Having said that, I suppose you can guess what I did. I bought an e-reader – a Kindle 3, specifically. Why did I do this, considering how I’ve long felt about e-books? Let’s see:

Foreign Languages

The initial reason I started thinking about getting a Kindle was to be able to read foreign language books on it, as they wouldn’t have any hefty shipping costs associated with them. A $10 book from amazon.de or amazon.fr can end up being closer to $30 after shipping fees are added on.

I was also really interested in reading foreign language stuff and having a built-in dictionary at the ready, but more on that in a second.

A Pile of Books In One Spot

I’m notorious with friends and family about having multiple books going at the same time. Despite repeated efforts to stop this focus splitting activity, I’ve had little success, so I finally just accepted it. If I’m going to be reading two or three books all at the same time, why not have a nifty gadget that has all of those books (and a bunch of others) on it?

First Impressions

I’ve only had it for a few weeks, but so far, I really like it. I’m pretty sure I’ve actually been reading more since getting it. I won’t go on about the e-ink screen much, other than to say: wow. Weirdly like paper, particularly when a screensaver is up. I can read on it for hours without any more eyestrain than I’d have from a regular book. The weight is also pretty amazing; it’s much, much easier to read in bed with the Kindle than it is to read with a 5 pound, 1000 page hardback. I’ve not really messed with the experimental browser much, as it’s pretty clunky after using my iPhone, but it might come in handy some day.

The only thing I’m not very happy about is the fact that it’s apparently a bit of a pain to add foreign language dictionaries, at least for automatic lookups. I’ve poked around some and there seem to be ways to do it, but I’ve not messed with it a whole lot. I had hoped to just be able to buy an electronic dictionary directly from amazon, have it downloaded to my Kindle, and be done. No dice, unfortunately.

Having said that, I’m still glad I bought it. I doubt I’m ever going to go all-electronic with my books, but I can now at least say that in regards to e-books, with the right device, I’m a believer.

While poking about in Google Reader, I stumbled upon The Beaufort Rain Scale. It’s a spoof of the Beaufort Scale, which “is an empirical measure for describing wind speed based mainly on observed sea conditions.”

Here are a few entries from the Rain Scale:

Force 5: Drizzle.
Shapes beginning to be visible in rain for the first time, usually drifting from right to left. Windscreen wipers are too slow at slow speed, too fast at fast speed. Shower-proof rainwear turns out to be shower-proof all right, but not drizzle-proof. First damp feeling inside either shoes or neckline. Butterflies take evasive action and begin to fly straight. A newspaper being read in the open starts to turn to pulp.
Associated Phrases: “it’s really chucking it down now,” “it’s raining cats and dogs,” and “nice for the farmers.”

Force 7: Squally, Gusty Rain.
As Force 6, but with added wind. Water starts to be forced up your nostrils. Maniacs leave home and head for the motorway in their cars. Butterflies start walking. Household cats and dogs become unpleasant to handle. Cheaper clothes start to come to bits.
Associated Phrases: “it’s pissing down now,” and “there’s some madman out in the garden trying to read a newspaper.”

The creator of the page comments at the bottom that he read another fine description of rain in a Terry Pratchett book: “merely an upright sea with slots in it.” A fine reminder that I need to get back to reading Pratchett’s Discworld series.

A few of my favorite bits:

Let’s start with the bad guys. Battalions of stormtroopers dressed in all black, check. Secret police, check. Determination to brutally kill everyone who doesn’t look like them, check. Leader with a tiny villain mustache and a tendency to go into apopleptic rage when he doesn’t get his way, check. All this from a country that was ordinary, believable, and dare I say it sometimes even sympathetic in previous seasons.

And:

So they invent a completely implausible superweapon that they’ve never mentioned until now. Apparently the Americans got some scientists together to invent it, only we never heard anything about it because it was “classified”. In two years, the scientists manage to invent a weapon a thousand times more powerful than anything anyone’s ever seen before – drawing from, of course, ancient mystical texts. Then they use the superweapon, blow up several Japanese cities easily, and the Japanese surrender. Convenient, isn’t it?

I love it.

Right now hey you. Okay bye. Yes, Hi. Hi  Josh, This. Goodbye  okay. Give  me  a  matter.  Yeah, Hello that. Yeah yeah if it yeah. Goodbye hello, this is possible. Hello, Well hello.  E Hi mate, Al  house. Hey delivery down, hi hey matter of fact, I’m alright. Bye. On mon  house. As far as going on. Hello Hello. This is hello hi hello Hey, Cool, Hello Hi Heath.

So apparently Google Voice is ran by a mix of Beatles fans, Jamaicans, Australians, and former UPS delivery men.

A few months ago, I started watching Lost from the beginning. I had been interested in watching it for a while, but finally took the plunge one evening, starting the first episode on Netflix Watch Instantly. I became quite enthralled by it, occasionally watching three or four episodes a night.

I finally got caught up to the present airing just this past weekend- just in time to watch the next to last episode on Tuesday. And of course, the big series finale is tomorrow.

I’ve enjoyed the show a lot, for the most part. There were a few missteps along the way, and I honestly hated season 5 with all of its time travel stuff. I’ve found it really cool that, whether planned or not, the monster from the very beginning of the series is playing such an important role at the end. I would like to know more about the island and what’s up with the light, as well as more about Jacob, the Man in Black, and their mom.

But I’m honestly not sure if I’m going to get all of that. Despite having really loved the show, I’m quite afraid that we’re all going to be “Stephen Kinged.” That is, the ending will be like many of Stephen King’s endings. In The Stand, he spent hundreds of pages having a team of good guys trek across the country to fight the bad guys, only to have the “end” be a nuclear bomb going off accidentally, killing all involved. In the Dark Tower series, he spent seven whole books having Roland chase the tower, only to have him thrown back to the start of his quest once finding it and getting inside. Ultimately, King seems to be good at writing really good stories, just not particularly good at finishing them.

I’m worried that’s going to be the case for Lost. A wild ride, but with an ending that just doesn’t bring much closure. After Jack was “made to be like Jacob,” they could even have the show end with Jack basically taking the helm of the island, holding out against the monster indefinitely into the future, until he can pass the torch to someone else.

I hope that isn’t the case, and I hope that the finale answers most of the questions that have been left hanging. But I won’t be placing any bets…

Lo and behold, when I arrived at the party place, bad driver fellow was there. Not only was he there, he was the brother of the birthday boy’s dad.

Suffice to say, when the mom introduced us to one another and asked if we had met, we just smiled and shook hands. Awkward, awkward…

Nicholas II of Russia

Tim Curry

See? Granted, Tim Curry looks like he might be a bit more fun, but still.  If someone would drum up some interest for a movie about Nicholas II, they’ve got the man for the part.

I got a chance to try the Starcraft 2 beta (multiplayer only), and on my first match, I was able to win in about 5 minutes, using a tactic from the original Starcraft. That’s not to say that it’s just Starcraft with a face lift – there were a lot of units I didn’t recognize at all – but it looks like a good deal of Starcraft skill will port easily to Starcraft 2.

I can’t really comment much on Civilization 5, as they seem to have not released a whole lot – a few screenshots, and a worthless trailer – but I figure, based on the series track record, that it will be excellent.

That particularly problem was solved today. I finally received my Otterbox Defender case, which turned my iPhone more into a rubberized brick than a futuristic Star Trek-like gadget. Actually, it’s still pretty Star Trek-like, just not as shiny and slippery, which is fine with me. It’s much bulkier now, but I would rather have bulky and protected than slim and fragile.

The only problem I have now is the oil slick issue that happens with the Defender. Air bubbles appear between the screen and screen protection part of the case, and it looks like you’re pushing around little puddles of oil. I tried the baby powder fix, which did work, but I couldn’t get it to work without seeing little flecks of baby powder on my screen. I may give it another try later, or just spring for a cheap anti-glare screen protector, which is supposed to fix it as well.

There was a wonderful xkcd comic to go along with this, but I can’t find it right now. Damn. It was the one showing an iPhone user flying away after using an app to save someone’s life; anyone have a link?