Newly enamoured with Android, and before my love affair with all things Apple began, I tinkered with the thing, installed a gazillion apps, marvelled at the perfect screen size.  Like a Kindle, except better.

Here’s why.

I read books on my tab, true.  But more importantly, it’s the primary device on which I consume RSS feeds I collect from all over the place during the course of my surfing strolls across the net.

So, armed with Pulse or Feedly or just good ol’ Google Reader, I go off on an unpredictable voyage through the offerings of some wonderful writers.  From technology, to food, to some entirely self-absorbed rants, I jump from one perspective to the next, from “OMG, I so know what you mean” to “WTF?” all in the space of a few precious escapist moments.

And it was during one of those journeys through curious link clicking that I discovered The Altucher Confidential and the PsyBlog.

Read them. You’re welcome.

The point is, the original Galaxy Tab 7″ might be outdated and out-flashed by the Kindle Fire and the multitude of Samsung tablets that keep hitting the market every other minute.

For me, it is my bedtime reading, my I-can’t-sleep-what-shall-I-read thing, the thing lives on my night stand, because I can now finally fit the 3-4 books I’m reading all at once on my bedside table.

I can’t recommend reading in stumbleupon fashion highly enough.  You never know what you might learn, and what you might discover that you didn’t know you didn’t know (it’s not a typo – there’s lots we don’t know that we don’t know).

My old tab. It’s just over a year old.

Happy reading.

The Awesome MacBook Air

In the early days of using the MacBook Air, battery life of 5 hours was not unheard of, especially if I was not doing anything related to video.

For normal browsing, bit of email, and mostly writing (code and English!), battery life was pretty good.  Some days I would be out and about, and not plugin till the end of the workday.

Then something changed.  Somewhere along the line I started to hear this whirring sound, the fan was on full blast, and battery time was closer to 2-3 hours instead of 4-6.  Not cool.

What happened?

Did I install some weird, virus-filled software? Probably not.  I’m a little paranoid, and usually keep anti-virus and the like up to the minute.

Did I change some settings while trying to get on to the wireless of one of my favourite coffee shops, which the Mac was stubbornly refusing to detect? May be.

This weekend I decided to figure out what on earth was going on.

Off I went to fire up Activity Monitor, the equivalent of Windows Task Manager.  For newbies, you can find it under Applications, Utilities.

Ordering the running processes by CPU utilization, I found something called Adobe Resource Synchronizer eating up 68% CPU! A quick visit with my friend Google confirmed that this indeed was the culprit.

As soon as I killed the process (just select it, and click on Quit Process on top left), the remaining battery life shot up by – wait for it – 1 hour and 40 minutes!

A bit more reading led me to this PC World article on dumping Flash to gain two hours on MacBook.  I really should have kept up on the important RSS feeds.

Poking around the issue, I also uncovered a browser extension called ClickToFlash that actually prevents the Flash plugin from starting up in the first place, unless you authorize first.  Don’t worry, you can pre-authorize sites like YouTube in advance so you are not constantly nagged.

ClickToFlash is available for Chrome,  in Firefox as FlashBlock, in addition to Safari.

With the extensions in place on my browsers, Adobe Resource Synchronizer banished, my love affair with MacBook Air continues in all its honeymoon intensity.

Yes, the MacBook Air is a gorgeous piece of kit – powerful, handbag friendly, fast, and the best productivity gadget I’ve ever had the pleasure to use.  If you’re shopping for a laptop (and even if you’re not), get it.  Don’t look at anything else.  Just get it.

But I digress.  Bottom line, I’e discovered I can quite happily live without Flash for the most part, and I can’t say enough good things about the regained added battery life.

• It has the best of Twitter (public) and Facebook (private)

• The circles interface rocks.  I know it’s childish, but I create and delete circles just to see that cute animation of the circle rolling away.

• I can have weird circles like “People to not eat with” and “People I’m sure I know but I don’t remember”.  I don’t, but I could if I wanted to.

• It’s ever present on my Google home page with that new, gorgeous black toolbar.

• The hangouts – group live cam.  Haven’t tried it, but I can see how this could get crazy fun.

• Viewing photos that have been shared is a smooth, clean experience.

• Sparks is the place for finding stuff you might be interested in, with some featured areas to choose from, as well as a search facility.

Ok, it’s shiny and new, and for once, I’m actually there while it’s still shiny and new.

The only thing I was having a little trouble with was adding people.  On Facebook, it’s very clear: only people I actually know in person get in there.  On Twitter, the timeline of interesting tweeps gives plenty of choice.

1. Tap the status bar to quickly get to the top

You are reading a text from someone and want to call them.  I used to scroll up, thumb swiping away, until I get the top, giving me access to the “Call” menu item.  There’s a simple shortcut:  just tap the status bar, the one with the operator name and time, and voila, you’re at the top!  This also applies to Safari and other apps where you happen to be at the bottom of the screen.

2. Voice control

I should have know this would be built in, but it wasn’t until I went to download Vlingo that it occurred to me to google it first.  Yup, voice control is built-in for dialing (Dial person’s name) , iPod control (“next song”, and “who sings this?”), and cute things like “what’s the time?”.  To activate voice control, press the home button for about 3 seconds.  For a complete list of voice commands, here’s a handy cheat sheet.

3. Entering URLs

When in Safari or any other app where you would need to type in the URL, at first glance it seems that unless it’s a .com domain, you would have to spell out other extensions.  Not so.  Holding down the .com key will bring other options such as .net or .org.

4. Screenshot

There are times where taking a screenshot is useful.  Think an SMS you want to save quickly or taking screen shots for tutorials.  Hold down the Home key, and the power key together.  You will hear the snapshot sound, and the screenshot will be saved to your photos.

5. Quick access to punctuation

Tapping the punctuation/number key takes you to the number keyboard.  You would then tap the quotation mark or comma, then tap on ABC to patiently come back to typing letters.  Just holding down the punctuation/number key for an extra second will bring up the keyboard.  Without taking your finger off, just slide it across to the key you want.  Releasing it will record the key you just pressed, and immediately bring you back to the letters.

I’m sure there are many more, but these are the ones I was most pleased to find as an iPhone newbie.

Feel free to share other hidden gems in the comments.

Coincidentally, I came across Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything, a Harvard Business Review post advocating the practice part of the equation.

Personally, I agree with the practice makes perfect concept, especially if we’re talking about something you like, but totally suck at (singing, anyone?).  You have to like it, otherwise there’s no way you would be there, day in, day out, working on your chosen craft to perfect it.

What do you think? Does natural talent trump hard work?

Let me put it another way: if you were selecting a person for desert island / team activity member  / new recruit, would you go for the talented one, or the one who works his fingers to the bone?

Internet Explorer 9

It’s true.  IE9 is the new king of browsers.  Well, perhaps not quite crowned yet, but goodness, it’s clean, it’s fast.

The new tab feature of displaying recently-visited tab as thumbnails?  Gorgeous. The bar across the bottom on each showing how often I visit the site? Genius, though a little in-your-face with evidence of your website addictions.

The minimalist look was so spare that I ended up displaying the favourites toolbar, ostensibly so that when my son woke up and reclaimed his computer, he can still find his familiar shortcuts.

iPhone Email

The shocker, this time in a not-so-good way, was the fact that iPhone email does not do attachments.  There’s no way to go from composing an email, to a handy “attach” control.

I should have guessed it, since iOS doesn’t let you anywhere near a file system for us to mess with.  There I was, trying to get an important document from Dropbox to the nice official requesting said important document, and I couldn’t email it to him.

Sure, I could email the link to the document, or send the PDF to Evernote, or even simply use Safari to access Gmail on the web.  But seriously –  can’t attach from compose email?  Not cool.

So today I’m a little more in like with Microsoft, and a little less in like with Apple.

With Google I continue to remain good friends – my Galaxy Tab’s Android hasn’t let me down.

Yet.

For starters, I recall my pleasant surprise to see a “magic” whiteboard in my son’s KG class.  Even at age 3-4, the children were exposed to electronic whiteboards and applications they could operate by touch.

Over the seven years since then, the school has replaced hardcopy newsletters first with emailed PDFs, then onto a portal, including self service for the kids (homework) and the parents (accounts, events etc).  Progressive, expected even in this day of leveraging the web et al for keeping parents, teachers and kids connected.

But this is not all.  My kids are learning about topics I never previously associated with pre-teen schooling.

Mind maps: the first time I even heard about mind maps I was a few years into my career, and thought it was a neat way of capturing notes and brainstorming ideas.  I’ve used various mind mapping tools, mostly in the last five years or so, usually at the beginning of a project or when I can’t quite get clarity in an intuitive way.

My kids’ school teaches mind mapping at age 10.

Project management: Before the birth of PMP as an actual certification, we all did project management.  Projects got created.  They got done.  I recall vague lessons in college about prioritizing, critical path and Gantt charts.

My kids’ were taught the basics of planning and project management at age 9, starting with planning the group writing of a mini-novel.  In the later classes (at the ripe age of 11), they are handed a planner with instructions on how to best plan their “deliverables”.  Planners are inspected and points given/deducted on how up-to-date their plans are.

Risk management: this was the latest shocker, but in a good way of course.  My daughter’s class is learning about risk assessment and its consequent management.  She speaks confidently of pros and cons of taking calculated risks, and the rationale behind making decisions where an element of risk is involvement.  The school thoughtfully sent a consent form home ahead of tackling this particular skillset, and I must say I was impressed.

It seems this new generation, having dispensed with the tediousness of library and book based research, is focusing on managing the massive amounts of information that is available to them at a very early age, and learning the skills to navigate an increasingly complex, knowledge-based economy.

If I could just get such new generation to apply their newly gained skills to get dressed in time for school without the incentive of screen time ….

However, not many applications make it past that first weekend.  So here are my faves:

Evernote

By far the best note-taking and memory app, Evernote runs on every single one of my assorted computers and portable devices.  It’s not the best to-do application, but with clever uses of Saved Searches and Tags, even the Getting Things Done crowd is happy.

Available for Android, iPhone, Mac and Windows.

Pulse

First, there was Google Reader, then came Pulse, in all its magazine-like gorgeousness.  Pulse takes in an RSS feed, updates unobtrusively in the background, so your articles are available for offline consumption.  I start most mornings in this app, often spamming friends and co-workers through Pulse’s excellent Share feature.

Available for Android, iPhone, iPad.

Seesmic

A fantastic social network client, Seesmic has been an old favourite of mine for a while.  Incorporating feeds from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Salesforce.com Chatter, the client allows you to post status updates simultaneously to the various services, shows pictures / links inline in the feed.  Tweetdeck comes a close second (and my favourite on the Galaxy Tab), but Seesmic’s option to adjust the font on iPhone won out in the end.

Available for iPhone, Android, Web and as desktop Adobe Air application.

Momento

A diary application, Momento brings in your feeds from Twitter, Facebook, Four Square etc., as well as letting you post diary entries, thereby giving you a running commentary on your day to day life.  Entries can be augmented with photos, custom tags, location, and people.  Awesome for keeping track of what the kids got up to and capturing those precious moments before you forget them.

Available for iPhone, iPad.

WhatsApp

This multi-platform instant-messaging  / chat application is light-weight, simple interface and gets the job done.  Perfect for those of us with BBM envy, it may well replace SMS for many of us.

Available for iPhone, Android.

There you have it – the applications, which, together with Chrome, are the permanent fixtures in my digital life.

Like clockwork, the itch to play with a new technology starts just after the summer break, intensifies around GITEX, and then I spend a few feverish weeks trying to source ‘the’ new gadget as it inevitably hasn’t released yet in Dubai. By mid-November, it is in my sticky little eager hands, claiming it as an early birthday gift to myself.

This year it was Android.  I spent most of September converting my Windows HD2 phone to Android.  But it wasn’t enough.  Soon, the frantically sough-aftert gadget was a Samsung Galaxy Tab, a superb Android device that has changed and vastly enriched my content consumption experience (did I just refer to hanging out on the net as an experience???)

In early December, I also started using a Macbook Air 11″, a beautiful, handbag-friendly, design and engineering marvel that I’m now loathe to be separated from except when I’m asleep.  By mid-December, I was completely and utterly mesmerized by this powerful, fast, highly tactile gorgeousness, to the point of considering going all Apple.  Never shy about gadgets, I started dropping heavy hints in my family’s direction, until my husband had no choice but ‘surprise’ me with an iPhone 4 for my birthday (thanks again, sweetheart!)

As some may have garnered from my tweets, the end of 2010 was really gadget heaven – even overload, some might say.  It is inevitable to make comparisons between my home / work Windows 7 machines and the Macbook, and also between the Android and iPhone devices.

I’m thrilled and relieved to report back that I love them all equally.  Well, except for my home Windows 7 box – that’s more of a warm affection, compared to the headiness of budding love for the  iPhone’s usability.

As a forever multi-tasking person, I appreciate the iPhone’s simple, fast interface for most daily uses.  As a mother, I especially enjoy the speed of the camera – something that was always a little fiddly with Android running on HD2.

As a perpetually tinkering geek, the Galaxy Tab and the myriad of apps available for it is a perfect platform to find out about ‘stuff’ and try on the spot.  It has also become my primary means for reading (see? I said reading, not  content consumption experience).

My Windows 7 computers feel familiar and comforting, kind of like an old pair of well-worn jeans.  Files, shortcuts, IDEs and browser extensions have been all setup for maximum efficiency.  Even though I regularly re-format, I have the re-configuration down to a fine science, and can be up to good productivity within about an hour of reformatting.

The Macbook has been a voyage of discovery.  I’m no stranger to Apple.  In fact, my very first ‘PC’ was an Apple IIe.  With it, I landed my first contract job while at IIT in Chicago.  Fast forward to present day, and my current weapon of choice, this sexy sleek sliver of silver wraps me up in that same sense of excitement and series of wow moments.

Configuring each of my new puppies is taking a little longer than usual – what with stuff like living getting in the way.  However, the one thing I have quickly garnered is that they each excel at their thing.

So you see, there’s no need to choose sides.  I actually hope Apple, Google and Microsoft (how awesome is Kinect!) continue to egg each other on, so we can benefit from the innovation that only competition fosters.

Now, if I can just remember which device I saved that cute picture on. Hmmm. Better finish setting up Dropbox, Evernote, and  Shareaholic so I don’t have to remember which of my toys I used to capture it.

Many of the familiar faces were around,  with the difference that there’s been a year’s worth of Twitter interaction so that it felt like a reunion – great to catch up with @mich1mich, @nagham, @malizomg, @obsalah and others.

The talks were good and an eye opener into worlds I seldom get to experience beyond reading about them. The discussions were interesting, characterized by candour and an easy manner that belied the sometimes controversial content. Or may be  they were not provocative at all,  and I’ve just led a meek , boringly conformist life

The last talk by Yousef Tuqan got me thinking. I recall when personalization was the one keyword everyone had in their sales presentations as the holy grail  of content consumption.

Personalization is so pervasive today that as Yousef pointed out, we don’t even consciously realize it’s happening. It’s unnervingly stealthy,  from ad words on Google to those pesky ads on Facebook that eerily nail my consumer behaviour.

It’s great on the one hand. Everything I like and think I want,  shows up on a regular basis and fills me with the false sense of security that I’ve set things up just the way I like them.

On the other hand, this personalization on steroids is limiting my horizon,  the scope of my learning and ultimately my choices.

It’s a bit like asking a.well meaning aunt to declutter your home. The result  might be a spotless room / closet / desk, but you will also have forever lost the option of keeping that one letter or memento whose deep significance to you may not be so evident from your outward behaviour.

Machines are only as smart as the algorithms humans build into them. Whether it’s neural networks, computers that learn and are apparently capable of independent thought,  machines need patterns. And I can say with absolute confidence that there is no way to model love, beauty,  elation, rejection and the deep sense of fulfilment that only comes from human connection.  The real kind.

So as Yousef said,  be one of  the handful out of the hundreds of Facebook friends  or thousands of Twitter  followers that makes the phone call,  schedules that coffee meet, and disrupts the pattern.

In as much as technology has brought us closer and made the world smaller, it has also put barriers to real connections by making virtual connection ridiculously convenient,  personalized and increasingly automated.

So before we morph into a bacteria civilization (you had to be there) , I guess the challenge is achieving the balance between using technology vs being used, between real and virtual human connection, between personalization and the wonder of random discovery.   Now that is a worthy challenge.

That and finding a Galaxy Tab (I so want one).