Got Another Cool Toy

I don't know why, but I thought it would be cool to have a pen tablet hooked into my PC for possibly taking hand written notes and to use as a trackpad/mouse device.  I know, I know, it's not really a necessary thing, but it is pretty cool.  So I settled on the Bamboo Pen and Touch.  It a really good-sized device and seems to work pretty darn well.  Just have to get used to using it.

Here are some pics:

iPad Baby!

Well, looks like the digital device question has been solved.  I got the iPad. :-D I've already installed Evernote and I'm looking in to what other applications may be useful for my paperless office dreams to be made into a reality. 

One piece of equipment I still need to look at though is the scanner.  Simplex just isn't going to cut it.

Digital Artwork

So it's been a few weeks since my last post, had a great Christmas break though!  But I think it's time to get back to my little project.  One of the things that people generally talk about when going paperless is how to handle family pictures and other artwork.  Of course, while this isn't entirely within the scoe of my project, which is more about digitally managing my bills, bank statements, and other general monthly papers, but it did make me think about the idea of digital art.

So if you're committed to going paperless for a different reason, i.e. saving the planet, you'll also want to figure out how to display your artwork on your walls. Enter the digital display.  So what are the alternatives here, really?  Well it seems that there are several.  You have your usual digital picture frame, which is great for displaying family pictures, vaction photos, and other personal type of items.  But how do you display larger art?

There are several options for this, actually, though they are far from expensive.  One way is to build your own digital frame out of an old laptop or LCD display.One intriguing idea, in my opinion, is the Arduino DPF. http://hacknmod.com/hack/cheap-n-easy-digital-picture-frame/. You start with an Arduino, bascially an "open source" circuit board, hook it up to an LCD or old TV, program it, and load your picutres. How cool is that?

Here are some more links to this cool idea:

http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1266594567
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap--n-Easy-Digital-Picture-Frame/
http://hackaday.com/2009/09/29/touchscreen-picture-frame/
http://www.circuitidea.com/Article/DIY-photo-frame-with-BL-TFT240320PLUS.html
Arduino Duemilanove

Once I finish the actualy back scanning, I may just have to build one of these fun toys!