Give your Mobile device a boost of caffeine!

When I saw this device, I had to make a post! This coffee cup power inverter has 2 - 200 watt AC outlets capable of charging 2 devices at once. It also has a USB adapter capable of 500mA. Unfortunately the company is out of stock and I can see why, I have got to get one of these! Here are some additional specs and photos.

- Provides 120 Volt AC power from any cigarette lighter socket
- 200W continuous/400W peak
- Fits into standard cup holders
- 18" cord
- Overload protection and low battery shut-off
- Power 3 devices at once
- One year warranty
- Dimensions: 6" tall x 3.5" dia

Got a new mobile device...

... Mashable has posted several articles on how to get the most out of that new device you got for the holidays. The few I am linking to this blog post are for Android (I know, I can't believe I am putting that on here) and iPad. These articles will at least get you going and give you some links to other references. Have Fun!

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Your New Android Device

HOW TO: Get Started With Your New iPad

Tips for Linkedin

The few weeks after the holiday is the best time to freshen up on tips and tricks to calm that tech addiction. There are so many sights and social media bloggers and people utilizing twitter to mention all of them. Macworld, for you Apple users, is a great website to find these tips and tricks. Yesterday, Macworld posted a blog article titled "Linkedin: Three ways to polish your profile for the New Year." Although some of these are common knowledge, this is a good brush up article.

"Linkedin: Three ways to polish your profile for the New Year."

At the GIS show in Orlando this year, I will be teaching a seminar "Take Control of Your Career." I will highlight the use of Social Media to enhance your marketability in the industry. Linkedin will be discussed.

Did you get an iPhone or iPad for the Holidays?

If you were lucky enough to receive one of Apple's fantastic iOS devices for the Holiday's, MacWorld has posted a few blog posts to help you find some great applications. "Appstravaganza" discusses apps for work, play and ways to be creative with your new iPhone, iPad or iTouch.

Appstravaganza

AirPlay for everyone

So yesterday I ventured over to my in-laws with the family. I decided to bring over a few gadgets I have been asked to demo and blog about, one is the Airport Express from Apple. Great device! I had one previously, long before iPhone and Airplay.

My father in law is much Iike myself, Mr. gadgets. We decided to try the Airport Express on his theater system. His system can stream to several areas of the house.


The photo is my 4 year old with my iPad playing Xmas DJ with Airplay. He had a blast! Not only were we streaming music from my iPad, but used Apple Remote to stream music from my father in laws iTunes library on his iMac. We also were able to listen to narrated books over airplay. The kids loved Twas The Night Before Christmas. My son also watched Charlie Brown Xmas on the iPad, theater surround sound and all, thanks to Airplay. I can't wait to get an Apple TV!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"Green" Charger?

My daily addiction to Twitter brought me to a post by Cult of Mac about a "Green" Charger - Green Wall Charger from VogDuo. I have listened to mixed opinions about charging methods of Apple iOS devices "...you can leave it plugged in! Don't leave it plugged in, it will damage the batter!" Over almost 4 years of using my iPhone and now iPad I have found that leaving the device plugged overnight despite only needing 4 hours of charging time, has done NO damage to my batteries. As I understand, due to the make up of the batteries, leaving them plugged in for a long period of time does no damage. If you are of the opinion that leaving an iOS device plugged in will damage the battery then the Green Wall Charger will be right up your alley.

All thought not released yet, this charger includes 4 USB ports as well as a Y connector to charge iPads, since they require different wattage for charging. More importantly this charger contains a timer. You can set the timer for 2,4,6, or 8 hours. Once the timer is up the charger draws zero electric. Fixing any issues of "over charging" and "Phantam" demand. This charger is scheduled to be released at the CES conference next month. I will follow-up with a price once released.

Make iOS AirPrint even Better

Frustrated with the limitations of AirPrint? Try Printopia for Mac.
Printopia for Mac allows AirPrint to print to any printer connected to your mac. Print to Dropbox. Also print directly to your Mac as a PDF or Jpeg file. It works very well. Printopia cost $9.99. Well worth it! Try it for Free for 7 days.

www.ecamm.com/mac/printopia

Would you do this to your iPad?

This may be just what we need on the golf course. iPads are just too expense to have damaged!

IPad dock right up our Alley

I was reading through all my twitter followers this morning and saw "Make your iPad dock from a tree branch." I was intrigued. In my area of the country this is the time of year we work on projects, tree work is one of them. I may just try this! If anything, it would make a nice conversation piece for my desk.

Great new Camera Connection Kit for iPad

One of my biggest issues, because I haven't found one I liked yet, was being able to quickly upload photos from my Nikon camera to my iPad. I do a lot from my iPad and don't like having to upload my photos to iPhoto on my MBP and then sync with itunes, just takes too long. Well M.I.C Gadget store has released a FANTASTIC camera connection kit. It is a 3-1 connection kit allowing several ways to upload your camera photos to your iPad without all the syncing to itunes. Users have the ability to now do one of three things:

- connect camera directly through USB

- Utilize the SD card slot

- Now connect a Micro SD card.

This a great tool available for $29.99 at the M.I.C. Gadget Store

Read the full review from TUAW Here

GCSAA Launches Social Networking Tool for GIS

GCSAA just released a Social Networking tool for all us SNer's to find out who will be at 2011 GIS in Orlando. Follow the link below, it will take you to a site to activate your various SN tools. I just linked my Linkedin account and see four others are attending. Great Job GCSAA!!!

GCSAA Social Network Tool

iPad named biggest tech winner!!

Time to jump on the wagon! The iPad is not a fad, it is..."thinking, printing, ideas, creating, musical, magical" and is now also the biggest tech winner of the year!! What I found very interesting is all the other mentions have iOS to thank for their success.

Business Insider names iPad "Biggest Tech Winner" of 2010

Google Voice updated for use on iPad

I was hesitant to start a google voice account, but bit the bullet a few weeks ago. I must admit, it is nice having the ability to have a "second line" on my phone without jailbreaking or spending a fortune on monthly fees. Now I can have google voice on my iPad.

This would have been handy a few weeks ago, while traveling. I was staying in a very old stone and mortar hotel that unless you had your hand pressed against the window with your phone, you got zero reception. With google voice, all you need is an internet connection or your standard 3G service, but in my case I didn't have the latter. I could have saved straddling the furnace and used my ipad to phone home.

Check out Google voice for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

Google Docs Desktop now works on iPad

Thanks to 9 to 5 Mac for breaking this story. If you are are Superintendent utilizing Google Docs for online file storage and editing capabilities you can now edit from your iPad utilizing the Desktop version of Google Docs.

See full story here:

Google Docs Desktop for iPad

Im not a PC

Macworld had an article on this band this morning. Being the holidays, I figured appropriate for the blog. Although nothing to do with Turf, still is cool what we can do with today's technology.

Happy Holidays!!

QVC offering great iPad deals

QVC is offering a great iPad package, featuring the 16gig WiFi iPad. See below:


QVC iPad Deal

Discounted Refurb iPads! Limited Time Only!!

Apple has announced for a limited refurbished iPads through the online Apple Store.

Refurbished iPads

TUAW Live for Superintendents

TUAW Live today at 5pm EST will be discussing several topics pertaining to Superintendent's use of iPads/iPhones and our Macs. Topics today include iPad Docs, Printers utilizing the new AirPrint and Office 2011. Get some great information!

TUAW Live 5pm EST

Logmein Ignition **On Sale**

I have touted this app very highly over the last two years, but the excellence and convenience comes at a price. Tipb.com just announced that the app is now on sale for 48 hours only!!!

Jump on it!!

The New MacBook Air- Is it right for You?

The new Macbook Air has been out for a little while now. I have been using mine for about one month. So, here is my thoughts on this thin little beauty.

I have always been a consumer of laptops. In the literal sense of the word. Over the last number of years I have been one of these people that gets a new laptop every 2-3 yrs. I would use a Macbook then sell it for the new latest and greatest. Luckily they hold their value pretty good.

Over the years I have used the white MacBook, a MacBook Pro 13" and 15". My previous thinking each time I upgraded was I wanted faster processor, graphics and more memory. I would inevitably upgrade their ram and hard drive almost without fail.

Before getting the MacBook Air 13", I had a MacBook Pro 13". The specs on the Pro were 2.26 GHz, 4 GB Ram and a 500gb HD. A very nice machine in it's own right.

However, after using my iPad since they debuted, I started to wonder. Do I really need the power, memory and sized hard drive of the aforementioned MacBook Pro? The answer was NO! After all, I was only using 40gb of that 500gb hard drive. Additionally, I was only using the Pro at work for certain tasks, mostly word processing(MS Office) and browsing.

So, I had decided to sell my old Pro model. About this same time the New MacBook Air debuts. Hmmm, I thought maybe this Air would fit the bill. I researched, read reviews, and went to the Apple Store repeatedly to contemplate this new line.












Ok, Ok get to what you bought already! I ended up purchasing the base 13" MacBook Air 1.86GHz, 2gb Ram, 128gb hd it retails for $1299. It comes with two USB ports, SD card slot, and a mini display port. No ethernet, but you can get a USB to ethernet dongle. I did not choose to upgrade to the 4gb model. Rare for me! After using the 2gb version in store for a while, it seems this model would be fine.

After using my Air for about a month now, I LOVE IT! It really fits the needs that I have for a laptop computer. Which as stated above, my needs were basic office tasks(word, excel, outlook), browsing, and online tasks for work. As most of my golf course tasks are now web based. Such as payroll, HR, billing, and documents.

I find it to perform as Apple has promised in terms of speed. Start up and loading apps is plenty quick due to the Flash based hard drive. It plays video very nice. Whether it is from Hulu, Netflix, Vimeo, or the hard drive.

I do not do much video or audio editing, so I cannot comment on how this Air would handle this tasks. However, I have read a number of articles by people claiming they have tried to us the Air for video and audio with success. Via apps like Adobe CS, iMovie, etc.

At first I was concerned the 128gb was going to be filled in no time flat. As I write this I am using about 30gb of storage on the MBA. I don't store many photos, movies, or videos on this machine. Those items are stored on iOS devices or my iMac. The use of cloud based storage like DropBox, iDisk(MobileMe user), Evernote, Box.net also helps to eliminate the need for large hard drives on laptops. It frees up your hard drive for the stuff you really want.

Also, the lack of an optical drive turns some people away. However, I did not realize until researching the Air that you can share a drive via your home network from a separate PC or Mac. Problem solved as far as I am concerned. I have loaded at least 6 different types of software using this method and it worked great.

If you are someone who really needs to runs windows apps then you could de that as well. I have watched videos of Windows7 and XP running on a Air via bootcamp or Parallels. Although, you may want the fully loaded Air version to give you the best performance for these applications.

Here is a list of most of the apps installed on my MBA:
iWork 09
MS Office 2011 Mac
iLife 11
Evernote
Bento 3
1 Password
iTunes 10
BusyCal
FaceTime
iShowU HD

If you are looking for a lightweight, quick, durable, long battery life laptop, take a look at the line of 2010 MacBook Air.
www.apple.com/Mac







- Posted from my iPad

The iTurf Apps Journal

Each day The iTurf Apps Journal will be "printed" This will give our followers an in depth look at all the news and rumors coming out of anything iphone, ipad, ipod and Apple.

The iTurf Apps Journal