Pretty. Much. Stoked.

All right, before I get started, would you mind taking a look at this BBC article? Actually, don’t look at it, I’ll tell you what it is. Basically, some old guys looked at all the youngsters texting on their phones and deduced that the world is changing. From there, it assumes that the reader has been hiding out in an army bunker for ten years, then feeds me anecdotes about doorbells. Seriously, who uses doorbells anymore?

Here is one of my favorite quotations from the piece, speaking about texting: “If you look at what’s happening underneath we think it’s about the internet and the internet becoming pervasive.” You mean the internet is behind all this? Gasp. After all these years, you would think we’d have caught on by now. I guess not. The article ends with some details about the latest netbooks, a nice idea but not a save, not by a long shot.

If this rant doesn’t make any sense to you, I’ll try to clear it up. On a topical level, I am sad to find an article toting information I consider basic and fundamental as breaking news. Of course the internet is changing things; it’s been changing things ever since it first popped up. (Hats off to you, Al Gore.) But deeper down, I think I’m just frustrated that there may actually be real people who haven’t the slightest idea what’s going on in the world around them. How can individuals hide so far within themselves as to be clueless about world trends? As far as I’m concerned, there is no excuse for this, regardless of age. There, enough of that.

In other news, you’ve heard of solid-state drives? Flash drives are a good synonym. Anyways, a prototype for an SSD drive with one terabyte of memory was shown off today at CES. Most computer drives today are hard disk drives, with standard memories between one hundred and three hundred gigabytes. But SSD drives are quieter, cooler, and faster, and now they can handle just as much space! The only thing hard-disk drives have going for it is their pricing. In any case, I’m definitely writing Santa a letter about this one.

And in closing, here’s good news for all you mariachi extraordinaires who can’t seem to get the hang of Guitar Hero: Disney is showing off a Rock Band-esque game that uses a real guitar as the controller. Sweet, huh? But what I’m excited about is that reference at the bottom about a keyboard version. Synth hero? Piano Star? I can only imagine.

All right, this really has nothing to do with technology, but I don’t care. You know the person that always talks at the movies, or chats on his phone or whatever? What a jerk, right? You drove half an hour to come see this film, you paid a heap on popcorn, and you just want to relax and watch the movie. But this idiot wants to chatter through the whole film, because he couldn’t hang out at HIS house and talk, right? He had to find some people to annoy.

Anyways, a similar scene developed in Philadelphia recently, during a showing of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which I really have to see. Anyways, the patron sitting behind the perpetrator has had enough, so what does he do? He shoots the guy in the arm! Yeah, like with a gun. Yeah.

If I had only been there, my friend. I would have given that man a standing ovation as the police lead him out the back doors. Finally, somebody crazy enough to do the thing everyone else in the theatre had been thinking about for the past hour. Don’t deny it. You’ve dreamed of inflicting bodily harm on that annoying person in your life, haven’t you? Of course you have. But you’ve never done it, right? Because we’ve got to be nice to annoying people, right? Right.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you go out and lynch that special person in your life. Rather, go on and watch your movie. Keep on sitting there with your ten-dollar popcorn, praying that someone else will do the dirty work for you. Because you never know, it just might happen.

Oh, and for those of you who actually read my blog for the technology news, or if you were looking for something… lighter, here’s a story about rubber duckies.

Hello, one and all! Hope your Christmas was astounding, in a good way. And to contrast your peaceful holiday season, I’d like to vent a bit about Apple. I’m sure you all remember hearing about a ground-breaking new typing interface called Swype, made by the same guys who came up with T9? Well, Apple recently patented some cute little “gestures” to augment its iPhone typing interface, and basically ripped off Swype in the process.

Now I’m not much of a hater, but when you go after something that’s close to my heart, you’re bound to get on my bad side. I’ve been rooting for Swype ever since it was announced; the truth is, I’m still waiting for a cell phone to come out with it. (Rather anxiously, might I add.) And here comes Apple, the all-powerful dictator of the universe as it were, trying to steal away Swype’s vision, and you expect me NOT to get upset?

Sure, Apple applying for new patents hasn’t always lead to actual products. (Take, for instance, this alternative iPhone patent.) But the fact that Apple is even threatening to destroy Swype’s chances at stardom is enough to get me riled. Unless you plan on truly offering Swype on your phones, you had better just leave it alone, whoever-you-are-that-runs-Apple. (Phillip Schiller, perhaps? Where’s Steve Jobs when I need him?!)

Sadly, the most good ol’ Phil can do is obliterate the future of Swype. I really rather doubt Swype will ever be soundly implemented on the iPhone, thus further postponing my date with the amazing cell phone of my dreams. Still, I am not disheartened; there is always Android!

Okay, to start off, I’ve got to pay my dues to Netflix, and not just because it beats Blockbuster any day of the week.  Owners of the Roku Netflix player received an update today for high definition streaming capabilities, which I think is freaking awesome.  The future of video distribution definitely lies in streaming (not Blu-Ray), and the steps Netflix is making toward a wirelessly connected future really get me excited.  I don’t really own a Roku player, so I’m not as psyched about the news as I am about the idea.  I can still stream Netflix onto my Mac, so I’m not complaining.  

But that’s not what really gets me stoked.   Well then what was it, you ask?  Was it rumors for a new netbook from Vaio?  Nope, that’s not it either, although it’s a good guess.  I’m a sucker for netbooks.  Well, was it that cellphone that’s all rigged up to detect HIV and malaria in blood?  

That’s all well and good, but I’m not all that impressed.  So what was my highlight for the day?  I know it’s not as flashy as some of the other news, but this is my blog not yours.  What caught my eye today was a transcript from an interview with Tim O’Reilly, the guy who invented the term “web 2.0″ and a huge advocate of open source.  An influential character, to say the least.  The discussion was largely about the modern ideal of the individual clashing with the Internet’s new collectivity.  When users interact across the Internet, they lose part of their individuality, they share a part of themselves.  And companies that depend on the collective knowledge of their users become stronger companies.  Individuals release some of their rights for the sake of the collective, while the efforts of the collective let companies make amazing applications, which return to the individual.  

Some interesting questions on privacy and transparency are brought up as well.  I encourage you to read the article.  All right, that’s enough for today.  Good night, one and all!  I’m going to bed.   

Hello, one and all!  It’s your host, me!  And this is the first post of my new blog, “Pretty. Much. Stoked.”  Hate to be selfish, but this is going to be all about me and my favorite pieces of tech news.  Somedays that will mean revelling in the glory of a new gadget announcement.  Other times I’ll be daydreaming about the future of e-book readers, or maybe something else.  Every once in a while, I may even get off topic and rave about unrelated stuff, like the Somali pirates’ latest antics.  (Does anyone else love the fact that pirates still exist?  I thought Johnny Depp was the last of his kind, but then these guys popped up.  It makes me happy.)  Anyways, I’m definitely going to enjoy writing this blog, and I hope you enjoy reading it.  I love discussions, so be sure to comment when you disagree or have a thought on the subject.  Or just if I have a link that doesn’t work.  That helps, too.  Just keep doing whatever it is you do.  Me, I’ve got to get back to Muse and Smashing Pumpkins.  Adios.