This site's author has been busy scratching his head and applauding the following:
1. SteamOS - There's regular Linux gaming coverage on the Linux Action Show and though I admit I'm not a gamer, it's great to see Linux penetrate mainstream users through the path of least resistance. The last video game I played was Mega Man X (1993) and the original Quake (1996) on a PC, so I'm regularly amazed by how far gaming consoles and PC gaming have gone. However, I'm actually more interested in SteamOS as a platform for productivity. Will SteamOS' focus on gaming help users unconsciously switch to Linux for everyday tasks as well?
2. Twerking - I freely admit I had no idea what twerking was until the lovely Miley Cyrus ended up on the news for her VMA performance. Believe me, worst things happened on TV in the 80s. With bad news about Africa, India, Pakistan and Syria flowing incessantly on the web, the word "twerking" is still surprisingly hitting the search engines and news sites pretty often.
Uhm...I think Peter should stick to Thwipping rather than Twerking.
Screencap from Spider-Man 3 (2007)
3. iPhone 5C/5S and iOS7, new iMacs, Surface Pro 2/Surface 2, Kindle Fire HDX and more amazing products I won't be able to buy - The Kindle Fire HDX looks great and I'd love to get one if I actually had time, money and access to Amazon's entertainment ecosystem. Apple has another set of hits on their hands with some serious hardware upgrades to their iMacs but I'm actually more interested in the Surface Pro 2, which immediately received ridiculously ignorant comments from "industry" writers (Forbes, Reuters, Motley Fool etc.).
A commuter reads a story on her Amazon Kindle in Line 1, Shanghai.
Look guys, just because you love tablets and Apple it doesn't mean serious IT professionals and enterprise customers won't appreciate Microsoft's efforts to build a functional and beautiful device . The PC landscape is slowly changing and Microsoft is attempting to evolve with it. Why is it that "industry experts" and reviewers (these are the same "industry" writers who don't know anything about Linux) think that all products are designed specifically with them in mind (oh, the arrogance and hubris)? They leave out students, teachers, real IT professionals, digital artists, workers and several dozen other markets they no zilch about. Not everyone needs a tablet or smartphone or an Apple device. I was very happy to see there were supporters for the Surface when news hit the Internet. Despite my devotion to Linux, I'd love to have one myself.
As for iOS7 and the new iPhones, I'm sure Apple will iron out the software bugs people are complaining about and provide a healthy supply of Gold iPhones for the pathetic and desperate worshipers.
4. Marvel and DC everywhere - I'm happy for Marvel and DC's recent success in film, digital comics, TV and everywhere else. Back when Bucky was still dead and Peter Parker (the original and real Spidey) was the lovable Donald Duck/Bugs Bunny of the Marvel Universe, us real fans were waiting for decent films and possibly a great Marvel cartoon/ TV show. With DC making strong inroads back to popularity with Arrow, Man of Steel and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (plus an upcoming show about Gotham City), could this be a new golden age of comic book characters and stories?
On the other hand, I absolutely hate the garbage current Marvel writers are publishing month in and mouth out. The Spider-Man and X-Men books in particular are worth less than used toilet paper (digital and all that). It's easier to like DC's new 52 if you were a Marvel Zombie from the old days because you aren't invested so much in the beloved characters and classic tales of Walt Simonson, Chris Claremont, Jack Kirby, Doug Moench, Stan Lee and Roger Stern.
Thor was intelligent, kind and badass back in the 70s and 80s but current character regression and grossly ignorant Marvel writers have ruined the character. Scan from Thor #303 (1981)
5. Feedbooks - Even with the popularity of period TV shows and movie such as Downton Abbey and updated versions of Sherlock Holmes, I'm always surprised people still stick to reading contemporary books such as the Twilight series, Fifty Shades of Grey, Hunger Games and the Game of Thrones series. There are plenty of online sources for public domain books where books by classic writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Guy de Maupessant are freely available. Their books are exceptionally well-written and it's amazing how much content is imitated from their stories. Other books by lesser known authors such as Earl Diggers (Charlie Chan series), Sax Rohmer (Tales of Chinatown), Maurice LeBlanc (Lupin series), Henry Haggard (Allan Quartermain series) and Howard Pyle (Robin Hood) are also worth reading and their stories are original, immensely entertaining and not as self-indulgent, commercialized and narcissistic as the books published today.
I'm currently visiting Feedbooks regularly for my free Public Domain ebooks. One of the advantages of downloading from Feedbooks is that their EPUBs make use of a specific template so all their books are nicely laid out in sections with a consistent design. Typesetting is judiciously arranged and unlike books from Google or Gutenberg, the books are not encumbered with the long disclaimer and publishing information at the beginning and end of the book. I've recently finished the brilliant Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and I'm looking forward to more collections from the suspense and mysteries section of their site.
Feedbooks also has a great list of books from independent writers and for those interested in erotica, there's plenty of previews and interesting excerpts available.
Postscript: Most uninteresting, inane and boring event? Yahoo's new logo.
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