Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time

RIP Steve Jobs

While I may not have agreed with his labor practices or his refusal to consider the enterprise market, there is no doubt that Steve Jobs was a creative genius. His obsession with form over function has led to some of the most significant advances in consumer electronics. Without him MP3 players might still be the size of an old school Walkman, phones would be bulkier than they are today, and tablet computing would not be in the mainstream at all. Thank you Steve for all of the innovations you have brought to the industry.

I have been a fan of the Amazon Kindle since I got one for my birthday a few years back. It is simply the best way to read a book in my opinion. Of course, I am thinking of novels. There are other books and magazines that a more multimedia rich environment would benefit. To that end, the new media consumption tablet, the Kindle Fire has been announced with a release date of November 15.

This looks like a great device, especially if you plan to take advantage of Amazon’s digital and cloud offerings. We have been buying TV shows and movies on Amazon Instant Video for a while now and have been quite happy with that. The Fire would be another option for watching those shows.

Of course, the big thing seems to be comparing it to an iPad or calling this an iPad killer. CNN even has an article about this: Kindle Fire vs. iPad: Which is right for you? I don’t think this is quite an iPad killer, but it is certainly an attractive alternative. I think this will bring tablets into the mainstream. $199 is a lot easier to drop than $499 on a tablet, and if you don’t need any of the extra features then why pay for them. But if you plan on using  a variety of apps then the iPad may still be more your style since (unreasonably in my opinion) developers tend to write apps for the iPad before they do an Android version.

When I see this:

It makes me think of this:

Or maybe this:

What it refers to is the practice of circling around a parking lot in the hopes that a spot might open up in the next few minutes/hours. I’m not sure why some people would rather do this than go park somewhere else, but it is a real problem. Just don’t look up sharking on Urban Dictionary, since it apparently also means something much more disgusting….

Disclaimer: I am merely making an observation about, not making fun, of this. I am actually glad someone is trying to stop people from wasting gas and causing more pollution when there is ample parking further down.

Yesterday was Take Your Daughter to Work Day, Bella and I had a great time

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I recently was given the opportunity to move my office to a better location and get some new (to me) furniture. You can see some pictures of the renovation in this set.

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Gas is now $4.01 per gallon.

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Oh, BTW it’s Friday

So, 2 weeks ago I paid $3.13 per gallon to fuel up my car. Last week it cost $3.33 per gallon. Yesterday it cost $3.57 per gallon. Ugh.

Make your own McRib

If you never venture outside the box, you will probably not be creative. But if you never get inside the box, you will certainly be stupid.

First, Think Inside the Box

In honor of the UUCNC Medieval-Renaissance Auction and for all the time spent as part of the Medieval Reenactment Club (including when I learned that potatoes were not a part of medieval Europe) here is a site for How to Cook Medieval.

Not seen nationwide since 1994, The McRib Returns!

KFC and McDonald’s should team up to build a hybrid Double Down with a yummy McRib center.