Comfort for the Creature?

I’m going to talk about Apple and its comforts. Being a geek for a while now, you first-off worry about your comforts before you boast about RAM to your mates. Well, if you disagree then let’s put it this way…I’d rather have an average machine that I can sit at for hours and get very little wrist strain, than have a Beast that can fly itself to Mars. This product fails to make me feel like I’m relaxing in an armchair. I know that most men want a fancy engine, but at the end of the day, it’s about the car’s seat you put your behind into (or keyboard you rest your fingers on…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does Apple match up to this ergonomic standard of mine? I don’t think so. They’re too obsessed with having a smaller piece of technology to brag about. In their defense, they’re not nearly as big as Microsoft was (pre-iPod days), and so they can’t possibly start persuading other companies to ‘make a better keyboard than us’. Why? Well, because then they’d be going against their OWN branding of keeping the product elitist, company specific, slightly expensive, and damn uncomfortable.

Let me grace you with the wonderfully white and sexy keyboard. It’s been prematurely chiseled from a chunk of hard plastic and steel, and I’m sure it’s damn-near hard to break. This is because I’m used-to my keyboard at home that I punch like gorilla into. (Okay it isn’t an ‘apple’ product, although it’s still lasted me a good three years and counting.) Now if you’ve bothered to try out an apple keyboard for anything longer than a few days…so you’ll start to notice the horizontal bruises on your wrists. This is because…although the keyboard looks amazing, the wrist support is as gentle as telling a woman in high-heels to run a marathon. Now don’t let this chase you away ladies! If you’re in love with the graphics an apple can churn out, you could always spend the extra money on buying non-apple peripherals for about half the price. They’ll last you the same amount of time. (The only reason that the apple keyboard may last you a shorter amount of time is because apple – given its history – would’ve brought out a new keyboard with a retinal scanner, and you have to buy or die!)

Apple (for the most part) is very hard to break physically, and electronically. Unless you’re an over curious technician, or someone who suffers from the occasion keyboard rage…it should suit you fine. Allow me to continue down the path of destruction…and onto the mouse!

The old apple mouse (with the big ‘down click’) was a nuisance. I don’t like the peripherals because they are mostly white. Yup, you heard right. So the slight shade of grey that may be lurking on your finger today will be proudly imprinted on the mouse tomorrow. This isn’t the best of things to brag about to the mates, I’m just simply looking at the facts a salesman won’t always see (or tell) you. Let’s look at the positives, well there aren’t many. That little rolling ball at the top might’ve seen small and convenient, although when you think of it…most of your finger slime sticks to it, and ends up causing scrolling problems. Looking at the wrist side of things, it’s equally awful since there’s no ‘natural arc’ for your hand to follow. A proudly-Microsoft mouse (even in its early days) could feel a lot more warm and cozy.

The new apple mouse (dubbed ‘the mighty mouse’) is overly sexy. Apple went the other extreme and decided to shrink it down. The new mouse has a more ‘natural’ curve for your hand to follow (provided you have Down’s syndrome or a petite girlfriend to use it for you). Remember smaller technology may be faster, but it’s often hard to clean, hard to find, and nearly impossible to repair by yourself. If you give me something slightly slower I’ll grit my teeth (while I wait for the RAM to catch up) but also feel mentally at ease when it decides to break. Most people I know will call five family members to come help them before the technician arrives to solve the problem.

Most of the ‘new’ mouse’s brilliance is targeted at the fact that there is no wheel on it. Yup you heard me, zero, zippo, zilch, nada. Although does this make it hugely better? Well it’s impressive to all the hardware developers out there, although practically speaking, not at all. The reason is because in a few months (with this being a ‘family’ machine) you’ll have a trail of brown finger-marks on its back. The reason we came up with the wheel (was to keep all your scrolling and dirt in one place). Now I’m talking about the traditional Microsoft wheel that was on a single axis, and continues to rotate in only two directions.

Don’t forget it’s wireless! I’m afraid this means you don’t have to worry about the distance of it from the screen. Is this better? Unless you want to look like a thirteen year old Chinese boy, I don’t think it makes a helluva difference. Apple comes out with larger screens, although the resolution doesn’t change (this would adversely affect the graphics if it did). This means even if you have a 30 inch whopper, you’ll still be squinting to read the subtitles of a movie, or the title of your pdf file.

To finish off with the most important man question…

Do the nuts and bolts make a difference? Do the internal organs outperform Windows? I’ll disagree with this aswell. Even though I spend my days as a salesman at an Apple store, I’ll disagree. It’s true that you don’t need to upgrade an Apple as often. It’s also true that they are fitted with the latest hardware at the time of making it. However, your apple will only last you about two years longer (compared to a windows machine that has had little upgrading done). Although you may be buying a bit of time financially, you will still have to bite the bullet in the long term and buy the poor bugger a whole new brain. So this isn’t a creature of comfort (if you want to be loyal to apple).

Be prepared for a more technical edition in the future

PhilosopherPoet

The Age of the iPod

Nowadays we’re living with a huge amount of noise. This is a very loose way of saying that we’re bombarded with technology, and let’s not forget the advertising and subcultures that go with it. It’s hard and confusing, but if you can master the technology of today, then you and I are open to endless possibilities.

Ever since the iPod and various other media devices became a norm, people have been obsessed with music and now anyone from a teenager to a middle aged father is listening to music. It’s a great thing to know that you can carry your whole cd wallet in a little pouch that is lighter than your actual wallet where more crucial information is stored. But also your wallet has become a little less relevant to how you want to feel about life. Your wallet has now become a product of the noise of our generation.

Balancing noise and narcissism

A while ago I was talking to a Doctor at my work. He told he doesn’t like technology at ALL. He told me that it’s made us removed from the world and with what’s going on. Although he’s not entirely correct, I’m forced to wonder how much of what he’s saying is actually true. One tragedy about an iPod is that it can cause us to introvert. One out of every ten customers I deal with, I don’t approach and ask them for help since they’re glued to the music on their belt, and simply want to waft in and out of the shop, in their music and their own thoughts. It gets on my nerves because I’m unsure if they want help, or they want to just be left alone instead.

I also understand them, because I’m a natural-born metal head and some days I enjoy the idea of simply plugging into a great album and forgetting about everything else for a while. So is this Noise (in the positive sense of the word) or blind Narcissism that’s provoking us?

It’s both to be honest. I don’t see life as an ultimatum, because that would be cruel and unfair to my own morals. The Greek legend of Narcissus is still a powerful one, so here is the story:

“[Narcissus] in Greek mythology, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Leiriope; he was distinguished for his beauty. His mother was told that he would have a long life, provided he never looked upon his own features. His rejection, however, of the love of the nymph Echo or of his lover Ameinias drew upon him the vengeance of the gods. He fell in love with his own reflection in the waters of a spring and pined away (or killed himself); the flower that bears his name sprang up where he died. According to another source, Narcissus, to console himself for the death of his beloved twin sister, his exact counterpart, sat gazing into the spring to recall her features.

The story may have derived from the ancient Greek superstition that it was unlucky or even fatal to see one’s own reflection. In psychiatry and especially psychoanalysis, the term narcissism denotes an excessive degree of self-esteem or self-involvement, a condition that is usually a form of emotional immaturity.“

- Narcissus. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.

In short we have a man who is forced into a period of water-gazing because of external factors in the environment. Our fallen hero has now become blinded by what he sees. In my opinion you could replace the harmless bowl of water, with an iPod, for our generation. It would seem absurd to argue that an iPod could actually kill someone. I won’t even make that statement for fear of living with the consequences and court cases. It is a strong example of how too much of a good thing could be detrimental to what we are unaware of.

An iPod at best can make us look antisocial, angry, happy, relaxed, meditative and internally engaged with ourselves. How then can we listen to music without breaking social barriers? My advice is to keep your life (and what you listen to) to two big containers.

The Two containers

The first is labeled ‘Online’ and the other ‘Offline’. These terms can be translated as Public and Private Life. Although society may try and merge these two categories, I think that is important we keep them (for the most part) separate.

So when you are at home, or in your car, or any other private space, that would be a good time to listen to your iPod. Although if you are in any kind of public place I would suggest that you whip it out of your ears, and engage with your external environment. This may seem like a massive shock to an introvert who is terrified of talking to people, although I still think it’s important. The only small exception I’ll add to this list is if you use an iPod for exercise. So if you are running down the road or going to the gym with an iPod plugged into your head, you should keep it there so you can continue pumping iron and jogging. If you don’t (when you’re in a public space) and you keep listening to a song of yours, it may seem fine, but you would be missing out on an opportunity to talk to your external environment.

Next you get the internet which is an equally vital part of our culture. So should we allow ourselves to become Offline with regards to the internet? Well, I’m afraid that the ball is in your court on this one. With software like Facebook and MySpace, we feel a great deal safer to be open about what we think and feel. Tread with caution, for once you have stuck your feet into the electronic river of information, is virtually impossible to get away from it.

If you are, like myself, addicted to burrowing into the corners of the internet, then for goodness sake research exactly what you are burrowing into! I have a very active mind, and I’ve always made it a habit of mine to investigate my own behaviors. For example in high school I started listening to heavy metal, much to the horror of my parents, and from then on I decided to read numerous articles on the internet. Some would be album reviews, while others would look at metal as a whole (from its birth with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath) right up to the present day (with names like Metallica, Slipknot, Cradle of Filth and Korn) swarming the charts.

On the same topic I’ve read books and articles on the blogging and Facebook so I feel satisfied with what I’m getting into. If in doubt of what to do next, research your subject in question.

The River of Creation and Chaos

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus argued that you cannot step into the same river twice. The reason is that he argued that river is in flux. So try to picture the Greek symbol for infinity which is our numerical symbol for 8, which has been pushed on its side. The river, like the symbol for infinity, is never-ending…hence the word ‘flux’. The river we may swim in may last longer than our existence on earth does. The reason for this is because that’s just the way it is. It’s a form of energy that never stops.

What does the saying mean then? Well, every time you dip your foot into the river, you are in different particles of water, because the river is constantly flowing. You can then argue that we experience the river differently every time we immerse ourselves in it, because some time has passed since when we last dipped our foot in, and at the same token, we may be older people (if even by a few minutes) compared to our initial encounter with the river. Now consider the internet…

In philosophy there are three questions we start off asking ourselves, to stimulate our minds.

- Why are we here?

- Where have we come from?

- Where are we going?

It’s a tough one to consider; now if you ask the internet those same questions (by replacing ‘we’ with ‘you’) then the outcome is equally flabbergasting. The internet is an unknown river to most of us. We will just find one small spot where we enjoy swimming and make use of it! So as an ‘iPod generation’ I think that we should choose to embrace this river that, like it or not, we’re bound to come into contact with.

It may not always be what we’re expecting, but it gives us a sense of peace and solace in a strange way. So even if you haven’t read up on the river you’re dipping into, and are feeling a little nervous about it, just be aware of it, and a little research is always a good idea.

PhilosopherPoet

my war on iTunes

Today marked the first day of being bored at work on my first day. I’m glad that I got the job, however playing chess can only amuse you for so long until the evil clutches of the internet grab you and your soul. I was pretty lucky because halfway through my shift the manager decided to go home, and that left me to my own devices.

Enough about you…what do you think of Apple?

Well I’m a gamer so any non-Microsoft normally would cause me a lot of concern…although its gradually growing on me. I never thought I come to love this new subculture in the computer industry…but my knees get weaker everytime I see a Macbook. They just LOOK so damn sexy…something that Microsoft couldn’t achieve. Microsoft is a technician’s tool which is why I initially liked it. It made me look clever and smart, and I learnt to fix things that newbies struggled with. now I’ve reached the point, where I’m pretty tired of fixing things and just want something that won’t break in a hurry.

Let’s not forget my pet hate with mac…iTunes. When the iPod came along every teenager got a bit giddy and decided to give it a go. As a result they ended up crashing their Mum’s precious computers (non Apple ones of course) and spending tons of money of the next best iPod gizmo to hit the shelves. When the same teenagers turned around to their iTunes they realized that their music had gone, and they were now having numerous glitches with song names, albums titles, and album artwork. This was the first time that I really hated Mac. A friend of mine got all psyched about them and told me to use ITunes. After a while I realized the iTunes made up its mind that I was no good at organizing things and decided to move around my music.

Anyway I got a bit down in the dumps about the whole thing and decided to give up on Apple for a while. Now back in the deep end, and have to put on a valiant smile and tell customers that a Mac is the best thing since since brass door knobs. I think I should manage, just got to keep my focus on all the other great applications that Apple offers and bury iTunes in the back of my mind;)

PhilosopherPoet

Personal triumph and a tragedy

After watching the most drawn-out and brutalized TV series in American History, I feel like more of a survivor than the people I was watching. I’m talking about the series Lost. Call me a bit slow but I only just finished watching Season 4 recently.

And you may now ask, why watch a series that you’re already calling terrible? Well, to be entirely honest, I went along with the crowd and saw through the first two seasons. After that Season 3 came along, which seemed bit-sized in length so I decided to whip through it and watch it. I kind of forced Season 4 upon myself now because I needed a break after writing exams, and since I’d eaten my way through 90% of my movie collection…Season 4 was literally staring me in the face and calling my name.

So I’ve now ploughed through a record of four whole seasons! This feels like my biggest film achievement ever for some reason. Even after watching the entire series of Battle Star Galactica (2004) I didn’t feel so tired, weather-beaten…and damn hungry. I’ve made a mental note in the process, which is to steer clear of commenting on any films that has any kind of survivors and/or island-based theme.

Now that I’ve got all that off my chest, I feel better

 

PhilosopherPoet

It’s all about the Popcorn

Well this is what I’m thinking every time I go watch a film. Everything else is pretty much the same…the chairs, the sweets, the seats, even the Coke seems to taste better when I drink it from my little bottle at home. Okay the picture might be a lot bigger, and the sound louder…but at the end of the day you only have one chance to get the jokes without someone laughing before you do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call me a cynic, but I still enjoy a good old laugh at trends we seem to follow. Think about it even if you have an attractive date with you, you’ll either end up leaning over the chairs and trying very hard to smooch elegantly…or you’ll watch the movie and enjoy two whole hours of ignoring your date. Then the laughter comes …

Should you laugh when she’s not enjoying it? Or wait until the very last moment for her to burst into tears, appropriately try to stroke her leg without looking like a pervert? Movies are tough when you’re not in your own worn-down armchair. They are the most tough when you’re not curling up with your cat, lover, cocoa, or teddy bear. So I’ve got a better idea….wait for the DVD… Mostly when I’m dragged to the cinema I end up sitting behind an NBA player, or right at the back with an erotic couple. In other words I forget most of the ‘memorable’ movie, and come out thinking about basketball or tonsils.

This is my game plan then. Rather support the local video guy who’s been dying for someone to talk to the whole day. The odds are you’ll have time to choose what you want. Plus you’ll been saving the money you’d have spent on the food and the ticket, and using half of that to buy a large pizza to share. And my personal favorite…you can pause it to go take a leek. So if I’m not being anti-social and crude, think about it rather being sociable at home with better food and cleaner chairs.

Then maybe you can even watch the w-h-o-l-e thing again?

 

PhilosopherPoet

Simple Living

I’m a poet and I know it

So the caffeine tells me

Long hours behind the

Screen,

Coffee cups clattering and

Releasing the muse, y’know

We share a bed and pajamas

And a toothbrush, to keep the

Costs down, because

I’m a poet and I know it

 

I spend my days behind the

Books, who feed me new ideas

And a chance to share with the

Muse on the loo.

Art magazines and greasy poetry

fill the void, if you can

mind the smell, because

I’m a poet and I know it

 

Mornings are the worst,

wiping away sleep and trying

to keep the cats from my bowl.

I stick to the thick book,

plastered to my chair, with last nights

spree of sex and hair.

I’m not that bothered, and who should

be with an army cats, and a litter of

books that swamp the shitter, because

I’m a poet and I know it

 

Days run away from me, like a

giddy spastic. Today I kicked a

cat up the arse, to get to my mug

of plastic. I don’t think

much of the kitchen, and the

bombed out sink I live in, because

I’m a poet and I know it

 

Remember these words, when you’re

next on the john, expressing an idea

That’s yet to come loose.

No one can keep up

with life in general or the

joy you’re meant to find. Britney

Told me this from the Playboy, before

I could kiss her goodbye, because

I’m a poet and I know it

 

 

 

PhilosopherPoet

Could you pass the Pepsi…please?

Generally I’m very easy to please…most of the time requiring three things:

1. Take one glass of ice.
2. Pour some soft and cold Pepsi with your other hand.
3. Tilt your head back and feel the cold swirl of liquid.

Yes…I’m a caffeine addict. When it’s not Pepsi in summer, then coffee in winter normally does the trick. People who know me well might argue that my brain spins fast enough. I happen to disagree. Everyone finds their pet love in life and lets it rip…on one condition (that it doesn’t kill you). It’s mostly the things that kill us…that we are drawn to sex, death, money, alcohol and drugs. It might sound like I’m contradicting myself, but sex and death can be fatal.

Firstly I can’t remember the term, but some teenagers try to hang themselves by jerking off…and then if they are lucky enough to live through school and college…they will good on to sell life insurance to the very people that raised them. It’s rather fitting isn’t it? You give birth to kids, so they can pop you off when they get financially and emotionally comfortable. Life does seem to have it’s quirks. Going back to my initial point…I try to stay away from things that are more likely to kill me and/or my brain.

Coming back home from the local store, I didn’t waste any time. As soon as I got home I placed my posterior on my worn chair (in front of my computer). I proceeded to grab a snack, pour myself a lovely cold glass of Pepsi. Caffeine O caffeine! I love the hit of it. I enjoy the feeling of being 100% wired, and conscious. Obviously now and again I’ll grab a beer with some mates. But give me the sweet taste of caffeine, any day.

There’s one downside to caffeine…it doesn’t make you live as long. And I have an argument against that as well. Coffee keeps you alert, you talk and act faster. Therefore it’s not a sin if you don’t live as long, because you’re doing double the amount of stuff a normal person would, so that cancels out the previous fact. In mathematical term it’s the same as saying:

My Life – (Coffee ending it sooner) + (the amount of things that I get done) = Date of Death.

If that confuses you further think about it this way…if you take away the same amount you’re going to give back moments later…The result will stay the same. So now that I’ve justified a short and fulfilled life…I can sleep tonight, lol

 

PhilosopherPoet

Thoughts on Blogs

I was reading a really interesting book today. It was on Blogs…although not written by a blogger. If I remember correctly, it was called Ultimate Blogging. It was an analysis of blogs, written by a woman who is a fan of them. It went on to say that according to Technorati.com there are about 80 million blogs out there, 16.6 million of which are active. I was stumped by this statistic…that’s a huge…to think that there are that many people ranting, discussing, researching, advertising, and publishing on such a wide scale!

When I’ve certainly got the blogging gene, at the same time it’s not for everyone. Some journalists still admit that they haven’t got the hang of the blog format. Anyway I find it a wonderful escape, and opportunity to voice what I think and feel to whoever may be listening. Also, it’s a form of publishing, that can sometimes give opinionated people the chance to blow off steam.

 

Why would I recommend it?

It’s a form of online sharing, and expression. I know that if you are a writer (of any kind), blogging will help you become braver and also grow your writing. I’ve always been lazy to keep a journal…I did it out of diligence for a while in school…but nowadays I just can’t. If I need to talk through my problems, I’ll go to a therapist, and sort it out there. Blogging gives me motivation to go and explore more blogs (and ideas) that distribute it to the masses. I also have the habit of posting links that readers may find interesting. Technically this isn’t adding anything back into the blogosphere, but my opinion is that if I’ve found something interesting…there’ll be someone else who also does.

Again, I’m blogging about blogging…just in case someone out there may find it. So long Writers and Blog-o-maniacs!

PhilosopherPoet

Killing several cats at once

There are many reasons why I listen to heavy metal, one of them is because I love extremes and contradictions. If you think about it you probably don’t get a music genre out there that best supports these two claims. Is there another genre that talks about murder, mutilations, killings, Satanism, beheadings, rape, torture and plenty of blood? The point is it’s done by perfectly human and friendly guys, who’ll go home to their families, their children, and become civilized. (Some even go to church – i.e. the Christian metalheads in this case).

I still battle (with myself) trying to understand why I listen to a bunch of long-haired, tattoo-engraved, piercing-enhanced men that try to act as evil as possible. In a weird kind of way…it all makes perfect sense when I listen to it. Most people (than are more sane) can’t bare the thought of listening to guitars brutalized through a distortion system, or listening to deep growls, and blood-curdling screams.

Musically it has as much significance as kicking a cat (tied to a chimpanzee and a cow) down a flight of stairs. You might as well be listening to a donkey having an orgasm, with some background Aborigine beating a drum to give a sense of rhythm.

It’s musical chaos that combines misfits, drug addicts, computer nerds, business-people, accountants, barmen, waiters, and let’s not forget other angry people in general. Despite the confusion some see in this genre, longtime metalheads will tell you there’s little confusion with liking this type of music. It’s just preference. Why do some people enjoy music other people don’t? Well…simply because we’ve all got different ideas and opinions running around our heads.

Nothing is certain, and none of us are the same. We are all bound by our own experiences and feelings, and therefore we’ll choose the subculture that allows us to feel recognized for our inner foibles.

So what I’m really saying as I reach the end of my ramble about the universe is…rrraawwwwrrrr!

Mettttaaaallll!

 

PhilosopherPoet

Dreaming of Dragons

I’m a writer. This can be seen as either good or bad…or just a gift you choose how you want to wield it. The point is because I’m a writer I’ve got a hyperactive, creative, over-stimulated and garrulous mind. This makes me suffer from insomnia, not by choice…but rather by nature. So this wonderful blog post is here because I went to sleep for about four hours, which is when my mind woke me up saying, “Hey! It’s time to do some more writing!”

Most of the time I think of my brain (this is just a personal theory), exists independently from the rest of my body. Because no one feels like dragging their corpse out of the bed at 5:00 am, although, I do it anyway. I find it comforting to have a blog. The reason is it stops me dumping my opinions of the universe on an un-expecting friend of mine. Everyone has that garrulous friend that they wish they could shut up for a coupla minutes, to achieve some sort of peace and quiet. So maybe I have this blogging addiction is because I’m scared of being that ‘annoying friend’ to my RL (real life) friends.

So this is what woke me up…my dream. As you can see from the more-than-obvious title, it was about big scaly creatures coming to life inside my house, and mutilating/possessing my friends. This sounds like something that would scare anyone. The point is it didn’t scare me. I think this is due to my addiction to horror movies, violent video games, and the heavy metal albums buried on my computer. So I sort of had a horror movie play inside my head, and the only reason I woke was to analyze the movie structure.

*sighs* Such is the life of a critical cynic – or vice versa.

Dreams can be the best when it comes to analyzing who you are, but can be the worst stories possible. Now that a strong cup of coffee has perked me up, I can mentally crunch up all the crits I was going to put forward about the dream. Dreams don’t make logical sense. Instead, it is unconscious sense. You sort of have to know a bit of psycho babble, and the language the brain uses in order to know why, you dream the way you do. Anyway I’m nervous of boring you with too much detail on the subject, so I’ll just end with this favorite poem of mine. (unfortunately the poems is about dreams and not dragons, apologies Sci-Fi geeks)

 

 

PhilosopherPoet