The iPad is to netbooks, what the iPod is to mp3 players. No, let me explain: They both existed beforehand, and other, non-Apple brands continue to make those similar products, often better than the Apple versions of them, but Apple is the one that made them popular, that made the world realize that they exist as technologies. Oh, and they're cutely designed, but shockingly overpriced compared to what you could still pay for something... better, in the same category.
Of course, that concerns those non-tech-savvy idiots, people whom I don't really care about, and my mom. If those people want to completely waste their money, just to buy themselves an iPod or, heck, an iPad, I don't give a rat's nether region. And, well, if it makes my mother happier, just to buy one of those things with the snazzy design and the friendly-to-everyone features, then, for the time being, it's her money to waste however she wants to - and, frankly, I don't want to lose her, so I hope that's a long, long time.
The thing is, I really don't see the reason why that would ever involve me. I had an mp3 player ever since... back then, when having an mp3 player pretty much involved having a Discman that played mp3 CDs as well - and I have an affection for Creative's related products ever since. And I had a netbook, thankyouverymuch - an MSI wind, to be precise - since almost two years before I ever heard, or anyone whose name is not Steve Jobs, for that matter, or doesn't work really close to someone whose it is, had ever heard, about iPads.
And, to be frank, I felt a warm feeling in... I won't tell you where, when I saw the video of the iPad being smashed by otherwise annoying American teens (I'd said ever since I first heard about the thing that, if I had loads of money, I would only spend some to buy one just to have the pleasure of violently destroying it), and then cooked in a microwave oven, just as I did when... well, that's a different Apple peeve of mine, but when I saw the video of that iPhone 3G running Android. Boo-yah.
Oh, and, just to mention cause I have to, one of the companies I've liked for many a year is Nintendo (in a way, they brought me up - no, it's not their fault that I turned out like this, I fathom), and they, very eloquently, characterized Apple as "the enemy of the future", and proceeded to 'declare war' on them. Boo-yagain.
Monday, 10 May 2010
Monday, 23 November 2009
A Remix Map In The Sea Of Knowledge
The thing about culture, the important thing about culture, is that it builds on the past (yes, that's building on the Terry Pratchett quote regarding football, from Unseen Academicals, which I'm evidently reading now), as they pretty much say in RiP: A Remix Manifesto. And what can be a more appropriate modern ground for us to discuss culture than the Internet, whose past is pretty short, despite the fact that it encompasses so much of it in its... webs.
As I recently realized, in the newly developing art of blogging, a very common way to remix, which seems to be the talk of the town on the Internets for a while now when it comes to copyright issues and all that, is linking. It 'builds on the past' pretty well, harnessing that which is, I feel, the primary power of the 'Net, the fact that most of the knowledge available to us as a race is on it. Everything is out there, as we often discover examples of for ourselves,for us to find and thus become a bit, or a lot, smarter because of it.
The only thing which is needed in this digital sea of knowledge is a way, or ways, to map our paths within it (the power that Google has now gained all starting from this fact alone), and links to other websites which have something to do with a different subject are, I find, an interesting, practical, interactive way to do so. You're reading a post about a subject that you find somewhat interesting, and you click on a link, or links, that relate to it, possibly linking from words within the text which you thought would link to something you'd want to read (if you didn't just check what they link to, there on the lower left of your browser). Kind of like surfing on from an article in wikipedia to a completely unrelated subject at the end.
I use links a lot in my posts, yes. This is partly (well, mostly) because I find this 'mapping the Internet' thing to be pretty vital. Our generation has access to a whole lot of knowledge - the modern Library of Alexandria, as I often say, something which makes me dread the day when it will all be 'burned down' through a destruction of the Internet in some way - but we're not always sure to find what we want, or what's best for our purposes. But the way in which these links work is virtually guaranteed to give us things we may want, or didn't even know we wanted before we were given access to it, while promoting what we find to be best or more convenient and available to us at least in the topics in question.
So, here's to a way (*lifts glass of mead*) to find a convenient method to find our way around this maze, to sail through the sea of knowledge, like the salty pirates that we've been forced to be, each of us doing our part, as little as it may be, building personal maps for people to sail after us - different to each other as they may be, where their topics of interest, in this case, are concerned - to become, ideally speaking, omniscient as they ought to become in the millennium we've just begun living in.
As I recently realized, in the newly developing art of blogging, a very common way to remix, which seems to be the talk of the town on the Internets for a while now when it comes to copyright issues and all that, is linking. It 'builds on the past' pretty well, harnessing that which is, I feel, the primary power of the 'Net, the fact that most of the knowledge available to us as a race is on it. Everything is out there, as we often discover examples of for ourselves,for us to find and thus become a bit, or a lot, smarter because of it.
The only thing which is needed in this digital sea of knowledge is a way, or ways, to map our paths within it (the power that Google has now gained all starting from this fact alone), and links to other websites which have something to do with a different subject are, I find, an interesting, practical, interactive way to do so. You're reading a post about a subject that you find somewhat interesting, and you click on a link, or links, that relate to it, possibly linking from words within the text which you thought would link to something you'd want to read (if you didn't just check what they link to, there on the lower left of your browser). Kind of like surfing on from an article in wikipedia to a completely unrelated subject at the end.
I use links a lot in my posts, yes. This is partly (well, mostly) because I find this 'mapping the Internet' thing to be pretty vital. Our generation has access to a whole lot of knowledge - the modern Library of Alexandria, as I often say, something which makes me dread the day when it will all be 'burned down' through a destruction of the Internet in some way - but we're not always sure to find what we want, or what's best for our purposes. But the way in which these links work is virtually guaranteed to give us things we may want, or didn't even know we wanted before we were given access to it, while promoting what we find to be best or more convenient and available to us at least in the topics in question.
So, here's to a way (*lifts glass of mead*) to find a convenient method to find our way around this maze, to sail through the sea of knowledge, like the salty pirates that we've been forced to be, each of us doing our part, as little as it may be, building personal maps for people to sail after us - different to each other as they may be, where their topics of interest, in this case, are concerned - to become, ideally speaking, omniscient as they ought to become in the millennium we've just begun living in.
Monday, 12 October 2009
Not a non-gamer any more!
Yes, a double negative, and I'm not phased enough to turn that into a positive, to tell you the truth. I haven't really proved my come-back fully yet, I believe. And the role of a gamer isn't one to be taken lightly, in my book. Plus, things keep going wrong for me, so I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep (you know whom this is dedicated to).
For one, Steam has a policy where you have to actually buy something there in order to fully use all of its features, in order to avoid spam and all that, and I have only installed, and am currently playing, the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo, which is a demo and therefore doesn't count, 'cause I paid nothing to the Steam people for it. Fair enough, I say, but I still have to ask people for friend requests instead of requesting their friendship from within Steam because of this policy...
The other tragic story is the one about Fallout 3, the purchase of which, however delayed, was, for me, what initially inspired my return to the world of gaming. You see, Fallout, and especially Fallout 2, were my favourite games ever, so I really felt that there was nothing in the known universe that would allow me not to play Fallout 3 after oh-so-many-years. Especially since I'd spent so much time watching Than play Oblivion, and then went outside, only to discover that the 'real world' had less impressive graphics!
So, you see, after a long-long-long search on the hostile waters of the Intranetz, I managed to order the game - which had, by then, already grown quite old - from Amazon, which wouldn't send it to my home address in Greece, so I had to send it to my uncle's in the UK. And, you see, I knew that Uncle D would be coming to Greece 'quite soon', but what I hadn't predicted was that, with all the toss going on in his life, he would forget to bring me the game when he finally did come, and now I have to wait for him to send it to me by snail-mail, when he actually can and when he actually remembers.
So, long story short, although I feel that the Universe is kind of sabotaging my gaming attempts, I had kind of missed this feeling, I now realize. Things go wrong, when you're a gamer, so if this goes on, I might actually allow myself to call myself one again.
Oh, and I've been playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass when I'm bored and it's too early for me to go home from work, or when I'm tragically bored someplace else (goodbye to thee, sketch-notebook, that means), and I've also bought Rayman: Raving Rabbids, for my Nintendo DS, and I don't care if that makes me underage, it's how I feel that counts and all that.
For one, Steam has a policy where you have to actually buy something there in order to fully use all of its features, in order to avoid spam and all that, and I have only installed, and am currently playing, the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo, which is a demo and therefore doesn't count, 'cause I paid nothing to the Steam people for it. Fair enough, I say, but I still have to ask people for friend requests instead of requesting their friendship from within Steam because of this policy...
The other tragic story is the one about Fallout 3, the purchase of which, however delayed, was, for me, what initially inspired my return to the world of gaming. You see, Fallout, and especially Fallout 2, were my favourite games ever, so I really felt that there was nothing in the known universe that would allow me not to play Fallout 3 after oh-so-many-years. Especially since I'd spent so much time watching Than play Oblivion, and then went outside, only to discover that the 'real world' had less impressive graphics!
So, you see, after a long-long-long search on the hostile waters of the Intranetz, I managed to order the game - which had, by then, already grown quite old - from Amazon, which wouldn't send it to my home address in Greece, so I had to send it to my uncle's in the UK. And, you see, I knew that Uncle D would be coming to Greece 'quite soon', but what I hadn't predicted was that, with all the toss going on in his life, he would forget to bring me the game when he finally did come, and now I have to wait for him to send it to me by snail-mail, when he actually can and when he actually remembers.
So, long story short, although I feel that the Universe is kind of sabotaging my gaming attempts, I had kind of missed this feeling, I now realize. Things go wrong, when you're a gamer, so if this goes on, I might actually allow myself to call myself one again.
Oh, and I've been playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass when I'm bored and it's too early for me to go home from work, or when I'm tragically bored someplace else (goodbye to thee, sketch-notebook, that means), and I've also bought Rayman: Raving Rabbids, for my Nintendo DS, and I don't care if that makes me underage, it's how I feel that counts and all that.
Sunday, 7 June 2009
A Two-Of-My-Faves-Together vid
I just couldn't NOT share this with you guys. As the article says, 'here is yet another "two of my favorite things, together at last" video: A Magnetic Fields song being played on a Game Boy.' And that it is, alright. In every way possible. Plus, it irrevocably proves the fact which I have known for a while to be true: even geeky kids (check that awesome hairstyle, now, whydoncha) love Stephin Merritt. Yesh.
Thursday, 28 May 2009
Refertence Analysis
Wolfram|Alpha is quite the talk of the (digital) town at the moment, yes. Everyone (who matters) has tried to play around with it one way or another. Still, I'll tell you what: the most fun of all games you can play with it is to ask it a question which is also a reference. It's cool to see how each of these are answered by it.
For example, we all know that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. Well, apparently, W|A knows this as well. And, when asked of the speed of an unladen swallow, it proceeds to ask, in its own way, if you mean an African or a European swallow. So, yes, it knows its basic references too.
My point, however, is to inquire if it's best for a reference to remain as such, despite the way in which the society around us moves and changes and evolves. And my answer tends towards 'oh yeah' in many cases.
You see, we recently mourned an ongoing reference to Indiana Jones IV being the movie that was in eternal theoretical production - my sources say, you see, that rumors of it were being heard since 1994. And then the movie actually came out, and despite the fact that I actually enjoyed watching it, as a tribute to my generation that grew up on Indy or whatnot, well, numerous people whined, and it was really far from what many expected.
Which is natural, if you think about it, since every single person for whom X means something, expects Y - with Y being something somehow related to X - to be a certain way, if there is no other way to examine Y, as is the case with theoretical creations. And, yes, when Y actually came out, it was definitely not, and most probably far from, what everyone who had expectations of it actually expected.
So, a way to deal with this, so as to avoid disappointment, is to simply experience Y with no expectations whatsoever, so as to be thankful for all one is given, since there is no source for disappointment. Another way is to whine about it beforehand, since it is for certain to be far from any expectations for the best that one may have.
The latter was a way for Yahtzee to go about Duke Nukem Forever - yes, gamers still have their eternal promised sequel, while moviegoers have to deal with their own disappointment with what they actually got, now that it's a reality and not simply theoretical, with the potential to be imagined any what way one may prefer.
So, well, my point is that I may be very pro-evolution, in most cases, since usually things evolve for the better, and if they don't there's always the option to backstep into what *used* to be right, but that doesn't seem to be the case where references are involved. You can't forget what has been experienced there, you can't unwrite what has been writ. Unless you get the right kind of blow to the head.
For example, we all know that the answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. Well, apparently, W|A knows this as well. And, when asked of the speed of an unladen swallow, it proceeds to ask, in its own way, if you mean an African or a European swallow. So, yes, it knows its basic references too.
My point, however, is to inquire if it's best for a reference to remain as such, despite the way in which the society around us moves and changes and evolves. And my answer tends towards 'oh yeah' in many cases.
You see, we recently mourned an ongoing reference to Indiana Jones IV being the movie that was in eternal theoretical production - my sources say, you see, that rumors of it were being heard since 1994. And then the movie actually came out, and despite the fact that I actually enjoyed watching it, as a tribute to my generation that grew up on Indy or whatnot, well, numerous people whined, and it was really far from what many expected.
Which is natural, if you think about it, since every single person for whom X means something, expects Y - with Y being something somehow related to X - to be a certain way, if there is no other way to examine Y, as is the case with theoretical creations. And, yes, when Y actually came out, it was definitely not, and most probably far from, what everyone who had expectations of it actually expected.
So, a way to deal with this, so as to avoid disappointment, is to simply experience Y with no expectations whatsoever, so as to be thankful for all one is given, since there is no source for disappointment. Another way is to whine about it beforehand, since it is for certain to be far from any expectations for the best that one may have.
The latter was a way for Yahtzee to go about Duke Nukem Forever - yes, gamers still have their eternal promised sequel, while moviegoers have to deal with their own disappointment with what they actually got, now that it's a reality and not simply theoretical, with the potential to be imagined any what way one may prefer.
So, well, my point is that I may be very pro-evolution, in most cases, since usually things evolve for the better, and if they don't there's always the option to backstep into what *used* to be right, but that doesn't seem to be the case where references are involved. You can't forget what has been experienced there, you can't unwrite what has been writ. Unless you get the right kind of blow to the head.
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Energy For Life
The Human race's energy issues are well known to all of you guys - from the 'why the f*ck batteries don't last longer' question to what on Earth (or in space, for that matter) we're going to do about powering our needs, now that we've grown to have so many.
Well, it's not like I have answers to any of these questions for you here, 'cause, sadly, I don't. I just want to grasp this opportunity to join the crew in wallowing in self-pity for a minute because of this huge problem of our generation - and in doing so to underline it as such.
So, yes, the answer is bound to be in renewable resources, which probably means solar power, that's pretty much for sure. And, no, it doesn't just involve tying a pretty little bow on our miniature pools of leftover oil or whatnot and thinking, even for a second, that we've solved that problem, now. No, renewables'll have to do the trick, I say.
And, yes, this might even mean that here, in Greece, where I live now, will be a global frontrunner in that department, oh yes. But, well, the oil lords (which I'm sure are all stroking their Persian cats sitting on their golden thrones as we speak, villainous as they all are) won't let go of their reign so easily. And that's why - well, one of the numerous reasons why, at least - we're going through hell right now. Titans' struggle and all that.
Because, you see, all other problems that seem to worry the Humans from time to time are met within record times, usually - mostly because they promise amazing proceeds if you deliver, and there's more gold-diggers looking for something worth selling as a solution, but hey. It's just that here there's not only a great issue involving us having to change everything that works 'the old way' - which will take some time, money and overall effort on its own - but there's also lots of people, with lots of money in their hands and therefore power and humongous metaphorical boxing gloves trying to stop us until the last drop of oil is spent - on military purposes, nonetheless.
So, as you probably already knew, we're f*cked. Yes, let me say that again: we're f*cked, where energy is concerned. And now it's time for you to sod off and go charge your cellphone.
Well, it's not like I have answers to any of these questions for you here, 'cause, sadly, I don't. I just want to grasp this opportunity to join the crew in wallowing in self-pity for a minute because of this huge problem of our generation - and in doing so to underline it as such.
So, yes, the answer is bound to be in renewable resources, which probably means solar power, that's pretty much for sure. And, no, it doesn't just involve tying a pretty little bow on our miniature pools of leftover oil or whatnot and thinking, even for a second, that we've solved that problem, now. No, renewables'll have to do the trick, I say.
And, yes, this might even mean that here, in Greece, where I live now, will be a global frontrunner in that department, oh yes. But, well, the oil lords (which I'm sure are all stroking their Persian cats sitting on their golden thrones as we speak, villainous as they all are) won't let go of their reign so easily. And that's why - well, one of the numerous reasons why, at least - we're going through hell right now. Titans' struggle and all that.
Because, you see, all other problems that seem to worry the Humans from time to time are met within record times, usually - mostly because they promise amazing proceeds if you deliver, and there's more gold-diggers looking for something worth selling as a solution, but hey. It's just that here there's not only a great issue involving us having to change everything that works 'the old way' - which will take some time, money and overall effort on its own - but there's also lots of people, with lots of money in their hands and therefore power and humongous metaphorical boxing gloves trying to stop us until the last drop of oil is spent - on military purposes, nonetheless.
So, as you probably already knew, we're f*cked. Yes, let me say that again: we're f*cked, where energy is concerned. And now it's time for you to sod off and go charge your cellphone.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Consoles Don't Count
My friend Sabbattack came over today. He's been coming by quite often lately, filling his - and my - mornings, which would otherwise mostly be boring (well, that's a lie - I seem to always have things to do lately...).
Last time he came, he left with my Wii - which was formerly my brother's wii, but my brother gave it to me because he couldn't care less for it and I looked at it and drooled - in order to get it chipped for me, and bring it back with a few games as well (including Rayman 2 and Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, these being Wii-games-with-bunnies, which goes to support my theory that every Wii game with bunnies is made to rule supreme, for the wii is a bunny console).
He's going to bring the Wii back, chipped and set, with the games and everything, on Saturday, when I have friends over, to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as President of planet Earth, and my birthday, the two important events of November 4th, in the order mentioned. And, yes, I'd arranged this celebration more than a week ago, because I can see the future, and because some things are obvious, even if we're used to being disappointed.
Still, Sabbattack came over today, and we discussed Fallout 3 (among other things), because Fallout 2 is my favourite game ever, and because I had to mention that I've got the game there waiting for me and I still haven't even started playing, because I haven't got time. And he promised to bring me his X-Box, because, as he insisted, you need Direct X 10 to enjoy the game, and I don't plan to install Vista, like, ever - and I believe him that you need this beauty, as I remember Oblivion being more beautiful than the real world (no, I didn't play it, but Than was playing it, and we hadn't left the house for a few days, and that was the only 'outside' I'd seen, until I went outside, only to be disappointed...) and I think Fallout 3 is going to be pretty much like a post-apocalyptic Oblivion. Anyway.
Console girl, you say. And, not a gamer, you say. Well, yes, I reply. Because gamers are PC gamers. Console gamers are an inferior brand of people. I may now belong to them, but I'll remain true to some values for as long as I can. You can take my time, real world, but you'll never take my soul.
Last time he came, he left with my Wii - which was formerly my brother's wii, but my brother gave it to me because he couldn't care less for it and I looked at it and drooled - in order to get it chipped for me, and bring it back with a few games as well (including Rayman 2 and Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, these being Wii-games-with-bunnies, which goes to support my theory that every Wii game with bunnies is made to rule supreme, for the wii is a bunny console).
He's going to bring the Wii back, chipped and set, with the games and everything, on Saturday, when I have friends over, to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as President of planet Earth, and my birthday, the two important events of November 4th, in the order mentioned. And, yes, I'd arranged this celebration more than a week ago, because I can see the future, and because some things are obvious, even if we're used to being disappointed.
Still, Sabbattack came over today, and we discussed Fallout 3 (among other things), because Fallout 2 is my favourite game ever, and because I had to mention that I've got the game there waiting for me and I still haven't even started playing, because I haven't got time. And he promised to bring me his X-Box, because, as he insisted, you need Direct X 10 to enjoy the game, and I don't plan to install Vista, like, ever - and I believe him that you need this beauty, as I remember Oblivion being more beautiful than the real world (no, I didn't play it, but Than was playing it, and we hadn't left the house for a few days, and that was the only 'outside' I'd seen, until I went outside, only to be disappointed...) and I think Fallout 3 is going to be pretty much like a post-apocalyptic Oblivion. Anyway.
Console girl, you say. And, not a gamer, you say. Well, yes, I reply. Because gamers are PC gamers. Console gamers are an inferior brand of people. I may now belong to them, but I'll remain true to some values for as long as I can. You can take my time, real world, but you'll never take my soul.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Still Alive
The LHC is working, and no black hole was created or anyfink. Other than the one in naysayers' arses, that is.
What's interesting (to me) is, last night, before going to bed, I talked to my brother, who mentioned he's been to CERN, with a special group of 17 kids from our school, in 04/2007. He inquired, once he found out what 'the five-storey building' they were building was and what it was supposed to do, if they realized the responsibility attached to a project that involves so much energy. The guy that was showing them around gave him a cool reply, something like "come find me personally and tell me off if anything happens", before explaining that quite a few people around the world had already started with their doomsday scenarios.
The point I'd like to make - nothing that interests you, of course - is that my brother is smart. He could even sort-of-explain what a Higgs boson... could be, on call. It's great for me to realize that this li'l boy is no idiot, especially since I see him as an improved version of me, plus some. I used to be teased for mentioning his basketball achievements when he used to be in a team - he supposedly was in Earth's team, playing against Mars and such. He could easily be a jock, you see, but he's smart, even there.
I was amazed, the other day - about two months ago, I think - when Than suggested that most people around us don't know simple things like what the stars we see in the sky actually are. I couldn't believe that something like that would be possible. I object to being surrounded by stupid and ignorant people, seeing as I am a total intelligence racist (yes, you are allowed to be stupid, as long as you know that to be true). And, especially when my family comes into the equation, given that I am influenced by them in more ways than just genetics, I take it personally. So I was quick to reply to Than that it wouldn't be possible for, say, my brother not to know this - something which I went and checked the other day, just to make sure, for this possibility was eating me up, only to be met with a reply that incorporated ridicule and obvious answers.
A friend told me, when we were fidgeting with the reverse translation of a bad translation of chemical terms (I kid you not), that I choose my friends with intelligence as a primary criterion, and I replied something about my intelligence racism. Still, not being surrounded by idiots doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't billions of stupid people in the world, the way I define 'stupid'. I estimate that the mean IQ of the people I hang out with to be around 120-130 or so, when there are even 80s out there who have every right to consider themselves 'of normal intelligence'.
Do I need to become more tolerant? Really?
What's interesting (to me) is, last night, before going to bed, I talked to my brother, who mentioned he's been to CERN, with a special group of 17 kids from our school, in 04/2007. He inquired, once he found out what 'the five-storey building' they were building was and what it was supposed to do, if they realized the responsibility attached to a project that involves so much energy. The guy that was showing them around gave him a cool reply, something like "come find me personally and tell me off if anything happens", before explaining that quite a few people around the world had already started with their doomsday scenarios.
The point I'd like to make - nothing that interests you, of course - is that my brother is smart. He could even sort-of-explain what a Higgs boson... could be, on call. It's great for me to realize that this li'l boy is no idiot, especially since I see him as an improved version of me, plus some. I used to be teased for mentioning his basketball achievements when he used to be in a team - he supposedly was in Earth's team, playing against Mars and such. He could easily be a jock, you see, but he's smart, even there.
I was amazed, the other day - about two months ago, I think - when Than suggested that most people around us don't know simple things like what the stars we see in the sky actually are. I couldn't believe that something like that would be possible. I object to being surrounded by stupid and ignorant people, seeing as I am a total intelligence racist (yes, you are allowed to be stupid, as long as you know that to be true). And, especially when my family comes into the equation, given that I am influenced by them in more ways than just genetics, I take it personally. So I was quick to reply to Than that it wouldn't be possible for, say, my brother not to know this - something which I went and checked the other day, just to make sure, for this possibility was eating me up, only to be met with a reply that incorporated ridicule and obvious answers.
A friend told me, when we were fidgeting with the reverse translation of a bad translation of chemical terms (I kid you not), that I choose my friends with intelligence as a primary criterion, and I replied something about my intelligence racism. Still, not being surrounded by idiots doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't billions of stupid people in the world, the way I define 'stupid'. I estimate that the mean IQ of the people I hang out with to be around 120-130 or so, when there are even 80s out there who have every right to consider themselves 'of normal intelligence'.
Do I need to become more tolerant? Really?
Monday, 30 June 2008
Bill of Gates
It's... strange. Starting tomorrow, Bill Gates will "transition out" of his role at Microsoft, allegedly to work more actively at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That's their charity thingy, mind you, if you didn't know.
Having been born in the glorious year 1982, I grew up with the knowledge that Gates is "the richest man in the world", even if he's now just the 3rd richest, poor thing. And I pretty much 'transitioned' myself from thinking he was the bee's knees, during the '80s, when all that was new and shiny, to evil incarnate, knowing that the world around me constantly found more and more reasons to hate the guy.
The reason for the latter seems to be, in my book, that Windows pretty much suck. On many levels, but mostly 'underneath', the way the whole OS works. And the reason for that is evident, and goes waaay back, with the deal that had him buy MS DOS, some random OS from some random company, to give to IBM, since, as we all know, he had an agreement with them to do so, without having an OS.
And, yes, it seems to me that he spent all his life after that, until now, using his business sense to cover that mistake with the icing needed to make his 'vision' work, pretty much, on a sucky base. And, I must say, quite a glorious vision that was: "a personal computer on every desk and in every home". I can't count the times I've quoted that, in different contexts, too. And it's defined the present, on many levels, to a great degree. Glorious.
Yes, he's probably the only dork I know of who is so dorky yet still has such business acumen. 'S true. And business acumen was so hot during the '80s, yes it was. I still think Windows suck, mind you. But I can't help feeling that it's the end of an era, and that Gates is an... OK guy. Or, at least, that he's not worth all the hate he gets, not personally, as a person, personifying the object of all our hate.
At least he's trying to make up for it now. And we've reached the point where we pretty much have a PC everywhere, even if the kids in developing countries were given, quite charitably, a bunch of laptops with an open source OS. Much to Gates' disdain, too, because his business sense obviously overrides his charity sense. Which is 'normal', since it even overrides his common sense, thus branding him a dork.
But I'm the kind of person who's learned to overlook a dork's negative, or annoying, qualities, going for the good qualities that they always keep hidden underneath. And, yes, I'll miss Bill Gates. There, I said it.
Having been born in the glorious year 1982, I grew up with the knowledge that Gates is "the richest man in the world", even if he's now just the 3rd richest, poor thing. And I pretty much 'transitioned' myself from thinking he was the bee's knees, during the '80s, when all that was new and shiny, to evil incarnate, knowing that the world around me constantly found more and more reasons to hate the guy.
The reason for the latter seems to be, in my book, that Windows pretty much suck. On many levels, but mostly 'underneath', the way the whole OS works. And the reason for that is evident, and goes waaay back, with the deal that had him buy MS DOS, some random OS from some random company, to give to IBM, since, as we all know, he had an agreement with them to do so, without having an OS.
And, yes, it seems to me that he spent all his life after that, until now, using his business sense to cover that mistake with the icing needed to make his 'vision' work, pretty much, on a sucky base. And, I must say, quite a glorious vision that was: "a personal computer on every desk and in every home". I can't count the times I've quoted that, in different contexts, too. And it's defined the present, on many levels, to a great degree. Glorious.
Yes, he's probably the only dork I know of who is so dorky yet still has such business acumen. 'S true. And business acumen was so hot during the '80s, yes it was. I still think Windows suck, mind you. But I can't help feeling that it's the end of an era, and that Gates is an... OK guy. Or, at least, that he's not worth all the hate he gets, not personally, as a person, personifying the object of all our hate.
At least he's trying to make up for it now. And we've reached the point where we pretty much have a PC everywhere, even if the kids in developing countries were given, quite charitably, a bunch of laptops with an open source OS. Much to Gates' disdain, too, because his business sense obviously overrides his charity sense. Which is 'normal', since it even overrides his common sense, thus branding him a dork.
But I'm the kind of person who's learned to overlook a dork's negative, or annoying, qualities, going for the good qualities that they always keep hidden underneath. And, yes, I'll miss Bill Gates. There, I said it.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
On Types Of Geekdom
After my previous "times change" rant, I have an announcement to make, ladies and gentlemen: I don't play games. PC games, that is. No. Not the way I used to.
Far from that - I only installed Yahtzee's Trilby recently, and I haven't even finished it. And I do play the occasional wii game with my brother (I must say, I trashed his friend Hector in wii sports' bowling the other day), or with whoever has a wii around me lately, or the occasional Spider Solitaire on my PC when I'm dead bored (which happens pretty rarely lately), and I do plan to play Fallout 3 when it comes out (although I know it'll be like a post-apocalyptic Oblivion, but who's to say that's all bad?)...
This is just to make an 'official announcement' somewhere. That, plus I was talking to my friend Nick (or Apophis, call him what you will), and we decided - once he told me all enthusiastic, for the third time, that he now has a second monitor, which he can watch series' episodes on while he plays games (after which Christine and I told him off for not having watched Arrested Development. Again.) - and, alkthough we are all happy for him, like, we are also weirded out by the fact that he's now "the gaming type" so much more than he is "the watching type".
It's true that today's geeks, the type that has a pretty fast DSL connection (or cable, or what-have-you) as a norm, and downloads stuff from "the uncle in the States" ever so often, tend to go one way in spite of all others. Once, there were just "geeks". "Us geeks", we used to say, and feel a certain solidarity. We knew where we stood, and all that.
But now, oh, now. Now we've had to decide, with the limiting reagent where our 'real' interests are concerned being time - and, as I recently realized, "that feeling of absolute boredom" being something I haven't felt for a while - making us have to decide what we love the most out of all our interests, what the real "geek subject" which we belong to is. Even if that feels like the "who do you love more, mommy or daddy? question.
For some, the answer to this has been games. For others, it's been news, or reading stuff online, here and there, on websites and the works, or graphics, creating them and sharing them, or music, in all its forms. Or even - gods forbid - analogue stuff, that slow, boring "real life" some still rant about. Well, for me, it's watching stuff. Movies, or series, or web-based shows, or just your basic YouTube vid. Even just a song's video clip. Moving pictures, if you will.
And what I realized, having once been a kid that spent hours upon end reading at least one book each day, is that what I really love, what I actually crave and chase, is stories. Even the games I've loved back-in-the-day, I've loved them because of their story, because of the 'other world' they took me to, and what happened there. From Monkey Island, say, to Pinball, they all make sense to me somehow, they all 'tell me something' and 'take me somewhere'.
And that's why I really don't mind, as my brother recently discovered while playing Splinter Cell (yes, the wii is old-school in what it can provide graphics-wise, but it has awesomazing new ways to interact, which rule - I must say, I'm the one who awoke my brother to the way to 'jump' in the game, since there's no button there that does that - and I'd obviously missed the game the first time around - that is, when it came out for the PC), if I'm not the one actually playing, and I merely watch as someone else does, as, with games, the tedious part, for me, is actually interacting, in that 'interactive storytelling' do.
And, oh yes, I'm with the "video geek" crowd. Thassme. Not everyone chooses, really, but some of us have to, especially from a certain point onwards. And I did. And, although I may, for old times' sake or for sheer curiosity, touch upon other "geek realms", I know that this is my one. Mine, mine, mine. And here I'll stay. Unless something else shines temptingly on the other side, of course.
Far from that - I only installed Yahtzee's Trilby recently, and I haven't even finished it. And I do play the occasional wii game with my brother (I must say, I trashed his friend Hector in wii sports' bowling the other day), or with whoever has a wii around me lately, or the occasional Spider Solitaire on my PC when I'm dead bored (which happens pretty rarely lately), and I do plan to play Fallout 3 when it comes out (although I know it'll be like a post-apocalyptic Oblivion, but who's to say that's all bad?)...
This is just to make an 'official announcement' somewhere. That, plus I was talking to my friend Nick (or Apophis, call him what you will), and we decided - once he told me all enthusiastic, for the third time, that he now has a second monitor, which he can watch series' episodes on while he plays games (after which Christine and I told him off for not having watched Arrested Development. Again.) - and, alkthough we are all happy for him, like, we are also weirded out by the fact that he's now "the gaming type" so much more than he is "the watching type".
It's true that today's geeks, the type that has a pretty fast DSL connection (or cable, or what-have-you) as a norm, and downloads stuff from "the uncle in the States" ever so often, tend to go one way in spite of all others. Once, there were just "geeks". "Us geeks", we used to say, and feel a certain solidarity. We knew where we stood, and all that.
But now, oh, now. Now we've had to decide, with the limiting reagent where our 'real' interests are concerned being time - and, as I recently realized, "that feeling of absolute boredom" being something I haven't felt for a while - making us have to decide what we love the most out of all our interests, what the real "geek subject" which we belong to is. Even if that feels like the "who do you love more, mommy or daddy? question.
For some, the answer to this has been games. For others, it's been news, or reading stuff online, here and there, on websites and the works, or graphics, creating them and sharing them, or music, in all its forms. Or even - gods forbid - analogue stuff, that slow, boring "real life" some still rant about. Well, for me, it's watching stuff. Movies, or series, or web-based shows, or just your basic YouTube vid. Even just a song's video clip. Moving pictures, if you will.
And what I realized, having once been a kid that spent hours upon end reading at least one book each day, is that what I really love, what I actually crave and chase, is stories. Even the games I've loved back-in-the-day, I've loved them because of their story, because of the 'other world' they took me to, and what happened there. From Monkey Island, say, to Pinball, they all make sense to me somehow, they all 'tell me something' and 'take me somewhere'.
And that's why I really don't mind, as my brother recently discovered while playing Splinter Cell (yes, the wii is old-school in what it can provide graphics-wise, but it has awesomazing new ways to interact, which rule - I must say, I'm the one who awoke my brother to the way to 'jump' in the game, since there's no button there that does that - and I'd obviously missed the game the first time around - that is, when it came out for the PC), if I'm not the one actually playing, and I merely watch as someone else does, as, with games, the tedious part, for me, is actually interacting, in that 'interactive storytelling' do.
And, oh yes, I'm with the "video geek" crowd. Thassme. Not everyone chooses, really, but some of us have to, especially from a certain point onwards. And I did. And, although I may, for old times' sake or for sheer curiosity, touch upon other "geek realms", I know that this is my one. Mine, mine, mine. And here I'll stay. Unless something else shines temptingly on the other side, of course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)