Ryan O'Shea // Blog

Ryan O'Shea // Blog http://post.ryanoshea.com Most recent posts at Ryan O'Shea // Blog posterous.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/http://post.ryanoshea.com/http://ryanoshea.com/new-design/images/logo-avatar.pngRyan O'Shea's Logo Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:44:07 -0800 Notes from the Ether http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/wvEA6UoSk0Q/notes-from-the-ether http://post.ryanoshea.com/notes-from-the-ether <p> Here I sit, holding a computer more powerful than that which put humanity on the Moon, interacting instantaneously with a person miles away, reading a play written four centuries before my birth on a screen invented a decade after. <br />I love being human. </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/notes-from-the-ether">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/notes-from-the-ether#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=wvEA6UoSk0Q:bo6C-BRwThU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/wvEA6UoSk0Q" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/notes-from-the-ether Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:16:00 -0800 The World Wide War http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/Lhac6NsrgbI/sopa-pipa-editorial http://post.ryanoshea.com/sopa-pipa-editorial <p> <p>On January 18, 2012, the world awoke to an unprecedented online protest. Dozens of the most widely-used websites, including Wikipedia, Google, Mozilla, Tumblr, Craigslist, Reddit, and Wired Magazine, had “blacked out” to show their joint opposition to two anti-piracy laws that threatened to bring authoritarian censorship to the American Internet. The demonstration did not go unnoticed, forcing mainstream media outlets to cover a story they had attempted to avoid for months and galvanizing once-weak resistance to the bills in Congress.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-30/dIGCfxCwwIxgqIklkCBzDJACHqdfjndIvHtepaDsBpxDGaejsBjfnCAuJAga/6725665801_cf74c4831e_b.jpg"><img alt="6725665801_cf74c4831e_b" height="375.0" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-30/dIGCfxCwwIxgqIklkCBzDJACHqdfjndIvHtepaDsBpxDGaejsBjfnCAuJAga/6725665801_cf74c4831e_b.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> <span style="font-size: x-small;">A protest in New York City drew a number of supporters, including this woman, who demonstrated her frustration with Congress' lackadaisical approach regarding Internet legislation. (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/amatuerphotographer/6725665801/">Andrew Dallos</a>)</span></p> <p>The protest came just before a vote on two controversial pieces of legislation in the United States Congress. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) are two nearly identical versions of the same proposed law, in the House and Senate, respectively. The bills, sponsored almost entirely by proponents of the entertainment industry, aim to prevent copyright infringement by targeting foreign-based websites dedicated to piracy and the sale of counterfeit goods. The problem has perturbed the industry for years, as these sites are outside of the jurisdiction of United States law enforcement. The motive of the bills is honorable enough, but the sweeping new powers they grant the government to combat these websites and the ambiguous language used to describe these powers set a vastly dangerous precedent—one disturbing enough to incite opposition from some of the most influential Internet companies in the world.</p> <p>The problem with the bills is, of course, in the execution of the stated goals. These new laws would target rogue websites in four ways. The first involves forcing all American Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to redirect all users who try to access a site accused of infringement, effectively blocking Americans from accessing the site. The second step involves forcing money transfer systems like PayPal to cease all payments to the business operating the website. It also requires all advertising networks to halt the display of advertisements on the maligned website. The third strategy would command all American content aggregators—including Google, Yahoo, message boards, and virtually every other website—to censor out all links to the website in question. The final proposal would heighten penalties for certain forms of online copyright infringement, up to five years in prison. To put that into perspective, a person convicted of posting a Michael Jackson song to YouTube would have to serve a year in prison longer <em>than the doctor who killed Michael Jackson</em>.</p> <p>Contrary to the fundamental judicial values of this country, these new bills exercise a “shoot first; ask questions later” methodology. Through the four steps mentioned above, the government would have the power to obliterate the business of any website targeted. But the underlying problem is that it <em>assumes the guilt</em> of these foreign websites first, punishes them severely—and most likely fatally, and only then is it up to the site itself to <em>prove innocence</em>. If a site is wrongly accused and is subjected to SOPA/PIPA’s wrath, it can challenge the ruling, <em>but it cannot sue the company that requested it be censored</em>. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and all the other intellectual property organizations lobbying for these bills would be allowed to exercise draconian vigilante justice over the Internet without the slightest risk of accountability.</p> <p>This aspect of the bills is dangerous enough, for the first time imposing censorship over the Internet in the United States and erecting an American counterpart to China’s infamous “Great Firewall.” Even ignoring the enormous threat to free speech posed by SOPA and PIPA, the ambiguity of the provisions of the legislation reveals that their potential targets go far beyond the “rogue” foreign sites it claims to defend against. Section 103 of SOPA describes an infringing website as one that presents itself as “offering goods or services in a manner that engages in, <em>enables, or facilitates</em>” copyright infringement, sale of counterfeit goods, etc. Because of the vagueness of this language, any American-operated website could fall under the jurisdiction of this legislation. If Google happens to return a search result that links to a website that engages in piracy, Google could be considered “facilitating” piracy and thus fall under the full weight of SOPA. That means theoretically, any American site could be fully censored, have its funding cut, and lose all revenues just because a user posted a shady link in a comment.</p> <p>Another part of the same section of SOPA actually makes illegal the act of even attempting to make it difficult for law enforcement to determine whether or not a site is in violation of copyright. As Salman Khan of the now-renowned Khan Academy pointed out in his video breakdown of the legislation, the real-world analogy of this provision would make it a crime to close one’s own door, because closing a door helps conceal what might be illegal activity; <em>even if no such activity is occuring, it would still be a crime</em>. A completely legitimate site could be punished for simply taking actions to avoid the appearance that it had been functioning illegally. It is mind-boggling that a piece of legislation could be written with such recklessness.</p> <p>These massive loopholes, obviously, undermine the entire framework of the Internet, which relies on the fact that websites are not fully responsible for the actions of their users. No site with user-generated content, like YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook, Google, or Flickr can operate without this protection afforded by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998. Yet, this is exactly what the bill’s supporters, namely the RIAA, MPAA, and other proponents of the entertainment industry, want. They are so focused on ending piracy that sacrificing liberty in the process seems to them completely worthwhile. Keep in mind that these are the same organizations that supported making the VCR and cassette tapes illegal.</p> <p>SOPA and PIPA have drawn opposition from across the technology industry and from growing numbers of ordinary citizens. Countless open letters have been authored to Congress, including one from the CEOs of the fourteen largest Internet companies, one from a consortium of Internet engineers pointing out the vast security concerns the censorship would produce, and one from a group of prominent musicians who realized the bills’ dangers. Even the Obama administration has come out against the bills in their current form. The January 18 “blackout” protest was merely the culmination of months of outrage expressed on the Internet from companies and people alike. It was significant, though, because it drew attention to the issue, something that had not been done effectively beforehand—<em>after all, who owns the news media?</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile4.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-30/lynawewmqFddEJBoitmHxsFqbqvCnqdpfjqtgayjsFnkBwepwAwFqgeykgll/sopa-opera-count.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Sopa-opera-count" height="625" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-30/lynawewmqFddEJBoitmHxsFqbqvCnqdpfjqtgayjsFnkBwepwAwFqgeykgll/sopa-opera-count.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> </em><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<a href="https://www.propublica.org/nerds/item/sopa-opera-update">ProPublica</a>)</span></p> <p>For now, at least, it seems a victory may have been won by the bills’ opponents. Unfortunately, even if these two bills are stopped, it will only be a matter of time before the same provisions are slipped into another bill without the same widespread opposition. After all, PIPA was a rehash of a defeated 2010 bill called COICA. Hopefully, however, representatives and senators across the country will have learned from this event and will scrutinize future attempts at Internet censorship more closely.</p> <p>There is no question that the illegal acquisition of copyrighted material is a problem that needs to be faced. But it would be pleasant to see the entertainment industry at least consider the possibility that declining sales might just be because of deteriorating product quality or outdated business models, not the lack of draconian anti-piracy laws that threaten to undermine one of the nation’s few growing economic sectors.</p> <p><em>The scheduled January votes on SOPA and PIPA were called off in the wake of the protest, and the legislation has been put on hold until a suitable compromise can be reached among all parties involved. Similar legislation, however, has appeared in countries throughout the world, including C-11 in Canada and an international treaty, ACTA, secretly signed by the US and 30 other countries, revealed by Wikileaks.<br /></em></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/sopa-pipa-editorial">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/sopa-pipa-editorial#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=Lhac6NsrgbI:tfupj5ANfwg:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/Lhac6NsrgbI" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/sopa-pipa-editorial Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:59:00 -0800 The Protest Against Censorship http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/u04JNRpTF3k/the-protest-against-censorship http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-protest-against-censorship <p> <p>Dozens of the world's foremost websites went down voluntarily today to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the PROTECTIP Act in the Senate (SOPA and PIPA). I won't go into the details of why they are bad (that's on the way), but if you don't know, here's a short and informative video that explains why.</p> <p><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/31100268?byline=0&portrait=0" frameborder="0" height="281" width="500"></iframe></p> <p>Essentially, this whole argument boils down to the entertainment industry trying to neuter the greatest innovation in human history since the invention of language, just because their hundred-year-old business model isn't quite profitable enough <em>(I mean, besides the obscenely rich Hollywood stars, the movie industry really is in trouble!!)</em>. Granted, I have <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/why-piracy-isnt-stealing-but-is-still-wrong">sympathy for people who work in the entertainment industry</a>, but their decades-long war on piracy is just ridiculously overblown.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile7.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-18/ExECeuwCoIzayifpIiaibBEhvsypubvIoEFxDJodIAlGdFaiBcdAqEtfFkFt/1922457_700b.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="1922457_700b" height="779" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-18/ExECeuwCoIzayifpIiaibBEhvsypubvIoEFxDJodIAlGdFaiBcdAqEtfFkFt/1922457_700b.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>The protest across the web today, called <strong>Blackout SOPA</strong>, is really inspiring. It's a powerful example of how forward-thinking companies and communities can band together across the immensely powerful platform that is the Internet and stand up to something truly harmful. It's been remarkably successful, and hopefully it will strengthen our nation's defenses against rogue legislation like SOPA and PIPA.</p> <p><strong>This is the future of protest.</strong></p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-18/ocuvvmqiqdyxubtlrfrzhzazuinqiHrFngdxjjChkAHxalygdedcpidsekpy/en.wikipedia.org_screen_capture_2012-1-18-6-28-36.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="En" height="333" src="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-18/ocuvvmqiqdyxubtlrfrzhzazuinqiHrFngdxjjChkAHxalygdedcpidsekpy/en.wikipedia.org_screen_capture_2012-1-18-6-28-36.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-18/DszqikgJuaGyBuHmIjwGIqsrEfJbbJnfurnImBEJtHsrmBqjpBzhzGuFdiqc/www.google.com_screen_capture_2012-1-18-6-28-2.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Www" height="338" 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O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-protest-against-censorship Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:47:02 -0800 Kindle Touch Review http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/8im43OSfgm0/kindle-touch-review http://post.ryanoshea.com/kindle-touch-review <p> <p>Over the holidays, I was given a <strong>Kindle Touch</strong>, something I've wanted for a while now. I've never been a big reader, but this little device might just change that. In the week or so that I've had it, it's managed to turn my attention away from the online articles I normally devour and towards books. And as a kid that grew up with somewhat less than an affinity for reading, the convenience and addictiveness of this Kindle are definitely worth praising.</p> <p><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/whitney/dp/KW-slate-05-lg._V166788135_.jpg" alt="" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Design + Hardware<br /></strong></span></p> <p><img src="http://img857.imageshack.us/img857/4804/kwslate02lgv166950133.png" alt="" style="float: right; padding: 0 0 0 20px;" width="250" /> <img src="http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/4336/kwslate04lgv166788375.png" alt="" style="float: right; clear: right; padding: 0 0 20px 20px;" width="250" /></p> <p>Because it's a touchscreen device, the Kindle Touch can do away with all but one hardware button, leaving behind a beautiful piece of hardware. The body is 6.8" x 4.7" x 0.40". It's very thin—only a centimeter at the thickest, and it tapers off towards the edges. It weighs 7.5 ounces. The screen is an 6" e-ink display with 600x800 resolution (that's 167 ppi, for those of you not interested in deploying the Pythagorean Theorem for yourself). The screen is capable of displaying 16 levels of grayscale.</p> <p>The ports on the bottom include USB micro-B (note that this isn't your standard "tiny" USB connector, so you probably don't have one, but Amazon provides one), headphone jack, and power button. A home button is on the bottom of the front of the Kindle, and other than those, it's bare. The build feels very strong, and definitely not cheap. This is a solid device.</p> <p>Wi-Fi is built in, and 3G is an option (a one-time payment, without a contract, provided for life by Amazon over Sprint's network).</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Performance + Reading Experience</strong></span></p> <p>If there's one area that sets the Kindle above all its competitors, it's where it matters most—reading. The thing that struck me most after a week of reading on the Kindle was how comfortable it was. From reading distance, the text looks sharp on the relatively low-res screen. You can easily see pixels if you look closely, but in practice, the letters look crisp and smooth. The 16 levels of grayscale are enough to make photos look real, not printed. In fact, the only times when the stuff on the Kindle's screen looks bad is when looking at too-small cover art.</p> <p>The body text in ebooks on the Kindle is set in <a href="http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/pmn-caecilia/">Caecilia</a>, a professional font from Linotype. In the time I've been reading, I've found it remarkably legible. It makes it really easy to let your eyes fly over the words in books. I'm really impressed.</p> <p>Thankfully, if the default layout isn't quite right, it can be customized. You can adjust the line spacing, font size, column width, and switch the font to a condensed version of Caecilia or over to sans-serif Helvetica. I'm normally the first person to adjust text settings to my liking, but after trying a bunch of different configurations, I've found that Amazon's default settings are actually the best for me.<div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/BqevlrBDHJJyzmDckBpyvbkkooBIjBhFgEvwgmtCnwxbmrChnCouueEaaehk/kindle_touch_13-522x522.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Kindle_touch_13-522x522" height="500" src="http://getfile2.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/BqevlrBDHJJyzmDckBpyvbkkooBIjBhFgEvwgmtCnwxbmrChnCouueEaaehk/kindle_touch_13-522x522.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/bcICCgzEinoesdnnxtEzErcIxcHqlpnbkepqkGsbIpGyzkzIpHzjwBmnoJji/IMG_0015.JPG.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0015" height="500" src="http://getfile2.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/bcICCgzEinoesdnnxtEzErcIxcHqlpnbkepqkGsbIpGyzkzIpHzjwBmnoJji/IMG_0015.JPG.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/DevcqguzuJicjrCDnefqumotBcwxuwDocEHyuJGhyzmDnmzvoFBmJBhBBhsj/kindle_touch_7-522x522.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Kindle_touch_7-522x522" height="500" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/DevcqguzuJicjrCDnefqumotBcwxuwDocEHyuJGhyzmDnmzvoFBmJBhBBhsj/kindle_touch_7-522x522.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/ovsgiiJwwsDlgHovGntDDqbvtzECwGbnieptlJwClekglrmoIkcuhAsiGdvh/kindle_touch_8-522x522.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Kindle_touch_8-522x522" height="500" src="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/ovsgiiJwwsDlgHovGntDDqbvtzECwGbnieptlJwClekglrmoIkcuhAsiGdvh/kindle_touch_8-522x522.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/oAcbnsCxJIhcapijcaHvBADdxCHBsjobhtqIwoobzkicoHJqpnzJcsvdHceH/kindle_touch_15-522x522.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Kindle_touch_15-522x522" height="500" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/oAcbnsCxJIhcapijcaHvBADdxCHBsjobhtqIwoobzkicoHJqpnzJcsvdHceH/kindle_touch_15-522x522.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/kindle-touch-review">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> <p>Because it's an e-ink display, animation just doesn't work as well as an LCD display. For large changes to the screen, it will flash all black for a few milliseconds before displaying the new picture. Animations have black trails preceding and following them, so there (obviously) isn't much video viewing to be done on the Kindle. This new Kindle generation, however, does not require a full page refresh when turning pages, so the reading experience is much smoother, now that we don't have to be interrupted by flashes of black.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Features</strong></span></p> <p>The Kindle includes highlighting, notes, in-book dictionaries, and a new contextual feature called X-Ray on some ebooks purchased from Amazon. Also included are text-to-speech, audiobook and mp3 playback, and a web browser. It's not quite apparent if the browser includes flash (it seems to work on some sites and not others), but the screen limits its use. The browser is also somewhat crippled by its lack of support for multiple tabs or windows.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/dhDhplxCyvahpeEatrDkkbnIuJABlIIBDHejCemggkemhzhHIvynhqJqjFdC/kindle-touch2011-03-0506-11-12review-800.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Kindle-touch2011-03-0506-11-12review-800" height="333" src="http://getfile5.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/dhDhplxCyvahpeEatrDkkbnIuJABlIIBDHejCemggkemhzhHIvynhqJqjFdC/kindle-touch2011-03-0506-11-12review-800.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/mhFduCFBiAhhwCkzAfffzHnEjsCmJvtnyEtbgojoisIGclvnqozyxuDHbBaD/kindle-touch2011-03-0506-08-19review-800.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Kindle-touch2011-03-0506-08-19review-800" height="333" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/mhFduCFBiAhhwCkzAfffzHnEjsCmJvtnyEtbgojoisIGclvnqozyxuDHbBaD/kindle-touch2011-03-0506-08-19review-800.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/esffeFGmcpdhehbAJrwbGpteawuBdAunqvHswjnbInvpDzmxdAtCnFcADtbz/kindle-touch2011-03-0506-07-09review-800.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Kindle-touch2011-03-0506-07-09review-800" height="333" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-30/esffeFGmcpdhehbAJrwbGpteawuBdAunqvHswjnbInvpDzmxdAtCnFcADtbz/kindle-touch2011-03-0506-07-09review-800.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/kindle-touch-review">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> </p> <p>The battery takes about 4 hours to charge fully, but it lasts seemingly forever after that. Amazon rates it for 2 months with wireless off, or 6 weeks with wireless enabled. The screen is multi-touch, which is great for zooming on webpages. About 3GB of internal storage is available for user content (out of 4GB internal memory).</p> <p>Unless you paid extra, the Kindle includes ads, displayed on the home screen and when the device is powered off. <em>Ads are never displayed during reading</em>, a very considerate feature from Amazon. They are not very intrusive, and often include codes to redeem free Amazon store credit, so paying to remove them seems to me a waste of money.</p> <p>The Kindle Touch supports the following formats:</p> <ul> <li>Kindle (AZW)</li> <li>MOBI (unprotected)</li> <li>TXT</li> <li>PDF</li> <li>Audible (Audible Enhanced(AA,AAX))</li> <li>MP3</li> <li>PRC</li> <li>HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP supported through conversion<em></em></li> </ul> <p><em>MOBI is the big one here for transferring your own ebooks. </em>The Kindle does not support ePub, but conversion from ePub to MOBI is trivial. </p> <p>Ebooks not purchased through the Kindle store must be manually transferred to the device, and are not synced between devices by Amazon. Only books bought from Amazon are synchronized in this way, but Amazon will keep track of your reading place in non-Amazon books. If you don't have multiple Kindles (or third-party ebooks), this isn't a problem. Purchased books are transferred to the device wirelessly, over Wi-Fi or 3G, depending on your Kindle.</p> <p>The interface of the device is clean, simple, and very easy to use. The only complaint I have is that deleting archived items seems impossible. Web browsing, too, is very sub-par, but that's to be expected from an e-ink device. It's marked as "experimental" for good reason.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Verdict</strong></span></p> <p><strong>If you're in the market for an e-reader, the Kindle Touch is almost definitely your best bet.</strong> For only $99, this new Kindle combines the fantastic reading experience of its predecessors with solid hardware and ease of use that has been greatly enhanced by the touchscreen. It's absolutely worth the extra $20 to upgrade from the non-touch version.</p> <p>For what it was intended—that is, reading books—the Kindle Touch is phenomenal. Other media (magazines, newspapers, websites) don't work as well in this form factor, but there's absolutely no better way to read a book than this new Kindle.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Score: </strong><span class="Unicode">★</span><span class="Unicode">★</span><span class="Unicode">★</span><span class="Unicode">★</span><span class="Unicode">★</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Images: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Touch-e-Reader-Touch-Screen-Wi-Fi-Special-Offers/dp/B005890G8Y/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://ebookfriendly.com/2011/11/28/kindle-touch-just-pictures/">Ebook Friendly</a>, <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/kindle-touch-review/">Engadget</a>, and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6601644923/in/photostream">me</a>. (Fair Use)</span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/kindle-touch-review">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/kindle-touch-review#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=8im43OSfgm0:fZv-gAEc0ik:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/8im43OSfgm0" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/kindle-touch-review Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:12:00 -0800 The Best of 2011 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/KJFEqrVBvJI/best-of-2011 http://post.ryanoshea.com/best-of-2011 <p> <p>[Insert generic statement about how I can't believe 2011 is over already.]</p> <p>I felt like making a list of my favorite everything from this year. So here it is.</p> <p><img src="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/iFuibFcCDytIkacbdoJBFefktEllcjnJJIshmlqjltAkFemmwoJlHvyooGqa/1322194937174.jpg.scaled1000.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Film</strong></span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/"><strong><em><br />The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>Directed by David Fincher. Starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgård, and Christopher Plummer. Scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.</p> <p>This movie had a plot that grabbed hold and wouldn't let go, no matter how hard you tried to escape the gruesome portrayals of the rapes and murders in Stieg Larsson's awesome novel. The acting was simply amazing, and the soundtrack lent more to this film than any I've seen. Go see it. Seriously. Just don't bring the kids.</p> <p>Runner Up: <em>Harry Potter 7.2</em></p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="https://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/albums/17014/cover-homepage_large.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Album</strong></span><a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15881-hurry-up-were-dreaming/?utm_campaign=search&utm_medium=site&utm_source=search-ac"><strong><em><br />Hurry Up, We're Dreaming</em> - M83</strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>Anthony Gonzales's latest album is exactly how he described it: "very, very epic." And there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all.</p> <p>Runner Up: <em>Wasting Light</em> - Foo Fighters</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://www.coolinfographics.com/storage/Flipboard%20App%20Icon.png" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Mobile App</strong></span><a href="http://flipboard.com/"><strong><em><br />Flipboard</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>Flipboard's iPhone app combines beautiful design, great UX, and customized content in a package that's a joy to use. It's without a doubt the best way to read articles on the iPhone. The only downside is that it's only on mobile.</p> <p>Runner Up: Instagram</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/files/2009/08/spotify-logo.png" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>App</strong></span><a href="http://spotify.com/"><strong><em><br />Spotify</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>This music client is without a doubt one of the best desktop programs the world has seen in years. It's the kind of thing that you wish you could afford the premium version of. It's awesome to finally have it in the USA.</p> <p>Runner Up: <em>Firefox 4.0 and up</em></p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://nhne-pulse.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/if-corporations-are-people.jpeg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Activism</strong></span><a href="http://occupywallst.org/"><strong><em><br />Occupy Wall Street</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>You may disagree with their methods, but there is no denying that the Occupy movement completely swung the national discussion away from an unproductive deficit debate and towards a recognition of the growing financial inequality in America. It was one of the most influential and positive things to happen this year.</p> <p>Runner Up: <em>the Russian quasi-revolution<br /></em></p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://www.blooddirtandangels.com/wp-content/uploads/ao_blood/2011/09/Arguably-Essays-by-Christopher-Hitchens.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Book</strong></span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/books/review/arguably-essays-by-christopher-hitchens-book-review.html"><strong><em><br />Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>The late debater was almost certainly the most persuasive and intelligent speakers of our time. Listening to him speak, even if he disagreed with you, was a pleasure. This series of essays by Hitchens is almost 900 pages of genius, and an awesome way to remember one of Britain's best. Not to mention, it's nice to see him writing about something other than atheism again.</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/xpz7p.png" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Website</strong></span><a href="https://plus.google.com/"><strong><em><br />Google+</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>The fate of Google's social network has yet to be decided, but it did bring a new spin to online socializing—one that even Facebook tried to emulate.</p> <p>Runner Up: HTML5 Boilerplate</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/best-of-2011">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/best-of-2011#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=KJFEqrVBvJI:W-W5Ku8QE2s:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/KJFEqrVBvJI" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/best-of-2011 Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:12:43 -0800 Grandma Got Indefinitely Detained Now ♫ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/p3OjJCqc8mM/grandma-got-indefinitely-detained http://post.ryanoshea.com/grandma-got-indefinitely-detained <p> <p>As ridiculous as this sounds, every word of it is possible, thanks to the wonderful new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act_for_Fiscal_Year_2012">NDAA</a>.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ek1uqrwLmQk?hd=1" frameborder="0" height="284" width="500"></iframe></p> <p><em>The United States Congress: destroying your freedoms, one right at a time.</em></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/grandma-got-indefinitely-detained">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/grandma-got-indefinitely-detained#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=p3OjJCqc8mM:-rmkFFXIz9Q:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/p3OjJCqc8mM" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/grandma-got-indefinitely-detained Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:07:36 -0800 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/l2EpymwsovE/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo <p> <p>David Fincher's adaptation of Steig Larsson's <em>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</em> hits theatres tomorrow. It is the first part in Columbia Pictures' three-film franchise based on Larsson's wildly popular <em>The Millenium Series</em>. Dragon Tattoo already has one film adaptation under its belt, a Swedish film of the same name released in 2009.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/iFuibFcCDytIkacbdoJBFefktEllcjnJJIshmlqjltAkFemmwoJlHvyooGqa/1322194937174.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="1322194937174" height="747" src="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/iFuibFcCDytIkacbdoJBFefktEllcjnJJIshmlqjltAkFemmwoJlHvyooGqa/1322194937174.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>The new American version stars Rooney Mara (<em>The Social Network</em>) as Lisbeth Salander, Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger, Stellan Skarsgård as Martin Vanger, and Robin Wright as Erika Berger. It is directed, of course, by David Fincher (<em>The Social Network</em>, <em>Fight Club</em>, <em>Se7en</em>), and is scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who also wrote the soundtrack to <em>The Social Network</em>.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/DxzoHyJliAafwatArcqlodCFomnGocnthrJsdoybJtrCuHggJfllgjzDnscq/1322196729576.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="1322196729576" height="231" src="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/DxzoHyJliAafwatArcqlodCFomnGocnthrJsdoybJtrCuHggJfllgjzDnscq/1322196729576.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile5.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/rEcvHlbrBviCtxqIfpxspCqIcdqdiEnjJqaexfbgueDxunEwJhgezEqBfJck/1322194297583.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="1322194297583" height="332" src="http://getfile4.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/rEcvHlbrBviCtxqIfpxspCqIcdqdiEnjJqaexfbgueDxunEwJhgezEqBfJck/1322194297583.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile7.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/yFDIBIiGqFIiCjgtIFpqifJjIJoJyxhHgCnbgdgradJftDDaCpClcsqtiIuq/1322194498344.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="1322194498344" height="333" src="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/yFDIBIiGqFIiCjgtIFpqifJjIJoJyxhHgCnbgdgradJftDDaCpClcsqtiIuq/1322194498344.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/vngeEHwaakJDhsahmcqzymAongiHrjBfpkjhHcfanblsxCxlHGdluhhIohfu/1322197155742.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="1322197155742" height="267" src="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/vngeEHwaakJDhsahmcqzymAongiHrjBfpkjhHcfanblsxCxlHGdluhhIohfu/1322197155742.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <a href="http://getfile2.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/lvJmuyzfkIBDgwpcGoglfJdGnGJveInhuzjhgnpHeJfzpwzznvdqcEttehef/1322252914547.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="1322252914547" height="316" src="http://getfile5.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-20/lvJmuyzfkIBDgwpcGoglfJdGnGJveInhuzjhgnpHeJfzpwzznvdqcEttehef/1322252914547.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> <div class='p_see_full_gallery'><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo">See the full gallery on Posterous</a></div> </div> I'm incredibly excited to see this movie, and from the looks of the Internet over the last few weeks, so are a lot of people. The hype for it has been extraordinary, and has only been enhanced by the alternate reality game leading up to the release. So, I've compiled a list of some of the best pieces about the film I've found.</p> <p><img src="http://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/gallery/dragon-tattoo/dragonttat11.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><strong><em><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/12/finchers-dragon-tattoo-what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl/">What It Feels Like for a Girl</a></span></em></strong></p> <p>A "beautifully written"—to quote Reznor—piece on the importance of Mara's role in the film.</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://film-book.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-empire-magazine-november-2011-exclusive-cover-01-768x1024.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://film-book.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-empire-magazine-november-2011-photos-article/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-empire-magazine-november-2011-photos-article"><strong><em>Chasing the Dragon</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>Empire Magazine's cover story.</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://img2-3.timeinc.net/ew/i/2011/08/10/Girl-Dragon-Tattoo_320.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20483133_20518628,00.html"><strong>Entertainment Weekly Review:<em> The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo</em></strong></a></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girl-dragon-tattoo-trent-reznor-david-fincher-273062"><strong><em> </em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>A fairly standard summary and review of <em>Dragon Tattoo</em> from Entertainment Weekly.</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/70A1H.png" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12037"><strong>Cast Interview on <em>Charlie Rose</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>An hour-long chat with Fincher, Craig, Mara, Skarsgård, Plummer, and Wright. (Contains some spoilers)</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p><img src="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2011/12/trent_reznor_headscratch_a_p.jpg" alt="" style="float: left; padding: 20px 20px 20px 0;" width="200" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 20px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/girl-dragon-tattoo-trent-reznor-david-fincher-273062"><strong><em>Darkness Audible</em></strong><br /></a></span></p> <p>The Hollywood Reporter's article about the soundtrack and Trent Reznor's career as a whole. A great read for Reznor fans.</p> <p style="clear: left;"> </p> <p style="clear: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Links </span></strong></p> <ul style=""> <li><a href="http://dragontattoo.com">The Girl With the Dragin Tattoo</a></li> <li><a href="http://mouth-taped-shut.com/">Mouth Taped Shut</a></li> <li><a href="http://whatishiddeninsnow.com">What is Hidden in Snow</a></li> <li><a href="http://comesforthinthethaw.com">Comes Forth in the Thaw</a></li> <li><a href="http://nullco.com/GDT">GDT Soundtrack</a></li> </ul> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=l2EpymwsovE:SOI-0Z_OrSI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/l2EpymwsovE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:59:00 -0800 Mozilla & Google Sign New Agreement for Default Search in Firefox http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/e_eLzIz0eAE/mozilla-google-sign-new-agreement-for-default http://post.ryanoshea.com/mozilla-google-sign-new-agreement-for-default <p> <p>It's still a tad <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/can-firefox-survive">unsettling</a> that Mozilla's main competitor controls their fate, but for the next three years, at least, Mozilla is financially safe. Definitely good news.</p> <p>The press release from Mozilla:</p> <blockquote> <p>We’re pleased to announce that we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google. This new agreement extends our long term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years.</p> <p>“Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla.</p> <p>“Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come,” said Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Search, Google.</p> <p>The specific terms of this commercial agreement are subject to traditional confidentiality requirements, and we’re not at liberty to disclose them.</p> </blockquote> <p>via <a href="https://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/12/20/mozilla-and-google-sign-new-agreement-for-default-search-in-firefox/">Mozilla</a></p> <p><strong>Update:</strong> Some details of the new agreement <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20111222/google-will-pay-mozilla-almost-300m-per-year-in-search-deal-besting-microsoft-and-yahoo/">have been released</a>, and it seems Mozilla was able to secure a payment three times greater than the previous contract. Google will now pay Mozilla $300 million per year to remain the default search provider in Firefox. It seems the thought of Microsoft hijacking one quarter of the web's search traffic was enough to scare Google into paying more than ever. It's a win for both companies—Google has enough money that the price increase won't matter, and Mozilla will now have almost triple the annual budget. The new deal lasts, like the one before it, for three years.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/mozilla-google-sign-new-agreement-for-default">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/mozilla-google-sign-new-agreement-for-default#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=e_eLzIz0eAE:Gey5hYB8Uzk:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/e_eLzIz0eAE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/mozilla-google-sign-new-agreement-for-default Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:30:03 -0800 The Devon Dialogue | 2011–12, Issue 2 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/tLkSaVSeRlQ/the-devon-dialogue-201112-issue-2 http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-devon-dialogue-201112-issue-2 <p> <p>Here's Issue 2 of <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/tag/devondialogue">my school's newspaper</a>. On the last page is <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/americas-perestroika-mikhail-gorbachev-at-laf">my article</a> on Mikhail Gorbachev's address at Lafayette College on October 19.</p> <p> </p> <div> <object height="500" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="500"> <param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v2/IssuuReader.swf?mode=mini&autoFlip=true&embedBackground=%23292929&backgroundColor=%23222222&documentId=111213154956-789cdb705e71457d9fae61d351fe6298" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="menu" value="false" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v2/IssuuReader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="500" flashvars="mode=mini&autoFlip=true&embedBackground=%23292929&backgroundColor=%23222222&documentId=111213154956-789cdb705e71457d9fae61d351fe6298" width="500"></embed> </object> </div> <p> </p> <p>View the issue <a href="http://issuu.com/devonprep/docs/devondialogue_2011-12_issue2_color__1_">on Issuu</a>.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-devon-dialogue-201112-issue-2">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-devon-dialogue-201112-issue-2#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=tLkSaVSeRlQ:m9Ex3APidzY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/tLkSaVSeRlQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/the-devon-dialogue-201112-issue-2 Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:46:14 -0800 Our Christmas Tree http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/za72prq_s2c/our-christmas-tree http://post.ryanoshea.com/our-christmas-tree <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-12/GmrvbxzghiCsAoxaqkyaCizfCDqtqDfcCwDiHDptulpHxivgiGgHsECEwaEk/IMG_0152.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_0152" height="667" src="http://getfile2.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-12/GmrvbxzghiCsAoxaqkyaCizfCDqtqDfcCwDiHDptulpHxivgiGgHsECEwaEk/IMG_0152.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> Like/Favorite/Share on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6495234851/">Flickr</a> or <a href="http://500px.com/photo/3691108">500px</a>.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/our-christmas-tree">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/our-christmas-tree#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=za72prq_s2c:ARf6DQucqEY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/za72prq_s2c" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/our-christmas-tree Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:27:00 -0800 Seriously, TweetDeck? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/hwsVpfDh2XA/seriously-tweetdeck http://post.ryanoshea.com/seriously-tweetdeck <p> <p>> Implying that Firefox doesn't have better standards support than both of those browsers.</p> <p>At least give the user an option to go to the site anyway.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-09/bpyhCqlvrdplosvcAooDgkofdAfGaekbgbxJseljhrJkyEuFCuupaDtDGzsH/web.tweetdeck.com_screen_capture_2011-12-9-19-25-46.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Web" height="272" src="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-09/bpyhCqlvrdplosvcAooDgkofdAfGaekbgbxJseljhrJkyEuFCuupaDtDGzsH/web.tweetdeck.com_screen_capture_2011-12-9-19-25-46.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/seriously-tweetdeck">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/seriously-tweetdeck#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=hwsVpfDh2XA:2yhuJjcOq54:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/hwsVpfDh2XA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/seriously-tweetdeck Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:19:00 -0800 Can Firefox Survive? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/qhnogLhnDhM/can-firefox-survive http://post.ryanoshea.com/can-firefox-survive <p> <p>It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Mozilla is in trouble. According to their <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/foundation/annualreport/2009/faq.html">financial report</a>, the vast majority of Mozilla’s revenue comes directly from Google, in a deal to keep Google as the default search provider in Firefox. In 2010, that contract constituted 84% of Mozilla’s revenue. This is no secret. This has been the case for a while, but only now are people starting to notice.</p> <p><strong>The thing is, that contract expired last month.</strong> As of right now, no plans have been announced to extend the deal. After all, why would Google choose to renew it? Firefox is their second biggest competitor in the browser market, and their biggest among more knowledgeable users. It doesn’t make sense for Google to continue supporting them. This, of course, puts Mozilla in a tight spot. Despite being non-profit, there is no way Mozilla can continue to operate without 84% of their revenue stream—approximately $100 million.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-03/ycEFDbyjomItfghrEapqrywullbfsimefJvkJExkHAGGfBayhfGGJmuGFEmG/MozillaDangling.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Mozilladangling" height="500" src="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-12-03/ycEFDbyjomItfghrEapqrywullbfsimefJvkJExkHAGGfBayhfGGJmuGFEmG/MozillaDangling.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> You can’t blame them for not putting up a fight, though. Mozilla, despite experiencing one of its worst years, has done more than any other browser author to promote their product. Just this year, they’ve:</p> <ul> <li> <p>Shipped Firefox 4.0, a monumental upgrade to their flagship product, catapulting it into the world of the modern web, until then dominated by Chrome. The new generation of Firefox remains on par or superior to every browser on the market, yet it continues to lose market share to Chrome.</p> </li> <li> <p>Switched to a rapid release schedule akin to Chrome’s—in an effort to prevent the massive gaps between version releases that plagued Firefox 2.0-3.6, and consequently released Firefox 5.0-8.0. This move, which brought new features to users in a matter of weeks, not stretches of months, certainly resulted in a better Firefox, but was met with unprecedented animosity, alienating enterprise users especially.</p> </li> <li> <p>Introduced restartless add-ons, fixing one of the most complained-about disadvantages of Firefox compared to Chrome.</p> </li> <li> <p>Deeply explored Chrome-like “apps,” which, despite not being much more than glorified bookmarks, are consistently listed among Chrome’s advantages. Preview versions of the Firefox web app framework are available for use, and a final version will be included in a near-future version of Firefox.</p> </li> <li> <p>Rearchitectured add-on compatibility testing at the request of users, as the accelerated release schedule had broken compatibility with most add-ons. Add-ons are now tested for compatibility automatically, instead of manually by the extension author, for the current version of Firefox plus one version into the future.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Despite all of this, Firefox’s user base continues to be sucked into Chrome’s. Mozilla’s employees really seem to be trying their hearts out, but evidently, it’s not enough.</p> <p>The only other company that might come to Mozilla’s rescue is, ironically, Microsoft. They most certainly have the capital, and it’s in their interest to set Bing as the default search for 22% of Internet users. But for a company whose browser has ben ravaged by Firefox during the second browser war, it definitely would be a bittersweet act to save them financially.</p> <p>Only time will answer these questions. The fate of Mozilla has yet to be determined. But one can say with certainly that if Mozilla is allowed to fail—if the browser that did more than any to transform the World Wide Web into what it is today is allowed to fall victim to two of the largest companies in the world, it will be detrimental to the web. The Internet is one of the most powerful tools in the history of the world—the web, its most important function. Even before Mozilla existed, the people at Netscape developing what would become Firefox were instrumental in improving the web as a platform. As Firefox has grown through the years, so has the web. It would be a tragedy if Firefox were allowed to die—not just for Mozilla, not just for Firefox users, but for the web itself.</p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><code><a href="http://pastebin.com/pw9SPV4S">md</a> for this post</code></span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/can-firefox-survive">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/can-firefox-survive#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=qhnogLhnDhM:GcS52RNe7NI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/qhnogLhnDhM" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/can-firefox-survive Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:53:00 -0800 Now, Quality Means Nothing http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/bvwMyYTc1GA/now-quality-means-nothing http://post.ryanoshea.com/now-quality-means-nothing <p> <p>Everyone has heard of Dr. Dre's headphone line by now. They're those really slick-looking, black, streamlined, extremely expensive headphones with the sweet logo. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/business/beats-headphones-expand-dr-dres-business-world.html">The New York Times posted an article</a> a few days ago, about <em>Beats by Dr. Dre</em>, that contained some pretty interesting quotes.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinbekkelund/4865950062/" title="Beats by Dr. Dre Studio by Martin Bekkelund, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4141/4865950062_dd1d47922a.jpg" height="289" alt="Beats by Dr. Dre Studio" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="500" /></a><span style="font-size: x-small;">Martin Bekkelund @ Flickr (cc)</span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinbekkelund/4865950062/" title="Beats by Dr. Dre Studio by Martin Bekkelund, on Flickr"><br /></a></p> <p>It's an established fact in the audiophile community that <em>Beats</em> headphones are entirely overpriced. The sound quality they put out is no better—and most often, worse—than headphones well below their price point. The most distinctive thing about <em>Beats</em> is that they have the bass amplified enormously, ostensibly to enhance the "beats" for which they are named. As anyone who's ever tried bass-boosting before knows, it sounds really distorted and unbalanced.</p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote"> <p>“In terms of sound performance, they are among the worst you can buy,” says Tyll Hertsens, editor in chief of InnerFidelity.com, a site for audiophiles. “They are absolutely, extraordinarily bad.”</p> </blockquote> <p>As I've listened to <em>Beats</em> before, I agree with Hertsens. But, as we all know, quality does not correlate to success. The <em>Beats </em>brand is perhaps the most successful headphone line ever, with no signs of slowing. Mr. Iovine, chaiman of Interscope Geffenn A&M Records and partner with Dr. Dre in the <em>Beats </em>brand, offered this (quite asinine) response to critics of <em>Beats'</em> objectively sub-par performance:</p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote"> <p>He dismissed those who criticize the sound quality of Beats. Competitors use fancy equipment to determine how headphones should sound, he said, whereas he and Mr. Young simply <em>know</em> how they should sound.</p> <p>“The way we hear music is almost the opposite of the way these sound companies hear music,” he said.</p> </blockquote> <p>That paragraph made me laugh. I mean, literally. It's an unfortunately common marketing technique nowadays. Companies with shoddy products can just make up reasons to dismiss real criticisms—like their products somehow defy actual quality standards. <em>Because they're just that cool.</em></p> <p>And users will eat it up.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/now-quality-means-nothing">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/now-quality-means-nothing#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=bvwMyYTc1GA:lOSuqAymfhc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/bvwMyYTc1GA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/now-quality-means-nothing Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:45:11 -0800 Facebook Likes Placing its Needs Before Yours http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/GDWefiO-0jY/facebook-likes-placing-its-needs-before-yours http://post.ryanoshea.com/facebook-likes-placing-its-needs-before-yours <p> <p>Facebook, the social network we all know and love/hate, has been showing some interesting behavior recently. Now that they've integrated "social reading" (those annoying "John Doe read 6 articles on NewsSite" messages), they're pushing it on all users pretty intensely. I don't know of anyone who wants to see those posts in their news feed—the ticker at the left is enough. Despite this, it seems that these types of posts are always marked as "Highlighted Stories," the feature Facebook just introduced to make it easier for you to sort through the posts that are most interesting to you.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-23/xryinifFnEBDxgHBEGpbhHGFgrjauJnpFqBkClxiuuamuErorcflkhFradcm/topStory.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Topstory" height="132" src="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-23/xryinifFnEBDxgHBEGpbhHGFgrjauJnpFqBkClxiuuamuErorcflkhFradcm/topStory.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>But, as I've noticed over the last few weeks, removing the highlighted marker from a post (or a lot of posts) doesn't always work. It works perfectly on status updates and FarmVille posts, but for some reason, those social reader posts just won't stop popping up at the top of the highlighted stories. Over the course of the last week, I've been trying to mark all of them as unimportant, but Facebook seems to just ignore my requests.</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile9.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-23/uCviDIsAeiJhcEJnHnBieDvhHojvlkklqGumkEjuchxxEylesdifbvehphhc/topStoryHide.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Topstoryhide" height="131" src="http://getfile1.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-23/uCviDIsAeiJhcEJnHnBieDvhHojvlkklqGumkEjuchxxEylesdifbvehphhc/topStoryHide.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>As you can see in the above image, I've marked this post as not highlighted. Yet, a few hours later, a post from the same person using the same news service (below) showed up as highlighted. (This holds true over weeks of marking dozens of similar posts as non-highlighted.)</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-23/rbHeomcDFtbubFieywAIcbopEJjGFnIckFkyjFFDkjIHirufoxwtIbpqgdou/topStoryAgain.PNG.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Topstoryagain" height="124" src="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-23/rbHeomcDFtbubFieywAIcbopEJjGFnIckFkyjFFDkjIHirufoxwtIbpqgdou/topStoryAgain.PNG.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>This could easily just be a bug in the news feed causing these stories to always show up as highlighted. But I doubt it. My guess is that Facebook has invested so heavily in these new instant integrations (Washington Post, Spotify, Yahoo! News) that they want as many people to use them as possible. That's not wrong of them, but it becomes so when they start inconveniencing and ignoring their users in order to push a new product on them.</p> <p>But, hey, maybe it's just me.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/facebook-likes-placing-its-needs-before-yours">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/facebook-likes-placing-its-needs-before-yours#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=GDWefiO-0jY:QptJ2DnOhfw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/GDWefiO-0jY" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/facebook-likes-placing-its-needs-before-yours Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:57:00 -0800 Naples http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/8yys3HWiGvg/naples http://post.ryanoshea.com/naples <p> <p style="text-align: center;">Went on a trip to Naples, Florida two weeks ago. The full set is on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/sets/72157628068867247/with/6371072003/">Flickr</a>. Carry on.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6371066793/" title="IMG_0001-2 by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6047/6371066793_755800b71f.jpg" height="313" alt="IMG_0001-2" width="500" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6371073241/" title="IMG_0017 by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6055/6371073241_4655ab3cea_z.jpg" alt="IMG_0017" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6371078549/" title="IMG_0052 by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6115/6371078549_d69fa72c1d.jpg" height="375" alt="IMG_0052" width="500" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6371075567/" title="IMG_0003-2 by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6112/6371075567_3cd9a19d21.jpg" height="375" alt="IMG_0003-2" width="500" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6371072003/" title="IMG_0015 by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6113/6371072003_c5462a0fb2_z.jpg" height="640" alt="IMG_0015" width="480" /></a></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/naples">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/naples#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=8yys3HWiGvg:czmETHCdPHg:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/8yys3HWiGvg" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/naples Sun, 20 Nov 2011 09:05:50 -0800 How Browsers Handle Text Rendering http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/1hmK0p36844/how-browsers-handle-text-rendering http://post.ryanoshea.com/how-browsers-handle-text-rendering <p> <p>There's a reason I still use Firefox instead of Chrome. Actually, there are a lot. But one sticks out. It's not a massive problem most of the time, but in some cases it is.</p> <p>It's the way browsers render text.</p> <p>This is incredibly important. Everything on a webpage—at least, all of the actual information on a webpage—is usually text. A browser's job is basically rendering and positioning text. They do it in different ways.</p> <p>On Mac OS, we don't have this problem. All text is rendered the same way through the operating system, which literally blurs each letter a bit to make its edges look smooth. It's very easy on the eyes at large sizes, but has been shown to be less legible when read for long periods of time. Not to mention, it isn't exactly true to the font designer's intentions, since it makes the edges of each letter fuzzy. Safari on Windows overrides the system rendering and renders text like it would be on Mac OS.</p> <p>Chrome uses Windows default rendering with ClearType always (unless the system doesn't have ClearType—e.g. unpatched XP). It's better than no anti-aliasing, which just looks horrible. But it begins to struggle in some areas.</p> <p>Firefox 4+ and Internet Explorer 9+ use the latest tech, DirectWrite. This is a new technology in Windows 7 that uses the graphics card to accelerate drawing of text on the screen, and provides exceptionally smooth and crisp letterforms. It looks great at large and small sizes, and doesn't blur the text.</p> <p>Here's what that "Stop Censorship" banner looks like in Firefox 11.0a (nightly build) with DirectWrite enabled. (note: It should look the same in IE 9, but since IE 9 doesn't support rotating objects with CSS, I can't test it).</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Ff11" height="109" src="http://getfile4.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-20/tFlBukyqhGAsuxhijGfxppwuBldGugFvfpjDngnHrFCDvytpvmdrECbmkojs/ff11.png.scaled500.png" width="321" /> </div> That's how it should look. Rotating the text should, ideally, not change how it looks. DirectWrite has found a way to accomplish this. ClearType, its predecessor, hadn't. Here's how the same text looks in Chrome 17.0 (dev build).</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Chrome17" height="102" src="http://getfile4.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-20/aEhflAlqClhtlohJHcxfCizvlhnDknrxFmwjBsesgoefosCdlAbrFDqJpDmk/chrome17.png.scaled500.png" width="318" /> </div> </p> <p>Look closely at the letters. It's obvious that something's messed up here. This isn't the only example (rotation), where Chrome's text rendering looks bad. If you look closely, Chrome's text just doesn't look as good as Firefox's. It forces the lines of each letter into a one-pixel wide line, despite the original shape. It just looks weird. Most people won't notice, but it drives me crazy. It also has serious trouble rendering <a href="https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=98155">eastern language characters</a>.</p> <p>There's a <a href="http://minus.com/mvoZaZS#2f">great gallery here</a> showing some fonts (in Google's own font gallery, no less) displayed side-by-side in Firefox and Chrome. This Quora thread also addresses the problem, which has yet to be fixed by the Chrome team, which—it's worth mentioning—has vastly more people and resources than Mozilla's team.</p> <p>What prompted me to post this was <a href="http://theroshanpatel.posterous.com/">my friend</a>'s comment after he used the same code to put an anti-SOPA/PROTECTIP banner over his site. He said:</p> <blockquote> <p><span class="commentBody">"I reduced the rotation to -5 [degrees]. -10 was just killing the font, at least on Chrome."</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span class="commentBody">This just seems wrong to me. A browser shouldn't dictate a developer's actions. It should be the other way around. <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/what-happens-when-you-view-a-modern-site-in-i">A browser that forces users to compensate for its deficiencies</a> shouldn't exist. That was the point of Chrome in the first place. But Google's Mac-centric teams just don't seem to care about Windows anymore. That's a mistake, plain and simple. You don't ignore the needs of your largest user base. But, I guess Google can do whatever it wants. It is Google, after all.<br /></span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/how-browsers-handle-text-rendering">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/how-browsers-handle-text-rendering#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=1hmK0p36844:StQhQax7vH8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/1hmK0p36844" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/how-browsers-handle-text-rendering Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:43:00 -0800 America’s Perestroika | Mikhail Gorbachev at Lafayette College http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/Zaqkfa7BWs8/americas-perestroika-mikhail-gorbachev-at-laf http://post.ryanoshea.com/americas-perestroika-mikhail-gorbachev-at-laf <p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><em>Mikhail Gorbachev’s retrospective on the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the fate of freedom in the modern world</em></span></p> <p>On October 19, Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former head of the USSR, visited Lafayette College. He came to deliver a major address, entitled “Perspectives on Global Change,” to commemorate the opening of the new Oechsle Center for Global Education at Lafayette. The college invited a select number of high schools to send one student to cover the event for their schools’ newspapers. I was honored and ecstatic to be able to hear this absolute titan of international politics and leadership speak. So, notepad and press pass in hand, I headed up to Easton.</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6293750066/" title="“We can influence history if we understand the most important things.” by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6032/6293750066_2263fee443.jpg" height="375" alt="&ldquo;We can influence history if we understand the most important things.&rdquo;" width="500" /></a></p> <p>After a brief introduction by Lafayette College President Daniel H. Weiss, Mr. Gorbachev took the stage before an audience of 3,600. He began the lecture recalling the waning years of the Cold War, amidst an endless struggle for nuclear superiority. What really prompted the Soviet Union to seek peace with the United States, he explained, was the arms race. The Soviet people were forced by their government’s choice of priorities to sacrifice in order to preserve nuclear parity. As standards of living fell and the costs of armament rose, cooperating with the United States became an increasingly appealing option. When President Gorbachev met with President Reagan in 1985, the atmosphere was far from relaxed, but the Geneva Summit made great strides in bringing the Cold War rivalry to an end. Agreements were forged to prohibit nuclear war and to begin disarmament. “The summit was an amazing event that is still engraved in my memory. In less than three days at that summit, we made enormous progress and started to build initial trust,” Mr. Gorbachev reflected. “It was madness to continue the arms race. Only through terrible mistrust was it allowed to come about.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6262268221/" title="IMG_0940.jpg by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6158/6262268221_8eb9dfe1a5.jpg" height="375" alt="IMG_0940.jpg" width="500" /></a></p> <p>These new developments faced serious opposition from within the USSR. Nuclear weapons were at the core of Russia’s global stature, and their loss would have meant bowing to the military superiority of the United States. Nonetheless, President Gorbachev and his government pressed on. The movement toward a post-Cold War world required substantial reforms in the Soviet Union. President Gorbachev began a process called perestroika, which sought to restructure and democratize the Soviet Union and liberate its people. At a pivotal Communist Party convention in 1988, Mr. Gorbachev recounted, leaders proclaimed freedom of religion and speech and set up a constitutional framework for democracy. The final—and most vital—aspect of perestroika was glasnost, transparency within government coupled with political freedom. Later elections did not favor the reformers as they had in the past, but by that point, perestroika had taken hold in the USSR.</p> <p>“Russia today is a country that is in the process of transition. We are moving toward democracy. This democratic transition is only halfway down the road, perhaps a little more,” the former president remarked. “Above all, you need to understand that Russia will not go back, but Russia is facing a lot of problems.” Mr. Gorbachev expressed deep regret for the breakup of the Soviet Union, but not merely for Russia’s sake. He noted that after the USSR fell, much of the progress that had been made through American-Soviet cooperation was lost. Opportunities created by relations after the Malta Conference—opportunities to change the world through coordinated efforts by both superpowers—were squandered as Americans reveled in their “victory” in the Cold War. A new attitude prospered in the United States, brought on by its new status as the world’s only superpower, that America should continue in the same way, toward more “triumphs” as a “special kind of empire.” Mr. Gorbachev added, “Instead, I think the kind of vision that existed at this time was pushing us back rather than forward.” Even modern-day America has been influenced greatly by the policies of the Cold War, long after they ceased to be necessary. The military-industrial complex still holds great sway in the American economy. “It looks like [the United States] need[s] the military-industrial sector, the defense sector, for [its] economy to prosper.” Mr. Gorbachev, who spent years fighting the burden of the military-industrial complex, added, “If that is so, that is a sick economy.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rinoshea/6262269133/" title="IMG_0984.jpg by rinoshea, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6112/6262269133_caf3ae8cdb.jpg" height="375" alt="IMG_0984.jpg" width="500" /></a></p> <p>Mr. Gorbachev, however, recognized recent changes in these attitudes. “I think that people in America are now giving serious thought to the future of their own country, and giving this priority. I believe this is an important change.” He recollected a previous lecture, in which he was asked for any advice he had for the United States. Giving advice to America, he joked, would “not be safe and, secondly, is useless.” “America,” Mr. Gorbachev declared, “needs its own perestroika.” For this, the audience rose in ovation. “What we saw during the last [American] presidential election was, I believe, unprecedented, certainly in my lifetime. The entire nation was involved, and all the issues were discussed thoroughly. It was a fascinating experience and ended in a result that maybe surprised America itself. I believe it was the right result. I believe it was the choice of the people, who expressed in this way their expectations and their hopes.”</p> <p>This, in the end, is former President Gorbachev’s greatest legacy. He led the charge to grant the people of one of the largest nations in history democratic freedom. He made monumental efforts to bring about a new world order, as Pope John Paul II said, “one that is more stable, more humane, and more just.” Mr. Gorbachev also did more, perhaps, than any other person to prevent future wars and the spread of nuclear weapons. He is the best embodiment of the message he now teaches: “A new generation is coming. I see these people sitting here.... Young people must think about their country and its future. They must prepare for life and prepare to become the generation that will transform the country and the world.” The atmosphere in the auditorium as Mr. Gorbachev’s translator uttered those words was gripping. The audience, composed mainly of Lafayette College students, was riveted—eyes fixed on the former statesman—taken, it seemed, by a sense of pride and hope rarely experienced so universally.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/americas-perestroika-mikhail-gorbachev-at-laf">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/americas-perestroika-mikhail-gorbachev-at-laf#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=Zaqkfa7BWs8:gW8yhYsOh1g:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/Zaqkfa7BWs8" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/americas-perestroika-mikhail-gorbachev-at-laf Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:54:00 -0800 Napping http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/om9Yusf8BGA/napping http://post.ryanoshea.com/napping <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Napping-itdonlinestores-101411" height="4549" src="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-07/BapvtFjboFsCJGmnBmFgbhHJHhjzFwgywxnmzIikEkhAtGvrcsIcsIubryeg/Napping-ITDOnlineStores-101411.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> via <a href="http://www.patioproductions.com/blog/news/napping/">Patio Productions</a></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/napping">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/napping#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=om9Yusf8BGA:-_VFSjdwt0M:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/om9Yusf8BGA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/napping Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:03:11 -0700 Yes, That is Gandalf With 3D Glasses http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/zF0e3Mh7-fk/why-yes-that-is-gandalf-with-3d-glasses http://post.ryanoshea.com/why-yes-that-is-gandalf-with-3d-glasses <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-05/FxwIJwJjdayFHezDaDxCrCDHpJpqExIudDJsgkxlkoHCnandpjhnvloGaGbw/gandalf.jpg"><img alt="Gandalf" height="291.586073500967" src="http://getfile0.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-05/FxwIJwJjdayFHezDaDxCrCDHpJpqExIudDJsgkxlkoHCnandpjhnvloGaGbw/gandalf.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>This is a still from Percy Jackson's latest video update on his dual-film project, <em>The Hobbit</em>. It's just too funny not to post. The video itself is interesting; have a look.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.viddler.com/embed/42f0d03/?f=1&autoplay=0&player=simple&loop=0&nologo=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" height="298" width="500"></iframe></p> <p>via <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/05/peter-jackson-reveals-the-red-epic-secrets-behind-the-hobbit-vi/">Engadget</a>.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/why-yes-that-is-gandalf-with-3d-glasses">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/why-yes-that-is-gandalf-with-3d-glasses#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=zF0e3Mh7-fk:PMhx6QN7wwI:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/zF0e3Mh7-fk" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/why-yes-that-is-gandalf-with-3d-glasses Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:53:00 -0700 Who is Occupy Wall Street? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ryanoshea/~3/HE026mxzC5w/who-is-occupy-wall-street http://post.ryanoshea.com/who-is-occupy-wall-street <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-04/xqmgxurJzcDzwtgpbHfwCsxpHHuzecrlmipxAJFiEFjipwDGduwtFxhCgftr/occupy-wall-street-infographic-960-1575.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Occupy-wall-street-infographic-960-1575" height="820" src="http://getfile6.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-11-04/xqmgxurJzcDzwtgpbHfwCsxpHHuzecrlmipxAJFiEFjipwDGduwtFxhCgftr/occupy-wall-street-infographic-960-1575.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>via <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1792056/occupy-wall-street-demographics-infographic">Fast Company</a></p> </p> <p><a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/who-is-occupy-wall-street">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://post.ryanoshea.com/who-is-occupy-wall-street#comment">Leave a comment  »</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:TzevzKxY174"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=TzevzKxY174" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?a=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ryanoshea?i=HE026mxzC5w:9iMNx3mDXcs:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ryanoshea/~4/HE026mxzC5w" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1592159/IMG_0991_square.jpg http://posterous.com/users/5emqFajtzKtb Ryan O'Shea rinoshea Ryan O'Shea http://post.ryanoshea.com/who-is-occupy-wall-street