Further review of the Dell Streak.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Streak's camera
Further review of the Dell Streak.
Friday, September 24, 2010
The Earth from above
Yann Arthus-Bertrand has a hit with this theme. I bought an over-sized postcard book with his work a couple years ago, some still hang on my fridge.
Zero History
Gibson may even be on top of his game, word-smith wise. Beautiful, balanced prose, though deceptively simple.
But it is one of the few books where I may give in and read a text version instead of the audio version, the reason being that it's less accessible than usual, he uses so many ten-dollar words. Within a couple of randomly selected pages these words appear: scrimshawed, scimitar, gutta-percha, cartouches, liminal, ferrule... I mean, sure he writes for a literate, perhaps even literary, audience, but geez...
So it turns out he was making a trilogy (wonder if he knew it), the "Blue Ant trilogy". The first one, Pattern Recognition, was one of my favorites ever. The second one I didn't care for too much, can't even recall the title now.
And the funny thing is that I can't explain, not even to myself, why my liking for them is so different, I can't point to any concrete differences which would cause it. It's just something in the whole tone or feel... very nebulous.
But i think it may have something to do with whether I like the characters. Whether they feel real, solid. Likeable. Interesting. Somebody I'd like to meet.
Got my Scottevest (updated)
Got my Scottevest today.
I have only started exploring the myriad of pockets, but it's clear that a lot of thought have gone into this. One small example: the right hand pocket (huge like the left) has a smaller inner change pocket, and an elastic band for holding a water bottle upright.
Also the vest is light-weight and surprisingly comfortable.
A correspondent, an internationally beloved tech columnist, was concerned that the vest might droop unless you carefully balanced the weight in the pockets. Happily, it does not, not even with just an iPad in a pocket (I had that when taking the pictures). Oh, and that pocket is so big (in my size anyway), that the iPad can go into it sideways. It can also hold a full magazine without folding it or it sticking up over the pocket. Very unusual.
(I had to include a pic which showed my self-designed tee-shirt. Egoic, sure, but heck, it's my blog. :-)
There's not much padding, so one might want to have the iPad in a rubber sleeve or something, which is a good thing generally, makes it better for holding.
More features:
The big left hand pocket has a sort of sub-pocket partially segregated with a zipper, so small items don't rattle around.
Oh, when it arrives, all pockets each have a little card which gives examples of their possible use. It's ridic, gotta love it.
I am 193cm (6"4) with a long torso, and around 90 kilos (110 last year). I bought a size XXXL. When I opened the parcel, I thought "my gawd, this is HUGE! maybe I have to return it". And indeed I think I could wear a XXL. (Their size calculator indicated either.) But I like clothing loose, and I think it also makes it less warm, so I don't have to take it off any time I go indoors, is my hope anyway.
Here's more "ridic": both hand pockets go well up inside, a tall space. This means, amazingly, that I can fit my Apple Wireless keyboard in one of them! And since it's only a couple hundred grams, I barely feel the weight either. I had not expected this.
Update: I gave the vest its inaugural journey today, in a little trip around town. It is indeed useful. Not the least the iPod pockets and the earphone channel. I don't need to take the iPod out to operate it, and I no longer need to have attention on the earphone leads so they don't catch on anything, either when I use them or not.
And I bought a Dilbert 2011 calendar. Normally this would have meant need for a bag, but not while wearing this sucker.
Even if it had been a large book, I just found another pocket, a really large one taking up most of the back of the vest. I think you could put a spaniel in there.
I have only started exploring the myriad of pockets, but it's clear that a lot of thought have gone into this. One small example: the right hand pocket (huge like the left) has a smaller inner change pocket, and an elastic band for holding a water bottle upright.
Also the vest is light-weight and surprisingly comfortable.
A correspondent, an internationally beloved tech columnist, was concerned that the vest might droop unless you carefully balanced the weight in the pockets. Happily, it does not, not even with just an iPad in a pocket (I had that when taking the pictures). Oh, and that pocket is so big (in my size anyway), that the iPad can go into it sideways. It can also hold a full magazine without folding it or it sticking up over the pocket. Very unusual. 
There's not much padding, so one might want to have the iPad in a rubber sleeve or something, which is a good thing generally, makes it better for holding.
More features:
- Two pockets with transparent fabric, through which you can operate a touch-screen.
- A pocket for glasses, which include a cleaning cloth in a clip on a string!
- A digicam pocket with a tiny pocket for memory cards.
- A system for threading a pair of earphones from a player or phone up to the collar.
The big left hand pocket has a sort of sub-pocket partially segregated with a zipper, so small items don't rattle around.
Oh, when it arrives, all pockets each have a little card which gives examples of their possible use. It's ridic, gotta love it.
I am 193cm (6"4) with a long torso, and around 90 kilos (110 last year). I bought a size XXXL. When I opened the parcel, I thought "my gawd, this is HUGE! maybe I have to return it". And indeed I think I could wear a XXL. (Their size calculator indicated either.) But I like clothing loose, and I think it also makes it less warm, so I don't have to take it off any time I go indoors, is my hope anyway.
Here's more "ridic": both hand pockets go well up inside, a tall space. This means, amazingly, that I can fit my Apple Wireless keyboard in one of them! And since it's only a couple hundred grams, I barely feel the weight either. I had not expected this.
Update: I gave the vest its inaugural journey today, in a little trip around town. It is indeed useful. Not the least the iPod pockets and the earphone channel. I don't need to take the iPod out to operate it, and I no longer need to have attention on the earphone leads so they don't catch on anything, either when I use them or not.
And I bought a Dilbert 2011 calendar. Normally this would have meant need for a bag, but not while wearing this sucker.
Even if it had been a large book, I just found another pocket, a really large one taking up most of the back of the vest. I think you could put a spaniel in there.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Katy Perry too naughty
[Thanks Jim]
It seems this outfit was too naughty for parents of Sesame Street fans, and SS pulled it. Geez. Seriously, can parents like that even take their kids to the beach? (... "SS". Giggle.) (Nice song by the way.)
Couriers and phones
It's weird to me that courier companies always demand a phone number for the recipient, but they never use it when they can't deliver, in my experience.
Who we wanna be
I stumbled over this comment from F.I. under a 2008 post:
I have a theory that all those things, those guys that we want to be (for example, I want to be a writer who writes a lot in cafes, but it never happens), if they continually don't appear, may not be What Should Happen, no matter what we believe.
It may be similar to Douglas Adam's hero Dirk Gently's method of navigation in his car: he follows the first car he spots which seems "like it knows where it's going". Dirk says: "I may not end up where I wanted to be, but I often end up where I should be" (or words to that effect).
Most of us feel that it's a good thing to be a Strong, Willful person. And a Strong, Willful person has a very hard time loosening the reins on their fate. Learning to go with the flow. To do things intuitively and follow the Higher Self. But... did Hannibal really get to be a more fulfilled person by forcing an army and elephants across many mountains? Did Napoleon feel happy and satisfied before he died?
Steve Jobs mentioned something on the lines in his well known Stanford speech. He talked about how those seemingly random things he did when he was young did not seem rationally to fit into any pattern or aim, but they ended up in remarkable things.
"I always find that my own self-development projects just peter out. [...]
For instance, I have wanted to "be the sort of guy who" does certain things -- gets up early to go for a run; writes a play in his spare time; takes a class in basic life-saving... But I never "end up" doing any of these things."
For instance, I have wanted to "be the sort of guy who" does certain things -- gets up early to go for a run; writes a play in his spare time; takes a class in basic life-saving... But I never "end up" doing any of these things."
I have a theory that all those things, those guys that we want to be (for example, I want to be a writer who writes a lot in cafes, but it never happens), if they continually don't appear, may not be What Should Happen, no matter what we believe.
It may be similar to Douglas Adam's hero Dirk Gently's method of navigation in his car: he follows the first car he spots which seems "like it knows where it's going". Dirk says: "I may not end up where I wanted to be, but I often end up where I should be" (or words to that effect).
Most of us feel that it's a good thing to be a Strong, Willful person. And a Strong, Willful person has a very hard time loosening the reins on their fate. Learning to go with the flow. To do things intuitively and follow the Higher Self. But... did Hannibal really get to be a more fulfilled person by forcing an army and elephants across many mountains? Did Napoleon feel happy and satisfied before he died?
Steve Jobs mentioned something on the lines in his well known Stanford speech. He talked about how those seemingly random things he did when he was young did not seem rationally to fit into any pattern or aim, but they ended up in remarkable things.
The Lay Lady Lay hour
... It's The Lay Lady Lay hour, children. Can you say "avant garde rock"? I knew you could.
Try 'em, they are very different, but all awesome. The second one is hard industrial rock, in case you don't know Ministry. (If you like good hard rock, you should.)
Original Dylan version is here.
"Here" did the third one, it's on a fabulous collection called Wish You Were Queer - A Tribute To Ministry (iTunes link) by various bands, so it was inspired by Ministry's cover above, not Dylan's original. (Well, both, actually, since the melody is closer to Dylan's.)
Check out Meg Lee Chin's version of Scarecrow too, amazing.
There is a second similar Ministry tribute anthology, called "Another Prick In The Wall" (Amazon link)... I think the titles themselves are a kind of tribute, to Ministry's typical titles based on excessively lame puns.
Try 'em, they are very different, but all awesome. The second one is hard industrial rock, in case you don't know Ministry. (If you like good hard rock, you should.)
Original Dylan version is here.
"Here" did the third one, it's on a fabulous collection called Wish You Were Queer - A Tribute To Ministry (iTunes link) by various bands, so it was inspired by Ministry's cover above, not Dylan's original. (Well, both, actually, since the melody is closer to Dylan's.)
Check out Meg Lee Chin's version of Scarecrow too, amazing.
There is a second similar Ministry tribute anthology, called "Another Prick In The Wall" (Amazon link)... I think the titles themselves are a kind of tribute, to Ministry's typical titles based on excessively lame puns.
More iPhone4 HDR
Here's a snap, with HDR (High Dynamic Range, meaning photography in high contrast conditions), and the auto-saved sample without. It's plain that it does save a great amount of data in the highlights.
It also tends to make the mid-tones kinda flat. But it is tricky processing, and maybe future updates will improve on that. In the meantime it can be helped in the computer.
Normal:
HDR:
HDR, adjusted with Curves in Photoshop:
"Curves" in Photoshop is simple on surface of it, you just pull at a tone curve. But it's trickier than one might think, because small curve changes make big differences, and it easily gets to look very odd.
It also tends to make the mid-tones kinda flat. But it is tricky processing, and maybe future updates will improve on that. In the meantime it can be helped in the computer.
Normal:
HDR:
HDR, adjusted with Curves in Photoshop:
"Curves" in Photoshop is simple on surface of it, you just pull at a tone curve. But it's trickier than one might think, because small curve changes make big differences, and it easily gets to look very odd.
To be original
Another unsettling element in modern art is that common symptom of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before.
-- Edith Wharton
This is so basic that for most of my life I didn't even think to question it. But it's something one has to get over.
-- Edith Wharton
This is so basic that for most of my life I didn't even think to question it. But it's something one has to get over.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
RSS feed for this blog
I have added a link to the RSS feed for this blog on the right, so it's easier to give the address to your favorite news reader app*.
I've started using RSS a bit more myself, finally, it can be helpful if you do it right. For instance I can get all the newest posts for the couple dozen sites I follow, and just skim them all quickly for any interesting news.
I use NetNewsWire, it's the one I have found with the best interface on the iPad. I'm pleased to see that my own blog turns up perfect in that app on the iPad, even YouTube videos play right in it. (They don't show on my Mac though, oddly, neither in Safari nor in NetNewsWire.)
*Actually if you use Google Reader, it can usually find the feed if you just give it the main URL for the site. It is also a good app/site. Though I only started using it because I had to, since other readers (on iPad) take the subscriptions from Google Reader! I thought that was irritating at first, but now I appreciate it. NetNewsWire on Mac also has an option to synch with Google Reader.
I've started using RSS a bit more myself, finally, it can be helpful if you do it right. For instance I can get all the newest posts for the couple dozen sites I follow, and just skim them all quickly for any interesting news.
I use NetNewsWire, it's the one I have found with the best interface on the iPad. I'm pleased to see that my own blog turns up perfect in that app on the iPad, even YouTube videos play right in it. (They don't show on my Mac though, oddly, neither in Safari nor in NetNewsWire.)
*Actually if you use Google Reader, it can usually find the feed if you just give it the main URL for the site. It is also a good app/site. Though I only started using it because I had to, since other readers (on iPad) take the subscriptions from Google Reader! I thought that was irritating at first, but now I appreciate it. NetNewsWire on Mac also has an option to synch with Google Reader.
Sprayed on
[Thanks to Joe]
I'm reminded of spray-on latex clothing, except that really don't hide nuttin'.
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