Current location:	Preferably whereever Gareth David-lloyd is....
Current mood:	accomplished

Thoughts from a nerd-gasm...
Considering how long this entry wound up being, I'm putting it under a cut tag to save you space on the friends pages and whatnots...

So...I was going to spend some time tonight talking about things that have happened in the past week or so. just some random stuff. A little bit about xmas maybe, dunno. But instead, I think I'm going to start off with tech talk. I will most likely lose most of you during this portion, but considering it's consuming the majority of my brainspace right now (space I need for biochem and anatomy) I figure it's a good place to start.

Apple has just unveiled their latest creation and it has tech nerds such as myself all a'flutter with anticipation. It's called the iPad (yeah, make fun of the name all you want I'm not that fond of it either) and it's the next generation in "mini computers" or netbooks. Everyone says that it's not a netbook, that it's part of a "third category" of technology that is just getting off the ground, but for simplifications sake I just keep referring to it as such.

Anyway, I think that it's a brilliant device and, were it to actually have been put on the market a few days ago instead of just "revealed" a few days ago I would already own one. However, I have two months to think this over because there is another 60 days before the actual release date. With that said, I've decided to list some of the pros and cons (to me) below and see what other people think. I am doing this because I originally had planned to get one when it came out, but a few flaw have recently been released to the media which, while not being HUGE, may be enough to sway me towards something else...anyway, here we go.

Pros:

The iPad is very likely the most portable and versatile computer of its type on the market. With a fully integrated touch screen it has no need for mice, touchpads, or even a keyboard as the screen can be used toward all of these purposes. It allows you to surf the web, check email, get instant directions via google maps, view photos, movies, youtube, listen to music, and even read full text books (in color) at a speed that is so far unmatched in devices this size while still maintaining a 9 1/2 inch (diagonal) screen. It contains software which would allow me to create, edit, and download all my documents for class and would likely be extremely useful during my clinical years as well (this is my conclusion due to the success of smartphones for doctors I can only assume what a fullsize portable computer that is 20x easier than a laptop would do for them). It has a 10 hour battery life (when in use) and can maintain a charge for up to a month when not in use (in sleep mode)

I'll post a link down below to a proper description from a proper website down below as these are just some of the features I've noted, but here are some of the things that slightly worry me...if only slightly.

Cons:

My main concern is that he iPad can NOT multitask. By saying that I mean that it can't run two programs at once. This includes things that I think we take for granted like listening to music while writing an email. Considering that this would be more a "work and school" aimed device, however, I'm not so sure that's really a bad thing. Next, it has NO flash support. This means that things like facebook games and websites that stream video footage will not work on the machine. Moving on, it has no external ports (USB, Video, etc) for other devices to be plugged into, just the single 30 prong ipod style port however you can buy converters to make this port into just about anything else. Lastly, only Mac software will run on it. While third-party developers are allowed to write software (and even encouraged to write software) for the machine, all this software is then funneled through mac before it is released via download on the App store. With this in mind, there will most likely never be certain types of software allowed on the machine which conflict with software that Mac is profiting off of directly.

Read more about the iPad from an actual reporter HERE

So yah...that's my thoughts there, I have no idea how many of you actually could follow that or how many of you actually care, but, if you happen to still be here, I'll post a few things about my life just to keep things entertaining...

So it's been raining here nearly nonstop. This does not make any sense to me as I now live in the desert. Deserts are supposed to be warm and dry not chilly and wet...bah...

In other news, though, I've taken several tests recently that have kicked my ass and have three more next week to deal with. I nearly bombed a biochem test earlier this month due to being ill and therefore MUST do well on the next one to salvage my grade. My last anatomy test, however, was rather amusing. It turned out to be rather a bit easier than we were expecting so as we stood in the hall awaiting part 2 of the exam (our anatomy exams are in two portions the first being a cadaveric portion and the second a written examination) I pulled out my phone to check my email, at which point several of my classmates cursed and nearly forced my phone back into my pocket. Apparently, during my illness, I managed to miss the lecture where the head of the anatomy dept went on a rampage about how he hates cheating and then declared that anyone who uses a phone between the two portions of the exam will be immediately assumed to be cheating and they will fail. So I put away my phone and instead decided to put my hair up to keep it out of the way for the rest of the exam at which point Amber stated "I've never been able to do that" and I spent the next 5 minutes teacher her how to put her hair in a bun with nothing more than a pencil. This conversation was ended with the comment "You do realize that a gay guy just taught a straight girl how to do her hair...right?"

Later that day I received the following comment from James via text message:

"Christians have the tendency to set people on fire..."

I.Died.

There was no further explanation of the comment and I decided later to put it up as my facebook status which a number of people immediately liked.

Also, I have been keeping an eye on the Prop8 trial currently going on in California. For those of you who were unaware, like most of the world, Proposition 8 which bans gay marriage in California is currently on trial as being discriminatory under the United States constitution and therefore invalid. Needless to say the trial has been going something like this

Prop8 people: "Gay marriage is wrong...um...because we say so..."
Prosecution: "Logical rebuttal entailing how that is not an argument"
Prop8 people: "The prosecution is picking on us!"
Prosecution: "Sigh..."

But yes, lots of nonsense and if you want to take a look at some of the bat-shit crazy stunts the Prop8 people have been pulling you may just want to wander over to the Courage Campaign (link HERE)Where they not only keep word for word transcriptions of the trial but lovely summaries which I, personally, prefer to read for the fact that they are grammatically correct (something the Prop8 people have yet to grasp, judging from the transcripts).

Initially, about a week ago, when I was going to post this entry i was going to post a quote or two that proves the ignorance of the defense, but now I'm not entirely sure where to start. As such, I think I'm just going to leave that out...but trust me, it's a good read...especially if you like to have an odd combination of laughing hysterically and bashing your head against the table.

So, on to my last point. Over Xmas break I accidentally blew up my 2 Tb external hard-drive on which I had everything stored from music to tv shows to those videos you hide from the kids until they're older. Needless to say, I was very upset. But I now have a new hard drive and am in the process of re-gathering all of my old data as well as a lot of new data. So if you have any advice for what I should download or if you have anything to share, please leave me a comment with the info before I go crazy from technology withdrawl.

I think that's all...finally...

ja ne