@ridedali: you’re the first sane commenter on this Giz post. Thank you for acknowledging that the iPad is not anywhere near perfect, but at the same time has great potential.

Apple has introduced game-changing things in the past. Unfortunately, having set the bar high with both their original products and the subsequent evolution of those products, Apple is their own worst enemy. We expect something slicker and better than their previous innovations, even if things like the iPod have taken time to evolve.

So, I think people were hoping that the iPad would be a tablet/netbook/Kindle killer, and it’s not. Instead, it fills a gap somewhere between the iPod and the MacBook Air.

I will be watching to see how the iPad develops. (Unfortunately, until color e-ink is available, I don’t think any pad, netbook or slate will fill the entire digital entertainment gap.)

At the same time, there is room for someone to fill significant niches. As a creative web person, I would love something with the capabilities of iPad/JooJoo/Wacom all in one. Maybe others would like an iPod/iPhone/Kindle. I expect this to happen in time, but I no longer expect Apple to do this in one felling swoop.

P.S. I tried to leave this comment at Gizmodo directly, but since I’m using an iPhone, clicking the “Share” button did not show me the next screen where I could sign up. Rather than waste my typing, I copied it and posted it here. Ironic.

This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about this. It’s also not the first time I’ve tried to approach the question carefully, logically and prayerfully.

But I must admit that I’ve never really planned out where I’d like to be in 5 or 10 years, like life coaches tell you to do. The farthest I really look in advance is about three years.

I know some folks will say this is a failing. I’ve come to think of it at either the blessing or burden of being a creative person.

What I like to do

Sure, I enjoy web design. But I also would be just as satisfied if my day job involved making jewelry. I’ve already tried my hand in a stained glass workshop, and I’d do that again in a heartbeat. In fact, I’d like to set up a small workshop for myself so I can cut, grind and assemble glass art.

I spoke on the phone yesterday with someone who was responding to a resume I submitted. He asked what my next ideal job would be. My answer described what my next ideal Web job would be.

And that got me to thinking about where I should focus my energy. Do I focus on HTML and CSS, adding to my knowledge about coding great design? Do I lean further to the psychology side of things and teach myself more principles of usability, human-computer interaction, and user experience? Do I build up my graphic web design side, delving deeper into Photoshop and seriously learning Flash?

And yet, these aren’t my only options. These are just the web-related options. I’ve saved job ads for jewelry artists and photographers, too. I want to try selling my own creations and see if people like them. I’ve even tossed around the idea of boarding with my folks for a short while so I can focus on one of these things for 4-6 weeks and see if I can’t make a go of it as an artist.

This doesn’t even touch on my love of music or my simmering urge to go back to college to further develop the sheer mechanics of drawing and painting.

Back to the beginning?

All this rambling just brings me back to my original thought: Where do I go next?

And, most importantly, where does God want me next?

All these ideas and decisions are weighted with the overarching presence and plan of my Lover and Father. Really, the most important thing is not where I want to go or what I want to do, but whether God has directed me into one path or another.

Even as I once again carefully consider all my options, I am asking God to point me to my next gig. The paths available are still numerous, but to take one against His direction — or, to take one before He tells me where to go — will never satisfy me or fulfill my desires.

Does this take faith? Yes. And my faith has been confirmed in the past when God has arranged circumstances to put me in a particular place — a city, a home, even a dorm room. I have had a small taste of what more experienced Christians tell me: sometimes the road God points you to makes no sense, or what seemed like the perfect opportunity is suddenly barred, but God is true to His promise not to harm us.

Does it take prayer? Yes. And I know that I need to develop discipline here. Prayer is not telling God what I want or begging Him for it. I could launch into another whole post about prayer, so let me just say that I need the discipline to listen to God regularly.

Zeus (or whatever it’s called these days) is a virus, trojan, spyware, malware, phishware, backdoor intruder (you get the idea). What it does: shows a fake “security” form when you log into your bank account, Paypal, and probably other sites as well.

The insidious part: it appears to be part of the site you visit, effectively “cloaked” as a legitimate page! I only got suspicious when I logged into Paypal and they appeared to be asking for the same kind of security information that Wachovia did.

At first, I wondered if sites were simply verifying accounts due to recent browser hacks. But one of the things the form asks for is the PIN to your debit or CC card. Paypal doesn’t need that info.

That’s when I emailed Paypal and asked why they need my PIN. They replied and said that they have no record of ever asking for my PIN.

So then I ran my free edition of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware (MBAM). Much to my surprise, it found 40 infections!!! That’s more than it found when I was infected by “Internet Security 2010″ last week. That gem is a fake anti-virus program which also drops several trojans in your computer, disabling Task Manager and Program removal in the process.

Yeah, so I was floored. I told MBAM to remove all the infections, of course.

But I had already submitted my information when the form appeared after my banking login screen.

So I called my bank to report the issue and cancel my debit card. They transferred me to the Online Fraud department and a gentleman who knew all about this fake form and told me that it is called the Zeus Virus.

Fortunately, this rep was able to immediately kill my debit card, PIN, and login details. He also said that he didn’t see any suspicious login activity, and so far there are no fraudulent transactions or purchases.

Unfortunately, my information was submitted to who-knows-where, and I’m at a big risk for identity theft.

My bank has offered me the free services of their Identity Theft Assistance Center to monitor my credit and catch any attempts to take out loans, credit cards, etc., in my name.

Geeky stuff

I saved the source code from the Paypal form to include when I contacted Paypal Support. If any industrious geeks want to see it, you can download it here as a TXT file. I believe it works on the same basic idea as Goored, which executes a remote Javascript to take over your browser’s destination.

Also, I upgraded Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware so I would have real-time monitoring in case anything tries to attack me again. I’m glad I did, because there is apparently something still lingering on my PC. Every once in a while, MBAM blocks an attempt to access a known malware IP address.

I was able to get rid of the active infections by following the Malware and Spyware Cleaning Guide from the GeeksToGo forums. They also have free instructions on how to remove a number of more popular infections. GeeksToGo is run by volunteer geeks who donate time to answer the problems that stump the less geeky.

Since MBAM has been blocking malware IP addresses, even after I did all the recommended cleaning, I think the only way to be completely rid of the entire infection is to repair my Windows installation.