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Showing posts from March, 2010

Ruminations on one day with a Kindle

They say don't judge a book by its cover. Nor should I probably judge a new tech toy after one day. But, when your one day includes time at home and 8 hours of plane rides, you could argue you've done all the needed testing on a portable device of any type. So... new Kindle verdict: OUT-FLIPPING-STANDING. Firstly, can I get every electronic device I have to hold a charge like this? Probably not, bc unlike every other device I have, the Kindle isn't backlit . It uses "electronic paper," which ( thank you Wikipedia : "Unlike a conventional flat panel display, which uses a backlight to illuminate its pixels, electronic paper reflects light like ordinary paper and is capable of holding text and images indefinitely without drawing electricity, while allowing the image to be changed later." This basically means it really reads like a book. As in it gets dark and you need to shine a light on it. But the non-glare screen makes that a non-issue. The interfac

Urbanized

When I lived in NYC, I did plenty of drinking, eating and the like and never gained a pound. I has no gym membership. I did have the City's 13,000 miles of sidewalks at my disposal, however. Getting to work involves a 10-minute walk to the subway and five after getting off. The same after work. I would take the train to Herald Square and walk to SoHo . Then I moved to Charlotte and bought a car. I had a good life in Charlotte. I also had a gym membership and heaven help me if I hadn't. Short of walking the dog through the neighborhood, something that sounded good, but rarely really happened, most transportation was via the car. Now, here I am, back in an urban metropolis. My commute now? A 10-minute walk that starts by climbing a big hill. This morning, I needed to go to the hardware store. four blocks later, there I was. We needed to go to Trader Joe's. Bus ride, then 12 blocks. Hell last week, we walked most of the way to the store. And the dog? No choice but to walk her.

Settling in...

I am officially a Washington resident (more on that in a moment). The past several days involved setting up the apartment, which has been no small task. We’ve had to get creative with storage solutions, look at some items and determine if we really need them and make countless trips to both our in-building storage unit and the trash area. And the result it… we’ve got a pretty fantastic place. Pictures will come soon enough, but, really? The place is fantastic. It’s the kind of urban living I was always somewhat envious of back in my New York days. And, truth be told, I lived well there. But this is something else both from an aesthetic standpoint and a practical one. Part of the practicality is access to Seattle ’s amenities. Not only can I walk to work, but I can easily walk downtown. Or to the Queen Anne neighborhood. Major bus lines stop on both our cross streets. The streetcar stops in front of the place. And my walk to the light rail to get to the airport is 10-15 mins at th