12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882
Good bye, Lillian
Blame Sonja
Flat out copying
Copied verbatim from Noli Irritare Leones because it is just so good:
Heard in the social room after meeting for worship this Sunday
What Quakers are like: “We’re like a small yappy terrier that doesn’t know it’s small.”
British bird photos
Very nice set of snapshots taken during the British Big Garden Birdwatch are up at guardian.co.uk.
Sound, Light, Logic
The most amazing game, still in development: Auditorium. (With a tip of the hat to Jason Kottke.)
We are one
Barack and Michelle Obama at “We are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial” on Sunday January 18th 2009. Kevin Mazur/Courtesy of HBO via image.net. Creative Commons some rights reserved.
All right, you ministers
Show your stuff! A different kind of sermon contest.
We want sermons that explore the awkwardness of too much privilege, right-wing relatives, the drunk stranger in the back pew, our pad in the comfy end of the global village, litter in the poor part of town.
2008 technology: Kindle
After eyeing them online, I finally handled a Kindle
I love it!
Does it have room for improvement? Yes. The configuration of the buttons is a bit awkward. Putting the on/off and wireless switches on the back doesn’t work all that well with the cover (which depends on a little tab on the back to stay in place). Said cover comes off a little too easily.
Am I reading more? Yes, even if I haven’t been blogging the books. Neal Stephenson’s Anathem was really great. I’ve reread Swiss Family Robinson. I’m almost done with Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy.
Is it legible? Yes. You need external light. One of the reasons I bought it is that it doesn’t shine into my eyes like computer screens and nearly every other electronic device I own.
Is it easy to use? Yes, with some caveats. If you buy books from the Amazon Kindle store, it is a breeze. If you want books from somewhere else, you need to be careful about format, and then you need to use a cable to transfer the file to the Kindle. It is possible to convert formats either by emailing the file via your Kindle email address, or to use a piece of PC-only software (which actually works quite nicely).
2008 technology: Android G1 phone
I’ve had this phone for a while now, and I’m still learning things about it. The “market” of applications is undergoing constant change, both additions and updates. It is obvious that Android is in its infancy.
Things I like about my phone:
- the camera is pretty good (my Blackberry didn’t have one at all)
- integration of Google mail, contacts, calendar, and maps is excellent
- good sound quality on calls
Things I’m not a fan of:
- the flip-out screen to reveal the keyboard feels loose; I fear it’s insecure
- no touch-screen keyboard available
- lousy ringtones
- fairly short battery life (apparently you need to completely cycle it about once a month)
Nifty software I haven’t used much yet:
- barcode scanner
- voice recorder
- Shoutcast streams