FREE for free July 7, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Books, Odds and Ends, Technology.add a comment
It doesn’t get much better than this: if you want to see why Chris Anderson’s book FREE: The Future of a Radical Price is poised to cause quite a stir, you can now check out the whole thing. For free!
Here’s the whole book as available on Scribd:
So I scored a free copy, albeit not in the way I’d hoped. Who cares? FREE is free. I’m stoked!
Missing the Maker Faire July 6, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Odds and Ends, Technology, Up and Away.add a comment
I didn’t write about it before, but last year we missed the San Mateo Maker Faire while we were in town. Dad was the one who caught wind of the event since he’d frequented Silicon Valley numerous times over the years; yet on our way there we got caught in a terrible traffic jam leading up to the convention center, so we aborted our visit.
This year, it slipped our minds that we were again in town for the Maker Faire — that is, until we again found ourselves victims of the traffic jam near the convention center, albeit entirely by coincidence. So once more it just wasn’t in the cards, and since we really had no intention of going this time around I had no reason to feel disappointed about missing it again, especially because I had no clue what it was exactly that I was missing.
Then the strangest thing: recently, an article about the Maker Faire popped up on my CNET news feed subscription. It was originally published back in May, but because of a correction popped back up on feed. Add to that the fact that it had something to do with Wall-E(!), the inevitable result was I just had to read the article.
And now I know what I’ve been missing.
No matter how you look at it, the Maker Faire concept is cool: a convention for inventors and inventions. Granted, that by itself doesn’t sound particularly remarkable, as if it were an activity ripe for either crackpots or snake oil salesmen. Yet the caliber of invention and innovation that finds its way to the Faire (if the article is anything to go by) is nothing short of outstanding. Robotics aficionados trying to build their own version of Wall-E? I’m down with that. It’s precisely these kinds of activities that’re lacking in the Philippines: events that get people excited about science and technology beyond the hackneyed “make a clay volcano” or “construct a diorama” or any of the papier mache projects that seem to pass for science in basic education these days.
It’s become fashionable to blame many of the country’s ills on the paucity of material resources. Yet that’s just a cop-out. The Philippines is a developing country. Fine. We get that. But we shouldn’t let our material poverty get in the way of our talent, our ability to be innovative, and our capacity to dream big.
But I digress. Hopefully next year that long-delayed visit to the Maker Faire will push through. If it does, you can bet I’ll be checking out the DIY Wall-E scene — and all the other things, besides — thinking up how I can get in on the action myself.
Debating FREE July 3, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Books, Odds and Ends, Technology.add a comment
Chris Anderson has a new book coming out called FREE. As a follow-up to The Long Tail you know it’ll be quite the read, especially when even its post-publication hiccups (however inexcusable) make for an interesting case study by itself.
That and I’m hoping to score a free copy. But that’s another story.
Anyway, while reading through my RSS feeds it was interesting to note that the interweb is abuzz about the book, after a fashion. First, it appears that Malcolm Gladwell found some arguments in the book polemical in his review. Clarifying, Anderson offered a response to his esteemed contemporary in a good-natured “intellectual exchange between corporate cousins.” Apparently, that “family” has extended relations, as now Seth Godin has also joined the discussion, with the surprising declaration that “Malcolm is wrong(!)”.
It’s awesome to see this high-caliber back-and-forth between three of the leading observers of new media. In particular it’s the underlying respect that each has for the other that makes their frank exchange ideas really stand out. On its own, it’s a good example of what quality, civilized debate and discussion should be like — what in the age of internet trolling, flaming and such — and just goes to show why these three are among the best in the business.
As an aside, it’s equally awesome how RSS feeds now allow anyone to assemble their own “newspapers” (for lack of a better term) from sources around the world. Generally, a good variety of local and foreign sources makes for an interesting read. But when OPED columnists (and I consider Chris Anderson, Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin as such in my self-styled RSS “newspaper”) all gravitate towards the same topic, it gives the thing a local feel, just like a paper newspaper’s OPED section would focus on the burning issues of the day. So with news, the world has truly become smaller.
Ain’t techology great?
But enough about that. Chris Anderson. Seth Godin. Malcolm Gladwell. Three good reasons to read through this particular exchange of opinions.
[Malcolm Gladwell: Priced to Sell (The New Yorker)]
[Chris Anderson: Dear Malcolm: Why so Threatened? (The Long Tail)]
The Story of Stuff July 1, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Academically Speaking, Odds and Ends.add a comment
If it were at all possible for Al Gore, Tom Friedman, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore ever to collaborate on a video about the perils of modern day consumerism and its environmental effects, the result would probably be something like The Story of Stuff.
Produced by former Greenpeace activist Annie Leonard, I first caught wind of the video via a New York Times article discussing how it was being used in class by a growing number of teachers, to mixed reactions from students, parents, and school administrators. Curious, I decided to check it out, and now understand what the fuss — both positive and negative — is all about.
Overall, I think it’s great that materials such as this are critical of the excesses and, at times, the unintended consequences of the modern-day economy. More so in the post-subprime, post-Lehman, post-financial meltdown world. Especially so. Yet it’s equally unfortunate that The Story of Stuff is unabashedly slanted in its presentation. There’s a fair bit of political innuendo thrown into the mix, unnecessary to be sure and terribly inelegant. Even-handed political advocacy? Cool. Political advocacy by allusion and insinuation? Not cool.
More’s the pity, as there is clearly a need for something like this that forces us to reexamine our lifestyles, both as individuals and for society as a whole. Is it fit for educational purposes? I’d say no, or at the very least it should be used with more than a grain of salt. Of course, I could be wrong. If the video is anything to go by, “to each his own” is a large part of what got the world into the mess it’s in to begin with. Yet that’s the admonishon I’d say applies best to The Story of Stuff.
A/H1N1 by the Numbers June 28, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Odds and Ends.add a comment
All the brouhaha over swine flu has been blown way out of proportion. While no one will dispute that it’s good for people to be more conscious about hygiene and health issues, the general reaction to the outbreak-that-sort-of-isn’t was overly knee-jerk and impractical. Media coverage helped stoke a sense of paranoia over the issue (especially in these parts), and official government responses to it were only slightly better, if equally useless (again, especially in these parts).
Disagree? This month’s issue of Wired Magazine should make a believer out of you. Armed with nothing but cold hard facts, Patrick Di Justo makes it painfully obvious that A/H1N1 is hardly hellfire and brimstone. Hysteria’s more like it.
So there. Crisis averted. Let’s all just get on with our lives. Ah-choo.
Disconnect June 25, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Books, Comics, Ramblings.add a comment
If you know me, you’ve probably come to the conclusion that it’s difficult to pigeonhole exactly what I’m like. Unless you hate my bleeding guts, that is — but that’s another story entirely.
Assume for the moment that this blog is really a reflection of what my personality is like. Then what am I about, exactly, considering that I can write about heady stuff — economics, politics, philosophy and so on — one moment and completely geek out — on technology, comics, video games and anything else in between — the next?
I’ve always thought being wired a little differently made me (somewhat) interesting, but there was a moment the other day when this “disconnect” really gave me pause.
It was at a bookstore, as I queued up at the register. I had only two things on me:
In one hand, a copy of Alan Beattie’s (he of the Financial Times) False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World.
In the other, DC Comics’ Final Crisis.
I leave it to you to figure out which one I really went to the bookstore for, and which one was the impulse buy.
The First 100 Days June 22, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Ramblings.add a comment
So what’s it like to be married?
That question’s been flavor of the month lately, and I don’t know if there’s a satisfactory answer, though my repartee that “I’ve been domesticated!” does seem to appease most comers. The question’s up there with “How do you feel to be a graduate?” or “How does it feel to be [insert age here]?” Impossible questions with equally impossible answers, because one just is.
Perhaps I can answer with a story: sometime back I was with a friend who was also about to tie the knot when he was asked how he thought his life would change after the big day. His reply: it wouldn’t. Since he and his fiancee had known each other for a while, he reasoned, and had been making all important personal decisions together for the past year, marriage would be no different. I was skeptical. Logic dictates that it can’t be that easy. You get married, you know your life will change, plain and simple.
Turns out that I was right. A hundred days in, and it’s a lifetime apart. The more obvious adjustments are minor, of course: the reality of waking up together every morning, the fact that there are chores that have to be done now that either of us didn’t have to do before, the nuances behind dealing with our parents and in-laws (on second thought, this is anything but minor), and so on. In more practical terms, the biggest adjustment is in our personal finances, now that every decision has to be made with utmost care and weighed against the uncertainty of tomorrow.
But the real changes lie with the imponderables that come in lockstep with marriage. Do I live up to my vows? Am I doing what I can to meet my obligations as a married person? What else can be done to make this union a thing of beauty? Heavy stuff, to be sure, but that right there is the challenge that is marriage.
At the same time, it so happens that my friend was right, too. The wife and I have gotten to know each other so well throughout our courtship and engagement that the transition from “it’s complicated” (kidding) to “married filing jointly” (if you know what I mean) couldn’t have been smoother. Thus confronting all that marriage entails — together — has been a joy. Spend a decade to get to know the person you’ll spend the rest of your life with? Still sounds like a good bet to me,
So what’s it like to be married?
It’s been great. Challenging. Hard. Exciting. Nothing’s changed. Everything’s changed. The honeymoon won’t last forever, but everyday can still be its own little episode of human bliss.
And did I mention I’ve been domesticated?
Visa, Get! June 19, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Ramblings, Up and Away.add a comment
Honestly, this last trip overseas nearly didn’t happen. It wasn’t really planned and hinged entirely on whether the wife could get a US visa. Given the speed with which the gears of bureaucracy turn in the Philippines, we thought that the complication would be getting the necessary documents together as evidence of the wedding and such. Turns out that was the least of our worries.
While I’ve had my share of issues applying for a visa somewhere or other before, this experience takes the cake. It was almost as if circumstances were conspiring to keep us from getting anywhere. You be the judge.
Saturday, March 14
The wedding. Marriage contract signed this date; parish office will process this and send it to the civil registry.
Monday, March 23
Honeymoon! ‘Nuff said.
Tuesday, March 31
Back to reality. Wife works on getting certified copy of marriage contract from civil registry. Result: due for release on Thursday, April 9.
Thursday, April 9
Acquired certified marriage contract. Wife sets visa interview appointment with US Embassy for April 27.
Friday-Sunday, April 10-26
Getting other paperwork in order — bank statements, itinerary, etc. — for visa interview. Somewhere in between, parents ask how things are going, so we inform them that the interview is on April 27. Consequently, it is decided that the departure date for the trip be set for May 10.
Monday, April 27
Appointment day at US Embassy. First thing in the morning. Wife is told that everything is in order; however, her passport should also reflect her married status. Consular officer gives wife a copy of Form 221(g), with instructions to mail it in with the new passport so the visa can be issued.
Accordingly, we go to get wife a new passport in the afternoon. After completing the application process, the new passport is slated for expedited release on May 8, making it very unlikely we will be able to obtain the visa in time for the scheduled departure date.
Tuesday, April 28
Trying to pull strings so the passport can be released sooner. No luck.
Wednesday, April 29
Still trying to pull strings. Wife’s bag stolen on way to work. Among items in bag: old passport, claim stub for new passport, and form 221(g).
Thursday, April 30
Strings pulled! New passport can be released before May 8. A good thing, too, as it makes sure the cretin who stole the wife’s bag can’t claim the new passport himself.
Friday, May 1
Holiday (Labor Day). Government offices shut down.
Saturday-Sunday, May 2-3
Weekend. Government offices still shut down.
Monday, May 4
Informed that that passport can be picked up in the afternoon. Wife picks up passport and sends it to US Embassy by courier, indicating my office address as the return address.
Tuesday, May 5
Embassy receives passport sometime before noon. Family decides to push trip back to May 12.
Wednesday-Thursday, May 6-7
No word. Biding Time.
Friday, May 8
Received notice from courier that passport is in transit back to us. Later informed that estimated delivery is the next day between 9-5.
Saturday, May 9
Received notice that passport has been dispatched for delivery, possibly as early as 9am. I report at the office to pick up passport for wife, who has to stays home to attend to other matters. By 2pm still no passport; I call the courier company to find out what’s taking so long and learn that there is an error in the street address on the delivery form.
Made arrangements to have delivery agent informed accordingly.
Correction made, passport delivered!
Sunday, May 10
If the trip hadn’t been pushed back, we would have left now!
Monday, May 11
Last day before departure…
Tuesday, May 12
And off we go!
In-Flight Entertainment 11 June 14, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Reviews, Up and Away.add a comment
Since the start of the year, hadn’t really a chance to catch a movie in theaters — there was the wedding, then the honeymoon, then having to prepare for the summer trip — so this time around there were lots of films I could’ve caught on the plane that I hadn’t seen yet. But I decided instead to just catch the few that I did want to see, partly because I wanted to catch up on my sleep and partly because I ended up distracted by a couple of video games:
Bolt. Quite fun, but not nearly as fun as Meet the Robinsons. I loved the whole “the dog doesn’t realize it’s not real” concept, which I wish had been played up more in the film. Still, it’s nice to see that Disney is beginning to put together rather decent CGI films under its own label, even if they benefit from shared resources (the senior management, if not creative pool) with Pixar. The only other thing I’ll say about the film is that I’ll never look at styrofoam the same way again. Nor at hamsters.
Frost/Nixon. Now this was some kind of wow. It wasn’t just the fact that it was a political film that drew me into this one; really, I think the appeal is that it’s based on a real set of interviews (which I never knew about, so there was that added novelty for me, too). To my mind, for a film like this everything was flawless: the script, the cinematography, and the cast. Especially the cast. Michael Sheen was a coup because he does resemble a young David Frost. I had heard that Frank Langella was given the role because he played it so well in the stage play, but was skeptical since he looks nothing like Nixon. Yet to see him in the film is astonishing. One moment he portrays Nixon as such a sleazebag that it makes you want to hate him, the next he manages to switch gears and get the audience to empathize with a man who happened to be way in over his head. Powerful, compelling stuff.
Slumdog Millionaire. So everyone rooted for it at the Oscars. Heck, I did too even if I hadn’t seen it yet. Now that I have, I think it deserves its acclaim — but I also think it got away with a lot. The long and the short of it is that it’s quite the charmer. Ultimately, the plot is rather thin and the story itself is chock full of sterotypes, clichés and all-too-convenient coincidences. But it’ll charm the heck out of you and you won’t even realize it until you find yourself rooting — and I mean really rooting — for Jamal. On a side note: the dance sequence as the credits roll is awesome.
Watchmen. I never did “get” the comic book — it just didn’t resonate with me — so you couldn’t count me among those who could not contain their excitement at the mere thought that this movie would come out. So what’s there for me to say about the film? It is indeed as faithful as it could be to the source material, but to my mind just validates why it didn’t strike a chord with me (although in the interests of fair disclosure, I should also point out that I’m none too fond of Alan Moore’s work in general, anyway — let’s just say we’re on different wavelengths). Would anyone who hadn’t read the comic have a compelling reason to go see it? I think not. I will say that the costume designs (especially Night Owl II’s) impressed me a lot, as did the action sequences, though they would have been more engaging to watch had they been slowed down just a tad.
First Class June 12, 2009
Posted by Brian L. Belen in Show and Tell, Up and Away.add a comment
Didn’t have a camera on me the first time I had the privilege of experiencing Cathay’s new First Class configuration, but I did this time so here’s a shot for posterity. What makes First Class first class? The service, to be sure, and the food. But really it’s the comfort of the seat you enjoy and the space and amenities that accompany it.
The main seat offers a lot of room for its occupant; I’d say it’s really meant for a person and a half (for context, two petite individuals could probably fit in there). There’s a massive pull-out table (it’s that visible compartment below the orchids in the flower vase) that’s quite impressive. Across the seat, you’ll find a smaller cushioned area that looks like it’s an extension of the footrest but can’t possible be since one’s legs can’t stretch that far. A flight attendant explained to me that it was really a seat in case a First Class passenger wanted to entertain (i.e. sit and chat) with someone else (presumably, another First Class passenger). I have seen that once the table is pulled out, this little guest chair does allow two people to a meal seated across each other. Now that little detail, in my opinion, is ingenious.
Of to the side, there’s a pull-out flat LCD screen that’s much larger than the already impressive one available in Cubicle Class. The way its constructed, with a supporting arm that allows you to pull it out towards you at an angle, does feel rather flimsy and is probably the first thing the airline will improve upon for their next cabin iteration. Beneath the screen is a small locker for stowage since there aren’t any overhead or windowside compartment in which to keep one’s things.
The bottomline is that First Class on Cathay Pacific is truly impressive. Now if only I could find away to end up there more often: both times I ended up with an upgrade to First Class it was on the short leg of my travels, and the one time I was bumped up during the long haul it happened to be on a much older plane. We can’t always be lucky, but a guy can still hope.
