Topless from the Waist Down

Technology is catching up to me

mdror — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:45:48 +0000

I’m seriously considering getting a SmartPhone. This shit is getting ridiculous. I’m doing a minor in GIS and I have to find a computer in order to Google Map whatever the place is I want to get to? After doing some research into Blackberry, Palm Pre, Nokia, etc. apps recently I learned that…

a) My current phone is boring as hell, even though it was relatively top of the line when I got it,

b) I’ve been completely oblivious to this new growth in mobile awesomeness, and,

c) There are some mouthwatering apps out there.

Layar is pretty much the coolest thing I have ever seen, except for that time I went to a lego gallery where they had life size statues made of lego that by now everyone has probably seen on the internet. What Layar does is it overlays graphics over the real-life image you see as you pan around you with your cell phone camera. Why is this useful? These graphics are all georeferenced points of interest, multimedia, Wikipedia articles… you name it.

Supposing I’m a tourist in Toronto and I’m looking for things to do on a night out, I pull up layers such as bars, restaurants, cafes, Wikipedias and outdoor attractions and pan around as I exit my hotel and walk to the nearest intersection. My phone’s location is noted using its GPS and the direction it’s pointing is noted using its compass, and I get a panoramic overview of what I can do within walking distance, complete with additional information about each POI, such as user reviews, etc.

Anyway, this is available only for Android currently, possibly because it is the only one with a compass? I don’t know the details. All I know is that I want to start using.

Leaked Anne Frank Script

mdror — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:58:34 +0000

Here’s the, um, leaked script for the Anne Frank movie. I think my favourite part is this exchange between Anne and Otto:

“Anne: Slow Day. Nothin’ doing. Fucking Nazis.

Otto: What’s with the scrivening, Bartleby?

Anne: It’s nothing. It’s Jack. It’s busted.

Otto: Diary? Huh. Never took you for the sentimental ty-

Anne: Politics. Bedfellows. You know the rest.

Otto: Fuckin’ Nazis.”

Classic.

Later on:

mdror — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:55:51 +0000

Plans for today:

Complete example of DEAL Model journal entry.
Complete readings for Internship course.
Complete reflection on said readings.
If have extra time, start on Policy assignment.

Completed today:

The easy (read: not analysis-based) parts (about a fifth) of the DEAL Model
Skimmed over about a quarter of the readings.
Completed about half of the reflection.
Didn’t even look at my Policy work.

Due dates:

Tuesday.

On another note: here’s a place I want to visit: http://monkeyspaw.com/. I think it’s this item that sold me. There’s just something about mighty grips that makes my mouth salivate more than a chimpanzee after dental work.

Social Media Explosion

mdror — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:39:16 +0000

Five years of Facebook, 2 weeks of Twitter and now 2 hours of WordPress blogging. The amount of time I plan to waste this school year in front of a computer screen that’s not displaying Microsoft Word is staggering. I’d say that I’m the world’s worst procrastinator, except that I do hand things in mostly on time so I’ll call myself the world’s worst procrastinator who ends up handing things in no longer than one day late. OK, maybe I’m not the worst since I’m not going to stop blogging in order to get back to work. More about how I’m a bad student later.