Portrait of a modern family

Yet again: Short #3

I found a post called "Most Awkward Interviews" (via digg).
All I'm gonna say is this: Tom Cruise is such a huge asshole, he really really is. As much as I love Jon Stewart (and that clip from 2004), if you can only watch one clip watch the one with Tom Cruise: if we all work hard enough to raise awareness, maybe one day everyone will acknowledge just how big of an asshole the dude really is.
You know what - here it is:

Rona Yekirati

Well, as you'll soon see, this post will be bilingual. I don't want to get into why I've been writing in English and not Hebrew – I have multiple reasons and I'm sure I'll get to them someday. What I would like to do is post a letter I wrote a few days ago to an Israeli singer-songwriter called Rona Keinan. Again, I know, it's in Hebrew. Most of you will appreciate having a break from the English, and those of you who won't – you'll just have to deal with it!

Now, before reading on, you have to keep in mind two important things: I might have embellished a bit (well maybe a lot) just so I could get the point across more clearly, and above all – it's a very personal letter, and though I'm not sure Rona will ever get what I sent I guess posting it here has its value, maybe she'll get here by Googling herself…

"רונה יקירתי,

מוזר לי לכתוב כאן, אבל היות והרגשתי שאני צריך לכתוב לך ולא מצאתי דרך יותר טובה, אז הנה...

ראשית ווידוי - אף פעם לא שמעתי שיר שלך עד לפני כמה ימים. אני לא אדם גלגל"צי ומרבית המוזיקה שאני סופג מגיעה מהמחלקה של המוסיקה "האלטרנטיבית" והעצמאית הלועזית. לפני כמה זמן שמעתי שיר שלך בגלי צהל בזמן שנסעתי באוטובוס, ולמרות שאחרי כמה דקות כבר הגעתי ליעדי, ואחרי כמה שעות יצאתי והגעתי הביתה, השיר לא עזב אותי. וזה לא הטריד כי ממש נהניתי מהשיר, "prison by the sea" זה היה. בקיצור, קניתי את הדיסק האחרון שלך יום למחרת.

אז למה אני כותב? אוף, זה קצת יותר מורכב ממה שציפיתי. אמשיך בכל זאת.

אמא שלי נפטרה לפני חצה שנה (אני לא מאמין שכבר עבר כל כך הרבה זמן). אבא שלי נשאר די מפורק מזה (היא הייתה בת 49, הוא בן 56) ואני די מנסה למלא את הוואקום שנוצר בבית, בעיקר בשביל שלאחותי עוד תהיה מסגרת שפויה לגדול בה (היא בת 17). מה שאני מנסה להגיד זה שכבר שישה חודשים אני מנסה למצוא כמה דקות מרגוע כדי לבכות בשקט, להתאבל בעצמי, ועד הבוקר לא מצאתי. כי זה לא כל כך פשוט לי – אני אדם שלא מסוגל לערב אנשים אחרים באבל שלו, השיבה שלנו הייתה חוויה שמחה כי לא הייתי מסוגל להיות עצוב כשכל הבית מלא באנשים שאני אוהב, ובכלל אני חושב שהייתי זקוק לזרז כלשהו שיגרום לי...לא יודע....

אבל הבוקר הזדמן לי להתחיל לשמוע את הדיסק: בו נגיד ש"נס" ממש ריגש אותי, לא כי המילים יותר מידי נגעו לליבי (בכל זאת, הייתי באמצע נהיגה והשעה 7:30 בבוקר) אלה אולי בגלל המנגינה הנוגה, אבל כשהפזמון של "עיניים זרות" נגמר, הייתי כבר בדמעות. עצרתי לרגע בצד ובכיתי במשך כמה דקות.

אני זוכר את השבת בו אמא שלי נפטרה, והרגע בו היא כבר לא הייתה שם, ואני עומד מול מה שנשאר ממנה, וחושב את מה שאת אומרת בשיר. ויכול להיות שאני לא מבין את השיר, שזה רק משהו פסיכוסומטי אצלי, מין שמיעה סלקטיבית, שגרמה לי להבין מה שרציתי להבין, ולא באמת מה שניסית להעביר. אבל עכשיו שהגעתי לעבודה, והשעה כבר 8:15, ויש לי כמה דקות כי הבוס בטח יגיע רק ב-9, אני כותב לך כדי לומר תודה. הייתי ממש זקוק לבכי הזה, שאחרי חצי שנה רק חיכה להזדמנות שלו.

אחרי כל דיסק שאני מחליט לקנות, אני בטוח שזה הדיסק הכי טוב שקניתי עד היום, אבל שלך מיוחד. באמת מיוחד. תודה."

"This post was NOT sponsored by Microsoft"

After having vented about Apple's latest dealings, and why I'm not going to buy anything they make for at least a while, I feel like now it's Sony's turn to feel the wrath of my crosshair.

Maybe I didn't buy a Sony audio receiver, or a Sony monitor, or a Sony CD deck. They could go on making money, I don't feel responsible, I did buy a walkman and a small boombox with their logo on it - for a kid thats a lot of money after all. And they had my respect, everybody's for that matter. You payed a lot but you knew you were getting your money's worth.
What I don't understand is how they could have gone soooo wrong so quickly. How could the same company invent such a revolutionary gadget like the walkman and then screw up so badly when implementing awful DRM schemes? How could the same company make something so utterly perfect like the PS2, and then produce such an expensive doorstop like the PS3.

I read an article on Wired a while ago, where they attributed a big chunk of the mess to the way Sony's R&D dept. was run: in the old days the dept. was comprised of small groups, sometimes individuals, competing against each other in creating the next big thing. Such was the way the PS1 was created, for example, and I think so did the PS2. So what happened? Paradigm shift - it seems competition is passé, and it's being replaced by collaboration. And Sony didn't make the switch and now they produced the aforementioned doorstop.

I don't know. Shouldn't there be more to it? Could it be that simple? I didn't only want a PS3, it's more than that, I wanted to want a PS3, maybe just because not wanting one means wanting an Xbox360. And now I'm screwed, because I want a 360, but I never wanted to want one.
I mean, Microsoft made it, you know, the only corporation in the history of capitalism to have horns and a red tail...

I guess I'm not the only one - have a look at this:

I still have time to change!

Rarely one gets a chance to see what would become of him if his hobbies took over him; how his life would turn out if he didn't listen to his mother when she suggested that overly-indulging one's hobbies is hedonistic.
Well, fine - so this guy isn't into basketball, and he might be into math and programming while I enjoy more of the practical side of science, but still - Universe, I get the message loud and clear, I promise I'll shave more often, get haircuts regularly, and I will stay clear of "go", "sokoban" and juggling theories.
In any case, you really have to check what this guy can do with LEGO: I get the dilbert figurines, and the Rodin statue is gorgeous, but the best ones have to be the Escher reproductions! Oh, and the "mathematical" sculptures...

There's a popular theme in movies and TV shows, where if the protagonist has some kind of moral dilemma he immediately gets two figures on his shoulders, an evil red one, and one that's blue and benevolent. Browsing through this guy's site I get the feeling that my version of things would have a cool, well dressed, popular and charismatic dude on one side, and on the other I'd have him - Andrew Lipson - my own little nerd alter-ego. Whenever I have a social conundrum, all I have to do is look over my shoulder: "is a nice bottle of wine enough or do I have to bring a proper gift?"

eyePhone musings

I've been putting off starting a new post for quite a while, because, and I believe this is a reasonable enough reason, I wanted to put through my thoughts on the just-announced Apple iPhone. This took time for two main reasons: first of all, the hype around the iPhone has been unbelievable and I wanted it to subside a bit. Also, it seems (after more than a couple of weeks) the first polls are in, and both journalists and fan-boys have cast their votes. Since I don't really have a chance in hell to get my hands on an iPhone, that's all I have to base my opinions on, to get to any substantial conclusions.

Well, let's do some pro and cons: beginning with the pro is easy – like most Apple products, the iPhone is gorgeous, and above all else fun and easy to use. Its underlying hardware, albeit still very much a mystery, is very powerful. That enables it to have both high resolution visual eye-candy, and some very impressive embedded apps (like Google Earth). Have a look at the phone's official site, click around, watch the demos, you'll see what I mean.

The con, on the other hand, takes a bit more imagination, and isn't a very clear-cut conclusion. Let’s start with this: I'm afraid of Apple - I've haven't had much experience with them, but I have noticed a few company policies that give me a reason to be concerned. The most obvious one, which has been the Apple guiding line since forever, is that they put out a lot of upgraded models, in a very short span of time. I just know that the moment I receive my iPhone, Apple will announce the next model, which will make my new gadget obsolete in every conceivable way. Not only that – it's obvious they will also stop making software upgrades for my "old" iCrap, to entice new users to upgrade to the new model. Already there's talks of a second generation iPhone, which will have more applications and will be a lot less of a phone, and a lot more of a PDA.
Another troubling Apple-policy, is to "lock" their users in: once you purchase your Apple gadget you will "have to" buy a whole bunch of proprietary add-ons, you will have to purchase music through iTunes, and you will obviously have to purchase software from only the official Apple retailers. The problem is that not only it will all cost about twice as it should, at the end of the day you will be stuck with all of what you've acquired since it will all be proprietary to Apple and to your gadget. Not only you won't be able to use any of it on any another competing player (I can understand that), chances are you won't be able to use half of it on another Apple gadget if you decide to upgrade! In case you need an example, just check the clip below – albeit it's a parody, it magnificently depicts the abysmal state of affairs surrounding all Apple products.

These are the two most compelling cons I can think of, but there are more minute ones, like the fact that a touch screen doesn't give you tactile feedback, or that I'm afraid it won't be very easy to use with one hand (which I currently do a lot with my phone), or that already there are other options for purchasing a phone with that form-factor.

I guess it's pretty early to get to a final decision, and only time will tell what the final price and/or availability of the thing will be outside of the US. I'm gonna leave you with a few links, in case you might want to read more about it…

1. This is an article from the NYTimes, about Apple's "iHandcuffs" policies.
2. This is a C|Net article, which lists 13 reasons to doubt the iPhone hype (I kinda disagree with at least half of them).
3. This is an article about "skins" for palmOS devices, which try to mimic the new iPhone OS.
4. This is an article from the LATimes, about how Japan will welcome the iPhone.
5. This is yet another article about reasons NOT to love the iPhone.