The winter blahs may be lifting. I put myself on the club airplane schedule. I’m going to knock some rust off my aviator skills with an instructor and get ready for a spring and summer of flying.
I will never understand how my dad and grandfather went the entire winter without flying at all. Not getting up there gets me way too moody.
Pet Shop Boys have released an EP called “Agenda”. Pardon my language, but it’s fucking brilliant. “Clash” features a review.
The theme of the four track EP is on point. Described as “three satirical tracks and one sad track”, it sounds like classic Pet Shop Boys with modern lyrics. The last track, “The forgotten child”, made me cry.
Here’s the track listing, you can probably figure out the overall theme on your own.
I’ve included the lyrics to “Give stupidity a chance” to portray the vibe of the EP. It is available on Apple Music, Spotify, etc., and the CD is available for pre-order from their official website.
“Give stupidity a chance”
Intelligent people have had their say
It’s time for the foolish to show the way
Let’s lead this world a merry dance
Let’s give stupidity a chance
We’ve heard quite enough of experts and their dealings
Why face the facts when you can just feel the feelings?
Let’s lead this world a merry dance
Let’s give stupidity a chance
Forget political correctness
I mean W-T-F
I don’t wanna think about the world
I wanna talk about myself
Instead of governing with thoughtful sensitivity
Let’s shock and awe the world with idiotic bigotry
Let’s lead this world a merry dance
And give stupidity a chance
You say corruption, I say justified reward
Keeps the cronies loyal chairmen of the board
Let’s lead this world a merry dance
And give stupidity a chance
Forget political correctness
Let’s talk man to man
Chicks are always up for it
You gotta grab whatever you can
We need a leader who knows that money means class
With an eye for a peach-perfect piece of ass
Not a total dumb-cluck, just one of the guys
Let’s give stupidity a prize
Let’s lead this world a merry dance
And give stupidity a chance
Let’s give stupidity a chance
After a little over 48 hours I can confidently say that I am not ready to go an iPad as my full-time computer. I find iOS on the iPad Pro to be quite slick, but it’s not robust enough for my power use. I missed having a mouse or trackpad and I found working in apps all the time to be too confining. Plus, the web browsing experience is not all the way there. It’s 95% there, but there are still too many sites that just act abnormally on iOS.
The new iPad Pros are amazing. The Apple Pencil is awesome and I love my 10-inch iPad a lot. It’s *perfect* for my aviation needs. It’s perfect for writing a blog entry or editing photos on the go. But editing movies? Writing code? Making graphics? It just doesn’t completely fill my needs.
Let’s see what iOS 13 brings. In the meanwhile, I’m going to continue to love this mid-2015 15-inch MacBook Pro. The keyboard is awesome, it works the way I want it to work, and it does what I need it to do.
It’s that time of year when I’m fighting off the SADs. I’ve been taking vitamins and trying to get as much sunshine as possible this year, but Seasonal Affectation Disorder hits me and I feel like doing nothing.
I keep trying to figure out a way for Earl and me to go on a quick weekend Jeep trip and head south, even if it’s just far enough to get into temperatures in the 40s.
There’s so much to do in the city, even in the winter, and I try to keep busy, but sometimes that wind is just so cold and brutal, the sky is cloudy and gray, and there isn’t an opportunity to fly or really enjoy a nice walk along our neighborhood streets.
I’d give anything to reasonably ride a bike right now.
I do see cyclists everyday, no matter the weather. Even when we had historic lows a couple of weeks ago, someone would go riding by on their bicycle, headed to wherever they were going. I love the fact that Chicago is such a cyclist friendly city. Because there’s some crazy cyclists out there.
I’m sure warmer weather isn’t too far off; we’re only a few weeks away from the beginning of Daylight Saving Time (don’t get me started on that).
I’ll be happy when spring finally arrives.
I took a walk to Lincoln Park and along Lake Michigan during the snow flurries this afternoon. Here’s some photos.
I’m in the midst of my personal 30 (well, 28) day challenge for the month of February and it’s going quite well. This was in personal to me and not something I really wish to discuss on the blog as of yet, so there’s that. Since this personal growth challenge is going so well, I decided to add a 20 day tech challenge for the remainder of the month.
I’ve been reading up about the latest flavors of iPad, Google tablets, and Microsoft Surface products; all manufacturers are claiming these things are their solution to the “ultimate computer”, no matter what form this computing device takes. All three solutions I’ve been reading up on, the iPad Pro, the Microsoft Surface Pro, and the Google Pixel Slate, offer a hybrid approach of tablet with keyboard. All but the iPad Pro provide support for a pointing device like a mouse or trackpad.
I have the original version of the 10-inch iPad Pro. It’s my Electronic Flight Bag, having replaced my previous Mac Mini in that area, and it works very well in that role, especially when coupled with an Apple Pencil. My 20 day tech challenge for the remainder of the month is to see if I can do everything I want to do with my daily computing needs by just using this iPad Pro.
My iPad Pro has the latest version of iOS and it is coupled with the Logitech Slim Folio Keyboard Case. The keyboard is backlit and connects to my iPad through the SmartConnector, so I don’t need to charge it separately nor do I have to pair it via Bluetooth. It just works. I love that about it. I also love the keyboard. Though it is smaller due to the small size of my iPad, it is very comfortable to type on and I can fly along with my typing habits with ease. This keyboard also provides typical full-sized laptop function keys, something missing on the Apple Smart Cover available for iPad. I also prefer the Logitech keyboard’s touch, feel, and travel over the Smart Cover from Apple.
iOS and the App Store provide all of the tools I need for this little quest I’m on. The goal of this 20 day venture is to force me to learn all the nuances of the iOS experience on an iPad and to determine whether it can ultimately fully replace my MacBook Pro. While I don’t plan on replacing this iPad any time soon (it’s the perfect size for the cockpit), I am looking at possibly replacing my MacBook Pro with the newer, larger iPad Pro, if it is something that I can absolutely do.
One of my goals it to play around with editing video during this challenge, so don’t be surprised if you see a flight video or something before the end of the month.
The tech companies are trying hard to push us to a tablet driven experience for our primary computing needs and it feels like we need to shift the computing paradigm a little bit to get technology moving in a forward direction again.
Let’s see how my little experiment turns out.
Apple announced this week that Angela Ahrendts, senior vice president, retail, would be leaving the company to pursue other personal and professional interests. She has been with the company and in the position for around five years.
I have been surprised by the number of people overjoyed with this announcement. Occasionally it has been Ms. Ahrendts enthusiasm and energy in the position that has kept me soldiering on through some of Apple’s rough spots over the past couple of years, and by “rough spots” I’m referring to security breaches and other particularly interesting bugs released to the wild.
As the leader of Apple’s retail ventures, Angela brought “Today At Apple” to their retail stores. Her vision of the Apple retail experience included transforming the Apple Store to “Town Squares”, where folks could hang out, learn about their Apple devices, chat with other Apple tech enthusiasts, and, if so inclined, buy something or get something fixed. The new Apple (I guess it’s no longer called Apple Store) on Michigan Avenue here in Chicago was a prime example of this. There’s lots of seating, I huge presentation area for “Today At Apple” seminars and, though I haven’t seen it in person, a conference area for business customers. I have occasionally seen folks out for a walk with Apple employees, taking photos along the Chicago River. Angela was very much a proponent of solidifying the human connection to Apple technology.
Many have been speculating as to why Angela is leaving the company. Is it because of the recent earnings announcement? Slowing iPhone sales? Is Tim Cook unhappy?
Honestly, even though Apple is a very public and publicly traded company, is it really our business as to why Angela is leaving? Apple retail has flourished for the past five years under her leadership. I often hear of folks complaining about wait times or stores being in disarray. Maybe I’ve been lucky to not have experienced this sort of thing. But truthfully I couldn’t care less as to why Angela is leaving. It’s really none of my business.
I’m sure there will be changes at Apple retail locations when Vice President of People Deirdre O’Brien takes over leadership for the division. I’m interested to see if the changes Angela made stay in place or if the locations go off in a new direction.
In the meanwhile, I wish Angela well in her new personal and professional endeavors.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
Weird? Eccentric!
