johnwilker.com

Every Day Carry

A week with my kobo eReader

by

Look at that, the book I’m reading.

The first thing I thought upon picking up the Kobo Clara HD was, “Wow this is crazy lightweight.” Then I put it to sleep after loading the book I’m currently reading, and WTH??? The screen is the cover of the book I’m reading! What? No stupid typewriter keys? No old time-y pens arrayed to look like a cracked screen? I mean, what? Not only that, there’s a little info bar you can activate to show your progress on the book cover you’re seeing.

I know it’s a small thing, seeing the cover of the book you’re reading, but book covers are

1. often pretty nice, why not showcase them.

2. A great conversation starter. Your ereader is laying there, letting people know what you’re reading. As an author, I’ll take all the marketing I can get :)

3. if given the choice of book cover or weird fountain pen caps, I know what I’d choose, every time.

Silos

I mean it’s cool that Kindles are tied into Goodreads, but I think I’m happy to trade that for seeing what I’m reading. I’ve reinstalled the Goodreads app on my phone, so when I start something new I’ll have to at some point open the app and update my status. The ease of use the Kindle/Goodreads connection offers is also part of the problem. Goodreads was a place for readers to collect, and still is, but now it’s more a place for kindle readers to collect. It’d be nice if Kobo integrated (there is, surprisingly, an API) but I’m guessing there’s a reason they don’t.

Buying books is just as seamless as on amazon, and because Amazon is so aggressive with price matching, it’s unlikely you’ll find a book on Kobo that costs more than it’s counterpart on Amazon. A few minutes after purchase it’s on your device ready to be read.

Kobo, like Amazon, appears to let Publishers pick DRM or no. Kobo supports Adobe Digital Editions. Thankfully Calibre can strip that pointless crap with ease. It’s actually easier to strip than Amazon’s propriatary DRM schema. So that’s a bonus.

I don’t advocate pirating eBooks but advocate loudly that DRM is useless (See above) and harms the legitimate owner of content more than it even slightly inconveniences pirates. Thankfully it’s mostly the idiotic larger trad publishers that still think DRM makes sense, and I don’t buy much of their stuff.

Kobo Home screen

User Experience

Enjoyable is an understatement. I mean there’s not a lot you can do on a small eInk screen. You can see it looks similar to what Kindles offer.

It changes as you read things, updating reco’s etc. You can sign into Pocket, which is nice since I tend to hoard things in Pocket, forgetting to open the desktop app, maybe I’ll read more of my articles now LOL.

The screen is responsive and bright. The intelligent back lighting is nice. I know more recent Kindles have this, my 2018 Paperwhite did not. Not only does it shift brightness but color temperature.

My Progress in Annalee Newitz’s ‘Autonmous’

The other thing that’s kinda cool and I’m only just getting to dig into, is that you can see some neat graphs of your reading progress.

Library Management

I like that on Device, the Kobo automatically has a “series” view so I can view my books by series. The Author view isn’t just a list of all books, sorted by author name like the Kindle (Unless I just never did it right). It’s a view of author names with the number of books by that author. So I can quickly go to Terry Brooks, then his books, for example.

Is my screen broken? No just fountain pen nibs…

Of course, there are also collections; I have Scifi, Fantasy, Writing, Business and Unread, as I did before, but now I don’t need to have a Star Wars collection, because I have the series view, likewise Star Trek, or the Frontiers Saga or Omega Force (which is sadly in Kindle Unlimited, so I’m done with that until Joshua Dalzelle takes it wide. ).

I’ve mentioned Calibre in this and my last post, it’s a great desktop tool for managing your ebook files. What’s nice is it has drivers for Amazon and Kobo devices (it seems the Kobo stuff offers more/better integration than Amazon firmware) so you can manage and organize your library then upload to your device. Collections and series data upload as well so when you go to your device, everything is already sorted. With my Kindle it would all dump to the main screen then I’d have to sort into the proper collections. Add to that of course It’d yell at me that my side loaded books wouldn’t sync.

Uploading to the Kobo has proven quite easy, I’m very happy so far with the experience.

Online Library Management

The one place where Kobo falls down is their online library. So long as you’re buying books on Amazon, you can assign them to a collection right from your account pages. It’s not perfect and you can only do it once, but it’s a great way to do initial sorting triage.

On kobo you see all your books and can archive them, that’s it. No organization of any type. You can download your books from that screen, so that’s about its only real use.

In Conclusion

It’s been a week, I’m happy with my choice, I don’t miss the Kindle, and while I’m sure to miss out on stuff that is Kindle Unlimited only, that’s just how it has to be. Thankfully my ebook library is thousands of books, many I’ve not yet read, and as many I’d read again happily.

Moving to a more iPad oriented life

by

I’ve always loved the iPad. I’ve owned an iPad since the first one came out. Up until the last few years, despite Apple’s advertising, and die hard fan’s shoehorning, the iPad was mostly for consumption.

That’s not a dig.

It was an awesome RSS/Blog reader. I love relaxing on Sundays and reading the Washington Post (via app) and Colorado Sun (via browser) while holding my iPad in one hand and my coffee in the other. I love watching TV and movies on flights, reading comics, etc. It was perfect as a media consumption device.

Over the last couple of years things started to shift to more actual creation. The Apple Pencil (despite Steve’s insistence that Stylus = failure) opened a major door for creativity on the iPad. I know there were stylii before that, but meh. Now anyone could doodle, not just the more dedicated. And the more dedicated artists could create wonders.

Then we got got keyboard folio cases, whether Bluetooth or Smart Connector. Again there were solutions before that, like lugging around a full sized BT keyboard (No thanks, tried it, it sucked). Now writing on the iPad was a real thing. An easy, non hacky thing. It immediately made the iPad more useful, overnight.

My recent trips to Egypt and Tanzania were both iPad only trips. It was awesome. My bag wasn’t overloaded with a laptop, chargers, etc. In Egypt I took a much smaller bag, which fit in airplanes easier, was less burdensome to carry. I wrote a large chunk of a Space Rogues novel in Egypt floating down the Nile river with just my iPad and Apple folio keyboard. It was awesome. I also used the pencil to write in my digital journal (using GoodNotes, go get this app, it’s incredible). In Tanzania I took my regular backpack because I had a camera and a bunch of gear, and my iPad was negligible in size and weight.

I can’t imagine I’ll ever bring my laptop on a trip again, short of work specific travel.

Which brings us to now.

Now, I’m sitting in my living room, my MacBook Air (complete with shitty keyboard that works intermittently, thanks Apple) is in my office. I’m writing this on Sunday, and my laptop spent most of Saturday in my office as well.

IPad and keyboard

Adding trackpad support to iPadOS, plus this new keyboard folio, has come pretty damn close to removing my need for a laptop. It’s not perfect, and that’s fine, I don’t want the iPad to be a laptop replacement directly. If it were it’d be clunky and lame without a keyboard attached.

I picked up a Hyperdrive for connecting to monitors, SD cards, etc. I wished I had had it in Tanzania as my goal was to offload the SD card each day, but I quickly realized my iPad didn’t that that much storage, so I was left hoping nothing happened to the SD card/camera.

My goal However is to start doing more work on my iPad. I’ve already proven I can write novels on it, now I want to see if I can do 360|Conferences work on it. Sadly I doubt I can run a virtual conference from the iPad, not that the MacBook Air is much better equipped for that. Thankfully I have an eGPU to plug the laptop in to. It’s entirely possible, when it comes time to replace the MacBook Air (likely sooner than normal thanks to the keyboard) I’ll move to a Mac Mini solution, and when mobile, it’ll be all iPad.

I told a friend it felt weird to be so excited about a keyboard (a not cheap one at that), but we both agreed it really was a bit of a game changer for the iPad. And it is.

(S)Watches

by

I’ve always loved watches. I’ve written before about how I don’t (anymore) own an Apple Watch. They’re fine, especially now that they last more than half a day, but still not for me.

I was going through my watch box (I need a bigger one) moving a few pieces back into their boxes as I just don’t wear them much compared to others. I decided to put my first Swatch in the box now that there was room.

I’d had watches before this, always digital. IIRC this swatch, that my mom took me to Mervyn’s to buy was my first analog watch. It’s the Blue Jet, circa 1990.

I loved this thing. I bought a glow in the dark ‘Swatch Guard’ for it. Since it was my first analog watch I wasn’t great at actually being able to tell time on it, so I marked my Swatch Guard up with notches to show the hours. I’m inventive. I wore it for years through middle and highschool before other watches took it’s place. But I didn’t get rid of it like I did those other watches. Blue Jet went back into its sleak clear plastic case.

I’ve held on to this watch (At some point I replaced the band with a clear plastic one.) all these years, in its box.

I’ve ordered new batteries for it and will be putting it back in rotation once they arrive.

What’s your ‘thing’? That thing you probably own too much/many of. The thing that means so much to you, has such a deep connection to you?

Leave a comment.

I Made a Lightsaber

by

So my friend Jeffry organized a “guy’s trip” to Disney World. This was my first ever guy’s trip and it set a high bar.

The main goal of the trip was Galaxy’s Edge, or as I call it, “Star Wars Land”

It was a blast. Disney has truly outdone themselves. Everything about Batuu is immersive. Dollars aren’t accepted, you have to pay in Imperial Credits. The denizens all have back stories, the characters don’t stand in one place for photo ops. Storm troopers patrol the small outpost stopping visitors randomly. Rey and Chewie walk around going about their business.

I’m not going into a full review of Galaxy’s Edge, they’re all over the internet, just Duck Duck Go-it. When the idea for this trip formed, I was in. “I don’t care what else we do, where we go, etc. I want a lightsaber.”

The entire process is truly amazing. Before you check in you get a ‘menu’ of the four main lightsaber styles. There are a few file cabinets with the parts in them so you can touch them and get a feel for them. They’re secured in the drawers so you only really get to rub your hands on them, but whatever.

Once you’ve selected you pay, buy your add-ons (you know you need a stand, and a belt clip!) and you’re given a pin that matches your selected design. That’s how the junk collectors know which tray to hand you.

Once you go inside, it’s amazing. You’re walked through the story and the construction process. There’s an amazing ceremony where you ignite your blade for the first time, it’s pretty awesome.

I chose Power and Control, mostly for aesthetic reasons. The Blue Kyber crystal called to me, so I’m a bit of an outlier in that Power and Control is more a sith thing, but whatever, I’ve never been a follower!

One more bit about Galaxy’s Edge, stay until the end of the day! We lucked out and there were extended hours the day we went, and by the end of the day, it was mostly empty. During the day getting near the Falcon is tough, at least without hundreds of people around you. At night, we all took pictures without a soul in the way.

Getting together with friends I haven’t seen in years, and Dave, the brother of a friend, was really awesome. Tom and I hang out at least once a year usually. I haven’t gotten to hang with Jeffry in at least ten years. The bar for future guy’s trips is hella high.

Jumped Ship on the Apple Watch

by

So for a while, I’ve been toying with abandoning the Apple Watch. I made the attempt a few months back at wearing it on my right arm as an activity tracker. The experiment was short-lived, it just wasn’t very comfortable.

So I went back to wearing the Apple Watch as my daily watch.

But still didn’t love it.

I hadn’t used any apps on the watch in, well I can’t recall how long, it was basically doing two things: unlocking my Mac, and acting as an activity tracker. For the former, it was fine, for the latter, however, it sucked. I couldn’t track my sleep since I could never create a habit to charge the watch around mid-day.

A while ago at a conference, a bunch of us were around the table for lunch and someone looked around and said, “Would anyone here recommend the Apple Watch?”

To a person (I admit, not a huge sample) all of us shook our heads. We admitted it was a neat gadget, but none of us had a killer use for it. We all just shrugged and were like, “If you have a spare few hundred, get one, otherwise, meh.”

So I did it.

Amazfit cor bandI picked up an Amazfit Cor fitness band from Amazon. It’s basically the Xiaomi band, with an American company answering support emails.

It writes to Apple Health, which was my primary want. It lasts over a week on a charge, and can automatically log sleep quality. It was $79 and I can wear it on my right wrist, freeing up my left for one of my beloved watches. Win-win.

The Apple Watch sets a high bar to be sure, and the Amazfit doesn’t quite hit the bar, but then I remind myself, that while the Apple Watch was quite an awesome fitness band, a lot of the stuff it did was ‘extra’.

Rings are cool and a great way to motivate but not essential.

I do miss being able to log any exercise directly to Apple Health, I’ve had to go back to using multiple apps to log things, and haven’t found the “perfect” solution… yet.

I’m exploring various apps and routines to get a workflow dialed in, but so far I’m very happy with my decision.

Also, I love, LOVE wearing my old watches!! 

 

I might finally not need a moleskine

by

So, I’m a huge fan of keeping a notebook around all times. I carry a field notes notebook and pen with me almost all the time and there’s usually a medium size moleskine in my bag.

That might change.

GoodNotes, an iPad Pro 9.7″ and the Apple Pencil, might turn out to be the perfect replacement for my trusty moleskine.

I love writing, and love taking notes. It helps me remember things, and helps me sort my thoughts. The problem is, (for me at least) is going back to find notes. It’s doable and I do it, but it’s not easy, or fast.

I color code my notes now, using an index system, and that helps, but only a little.

On top of that, when I finally finish a notebook it goes on a shelf. They look cool, covered in stickers, full of notes on old sponsorship deals, old meetings, etc. But I never go back through them.

GoodNotes, is truly great. I was very skeptical about the Apple Pencil, but must admit, writing with it, is just like writing with my pen. I can scribble notes, highlight things, etc while holding my iPad in one hand. I can sit in a meeting and write notes like I would with a notebook, but their digital and always available.
Goodnotes is great at handwriting

As I got used to the app, at first I was worried that trying to find past notes would be tedious, swiping past each note one at a time, then I realized, duh, there’s a feature for that. Tapping the “4 boxes” icon allows you to quickly scroll through all your notes, and the thumbnails are just big enough to actually read the notes and see the headings.

Easy to see all notes in a bookAdd that to my color coding, and BOOM, easily searchable notebooks.

It’s also nice that I can separate my notebooks. Work, personal, etc . I’m still working on finding the right balance between one big notebook, and too many very specialized notebooks, but am sure I’ll get it.

my color coding scheme can still work.
my color coding scheme can still work.

 

One feature I wish existed was being able to take an entire page, cut if from one notebook, and pasting into a another notebook. Hopefully that shows up.

Over all I’m really pleased with this setup.

My only other sorta complaint is the types of pages. the lined page for example is portrait, while the grid paper comes in both portrait and landscape. You can create your own page templates, but sadly my illustrator skills aren’t quite there.

My most recent trip to San Francisco for WWDC ’16, i didn’t cary my moleskine. I had my iPad Pro, it’s keyboard, and the Apple Pencil, and that was more than enough to replace my trusty paper notebook.

Won’t lie, kinda sad to think about not having a paper notebook in my bag anymore but also kinda excited to go further paperless. Now to find a home for some unused notebooks…

 

Zoomed in writing box

Your Cart