When Will iPhone Leave AT&T?

I had a request last week for this blog post--that's right, folks. If you want my opinion about something, you have but to ask. As most people know, the iPhone has been exclusive to AT&T ever since it came on the scene. This has been great news for AT&T--awful news for everyone else. AT&T's coverage for the phone has been notoriously awful, and with exclusivity comes bad contracts, as well. Despite many rumors to the contrary, this pairing has endured. Apple says it's because AT&T gave them a chance to get their foot in the door. AT&T says it's because the iPhone is the only thing keeping their wireless network relevant at this point.

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that's all set to change in January, when Verizon will get in on the game.

Big news, right? Well, maybe. For one thing, this is a rumor that's surfaced before. Over the past two years, there have been blips when everyone's convinced Apple's about to break free from AT&T's shackles. Hasn't happened yet. One of the reasons for this is that the wireless technology AT&T (and T-Mobile) uses is different than that of Verizon (and Sprint): GSM vs. CDMA. So phones for AT&T wireless plans won't work with Verizon wireless plans. (There's a big long technical explanation here, but you don't really need to know why they don't place nice together--you just need to know they don't.) So Apple would have to make a different version of the iPhone before it could make the switch to Verizon. Frankly, when Apple can sell 1.7 million iPhone 4s in only three days, there's not a huge motivation to make the switch just yet.

But I'm confident that will change. (Mainly because I really want an iPhone--those things are sweet!) It might not be in January, but I'd give that window a 75% shot of being accurate. In the end, it all boils down to money: by opening up their phone to the rest of the country, Apple can basically sit back and watch the money come gushing in (more than it's gushing in now, that is--it's all about the gush rate). Since Apple's a company, it loves the gushes. That much gush just waiting to be tapped . . . sooner or later, it has to happen. And of course, when it does, look to see new versions of the iPad coming out to take advantage of the new networks, as well.

For that--this post from The Oatmeal sums up what it's like to be an Apple aficionado these days. Happy Wednesday, all!

In Which I Detail My Gripes About Buffy

Okay. So I've had the "I'm a Buffy Fan" post, and let me say right up front that I'm still a fan. Denisa and I continue to watch two or three episodes a night (sometimes more, if we're particularly in the mood for ice cream), so how could I call myself anything but a fan at this point?

However.

The show has a few issues that really rub me the wrong way. Some of this is, no doubt, a matter of enlarged expectations. I've been hearing how wonderful the show is for so long, from so many people, that in some ways it sort of reflects the experience I had watching Citizen Kane, where the expectations were so high, I don't believe any movie could have lived up to them. What are my gripes, you ask?

Read on. (Some spoilers, but I'm assuming by now, spoilers are fair territory in a series that's been over for years.)

The biggest complaint I have is that the show is clueless about how to start a season (at least for the first three seasons that I've watched). I've said I like the characters a lot, and I do. (I must--otherwise some of them wouldn't be able to annoy me as much as they do. I'm looking at you, Xander. Or you, Buffy's mom--who I really hate to see arrive in an episode, because she brings a giant bucket of stupid with her wherever she goes.) However, a big draw for me is also the fun the show has. I'm okay having some of the character delving into big Emotional Problems, but when they have everyone being mopey and stupid . . . it gets tiresome. In all three of the beginning so far, the writers get bogged down in conflicts that don't really go anywhere. I'm willing to forgive the first season, where the show seemed to still be finding its legs. The second season starts off with everyone moping about Buffy having been gone, and it's just far too much of a downer. It only picks up with the death of that stupid child vamp and the arrival of Spike. (Thank goodness!) The third season recycles the "everyone moping about Buffy having been gone" plot from the second season, except this time it has everyone resent her when she finally comes back.

Let me get this straight: Buffy and Angel fall in love, but they unwittingly complete what's gotta be the Lamest Curse Evar (I mean come on--he's cursed by regaining his humanity, only to lose it and turn back into super evil Vampire if he's ever 100% happy? Sure, Gypsies--let the guy you supposedly hate so much come back to life to terrorize people a hundred years later. Genius.) And Angel goes on his killing spree, and everyone blames . . . human Angel and Buffy, instead of the idiots who came up with the stupid curse in the first place. It would have been different had Angel and Buffy known what they were risking. They didn't. But still, so much of the beginning of Season Three is devoted to people whining that Buffy abandoned them, then whining that she misses Angel.

Less whining. More slaying.

My second complaint is that overarching plots continue to advance at a glacial pace. Buffy pining for Angel. Xander and Willow. Cordelia doing stupid things. Sometimes these characters seem trapped into doing the same mindless thing for episodes at a stretch, waiting for the time when their plot can finally advance and they can grow. Which leads me to my third and final complaint--the characters seem to be at the mercy of the plot far too often. Too many times, they seem to be behaving a certain way because the writers needed them to behave that way for the episode to make sense. (The brain-dead Gypsy cursers being a prime example of this). If you can see the plot churning, it ruins the effect.

But like I said--I still enjoy the show. There are single episodes that are just brilliant. Band Candy was great, as was Lovers Walk. It's the brilliance that makes the boneheadedness worse by comparison.

Am I off base here, or am I just finally arriving to the party, expressing thoughts everyone else hashed over years ago?

Google Voice

For those of who might not have heard, Google Voice went out of beta last week--geek speak that means it's open to the public at large. What is Google Voice, and why should you care?

What it is:

Basically, it's a service that either replaces all your phones with one number, or enhances your current phone.

• Replace all phones with one number--this option allows you to give people a number that automatically rings all of your phones at once. Cell, work, home--it doesn't matter. Better yet, it sends all of those numbers to a single voice mail place, so you can get all your messages in one fell swoop. I honestly don't know that much about this option, since Google Voice doesn't have phone numbers available for my area yet. If some of you know more about it and care to add observations in the comments, I'd love to hear your input.
• Enhance your current phone--This is how I use Google Voice right now. When people call my cell, they get taken to Google's voice mail now instead of Verizon. This voice mail is much more customizable--and it has the killer feature of being able to transcribe the phone calls and email and text me the text of the messages. So I know who called and generally what they were calling about (the text is often fairly garbled--Google's working on making it better.) Better yet, I can listen to messages online from any computer, and I can store messages as long as I want. And if I leave my phone carrier, my messages come with me. You're also supposedly able to use this account to make really cheap international calls, though I haven't put this to the test yet.

I've been using Voice for about eight months now. I absolutely adore it--I even have Denisa using it now, too. It's free and easy to use. What's not to like? Find out more about the service here.

Movie Review: Toy Story 3 and Comments on 3D

As alluded to in my brief post yesterday, I took TRC to the movies yesterday to see Toy Story 3. As you've no doubt heard by now, the movie is fantastic. Probably the best of the trilogy, although with movies as great as this series, it's hard to pick a favorite. Of course, when you see a movie like this, sitting next to your six year old son (who brought his stuffed elephant with him to watch the movie) how can you help but love it? My one piece of advice to you all would be to read as few of the reviews as possible. This is one where you should just go in not knowing anything about "great moments" or "the themes." Enjoy it. Savor it. It's that good. An easy four stars, and it deserves a nod for best picture this year--at least a nomination.

The thing is, this movie wasn't a "kid movie." It also wasn't an "animated movie." Shrek fills those shoes, or even How to Train Your Dragon. Those are both good movies--fun movies. Even moving movies, for Dragon, but in the end, they're movies. They're fun. You watch them, and then you go on with your life. You don't find yourself thinking about them later on, pondering different scenes and thinking about the performances of the characters.

Not so with Toy Story 3.

This isn't a movie--it's a Film. It's got meaning, but it's got it in ways that don't pound you over the head with Art. It's the best sort of art--one that is multifaceted, complex, funny, entertaining, sad . . . all at once. It's like visual Dickens, but done for the modern day. Can I talk this film up enough? No way. You really need to go see it.

Now, that said, let me go on to another point--my comments on 3D. I saw the film in 3D, of course, and . . . I'm no longer as sold on the technology as I was when I watched Avatar. I'm just not sure that it adds enough to the mix to really warrant its existence. What's my main gripe? Those darn glasses. 3D right now changes the experience you have in a movie theater. It becomes more of an isolated thing. Each time I wanted to look over at my son, I had to take the glasses off to be able to, because otherwise it was too dark. The glasses make the film darker. They get smudged and can blur the picture. The lights of the aisle can make a reflection inside your glasses, reminding you that YOU'RE WEARING GLASSES the whole movie. (Seriously--I'm never sitting on the end of a row in a 3D movie again.)

What do we get in return for this? Slightly more immersion. No more meaning. No more complexity. It adds a cool factor, but it does so at a cost to the rest of the movie. If Toy Story 3 had been in 2D, would I have gone to that version, instead?  Probably not. The 3D is cool.

But it will always feel gimmicky until they can do something about the glasses. The Nintendo 3DS is bringing glasses-free 3D to the masses on a small scale. I look forward to technology that brings it to the movie theater. One day, my friends.

One day.

An Insight into How Movies Get Picked

Denisa and I are goin' on a date tonight. The question of the day--what movie to see? Here's the chat we had to decide:. Of such conversations the fate of movie studios, actors, directors and more are made. Does this conversation sound familiar to any of you?

10:40 AM Denisa: so what time is the movie? And what movie?  me: There's Knight and Day 10:41 AM Why don't you pick out the one you want to see? http://www.narrowgaugecinema.net/narrow%20gauge.htm  Denisa: ok, i'll look  me: Also Shrek, Toy Story 3, etc--it's up to you  me: I'll see whatever you want  Denisa: ok  me: Should be, unless you'd like to go out for a bite first 10:42 AM Denisa: no, let's eat here  me: k  Denisa: I'll have to make sdomething for the kids anyway  me: k  Denisa: I just came in from the garden it's soooooo hot  me: blech   sorry 10:43 AM Denisa: yeah, it's going to be a cooker when it's this hot at 10 10:44 AM what's knight and day about?   comedy, adventure, chick flick?  me: Check http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ for descriptions  Denisa: ok 10:49 AM what would you pick?   just watched a clip of knight and day 10:50 AM what about karate kid   ? 10:53 AM me: Any one of them would be good   Knight should be fun   Karate kid more of a kid movie, but likely really good   Toy Story was great   Shrek . . . should be funny   It's really up to you 10:54 AM Denisa: Hm, you choose 10:55 AM I don't know enough about them to choose  me: Shrek, Toy Story, Knight or Karate  Denisa: well, you've just seen Toy story  me: Shrek--mindless fun. Toy Story--Best movie of the lot, Knight--fun romp with romance 10:56 AM Karate--Kung fu kid movie with Jackie Chan   Karate Kid is really early, though   Oh--and Shrek is out   It's only matinee   So . . . toy story or knight and day 10:57 AM Denisa: knight and day  me: ok  Denisa: I can watch toy story with T later  me: sounds good 10:59 AM Denisa: karate kid got better reviews on RT, but it's on early   So knight and day  me: Karate Kid is more of a family movie anyway  Denisa: ok  me: Knight should be fun 11:00 AM Denisa: maybe see in with T on netflix sometime   ok  me: yeah  Denisa: see ya  me: bye

I've been in a conference all day today, and now I'm off to see Toy Story 3 with TRC, so it looks like you're all on your own today, Internet. Try to get by without me!

Buffy the Vampire Earns a New Convert

If you'll recall, Denisa and I decided to give Buffy the Vampire Slayer another shot at the beginning of the month, this time jumping into season two instead of starting at the beginning. Last night we had a binge episode watching session, polishing off the last five episodes in one fell swoop. That should tell you more or less how we feel about the show now.

Love it.

What do I specifically love? The characters, first and foremost. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Cordelia, Angel, Spike, Dru--all of them are individuals with their own needs and wants. They all have their own agenda, and they act (more or less) accordingly. I found it interesting to find that I still liked them, even when they did things that irritated me as a viewer. For example, Xander's unending jealousy of Angel really gets on my nerves--and his at times weaselly actions to try and sabotage Angel were highly irritating. But despite that, I still liked him as a character. So many times as a writer, I think I try to make my characters too likable--to always have them make the right decisions. It's important to be reminded that real people don't make the right decision all the time. They often make the wrong decision. You like them in spite of their mistakes.

I also love the content--the humor mixed with pop culture mixed with snappy remarks. It's right up my alley, and very similar to the style of books that I (try to) write.

Of course, I wasn't 100% crazy about the show. My biggest complaint was that it felt like the writers didn't quite have enough story to carry them through the big plot arcs of the season. Spike was in that wheelchair an awfully long time toward the end, and in the middle, Buffy and Angel were making goo goo eyes at each other for an interminably long time. Of course, some of this is probably me as a post-Lost watcher critiquing a pre-Lost show. One of the best decisions Lost made as a TV show was setting an end date, and it's surprising they were the first to do it. (Although in an sense 24 had been doing it from the beginning, making each season have a firm end date.) So many of the shows I know and love these days are essentially long films, with beginnings middles and ends to the whole season or show. Imagine a movie that was made with no real end point in mind--with the director and screenwriters just continually making things up as they went along. You'd end up with a lot of filler, and that's how some of Buffy season two felt to me--not the individual episode plots (which I really enjoyed), but the tacked on Big Season Plot Elements that were thrown in to remind viewers that bigger things were at work. For example, Angel would show up in an unrelated sub-plot to look broody, or Spike would have a special whiny wheelchair cameo thrown in now and then to remind us he was still trapped in Useless Mode. I didn't care for those.

This also leads me to wonder why the show didn't work for me the first time, and why it kicked it up so much this season. It's got to be the characters. If you can get your audience to know and like your characters, you can get away with a lot more than you can if you're relying solely on plot. And as I've thought more about this, I think I've identified something successful fantasies do to make characters more appealing: they give them real world problems. Thus, you have Buffy, a show about a girl battling the forces of the undead, but with huge subplots that focus on Buffy yearning to have a boyfriend, or struggling to handle an obnoxious teacher, or trying to navigate her relationship with her mother. In Lost, you have a show about a mysterious island with a smoke monster and Others, but you have big subplots devoted to a man trying to understand his father, or dealing with a run of bad luck, and so on. The big plots are all fantasy, but the subplots deal with things everyone can relate to. Those small plots allow us to connect to the characters in a way we can't in the big plots alone. I don't fight vampires, but I've had my fair share of tricky relationships.

Anyway--it was a fun season, and I look forward to many more. Now weighing going back and watching Season One to find out the origin of all of this, or going on to Season Three to find out what happens next. Thoughts?

The End of Kindergarten and the Beginning of Summer

It's official: TRC is done with Kindergarten, and summer has begun. Hard to believe he's already through with school. It seems like just a bit ago that I was waiting for the bus with him outside. (Read my thoughts then here.) Now he's an old pro at everything. Back then, he couldn't read. Now he's breezing through chapter books and middle grade books pretty easily. How is it possible for one little guy to change so much in just a few months?

To replace Kindergarten, we signed him up for swimming lessons, which kicked off yesterday. He's in level 2 now, and very proud of himself. (Seriously, the kid has a very healthy self image. Too healthy, perhaps--especially when he starts bragging how much smarter he is than everyone else, etc. We're working on that.) DC gets in on the action as well. She's too young to take swimming lessons, but she splashes around in the pool for the free swim after the lessons are over. Our town offers free lessons to kids, and the pool is free, too. Of course, it's just a small pool--not much more than a few feet deep--but still, it's a great thing, and the kids all love it. I really like being in a place where I can walk over to the town pool after work and see a bunch of people I know, all out playing with their families. Every now and then, I see something I really like about summer, and I think about changing my mind about the season.

Then it gets hot, and I remember where my dislike comes from. Maybe I should move to Greenland . . .

Movie Review: The A-Team

One sentence summary: I pity da foo' who don't watch this movie!

To me, films are like food. Some films are made to be savored--to study and scrutinize each bite. Others are there to be devoured, like a medium rare steak. Others are junk food, plain and simple. But you know what? No matter how many times nutritionists tell us to avoid junk food, we're still going to raid the cookie jar now and then.

The A-Team is a cookie jar raid, plain and simple. Does it all make sense? Are Coco Puffs really part of a healthy breakfast? Does it matter? No! When adapting such a seminal work, the director needs to do one thing and one thing only: get it right. The A-Team (the TV show) was all about the team coming together, getting BA on a plane in some contrived manner, and then building stuff so they could blow other stuff up. The movie delivers on all of that--it gets the team together (twice!), gets BA on a plane in many different contrived manners, and then blows the tar out of just about anything that could be blown up.

And it even managed to make a tank fly.

Will I rewatch fifty times, trying to decipher the various shades of meaning? No. Did I thoroughly enjoy myself? Yes. I'm at a point these days where I won't go to the theater for just any old flick. I can get a better experience with most movies by watching them in Blu-ray on my home system. But there are some movies that are meant to be seen big. To be seen with a big audience. The A-Team is one of those--it's made better by making it a shared experience.

So if you're a guy, then call up your guy friends, start blasting some 80s metal music on your car stereo, and head on over to the theater. If you're a girl, then frankly I'm impressed that you made it this far into the review. Kudos to you!

Three stars from me. What say you?

The Utes Move to the Pac-10: A Fable

Once upon a time, there were eight brothers. We'll call them the Mountaineers. The Mountaineer brothers didn't get along particularly well--especially the two oldest (Brigham and Udell), who were constantly bickering and taunting each other. Brigham was pretty much a priss, always telling the others what they should be doing. Udell, on the other hand, thought of himself as a bad boy. A loner. A rebel. Which was all fine and good, except for the fact that he was about as "bad" as a teddy bear. Put Brigham in a leather jacket, and you had Udell. Put Udell in a sports jacket, and you had Brigham.

They despised each other.

In fact, the only thing that kept all these brothers together was the fact that they were very competitive. They lived in a world where families sent their sons to compete in feats of strength. There were the Pack Rats, the 12 Giants, the Aces and more. All of these families were rich--at least ten times as wealthy as the Mountaineers. And with this filthy lucre, they made sure their boys were strong and swift. They ate the best foods and practiced in the best fields. The Mountaineers looked at all of this enviously.

"They're not so hot," Udell would say. "I could cream 'em with one arm behind my back."

Brigham would sniff and dab at his nose. "Ruffians."

The other six brothers would snarl and grunt in agreement. The Mountaineers all agreed that Sport was tantamount. It wasn't about money. It was about honor and skill and bravery.

But as much as the brothers hated the other families, what they dreamed of more than anything in the world was to be like them. To have the respect of the world and the other competitors. And instead of just sitting around idly, wishing for their dreams to come true, the Mountaineers did something about it. They trained hard. They practiced day in and day out. They even adopted a new boy into the family, TC, who added a lot of strength to their regimen.

Years passed, and bit by bit, the Mountaineers began to get some respect. They started to beat the other families now and then. One year, they had a particularly outstanding performance in the competitions. The world at large started to wonder if the Mountaineers were even better then the Pack Rats. And indeed, this seemed to be the case. When they weren't busy pummeling each other, the Mountaineers would taunt the Pack Rats, calling them nasty names and making fun of their money grubbing ways.

"We're a stronger family than they are," Udell would say. "I mean, I beat them myself like seven times in the last seven years."

Brigham adjusted his neck tie. "Money grubbing ruffians."

Udell glanced over at Brigham, then belched and scratched himself, just to prove he was different. He got up on a soapbox and started yelling at his siblings. "This isn't fair! Why should the other families always have the best chances to compete? Why shouldn't we have a shot at winning the entire tournament? It's not about money--it's about honor!"

"And skill," Brigham added.

"And bravery," TC piped up.

Udell nodded. "Exactly. We've shown the country what we can do. Those Pack Rats are nothing. They're weak. We're a stronger family by far."

The boys' father walked into the circle. "Good news, sons! I've adopted a tenth child. I'd like you all to meet Bronco."

A new boy walked into the room, wild-eyed and looking a little blue-skinned for some reason. The brothers cheered.

"Super!" yelled TC.

"Capital!" shouted Brigham.

"Excellent!" roared Udell. "Now we're gonna do it! Now we're going to show the world--" Just then, his cell phone rang. "One sec, guys," he muttered. "I really should have turned this off before--" He glanced down at the caller ID. "Oh--I gotta take this. Hold on. We'll get back to our pep rally in just a second."

Brigham picked up the slack while Udell was otherwise occupied. "This year, we're going to have the best year ever. Our family will prove to everyone just how . . . good . . . we . . ." He trailed off, having noticed that Udell was doing his best to sidle out of the circle quietly. "Um . . . Udell?"

"Yeah, Brigham?"

"Where are you going?"

Udell paused and shuffled his feet. "Who? Me?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Well. See. That phone call? Well, that was the Pack Rats, and they said they wanted to adopt me into their family. So . . . I guess I'll see you guys later."

The other brothers stared at Udell. "You're going to leave us?" TC asked.

"Well . . . yeah," Udell said. "The Pack Rats are a really good family. I mean, they're so strong, and they do so well in the tourneys each year, and . . ."

Brigham frowned. "What about all that bit about us being stronger than they are now? What about honor?"

"And skill," TC moaned.

"And . . . bravery?" Bronco said, crestfallen.

Udell looked at each of his brothers in turn. "Yeah. About that. Well, see . . . when you get right down to it, the Pack Rats make like ten times as much as we do. I'll be rich over there."

"But if we stick together," Brigham said, "We're so strong now. We could possibly renegotiate our contracts with the--"

Udell shook his head. "No. We can't. We'll never make more money than the Pack Rats. I have to look after my wife and kids. There are bills to pay. Kids gotta eat. So . . . see you boys later."

And with that, Udell headed off into the sunset.


And that about sums up my feelings on the Utes leaving for the Pac-12. Do I understand why they did it? Of course I do. Do I wish BYU were headed over to a bigger conference? Kind of. What I really wish would have happened is to have the MWC stick together and scrape its way into prominence. It still might. Who knows what the future holds? But I certainly find it very ironic that all the bellyaching about how much stronger the MWC is than the Pac-10 disappears the moment one of ours is invited to become one of them. What do you think? I'd love to get other people's opinions on this--especially some non-MWC fans, if you're out there reading this. Speak up!

Cloak & Dagger, or, When Childhood was Awesome

TRC 'graduated' from Kindergarten a couple of days ago. A few days before that happened, he respectfully suggested that we really ought to throw a party on the day he finished school for the year. Never one to turn down a chance for a party, I agreed to it--even though Denisa was going to be working that night. At first, TRC had lots of other suggestions for said party, including another treasure hunt (this time with an actual map, and real treasure). I managed to talk him down to just a movie.

So I bought him a Star Wars balloon on my way home from work (as well as some confetti, 'cause the boy's a sucker for confetti for some strange reason), and made him his favorite dinner (mac and cheese). While he and DC were polishing off their food, I whipped up a batch of Circus Popcorn (aka popcorn encased in sugar), and selected the movie for the evening: Cloak & Dagger. I was going out on a limb with this choice, it being one of those infamous "loved it when I was a kid" movies, which as we all know often turn out to be less than stellar when you rewatch them as an adult. Still, I told TRC it was about video games and spies, and he was all for it.


It went over very well. I'm pleased to say that even after all these years, I still really enjoyed it (and discovered I didn't really understand it when I was a kid, another frequent occurrence when rewatching movies from childhood). For those of you unfamiliar with the film, it stars the kid from ET. He's got an active imagination complete with an imaginary friend who happens to be a super spy (played by Dabney Coleman). The kid ends up in the possession of a video game cartridge that has top secret government information hidden inside, and since no adults believe his story, he ends up having to save the day himself. TRC thought it was boring for the first fifteen minutes or so (going so far as to say, "Why did you like this movie when you were my age, Dad?"), but then it picked up, and he was riveted. I give it a strong three stars.

Some observations on the movie: Early on, there's a scene where Davey (the kid) takes out his toy pistol and pretends to be invading a business building. In the 1980s, this no doubt came across as very whimsical and fun. In today's world, it came across as threatening and "when are the police going to shoot him." It didn't help that the toy gun really looked like a gun--no neon colors or anything, just black plastic in a realistic gun shape. There's also huge swathes of the movie where this kid is traipsing around downtown San Antonio, unaccompanied, and no one thinks twice about it. He's twelve, and he's often accompanied by a younger girl. I don't know--these days, I wouldn't be surprised if the police didn't pick him up and go figure out what the heck his parents were thinking, letting him scamper off on his own. I at least would feel uncomfortable having TRC running around any major city alone, DC in tow. Am I off base here? Would the rest of you be fine with that?

In any case, I highly recommend the movie, primarily because it shows kids dealing with problems that aren't dumbed down. Davey and his friends are in real trouble, and their lives are very much in danger. You don't see that happening in films and books too much these days--not for 12 year olds, at least--and certainly not realistically depicted. Harry Potter can be in trouble, but that's okay, since he's got wizarding powers to get him out of it. See what I mean?

Any of you out there remember this movie? Seen it recently? Do share your thoughts!

Character Development

I've been going through a minor writing crisis the past few days--feeling very down on my writing in general. (This seems to happen fairly regularly with me, not frequently, but it can be depended to pop up every couple of months.) A friend sent me an email with an excellent suggestion: I need to make sure my characters really shine through, and not just focus solely on "what happens next" all the time. In response to her, I wrote this:

Thank you very much for your comments. They reflect something I've been thinking about, as well. All the shows and books I know and love are all character driven. I watch or read them not so much for the "what happens next" aspect, but for the "what happens to ___________ next" bit. I think in my books, I've always been so focused on having the characters DO things all the time, that I never take the time in the book to have them be themselves. It's sort of like the difference between calling up a friend and having an agenda of what to talk about--I need to cover X, then Y, then Z, then I'm done and hanging up--instead of just letting it flow. I also think that might be why the first chapter felt like it worked pretty well, whereas the subsequent chapters have been getting progressively off. (Not the only reason by any means, but a big one.) Looking back at my books, I very rarely let characters think much (if at all) about things. They're there to get things done and get on to the next plot point. Ironically, I think some of this might be because of all the workshopping I've done. So often in a workshop environment, I feel driven to have something significant happen in each chapter--to always be advancing the plot. But of course there are more ways to advance the plot than to just . . . advance the plot.

This makes me think of how Disney used to approach songs in their movies. They had a rule that each song needed to advance the plot, but often the songs accomplished that by establishing dreams and motivations. "Part of Your World," "A Whole New World," Belle's intro song--all of them don't exactly do much as far as literal plot advancement goes, but they all are important and memorable, and they help us know who these characters are and why we should care.

But how do I do that?

I don't know--I struggle with knowing when the right time is to delve into my characters' emotions, so the end result is I never really go there. I know this is stupid, and I need to figure out how to do it right--any pointers?

Thoughts on Technology

Another blog entry bleed over from my  library blog. I write about technology advancements on Tuesdays, and I had some thoughts that I thought some of you might be interested in, as well. Here's the post:

The past week or two have been big ones in terms of technology updates. It all started last week with Apple's announcement of iPhone 4, the latest version of their hit smart phone. This new iteration comes complete with a higher resolution screen, a front facing camera (making video phone calls possible), a high resolution camera on the back (for HD video and picture taking, and the ability for multitasking (running more than one app on the phone at the same time). In addition, Apple brought its popular ebook app (iBook) to the iPhone (it was previously only available on the iPad). Of course, the impact this will have here in our neck of the woods isn't too terribly big. iPhones, of course, only work with AT&T, which isn't a carrier out here. What's the point in having an expensive piece of technology if it's unusable? My personal dream is for Apple to ink a deal with Verizon, at which point I'd switch my current cell phone over to an iPhone. There were rumblings that such a deal might be in the works, but alas, it was not to be.

One might wonder what sort of steps Mantor is taking to prepare for the rush of people using smart phones to access our content. Well, let me answer that question with some statistics. In the past year and a half, we've had over 130,000 visitors to our library website. Of those, 35 came from a smart phone or an iPad. That might as well be 0, as far as percents are concerned. The fact of the matter is that the smart phone revolution hasn't moseyed its way up here to Western Maine yet. When it does, we'll be ready--have no fear. I'd love to develop a mobile web page, for one thing--but until I see usage that warrants me devoting a chunk of my time to doing it, I just can't justify the effort.

Moving on.

In a different vein, this week is the Electronics Entertainment Expo, also known as E3. It's the biggest showcase for new and upcoming video games. Big names like Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony reserve some of their biggest announcements for this venue. This year promises to be the year of motion sensing, with Microsoft and Sony both launching new motion sensing peripherals to their gaming systems. Think of it like the Wii, but more refined. What does this have to do with libraries? In the near future, not so much (besides the possibility of libraries hosting game nights that use these video games to draw in new users). In the long term, possibly a great deal.

Allow me to explain. Think of most sci-fi movies you watch. They often have some sort of advanced technology for interacting with computers and information. Whether it's using your whole body to maneuver through files (ala Minority Report) or speaking to the computer to get it to do what you want (ala Star Trek), people in the future don't use silly things like mice and keyboards to interact with technology. Imagine a library where you tell it what your research question is, and it assembles all the needed resources and delivers them directly to you. Or maybe a library where you can browse the shelves from your seat, using your hands and eyes to virtually move through the stacks.

I'm not sure how much of that is realistic. So much of this motion capture and voice activated technology is so new, I think a lot of applications are being developed for it that just don't make sense. Think of the early days of motion pictures, when people would go to the theater to watch a film of a train. No plot, no action--just a train chugging along. These people could just as easily have gone to the train station and watched a real live train in person--arguably a better experience, and free to boot--but the technology was so new, it was cooler to watch a train on film. Time went by, and we no longer have people staring entranced at filmed trains.

What I mean is that often when a new piece of technology comes out, we use it for things that make little sense. There are cases where using a pen and paper is much more reasonable than using a laptop. The same will apply to motion capture. Why should I have to stand somewhere and flail about with my arms and legs when I can accomplish the same task with a single mouse click? See what I mean?

In any case, I'll be following these advancements closely--so you don't have to. :-)

Heard about something that you'd like my opinion about? Think I'm off base on something I've said today? Tell me about it! What technology are you looking forward to?

Investing

I received some money as an inheritance from my grandfather a bit ago, and since I got it, I've been trying to decide what to do with it. Should I use it to buy something physical--a new sofa, or something like that? Or maybe put it toward a family experience--a trip somewhere, perhaps? After much hemming and hawing, I decided to invest it, which is something I think my grandfather would have heartily approved of. My first inclination was to put it all into a single stock, but after speaking with my financial planner brother, I decided that was a bad idea, and I ended up opening a Roth IRA. Why did I do this? For a couple of reasons.

• First, there was a minimum amount required to open a Roth IRA, and this minimum amount happened to be the exact amount I had inherited, thus making it so that the inheritance really truly allowed me to do something I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.
• Second, Roth IRAs are non-taxable when you start to use them at retirement.
• Third, you can withdraw the principal (not the interest) at any time, penalty free.

I put the Roth IRA into an ETF, which is another something my brother suggested. What kind of ETF? An international EFA. I debated trying to figure out what all the letters meant, but in the end I decided to go with my brother's recommendation. After all, he does it for a living. I'm just a librarian. I'm not planning on touching that money for the next thirty some odd years or so. Who knows how much it'll be worth by then? The idea of being able to use it years later and still remember my grandfather at that point . . . that appeals to me. Thank you, Grandpa!

Book Reviews: Catching Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book, and I thought it was a great followup to Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins does a fine job extending the problems and challenges that were yet to be solved from the first book. However, it didn't quite have the same OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO AWESOME feeling as the first book. The problem is, I can't really get into why it lacked that feeling without spoiling the book for readers, and I firmly believe that spoiling this book would be wrong. Thus, I can't really critique it effectively.What I will say is this: if you liked the first book, you must read this one, as well. I think you're pretty much contractually obligated to. And if you read this one, you'll need to read the next one, as well. If I had to compare this series to a film series, I'd say right now it's coming off as the Matrix. The first one was mind blowingly good. The second one was good--but overhyped. I'm not saying Catching Fire was overhyped, but . . . it's not Hunger Games.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I think the highest praise I can give this book comes in the way I read it: in a single day, staying up until 3am--on a work night!--to finish it. It really is that good. Larsson's characters are all compelling, and the conflicts they find themselves in compel you to keep reading--to find out what happens next. This is something I wish I could do a better job of as a writer--making my plots good enough that putting the book down is not an option.

If I had one complaint about the book, it would be that it lacks a tad in the realism department, although most of that is centered on the gripe I had from book two in the series, where the characters started seeming a tad superhuman to me. (Lisbeth particularly started seeming like the Terminatrix at the end of book two.) Some of that carries over to this book, but Larsson does the wise thing and starts using realistic approaches to solving the problems.

In the end, I was wholly satisfied with the book and the series. It's not for the faint of heart--definitely chock full o' bad language and violence--but it's a great book. Very tragic that Larsson died before any of us got to see how good a writer he really was.

View all my reviews >>

Leatherman Surge

I'm a Leatherman junkie. I freely admit it. Since high school (maybe even before--I can't remember), I've always had a Leatherman attached to my belt. Why? Well, why not? You never know when one of these little puppies is gonna come in handy. Like the time I was in Germany and wanted to use the phone, but I couldn't because the phone card slot already had a card stuck in it. I whipped out my Leatherman, got out the pliers, and took out the card. Problem solved. That sort of thing happens all the time to me--not being stuck in a German phone booth, but rather seeing a need for a Leatherman and being able to fill that need right away. Certainly at my current job, it comes in handy. Yes, even as a Librarian. Anyway--I use it all the time.

My first Leatherman was the Super Tool.This beast accompanied me through high school, then went off to Germany with me. It introduced me to the wonders of a Leatherman. Pliers, knives, files, screwdrivers, wire cutters--it had everything I could think of, and for years, we were happy. But then, something changed. New Leathermen started coming out. Leathermen that had scissors. Leathermen with blades you could open up without having to unfold everything else. Leathermen with easily locking and unlocking blades. I admit, I added a second tool to the fold: the Wave. I didn't completely abandon the Super Tool (I still use it sometimes, since its sheath is more discreet), but the Wave became my go to tool. I built lawn furniture, dismantled closets, fixed sound systems and more. Its knives were so easy to get to, and those scissors--while not ergonomically ideal--were great for snipping loose ends. I didn't think I'd ever give up my Wave.

Until tragedy struck, in the form of the security line at the Philadelphia International Airport.

As you all know, I hate flying. (Can I trademark that phrase yet?) When I know a flight's coming up, my insides clench, my stomach roils, and a sheen of sweat covers my palms for days in advance. I stop thinking rationally. I'm no fun to be around. This last vacation down to Florida was no different. In my flight-induced panic, I made an error I'd only made once before in my life: I left my Leatherman on my belt. In fact, I didn't even realize my mistake until I'd gone through the metal detector the third time, and it kept beeping. Do I have a metal plate in my head? I wondered. Did the government install a tracking beacon? And then it hit me: I still had my Wave. Once, when I flew from Cairo down to Luxor in Egypt, I'd made this same mistake. They apprehended my deadly Wave, and I thought it was gone forever. But on my return to Cairo, I was reunited with it in joyful bliss.

Philadelphia doesn't roll like that.

My Wave was taken from me, and I shall never see it again. Let us all have a moment of silence for my Leatherman Wave, no doubt gracing the belt of some greedy little aviation security worker these days.

[Pause]

Thank you.

Time moves on, as time is known to do. I still had my Super Tool, but it wasn't enough for me. I needed that easily accessible blade. And those scissors! So what did I do? I got a third Leatherman: the Surge. And we loves it, yes we do. My precious. The scissors are better. It has interchangeable screwdriver bits. Replaceable saw blades. Bigger knives! A ruler on the edge! Easy to lock and unlock everythings! A compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time! I've already taken a door out of a frame, worked on a sick computer, sliced open numerous bags, and more.

I look forward to many happy years. Thank you, Leatherman!

Way Too Busy Wednesdays

It's Wednesday again, and I'm swamped. So in honor of yesterday's election, I just wanted to link to an election-inspired poster we can all agree with. See you all tomorrow!

iPad Review

I wrote the review for my library blog and thought you all would be interested in reading it, as well. Enjoy!

As some of you know, I purchased an iPad about a month ago. This was by no means an easy purchase for me. The things aren't cheap, after all ($499 for the base model), and I don't exactly have money growing on trees out back. However, I really really really wanted one, and I was able to scrounge up enough to cover the cost. Even then, I debated in Best Buy for quite some time. Was I buying into the hype too much? Would I regret spending the money? I'm quite the gadget junkie, and I didn't want to look back a month later on my purchase and wonder why I'd been so stupid as to fall for the advertising. Even with all that hesitation, I took the plunge and bought one.

It's now a month later, and I feel like I've used the thing long enough to be able to accurately review it.

The short answer (for those of you with short attention spans and no desire to read a long review) is that I love it. If I'd known then how much I would use and love my iPad, I wouldn't have hesitated a moment in Best Buy. Anyone on the fence should stop hesitating and start getting out their wallets. End of short answer.

The Long Answer

If you're still with me, I assume that's because you're very interested in hearing the nitty gritty details about the iPad, and what my take is on all of them. Have no fear, dear reader--all your questions shall be answered.

Perhaps the biggest question my wife had for me before I bought my iPad was "What will you use it for?" I now know the answer: everything. I use my iPad multiple times a day for a variety of reasons. Allow me to demonstrate:

Surfing the Web
Really, there's no comparison to the surfing experience you get on an iPad. It's like you're holding the internet in your hand, and that makes it feel like a much more interactive experience. Web pages are big enough to read without needing to zoom and scroll all over the screen (like you need to do with an iPhone). The loading times are fast, and the control intuitive. What don't I like about the web experience? Well, obviously there's the omission of Flash--Apple and Adobe are having a bit of a spat right now about Flash (a piece of software that allows websites to be more interactive and, well . . . flashy. It's used quite a bit by many different sites.) Apple says it's buggy. Adobe says it's fine. In the end, it doesn't matter what Adobe says--it's Apple's sandbox, and if they don't want Adobe to play in it, they don't have to let them. Do I miss flash? Not really. With the single exception of homestarrunner.com, I have yet to have gone to a site where I couldn't use my iPad.

Reading
No, I haven't given up all my print books yet, but I've put the ereader app Apple includes with iPad to the test (iBooks) to see how it runs, and I have no complaints at all. It's easily legible, you can adjust the brightness, font style and size at will, and it's a breeze to navigate through the books. Better yet, it passed the "Sleepy Test" for me. I read before I go to sleep each night, and I had heard from some people that reading from a screen would never let me get tired in the same way reading from a printed page will, since the screen is lit up and firing light into my eyes all the time. Hogwash. I got tired just fine, thank you very much. It really felt no different than reading form a book--and that's the highest compliment I can give it. When the technology is good enough for you to forget you're using it, you know you have a winner.

Movies
You can stream Netflix from your iPad. It does so effortlessly. You can also interact with your queue and see everything on your account. The screen is big enough for the wife and I to watch together. If you're a Netflix streaming junkie like myself, this alone is huge.

Photos
They look amazing on the iPad. Up until now, I've always felt guilty that I haven't been printing more of my pictures. I take great ones, and they stay on my computer. Now I don't have to print them--I have them in my hand to show people whenever I want. This is an experience that was good on the iPhone, but great on the iPad--just like having a small picture isn't as good as having the same one, bigger. Make sense? Plus, the iPad can double as a digital picture frame. You set it up, and it'll cycle through the pictures on it. Love it.

Music
Oh yeah--it plays music, too. Did I mention that?

Apps
Since the iPad can run iPhone apps as well, you have all the iPhone apps you love, and more. I have an imdb app, a calorie counting app, weather app, comic book apps, news apps, cookbook apps, finance apps, a Facebook app, espn app, word puzzle apps, game apps--and I use them all. This has in many cases eliminated my need to check something on the web--I can just pull up the appropriate app and have the info I'm looking for more quickly than I've been able to get to it before. A complaint I do have is that many of the iPad apps have inflated prices, it seems. They have the same functionality as their iPhone counterparts, but they cost five times the price? For better graphics? No thanks. I buy the iPhone app and run it instead.

Video Games
Games on the iPad are plentiful, with many free options that are great, and paid ones that don't break your bank. When you're used to shelling out $60 for a game, and then find you can get the same amount of fun out of one that costs $1.99 . . . you start going for the $1.99 option. I'm considering just asking for iTunes gift cards for my birthday, then using them to buy apps and games I love.

Board Games.
This is huge for me. Board game companies are starting to migrate toward the iPad, and that just makes sense. Carcassonne and Small World and Settlers of Catan are already there, each for $5. It's also got your more standard fare, like Scrabble or Boggle. Games that can cost $30-$50, now just $5? And I don't have to set them up and worry about losing pieces? Love it. I can't wait for more to follow.

The Battery
My iPad charge lasts forever, or at least it seems to. Until now, I've always felt like I needed to ration my battery life--regardless of what device I was using. I knew in the back of my mind that if I used _______ too much, I'd be out of juice, and then I couldn't use ________ until I plugged it in again. Not so with my iPad. It lasts 10 hours--and that's 10 hours of constant use. I can go days without recharging it, even when I'm using it quite a bit on those days. That's lovely. I adore the iPad battery.

All of this amounts to one remarkable thing: I'm using my laptop a whole lot less. If I want to check something online, my iPad can be up and running in a fraction of the time it takes my laptop to rouse itself out of hibernation. I don't have to worry about the battery dying on me, either--and that's a huge plus, as I've said before.

Email
I can now just open my iPad and check my email--and respond to it--easily and quickly. This is an equivalent experience to email interaction on my iPod Touch.

Keyboard
The onscreen keyboard is fairly easy to use. It's not perfect, but with some practice, you get the hang of it. I've written my journal on it so far, but I haven't put it to the test and done any really long writing on it. I have a feeling that might get frustrating. However, it comes equipped with Bluetooth, so you could hook an exterior keyboard up to it, if you desired.

Drawbacks
There aren't many for me to speak of. I would like to have a camera on it somewhere--ideally two, like the iPhone 4 will have. A USB port would also be nice (although if you buy an iPad camera connection kit, it gives you a USB port with limited functionality). But really, this is getting nitpicky. I mean, expecting one device to literally do everything is a bit much, isn't it? In the end, I am 100% satisfied with my purchase. I don't consider myself to be an Apple fanboy--my laptop and desktop both run Windows, not OSX--but I appreciate what Apple has done. Actually, it's what they've done with the iPod and iPhone--took an existing technology and made it irresistible.

So what are you doing? Go out and buy an iPad today! Got any more questions for me about them? Ask away. Disagree with something I said? Correct me. I'd love to hear what you all have to say.

Bonfire

Since all the house work we did on the garage last fall, we've had four separate piles of scrap wood littering our lawn. Not little piles, either. They seemed to grow over time, as we piled fallen branches and added other pieces of scrap here and there. I kept putting off the fire, worried it was going to be too long and take too much time.

It took a while, certainly, but only five hours of hard work. Friday I headed to the fire department and picked up a permit, and then when I got home, I lit the biggest pile on fire and took the other piles over to it. The flames got pretty high--probably about seven feet or so at times. Looking back on it, I would have liked to have the fire a bit further from my house. There was one panicked moment when I saw flames trickling over toward the garage, but the hose took care of that. :-)

In any case, the piles have magically disappeared, and it's wonderful not to have to stare at them when I drive into the garage each day.

Wish I'd done it sooner.

Book Review: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Let me start by saying I'm a sucker for Salem. Any book that has the witch trials as a part of it is going to earn an extra bit in my rating, just because it's something I'm interested in. (Just as any book that is primarily a romance will score lower for me--I don't like the genre.) Why do I like Salem? A part of it has to do with the fact that I'm related to a witch. Or an accused witch, at least. Giles Corey refused to enter a plea when he was accused. Since according to law at the time, he couldn't be tried until a plea was entered, he was tortured until he would. The torture? They laid him down in a field, placed a wooden board on him, and stacked heavy rocks on it until he broke down. Oh yeah--and they only let him eat rotten bread and stagnant water. He never broke down, though. His last words? 'More weight.' Yeah. I have cool ancestors.

Anyway, so with that disclaimer, on to the review. The book seesaws between the present day and Salem witch trial times. Much of it rests on a developing mystery, so I don't want to really get into the plot to much. If you're looking for summary, look elsewhere. I enjoyed the book for the most part. I think without my Salem-leanings, I'd give it three stars. With them, I raised it to four (out of five). What worked for me? The historical accuracy of the novel. Howe makes a lot of effort to portray things as realistically as possible. The characters were well done, and the descriptions clear and vivid. I particularly enjoyed how well minor characters were pulled off, each of them seeming to be real people, not just parts brought in to fulfill a role the author needed filled. That's a tricky line to walk without letting minor characters take over the book, and Howe walks it well.

What didn't work? The ending fell apart for me some. A book that rests as much in mystery as this one does will succeed or fail primarily based on the resolution of that mystery. The resolution left me with a meh feeling, which was disappointing. It wasn't bad, per se--but it certainly wasn't mind-blowing. Some of the characterizations at the end fell apart, as well.

(Pet peeve of the book? Howe's portrayal of librarians. The woman seems to have had her share of bad run ins with my profession, and she doesn't paint us in too bright a light. We're not all stuffy self-centered shh'ers, Ms. Howe!)

In any case, if you like mysteries, historical novels, witches or grad students (the main character is a history doctoral student), this will be a good read for you.

View all my reviews >>

Giving Buffy a Second Try

Denisa and I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night. We'd tried this before, but didn't get past the first four episodes or so. It just wasn't enough to hold our attention, and we gave it up. However, enough people who I know and respect swear by this show, and I'd heard since that it improves in later seasons--that it took some time for the show to really get its feet under it. I can appreciate that, so this time we skipped season one and went right on to season two. Got through two episodes last night. The first one was underwhelming, but I really want to give this show its fair shot, so we kept at it. Episode two was much better. Funnier, more story to hold it together, and generally a more fun time. Where the first episode was a two star outing flirting with one and a half stars, the second episode was easily two and a half, maybe three.

Enough for me to start to see what people see in the series. We'll keep at it.

Honestly, I'm not usually so forgiving with something I'm watching or reading. If a book doesn't hold me by the first fifty pages, it's gone. There are too many other books out there for me to read. With a movie, I'm more tolerant. Rarely will I turn one off, just because I know that in another hour or so, it'll be all over anyway, so why not give it its shot. A TV series is a huge time commitment, and since they're episodic anyway, I can put one down just as easily as I can put down a book. The fact that I'm sticking with Buffy as much as I have this far is a testament to how much word of mouth can do for a piece of art. Well, that and the fact that we both loved Firefly (a TV series created by the same guy who created Buffy)--so, word of mouth and quality of other works by the same creator.

I'll try to keep you posted on what I think of the rest of season two.

Back on the Wagon

That's right. I'm dieting again. I'd sworn not to go over 200 again, and what did I do? I went on vacation and ate like John Candy. Amish country, Hershey's Chocolate World, the Biergarten at Epcot, the other countries at Epcot, the Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom, Wendy's, McDonald's, wedding food, Vince's pizza, Friendly's, bakeries and more: for two weeks, I was an eating machine. I was Land Shark, eating everything in sight. I think I had a piece of salad in there somewhere, but for the most part, if anything was fattening, bad for you or of questionable nutritional content, I ate it. A lot of it. And so for one terrifying scale-weighing moment, I clocked in at 210.6 when I got back.

Long story short (too late), I'm back on the diet. I'm weighing my food--and lo and behold, I have found an app for that. It's called My Fitness Pal, and it lets me enter in the food I eat and the exercise I do, all on my iPad. No more getting the bulky computer out. It's quick and easy, and I like it a lot.

I'm down to 207 now. I gained the weight in two weeks, I can get rid of a lot of it in that amount of time, too.

Hopefully.

If not, this diet thing will have to go on a tad longer. Sigh.

It was worth it. :-) I just like food too much.

I've Started a Library Blog

It's official, folks. The new blog has begun. In between catching up on (most) emails and hauling chairs around the library today (20 new chairs arrived sort of unexpectedly, and it took a while to get them all sorted out, since the chairs they were replacing were going elsewhere in the building, and those chairs in turn were also going other places), I wrote the first post today, detailing what the blog is and what it will cover. For those of you interested, head on over to Browsing Room to check it out. I expect there will be some bleed over between my two blogs from time to time (mainly reviews I post here also getting posted there, for example), but fear not, faithful readers--I'll still be blogging over here just as regularly as I have been. (Even more regularly, in fact, since I'm back from vacation now!) For now, I have 12 minutes left of work, and much more work than can be done in 12 minutes. Toodleoo!