Happy birthday, Andrew!

I really should post a picture here, as is my habit, but I can’t figure out how to do it from the phone. Just imagine a picture of nine penguins, or a photo of christopher eccleston here for now, okay?

update: look! I sort of figured out how. Behold, nine penguins!

as I mentioned two posts ago, last weekend Colleen and upgraded our aged mobile phones, coming home with shiny new Samsung Vibrants running the android operating system. I’ve been using mine most of a week now, and have some thoughts:

Overall, I like it. As with all fun new toys, it’s very shiny and very cool. It does all sorts of things, and has all sorts of bells and whistles, to the point of being almost a little intimidating. it’s a tiny little slab of glass and plastic that weighs two or three ounces and has more processing power and storage than my first two or three desktop computers combined. Carrying it around, you really do feel like an artifact from some far future space opera fell through a random tear in space-time and into your pocket.

I’m still not entirely confident with the touch screen; more than once I’ve accidentally set applications running that I didn’t intend to (for example, I accidentally started Avatar – yes, the whole movie came pre-loaded on the phone – playing while putting it in my pocket during a meeting, learning that in silent mode, the media player isn’t), though overall, I like the Android interface, which is more or less intuitive, save a few little hiccups. I’m also really growing to like the swype keyboard input, at least now that I’ve gotten used to it; my wpm is way ahead of my co-workers with their iphones who are stuck hunting and pecking.

The one thing that I didn’t expect with this thing doesn’t have to do with the hardware at all, but the information. The biggest benefit of smart phones is the totally untethered, unlimited access to information. I didn’t realize that this instant access to pretty much everything would feel this unsettling.

It’s probably that it’s just that things are new, or that I’ve been a little out of sorts this week anyway, but having that kind of access in your pocket spurs a kind of paranoia, like someone’s watching, even when I keep the GPS off to save battery charge. It’s like my email inbox is following me, demanding attention – I can access it in seconds while standing on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere; that, dear reader, is power. I think I have, at least for now, crossed the line into “too connected.” I suspect after a couple of weeks, the newness will wear off and I’ll start forgetting that the thing’s in my pocket (or I’ll leave it on the dresser when I leave home in the morning), and it won’t be so weird, but for now, it kind of is.

Of course, I could just turn it off, but where’s the fun in that? How would I keep pace with my office mates’ progress through Angry Birds?

You really do get to decide:

Think about that the next time somebody tries to put you in a box you’re not comfortable being in.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone. While I’ve already delivered my personal greetings personally, since it’s the day anyway, and since I’m here and all, I’ll offer more public greetings to my lovely wife, who, if I’m doing the math right, I shared what might constitute a first unofficial “date” with 18 years ago tomorrow. That fact is very cool, even if it makes me feel old, which, let’s face it, I am.

Anyway, the weekend, though not any longer than usual, felt a lot longer due to the activities contained within. I started behind, given that work dragged on a bit longer on Thursday night than any of us would have liked, getting me home just slightly before bedtime.

Friday, however was cool, because, as you’ll note from the post below, we got new toys. The spouse and I upgraded our mobile phones to shiny new Android-based Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S devices, which are, let’s face it, pretty cool and Star Trek-ey, and have way more features than I might ever possibly use, but they’re fun things to play with anyway. It was kind of time to upgrade, and the stores were running specials, and for the first time ever, I find myself in posession of a cellular device that’s not a few generations back. I am a luddite no more.

Saturday into Sunday I had a house full of pre-teen girls. They’re good kids, but wow, are they loud. I fed them pizza, watched a movie or two, and played some games. I also managed to sneak away for a while to prepare and file my taxes, so that’s one more chore done.

Sunday’s honestly kind of a blur; somewhere along the line we cleaned the house, mostly, I did a bunch of laundry, and packed a bag for the week. How that happened, and in exactly what order, though, I couldn’t tell you.

I just wanted to see if I could blog from the new android phone using the wordpress app.

Looks like it works, though I can’t imagine typing more than a few dozen words this way.

Happy Friday!

Courtesy of Thomas Paine, journalist, propagandist, and one of the “Fathers” of the American Revolution:

Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.

A valid and worthy thought, and one that goes completely against the context in which Paine tends to be invoked these days. Just because some guy wrote it on a chalkboard while weeping on television doesn’t make something close to logical or true.

I thought a bit about writing something about my reaction to the “spectacle” surrounding this year’s Super Bowl, though it seems, as usual, while I was dithering about in the gym and looking into a regular Monday night d20 game last evening, Amanda beat me to it.

And, she pretty much mirrors what I was going to say: an excellent, competitive exhibition of sporting competition (seriously, it was a good game, regardless of your chosen team), surrounded by way too many hours of blinky, shiny, empty mediocrity. What’s worse, is that it really was calculated mediocrity; the entire business, especially the halftime show, was designed to be as totally inoffensive and bland as possible, kind of like modern American mainstream culture, or at least the NFL and Fox Broadcasting’s image of it.

One point she missed though, regarding the halftime show, which used as its centerpiece the most blandly commercial and mainstream act in music today (I don’t know anybody who hates the Black Eyed Peas, but think about it, does anyone honestly know a really enthusiastic BEP fan?), was how calculated the show’s choice of “guest” performers was in order to hit certain demographics and cover all bases. In addition to the BEP (for those who have no actual opinions), they brought in Slash (to appeal to the aging headbangers in the audience – remember when G’n’R was considered threatening and controversial? I guess the bedazzled top hat makes it acceptable) and Usher (to appeal to the “Urban” crowd, and allude to his Bieber connections to catch the pre-teens).

What really surprised me is that the didn’t toss in an equally bland “country” act as well, like Carrie Underwood or Rascall Flatts, to inject a bit of the manufactured heartland into the proceedings; it’s a big oversight when you think about how calculated the whole business was, not throwing a bone to that significant segment of the football audience. I wonder if plastic Nashville feels left out?

Oh well – we still had the Captain America teaser and the Darth Vader kid in addition to the really good football game buried under there, so I suppose it wasn’t a total waste of time.

And, while I won’t comment on her National Anthem flub (everyone else is doing that), has anyone else noticed that Christina Aguilera has essentially become indistinguishable from modern Cyndi Lauper?

BING!

…and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s cooooold out there today.
It’s coooold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that, uh, that blizzard thing.
That blizzard – thing. That blizzard – thing. Oh, well, here’s the report! The National Weather Service is calling for a “big blizzard thing!”
Yessss, they are. But you know, there’s another reason why today is especially exciting.
Especially cold!
Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody’s lips…
On their chapped lips…
On their chapped lips, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?
Punxsutawney Phil!
That’s right, woodchuck-chuckers – it’s…
GROUNDHOG DAY!