Welcome back! Well, it seems like the right time for lots of new things. This week we welcome a new Prime Minister (officially) and a new format for Web2Go. This time around Jenny will be sharing the blogging hot seat with a few techno-minded friends and guest bloggers to bring you regular doses of geeky goodness and the very best of ‘What’s next?’ in cyberspace.
We’re planning posts on everything from augmented reality to next-gen gaming and smart phones with a bit of YouTube-inspired excitement thrown in for good measure. We hope you enjoy the ‘newness’ of the new format and we look forward to getting your comments and suggestions.Let’s kick it off with the three techie things Jenny can’t live without (and you probably can’t either).
When I was younger I went through a phase where I couldn’t be separated from my favourite teddy bear, Amadeus. He went everywhere with me, including hospital visits and even on a trip to England and Ireland. It was a strange portent of what was to come when I discovered the Internet several years later, in 1995. Yes, I’d always been a computer geek in one form or another since I got my first Commodore Vic 20 when I was about seven. But the Internet took my techno-passion to an intense new level and I haven’t looked back since. Now it’s hard to imagine what live would be like without a computer and an Internet connection and the ability to stay in touch with people in different parts of the world so easily. Amadeus is tucked away in a box somewhere but the Internet remains a central part of my daily professional and personal life.
When it comes down to it, the three techno-things I can’t live without seem boring and obvious – my mobile phone, Facebook and my Internet browser(s) – but these things have made such a profound difference to the way I work and live that I simply can’t go without mentioning them.
I could almost conduct my entire business from my iPhone (3GS) now. They’ve been many times recently when I’ve come home without switching any of my computers on because I can check and answer my email directly from my phone. (I haven’t been lured by the iPhone 4 yet but Stephen Fry has done an excellent job of tempting me with his blog posts.)
Perhaps sadly, I now turn to Facebook to get reportage on the latest political and social issues before I visit Sydney’s media stalwarts like The Sydney Morning Herald or The Daily Telegraph. There’s just something so charmingly appealing about a status update like “THE RANGA WINS!” that no Herald journalist, with years of hard-nosed skill and experience behind them, could match. Facebook also gives me the chance to stay in touch with friends overseas family members who I don’t see often face-to-face. Despite all the privacy concerns, if you haven’t succumbed to the facebook juggernaut yet, it’s well worth a look.
I, like many others, consider my web browsers to be windows on the world. My default browser is Mozilla Firefox but I’ve also had a long-standing relationship with Internet Explorer (more out of habit than choice) and brief but enjoyable flings with Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari.
One of the things I particularly like about Firefox is the amount of add-ons you can get to make the browser do different stuff. My favourite is an oldie but a goodie, StumbleUpon.
I’ve tried many different sites, software and gadgets but these three things have outlasted them all. This is techno stuff I can’t live without.
What gadget, website or piece of software couldn’t you live without? We’d love to hear from you.
Jenny Kapp
hehe… Welcome back Jenny (and Friends) I’ve missed reading your blog while you’ve been on your hiatus
For me, over the last few months, my Ipad is my “Adult Teddy”. As soon as I got it, I affectionately named my Ipad Cordelia… (after a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer … my favorite TV show?). The name has proven fitting as I have found that, like the character in Buffy, my Ipad is very pretty on a superficial level, with hidden depths, and great beauty the more I get to know what it can do.
Cordelia is with me from early morning (when I download and read the SMH) until I plug it in at night to charge, ready for the next day. It is with me throughout the day, as I write emails, research stuff on the net and kill time while waiting in my car to pick up a friend after work. The Ipad has very quickly moved from “useful and fun” to being an “indispensable” part of my life.
I am using it for work, banking, writing and also, of course, entertainment. It’s light (0.68kg), incredibly easy to use, has a mammoth battery life (about 12 hours… which lasts me easily all day, even when connected to the net via wireless or watching video) and has a constantly changing, ever expanding ability to customise what you can do with the device (dependent on the ‘apps’ you choose to have on it! For $630 (plus $35 a month for a portable, wireless wifi dongle with 6 gig’s of data per month)… for me, it’s been a bargain!
In my view, Ipad’s are heaps more than simply a “large iphone”… and, as you can probably tell, my evangelical zeal for them could have me waffling on all night. So I’ll stop… other than to say, if you haven’t already, go and check one out at David Jones (or an Apple Store) and see what you think for yourself. Also, if you’re lazy (like I would be if I was reading this) perhaps check out a video blog called IPad today at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ipad-today/id381972795
…it’s where I get a lot of ideas about which apps to get for my Ipad.
Ipad’s are most definitely awesome, and it’s true I sleep with it by my bed… although, I suspect it’s not nearly as cuddly as Jenny’s teddy Amadeus is