June 2007 Archives
I'm a big fan of the concept of decentralization. To this end, I've tried to decentralize as much as possible... well, okay, as much as I'm comfortable with, anyway. I wish there were a way to run my favorite editors on a thumbdrive, for example, but I digress.
One of my little crusades is to find online storage methods that don't suck. I recently tried out Mozy. There's a free version that gets you 2GB of space (that's a nice chunk of space, right?)... the catch is that you have to install their backup software. It's not a bad plan, so I tried it out. But it doesn't work through Proxies unless you use their 'pro' version, which costs money (of course.) Suddenly, I'm not a fan. But if you're not behind a proxy, it might be cool - give it a shot, and let me know how it goes. Maybe I'll try to use it on my mac.
In other, unrelated news: here's another reason why we need better defined gun control laws. One can argue that thanks to our relatively relaxed laws, a 71 year old man was able to defend himself and kill an armed assailant (and critically wound the other.) By the same token, you could say that if we had stronger gun control, the assailants might not have been armed. Then again, if they were robbing Subway with knives, I doubt the older gentleman would have been able to defend himself, even if he were armed with a very large knife himself. So, one might deduce that the fact that guns are so readily available is what saved him. Of course, if the 71-year-old had acquired the gun through legal channels (which apparently he did), then he would've had a gun, and the assailants knives, and then there would've been one of those 'like-force' situations, where the older gentleman wouldn't have been able to use his firearm because the assailants weren't armed similarly.
Oh, it's confusing, isn't it? It could go either way, right? The sad thing about this is that somebody died. They died during a robbery that might've garnered them what, maybe 20 or 30 dollars? One man's life has a price tag of less than a video game. Nice. This isn't the wild west - people shouldn't be involved in shootouts.
To put this a little in perspective, and why it's at the forefront of my mind: that Subway is the same Subway we go to nearly every day for lunch. Maybe I need to start packing heat too?
Apparently a Boy Scout fell through a crack at The New... landed on a ledge 15 feet down... then proceeded to fall another 15 feet to the deck. I'm not laughing at his unfortunate fall... but what in the heck were they doing 30 feet up from the deck in the first place? One has to wonder what path they were taking, what the Scout Leader/Master/Whatever was thinking, and why the headline has to be "Boy Scout Rock Climber"... clearly the Scout wasn't exactly a "rock climber".
Anyway, glad he's okay, sucks to deck even from 5 feet, much less 30 feet.
So I've gotten a chance to really take a pretty good look at Moto, and what they're about, and how they go about doing things.
Okay, that's not totally true - I think I've just taken a quick look at the proverbial tip of the iceberg. However, being exposed as I am to mobile devices, I often find myself wondering: what the heck are they thinking? Actually, more often than not, I find myself thinking the opposite: what the heck aren't they thinking of? And, more importantly: why?
Let's take an example, one that is particularly relevant these days. The phone cradle. I completely understand the economics behind selling a phone cradle separately. The Nokia 8801 happened to come with a cradle, but then again that's a $1200 phone. For that much moolah, the thing better do some serious amounts of stuff, or at least come with lots of neato toys. And it does. But the point is, it has a cradle. Most Nokia phones, in fact, have some sort of cradle/charger available to them (to the best of my knowledge - and I may be wrong.)
My question comes to light when you start wondering why other manufacturers' phones don't. Not just Moto - there's a couple of models with cradles - but most of the other phone manufacturers don't seem to cater to that particular need. Moto's case is particularly glaring to me right now because not only do some models not have a cradle available to them, but they're actually designed in such a way that a cradle would be impossible to design (or at least very, very complicated.) It just seems inane to me.
A cradle is more than just a convenience - it makes the phone more usable. With modern phone sporting battery lives that hover in the 6-12 hour range (in standby mode), there simply must be an easy to use, simple and convenient location to charge that puppy. This increased usability increases the utility of the phone, and therefore the marketability. It's a pretty simple equation.
I know plenty of people that don't use a cradle. They just struggle with their cables hanging off desks and walls and whatever. They don't need the cradle, they do just fine. I believe this is because they haven't been exposed to regular use of a cradle. If they have, and still believe the cradle to be extraneous, then they haven't used a proper cradle. I could go on and on about cradles all day, but instead I'll just say this: they're convenient, and every phone should be designed with the option for one.
Sometimes there's design tradeoffs - I understand this. Some things are expensive, some don't fit, some simply aren't factored in. But there's just a lot of 'basic' things that phones should really have access to, especially as they become so pervasive. I have plenty of associates and friends who no longer have landlines, and rely on their cell phone instead. This market is growing, and I think that manufacturers that begin to think beyond immediate usability issues and into lifestyle issues will see a brighter future.
Then again, Nokia isn't doing so hot, and they're pretty much at the top of my list of cell phone manufacturers that 'get it'. As far as the Apple iPhone goes, the jury is still out and far from coming to a conclusion on that piece of fluffware. We'll see just how sweet it really is.
For some reason, I think this is really, really funny. In a wrong way, sure, but funny nonetheless.
Fans of Mad Max (and who isn't?) can now buy an official replica of the jacket worn by Mel Gibson himself. For a mere $600USD, you can own a little piece of the post-apocalyptic future. What I'm looking for, personally, is that sweet Ford he was driving around in, running people over with. Big supercharger, the last of the V8s... mmmmmm.
Additionally, in a surprising move (to some, anyway), the fine developers at MySpace have decided to add some special new functionality to their site. Previously, MySpace would simply take in data and other people's events, dates, contact info, etc. 
Now, developers would like to give back to the community, in essence blowing back to its users and providing them with all kinds of multimedia experiences. To reflect this, MySpace users will soon see a new button at the top of their profile - a toggle that will switch their MySpace from "Suck" to "Blow". Either way, the end-user is the clear winner in this situation.
This should go in the programming blog, but I really haven't been to good about staying active in those, nor even linking the main page to them, so to that I say "meh!"
Instead, I announce it here, where everyone can see it at minimal effort to myself. For now. Because eventually I'll have to add a button or something. Ready?
The photos aren't back (yet). But they will be. Just not right now, because they're all sitting on one of my hard drives, and I need to find all 5000+ of them. For the time being, I'll probably limit myself to uploading the most recent, most readily available pictures. But keep on coming back, because at any given moment there could be (literally) thousands of pictures to keep you laughing, crying, and wondering whether you left the faucet on.
Old Boy. Korean action flick that will absolutely leave your jaw dragging around on the ground. Think of it as an asian "Fight Club", only without the fight club and without Brad Pitt and Ed Norton.
Instead, you have some crazy asian guy... well, a whole series of 'em. They fight. They get mean. There's a whole 'revenge' theme throughout. The movie's not about the ass-kicking though, even though there's no shortage of it... it's about revenge. The most thorough, ridiculously twisted, monstrously complete, fantastically thought out and implemented revenge. Just when you thought "Oh, I have this movie figured out", it throws down dirty and leaves you saying "WTF!?"
Some might think I'm giving it away and that now you'll be looking for the twist. Nope. Gibran gave me the same rundown, I went in thinking exactly that and looking for the twist(s). No way man. Western minds just don't travel those paths. Maybe they do, I don't know... but mine sure doesn't.
The cinematography is intense, beautifully shot, and incredible to behold. It begs to be seen, if only for that, but the story... oh man. If it doesn't leave you thinking "Wow" then I want to know what will. Anyway, this movie is generally available - Blockbuster actually had it at the store, and the online services (BBO and Netflix) definitely have it. Grab it. Watch it. Wince and cringe, 'cuz you will.
Sometimes, while cruising around the net, you run into something that is truly fascinating even when out of context. I ran into this website, which features found art and photography.
Prosthetic limbs are fascinating in and of themselves - the processes by which they exist and function are pretty incredible. I've never really taken a particularly long look at any given prosthesis (you don't want to get caught staring, after all!) but inevitably, we all want to look. Modern prosthetics being what they are, these photos of the technology are probably unbelievably dated - but they are unbelievably well taken and serve to show just how the technology really works, including some idealized shots of prosthesis in action, allowing these victims of hand grenades from World War 2 to resume a 'normal' life.
The contrast and starkness of the photography is engrossing in and of itself, but the subject matter - even completely out of context - is fascinating. View the whole collection here.
You must check this out. Everland. It is the absolute shiznizzlite of pimp passe dj rave-style euro culture. It's done. Velvet? Hmph. Played out.
Doesn't mean I wouldn't shell out the 222 euros to stay in it for a night while backpacking around Europe and climbing my fingers off. I'd bathe in their 'luxurious mini-pool', for sure. Is it ridiculous and totally out of style now? Yep. But hey, why not? I like the concept, even if the implementation is a little off. And the 'stealable' towels... well, that kind of takes the fun out of it, doesn't it?
