Literacy used to be a big deal. That is, not illiteracy; I’m talking about the number of people who could not read or write in the general populous. Nowadays, this problem has largely been eradicated from 1st and 2nd world countries, though admittedly it’s still an issue in the 3rd world.
It’s not just about reading a newspaper or writing a report, but more on the quality of said literature. So much of “knowledge work” present in current jobs require some degree of writing, that schools have continued to emphasize the skill, testing it with the likes of essay questions in entrance exams (i.e., SAT’s and GRE’s). And they barely started teaching us how to type properly 15 years ago, though I’d imagine general computer skills and speed typing ought to be a part of the core curriculum by now.
Can we get some love for programming too?
Everybody likes traveling. It’s just the universal hobby everyone is supposed to have. There’s something amorphously sexy and chic about visiting exotic locales, interacting with indigenous populations, and marveling at local landmarks which appeal to our general well-being and happiness.
I guess I slept in the day they taught us why traveling is awesome. For me, most of the time traveling is an exhausting, expensive ordeal in pale comparison to, well, travelers’ descriptions.
Ok, that’s not quite fair; there’s quite a few types of travel most of us undertake, with varied amounts of crappiness. Going from the worst to the best type, then:
This past weekend was a blur of video games. Well, game, really; I had a pretty long marathon going through Uncharted 2, the new Playstation 3 game modeled after the likes of summer blockbusters, particularly those of Indiana Jone-sean vibe. The last time a game warranted a marathon gaming session from me was upon the release Metal Gear Solid 4, another story-driven masterpiece.
I should do one or two more before I get too old and mature to spend my free hours appreciating virtual worlds and plotlines.
It’s been an Apple-tastic year of hardware for me, as I added a good amount of Job-sean computing power:
- Starting work at LOLapps, I asked for a behemoth of a laptop, the 17″ Macbook Pro. It turns out web development work is well-suited for the mac.
- I wanted a home media server; the Mac Mini made sense given its sexy form factor and reasonable price.
- The iPhone 3GS was a natural upgrade from the OG iPhone.
- And I just got another Macbook Pro for personal use.
Am I just another inductee into the Apple cult?
I decided I wanted another laptop. When Sui’s elbow jabbed me in the stomach for the umpteenth time while she shrank in the home office chair as I reached around to type in a chat IM window aside her email screen, I figured having two machines around would be helpful, and it’d quiet down my constantly-whirring, energy-sucking beast of a PC periodically.
And after spending some time with Macbooks in the office, well – why not. Macs worked well for development (say, when I’m working from home), I’m growing used to the OSX programs and interface, and the Macbook Pro really has exceptional build quality.
And all I needed was:
And I get this crappy iPhone camera pic:
Now all I need is one of my wealthier friends to donate a productivity-busting 30″ screen.
It was, Cal Day, Berkeley, the semester before I would officially start my college tenure. Upon a stroll down infamous Telegraph Avenue was when I saw him: my first interesting – well, “interesting” is probably too strong of a word, more like “atypical” – bum.
As with many things Berkeley, bumming has really been risen to a supposed art form. The dude was tranquil, uncaring of his potential clientele save for his simple, honest sign: “Need money for weed”.