Time for an Apology

It would seem I owe the Zune HD from Microsoft an apology. It's not nearly as terrible a device as I thought at first. I know, it's bad to expect something to compare to the Apple equivalent, but in all honesty I was expecting something close to the iPod Touch.

It wasn't, nor should it be.

After spending the last 10 hours or so playing with the Zune I have grown a little attached. It's ridiculously small and lightweight. The touch screen reacts well, though the screen size is small enough it makes life a little difficult for my clumsy fingers to find the correct keys on the soft QWERTY keypad. Overall I like it. The web browser is blistering fast, especially for a mobile device. It's actually faster on the wifi here than my sister's desktop computer. Kinda cool.

I'm still miffed at the fact that there are no productivity apps whatsoever from Microsoft. Seriously, how can you not have anything that has to do with productivity. (I don't consider MSN Weather or a calculator productivity apps). Granted I don't really want much out of it. All I really want to see is an email client and something for social media, Tweetdeck would be awesome. A note creation app that can sync with the computer and even traditional contacts would be nice too, but that may be asking a bit much. I know it's hard for MS to put something together that consumers ask for. It's taken them this long to get close to the OS that's been promised since Windows 2000.

I can live with this new toy though. I wouldn't spend money on a Zune HD though, not yet anyway. In the future it may be a nice device, but right now it's nothing more than very capable mp3 and video player with an FM radio tuner. I can't take advantage of the HD FM tuner out here in the middle of nowhere. I will definitely give the Zune HD credit though, the ear buds that come with it are rather nice. I refuse to spend money on ear pieces for mp3 players right now because, well, I don't really have a reason other than I don't want to and I tend to destroy things. But the earbuds that came in the package are nice. They are the first earbuds to not fall out of my ears and they don't give me ear aches like the Apple ones. I like that. I still don't like the Zune Marketplace and the fact that I have to buy points to get anything. Not happening. Give it a rest MS and just put a price on things instead. I ain't doin' eet.

So, after my upset rants earlier I've decided I like this toy. The Zune HD has it's issues, like everything, but hopefully before MS decides to discontinue this sucker they'll get around to providing the 2 apps I want so I'm not forced to pay for a smartphone or an iPod Touch. C'mon Billy-boy hook me up.

Just for fun

So just for kicks I'm typing this from my new toy. I suppse I can tell you that for the first time in my life that I can remember I won a contest and received a prize.

But you've played sports all your life, do you mean to say that you've never won?

That's not what I'm saying. Of corset, I win it's a competition, something I have some control over. This was a random win. It's never happened before.

And I've got to say that it's pretty cool. There is one huge dramatic setback though.

It's a new Zune HD.

Before turning it on I knew the iPod Touch was better. The reason being apps. Microsoft has nothing.

And I MEAN NOTHING!

There are something like 12 games, which sound cool, but other than that there is MSN Weather, a calculator, and a piano of all things. There is nothing productivity. No notes, no mail client, and the web browser makes Netscape look advanced so far. But beggars can't be choosers, eh?

There are another 8 or so apps by 3rd party revs available, and so far it is the biggest pain the ass I have experienced for a device installation. Even backing game systems isn't tedious compared to this.

The final gripe. It took more than 2 hours to sync 19GB of info. Seriously? C'mon Microsoft! There is a very evident reason why Apple bends over it's knee in every category.

IT'S BETTER!

In every aspect it's better. Maybe over time my opinion will change, but with the MS track record I don't see that happening.

No more complaining though. It is cool little toy with built in WIFI so I can at least take advantage of that school since I can't afford an iPod Touch and definitely not an iPhone 3GS and plan with it. At least now I don't have to carry my laptop everywhere I go. Especially if the zNotes app works well. I can stop writing notes on my phone.

Here's to hoping for changes at Microsoft.

One of Those Ideas

So one of those ideas struck me while writing yesterday. You know the kind of idea that gives you chills at the base of your skull. The kind that feels like it is going to crack your cranium in order to be freed, much like the birth of Athena. Well, this was one of those ideas. It completely sidetracked my writing and comes so easily I can't even come close to getting back to what I was working on now. Every time I try to put the virtual pen to paper (which is typing these days) it is what springs forth and not my original idea for NaNoWriMo. So now I am abandoning attempts at the original idea am going to run with this one since it won't leave me be.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not leaving the other, but for this time I will let it go the way of the world turtle and when it draws me back I'll continue. Until then, though, I am running with . . .

Zombie High

Here follows the idea as it hit me while I had my phone out trying to write the previous novel.

High school in Jarvis was anything but normal. They actually let humans attend. It was one of the few schools experimenting with integration. Most of the students had never been allowed near humans before. They were kept apart for their own protection. They were cattle. Most believed them to be cattle, nothing more than food for their ancestors. Something lower on the food chain. The prejudice was unbelievable. When his parents found out humans were going to allowed to attend school with them they nearly pulled Clancy out to send him to a private school or maybe even home school him. It was unheard of to allow the servants and cattle to be learned. There were those who rebelled against the system and treated their humans almost as equals. It was ridiculous. Mankind had its chance. It was replaced by something better, something stronger, something more prepared and capable of dealing with the new aggressive world.

Zombies now ruled the world.

In the late 21st century humankind fell into sickness, a global pandemic. People died by the millions. The world population was nearly 13 billion by this time and overpopulation was no longer a concern, it was a reality. The virus was, for lack of a better term, perfect. At first it seemed like a super-strain of the dead flu mutations of the 2010s, but the mortality rate was staggeringly high; nearly 100% for the 1st 8 months. Nothing in science or modern medicine could be done.

Then anomalies began to appear. People who seemed to be altogether immune or who had miraculously recovered. But they were changed. Some displayed characteristics of horror movie zombies. They were extremely aggressive and more times than seemed to favor the flesh of those who were uninfected. There was widespread panic and violence. Riots, vandalism, theft, murder, the world was turned on its head. All the depravities of human nature ran rampant. Governments were overthrown and in many cases completely lost control. War lords and police states became the norm. Eventually the zombies gained control. It was slow. The powers that became more sympathetic and it finally became evident that those who were in control were infected or had the foresight to realize these were not the mindless, shambling creatures from horror tales of the past.

C'mon KY Get With the Times

Good ol' KY at it again. Library versus employees in a censorship battle: http://tinyurl.com/yjy3mjj

Are we that far behind the times? Is life that confusing us hicks, hillbillies, rednecks, and battle axes in rural and not-so-rural Kentucky?

What, pray tell am I talking about? Well it would the article found at the Lexington Herald-Leader website. It's rather ridiculous that in 2009 we're still fighting battles over publications and censorship that were waged in the 1950s and 1960s.

Long story short for those without the attention span to read a 3 page article. The Jessamine County Library had a copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume IV: The Black Dossier on its hallowed shelves.

No big deal right? It's a graphic novel. We're all familiar with those I hope. Surely you don't think that comic books are for kids. That would be a most serious mistake, and could be the mistake many people have made. There is far more happening in comics and graphic novels today than what most adults can imagine. These aren't Archie Comics people (And just for those who don't know, Archie was a

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He played Veronica and Betty as much as possible and had no qualms at all about having both girls with him). Some of these carry-on where modern science fiction abandoned us and challenge society.

Back to the point at hand. An employee at the library found it distasteful and repeatedly checked it out. When a patron of the library reserved it so they could read it. The employee used her privilege as an employee, found out who had reserved the it, and it was for an 11-year-old girl. Of course, it is the responsibility of the library to tell us what we can and cannot read and not a parent's or the individual's, so the employee refused to return the graphic novel. She lost her job along with another co-worker.

And guess what!

She still as it and the library has yet to replace it!

There's more to the article but you get the idea.

This stuff scares me. It's like we're being thrown back 60 years. Soon there will be book burnings and more monitoring of who is renting or checking out what at the library.

What's next? Video stores? Are employees going to start monitoring what we choice to enjoy and then the manager tell us, "We're sorry, we've decided this material is inappropriate for you because you have blonde hair and blue eyes, but if you had green eyes it would be okay."

C'mon people, get with it. Personal responsibility and the ability to make choices should lie with the individual not the administration.

The most frightening part may be that more people aren't up-in-arms about it. Are they next going to tell us that Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or any number of romance novels are pornography and can't be acquired at the library? What about removing Frankenstein or The Invisible Man or even To Kill A Mockingbird from print?

I don't know about you, but I love having the ability to choose.

In my experiences I have been shocked by some of the things parents teach their children or allow them to watch, view, play, or do, but it is their child and their responsibility. Believe it or not video games in which you kill people won't make you into a person who stalks from room to room with a semi-automatic weapon pumping round after round into friends, family, co-workers, or strangers.

Repression does that well enough. Ignorance contributes greatly. Over-bearing and oppressive control will lead to a true revolution.

Again I digress.

Make a statement. I plan to. Go to your local library and check out something controversial. Does it matter if you're in a repressive "conservative" area?

Not one bit.

Maybe we can't directly affect Jessamine County, but by-golly we can make sure our local establishments know we care about our right to uncensored, complete, controversial, and challenging literature.

Digital Media Coup

Now is the time of the digital media coup. Don't know what I'm talking about?

Well, it's simple, innovative artists have slaved for years giving their goodies away for free over the years, and now it's paying off.

You're still not sure what I'm talking about?

Here's a couple examples:

We can starts with Phil Rossi's Crescent. It's a science fiction thriller set on the space station of Crescent. There is something inherently wrong with the station. And you know what? This brilliantly fun novel is now print.

A fan favorite Mur Lafferty's Playing for Keeps is a "super" hero story where the "heroes" control every aspect of life in 7th City and others, 3rd Wavers are just second-rate citizens. Especially those who have powers, but they just aren't deemed powerful enough to consider them heroes. And they've had enough.

Of course, nothing about podcast fiction from me is complete without Scott Sigler. The FDO (Future Dark Overlord) has had all 6 novels printed, and is now having original novels partially rewritten and printed through major print. Sigler takes us through the wonderful world of hard science horror. He takes known science, hooks you with the facts, twists it with a viable possibility, then once he's got you hooked takes you on a horror thrill ride the likes of which you haven't experienced. The FDO has even made his presence felt with such force that his science fiction thrill ride Infected is being broadcast on XM's "Book Radio" show and is already running on Sirius on channel 9 from 6:30-7:00 PM Eastern Time.

Lastly, but most definitely not least, comes my personal favorite, and hero, J.C. Hutchins. The man is a machine. He hasn't slept in years. Tyler Durden has nothing on Hutch. He cranks out content, info, and just general fun for those who follow him. He was published this past summer with Jordan Weisman in the psychological thriller and trans-media sensation Personal Effects: Dark Art and the only way to get the complete story is to follow the clues, click the links, and call the number. But that was a collaborative novel, as awesome as it was, it wasn't the Hutch story that got me hooked. But guess what, yup, you guessed it, he's in print now with his brilliant conspiracy, sci-fi thrill ride 7th Son: Descent. It's hard for me not to love something that starts with "The President of the United States is dead. He was murdered in the morning sunlight by a four-year-old boy . . ." It just doesn't get any better than that. The story of seven men who are taken from their daily lives and cast into the roles of saviors for the modern world as they try to stop the genius John Alpha from completing his plan of vengeance on those who have wronged him.

I love this. The authors I have fallen in love with over the years are out there for the rest of the world to experience in print. No need to be internet or techno-savvy, just check out the book at the local "brick & mortar" store or go a step further, take my word for it, and buy the goods. You won't be disappointed.