drool.
For sale: body parts (negotiable)
Price: CS5 Design Premium
It magicks.
reviews
the iPad… the 3rd device?
My problem with the iPhone has always been that while it really is a pocket computer, and a surprisingly good one considering the baby 256 processor, users are neatly prevented from editing documents. You can’t take your job to the beach, because while you can certainly stay on top of email, there isn’t anything you can do with a .doc except look at it.
So a year or so ago, when rumours about an Apple tablet started picking up steam, I was interested. Surely now that deal-breaking gap would be closed. Imagine my consternation when detractors were proven right, and we really were offered a giant iPod, complete with chains to the app store and still no way to get any word processing done.
Where I used to think that the iPad probably wouldn’t find much of a home with the average consumer (it’s big, it’s not light, and you can’t stick a DVD in it, much less a thumb drive), I predicted that every professional would have to have one, from doctors (easy wifi access to fully detailed records) to mechanics (large HD tech specs) to dock workers (manifests and routing instructions). James Cameron would use one to watch his actors traverse their CG world in real time. When the iPad was revealed shackled to the app store, I was worried.
Not that I had to worry for long. That same day, Apple announced the iPad-optimized version of iWorks. That, plus the Citrix announcement that you’ll be able to run Windows 7 on it, implies heavily that you will have access to the file structure, more like the iPod than the iPhone.
I don’t have any interest in anything Windows (there’s nothing in my world that Mac and Snow Leopard can’t do better) but having that option means wider adoptability, and that means iPad is in a pretty good position. If I can mount it as a drive on my primary computers, then yes, I’m interested. And apparently there’s an available attachment for pulling pictures off your camera, and that means USB connectivity. If it’s 2-way… now we’re getting somewhere.
Do I need an iPad? Probably not. My shiny MacBook Pro travels well enough to set and back. Do I want one? Yes. Yes I do. Complete with unlocked 3G access and 64 gigs of memory. I will sew bigger pockets on my cargoes.
the iPad… the 3rd device? Read More »
the quest
State of me:
Safely, happily, joyfully divorced – check
Social Security Number – check
US Bank Account – check
Place to live… not quite yet.
The search for an apartment has been borderline epic. New York works like this, for those of you planning on moving here soon: rentals are listed with brokers. You can try Craigslist and The NYT, but in the end you will probably go with a broker because they know the right questions to ask, like, “where do you work?” This is important because if you work conveniently near the subway, then really you can live anywhere along that line and feel like you did awesome. It takes 4 minutes to take the express train from the Upper West Side at 79th to Penn Station at 34th and then 20 minutes to walk to Madison. Walking from Murray Hill at 39th and 2nd to the same address takes 20 minutes. So, for an extra 4 minutes of your morning, you can save a few hundred bucks in rent, and live in a great (and much quieter) neighbourhood.
You can choose your broker. Practically interview them. Apparently they all work from essentially the same pool of vacancies. Makes sense. There are over 2500 brokers, many of them with more than one ‘storefront’ or brand. It’s a renter’s market too. Every other building is renovating like crazy to stay solvent against a tough economy and new construction. Most brokers charge 15% of a year’s rent, and in this market, it’s easy to find lots of options where the landlord is picking up that charge, and maybe even a month’s rent. Maybe two if you sign for 18 months.
So if you’ve got the luxury of time and you can be picky, the brokers have lots to show you, and just about every building will wiggle fifty bucks or so. Especially if you can move in immediately.
All that said, we’re still talking about $2000 for the bare minimum one bedroom situation. Or a slightly better studio. You don’t really get into the market until the $2200 mark.
Shnykees.
Last time I rented in Victoria I had a two bedroom condo for $800. In Vancouver I had 860 square feet for $1050. The loft in Gastown, with a stunning view of the Lions and Coal Harbour, was $1350.
Takes a bit of getting used to.
So I’m making an offer on a one bedroom with a couple others in mind as backup. All on the Upper West Side. All for the kind of money I could live on and feel wealthy just a few years ago. I think I can say that without feeling like an old man. It was just a few years ago. On the west coast of a different country.
But hey. I love love love New York. It’s almost perfect. Work is fantastic. Fantastic. The creative side is moving along very strongly and the more work-horse side has performed stunningly well lately. There are details to be worked out but The Adventure is in full swing and I wouldn’t trade it. I’m visiting BC for a week early next month and then traipsing off to the Dominican Republic for Christmas and New Years. Nobody is as lucky as me. Pretty sure.