I received some really great feedback about my article last week describing how little ol’ open-source me managed to successfully migrate myself over to an iPad Air. I think the thing that people like myself forget is that if you have the skills, you can make just about any technology work for you and meet your needs. If that’s the case, why not go with a solid platform on really nice hardware?

One thing I didn’t really mention in my previous article was how much the iPad’s battery life influenced my decision. It was almost as important in my decision as iOS 7. So far, I’ve been very impressed. For such a large-screened device, and a powerful processor driving so many pixels, it’s very impressive that it easily lasts a full day with moderate use. With lighter use, I could see going a solid two days, or maybe even three, but that would be pushing it.

In short, there are so many good things to be said about the iPad, and how well it can work for different people and different situations. There’s one thing about my iPad in particular though that makes it special. No, I don’t mean that mine is space grey and others are silver. I don’t even mean that mine is cellular and others are wifi only. The thing that makes my iPad so special is that since getting it in mid June, I’ve never plugged it into a wall electrical socket.

What?! Ok, so the iPad’s battery is good, but clearly, it’s not more than two months good, especially with how much I use it. So what’s going on here? Some readers may remember a while back I “*wrote an article on a miniature 50 watt solar power station*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/kb872/ I was building at the time. Well, since then, that system has become more refined, more stable, and has been put to regular use. In fact, I basically use it every single night to run my primary floor lamp. Once I got the iPad though, I knew exactly how I wanted to challenge myself. Could I run my iPad exclusively using power from my system?

Well, it’s been two months and my iPad doesn’t even know the meaning of grid power (ok, Siri might, but that’s another story). The best part? It hasn’t even really been that difficult. Occasionally I have to consider how much I’m using my iPad if I’ve had a few bad sun days, but mostly, I do have enough power. Granted, my system is overpowered for something like an iPad alone, but keeping the iPad topped off hasn’t stopped me from using my floor light each night, or any of the other things I use the power station for.

At first, the power station’s only output was 120 VAC from a 300-watt pure sine inverter. In my initial designs, I had always planned for one or two 12V automotive sockets, but when I first got the iPad, I still hadn’t added even one. So for about a month, I had to charge the iPad using the standard power block by plugging it into the inverter. This worked well, and I still do it sometimes, but it’s not too efficient. The inverter consumes about 5 watts just by being on. Although Apple’s power blocks are pretty efficient, it’s just silly to go from 12 VDC to 120 VAC back down to 5 VDC for USB. When I charge the iPad that way, I end up drawing somewhere between 15 and 18 watts from the battery.

The inverter is much less efficient at converting 12 VDC to 120 VAC when the power draw (around 12 watts for Apple’s power block) relative to capacity (300 watts in my case) is low. A few weeks ago, I installed a single 12V automotive socket, and bought a “*2.1 Amp iPad-compatible car charger*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/iPad_and_iPad_mini_Accessories/Charging_Devices_and_Power/Chargers/Auto. Now when I charge the iPad using the 12V socket, it draws a much smaller amount of power from the battery. In my tests, charging from the 12V socket only draws about 6 watts from the battery, making for a 66% reduction in power consumed! Car chargers use something called “*DC-DC switched-mode conversion*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC-to-DC_converter#Switched-mode_conversion to drop the voltage and while they can be electrically noisy (from high frequency switching and inductor harmonics), they are typically very efficient. Of course this all means I can continue to keep my iPad running without using wall grid power for even longer.

This was (and continues to be) a really fun challenge, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. The power station was a project I’d been planning for years, and was totally independent of getting an iPad. When I saw the two things together though, I saw an opportunity to merge my interests. Further improvements may include an auxiliary Li-Po power pack so I can bring some of my solar power with me on trips. I’m also planning on doubling down my efforts in my thermoelectric power generator designs to see if I can charge the iPad that way.

I will definitely say that doing something like this is basically guaranteed to **not** save you money, but that’s not why I’m doing it. It’s been a huge learning experience so far, and talking about why my iPad in particular is special is a great conversation starter.

Grace and I are heading down to Key West for a few days to see the Small Dog team down there and button up the house until we get there in a few months. We are going to put up the hurricane shutters both to learn how and just in case. I wonder how my plants are doing down there…

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

_Don, Stephanie & Mike_

??Start Soapbox??

Bad News – Racism is Alive

??I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.?? — Martin Luther King, Jr

I went out to dinner with my daughter and her family this week. My son-in-law, Ismael, is from Guinea and became a naturalized US citizen last year. He asked me what my thoughts were about Ferguson, MO. He told me that watching events unfold made him weep and it was difficult to understand why an unarmed black youth was killed by police and that tanks, rubber bullets and laser-guided rifles were being trained on demonstrators. I told him about the 60s and the civil rights demonstrations, killings and institutionalized segregation. It didn’t help with the understanding. That is because it is beyond understanding. I glanced over at my grandson, Boka who is 12-years old and it washed over me that he and his sisters would experience the scourge of racism. This may not be dramatic (I hope!) but it will be real.

As horrifying as the shootings of unarmed men is, that is really the ugliest tip of a giant iceberg of racism that permeates our society. Whether it is the disproportionate numbers of African-Americans incarcerated or the random stops, searches and suspicions of police, to the person being subjected to racism there is no doubt. The store clerk that follows you around the store, the stares from strangers all lead to show racism. We have an African-American president and yet, it is racism that is fueling some of the most troubling events in our country today.

??”Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.”?? — Benjamin Spock

I want my grandchildren to feel safe walking to school the store or simply playing in the park or at the beach and to be free of judgement based upon their race.

Clearly, the response by police in Ferguson was way out of control. I was very impressed with Captain Ron Johnson on his first night on the job when he walked with the protestors, drew hugs and cheers and declaring that he was there to serve and protect. The militarization of our police forces is a waste of our tax dollars (yes you are paying for this) especially when our infrastructure is as fragile as it is. I know that police like new toys just like anyone else and I am sure they were itching to get to use all that fancy military gear but it is completely inappropriate to deploy against people peacefully demonstrating their outrage at the shooting of an unarmed man.

??”There’s not an American in this country free until every one of us is free.”?? — Jackie Robinson

??End soapbox??

There are quite a few “tricks” or shortcuts when using your iPhone that you might not have discovered. For this week, I will reveal five of the most useful of these hidden features.

*Level Headed*

Want to hang a picture on your wall but you don’t have a level handy? Well, if you have an iPhone you do! Launch the “Compass” application and swipe left once it is launched and you have a level. Just place it on the picture frame and you can get it perfectly straight.

*I Need a Nap*

Tell Siri “Wake me up in xxx hours” and Siri will set an alarm for you.

*Get the Vibe*

Do you miss calls when your iPhone is on vibrate? Maybe that is because you do not have the right vibe! You can set your own personal vibe pattern by going to *Settings > Sounds > Ringtone > Vibration > Create New Vibration.* You can also customize the vibration pattern for individual contacts by following the same procedure from your contact list. That way if you can tell who is calling by their vibe.

*Get Siri to Smarten Up*

You can teach Siri about your relationships. You can say “Grace is my wife” and then when I say “text my wife” or “call my wife” Siri will know who to text. If you enter your home and business addresses in Contacts, Siri can remind you to do things when you leave or arrive, like “remind me to get sweet corn when I leave work” — Siri will set a reminder for you. And, you can teach Siri to pronounce things correctly. Just tell Siri “that’s not the way you pronounce that” and she will ask you for the correct way and then give you three options to choose from.

*Insert a Photo in Email*

When you compose an email and want to insert a picture or a video, touch and hold anywhere in the message and you will see the “Select, Select All” menu. Tap on the arrow and select insert Photo or Video and then choose the one you want from the camera roll, albums or shared photo streams.

I’ve been here at Small Dog for a little under three years and the number of things I’ve learned in that time is pretty awesome. Not only did I broaden my design skills and polish up my web knowledge (thanks Scott!), I also picked up a thing or two in the writing department (thanks to Kali!).

Small Dog was a great environment to learn the ropes for my first “real” job in my field. From package design to creating window displays to compiling our weekly newsletters, I got to work on a little bit of everything around here.

I will certainly miss my super-awesome coworkers who made the hour commute worth it. I’ve made some great friends, acquired some sweet skills and learned a bit about myself while here.

It’s been swell Small Dog — tata for now!