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	<title>centresource blog &#187; Nicholas Holland</title>
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	<link>http://blog.centresource.com</link>
	<description>the thoughts and ramblings of centresource</description>
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		<title>I&#8217;m famous!</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/10/13/im-famous/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=im-famous</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/10/13/im-famous/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:01:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone OS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/?p=3753</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just a quick note that VentureBeat quoted me in regards to FourSquare&#8217;s new RADAR feature. Long story short, geo-fenced tips/notifications are cool if they are &#8220;opt in&#8221;. If they herald the beginning of geo-advertising alerts, I think it could hurt the platform (anyone remember Facebook&#8217;s Beacon fiasco?). You can read the article on VentureBeat.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just a quick note that VentureBeat quoted me in regards to FourSquare&#8217;s new RADAR feature. Long story short, geo-fenced tips/notifications are cool if they are &#8220;opt in&#8221;. If they herald the beginning of geo-advertising alerts, I think it could hurt the platform (anyone remember Facebook&#8217;s Beacon fiasco?).</p>
<p>You <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/12/foursquare-radar-ios-5/">can read the article</a> on VentureBeat.</p>
<p><a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/12/foursquare-radar-ios-5/"><img src="http://blog.centresource.com/content/uploads/2011/10/venture-beat-300x66.jpg" alt="" title="venture-beat" width="300" height="66" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3756" /></a></p>
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		<title>Nobody is above Hard Work</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/09/02/nobody-is-above-hard-work/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=nobody-is-above-hard-work</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/09/02/nobody-is-above-hard-work/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:30:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miscellaneous]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/?p=3505</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m a mentor at JumpStart Foundry and a few weeks ago, the RentStuff.com team asked me to give their introduction on the final pitch day. The Entrepreneur Center, diligent in their mission to promote business, asked that all mentors practice their introductions in front of a panel of judges. Let&#8217;s just say my session didn&#8217;t...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m a mentor at JumpStart Foundry and a few weeks ago, the <a href="http://www.rentstuff.com">RentStuff.com</a> team asked me to give their introduction on the final pitch day. The <a href="http://entrepreneurcenter.com">Entrepreneur Center</a>, diligent in their mission to promote business, asked that all mentors practice their introductions in front of a panel of judges.  Let&#8217;s just say my session didn&#8217;t go well&#8230; and I had to blog about it for the JSF program :)  See what happened:</p>
<p><a href="http://jumpstartfoundry.com/2011/09/01/nobody-is-above-hard-work/" target="_blank">http://jumpstartfoundry.com/2011/09/01/nobody-is-above-hard-work/</a></p>
<p>NLH</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Mobile App or Mobile Site?</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/08/16/mobile-app-or-mobile-site/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=mobile-app-or-mobile-site</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/08/16/mobile-app-or-mobile-site/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:00:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[infographic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone OS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mobile]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/?p=3454</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[App vs Site is synonymous with Apple vs Google &#8211; there is no clear winner and they each have compelling points. However, in today&#8217;s &#8216;Smart Phone&#8217; frenzied environment, many organizations want an App strictly because their competitor has one&#8230; or so they can show it off to their friends. Instead of blindly spending money to...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>App vs Site is synonymous with Apple vs Google &#8211; there is no clear winner and they each have compelling points. However, in today&#8217;s &#8216;Smart Phone&#8217; frenzied environment, many organizations want an App strictly because their competitor has one&#8230; or so they can show it off to their friends. Instead of blindly spending money to catch the mobile tsunami, take a moment to absorb this awesome infographic and ponder which is really better for your USERS (yes, not you&#8230; your users).</p>
<hr />
<a href="http://blog.centresource.com/content/uploads/2011/08/mobile-app-business-lg.jpg"><img src="http://blog.centresource.com/content/uploads/2011/08/mobile-app-business-lg-459x1024.jpg" alt="Mobile App vs Mobile Site [INFOGRAPHIC]" title="mobile-app-v-site-infographic" width="459" height="1024" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-3455" /></a></p>
<p><em>See full size <a href="http://blog.centresource.com/content/uploads/2011/08/mobile-app-business-lg.jpg">image here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Thanks to <a href="http://blog.buysellads.com/2011/05/the-app-option-does-your-business-need-one/">BuySellAds</a> for the great info.</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Why won&#8217;t iPad owners shut up about how awesome it is??? [Analysis]</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/05/20/why-wont-ipad-owners-shut-up-about-how-awesome-it-is-analysis/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=why-wont-ipad-owners-shut-up-about-how-awesome-it-is-analysis</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2011/05/20/why-wont-ipad-owners-shut-up-about-how-awesome-it-is-analysis/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 May 2011 16:32:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interactive Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hardware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone OS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Usability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/?p=3161</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Business Insider surveyed 850 readers to deep dive iPad usage, its effect on other devices, and how people view tablets in a world of iPad domination. You can view the entire article here. Here is my analysis of the results &#038; how they represent larger trends in the industry: * 30% of iPad owners have...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Business Insider surveyed 850 readers to deep dive iPad usage, its effect on other devices, and how people view tablets in a world of iPad domination.  You can view the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/how-people-really-use-the-ipad/238945">entire article here</a>.</p>
<p>Here is my analysis of the results &#038; how they represent larger trends in the industry:</p>
<p>* 30% of iPad owners have <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/024644_02BI.jpg">purchased 1 or more additional iPads</a></p>
<p><em>Most likely, this represents the &#8216;me too&#8217; factor that may occur in multi-person households.  Once a person gets an iPad, other household members want a device for themselves.  It could also represent a desire for more ubiquitous access throughout the house.  I believe this trend will continue</em></p>
<p>* 60% of iPad owners see their usage <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/024702_04BI.jpg">continuing to increase</a></p>
<p><em>As of early 2011, only 5% of the US population owned a tablet &#038; many forget the iPad is only 1.5 years old.  The entire ecosystem will continue to mature as participants find new &#038; innovative ways to use the device.  I believe this trend will continue for another 2-3 years before leveling off.</em></p>
<p>* 40% of iPad owners now use it <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/024758_05BI.jpg">as their primary computing device</a></p>
<p><em>The majority of consumers spend their &#8216;off time&#8217; focused on Web browsing, email, social media, and games &#8211; statistics that hold up even on personal computing devices.  Given how well the iPad handles these categories, it isn&#8217;t surprising that many are using it as their primary computing device.  I believe this trend will continue as tablets increase their capabilities &#038; the population becomes more comfortable with touch-typing.</em></p>
<p>* Information consumption <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/024806_06BI.jpg">(web browsing, social media, email, watching video)</a> accounts for approximately 69% of usage</p>
<p><em>The vast majority of Americans can read &#038; earn enough income to have &#8216;free time&#8217; for social interactions and entertainment consumption.  Reading, Listening, and Video Watching are natural behaviors that occurred before the tablet and will continue on a variety of mediums.  The capabilities and portability of the iPad simply help Americans do more of what they already did.  I expect this usage trend to remain stable or possibly decrease as users become accustomed to using the iPad for more complex tasks.</em></p>
<p>* 88% of owners have <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/024829_09BI.jpg">downloaded 10 or more apps</a>. 29.2% have downloaded over 50!</p>
<p><em>The Apple AppStore is a phenomenon unto itself &#8211; something that isn&#8217;t tablet or device specific.  What is incredible is that the iPhone and iPad are training millions of people on how to explore &#038; acquire software.  This paradigm shift will have profound impact on the general computing markets as is already represented by the Mac AppStore and <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore">Chrome Web Store</a>.  <a href="https://market.android.com">Amazon has entered</a> the frey and Microsoft is <a href="http://www.winrumors.com/windows-8-windows-app-store-screenshots-leak/">rumored to be creating an App Store</a> for their next Windows release.  I expect this trend to continue &#038; effectively kill every other software sales channel.</em></p>
<p>* 94% of people have <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/024839_10BI.jpg">paid for at least 1 app</a></p>
<p><em>This is an extension of the previous point &#038; represents an incredible long term opportunity for software developers.  Nearly every iPad owner has entered their credit card information into iTunes and purchased an app &#8211; an initiation that will have long term effects on future purchases.  ECommerce experts recognize that the initial point of purchase is the hardest hurdle to overcome &#038; the iPad (iPhone too) is training millions of owners to become repeat customers. I expect this trend to continue, yet the battle for mindshare is just beginning.  It is possible that most users will have 5-6 primary sources for software and I believe most smaller players will be negatively impacted.  I also believe that in a few years, users will grow annoyed with single ecosystem lock-in and Amazon may find themselves in a good position.</em></p>
<p>* For news heavy sites, consumption is <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/024926_12BI.jpg">almost perfectly even</a> between Web, Aggregator, and App Specific Consumption.</p>
<p><em>This statistic touches on news, but I believe it represents a much larger trend affecting most businesses.  Users increasingly expect information to be available on the web, accessible by their favorite aggregators, and through deeper experience apps.  While the latter may not apply to all organizations, the first 2 almost certainly do.  The irony is that many organizations barely have their website strategy together &#038; tablet/mobile form factors are rarely considered.  This presents a unique window of opportunity for some to cater to the growing mobile/tablet market as a way to differentiate from their competition.</em></p>
<p>* 10% of the iPad owners also have a Macbook Air, yet <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/025039_16BI.jpg">only 10% of those say it reduced</a> their iPad Usage.  In fact, 73.8% of people believe that a Macbook Air purchase decision <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/025047_17BI.jpg">has no relation to iPad</a>.</p>
<p><em>Some device manufacturers believe that the primary allure of tablets is their form factor and battery life.  This &#8216;device specification&#8217; centric view is leading many manufacturers to <a href="http://www.laptopthoughts.com/news/show/108728/new-acer-laptop-to-be-slim-and-trim.html">make ultra portable laptops</a> as a way to compete with the disruptive tablet growth.  Ironically, I think the survey results show that the tablet represents a lot more than a form factor &#8211; it is a complete shift in human to device interaction.  Thus, even the beautiful Macbook Air doesn&#8217;t replace the iPad.  On the flip side, I believe that tablets and laptops will continue to exist side by side and that many users will determine that both are equally valuable in the right context.  This trend will continue as the prices drop for both tablets, smartphones, and laptops&#8230; users will learn to use all three in their ideal contexts.</em></p>
<p>* 87.4% of people <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/025237_23BI.jpg">never even considered an Android</a> device before buying the iPad.  Further, 79.5% continue to say that they <a href="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/easel/images/galleries/025254_24BI.jpg">wouldn&#8217;t even consider Android</a> for their next purchase, still wanting an iPad.</p>
<p><em>Being first doesn&#8217;t mean you win, but it does mean that its your game to lose.  Apple has done a fantastic job of not only creating remarkable devices, but also creating an ecosystem that holds it all together.  Moreover, Apple doesn&#8217;t have to be the largest to continue to win.  Android has already surpassed Apple in the smartphone market, but that hasn&#8217;t negatively impacted their profit margins or growth.  If you examine Apple&#8217;s computer line, you&#8217;ll recognize that while small &#8211; it is still very profitable when compared to larger manufacturers like Acer.  I expect Android tablets to take off in 2012, but Apple&#8217;s first mover status will ensure a long, profitable life for the iPad &#038; its owners.</em></p>
<p>Share your thoughts (even if you disagree) &#8211; these are fascinating times we&#8217;re living in!</p>
<p>NLH</p>
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		<title>My favorite iPad Apps</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/06/10/my-favorite-ipad-apps/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=my-favorite-ipad-apps</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/06/10/my-favorite-ipad-apps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:22:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evernote]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhone OS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miscellaneous]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mobile-apps]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/2010/06/10/my-favorite-ipad-apps/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After a few months with the iPad, I've settled upon my favorite apps (thus far). I could go into deep detail as to WHY I like each of these, but I decided to save you the preaching.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After a few months with the iPad, I&#8217;ve settled upon my favorite apps (thus far). I could go into deep detail as to WHY I like each of these, but I decided to save you the preaching. However, you should always remember that the value of many apps is how well you learn them &amp; incorporate their value into your work flow. The best example: Evernote. You either get it (and love it) or you don&#8217;t &#8211; kinda simple. So, without further adieu, here&#8217;s my list:<span id="more-1849"></span></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Evernote:</strong> Its more than an iPad app, its a fantastic note management system. Almost like my second brain. Great for receipts, ideas, passwords, random info that&#8217;s important but has no place, etc.</li>
<li><strong>Penultimate:</strong> Great hand-writing app for notes.</li>
<li><strong>IM+:</strong> Great app for instant messaging across AOL, Yahoo, MSN, GTalk, Facebook, Skype, Twitter with Push Notifications</li>
<li><strong>ToDo:</strong> Great daily planner that integrates with the site, <a href="http://www.Toodledo.com">www.Toodledo.com</a></li>
<li><strong>1000 Experiences:</strong> Neat travel-idea app from Lonely Planet</li>
<li><strong>iWork Apps (Keynote/Pages/Numbers):</strong> Good apps to run/edit Powerpoint, Word Docs, and Spreadsheets. Keynote also outputs to VGA</li>
<li><strong>ArtStudio:</strong> Nice if you like drawing</li>
<li><strong>WebMD:</strong> Beautiful app to help you become a hypochondriac :)</li>
<li><strong>Pulse:</strong> Beautiful RSS reader, but only as good as the RSS feeds you read. If you read mostly commercial feeds, then it isn&#8217;t as great because commercial places really limit the amount of data they&#8217;ll share in a feed</li>
<li><strong>Wikipanion:</strong> Nice Free app for searching Wikipedia</li>
<li><strong>Amazon:</strong> My fav place to shop and the iPad app makes the experience smooth as silk</li>
<li><strong>Goodreader:</strong> Nice app that connects to your mail server and lots of other services for mobile file access. It can read PDF (but so can iBook) and many other file formats. I combine &#8216;Dropbox&#8217; and Goodreader as my main method for reading lots of files/docs on my iPad.</li>
</ol>
<p>And yes, I play games too &#8211; but mostly 2 player with my wife :) The most fun 2 player games (for me) are:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>WTD:</strong> Awesome &#8216;Whats the Difference&#8217; game</li>
<li><strong>Harbor Master:</strong> Absolutely crazy when you&#8217;re playing with two people</li>
<li><strong>Word Slam:</strong> Fun, but super intense. I start sweating when I play.</li>
<li><strong>FriendSheep:</strong> At first I thought it was lame, but its actually hilarious when you actually play. Moreover, its physically exhausting :)</li>
<li><strong>CheckersHD:</strong> Basic but fun. I like the fact that it enforces the &#8216;Force Jump&#8217; rule</li>
<li><strong>Air Hockey:</strong> The board is a little short, but definitely fun.</li>
</ol>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>When few support the many&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/06/08/when-few-support-the-many/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=when-few-support-the-many</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/06/08/when-few-support-the-many/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:32:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/2010/06/08/when-few-support-the-many/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of my team mates, Will Acuff, shared one of the best 'fundraising' pitches I've heard in a long time - and it comes from NPR no less.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of my team mates, <a href="http://blog.centresource.com/author/wacuff/">Will Acuff</a>, shared one of the best &#8216;fundraising&#8217; pitches I&#8217;ve heard in a long time &#8211; and it comes from NPR no less. Its effectiveness isn&#8217;t so much about &#8216;why&#8217; you should give, but more about the shameful nature of selfishness when it comes to the internet. We, as avid internet users, enjoy so much and pay so little. Music, Movies, News, etc &#8211; all enjoyed for hours &amp; only paid for on the backs of so few.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a great part&#8230;</p>
<blockquote style="border-left:solid 1px #ccc; padding-left:1em;"><p>&#8220;I just want to be frank this week&#8230; you don&#8217;t have to give. 93% of you hear me ask for donations and you get the podcast week after week and you never give&#8230; and if you don&#8217;t give this time, I&#8217;m not going to pretend, nothing bad will happen. The podcast is going to be here next week, someone else will give. That is the rational, truthful fact of the situation&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-1838"></span></p>
<p>And it continues with more frank, thought-provoking comments. Ultimately, they need to cover the cost of what everyone is enjoying. It even says that $5 will cover your share of the entire year&#8230; </p>
<p>Whether you&#8217;re a consumer of content OR a content creator, I strongly recommend you listen: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/all/play_music/play_full.php?play=102">http://www.thisamericanlife.org/sites/all/play_music/play_full.php?play=102</a></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10px;"><a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a>  from <a href="http://nicholasholland.posterous.com/when-few-support-the-many">The Word of Holland</a></span></p>
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		<title>CentreSource sets future trends &#124; Smashing Magazine</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/05/05/centresource-sets-future-trends-smashing-magazine/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=centresource-sets-future-trends-smashing-magazine</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/05/05/centresource-sets-future-trends-smashing-magazine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 May 2010 15:56:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[awards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Usability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web design]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/?p=1718</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Jason O&#8217;Brien created http://BountyBev.com, he did it as a labor of love &#038; it shows his passion for beautiful design &#038; layout. Well, it seems that Smashing Magazine also agrees &#8211; they feature his design as one of the design trends of 2010 (Design For Delight). Check it out!]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When Jason O&#8217;Brien created <a href="http://BountyBev.com">http://BountyBev.com</a>, he did it as a labor of love &#038; it shows his passion for beautiful design &#038; layout.  Well, it seems that Smashing Magazine also agrees &#8211; they feature his design as one of the design trends of 2010 (Design For Delight).  <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/05/04/web-design-trends-2010/">Check it out</a>!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>iPad: The first 72 hours</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/04/25/ipad-the-first-72-hours/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=ipad-the-first-72-hours</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/04/25/ipad-the-first-72-hours/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:49:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miscellaneous]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/2010/04/25/ipad-the-first-72-hours/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I decided to purchase the iPad as my travel companion in anticipation of a conference I had to attend in Chicago. I don&#8217;t own an iPhone (still love my Blackberry Curve), but I do own an iPod Touch and a Mac (converted from Windows 2 years ago). Thus, I&#8217;m not an Apple Zealot but I...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I decided to purchase the iPad as my travel companion in anticipation of a conference I had to attend in Chicago. I don&#8217;t own an iPhone (still love my Blackberry Curve), but I do own an iPod Touch and a Mac (converted from Windows 2 years ago). Thus, I&#8217;m not an Apple Zealot but I do appreciate gadgets and technology.</p>
<p>After HEAVY usage over the past 72 hours, here are my thoughts:<br />
<span id="more-1683"></span><strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Setting up the iPad for my Trip</strong><br />
Since I already have an iPod Touch, it was easy for me to load up the iPad with fresh content in preparation for my trip. I loaded up a series of Video Podcasts, 3 movies (Lord of the Rings, of course), and my music. Basically, I treated it like an iPod/iPhone &#8211; so the learning curve was non-existent if you already have one of them. If you don&#8217;t, then you&#8217;ll need to get familiar with iTunes.</p>
<p><strong>Quick Primer from a Veteran</strong><br />
The App Store has thousands of Apps, but many aren&#8217;t iPad ready yet. Following the advice of some friends (thanks Chip), combined with some personal exploration, I found a lot of great apps to get me started (all listed below). For purposes of this post, I outlined the ones that were most important on my trip.</p>
<p><em>[Most Important]</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Mail (Included with iPad): Email Program</li>
<li>Evernote (Free): Personal Life Organizer</li>
<li>Netflix (Free App, Requires Monthly Plan): Watch Movies Instantly Over the Internet</li>
<li>IM+ ($9.99): Messenger program (AOL, Yahoo, MSN, Skype, GTalk, Facebook, Twitter, etc)</li>
<li>Adobe Ideas (Free): Screen drawing</li>
<li>Good Reader ($0.99): File Access Program (Dropbox, Google Docs, FTP, iDisk, etc.)</li>
<li>Naturescape (Free): Background noise for sleep</li>
<li>WTD (Free): Fun game that is often played in Bars to locate &#8216; Whats the Difference&#8217;</li>
</ul>
<p><em>[Fun to Have]</em></p>
<ul>
<li>NPR, USA Today, BBC News, ABC Video, Pandora Music, Epicurious, Wikipanion, The Weather Channel, Dragon Dictation, IMDb, WTD, Pages, Harbor Master, Virtuoso Free (Keyboard)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>My first &#8216;Ah-ha&#8217; Moment</strong><br />
Like any new kid with a toy, I took the iPad to show off everywhere on the first day. I took the afternoon off and treated my mother to the movies with the iPad in tow. She wasn&#8217;t really impressed (kept saying it was a big iPod) until we were sitting in the theater, waiting for the movie to start and I showed her the game WTD (What&#8217;s the Difference). As we waited for the movie, the iPad&#8217;s beautiful screen allowed us to play WTD and we had a blast. This experience was unique because it wouldn&#8217;t have been a fun game on my phone/iPod and it would be lame to take a laptop to the movies.</p>
<p><strong>Cracking the Hard Case</strong><br />
My wife, much to my dismay, isn&#8217;t a gadget lover &amp; my affairs with various devices often garner me looks ranging from sympathy to disdain :) When I told her I spent $1000 on an iPad, she was shocked. (PS: Don&#8217;t fool yourself, you&#8217;ll spend $1000 by the time you buy accessories and software for the iPad).</p>
<p>However, she&#8217;s already experienced her first unique &#8216;Ah-ha&#8217; moment with the iPad. Each morning, she gets up and goes to the computer (downstairs) or boots up the laptop in the bedroom (it won&#8217;t properly sleep, so I know it could be a little easier). With the iPad, she can now run The Weather Channel app and instantly gets the weather, including hourly breakdowns. The Apps interface is fantastic &amp; since it remembers our location, much better than going to a website. There&#8217;s hope she&#8217;ll finally approve.</p>
<p><strong>At the Airport</strong><br />
So the day of the trip arrives, and I can&#8217;t bring myself to part with my laptop &#8211; so I bring it with me as a backup to the iPad. In security, I had to put the iPad in a bin with the laptop (so they could scan it) which I found interesting &#8211; they&#8217;re treating it more like a laptop than a phone.</p>
<p>When I get to my seat, I run into a problem &#8211; no internet. For my WiFi only iPad, this would become a common theme for me, so I highly RECOMMEND getting the 3G version if you can afford the monthly coverage. But I digress&#8230;</p>
<p>Luckily, Boingo has an iPhone app that is really awesome. In the past, I thought Boingo was a rip off. To use the internet for an hour before my flight, I had to pay $7.95 for an entire month? Well, they&#8217;ve solved the problem &#8211; now, I can buy a single hour for $1.99. This gives me a price point that made it awesome to use the internet for 1 hour, pay a great price, and feel good about the experience (plus, they actually give you 1 hour for free).</p>
<p>Needless to say, web surfing &amp; handling email is awesome on the iPad, so I won&#8217;t bore you with the user experience details.</p>
<p><strong>On the Plane</strong><br />
Without internet on the plane, the iPad becomes a lot less useful as a work device &#8211; especially when all of my work applications are web based. So, I switched over to entertainment mode. I watched all of my Video Podcasts and actually learned about an awesome team-building exercise called the Marshmallow Challenge (<a href="http://www.marshmallowchallenge.com">http://www.marshmallowchallenge.com</a>) from a TED Talk. To make sure I didn&#8217;t forget to try it out in the future, I opened up Evernote and made a quick note that would Sync back with the service when I got WiFi again (thus making it available to all of my other devices in the future).</p>
<p><em>Note: I could have done all of this with my iPod Touch, but watching the Video Podcasts is better on a larger screen.</em></p>
<p><strong>At the Hotel, First Night</strong><br />
I arrived the night before the conference &amp; after settling in for the night, I turned on the hotel TV. Nothing good was showing, even on HBO. So, I opened up Netflix on my iPad and watched one of the suggested movies that I knew my wife wouldn&#8217;t watch with me at home :) As I laid in bed, I realized I was comfortably watching a full movie on a great screen without my hands (thanks to the innovative Apple Case). More important, I didn&#8217;t spend any money renting a movie from their movie service ($9.99 a movie!!!).</p>
<p><strong>Trying to Sleep</strong><br />
No matter how nice a hotel, you can still hear people in the hallways. To solve this problem, I typically leave the TV on. Unfortunately, this leads to me waking up multiple times in the night if the TV programming becomes too loud or if the glow of the screen stirs me from sleep. After I got done watching Netflix, I noticed an App I originally had on my iPod called Naturescape. Its a background sound application that I originally got to help my 1 year old sleep (plugged into speakers via my iPod). I decided to try it out with the iPad (which has external speakers) and it was awesome &#8211; I drifted off to sleep and slept the entire night.</p>
<p><strong>Conference Day, Portability</strong><br />
As I suspected, the size made it very easy to take into my meetings without anyone noticing &#8211; it looks just like a notepad if you have it in a case. I was surprised at how liberating it felt to not carry a laptop bag around all day. Until you use one, you can&#8217;t fully appreciate this. Also, using my iPad helped me recognize three things about myself as a laptop user:</p>
<ol>
<li>Having a laptop screen &#8216;up&#8217; actually makes meeting someone feel less personal since part of their profile is blocked (and its worse if you both have one up).</li>
<li>I never realized how loud people (including) myself type until you&#8217;ve been working on an iPad where typing is silent. This was very apparent in some of the breakout sessions.</li>
<li>When you own a laptop, you let it dictate where you sit. Other attendees wanted to sit near a power source &amp; always had to have a table/flat surface. The iPad allowed me to sit anywhere and comfortably work in any position. While I know I could keep a laptop in my lap, I don&#8217;t really like how hot my MacBook makes my legs, especially when I&#8217;m already wearing a sports coat :)</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Actually doing work</strong></p>
<p><em>Email &amp; Contacts</em><br />
As the CEO of CentreSource, my computing needs revolve around communications. I&#8217;m a heavy email user &amp; I can honestly say that &#8217;Mail&#8217; (default mail program on the iPad) worked great. After I got a little help (thanks Chip, again), I got the iPad to talk with our Google Apps account (similar to Exchange) and it gave me access to all of my email and contacts. Using the mail App was fast, easy, and the push notifications (alerts you about new mail without having the App open) kept me from checking my email obsessively (as I do on my laptop).</p>
<p><em>Instant Messaging, Social Networks</em><br />
Next, I have to keep in touch with my staff, family, and friends. I downloaded a program called IM+ and it is the best chat program I&#8217;ve ever used &#8211; even better than the ones I&#8217;ve used on my laptop. I really appreciated having my AOL, MSN, Yahoo, GTalk, Skype, Facebook, and Twitter contacts all in one place. This ultimately made Twitterific (another App) irrelevant AND it makes me much more likely to chat with people on Facebook. Note: The App was a little buggy, so I&#8217;m hoping future versions add more stability. If they ever add Blackberry Messenger, I&#8217;ll die and go to heaven.</p>
<p><em>Screen Capture + Markup</em><br />
Next, someone needed me to review some creative work for a client campaign &amp; it quickly became difficult for me to communicate the changes I wanted made. To help the conversation, I took a sceenshot of the webpage (Press HOME+POWER at the same time) and then opened up the image in the App Adobe Ideas. I then used my finger to markup the image, followed by 2 taps to email the markup to my staff. I can&#8217;t even do that easily on my laptop.</p>
<p><em>Information Handling</em><br />
I could spend forever writing the virtues of Evernote, but for this post &#8211; I&#8217;ll simply say that taking notes on Evernote via the iPad was awesome. In each conference session, I took notes in the iPad Evernote app + then immediately sent them to our group. Moreover, it was nice that Evernote was continuously sync&#8217;ing in the background (thus making it available on my other computers &amp; phone) instantly. Specific to the iPad, there was a point where I saw an interesting logo layout &amp; decided to draw it on my iPad for later reference via Evernote. (Very specific to my need, but shows that my &#8216;use cases&#8217; were already expanding to include hand drawn notes)</p>
<p>For file access, I used a program called GoodReader &amp; it gave me access to my Google Docs, all my Email Attachments, Dropbox (cloud file storage), and my local home computers. It lets you read a large number of file types &amp; it magically integrates with my other iPad apps - thus giving you access to files across the entire iPad experience.</p>
<p><strong>Battery Life</strong><br />
It&#8217;s one thing to hear that a device has an 11+ hour battery life, but its far more impactful to actually experience it. It was amazing to leave the room at 8am with only my iPad, use it heavily ALL day (I&#8217;m not kidding, I was using it 90% of the time), and have 30% battery left when I ended the day at 6pm. No cords, no plugs, no worries.</p>
<p><strong>Writing my Review</strong><br />
Now that 72 hours is up, I decided to write this review and it brings me to 2 negative points:</p>
<ol>
<li>Typing on the iPad is rough &#8211; it gets better/easier, but don&#8217;t fool yourself if you think you&#8217;ll be burning up the keyboard. I&#8217;m probably 50% slower typing on it with LOTS of typos :) However, I bought the optional bluetooth keyboard &amp; if you can get past people asking you why you don&#8217;t just use a laptop, its actually a great experience to use the wireless keyboard for larger bodies of text (like this)</li>
<li>Without Internet, the device becomes a lot less valuable to a power user or business traveler (in my opinion). If you plan on using it heavily, take my advice and get the 3G model &#8211; it will make your experience so much better.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>One last thing</strong><br />
For Business users, I was amazed that the iPad already has a Citrix App, a GoToMeeting App, Exchange Integration (from the latest iPhone OS), and a very functional office suite: Pages (word processing), Keynote (Powerpoint), and Numbers (spreadsheet).</p>
<p>Many of the apps on the iPad are still very buggy &#8211; I think my iPod Touch has crashed maybe once in its entire life, but I can get the iPad Apps to crash 4-5 times a day (especially Evernote &amp; Netflix)</p>
<p>Hope you enjoyed :)</p>
<p>NLH</p>
<p>Sent from my iPad</p>
<p style="font-size: 10px;"><a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://nicholasholland.posterous.com/ipad-the-first-72-hours">nicholasholland&#8217;s posterous</a></p>
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		<title>Most awesome spam ever!</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/04/09/most-awesome-spam-ever/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=most-awesome-spam-ever</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2010/04/09/most-awesome-spam-ever/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:48:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[awesome spam email fun entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miscellaneous]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/2010/04/09/most-awesome-spam-ever/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As the owner of an Interactive Agency, I feel like I've seen everything on the internet.  Well, today I realized that I can still find myself surprised.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As the owner of an <a href="http://www.centresource.com/">Interactive Agency</a>, I feel like I&#8217;ve seen everything on the internet.  Well, today I realized that I can still find myself surprised :)  While checking my email, I saw a piece of spam &#038; in the short time it took for me to go for the &#8216;spam&#8217; button,  it actually caught my attention.</p>
<p>Instead of explaining why, let me just post the message below and say for the record: I want to encourage Spammers to add more &#8216;stories&#8217; to their messages.  Its not like I can get you to stop, so you might as well entertain me if you&#8217;re going to pollute my inbox.  Plus, it makes me feel like I actually got a little &#8216;personal reading&#8217; in for the day :)</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>Innebago now, and we have to make something out of her.&#8221; &#8220;You&#8217;re so<br />
good-natured, &#8216;Poha,&#8221; said Sahwah.<br />
&#8220;I wish I could like everybody the</p>
<p>way you do.&#8221;<br />
Hinpoha opened<br />
her mouth to reply, but instead uttered a prolonged &#8220;Ow-oo-oo-oo!&#8221;<br />
They were sitting on a log when the above conversation took place,<br />
and Hinpoha had poked her hand into the hollow end. Now she drew it<br />
out hastily and began to<br />
dance around, shaking her hand violently. &#8220;Oh, what is it?&#8221; cried<br />
Sahwah. &#8220;Bees!&#8221;<br />
shrieked Hinpoha. &#8220;Run for your life!&#8221; An angry buzz sounded from the<br />
log and<br />
the bees began crawling out at the end. Hinpoha fled through the<br />
woods with Sahwah close at her heels. By the time they reached camp<br />
Hinpoha&#8217;s hand was swelled all out of shape. It was all she could<br />
do to repress a cry of pain. Nyoda rose<br />
quickly when she took in the situation. &#8220;Get some moist<br />
clay at once,&#8221; she commanded. &#8220;There is some in the woods behind the<br />
shack.&#8221; Sahwah sped after the clay and returned with a large lump.<br />
&#8220;Now you make mud pies until the inflammation is drawn out of your<br />
hand,&#8221;<br />
said Nyoda. Hinpoha dutifully sat down beside Migwan and played in<br />
the clay. After she had rolled it around in her hand awhile it became<br />
a beautiful consistency for modeling, so she began<br />
making statuettes of the different girls. She had a great deal of<br />
aptness in modeling and managed to make her figures resemble somewhat<br />
the girls they<br />
were supposed to represent. She became so absorbed in her new<br />
occupation that she forgot the burning pain in her hand, and<br />
gradually the swelling went down. Sahwah came along to see how she<br />
was feeling and exclaimed in delight at the statuettes. Hinpoha held<br />
up her hand<br />
warningly, for Migwan was asleep. Sahwah promptly fell</p>
<p>to making hand signs of admiration.<br />
Hinpoha laughed at her antics, and falling into<br />
her mood, arrayed her figures in a semicircle on the ground, and<br />
sitting cross-legged behind them, made a gesture to intimate that<br />
they were<br />
for sale</p>
<p>THE END<br />
[Followed by a malicious attachment called Pruning.zip - SWEET] </p>
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		<title>If Architects Had to Work Like Web Designers</title>
		<link>http://blog.centresource.com/2009/09/11/if-architects-had-to-work-like-web-designers-2/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=if-architects-had-to-work-like-web-designers-2</link>
		<comments>http://blog.centresource.com/2009/09/11/if-architects-had-to-work-like-web-designers-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:50:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nicholas Holland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miscellaneous]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.centresource.com/?p=1063</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Chip sent this to our team and I couldn&#8217;t keep myself from sharing it with the world. If a client read this, they&#8217;d instantly say &#8220;I don&#8217;t do that&#8230;&#8221; but in fact, most of them do. Only in the context of a REALLY ridiculous example (like below) does it become clear just how rough web...]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Chip sent this to our team and I couldn&#8217;t keep myself from sharing it with the world.  If a client read this, they&#8217;d instantly say &#8220;I don&#8217;t do that&#8230;&#8221; but in fact, most of them do.  Only in the context of a REALLY ridiculous example (like below) does it become clear just how rough web design can be.  I have my own theories as to why this is (Buy a mac, be a web designer!), but I&#8217;ll save that for another post :)</p>
<p><strong>By: Unknown<br />
January 10, 2002</strong></p>
<p>Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.</p>
<p><span id="more-1063"></span></p>
<p>Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don&#8217;t have nearly enough insulation in them).</p>
<p>As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)</p>
<p>Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.</p>
<p>To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year.</p>
<p>Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.</p>
<p>Please don&#8217;t bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: Get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet. However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.</p>
<p>Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.</p>
<p>While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers.</p>
<p>Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has. I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor&#8217;s house that he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.</p>
<p>Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.</p>
<p>You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can&#8217;t happen very often.</p>
<p>Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.</p>
<p><strong>PS:</strong> My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I&#8217;ve given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can&#8217;t handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect.</p>
<p><strong>PPS:</strong> Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.</p>
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