macolyte.net » Thinkings http://macolyte.net a.j.'s adventures in mediocrity Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:46:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Secrets http://macolyte.net/2006/12/11/secrets/ http://macolyte.net/2006/12/11/secrets/#comments Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:37:03 +0000 a.j. http://macolyte.net/2006/12/11/secrets/ When I was in college, I was a frequent visitor to a site called bittersweets. People would post little vignettes that started out nice and reassuring, but always ended sadly. Some of them were quite moving and when the site closed down, I found myself missing them intensely. Recently I was introduced to PostSecret, and it almost fills the hole that bittersweets filled for me. I highly recommend reading it. And for a taste of what bittersweets offered, here is a link to the archive.org entry for the site: bittersweets. Look at the entries for the late 90s.

]]> http://macolyte.net/2006/12/11/secrets/feed/ 0 Did you ever wonder http://macolyte.net/2006/06/05/did-you-ever-wonder/ http://macolyte.net/2006/06/05/did-you-ever-wonder/#comments Mon, 05 Jun 2006 23:33:50 +0000 a.j. http://macolyte.net/?p=43 whatever happened to acid rain? You never hear about it anymore. Did it just go away? Discuss.

]]> http://macolyte.net/2006/06/05/did-you-ever-wonder/feed/ 1 St. Patrick’s Day http://macolyte.net/2006/03/11/st-patricks-day/ http://macolyte.net/2006/03/11/st-patricks-day/#comments Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:22:55 +0000 a.j. http://macolyte.net/?p=27 So apparently here in New Jersey St. Patrick’s Day lasts for three weekends. Who knew? Last weekend was St. Patrick’s Day in Hoboken. This weekend is St. Paddy’s Day in Sleaseside. And next weekend of course is the “real” St. Patrick’s Day. Three weekends to celebrate a man who helped eliminate a perfectly good religion. Come on people. If you want to party, just party. Don’t pretend that you’re celebrating a holiday and use it as an excuse. I could go on about holidays drifting from their original meanings, but I won’t.

]]> http://macolyte.net/2006/03/11/st-patricks-day/feed/ 0 Choice – DVD collection as metaphor http://macolyte.net/2006/02/24/choice-dvd-collection-as-metaphor/ http://macolyte.net/2006/02/24/choice-dvd-collection-as-metaphor/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2006 16:12:19 +0000 a.j. http://macolyte.net/?p=22 Choice is a Good Thing. Whether it’s software, movies, or politics, having a choice certainly makes our lives fuller and more interesting. Imagine only being able to watch one DVD for the rest of your life. Any time you got bored with whatever was on TV [which, let's face it, probably happens quite a bit], this one DVD was your only option. Life would be pretty boring, don’t you think? Fortunately for us, we have plenty of choice.

But is there such a thing as too much choice? This is the problem I’m running into. I have approximately 150 DVDs and I can never decide which one I want to watch. Am I in the mood for sci-ffi or comedy? Great special effects and bad acting, bad special effects and bad acting, or decent special effects with mediocre acting? Maybe I just have an indecisive personality. Maybe all the movies I own just suck. Maybe I should just end this post. :)

This post was typed on my Nokia 770 w/ bluetooth keyboard. Worked rather well I think.

]]> http://macolyte.net/2006/02/24/choice-dvd-collection-as-metaphor/feed/ 0 What am I doing? http://macolyte.net/2006/01/31/what-am-i-doing/ http://macolyte.net/2006/01/31/what-am-i-doing/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:00:22 +0000 a.j. http://macolyte.net/?p=16 I’ve been feeling direction-less lately. I feel like I’m wasting every day. Yesterday I picked up three different books, started them, and then put them back down. I subscribe to 10 different computer-related mailing lists. I read them, but never contribute. My attention span is about as long as a gnat’s. I need to think of, or find, some kind of project I can focus myself on. Right now it’s just like I’m firing buckshot, I’m so scattered. I think being on the internet 24/7 has given me ADHD or something. Maybe, to paraphrase that random guy at the beginning of The Matrix, I just need to disconnect.

]]> http://macolyte.net/2006/01/31/what-am-i-doing/feed/ 0 Almost Paradise http://macolyte.net/2006/01/10/almost-paradise/ http://macolyte.net/2006/01/10/almost-paradise/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2006 14:03:54 +0000 a.j. http://macolyte.net/?p=10 The PSP might be the most perfect electronic device I have ever owned. My Newton comes very close, but the hardware is so old it limits the functionality you can achieve. Unfortunately, the PSP is still not perfect. I haven’t actually researched it, but I’m sure hundreds of people have written about the PSP’s limitations. Here’s my contribution.

The platform is entirely locked down by Sony. This should surprise nobody. Any kind of application development must be done using hacks and exploits in the system. This hasn’t stopped it from being done, of course. There are quite a few people working on getting homebrew apps on the PSP. And they’ve had some great success. But it’s still just a hack. I would really like to see Sony release some kind of API that would allow us users to unlock the full potential of this amazing device. Imagine hooking up a stowaway-type keyboard to your PSP and having a fully functional IRC client or word processor. Think of all the device drivers that could be written. It would be the perfect portable computer. And I would be in paradise.

]]> http://macolyte.net/2006/01/10/almost-paradise/feed/ 0