The Raging Tech

Emmersive Sci-Fi Podcast “The Leviathan Chronicles”

The audio book has long been a literary tradition pretty much since the first years of audio recording. When radio became widespread, serial-format shows were often broadcast in the evenings after most American families had finished dinner and were settling down.

Now, we listen to broadcasts in all sorts of ways: iPods, streaming audio, the radio, satellite radio, or via a subscription online such as a podcast (which can in turn be played on an iPod or in iTunes or another audio player).

The serial-format radio drama still exists today! A neat one I recently discovered called “The Leviathan Chronicles” is divided up into chapters, available as episodes of a podcast online.

From what I can tell from the first chapter, it appears to be about a Chinese and an American sub that wind up in the same trench at the same time. An accidental firing sets off some sort of an energy pulse below the surface of the ocean. A year later, a government agent is called in to investigate what happened, because the signal from under the ocean was answered… from space.

So far, the presentation is pretty engaging. The background audio sounds like the ocean up against the outside of a sub wall, so you feel like you’re actually listening in inside a submarine. Also, instead of just a straight read-through, there are actors reading the lines of the characters, and a sexy female British voice reading the narration.

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3.4 (2 people)

Tags: iTunes, Leviathan Chronicles, Podcast, Sci-Fi

10 Reasons to Care Less About the iPhone

With all the hullabaloo about the second-gen iPhone 3G, and the insane amount of press coverage Apple is getting nowadays, I thought I’d release my own statement about why I could care less about the iPhone, along with a couple reasons why I’d love to have one.

10. Mobile Browsing & Location-Aware Apps are handy, but way overblown.

Yes, it’s neat to get on Facebook, MySpace, Jott, Remember the Milk, Digg, Slashdot, Fandango, and the like from your iPhone; but given the price-tag it’s easier just to plan ahead. The world existed before mobile web. Yes, you’re more productive. But I find it freeing to map out things ahead of time and come prepared for things.

9. Small Hard Drive Size

Yes, I realize I’m committing blasphemy here, but even though Solid State Drives are awesome, they’re just too small for the price point. If I’m supposed to put movies and videos and my entire music collection in just 8 or 16 gigs, I’m going to need to do some media dieting.

8. Early Adopters Tax

See my post about the Early Adopters Tax over at Tech Jaws. Those who felt the pain on July 11th or those who saw the iPhone price drop dramatically after they’d already shelled out $600 for a first-gen know exactly what I’m talking about.

7. The Best Features Still Require Jail Breaking Your iPhone

While Apple has done the right thing, so to speak, by releasing the Apps store for the iPhone and iPod Touch, that still limits you to their selection of Apple-approved apps. It wouldn’t be that bad if they’d just get on the ball with partnerships for more popular applications previously jail-broken.

6. More Google Love Needed

We’ve got love from Google for both maps and triangulation with faux-GPS (new models have true GPS I believe), but what about an iPhone version of Google Earth or Google Docs? What about Picasa integration? I will admit, GTalk is nice to have though.

5. Carrier Exclusivity

It’s been said that AT&T is subsidizing the costs of the newer iPhone models by raising the data plan required with activation. But what about other carriers and customers locked into contracts with other companies? Exclusivity for a while is one thing, but I don’t want to pay a cancellation fee to switch to inferior service coverage (in my area, at least, Verizon is king of the air) and then shell out another $300 to purchase the iPhone.

4. My 5th Gen Video iPod and LG VX9900 Still Work Fine

You may not have an iPod or any sort of mp3 player yet, and maybe your cell phone sucks. I just paid a lot of money a year or so ago for my cell phone, and a lot more for my iPod when I purchased my Mac Mini two years ago. They both work fine, and in a pinch my cell phone plays mp3s off the MicroSD card. I don’t need the two combined, because I hardly ever need both at the same time. Plus, the iPhone doesn’t fit my current accessories, so I’d need to get all new accessories. That’s what they count on for profits.

3. The Competition is Heating Up

A number of newer features such as Exchange integration are making the iPhone hot for business people, but honestly, there’s a slew of other phones that have been doing Exchange (yes, non-Blackberries) for longer and do it better.

The Samsung Instinct looks pretty slick, has a pretty touch-screen interface, and is getting rave reviews all around. Verizon has their new mirror-front phone that’s so reflective and shiny it’s sure to distract the A.D.D. gadget-hunters for the next few months.

2. The Gyroscope

One of the neat features about the iPhone and iPod Touch are their ability to sense which way you have them turned, and rotate the screen accordingly. This is due to a gyroscope inside the device. What it doesn’t do is recognize properly when you lean it straight forward parallel to the ground, and turn it left or right. Which means if your screen is rotated one way and you want it the other, it has no idea until you turn it straight up again. This bothers people who hold their phones at a right-angle to their bodies when dialing or doing anything else versus holding the phone out in front of them upright.

1. Battery Life

So, you can flip your phone back into 2G mode if you’d like to conserve some energy, only turning it on if you need it. But let’s face it, a few hours of talk time before dying is not going to cut it. It’s the same thing that’s happening with laptop battery life these days. It seems the more advanced we try to make devices the worse the power management gets. At this rate, you’ll have to start charging your phone twice a day instead of once every 3-4 days like it used to be.

Over all, I’d say the iPhone is still a great phone, but possibly not the best bang for your buck. A purchase like the iPhone is more about gadget-lust and aesthetics than a practical and useful tool. Not to mention letting it out in public is likely to get you mugged if you live in any sort of non-rural city.

I give Apple applause, however, for the improvements made in the second edition, including the flush earphone jack that no longer requires an adapter piece or special Apple iBuds. 3G is definitely a plus and I’m sure a welcome addition to the featureset for recent customers. And style enthusiasts surely appreciate the choice between black and white casings.

The iPhone - love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments.

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2.1 (2 people)

Tags: 2nd-gen, 3G, iPhone, Second Generation

Crashes Happen at the Worst Time

It happens to all of us - you’re in the middle of an important PowerPoint presentation for a huge client, or an important executive at work, you are just about to hit save on an important project for school, or your soon-to-be-published memoirs due at the publisher in less than an hour.

At some time or another, Windows will crash on you and ruin your day (and maybe even your work!). What will you do?

As an IT support person, I’ve heard hundreds of sob stories where students have worked for months and months on their Master’s Degree thesis paper, and they only had it saved in one place, and their computer crashes.

In the past, you pretty much had two options: scream like a little girl and scramble to re-build your work as quickly as possible and cover it with a thick layer of B.S., or hire a specialist to rush over at exhorbitant fees and do an emergency help session.

Now, Microsoft has an option for small business owners that have made the switch to the new operating system, Windows Vista. According to the web site, “When you buy a new PC with Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate, you’ll receive free support, compatibility assistance, and one-on-one coaching from Microsoft to help ensure a smooth transition.” This is all part of Microsoft’s new Small Business Assurance program.

Microsoft has already acknowledged that the initial release of Vista wasn’t the smoothest, but says that in 18 months, they’ve “come a long way.” It sounds like now Microsoft wants to turn over a new leaf and show customers that business isn’t just a transaction, it’s a relationship.

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2.5

Tags: Crash, Microsoft, Vista, Windows

New House, New Stuff, New Bills

So, the move went pretty well. I had help from lots of people: my roommate, his brother James, his girlfriend Kendall, Kylara, Aron (who is recently married and was just back from his honeymoon in Italy!) and neatly enough my old friend Becca from back home came up for the weekend to help me move. They all did a lot of hard work, so I’d like to thank them publicly!

Now I’m all moved in with all of my belongings in this world, and I’ve lived in a much smaller world for so long that my stuff, even all spread out, still leaves the house feeling sort of empty. I need to get some nails and my level and hang some pictures. I need some plants, or maybe just some fake ones. Kylara is giving me her cat Meow Kitty’s two kittens, I’m not sure what I’m going to name them yet. Maybe I’ll name them both “Station,” like the alien(s) from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.

I’ve been settling in. Monday satellite was installed, and the guy had a heck of a time finding the “sweet spot” to put the dish up. He finally put it up on a pole in the front yard. At least it doesn’t look too terrible. Verizon DSL was activated on a dry-loop (no local phone service required) on Tuesday, so now I have internet too. I used our old wireless DSL modem from the last house because Verizon sent me a modem without a built-in router like I ordered.

I’ve got some new pots & pans that I got on the cheap from Wal-Mart for about twenty bucks. They’re non-stick and have a brushed metal finish on the outside. Kylara found me a skillet and a pot at the flea market for a buck or two each, and a nice pillow for my couch for another couple bucks. It’s nice to live within five miles of a huge flea market. I also found a nice serving plate for two dollars at the local Food Lion an exit up the highway from me.

Everytime I walk by the room with my unpacked boxes I wince a little, because I really don’t want to break them all down, but I need to get to organizing or I’ll never feel moved in.

This morning I made sure all the utilities are getting switched over to my name. The funny thing is, my water company’s office is pretty much just one guy, operating out of the back of a Maytag Repair Shop in a nearby town. When I looked at the EPA web site’s record of our water system, it says it supports a total population of 292. That record may not be up to date, but that should give you an idea of the town to which I’ve moved.

The change in my sleep schedule is killing me. I have to go to bed earlier now because I have to wake up at 6:30am instead of 7:18am, so that I have time to get up and get ready and eat breakfast before I leave for work. I also started watching the news in the morning. Did you know they cleared that Jean Benet Ramsey’s parents of her killing, and now the case is wide open again? Crazy.

The drive to work isn’t so bad, it takes about 30 minutes because they closed the left-hand lane on either side of the highway, so it bottlenecks behind people who do 10 under through the construction zone. I imagine when they open that up again my commute will shorten to 20 minutes.

The in-town driving is also crazy - apparently around 10 minutes to 8am, every person with no particular place to go drives through town like it’s a lazy Sunday. At least a morning drive gives me time to listen to my iPod. I think I ‘m going to download some audio books or some podcasts that are about 30 minutes long, and start listening to those on the way to work.

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2.5

Tags: driving, Life, The Move, Work

Crack Up with Cracked.com’s Craptions

I know you’re going to curse me even more for this, but if you think LOLCats from ICanHasCheezburger.com are hilarious, you should check out Cracked.com’s “Craptions,” a user-powered humorous captioning site.

Every day, Cracked.com’s team of mentally-screwed up monkeys posts a new odd picture, and the community submits and votes on the most hilarious caption. Every photo also has a link to the “less funny Craptions” so you can see who didn’t win.

I’ve been looking at this site off-and-on for two days now, and I think sites with that kind of “stickiness” are great to bookmark. They have a big selection of archives too, so you can go back and see the previous “Craptions.”

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2.5

Tags: craptions, LOLCats, Volvo