Musings.

[dsrtao]

Some people keep Playboy in their bathroom. I've never understood that, really -- are they teenagers? Got to hide it from the kids? Yeah, right.

I keep SF magazines and technical documentation there, of course. Nothing quite so relaxing, when I'm tense, than to read about the relative merits of pointers and references.

New subject. Metahacker and I were discussing features that really ought to be available in IM/text message/SMS systems, and that led to a quick extrapolation of what cellphones would have standard in three or four years... now a smart phone has a 300 or 400MHz CPU, so 2GHz is not out of line; now it has 128MB RAM, so a gigabyte is not unreasonable... those are current-day laptop specs, of course. Coupled with a decent increase in bandwidth, and Charlie Stross' _Halting State_ is going to be right on target. MH hasn't read it (time constraints) so I'm going to push my freshly autographed copy on him.

I've had four good conversations with MH in the last two days, which reminds me (a) why we're good friends and (b) that we don't do that enough. I should have a party focusing on good conversations. Wait, that's all of our parties... time for another one. Winter sucks, where's my spring?

I was complimented strangely several times during Boskone: that's a nice shirt (Eliz's tie-dye); you can say things on LJ that would sound like whining from anyone else (ok, if you say so); in an alternate world, I would have made a good intelligence analyst (but I keep asking the wrong questions, such as why the heck would the US invade Korea when I'm supposed to be focussing on how to assess the resistance).

Oh, and my gaydar was apparently totally wrong about someone; married to a person of the opposite gender. I think that people tend to overestimate their accuracy, so I'm confessing to a major error.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

It gets harder if you admit the existence/necessity of bi-dar...

Battery life

[metageek.livejournal.com]

now a smart phone has a 300 or 400MHz CPU, so 2GHz is not out of line

That will probably be possible in a few years, but I bet a lot of people will prefer to get a slower CPU with longer battery life. What made Halting State different from today wasn't the fact that the tech existed, but that it was ubiquitous.

Coupled with a decent increase in bandwidth

Mmm. Wireless tech has been capable of better bandwidth for some time now, but it takes forever to get it deployed. Today, AT&T in Boston has HSDPA at 3.6Mbps, and they're working on rolling out HSUPA (faster uplink); but Maine and New Hampshire are still stuck with GPRS—EDGE, if you're lucky. In four years, I'd guess that they'll have upgraded Boston to the limits of HSUPA (14.4Mbps), but ME and NH will have no better than basic UMTS (384kbps). They may even still be on EDGE, thanks to the way the FCC allocates spectrum by region. Once again, what's lacking is ubiquity.

What could make the difference would be if Google actually buys in the current 700MHz auction. Google would turn the usual carrier model on its head: instead of using apps to sell wireless access, they'd be using wireless access to sell apps.

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

And then there's the point where some of the people who might register on bi-dar or gaydar simply read as androgynous or asexual. I had two guys who worked for me who never, *ever* gave a hint as to their personal lives at work. I still have no idea as to their orientation, and it's a bit irksome.

Strange compliments

[be-well-lowell.livejournal.com]

I said to you that I don't post things on some topics that you do, because I worry that I will come off as whining. I can't imagine who would say that nobody can, though -- after all, most of us still miss Dave Barry making such topics hilarious on a weekly-or-better basis.

[be-well-lowell.livejournal.com]

Eh? Are you saying that people have an obligation to mix their personal and professional lives?

Playboy magazine

[be-well-lowell.livejournal.com]

Some people really do read the articles, you know.

Last I really knew, it was one of the very few magazines that has any intellectual heft without being firmly tied to partisan or literary political biases.

[elizabear.livejournal.com]

No, there's no obligation, of course. But it happens anyway.

Many people choose to socialize with co-workers. Aside from socializing outside of the office, people connect to each other on a personal level by sharing some degree of information about themselves while in the workplace. It could be hobbies, exercise plans, restaurant recommendations, vacation locations or activities, stories about previous work/co-workers, etc. People who don't engage in that sort of light social interaction could be seen as standoffish or cold, and it's uncommon to find someone who won't share at least a little bit of their life outside of work. I knew that Ed loved to golf, I knew my boss had adopted his grandaughter and had a sailboat, I knew Matt was married to a woman in Facilities, I knew Jessica wanted to be a singer and had cut a single, I knew Larry's wife had cancer, Leslie was a single mom, etc. These things seem little, but can help grease the interaction wheels. Personal life comes in to the workplace, like it or not. There was a day I had use the unspoken knowledge that one of my employees was gay to understand that she was upset and distracted because Melissa Etheridge had broken up with her long-term girlfriend (Michelle eventually expressed that she was upset because if ME hadn't been able to find a long-term same-sex relationship, what hope did M have?) Another day when Matt felt comfortable telling me his wife had had a miscarriage. The day I had to comfort Meggie when she found out her semi-estranged husband had bought a house with his girlfriend (and all three worked at this company). And so on and so on and so on.

So no, no obligation, but it's common anyway.

Re: Battery life

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

but I bet a lot of people will prefer to get a slower CPU with longer battery life.

Hahahahaha.

Well.

Anyway. Sorry. I just haven't seen the market going that way. I still want my 12 hour laptop battery, and 4 week cell phone. (At least the current phone will do ~1 week of standby...because it's a 2001 model, before 'they' decided that .2 GHz processors in cell phones were a necessity.) Dear Apple: The Air is very nice; now make one which has an extra 3 lbs all devoted to battery, in a nice form factor.

Re: Battery life

[metageek.livejournal.com]

I still want my 12 hour laptop battery

There are supposedly laptops with batteries good for up to 18 hours. Not Macs, though.

Re: Battery life

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Are the batteries easily swappable?

As it happens, earlier today, I ordered a spare battery for my Treo, so that I wouldn't have to worry so much about charging it during lengthy trips. Cost about ten bucks, with shipping. Will add a few ounces to my bag, but that's well worth it for the additional confidence of uptime.

kestrell has a spare battery for her laptop, on similar grounds.

I think the market will continue to favor speed over battery life, because the segment that wants longer life will generally suck it up and buy extra batteries (a profit for the manufacturer), whereas people can't buy extra CPU cycles nearly as trivially.

Re: Battery life

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

My macbook does allow decent swapping, and will hibernate through the process so you don't even have to shut down. Unfortunately this still only gives ~5 hrs of battery life (6 if I eke it out) on two batteries. Also, the spares are >$60; not insignificant. Even my old cell phone battery was $60 list (though I found one for $20 online).

The MacBook Air battery is not removable by anyone except 4th-dimensional beings, so...not so much with the swapping. ;)

Re: Battery life

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

Ah. When you get down to that short a battery life, I hesitate to even call a device portable. More of a robust UPS for power outages.