Small thing about LCD's.

I've always been anti-brightness. That is as all companies are pushing to make their LCD's brighter I've wanted to keep them reasonably dim. I think the sRGB standard is about 120cdm2 which is very dim compared to the average LCD sold today. However I've also noticed that when my room is very bright in the afternoon and I crank up the brightness to 50% on my monitor, it looks so, inexplicably beautiful. It's that same attraction that I feel when looking at city lights at night.

The same can be said about the iPhone's LCD screen. It looks most impressive when you use it in a fairly bright area and the auto-brightness sets the brightness to max. At night the iPhone goes to the dimmest setting, and even though it's comfortable to view the impressiveness is totally gone.

In other words pure brightness, that is raw cd/m2, is something that has a certain appeal to our visual centres in our brain. 250 cd/m2 is more appealing than 120cd/m2. We are attracted to brightness and it's something that occurs almost at a subconscious level. However the only problem with making monitors brighter and brighter is that if the brightness level is too different compared to the ambient lighting, it becomes overpowering and uncomfortable.

So the bottom line is if you want a monitor to look impressive you crank up the brightness of the monitor AND the ambient lighting. It produces happiness chemicals.

Now I want to continue to rant about macs.

Today it's iPhoto 09, part of the iLife suite that comes with all os x installations. On first usage I thought the program was kinda shitty. Like kids play or something. But if you just run it two or three times the appeal starts becoming obvious. Everyone's got like a mish mash of hundreds or thousands of photos. The XP way is to just organize them into folders and name them with a meaningful event name plus date like [2006-03-15] Skating. But this becomes tedious, and on a lazy day you might just randomly stuff it somewhere.

iPhoto does all that annoying file management for you. You import, it gets the date info from the EXIF and puts that into an "untitled event" with a date. If you don't name the event the event name becomes the date. When you've got like a few junk photos from random days you can easily merge those events into one. Organization is almost auto-managed in the perfect way that you just can't complain about. Laziness can prevail in this environment.

Okay, not life-changing, I guess. But the coolest thing about iPhoto is the face recognition feature and the way it will index your photos by face. You just take a few photos and name people in those photos and then magically iPhoto will start to pick up those faces in other photos. It takes some time but it's a fun activity (iPhoto's mistakes can be a source of laughter because it means two people actually look alike physically) and when you're done you'll have an INSTANTLY searchable database of faces. If I want to find my dad, I don't have to sift through a bunch of pictures where I think I remember my dad was. I just double click on my dad's face in iPhoto and bam all the pictures of him are instantly displayed in chronological order. That is fucking useful. I can't remember how many times I've wanted to show somebody a face of somebody and I have to do retarded sifting because my photos are organized by date/event not by people. The idea may not be so ingenious but the way apple IMPLEMENTS it, is marvelous. It just WORKS and it entices people to use it.

When you can see people's faces all laid out like that in chronological order you start to think of your photos in a different way. When you see all the faces of people you've met and seen and talked to on one single page it will also change the way you look at picture taking.

Maybe these features exist elsewhere in other programs. But what's the use of a feature if it's never found and never used? Or if the feature is not so convenient, or if the feature is a half-assed job, it's the same as if it were never made. That's the amazing thing about all Apple software, is that I ended up using all the cool features they made. Not that the features exist. That they somehow gravitate the user into using those cool features.

What's the point of making a great movie if nobody watches it?

More than half of the importance of making a movie is getting people to see it.

That's the magic of Apple. They somehow get you to use everything they made. Because they manage all your digital information and present in a humanistic way. They get rid of all the unnecessary hassles (file naming, organiziation... etc.) and leave only the significant decisions up to you.

It is so goddamn hot in Okinawa.

I have lost so much of my ability to tolerate small annoying things in life such as over 30 degree temperatures, returning to a baking parked car after lunch, small traffic jams, the seemingly consistent lack of available delicious food.

It's like, so little pleasure around me, and so many annoyances. Is it because everything around me changed? Or is it me?

Of course it's me. I kid you not, my life is on any measurable scale exponentially better than in Toronto. But I've become so cranky about everything. Cranky cranky cranky.

It's like my brain is so starved for happiness chemicals from the moment I wake up, that anything that doesn't provide a modicum of happiness chemicals becomes so fucking annoying.

Happiness chemicals:

• Rolling around in bed in an air conditioned room
• Dicking around on my iphone
• Dicking around on the computer
• Coffee
• Coca Cola
• Eating tomato garlic pasta at Cappriciosa
• Eating nabe at On Yasai.
• Necking with gf or sex friends
• Sex with sex friends and gf
• Masturbation
• Receiving massages or getting my hair stroked like a a baby.
• The 10 minutes or so after taking a nap.

Things that should be inherently neutral but because of my retarded condition have become so fucking annoying:

• Getting water from downstairs because I'm thirsty
• Spending 2 minutes to make coffee instead of being perpetually instantly available.
• Getting changed and having to decide what to wear (would be more fun if this was in a perpetually air conditioned room)
• Locating my wallet and keys
• Locating my headphones and having to plug it into the stereo system before I masturbate
• Driving anywhere during the day when there is any amount of measurable traffic
• Going anywhere but love hotels or restaurants with sex friends ("quality time")
• Standing or walking anywhere for over 5 minutes
• Having to reply to cell phone emails so as not be that asshole who always seems to ignore people's emails.

I know it's just me. Here's why. 6 months ago, if I had fucked a girl two times consecutively (alas I only managed three times once) at a love hotel, the sheer satisfaction and relief would be written all over my face for the three hours.

Now, doing the same thing, it only lasts about 10 minutes. Then I want to leave the love hotel and go home as soon as possible.

It is clear that I need help even though I would appear to be completely normal to any random outsider. This is however a most sincere and accurate account of what goes on in my brain as of late. I call it "reductionism". The natural tendency (at least for me) to reduce or eliminate all activities in life which do not directly provide a shot of happiness chemicals to the brain.

I'm sure you've seen these kinds of people before. They tend to be rich or blessed with many material possessions. They cannot tolerate even the slightest inconvenience.

Thanks to my good life and good conditions I am rapidly becoming such a person.

I'm still trying to get a grip on why the iphone is so damn appealing and fun to use... and when I look at other smartphones (check out this samsung, and the google android), it has nothing to do with functionality, even though the functionality is very "lagom" - just the perfect amount of what's necessary and nothing more. Instead it has everything to do with the UI slickness. Small microscopic details that make the UI feel so organic, human, flowy.

The samsung for example doesn't even have 60fps animations which makes everything look so ugly and clunky. Not to mention that that 100ms button press lag that makes the touch screen look like an afterthought.

The T-Mobile G1 seems to be better in this regard but notice it lacks many tiny animations when you push buttons, when windows are opened, and when windows are closed. Windows just "pop-up" abruptly. Also the scrolling algorithm is not quite as organic. I can't quite explain it, but just looking at the video, it looks more linear and lacks rebound.

The scrolling algorithm in the iPhone on the other hand is just so unbelievable. Non-linearity in acceleration, de-acceleration, flicking, dragging, rebounds (if you scroll past the limit it rebounds smoothly), check out what happens to the scroll bar when you scroll past the limit. And the other thing is... the lag is virtually undetectable. I find absolutely remarkable, but when you hold-scroll, the screen feels as if it is glued to your finger.

As far as I'm concerned the UI in Apple's iPhone is virtually perfect. I can't even imagine how they could insert a better animation somewhere. A combination of hundreds of small tweaks and tinkering all combining together to provide a fluid, organic UI.

I just downloaded the apple remote app, which let's you control iTunes from your iPhone.

Sounds like a total gimmick but in fact it's one of the coolest ways to enjoy your music collection. Because you can be in control of everything from your bed. And everything that you can do comfortably from your bed is more valuable than what you can do from your chair.

A single fleeting impulse. I want to listen to song X. But if you're not at your computer, that fleeting impulse vanishes. But with a remote you can turn that impulse into a virtually instant reality.

That's it, i've officially become an apple fan.

I just realized that I haven't booted into windows for about a month now. All the daily net surfing, youtubing and music collecting is done on os x. And gradually as I become more and more accustomed to doing things the mac way, I can only say that for the average user, even for the power user, macs are just better.

I'm not going to go into the specifics of how and why. There are so many rational arguments you could make for either side. But one thing is clear: with a mac computing feels so elegant. All the useless and annoying crap has either been pruned out, or taken care of so as to be as unobtrusive as possible.

This is partially due to the fact that apple delivers an entire suite of great applications to cover the most common computing needs. Even though I tend to have an allergic reaction to bundled software (probably a traumatic leftover from my windows days) all the software that apple provides with os x is top notch. It won't be obvious in the first few days of usage but over time I think anyone will come to like them. Everything just frickin WORKS, right out of the box. And they all look so polished, so smooth. There is not even a modicum of ugliness to be found even in the remotest corners of a default OSx setup. However the free Xcode IDE doesn't look so great.

And now that my cell phone is apple the way it integrates with the computer is just ridiculously convenient. I just plug in my cell phone into the USB cable and everything starts syncing without having to touch a button. I'm sure you can do the same thing in windows somehow but the thing is it was all zero installation. The FIRST time I plugged in my phone everything just synced. No settings to be made. No extra utility software to be installed.

That's the key thing I guess. People are so lazy these days they don't want to spend any time doing computer management or file management. They just want shit to happen with the least number of keystrokes possible. And that's where apple shines, cause they do everything for you. You just have to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Sometimes I feel that the desire for novelty is isolated in one part of my brain.

Today I dropped by a computer store in the downtown area of Okinawa. Like a mindless lemming who has no idea why he does the things he does, I just flocked to that section without thinking.

Looking at all the LCD monitors, and doing my usual OCD thing of comparing the white balance with my iPhone, I realized that all my obsessions with displays had come to an end, at least temporarily. All the endless net research, all the silly paranoid scrutinizing of display models, were all just a distant memory now.

Instead my obsessions were all directed towards my new puppy, the iPhone. Recently I had discovered a small microscopic scratch on the screen surface that could only be seen at a particular angle in very bright sunlight with a black screen. That microscopic scratch caused me to take fake bathroom breaks just to check and recheck that he scratch was actually there, and I berated myself for not being more careful.

In a distant third person view I thought I was kind of sick and to an outsider they would probably hate me for being so obsessed with a stupid phone.

But the phone, or LCD, or the silence of my computer, these things are just placeholders for my endless obsessions.

I must always fixate my mind on something at any given time. What that thing is doesn't matter. Just that I need to fixate on something. And when I find something to fixate on, I can't fixate on anything else. It's like all that cranial activity is located in just one part of my brain and it can't multitask.

Another dump blog.

I fucking hate mondays. I'm at a cafe now, trying to crank out some ideas for this weeks lesson. It's a ritual really. Cafe caffeine idea brainstorming Mondays. It's not fun at all.

Typing on the iPhone gives me shoulder cramps

A blog while taking a dump.

Recently I checked out the iPhone development environment on apple's website. I have to say that it must have massive appeal to individual developers because apple has essentially setup everything for you. And because the distribution channels are all set up for you once the app is approved by apple, only the Internet community can limit how far and how widespread your app can be.

It's motivating I think for any up and coming developer to dream about making the next killer app. The barrier to entry is about as low as it will get. And I'm sure that iPhone's sdk provides a lot of great functions to make your app look slick. Even the worst developer can't avoid using apples finely tuned scrolling algorithms. So even the most poorly coded app will still contain some semblance of polish.

I guess the downside is because most people download apps to satiate some fleeting impulse to try something new and cool, even if you manage to write a cool app it will be forgotten quickly.

I can see why apple must approve apps before they are distributed on their app store. There would he way too much junk otherwise.

Anyways I've always been the cynical type who never believed that anything significant can be accomplished by an individual willpower alone. One requires the pressure of society and peers to be able to see a long project until the very end.

Another blog while driving.

Sometimes I feel on this small island of Okinawa, nothing really happens and nothing really changes. It's like I'm just floating in existence and not really doing anything and not going anywhere.

I still hang out at the same places, go to the same restaurants, pretty much the same stuff for the last three years.

I haven't improved as a person. In fact you might even say that I've regressed in many ways. I have lost my sense of ethics. I've become terribly impatient and impulsive, thanks to my ever increasing collection of electronic goods. And because of my comfortable living environment my tolerance for the irritating had dropped to a near zero. I'm the kind of person who will whine about the hot weather at the beach instead of jumping into the ocean and letting loose.

My work environment hasn't changed at all either. Same salary, same classroom, same shit basically.

But all in all, I don't really mind. And that's kinda scary, in a back of my mind kind of way. I don't actually worry about my life emotionally. But there are times when I reflect on everything and I think... Shit the way things are going i'm going go be pretty fucked when I'm 60 years old.

And the main reason for that is because here I'm able to enjoy my life on a day to day basis. Just being able to eat reasonably delicious food, take chicks on lunch dates, screw around with new electronic toys...that is more or less enough for me. A big part of it however is my job. I get to meet and communicate with many new people, and that in some strange way keeps me from going ballistic.

Man there's no doubt in my mind now. The moment you forget about a girl, that's the moment when she starts getting seriously interested. It's almost as if we all have a kind of panic mechanism that activates whenever we feel we might lose someone.

That's probably the third or fourth time ice said something like that on this blog. Well I'm running out of ideas.

Wow. I just blogged the above while driving. Just for kicks and novelty. Not only is the iPhone a huge time waster, it also endangers me and people around me.

Okay so maybe I was a bit too cynical when I said that everything but the messaging and calling functions were gadgetry.

There were two instances in the last week and half where "only the iphone can do it" functionality shone through

1. Wanted to eat at a ramen restaurant called Chanya on Kokusai street. We have a vague memory of where we last saw it. We keep walking in one direction looking for it... but it seems to have disappeared. Pull out the iPhone, open maps, type in ちゃんや in the search field, and then boom the needle drops... in the opposite direction. The ramen sucked balls so we were probably better off not having found it in the first place.

2. Today at a cafe I heard this music track... some kind of Latin World music shit, that I used to hear all the time at Design Espresso Cafe. I use Shazam and put the phone up to one of the speakers, and in 10 seconds there is was ... |"Verao de la whatever" by "Lava", and the best part is it saves my searches automatically so I can just impulsively detect and forget.