Of my 34 years at The Advertiser, none have been as interesting as the last decade.

In that time, I've had the sheer fun of directing the launch of HonoluluAdvertiser.com and helping it grow into the largest news site in the state.

We trained the staff in video, helped establish livestreaming on the site and scooped the TV stations at their own game. We recruited bloggers who built large followings and developed virtual communities out of scratch. We moved into social media and made believers of skeptics who doubted the value of engaging with readers.

It is heart-breaking to see it all come apart in a way that is not the fault of any of us, certainly not the fault of the online staff, whose hard work behind the scenes made the site shine each day. And certainly not the news staffers who kept our readers informed with breaking stories and timely tweets.

As we say farewell, I would like to acknowledge the latest online team whose hard work has often gone unheralded : Scott Morifuji, Brian Takemura, Scott Nishi, John Miyakado, Mark Milligan, Derek Kalani, Dave Koga, Shauna Goya and Christie Williams.

There were many others who left the online staff over the years; you can still see their fingerprints throughout the site. I salute them, as well, and the many news staffers who understood the importance of online and jumped in even though it made their workday longer and busier.

I hope what will emerge once the dust clears will be a stronger commitment to serve the community in this digital era.

Newspapers will survive so long as there are subscribers. But as older, loyal readers pass away, a younger generation less committed to print is seeking its news and information online and on mobile devices.

One can protect what's old only so long. It's then time to make way for the new.

To all my Advertiser colleagues, the best of luck. And, to all who have read this blog, thank you. Follow me on Twitter @sandybeach for news of the next adventure.

No one blames you. You fell for the iPad's sleek chassis and eye-popping screen. One thing lead to another, and you took it home with you.

Today, however, is the rest of your life with this device, at least while Apple Care holds up. So as you look bleary-eyed at your iPad over cold coffee: are you still smittened?

As if comes out of the box, the iPad is a great consumer device. Terrific video, a better reading experience, and multi-touch ease. The instant-on, instant-off spoils a user for anything else. But there are bills to be paid, and now you wish it could do this, that and the other thing.

Bottom-line, you need it to earn its keep.

To turn the iPad into a productivity tool for business, visit the App Store. For starters, you will need word-processing, spreadsheets and a presentation tool.

Microsoft has apparently no interest in releasing a version of Office for the iPad, so take a look at, Apple's Pages, Keynote and Numbers. All are available at $9.99 each. These programs are similar to Word, PowerPoint and Excel, so you won't have a steep learning curve making the switch.

Quickoffice has a mobile suite to share and edit Office documents that is expected to make the conversion to the iPad. No doubt more options are on the way.

Communication via VOIP is another key requirement. An iPad-optimized version is in the pipeline, according to Skype's Peter Parkes. but Skype's iPhone app appears to work on the iPad for voice and chat.

Some kind of project management tool should be de rigueur. Insight (formerly Encamp) got good marks from Macworld as an iPhone app that works with Basecamp. Look for the iPad version.

So, tell us, what else would you need to turn the iPad from a pretty face into a productive breadwinner? Share your thoughts.

I've been testing Juicebar, a solar charger for mobile phones that is the size of a double pack of gum.

Although I'm pretty happy with my Mophie power case for iPhone, the Juicebar has the advantage of producing green power, and who doesn't want to be green?

The company says the Juicebar takes about 12 to 15 hours of sunlight to charge up fully. I can't be sure Hawaii's sun is the reason, but it took even less time to top off sitting on my window sill — about 10 hours.

The kit comes with 12 different connectors for different phones, plus a USB cable and DC cable if you want to charge up the old, carbon emissions way. We tried it on an iPhone and Blackberry, and both connectors fit well and worked as advertised.

The Juicebar is available at cableorganizer.com, from where our test unit came, for $42.83 plus $5.96 for first class mail shipping. It is also available on Amazon and ThinkGeek.

John Garcia (@johngarcia) did a iPad unboxing video earlier today:

We also did a livestream on our initial thoughts on the iPad. We literally were running this raw with no script. You can see the replay here: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/honolululive1

So far, I'm pleased with the iPad. Using the landscape keyboard is better than I thought it would be.

I am in search of a good case, so if you have any suggestions, let me know. I'm using the Apple iPad case for now.

I think John and I will have more to post tomorrow, specifically I'm curious to see how long the battery lasts on a full day of use. John seems to be using his quite a bit more than I am, so we'll see how that goes.

Here's a question, anyone REGRET buying an iPad? Sound off in the comments!

Oh, before I forget, I also picked up an HTC HD2 earlier in the week, but more on that later.

@johngarcia and I will be livestreaming at http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/honolululive1 starting at about 10:45 this morning.

If you have any specific questions, catch us on twitter, @scottmorifuji or @johngarcia