January 31, 2005

PDA Versus Paper 5

For the past 5 or 6 years I have been an avid Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) user. It all started when I purchased a lovely Palm V a few months after they came out. I loved it because it did everything that I needed it to do, was small enough to fit in my pocket and had great battery life. On top of that it could be enhanced with third-party applications to add functionality or new software types, such as games and password storage among other things.

Before I started using PDA’s I kept notes in a spiral notebook. I chose the simple, cheap and effective spiral rules that one can get at just about any stationary store or even supermarket. The notebook always remained next to my telephone and computer at work or home; this made it easy to jot down simple notes from telephone calls or during chats, programming sessions or just about any other possible scenario.

After purchasing the PDA I started to take notes with my Palm V. This started out slow because writing on the PDA took time to get used to. The whole Graffiti thing was nice but had its faults; there were times when I would write extremely fast and then the wrong letter would pop up on the PDA or something really unexpected would happen. I would then have to take time to go back and correct the mistakes only to then proceed back to my note taking. Many times I would lose track of my train of thought or would just get so frustrated that I would give up.

Since that was not working out I went back to taking notes in my trusty spiral notebook. At the end of the day I would transfer the notes in to my PDA just so I could have them handy with me no matter where I went. After a few weeks of doing this it just got really redundant and monotonous so I stopped. I saw no value in taking notes with paper and then transferring the very same notes to my PDA. After all, I can easily browse my paper based notebook for whatever it is I needed to locate.

So here I am today. I started out with a spiral notebook and moved on to a Palm V, Handspring Visor, Palm m505, Sony Clie NR70 and then a Tungsten T3. While I am very happy with the T3 I rarely use it for note taking or to the extent where it is completely integrated in my life. I am back to the whole spiral notebook thing for note taking. Currently the main reason I use the T3 is to keep track of contacts, dates and tasks as well as have a central place to store passwords in a secure manner.

There is just something about reading and writing on a PDA that is entirely different than using paper. Maybe I am old fashioned; maybe I am not as technology bound as I though; either way, paper seems to serve in a far better capacity for me than a PDA will, no matter how hard I try.

It really is sad because I love my T3; I just am not really able to make it part of the family like that simple spiral notebook.

The current state of the PDA sector is horrible; there are no decent PDA’s that match my desires so I think I am going to give up on them for the time being. What I really yearn for is a mobile phone that has an integrated PDA. That is something I could see myself using quite a bit; in fact, I already use my mobile phone’s scheduling and task features more often than my PDA. If it only had the ability to synchronize contacts with my computer and then have a decent password storage application I might use it even more. I guess that is something for the future though; Japan is not at the point where they are ready for the convergence of PDA’s and mobile phones.

Where do I go from here since I am upset with the entire PDA state of affairs? I am going to one-up my simple spiral notebook by trying a Moleskin large notebook. I have heard a lot about these beautiful notebooks. Since I appear to be someone who works better with paper than the screen it might make more sense for me to upgrade my spiral notebook in such a simple manner.

Hopefully it works out because I am looking forward to my Moleskin notebook. Amazon better get off their collective asses and send that baby ASAP!

January 30, 2005

Vidalinux Desktop OS 3

For the past couple of years, since its launch on to the Linux scene, I have been a major proponent and user of Gentoo Linux. It is the most configurable and customizable Linux distribution available today and, in my experience, the most powerful. To top it off it has a system called portage that allows for the really easy installation of software. These are the main reasons why I have fallen in love with Gentoo and made it my distro of choice when times called upon Linux to be used.

The only reservations I have had about Gentoo is that it is a source based distribution. That means for any application that I want to install portage has to download the source and compile it. In most instances this is a non-issue but there is one time when it is a major pain in the ass: getting a quality desktop up and running.

To download, compile and install KDE or Gnome it takes about a day. This means that the system is really unusable for a long period of time; longer than I generally care to wait. For this reason I rarely use Gentoo in a desktop environment. There are other reason why but the compile time is the definite main reason.

Imagine my surprise when I ran across the Vidalinux Desktop OS distribution and read that it is based on Gentoo. Here is a distro who’s goal is to provide a quality, stable and exciting desktop environment which is built upon Gentoo, my favorite distribution.

A powerfull, stable and easy to use Linux distribution. The main goal of Vidalinux Desktop OS is to make Linux Operating System easier to use and administrer using the right tools for your daily work on Home or Office.

The desktop components are based on the best proyects of the open source community includes GNOME desktop environment, OpenOffice Ximian productivity suite, Mozilla Firefox browser, Evolution mail and calendar client, Gentoo Linux system and portage package manager. Vidalinux Desktop OS is the only system which includes additional multimedia and productivity aplications for the home user incluying media players, browser plugins, graphics design and administration tools.

While I have not had a chance to install Vidalinux on a desktop of choice the reading material about it sounds really exciting. It has portage, a graphical installer and once complete you launch in to a desktop environment. Vidalinux even has support for the latest and greatest WiFi cards and makes use of the 2.6.9 kernel!

I am really excited about giving this a try because of its Gentoo roots. To top that off, if these folks can pull of a distribution aimed at the desktop which does what they state then this should become widely used quite quickly.

If you are looking for a desktop Linux distro then I suggest you try this out. Should you happen to use this, or decide to test it, please report back on your findings and thoughts.

January 27, 2005

Japanese High Court OK’s Discrimination 1

In an odd turn of events the Japanese Supreme Court has ruled that a Tokyo Metropolitan Government provision banning non-Japanese officials from applying for managerial positions within the government sector is constitutional.

The top court thus overturned a Tokyo High Court ruling in November 1997 that ordered the metropolitan government to pay 400,000 yen in damages to Chong Hyang-gyun, 54, a health care worker, who was denied the right to take a promotion examination.

“The metropolitan government’s refusal to allow non-Japanese officials to take an examination for managerial posts does not violate the Constitution that guarantees equality under law,” Presiding Justice Akira Machida of the top court’s grand bench said as he handed down the ruling. The decision was supported by 13 of the 15 justices of the bench.

I am simply floored at this ruling; it is amazing that the highest court of a civilized country would set a precedent like this. Though, I am in Japan so it should really come as no surprise considering how reclusive this country is.

This really saddens me and angers me simultaneously. I am torn about what I should feel for this country as a foreigner who has lived here for almost 15 years.

January 25, 2005

Killer TV Shows 8

I am not much of what one would consider the type that watches a lot of television. This is probably due, mainly, because I live in Japan and all the shows on television are in Japanese. The language thing is not the main issue as I can comprehend most shows; it is mostly due to the majority of Japanese programming being quite boring in all honesty!

Even though I live in Japan I do watch American television shows. Some of them I download via bittorrent while others my Mom tapes for me and sends to me on videocassette. Here is a rundown of the shows that I have been watching lately and why I consider the shows “watchable,” even for someone like me.

24

Starring Kiefer Sutherland, 24 is a television show that takes place in “real-time” in that each episode in an hour long and encompasses an actual hour of one twenty-four hour day. The entire season lasts a total of twenty-four hours and is more action packed and plot driven than most shows whose seasons take up an entire year! 24 is in its fourth season and continues to be a really exciting and fun show to watch.

Lost

Lost just started its run this year and is definitely, without a doubt, the best show on television right now. The basic premise is that there is a group of people who survived a plane crash on a deserted tropical island that are lost and praying that they will be rescued. Each show focuses on one of the survivors and flashback’s to what their life was like prior to the crash while depicting a set of events that takes place on the island. It is wildly intriguing and has the most interesting, and best, writing of all the shows I watch. I can not wait until each episode to arrive because each one leaves you wanting more so you can satisfy the “what-the-hell-is-happening-on-this-island” thoughts that surely cross your mind.

Battlestar Galactica

This is a remake of the original 80’s series that ran for one season which is being produced, and is playing, on the Sci-Fi channel. Because SkyOne in the UK helped produce the show the folks there got to see the show’s first season, which comprises of 13 episodes, before anywhere else. This show epitomizes what good science fiction is; the show is completely character driven and focuses on the human element rather than the odd science that one often sees in this genre. The subtle modifications to the basic premise have been played out brilliantly. The controversy over Starbuck being played by a female rather than a womanizing male was all for naught as the show works extremely well in its current form. I am glad that things are as they are because I believe they make the show far better than the original series, even for the diehards!

Boston Legal

Boston Legal takes off where The Practice left off. Alan Shore was a runaway hit character in the final season of The Practice and because of that David E. Kelley spun the series off in to this new version. Boston Legal offers a great mix of comedy and drama and makes for a fun watch each week. Seeing Alan Shore work his lawyerly magic while being a male chauvinist is a lot of fun and quite humorous.

Desperate Housewives

This is a show that I just started to watch after hearing so much about it from various people. It is interesting to see the standard suburbia in a television drama played out so close to reality. This show, like Boston Legal, is a great mix of comedy and drama and even has a continuous running plot-line to find out Mary-Alice committed suicide. So far the series works flawlessly; I can really see why the Nielsen Ratings has this show at #3 – it rocks!

CSI

Does anything really need to be said about the original CSI that takes place in Las Vegas? The characters on CSI are a perfect mix and work far better than any of the other CSI shows. The science, while way off of reality in many instances, is a lot of fun to watch; I really find myself getting in to the nitty gritty of this show. Too bad there is not a reoccurring, developing, plot-line because that is about the only thing this show is missing IMHO.

The West Wing

In its sixth season this drama about what takes place in the White House continues to amaze me. The stories are compelling and offer a really insightful look in to politics. With the current president on the last year of his second term in office it will be interesting to see if the Democrats can remain in the White House or will the Republicans win? Either way, the whole cast is going to be replaced (this is a guess, nothing official mind you) when a new president is elected.

The Apprentice

This is my favorite reality TV show next to Survivor. For the third season we have the “book smarts” –vs- the “street-smarts.”

Honorable Mentions

Some other shows that I catch a glimpse at here and there or consider worthwhile to watch are Alias, Deadwood, Carnivale, Medium, CSI: NY and ER. A new show, Numb3rs, just started so I have yet to watch it and therefore can not offer any thoughts on it.

I should point out that the aforemention television shows are all prime time TV shows. I have not documented any other shows I am interested in which do not fall in to the prime time slots.

So there we have it; the list of shows that I find worth sitting down and wasting time watching. Seems like a whole lot more than I would have thought had I not actually written this down. Guess documenting things makes it look as if far more is there than previously thought.

Do you watch TV? If so, what shows do you find interesting?

January 24, 2005

del.icio.us Links

  • Bersirc
    Finally, a release of the long awaited rewrite of Bersirc, a windows based IRC client.
    (Tags: bersirc irc software windows)
  • The shock of Shuffle
    Why the iPod Shuffle is such a good product even though it is screen-less.
    (Tags: apple ipod)
  • Wired Coverstory! - Spread Firefox
    Blake Ross, of Firefox fame, is seen on this months cover of Wired Magazine. More great news about this exceptional application.
    (Tags: firefox journalism mozilla software wired)
  • Bunny suicides
    Hilarious comics of a bunny and his adventures to commit suicide.
    (Tags: art comics humour)
  • Minty MP3
    The DIY portable digital music player in an Altoids box!
    (Tags: altoids diy music)
  • Firefox Preferences
    Screenshots of the new preferences dialogue boxes for the upcoming release of Firefox 1.1.
    (Tags: firefox mozilla software)
  • Johnny Carson dies at 79
    The late night legend himself has passed away due to emphysema. He will be sorely missed.
    (Tags: comedy death news)
  • Upgrading the Mac Mini: Pictorial
    A nifty little pictorial on how to upgrade a Mac Mini with ease. Perfect for those of us who plan to customize ours on our own!
    (Tags: apple macmini osx)

January 23, 2005

del.icio.us Links 2