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OK, So Maybe Not
The Movable Type upgrade… did not go so well. So, here we are back at 3.34, which makes up for its lack of newness by not causing total site-wide chaos.
C’est la vie.
At least now I can post some new items I’ve been thinking about. Thanks again to my site mechanic, Steve, who promises to herald a new age for Current Config in the near future.
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Change You Can Deal With
Dear members of the political media,
Every time you refer to someone changing their mind as a “flip-flopper,” you continue to act out the script set for you by the Bush campaign back in 2004.
Are you not tired yet of being manipulated so easily and baldly by mudslinging campaign strategists? Are you so simple-minded that you sincerely believe this phrase is of any value to anyone thinking critically about issues of national and international import?
It is 2008 now. Please grow up. Thinking, intelligent adults change their minds. It’s part of being informed and realistic about the world around you, so stop treating it like a weakness, you fools.
Sincerely,
Chris Rugen -
Blackbird: 4.5 Months
I’ve been remiss in my monthly Blackbird updating this month. I admit it! But now I’m posting about my daughter on Father’s Day, so I think it all evens out. As Blackbird, in her traveling chapeau and sling, might say if she could say anything at all: “Onward!”
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4 Months with the iPod Touch
On the eve of Apple’s expected announcement of the 2nd gen iPhone, the launch of the applications store, and a host of other rumored tidbits, I thought I’d address the iPhone’s less famous sister device. The gadget blogs and Apple rumor sites have been in a frenzy over this year’s iPhone-centric WWDC. Other companies would pay to have this kind of foaming, fanatical conjecture about single features of their devices. In addition to the better data capabilities of the new iPhone (3G), the rollout of true enterprise software support will make the iPhone a true player in the PDA phone market.
Unfortunately, the iPhone is AT&T-exclusive until 2012. This was the biggest roadblock for me even considering one. So when Apple announced the iPod Touch, designed for those who want an iPhone minus the phone, I was unable to resist. Well, actually, I did resist for a while. But once Blackbird was born, my need for a PDA to keep schedules straight became undeniable. After expressing my determination to Alisa and accepting the associated brownie point withdrawal, I gave in to the long-suppressed urge and bought the product I’d been longing for ever since I wrestled with my Palm Vx in OS 9: an Apple-centric PDA.
So, for those of you wondering about the Touch, here are some thoughts formed during my own experience with it over the last four months. There are a lot of reviews out there from critics and pundits, who had advance access, playing with the device (or the iPhone) for a week or so. But what really matters is how a device stands up to real life and real-world expectations. Hence my “late” review. There’s no question about whether I’m a big Apple fan or not, but in the end my preferences are all about my goals and whether a given device helps or hinders me in attaining them. Given all of the hype and silly fanboy arguing (mainly about iPhone vs. Blackberry), it’s hard to be objective, so consider this a statement made not from a seat of authority, but from a position of experience. Hopefully, this will give you a bit of clarity before the next Apple-yte PR frenzy over the next few weeks.
For context, it’s good to note that I sync my 8 GB Touch with a 15″ PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz), currently running Mac OS X (10.4.11). Many of the impressions here also apply to the iPhone, but I didn’t take the time to label each one. I recommend checking out Apple.com tomorrow evening to get the latest news on each device.
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Memorial Day BBQ
The best way to spend a warm spring holiday: barbecuing meat and veggies with friends on their back porch. Thanks to Mike and Jenny for hosting us this year.
Our desire to own a grill has both increased and diminished. We want to have BBQs on our own porch, but after such a great time it’s hard to do anything that would give a reason to not repeat it.
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Chocolate-Covered Bacon
That’s right. Bacon. Chocolate. A merging of two holy substances brought to earth by god-kings of culinary alchemical magnificence.
Well, kind of.
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Blackbird: 3 Months
Blackbird turned three months old last week. She’s matured a great deal in one month, in many small ways that are coalescing into the first bits of her personality. She’s still a baby, no doubt: crying, eating, pooping, fussing, sleeping, repeat. But her looks and responses are becoming more complex and her preferences are starting to surface. I admit, I’m more excited by what this all means for the future than right now, but I’m trying to drink it all in as it happens, because I know these days will be memories very soon.
This is probably my favorite photo of Blackbird so far. In many photos, she looks kind of freaked out. Honestly, most of the time she does. Here she has the appraising look that I’m fascinated by. I suspect this look will come out quite a bit when she’s older. Also, notice the KISS t-shirt. Add all that to the great sunlight in her room and you get prime photo-taking situations.
The rest of this post contains quite a few photos, so if you’re on a low-bandwidth connection, beware.
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You Can’t Un-see It
Logos can be the simplest visual end-products that a designer works on, but they are often also the most complicated projects. A logo is typically a spearhead or a flagship for an organization’s branding, so most people have seen thousands of them. They know what they like and they know what they don’t like. They know what brands are powerful and which aren’t. For this reason, it feels very easy to the average non-designer to critique, poke fun at, and speak about logo design. In many ways, this is great. Sometimes the biggest hurdle in a project is a clammed-up client who is fearful of speaking their mind in front of a design professional. In other ways, it can be the designer’s bane, because most people have a skewed view of logo design.
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The Price You Pay
This past week was all about the cost of things. The cost of health. The cost of luxury. The cost of living. Fortunately, for all its annoyances, it wasn’t such a big deal. When counting what you’ve paid, it’s always good to be mindful of what you’ve received in return.
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To Own Your Right to Eat, Completely
I’ve had The World According to Monsanto playing in the background as I work today. In short: Monsanto, throughout its history, has acted on a policy of poisoning, lying, legal bullying, and bribery. They are in the process of spreading their genetically modified crops around the world, both through commerce and the simple fact that plants spread themselves, to eliminate unmodified crops and to, quite literally, own all of the major food crops in the world. Think about that. You wouldn’t be allowed to grow, for example, corn without their permission and without paying royalties. Think it isn’t happening? It already is. This isn’t something that will happen, or might happen. It already is. The only thing left to determine is how much it happens. Think the government will do it for you? Wrong. The government and Monsanto have a revolving door between them. The last three presidential administrations have connections with Monsanto. This is not a party-specific issue, either.
As I learn more and more about the corporation named Monsanto (which began as a chemical company, not an agricultural company, by the way), I become more disgusted and confused by the people behind the name. What do these people think is the inevitable result of something like this? What do they tell themselves to make the destruction of lives (both professionally and literally) seem acceptable? The worst part is that I’m sure sitting down with them would only yield groomed PR doublespeak. But I would love to have a frank conversation with one of them.
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