tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349477412024-03-05T11:50:31.557-05:00Carlisle's Chaotic CommentaryRandom thoughts on a variety of topics.
(as of April 20, 2014, I've moved to http://jecarlisle13@wordpress.com)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-34122597912626249972014-04-19T10:15:00.001-04:002014-04-19T10:15:23.176-04:00Time to Make a Pressing Change To The Blog<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">For the
last several years, I’ve written a blog just for fun; said blog, which I
entitled <i><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Carlisle’s Chaotic
Commentary</a></i>, was hosted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/" target="_blank">Blogger</a> (owned by Google). Over the last few months, I’ve
become increasingly displeased with Blogger’s Dashboard. It hangs, freezes and
also has gotten to the point where I have to manually edit the HTML code to get
the page to display correctly. This became increasingly irritating for me since
I switch between using my laptop and my Surface 2 tablet and trying to edit
code on the tablet’s smaller screen (and without a mouse) can be a pain in the
ass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Also, since
I’m now a subscriber to Microsoft’s <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/" target="_blank">Office 365</a>, I wanted to find something that worked well
with Word 2013’s built in Share feature specifically the “Post to blog” option.
My attempts at doing this with Blogger proved to be less than exciting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">So, this
past Friday, since I had the day off from work and had the spare time, I
decided to register for a free <a href="http://wordpress.com/">Word Press</a>
account. I spent a couple of hours posting test blogs both manually and using
the Post to blog feature in Word and I’m pretty happy with the results. Going
forward, I’ll be blogging using Word and posting to Word Press instead of
Blogger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Granted,
Blogger is 100% free, while certain features in Word Press only work if you
subscribe to a paid account<sup>1</sup>, but even so, Word Press (so far) has
been more user friendly than Blogger has been lately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">For that
matter, I’m also planning on researching the possibility of migrating data from
Google to Microsoft Live. It’s odd to think it, but lately I’ve gotten to where
I’d rather trust and use Microsoft’s cloud features than Google’s; perhaps it’s
because I own both a laptop and a tablet running Windows 8.1. *wink*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">If you are
reading this on the Blogger site, thanks, but this will be the last post on <a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com</a>.
If you’re reading this on the new Word Press version (<a href="http://jecarlisle13.wordpress.com/">http://jecarlisle13.wordpress.com</a>),
thanks for stopping by and I’ll work on getting more stuff posted here soon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">~ JC<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">-----<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For example, I can’t do much in the way of
customizing the layout in Word Press using only a free account and the choice
of templates is rather limited as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-28236653075863647532014-03-16T08:59:00.000-04:002014-03-16T08:59:15.023-04:00Assimilation Isn't All That Bad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyyF6kH-YUOU1yQmXzrgJwctrGi_a1sG30Ih0MSBtpKGLIEHFic9Iq4cQC0Ih4dQ6H_0gPkxsMLHRuN6gBg2TqV3AUb3iY_dvv5J_s6UrS7jxJmPHAwIp1RlvX6WWLFdPbhfCJOw/s1600/Windows_8_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyyF6kH-YUOU1yQmXzrgJwctrGi_a1sG30Ih0MSBtpKGLIEHFic9Iq4cQC0Ih4dQ6H_0gPkxsMLHRuN6gBg2TqV3AUb3iY_dvv5J_s6UrS7jxJmPHAwIp1RlvX6WWLFdPbhfCJOw/s1600/Windows_8_Logo.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back in the
late 1990's I used to jokingly refer to Microsoft as “Micro-Borg”. It was, of
course, a reference to the Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation and their
quest to assimilate any and all cultures they encountered. Back in those days,
Microsoft was, well, kind of hated and being the dominant computer software
company and their penchant for suing smaller companies for patent infringements
or simply buying up their competition is what caused me to make the correlation
between them and the Borg. The funny thing is, now I find myself being
assimilated, as it were. Last year I used my tax refund to buy a new laptop
that had Windows 8 pre-installed; this year, I bought a Surface 2 tablet, and I
keep entering drawings to try to win different Nokia model Windows Phones.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/1172f20c4e48ef2d/Blog/20140316_being_assimilated_isnt_so_bad.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Not only that, but last weekend I decided to subscribe to Office 365 (I’ve been
an OpenOffice/LibreOffice user for at least a decade now). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s funny
to me that anything that starts with a lower case letter ‘i’ is all the rage
nowadays, and I find myself preferring Microsoft. It just seems to me that
Apple has become the new Microsoft with the law suits and trying to control
everything. In some ways I think Apple is worse than MS was in the 90s, but
that’s just my opinion. Hell, MS even recently settled a potential lawsuit
against them by changing the name of SkyDrive to OneDrive; the Microsoft of the
90s would’ve fought that and probably would have won too. That, combined with
the fact that most “iDevices” tend to cost much more than devices running
Windows or Android, just really turns me off. I don’t feel the need to pay that
much just to have a certain logo on whatever device I’m buying.<a href="https://d.docs.live.net/1172f20c4e48ef2d/Blog/20140316_being_assimilated_isnt_so_bad.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m in no
way saying Microsoft is perfect. There are still plenty of things that I don’t
like; Internet Explorer (or should I say Exploder) comes to mind for example.
Still, though, I’m one of those sick bastards that actually likes Windows 8,
despite some of its annoyances. You have to give MS credit for attempting to
create an OS UI that spans three device models (PC, Tablet, and Mobile Phone).
The only thing I don’t like (as of 8.1) is that I can no longer remotely access
my home PC via OneDrive – I really don’t see why that was removed, frankly. I
also don’t understand why the ability to be a host for remote access via a
mobile app isn’t available without upgrading to 8.1 Pro (I’m just sayin’, it
would be useful to be able to remotely control my laptop from my Surface or
from my Galaxy Note 2).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, yeah;
“MicroBorg” has at least partially assimilated me. I use Office 365 on a
Windows 8.1 based laptop and Windows 2013 RT on the Surface 2. I actually like
the Metro UI (even with it’s annoyances, which aren’t that annoying if you take
the time to learn the new UI). I like the direction Microsoft is going with the
idea of a cross-platform OS and UI. I know there are many who disagree, but in
the end, all arguments for or against Microsoft, Apple, or Android become
subjective, in my opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ JC<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br clear="all" />
</span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/1172f20c4e48ef2d/Blog/20140316_being_assimilated_isnt_so_bad.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> As
much as I actually do like Windows 8.1, I’m still and Android user for my
smartphone; the Metro UI is fine for tablet and PC, but the Windows Phones I’ve
looked at in the stores just haven’t appealed to me, plus there are a lot of
apps that I use on my phone that aren’t available in the Windows Store (yet?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://d.docs.live.net/1172f20c4e48ef2d/Blog/20140316_being_assimilated_isnt_so_bad.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> I
do have to admit, though, that in the case of tablets, the ones worth having
(iPad, Surface, and Samsung Galaxy series) are all around the same price point.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-49828919926464548482014-03-09T13:01:00.003-04:002014-03-09T13:06:29.185-04:00D&D 40th Anniversary Blog Hop Challenge (a little bit late and without the hop)<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYIyEeGz3TomdjZ949LFI6SLvYtlLKt82fmu99Mivk0z4zRmOBtALld3xtrxo60QykyUzqVjk3M6mtnnfTpb93Ek6HpEcaHmlArq0kcjEsmP721MU75Wibi8is-cIAPULRP7uGw/s1600/D_DBloghop.jpg" height="320" width="284" /></div>
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o:title=""/>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="">The
folks over at </span><a href="http://d20darkages.blogspot.com/"><span imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="">D20 Dark Ages</span></a><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif=""> issued a blogging challenge for the month of
February to commemorate the 40th anniversary of that most venerable of Role
Playing Games, <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>. Well, I failed that
challenge because it’s now March 9 and I’m just now getting around to tackling
the list of 28 questions that were supposed to be answered one per day during
the month of February and I’m also not linking my blog to the random hop to
other blogs since it’s well past the end. I hate that I missed out on the
challenge, but figured I’d still answer the questions - albeit in one chunk
instead of one per day.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif=""><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 1:
First person who introduced you to D&D? Which edition? Your first
Character?</span></b><br />
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don’t know that I can say that there was one single person
who introduced me to D&D. I kind of introduced myself when I found the “red
box” basic edition at a local discount department store next to the board
games. From there, I found out that a friend of mine already played, and so I
guess I could say that he “introduced” me to it, but only because I had already
discovered it on my own.</span><br />
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I honestly don’t remember my very first character. The first
character I remember is Uhnk, a half-orc fighter who was one of my first
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1<sup>st</sup> edition) characters. To this
day, I use the name “Uhnk” for my main character in World of Warcraft<sup>®</sup>
and as an online handle for Twitter (Uhnk13).</span><br />
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 2:
First person YOU introduced to D&D? Which edition? THEIR first character?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not sure, but I
think it may have been either my friend James from school, or the next door
neighbor Chris (who was a few years younger than me). Again, no idea what their
characters’ names were because that was 30-ish years ago.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 3:
First dungeon you explored as a PC or ran as a DM.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first dungeon I
explored was the introductory adventure that came as part of the basic set; the
printing of it that I had came with a thin, sort of “choose your own adventure”
story booklet to help introduce new players to the game. That same basic set
came with another introductory adventure that I used to try to DM the people
mentioned in the answer for Day 2.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 4:
First dragon you slew (or some other powerful monster).</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Funny as it may seem,
I don’t recall every slaying a dragon while playing Dungeons & Dragons. I
recall slaying a basilisk in one of my first adventures, and Uhnk befriended a
baby gold dragon once, but I don’t think any of my characters ever slew a
dragon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 5:
First character to go from 1st level to 20th level (or highest possible level
in a given edition).</span></b><br />
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Actually, I’ve never
had a character make it to level 20. Uhnk made it as far as level 11 or 12 I
think, but that’s the highest level character I ever had in D&D.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 6:
First character death. How did you handle it?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Believe it or not, I
don’t believe I’ve ever had a character die in D&D. I guess I’ve just been
lucky.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 7:
First D&D Product you ever bought. Do you still have it?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Dungeons &
Dragons Basic Set (aka, the “red box); no, I do not still have it. In fact, due
to going through a couple of ultra-religious phases in my late teens and again
in my mid-twenties, there are quite a few RPG materials that I no longer own
from back when I first started playing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 8:
First set of polyhedral dice you owned. Do you still use them?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My first set of
polyhedral dice were the ones that came in the basic set; no, I don’t still
have them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 9:
First campaign setting (homebrew or published) you played in.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first campaign
setting I played in was, I guess, more or less, homebrew, but it was based on
the setting from the basic D&D set, “</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Duchy_of_Karameikos" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">The Grand Duchy of Karameikos</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 10:
First gaming magazine you ever bought (Dragon, Dungeon, White Dwarf, etc.).<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Undoubtedly, the
first gaming magazine I ever bought was </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(magazine)" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Dragon Magazine</i></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 11:
First splatbook you begged your DM to approve. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not 100% sure
what a “splatbook” is, but if this means a supplement to the core rules, we
usually used elements taken from </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dragon</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
articles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 12:
First store where you bought your gaming supplies. Does it still exist?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first store where
I bought D&D was a discount department store called Rose’s. They are still
in business, but I think they only exist in North Carolina and, frankly,
they’ve pretty much become a junk store of sorts. There were also a couple of
hobby stores that I frequented in Fayetteville, NC; one was called Hayes Hobby
House, which still exists but they were never a gaming store per se – the
primarily deal in model trains I think. The other was called The Hobbit Hobby
Shop and it does still exist and was one of, if not the, first hobby stores to
carry Dungeons & Dragons when it first launched in 1974.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 13:
First miniature(s) you used for D&D.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first miniatures
I used in D&D were purchased from Hayes Hobby House. It was a three pack of pewter miniatures that
featured were, I think, generic fighter/knight types of models.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 14:
Did you meet your significant other while playing D&D? Does he or she still
play? (Or just post a randomly generated monster in protest of Valentine's
Day).</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, my fiancée and I
met while working at a book store a little over 11 years ago. I’ve tried a few
times to get her to join me in role playing games, but it’s not really her
thing. She has, on occasion, enjoyed watching my gaming group play – for her
it’s like watching “living room theater”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 15:
What was the first edition you didn't enjoy. Why?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wasn’t a terribly
big fan of AD&D 2</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">nd</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Edition. I felt like too much of the
original flavor was taken away. I’m also not excited about 4</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
edition as I feel that the new combat rules cause the game to become more of a
board game instead of a role playing game (then again, while I did like the
streamlining of the rules in edition 3/3.5, it also had a tendency to become a
board game whenever there were combat scenarios).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 16:
Do you remember your first edition war? Did you win? ;)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve never really
“warred” with anyone over which edition was better. I’ve had discussions with
friends about the different editions, but they were never particularly heated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 17:
First time you heard D&D was somehow "evil."</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started playing
D&D in the mid to late 1980’s, which is when a good deal of the “D&D is
evil” arguments were floating around. I remember being made to watch a 60
Minutes interview with one of the game’s inventers, Gary Gygax, during the
height of those controversial days of being a player of D&D.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 18:
First gaming convention you ever attended.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ve never had the pleasure of attending one.</span><br />
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 19:
First gamer who just annoyed the hell out of you.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His name was Chad. He
had uncanny luck with dice roles, tended to overact when he roleplayed and was
“that guy” that always played, essentially, the same character over and over
and over.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 20:
First non-D&D RPG you played.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.dwdstudios.com/starfrontiers" target="_blank">Star Frontiers</a></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">; this was actually the first RPG I ever
bought. I don’t think it exists anymore, at least not officially, although it
does still live on via a fan site. It was published by the same company that
originally made D&D, TSR, Inc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 21:
First time you sold some of your D&D books--for whatever reason.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometime around 1989 when I started attending a church youth
group I actually allowed myself to start believing the “D&D is evil”
bullshit and sold all of D&D books and materials to a local used bookstore.
I was actually admonished by one of my youth leaders for selling them instead
of burning them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 22: First D&D-based novel you ever read (Dragonlance
Trilogy, Realms novels, etc.)</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first, and so far
only, D&D based novels I’ve read were the original </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dragonlance Chronicles</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> back in the 80s.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 23:
First song that comes to mind that you associate with D&D. Why?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yeah; I got nuthin’.
Sorry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 24:
First movie that comes to mind that you associate with D&D. Why?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Believe it or not,
the first movie that comes to mind is </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazes_and_monsters" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><i>Mazes & Monsters</i></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, which was actually and anti-D&D
film. I recently found a copy of the novel of the same name that the film was
based upon at my local library, but I didn’t make it past the first third of
the book just because it wasn’t that well written, in my opinion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 25:
Longest running campaign/gaming group you've been in.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Probably my first one, back when I was 13 or 14 years old. We
played as a group through, for me anyway, around 7<sup>th</sup> grade through
10<sup>th</sup> grade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 26:
Do you still game with the people who introduced you to the hobby? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, I can’t say that I do. I’ve not even been in contact
with any of them in decades. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 27:
If you had to do it all over again, would you do anything different when you
first started gaming?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been said that
hind sight is 20/20; if I had anything to do over again it would be to not have
gotten rid of any of the books and materials I had from back when I started
gaming.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span erdana="" font-family:="" imes="" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" quot="" roman="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day 28:
What is the single most important lesson you've learned from playing Dungeons
& Dragons?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The biggest take away
I have from gaming is an appreciation for reading and for art. Prior to playing
D&D, I wasn’t much of a reader (like most teenagers, I suppose). Even
though my early reading interests were so I could get ideas for the game, the
end result is that I developed a love of reading and of books, and not just
fantasy and science-fiction stories – I also found that I liked reading about
history and other topics as well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ JC<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-87024823515560388892014-02-16T10:13:00.002-05:002014-02-16T10:13:16.629-05:00On The Surface<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-29e87d25-3b25-462e-ca24-c5cb2a26df7e" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A little over a week ago, I finally took the plunge and bought a Surface 2 tablet PC. I had been debating for some time whether or not to get one, after all I already had a very good laptop and one of the larger smartphones (jokingly referred to as a “phablet”). The debate was not only about whether or not I needed a tablet, but which tablet to get. I had purchased a Nook Tablet a couple of years ago and had even attempted to root it and flash it to be a full Android version instead of the proprietary Nook version of Android. That experiment didn’t last long as the software eventually became unstable and now the Nook won’t even power all the way on. Being quite impressed with my Galaxy Note 2, I had considered the Galaxy Note Tablet, especially since I would still have access to the Android apps I used quite often on my phone. Finally, after reading enough reviews of the Surface 2 when it was released, and being one of the few that actually likes Windows 8/8.1, that’s what I decided on for my tablet.</span></b></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think there are enough technical reviews online about this device and comparisons to other tablets, so I won’t bore you with reiterating specifications about the Surface 2 that are easily found doing a Google search (or should I say Bing?). I’ll simply share my own observations about the good, the bad, and the annoying.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBycIohsHnfKO6gRyeypB50juuagH20Exqt2hwy9PYBGNFcTzhdXlNlA0Vn9UZR1tZxxaY0_lrvjXBtNMCC3l6i8SdzUqa2qSPHr0LIhoy-h8lIXBV61Jm89UVq4PyJxjP0uQg8Q/s1600/20140208_150432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBycIohsHnfKO6gRyeypB50juuagH20Exqt2hwy9PYBGNFcTzhdXlNlA0Vn9UZR1tZxxaY0_lrvjXBtNMCC3l6i8SdzUqa2qSPHr0LIhoy-h8lIXBV61Jm89UVq4PyJxjP0uQg8Q/s1600/20140208_150432.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></b></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
</b>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The initial setup was extremely easy. Already having a Windows 8.1 laptop and a Microsoft account, all I really had to do was turn the device on, put in the password for my WiFi and login with my MS credentials and it automatically pulled my desktop theme and Start screen layout over from my laptop. This was actually pretty cool to begin with, but I have to admit, it can also be a bit annoying since the laptop Start screen includes desktop apps that won’t run on the Surface since I went with the RT version of Windows. I have since, however, figured out how to synchronize only certain things between the two so I can have basically the same layout on both while at the same time making sure each has it’s own set of apps and programs.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Pros</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Windows 8.1 - Yeah, I know; many of you will say that this is a Con not a Pro, but I actually like Windows 8/8.1. I don’t think, however, that I fully appreciated the new Metro UI until getting a Surface 2. Now that I have two devices that use Windows 8.x I get what Microsoft was going for with the UI being the same across devices.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Battery Life - Being a tablet instead of a full-blown laptop, the battery life is quite impressive. I recently had it streaming music via the iHeart Radio app and after a solid couple of hours doing so, the battery had only dropped about 20%. Had I tried to do that with my smartphone, I’d have had to plug it in after maybe half that time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lightweight and portable - This is the reason I wanted a tablet. While I cannot do as much with a tablet as I can with a laptop, I can still do a good bit and can do so without having to lug around a full size laptop. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Expandable storage - Not only does the Surface 2 have a microSD slot, but it also has a standard USB port to accommodate thumb drives, or even attaching a mouse or keyboard. This is something most other tablets don’t offer - Android tablets may offer the microSD slot, but they don’t have a USB port, and iPads not offer either one, that I’m aware of.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Cons</span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">IE Only (?) - Because the Surface 2 has an ARM processor instead of a standard PC processor, it cannot run desktop apps unless they are versions written to work with this processor (such as the version of Office that comes preinstalled). The result is that I cannot install FireFox or Chrome as neither Mozilla nor Google have been authorized to produce a mobile version of their browsers that will work in the RT version of Windows. Had I gone with the Surface 2 Pro instead, I could have overcome this limitation, but the Pro costs as much as I payed for my laptop and so I could not justify the price, especially since I was not looking to have a second laptop.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Limited Apps/Programs - As with the IE only problem, there are some other things that would be useful to run on my tablet, but I cannot due to the limitations of the RT version of Windows (which is really a limitation of the CPU). For example, I am unable to install the LastPass plugin because it’s a traditional Windows EXE installer; I still have access to it via the app version, but it’s much more convenient to have the plugin in my browser than having to manually copy and paste from the app.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Proprietary Power Connector - One of the reasons why I did not want an iWhatever device is their proprietary nature, including the connector for charging. Well, this is one place where Surface also fails. While I like the magnetic connector, it is still proprietary, so if I ever find myself needing to charge the Surface and I don’t have the charger with me, I’m out of luck, as where my smartphone can be charged off of any charger that accommodates a micro-USB port.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Annoyances</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Touch Screen lag - Sometimes I have to tap things more than once to get the desired action; to be fair though, that happens with my smartphone too.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Limited Apps - The Windows Store still lags behind the Google Play Store for Android and the iPhone App Store. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of apps available for Windows 8, it’s just that many of them are ones I have no use for or are not free.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All-in-all, the Surface 2, even with its limitations, still does what I need a tablet to do plus a bit more. I am quite glad that I paid the extra $130 for the Type Cover. I tried out both it and the Touch Cover in the store, and the extra $10 was worth it. It makes it much easier to type - in fact, I’ve written this entire blog post using it. I also like that it’s design knows which way it is positioned so that it automatically puts the tablet to sleep when closed (like a laptop lid) and disables the keys if I have it flipped backwards to use the Surface purely as any other tablet.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><u></u></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">~ JC</span></span></div>
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-70626832594612519812014-01-26T09:32:00.001-05:002014-01-26T09:32:22.855-05:00Doing Battle on the Net<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s no secret that I play </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">World of Warcraft</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">®</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I’ve blogged about it fairly often. As much as I enjoy it as a fun distraction from real life and having to be a “responsible adult”, there are days when I don’t log in to the game. In fact, there are sometimes stretches of several days that I don’t play either because I’m too busy, too tired, or just feel like I need a break from it. One of the minor annoyances is the need for two-factor authentication to log on. It’s a necessary thing due to the fact that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">accounts have been known to be hacked (which is kind of sad, but that’s a topic for another day). Along with two-factor authentication, there is also the occasional (usually on Tuesdays) software update that can take awhile to download causing me to have to wait to login. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A couple of months ago, Blizzard Entertainment released the beta version of what the call the Battle.net App. I decided to download it and it’s proved useful for being able to login faster and also for getting updates for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It also has another nifty feature; it allows management of all Blizzard games that are part of Battle.net. The thing is, I only played </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so that part wasn’t that useful to me - until about a week or or two ago.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR8wlwe68eQHsr6p4c_roh_XUdcw_4plKsLWE_rYg5CpZBLUoezfeJVo0tkAg6JAqFGjmrzaRIz42XkaeXko9-7xQAauq3Xk9VCO8nC3QCOHugNkycrWt_et9NV5H_qBmms-Eh1g/s1600/battle_net_beta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR8wlwe68eQHsr6p4c_roh_XUdcw_4plKsLWE_rYg5CpZBLUoezfeJVo0tkAg6JAqFGjmrzaRIz42XkaeXko9-7xQAauq3Xk9VCO8nC3QCOHugNkycrWt_et9NV5H_qBmms-Eh1g/s1600/battle_net_beta.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you can see in the screenshot, I have access to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diablo III</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starcraft II</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and the newest edition to the Blizzard catalog, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hearthstone</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Of that list, I currently only have purchased and subscribed to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; D3 and SC2 are, for me, the Starter Editions and Hearthstone is free to play and currently still in open beta.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-587d271f-cef3-00e9-5692-7126282fb3bb" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve set the Battle.net App to save my login credentials, including my Battle.net Authenticator, for quick access. Since it’s only installed on my PC, I’m not worried about security; if I log in from anywhere else, I still have two-factor authentication. I can launch any of the listed games directly from the app and also go directly to my account management page to add game time for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It’s very convenient.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This, however, is not just a review of the Battle.net App; it’s also a about how Blizzard is very slick in getting their hooks in me for more money. As I mentioned earlier, sometimes I just don’t feel like playing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t also get bored and feel like playing a game of some kind. This is where the Battle.net App got me. Since, directly from the launcher, I could download the Starter Editions of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diablo </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starcraft</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I did just that. The first of the two I installed was Starcraft II; as a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game, it’s OK. It is really no different than other games I’ve played, including the original </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Warcraft: Orcs & Humans</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from back in the early 1990s. As such, I doubt I’ll be paying the $39.99 for the full version; RTS just doesn’t appeal to me that much. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Diablo </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">III, on the other hand, has intrigued me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is one small problem with playing Starter Editions of games - you can only go so far. After only about a week I’ve already taken the one character I created in D3 as far as he can go without buying the full version. That being said, I’m now faced with the following options: a) re-play the game with a different class, b) pay $39.99 for the full version so I can continue leveling and questing with the Barbarian I already have, or c) some combination of a and b such as trying out the other classes using the Starter Edition before actually buying the full version. I guess we’ll see, but option c is the most likely scenario.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hearthstone</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Blizzard’s new digital collectible card game - I’ll have to get back to you on that. I’ve only logged in once and got disconnected in the middle of a game, so I’ve not had a chance to really form an opinion on that just yet. In the meantime, if you’re interested you can read </span><a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/12/hearthstone-beta-offers-a-collectible-card-addiction-without-the-cost/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this review of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hearthstone </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beta on ArsTecnica</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just remember this; games are great, but don’t get so caught up in playing them that you forget that there are other things in life besides gaming; go do other stuff sometimes. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-63178838270986419342013-12-22T06:59:00.002-05:002013-12-22T07:01:14.542-05:00Happy Whatever 2013<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With all the crap you hear and read these days about people getting butt-hurt and their undies in a twist over whether or not a retail store clerk says “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” I just wanted to take a moment to say - Happy Whatever! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kvtQwcZg1oGbRDHLprL_LRvlcidXi3X_6yVfOyTBXZlXpqZlW9UTsn6Rw5h3JHwJlcj8OOrVncIom2kmg8sS2U47BfQ2H0z159jxhEYkKjBfKxoACAaT7i5Y0ejWyTjlZVnJBg/s1600/happy_holidays_be_a_good_human.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kvtQwcZg1oGbRDHLprL_LRvlcidXi3X_6yVfOyTBXZlXpqZlW9UTsn6Rw5h3JHwJlcj8OOrVncIom2kmg8sS2U47BfQ2H0z159jxhEYkKjBfKxoACAaT7i5Y0ejWyTjlZVnJBg/s640/happy_holidays_be_a_good_human.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Note: The following video is an old Virgin Mobile ad, but I love the sentiment of the whole thing. It is not an endorsement on my part of Virgin Mobile and I’m pretty sure the pricing it mentions isn’t valid anymore. Enjoy, and Merry Chrismahanukwanzakah!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/OewgGrJGC_E/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/OewgGrJGC_E&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/OewgGrJGC_E&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>~ JC</i></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-45248161268872951082013-09-22T09:10:00.002-04:002013-09-22T09:10:44.602-04:00Hot Water is Now a Beach<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid--2534e26-45b9-f129-663c-c6e63a05915b" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A few weeks ago I wrote about wanting to replace my traditional drip coffee maker with just water pot since I now use the very awesome <a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">Aeropress Coffee Maker</a>. Being that my coffee maker had a auto-on timer, I was looking for an electric kettle that had that feature as well and in addition to the ability to program the temperature wanted (something a coffee maker doesn’t have). I found one at Bed, Bath & Beyond that cost $250! (see my blog post “<a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/08/you-want-how-much-money-just-to-make.html" style="text-decoration: none;">You Want How Much Money Just To Make Hot Water?!</a>”)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I had pretty much reached the point of deciding that a coffee maker was going to be the best (read, only) way to go if I wanted to be able to arrive downstairs on early weekday mornings and have hot water already available to make my requisite cup of coffee. I wasn’t finding electric kettles that had a programmable timer feature without also have price tag of $130-$250 (I mean, come on - does it go out and pick the damn tea leaves for you too?)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Well, thank the coffee gods for Amazon.com. While searching for something completely unrelated to hot water or coffee a couple of weekends ago, I found, on my wish list no less, a listing for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083I7THI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" style="text-decoration: none;">Hamilton Beach 40996 Programmable Kettle</a>. Listed for a retail price of $49.99, it was only $37.40 with free shipping on Amazon. I took a closer look, as my first glance at it (when I had initially placed it on my wishlist) I hadn’t noticed how “programmable” it was. I was quite pleased to find that it was what I was looking for; it has programmable temperature (including presets and the ability to set custom temperatures), and it has a clock and the ability to set it to turn itself on at a set time. Like a programmable coffee pot, it also has an auto-off feature (only 1 hr compared to 2 hrs on most coffee makers, unfortunately, but still a nice safety feature; it will also turn itself off if it detects that the pot is dry).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve had the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083I7THI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" style="text-decoration: none;">Hamilton Beach 40996 Programmable Kettle</a> for a week now, and I have to say that I really like it. It takes up considerably less counter space than the coffeepot did and now that I have control over the temperature, I can say that using this in conjunction with my <a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">Aeropress Coffee Maker</a> makes a better cup of coffee than using a standard coffee pot or just using hot water from the coffeepot with the Aeropress. Some reviewers complained that it quit working after only a couple of months, so hopefully I won’t run into that problem and chalk those comments up to being the rare defective unit (there were a lot more 5-star ratings than there were 1-star reviews).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It is true that I could have bought another coffee pot for about half as much and the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083I7THI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" style="text-decoration: none;">Hamilton Beach 40996 Programmable Kettle</a>, but these days even the coffee pots that have the programmable features I prefer were ranging in the $40-$50 range, so I’m OK with having paid as much for the kettle as I did. Shipping was pretty quick too, especially considering that I paid the low low price of FREE (ordered it on a Saturday night, had it in hand by the following Friday).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So, if you’re looking to make a great cup of coffee, pick up an <a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">Aeropress Coffee Maker</a> and a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083I7THI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" style="text-decoration: none;">Hamilton Beach 40996 Programmable Kettle</a>; that’s my 2¢ anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">~ JC</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-20284717653537846182013-09-01T10:09:00.000-04:002013-09-01T10:10:35.256-04:00Re-Browsing FireFox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have been a pretty die hard fan of Google’s Chrome browser for several years now. I loved that it automatically synchronized my bookmarks and add-ons between devices simply by logging into my Google account. Also, when it first came out, it seemed to be much faster than FireFox and Internet Explorer (really, what isn’t faster than Internet Explorer?) Recently, though, Chrome has really seemed to slow down. Sometimes I have to reload a page several times by almost hammering on the F5 key before it will come up. My first inclination was that maybe the Wi-Fi signal in my living room was not very strong (the AT&T Wireless Gateway is upstairs, after all). But when this started occurring even when I took the laptop upstairs and plugged in the ethernet cable, I then started wondering if something was up with the PC itself, so naturally I rebooted (several times).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Yesterday, for shits-’n-giggles, I decided to spend time using FireFox instead of Chrome just to see if there would be a difference…. and there was. So, I exported all of my bookmarks from Chrome and imported them into FireFox. I’ve been using just FF for several hours now and it, so far, is proving to be more reliable and loading pages correctly and quickly compared to Chrome.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That’s not the only reason I’m considering fully switching back to FireFox though. Until my recent smartphone upgrade, I did not have access to Chrome Mobile, and honestly never really gave FireFox Mobile much of a look. Now, though, I find myself really preferring FireFox Mobile simply because it supports add-ons, which Chrome Mobile does not. That may not seem like that big of a deal, but since I use LastPass password manager, if I need to log into, say, my banking site on the go to see if a payment or deposit has cleared yet, having to open the LastPass app, copy the password, and then paste it into the browser can become cumbersome while having the add-on in my mobile browser like I do the desktop version is much more convenient. I will admit, Chrome Mobile seems a bit more user friendly in terms of its interface, but that lack of add-on support is kind of killing it for me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Synchronization was Chrome’s biggest advantage for my decision to keep using it, but I discovered this morning that FireFox has that now too (ok, granted, it probably has for awhile and I just never noticed it because it has been so long since I regularly used it). The sync is pretty seamless. I set up the FireFox Sync account on my primary PC (namely my laptop) and then was able to connect the mobile versions on both my phone and my tablet (which is a rooted and flashed Nook Tablet, in case you’re interested). Not only does the FireFox Sync service synchronize my bookmarks, but also my add-ons, preferences, and history; it will even sync my tabs and passwords if I choose to do so.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There you have it. Sorry Google, but Chrome has started failing me, so I’m going back to FireFox; at least for awhile to see how things go.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">~ JC</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-42752706059707159692013-08-18T09:57:00.000-04:002013-08-18T09:57:42.569-04:00You Want How Much Money Just To Make Hot Water?!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About a month ago I </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/07/coffee-has-become-pressing-matter.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wrote about using a Aeropress Coffee Maker</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and abandoning the old school drip coffee maker for my morning cup of java (the drink, not the programming language). I also mentioned that I had discovered that the old coffee maker got the water sufficiently hot, the recommended temperature being around 175° F. The thing is, it’s getting about time to replace the drip coffee pot. It’s starting to get hard water deposits in the tubing, the panel on the front that marks what each button does is starting to peel off. Plus, since it’s only being used to make hot water these days, it’s taking up unnecessary counter space. So I’ve been looking at electric tea kettles, which take up less counter space and essentially are built for making hot water and also have temperature control features.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Imagine my surprise when I discovered how much these damn things cost! The thing about my coffee pot I love is that it has a timer on it. I can pour in the water and set the timer for 5:00 AM and go to bed, and when I get up at 5:30 AM, there’s already hot water (or in the past, coffee) waiting for me. So far I’ve found one... one electric tea kettle that has a timer as well as temperature control. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seriously? $250 to make a pot of hot fucking water? Sure, I’ve found some for cheaper, but they don’t have the timer nor a “keep warm” option. The model pictured above would be ideal, but sweet dear and fluffy Lord, why the fuck is it so expensive when all it does is make hot water? The coffee pot I have was only $20 and it has a time - ok, so it doesn’t have temperature control, but I don’t see how that in conjunction with a programmable timer justifies the price being 12.5 times as much.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-4694a9fd-91b5-3e1b-748f-49a74931ceb6" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I guess I’ll keep looking, or maybe just buy a less expensive model and one of those old school plug timers like folks use for their lights when they go on vacation and just plug into that. Or maybe I’ll just keep using the coffee pot to make hot water.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-51853830177418394922013-08-04T10:51:00.001-04:002013-08-04T10:51:44.999-04:00Searchin’ For Research, Part 3: Reading, Notes and Note Apps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11cMh7HdLSjGUoSvgg69mUvuBHnCf4P3EH5fTjSyFqJ9tQ33NwzDB5gkjNdPJKUKozz8WvUoTc_ghft7vOuKNyxgyfZrN30BR5Ra96e3rvmBhOS54ZbYG9w3hJpfjASDbYGcA0A/s1600/research.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11cMh7HdLSjGUoSvgg69mUvuBHnCf4P3EH5fTjSyFqJ9tQ33NwzDB5gkjNdPJKUKozz8WvUoTc_ghft7vOuKNyxgyfZrN30BR5Ra96e3rvmBhOS54ZbYG9w3hJpfjASDbYGcA0A/s200/research.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now that I’ve chosen a topic, the next logical step would be to start gathering resources and reading; </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a lot</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of reading. I really enjoy reading, so this shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right? What I am very quickly discovering (or rather re-discovering) is that reading for fun or general knowledge versus reading for research are very different. Reading a novel, or even a non-fiction book for fun or to gain knowledge of a topic involves sitting down and reading; that’s it. Reading for a research project, however, is a bit more arduous as I keep having to remember to stop and take notes on what I’m reading so that I can not only remember it, but also so I can properly cite that source later. It doesn’t help that, as much as I enjoy reading, I’m very slow at it -- I’ve never developed the skill of being able to read without sub-vocalizing the text in my head. If I try to scan for content, I either skip important facts, or I end up re-reading the same line several times anyway. Having to stop to notate what I’m reading (thank the gods for post-it notes) makes the task of reading take that much longer.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-5e1e362d-49cd-6e57-da64-fa1cf21d85d7" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of notes, I remember back in highschool that the prescribed method was to create note cards, one for each source (duly numbered, of course) and then to use more note cards to take notes or write down quotes from said sources. Now, however, we live in a digital age with computers, smartphones and lots and lots of “apps for that”. This is a very useful thing, because now, if I quote or note a source, when I begin writing the actual paper, I can copy and paste instead of having to retype it all over again. The problem arises with this method of how to organize all of these notes.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I began this self-imposed task of writing a research paper about the history of role-playing games and the effects they have had on modern society, I starting off using OneNote to make notes and keep track of my sources. It made sense at the time because creating a text-box for each note sort of mimicked using an index card. After awhile, though, these text-box note cards began to get somewhat jumbled and not terribly organized. It is at this point I recalled my former college roommate mentioning on Facebook an application/web service he had been using called </span><a href="http://www.zotero.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zotero</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I love this service! I wish it had existed when I was still in college. I personally prefer the standalone desktop application, but it also has a web based version. It also, very handily, has plug-ins for both MS Office and LibreOffice, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">et.,al.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so creating footnotes within a document are a breeze.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zotero also makes keeping sources and notes in one place very easy as well as creating the correct formatting for a footnote and bibliography. Instead of having to have a document with my sources in both a bibliography format and a footnote format for future copying and pasting, not to mention the entries in OneNote with my notes and quotes, I can keep everything in Zotero with any notes attached directly to the entry for the source. When citing a source, all I have to do is use the plug-in in <a href="http://www.libreoffice.org/" target="_blank">LibreOffice</a> and select the appropriate source and enter the page number (if any) and it automagically inserts the footnote for me in the correct format for the style I have selected (in my case, I have selected Turabian style, but Zotero offers 6,463 different citation styles that can be downloaded and installed including Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, APA, etc.).</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had initially set a goal of completing this project for the end of September, but with all of the sources I have found and continue to find, I am shifting that goal to the end of the calendar year to give myself plenty of time to gather my research. One this is for certain; if I were still in school and had to adhere to a hard deadline, I’d be pretty screwed since I am horribly out of practice at doing this type of in depth research project. Still, I’m enjoying the challenge.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Related Posts:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/07/searchin-for-research.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Searchin’ For Research</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” (July 7, 2013)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/07/searchin-for-research-part-2-getting.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Searchin’ For Research, Part 2: Getting Started</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” (July 21, 2013)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-40380073106629233212013-07-21T07:46:00.000-04:002013-07-21T07:46:08.712-04:00Searchin’ For Research, Part 2: Getting Started<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11cMh7HdLSjGUoSvgg69mUvuBHnCf4P3EH5fTjSyFqJ9tQ33NwzDB5gkjNdPJKUKozz8WvUoTc_ghft7vOuKNyxgyfZrN30BR5Ra96e3rvmBhOS54ZbYG9w3hJpfjASDbYGcA0A/s1600/research.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11cMh7HdLSjGUoSvgg69mUvuBHnCf4P3EH5fTjSyFqJ9tQ33NwzDB5gkjNdPJKUKozz8WvUoTc_ghft7vOuKNyxgyfZrN30BR5Ra96e3rvmBhOS54ZbYG9w3hJpfjASDbYGcA0A/s200/research.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first step in beginning a research project, of course, is to decide on a topic. Once the topic is settled on, finding source material and actually doing the research can begin. I would have thought that the internet would make doing research easier than it was fifteen years ago when I was in college. To a certain degree, that is true. The problem is, since I have decided to write a paper titled “Role Playing Games: Their History and Influence on Society”, the vast majority of what I’ve found in the way of information has been on the internet. Considering my topic and that I’m only writing the paper for my own enjoyment, that is probably fine, but there is always that concern about sources such as Wikipedia not being seen as trustworthy and accurate. Unlike the woman in the insurance commercial on television, I know better than to believe that, “They can’t put anything that’s not true on the internet.”</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-567a8762-0109-e4d2-4b69-711be61b6a6a" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Internet research aside, I have also obtained, for the first time in years, a public library card. Of course, as I’ve mentioned, finding materials for which a library card is actually useful or needed has been difficult. Still, it is kind of cool to have a library card again and with today’s technology I can search the entire library system catalog from the comfort of my couch and request anything I need to be placed on hold and pick it up at the branch closest to my house.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far I’m enjoying doing the research and tracking down sources. It has been so long since I’ve done something like this, though, that I am a little concerned about achieving my goal of having the whole thing written and posted by the end of the quarter. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">JC</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Related post:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/07/searchin-for-research.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Searchin’ For Research</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” (July 7, 2013)</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-36024979641101513492013-07-14T09:42:00.000-04:002013-07-14T09:42:03.011-04:00Coffee Has Become A Pressing Matter<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNy_njwVjZDdR2bUPnswcotJn3NPRuhZGZcFFbbudWqhbloJh7OPJScpJPwUosmy8Nmok8Sru63YiZzlXdzmrrD2-4N24HqKj4nV4cNggGAlnO5_Jt8CMreDImHKok8OBULnTAQ/s1600/aeropress-hero-260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLNy_njwVjZDdR2bUPnswcotJn3NPRuhZGZcFFbbudWqhbloJh7OPJScpJPwUosmy8Nmok8Sru63YiZzlXdzmrrD2-4N24HqKj4nV4cNggGAlnO5_Jt8CMreDImHKok8OBULnTAQ/s1600/aeropress-hero-260.jpg" height="200" width="98" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let us harken back to the days of yon; ok, let’s just go back to December 25, 2012, upon which date I received an </span><a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aeropress Coffee Maker</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as a Christmas gift. I had put this on my wish list because it seemed like a really cool idea to be able to brew a single cup of coffee without having buy an overly expensive machine that uses little proprietary premeasured packages. I was quite excited to get it, but I have to admit my first attempt at making coffee with it resulted in something more like coffee flavored tea. I tried again one other time a few weeks later, which resulted in a very good cup of coffee. The first attempt I simply didn’t get the water hot enough.</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-14e0cbbf-dd60-e0c0-c647-4a1e3f888493"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the last few months it has sat behind the coffee maker untouched; that is, until last weekend when I decided to try a bit of experiment. As I mentioned before, my first attempt resulted in not having the water hot enough because I had tried to heat it in the microwave. The instructions recommend a temperature of 175° F. Using my electric hot pot worked much better, but it has not real temperature control (it’s either on or its off). I good electric teapot with programmable temperature is pretty expensive, so I decided to find out if the coffeepot itself would get the water hot enough. Thankfully, it does get the water to a little over the recommended 175° F.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7S0SSzmN8i2uOrrUNB_DqpGgX4eoMF6MLFVkzKCjnZ4qCsZp_mCb7lpbyf6Q6svuDjD9M_RrjgES0Vm2pqVgYAQwragYmENR85uYgzd8IDBLRZqG9mMzdU60Pg33fKTm3EkRaQ/s1600/aeropress_system_new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7S0SSzmN8i2uOrrUNB_DqpGgX4eoMF6MLFVkzKCjnZ4qCsZp_mCb7lpbyf6Q6svuDjD9M_RrjgES0Vm2pqVgYAQwragYmENR85uYgzd8IDBLRZqG9mMzdU60Pg33fKTm3EkRaQ/s1600/aeropress_system_new.jpg" height="180" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The way the Aeropress works is pretty simple. There are basically three parts to the whole thing; the chamber, the plunger, and the filter cap. The filter cap (naturally with a filter in it) attaches to the bottom of the chamber which is then placed on top of your favorite coffee cup. Using the included scoop, measure an amount of coffee into the chamber (for me, it’s three scoops since I use a fairly large mug). Pour in the hot water (the amount will depend on how much coffee you have used); let that steep for a few moments, give it a stir then put the plunger into the chamber and press. Voila! There are, of course, some other methods I’ve found on the internet for using the Aeropress in other ways which supposedly make a better cup of coffee than the prescribed method in the included instructions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-14e0cbbf-dd60-7a52-9178-ef0632f16214" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This won’t fill the mug to full. What you end up with is a really concentrated amount of hot coffee. What I do is top off the mug with more hot water, essentially making an </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_Americano" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Americano</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but you could also use steamed milk to make a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">latte</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappucinno" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cappuccino</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> if you prefer. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My next step will be start trying whole bean coffee to figure how many scoops of whole beans I need to use to make the coffee strong enough.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The other great thing about using the Aeropress is that I don’t waste coffee. There have been plenty of mornings that I’ve made a pot of coffee (actually, I set it up at night and use the timer on the coffee pot so it’s ready when I get up) and only had time to drink one cup before having to head to work. Using the Aeropress, I make each cup fresh, so I don’t waste coffee by having to pour out the leftovers. Cleanup is also much faster as the Aeropress itself only really needs a quick rinse in the sink, and the coffee pot only had water in it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now, I get a better cup of coffee, cleanup is much faster and I can still use regular coffee instead of having to revert to instant if I just happen to want a one-off cup of coffee later in the day.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> JC</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Available from:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://aerobie.com/Products/aeropress_usa_retailers.htm" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://aerobie.com/Products/aeropress_usa_retailers.htm</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-26982366982868187742013-07-07T08:14:00.000-04:002013-07-07T08:15:02.790-04:00Searchin' for Research<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWsSD7WJcuVyylTxLwW_2RGJdL7DtXd_p0rAOW2jBmAJPwfVmrAxJDUFqFAcfV92ewF4po92v8LyRAUSPoTO9OTe9P8K4BPNnyWi4UKiPZbJzkV8ADtmA11Ay9moWh7bI7VKtmw/s1600/research.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWsSD7WJcuVyylTxLwW_2RGJdL7DtXd_p0rAOW2jBmAJPwfVmrAxJDUFqFAcfV92ewF4po92v8LyRAUSPoTO9OTe9P8K4BPNnyWi4UKiPZbJzkV8ADtmA11Ay9moWh7bI7VKtmw/s1600/research.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I’ve mentioned so many times before, I write this blog because I like to write. I don’t necessarily think I’m that particularly brilliant at it, but it’s a very cathartic act for me. The thing is, as you may have noticed by the gaps in the dates of my more recent postings, I’ve been having a bit of trouble coming up with topics, or at least trying not to rehash topics that I feel like I’ve written about entirely too much or too often.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-65ed71c0-b90c-c319-41c8-901fca267e8f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As strange as it may sound, one of the things I actually enjoyed most about my college courses was doing research and writing papers. It has been some thirteen or so years since I left college. I kind of want to do a research paper and post it on my blog; perhaps even in parts, like a serial blog.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ideally, I’d love to write a novella or short story, but I seem to lack the ability to write fiction without blatantly “borrowing (read, stealing) ideas from books and stories I’ve read (or from the backstory “fluff” found in role playing game rulebooks).</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s the thing; I’m much better at writing non-fiction than fiction, but so many things interest me that picking a topic is difficult. Should I write about history, technology, religion? I can’t decide!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not looking to come up with a Master’s thesis or Doctoral dissertation here. I just want a topic that I’m interested in that I would like to learn more about and then parlay that into a research paper.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Step one, of course will be to start making more time to actually read and dedicate that time to reading articles and books other than novels. It probably wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and get a library card at my local library (because, you know, books are expensive and borrowing them versus buying them doesn’t kill my budget - as much as I’d much rather add even more to my personal library).</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second thing would be to remember how to write a research paper (odds are I’d format it in </span><a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turabian style</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as that’s what I primarily used in college). As I said earlier, it’s been at least thirteen years since I have had to do a research paper, and to be honest, most of the ones I wrote in college were of the 2-5 page variety and not the lengthy 10 or so pages I’m thinking of attempting for this project.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, for those of you who have read my past blogs, any thoughts or ideas on something you might be interested in reading about that I could expound upon from just simple Sunday morning blog post? And for that matter, does it need to be a full blown research paper, or should it be more like an essay?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-62614245679113923092013-06-23T09:40:00.001-04:002013-06-23T09:40:22.806-04:00A Tale of Three eBook Apps<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I got my first Android smartphone back in 2009 (the Motorola Droid, if you’re interested), one of the very first apps I downloaded was </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aldiko.android" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aldiko Book Reader</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It took almost two years before I actually used it, even though I downloaded several public domain classics using its built in store. Since then, I am now on my third Android based smartphone (again, if you give a shit, I </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/05/take-note.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">recently upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy Note II</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and have not only the aforementioned Aldiko app, but also the </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bn.ereader" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nook </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.kindle" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kindle</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> apps. I have also embraced ebooks as a format and also own a </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/02/nook-tablet-first-impressions.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nook Tablet</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since going to the Galaxy Note II and its generously sized 5.5” screen I’ve practically abandoned using my Nook Tablet for reading these days. That being said, it is worth giving a brief overview of the three reader apps I now use to indulge my reading habit.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I suppose the first question to be answered is, “Why three readers? Why not just pick one and go with it?” That’s a fair question, for which there is a logical answer; I like having options. Having three reader apps installed on my Note allows me the option of acquiring ebooks from multiple sources instead of being locked into a single, proprietary source. As much as I enjoyed my Nook Tablet (at least as a reader, </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/08/rethinking-my-tablet-choice.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as a tablet it’s severely lacking</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) it limits me to Barnes & Noble’s store for the most part. While it’s true that I can (and have) sideload the occasional </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DRM </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">free ebook (as long as it’s in the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPUB" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.epub</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> format), there are still things that I want to read that are exclusive to Amazon and therefore require the Kindle software to open (which uses a file format called </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobipocket" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.mobi</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). I have also </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/05/independent-reading.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">discovered a few independent authors</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and continue to find others via Twitter, some of whom self-publish via </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smashwords</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or occasionally offer their books for free as a limited time promotion via either Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Then, of course, there is the occasional pricing difference between the two bookselling giants.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As far as the readers themselves are concerned, it is difficult to pick a favorite, although I have to admit, thus far I have only read one book using the Kindle app and right now it is my least favorite of the three. The Kindle app, unlike the other two, utilizes location numbers instead of page numbers, which is just confusing as hell. It also has a very limited interface in terms of displaying my library and customization of settings. Speaking of settings, I actually prefer the Nook app over the Nook device itself for this very reason; strange as it sounds, the Android app version of the Nook software renders the text better in my opinion, and I also like the animated page turns on the Nook app that look like a real page flip (why this animation is missing from the Nook device software is a mystery to me). For displaying of books in the library collection for the particular reader, I tend to prefer Aldiko because I can display them as a list or in “shelf view” as well as being able to sort by either author or title. I guess the only problem I have with Aldiko is that it is exclusive to the Android platform and since it’s a standalone reader there is no ability to sync between my phone and my laptop as I can with both the Nook and Kindle apps which also are available for Windows 8.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Neither the Kindle nor the Nook app will show my wishlists that I have stored on the Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites, which I find annoying as it forces me to shop from the site instead of from the app if I want to get something that I’ve previously saved for later. However, they both do a decent job of syncing items that I’ve already purchased, and I do like that the Nook software has an archive feature so that things I’ve already read need not be displayed in the list on the Android app, Windows 8 app or on the Nook device.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All three have options for margins, text size and whether or not to display the traditional black text on white background or white text on black background for low light/night time reading. There doesn’t seem to be a clear cut winner in this category, although the switch from day settings to night settings is a bit faster on the Aldiko app than the other two as it’s basically a single tap. Aldiko also has more fine tuned control over margins versus the three of four options of Kindle or Nook.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bottom line is, all three serve their purpose - allowing me to read a good book on the go without having to carry around more than one device or an entire, heavy stack of dead trees. Having all three allows me the option of multiple sources for material as well. So, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that I’ll continue to have Aldiko Book Reader, Kindle for Android, and Nook for Android installed on any and all Android devices I own or ever will own for a very long time to come.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Play Store App Links:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aldiko - </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aldiko.android" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aldiko.android</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kindle - </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.kindle" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.kindle</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nook - </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bn.ereader" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bn.ereader</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other Blogs I’ve Written about ebooks and readers:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Paper vs Screen (or Real Books vs E-Books)” - </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-vs-screen-or-real-books-vs-e.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-vs-screen-or-real-books-vs-e.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Great Book Debate” - </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/07/great-book-debate.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/07/great-book-debate.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Nook Tablet - First Impressions” - </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/02/nook-tablet-first-impressions.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/02/nook-tablet-first-impressions.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Rethinking My Tablet Choice” - </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/08/rethinking-my-tablet-choice.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2012/08/rethinking-my-tablet-choice.html</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-35097414612089600292013-05-26T08:30:00.000-04:002013-05-26T08:30:18.417-04:00Never Forget<span id="docs-internal-guid-5907b1e2-e0ce-38be-bc87-806330522bb1"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day" style="line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Memorial Day</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> weekend here in the U.S. Many Americans have a long weekend for the holiday and have made various plans ranging from backyard cookouts to attending local events. But what today is really about is remembering those who gave their lives while serving in one branch of the military or another so that we could have the freedom to have those cookouts, sales and events. So, today, instead of blogging about my new smartphone or reviewing a book or ranting about something, I pause to remember the men and women who gave their lives so I could live free. Never Forget!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVL2cT8EGsN4o0u8whGwk2hekzIquz-l-DL_kr8w-Dx03g2e1Wm90I2xNi5gDw1uWv3x3ugoMVcUkOR5HPtYniincrEbunwu8wr9MpqwQROBBp06Yxw6FHAjc8F369DfysJcuxjw/s1600/memorial-day-cost.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVL2cT8EGsN4o0u8whGwk2hekzIquz-l-DL_kr8w-Dx03g2e1Wm90I2xNi5gDw1uWv3x3ugoMVcUkOR5HPtYniincrEbunwu8wr9MpqwQROBBp06Yxw6FHAjc8F369DfysJcuxjw/s400/memorial-day-cost.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>~ JC</i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-56782828738299529812013-05-19T10:13:00.000-04:002013-05-19T10:13:19.599-04:00Take Note<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FD1ml8oF3duCfNX-3nahJUZgNoshRUtLVl-nJDxNNEDmwn1T4jBy9DyWAwiBUH-0hG8rhhskUL7I_aLecxf0PsT0Y0ujHswYik4uUzoXhlP8wtnlITUs4-GjcECPhSiywiNc6w/s1600/Samsung+Galaxy+Note+II+PR+5-380-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FD1ml8oF3duCfNX-3nahJUZgNoshRUtLVl-nJDxNNEDmwn1T4jBy9DyWAwiBUH-0hG8rhhskUL7I_aLecxf0PsT0Y0ujHswYik4uUzoXhlP8wtnlITUs4-GjcECPhSiywiNc6w/s200/Samsung+Galaxy+Note+II+PR+5-380-75.jpg" width="161" /></a></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few weeks ago in my blog “</span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-great-gadget-debate.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Great Gadget Debate</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”, I wrote about the plethora of mobile devices and platforms on the market these days. I became eligible for upgrade through Verizon in April, but waited an extra month for budgetary concerns and to research devices before deciding on the <a href="http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxynote/note2/index.html?type=find" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Note II</a>. Actual retail price of this “phaplet” device is $700, but I can got it for $200 from Verizon; I could have gotten it for or $150 through Amazon.com but I was to impatient to wait on the shipping. Plus, I like having the option of simply going back to the store should I have any problems or change my mind (not that I'm likely to).</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmwdBMXsxVwOjM6y6rNQmyhyoapmReecVa0XllzMjY1mG0BCt7j4LlQHPaXEAciteyTQRdrtQ4cLvQG742psnn6UqrHXVDW6PaWPvbeT20bnoeVvuDeRJpdsxJej8keWrmvjaSA/s1600/James+Note+II+-+5-15-13+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmwdBMXsxVwOjM6y6rNQmyhyoapmReecVa0XllzMjY1mG0BCt7j4LlQHPaXEAciteyTQRdrtQ4cLvQG742psnn6UqrHXVDW6PaWPvbeT20bnoeVvuDeRJpdsxJej8keWrmvjaSA/s200/James+Note+II+-+5-15-13+001.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">As you can see in the picture to the right, the Note II (on the right) is quite a bit larger than my previous smartphone, the HTC Incredible 2. The Incredible was a great phone, and served me well for the last couple of years; recently, though, it began having issues with the battery starting to go bad and running out of storage space. Despite running most of my apps from the micro-SD card, I still had a lot of apps that could no longer get updates because the phone itself was running low on space. The Note II has 16GB of onboard storage in addition to a micro-SD slot that supports up to 32GB (I transferred my 16GB micro-SD card from the Incredible to the Note already). Some may balk at the size of the Note, but since I’ve gotten to where I read mostly ebooks these days instead of printed books, I really wanted the larger screen the Note offers. I do still have my Nook Tablet, but I was tired of having to carry two devices around; plus, the Note is better at being a tablet than is the Nook, not to mention that with the Note I have access to both the Nook and Kindle apps, so I have more options for where I can purchase ebooks. Further adding to the bulk of the phone is the fact that I have it in an </span><a href="http://www.otterbox.com/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-2-Defender-Series-Case/sam2-galaxy-note-2,default,pd.html?dwvar_sam2-galaxy-note-2_color=20&start=1&cgid=samsung-galaxy-note-2-cases" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Otterbox Defender case</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">; yes it adds to the size and weight, but not that much - certainly not as much as some reviewers of the case have asserted.</span></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Speaking of reviewers, I naturally read a lot of reviews of the phone before making my decision. I have come to the conclusion that the bad reviews are mostly the result of people who are either too stupid or too lazy to figure out who to use technology; they fall into the same category of people who complain about Windows 8. Among the more ridiculous complaints about the Note that I read online were folks who gave it only one star because the screen broke (after they dropped it because, you know, it’s Samsung’s fault you’re a clumsy oaf) and another one that apparently went into a rage because Verizon had dared put their logo on the home button (as though no other carrier puts their branding on any phone that they sell). The only real complaint I read that I might be inclined to agree with is that the phone software apparently does not allow for apps to be installed to the micro-SD card; however, with 16GB of onboard storage, if this becomes a factor for you, then you’ve got to many apps, in my opinion (I mean, really, how many apps do you need that you would use up 16GB of storage to install them all?).</span></span></b></span></b></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">As to technical difficulties that some reviewers complained about, I have yet to experience any of those problems. The </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.swift.app.kiesair&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5zYW1zdW5nLnN3aWZ0LmFwcC5raWVzYWlyIl0." style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Kies Air app</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> and functionality for connecting the phone to my PC via Wi-Fi worked fine (at least in terms of actually connecting - I haven’t delved into actually using it yet); my Bluetooth headset paired to the device right away (I don’t have Bluetooth built into my car, so I cannot confirm or deny if it has any issues with pairing up a built in car Bluetooth speakerphone). Another person stated that they couldn’t email pictures via the Gmail app - totally did this at least twice already. To the guy who complained about Flash content not displaying in their browser, that’s not Verizon’s nor Samsung’s fault; keep up with what’s going on in the tech world dude - Adobe dropped mobile support for Flash several months ago (as in, before this phone even came out). Most of the other complaints/critiques I read were more of a “this phone just isn’t to my liking” after having given it fair trial, which I can at least respect.</span></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">My review, after roughly three and a half days is that I love it. I love the larger screen, I like the large form factor (for me it’s easier to hold on, especially with the Otterbox case and its rubberized back cover). The quad-core processor along with having access to Verizon’s 4G network means that web pages load pretty damn quick (almost as quick was on my laptop) and apps take seconds to download and update instead of several minutes. And, I actually really like the S-pen stylus; my fat fingers have a tendency to tap the wrong place on the screen, so having a stylus helps and I like that I can do handwritten notes with the S-Note app that came built into the phone.</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Admittedly, I haven’t had it but a few days, and I’ve yet to really dig into all of its features, but so far it is the best Android device I’ve owned.</span></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Just for fun, and to demonstrate that the S-pen makes it super easy to get screenshots, here’s the current home screen line up I’m using. That’s another thing that I like about this phone - I can add and remove home screen pages. It had the default five screens, as you can see here, I currently have four, but at one point I had seven (primarily because I kept accidentally adding screens).</span></span></b></span></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">So, there you have it. My initial review of the Samsung Galaxy Note II. If you’re looking for a tablet - this probably isn’t for you. If you just need a smartphone, again, this may prove to large/bulky for you. If, however, like me, you’re looking for a device that can function as a tablet and a phone so that you only have to carry one device and you don’t need a full on 10” Tablet, then you may want to give this a look.</span></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">~ JC</span></span></b></span></b><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6975e51e-bcf6-908f-aa7d-14ad0e06451d" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Online Reviews:</span></span></b></span></b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-10428701283074578522013-05-12T09:50:00.001-04:002013-05-12T09:51:41.947-04:00Independent Reading<b id="docs-internal-guid-17927347-98fe-2937-2656-3d3770cb15aa" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBcoeP_-0Pm17-x62jYTY7pORnGEHzyux1he5ArL_cAMdn6JunFg5I4URDhPzpoTyDA-pIh_Dz9n3DMNqaodJOyUHMcWVDALoRzGEL44VfZcjNQwdWt8F4klIPvjAfHVCZVdBdPg/s1600/save_an_author.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBcoeP_-0Pm17-x62jYTY7pORnGEHzyux1he5ArL_cAMdn6JunFg5I4URDhPzpoTyDA-pIh_Dz9n3DMNqaodJOyUHMcWVDALoRzGEL44VfZcjNQwdWt8F4klIPvjAfHVCZVdBdPg/s200/save_an_author.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-17927347-98fe-2937-2656-3d3770cb15aa" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently I </span><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/03/book-review-darker-things-by-rob-cornell.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reviewed a book called </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Darker Things</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by an independent author named </span><a href="http://rob-cornell.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rob Cornell</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. My discovery of that book and its (so far) two sequels (the fourth book in the series is due out this summer, I believe) was the result of a string of Twitter follows. I had started following </span><a href="https://twitter.com/EEBorton" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">E.E. Borton</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at the suggestion of a friend because I had said something on my Facebook page about wanting something different to read besides Science-Fiction and Fantasy. This lead to being followed by </span><a href="https://twitter.com/CiaraBallintyne" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ciara Ballintyne</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RobCornellBooks" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rob Cornell</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I don’t typically re-follow people on Twitter, but this time I made an exception because their books and other Twitter posts seemed intriguing. At the time I was pretty engrossed in the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Song of Ice & Fire</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> novels (with </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hunger Games</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> trilogy used as a mental palate cleanser between books four and five), so I didn’t immediately look at any of their writings, but I kept them on Twitter so I could find them again when I was ready.</span></b></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-17927347-98fe-2937-2656-3d3770cb15aa" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-17927347-98fe-2937-2656-3d3770cb15aa" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All three of these authors are fairly independent; they self-publish or are published by smaller publishing houses with limited distribution. Case in point, Mr. Cornell’s books were all published exclusively as ebooks until very recently.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> To date, I’ve only read Rob Cornell’s </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lockman Chronicles</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (I’m currently on book number three) and I downloaded his novel, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red Run</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for Kindle when it was on sale at the promo price for FREE a couple of weeks ago. I’ve not yet read E.E. Borton, but his novel, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Abomination </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is on my Nook wishlist (I kind of feel bad that I didn’t read him first since he’s a fellow Atlanta-ian). As far as I can tell, Ciara Ballintyne hasn’t published anything yet, other than her blogs, but </span><a href="http://ciaraballintyne.com/BooksCiaraBallintyne.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the novels she has listed on her website</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as in progress seem interesting enough and I believe she has some short stories publishing that I may check out.</span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-17927347-98fe-2937-2656-3d3770cb15aa" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The point of all of this is, prior to this, I had not given independent authors much consideration. I am guilty of relying on what’s on the shelves at the big bookstores. I’m really rethinking that stance though. First of all, the ebooks published independently tend to be less expensive and second, they are different. By different, I mean, they aren’t bound by the formulas that get books on the bestseller list. Let’s be honest, part of the reason I was struggling to find anything that could hold my interest beyond the first chapter or two is because so much of what is out there is just too damn similar. Rob Cornell’s Lockman series is, even while dealing with topics like vampires, werewolves, and the supernatural, is still a unique take on what has become dime a dozen types of novels in the last few years. His writing has inspired me to want to give other independent authors a look because maybe, just maybe, I’ll find a really great story that’s not only a easier on my budget, but also more entertaining than some of the cookie-cutter fluff that’s populating bookstore shelves these days.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are looking for something to read that’s different than your normal selections, consider an independent author; you might find that their stories are worth the read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Rob Cornell recently announced on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/robcornellwrites?fref=ts" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">his Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RobCornellBooks/status/332915587590266882" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> feeds that </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Darker Things</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, book one of </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lockman Chronicles</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is now available in print. - </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1484131282" style="text-decoration: none;">http://www.amazon.com/dp/1484131282</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-47733854005622440922013-05-05T09:43:00.000-04:002013-05-05T09:43:29.354-04:00Real Love is Color Blind<b id="docs-internal-guid-06a97cb4-74e8-3bfd-e86d-9aa563227ff5" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkzq5QP7TvTLnHAOiHpNGOE4-B1b07pkvfqvpAEIE05C3apAX-eJlkW6gwCyyXfJQ_HQpwQYtZ0QcWsK8rHqbyDAiil9rTcxxDN-oJEPouoG0bvMmxuCnrOAUkUszQkxBrRVGJg/s1600/murphy_wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkzq5QP7TvTLnHAOiHpNGOE4-B1b07pkvfqvpAEIE05C3apAX-eJlkW6gwCyyXfJQ_HQpwQYtZ0QcWsK8rHqbyDAiil9rTcxxDN-oJEPouoG0bvMmxuCnrOAUkUszQkxBrRVGJg/s200/murphy_wedding.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-06a97cb4-74e8-3bfd-e86d-9aa563227ff5" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last weekend I had the honor and privilege of officiating my “baby” sister’s wedding (you can just see my bald head in the picture to the right over the groom’s shoulder). Speaking of the picture to the right, yes, my new brother-in-law is a little bit black.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> One of my favorite decorative items at the wedding was the sign posted where the guests entered to be seated, which read, “Today, two families become one. So please pick a seat not a side.”</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaK6QnVZK4z7yJTsTB5yfPHYWKhPi0uPyETGJjMLE1PI6kfoXnL1qh4_PmB45UNBQ9zUUtknfeePUowm9CTRACtotS6UUJHGeaXJKxmgle03-6EjfTYowoY6T49Y6sYhLVB7B9rg/s1600/pick_a_seat_not_a_side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaK6QnVZK4z7yJTsTB5yfPHYWKhPi0uPyETGJjMLE1PI6kfoXnL1qh4_PmB45UNBQ9zUUtknfeePUowm9CTRACtotS6UUJHGeaXJKxmgle03-6EjfTYowoY6T49Y6sYhLVB7B9rg/s200/pick_a_seat_not_a_side.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-06a97cb4-74e8-3bfd-e86d-9aa563227ff5" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.15;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-06a97cb4-74e8-a967-3394-e3805884f945" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You see, real love is color blind. When I look at my new brother-in-law, I don’t see a “black man” I just see a man; a man that obviously loves my sister and and my niece and wants to make them his family. </span></b></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-06a97cb4-74e8-3bfd-e86d-9aa563227ff5" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-06a97cb4-74e8-a967-3394-e3805884f945" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this day and age when everyone is arguing about marriage rights for same-sex couples, we forget that as little as 46 years ago, it was illegal in some states for interracial couples to marry as well until the laws were changed.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I look and my sister and brother-in-law and our two joined, extended families, it gives me hope. Hope that maybe we as a nation have finally stopped giving a shit about what color someone’s skin is and finally started looking at the person they are; hope that if bullshit laws from before 1967 that would’ve kept my sister and her husband from getting married can be repealed, so can the dumbass, bigoted laws that keep two people from getting married just because they both happen to be the same gender.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I really hope, is that I’ll get to see, in my lifetime, a world where ethnicity and gender cease to be a deciding factor in things like this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. The “little bit black” comment is actually an inside family joke from a couple of years ago. My niece, being only around 4 or 5 years old at the time, announced to everyone at Thanksgiving Dinner, “When JJ gets here, try not to stare; he’s a little bit black.” Kids say the damnedest things sometimes, LOL.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. African American Registry. “North Carolina Accepts Interracial Marriages!”. aaregistry.org. </span><a href="http://aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/north-carolina-accepts-interracial-marriages" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/north-carolina-accepts-interracial-marriages</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (accessed May 5, 2013).</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-53378557023702364122013-03-31T06:40:00.000-04:002013-03-31T06:40:12.420-04:00Book Review: Darker Things by Rob Cornell <b id="internal-source-marker_0.7713549640029669" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7713549640029669" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m a pretty avid reader. I would say “voracious” but I tend to go in spurts where I spend most of my free time reading book after book after book and then go several weeks without reading anything (other than my daily news feeds on the internet, that is). Lately I’ve had some trouble finding anything that grabbed my interest beyond the first chapter or two. Personally, I blame George R.R. Martin, who’s epic writing style has nearly ruined me for being able to read other authors (he needs to hurry the hell up and finish book six of </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Song of Ice & Fire</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, dammit!). I also kind of lost my love of Terry Goodkind’s Richard & Kahlan novels due in part to his repetitive dialogue and constant preachiness regarding Objectivist philosophy (not that I entirely disagree with that school of thought, but I don’t read fiction to understand philosophical points of view; I read fiction for entertainment).</span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7713549640029669" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Several months (actually, almost a year) ago my Twitter feed was followed by one </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RobCornellBooks"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rob Cornell</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I typically ignore follows unless I happen to know the person in real life, but this time I decided to return the follow. Mr. Cornell is a writer, albeit not of a genre of fiction I normally go for, but I decided to follow him on Twitter nonetheless just in case I decided I wanted to check out some of his work. Well, recently I did just that; </span><a href="http://rob-cornell.com/?page_id=58"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Darker Things</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lockman Chronicles</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, book 1)</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As previously mentioned, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Darker Things</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is not typically the type of novel I would read. Being a long time fan of Fantasy and the occasional science-fiction piece, I’m not normally a fan of horror, thrillers, and the like; or, what Cornell calls “urban fantasy”. With all the vampire craze these days with the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">True Blood</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> series on HBO, not to mention the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twilight </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">novels and movies that are so popular (although I can’t imagine why), I was a bit skeptical of reading something that (at first glance) would fall into that niche. Well, I was both proven wrong and pleasantly surprised that </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Darker Things </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is decidedly not a “vampire novel”. I think the authors label of “urban fantasy” is probably the best way to describe it. Yes, there are supernatural elements (vampires, ghosts, werewolves, magick, etc.), but that doesn’t seem to be the focus. It’s more like an espionage/thriller/action story that happens to include elements of the fantastical. I would say more, but I really don’t believe in spoilers in a book review.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took advantage of the free sample on my Nook, which included the Prologue, Chapter 1 and about half of Chapter 2. That was enough to get my hooked (especially since Cornell didn’t waste much time getting right into the action) and I quickly found myself paying the $2.99 to download the complete novel (note, I happened to catch it on sale - but the normal price for the ebook is still only about $3.99; when you consider that a typical mass-market paperback these days runs $8-10, this is a great bargain and you don’t have to kill a tree to read it).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The characters are well thought out and developed. The story moves along quickly with each chapter ending in way that makes the reader want to turn the page to find out what happens next. The author definitely keeps you guessing; I can’t call this novel predictable by any stretch. If I had to give any critique at all it would be Cornell’s tendency to use sentence fragments when conveying a character’s inner-monologue instead of using semi-colons, but that’s merely a stylistic thing I suppose and in no way detracts from the quality of the story itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thoroughly enjoyed </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Darker Things</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and look forward to reading the next two books in the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lockman Chronicles</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Darker Things</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is available in several formats for download:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/darker-things-rob-cornell/1100458647?ean=2940012517470"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nook</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YQCC3E"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kindle</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Darker-Things/book-2fKmUSvkIU6NHKbauQRKQg/page1.html?s=mY27mg3KrUqWX7F1nXTrtQ&r=1"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kobo</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As well as multiple, non-DRM formats from </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/56747"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smashwords </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re still into dead-tree versions of books, well, you may be out of luck - but Smashwords does have formats that are viewable in a browser, Adobe Reader or a word processor, and I guess you can always print it out yourself if that’s really a big deal for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></div>
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</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-71439100728247059562013-03-24T07:29:00.001-04:002013-03-24T07:32:26.334-04:00The Great Gadget Debate<b id="internal-source-marker_0.28703901125118136" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.28703901125118136" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s no secret that we live in a high tech society. It’s impossible to go anywhere these days without seeing an abundance of people with their gaze firmly planted on the incandescent glow of a LCD screen of one kind or another, be it a laptop computer, tablet or smartphone. I am just as guilty; I don’t even read “real” books anymore but choose instead to use ebooks (honestly, I think it’s been well over a year since I picked up a print copy of a novel); my Android smartphone is always close at hand and is used to read news feeds and the occasional few pages of a novel whenever I’ve forgotten my Nook; and I recently bought a laptop so I could sit anywhere in my house I want to surf the internet or write and of course still have access to a computer whenever I go out of town.</span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.28703901125118136" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With so many choices in the marketplace these days, not to mention the seemingly constant announcement of things to come</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">*</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, making the decision as to what gadget to invest in can start to become muddled. My perspective, for the most part, is that the decision is mostly subjective - you find the platform that works best for you and go with it whether that be Android, iOS, or Windows Phones/RT. My best friend, for example, recently switched from Android to iPhone, and an old college buddy of mine raves about Windows Phone (despite his being the biggest Microsoft hater I knew back in the 90s). Me? I still like my Android; I’ve had two and my next smartphone will likely also be Android (seriously considering either the Samsung Galaxy S III or the Galaxy Note II).</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s an App For That</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the big deciding factors is the selection of apps available from the respective stores. I’m not necessarily referring to total numbers here - lot’s of people like to used the volume of apps in in the iTunes App Store compared to what is now called Google Play, for example, to claim the iPhone’s superiority, but having hundreds of thousands of apps versus only, maybe, tens of thousands doesn't impress me; I can’t and won’t use all of them, and having too many choices can be just as bad as not having enough. Google Play (formerly known as Android Market), of course, has caught up and has just as many apps as iTunes these days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this stage of the game, I have a set of apps I use regularly enough that their continued availability, or even a suitable equivalent, is what matters most. Which is why I’m much more likely to stay with Android as my platform of choice. Windows Phone is quite intriguing especially since I recently made the move to Windows 8 for my primary computer OS, but the apps I need just aren’t yet available on WP, or if they are, aren’t yet as developed. As far as iPhone, there are pretty much the same or suitably equivalent apps for the most part, but I’m just not a fan of Apple’s proprietary nature or, more importantly, the lack of choice when it comes to devices.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Phones, Tablets and “Phablets”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cellphone, Smartphone, Mobile Device, Tablet, Pocket Computer, “Phablet” - whatever. I’m not here to argue about which nomenclature is “correct” when referring to the various devices folks carry around these days. Can I make a phone call with it? Then it’s a phone. Can I use it to surf the internet? Then it’s a computer. Can I carry it around in a pocket, or backpack? Then it’s also a mobile device. “Smartphone” is the common terminology for a device that is both a phone and a miniature computer, while some argue that it should just be called a “mobile device” or “pocket computer”. The next gadget I’m considering, the Samsung Galaxy Note II, has been saddled with the nickname “phablet” due to still being a phone while the other features are more tablet like than other smartphones. Again, whatever - call it what you want, as long as it does what I need it to do, I don’t care what it’s name is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking of “doing what I need it to do”, this brings up my reason for considering (as I’ve mentioned a couple of times already) the Samsung Galaxy Note II as my next Android device. I currently have a HTC Droid Incredible 2 as well as a Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. Both have served me well, but lately their abilities to do what I want has become a bit more lacking. Trying to surf websites on the Incredible is limiting due to the screen size, while trying to do so on the Nook is limiting because it’s not really a tablet. Now, I could get a less expensive smartphone and a different tablet, but why should I spend a grand or more on two devices when I can spend $200-$300 on a single device that can fit the bill as both a phone and a tablet while also being more portable than a traditional tablet? Sure, with a 5.5-inch screen it’s rather large for “phone” and rather smallish for a tablet, but for my purposes it’s a happy medium; large enough to read a book or surf a web page, but not so large that I can’t fit it in a pocket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whatever you call it, whatever I choose, one thing's for sure when it comes to picking a new tech gadget, though - in a couple of months, something better will come out and the device I just dropped a few hundred dollars on will be half the price ;-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Samsung, for example, is due to release the most recent version of its “Galaxy” line of Android based smartphones soon - the Galaxy S IV</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-89859084349539539742013-03-03T10:01:00.000-05:002013-03-03T10:02:05.837-05:00Gramma<br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7048872101586312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=====</span></b></blockquote>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7048872101586312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Margaret H. McPhail</span></b></blockquote>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7048872101586312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FAYETTEVILLE - Mrs. Margaret Hamilton McPhail passed away Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. She was born to the late Augustus Hamilton Sr. and Nellie Osowsky Hamilton on Nov. 4, 1920, in Camp Sherman, Ohio. She was a devoted wife and mother who spent the majority of her life as an Army wife. in her words, “I’m an Army brat myself, and I have a house full of them.” One of the greatest joys of her life was to have lived in Hawaii for five years as a child. She spoke of this wonderful experience often. She was preceded in death by her husband, Retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Quincy E. McPhail; a brother, Augustus Hamilton, Jr.; a sister, Augusta McLeod; and a daughter, Barbara Jo Teller. She leaves behind to cherish her memory: Sons, Gus McPhail and his wife, Linda, of Fayetteville, Bob McPhail of Tijuana, Mexico, and Bill McPhail of the home; daughters, Kathy Degarmo of Fayetteville and Gail Bowden and her husband Bill, of Garner; sisters, Natalie Allen of Star and Helen] White of Pensacola, Fla., brother Bob Hamilton of Lavaca, Ark.; eight grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, in Sullivan’s Highland Funeral Service & Crematory in Fayetteville. Visitation will be from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Services entrusted to Sullivan’s Highland Funeral Services & Crematory of Fayetteville.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7048872101586312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Published in </span><a href="http://fayobserver.com/"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fayetteville Observer</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from February 24 to February 26, 2013</span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7048872101586312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></blockquote>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7048872101586312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This past week has been difficult, emotionally. We laid to rest my grandmother whom I was very close to as she raised me from the time I was nine months old and I lived in her house for the majority of my life. While history may not remember the name Margaret McPhail, those of us who loved her always will. She didn’t invent anything, nor write any famous books, but she was, by my estimation a great woman. She did something that was truly great - she raised a family. The art of the “housewife” is a dying profession. She lived through the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War. She almost single handedly raised a brood of children while either constantly having to move around when her husband was restationed to a new base, or while he was overseas fighting for his country. She did it all with love and patience and during a time with there weren’t high tech gadgets to help. She loved her family, unconditionally and took care of all of us her entire life.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I said, she may not have invented or written anything, but she accomplished something just as great by being a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and even a great-great-grandmother and making sure we were all loved and cared for all of us.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I miss you Gramma.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-20711954910109254602013-02-10T08:27:00.006-05:002013-02-10T08:28:57.786-05:00I Am Envy-ous<b id="internal-source-marker_0.17908465978689492" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone always makes big plans for “When I get my tax refund”. If you’ve been following my blog the last couple of weeks, you’ll know that I chose to use my tax refund this year to buy a new laptop. I’ve written about the fact that it came with Windows 8 twice</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. What I haven’t written about, though, is the hardware itself and how, so far, I’m very pleased with its performance.</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWft6vh0H9R0skwIkpkmYXqPqWuofp_Lpm7L8OJVujfHcGvFBPMBcY8iN64UslUVncvKuROWa-rZnaghuvEAtkOi9kQayOf6if7-t40o3fKbTLgm1gnUbOub6oBC702pSPRtO6Q/s1600/hp_envy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWft6vh0H9R0skwIkpkmYXqPqWuofp_Lpm7L8OJVujfHcGvFBPMBcY8iN64UslUVncvKuROWa-rZnaghuvEAtkOi9kQayOf6if7-t40o3fKbTLgm1gnUbOub6oBC702pSPRtO6Q/s1600/hp_envy.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.17908465978689492" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love my desktop PC. I built it myself and it has served me well these last few years. At 3GB RAM, 1GB Video RAM and a dual-core AMD 64-bit CPU running at 2.6 Ghz, it was built to play games and play games it has, from </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tiger Woods</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NHL</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">World of Warcraft</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - I have been entertained aplenty, and even managed to keep track of my finances and write a few blogs. Alas, I can’t tuck ye ole PC under my arm and carry it downstairs or take it with me when I go to North Carolina for holidays and visits or on vacation.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While it is true that I have a work issued laptop, there are two problems that present themselves. The first being rather obvious - it’s not mine; sure I’m allowed to use it for personal stuff, but if I ever had to turn it in for any reason, I wouldn’t want to have to remember to remove personal data from it. Secondly, not being intended for games it doesn’t have the power for it (I know, I’ve tried to play WoW on it and it was horrible). So I finally decided that having my own personal laptop where I can keep </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quicken</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">World of Warcraft</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or anything the hell else I want and have access to those programs whether I’m home or not. Once I determined for a certainty that my tax refund would cover the cost, I headed out to buy a laptop.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeing as how whatever laptop I was going to buy would ultimately end up being a complete replacement of my desktop for everyday use, I determined that, even though I could get one with similar processor speed and RAM as my desktop for a few hundred dollars, it would make more sense to splurge a bit and get something with enough power to not have to worry about upgrades for quite awhile. That being said, here’s the side by side comparison for the desktop (tower) that I built several years ago and the laptop I bought three weeks ago:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desktop</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laptop</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brand & Model</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self built - using an Asus Motherboard</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.microcenter.com/product/402621/ENVY_dv7-7292nr_173_Laptop_Computer_-_Midnight_Black"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HP Envy dv7-7292nr</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9wP3nOkE6kBS2pKVDVpMHpwVU0/edit?usp=sharing"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">full data sheet</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span><a href="http://www.microcenter.com/product/402621/ENVY_dv7-7292nr_173_Laptop_Computer_-_Midnight_Black"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></a></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CPU</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AMD 64-bit Dual Core 2.6Ghz</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intel i7 Quad Core - 2.4Ghz</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RAM</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3GB DDR2 (4GB max)</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12GB DDR3 (16GB max)</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dedicated Video RAM</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1GB DDR3 (NVIDIA chipset)</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2GB gDDR5 (NVIDIA Chipset)</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard Drive Space</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 total - primary internal (contains OS and apps) =150GB, secondary internal (used for documents and music) 500GB; external (videos and movies) 500GB</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1TB</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(NOTE: the document and multimedia drives on the desktop have been setup for network sharing so are accessible to the laptop via the home network)</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Other Stuff</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">USB ports - 4 on the back, 2 on the front and a 7 port powered hub.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NIC - 10/100</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">USB ports - 4 </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(3x 3.0, 1x 2.0)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Multi format Digital Media Card Reader</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NIC - 10/100/1000</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WiFi - 801.11 b/g/n</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bluetooth</span></td></tr>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.17908465978689492" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My desktop PC still works just fine, and in fact still serves as a file share on my home network and media player whenever I’m gaming on the laptop. The performance when playing things like </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">World of Warcraft</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has been outstanding. It’s amazing to me just how much of a difference the two extra CPU cores and nine more gigabytes of RAM has made in gaming and multitasking. There are, of course some other considerations when evaluating a new machine.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Screen Resolution</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The screen resolution on the HP Envy is phenomenal. My desktop has a video card with DVI outputs, but the laptop’s resolution is very impressive. It’s quite amazing to play a video game in HD.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battery Life</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battery Life is advertised as “Up to 3 hours and 30 minutes”. I’m not stupid enough to actually let a laptop battery (or any Lithium Ion battery for that matter) drain completely dead if I can avoid it. But, I did allow the laptop on at least one occasion to run on battery until it was down to around 16%. That took roughly 3 hours, while also running WiFi connection to the Internet as well as powering the cooling mat I had it sitting on. So, apparently the advertised battery life is pretty accurate, but I don’t bank on it staying that way (batteries do, after all, wear out over time).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Software</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the primary reasons that I started building my own PCs a few years ago rather than buying “off the rack” was all the preinstalled software; what has become known as “bloatware”. The manufactures, as a selling point, add a bunch of “free, included” software. The new laptop is no different. The upside, of course, is that it can be uninstalled. It’s pretty rare that I find any of it useful. With the exception of the included software for the built in webcam and a few games, I’ll likely shitcan the bloatware on this thing.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Accessorizing </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naturally, with a new laptop, it was necessary to pick up some new accessories. I despise using the touchpad on a laptop, so I had to buy a mouse. Laptops tend to get hot, so I picked up a cooling pad. Since it’s being used to replace the desktop, I picked up a </span><a href="http://microcenter.com/product/382352/HDMI_Male_to_DVI_Male_HDTV_Digital_Video_Cable_65_ft_Black"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HDMI to DVI adapter cable</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> so I could extend the desktop to one of my other monitors when I’m in my home office.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><a href="http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/performance-mouse-mx"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Logitech Performance MX Mouse</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.17908465978689492" style="font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Comfort: A - not quite as comfortable as the MS Ergonomic Mouse 7000, but since my MS mouse died a horrible death over a year ago (don’t drink whiskey and troubleshoot your WiFi, kids; the result is a shattered mouse) and is not purchasable without buying the whole keyboard+mouse combo, this is the closest thing to it’s shape and comfort level I’ve found without also paying a ridiculous amount of money.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Performance: A+ - I’m not sure how one would rate performance on a mouse, per se. But this one works very nicely. I appreciate the extra buttons which can be programmed to my liking.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Battery Life: C (?) - only 3 weeks and I have change the battery? Every other mouse or keyboard I’ve owned has kept battery life for months. On the plus side, it has a built in recharge circuit to be able use use NiMH rechargeable batteries. While the online reviews of the recharge feature have been pretty bad, the upside is that the mouse will work with it plugged into the USB port of the computer even without a battery in it. I’ve given it a C rather than a D or F for now because, to be fair, I’m using cheap ass dollar store batteries, which could be the real culprit here. I also haven’t tested the rechargeable feature yet.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><a href="http://www.targus.com/us/productdetail.aspx?regionId=7&sku=AWE81US&PageName=Cooling%20for%20Laptops%20by%20Targus%20USA&productCategoryId=12&bucketTypeId=0&searchedTerms=&navlevel1=shop&cp=&bannertxt=Cooling%20for%20Laptops"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Targus Chill Mat</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> + - Some reviews of this cooling pad have been less than stellar, but so far it’s done a pretty good job. When gaming, naturally, the laptop heats up a bit, so having an extra set of fans underneath it as well as a mat that tilts up to allow better airflow (and also helps with bringing the screen up higher) is definately a good thing. This cooling pad also includes a four port USB hub which comes in handy for me since I can leave my keyboard dongle attached to the mat’s hub - essentially, it’s probably as close to a docking station as I’ll get.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">In all, I'm very confident in my choice especially </span><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">considering</span><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that I had looked at Dells and other brands that cost the same or more for slightly lesser specifications.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>~ JC</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Footnotes:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Previous Blogs in this series:</span></b><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/01/windows-ocho-day-1.html"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Windows Ocho - Day 1"</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Sunday, January 27, 2013 </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/02/windows-ocho-week-1.html"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Windows Ocho - Week 1"</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Sunday, February 3, 2013</span></li>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-76351241330655707962013-02-03T11:23:00.000-05:002013-02-03T11:23:22.145-05:00Windows Ocho, Week 1<b id="internal-source-marker_0.30103759770281613" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://jecarlisle.blogspot.com/2013/01/windows-ocho-day-1.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week’s blog</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was about my dealings with Windows 8 within the first 12 or so hours of having gotten a new laptop with it preinstalled. Now that it’s been a full week and I’ve had more time to familiarize myself with it, I offer my personal insights and discoveries regarding this much maligned version of the most widely used PC Operating System in the world.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the biggest things I’ve heard friends and colleagues say they dislike about Windows 8 is the new Interface; they don’t care for they tiles. They think that Microsoft is trying too hard to make Windows 8 look like a tablet or smartphone Operating System. Then, of course, there’s the theory that only every other version of Windows has been worth a tinker’s damn, and since Windows 7 was very stable, it’s been sort of expected that 8 would be a bomb. I’ve also come across many articles online about Windows 8 annoyances, or how-to’s on making Windows 8 look and feel more like Windows 7. So, naturally, when I decided that it was time for a new laptop and knowing that anything that would have the kind of hardware I was looking for, would pretty much by default have Windows 8, I’ll admit I was a apprehensive.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That being said, opinions do matter to me, which is why I did a lot of Google searches for anything that would make me possibly reconsider getting a Windows 8 machine and settling for slightly lesser hardware specifications to get Windows 7 instead. However, when an old college friend who was notorious for hating Microsoft back in the 90s begins talking about how much he loves his Windows Phone (whose interface is arguably a precursor to Windows 8) and made the switch to Windows 8 on almost the very day it was released, that says something; like maybe the OS is actually pretty good and MS finally got their shit together to make such a convert? So, I figured I’d give it a shot, and within the first 24 hours I didn’t hate the interface, even if it was causing me some annoyances with having to figure out just where the hell stuff had been moved to (it should be noted, however, that I had the same bout of “why the fuck did MS to do that?” when I switched from XP to 7 a couple of years ago).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I like about Windows 8</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.30103759770281613" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boot Time - OMG! Windows 8 boots up way faster than any version of Windows before it - I shit you not. Any time I’ve ever had to restart Windows in previous versions, I’ve groaned because I knew that it would take several minutes. So, naturally, the first time Windows 8 had to download updates (28 of them, in fact, because it was right after I got it home and turned it on </span></b></li>
</ul>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Start Screen and Tiles - Call me crazy, but I actually like the Start Screen tiles. I’ve long been a fan of using the Quick Launch toolbar because I hate having my Desktop cluttered with icons; so much so, that in Windows 7 and 8 I used </span><a href="http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/888-quick-launch-enable-disable.html"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a little trick to add the Quick Launch</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> back to the Taskbar list of Toolbars. By putting the applications I use most often on the far left of the Start Screen, I get almost the same effect as using Quick Launch without using up space on the Taskbar. So, everyone elses least favorite part of Windows 8 is actually something I find in its favor (go figure - it was also the one thing that I </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thought </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I would hate about it).</span></li>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apps - I’ve been using an Android device for a few years now, and I really love having access to various types of apps. With Windows 8, I get a similar selection of apps, both free and paid, some of which are the same ones I have on my HTC Incredible 2. </span></li>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Windows Charms - By pressing the Windows Key + C, a menu will open on the right hand side of the screen which Microsoft calls “Windows Charms”. This gives the ability to use Search and Settings for whatever app is currently on screen (including the Desktop). The nice thing about this is that getting to the settings for any app is the same for each app instead of having to figure out how to navigate each individual app to find its settings/options.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Annoyances</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Start Screen - Even though I mentioned above that I like the Start Screen tiles, I don’t like that I can’t change the background image from the stock selection of images and color schemes without first downloading a third party app such as Stardock’s Decor8. If the third party apps to do this were free, fine; but, while Stardock may only be around $5 US, I’m not willing to pay extra for functionality that should, frankly, be built in.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apps - The selection of apps for Windows 8 still seems a bit limited; I can’t really blame Microsoft for this as it’s the fault of developers who have not (yet) created a Windows 8 version of an app that otherwise is available for iPhone or Android.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WinKey+Tab - I loved how, in Windows 7, using the Windows Key + Tab (as compared to the more traditional Alt-Tab to switch between applications) showed a kind of shuffle of all open windows. In 8, it displays a menu on the left side of the screen. Functionally, it does the same thing, but it lost its pizzaz in my opinion, so I might was well just use Alt-Tab instead. Also, WinKey+Tab treats the Desktop (the entire Desktop) as an app and doesn’t seem allow for switching between desktop apps so I still have to use Alt-Tab for that.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For another opinion on Windows 8 annoyances (not all of which I agree with) you can also read Laptop Magazine’s article, </span><a href="http://blog.laptopmag.com/the-8-worst-windows-8-annoyances-and-how-to-fix-them?slide=1"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"8 Worst Windows 8 Annoyances and How to Fix Them"</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Overall, I really don’t see what everyone’s bitching about. There’s nothing wrong with Windows 8. It runs what I need it to run, including World of Warcraft, not only just fine, but better (so far) than my Windows 7 desktop (admittedly, the hardware probably makes a bigger difference in that than the OS). Even the salesman where I bought the laptop admitted that they have a lot of returns on Windows 8 based computers because people “just don’t like it”. My opinion? They’re simply either too lazy or too stupid to learn the new interface - period! That’s not to say that there are things I would like to see Microsoft tweak with a Service Pack rather than waiting for 9, but overall, there’s nothing wrong with Windows 8 other than having to learn some changes in how to do some tasks.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ JC</span></b><br />
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----<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Footnotes:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. According to W3C, Windows, in its various versions, still claims well over 50% of market share globally - </span><a href="http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. NetMarketShare.com, while showing slightly different numbers, confirms this as well - </span><a href="http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-6195005929520009262013-01-27T10:01:00.000-05:002013-01-27T10:01:07.118-05:00Windows Ocho - Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWft6vh0H9R0skwIkpkmYXqPqWuofp_Lpm7L8OJVujfHcGvFBPMBcY8iN64UslUVncvKuROWa-rZnaghuvEAtkOi9kQayOf6if7-t40o3fKbTLgm1gnUbOub6oBC702pSPRtO6Q/s1600/hp_envy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFWft6vh0H9R0skwIkpkmYXqPqWuofp_Lpm7L8OJVujfHcGvFBPMBcY8iN64UslUVncvKuROWa-rZnaghuvEAtkOi9kQayOf6if7-t40o3fKbTLgm1gnUbOub6oBC702pSPRtO6Q/s200/hp_envy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6352786510251462" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s finally happened; I have become a Windows 8 user. Ok, as of this posting, it’s been less than 24 hours (a little under 12 hours to be exact). It was time to get a new computer, not so much because my “old” one was functionally obsolete as much as the fact that it is a few years old and it’s not portable (</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">i.e</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">., not a laptop). Over the Christmas holiday when traveling to visit family for several days, it became very apparent that I needed my own, non-work issued, private laptop; one capable of playing games and running the apps and software that I use regularly on my desktop. In other words, I needed a laptop capable of being a desktop replacement. So the search began with the plan to be using my income tax refund to finance the purchase.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked at several models and brands online and in various stores.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> One thing became abundantly clear very quickly - no matter what I bought, I was going to have to deal with the dreaded and much maligned Windows 8. It’s not that I couldn’t find laptops that did not have Windows 7, it’s just that the ones that had Windows 7 were no more powerful than my desktop. My thinking on that was simply that if I was going to get a new laptop to use in place of the desktop, it made more sense to get something that trumped it in terms of technology specifications. So, I resolved that I was going to have to learn Windows 8 and get used to the new GUI,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (which is one of the things that I did not like about the new look as I felt Microsoft was trying too hard to make Windows look like a smartphone layout).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yesterday afternoon, after having electronically receiving my W2 on Friday, I went to H&R Block Online and did my tax return for 2012. While I didn’t get back as much as I was hoping for, I am expecting a refund (federal and state combined) large enough to buy a new laptop. So, my fiancee and I drove the 30ish minutes to the nearest Micro Center where I filled out an application for a store credit card; I was summarily declined (as expected, frankly). However, my beloved, knowing how important this was to me, decided to also fill out an application and was approved, allowing me to get the laptop that I had seen the week before and had settled on being the one I wanted (once I get my tax refund(s), I’ll simply pay off the entire card balance).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are my initial comments/observances/grievances with Windows 8:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6352786510251462" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speed - so far very impressive; quick boot time, download and install speeds beyond acceptable. Admittedly, some of that could be the fact that the hardware itself has four times as much RAM as my desktop with a quad-core processor versus a dual-core, but still, the OS is what runs the show so it gets held responsible for shitty performance (case in point, XP seemed much slower on my desktop than Windows 7 on the exact same hardware).</span></b></li>
</ul>
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<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6352786510251462" style="font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RAM usage - Speaking of hardware and how the OS utilizes it, I noticed something when looking at the screen showing basic system information, of the 12GB of total RAM, there are 11.9GB of usable RAM showing. I seem to remember XP always taking up to half of the physical RAM for itself, at least until there was over 2GB, and Windows 7 seems to take about a quarter. So it would seem that Windows 8 is considerably less of a resource hog than previous versions of the OS, but time will tell - plus the need to do speed tests and really see how much I can throw at it to see how it really handles resources.</span></li>
</b></ul>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Look - I hate to admit it, but the new Start Screen is much easier to deal with than I had feared it would be; also using the WinKey+D takes you to a normal Windows Desktop mode like we’ve all been used to since Windows 95. The new layout also moves some things around, which I’m finding frustrating, but getting the hang of much faster that I thought I would (it helps that one of the pre-installed apps on the Start Screen is called “Getting started with Windows 8” and has been extremely helpful in learning the new GUI and features). Sure, it still feels a bit like it’s designed more toward a tablet layout, but there does seem to be a fair amount of ways to customize the look and supposedly there are apps that can be used to make 8 look and behave more like 7 for those that really don’t want to learn the new layout. So, the biggest thing I said I didn’t like about Windows 8 (based on initial screenshots I had seen) is actually growing on me and becoming something that I like about it.</span></li>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apps - being a smartphone user, I’m used to the concept of apps and an “app store”. So far, I do like the fact that there are many programs that I use that have an app version for Windows 8 (e.g., Dropbox, Box, Nook for PC) and these seem to take up less memory and hard drive space than a traditional piece of Windows software. The only annoyance, so far, is that I’ve yet to find a search feature/option when looking for apps in the Windows “Store”.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Old vs New Comparison:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just for reference, here’s a very basic comparison of my Desktop Specs vs the Specs of the new Laptop</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; width: 624px;"><colgroup><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Desktop</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laptop</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brand & Model</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Self built - Asus MB</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><a href="http://www.microcenter.com/product/402621/ENVY_dv7-7292nr_173_Laptop_Computer_-_Midnight_Black"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HP Envy dv7-7292nr</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CPU</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AMD 64-bit Dual Core 2.6Ghz</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Intel i7 Quad Core - 2.4Ghz</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RAM</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3GB</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12GB</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dedicated Video RAM</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1GB (NVIDIA chipset)</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.6GB (NVIDIA Chipset)</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard Drive</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 total - primary internal (OS and software) =150GB, secondary internal (documents and files) 500GB; external (multimedia) 500GB</span></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1TB</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(NOTE: the document and multimedia drives on the desktop have been setup for network sharing so are accessible to the laptop via the home network)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far the first 12+ hours of using Windows 8 has been the typical new computer setup routine and getting used to the new features and feeling my way around. I have to say, I don’t “hate” it. Later today I’ll be testing 8’s supposed “better” multi-monitor handling when I attach it to one of my desktop’s current monitors in the upstairs office (I even managed to find a HDMI-to-DVI adapter cable instead of a big clunky adapter piece). I’ve also installed World of Warcraft (of course) so I’m looking forward to seeing on 8 handles that (the reviews on various message boards about playing WoW on Win8 seem to be quite mixed). </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Articles and Links:</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“5 reasons you should buy Windows 8 now” - </span><a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/25/5-reasons-you-should-buy-windows-8-now/"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/25/5-reasons-you-should-buy-windows-8-now/</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Windows 8 vs Windows 7: 8 ways it's different" - </span><a href="http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/operating-systems/windows-8-vs-windows-7-8-ways-its-different-1025285"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/operating-systems/windows-8-vs-windows-7-8-ways-its-different-1025285</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How to Add Quick Launch to the Taskbar in Windows 8" - </span><a href="http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5069-quick-launch-add-taskbar-windows-8-a.html"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5069-quick-launch-add-taskbar-windows-8-a.html</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b>
Notes:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Tiger Direct, BestBuy, OfficeDepot, and Micro Center to name a few.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. GUI, for those of you that don’t know means “Graphical User Interface”.</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00041779231305925809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34947741.post-4946506138738862772012-12-30T10:27:00.002-05:002012-12-30T10:27:41.318-05:0052!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ8Sgo6zba1EjT6o1UqEle1gkVxSxScAa_6Zv_GxtPrtC85EjT3sn9i5FejJtCbgLdnSx0U5k3JpCdRTse4n02BN0N5_uJAw7RgcJ-J-CE_OknNuqalv-AL5SWqpTDKrKWQNCOw/s1600/52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHJ8Sgo6zba1EjT6o1UqEle1gkVxSxScAa_6Zv_GxtPrtC85EjT3sn9i5FejJtCbgLdnSx0U5k3JpCdRTse4n02BN0N5_uJAw7RgcJ-J-CE_OknNuqalv-AL5SWqpTDKrKWQNCOw/s200/52.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5412259760778397" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty-two weeks, fifty-two blogs. I have never had a calendar year in which I have actually posted a blog every single Sunday, until now. This is blog number 52 for 2012 (unless I counted wrong, which is highly probable). Whether or not my count is correct, I have managed, for the first time ever in a single calendar year, to post something every week. Sometimes it’s been a rant, or something about nothing, or sometimes just a photo, but at least I can say I’ve posted something every week.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve discovered a few things while engaging in this little project. First of all, I enjoy writing - or at least the act of writing; it’s cathartic. Secondly, how the fuck professional writers come up with material on a regular basis escapes me; there have been plenty of weeks where a topic worth writing about, or for which I had more than a sentence or two worth of commentary has alluded me.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve also discovered, based on the analytics for the blog, that more people actually read this thing than just my friends who are kind enough to click on the links I post on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Interestingly, some of my older posts comparing To Do list services seem to be my most popular (or at least most viewed) posts.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Going into 2013 I can’t say that I’ll make another run at 52 straight weeks of blogging. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ll allow myself the occasional break from blogging. I’ve always called the blog “Chaotic Commentary” because I’ve never locked the blog into a single topic; that won’t change, although don’t be surprised if you see more </span><a href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">World of Warcraft</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> themed blogs in the near future.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~JC</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Carlisle’s Chaotic Commentary</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 2012 Posts</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
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<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="372"></col><col width="252"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First Blog of 2012</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 1, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Damn it Feels Good to Be a Lannister</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 8, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ben Was Right... Mostly</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 15, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What Possesses People?</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 22, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let The Hunt Begin</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January 29, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hunt is Over</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 5, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some Chaotic Commentary</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 12, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nook Tablet – First Impressions</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 19, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boxes, Boxes Everywhere</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">February 26, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Movin' On Up</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 4, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Channels, Channels Everywhere</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 11, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hungry for the Games</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 18, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Great Furniture Hunt</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">March 25, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Put It Together Your Damn Self</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 1, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laptops, WiFi & Family</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 7, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday Evening Bloggin’</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 15, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">U-verse vs Xfinity - Just My Humble Opinion</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 22, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tiptoeing Through ‘The Cloud’</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 29, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LG Tone Bluetooth Review</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 6, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shaking My Head</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 13, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Sarah J Show</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 20, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remember More Than Just Your Grill</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 27, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sorry Ben, But Beer Doesn’t Love Me</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 3, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RIP Ray Bradbury</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 10, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Happy Dad’s Day</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 17, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Can’t Stop The Music</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 24, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burnt Offerings</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 1, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Game Is Afoot</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 8, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Great Book Debate</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 15, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is This The Real Life?</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 22, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Making a Splash</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">July 29, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rethinking My Tablet Choice</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 5, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vacation 2012</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 12, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Round IS a Shape, Right?</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 19, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lock It Down</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 26, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sunday Ramblings</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 2, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bachelor Pad</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 9, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Time to Become a Little More Antisocial</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 16, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d Rather Be Writing</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 23, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rethinking the Layout</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">September 30, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Save the Tatas</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 7, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Last (?) Temptation of Uhnk</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 14, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the Puck!?</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 21, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Return to Azeroth</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 28, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Heads or Tails - Election 2012</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">November 4, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Salute to our Veterans</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">November 11, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WoW, It’s Been A Month Already</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">November 18, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tis The Season</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">November 25, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Raiding, Achievements, and Gold, WoW</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 2, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What Ifs</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 9, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fifty Down, Two To Go</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 16, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’re Still Here</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 23, 2012</span></td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">52</span></td><td style="border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 7px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 30, 2012</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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