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December 30, 2014

Huge Lume Marker Alert: The 2014 Benarus Megalodon

I raced down to the post office to pick up my pre-ordered Megalodon (from last July). Its lume markers take up more surface area of any dial on a watch I've ever owned. For me, a lume freak, that's a good thing. The bezel is 49mm and plays as such. The watch is heavy but not too much. The carbon dial is subtle yet distinctive. Coming out of my car in a rainstorm at dusk with a bunch of heaters I bought at Lowe's, I saw the lume markers blazing like bright lights. I'm rather loving this watch.

Posted at 07:19 PM in Manly Watches | Permalink | Comments (7)

"The Holidays Are Just One Fat Man Meal After Another"

"Dude, you can barely breathe." Pretty much how I felt as I indulged in extragavant meal after meal after meal. I wondered if I was going to die before getting back home and starting my program. Anyway, I'm pretty stout these days and would like to lose 20 over the next few months and keep it off. There's the killer. Losing is easy. Maintaining is nearly impossible.

Posted at 07:13 PM in Personal Chronicles | Permalink | Comments (2)

Got Home from Vacation with No Central Heating and the Portable Heaters Shut Off the Breaker Switches

Got back from a 7-hour car drive, Berkeley to Torrance, and found our central heating was broken. I called Cornett Heaing this morning. The tech said he didn't have the part and his co-worker may or may not have it but he wouldn't be able to see us for another week. We don't live in Michigan, but the temp at night is in the mid-30s. I decided to give our twins portable space heaters but they shut off and shut down the breaker switches and our Internet.

Should I return the space heaters? They sound like a nightmare to me.

In other news my Benarus Megladon is in the house. I picked it up at the post office. I need to unearth the camera and hope to have pics tomorrow.

Posted at 05:53 PM in Personal Chronicles | Permalink | Comments (10)

December 25, 2014

The First Two Seasons of Black Mirror Speak About the Addiction and Self-Destruction of Technology

Readers, myself included, are suffering technology fatigue. For a satirical, entertaining, smart look at technology and its ubiquity and addictiveness, the TV series Black Mirror is excellent.

Posted at 09:02 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Will We Look Up at the Stars Or Down at Our Navels?

Thanks, Ulysses:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2875997/Next-year-s-big-trend-ANTI-TECH-2015-set-year-people-forsake-gadgets-social-networks-simpler-life.html

What bothers me most about technology is that it is misused, mostly towards fruitless ends. The average smartphone could easily power a manned mission to some distant planet, but instead it's being used to squish berries in a tedious game of some sort. Instead of looking up to the stars and wondering about the future of human endeavour, we're staring at our navels at every opportunity, hoping to beat a previous high-score and considering that some sort of worthy achievement. We don't need half the technology we own. Perhaps that sounds odd coming from a computer science graduate, but there you are.

Merry Christmas to all.

Posted at 05:53 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1)

December 24, 2014

I Share Bill's Skepticism of Smartwatches

I remain skeptical of smartwatches. The convenience of having an auxiliary smartphone screen on your wrist would seem to be counterbalanced by squinting at a one-inch screen that washes out in daylight, can't do much of anything by itself, becomes yet another gadget that needs to be recharged every night, and requires replacement when the new model comes out every year or two. For exercise fanatics or hypochondriacs who feel they need medical monitoring full time it may be quite the thing. In general, though, smartwatches look like an attempt to replace old, cheap, reliable, proven technology just because we can. That's always a bad reason.

Posted at 06:54 PM in Manly Watches | Permalink | Comments (6)

People Who Love Watches Love Real Watches, Not Smartwatches

Article "Tradition, timepieces, and the scourge of the smartwatch" explains the appeal of traditional watches and the drawbacks, to watch lovers, of smartwatches.

Posted at 05:58 PM in Manly Watches | Permalink | Comments (3)