W♥M

TV: Bosch and Lisey’s Story

Read More Television The pilot does an incredible job of setting the tone and style of the show. This was a police procedural crime drama with two parallel storylines: Detective Bosch on trial for the murder of an alleged serial killer …

BOSCH
amazon.com

Out of nowhere, I got notification that the new Season 7 of Bosch just dropped on Amazon Prime!

I was so excited that I launched the pilot and after viewing the “Last Season on Bosch” recap… I realized I had totally missed the entire Season 6. Basically, I had to binged through Season 6 so I can start on Season 7.

Since these Bosch seasons are based on the Bosch novels, the mysteries are all really well-crafted. The characters are wonderful and unique… and it’s the great writing that kept me interested since I watched the pilot in Feb 2014.

In Season 6, the storylines are based on The Overlook (Book 13) and Dark Sacred Night (Book 21). The FBI/radioactive storyline wrapped up mid-season, but the aftermath (and court trials) would take a backseat as other stories (such as the serial killer copycat) surfaced and resolved.

Overall, Season 6 was solid. I do have some issues, like I didn’t particularly enjoyed the Jerry Edgar/The Butcher storyline. The story felt unsatisfying. We, along with Harry Bosch, knew the truth behind the fatal shooting of the Butcher, but what was the point… and why go in this direction? I suppose, it’s all to setup Edgar’s actions in Season 7.

Season 7 is the final season of Bosch. The storyline was based on The Burning Room (Book 17). Once again, Detective Harry Bosch is doing all he can to solve the death of a 10-year-old girl in an arson fire. This season also heavily focused on Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, who is on a hitlist.

The Inter-Police Division fighting Plot B of Season 7 was just plain silly, in my opinion. I understand that they want to spotlight the other supporting characters in the police department… but it just felt like it was time-consuming and going nowhere.

While it’s true that this is the final season of Bosch, Variety wrote that there will be a spinoff series… From what I’ve read, it seems like the new spinoff series will be focused on Maddie Bosch. Which makes sense to continue the story in this new direction, considering that Maddie was such a main focus in Season 7.

Since Harry Bosch is such a jazz enthusiast, you can expect that same music language in the upcoming spinoff series.

While there’s no official soundtrack for Season 7, Titus Welliver (who plays Bosch) curated his Bosch Playlist, which includes The Soul of John Black and Etta James.

Read More Television The concept is pretty cool, especially because it’s based on the characters and stories of Stephen King... but the execution is just not that great. The same can be said for all of Stephen King’s TV …

LISEY'S STORY
apple.com

Stephen King’s favorite novel that he’s ever written, Lisey’s Story, is being adapted to a limited series on Apple TV+. I’ve previously mentioned that I did not enjoy any of King’s stories to television, based on the horrible Under the Dome and The Mist. It’s the same for Lisey’s Story… the pilot was down-right boring to me, that I gave up. For a pilot, you really need to hook the viewer, and the first episode did nothing for me.

The only Stephen King television I like are Creepshow and, I will admit to liking The Outsider (except for that ending).

Critics are also hit or miss on the new Lisey’s Story show, citing that it’s very slow-paced. I can agree with that, but given that it is based on a long novel, that it would make sense to let the show interpret the story to television form. Even though some people hated the show, they all agree that actress Julianne Moore is doing a great job, playing the lead character.

If you were interested, the Lisey’s Story Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack is available on Loud Robot and WaterTower Music. The soundtrack was composed by Clark (aka Chris Clark) and he wanted the music to sound threatening and uneasy: “The idea was to capture the demented threat of Long Boy's presence in a way that made it sound beautiful, like the maws in an H.R Giger painting. So much detail and there's a visceral shock factor that works on screen, but the malevolence is crafted with love and care.”

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

More Morrissey: Mozquito Coast and ASappy

Read More The Smiths I was excited to see that This Day Is Music is publishing The Smiths - The Day I Was There, a new book on the Manchester band. This book is more or less a collection of memories from various fans, compiled and edited by Richard Houghton. … Morrissey As you know, I used to be a devoted The Smiths and Morrissey fan. Like many of you, I have grown up and may have been a little disenchanted by singer Morrissey’s beliefs and personality... but I still love the music .…

We recently talked about how cool it was to see that Morrissey and The Smiths were suddenly in the news (being on The Simpsons and the topic of Shoplifters of the World) a few weeks ago. Here are a few other Morrissey/Smiths items in the news:



MOSQUITO COAST
apple.com

I’ve been enjoying the new American drama series called The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The television series was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell and based on the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux. The same novel was also made into a motion picture (of the same name) in 1986, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.

I haven’t seen the movie, but based on the six episodes that already aired (the finale will air on June 5), I’m really contemplating on checking out the film.

The story is about an American family living off the grid for nine years. They’re discovered by the government and the family soon went on the run. Their journey leads them to The Mosquito Coast, in Mexico.

What I like about the story is that it’s very smart and written in a way that you’re not quite sure how the family will get out of one troubled situation after another. It’s almost on the Breaking Bad level, because you know the main character is really intelligent and without resorting to violence… can out think his way out of the trap.

As for the Smiths appearance, in the second episode, “foxes and coyotes”, the family sought help with a coyote to take them across the border to Mexico. While their father, Allie Fox, removes a police ankle bracelet, their daughter, Dina, goes through the coyotes’ record collection to discover a copy of The Smiths’ classic The Queen Is Dead album. The timeline doesn’t make sense, since the book was written in 1981, and this album came out in 1986. Clearly an invention for the television show.

Anyway, the owner of the records, Chuy, said he much prefers Morrissey’s solo music, and puts on “The First of the Gang to Die” and started dancing with their mother, Margot.

The Mosquito Coast, Episode 2: “foxes and coyotes” (30 April 2021)

A$AP ROCKY
asapmob.com

In the recent GQ interview with A$AP Rocky, he dropped the news that his latest collaboration is with Morrissey! The rapper is a fan and previously mentioned in 2018 on Open Late, that he “f*** with Morrissey on some Smiths sh**. Make some emo, real, retro-infusion, motherf**in’ 2018 shit, man.”

With that, in GQ, A$AP said his album is called All Smiles and will feature the Pope of Mope: “Anything you need him to do, he show up and do.”

Apparently, the new album will be a slight departure from what you normally think of when you think of A$AP. He noted, “It's all about the evolution. If I’m still doing the same sh** with the same sounds and the same bars and the same visuals from years ago, what's the point? You got that catalog. You can go revisit that.”

Say what you will, but based on that, thought, I’m interested in hearing the new All Smiles record.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Visible Mobile

Read More iPhone The iconic iPhone 7 has been announced by Apple yesterday (September 7th). It is the latest and greatest from the company, and they are getting a lot of negative feedback about the lack of a headphone jack ....

I’ve been using internet-only telephone service called Visible for three months now… and I feel I’ve experienced all the pain and strain of using their service. The short story is that this is a very inexpensive mobile service, that offers everything (unlimited data, text, and voice) for $25. I stand behind that, I think it’s such a good price for what you get.

However, before you drop your current phone service, I need you to ask yourself:

1. Can I live without customer’s service?
2. Can I live with only 4G or 5G service?
3. Can I live with random drop calls/unexpected disconnections?

If you said “yes” to all three questions, then Visible may be for you.

Now, with all that out of the way, I’ll start to rave about what I love about Visible. First of all, $25 for unlimited data, text, and voice is unheard of in the US mobile industry. Technically, it’s $40 for the service, but if you join a Party Pay group of four members or more, your cost is $25. Visible encourages joining Party Pay, some groups have over 200 members. Personally, I’m in a small group of 6 members at OldGreatParty.

The downside to Party Pay is that each member must have a payment option and unique user account. It’s not meant for family… so if a parent wants to buy a Visible line for their child, that child must have a login and payment option (the parents can’t just add a family plan option). The family thing doesn’t affect me, but I can understand that is very annoying for family plans.

The other important thing with the unlimited data is that Visible offers is the ability to tether or “Hotspot”. They limit the connection to one and the speed to 5mbps, which is fast enough for email and light web browsing. I didn’t have any issue with the speed cap, when I’m using my iPad or laptop. I think that’s acceptable, considering that Visible is trying to protect themselves. Think about it, if they all unlimited connection and unlimited speed… people will just cancel their home cable internet and start using their phone only. I understand why they do this, even though I do think the cap is very limited.

You can get around the one connection limit if you use visible on an iPhone. This is because iOS handles hotspot linking a little differently than Android. iOS has a built-in limit of five or six devices, using its own linking style. I have tested this out, and yes, I can connect a few devices at a time when I’m using an iPhone.

Over the last three months, I have to say that I’ve really enjoy using the Visible service. I don’t worry about my data usage anymore (before I had to watch everything I do when I’m mobile). I love the ability to tether, especially that it’s free with the service is amazing. My last phone company didn’t offer tether. So, for $25, I think you get a lot, especially the 4g/5g (if you have a newer phone). Speed test varies from anywhere between 70mbps to 30mbps. I can only assume it’ll be much faster on a 5g network.

Now for some complaints about Visible. The number one problem I have is that you have to use their app on Android or iPhone. I’ve used both, the one on Android is not very good, the one on the iPhone is slightly better. Their app basically suck, but you must use it to activate your service. You must use it to pay your bill (you can only pay 7 days before it’s due). Their autopay system didn’t work for me, so on the day my bill was due, they put my account on suspension. That’s fine, I just reverted it back to manual pay.

Since Visible is built on Verizon’s newer network, you cannot use the older CDMA technology. Visible wants you to buy their approved GSM phones from them … but you can bring your own device, so long you can provide the IMEI number.

If you have technical issues with Visible’s service, they don’t really have customer support. Actually, they do, sort of. You can chat with one of their people… but often time, they are not very good. The line to talk to someone is often really long. Like maybe the wait time might be as much as an hour during peak times. I’ve chatted with someone at Visible, and they were not helpful, so I suggest you sort out your problems on your own.

Sometime you can’t connect to Visible, this happens about once a month for me. When this comes up, just either power off/restart your phone or turn on and off Airplane Mode. When you do this, it resets the network protocol, and you should be able to get back on Visible’s network.

Despite these issues, I’m on good terms with Visible. The service is far from perfect, but given the freedom and pricing, it works for me. It might not work for you. I suggest if you’re on the fence about switch service - that you give Visible a trial month first. Do not port your number, just create a new number with Visible at www.visible.com. If you want to try out the service, please use my referral code 3ng2nr, so I can reduce my phone bill for a month. If you want to save $15, join a Party Pay like the one I’m in called OldGreatParty.

P.S. Since I like the ability to tether on multiple devices on an iPhone, I’ve given it some thought and I may be purchasing the new iPhone 12 off of Visible’s website. Now the problem is that Visible states you get a Visible SIM card with the purchase. I’m almost afraid that they might cancel my current Visible service for the new SIM. I don’t want or had a desire to active the new SIM. I would call and ask, but it’s Visible… so they probably don’t even know.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Soundtrack 2020

Midge Ure: Soundtrack: 1978-2019 Read More Visage Typical musical proponents of the New Romantic movement were Spandau Ballet, Visage, Japan, Ultravox, Landscape, Adam & The Ants, Culture Club, and Duran Duran - especially during the period from mid-1979 to mid-1983. ....

MIDGE URE
midgeure.co.uk

Playing familiar classic songs like 'Vienna', 'Dancing with Tears in My Eyes', and 'One Small Day' in an intimate storytellers formatted show, Midge Ure’s current Songs, Questions & Answers Tour is shaping up to be one big night at your local venue and a show not to be missed.

The legendary Ultravox/Visage singer draws from over four decades of music and associated stories from his early days (i.e. turning down an offer to join the Sex Pistols and touring live with Thin Lizzy) to the commercially successful 1980’s and his historic Live Aid/Live 8 involvement, as well as more recent solo ventures.

Ure’s latest is last fall’s Soundtrack 1978-2019 (on Chrysalis Records), a 32-song collection that re-visits classic Ultravox and solo/collaboration tracks, as well as adds previously unreleased material.

Midge Ure Us Tour Dates

Jan 22 - Seattle, WA - Recital Hall @ Benaroya Hall
Jan 24 - Salt Lake City, UT - State Room
Jan 25 - Denver, CO - Soiled Dove
Jan 27 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
Jan 28 - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway Tap Room
Jan 29 – Chicago, IL – City Winery
Jan 30 – Hamilton, ON – The Casbah
Jan 31 – Toronto, ON – Hugh’s Room 1H
Feb 01 – Pawling, NY – Daryl’s House
Feb 03 – Boston, MA – City Winery
Feb 04 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater
Feb 05 – Washington DC – City Winery – Wine Garden
Feb 06 – New York, NY – Iridium
Feb 07 – New York, NY – Iridium
Feb 08 – Long Island, NY – My Fathers Place
Feb 09 – Bordentown, NJ – Man Cave (2 Shows)

Sex Education by Ezra Furman Read More Ezra Furman Last night's show opened with Ezra Furman. The crowd was sparse to begin with but trickled in throughout the night. Ezra's performance had a raw, garage band…

EZRA FURMAN
ezrafurman.com

Ezra Furman (from Ezra Furman and the Harpoons announced her record Sex Education Original Soundtrack on Bella Union (available to purchase on January 24, 2020). The original soundtrack can be heard throughout season 1 and 2 of the hit Netflix television show.

The filmmaker asked Ezra Furman, “We want you to be the Simon & Garfunkel to our The Graduate.” As a result, Furman’s more tender songs were put in Sex Education rather than putting it on her normal record (Twelve Nudes at the time of her songwriting).

Furman said, “Making music for a TV show was a new experience for me. As a fan of many a high school comedy, for example The Breakfast Club and 10 Things I Hate About You, I knew how fun the music can be, and also how emotional. I wanted to rise to the challenge.”

See Furman on tour:

Jan 23 - Saskatoon, SK - Winteruption Festival
Jan 25- Edmonton, AB - Winteruption Festival
Jan 26 - Calgary, AB - Big Winter Classic Festival
Jan 28 - Somerville, MA - Once Somerville
Feb 15 - Santa Rosa, CA - Arlene Francis Center
Feb .16 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Feb. 17 - Arcata, CA - Richard's Goat
Feb. 18 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
Feb. 19 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
Feb 20 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
Feb. 22 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
Feb. 23 - Albuquerque, NM - Sister Bar
Feb. 24 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow Palace
Feb. 25 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole
Feb. 26 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah
Feb. 27 - Los Angeles, CA - Teregram Ballroom

Servant: Season 1 (Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack) Read More M. Night Shyamalan It's more Mary Shelley than Steven King, more Tim Burton than M. Night Shyamalan. There's no gruesome blood-bath here, more an overcast sense of foreboding. A requiem, not a murder. ....

SERVANT
tv.apple.com

I accidentally got Apple TV+ last Black Friday. You see, if you bought an Apple product, they just gave you Apple TV+, which is kind of a nice bonus. Unfortunately, the content for Apple TV+ isn’t very good…. With one exception: the excellent, creepy television show called Servant. This is an new Apple Original series from Academy Award-nominated director and executive producer M. Night Shyamalan, and created and executive produced by Tony Basgallop.

The show is about a couple that hires a nanny. If you watch the trailer, you soon discover that the baby is actually a doll. I won’t say much more, but it’s a weird psychological story… with some supernatural elements (at least that’s the impression I got based on some things that happened throughout the series).

If you love the show, like me, you’ll be happy to know that you can buy the soundtrack from four-time Grammy-nominated independent record label Lakeshore Records. The soundtrack features music by composer Trevor Gureckis, and will be available on digital platforms on March 6, 2020. Apple does have a timed-exclusive, so you can purchase the album on iTunes right now.

New episode of Servant will be available on Friday.

john + vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Microsoft® Surface Pro 7 Microsoft Surface Pro 7 - 12.3" Touch-Screen Release Date: October 2, 2019 Windows 10 Pro Laptop Mode / Studio Mode / Tablet Mode Instant On Dual far-field Studio Mics Front-facing 5.0 megapixel camera USB-C™ and USB-A ports Built-in Kickstand 10.5 hours Battery 10th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor 12.3” PixelSense™ Display 1.7 lb Ultra-light and Thin Read More Black Friday It's that time of the year again, Black Friday. Like last year, it's more like Black Thursday, as Kmart, Walmart and are opening their doors at 12am, 6pm, and 8pm, respectively. … …

With Black Friday looming over America, some stores, such as Best Buy, are already doing “Black Friday Prices Now” (since November 1st). This is a great promotional thing for these stores, as consumers (such as myself), are already spending their money at their stores, rather than waiting to spend it elsewhere. I think it’s smart, especially against online retailers like Amazon, who traditionally might have similar prices when Black Friday comes around.

For those outside of America, Black Friday is the name of the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the last Thursday of November, and for most Americans, they have Thursday and Friday off from work. That Friday, historically, most Americans would go shopping.

Of course, there’s always Cyber Monday (the Monday after Black Friday), and the recent Singles Day (November 11 - which is mainly a Chinese celebration) …

Anyway, when I saw that the new MicroSoft’s Surface Pro 7 (with keyboard cover) on sale for $600, I couldn’t pass it up. Currently their price is $700, but MicroSoft’s website is still showing $600.

Sure, it’s the entry model version, i3 with 8GB ram, but I can’t really complain because of the price. I would’ve liked to pay a little more to upgrade the chip, but those i5 models weren’t on sale.

I already have an iPad Pro 12.9, but despite buying a Logitech keyboard, it is definitely not a computer replacement. There are some things that the iPad does really well, which is reading and watching movies, but if you want to do video editing or PhotoShop editing… it’s severely limited.

The major thing that sets the The Surface Pro apart from Chromebooks or iPads, is that the Surface runs the full Windows 10 operating system. All the Windows software you own and use will run on this laptop/tablet! Of course, that doesn’t mean that some software, like the latest games, will run very well on the Surface Pro…. But it will run.

It’s so good to finally able to run Steam or GOG on the new Surface Pro without any issues. The only downside is that software made especially for iOS and Android won’t exactly work on Windows (that is the fault of the developer).

For example, popular comic book reading application ComiXology (an Amazon company), refuses to develop for the Windows’ platform. You can view your comics on their website, but it doesn’t offer offline viewing.

There is a workaround for this, software such as BlueStack is an Android emulator and you can run Android apps on Windows. Unfortunately, it’s not a great solution, and it’s a little slower (with lower resolution) on my Surface Pro than I would like.

If you have a Surface Pro 6, don’t bother to upgrade to the 7, as the only changes are the 10th generation Intel chip and new USB-C connection. Not a major upgrade, but the USB-C is pretty nice, as it will also charge your Surface if you don’t want to use the magnet Surface charger.

There are cheaper Windows alternative out in the world, but if you’re looking for the nice form factor of a tablet / laptop, and if you can afford it, the Surface Pro 7 is the latest and best of its class.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Nvidia Shield

NVIDIA Shield 2017 Read More The Mi Box That left me with my only choice: The Mi Box. If you aren't familiar with the Mi Box, it's a $69 Android TV box sold by Chinese company Xiaomi. When you get the Mi Box ... Roku I recently purchased the third generation Roku 2 at the end of July. I've been keeping an eye on the Roku for a long time, but have finally decided to get one based on the fact that they now support DLNA. ... Apple TV Apple TV is the only one that supports iTunes purchased movies and "Air Play", but if you don't live in the Apple Universe, a workaround is with UltraViolet (via Flixster or Vudu). You can read more about UltraViolet here. ...

It’s been about three years since I purchased The Mi Box and it was just time I needed to upgrade the device.

I know the trend right now are Micro PCs, but I don’t think it’s an elegant solution, since Windows 10’s fonts are tiny, sitting 10 feet away - and not to mention that you still have to use a mouse and keyboard to navigate.

Android TV (which includes Amazon’s limited version called Fire TV), Roku, and Apple TV, are basically the main three competitors in this streaming box market. I have own all three types and I love and hate them all. Many of you already have one of these boxes, and they’re fine for most of you. I just find that Roku and Apple are very limited in what you can actually do with their boxes.

I wanted the best of the best Android TV, and eventually just bought the Nvidia Shield when they had a sale. I was holding out for a new model of this device (since the internal hardware had not been changed since its launch in 2015), but I eventually gave in.

The new smaller 2017 version (with new redesigned controller) is the model I bought, and to be perfectly honest, it’s still a very good streaming box, thanks to the Tegra X1 chip (with 3GB of RAM). It’s fast enough to run any Android software and seems to handle 4k content better than most TV devices of its kind.

Overall, I’m still very happy with the Nvidia Shield and it’s the only device that I use regularly on my TV.

Pros:

The best, fastest, most updated Android TV on the market

4k/HDR/Dolby Atmos 7.1 support

Voice Control and Google Assistant

NVIDIA GeForce Now (currently FREE)

The only Android TV device that can officially run Amazon Prime Videos (Amazon and Google

Game controller is the best I’ve used on any streaming box

Ability to control Shield with Google Home Hub

Can run Dolphin Emulator (other devices on the market are not fast enough to run this software)

Official Google Play store apps, like Kodi, MAME4droid, Snes9x EX+

Supports Google Music and Amazon Music!

Ability to sideload any APK applications, such as Morpheus TV, StopAds, Adblocker

Shield exclusive games, like Doom 3, Tomb Raider, Half-Life 2

Cons:

The most expensive Android TV on the market

No Micro SD reader (found in the original 2015 model, but not in the latest model)

Small storage (only 16GB)

Short battery life on the game controller

Remote controller does not have volume control

Remote controller is flimsy

Remote controller’s batteries are not rechargeable

Needs a special base to stand the Shield upright

The Shield will unwantedly turn on (or off) the TV

I actually hated the remote controller that came with the Shield … so I’m using the game controller for everything and may be the reason why I’m complaining about the controller’s battery life. I find myself recharging it every other day, and it’s a little annoying.

The small storage and lack of SD card reader isn’t really a deal breaker, because you can address this with a rather large USB stick or USB Harddrive. For most people looking to just stream their content, 16GB will be fine for them.

As for the Shield turning on and off the TV, you can disable this “feature” under CEC power management, so it’s not a big deal.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Living with the Apple's iPad Pro12.9 and Pencil

iPad Pro 12.9 Specs Model: A1670 (Wi-Fi) CPU: Apple A10X Fusion with Apple M10 2.36 GHz hexa-core Apple Fusion (3× Hurricane + 3× Zephyr) Graphic: 12-core PowerVR Series 7XT Display: 12.9 inches (330 mm) [diagonal] multi-touch display with LED backlighting and an oleophobic and scratch-resistant coating, Wide color display, True Tone display, Fully laminated display, Antireflective coating, ProMotion display (120 Hertz refresh rate) 2732-by-2048 pixel resolution at 264 ppi (Retina Display) Read More Apple It's hard to believe that it's only been three years since the iPad was introduced. Despite me thinking what a crap name "ipad" was, I think the name is probably well-accepted with people now. …

I’ve been living with the iPad 12.9 Pro (2017 Model) since March 2018. After using the iPad daily for about two months, here are my thoughts:

COMICS
Since I mainly wanted to read comics on a bigger screen (coming from the smaller 9.7 size), the iPad’s nearly 13 inches is just perfect for comics. The size is nearly one to one, if not slightly larger than the print version.

For comics bought on ComiXology, they upgraded their comics to nearly 4k resolution, so a typical “Epic” collection is about a gigabyte in size! While they look gorgeous on the higher resolution, you really need to make sure you have the disk space for it.

Magazine View

On the other hand, the magazine experience is only okay. I bought a subscription to PC Gamer on Zinio, and was not impressed. While the text is super crisp and readable, the art/images did not look so good on a higher resolution. I suspect on a smaller sized iPad, you wouldn’t notice... but you can clearly see the pixelation on the iPad Pro. See screen print as an example.

Until the magazine industry catches up or offers high quality resolution, I don’t think I’ll be buying it on digital (unless is free as part of a print subscription).

If you want to load your own content, the two iOS apps I’ve used and endorsed are: Chunky and Foxit PDF Reader (or the built in Books reader). Although I’m not a fan of the name “Chunky”, it’s probably the best CBR reader. I’ve even upgraded to the Pro version, even though I didn’t need or want the Pro features - I just wanted to support the Chunky creator.

SMART CONNECTOR
I have several Bluetooth keyboards, but I have never really liked pairing the keyboards. Sometime, particularly with the original Apple bluetooth keyboard because it doesn’t have a reset button, the iPad does not see the keyboard because it was previously paired with another iPad. It’s very frustrating.

With the Smart Connector, the keyboard is instant-on when you connect. You don’t need to charge the keyboard (since it’s powered through the connector).

I’ve read some reviews on Smart Connector keyboards, and they mentioned the magnets, but let me empathize on the magnets: the iPad will automatically align and stick to the keyboard. It’s powerful enough that you can lift it up and the iPad without any worry that the keyboard will drop off.

Although only Apple and Logitech makes Smart Connector keyboards, I think it’s worth it to buy one. I have the first generation Logitech iPad Pro keyboard, which is technically not meant for the iPad Pro second version, but it fits and the price was discounted to $75 (originally $149).

DRAWING
Before the new 2018 “New” iPad was announced last month, only the iPad Pro supported the Apple Pencil. I’ve wanted to draw on digital for a long time and have, in the past, used various instruments and softwares. None of them really worked for me, that is until the iPad and Apple Pencil combination.

Using ProCreate ($10), drawing was is pretty amazing. Trust me, drawing was nearly real time one to one, just like drawing in “real life”. Since it’s digital, there’s no paint mess or cleanup. Plus, producing artwork, from idea to finalized art, can be pretty fast and efficient.

Don’t take my words for it, professional artist Mark Ulriksen went from traditional to digital for The New Yorker with the same setup I have (iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and ProCreate). Read his interview and profile at businessinsider.com

CONCLUSION
Let me get to the point: the iPad is not a laptop replacement. There are many limitations with the iOS system, for example true multitasking and file transfers. If you’re a traditional laptop user, you’re not going to be happy with the iPad, so stay with the tried-and-true laptop experience.

What the iPad is meant for, and excel at, is media consumption and portability. Watching movies and television is a joy (especially on a larger 12.9 screen) and reading is wonderful (at the higher resolution). Apple is known for their gold-standard battery life, and the iPad’s weight is a feather compared to traditional laptops.

If you like what you read, but don’t want to shell out the premium price usually associated with Apple products, the new 2018 9.7 iPad, at $329 (with Apple Pencil support), is the iPad I would recommend for you. Sure, you’re not getting the larger 12.9 screen or Smart Connector, but for most people, they’re not going to care to spend the extra cash to upgrade.

P.S. This article was written on the iPad using the Logitech Smart Connector Keyboard and Google Keep. If this was a collaborative article (requiring other people’s input), then I would use Google Docs with its sharing functionality.

Vuart examples:

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

iPhone 5s

Read More Apple It's hard to believe that it's only been three years since the iPad was introduced. Despite me thinking what a crap name "ipad" was, I think the name is probably well-accepted with people now. …

The iconic iPhone 7 has been announced by Apple yesterday (September 7th). It is the latest and greatest from the company, and they are getting a lot of negative feedback about the lack of a headphone jack (which I don’t think this is such a bad thing).

Like you, I don’t have $649 lying around to get the new iPhone - but if you don’t mind an older (and smaller) iPhone, you can pick up an affordable Tracfone’s iPhone 5s for $199 at Target (I looked around, I believe this may be a Target exclusive as they are not available at other retailers like Best Buy or Walmart). Since Tracfone is a budget pay-as-you-go service, you do not actually need to pay every month or actually need to activate the phone to use all of its features.

I’m not actually sure if you can use other SIM chips in this iPhone, but if it is locked to that carrier... the iPhone, even without phone service, is still a valuable WiFi device (web, email), music, video, gaming, reminder, checklist, voice memos, book reader, pocket camera, health device (it has a built-in steps tracking), etc.

However, personally speaking, I feel that TracFone is the best budget cell carrier. It costs about $20 for three months (180 mins, 180 text, 180 mb data). Normal users will burn through the 180 mins in no time, that's why alternatively, when you're at home, you will want to use WiFi phone alternatives like Skype ($30 a year for unlimited calling to North America and Canada).

Additional costs: 1,000 text for $5 and 1GB for $10. Since the minutes and text and data carry over, you can actually stretch out your usage until you run out of service time.

PS, if you were looking to get an iPod, why not consider getting the iPhone 5s for the same price ($199) instead? If you decide to not use Tracfone, you can still use it as an emergency phone (by law you are allowed to call 911).

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

We Heart Music App by DWNLD, Inc.

Read More iTunes You must register with iTunes to use this feature, if you already have an account: choose "Get Album Artwork". Music not available or sold on iTunes will not return an album artwork, in which case, use ...

Do you have an iPhone or iPad running iOS 7 or greater? Then check out the We Heart Music App, courtesy of DWNLD, Inc.

I have been using it for a few weeks now and here are my thoughts on it.

From the vertical-only view and lower resolution images, the application was clearly designed for the iPhone only. Using the app on the iPad is awkward because it doesn't make use of the larger screen.

Since there is no offline mode, I'm not entirely sure this is a useful application for the iPod Touch or WiFi-only iPad. Again, DWNLD assume you have a data plan with your iPhone. Since there are plenty of RSS readers out there that will automatically download and cache the data, I hope they add an offline option to a future update.

PROS

Looks great. Designed as a reading tool.

Optimized for iPhone: low-res images to reduce load time for the smaller screen. However looks ugly/artifact on the iPad.

Blog, Podcast, Youtube, Soundcloud all together in the main menu... no need to go to different websites to get the contents.

Audio file will play in the background.

CONS

Requires iOS 7.0 or later... not really sure why the high requirement for text and images.

Vertical only (no landscape)

No offline mode

Interested in checking it out? Head over to itunes.apple.com.

vu (vu@weheartmusic.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com

Let Freedom Sing

It's the Fourth of July, so let freedom ring... so here are some free stuff:

Read More They Might Be Giants You know we're big fans of They Might Be Giants (or short TMBG). The band recently announced their latest compilation album called Idlewild. Described as "not a best of" or a "rarities" album …

THEY MIGHT BE FREE: Memo to myself, do the dumb things I gotta do... John and John are at it again!

They Might Be Giants is offering a download of their First Album Live! as a special gift if you give them your email address.... I'm on a lot (and I mean a lot) of unwanted email music lists, and trust me, the TMBG list is not as intrusive. Full disclosure, I am a longtime fan and used to be on their old snail mail list and I used to call their Dial-A-Song (answering machine) service.

So, if you've ever wanted to hear "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" or "(She Was A) Hotel Detective" or "She's an Angel" or "Rhythm Section Want Ad", grab the First Album Live! free download at theymightbegiants.com/firstalbumlive.

First Album Live! Track Listing:

1. Everything Right Is Wrong Again (live) - 2:18
2. Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head (live) - 2:17
3. Number Three (live) - 1:32
4. Don't Let's Start (live) - 2:27
5. Hide Away Folk Family (live) - 3:27
6. 32 Footsteps (live) - 1:36
7. Toddler Hiway (live) - 6:57
8. Rabid Child (live) - 2:52
9. Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes (live) - 2:07
10. (She Was A) Hotel Detective (live) - 2:09
11. She's an Angel (live) - 2:27
12. Youth Culture Killed My Dog (live) - 2:30
13. Boat of Car (live) - 1:27
14. Absolutely Bill's Mood (live) - 2:52
15. Chess Piece Face (live) - 1:13
16. I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die (live) - 1:40
17. Alienation's For the Rich (live) - 2:21
18. The Day (live) - 1:44
19. Rhythm Section Want Ad (live) - 2:50

Read More Tennis As you can see from their setlist, Tennis had a longer set than all the previous bands. Since they have that new EP called Small Sound, they did work in those new songs, including "Mean Streets" …

TENNIS SINGLES: Ritual In Repeat is the new upcoming album from Tennis. The Denver-based band just came off of a highly successful tour with HAIM... but there's no rest for the duo as they've booked a new headlining tour date, starting in September in support of their upcoming album, set for release on September 9th via Communion Records.

Can't wait for the new album? You can grab its preceding single, "Never Work For Free", as, what else?, a free download.

Tour dates:

09/18 St. Louis, MO The Ready Room
09/19 Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall
09/20 Atlanta, GA Terminal West
09/22 Orlando, FL The Social
09/24 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
09/25 Washington, DC The Black Cat
09/26 New York, NY Webster Hall
09/27 Northampton, MA Pearl Street
09/29 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
09/30 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts
10/02 Montreal, Canada La Vitrole
10/03 Toronto, Canada Virgin Mobile Mod Club
10/04 Columbus, OH A&R Music Bar
10/05 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
10/07 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Cafe
10/17 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
10/18 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
10/20 Seattle, WA Neumos
10/21 Vancouver, Canada Fortune Sound Club
10/22 Portland, OR Wonder Room
10/24 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
10/25 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour
10/26 San Diego, CA The Casbah
10/29 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
11/01 Austin, TX Red 7
11/02 Dallas, TX The Loft
11/04 Lawrence, KS Granada Theater
11/05 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
11/07 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater

CAPTAIN EO: The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation is now offering the complete iBooks Edition of E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth books for free... hoping to introduce and teach students about "the story of life on Earth".

I love these books, and they are an exceptional value for anyone with an iPad.

Additional details from iTunes:

Get the complete 41 chapters of E. O. Wilson’s Life on Earth for free on iBooks. Newly offered as a replacement for your previous purchase, this unabridged seven book collection features four previously unreleased units as well as updated interactive visual diagrams and videos to enhance your learning experience. Tap the link below to get your updated complete copy of Life on Earth today and continue to enjoy learning in a way that is as captivating as it is unforgettable.

Get It in iBooks > iTunes.com/loe

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic