New Technology Reviews!.: Documents

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<img alt="" border="0" class="aligncenter" height="202" mce_src="http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9580/ughipad.jpg" src="http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9580/ughipad.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="156" />The iPad is an amazing device for surfing the web. Its large screen and multitouch gestures make it feel like you're actually holding a web page in your hands.</div>
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Web browsing on the iPad is going to get even better with the release of iOS 5. That's when Safari on iPad gains Reading List and Reader functionality and the all-important tabbed browsing.</div>
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However, as good as the iPad is at handling web browsing, some websites would clearly benefit from a dedicated iPad app. When viewed on an iPad, these sites lack key features that they show off to full effect when used with desktop browsers. Other websites have a high amount of interactivity that may <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">work</span> on an iPad, but that interactivity doesn't translate well to a touch interface.</div>
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I realize that any website could be made into an iPad app. Most websites, however, don't need them. Here at TUAW, for example, there's not much interactivity that goes on when you visit beyond clicking on articles and posting comments. Both of those things are handled easily on an iPad. The same goes for other mainly news-driven sites where the main feature is reading -- dedicated apps really aren't needed.</div>
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For more complex interactions, an app is a big help. Here's my list of four websites that need an iPad app... and also one service (or group of iPad apps, really) that needs a website.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">1. Facebook.com</span></div>
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<img alt="" border="1" hspace="4" mce_src="http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/724/facebooklogo1.jpg" src="http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/724/facebooklogo1.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" vspace="4" /></div>
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Facebook is the biggest offender among websites missing an iPad app. Why? Well, the site does have 750 million users. By the beginning of next year there will be 50 million iPads on the market -- and most of those iPad owners use Facebook. However, the site's traffic doesn't alone dictate the need for an iPad app. No, Facebook.com needs an iPad app because its web functionality is cumbersome when viewed through Safari on the iPad and some features are missing entirely.</div>
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The biggest missing feature while viewing Facebook's website on the iPad is Chat. There's just no way to chat with all your Facebook friends through Facebook.com on the iPad. There's also no way to upload photos or video to your wall, as tapping on "Upload" won't access your Camera Roll or Photos libraries on your iPad. Furthermore, Facebook relies on a lot of pop-up windows that you need to scroll through. These windows normally appear when you click on "<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">X number of people like this</span>" links below a wall post. If the list of number of people who "like" that post is long, you have to scroll through it to see everyone on the list. This is doable on the iPad by using two-finger scrolling, but many iPad users don't know about multitouch scrolling of a window within a web page; this contributes to the overall poor user experience for Facebook.com on the iPad.</div>
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Thankfully we know that Facebook is working on an iPad app, which looks to be both cool and very functional Now all we have to do is hope Facebook actually decides to release its iPad app to the public. Soon.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">2. Mint.com</span></div>
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<img alt="" mce_src="http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1456/mintlogo71.jpg" mce_style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 8px;" src="http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1456/mintlogo71.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 640px;" /></div>
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I'm a Mint junkie. It's the perfect solution for keeping track of multiple financial accounts. What's more, after Intuit bought the company, fears of Mint getting fouled up turned out to be largely unfounded; the site has actually only gotten better. However, Mint.com needs an iPad app.</div>
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Why? Primarily because Mint features a huge amount of user interactivity. Not only can you see a complete overview of your financial accounts on the website, you can edit transactions, set budgets, create goals, and view trends -- from a desktop browser, at least. None of those features work well (most, not at all) on Mint.com on the iPad.</div>
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Mint fans have been waiting (mostly patiently) for an iPad app for some time. When I interviewed Mint's founder Aaron Patzer, he told me that the company was working on an iPad app. That was over 18 months ago. More recently Mint has asked its users to hold on a little longer as the developer teams are "busy developing an iPad app." The iPad app won't be a simple rework of the iPhone version, but it will be "a brand new experience." Let's hope so.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">3. LinkedIn.com</span></div>
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<img alt="" mce_src="http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8872/linkedinlogow.png" mce_style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 8px;" src="http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8872/linkedinlogow.png" style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 640px;" /></div>
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If you're looking for the Facebook equivalent for business relationships, it's LinkedIn. The site allows users to keep connected with their colleagues and business contacts; it's a great alternative to Facebook or other more casual 'friend' networks, especially when you don't want to risk your boss seeing those pictures of you in compromising situations.</div>
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While LinkedIn.com is mostly functional through Safari on the iPad, the site offers a high amount of interactivity via searching for contacts or jobs, updating your profile, creating status updates, etc, that could benefit immensely from a dedicated iPad app.</div>
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It's worth mentioning that LinkedIn deserves credit for being the company that took what was one of the most horrendously designed UI's of any iPhone app (they originally let users change the color scheme of the app, allowing them to choose from over a dozen colors -- including hot pink) and completely reimagined it, turning it into one of the slickest -- both in design and navigation -- iPhone apps on the market. That gives me a lot of confidence that LinkedIn will be able to pull off a killer iPad app.</div>
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Thankfully on the day LinkedIn announced its overhauled iPhone app, I learned from a source familiar with their mobile plans that the company is indeed working on a dedicated iPad app. However, like Facebook and Mint, there's no set time frame for a release.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">4. Google Docs</span></div>
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<img alt="" mce_src="http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/654/googledocst.jpg" mce_style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 8px;" src="http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/654/googledocst.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 640px;" /></div>
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Google Docs is great. The suite of web apps from the search, email and advertising giant allows you to create and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more all through your desktop web browser. While Google does offer limited functionality for Docs on the iPad through a mobile version of the site, the mobile version lacks the rich editing capabilities of the desktop web-based version. That's due in part to some limitations in the iPad's mobile Webkit implementation. You can switch to the desktop view in Docs on your iPad, but don't expect it to behave quite like the original.</div>
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It's true that there are iPad office application suites that work well with Google Docs. QuickOffice Pro HD and Documents to Go both allow you to download and edit documents from your Google account (see our head-to-head review here). Less-expensive, and correspondingly less functional apps for editing include Office<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="sup" mce_style="vertical-align: super;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; vertical-align: super;">2</span> HD and GoDocs. None of these truly delivers the simplicity and functionality of Google's cloud offering.</div>
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When looking at the iPad as a serious productivity device, Apple's leading the with its iWork suite -- but Pages, Numbers and Keynote don't interoperate with Google Docs in any meaningful way, forcing users to go through hoops to get at their files. It's a frustrating hiccup in what should be a really easy and graceful workflow.</div>
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That's why Google could transform the tablet document-editing space by creating a best-in-class dedicated iPad app for its suite. Go all the way or don't go at all. Apple's showed it can be done and I'm sure there are many users who would prefer an alternative to shelling out $10 an app for the iWork suite for rich text, presentation, and spreadsheet editing. Then again, it's not necessarily clear that Google has a strong motivation to make the iPad even more of a world-beater, so we may be stuck with third-party solutions on this one... or Apple could add the Docs API to iWork and turn everything upside-down.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">And three apps (or one service) that needs an iPad-compatible website...</span></div>
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<img alt="" border="1" hspace="4" mce_src="http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/4947/icloudipad.png" src="http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/4947/icloudipad.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" vspace="4" /></div>
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<a href="http://icloud.com/" mce_href="http://icloud.com" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">iCloud.com</span></a></div>
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Yes, like MobileMe's website (www.me.com) before it, navigating to www.icloud.com on an iPad brings you to an iPad-specific web page that informs you that if you want to check your iCloud emails, contacts, or calendars on an iPad you have to do so through the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars apps that ship on the device. That's well and good, and the iPad apps function better than any web apps ever could -- but if it's not<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">your</span> iPad you want to check your email on and you are using an iCloud email account, you're out of luck. There is simply no easy way to check your iCloud (or MobileMe) email on an iOS device unless you enable your account to be used with the built-in apps on the device. (You may be able to get around this by using a third-party browser like iCab that allows you to spoof the user agent, but it's clumsy.)</div>
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As far as iPhones go, I get the limitation. How often do we use someone else's phone to check our email, right? But on an iPad, which is more of a multi-user device (think sharing with the family or traveling in a group with one iPad, as you might do on a long trip across Europe), there's no way for multiple people to check their iCloud emails without all adding their accounts in the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars settings on the iPad. Doing so will of course enable all email accounts to show up in Mail, potentially causing confusion, privacy concerns, or emails being sent from the wrong account. Apple, if you are listening, I implore you to allow access to iCloud email accounts through Safari on the iPad -- even as a 'pro' option enabled in the account settings. It's an unnecessary barrier.</div>
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So that's my list of the biggest iPad app-less offenders. I'd love to hear from you which websites you think really need an iPad app. Let me know in the comments!</div>
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Four websites that need iPad apps

The iPad is an amazing device for surfing the web. Its large screen and multitouch gestures make it feel like you're actually holdin...

<br />		<p>Disaster wears many faces. People know the importance of insuring their homes, vehicles, businesses, and lives from both natural and man-made disaster. When tragedy strikes, the most important concern is obviously human welfare - surviving the event with minimal or no permanent damage. The next concern, however, is the kind of permanent damage that can feel like a life has ended: losing imperative data. While facilities and equipment can be replaced, nothing can replace damaged or destroyed documents. Every company keeps data that is so important; losing it would be catastrophic to the business. However, many businesses have unreliable disaster plans, or none at all. These companies are facing very large and unnecessary risks.</p><p>There are hundreds of news articles featuring businesses that have lost invaluable information to natural disaster. Consider the possible flukes that can set a building ablaze: gas leak, poor wiring, equipment failure, and negligence. Weather concerns are relevant across the world. The source of destruction depends on geographic location, but severe weather happens everywhere. The point is that every business is vulnerable to disaster, and no business can afford to lose their most valued data and documents. This article will discuss the aspect of document recovery in disaster planning. To efficiently and successfully prepare for the worst, several points must be considered:</p><p><br />Nature of disaster capable of occurring<br />    Type of information that would need to be recovered<br />    Format of documentation or information<br />    How these factors affect the decision-making process<br /><br><b>What could happen?</b></p><p>As stated earlier, the two kinds of disaster that can ruin a business are natural and man-made. Each is a separate and real risks.</p><p>Natural disasters: The most common natural disasters, depending on geographic location, come by way of hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, earth quakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, extreme cold or heat, landslides, snow or ice storms, hail, and fire.</p><p>Man-made disasters<b>:</b> This category may include explosions, arson, hazardous materials, terrorism, sabotage, theft, structural collapse, nuclear catastrophe, computer viruses, power disruption, and power spikes.</p><p>Either form of destruction can have an enormous impact on records and files. Without backup copies or alternate forms of recordkeeping, this data may be gone forever. No matter how unlikely it is for such an event to take place, it is always a possibility.</p><p><b>What information needs to be saved?</b></p><p>There are numerous categories of information that may need to be recovered in the event of a disaster. Some include:</p><p><br />Drawings<br />    Specs<br />    Vital HR records<br />    Video or audio records<br />    Procedures<br />    Financial records and information<br />    Customer information<br />    Quality and product tracking records<br />    Inventory<br />    Certificates<br />    Licenses<br />    Security information<br /></p><p>Assess which records and data would be most vital to recover if all was lost forever. How would the organization function without them? What is the safest way to ensure a copy is available if the building and equipment are destroyed? How do you go about recovering this document in the event of a disaster?</p><p><b>How the information is kept</b></p><p>Businesses that most urgently need disaster planning are obviously those whose records are only kept on paper. Drawings, manuals, and books are often kept in filing cabinets, drawers, shelves, and boxes on-site. Even paper files that are kept in an off-site storage facility are susceptible to destruction. It is wisest to keep records in more than one format. Following is a brief description of non-paper methods of keeping and storing information.</p><p>Electronic Format: Files stored and retrieved by computers. Some common formats for vital records include TIFF images, PDF/searchable PDF, databases, video files, and audio files. Electronic files can be stored on hard drives, CD's or DVDs, flash drives, floppy discs, and tapes. This would include paper documents that are scanned and indexed for fast retrieval.</p><p>Microfiche: A flat film that contains a matrix of micro images that can be stored in boxes, file cabinets, drawers and envelopes.</p><p>Microfilm<b>:</b> A reel or roll of film that can be perforated in 35mm or 16 mm format and contains micro images. Microfilm is typically stored in open-reel type systems or in cassettes.</p><p>Aperture Cards: A punched or non-punched card with a microfilm image mounted. They can be stored in boxes, file cabinets, drawers and envelopes.</p><p><b>Putting it all together</b></p><p>Knowing what could happen, what would be destroyed, and what is most important to recover, you want to decide on the disaster-recovery plan that is best for you. Here are a few key elements to consider when choosing a method of document safekeeping:</p><p><b>Prioritize: </b>Not every record or document is critical, and the likelihood of a hurricane hitting South Dakota is zero. It is ridiculous to address every possible situation, so address the most catastrophic situation that is most likely to occur.</p><p><b>Storage: </b>Very few storage systems are 100% disaster proof. Humidity, extreme temperatures, fire, water, and chemicals will destroy or degrade paper, microfilm, microfiche, and aperture cards. Even electronic formats are susceptible to the elements. Duplicates of your vital records should be stored in an off-site location.  To minimize damage at the off-site storage, consider the type of destruction possible. For instance, if hurricanes occur in your area, it may be wise to choose a site that would likely be out of harms way should a hurricane destroy your site.</p><p><b>Document Integrity</b>: Time alone can compromise paper, microfilm, microfiche and aperture cards<b>. </b>Be prepared to replace that which degrades over time.</p><p><b>Access: </b>Documents that are difficult or impossible to retrieve are no more useful than destroyed documents. Your retrieval system must ensure that any given document or record can be found quickly. In the case of electronic storage, images need a logical indexing format for easy search and retrieval.</p><p><b>Conversion: </b>Microfilm, microfiche, paper, and aperture cards can all be converted to electronic format with <a href="http://www.microfacs.com" rel="nofollow" target="_new">digital scanning</a> technology. The most common electronic formats are TIFF (image) and PDF (including searchable PDF). While scanning, a document can be indexed for efficient retrieval. Indexing allows the documents to be searched or cross-referenced by a number of fields, such as: name, SSN, model or serial number, date, etc.</p><p>Electronically-formatted documents are easiest to store and retrieve. One can rent electronic storage in a dozen locations around the world at a minimum cost. Retrieval is instantaneous. Electronic data can be automatically backed up to off-site locations daily or even hourly if needed. Cost is typically based on the amount of memory needed, but is relatively inexpensive compared to physical storage facilities</p><p>Documents may also be converted from electronic format to eye-readable formats (such as microfilm or microfiche.) From a security standpoint, retrieving electronic information may be impossible if power or internet access is interrupted. For some, computer/network hacking is a greater threat to security than a physical break-in at a secured storage area.</p><p>Above all, be realistic and take disaster recovery-planning seriously. Choose only what is most likely to happen and thoroughly prepare for it. Devise a plan that will work, not just a checklist that no one can put into action. Hopefully your company will never suffer the kind of disaster that can destroy a business. If the worst were to happen, though, there's no turning back. Preparing for disaster today may save your business tomorrow.</p>	<br />	<br />		<br />			<br />				<br />					<br /><br />						<p>Rick Romens founded Microfacs in 1988 after having 10 years in the micrographic industry.  Microfacs Inc is a digital conversion company that specializes in microfilm scanning, <a href="http://www.microfacs.com/digital/microfiche.htm" target="_new">microfiche scanning</a>, scanning aperture cards and <a href="http://www.microfacs.com/digital/paper.htm" target="_new">paper scanning services</a>.</p>					<br />

Disaster Recovery and Planning - Business Documents and Records

Disaster wears many faces. People know the importance of insuring their homes, vehicles, businesses, and lives from both natural and man-...