January 2009

You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2009.

Sony eBook Reader

31 Jan, '09 in Books, Nerd

I bought at Ebay a new Sony eBook reader. Nice little gadget, looks very nice and it hold with the standard memory more books then you will be able to read in one month. I will use it to read downloaded manuals and some documents that I converted to PDF format. It is is small and the battery lasts several days, so it is great for travelling. The display, electronic paper, display delivers fast response and a higher contrast ratio for easy reading even in bright light. Eight levels of gray scale provide for crisp and clear text, images, and graphics.

Unboxing

Update: spoiled by the Apple out of the box experience en usability it is always hard to fall in love with a new gadget. It all works, but its missing that little extra that you get wenn using Apple products.
Some things which I don’t like about the Sony eBook reader: the page turning is not really smooth, the thing has to many buttons, and in order to understand the software I needed to look into the manual. No Itunes to handle the ebooks. As expected the Sony software wont run on my Macbook air or on my Ubuntu Laptop, but there is a nice open source alternative, Calibre, that plays really well with the reader. The software handels all the ebooks and is able to download rss feeds and website and upload to the reader. It is free, open source and cross-platform in design and works well on Linux, OS X and Windows. http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/

The reading experience is actually nice, and the e-paper is easy on the eyes. Some PDF’s dont really scale well, but thats a problem in the document rather den in the eReader itself. So far I am happy, and I think I will use it a lot when I am traveling.

Chinese New Year

26 Jan, '09 in Life

Happy Chinese New Year, 2009 is the Year of Ox
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. This year, the 15-day Chinese New Year begins today, ushering in the Year of the Ox. According to Chinese belief, the Ox is a symbol of wealth and success through hard work and resilience — a welcome sign considering the entire Worlds economic difficulties.

Wynton Marsalis on technology

25 Jan, '09 in Quotes

“I don’t think we should feel that because our tools have become more advanced, we are more advanced. The technology of the soul has not changed for a long time. Many times we use technological advances to stand in for we are more advanced. Jazz is not like that. You can come up with all the synthesizers you want, it’s still not going to be able to swing….This music celebrates human beings and our creativity.” — Wynton Marsalis

Simplicity

24 Jan, '09 in Nerd, Quotes

Simplicity is supremely beautiful, yet difficult to obtain.

Found at this great article on Presentationzen.com; Zen, jazz, & creativity: Lessons from the art of jazz.

David Lynch – Daily Weather Report

24 Jan, '09 in World

What is a bright?

23 Jan, '09 in Life, World

  • A bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview
  • A bright’s worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements
  • The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview

The Brights’ Net – Home Page.

Wingsuit base jumping

22 Jan, '09 in World

Impressive ! Wingsuit base jumping.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Nothing is Original

21 Jan, '09 in Quotes

This is the fifth rule of Jim Jarmusch, an independent film director, golden rules.

Rule #5: Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”

Now reading: God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

18 Jan, '09 in Books, World

“The God Delusion” caused a sensation when it was published in 2006. Within weeks it became the most hotly debated topic, with Dawkins himself branded as either saint or sinner for presenting his hard-hitting, impassioned rebuttal of religion of all types. His argument could hardly be more topical. While Europe is becoming increasingly secularized, the rise of religious fundamentalism, whether in the Middle East or Middle America, is dramatically and dangerously dividing opinion around the world. In America, and elsewhere, a vigorous dispute between ‘intelligent design’ and Darwinism is seriously undermining and restricting the teaching of science. In many countries religious dogma from medieval times still serves to abuse basic human rights such as women’s and gay rights. And all from a belief in a God whose existence lacks evidence of any kind. Dawkins attacks God in all his forms. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry and abuses children.

“The God Delusion” is a brilliantly argued, fascinating polemic that will be required reading for anyone interested in this most emotional and important subject.

Get The God Delusion
@ Amazon

On the move

13 Jan, '09 in Life

I am moving my old (zomp)blog to a new WordPress install. So far so good…

[X] Artikel migration
[X] Design
[X] Setup a blog client (I am looking at MarsEdit and Deepest Sender)
[X] Update blogposts

7 Things

8 Jan, '09 in Life

I have been “Tagged” by Gaylord Aulke (http://100days.de/). Since I am a bit of an “anti-social” social-web-2.0-user I wonder if I can find 7 people that haven’t been tagged yet.

Here’s 7 facts you may or may not know about me:

1) As I child I was afraid of water and swimming, but now I am a fairly fanatic technical diver.
2) I have owned more then 10 Apple computers since I bought my first Mac.
3) I cant drive a car.
4) My first computer was an Amiga 500.
5) I get nervous when my harddrive is half full.
6) I like watching Seinfeld on youtube during my breaks.
7) The horror: I don’t eat any meat, but I do like cooking it.
Read the rest of this entry »

Back in Town

8 Jan, '09 in Diving, Life

I arrived yesterday after one week Egypt. We had a great time, spending hours doing nothing but enjoying sunshine, and having time for ourselves (yes without the kids). Highlights: Finished my Pelagian CCR course, did some nice dives together with Aaron Bruce (Tekstreme) and on a solo dive I encountered around 30 Meters a Tigershark . I did not know about its reputation as: “the wastebasket of the sea”. Wikipedia says: “It is notorious for attacks on swimmers, divers and surfers in Hawaii.”…. Lucky the animal showed no sign of interrest in me. The Pelagian is a great setup to dive with, I really enjoyed diving with it. Its WOB is much nicer then the KISS, it is very compact and looks quit stabile. Like all rebreathers it has also some issues; I did not like the mouthpiece, switching to OC is very hard, which in case off an problem is not good. But in general the unit is really nice.