People & Me
For as long as I can remember, I've had high hopes for the people around me. Maybe it's something I was taught, or something I learned along the way, but I always expect the best from people. It's just natural to me to try to be the best person you can, and endeavor to be more than just adequate. So it's something I expect to see. And, for as long as I can remember, I've been let down. Now I'm not saying everyone lets me down. I know people who share my view and to be honest those are the people who I hold close and respect the most. But there is always someone who ruins that for me. It's frustrating, discouraging, and tiring. To make matters worse, as I've gotten older it's spread to a societal/global level. I get so excited when I read an article about us (humans) making awesome progress in science, then I get to read an article about some loon in the US cutting up their children, or neglecting their children, or any number of completely retarded actions. It sucks any joy previously experienced away completely. In that example, what it comes down to is a few extraordinary individuals passionate about life doing something with it, only to be undercut and made all for naught by others who can't manage to act with civility. It is truly troubling to me...I just don't understand what happened to people that makes them lose what is so basic to humans.
So what am I talking about on a personal level?
Honesty and Integrity
Why is it so hard to tell people exactly how you feel? If you don't want to do something-say it. It drives me nuts to hear and watch people stumble around and search for a plausible excuse for why, when all they have to say is "I'd rather not do that". A perfect example of this is dating. Guy asks girl out, girl makes excuse, guy persists (none the wiser), girl makes further excuses, then guy gets frustrated and angry, then girl gets frustrated and defensive. This is the dumbest thing in existence. All it takes is tact and honesty, and everyone walks away without having wasted time and elevated blood pressure. How is it that we can put men on the moon, map the human genome, build a space station, clone animals, and a millions other more complicated things, but not ANSWER A QUESTION? We are in fact the most unintelligent intelligent animals. My point here is why waste time? The truth always comes out eventually so why not just be done with it. I can tell you from experience that it works, and feels awesome. (Disclaimer-I'm not claiming to have never told a lie...that'd be a lie in itself. But I do strive to be as honest as, well, socially acceptable. Most of the time I choose to say nothing at all if I know honesty will be ill received or is inappropriate for the situation)
Decency Toward Others
I could elaborate forever and give many, many examples, but brevity is always welcomed with me, so I'll extend the same to you. We're all human, end of story. Everyone has issues, jobs, health problems, different levels of education, priorities, etc. It's what makes us human. And we're all here to live. So why not be courteous to everyone and treat them with humanly respect? To put this another way-to me there are only two kinds of people in this world: smart and stupid. Stupid is a broad term in this sense as I see it as anyone who doesn't understand the unwavering equality that is life itself. Again, we are all human. If you don't understand the full meaning of that, then you're stupid to me.
Giving All You've Got
I see examples of what not to do in this situation all the time. People who hate their jobs (clearly exhibited by performance), sub-standard final products, and unproductive relationships come to mind. Simply put, your heart is either in it, or it's not. It is really that black and white. If you don't wake up stoked about what you do, or get immersed in your project, or don't feel like you're on cloud 9 thinking about your lover, then you're not there. But if you are there-full throttle. Give it everything you've got, and then some. Because at the end of it all, you'll have held back for nothing. You'll almost always be stuck with the end result, so you might as well "leave it all on the field".
Last But Certainly Not Least
Endeavoring to be a good person should be #1 for everyone, in my opinion. A wise track and field coach once asked my team what we wanted to leave behind as athletes-what we wanted our legacy to be. The same goes for life. How do you want to be remembered? Everyone learned right from wrong as children. All that's really needed as an adult is to choose "right" every time.
Consumer Reports Electronics Blog: Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the iPhone 4
Consumer Reports Electronics Blog: Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can't recommend the iPhone 4.
That's got to hurt. Even though it's been reported extensively, having Consumer Reports not recommend your product has to sting a bit.
I have to agree with them though, and not just because of reception issues. There are a multitude of problems with the iPhone platform in general that put me off the product.
1. iTunes: You're forced to use it if you want to update your phone. Why is this an issue? Well, unless you have a Mac, you're stuck with iTunes on Windows, which is known to have issues. In the many years that I've used iTunes, it's never been a great program. It's slow to load, slow to close, gets updated more than Windows itself (which is quite a feat), and is generally an annoying piece of software. So I don't like recommending a product that ties you to such software.
2. AT&T: This is kind of the same issue as iTunes-you're stuck with AT&T. No choice in the matter, unless you want to "illegally" modify your phone. And while this isn't specifically an iPhone problem as most phones are locked to a provider, the difference is you can unlock those other phones. You don't get that option with the iPhone. As consumers we need options-it's vital to finding the best service for a good price.
3. Apple: Most of my friends know I'm not a fan of Apple, but I've never really gotten into why exactly. The part that bothers me the most is the fact that Apple builds things that don't conform to most industry standards. Take cell phones for example-most if not all manufacturers provide the option for a replaceable battery. Why does Apple feel the need to stray from this rather simple standard? I doubt the extra money they gather from forcing customers to send their phones in will be that great an amount, considering they have to employ technicians, buy tools, and pay for shipping to facilitate that process. It just makes no sense. Also, Apple has supported Firewire for far too long. In the rest of the PC world, Firewire died quite a long time ago. USB was universally adopted, and external SATA is available. But Apple stuck with Firewire for some reason. Things like this slow manufacturers down-that Fireware port they have to add to a motherboard could be additional USB, external SATA, or some other more useful port. But since someone in the industry won't let it go, they have to add support to market themselves as having it "all". And finally, there is Apple's attitude about security. Plan and simple, Apple products are no more secure than it's competitors. Anything can be hacked, infected, compromised, and abused. Yet Apple seems to think this is not the case, and continually struts it's "secure and anti-virus free" stuff all over. It's a lie to the customer, which is a big no-no.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to being a smart shopper. While I can't recommend Apple, there are other phones I wouldn't recommend for similar reasons. You just have to do your research-learn about the technology, the reliability of it, problems it has, and what you get out of owning it. If you need help-ASK A NERD/GEEK/TECH! We rarely are put off by helping people make the right decision about tech products, and would rather see you get more for your money than get screwed. And never buy on release day-you're essentially signing up to be a guinea pig when you do.
/mytwocents
Greetings….
Welcome to the blog! My primary goal for this blog (and subsequent web technologies) will be learning. In the IT world hands-on experience is crucial, and sometimes (or most of the time) the only way to get that is to do it yourself. So here I am, learning, experimenting, and spewing expletives. It's not always the easiest way to learn......LOL. The second goal, or in this case purpose, is to have a place to put my thoughts and opinions on cool technology I come across, politics, and whatever else. I've always had a creative side, so I guess this will be the outlet. Last, but certainly not least, I can provide education and information for family and friends about computers/technology via an easily accessible medium.
Annnndddd....yeah...that's about it. Hope you all enjoy!
George