Author: lux

What’s on Your Android Phone?

The release of Android 2.2 (Froyo) and going on vacation inspired me to try dumping my Crackberry altogether and just using the Nexus One fulltime. All in all it’s been working out quite well.

I’ve also been adding apps like a demon. Here’s the current list:
Adobe Flash
Adobe Reader
Advanced Task Killer
AIM
ASTRO File Manager
AT&T myWireless
Barcode Scanner
CaltrainDroid
CardioTrainer
Compass
DoubleTwist
Dropbox
Foursquare
Gowalla
Last.fm
NewsRob
OpenTable
Photoshop.com Mobile
Ringdroid
Shazam
Shopper
The Weather Channel
Tripit
Urbanspoon
WordPress

And for fun:
Android LightSaber
Bubble
Bump
iVuvuzela
Jewels
Magic 8-Ball

Even better? Every single one of those apps are free (note that DoubleTwist is currently “free for a limited time”, YMMV).

Plus there’s the built-in apps, some of which are new or significantly improved in 2.2, including the email and gmail clients, calendar, Navigation, Voice Search, and the Google Sky Map.

The only things I miss from my Blackberry are the battery life and the real keyboard, and with any luck there’ll be more Androids with keyboards out this fall.

Vacation, What a Concept

I’m just back from a 10-day trip back East and don’t go back to work until next Monday. What a luxury, having so much time off!

While back East, I was privileged to spend time with ~70 members of my mother’s family in our first-ever clan reunion. Approximately 100 years ago my great-grandfather came to the USA; a typical story of immigration – bit by bit he brought his 10 children over, and established a new life for the family here. A few generations later, the cousins have scattered across the USA. My uncle took it into his head to reunite us all for a weekend and the result was a fantastic event.

Here’s a sample of the photos taken:

Quite a few of the cousins have ended up out here in the Bay Area – it’s a nice feeling to know I actually do have family nearby.

I also spent three days up at a spa in the Catskills with my sister and a long weekend with Scott in Connecticut, celebrating the Independence Day weekend with sailing, food, friends, family, and fireworks.

As much as I love my job, it’s been really nice to slow it down for a bit, stop obsessively reading my work email, and relax.

Sunlight & Shadow

shadows & sunlight

It’s (finally) that time of year when we start getting a lot of afternoon light on the terrace. I’m fascinated by the shadows the sun casts on the terrace, & now with the prime lens I’ve been having some fun with depth of focus shots against the patterns the shadows cast.

When You Point One Finger, Three Point Back At You

It’s easy to be outraged when you read about recent racist going-on in states like Arizona and South Carolina. The offenses are so egregious that they’d be laughable if thy weren’t real — Lightening the faces of schoolchildren in a mural? One serious candidate for governor calling another candidate (and President Obama) a “raghead“?

Really? This is what America has come to?

Looking around the Internet you’ll find a lot of pixels spent decrying how terrible it is, wondering why people feel it’s OK to do this sort of thing today, and generally exuding an air of smug superiority that they are so much more enlightened than those awful racists.

Ohreallynow?

I wrote this a few years ago. Exactly how much has changed?

Racism exists even in the deep-blue zones of San Francisco. We do better than most, but even here we still struggle. Look around your friends, neighbors, and co-workers. You probably can point to a bunch of people whose families come from India, China, Japan, Europe, and similar parts of the planet. Blacks and Latinos though? Not so much.

And no, I am not naive enough to think that there’s a simple solution to the problem. Just saying that before you point a finger, think a bit abut how it could be pointed back at you.