A time for giving. A time for admin…

Here we are again. Mid-December. A period for last-minute shopping and catching up with friends and family en route to the over indulgence and inebriation that inevitably brings the month to a close. 

For me, from a work point of view, December brings one of two extremes. Lots of work or very little. Either editors have planned perfectly and already have their last issue of the year (often with a shorter deadline) put to bed, or they're scrabbling around trying to find writers to fill gaps in their magazine. I've done a few short deadline jobs this month but, blissfully, I've also found some time to work on feature pitches, new book ideas, put together promotions for my upcoming books and research new clients for 2012. 

This period of admin serves me well, not only helping me start afresh in the new year but also allowing me to take a step back from work and look at the bigger picture. 

Here are my goals if you're in any way interested: 

1. Redesign and better optimise my website to promote my services. (Just look at these sexy new templates from Squarespace).

2. Promote my books. (I can achieve some of this if you click the links below).

The iPad for Photographers

Moviemaking with the iPhone

Make Music with iPad  

3. List and contact clients I can help in the new year. (If you're interested in hiring me, check out my About page and get in touch.)

4. Invest more time in marketing work. (I do scriptwriting and advertising copy too, you know!) 

5. Build a better presence on social networks. (I'm not doing enough on Twitter or Facebook and hardly anything on Google+) 

Ten essential gifts for the Mac, iPhone and iPad user in your life

It's that time of year again where geese continue to overindulge and shopping turns into an ordeal akin to trench warfare. In an attempt to make this year's gift purchasing that little bit easier, I present you with my top ten gifts for the Mac, iPhone and iPad user in your life. This, of course, could well be you. If that's the case and you don't have the funds to splurge on everything I've mentioned here, I suggest sharing a link to this post with anyone you think may be planning on buying you a present. For the less technologically-inclined folk like parents or partners built in the 60s and 70s, there's even a link on this page that allows you to print out the post so you can casually leave it around the house, stick it to the fridge or blow it up to poster size and frame it. 

1. iWork

I regularly write tutorials for MacFormat magazine covering all of the iWork apps which provides me with a constant reminder of how good this package is. Comprising Pages, Numbers and Keynote for word processing and page layout, spreadsheets and presentations, iWork isn't a new suite of apps but has been updated recently and offers such a refreshing change to Microsoft Office. With the recent launch of iCloud, you can even share iWork documents between all your devices (albeit in a pretty odd way for now) and there'll be more cloud-based features coming soon, I'm sure. I also recently saw a Windows advert that showcased exactly the kind of hideous, clip-art-esque horror that comes from productivity packages built without a single care for the final look of the documents you create. iWork avoids all this while still offering power and functionality. 

iWork '09 - £89  

2. AppleTV

Again, not a new device but one I can't live without. For just £99, the AppleTV not only allows you to rent movies, browse YouTube and stream all of your iTunes media to your TV, but it can turn any speaker or television in your home into an AirPlay device with a simple audio or HDMI connection. This means you can stream music to any room in your home without having to fork out for an expensive solution like Sonos. If you consider that most AirPlay-enabled speakers cost more than two hundred pounds, an AppleTV can be a cost-effective solution when creating a wireless home. 

AppleTV - £99.99

3. JBL On Air Speaker Dock 

Ignoring completely what I said above regarding the AppleTV, if you want a sexy looking and great sounding AirPlay speaker for your home, you can't go far wrong with this expensive yet downright brilliant wireless option. 

JBL On Air Speaker Dock - £299

4. The iPad for Photographers

Oh come on, it's Christmas. Let me plug one of my own products! If you're into photography and own an iPad or you know someone who fits that criteria, this book makes a great gift. Completely updated for the iPad 2, The iPad for Photographers is one of three books I've written this year and will help out any iOS-based photographer from beginner to pro. 

The iPad for Photographers by Ben Harvell - £9.99

5. iPhone 4S

The best piece of kit I've bought this year by far. While Siri might be the most talked about feature, I love the updates to the camera and the ability to dictate text messages and emails. The iPhone 4S is a pricey gift but one that anyone will appreciate. UK users might find Siri a bit of a letdown until it can actually answer questions relating to their location but I'm assured that's coming soon, likely early 2012. 

 iPhone 4S - £596

6. I-Helicopter

Last year I included the more expensive Parrot AR Drone in my list but this year I've chosen a cheaper iPhone-controlled helicopter. The I-Helicopter can be controlled using the iPhone or iPad's accelerometer or via touch and is sure to wow friends and family this Christmas. 

Griffin Helo - £39.99

7. iPod nano/watch strap

This one is for the über-geeks. Wearing the new iPod nano on your wrist is now a possibility with a range of straps and new clock faces available. I've been wearing mine this year and, despite having to push a button to view the time, have found it a very convenient solution. In fact, a girl in the supermarket recently validated the status of my wrist adornment with the phrase: "Oh, that's cool. Your iPod is on your wrist."

i-Watch Strap - £2.99

iPod nano - £115

8. MacBook Air 

Making the list for the second year, I can't find fault with the new MacBook Air. With meatier processors, Thunderbolt connection and the much revered back-lit keyboard, the eleven or thirteen inch models are the height of portability and ideal for those who work on the move. This is the second best piece of kit I bought this year.

MacBook Air - £1,453  

9. Monster Beats by Dre Studio headphones

Not only does the namesake of these cans lend a high level of cool by association, they also look and sound great. Audio quality isn't something to scrimp on when it comes to headphones and these are a superb option. They may cost as much as Dr Dre gets paid per minute, but if they help you make music as good as his, they might just be worth it. If not, at least you can guarantee that the music you're listening to sounds as good as it possibly can.

Monster Beats by Dr. Dre - £279

10. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 

No true Apple fan should be without this exclusive biography that serves as a fascinating insight and lasting memory to the man behind Apple. I'm half way through the book and am looking forward to finishing it over the holiday period. Think what you want about the man and his ways, but I think we can all agree that his life and legacy is one that should be celebrated. 

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson - £25  

Books, books and more books

I recently read an article on blogging that said you should never begin a post apologising for a lack of updates to your site. What the hell do they know? I think it would just be plain rude if I didn't. 

Sorry for the lack of posts. 

There. That wasn’t so bad, was it? 

If you’ve been following my sporadically updated Twitter feed (@benharvell) you’ll already know why the seasons have changed since I last posted. A book that is now heading to print, one that I’m very proud of, has now been completed. Make Music with iPad is a fairly self explanatory title and one that has taken most of my waking hours for the past few months. The result, I hope, is a truly unique book that will help complete beginners as well as seasoned music pros make the most of their iPads. 

Like busses, however, books from me don’t come one at a time.  2012 will see four books from yours truly hit the shelves. My first, The iPad for Photographers is set for release next month, with Make Music with iPad due in January. In April you’ll see Making Movies with your iPhone launch. Yeah, I’ve been busy. Yeah, I’m writing about iOS a lot. 

While I talk to publishers about yet more books (as well as scratch off various months in my calendar) there’s another book in the offing, but this one’s a little different. I’m going to write and publish the thing myself. More details on this book will be available here soon but you’ve probably guessed the rough subject matter by now. Yep, there are iPhones and iPads in there. My aim is to have this book out some time in January and you’ll no doubt be hearing from me as it goes into production. 

For now, I’m enjoying writing for magazine clients who almost forgot about me during the book writing period as well as catching up on all the things I didn’t have time to do over the last few months. Take today for example. Today I wrote a two page tutorial and bled my radiators. How rock ‘n roll is that?!

Almost meeting Steve Jobs. A lesson for us all.

I didn't intend to write my thoughts on Steve Jobs' passing today but I feel I won't be able to concentrate on anything until I write at least something.

As is normal, everything I have done so far today has reminded me of Steve Jobs. Waking up to my iPod dock alarm clock, checking news and email on my iPad, switching on my Mac and taking calls on my iPhone. Once all that was done, I sat down to continue writing my book about one of Steve Jobs' products.

A part of Steve Jobs is in almost everything I do on a daily basis and beyond, with his influence touching animated films and the music industry. But it's not just the recent creations that remind me of Steve Jobs. The fact I'm controlling this computer with a trackpad is down to Steve, who brought the mouse to the personal computer. The fact that there are fonts for me to choose from to use in this post. That's Steve too. 

The emotion I felt when I heard of Steve's death surprised me. I was floored. The wind was knocked out of me. This is a man who has battled serious illness for almost a decade yet somehow he seemed invincible. As with the ups and downs of his career, I think people always assumed he would fight back and overcome his biggest challenge. Yesterday, sadly, was when we realised that he was human after all. 

I watched Steve Jobs announce the iPhone in 2007 in San Francisco and I stood less than two feet away from him at an Apple event in London that same year. I was so close I could touch him but I was scared to do so. His presence was immense for a man of such a slight frame at that time and his fabled dismissal of those talking to him without something interesting to say also stifled my urge to shake the hand of the great man. 

This tiny, insignificant event in my life still remains with me, even more so today. It meant nothing in the grand scheme of things but I also think it's the perfect way to understand Steve Jobs. I'm not a shy person, I've interviewed world famous musicians and boldly walked up to film stars for a chat before. With Steve Jobs I was dealing with a man who was changing the world through technology and I felt humbled. I had nothing to offer him conversationally or enrich his life in any other way and I fumbled my opportunity to talk to him. If Steve Jobs were in the same situation he would have thrust his hand forward and talked to his subject until he had said what he wanted to. Steve Jobs was about living for the moment. Even during the final months of his life, he was working on his dreams and visions and challenging himself to do better. As Steve said during his Stanford Commencement Speech in 2005 - "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." 

Courage is what Steve Jobs had. From his refusal to leave the offices of marketing firms until he got his way as a scruffy, twenty-something entrepreneur to his departure from and subsequent reinvention of Apple, he followed his heart. Through adversity and illness, he fought. He was never worried about what people thought of him and always stuck to his guns. 

I only wish, when I had my chance to talk to Steve, that I had remembered his words: 
"You are already naked. There's no reason not to follow your heart". 

Now that Steve has gone, I'll remember that moment and those words and make sure I don't make the same mistake again. 

Image by Jonathan Mak

R.I.P Steve Jobs

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." Steve Jobs 

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