Audiobook Review: Fast Times at Fairmont High

(This review contains no significant spoilers.)

The Setup

This novella by one of my favorite authors, Vernor Vinge, explores life in a near-future junior high school where the abilities to adapt and to work in a team are emphasized over the more traditional accumulation of knowledge.

What I Liked

• This story contains a very realistic and believable near-future society.
• Several interesting technologies and societal developments are investigated.

What I Disliked

• Some major plot elements are left unresolved.

The Bottom Line

I give Fast Times at Fairmont High 8.0 out of 10. It's far from my favorite of Vinge's work, but it is still an entertaining and thought-provoking story.

I Don't Want Directions

You know, I had almost exactly this same conversation last week. Except I was more polite about it.

iCarcassonne

Fans of European board games in the readership will be interested to know that a version of Carcassone is now available for the iPhone/iPod/iPad. It's apparently pretty good, too.

Flame Wars Get Televised

Speed TV, the broadcaster of endless hours of automotive television that doesn't deserve to polish the Stig's helmet, live NASCAR qualifying, and no Formula One whatsoever, is planning to bring one of new media's least estimable features to the small screen. That's right; the flame wars that pervade automotive (and nearly every other) online forums are getting their own series. At least this show offers reality checks for a brand or model's most blindly ardent followers. Do you think your4140-lb Challenger SRT-8 3 is faster in the quarter mile than the other guy's 3870-lb Camaro SS because it has a Hemi in it? Are you of the belief that you can hustle your riced out FG Civic around a track faster than a stock second-gen Boxster S? This show will put your money where your mouth is.

Say it with me: Who ordered that?

Point Dume

The man of a thousand personae, Enver Gjokaj, has taken a page from the book of his Dollhouse castmate, Felicia Day. That's right, he's launched his own web series. The show, Previously on Point Dume, is a parody of soap operas and has a bit of a Twin Peaks feel to it. Check it out.

I, PADD

Apple should have just called their new tablet the PADD.

They Just Wanna, They Just Wanna

Today, after buying some gasoline, I went into the associated minute-mart or whatever to acquire some ade. While choosing my unnaturally colored beverage, I realized I knew the words to the over-produced, bubble-gum pop song being played over the store's sound system. But who was responsible for this un-asked-for cover? I whipped out my iPhone and set Shazam to work on that very question. In a moment I learned, to my horror, that Mylie Cyrus has recorded a version of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." Oh the girlanity!

Google Moble: Local Search

Google Mobile's new Local Search looks extremely useful to those of us with smartphones. Check it out.

Google Chrome OS

Google announced last night that it will release a lightweight, open-source operating system called Chrome OS. The OS is Linux-based and clearly aimed at cloud computing and web applications; it's primary function will be to run the Chrome browser, and most apps will run inside the browser. Chrome OS will begin appearing on netbooks in late 2010; then it will move to full-function laptops and desktops.

Given Google's size and popularity, this news could have enormous ramifications.

It's Alive!

We finished all wiring the home-theater system into the Grondulbarn today. Then we tested it with the space-battle scene from near the end of Serenity. We've had the home theater system since our wedding---we bought it and burned a bunch of CDs rather than hire a DJ---but we've never really deployed the system properly. In particular, I think we had the rear speakers sitting by the fronts. With the rears mounted behind the listener, I was quite pleased with the results. They system in question is just a basic 300-ish-dollar Samsung model with Dolby 5.1, but it performs as well as I need. so, hurray for home theater.

We also thoroughly tested the coaxial and Cat 6 networking cables we finished installing a couple of weeks ago. In fact, I'm writing this blog post through one of those cables.

All this means we are now ready to finish putting up the new drywall. I'm looking forward to getting that done.

The Grondulbarn will be Wired

Thanks to Ketan's suggestion, we've decided to take advantage of the partially disassembled state of our house by wiring it up with coax and networking cables. We are routing coax to most of the rooms so that we will have the option of cable TV in each of them. Also, we're running Cat 6 cable to the same rooms, so that we can set up a home network that will run at up to 1 Gb/s, much faster than our wireless network can. Eventually, we plan to get rid of cable and stream video over the network, so additional bandwidth will be critical.

To me, this aspect of our reconstruction project is easily the most interesting.

DJ Hero

Are you bored with your fake guitar, fake drums, and fake microphone?  How about a fake turntable?  That's right, DJ Hero is coming.  

Google Autopilot

Google has once again raised the bar in online applications.  Their new Autopilot feature will automatically respond to e-mail and even chats, mitigating the communication overload that we all deal with daily.  Those folks at Google are a clever lot.

Public Radio Tuner

I've found another new app for my iPhone;  the Public Radio Tuner was brought to my attention---houw else---by public radio today.

Google Calendar on the iPhone

Awesome.  This is exactly what I need.

Shazam!

I recently added the Shazam music-recognition application to my iPhone.  When I demonstrated it for Alison, after she commented how she liked the music underlining an episode of Bones, she gazed on it with wonder and glee. 

I Call it MiPhone

So far, my iPhone, is, as our leet-speaking friends would say, is teh awesome.  I plan to post more extensively---and understandably---after a another week or so of using it.

iPhonizzle, as Ashley would say.

Alison bought me an iPhone 3G for my birthday.  Who has the coolest wife around?  I do, that's who.

Intrepid Ibex

I just installed Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex, onto my laptop last night. The new OS seems to be working well. It's even fixed a sound problem I had with 8.4, so I'm quite pleased with it.

Software Review: SweatShop Timer

We've been using the SweatShop timer for more than a year now, so I thought I should post a review.

The Setup

This timer is a small program intended for timing multiple rounds and rests during a workout;  I find it invaluable for Tabata workouts, but it is helpful for others as well.  It can also be used for sparring matches.  Alison has even used it to time debates among students in a class she TAed.  The number of rounds, length of rounds, and length of rests can all be adjusted freely.  Several audible alerts can be enabled or disabled to make it easy to follow the timing without watching the large, central display.  The program is free and contains no adware or, apparently, spyware.

The Bottom Line

Considering its functions and its price, I give the SweatShop timer 9.0 out of 10.