Audible removes in app purchases from IOS devices

Dear XXXXX, We'd like to update you on a change to the Audible application that affects the way that you access the Audible mobile store. In order to comply with recent policy changes by Apple, we've removed the "Shop" link from within the app that opened your web browser and took you to the Audible mobile store. You can still shop the mobile store, and we've created a "Shop Audible" icon that you can add to your home screen so it's always one click away. To do this, launch your web browser on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, go to mobile.audible.com, and follow the instructions to "Add to Home Screen". You can watch a quick video to walk you through the steps, or call us at (888) 283-5051 if you have any other questions.

That's it. The link is gone, but everything else is the same. You can still shop the store, and all your books will still be available in the app. Thank you, The Audible Team Additional questions or concerns? We're available at: 1-888-283-5051 (US & Canada) 1-973-820-0400 (International) Monday-Friday 9AM-10PM EST Saturday 10AM-7PM EST

My suggestions for useful power devices to survive a prolonged blackout.

Now that things have settled down I'm compiling a list of necessary items for surviving a multiday power outage. N.B. Everything listed here are items I used during me 90 hour blackout
As opposed to my "Beer, salsa & chips" list this one is trying to be serious, anyone who has any suggestions/additions please add them in the comment.

1) a 16,000 mAmp i.Sound portable power pack, at 16,000 mAmps you will get at least 10 recharges of a phone/ipod (& maybe 5 of an iPad) before you need to recharge it.

2) A Wagan 400 Watt PowerDome. This Lead/Acid battery pack supplies 2 standard outlets & 2 12 volts (cigarette lighter type) outlets as well as enough juice to jump start if the car battery fails. You can run a very small TV off it for a few hours as well recharging lanterns, see below for my recommendations for those.

3) Coleman LED Rechargeable Lantern. This lantern has multiple brightness settings from dim to full. The dim supplies enough light to navigate familiar places while the full setting will provide enough lighting for multiple people to set around it & read etc. It recharges via a 'wall wart' or a 12 volt adapter so the Wagan PowerDome can recharge this. I chose a rechargeable over a propane lantern due to fire risks (if you start a fire during a blackout there may be NO help coming & I know that you need flashlights & batteries but IMO this supplies better lighting for meals & just 'sitting around in the dark' than multiple flashlights

4) Vizio 7" portable digital LED TV. The screen is small but is big enough to watch news & storm updates. It has an internal rechargeable battery which is good for about 3 hours & then you'd need to recharge it with the PowerDome. I got this one for 2 reasons 1) it has an incorporated antenna which can be flipped up & rotated to improve reception. 2) it was on sale at CostCo. If you're going to get another model make sure that it has multiple charging options (i.e. wall wart & 12 volt) and a good capacity internal battery. I'd love to find one which operates on AA's (like a very old LCD hand held analog TV I've had for about 15 years) but I haven't seen one yet.

5) iPod nano or classic or another MP3 player. There are battery powered CD players but how many of us still have a large CD collection. In this case I'd go for the nano since it also includes an FM radio (in the greater NY area there are FM all news stations). I know that the iPod touch is much more popular & has a higher capacity but the nano &/or classic will run for longer using much less power due to the 'lack' of an large LED screen. My nano ran for 20 hours before I needed to recharge it which was 3 days of listening to audiobooks. (You don't need a link to find this one). If you have a iPod touch I'd strongly suggest a Morphie JuicePack as an 'additional battery' to prolong the power supply.

Other non-powered but useful items include a cooler & blue ice packs to keep foods cold without opening the refrigerator/freezer as well as a fireplace/bbq lighter to light your stove if you're lucky enough, like we were, to have a gas range & the gas is still on,

Hopefully I can now pack most of these items away & won't need them (except for the iPod nano which I wear as a wrist watch) for years.

My take on the latest turn in Mr. S. Jobs' medical condition

Now that Mr. Jobs has stepped down (in effect admitting the seriousness of his condition) I feel free to discuss further my feelings about what's going on with Mr. Jobs. Again I'm not directly involved in his treatment but this is based on personal observations and publicly posted information
1) The Carcinoid had recurred and had recurred in the transplanted liver.
2) He had been undergoing a palliative treatment called 'chemoembolization' which involved essentially injecting chemotheraphy directly into the main artery of the liver.
3) (This is based on my observations) This treatment has not had the desired effect on slowing/halting the progression of the disease to any significant effect. I am saying that based mainly on his progressive muscle wasting which is apparent on any recent pictures of him and his final decision to 'step down' as the CEO of Apple. The pictures I refer to are not the photoshopped ones but those from publically broadcasted events.

OK, now some more technical background.
What is chemoembolization?
The liver has the relatively unique property of having a dual blood supply. First the hepatic artery and secondly the portal vein. Unlike any other organ the liver derives the vast majority of it oxygen and nutrient supply from the portal vein instead of the artery. Conversely, and to most patient's benefit, tumors in the liver derive those vital elements from the hepatic artery. This gives us the option to infuse chemotherapy directly into the hepatic artery directing the chemo to the tumor and sparing the healthy liver. In patients with metastatic tumors this is not commonly curative but can provide excellent palliation (alleviation of symptoms & slowing or halting the progression of the disease) & extending the potential survival for years. The issue for Mr. Jobs is that there is little data as to the effect of this treatment on a transplanted liver which may have alterations in the 'normal' blood flow. This has most likely limited the amount of treatment that they are willing to infuse into Mr. Jobs liver and may be part of the reason that his condition has progressed.

His future options/prognosis
1) A new liver transplant is 'potentially' possible if there is no recurrent tumor anywhere else but I would put the possibility into the less than 'single digits'. His first transplant was done at one of the only centers in the US willing to transplant for metastatic carcinoid (there's no good evidence that transplant is better than primary chemoembolization) & I would be very surprised if they were willing to retransplant in the face of recurrent tumor. The reason for this is that recurrence after removal of the affected organ (his liver) indicates micro implants of the tumor elsewhere which have not been controlled and the likelihood of a second recurrence is extremely high.
2) More chemo. That can always be done & may be preceding but in view of the apparent failure of his current treatment he would need to be entered into an 'experimental' study to find something different.
3) Under the best circumstances, if no further treatment is possible Mr. Jobs will suffer from progressive liver failure slip off into a painless coma and not 'wake up'. That was the condition he was approaching when the first transplantation was done. Depending on the amount of liver function that he has left this time can be estimated from weeks to months although without some new treatment, and based solely on statistical data, I would be surprised but not amazed to find that he made it to the end of the year. It all really depends on how rapid the tumors in his liver, & elsewhere grow and impair his functioning. What I have been waiting for, fearfully, was that he would suffer a catastrophic complication of his treatment, i.e. rapid liver failure due to ischemia of the liver, overwhelming infection as a result of the immunosuppression needed to prevent rejection of his transplanted liver and would die unexpectedly in a spectacular fashion (Sorry if that sounds callous but that's what we usually call rapid, catastrophic death when you're surrounded by all the high tech medical equipment doing everything possible to try and save you).

My personal hope is that he goes easily surrounded by family & friends and that he gets the most quality time possible.

I've attached links to a technical article (above the level of 'lay public' but not too esoteric) which further explain chemoembolization and the only article I've found on the treatment of metastatic carcinoid by that method. I have been able to find NO REFERENCES to chemoembolization into a transplanted liver & talking to my radiology colleagues it is a rarely done & is an essential experimental procedure.


References:
1) Chemoembolization of liver tumors (for the lay public but a good review) http://www.rad.washington.edu/clinical/radiology-clinics/interventional-radiology-clinic/chemoembolization-of-liver-tumors

2) Hepatic artery embolization and chemoembolization for treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoid tumors: the M.D. Anderson experience. (The best article I've found, you'll get what you need reading the abstract) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12967136

My Review of the Sonos Play:3 speakers

Now that I've had the Play:3 up and running for 48 hours here's my take on the newest entry into the Sonos System.
The Play:3 appears to be Sonos' foray into a speaker system for the smaller room/area. In my case it's in our master bedroom which is a 10x12 space.
The setup was painless, as usual, and the speaker was up and running within minutes.
Sound: I ran my usual 'test mix' of music ranging from rock through classical (I've never found anything better than Dvorak's New World Symphony, the Von Karajan version, to test speaker ranges) and a radio station to check voice reproduction. As expected for a unit of this size the bass was a little lacking and faded out the further you got from the unit but the rest of the range was bright and clear. All parts of the sound improved when I put the speaker on a table in the corner of the room and allowed the sound to bounce off the walls (I faced it out but it still helped).
More interesting, and problematic, to me were the choices Sonos made on what to add and leave out of this unit.
1) There is the addition of a mounting hole on the back (check the photo below) for attaching to a bracket (Not included & currently Sonos does not offer).

At 10 pounds the speaker will require firm attachment to remain secure but the depth of the hole seems to be deep enough to provide for this.
The problem is the placement of the mounting hole. Although the unit can be placed vertically and the speakers adapt (confirmed by my testing) this only works with the right side down, not the left. For some reason Sonos placed the screw hole to the side of the unit instead of squarely in the back. This means that any mounting bracket will have to supply a 'shelf' as part of it's structure or clamp around the sides of the unit to prevent levering and potential damage to either the unit or wall since if simply screwed into a stud the weight will be carried at the lower part of the unit (if mounted vertically) or off to the side (if horizontal). Perhaps this choice was dictated by the interior design (I didn't open the unit to check) but it was, IMO, a poor choice a center place mounting hole would have been better.
Also the power socket and Ethernet port jack are close to the mounting hole. This means either running the wiring through the wall or having to mount at least 2 inches away from the wall for adequate clearance for the power cords (this may have been intentional since they recommend a minimum of 1" of clearance around the unit for ventilation and that will place even further leverage on a single screw mount).
2) What was left out as opposed to the S5/Play:5 unit:
A) There is no Ethernet out jack on the back so you have to use a separate port from your router to connect this if it's the first component.
B) There is no line in jack. In my case it's an issue since I was going to add a second Bluetooth receiver and continue to stream audiobooks from my phone to the player as I do with the S5 in the kitchen. I know that I can add a wireless bridge for iPhones but I have an Android phone and that's not possible since the wireless bridge is iPhone/iPod only. The lack of an line in jack means leaving my phone in the kitchen to stream the book in the bedroom, a nonstarter if I need to use the phone. Also, I was considering giving a Play:3 to my son for his college apartment & using Bluetooth to stream from his iPhone. The price differential of $30 for a Bluetooth adapter vs $120 for the dock is a nonstarter as far as I'm concerned.
C) There is no headphone jack on the back meaning that, unlike the S5/Play:5 you can't listen privately through the system

Conclusions:
The Play:3 is an interesting option for the smaller room if you already own a Sonos system with more than adequate sound quality for speakers of it's size but it's lack of input/output ports on the back make it 'iffy' if you're going to use it as your only speaker for the system.

Unacceptable voting machines being used in Nassau County, NY

The voter machines in NY State used in Great Neck are unacceptable, in my opinion. After filling out the scantron sheet you put in through the scanner.  The screen does NOT display your vote nor give you any chance to correct a misread but simply says "Your vote has been recorded".  In my case I left a surrogate judge election vote blank & it did not do anything to ask me "do you wish to confirm the 'no vote'" but simply said "Thank you for your vote, this system is more open to mistakes and/or voter fraud than the older voting machines.

I voiced my concerns to the poll workers and they told me "Why would the machines be inaccurate, don't you trust then?" I have no way to assure that the vote was accurately recorded but was just told to "Call the Governor if you don't like it"

 

Posted via email from Dr. Mom's Posterous

Can someone translate this please?

In a true piece of regulatory gobbledegook, I just received this e-mail from the credentialing authority at my institution (Name withheld to protect me from a libel suit).  It's hard to believe that this was written by someone with at least a high school education.

Someone needs to go back to grammar school to learn how to structure a paragraph.

Quote:

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

On behalf of the medical staff office, joint commission and myself as the credentialing coordinator for the XXXX department of XXXXX, I am advising you of the following new requirements when requesting appointments/reappointments/privileges at other institutions or within any of the health system's facilities.

 All applications must have a dated CV indicating month/day/year format when accessible, month/year format will also be accepted and current photo ID (drivers license or up to date passport).

 

Your cooperation in this matter will be appreciated.

End Quote:

1) Since when is a date on a printed or electronic document not accessible?

2) Are they asking me to include a government issued identity document? What am I supposed to do if I don't have a driver's license or passport?

Posted via email from Dr. Mom's Posterous

iTunes 10 Breaks Outlook, Apple's response, disconnect syncing between Outlook & your iPhone

As of yesterday pm Apple FINALLY admitted that there is an issue with iTunes 10  & Outlook. People have been reporting since its release that 10 is interfering  with Outlook, mostly 2000 but there are reports for all versions. It seems that  the outlookchangenotifier.dll, required for iTunes to sync an iPhone/iPad/iPod  to Outlook, is preventing Outlook from functioning. Apple has just posted an  official work around which is to delete/rename the dll so it stops interfering  with Outlook. The downside? You can no longer sync your iPhone/iPod with  Outlook. Way to go Apple! Let's break something & then fix it by breaking  something else just as important.  Reference Apple support doc. TS3500 support.apple.com/kb/TS3500

A Happy New Year Message, Thanks to everyone for all the warnings!

As we get approach the Jewish High Holidays, I want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery.

I no longer open a bathroom door without using a paper towel, or have the waitress put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because  I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread  because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands  with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking one's nose.

Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because  I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse  for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS to whoever sent me the one about rat  poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

ALSO,  now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money,  but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that  Bill Gates/Microsoft and  AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and  St. Theresa's Novena has granted my every wish.

I can't have a drink in a bar because I'll wake up in a bathtub full of ice with my kidneys gone.

I can't eat at KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes, feet or  feathers.

I can't use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

THANKS TO YOU  I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN,  I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer buy  gas without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer doesn't crawl in my back seat when I'm filling up.

I no longer use Cling Wrap  in the microwave because it causes seven different types of cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW  I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex  since they are actually Al Qaeda agents in disguise.

And I no longer answer the phone because  someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy cookies from Neiman-Marcus  since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU  I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big black snake could be lurking under the seat and cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE  I can't even pick up a coin dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting to grab me as I bend over.

I no longer drive my car because buying gas from some companies supports Al Qaeda, and buying gas from all the others supports South American dictators.

I can't do any gardening  because I'm afraid I'll get bitten by the Violin Spider and my hand will fall off.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, and the fleas from 120 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it  actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's
ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's best friend's beautician
.

Oh, by the way.....

A German scientist from Argentina , after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

P.S.:  I now keep my toothbrush in the living room, because I was told by e-mail that water splashes over 6 ft. out of the toilet

 

Posted via email from Dr. Mom's Posterous

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Italian Sausages with Broccoli Rabe

If you can't find the preseasoned polenta just add some minced basil and garlic (about 2 tsps each) to the polenta roll as you mash it.

 

Posted via web from Dr. Mom's Posterous

Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Garlicky Clam Paella

If you LOVE garlic and clams this dish is for you.

Don't try and substitute canned chopped clams since you really need those large clams to make the broth for the paells

 

Posted via web from Dr. Mom's Posterous

EHRs improve patient contact, distract docs: study from Health IT Strategist

Electronic health-record systems can be a boon and a bane to physician-patient communications, according to a new report by the Center for Studying Health System Change, Washington, with support from the Commonwealth Fund, New York.

On the positive side, the study found that an EHR helps improve physician-patient interaction because it provides quicker access to patient information, affording physicians time to spend with patients that they might otherwise lose hunting for information through paper records that are less organized.

On the other hand, for some physicians, simply using an EHR can pose a distraction. It may also lead physicians to rely on EHRs for information gathering "at the expense of real-time communication with patients and other clinicians," according to a news release.

"Electronic medical records are a double-edged sword when it comes to communication with patients and other clinicians," said study co-author Ann O'Malley, a physician and researcher with the center, in the release.

According to O'Malley, vendors also need to keep refining their systems to make them less distracting to physicians.

In a shout out to the folks running the multibillion-dollar federal EHR subsidy program, O'Malley suggests policymakers "should consider incorporating communication-skills training for medical trainees
and clinicians" using EHRs.

The study, "Electronic Medical Records and Communication with Patients and Other Clinicians: Are We Talking Less?" is based on 60 interviews with physicians and staffers at 26 small and medium-sized physician practices with commercial ambulatory EHRs in place for at least two years.

Posted via web from Dr. Mom's Posterous

A DC airport ticket agent offers some examples of 'why' our country is in trouble!

1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

2. I got a call from a Kansas Congressman's (Moore) staffer (Howard Bauleke), who wanted to go to Capetown.

I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me with, ''I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts .''

Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ''Cape Cod is in Massachusetts , Capetown is in Africa ''

His response -- click.

3. A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a Florida package we did.

I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando .

He said he was expecting an ocean-view room.

I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.

He replied, 'don't lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!'' (OMG)

4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ''Is it possible to see England from Canada ?''

I said, ''No.''

She said, ''But they look so close on the map.'' (OMG, again!)

5. An aide for a cabinet member(Janet Napolitano) once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas .

I pulled up the reservation and noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas .

When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he said, ''I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.'' (Aghhhh)

6. An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.

I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones.

Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ''Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?

'' I said, 'No, why do you ask?'

He replied, ''Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!''

After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno, Ca. Is (FAT - Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on his luggage..

8. A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii .

After going over all the cost info, she asked, ''Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii ?''

9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright (D) from Ala who asked, ''How do I know which plane to get on?''

I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ''I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.''

10. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) Called and said, ''I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola, Florida. Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?''

I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola, FL on a commuter plane.

She said, ''Yeah, whatever, smarty!''

11. Mary Landrieu (D) La. Senator called and had a question about the documents she needed in order to fly to China .

After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa.

'Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.''

I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa.

When I told her this she said, ''Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!''

12. A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations, ''I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .''

I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ''Are you sure that's the name of the town?''

'Yes, what flights do you have?'' replied the man.

After some searching, I came back with, ''I'm sorry, sir, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a rhino anywhere."

''The man retorted, ''Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!''

So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ''You don't mean Buffalo, do you?''

The reply? ''Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.''

Now you know why the Government is in the shape that it's in! Could people be this DUMB?

YES, THEY WALK AMONG US, ARE IN POLITICS, AND THEY CONTINUE TO BREED.

I don't write it, I just offer it for your consideration.

Like manure, you just gotta spread it around.

Posted via web from Dr. Mom's Posterous

Does Apple Need to Pull the iTunes 9.1 Upgrade for Windows?

Amid all the fanfare of the successful release of the Apple iPad a new problem for Windows users of iTunes software has arisen.

In preparation for the launch Apple released version 9.1 of their software for both Mac & Windows (32 & 64 bit), besides the usual security tweeks the software package included some major changes including:

1. The drivers for the iPad
2. Changes to iTunes to allow for syncing iBooks and other iPad specific content
3. An updated version of Bonjour

While the update seems to have gone smoothly for Snow Leopard/Leopard users it has been anything but for Windows users.  A quick look at the Apple support forums, the " Installing & Upgrading iTunes for Windows" will show the myriad of problems which have occurred to Windows users. While I'm always amazed that, considering the wide variations in the configurations of Windows computers, software updates on PC go as smoothly as they do it's apparent that this one is much worse than usual.  Within hours of it's release the issues started to arise, they included:

• Bonjour 2.0 not being installed correctly in Vista & Win7 machines
• Apple Mobile Device Manage not being installed properly
• Problems with the update to the library format including
  
  • Videos being reformatted (probably being optimized for the iPad) and no longer displaying correctly on smaller iPods
  • Podcast being relabeled as music
  • Library format being updated (that's the usual event but in this case it means that if you roll back 9.0.x won't be able to read your library

Uninstalling and rolling back to 9.0.x may or may not solve the problem depending on whether or not you're able to delete the new version of Bonjour from your system.

Not for one moment to I believe that Apple failed to do some quality testing on their software but it is rapidly becoming apparent that there are too many problems with this version of iTunes for it to be out in general distribution (I haven't seen such error reports since the 7.7 "Spinning beach ball of death" issues).
Although Apple obviously wants to push out this version of iTunes so that PC users can enjoy their iPads I believe that it is time for Apple to admit that there are problems with the update and pull it from distribution.  Possibly they could offer iPad customers a chance to activate their devices at the Apple store so that they can be used.  While this will not allow users to add their personal content to the device at least they can start download apps from the iPad store and use it to browse on-line content.

Posted via web from Dr. Mom's Posterous

Why the iPad makes it clear it's time for Apple to move it's iTunes storage to the clouds

This isn't a review of the actual iPad device since, like 99.9% of people, I don't have one yet.  Whether or not I get one now, later (after gen 2 appear) or never is yet to be seen.  The review by people who's opinions I trust and respect is impressive and I do believe that some form of multitasking is in the offing with a later OS upgrade, remember how long it took for 'cut and paste' to appear?

What seems to be really obvious is that the iPad has been aimed less as a MacBook or even netbook replacement, but rather as an all-in-one content consumption device and that where the rub lies.

For me, at least, to be truely useful a content consumption device needs to be able to download content when I'm away from my 'mother ship', i.e. my home PC.  That the iPad will do that is unquestionable, however, what happens when I need to delete content to load more (I agree with most that the 16 gig model seems to be the 'sweet spot') ?  I'm referring to downloading movies/books to the unit for trips (I'm a road warrior and have spent weeks away from home in the recent months in hotel rooms etc.).  If, while getting ready to board the plane, I realize that I forgot to reload a book I wanted to read again what happens? On a Kindle or Nook the content is a few button pushes away since the companies who provide the content keep a record of my purchases and let me redown load them at will, on the iPad it seems I'm out of luck.  Likewise if I load up on 3 or 4 movies while on the road and then decide to remove them to make room for more unless I wait until I get back I've lost the content forever (this is based on past experience with my iPod touch, audio books downloaded and then deleted from the device before syncing cannot be reloaded later unless I repurchase them or go crying to Apple that I deleted the content by mistake).  For Apple to maintain a user database of purchases via the device is something they've proved that they can do easily since an app bought on a Touch or iPhone can be deleted and then redownloaded without being charged again.  For them to extend this to to their music/audiobook/e-book/movie library would not seem to be too far of a stretch especially in these days of wifi enabled devices.  This is especially true for people who are not 'tech savvy', right now the iPad seems to be a great device for people who don't want a pc/iMac but rather just a simple device to do e-mail, browse the web and consume content.  If the iPad needs to be synced to a PC/iMac to save the content the advantage for them is lost.  This came home to me with my mother, I'd given her a Kindle and she called me one day in a panic saying that she'd accidentally deleted a book, I told her don't worry, talked her thru the content manager and got her book back with all the bookmarks intact.  On an iPad, at least for right now, I'd have to tell her she's out of luck and would need to repurchase the content if she hadn't synce to a local computer.

Please be clear, I'm not asking Apple to store content I've purchased elsewhere (Audible, recordedbooks.com etc.) nieither Amazon nor Barnes & Noble do that either, but rather allow for the iPad to become a device that, with the exception of OS updates, might NEVER need to be synced to a computer.  This, in my opinion would make the device an ideal content consumption unit.

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Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Classic Chicken Soup

This is the real thing, don't skimp on any of the steps and don't try to rush it.  It really does take several days to bring to perfection.

When serving add matzo balls, cooked whole baby carrots & may a sprig of dill.

 

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Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Braised Lamb with Horseradish

A nice 'horseradishy' lamb stew which is much higher seasoned than most.

 

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Recipe from the TWiT Army Mess Hall - Chopped Chicken Liver

Here's a classic, old country style chopped liver. For the best flavor, save the chicken fat for the entire year & then render it yourself.

The E-book publisher war between Amazon and the publishers rachets up again

With the impending release of the iPad and it's e-book store as well as the release of the iPhone/iPod touch app for the B&N e-book store, Amazon is again threatening publishers with pulling of their content unless they make concessions to multiple year contracts with Amazon, not to maintain exclusive content but to keep the prices down.

A good, consumer move or e-book suicide?

A link to the article in today's NY Times is below.

 

Amazon Threatens Publishers as Apple Looms

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Disney/CableVision hit an impasse, ABC7 is gone

The weeks long 'pissing match' between Disney/ABC & CableVision has finally reached a true impasse.  At midnight last night ABC7 posted a self serving "Cablevision has betrayed all of you" message and then went blank. Their website SaveABC7.com has copies of all their statements as well as the video clips that they've been playing between and, more aggrevating to me, crawling on the bottom of their shows. The site also give you instructions as to how to switch your provider to one which is paying Disney/ABC to rebroadcast the over the air signal.  CableVision responed by a continual video feed of "We don't want to pull ABC, it's all their fault but please stay with us while we figure out what to do" like a sulky child who has been told that they can't have what they want.  You can see their side of the story here at CableVision.com their response page on their website.  Their reply to customers, for now, is "Please support us, get a digital signal converter or watch the content on Hulu.com or ABC.com"

I'll tell you who, IMHO, loses, THE CUSTOMER.  This was timed to coincide with the Oscars broadcast which, by contractual agreement, will not be shown on any other venue including ABC.com.  Like most of the Long Island customers, I live outside of the range of digital, over the air, signals so a converter box and new antenna won't work.  Even if I wanted to change providers it couldn't be done for a week or more meaning that I miss the Oscars broadcast anyway.  One way or another it will be the customer who pays for this either by losing a popular channel or paying higher fees.  In my opinion, the FCC needs to step in and establish clear rules as to whether or not cable providers are entitled to rebroadcast over the air signals without paying the providers while garnering revenue from customers and whether or not the providers are allowed to charge for content that the broadcast over the air on a free license they get from the government.

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My 23 minutes of internet interview fame with Jackie & Leo Laporte of the TWiT network

On Thursday we discussed such vital topics of interest as Hamentaschen, how to make your matzo balls float and, more importantly, touched on internet safety for our children.

Click Here to go to ODTV.me and watch the video, I don't show up for about the first 5 minutes of the film.

I wish to thank the ODTV team for creating this video clip and for so generously sharing it under the creative commons license.

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