Repost: What’s Pinging My iPad Battery? by Katie Floyd

Great discovery by Katie Floyd, one half of the Mac Power Users Podcast on the mysterious battery drain of new iPads:

After additional investigation I discovered the iPad was consuming power normally when active, but was draining more power than expected when in sleep or standby mode. What was the cause? In my case, I’ve narrowed it down to Ping, Apple’s nearly forgotten “social network for music.”  Like all good Apple geeks I checked out Ping when it was first introduced and setup an account, but I haven’t touched it since. Nevertheless, it seems that the Ping service will regularly check in with Apple’s servers in the background. I’m never going to use Ping, so it was time to disable it, though figuring out how to do so isn’t exactly straightforward.

Read the rest of Katie's post here

Installing Zinio Magazine Reader to the Kindle Fire

I just found these instructions for installing the Zinio magazine reader on the Kindle Fire. They worked fine for me.

Temporary alternate download method for the Zinio app on the Kindle Fire

Note: these instructions are ONLY for users on the Amazon Kindle Fire. This installer is not supported for any other device.

1. From the main screen, tap Settings > More > Device > Allow installation of Applications (from unknown devices)> select “ON”

2. Download the APK (app installer) from here . http://imgs.zinio.com/faq/ZinioReader.1.13.4418.Regular-Amazon.apk

3. Select “Notifications” to monitor your download. Once the download is complete, select “Install” and press “Open” when the installation is complete.

We hope you enjoy the app! We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced when trying to install the app.

Sincerely, Zinio Customer Support

I am really growing more and more attached to the Fire after some initial stumbles.

iPads in the Pulpit

Tip of the hat to Tim Challies for the link.

All good books on preaching start with a section on the character of the preacher. I tip my hat at this noble practice by reminding you that if you brandish your iPad to complement the trendy hipster image you are carefully cultivating like a hidden hydroponic hemp garden, know this: God knows your heart, and your people will soon smell the stale odor of your pretentiousness. Your iPad, like a ninja, should be undetectable to your congregation. If you pace the platform like a techno-peacock, toting your e-notes into plain sight, then you need to go back to your paper library and read the first chapter of all your preaching books. Be the right person.

Read more...

Just Like Lewis and Clark: In Search of the Best Text Editor

While driving to work yesterday, I was listening to the Mac Power User podcast episode (put number here). David and Katie had Brett Terpstra from The Unofficial Apple Weblog as their guest. The topic was text editors. If you blog or write on a regular basis, I recommend listening to this episode. Among the many things they discussed, was the text editor Byword and the Markdown preview tool, Marked written by Brett himself. I downloaded both of them last night from the Mac App store. My first impression of Byword is “Wow!” It is a beautiful editor that is both simple and extremely friendly and helpful for writers who like to use Markdown for marking up a document for posting to a blog. When using Byword in full screen mode, it is a clean, distraction-free experience that lets you focus simply on writing. Hopefully after I have had the opportunity to use it more, I will write a full review.

Marked is a Markdown preview tool that lets you drag a text document to the Marked icon and preview what your document will look like when rendered. It is a flexible and versatile tool for making sure your Markdown tags are correct and looking like you intend them too.

I am still searching for an editor, plug-in, etc. that will let me write a blog post and directly post/send to my blog. Currently I am using Mars Edit as my conduit. I love Mars Edit, but I still wish there was a way to eliminate a step from the workflow. I’ll keep searching - I need a Sacajawea to help me!

A Gentle Reminder, I Care

This morning as I headed off to work, I stopped by Starbucks to pick up my usual boring drink, a tall Pike Place with extra cream. Sure, I would rather order a grande Carmel Macchiato, but it costs too much and has too much sugar for a regular morning drink. I'd rather save that as an occasional treat than a regular habit.

As I was pulling up to pay with my gift card, the barista handed me my coffee and said, "The lady ahead of you paid for your coffee." Although the barista seem rather matter of fact, I felt both surprised and appreciative. As I pulled out, I tried to wave to the car ahead of me to show some feeble measure of appreciation. I will likely never have a chance to verbally express my 'thanks' but I doubt that is what the thoughtful person expected.

This kind act of expression duly caught my attention because I had been feeling a bit low this week. Trudging through the rigors of the regular routine sometimes takes a bit of life away from your spirit. This small act of kindness really was an expression from my heavenly Father reminding me of His care for me. He simply used this persons gift as a tool to express that. I wonder what thoughtful deed I can do for someone else to also serve His means.