Rui CarmoA couple of momentous things happened this week that I will eventually get into (quite a bit) later on, but by and large my time was spent chuckling at books such as Adams’ “Dirk Gently’s Holilstic Detective Agency”:ISBN:0330301624 and Pratchett’s “Unseen Academicals”:ISBN:0552153370, all of which contributed heavily to my good humour.
Despite the headfirst dive into the silly season that is currently overwhelming otherwise quite readable and entertaining technology blogs, I’ve had no trouble finding interesting stuff to read online as well, although I confess my enthusiasm for mobile phones is not so much limited as it is practically negative – with the notable exception that I have been giving some thought as to whether I want to carry a Blackberry again – from an untarnished, uncomplicated user-level perspective rather than as a fan of their supendously polished (albeit spartan) delivery of communication services.
I suppose that an iPhone (if and when it graces my country with its presence) would be nevertheless preferable, with the caveat that I would prefer a white one, both due to force of habit acquired over the past couple of years and to it being the colour of the first iPhone 4 I used.
Of course, Murphy has rendered that pretty much impossible in the short run due to the white model’s much trumpeted production issues, so I even went so far as idly considering picking up something from the Android camp (such as the HTC Desire, which I acquainted myself with a few months ago), although I would then prefer hunting down a generic, unlocked variant given that those will be the first to get software updates.
Musings about phones aside, I have been ticking off items from a variety of to-do lists with slow and ponderous irregularity as the heat encroaches upon what little free time the kids allow me, and the sheer amount of stuff I have yet to unbox, untangle, sort, stack, and occasionally peer at bemusedly over my glasses as I decide whether or not to expedite its exit from my abode is nothing short of phenomenal, be it books, old cabling, magazines that might well be rated as archeological findings or veritable electronic fossils of every description.
I could not at this point agree more with those who say that “stuff owns you”, which is why I am constantly carting stuff to the recycle bins or giving it away (when it is minimally useful like my lovely G5 iMac, which now resides at my parents’).
I am also somewhat disenchanted with what passes for gaming in this überconnected day and age – it seems that I cannot switch on any kind of games console (a rare ocurrence indeed, but a yearly one at least) without being subject to a barrage of software update prompts from both console and games, sometimes without much in the way of alternatives to saying “yes, please, I do want to spend the next half hour watching progress bars and paint dry instead of just diving in and having fun”.
It’s enough to drive one to build an arcade emulator or something (yeah, now I get why some notorious nuts do it – it’s not just about the nostalgia, it’s about quick, no-frills enjoyment).
As closing remarks, and lest the above seems too relaxed and amenable, I should point out that between continued kid-induced sleep deprivation and dietary changes, I’ve lost around 2Kg (weighing in at 77) in the past few weeks and often shuffle around the house aimlessly wondering what to do within the 30-minute napping windows I am allowed by their annoyingly irregular feeding cycles (i.e., they gorge themselves on the clock but refuse to give me a break twice at the same hours). Most of those 30 minute windows seem to be further occupied by either clearing out a safe passage between strewn toys or washing bottles, so I am at a loss to explain exactly how much time to myself I do have…