The other day I decided to dust off my much neglected laptop to sync my iPad. During the sync, I also elected to update all the apps including the Pages application. To my dismay, the Pages update ruins the ability to use the app in Landscape mode, adding the document title bar and ruler toolbar, which eats up precious screen real estate. Strangely, it also adds "whitespace" for the margins ever decreasing the size of productivity area. I strongly discourage all people from updating your Pages app.

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Two weeks after getting my hands on an iPad 3G, I can say with certainty that it has transformed the way I work.

I thought I would love the iPad, and I do. But I also thought I'd hate typing on glass. After all, what good is a device for productivity if you have to both hunt and peck, abandoning hard-won touch-typing skills as if you never learned them? Moved by this prejudice, I pre-ordered the iPad Keyboard Dock.

Guess what? I now feel that I wasted the $70 dollars. I don't use the keyboard because I've come to believe that the iPad's virtual keyboard is actually superior -- if you know how to use it.

I experienced this revelation while taking notes in class on my iPad. I was using Evernote to capture audio while typing notes, but the desk was too small for me to have both iPad and keyboard on the surface. So I put away the physical keyboard and used the virtual one. After getting the hang of it, I figured out how to crank up my typing speed by touch-typing -- that is, typing without looking using all fingers. As my speed and confidence increased, I realized that not only do I enjoy using the virtual keyboard more, my speed is about as fast.

Here are my five secrets for touch typing on an iPad virtual keyboard:

1. Free your mind.

I used to believe that tactile feedback was an important and necessary thing when typing. It isn't. I equate it to the way an inexperienced typist has a tendency to look down at the keyboard while typing instead of looking at the screen. Instead, let go of that reassurance that you are hitting keys and just tap. This differs from conventional typing in that you don't rest your actual hands on the keyboard. Instead, try lifting your wrists and hovering your fingers over the keys. Touch typing on a regular keyboard is all about building muscle memory. And doing the same thing on an iPad is no different.

2. Take a faith-based approach.

You must believe that iPad's auto-correct feature is going to forgive your typing sins and correct your mistakes for you. If you know how to type, then you know the general location of each key on a QWERTY keyboard. Instead of focusing on hitting the exact keys when typing, think about hitting the general area that the key is located. I would argue that typing on an iPad is easier than typing on a physical keyboard because it requires less precision. On a physical keyboard, you need to be precise and hit the correct keys. The iPad's virtual keyboard actually gives you a greater margin of error.

3. Forget about spelling and punctuation.

I learned to type as a kid using Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, which penalizes you for typing errors. You need to unlearn this in order to increase your speed and proficiency on the iPad. While you type, the iPad will automatically correct most of your mistakes, capitalize the first letter of a new sentence as well as add apostrophes and periods where necessary. Take advantage, and just let iPad do all that. In other words, you do lose some speed on the iPad, but you gain it back through auto-correction. Go ahead and leave behind a few misspelled words. The iPad will mark them with a red line. Almost all will be correctable by touching to bring up the correct option, then touch again to choose. In other words, it's faster on the iPad to type fast with errors, then correct them, than to type cautiously to avoid errors, which in any case is a habit left over from the typewriter era.

4. Use all your fingers.

Most people who type on the iPad's virtual keyboard struggle to figure out which fingers they want to use. Some use index fingers only. Others use an awkward combination of index and middle fingers. Here's the correct answer: Use all ten just like you do with a regular keyboard. It feels weird at first, but stick with it and it will eventually feel more natural.

5. Practice!

Like anything else, touch-typing on the iPad takes practice. I recommend doing what I did: Just say no to a physical keyboard, at least until you've mastered the virtual one. By working at it every day, you'll grow proficient. Then, when you can't use a physical keyboard, you'll have the skills you need to type fast anyway.

Virtual keyboards are new to us, but they'll be with us forever. My best advice is to apply yourself and master your iPad's virtual keyboard while it's still new to you. It's a skill you'll be able to apply for years.

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I consider myself a different kind of student, maybe cause I'm not
JUST a student. I go to school full-time and work full-time. And when
I am not working on either of those obligations, I am usually reading,
surfing the Internet, and listening to podcasts or Audible books. For
the last two years, my computer use has been torn between my Dell
laptop with a 20 inch screen and my 9 inch Asus Eee PC. I also own an
Amazon Kindle for reading books. With the release of the iPad 3G, I
can now xtreamline my life for greater mobility and greater
productivity in ways not possible in the past.

As a student, I take a different approach to school. Instead of taking
notes with a notebook and pen, I use a combination of devices to
capture information into a repository of information. Until this past
Friday, I used my netbook in class to take notes directly into
Evernote, my Kindle for reading and my iPhone for recording lectures
and taking snapshots of the whiteboard (while I am taking notes). Now
my iPad 3G can replace all of those actions.

This past weekend I had a book review to write for one of my classes.
I had previously been listening to the book on Audible during my
commute to and from work/school, but now I needed to the actual book
to write my paper on. Lacking the time to go to my local library, I
decided that I was going to purchase the book on Apple's new
iBookstore. It wasn't available. I then decided to download the Kindle
app for iPad to check for its availability and there it was listed for
the standard Kindle price of $9.99. One click and moments later had
the book on my iPad.

What I found was that using Kindle for iPad is far superior than using
the actual Kindle. Navigation and skimming through books is much
faster and easier than on the regular Kindle. I have used the Kindle
in the past for school papers but it was a slow and cumbersome
experience from the slow refresh rate of the pages. Using the iPad to
pull quotations from the book was far superior than having to manually
flip through pages of a real book. Another bonus was a previously
unknown feature to me: popular highlights. During my skimming of
passages and highlighting of quotes, I realized that certain passages
were already underlined. It turns out that Amazon highlights passages
that it noticed are highlighted by their kindle users. This is like
social book club, helping identify important passages. It turns out
that the iPad is a better kindle than the kindle, while saving me the
hassle of lugging around multiple books to classes.

At first I thought that my biggest complaint about the device was
going to be the onscreen keyboard. I remedied this by purchasing the
wireless keyboard. But at school the desks are too small to use both
comfortably. So while during class, I decided to give the onscreen
keyboard a try. I found myself hunting and pecking at first, not
knowing if I should be using 3, 4 or 5 fingers on each hand. After a
little bit of frustration (and missed notes) I decided that I was
going to type normally and just see what happens. I found that the
auto-correct took care of typos in ways that a physical keyboard could
never. I was able to type as fast as a traditional keyboard because I
didn't have to worry about punctuation or capitalization. It was tough
letting go of the desire for tactile feedback, but if your can manage
to free your mind I guarantee that your typing speed will just as fast
or maybe even faster than a regular keyboard. In fact, I've written
this entire post on the iPad with great ease.

The Evernote application for the iPad is far superior than the web app
and even the desktop version. What's great is that it allows me to
record my lecture while taking notes in the application. This frees my
iPhone for any pictures of the whiteboard that I may need to capture.

The amazing battery life and always-on connectivity are just bonuses
to this already invaluable device. In fact, it has become my most used
computer. Add multiple-tasking to the mix, coming this fall, and the
only thing better than an iPad is 2 iPads.

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So many people make a big effort to streamline their work environment and declutter their personal life in an attempt to free themselves from the chaos of their lives. What everyone fails to focus on is perhaps the most important part of life: your diet. People sacrifice quality of food in order to save time. For example, buying microwavable meals instead of cooking or going out for lunch instead of packing your own lunch. All these incredibly unhealthy habits affects concentration, alertness and general productivity. The solution: The Spartan Diet.

The Spartan Diet is based on Spartan foods, attitudes and practices for staying strong and lean in an age of wealth and plenty. It also incorporates the best food science of our own time, and the healthiest foods from all over the world. We believe The Spartan Diet is quite simply the healthiest diet in history. 

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In an effort to xtreamline her life, Seattle resident Michelle de la Vega, decided to rent out her house and move into her garage. She spent $32,000 renovating her new home and in 9 months turned it into a dream home. The renovated garage features wood floors, a sleeping loft, large bathroom and minimalist kitchen. She generates steady income from renting the house without sacrificing quality of life in her garage. Check out the story and pictures.

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The New York Times Travel section had a nice article on how to streamline the entire process of booking a flight for your upcoming trip.

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