Google Buzz In My House vs. Others Outside
I just had this exchange on twitter:
mischadehart : Why do I find it creepy that strangers follow me on Buzz, when I have no problem with it on twitter, tumblr, etc.?
skabaru : @mischadehart in gmail buzz feels like those people are coming into your house. Tumblr is them looking at the shit in your yard.
mischadehart : @skabaru lol. exactly!!
That, combined with the odd privacy/user controls in buzz that is making me unhappy. To further add to the pile of awesomeness I have buzz on my Google Apps account, but only accessible via mobile and as such I have few to no options available. Some connection between my non App profiles appears to be happening, so I get notifications of followers when logged into my reader account, which is a google profile that is the same address as my Apps email address but obviously not the same.
I have no idea what is happening, but people seem to be wandering in and out of my house and I seem to have little to no control. Creepy. Google Buzz would feel much less creepy if it weren't in my gmail house.
iPad: Much Bigger
The iPad, full of a never ending stream of menstrual jokes by people that evidently still giggle at the word period, has been announced and every where I turn I hear how lame and stupid it is. How it doesn't include this or that or whatever. How all of these people were all let down so dramatically by Apple. Fucking Apple, those dicks. And I guess I don't get it, because I see an awesome product.
Location: Couch
I spend all my day on a MacBook Pro, usually plugged into a 24" screen with a keyboard and mouse. It is called work and I love it. But when I get home, I put my bag down and go hang out with my wife and kids. Eventually dinner has been eaten and the kids are asleep and we're hanging out on the couch. I pull out my iPhone and start catching up on twitter, google reader, forums, etc. These are primarily data consumption tasks, things that the iPad will be awesome at.
I am not going to use it for work. I am not going to use it to draft long emails or proposals or even blog posts like this even though Apple demoed it as such. But I am going to use it to consume the hell out of stuff. Sure, my iPhone can do that, but c'mon, I am not going to say it is awesome on a tiny screen. Yes, it works, and yes I do it daily, but it is not optimal. And frankly, using my laptop while lounging is less than ideal because it is just hard to lounge on the couch and hold a laptop. The iPad is perfect: lightweight, no hinge or extra bulky element in the way like the laptop, good battery life, decent size screen, etc. And when the time comes to go out somewhere and I have 5 minutes to kill waiting in line somewhere, I'll pull out the iPhone and consume more. And when I have work to do, I'll pull out the laptop.
It is the perfect couch information consumption device.
Stop Thinking About Yesterday
Often times, I work with clients that already have an application that serves their basic needs, but they don't like it. Perhaps it is a crappy flow for the user, or the admin is rough, or it has forced their work flow to be stupid, whatever. And they hire us to fix it. So we meet with them, figure out what they do and how they do it and work to make the new application awesome.
And as we build this new system, the client is forever comparing it to their old system and almost subconsciously trying to rebuild that because that is what they are comfortable with and know. They aren't letting go of yesterday. They keep trying to drive the truck down the same road, so we have to steer them towards a new idea. Sometimes they have to see it in front of them to actually realize how awesome it can and should be.
I feel like people keep looking at the iPad and trying to make it fit into their current setup, but they are just thinking of the same old setup. It won't replace my laptop. It won't replace my iPhone. It is not something that exists in your gadget arsenal right now, so people can't make it fit.
Tomorrow Will Be Awesome, Yesterday Sucked
Tablets are not new, but they have never been awesome because the interface blows. Windows and OSX are based on the mouse and keyboard interface. So you add a touch screen into the mix, then you use you finger in an awkward mouse like fashion, which sucks because you are doing it wrong. The iPhone touch screen interface is great, but it would not work with a mouse and keyboard because that would be doing it wrong. Take that great touch interface and make it bigger, and it will still be great. Once you take away the pretend my finger is a mouse bullshit and replace it with a solid interface and suddenly tablets can be awesome.
Think Of The Future
People need to stop framing the iPad as a giant iPod Touch, because it will be so much more very soon. Everyone says the iPad is faster than an iPhone 3GS, so there will be apps that are iPad only that can be more resource intensive, and thus that much more awesome. I predict this device will be everywhere in no time. Kiosks around the world will start using custom apps on iPads. Pick music on a jukebox, order products in a self checkout. Apple Store employees will rock these as they wander the sales floor. Mount this in a vehicle for municipalities and logistics folks to access data. Gone are the bullshit proprietary touch screen hardware and software because Apple just blew those providers out of the water by giving the public a cheap hardware tool that isn't a custom black box that includes a well documented, hugely popular, and well known set of development tools for it. I would not want to be a custom touch screen hardware/software vendor right now.
Wander A Bit
Relax the definition of computer a bit, because the iPhone is a computer, an android based phone or netbook is a computer, and the iPad is a computer. Sure, they aren't all exactly the same paradigm as a win/osx/*nix based machine but does it really matter? They all do very similar things, so let your mind wander and stop trying to force it into some box or role that you have predefined in your head and you'll see how the tablet scene suddenly now exists.
Snow Tires
Each time first snow arrives in Chicago, and I get into a few conversations about driving in the snow and snow tires. So lets talk about why I have them on all my cars and why you might want to consider them.
2 4 Feet On The Ground
When you are driving your car, any car, regardless of AWD or 2WD, SUV or hatchback, there are only 4 tiny spots where your car actually touches the ground: your tires. And really, that contact patch is not particularly large. These are important pieces of real estate, as they determine your ability to go, stop, and turn. So I think we can all agree tires are important.
Tires are made of rubber, and rubber has a whole bunch of variables in it, one of which is intended temperature range. Like most things on our planet, they get harder when cold, softer when warm. So tires intended for driving on the racetrack have an optimal temperature that is pretty hot. I have track tires for my Audi, and I will attest to the fact that, when they are up to temp on the track, they are super grippy. When I get lazy and drive on them when it is 40 degrees and raining, they are hockey pucks, as they are far away from their intended temperature range. Snow tires, on the flip side, are really squishy and soft when it is 80 degrees and sunny out, not to mention they wear really fast in the summer.
But you might be saying to yourself 'ummm, but I have tires on my car and I haven't ever swapped them in the past!' and I am sure that is true. You have the magical all-season tire. These tires are less 'all' season and more 'no' season. They are a compromise between everything such that they are good enough in the snow, good enough in the summer, and last decently long. They aren't awesome at anything, but they get most everything done. And they are what most people drive on all year. But those of you living in places that have snow will agree, when you are trying to get your car out of a parking spot, that they are far from amazing in the snow. Enter the snow tire. They are designed for cold weather in that their temperature range is there. They sport thread deisgnes that are deeper and designed to operate in snow. They are siped to allow for better traction on ice and slippery stuff. They are crappy in the warm air.
I Have Fancy Electronics
Now you might be thinking 'but I have ABS and ESP and traction control so I'm good'. These systems all try to do magical things to keep your car doing what you want it to do. And they really can do some amazing things. The Audi ESP system (by Bosch, also on other cars, but I have an Audi so I'll talk to that) actually has an accelerometer in it and it compares your steering input to the actual direction of the car and can selectively apply the brake on one (or more) corners of the car to bring it back inline. It can even cut the throttle if it deems necessary. It is amazing. But it isn't between your tires and the ground. It can only do so much if the tires have lost all traction and you're sliding across ice. Traction control, often times, operates under lower speed conditions and just applies the brakes on the driving wheels when you floor it and start spinning the tires. ABS just pumps the brakes to keep them from locking up when you stand on the pedal. These are all great systems, and I am glad to have them, but they can only do so much if you don't actually have any traction.
Heels In The Snow
The Tire Rack, a giant tire mailorder site, draws the analogy to footwear. If you are going to play basketball indoors on a smooth, clean, dry surface, you wear fancy gym shoes. And they are great. Then you go outside and it is cold and snowy and you find they are not as awesome. You wear boots. You wouldn't wear boots on the court either. Ask any fancy lady about wearing heels in the snow.
Now you might be saying 'ok, snowtires make sense, but I like easy and cheap. I have a feeling this is neither'. Well, you are somewhat correct. It isn't free. But awesomeness is rarely free. Lets do a little case study, as we bought my wife a 2008 Mazda5 a few years ago. We bought the car near the end of snow season, so we just drove the all season tires for the rest of the winter. Meanwhile, I started trolling craigslist for deals for my master plan. Now our Mazda5 came with 17 inch wheels. I did a little research, looking on Mazda forums, Mazda sites from other countries where they sold the same car, and I looked at the car itself and it was clear that 16 inch wheels would fit no problem. Sure, they don't look as cool as 17s, but I was ok with that. I secured a set of tires, a lightly used set that were sitting in my parent's garage, left over from a recently sold car that were a compatiable size. I only had 6 months to find a set of wheels.
For wheels, I would just monitor craigslist looking for a 16 in the correct bolt pattern, width, and offset. A few people on the mazda forums were using 16s from the Mazda Tribute, and I found a used set in the suburbs, $120 for the 4. Done. The Mazda5, like many newer cars, has tire pressure sensors on each wheel that alert the driver to a low tire. To avoid an annoying light for the entire season, I picked up a set of tire pressure monitors on ebay. I took the tires, wheels, and sensors over to a local tire shop and paid $100 to have them mounted and balanced and put on the car. The 17s with the all seasons I cleaned and put in storage in the garage. In the spring, I jack up the car and put the summers back on. Most tire shops will do this for a nominal fee. In fact, I sometimes just pay the money and save myself the labor. I do this dance twice a year, usually thanksgiving in the fall, and once it starts to stay warm in the spring. It is pretty easy.
Enough Already...
So it is obviously your call, and depends on your driving habits, needs, etc and how much snow you have to deal with, but it is really not that costly, and it might actually save you from an accident. But lets make a list just in case....
Negatives:
- A little more upfront money to acquire the wheels and tires, a little labor to mount an balance them
- Need a place to store the off season wheels
Positives:
- Better performance by using the correct tire for the conditions
- Sell them when you are done or with the car for $$
- Less death
- Much lower change of crashing or getting stuck in a parking spot etc.
- You'll feel like more of a 'car person'
Albums That Have Had A Tremendous Impact On My Guts
So on a list I am on, it was posed that we talk about an album that's had a tremendous impact on your guts. So here was my response.
Get Out Of My Stations, Guided By Voices. This is not their best work, but it is the first one I bought by GBV. I remember being 16 driving in the car listening to WNUR and they played a GBV track and I pulled over at the first payphone, called WNUR to find out what that was. From the payphone I went out and bought the first GBV thing I could find, which was Get Out Of My Stations. I was amazed. The lofi mixed with the hooks mixed with the lyrics that made no sense what so ever on some tracks but seemed to speak directly to me on others. I now know that, especially at the time, that Robert Pollard drank alot of beer, and there is a really good chance that those lyrics really don't make any sense, but I still am of the believe that I just don't understand the meaning, but it certainly has one. For every major relationship, heartache, or drama in my life, I have a GBV song that I have matched up to it. I have written multipage letters to accompany mix tapes where I explain why this particular song matches that particular person's situation so perfectly. There is also a good chance that given the sheer size of Robert's catalog, he has no clue what half of the songs mean himself, but some are so amazing to me. So combine that exploration aspect with the hooks that I can't seem to get out of my head ever, I have a band that I still listen to on a daily basis. My last.fm shows that they are my favorite artist, with 3 times the plays of the number 2 artist. And they were so awesome live. Amazing. And drunk. In the heyday there was a giant cooler of bud light or some such crap beer on stage and he would just drink and drink and drink and somehow the shows were still good.
30 Something, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Remember when mtv played music videos? Remember 120 minutes? I used to look forward to that show everyweek, and sure I was really tired in 7th grade monday mornings as it was a midnight to 2am sunday night time slot, I loved that show. So when they played the video to Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere I had to have it. I used to tape the show so I could rewatch it, and I remember that VHS tape was all warped at that part. So then I started buying everything of theirs I could. The lyrics all tell some story, often pretty down like alcoholism, child abuse, death, depression, etc. I loved it all. It was all so political and amazing to a 13 year old. And it seemed so much more arranged and british than The Dead Kennedys (whom I never loved as much). I even convinced had the DJ at my 8th grade catholic school dance play Prince in a Pauper's Grave as the last slow dance. Of course I carried the CD with me. When I was in college and heard they had broken up I was surprised that I was actually depressed about it. I must have played only Carter for 2 weeks straight. My roommate thankfully spent a lot of time in lab. It is one of the bands where I own every single they have released on mutlitple formats. I have test pressings to certain records. I have an autographed copy of jim bob's book. I have emailed with them. I never saw them live, as the first time they toured the US I was underage and the 2nd time I was actually in the UK. I know, a band that is, at its core, 2 dudes and a drum machine seems kinda lame, but seriously, Amazing, but when they announced they were getting back together, 10 years from their breakup, to play one show, I looked at airfare to london.
De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead. This is the first album that I really GOT as an entire album, it is like a journey, and I find that even though mp3s has destroyed the concept of a linear path through a recording, I still listen to this album straight through and enjoy it that way. I don't listen to it as much now, but man, my seiko portable CD player played this CD straight for so long and used so many AA batteries (that joker used 6 AA's for about 4 hours of continuous play. Life was tough for CD players in 1991). I have nearly everything De La put out as well.
I'll stop, but other highlights are Sugar's Copper Blue, The Vindicitives - The Many Moods Of The Vindicitives, Minor Threat - Discography (and any Fugazi, Fugazi at the aragon in ~1993 is on the top of my most memorable shows), The Dead Milkmen - any, Guns N Roses - Appetite for Destruction and to a lesser degree use your illusions (I convinced my dad to take me to the midnight release of those albums when I was in 8th grade. It was me, my dad, and a bunch of crusty dudes standing in front of a record town or some shit in the dark. It was awesome. I didn't sleep that night although they can't carry like Appetite did for me at the age it did), The Best of Rotterdam Records Volume 1 (German hardcore techno FTW), The Pixies - Trompe Le Monde, Naked Raygun - Throb Throb and Jettison, New Order - Brotherhood, Primus - Seas of Cheese (Saw them at aragon a few years ago where the 2nd set was that entire album, such a good disc)....