tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193316522024-03-13T18:06:09.185+11:00The Blog for RobNews and reviews of things I have listened to, read, watched or done!Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-79901783355351675582016-02-08T06:36:00.001+11:002016-02-08T08:39:43.799+11:00A nightmare of ne'er-do-wells<div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A nightmare of <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none;">ne'er-do-wells and the endless betrayals between them as supremacy over a blighted land is sought. A demon leads a rebellion with his sisters. Through a multitude of dimensions they hunt their father and together slay him. The demon turns his tricks upon his sisters next. He watches the hatred die in their eyes under his blade and spells.</span></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The survivor rests, but not easy. His mind is full of the many different ways he may die if a family member somehow lives, or if a new challenger decides it is their time to come to the fore. His final dream within my dream is that of having his throat slowly cut, blood and breath gurgling out under pain that blots out the light. His last sight is the grimly victorious visage of this betrayer. But this is a dream he is used to, a fate he has imagined and escaped so many times it is a song whose words are uttered unconsciously.</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He turns in his sleep as I wake and face the day.</span></div><div><br></div>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-67546132031657754342015-10-19T05:19:00.001+11:002015-10-19T07:07:58.426+11:00A dream of family and space<div>A majestic and celestial dream, a computer program to be navigated, a symphony that changes depending on the direction of your gaze, a story being written as you witness it.</div><div><br></div><div>Family: voices speaking names, intoning relationships, a choir of history.</div><div><br></div><div>Community, society: percussion. Drumbeats of towns connected by tambourine trails and roads to xylophone cities and metropolises.</div><div><br></div><div>Place: woodwind instruments starting in the house, spreading out through my suburb, sweeping over the state and into the desert.</div><div><br></div><div>Region, country: from a desert starts playing the piano, riding contour maps of a country, into the ocean, visiting every continent across the globe.</div><div><br></div><div>Planets, solar systems: strings rising through the atmosphere and out to view our planet, planets, solar system.</div><div><br></div><div>Stars, galaxies: deep brass sweeping along our galactic arm, blowing out to view galaxies forming patterns of their own.</div><div><br></div><div>Something that you swim in and out of, traversing layers of music and feelings, the symphony of life and surroundings and connections. An eternal song.</div><div><br></div><div>It was a beautiful dream I had this morning.</div>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-14091729979176531432015-07-27T19:43:00.000+10:002015-07-27T19:43:25.622+10:00determined to perishI noticed a common thread between two very different movies I greatly enjoyed: Leaving Las Vegas (Nicholas Cage 1995) and Seven Pounds (Will Smith 2008). In both movies the main character is driven by a determination to perish. They have very different motives and follow very different paths, though I believe guilt is the overwhelming undertone for both.Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-63284633940124873762014-09-28T01:19:00.001+10:002014-09-28T02:30:28.724+10:00The Riders at The Malthouse<p>Dad and I saw <a href="http://malthousetheatre.com.au/whats-on/the-riders">The Riders</a> at the Malthouse tonight, performed by the <a href="http://www.victorianopera.com.au/">Victorian Opera</a>, based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Riders">The Riders by Tim Winton</a>.</p>
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<p>There were so many things I loved about this production.</p>
<p>It was an opera, and they had the lyrics flashing up on a large display above the stage. I greatly appreciated this because as impressive as the singing was (and it was) operatic singing is occasionally inscrutable.</p>
<p>Speaking of impressive singing, the singing was impressive. I was entranced watching Barry Ryan's mouth open so wide and feeling the power of his voice. I don't watch much opera. I felt goose pimples with the rising tension he brought forth. Dimity Shepherd's voice was full of verve and was readily picked out when filling out the supporting vocals.</p>
<p>The orchestra had me thrilled with dramatic flourishes. I was impressed with Jennifer Morrish on percussion - her section was at the right hand end of the pit. From my second row seat I watched her constantly move between instruments during the opera. There was a small black and white display showing her video of Richard Mills, the conductor, who was at her back most of the time. I could see two xylophones, a massive drum, some high hats, a set of tubular bells and a massive gong that she drew very powerful sounds from. I asked her afterwards to show me - she brought out this large bow (like a violin bow, but larger) and I watched as she played it against a hole in the middle of the gong.</p>
<p>These were the things I loved about this performance.</p>
<p>I did not like the story.</p>
<p>It was tedious and seemed to consist of almost entirely of Scully (the protagonist played by Barry Ryan) bemoaning over his wife abandoning their family. That's an admittedly harsh judgment on what should be a tension filled plot, but the story was a piteous whinging session. I did not feel like the story fit an operatic form at all. Some of the dialogue was trite, and repeated just in case we didn't get it the first time. The story focused repetitively on Scully bemoaning the loss of Jennifer (the wife who abandons him) and how much he loves her and his daughter Billie, and how afraid he is that he has been cuckolded while he was working at menial jobs to pay for his wife's training or lessons.</p>
<p>The story was tawdry because it contrasted poorly against the fiery drama of the music, the singing, and the mythical imagery of The Riders interspersed throughout the story (of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt">Wild Hunt mythology</a>).</p>
<p><em><strong>He wore a storm upon his shoulders. He wielded a whip of black lightning.</strong></em> -- Two vivid phrases I remember from the play, describing The Riders. My mind was full of wild images from this, that I couldn't reconcile with the play.</p>
<p>The imagery of The Hunt downright confused me. I imagined that it represents Scully's fruitless chase for his wife, the despair he feels at failing to find her or get any closure, and how this notion will become a ghost that chases him as relentlessly as the riders of The Hunt. However, I failed to place this within the context of the play in a meaningful way because the action and dialogue seemed so far away from anything magical or powerful. We saw the struggle of a helpless man, afraid of being a cuckold, afraid of being abandoned, afraid of being judged badly by others (at least two characters assumed Scully beat his wife and child). I simply couldn't put the different sides of this drama together in my head. It was like pieces of two completely different stories.</p>
<p>I haven't read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684822776/ref=cm_cr_dpvoterdr">The Riders by Tim Winton</a>, and based on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/RVO8BZGDYSTFH/ref=cm_cr_dp_title">at least one review</a>, won't. I loved the opera singing, and the music of this production, but I don't feel like the story fit. Having said all that, I look forward to seeing the Victorian Opera again, hopefully at The Malthouse!</p>
<p>See the program guide for The Riders here: <a href="http://issuu.com/victorianopera/docs/victorian_opera_2014_-_the_riders_p">http://issuu.com/victorianopera/docs/victorian_opera_2014_-_the_riders_p</a>.</p>
Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-23288387030932176732014-08-30T16:13:00.001+10:002014-08-30T16:13:41.234+10:00Anita Sarkeesian's Women as Background Decoration: Part 2<p dir="ltr">Anita Sarkeesian's Women as Background Decoration: Part 2 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games: <a href="http://youtu.be/5i_RPr9DwMA">http://youtu.be/5i_RPr9DwMA</a>. <br>
<br>
I think Anita's videos and analysis are extremely insightful. I watched her latest video yesterday (and again just now) and it struck me how I have played or wanted to play many of the games she references, yet seeing those images side by side in the context of them forming a pervasive pattern is disturbing and depressing. <br>
<br>
In particular, the observation that such a pattern normalises, sensationalizes and mis-characterises violence against women makes me feel uncomfortable at how often I have seen such scenes in games and movies and automatically accepted them as background to the story being told. <br>
<br>
I enjoyed the observation she made about a common rebuttal to the point of violence against women being so pervasive in games: that without it, the story or setting would appear unrealistic or not historically accurate. Her observation is that we routinely accept all the other aspects of sci-fi and fantasy that break historical and scientific realism to create the works we love so much. I meant it when I said I <b><i>enjoyed</i></b> this observation, because it makes me wonder how we could achieve the same undertones <b><i>without</i></b> resorting to portraying casual sexual violence against women. I find this to be a challenging and thought provoking idea. </p>
Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-14074176498008490902014-07-29T08:02:00.000+10:002014-07-29T08:02:28.343+10:00I live perched upon her shoulderI came to life clinging to a strand of her hair so wide it seemed like home. Then I fell, screaming all the way until, with a gentle wumph, l landed on the soft fabric covering her shoulder. It took me some time to gather myself, to stop the crazy thoughts spinning through my mind, to realize that I had fallen not out of existence but somewhere real, somewhere that still included the concept of me. I looked around.<br />
<br />
For one whole day I was with her, and saw everything she did from my perch upon her shoulder. It scared me, horrified me and yet l was truly unable to look away. It was enthralling. Is this what it is like to live?<br />
<br />
When she arrived home, I tried to remember every detail | had seen that day, and hoped I could find a way to store those recollections. She entered her bedroom and took off her jumper. 0nce more I became aware of the concept of me, not as an observer but as an entity, lacking any meaningful control over my life or the jumper I was inextricably nestled within. She placed the jumper in the hamper and closed the lid. Now I sit in the darkness and wonder. What happens next?<br />
<div>
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Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-13229110635130902532014-02-18T16:42:00.000+11:002014-02-18T23:33:36.382+11:00Blue is the Warmest Colour<p>Blue Is the Warmest Color [<a href="http://www.amazon.com.au/Blue-Warmest-Color-Julie-Maroh-ebook/dp/B00EV6T6DQ">Kindle Edition</a>] by Julie Maroh, 2013.</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2sRuaWLxfT6ZpgNISPl01izjQAAhnyO1guB5NMTd9CWy1rDBg5io7JNCrT9uzLutk-bWIQolb3Paf3INH0vMvQe9H5J2co4bsbnIF3ymwyc5r8QFMrnyGLb8L-xWDu5vXS0vt/s1600/blueIsTheWarmestColour.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2sRuaWLxfT6ZpgNISPl01izjQAAhnyO1guB5NMTd9CWy1rDBg5io7JNCrT9uzLutk-bWIQolb3Paf3INH0vMvQe9H5J2co4bsbnIF3ymwyc5r8QFMrnyGLb8L-xWDu5vXS0vt/s1600/blueIsTheWarmestColour.png" height="320" width="231"></a></div>
<br>
<h2>A bittersweet tale of coming out - to oneself</h2>
<p>This graphic novel is beautiful and sad and romantic. It is a coming out tale with artwork that is quite raw but stylish. The art contributes greatly to a sense of honesty about the characters, as though the shaky lines are a result of the characters showing us their inner selves and not quite being able to bear such searing openness.</p>
<p>I read this graphic novel the day after I watched the movie. I read this graphic novel purely because I had seen the movie and was so affected by it that I needed to read the source. The experience of both has merged in my head and I ask you to forgive my inability to review the graphic novel without reference to the movie. I can't help but picture Adele's bound hair and quirky smile with each frame of Clementine (Clementine's name was Adele in the movie). I am constantly comparing and contrasting each difference and similarity. They complement each other. All the things I found lacking in the movie are filled in here by the graphic novel, such that even though they are different stories, they form a complete whole in my imagination.</p>
<p>The most important paragraph in this entire novel filled in an emotion that I don't think was adequately explored in the film "For Emma, her sexuality is something that draws her to others, a social and political thing. For me, it's the most intimate thing there is." The movie became more about how the relationship between the two lovers changed, while the graphic novel focuses on how Clementine changes. The graphic novel is more a coming out tale, but coming out to herself only. The emotion expressed in this paragraph is truly the crux on which the entire book rests: it makes the ending (which we are informed of at the very beginning) so much harder to bear. It is bittersweet, and makes me so sad.</p>
<p>This conflict was stated just before the novel jumps from 1997 to 2008: I found it fascinating that it was left to us to fill in that one big gap. It was a surprising contrast with the movie, which leaves us to fill in many small gaps.</p>
<p>I wonder how different this graphic novel would be if there was more showing their domestic relationship. It is something that the movie managed quite well, but in doing so became a very different story. The intense sadness of the movie comes because we see them drift apart, and feel Adele's pain when she cannot repair what she has lost. She is set adrift, unable to forgive herself and move on.</p>
<p>In this way, both stories deal with a tragic loss. And both are quite tender in the tiny details they each give about their loved characters.</p>
<p>You can't review this novel without addressing the fact that it is an adult graphic novel. Both this graphic novel and the movie contain explicit sexual imagery. I feel that in each, they serve a different purpose, and the graphic novel does it with infinitely greater compassion and love. In the movie, these scenes show us that Adele has an almost insatiable appetite: for sex as much as love and food. In the graphic novel it is more about showing Clementine's acceptance of her own desire and her earnest need to connect in every way with her lover.</p>
<p>The graphic novel has flaws. I think the way it draws to the inevitable conclusion (which we are told at the very beginning) could have been done with more finesse. But I accepted it as much as I accepted the flawed nature of the illustrations. Many reviewers on Amazon criticise the Kindle version of the the graphic novel as having some scene transition flaws. There are two or three instances of this, but it did not spoil the experience for me.</p>
<p>I thoroughly recommend this story for anyone who enjoyed the emotional impact of the movie; anyone who appreciates the sadness and exhilaration that accompanies coming out - to yourself. Or anyone that loves a heartbreaking romance.</p>
<p>10/10</p>
<p>My review of this graphic novel appears on <a href="http://www.amazon.com.au/review/R1SHDRWK9GU4E2/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00EV6T6DQ&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=">Amazon.com.au as well</a>.</p>
<p>Read about <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2278871/">Blue is the Warmest Colour on IMDB</a>.</p>
Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-2079350905363618702013-11-24T18:18:00.003+11:002013-11-25T11:00:07.013+11:00Everything Write (and Wrong) with Swype<p>An iPhone 4 has been my primary phone for four years. For a few short months I had a wonderful Dell Steak and grew to love Android. Vale my cherished Dell Steak: 'twas not the smashed screen that did you in, but the hot sweet coffee I bathed you in (and the front passenger seat of my car) while driving to a repair shop. I can honestly say that <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nuance.swype.dtc">Swype</a> is one of the main reasons I wanted to come back to Android. And now I have.</p>
<h1>Killer features</h1><ul>
<li><strike>Sliding</strike> Swyping your finger across the keyboard to type out words is just so damn good!</li>
<li>There are Swype shortcuts to select all, copy and paste - the latter two being the king of all features below slide typing.</li>
<li>Tap the Swype key to select the word your cursor is on.</li>
<li>Tap the shift key while you have a word selected to change the case of the word (but if you were just typing then tapped the Swype key then tapped shift key this doesn't work: you have to re-tap the word, tap Swype, then tap shift).</li>
<li>Swype gesture to hide the keyboard.</li>
<li>Swype gesture to activate cursor mode with functions for going back/forwards/up/down/select all/copy/paste.</li>
<li>Autocorrect is right <strike>most</strike> half of the time.</li>
</ul>
<h1>Rage inducing flaws</h1><ul>
<li>Speech to text (powered by Dragon Dictation) is terrible, unusable. It is supposed to learn but I haven't seen it learn anything and support through the forums is non existent: <a href="http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?12759-speech-recognition-training&highlight=dragon">one</a>, <a href="http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?6567-How-does-the-Dragon-learn">two</a>, <a href="http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?11187-Training-Dragon">three</a> posts on this revealing nothing helpful at all.</li>
<li>I have yet to see a single reply from devs that solves or even usefully addresses any of flaws I am laying out here. So many unanswered posts.</li>
<li>Swype to write is slow. In this mode, you can write out a single word, one individual letter at a time. Even though it (mostly) interprets the space gesture correctly, writing multiple words separated by space just outputs one hopelessly wrong word. It doesn't recognise handwriting. (<a href="http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?12728-Lag-and-performance-issues-after-latest-updates&p=48185#post48185">Forum post on how bad Swype Writing is</a>.)</li>
<li><a href="http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?3666-Undo-option-in-edit-text-options">No undo</a>. The <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aitype.android">A.I. Type keyboard</a> has undo, as do some apps like <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aor.droidedit.pro">DroidEdit</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?6757-Add-Swype-to-display-clipboard-entries&highlight=undo">No access to recent clipboard entries</a>. The Samsung Galaxy stock keyboard has this, so it is possible.</li>
<li>Enter key is not always visible (such as in Google Hangouts). Needs to have an option to override this. (Workaround is to switch to write mode, then switch to numbers mode and it usually recognises the gesture for new line insert, but it's clunky).</li>
<li>I still find myself typing out many hilarious or confusing autocorrect failures if I don't double check every word.</li>
<li><a href="http://forum.swype.com/showthread.php?12320-Add-feature-for-sywping-to-space-bar-to-type-multiple-words">You can only Swype one word at a time</a> - the Galaxy stock keyboard lets you swipe multiple words if you swipe to the space bar in between.</li>
</ul>
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
<p>Swype is a lot faster than thumb/two finger typing - I never want to go back to just being able to tap letters (like you have to with iOS). Swype is such an efficient mechanism, allowing you to use one finger to fluidly output words. If you know how to touch type, you will be even faster still since you will know the layout of your keyboard. You still need to be very careful and double check your output.</p>
<p>I find Swyping to be just a little bit faster than using handwriting recognition keyboards (like the stock Samsung keyboard). Having said that, handwriting on the Samsung Stock keyboard is amazing - it will cope with your worst doctor writing!</p>
<p>However, Swyping is is still much slower than typing if you know how to touch type. This means that when I am in a meeting and need to take notes, I will still pull out my iPad and use a bluetooth keyboard (and use the outstanding <a href="http://www.ithoughts.co.uk/iThoughtsHD/Welcome.html">iThoughts mind mapping app</a>), rather than use my new and shiny Samsung Galaxy Note 3.</p><p>Note that Swype is not the only keyboard to offer typing by sliding your finger over a virtual keyboard. The <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.visionobjects.resourcemanager">Samsung stock keyboard</a>, the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin">Google stock keyboard</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey">Swiftkey</a> are three alternatives I am aware of. However, the core mechanic is slightly different in each, and the combination of the other killer features had meant that Swype is still my go-to Android keyboard.</p><p>This review is for Swype version 1.6.3.22544 on a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (not rooted) running Android 4.3.</p>
<p>4 out of 5. <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nuance.swype.dtc">Swype is a must for your Android</a>.</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-66601417542384570402013-11-24T01:22:00.001+11:002014-01-12T11:07:09.037+11:00Chrome to mobile device with offline storage and search<p>I am reading the Walking Dead comics and need help keeping the character names straight in my head. They are listed nicely on this page with pictures and names, which is great: <a href="http://www.comicvine.com/profile/avenger693/lists/the-walking-dead-tv-series-characters/39542">http://www.comicvine.com/profile/avenger693/lists/the-walking-dead-tv-series-characters/39542</a>.</p>
<p>So I figured there are plenty of mechanisms available to help me out here. What I want is:</p><ol>
<li>A way to save the page from Chrome on my PC.</li>
<li>A way to view the page on my iOS or Android device.</li>
<li>Offline storage of this page on my iOS and Android device.</li>
<li>The ability to search the stored page to find the character name I am looking for and view the picture.</li>
</ol>
<p>In the last <strike>three</strike> six frustrating hours, this is what I have found..</p>
<h1>Get Pocket (was Read It Later)</h1><ol>
<li>Has Chrome extension, iOS and Android client.</li>
<li>Allows offline access on mobile devices.</li>
<li><a href="http://help.getpocket.com/customer/portal/questions/293183-full-text-search-plans-">No full text search</a> (or <a href="http://help.getpocket.com/customer/portal/questions/428718-search-within-the-articles">here</a>).</li>
</ol>
<h1>Evernote</h1><ol>
<li>Has Chrome extension, iOS and Android client.</li>
<li>Offline access on mobile devices needs paid account. $5.50 per month is too much for a Premium account considering I have no other use-cases for this at all.</li>
<li>Even when I do clip my page, it displays badly, with <a href="http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/47696-clipped-web-page-not-displaying-correctly/">text being hidden behind the images</a>.</li>
<li>The Android client <a href="http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/47657-searching-within-a-document-on-android/">doesn't seem to offer full text search that shows matched text within a clipped page</a>.</li>
</ol>
<h1>Readability</h1><ol>
<li>Has Chrome extension, iOS and Android client.</li>
<li>Can't see my articles on Android or iOS.. so don't know anything more (have been refreshing the collection frequently, nothing showing at all). <strong>Edit:</strong> they showed up hours later.</li>
<li><a href="http://readability.bonfireapp.com/ideas/view/314/full_text_search">There is no full text search.</a></li>
</ol>
<h1>Instapaper</h1><ol>
<li>Has Chrome extension, iOS and Android client.</li>
<li>It ripped out all the text from my page, leaving this article useless!</li>
<li><a href="http://blog.instapaper.com/post/51663371320">No full text search</a>.</li>
</ol>
<h1>Wikipanion Plus for iPad</h1>
<p>Use it save a different page (that is on the Walking Dead Wiki): <a href="http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Comic_Series_Characters">http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Comic_Series_Characters</a>.</p>
<ol>
<li>No Chrome extension, or Android client. Open the app on an iPad, add the Walking Dead Wiki and then search for the page within Wikipanion plus.</li>
<li>You can mark the page to be saved in the client.</li>
<li>On other pages I have seen it save images, but for this page it didn't save the images (viewing it with Airplane mode showed this up.. images are gone).</li>
</ol>
<h1>Chrome to Mobile - Works!</h1>
<p>(Thanks to David for pointing this one out.)</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Fixed now (Sunday 12 January 2014, 10:54:52 AM).</strong> <em>Chrome to Mobile doesn't seem to work anymore. I installed it, but it fails to authorise against a phone, and the most recent reviews show that I am not alone: <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-to-mobile/idknbmbdnapjicclomlijcgfpikmndhd/reviews?hl=en">https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-to-mobile/idknbmbdnapjicclomlijcgfpikmndhd/reviews?hl=en</a></em></li>
<li>The <a href="https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2451559?hl=en">Chrome to Mobile extension</a> uses Chrome Cloud Print to "print" a page from your desktop to your mobile device, and it also has an option to send an offline copy.</li>
<em>When you send an offline copy, you can view your history in Chrome mobile, and if you are offline, it will present an option to view the offline version instead (because it won't load the online version).</em>
</ol>
<h1>Stock Galaxy Browser: Save for Offline Reading</h1>
<ol><li>Getting more desperate, the stock Galaxy S3 browser lets you save pages for offline reading. But <a href="http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-3/337340-safe-offline-reading.html#post3266019">I don't see that option in Samsung Galaxy Note 3</a>.</li>
<li>Found it - it works, but only saves as an image, so doesn't fit my use case</li>
<ol><li>Tap the address bar.</li>
<li>Tap the green reader icon at the beginning of the URL.</li>
<li>Tap Menu > Save as image.</li></ol></ol>
<h1>Opera Mini Browser on Android</h1>
<p>Opera Mini Browser for Android has an option to save pages for offline viewing.</p>
<p>Worked! It save my <a href="http://www.comicvine.com/profile/avenger693/lists/the-walking-dead-tv-series-characters/39542">target page</a> for offline browsing and lets me search within its contents. Doesn't exactly fit the scenario I was after, but the most important functions are there (offline access, search within page, it keeps the images).<p>
<p>Though I note that when I tried to load the <a href="http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Comic_Series_Characters">Walking Dead Wiki page of comic book characters</a>, it didn't even load all of the images.</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-21550823215476132822013-11-18T13:33:00.000+11:002013-11-18T13:33:32.124+11:00Turn of the Screw<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turn_of_the_Screw">Wikipedia</a> | <a href="http://store.thebestaudiobooks.com/the-turn-of-the-screw-by-henry-james-p134.aspx">thebestaudiobooks - read by B J Harrison</a>
<p>The Turn of the Screw, originally published in 1898, is a ghost story written by Henry James.</p>
<p>I found this story to be equal parts frustrating and interesting. Half way through I was muttering imprecations towards the governess over why she didn't outright ask the children what they saw or ask the school why the boy was expelled. Three quarters in I decided that the author was deliberately obscuring a clear understanding of what was going on, and by the end I wanted to throw my iPod out the window because I felt cheated, utterly denied any proper understanding of what the heck just happened!</p>
<p>Reading Wikipedia confirmed what I was thinking. Henry James deliberately created an ambiguous tale. I enjoyed the occasional suspense and the florid turn of phrase. I also recognised the concept of an unreliable narrator as being a colorful way to keep the reader guessing.</p>
Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-18817484404170033632013-02-24T01:38:00.000+11:002013-02-24T01:51:50.520+11:00Beware of BartrakNow that time has passed, I can write up this experience without the blood boiling so much.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bartrak.com.au/">http://www.bartrak.com.au/</a> (a Melbourne agent for <a href="http://www.aamotorhomes.com.au/">http://www.aamotorhomes.com.au</a>) in Berwick are sharks. Beware if you use them: don't go near them without a print-out verifying *everything* you ordered. And DO NOT PAY until you have seen the vehicle you will get.<br />
<br />
Our road trip holiday started out with a nightmare. bartrak.com.au Berwick outright lied to us: we booked a 6 berth automatic and when we got there, they told us they only had a 4 berth manual (we can't even drive a manual). When we complained that this isn't what we booked, the response was: can you prove it? They wouldn't refund us, or even refund us the difference between the 6 berth we paid for and the 4 berth automatic they begrudgingly made appear after two hours of fighting with them. When I rang their Sydney head office, the guy was rude and hung up on me. Since they already had our money and would not refund us, we took the 4 berth automatic.<br />
<br />
Once on the road, everything was great. We forgot our troubles and began enjoying ourselves: the motorhome itself was pretty good. The people were not.<br />
<br />
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<br />Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-20676326753434473992013-02-18T07:15:00.001+11:002013-02-18T08:35:47.828+11:00Review of Superman Earth One<p>Superman Earth One [<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Earth-One-ebook/dp/B005CRQ2XU" target="_blank" title="Superman Earth One Kindle edition on Amazon">Kindle Edition]</a></p>
<p>J. Michael Straczynski (Author), Shane Davis (Illustrator) </p>
<h2>Brilliant art, good story - could be better</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsIzGr1B-EzaSviHh5ZCCi0eCboNz693WGCruye3rLTtxZjpM83sBxX_C1IRXDiw0mFHppE8IjqPkCl7kDJyKavVMOS1zZH0OH_YmCLuLkaUPtIAaEsEfmPiKZn30vZo6sPK1/s640/blogger-image-1824426960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target=""><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsIzGr1B-EzaSviHh5ZCCi0eCboNz693WGCruye3rLTtxZjpM83sBxX_C1IRXDiw0mFHppE8IjqPkCl7kDJyKavVMOS1zZH0OH_YmCLuLkaUPtIAaEsEfmPiKZn30vZo6sPK1/s640/blogger-image-1824426960.jpg" id="blogsy-1361136877510.851" class="alignleft" alt="Cover image of Superman Earth One" width="360" height="480"></a></div>
<p>I enjoy superhero comics that are intelligent, coherent and rewarding.</p>
<p>Superman Earth One is rewarding. Clark Kent experienced a repressed childhood during which he found that he was extraordinary but could never show it. He put up with bullies and never retaliated. He comes to the big city of Metropolis, melancholy and frustrated by being unable to express who he really is and not knowing what course to take as an adult. Enter bad guys, self discovery and the reward of seeing Superman arise.</p>
<p>Clark Kent's development into Superman is coherent. The essential elements of his origin story are nothing new of course, but well told. He finds peace in being able to express himself as a superhero at last and is troubled but accepting of the need to wear a mask at all other times. I enjoyed the portrayal of Clark Kent as a character who is not afraid to look inwards (even though this was thinly veiled exposition through flashback).</p>
<p>However, the story is not as intelligent as I wanted it to be. It is too black and white. I did not find sufficient motive to explain why the bad guy acted as he did and I am not OK with accepting that his entire species would be so utterly ruthless. I want adult comics to be better than that. (Yes, I understand this is a *Superman* comic.) In addition, I did not like one particular sci-fi element in this story involving electrons: it is a minor nit-pick but I thought that element of the story could have been handled differently.</p>
<p>The artwork is great. There is superb detail, colour and expressive characterisation. The way the panels transition from scene to scene is really well done. Sometimes a panel will just focus on an expression - great artistry is required to communicate emotion in these stills and it is here.</p>
<p>The formatting of this comic is extremely well done on the iPad. Double tap and you zoom in on one panel, swipe left and right and you zoom in on the next or previous panel. This makes scene transitions *active*. At last I have seen Kindle comics do what Comixology comics do.</p>
<p>The one big flaw with the formatting is the lack of pinch to zoom - and I really wanted this. The art is so great that often after reading through a page or two as it should be read, I wanted to go back and examine the art in greater detail. I wanted to zoom and pan about to get a really good look. I think this should be added: the art is of sufficiently high definition that it would not suffer from allowing greater scrutiny.</p>
<p>In summary, the art and formatting of this comic is excellent apart from the lack of pinch to zoom; the story is rewarding and I enjoyed this introspective Clark Kent, but wanted a more intelligent motivation for the bad guy.</p>
<p>I would happily recommend this for Superman and comic fans, but don't expect the complexity of motivation you might find in Watchmen.</p>
<p>8/10<br>
</p>
<p>This review also appears on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/review/R11S06PKWFZC5Y" target="_blank" title="My review of Superman Earth One on Amazon">Amazon</a>.</p>
<p> </p><div style="text-align: right; font-size: small; clear: both;" id="blogsy_footer"><a href="http://blogsyapp.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://blogsyapp.com/images/blogsy_footer_icon.png" alt="Posted with Blogsy" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-right: 5px;" width="20" height="20" />Posted with Blogsy</a></div>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0Vermont South Vermont South-37.856281 145.169047tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-11969273423667938782012-06-24T01:39:00.001+10:002012-06-24T01:39:11.394+10:00Here is what I am pondering about the Engineers in Prometheus<br />
Please note: if your answer to any of the below is "movie magic", fair enough, point made. But what I am really interested in is any cool explanations and speculations for how it might actually work as a story, sci fi or not.<br />
<br />
Question 1 (has many parts). Did the Engineers pop along to earth 3.5 billion years ago to start all of life on earth.. or 85 million years ago to start just the primates.. or between 400,000 and 250,000 years ago to start homo sapiens?<br />
<br />
How close was the the DNA match between humans and engineers?<br />
<br />
How quickly does DNA in general change with evolution? I am wondering this because if the story is asking us to believe we are an exact DNA match with the Engineers, then there is a big puzzle regarding how we turned from crumbling Engineer who drank the black juice to a new race a) within a short enough time that our DNA stayed the same and b) how we managed to "inject" ourselves into the fossil records?<br />
<br />
I can imagine that they popped along to earth at any of the times listed above and that their tech is somehow so super smart that it could have even have triggered homo sapiens at any time in the chain - maybe it was like some sleeping function in the DNA that waited for the right conditions before working its magic?<br />
<br />
Question 2. Why did they trigger the cave paintings to be made? (And was it indeed an invitation or something else?)<br />
<br />
Question 3. Of course, the third question is the same question asked in the movie: why did they change their minds and decide to destroy us with alien black goo?<br />
<br />
My pet theory for 2 and 3 is that they were truly interested in creating life and leaving a sign to see if we could grow up enough to follow it. But then over the proceeding thousands of years, their society changed and became more aggressive, more warlike. Perhaps they suffered a terrible war? Perhaps they even had a war with another species they created? Perhaps they have been seeding the galaxy for millennia before they popped along to earth and one of their earlier creations came to fruition, found the Enigneers and started a huge war that was so bad that the Engineers got scared and decided they should destroy their other creations before the whole thing could happen again?<br />
<br />
What do you think?<br />
<br />
I posed this question <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/board/thread/200822978">on IMDB</a> too. :)Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-17992883351023472542012-06-18T02:04:00.001+10:002012-06-18T10:27:32.654+10:00Richard Pettifer is Awesome in The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. You should see him!<p>I saw Richard Pettifer perform Mike Daisey's <a href="http://agonyecstasymelbourne.blogspot.com.au/">The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs</a> at <a href="http://lamama.com.au/">La Mama</a> theatre yesterday. It is awesome. You should see it.</p>
<p>In case you don't know, Mike Daisey does <a href="http://mikedaisey.blogspot.com.au/p/monologues.html">theatrical monologues</a> that have a social conscience behind them. He did one about Steve Jobs, Apple and Foxconn (who makes devices for Apple and just about every other big tech company in the world) called <a href="http://mikedaisey.com/Mike_Daisey_TATESJ_transcript.pdf">The Agony and the Ecstacy of Steve Jobs</a>. None of the themes were new:</p>
<ul><li>Steve Jobs was brilliant but also ruthless and a lot of people found him impossible to work with (watch <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley">Pirates of Silicon Valley</a>).</li><li>Foxconn is in Shenzhen, a huge industrial city controlled by corporations where working hours and conditions make for a soulless, depressing existence for thousands of people (see <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-401234/The-stark-reality-iPods-Chinese-factories.html">The stark reality of iPod's Chinese factories</a> - August 2006).</li><li>Steve Jobs knew about these conditions and still went ahead with production of Apple hardware there (like every other big hardware manufacturer). Steve Jobs spoke about this in an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz8aU1EXkBA">interview at the 2010 D8 Conference</a> - here is a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gOu50HaEvs">three minute extract</a> where he specifically answers this question about Foxconn.</li></ul><p>The monologue is an attempt to prick our conscience: to remind us that our tech has a human cost. It is powerful stuff. It got featured on <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/mr-daisey-and-the-apple-factory">This American Life</a>, and was then retracted because they "learned that many of Mike Daisey's experiences in China were fabricated". This American Life made <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction">another episode all about the retraction</a>, and I must say that Mike Daisey's answers were not forthright enough: I think he should have said outright that this work was a fictitious account, but <strong>based on facts</strong> - and if there was a reason why he couldn't use his exact experiences in the play, he should have stated those reasons. I think that his monologue should have been entirely factual in the first place, because all the controversy has diverted attention away from the message and can only cause distrust in Mike's work amongst people who might otherwise have been open to hearing what he has to say.</p>
<p>Richard Pettifer performs the monologue and places it in the context of the controversy from This American Life. He does it very simply, by playing an extract of the <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction">retraction episode</a> before and after the monologue and wearing a t-shirt with "Liar" printed on it throughout. Richard's delivery of the monologue is intense - I saw the emotion in his eyes and it resonated with me. He told a story I certainly related to about how our lives change with technology, about loving our favourite devices, and about a sense of disillusionment that comes from knowing a few truths behind the construction of this wonderful technology. Richard's presentation was sparse, which suited the venue and allowed me to focus so much more on his delivery. The way he put the monologue within the context of this recent controversy shifted the central theme of the monologue for me in a very interesting way: knowing that Mike Daisey's account of his visit to Shenzhen was not entirely accurate, is there enough truth for us to still be concerned about conditions at Foxconn? Can a liar still be telling us the truth?</p>
<p>The venue is worth commenting on here, because La Mama's plays a very important part in any production set there. La Mama's is <em>small</em>: it only seats maybe 20 or 30 people. When you sit in the front row, you are less than two meters away from the performers. There is no anonymity here: the actors' stare hits you full in the face - they see you as well as you see them. My first time at La Mama's was to see <a href="http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/strands-186795">Strands</a> with my Dad and one of the actresses looked me in the eye when she asked a question and for precious seconds I couldn't decide if I was meant to answer aloud! The point is that the venue brings you so close to the performer that the barrier between audience and participant is very thin - they are not actors on a distant stage: they are people <em>talking directly to you</em>. After the show, the actors will join you in the little courtyard - I enjoyed a very lively conversation with Richard and my fellow audience, and we discussed at length some of the issues involved in the performance. My partner Süheyla expressed a very important consideration: this is not just an issue with Steve Jobs - it is a question about the cycle created by capitalism.</p>
<p>Thank you Richard Pettifer - it was a great performance, and I look forward to seeing what you work on next. Props to you as well for setting up the <a href="http://agonyecstasymelbourne.blogspot.com.au/">blog just for this performance</a>.</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-85011931474421829272012-06-17T22:57:00.001+10:002012-06-17T23:01:02.174+10:00iTunes Video Stuttering on Win 7 - use VLC Instead<p>About a month or two ago I noticed that video playback on iTunes (on Windows 7) was stuttering - the audio would remain in sync, but every few seconds the video would stutter or freeze for a moment. Audio files play fine. Tonight I updated to iTunes 10.6.3.25 and the problem is still occurring. I experience this issue even when iTunes is not otherwise busy doing something else, like updating an iOS device etc. I checked the drive and it has heaps of space available.</p><p>A search on the <a href="http://discussions.apple.com">Apple Community forums</a> for <a href="http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?q=itunes+video+stuttering">iTunes video stuttering</a> (or a <a href="http://www.google.com/?q=itunes%20video%20stuttering">Google search for the same thing</a>) reveals a lot of people have the same questions with no answers.</p><p>I was going to check if I needed to defrag my drive when I decided to play the very same m4v file in <a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html">VLC</a> (2.0.1) - and it plays fine! So how's that for a work-around: I won't watch Apple media files on Apple's player anymore. (Playback on my Apple TV unit also seems fine, so I have that too.)</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-1865177144985304252012-06-13T10:56:00.000+10:002012-06-13T11:15:44.957+10:00Two men who killed each other in the most honourable way possible - in prose.<p>I love the story of the relationship between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bloch#Influence_of_H.P._Lovecraft_on_early_writing_career">Robert Block</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft">H.P. Lovecraft</a>: two men who killed each other in the most honourable way possible - in prose.</p><p>From the <a href="http://blog.loa.org">Reader's Almanac</a> post, <a href="http://blog.loa.org/2010/09/what-robert-bloch-owes-to-h-p-lovecraft.html">What Robert Bloch owes to H. P. Lovecraft</a>:</p><blockquote>One of the stories Bloch wrote while Lovecraft was alive featured Lovecraft as a character, killed by a monster. Weird Tales required Bloch to get the victim's permission before publishing the story, and Lovecraft authorized Bloch "to portray, murder, annihilate, disintegrate, transfigure, metamorphose, or otherwise manhandle the undersigned in the tale entitled THE SHAMBLER FROM THE STARS." In November 1935 Lovecraft responded in kind with "The Haunter of the Dark," in which young Robert Blake (living at Bloch's actual address) is killed by an alien. He dedicated the story to Bloch.</blockquote><p>I got to searching this out by listening to <a href="http://www.drabblecast.org/2011/08/10/drabblecast-213-the-haunter-of-the-dark-by-h-p-lovecraft-poem-the-fungi-from-yuggoth/">Drabblecast 213 – The Haunter of the Dark</a>. <a href="http://www.drabblecast.org">Drabblecast</a> is about the most amazing podcast in the entire known Universe btw.</p>For the full text of the other piece featured on that Drabblecast episode, the poem <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi_from_Yuggoth">Fungi from Yuggoth</a>, see <a href="http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/poetry/p289.asp">Fungi from Yuggoth</a> on the <a href="http://www.hplovecraft.com">H.P. Lovecraft site</a>.Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-16015866410218291422012-04-21T18:37:00.001+10:002012-04-21T18:40:59.535+10:00This Easter<p>This Easter I spent an eventful and sorrowful week with friends at the Gold Coast, in a little suburb called Mermaid Beach right on the coast, with such rough waves that it was perfect for surfing. It so happens that there is a modest tower on the beach that used to be a light house some hundred and twelve years ago, but which has recently been converted into a bell tower, used for signaling the beginning and end of the local surf events. On the day of my arrival, a surfing festival was running for that week and there was a commotion around the tower. Upon questioning, I learned that a man of extremely short stature, a humped back and no arms had shown up and asked for the recently vacated job of alarm activation specialist at the tower. We all watched a demonstration of his skills: after climbing the modest, but still rather tall tower, he made a mighty leap and struck the bell with his head! The sound was clear and pure and indeed he did not seem hurt by this. For two days I would walk down the beach each morning and hear him perform his duties so admirably. But on the third day, I was passing the tower as he made his leap - and the poor fellow missed! He tumbled down some ten metres and fell to his death on the sand below. A crowd of us gathered around as the police arrived, and the sergeant asked if any among us knew his name. With tears in my eyes, I responded honestly: "no, but his face rings a bell."</p>
<p>The poor man was identified later that day and his family notified. We were all downcast, but the next morning I cannot say that I have ever been more surprised to find that, when I took my morning stroll, there was another man of extremely short stature, a humped back and no arms climbing the tower. Upon enquiring among the gathering crowd, I learned that this man was the sibling of the earlier misfortunate alarm activation specialist and, in memory of his sibling, had applied for the same position. I stood still as the man reached the top of the tower, stood facing us bravely for a short moment and leapt into space - but missed the bell! We gave out a collective gasp of shock as he too fell that same ten metres down to his death on the sand. The sergeant was once more called to the scene and in a low voice asked if anyone knew the man's name. Again with tears welling I replied "No I don't know his name, but he is a dead ringer for his brother."</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-67982796572063086372012-02-28T09:11:00.001+11:002012-02-28T09:11:57.504+11:00It was the soundIt was the sound of a cockroach slowly crawling out of my ear and across my pillow, its feet making tracks on my linen with the sticky resin of an over-drawn thought trying too hard to become a dream. It was that sound that brought me renewed wakefulness, and a strange clarity regarding the negative affects of drinking coffee at 11.30 at night. Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-44184341584197511782011-12-30T23:40:00.000+11:002012-02-27T22:26:02.643+11:00WriteRoom on iPad: Search Done Wrong<p><em>Updates.<br/>- Tuesday 3 January 2012, 02:06:50 PM: WriteRoom (on iPad) actually does have margin tapping virtual cursor keys.</em></p>
<p>I use <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/writeroom/id288751446?mt=8">WriteRoom</a> on my iPad and iPhone every day. As a straight text editor (as opposed to say a rich text editor or code editor), it is excellent. It syncs with Dropbox in the background. It has <a href="http://www.smilesoftware.com/TextExpander/touch/faq.html">TextExpander</a> support. It has a simple and functional UI that intelligently uses the iPad's larger screen real estate. Also on the iPad, it has a great strip of helper keys on top of the keyboard; this strip can be customised and includes cursor left/right by default.</p>
<p>But now that I have 20+ relatively LARGE files that I use regularly for different purposes, search is becoming more important. I am going to switch editors if <a href="http://www.hogbaysoftware.com">Hog Bay Software</a> do not get a decent search function into <a href="http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom">WriteRoom</a>.</p>
<p>Search currently does nothing except narrow down the file list to show only those files whose text includes the search term. For every day use, this is almost USELESS. Search should highlight matching terms in the <em>current file</em> and give you <strong>next/previous</strong> buttons. It should also offer you the ability to use regular expressions.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong: searching across multiple files is good - as a <em>secondary function</em>. Rarely do I need that, and if I do, it should still offer the same functionality as regular search: regex, highlight, next/previous buttons.</p>
<p>For a different view (that doesn't mention my qualms about search but does criticise handling of folders), here is an excellent review of this app: <a href="http://ipad.appstorm.net/reviews/productivity/writeroom-getting-ipad-writing-right/">WriteRoom: Getting iPad Writing Right</a> by <a href="http://ipad.appstorm.net/author/williamdeal/">William Deal</a>.</p>
<p>As a side note, I was reading <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/author/mistercharlie/">Charlie Sorrel</a>'s review of <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scribe/id464040948?mt=8">Scribe</a> (another text editor for iOS): <a href="http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/scribe-an-ipad-text-editor-with-html-markdown/">Scribe, an iPad Text Editor With HTML, Markdown</a> for the iPad on <a href="http://www.wired.com/">Wired.com</a>. Charlie mentions another cool feature that WriteRoom on iPad has - and which Scribe doesn't have. Quote: <em>a single tap in the margin to move the cursor one character at a time. It’s like virtual cursor keys, and works way better than Apple’s way to move the cursor (<strong>tap</strong>, <strong>hold</strong>, <strong>drag</strong>, <strong>pray</strong>)</em>. Cursor left/right keys are great - but this mechanism is greater still.</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-24329369496680556362011-11-30T10:17:00.001+11:002011-11-30T12:05:41.190+11:00Skyrim Déjà vu<p>I had just killed a giant frostbite spider in a dank, smelly, cobweb filled room deep underneath the long abandoned Bleak Falls Temple - long abandoned except for monsters and bandits! Panting from the effort, the tingle of spark and frostbite energy still in my fingertips, blood dripped down my right arm from a particularly bad gash. The pain was there, immense, but I was beyond it - still caught in the rush. I had killed the thing by myself; I used no weapons, just the combination of burning and freezing energy pouring from my hands. I had real power!</p>
<p>But adrenalin can only last so long when the hurly-burly is completed, and shortly the distant burning in my arm become an overbearing agony. I stumbled and half fell against a boulder nearby, gasping raggedly as my vision swam. I tried to focus, to examine the pain and gaping flesh. The wound was bad, but I could not feel the blackness of poison - it was only pain. Only pain. I forced myself to still, to relax, to breath deeply and let the pain run through me but not override me. I clenched my left fist, remembered the patterns I had learned for healing and visualised those patterns as white lines blossoming open in my left fist. The energy came, expanded to fill all the places taken by pain. I watched as the torn flesh of my arm knitted closed. I touched the skin, still wet with blood but now whole. I wiped it away with a ragged sleeve. My bloodied robe does not bother me.</p>
<p>Now that I can breathe easily again, I look at the huge corpse, and an idea comes to me. I want to try a new spell, something dangerous, something that still worries at my conscience: can I raise this corpse as a zombie? I have not tried such a thing before, and the idea seems sacrilegious. I studied the book back in town, chill creeping through me as I mouthed the words to myself. Dare I take this step? Will I have the strength to keep my honour intact, or will this be an irreversible act of depravity that damns my soul? Necromancy is dark magic; I have heard many stories of its practitioners, old before their time and twisted by unnatural desires. I do not want to be one one of those ghouls that obsesses over the realm of death.</p>
<p>No, I will not become that. I am more practical. I remember very well the spider getting close enough to rip at my flesh. I made a mistake: I let the enemy get close enough to use its formidable attack. I am no fighter, who can go toe to toe with an enemy. I need something in my way. What better something than the risen corpse of an enemy? My mother always said: "re-use, recycle."</p>
<p>So I began the spell, dark words dripping from my lips, a ball of energy forming in my clenched fist and visions of moist earth and midnight in my mind. I opened my fist. The energy shot towards the corpse. Immediately the inanimate thing began shaking, streams of blue energy circled the corpse, lifting it into the air. I took a frightened step back, but it was too late now: whatever infernal process was taking place could not be halted. The corpse turned over in mid-air. Sickeningly, the limbs of the spider un-curled, straightened. Then it came down, dead limbs taking weight once more. Multi faceted eyes stared at me, as un-readable in death as they were before. I could still smell burnt spider hair, still see the scorch marks and deep cold burns scored deep into its flesh. It swayed... waiting?</p>
<p>I took a step away - and with horror saw the thing lurch after me, it's movements essentially the same, but somewhat jerky. Mechanical almost. I took another step, then another. Like a thing tethered to my ankle it followed me. Spider bristles rubbed together making an eerie sound in the silence now that the form had no will of its own. My skin prickled with goosebumps, but the elation was in me again as I bore witness to my own power manifest.</p>
<p>The spell would only animate this corpse for a short time. I was sure that in this part of the mouldering temple, no other enemies would be present near the nest of such a creature. With no enemies to test my undead guardian, I determined to find out for myself what punishment it could take. Sparks and frost leapt from my hands again, striking the spider who just stood there. It swayed with the impact but did not resist, even as its carapace was further scorched and frozen.</p>
<p>I cannot describe the feeling of power that leapt in my veins, chords of an unearthly music deep in my soul. The thing was still standing after my short burst. I closed my eyes and grinned with the memory playing against the backs of my eyelids. And then heard it move. Shocked, I opened my eyes and watched as it lurched, and then again - towards me! Sick dread coursed through my gut. Whatever energy animates the thing and binds it to my movements, there is obviously a greater imperative. I circled away from the beast, I wondered if its animating energy would run out before my own... and readied myself to face the creature again.</p>
<p>Skyrim Déjà vu.</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-53244266163974272532011-11-09T19:17:00.001+11:002011-11-09T19:17:01.269+11:00Birthright by Rick Partlow<p> </p><p>Birthright [Kindle Edition]</p><p>Rick Partlow (Author)</p><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FMBIKY/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title">Amazon page.</a></p><p>7/10</p><p>Ripping yarn, with lots of sci-fi action: guns, fisticuffs, space combat, some huggin' 'n' kissin', intrigue and some great bad guys and better good guys! There is plenty of rumination over legitimate moral issues, but this story isn't about that. In the end all the morality amounted to was this: loyalty, family and friendship wins the day. It's escapism, but really pulled me in.</p><p>This book needs a good edit: there were plenty of spelling and grammar mistakes here that distracted me just a little bit.</p><p>What I like most about this story is all the military sci-fi, weapons and enhanced humans - some great kick-ass characters. I would like to read more of Caleb.</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-21680900487451173602011-10-21T15:14:00.001+11:002011-10-21T15:14:50.395+11:00Missed!I am walking along the street right now, headed towards the train station when from above and barely fifty centimeters in front of me comes the wet sloppy splatter of a distressingly large (pile? collection? load?) load of bird poop, white and steaming on the wet pavement. I crane my neck and see two crows staring down at me. "You missed!" I call and then move on. I swear I heard their returning cackle. "This time.."Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-82167202849924594242011-10-13T13:24:00.000+11:002011-10-13T13:24:06.448+11:00How do you decide whether to dictate, type out or hand-write a piece of writing?<p>How do you decide whether to dictate, type out or hand-write a piece of writing?</p>
<p>I have always had a minor passion for writing, and I enjoy the process of settings ideas out and slowly filling them out, trimming them down or deleting them altogether. This is easiest to do on a computer - so easy to cut, copy paste, organise, Google and re-write. Being able to touch type makes this process an almost organic extension of my consciousness.</p>
<p>Hand writing is a different sort of pleasure. I used to get lost in handwriting in a similar way, but often I felt like my thinking slows down to match my hand-writing speed. I would re-write and draw lines to indicate which bit is meant to go in between which other bits. It was hard to transcribe my writing, but fulfilling because it was a conscious editing step.</p>
<p>In the last decade, the only hand-writing I do now is writing meeting notes at work - but even then I love organising the notes as I go, and doodling! Building up small doodles to fill a page feels good too.</p>
<p>Now I have an iPad with a keyboard case that feels comfortable to use for short periods; I can almost thumb-touch type on my iPhone without looking at the keys.. I can easily spend the entire train trip home just writing out a message or blog post. And drawing apps make me feel like an artist, even though I blanch at every creation. :)</p>
<p>And then I discovered Dragon Dictation on my iPhone - and how it gets about 70% of my words correct.. mangling names but getting the bulk of it right. I find myself stopping and starting a lot - both when I type and when I dictate into my phone. But during dictation, the pauses seem more pregnant, more expectant and I find myself stressing out at being unable to immediately go back and change a word or fix up a capitalisation. I can get out short bursts a lot faster only if I am "on track".</p>
<p>And with Dragon Dictation on the phone - every time you hit "stop" you have to wait while it sends the audio up to the server for translation before giving you back the text, which I feel compelled to edit before going on. But at the same time I wouldn't like to use a recorder, because I find the process of transcribing audio to be far too odious, and lacking the potential of being a true editing step because you have to focus on just typing out what you are hearing.</p>
<p>They have such different characteristics. I love hand-writing but prefer typing.. I feel that dictation should be the fastest but can't get into the flow. Which do you find better?</p>
<p>I posted this first on <a href="http://writers.stackexchange.com">\writers.stackexchange.com</a> as <a href="http://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/4199/handwriting-vs-typing-vs-speaking">Handwriting vs typing vs speaking</a>, but I enjoyed writing it so much that I posted it here too!</p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-75730733590611268722011-09-01T09:01:00.001+10:002011-09-01T09:25:48.108+10:00Scammers watching gumtree.comRecently, I put up a few ads on <a href="http://www.gumtree.com.au/">Gumtree</a>, listing my phone number. The first three responses I got were SMSs from scammers that included a short message that didn't reference any particular item. Being new to Gumtree and not having received any other response, I was suspicious but willing to at least reply and find out for sure. Well, now I am sure. I am showing these messages here so you can be sure too.<br /><br />SMS text: <em class="em rangy_1">Is the price of your funiture ad on gumtree.au negotiable ? please email me at peterson191live.com</em>.<br />Naïvely, I responded via email with a list of URLs for all of my postings. the response is below.<br /><br /><em>Thanks for the response,i will take the hotpoint conditional and refrigerator for $800 including PayPal surcharges since i am interested in the immediate purchase.I just moved to the United Kingdom,where this is needed and i will be making use of a shipping company to have this picked up from you .Further arrangements will be made with you in regards to the pick up once i have paid you.I would appreciate if you email me with more pictures (if available) too since i won't be be able to see this in person,what's the PayPal email to send funds to in order for me to pay you ASAP.</em><br /><em>Thanks</em><br /><em>Chris</em><br /><br />The next SMS was even more abrupt: <em>kleverhjay@hotmail.com condition of your posted items please</em>. I responded via email with: <em>Please specify what items you are interested in. Thanks.</em> The response is below.<br /><br /><em>Thanks for the swift response...I am willing to know the lowest price<br />of it.due to the nature of my job and location...i will not be able to<br />come for inspection,am a very busy type as i work long hours<br />everyday,i have gone through your advertisement and i am satisfied<br />with it.<br />As for the payment..i will be paying you via the fastest and secure<br />way to pay online(PayPal).<br />I have a private courier agent that will come for the pick up after<br />the payment have been made ...so no shipping included.<br />You can now send me your PayPal email so i can pay in right away and<br />also include your address in your reply.If you don't have a paypal<br />account, you can easily set up one...log on to www.paypal.com.au and<br />sign up. its very easy.I await your reply asap</em><br /><br />I have had a couple of others since, but I think they all share a couple of key factors to make them recognisable. Broken English and obvious lack of written communication skills is a good sign, but not definitive. A stronger sign is that they don't reference a particular item by name, since the email is probably generic and sent to as many targets without modification as they can reach. The best sign is an offer to buy without inspection. How this all works as a scam is beyond me: perhaps they would eventually ask for a bank account number.<br /><br />Gumtree has a FAQ section that is worth paying close attention to: <a href="http://gumtreehelp.com/au/knowledgebase.php?article=26">How do I stay safe while using Gumtree?</a> To me, the most important key points are:<br /><ul><li>Meet in-person to see the item and exchange money.</li><li>If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.</li></ul><br /><br />Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19331652.post-18958314749026293982011-08-29T08:42:00.002+10:002011-08-29T13:16:30.487+10:00People around me on the trainPeople around me on the train. A woman reads a chemistry paper, printed copy. A man reads from an Android phone. Two men looking at iPhones with earphones in their ears. Another man reads a Kindle book on an iPad 2. A woman scrolls through happy weekend photos on her iPhone. A man with a big pair of headphones on and cool shades bops his head while scrolling something on an Android phone. Another man two finger iPhone types descriptions of people be sees around him on the train. <br />
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<p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=St%20Kilda%20Rd,Southbank,Australia%40-37.822368%2C144.969309&z=10'>St Kilda Rd,Southbank,Australia</a></p>Robert Mark Bramhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992070434006567093noreply@blogger.com0