I've just pimped my desktop ... and contemplated ten past eight.

I have just adorned my faithful iMac desktop with Bumptop for Mac (also available is Bumptop Windows). It's a sort-of 3D desktop with quite sweet little ways of organizing and arranging ones everyday things onto a main desktop (the floor) or one of 4 surrounding walls (front, back, left and right). I am going to persevere with this for a bit and see if I can live with it full-time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5IswixD5pw&NR=1

However, I suddenly had a thought! What about the ceiling ... has this been forgotten? So, I lay down on the desktop ... and looked up ...

and got to thinking about His Theory of ... well ... Everything.

I was contemplating the vastness of of infinitesimal things, when a neutron wave gently lapped against my unshaven countenance. I felt it was there, but when I looked at it ... it destroyed itself. It was a bit like 'ten past eight'. You believe it, but when you try to 'fence it in', you catch a bit of 'just before ten past eight' and 'a little bit after ten past eight'. No matter how small you make the interval, you can never pin 'ten past eight' down specifically and uniquely. So, perhaps it doesn't really exist after all.

Now, if you truly understand this latter concept, try it on your loved one as she jumps into the car screaming "... What the hell time is this, you sack of s**t? You were supposed to pick me up at ten past eight!" Go on ... try it.

Perhaps we should all re-read a Brief History ...

iPad, eBooks and my iPhone

I agree with Adrian' article below, totally.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=7738&tag=nl.e539

eBooks are definitely transient and the iPad (and its like) will gobble them up.

Personally, I am waiting for the iPad to appear and be used, before I commit.

My latest feelings on the iPhone now I have been using it for a few weeks? Mmmm ... the phone features are fine, most of the apps (the free ones anyway) are rubbish and connection to the internet is generally frustrating ... but I have got (just under) another two years of it!

Cloud development and broadband speed together will mould ...

... the form of future hardware interfaces to the Web. There will be a variety of models to suit the transient environment, lifestyle and wallet size of consumers. Personally, I find my iPhone excellent for SMS and compact e-mails, but useless (the screen is far too small) for general Web access. Domestic Web access will continue to be handled through multi-purpose TVs/projectors/desktops linked through a broadband router. However, I think there will always be a place for portable devices of some kind - netbook, iPad, laptop etc - for those on the move, whether they be students or pensioners.

This blog is in response to "Are netbooks dead? Yes, in the student market at least"

http://blogs.zdnet.com/igeneration/?p=4274&tag=nl.e550

I can see only clouds ...

The cloud is the future and both applications and large storage capacity on the PC (not forgetting the Mac) will soon be a thing of the past. I think the best analogy to how it will work is public utilities ... we buy what we need to consume on a contractual basis, obviating the need for relatively large capital expenditure. Do any of us (except you hippies) really want to install electricity generating equipment at the bottom of the garden? Well, I don't ... and neither does my fridge.

Getting used to the cloud ...

Now I have the iPhone, I have been coming to terms with my cloud storage.

Have decided (for now anyway) to split my current needs between the 3 Leviathans, Google, Apple and Yahoo.

Google = EMail, Docs and Blog (using Chrome over FFx and Safi). Have now transferred all my saved personal S(tandard)Mail to Docs and am getting used to its interface. Also need to checkout the spreadsheets. Have now ditched Word/NeoOffice to originate SMail and other stuff. Need to retry publishing my thoughts through Blogger as evidenced here!. Google Cost = Free (currently)

Apple = Contacts and Websites (via MobileMe). This syncs 2-way with MacContacts and iPhoneContacts and 1-way with GMailContacts. However the latter has some inconsistencies that I am trying to iron out! Websites conveniently created and manipulated through iWeb on the Mac. Apple Cost = a massive £59 pa (I really must love Apple ;) )

Yahoo = Photos (via Flickr). I have just set up an account ... and will probably go with this big time. Yahoo cost = Free (currently)

A little rant ...

What is the Blogger obsession with this astrological nonsense. I did a search on my occupation, to find others (of my professional leaning) described as eg "Astarte ... 46 year old female Leo ... " What mind-boggling information. But wait, it gets better. The Chinese would have it that I am a wooden monkey ... aw ..... I wanna be a wooden monkey ... and not a scorpion.

Even the fabulous* tenets upon which Christianity and Islam are based, pale into insignificance compared with the utter banality of this 'star-sign' clap-trap. At least the two aforementioned religions/cultures are dotted with well-meaning advocates who genuinely care about their fellow human beings (incidentally, you fanatics are excluded here ... you know who you are ... you go about hating, maiming and even killing ... all because you KNOW you're right ... that must be quite a responsibility). The astrologers care only about fleecing the gullible to death. Yes, Mr and Mrs G, they'll take every penny you've got!

If Blogger wants to make it really entertaining ('tis all Astrology is after all), why not ask our band of bloggers about breast, waist and hip measurements? Could we please find out whether they have visited a country with a foreign-sounding name. ... and what's wrong with sexual history? Surely that would be more entertaining.

fabulous* = I refer to the creed of "If you don't understand it, invent an all-powerful entity to have created it. Ergo, it is explained!" Come on, what could be simpler? There are now no more mysteries in the Universe. So, instead of wondering about where things came from at the beginning and why the majority of mankind lives in poverty, we can now do the creator's will, which of course is whatever the religious leaders say it is. I'll give them their due ... it has worked for thousands of years. I wonder if it will still be there at the dawn of the 30th century (AD, of course).

The Family Unit (Dream)

I ate some cheese last night, just before departing to the land of Nod, and as a consequence had a strange dream.

It basically revolved around attempting to fit (mathematical) group theory to the family unit structure. During the dream, it all seemed to fit rather nicely, but in the cold light of day ... I am not quite so sure. For example, is a particular family (unit) an element of a group or the group itself ... and how are group operations defined? I need to consider this further!