In Web on
7 December 2009 tagged bookmarklets, ereader, iPhone, kindle, reading, Technology, Web with no comments
What do you do when you’re stuck in an airplane at 6am and the cabin lights are off and your seat’s reading light doesn’t work? I guess you could listen to music or watch something on an iPod-like device. But what if you really feel like reading?
As luck would have it, Instapaper Free makes a great reading source for your iPod or iPhone. I’ve been using the free instapaper web service for about half a year now and frequently find something online I’ll flag to read later with the keen bookmarklet. Then, when I have an Internet or phone connection, I can sync my articles in the app on my iPhone. Instapaper even reformats the articles for mobile consumption using something similar to Arc90’s Readability bookmarklet.
Of course, now I’ve finished all my saved articles and am left wonderig what to read next. I have a few books loaded into Stanza, but I’m right in the middle of another book and don’t feel like switching. So I’m blogging. From somewhere above Quebec. The iPhone Wordpress app keeps getting better.
Update! While writing this post I was thinking, “gee, this’d be cool if I could get this content onto my Kindle”. Sure enough, there’s an experimental option on the Instapaper page to download any folder’s most-recent 20 items in .mobi or ePub formats. Nice!
In Technology on
28 November 2009 tagged Books, devices, ebooks, ereader, gear, kindle, reading, Technology with no comments
Unless you’re one of those people who doesn’t really pay attention to technology, and if you are, you probably aren’t going to be reading this, you’re aware that Amazon has an electronic book reading device called the Kindle. If you happen to be living north of the 49th parallel (give-or-take) and within a particular band of longitude, you will also be aware that this device is now available in Canada. We got ours last week.
For this review, I’m not going to post any pictures. I’m giving the word full reign in honor of what the Kindle is supposed to stand for. It’s a “Book Reading Device” on which, the printed word is supposed to be conveyed to the reader. As an electronic device, there are a few logistical hurdles that must be overcome. Amazon have provided a couple of means of doing that as well as what must be a bunch of resources to actually convert these books into an easily-digestible format for you to enjoy.
The first of these delivery mechanisms is wireless. This is no mere wifi, but a 3G cellular radio that should operate just about everywhere in the western world. Amazon has gone to some mysterious lengths to forge deals with the owners of these airwaves so you can buy and download books wherever you happen to be. This is a powerful concept and fairly unique. As far as I know, they are the only company to have forged these blood-pacts with otherwise unapproachable broadcast entities to create something they’ve called “Whispernet”. You don’t even get to know which wireless provider you’re piggybacking on. It just connects when you activate the wireless function on the device.
I’ve purchased a few books through Amazon now and it’s a seamless mechanism. You can browse online on kindle.com from your computer or on the Kindle itself. When you buy a book on your computer, you can select a “send to this device” option and the book magically appears in your list the next time you connect to Whispernet on your Kindle. Magical.
The other, more pedestrian means of getting content onto your Kindle is via good ol’ USB cable. Or USB cable to proprietary Amazon pluglet. Why they chose to create yet another incompatible device connector I cannot fathom. If the white cable is any indication, it’s because they wanted to be somewhat “Apple-ey”. They certainly nailed the packaging and unpacking experience, though it certainly has a distinctive “Amazon feel” to it with the pull-tabs on the cardboard boxes. In any case, USB transfer is pretty straightforward. Just dump your mobi-formatted (and now, as of version 2.3 of the Kindle OS, PDFs!) eBooks into the Documents directory on the Kindle and they’ll show up in your list.
But you may not like what you see there. And now I have to get to the dark part of this review. Not all ebooks are made equal. If you’re downloading books from various sources online and they deliver them as a mobi book it may not be formatted optimally for the Kindle and may look funny, have poor metadata or no table of contents. Worse, if you’re unlucky enough to get something in an HTML, RTF, or plain-text document, you’ll have to convert it to mobi format yourself. There are several tools to help you do this, Calibre being the one I’ve used most so far, but it is a fiddly process, often with several iterations of conversion and checking, usually with mediocre results. If the book you’re trying to get into your Kindle is available on the Kindle store, you might want to save yourself the possible bad experience of messing around with document converters and buy the thing on their site. It’ll look good and be optimally-formatted. [ed. Gutenberg books are good]
Which brings me to the important part of this review. What is it like to read a book on this thing? After a week of carrying the Kindle around with me and reading my first purchased book (the mediocre, The Professional by Robert B. Parker) I can say that it is a very pleasant experience. The Kindle feels nice to hold, even in the leather book-like cover available as an optional extra. It has a heft to it that is somewhat more than a paperback, but it feels more comfortable than reading a hard-cover. Text is very legible on the reflective screen and you have the option of several font sizes to choose from.
My only real complaint is that there isn’t enough space for your thumbs to rest. The keyboard area at the bottom of the Kindle is easy to press buttons on. The 5-way navigation button on the right eats up further real-state your thumb could be coasting on. The large Next page buttons right in the middle of the device are comfortable resting places, but you might accidentally skip ahead. This is a fairly minor complaint though and for the most part, you don’t have to think about it.
Ok, I’ve thought of another complaint. There are nearly 70,000 missing books from the Canadian Kindle catalog. I’m not sure why they’re missing. If it’s some publishing agreements the apparently quite powerful Canadian publishing houses have or if it’s a matter of language. Looking up Iain M. Banks’ Matter I see it’s not available in Canada. I wonder if it’s because the Canadian edition used the UK text and it was “translated” for U.S. readers? In any case, I am confident it will get here and in the mean-time, there are plenty of other books to choose from. I’m currently reading the last of the “back-catalog” of Culture novels, The Algebraist.
If you’re looking for stuff to read, check out dria’s post about Project Gutenberg. I plan on signing up for at least a few books this year.
In General on
15 November 2009 with no comments
I’m a long-time fan of the Zatoichi series of movies starring Shintaro Katsu. This 2003 remake was intended to be something of a reboot for the series. I finally got around to watching it last night.
Replacing the late, great Shintaro Katsu is Takeshi Kitano, aka Beat Takeshi. His bio on IMDB claims he learned comedy singing and dancing during his early years. Sadly, none of this was on display as the titular Zatoichi.
Takeshi barely had any dialogue in the entire movie. The comedy was provided largely by Ichi’s side-kick Shinkichi (played by Gadarukanaru Taka) and was occasionally pretty funny.
It’s hard to watch a Zatoichi movie without making constant comparisons to Shintaro Katsu. How can you not? After some 20-odd movies and 3 tv-series spanning nearly 30 years, Katsu invented the role. He studied the way blind people eat and react to their surroundings. He was a brilliant comedian yet wasn’t always playing the part for cheap laughs. As an actor, Katsu had a tremendous range, a gentle, funny comedian in one scene and an ominous monster in the next. His fighting style was… unique.
So, when I was told to expect “bad CGI blood” in this remake of the venerable series, I thought, “hey, I can put up with bad CGI blood in a Zatoichi movie.” One of my criticisms of the title was that there wasn’t enough blood in the earlier films, but was largely overdone in some of the later movies. Sadly, this was not the worst part of the movie.
Takeshi’s portrayal of Zatoichi was only recognizable during the fighting scenes. For the rest of the movie, he was largely mute, sitting like a piece of wood on the set while the supporting characters acted out the drama around him. By the end of the movie, I felt like this Zatoichi was barely human. He showed some signs of life around the gambling den but that was about the extent of it. There were glimpses of potential. Takeshi’s facial tic was often the only way you knew he was actively paying attention to what was going on around him. And his sword-fighting was impressive. Really though, the best performances were from the supporting cast.
Notably, Tadanobu Asano, who went on to play Genghis Khan in Mongol [Blu-ray], played a ronin with an ailing sister who took up local criminals to pay for her medicine. His screen presence was palpable and he dominated every scene he was in.
I had a hard time finishing this movie. It felt draggy, cutting from one minor character to the next in an effort to flesh out … what, exactly? The supporting cast? To distract you from the immobile blind man in the corner? And the music… Oh the music. Occasionally accompanied by synchronized percussion with farm implements and building tools, the first time I saw it, I thought, “heh, that is kind of cute, though unnecessary”. The second time, I was annoyed. The third time I compared them to a japanese version of “Stomp” or “The Blue Man Group” and the movie (I don’t care if I spoil this for you, I may be saving your life) eventually devolved into a full-on, Bollywood style musical number as the village’s festival cranked up the jams. There was tap-dancing. I am not shitting you.
While this is going on, Takeshi-Zatoichi is mopping up some ninjas a few blocks away so we still didn’t get to see him dance.
* / *****
In Technology on
13 November 2009 tagged bell, expressvu, omghalp, online, self care, simplify, support with no comments
The following is an actual transcript of the process of trying to activate an additional receiver to my Bell ExpressVU TV satellite system. I have no idea if it worked or not. This is the third or fourth time I tried, the first being on the receiver itself. The second time failed because they don’t tell you what format they want their numbers in (hint, the R0 and S0 bits at the beginning of Receiver ID and SmartCard ID are both necessary, the bit after and including the dash are not. Tricky!). My own thoughts are included in the bits inside the asterisks. *** like this! ***
Bell said:
When you signed up for your Bell TV service you were issued a personal identification number (PIN).
Do you know your Bell TV 4 digit PIN?
You said:
Yes
Bell said:
Please enter your system 4 digit PIN
You said:
****
Bell said:
Thank you for choosing the Bell TV Self Care. With this function you’re able add an additional receiver to your account. Please provide your receiver number. To find this number: Turn on your receiver Use your remote Select MENU, then option 6, 1, 3.
Bell said:
You must provide a response to this question before proceeding.
You said:
*****-** *** ? ***
Bell said:
I’m sorry, your receiver number *****-** is invalid.
Would you like to try again?
You said:
Yes
Bell said:
Please provide your receiver number. To find this number: Turn on your receiver Use your remote Select MENU, then option 6, 1, 3.
You said:
R00*******
Bell said:
Please give me your SmartCard number. To find this number: Turn on your receiver Use your remote Press MENU then Option 6, 1, 3. Type in the number starting with the first digit after the ‘S.’
You said:
S0*******
Bell said:
Is this a replacement receiver under warranty?
You said:
No
Bell said:
Please provide the location of the receiver in your home.
You said:
Other
Bell said:
Your transaction has been entered. Your receiver will be activated within 24 hours. Please leave your receiver plugged in.
Would you like to participate in a brief survey regarding Self Care?
You said:
Yes **** OH GOD YES! ****
Bell said:
Do you prefer to process your request using a question and answer format or filling out a form?
You said:
Prefer Form
Bell said:
What is the purpose of the TV screen to the right of the main window?
You said:
Have no idea what the purpose is *** WTF? ***
Bell said:
Interaction with the tool to add a receiver was intuitive for me to understand.
You said:
Strongly Disagree *** !!! ***
Bell said:
Do you intend to use this tool the next time you want to add a receiver?
You said:
No
Bell said:
Did you successfully complete your add a receiver using this tool?
Bell said:
You must provide a response to this question before proceeding.
You said:
No *** THERE IS NO RESPONSE FOR I DON’T KNOW!!! ***
Bell said:
Thank you for using Bell TV Self Care.
**** FFFFFFUUUUUUUUU ****
In Photography on
26 October 2009 tagged iPhone, Photography, Software with no comments
Great tips and a couple of App recommendations from Phil Coffman on taking great pictures with your iPhone. At a minimum, you should get yourself Mill Color and Adobe Photoshop Mobile. (iTunes links)
Phil Coffman – Art Director + Photographer » iPhone Photography.
In Meta, Web on
25 October 2009 tagged blogging, bookmarklets, Meta, Web, wordpress with no comments
I just learned about this handy bookmarklet after thinking about how easy it is to publish linked content to things like Tumblr. And I got to thinking, why aren’t I using this for my blogs? Like, this one?
Sure enough, the good people at Automattic have already done this and it’s been available for quite some time. It is a bit of a n3wb mistake not to have noticed it earlier, but that’s ok. I am comfortable in my ignorance.
Prepare yourself for more blogging!
In Entertainment on
18 October 2009 tagged Games, reviews, xbox with no comments
I picked up the new Bethesda title Wet this week after seeing the excellent trailer. It promised gritty, grindhouse, film-noir action. And it delivers… sort of.
“Wet” is short for “Wetwork”, you’re informed in the introduction. If you had any notions about this game being about sitting around in the bath tub, I’m sorry to disappoint. You control Rübi, a tough-as-nails assassin with a pair of nine millimeter pistols and a samurai sword for up-close work. The entire game has a gritty, dirty film quality to it which accentuates the grind-house feel. Voice acting is gruff and abrupt.
But all this atmosphere is merely backdrop to the action which starts immediately and seems to continue until the end of the chapter with very few cut-scenes. I’m all for action, as long as the game-play works. In this case, I’m afraid it’s kind of tedious.
I find the shooting controls feel very wooden. It kind of reminds me of Perfect Dark Zero, one of the first games to appear on the Xbox 360 also featuring a female lead character. Controlling your guns doesn’t feel quite right. To make matters worse, to give yourself a chance against the swarming squads of goons hell-bent on killing you, you have the ability to jump, dive and run along walls. This puts you into a bullet-time-like slow-motion mode that makes the aiming somewhat easier and allows you to dual-wield your pistols; the second one auto-aims. The net result of this is that you spend the majority of the action sequences, i.e., the majority of the game in a greyed-out slow-motion mode.
There are other annoyances. Health is delivered via “swigs” of whiskey littered around. Every time you take one, there’s a little animation of Rübi tossing the bottle and shooting it out of the air with a gun. It’s repetitive and adds nothing.
At this point, I’ll ‘fess up and admit that I’ve only played part of the first chapter. I was pretty turned off, especially after completing the unbelieveably good Batman: Arkham Asylum. That game proved that you don’t need bullet-time to simulate ultra-fast reflexes and super-human agility. Hell, I should stop reviewing Wet right now and tell you about how cool Batman was.
So, if you’re looking for a new game to play. Don’t waste your time with Wet. If you did waste your time with Wet and feel strongly about it, maybe you should leave a note in the comments. Otherwise, go get Batman right now.
Wet: I don’t know how many stars to give it because I only played it for 20 minutes and wrote it off.
In Entertainment on
13 October 2009 tagged buffy, Entertainment, nerdery, tv, vampire, whedon with 4 comments
In an attempt to further understand the writing phenomenon of Joss Whedon, I have decided to attempt to watch the entire run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, dear reader, I am serious. So far, I’ve made it one whole episode and was so overcome with feeling, that I had to write about the experience.
Y’see, Whedon has a strong following. This is unusual for a writer of television. He is in elite company with the likes of J.J. Abrams and… the writer of that show… about the… stuff.
Anyway, I’ve reviewed a Joss Whedon thing before and it wasn’t pretty. Since then I’ve gained a new respect for him because of Firefly and Serenity. They’re good pulpy sci-fi, but not exactly high art or strong science. His newest venture Dollhouse is teetering precariously on the verge of cancellation and each new episode makes me wonder if it wouldn’t be for the best. Sure, it achieved some semblance of decency in the first season, but there was enough bad stuff in there that execu-producer + series star Eliza Dushku had to plead with people to keep going past episode 6 because “that’s when it starts to get good”.
So it is with a healthy heaping of dubiousness that I approach the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. I was one of the few people who liked (and remembers) the original throw-away movie. What I did not know was that Whedon wrote that original template for the show. With a great cast, I always felt it was an under-appreciated bit of comedy. Even better, it didn’t take itself too seriously, but managed to create tension and a bit of horror.
Sarah Michelle Gellar is no Kristy Swanson. She presents a pretty faithful depiction of 1990s 2000s California without going overboard on valley-girl-isms. There are glimpses of dialogue and I know enough about some of the characters to know that they get to enjoy some serious development over the length of the show. So I’m going to be a little forgiving of the weak action sequences. Maybe they’ll get better!
I think I’ll watch another.
