Why "smart" phones sometimes just ain't

For being dubbed "smartphones" most of the devices that fall into that category seem to have very dumb phone capabilities. You would think that as companies develop these devices that they wouldn't just take the phone part for granted, relegated to the back burner while they work on the other stuff. Sure, I enjoy apps and other features too, but if the device fails at its originally intended purpose - that is, sending and receiving phone calls and text messages - then I believe we have failed somewhere along the way. There are some, I think, basic functionalities that so-called smartphones seem to be lacking. Functionalities that their dumber little siblings seem to have figured out.

For example, I would like to be able to silence all calls except from a handful of numbers. I would like to be able to have different lists of numbers based on my needs so that I can just select a group, choose "Silence" or "Silence all others" and it should work. That way I can be sure not to miss calls from, say, work when I'm on call, or my wife when she is traveling at night without having to worry about drunken wrong numbers or people I don't care to hear from when I'm trying to sleep.

Or how about assigning one ringtone to all non-contact phone numbers and another to generic contacts and also have the ability to give individuals the distinct ringtones? This way if my phone is across the house, I can determine whether or not I want to pause my movie or game to run and answer it just based on the ringtone. This may seem complicated but my dumbphone from Kyocera can do it, why can't my Droid or iPhone?

Now I haven't really looked into add-on apps for these things, and I'm sure they're out there, but there is a problem with just using a third-party app: it's not built in to the design of the phone. This means that it is likely not going to be nearly as reliable. I have heard horror stories from people who have used different apps for text messaging and ringtones and they don't work quite right. They miss text messages, or have different sounds setup for ringtones and they malfunction causing someone to answer the phone in a rather embarassing way because they think the caller is someone else (yes, I've done this, hush). While this is fine once in a while, it's not something I would like to rely on for important functions. I'd rather not have an app that silences certain calls malfunction and I stop receiving the important ones. I really don't want to have to explain to my boss why I didn't get the email server back up and running because some app silenced the ops number when they called. This is why I got rid of my Windows phone and why I'll never go back to one. I wouldn't get alerts for hours on end and then wake up my phone and see 6 voicemails and 10 text messages. That was infuriating.

Phone developers need to continue to improve the basic functions of the phone in addition to the bells and whistles that make these devices phenomenal. I don't want to carry two devices, I want the device I spent exorbitant amounts of money on to have the features I can get from a cheap throw-away phone.

Why are eBooks so ridonkulously priced?

Riddle me this: Why is it that I can get a full download of the Tron: Legacy soundtrack (or virtually ANY other album) from Amazon for $4.99 (or $7.99), or I can buy the physical CD for $11.88; but if I want a damned eBook, I am paying as much or MORE than I would pay for the paperback? And don't give me that "cheaper than hardback" nonsense, because I don't subscribe to that newsletter. The publisher still makes money on paperbacks, so does the author. Otherwise they wouldn't reissue them every couple of years with different cover art at the current paperback market price.

If the book isn't available in paperback form yet, I understand the price discrepancy. But if it is available in paperback, then change the ebook price accordingly. I mean honestly, if I buy the book I should get a free ebook copy with it. Hell, I'd even pay $12.99 for the paperback in that instance if necessary.

Here's why I'm ranting: I spent $9.99 on a book that came out 2 years ago, I've since purchased a Nook and I'm going on a business trip that I'd like to reread the aforementioned novel. But now if I want an ebook copy of it, it's another $8.99. That's horseshit. If I have already purchased it, I should get some sort of a discount. Yeah, I know that's not how it works in retail: "Oh, but I already bought one vacuum, I'd like a second at half price." But we aren't talking vacuums. We're talking about a book. A book whose content hasn't changed, mind you. And it isn't like they're LOSING money by including a copy of the ebook. I mean look at DVDs and BluRays now; if you buy one, most of them have a code for a free digital copy so you can take it with you. Yes, you pay more for them up front, but you get more out of them in the long run so it's worth it. Like I said, I'll pay more initially for a book if you give me multiple ways to enjoy it.

Bah!

Repost - And so it begins again...

Repost - Greater and Lesser Magicks, which is right for you?

Repost - Even GOD doesn't want you to think

***ORIGINALLY POSTED 31JUL07***


So I am watching TV tonight and I saw a Junque for Jesus ad. The ad starts with Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." I actually REWOUND the DVR to make sure I read that right. Do not lean on your own understanding. Does this look to anyone else like "Think not for yourself, God already knows"?

Now I understand why people can constantly say shit like "God has a purpose for your life" when your baby is stillborn. Or when you find out that you have cancer and have less than six months to live. I guess if I could just put everything on someone else's shoulders all the time, I wouldn't give a fuck either. Although confront those same people with tragedy and their tune tends to change. When it doesn't you realize that you have either found a true zealot, or someone that has found their drug in Christianity (sometimes those are one and the same, but the Drug Christians are usually ones that "convert" late in life after battling some sort of addiction or another and just substitute church and Jesus for Meth and Speed). There isn't hope for those people, so it's best to just move on.

For the rest of us, though, those of us that take a step back and think for ourselves, how do you justify this passage? Do we really have to just be sheep? I always thought it was funny when I was in Sunday school and they likened the Christians to the Sheep and the evil-doers to the Goats. However everywhere else in analogies and what-not, being a sheep is a BAD thing. Are the Christians really ok with being sheep? If so, I guess more power to them, but hopefully they don't get angry when I drive by and "Baaaa" at them while they are walking into church.

Another question, why is the passage there? Why did the author feel the need to actually TELL people in black and white that they should not think for themselves? Are they trying to dull our senses enough so that we don't notice the other glaring inconsistencies in their stories later in the bible? Am I just too bitter? I dunno. It's hard for me to reconcile the fact that I spent 20 years being lied to every day. It was bad enough the shit I had to hear from my Dad, but to add to that the fact that the one person I did look up to, turned out to be a complete fraud, kinda leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I know, I know, religion teaches that we are to be tolerant and loving of all people and religions. I say fuck religious tolerance. Those that are the loudest about it are the ones that are the most intolerant. So to me it seems largely hypocritical. Christians are now constantly preaching about how tolerant they are, yet whose God has been responsible for EVERY religious war EVER. Oh, and for those of you about to bitch that the Muslims start a lot, too, let me clue you in to a little secret. Allah and God are the same dude. Do some research if you doubt this. Back to what I was saying, it seems to me that the God in whose name billions of people have been killed from the beginning of time may not be the one we should be putting so much blind faith in.

Let me ask you something. If you had a boss that acted like God, would you work for him very long? "So, um, yeah, I'm gonna need you to bring your kid in to work today and kill him for me. Just to show me that you are loyal." Or how about "Look, the only way you are gonna get that corner office is if you take my son and worship him. Him and only him. No other friends. That's the only way you can get in. Don't like it? Looks like you'll have to go work in the shithouse down the street." Or what if you worked your ass off everyday for the company and he promotes Bob the Janitor to VP because he's meek. Wouldn't that piss you off? I sure as shit wouldn't work there anymore, no matter HOW good the benefits were. That's another thing. No tangible benefits. Nobody knows if the 401k plan is real. You pay into it your whole life, but you really have no idea whether the payoff is legit. You just pray that your boss is telling you the truth. Nobody, and I mean nobody would work for a guy like that. So why put your entire life in the hands of someone like that?

Repost - Learn to Swim

Repost - Awfully Unamerican

Repost - Open Letter to Parents Suing MySpace

Repost - Anakin's Descent

***ORIGINALLY POSTED 11SEP07***


So all I ever hear about Episode III is how horrible it was. While I will give you that it could have been tons better, I think something everyone overlooks is one of the main reasons the film was made. Anakin's Descent into Darth Vader. I mean when you watched the first three movies (Episodes IV, V and VI) everybody wanted to know how D.V. got that way. Was he just a magnificent bastard from the beginning or did something happen to MAKE him that way? To turn him to the Dark Side.

I can honestly say that if I had been faced with what Anakin had faced, I may not have been able to stay pure and good. Think about it. He left his mother when he was young to become a Jedi. All well and good, but then he starts having dreams that something has happened to her. So he goes to Tattooine to find her and guess what, something HAD. Eventually he finds her only to have her die in his arms the moment he finds her. Can one of you honestly tell me that if that had happened to you, that you wouldn't have slaughtered an entire village of Tusken Raiders if you knew they were the cause of her death? Unfortunately because he tapped into the rage that he felt and let it control him, he begins his Descent.

Ain't that some shit, though? The first person that ever cared for you and loved you and because you kill the people responsible for her death, you start becoming evil. Fuck, Bourne goes after EVERYBODY because they killed his girl in Supremacy. HE doesn't become a Sith Lord. So let's analyze this further and see where Anakin further turns from the Light.

After his episode on Tattooine the Clone Wars start. So he goes to war for three years. Now if you have ever met someone who has been in intense combat you will discover that a part of them has gone out. Call it Innocence if you will. The feeling you have after you have taken someone's life and nearly lost your own is something that will never go away. Not truly. The Jedi were in the thick of it every day. And these weren't just occasional skirmishes, it was all out WAR throughout the galaxy. Oh, and they didn't hide behind a blaster and shoot from afar, no, they met every enemy face to face in single combat (mostly) and destroyed them through skill, luck and the Force.

After about three years of this, he returns home to find his young bride pregnant. Happy day, right? You would think. But not for this guy. Now he starts having dreams that the only person he has left, his Padme, is going to die in childbirth. Now as a father, I can tell you this is a very real fear. You know that song "Don't take the girl"? Third verse makes me cry every time.

"Doctor says the baby's fine but you'll have to leave
'cause his momma's fading fast and Johnny hit his knees"'

I say this just days before my wife is due with our third child, and I can't say it is any easier this time. True, there is absolutely nothing high risk about this pregnancy, but there wasn't for Padme and Anakin either. Well, at least not that he knew at the time, we know later that it was his damn fault, but that doesn't stop the fear.

So now he goes to someone that he respects and listens to, and the guy tells him that with his teaching Anakin could have the power to stop death.

Holy fuck, this is heady. If I knew that my wife was going to die in childbirth and someone tells me that I can have the power to stop that, I sure as shit don't think I could turn away. Remember the Tim McGraw song? Do you know what the next lines were?

"Take the very breath you gave me
Take the heart from my chest
I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me
Make this my last request
Take me out of this world
God, please don't take the girl"

I once had someone tell me that they couldn't understand why Anakin turned bad. I told them they had never been in love. It pissed them off, but I was right. They'll never know it until they are truly in love. With someone other than themselves. Once that day comes, if they think back on our conversation, they will suddenly realize why Anakin turned.

Is that an excuse? No. But it's an understanding. I'm not saying that he was justified it murdering the Younglings, but I am saying I understand his pain. No, I have never lost someone close to me, but I can tell you that even the THOUGHT of it is enough to drive me to the brink of sanity. Maybe it's because I have a very very small group of people I truly love. (Six total)

Or maybe it's because I know that if ever faced with losing my soul or losing someone I love, I'd better pack a suitcase for some hot weather because I wouldn't have to choose. I know.

I was once told that if someone ever held a gun up to my head and told my parents that I would be killed if they did not renounce their faith, they would let me die. Why? Because it would be better for me. I've thought about that a lot since then. And more since I have become a parent. And I can tell you that my answer would be slightly different. If someone ever held a gun to my child's head, there is not a force on this earth or below it that would save them from my wrath. Think its cheesy? Have a kid. You'll understand. If you don't then please give your child(ren) to someone that does. Because something in you is broken.