Betalogue

The one thing I hate the most about cloud-based computing is the sense that I have lost control, that the computer does things on my behalf with very little input or feedback, and that things can fairly easily go wrong. And so I tend to avoid it like the plague. That said, as a tech [...]

This article is not about me. I am a long-time Mac user and the “iLife” has been part of my life for many years now, even though I’ve never fully embraced it, either due to technical limitations (limited bandwidth) or because of a lack of need or interest. I have several Macintosh computers, several iPods, [...]

I believe that it is quite obvious that there is a significant issue with iOS 4.x and battery life. Regular Betalogue readers might remember that I first encountered the issue when I upgraded my old, second-generation iPod touch to iOS 4.0 back in July 2010. After a fair amount of sleuthing, I was able to [...]

This is the sixth installment in my series on using the iPad as a laptop replacement during a vacation in France back in August 2010. The first five installments were: iVacation Chronicles, Pt. 1: Profiles in AirPort Utility iVacation Chronicles, Pt. 2: Photos iVacation Chronicles, Pt. 3: News reading iVacation Chronicles, Pt. 4: Text entry [...]

No review of real-world usage of the iPad as a multi-purpose device (i.e. as a laptop replacement) would be complete without a close examination of how the device handles e-mail communication. One key issue with mobile devices in general, including laptops, is configurability and adaptability. One of the main reasons why so many people use [...]

When we decided to forego the laptop and only take an iPad with us on vacation last month, one of our immediate concerns was what would happen for text entry. We’re both fast typists who make full use of our hardware keyboards on our respective computers. We are also both bilingual and need to be [...]

I have been a regular user of NetNewsWire since the early 2000s. For many years, I used the free version. Then when the product was bought by NewsGator and they started charging for an ad-free version, I decided that it was worth the expense and purchased it. But in my line of work I don’t [...]

When we go on vacation, we both bring our own digital camera with us. Mine is an old Nikon Coolpix 5000, while my wife’s unit is a brand-new Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS. We also want to bring along some albums of our photos from the past couple of years to show to our family and [...]

When I got home from my vacation with my iPad and connected it back to my computer, iTunes told me that a system update with security fixes was available. Since the update had come out while I was away and was not brand new, I assumed that it had already been installed by a large [...]

As regular Betalogue readers will have noticed, I took some time off in August and I am now just back at work after two and a half weeks in France visiting friends and family and having a relaxing time with lots of nice food and wine. For this trip abroad, I took the plunge and [...]