smart fit park

I caught a glimpse of this on TV (yes, I get the irony) …it’s an interactive video learning/activity game for kids, kinda like a Wii Fit but geared for a pre-school audience.  The kid, with a movement pad on which they stand, marches, runs, skips and jumps their way through various activities displayed on screen.  It’s like a virtual park.  They even get to customize their own avatar!

Alright, the exclamation mark after avatar really isn’t needed, but I was only trying to stress the silliness of it all.  It is silly isn’t it?  I mean, having your child simulate playing in a park instead of actually playing in one?  Or is it me?  I can see the use for older, shut-in types of people, but for kids?  Certainly there’s a connection to ‘real life’ …designing a game that ties the thrill of video/computers into the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of today’s youth in an attempt to get them active once again.  But isn’t this a little over the top?  Shouldn’t someone have stepped back and looked at the obvious; ‘We’re designing a toy that simulates a playground so that the child doesn’t have to actually go to one’ …or something like that?

I have a better game idea …it’s called “Unplug the TV!”  You and your child get in front of your TV set and while it’s showing a favorite show, go behind it and pull the plug.  Neat hey!?  You get to stand there for a few minutes in the erie silence that now fills the room, until one of you finally offers up a suggestion for doing something real.  Maybe go outside?  Bike?  Walk?  Throw leaves at each other?  Invent a game?  Something!?  I’m sure that one of you will figure things out, and in no time you’ll both be happier for not only doing something together, but for doing something real as well.  Heck, if you went to a real park you might even be able to make some new friends …imagine that!  Of course …the TV game will probably allow you to make your own friends as well.  So maybe that’s not a great idea.

Maybe I’m picking nits or something.  Maybe.  And of course the makers of the product would never endorse their game as a substitute for real activity.  The thing is though, providing an indoor simulation of an outdoor activity to a naturally active child is not doing the family any favours.  Kids are not bumps on logs …but parents, who may otherwise be busy, might reasonably expect this product to occasionally provide their kid with playparky goodness in lieu of the real thing.  It’s sad but true …so why even present the opportunity?

Smart?  Not really.
Fit?  Nope.
Park?  Definitely not.

Image from the FIsher-Price store.

Lappy

Well it kinda worked out.

The week I decided to buy this new Macbook turned out to be the same week Apple decided to update its iMac models …which happened to be what I was hoping to sell to off-set my Macbook purchase.  As soon as I realized they updated, I scrambled and got an ad out for my iMac.  It did sell, this morning, and on the bad side I took a little less than what I was expecting ($100 less) …but on the plus side I found a $50 bill lodged under my keyboard from some remnant gig of the past, so that was kinda like free money.  Yea for free money!

So it’s all good.  I parlayed a nearing 10 year old ibook and a semi-current computer into a new laptop that I kinda missed having.  The Macbook is a computer, and like all computers it’s more about how you use it than what it does.  Of course it does stuff …and kinda well (that’s Apple though) but it is what it is – a piece of technology that’ll be obsolete in as long as it takes me to find another $50 bill laying around my room.

Now to get used to this small screen again.

The Unibody Macbook ...the 'Pros' are just hype

kenny loggins & classic spidey

‘I Need A Hero!‘

Not really of course …it just happens to be one of the songs in the Footloose Musical I get to do in mid-November or so.  The scores just came in I was perusing some of the tunes of yesteryear.  It looks pretty straight forward though.  Lots of key changes of course, but generally rock.  And some roll I suppose.  Maybe even a mix of the two …that’s exciting.  I think?!

Aside from that, I’m hoping to sell off the ibook (500) tomorrow, which is the precursor to the selling of the iMac (2.4 GHz) within the next few weeks, which is also the indicator of the soon to be arriving Macbook.  Yep, I decided it was time to get back to the laptop thing …and I have a feeling the timing might be right.  My iMac is pretty current for being almost a few years old, but rumor down the pipe is that there’s a change a-comin’ …and I don’t want to be stuck with it when it’s too far out of the loop.

For a guy who doesn’t like to be behind the times though, you might wonder why I decided to order the recently discontinued Macbook Unibody instead of going for the firewire/SD-slot/7-hour battery Macbook Pro that just released?  Well, and it may come back to bite me, but I think the Macbook is on its way out.  The MBPro is here to stay, but I sense a small ‘netbookish’ offering from Apple sometime next summer.  Something between the Macbook and the iPhone, and that should squeeze the Macbook into that 5th dimension that the made-for-tv classic Spiderman was so often in.  Essentially I’m thinking that the unibody Macbook of today is going to become the Clamshell of tomorrow.  Or that’s my hope at least.  Time will tell I guess.

And in the meantime I’ll be watching for the postman to arrive …and hoping he doesn’t get stuck in the 5th!

phone phun.

I’m definitely out of the cell phone loop.

A while back a friend of mine made the gracious comment on how I, out of all her friends, was the only one who would meet her at a specific time without having to call just before.  She didn’t have a phone, and she was probably frustrated that most of her friends wanted to call her before they got together rather than stick to a prearranged plan.  She ended up getting a phone however and last I checked, was slowly slipping to the dark side.

What brought this realization home recently was 5 or 6 meetings with strangers who would insist I call them before I was leaving so they could be ready for me.  I would tell them “I’ll be there at 5:30pm” …but what they took away was that I’d be there around 5:30 and I should call them while en route just to confirm when I was coming.  If I was to be out running errands (away from my house and phone) and said I would be there at a certain time, they were kinda puzzled/taken back as to how I’d do this.  They would even return my calls and not tell me who they were.  Strangers, who I’ve talked to once before, would called me back presuming I had call display.

Me: Hello?
Them:  Hi.
Me:  Hi.
Them:  So, do you know how to get here?
Me:  What?
Them:  My address …do you know the best way?
Me:  Who is this?
Them:  Oh …it’s Glen.
Me:  Glen?
Them:  The guy with the camera lens….

I suppose it’s a telephone etiquette issue …or rather lack thereof.  People with cells not only presume others have the same phone capabilities, but that they can also maintain constant contact …at times in lieu of sticking to a scheduled meeting that was made hours or even days in advance.  Perhaps it’s not even that though …perhaps it’s the idea that technology has changed and you’re either ‘with it’ or not.  Just as in the early days of telephony when old neighbor Johnson didn’t want a phone because he could easily take the horse over to the next farm.  Or something like that.

Maybe though, I’m deliberately keeping myself from the pace of certain technologies because I don’t find the value in them that others do.  Maybe I’m seeing a downside to walking around in your own world while your thumbs desperately communicate what you feel like eating for supper or that your new shoes are giving you a blister.  Maybe it’s the case that connectivity for the sake of technology actually breeds a disconnectedness?

It’s probably me though.
And I fear that previous gracious comment may be my last.

Image from dvorak.org

multitasking

One of the regular blogs I visit (here) has a post about multitaskers …electronic media multitaskers to be exact.  The report she referenced concluded from a recent study of 100 students that these so-called multitaskers are “suckers for irrelevancy.“  They can multitask …but it comes at the price of not being able to filter out that information which is important to the task at hand.  They get sidetracked in a way.

It’s always been said that women are better multitaskers than men, but I’ve never really bought that.  This study however, seems to suggest that anyone can multitask …but by doing so your end goals are put in jeopardy.  And as the article remarked …”By doing less, you might accomplish more.“

*troy likes this*

Image from wired.com

Facebook

I deleted my Facebook profile today.

It was a decision that was many months in the making but it ultimately came down to a matter of reclaiming computer time – time that I needed for other more important things.  Generally that time consists of (and in no particular order) blog updates and posts, email (both personal and business), general information/research surfing, offline activities (music recording/composition, writing, song rehearsing/learning) as well as general application use and miscellaneous/maintenance time.  Combined, it’s quite a bit – more than I had thought actually …and Facebook simply carved a chunk out of that for no real purpose.  I’m an active guy too, and I have a hard time physically confining myself to my computer for too long.  It makes me icky …so something had to give – and better it than me.

Facebook is great if you use it for a specific goal and if that goal is important to you.  It was wonderful to hear from friends that I’ve lost touch with for example …and to see what their lives have brought them, both good and bad.  It was great to get a note or short comment from someone whom you rarely see but who means (meant) a lot to you.  It’s wonderful to see pictures and videos of friends and their families especially when distance or circumstance makes meeting often impossible.  After being on it for over 2 years though, I think I’ve caught up with anyone I need to catch up with.  If I haven’t, then it’s safe to say I don’t need to.

As its popularity expanded so did its use …and being in the business of music I’ve had to put up with many of my friends using the technology for advertising and promotion.  Some other stuff that got to me were the constant event and cause invitations, boring video and link suggestions, annoying ‘game’ and self-promotional status updates as well as updates that are too serious and/or out of place to be posted publicly to strangers …basically not funny and not thought provoking. Also bad pictures (a pet-peeve of mine is when people can’t be bothered to edit/crop their photos) stupid group formations and having to hear whose becoming a fan of them, posting anything without first thinking about it …the list goes on of course.  Certainly there’s good stuff in there as well, but by limiting the bad information you get from friends without actually deleting them (which I’ve steadily done over the last few months) I eventually would have whittled things down to a handful of people …and it’d be the ones that I see all the time anyway.  I’ve made contact with those I wanted to – and if our friendships (…that word has been stained I’m afraid) is of any substance, then we’ll keep in touch.

I’m more of a stick-to-himself kinda guy …and Facebook ultimately requires you to branch out and expose yourself.  If you’re not comfortable with that, then you remove yourself from much of what the social networking tool has to offer.  It was fun at times …and I posted many pictures and videos that I’m sure will be missed by those tagged.  I still have them of course …and if someone wants them then they’ll give me a call and we’ll get together over a nice beverage and exchange those old memories.

After all, that’s what friends do.
Isn’t it?

books/social networking

“Instead of reading this and then not having anything else to read…” (1:25 min. mark)

That’s funny – and kinda sums it up.  I do think there is a place for ebooks – but just not yet.  That doesn’t mean there won’t be any marketing guru’s cramming things in your face though …after all, they’ve done a great job with social networking.

Looperman.com

Hey kids ….I deleted my profile over at Looperman.com.

It’s a ’six of one half dozen of another’ thing but the short of it is that the site, as another poster mentioned, is getting a bit too ‘clicky‘ for me.  I’ve followed many threads over my 2 plus years there and have seen different members come and go …and it appears I’ll be no different.

Usually it’s a case of the moderators keeping a watch on things, but for a while I feel it’s been certain moderators that have contributed to the problems …I don’t fault them for being who they are, but I do fault them for not separating their personal feelings from their responsibilities to other members, new members and to the site in general.  Other ones have remained silent …which is often worse than speaking up.

Anyway, I wish everyone on the site well.

I’ll of course continue to post different loops to my download page and possibly find another place to move my stuff to …eventually I suppose.  I still plan to separate all the individual sounds from each loop as well – perhaps offering a ‘pack’ of sorts as the Looperman admin has been procrastinating on. I’ve had some great support in the form of reviews too that, honestly, kept me working at things when I didn’t always want to …so thanks everyone, I’ll miss that I’m sure.  But doors open and close all the time, and I’m not too worried.

I just ordered their first-run t-shirt too …(lol) but I’m sure it’ll fit just right

what’s said on the internet…

…stays on the internet.  Forever.

It was recently brought to my attention by some disgruntled Facebook users that Facebook is making changes to its general policy regarding privacy options on the content its users post.  Essentially it seems FB is assigning its default to a more open format …any content published, unless that user changes these settings themselves, can be viewed by ‘Everyone’.  More importantly, FB is giving the user more control over who has access to the various stories they choose to publish.  You can read more about it here.

Again, as with my blogonesty post, there’s really no big concern about what you post if you keep in mind that whatever you do post has the potential to be seen/read/heard by anyone else on the internets.  Is that so bad?  As I mentioned before, I don’t think so.  There was a time when the internet was somewhat like the wild west …back when the technology was new and constantly changing and somewhat hard to ‘pin down’ in terms of security over who was doing what and when.  It was also a time when most computer users had to actually know something about computers – this is definitely not the case anymore!  Now-a-days it seems the internet (or rather our internet activity) is simply an extension of ourselves …that is, our identity in the real world is staying with us in the cyber world.  You’re no longer that geek hiding away in your parents basement hacking into whatever you feel like.  Things aren’t so wild anymore.

Most people have no idea how new technology works.  They’ve been lulled into a ‘plug and play’ mentality …the easier it is to use, the better off they are …or so they’ve been conditioned to think.  For example – what young cell-phone user is going to care that their phone may contain features that allow it to be tracked, or what bumbling netbook user is concerned with wifi security, or what image sender cares that the day/time/camera-make/model and potential registration information is being sent along with the image, and who among the millions of forum and blog posters realize that their own computers (through their ISP or content hosts) are tagged/cookied and traced for future reference.  Not many.  I’d make the comment ignorance is bliss …but I don’t think it’s like that.  Not exactly that is.

We do of course care about our privacy, which is why we get into such a kerfuffle when we hear about these rights potentially threatened.  On one hand though, if you’re cloaked in anonymity (which occurs a LOT on the internet), you’ve technically relinquished any rights you have.  Your rights are your rights …and being anonymous means not being there to claim them, so you have no ground to stand on in my opinion.  On the other hand, if it’s a loss of personal information that concerns you, then shouldn’t some of the responsibility for giving/volunteering that information fall on your shoulders?  Don’t blame big corporations for your lack of common sense/cavalier attitude about what you don’t understand.  No one likes being told what to do – especially consumers …but for some reason we allow businesses to dictate how we should act with their products …while at the same time mindlessly using and endorsing what they provide.  They give us what we want …and yet we somehow expect this to be free!?  It’s not, and the price is our personal freedom.  What should happen however, is that we become pro-active when it comes to new technologies, and not assume that just because the guy next door does it, it’s somehow OK for us.  Or perhaps you might enjoy following your neighbor off that proverbial bridge next time around?

Here’s my advice …consider anything you place online as having the potential to be viewed by someone else.  Email gives you a certain amount of security/legality when it comes to content, but even then there’s still a possibility for failure in the transmission.  Secure/encrypted transactions however, are as good as any personal face to face meeting.  Everything else though …facebook, myspace, blogs, forums, chat rooms, IM etc., should be seen as open territory.  It’s a product/service you don’t actually pay for …and like they say, you don’t get what you don’t pay for.  I don’t mean to suggest that there shouldn’t be any privacy on these fronts …but that in the still ever-changing world of social connectedness perhaps it would help if you erred on the side of caution. At least until there are more guarantees in place surrounding the legalities of your content.  The problem is though, as soon as we clamor for more security with a product, the quicker we lose interest in it.  It’s as if the added security takes the fun out of things.  If Facebook become a paid service many of its users would walk away pretty fast.

Privacy is nice, but you have to realize what is and what isn’t private, especially online.  In regards to social connectedness I think it’s a matter of having your cake – you can have it that is, and I suppose you can eat it …but it sure ain’t gonna taste too good when it also arrives on your spouses ‘wall‘ with a picture of an old girl/boyfriend attached to it.

Image from Facebook.

PC – “I might not be a PC!”

I like the fact that PC users are able to install Leopard (Apple) on their machines, and it seems to be getting easier as time goes on.  Apple just released some price cuts (including the iPhone) on their laptops in response to other manufactures coming out with cheaper machines ….at least compared to Apple that is.  This is all good.  I think it’s only a matter of time before OS X will be commercially sold as a legitimate system for any manufacture.  Apple boasts the ability of running Windows on their machines, so turn-about is only fair play.  Eventually that is.

This gets me thinking about the netbook I might soon consider.  I think I’ll wait until Snow Leopard comes out and see how successful that install is on a PC.  I’m not sure it’s time to abandon my iMac though …for that I’ll wait for the next big Apple OS improvement.  And by then my close to 2 year warranty should be up.

That’s the plan for now that is.