January 28, 2010 by Chris
John Gruber’s latest thought-snippet, for our consumption.
It’s Not a Big iPhone: “
Marco Arment isn’t quite getting it yet. He’s on the cusp of it, though. He writes:
Most of us had some crazy ideas. John Gruber wanted Apple to reinvent mobile computing. I wanted Apple to reinvent portable input mechanics and novice usability. I think a lot of other people wanted Apple to reinvent the laws of physics.
In reality, none of this happened. The iPad is effectively a giant iPod Touch, which itself is effectively a data-app-only iPhone.
I would say that redefining mobile computing is exactly what happened. It is surprisingly, delightfully, iPhone-esque in many ways. But if you use it for just a few minutes, it becomes obvious that the iPad is not a big stretched-out iPhone, but rather that the iPhone is a shrunken stripped-down version of the iPad. The iPad is what they’ve been building toward all along.
The iWork apps are amazing. Totally usable. Totally new UI for office apps. Maybe the best comparison is the Calendar app. It doesn’t look anything like the iPhone Calendar app.
In terms of, say, style and UI grammar, yes, it’s the same vibe as the iPhone. But in terms of scope and ambition, it’s a far bigger thing.
“
(Via Daring Fireball.)
Tags: Apple, Daring Fireball, iPad, John Gruber, Netbook
Posted in Apple, Rant | Leave a Comment »
January 19, 2010 by Chris
My local Wendys renovated, even their fonts are nicer now.
Posted in Rant | Leave a Comment »
January 18, 2010 by Chris
Posted in Apple | Leave a Comment »
January 16, 2010 by Chris
The first (real) lecture of class this semester reminded me of the joys of going to class, with a few exceptions. Knowing what’s going on is tempered by
It’s hard not coming across as a self-assured know it all. Especially in classes you really enjoy and have a background in. Bioethics is something I naturally have rational beliefs in, I can reasonably justify the beliefs I claim to hold (admitting there are indeed beliefs I hold irrationally). While this doesn’t make me better than my colleuges, my arguments are mean, lean and can handle most challanges heading my way. The real challange of the class, besides being maximally awesome, is not stepping on peoples toes.
Posted in Rant, philosophy | Leave a Comment »
January 14, 2010 by Chris
Quick aside. More of a confession actually. Whenever I play with my “the future is almost here” technology I get very ranty. Whether this is a good thing is open for discussion.
Frequently Calibre, the open source digital book library management software, updates and steadily improves both its interface and how many times it crashes when poked with an impatient stick wielding jerk (ie: me). These advancements predicate playing around with its features and implementing them on my ebook readers.
The newest feature I’m using but has been in Calibre for a while now is the news fetching feature. Wherein it goes to websites, parses out the content and creates an ebook-readable format you can then upload. The default list is multinational and not merely in English and if that isn’t enough you can add your own sites too.
When the Kindle came out and had push news, I didn’t really see it as important. Maybe it was the impending demise of the dead tree news, their lethargy and incompetence. But playing around with the news feed function in Calibre has led me to see the potential utility of RSS style access to (good) content. I didn’t need wireless functionality when I bought my first (and *ahem* my second) e-reader, but sadly my next one will have such functionality.
Damn you technology.
Posted in Rant | Leave a Comment »
January 14, 2010 by Chris
Recently China and Google got into a spat with the international company announcing their withdrawal from the Chinese market if they’re unable to produce uncensored search results.
The international stage has been largely positive to Google. With support from Yahoo! and human rights advocates like Wei Jingsheng, and Amnesty International lauding the difficult financial choice.
Even tech pundits feel they can throw their 2 cents into the fray (why not, here we sit), sometimes to poor results. Ron Enderle is quoted in the Bangkok post, “Google was in a no-win situation,” Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle told AFP. “The choices they’ve got are all bad, but this one allows them to claim the high ground at home by standing up to evil China.”
I whole heartedly disagree with government censure, or generally any of the practices that China has been accused of, but declaring the whole of China as evil? It’s too slapdash saying an entire sub-continent is evil, when we disagree with their government, not the people.
For declaring an entire group of people as evil, I’m impelled to give Ron Enderle the Jackass of the week placard. May he hang it with dignity.
Tags: Bangkok post, China, Google, Jackass of the week, Ron Enderle
Posted in International, Rant | Comments Off
January 10, 2010 by Chris
Ready for class, excited to finish up and get a nifty sheet of parchment.
Rachel finally played some New Super Mario Bros. Wii the other night, and so begins my hunt for a cheaper copy. Deliverer from salvation, thy name is Amazon.
I’ve had some frustrations with wordpress.COM and their parsing of my links. It was difficult finding a site to post my 40 minute presentation and discussion from my Senior Thesis online for free. Youtube and Google video are picky about the length of uploaded video. I decided upon Vimeo and was ready to post an embedded video on the site (under Senior Thesis) so people who were particularly particular could troll me. They kept taking out the uploads. Protecting their interests maybe.
Posted in Rant | Leave a Comment »
January 8, 2010 by Chris
So the problem I had in school was improperly planning my courses.
Had i done the correct thing I might have figured out that there was only one remaining class was actually one I’ve sat in on, and would do extremely well in.
In order to graduate, and have a cute little piece of paper showing this accomplishment I must attend Bioethics.
Since it’s going to be with the esteemed Dr. Drabkin I’ll be writing mini posts every week until finals.
Posted in Rant, philosophy | Leave a Comment »
December 1, 2009 by Chris
Posted in Rant | Comments Off
November 26, 2009 by Chris
Tags: Fark
Posted in Rant | Comments Off
