Geek

OK, let me start this post with two important notes, actually three important notes:

1. This is another Macboy related post.
2. I really am a developer so everything I obtain is via legitimate means.
3. I’m scared to death of Apple so I won’t post screen shots or go into specific details of what I’m experiencing whilst beta testing.

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, Apple previewed their newest versions of iOS (for the iDevices), called iOS 7, and OS X (for the Macs). The newest version of OS X breaks the tradition of being named after big cats and is called OS X Mavericks.

I’m not a huge fan of the name but it works for me. I still think “Sea Lion” would have been kind of fun.

As an OS X and iOS developer, I utilized my vast developer powers and installed the beta versions of each of these new offerings on my test devices. These are my gut reactions after just over 12 hours of experience with the new platforms.

Surprisingly, my old MacBook Pro from 2008 runs OS X Mavericks in its current incarnation just fine and it seems a little snappier than OS X Mountain Lion. There are some subtle changes in the interface that I certainly appreciate and it feels quite comfortable to me. One of the things that I really like is the deeper integration with iOS; it’s kind of cool being able to find a place in Maps on my Mac and send the information to my iPhone automagically. I know, I know, others have been able to do this for a while but the bright spot of doing it on OS X is that I don’t have to see an advertisement whilst doing it. OS X Mavericks is a comfortable evolution that I am thoroughly enjoying.

iOS 7 is more than an evolution, it’s an abrupt change.

Keeping in mind that I am running beta 1 of iOS 7, there are some things that I am finding a little confounding.

First of all, I don’t understand this obsession with Helvetica Neue as the default font. Anyone and everyone is looking to make their logo and other typography as svelte as possible with Helvetica Neue.

I believe that if you’re going to say something, say it boldly and Helvetica Neue is anything but bold. In fact, it can be a little rough on the eyes. But it’s EVERYWHERE in iOS 7 and I guess there’s not a dang thing I can do about it.

There has been a lot of chatter about the new icons in iOS 7 and I have to admit that I agree that they feel like they’re missing some of the polish that I have grown to love about Apple. I don’t know that “cartoonish” is a word that I would use; they just feel amateurish to me, almost as if they were an afterthought. There’s a certain lack of class. Maybe these are just placeholders until the real things come out because of course, this could all change at a moment’s notice and it probably will.

That all being said, I like the way that iOS 7 works. I had to make some changes to muscle memory when it came to handling email (I apparently used to swipe the wrong way?) but otherwise in that respect iOS 7 feels more familiar to me than I thought it would. The change isn’t as jarring as say, moving to an Android device. I really like the animations and the slight 3D effects. Of course, this is style over substance but I think it does contribute to the spit and polish that Apple is known for.

There is a feature missing in iOS 7 that I hope will return in later releases and that’s the “Tap to Tweet” and “Tap to Post” buttons in the notification center. I LOVED being able to be witty in 140 characters or less by just typing my hilarity in a pull down box and then going on with life. That functionality is missing right now and it’s kind of a bummer to have to open up my Twitter client (I use Tweetbot) to be witty. Half the time the moment has passed.

The Sybil sides of me have been hot and cold about iOS 7 over the last 12 hours, but the sensible side of me has been determined to just calm down and make a fair assessment of the new experience.

I’m looking forward to seeing how iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks progress.

So yesterday I went on my rant about the government monitoring phone call metadata on Verizon’s network. As the day progressed, it was revealed that the government is doing much more than that through a program they called PRISM.

My tin foil hat is squarely in place now.

That being said, I’m not going to harp on that right now. I’m very calm today. I’m enjoying my Friday and I’m going to pretend that all is right with the world.

I’m taking some precautionary steps to make things just a little more difficult for the NSA.

1. I have moved whatever email I had left on Gmail to my own domain on a little server that is powered by a windmill.
2. I have switched back to Mozilla Firefox as my primary browser.
3. I removed Google+ from my phone simply because it was eating up way too much battery life.

In addition, I am currently in the process of drafting a letter to my government officials expressing my displeasure with the latest turn of events in this whole PRISM thing.

And I’m doing it quite calmly.

Far and away, the most popular blog entry on “Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity” is an entry about the old WT Grants Department Store chain, as inspired by my spotting of a former GRANTS sign on the side of a barn at a place called Grant’s Farm Market.

Through the original blog entry, I have learned that the pictured sign came from the store at the current Shoppingtown Mall in the Town of DeWitt outside of Syracuse.

The blog entry has given many former Grants employees the opportunity to reconnect. I’m happy that I was able to provide them this opportunity.

There are worse things in the world to be popular about.

My friend Tim sent me two clocks for my collection of school clocks made by The Standard Electric Time Company.

This clock is from 1939.

This clock is 29 years newer and ironically, the same age as I am, as evidenced by its date stamp of July 1968.

Despite their difference in age, both clocks are completely compatible and interchangeable with one another. The newer clock is considerably louder than the older one when it advances on the minute, so I’m still considering what room it will be added to.

Both have been refinished to a remarkable level. Tim and his partner Kevin are quite the handymen when it comes to this stuff.

There’s a vibe at the office today that is kind of hard to describe. I came into work in a really good mood and while I am still in a good mood, there’s a heaviness in the air that is hard to shake off. I’m trying to decide if it’s because of the rain or if it’s just the universe today. The recent announcement of changes to the organization have undoubtedly rattled people, and that’s probably it.

I needed some sort of jumpstart get myself back on the happy track, and this is where YouTube comes into play. I was delighted to see that one of my favorite movies of all time is available on there.

I have always said that my favorite movie of all time is “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World”, but now that I think about it, I think “Bell, Book and Candle” is actually my favorite movie now. I would have loved the opportunity to see the stage production that inspired the 1958 James Stewart/Kim Novak film, but I don’t think anyone is doing that production anymore. Maybe it needs a revival.

If you are unfamiliar with the movie, “Bell, Book and Candle” stars Kim Novak as Gillian Holroyd, a witch who falls in love with Shepard Henderson, played by James Stewart. This complicates life for both of them. The movie co-stars Ernie Kovacks, Hermione Gingold, Elsa Lanchester and Jack Lemmon. There are many similarities to the television show “Bewitched” (Aunt Queenie from the movie could easily be Aunt Clara’s sister), but there are some, well, bewitching differences as well that I find enchanting. As an extra bonus (because I am a geek after all), one of the magical sound effects is recycled nearly 20 years later to accompany “Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!”.

Watching parts of the movie during this lunch hour have gotten my spirits back on track. I guess there’s a bit of magic in that movie after all.

9 to 5 Mac is reporting some new details on the planned changes for iOS 7, the next operating system to run the iDevices (iPhone/iPod/iPad). It sounds like Jony Ive is going to follow the current industry trend of making things look flatter and more minimalistic.

I like minimalistic. However, one of my beefs with my brief exposure to Windows 8 was that it was so “flat” that the user didn’t know what elements were clickable and what wasn’t clickable. I don’t like that sort of confusion.

I have always been impressed with Sir Jony’s hardware designs and I’m really excited to see what he’s done with iOS when it’s announced at WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) in a few weeks, but I’m really hoping that there is some added functionality as well. I don’t want only aesthetic improvements, I really want Siri to come out of beta and to be capable of a lot more than she currently is. Google is getting ready to launch a “conversational” search engine interface, Apple should be gearing up to do the same with Siri.

Still, I’m quite excited about WWDC and I’m really looking forward to seeing what changes make it to iOS 7.

A friend at work lost her garage and its contents (including their vehicles) in a fire that was started by a lightning strike during one of the storms that blew through last night. Since yesterday was already a pretty tense day at work, I can’t imagine having to deal with that as well.

See, this is the part of thunderstorms that I don’t like. Mother Nature can get a bit zealous with her wild ways. I was happy to see that folks at work are stepping up to help where they can.

I spent the drive home and some of my evening last night chasing the storms that came through. The weather radio was going crazy with announcements but there wasn’t anything wicked huge, just kind of loud and boisterous.

As I type this, the weather radio here in the kitchen just started blaring. We are under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10:00 p.m. tonight. It’s a good thing I gassed up the Jeep and charged up the portable weather radios.

I tried taking a photo off the front porch of the house during one of the storms yesterday evening.

I should have made sure the video camera was charged up as well. I’m ready for tonight.

As I fell asleep last night, I watched yet another light show. I captured this photo with my iPad.

The proper way to listen to Agnetha Faltskög whilst writing code. I am still loving this album.