Category Archives: geekiness

my loaner ipad

19 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by in gadgets, geekiness, internet, ipad, social media, work

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A week or so ago I was telling my friend Juan (who owns the Vineria San Telmo, one of my top-five fave tapas bars in Sevilla) that I was seriously considering getting an iPad. He’s had one for a couple of years and, in his opinion, thought I’d do better getting a small MacBook Air. And well, I could see his point because an iPad is kind of just a big iPhone, except you can’t make phone calls on it.

BUT… it really would be useful for when I want to visit clients and show them my social media presentations, or their page on my Sevilla Tapas blog. It would easily fit into my handbag and doesn’t weigh much, so I could pretty much always have it with me. I wouldn’t always carry around a small computer, no matter how lightweight. And besides, the MacBook Air costs twice as much as an iPad. But Juan insisted that it was worth it because it was actually a computer, whereas the iPad is, well, just a big iPhone.

BUT… I already have two laptops. And if I have to upgrade at some point, which may actually happen soonish, I’d want a proper laptop with a decent sized screen, not a mini-sized MacBook.

And so I was telling all this to Juan and he suggested that I borrow his iPad for a few days to see if it was actually suited to my needs. What a generous offer! So I picked it up on Saturday (photo was taken outside Juan’s restaurant) and within five minutes I was hooked. I LOVE it. But now that this decision has been made I am suddenly faced with another dilemma, because apparently the iPad3 is coming out in March. So do I wait until March to put myself into debt 600€ or do it now? Will the iPad3 be that much better that it’ll be worth the wait? What if it’s even more expensive? Or maybe I should wait until March and pick up an iPad2 for a song (if possible)?

What should I do? What would you do?

shopped!

30 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in geekiness, photos

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Saw this over at Nag on the Lake … not just the usual photoshopped before & after pics but a link to this article at Wired Science that talks about a new photograph-analyzing tool that tells you just how much a photo has been altered. Had I known about photo altering and air-brushing as a pre-teen, and had I been able to see comparative images like this, I might have been saved much misery and self-loathing.

qr code

25 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in geekiness, internet, iphone, twitter, work

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Imagine my surprise last night while reading Twitter on my iPhone in bed (yeah, I know…) when I came across a tweet from Fiona @Seville_Writer (aka Scribbler in Seville) about just having made a QR-code for herself. What was this? And what was Fiona doing with one of them before me?? She usually comes to me for this sort of info and refers to me as her internet guru.

Of course I had to immediately find out what this was and so I looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered that a QR (or Quick Response) Code is:

…a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols)

An article in Search Engine Land goes into more detail about what a QR Code is and it’s various applications.

So this is the QR Code I just made using this generator which includes my name, phone number, email address, website URL and city location. Pretty cool, eh? And now, like Fiona, I have to figure out what to do next. Though I think the first mystery to solve is how Fiona found out about something so geeky before I did! I am humbled and in awe…

azahar.me

12 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in blogging, geekiness, internet, social media

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How many of you have noticed the change in my blog URL?

The name azahar (pronounced “ah-thaar”) means a lot to me. When I first saw those pretty white flowers and smelled their gorgeous fragrance after moving to Sevilla all those years ago I was transported. Nothing had ever made me feel… like that. I can’t even describe it. Since then every spring I have looked forward to those few weeks when the streets smell heavenly and I feel… like that.

And so azahar became my internet nickname. But when I wanted to start self-hosting the Sevilla Tapas blog I found that the domain name “azahar.com” was taken, so I opted for azahar-sevilla.com. I didn’t know back then that a lot of “taken” domain names were actually bought up for re-sale, and a few weeks ago I noticed that “azahar.com” was for sale for about $500 US. Like, forget about it. And anyhow, it turned out to be a good thing having “seville” in my URL. But then this new option came up! The whole new range of “dot.me” URLs. So I succumbed for this blog because, let’s face it, it’s my most personal blog, really just a daily scrapbook, and what could be more “me” than that.

And so I bring you the new “azahar.me” blog on WordPress. Love it!