E-books

Someone recommended the book "A Year in Province" by Peter Mayle. Went to amazon.com, thinking I'd get the Kindle version. Lo and behold, amazon is asking $3.50 MORE for the ebook than for the actual, physical, book!!! Crap.

E-reading

I've owned a Kindle since their first version came out, and I now have the keyboard version that came out right before they started selling the Kindle Fire. I love reading on it.

I recently bought the new iPad. I've used the Kindle app on my iPhone from time to time, when I had a few minutes to spare. Well, I recently thought I'd try reading on my iPad for an extended period of time.

After doing this for a couple of weeks, I have to say that I prefer reading on the e-ink Kindle. The screen images on the iPad are amazing, to be sure. And, even though the iPad is really lightweight, after awhile of holding it, it feels like it weighs a ton. That never happens on my Kindle. And I do seem to get more eye strain from the backlit iPad than I get from the e-ink on Kindle.

The iPad has replaced much of what I do on my MacBook Pro (unless it involves a lot of typing, like this!). But I think I'll stick with the Kindle for reading.

As for Amazon vs Apple's book store, I'm a bit miffed that the prices are always exactly the same on both sites! And with publishers pitching a fit about Amazon's initial pricing, e-books aren't nearly the bargain they used to be.

The Earth. The big blue marble

This is one One of the most awesome pictures I've ever seen. http://bit.ly/LWU9UT

Yet another adult stem cell victory

In another blow to the embryonic stem cell crowd, adult stem cells have PROVEN to be successful again. The AP is reporting today that doctors in London have "successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells."

Doctors in Poland have successfully made blood vessels from skin stem cells.

Drop the abomination that is fetal stem cell research, and start plowing money into ADULT STEM CELLS!!!

New Grill

After going over a year with no outdoor cooking appliance, I broke down and got a charcoal grill. I was looking at the Big Green Egg, but my goodness they are expensive!!

I ended up getting the Akorn Kamado grill. I've used it 3 times so far and I'm pleased. Very little lump charcoal heats up to over 400 degrees in about 15 mins.

Shameful. He's on MSNBC. What a surprise.

Chris Hayes, journalist and talking head on MSNBC, recently said that he is "uncomfortable" calling our fallen men and women of the military "Heroes." I guess his liberal friends on the upper east side would snicker at him at the next cocktail party if he were to utter such words. Even CNN mentioned this guy's cowardice.

I guess the pressure finally got to him, and he issued a 3 paragraph apology; the text of the apology seemed kind of slimy to me (throwing in a dig on people who support the military but never enlisted).

I wonder if he had Keith Olbermann proofread the apology, first?

The Avengers rocked!

Joss Whedon knocked it out of the park with this Avengers movie. Just plain fun from start to finish. The acting was very good, the writing was great and the special effects were incredible! And, in my opinion, Mark Ruffalo is the best Bruce Banner of the 3 actors who've played the part.

If you haven't seen it, go. Perfect big screen movie! Plus, be sure to stay for the end of the credits!

Nice day today

Despite being mostly cloudy, it was quite a nice day. No rain. Temp in the 70's with a slight breeze. New puppy learning to poo outside, not in the kitchen. New iPad working smooth as silk. Hope yours was good, too.

Composite girlfriends

Apparently president Obama made up parts of his autobiography. The part about taking his white girlfriend to a play written by a black playwright never happened. That girl never existed. She was a " composite" of several different girls he dated, and he was just trying to comment on the racial tensions that existed at the time.

Wonder how many other parts of his "autobiography" are made of compost as well.?.?

Super moon

Had a great view of the "super moon" tonight. Clear skies. Even with just binoculars, the detail of the moon surface was incredible! Just wish my camera would pick up the detail.

Apple TV

As if I haven't spent enough money at my nearest Apple retail store, I also broke down and bought an Apple TV.

Another Apple product that I just love! My local Internet provider sells me 10 meg download speed, which is more than fast enough to stream Netflix. I do hate that almost nothing "new" is available for streaming; however most of my Netflix viewing is tv shows, of which there are plenty to choose from. And streaming on the Apple TV is nearly perfect.

Also, with iTunes match and iPhoto AirPlay, I can listen to my personal music collection while the tv screen is cascading my pictures.

Finally, you haven't played Angry Birds until you can play it on your flat screen tv.

Sable

Blogger app

This is my first attempt to blog using an app. The only one I could find was "Blogger" & it's really only available for the iPhone. Anyone know any good apps I can use with this blog site that work with the iPad?

The newest iPad is awesome

I bought my wife the first generation iPad a couple of years ago. She loved it. I stuck with my iPhone. After hearing so much about the newest iPad, I broke down and got two. One for me, one for my wife and gave the old one to my son. So far it has lived up to the hype. The retina display is amazing for photos and the 1080p video is great!

When I got my first gen kindle, I remember feeling like I was on the starship Enterprise when I used it. Well, the iPad is even better! I can see Captain Picard walking thru the halls, reading his latest briefings on the iPad.

It's great for games. I love using twitter on it. I've discovered apps like Flipboard, which for a news junkie like me is just plain awesome! I've converted over half of my magazines over to the newsstand app. The ones I haven't are just because they aren't available yet. I'm disappointed that the Wall Street Journal isn't newsstand compatible; but it's own app works great.

I'm still not sold on iBooks though. I just like the look of e-ink better, and I prefer the feel of my 3rd gen kindle while reading for a long period of time.

Overall I give the new iPad 5 stars, and recommend you get the best one you can afford.

New addition to the family

We've recently been blessed with a new member of the family. One day, while watching the show "Too Cute" on Animal Planet we saw a dog breed we'd never even heard of, but immediately fell in love with: the Havanese. After doing some research, we decided to get one. She's a beautiful 2 pound, eight week old dynamo. She's fit right in already and seems smart as a whip. We look forward to watching her grow.

Part of the official definition of the breed mentions that their expressions are "mischievous rather than cute.". Nothing could be more true.

Low carb update

I've lost close to 40 pounds since Jan 2! My LDL ( bad cholesterol) has gone from 170 to 86 and my triglycerides went from 201 to 120! Blood pressure stays below 110/80! My acid reflux is completely gone. Without medication.

Everybody needs to read Gary Taubes book "Why we get fat." It's an eye opener.

Low carb dieting

I'm starting a low carb diet for my new years resolution. I'm using the Atkins book as a guide. If you've never actually tried it, I would encourage you to actually read his book. I have found that, without exception, people who criticize the diet have never actually read the book. It's not all bacon and eggs (although that is one of the best parts...I LOVE bacon). Tons of vegetables and protein on the diet.

He has a pretty convincing argument that our modern lifestyle of over-abundant, highly-refined, low-nutrient high-carb lifestyle is killing us. People are eating a low fat, high carb diet in record numbers, yet America is getting fatter and fatter. We just weren't designed to eat foods that nearly instantly turn to sugar in our bodies.

4 days into the diet, and I am having absolutely no acid reflux (I've completely stopped my heartburn meds). I have no headaches. Have already lost some weight (which Dr Atkins freely admits is initially partly water weight). But for the first time in years, I was able to pass up the donuts at work this morning without even a second thought.

Again, let me stress that you should read the book before you criticize him. Even if you don't start his eating plan, you'll learn a lot about nutrition.

Things we should all agree on

1. Mapquest direction should begin on step #4. I'm pretty sure I already know how to get out of my own neighborhood.

2. Everyone should boycott movie & television technology beyond Blueray. I'm sick and tired of having to purchase all my movies again and again.

3. US citizens should adopt the afternoon siesta.

4. Don't tell your doctor that you have a "high pain tolerance." We all automatically know you are a wuss at that point.

5. When asking your doctor for pain meds, don't request them by their street names (i.e. "hydros")

6. Texting while driving should be a capital offense. Or at least life imprisonment spent breaking big boulders into pea gravel.

7. Dogs are man's best friend. Cats would be happy to claw out your eyes.

8. MTV should be required to show at least 3 music videos a day.

9. Opinions are not like a$$holes or belly buttons. I've seen people who don't have a navel or an anus.

10. Broadcasting fishing or bowling on TV should be limited to prison televisions.

This day in history

On January 4, 1903, Thomas Edison electrocuted Topsy the elephant, in an attempt to demonstrate how AC current was too dangerous to use for our country's power grid. It was actually caught on film.

Despite this gruesome display, Edison's Direct Current electricity grid just didn't have the oomph to power our growing country. Tesla's AC system won out in the end. Edison was a genius, for sure; but this example of poor judgement shows he was all to human as well.

Health care rationing

As Thomas Sowell has eloquently put it, general economics is not a zero sum game. Just because person X makes more money, that doesn't mean person Y has to lose a proportionate amount.

However, government controlled health care will indeed be zero-sum. Since it's actually impossible for government to create wealth, and their only way to actually get more money is to raise taxes, there is only a finite amount of money that can be budgeted towards health care. So they will soon have to make decisions for the "public good." This will mean that once you reach the end of your usefulness to the government, they will no longer provide access to medical care.

In other words, your elderly grandmother will be denied dialysis based on government actuary tables.

It's the only way they can control costs. Which, lets be honest, is the only reason big government Looters want socialized medicine. They don't care if you live longer & healthier. They certainly don't care if a physician practice is more efficient. In fact, the earlier you die, the less you cost. Can you say "Logan's Run?" Or "Soylent Green is people!!!?