Tim Perry's - Altered States of Consciousness.: Comments

Comment on "Blog-a-day FAIL"

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:40:50 -0500

Well, actually... SOME people have already begun the challenge. You know, like on Monday. The first day of the month. (NOT that I'm participating in the one post a day thing. Nope. Definitely not. Because I'm honest and up front in my inability to see this challenge through. Feel free to reference that first blog post you pointed to. You know. Mine.) Perhaps you need minions to write your posts for you, and then you can review and submit them. On time. While they're peeling you grapes, or something.

Just sayin'.

- rb smail

Comment on "One possible future for OS X."

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:46:37 -0500

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Alanna

http://www.craigslistsimplified.info

- Alanna

Comment on "My thoughts on the Kindle 2 revisited."

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:52:33 -0500

I borrowed a Kindle 1 last weekend and really liked it. On Sunday, I broke down and ordered a Kindle 2. It came in last night. So far, I really like it. I wouldn't put it in the "love it!" category yet, but it could get there with a little bit of work. There is certainly room for improvement, but I think that's a sign of a good foundation.

Joking aside, it is convenient to be able to read one-handed. I can hold a cup of coffee in one hand and the Kindle in the other (and not have to try to hold the pages open, leading to wrist strain). In fact, that's how I spent most of last Saturday in my living room - buzzing on coffee and reading on the Kindle.

It's also nice that the device lays flat. If I'm reading while I'm eating, for example, I can just lay the device on the table. With a book, I have to use one hand to hold it open, or try to find something heavy to put on a book to keep it open.

Certainly a color display would be nice. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a color Kindle in the next 18 months. But the Kindle 2 is a solid improvement over the Kindle 1.

- Derek Morr

Comment on "My thoughts on the Kindle 2 revisited."

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:40:27 -0500

Amazon to disable the speech to text function its new Kindle 2 ebook reader.
Amazon will probably not sell as many units since it has announced its intention to disable the speech to text function its new Kindle 2 ebook reader.
This is a bad move on their part..
The publishers and writers can disable Kindle 2's read-aloud feature.
Whats up with that?
www.net-ebooks.com
www.ebooks-downloads.com

- John McCall

Comment on "Safari 4 First Impression"

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:35:08 -0500

God bless you macosxhints.com

1. Quit Safari if it's open
2. Open terminal
3. copy/paste the following

defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSafari4TabBarIsOnTop -bool FALSE

4. Hit Return
5. Launch Safari

Viola Tabs are back. Life is good.

- TIMOTHY PERRY

Comment on "My thoughts on the Kindle 2 revisited."

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:17:43 -0500

John Stewart is pretty dang funny so i can’t really blame Bezos for laughing like a crazy man

- coffee

Comment on "The dumbest. device. ever."

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:16:58 -0500

After glancing at your post this morning, my first thought was to argue my point, but after re-reading your comments I now tend to agree with you.

You offer a lot of interesting insight. The Kindle will never be "the book killer," but what it will do is offer as a digital-enhancement to one's reading library.

Still, my one pet peeve do we really need to be carrying around another device? One of the most over-looked benefits of a book is that if you loose it, spill something on it, etc. you're not out $300.

Regardless, I'd love to try out an eReader. You've peaked my interest.

- TIMOTHY PERRY

Comment on "The dumbest. device. ever."

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:28:28 -0500

Tim -- you make a claim but then do little to support it. Why is the Kindle a "dumb device?"

I've used one for about a year now and I think it very closely replicates the experience of actually reading a book. I think the "death of the book" is overblown, but I do think that there's a place for a device like the Kindle, the Sony eReader, or the Palm reader. I'm a bibliophile, and I will always enjoy the experience of a printed book, but the Kindle (more so than the others) offers a some excellent features that enhance my reading experience, not the least of which is the Sprint EVDO wireless network. I must admit I love the instant gratification of being able to download a "sample" of the book by the author whom Jon Stewart or Terry Gross is currently interviewing. That's what really separates the Kindle from the competition.

As you say, the Kindle is billed as a "wireless reading device" and you call that a book. I think it's more accurate to call the Kindle a library as in a personal library. It's not just a book, it's a collection of books which can be expanded via SD memory cards.

From what I see of the Kindle2, it fixes some of the major design flaws in the original; the buttons and their placement seem to be much more ergonomic on the new Kindle. In that way, the Sony is a much more polished device. If the "page turn" refresh is faster on the Kindle2, that would also be welcome.

Feel free to stop by if you'd like to check some of these devices out. ITS Emerging Technologies' own Michael Pelikan is writing a column on eReaders for against-the-grain.com. He's included feedback from some our faculty and it makes for a fascinating read. Give eReaders a chance, they might just grow on you.

- Jim Leous

Comment on "The dumbest. device. ever."

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:05:31 -0500

Hey Tim. I'm a big gadget guy and I've been watching the evolution of "electronic paper" for about eight years. While the idea of this device interests me, I don't think it's quite to the point where I would use it instead of paper. I like the idea of flipping back and forth between sections of a textbook. The "screen real estate" of a Kindle doesn't compare to the space of two open pages of a textbook. Pictures and Diagrams in black and white don't convey the same information as full color.

After seeing the announcement and looking at the price, I got to thinking -- if netbooks are about $300 and have color screens, a keyboard, network access, and full application support, wouldn't that be a better investment? I suppose the killer features of electronic paper are their battery life and paper-like resolution, so maybe it's not fair to compare them. It's something to think about.

But right now, with what I own, I wouldn't spend $300 on a Kindle or Netbook. And I'll add that my iPhone is still the best gadget I've ever owned.

- ALLAN SHAWN GYORKE

Comment on "Lie to me..."

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:22:06 -0500

Hello Tim,

That was very informative and creative article. I have a question for you. " What about deaf people?" The Deaf/mute cultures pick up on visual signals before average hearing person can. The receptors of hearing goes straight to the brain however, hearing people are not as visually tuned compared to someone who is deaf. In argument comparing hearing vrs deaf finding out who's lying.

My opinion is that the Deaf and Mute people are highly in tune with visual communications while the hearing people are more aware of surroundings by tone. Memory is more played by sound rather than what was seen.

My contributions sir.
:)

- Dylan Mahoney

Comment on "The dumbest. device. ever."

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:00:16 -0500

That doesn't surprise me. As I was writing this, I was wondering how long it would take someone to use the iPod analogy. Under 10 minutes... impressive.

I agree with you. I thought the iPod was a really stupid invention when it first arrived, but when compared to the Kindle2 you can see how they are two completely different devices with completely different uses. Do you think we will see students carrying Kindles around campus reading as they walk or listening to audio versions on their mp3 player? Or maybe connected their Kindle2 and read while driving? Yea, I don't see that happening either.

I suppose it is way to early for me to actually make such a statement, especially since I've never used one, but that's why we call them first impressions.

My over all beef with the device is that nothing will replace the smell of a library or how actual pages feel in between your fingers as you turn each page.

- TIMOTHY PERRY

Comment on "The dumbest. device. ever."

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:37:47 -0500

I think that's a rather short-sighted view of the Kindle. Many of these same arguments could have been levied against the iPod when it was introduced.

As for the environmental aspects of the Kindle - certainly far more energy is used building a Kindle than publishing a book, but you avoid the costs of distributing those books. Also, why do you assume that a Kindle can't be broken down and recycled? Again, this same argument can be levied against iPods.

I'm most concerned about the textbook use of the Kindle. It certainly has some positive aspects, but there are several negative ones, such as DRM-laden e-books that expire after a semester and the inability of students to trade or resell their textbooks. There is an enormous potential for vendor lock-in on multiple fronts.

- Derek Morr

Comment on "Social Networking and our Personal Privacy"

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:04:44 -0500

Short answer - I personally don't feel it necessary to post all of my angst on Twitter. It's just too much for the Web to process.

But you ask a very important question, which is what happens if a person is somehow forced to join a communication tool. Is it 100% real? Probably not.

In class I required all my students to blog, even though some of them hated it. But I felt the experience was important enough for even the reluctant students to learn something.

Would I require all of them to "Friend me" in Facebook? Would it even be extra credit or should I leave them a space to be "be"? Personally I felt that I could require something only for the credit hours due to the course (including homework), but no more.

An interesting paradox of "lifelong learning" is that we want to encourage it, but it is a domain an instructor cannot control. I don't think anyone really learns anything in their free time ...unless they really, really want to.

- E. Pyatt

Comment on "Social Networking and our Personal Privacy"

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:47:06 -0500

Possibly relevant?

http://xkcd.com/137/

- Brad Kozlek

Comment on "Do weekends count?"

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:20:46 -0500

Weekends only count if you want them to. Erin, Cole, Robin, and I all posted the rules that we'd be following. Check out our entries that were posted around Feb 2. But in short, most of us aren't blogging on weekends and I've made it clear that I'm not holding myself to blogging on a vacation day either.

- ALLAN SHAWN GYORKE

Comment on "Social Networking and our Personal Privacy"

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 10:12:42 -0500

Yes.. that is true. I am looking at this from a more Life vs. social networking view point and not so much work-place vs. social networking.

Applications like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter are gaining thousands of users a day. What's interesting about this is that there were certain types of personalities and age groups that would join these services. Recently, I've noticed and extreme shift in these areas. Why are my mother, mother-in-law. second-cousin twice-removed, my dog, "friending me" on Facebook? So, I guess my first questions here is WHY do people suddenly feel compelled to join these services?

I think a lot (not all) people are in some ways forced into joining these social networking service to "feel connected" in some way.

Now that I've tried to explain briefly where I am coming from I'll try to get to my point. Do we really need to post everything to these social applications? In Twitter, do you really need to know how awesome I think I am, or how pissed off something made me. The same goes for all the other applications. We as a society are really putting a lot of ourselves "out there" for the entire world to see and read. What ever happened to private handwritten journals? Or sharing a meal with your partner or spouse without everyone else knowing? Once last summer I went hiking in Tussy and twitter my location. I wonder, are we over socially connected? Ironic that I am blogging this. I'm such a hypocrite.

this weekend try and unplug.

- TIMOTHY PERRY

Comment on "organization"

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:09:45 -0500

Evernote is great as ubiquitous capture;
Also great for organization of notes.

For personal productivity, it doesn't really have killer features, but I do use a note in evernote to keep a to-do and project list.

- Brad Kozlek

Comment on "Social Networking and our Personal Privacy"

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:24:30 -0500

Everything you post is "out there" for others to find. If you apply for a job, chances are someone on the interviewing committee will "Google" you and find your posts -- both the ones that are professionally done and the ones that aren't. According to newspaper articles I have read, many students spend Monday mornings searching for and deleting pictures and comments posted about themselves (by others) that they would prefer others not see -- especially their parents and perspective employers. Respect for personal privacy seems to me to be a concept that has slipped between the cracks with the evolution of the social networking technologies. I think the question isn't "is our personal privacy being taken away?" but rather, "how do we reclaim our personal privacy?"

- Yvonne

Comment on "Tegrity - Harnessing Class-Capture Technology"

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:01:51 -0500

(sorry if this is posted twice, it didn't show up the first time)

Thanks for the over Tim! This is very useful.

How does Tegrity stack up against the other lecture capture solutions we saw at Berkeley?

- Chris Millet

Comment on "Tegrity - Harnessing Class-Capture Technology"

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:16:54 -0500

Great overview. Thanks Tim!

How does Tegrity stack up against some of the other lecture capture solutions we saw at Berkeley?

- Chris Millet