We have tablets. We have e-books. We enjoy reading them on tablets. Comic books? Even better! Especially with our fancy color screens. So, what better than a comic book about Steve Jobs and Zen? Am I right or am I right?

I went to send the sample to my Kindle app on my iPad. Below is what I discovered. I can’t! It’s only available for use on Kindle for Android and Kindle Fire. Seriously? This is the problem with Amazon selling books and selling readers. Ironically, it’s not even available on a traditional Kindle (these lack color screens and may be the reason for this). I’m not amused, Amazon.

Ok. It’s not tech. There’s not even an app for it. I checked. But for someone that spends no time in the kitchen but still eats food and would like to serve it once in a while – this is really cool!

I walked by this dozens of times. Finally, I took notice. Publix has organized a meal (including dessert) and printed it on a card you can wipe off (good for messy me!). But much more than that – they’ve already gathered all the ingredients in one place. No hunting around the grocery store.

There’s something wrong when you spend more time finding the ingredients in the store than it takes to cook the meal. This solves that for people like us!

And for those incessant organizers – you can collect all the recipe cards and put them in a custom binder ($4.99). The recipe cards are free. Still, an app would be nice…

“Ice Cream Sandwich” is Google’s code name for the new Android 4.0 – which is designed for tablets. This is an upgrade to the earlier (current) “Honeycomb” 3.x version we’re using now. Acer finally announced support for this and will begin offering it in an operating system update in April. Well, it’s April 15th and still nothing. I’m guessing, it’ll be a bit longer. These updates are quite large and they’re usually released geographically. I remember being near the last to get the 3.2 update – here in Florida.

Here’s a link to more info on this:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2400427,00.asp

Well we did it. We bought a new lawn mower and weed wacker. Doesn’t sound techy eh? Well how about if I told you they both run off battery? Yep. Full electric. Both of them.

The mower was purchased from Home Depot. Same for the trimmer. The former can bag, mulch or fling the grass. We set it to mulch. Insert battery. Charge overnight. Tadah! It’s not silent, but no need to store gas, change spark plugs or oil or even pull a cord to start it. Just flip a switch and squeeze the handle.

So we’ve added to the list of gadgets to keep charged, but I like my electric cordless mower. Time will tell how long the battery will last. Replacements are $99.

Ok, this is bad. But it’s so cool!

I was driving back from Okeechobee tonight and was in need of destressing. That means an episode of Farscape. It’s a retired scifi series. I’m on episode 21 of 88. It’s on Netflix. Ok. You’ve got the idea now!

So I used my Jabra Cruiser Bluetooth hands free car adapter clipped to my visor. I synced it to my iPhone. Then I set it to rebroadcast on FM 106.9. I set the car stereo to that station. I then started Netflix and the episode in question. Voila! I’m listening to it on my car stereo from 2006 (pre-Bluetooth).

So, they key was the Jabra. And kudos to Netflix to let me stream movies via my 3G cellular connection to the Internet.

All at 65Mph!

Yes, it’s finally announced! I’m embarrassed to say how many iPads I own – first and second generation. I know it inspires “the look” from my wife. However, I’ve already ordered four new third generation iPads for myself and staff. Why? Because the new retina display alone is worth it – I look at an iPad all day to check my email, monitor my clients servers, research on the Internet, post this blog, play games to destress, etc.

But as a bonus, the new iPad is also faster, has a much better rear camera and can let me speak this blog instead of type it with new voice dictation.

Plus, all the old iPads will find a new home. I know my mom has reminded me she’s on the list (there really isn’t one) for an unused older iPad.

I was just asked today where to get an HDMI cable. My recently purchased Roku didn’t come with one. So, it’s a good question. The answer is, do you want to pay $40 or $10? Best Buy, Staples, etc make a lot of their profit from selling accessories like cables. Don’t get your HDMI cable there!

Believe it or not, the best place is TJMaxx, Marshall’s or Ross. Their stock of HDMI cables is low, but most stores do have them. And that same cable heartily stocked at the electronics stores for $40 is now marked down to only $10.

I still see it when placing orders. We usually only sell the faster, high-reliability drives. Tried the normal ones recently because they were available, but got complaints they were noisy. So just this week I found some, but only in packs of 20. Its worth it.

For more info: http://www.crn.com/news/storage/232600019/hard-drive-shortage-hits-enterprise-drive-shipments-hard.htm

Nope. It’s not from Microsoft. The apps are true Microsoft, but the method is Onlive Desktop. You can sign up for a free 2Gb account at http://onlive.com/desktop

This gives you a virtual Windows 7 Desktop with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Powerpoint. You can use their website to upload any of these documents to your virtual desktop and then use the iPad to edit and view them.

Downsides? There are a few:

1. The free account has a limit of 2Gb of documents

2. You’ll need wifi access. 3G won’t cut it. It won’t even connect with most 3G speeds.

3. You don’t have access to Internet Explorer for those non-iPad-Safari-friendly websites.

4. Any change you make to Windows 7 itself isn’t saved. Includes backgrounds, the desktop, etc.

5. Any change you make to your files does get synced back to your free OnLive account. However, you’ll have to retrieve them to your PC using the website until they come up with a better option.

6. You may need to configure your firewall. OnLive requires UDP ports 16384-16640 and TCP port 443 to be open. The latter is typical HTTPS and is normally open. The former will require your IT guy to configure. If it’s not open, you’ll just get a generic error message on your iPad regarding Network Connectivity.

This concept from OnLive is new and will have it’s issues and hopefully, it’s improvements. For now, it’s a solution for editing or viewing Excel, Word and Powerpoint from an iPad for users that don’t have another option (like Citrix XenApp).

Meanwhile, Microsoft has only released OneNote for the iPad.

By using Netflix and Hulu for the past 8 months, I’ve been passing the DVD movie section in the stores without even a glance. But, what do my wandering eyes find when I have to kill time while the rest of the family is shopping? A bluray movie on sale.

Well I never bought a bluray player. I figure by going digital with Netflix, I’d skip a generation of movie technology. But, alas, it’s not just a bluray movie. The $7 sale title includes a DVD as well. And, to further entice me, a digital copy as well. It reminds me of the days when computer software came with both the 3.5″ and the 5.25″ floppies.

So, I bought it. I can watch the DVD. I can download the digital copy to my iPad. Some use iTunes and others use Flixster. Flixster has its own iPad app. Unfortunately, you can’t use the iPad to register the download code. It says the browser isn’t supported. But, once it’s registered it’s in your digital library.

So, I’m now back in the hunt for great sales on bluray movies that say they also include DVD and digital. I missed the movie aisle.

Now let’s think about this. Why can’t they do this with books? I’d buy the paper copy and get a free digital download code for my Kindle. Wouldn’t that be sweet! The local bookstore would sell more books. And it would be the only way to find a digital book on sale – if the paper version were on sale too.

What about record stores? This could have saved them from all but disappearing. It’s not too late.