On Libya

My blog is one of those barren wastelands of internet that probably no-one ever visit. Still I would like to you tips were to find information on Libya.

The first website I have been following irregularly is LibyaFeb17. It is a website ran by the activists and the website compiles everything that is happening in the media about the events in Libya. If it ain't on this website you do not need to know it.

Secondly I'd like to promote tweeter from Iran. SaloumehZ tweets frequently and follows the events in Libya very closely. Follow her and you know what is happening at the moment in Libya.

Hope that the bloodshed end soon.

Blood's A Rover

James Elroy. One of the most respected American crime novelists of our time. I read his book "Blood's A Rover". It came out in 2008. It is book about United States and what happened there in 60's and early 70's. Should it be read as a social commentary. Maybe. Is it one? Probably not.

You won't like the characters in the book. You will hate them and despise them. They aren't nice people. Some of them try to do the right thing at the end but it does not save them. They just have gone too far.

Like in Elroy's  previous books the story has many different branches and the fate of characters is intertwined around one key event. This time everyone is after emeralds that were lost during a robbery of an armoured van. There are people searching for the diamonds from left and right.

Even though the violence, drug abuse and the evil things that happen in the book will make you nauseous and dislike the characters there is something captivating in the story and Elroy's story telling. Big reason for that is the style how Elroy mixes real life events and stories from his imagination is something very unique. I almost started to believe that these things really did happen.

Blood's a Rover gives you an opportunity to take trip in to the world of rogue FBI agents, mobsters and leftwingers. Take it if you are ready to watch the evil that lives inside us humans straight in the eye.

Changing to Mac

At the end of 2010 my old Acer laptop started to show signs of old age. I started to consider my options. I was pretty sure that I did not want to buy a desk top computer. There were couple of very interesting options that were on offer from Sony and Samsung. Both of them were laptops with Core i5 processors and large and fast hard drives. The buz that has been surrounding Apple for the past five years got also to me and made me consider buying a Mac. Unfortunately the pricing of Mac computers has been a bit of putting. Let's face it the hardware in the laptops usually is a bit out dated (that changed with the new generation of MacBook Pros. Still there is something strange with the Macs that lured into buying one. I was pretty lucky to find a two month old base model MacBook Pro for only 870 euros with a neoprene bag (value 40-50 €) and with preinstalled MS Office. The whole package was delivered to me with the same price. So converting to a Mac did not end u being so expensive, at least not for me. I've used a Mac now for about four months and here are some of thoughts about my experiences. 

Even though I would not like admit it there is this strange aura around Macs. It just feels so much cooler to use.  It is funny how Apple has been able to make devices that do not not represent the latest technology cool. A lot of it is to do with user experience which, I think, is just wonderful. The ease of use and the fact that device just works is wonderful. Also it was not that hard to impress me since my previous laptop was from the 2006.

I usually listen my music from my computer so I really appreciated that the 3,5 mm headphone jack also acts as an optical audio out that connects to my stereos. I also like iPhoto and iTunes works much more smoother than in Windows XP. Before this blog post turns totally into just repeating how wonderful Macbook Pro is as a laptop I think it is better to stop. But before that I want to make just one more point. I think that for most people that are not even so technically oriented as me Mac offers ease of use and stress free computing. Also you will constantly find features that make the use of your computer more easier and just a bit more pleasant. So far the closed nature of Mac's software environment has not caused me any problems and I have been able to install all the programs that I have wanted to. In conclusion, so far my Mac experience has been very positive.

PS. Don't change to Firefox 4 it caused me a lot of problems I had to go back to 3.6.

PPS. Oh, they are starting to sell them iPad twos in my country. Should I get one?

My favourite Android apps

I've had my HTC Wildfire now for nine months and I would like to share couple of my favourite apps.

Winamp

Winamp for Android

 The standard music player that HTC offers is all-right, at first. After awhile you start to notice the limitations of the program. They are mainly on the usability side. The default music player just isn't that agile and easy to use. Particularly changing between the player and library and getting to the track list of a album is a bit difficult

Winamp for Android is makes listening to music more enjoyable. The user interface has some pretty nice features. Like when you are playing an album you just simply swipe down wards and the track list is exposed. Also the search function is very agile. At the newest versions when you swipe left or right you can change the song. Winamp for Android also plays Shoutcast internet radio.

C:geo

C:geo

Oh, this app has brought me so many fun moments during the last six months. Absolutely the best way to search geocaches on a Android device. Not much more to say about this. The program is updated frequently and if you start geocaching you might find a fun new hobby.

AndNav!2

AndNav!2

There are a number of software that you can use for navigation in Android and there are also paid version available from TomTom and others. I opted for AndNaz!2 which is free navigation software. You can use maps from many sources like Mapnik and Google Maps. The maps that Mapnik provides are very accurate and detailed. You can download maps directly from Mapnik and save them on your device. Also when you browse maps on AndNav!2 the maps are saved to the device for later. The problem is that the route directions are downloaded from a different service which is bit of a bummer. This means that you always need an internet connection when you want route directions, but if you have an unlimited data plan that shouldn't be problem. For a free navigation software AndNav!2 is great program and is able to fulfil most of your navigation needs.


Frozen Yoghurt

Finally thank god they finally released the 2.2 Froyo update also to Wildfire. It made the device so much better. The device itself feels a bit more responsive but the best thing that came with the 2.2 update were the many small tweaks and corrections made to the GUI and language translation. Like the fact that when you turn the phone while using the camera the controls turn accordingly.