Carpet and iWant

I'm sitting on the couch typing this on my MacBook, sniffling from a combination of dust from the new carpet in the next room and tendrils of cigarette smoke from the tradie outside. It's a relief not to have to put shoes on to walk through that part of the house, and I'm glad we don't have to see that god awful garage floor anymore.



Now that the house is functionally complete (still have more to do around the west side where the bins are), we can start rearranging our accumulation of stuff so that we aren't living with two store rooms at the back. Heck knows what we're actually going to do with those rooms once we clear the junk out of there, but I'm leaning towards a music room or library. Let's hope I can resist the urge to buy more furniture and stuff to fill it.

Speaking of stuff to buy, everyone has no doubt heard about the expected release of the Apple iPad. Engadget has a pretty good guide of what we know about the iPad from various sources and can be read here. I'm certainly not alone in saying that I've been waiting for Apple to release a tablet-style device for some time now, so I woke up especially to catch the news of the keynote coming in on the 27th of January. I'll let you watch Jobs work his magic for yourselves, but suffice to say I was feeling pretty convinced that the shiny object in his hands would be my next must-have-item. In saying that, I was sleep deprived and fully in the clutches of the Reality Distortion Field, so in a desperate attempt at objectivity I had to set my systemic fanboyism aside and questioned my initial zeal and lust for this device. With a few nights sleep and some time to mull over how I see this appliance fitting into my life, I think I've arrived at a rationalised and adult decision.

I WANT IT. I WANT IT NOW!!!



The internet and mass media as a majority have actually landed firmly on the other side of the fence of opinion. Google for articles on the device or pick up a paper and you'll likely read about the disappointing lack of any number of features including multitasking, cameras and the lack of Flash support. Perhaps the most common comment that's being used to dismiss the latest offering from Cupertino has been a terse "It's just a big iPod Touch". My personal reaction is that actually isn't a bad thing at all.

Others on the net have written with greater flair on the subject of why the iPad is actually the start of something big and special in the world of computing. You can read my personal favourites here, here and here (that last one penned by the awesome Stephen Fry). Purely for narcissistic indulgence (after all, that's half the point of having a Blog isn't it?), I'm going to list a few of my own thoughts as well.

It's just a big iPod Touch

Yes, and I think that's actually a good thing. Microsoft have been trying to create a Tablet like device for close to ten years and have failed at each turn due to the fact that cramming a desktop UI model into a miniature form factor plain does not work. It didn't work for Windows Mobile (which incidentally was one of the main reasons why I bought an iPhone in the first place), and it hasn't worked for Tablet PCs. Creating a working tablet device would require a paradigm shift away from windowing systems and desktop mimicry, so it's actually not surprising that Apple decided to just extend an existing and incredibly successful model that they have with iPhone OS.

Aha, but if that's the case then is there any point in getting one of these iPads, especially considering I already have an iPhone? Well the key I think to my justification (call it rationalisation if you will) is that there is an operative word to the iPad death cry on the lips of myopic pundits.

"It's a big iPod Touch"

The increased screen size suggests a lot more than larger movies and a glorified digital photo frame. It offers greater levels of interaction that is now afforded by superior screen real estate. While iPhone apps will initially be the only third party software available, it won't take long for iPad specific apps to arrive and present a more intuitive (dare I say intimate) level of mobile productivity. Lots of people assume that the overlap in functionality will heavily rest between the iPhone and the iPad, while I actually see (or at least hope) to have the cannibalisation occur at the other end of the bridge, with more and more applications that I work with on my MacBook being transferred to the iPad.

The promise of this can already be seen in Apple's own offering of a redesigned iWork for the new device. I'd imagine that most of the following things I use my laptop for will fall by the wayside:

• Browsing full size websites - sans Flash but here's a hope that HTML5 comes along sooner rather than later


• Word processing - Typing on a larger screen should be easier than the iPhone, and there's always the keyboard dock. Great for blogging on the go


• Image Editing - Photoshop for processing RAWs on this would be super! Once again, transferring photos over to the iPad with the camera connector will be really useful while on holidays


• PDF/Comic/Graphic Intensive reading - I do love GoodReader for the iPhone but it's still hard to read a text with lots of graphics unless I'm on a computer. I'd guess that reading PDF text books will be fantastic on an iPad


• Finance Tracking - I'd love to see something like MoneyWell on an iPad. Finance apps for the iPhone never did anything for me with the smaller screen


• Note Taking - I take short notes in Evernote on the iPhone but if I'm at a meeting then I still currently need my laptop. The iPad would be so much better for this

That's not even touching on all the potential when it comes to games on a larger format screen. I'd love to get my hands on an RTS designed for the iPad. Granted that the lack of keyboard shortcuts may be a problem initially, but I wouldn't be surprised to see new UI grammar being invented for the multitouch screen that will allow us to compete at the same level as keyboard/mouse jockeys.

So this is bye bye laptop/desktop?

Heck no! This has been marketed as a device between a laptop and a smartphone and I don't think that's just greed on Apple's part. There are still a number of activities that make more sense on a fully fledged computer, but the thing is most of these aren't really day to day activities, more akin to what one would use a server for.

• Downloading Torrents - Can't live without my movies, TV shows and games. I'm unlikely to chain a mobile device to the wall all day to get the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother


• Encoding - Once again, ripping a CD/DVD or burning media doesn't really make sense to me on a tablet


• Serving media - Of course the same machine in our house that downloads media would need to stream it to the Apple TV and other portable media players, iPad included!


• iPhone/iPad Management - Apple haven't said too much about how the iPad and iPhone would interact with each other. It would be great if I could sync between the two devices without the need for a desktop hub, but I don't know if that's going to happen


• Programming - Unless they release XCode for the iPad, I can't see how I can give up my MacBook

The last point is an interesting one I think, though I doubt anything will come out of it. It would be pretty cool to be able to close the loop and create simple applications on the device itself without having to use OSX.

So your iPhone becomes a dumb mobile

Far from it. I still think that there will be lots of apps that make more sense on the iPhone as a smaller and always connected mobile device, especially when I only plan on getting the WIFI only version of the iPad. Social networking, RSS feeds, media, GPS navigation and casual gaming just to name a few, not to mention having a ubiquitous camera for taking pictures and movies. I also think that the iPhone will be a better device for listening to music, as I've always been paranoid about missing phone calls when I have my earphones in.

It depends on what App Developers do, but I think the iPhone would also make a fantastic satellite device for the iPad. They both run the same operating system (basically) so I could see applications with functionality stretched across both devices. Perhaps a note taking application on the iPhone synced to a text book app on the iPad. A Scrabble boardgame with the iPhone used to display your tiles. A graphics application with the iPhone acting as a palette. You get the idea.

So no disappointments then?

Hrmm... not quite. My cheery optimism for the gospel of Apple can only take me so far. Granted that some of the things on my wish list are a symptom of waiting for the iUnicorn (that mythical Jobsian device that does everything from solving world hunger to toasting waffles), but a guy can still dream.

• Touch-inspired iLife - iWork is great and I'm really happy that they released that, and of course Photos is getting closer to iPhoto with each release, but I was kind of looking forward to seeing Garageband and iMovie at least on the iPad. I'm sure that the App Store will cough up an alternative before long but it would have been nice to see Apple's take on this


• No iBooks store in Australia - Granted I'd still probably be using Stanza to read my free ePub books anyway, but it would have been nice to see the iBooks store as a worldwide release. It took quite a while for iTunes movies and TV shows to come here, so hopefully the wait won't be as long


• Revolutionary Text Input - A large size keyboard seems a little unimaginative, and I'm not entirely convinced that this will be easy to use one handed. Placing the tablet in landscape mode on the lap makes sense, but I think it will still be important to type while standing or on the move. Will have to try it out first hand


• The Name - Enough has been said about this, have a look here. I mean iPad... really? I guess if Nintendo can make millions selling a console that sounds like a bodily function then anything goes.

Another sticking point I have is with the demonstrated user interface. Holdonaminute, no I haven't done an about face. I do think that blowing up the iPhone OS to a larger screen makes sense as a whole, but there are a few tweaks that could have been made on the Home screen to take advantage of the extra space (aside from god ugly backgrounds, what's the deal with that?). Increasing the number of Apps that fit on a page by another column would have been nice. That lock screen is also looking pretty stark. If I had to guess though, I'd say that Apple have simply stuck with what's familiar to get people familiar with iPod Touches and iPhones to adopt the system, and will unveil an evolutionary UI change in the next version of the iPhone OS. Of course there's that iUnicorn again...

So you're getting one then...

Yeah, hopefully in March when they release it and when we're back in Malaysia. I've got high hopes for the thing and my gadget lust is going into overdrive. Especially when I consider how even the first iPhone model released has changed with each new version of the operating system.

I sit here on the couch typing this on my MacBook, smelling some much needed rain falling on our drought stricken grass, and I wish I were holding an iPad. Horrible name and all.

Australia Day Break

With Australia Day falling on a Tuesday this year, Alsie and I took Monday off to stretch the weekend a little longer. We filled the Saturday and Sunday preparing and hosting our first decently sized party at the newly spruced up house, inviting a bunch of Flight Centre mates with partners and children over. I was a little worried as we've never had that many people over (over fifteen) but I think we came through it fairly unscathed. No breakages or food poisonings at any rate, though we continue to discover how unprepared our house is for little children. I also overestimated how much food we'd need so people were taking back quite a bit of food that they brought over, which was somewhat embarrassing. Hopefully all things that will come with practise. All in all a great night with good food, super company and a cacophony of discordant singing.

After reading about a sale at Domayne on oz-bargain (absolutely in love with that site by the way), we tromped down to the Valley on Monday to see if anything would catch our fancy. I'd normally say that the stuff in there is a little too rich for our blood but who could resist a sale? After a little deliberation we've placed an order for a chic two seater with a pair of matching chat chairs that rock, figuratively and literally. It's now on order and we should hopefully be getting them in a couple of weeks.

While in the valley I finally got a chance to take Alison to Poppy Cake to try some of their famous cupcakes. The shop itself was pretty kitsch and with the sweltering weather we've had recently I treated myself to an ice-cream soda. Great cup cakes, though they're so rich that you can only really have one.



On Australia Day we decided to take things slow, staying home to occupy ourselves in the kitchen and the garden. A recent attempt at making our own pizza dough has inspired Alsie to try her hand at making bread rolls. They were absolutely beautiful as a side at lunch, complimenting the blackened cajun salmon, enoki mushrooms and green beans we plated up. For dinner we unpacked and barbecued some vacuum sealed steaks we picked up at the butcher down the road, served with some grilled corn and baked potatoes with sour cream. No damper this year but I think we managed to have ourselves some decent tukka.



Between gorging ourselves and lazing on the couch watching episodes of House, we kept ourselves busy getting back into the odd jobs that needed our attention around the home. The utility room is going to be carpeted this Saturday, so Alison dove in to painting the concrete steps. We just chose a plain white and it's going to need a few more coats, but I think it's looking cleaner already.



The vegie patch has remained neglected by us, but we took a small step towards having a working garden by setting up some trestles for a passionfruit vine on the back fence. Alison has always wanted one of these and I'm certainly looking forward to some passionfruit cakes... or ice-cream... mmm. I got a chance to use my drill once again to drill the pilot holes (look at me, I sound all handy and stuff), though this required a pretty long extension cord to get power to the back of the house. The final result doesn't look too shabby though. Let's hope the plant gets enough sun to grow and bear fruit.



I was also busy in the front garden getting more root barriers into the ground, hoping to stave off the expanding turf from growing where it shouldn't. It's a lot easier to put these things in before laying the turf rather than doing it retrospectively, so this took forever. Even then we ran out of root barrier so the jobs still not over. *sigh*

Back to work again tomorrow but it's not so bad being a short week. I'm also keenly looking forward to the 27th/28th with the Apple keynote. It seems as though the Apple Tablet is all but ready to be unveiled, with the keynote starting at 4am on the 28th, Brisbane time. I'm so excited about this that I think I'll wake up to watch the keynote live on the Twit TV feed. Could be a huge let down, but I think this could be the start to a whole new chapter in personal computing... I'm such an Apple-whore...

An Assortment of Events

Yikes! I had intended to post through our Christmas break but I guess we were just too busy actually doing stuff. New Year's resolution (hah!) is to post more frequently rather than clumping everything together. I'll strive for brevity here for the sake of your eyes and my fingers.

Another Toowoomba Christmas

No surprise that we spent another year in Toowoomba with the family. Food was superb as expected and it was nice to have a little break before the big renovation push over the Christmas/New Year hols. It's been tradition as of late to break into a recital of the 12 days of Christmas after dinner, though I don't know how much longer we can convince the ageing cousins to join in.

A New TV for John

We helped John buy a new TV not too long ago. It didn't take long after setting it up to realise that we could have gone for something a little bigger (which as far as TVs go is always better), so we braved the boxing day sales at JB Hifi to get an upgrade.



Striking while the iron was hot, I not only picked up a 42" LCD, but also got two Topfield PVRs (another one for the 'old' TV up back now) and a blu-ray player. I'm pretty chuffed with the whole arrangement now, though at some point it would be lovely to have an amp added to the living room. I reckon that might be a bridge too far unfortunately.

Gardening and Jobs in Brisbane

Our yard had turned into a jungle by the time we returned from Toowoomba so it was time to get the mower out. This would be the first time since starting the renovation and laying down turf so I was pretty excited. Even Alsie helped out with the little strip of grass out the back.



The little garden bed next to our patio was planted with alternating variegated and red backed gingers. Rather tropical I think and it gives the area a lovely resort feel to it (which came in useful later as you'll see)



We got a handyman to help install some Elfa shelving, which was a step closer to getting some use out of the new utility room. I toyed around with the idea of installing the top track myself but I'm glad I didn't given how much trouble the poor guy had. The modular design of this system is great as we'll be able to buy more as we need it.



I had an excuse to get the drill out to put together some vegetable beds. Not sure what we'll plant just yet, though we've been very happy with the tomatoes we grew in a pot. I'm thinking of some eggplants and courgettes as well, with some herbs and perhaps a passion fruit vine in some of the smaller barrels.



By the weekend we were joined by John and Sheena to attack the back yard. It's amazing what some root barriers, wood chip and a little raked soil will do. The turfing would have to come a week after.

Resort del Chua

Uninspired at the thought of returning to work, we decided to do something a little special on the last day of our break. Of course we were also exhausted from a full week in the garden and didn't want to travel too far, so we checked into a charming little resort in the area. We felt pretty relaxed after a lovely day of nibbles, freshly blended smoothies, outdoor movies, boardgames and BBQ prawns. Two storms rolled on through in the late afternoon but I was adamant that we stay outside under cover rather than retreat indoors. Had a great time and felt very much at home so we'll definitely come back.

Alsie had a birthday

My baby girl got a little older on the 7th of January. The lucky thing was showered with presents in the morning from friends and family.



I've had one of the presents burning a hole in my desk drawer at the office for about two months now. It's a gorgeous pendant from Christine's new store, so I got to support a friend and get Alsie some bling at the same time. Win! Alsie also got some matching earrings and a lovely complimentary bookmark.

It was hard keeping the site a secret from Alison but I managed to hold my tongue in the end. I think Christine's done exceptionally well and would recommend checking out her wares. This is a lame photo taken on my phone and hardly does the piece justice so head over to her site for better idea.

A fence came down

Renovating neighbours Joel and Katie haven't had too much luck lately. They've tried their best to help fix the last shared disaster with the paint on our car port but it just refuses to budge.

Bad luck struck once more when they were excavating in their backyard. While driving the digger past our fence, the earth gave way and knocked over our fence which in turn popped off the sleepers of our retaining wall. The dodgy fence was hardly reinforced so it's not surprising really.

They had fixed the fence as best they could by the time we came home, though there's still a little more to do.



We could have gotten all flustered about it but I guess these things happen and they're keen to help us fix the problem. It's just a bummer as we thought we were done with that side of the house. At least we managed to save our liriopes, and have temporarily planted them in one of the vegie patches until we can backfill our retaining wall again.

More Turf

The turf was delivered the week after we prepped the back yard, so John and Sheena had to come down once more to lend us a hand. Thankfully there was only half the area this time compared to the front yard so it didn't end up taking all that much time.



Not content with an easy task, we decided to tackle something else while help was handy. The target turned out to be my old nemesis, the stump around the under side of the house, so the Arborator had to ride once more. It took a lot of digging, pulling and levering but we got that sucker out in the end.

Toilet Tiled

The new toilet has also been tiled by a friend of John's, and we're pleased with the results. This was another job I'm glad I didn't have to do after seeing how fiddly it was to get the tiles cut and level.

What next in 2010?

Phew! Seems like we've been a little busy, but there's still quite a bit to come. We're getting quotes in to have the new utility room carpeted soon which will be the last functional change to the house. There's also some roofing work that needs to be done to spruce up the existing house to bring it in line with the new roofs. At some point we'll also have to figure out what we're doing on the eastern side of the house where the bins are.

Lots to look forward to as the year goes on. A trip back to Malaysia to see mum and family will be most welcome in late March, where I'm also hoping to take advantage of arbitrage and pick up the hotly speculated Apple Tablet. One hopes that I'll have more details about my impending purchase on the 28th of this month should Apple make an announcement.

Towards the end of the year I'm hoping that mum will return the favour and come out for a visit at Christmas. That's certainly going to be incentive for us to have the house complete for her visit. With luck the garden will be nice and established by then.

2009 was great, but roll on 2010!