iPad Case Quest

We've had the iPad to use since the release date, and I have concluded that the iPad begs for a case. The question is whether one wants a sleeve to keep it in for transporting, or a flip case that it stays in all the time. I find holding the iPad itself a bit of a chore. I'm too 'careful' with it. And, it really works best if it's propped up. Holding it and looking down at it for too long hurts my neck. Hence, we want a flip case for it.
The iPad fits well on my elliptical for viewing during a workout. The typing in landscape is as good as could be hoped for, really. It is quite fitting for sitting on the couch and doing email and web reading. It makes a great reader. My wife loves taking it places to read with it.
I have been watching as many iPad case releases as I can. MacWorld has done three round-ups now. I have concluded that Apple's own iPad case is tops for our needs. A chief criteria is a flip case that has a sturdy low angle propping up option which is ideal for typing, and, it must be able to work well on your lap. Every other case I've seen (including inCase's Convertible Book Jacket) either is too wobbly for good typing or props the iPad up with a little stand which wouldn't work across your lap, unlike the full bottom laying flat as in Apple's case. I've been holding out a few weeks, using a simple foam slip-case, to see what options arise before purchasing, but it's looking more like Apple's will be the one.

In the interim, I gave the classic book-conversion case a try tonight. I found just the right size book in the bottom of a bookshelf in the basement. I am very impressed with the results. I was careful with the measurements and the cutting, so the fit is quite snug. I would totally use this case for transporting the iPad, even reading from it. Here are some quick pics:

 

This will be fun to use for a bit until we make a purchase.

Update: The case is still getting a lot of use, and had held up amazingly well and proven itself to be surprisingly functional. Someone asked for more details on the process, so here are the basic steps I used:

1. Lay the iPad face down on card stock and trace the face of it.

2. Cut it out.

3. Find the right size book, height, length, and thickness. I got lucky and had a perfect one… you'll want at least a half inch of paper to border the iPad. (A hard-cover book that opens, lays flat, where the front cover can flip open but doesn't pull the pages and bottom cover with it, so that it can still lay flat with the front cover open is ideal.) This is the book I used: http://www.amazon.com/Psalms-Timothy-R-Botts/dp/0842349553

4. Open the cover and on the very first sheet, lay the template and and trace with pencil.

5. Using an exacto knife (though I actually used a less-desirable carpenter's knife), cut the outline, cutting 2 to 6 pages deep.

6. You know longer use the template, but rather, use the cut-out pages as the guide to scribe further down into the paper. You eventually be "opening" some pages, pulling them back, always leaving a couple "cut-out" pages as the guide for further scribing.

7. Repeat ad nauseum. As you get deeper, to a check with the template and/or the actual iPad to make sure your hole is still true. Keep it snug, though. You can always trim away bulging sections and corners to enlarged the hole. Make tweaks to adjust. Took me an hour or so total.

8. As you get close to the back cover, place hard surface under the pages so you don't cut into the back cover.

9. With all the pages cut, pull away the loose bits. Try fitting the iPad. Carve out bulging places. Ideal is a fit where the iPad slides in with just a teeny bit of effort. Even better is if one side is a little narrower at the top than down into the paper, so you have to angle it in and then it hold a little in place. Mine turned out this way on its own.

10. Hold all the pages open, against the front cover using a clothes pin or something, then free the last sheet, and with a glue stick, glue it down to the back cover.

*Important is to make sure the bottom cover is lying flat and the the binding is lying flat at the 90% angle so that the paper is glued as far onto the back cover as it cant.

11. Repeat with the next sheet, next, and next, again, ad nauseum. Make sure the cut-out lines up with what's below it each time.

12. One you've finished. After confirming the fit, and letting it dry, the next day, some pages will pull apart. Reglue those with regular elmer's glue and once those seem go, go ahead and spread glue on the 3 edges of the stack of paper to give it added hardness and stability. You may have to reglue a couple pages for the next few days of use.

Brite's Jewish Studies appointment

Glad that Brite Divinity School's new Jewish Studies chair appointment is getting wider press, thanks in part to Jim at PaleoJudaica.com. It is a rather unique position for a seminary of Brite's posturing. It offers great potential for seminarians, and even more so for a Qumran scholar, over against a Midrash scholars, as was the previous position-holder. There remains a NT position open at Brite. Interested to see what transpires there.

Multi-direction Language Support in Upcoming Word 2011

Screenshots of the anticipated Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 began to surface on the web in the last couple days. It's hard to know whether "leaked" screenshots like this are planned out or not, but conversation on the Twitterverse confirms their authenticity. One such conversation on Twitter references this screenshot where Word's new language direction capabilities are on display.

This is a new revelation. Not only does it seem that the version due out in December will be able to support Right to Left Unicode, it looks like the new text engine handles even more advanced vertical language. And isn't that boustrophedon (like an ox plows) heiroglyphs at the end? I remember from studying at the museum in Cairo that you can tell the direction of the line by the way the bird is facing. This is surprising since I would think it only useful for artistic and minute scholarly reasons.
The official Mac Office blog has not yet touched on language capabilities in the teaser reports, but this updated text engine is a huge step forward, so it's hard to imagine why these plans haven't emerged prior to April.

Central States Regional SBL Report

The Central States Regional SBL meeting was enjoyable. It was my first time at this particular regional event which has been in St. Louis each year since I've been in Missouri.

I understand it has been in Kansas City in the past (and I'd be happy to see it repeat).

This event is smaller than the other regional meetings I have experience with in the Southwest, but there were still sufficient slots for the just-over 100 attendees to present and hear papers. The book exhibit is about as small as you could imagine. About 5 presses must have sent in a box of sample books, though Abingdon was present with an actual rep and larger display.

The other five presses each had a collection of the size similar to this one from Chalice Press.
It appears that Central States basically has three sections—HB, NT, and ASOR—though they were also trying to maintain a mini-section on Pedagogy. The presentations I attended were the expected wide range of rich diversity, including moments of understandable inexperience, occasions of insightful brilliance, along with the occasional "Huh?". These regional meetings are indeed a great place for folks to cut their teeth on an academic venue, and the "old guard" who seem to run the meetings do have a good priority for encouraging student participation, even undergraduate. Some of the actual presentations were refreshing and/or notable.

David May of Central Baptist Theological Seminary surveyed "Restoration Coins" from the Roman empire that offer a good reminder to move beyond textual evidence (such as numismatics) when seeking social context for a culturally bound book like Revelation. Mark Nanos, whom I met for the first time and who lives about 15 minutes away from me as it turns out, made a strong argument that the interpretation of πώρωσις in Romans 11:25 is inappropriately influenced by the πώρωσις τῆς καρδίας found in later texts in Mark and Ephesians. The plenary address from Dr. Jodi Magness, the Early Judaism professor at University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill surveyed the issues surrounding the James Ossuary and the Talpiyot tomb. She is very articulate and presented the state of the affair well. One business session facilitated discussions about an issue facing all SBL regional clusters. Due to IRS regulations, the regions are going to have to become separate legal entities. Without a doubt, if these new structures do not find a way to have some sort of "Sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature" branding somewhere, they will decline in interest.
The most enjoyable aspect of the time was the occasion to get [better] acquainted with scholars in Missouri and nearby. In addition to David May and Mark Nanos, I further enjoyed getting to know Daryl Jefferies of Central Methodist University and Mark Givens of Missouri State University. In some instances, it was an exercise in learning about regional institutions that I had been ignorant of their existence previously.  I will look forward to next year.

Regional SBL Central States

I just arrived at the Central States regional meeting in St. Louis. I have attended regional SBL's, but this is my first time at this regional meeting. (My prior experience is in the Southwest.) I don't know many of my local colleagues, so welcome this opportunity to get to know folks, especially from Kansas City. (I have seen the bible folk from William Jewell with whom I've shared a flight from national SBL, and I think I see David May of CBTS having lunch.)

I've not any specific reason for being here other than making such connections in general. I am looking forward to Jodi Magness' plenary address on the Talpiyot tomb. I think I shall be attending all the NT sections.