Comments for The Methods Section http://arielneff.com the workings of a science librarian Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:09:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Comment on Weighing in on the iPad by admin http://arielneff.com/personal/weighing-in-on-the-ipad/comment-page-1/#comment-32 admin Thu, 30 Dec 2010 21:09:19 +0000 http://arielneff.com/?p=74#comment-32 Great list of iPad uses! I'm working on a list of my favorite apps now. I also do not have a 3G version, but I haven't missed it yet. I haven't had to travel extensively yet with just my iPad, but that's going to change this month. We'll see how available WiFi is... Great list of iPad uses! I’m working on a list of my favorite apps now. I also do not have a 3G version, but I haven’t missed it yet. I haven’t had to travel extensively yet with just my iPad, but that’s going to change this month. We’ll see how available WiFi is…

]]> Comment on Weighing in on the iPad by GrayGaffer http://arielneff.com/personal/weighing-in-on-the-ipad/comment-page-1/#comment-31 GrayGaffer Mon, 27 Dec 2010 23:37:39 +0000 http://arielneff.com/?p=74#comment-31 Yes to all the above.Especially about reaching out to touch my desktop screen after working on my iPad. Cloud storage: becoming common in iPad apps, but you should check out GoodReader in particular. I have to admit I was seduced early on to buy pre-3G - I made the mistake of holding one. But it has made it up to me in many ways as a very versatile device. It is far from being a replacement for my work machine, but it makes up for that in ways not even my laptop or netbook can: Music and Recording Studio: amazing apps in this domain. Several of them reasons in their own right to own multiple iPads just for single use. Mice just do not work for playing keyboards or running a mixer. Multi-touch does. IT: excellent RDP and VNC clients from iTap, very usable multi-session ssh client in iSSH. Turbosh (amongst others) is good for editing server management scripts via ftp. A really cool and revealing traceroute in Vtrace that does the doh! addition of plotting the route on a map. I have a dozen more, but these I use daily. iTap VNC in particular I also use for managing the Mac Mini siiting behind my HDTV. Conferences: I took the plunge and attended two multi-day conferences far from home and took only my iPad, first as an experiment and second because the experiment just worked. Only one omission: bring reading material for the plane for the electronics blackout periods. Time shifting: My commute includes two fifty minute ferry rides, one each way. I time shift my shows through my Mini onto the iPad and watch then on the ferry. You do not have to be in the authorized machine to copy videos onto your iPad. Typical iPad friendly show is 700 Mb. iPad has 32 Mb available. Playback does not appear to noticeably shorten battery life - maybe 3% per show. Books: All the readers have their distinctions so I have them all. But not only for entertainment - also for reference materials from the Web as pdfs. Games: I am a gameaholic so I stay clear of these. I hear good things. Technical: lots of cool calculators. HP41c (i41cx+), HP16C (prg-16c), Spacetime for a Matlab-lite experience. Ommnigraffle is desktop-compatible, time management tools abound, Web: to most this is its only purpose, to me it is almost an afterthought. But I moved my mail service onto Google to get multiplatform web access instead of relying on one machine I did not carry with me. Flash is the only thing missing, but I find Flash to be really high maintainance and it injects instabilities. And iOS4 gets past the need to reboot each app when you switch to them. VNC stays connected when I switch to ssh or Safari. Yes to all the above.Especially about reaching out to touch my desktop screen after working on my iPad.

Cloud storage: becoming common in iPad apps, but you should check out GoodReader in particular.

I have to admit I was seduced early on to buy pre-3G – I made the mistake of holding one. But it has made it up to me in many ways as a very versatile device. It is far from being a replacement for my work machine, but it makes up for that in ways not even my laptop or netbook can:

Music and Recording Studio: amazing apps in this domain. Several of them reasons in their own right to own multiple iPads just for single use. Mice just do not work for playing keyboards or running a mixer. Multi-touch does.

IT: excellent RDP and VNC clients from iTap, very usable multi-session ssh client in iSSH. Turbosh (amongst others) is good for editing server management scripts via ftp. A really cool and revealing traceroute in Vtrace that does the doh! addition of plotting the route on a map. I have a dozen more, but these I use daily. iTap VNC in particular I also use for managing the Mac Mini siiting behind my HDTV.

Conferences: I took the plunge and attended two multi-day conferences far from home and took only my iPad, first as an experiment and second because the experiment just worked. Only one omission: bring reading material for the plane for the electronics blackout periods.

Time shifting: My commute includes two fifty minute ferry rides, one each way. I time shift my shows through my Mini onto the iPad and watch then on the ferry. You do not have to be in the authorized machine to copy videos onto your iPad. Typical iPad friendly show is 700 Mb. iPad has 32 Mb available. Playback does not appear to noticeably shorten battery life – maybe 3% per show.

Books: All the readers have their distinctions so I have them all. But not only for entertainment – also for reference materials from the Web as pdfs.

Games: I am a gameaholic so I stay clear of these. I hear good things.

Technical: lots of cool calculators. HP41c (i41cx+), HP16C (prg-16c), Spacetime for a Matlab-lite experience. Ommnigraffle is desktop-compatible, time management tools abound,

Web: to most this is its only purpose, to me it is almost an afterthought. But I moved my mail service onto Google to get multiplatform web access instead of relying on one machine I did not carry with me. Flash is the only thing missing, but I find Flash to be really high maintainance and it injects instabilities.

And iOS4 gets past the need to reboot each app when you switch to them. VNC stays connected when I switch to ssh or Safari.

]]> Comment on Weighing in on the iPad by Sara K-M http://arielneff.com/personal/weighing-in-on-the-ipad/comment-page-1/#comment-28 Sara K-M Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:24:19 +0000 http://arielneff.com/?p=74#comment-28 I've been playing with my new (also free!) iPad a lot this week; we're looking at piloting them with high school students next year. I, too, love it and hate it--though the balance is beginning to tips more towards love. I'm working on a blog post of my own about is, as soon as I can turn my rambling thoughts into coherent sentences. The biggest struggle I'm having--particularly as someone who's not used to using iTunes to sync my entire life--is that I feel like I don't know where my "stuff" is. I use a lot of cloud-based services on my desktop and laptop (and netbook, etc.--moving between so many different work spaces makes the cloud a necessity), but I'm used to being able to see and manipulate my files in a more transparent way. It's a learning curve for me, definitely, but I'm adapting--and having fun with it! I’ve been playing with my new (also free!) iPad a lot this week; we’re looking at piloting them with high school students next year. I, too, love it and hate it–though the balance is beginning to tips more towards love. I’m working on a blog post of my own about is, as soon as I can turn my rambling thoughts into coherent sentences.
The biggest struggle I’m having–particularly as someone who’s not used to using iTunes to sync my entire life–is that I feel like I don’t know where my “stuff” is. I use a lot of cloud-based services on my desktop and laptop (and netbook, etc.–moving between so many different work spaces makes the cloud a necessity), but I’m used to being able to see and manipulate my files in a more transparent way. It’s a learning curve for me, definitely, but I’m adapting–and having fun with it!

]]> Comment on Letting It All Hang Out: OpenSciNY by Jean-Claude Bradley http://arielneff.com/science_librarianship/letting-it-all-hang-out-opensciny/comment-page-1/#comment-2 Jean-Claude Bradley Tue, 18 May 2010 11:54:27 +0000 http://arielneff.com/?p=27#comment-2 Ariel - thanks for the thoughtful review of the conference and my presentation! I'm glad that the remote participation worked out. You mention the importance of teaching students how to find and evaluate chemical information. I think that the current educational process teaches them to "look up facts" and many find it frustrating that finding even simple chemical properties can be really difficult. Ultimately they have to become comfortable with managing ambiguity. Ariel – thanks for the thoughtful review of the conference and my presentation! I’m glad that the remote participation worked out.

You mention the importance of teaching students how to find and evaluate chemical information. I think that the current educational process teaches them to “look up facts” and many find it frustrating that finding even simple chemical properties can be really difficult. Ultimately they have to become comfortable with managing ambiguity.

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