General

The evolution of the smartphone (more smart, less phone)

My current phone is an iPhone 6 and I’ve had it for a little under three years, which is something like 20 in phone years.

It’s been paid off for nine months so I’m free to get a new phone anytime. I’ve resisted until now because there’s nothing wrong with it, though of late it has been a little more sluggish and battery life seems worse. It’s still perfectly usable.

But with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus out and the iPhone X (10) due out in a little over a month, I’m mulling a replacement.

The weird thing is the phone part–where you make calls and take calls–is probably the aspect I’m least interested in. I’m a lot more interested in the rear-facing camera as my iPhone has replaced my Canon point-and-shoot camera. I’m also more interested in getting a newer device that would be snappier when running apps, retrieving information and other non-phone tasks. I mean, yes, I expect it to handle phone calls, too, but I actually don’t really talk much on the phone anymore and I kind of like it that way.

The other thing I’m mulling is moving to a larger phone. When I am on a call it’s often via ear buds, so I’m not holding a giant glass and aluminum slab next to my ear, anyway. The benefits are better battery life and a larger display for all those non-phone things.

The downside to this contemplation is Apple evolving back to ludicrous pricing territory (last seen prior to Jobs returning in 1997), which, combined with the Canadian dollar, means the 8 Plus and X sell for between $1,000-$1,300.

Or maybe I could just get a new sim for the $40 Samsung flip phone I still have tucked away in a drawer. Granted, it could really only do the phone part, but I could use the leftover $1,000 on, I don’t know, $1,000 worth of apple fritters or something.

Anyway, smartphones are expensive, which sucks, but they do all kinds of nifty things now, which is neat. The end!

Keyboards are hard

A month after posting about getting a new keyboard, I do not have a new keyboard.

But I did break out two of the three (!) mechanical keyboards I already have to test them again.

Playing around with the Filco with brown switches convinced me of two things:

  1. The form factor without numeric keypad is the way to go.
  2. Brown switches are not the way to go.

Playing around with the Das with blue switches left me more uncertain. First, the Das specifically is big and heavy and I’m not really into big and heavy for my keyboards anymore. It also has a glossy finish. Note to keyboard manufacturers: NEVER DO THIS. The gloss attracts fingerprints and reflects light like crazy. It doesn’t look good, it just looks distracting.

I still like the feel of blue switches but having used a Logitech K750 for a good long while now, it’s a big shift to go from a low-travel soft touch laptop-style keyboard to one that CLACKS with great force.

So it’s made me wonder if my other choice from the above-linked post, red switches, might be the way to go. You get the reliability of a mechanical switch but without the CLACK, you get the handy non-keypad form factor, and you get keys that actuate without requiring a lot of force.

I’m still undecided.

I’ll pledge to make a decision before National Novel Writing Month starts. That means I have one month. If it goes like my attempts to come up with ideas for NaNoWriMo, I will not be announcing the recently-placed keyboard order I’ve made on October 31. But we’ll see.

I kind of wish Logitech made a version of the K750 without the numeric keypad. I’d grab that in an instant. They do have smaller keyboards, but they all either connect via Bluetooth (yuck) or don’t have full-size navigation keys or both. Why is there no Goldilocks keyboard? Or why can’t I find it?

The answer in one month!*

UPDATE, April 29, 2018: I just ordered the Cooler Master MasterKeys S, a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard with red switches. It’s significantly cheaper than the customizable WASD keyobards I’ve considered, so it will serve as a (still pricey) test drive of red switches. I will make a new post to describe how it goes. And how clicky it is.

*answer may or may not be included.

The first day of fall 2017: Not too shabby

The first day of fall was nicer than the last day of summer, with pleasant, mild conditions, some sun and all that stuff.

Because it was nice out and I suddenly did not feel like sitting around again for my lunch break, I went for a noon-hour walk for the first time since pulling the muscle in my upper left leg. The leg seems to have survived intact, even after I picked up to a more typical pace by the end (I walked a little over 4 km in total).

After work I hung out with a few guys from work and a former guy from work (that is, someone who formerly worked at Langara, not someone formerly a guy) at a pub on False Creek and it was quite nice by the water, though it got a bit chilly once the sun ducked behind a cloud.

I got home shortly after 7:30 p.m. and it was already dark. I was sad. It still seems bizarre that there are times in the past when I would start a run as late as 8 p.m. to beat the heat. I’d need night vision goggles for that right now. Plus I’d probably barf if I actually tried running in the dark wearing night vision goggles.

Anyway, I must come to grips with the change of season. It’s official now, there’s no going back unless time travel becomes a thing (but if it was a thing, wouldn’t I already have gone back? Wouldn’t I in fact be living in a perpetual summer, constantly skipping back to the warm days and long nights? Now I am sad again.)

A soggy 2017 birthday

Today is my birthday.

I celebrated by drinking an entire carton of eggnog.

Just kidding. The Save On Foods nearby isn’t selling eggnog for at least a few more days.

Instead I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, other than being treated to a nice dinner out by Jeff. The day was gray and wet and cool, like a fall day, except it’s technically still summer.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and sunnier. It figures.

On the plus side, I’m still around and kicking and complaining, so there’s that.

And now, a birthday haiku:

Another year gone
A little less hair for me
Better bald than dead

Pumpkin spice eggnog Valentine whatever

It’s that time of year again.

Not even halfway through September, with it still officially summer and me still dressed in shorts, Safeway begans selling eggnog.

Save On Foods had already started selling pumpkins before that, and every place that has a “pumpkin spice” drink like Tim Hortons and Starbucks rolled them out to officially start this year’s blurring together of all holidays.

It has happened slightly earlier this year compared to previous years, so retailers are still testing how far they can push this nonsense. I predict we’ll have August eggnog within a few years.

I kind of hate everything right now because of this.

Bah humbug, you might say.

(By the way, if this all sounds familiar, it’s because I wrote a similar rant last year, when eggnog appeared in October. How we have progressed!)