Doctorow: "Why I won't buy an iPad (and think you shouldn't, either)"

From this article:

The model of interaction with the iPad is to be a "consumer," what William Gibson memorably described as "something the size of a baby hippo, the color of a week-old boiled potato, that lives by itself, in the dark, in a double-wide on the outskirts of Topeka. It's covered with eyes and it sweats constantly. The sweat runs into those eyes and makes them sting. It has no mouth... no genitals, and can only express its mute extremes of murderous rage and infantile desire by changing the channels on a universal remote."

sudden acceleration agnosticism

These incidents were highly correlated with three things: being elderly, being short, and parking (or leaving a parking space). The elderly are more prone to the sort of neuronal misfiring described in yesterday's New York Times. Shorter people have to hunt more for the pedals. And starting up from a complete stop is the most likely time to press the wrong pedal.

More here.

...and

As Theodore Frank at the Washington Examiner points out, here are the reported ages of all 24 of the fatal Toyota (TM) cases:

60, 61, 63, 66, 68, 71, 72, 72, 77, 79, 83, 85, 89

More here.


Anecdote
A couple of weeks ago an elderly woman (at random, one I didn't know) walked up and asked me for help with her cellphone. She was frustrated because it "wasn't working." I had no experience with the phone or any phone like it, but it worked for me the first time when I followed the instructions on the screen.

When I modeled the correct use for her (ie, press the button the screen tells you to) she mashed all the buttons in two rows with the flat of her thumb, repeatedly. I gently pointed this out, described and demonstrated at least one effective method, and she mashed them all again and again.

I am not trying to discriminate against the elderly. I think all drivers, regardless of age, should retake the driving test every 5 yrs or so. Myself included.

Conclusion
I'd still buy an Audi or a Toyota. If I were in any shape to do so I'd buy someone's firesale Toyota today.

War of the Smartphones

I've got three of the main types of smartphones here on my desk. They are all older but are good representations of type.

SDA (HTC Tornado) - Windows Mobile smartphone. No KB. Wifi/BT.
MDA (HTC Wizard) - Windows Mobile PocketPC. Slide-out KB, Wifi/BT
Palm Treo 600 - chiclet KB, no connectivity other than phone data (gprs or whatever)
You will notice I did not include whatever sparkly fashion device Apple is pushing this year.

Hardware
MS wins.

Connectivity
MS wins. MS phones dominate on connectivity.

Interface
Palm, absolutely. It's a primitive UI but is immediately usable and understandable.

Syncing
Palm syncs to everything; windoze, linux, bsd, unix, a toaster, a clump of dirt.
MS might sync to one workstation if you have good karma. It's a train wreck. Much easier to sync over wifi than over the supplied cable, believe it or not.

Software
Palm wins kerbillion to one. PalmOS software is falling from the skies like manna, and most is free. Take your pick. Go crazy.
MS software is hard to find and is usually $$$. I have found exactly two useful free MS apps: the freeware version of btaudio and TCPMP.

Conclusion
So what do I use? I go back and forth. I get about 6mos out of each one before I get cheesed off and rotate. Right now I'm running the ancient Palm and loving it. Too bad Palm is corportately suicidal.

iPad purchase flow chart

See this flow chart to help make the decision.

Churchmouse indicator: magazine subscriptions

Victims of the the macro (and my micro) downturn -- magazine subscriptions not renewed:

The Week - spectacularly good meta-magazine.
Cycle World
Motorcylist
Motor Cycle News
Handguns
Zymurgy
Brew Your Own
Autoweek
and another one I can't remember right now. Got them all on cheap eBay subs a few years back. Most were $5-7/yr.

The Richardson library has mags for 25c each, and I've been picking some up that way. I particularly like the Economist when I can get them that way. Mags were 10c at the RPL a couple of years ago.

April is Adopt a Greyhound month

More info here.

Due to a lagging economy, competition from casinos and in some states, legislation banning racing, Greyhound racing tracks are closing across the country, leaving thousands of racing greyhounds displaced.

You can see a list of adoptable dogs, or throw a few dollars to dogs that are currently in rehab for racing injuries. The pic is of Plaza, who busted his leg on the track. He'll heal but will need a home for his retirement.

These really are great dogs. I've had dogs since I was born, and this breed is truly something special. And they need help from the humans that raced them for fun and profit.

Denouncement. Subset == substitute teachers

I've been thinking about something for a while. In the wake of terrorism by Muslim extremists (9/11 foremost) I and others encouraged mainstream Muslims to denounce the actions of the nutjob extremists.

I still hold this position. And I need to lead by example here, rather than asking someone else to do something I wouldn't do. So here goes.

I am currently a substitute teacher. So was this miscreant. Because we have the same job I will publically denounce his inappropriate action[s]. I won't dwell on the ethical or moral problems with his behaviour, since those are well-understood by most folks.

I will take a moment to point out that from a teaching point of view inappropriate relationships are destructive and counterproductive to the task at hand. Teaching is to no small degree a function of trust, a willingness to follow an adult's interpersonal and academic leadership. A kid needs to believe that s/he can take appropriate academic risk and the teacher will be there as a safety net and a guide. Anything that compromises that healthy teacher-student relationship is Bad.

Teachers, keep your relationships with the students professional and appropriate. School is for teaching, not for dating.