perpetual memory loss

For the last few months I have been debating whether to get an iPad or a Kindle Fire. The debate was between the price of an iPad and the deficiencies of the Fire (when compared to an iPad). Before I was able to decide, however, I received a Fire for winter solstice celebration (aka xmas). So I’ve had it now for about 2-3 weeks, and in that time I’ve used it extensively.

Maybe it’s because it’s new and different but I really like the carousel on the Fire. I have found Apple’s iOS to be getting bland and boring, but that has accelerated since I started using the Fire. (As a quick aside I think the Apple iOS needs a dramatic over haul stat). Maybe it’s just the way I like to categorize things or the way my brain works but I enjoy how the carousel breaks up the various different media sources (newsstand, music, video, web, apps etc) and then has a favorites and recently used section.

As a media consumer the Fire is outstanding. It has completely replaced my laptop when it comes to reading news, surfing the web, watching videos, reading books, comics, listening to music etc.  Speaking of reading books, everything that I wish my Kindle reader had the Fire does. For instance, the ability to google and wikipedia words terms etc. (Amazon’s whispersync technology also is a big plus and works great when I switch between my reader and my Fire.) But I’ve always preferred the Kindle reader to iBooks. If there is one thing that amazon does better that’s it. I find iBooks to be slow and clunky but the Kindle app is like butter. Throw in the ability to check out books from the local library with Kindle and Amazon Primes new book rent service and I’m sold. The Fire’s native browser Silk works quickly and smoothly. It’s really fast for me and works better when you turn off flash. Is it faster and better than Safari? I don’t know I haven’t busted out my stopwatch to check, nor do I really care. Both my iPhone and my Fire load up pages quickly on WiFi. The problem I have on both is the same–advertisements on non-mobile websites. Need an app like ad blocker for Silk (if someone knows of one let me know as I haven’t been able to find one). Other than that I’m liking it and as more websites on going to HTML 5 (thank you Apple) I find less and less websites where you need flash to view them.

For reading comics the Kindle has been fantastic. In conjunction with my box.net account I can download comics as I need them. Unfortunately, there’s no native .cbr reader on the Fire so you have to buy one (there’s no free comic readers either) but $3 for a reader in the long run in not a bad deal.  Videos from amazon and netflix load quickly and run smoothly, and the shape of the Fire is conducive to watching videos, but more on that later. Music on the Fire works well also. Pandora works flawlessly and Amazon (like Apple) provides 5GB of free space that allows me to upload most of my favorite music to the cloud and access it from anywhere–including work since I can access it from the web and don’t need to install any new programs on my work computer (which I like others can’t do). Also if I want 20gb of space it’s cheaper on Amazon ($20) than it is on Apple ($40). In this day and age that extra 20 per year is a lot.

Now the Fire is smaller in size than the iPad and this is good and bad. Good because it’s very comfortable to hold in my lap or one-handed whilst laying on the couch. It’s the perfect proportion for widescreen movies and TV shows and also retains the feel of a book when held upright. It feels less unwieldy or more normal than an iPad. On the negative side it’s smaller and that sucks especially when not every app includes a pinch-to-zoom feature (I’m looking at you comic reader, fix that shit stat). However, I still feel, like the iPad, that it’s a bit weird typing on it. For that reason, I only use it for writing short emails or blogs. For now, my laptop is safe.

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Interconnectivity. Social media. Social networking. It’s all the rage these days. I was, like most people, enamored with all  the possibilities that these mediums presented. Until about six months ago I used many of these services in an endeavor to stay connected to virtually everyone I had a  nominal relationship with.

Then I realized that I was putting a lot of effort in trying to maintain relationships or connections that honestly I didn’t even really care that much about. That’s when my relationship with social media changed. I decided that it was time to start stripping all these extraneous forms of communication and connectivity down to the absolute most basic and necessary. Facebook,  Myspace, foursquare, twitter, and all the rest went by the wayside.  Once I had deleted those accounts I started to look for other ways to simplify communications and reduce and protect my online profile.

First I started to beefed up my passwords and I created a new system for maintaining my online passwords.  Hopefully this will ensure that my accounts are even harder to break into than they were before.  I also looked for ways to protect my online browsing. Unfortunately, it’s just a matter of life these days that corporations like Facebook and Google will be data mining me.  I know this but I want to reduce the amount of information that they can extract from me.  That means using simple browser extensions to help block advertisers and data miners (extensions like ghostery for example).  It also means using using extensions like force https to make sure that as often as possible my browser is secure. Furthermore, I want to ensure that my network is protected so that means making my wifi network private and using a VPN when necessary just for an added layer of security.  All this to make sure that my online profile and footprint stays as small and private as possible.

Deleting all my social networking profiles also helps to keep my private life private. It may mean that I miss out on events here and there because I didn’t get the Facebook invite.  That’s ok though as I would much rather not have all the extraneous contact with people who in the long run I don’t really want to stay in touch with.

One last way I have been simplifying is through my email.  Every time you buy something or sign up or download anything online you have to enter an email address.  So in an attempt to clean up my inbox I have begun a concerted effort to unsubscribe from all the lists I am on.  Sometimes I spend way to much time deleting emails that I’m not going to read, but I end up getting multiple emails a day from these places (I’m looking at you iTunes). I hate spending time doing this so the easiest way is just to delete myself from their lists. It’s not like those emails every tell me anything important anyways. Although creating a dummy email address just for entering into these websites is not out of the question.

So where does this leave me?

It leaves me with email, this blog, and my phone. Everyone I know and want to keep in touch with is either on my phone or gchat. If I can’t contact you that way then I probably don’t need to contact you to begin with.  My life already feels less cluttered and as I continue this process of simplification I expect it to get even better. My online footprint is becoming smaller and I feel my privacy is being better protected.  As time goes on I will continue to simplify and refine my online actions in the hopes of keeping a barrier between my private and my online life.

So if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the interconnectivity these days, maybe it’s time to simplify your life and unplug from the plethora of social networking sites that are out there that are constantly vying for your attention. You might miss it initially but in the long run you will enjoy the feeling of not being constantly connected.

I have consistently been a late adopter of technology.  The last time I jumped on the techno band wagon from the get go was when I bought an mp3 player back before there was such a thing as an iPod (it was the equivalent of the Zack Morris cell phone).  Needless to say I got burned and I learned my lesson.  Since that time I have always waited and waited for new technology to go through a few iterations before I buy it.  Last Friday I decided to finally jump on the iPhone band wagon, and although I wish I would have done it sooner I am glad that I waited for them to work out some of the bugs.

Anyways I have been trolling the app store looking for good apps and wanted to promote one of my favorite apps so far.  The app is from BeamItDown Software and it is a collection of 150 Great Books (and counting).  Usually I feel the same way about digital books as I do about new technology, I really don’t like it.   There’s really nothing that can beat reading a real book, as opposed to the digital incarnation, but the price was right so I figured what the hell I’ll give it a try.  Up until this point I have only really read research papers and the like in digital form, and those usually don’t exceed fifty pages or so, but even those few pages are taxing on my eyes.  Now with all my complaining and griping about digital books you might be asking “well I thought you liked this app?”  I do but I just had to get some minor complaints out of the way first.

Lately I have been packing–in preparation for my imminent move to somewhere, don’t know where just yet–and I filled up two twenty gallon plastic storage containers with my books.  And when I went to move them into the other room I almost gave myself a hernia.  Seriously books are fucking heavy and annoying to move.  I had forgotten about that.  So until the time comes where I settle down and have a room dedicated as my library I think I am going to calm down on buying books.  Secondly, I went to do my laundry the other day and usually along with my colossal bag of dirty laundry, detergent, softener, and bounce sheets, I usually take my phone, iPod, and a book to read.  Now instead I just grabbed my bag of laundry and my iPhone and I was off listening to my music during the long trek to the laundromat, and once there I dove into A Tale of Two Cities, which is a book I have been meaning to read for years.  Despite my aversion to digital books I really enjoyed it and so far I haven’t really felt that I am missing that much by reading it off of my phone.  Actually it’s pretty damn great, and bonus because there are so many choices of books to read I will never be without a book.  And besides it’s much better than carrying my satchel (it’s not a man purse it’s a satchel) into the city filled with books and what not.

By the way the app is now 50% off and is only $4.99–which when added to the price of a new iPhone is cheaper than the Kindle, and the Kindle doesn’t play music or make phone calls (suck on that amazon). That $4.99 price tag is also  cheaper than buying even one of the books on the list.  Speaking of the list here are some of the highlights of what books are included on the app: a collection of Dickens, Twain, Doyle, Dumas, Hardy, London, Poe, and Wells.  Oh but wait there’s more it also includes political tracts from Hamilton, Locke, Marx, Milton, Paine, and Plato.  And there is a ton of other stuff including Epic Poetry, regular poetry, and fables.  There is really a grip of worthwhile books on the list just begging to be read, and hey did I mention it’s really a phenomenal deal.  The app itself works smoothly and saves where you left off in every book that you are reading.  Instead of simulating a book and page turns this app works like a “teleprompter” which makes it easier to read.  You can set it to move automatically so that you don’t have to touch the screen and can just keep reading.  Personally I hate the mode because I either feel that I am being rushed or that it’s moving too slow–I haven’t found the “just right” speed yet–and besides I like to read well written passages over and over again so I can fully appreciate them.  So I’d rather move the script on my own, but the option is there which is nice.

However, there are a couple add-ons I would like to see.  One is a way to highlight, mark, or dog-ear certain passages.  I have the tendency to write notes and bracket particularly good passages, but the ability to write notes is probably asking for a bit much so I would settle for a way to just highlight passages for reference later on.  Secondly, I would like some kind of page reference that lets me know the approximate page number that I am currently reading.  One of the benefits of reading books is noting the progress you make each time you sit down and read for a few hours, and that is really lost on this format.  Other than those minor gripes the app is the tops and well worth the money.  I don’t think I’ll ever go completely digital but being able to have so many good books on hand at all times is priceless (cliche I know, but also true).

Thanks to crunchgear for the pic.

Today I drug myself to my computer to begin the process of writing more cover letters and to scour the internet for more jobs.  It never happened though because I made myself a pot of coffee and turned on the TV and as I was searching around I saw that G4 was having their E3 coverage.  Some days it is down right fantastic to be a nerd and today was one of those days.  I spent the better part of the day watching Microsoft’s XBOX 360 E3 presentation.  It was two hours chalk full of surprises that whetted my appetite for the fall releases.  So for those of you that are gainfully employed here are some of my favorites (in no particular order).

The Beatles Rock Band–even though I generally suck at Rock Band I will think about getting this game just because it looks great and I love The Beatles.  Besides how cool would it be to play Drive My Car in Shea Stadium in front of 50,000 screaming fans?

Modern Warfare 2–the first Modern Warfare was awesome and I didn’t even explore the multi-player features, a mistake I won’t make again.  It looks like Infinity Ward upped the ante on this version and the level displayed at E3 looked great–especially when you get to drive and fight on a snowmobile, which had a Bond feel to it.  The 360 version will also have two exclusive map packs.

Halo: ODST–Bungie is one of those developers that I will pretty much buy anything they make because they are one of the best out there.  The fact that this is a new Halo game, which plays differently than previous incarnations, and you can count me hyped and excited to play this game.  Also Bungie teased a prequel to the Halo series entitled Halo: Reach.

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I have been wanting to change up the look of the site or awhile now as I was never really that down with the way it looked.  Since I am in the middle of a semester studying for a big test I figured now was not the time to start learning CSS.  So I spent most of yesterday scouring the internet for a new theme to use, and I have settled on this one.  Eventually I hope to learn some CSS so that I can tweak it a bit (still need to create a banner one of these days too), but other than that I think it is a pretty good fit.  But wait there’s more!  There are a lot of new functionalities on the site now.  Some are small and mundane while others are simple spectacular.  If you haven’t checked out the pics from the Jimmy Eat World or The Black Keys show then do so now as the new photo feature is awesome and makes it much easier to look at pics.  Also the threaded comments feature now works so take direct aim at those people who disagree with you.  There’s plenty more changes on the site and there will be more in the future, so have a looksy around the site and tell me what you think.

Over the last two days I have been engaged in an epic struggle for life and limb.  In the course of two days my kids have been take by Child Protective Services–because I murdered my wife, how lame–my other two wives have divorced me, and taken my kids, and I have finally and fully capitulated to the dark impulses that have haunted me.   I know that I have ostracized friends and family, but I don’t care because I am now a person with one singular purpose, evil.  I want to spread pain and terror to as many people as I can.  I care not for the living or the dead, the young or old, guilty or innocent.  I am a killing machine that’s murders unflinchingly and in my wake I leave death and despair.  I am the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse.

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I am currently doing research for a paper that will talk about the history and impact of id Software, and more specifically DOOM, on culture.  In working on finding academic sources I stumbled upon the site how they got game, which is maintained by Stanford University.  There is a lot of cool stuff there, and it is encouraging to see a major University look into the larger impact that games have had, and not just treat it as something trivial that only greasy nerds participate in.  If you have time check out the site; it’s well worth you’re time.

They have a whole section devoted to machinima, which is where I found this video.  A student made a short video about the Holocaust using Halo 3.  It’s a good video, and worth a few minutes of your time.

Alright well my computer is finally fixed, and I’m back until the next time it goes down.  So look out for new posts shortly.

The time has come to send in my shitty computer to get fixed, hopefully the third time is the mother fucking charm.  So I will be falling off the grid for awhile as far as blogging, and eventually phone communication.  Expect a Twitter update every once in a blue moon.