Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

What I Care About
March 07, 2013

It has come to my attention lately that what I care about is not what you all seem to care about.  So let me first set the record straight:  I don't care about the environment/nature or health/nutrition as much as you do.

I realize that I'm leaving myself open to ridicule, but it's just a simple fact.  I don't get all riled up over new vegan restaurants.  I don't get out of bed in the morning anxious to do my part to clean up our local rivers.  I don't feel that bad about the cows that have sacrificed themselves for my mid-day burger cravings.

I Don't Panic
February 07, 2013
panic psychology behavior

This is something I mentioned to Berta last night in the midst of a different topic:  I don't panic.  There are obviously different ways people deal with adversity, and some people are prone to paralytic panic, the kind that cripples their ability to think clearly.  Some people in those adverse situations cope with the rising panic, push it down, and are able to continue in spite of that.  The thing is, I'm neither of those.  I just don't panic.

I am not touting this as a virtue, although it is often handy to be able to remain calm when everything is off the rails.  Rather, I believe I am mis-wired to simply not be panicky.  When things occur that would obviously cause panic in anyone else, I tend to completely detach.  I don't feel the panic.  I don't push it back or even recognize that it's there.  I simply don't experience it.  There is no fear, no anxiety.

Pebble Watch Review
February 07, 2013
watch Pebble

Pebble watchLast year I pledged to the Kickstarter campaign for the Pebble watch, almost without thinking.  You see, I'd written on the topic of watch computing before, and how I think it's an almost natural progression for the interface to portable personal storage and computing power.  I was pretty excited to see someone start down the path of that integration innovation, so I "threw my money at them".  Last week my watch arrived, and now that I've had a chance to play with it, I wanted to write up this simple review and first impression.

The watch build feels pretty crappy.  I've gotten more satisfaction from old-style calculator watches from the 80's.  I used to own (probably in a drawer somewhere) a watch that could control my TV with IR, and it had a more solid-feeling build than the Pebble.  (Ah, the dorm days of changing the lobby TV from ESPN to MTV while the jocks were all huddled around a game...)  It's not really that the Pebble feels fragile, but its plastic body and rubber watch band have more the feeling of a dime store timepiece than something that you'd spend money on for its technological features.

Describe Me In Three Words
January 25, 2013
self interests

I've been considering lately what I'm all about -- what makes me unique among humans in general, and peers in specific.  I've established a sort of test in my head for what would qualify.

I would like it to be possible to succinctly define me (even if obviously an incomplete definition) using 3-5 activities I am known to participate in that make me relatively unique among peers.

Narration Factor
January 15, 2013
voiceover movies books reading

I saw the new Hobbit movie recently (what is the actual title of that multi-part film?) and something interesting struck me. I've known the opening words to The Hobbit well enough that I'd recognize them if someone spoke them, and the words in the film are (at least in part) some of those.  What I didn't expect was hearing them spoken differently than how I read them in my head.

Particularly, when Gandalf remind Bilbo who he is, he says the line, "I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me!" When Ian McKellen says the words, there is a discernible pause between "means" and "me", such that the audience is led to a particular conclusion about the spoken words.  When I read the book, I hear Gandalf proclaiming that Gandalf is his name and everyone should know it, by golly!  When I watch the movie, I get the impression that Gandalf is perplexed that Bilbo should have any other impression of what Gandalf means.  The difference is subtle, surprising, and caused by a mere pause in the narration.