The common tape dispenser is designed for taking a length of tape with one hand, and cutting it to the length you need, with that same one hand. It is designed to grip the desk and not move as the tape is unrolled, and to remain upright and stationary when you cut it with the toothed blade.
By Jeffrey the Barak
You may have a PC, or you may have a Mac. Either way your documents, pictures, movies , music and even your preferred settings are probably more important to you than the machine itself, which can be replaced at the store in a day or two.
That is why we back up. We may back up to a remote server via our Internet connection, or we may own an external hard drive, and vigilantly back up our computer so that our user profile could be restored to a new computer in a couple of clicks. Well isn’t that nice?
Nice, unless your building burns down. Let’s say for example that your computer is a Mac, and you back up to a LaCie external Firewire hard disk. I choose this example because that would be my situation. It is easy to leave that attractive LaCie with it’s pretty blue light sitting on the desk next to the Mac, backing up once every hour or so to Time Machine. But it is also risky, because if the computer is lost, then so is the backup.
A better idea is to disconnect that Time Machine backup and place it inside a fire safe. Once every couple of days, or once a week, you can pull it back out and run Time Machine. But then you should put the drive back in the fire safe and close that lid. The drive can keep your passport and insurance policies company in the fire safe until it is needed on the desktop again.
This may sound like a great inconvenience, but if you are tiptoeing through a black charred smoldering mess that used to be your home, would you be happier to see a fire safe, or the melted remains of a hard drive?
By Isabella Woods
The new Kindle range from Amazon doesn’t replace your iPad, but if you’re looking to make a change of eBook reader or tablet computer, your choices have been expanded. Both the Kindle Touch and the Kindle Fire are must buy gadgets.
Kindle Fire
Getting the biggest surprise out of the way first, the new Kindle Fire tablet computer isn’t up against the iPad for business. Its possibilities are very different to Apple’s offering. It’s the price that may steer many people to Amazon, whereas previously the iPad seemed the only real option for tablet computing.
You can expect further news from Amazon about a different tablet computer early in 2012. Just as soon as they learn from customer reaction to the new Fire model, they’ll bring out the models we wanted in the first place, but the cost issue may bring the 2012 10 inch models in line with Apple’s pricing structure.
At less than $200 the Kindle Fire is an easy purchase. With an iPad ranging in price from $500 to $829, recession-hit Americans are thinking twice about buying. It meets the demand for color eBook readers, with some already available in the market, and is part eBook reader and part tablet computer.
Where’s The Camera?
Starting with the bad news, the Fire doesn’t have a camera so it isn’t going to compete with the iPad in that area, although most people carry a cell phone with those facilities.
The good news is that the on board cloud accelerated Silk browser loads pages quickly especially if you want to use Amazon’s purchasing channels.
With direct access to your music and photos and with the ability to download a movie from Amazon’s own files the Fire puts the owner in control.
iPad owners will say that their apps are the best available, but market forces are quickly changing that assumption. In 2012 we are likely to see a more level playing field. Unlike the iPhone, the Fire uses the Android operating system which is gaining ground rapidly and has overtaken the iPhone in many territories.
The Kindle Fire also uses Flash, something iPad users would love to have access to, but won’t admit it. After all, if you’re an Apple lover, you simply must buy every Apple product available and ignore the rest.
Kindle Touch
EBook sales are rising so fast that no-one has real data of any use, although in April 2011 Amazon said that for every 100 printed books they sold, 105 bought a Kindle book. The abundance of free books (over 2 million at the last count and targeting 2.5 million titles) makes owning a Kindle a low cost book reading choice. Amazon’s sales of Kindle ebooks are up 66% over last year.
The Touch model turns pages similarly to the iPad is renowned for, except that on the iPad you flick or swish to the next page while on the Touch you simply touch the page to go forward, back or to a menu rather than pressing a button (as on the previous model) to go to your desired page.
Superior E-Ink Technology
The Kindle Touch uses market-leading e-ink which technology. It’s perfect indoors and out, but lacks a back light which is why the battery life between charges is so long. The iPad is brighter, but you just can’t read books in bright sunlight when you’re on vacation.
The affordable price of both new Amazon units makes them winners. They’ll sell millions in the run up to the Christmas season. The Touch will sell to new Kindle buyers, but previous buyers may not need to make the move yet. For the Kindle Fire, it’s almost too low a cost to avoid getting one. With extras like cloud storage, online movies and terrific email facilities, more people will be reading books on Kindle than ever before.
If you’re in the US, then now’s a good time to get in line for the release of the Kindle Fire on 15th November and the Kindle Touch on 21st November. If you live outside of the US then you’re going to have to wait a while before reading ebooks because Amazon hasn’t issued release dates for the rest of the world yet.
Isabella Woods is an experienced freelance writer with a passion for tech and gadgets. She writes for travel blogs, but enjoys a night in on her coaster sofa with her virtual library of classic literature.
Nissan and Toyota sue each other for making similar products. Toyotas are to be banned in the UK while Nissans are to be banned in the USA.
Sounds ridiculous? Well it is and it’s not true. But this is exactly what Apple and Samsung are trying to do to each other.
the-vu thinks it makes all parties look silly and it’
s very bad for public relations.
The money, time and effort wasted on this would be better spent on continuing to make the already excellent products even better.
By Jeffrey the Barak
The KickPed is a custom Know-Ped, manufactured in the same factory in California, Patmont Motor Werks, but made to a lean and mean customized set of specifications, exclusively for one retail store, NYCeWheels in New York City. In some ways it is less of a scooter than the Know-Ped but the customizers, the people at NYCeWheels, think that what has been taken away from it, improve it.
The four differences between a Know-Ped and a KickPed are:
Now despite these changes representing things that have been taken away, the KickPed costs (at time of writing) $229 plus $34 shipping, a total of $263, whereas a new Know-Ped in any of the four colors can be had for $199 including free shipping if you know how to do a good web-search. But you won’t be spending an extra $64 for nothing. The sellers are very clever people when it comes to knowing what works in an urban scooter, and of course they ride in New York City, meaning we should take note of what they advise.
The original Know-Ped
The deck is narrow because the original deck was designed for a pair of side by side feet. The original wide Know-Ped deck is from the motorized Go-Ped, and therefore it makes scooting inefficient because to get the ankle of your propelling foot around the footboard. or to swerve the vehicle around your propelling foot, you really have to bend your supporting leg too much, and that is the most tiring physical action in a kick. I’m sure you have noticed that if you scoot a while and don’t switch feet, it is the supporting leg up on the deck that gets tired, not the one you were scooting with.
The original wide Know-Ped deck is beautiful, especially with the bright powder-coated frame protruding at each end, but it’s extra width very much reduces the efficiency of the ride in terms of simple physics.
The front brake is gone from the KickPed because it was the one thing that frequently needed adjustment on the Know-Ped, and it was too aggressive when those metal calipers grabbed the grooved tire-walls, Remember, the Know-Ped is a Go-Ped without the engine, and it’s brakes can stop you from a high speed with a heavy load. The rear brake that spoons around the top of that fat back tire is simply good enough on it’s own, for a human-powered scooter and much less likely to lead to a sudden unintended dismount (accident).
The handlebars are not quite the same either, and in the case of the custom taller bar option, it allows taller riders to stand upright and watch where they are going, which is less uncomfortable than bending forward to face the road like a road racer, and then bending your neck back so you can see the road ahead through your eyebrows. Remember, an urban kick scooter is not for breaking speed records at the velodrome, it’s from getting to A to B efficiently, comfortably and safely.
And the clear lacquer coat looks okay also. Very industrial and strong looking.
Since I currently own one of each, I will compare the KickPed to the Xootr Mg. (I had a Know-Ped once but it was stolen before I had a chance to ride it much)
Xootr Mg on left, KickPed on right
Rolling resistance on smooth concrete, hardwood, vinyl.
If you are able to ride your scooter on a smooth surface, then the Xootr will live up to it’s reputation as the smoothest, most energy-efficient, fastest, easiest scooter in the world. It is second to none. On a perfectly smooth level surface, one kick will take a Xootr an unbelievably long way, whereas a KickPed may require an extra kick or two to make it quite as far. But the difference is not as great as other reviewers have written. It’s practically negligible based on my own comparison, switching back and forth from one scooter to the other. However…..
Rolling resistance in the real world.
In my normal scootering environment, there are uneven, un-repaired sidewalks, with large gaps and ridges caused by tree roots, lack of maintenance and general disrepair. The roadways, where the cars go, are often almost as bad, and the alleys are extremely degraded and have no hope of being repaired any time soon due to city finances.
In this environment, the slightly superior rolling resistance of the Xootr is completely lost to energy-robbing vibration and necessary slowing and stoppages, and the rubber-tired KickPed rolls just as far, even further when surfaces get really bad. I am assuming that most people who use a scooter for errands and commuting, as opposed to taking it to a specific place for a pre-planned pleasure ride, will find the same rough surfaces to some degree. The KickPed can often be ridden when the Xootr needs to be walked.
Decks from behind
Deck height.
The KickPed’s deck is half an inch higher (3.5 inches) off the ground than the deck of the Xootr Mg (3 inches). If you ride all day, this makes a difference to how tired your supporting leg gets, as you have to flex that standing leg to put your other foot down to scoot. But it’s only half an inch and most riders will never notice, nor will they ride for hours at a time. Some of the large European-style kick bikes have very high decks that really cause this fatigue, but the KickPed deck is low enough, narrow enough and the grip tape will keep you secure.
Ground clearance and wheelbase.
The Xootr Mg has 1.5 inches ground clearance and the KickPed has 1.75 inches. Of course it’s impossible to have both a low deck and high ground clearance, but the extra quarter inch under the KickPed will come in handy on the streets. Also, the bottom of the KickPed is a steel tube. The Xootr’s magnesium rail can behave like a brake pad on concrete and unexpectedly stop you dead if the front wheel drops down onto lower pavement. The KickPed’s wheelbase is about an inch shorter, measured from axle to axle but it does not seem to negatively affect anything.
Tires, grip dry and wet.
Well this is the big one. If the pavement is wet or even slightly damp, the Xootr can skid and cause an accident. No such issue with the rubber tire of the KickPed. In dry conditions, the polyurethane tires on the Xootr will not let you down, but dampness is all it takes to ruin your day. Polyurethane and water add up to falling down painfully.
Noise.
Not all Xootrs are as noisy as the Mg, but the Mg with a rear fender brake makes one heck of a racket. Noise comes from the rear brake rattling and also from the area of the “Ergo” quick-release push button ball pin at the front. The loud clatter that the Xootr Mg makes on the street is well beyond reasonable.
Other Xootrs, like the old ones with the wooden decks, no rear brake and no Ergo pin are quieter but not as quiet as the KickPed. Even in a smooth concrete garage, the Xootr creates this other sound, hard to describe, but most likely from the polyurethane rolling on the concrete. Not a bad noise by any means, but in a comparison test with a super-quiet KickPed, it’s definitely there.
The KickPed will rattle a little bit if you deliberately pull and push on the folding handlebar, but for the most part it softly and quietly rolls along without disturbing the wildlife. Be ready to have to warn pedestrians that you are behind them and approaching because they will probably not hear you coming.
Vibration
Riding the Xootr on a rough surface is exhausting. Your teeth rattle and your vision can even blur. This makes it extra hard to avoid a mishap and it’s no fun. The ride on the KickPed is many times smoother. Let’s not get carried away though, the KickPed’s tires are solid rubber and there is no suspension, so it’s hardly ice skating, but compared to the Xootr, the KickPed’s ride does not suffer from undue vibration.
Portability
My KickPed Tall model has a nylon strap that hooks around the rear fender. Once folded the scooter is small and easy to carry and can be stowed in any car’s trunk etc. The scooter can also be slung over one shoulder and carried hands-free
The folded Mg weighs a tiny bit less, (hardly noticeable) and is easy to carry in one hand.
Standability
The folded Xootr Mg can be stood on one end if the handlebar is adjusted to the right height. This allows it to be stored with a small footprint. The folded KickPed cannot stand up on it’s own.
Ease of folding
Both are easy to fold, but the KickPed is much easier. You just slide the tube that sleeves around the handlebar hinge, fold or unfold and allow the sleeve to spring back down . With the Xootr, the pin is depressed, removed and replaced after the fold, and the handlebars adjusted. It can be hard to line up the pin with the hole if you are holding the Xootr in one hand. But it is not difficult, just less simple than the KickPed, which can be deployed and ridden within one or two seconds of being carried folded up!
Durability
Both are super durable. Eventually after hundreds of miles, the brakes, tires, bearings etc. may need replacing or at least servicing, but the KickPed is designed to be maintenance-free for life and only very heavy use will require service of any kind. In fact the omission of the Know-Ped front brake is the main improvement here as that was something that required adjustment from time to time.
Safety
I really think highly of my Xootr but I have to be honest, it is potentially dangerous. Almost every ride includes a scary moment or two where I almost fall or crash or I come to a sudden unexpected stop due to a twig or pebble or bump in the sidewalk. It can also skid sideways on damp pavement and it really is a constant worry that spoils the enjoyment of the ride. Furthermore even on a smooth surface, high speed cornering on the Xootr’s skinny polyurethane tires does not inspire confidence, but they will keep you onboard if it’s dry.
In each of these situations, the KickPed just plows through without a moment’s hesitation, without a wobble, and without causing a scare. Any extra input effort required to cover the same distance is well worth it for the peaceful bliss of a smooth and uneventful ride. And on a speedy downhill in a parking garage, the KickPed feels very stable in banked turns. Not so the Xootr.
It should be noted here that I generally ride scooters with care from point A to point B, and never attempt tricks besides the occasional cautious downhill speed run.
Conclusion
The KickPed wins on safety and on quietness, so these factors alone make it a clear winner for me. Having fallen off my Xootr at low speed due to practically invisible cracks, uneven slabs and debris such as twigs, I am always worried about what might happen on my next Xootr ride. At 54 I cannot recover from an accident like a twenty year old would, and accident avoidance is very high on my list of criteria. And the considerable noise generated by the rattling Xootr only has one advantage, it signals pedestrians ahead to step aside, otherwise the rattling negates all of the brilliant design that went into the most widely acclaimed scooters ever made. The KickPed is quiet and rolls right over most objects that would upset the Xootr.
The original Know-Ped
So what if you own a shiny new Know-Ped and you wish you had found a KickPed first? Simply find a woodworker and shave down the sides of the plywood deck, and then consider removing the entire front brake assembly from caliper to handle, and then you basically have a KickPed in a fabulous frame color, but with the stock 36 inch handlebars. If you are five foot seven or below, you’ll be just fine, and the vehicle’s efficiency will get a big kick.
Jeffrey the Barak has owned many types of human-powered and electric scooters. These are the two smallest he has owned, and two of his favorites also. Search for scooter to see other reviews on the-vu.com
By Jeffrey the Barak
Very different capabilities and different prices, but this comparison is completely valid, because it’s about which system better serves lightweight, traveling, out of the home or office, on the go, computing.
I work at home, and in my office I use a 27” iMac. But almost everything I do is from inside a Chrome browser. I use Google Docs instead of iWork or MS Office, and I can honestly say it has never let me down.
Yes, I also use the iMac for more intensive computing at home. I use Garageband, Photoshop, and other programs that are not in the cloud, and are best suited to the desktop format and hard drives and peripherals. But when I travel, usually with a Macbook, and lately with my wife’s 15” MacBook Pro, it’s 100% Chrome browser work while on the road, and I need tabs and a real keyboard so all current tablets cannot fit the bill.
So for me, am I better off with a Macbook Air or a Samsung Chromebook or Acer Chromia?
There are several considerations here. If I were to get the 3G version of either Chromebook, I could connect and do a little slow email and Google Spreadsheet editing when there was no wi-fi, so right there, the Macbook Air is out of the race.
But the most important factors when traveling may be simply size and weight. The Macbook Air 11” version weighs much less, half a pound less than a couple of iPads. (see chart)
Of course a Macbook Air costs more than twice as much, but does it really? Most of us know, we can use an Apple product for a couple of years and resell it for a decent price later on to someone who cannot quite afford a new one. I doubt either of the initial Chrome laptops will have much of a resale value. So they could cost close to the same as the Apple over time.
I am an Apple Head, and also a Chrome Head. I love Apple and I love Google, which is an unusual thing to write, because along with Microsoft, these two companies get a lot of negativity in the press. So for some direct comparisons lets do this:
Of course I could buy both, or neither, but where’s the fun in that?
Jeffrey the Barak never puts a 27″ iMac in his bag and he loves condensed milk.
Copyright © 2011 Apple Inc.
By Jeffrey the Barak
For the most part it did not hurt, and because it worked so well as an input system, I assumed that it would always be what I used. I even used a pen-based trackpad for while and owned a Windows Tablet PC for a while, but nothing matched the mouse for all round usefulness. In fact when traveling with a notebook computer I would often take a mouse along as well.
But then normal trackpads were rendered obsolete by the Magic Trackpad. Or to be more accurate, Macbook Pro users suddenly got very large trackpads that led to the Magic Trackpad.
My last couple of mice, the Mighty Mouse, and then the Magic Mouse has issues. The Mighty Mouse always needed to be cleaned to scroll properly because dust and hair would interfere with it, and the Magic Mouse, which I initially loved gave me my first ever computer related wrist pain.
It was this pain that led me to try the Magic Trackpad and yes, that is why my wrist does not hurt. But it’s not just about pain-free comfort, the gestures and general usefulness of the Magic Trackpad have transformed the interface of computing for me. Even in spreadsheets and photo editing and even when dragging and dropping, I prefer the trackpad to the mouse that I cradled for two decades.
It may take a day or two to get completely used to, but having a nice relaxed arm and the fingers resting comfortably on the desk in the handwriting position takes all of the physical stress away from navigation and control.
Add to this the tremendously useful gesture controls for scrolling, pinching, zooming and page turning etc., and the computer interface is transformed from the move and click of a mouse to something much more dimensional and intuitive. And activating the optional tap to click really adds to the utility of this device. The very idea of going back to a mouse after this is unthinkable.
When OSX Lion comes out this year it will be even better. I have already installed reverse scrolling under Snow Leopard and it makes much more sense after the short adjustment period.
So I have to say, my Magic Trackpad is a remarkable device and one of the best interface innovations I have yet to experience.
Jeffrey the Barak is not a mountain yak and he eats bananas.
By Jeffrey the Barak
Words cannot adequately describe Arne Jacobsen’s iconic mid-century designs, but it’s always nice to view a few of them in one place. So this is not an article, it’s just a vision massage.
Swan
Egg
Series 3300
Tavolo
Swan
Series 7
3103
Oxford
Eggs
Arne
By Jeffrey the Barak
Today at the Google I/O 2011, the Chrome operating system finally became a reality. Google executives, whom many expected to announce the death of the project, instead proclaimed the Chrome future and expounded upon the advantages of Chrome, a browser-based operating system, over the more traditional OS of Microsoft, Apple, Linux et al.
Two manufacturers, Samsung and Acer, will be selling Chromebooks at Best Buy and on Amazon within a few weeks.
The wait is over. I will go on file as saying “watch out everyone else”. Chrome will still change the world. Mark my nostrils people.
http://www.google.com/chromebook/chromebooks-acer.html#chromebooks
New logo, less Simon-like, but still no product!
By Jeffrey the Barak.
We all still wait, or maybe we don’t. I titled this article Waiting for Google Chrome, part 20, but I’m not really waiting so intently as I was in the first 19 parts. Things move quickly in the world of computers and software, but Google’s Chrome operating system is continuing to move very slowly. With so much money at stake, Google, one of the three most influential companies along with Microsoft and Apple, are being very slow about this.
While I have been waiting, I have been continuing to work almost entirely in a Chrome world. I use the Chrome browser on my Mac and have tabs open for my control panel interfaces, Gmail, Google Docs etc. I rarely step outside the browser.
I tried a netbook running Jolicloud, but there were too many issues with dropped wi-fi connections due to the Asus EeePC and Joli not getting along, so I sold that and am currently without a portable, although I can borrow my wife’s Macbook until I finally give in and get a Macbook Air, or the elusive, never quite here, Chrome netbook.
There are a few websites that were originally themed around the upcoming Chrome OS, and they have pretty much changed their subject as time marches on and Chrome never comes.
So as usual I am ready, and fully committed to Chrome bookmarks, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail contacts, Picasa etc etc. Google all the way, but still I wait. And wait.
By the time Chrome appears, it will probably be tablet friendly, and therefore closely related to Android Honeycomb. Google always said that eventually Chrome and Android could merge, but they also say that Android is for touch screens and Chrome is for keyboard and mouse/trackpad. In all probability there will be no merging before Chrome finally becomes a reality, but until that day comes, many will find themselves guessing.
I am reminded of the Segway. It is not a very important vehicle, but before it came out, speculation made it one of the most exciting mystery products ever. So much so, that as amazing as it is, it was quite disappointing that it could not fly or perform magic. There is much less speculation about Chrome, but a lot of negativity. I think the general feeling is too-little-too-late, but I still think it may become a very important and widespread operating system in the world, as long as the hardware is inexpensive and connectivity is affordable.
I really hope there is no part 21 to this saga.
Jeffrey the Barak is still waiting, and drinking a lot of espresso.
By Jeffrey the Barak
April 1st 2011
Now that we have discovered the Gnarl Jump, and matter can be made to jump from spot to spot indefinitely, it can be used to turn wheels with pistons, or it can be used to endlessly power huge turbines.
The implications of using the Gnarl Jump to power turbines is huge. It can power the world, either through the traditional power grids, or via small generators on location.
Turbines are used to generate almost all electricity in the world, and they are driven by steam, water, fluid or air.
All of the following power generating systems employ turbines:
In each case the turbines generate electricity with spinning magnets and the power goes down the transmission lines.
Now we can take each and every one of these systems offline and replace the turbine’s driving force with a Gnarl Jump device.
Obviously there is no associated global warming as no fossil fuel is burned. A little oil is needed to lubricate the turbine, but that is all. Nuclear fission does not emit greenhouse gasses but the obvious potential danger of the fuel is really too much of a risk. Even if there are no accidents, the fuel remains dangerous for thousands of years, and the chances of that being abused and used to kill are near 100% over such a long time scale and taking human history into consideration.
If each home and or business had it’s own Gnarl Jump turbine, we could eventually dismantle the grid and clean up the skyline.
And of course one little device in each bus, truck, car and motorcycle will make petrol and diesel fuels of the past. Electric vehicles will run forever around the clock without stopping for a recharge.
All former discussions about green power, global warming and nuclear dangers are now moot. All we have to do is figure out how to put the forests back.
For more information on Gnarl Jump, see GJaprilfools.org
By Jeffrey the Barak
Single serve coffee and single serve espresso are the fastest growing trends in home coffee preparation. While the cost per cup can be a lot higher than you would pay with a normal coffee maker or home espresso machine, capsule systems take away the guesswork, the mess, the constant cleanup and the wastage
In an older article on the-vu, I compared the Keurig, which only makes brewed coffee, and not espresso, and the Tassimo, which makes both, except it does not make high BAR pressure espresso but rather a close facsimile. My review of these two systems can be found at http://www.the-vu.com/2009/05/discovering-single-serve-coffee-keurig-versus-tassimo/
But the world is going nuts for Nespresso, an espresso making system that delivers a perfect pull with every shot, and no cleaning required. Having pulled many a lousy shot with an array of manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic espresso machines over the years, The consistently perfect shots delivered from the Nespresso system are beyond impressive and I would challenge any highly practiced barista to consistently match the results.
But as perfect as the system is, the only place to get the capsules of coffee, unless you are close to a very rare Nespresso boutique store, is at Nespresso.com. Customers say they arrive in two days and Nespresso has the best customer service, even if a problem develops with the machine. Nespresso will even send out a loaner to use while the customer’s own rig is being fixed.
But Nespresso is not the only player. There are several aspiring single-serve, pod or capsule, espresso and/or coffee competitors in the world including Dolce Gusto, also owned by Nestle (as is Nespresso), Gaggia, Flavia (Mars), Illy (with or without Francis Francis), Comobar, Lavazza, Italcaffe, Benotti, La Piccola, Tuttocialde and several more, including Caffitaly.
And it is Caffitaly that has struck distribution deals in various countries. In the United States, the partner is The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and the brand name for the machines in the U.S. is CBTL. In the States, the coffee varieties available for the CBTL machine are all from The Coffee Bean, and this is not such a bad thing, as the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf have some of the best coffee in the world. Customers far away from any Coffee Bean store can order capsules online, just as they would be forced to if they chose to buy a Nespresso machine.
The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf started as a local Los Angeles family-owned firm that was closely watched by the Seattle giants and in many areas beat all to the start line with new innovations. For example, one day a couple of decades ago, the manager of a Coffee Bean invented the Ice-Blended Mocha. Cinnabon has another claim for the invention of this concoction, but It seems that the Coffee Bean manager was probably unaware of it when she dreamed it up, and the Coffee Bean’s unique use of cold-brewed “Toddy” coffee did contribute greatly to its success. Now every cafe, ice-cream store and donut shop has some version of a coffee smoothie, most noticeably, the cleverly named Starbucks Frappuccino.
And it is Starbucks who is strangely absent from the single serve revolution. True, they partnered with Tassimo (Kraft) to make Starbucks brewed coffee T-Cups, and they also make paper Pods to fit in E.S.E compatible machines, but they have not partnered with a single-serve espresso machine manufacturer so far. CBTL with Caffitaly have beaten them to market.
As mentioned earlier, the Keurig and Tassimo were compared in the aforementioned article, and so here we will compare side-by-side, a Nespresso machine and a CBTL machine. In each case we will focus on a single short shot of espresso, and simply note that both providers offer a virtually identical electric milk frother/heater should you want to incorporate your shot into a latte, cappuccino or machiatto.
And the comparison is fairly easy. Both Nespresso and CBTL have a good variety of coffee capsules. Both offer at least four excellent espresso varieties. But only the CBTL machine can also brew a lower pressure large size drip coffee drink. So if you want both espresso and brewed coffee, and choose Nespresso, you will also need a Keurig to sit beside it.
Both machines accept and eject the capsules in much the same way, but the Nespresso excels in finishing cleaner with less post-shot dripping
And as for price, the CBTL machines are significantly less expensive. For visual design, Nespresso wins with the narrow profile $279 Citz, but the $150 CBTL Kaldi looks great, and so does their less expensive CBTL Cantata, which has identical specs and function for just $130. I personally have an aversion to the shape of the $200 Nespresso Essenza but that’s just me.
Nespresso, being an espresso-only machine, has more varieties of espresso, but most of these are very mild and therefore not what you would expect to receive if you ordered a real espresso at any self respecting cafe. So both systems only have three or four truly excellent proper espresso blends in their line up. That’s right, not very many! But these few are excellent, authentic, and of course completely consistent from shot to shot, something of which few baristas can boast.
My own top capsule picks, based on the criteria that espresso should be the strength and intensity of proper espresso, not just a tiny little cup of fairly strong coffee:
Decafs and lungos were not included in this comparison, and my order of favorites is preliminary because I have not yet experienced several of each and considered them over a reasonable period of time. Your preferences will of course vary.
I think the Nespresso and CBTL systems are both excellent and both will give better shots than your best effort with a portafilter or a super automatic, and do so every time with never a bad shot pulled. While the Nespresso generates 19 BAR of pressure and the CBTL only gives 15 BAR, the difference is not possible to notice in the extraction and crema, so 15 must be enough.
But the price difference makes the CBTL the winner, for now. They are too new to have many reviews and Nespresso fans will be alarmed this verdict, and the long establishment of Nespresso means you could find old used machines at a bargain price etc., but assuming you want a new one, it’s CBTL who wins today.
References:
Milk:
As a final aside, since these systems focus on convenience, I would recommend that if you drink lattes, cappuccinos etc., that you pair your CBTL or Nespresso machine with the $60 CBTL milk frother or the similar $100 Nespresso Aeroccino, rather than pick a machine with a difficult to master steam wand. Or take the even lower cost route with CBTL’s $13 hand-held frother and heat your milk in your microwave! (Or even pick up the $3 version at Ikea). Having practiced micro-foaming milk for years with several steam wands, I would not recommend the procedure to anyone seeking convenience and consistency!
Jeffrey the Barak is a coffee enthusiast and is the publisher of the-vu.
By Jeffrey the Barak
Some of you may have browsed to this review on the-vu between December 16th 2010 and January 17th 2011 and found a very different story. Due to a hardware conflict, namely a radio device in my particular computer, I failed to get Joicloud to work properly in December 2010, but with some kind and patient support from Cedric of Jolicloud, I now have a speedy little Asus netbook that is smaller and lighter than Google’s CR-48 and Jolicloud’s own Jolibook.
The in-depth technical review of the Jolicloud OS (operating system) is not to be found here, and you will also not see any jargon or abbreviations that only Linux-Heads can understand.
For nine out of ten computer users, Jolicloud theoretically gives you everything you need and removes all maintenance. It is designed to be the Linux for the rest of us, no Geek required. There is, in theory, no complicated setup, the system becomes familiar to almost anyone within minutes, and you won’t have to waste time with virus protection, system maintenance, updates, customization, steep learning curves etc. It is designed to be simple and it is officially available many months before Google Chrome OS.
So if you spend most of your time in a web browser, and do only basic editing of pictures, and do not use the most advanced features of say, Excel, for example, then you can find an old computer for thirty, or three hundred dollars, and install Jolicloud and you are set. You only need 1GB of RAM to fly along at breakneck speed, and it will run okay on half that, and your storage, as in hard drive, or perhaps solid state drive, can be tiny if you use the online storage. The only thing you really need is good fast Internet and you are laughing.
Jolicloud and Me:
So my story is, I was waiting and waiting for Google Chrome. I gave up my iPhone because it was too little to work on. I bought and then re-sold an iPad because iOS was not able to allow me to do my work, which basically requires tabbed browsing and the full, non-mobile-telephone versions of web pages such as Google Spreadsheets.
And all the while I had one eye on Jolicloud. So I needed a device that was not heavy (the iPad was nice and light at least) and there was the Macbook Air for around $1,100 including taxes and fees (California), but everything I do whilst away from my desk is in the browser, and the Chrome browser at that. So if I live in a browser, I don’t need the very powerful and capable Macbook Air since I’m not going to use Garageband or iMovie while I’m on the road.
So then in early December 2010 Google said, “sorry but it may be the second half of 2011 before Chrome OS is ready”. However a few thousand people are testing the Beta on free-of-charge 2GB RAM Atom N550 notebooks supplied by Google. So far, those who write about Chrome OS without using it, don’t like it, and those who write about Chrome OS who are on the pilot program, love it, for the most part. I would have applied myself, but I have a reason for not wanting a portable computer that large and heavy. I already have a five-pound Macbook and that is too big and heavy to be something I want to take around with me.
So with the unavailability of a really nice, extremely lightweight netbook with no hard drive, I decided to get an Asus Eee PC 1015PEM-MU17 netbook and download Jolicloud 1.1 to an installation USB key and run Jolicloud 1.1 as my sole operating system on the Netbook. I went for a dual core, high end Netbook, but still, I got where I am now for a third of the price of the Macbook Air. And it is a nice enough netbook that I can probably resell it without too much of a loss if I grow to dislike it for any reason. Yes, a Macbook Air is worth three times as much, but I just need the browser.
In preparation, I migrated from Apple’s Address Book and iCal to Google contacts and calendar. I did so with a nagging issue in my head. Offline access to the Google calendar and address book is temporarily unavailable until Google rolls out the full new HTML5 version in early 2011, so unless I’m in a hotspot, I will not have access to my calendar and address book by using the netbook that’s sitting in my satchel. These are two things that have always been with me for decades, since the pre-electronic era, so I am feeling a little compromised by this, and have been searching for a good locally installed address book and calendar that can live in Jolicloud and be synched with these two Google services. But I broke down and added an iPod Touch to my arsenal, and that displays my address book and calendar, offline, that is synced with Google whenever it’s near a hotspot. Very nice.
Also in preparation, I created the aforementioned USB key to install Jolicloud 1.1 on the new netbook, which ships with Windows 7, an operating system that I was intending to discard immediately so that the netbook will work for me, instead of the other way around. It was very easy to download Jolicloud and to create the USB key. Jolicloud.com has the instructions.
I also set up an account on Jolicloud and interfaced with the Jolicloud working environment by logging into my account from the Chrome browser on my 27″ iMac. Very nice and simple!
Proir to trying Jolicloud on the new netbook, I played around in Windows 7, the operatiing system that came free with the netbook. It is a horrible OS, that constantly boasts about what it has updated and waits for you to reward it by clicking OK, and it constantly asks you to protect it with anti-virus software, which in itself keeps you busy all day with dialog boxes and wants you to work for your computer and maintain it so that it will be nice enough to work for you, until the next round of dialogs pop up.
I of course lived in Windows for many years, from 3.0 to XP, but abandoned it just prior to Vista and became a Mac fan. Macs work for the user, users work for Windows.
My first dipping of a toe into the vast cold ocean of Linux was about to begin, and I installed Jolicloud 1.1. It was after all the reason I purchased this netbook.
Back in December I hit a wall of frustration, because I could not get the wireless to work and stay working. So I temporarily gave up on Jolicloud and tried installing two other versions of Linux. Eeebuntu, supposedly designed for EeePC’s, looked terrible and did not work well. Ubuntu Netbook Edition worked well, wifi radio included, but sleep, hibernate, shut down etc did not work at all.
So I decided to ask Jolicloud for help, after all Cedric of Jolicloud had offered some helpful words in response to my not-so-favorable Jolicloud 1.1 review published in December, and since replaced by this article that you are now reading. And I am glad I did. I was invited to send the contents of two files, “lspci” and “lsusb”, so that my problem could be addressed at Jolicloud. (Okay well that did sound a bit geeky, but they did send easy instructions.) And all the problem was, was a new type of wifi radio in the Asus EeePC 1015-PEM that was not supported in the Jolicloud 1.1 download. All I had to do was run an update and restart, and Bob’s yer Uncle. Jolicloud will soon be changing the download file to the updated configuration to spare everyone else from hitting my wall.
So now that I have Jolicloud running nicely on a nice little netbook I am happy. But I should disclose that all I really intend to run is the Chrome browser, which, once synced to my Google stuff, contains my online universe. Jolicloud is a fast way to get there. And since I have poked around on a couple of other Linux flavors over the weeks, I have to say what I was expecting to say all along, Jolicloud is an excellent interface for simple computing. Again, if you want a more geeky techie complex review of this excellent operating system, Google around for another review, and if you are the type of person who has bad luck getting any computer to do what you want, then see if you can get an expert to pre-configure and test Jolicloud to your device on your behalf, but once it’s setup, for the end user, Jolicloud is as simple as can be.
Please feel free to post comments on this article.
Jeffrey the Barak is not a computer expert, but is savvy enough to be a go-to-guy for many friends with computer questions.
By Sparklee A Hole.
If you can read this, you are a human, and you poop. A subject that may delight a few, and disgust many more. but opinions dont count, because we all have to go and poop. It is what happens afterwards that is rarely discussed. People from different cultures have different ideas about what you should do next. An American or a Brit, who has only ever seen a toilet roll next to a toilet, may travel abroad and find one of the five following devices at his or her disposal.
There may be more systems than these five, but these are the common alternatives to simply using dry tissue paper to clean up.
Conversely, someone from the Arab world, or the Philippines, or parts of Asia, might visit The USA and be appalled to find out that Americans believe they can clean their anal area following defecation with nothing more than dry tissue paper. And they would be right, because it really does take more than tissue to be clean following the business.
Clearly, washing is more efficient than tissue-wiping when it comes to removing the after effects of going, especially if a lather from detergent is introduced, so what do these mysterious foreigners do in the bathroom?
The Bidet.
Often seen beside a toilet, the bidet has featured in travel jokes for decades. It is basically a little bathtub that one squats over to wash the area. These usually have hot and cold running water and can squirt, rinse and spray. Anyone who has used a bidet is probably emerging from the bathroom clean.
The electronic bidet toilet seat.
The Japanese have pioneered this field. To have one of these, your toilet needs to have electricity as well as water. These devices, controlled with the push of a button are designed to wash and then dry the area, without the user leaving the seat. Some are simple and some are full of hi-tech features.
The Tabo
Called the tabo in the Philippines but known by other names in South Asia, this system is basically a jug of water, filled in a bucket or barrel or from the tap. The user raises up slightly from the toilet seat and pours water towards the small of the back where the space between the butt cheeks is. The water naturally flows down and over the skin and washes the area. In practice, although rarely talked about, the user usually puts soap on his or her fingers and washes the butt, just like everyone does in the shower and then rinses with the tabo. Of course this means touching the unclean substance in question (poo) but the hand is using soap and water so with practice it ends up clean when all is over. In the Philippines, bathrooms are wet, meaning there is usually a floor drain and a faucet on the wall, which is used to fill the vessel. The tabo is difficult for lifelong wipers to accept, but it does remove all traces of waste and associated bacteria, so should not be criticized. Anyone with a sink within arms reach of the toilet, and a plastic jug or jar, can try the tabo right now, with nothing to install. In rural areas, the tabo is also used for outdoor, full body bathing.
The bidet shower spray.
The Arabs call it a shattaf, (sounds like shit off, which is basically what it does), but this is nothing more than a handheld water shower that connects to the water inlet valve for the toilet via a T-connection. Room temperature water is sprayed on the anus after the business is done. As with the tabo, hand washing the area with soap is an unmentioned option. These sprays are often called diaper sprays or nappy sprayers, because they can also be used to wash off most of the baby poo from your babys diaper before tossing it in the bleach pail. The baby poo just goes right down the loo. The downside to using a handheld shower spray in a colder climate is, in winter, the tap water can be extremely cold. In some places these are called the muslim bidet and other names, because the muslim world is apparently quite particular about keeping clean down there. But if your bathroom is in Thailand or Saudi Arabia, to name a couple of places, youll probably have a sprayer adjacent to the toilet, and the water will not be a cold shock.
The sprayer pipe.
In Egypt you are likely to see a curved brass pipe at the back of the toilet bowl. This is water spraying at its most basic. Just turn on the tap and a jet of water shoots towards the butt for hands-free washing, or manually assisted soaping, as discussed under the tabo.
So here is the taboo subject of cleaning the ass being discussed in a magazine. Some will find the whole subject unthinkable and live their whole lives failing to properly remove poo and bacteria with their little pieces of tissue paper, and others will never use tissue paper instead of washing. While it may be obvious which idea is more effective, preconceptions about what is civilized may keep most westerners in the dirt until they are buried in the dirt. But whatever you do following a poo, follow by washing your hands with soapy lather, and youll stay safe.
Sparklee A Hole is always ready for inspection and never has to hide his underwear deep in the laundry basket.
By Jeffrey the Barak
Yesterday Google held a press conference which included the sad news that Chrome and Chrome-based netbooks will most likely not be on sale until the second half of 2011. Having abandoned smartphones because I find them too tiny, (I sold my last iPhone), and having also sold my iPad, because it was useless for Google Docs and my other cloud interfaces, I decided to buy a netbook and install the Joliloud 1.1 operating system. The netbook will be delivered here in a week, a dual-core Asus Eeeeeeeeeee which is like an Eee PC but with extra e’s typed in. Today I created a USB key with the Jolicloud 1.1 install and that is now ready for the arrival of my netbook.
My plan is to use the entire disk and get rid of Microsoft Windows and any pre-installed bloatware. And in seven months, if a nicer form-factor Chromebook appears, I’ll sell the netbook on. I would have preferred a thinner, lighter netbook with a SSD instead of a hard drive, but today’s netbooks are practically all the same as each other so this 10.1″ white plastic Seashell Asus should have some resale value in half a year.
Of course, being a Mac user, I could have just bought the fabulous 11″ Macbook Air, but when I’m away from my iMac, all I need to do is done in a browser, and I therefore do not need a Macbook Air, which is a thousand dollars and is not a netbook, but is a more of a full OS, powerful computer in a blade-thin form. So in a way the Asus will be a replacement for my old 5 lb Macbook which is a bit too heavy to take everywhere and is operating in slow motion these days, and also for my iPhone and iPad, both of which live with new owners now, because I sold them.
So in the continuing absence of the real Chrome OS, Jolicloud and it’s tabbed Chromium browser should do the same job, at least for six or seven months, and I may even get into storing some things locally on the included hard drive. I have already prepared by taking the step of migrating from Apple’s Address Book and iCal, to Google Contacts and Google Calendar, so they’ll be ready for the Chrome browser tabs on the netbook. This means my Mobile Me subscription is now a waste of money, but based on the slow speed of the interface, it has been asking to get kicked out for years. I do not anticipate my home made Jolibook will be completely problem-free, or annoyance-free, but based on what other users are saying, it should be just fine, and I’ll have my Google Spreadsheets along with me again.
By Jeffrey the Barak
Los Angeles, 4:30PM November 19th, 2010. Today is the day for the Jolibook to launch in England. Meanwhile a look at the Jolicloud site revealed a change, they now allow you to sign up and try Jolicloud OS in your browser, emulating what it would be like to have Jolicloud running on a netbook. I have to say it only took me a few moments to declare it a super simple, high-speed success. I think that a little netbook running Jolicloud would be infinitely more productive than the iPad that I just sold today on eBay.
Somehow, Google Docs and Gmail seemed even faster in the Joli window that they did in the native Chrome browser on my three year old Macbook, which seems to get slower every week by the way. But surely that would be an illusion?
What a Jolly Joli day indeed. I wonder if Angelina Jolie will sign up. She has that extra e so it could be a problem for her.
By Jeffrey the Barak
I have set up a table on the battleship Missouri and have invited my Google Spreadsheets to take seats across from my iPad and shake hands.
I am waiting, but my fellow sailors are reminding me that there is a $1000 Macbook Air available that runs OSX, and that Google is busy readying the Chrome OS netbook. And if I had all the time in the world to mess around with complicated syncs on the way in and the way out, I could use Numbers on the iPad.
Still, the meeting table is here in the sunshine, waiting for my invited guests to shake hands.
UPDATE November 17th 2010
Google have announced something at last! I’m grabbing my iPad to test it.
SECOND UPDATE November 17th 2010
There are two views, versions or modes for Google Spreadsheets in iOS. Today’s update to Google Docs is focused on the Mobile version, more properly called list view, and it really does not change much. And as before, the full web version is awkward to use on an iPad. I think I have to finally give up at this point. The iPad and iOS are very nice, and quite useful for millions of happy padders, but to me, the iPad has failed to meet my needs. I will have to get a Macbook Air, which runs OSX, or hang on to see what happens with Chrome and netbooks.
By Jeffrey the Barak.
Jolicloud is a Linux-based operating system for netbooks and also PC’s that is available now and very easy to use. It is all you need if your computing life is all about email, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other activities that require little power and little to no local storage.
But a rumor surfaced a few days ago that Jolicloud my be coming out with hardware, in the form of a cheap netbook, pre-installed with and optimized for, Jolicloud.
This really is OLPP, one laptop per person, at an affordable level.
Why will it succeed? Two reasons. Firstly Google. Everyone is waiting for Chrome, but it never comes out. Each month the expected date gets shoved further into the future and it’s very very late in terms of demand. And secondly, weight. The success of the new Macbook Air which starts at a thousand dollars shows this. No-one chooses to carry a heavy computer, and people are willing to give up quite a lot to get that weight down.
Just as an SLR camera is useless if you left it at home, and an inferior pocket camera is 100% better if you have it with you, the lighter weight of your computer in hand, whether it be an iPad, a Macbook Air or a Netbook, is crucial to how useful it is.
Jolicloud is out now, and it is practically the same as Chrome. It runs your Gmail, your Google Spreadsheets and everything else the as-yet non-appearing Chromebooks would have been running, had they existed today. It easily does things that are very difficult to achieve on your fun, but inherently limited, iPad.
So now it’s all down to marketing. Jolicloud could remain as obscure and scary as everything else based on Linux, and consequently it could be adopted by a tiny fraction of the world, or it could sell in the millions. Clever marketing, a decent quality netbook with a $200 to $300 price and a 10″ screen are all it needs to become a huge factor in computing, and another major pain in the spleen for that big ship with a hole in it’s hull called Microsoft. The question is, can they break out from the Linux mold and actually succeed, and can they do it soon enough to grab some customers before Google finally brings out those elusive Chromebooks?
By Jeffrey the Barak
Since the Chrome project started, we’ve seen many changes.
So we wait, and wait for a really good old idea to materialize, and meanwhile hardware and software move forward.
By Jeffrey the Barak
How to make twenty-four dollars sound like ten.
It seems like a bargain, only ten bucks, and then they’ll throw in a second one for free, “just pay separate shipping and handling”. But that’s the catch. Shipping and handling may be $6.99. So let’s add it up.
First item: $10
Second item: $ free
Shipping and Handling 1: $6.99
Shipping and Handling 2: $6.99
Grand total: $23.98
Well that seems fair enough, or does it? Lets say this example is a pair of sunglasses, and I’m not picking on 3D Vision here, and I have no reason to assume they are not excellent $10 sunglasses, but I use them here to illustrate the example. You may not need two pairs, but to say no to a free pair is difficult. So you pay $13.98 for shipping and handling. Is this UPS Second Day Air? No of course not, it is regular mail, and the handling is unspecified, and it may be while before they arrive. Perhaps the postage only costs the seller a dollar or two, well that’s how they make their money, and you could have bought the glasses locally for $10 anyway.
So it may be fair to assume that any time you hear “just pay separate shipping and handling” it is your cue to not buy anything.
By Jeffrey the Barak
The new September 1st 2010 iPod Nano, 6th Generation.
Yesterday, Apple unveiled the 6th Generation iPod Nano. Following the keynote announcement, I went to Apple.com and bought the 5th Generation Nano at a third off.
Two days ago, this was the new one, but now it is not. So why did I do this? Did I really need to save $50? Well no, but there is a background to this.
I recently looked at my phone bills, and I was on my second iPhone, and I realized that although I make between zero and three calls a day, and never send text messages, and cannot see Internet on a phone sized device, I was paying a lot each month for a telephone, albeit a nicely designed one.
And then Google put Voice Over Internet Protocol, VOIP, into Gmail, which is where I live for most of the day anyway.
So I sold my iPhone and reactivated my old Motorola Razr non-smart mobile telephone, and I couldn’t be happier.
But the only things I miss about the iPhone, besides some music-to-go, are the portable viewable copies of my iCal calendar and my Address Book. Contacts and a date book are things I’ve had in my pocket since the Palm Pilot days of the Nineties seduced me away from Leather Filofaxes and Date Runners.
And so realizing that the iPod Nano 5th Generation Nano had this info synced to it via iTunes, the Nano 5th Gen puts this data back in my pocket, just in case I need it and Im away from a computer.
2009's Apple iPod Nano, 5th Generation
The new 6th generation Nano, does not seem to have contacts and calendar, and the interface is approximately 35% obscured by any finger that one uses to interface with it, so even the well-presented unveiling at the keynote did not make it look like much of an upgrade to me. Besides, this 5th generation Nano will be my first device with an Apple Clickwheel, and I wanted to experience that interface before it is superseded forever by touchscreen alternatives. I am assuming that after a few minutes of familiarization with the Clickwheeel, which most of you have been using for years, I will be able to control the 5G without looking at it, or inside my pocket. Try that with a 6G!
I think that I have picked up a $99 bargain!
Jeffrey the Barak is an Apple fan, who besides having had two iPhones, has never had an iPod, until now.
By Jeffrey the Barak
I spend most of my waking hours in front of a 27″ iMac. Not that I’m complaining. When I’m not working, I play here too. But sometimes I have to actually leave my desk and be in other places, and then I sometimes need to be connected and do things that involve Internet.
The background to this dilemma:
I was a latecomer to cellular phones, but once I got one I needed it. For mobile organization, I stayed with various versions of Palm Pilots, from III to TX, for years until one day a few years ago I decided that they were all too small for my poor eyesight and large fingers and said, no more.
The plan was to stay with my simple phone, which at the time was a Motorola Razr, and just be patient for communication. I bought a Macbook so I could work away from home, but it was and is, too heavy to have along all of the time.
My plans were sidetracked when my wife bought me the original iPhone for a gift. I considered returning it for an iPod, but being a Mac-Head, I kept it and got used to it. I even began to use texting sparingly, something I could never do with a numeric telephone keypad. And then mainly because of the headphone socket, I upgrade to a white 16GB iPhone in early 2009.
But now the iPhone is not making me happy. It again seems like a too-small, too hard to use device. Yes it synchs well with Mobile Me and is a portable package containing all my stuff, but I rarely use it unless it’s ringing or I’m too far from a computer. It seems really slow too, not the commonly maligned AT&T connection, which always works for me, but the device itself. It can take ten seconds for it to stop messing around and show me today on the calendar.
I was looking at whether to switch to an Android phone like the nice new larger Droid X, because while I may be a Mac-Head, I’m just as much of a Google-Head, using Google Docs and Gmail as heavily as anyone in the universe. I think Android is very cool, especially for a Gmail, Google Docs kind of guy.
But then I remembered what I almost did before the iPhone appeared in some gift wrap, and I am now thinking the way to go will be to wait for the Google Chrome OS netbbooks to come out, get one with a 3G or 4G data plan, or to avoid a data bill, just wi-fi and exercise some patience between hotspots, and replace the iPhone with a simple telephone-only no-data-plan cellphone designed for old farts.
My iphone contract runs until March 2011, so by then there should be a few Chromebooks around (I’m guessing that may be what we call the Chrome Netbooks that will soon dominate world computing), and some 4G choices.
The iPad is no good for me. I think it’s fantastic, but I never watch movies or play games, and it is awful for Google Spreadsheets and heavy email, so no thanks.
And so I’ll hold off on the switch to Android, or the upgrade to iPhone 4, and think hard about a lightweight Chromebook in a hip bag and a simple phone. I have eight months to flip flop in my head, but I think my mind may be made up. I hope there will be a Chromebook with good screen resolution, solid state storage and enough power for the browser’s demands.
Replace:
Macbook + iPhone
With:
Chromebook + simple mobile telephone.
Next year I’ll look at today’s post and see if I was right.
Jeffrey the Barak shared this idea on 25th July 2010
Update August 20th.
Thanks for the emails but I wish you would go public and post your comments guys! Well here I am, no action taken, but still waiting for Google Chrome. I have been shopping and played with 10.1 inch netbooks. I can see them! I like them! But why oh why do they have that crazy Windows operating system? Its just so wrong for a netbook, so wrong.Anyway, a curveball. All of a sudden Google Spreadsheets are easily editable on an iPad, which brings that back into consideration. It may not have a keyboard but with practice it works well, and its a no risk purchase because you can resell them on eBay with little or no loss. It has no tabbed browser, but it has the similar feature that lets you switch between browser pages.And why not the iPad 3G? Because 3G is too slow and unpleasant to work with except in a dire emergency, and the device costs much more, and you get a data bill for every month during which you want to utilize it.So maybe a $500 16GB wi-fi iPad and a dumb-phone could be the solution. I dont know, but Ill update this post when something happens.
Update August 25th.
Today I took out my old Razr and reactivated my phone number on it, effectively turning the iPhone 3G into an iPod Touch. No more data bill! I will be texting (rarely) using Google Voice from now on and the Razr is, well, a non-smart telephone. Nothing more. I’m selling my 3G as we speak and will wait for the Chromebooks to replace it, although I could buy an iPad or a Jolicloud Netbook to play on and resell that later.
Update July 6th 2011.
So a year has passed. I have not had a telephone data bill for 11 months. I’ve had an iPad and sold it again because it really was too heavy to hold and too uncomfortable to use. (Sorry millions of users). I’ve had a netbook running Joilcloud. And I’ve looked at the Chromebooks which finally came out recently. Chrome OS has not been received warmly, but I like it and could use it, except….the Chromebooks are far too heavy. So I will be getting a Macbook Air, after the Lion and processor update and subsequent re-release, and spending most of my time on it in the Chrome browser, connected via wifi.
By Jeffrey the Barak
I am a man-bag flipper. I like my personal luggage, be it a briefcase, messenger, pouch or satchel. I was never one for going around with no stuff, or stuffing my pockets, so a bag just makes sense for me. I always regret leaving the house without one, and I’ve carried some form of day luggage around for four or five decades.
So I buy them, enjoy them, get bored, and sell them again as used bags.
I recently used the same bag for three years, a large tricolored messenger bag from Timbuk2. But it was too big, and sometimes a bag that is too big makes it difficult to find anything. A properly packed smaller bag will usually be a more efficient mode of carriage and retrieval.
After such a long stint with vinyl lined ballistic nylon, I had a hankering for leather, which I had been avoiding for some years. Convinced I might occasionally have to stuff dance shoes in my daily bag, I stayed with the messenger format and bought a nice soft high-end messenger in leather, by Osgoode Marley. It’s a nice bag that holds my Macbook and plenty more, and it’s not heavy, but it has internal features that do not please me. For a start it is lined in satin and has lots of zippers and compartments. This makes finding anything a constant fumble and some effort has to be taken to memorize where an item was stowed.
Aside from having to have a large section for the computer, I like to have an array of open, top-loading pouches for easy visual and manual access. Too many little things designed for pens and obsolete cellphones and business cards etc are just visual clutter to me.
My Saddleback medium briefcase in dark coffee brown
While I was researching this bag I also stumbled across the Saddleback Leather Company via Amazon, and then found their own website Saddlebackleather.com. This little firm based in Texas thinks outside the box and makes stunning leather items out of full grain leather, that’s right, full-grain, the thick stuff you see in tool belts and work boots. Because of this, and their refusal to include magnets, snaps, fabric lining, zippers etc., it means they can guarantee their bags for one hundred years.
Saddleback have earned a hardcore fan base and there are thousands of admirers, collectors and enthusiasts stocking up on various sized items that Saddleback sews together down in the land of the cowboys, (Texas and Mexico). The company founder and owner, Dave Munson, appears in a few demonstration videos and has acquired the fan status of an iconoclastic leader. He’s a really nice fellow too who genuinely appreciates his customers and aspiring customers.
I too was instantly an enthusiast of Saddleback Leather, and despite the fact I had recently purchased the aforementioned leather messenger, I plunged into a commitment and acquired a medium briefcase. It took me a while, because I was scared of the advertised weight. I mean, did I really want a briefcase that weighed 6.5 pounds empty?
I bit the bullet and bought my medium sized dark coffee brown briefcase. What a work of art! For it’s size it does not hold as much as one crossing over from the nylon universe might expect, without very intelligent planning and packing, which is I suppose because it’s so thick and rigid, but beauty overrode practicality and I became inseparable from my bag. I would haul it around with nothing but a few items that could have fit into a two ounce nylon bag with ease.
I even went against my better judgement and took it as my airline carry on bag on a three day trip to Hawaii for a funeral. The Macbook and various other items were placed into the Saddleback and off I flew. (I did also check a large suitcase, because life is not a movie and little bags are not as big as houses on the inside).
And even in Honolulu, where hauling stuff around is never a pleasure, I carried it with me as I went about my business, and I still enjoyed having it around as a constant companion. That is until I went a walking! I walked for about two hours, around Ala Moana Shopping Mall, with no computer, just a water bottle, wallet, keys, hat, three pairs of glasses (various tints and focal lengths) and a tiny camera. I could have fit the same array into a really small nylon bag and weighed in under three pounds including the water, but here they were cruising in style in the medium Saddleback briefcase.
It was a hot, but breezy day, and of course it was cold inside the stores. But by the end of the walk, I had definitely begun to fall out of love with my bag. It was just too heavy for a two-hour hike in flip-flops. A leather bag that weighed five pounds less could have held the same stuff. Imagine putting a five pound dumbbell weight into your shoulder bag? Well if you could, you would remove that dumbbell right away, and therein lies the problem. A Saddleback Leather Briefcase may be a beautiful piece of art, but you can do without all the weight on a hike.
image (c) Saddleback Leather Company. Small Satchel.
So my Saddleback briefcase is now back at home beside me, leather cleaned and fed, and waiting for me to go out to a place not too far from my parking spot so it can be my best buddy again. Yes I came within a hair’s breadth of adding a small SaddleBack Leather Company Satchel into the mix, but I held back due to the 3 lbs weight, and the rigid format etc., and went for a less beautiful artifact crafted from nylon, that will hold more and yet weigh less than almost any single thing that I put inside it. In fact for a good visualization of what I am rambling about here, the Kipling bag that I bought weighs less than the two shoulder pads on the strap of the Saddleback Briefcase.
The Internet is a great research resource, but to really know a bag, even a local baggage store cannot eliminate all potential less-than-ideal decisions. You almost have to buy one and live with it to really know how it will work out in practice. Only after spending a few hundred dollars over time, and recouping some of it by flipping, can you truly know what size, format and material will work out to be your ideal bag. Of course at the aforementioned Ala Moana Shopping Center, I hauled my Saddleback into all the designer Italian bag stores and looked at man-bags costing up to three thousand dollars. But luckily for me, none were my style.
I know from expensive experience that too few and conversely too many compartments can be a liability, that satin or silk linings don’t work, that the weight of the empty bag is an important consideration, that too much depth and a dark interior, and even insufficient rigidity will make it hard to put your hand around what you are looking for, and that zippers can be undesirable if in the wrong spot and unworkable using only one hand.
We all carry fairly similar man-stuff but we each find what works best for us. It may be a vertical or horizontal messenger, it may be fat or thin, huge or compact and it may open in a variety of ways. Personally, I find the format of the cross body shoulder bag is the best for me, better than a two strap backpack, better than a hand bag, but the addition of a handle is good. However, what I like in terms of aesthetics (Saddleback) and what I like in actual use (Kipling) are two opposite beasts. One is very cool, and the other is extremely lightweight.
Ideally we may each need a small assortment of bags from which we select what to load up each day, and I do recommend that any bag be unloaded and reloaded often so you know what you have, what you need to have and what you need to leave at home. But as a minimalist I still pine for one perfect bag that replaces all others and becomes the ideal companion. If it were not for the inevitable weight of full grain leather, then my bag of choice would definitely be a Saddleback bag.
Jeffrey the Barak carries a lot of stupid stuff around and yet still insists he’s a minimalist.
By Jeffrey the Barak
I may be the thousandth person to publish a why I will be buying or won’t be buying an iPad rant, but here goes.
I am an Apple enthusiast, with a 27″ iMac, a white Macbook and an iPhone 3G, and I like all of them, despite the Macbook and the iPhone running slower than my needs sometimes demand, but I was determined to play with the iPad before automatically buying one.
The first few times I dropped by an Apple store, the crowds around the iPad table were three deep, but yesterday I had the area all to myself.
The interface and the display on the iPad were so beautiful and sharp, I felt like buying it on the spot, but I decided to stand there and try and perform some tasks over wi-fi first.
There are two things that make this something I should not buy. Firstly, it may be one of the lightest computers in use today, but since it is handheld, and not sitting on the desk, the meager weight of it eventually becomes a pain, and a warm one at that. This is no great surprise to me because I went through a tablet computing experimental phase in 2005 with an Acer tablet that had an awful display and an even worse operating system (Windows Tablet).
But the clincher for me was the iPad’s version of the Safari browser. It, perhaps deliberately, does not work well with Google. Yes Google, whom I love as much as I love Apple.
In my iGoogle home page, there were white bits representing modules that would not display, and in Google Docs, something my entire business resides in, the spreadsheets were kind of unusable in their “mobile” format. The iPad loads them as if it were a smartphone, and if you’ve ever tried to work in a big spreadsheet on a phone, you will understand torture.
So I will pass on the iPad, and probably also pass on any Google Android tablet that appears, for the same reason, but I will eagerly await the chance to get a Google Chromium netbook. I think that Chromium will be the key, and phone-based stripped-down operating systems like the iPad OS and the Android OS will only be useful for entertainment, as in photo viewing, book reading, video watching etc.
But to be fair, that is what the iPad is intended for, No-one said it should be used for real work first and fun second.
So a Google Netbook with a real keyboard is an exciting prospect to cut down on the weight of hauling a Macbook around, and I’ll gladly pay extra for a beautiful screen resolution to rival the iPad’s beauty of a display.
Such a thing should hit the streets later in 2010.
Jeffrey the Barak is an AppleGoogleTrout
UPDATE November 17th 2010
Well, I bought one, on September 30th and gave it six week of my time. Now it’s for sale on eBay because I cannot work on it. All I really do is work in email for eight hours a day, in Gmail to be specific, but Gmail on iOS is not so elegant as in OSX. Worst of all, my essential huge database, is a Google Spreadsheet, and even with the November Mobile Gdocs update, it’s a pig in iOS.So it will be a Macbook Air for me, unless the fabled Chrome Speedbook suddenly arrives and passes the rest. But I am not trying to be too negative about the iPad, it’s a superb device and worth it’s price. My personal needs cannot be served by the iOS, but I’m not the average guy.
By Jeffrey the Barak
Stuff? That could mean anything but more often than not these days it means your information, not so much your pictures and music, but your contacts, and your calendar.
Back in the paper and leather era, we could lose our Filofax and lose all, but with today’s synching and backing up, only an exceptionally careless person would lose his or her vital information. The choices today are more focused on local versus cloud storage of this valuable data. If you have a PC (trying not to laugh) then it is likely you keep your calendar and contacts in Microsoft Outlook, part of Microsoft Office for Microsoft Windows, a big old Buick of a program responsible for devastating data loss each time the single “pst” file is corrupted.
Or if you have a Mac, you probably use the Address Book and the iCal calendar and you may keep them in synch with your iPhone via iTunes or Mobile Me. Of course if you also use Google, and I wonder why anyone would not be using Google as much as possible, you can, with a little research and study, find a way to import and synchronize your contacts into Gmail contacts, your calendars into Google Calendar, and your most important documents and spreadsheets into Google Docs, so even if you lose every piece of equipment when a mountain flattens your town, you still retain all in the cloud. All you have to know is your gmail email address and one password and there it all is.
There are of course many choices when it comes to hardware, operating systems and software, cloudware etc., but as these options develop and multiply, there are still people who lose their phone and lose their stuff in the process. It’s akin to keeping all your money in your pocket. Sooner or later you’ll lose it.
Currently I use Apple’s iCal and Address Book and I have Mobile Me to keep my iMac, Macbook and iPhone in sync, and I also export to Gmail Contacts and Google Calendar. Plus I have a folder in my address book called notes, which uses the contacts program to record lists such as to-do, waiting-for, sizes, etc.
We have feedback and comments here at the-vu, so If you have any different ways of keeping it all, let us know!
By Jeffrey the Barak
The most polarizing computing device ever sold is spreading across the United States.
Long-time professional hardware reviewers have all published their opinions for and against the wisdom of buying one, now, later or never. Some say its a giant iPod Touch, (as if that were a bad thing), others say its the most important breakthrough in personal computing for the masses.
The importance of this device is great, or small, depending on your personal point of view. A tablet computer is not new, the interface of the iPad is not completely new, and the concept of the device is not new, but it is here, it is enjoyable to use, and it is very useful.
Looking beyond this device, it is clear that in general there is a huge demand for a device that has the following qualities:
Forgetting current issues such as Flash versus HTML, Apple versus Google (I love them both), Google Docs versus Microsoft Office, computer operating systems versus mobile device operating systems etc., The demand of the consumers will win out, as it always does, and the inventors and manufacturers will fill the niches.
One of the more promising roads to computers for all is the Google Chrome operating system, designed to fulfill the needs of the average person, offered at zero cost, and designed to run on low cost Netbooks. Plenty of money will be spent on high-speed Internet access, the Netbooks and their accessories, and on goods and services advertised on Google, to make it all worthwhile for Google to give us this system at no cost.
Clearly, the usual standard traditional option will remain for anyone with the money to get a full computer, PC, Mac, whatever, and run heavier applications to make music, movies etc., and to manage business. But once millions of adults and kids begin to use Netbooks, with Google Chrome or another OS, or iPads, the technical world will change as much as it did when everyone got a mobile telephone.
The Apple iPad is a hurdle and a challenge to Googles plan for global domination via Chrome, because the iPad has such a beautiful design ethic as compared to any Netbook that exists today. Sure we may prefer to type on a keyboard and have the illusion of multitasking, but who really prefers plastic and fuzzy graphics to the chrome and special magic glass touch screen that is on the iPad? People may choose less functionality and go with iPad simply because of its beauty.
I think that Netbooks would have become much more widespread if they did not run Windows. Even the simplified version of Windows 7 that ships with most Netbooks today is pretty horrible and slow and well down a dark road of bad design. In this pre-Chrome era, the only alternative to Windows is a flavor package of Linux, but regular folks who are not computer enthusiasts tend to have no end of little problems with Linux, because its never really completely finished and tested. For success, a normal idiot needs to be able to get anything done, and thats why the iPad is so brilliant.
Personally, to do any considerable amount of work, in comfort, I need a desk, and a large monitor with sharp graphics. I am very comfortable with my 27 iMac, but less so with my 13 Macbook.
For many years I was a Palm computing enthusiast, even before they became telephones. I upgraded and flipped my way though Palm (or Handspring) devices right up to the TX, then my eyesight became inadequate to really enjoy the size. Had my wife not bought me an iPhone, I might still be eschewing small devices, but with a good pair of glasses I can enjoy the excellent design of the iconic iPhone.
Todays iPad has all the appeal of those Palm Pilots, plus the appeal of a paper based personal organizer, plus the power of an Apple computer plus more that we never dreamed of ten years ago.
Of course, a connection is required, but we can count on that becoming normal everywhere in the future. The point is, no matter what pros and cons the iPad and the Netbooks give us, its inevitable that millions of people around the world will have something that is greater than a smartphone, and not as great as a laptop. You can bet on it.
Every student in every school will have some device, just as they all have calculators today. Nothing will stop it.
Going back in time fifteen years to before the Palm era, our paper based systems were as heavy as, and much thicker than iPads. But they would not give us movies, games and other forms of entertainment. The entertainment factor is very important and many an iPad buyer will never do an ounce of real work on his or her iPad, but the entertainment is a distraction from the real importance of the format. Anything that makes computing an extension of our fingertips is world changing tool.
Like it or hate it, this is the iPad era, and soon it will also be the Chrome era. And as the Internet and Wi-Fi spread, more people in the world will be joining our world.
Jeffrey the Barak is not carrying a penguin
Hello, it’s me, your publisher, writing the usual rubbish, but this time seeing it as if with new eyes. I have just treated myself to my latest tech upgrade. Out with my 2007 24″ white iMac and in with a shiny new 27″ iMac. Words cannot describe how sharp and clear the tiniest text on any webpage now appears to me. It’s like having new eyeballs. I have already downloaded many 2560 X 1440 photos for wallpaper and screensavers, and I just sit here staring as if I had just been released from a month inside a cave.
By Jeffrey the Barak
Before I ever had electronic drums, I spent a couple of decades carrying around large, heavy drum sets and cymbals, which could only ever be played in rented rehearsal rooms, because they naturally made very loud sounds that would never be appropriate in a normal domestic setting.
As loud as real drums are, they invariably require amplification in a loud setting, so not only are there many huge shells and large cymbals with a great deal of heavy, metal hardware to support them, there is a second set of hardware to support the microphones.
But once a decision has been made to replace the drums and microphones with electronic drums, a new option appears. This is the option of a compact format. With real drums, as they have evolved, the standard drum set includes a bass or kick drum, which is on its side, on the floor and a hi-hat, which has its pedal directly below the pair of cymbals, and is usually therefore placed before your left foot. Typically the snare drum is between the legs with the kick and hat to either side, and then an array of toms and cymbals surround the aforementioned triangle.
But of course, with a remote pedal for the hi hat, an electronic hi hat does not have to be in the usual position. For example, a right-handed drummer does not have to cross arms to get to the hi hat on his left with his right stick. It can be at 2 oclock of the snare, and still be opened and closed with the left foot. And since we dont need to have large toms and large cymbals to produce the sounds of large toms and large cymbals, then it starts to make sense to abandon the format and layout of acoustic drums in favor of a small compact array, permanently connected and easily amplified with one or two cables.
In some situations, a drummer will have to mimic the layout of an acoustic kit, either because he switches back and forth from one to the other and wants to avoid adapting back and forth, or because the standard image of a conventional set is assumed to be desired by his band, or his audience.
But for me, if I can have a large ride cymbal sound or a large floor tom sound without having to have those large objects present, then I will happily have a compact layout before me and also take advantage of the ability to play quietly and precisely, and yet still produce all the sound I want. So my electronic setups have started and remained compact throughout and I have little interest in the so called normal electronic kits with their racks and spread apart format.
A legacy of Flipping: How I bought, sold, returned and flipped my way through many eDrum setups.
Towards the end of my acoustic era, I had already eliminated tom-tom shells and had an array of Roto-Toms over two bass drums and a snare. If I could have found a decent double-kick pedal back then, I would not have had two bass drums either.
Shortly thereafter, I stopped playing altogether, but at one point I went to a toy store and got a Yamaha DD-50 with its two little foot switches and noisy, hollow pads. That little toy was a lot of fun for a while and I even McGuyvered together a base for the kick trigger that I could strike with a bass drum pedal.
But that was not real. It took eighteen years of being a non-drummer to prepare me for a return to serious playing, and when that time came I began an odyssey of buying, trying and either returning or re-selling various devices
First was an Alesis Performance Pad. Ironically, as you will see, I almost went full circle back to this, but my Performance Pad was returned to the store due to a crackly potentiometer (volume knob). I did not love the sounds that the included drum machine provided and I found the rubber hard and tiring to play on.
Then came a Roland SPD-20, complete with throne, Roland FD8 hat pedal and KD7 kick trigger with pedal. Then came a year of swimming against the current. I got rid of the pedals and sticks and adapted to hand and finger drumming using a Roland Handsonic 10.
I developed a technique whereby I could play bare handed and have the Handsonic sound like a real drum set. I even recorded an album of self-penned compositions using my Handsonic, and at the same time, having been impressed by the YouTube videos of David Fingers Haynes, finger drumming on a $60 Korg NanoPAD, I got pretty good at doing that also.
But I felt that I was wasting my ability to control a pair of sticks. I wanted buzz rolls and all that comes with stick drumming. So I got a Yamaha DTX Multi 12 and it took me all of a day to realize that I could never get what I wanted from it, and so that led me to the DrumKAT dk10.
The DrumKAT has been around for a couple of decades, and yet unlike a slick mass-produced product from Roland or Yamaha, it remains a specialty product, encased in tough steel, finished with a hammered enamel paint, looking tough and roadworthy, and yet with an air of laboratory roughness. To use car euphemisms, while the Roland and Yamaha all in one drum pads have a refined quality, like a new Toyota Camry, the KAT products, from a little American firm have more the feel of a hand-built British Morgan sports car, or a military vehicle.
I found the DrumKAT to be one of the most playable surfaces I’ve ever taken a stick to. As per my comments on format, unlike a conventional electronic drum set, the DrumKAT puts everything on a tea-tray, right under your sticks. It is a format conducive to flying around the drum kit, without having to move much above your elbows, perfect for quiet, fast, precise strokes and press rolls with lightweight 7A drumsticks, which with electronic drums, can sound as big and loud as a crazy hard swing on a rock kit with the butt end of a 2B drumming bat. So I bought a full playing setup from Alternate Mode, makers of the DrumKAT. The DrumKAT dk10, with a new Yamaha Kick trigger and a Pintech Hyperhat pedal.
During my DrumKAT period, I had a succession of little problems and issues that eventually led me to finding another way to play. These included an incompatibility with Garageband,which forced me to buy EZdrummer and a Jazz EFX pack, adding to the already high price tag. Then my first dk10 had a faulty pad and it’s replacement arrived with a loose mystery object inside, and then I was okay for a while, but due a faulty pedal issue that was not discovered until later, Alternate Mode assumed that their own product, the dk10, did not provide continuous CC data for the hat, and I wanted the proper hihat control for all that money, not just open and closed, so I invested even more money to upgrade the perfectly good dk10 to the DrumKAT 3.8. Even though I am attracted to the small format of a pad controller, I have to point out that with the 3.8 instead of the dk10, this setup was now more expensive than most big electronic drum sets from Alesis, Yamaha, and even Roland! And that includes all the pads, cymbals, cables, racks and triggers, and the sound module! But then, that’s what I don’t like about the standard e-kits. Too much stuff, too big, and not logical.
But my problems only grew from here. The control interface of the 3.8 is too difficult for a humble jazz-drummer like me. Even the very comprehensive video help desk movies on Alternate Mode’s website are way beyond any engineering course I would ever sign up for. It transpired that I could not even set up the DrumKAT with Alternate Mode’s Mario on the phone, because my hat pedal was faulty. But then after many hours of attempting to familiarize myself with the interface operation procedures required for using the DrumKAT 3.8, I gave up, and decided to return all to Alternate Mode and make a fresh start. And then a week later, Mario from Alternate Mode called to explain that the dk10 did indeed have a fully controllable hi hat, not just open and closed, and it was only the Pintech Hyperhat pedal that triggered this entire mess.
And the imagined failure of the DrumKAT brought me almost full-circle to the Alesis Control Pad. Yes it is harder and louder like my original Performance Pad of two years prior, and it sure does not feel a quarter as nice as the KAT, and for some reason I cannot yet play a super closed buzz press roll on it, but I could buy a pile of Control Pads for the price of one KAT, so I will somehow adapt to it and make the best of it as the compact playing surface of choice… for now!
I would ideally have the simple interface of the Control Pad with the playability of the DrumKAT. Perhaps a new surface material will…surface.
Jeffrey the Barak is the publisher of the-vu and back in the Nineteen-Seventies, he used to be Jeffrey the Barak.
By Jeffrey the Barak
Slowly but surely, more and more of my computer time is moving off my computer and into the cloud. I have a fast business cable connection at home and work, so my cloud applications are usually as fast as my native apps, but today I passed a landmark so now is a good time to rant about it.
Today, Ladies and Gentlemen, I stopped using Microsoft Excel. Excel was the last and only Microsoft product that was in my daily life. I left the Windows world a few years ago to live on Planet Apple, a much more efficient place in my opinion, but hung onto Excel because it was the only product good enough to handle my databases and spreadsheets.
I tried several alternatives such as Numbers, Open Office Calc, Bento, and others, and I tried Google Spreadsheets, many times. As recently as November, Google Spreadsheets, part of Google Docs, failed to handle my requirements, but with the approaching launch of Google’s Chrome Operating System, the G Boys have been hard at it, and now I find it is up to pace with my needs.
So my email, my accounting, my complicated databases and my shopping cart system are all now in the cloud, as are the control panels for my various WordPress sites, including this one, and my shipping modules too. I can find the same daily working environment in any browser on any computer, anywhere there is a connection. With a wide screen and plenty of tabs, it’s all there on my desktop, wherever that might be. It’s quite a strange feeling actually, after two decades of Spreadsheet juggling, but hey, welcome to the future.
By Jeffrey the Barak
You can spend five-thousand dollars setting up and stocking a huge tropical reef aquarium, and the bastards won’t even look at you. But put a one dollar goldfish in a five dollar bowl, and that little fish will await your return twenty times a day, eager to play follow the finger and he or she will gaze at you and love you like a puppy dog.
Ethics.
If you ever play the game, or perform the exercise of, Word Association, then the the most common response to “Goldfish”, is “Bowl”.
The typical picture of a goldfish, in photographs, cartoons and on film, is a picture of a goldfish in a bowl. But if you let people know that you have a goldfish in a bowl, they will consider you cruel, and they will tell you that a goldfish needs to live in a long tank with an elaborate filter system, and then move to a pond when it matures.
The majority of goldfishes live out their lives without ever becoming mature pond dwellers. Most live, and die, in aquariums or in bowls.
So the question arises, how can a goldfish be humanely kept in a bowl? Is it automatically cruel, reprehensible and impossible, or is the noble rescue of a commercially bred goldfish from the pet store, and the keeping of such an animal in a bowl justifiable.
It’s all about the water.
Actually, it is humane to keep a goldfish in a bowl, as long as the water is good, and as long as the fish can be relocated to a pond or large habitat when it becomes mature, as in too big the live in the bowl. It is not automatically cruel to keep one in a bowl.
But a goldfish aquarium has features that are missing from a simple empty glass bowl full of water. There are many elements that remove or convert toxic chemicals from the water, and also elements that support living bacteria that help keep the water healthy for your fish.
These elements include gravel, biological media, cotton filters, carbon filters, air stones, bubble wands and more. Each has a duty as part of a system to remove harmful wastes from the water and to keep it clean, oxygenated and nourishing to the skin and gills of the fish. Even if you have a nice large aquarium with elaborate filters, gravel and air systems, it is quite easy to mismanage the systems and end up with cloudy, uncomfortable water that will make the fish sick or even cause them to die.
So then, if an aquarium system costing hundreds of dollars can be that bad, how could a bowl be better? The answer is simple, the bottom line is the state of the water. The fish only depends on the quality of the water and it does not matter if this perfect water is introduced as-is or if it relies on a system to make it so. In fact it is less cruel for a goldfish to be in a bowl of perfect water than it is to be in a less-than-perfect larger aquarium.
The way to have water in a fish bowl that is as good as or even better than the water in an aquarium system is to have a second vessel. Water can be obtained by buying bottled water, which is often called mountain spring water, or it can come from a tap water filter, as long as it is not the reverse-osmosis kind. It cannot be distilled water, de-ionized water, or water containing municipal chlorine or other chemicals designed to protect human consumers from food poisoning.
But this is easy. If you have drinking water at home for the human occupants, it can usually sit in a bucket for a day and become safe for a goldfish to live in. But to be extra sure, you can add a drop or two of aquarium water conditioner and a granule or two of aquarium salt before it sits, so that by the time your fish is living in it the next day, it will be nourishing and comfortable.
So one simple way to have a goldfish living in perfect water is to have two bowls. Each day the fish can be moved to the other bowl, while the first bowl can be emptied, wiped clean and refilled with water that will be ready for the fish to live in the next day. As long as your home never gets freezing cold inside and you do not feed the fish more than it can eat in a minute, or more than two to six times a week, the fish should remain in healthy condition and be quite content with it’s environment.
Better yet, to have a similar system that does not involve removing the animal with a net, and potentially causing stress from the move, you could empty most of the water, leaving the goldfish in the remaining water, and then introduce the clean water from the second vessel. Using this method, you can even have a small, lightweight rectangular tank, such as an affordable plastic “Lee’s Kritter Keeper” and a cheap plastic bucket as the second vessel. If you have a water filter on your kitchen faucet (not reverse-osmosis) then you can refill the bucket from that and use it the next day. For this system you don’t even need a net. Just one bowl/lightweight tank, and a second bucket.
As long as the goldfish has not reached a size where the bowl is too small for it to swim freely in one direction for a couple of seconds, and you are able to offer it some visual stimulation from outside the bowl a few times a day, then you will have a happy healthy fish in clean water at all times. Just be ready to bid farewell to your beloved friend when it’s time for it to move to a big pond for the rest of it’s, hopefully long, life. If there is no sign of such a pond within a hundred miles of your house, then most aquarium stores will be willing to take in a donated healthy-looking large goldfish in exchange for another one-dollar feeder to rescue from a certain date with death. Hopefully they’ll sell it to someone with a big pond or aquarium.
So we have to remember a few things to justify a goldfish bowl. Goldfish are not natural. They were bred by man to become attractive golden fish and were originally hardy river carp, scavengers that could survive in ponds, streams and rivers, eating anything and everything, and since they don’t have a stomach, but rather just a long intestine, they would excrete the waste quickly and make the water dirty. An expensive and complicated aquarium system intended to condition the water may fail to do so for many reasons, and it is very easy, or even highly likely, to have a goldfish in such an aquarium, suffering distress from a less than optimal water quality. A bowl can contain clean, healthy, comfortable water if you have the two bowl system, or a bowl and bucket system. The water in this bowl can be, at all times, better than the water in most people’s aquaria. And lastly, even if your goldfish dies after a few months, as they may do through no fault of the owner, it can be a few months of a good life that it would not have had as food for an aquarium carnivore.
Aside from the well-being of the fish, the advantages of a goldfish bowl over an aquarium are many. They don’t cost much, they don’t weigh as much as your sister riding a bike, they don’t require electricity or reinforced furniture, and you can move them from room to room in order to spend more time interacting with your pet.
While it is always nice to see healthy goldfish in a clean, healthy large aquarium, it is also not so good to see them suffering in a cloudy, dirty tank and exhibiting spots, sores and nervous behavior. Your happy healthy bowl fish will be better off than most goldfish alive today.
What does the fish need in it’s bowl?
Goldfish are bred from carp, which are scavengers. This is why goldfish can be seen constantly sucking pieces of gravel into their mouths and spitting it out. You may assume they are playing or trying to keep busy or wishing they had something to eat, or extracting some nutrients from the bacteria on the gravel, but they just can’t help this natural behavior. In an aquarium system the gravel can be a medium for the growth and support of healthy bacteria, but it is also a hiding place for fish waste that breaks down and introduces harmful elements into the water. So if you can stand the inevitable sight of a few strands of fish poop in your bowl, don’t bother with the gravel, because let’s remember, it’s all about the water quality, not the objects.
And speaking of objects, goldfish are more intelligent than most people assume and they love to follow your finger and look at you and play with you, but they have no need for decorations or toys. In fact such objects can cause injury because part of the natural behavior of a fish is to be occasionally startled and move several inches at a remarkably high speed. Better if there is no castle or treasure chest to collide with.
The minimalism of a clear empty bowl and a healthy fish in clean water is ideal. If you want to landscape the habitat, then set up a large aquarium system.
So if you would like a little golden friend to interact with while you sit at your desk all day, don’t be put off by people telling you a goldfish bowl is a cruel habitat. Remember it’s all about the water, and if the water is always good and there is enough of it to permit a little swimming, your fish will be content.