Saturday, July 23, 2011

Talk: Why I'm so Stubborn about My Love for Apple

        I Love Apple that is the bottom line. I love them because they are leaders who create in their devices elegance,sophistication,sleekness and ease of use. Now Android fans say that saying that the iPad is easy to use is "stupid" but this is said because usually people don't describe why. So I will put in my two cents and tell you why.
        An iPad is easy to use because I have heard of two year olds knowing how to use it. The iPad is easy to use because there are few menus unlike Android. It is also easy to use beause every application is right there and if I have to compromise customization for convenience then I am perfectly willing to. I have used a lot of Android tablets and I have never found a better touch screen keyboard than the one on the iPad.It feels like I'm touching water and it has a simple design. This is unlike the Android which is blue, with blue lights which just emphasizes how slow it is. Well I have mentioned this before.
          Now on to the iPhone. The latest iPhone 4 has a bright screen and the design of the phone is unbeatable. I don't care how many plastic phones Samsung comes out with. The keyboard is great as usual. Not to mention the App store which beats the Android market in content and app count. But earlier this month i saw a comment that haunted me. "ifans seem to forget how bad the first iPhone was". I went back in time and saw the first reviews of the iphone and there were a lot of negative reactions but the consensus was the same: the iPhone was revolutionary. This is what Android fans seem to forget. When the iPhone came out it led the way for other touch screen phones and oh yeah Android. I LOVE how they forget THAT.
            Bottom line is that Apple leads and everyone else follows. There were not a lot of successful phones before it and the fact is that Android would not have been possible without the invention of the iPhone. On top of that when the iPad came out it sparked a tablet revolution. Again no iPad no Android tablets. It seems that every other company is just trying to survive while Apple is the one that comes up with the ideas. I have said this before and I will say it again, I believe in leadership and the leader in both the phone and tablet market is Apple.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Books: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

         Ever since Twilight came out the myth of vampires has become quite famous among readers. These days if you write a book about vampires you are practically guaranteed that it will be published whether good or bad.
         This leads me to Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey. This is the summary in three words: IT IS HORRIBLE. This book is less than good because the foundation and agreed upon rules of being a vampire have been destroyed in this book.
           The book starts with the same typical high school girl. She is crushing on Jake Zinn a muscled farm boy from school located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Then of course a mysterious Romanian boy named Lucius Vladescu arrives at the school, the same creepy guy who was staring at Jessica from across the road right before she took her yellow bus to school. It is later revealed to Jessica that Lucius is her betrothed and that she is a Romanian vampire princess. Before this Jessica knew she had been adopted by her American parents from her Romanian parents because her biological parents had been destroyed by angry villagers because they were vampires.However, Jessica whose real name is Antanasia Dragomir has refused to believe that her parents could be vampires and only believes in what is true scientifically which is why her obsession is math and she is a mathlete. Anyway there is a pact between the Dragomirs and the Vladescus as they agreed that Antanasia would be made a vampire and married to Lucius on  her eighteenth birthday. Jessica hates Lucius and refuses but Lucius stays to convince her.
           Jessica rides horses as she lives in a farm with her vegan parents. coincidence of all coincidences Lucius also rides horses. They both enter into a competition along with the popular cheerleader Faith Cross who wants Lucius.Jessica gets jealous and wants Lucius back but Lucius stays with Faith because he deduces that his evil uncle only wants to bring Jessica back to Romania so he can kill her and rule both families. So Lucius stays with Faith to distance himself from Jessica and spare her life.
           Now we are getting to the part where this book gets ridiculous. Lucius gets injured by his horse and is healed by a Hungarian doctor, get this, in a week.WHUAT?! What vampire takes so long to be healed. Another thing is Jessica asks, if i am a vampire how come i don't have fangs or any desire to drink blood? Yeah Lucius we would like to know. Well Jessica you only become a vampire until I bite you but as you approach your eighteenth birthday you will feel your gums begin to ache and so forth.REALLY?! Another horrible thing is that Lucius has a heartbeat. A HEARTBEAT PEOPLE! again WHUAT?! We have all agreed that the definition of a vampire is that they are undead, thus they don t have a heart beat and that's why they need blood. Now if you do have a heartbeat why do you need blood? Well the author didn't deem it fit to tell us so we go on.
           In the beginning Jessica asks Lucius why it is so great to be a vampire? Yes Lucius I am literally dying to hear it (like I want to drive a stake in my heart myself from this  inconsistent answer). Well Jessica being a vampire is awesome because we can hypnotize people, we have super strength, we can read peoples mind and we have super speed. Wow Lucius I'm impressed I really am. But in the whole book he didn't use not one of his powers.Later he refused to honor the pact and his family of VAMPIRES beat him up as in physically as in a warning? I don't know it was bizarre. Vampires don't beat each other they KILL each other. This book is a disaster.
            Next Lucius got beat up by a few jocks for going out with Faith, i don't have to tell you what's wrong with this sentence. Then he went back to Romania letting Jessica think that he died. Jessica then goes to Romania and finds out that her family's property is broke and they open their castle to tourist four days a week. Was this supposed to be funny? then funniest of all the older vampires actually look old yet they still have eternity. At this point I was so angry I threw the book somewhere. How can vampires look old but still live for eternity? This book was horrible and I think the author slept with the publisher and distracted him from reading the book because this is the worst book I have ever read in my life. Even worse than Sandra Brown's Beauty  in which the protagonist dies leaving her disfigured husband to hate their daughter.

Bottom line: This book has defiled the vampire myth and it is a horrible piece of literature but amidst all this the Twilight haters would probably say they loved this book just for spite.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Talk: Samsung Galaxy Tab

         When the iPad 2 came out in March, I like everyone else was panicking because every store was sold out. Before making the decision to buy an iPad i wanted to buy HP's Touchpad but i did not want to wait and the iPad was calling like a siren song. Since March a lot of tablets have come out such as the Asus Iconia, the HTC Flyer and others. Yet today after taking a trip to Bestbuy to finally check out the iPad's competition i was amazed and very impressed by the Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1.
           As an IOS lover i have been insulted called numerous names from Android lovers and i still have stuck to my guns. But as a consumer who loves to see a lot of movies and TV shows i was very impressed with the flash running on Samsung's tablet. Normally anybody would be concerned about the flash because everyone knows flash completely sucks out the battery of anything. However, the Galaxy tab still manages to provide 10 hours of video playback. Another feature that impressed me is how bright and beautiful the screen is. Although i don't find the 3D effect at all useful.
            The tablet is running Adobe flash 10.2 and Honeycomb 3.1. It has a 10.1 inch screen (as implied in its name) has 1280 by 800 pixels resolution along with 720p HD video recording and 1080p HD video playback. Most of all it is thinner than the iPad at 8.6mm  thick. It felt light in my hand and it looks absolutely beautiful, i love the rounded edges of the device and it was a delight using it. The real question is how does it compare to the iPad 2. Yes, all Android lovers would say the Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 is an "iPad killer" but the fact is it is still not. We are all waiting for the day that Steve Jobs ends his hate of flash and stop waiting for HTML 5 to catch on but it's probably not going to happen. Yet consumers and Apple haters overestimate what Steve Jobs is trying to do with the iPad. He is not trying to replace your laptop and he has said that a million times before. He is trying to supply consumers with a device that will provide you with some entertainment when you are away from your computer. Apple's simple and elegant designs (and lets face it, marketing team) is what allows them to make so much money. Android can compete and compete but people from South Africa are still going to fly to the US to buy an Apple device.
            The iPad does not have flash that is the bottom line. But another reason for these tablets are the Apps and Apple is so far ahead compared to Android that the excuse of "Android will in the future build up their apps" just doesn't cut it. It seems that Apple is the only company that thinks ahead a few years. Google and other companies that are making these tablets should have started to make apps right after that first iPad was announced. However, after the beautiful tablet that i have seen today other consumers may be able to wait.
             I personally am a owner of an Android phone and i can say from experience that the software is smooth at first but then becomes sluggish which is why i am not regretting my decision to buy the iPad. Yes the Galaxy tab is beautiful but writing is important to me and Honeycomb's keyboard lights up with this blue light that makes it seem so fake it distracts me. The iPad keyboard is elegant and simple with no weird lights to distract me from my work. Plus i could tell that in the after using it for sometime the keyboard was going to become sluggish and really a Bluetooth keyboard should be an option not a necessity. 
              Overall the Galaxy tab made an impression and for consumers who like the under dog and choose to support it, it is an excellent option. But i am an Apple iFan, lover, etc... and there is just something about the iPad that is so personal and smooth...its like coming home.

Android
Pro's: Adobe Flash, customization of screen, open software, tabbed browser, notification center, beautiful graphics
Cons: Sluggish keyboard, harder to use than an Ipad, few apps, a lot of menus, disorganized, does not support complicated apps like the iPad, security issues because of software.

Apple
Pros: Simple software, smooth and fast, organized, itunes, apps, its a leading company (no iPad no Android), few menus, does not have security issues, mail app, multitasking abilities
Cons: no flash

PS. I did not write lack of notification because the new software of IOS will have a notification center

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Talk: Ashton Kutcher and Two and a Half Men

            As we all know Charlie Sheen was kicked out of Two and a Half Men earlier this year due to insulting remarks made about the creator Chuck Lorre. Not to mention Charlie Sheen's custody battles, drug problems and violent tendencies which have been wearing on the other actors of the show. You have to feel sorry for Angus T. Jones(Jake) who has to see this kind of behavior with someone he probably spend more time with than his own parents. Jon Cryer also suffered some verbal abuse from Charlie Sheen. Well now that i have established that Charlie Sheen has a problem on to more troubling news.
           While Sheen is behaving badly he is what made the show hilarious and this is why is troubling that Ashton Kutcher will be replacing him when the show resumes this fall. I love Ashton Kutcher and he was chosen for the reason we all love him: starring as Michael Kelso in That 70's Show. Clearly from his CV we can tell that Kutcher can create comedy probably out of thin air but can he replace the charm and delicious sarcastic tendencies of middle aged Charlie Sheen on the show? Most people don't think so including Sheen who claimed that he made the show and that without him Chuck Lorre would have nothing. Of course we still don't know in what capacity Kutcher will be replacing Sheen. While there has been a lot of speculation and interviews of small children of how to get rid of Charlie Sheen( a particularly hilarious Chinese kid yelling out "heart attack!" comes to mind)Lorre still has not supplied this information to the public.
            My theory is that Charlie just left and traveled and Ashton Kutcher buys his house and lets Allan room with him with the same shenanigans that used to happen in Charlie's house. While Sheen is hilarious, Kutcher is hilarious and hawt. However, watching three seasons of this show i have to agree with Sheen that without him the show would be nothing. Yet Lorre created this hilarious show so lets give him some credit and hope that he'll use his genius to maintain the ratings of the show with Ashton Kutcher as the lead.

Fun Fact #1: Charlie Sheen's real name is Carlos Estevez
Fun Fact #2: Ashton Kutcher has a twin
Fun Fact#3: Angus T. Jones is the highest paid child actor in television at $350,000 per episode