New Years Resolutions MMXI

 

 

This year (Like nearly every year in my adult life) I have not made any resolutions. I have made a pact with myself to travel more and have more fun, take photos and live life. No artificial pressure. I made this pact with my self in mid December therefore it does not count as a new years resolution. 

The principle of new years resolutions is admirable, one in which people seek self advancement and betterment however the human element is in continuous need of progress and development and my personal stance on this is the principle of little changes.

 

  1. Find an element that needs to change
  2. Set a target for change completion
  3. Set milestones and short-term goals towards achieving that milestone
  4. Measure progress
  5. Embed the change in life.
  6. Find something else to change or develop.

 

Some of my personal objectives for MMXI are as follows:

 

  • January - Diet and weight management, get rid of the extra weight from my 30's
  • February - Academic
  • March - Domestic - sort out the apartment.
  • April - Travel, Tranche 1
  • May - Travel, Tranche 2
  • June & July - Nothing
  • November - Travel, Tranche 3
  • December - Nothing

 

 

iPad App Review

I've been using the iPad for over a week now and I am seriously impressed. I have decided to get rid of my current laptop and replace it with a Mac Pro or Server as I don't see myself using a laptop in the future. Anyway below are my favourite Apps:

1. The Financial Times - Mobile Edition

Although Rupert Murdoch's paywall has been getting a lot of negative press, the FT is sponsored (by Hublot) so its free for now. I am most impressed with the way they have mixed old media and New media and it is an intuitive interface. 

2. Thomson Reuters - Marketboard

This is an app that was developed specifically for the iPad and its simplicity is beautiful. It opens with an overview page showing the various international markets, latest news and 'Street Events. and then there is a briefcase function which allows you to add stocks, commodities or currencies and track them numerically or graphically. My only gripe with the application is the speed when on 3G however it is very snappy on wireless. Its stability needs to be improved as it has crashed on me a couple of times ironically when adding BARC to my briefcase! An honorable mention has to go to Bloomberg for its iPad app which has the advantage of linking in with Bloomberg feeds but is not as visually stunning as Thomson's Marketboard.

3. Kindle.

This is the best universal iPad book reader there is. You can buy books from the Amazon online store and read them on this app on the iPad, iPhone and your Computer. It automatically synchs bookmarks and remembers your page and position regardless of which device you were last reading on. 

Two book reading apps that deserve an honorable mention are Stanza (also by Amazon) and iBooks by Apple. A third popular book / document reading app is called Good Reader but I have not had the opportunity to fully evaluate it yet.

4. Sky Grid

This is a classic "Time Waster" app that you can use when watching TV, waiting in a queue or just have a few minutes to kill. All it does is it aggregates trending news in categories like movies, gadgets, politics and displays feed updates in real time. 

5. Pulse

Pulse is an up and coming news reader that links in with your Google Reader app and other feeds to present syndicated news (rss) in a manner that exploits the iPad interface and speed. 

6. Wikipanion

The perfect iPad Wikipedia application.

Honorable mentions:

 

  • Marvel Comics - Comic Book Reader
  • Adobe Ideas - Sketching and noting
  • Twitteriffic (I tried Tweet Deck but uninstalled it) - Twitter

 Wish List:

 

  • Facebook for iPad - I am currently using the facebook website on the iPad but would love an app similar to the one thats on the iPhone
  • Twitter - the twitter app for iPhone is overwhelmingly the best app I have used however it does not scale well on the iPad

 

How I browse the net

Step 1 - A clean hosts file

I periocically download a hosts file from http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

 

Step 2 - Manage my DNS

I sometimes use the free Google DNS - 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

 

Step 3 - Select a browser

For everyday browsing of text such as news sites - Opera

For secure browsing of untrusted sites -Mozilla's Firefox with No Script Add-on

For my internet banking - Apple's Safari

For web design formatting and speed - Google's Chrome

 

Note: I do not use Internet Explorer

 

Tendai's Desert Island Discs

I'm not famous enough to go on the show, however I've recently been thinking about what songs I would take with me if I was on desert island disks.


Strawberries by Hugh Masekela

Hugh Masekela, is the one of the Godfathers of Afro-Jazz, a South African Lois Armstrong. This song has haunting melancholy notes that hit you from the first few seconds and are hammered home by Hugh's trumpet this song has a very strong bitter-sweet feeling. The background vocals of the little girls chorus add a very African optimism and hope. The songs' tempo picks up and a very "Soweto-Sound" instrumental sound fills the background. The song was originally written for the Queen of South African Music - Mirriam Makeba by the legendary Harry Belafonte and this version was produced by Harry Belafonte for Mr Masekela.

Hugh is an unlikely member of my music collection however now that I have discovered him I could not do without him on my desert island. You Tube Version

Nothing Else Matters by Metallica

I first heard the notes  to this very controversial Metallica song when I was 15 or 16 and at a camp by the Lake formed Mazvikadei Dam in Zimbabwe. A few friends of mine were hanging around when an old dude (he was probably mid twenties) started jamming on his guitar and I heard the opening sequence for Nothing Else Matters. I was immediately gobsmacked and asked him to show me how to play it and what it was, he tutored my unskilled hands until my lack of talent out weighed his patience... But he could not tell me whose song it was and what it was called.

Jump forward a few years and I was an Auditor at Deloitte and Touche. There was a thriving black market in MP3 and I'm ashamed to say I copied some Metallica from a friend. Whilst playing the music I heard the opening notes and was mesmerised yet again. 

I am still a strong Metallica fan and understand why most fans do not like this song, and frankly I don't like it as a Metallica song but just as a song. The Arpeggio is a sequence in E minor and is very easy for a beginner to pick up, the basics of the song. What really strikes me about the lyrics is how vulnerable they are how the writer puts himself forward for hurt and pain but - Nothing else matters.

Note: Aged 24 I moved to England where I legitimised my entire MP3 collection over a few years of purchases and have subsequently bought many many more Metallica songs.

My Sacrifice by Creed

When you are with me, I'm free
I'm careless, I believe
Above all the others we'll fly
This brings tears to my eyes
My sacrifice

These lyrics set to the husky tones work for me, no ide why they just do.

Knights of Cydonia by Muse

 

House of the Rising Sun by Frijid Pink (Although I would take the Jimmi Hendrix Version)

This song is one of those songs where the guitar really speaks, in the opening sequence the strong lead guitar carries the tune with some very Ringo-esque drumming in the background. The lyrics are a remorseful warning against gambling by a ruined gambler, there is nothing particularly amazing about them however when Hendrix does his thing and adds his instrumental the song takes into its own.

Back in 2009 when I was on a secondment in South Africa and found myself in an environment where few people enjoyed my musical / artistic and literary tastes. Most of my peers were into rap and R&B and a lot of newfangled music, additionally I was not familiar with modern South African music and was met with vacant stares when I shared my passion for Hugh Masekela et al. When slaving away on my computer my concentration was ruined by a ringing mobile phone (cellphone to the rest of the world). The tone was House of the Rising Sun and I realised that one of my colleagues a guy called Theo had this as his mobile ringtone. Whenever his phone rang I would here this song and remember I was not "musically" alone in a foreign land.

Slither by Velvet Revolver

First of all let me say that this song features a strong guitar solo by Slash (the dude from Guns 'N Roses with a top hat). Slash - the guy who was rated #2 on Time Magazine's list of the "10 Best Electric Guitar Players of All-Time" . The song has a certain je ne sais quai element about it that makes it a rock anthem and one of those I keep handy at all times. 

Alive by P.O.D

I first heard this song a short while before I emigrated to England. I was still in my early 20's and loving life I think there was some NLP and the song has become my "power song." P.O.D are an unknown group and I'm glad this song has never been a radio anthem, its my secret treasure.

Canon Rock by Jerry C

I was surfing the internet one Saturday morning when I stumbled upon the Jerry C video, it immediately became one of my favorites. Jerry's interpretation of Canon in D minor is dexterous, rocky, skillful yet it does not take itself too seriously.

 

 

Jerry C's website can be found at http://jerryc.tw/music I do not understand Chinese / Taiwanese so I take no responsibility for what else you may find there...

CD Review - AC/DC's Iron Man 2


This is a rehash of old AC/DC songs however it gives a great vibe and contains favorites like Back in Black which features in the Iron Man movie and most of the trailers for Iron Man 2. It comes with a DVD of AC/DC classics and its amazing watching how the group has aged like a good malt.

Best Song: Back in Black

Best DVD feature: The Making of Feature

Rating: