Blog +1?

Ok I need to ask, anyone else check their +1s? I mean I only have three, I don't use it a lot but I probably should so I can get into this whole social-media thing, but I got MySpace long ago, never got facebook, never USED myspace, and now I have G+... so I'm gonna give it a try...

But while I appreciate that it has to be easy, I think +1ing is TOO easy.  I +1'ed General Zod...  

Yeah, Zod, you know, "Kneel Before Zod!"  The comic book character/superman villain?  Yeah, that guy.  And not just him, but his Wiki page.  I don't remember looking him up, I can't even remember why I WOULD look him up, but apparently I love Zod so much that I felt it necessary to have him in my list of only three things in the world I would recommend to other people.

Or maybe, more likely, I just forget to click on the +1 for the other 500 million interests I have, who knows.  The point of this blurb?

I'm not sure, maybe it's just that we put too much faith in social media to tell us what's awesome, or maybe I'm just ranting, so take it with a grain of salt.  One thing I do know for sure is that General Zod KICKS ASS! (after he escapes from that Listerine breath strip)

Android Vs. iPhone

Ok, it's the new Coke vs. Pepsi battle, we all know it.  It seems humans love taking sides, whether it's in wars, politics, religion, or soda.  Well now it's with those wonderful little miracles, cellphones.  If you've read my blog, you know what side I'm on, but putting that aside, let's look at them both at a 30,000 foot view.  Hold on tight, if you drop yours from here, it's a brick no matter who made it.

Let's start with Apple's iPhone.  There's a reason people call unlocking it "jail breaking".  If you love having your hardware managed and locked down so that everything on it is heavily tested and regimented, and you're only allowed to do things that the manufacturer has expected, then this is for you.  The iPhone is much more restricted than android, limiting the ways you can use your phone rather severely, but the reason for this is because they've tested the ways that they do let you use it extensively.  Troubleshooting involves "turn off, turn on, call Apple" but that's the goal here, a black box that does what it's supposed to and nothing more, and someone else fixes it when it breaks.

Now on to Android.  Out of the box, it kinda sucks.  The default app for mail is crap, the display is boring, and so on.  This is where it shines, though.  They let you replace just about everything.  Android lets you customize nearly everything, from the email program and text message program all the way to changing launchers (that's the way your screens look, icon layout, etc).  This means that if you compare two "power users" of android phones, they are going to look and operate entirely differently, even if they're both the same exact model.  Android gives you all the rope you need to do just about anything you want, include hang yourself, so be careful.

The point of the story?   Some people like Coke, some like Pepsi, and no matter what you say about how many kittens die every year because of coke-related drownings, coke drinkers are gonna keep drinking coke and cherry pepsi will still be the best.  If you're undecided, then I hope this might have helped, and feel free to comment or ask questions for me to go into more detail in another post.  If your heart is already set, then I hope you have a long betrayal-free relationship.  Just ignore the phone stalking you from your closet.

DRM-it!

Ok, so everyone's talking about it, I might as well mention it too.  Microsoft's Xbox One has officially announced that it will not be enforcing the insane level of DRM that was proposed.  Game sharing will be as simple as handing someone a disk.  I read an article about that this morning, and I was just shocked by the comments.  I mean Microsoft caught a veritable shit storm of bad media and public image assassination over this DRM thing, and now some people are saying it's not that bad.

It only affects you in limited situations, they say.  They're right.  If you're interested in purchasing, never trading to friends, lending to friends, or selling anywhere except to a licensed dealer (and you can only sell if you bought it new).  If you're sure your console will never break or you'll never break it, then yes, the DRM won't affect you.  

Year after year, attempt after attempt, lockdowns like this only help the person trying to be honest.  They should have learned from spore.  Spore was available DRM free the day before the game was officially released, so anyone cheating got it then.  If you bought it, then you can only install it twice, even if your machine reformats, or crashes, or if you buy a new laptop because the old one died. It's the old sand in the fingers analogy.  Just let us have our games, and sell them like you always have.  The status quo can't be all that horrific, you're all still in business.  Maybe for once just trust in the potential kindness and honesty of your customers.  Maybe the bad apples make the bunch seem bad, but it's really only a few, just ignore them and enjoy the rest!

I just called... to say... I'm calling you?

Sorry this one is a day late, just pretend you're really hung over and it still feels like Tuesday...

Just wanted to post a few thoughts on cellphones today.  Cellphones.. Cellular Phones.  Portable, hand-held communication devices.  I remember when they were just car phones, my dad had one.  Had a huge box in the back seat, and this curly cord that snagged on frickin' everything.  Then cellphones, ala Zack Morris, these things were huge bricks you had to carry a briefcase to hold them in.  And if you don't know who Zack Morris is, ask your local Generation Xer, so they can laugh at you.

But back on track, think about what you've got in your pocket right now.  Your phone can do more than the computers that sent man to the moon in '69.  And I don't mean a little more, I mean a damn landslide of technology has careened down in an avalanche of human ingenuity and left you with one of the most amazing devices ever conceived and it's hanging around in your back pocket.  Familiarity breeds apathy, but only if you let it.  So next time you're checking your email, or looking at funny cat pictures on your cell, just take a moment to think about how amazing that device really is.

Less words, more focus...

I've recently learned something that I never really thought about.  With a few exceptions, no one really wants to read, and usually even the ones that want to don't have time to.  Write short and get right to the point so that you don't lose your readers.  I mean sure I want to tell you all about me and my amazing Nicaraguan traipse through the jungle where I had to live for 18 weeks on grubs and leftover pudding pops, but I'd probably lose you somewhere near Argentina and you'd never hear the point about how much I love Shiba Ino puppies.

We have to get used to it, the internet is ruled by millennials now.  It's time to get info, answers, stories, and fun as quickly as possible, without derailing about some anecdotal story.  I cling to the idea of nice long in-depth reviews and such, but those  should be the exception.  If you're writing too, remember that most readers don't go past your first two paragraphs, if they get that far.  Most times someone will see a long article, mean to read it later, and just never touch it.

So now I think it's time I get out of their way and join the bandwagon. Short posts, here I come…