As Macworld|iWorld is upon us I’m starting to put together my travel bag. Being a geek, I spend more time these days packing my tech bag than my clothing bag. Over the years I’ve tried to streamline my gadget packing down to the bare essential and after much trial and error, I think I’ve finally got it.
Since being turned on to the idea in a recent Workflows episode with Alex Lindsay, I’ve started using the Cocoon Grid System to organize my tech accessories. The Cocoon comes in various shapes and sizes, but I picked the model that is the same size as my laptop so they’ll always fit together in the same bag. With the Cocoon packed I now only have to grab two things for my various travel bags and I’m to go for most any situation, my MacBook Air and my Cocoon.
So, here’s a look at my travel bag with explanations:
Continue reading Katie’s Tech Travel Bag
 After more than a year of thought and debate I finally cut the cord this week. I’ve lived with Cable TV service as long as I have been alive and never considered another option. But as the cable bill grew larger and the alternatives greater I started to wonder why I was paying for these services and whether I was getting my money’s worth. It’s only been a few days since I cut the cable, so this will be the first in a series of blog posts discussing why, how and whether I’m happy with my decision. Continue reading Cutting The Cable (Part 1)
 I have been very fortunate in that reading was strongly encouraged in my family. When I was younger my mother said that she would buy me all the books I would read. In fact, we have a silly family tradition that whenever you buy someone a book as a gift, you are required to read that book first. In part, so you can have the experience and knowledge that comes from reading the book yourself, and part to be able to discuss the book with the recipient as part of the gift. This strikes many people as odd because the end result is that you give someone a used book as a gift that cannot be returned.
However, after three years of law school, I found that my love of reading faded a bit. While in law school I didn’t have much time for pleasure reading yet I was reading all the time for class. Reading became more associated with work and a chore than with escape and relaxation and as a result, I began reading less and less for pleasure. I can’t tell you how many attorneys I’ve spoken to who have noticed the exact same thing happening in their lives.
As a technology enthusiast I have been intrigued by eBooks and their climb in popularity. However, going back to my traditional book-loving roots, I just couldn’t grasp the concept of reading on an electronic device and giving up the feel of a hardback book in my hands. Books are treasured possessions in my family. I’ve found that when I go to someone’s home for the first time I’m drawn to their bookshelves to see what kind of books they’re interested in and what they’ve been reading. You can tell a lot about a person by the types of books they read, and especially those they think highly enough to keep on their shelf. That’s not really an option with a library of eBooks.
This winter, things changed for me.
Continue reading My Renewed Love of Reading…on the iPad
 I’ve long been a fan of the Apple TV and when the new version was released I quickly updated. This week I had the opportunity to discuss my initial impressions of the device on the Mac Jury with a distinguished panel of jurors. Host Chuck Joiner along with The Mac Observer’s John Martellaro, ScreenCastOnline’s Don McAllister, Adobe’s Terry White and I discuss the surprising small size, the look and feel of the remote control, the benefits and challenges of Home Sharing from your iTunes library, the lack of content access in Europe which all leads to a rousing discussion that wraps up in an analysis of who the target audience is, and whether the panelists would recommend the Apple TV. You can find the episode here.
I mentioned in my earlier review of the iPhone 4 that I was one of the unfortunate people who were having significant problems with reception. In the past few weeks the internet has been abuzz about the topic. Reactions have been across the board. Some are calling for a full-blown recall and investigation. Others are saying this is no big deal and people should buy a case and get over it.
Apple has called a last-minute press event on Friday, June 16th to discuss the iPhone 4 and this seemed like a good time to share my experiences.
Continue reading My iPhone 4 Reception Saga
 I was fortunate enough to actually be able to pre-order my iPhone 4 and even more fortunate to have it delivered a day early on Wednesday, June 23rd. I’ve had a couple of days to play with my new iPhone and wanted to provide you with some first impressions. This is by no means a comprehensive review of the iPhone. If you’re reading this I assume that you’re already familiar with the technical specifications and features. This is simply some of my thoughts and opinions as an end user of the device.
Continue reading Review: Apple iPhone 4
 Introduction:
If you’ve been reading my blog or listening to my various podcasts, you’ll know that I love my iPhone, but have been very unhappy with my AT&T service the past year. Three years ago, when I bought my first iPhone, I was living in a large city and fortunate to have excellent cellular coverage. I paid my $175 early termination fee to switch from Verizon to AT&T and was as happy as I could be with my new iPhone and AT&T.
About a year ago, I made a job change and moved back to my hometown. While I love my new job and being closer to family, I’ve been plagued by poor AT&T coverage. My current city has multiple dead zones in highly populated areas and in general suffers from poor connectivity. It’s quite common to be in an area with 5 bars of coverage yet calls go directly to voicemail or text messages are delayed, sometimes hours. Making matters worse, I live in one of those dead zones and literally have no service inside my home. Outside isn’t much better, I can usually only maintain a call for a couple of minutes before it drops.
My AT&T contract is up on July 11th and I knew that a new iPhone would be released about that time. With AT&T unable to provide me any kind of answers, I was really struggling to decide what I was going to do. Short of the iPhone changing to another carrier, something that I think will happen but will be later rather than sooner, my only hope was the promise of the AT&T 3G MicroCell. I watched the WWDC keynote with mixed emotions. Lured by the appeal of the iPhone 4, but at the same time dreading signing a new contract and committing myself to two more years of cell phone purgatory. But something else happened on June 7th that was perhaps more appealing to me than anything Steve Jobs had to say in his Keynote address, the mythical 3G MicroCell came to my city.
Continue reading Review: AT&T 3G MicroCell
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