Well with a full day and a half now of playing with my iPad here are some more thoughts on the device.
It’s awesome. Really the screen is simply gorgeous. I just used the Marvel Comics app to read an issue of The Amazing Spiderman and the graphics just popped with vibrant color. It was an incredibly enjoyable way to read a comic. I could even zoom in to get better views of the artwork!
The keyboard is interesting. It’s very responsive and with the big screen still leaves enough space to comfortably see whatever it is you are working on, but learning the optimum hand placement has a taken some time. But not too bad. I’m typing this blog post one the iPad and my speed is only slightly slower than a conventional keyboard. I’m sure with enough practice I will find myself flying along on this keyboard. And if worst comes to worst I have a Bluetooth keyboard that i can sync to the iPad.
Battery life is awesome. I really am getting 10+ hours of continuous use out of it. Incredible.
Wi-Fi is strong and fast, web browsing is great in Safari.
iPad specific apps are really a joy to use. The developers of a lot of these apps have done great things expanding their apps for then extra screen real estate.
Anyway… More later. In the meantime Happy Easter!
Well I have it. My very own iPad. Bryan and I went down to the Apple store at 5 this morning. First in line. Awesome. More details to come. But first impressions are very good! I love this thing.
Here’s a very good site with 10 tips for creating better slideshows. Please read it and make your audience happy!
Garr Reynolds/Presentations.
This is a must read for anyone who is giving presentations out there in the world. The post is written by Guy Kawasaki… this man is someone you should really listen to.
As a slideshow Operator/Designer myself for many years in a few thousand settings for several hundred clients… I can’t stress enough how much thought should really go into someone’s presentation slides. Have a read and make your audience happy!
How to Change the World: The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.
1 can’t take it anymore.
1′ve finally just had enough.
1′m tired of wondering where my life is going.
1′m tired of wondering where my next paycheck is coming from.
1′m tired.
1′m absolutely sick to death of pursuing dreams that are never fulfilled. Of “chasing the dragon” all the time. Creativity is sucking the life out of me. My life would be so much simpler if I was just another automaton like the majority of everyone else.
So that’s it. 1′m done.
1′m through pursuing this elusive dream 1 have of being an “Art1st”.
Goodbye films, goodbye art, goodbye music. 1′m through.
I happened upon this page today… It’s a collection of images of some of The Most Ironic Signs Of All Time. It’s definitely worth your time to visit and have a good laugh on a Wednesday (Hump-Day). Enjoy the chuckle!
And for that matter…
With today’s wide usage of cell phone cameras and pocket cams, don’t forget to be on the lookout for real life-ridiculousness! Capture stuff like this on your cameras too and share it with the world! Remember to always be on the lookout and make sure you share it with me!
Spent the morning having breakfast at Encinitas Cafe (mmmm… Oatcakes!) and then Theresa, Bryan, baby Sean, Mom, Missy, Jess and I all went to Moonlight Beach to soak in some of that beautiful So Cal sun in the middle of the day. Such a beautiful way to spend the time.
This seems all too familiar.
Well it’s finally done. The President has signed this bill into law. Now we get to figure out just how the hell this thing really works.
I’m not happy with the entirety of this bill, for sure. But I’m not 100% opposed to the ideas that drove it’s creation. I honestly hope that this helps and solves a lot of problems for a lot of people. But I worry about the cost. I worry about the forceful nature of the government mandating I purchase health insurance.
We’ll see how this all plays out. We do still have the Senate running through it too.
Not looking to start any insane debates here, but what are your thoughts?
I give Hot Tub Time Machine a 4 out of 5 stars.
Well, it’s been two days since I sat down for the silliness that is “Hot Tub Time Machine.” I was planning on writing about the film immediately upon returning home, but I thought I should wait a day or two and let the experience sort of settle in my mind before I wrote it up.
It’s just short of 48 hours since I went into the theater. And here, nearly two full days later I can tell you that I LOVED “Hot Tub Time Machine.”
It’s true. I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit and genuinely enjoying this completely silly movie. The performances are great. Cusack brings a sort of grounding realism to the film allowing the other actors the freedom to go bigger than real. Somehow, it works. Now, this isn’t an overly sentimental ro-com or a terribly high-brow film. No it’s a classic shock humor, repulsive behavior type film… the kind of movie that’s usually given to younger actors to play in. But for this unique movie, it’s a bunch of middle aged men running around in a younger mans playground… and the results are quite funny.
The gags about them being in the 80′s are actually some of the weaker points of the film. The real comedy comes from the exploration of these characters as young men. We get enough of the 80′s to laugh at the hair, and the weird clothes… even the large cell phones. But it’s nothing over the top funny, and the filmmakers seemed to move as quickly away from making fun of the 80′s as they could and got into telling their story. This, I think, was a wise choice and actually made the movie funnier than it might have been. It’s easy to make fun of the 80′s, but I don’t think we could do it in any sort of entertainingly sustainable way for an entire film. The trip back to the 80′s was more a necessity of story telling, of getting these old men back to their youth. If this film had been made 10 years sooner it would have been just as well told in the 70′s. Seriously. The era in which they travel to does not matter. It’s the journey of these older men into their youth that is the main point here, and it plays very well.
Of particular note I’d like to mention Crispin Glover. He has a small role in this film but it’s one that will have you laughing hysterically every time he comes into a scene. It’s a simple gag, but it’s executed very well.
I don’t want to spoil the movie, so this review is just a review about my feelings for the film. I strongly recommend you go and watch this when it comes out and allow yourself to just go with the flow of it all. Don’t take it seriously or you’ll be disappointed. Go in expecting it to be ridiculous and over the top and you’ll really enjoy it.
I mean, really, how else should you go into a movie about a Hot Tub Time Machine?
I’m starting to think that I should start a new blog category called: Beautiful San Diego. I think that’s a great idea. It can be a blog area where I post my musings on the beauty of my favorite American City, post photos and video and remind myself and everyone who’ll read why I love living here. Yeah that’s a great idea.
So it’s another beautiful day here in San Diego. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining and I can hear the surf pounding on the beach just a block or two from my home.
And yet, I don’t feel very happy today.
Oh! Don’t get me wrong… I don’t feel bad. I just don’t particularly feel “up” today. I can’t explain it. There’s nothing particular that’s got me in a funk. I just feel kind-of “funk’ish.”
I guess that it’s normal. We don’t all feel wonderful all of the time. And we certainly don’t feel all down all of the time. So sometimes we are bound to be somewhere in-between. Kind of in emotional limbo. I guess my only concern is that when I come out of limbo I want to find myself on the “up” side of it. Not on the “down.”
We’ll see how it goes.
So 2010 is shaping up to be a big year for me.
In January I set some pretty lofty goals for myself. Some of those goals I am not sure I’ll be able to meet, but the attempt is really what’s important here.
To this end, I have spent the last couple of weeks really evaluating a lot of my life’s daily schedules. Particularly I’ve been re-evaluating the worth of working for the Surf Soccer Club on a daily basis.
I have spent 6 of the last 9 years parking cars, picking up trash and enforcing the Polo Club rules for the Surf Soccer Club. It’s been a great job, one that helped get me through my studies at Palomar, gave me the freedom to shoot “What’s The Vig?” and helped nurse my entire family through the economic downturn last year. In short, I am very thankful for the opportunity I’ve had working for the club.
But it’s time to move on. I have big dreams and big ambitions and as I approach my 35th birthday I am realizing that my time is increasingly worth something to me. I’ve come to realize that any time I spend not pushing forward on my dream is, for me, wasted time. I don’t want to be working on anything anymore that doesn’t meet one of the following criteria:
- Stimulate my creativity
- Advance my career/company
- Increase my knowledge/experience
Those three items are my main criteria for deciding if something is worth my time. You’ll note that money is not part of my criteria. This is important. I do not want to work just to make money. To me, if I am pursuing the things that stimulate me and make me happy I know the money will follow.
This is a big step. It’s kind of scary, but I know it’s the right choice for me. I’ve already lined up a bunch of freelance work in the A/V business, Dawson Digital’s video production and graphics business has been growing steadily over the past 6 months and our software company is just about to launch. It’s exciting times around here and I want to give it my all. It’s time to step up and make things happen!
In the linked article is a very nicely written review of Jeff Bridges’ career by the man who inspired the Cohen brothers character “The Dude” from “The Big Lebowski.”
Go on, have a read… this may just be Jeff Bridges year to take home Oscar:
Jeff Dowd on Jeff Bridges: A unique American icon | The Big Picture | Los Angeles Times.
Hello world. Say hello to my newest nephew, Sean Murphy William Davis.
He was born on Feb. 24, 2010 at 3:49 AM. He was 7lb 10oz, and was 19 inches long.
He’s cute as a bug and his parents did a wonderful job bringing him into this world. I’m sure they are going to be a wonderful family!
David and Sean's First Picture Together
Well, Bryan and I are up in Palm Desert this week working with IMS Audio Visual on the eTail West conference.
I enjoy working with the boys from IMS. They are good guys. Nice to work with.
Bryan is here working, even though his wife (my sister) is at home ready to pop with their first child. Hopefully she won’t go into labor while we are here. She’s acutally due on the 7th of March. So we are assuming we have another week, although, we all know Teesa would prefer to have the kid sooner than later at this point.
This is an interesting conference to be working at this point. With Apadapa Labs getting ready to launch we are quickly preparing to become a company with actual products to sell. Not just services. So the sessions here on email marketing and online data collecting are extremely relevant and interesting.
