Tag: tech (Page 6 of 7)

“I Want To Live, Breath. I Want To Be Part Of The Human Race.”

July 20, 2009 / DB

I’m kind of fascinated by the coming copyright wars. That may be a bit dramatic, but there’s no doubt that the digital age and the explosion of the Internet are ripping apart all the current copyright laws. The old media companies take their heads out of the sand only long enough to entrench themselves deeper in the old system and maybe punish both their customers and the agents attempting to help ease their path into the new age along the way.

There appears to be a happy ending on the horizon for Internet radio, although I wouldn’t put it past the various interested parties on the IP side of the debate to find a way to screw it up before everything is said-and-done.

On the other hand is the developing situation at YouTube. The site was recently hit with a massive judgement for royalties owed for songs that they host. Organizations like ASCAP appear ready to go after websites that link to those videos as well, although they seem to make a distinction between commercial blogs and Joe Blows like myself with personal blogs and a dozen or so readers.

With that in mind, and as an F-you to the old media oligarchs who refuse to admit their age has passed, here’s a stunning video of Radiohead absolutely ripping “The Bends” apart. Watching this makes me want to run around the block as fast as I can or do 1000 push ups or find some other way of burning off the energy it creates.

youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAKFSnQdhvE&hl=en&fs=1&

I’ll throw this out there, as well. No one – not Nirvana, not Pearl Jam, not Soundgarden, nor anyone else – had two albums in the 90s as good as Radiohead’s The Bends and OK Computer. If I didn’t have my silly rule about only one album per artist, they would both be in my top ten albums of all time, with OK being my co-favorite of all-time.

Genius Social Experiment

June 29, 2009 / DB

Give a 13-year-old a Walkman for a week and see what happens.

I remember my first Walkman well. It was actually a knock-off, since those early Walkmans were quite expensive. And it was the obvious knock-off: had some crazy decals on it and, worse, a pull-out antenna for the AM/FM tuner. But I loved that thing.

Giving up my iPod for a Walkman

When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed.

A Toy I Won’t Buy

May 7, 2009 / DB

My long time readers know there are a few subjects that are always sure to interest me. When you combine two of those, like say peanut butter and chocolate, watch out.

So why don’t I own a Kindle? It’s a cool tech toy, and I do love me some tech toys.* And it’s for reading, which I need to do like breathing in order to function properly. Seems like a no brainer, right?

(Here’s a little something I’ve never shared. The majority of the money I make in my professional life goes into what S. calls my Computer Fund. Keep in mind I work only sporadically and I don’t make much when I am working. But still, that account pays for my monthly iPhone bill and allows me to make an impulse purchase every few months from the Apple Store, Amazon, etc. that ends with me unwrapping something that has a microprocessor in it.)

Amazon announced the new Kindle DX on Wednesday and it did not have me reaching for my credit card. Don’t get me wrong, it looks terribly cool. I’ve talked to some people who own a Kindle and think it’s great. I love the idea of having what amounts to a reading version of an iPod – a device that is loaded with all kinds of content so I can call up whatever fits my mood – with me everywhere I go.

But there is a fatal flaw that keeps me from placing an order: you have to purchase all the content.* Until there is some kind of “library” option, meaning a way to legally borrow content, I can’t see myself buying one.

(The Kindle will load some content that is free. However the bulk of what I would want to read on it I would have to pay for.)

It’s not that I expect a Kindle Library service to be like going to my public library, where I get the majority of my books. There’s no way Amazon, Sprint, and the publishing world would allow free access to every book ever printer under their current pricing scheme.

I’m willing to pay a small fee, a buck for a week or ten days, after which I’ll either have to drop another buck or the book disappears from my virtual library. But since I read 30-40-50 books a year, I would have a hard time justifying paying $10 a pop when I could go pick the same book up for free at the library.* Another option is a flat fee for monthly access. Charge me $20 to read five books, three magazines, and two newspapers. Tier out a plan that provides more access for more money, and I’m getting more interested.

(Free as in my tax dollars magically help fund the library.)

I like the concept of the Kindle, and we’re certainly headed towards a time when some Kindle-like device will be the way we read content currently found in books, magazines, and newspapers. The trick for global adoption will be finding the sweet spot in the pricing of such a device that fits the needs of both the users and the content providers. Both sides of that equation are going to have to make changes to their expectations of the relationship. I’m anxiously awaiting the day when someone finds that perfect middle point.

Back On The Bike

April 14, 2009 / DB

I’ve obviously been a little remiss of late. We’re going through some phase changes here, and you know how phase changes can throw me. Throw in a few days with decent weather* and I’ve not been attending to my blogging responsibilities. So some random stuff to get us back on track.

(Our weather has been mostly shitty, though.)

Despite the news leaking Monday morning that Aldrich and Collins would probably be returning to KU, I was still a little shocked when it A) came down and B) both said they never asked for information from the NBA on where they might go in the draft. Hmmm.

I’m really surprised Cole is staying. Not many kids in his position can resist the lure. To his credit, he seems to understand he has work to do to be prepared to play professionally. And while Collins’ talk about getting a degree and having his senior night may just be spin on his part, I like the way he’s thinking.

Catching up on the Royals, the weekend was kind of crappy. Watched almost all of the Friday and Saturday games. Shitty defense and no hitting are the quick summaries there. First base is going to be a problem. But we knew that.* I watched and listened to parts of Sunday’s game, but when they fell behind in the late innings, I figured it was over and fell asleep on the couch with L.. I was thrilled and surprised with the comeback that salvaged one game from the Yankees.

(As I’m writing this, Billy Butler let a moderately difficult grounder go off his glove. It was almost Jeter-esque. Speaking of Jeter, I don’t watch a ton of Yankees’ games, so I just enjoy all the stat-geek slamming of his defense without having the background to truly comment. But Saturday I finally saw a classic Jeter No Ranger get through the hole. The ball was hit crisply, but not too hard, to Jeter’s right. He took one step and then “dove” as the ball bounced one step away. He truly has no range. Did you know he has a higher career BA than George Brett, though? Wow.)

From what I saw, the refurbished stadium looks pretty great. I was thinking I might not make it to a game this year, but after seeing it on TV, I’ve been working to make sure I can make a quick trip back at some point. I’m very excited to see it in person, and hope the Royals aren’t 10 games out of first when I get there.

Props: Kyle Farnsworth has looked filthy his last two times out. Not sure if it really was a mechanical adjustment, or that he just hasn’t faced a slugging lefty with the game on the line. But he’s looked awesome. Makes me feel bad that he got booed on Opening Day.

I’m still kind of giddy over the technological advances that allow me to watch games. For several years I subscribed to MLB Audio. When I started, I was tied to one computer, since the house wasn’t wireless at the time. When I added a wifi network, I could move around a little, but the stream tended to rebuffer a lot if you got too far away from your base station. Now, I’m streaming video on an 802.11n network and it remains at HD quality through most of the house. And just for fun, I can fire up the iPhone and listen in, too. Sunday I mowed the yard and, while watching the girls play after I finished up, I pulled up MLB At Bat on the phone and listened to Bob and Denny. Technology is fun.

Am a little bummed out by high school classmates on Facebook who are talking about their high school kids being on spring break, or visiting colleges, etc. I can’t imagine having an 18-year-old right now. Which is weird because when my mom was 37, she had an 18-year-old who was going off to college.

Another Facebook annoyance: People I didn’t even know in high school who keep sending me requests to put their damn birthday on my calendar. Why?

New least favorite exercise our trainer has us doing: push ups using a medicine ball. Start in a normal push-up position, but put one hand on a medicine ball. Do one push-up. Roll the ball to the opposite hand. And repeat until failure, which sadly is much sooner than I would like to admit. It does wonders for your confidence to see a pregnant woman doing a more intense workout than you are.

I’ve been stocking up on the links, too, so I may need to unload a bunch of those in a single post as well.

Going Along With The Sheep

February 16, 2009 / DB

It’s been a few months since I finally became an active member of Facebook. Based on my discussions with a few of you, my odd reaction to the experience is not one unique to me. It’s just a strange thing.

First, there is the reconnecting with people you haven’t talked to in ages. Here are some of the people I’ve friended in recent weeks: A guy who was probably my closest friend from fourth through eight grades, but had not talked to since 1990 or so. Another guy who I hung out with in fourth grade, but pretty much never again after that. A girl who caused me a lot of grief over the years.* It’s weird to send a couple messages back and forth and suddenly be caught up and friendly again. I’ve developed a quick, 2-3 paragraph generic “Let’s catch up” message for use in these situations. It seems to have worked so far.

(I’m deflecting. I brought all the grief onto myself.)

I’ve been reading several articles about Facebook and another common experience on FB is the friend request that you’re not really sure what to do about. This seems to be complicated for me since my 20 year high school reunion is this summer, and a lot of classmates are popping up on Facebook. That’s fine and all, but some of these people were folks I never talked to in high school, so it seems odd to me that they would want to share what they’re doing with me, and know what’s going on in my life.

My passive-aggressive method for dealing with this has been to accept any friend requests from high school people, but then select the option to get fewer of their updates, unless we’ve talked in the last 15 years or so. In my strange world, this means no uncomfortable “Why didn’t you friend me on Facebook” conversations in August. However, if someone is just recommended as someone I might want to be friends with, I ignore them.

I know, I’m weird.

My other problem with Facebook is what to list as my status updates. I have a friend that lives in New York and has worked for a number of very cool media outlets. He’s a very funny and clever guy, and his updates are always hilarious. I feel pressure to do something even half as funny as him.

But, for now, I’ll stick with it. A few of you seem to use Facebook as your main way of connecting with the world, replacing your traditional Inbox. And when things are happening, it’s kind of fun to see what different people are saying about it. Some of the various requests are annoying, but a few are fun, too. I owned the Christmas Vacation quiz, for example.

Here are a few interesting links I’ve collected about Facebook.

First, a good primer on how you can adjust your setting to help protect your identity, updates, etc.

<a href=”http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/”>10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know</a>

Second, why one writer is leaving Facebook.

<a href=”http://www.newsweek.com/id/183180/page/1″>You Can’t Friend Me, I Quit</a>

And finally, a good overview of the place Facebook has claimed in our lives and people who are still holding out.

<a href=”http://www.slate.com/id/2208678/”>Everyone Else Is On Facebook. Why Aren’t You?</a>

Keeping Up With The Youngsters

December 11, 2008 / DB

I’m giving the Facebook another shot. If you’re on the Facebook, you may have noticed I started updating my status, I think for the first time ever, over the past few days. I’ve received a slew of friend invites in recent weeks, thus I’ve been going in and approving/ignoring them a lot. And, while doing so, I’ve noticed a lot of friends are updating their status, posting news, and uploading pics on a regular basis. Apparently it’s not just for the kids anymore, which probably means something better/cooler is going to come along soon and replace it.

But, in the meantime, I’m going to give it a shot again. I’ve got the Facebook app on my iPhone. I’ve added Facebook as one of the bookmarks in my Safari bookmark bar, so it’s always right there staring at me. This new strategy seems to have paid off already. I’ve heard from a couple friends I haven’t talked to or e-mailed in ages. It may be the perfect tool for us parents who are always chasing kids around, especially for those who have a hard time keeping up with e-mail.

Oh, and I had about 800 invites for various games, challenges, etc. I just wiped them all out and started over, so if you had invited me to play some game, extend a wave, etc., nothing personal. That’s just me cleaning up months of disuse.

Two Point Oh

August 1, 2008 / DB

Here is my look at the latest iPhone software update, the Application Store, and other things iPhone.

I’ve found the iPhone 2.0 software update to be a profoundly mixed-bag. One of the reasons that lines were (and continue to be) so long for the 3G iPhone is how successful the first generation model was. There were some opening weekend issues a week ago, as well, but things quickly fell into place. The January software update solved some minor stability issues and added some fun and useful new features. So the folks that decided to wait a year seemed justified to bite the bullet and head out to get the second generation phone.*

As I’ve already written, 2.0 does not seem ready for prime time. My phone, which was rock-solid-stable under 1.4 (or whatever the last version was) is now slower when moving from application to application, crawls when loading new screens, and often has a delay of several seconds when I attempt to use the keyboard. Frustrating.

Worse are the crashes. I had one crash in six plus months with the previous software. I’ve had numerous application crashes under 2.0, and one full phone crash. People who use theirs more and have more third party apps than I do are reporting even more frequent crashes and freezes. I’m no programmer, but a lot of developers seem to think these issues are because of instability in the phone OS rather than in the applications (although to be fair, there are some shitty applications out there that are no doubt causing problems).

So, frustration because it seems like we got a beta release rather than a fully baked version, but tempered by the hope that 2.1 is coming soon and will solve these issues.**

What about the apps themselves? I’ve only tried a few, but there are my favorites so far.

Perhaps my favorite is MLB.com At Bat. While it would be great if it streamed games live, instead it gives you a running line score of games along with a snapshot of what’s going on at that moment: pitcher, batter, count, outs, men on base. The coolest feature is the link to highlights. Select a game, click on the video icon, and you can get highlights of each game, often just a couple minutes after the play occurred. It’s like having Baseball Tonight on your phone, but without John Kruk et. al. ruining your night with their nonsense. My only quibble is that live box scores aren’t included: it ships you out to the MLB.com’s mobile website for those. Otherwise a great little app, especially for $6. I hope they don’t try to charge $30 for the entire season next year. And I would love it if ESPN did something like this for college basketball, although that’s probably asking way too much.

Another new favorite is <a href=”http://www.pandora.com/”>Pandora Radio</a>. Pandora Radio is an off-shoot of the Genome Project, which attempts to categorize music through its core elements, then connect bands and songs via these elements. You plug in a band or song you like, give Pandora a few moments to assemble a station for you, and soon you have a running playlist of music based off your first selection. For example, I’ve put together a station based on three bands I’m listening to a lot: Silversun Pickups, Frightened Rabbit, and Andrew Bird. Right now, my Pandora Radio is playing a song by Eels and tells me it was selected because it features mellow rock instrumentalism, folk influences, repetitive melodic phrasing, major key tonality, and melodic songwriting. OK, maybe that description sucks some of the cool out of it, but it’s a fantastic way to discover new music. And thanks to the iPhone app, if I get tired of the music I’ve already loaded my iPhone up with, I can venture out and try some new stuff. Even if you don’t have an iPhone (or other AT&T and Sprint phones that are compatible), you can check out the web service.

The final app I’ll talk about is a game. Geeks were totally geeking out over the gaming possibilities on the iPhone. I’m not a big gamer, but after I heard some glowing reviews of Dizzy Bee, I thought I’d check it out. It’s a terrific little time waster. You control Dizzy Bee by tilting your iPhone different directions to direct him (her?) around the screen to free his friends who have been captured. Um, yeah, it’s cooler than it sounds. I promise. Think of a modified Pac-Man that involves tilting the screen rather than using a joystick. One of the promises of iPhone games is that they give you things to do in those small increments of time we all have while waiting on hold, in a lobby, on an elevator, or in line at the store. Dizzy Bee is perfect for wasting a few minutes in a way other than checking your e-mail for the 8000th time that day.

The bottom line is that the iPhone is still a game-changing device. 18 months ago, other cell phone manufacturers scoffed A) at the idea that Apple could create a decent phone and B) that anyone would want/use a touchscreen phone. Now they’re all scrambling to get a touchscreen phone to market and are marketing them as potential iPhone killers. Looks like the gamble paid off. As expected, most of the competitors are better at individual things than the iPhone. But none combines the complete experience of the iPhone. Whether Apple continues to lead the field is another story, but the iPhone is the first step in a fundamental change in how we access our online data. High speed access to information is no longer a luxury. It’s becoming something that we expect to have no matter where we are. Five years from now, the computer industry is going to look dramatically different because of what the iPhone started. Warts and all, it’s still on the cutting edge.

/* I know, it’s super confusing if you aren’t paying close attention. There’s the first generation phone, the second generation phone, and the 2.0 software. But the second generation phone is called the 3G iPhone because it operates on the 3G data network. Maybe we should just say old and new.

** Rumor has it the beta of 2.1 that’s been seeded to developers sucks, too. If it’s going to take two updates to get every software package to work correctly, those people who claim Apple is becoming Microsoft might be right after all.

The Heartbreak Of eBay

February 20, 2008 / DB

So I’m kind of addicted to eBay. We won’t get into the details, but since I finally checked it out last summer, I’ve become a bit of a fiend. I’ve sold some things, bought some things, but most tellingly bid on some stuff I absolutely did not need. Fortunately, all the Don’t Need items went to someone else. I’m not going all Woody Boyd on the Home Shopping Network.

For the most part, I’ve found eBay to be awesome. Until yesterday.

I had a high quality item for sale (the details are being left out to keep all of you from thinking I’m a bigger dork than you already believe me to be) and, as can happen in eBay, people were bidding like crazy over the last ten minutes. The price went up 20% in that time, and I was feeling pretty good about things. The winning bid ended up being significantly higher than I had hoped for. Then, half an hour after the auction ended, I get a message from eBay saying that the winning bidder’s account details had been compromised and someone was using it to bid without the owner’s permission. Thus, they were voiding the auction. No chance to give it to the second place finisher. No automatic relisting. No money in my PayPal pocket. Serious pisser.

So now I’m bummed and a little sour on eBay. I may use Craig’s List to try to move this item, although my brother-in-law who uses CL quite a bit says it can be maddening, too. And I may stay signed out of eBay for awhile.

Then again, I wonder if there are any George Brett rookie cards on eBay right now…

Give Me A Call -or- My Wife Rocks

December 31, 2007 / DB

There are many things I admire and love about my wife.

She’s compassionate and kind in every aspect of her life.

She knew what she wanted to do early in life, went for it, and not only reached her goals, but has excelled at every step along the way.

She has more patience with children than I do.

Wait, she has more patience when it comes to everything than I do.

And she gives out the best Christmas presents.

Yes, after a week (and an off-blog discussion about what on earth it could be) I am unveiling the what was under the tree for me this year. (For some reason the pics I took with my webcam won’t import, so you’re stuck with a stock photo.)

Yes, I received an iPhone from my lovely wife. Completely unexpected. She’s well aware of how deeply I’ve been sucked into the Cult of Mac, but rather than reinforce it, Christmas seemed like the perfect time for her to avoid the Apple Store and keep me from sinking deeper into my illness. But apparently I was good this year and she dropped the ultimate Apple anvil on my head. If that makes any sense.

I had played around with the iPhones many times at the store, but after actually owning one for a week, I can confirm they are pretty freaking cool. I was always very resistant to the idea of combining a music player with a phone/PDA/small computer. Given the size of iPods and cell phones these days, it didn’t bother me to carry one of each at all times. Plus, I’m a dad and a journalist; my wardrobe is heavy on the cargo pants/shorts, so I’m never lacking for pockets to stow items away.

I know there are concerns about what is missing on the iPhone, but as a first-time user of a smartphone, they don’t affect me. The simple fact that I can access the Internet using Apple’s Safari browser, just like on a Mac, instead of some watered-down browser made for a phone is the biggest selling feature to me. And with the release of the software development kit to programmers coming soon, there will no doubt be all kinds of fun additions to it this spring.

I need to revise my list, because in 2007, I received the greatest Christmas gift ever.

Silence

July 2, 2007 / DB

We had a few minutes of silence tonight. We ordered a two-screen portable DVD player for the van last week and decided to fire it up for the girls for the first time, just to make sure it worked.

We got everything working, put the girls in their seats, popped in Finding Nemo, and for a few minutes, we had glorious silence. M. could only go so long before asking 1000 questions, “What’s that? Where’s he going? What’s his daddy doing?” and C. was close enough to bedtime to be super fussy, but we did like the early results.

Let’s just hope it does as well on our trip to KC next month.