the Android OS…

That said I have had my issues with the device.  In this post I want to focus on two:  the initial syncing to iTunes for Windows users, and the on-screen keyboard.

I had some initial problems getting it synced with my Windows 7 machine, which i initially attributed to my own unique configuration, but have since heard many others have had similar problems.  Specifically iTunes 9.1 won’t “see” the iPad (and in my case stopped seeing the iphone as well.) The solution was simple if time consuming–completely delete out the installation of iTunes and all things Apple.

I will say though that, by not being able to connect to the computer at first, i found the iPad to be a real joy to use as a stand alone device.  I was able to get applications quite easily, and watch streaming video.  If it weren’t for my insane desire to actually listen to and watch my already purchased media I would have had no desire to connect.

That does beg the question though–why must we actually continue to connect our devices with the computers through cables? This device is the epitome of mobility allowing full connectivity through wifi and soon through 3G cell networks.  Cant Apple find a way to sync the ipad to the computers wirelessly?  (HINT:  Microsoft already does that with the ZUNE)

Now the next criticism is the keyboard.  First let me say that I generally enjoy typing on the screen keyboard.  I am using it now in fact.  But some of the key placements are a bit awkward considering the fact that I am starting to use it like a “normal” keyboard.  I expect keys to be in certain places, and when they require two or three extra keystrokes to use (yes apostrophe i am talking to you!) i find it to to be a hindrance.  But what is worse given that I am not a professional typist, is the lack of arrow keys.  When i type (er, mistype) i want to be able to go back and edit the word without trying to place the cursor with my fingertip.  Perhaps others are more dextrous than I, but I have a heck of a time getting it “exactly” right, forcing me to make more corrections than i had intended, and again hindering the work flow.

In your reading of this you may have come across another annoying “feature.” For some reason the smart typing system insists on a lower case I more often than not.  Others have noticed this as well, and my brother even brought it up in conversation.   A seemingly trivial annoyance, but one that requires an inordinate amount of proof-reading when they could have just left things alone.

Admittedly I could go and purchase either the keyboard Dock or the Bluetooth keyboard but honestly, I think that defeats the purpose of the highly portable and lightweight device.

So there you have it.  A couple of my “nits” that I am going to pick about the iPad.

Now–back to watching Castle on the ABC app!

It is priced at $50, which is a bit pricey to start, and became an unacceptable price for me when I started using the case at home.

The one thing–the ONE thing it doesn’t do is actually make the connection to the dock connector when placed in the “easel style dock” sold by Apple.  The silicon is thin enough that the iPad will settle comfortably and securely onto the dock but will not actually settle in far enough to make a connection.

That for me is a deal breaker.  It’s going BACK to Best Buy!

That said, if you didn’t get the Apple Dock and/or if you don’t mind $50 as a price, then by all means get it.  But remember, the Apple portfolio case is $10 cheaper.

I have found that, on days when I am checking emails with greater frequency, listening to music and podcasts, and tweeting, my battery lasts about 6 hours.  The Mophie has come in quite handy.  If you want to actually USE your phone, then this is a must-have device.

The Mophie makes most buttons and connectors on the iPhone readily accessible. I can insert headsets, and press the power buttonsand the volume rocker quite easily.  On the other hand the “ringer/vibrate” switch is a little more difficult to operate (at least for me, since I don’t have fingernails to speak of…)  The other drawback is the connector (see below for more information on that).

They designers gave some serious thought to the use as both a phone and music player designing audio channels that direct your voice to the microphone and also channel the music out through the device with no limitations on volume or sound quality.

That said, the Mophie does have its drawbacks, specifically the connector.  The Mophie does not use the standard iPhone/iPod docking connector but rather uses a micro-USB connector (the same one used in the Amazon Kindle DX and Kindle 2).  The Mophie comes with a USB cable, so that you can easily plug the Mophie (and iPhone) into your computer, and your computer will recognize the iPhone and connect through to your iTunes application and any other applications you use with your iPhone.  The only real difficulty comes when you want to use other devices with your iPhone specifically designed with the Dock connector.  My simple solution–take the phone out of the Mophie.  That is what I do any time I want to listen to podcasts through my car soundsystem.  ¹

Pros:

• Doubles the battery life of the iPhone
• Protects the iPhone from accidental drops and tumbles
• 4 LEDs on the back indicate charge levels (with test button)
• No real significant weight/balance change
• Available in several colors

Cons:

• The connector is not the “standard” pass through for the iPhone Dock
• If you wish to use your iPhone with a “standard” device you must remove the phone from the Mophie
• Does increase the weight a bit
• Doubles the thickness of the phone

I have enjoyed the Mophie and the additional protection and power that it provides.  I only have to switch to battery from the Mophie occasionally, but when it was nice to know that I had that extra reserve ready to go when I needed it.

One final note:  my sister-in-law saw mine, liked it, and bought one for herself in red.  I asked her what she thinks and she too loves the extended battery life that she is experiencing.

I have mentioned many of these as my “picks of the week” over at our Real Tech for Real People podcast, so go visit the site, and listen to the weekly podcast to not only find out what we pick, but why!  My partners, Tony Pittman and Josh Finklestein always have great choices as well, and our guests do too!

My first pick today is one my eldest daughter gave me for Christmas.  I wanted an adapter that would let me use SD memory cards in my cameras that use “Compact Flash” cards.  The predominant reason is the increasing scarcity of CF cards and the lower price point and near ubiquity of the SD cards.  She found for me the SD-CF II : SD to CF Type II Adapter (Supports SDHC) by Semco.

This card is relatively inexpensive, and that is perhaps its biggest draw. For only $15 you can have a quick and easy way to make use of the readily available SD cards.   I have put it through its paces in the past few months and here is what I have found:

Pros:

• Inexpensive.  Yup, it’s downright cheap.
• Has worked in every camera I have used it in, which is my Sony Digital Alpha 100, my Canon Digital Rebel, and my Canon Digital Rebel Xt
• Has worked in every card reader I have used on my computers

Cons:

• Slow.  It’s not PAINFULLY slow, but it is not as fast as the SD memory I put in it, and frankly isn’t as fast as my existing CF cards (middle-of-the-road speed, for value)

So there you have it.  If you want to be able to capture every day pictures then this card is more than capable and opens up opportunities for you to take advantage of sales on SD cards that might not be available for CF Cards.  On the other hand if you have to shoot fast, and want very quick write speeds to “keep up with the action” at events like football or swimming, then you will want a dedicated higher end CF Card.

All in all, a solid value, and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I decided you might be interested in a review of the device as well.

Based on the use from my friend and colleague, the choice of the Kodak was an overwhelming success.  Starting with the bottom line from a very personal assessment, his daughter, who has used both the Flip cameras and now the zi8, has asked to take his camera when she goes places.  Her opinion is that it is superior.

Now, on to the features.

My friend liked that it has a flip-out USB connector, and that it can charge both with a charger and through the computer via the USB connector.  He also liked the HD resolution (1080p) and the quality of the audio.  The built in audio isn’t “the best” but it was “good enough” for most personal use.  As I mentioned before, he then combined it with the Zoom H2 Handy Portable Stereo Recorder combining outstanding video with high quality stereo audio.

Other features that were “cool” included the image stabilization built in, and the face tracking, although the face tracking feature wasn’t tested very heavily (yet.)

Now the device isn’t without flaws.  The zoom on the camera is digital, and the quality falls off rather quickly.  In addition the memory that comes with the camera is paltry at best.  His recommendation? Get the SD card with it at the time of purchase.  Get a large enough SD card, and you can record up to 10 hours of video.

The low light image quality was “okay” and sufficient for family videos.

I hope to get my hands on one myself, sometime in the near future (did you check my Wishlist on the right side of the blog? Anyone want to order me one?)  When I get my hands on one, I promise to put it through its paces testing all the features.  With my love of outdoor photography, and constant video work in swim meets and water polo matches I hope to get lots of opportunities to test.

A couple posts back I noted an email where Amazon announced they are giving web access to the clippings and notes that you make in your Kindle when reading.  And as you will recall, I believe the highlighting/notes feature is the best “game changing” feature of the Kindle so I was anxious to see what they have done.  I have since logged on to the site, and given it a test drive.

I must say I am not all that impressed.

When you first log on you get a listing of the books you have purchased, called a “reading list.”  (See graphic below)

As you can see it lists the books (in this case, sorted by most recently accessed) and even gives you your rating, and the average rating of others.  Interesting, but honestly, I think I already know what I thought, and I checked the ratings of others (if I cared about that) before I purchased the book.

What is potentially the most exciting thing here though is the little pen, and paper, that you see in the bottom right.  The pen indicates that I have “highlighted” some text and the notepaper shows that I have typed in notes about the text.  Hey, that shows promise!  How does that work?

And here is where the real disappointment comes in.  As I have noted before, the Kindle myclippings.txt file actually makes the clippings readily accessible as digital text.  The draw-back (and hence my writing the macro) was that it wasn’t sorted in any useful manner.  It was all entered sequentially, based on when I actually highlighted or wrote the note.  Thus, since I read (and highlight) several books concurrently (work, pleasure, and the like) I have a jumbled mess of texts.  My macro sorted that all out (but as has been pointed out–doesn’t work in anything but MS Windows.  But a new solution is coming! More on this later…)

The Kindle website solves the major problem of sequencing, in that it makes your highlights and notes available by book. In addition, the site shows you a quick summary count of your notes and highlights,  So for instance, in the book “Everything is Miscellaneous” I have:

That is interesting.  I didn’t know I had 41 sections highlighted, nor that I had 9 notes.  But when it comes to actually accessing my notes, the presentation of the text is weak.  They break it down into “screens” or “pages” of information, and my combined 50 highlights and notes are in 10 “screens” or pages.  And as you can see below, the text is presented in a rather simple way:

This is a start, but I find the access to the information to be rather cumbersome, requiring many clicks, and still keeping me from being able to get my hands around the information on the whole.  I personally like the idea of being able to have “documents” that are my notes and highlighting. And while I do like having the notes and highlighting together (that provides context, after all) I would appreciate the ability to get one, or the other.

There are a few simple things that I think could really improve utility of the site:

1. Allow the user to determine how many clippings to show on a screen. This would let us see as much, or as little, of the content as we wish, providing the context we might want to have. NOTE: as of 11 Jun 2009, they have added the option to view all the notes and higlights on one “page.” Consider this one down…
2. Provide an export feature. Having the text sorted by book is helpful, but if I could then get it as another usable file, it would be better.  Let me download the single book’s highlighting as a text file (to let me use/quote the material when writing), or perhaps pdf?
3. Give a formatted citation option.  Speaking as an academic, I want to be able to quote, and reference, the materials I read.  Providing me with a formatted citation (MLA, APA, etc) in the summary section would be quite helpful.  Better yet, include it in the exported file (see #2).

Honestly, I think what Amazon has done is a good start.  They have provided a web-based solution that keeps me from having to connect my Kindle to a computer.  If I am working at another workstation, or heaven forfend I have not brought my kindle or my cable with me, this is a great way to quickly get to my notes.  But there are so many other great things that can be done with this information.

And as a teaser, let me say this–there are some great things still TO COME!

My techie friends at Penn State are starting work on a project to manipulate the Kindle myclippings.txt file that will not only sort the information but provide many different ways of using the data.  And most importantly, they are creating a solution that is “OS agnostic!” Yes–it should ultimately work for any OS.

I hope to have more information from them to share later, and in a dedicated blog post.

Until then–happy reading!

With the Kindle I can highlight sections of the text, for later searching or referencing, and I can add my own personal notations to that text.  Think of it as “digital margin writing.”

What makes this remarkable for me is that it has actual made highlighting accessible–even more than with paper books.  Have you ever highlighted text, and perhaps written some thoughts in the margin, only to not be able to find it later?  Or at least not find it without considerable searching?  This set of features actually makes the marking, and retrieval, of text easy, and quick–and with the myclippings.txt file, quoting and citing texts are made simpler.

I thought I would write a little bit about how that works, and share a few screen captures to show just how convenient it can be.

This first graphic is a snapshot (Did I mention you can do screen captures?)  of a page from “The Google Story” where I have highlighted text, and added a note to that text.  Obviously, it places a frame around the text, and that little box with three lines is the identifier that text has been added.

Of course, you want to be able to read the notes, and find them quickly.  No problem, just go check your highlighted text, and you can find a series of pages of just your highlighted text.  And, when you have attached notes, those notes will also be shown.  Graphic two is another screen capture showing the same quote and note, as part of the collection of notes from that book.

But that’s not all!  All highlighted text and notes are saved to a file, clippings.txt!  As an academic, I like the idea that I not only can read, highlight, and write notes, but they are saved in a text file that I can easily use as a “holding file” for inserting quotes in my own articles and presentations.

The above highlights then are simply saved as:

==========
The Google Story (David Vise and Mark Malseed)
- Highlight Loc. 435-38 | Added on Thursday, September 11, 2008, 03:16 PM

The family lived modestly in Prince George’s  County, a suburb just outside Washington DC, and  Sergey attended the public Eleanor Roosevelt High  School, a tough place where brawn mattered more  than brains. One of his classmates recalled that Sergey  was “quite cocky about his intellect,” often attempting  to prove to teachers that they were wrong.
==========
The Google Story (David Vise and Mark Malseed)
- Note Loc. 436 | Added on Thursday, September 11, 2008, 03:17 PM

This is where my wife went to high school

The interface for selecting and highlighting text is quite simple (perhaps even, dare I say it, Intuitive) and appears to be designed with use in mind.  Allow the reader to continue to mark text, comment on the text, and then add the ability to actual access our thoughts.

As they say in the Guiness commercial — “Brilliant!”

Well, I do love the Kindle.  In fact, I have it linked on the right here in the “recommended” widget for people to find, and buy.  I decided perhaps it was time for me to share my thoughts on the Kindle, now that has been out for a year.

I started with the Sony eReader Sony PRS-505 .  I enjoyed the thin design, the simple two button approach, and was quite impressed with the eInk technology.  I was also impressed with the ruggedness of the design (I dropped it twice, and while I caused some damage to the chassis, the electronics, and the screen, held up just fine.)  But something was “lacking.”  So, when given an opportunity to get the Kindle, I stepped up.

So what do I like about the Kindle?

• Wireless delivery.  This is really a “game changer” for me.  I realize Andy Ihnatko mentioned the wireless connectivity, and web-browsing were the game changers, but I think that simply having subscriptions and books delivered through Amazon’s “Whispernet” (i.e., Sprint’s wireless data network) makes the device for me.
• Get “samples” of books delivered for free, direct to the Kindle, to try before I buy.
• Ability to not only convert and read Word and PDF documents, and images to Kindle format (simply by emailing it to your Kindle account) but also the ability to have those documents delivered wirelessly simply by emailing it to yourself.  (yes, it costs 10 cents, but honestly, when I want to take several academic papers with me to read/review, it’s worth the 50 cents!)
• Same eInk technology as the Sony reader.  Yes, it is slow updating, but seriously, can you turn a page MUCH faster and be able to read it? It’s clear, crisp text.  What more do I need?
• Storage.  As with the Sony, I can store books internally, and on memory cards.
• Screen Captures:  save GIF images of the pages you are reading.
• MP3 player built in.  It’s not a “great” player, but you can listen to your favorite tunes while you read, or even listen to an audio book when you tire of reading.
• Oh, and since it has wireless, they included an experimental browser, and other cool “Easter egg” features.

But what is the BIGGEST selling point for me?

• Highlighting and notating text! With the Kindle I can highlight sections of the text, for later searching or referencing, and I can add my own personal notations to that text.  Think of it as “digital margin writing.”  This feature appeals to the academic in me, since it allows me to not only read, but “mark” my text, add my thoughts and running commentary, and the Kindle even saves it to text, so I can easily import the source information directly into my own articles and presentations!

So there you have it, my quick summary of what *I* love about the Kindle.

The premise of the book is that life is “random” or at least in large partt driven by likelihoods and probabilities.  Those of you that actually know me, know that I appreciate the random nature of life, and that I believe no outcome is “certain.”  Even knowing that, intellectually, I find myself reflecting on the various lessons in this book, particularly after my recent automobile accident.  In that accident, I started second guessing my decisions.  What if I had gone to Home Depot first?  What if I had decided to go back to the main road to get between stores?  What if I had waited a few seconds before leaving Lowe’s?  What if I hadn’t asked for help, and had left Lowe’s 2 minutes earlier?

The timing of receiving the book (and reading it) helped my put all this in perspective.  All those decision points, and actions arising from those points, are what quatum physicists would call “alternative realities” (and some would tell you they all occured, in parallel universes!)  But there is little one can do to control the outcome.

According to this book (at least, up to my current point in reading it) we see patterns in most things, after the fact.  We play an elaborate game of connect the dots, to make “sense” out of what happened.  We ignore the role of chance, the importance of sheer “randomness” in the events.  The author writes:

Past events will always look less random than they  were (it is called the hindsight bias). I would listen to  someone’s discussion of his own past realizing that  much of what he was saying was just backfit  explanations concocted ex post by his deluded mind.

I realize that, in some way, (perhaps some warped way) I am taking solice in the fact that the accident was just a statistical probability that for some reason, on Thursday, decided to “realize” itself on the side of my car. BAM!

Now, that said, the book also plays a role in explaining the importance of “managing” randomness.  In the book, the author discusses a man, Nero who, as a trader in Chicago, learned early on to play the “game” of moderation.  Nero (being a statistician by education) understood the role of probability even in the market, and understood even better the impact of the “statistically rare event” or what the author calls “The Black Swan.” (He then later writes a longer book on this topic “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable — This one is on my shelf and will be next in my reading queue).

According to Taleb, Nero chose to limit his gains by not seeking the high rewards, because those carry with them the greatest risk, in the event of the “statistically unlikely” black swan. In my accident, Honda helped moderate the risks by providing side curtain and seat-embedded airbags.  We were t-boned, but my wife (sitting on the side that got hit) doesn’t have a single scratch and given the extent of the damage to the door, we believe the airbags protected her.

These are the sorts of things that we teach our students in decision analysis.  Assess the probable outcomes, and the likelihood of the event.  Understand the possible gains and losses.  Then make your decisions based not on the certainty of your ability (flawed) but on your knowledge of the impact of randomness.

This book arrives at just the right time to console me, to remind me that sometimes “stuff happens” and it’s just random.  Accept it, acknowledge it, and plan as best you can.  It’s a great read, and I highly recommend it to all.  But it leaves me with this question:  If it’s arrival was truly at “just the right time” –

Was it’s arrival… Random?

You can get a quick look at my other apps downloaded, including my son’s favorite, PhoneSabre.

I would like to take a second and point out just how “Cool” Jott is.  On the iPhone (top left app) it turns your voice into typed text for notes or a todo list.  But it is “so much more.”  Once you create a free account on their site, you can call their phone number, and when you leave your short voice messages it converts them to text, and emails and text messages your note to whatever number/person you have put on the system.  It sends text only in the txt message but the email actually includes your voice recording.

Way Cool

Okay, I did it. I bought a 3G iPhone.  And I like it.  I really do.  But it would be nice it if would also charge using the existing iPod/iPhone accessories.  I have several, including a car charger that works with all my previous versions of iPod/iPhones, but find that when I connect the 3G phone to them I am presented with a message that the new phone will not charge with that accessory.  (The players will still play music, however.)

It seems odd to me.  The connector still fits.  Old USB cables still work with the computer for data and power.  The older accessories can still play the music.  It’s just this darned power problem.

I will have more reviews later, especially of my favorite free apps, including Apple’s “Remote.”  Until then, I anxiously await ideas for chargers.

Until today.

While perusing the latest musings of the iPhone Fanboys/girls, I came across this post. It provided the link that I had been waiting for! At nextup.com you can download “TextAloud,” a windows program that will not only read text files to you, but can also save them as either wav files or mp3 files. Just think–you can now take your articles with you and listen to them while doing those other routine parts of life that take so much time away.

I have already downloaded the demo version, and tested it out. I find it to be a rather quick conversion (but not instantaneous–hey, this is tough work!) and there are several options that allow the user to configure the playback in a way that fits how they would want to listen. For instance, you can configure the time for the program to pause between sentences, and paragraphs. You can select from two voices (male and female) in the demo version, and once purchased, have the option for other (apparently “better”) voices.

So how do I envision using this?

• Listen to academic articles during my long drives
• Provide audio versions of my own articles for students, available as podcasts
• convert quotes from documents for reference during my podcasts so listeners don’t have to listen to my voice

So, dear readers, how do you think YOU might use this?

I flew last week on American Airlines, to St Louis. As you may recall, St Louis was the hub for TWA, which was acquired by American. Despite that, I had a connecting flight out, and back, through Chicago. Every connection is an opportunity for an airline to have problems, and rise, or fall, on the opportunities to deliver customer service.

American Airlines rose.

On the outbound leg, I arrived in Chicago 20 minutes early, and the jovial command pilot asked that we bank it–so next time they run late we can “give it back.” Good humor. Ultimately I arrived on time in St Louis and when I talked to the staff about seating arrangements they were ever congenial.

The return leg was  a bit more problematic.  I arrived at the airport several hours in advance, but unfortunately the airplanes weren’t cooperative.  The flights to Chicago were being shifted back by one flgith schedule each.  My 6:30 departure had turned into a 7:45 departure with an arrival at the same time as my connecting flight.  The customer service line was quite long, but everyone in line was fairly positive.  When I got to the ticket counter the gentleman asked me what I needed.  I responded with “I need to be at [destination] by midnight.”

Guess what? He did it.  He moved me on to the earlier flight, and ensured that my connection wasn’t going to be a “miss.” He even looked, and was able to accommodate my desire to have an aisle seat.  Being 6’2″ I need the legroom.

Of course, problems tend to pile up.  I arrived at Chicago and found that not only was my final flight delayed,  but there were extended delays on the ramp.  Every step of the way the entire American Airlines team made sure that every passenger felt special, and that they knew that each passenger had requirements that they needed to meet as a service provider.  My final arrival was 1 am, later than I had hoped given a two hour drive that followed, but I arrived safely, and well cared for.

I had a choice, and I chose American.  I chose to not fly with US Airways.  I will make the same decision again.

The university graciously provided me with a 30 gb iPod video, and the XTreme Mac MicroMemo. The quality was quite good, but unfortunately the iPod dock connector is not designed for rigorous use riding in my shirt pocket, while bouncing around the front of a classroom lecturing.  In addition, the battery would last only for about 2 hours between charges, so it was not a good solution for back to back lectures.  So another solution was required.

My brother had recently purchase, on the advice of Scott Bourne (of applephoneshow.com fame among others) a SamsonTech ZOOM H4 Handy Recorder.  After listening to him talk about the features, I made the plunge, and purchased one for myself, along with an Audio-Technica lapel microphone.  So far, I have decided this is “the best” solution, and I would recommend this to most anyone, with only a few reservations and caveats.

The H4 is quite powerful and I encourage all of you interested in such things to go read the specs.  While it’s appearance (see below) can lead one to suspect a tazer and not a recorder, it is quite useful as a standalone recorder, or with  microphones.  The two built-in microphones are quite good to this layman’s hearing, and have that angle to them so as to record true stereo sound.  I used the standalone feature to record audioscapes during my recent trip to Monterey CA, and perhaps will post an “audio adventure” podcast, for those interested.  At the bottom of the recorder the astute observer will notice two black round “circles” that are actually inputs for microphones.  This ingenious design will allow for both Phono jack connectors and the XLR connectors for microphones.  One can record up to four tracks, overlaying one track while listening to the others.  Not useful for lectures, but I can see how musicians can fall in love with this portable mixer!  On top of all these cool features it runs on 2 AA batteries and they last over 4 hours–more than enough for the stresses of my lectures!  Oh–and did I mention it stores your recordings on removable SD cards, so that you can choose the size storage you want, and can easily swap it out for additional storage.

So how did I get all this to work?  Well, first the lavalier microphone has a powerbox that clips to the belt, and the XLR cable connects into that box.  The XLR cable then will plug in to the H4 and I am off and running!  Sort of.  The shortest XLR cable I have found was 3 feet, which meant I had an audio cable belt, so I cut it in half, and created my own, shorter cable.  Once I worked that out, I was off!  I recorded initially as “track 1″ and found that it quite easily recorded my lectures.  The only drawback here is when recording as tracks one is not given the option to trade quality for recording time.  That is, I could only record as a .wav file, and not as an mp3 file.   Easily fixed.  I record as one channel of stereo, and when I bring it in to my audio editor, I just restore it to Mono.

Drawbacks?  Well, some are little inconveniences and nothing is a real showstopper.   The H4 isn’t designed to be worn, so unfortunately it doesn’t come with a belt clip.  I would love to see that as an optional accessory.  For now, I shove it into my pants pocket.  That’s not a real “flaw” as much as a merchandising opportunity.  Also, I haven’t been able to figure out if I can set the date/time stamp for the files.  I am not sure that one can, but this leads to another problem–the menu.  There are several different context sensitive menus which are fairly easy to navigate, but you have to work a combination of the joystick style button on the front, and the selection wheel on the side of the unit.  This can get confusing, especially when the joystick also can be used to serve other functions as well.  Finally, as I mentioned, I would like to be able to select .mp3 format when recording tracks.  I suspect that the designers assumed users of that mode would want the highest quality possible, but they shouldn’t overlook other possible reasons to record a mono track.  Obviously the CODEC is there, so this should be an easily modified feature.

Overall, it is a great product, and an absolute joy to have when travelling.  I will be conducing my first formal interview using it in a few weeks, so hopefully I can have more thoughts on this product in the near future.

The Prof

PS:  I should be receiving a Zoom H2 soon, and will be posting my review of the unit soon thereafter.  It looks like a great unit, and apparently others agree.   I am told there is a backorder in the 10′s of thousands for this unit.  So, go check out the specs.

Okay, I had to add this quick link.

It’s not every day that I find a military officer who runs such an open opinionated blog. It’s interesting, and evokes many a rant from the left.

Check him out!