Buying Your First iPad. My friend Stephanie took me to buy my first Apple product. We went to the Bridgewater store to see the array and get great advice but I bought it at Creative Computing, out of loyalty to the “buy local” effort. The price is the same everywhere.

Now it’s my turn to pay it forward. Here is the advice I’m giving to my cousin, who is on the verge of the purchase. If you think i’m wrong, please raise your hand. I am not an expert. These tips are only “My Best Guess” and I’d welcome your correction.

Prepare. Read the tip sheet from Doug Dixon who IS the real expert, as printed in U.S. 1. Dixon gives his “what gadgets to buy for Christmas talk” tonight (Wednesday, December 4) at the Princeton Public Library.

Find your passwords. Be sure to bring all your IDs and passwords with you. Do you have any kind of Apple ID, for iTunes or anything else? Also any ID you have for your phone bill. You will need these and you don’t want to end up with duplicate IDs.

Here are some things to think about.

Your iPad or tablet can have any of these talents:

Connectivity: Wifi or always on (like a phone). When you have the always on, you can choose to use it (and pay a monthly connectivity fee, like your phone) or not use it. When you buy it with JUST Wifi you can never add the phone network. I bought mine with just WIFI and now I wish I had paid more to have the capability for always on.

Color: Fabulous versus very good. The latest iPad and all the Samsung tablets have LCD color. This might matter if you show off your pictures on your iPad.

Storage. I got the max storage and after 1000s of photos I run out of space and have to take them out of active use and put them “in the cloud.” More storage, more money.

Picture taking ability: the iPad can take excellent pictures in some situations, especially low light, but is a miserable camera in other situations (lots of light). However it’s great for storing and editing pictures.

Apple technology. I think it’s great but it can be tricky to synch things, like pictures, from an Apple product to a PC. I’m still working on that one. Some PC programs look slightly different on an Apple product, Picasa albums for instance shows up as “web albums.” You can get tablets that are NOT Apple based if you don’t like Apple. Only Apple has the dictation program Siri.

Size: they make a mini now.

Age and price : they continue to make the old iPad 2 and they no longer make my iPad 3. The iPad 2 is much cheaper than the new version. If you get the latest version, it takes longer to go obsolete.

Then, the accessories. I am fond of my bulky rubber waffle weave case because it is very protective. I have dropped it and it was unharmed. The standard slim case folds over the screen and sits up on a table. Not necessary if you are using it in your lap. They also sell carriers. I fit mine in my big pocketbook.

You must get Apple Care (24/7 help line for 2 years). They give you 3 months of it. You want it.

You want a screen cover (thin film) and make them put it on.

I bought a $15 keyboard on Amazon that works just as well as the $75 keyboards. I rarely if ever use it, maybe I will take it on a trip where I have real work today. Otherwise I sit at my PC or poke away at the screen keyboard. AND if you get an Apple product you can dictate your manuscript with Siri. I have tried it and it works great. I dictate emails now.

Lessons: Princeton Senior Resource Center has good intro courses, beginner and intermediate, for low cost. Creative Computing charges a heftier price but maybe they are good too. I don’t know. Also available at the library. Definitely worth taking! I had mine for a month before I knew how to turn it really OFF off. I couldn’t figure out why it was using so much power.

Also the guys at Verizon in Princeton Shopping Center are wonderful at helping. Even though you might not have bought your iPad there, if you have a phone from them or a Verizon contract they happily give you tips.

For the best and straight scoop on any kind of gadget, consult Doug Dixon’s latest tip sheet in U.S. 1 or his website, Manifest Technology.

From Bejing, to Princeton — to Alcatraz. The zodiac animals of Chinese artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei enliven the plaza at the Woodrow Wilson School. Soon visitors to Alcatraz will see his art. As in today’s New York Times.

That’s the good arts news from Princeton today. The bad news is that the funds of the Triangle Club have been embezzled to the tune of more than $100,000. Robin Lord will be the attorney for the defense and this is one case I hope she doesn’t win.

Or is it good news that an arts organization could make that much money and it wasn’t missed?

Why is the White doll the good doll?

Faith and Social Justice, , ,

Why is the white doll the good doll? In a study of kindergarten children, both black children and white children chose the white doll as their favorite.

Blacks and whites alike have been programmed since birth to think that whites are better. Black children are taught to be aware of their behavior at all times, because of possible danger, while white kids have the privilege of just being kids.

Tonight (Monday, December 2, at 7:30 p.m.)  I will join Debra Raines, Director of Mission Advancement at the Princeton YWCA, in facilitating another in the series of Continuing Conversations on Race and White Privilege at the Princeton Public Library.

Continuing Conversations on Race and White Privilege are a friendly, safe, confidential opportunity to share ideas and voice concerns. They are planned and facilitated by Not in Our Town Princeton and held on first Mondays, from October through May, in partnership with the Princeton Public Library.
We will consider the particular cases of two men and two women. The  men: George Zimmerman (trigger happy and violent against both blacks and stinneywomen) and George Stinney  (at left, 14, the youngest male executed in the 20th century). Also the case of Eleanor Bumpers (fatally shot in New York in 1984 during an attempted eviction)  and Reneisha McBride (shot by a Detroit man when she knocked on his door in the middle of the night.)
Then we will discuss what you THINK is helping
and what you think is HURTING. What is your role on either side?
All are invited — we meet in one of the conference rooms on the second floor, either the Princeton room or the board room.
(This post first appeared on the Not in Our Town Princeton blog).

random unisons

Best of all, I like the way he tells stories. In “Random Unisons,” the poems of Daniel Harris have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and I’m always eager to find out how they end.

For instance, Class Project,

Imagine their surprise, those four second-grade children grouped
at a classroom table. With a little hand each one grips
the single, fat, foot-long pencil the teacher’s brought today for a project — its yellow shaft almost hid under fists.

At the end —
. . . the kids (grown up), their hands and wrists maybe interlocked
for a fireman’s carry, or other random unison.

Harris puts his writerly technique to saying things that are worth saying, like chronicling the poignant arc of a life. Dancer opens with

His day job? “It’s just blech,” he natters, crap
to pay for his nightlife: work at the barre,
taking class, my lines.” But his feet can’t skip
past his plod on the cold concrete at the store;

The poem follows the man’s performing career, but then his physical powers dwindle so at the end he is a teacher of the next young dancers:

Inheritors, his; from counter or desk
they come, tingling to practice arts of risk.

He talks of death, and love, and common things, like bees, as in Driving Home from Stockton, New Jersey:

All summer we see them: honeybees
under brightest suns toiling, well into dusk;
they scout, tinker with blooms of lavenders,
sunflower, mint — then bear the rich daubs
of nectar back to the common hive.
So too,
these long black nights, workers fix roadways,
in heavy black jackets striped with yellow…

My favorites are the poems of love. They allow a place for imagining.

Though I have heard of Daniel Harris, and his passion for social justice, we have never actually met — except through these poems. I recommend it for bedside table contemplation.

Uncategorized

Two artists, two homes, two days — on Laurel Circle. It’s a Holiday Art Show=Party on Friday, December 6, and Saturday, December 7.

Rhinold Ponder (father of two of my favorite kids, Jamaica and William) is one of the artists, and other is his neighbor Kelly Burke.

charlotte
Singer songwriter Charlotte Kendrick is my new fave. You’ll find out why in a future issue of U.S. 1.

Take these sweet domestic lyrics to “Thank You”

I didn’t sleep that well, neither did you
But I’m the one who gets to take a nap
It never seems to balance out quite right
You pump the gas while I stay warm and read the map

I’m gonna love you when you’re 45
I’m gonna love you when you’re 93
Maybe by then I will be
As good to you as you have been to me

Or this one, from a song called Yellow.

Take a minute, take an easy step back
There’s no secret password, no code to crack
It’s not a race or a contest, but if you’re still keeping score
You will always have less, they will always have more

This Princeton-based singer has a website that links to a nine-song loop from her three albums. Good listening…

For an article I’m doing, I ran across this “risk meter” on the FINRA page. FINRA is the Financial Resources Regulatory Authority. It licenses broker dealers and has excellent cautionary advice for the average investor. Take the “risk meter” test, you might be surprised!

Bayard Rustin: The proof that one truly believes is in action.

Civil Rights historians know that John F. Kennedy was a latecomer to celebrating the March on Washington, and that Lyndon Johnson was the one who accomplished significant civil rights goals. They also know that Bayard Rustin was the unsung hero of the civil rights movement. Finally, now that he is going to receive a posthumous Medal of Freedom, Rustin is getting at least part of his due.

Princeton’s Ann Yasuhara tells how, on several posts at Not in Our Town Princeton.

Get the Facts on Obamacare

health insurance flyer

GET THE FACTS on the Affordable Health Care Act. The Princeton Human Services and Princeton Health Departments are staging a very useful workshop on how to sign up for healthcare coverage — Tuesday, November 26, at 6 p.m., free. Among the sponsors is Not in Our Town, which I work with.

Get your questions answered: Are you eligible? How do you apply? What documentation will you need? How to sign on to the website.

It’s not rocket science but it helps to get advice.

2013-11-21 exec suite

A Mormon in the corner office: Here is a press release about a free event sponsored by the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative — a conversation with Jim Quigley, CEO Emeritus, Deloitte, Touche & Tohmatsu Limited, on November 21, 2013 at 7:00 pm, on the Princeton University campus in Lewis Library 138 (the modern building, near the intersection of Ivy Lane and Washington Road in Princeton). The event will be preceded by a reception from 6:30 – 7:00 pm.

Quigley will be interviewed by Prof. David W. Miller, Director of the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative, on his Mormon perspective on business, leadership, and faith.