First up was a very interesting presentation of iPad for Business with Joe Kissell live from Paris via iChat. Joe noted that even though an iPad isn’t as powerful netbook, it can do a lot of things for people in business, and gave several tips and suggestions to making it work even better.

• For those missing a keyboard, you could plug a USB keyboard into an iPad using the Apple Camera Connection dongle ($30). Or, try a bluetooth keyboard, or even keyboard overlays (such as TouchFire).
• For those using Microsoft Works, something like Documents to Go ($17) allows you to edit without converting the document (as iWorks does). Or using a solution such as Oncloud app (free) will let you run a virtual Windows client including Works, saving your documents to Dropbox for use at work.
• Scanning can be done with OCR with Prizmo ($10).  And Printopia for ($20) installs on your Mac to allow you to print to any printer you have at home, or even print iPad images right to Dropbox.
• And even though true multi-tasking isn’t possible with all apps on the iPad like a work computer, an app like SidebySide ($3) allows web browsing and note taking on a split screen.

After the fest Joe sent this link to Klint Finley’s artice “4 Best Project Management Apps for the iPad” for those interested in project planning and management apps  http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/04/best-project-management-apps-f.php

Next was a series of shorter discussions covering:

AR character using String app

What’s HOT and COOL! Jerome Koehler walked through all the cool new bits to iWorks, and shared hidden tricks in iPhoto on the iPad. Ron Hashiro explained how HAM radio operators get certified and their role in widespread emergencies in Hawai’i.   The HAM clubs were upstairs with a radio setup to try and readily answered questions for fest goers. Click here for more on Ron’s talk courtesy of Maude Williams. Then April Young and Jensen Nihei surprised everyone with a 3D animated dragon that grew out of their iPad using the free Augmented Reality player app, String. If you’ve never seen augmented reality, try it by trying this demo http://www.poweredbystring.com/showcase Download the target pictures or display them on your screen. Download the free Sting app on your mobile phone or iPad and turn it on.  Point your device camera to the target picture, the whole thing must be in view, then see what happens. It will blow your mind!  Huge fun!    Paul Lawler closed the session by flying a very cool  iPad-controlled AR Parrot quadripropellar aircraft with a webcam and its own hotspot.

Then came breakout sessions:

Made in Hawai’i:

• Zubin Menon from Oceanit.com presented a wide range of research endeavors of this local company.  Nanite, concrete with robot sensors is one such product. It’s part of the exploding field of nanotechnology – cell sized robots used in medicine, plant biology, warfare and construction. Mind boggling!   Learn more from Dr. Michio Kaku who discusses nanotechnology http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqlT8V18wlk

• Andy Yip and Jane Zeng, developers, demonstrated DaBus, a navigation app which tells you when your bus is coming. It was a collaboration with the City and County. They won an award for this app and if you’ve ever been in a rush and wondered if you beat or missed your bus, you’d agree!
  

  Jane Zeng and Andy Nip photo by @bytemarks http://twitpic.com/9hrtk9

• Brian Dote, Tapiki, LLC, developer of Sushi Star, Movie Buddy for Netflix and the upcoming VSCO Cam. Brian shared some of the back story that brings an app to market – not an easy trek, but he’s had success with several of his.
• Russell Ogi, 3D Printing and Direct Digital Manufacturing Consultant explained 3D printing.  Objects printed from a printer? Yes – they’re creating prototypes and parts used in manufacturing and medicine, pieces of art and forensic models and entertainment.  More at http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/10/08/features/story01.html and http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-05/5/3d-printing-neurosurgery
• Photography tips by portrait photographer Claude Ayakawa set folks up for an afternoon shoot.
• iBooks Author Shawn “Doc Rock” Boyd.  Stay tuned for more iBooks Author in August at TheGreenhouse.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-WsMzOwmhI
  

Photo by @Unkle_Krusty

Doc explained how easy it is to create ebooks using Apple’s new iBooks Author (for Lion).  He demonstrated using his own love for Sake by dropping & dragging images, videos, and of course text to create a great looking book for iPad.  He also showed “Life on Earth” (free in iBooks) showcases all the amazing features (like interactive 3D) available in these enhanced ebooks.  Catch Doc and Jerome on their very informative, occasionally somewhat irreverent tech podcasts at http://www.nonstophonolulu.com/tech/

After that, there was lunch break and HMAUS Members Meeting with tons of great give-aways; Apple and photography books by O’Reilly, software by Smile, Latte and Literature, Tropic4.com, Money Works,  NotebroomProductions e-tutorials, the grand prize a $199 DoxieGo wireless portable scanner, and more.  (Yep, that was me at that table giving those away.)

Then more breakouts with:

• Security and Privacy by Rolf Nordahl: Rolf reviewed some common sense ideas to keeping your computer safe.
  Augmented Reality – April Young and Jensen Nihei gave more information about augmented reality, its present state and future projections.  See what this awesome technology is about. Watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srbDZjUQwlo National Geographic demo and  http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm

• iPad Artistry by Brandon Teshima was about using your iPad or iPhone or iPod to draw or paint.   Click here for a number of apps and tips Brandon shared courtesy of Michelle Manna.

Jerome Koehler. Photo by @capsun

The final breakouts for the day included:

• Home Networking by Petersen Gross: Basics on setting up your home network with either Apple or non-apple products.
• Appalulu: Great Productivity, Photo and Fun Apps! Jerome Koehler and Capsun Poe.  
• A photoshoot followed by sharing images with Claude Ayakawa.

What a fun-filled  day! Hope you all had a great time, too. Thanks to all presenters and to the great HMAUS staff and friends for putting it together!
Click here for a these links and more.  A special mahalo to Kapiolani Community College’s CELTT staff and the college, ING Direct Cafe, Oceanic TimeWarner, iKlear screen cleaner and our other sponsors and all who attended.

HMAUS has been helping people with technology for over 30 years.  Workshops are open to everyone.
Join HMAUS to support activities like the Springfest and watch for coming attractions here at http://hmaus.org

There was an interesting array of strategies including motion and blur effects, using a notebook computer for both a stage and a custom background for shooting objects, painting with colorful LED lights, taking it up in a kite or on a pole or into the depths with an underwater camera on a monopod or a toy periscope.

Although a professional photographer may wish for more detail to replicate some of the techniques, the photos illustrate the desired effects very clearly and there were enough tips and instructions from the photographers’ experience to try these techniques with an expectation of success. The book was written in 2010 but the strategies still work.

I loved the friendly and consistent style, lack of fluff, and the links to more information. I can see a photogroup experimenting with each technique to create “unconventional” photo art together. I’d go for that!

“The Wild Side of Photography” by Cyrill Hamischmacher, published by  O’Reilly Books, $29.95

After spending a little time with this device, it is apparent (no pun intended) that a lot of thought went into this amazing little scanner.

The Doxie Go does not have to be connected to any computer to scan documents or photos.  In fact, connecting it to your Mac while it is scanning will slow it down.  The Doxie Go is cordless and the built in memory can store up to 600 scanned pages in pdf or jpeg files, although your mileage may differ, particularly if you do high quality scans of large photos which take up more memory.  Apparent says the battery is good for about 100 scans before recharging, but I did not test battery life to confirm this.  You can add more storage with an SD card or USB storage device such as a thumb drive which plugs into the back of the scanner.

The battery is charged with the included USB cable which plugs it into your computer’s powered USB port.  However, I recommend using your iPhone or iPad charger so you don’t have to keep your computer powered on or tethered to the Doxie.  You can also keep the Doxie plugged in via your iPhone or iPad charger while scanning so that your time is not limited by battery life.  This also avoids the problem of slowing down scanning when the USB cable is plugged into your computer’s USB port.

The USB cable is used to transfer the scanned pdf or jpeg images into your computer, using the included software, which you download from their website and install on each computer that you want to use with the scanner.  The Doxie Go also works with Windows computers, so it is very flexible.

The Doxie Go is very compact at 10.5 inches long, with a height of 1.7 inches and width of 2.2 inches.  It is designed to handle standard sized document of 8 1/2 inches width.  At just 14.2 ounces, it’s weight makes it easy to carry with all your other tech goodies.

The Doxie Go can scan documents from the size of business cards up to letter sized pages.  The included software also includes OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to make the pdf documents searchable.  After running OCR, you can just highlight, copy and paste portions of text which makes the Doxie Go very handy when you want to quote material without having to key it into your word processing documents.

To scan a document or photo, you just align the edge of the document to be scanned along the left edge of the scanning slot.  The Doxie Go does the rest, automatically feeding the document through the scanner.  A clear plastic covered 8 1/2 X 11 feeder is also included so you can put small items or photos in the feeder and then scan the feeder through the Doxie to capture your images.

Unlike most big and heavy scanners, you can take the Doxie Go with you wherever you want to do your scanning.  No computer required.  After scanning your photos, you can then transfer them from the Doxie Go’s internal memory into your computer.  If you have an iPad camera connection kit, you can also transfer the scans directly into your iPad.

You can also purchase an optional Eye-Fi SD card which can wirelessly transfer the scanned images from the Doxie Go to your computer.  The Eye-Fi was developed for use in digital cameras and is supposed to work with the Doxie Go.  I tried using an Eye-Fi card and found it not ready for prime time.  Installation was very buggy and difficult and I never got it to work consistently.  Given that it is already so easy to transfer the scans using the USB cable, I would not recommend paying extra for the Eye-Fi card (around $40) or spending the time and enduring the frustration of trying to get it to work.

Once the scanned documents are imported into your computer, the Doxie Go software allows you to do some editing, including straightening the documents if they did not feed into the scanner with perfect alignment or cutting off black lines around the edges.  You can also do minor touch ups or crop the photos or documents.  These tools are pretty basic, but handy if you don’t need to do a lot of editing.  Apparent also includes a program which allows you to “staple” individual scanned documents to create a single file with all of the pages included in one document.  This makes it a lot simpler to view related documents because you do not have to open each image separately.

All in all, the Doxie Go is a very impressive little device to add to your collection of tech tools.

So, the Doxie Go gives you yet another reason to come to Springfest 2012.  You might just be the lucky winner of this featured door prize!

A Big Mahalo to Apparent Corporation for their donations.

Works with Windows or Mac  (Price:  $199.99)

Saturday, May 5, 2012

KAPIOLANI COMMUNITY COLLEGE

(Ohia & Naio Buildings)

8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Discovering new worlds through technology & human endeavor.

Since 1979 the Hawaii Macintosh & Apple Users’ Society has explored and expanded our lives by promoting & sharing new technology tools with ‘ohana around the world.

Free Admission

Program

9:00 – iPad for Business Joe Kissell Live from Paris via iChat

10:00 -  Innovative apps, iWork for iPad, Hawai’i HAM Emergency System.

11:00

Made in Hawai’i

Zubin Menon, Oceanit.com
Andy Yip and Jane Zeng developers of DaBus navigation app
Brian Dote, Tapiki, LLC, developer of Sushi Star, Movie Buddy for Netflix , VSCO Cam
Russell Ogi, 3D Printing and Direct Digital Manufacturing Consultant

Outdoor Photoshoot in the KCC Cactus Garden with photographer Claude Ayakawa – bring your camera!

iBooks Author Shawn “Doc Rock” Boyd, @DOCROCK  www.nonstophonolulu.com/tech

12:15

HMAUS Board of Directors Election and Annual Members Meeting

12:45
Security and Privacy Rolf Nordahl, MacMouse.com

iPad Artistry Brandon Teshima, RHS Graphics Arts Instructor  Pixel Lite and more

1:45
Home Networking Your Apple Media Center Petersen Gross, Leeward Community College

Appalulu: Great Productivity, Photo and Fun Apps! Jerome Koehler  www.nonstophonolulu.com/tech/ and Capsun Poe

Indoor Shoot and Sharing Photography with Terry Takaki — Bring your camera and if you have one, a transfer cable.

Over $500 in door prizes!

$199 Doxie Go portable scanner, books from O’Reilly Media and Peachpit Books, software from Smile.com, Scrivener, Notebroom Productions, Money Works and Tropic4.com.

Map:  http://kapiolani.hawaii.edu/object/ohiamap.html
Additional parking in the upper lot on Kilauea and Makapuu.

Presented By

Hawaii Macintosh & Apple Users’ Society (http://www.hmaus.org)
KCC Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology (http://celtt.kcc.hawaii.edu)

Click below to find out more about our contributors!

HMAUS will present a series of WordPress classes over the coming months providing basic to advanced instruction. This workshop is designed to give students the understanding and skills needed to plan, create and deploy effective Internet web sites using the WordPress system. Students will receive a total of 36 hours of class and hands-on lab work over six classes.

The classes are limited to only 12 students and there is a fee to cover materials and tools.

The workshop’s  six classes will be grouped into three modules:

Module One – Basics (2 classes / 6 hours per class / 12 hours total)

Module Two – Intermediate (2 classes / 6 hours per class / 12 hours total)

Module Three – Advanced (2 classes / 6 hours per class / 12 hours total)

The first class will be held at the ING Direct Cafe, 1958 Kalakaua Avenue. Future dates and locations are subject to change.

Workshop Fees:

HMAUS Members $120 (all 6 classes)

Non Members $180 (all 6 classes)

Signal Core Team Members $70 (all 6 classes)

Signal Core Team Members Certification $30 (Module A only, first 2 classes)

HMAUS members who volunteer to serve on the Signal Core Team may register at the discounted rate of $70 (6 classes) or $30 (Module A only, first 2 classes). The Signal Core Team is responsible for planning, developing, maintaining and creating content for the HMAUS web sites and other communications technology assets. The certification class is the minimum level required to serve on the team. If you would like to serve on the Signal Core Team, please contact Terrence Young at 808-722-9298 or send him email at: http://www.hmaus.org/contact/

Non Members may join HMAUS prior to workshop registration and be given the member rate. Submit your membership application first at this link: http://www.hmaus.org/membership/

For additional information, call Eugene at 808-735-0402.

Registration:

Module One – Class A – Basics

Saturday, April 21, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
ING Direct Cafe 1958 Kalakaua Avenue

Module One – Class B – Basics

Saturday, May 19, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
ING Direct Cafe 1958 Kalakaua Avenue

Module Two – Class C – Intermediate

Saturday, June 9, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
ING Direct Cafe 1958 Kalakaua Avenue

Class A Material

Getting Started

• What is WordPress?
• WordPress Features
• Before You Install WordPress
• Website Host Requirements
• Text Editor Software
• FTP Client Software
• Creating a Blueprint (plan) for your Site

Installing WordPress

• Hosting WordPress
• Upgrading WordPress
• Common Installation Problems

Set Up

• The Dashboard (administration pages)
• Creating Users and User Permissions
• Site Preferences
• Choosing Themes
• Creating Pages

Selecting a Theme

• Theme Resources
• Theme Settings and Preferences
• Theme Structure: Headers, Footers, Bodies and Sidebars

Plugins

• Plugin Resources
• Using Plugins
• Managing Plugins

Blogging

• What is a Blog?
• Creating Posts (blog entries)
• Discussion Options

by Dave Greenbaum

Oops, she did it again. Not really oops, but Robin Williams is the muse that inspires you to learn more about your Mac and how to use it more effectively and this book continues to deliver.

OS X Lion is a significant change in the way you interact with your Mac and for previous Mac users these changes can be a bit intimidating. This book assumes basic knowledge of Macs and computers. No hand holding about how to turn it on or how to use the mouse. You should already be experienced with computing, but not necessarily a Mac. This should be a “switchers” bible, although it doesn’t make direct reference to PC to Mac transition, it does tell you how to do typical tasks such as email, browsing and file management on the Mac platform.

The book takes the reader through the key aspects of Lion such as the Finder, iCal, Address Book and the slew of other programs that come with it such as TextEdit, Preview and iChat and incorporates how new features such as Gestures, Resume, and Mission Control changes the Mac experience for the better.

Rounding out the end of the book are chapters about how to use system wide features such as data detectors and PDF as well as some great guides to troubleshooting and personalizing your Mac and most important, Time Machine backups.

Typical of anything Robin Williams is involved in, this book has a vivid, elegant and simple layout that makes for an enjoyable read. Too often tech books are either terribly text heavy or have so many screen shots that you feel like you are reading a comic book. Mac OS X Lion dances that line between the two quite well. Excellent examples with detailed textual descriptions.

Pros: Excellent review of OS X Lion, easy read
Cons: Not included with every Mac Sale

Five out of Five Dogcows

Originally published and written for the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group 2.0 http://www.laugks.org/news and published by
Dave Greenbaum at  http://www.clickheretech.com

It was great to reconnect with our friends Joe Kissell, Christopher Breen, and meet Tonya and Adam Engst of Tidbits.com.  We also had the privilege of meeting several Apple User Group leaders at a dinner courtesy of Lorene Romero of the California North Coast MUG.  Get this: NCMUG hosts a Mac Expo every October and they attract over 2000 (!) attendees. We also got to meet Marsee Henon from O’Reilly Media.  O’Reilly has always generously supported HMAUS by donating books for Macfest prizes, and Marsee promised to keep the books coming in the future.  Then, Bob from the Flint Apple Club in Michigan gave us his door prizes — a copy of TextExpander and TopXNotes! Score!

Our official HMAUS emissaries, Jerome Koehler and Capsun Poe, worked hard  talking with iWorld presenters, doing their best to entice them to come to Hawai’i for HMAUS. They also spoke with vendors to learn about the new products and score copies to test or to give away as prizes.  And did they do their job?  HMAUS now has, not one, but (thanks to a little added persuasion from HMAUS President, Ron Albu) two Doxie Go portable wireless scanners; we’ve also been promised, among other things, a good-looking Octa iPad stand and holder, cool mobile gadget accessories from eStyle.com and SolidLine, and productivity software from Smile.com, makers of the top rated PDF Pen Pro and TextExpander. Plus, iKlear (once, the only screen cleaner recommended by Apple) is sending a huge bunch of cleaning kits to give away at our upcoming Springfest.

http://screencast.com/t/DOuO3fiH

Jerome, Capsun, Marie Kunimura, Susan Saka and I shared a little about our favorite talks and gadgets we found most interesting  at our Wrapup on February 18.  Everyone who attended went home with something we brought back from the show —  pens, bags, glass cleaners and more.  Michelle Manna took away a copy of TopXNotes and will be posting a review in the Signal very soon. TopXNotes is one of several really good productivity apps, that perform well on mobile devices and Macs.

Watch the video to see some of the gear and images of some of the talks about living in the Cloud, business apps, shooting movies, iPhone lenses and gadgets. See what a fun and energizing event iWorld was.  See Jerome learning about the ecomm Printopia app for printing to any printer; Doc Rock and John Garcia taping for their Nonstop Honolulu video blog; and watch for Capsun Poe and the giant Doxie Go scanner!  Jonathan Marks, the photographer featured  in the last shot is definitely very interested in coming to Hawai’i.

Jerome and Capsun also talked with Barry Roddenberry – son of the original Trekkie Gene Roddenberry, and Gregory Wyatt — Sacramento County Coroner, who does his forensics exclusively on Macs.  We also talked with Les Posen — Presentation Magician, who teaches unique strategies for presenting with Keynote, and Michael Clawson — Amazing photographer. All our shmoozing, and macadamia nuts, left those experts with Hawai’i firmly on their minds, and some of them may be coming our way very soon!

We had a blast!  You should check it out.  Put it in your calendar — Macworld 2013, January 31 – February 2, in San Francisco!

PRODUCT: PDFpen for iPad
AUTHOR: Smile, Inc.
PRICE: $9.99
REQUIREMENTS: iOS 5 or later
TEST RIG: iPad2; 32 GB, Wi-Fi

I’m heavily into the concept of the paperless office. And once I get all of these files and bills off of my desktop, I swear I’ll begin. I have to. My daughter is heavy into minimalism and keeps lecturing me. Plus I bought the Take Control eBook about creating a paperless office.

I have made some inroads. I’ve broken the habit of just tossing paperwork onto my desk. Instead, I deal with the bill or document right away, then recycle the paper and envelopes. In fact, I’m finding more and more insurance and medical companies let you sign and forward forms electronically. A real time saver. And that’s why we’re reviewing PDFpen for iPad.

“PDFpen for iPad, the mobile version of our award-winning PDFpen, lets you take control of your PDFs even when you’re not at the office … You don’t need to get back to your Mac to take care of important PDFs. Great for leases and job applications, whenever quick turnaround is a priority … If you need to change the price in a catalog or correct the spelling of your client’s name, you can do it even when you’re on the road.

“Together with PDFpen for Mac, you have an unbeatable combination. Store your PDFs in iCloud and you can edit them on your Mac!”

Again, I find that my iPad has inserted itself as the hub of my daily workflow.

THE JUICE

PDFpen for iPad can be used either as an adjunct to its desktop bretheren or as a stand alone app on its own. You can open PDF documents from over have a dozen places including iDisk, Dropbox, and Evernote. And, of course, iCloud.

You have two options for your layout (and I don’t mean portrait or layout.) You can set it to resemble Keynote, with the list of pages in a sidebar on the left or you can layout all of the pages in a grid.

Its annotation options are many and extremely customizable. It has everything from highlighting variations to a half dozen pages of proofing symbols. You are able to choose your font and size, you can share and print, and email tech support from within the app.

You can also easily access the information on what app the PDF document was created with including creation and modification dates, among other tidbits.

THE PULP

I’ve only had a short time to work PDFpen, but what you notice immediately about PDFpen is how much more natural it feels to annotate a document with your fingers. And being able to swipe through the document makes things very easy.

The iPad version has all of the power (and as I just said, a much more conducive platform than the Mac version) of its desktop counterpart. If you’re already a user of the desktop version, you’re going to fall in love with the iPad version within seconds. Your workflow won’t skip a beat.

This also a perfect tool for group projects. I pretty much work on my own, so I didn’t get to test it in a communal workflow. But it seems like it would be dead simple and extremely efficient.

THE RIND

Nada. Was not left wanting for anything. In fact, I was trying to devise a system to incorporate more of it power into my workflow.

SUMMARY

Steve Jobs had all of us buffaloed when he initially described the iPad as a consumer device. As many third party developers have learned, the iPad is a production tool that will only grow stronger with each successive upgrade. And Smile is well aware of this.

If you’re an entrepneur or student, the purchase of PDFpen for iPad is a no-brainer. Leave your apartment with only your iPad and and you can still accomplish your work. If you’re an actual business person (y’know, someone with an actual paying job) then PDFpen is perfect for catching up on projects while you’re out to lunch.

Again, as with Text Expander, Smile has nailed it. An indispensable app with plenty of power and a minimal learning curve. I’m 99.9 percent certain that I’ve barely even scratched the surface of its abilities.

Again, another excuse to get out of performing work bites the dust.

RATING: 10 out of 10

C. Frank Petrie 2012

Jibbigo — Translation app in a variety of different languages including: Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Tagalog. You speak into the phone and it will “say” the translation.   Jibbigo also translates back into English, so that you can carry on a conversation.  Tip: the app is designed for travel, so keep the conversation simple, speak clearly, and it should work fine. $5 per language.

JotNot — Document “scanner” app. If you are on the road and need to copy a document, did you know you can make one with your iPhone?  Sure, you can simply take a photo of it, but JotNot helps to make the text much more readible, converts it into a PDF, and let’s you email it to someone. $2

Square — Credit card swiper app. This is really cool — it converts your iPhone or iPad into a credit card swiper. Now, anywhere you go, with a cellular or wifi connection, you can take credit card payments. Signing up is pretty simple, the small square swiper plugs into your devices earphone jack, and both the swiper and the app are free. (Allow 2 weeks for the swiper attachment to arrive by mail.) Squareup takes 2.75% of each transaction.  Now, YOU’RE in the money! FREE

Lonely Planet Travel Guides. Lonely Planet has for years been providing up-to-date travel information about many countries and cities. The problem has been buying and carrying those heavy books with you on a trip. No longer.  Now you can choose a destination and all the info is available on your device, right within the app. Cities run about $6 each, and include: Tokyo, Washingotn, Hong Kong, London, and New York.

World Clock — When you travel, you will probably cross several time zones. Having a World Clock with lots of functionality including a meeting planner and alarm clock for your new time zone, can be very helpful. $2

LogMeIn — Remote access to your desktop. If you’re on the road and find you need a specific file or document that you had only on your computer in the office or at home, what can you do? With LogMeIn installed on it, you can interact with your computer, just like you were sitting in front of it. The free software is like VNC and runs on Mac and PCs. It’s also universal so it works on both iPhone and iPad. (Trust me — It’s much easier to view a 17″ monitor on an iPad than an iPhone!). FREE

Join.me — Screen sharing app. Another product from LogMeIn that allows someone with a desktop to share their screen with anyone in the world. You can then view that screen with this app (or via their Join.me website). Simple and easy to set up, good for quick online training or demonstration. Join.me software and app are FREE.

See my other post for great apps like: Dropbox (store all your important files so you can get to them anywhere in the world), Evernote (very versatile note-taking app, including PDFs), Skype (remote voice chats), and Yelp (user-reviewed business listings).

Good luck, and happy trails!