Thing 6 Creating and Editing Docs

Cloud On surprised me. I have not created many documents on my iPad. If I needed to write a letter or create some other document I would use my laptop. When my laptop could no longer be used with my new printer I would create the document and email it to myself and print off the iPad. A bit cumbersome I admit, but it would work. So I was pleased with Cloud On and was shocked to find old Google Docs from my past. 

 It is a major concern that one needs to be online to create a document. When I visit family in AZ there is not an internet connection. I imagine I could find a different app to use in those occasions. While Cloud On is basic, I liked that it was familiar and easy to use. 

**Further note on Zite

It has been over three weeks on Zite and it becomes better and better. There are many more articles that are of interest to me. In fact, I learned to my great joy that Jane Austen brewed beer.

Thing 5 Notetaking

This is my test of Dragon Dictation. It looks easy and it is easy, but I find that it's hard to think and speak at the same time it's much easier for me to think by writing. It was fun and I can think of  times when it would be very useful. I am not used to dictating so I had many pauses and deletions.  I also dictated my list of things to do this week and pasted into my notes.

It was easy to copy and paste. I would think as I used it more I would remember to add punctuation and be more fluent. Dragon Dictation transcribed my dictation perfectly. Since I am a paper and pen person, I don't think I will use this app often.

I tried out Bamboo Paper. I found it very basic and easy to use. In the past, if I wanted to keep notes or save a document  I would copy it and paste it into the Notes app on my iPad. I could print from there or just keep a record. Bamboo Paper is like paper and pen. I could not find a way to copy or paste. Pages on Bamboo can be sent to email, print or some other app. In my quest to find ways to make Bamboo more useful to me I was seduced into the world of Ever Note. That dark and mysterious world led me to waste much time and still not be able to achieve a simple document.  I have retreated back to Bamboo Paper and Notes.

Thing 4 Keeping Up

I choose Zite because it seemed pretty straight forward, easy to start and easy to follow. At first, I was disappointed with the results. I choose four categories and I found very little of interest in any of the four.  I loved Google Reader, so that may have affected my expectations. It is true, that after a week of following Zite and "liking" some articles there are more items of interest to me now. I wondered, if after reading and liking an article if it would disappear or remain on Zite for a period of time. It seems that articles whether liked or not stay at least for a week. 

I plan to follow Zite for another week and see if  there are more articles that interest me. After that unless  it improves, I doubt that I will continue. I do miss Google Reader.

Thing 3 Google Search

I  love Google Search.  I had heard of Google Search, but I really did not see the need. I am able to find anything I need on the old Yahoo or Google. I decided to give the app a try. Last Thursday,(22nd) was a huge storm day. I played all morning asking for information on the road conditions. It was very interesting to see the different results depending on the way the question was asked.

I love the cards. I basically have three calendars  (crazy) . One calendar is a google calendar shared with my daughter so she can check my availability for babysitting. Another, is a pen and paper one to have when I am somewhere and I am asked to babysit or  to sub. The third calendar is the calendar on my iPad that appears when I check notifications. Obviously, the three are not always up to date. So after a little configuring I was able to merge my two digital calendars. Since I do not carry my iPad with me everywhere I will still need two, but having one digital  calendar shared with my daughter and quickly available is great.

The photo card accessed the Picasa site that I used years ago. I had forgotten about it. I am not sure what I would use it for at this time. I have photos on Flickr, my iPad and computer, so I do not need another place.

I did have fun exploring all of the resources. I can see the advantage of using Google Search especially if I am not sure of the correct spelling of my search subject.:).

Thing 2 or I Never Knew

This was fun and a little embarrassing. I have had my iPad for over a year and I have really done very little exploring. I use it for email, the internet and reading books. I have paid very little attention to all of the other features. It was helpful to watch the video on the OS 7 update.

 On occasion I would accidentally pull up a gray area from the bottom of the screen, as well as from the top of the screen, I would quickly exit. I now realize that the control panel from the bottom is a real time saver and I am thrilled that I can control the brightness of the screen. The top section is a notification center. I added a weather app and entered info on the calendar and now I can quickly see my appointments and local weather.

I had no idea I could simply double click the home button and move from one app to another. While these tips are simple time savers they are fun. The best tip I learned was how to take a screen shot. I had more than once wished that I could but never bothered to investigate how. I know I have under utilized my iPad and I am eager to learn more.

23 Mobile Things

I  am really excited to start this new learning adventure. I loved 23 Things on a Stick and I learned so much. I have an iPad and while I love it and use it to read books and email, I know I could use it for so much more. I rarely take pictures and while I play solitaire occasionally I know nothing about gaming other fun uses.  This will be a wonderful challenge.

How Time Flies

I had good intentions but the year flew by. Sound familiar? The hard part of blogging is taking the time to post and making the commitment to post on a regular basis. Once people are accustom reading your blog and depending on your blog for information you have trust and responsibility issues.