Wednesday, July 27, 2011
pshaw
sometimes i think that social media is extremely self-indulgent, there is so much trivial 'me me me' going on. lately i feel like by contributing i will only be perpetuating this obnoxious trend. sometimes i just want to talk about real things. like how RPA is the best show ever. medical procedures and factory production lines and hunter versus herd animal documentaries are my favourite things to watch ever. reality tv narration and sound bites and cliffhanging ad breaks are at the other end of that spectrum. in other words masterchef is starting to kill me but i want to know who wins.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
highly satisfactory
xcvii. a visit from the goon squad, jennifer egan
i quite enjoyed this though it was quite different from what i expected - as the pulitzer prize winner i expected gripping detail and interwoven stories and strong characters. actually it had all those things but in a loose and non-linear way, which i suppose is relatively unconventional. it was more like a collection of interconnected short stories which all came together in a four-dimensional portrait of a loosely related group of people. therefore it also allowed consumption in smaller portions, with satisfaction from each and every chapter, and no cliffhangers!
i quite enjoyed this though it was quite different from what i expected - as the pulitzer prize winner i expected gripping detail and interwoven stories and strong characters. actually it had all those things but in a loose and non-linear way, which i suppose is relatively unconventional. it was more like a collection of interconnected short stories which all came together in a four-dimensional portrait of a loosely related group of people. therefore it also allowed consumption in smaller portions, with satisfaction from each and every chapter, and no cliffhangers!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
add it up
xciii. middlemarch’ by george eliot.
i would say that this novel has the greatest number of fully realised characters and interwoven family histories that i have ever read. many novels would struggle to encompass but one fourth of the narrative threads, notwithstanding the spectrum of moral, monetary and matrimonial quandaries explored within. i find many novels are vertical in terms of epic family histories but i liked that the interactions across the community during a single generation instead show the reality that minor events drive the dramas of life.
ok basically it was good and people are complicated! #braindead
xciv. the snows of kilimanjaro, hemingway
it was quite good. the 2nd half of the collection mainly concerned one character, nick, and i never know what to think when a character recurs in an otherwise seemingly themeless collection. though of course the entire book focused on the classic hemingway themes of drinking, men and women, gambling, europe, fishing, bullfighting, the usual. mostly i like that hemingway describes landscape through its relationship with the characters’ actions.
xcv. the mistress’s daughter, a.m. homes
read this apparently for the 2nd time even though i forgot that when i borrowed it at the library. as a memoir i found it interesting and unusual in that apart from the subject of her adoption and birth parents she didn’t really discuss anything else, whereas most other memoirs that i’ve read apparently give everything up too easily.
xcvi. the portrait of a lady, henry james
i have realised it may in fact be possible to read too much, i was getting burned out for a while there but once i hit the 2nd half of the book i breezed right through it. oh man, what to say? someone told me they couldn’t get into the book because they didn’t like isabel, but clearly they hadn’t gotten far enough to see how heinous some of the other characters were. in the end it wasn’t so much a portrait of her as her unfortunate involvement in a larger plot, though it was always through her lens that everything was experienced. pansy’s name truly befit her, sad to say, even though it wasn’t her fault. my impression of caspar goodwood also wasn’t very good, he seems so boring and wooden. ralph was my favourite. i expected a more conclusive ending as well but i suppose it is suitably ambivalent.
i would say that this novel has the greatest number of fully realised characters and interwoven family histories that i have ever read. many novels would struggle to encompass but one fourth of the narrative threads, notwithstanding the spectrum of moral, monetary and matrimonial quandaries explored within. i find many novels are vertical in terms of epic family histories but i liked that the interactions across the community during a single generation instead show the reality that minor events drive the dramas of life.
ok basically it was good and people are complicated! #braindead
xciv. the snows of kilimanjaro, hemingway
it was quite good. the 2nd half of the collection mainly concerned one character, nick, and i never know what to think when a character recurs in an otherwise seemingly themeless collection. though of course the entire book focused on the classic hemingway themes of drinking, men and women, gambling, europe, fishing, bullfighting, the usual. mostly i like that hemingway describes landscape through its relationship with the characters’ actions.
xcv. the mistress’s daughter, a.m. homes
read this apparently for the 2nd time even though i forgot that when i borrowed it at the library. as a memoir i found it interesting and unusual in that apart from the subject of her adoption and birth parents she didn’t really discuss anything else, whereas most other memoirs that i’ve read apparently give everything up too easily.
xcvi. the portrait of a lady, henry james
i have realised it may in fact be possible to read too much, i was getting burned out for a while there but once i hit the 2nd half of the book i breezed right through it. oh man, what to say? someone told me they couldn’t get into the book because they didn’t like isabel, but clearly they hadn’t gotten far enough to see how heinous some of the other characters were. in the end it wasn’t so much a portrait of her as her unfortunate involvement in a larger plot, though it was always through her lens that everything was experienced. pansy’s name truly befit her, sad to say, even though it wasn’t her fault. my impression of caspar goodwood also wasn’t very good, he seems so boring and wooden. ralph was my favourite. i expected a more conclusive ending as well but i suppose it is suitably ambivalent.
Friday, June 17, 2011
whup
partially posted elsewhere
xci. pulse, julian barnes
not posted elsewhere
xci. pulse, julian barnes
overall i would rate it as merely 'ok', there were a lot of words and the writing was pretty loose for short stories. there was a lot of continuous conversation quoting and no female inner voices to speak of, in either 1st or 2nd person. needless to say i do not really approve.
not posted elsewhere
xcii. men without women, ernest hemingway
seriously misleading title, not without women at all. in fact not much to do with men as 'men' or men 'without women' at all. in fact i would have read this collection much earlier if not for the title. good though, what's new? this is true succinctness of word, my friends.
Monday, June 6, 2011
return to regular scheduling
lxxxix. lost japan, alex kerr
very very interesting book about japan, the culture in different areas, and the interplay of history and western influence and the modern japanese psyche.
xc. this book will save your life, a.m. homes
i guess this book was ok, the lack of chapters actually made quite an impact in a continuous storyline way and also because i don't like it when authors feel they have to end each chapter on a witty/shocking conclusion. i thought it would be a stereotypical story about a rich white guy's mid-life crisis but some characters as satire and some characters as extremely real make up for it.
a few more things then i'll shut up
the iphone has a better screen auto-brightness than the desire, definitely.
the hold-down button function on android is essentially a right-click for options, but nooo apple doesn't do right-click, does it. this explains everything.
safari may have unlimited browser windows but it's probably because it's like a normal web browser on a computer that you have to manually close each tab. the default android browser opens pages in new tabs and then on going back will auto-close the tab leaving you back at the original page, so you don't have 5 pages open at the same time.
i also take it back partially about the lack of finesse in scrolling, because speed makes a difference in the contact list. why not in safari as well. speaking of which..
goddamn why doesn't iOS allow copying new contacts onto the sim card from the phone? it makes no sense. what does apple get out of making it hard for me to access my contacts? and i don't want to connect it to itunes and sync and all that shit.
the hold-down button function on android is essentially a right-click for options, but nooo apple doesn't do right-click, does it. this explains everything.
safari may have unlimited browser windows but it's probably because it's like a normal web browser on a computer that you have to manually close each tab. the default android browser opens pages in new tabs and then on going back will auto-close the tab leaving you back at the original page, so you don't have 5 pages open at the same time.
i also take it back partially about the lack of finesse in scrolling, because speed makes a difference in the contact list. why not in safari as well. speaking of which..
goddamn why doesn't iOS allow copying new contacts onto the sim card from the phone? it makes no sense. what does apple get out of making it hard for me to access my contacts? and i don't want to connect it to itunes and sync and all that shit.
Friday, June 3, 2011
day 2, further iphone observations
- in safari, one can only scroll a specific distance with one flick regardless of speed. with android, a faster flick leads to continuous scrolling down with gradual attenuation, while a slow little flick will only scroll a little. more room for error, but more room for flexibility and developing scrolling finesse.
- another thing that the iOS likes to brag about (see screen orientation) - opening links in new windows in safari. no, it won't just open a new window right away. it has to retract to the window overview screen so you can see that there is another window opening, and then go into the new window. i can't tell whether it wastes time prior to starting the page load but that's the impression i get and it's annoying.
- one advantage to safari is that there are (so far) unlimited new windows to tab between, whereas the default android browser has a max of 5 or something.
- the customisation of icons on home screens is really annoying on iOS, what with having to move them to the common bar at the bottom before they can be transferred between home screens. compare this with android allowing icons to float in limbo while moving between home screens in the background.. no comparison.
- last thing is a hardware thing on the desire which is fantastic - the notification light. when i get a message or a missed phone call or my battery is running out, the light goes on in a colour of my choosing, so i don't have to turn the screen on to see if i need to turn the screen on.
- another thing that the iOS likes to brag about (see screen orientation) - opening links in new windows in safari. no, it won't just open a new window right away. it has to retract to the window overview screen so you can see that there is another window opening, and then go into the new window. i can't tell whether it wastes time prior to starting the page load but that's the impression i get and it's annoying.
- one advantage to safari is that there are (so far) unlimited new windows to tab between, whereas the default android browser has a max of 5 or something.
- the customisation of icons on home screens is really annoying on iOS, what with having to move them to the common bar at the bottom before they can be transferred between home screens. compare this with android allowing icons to float in limbo while moving between home screens in the background.. no comparison.
- last thing is a hardware thing on the desire which is fantastic - the notification light. when i get a message or a missed phone call or my battery is running out, the light goes on in a colour of my choosing, so i don't have to turn the screen on to see if i need to turn the screen on.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
android vs. iphone, the initial impression
so! my beloved htc desire decided to start shitting itself a few months ago, soon after i got the initial unstable release of 'words with friends'. on prolonged word manipulation it would get really hot and occasionally auto-shutdown and reboot. then it started happening when 3G coverage was spotty and taking a long time to load pages, with the bootup screen vibrating to life up to 10 times before it decided it was cool enough to proceed. in the past couple of weeks any time i used regular low-impact internet for more than 5 to 10 minutes the phone would auto-shutdown and try to reboot. finally yesterday i decided that the situation was untenable and required an intervention, before my warranty expires in august.
so i took it into the shop today and it will take 4-6 weeks (!) to be repaired. i hope to hell they do what needs to be done (replace the motherboard, apparently, according to 3 billion other people on the internet who have the same problem, and literally no other problem with this phone). and so i got a replacement phone for this period.. you guessed it an iphone 3GS. rather than being disappointed i have decided to really try and compare the two operating systems as objectively as possible.
impressions from the first day:
- the iOS is much more like a traditional mobile phone than the mobile computer that i came to regard my desire as. most obvious is the fact that all options are set in the phone's general settings, including importing contacts, notifications. there is no way to manage the settings for a particular program from within it, though this may be different with apps. the android system allows a lot deeper investigation into everything, and when it diverts you to settings to change something it will return you back to where you were! not so with iOS. leaving the impression that the iOS is nothing but a frontend, with many rounded square buttons to be sure, but a frontend nonetheless.
- keyboard - the iOS keyboard doesn't even compare with the old nokia keypads with the multiple characters per key, which is what swype is similar to with longer-hold keys. you have to press another key to toggle between letter/number/symbol keypads. also the spelling/autocorrect is pretty crap, no wonder fuckyouautocorrect.com exists. i much much much prefer tap-the-word-and-a-list-of-alternatives-appears on the android. NOT TO MENTION SWYPE WHICH I CAN NO LONGER LIVE WITHOUT, in which by 'live' i mean 'function at optimum efficiency'. so far on the iphone i haven't figured out how to insert the cursor mid-word to edit text.
- the picture of the clock app means that i have to tap the screen to open a large clock. this is where iOS can't compete - widgets. i like to have my agenda and to-do list open right on the home page, so i don't have to open the programs individually.
- iOS likes to show off that it can change screen orientation by slightly contracting the screen for 0.2 of a second during the process and therefore wasting my time! or it may just be slower. is the iphone 4 faster?
- iOS doesn't seem to have select-all as a function, whereas android has it everywhere that any kind of single or multiple selection can be made.
conclusion: so far i haven't found anything that iOS excels at over android. except that it stays on, but that's more a desire hardware problem than anything android-related. oh right, also probably 'words with friends', damn you.
recommendations from today: android phones could benefit from a physical mute button, a single hardware advantage of the iphone.
STAY TUNED, MORE RIVETING ANALYSIS TO COME!
so i took it into the shop today and it will take 4-6 weeks (!) to be repaired. i hope to hell they do what needs to be done (replace the motherboard, apparently, according to 3 billion other people on the internet who have the same problem, and literally no other problem with this phone). and so i got a replacement phone for this period.. you guessed it an iphone 3GS. rather than being disappointed i have decided to really try and compare the two operating systems as objectively as possible.
impressions from the first day:
- the iOS is much more like a traditional mobile phone than the mobile computer that i came to regard my desire as. most obvious is the fact that all options are set in the phone's general settings, including importing contacts, notifications. there is no way to manage the settings for a particular program from within it, though this may be different with apps. the android system allows a lot deeper investigation into everything, and when it diverts you to settings to change something it will return you back to where you were! not so with iOS. leaving the impression that the iOS is nothing but a frontend, with many rounded square buttons to be sure, but a frontend nonetheless.
- keyboard - the iOS keyboard doesn't even compare with the old nokia keypads with the multiple characters per key, which is what swype is similar to with longer-hold keys. you have to press another key to toggle between letter/number/symbol keypads. also the spelling/autocorrect is pretty crap, no wonder fuckyouautocorrect.com exists. i much much much prefer tap-the-word-and-a-list-of-alternatives-appears on the android. NOT TO MENTION SWYPE WHICH I CAN NO LONGER LIVE WITHOUT, in which by 'live' i mean 'function at optimum efficiency'. so far on the iphone i haven't figured out how to insert the cursor mid-word to edit text.
- the picture of the clock app means that i have to tap the screen to open a large clock. this is where iOS can't compete - widgets. i like to have my agenda and to-do list open right on the home page, so i don't have to open the programs individually.
- iOS likes to show off that it can change screen orientation by slightly contracting the screen for 0.2 of a second during the process and therefore wasting my time! or it may just be slower. is the iphone 4 faster?
- iOS doesn't seem to have select-all as a function, whereas android has it everywhere that any kind of single or multiple selection can be made.
conclusion: so far i haven't found anything that iOS excels at over android. except that it stays on, but that's more a desire hardware problem than anything android-related. oh right, also probably 'words with friends', damn you.
recommendations from today: android phones could benefit from a physical mute button, a single hardware advantage of the iphone.
STAY TUNED, MORE RIVETING ANALYSIS TO COME!
Monday, May 30, 2011
lxxxvi. i was told there'd be cake, sloane crosley
i was told by the blurb that sloane crosley is the new david sedaris. not entirely accurate. over-advertising. still, she's on the right path with the funny anecdotes and witty turns of phrase. a little more dramatisation and recurring characters and she'd be there
lxxxvii. best australian essays 2010, ed. robert drewe
lxxxviii. best australian stories 2007, ed. robert drewe
surely we have enough writers and novelists and journalists that we can have different genres of writers pick short works for different genres of anthology? both of these were just ok, nothing fantastic jumped out at me.
lx. babies
quite interesting documentary, more to see differences between cultures and how parents raise their kids around the world
i was told by the blurb that sloane crosley is the new david sedaris. not entirely accurate. over-advertising. still, she's on the right path with the funny anecdotes and witty turns of phrase. a little more dramatisation and recurring characters and she'd be there
lxxxvii. best australian essays 2010, ed. robert drewe
lxxxviii. best australian stories 2007, ed. robert drewe
surely we have enough writers and novelists and journalists that we can have different genres of writers pick short works for different genres of anthology? both of these were just ok, nothing fantastic jumped out at me.
lx. babies
quite interesting documentary, more to see differences between cultures and how parents raise their kids around the world
Friday, May 20, 2011
la laa laaa
just watched my sister play in the sydney uni symphony orchestra playing saint-saens' 3rd symphony, i.e where the theme from 'babe' comes from. good thing that particular variation on the main theme is only played once because i was on the verge of laughing/crying for those 30 seconds. man, that movie came out two-thirds of my life ago.
now looking at it that pig is kinda ugly.
now looking at it that pig is kinda ugly.
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