When the iPad was first revealed to the world I was very disappointed.

The lack of camera, flash and multitasking made the device less appealing in my eyes, making to look elsewhere (with the HP TouchSmart and WePad being top contenders–and no, I would never by a Joo Joo after they screwed over Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, but that is another story).

Fortunately, wiser geeks than I have remedied these issues, making the iPad gloriously awesome again.

No Camera for me? Think again.

Forget Apple’s camera connection kit. I would never buy something like that, mainly because its for taking pictures or video on a digital camera, which I’ve (unfortunately) come to loathe due to Apple’s iPhone.

Instead, I can simply upload images to either Flickr or Picasa, and download them to the iPad.

Video is a little bit trickier, but I’m hoping the KnockingLive will be able to remedy that for me in a few weeks. (hint, hint!)

Sudden Flash Backs

The only reason I was upset about the lack of Flash for the iPad was the fact that services like Hulu would not work for me (since their ads are in flash and no flash equals no cash).

Thanks to the boys and girls at Google (hat tip: TechCrunch) this may no longer be an issue as they converted a flash game of Quake into an HTML5 compatible game.

More sites are jumping on board the HTML5 iPad train, so this means that Hulu may soon be available plus Facebook videos may finally play in my iPhone! (and everyone shouts hurray)

Lack of Multitasking?

Truth be told the only reason I would want multitasking for the iPad is so that I can play Pandora in the background.

I could care less about instant messaging (as I hardly use it any more thanks to Twitter and Facebook) and those silly GPS apps that broadcast your where abouts globally in order to make it easier to get robbed.

But for the love of geek I would pay extra money or even suffer through a Twilight flick in order to play Pandora in the background (and no I’m not joking–well, at least when it comes to Twilight, as I haven’t seen it yet).

Fortunately hackers may make that possible via a jailbreak. The only trade off is that Skype may no longer work.

Other reasons?

• $30/month for unlimited internet contract free (everywhere else is between $40-$60/month with a 2 year contract–ugggghhh!)
• $30 total for iWork productivity apps verses $400 for Microsoft Office. And if I like neither, I can still use Documents to Go or Quickoffice apps
• The touch screen is second to none. Don’t believe me? Compare the iPhone (which the iPad is based upon) to its rivals to see what I mean.
• Between iBooks and Stanza, I’ll have access to over 500,000 books! It will probably be a million by years end! I can carry a library without having to carry a library! Plus it will work great for text books (for college)
• Netflix and ABC on the iPad! Farewell cable!

So yeah, I’m finally going to get an iPad 3G. Not when it comes out (as I want to avoid the iCrowds!) but I’ll visit my local Apple Store or order it online in late May.

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Have you ever written anything (whether on a blog or in a book) only to have it copied completely and ported over to a random site?

Welcome to my world ladies and gentleman!

Back in the day when someone stole my content (which happened weekly), I would simply send a cease and desist order, or if they were anonymous I would contact their host (who more often than not shut down the scum’s site).

That was when people who were stealing my content were from nations that acknowledged copyrights.

Fast forward to today: there are now dozens who are daily stealing my content (sometimes very brazenly), with many being hosted in nations that either do not recognize US copyright laws or if they do recognize it, refuse to do anything because they currently hate my government (think China).

Since I am getting tired of this “cat and mouse” game, I think I’m going to embrace TechCrunch‘s policy and instead focus on creating great content (translation: ignore the thieves).

Will this work in the long run? Who knows! But until I can build an army of robots to lay the vicious smack down against these thieves skulls find an affordable solution, I’m going to stop sending cease and desist orders (as I’m not too sure how effective they are in English overseas).

– Posted from my iPhone

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Aside from the glorious game in which the SAINTS owned the Colts (to my joy), there were a few decent super bowl ads shown between the plays.

Here was my favorite ad–mainly because of the guy near the end.

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“All of life’s journeys come with meetings, and partings, and reunions.” ~Meryl Stryfe

I love my friends! Whether in the past, present or the future ones I have yet to meet, I have enjoyed experiencing life with them (minus the “ones I have yet to meet” of course), and have no regrets about them being in my life (even the few that morphed into frenemies).

While I would love to spend the rest of forever with them on this side of the hemisphere, I am now slowly accepting the (scary) reality that is not going to be possible.

I have lived in America for my entire life, and while I am grateful for it’s many blessings (mainly the ability to speak my mind without the fear of death), I have never once felt at home here.

Ever since I was little (at least six), I’ve felt a huge urge/drive/desire to travel and eventually live east.

It probably explains my fascination with movies (like Aladden and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), curved swords (as opposed to the straight double bladed ones of Braveheart) and food (I equally love Falafel’s and Chinese food!).

Some of my friends have already moved east (to my jealousy), and thanks to Facebook, Twitter and Skype I can keep up with their daily adventures living eastern dream.

I hope to someday join them at the end of this year and in order to do that, I need to start getting my paper work I’m order, as well as reapply for a new passport (as mine is wearing out)–as soon as I’m done paying Uncle Sam in April.

Will I miss my friends in the US? Most definately!!! At least until I see them again.

But as for me, the future lies east, and in order to pacify this urge, I need to stop fearing the future and instead embrace it.

“Our tickets to the future are open.”

“And if you keep your vision clear you will see the future. What happens in our future is our own responsibility.”

~Rem Saverem

– Posted from my iPhone

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Yeah, so the Apple event was over and I was following the noise via Twitter on #AppleLive.

Before I lay the case for my underwhelming mood, here is what I liked about the iPad.

Books

The fact I could have a dedicated device for book reading is awesome.

No offense, but I was not impressed with the Kindle, mainly because I would need extra lighting to read a book on an electronic device (which is “fail” in my book–pun intended).

Plus the fact it’s in color is a plus.

Images

Seeing supersized images is just plain awesome. Need I say more?

Internet (Wifi/3G)

I know people gripe about AT&T, but as for me they’re 3G signal is decent (note: after I whined about the poor signal on Twitter, although they did fix the issue).

The plan for unlimited Internet is reasonable ($30/month) plus the nationwide free wifi, which means I can chill at Barnes & Nobel and enjoy the latest novel.

What I hate (deal breakers)

Only 64GB?!!

The fact that you get an iPod Touch with 64GB underscores my point here.

Apple should have at least have made it with 128GB.

No Multitasking: Fail

If this feature was included, I would consider ordering this via Visa.

The fact that I have to jailbreak it for that (thus voiding the warrenty), makes it not worth my time.

No Camera?!!

If Apple can place a camera upon an iPhone & iPod Nano, they could certainly place one upon the iPad.

My theory is that they didn’t want to do this in order to avoid cannablizing their iPhone sales. Either way I’m underwhelmed.

Conclusion

While I’m glad Apple released this (as they’re a catalyst when it comes to all things geek), I think I may hold out buying one until model 2.0 comes along (or Mashable gives me one for free).

But on the brightside, perhaps this will convince HP to lower the price of their TouchSmart? Hmmmm….

– Posted from my iPhone

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After seeing Avatar in theatres for the first time (in 3D nonetheless), here is my take on the movie with a pretty package that almost failed.

For the space geeks out there, you probably noticed a few scientific blunders (hint: the proximity of the moon to the planet), but overall this film seemed fairly accurate, although they didn’t explain the near light speed travel aspect.

Not to mention the unobtanium (yeah, I get it, but it would have been better to explain this better than give it a dumb name).

– Posted from my iPhone

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