1TO10REVIEWS

My Review: 8

CBS recently started airing a television sitcom called The Big Bang Theory. The show centers on two physicists living in LA; both are nerdy and socially stunted. They live next door to a very attractive woman, and shenanigans ensue. The show is actually pretty funny, but it is not the subject of this review.

Rather, I wanted discuss the theme song for the show. The first time I heard it I said to myself “that sounds like the Barenaked Ladies.”

And I was right. BNL wrote and performed the song which describes the development of the Universe and the human race in one minute and forty-five seconds. I love BNL and have since I was 16 and Sol played Gordon for me for the first time. (Gordon is their first album, and probably still their best.)

So I decided I really wanted the song. I searched around a bit, but I couldn’t find it on iTunes or on my favorite Russian site. Then I remembered that my good friends at Amie Street had struck up a deal with BNL to sell their music through the site. Sure enough, I found the song there. Currently it is selling for $0.83. I believe I bought it for $0.79. The Amie Street model is a market-driven one; all songs start at $0.00 and each time they are purchased the price goes up a little bit, until it reaches the maximum price of $0.99. I love Amie Street.

I think the song is awesome. It reminds me of their older, more goofy style (similar to what you find on Gordon.) Today they are a very slick pop band. The music is still good, but I miss the more laid-back silly style. The song also reminds me a little bit of They Might Be Giants’s pseudo-educational music, songs like Mammals and Why Does The Sun Shine.

I uploaded the song to my box - if you look to the Box.net widget in the right hand column you will be able to listen to it. It is fast paced and the lyrics come rapidly. The content is fun and funny. I think the song deserves and 8 out of 10. So that is my rating. Listen and enjoy.

My Review: 9

I’m really excited about this book. It’s rare that I find a new author who I immediately like and gravitate towards, but S.M. Stirling is one such. I am so impressed with the writing in this book. The characters are rich and interesting. The setting is both grand and comfortable at the same time. The story is a big, big idea. And there are lots of references and homages to other stories that I love, Tolkein in particular. I was struck also that in the first 3 pages I was already hooked. The time it took to empty my bowels was all I needed to become entranced in this story. After that, whether on the pot or off, I wanted to read this book.

The premise of the book is that one day all technology stops working. Electricity, and most high-energy chemical reactions stop working. That means internal combustion engines don’t work, electricity doesn’t flow, and even guns don’t fire. For all intents and purposes, the human race is thrown back into the 14th century. Swords, spears and armor are the weapons of the day. Knowing how to shoot a bow and arrow (or better yet to make them) is a rare and prized skill, as is blacksmithing and horse-shoeing.

The concept is really engaging, and S.M. Stirling (the author) does a wonderful job bringing the idea to fruition and exploring many far-reaching ramifications of an idea like this. What happens after a couple of days in a big city like New York or San Francisco when the water doesn’t flow, the trucks and trains don’t move, and fire fighters can’t drive to anywhere to put out a blaze. It’s a scary thought.

Also, one of the really neat ideas Stirling raises with this book is the way people use their time in modern society. Take blacksmithing for instance. As a society we do not need or have blacksmiths, not in the historical sense. But there are people who have the time, leisure, interest and resources to take up traditional blacksmithing as a hobby. In Stirling’s world, these people are now the few who have a necessary skill set in a profession long since made obsolete by technology. Re-enactors of medieval society (Renaissance Fair types) are also one-up on the rest of us.

The principal characters in this story are also really compelling. One is an ex-Marine and pilot who crash lands with some charter customers in the Idaho wilderness. Another is a Wiccan musician with a 14 year-old daughter in central Oregon. Stirling does a wonderful job exploring vastly different reactions (from vastly different people and groups) to an incredibly difficult concept, namely the loss of all high-technology in modern society.

Stirling’s website is not great, but it does give a brief history of the author and a list of his writing. The wikipedia entry about him offers some more information about him and his stories. Dies The Fire is the first book in a three part series dedicated to this event (called “the Change”) which robbed humanity of the benefits of technology. Other books and series by Stirling cross-over and refer to one another and to the Change. Currently I am finishing the second of these three books, and I am already getting sad to see the stories end. I’m looking forward to exploring more of Stirling’s work though.

I am happy to give Dies The Fire a very solid 9 out of 10. I think the book is a wonderful piece of fantasy fiction, and I am glad to have picked it up.

My Review: 1

On Thursday January 10th, driving from Las Vegas back to the San Francisco Bay Area, I felt my throat tightening and my energy level dropping. During the 8 and a half hour drive, I grew steadily more congested as well. When I finally reached home around 1:30 AM, I knew I was definitely sick. I did not, however, realize that I was about to spend the next 4 days in bed, sweating and fever-filled.

I don’t get sick all that often, about once a year, and sometimes less. I haven’t taken a sick day home from work in almost 2 years. This year’s CES-Flu knocked me on my ass. I was full of snot, overcome with fever, simultaneously shivering and sweating, and losing my battle with with a bad headache. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I hardly left my bed. On Monday and Tuesday I felt well enough to sit on the couch and ache. Wednesday I tried to go to work, and came home early after a doctors appointment. This was a bad flu. No, I did not get a flu shot. I don’t know if it would have helped or if this was a different strain.

You spend most of CES face to face with total strangers, shaking hands with dirty people all the live long day. There’s not enough Purell in Nevada to kill all the germs. Late nights and long hours don’t help your immune system either. I think I just shook one too many hands and breathed one to many people’s germy breath while glorifying in all the technology.

This year’s CES-Flu laid me up pretty bad, in spite of repeated handwashing and lot’s Airborne and Emergen-C. I was bummed to get so sick, and I can’t really think of any redeeming factors to the flu. So it gets a 1, a rare grade here on 1to10, but I think it’s deserving.

My Review: 8

If you’ve got to be mobile, then this website is valuable to you.

www.gottabemobile.com is a website dedicated to news and information about the mobile space.  PDA’s, phones, tablet PC’s and other technology advancements in the mobile space are their forte and focus.  From their “About” page:

“GottaBeMobile.com is an Internet News and Review website that covers the fast paced and constantly changing mobile computing sector.

The vision of GottaBeMobile.com is to become the definitive source for mobile computing news, reviews, and commentary, as well as the home for the mobile community to discover and discuss these issues. When you think mobile, think GottaBeMobile.com.”

I think they’re doing a great job.  The site is feature and content rich, and also chock full of advertising - hey, you gotta make a living as well as be mobile.

But the site does not feel cluttered, and as I said these guys have a lot of content.  They also do cool things, like stream video live while they’re blogging and chat with their readers real-time.  As a reader, you can give feedback to the writers and get other insights that you’d never get on a traditional blog.  They’re covering CES thoroughly.

If you are interested in the latest technology focused on mobility and mobile devices, gottabemobile is pretty sweet.  Solid 8 in my book.

My Review: 8

The Otterbox 1000 is a simple, straightforward offering from the boys and girls who make waterproof cool.  Otterbox is a company that specializes in waterproof cases.  They have everything from simple generic boxes to waterproof iPhone cases.

The subject of this review is my new Otterbox 1000.  It is as straightforward as you get; it’s a black plastic box that keeps things dry.  The exterior is rigid and strong.  The latch mechanism is a snap-lock that clicks firmly into place – it does require a firm hand to close all the way.

The dimensions (in inches) are as follows:
Exterior: 4.873” x 3.682” x 1.652”
Interior: 3.700” x 2.350” x 1.000”

The box is waterproof, crushproof and airtight.  It’s large enough to hold keys, money and credit cards, a small cell phone, and other small, precious items. To test mine I filled the bathroom sink with water, immersed the box for a while by holding I tunder water, and then left it floating for a few minutes.  To spice things up I put my iPhone in it for the test.

Ha.  Right.  Actually I put some dry tissues in the box – just in case.  But I’m happy to say that the test went great, and everything inside stayed dry as can be.

Overall I’m impressed with the thing.  I do think the latch is a little tough to close.  I want it to be tight, but the plastic is so hard that it almost feels brittle to me.  I’m concerned whether it will last through repeated openings and closings. But, thus far, I’ve had no problems and I am pleased with the box.  It retails for $11.49, and you can buy it from Otterbox directly or through any number of retail outlets.

I give the Otterbox 1000 an 8.

My Review: 4

At last, the long awaited follow up to the earth shattering first post about the big blue. The Pacific Ocean. The largest body of water on earth.

This post is going to focus on a couple of the less savory aspects of the Pacific Ocean - subjectively speaking.

One thing I don’t love is swimming out in the ocean. Or rather, I do love swimming in the ocean, but sometimes it creeps me out. Especially if I don’t have a snorkel and mask, and I am solely swimming on the surface. That is kind of scary. I always think there’s some creature underneath me, either patrolling for a snack, or just waiting to “slime” me. It’s creepy.

The other thing that is less than wonderful about the Pacific Ocean is… well, the smell. Especially at low tide. The smell when you’re out on the open ocean is great. But at a beach, at low tide, with dead creatures and seaweed drying in the sun the smell can be unpleasant.

Now, all of my negative commentary is eminently debatable, and all of it comes with qualifications. Please do not look at today’s rating or these negative aspects as the sum of my outlook on the Pacific Ocean. They are merely a snapshot, one small slice of the big blue pie, and really are more reflective of my current mood than of the ocean as a whole.

Does this call into question my ratings? Does this mean that my ratings are not objective and based partly on mood, feeling and instinct? Totally. That is exactly what it means.

Thanks for reading, and for your continued support.

The big salty blue gets a rating of 4 today.