Allegheny River near Franklin, PA
GPS vs. Cell Phone GPS - LAPTOP Magazine
We use the GPS Navigator feature in our Verizon wireless phone often. I had originally wanted to purchase a dedicated GPS unit - but the price was prohibitive. I didn't really need it for work, its just that I like gadgets and this was essentially an expensive toy. I couldn't quite justify $700 + for a new toy right now.
At that time I was due a new phone from Verizon under my contract. Low and behold - the new phone does GPS. And it does it quite well. We find ourselves using it more than we thought. Kids travel soccer games - check. Funeral home - check. Vacation navigation - check. Meeting friends for a bike ride somewhere - check.
My wife is the kind of person that doesn't know she needs these electronics until she gets them, uses them, and realizes their usefulness. She didn't get why we needed a TIVO at first - now just try to pry it away from her. If that TIVO goes bad she would be sending out immediately to get it replaced.
GPS on your phone positives
We use the GPS Navigator feature in our Verizon wireless phone often. I had originally wanted to purchase a dedicated GPS unit - but the price was prohibitive. I didn't really need it for work, its just that I like gadgets and this was essentially an expensive toy. I couldn't quite justify $700 + for a new toy right now.
At that time I was due a new phone from Verizon under my contract. Low and behold - the new phone does GPS. And it does it quite well. We find ourselves using it more than we thought. Kids travel soccer games - check. Funeral home - check. Vacation navigation - check. Meeting friends for a bike ride somewhere - check.
My wife is the kind of person that doesn't know she needs these electronics until she gets them, uses them, and realizes their usefulness. She didn't get why we needed a TIVO at first - now just try to pry it away from her. If that TIVO goes bad she would be sending out immediately to get it replaced.
GPS on your phone positives
- No upfront money needed. The first month is free, $10 a month afterwards. There is also the option of using it occasionally for $4 for a 24 hour period.
- Its handy - always there.
- It constantly has the latest software AND location maps - no upgrade required
- Advanced features (ie. voice directions, local search) for the low pricing structure.
GPS on your phone negatives
- Small screen is not as visually appealing as a full sized unit.
- If you keep it on for an extended period you could have purchased a full unit for the cost.
At any rate, its a good option to try it out and see if GPS navigation works for you and fits into your life. You can always upgrade to a full featured model if your situation warrants.
[update]
It was pointed out to me that another benefit of the cell phone GPS model is that when you do a local search for some establishment, you can press the send button and call them. Can't do that with a dedicated GPS!
Digital Cameras. There are a bunch of them out there - all competing for your hard earned money. What sets one above the other? Why did you pick the one you have?
I just purchased a Sony Cybershot DSC-T20. I did my due diligence and researched many products. Here are the reasons I chose this model...
I just purchased a Sony Cybershot DSC-T20. I did my due diligence and researched many products. Here are the reasons I chose this model...
- Sony reputation. I have owned Sony products before and have always been satisfied with performance and style of the products.
- Face Detection. If you take alot of portrait pics, this will interest you. The camera will identify up to 8 faces in the photo (highlighting them in the live view!) and automatically adjust focus, exposure, white balance & flash to favor the faces. This means that if the faces are not in the center of the exposure, the camera will set focal point to the face distance. Think about that for a second. Most digital cameras have square in the center of the viewer that serves as the focus area. Often you frame your pics so that the subject face(s) are not in the center of the frame. This feature handles those times perfectly.
- Large LCD screen (2.5 inch)
- Its compact - less than 1/2 inch thick.
- Better pics under low light conditions. Sony’s Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization counters camera shake and stabilize images so you can easily shoot with longer exposure times. Armed with high light sensitivity (up to ISO 3200), you can also shoot at higher shutter speeds without using the cameras’ flash and spoiling the mood of the pictures. Sony’s Clear RAW noise reduction technology will help reduce the picture noise common to low-light exposures.
- Response time. Sony’s new T-series cameras are powered by the Bionz processing engine, first used in Sony’s Alpha digital SLR camera system. Not only does this robust processing engine deliver the fast image processing speeds needed to produce color-rich, detailed pictures for true high-definition photo viewing, it also speeds up the cameras’ response times and extends battery life.
- 8.1 Mega pixels
I'll be posting pics from this camera in the coming weeks. Watch for this week's upcoming TGIF photo shoot.
Well I haven't posted for the better part of a week now. Google's SPAM robots tagged my site as a possible spam generator. Took 4 days to get it cleared.
Here's the message I got...
This blog is under review due to possible Blogger Terms of Service violations, and is currently unpublished. You can view your blog's posts here in Blogger, but not make any changes.
Back on track now... TGIF pic and review of Cryptonomicon coming up soon!!
Tucson, Arizona
Tsotsi - 2005
* Spoilers included *
Tsotsi won an Oscar in 2006 under the category "Best Foreign Language Film". Its rare to see a film where the bad guy gravitates toward good instead of the other way around. This is a powerful film that shows a killer who learns humanity from a baby.
The film is shot in Soweto, a township near Johannesburg, South Africa. I travelled through Johannesburg last year on a trip to Mozambique. I saw the squalor of the ghetto from the safety of my bus - but I get it. The movie portrays the ghetto as a place where life is cheap... there is a scene where we witness orphans living in huge concrete pipes as if they are condos.
Tsotsi is presented with the challenge of caring for a baby - the by-product of a car jacking. The child evokes in him a reflection of his own brutal childhood. The flashbacks build for us a picture of growing up in this part of the world at this cultural level. As we watch Tsotsi develop his humanity around the baby - we see him essentially fight back against what he has himself become.
Ultimately, there is no good deal waiting for Tsotsi. The ending is a bit subdued, but appropriate. He is left to deal with the next section of his life at this point. We envision him thinking of how the next chapter of his life will be as the camera pulls away.
Ultimately Tsotsi doesn't simply become a good man - he just looses some of his evilness. This can be contrasted with City of God, [a film in my Top 100 Greatest Movies of all time list]. Tsotsi is more personal and close.
If you liked City of God, give Tsotsi a try. Similar story, different viewpoint.
The AFI recently came out with their list.
This is my list.
Its quite a task to list your top 100. The first 60 roll off easily. The last 20 are difficult because you are deciding if a movie will make the cut. After 100, if I see another movie that I want in this list - then something has to come out.
Watch for comments as I edit this list as I see more movies.
I encourage all movie lovers to develop their own list. It's a great way to look at film more critically.
In alphabetical order...
African Queen - 1951
Research all of these movies on Amazon.
This past weekend Brian & I rode the Allegheny trail - 31 miles through the Allegheny National Forest. We started on the Sandy Creek Trail - fed into the Allegheny River Trail - and ended in Emlinton. It was a great ride. Check out the trail web site here.
There is a long, dark tunnel on the trail - used to be called the Conrail Tunnel - now called the Rockland Tunnel. Make sure you have some lighting.
There is a long, dark tunnel on the trail - used to be called the Conrail Tunnel - now called the Rockland Tunnel. Make sure you have some lighting.
The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara
This is a historical novel of WWII, or more specifically - America's first steps into the wider European conflict. Throughout our lives we have seen movies and read plenty of America's involvement in WWII, Hitler, the Pacific front, D-day, VJ-day.... This is the first I've read of our involvement in north Africa.
I've long been a WWII history lover. I like the strategy of the battles, the gritty, dirty "boots on the ground" drama and the historical detail of different points of view. This novel delivers. We see how Eisenhower assumes command of the European front, how Montgomery revitalized a near beaten British army, how Patton bullied his way in the front, Rommels generalship, and the man in the tank doing the fighting...
Some months ago I was on a trip with a friend of mine who is in his 70s. He was there in the European front during WWII as an enlisted man. I asked him about Patton and what he remembered about him. His comment was "patton was the kind of leader that if he was asked to take that hill - he would get you that hill. No matter what the cost of human life, he got the hill."
Shantaram - Gregory Roberts
OK - this book will go on my top 10 list. I have long had a fascination with books about India. Don't know why. I love reading about the country. I picked this book up on a whim and it was one of those books that I hated for it to end - because I didn't want to loose the relationship I had with the characters. This is that book that you come across once every 5 years or so that strikes you so hard that it sticks with you months after you are done reading it.
This is Gregory Roberts telling of his life on the lam from the law (escape from an Australian prison) in Bombay. This epic novel starts out with Robert's prologue: "It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know of love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."
Lin (Robert's nom in India) and his friend Prabaker enter a society of prostitutes, beggars, gangsters, holy men, soldiers, actors and other exiles. Robert's writes from the first person perspective and it works surprisingly well. We feel his fear, pain, love.
Roberts is such a gifted writer - he finds just the right words or phrase to send the image home. [some people have a way with words and some people.... oh... not have way... i guess]This book will rip your heart out and mangle it - only to have it all repaired and fixed by the end.
I hope I don't have to wait another 5 years to find the next book that hits me so hard...
100 Greatest Movies List
Movie Critic Tips
#
- 8 1/2 - 1963 *****
A
- Amazing Grace - 2006 ****
- Apocalypto - 2006 ****
B
- Bandwagon - 2005 *****
- Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - 1974 *****
- Children of Men - 2006 *****
D
- Dan in Real Life - 2007 ****
- Deja Vu - 2006 ****
- Downfall- 2004 *****
F
G
H
I
- The Illusionist - 2006 *
J
- Juliet of the Spirits - 1965 *****
K
L
- Land of the Blind - 2006 ****
- Luck Number Slevin - 2006 ****
M
- Mystery Train - 1989 *****
N
O
P
- Pan's Labyrinth - 2006 *****
- The Prestige - 2006 ****
Q
R
S
- Smalltime - 1996 ****
- Smokin' Aces - 2007 ****
- The Station Agent - 2003 *****
T
- Tenth & Wolf - 2006 **
- Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - 2005 *****
- Tsotsi - 2005 *****
V
W
X
Y
Z
If you're old enough, you'll remember that long before there were such things as area codes and free long distance calling, the phone company used names to separate 5 digit phone numbers. Mine was Oliver 40274. This has stuck in my mind into middle age.
This site is about those things that come into your life - and just stay there. For me its often movies & books. Sometimes its some gadget or person. Sometimes its some history or event. or mood... What is it for you? Drop me an email and lets get it on this website.
I write movie reviews that are meant to be enjoyed post-movie watching. They often have spoilers. Come and read these after you have watched the movie and discuss. The reviews will be written in internet time - quick, easy to follow... yet drive the point home. Your finger is on the keyboard itchin to go to the next site. Swallow your content here, get what you need, write a comment, come back again tomorrow.
Find something here that strikes you as well and put your thoughts down. Together we will build the greatest social network in the history of the Internet.
Glenn
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About Me
- Glenn
- I think that all right thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary decent people in this country are fed up with being sick and tired... and I'm sick and tired of it.
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