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Chris Knight's avatar

Had to take some photos with my iPhone and send them to my personal e-mail account.  But when I was about to use them I was hit with a shock: the pics were in something called HEIC format.

I had no idea whatsoever what that meant.  Only that it wasn’t readable by my usual image software, much less usable for most critical purposes.

So I did some quick research and found that HEIC, or HEIF, stands for High Efficiency Image Container.  It was adopted over ten years ago by Apple for use primarily in their mobile devices.  But for some reason I’m only now hearing about it.

Basically it makes the same photos that you usually work with as JPEGs and ummm… makes them smaller in file size.  Sort of like how we used to compress files with PKZIP back in the day.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering ...

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So the other week I upgraded my iPad (it’s an iPad 2) to iOS 8.0 and since then there was some significant slowdown of apps, and Safari seemed especially effected.  Oh it worked, just not at the brisk pace that I’m used to.  Anyway, last night I finally updated to iOS 8.1

Never, never again will I do such an upgrade to my ever-trusty iPad 2.  And yes, I know that I should upgrade the iPad itself.  It’s three and a half years old, after all.  I guess it’s seen me through an awful lot so there’s that sentimental value.  If and when I finally retire it I’m thinking of putting it in a shadowbox and hang it on my wall.  But until then I’d still like to get at least a little life out of it.

Anyway, I started the update and went to sleep and when I ...

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If you’ve an Apple iOS device that’s been plagued by battery problems from iOS 5, be of good cheer: iOS 5.0.1 is now available, and it’s said to put those high-drain issues to bed!

This is also the first time that iOS can be updated “over the air” via a Wi-Fi connection, which is what I just did with my iPad 2. It’s by far the most straightforward process I’ve ever experienced in upgrading any operating system. Just go into Settings and tell your iOS gadget to check for an updated version. From there it was just a simple matter of about 40 MB of download and the iPad running from there. Total update time: less than 10 minutes. I bet my Dad could even do it… and he hates computers! 😛

Anyhoo, iOS 5.0.1 is out there now. You know you want it…...

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The initial rush by everyone to update to iOS 5 along (has there ever been a file so large downloaded by so many at the same time?) with other factors kept me from upgrading my precious iPad to iOS 5 until this afternoon. But now that I’ve got it loaded… wowzers!!

The split keyboard alone is enough to compel me to tip my hat to the good folks at Apple. I’m also discovering that there are some new features on the camera (well, new to me anyway). Didn’t have any problems updating: many people reported that stuff like contacts info etc. became lost during their own update procedures but happily, that time seems to have passed (something about how Apple’s iTunes servers couldn’t validate properly with all those folks attempting to install simultaneously).

Meanwhile I’m considering getting my first-ever smartphone, an iPhone 4S. Don’t know if that means I’m ...

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Apple, yer a great company… but until y’all finally roll out iPod touch with 128 gigs of storage, I ain’t letting go of my now four-year old iPod classic.

The iPhone 4s’s new camera rocks though. That will be niiiiice on the next iteration of iPad.

Other than that – and the new Siri feature – it wasn’t that big a deal, in my opinion. Oh well, maybe next September…...

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So for the past several weeks my iTunes hasn’t been up to snuff. iTunes starts up okay… but when it comes to the iTunes Store it did nothing but show a blank white page with “iTunes Store” printed in the center. And whatever has been the problem with that, it also has kept iTunes from properly updating my iPad. I’m still using Windows Vista (no jokes, please :-P)

I tried everything but nothing worked to make iTunes Store functioning on my computer. I even uninstalled and re-installed iTunes… three times! And still the iTunes Store wouldn’t come up. When I ran the Diagnostics tool it gave me some crap about how iTunes Store couldn’t make a secure connection.

Well, as of about an hour ago it’s finally working again! It took me the better part of three days of actively addressing the issue and a whole wazooload of Google ...

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As of this evening I haven’t seen Super 8, but some of the coolest cats that I have the honor of personally knowing seem to be completely losing their minds about how incredible it must be. I’m gonna be catching it Sunday afternoon with friends and am really looking forward to it 🙂

But in the meantime, thought I’d turn y’all’s attention to 8mm Vintage Camera, a sa-weeet lil’ app from Nexvio for Apple iOS devices that are camera equipped (doesn’t matter if it’s an iPhone, iPod touch or the newest iPad). 8mm Vintage Camera turns your newfangled Apple contraption into an old-school 8mm movie camera with all the fixins. Select from different lenses, various types of film stock, and you can even give it a classic camera frame jitter effect. I’ve had this app for a few weeks now and it has definitely become one of ...

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Barring any crazy circumstance, I should be getting my iPad 2 next week! Looking forward to having it for… well, all kinds of good stuff 🙂

So I’ve already been planning which apps I should buy for it: the list thus far includes iMovie, Garageband (I’ve waited five years for the chance to use that program ‘cuz Apple doesn’t make it for Windows), and the iPad/iPhone port of Doom (‘cuz in my book it’s not a real computer unless it plays Doom).

There’s one more bit o’ software that I aim to install on my iPad right out the gate, but I thought I’d pose this to my readers…

What’s a good Bible app for the iPad?

It’d be great to find one that has multiple versions available. Other than that, well… I don’t know what I should be looking for.

Suggestions? Any would be most welcome 🙂...

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So after doing my best to find an iPad 2 at one of the many local stores purporting to carry it, to no avail, I bit the debit card and proceeded to Apple’s website and ordered one. And I went all out!! Got a 64-gigabyte model in black, with Wi-Fi and 3G (the AT&T version). Looking forward to it arriving in a few weeks. Hey, then I can be blogging from anywhere! Like at iCoffee in Summerfield, f’rinstance. I guess then I could have Tebow sitting next to me whilst I write. Heh-heh, “Blogging with Tebow”: sounds like a winner 🙂

Well anyhoo, I just checked the status of my order and the iPad 2 is still due to arrive in mid-April. However, the Smart Cover that I ordered along with it is already en route and due to be delivered here on Tuesday!

That’s a bit ...

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