I was so busy downloading the app...

I was so long writing my review that I never got around to reading the book. Groucho Marx

I was so busy downloading the app that I never got around to reading the book. Blue Skunk

Screen shots from the Kindle Reader for the iPod/iPhone:

Whispersync? Stealth downloading?

Title page.

Hyperinked Table of Contents. Showing controls to go back, add bookmark, change font size, and command to take one to "the furthest page read."

A single page. Middle font size setting.

I don't think I will be reading War and Peace on this anytime soon, but it's kind of cool .... and free if you already read on a Kindle.

Is that a projector in your pocket...?

Check this out*:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html

That's right. A data projector that fits in your (shirt, not coat) pocket and connects to an iPod. Cool.

Now back when I was a little presenter growing up on the prairie, it took two men and a boy to carry the equipment needed for data projection. I remember humping:

My trusty MacClassic, B&W, with added video-out pigtail which connected to...

an LCD projection panel to be placed on...

an overhead projector, better when bright and portable. The room still needed to be pretty dark and image wasn't much sharper than the presenter, but there was still quite a WOW factor for the time.

I honestly believe I got my tech director job back in 1991 because I impressed the hiring committee with my really cuttin' edge HyperCard resume that I projected with a set up just like this. Sort of a proto-geek.

Speaking of equipment, the best backhanded compliment I ever received was from a very nice lady who gushed, "Just watching you set up the equipment was the best part of your presentation!"

Hard not to get a big head.

Off to the School Library Journal Summit in Fort Lauderdale where all the problems of the world I am sure will be solved. Cathy Nelson promises to stream some of the programs. My (literal) 15 minutes of fame will be "7 Audacious Statements about Fair Use and Copyright" as part of a panel.

Warm weather and old friends. Could be worse.

*Thanks to Tim's Assorted Stuff blog for this link.

Skyping with an iPod

A few days ago, I admitted to weakening and purchasing an iPod Touch. I have to admit that my worries about it being consigned to the "drawer of unused toys" were without warrant.

I just love the little devil.

Here are some things I've found:

• You can use it to make a SkypeOut VoIP call to another land or cell phone. Download Fring. Buy a headset/microphone combo. Purchase some SkypeOut  credits for about $0.03 a minute. It works! (Just remember to add 001 before the area code if dialing a US number.) No need to jailbreak the 2.0 OS.
  
• With the microphone, it's easy to make a voice recording with a little application called SpeakEasy.
  
• The calendar syncing with Entourage via iCal is working well. Don't ask me to 'splain exactly how you do this. Make sure you have a current back up of your Microsoft User Data folder when you begin experimenting.
  
• Games are distracting. I still can't get my poor little Spore named Bob past the spiky things level.
• I am trying to see if I can use one download of an audiobook from Audible on both my iPod and Kindle. Easy, cheesy on the iPod. The Kindle is being a PIA since it requires a PC for file transfer to it. I increasingly understand where the DRM opponents are coming from. (See Steal This Comic.) Hey, I buy a CD I can use it in my truck, my boombox. my stereo sytem, etc.
  
• I am happy to have a monetary conversion program for my trip to Amman, Jordan next week. I love the world clock (no more need to bring an alarm clock on my travels.) I downloaded a great dictionary and use it at least once or twice a day.
  
• The single e-book I downloaded seems easy to read. I need to try out different e-book readers. The Kindle still has the superior screen, however.
• The ability to make buttons out of bookmarks is cool. I have an iPod screen with just bookmark buttons I can use to reach both my e-mail accounts, my iGoogle, GoogleReader, and my blog. Nifty.
• The photos are beautiful, easy to sync and manage, and the slideshow of the grandsons is amazing. Would you like to see it?
• Has anyone discovered a way to keep those damnable little white cords on the earbuds from being a tangled mess every time you want to use them?
  

So far, I'm happy I made this purchase. While the iPod is not a true Netbook, let alone laptop, it sure does a lot. Great fun.