Mini

Recently we had the good fortune to get our hands on an iPad Mini.  I have heard many many arguments for and against the mini and I decided to take a moment to explain my stance.

As I am sure you are all aware I am an Apple Fan-girl.  The products just work for me.  It all started in 2001 when I purchased by first iBook and instantly fell in love.  That iBook still works, fyi - even after being hit by a car, We crack it out every now and then for Stinks.  Now being married to developer means having all the main operating systems in our house at all times.  I can't even keep track of what system is on what computer anymore - which is fine as long as he leaves my computer alone!  

It also means we are a family that likes technology.  Yes, our three year old has an iPad.  It is blue and he will tell you all about it if you ask him.  This is the future people.  More and more things are leaning towards Passbook-like functions.  Our children will need to know this technology in and out in order to effectively navigate their world - we are just giving Stinks a fighting chance :-D.  

Keeping with our technology hungry appetite we enjoy learning and playing with all the new gadgets.  This past weekend we visited the Microsoft store to check out a Surface.  (You don't want to know my opinion on that - but I am about as anti-Microsoft as a business person can be.)  Of course once we were done in the Microsoft store we took a hop skip and a jump right on over to the Apple store.  

Enter the iPad Mini.  

I have to say I LOVE my iPad (3rd generation, named Kinsei).  I use it daily - mostly to read, check email and browse, but it is still a daily use.  Every once in a while I wish that my iPad was just a bit smaller.  The mini fulfills all my wants.  It is the perfect "book" size for reading.  It is the perfect size for stashing away in my bag.  The screen is gorgeous, crisp and clear.  The camera is fast and nice - though I have to say I am not one of those people that will walk around with my iPad to take pictures!  I love the new adapter - I don't use docks for my iPads though so I am not sure how I would feel if I needed adapters.  

I have to say that my main reason for wanting the mini was for reading.  I do own a nook color, but I am not that big of a fan.  The nook is HORRIBLE for browsing and the apps are slow.  I read a LOT - at least a book a day.  I enjoy being able to hope between my book and a search engine when the whim hits me.  The nook makes this virtually impossible, thus the main reason for me switching to Kinsei for my reading pleasure.  (I do occasionally read "real" books, however due to my reading habit I have run out of room for actual books and have moved onto virtual.)  As I said early I do LOVE Kinsei, but my new mini (named Freyberg - or Small Frey*) is the PERFECT reading size.  The switch between virtual books and browsing or other apps is quick and effortless. 

Now I know that most of you are thinking "if you love your big iPad so much why would you spend the money on a smaller one?"  I will point you back up to the beginning of the blog where I said we are a technology hungry family.  I will continue to use Kinsei and well as Small Frey and be perfectly happy and content with both of them.  I am very happy to have Small Frey for those traveling days when bringing a bigger iPad is just not feasible.  All in all I am thrilled!  (Bring on the scorn...)

*I needed to explain the names of my apple products.  I name every apple product, with the exception of my iPod touch, after apple types.  So far the names have been Gala, Crispin, Pippin, Red (delicious), Jazz, Kinsei, Keswick, and Freyberg.  Look them up!  They are all apple types trust me.  

MyMushroomRing.com

As you may already know, I have decided to claim my domain name in the hopes of spending more time on my blog.  MyMushroomRing.com is now my new home - though you will notice is looks a LOT like blogger :-D  I haven't quite figured out what I want to do with the space.  Actually that is completely false, I know what I want I just don't know how to do it.  Having a husband that can (and is willing) to make whatever I want is a blessing and a curse.  I want to KNOW how to do it, not just give him a crazily drawn picture of how I want the site to look and let him work his magic.  (Cause let's face it people - we all know Brian is magic and anything he made would looks 100 time better than anything I drew on our white board!!)

The site will probably be moving in slow (I am talking turtle slow) steps towards what I see in my mind.  In the meantime I will continue to use blogger (or perhaps wordpress) for my random spewings of thought.

I leave you with a fun mushroom ring - which makes me realize I have never actually tackled the lore of "fairy rings" in my blog.  Ah, but that is for another day...

Showtime, HBO, Epix - OH MY

About a year ago the Shea household took the plunge and signed up for FIOS television service.  I know that for most households this is not a big statement or even occurrence, however this had been a long drawn out and tedious decision for us.  We had been making due with Hulu and other random online video viewings.
At first, having television service was great!  Linc could watch Disney Junior On Demand and Brian and I could browse the hundreds of channels that were now available to us at the click of a button.  A year later I can honestly say that there really is NO NEED for television service in this house.  I will admit to loving the fact that I can watch the Sox games, however is it worth it to pay for the service just to watch a handful of baseball games?  Brian and I use our FIOS television service to watch Mythbusters, How It's Made, and Big Bang Theory - all of which we were watching prior to getting service.  Luckily Linc is not a TV zombie - most of the time he could care less if it is on or not.  On those few occasions he wants to watch something, it is always a movie from the vast collection (currently we are Studio Ghibli obsessed - but that is a whole other blog).

So here is the question - Do you have television service?  Is it worth it to you?  If we weren't in a package deal (you know how they suck you in - phone, internet and television all for one low low price) I firmly believe we would be ditching the service at the first available opportunity.  When will the cable companies learn - go a la carte and you might keep your customers!!

OK I know this has been a boring blog post, but it was one that I started over a year ago when the service was new and I felt the need to finish it - there is nothing worse then drafts sitting there staring you in the face!

Bloggedy Blog Blog

A B C and 1 2 3...  The ranting and raving of my mind would normally make any sane person beg for asylum.  With that in mind I give you my blog :-D (and please keep in mind people that many of the public health forums are already over booked!)  

I have never been a diary writer - no girly notebooks with locks for me, nor have I kept a journal for anything other then academia related topics.  However, I am finding more and more that I need a place for my nonsense to spew or I end up talking - at high speeds - about the same topics over and over.  Let's face it, Brian may be able to tolerate more then the average human's ability of my nonsense spew but we shouldn't push him too far!  

And so my blog was born -kicking and, well, spewing into the wonderful world of cyber space.  I have named this oh so wonderful speck of cyber realty "My Mushroom Ring" and I will give my surprised congratulations to anyone that knows why.    

"Be prepared" as Scar likes to sing, for I have set up shop and don't plan on relinquishing my hold until I have run out of things to say - oh dear I do believe I just created my own never ending story!