Well, not physically… unless you consider an internet presence a physical existence…
Anyway, I’m moving my blog from a WordPress to a Tumblr account, in hopes that I will post more frequently. Here’s to the future. Fingers crossed.
For new posts be sure to bookmark chrisdetmer.com. For older posts, check out keinrhythmus.wordpress.com.
so i’m contemplating getting a smartphone. in particular, i’m looking at the htc droid eris on verizon. here’s why:
1) i’m already on verizon. they’ve been good to me. they may not be the cheapest, but their network is reliable, their customer service is helpful, and most importantly, i can get the eris for $50 if i renew my contract and purchase it online. aside from perhaps u.s. cellular, which doesn’t currently offer a phone i like, no other service provider has impressed me enough to make me switch.
2) the eris runs android. although it only runs 1.5, i support healthy competition, and even more importantly, open source. it also integrates directly with google accounts and supports multi-touch gestures through htc’s sense ui.
3) everybody and their brother has an iphone or a blackberry, which are great phones, but i’ve always had a little bit of a rebellious streak. for the most part i’m a big apple fan. after having held the eris and played a little, it seems pretty solid, like any good phone should. plus, it has removable storage, battery and you can mount it directly as a usb drive.
but of course a decision wouldn’t be a decision without some downsides. the most prominent being price. to support broadband connectivity and serious text messaging, the base plan starts at $99.99 a month. ouch. that’s quite a step up from $39.99. there are undoubtedly many other places i can put my money – like my savings account.
so why not go with the motorola droid? basically, that phone is a little too much for me. i was initially really excited about it. the lack of multi-touch functionality is disappointing (i know it “supports” it). the slide out keyboard was also interesting, but, when compared to the eris, that’s about the only hardware feature i consider an advantage, and the reviews on it aren’t promising. the high res screen is definitely cool, but i’m really not planning on watching movies on my phone.
the last consideration… do i really need a smartphone? i would like easy access to email, better texting capability, google maps and voice integration. but do i really need it? having a bit of distance between myself and the rest of the world is comforting sometimes. such is the dilemma of living in a wired world.
once again, it’s time for the renegade craft fair. it’s huge. seriously. and there’s so many booths, you need two days to see it all. if you’re in chicago this weekend, you should take some time and go. it’s free.
every year that goes by i think i’m getting further and further from microsoft windows… then i remember what my job is.
saturday, july 21st, 1979 – tuesday, july 21st, 2009
30 years, 10,958 days, 1565 weeks, 262,992 hours, 15,779,520 minutes, 946,771,200 seconds
indianapolis, alexandria, zionsville, carmel, grand rapids, east lansing, lansing, bregenz, chicago
3rd, pleasant view, driftwood, gilchrist, west akers, hagadorn, nemoke, prospect, pennsylvania, cedar, racine, spaulding, sawyer
eagle, children’s house, forest dale, ada, forest hills, michigan state, lansing community
belzer, spring hill, rotary, blue lake
voice, recorder, piano, coronet, guitar, bass
horny tricycles, mission eclectia, the associates, nebuchadezzar, scarmando, the mattress, hunter rose, the blood wings, separate by miles, james collin
dish washer, locker room attendant, cashier, video editor, sandwich artist, stacks maintenance, service manager, creative director, web designer, instructor, web developer
united states, canada, netherlands, belgium, france, england, scotland, austria, germany, switzerland
commodore, mac, nintendo, windows, linux
music, ballet, french, architecture, photography, graphic design, german, philosophy, religion, anthropology, linguistics, programming, web design
artist, musician, writer, designer, photographer, mechanic, handyman, confidant, poet, dreamer, human, son, brother, friend
tonight is earth hour: http://www.earthhour.org
do the earth a favor and turn off everything electrical between 8:30 and 9:30pm, local time. light candles, play music, go for a walk, take a nap, have sex. just do anything but use electricity for an hour straight. show your support to fight global warming by letting it cool down for just one hour.
If you haven’t seen his stuff yet, you’ve gotta check it out. Kutiman (twitter), a musician/producer/dj from Israel, recently launched a site dedicated to mashups of YouTube videos.
In short, it’s effing amazing: thru-you.com.
The Chicago City Council is attempting to pass a law that would severely hinder and even prevent smaller and independent music promoters. The ability to book and host shows in bars, clubs, galleries, basements and lofts could soon be quite a costly endeavor if this legislation goes through. That means that any small artists wishing to perform in legit venues may soon have virtually no where to go.
The claim Chicago has as a haven for music will wither and disappear nearly overnight if the underground scene cannot thrive as it has been allowed. Some regulation is necessary, but what the city council proposes will strangle all those operating without a huge, industry-level budget. To read the current version of the ordinance, head over to the Chicago Music Commission blog. They would love to hear from you.
This aggression will not stand. All those who value the great wealth of music this city offers on a daily basis should help raise the cry. Blog it, tweet it, contact the city of Chicago, contact your alderman. Make them hear the noise, and let them know that if the music scene dies, a part of the great city of Chicago will die. We will not go quietly into the night.
the schedule for this year’s running of the lake county film festival is up: lakecountyfilmfest.com.
last year, a video by my musical alter ego, james collin, was featured as a short. i won’t have anything shown this year, but i still plan on attending. they’re screening over 80 films and shorts from march 4th to the 10th on the campus of the college of lake county in northern illinois. anyone wanna go?
