The Screaming Viking

I’ve been using the ipad for a little bit, and I’m not really feeling it.  I think the biggest obstacle for me is the price point.  It’s a handy device…plenty cool and all that, but is it really worth it’s price point?  At this point, for me, it’s not.  Now the nookcolor, which “does less”, is worth it’s price point to me.

I like the display on the iPad, I like being able to use Netflix but typing on it really sucks.  I have been able to turn it side ways and somewhat type on it that way…but it’s not the standard touch typing and not something I’d want to do for more than a facebook comment or something.  Another complaint I have with the device is the volume control…it’s not loud enough.  If the speaker was on the front, maybe it would be sufficient…but with the speaker blasting sound behind the screen away from the side you are watching it doesn’t work out too well.  I haven’t tried headphones, I assume they would be fine…but I don’t always want to wear a headset.

Another negative that I’ve seen when looking at buying one is the ridiculous cost of the 3G option.  The device is more expensive with 3G, and the plans through the phone company are a bit ridiculous.  You can setup a wifi hot spot through your cell phone and run the iPad wifi through this connection but then your draining battery power on 2 devices.  You might have to pay an extra $20/mo to do this via your phone or you can hack the phone to set it up…either way it’s going to cost you money/hassle.

One of the area’s the iPad shines for me, is reading RSS feeds.  I downloaded a free reader and it works very well.  I like the way it presents the articles and how things slide around nicely.  It works well for reading headlines as you watch t.v. or eat breakfast in the morning…places like that.  Outside of that though, it’s kinda big to keep in your pocket (like a phone) so the portability aspect of it isn’t exactly what I’d like.  Not that the nook is highly portable but it fits in pockets a bit better than the iPad does.

For me, it’s not $500 bucks worth of cool yet.  Maybe when more sites/magazines/newspapers take advantage of the functionality of these devices it would be worth buying.  Right now media is playing catchup IMO.

Here we go again…

I signed up at the gym in town here yesterday and put 30min on the elliptical.  I’ve also adjusted what I eat back to where it needs to be on the quest to drop a ton.  I’ve expanded quite a bit and need to get things back under control.  The plan is to hit this week with cardio, and next week work in weight training.  I’m going to do an hour of cardio each day and work one muscle group per day.  I’ve got five workouts lined up so that works doing the school week.  I’m not really sweating hitting the gym on the weekend, just going to maintain the adjusted “diet”.  Down the line I’m going to have to look at surgery to fix up my left knee.  I don’t see how it’s going to be possible for me to go through with the surgery without losing quite a bit of weight.

I liked the progress I was making back when I was working out like it was a religion…but it took up far too much time and I developed other interests.  On the farmstead, for whatever reason, I don’t feel like things are in such a rush.  I have time to hit the gym for 1.5hrs or so after work and don’t feel like I need to push to get home to do “something”.  Maybe part of that right now is the wife and kid not being up here.  Down the line I’m looking at the possibility of working in weights before work and cardio afterwards.  There is a good weight room and passable ellipticals at the school, but I would rather get a jump start on dropping weight before using the facilities here.  I’m willing to pay the monthly fee to avoid the students.

I’ll post the weight training routine after I’ve run through it completely once or twice.  Given it’s a different muscle group per day, I might have to adjust tuesday’s but Monday’s is fine…etc.  It’s probably better for me to say, “I’ll post the weight routine when I have it setup like I want”.

/gasp

hahahahahahahahahaha

The cavs beat miami last night 102-90.  To me, it’s games like this that show miami is not ready to be a champion.  It’s a long season and in theory any team can beat another…but I think in the NBA as opposed to the NFL it’s less likely that on “any given (sun)day…”.  Champions win the games they are suppose to and this one Miami was suppose to…by a large margin.  Miami has dropped far too many of these games to “lesser teams” and time and again have failed to rise to the challenge of the greater teams.

link

CLEVELAND – As he left the arena, Cavaliers coach Byron Scott smiled and accepted fist bumps and congratulations from security guards lining the hallway.

“Coach,” one of them said, “we’re going to talk about this one all summer.”

And probably for many more.

Cleveland got the win it wanted most.

Take that, LeBron.

Despite blowing a 23-point lead, the Cavs battled back to beat the Miami Heat 102-90 on Tuesday night, getting a small dose of satisfaction against James, the franchise’s biggest star who was making his second homecoming visit to Cleveland since bolting last summer.

J.J. Hickson scored 21, Anthony Parker scored 20 and unsung center Ryan Hollins threw around his weight for the Cavs, who were embarrassed by the Heat 118-90 on Dec. 2 — a night when Cleveland fans unleashed pent-up hatred on James, the native son who scorned them.

This time, it was James who left the floor beaten. He finished with 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds and had to endure another night of constant booing from fans who once cherished his every move but now view him as a bitter enemy for betraying them.

James took the loss in stride, giving the Cavs credit they deserved.

“Anytime we play anybody, we know we’re going to get the best out of them,” James said. “They came out and played extremely well. It was a good win for them.”

SPECIAL FEATURE Who will be MVP? Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration).

It was more than that for Cleveland.James’ departure was a crippling blow to a city that hasn’t celebrated a championship since 1964, and a region desperate for something positive to happen.

For at least one night, Cleveland rocked again.

“This was for the fans and for their support,” Cavs guard Daniel Gibson said. “They’ve stayed behind us and this was a way of saying thank you.”

In the closing seconds, the sellout crowd of 20,562 cut loose at a victory even the most loyal Clevelander couldn’t have imagined. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who accused James of quitting in last year’s playoffs after the two-time MVP announced he was joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in a poorly conceived TV special, high-fived anyone within reach.

On the floor afterward, Parker, whose last 3-pointer with 2:47 left capped a 12-0 run and put the Heat away, addressed Cavs fans.

“You guys deserve it,” he said as the fans erupted.

James dodged the first barrage of boos by staying in the locker room during player introductions. He entered the arena under the cover of darkness while the Cavs were being introduced.

James said that he missed the introductions because he was in the bathroom.

Later, Parker said the Cavs were out to fix what went wrong on Dec. 2.

SLIDESHOW Get your cheer on Check out some of the dancers from the NBA.

“The first time we played them here, we were embarrassed and they took a little from us,” he said. “This is the night that we wanted to get that back, for us, but more for the fans. That was great getting it back for them.”

James’ second homecoming didn’t begin smoothly.

He was delayed getting to the morning shootaround after his car and another following him were not allowed to enter the Cavs’ underground parking garage because he had not received clearance from his former team. James was eventually allowed in, but some in his party were not.

Gilbert didn’t miss a chance to take another swipe at James after the game, posting “Not in our garage!!” on his Twitter page.

The Cavaliers were a different team — literally — from the one that laid down against the Heat here in December. Injuries and trades have reduced Cleveland’s roster to a shell of the one James played with and helped win 60 games last season.

The Heat rallied from a 71-48 deficit, tying it at 83-all on Mike Bibby’s seventh 3-pointer with 7:03 left. But Miami, which wasted a chance to move into second place in the Eastern Conference standings, went scoreless for 4:24, allowing the Cavs to get just their 15th win — and most lopsided this season.

Wade added 24 for the Heat, who had their winning streak stopped at five.

Cleveland shot a season-high 56 percent from the field, a number that made coach Erik Spoelstra’s skin crawl.

I think about things quite a bit.  All sorts of stuff, how the universe came to be, how we got here…etc etc etc.  I think it’s a product of being alone on the tractor day in and out for several years.  I needed something to keep my mind busy.  Just because I think about all this stuff doesn’t mean I’m actually getting anywhere on it.  I don’t have the intelligence to be able to propose a theory about how it all happened.  I can come up with some pretty good questions (or they seem good to me anyway) but I’ve no way to answer them.  I (like 99% of the population) am waiting for someone to come along and spoon feed me the answers.  Imagine what it would be like to have someone come up to you and pose the question “where did the universe come from” and for you to honestly be able to say “I’ve got a good idea, I’m working out some of the details”.

Enter Jake Barnett, a certified genius in the field(s) of math and physics.  I’m almost embarrassed to comment on this guy because I can’t even understand his level of comprehension, much less pass on just how much something like this excites me.  For me, it is thrilling to know that someone is so far above my level of thinking that not only can they formulate more intelligent questions but they can work out answers to those questions.  To be ambitious enough to tackle the formation of the universe and confident enough to say “I have an idea…” is just astonishing to me.  We’re not talking about understanding how an engine works, mastering computer programming or anything else so trivial, we’re talking about the biggest question(s) man will ever face in his lifetime…how did everything get here?  This guy is bringing it on a level that most people can’t understand…well that’s not even accurate, it’s not “I don’t get computers” not understand…it’s more of a “I don’t even understand the question he’s asking…much less ever be able to begin to formulate an ideal about it”.   Read the rest of this entry »