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How the iPad won me over

eric — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:39:21 +0000

I was probably the most skeptical person out the when Steve Jobs was making the announcement about his “magical” iPad. In this day and age you can’t take any salesman seriously when he uses that kind of language. But when I saw one in action surfing the Internet the other day I started to see the potential of the platform.

It’s all about web browsing and the consumption of media. The iPad is the perfect tiny web browser. Its just the right size for reading and a good resolution for surfing, about 1024 pixel wide when leaned on its side. It is much better than surfing on a phone, not as good as a computer.
It’s all about consuming media (via apps), but not just the Internet: Marvel Comics, Netflix videos, iBooks and Amazon Kindle, Globe & Mail, The New Yorker, etc… These apps are all about consuming media on the iPad. And it works fantastic!
On the flip side I tried to write this blog post on the iPad, but I ended up getting sore fingers and moved back to my laptop. The iPad is not for creating content. It works, but trying to place the cursor anywhere on the screen using your finger is an exercise in frustration. Extreme frustration. It is so bad I wonder why there are so many writing and composing applications for the iPad. The “keyboard dock” accessory also lacks cursors. The most typing I want to do on an iPad is a username and password, that is all.
So in short, and for what it is, the iPad just could be a revolutionary new device, no hocus pokus.

What is Google Wave?

eric — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:35:14 +0000

Google Wave has been bugging me for a while because I didn’t understand what it was – until I saw this video.

Now I understand completely.
Via Gizmodo

Coder Girl (Video)

eric — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:35:31 +0000

Found this on the Twitter thanks to @snookca:

I loled.

So Much For Vacation

eric — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:41:36 +0000

And I’m back at work again! I got a call from a friend of a friend on Canada Day needing some help with a PHP project. So it’s back to the grindstone for me!

PSake: PowerShell Make

eric — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:16:25 +0000

Ever since I first heard about it on the Plumbers @ Work Podcast I’ve been looking forward to the release of the psake PowerShell build tool James Kovacs was developing.

Looks like one of the first versions have been released. I’m excited for two reasons: 1) command-line build tools are always the most powerful tools, 2) I can use this to learn PowerShell!

Anyway, thanks to James Kovacs! I’m looking forward to trying it out!

Moved Blog Here

eric — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:36:51 +0000

Hi, I’m moving my blog here. I did a manual install on eric.willcodeforcoffee.com and it hasn’t let me post in months, even with updates and stuff…

So I’ve moved the blog to the top level. We’ll see how that goes.

Officially Unemp- I’m mean SELF Employed

eric — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 01:10:53 +0000

No more day job! Today marks the first day I will be working on my side business full time! I’m really excited. I know it will mean a lot of work and sacrifice, but I’m up to the challenge.

A Warning to Skype Users

eric — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 22:47:26 +0000

Just a warning to anyone else out there who uses Skype: Skype uses TCP Port 80 and Port 443 as alternatives for incoming calls! This will prevent you from starting up IIS or Apache (which was happening to me).

To fix this issue open up Skype Options (Tools > Options in the Menu) and select the “Connection” tab. There you will find a checkbox marked “Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections”. Uncheck that box and you should be okay.

.NET Framework 3.0 has been released

eric — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 22:44:50 +0000

Just in case you haven’t heard, the .NET Framework 3.0 has been released (RTM):
.NET Framework 3 News and Announcements : .NET Framework 3.0 has been released

I wonder when the new Visual Studio will be out?

Is your IDE Hot or Not?

eric — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:26:59 +0000

The website Is your IDE Hot or Not? poses an interesting question.

There aren’t very many good colour schemes on there yet. Seems like everyone has a black background instead of the standard white background. I made my theme based on the Textmate Theme for RadRails, adapted for the Visual Studio IDE. Consolas is a really great font!