New layout and a few changes...

New layout, I prefer the black background with white text, but a few people said that for them it seems to run together and they don't like it, let me know which one is best or preferred. I want it to look good to myself, but not at the cost of not having anyone read the blog.

I decided to cut out my work related postings, mainly since I use my downtime in the morning at work to write. This usually means that at the worst part of the day I am writing about work, which paints a picture of me being always unhappy with my job and that isn't true. I have been using this as a medium to help my thought process, venting frustrations in some way helps me get past them. I can keep posts private to myself, which I will do as writing things down always seems to help out. I was talking with my brother and a few other people about writing, and constantly cutting and shortening will help. So I will have a long draft of frustrations and cut down what they are saying and as solutions are found I will include those in the draft. This will be a way of helping to refine my problem solving skills, writing skills, and when I make a general post about work it will show people a better picture of how things are.

I want to find some new things to learn about and write about., or learn more about something I already know about. For some reason I have this interest in wanting to go bowling more now, never thought I would say that. A lot of the bowling alleys around here have laser tag also, which is something that I am pretty good at.  I was saying during my work team building event, I still prefer bowling with my shotgun. I am having a hard time concentrating today because I'm in pain, which is keeping me from working out today, and I've got some kind of horrid stomach bug. I'm watching that show Man, Woman, Wild on Discovery so I decided to learn about the host Myke Hawk, I learned that it is not his real name, he decided to go by Myke Hawk... wow. Apparently him and some other former special forces types made a consulting business that was such an embarrassment and joke because of how stupid they made themselves look to other current and former folks with the same military background that they shut it down. At least the knife that Myke (or Mykel) had made using his name that he promotes, while it is a bit ridiculous is actually well made unlike all these junk Gerber products with Bear Grylls name on them.

It is a shame that the knife industry or rather outdoors industry is saturated with junk products, most esp knives. There are a lot of people that I run into that collect knives, yet they only have knives that cost under $60, and I'm not saying there are good cheap pocket knives that exist, but if you consider yourself a collector and I point out a Benchmade (lifetime no questions ask on all products, all American made, and they don't use over-rated junk blade metals, the least quality you should consider is 440C) and they act like it's junk because it carries a cost or that it is ridiculous to consider buying one. The problem with the type of 440 stainless that a lot of brands use, it is not 440C, and it doesn't hold an edge at all the only good property it has that people think is of key importance is rust resistance.  I don't like 440C all that much, I would rather maintain the blade with a little oil and purchase a knife with D2 stainless. To me this is like calling yourself a serious cheese person and only ever buying and eating Velveeta, or calling yourself an artistic song writer and only playing covers (and doing your best Eddie Vedder voice at the same time) just stop. I used to say I collected knives, then had this sudden realization that I owned a bunch of crap, garage sales helped solve that, and I purchased a few good knives. Strange how this works these knives have the following properties

1. Possess better edge retention

2. The edge is easier to get and thus is actually capable of being sharper

3. Durability, they don't fall apart if I need to use them. So I spend more initially, but they last longer (don't have to repurchase or replace)

4. Life no questions Guarantee/Warranty, if I do have a problem it's fixed as long as you are not clearly using your knife edge like a pry bar or screw driver, which is not what a knife is made for, use the right tool for the job. Trust me people that make knives for a living know what abuse looks like, and if you think a knife edge is supposed to hold up to that abuse, outside of some weird emergency or survival use, there is not much hope for you.

5 & 6. Ease of use and “the little things” that add to the bigger picture.  Better knives use superior metal bushings instead of cheap metals that are not good for bushings or plastic that falls apart and gets rough with use making it not a bushing at all.  Better knives use better locking mechanisms, they are safer for one, and make use easier.  All sorts of small details that cost more add up to a knife that is superior in durability and make it easier to open, easier to unlock, faster, safer the list goes on.  Edges that promote a better grip, handle/grip materials that are longer lasting and actually help your grip.  

            I am going to be selling most of my mid-level watches to get a as of yet undecided watch, can’t decide if I want to go the diver, military, or aviator route on it yet though or if I just want minimal and nice, something I can pass on later.  A firearms post is coming soon...

Continued Thoughts on Watches (reply was getting to long)

I've spent some more money on watches, and the sad thing is, if you want a watch that is superb quality it almost needs to be $500+ even at discounted and even then the quality is not amazing, if you want to save up your money for something outstanding that is the best thing to do in all honesty, I wish I had saved mine instead of getting several entry level Swiss watches, right now I would be wearing the paradigm of hand made watches, a Rolex.  There is a reason they are sought after, they keep their value for one, and they really will last a lifetime, and don't need batteries, which is great, give it a few shakes if you have not used it in a while and set the time.  People always whine and moan about oh my Casio keeps better time, yes a lot of digital watches do, but the difference is not that bad, and guess what if infrastructure goes to hell and there are no batteries my watch will go until it falls apart, which people have been passing down their Rolex watches to family, I know someone with a 80+ year old Rolex and he wears it almost every day, he took the original band off to keep it nice (keeping the value up).  Here is an interesting fact:
"Rolex subsequently received the very first wristwatch Chronometer awards from the School of Horology in Bienne (1910), and the Class “A” Certificate of Precision from the Kew Observatory in England (1914). To this day, Rolex watches consistently receive more Chronometer Certificates from the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), than every other watch company in the world, combined."  (http://www.qualitytyme.net/pages/rolex_articles/history_of_wristwatch.html)

I really like my Invicta watches, but the downside is they only cater to the big watch wearing folks mostly, which some of their styles are actually really old school, big watches used to be the normal for a lot of purposes, early divers and pilots needed something easier to see, and watches were larger for them and the expense of smaller gear movements also meant that compact wrist watches were an even bigger luxury.  Also wrist watches were originally more for women and viewed as a fad (the wikipedia article has a lot of what I am saying, a lot of it comes from the same articles I've read).  It was our boys in the War that found pocket watches were impractical and that is why a lot of families with lots of military history have a wrist watch handed down.  As with a lot of modern conveniences their real usefulness was not fully realized or even implemented until an ingenious soldier came up with the idea, band-aids are one of those awesome items.  German aviator watches are always interesting, and the Germans have been building application specific watches using their own or high quality Swiss movements for a long time.  It's hard to find vintage examples of some, but there are modern ones with the giant crowns made so you can have gloves on and still make adjustments, at least that is what I was told by a watch maker.  Rolex again was really to credit with their "tool" watch line that has been used by the military and divers since the 50s when they were released, people ask why Bond would wear one, well because it is designed for abuse, a sub-mariner is a perfect watch for beat up use, they can go down to 1000 meters, and have a special helium valve, which any watch that is for saturation diving and goes below 300+ meters needs to have this.

I have have interviewers stop and ask about the watch I am wearing and after research I try to make a statement, and there is something in our psyches that likes a person that wears a watch in this day and age.  Just don't keep looking at your watch lol fidgeting is bad!  I wear my all black auto with a fake tourbillon, the hands are gold and it has a swarzky crystal at the 12 o'clock mark, it's very conservative, but very striking at the same time, I use it for most formal events.  I also love my every-day divers chrono an Invicta Grand Diver, it's a dark grey Ti with polished accents and a black face, it's got a big dial, but the way it's styled it is striking, but somehow understated, it gets a lot of glances.  I also wear my Seiko gadget watch, it's very neat looking and different, and somehow very simple and elegant, classic low depth dive watch.  My only gripe is I wish the Grand Diver chrono came in a mechanical model, while I know that would carry a price, it would be awesome to have my favorite watch be automatic and thus outlast the zombie horde, I could luck out and the battery lasts till it's over, but I would rather take my chances with an auto :)

Here are some early dive gadgets at the very bottom is a comically large dive master http://forums.watchuseek.com/f74/long-ago-%7B50s-early-60s%7D-there-werent-lot-people-dive-watches-638705.html

General Gadget Talk and Updated Thoughts on Tablet PCs (now that I own one)

About a year ago in this blogs old and over ambitious beginnings.  I had some good ideas and I had some ideas that I was trying to hash out that just wouldn't be sustainable as a blogging platform, one of the few things that is sustainable is my obsession with gadgets and other tech items.  I am glad the great wristwatch fetish of 2010 and 2011 has cooled off, I still love wristwatches and have a passion for time pieces, but I am not snatching them up like crack and with good reason, I made some pricey mistakes in watches that are just not that great and not nearly as cool as the instant gratification fix or the "new stuff high" one can seem to get.  I like all manor of mechanized and non-mechanized gadgets, from computers to stereos, from mechanical watches to firearms.  All four of the mentioned gadgets are ones that lend well to tinkering and improving, yes even watches. 

If you put a little time into a lower quality mechanical watch you can improve its time keeping and even get more meters of water resistance, or improving the looks.  It seems like some people want to buy an expensive watch, wear it wrong and have it flop around their wrist like they are a kid wearing dad's watch, I don't understand how someone can do that.  I can forgive wearing a watch on the wrong wrist in casual situations, but in more formal and business situations people actually do pay attention to details such as that, weird right?  Same thing with knowing how place settings work at a formal dinner situation, you don't want to come off looking like Tarzan.  I love dark watches, as in black out, they look very sleek and even a cheaper one can give you a lot of miles if worn just for special occasions, as more regular wear will rub off the coating on the metal of lesser quality watches and given more time even on nicer coated watches that will happen.  Certain coatings and materials are not going to have that problem, but they carry a cost with them as well.  Even titanium banded and bodied watches are getting more and more affordable, which is nice as long as they don't use a soft Ti alloy that is heavy on cheap aluminum, what will happen is the hardened steel pins holding the links together with actually ream out the holes in the links and start to fall out, I've seen it happen on entry level Seiko's in Ti, and on my own Ti Fossil, on the fossil, given the overall quality and price of their watches it is forgivable, but on the Seiko, I think that is cost cutting to the point of quality cutting. There are cost cutting measures that do not sacrifice quality actually, they just have to be implemented in a careful fashion, I will point to Kahr's CM9 (I think that is the model, pistol, and the newer one in composite lower) they cut costs in very clever ways, improved the function of the pistol and got it out to the end user at a extremely fair price.  For what they are and getting used to that style of trigger, sorry I'm a single action kind of guy, they are in the firearms world what a killer app is to IT.  Sometimes saving the end user lots of money is something as simple as not putting it in a crazy case (many gadgets included here) that will be a shelved item and rarely used, or not including a 2nd magazine.  An easy cost saving measure on a decent watch is to put the glowing dials that are light sensitive in, I prefer tritium because I can always see my watch face in the dark, for over 25 years my watch will glow like that, at around 25 years it will start to decay and not glow. 

On stereos.... That is a tough market, you have just as much witchcraft involved in high end stereo items as you do in an average Harry Potter book, seriously.  There are overpriced slabs of wood to keep your wires electrons happy.  This article points to one item that is hilarious when people are paying so much for them, the really funny thing about a lot of these products, they change websites and company names constantly, and even vary the product names a bit.  $32,000 cables and fancy easy bake ovens that cost $800 to "cook" your cables and condition them for proper sound.
http://www.transparentcable.com/products/pdf/prices/retail_prices_03-2011.pdf takes a minute to load, but prices on some cables START AT $33,000...
http://www.svalanderaudio.com/solidtech/coseng.php
http://angstfree.blogspot.com/2007/06/playstation-audiophile-hype.html
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread762054/pg1

This is clearly a joke from an Amazon seller, but you get the point...
http://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Mini-Computer-Stereo-Cable/dp/B00404CTBK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1327497377&sr=1-1

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/10/01/james-randi-calls-ou.html Boingboing has a few writers that put up audiophile products that are nuthouse every so often.

Ok back to it, I love music, and I don't mind paying to hear it played through something that will make it sound better, and yes I'm a victim of monster cables marketing when building my SACD set up, which I notice only slightly better results when using the monster cables I have, but it is after a LOT of comparison and listening to the same high quality recording back and forth comparing for countless hours to pick it out.  But the radioshack bargain high end cables were 100% identical in sound to monster cables, so money saved, lesson learned, the one nice thing about nicer cables, they hold up much better and that is about it.

Ok Tablet PCs, they are a gadget I've been waiting for as long as I can remember after seeing so many movies and TV shows use something nearly identical, or in Star Trek's case nearly identical to an iPad.  I have to give Apple credit, but only just that, they were the first to get a tablet out there and make it successful, many have tried to do similar over the years and always fell short, palm pilots always were a device looking for wireless for so long, and then by the time things caught up and they got it all in order, smart phones come out, and Apple even tried to make things similar to their own product, the Newton still does some things that the iPad can't, and these are functions that people want out of a tablet not just neat things that serve no purpose.  I purchased a Dell Streak 7 wifi only tablet because it was a good price and the specs on it were amazing, aside from screen resolution, which are pathetic, but it was a solid price and from a hardware perspective it was a power house. I received it and it was all well and good, but it was using outdated an outdated Android OS never designed for a tablet, so tons of functions were really hurt and even with a bad resolution screen you could tell half the apps were designed for something with a much smaller screen, I was ready to sell it and rarely used it.  The anticipated OS update that was supposed to be released shortly after my purchase was announced to never happen I found out, and then I was like ok, I am really selling this, I had it posted and someone was going to buy it that Saturday, on Thursday I got a pop up when I was about to clear all my data, Firmware update available, puzzled I accepted it, HONEYCOMB!!! WHAT! Dell finally came through after a LOT of complaints and people demanding returns I guess.  I installed Honeycomb right away and I had a birthday dinner to get to so I played with it for a minute and then just decided I'm going to bring it with me, since there were very few devices using it and I knew 2 people that have designed Android apps would be there, I wanted to show it off.  After I got used to the new improved interface functions, which were a dramatic change for the better, everything was so much faster, not only because it was optimized for the powerful processor, but because menus and functions were accessed much more intuitively, I had to learn how to use something in an intuitive fashion sounds weird, but it was so backwards before it was like I had a totally different tablet completely.  I was pleased as punch, I could keep this and bide my time while a few up and coming improvements were coming to Android tablets. 

I wanted more screen real estate and more resolution at some point for reading digital transfer comic books.  I started looking for my tablets replacement around Christmas and was upset to find a lot of Android tablets have moved into an iPad pricing scheme and that most Android tablets were moving away from modest onboard storage (8-16gb being on the good side, less for some bargains) and having a slot for an SD card, which Android will soon support 64gb cards, so 16gb onboard + 64gb card = more then an iPad for WAY less cost, not to mention you can get 32gb cards for a reasonable price and then just have a common app load out, and change media on each like a fancy album structure and label them accordingly.  I have one 32 gb card.  I don't feel that compulsion to carry every MP3 I own with me constantly, which no portable media player can without double sided taping an SD plug hard drive to it...  I just have some selections that I can't go without and rotate my newest music around, which I am constantly seeking out something new and different on the fringes of "underground," yes I could be labeled a hipster, I just don't care for mainstream music for the most part and listen to obscure bands, and no I'm not calling bands that are fairly popular obscure, I'm talking on Pandora and last.fm they have under very few followers and listens on their tracks, in the thousands or sometimes less, not always, but I just go for music that tours the "local" scene, which now in the modern day, a small time artist can go around the continent and have a much more vast listening base because of the Internet, and do the same amount of work that a coffee house only musician did "back in the day" as the kids say.  Websites like thesixtyone.com, soundcloud, and last.fm have given the "little guy" huge power, and a lot of these bands and artists give their music away also!  Whew ok tangent over, sorry about that (oh the genre that has captivated me recently is instrumental modern prog rock and post rock).
So on with tablets, I found one that I like, only problem, my wireless carrier does not carry the mobile network capable version, why you ask? Apple being douche bags, they are made that tons of competition is out there and have held up progress of samsung specifically, but everyone in general, because apparently they copied Apple, now call me crazy, but Apple, couldn't you be sued for doing the same thing with laptops...  The lawsuit has had a lot of the different products held from market or withdrawn until it is sorted out, and Apple is making lawsuits from country to country, so just in case all these companies are holding back a lot of their product release  if they go through, which they have been over turned left and right, but still that is a douche move.  Like I said I found the one, the Galaxy 10.1, but Sprint only sells it wifi only, and I already have one of those, I'm ready to step up my game and get 3g/4g on my tablet.  That's the other fun thing, wireless data packages for tablets have gone from reasonable to crazy recently, in some cases 400% increases for basic plans.  I've been looking for an option to tether my tablet to my phone without rooting it, but nothing has come up yet.  So I may root my phone so I can.  It would be cool if a wireless provider had a discount for mobile data plans for tablets/air cards that would give you a fair discount if you had existing phone service, but I don't see that happening at all.  Currently Verizon offers the only options, which suck, their price on the same tab is hundreds more, I can understand some difference because the hardware additions for 3g/4g, but what they have is lunacy.  They have a refurb program, guess how much you save on the tablet when you get a refurb, $50, sheesh at least on Apple stuff it is a more noticeable savings, which given their initial cost is still a kick in the pants.  And like I was pointing out before, many Tablets from companies other then Apple have moved to the same inflated pricing scheme, entry level tablet $300-400, increase storage and cost can more then double, SSDs are expensive, I know, but they are not made out of golden panda fetus.  The reason for going with Android for most people has always been simple:

1. Affordability

2. Bang for buck over Apple

3. Options (expandable storage, more freeware apps, rooting is allowed, more choices in apps (yes more choices, even though the numbers in the app store are higher, Android's open source style has more options for certain types of apps and better variety, rather then being forced to use 1st party items, and pricing is better on the Android market, and they have way better customer service and support)

4. Don't need iTunes to use it, again I have options, I like those.

5. Back-up is so much easier, i.e. GMail account to back up contacts instantly, and programs that can save everything, including the data stored in programs, Apple still can't have your notepad export, so simple...

6. Don't have to pay for any customer support or extra warranty, even my out of warranty HTC has been taken care of, just getting Apple to talk to you when your product is out of warranty is a challenge.  And the carrier insurance is cheaper to get on your handset, and usually a lot better then Apple Care.

7. You can hold your product anyway you want and not be told otherwise (ok that's a bit of a joke, but it has happened...)

8. Hardware choice, there is not just Android phone and that is it, there are tons of companies that offer Android OS phones and competition is a good thing.  Also the specs on most current Android phone blow Apple out of the water, if there were doors on the iPhone or iPad they would be located on the ground.  Apple fankids actually try to say that having better specs makes a product worse, yes I am dead serious, they are trying to say this why? Who needs that much ram or that good of a processor on a phone! That is just silly, that is a bad product. Wow, that is what makes products improve, pushing the envelope, more and more storage and faster chipsets will make all future chipsets more affordable, and the size of them will be smaller over time, so far that has been a scientific law in regard to computers, Moore's law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_law)

That is why I go with Android, but might just not get another tablet at this point sadly.

I deleted Facebook

I have been mulling around the idea for a while and decided that productivity and so many other things would improve as a result of getting rid of Facebook.  I have not regretted the decision, part of it has helped me start a blog, and I think my solution of what good habit can I replace Facebook with is answer in this very blog and with more productive use of my time in general.
I think my social graces (well no thinking, I know) will improve, I won't feel compelled to check in in social situations and instead actually socialize.  I think Facebook really has made us lack a lot of social graces, I know for some introverts they like it since they don't have to do anything and can "be involved" with what someone is doing, this is a good/bad thing, good because maybe in some cases it might help them be truly social, bad because all they ever do is lurk and never make it to the contact part of this equation.  I also got annoyed because I would use it as a tool to keep up with people and then do some social event or just as a way to say 'hey lets grab a bite to eat or beer and catch up,' in very few cases does that seem to work, I would make a lot of attempted contact with people that asked to be my friend or run into me and ask to exchange phone numbers, ok great your interest in contact is only again the initiation.  It never moves to actual reciprocal connection.  I am just tired of feeling I guess ditched by these people false interest or whatever it is.  I usually waited for people to make the suggestions, send the friend requests, all that because of the lack of any interest to make this social networking site about being social or about networking.  I attempt to use it as a good tool, but contrary to purpose and practice no one else seems to want to mimic that behaviour.  I grew tired of how when I mentioned considering leaving a ton of people that never even post or comment or anything on anything I do complain how much they will miss me... I'm like dude, I tried to make actual contact and keep up, but it seems you would rather just watch everything I do while playing The Police's "Every Breathe you Take" in the background and just being a general creepo.  You realize that if you were to attempt this in a offline fashion you would be arrested right?
My decision to leave is based on how I feel a lot of people on Facebook are vacuous to me in an unseen way, a lot of people drag me down with their bummer comments and constant whining via chat to me, and guess what I find myself doing the same thing, I'm like AHH.  People leech off you on Facebook, ready to pounce on you for whatever reason. I buy a nice new car, people jam up your butt about this and that about how crappy it is or whatever, Jeez people just be happy.  Facebook has just served to make blunt people into extreme jerks and regular people into critical blunt people that are annoying,  they use the excuse "I'm just being matter of fact."  No your being a butthead.  If I do return to Facebook, I'll likely use an alias and make sure I only add up a few people and forget the rest.  Which leads me to the next part.

Why do so many people assume Facebook friends mean you are "BFFs" or people that attempt to know everyone, people that have that many allegiances can't be trusted, look at even the best president or CEO there is always someone pointing at any faults or slight mistakes they have ever done.  The more people you know and have access to your information isn't a more is better situation.  I think of it like that old expression "Jack of all trades, master of none." Same general principle applies here, some good friends that have friend lists into the thousand + range without a good reason seem incapable of having actual friends. Even people that I was really close with before reconnecting, they seem to have this disconnect in all relationships now, yes I'm being very general.  If it weren't for having witnessed it so many times I would not have felt it worthy of mentioning. 

I don't want that many people to keep tabs on me, there are some people that while I still consider them friend, I made an effort to drift away from them for a reason.  One friend, I love her like a big sister and if she needed something I would still help her out, but she just always has to make things a test of friendship and tries to guilt you up about things, I don't like that, I'm a sensitive enough person without someone trying to take my feelings hostage with drama.  I don't know if that makes any sense.  When one of my friends makes it a point to try and go after any of my other friends that post something to my wall meant for me, and they get all up in someone else's business because they feel the need to police what everyone says, that is annoying.  Many have this entitled attitude...

Then there are the people that constantly have these passive aggressive observations directed at everyone, "if you don't repost this msg you are Hitler and throw babies on spikes, you are a huge jerk and no one loves you. Your entire life will be looked back at by the entire universe as the worst ever!!!" That is typically in ALL CAPS.  What the hell people... If you said any of this crap remotely in person people would throw you into an alligator pit or punch you in the face.  Who let all this riff raff on facebook?  I ignore a lot of these people and limit their access to my info and whether they can even post on my wall at times, but I am only doing this because if I delete them "I'm mean," no I'm not mean your are just an energy leeching douche bag that puts everyone down without realizing it, because "I tell it like it is."  I get bluntness, really, I do, but if you lack all manor of compassion and do that all the time, you lack manners and credibility.  I guess when it comes down to it I will see some of these high and mighty posts and feel like I don't do more for others and actually start to feel bad after reading a "chain status."  I could do more etc...

Yes you are probably saying, geez dude why take all this so personal?  Well like I said I am one of those people that, yes I know how this sounds since I'm saying it, is actually sensitive to things around them and if everyone is acting like they have poopy diapers it gets me down.  I don't need people to feel good, but something like Facebook attempts to make everyone need people for energy, extrovert qualities, but for me I don't need that, but for some reason I'm compelled to be on Facebook.  My norm is looking to God and within my own experiences for positive energy, and I start to see all that negativity on Facebook and it gets to me and interrupts my process. *shrug*  I don't know, I process information fast, and literally came up with most of this as I thought about, what about Facebook bothers me? I would get one thing, and then expand, then another, etc.  That and I feel like I'm trying to figure out what exactly it was in order to better understand myself...