Last week Rootsmagic finally realized Rootsmagic 8. This is a long awaited re-write of Rootsmagic 7. 

1. Make Rootsmagic now native to the Mac. This means an easier installation and less errors. The features on the Mac are also the same as on Windows - no more having a "lite" version. 
2. Simplify the navigation. The standard top Windows menu (File, Edit etc) has been replaced with something more intuitive and that allows you to switch screens while still remembering where your place in the other screen.
3. Enhance the editing capabilities. You can have multiple edits screens at the same time, and switch to another family member from any edit person's edit screen, then switch back.
4. Create more powerful searches. 
5. Save to modern file formats. RTF has been replaced with Word's .DOC format, lists can be exported to Excel .XLSX formats.
6. Create new wall charts and fan charts. 
7. Create resusable citations. Create it one time and attach to multiple people or events.
8. Combine to-do items, correspondence lists, research logs into a single tasks area. 
9. Improve the places and mapping features. The place list is now easier to edit and merge. It is also easy to see where the place is used (either event or person). After you geocode the location, you can then view it on a map.

I am obsessed with my new toy! If you've been following this blog for a long time, you'll know that I migrated to an Epson Stylus 1400 wide format printer (13 inches wide) for my digital scrapbooking and photography needs back in 2008 (yes, really). I have been diligently using this printer for years (it works great) but the cost of ink cartridges vs sending print jobs to Costco made me stop using it a couple of years ago. Basically if you aren't using it a lot then the ink cartridges dry up and you don't get your money's worth.

However, Costco printing isn't always convenient when kids come to you the morning of a school presentation and ask for a baby photo (for getting to know me day), photo of an ancestor (for an immigration project) or a wolf (for research project) - yes these are *real* scenarios.

In addition my Project Life has stumbled as I want to send a year's photos at a time, but really who wants to write a year's worth of "about this photo" and who can even remember why the photo was taken, where it was etc.

So enter the Canon Selphy. Ok, so I kind of hate the name of this printer. I mean, I'm Gen X, I don't do selfies. However, the name is the only bad thing about this printer.


First of all, it's cute, did I say adorable!! It almost fits into the palm of your hand. While it's not the smallest printer on the market - it might be the smallest that prints a full 4x6 photo.

But what else?
Well it has wifi. So I might be late to the game on this, but printing from your cell phone, iPad or direct from your camera is huge. But you'll also be able to print from USB connection to your computer or laptop, and use an SD card to review photos and select them to print using the built in screen.

What about cost?
This printer was $119 CDN from Amazon. I also picked up a package of paper and ink cartridges (to print 108 images) for $40. There's a real advantage to this printer because they guarantee you can print exactly 108 images - no more no less. The package contains 3 packages of 36 sheets paper, and 3 ink cartridges. That works out to CDN $0.37 per print. Sure it's more than Costco (which charges CDN $0.10), but much more convenient when you only want a couple of images at a time.

Watch my Canon Selphy unboxing:


If you want a Canon Selphy, please consider using my Amazon links below. It doesn't cost you anything extra, but helps fund the cost of hosting this website and producing these videos.

Not a week goes by, when I hear some doomsayer saying that it's all over for Apple, iPhone sales are going down or plateaued. But what they don't say is that Pokemon Go (the app taking the world by storm) won't run on anything less than an iPhone 5!!!




Think of all those kids whose parents, like me, gave them their cast off old iPhones. Typically I would get a phone every 2 or 3 years (depending on what's new) and give my tweens my old phones. But now, an old iPhone isn't good enough. My son's iPhone 4 (circa 2010) which still works well, won't run Pokemon Go because Pokemon Go requires iOS 8 which isn't supported on the iPhone 4.



So Pokemon Go has single handedly created a need for newer iPhones. Will this be translated into increased sales - you betcha!! Moms everywhere will be buying either new SE models or used iPhone 5/c/s for their kids - either way - translating into more iPhone sales for Apple.

How do I know this? Well, because I'm that mom and I bumped into another at the Telus mobile store. I don't want my kid playing Pokemon Go on my iPhone. So he gets his own used iPhone 5S with a 1GB data plan.

Apple is a winner here, as well as the phone carrier selling the data plan. And don't think this is limited to just Apple, Android phones have the same limitations (Android 4.4 to Android 6.0.1).

It's been two days since Pokemon Go was launched in Canada. My kids are totally crazy into the game and the novelty hasn't worn off yet. What interests me (as a systems analyst) is why nobody else thought of doing this sooner. You see, this concept isn't just for Pokemon, it would work for lots of other movies or game themes.



For example,

Wizard Go.
A game where you wander around collecting horcruxes and other magical items, including collecting magical eggs that hatch into magical creatures (like a baby Buckbeak). Where you go to Wizardstops to collect curses, spells and potions (like anti-freeze - a cure against freezing spells). Where you go to a Wizardgym and you choose (or are sorted into) a house and duel other wizards to win the gym for your house. Added features would be the wizard name generator where you given a name like Griselda Wagglybottom or Molly Buttertart, and instead of getting a free pokemon from Professor Willow, Olivander gives you a customized wand and you get to choose a cat, rat, toad or owl friend.



Or how about Minecraft Go.
A game where you wander around finding animals to milk, shear or kill, and get alerts when you are near buried treasure (diamonds, iron etc). Where you go to Craftingstops to craft your raw material into items and battle other miners at Minewars (like Skywars) where you are on a platform battling for your team. Added features would be "blockify" via the camera so the world looks blocky and zombie mode where zombies randomly appear to try to steal your collected items.



I am genuinely excited by the possibilities of the new interactive gaming platform and how immersive it is. It's a whole new level of gaming and bring AI to us without the usage of AI googles (something you won't find me wearing any time soon).

I'm so excited to read on the Kobo Reader blog that a software update will be released at the end of this month, although you can also sign up for the beta testing program and get your hands on the update earlier.

This is what Kobobooks said:

"Through the last 30 days, we have also been working on our first software upgrade for the Kobo eReader, focusing on what customers have been telling us. Our software is complete, and we are just working on the final touches on the upgrade process. The upgrade will be available the week of June 28th and we will make sure you know the minute it is available. For those that want to upgrade sooner, we are offering our beta program to partake in the software trial sooner.

Here is a sampling of some of the improvements we are making:
1. ePub Font resizing. You will be able to load Adobe ePubs with fixed font sizes (set by the content publisher or originator) and still be able to resize the fonts with your Kobo eReader.
2. Hiding 100 Free eBooks. Some customers have told us that they actually don’t want the 100 Free eBooks in their way, so we have added the ability to hide the 100 Free eBooks we provide. We are working on a wide range of other organization features for a separate release of our desktop software coming in the future.
3. The “Off” Screen. The challenge with eInk screens, is that even when they are off, they look like they are on. We are working on making this a lot more clear to everyone, especially those who are not experts in eInk.
4. Sleep Mode. We are introducing a new “sleep” mode, if you have left your device inactive for more than 5 minutes, it will go to sleep. This is helpful in managing battery life, and it’s also a behavior that people have come to expect.
5. Low Battery. Some of you have found situations where your battery runs down faster than expected. We found the problem, and fixed it. We’ve also improved how we tell you that your battery is low, and you are running out of time to finish your chapter. Lastly, we have improved this shut down process so it is clear that you have run out of battery, and your Kobo eReader needs charging.
6. Installation. Some of you Windows XP users have had difficulty installing the Kobo Desktop. We did a poor job communicating what version you needed, so we’ve fixed that and for those customers that don’t have Windows XP, Service Pack 3 – we are bundling in everything you need."

In the meantime, I *heart* my Kobo Reader.  It goes everywhere with me, it's light and fits into my purse.  I have a couple of light scratches on the glossy bezel (possibly from keys in my purse?) but no scratches on the display area.  The battery life has been fine and I've been reading for a couple of hours daily. 

If I'd have known just how convenient having an eReader is, I'd have gotten one a lot sooner.  You know when you go to the doctor and they show you into the doctor's examination room but you have to wait 10 mins, well out came the reader. Funnily enough, when the doctor came in he wanted to see it too!

To read my original Kobo eReader review click here.

I've been on the fence over an ebook reader (or ereader) for a while.  My friend has had one for a while (a Sony 505) but I just couldn't justify the $400 to buy one.  After watching the ereader space for a while, I was intrigued by the release of the Kobo (available through Chapters here in  Canada) for $150 limited time only.

After checking out the features, I preferred the specs on the $150 Kobo to the $199 Sony reader (mainly because the Kobo has an SD card feature) which overrode anything else the Sony could do *and* this coupled with the Kobo's ability to bluetooth connect to a smartphone to download content online (again the Sony's can't do this - the Kindle can but I ruled out the Kindle based on it's DRM issues meaning that if you upgrade your reader you can't take your books with you to a new reader).  So I bit the bullet and pre-ordered the Kobo before any release date was announced.

Of course, the Kobo was shipped 2 days before my vacation and as it turns out it sat at the post office for 2 weeks waiting for me to return.  I picked it up last Monday so these are my thoughts 1 week later.

Ergonomics
I love the fact it's light.  Much lighter than the Sony which is metal and probably more sturdy but for something supposed to be portable, light is king.  The screen seems comparable to the Sony.  It has less buttons so doesn't have as many options for turning pages and finding stuff but these are minor points. You pretty much have to turn the pages using the big blue button and can hold the unit in your right hand to do this.  The thing I *hate* is that directly underneath the blue button (on the underside of the unit) is the USB connector. No big deal in itself except that the unit has a squared off section for the connector instead of the smooth rounded edge and you can feel it digging in when you hold it with one hand on the right side (like it's designed to do so).  What where the designers thinking? That connector could have been anywhere on the unit and they put it in the one spot that was going to cause discomfort. Duh!

User Experience
I've read a lot of comments about how difficult it is to upload books using the Kobo and Adobe Digital Editions software.  This may be true.  But why oh why aren't you using Calibre?  Download this free software (and make a paypal donation at the same time) and you can see the contents of your Kobo, upload new books at the push of one button and convert old books you might have in other formats to epub to go onto your new reader.  Simple.  Calibre.  Haven't tried to purchase any books from Kobo yet and I suspect that this might be where the issue will become a little more complex, but if there is a download option, there's no reason you can't add the book to Calibre and upload it to the Kobo.  What Calibre is missing is some kind of library option for downloading content from a library (that expires on a certain date) and lending books to friends (again expiring on a certain date).


The reader is a little slow.  Not when turning pages but to read you need to power up the unit (it goes through a progress bar with 7 segments, but when the 7th is reached there is still a lengthy wait), then you will see your "Books I'm Reading" list with the last book you read highlighted.  You still need to click it to open.  Again you'll wait, and this time you'll see a quote on screen with no progress bar.  Eventually you'll get to your page.  Why the unit can't simply open your book to the last page you were on is beyond me.  Aren't you likely to pick up reading the same book if you're 1/2 way through.  Isn't that the most likely option rather than opening a new book?  And for those people that were going to open a new book, they could still have that option once they got to the last read page.

Finally there is a bug in that the epubs I've read so far (2 - Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell and Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel) don't allow me to change the font size.  I'm not sure why this is, but I think it's something to do with how they were compiled (they weren't purchased from Kobo).  I need to check into this more as the books that came free on the reader work ok.

And did I mention there are 100 free books on the reader.  Amazon/Kindle charges up to $6 for each of this out of copyright books (with most being $1).  I've provided the link above if you want to price out the value of these books.

Conclusion
Anyway, with about 1000 pages read in 1 week, I think the Kobo is a hit. If you're thinking of buying a reader then check out the Kobo which is now on display at your local Chapters store in Canada and coming to Borders stores in the US.