Paulus The Woodgnome

Rants, raves, likes, dislikes - just saying....

[paulusthewoodgnome]

My mobile tech has come of age

When the first iPhone was released back in June 2007 I was elated as the rumours that had been circulating for many months had finally come true. Yes I am a tech geek. Whilst it was not really a life changer it was a bold step by Apple and the first real ‘smart’ phone. When the App Store followed just over a year later a new era had began. To start with it was just a bit of fun and my iPhone was soon full of silly games and a few ‘productivity’ apps which were not really that productive, but clever all the same.

The iPhone 3GS followed and things got a little more interesting but it was not until the first iPad came out in April 2010 that I actually started using iOS for real life productivity. I found myself using the device mainly for note taking and research as well as a bit of database stuff. I loved it but soon wanted more power, perhaps because I was so used to my MacBook Pro!

Fast forward to 2012 and the iPad Retina landed in my lap and it changed the way I work (along with my iPhone 4S). I was now using my iPhone for taking snapshots for proof purposes in my workflow as a graphic designer. I was now able to edit these photo’s on the road with Snapseed (and others) on my iPad relatively pain free and I was using my iPad on stage with my band for my set lists, lyrics and synth setups. However, I still needed my MacBook Pro in my briefcase as iOS and it’s hardware was still not quite there. Having said that, the iPad did open up new things for me. I found myself painting pictures with Procreate whilst out in my boat, I found myself writing musical ideas in Garageband with my tiny little Akai LP25 attached as a midi controller, I found myself using the camera in my iPhone 4S almost on a daily basis. Basically I was almost surgically attached to my iOS devices!

Roll on to the release of the iPhones 5S and iPad Air late in 2013 and the game has changed again. iOS 7 is brilliant on both these devices, I especially like AirDrop as it makes life very easy to move photographs taken on the iPhone over to the iPad Air for editing. Whilst the phone is awesome I find myself using the iPad Air many hours a day, partly for media consumption and gaming but more and more for productivity. I am sitting in my living room right now writing this blog for Tumblr using an app called Blogsy with a Bluetooth keyboard, something I would have usually done on my laptop.

I also am finding that music apps on the iPad have also come of age and I have a plethora of synths and DAW's to play with wherever I go. Painting is a pleasure too as the old brushstroke lag has all but gone. Photo editing is a pleasure with Photoshop Touch and Snapseed and basic word processing is pain free. I no longer ‘need’ my laptop all of the time, I can leave it at home when I go to meetings or take a trip on my boat. Apple has done a great job from taking a cool but not particularly useful iPhone in 2007 into a really productive tool in the iPad Air and iPhone 5S in 2013 - and I thank them for that as I can be more creative no matter where in the world I am.

[paulusthewoodgnome]

A walk along the canal

I spend quite a lot of time on and around the Grand Union Canal near Northampton (UK). I say 'on' due to the fact that I own a 45ft narrow boat called Hannah which is moored at Gayton Marina, which nestles at the top (height wise) or bottom (location wise) of the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal. I have never navigated the Northampton Arm mainly due to the amount of locks that take it into Northampton and on to the River Nene.

On the weekends that I do not have to stay in my home town of Luton in Bedfordshire (UK) I take myself up to Hannah, usually with my wife and dog in tow. In the winter months we do not tend to actually take the boat anywhere, we just use it as a tranquil place to escape to and get away from the madness that is everyday life. As space is restricted aboard a narrow boat we often slip in to our wellies and take a walk along the canal, which the dog appreciates as she does not get taken out much at home (our bad).

As an avid photographer (I am a graphic designer/musician by trade) I ensure I have some sort of capture device to hand even if it is just a humble iPhone. With modern technology it is amazing what you can achieve on a mobile phone! Some of the pictures below were taken with an iPhone and a few with my little Lumix G10 which I keep aboard our boat.

These pictures are a snapshot of the little walk we had along the canal.

 Posted with Blogsy

[paulusthewoodgnome]

The World has gone completely mad!!!

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I found this story on the web and could not believe it - well actually I could believe it because I know that the world is screwed up....

Gender-neutral employee sues for $518,000; suit says employee wrongly referred to as woman

A former catering worker who identifies as neither female or male is suing Bon Appetit Management Co. for $518,000, claiming co-workers referred to the employee as a female though repeatedly being asked to stop.

Valeria Jones alleges in a lawsuit that co-workers repeatedly called Jones “miss,” “lady” and “little lady” despite explanations that Jones “was not a female or a male and that the term was unwelcome.” 

Workers also directly said Jones looked like a woman and made female celebrity comparisons, the suit states.

The lawsuit, filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says Jones preferred to be addressed by a general neutral pronoun. The suit doesn’t identify the term.

The term “they” -- rather than “he” or “she” -- is sometimes used to refer to a gender-neutral individual in the LGBTQ communities.

The suit was filed by Portland attorney Donel Courtney, who declined Friday to share more details about the case.

Bon Appetit declined to comment on specifics of the case because of the pending litigation and because it involves a personnel matter, but vice president Maisie Ganzler said, “I can say we are an equal opportunity employer that embraces diversity of all kinds.”

The company lists its mission as providing "café and catering services to corporations, colleges and universities, and specialty venues" through more than 500 locations in 32 states.

According to the suit:

Jones began working in March 2013. When Jones filled out an application, Jones left blank a question asking about male or female identification. Management didn’t question the omission.

During the next few months, Jones spoke with managers about the problem -- asking them to address employees as a group and present to employees information about gender identity. The managers didn’t follow through.

“Plaintiff cried regularly at work and at home during this time,” the suit states.

Jones resigned.

The suit alleges Jones made a complaint to human resources, but the department never contacted Jones. 

The suit seeks $18,682 in lost wages and benefits, and $500,000 for humiliation and suffering.

-- Aimee Green

WHAT DO YOU THINK - IS THE WORLD SCREWED UP?

[paulusthewoodgnome]

My App of the Week - 5by

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A very bizarre name but a great app (and web). So, what is 5by? On the surface it just looks like a video app that collects videos from around the web based on a few questions, and I suppose that is basically what it is. However, this app does it in such an elegant way that makes it a joy to use.

It is developed by Stumbleupon, who you may know for it's awesome browser plugin that throws random (based on your likes and dislikes) websites up. 5by asks a couple of very simple questions such as what you want to watch (funnies, fails, factual, gadgets etc) and then asks you to set a time frame. So, if you are on the toilet you may just want to be entertained for 10 or so minutes then that's what you will get!

It has to be tried out to understand what it's like, I was doubtful but thought I would install it (free) on my iPad and am delighted I did! If you want to try it out in your web browser first then head over to: http://www.5by.com/

I love it - do you?

[paulusthewoodgnome]

Piracy Allowed?

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I would not be stupid enough to claim that software piracy is morally correct but is it being 'allowed' to happen by certain developers?

Consider this for one moment. Photoshop, Illustrator etc are all pretty expensive applications and out of bounds for many a young geek playing around in their bedrooms on Mac or PC. Thing is, those very same geeks are the future designers of this world that we live in, and some will go on to own design agencies or other creative content businesses. What is actually happening is that those people are training themselves with the software and once they become more proficient and master it they would be unlikely to want to try any alternatives.

Now consider that Adobe really did put in some uncrackable DRM into their software and everyone had to buy it. I think that perhaps those youngsters that pirate software will use something different, more affordable like Pixelator, which to be fair is pretty good for £30! Those youngsters will then become proficient in that software and Adobe would lose out when those same people begin to work in the design industry. Employers would realise that the new generation is competent in Pixelator and not Photoshop and rather than have to train everyone they may well choose to simply buy in to the cheaper software.

I hope you are following so far!

Adobe moved to a subscription based cloud hosted suite of creative apps (Adobe CC) and just before it went live they stated that it was very difficult, or impossible to crack. It took all of 1 day (apparently) for crack software to appear on Pirate Bay that allowed you to download the software, run a script and boom, everything works!

I have a feeling Adobe let this happen because they need the younger generation to continue to use it's software otherwise they may lose their huge market share within the creative industry. What do you think?

[paulusthewoodgnome]

Let the Games Begin

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So the Winter Olympics is under way but I am confused already. The opening ceremony is tomorrow but it started today - what's that all about? Anybody know?

However, massive respect to Jamie Nicholls (GB) pictured above for getting in to the Slopeboard finals with a fantastic performance scoring 86.75 - great for a country not really noted for it's winter sports! Hopefully team-mate Billy Morgan can pull it out of the hat in Saturday's semi-finals.