Resolutions

I recently read an article by one of those magazine shrinks that said that the important part about new years resolutions isn't keeping them; it's making them that matters. The process of making resolutions forces you to imagine how you would like your life to be different and imagine actions you can take to make the dream real. The more specific the resolutions the better.
Since it is that time of year, I'm going to take the article to heart and make three specific resolutions; one for work, one for family, and one for me.
For work I resolve to work as part of a team that accepts nothing short of excellent. Far to often we settle for doing the minimum because of resource constraints or we accept crappy user interfaces because the developers know best. This year I resolve that I will strive to do what is needed to provide the maximum benefit for the end user. I will not simply accept good enough. I will not sit idly by when a developer creates a bad UI or tries to slip a buggy feature into a release because it is good enough or there isn't enough time to fix it.
At home I resolve to do more around the house. I have a bad habit of putting off washing the dinner dishes until H just does them. I also tend to let laundry sit without being folded. In the warmer months I'm not great at keeping up with the yard work. This year I will be better about getting this stuff done.
For myself I resolve to take better care of myself. This includes flossing every night, doing something active at least three times a week, and eating better. I'll think twice before stopping at the McDonalds for a super size Big Mac meal. I'll actually order non-fat lattes. I'll eat more veggies. I'll actually start using the gym at work.
I want to be around for Kenzie for as long as possible. I also want to be a good role model for her. I want her to grow up seeing her dad living a healthy lifestyle, treating his partner with love and respect, and striving to be the best the he can be.
I know I'll fall short of these resolutions, but I will try to get closer to living my life according to them.

Long form journalism

For the last couple of months I've been doing most of my reading using the one of the best tech combos of 2010: Instapaper and the iPad. Instapaper is a Web service that allows you to save Web pages (stripped of all the crappy advertising and "design") to read later. Instapaper also has an iOS app that lets you save Instapaper articles off line and read them. The iPad's screen and the apps simple layout make reading a breeze.
What this combo does for me is make it possible for me to read longer articles than I normally would. You know how it goes, during the day you scroll through your Twitter and RSS feeds and see some interesting articles that you want to read, but you've only got ten or fifteen minutes between meetings or a half hour for lunch. So you bookmark the page and hope to get back to it later-on your work computer.
Now I send the page to Instapaper and can read it a my leisure on the iPad. It means that I actually read most of those articles.
It has helped me rediscover they joy of reading well crafted pieces of journalism. The best manage to inform and entertain. The tell a story while educating you or presenting a compelling argument.
I read an article about a serial killer in Moscow who managed to hunt for years because his victims were poor. I read a sad story about a high school athlete who died due to multiple head injuries. I read a great article about the effects of solitary confinement.
Even of you don't use Instapaper, I recommend reading more long form journalism. Read stuff you normally wouldn't. Read things that seem interesting or odd. The nice thing is that even long articles are only a few pages long. They only take 30 minutes, maybe an hour, to read. It is well worth it.

The Joy of Instapaper

Instapaper is a "read it later" web service. The idea is that in our daily Web surfing, RSS skimming, and Twiter trolling we come across interesting articles that are too long to read in the 5 minute window we have allotted for our hourly Web break from work. Using Instapaper you can save the article to read when you have the time and focus to read the article.
What separates Instapaper from a bookmarking service is that it is built around the idea that you will return to read interesting articles on a mobile device and not a full blown computer.
The saved articles are run through a robust "mobilizer" filter that strips out most of the adverts and other clutter that festoons typical Web sites. This makes it easier to read on a mobile device and makes it easier to focus on reading the actual content of the article.
Instapaper has mobile applications for iOS that allows you to sync your saved articles for reading offline. The applications run on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. They have a number of helpful features including the ability to switch to a white on black theme for bed time reading and syncing your place in an article across your devices.
Instapaper also works with e-readers. You can download articles in e-pub format to sync with many e-readers. Kindle users can get their saved articles sent to their Kindles.
Getting articles into Instapaper is easy and getting easier. On a desktop Web browser you can install a bookmarklet that saves a Wen page to Instapaper. A number of mobile apps and desktop applications use the Instapaper API to build Instapaper directly into their interfaces. For example the iOS Twitter app has a menu item to save articles to Instapaper.
One of the features a really like is the "Editors Pick" section. The editor's picks run the gamut. They are long form articles from all corners of the Web. Not all of them interest me, but having access to them helps expand my reading circle.
Instapaper is a mostly free service. You can get an account for free and use all of the features on the Web site. For free you also get a very functional iOS application. For a few dollars, you can get the Pro version of the Instapaper app that adds folder control, better control of syncing, and a few other features. The developer is also thinking about adding a subscription to the mix, but that idea has not been terribly fleshed out. He has, however, promised that most of the features will always be free.
For me paying the five bucks for the Pro app was a no brainer. I use the service all the time and could spare a latte to keep the developer in business. Try the service for free, and you will quickly agree.

The Fall

The Fall is the second book in the Strain trilogy. The plot follows directly on the heels of the first book. As with the first book, the writing is superb. The plot is tight and the characters are well drawn. I do have a few minor quips: there is too many instances of "something seemed off, but there was no time to process it." the grand arc of the narrative hews too closely to well worn archetypes. the authors occasionally resort to lazy plot devices.
Mostly, these quips result from my having high expectations of e authors. Del Toro is a master storyteller. For the most part, the story lives up to my high expectations. I'd be more happy if the story took some liberties with the narrative. The new take on vampire mythology is inventive and modern, and I was hoping for the same in the story arc.
I'm still eagerly awaiting the final installment of the trilogy. These books are excellent and I love a good vampire tale.

The Count of Monte Christo

Reading the Count of Monte Christo was an epic undertaking. My recollection of reading it in high school was that it was a pretty quick read. Either we read an abridged version, or I took way more drugs than I thought in high school. It is a long book, but it is mostly worth it.
I won't lie and say that it is gripping throughout or that Dumas' editor shouldn't have made him cut the length in half. It drags in places and the length allows the plot to get overly convoluted. For instance, the section of the book that takes place in Rome could have been cut by a third at least. The whole subplot about Villefort's wife could also have been cut as well as Calderous.
Of course, these are critiques based on modern sensibilities. When Dumas was writing, his book was in line with what the audience wanted. It was a soap opera for the time. The lush descriptions, the excess of characters, the purple prose were not meant for us over hurried, TVfied, post Hemingway readers.
Fortunately, the book is loaded with archetypes. There is the greedy banker, the ambitious public servant, the noble warrior who must be tested, the noble vengeance, the rebirth, and the hero journey. It moves from happiness to darkness and back to happiness just like a good movie.
Along the way the audience learns a lesson about the follies of greed, ambition, and revenge. Of course, revenge, when justified, is justice and the agent is an instrument of good.
Did I find the book good? Yes. Is it a masterpiece? No. It was entertainment for the masses of its day, and is still a serviceable distraction for today's masses.

Asimov's Youth

"Youth" is an early, and short, work. It tells the tale of two explorers who crash on a mission of commerce and are discovered by two children. The children cage the explorers and want to sell them to the circus.
It is an interesting piece because it hints at themes Asimov expands on in his later works. The children see the visitors as animals because they look different and they don't have a means of communication. The visitors know the children mean no harm because they are telepathic.
The children's parents represent two ends of the human spectrum: scientist and industrialist. The scientist is expecting the visitors and is eager to learn from them. The industrialist awaits the visitors with a mixture of trepidation and opportunism.
The world of the story has suffered from a cataclysmic man-made disaster. The people could not control the technology or their base instincts. The result was near annihilation. The scientist thinks that the visitors and their technology can jump start a new technological era for the world and that the visitors offer hope that a race can master technology without destroying itself. The industrialist is not so sure. He fears their technology and it's effects on his people, while desiring to see if their technology can make him profit.
In the end, the visitors win over the industrialist. They demonstrate restraint in the use of their deadly weapons. The industrialist sees that the visitors are not too much different than he is. They have basic human kindness and want to explore and make profit.
The end of the story is an O'Henry twist. It makes the point of the story more poignant.

His Robot Girlfriend

As the title implies this book is about a man who buys a robot girlfriend. I downloaded it for free hoping that it would be a meditation on consciousness, humanity, and intelligence. At the very least, I was hoping for some commentary about how attached to our digital crutches. Sadly, it just a book about a lonely guy who buys a robot girlfriend and ends up marrying her.
The robot is smoking hot and exists solely to make the protagonist happy. There are a few glimmers of her having a personality when they visit a Star Trek exhibit the has "anti robot" sentiments. Sadly, it bothers her only because she fears it will make him uncomfortable.
While, the protagonist's life steadily improves over the course of the book, it made me sad. His life gets better partially because the robot girlfriend feeds him the right foods and forces him to exercise. Most of his improvement must be attributed to his escape from loneliness. His robot girlfriend provides him with companionship and sex and a reason to get up in the morning - things that he couldn't find another human being to provide for him.
Color me old fashioned, but I cannot fathom how a mash-up between an iPhone and a blow-up doll can replace human companionship. Relationships between humans can be messy and hard, but that is part of what makes them special. At the end of the day, I don't want my partner to have no desires or interests beyond making me happy. I'd shoot myself.
On a positive note, the book is short, free, and easy to read.

Feed

Feed is a first person political thriller written in a time when zombies are a serious threat. Thirty years before the novel takes place two viruses-one that cured cancer and one that cured the common cold-combined into a highly contagious disease that turns its victims into mindless flesh chomping disease vectors.
The other bit of background required to drive the plot is that blogging has gone mainstream. When bioterrorists released the cure for the common cold and triggered the epidemic of walking dead, the mainstream media dropped the ball and bloggers picked it up.
The story is a first person narrative that follows a group of bloggers on the campaign trail as they report on a hot Presidential campaign. Things heat up when it is discovered that someone is intentionally infecting people with the zombie plague to effect the outcome of the campaign.
The main characters are well drawn and the plot moves along at a good pace. I had a hard time putting the book down. The author occasionally repeats information or spends too much time laying out background information, but that does not detract from the overall pace of the novel. Towards the middle of the novel a number of supporting characters are introduced that are never fleshed out enough. Since this is the first of a planned trilogy, I assume that they are important in the following books. (I have a general problem with a potboiler that is a planned trilogy. I think a good murder/conspiracy story should be able to fit into 500 pages. More than that allows for story destroying flab.)
For non-zombie fans the author does a good job of keeping the zombies in the background. They are just a part of the world in which the novel takes place. Their effect permeates the story as it permeates the lives of the characters. The gore is also kept to a minimum.
Aside from being a good read, Feed considers a lot of interesting questions. What unintended consequences will our quest for better health bring about? Is genetic engineering safe? What is happening to our news agencies? How would society change when being social can get you killed? Is righteousness bordering zealotry capable of good?
Overall, I recommend Feed as a good read.

Alice in Wonderland

This is another of those books that I would have sworn I read years ago. As it turns out, I had never read the actual book. The characters and title are so widely used throughout our culture, it is hard to know what is the real deal and what is just borrowed.
A lot of what I thought I knew about Alice and Wonderland is made up. The actual Alice in Wonderland is both more and less than the added mythology. The plot is less than the myth, but the characters are deeper. Alice is much more like a real little girl. She is precocious and rude and impatient, but tries very hard to be nice. Her struggles to make sense of the craziness reminded me of how hard it can be to figure out real life.
The rest of Wonderland is just as well drawn as Alice. It is a masterful piece of literature and a masterful children's story.

iBooks

I've now read a book using iBooks on my iPad.
Overall, it was a positive experience. The text is crisp and I didn't find the backlit screen fatiguing. I liked that I could dim the backlighting when I was reading in bed or adjust the text size. The animations are fun. The landscape mode that splits into to pages is also neat.
I've read a number of reviews that find the lengths iBooks take to look a book distracting at best. I disagree. The two page look of the landscape view is not perfect, but I find it more natural than the wide page display of other e-readers. The neat page flip animation is slick and sort of refreshing. The biggest complaint I've read is that the number of pages in the margin does not change as you get further into the book. While I think that would be a neat trick, I don't find it bothersome. In fact, I like having that margin there. It makes it harder to accidentally change the page.
The controls for reading are also well done. It is easy to move through a book by swiping or touching the margins. The pop-over for the dictionary is excellent. I also like the fact that the controls are on the top of the page. It seems more natural than having them on the bottom of the page.
iBooks is not perfect by a long stretch. I'd like a way to annotate books. I'd like to be able to use library books. I'd like a white text on balk background theme.
Perhaps the most annoying thing I found was that the brightness setting isn't sticky. When you switch out of iBooks, or the iPad goes to sleep, the interface automatically switches back to full brightness. When reading in bed, this can be particularly bad. At full brightness, the screen is blinding.
Now that Stanza is available on the iPad, I have to see how iBooks stands up to my favorite e-reader on the iPhone. I don't think Stanza will do well. iBooks doesn't offer more in terms of functionality, but it does look more polished. I'll report back after a more extensive test drive.