Cold Storage No More

I took my iPad 1 out of "cold storage". With heavier homework demands, sometimes the girls needed the easy (and quick) access to information and/ or references whereby the iPad comes in handy for them. The girls would share my iPad and use it when doing their homework, e.g. checking the dictionary, etc. But sometimes time is wasted as they took turns to use the iPad. Now with both my iPad 1 and iPad 3 in use, the girls no longer have the excuse that she is not doing her homework because she is waiting to use the iPad. :)

Replacement Love

I was introduced to this new app as a replacement for Tap Reef. I know they are in totally different categories so I can't compare the two. But I simply love the new app and it engages my mind a lot more! :) It is The Tiny Bang Story HD. There are different machines to fix and different puzzles to solve in the different segments. The artwork is really lovely and adorable with a simple child-like quality. Navigation is simple in this game and it is definitely fun for all ages. :) The Tiny Bang Story HD is really addictive though, you can't put your iPad down but just want to keep going on to the next puzzle and the next and the next lol. You have been warned lol.

Without You

I have passed a full day without you. I thought I would not be able to survive the separation but I did. I still feel sad but I was also relieved. I realised now that you had become a chore to me. I am glad that I have made the call to release us both to continue on with our lives. 

Farewell and take care, Tap Reef.

Finally, it is Goodbye

Something was not right. I kept getting the offline mode for my tap reef for most part of the day. I followed the instructions given on the tap reef forum and deleted my tap reef. The forum assured that my reef and its finned denizens would not be harmed. To my horror, after reinstalling it, the reef was a brand new start-up with 3 fishes, and 1000 sand dollars. WHERE IS MY ORIGINAL REEF?! I had 20 octopuses (and each one is named!), amassed sand dollars in the billions and accumulated close to 700 pearls! AHHHH. Deleted and reinstalled three times with the same result - a brand new reef and NOT my original reef. :( 

I never expected it to end this way. I knew we would part ways one day but never thought it would be this soon. Without my original reef, there is no more meaning in playing tap reef. :( Goodbye, Tap Reef. We have had great times. I won't forget you anytime soon.

Anti-climax

Apple has revealed its latest iPad. No, it is not iPad 3. It is simply known as the new iPad. Hmm... not sure what to think of its name... kind of an anti-climax...

Tap Reef ...

is back! FINALLY!
After two days of deleting and reinstalling Tap Reef thrice a day on my iPad, I was getting pretty fed up with it. I was thinking of just deleting the apps for good and moving on to something else. Then it happened. The crashes just stopped. I think the Tap Reef developers have resolved the problem and hopefully, it stays that way! Ok I will give Tap Reef another chance.

Tap Reef Crashes

Until this afternoon, my Tap Reef was still fine. However it started hanging and/ or crashing everytime I tried to get into my reef. :( It is really frustrating as I couldn't feed and pet my fish. I went to the Tap Reef forum and realised that others are experiencing the same thing too. I followed some of the suggestions to resolve the problem but didn't really work. Tried soft reset, hard reset, still the same problem. Finally, I tried deleting the apps and reinstalling it. Seemed to work for a while and then the same problem occured. Sigh. I guess I have to resort to delete and reinstall everytime I want to feed and pet my fish. :(
I hope the Tap Reef people will find a solution soon.

Fishing Joy

I used to see people playing this at the game arcades. I couldn't understand the appeal/ fun of it. That is until I installed the game on my iPad. It is quite addictive but in a frustrating way for me, at least. :( I kept "dying" because I just couldn't catch the fishes in the nets. It is the angle or something. Anyway, the more that happens, the more I am determined to play it until I can catch something in the nets! Ok, maybe it is not addictive but bordering on obsessive for me lol :P

Reef Fishes

My fishes are really thriving! Swimming, feeding, growing, breeding, ... It is also quite soothing to watch them swimming around. :) Tap Reef is a great iPad app lol. You can watch your world ranking climb, with the kind of fishes you breed in your reef. It can be quite addictive too as you have to check in regularly to make sure all is well in your reef. :)

iPad II

iPad 2 has been revealed!
It is slimmer, lighter, and has more power!
But I will still stick with my iPad.
It is still serving me well.
No plans to replace it... yet. :)

Pocket Frogs

I have resisted the Pocket Frogs app for as long as I could. I have heard from friends about how fun it is and from my own girls who played it on their father's iPad. I finally downloaded the app two months back. As I slowly discovered the fun of it, I got more and more addicted to it. I am at level 6 now whereas my girls are still at level 3! Hahaha. :P

My iPad crashed! II

A kind soul left a comment on my earlier blog post My iPad crashed! providing a possible cause on why my iPad crashed and a solution on how to isolate the cause, usually an erroneous app. Thanks much! The comment is really helpful and I really appreciated it. :) To help others who might have experienced the same situation, I have reproduced ipadupadweallpad's comment. :)

ipadupadweallpad said...
it's possible the crash was caused by one of your MANY apps lol.. sometimes when 'clearing' the apps, it requires that the OS makes a call to the app to close itself, and the app misbehaves and does something illegal (bad programming) such as addressing some wrong memory address, causing the ipad to crash. The ipad in general quite hard to crash and it's usually becos of an erroneous app...

See if you can locate the crash log': C:\users\AppData\roaming\apple computer\logs\crashreporter\mobiledevie\. TO do this you need to sync your ipad to itunes first, which will copy the crash log into your computer. The log name starts with the application name and have an extension 'crash'.

you can read about this here:
http://forum.rf.com/rf-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch/541-how-submit-crash-log-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch-app.html

11 January 2011 22:28

My iPad crashed!

Just before we went out for dinner, I was clearing the different apps on my iPad. As I was multi-tasking - clearing the apps and talking to my girls, I couldn't remember if my finger had hit the power button to switch it off. But I noticed the screen went blank really fast.

While waiting for our food at MeatWorks, I took out my iPad to play and I realised I couldn't switch it on at all!!! :( The girls' father suggested I bring it to the Apple shop to exchange for a new iPad. That will be the last resort. I searched the Internet for incidents of iPad crashing on my HTC but it was slow going. Getting really upset, I finally texted a good friend who has an iPad too. Bless him! He texted back telling me to try holding down the power button and home button together for about 10 seconds and it should start up again. Otherwise it would have to be hard reset via iTunes, etc. That was the longest 10 seconds in my life while waiting for my iPad to revive. And it did! PHEW!! For a while, I thought my jinx on electronic gadgets is back. :S Touchwood!

I am praying hard my iPad will never crash again.

Notes & To Do

I was fiddling around and trying out the different (free) Notes/ To Do apps on App Store. I downloaded a few to try out: Sundry Notes, MobileNoter, Infinote and To Do's. I don't want to pay for something and then realised I don't like it. (Actually I bought Notepad Pro but I prefer something more colourful after I started using it haha :P) So it is quite good some of the apps have the free version for you to try out before you pay and upgrade to the Pro version.

So far, I like Sundry Notes. Quite colourful and useful as digital sticky note pad. :) But I think I need a To Do kind of app. To Do's is not too bad but it is boring lol. :P Maybe I should pay and get To Do for iPad. It is like a real planner. So fun hahaha. :)

JAVOedge Cases

For protection and style (haha), I am using JAVOedge Cherry Blossom Book Style case (twilight purple) for my Kindle 2. No, I haven't forgotten my Kindle. I am still using it to read my fiction books lol. :)

Since I am very happy with my JAVOedge Kindle case, I decided to get a JAVOedge case for my iPad too. I bought the JAVOedge Poppy Axis case (red tangerine) for my iPad. The Poppy Axis case allows me to rotate my iPad so that I can view it either horizontally or vertically hands-free using the stand which comes with 3 height-settings. Of course, I could also lie it flat and treat my iPad like a book.

My Kindle 2 and iPad side by side :) Don't they look lovely in their JAVOedge cases?

My Kindle 2 case with its pockets

My iPad propped up in a horizontal position for a hands-free viewing

iPad Apps

I finally understood the appeal of iPhones and iPads. Because of the apps! Haha.
My iPad is fast filling up with apps. :) It is most fun searching for apps to install on my iPad. Hmm, I wonder how many apps I can install? Lol :)

iPad III

I never thought I would say this but iPad is certainly one of the best inventions around! Lol. :P iPad has certainly changed my life in a whole new way. Checking emails and replying them have never been faster and easier. Yup, even better than using my htc mobile! And of course, surfing the net has been an absolute breeze! :)

My iPad II

I love my iPad! Haha. I am really impressed with how fast the start up is. With a press of a button, with a slide to unlock, I can immediately start checking my emails. I also like the ease of taking notes with the iPad. As for the Apps, I am not installing an awful lot lol.

My iPad :)

My iPad has arrived! :) Together with the camera kit and wireless keyboard which I ordered. :) Going to set up the various stuff on my iPad now. :)

Touched by an iPad

Today I held an iPad in my hands! Lol. No, not the demo set but one of the first batch of iPads sold across Singapore today. The colours are nice and vivid but the screen is quite reflective. The iPad feels good in my hands but it is really heavy too! Haha :P

Oh, and no, I didn't buy an iPad. The iPad I held in my hands belongs to a good friend who started queuing at 8+am in the morning for it. Haha. :P