I HAVE MOVED

THIS IS NO LONGER MY BLOG
I HAVE MOVED TO
http://nicholsonrecords.com/paul
Please redirect your links!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Cupcake!

Very happy to hear that the "Cupcake" update is apparently being rolled out to G1 users at last. This will finally, really make my G1 the phone i wanted it to be.

Here's the quick list of features i'm looking forward to most:

  • Support for A2DP & AVRCP Bluetooth profiles (Stereo!)
  • Video recording (with better YouTube account integration)
  • Soft (onscreen) keyboard
  • Open Applications by Voice Command
  • "Significant" bug fixes in email checking, especially POP3 and IMAP
  • New menu option to list running processes
  • Updated WebKit browser core (way faster!)
  • Copy / paste is enabled in the browser
  • Find is enabled in the browser (for searching within a page)
  • Save attachments from MMS
I'm not sure, but it may also finally include support for more Home Screen widgets.

Another cool addition to the Cupcake build of Android that doesn't affect my G1: It now supports x86, which if i read it right, means i can load Android on my PC if i want to.

UPDATE: Maybe it's coming, maybe it isn't. T-Mobile USA won't confirm or deny it yet, but said an announcement is forthcoming.

UPDATE 2: Confirmed. Rollout starts the weekend of May 9th and will be complete by the end of May.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Expectations

I'm riding the bus today while the car is in the shop, so I have a few moments to get around to blogging again. So I'm using the chance to do something I don't really like to do: talk about politics.

I'm not going to bother telling you who I ended up voting for last fall. I really was one of those magical "undecided voters" right up until election day. My reasons were my own. I was going to be equally satisfied and frustrated with either candidate, though for different reasons of course. There's no point in talking about what I liked or didn't like about each one, because the point in this discussion is my specific disappointment in Obama.

Now, I had no expecations that Obama (or McCain or any other candidate really) would actually do things in office that I wanted. By the same token, I don't pretend that the actions anyone else would be taking to solve the economic crisis or Iraq or anything would be *that* dramatically different than what our current president is doing or any former president did. Politicians for either side aren't that different anymore. They use the same rediculous, reactionary arguments against each other over and over, just changing the mascot they have on their buttons. Most real policy is made in congress and in government agencies with only tenuous ties to the executive branch.

No, I'm not disappointed in the governing of the new president, because my expectations were so low to begin with for both parties. My disappointment with Obama is in the one thing I thought was his upside: his rhetoric and persona.

Obama was an amazing speaker (relative to modern politicians anyway) during the campaign. He was able to speak eloquently and in vague generalities that inspired many, yet offended few. That's how he got elected, and in a country that needs a serious morale boost, it was a welcome site. His tone was positive and he had a perfect balance of regal posture and populist cheerleading. I thought if he could do anything, he could at least restore some confidence and pride to the population, and improve the image of our government both at home and abroad.

But he hasn't. In fact, I'd say he's hard pressed to be called a major improvement over GW Bush (who, regardless of your political views, was widely acknowledged as a poor PR rep for the US. Just wasn't his forte).

In a matter of months in office, Obama (and Michelle) have angered the British people with laughably poor observance of decorum and proper gift giving. Barak has proven himself to be a relatively awkward speaker when off his teleprompters (which he takes everywhere, no matter how cumbersome) and a downright average speaker when unguided by his speech writers. He has failed to take a buck-stops-here approach that one would expect from his populist persona in cases like the horrible blunder his staff made in scheduling an unannounced (and thus panic inducing) commercial and military aircraft flyover of Manhattan for a photo opp.

None of these are horrible in themselves. Even added up, they aren't *that* bad, especially compared to others in history. But to me, Obama was elected to do one thing that was (and is) deserately needed: give upe and inspire. He has totally failed to do either. Even most passionate Obama supporters I know are giving him mixed reviews at best - on both policy and rhetoric.

Mr Obama, we expected more.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Little Help!?

Just a quick post to beg for money. Ok, kinda.

For those following the saga of the ReTweetBot (vote here for a new name, we don't like that one), you'll know that it is a cool Twitter app that i had an idea for, and i talked Garrett into coding for me.

Well, i'd like to pay Garrett back for his trouble (and ok, i might keep a little for myself).

So... ChipIn here. Heck, even if it's just $0.50, that's fine.

Thanks!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Summer Movie Update - 2009 Edition

It has started to become a tradition for me to chronicle what movies i'm particularly excited about seeing, or plan on seeing during the summer movie rush. (2007, 2007 update 1, 2007 update 2, 2008, 2008 update 1, 2008 update 2)

This year's slate is a bit lighter than the past few years, due mostly to me being crazy busy and just knowing that i'll get around to seeing fewer movies (especially since babysitting is now an issue). Here's what we have so far:

Planning/Hoping to See:
May 1 - Battle For Terra
Looks very cool, little buzz about it though

May 1 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Looks awesome!

May 8 - Star Trek
I'm still nervous of what they'll do to my Trek...

May 22 - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
First flick was great fun

May 29 - Up
Pixar movie. Will be awesome. Period.

July 15 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Looks great, and loved this book

August 28 - The Boat The Rocked
Very cool subject matter and great cast. Music history!

October 16 - Where The Wild Things Are
Kinda on the fence, but i want to be excited about this one


Interested In Seeing: (Probably waiting for video)
April 24 - The Soloist
Obvious Oscar bait, but looks good

May 21 - Terminator Salvation
I hated the first 3 so much, but no James Cameron gives me hope

June 24 - Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen
I will see this movie eventually. Can't avoid it. Michael Bay stinks though.

July 1 - Public Enemies
Great cast, great subject matter

July 1 - Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Liked the first movies

September 3 - Moon
Sam Rockwell + trippy sci-fi = cool

August 7 - GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Gonna be cheesy fun

August 14 - The Time Traveler's Wife
Romance + sci fi = cool?

October 9 - The Informant
Cast, director, curious...

October 23 - Astro Boy
Good buzz around it

December 11 - The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson + great cast

Monday, April 13, 2009

Macroblogging

For those that have followed this blog for a while (Hi Christy, mom, dad, etc) you'll probably recognize that i haven't posted in a while. In fact, this is probably coming up in your RSS feed reader and you're wonder what this blog is and why you subscribed. Many of you may have subscribed because you were told by many other people that this was a blog that covers the Nashville Predators. And it does. Or did. Kinda still does. It covers the Predators about as much as it covers anything these days, which is to say, not much.

I have increasingly been using Twitter to share my thoughts with the world. The tool of instant spur of the moment microblogging has sucked me in completely. So much so that i actually created (or helped create) a tool specifically so i could have a place on Twitter to talk about the Predators and not annoy the general population.

However, a strange thing has happened lately. I have begun having more frequent thoughts which i would like to share with the world, but can not be expressed in 140 characters or less. Personally, i blame the long hours minutes of holding my son Ian while waiting for him to fall asleep. With that much unoccupied time, my mind wonders on long tangents it hasn't been able to in a while.

Anyway. I also remembered that i can quickly blog from my phone from anywhere via email in a manner not dissimilar to how i use Twitter. This allows me the freedom to quickly express that brilliant thought that will change the lives of everyone who reads it, but do so in an unencumbered fashion (and with pictures!). For instance, i can now afford the characters to use words like "unencumbered".

So, be prepared to have this space active once again. Or at least a little more so. But to be clear, a lot of what i have to say, especially about the Preds, will probably still be on Twitter.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Ian Patrick Nicholson

I've been a bit busy lately, so haven't posted in a while. What have i been busy with?


My son, Ian Patrick Nicholson was born 3/27/09 at 12:29pm. Weighed in at 9 lbs, 8 oz - 20.5" long.

Hopefully i'll start getting more posting in soon. In the mean time, check cute pictures here, here, and here. You can also follow Ian on Twitter here, and his blog here.