Five years ago today, my wife, daughter, and I relocated to #sandiego . We came here to be close to my father-in-law, who turns 91 before this year ends. Much has changed since Oct. 15, 2007.
Author: Joe Wilcox
I’m a Chromie Now
Four months ago, I put aside (and later sold) MacBook Air for the Samsung Series 5 550 second-generation Chromebook and never looked back. They say three times is a charm, and that proves true with my third foray using a laptop running Chrome OS. The first two proved life-changing, as I adopted a partial cloud computing lifestyle. Now I live a vigorous, charmed cloud life, which includes Android embrace.
Chromebook isn’t easy, because it demands a thinking reset. I had to put aside concepts about everyday computing, fear of losing Internet connection and perceptions about hardware configurations and what’s good enough performance value. Something else: When I started this journey, in December 2010, Chrome OS wasn’t good enough, because there weren’t enough supporting cloud apps. That has changed dramatically, because of Chrome Web Store and how much desktop-like utility Google now brings to cloud services like G+ or YouTube.
One Source is Not Enough
Continuing on my theme of accuracy about news reporting, particularly Apple and the wrongs of single-sourcing: As a rule I don’t quote FOSS Patents. There simply is too much pro-Apple bias in the analysis. I find little neutrality, yet FOSS Patents is often used as the only source on Apple legal cases by the majority of the US news media.
Even if I thought Florian Mueller’s posts were fair, I wouldn’t quote him, simply because he is so overused and so often as only so-called expert by so many bloggers, reporters, and other writers.
Free Pussy Riot!
Punk rock roared across the globe as I started college in the late 1970s. Punkers protested their disco-loving, Baby Boomer siblings as much as “The Man”. UK punkers tapped into deep frustration among a younger population struggling for identity and future in face of global economic uncertainty.
Punk music then is much different than now. Then it was a lifestyle choice rooted in rebellion. Today, for bands like Green Day, punk, and all its garnishments, is fashionable. Mascara, colored hair, and tattoos are about fitting in to a larger, accepted social group. The real energy behind bands like the Sex Pistols is gone.
Canadian Strife along 'The Border'
I grew up watching Canadian TV from the CBC station across the St. John River in New Brunswick. Programs like “The Beachcombers”, “The Friendly Giant”, “Mr. Dressup” and “North of 60”, among many others, delighted. In 1995, my wife, daughter and I moved home to Maine for 18 months, and my daughter watched “Big Comfy Couch” before its stateside debut. Many successful American TV shows were produced in Canada, such as “Battlestar Galactica” and “X-Files” and many HGTV programs.
The Canadian shows have a much different tone than their American counterparts that reminds of British TV. Well, they’re both part of the Commonwealth, eh. Yesterday I discovered CBC drama “The Border” on Netflix and have since streamed four episodes. I like it so far.
I'll Be Back
My daughter turns 18 today. She starts college in a few weeks and deserves my time (my wife, too). To celebrate, I take a week off from work, and really stepping back from everything. With a little […]
Nail Down Your Sourcing
In response to a BetaNews writer presenting a third-party source for a story this morning, I wrote in group chat: In human relationships there is a misconception that love conquers all, that it’s more important […]
Michael Arrington is Right
No one could honestly call me a Michael Arrington defender, but he has a point in post “Marissa’s Mean and Kevin’s a Quitter: The Tech Press Shineth“. Arrington is in too many ways Mr. Conflict of Interest, which raises lots of reasonable concerns about bias—because he does business with the people he reports about, or did when running TechCrunch.
But bias is unavoidable. It’s everywhere, and every journalist seeking balance when writing stories fools himself or herself when denying this. There’s no such thing as unbiased reporting. Bias is built into the fabric of culture. If, for example, you’re a registered Democrat reporting on Mitt Romney’s campaign, isn’t that conflict of interest, too? Isn’t there inherit bias if you voted for Barrack Obama and plan to do so again?
BSG Wear for a Grand-plus
Battlestar Galactica costume by Anovos, spotted at San Diego Comic-Con 2012. Cost is $1,250 without the insignia pins, which add another $320 to price. Costume is produced in Canada by same company that did them […]
Cosplayers Wait
Front of the line to meet animator Pen Ward. It’s a long one. He’s here at 5 p.m. PT. You can learn what Comic-Con is really about by talking to these Ward fans.
Role Reversal
Comic-Con 2012.
Highlands Stormtrooper
Only at Comic-Con.