Feed Sponsor: Nectar

I would like to thank Nectar for sponsoring the feed for another month. If you want to earn UK Apple Store points, check it out.

iPad OmniFocus and OmniOutliner

There has been a little uprising over at the Omni Group forums with some people very unhappy Omni didn’t ship OmniFocus with the iPad launch. I spoke with the Omni Group at Macworld and their reasoning for focussing on OmniGraffle first made sense. We already have a workable version of OmniFocus on the iPhone (which runs on the iPad) and if you make a graphics app like OmniGraffle, how could you resist not tackling it first on such a graphics friendly device?

Regardless, I’m very pleased with OmniGraffle and will be posting a full review soon. OmniFocus is passable (while clearly an iPhone app, it goes very fast on the A4 chip) but I am looking forward to an iPad native version. The good news is the wait won’t be long. The Omni leader, Ken Case, posted on the company blog that OmniFocus will be released in June and OmniOutliner will be out this summer. Both of these apps will be very useful and increase the value of my iPad.

Killing Flash on Your Mac

With all of the talk about Adobe Flash, I’ve become more aware of how it affects my Mac. Ignoring the security risks posed by Flash, the cost of having Whack-a-Mole show up is significant in clock cycles, stability, and battery life. Put simply, I grew tired of the heated Mac, noisy fans, and other tell-tale signs that Flash was having its way with my Mac again. I began looking for solutions.

Because I primarily use Safari, the first weapon in my anti-Flash arsenal is ClicktoFlash. Once installed, ClicktoFlash blocks all incoming Flash animations. When a Flash component tries to load in your browser window, you instead see an empty box with the word “Flash.” If you want Flash to load in that box, you click it once and ClicktoFlash lets it through. If you contextual click it, you can set behaviors, blocking or allowing, on that specific site for the future. It is remarkable how rarely you will find the need to click and let Flash through. ClicktoFlash also strips the Flash out of YouTube.

My second tool for dumping Flash is BashFlash. This menubar application keeps track of how much Flash is hitting your Mac’s processor and, when things get out of control (the app defaults this to 30%), the icon turns red. You can then click on the icon to kill all running Flash.

In the few months I’ve been using ClicktoFlash and BashFlash, my browser stability has dramatically increased. My only regret is not figuring this out sooner.

Initial iPad Impressions on the MacCast

On iPad launch day, I did a short interview with Adam Christianson at the MacCast where we shared our initial impressions. Adam is one of my favorite Apple podcasters. Check it out.

Getting Dropbox Documents on iPad

Tablet Legal has a good article on pulling documents off Dropbox using iPad Safari. This will work until Dropbox gets its native iPad app out the door. While it is easy getting documents in, sending them back out requires iTunes sync or e-mail. In essence, you are creating another copy of the document which is not ideal. Let’s hope there is a way around this. The first third party developer who figures it out is going to do well.

Create Your Own iTunes Extra

Here is an excellent Services script that allows you to combine a folder of pictures and a music file into your very own iTunes extra. It works particularly well when synced over to your iPad.

The Pocket Librarian Podcast

Lola Wong’s new iPad/Librarian themed podcast. Lola’s sense of humor works with me. She could do a podcast about watching paint dry and I’d subscribe.

iPad Changes the Game

The last few days have been exhilarating for all of us new iPad owners. Apple has unleashed a new device on the world that is no less paradigm shifting than the original Mac was 25 years ago. There are more positive reviews of the device than you can swing a dead cat at. If I were to read just two, I would make them Jason’s and Andy’s.

I’m not going to do a thorough review. Instead, I plan on sharing just a few observations and then returning in a month to write about how the iPad fits into my life.*

Game Changer

I suspected it before. Now that I’ve used one a few days, I’m convinced. I’ve written before about my experience with tablet computers. Apple finally got it right. Others will catch on. The answer is not trying to bolt a mouse based operating system on a tablet. You have to start from scratch.

I’m already getting real work done on the iPad. I wrote a brief today (and this post) using Pages and a bluetooth keyboard. I see myself in the not so distant future without a laptop. I won’t be alone.

The iPhone App Myth

While Apple certainly gets marketing traction saying how many apps will run on the iPad, you will want to get iPad native apps whenever possible. The iPhone apps look remarkably Atari 800 on the iPad. I’ve only kept those few that I can’t live without (SimpleNote and OmniFocus). While you are waiting for your favorite apps to get an iPad makeover, don’t forget about Safari. Mint and Dropbox, for example, work just fine in Safari and both experiences are better than a pixelated iPhone application.

Transparency

My most surprising observation of the iPad is how transparent it is. As transformative and revolutionary as this technology is, it gets out of the way extraordinarily fast. Flipping through RSS feeds, catching up on Instapaper (my own personal iPad killer app), or tweaking a Keynote presentation are so seamless that you forget about the iPad entirely. This isn’t just true for nerds like me. This was proven by my Mother.

My 80-year-old mother is amazing. She grew up in a small factory town in Massachusetts where they often caught dinner in a lake behind the house. During her lifetime she has seen the world go from buggy whips to the moon and from the radio to the internet. Nothing fazes her. I handed her my iPad and she started flipping through the pages of Winnie the Pooh. Even though she has never showed any interest in computers, she became absorbed with the content and forgot she was using something electronic. Then, as she was turning the page, she did something very natural. She licked her finger and turned the page. I grinned. This technology is so natural that you forget it exists. That is why the iPad is going to change everything.

• There may also be a Mac Power Users episode very soon where Katie and I address the iPad in detail.

Mac Power Users - Home Networking

Mac Power Users Episode 24, about home networking, is live. You can get it in your browser here or on your iPod/iPhone/iPad here.

iPad PVP LED Football

Because I never quite escaped 1978.