Technically Speaking

MadCap Software today released Flare V6, and it is pretty cool.

I’m still working on a post to give you the details to help you decide if you should upgrade your existing Flare project to V6 (which I’ve been previewing for about a month), but alas, with work deadlines that post will have to wait until tonight.

So check back tomorrow for my Flare V6 review and upgrade guide!

I’m running for the office of Chapter President in the Intermountain chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. You can see my candidate statement on the IM-STC website.

Wish me luck!

My three year old loves to play outside. About a year ago, we got him a Skuut, but because we lived in a condo, he only rode it once or twice last year.

I loved the Skuut when we bought it because of its all wood design, and the way it teaches young kids to balance on the bike before they are ready to learn to ride a bike. It is a perfect ride for a 2-4 year old, and the seat is adjustable, so it can grow with him.

Since the first of the year, since we are in our new house, Nathaniel has re-discovered his Skuut, and he absolutely loved it for the four or five days he got to use it. Then the wood cracked and the handlebars fell off:

My wife contacted Skuut wondering about replacement parts. The representative had us send some pictures of the problem, and then they wrote back saying they would replace the entire bike for free, including free shipping to our house. What great customer service! It’s refreshing to see a company who cares about (1) their customers and (2) the quality of their products.

Our replacement Skuut arrived yesterday and today my little guy is out riding his heart out again, and loving it. Thanks Skuut for caring about your customers and making this a great experience for us.

If you are looking for a quality bike product for a toddler or pre-schooler, I recommend you check out Skuut. It’s a great product from a great company with fabulous customer service.

Thanks Skuut!

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Please note, Skuut did not ask me to write this review, nor did they know that I had a blog. I chose to write the review because I value companies that have great customer service. I did receive a free Skuut replacement, but only because the previously purchased one was broken–not as compensation for providing any kind of review.

The makers of the iPhone, Apple, today announced a “revolutionary” device: a tablet computer they call iPad. Now, normally I’m a big fan of things Apple. I have an iPod touch (don’t want the service contract or wireless provider of the iPhone), and I love it. So you might be expecting me to be geeking out over this new device. But, not so much.

Here is what we know: the new device will run the iPhone OS (albeit an updated version). The iPad will have an option for unlimited wireless 3G connectivity (again from AT&T) for $30 bucks a month (or a limited plan for around $15 per month). If you don’t want 3G connectivity, you can purchase the non-3G version and just connect over wireless networks.

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and presenter at today’s announcement, says that the iPad is thin and lighter than any netbook. In the $500 to $1000 price space, they are competing against similarly priced netbooks or low-end laptop computers. The iPad also comes with iBook – essentially an e-book reader, which puts iPad in direct competition with devices like Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader.

Essentially, it seems, iBook is a Kindle with the iPhone interface. Apps written for iPhone/iPod touch will run on the iPad, and Apple will roll out new apps (and released a developer’s SDK today so app writers can begin creating apps specifically for the iPad) so you can do word processing, spreadsheet data entry, and more on iPad.

But the question I keep asking myself is, “why?” I mean, Apple has been telling us for years now that smaller was better. Each version of the iMac seemed to get smaller. Each version of the Mac Book Pro got thinner. Apple even rolled out the Mac Book Air, and amazed us with a laptop that can fit in an manila envelope. Then Apple sold us on the iPhone and iPod touch, showing us that we can take the Internet, a bunch of very useful apps, and tons of our data everywhere we go.

Now Apple wants us to believe that bigger is better. Isn’t the iPad essentially an up-sized iPod touch (with optional 3G connectivity)? But are you going to carry the thing around with you wherever you go? That is what I love about my iPod touch–it goes with me everywhere. It is my PDA, it’s my music player, its my e-book reader, my e-mail client, and my portable gaming device all in one. Now Apple wants me to buy an iPad that does all of that, but is just bigger?

It will be interesting to see if iPad takes off like the iPhone did. I’m certainly not going to be standing in line to get one. I’m just not convinced that it will make my life that much better than my iPod already does.

What do you think? Are you geeking out over the iPad? If so, why? If not, are your reasons similar to mine?

Back in 2004 we received a much needed gift: a little red truck named Lassie. Lassie was a 1984 red Toyota pick up truck that got her name because when my in-laws owned her, she was stolen several times, yet every time she came back home (the police found the truck and brought it back). Since she always came back, they named her Lassie.

We’ve used Lassie since then as a second car to our 02 Nissan Sentra. However, due to the pending birth of our third child, we needed something larger than the Sentra. We’ll have three kids 3 and under, and you just can’t fit three car seats in the back of a Sentra. At least if you want both doors to close. Working with my friend Clip Palmer at Just a Car Lot we were able to get a fantastic deal on a 2008 Kia Sedona (pictured below).

That gave us three vehicles for two drivers and a garage that only fits two cars. Plus, Lassie has been having some plumbing trouble lately, and has been leaking oil and brake fluid. (In fact, the brakes have been failing on occasion, like the time I flew past the Walgreen’s drive through window; luckily there were no cars in front of me.)

Thus, we made the decision to support the National Kidney Foundation with a Kidney Cars donation. This is a great program, and I hope that our small donation can help out some people who really need it. So we had to sacrifice Lassie, but it was for a good cause. Click on the link below to learn more about the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Car program.