Steve Jobs dies - prayer and reflection

This morning I awoke in Malaysia (I am here for a conference) to hear that Steve Jobs, the co founder of the Apple corporation had died during the night at the young age of 56.

I spent some of my quiet time this morning praying for him and for his family.  I would like to encourage you to do the same.  Of course there will be many who are critical of Steve Jobs.  However, in this time of sorrow let's ask God to bring blessing, healing and grace to his wife, children, family, friends and colleauges.

There is little doubt that this man has left an indellible mark on recent history!  I was struck by how much he had achieved in his young life.  In part my decision to 'buy out' some of my time to retun to academic work and consultancy arose out of a journey to use my limited time on earth wisely.

I remember sharing this video (well worth watching!) of Steve Jobs speaking at the Stanford University Graduation with my Forum group and saying that the time has come for me to make some bold choices, even to take a risk, in order to move closer to God's purpose for my life.  And of course the courage to spend your life well begins with choice of how to spend your minutes and your hours.

Watch the video here when you get a chance.

So, I am reminded of the words of the Psalmist:

The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have strength... for they quickly pass, and we fly away... Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90.10,12

May the Lord give you grace to know how to spend your hours and your days.  As Gretchen Ruben said so aptly, "While the days are long, the years are short".

Rich blessing from Malaysia,

Dion

What to do if you get an error 1013 or 1611 when updating your iPhone to OS 4.3

I decided to update my iPhone 4 to iOS 4.3 this morning (mainly because I would like to use the personal hotspot feature).

So, last night I left my Macbook downloading the update and after I got back from the Junior Argus with my kids at lunch time I hooked up my iPhone to my Macbook and let it update. When the update finished I was greeted with a message on my Macbook to say that an unknown error hard occured and my iPhone could not be updated and needed to be restored. However, no matter what I did, each time I restored it with the 4.3 iOS update it would give the same error.

So, this problem is described here. It seems to be related to an Apple update verification server that is problematic (gs.apple.com that is in the 'hosts file located at /private/etc/).

The bad news is that no matter what you do you'll loose your photos, music etc., that has been changed since your last backup or sync with your Mac! My suggestion is that you ALWAYS backup your iOS device before performing a firmware upgrade.

Now, if you have the correct permissions set on your mac there is an easy solution to the 1013 or 1611 error. Just follow these instructions: Method 1 (the easy way)

On a Mac:

* Open Finder

* Hold down COMMAND + SHIFT keys and press 'G'

* Enter "/private/etc/" in the field and press "Go"

* Find "hosts" file in the directory

* Drag the file to your desktop

* Open it in text editor

* Remove the line that has gs.apple.com entirely or put a # at the beginning of it to comment it out

* Save the file

* Drag it back to the /private/etc/ folder.

* You'd need to enter your username and password to authenticate the move

On Windows:

Locate the hosts file in one of the following directories:

Windows 95/98/Me c:\windows\hosts

Windows NT/2000/XP Pro c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Windows XP, Vista, 7 c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

Right click and click on "Open With..." and then click on

"Notepad" on the list.

* Remove the line that has gs.apple.com completely and save the file.

This should work fine but you will lose all music, photos, videos and books

If your permissions are not set correctly on your Mac you will soon discover that you can't save the edit 'hosts' file and copy it back to its original location. It will keep telling you that you do not have the necessary permissions to save the file and move it.

So, if that is the case, here is an alternative solution (it requires a little 'terminal alchemy', but just follow these instructions and it will work like a charm. This was how I managed to do it - which reminds me I must do a disc repair to find out why my permissions are mucked up!). Method 2 (get your Unix geek on!)

Step 1 – Open the Terminal.app

Either by start typing Terminal on the Spotlight, or by going into Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal.

Step 2 – Open the hosts file

Open the hosts by typing on the Terminal that you have just opened:

1

$ sudo nano /private/etc/hosts

Type your user password when prompted. Step 3 – Edit the hosts file

The hosts file contains some comments (lines starting with the # symbol), as well as some default hostname mappings (e.g. 127.0.0.1 – localhost).

Simply append your new mappings underneath the default ones. Or edit one of the default values if you know what you are doing!

You can navigate the file using the arrow keys. Step 4 – Save the hosts file

When done editing the hosts file, press control-o to save the file.

Press enter on the filename prompt, and control-x to exit the editor.

Step 5 – Flush the DNS cache

On Leopard you can issue a simple Terminal command to flush the DNS cache, and have your host file changes to take immediate effect:

1

$ dscacheutil -flushcache

You can now perform your update using the downloaded iOS 4.3 and it will work like a charm!

At last! A squarespace app for the iPad!

I love my squarespace blog!  I love the squarspace platform, and for some time time now I have loved the squarespace iPhone app!

In fact I have done quite a few posts to this blog from my iPhone. However, I need to say that entering long form text on an iPhone is quite frustrating.  I had tried using the iPhone app on my iPad but it just didn't work well.

I was so pleased to learn today that sqaurespace have finally launched a native iPad version of their blogging app!

Like the iPhone version you can add text, apply HTML formatting, upload images, manage posts and comments and check your statistics from the app.  And, using the iPad keyboard (and screen realestate) is fantastic!  I can see myself using it quite a lot.

The only annoying problem that I have encounter with both the iPhone and iPad apps for squarespace is that whenever I upload an image all of my text is LOST!  I have isolted the bug - if I want to upload an image with a post I need to first type out my post and upload only the text, then once it has been uploaded I need to go back to 'manage posts' and edit the post adding the image and republish it.  Then I need to follow that same step again in order to add tags and categories.  It is a little annoying, but it works well for getting my posts on line.

Now if only tumblr would release a native iPad application!!!

Has your 3G iPad stopped working on Vodacom (firmware iOS 4.2.1)?

I've had quite a few people contact me about the problem described above.

It is quite easy to solve. It would seem that with the firmware upgrade the cellular data APN is deleted or changed.

So, all that you need to do is:

1. Go to 'Settings'.
2. Choose 'Cellular Data' on the top left.
3. Select 'APN settings' on the right.
4. Then under the APN heading delete any text that is there and replace it with the word: internet
5. Please notices that internet has a lowercase 'i', simply leave 'Username' and 'Password' blank.
6. Then simply scroll back in the setting menu using the arrows at the top (that saves your settings) and exit settings to the home screen.
7. Now I would suggest that you reset your iPad and it should connect again.

I hope that helps!

Proof at last!

Indeed, there is proof! For the record, I am NOT platform agnostic!

I wonder if we'll be using iChat in heaven!? Thanks to Kevin for sending this through!  He knows that I am both passionate about Christ, and quite passionate about Apple Macs!

Using my Apple iPad for ministry in South Africa

In the short video in this post I show how I use my Apple iPad in my work and ministry.

I got a 16 Gig iPad courtesy of the University of JHB who paid me to examine some Masters and PhD scripts - hard work, but well worth the effort!

I ordered my iPad from Amazon.com (since it is not for sale in South Africa yet). It was a quick and painless affair. FedEx delivered it within a few days.

This is a great piece of hardware, I am particularly impressed with the 10-12 hour battery life with full wifi, screen brightness and sound etc. Moreover at a price of less than R4000 I can see many people using the iPad as a primary computing device.  R4000 is a lot of money!  But, if you're in the market for a new computer and have been saving (or have some benefactor, as I did) then it is money well spent for an ultraportable, ultra-useful computer.  The only problem I can foresee is printing... You will have to email your documents elsewhere to print them.  I have it on good authority that the camera dongle (which has a standard USB connector) will let you pull files from an ordinary USB thumb drive.

Don't hold your breath for the 3G version in South Africa. Knowing ICASA and the cellular carriers it will be many months, maybe even a year, before they can work out a deal to allow it into the country. Plus, I believe the 3G uses the new microsim card which has not been adopted by any cellular providers in SA. Rather go for a wifi version (which is cheaper and works in SA) with either a MiFi or joikuspot on a Nokia phone (as you'll see me using in this video).  With this solution I can use it in the car, anywhere in my office, in the airport... I'm not reliant on public or corporate wifi.

I use a number of applications specific to my work (Bibles in English and Greek, Keynote for Powerpoint presentations, Pages for Word docs and Numbers for spreadsheets). The device is small and light and works great with any bleutooth keyboard (I had an OLD foldable keyboard that I bought back in 2002 for a iPaq - amazingly it picks up the keyboard and works like a charm!)  I keep various talks, sermons, powerpoint presentations and videos on the device.  I also keep PDF copies of my books.  So if ever I get asked to speak at an event I always have something on hand.  The screen is the perfect size to replace paper, and the touch interface makes it a perfect device to read from and preach from.

As I mention above, I also use it for PDF's (I carry quite a few documents for various work and ministry related tasks.  Not the least of which are our current GDOP Conference program, speakers lists, budgets, etc.) and it does a great job with my calendar and contacts.

Of course the email client is also great! I have 4 of my accounts running on it throughout the day. I also run twitter and facebook on the device for the work I do for Lausanne's social media and social networking team.

In this video you'll also see how I connect it to the Internet via Vodacom 3G in South Africa.  Also, because the wifi in our office is locked down to run via a proxy server I set my iPad up to run via my Macbook as a base station with internet sharing (just as a hint, my friend Cois uses a PPoE connection at his office, which the iPad doesn't do via wifi. So, you can use the same internet sharing method to connect via PPoE.  If you're not sure how to do this drop me a line).

iPad for Ministry (in South Africa)! from Dion Forster on Vimeo.

See the video here: http://www.vimeo.com/11324210

By the way, this post was created using the squarespace application on the iPad.  There is no native squarespace app for the iPad, I am still using the iPhone application.  However, I do have the wordpress app for some of my 'other' blogs.  (all iPhone apps run on the iPad by the way).

How do you think you could use an iPad in your work or ministry?  Is there any use case where it could be a better tool than a laptop or desktop computer for you?

Update on Monday, May 17, 2010 at 5:08PM by Dr Dion Forster

A friend contacted me to find out if he should spend the money to get an iPad (he is also a minister).  Here's part of the email that I sent him.  It may help some others in South Africa who are considering this point.

Hi X,

I have the 16gig wifi - if I had the money I would have bought at 32gb, but since mine was paid for with income I got from marking some PhD's and M's for UJ I had to stick to my budget.

I paid the same price [as you quoted], but got it a bit cheaper (the Rand was sitting at R7.32 to the US$ when I bought mine).  However, I did pay close to R1000 in shipping and import duties to be sure to have it in the country legally.

Personally, I think it is worth every cent!  It is my 'go to' device for most tasks (web browsing, email, calendar, book reader, word, powerpoint, logos bible software, my blog apps etc.) You will need to spend a few rand extra to buy the VGA dongle if you want to use it for presentations (I don't have one yet, I use the iPod RCA connector to plug it into my data projector via RCA).

The wifi version is completely useable in SA (see my post http://www.dionforster.com/blog/2010/4/29/using-my-apple-ipad-for-ministry-in-south-africa.html for details on how I connect it to the internet when out of the office).  I have since done away with the Joikuspot E51 option - my 3G contract with MTN expired on the 26th of April so I cancelled it and opened a 3G contract with Nashua and got the mifi as the dongle (it can connect to a PC via USB, or it can be used as a stand alone wifi hotspot).  It is perfect. I leave it in the same little carry case I have for my iPad and have always on internet.

They keyboard is fantastic (I also have an OLD foldable Bluetooth keyboard that I got with my Compaq iPaq almost 10 years ago! It works like a charm - in fact any bleutooth keyboard works), but real deal clincher is the battery life.  They advertise 10 hours, but I most often get up to 12 hours of constant use with the wifi enabled.  It just goes on and on and on.

It is a great device to 'preach' from (I bring my documents in via word into 'pages', or via PDF into dropbox or goodreader).  I use skype (of course only voice is possible since there is no camera).  I also use it with the Kindle app and iBooks (I'm currently reading Malcolm Gladwell's new book What the dog saw and Brian Mclaren's A new kind of Christianity)- then of course it is a fantastic iPod and the Video on it is amazing!  I often use it in coaching sessions to show short videos to the persons I'm sitting with, somehow it is less intimidating than a notebook for that.  if you look on my blog you'll see the video 'how to start a movement' which is one I often show when I'm trying to help leaders to care for their staff.

NOW, that being said, I have wondered over the last little while whether it may not in fact be better to buy a great little netbook that has USB ports, a dedicated keyboard, a camera for skype and Windows with all the apps one already owns...  For a Windows user that may be an option.  I am quite committed to Mac so the iPad suites my habits and patterns nicely.

What don't I like about it.  First, it draws too much attention.  As a minister (even one like me in the corporate environment) that feels uneasy!  You'll know what I mean!  I constantly find myself justifying to people that it only cost 'R3500'...  Second, I miss being able to get media on and off via USB.  The only way to get stuff on and off is via iTunes sync, or wifi and dropbox.  Also, it is a pain that it doesn't do true multitasking.  For exmaple, if you're on a skype call you can't go out to check something in your diary or check a contact, if you exit skype it cuts the call.  Small problems, but still not great.

I hope that helps you in making your decision.

Blessings,

Dion

Update on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 9:45PM by Dr Dion Forster

How to convert your regular Vodacom or MTN sim card for use in an iPad (pictures and a video on how to cut it).  Please see this follow up post:  http://www.dionforster.com/blog/2010/10/3/ipad-in-south-africa-vodacom-and-mtn-3g-sim-card-conversion.html

The first Apple iPad in South Africa! (Perhaps?)

The 1st Apple iPad in South Africa (perhaps!) This is my friend Cois' iPad. I'm sorry that the video is taken sideways (and upside down!) please tilt your head ;-)  It could be user error... It's the first time that I've taken a video with my iPhone where it hasn't autocorrected the aspect ratio...

The iPad is amazing!  It would be an incredible tool for someone like myself who attends far too many meetings during the day (needing to have access to my schedule, my 5 email accounts, all my documents and spreadsheets, have a Bible and of course the ability to show promotional videos and copies of my books).  If I had one of these I could simply carry the one piece of hardware with me everywhere and have everything I need to get my job done!

Watch the video if you can and let me know what uses you could have for a device like this.  Who else wants an iPad!?

Time to harvest a kidney! Apple iPad review looks GREAT!!

Yup, the Apple iPad wifi version was released in the USA on the 3rd of April.  A friend of mine who is currently in the US (Cois) managed to get one and says it is amazing!

Here's a great PC Magazine review of the Apple iPad.

It's time for me to harvest another kidney so that I can get an iPad!  Can you imagine having the Olivetree Bible reader on that thing plus all my sermons, Powerpoint slides, and a copies of all my documents!?  Man, that would be a great tool!

Anyone else planning on getting one when the FINALY get released in South Africa?  I'm sure the CORE technologies, Project3 or the Apple iStores will stock them in the next few months.

My 3 year old iPad! Still going strong!

The Apple iPad is attracting a lot of attention. I know that there are a few VERY exclusive people who have iPad's to try. However, the ordinary consumer will have to wait 60 days before being able to get their hands on one of them. Let alone those of us who live in places like South Africa where it will probably take another year before Apple releases the iPad with 3G! Still, I love my iPhone 3G and would LOVE an iPad 3G!

If I had the money I would pre-order one! However, there are a few more pressing priorities at the moment. So, I have come to appreciate what I already own - I have a 3 year old iPad (in South Africa.... Sort of!)! And, what I own is Sony Vaio UX 180 P.

This photo was taken when I was attending the Oxford Institute at Christ Church, Oxford University in August 2007.

My little portable computer is a Sony Vaio UX 180 P. It is a Windows XP device with a touch screen, a 30 gigabyte hard drive, 512MB or ram, wifi, bluetooth and a 3 hour battery life. It is the perfect travelers computer! It is smaller than a DVD case, in fact small enough to put into a big pocket on one's 'cargo pants'!

It runs a 'normal' operating system and 'normal' versions of MS Word, MS Outlook and the google Chrome browser. This means that I can simply plug in my backup USB flash disk that has copies of all of my documents and files on it and work away! Moreover, since it has a USB port I can connect to the internet using my 3G modem wherever I am and get my email, browse the web, and even use MS Outlook to connect to corporate server.

In this picture you'll see the iPod I owned in 2007, my old Nokia phone (a great big brick!), the UX 180 is docked in its docking station (that adds a VGA port, firewire, ethernet, and 4 USB 2.0 ports). You will also see my batterygeek external battery (this battery gives me an amazing 20 hours of battery life for the UX 180! On my Macbook Pro it gives me an additional 5-6 hours). I also have a cheap foldable Bluetooth keyboard that I can use with the UX 180 P.

So, until the iPad arrives, (and of course until I get some royalties for my books and don't have a washing machine to fix, kids school activities to pay for, a car to service and a few other pressing things to pay for), I shall be using my UX 180 P as a 'road warrior' computer!

Just as a final note - if you have not yet used dropbox it is a MUST HAVE for a person who uses more than one computer. Dropbox is a free service (for 2 Gigabytes of backup, after which you can choose to upgrade your space for a fee). You install a small application (which I have on my Macbook, my iPhone and my UX 180 P), then it creates a folder in your documents folder. Any file that you drag into that folder gets updated on Dropbox (you can even log into dropbox if you don't have your computer with you, and download the file you want to work on and then update it!)

While I was working on my most recent book 'Transform your work life: Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling' (Struik Christian Media, 2010 - the book is due out in May), I used this little tool (in conjunction with my Macbook and my UX 180)! If I found that I was waiting to go into a meeting and the person I was meeting was running late I simply connected did some editing and knew that when I got back to my office the most up to date version of the file would ALWAYS be on my computer! Moreover, if my computers got stolen, or my house burnt down at least I would have backups of these (and other) critical documents 'in the cloud'.

I would suggest you consider using dropbox - it is free! OK, back to work for me! And then when I've done editing the article I'm working on I'm going to hop into bed with the Amazon Kindle application for Windows on my UX 180 P and continue reading Malcom Gladwell's new book 'What the dog saw'!

Invention Of the Year: The iPhone

The thing is hard to type on. It's too slow. It's too big. It doesn't have instant messaging. It's too expensive...or cheap. It doesn't support my work e-mail. It's locked to AT&T. Steve Jobs secretly hates puppies.

YET, time gives you 5 reasons why it is the invention of the year....I agree! And, I don't even own one! How I wish I did!

Anyone out there willing to 'donate' one for research purposes?

Technorati tags:iphone, best invention, gadget, cool, desirable

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Why I think that Mac OS Leopard could NEVER compete with Windows Vista - and I own 4 Macs!

Yup, last night I gave in to the Steve Jobs distortion field - in the cold and wet I raced through the traffic to get to one of my favourite places on the planet, the iStore in Menlyn Park shopping centre in an affluent subburb of Pretoria East...

I have been anticipating the release of Leopard for some months now, and in the last few weeks I've been looking forward to the 26th of October - what a joy when the iStore staff phoned me to come to the worldwide launch of Leopard! So, like all Mac fanatics I went!

Now, before I explain the heading of this post let me just say that I currently own the following Apple computers:

1. Primary machine: Macbook Pro Mac OS 10.4.10, 2GHz Intel Core Duo (dual booting Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP Pro). It has a 'rough night out' gelaskin cover on the top - it has become quite famous at Methodist gatherings!
2. Secondary machine: Sony Vaio UX 180 P Micro PC with dual booting Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux (this machine 'lives' in my backpack!) I love this little guy! It is not much larger than a cell phone, it has a built in keyboard, a built in GSM / EDGE cellular modem and it runs for about 20 hours with my external battery pack! I most often take this little guy with me when I travel around the world. It can litterally fit onto my belt (when I really want to GEEK it!)
   
3. Primary desktop machine: iMac Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard!), with Windows XP in Parallels.
4. 'Old' Desktop: Apple Powermac G4 dual 1.25Ghz with a 23" cinema display running Mac OS 10.4.10.
5. My wife's computer: Sony Vaio TR3A, Windows XP Pro.
6. Daugther's computer: Apple iBook (the toilet seat model... Blueberry) running Mac OS 10.3.9.

[Just to mention that most of my machines were purchased with research funds (I could only use Macs for the magnetoencephalagraph that I used in Cape Town to measure magnetic activity in the human brain), or were acquired in trades. I have only ever purchased one new laptop, a G4 iBook back in 2003 - that has since gone THROUGH Wessel to another well deserving home] Oh yes, and let me add that one's spouse MUST be a saint to allow for SO MANY computers (she also has to earn a lot more than one does to keep one in the style to which one is accustomed... But that is another matter entirely).

You can see that we are a thoroughly Apple household!! We LOVE MACS!!!

So, you may be asking yourself, how could I possibly say that Leopard could NEVER compete with Vista!??? Well, the answer is simple - Leopard is just in a completely different league!!

Ha ha! Yup, Vista from my limited use, is to Windows XP what Windows ME was to Windows 95... Nothing but eyecandy and instability!

Leopard on the other hand is FANTASTIC!!! And yes, I am biased, but it is faster, more stable, and it looks even better than Tiger. I love the new Mail application, the new style sheets and eye candy, you can add 'to do' items and sticky notes directly in mail, the new Safari browser is FAST and user friendly, it also allowes you to 'snip' active elements from web pages to add as widgets in Dashboard. Of course the new Finder is magnificent! It has 'cover flow' that lets you see the contents of files within the finder (without even having to open an application like Word, Excel, Adobe reader, Keynote, or the Preview image viewer)... It is just fantastic!

So, yes, I bought a copy of Leopard last night - I aslo happened to see a cracked, working, iPhone! It is magnificent. If the guy who had the phone reads this post, would you mind dropping me a line? I'd love to stay in touch.

So, Steve Jobs and Apple, WELL DONE!!!! This is a great upgrade that will make my life so much more efficient and pleasant. It was worth going out in the cold and the wet, and the Apple iStore in Menlyn is still one of my favourite places in the whole world!!!!

Technorati tags: Apple, Vista, Leopard, better, iStore, Menlyn

Liveblog! Mac OS Leopard has been released! Discover the new features here.

For all the Macheads out there that have been waiting for the official release of Mac OS Leopard (AKA the Vista shamer...)

It's been released in the USA. I hope to be able to get my copy on Saturday (please Lord!)

If you're interested in following a live, blow by blow, geekfest of leopard feature discovery you can follow the constantly updated Gizmodo Leopard blog here.

Wohoo! I can't wait!