iPhone Unbox! Pls Sign Me Up for a 12-Step Gadget Program
June 30, 2007
06-29 iPhone Unbox!, originally uploaded by boringcom.
So, i previously told my brother and friends that I was going to wait for version 2 before succumbing to the infamous Steve Job’s Reality Distortion Field… Alas, I decided after the movie to swing by the store to see if there was still a crowd (stores were going to be open ’til midnight). When I got there the place was buzzing but there was no line outside. When I came in I was asked if I was there to buy or to browse. When I said “browse” I was told to go to the right side of the store, the left side being used for those buying to line up in. I roamed around, played with an iPhone that they had displayed in the front of the store. Then I roamed around some more… and lingered… and checked out some accessories… Then found myself having a hard time leaving without one. Damn.
At 10:33 I sent the following text message to friend: “I should’ve know ‘resistance is futile’ I watched happy iPhone owners @ 6, went 2 the movies, came back @ 10 & bought an 8Gb iPhone. Ack”
I think I need a “gadget 12-step” program. JBB
iPhone Premiere @ Costa Mesa AppleStore
June 30, 2007
06-29 iPhone Premier @ Costa Mesa AppleStore, originally uploaded by boringcom.
Headed to a local AppleStore to “witness” the iPhone Premiere. The following are my Twitters & text messages from the event:
2:00pm - heading 2 the apple store in Costa Mesa 2 gawk @ the iPhone sycophants. i’m waiting 4 v2.. I think
4:30pm - very mellow line @ costa mesa applestore. We’ll see if it stays mellow once the doors open in another hour & a half
4:40pm - I think i’ll go back 2 my car & get the book i’m reading…
5:30pm - They covered the store windows in black at two and just now opened a rectangular section revealing a countdown clock
5:50pm - Loud shout coming from inside the closed store. Guess they’re getting revved 2 kick ass. black sheets coming down
I watched iPhone hopefuls being ushered into the store, to the sound of cheering by Apple staff and left after about 30 minutes to go to the movies (”Evan Almighty”… very cute movie). As i was leaving the mall, an Apple rep. was going down the line thanking the crowd for their patience and letting them know that they had a very good chance of getting their phone. Onward and upward. jbb
New Comfort DVD: “That Thing You Do” (Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut)
June 30, 2007
Pretty much every time I go to Costco or Circuit City or Best Buy I go through the DVDs. It’s a silly habit, especially in view of the fact that I seem to watch the same DVDs over and over again. This probably got even more pronounced when I cancelled my cable subscription over a year ago and have had to depend on the DVDs all the more for my “home entertainment.” As I’ve previously noted (in Comfort Videos) “Lost in Translation” and “The Astronomers” were my top favorites when I needed to hear familiar voices and lose myself in a couple hours of someone else’s (fictional) life. So I recently found another DVD that I think I want to add to one of those movies I could watch over and over again: “That Thing You Do.” 20th Century Fox recently released a two-disc “Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut” that’s worth having to buy the movie again (which i did). Nothing really profound here, just an enjoyable revisit to another simpler time. The romantic in me loves the fact that the two most appealing characters find themselves together in the end. I love the tune too. JBB
Click the link for the “slick movie-recap” version…
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First Two Weeks o’ Summer Break
June 29, 2007
Daily life seems to take all the time one has and just keeps on presenting an unending stream of things to do. One thing I’ve always hated about Summer Break is going from this overwhelming rush of things needing to get done to a sudden a removal of the pressure of the past ten-months. It’s like going from being buried twenty leagues under under the sea to the empty vacuum of space. It’s more than a little disorienting. I pretty slept my way through my first weekend than started working all the neglected projects that have accumulated over the past ten-months.
Of course the first project I tackled was my usual comfort activity: tweaking the furniture arrangement in my tiny studio.
Two More Days ’til the iPhone’s Release
June 27, 2007
NYT Columnist, David Pogue’s video iPhone diary…
I must.. resist… the hype,
I am.. feeling… the pull…
Lord, help us!!
Another Beautiful Summer Morning in Long Beach (CA)
June 27, 2007
Got up early to work on moving Jacob’s Ladder postings from LiveJournal to my WordPress blog. When I decided it was time for breakfast I was greeted by this beautiful sunny morning. Almost makes one want to go outside and walk on the beach… jbb
Microsoft Announces $10,000 Touch Computer the Size of a Big-Ass Table
June 25, 2007
On the eve of the arrival of Apple’s over-hyped iPhone, Microsoft proved that they have bigger brains with the unveiling of a device with similar touch interface technology and it’s only the size of a “big ass table!” And the best part is that it’s only going to cost $10,000!! jbb
BTW, twenty-years ago Apple produced a concept video about a “Knowledge Navigator” device about the size of a binder that would do something useful with it’s touch screen interface. Now there’s a unique idea, something useful.. Click the “Read the rest of this entry” link to see the video…
T-Rex Arms
June 20, 2007
Argh! I have a serious case of T-Rex arms today because two days ago I returned to the gym after a seven month break. It’s taken me all day before I feel at all comfortable stretching ‘em all the way out. Then I apparently flex them in my sleep and I wake up with T-Rex arms again. Damn frustrating. It was so bad that I choose to skip a day lifting so that I didn’t cripple myself. Lame.
So, I wish I could report that there was an actual person in my life for whom all this effort could be attrbuted to (’cause we know the number one reason for a fat ass … er… fat gut such as myself to get off said ass is either because of a new relationship or to impress said woman). Nah, nada, nothing and no one…
Sad Future
June 18, 2007
A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed i the future.
Sidney J. Harris (Thanks Jen & Geo)
Post-Class Reflection: Why Do We Always Say, “No Thanks”
June 17, 2007
I’m hauling a cartload of books and a student jogs up to me and asks, “Do you need any help?” Pretty much every single time I say, “nah, that’s okay.” Why do I do that?
When it comes to hauling books around or delivering my weekly resupply of cases of gatorade and Clif bars I could certainly use the teenage muscle. But when the smiling faces show up at my door offering to help out, my brain immediately screams, “No!” Ack. It seems so stupid. Why not.
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