Bullet Sundaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Let's get ready to Rrrrruuummmmmble!
• Tweet! Most of the time I'm too busy to pay any serious attention to Twitter, but every once in a while it's a scary insight into what I'm going through at any particular moment in time. Today was particularly telling, and had me wishing I self-censored a bit better. Oh well. Too late for that now...
So many times when I'm asked for my opinion on something, I'm tempted to say "no" immediately because more often than not the person has no interest in getting an actual opinion... they just want your praise (whether they deserve it or not). Yet I foolishly try to be friendly and helpful with my critique anyway, sometimes getting burned in the process. It's really too bad, because good constructive criticism can be so much more helpful than faint praise... if people are willing to hear it. The question is, how many times will I get burned before I learn not to offer it in the first place? At this rate, not long at all.
• Fore! Oh how I love my new iPhone 4. It is superior to my iPhone 3GS in absolutely every way... especially signal reception. I can now actually make phone calls at my home without having them fade out, go choppy, or get dropped entirely. I've had no problems with the antenna while making calls, but have had some problems while texting or using apps when I cradle the iPhone to type. It took all of one minute to learn how to shift my hand to not block the antenna, so it's pretty much a non-issue now. If you have a case for your iPhone 4, it never was an issue to begin with. Personally, if I were going case-free and couldn't adapt to "holding different," this is my favorite solution...
It's Antenn-Aid to the rescue!
And don't get me started on Apple's amazing "FaceTime" feature, which is the future made real...
But the main reason I upgraded to iPhone 4 was for the camera. My pocket camera is being held together with a rubber band and, rather than replace it, I decided to carry one less thing and just take snapshots with the iPhone 4. The camera has been so highly praised that I figured it was a realistic expectation, but was secretly worried it wouldn't live up to the hype.
And, while it is a vast improvement over previous iPhone cameras, it kinda doesn't live up to the hype. Particularly disappointing is night shooting. Sure the light sensitivity is improved, but the grain is outrageously bad... to the point of being unusable except at massively reduced sizes...
I shouldn't be surprised. The lens is just too small to accept enough light in a dim scenario like this. Shots in "normal" lighting are good... fantastic even... but it looks like my iPhone is no threat to my purchasing a new pocket camera for shooting in low-light. Darn it anyway.
Still, in every other respect, the iPhone 4 is pure WIN, and I really do love it. Heaven only knows what Apple has planned for the iPhone 5.
• Freedom? From watching the news and seeing people re-tweet Sarah Palin on Twitter, you'd think that actual terrorists were wanting to build a monument to the Islamic extremists who died during their 9/11 attacks ON TOP OF "Ground Zero" where the World Trade Center once stood. This is so absurd that it might actually be true, so I looked it up and was disappointed to discover that it was, in fact, not. Some American citizens are just wanting to build a Islamic cultural center and mosque TWO BLOCKS AWAY from Ground Zero on PRIVATE LAND. From what I've read, the mosque won't even be visible from the Ground Zero memorial that's being planned. This type of crazy shit drives me insane. The non-stop parade of lies and crazy exaggerations being sold to people for political gain on both sides of the political spectrum have me hoping for the complete collapse of democracy in this country. If people are so damn stupid as to keep falling for this kind of bullshit, then obviously they can't be trusted with democracy. If people are so hot to have somebody tell them what to think and don't care whether it's true or not, I suggest a nice dictatorship, with ME as Supreme Leader. I am more than happy to tell people what to think. Or to go fuck themselves.
UPDATE: I would have just said "Fuck you, Sarah Palin, you bigoted piece of shit," but Mayor Bloomberg is a much more eloquent and inspiring speaker than I could ever be (thanks for the tip, Etienne!)...
And now... time to put my aching head to bed.
Hopefully to sleep this time.
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I’ve had that same experience with the zoom on the camera….except in broad daylight with the subject not being THAT far away…it worked well. But go back to another phone? NEVER!
When I finally break down and upgrade from 3Gs to 4, it’ll be so that I can “face time” with you. That will be the only reason, really.
When I finally break down and upgrade from 3Gs to 4, it’ll be so that I can “face time” with you. That will be the only reason, really.
I learned this morning that there already is a mosque in between Ground Zero and the proposed site. It’s been there for 40 years with absolutely no issues.
For me, this renders this whole argument moot.
I am ready to follow you, oh Supreme Leader… I know there will be pudding at the meetings…
🙂
I love the way I decided to rejoin Twitter on the day that you went all um…”verbal”. It made it feel all homey and shit.
Even though the camera on my Palm Pre is tons better than the one on my Treo 755p, I still like having my Canon SD780 to carry around since it does take much better pics than my phone. But with an iPhone 4, the camera on it seems to be good for most photos. Obviously, the close up zoom isn’t quite perfect.
I think the NYC mosque is just another ruse to hide the fact that these dimwits don’t have a plan or a clue what they are doing or what they are going to do. Well, with the exception of Palin, who is finding her mojo in media attention to help sell more books and gain viewers for her TV shows.
I bet another great thing about iPhone 4 is that it doesn’t get bogged down by running iOS4 the way that the 3GS can, sometimes. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I updated because the multi-tasking can be pretty sweet, but my once screaming fast smart phone now seems to choke up every once in a while or else apps just crash completely.)
My battery life with iOS4 on the 3GS was pretty crappy too. 🙁
Your last bullet point reminded me of why I love reading your stuff. Thank you.
The iPhone 5 will, of course, wash dishes, impress loved ones, and scrub toilets. And the “Ground Zero” mosque BS is annoying as heck. I wish Sarah Palin/Glenn Beck/et.al would just shut their pie holes.
I’m holding out for the iPhone 5 where they change the 5 to a Roman numeral and make it the iPhoneV(erizon)!
Our mayor here in NYC quickly came back at Palin with a press conference, showing one of the most remarkable displays of statesmanship that has been seen in this country in a long time.
And… In AZ my friend Vince went after the American Family Association’s self-righteous-fascist viewpoint on this and other right-wing scare topics in a short editorial entitled: “Your Values Have No Value” or “There’s a Reason the Constitution Wasn’t Written in Pencil.”
It’s worth the short read. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I couldn’t agree more about the whole Ground Zero/mosque situation. So, when you’re ready to lead, I’m ready to follow.
In good light, I’m quite happy with my 3GS shots. In less than perfect light, forget it. Pics are as noisy as can be – for all the reasons you point out. So, for me, my iPhone is a really good outdoors daytime camera 😉
Building a mosque near the World Trade Center site would be like building a Christian church near the Oklahoma City federal building site. Hmmm, I don’t think anyone would get their panties in a bunch about that.
Probably not. But this is a “Christian Nation” after all. 😛