Category Archives: Technology

My Top 10 Top 10 Lists of 2011

December 29, 2011 – 9:30 am

nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Inspired by the Top 10 Worst End-of-the-Year Top 10 lists list that we posted at FaithVillage, here is my own Top 10 End-of-the-Year Top 10 lists list.

10. The Best Selling Video Games of 2011
Sadly, my absolute favorite of the year, Portal 2, was ranked #10. It’s one of the smartest games in existence. I’m playing through #8, L.A. Noire, during my Christmas break, and it’s a little unnerving to have more than a few actors from Mad Men (including the game’s lead actor) appear in the game.

9. Top 10 Words of the Year
As a writer, I felt like I had to include this, but the words this year are lame. I’ll save you the trouble: The word that was most looked up online in 2011 was “pragmatic.” Additionally, “‘austerity’ also made the top 10 list in 2011 along with ambivalence, insidious, didactic, diversity, capitalism, socialism, vitriol and ‘apres moi le deluge.’

8. Top 10 Most Bizzare Tech Stories of 2011
This list exists because someone failed to tell someone else that just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you should do something. A self-hugging vest? An internet-enabled kissing machine? An MC Hammer search engine? At least they all have this in common: They make me say, “What the what?”

7. Top 10 Gorgeous Gadgets of 2011
Function does not have to follow form. These gadgets remind us that useful tech doesn’t have to be just a metal box.

6. 10 Most Viewed YouTube Videos of 2011
#1 makes me weep for humanity. My favorite is #2, embedded below.

Tags 2011, FaithVillage, tech, Top 10 | Permalink | Comment (0)

Life Music Sports Technology Websites

My Top 10 Visited Sites of 2011

December 26, 2011 – 11:30 am

Since we’re running a few Top 10 lists at FaithVillage this week, I’m following suit and posting a week of my own randomly chosen end-of-the-year Top 10 lists. Today, it’s the Top 10 sites I likely visited in 2011. There are no statistics to back up this list, just inclinations.

10. Grantland / ESPN

Ever since the Mavs won the championship (which I predicted), I’ve become an ardent NBA fan. Sadly, the lockout and the loss of many of the key Mavs from last year have left me with a bitter taste, thinking that the Mavs getting through the playoffs this year would be even more miraculous than last year’s epic run. If you’ve never visited Grantland and you appreciate good writing, Bill Simmons, pop culture, or Chuck Klosterman, you’re missing out on some of the best stuff on the Internet.

9. PostSecret

If you’re easily offended, this isn’t the site for you. If you’re awed by the incredible diversity of the human race—our hidden thoughts, unspoken hopes, and worst sins—this site is fascinating. People send their secrets via postcard to Frank Warren. The often simple words combine with just-as-simple art to produce compact yet compelling studies in humanity. It’s updated every Sunday, but not archived. In other words, the secrets are only up for a week at a time. However, these postcards have been collected into many different books.

8. GoodReads

I used Shelfari for ages. After using that site to catalog my library, then not finding an easy way to export that list, I jumped ship to GoodReads, a similar social network for book lovers. I’ve been happy ever since, especially with GoodReads’ iPhone app that allows me to scan book bar codes in order to add them to my digital shelf. It also helps me keep track of what I’ve read and how much work I still have left to do.

7. 101books.net

I don’t recall how I stumbled onto this humble blog with grand ambitions, but I’m glad I did. It’s fascinating reading for book lovers and English majors. Robert Bruce, unhappy with his lack of reading fiction as an adult, decided to read Time Magazine‘s Top 100 books since 1923 (the year Time was founded). He added Ulysses to the list, since it is widely considered a literary masterpiece, but was published in 1922. Bruce blogs about interesting trivia behind the books, then provides an easy-to-read and honest assessment of the time he spent in the book. I once spent a weekend poring over every post until I caught up to “real-time.”

6. Christian Nightmares / JesusNeedsNewPR / Huffington Post Religion

Both Christian Nightmares and Jesus Needs New PR are blogs that detail the rather weird side of Christianity. Sometimes funny, sometimes scary, but, to me, always interesting. Be warned: These sites are not for the faint of faith. HuffPo Religion is where I find news of note in the Christian world that is making waves beyond the church’s walls. read more »

Tags 2011, 2012, New Year, Top 10 | Permalink | Comment (0)

Technology

Cutting Cable’s Cable

September 1, 2011 – 7:04 pm

After reading the post Tivo Courts Cord Cutters over at Zatz Not Funny, a blog that covers Tivo-related news, I ventured to a local Best Buy to take full advantage of the offer that Dave Zatz pointed out in the post. Namely, I bought a Tivo Premiere unit and an Antennas Direct ClearStream 2 long-range HDTV antenna for the all-inclusive sum of $100.

Separately, each item is $100 by itself. In other words, I received a $100 long-range antenna for free. Couple that promotion with the fact that Tivo is offering a separate promotion for users who only want OTA content ($10/month instead of $20/month, promo code: Antenna), and I was sold before I’d even bought anything.

For months (maybe even years), I’ve been trying to find the one solution to getting rid of cable or satellite. The cost versus benefit of cable or satellite is just too exorbitant. Also, I’m not quite ready to give up TV like so many of my much-holier-than-me friends and family have done. I still want content; I just want it more on my terms and less harmful to my wallet.

Tags best buy, hulu, netflix, tivo, Youtube | Permalink | Comment (1)

Funny Technology

Chatting Up Cleverbot

August 30, 2011 – 11:00 am

After reading Jason Boyett’s A Conversation with Cleverbot about School and watching this video of two Cleverbots talking to each other, I had to talk to the Cleverbot myself.

It’s not good that I know Cleverbot exists, because what I really need more of in my life at this particular moment is another online diversion that adds no real value to my life. (There are only so many hours in my day where I can be Moses on Facebook)

So, in that vein of wasting time, here’s my first encounter with Cleverbot. If you’re familiar with any of Jason Boyett’s books, you’ll find Cleverbot’s answers a little ironic. This is one conversation, and it’s a little long. If you want to have your own chat with Cleverbot, scroll to the end of the post.

Testing Knowledge
User: What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
Cleverbot: Is that an african or european swallow?
User: African.
Cleverbot: It is 35 mph with no headwind and an empty stomach.
User: How fast is 35 mph? read more »

Tags apocalypse, Cleverbot, Monty Python, the meaning of life | Permalink | Comment (0)

Family Funny Life Technology

The Nonagenarian and His iPad

July 10, 2011 – 8:30 pm

I called my grandmother recently. While she has a cell phone and knows how to use it, I called her home number. She answered by saying my name, then told me she’d read it off of the caller ID on her television. She then asked if I could believe she was that hip in regards to technology, to which I replied, “You’ve always been that hip,” which she has. Then she told me this story:

My doctor told me of a 93-year-old patient he recently had who came to his office with both an iPad and and iPhone. The doctor, amused by this seeming anachronistic sight, told the elderly man, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m impressed that someone at your age is so adept with such technology.” To which the man curtly replied, “Well, you don’t live to be 93 by being stupid.”

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