Why I love and hate iTunes (and all things Apple)

So I've always had a love/hate relationship with Apple and the stuff they make. It started in school where we had access to Apple computers back in the Stone Age of technology. (With our first computers, we had to use a tape player to load programs.)

There really isn't much to relate about those days. We basically got to play around with really simple graphics and games (that are very similar in content to what you might get from Addicting Games or a site like that.

We loved our Apple computers because we were able to play games on them and pretend to be hi-tech computer gurus. I still remember doing lots of DOS style programming. We were able to figure out all sorts of basic games to play with the computer including a number guesser and the game that locks your computer in an endless loop.


So that makes it sound like I just love Apple, right? Well, that was the early days of computers and we didn't know any better. Later on, we started working with PCs. I found those computers to be more intuitive and easier to use. The other major problem I had with Apples versus PCs was the lack of a right-click button. I love right click. It's one of my favorite things in the world.

Yes, I know there are all kinds of keyboard tricks to get those same things done, but I'm not sure what they are, and I'm not really excited about figuring them out.

So what about iTunes and iEverything? First, I really don't understand the push to put a lowercase 'i' in front of everything. iTunes, iPad, iPhone, and the like are just annoying to me. I want to be able to just type without having to think about my Shift

key.

I do enjoy my iPod and iTunes. I like the easy acces to content without having to worry about dealing with legal issues on the other end. I'm watching the Jim Gaffigan special right now. I also have all the seasons of the new run of Doctor Who available any time I want to see them.

However there is a big downside to  this. My content is tracked by Apple. I can't just put it somplace and have access to it. If I lose the file, then it stinks to be me. I don't think there's much we can do about the situation though. We'll just have to continue out love/hate relationship until something better comes along.

I want to see They Might Be Giants live

I love the band known as They Might Be Giants. Ever since I heard them perform live on their CD, I've wanted to see them in concert. I've heard great things about the show that they put on and some of the videos I've seen on DVD and YouTube have really been entertaining.

I mentioned in my previous post about TMBG that I really love the lyrics of the band. They are smart and a little vague. There is no clear message in most of the songs so the listener can bring themselves into the interpretation. The band is actually on their 30th anniversary tour at the moment. I was a little disappointed to find out that they will be playing two shows within 2 hours of where I live. This is disappointing only because I will be in Colorado when they are playing. Fortunately, they will be playing in Boulder in November so I can see them then and there if I can free myself.

I'm not sure what my schedule will be like when I get to Colorado so I can't be sure I can go, but I think it will work out. Do yourself a favor and check this band out and see if you can see them live too. Check out the tour dates on the link below.

http://www.theymightbegiants.com/news/they-might-be-giants-join-us-2011-tour-across-america/

Welcome to Modern Life!

Well, here we are again with another Single-Post Project post. It wasn't all that long ago that I wrote about the modern world and there are plenty of other topics I could tackle, but at the moment, this topic just stood out.

I think part of the attraction is the fact that the modern lifestyle has so much to offer. I can meet and connect with people all over the world. I can talk to them in real time or we can message back and forth. We can connect via video or audio or text in a way that would have been called Science Fiction twenty years ago. However, it's all real, and we have it right here in our own little handheld devices as well.

I just got thinking how so much of what we currently have looks like something out of Star Trek. (I watched a few shows about it.) You know, Star Trek's communicators are like low-tech cell phone, and things like that. So what about those tricorders that could do body scans and all sorts of other strange things. I'm really just wondering if there's a tricorder app out there. (OK, I looked it up and if you have an Android phone, you can download a tricorder app.)

So, yes, we are doing all sorts of new and exciting things thanks to our ever improving technology, but does it really make our lives any better? There was a time that I was addicted to Facebook. Then I started connecting with random people on Tumblr and that's where I spend most of my time. I'm not sure where I'll end up next.

I had a similar situation with my cell phone. I've had a cell phone for a long time and when it was time to replace my phone earlier this year, I decided that rather than try to find a suitable replacement for my old LG Chocolate, I would invest in one of those new-fangled smart phones. I wasn't excited about it, and I didn't really expect it to change the way I used my phone, but now I'm complaining that my phone isn't smart enough.

Technology is changing at a rapid pace and who knows what the future might hold. I doubt I'll ever see a flying car, but I'm sure that what we do find in the future will amaze us. I look forward to seeing what is in our future even if I'm worried that we may not really be ready for it.

More about haiku

Well, I thought it might be interesting to reduce the quantity of tags I've got on this blog that only refer to one post. I'm not sure I'll finish the project or it will produce anything worthwhile, but it should give me plenty of things to write about. I decided to start this project with the topic of haiku.

For those of you who follow my creative writing blog (currently under the URL i-wrote-this.tumblr.com) I've been writing a haiku pretty much every day for a few months now. I've covered lots of strange topics usually supplied by my followers. I've written haiku about mac and cheese, broccoli, and orchids among a long list of oddities. It's a fun process and it isn't as easy as it sounds.

For those of you who don't know about haiku, here's the deal. Haiku were developed in Japan and they are a traditional poetic form in that country. They are short and sweet and the structure is pretty simple. First the haiku is only 3 lines long. There is no need to rhyme when you write. In fact, rhyming my be looked down on with this form. Next we worry about the length of each line. It all comes down to syllable. Line one has 5 syllables, line two has 7 syllables, and line three also has 5 syllables for a total of 17 syllables.

That's all there is to it, but it's not as easy as it sounds. You can't break a word with a dash to make your syllable count work. You're going to have to play around with word choice and word order to make it work out. I suppose you want some examples to help you on your way. Well, I've got some space so we can make that happen. Here are a few samples from my creative writing blog.

Lillies
on the water, in
a vase, growing in a field-
they are wonderful.

Smiles
A frown turned upside
down makes the world a brighter
place to those in need.

Travelling
Balloons in the sky,
planes, trains and automobiles,
let’s go on a trip.