FeedSeer News was created by Tom Cross. You can follow me on Mastodon here: https://ioc.exchange/@decius
I created this site because I wanted a better way to keep up with the links and news that are being discussed on my Mastodon Feed. FeedSeer News is not intended to replace your regular Mastodon app, but to augment it by presenting the content in your feed in a different way. Over time I hope to be able to add other capabilities that help you get the most out of Mastodon.
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This panorama is a combination of several photos taken today with my Moto X phone camera. Google Photos stitched them together to make a panorama. I find it amazing that it made the panorama without me telling it to do so. Click on the photo to get a larger image.
Although keenly interested in changes in technology, I’ve never been one to acquire the latest and greatest. I like to wait a while until the initial wrinkles get worked out and the price comes down. In addition, I’ve gotten a lot of hand-me-downs over the years from Jack, when he gets the latest and greatest: computers, ereaders, PDA’s, and cameras.
Eighteen months ago, I decided to get a Kindle Fire when I was facing some surgery. I thought it would be a nice item to keep me entertained while I was convalescing. However, Jack sent me a link to a comparison between the Kindle Fire and an iPad 2 and I considered my use cases. Then I googled “refurbished iPad” and found an entry level model at a not totally unreasonable price at the Apple site.
If I had waited a couple of more months, I would have bought a mini-iPad, but it had not yet been released. However, I loved my iPad 2 with an almost unnatural passion, although I did occasionally regret that it wasn’t something I could easily slip into my handbag.
Recently, I decided it might actually be time to spring for a new tablet, with a lighter, slimmer form factor . Recent Android tablets have been getting better press, so I decided to check out the Nexus 7, which has been getting great reviews on technology sites. I found a wireless 32 GB one at a local Staples, asked about their return policy, and brought it home. I was quite disappointed: I loved the form factor and the way it worked, but not the fact that it crashed on a regular basis. I did a factory reset, and it still crashed. I scouted the review sites, and decided that maybe, just maybe, I had a lemon. I returned it to Staples, and they ordered another one for me. (I had discovered, based on my experience with the iPad, that I can fill 16 GB with no difficulty at all, so I wanted a lot more memory.)
With great trepidation, I unwrapped it. Not only was I afraid I might have another lemon, the packaging looked as though someone had run over it with a tire. However, the tablet inside the box was pristine and I quickly got it set up. I started waiting for it to crash, as I used it as much as possible. I waited, and waited, and waited, and finally decided it was working properly, and not a lemon.
Then I discovered I had a new problem: I don’t really need two tablets, and I prefer the Nexus. It slips into a side pocket of my handbag as if it were designed to do so. I asked Jack if he wanted it. So yesterday, I did a factory reset on the iPad, upgraded it to IOS 7, and handed it over. Now he has his first hand-me-down gadget from me.
The person who downloads the 50 billionth app could win a $10,000 gift card to the app store in Apple – iTunes – 50 Billion Apps Countdown. I am trying to imagine being able to buy that many apps. It would be fun to try, though.
When I got this iPad last March I unpacked it, fondled the smooth surfaces for a short while, and realized that I would have to get a non-smooth case or I would be dropping it all the time. I bought a super cheap folio case that could also be used to prop up the iPad in landscape mode. It served well, but is looking a little battered. One of the iPad web sites recommended Moko as making affordable smart cases so I checked it out.
The MoKo Rotating Detachable iPad Cover (above in landscape prop mode) is a smart case, which means that it turns off the iPad when I close the case. It also rotates so that I can prop up the iPad in portrait mode. I ordered it last week from Amazon, after reading the reviews there, and I am very pleased with it.
Do you have trouble working in silence? Instead of going to a coffee shop, use Coffitivity – Increase Your Creativity!.
We’re guessing Clown (above) and Cuddles (below) are relatives. Clown was born on my friend’s property, to a young female that had shown up out of nowhere. While waiting for the young (and very sweet) cat’s first heat to get her spayed, my friend realized that while she had missed the first heat, a tom obviously hadn’t. (Clown’s mother is now a very pampered mouser and barn cat east of here.) Cuddles showed up within the past year. He was a very aggressive tom, so my friend trapped him, had him vaccinated, then sent him off to the the low-priced clinic for “snip-snip.” Cuddles was either handled as a kitten, or gives the lie to the idea that you can’t domesticate a feral cat, because he pretty much lives up to his name these days. It’s hard to walk out to the barn without him throwing himself at your feet, soliciting attention. Cuddles lives outside, though he is trying desperately to get inside, while Clown is an inside-outside cat. Clown has apparently decided he wants to be friends. Time will tell what Cuddles thinks. (Taken with my iPad.)
Alt text: If I click ‘no’, I’ve probably given up on everything, so don’t bother taking me to the page I was trying to go to. Just drop me on the homepage. Thanks.
From Rion and the rest of us. (Made with Paper, an IOS drawing app.)