Jonny the Recovering Technophiliac

So just because I’m celebrating the holidays in a village 4 hours from Bogota where it seems like time has halted, doesn’t mean I’m not going to find a way to keep an honored tradition alive and well…festivus. And it seems that 2009 did not disappoint in making my list of grievances quite lengthy. So without further ado, on with the show:

- Getting sick on the plane. Simple, I got bronchitis and paid for it badly. Regardless, it still beats the stomach flu.

- having to convert to metric for just about everything. It’s a pain in the neck, why can’t our country just jump on the metric bandwagon?

- The draconian rules that regulate the App Store. Then apple still wonders why people still jailbreak their phones.

- The Jersey Shore

- The earbuds that come with the iPhone that seem to last about a week before they fizzle.

- Cable TV in Colombia…and I thought Time Warner had a cheesy selection of channels.

- That telemarketer who called me while I was in Bogota. The caller ID did not look anything like a real number, but when I found out who it was, I hung up. Still. t-mobile was going to charge me $3 anyway…fail.

- ABC who decided to cancel FlashForward…why? I mean you couldve cancelled V instead.

- people who gloat about their vacation plans every day for weeks before their travel date knowing that in this economy, some people can’t afford said luxury.

- The NY Mets…as a fan, again you find new and amazing ways to dissapoint me. I won’t go into semantics, but aside from blowing the season, I now have to hear it from Yankee fans every day.

- Windows 7…it still annoys me even when I try to use it.

- Still no flash for the iPhone…what the hell

- The bigwigs of the NYCMTA…if this was a driving society like Miami, you all wouldn’t last a second. I hate you like I hate swine flu.

- repeated pop-up msgs on my phone reminding me about the affects of data roaming…yes, I get it, it’s been disabled already!

(I’ll add more as they pop in my head)

Welcome to the Babbler, where I condense and summarize what has happened in a period of time since my last post with brief and random thoughts usually because i haven’t had the time to blog in between. Some of what I say may make sense, some may not.  But that’s the premise, all the babble that’s fit to blog! So off we go:

1. It’s been a while since I went out for Halloween, last year I did not do anything because I never had the time nor did I not want to make the same error I did years ago and buy an expensive costume that I would never use again In my life (I did one time, and It cost a little over $100).  This year I wanted to do something, go somewhere, be In the thick of It…I mean this IS New York.  First thing I did was get a costume, something affordable.  So I dressed up as a surgeon, and the ensemble cost me only $50.  In addition, I plan on giving the costume away to my family abroad as well.  While I was out with my brother and a few friends, I saw many people who really went out of their way to be creative in designing their costumes for close to $0.  In general, people tend to be more creative and inventive when short-funded, which is neat in a way.  Here are the top three costumes I saw that where creative:
1) the serial killer (a black jumpsuit with taped cereal boxes, where each box was blood-stained with a knife)
2) the pin cushion (brown canvas dress with foam tips pinned all over)
3) one of the crazy 88 henchmen from Kill Bill Vol 1 (just a mask covering the eyes, and a suit)

2. I love my iphone, it has changed my life in many good ways.  But before you call me an apple zealot or fan-boy, I must admit that Google is making great strides in their Android OS.  The success of most major-released Android devices proves that open-source software is truly the way to go.  I mean look at Google Voice…Apple stopped the app from hitting the iPhone because someone made a big stink (i’m looking at you AT&T), yet on Android it’s released and used with positive raves.  Then comes the Motorola Droid with it’s wifi, 5MP camera compared to iphone’s 3.2, an interchangeable battery which iphone doesn’t have, a big 3.7-inch 854 x 480 touchscreen which is bigger than the iphones’, expandable MicroSDHC storage compared to the iphone’s static internal storage, AND last but not least…FREE navigation by Google Maps compared to $60+ apps for the iphone that do the same thing.  The only catch is that it’s for Verizon and it’s CDMA network…but there are Android phones on GSM carriers like T-Mobile (which I renewed my contract with recently).  To summarize, Google is slowly doing the things for their Android OS that Apple refuses do for iphone OS.  If Apple keeps this up, then as much as I love their products, I will not hesitate to jump ship and make the switch to Android.

3. not too long ago, my friend Al celebrated his 1st anniversary of his blog with a brief post thanking his readers…it shook me up for one reason and one reason only: I forgot my blog’s anniversary.  Given that I feel I can excuse myself with a first offense…still…I think back to October 10th, 2005…the day I would start something where i’d share a part of my life with you all for five years and counting…

…wow…five years…that’s a lot.  This blog started as a way for me to channel out my stress from mourning the death of my father.  From there it just evolved somehow surviving everything from writer’s block to domain changes.  Five years ago I never saw myself carrying on this blog for longer than a year…but it’s still here, and I’m happy.  The day I decide to stop blogging, you’ll all know.  Until then, the show must go on…and I don’t see the show ending anytime soon.

And this time, I wont forget (thanks Al for the indirect reminder).

Welcome to The Plug, where i like to give a review to anything tech and non-tech that i feel needs a shameless plug due to my liking.

This week i wish to discuss something i love to do…write.  If i did not like to write, then i’d probably not be maintaining a blog nor even having a twitter account…then again to write a tweet is the same as writing a text message…so never mind i said that.  I have a different editor to suit my needs…i use Word for general distributable docs, Textmate for coding and basic editing, and Scrivener for major writing such as short stories.  However, whether i’m writing a blog post, or a long chapter that requires my 110% attention, i dont like to be distracted.  Sure i could put my phone on airplane mode and close iTunes, but lately the typical windows/mac desktop contains so many things that could distract anyone…icons, system tray pop-ups, widgets, gadgets.  Even maximizing Word still shows me a plethora of buttons and options i can click with ease…truth be told, i love buttons and blinking lights…that’s how i got interested in tech and gadgets to begin with.

Enter WriteRoom from Hog Bay Software (mac only).  it’s essential, simplified, distraction-free writing.  Double-clicking on the app presents with a full black screen with green lettering…no buttons, no gimmicks, and the menu bar appears only when you point the mouse to it. Now lets talk about the iphone version…as far as text editors for phones are concerned, there’s so much you can do.  But for WR, i love it.  It does autosave, portrait, landscape, 3 buttons (left/right navigation, one to export), AND it’s distraction-free…well, provided i put the phone on airplane mode.  The only downside is that it doesn’t have any sync capabilities btween phone and desktop as well as with it’s Writeroom.ws service. It allows you to make it as a web-server so you can edit the doc from a browser, which isn’t steller if you can’t sync.

But i know what you’re thinking

why not just use notes.app?

Well it does have a minimal set of buttons, and it looks simplified.  The main difference is that the notes can be synced with Apple Mail and i’m sure Outlook for windows as well(i think…i need to verify that).  In the end, if syncing’s the big issue, stick to notes.  Otherwise, WriteRoom can offer you the best in simplified, distraction-free writing on the iPhone.

And don’t worry, as much as i’m a mac guy, i haven’t abandoned my windows bretheren.  For distraction-free writing, i use DarkRoom.

As I tiredly type on my iPhone in the comfort of my bed, it gave me time to reflect on the events of today. On a hot summer day in 2006, I graduated from CUNY Queens College… a huge milestone given the weight I was carrying ( i.e. mourning the death if my dad not too long ago). For the next two and a half years I have worked very briefly but spent most of my time running my business, JK Design. I didnt mind bieng my own boss, but the long-term persuit for me was always seeking a steadier job. My brother Kev was lucky and landed a job with Bank Of America. Mind you, I say “lucky” not as in literal luck. He worked hard and on his own steam for it. I say “luck” as in the timing. I won’t get into politics, but let’s just say that certain politicians and executives made some dumb decisions that caused a huge chunk of the nation to lose their jobs. So for all of us, the job market was and is essentially slim pickens.

The thought occurred to me to go for graduate school, but the first thing I thought was

where will I find the bloody money for it?

If I had a better job then that wouldn’t be a concern. More on that later. Today I visited NYU-Polytechnic University in Brooklyn for a graduate information session to get my feet wet in a possible return to academia. Well let me tell you, when I finished undergrad I did not want to know a damn thing about school…after straight studying since pre-k, I needed a break. But this time, my enthusiasm to return to grad school is purely out of my own will. I’m actually excited to study again. I know…let it settle in. I want to persue grad school NOT just to build up on my educational background while the job market heals. But above all, I want to return because I simply want to. And I’m a firm believer that when you enjoy something and show eagerness to do something, chances are you’ll end up doing it right. I recall one time during undergrad when I started a semester with a 7am calculus class. It was rainy, I was tired…but also unenthusiastic. Right then and there I had a feeling that the semester would not be so great…and I was right. The following semester I was eager and excited…the opposite effect was achieved.

So I’m seeking to take advantage of my eagerness and gusto to get back on the a ademic grind, and get into the mindset that anythjhg is possible…which leads me to that question that I’d always ask myself when thinking if grad school:

where will I find the bloody money for it?

The way I see it, we’re always going to be repaying something or someone (mortgages, car loans, bills, etc). To claim a debt-free life would be just lying. So if that’s the case, might as well get a loan…I can pay it back, and maybe the promise of a job will help make the payback process easier…always does.