Kraft® EasyItalian
Sunday, August 3, 2008
As a college student, I’ve eaten my share of Kraft EasyMac over the years. EasyMac never ceases to surprise me—with its awfulness. Seriously, I can’t believe I eat that stuff. Sometimes I think I’d rather just go hungry—even starve to death.
So it may come as a shock that I bought a couple cups of some new product, Kraft EasyItalian. It’s like EasyMac, but “cheesy Alfredo” instead of plain-ole’ mac-n-cheese. I was pretty hungry tonight, so I threw one in the microwave, waited 3 ½ minutes, and gave it a taste test.
And believe it or not, it wasn’t too bad! It was way better than EasyMac—in other words, it was not only edible, but palatable to boot. It’s definitely not your mom’s homemade alfredo, but for the college student on a budget, I give Kraft EasyItalian at least one thumb up. Thanks, Kraft!
What We Are, What We Want
Monday, July 28, 2008
Right now, I’m a computer science grad student; but someday, I’d rather write and own a vineyard.
How about you?
iPhone Redux
Saturday, July 26, 2008
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a scathing post about the iPhone. It was written fairly quickly (but you probably already knew that), and I didn’t elaborate much on my position. In lieu of anything else of interest to write, I’ll elaborate now.
My complaints aren’t against the iPhone per se. Even though I have little use for one, I do think the iPhone is a nifty, even novel, little device, and I do think it represents the direction in which computing is going to move. Like it or not, someday, we all will probably carry around a little device that lets us make phone calls, surf the web, listen to music, look at photos, read email, and so forth. The iPhone simply puts us one step closer to that eventuality.
And in a way, I think that’s a good thing. It’s liberating. Our current computing devices tether us to a desk, or chair, or coffee table. But technology is supposed to make us free. Our current computing devices also use a lot of electricity simply to let us browse the web. Low-powered devices like the iPhone could certainly help curb that energy usage. I’m not saying that we’ll ever completely get rid of desktop machines (or even laptops), but I think in the future, the emphasis will be on tiny portable devices, not relatively large machines like we have now.
What I don’t like, however, is the business side of the computing model espoused by Apple. Specifically, Apple does three things with the iPhone with which I highly disagree:
- Forces you to use AT&T as the only carrier.
- Acts as the sole authority in deciding which apps you are allowed to run on your iPhone.
- Forces you to interact with the iPhone using iTunes.
This is not the model I want to see in the future of computing. There’s a lot to like about Apple’s philosophy in regards to computing, particularly that software should have attractive, easy-to-use interfaces, and software and devices should “just work”. But there’s a lot that bothers me about Apple’s business approach, too, especially its use of proprietary hardware and vendor lock-in.
In short, I’d rather keep my freedoms and remain behind the cutting edge. I wouldn’t mind if there was a proliferation of iPhone-like devices someday—but I’d rather they be more open and not tied to a particular cellular provider.
You Guys Get the New iPhone Yet?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Apparently the new iPhone came out today, or yesterday, or something:
Well, you know what? Fuck the iPhone.
Seriously, here are four good reasons not to buy an iPhone:
- You don’t need one. Unless you’re the President of the United States, you don’t need to check your email when you’re at the bar, or driving to work, or playing golf. Moreoever, the ability to watch YouTube videos anytime, anywhere, will not make your life complete (it may even make it more depressing).
- It locks you into an expensive cell phone contract, and subsidizes the operations of a company that makes it a matter of practice to lock you into buying their products and only their products.
- You can’t install third-party applications on your “mini computer” without Apple’s consent. If you “dare” to hack your iPhone to use unsigned applications, future updates are liable to turn it into a very expensive paperweight.
- It makes me publish rants that are completely lacking in their usual eloquence.
So take your damn iPhone and shove it.
Sad Facebook is Sad
Sunday, June 29, 2008
I logged into Facebook this morning, and was greeted by this:
That’s right—two back-to-back breakups! Thanks, Facebook. That’s just what I want to read in the morning: really sad news. You’re such a downer.
That’s the thing about Facebook: sure, it’s nice to keep in touch with people, but sometimes Facebook gives me too much information, and ends up making me frown or ruining some nice surprise. Case in point: in the past several months, I’ve heard about the engagements of no less than three couples (all of them close friends of mine) via Facebook first. That’s kind of…lame.
I’m actually kind of worried where Facebook is taking this “news feed” mumbo-jumbo. Okay, ruining the surprise of a wedding is strictly less than fun, but I guess I can tolerate that. But what happens in ten or fifteen years, when my Facebook friends get divorced? I’m going to log in to Facebook and see news messages like this:
When that happens, I’m leaving Facebook forever.
