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There are a lot of opinions on Twitter vs. Blogging. Below are a few links on the debate, but this reminds me of too many times when people look at things as a choice between the two, because they don’t know how to use each of the technologies.
Here is my current workflow.
I just made the switch to Squarespace. Migrating the content was easy with the import wizard. What was difficult was thinking of all the things I need to do to get ready to switch. Set up Google Adsense. Pick a style sheet. Review the Domain Mapping process.
It all went better than I thought, and now www.greenm3.com is on Squarespace.
Blogging is an interesting skill to develop. A friend sent this article on as something I would find interesting as I recently passed on an iPad purchase and bought a Thinkpad.X200 TabletPC.
I'll reference this article with points to help you see how a blogger works. One of the problems the iPad blog post runs into is the lack of multitasking.
Secondly, there’s the lack of multitasking in the iPad, which makes for working between apps and conducting research painfully difficult. A couple of multitasking apps might be helpful. For instance, BrowserNotes and MyMultiView allow you to open web pages and a notepad in the same application. There’s also iAnnotate PDF for reading and annotating PDFs. But these apps only go so far. There are still improvements that Apple needs to make for its mobile devices to get the one-open app limitation.
Why is multitasking so important, because part of blogging is you have many things up at same time to pull your research together.
The Wall of Limitations
If novel writing were what you wanted to do on the iPad, then you probably could get by just fine. But if the writing you do requires researching, quoting text, embedding URLs, adding images blog posts, and multitasking between apps—all of which is what bloggers do—then the iPad is going to push you back to your Mac desktop or laptop.
Being able to cut and paste is critical. I use Windows 7 Snipping Tool consistently to grab screen shots and paste them into blog entries. iPad clipboard functionality is ironically limited compared to use on the Mac.
Thirdly, a big issue for me as a blogger is the lack of a universal clipboard manager. No prolific blogger can pound out writing without a way to retrieve multiple snippets of text from the clipboard. The iPad, of course, like the iPhone, only saves one copy of text at a time. I’m not a developer, but I‘m pretty sure that Apple can include some sort of clipboard manager that can be accessed at least through Mail and word processing apps. There’s enough Mac desktop-based clipboard managers out there that Apple could easily borrow code and produce something similar for the iPad.
I use Windows Live Write a WYSIWG blogging tool. And, found it painful to hear the writer describe the use of editing tools on the iPad.
Writing Apps
There are plenty of writing apps for the iPad, beyond Pages, which work great up to a point for text editing. Apps like SimpleNote, MyWritingNook, and even the default Notebook for the iPad can be used draft pieces of writing.
And, don't forget if you are going to write you'll need the external keyboard.
However, I must say that serious writing is best done using an external keyboard. Apple’s wireless keyboard is the one I use, and I found it to be the best keyboard I‘ve ever used. The keys are quick and responsive, and the keyboard‘s small size makes it perfect for the iPad.
The author threw the conclusion at the beginning and I'll use it at the end.
Can You Blog On the iPad?
by Bakari Chavanu Jun 04, 2010
Can you blog on the iPad? The quick and honest answer is, no. Not as effectively as you might like.
This post is written in less than 10 minutes, and that includes reading, bouncing back and forth multitasking to the article.
If you can't hammer a post out in less than 10 minutes, look for another blogging process.
I've been hearing from friends the food is worse than last year's Uptime Syposium NY at Hilton NY. Last year when the conference was charging for lunch, I went outside and found good cheap food that was faster and better than inside the conference.
Give the Halal Cart a try. There is often a line, but the line moves fast and the food is good.
Halal Cart
Category: Food Stands [Edit]
52nd and 6th street
New York, NY 10019
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Midtown West
San Francisco, CA
3/13/2010
When my friend dropped off my fiancé & I @ our hotel, Hilton, he was excited to see that we were located right across the street from the famed Halal Cart in Manhattan. He and several of our New Yorker friends referred to it as the "best halal cart in the city" & every night when we returned to the hotel, regardless of how late it was, this cart had a line stretching down the block. Of course we had to try it but it was ALWAYS so busy. Our last day in NY we finally got the chance b/c, for once, there was less than 10 people in line. We got the lamb over rice, spicy, w/white sauce. After the 1st bite I was hooked. That spicy sauce really was spicy - no joke!!!! It had a huge kick but tasted so good. Now I know why all those people waited in that ridiculous line all hours of the day & night.
ONLY $6 - you'd be crazy not to try!! Worth every penny & your time. TRUST ME.
* cash onlyWas this review …?
Never thought I would write a food review in my blog, but I feel sorry for my friends who feel like they are stuck, and the complaints are louder than last year. If I had known the food complaints would be louder than last year, I would have blogged about Halal Cart before the event started.
BTW, I hear Uptime Symposium will be in NY as well, so you can use this recommendation for those who go to 2011 event.
I'll be going back to Seattle Airport tomorrow, and being a green guy I try to use public transportation. I've gotten it down so I can get from Microsoft to Seattle airport in an hour with no traffic, relaxing on the bus and light rail. I'll give the directions, from Microsoft to Seattle, and they work fine in reverse. I have a 12:30 flight to DEN tomorrow, and will try to get to the airport about 11:30.
I have an ORCA Pass, and it works on SoundTransit and King County busses, so I don't have to worry about having the right change for the bus.
To start I take the Sound Transit 545 bus which is an express bus from Redmond to Seattle running about every 15 minutes during commute times. I catch the bus at Microsoft Commons as I can park my car in the Microsoft parking lot. Note: if you don't have a Microsoft parking pass you need to park in the public park and ride lots.
There is a 10:06 or 10:21 bus. I'll get on the 10:06. in 22 min at 10:28. I am at Westlake Center. Go down into Westake Shopping center, then go down to the underground bus area. This is where you will catch the Light rail to Seattle Airport. The end and start of the Light Rail is Westlake and the Airport, so it is easy as end points.
The travel time from Westlake to Seattle Airport is 37 min, and quite frequently I have been lucky waiting only a few minutes and actually make it from Microsoft to the airport in an hour.
Once you arrive at the airport you have a walk from the station to the gates, but not that bad. My 75 year old mother can walk it, and she has a bad knee.
I'll get there a bit early, and if I miss a bus or have to wait, I'll still be at the airport 45 minutes before my flight which should be fine.
Hope this help some of you take the bus from Microsoft to Airport.
I tried Google Maps Public transit feature, but it came up with trips that took 1 1/2 hrs. The trip map look longer on the map, but it is fast given the 545 is an express bus and the Light Rail has priority for traffic signals.
Try it some time, I am sure you'll find it a nice alternative to driving.
