The iPAD and I ... Part 1

Best thing since sliced bread? Well, maybe. So a quick summary of my current opinion.

OK, I like my iPAD very much. Perhaps Apple should have named it the iPED for Personal Entertainment Device, it really is a wonderful gadget. So why do I like it so much? For one it is highly portable, no mouse, no physical keyboard. The UI (user interface) is very nice. I suppose since I never owned an iPOD, the UI is new to me. The use of icons for programs and Web pages is very handy. The browser is very nice, very capable even without FLASH.

I do have a couple of issues mostly minor at this point.

For one, there does seem to be a problem with the browser, if you have a window within your main window, it does not scroll. This is very annoying, there are a variety of sites that use this feature, for example, a menu might be a "subwindow" in the main window, you only get to see the top portion. In fact there are many lists that are used by some WEB sites where you get to see only the top part.

Second, if you browse a book on Amazon, you have the option to look at front cover, back cover, table of contents, first few pages of the book and perhaps a few pages randomly selected. Like the previous issue, the browser does not handle this very well. You can see the top 2/3rds of the page but not the rest. So after viewing the partial table of contents pages, the text pages of the book get squished. Very annoying. I have tried the Amazon app, specifically fitted for the iPxDs but I still prefer the Amazon Web site.

Third, this is probably by design, the keyboard as far as I can tell does not support a "backspace". Yes it does have a backspace that earses but not a cursor backspace. You have to use your fingers to position the cursor. This makes editing annoying as you can't fix a error in the middle of a string without some ackward finger positioning.

In any case, these seem relatively minor issues as compared to the entire package. So, if you don't have an iPOD but enjoy surfing the Web without being tied to an ackward laptop or even a NetPC, I suggest you get one.

Illinois ... An American Joke

In a previous post I wrote about the monetary issues plaguing Illinois. Well it has not gotten any better. By the end of June, the state needs to pay over $7 BILLION which it does not have. According to the following article, "Mr. Quinn presented a budget in March that would still leave the state with a $10.6 billion deficit. ". Mr. Quinn is the current governor of Illinois.

So if you think Illinois bares no resamblance to Greece, think again. Once Illinois has to make deep cuts to its budget, will there be people with bricks in the streets. I guess we will see.

But as in Greece the legislature is unwilling to make appropriate changes to how money is spent. Acting in a cowardly fashion, saving their electoral skins, they will defer making important decisions until it is too late.

"Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes said in his April report that the state's cash position for the quarter ending June 30 "looks exceedingly difficult." By June 10, Illinois must repay $1.75 billion, plus interest, in short-term borrowing.

Meanwhile, the state still owes billions of dollars to hospitals, universities, social-service providers and others. Mr. Hynes said the state's backlog of unpaid bills probably will exceed $5.5 billion at the end of June."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703686304575228582377071698.html?mod=WSJ_article_LatestHeadlines

Can the military keep its edge?

As nations scramble for raw materials, the US military is thrown into the fray. As China and India as well as the rest of the world demands more raw materials, the US military must deal
with limited quantities of resources scattered around the world.

More to be said on this topic later. But the following article illustrates the current predicament for the Defense Dept.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704608104575220112898707130.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLEForthNews