JeremyMilne.com

Windows 8: Why Apple users will never be satisfied.

2011-09-16T23:06:00.001-07:00

    Windows 8 has been released as a pre-alpha; an incomplete platform for hardware developers to play with. It’s an opportunity for Microsoft to gain a little bit of feedback during a critical stage in its development, while show casing a few of the very daring features prominent in the new release.

    Of course many are unhappy with Microsoft’s goal to bring tablets and desktops into a single system. Though, opinions are like naked bodies, not everybody has worked on theirs enough to be showing it off in public. It’s easy to be critical for the wrong reason. Many seem to take issue with the currently incomplete design because they cling to an ideal that nothing can be better than what the competitor feeds them. I suppose everybody wants to be the underdog, even when that dog is a yappy little punt-able bitch.

    Of these dogs, none are more annoying than the Apple loyalist, not to be confused with the general Apple user, these are a very loud minority of computer users who seem to be happy with the idea of one company controlling their Hardware, Software and Operating system through a complex strategy of selective incompatibility and a manipulative controlling software implementation system. They have all the charm and devotion of a scientologist, but with none of the limitations of being locked up in prison for fraud. They preach for a technological world where Apple can deny the software you can run, hiding behind a myriad of excuses, never seeming to question why Steve Jobs won’t let other hardware manufacturers take a crack at building more affordable computers, capable of running iOS or OSX without a hack tool. And they are never swayed by the down fall of a third party docking station for their “i” product costing more in licencing fees than it does to produce the hardware itself.

    I don’t want people to get me wrong, I like my “i” device~~; It’s a great looking tablet that can only play video formats controlled by apple, loaded through their software.~~ I can thankfully browse the internet on the go ~~using a unchangeable default browser that refuses to run flash,~~ with the push of a few, well thought out, buttons or with one of the ~~unthreatening~~ alternatives that made its way ~~past a list of unfair requirements~~ into the app store. I suppose they don’t have any responsibility to their users, after all, all you need say is that it’s not a computer; it’s just an extension device.

    My point is not to compare, it’s that Apple Loyalist, and people currently looking towards Windows 8 need to sit down and come up with consistent requirements, not only for how they judge a good products, but also in how that product treats it competitors. Will it package all of its amenities’ together, using its quality software to force its lesser products and features down your throat? Will it be affordable with the promise it does not become obsolete within a short period? Can its life be extended through upgrades or its damaged and worn out sub systems be replaced. These things do matter.

    No system is perfect, but there are systems I trust to grow for the right reasons, and I will be openly critical when, what they sell me, does not meet my needs or stifles my choices. I don’t care about trends or popularity; I care about an open and competitive tech industry that remains strong and fair. Do I think what Windows 8 is a win or flop? I stand hopeful, but I refuse to make any concrete judgements until they have reached the final stages of their development.

I Think I'm In Love

2011-05-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly one of the greatest land vehicles ever made...

Columbus Thunder and Lightning.

2011-05-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this a while back when I was staying in Columbus. In Vancouver, rain is pretty prevalent. Georgia, on the other hand, has less rain, but far more thunder and lightning.

Wordpress Ho!

2011-04-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

I have taken it upon myself to convert one of my other blogs over to Wordpress. Rather than choosing a basic theme, I’m implementing a theme so complex that Stephen Hawkins will be calculating the formula to derive how angry I am at this system. I have, in part, brought this upon myself, but i do have to admit, as far as the Wordpress installation is concerned, I had few issues.

Though, I will not be building any themes from scratch, I have become very good at Frankensteining the code from other blogs to twist into something that remarkably has not caused the entire internet to shut down out of pure disgust. Hazah!

On a side note: I have decided to grow some side burns, I find myself slowly looking more and more like David Tennant.

Koran Burning

2011-04-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

I always cringe a bit when I talk about subjects like this, but I had to give my 2 cents on the burning of the Koran by a pastor down in the United States which resulted in very violent protests abroad.

Perhaps burning that book was rude, but why are we more hard on the pastor than people rioting? This is 2011; book burning was a tragedy in the past when the information was being erased in that process. But these days, the koran is at no risk of being erased. If I burned a copy of Harry Potter, nobody would give a shit beyond my sister. If I deleted a "Holy" ebook, nobody would flinch. This still comes down to a religion intimidating and bullying to have special status, it’s no different from when they rioted over cartoons being drawn of Mohamed.

Is it bad form? Yes. I had suggested a long time ago that if you want to send a message by showing the book is not something that should be put on a pedestal any more than other forms of fiction, you would be better off burying it and letting it naturally decay, or even reading it, and challanging its ideas using your rational mind. People do need to recognise that the type of groups in the past who have burned books, have done so because they were looking to change history, destroy information and supress others. How ironic that in this situation, it’s the other way around, and to make things more sad, this is incited between two religions, neither one of them capable of learning any of those lessons or even recognising the real problem.

Lets take a second crack at blogging about me...

2011-03-31T00:31:00.000-07:00

The problem with the average Joe trying to write a blog is that it often lends itself to zero readerships. Let’s face it, I’m not a celebrity and I have yet to find a way to stand out. Despite this, I will continue writing here, and maybe, with a little luck, I can find a few readers.

I finally have that script idea, or comic, or book; in all honesty, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but the idea stands. I’ve been developing a story that can approach many of the political situations I read about abroad: the rise of the atheist community, the issue of resources dwindling, the class wars, and how the arts are so important to it all. I will be posting updates and eventually making an alternative blog to help focus the project.

The Joy Of Swearing

2010-03-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

One of my heroes, Stephen Fry, on the Joy (and necessity) of swearing.

Olympic Protestors Gone Wild.

2010-02-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

For many in Vancouver, the Olympics have become a love/hate relationship. I certainly have my part in it as one of the cogs of entertainment with several of the sponsors.

As many have seen on TV, we have a high number of Olympic protestors. I love seeing people stand up for what they believe, but only within responsible and rational limits. Normally I would try to show some understanding, after all, there are 2 sides to most issues, and they have certainly made some valid points in regard to excessive spending and out of control and abusive security measures. And should you not agree with their views, one must at least respect their right to protest.

This would certainly be reasonable if all they were doing was protesting; but these groups have reached the point of a mob mentality, where they seem more driven to smash windows, vandalize and take manipulative measures to hurt the general hard working Olympic volunteers and employees. I was trudging a large bag back from a long day at a gig, and I came across one of these "terrorist mobs", their faces wrapped in scarves, not much different from the sharia law pushing mobs found around the world chanting for violence. Spray painting private businesses and heckling anybody that seemed to be part of the games is not going to help the situation. Having to be contained by very expensive to equip police units is, if anything, is making the issue worse and costing tax payers more. This is not standing up for your rights; this is the desperate ramblings of controlling, spoiled, bullies. Only Canadians have the right to complain; we’re the citizens covering the costs and working around the havoc. Many of these protestors come from other nations and have no right to say what we can and can’t do in ours. There was a vote held for the Olympics, this would have been the time to present your message in a clear and honest manner, and if people were unconvinced, then you need to except that and move on, you are welcome to keep your view and pass it onto the next Olympic protestors.

I'm completely disgusted with the ideology that this is a global responsibility we can shrug off because a very small and noisy minority is bent on using other city issues. If they wanted to see the Olympics run on a more efficient system, go to school for accounting and sign the %$#! up to HELP, because the Olympics are not going away. Don’t blame those that are trying to make the best of it and have a little fun.

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

Many of us remember the book “Where The Wild Things Are”, it was a testament to that feces throwing monkey in every boy.

This movie had a great story, some good performances, fantastic characters and the potential to be this year number one movie. People wanted to love it, and that gave it the ability to reach an audience open to it.

So what went wrong; why did I walk away feeling like the film had broken off a peace of my mind and tried to duct tape it back on? Like many, I didn’t understand why, or at least I failed to have the words. But if I had to break it down, I think it failed with the relationship between the director and character of Max, or at least his ability to share that character with us. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Spike Jonz and Max Records bonded during this film. The behind the scenes footage shows the two of them as very close friends. But what might have been good for their personal relationship, was disastrous for the movie.

I’ll give Spike Jonz credit for climbing into the mind of child, but once in there, he become too comfortable. He failed to understand that the inside dialogue that often goes on in a child’s head, is not something that translates into film. It’s like opening a book, and instead of seeing a refined dialogue, you find your self reading the very fascinating, but still unfinished author’s notes. He failed to guide the actor to separate who he was with who Max was. He was a sketch of Max, when what we needed was a final drawing. And though he could have left in a bit of the raw and real childish mannerisms, he needed to do a better job of choosing the type of inner dialogue that we could all understand. I think it might of helped stay more synchronized with the book.

Despite all of this, I recommend seeing this in theaters; the world Spike Jonze created is awe inspiring. And if you can get past this dialogue issues, what you get to see is a fantastic break down a child’s fears and frustrations. Neither the director or the actors failed to step up, but rather, they needed to step BACK, and try to take a third party perspective to the final product.

The Horror of Build a Bear

2009-09-14T12:41:00.001-07:00

Recently I met somebody who works for “Build a Bear”. You know, that place where they take dead, hollowed out, stuffed toys and use their zombie fluff machine to bring them back to life, while at the same time, stealing a bit of our dignity. It suddenly occurred to me, if somebody works for build a bear too long, will they eventually grown teddy bear ears? You know, just like how guys who work in birth control factories eventually grow breasts?

Now that being said, when he grows those ears, is it socially exceptable to comment? I just don’t think I could keep myself from looking at them. And if it is ok, can I set him up in a tent and charge 50 cents a gander to all the Japanese girls into that sort of thing? I don’t want to cause awkwardness, but those girls do like their teddy boys.

mybossisamouse.com, its whats for lunch.

2009-09-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hello Internet,
So, I have this old blog from when I worked on Disney Cruise Line a few years back. Its sits there, unloved and neglected, like a celebrity child. My original idea was to have a few cast members pick it up and make it into a general cast blog, but it occurred to me, that most Disney cast are either too busy, or too lazy.

For now I have imported the old posts into this blog, and I’m now taking steps to redo the old one. Thats right, I refuse to give up! Mybossisamouse.com will live on, one way or another! I’m just not 100% sure how.

Sand Dunes, Umpa Lumpas and Donald Duck

2009-08-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

General life has been keeping me busy; but for all the stress that brings, I think its worth it.

Now for updates!

I was able to take a budgeted trip to the central western United States to see the sand dunes that stretch from Florence Oregon to northern California. For those who have never been, this it a 2 mile wide stretch of beach that looks like something out of "Stargate". My pale nerdy complexion, for the first time in many years, is tanned.

Some highlights of the trip included a fantastic lake that bordered the sand dunes, a Donald Duck cookie jar I was able to buy for 35 dollars, and the opportunity, while at the top of the tallest sand dune there, to witness one of the most amazing views and incendiary sun sets my eyes have ever seen.

My only disappointment was the cold winds and water of the ocean. The salt water beach would be very usable, if it were not for that.

As for work, things have been going well. My office remains a fantastic group of eccentric and pleasant people. I feel like I'm working with umpa lumpa some days.

Borderlinedaft.com, once again, remains neglected, but fear not, I am determined to finish a couple comics before starting it up. I have two ready to go, just one more before i feel ready to post.

Final Note: I went to see District 9. I won't spoil it, but I will say, bluntly, it was one of the best movies i have ever seen. Between "Almost Famous" and "Roger Rabbit", I would put it in my top 3.

Jeremy Out!

Death of Shane and holiday past.

2009-07-15T22:01:00.001-07:00

Not more than 5 minutes ago, I got some bad news. A family friend has died. Shane was like an uncle to me when I was a little kid having just moved to Canada. We met the Reeves family when we bought our dog from them. For a better part of a decade, our family would intermingle, we swapped family traditions, and the holiday season became massive because of them. It is days like this that i don't like being an atheist. I really do wish he was in a position that allowed him to hear me. You'll be missed Shane. You were outlandish and loud, and I would not have wanted you any other way.

My heart goes out to Lee, JC and Laura; Shane's children and wife.

I'm alive and well.

2009-07-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

I’ve been way too busy to post lately, and that’s just wrong. For those of you wondering where I disappeared to, between working for CW and preparing for school again, I have been overwhelmed.

All that aside, I’m looking forward to the Gay Pride Parade in a few weeks, I don’t understand how anybody, gay or straight would not find that the best parade in the city.

So, only one more week of insanity, then I can finally take the time to catch up on all my old projects and get borderlinedaft.com up and running. Recently, I’ve been domain hunting for a business idea, and it occurred to me, why can’t borderlinedaft.com and my business share the same site, the idea is kind of comic related. I all too often try to keep every aspect of my life in its own separate little zone, perhaps it time to stop doing that.

On a side note, I found this beautiful sail boat downtown, single mast, simple design that looks almost perfect. I’ll try to take pictures later for you all.

Until next week, if your one of my hand full of readers, you will notice a twitter bar has shown up on the left side of this page. Please feel free to stalk me through that.

itouch Review, Death By A Thousand Fees

2009-04-05T23:21:00.000-07:00

Anybody that knows me, knows I have a distain for “Apple Computers”. I feel the company, in its quest to try to compete with Microsoft, has resorted to aggressive copyright tactics, and demands controlling its users and software choices with far too much disregard to healthy competition. Recently, I was able to get a huge discount on an iTouch. I have to say, as much as this is a horrid video player, and mediocre music player, admittedly, it a reasonable pda. Though, with one quarter of all iTouches hacked with “jailbreak”, I think they should see that as a sign that they need to allow other companies to produce app stores. And now, with word that the new firmware upgrades will come at a cost of 10 dollar, I’m starting to feel that the company is trying to over charge user with small fees.

Pooh Bear Gangster

2009-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Anybody that knows me, knows I'm not one to bad mouth Disney, but this was too funny to not share. This picture was sent to me by a friend...

St Patricks Day And The Vancouver Aquarium

2009-03-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was spend with the Vancouver Aquarium team, doing the St Patrick day Parade. Just to give you a clue where I am in this picture, lets just say, I had a "Hoot"....hoooot....um..hooot. You can send your hate mail to damnyouandyourbadpuns at jeremymilne.com

It Was Worth Freezing My Tail Off

2009-03-12T01:30:00.000-07:00

So I went back to the bridge after the iso disaster, figured i would give it a second shot, and they turned out. Enjoy.

The Watchmen and the Corrupt Vancouver Cop

2009-03-10T04:02:00.000-07:00

Sunday night i went to see "The Watchmen". Having read the comic, I was very much divided; the movie on its own is amazing, perhaps in my top ten, but it did not line up with the comic as much as i had hoped. Much of the motivation for the characters was changed, scenes were lost, and in some cases, portions were completely rewritten. I was glad to see they got Rorcheck right, as that i feel he is one of the best heroes ever written, period. its a character I related to, not in his violence, but in his unwavering sense of ethics, his blunt views on the values of truth above popularity, and willingness, not only to go into dark places, but to understand the sacrifice in doing so.

So, with a movie a thumbs up, here comes the bad part of my night...

Sitting in front of me, during the movie, was a man who kept blowing on a dog whistle. I know what your thinking, how can you hear a dog whistle? Trust me, you can, just not the same way a dog does. I leaned in and said "you can stop blowing that %$^#!* dog whistle now." It stopped, and i went back to watching the movie. When the credits rolled, the man in front of me stepped up, his much larger friend looked at me and said "you're going to apologize to my friend, because he had no whistle". I explained that several others, as well as myself, watched him for a better part of 15 minutes blowing on that whistle, and I would not apologize. They stood in my way, with a friend by my side, and a third almost ready to panic. I told him to move aside, and i would be happy to deal with this in the lobby. He told me he wanted to kick my ass in the parking lot. Just as i said I think it would be best if we went to see the manager, he pulled out his wallet and identified himself as a cop, closing it before i could read any information that i could identify him with. I told him he could leave now, and that i stand by my view that his friend was blowing a whistle. At which point, he left at my determination to find some theater staff.

Is this the type of person that works for the Vancouver Police department? With all the pr issues that the Vancouver Police have had the last while, I would think that they would be a bit more sensitive about throwing their weight around. This man was trying to be a bully, and turned out to be a coward. I hope this turns out to be a person imitating a police officer.

Damn you camera gods!

2009-03-10T01:02:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm dating again. Something I have not had much luck with the last few years. As much as watching TV with my stuffed bear brings me overwhelming joy, I felt that a real person was in order, before the conversation with the bear began to be reciprocated.

All that aside, with my stress levels at an all time high, i figured i would meet up with somebody I've been dating and walk around town trying to take some pictures. Tonight, I learned why one must never leave your tripod at home; I was forced to use a high iso, not a single picture turned out as a result. The grain was so heavy on a number of pictures that might have otherwise been very beautiful shots. I tried to salvage one when i got home, but it could never be made any bigger than 4x6.

About %$#@ing time.

2009-03-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

The Pirate Bay Trials And Why Torrents Are Good.

2009-02-27T04:58:00.001-08:00

I’m an artist who is working towards finding a means to sustain my life based on my art. So, when the movie and music industry filed to take Pirate Bay to Courts, I disapproved. I know that’s sounds like a conflict, but if you consider the statistics on how Torrent Sites effect the art community, including the up and coming artists, you will realize why.

I don’t think it’s ethically right to pirate movies, but should we legislate against torrents? It would mean giving the industry the right to expose our private information. No offense to these groups, but they have not shown themselves to be capable of taking the moral high road. Many have allegedly funded the computer virus industry, in hopes of scaring torrent users away. They have used third party systems to send threatening letters that would otherwise be illegal in their own countries. In cases where they were able to target the individual downloader’s, they found themselves taking to court, kids as young as 12, having downloaded only a hand full of MP3’s, which they feel are worth thousands of dollars each. You cannot convince me that any individuals MP3 can be valued at 4 figures. They ask for these amounts in court, not as a matter of personal compensation, but to be used as scare propaganda.

What these industries will not tell you in court, is how the torrent and download industry has benefited the small artist. Perhaps Madonna and Kenya West will make a million dollars less this year, but I’m thoroughly convinced that hundreds of small artist will make considerably more as a result of torrents.

What the production industry is really afraid of, is the idea of open source publishing; a system in which the quality they produce can be achieved by a basic home computer, and in that process, large scale distribution companies become less necessary to exposure and sales. This has been proven by bands such as "Radio Head", who have released entire albums for free, right off of their site. They released that if you produce a quality product, people will still pay for it, either through donation, or by purchasing the album later.

I am not saying that it’s right to download copy righted material from Torrents, but I don’t think these industries using lawyers like Darfur militia groups, spreading fear and making demands, is the answer either. And I certainly don’t think we can shut down the torrent sites unless were willing to take away people’s civil liberties.

I have yet to see one commercial, from the movie or music industry, that was not manipulative. They have not tried a “hey, were musicians, we worked very hard, please consider that before choosing what you download” campaign. It’s always been a black white issue for them. And they never consider that a good part of the torrent industry is legal content, and information that has benefited the education of society.

I recommend they use all the money they are spending on lawyers and put it into think tanks. They can find other ways to maintain their intellectual property that does not leave me asking why a private origination is allowed to view and limit my online web usage, and undermine the freedom that makes the internet an even playing field.

New Template and %$#! You Google!

2009-02-25T14:24:00.001-08:00

You might have noticed that jeremymilne.com has under gone a makeover. No, I did not get jumped by "gay eye for the nerd guy"; I was able to use my limited knowledge of html to Frankenstein myself a new template.

Having seen all the new options of blogger 2.0 (since being bought by Google), I wanted to convert this site over. What can I say, I felt like the only kid on the block who didn't have a Han Solo action figure. At first, my goal was to convert my template, but after realizing how drastic of a change Google had made to their system, I concluded very fast that I would be better off starting from scratch. Had I not given up, I think somewhere along that process, I might have needed to start killing Google employees.

What Google did not explain is that you can no longer host your site from a ftp, which means you need to point the whole DNS at a hosting service owned by Google, and then they let you use the domain. Why would Google do this? Out of hope you might switch or buy your domain from them. This whole thing seems very manipulative and I'm disapointed with the direction they have gone the last few years with many of their services. As that I did not want Google running my email systems or controlling my site, I created a sub domain called "www", then simply pointed the domain at sub domain.

This massively complex frustration that a person must go through to convert their old domain is an insult to Google customers. To make things worse, I have to go through every old post and re point all the images at a completely different domain, because once I set up jeremymilne.com to point to its sub domain, it's no longer able to display its sub directories. So %$#! you Google, for this I will never use any of your pay services.

Show Me Your Kung Fu

2009-02-25T01:12:00.000-08:00

One of the things I have regretted over the years is not taking enough pictures. So having bought a reasonably good camera, and no longer limited by the confines of a cheap automatic, I have decided to make sure my camera is with me at all times. I don't pretend to be a professional photographer, but if every year I get better than previous years, I'm assuming in time, I could get some really nice shots. And maybe, if i learn enough tricks, I'll have an excuse to get a really nice canon.

So Rosco, if you read this post, you need to show me a some of your camera Kung Fu.

Below are a few picture I was able to snap tonight while downtown near the harbor. Click to enlarge. Don't mind the scooter, I kind of always wanted a Vespa with a side car. If anybody needs to use these for anything, email me for the larges.

Two Fortunes, One cookie

2009-02-18T01:32:00.000-08:00