The Future’s Always Tomorrow
Posted on | March 28, 2008 at 10:59 pm | Comments Off
I’m tired and I have to get up early tomorrow morning and work, and I don’t have anything to talk about. I don’t even have a jogging listening list to post, since I didn’t jog this morning. Hmmmm… what to do?
Let’s go to the news:
It looks like Apple may introduce their 3G iPhone as early as June. At one time, this wouldn’t have bothered me. I knew full well when I bought my iPhone last month that a 3G version was coming eventually, though I thought it wouldn’t be until like September. If I had know it was only going to be June, I might’ve held off till then. But then again, I didn’t think I really had a use for a 3G iPhone – that I would use the data/Internet functions of the phone so infrequently that the slower speed of the AT&T EDGE network would be good enough. (Or that free WiFi would be available wide enough when I needed it.) But the Internet functions are so easy to use and so useful and the webpages so look good on the browser, that I find myself using it a lot more often than I thought I would. And I’m getting really tired of the slowness of the EDGE network, though it is certainly adequate. 3G is supposed to be really zippy, especially compared to EDGE. Ah well, maybe Apple and AT&T will have a cheap upgrade path…
I’m surprised at how popular the iPhone is among the female set. We all know how much Fahey loves and caresses hers, as evidenced by comments she’s made on this blog. But my younger sister was also pretty excited and jealous when I told her I got one, much moreso than her husband (who works for a competing telco). My older sister is also envious. Is the iPhone like my Prius? As a Real Man, should I not own one? Is it too touchy-feely of a device? Guess I should’ve gone with a Windows Mobile phone after all, with its zillions of configuration options and hassles.
And, most importantly, will Cubans want iPhones?
Latre.
What I’m Playing At
Posted on | March 27, 2008 at 6:57 pm | 3 Comments
I realize I haven’t posted an update about my Playstation 3 experiences lately. Well, I haven’t had much time to play it or play with it. I haven’t done any online play at all. I’m working my way through Heavenly Sword, which is a bit of a button masher, but pretty and entertaining. I like the levels where you have to guide projectiles to their targets using aftertouch. Gives you a bit of a break from the endless combat. The cutscenes are cute and melodramatic and sometimes over-the-top, but I find it a little odd to have these Japanese characters voiced by actors with an English (not American) accent.
The other two PS3 games I own are Motorstorm (which came with the console) and Conan. Haven’t had much time to play either one since I’ve been concentrating on Heavenly Sword. I’m not much for racing games, so even though Motorstorm looks very well done, I probably won’t play it much. Conan and HS are more my thing. I like third person action/adventure games; I like hacking and slashing and working my way through some platforming and minor puzzles that won’t tax my brain (or thumbs) too much.
I’ve also been playing two games I downloaded from the Playstation Network: flOw and Everyday Shooter. flOw is kind of a relaxing low-key game to play when you just want something non-taxing to do – the perfect thing to mellow out with after a long hard day at work. Everyday Shooter, however, is incredibly frustrating and I haven’t even made it past the first level. I was never very good at those dual analog joystick shooting games (picture the old Robotron arcade game). It’s kind of fun though, and it does some innovative things with music. N does not like it when I play it because the odd music is distracting (moreso than hacking and slashing sounds, apparently) and because it makes me curse and scream a lot and throw things around.
I’m also still playing Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin on the Nintendo DS and I think I’m around 75% done with that. But it’s fallen by the wayside as I play the PS3 and God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP. GoW: Chains of Olympus is great. I played all the way through the original God of War (1) on the PS2, though it was on Easy mode. So, shoot me. I’m a casual gamer with little actual time for gameplaying, and I want to be able to experience the whole game without spending months on it. It was one of my all-time favorite video game playing experiences. I never did get around to purchasing God of War II for the PS2, though I probably will once it gets down to $20 or so. The PSP GoW is very reminiscent of the PS2 God of War – same play mechanics, same type of events, etc, but it doesn’t lose anything at all on the smaller PSP screen. It even has Major Boobage like the original title. I’m surprised they packed so much power into it. It looks and plays better by far than any other PSP game I’ve seen. Looking forward to finishing this one. And, oh yeah, I’m trying it on Normal instead of Easy mode.
As for using the PS3 as Blu-ray player, that works great. I purchased The Fifth Element on Blu-ray and watched it all the way through the other night – my first full BD-watching experience. TFE ain’t the greatest movie around (the plot is pretty hokey and predictable), but ten years on, it still makes a great reference disc. I always keep buying upgraded versions of it. The visuals (especially the colors) and the sound are amazing. And this was definitely the most amazing watching experience of it yet. It looked and sounded better than HiDef movies recorded off the satellite – I could definitely tell the difference. The combination of Blu-ray and my 50″ Panasonic Plasma TV can’t be beat. Next up is Spider-Man 3 and No Country From Old Men, both on Blu-ray, which I rented from Netflix. N and I just need to find the time to watch them though. We’ve also watched a number of regular DVDs on the PS3. The upconversion to 1080p works great and some of them do look very close to HiDef.
Before watching TFE, I upgraded the PS3 to the 2.20 version of the system software, which finally updated the Blu-ray player to the Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0, allowing for BD-Live features (connection to the Internet for additional features) and other things. I think that continues to keep the PS3 at the top of the line for Blu-ray players. It can now also remember the position you were at on DVDs when stopping playback or even when turning the player off or ejecting the disc. That also supposedly works with most Blu-ray discs, though it didn’t work with FE when I ejected it in the middle of playback. It did work when I just stopped it without ejecting it.
Don’t have much of a Blu-ray disc collection so far: Lost: Season 3, Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series (which N and I can’t wait to watch), 300, Justice League: The New Frontier and The Fifth Element. I’m glad Netflix rents Blu-rays discs. I intend to do a lot more renting than buying this time through. I hope to not go crazy collecting discs that I’ll never watch or re-watch like I did with DVDs. I also don’t want to end up re-buying my entire DVD collection on Blu-ray. There’s just some stuff I gotta have though, you know?
I’ve listened to a total of one entire SuperAudio CD so far on the PS3: Agents Of Fortune. It made my genitals tingle.
So that’s it for now. If you’ve got any game or disc recommendations, shoot ‘em at me! My anticipated future game purchases (once I’ve worked my way through the current ones) include Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the DS, and The Orange Box, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction for the PS3. I’m also really looking forward to Grand Theft Auto IV, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and (Next Gen) Bionic Commando, and will probably get all those day-and-date when they come out.
Latre.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 37°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Gold” (XTC)
- “May The Rain” (Caesars)
- “Smokeless Zone” (XTC)
- “Widths & Lengths” (Mink Lungs)
- “Calendar Girl” (Stars)
- “The Boy Wonders” (Aztec Camera)
- “You Don’t Know What It’s Like” (Econoline Crush)
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “spanking janet”.
Playing My ‘68 Race Card
Posted on | March 26, 2008 at 8:26 pm | 1 Comment
Today, I want to tell one more story about my days at the Catholic school. One of my only friends at the school was the only African-American kid there. My area of town was insular and not very integrated; I don’t remember seeing a lot of non-white people around. Although, like Stephen Colbert, maybe I just didn’t “see race” when I was that young. Maybe that’s only an issue if your parents make it an issue, and I don’t think mine did. I don’t remember exactly how close of a friend this kid was, but I do remember hanging out with him, and him coming over to my house and eating lunch with my mom and me at least once, and me doing the same over at his house. He’s the only friend I remember from the Catholic school, though I had a lot of friends in the neighborhood that went to public school.
Anyway, when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, I was in second grade. I remember coming home from the Catholic school and seeing the riots on TV and asking my mom about them and about Dr. King. She told me that the people were upset because an important, influential, and beloved leader had been murdered. Then the conversation went something like this (as best I can remember a 40-year old conversation that really stuck with me):
Me: “I think that was the father of my friend _____”.
Mom: “I don’t think so. What makes you say that”?
Me: “Because they’re both black.”
Mom: “There are a lot of black people in the world, honey, and they’re not all related to each other.”
Me: “But he wasn’t in school today.”
Mom: “A lot of people were upset by the killing and are taking some days off to mourn. See how those people on the TV are very upset? Or maybe he’s just sick.”
Me: “His last name is King.”
I think that took my mom back a bit because she probably didn’t remember his last name. “That’s a pretty common name,” she said after a few seconds.
I don’t remember what happened after that, but I think my friend was back in school a few days later and I don’t think I ever discussed his absence with him.
I keep trying to remember my friend’s first name, but all I can come up with is that it started with an “R” like my name. I’m 80% sure it was “Rod”. Rodney King. Although not that Rodney King, who was born too late to be the same guy. And, as my mom said, it’s a common name.
Latre.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 35°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Boy Said / Girl Said” (Heartbreak Club)
- “Makin’ My Mind Up” (The Turtles)
- “New Town Animal in a Furnished Cage” (XTC)
- “If You Want Me” (Outrageous Cherry)
- “Nag Nag Nag Nag” (Art Brut)
- “Try Your Best” (Kaiser Chiefs)
- “Not My Kind” (Icehouse)
iPhone Tips
Posted on | March 25, 2008 at 5:44 pm | 3 Comments
This is my first attempt at (mostly) composing and posting a blog entry from my iPhone. As such, I thought a good subject would be my personal tips for getting the most out of this wonderful toy.
Tip 1: When using the virtual keyboard, it’s best to have tiny fingers.
Tip 2: There’s a big difference between tapping on the screen to click on a link in the browser and tapping to zoom in or otherwise affect the screen. Be aware of this difference.
Tip 3: To avoid getting disconnected during an important phone call, keep your iPhone’s battery charged.
Tip 4: Do not compose blog entries on the iPhone while driving.
Tip 5: Do not eat greasy foods with your fingers before using the iPhone.
Tip 6: Rest your thumbs every 10 minutes when typing a text message, to avoid thumb cramps. I suggest stretching out the thumb muscles by tapping out the rhythm of “Bang on the Drum All Day” on your desk.
Tip 7: Avoid putting The Eagles Greatest Hits on the iPod area of your iPhone.
Tip 8: If you want to copy / cut / paste text, use a Palm OS or Windows Mobile smartphone.
Tip 9: When syncing calendar and contact info with Microsoft Outlook, make sure you actually own Outlook and have it installed.
Tip 10: Do not cook iPhone in microwave or toaster oven.
That’s about it for this first installment of Flasshe’s iPhone Tips. Feel free to spread these around the Interwebs.
Latre.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 38°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Straightline” (Poster Children)
- “Part Of The Plan” (Dan Fogelberg)
- “Bullets” (Editors)
- “Where You Going Northern” (Game Theory)
- “Teenage Loser Anthem” (Dambuilders)
- “Call Me” (I Am The World Trade Center)
- “Others Need You” (Minor Detail)
Nunsense
Posted on | March 24, 2008 at 7:51 pm | 4 Comments
I was somehow inspired by Gil’s post about celebrating Easter as a child to reminisce about my time spent in Catholic school. Thankfully, it was only for two years: first and second grade. For third grade on, my parents sent me back to public school, which is also where I attended kindergarten. It was either because I hated Catholic school and so much and got really bad grades, or because they couldn’t afford to send me there any more. I never found out which. My two older sisters attended Catholic school through eighth grade, I think. But my younger sister was in public schools her whole educational career.
My mom came from a big Catholic family and one of the stipulations in marrying my Dad was that she be allowed to raise the kids as Catholics without interference from him. My dad’s parents were some kind of protestants, I believe, but it didn’t stick with him and he’s largely non-religious. He only went to church with us on Christmas and Easter. When I was young, I could never quite figure out why he got to stay home and sleep in on Sunday morning while the rest of us traipsed down to the church. I don’t remember even asking him about it, but I do know I envied him. Church was never really my thing.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure this is the Catholic school I attended. It was around a mile from my house and I remember having to walk there from time to time, which is quite a distance for a kid. That was in the days when parents would send kids out anywhere without a chaperon, although I was probably accompanied by my older sister on most of those trips. I don’t think I was ever kidnapped, molested or killed, but maybe I was just one of the lucky ones.
I was always miserable and unhappy at the Catholic school. I remember getting into trouble even though I was trying to stay out of it. Those nuns looked for any excuse to exercise a little discipline. My first grade teacher, whose name I don’t remember, was particularly vicious. I believe she was a nun, because we called her sister-so-and-so, but she didn’t wear the trappings like the other nuns/teachers – she stuck to street clothes. So maybe she was something else. She looked a lot like Mrs. Olsen from the Frazz comic strip. There were a lot of rules at that school. A lot of rules. One of them had to do with staying on the playground at recess and not running around the church building like many kids were wont to do. One day at recess, I saw some older kids I knew making a beeline for the church. The perennial do-gooder that I am, I shouted at them to stop and started running after them. They made it around the side of the church without being spotted. However, me and another kid weren’t so lucky. My teacher saw us and we were accused of The Crime. When class started again after recess, the teacher made the two of us kneel at the backboard, on the hard floor without pads, and pray to be forgiven our sins. I forget how long we had to kneel there with our backs to the class, but it seemed like forever. I believe I spent the whole time going over the injustice of it in my mind rather than actually praying.
Is it any wonder I hated that school? That was only one of several punishments I endured, most of which I felt were unjustified. I couldn’t learn anything because I was always worried about getting things wrong and wondering what I was doing wrong. By the end of second grade, I still couldn’t read hardly at all, and math baffled me. I remember not understanding at all which was a “greater than” sign and which was a “less than” sign. The teacher never accurately explained it, and something in my head just couldn’t wrap around the concept. Whenever that showed up on a test or worksheet, I always just guessed. And it seemed like every other subject we studied had something to do with religion, which really interrupted the flow of actual learning.
So I was really ready to leave that school and was so glad when I got to go back to public school. No more wearing the white shirt with tie. No more living in fear of the nuns. No more weird rules. I did have to face some bullies in public school; the fact that my last name was the name of a cigarette and that I was really skinny made me something of a target. Yet I still preferred it to the hellish Catholic school. And I flourished in public school. By the end of third grade, I went from pretty much not knowing how to read at all to being in the accelerated reading track. I could suddenly figure out the “greater than/less than” thing: the mouth eats the bigger number. I was so much happier and didn’t feel like a social outcast anymore, at least not until I moved from Illinois to Colorado for fifth grade and was suddenly an outsider. I got good grades. I still got into trouble, usually because I would say something that a touchy teacher would interpret as sarcastic, but not as often and the punishments weren’t as bad. I had found my way. I don’t know if my mom ever regretted taking me out of that school, but I’m sure my dad was happy about the improvement in grades and about the money saved. It was one of the best things they ever did for me.
Latre.
Pet Peeve of the Day: Those pneumatic tubes at bank drive-thru. Surely technology could’ve come up with something better by now? Although I do kind of like watching the carriers zip through.
Bless These Crops
Posted on | March 23, 2008 at 11:39 am | 5 Comments
Ah… Easter. Easter’s a great holiday for non-believers, as long as you can get out of attending church services. It’s a lot like Thanksgiving… go somewhere, be with family, no gift-giving (except maybe some marshmallow peeps), eat a fabulous meal, maybe get a little drunk. Yeah, there’s no football on TV, but them’s the breaks. The only thing that would make it better would be getting a day off from work. (I don’t get Good Friday off.) I just look at it as a celebration of the beginning of Spring, much like the pagans of old before the festivals were co-opted by the Christians. I guess I’m not alone in this type of thinking, as it appears some institutions have renamed it “Spring Holiday” in order to secularize it. That’s a little silly, but whatever.
Anyway, have fun with eggs!
Latre.