Szabályok
1. Add tovább a listaírós feladatot további hét bloggernek.
2. Linkeld be őket.
3. Hagyj náluk megjegyzést, értesítsd őket.
4. Írd meg a karácsonyi kívánságlistádat.
5. Küldd el a listát a Karácsonyi ajándéklistára azaz a radmila.morgan kukac gmail.com címre.
6. Szurkolj, hogy teljesüljenek a kívánságaid.
7. Legyen boldog karácsonyod!
Lista
Szeretnék...
...olyan munkahelyet, ahonnan nem így távoznak emberek
...otthont, valódit (kék masnikkal és vasárnapi sütikkel)
...többet találkozni Ősszel
...sütni-főzni barátokkal
...visszatalálni ahhoz a hegyhez Cavtat felett
...írni ismét
...úgy élni, hogy ne kelljen fogadkoznom Újévkor (avagy: ...őszinte és bátor lenni ahhoz, hogy józanon és időben döntsek)
Ha csak becsomagolható dolgokat szabad kérni, akkor szeretnék:
...egy e-book olvasót, mert bár fájóan keveset olvasok, mégsem tudom hová tenni a könyveimet
...egy sapkát, ami nem néz ki furán, de pont olyan meleg, mint a mostani
...Pocaknak egy tuti kaparófát: világ tetejére mászós, rászundítós-körömszaggatóst
...egy tiszta hangfalszettet – semmi durvulás, hisz a panel utálja a wattokat, de jó lenne ismét hallani a hegedű hangjában a fát
...olyan ajándékokat találni, amik már nem is kerülnek vissza a fa alá, mert azonnal helyük van valahol
Ok, ez utóbbit megint csak nem lehet becsomagolni. Ettől függetlenül ragaszkodom hozzá! :p
Linkek
Ijesztően kevesen blogoltok, szóval az alábbi lista sokkal könnyebben összeállt a vártnál.
(Van benne csalfa link azért.)
HannaCsilla – Aviator – Torn – DugovicsTits – DonCsicsó – Ania – Te
És nagy kösz dzsiznek és Julisnak, amiért felkapták az ötletet :)
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Egy gyönyörű barátság kezdete II.
Debreceni Rendőrfőkapitányság
Név : Varga Károly
Születési dátuma : 1981.02.10
Lakóhelye : (...)
szám alatti lakost a Be. 67. § (1) bekezdés első fordulata alapján kihallgatása céljából 2010. év augusztus hónap 25. nap 13 óra 00 percre a fenti szerv (...) alatti hivatali helyiségébe idézem.
A Be. 67. § (2) bekezdés c) pontja alapján az idézés alapjául szolgáló tanúkihallgatás várható időtartama: 1 óra
Debrecen, 2010. augusztus 11.
Gazdaságvédelmi Alosztály
(...)
IDÉZÉS
tanú részére
Név : Varga Károly
Születési dátuma : 1981.02.10
Lakóhelye : (...)
szám alatti lakost a Be. 67. § (1) bekezdés első fordulata alapján kihallgatása céljából 2010. év augusztus hónap 25. nap 13 óra 00 percre a fenti szerv (...) alatti hivatali helyiségébe idézem.
A Be. 67. § (2) bekezdés c) pontja alapján az idézés alapjául szolgáló tanúkihallgatás várható időtartama: 1 óra
Debrecen, 2010. augusztus 11.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Glee
"Just listen. The song says everything."
– Rachel (Glee)
Finished grinding Glee yesterday, and I already miss people singing at random... apparently I love musicals. Don't expect me to pull a serious review here though; I loved the singing, and the general crazy of it, but it's way too over the top to be taken seriously.
Which, ironically, is why it's so damn effective when it decides to slap you in the face. You just don't expect a 'feel good' show to shock, or even make you think...
...and that makes it really confusing to answer one simple question: "Which was your favorite part?"
Below's mine. The backstory is simple: the Glee kids meet the opposing show choir team, which is from a school for the deaf.
Got it? A singing competition against deaf people? Nine episode into the crazy of Glee already, this is simply too much to be taken seriously; you're just as much in disbelief, probably even disgust, as the Glee kids initially are.
And then the deaf kids start singing in sign language, and it proves to be the most touching song in the entire season.
Noticed how their hands, moving to the rhythm of the lyrics, make them look as if they're dancing as well?
Thank you for the wild, Glee.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Egy gyönyörű barátság kezdete
DKV ellenőr elkéri a bérletem, bámulja, majd közli, hogy be kell vonja. Kérdezem miért, vállvonogatás – azt nem tudja, csak azt, hogy be kell vonja. Jelzem, hogy egy érvényes bérlet, érvényes igazolványhoz.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia.
Kérdezem, mivel utazzak tovább.
Jegyet kellene venni.
Érvényes bérlettel utazom, amit két napja vettem.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia, és a továbbiakban jeggyel kell utazzak. De majd be kell fáradjak az ügyfélszolgálatra, és ott elmondják, mi van.
Hagyom magam. Megkérdezem, mikor van nyitva az ügyfélszolgálat.
Hétfőn már mehetek, nyolctól.
– Hétvége jön – mutatok rá, – és nekem ki kell mennem Józsára szüleimhez. Ez négy darab jegy addig, 1200 forint, amit feleslegesen adok ki, hiszen érvényes bérletem van.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia. Próbáljam meg bemutatni a jegyet az ügyfélszolgálaton.
– Mi az, hogy próbáljam – indul meg a pumpa. – 1200 forint, a bérlet értékének harmada.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia. Majd mutassam be az ügyfélszolgálaton, hogy költségem volt vele. Rajta lesz a jegyen, hogy mikor érvényesítették.
– És kifizetik?
Nem tudja. Próbáljam meg. Rajta van a dátum, az idő, meg a járat.
– Azt megtudhatnám esetleg, hogy miért kell bevonnia a bérletem? Mi a gond vele?
Nem tudja, csak azt, hogy sorszám alapján be kell vonnia.
– Nem lehetne áthúzni, és nálam hagyni, hogy legyen mivel utazzak hétfőig?
Olyat ő nem tehet, nem érvényteleníthet bérletet. Viszont kér három aláírást.
Aláírom a füzetét, a bérletem, és egy igazoló szelvényt, amit be kell mutassak majd.
– Elnézést, az igazoló szelvénnyel nem utazhatok hétfőig?
Nem lehet. Viszont lenne még egy csekk is.
Kezembe ad egy csekket 12500 forintról. Ha nem jelentkezik öt munkanapon belül, mondja, akkor ezt majd be kell fizetnie.
Nem bírom ki. Elfordulok, mert nem neki szánom, és elröhögöm magam.
– Nem biztos, hogy jól értem – fordulok vissza hozzá, legjobb reklámhangomat elővéve. – Tehát nem elég, hogy indoklás nélkül elveszi az érvényes, két napos bérletem, és jegyvásárlásra kötelez, de még meg is büntet 12500 forintra, ha nem jelenek meg a DKV ügyfélszolgálatán, hogy személyesen kérjek bocsánatot mindezért?
Hát, nem ő találta ki. De most be kell vonnia a bérletem.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia.
Kérdezem, mivel utazzak tovább.
Jegyet kellene venni.
Érvényes bérlettel utazom, amit két napja vettem.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia, és a továbbiakban jeggyel kell utazzak. De majd be kell fáradjak az ügyfélszolgálatra, és ott elmondják, mi van.
Hagyom magam. Megkérdezem, mikor van nyitva az ügyfélszolgálat.
Hétfőn már mehetek, nyolctól.
– Hétvége jön – mutatok rá, – és nekem ki kell mennem Józsára szüleimhez. Ez négy darab jegy addig, 1200 forint, amit feleslegesen adok ki, hiszen érvényes bérletem van.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia. Próbáljam meg bemutatni a jegyet az ügyfélszolgálaton.
– Mi az, hogy próbáljam – indul meg a pumpa. – 1200 forint, a bérlet értékének harmada.
Tudja, de be kell vonnia. Majd mutassam be az ügyfélszolgálaton, hogy költségem volt vele. Rajta lesz a jegyen, hogy mikor érvényesítették.
– És kifizetik?
Nem tudja. Próbáljam meg. Rajta van a dátum, az idő, meg a járat.
– Azt megtudhatnám esetleg, hogy miért kell bevonnia a bérletem? Mi a gond vele?
Nem tudja, csak azt, hogy sorszám alapján be kell vonnia.
– Nem lehetne áthúzni, és nálam hagyni, hogy legyen mivel utazzak hétfőig?
Olyat ő nem tehet, nem érvényteleníthet bérletet. Viszont kér három aláírást.
Aláírom a füzetét, a bérletem, és egy igazoló szelvényt, amit be kell mutassak majd.
– Elnézést, az igazoló szelvénnyel nem utazhatok hétfőig?
Nem lehet. Viszont lenne még egy csekk is.
Kezembe ad egy csekket 12500 forintról. Ha nem jelentkezik öt munkanapon belül, mondja, akkor ezt majd be kell fizetnie.
Nem bírom ki. Elfordulok, mert nem neki szánom, és elröhögöm magam.
– Nem biztos, hogy jól értem – fordulok vissza hozzá, legjobb reklámhangomat elővéve. – Tehát nem elég, hogy indoklás nélkül elveszi az érvényes, két napos bérletem, és jegyvásárlásra kötelez, de még meg is büntet 12500 forintra, ha nem jelenek meg a DKV ügyfélszolgálatán, hogy személyesen kérjek bocsánatot mindezért?
Hát, nem ő találta ki. De most be kell vonnia a bérletem.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Not without a trace
"(...) a színeket az álmaira tartogatta."
-- Kleinheincz Csilla, Város két fül között
A regény talán legmegkapóbb félsoráért...
...és mert láttál lehetőséget ott, ahol én elakadtam egy éjszín vadász árnyképével...
...köszönöm.
http://kleinheincz.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/az-elso/
Monday, April 5, 2010
Más szavak
Az alábbi töredéket kicsivel több, mint fél éve hoztam össze; el is riasztott az írástól egy időre. Vonaton született, reggel, kétségbeesett próbálkozásként egy konokfehér .txt fájl összemaszatolására - már nem emlékszem, öt csendes évvel a hátam mögött mit is akartam az egésztől tulajdonképpen.
Csak azt tudom, hogy ebből az összecsapott, jellemeket és stílust nélkülöző, párbeszédszerű valamiből mégiscsak üzenet lett: vállalhatlan, és őszinte.
Nehéz volt vitatkozni vele, főleg mert én írtam, magamról; holott ez, ilyen formában, soha nem fogalmazódott volna meg bennem.
És persze az egész az értelmét vesztette, amikor rámszakadt az ég - hirtelen egészen könnyű lett elvonatkoztatni, szimbólumokat látni a vonat ablakából, más szavakkal mondani el mindazt, amit a sajátjaiddal nem tudsz, vagy nem lehet...
...ez a töredék pedig megmaradt remek emlékeztetőnek arról, hogy mennyire nem szabad írással próbálkozni, ha az egyetlen, amiből meríthetek, az én magam vagyok. Mert akkor nem más szavakkal dolgozik az ember - csak a sajátjaival máshogy.
---
"You became a fundamentally boring person!" she yelled, then dropped her bag on a seat and disappeared in the kitchen.
"I just made you up, and you feel bored already?"
"Describe me!"
She clearly won. I had no idea how she looked, or was expected to react.
"Why am I even talking to you."
"That's the only thing you ever believed in." Her face appeared in the kitchen door, busy struggling with a paper box. "That you could write. Can you help me with this?"
I took the box, opened it, and stared blankly at the teabags.
"Pick one for me too" I asked her a few seconds later, and retreated back to the room. "Wait. You just said, I could. When did I lose it?"
"I don't know. When you moved in here?"
"Nonsense. I did-"
"You did your best work with people around. You used to be part of a family, you know? Now all you do is TV and books. No wonder you have nothing to write."
Csak azt tudom, hogy ebből az összecsapott, jellemeket és stílust nélkülöző, párbeszédszerű valamiből mégiscsak üzenet lett: vállalhatlan, és őszinte.
Nehéz volt vitatkozni vele, főleg mert én írtam, magamról; holott ez, ilyen formában, soha nem fogalmazódott volna meg bennem.
És persze az egész az értelmét vesztette, amikor rámszakadt az ég - hirtelen egészen könnyű lett elvonatkoztatni, szimbólumokat látni a vonat ablakából, más szavakkal mondani el mindazt, amit a sajátjaiddal nem tudsz, vagy nem lehet...
...ez a töredék pedig megmaradt remek emlékeztetőnek arról, hogy mennyire nem szabad írással próbálkozni, ha az egyetlen, amiből meríthetek, az én magam vagyok. Mert akkor nem más szavakkal dolgozik az ember - csak a sajátjaival máshogy.
---
"You became a fundamentally boring person!" she yelled, then dropped her bag on a seat and disappeared in the kitchen.
"I just made you up, and you feel bored already?"
"Describe me!"
She clearly won. I had no idea how she looked, or was expected to react.
"Why am I even talking to you."
"That's the only thing you ever believed in." Her face appeared in the kitchen door, busy struggling with a paper box. "That you could write. Can you help me with this?"
I took the box, opened it, and stared blankly at the teabags.
"Pick one for me too" I asked her a few seconds later, and retreated back to the room. "Wait. You just said, I could. When did I lose it?"
"I don't know. When you moved in here?"
"Nonsense. I did-"
"You did your best work with people around. You used to be part of a family, you know? Now all you do is TV and books. No wonder you have nothing to write."
Monday, March 15, 2010
Széljegyzetek II.
Ég nélküli
végtelen, tiszta kék:
Látlak hát újra!
Naptalan, azúr nyugalom:
Árnyat adj, egy hegy
hűs gerincét az útra.
végtelen, tiszta kék:
Látlak hát újra!
Naptalan, azúr nyugalom:
Árnyat adj, egy hegy
hűs gerincét az útra.
Monday, March 8, 2010
On dance and the Internet
I vaguely recall seeing a documentary on tap dancers of the Vaudeville-to-movies transition era. One of its more interesting talking points (or at least, what grabbed my attention) was how dancers kept stealing from each other. Any time someone came up with a new move, the rest of the 'scene' immediately recognized and gave credit for it - then stole and danced it themselves.
This is how moves sprang, and how dance has probably evolved ever since people let their bodies respond to rhythm.
And while there's always a need to 'cement' dancing, to codify moves, to promote certain styles socially accepted and spread it (and thus, vastly limit it both in terms of moves and innovation) - changes in music, and changes in people, have always led to the evolution of new ways to dance.
Which is why it was always important to be there, physically, when innovation happened. Dancers had to be at the epicenter of the change to really grasp it, and to have an influence over it. Being part of the 'scene' was probably just as important as talent, if not more so.
Some of which changed during the last century, when performers began appearing on the silver screen. Movies (and later, TV) helped certain styles and dancers get recognition on a much wider scale; Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson could influence people with access to television anywhere. However, through these dancers, only a small slice of the innovation and dynamics of a particular style could reveal itself.
The TED presentation, linked below, highlights how the 21st century (and in particular, online video sharing communities like YouTube) gave birth to a much more powerful, much more decentralized, and vastly more open 'scene.' With dancers from around the globe uploading and sharing their best performances, dance today is moving rapidly from local to global - moves can be learned, adapted, and changed without the ages-old constraints of physical location.
Recorded sound, a technological innovation, changed how our musicians compose and play simply by allowing them to experience different approaches to music. It spread jazz and tribal recordings alike; it became a source of inspiration. Digital cameras readily available to anyone with a cell phone, and free online access to video distribution channels mean something very similar for dancers: a simple way to share, and a surge of new influences to build upon. Innovations in technology, becoming inspiration in art.
Being a dancer must be truly exciting these days. Dance has always been right now; now it's right everywhere.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
iPad - close, but not quite there yet
Disclaimer: everything I have written is based on last night's Apple keynote; since hindsight is always 1080p, I fully expect to look stupid once user reviews on the device start pouring in.
Apple rolled out Steve's dream device yesterday. Labeled iPad, he declared the touch-based tablet "magical" and "revolutionary" - and I definitely agree that the device is at least evolutionary, indeed.
The revolution is not quite there. Or not at Apple, at least; the ability to run multiple applications is very much a requirement, and not optional, sorry. The stupid USB-only syncing is boggling as well: we've been living on the internet for the past 15 years, is it really so hard to back up my contacts and meetings online?
Not to mention the fact that everybody does e-mails in the cloud these days (GMail, Live Mail, Yahoo! Mail, etc.), and you really need to have Flash for the internet. Native Youtube is cheating, and e-mail clients in 2010 are just redundant.
But again, Jobs is clearly not focused on where things are going, but rather, on where he wants to go. Which is fine I guess - he puts more than enough innovation in motion to compensate.
And frankly, there are multiple possible uses for his new toy; I'm also curious to see how these initial concepts will expand and mature over time.
(...)
Productivity tool
Forget it. It rocks for carrying presentations and diagrams around, but the last thing you want on a small-screen, light-CPU device is code, render videos, edit spreadsheets, or type in lengthy documents.
(...)
Multimedia device
Can definitely see the appeal; finally a device with a screen you can see from an arm's length. It handles your pictures, and plays HD - or rather, it could, provided you plug it to a TV. But why do that at all? Your TV can grab content on its own just fine. (Or will, soon enough.)
It's extremely funky to mount it to, say, a spin bike, and work out while watching House. Or stare at in the kitchen, and carry it back to the living room once your dinner (read: coffee) is ready.
However, USB-only syncing makes uploading content to it a real pain in the rear. It has wifi; why can't it surf my local network and play files from shared folders like any Windows Media Center-capable device would? (Sorry for actually bringing up Microsoft, but they have a clear winner with that.)
Without the ability to play content shared across your home network, you still end up having to return to your desk every 45 minutes to get a new episode onto your iPad. (And yes, I ignored iTunes here on purpose - should be obvious, why.)
Which kind of defeats the purpose of a wifi-enabled, mobile multimedia device now, doesn't it.
(...)
Internet on the go
Face it: it's awesome, as long as internet means passive content absorption for you. Just try and avoid having to actually type anything. (Man, will chat be annoying.)
Based on the pictures I've seen, the on-screen keyboard eats up a disproportionately high screen space. As much as I approve trying to make typing on a small screen possible, this is just ugly - and a bad compromise.
Implement voice recognition and an auto complete function that's actually useful. Just look at where Android is today with both features; they are magnificent, and way ahead of where Apple is right now.
Also, add the possibility to resize and reposition the keyboard. I'm perfectly fine typing with one hand - the other will be needed to hold the device anyway! Let me collapse the keyboard to a size that fits single-hand movements better.
Keyboard issues aside, I can totally see myself wandering around new places, trying to navigate using the Street View of Google Maps...
...though it really bugs me out that I won't be able to stream music, or have voice conversations, or simply chat while doing so, because there is no f.cking multitasking.
Overall though, sadly, the device is just as stationary as a laptop: you want it sitting on your lap or on a table, with both hands free (one for interaction, the other for coffee, phone, or whatever else). Carrying it around in one hand still means gripping 0.7kg in an awkward wrist position; though it is a lot lighter, and more compact than a netbook, that much is true.
Also, another issue comes from light sources. Say, you browse the net while out in a café - you will put it down on the table, because that's simply more convenient than holding it in your offhand. Now imagine staring at the ceiling lights, as the LCD will probably just reflect everything from above back in your face. Ugh.
I hope it at least has some rubber along its edges. It's just too heavy to keep slippin' back to horizontal every time I fail at leaning it against something; will really need to get the iPad case they sell as an extra, which doubles as a stand.
(...)
Gaming platform
While the device would make an excellent platform for playing chess with a travelmate (or single-player classics like Mahjong, sudoku, crossword puzzles, Minefield, etc.), there's simply no reality in using it for anything more complicated (like an FPS or a car racer).
For a serious gaming experience, it would make much more sense for Apple to have its own gaming console. Have all titles on all platforms available, and enable syncing game status between your devices - there's a huge potential in there, which would help overlook the annoyingly low-grade GFX on the more mobile platforms.
For one, just imagine being able to do all the chores of an RPG-title (selling junk, accepting quests, reading up on the lore) while travelling home on the subway. Get home, fire up your console and let the devices sync while you grab food, then resume the actual gameplay on your new 3D high-def TV. And I'm positive you can port more than just the "Go back to town" parts to the mobile platforms without sacrificing a significant portion of the game experience - which would be insanely addictive. There's a huge selling potential in here.
But without it, you just end up playing serious titles on a small screen that can only handle "Ugly" settings for graphics.
Thanks, no.
I'd rather stick to playing chess.
(...)
E-book reader
Definitely a brilliant one. Provided that the LCD can handle direct sunlight, using the iPad as an e-book reader is quite possibly the best use for the device. Not sure how various features (text search, bookmarking, search across books) are implemented in the recommended iBooks application though, but I'm just going to assume Apple took care of the basics.
However, there are some issues I can't overlook:
Book prices on iBooks. The entire idea of online publishing was cutting costs. By eliminating paper, printing, and physical distribution, a 13$ book should really cost as low as 2-3$. For the 12-14$ Apple is planning to sell books, I can actually get a hard copy, and enjoy it without having to worry about battery power.
Way too overpriced - and I read too much to just live with it.
iBooks content is restricted. Come on. Seriously? I'm not Apple-exclusive, and thus want my stuff available across multiple platforms and devices - this is why common formats like .pdf or .epub were created in the first place!
I know, it might not seem like a big issue, but when I buy a book, I expect to be able to read it anywhere. Not being able to access the e-books you've purchased for your iPad on any non-Apple device is pretty much like buying meal tickets only a handful of places accept, instead of getting some actual food.
Guess there'll be third-party solutions though, as iBooks is US-only. The iPad would truly make a great e-book reader - let's hope we'll be able to get our own content on it.
Apple rolled out Steve's dream device yesterday. Labeled iPad, he declared the touch-based tablet "magical" and "revolutionary" - and I definitely agree that the device is at least evolutionary, indeed.
The revolution is not quite there. Or not at Apple, at least; the ability to run multiple applications is very much a requirement, and not optional, sorry. The stupid USB-only syncing is boggling as well: we've been living on the internet for the past 15 years, is it really so hard to back up my contacts and meetings online?
Not to mention the fact that everybody does e-mails in the cloud these days (GMail, Live Mail, Yahoo! Mail, etc.), and you really need to have Flash for the internet. Native Youtube is cheating, and e-mail clients in 2010 are just redundant.
But again, Jobs is clearly not focused on where things are going, but rather, on where he wants to go. Which is fine I guess - he puts more than enough innovation in motion to compensate.
And frankly, there are multiple possible uses for his new toy; I'm also curious to see how these initial concepts will expand and mature over time.
(...)
Productivity tool
Forget it. It rocks for carrying presentations and diagrams around, but the last thing you want on a small-screen, light-CPU device is code, render videos, edit spreadsheets, or type in lengthy documents.
(...)
Multimedia device
Can definitely see the appeal; finally a device with a screen you can see from an arm's length. It handles your pictures, and plays HD - or rather, it could, provided you plug it to a TV. But why do that at all? Your TV can grab content on its own just fine. (Or will, soon enough.)
It's extremely funky to mount it to, say, a spin bike, and work out while watching House. Or stare at in the kitchen, and carry it back to the living room once your dinner (read: coffee) is ready.
However, USB-only syncing makes uploading content to it a real pain in the rear. It has wifi; why can't it surf my local network and play files from shared folders like any Windows Media Center-capable device would? (Sorry for actually bringing up Microsoft, but they have a clear winner with that.)
Without the ability to play content shared across your home network, you still end up having to return to your desk every 45 minutes to get a new episode onto your iPad. (And yes, I ignored iTunes here on purpose - should be obvious, why.)
Which kind of defeats the purpose of a wifi-enabled, mobile multimedia device now, doesn't it.
(...)
Internet on the go
Face it: it's awesome, as long as internet means passive content absorption for you. Just try and avoid having to actually type anything. (Man, will chat be annoying.)
Based on the pictures I've seen, the on-screen keyboard eats up a disproportionately high screen space. As much as I approve trying to make typing on a small screen possible, this is just ugly - and a bad compromise.
Implement voice recognition and an auto complete function that's actually useful. Just look at where Android is today with both features; they are magnificent, and way ahead of where Apple is right now.
Also, add the possibility to resize and reposition the keyboard. I'm perfectly fine typing with one hand - the other will be needed to hold the device anyway! Let me collapse the keyboard to a size that fits single-hand movements better.
Keyboard issues aside, I can totally see myself wandering around new places, trying to navigate using the Street View of Google Maps...
...though it really bugs me out that I won't be able to stream music, or have voice conversations, or simply chat while doing so, because there is no f.cking multitasking.
Overall though, sadly, the device is just as stationary as a laptop: you want it sitting on your lap or on a table, with both hands free (one for interaction, the other for coffee, phone, or whatever else). Carrying it around in one hand still means gripping 0.7kg in an awkward wrist position; though it is a lot lighter, and more compact than a netbook, that much is true.
Also, another issue comes from light sources. Say, you browse the net while out in a café - you will put it down on the table, because that's simply more convenient than holding it in your offhand. Now imagine staring at the ceiling lights, as the LCD will probably just reflect everything from above back in your face. Ugh.
I hope it at least has some rubber along its edges. It's just too heavy to keep slippin' back to horizontal every time I fail at leaning it against something; will really need to get the iPad case they sell as an extra, which doubles as a stand.
(...)
Gaming platform
While the device would make an excellent platform for playing chess with a travelmate (or single-player classics like Mahjong, sudoku, crossword puzzles, Minefield, etc.), there's simply no reality in using it for anything more complicated (like an FPS or a car racer).
For a serious gaming experience, it would make much more sense for Apple to have its own gaming console. Have all titles on all platforms available, and enable syncing game status between your devices - there's a huge potential in there, which would help overlook the annoyingly low-grade GFX on the more mobile platforms.
For one, just imagine being able to do all the chores of an RPG-title (selling junk, accepting quests, reading up on the lore) while travelling home on the subway. Get home, fire up your console and let the devices sync while you grab food, then resume the actual gameplay on your new 3D high-def TV. And I'm positive you can port more than just the "Go back to town" parts to the mobile platforms without sacrificing a significant portion of the game experience - which would be insanely addictive. There's a huge selling potential in here.
But without it, you just end up playing serious titles on a small screen that can only handle "Ugly" settings for graphics.
Thanks, no.
I'd rather stick to playing chess.
(...)
E-book reader
Definitely a brilliant one. Provided that the LCD can handle direct sunlight, using the iPad as an e-book reader is quite possibly the best use for the device. Not sure how various features (text search, bookmarking, search across books) are implemented in the recommended iBooks application though, but I'm just going to assume Apple took care of the basics.
However, there are some issues I can't overlook:
Book prices on iBooks. The entire idea of online publishing was cutting costs. By eliminating paper, printing, and physical distribution, a 13$ book should really cost as low as 2-3$. For the 12-14$ Apple is planning to sell books, I can actually get a hard copy, and enjoy it without having to worry about battery power.
Way too overpriced - and I read too much to just live with it.
iBooks content is restricted. Come on. Seriously? I'm not Apple-exclusive, and thus want my stuff available across multiple platforms and devices - this is why common formats like .pdf or .epub were created in the first place!
I know, it might not seem like a big issue, but when I buy a book, I expect to be able to read it anywhere. Not being able to access the e-books you've purchased for your iPad on any non-Apple device is pretty much like buying meal tickets only a handful of places accept, instead of getting some actual food.
Guess there'll be third-party solutions though, as iBooks is US-only. The iPad would truly make a great e-book reader - let's hope we'll be able to get our own content on it.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Széljegyzetek
Sápadtan araszol a nap a látóhatár fölé. A vonat ablakánál állva várom, mikor festi hajad színére az eget, de anélkül fakul bíborból kékbe, hogy felismernélek benne.
Keserű, el nem kerülhető árulás.
(...)
Érintésed az eső rajzolta az ablakomra. Könnyed volt, és hűvös; átsiklott rajta a fény. Gyémánt, súgtam oda.
A szél választ duruzsolt, de a hangod hiába kerestem benne.
(...)
Verebek szárnyán suhanunk, ködpamacsok között - hajnal vagy, hajad illatától lángol a rőzse, és arany csillog a göröngyök alatt.
(...)
A reggeli kávé oszlat el, a fásultan didergő tömeg. Már nem talállak magam mellett reggelente.
Hiányzol.
(...)
Egy tócsa tükrében látlak meg újra. Hűvös az éj; köd szitál, reszketve fészkeli el magát gallérom mögött.
- Szia - köszönsz félrehajtott fejjel.
Egy lámpa narancs glóriát lehel arcod köré. Nézem, lépted fodrozza-e a vizet; de csak álmodlak, ismét.
Szótlanul zuhanok át árnyékodon.
(...)
Arcod ívét tíz konok év magánya üti a párnára reggel. Ne láss így--
(...)
Álmomban vasárnap hajnal van. Körbejárjuk évgyűrűidet; szemedre mély sebeket tép a magány. Ezúttal az én ujjaim isszák fel arcodról a gyantát.
Később hegyek közt járunk. Hajadba rejti arcát az alkony, és én hasztalan kereslek az erdő hulló vörösében.
(...)
Hajnal lobban; bíbor füst dermed feszengve a csillagokra. Könnyeid arany ívét lassú, kimért mozdulatokkal karcolja azúrra az eszmélés.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
On giving random a chance
Marissa Mayer got married last month (actually, this alone should justify a blog entry driven by nerd crush), and before she did, she made some pretty interesting remarks following the LeWeb conference about Google's vision of how search should work five years down the line.
Not surprisingly, it involves a much greater amount of personalization.
The basic idea is, you leave enough information - footprints over the web - for Google to figure out what you like to read about, what you are interested in, and the search results you get should reflect that. You should end up seeing information that's relevant to you.
Bing already has a challenging vision in play. (Keep reading, this won't be about search engine wars - scout's honor.) Microsoft wants to create a decision engine, which is engineered to display hits that are the most relevant generally. Their basic idea is, there's too much information out there already, and 89% of the time, you can predict what 89% of the people are actually looking for. So why bother showing all the stuff, when all you really need is to find medication for that German dude who leaves your things in the fridge?
Which, again, makes sense. You believe in crowd sourcing and maths, you stick to Google. You believe in machine-aided editorial work, you switch to Bing.
Point is: assuming Microsoft in the next five years can get Bing set up the way they envision it today, and assuming Google will still be able to keep 180 days of browsing data and all the other bits of info you leave behind for them on various networks, you will have two distinct sources of information.
Both eliminating the thing that made the internet so wildly popular for the flavor of geeks I belong to - those clinically curious enough to actually enjoy discovering random information.
(Ever got lost for hours reading wikipedia articles? Keeps happening to me all the time.)
Which is a trap, really. You need outside influences, especially when it comes to information. And if search engines start deciding themselves about the information you should see...
...the chance of discovering something radically new, interesting, and outside your normal daily information net is reduced exponentially.
Try and recall the sheer range of topics visited (even if just on a surface level) during your university days. Those corridors and pubs and coffee houses hosted wild conversations between vastly different people all the time - keeping you exposed to interesting, random and new information on a daily basis. Then you joined the workforce, settled with a close bunch of friends, and suddenly all everyone seems to be able to talk about are either work related, or relationships, or hobbies.
The amount of unexpected information finding you was reduced, drastically, by you entering a certain lifestyle, and a certain network of connections.
And the same is about to happen with search results - as they get more personal (Google) or general (Bing), you will lose more and more of the random surprises.
Google Reader is a viable (though not all-round) solution to help fight that.
Its chief weapon is (surprise) the social aspect. It's not about being able to gather a bunch of feeds to a single site, where reading is a bit more convenient; it's about being able to share what's really interesting with the rest of your friends.
Tag and share articles of interest, and thus reintroduce the element of random discovery - for them. And through them - for you.
At worst, you'll end up reading something vaguely interesting. At best, you'll have things to discuss when you meet for beer the next time. But most importantly: your internet will not be about just you.
Give random information a chance. Share the interesting bits; readable content beats the crap out of a Facebook wall filled with meaningless quiz results any day.
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