I agree about the overuse of production tools such as Autotune, especially now that the average listener has heard of it.
Still, technology is increasing every year, I'm 22, and in many ways, I'll be surprised if we dont have absolutely flawless rendering of human characters within my natural lifespan, wouldnt you? I would assume computer modelling is easier to improve than say, flying cars! Resolution for one, is just "how many dots are used", double the "dots", and the overall picture (presumably!) looks better.
As a NZer, I'm proud to know people who were in the LOTR movies. The Worlds Fastest Indian was set in my city, Invercargill, our mayor was a good friend of the main character (played by Anthony Hopkins), and I saw people I grew up with filling an entire movie screen.
But, think of the cost of the costumes etc for large battles! Its crazy, why pay "$1,000" (lets say) per person in a million person battle when you can easily do it all in CGI? If not capable now, it will be in a few years.
It was always clear that what I was looking at was CG. It is not yet at a point where the computer is going to fool the viewer into thinking that what they are seeing is real. It's come a hell of a long way but we're not yet at "perfected." Not by a long shot.
When you say that, what needs to be done for it to seem "real" for you? I ask because we all know how fast technology is improving, the CGI in a decade old movie will most likely seem "obvious" compared to a more recent movie, like Avatar say. If its not ready now, then it will be ready in 10 years, if not then....another 10 years....at some time, surely we will be able to "render in real life resolution" etc. I'm 22 and expect this will easily happen within my lifetime.
I think part of the problem is we know how photoshop etc work, so we can almost deconstruct how a photo/movie was made. I've starting podcasting, and I realise that after editing and producing my episodes, listening to the final result, I realise "ok, so in 2 seconds the first track will fade down..." and be able to visualise what GarageBand looked like at that time. Its especially obvious to me what effects etc I used, since I did it, but my friend is an ex sound engineer who has worked with absolute A grade productions, Disney movies, famous rappers etc, and she could do a much better job.
I almost think that CGI "spoils" real miracles, I like butterflies, I like Michael Jackson, but during This Is It, I noticed one of the forest scenes, where a small girl held a (presumably real? I wasnt paying attention) butterfly, and then magically a whole flurry of butterflies spiral about the screen. It was instantly obvious it was just a computer effect, there were no real butterflies. Yet, butterflies would move like that in real life! I think the effect was rather obvious, but done better, it could honestly be identical to real life butterfly movements. I think about Video Game graphics, I remember when PS1 "looked awesome", I remember when PS2 "looked awesome", how PS3 "looks awesome"....
Surely in time, and with skilled artists, CGI will be absolutely, positively "better" than real actors, I think its a "Moore's law"-esque rule.
Thank you, I did somewhat understand that was the case. Still, no use to me if I "un jailbreak" my iPhone, and am stuck with my beautiful iPhone only able to place emergency calls! No apps, no music, no contacts, no calculator....but in case of emergencies, I guess I'd be fine! Ha!
Tubes were easier to replace in remote airfields, which would be VERY useful during a war...they also were more protected from EMP's, kind of useful when you are dropping Nuclear bombs I would assume:)
I think tubes have had their day, I am not one of these "pure analogue" audiophiles, but to dismiss all tube technology is very rash. I believe the Soviet jets were lacking when it came to instrumentation though.
I utterly agree. For one thing, most paid apps are only a dollar or two....its not like we're talking about thousand dollar software here! I mean, cripes, to steal a dollar or two from some kid's first app.....even the big iPhone game companies are small....
You know its odd, I like to buy music whenever possible, unless its unavailable in my country (audiobooks are hard to find here, and from what I've seen, they cost $50 USD+....unreal...), because I feel bad to steal music/movies etc, but I would absolutely never consider stealing from an iDevice developer. Sometimes, when I see an unpopular app, I'll buy it and send a message of support to the developer. One app that was obviously made by someone from my country, the developer said "oh, so you're the other person who downloaded it " which made me laugh, although, it could actually be true! Why wouldnt you want to toss a single dollar to someone in that situation?
Funny, I guess its because I havnt been screwed over so often, as with the large media companies.
The Original iPhone was never sold in New Zealand, I bought an imported, Jailbroken and Unlocked iPhone off the internet. Its turned out to be one of the best purchases of my life, I got it for about 600 USD, it had been jailbroken etc for me, and I run it on a prepaid plan. I only have a Jailbroken and Unlocked iPhone because it needs to be that way, without that, I would be stuck on the "please activate" screen, stuck to only ringing an emergency number (and, it might be "911" which is pretty much useless in NZ where we use "111"!)
I've never wanted to "steal" apps, not at all, I totally think the developers deserve to make money, and hey, I mean, lets get serious, most paid apps I look at cost a DOLLAR OR TWO....who would steal that? It would be like mugging a busker for the change in his hat. Pathetic.
HOWEVER: I can never seem to be able to buy tracks from Tap Tap Revenge 3, I can buy song packs, but NEVER individual songs. I've seen this mentioned on the developer, Tapulous' site, that JB iDevices wont work? Its very strange, I cant even SEE the songs, if I go to say, browse the "easy" tracks, it just says "no items in this category". I can see ALL the artist names, but cannot see a SINGLE track from ANY of them. I suspect there is someway to detect Jailbroken iDevices, and its locking me out somehow?
I really cant unjailbreak or unlock my iPhone, it simply will not work here. I really want to buy TTR3 tracks though:)
Sorry to annoy you. I didnt mean to cause offense, I dont find "centimetREs" to be annoying:) I just dont really know what a foot or a inch is. Although, I do say "about an inch" sometimes, its a habit of speech worldwide I would assume.
...but I'm not an asshat and I understand that being uncomfortable isn't possibly fatal.
Try telling me that, I'm 1.95M tall, roughly about 6 and 5 of your "feet" and "inches", and live in New Zealand. I've only been on one international flight, to Australia, lasting 2-3 hours, and it ALMOST killed me. I got on the plane JUST after a SLIGHTLY taller classmate, he would be about an "inch" taller than I. He got the special exit seat. I suffered in some ridiculous space. Hearing about obese people who get an extra seat etc, drives me nuts. Their weight is most likely something they have done to themselves, I was born this way.
Being fair to the airlines, most cars feel cramped to my legs. But, knowing that my SLIGHTLY larger friend got an amazing Exit seat, with basically unlimited room, and I was stuck in something surely designed by Satan, was infuriating!
Its fun to look at those diagrams of how 747's etc would be built, with large cocktail bars, sofa's etc. Economics dont work that way sadly, thus, we get "Cattle Class", which sucks for a Vegan!
I dont know how Adam Curry, of a similar height, deals with his seemingly weekly international plane trips.
Right back at you buddy, go back to your PR. Look up "Google Mobile" and all the other Gtalk applications for iPhone. I havnt used them myself though.
Third party applications can extend or replace included applications (like the dialer or address book) it is possible that an unstable 3rd party app can make things less stable. That's the price you pay for having an open platform, and well worth it based on the functionality that I have on my phone that you can never, ever have with an iPhone
You'd take another third party "phone.app" that has extra speed dial slots over stability? Really?
Open Source doesnt have to be unstable, I dabble from time to time with Linux and rather enjoy it. Still havnt made the big switch, but I do appreciate Open Source software. If thats what you mean by Open Platform. If it give me stability on a "mission critical" device like a phone, I'd take a closed source device. Also, what about OS updates, they kinda suck on Android, you have to wait for your carrier to give it to you? Or not... Thats ridiculous. When an update comes out, I download it on iTunes, no different than a podcast, plug in my phone and BOOM, I'm running it. (I also jailbreak)
So, these reviewers were all so jacked up about the Droid, and now it seems to be "not as good as the Nexus One", which has all the hype. Check any review of the Nexus One and you will notice those comments, "the Droid felt slow, this is faster" etc etc etc.
I dont have much hands on experience with an Android phone, they are not really sold in New Zealand. From the people I know who have one, they say its not as "polished" as an iPhone. I'm sorry I havnt recorded every conversation I've had with my friends for you!
Im not hearing many good things about Android...a phone is perhaps the most important gadget you rely upon, believe it or not, you can live without your computer! It only takes an hour or so to completely reinstall a computer operating system, or you can just buy a new one off the shelf if it dies.
But a phone, if it dies when you are stranded somewhere...its life or death. I've grown attached to my phones, funny to think that ten years ago I didnt actually have a cellphone. But now, the thought of being away from it literally creeps me out, "have I gotten a call?", "does someone need me?" etc.
I was actually a little scared to get a smartphone, I thought there must be so much more to go wrong with my phone. My iPhone has never crashed in its basic Apple programmed duties yet, I'm hoping it stays that way!
Its seriously not acceptable to have a glitchy phone, in the same way I wouldnt accept a buggy GPS unit. I've been in situations before when my phone has literally saved my life, Im not going to risk it with what appears to be a seriously unstable OS.
Sad to hear about your problems. Maybe you could work out what is causing the crashes, if its a certain website or whatever, and send a bug report to Apple. I know they wont do anything about it, but worth a try!
I leave my iPhone on all the time, its rather useless for calls when you have it turned off, and I've never had any crashes on the Apple made apps and only rarely do 3rd party App Store apps crash. For a while there, when the App Store were new, EVERYTHING would crash on opening!
They still pump out updates, it drives me nuts. I have 100 odd apps, and constantly have about 60 updates waiting, no matter how often I update my most used applications (remember when we called them "programs"?), theres always an update a day away!
Oh I entirely agree, a lost call can cost you money. I have had applications on my jailbroken Original iPhone crash on me before, but never core iPhone functions like the phone, or txt messaging etc. Those are things that are "Apples fault", if a fart app craps out on me, then thats "the fault of the 14 year old programmer".
I think ALL of the cellular problems American iPhones on AT&T have, are caused by AT&T! In NZ, I've never had ANY of those problems! EVER! Overseas networks also seem to have essentially no problems with iPhone data/call use.
Not saying that the iPhone is perfect, its not, but I do think that a reviewer should be able to change the wallpaper on a soon to be released phone without it crashing. I dont think you should pay good money for a phone that crashes on simple core tasks. For me, my iPhone hasnt.
Im still interesting in seeing what the Nexus One is like when its released.
ha,well if you do push her towards an iPhone, she can rest assured that the iPhone also links contact addresses to Google Maps:) Its a cool feature on both iPhones and Android devices. How did we live without Google Maps?:)
I'm always afraid that I'll come across as a smug Apple fanboi when I mention things that SEEM to be wrong with Android, after all, I've barely spent any time with actual Android devices.
Sorry to hear your wife has had problems. Is it so bad that it would put you off Android in general?
I've noticed people who use Android tend to have applications to kill tasks, as someone else mentioned, I'd almost rather have a "non multitasking" iPhone than a phone I have to constantly worry about while my phone is in my pocket, "is fart application.app using up resources?"
Very funny, isnt this thing meant to be coming out soon? I realise all tech has crashes, but when you are going up against the iPhone, I think you should be able to change wallpaper without constant crashes! Thats the sort of thing that would put me off buying a phone, if a friend told me "this is so much better than the iPhone, check out the sparkly backgrounds" and then CRASH, #2 CRASH, #3 CRASH as you try and change the background! I'd automatically assume the rest of the phone were as buggy. Do other Android devices have similar crashes? I've had iPhone apps crash before, but never the actual first party OS functions before. I dont have much hands on experience with Android, its not really available in New Zealand.
Anyway, hope I dont come across as a jerk. I have big hopes for Android, although I dont see myself leaving my iPhone soon. The Nexus One seems to have a very nice interface with some software features that Apple would do well to copy. I dont like the look of the hardware, I'd prefer the iPhone. Its good to have strong and healthy competition in any market, I dont think Android handsets have been on par with the iPhone yet. Im trying not to get too excited over the Nexus One, as too often we hear "iPhone Killer" bandied about. Perhaps if we didnt have such high hopes, we would be more tolerant of Androids current flaws, rather than instantly dismissing the device when it turns out not to be made of solid gold and curing cancer. I remember the ridiculous hype over the Droid, with a massive marketing campaign, and then it seems to have just fallen dead? When I hear of the Nexus One, commenters will often mention "the Droid sucked" or "this is so much better than the Droid" etc.
I hope the Nexus One comes out soon so I can see it, although New Zealand seems to only have one or possibly two Android handsets on sale?
I love how whenever "hollywood" shows an image of Americans as NOT cowboys or Elvis, its somehow "unamerican":)
I'm a New Zealander and didnt really think "this is un american", although yes, I did realise "oh, hes probably pissed about all the wars in the middle east!" Thats a little difficult to assume all the time though, every time an African American actor is in a movie, are they just there for "diversity"? Or, like Samuel L Jackson, are they there because they are genuine stars? I think its the same for plots, we cant just assume everything in a movie is some big attack on something we personally love and believe in.
I'm vegan, and was more than a little pissed at the "animal" scenes. The whole "tie 'em up, and jab your "thing" into them", and then the animals are instantly your property? They just bow down to "humans"? Very arrogant. Very sexual too I thought. But that could just me being overly sensitive. I also didnt like the "kill an animal and pray over it, that makes it fine". They spout off some bullshit "oh brother, I realise now that we will become one, I respect you and your body will become "one" with "the people"". Did Camron make this movie to piss off patriotic Americans and New Zealand Vegans? Who knows!
Perhaps we put ourselves in movies when we shouldnt, reading personal attacks in what happens on screen, when really, there was no hidden meaning.
I was so dissapointed that I couldnt see it in 3D, that I didnt want to see it at all but got dragged along by friends. I'd already decided that I would basically never go back to the movie theatre. I broke that promise to see This Is It, and thought that would be the last movie I ever saw at a cinema. Funny, the service SUCKED then, the manager was busy on the phone doing some interview about their "fantastic new digital projectors", although "um, no we wont be getting 3D". I wanted to laugh, how screwed are movie theatres without the promise of cutting edge technology unavailable through the likes of bit torrent?
I saw Avatar, and again the theatre was crappy. Sticking just to the movie itself though, I absolutely loved it. But the picture quality? It looked dim, grainy, jerky, blurry...It was awful! My friend has a 46 inch Samsung LED lit LCD screen, and maybe I'd been spoiled by that. We had recently been to a computer store and seen $5K+ USD tvs showing off blu ray. Amazing quality, mind blowing concerts of Elton John, how weird is it that one of the best looking videos I've ever seen is an elderly man playing piano?
The blur hurt my eyes, I swear the focus must have been off, or is it just how the image is projected up? I also noticed the "cigarette burns", they seemed to pop up every minute!
After playing online video games in 1080 on a 46 inch LED lit LCD screen, I dont think that movie theatres, at least the ones I've seen here in New Zealand, can compete, not without 3D.
We both agree nature, "the wild", involves a lot of death, I've said that before. What I've said is, isnt it funny when people who want to hunt and kill animals try and justify it as "doing good" for the world. I dont think a fox makes moral choices the way we do, do you? I think most animals are quite aware of whats going on about them, I dont think they bother with "am I a republican or a democrat", but I'm certain they are aware of who they are etc.
Going back to Elephants, have you ever seen them protect their young? Its amazing. Although, in the flesh, I've only met a circus elephant, I protested against the circus using animals, the Elephant has just recently been freed.
I dont know what more to say to you if you disagree with my statement that animals have "good emotions", not just "bad emotions". Life is not nearly as "mean" as you've made it out to be. Even if it were, and I disagree with that, then surely you and I can control what we do. It doesnt take some fancy pants charity to make the world a better place, what you and I do has its own tiny effect, and in the case of letting animals live or die, then its very significant to those animals.
I'm not interested in "animal welfare" at all. I'm for "Animal Rights", which is "not using animals in the first place". I live in a small town and dont drive, I walk or cycle everywhere. Go to a dictionary, if you dont trust wikipedia, and you will see what "humane" meant a hundred years ago, and what its been perverted into meaning now. Do you know about the original "humane society"? They were for saving human lives, it had nothing to do with "this bacon comes from an animal that was killed "humanely" "
Ignoring all we have said about animals "in the wild",you can choose what you eat. The choices you take have a large effect for animals.
I dont really have anything much more to add, just going back to my stance, that "foreign" people are nothing to fear, that we are all people, and to try and erect silly walls will get you nowhere.
I'm not afraid to live in a culture where other languages are spoken, not at all. I've never had a "white" best friend. I appreciate other cultures, I dont try and "lock them out" of my area!
I'm just guessing based on your signature that you live in New Mexico? If you are so worried about "illegals", why live in a place called New MEXICO? Why not move to an area thats more "unified" with people that are the same as you? I'm sure you can find a state (or a few dozen) where English is pretty much the only language spoken.
To end with your final comment about buying meat at a butcher, Im vegan:)
See, I see it differently. Do you see a tidal wave of "foreign" people about to crash over your country, and "invade" it? I dont. I see some probably poor people who want to make a new life for themselves. I dont think you can keep trying to plug holes in your dam to keep people out!
If 10 people live in a city, then they should have a say about what goes on there, doesnt matter if they have lived their for one generation or ten generations.
Have you ever seen online ads for "green cards"? I have, maybe I only see them because Im overseas. I've always found it upsetting, to say the least, to see these flashing banners. I think Gmail has put up text versions for me before. The idea that "oh, you're from outside of Country X, so you must be desperate to get in". Fact is, Im sure you can agree that a lot more honest, good people would like to move to the USA, and they just cant get in.
I've heard all kinds of stories about arranged marriages and the like, just to stay in the USA. Or, on programs like 60 Minutes, stories of the current American War Widows, who were not born in the USA and are going to be "sent back to where they belong" now that their husband was blown to bits defending his country overseas! Some of them that were featured had plans to be married, "when he got back", but it hadnt happened yet, and without a silly piece of paper saying so, they wouldnt be allowed to stay.
For hells sake, some had children that had been born in the USA, "oh, the kid can stay, but you have to get back to where you belong lady"! Unbelievable, imagine if the child did have to stay behind with family friends, while the mother HAD to leave. Oh yes, I know that currently there must be all kinds of schemes, phony marriages, to allow people to stay in the USA. Surely, if it were easier to belong there, that wouldnt happen?
I'm not for legalising all drugs, although it does seem to work, but when it comes to immigration, I'd be for having looser, if not essentially open borders. If you are for "free trade", then why not for "free borders"?
This prevents people who are loyal to another nation and culture from effectively conquering by immigration. This is a very real and serious concern for the U.S. where legal immigrants can vote and have a voice equal to someone who has lived in and built up this nation their entire lives.
That was rather shocking to me. This idea of "us" and "them", of "real all american" and "illegals"....You do realise that once upon a time, not so long ago in the grand scheme of things, America was very different to it is now? It hasnt always been this way, like evolution, its going to keep changing, it doesnt just "stop".
You do know that beneath the little terms that are thrown at them, "illegals" ARE real people too?
I happen to live in a mostly "white" rural part of New Zealand. I sometimes get really amazed by the larger cities, just having larger populations of people from all around the world. Things that people who live their would have grown up with, but that I've never seen before. I'd never seen a mosque before, or been to asian markets such as the ones in the larger centres here. There are advertisements in languages I dont understand, messages signwritten onto cars. I find it to be a cool feeling, this is what city living is about, not isolating yourself to some suburb. Diversity is a wonderful thing.
All the Pledge of Allegiance etc, do you think that all makes someone "good"? I dont think most countries in the world do similar rituals as those. To be honest, it sounds a little scary, I think you can imagine what Im skirting around. I have no problem if someone comes here from an actual "poor country", and DOESNT promise every day that they love this country that gives them a minimum wage job.
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I agree about the overuse of production tools such as Autotune, especially now that the average listener has heard of it.
Still, technology is increasing every year, I'm 22, and in many ways, I'll be surprised if we dont have absolutely flawless rendering of human characters within my natural lifespan, wouldnt you? I would assume computer modelling is easier to improve than say, flying cars! Resolution for one, is just "how many dots are used", double the "dots", and the overall picture (presumably!) looks better.
As a NZer, I'm proud to know people who were in the LOTR movies. The Worlds Fastest Indian was set in my city, Invercargill, our mayor was a good friend of the main character (played by Anthony Hopkins), and I saw people I grew up with filling an entire movie screen.
But, think of the cost of the costumes etc for large battles! Its crazy, why pay "$1,000" (lets say) per person in a million person battle when you can easily do it all in CGI? If not capable now, it will be in a few years.
It was always clear that what I was looking at was CG. It is not yet at a point where the computer is going to fool the viewer into thinking that what they are seeing is real. It's come a hell of a long way but we're not yet at "perfected." Not by a long shot.
When you say that, what needs to be done for it to seem "real" for you? I ask because we all know how fast technology is improving, the CGI in a decade old movie will most likely seem "obvious" compared to a more recent movie, like Avatar say. If its not ready now, then it will be ready in 10 years, if not then....another 10 years....at some time, surely we will be able to "render in real life resolution" etc. I'm 22 and expect this will easily happen within my lifetime.
I think part of the problem is we know how photoshop etc work, so we can almost deconstruct how a photo/movie was made. I've starting podcasting, and I realise that after editing and producing my episodes, listening to the final result, I realise "ok, so in 2 seconds the first track will fade down..." and be able to visualise what GarageBand looked like at that time. Its especially obvious to me what effects etc I used, since I did it, but my friend is an ex sound engineer who has worked with absolute A grade productions, Disney movies, famous rappers etc, and she could do a much better job.
I almost think that CGI "spoils" real miracles, I like butterflies, I like Michael Jackson, but during This Is It, I noticed one of the forest scenes, where a small girl held a (presumably real? I wasnt paying attention) butterfly, and then magically a whole flurry of butterflies spiral about the screen. It was instantly obvious it was just a computer effect, there were no real butterflies. Yet, butterflies would move like that in real life! I think the effect was rather obvious, but done better, it could honestly be identical to real life butterfly movements. I think about Video Game graphics, I remember when PS1 "looked awesome", I remember when PS2 "looked awesome", how PS3 "looks awesome"....
Surely in time, and with skilled artists, CGI will be absolutely, positively "better" than real actors, I think its a "Moore's law"-esque rule.
Thank you, I did somewhat understand that was the case. Still, no use to me if I "un jailbreak" my iPhone, and am stuck with my beautiful iPhone only able to place emergency calls! No apps, no music, no contacts, no calculator....but in case of emergencies, I guess I'd be fine! Ha!
:)
Have a great day, thank you for your help
Tubes had their advantages, ie Mig 25
:)
Tubes were easier to replace in remote airfields, which would be VERY useful during a war...they also were more protected from EMP's, kind of useful when you are dropping Nuclear bombs I would assume
I think tubes have had their day, I am not one of these "pure analogue" audiophiles, but to dismiss all tube technology is very rash. I believe the Soviet jets were lacking when it came to instrumentation though.
I utterly agree. For one thing, most paid apps are only a dollar or two....its not like we're talking about thousand dollar software here! I mean, cripes, to steal a dollar or two from some kid's first app.....even the big iPhone game companies are small....
You know its odd, I like to buy music whenever possible, unless its unavailable in my country (audiobooks are hard to find here, and from what I've seen, they cost $50 USD+....unreal...), because I feel bad to steal music/movies etc, but I would absolutely never consider stealing from an iDevice developer. Sometimes, when I see an unpopular app, I'll buy it and send a message of support to the developer. One app that was obviously made by someone from my country, the developer said "oh, so you're the other person who downloaded it " which made me laugh, although, it could actually be true! Why wouldnt you want to toss a single dollar to someone in that situation?
Funny, I guess its because I havnt been screwed over so often, as with the large media companies.
The Original iPhone was never sold in New Zealand, I bought an imported, Jailbroken and Unlocked iPhone off the internet. Its turned out to be one of the best purchases of my life, I got it for about 600 USD, it had been jailbroken etc for me, and I run it on a prepaid plan. I only have a Jailbroken and Unlocked iPhone because it needs to be that way, without that, I would be stuck on the "please activate" screen, stuck to only ringing an emergency number (and, it might be "911" which is pretty much useless in NZ where we use "111"!)
:)
I've never wanted to "steal" apps, not at all, I totally think the developers deserve to make money, and hey, I mean, lets get serious, most paid apps I look at cost a DOLLAR OR TWO....who would steal that? It would be like mugging a busker for the change in his hat. Pathetic.
HOWEVER: I can never seem to be able to buy tracks from Tap Tap Revenge 3, I can buy song packs, but NEVER individual songs. I've seen this mentioned on the developer, Tapulous' site, that JB iDevices wont work? Its very strange, I cant even SEE the songs, if I go to say, browse the "easy" tracks, it just says "no items in this category". I can see ALL the artist names, but cannot see a SINGLE track from ANY of them. I suspect there is someway to detect Jailbroken iDevices, and its locking me out somehow?
I really cant unjailbreak or unlock my iPhone, it simply will not work here. I really want to buy TTR3 tracks though
Sure do, I have the ingame audio ripped to my iPod. # Eugenics Inc. International (2) # Mummification (2)
Sorry to annoy you. I didnt mean to cause offense, I dont find "centimetREs" to be annoying :) I just dont really know what a foot or a inch is. Although, I do say "about an inch" sometimes, its a habit of speech worldwide I would assume.
Sorry to offend.
...but I'm not an asshat and I understand that being uncomfortable isn't possibly fatal.
Try telling me that, I'm 1.95M tall, roughly about 6 and 5 of your "feet" and "inches", and live in New Zealand. I've only been on one international flight, to Australia, lasting 2-3 hours, and it ALMOST killed me. I got on the plane JUST after a SLIGHTLY taller classmate, he would be about an "inch" taller than I. He got the special exit seat. I suffered in some ridiculous space. Hearing about obese people who get an extra seat etc, drives me nuts. Their weight is most likely something they have done to themselves, I was born this way.
Being fair to the airlines, most cars feel cramped to my legs. But, knowing that my SLIGHTLY larger friend got an amazing Exit seat, with basically unlimited room, and I was stuck in something surely designed by Satan, was infuriating!
Its fun to look at those diagrams of how 747's etc would be built, with large cocktail bars, sofa's etc. Economics dont work that way sadly, thus, we get "Cattle Class", which sucks for a Vegan!
I dont know how Adam Curry, of a similar height, deals with his seemingly weekly international plane trips.
Third party applications can extend or replace included applications (like the dialer or address book) it is possible that an unstable 3rd party app can make things less stable. That's the price you pay for having an open platform, and well worth it based on the functionality that I have on my phone that you can never, ever have with an iPhone
You'd take another third party "phone.app" that has extra speed dial slots over stability? Really?
Open Source doesnt have to be unstable, I dabble from time to time with Linux and rather enjoy it. Still havnt made the big switch, but I do appreciate Open Source software. If thats what you mean by Open Platform. If it give me stability on a "mission critical" device like a phone, I'd take a closed source device. Also, what about OS updates, they kinda suck on Android, you have to wait for your carrier to give it to you? Or not... Thats ridiculous. When an update comes out, I download it on iTunes, no different than a podcast, plug in my phone and BOOM, I'm running it. (I also jailbreak)
Anyway, if I have to defend myself about "what I've heard", its basically that Android is "a close second", check any of the big Gadget sites, Endgadget, Gizmodo etc. They all say "if you dont get an iPhone, the Droid is the second best..." Oh here, this is actual evidence of what I've been saying, "It's this simple: If you don't buy an iPhone, buy a Droid. It's the best phone on Verizon, and with Android 2.0, the second best smartphone you can buy, period. It's flawed, deeply in some ways. But it's the second best phone around, on the best network around."
So, these reviewers were all so jacked up about the Droid, and now it seems to be "not as good as the Nexus One", which has all the hype. Check any review of the Nexus One and you will notice those comments, "the Droid felt slow, this is faster" etc etc etc.
I dont have much hands on experience with an Android phone, they are not really sold in New Zealand. From the people I know who have one, they say its not as "polished" as an iPhone. I'm sorry I havnt recorded every conversation I've had with my friends for you!
I hope I can play around with the Nexus One soon.
Im not hearing many good things about Android...a phone is perhaps the most important gadget you rely upon, believe it or not, you can live without your computer! It only takes an hour or so to completely reinstall a computer operating system, or you can just buy a new one off the shelf if it dies.
But a phone, if it dies when you are stranded somewhere...its life or death. I've grown attached to my phones, funny to think that ten years ago I didnt actually have a cellphone. But now, the thought of being away from it literally creeps me out, "have I gotten a call?", "does someone need me?" etc.
I was actually a little scared to get a smartphone, I thought there must be so much more to go wrong with my phone. My iPhone has never crashed in its basic Apple programmed duties yet, I'm hoping it stays that way!
Its seriously not acceptable to have a glitchy phone, in the same way I wouldnt accept a buggy GPS unit. I've been in situations before when my phone has literally saved my life, Im not going to risk it with what appears to be a seriously unstable OS.
Sad to hear about your problems. Maybe you could work out what is causing the crashes, if its a certain website or whatever, and send a bug report to Apple. I know they wont do anything about it, but worth a try!
I leave my iPhone on all the time, its rather useless for calls when you have it turned off, and I've never had any crashes on the Apple made apps and only rarely do 3rd party App Store apps crash. For a while there, when the App Store were new, EVERYTHING would crash on opening!
They still pump out updates, it drives me nuts. I have 100 odd apps, and constantly have about 60 updates waiting, no matter how often I update my most used applications (remember when we called them "programs"?), theres always an update a day away!
Oh I entirely agree, a lost call can cost you money. I have had applications on my jailbroken Original iPhone crash on me before, but never core iPhone functions like the phone, or txt messaging etc. Those are things that are "Apples fault", if a fart app craps out on me, then thats "the fault of the 14 year old programmer".
I think ALL of the cellular problems American iPhones on AT&T have, are caused by AT&T! In NZ, I've never had ANY of those problems! EVER! Overseas networks also seem to have essentially no problems with iPhone data/call use.
Not saying that the iPhone is perfect, its not, but I do think that a reviewer should be able to change the wallpaper on a soon to be released phone without it crashing. I dont think you should pay good money for a phone that crashes on simple core tasks. For me, my iPhone hasnt.
Im still interesting in seeing what the Nexus One is like when its released.
ha,well if you do push her towards an iPhone, she can rest assured that the iPhone also links contact addresses to Google Maps :) Its a cool feature on both iPhones and Android devices. How did we live without Google Maps? :)
I'm always afraid that I'll come across as a smug Apple fanboi when I mention things that SEEM to be wrong with Android, after all, I've barely spent any time with actual Android devices.
Sorry to hear your wife has had problems. Is it so bad that it would put you off Android in general?
I've noticed people who use Android tend to have applications to kill tasks, as someone else mentioned, I'd almost rather have a "non multitasking" iPhone than a phone I have to constantly worry about while my phone is in my pocket, "is fart application.app using up resources?"
Very funny, isnt this thing meant to be coming out soon? I realise all tech has crashes, but when you are going up against the iPhone, I think you should be able to change wallpaper without constant crashes! Thats the sort of thing that would put me off buying a phone, if a friend told me "this is so much better than the iPhone, check out the sparkly backgrounds" and then CRASH, #2 CRASH, #3 CRASH as you try and change the background! I'd automatically assume the rest of the phone were as buggy. Do other Android devices have similar crashes? I've had iPhone apps crash before, but never the actual first party OS functions before. I dont have much hands on experience with Android, its not really available in New Zealand.
Anyway, hope I dont come across as a jerk. I have big hopes for Android, although I dont see myself leaving my iPhone soon. The Nexus One seems to have a very nice interface with some software features that Apple would do well to copy. I dont like the look of the hardware, I'd prefer the iPhone. Its good to have strong and healthy competition in any market, I dont think Android handsets have been on par with the iPhone yet. Im trying not to get too excited over the Nexus One, as too often we hear "iPhone Killer" bandied about. Perhaps if we didnt have such high hopes, we would be more tolerant of Androids current flaws, rather than instantly dismissing the device when it turns out not to be made of solid gold and curing cancer. I remember the ridiculous hype over the Droid, with a massive marketing campaign, and then it seems to have just fallen dead? When I hear of the Nexus One, commenters will often mention "the Droid sucked" or "this is so much better than the Droid" etc.
I hope the Nexus One comes out soon so I can see it, although New Zealand seems to only have one or possibly two Android handsets on sale?
hobbit humpers FTW! Glad you think of me that way, better than the sheep jokes!
I love how whenever "hollywood" shows an image of Americans as NOT cowboys or Elvis, its somehow "unamerican" :)
I'm a New Zealander and didnt really think "this is un american", although yes, I did realise "oh, hes probably pissed about all the wars in the middle east!" Thats a little difficult to assume all the time though, every time an African American actor is in a movie, are they just there for "diversity"? Or, like Samuel L Jackson, are they there because they are genuine stars? I think its the same for plots, we cant just assume everything in a movie is some big attack on something we personally love and believe in.
I'm vegan, and was more than a little pissed at the "animal" scenes. The whole "tie 'em up, and jab your "thing" into them", and then the animals are instantly your property? They just bow down to "humans"? Very arrogant. Very sexual too I thought. But that could just me being overly sensitive. I also didnt like the "kill an animal and pray over it, that makes it fine". They spout off some bullshit "oh brother, I realise now that we will become one, I respect you and your body will become "one" with "the people"". Did Camron make this movie to piss off patriotic Americans and New Zealand Vegans? Who knows!
Perhaps we put ourselves in movies when we shouldnt, reading personal attacks in what happens on screen, when really, there was no hidden meaning.
I was so dissapointed that I couldnt see it in 3D, that I didnt want to see it at all but got dragged along by friends. I'd already decided that I would basically never go back to the movie theatre. I broke that promise to see This Is It, and thought that would be the last movie I ever saw at a cinema. Funny, the service SUCKED then, the manager was busy on the phone doing some interview about their "fantastic new digital projectors", although "um, no we wont be getting 3D". I wanted to laugh, how screwed are movie theatres without the promise of cutting edge technology unavailable through the likes of bit torrent?
I saw Avatar, and again the theatre was crappy. Sticking just to the movie itself though, I absolutely loved it. But the picture quality? It looked dim, grainy, jerky, blurry...It was awful! My friend has a 46 inch Samsung LED lit LCD screen, and maybe I'd been spoiled by that. We had recently been to a computer store and seen $5K+ USD tvs showing off blu ray. Amazing quality, mind blowing concerts of Elton John, how weird is it that one of the best looking videos I've ever seen is an elderly man playing piano?
The blur hurt my eyes, I swear the focus must have been off, or is it just how the image is projected up? I also noticed the "cigarette burns", they seemed to pop up every minute!
After playing online video games in 1080 on a 46 inch LED lit LCD screen, I dont think that movie theatres, at least the ones I've seen here in New Zealand, can compete, not without 3D.
I'll sum up a lot in a little here.
We both agree nature, "the wild", involves a lot of death, I've said that before. What I've said is, isnt it funny when people who want to hunt and kill animals try and justify it as "doing good" for the world. I dont think a fox makes moral choices the way we do, do you? I think most animals are quite aware of whats going on about them, I dont think they bother with "am I a republican or a democrat", but I'm certain they are aware of who they are etc.
Going back to Elephants, have you ever seen them protect their young? Its amazing. Although, in the flesh, I've only met a circus elephant, I protested against the circus using animals, the Elephant has just recently been freed.
I dont know what more to say to you if you disagree with my statement that animals have "good emotions", not just "bad emotions". Life is not nearly as "mean" as you've made it out to be. Even if it were, and I disagree with that, then surely you and I can control what we do. It doesnt take some fancy pants charity to make the world a better place, what you and I do has its own tiny effect, and in the case of letting animals live or die, then its very significant to those animals.
I'm not interested in "animal welfare" at all. I'm for "Animal Rights", which is "not using animals in the first place". I live in a small town and dont drive, I walk or cycle everywhere. Go to a dictionary, if you dont trust wikipedia, and you will see what "humane" meant a hundred years ago, and what its been perverted into meaning now. Do you know about the original "humane society"? They were for saving human lives, it had nothing to do with "this bacon comes from an animal that was killed "humanely" "
Ignoring all we have said about animals "in the wild",you can choose what you eat. The choices you take have a large effect for animals.
Great! I hope you took plenty of pictures, I'd love to meet your little animal friends!
I dont really have anything much more to add, just going back to my stance, that "foreign" people are nothing to fear, that we are all people, and to try and erect silly walls will get you nowhere.
:)
I'm not afraid to live in a culture where other languages are spoken, not at all. I've never had a "white" best friend. I appreciate other cultures, I dont try and "lock them out" of my area!
I'm just guessing based on your signature that you live in New Mexico? If you are so worried about "illegals", why live in a place called New MEXICO? Why not move to an area thats more "unified" with people that are the same as you? I'm sure you can find a state (or a few dozen) where English is pretty much the only language spoken.
To end with your final comment about buying meat at a butcher, Im vegan
See, I see it differently. Do you see a tidal wave of "foreign" people about to crash over your country, and "invade" it? I dont. I see some probably poor people who want to make a new life for themselves. I dont think you can keep trying to plug holes in your dam to keep people out!
If 10 people live in a city, then they should have a say about what goes on there, doesnt matter if they have lived their for one generation or ten generations.
Have you ever seen online ads for "green cards"? I have, maybe I only see them because Im overseas. I've always found it upsetting, to say the least, to see these flashing banners. I think Gmail has put up text versions for me before. The idea that "oh, you're from outside of Country X, so you must be desperate to get in". Fact is, Im sure you can agree that a lot more honest, good people would like to move to the USA, and they just cant get in.
I've heard all kinds of stories about arranged marriages and the like, just to stay in the USA. Or, on programs like 60 Minutes, stories of the current American War Widows, who were not born in the USA and are going to be "sent back to where they belong" now that their husband was blown to bits defending his country overseas! Some of them that were featured had plans to be married, "when he got back", but it hadnt happened yet, and without a silly piece of paper saying so, they wouldnt be allowed to stay.
For hells sake, some had children that had been born in the USA, "oh, the kid can stay, but you have to get back to where you belong lady"! Unbelievable, imagine if the child did have to stay behind with family friends, while the mother HAD to leave. Oh yes, I know that currently there must be all kinds of schemes, phony marriages, to allow people to stay in the USA. Surely, if it were easier to belong there, that wouldnt happen?
I'm not for legalising all drugs, although it does seem to work, but when it comes to immigration, I'd be for having looser, if not essentially open borders. If you are for "free trade", then why not for "free borders"?
This prevents people who are loyal to another nation and culture from effectively conquering by immigration. This is a very real and serious concern for the U.S. where legal immigrants can vote and have a voice equal to someone who has lived in and built up this nation their entire lives.
That was rather shocking to me. This idea of "us" and "them", of "real all american" and "illegals"....You do realise that once upon a time, not so long ago in the grand scheme of things, America was very different to it is now? It hasnt always been this way, like evolution, its going to keep changing, it doesnt just "stop".
You do know that beneath the little terms that are thrown at them, "illegals" ARE real people too?
I happen to live in a mostly "white" rural part of New Zealand. I sometimes get really amazed by the larger cities, just having larger populations of people from all around the world. Things that people who live their would have grown up with, but that I've never seen before. I'd never seen a mosque before, or been to asian markets such as the ones in the larger centres here. There are advertisements in languages I dont understand, messages signwritten onto cars. I find it to be a cool feeling, this is what city living is about, not isolating yourself to some suburb. Diversity is a wonderful thing.
All the Pledge of Allegiance etc, do you think that all makes someone "good"? I dont think most countries in the world do similar rituals as those. To be honest, it sounds a little scary, I think you can imagine what Im skirting around. I have no problem if someone comes here from an actual "poor country", and DOESNT promise every day that they love this country that gives them a minimum wage job.