[Fathom Zero]

July 14th.
It's about 4:52 in the morning as I start this writing. I can't see the screen all that well. The electronic display is giving me a bit of a headache. So I look at the keyboard. But then I really don't know quite what I end up writing. Tortilla chips are falling off the edge of the desk, my furious, pounding keystrokes causing them to fall. I eat 'em anyway. Oddly enough, I bit into one of the chips that fell on the floor and one that didn't and found that the one that had not had hair on it. Whodathunkit?

Oh yeah. July the Fourteenth is the date. I almost said “fourteeth” there. Hahaha... urgh. I'd read the new Heavy Metal, but it's saran-wrapped at the other house. My interest was piqued by Heavy Metal long ago, after I saw the movie. Then I saw the magazine itself. The first story of the first issue I read had a kid in Germany that went diving in a pond, to find zombies at the bottom inside a downed airplane. He swam to the surface, but one of the dead'uns grabbed his ankle, sinking it's nasty hand into him. It was beautiful. The kid turns into a zombie himself and starts attacking the Polizei. Turns out, he wasn't a zombie. He snagged his ankle on some rocks and the chemicals from the plane's payload got absorbed into his bloodstream. They were meant to cause hysteria during WWII.

Freaky shit, if you don't mind my saying.

Oh the things one can think of at 5:00 a.m. and listening to “deep slacker jazz.”

Hahahaha.

I think I'm gonna get a Zune. That is, of course, on my long long long long long list of “Things I want to eventually buy, given the proper circumstances.” I'm looking at the Samsung Q1 at the top of my list of purchases. I need my own computer. Something that I can fry the motherboard on and not care about because I have a nice extended warranty. But it's definitely not an impulse buy. Though, it's almost priced as one. Very close. I've seen 'em dip below $700. It's a pocketable computer, and that's what I like. Some of you may say, “Why not a laptop, Dylan? You can do more with one.” Well, I really am unable to argue with you guys on that one. The thing is, though, I am obsessed with mobile tech. Ever since I got my first Gameboy, I felt the need to be untethered. I wanted to wander, even though it may have been and still usually is within the confines of my own home.

Comfortable sitting positions are very hard for me to find. I have an odd back. Probably due to bad posture and some such shit. Oh well. I'll figure it out. Do some stretches or something. Anyways, I sit very oddly and shift constantly from position to position. I need something that can move around lightly with me. With a laptop, I'm still sitting whether it be on a desk or in my lap. I need to be able to be on my side and even upside down for me to really get some work done. The Q1 would let me do that, as would any other UMPC. But the Q1 has the power behind it that a lot of other UMPCs don't and that is also essential. Even more crucial is the pricing.


I have a tight wallet. Yeah. You can laugh at that when I go on my spending sprees, but I still weigh in the big shit along with the albums I buy. I still have over half the money I've made since I got my job in the bank. It's not a lot, but it's enough for a rainy day by my standards. I could do better, though. I solemnly swear that from this point on, no more Burger King during breaks. Bring snacks. 'K. Where was I? Oh yeah. I have a tight wallet, less than even a grand at max. The Samsung Q1 fills these requisites prefectly, (and it looks pretty fly, to boot.)


Oh well. I'm going to stop talking about my computer specs and turning over to a media player. Everyone loves iPod. Fuck, even I can get into it's devilishly simplistic charms. But one thing I cannot stand is fucking Apple. Everyone who buys their products is usually a pompous asshole, save the very few that there may actually be. I hate Apple. I've always hated Apple. I've hated them since the fourth grade when my school threw out all the PCs in favor of iMacs or whatever they were called. I remember the interfaces and compatability with stuff was terrible and I'd never go back to them. I remember wondering why the mouse had only one button and why it was circular instead of oval-shaped. The list goes on and on. The only other time I've ever touched a Mac was fairly recently at the PX on post where they have G5's and junk set up. I started messing around on the Macbook there. IT HAS ONE HUGE FUCKING BUTTON. Utterly massive, takes up the whole width of the touchpad, (which wasn't very responsive.) You may say, “Well, not all PC laptops has responsive touchpads.” You're right again, ubiquitous reader! But then many companies manufacture towers and laptops, giving you the option of buying another product instead of being the official, the one who gets the shit when things go wrong with others. With Apple, you're locked any way you wanna slice it. Very few things are open on a Mac. I hate it.

And another thing. If nothing ever goes wrong with a Mac or iPod or whatever iShit there is, why do they have customer service and warranties and manuals? They're supposed to be made of rainbows and unicorns like all the other fairy tales. Ugh. I'm tired of it. I can fight all day but people won't change their minds. That's alright, though. They don't have to. I'm totally cool with that. Maybe they'll settle for a hardware/software dictatorship. But I won't.

Which brings me to the Zune and Microsoft. I've used mostly Microsoft's Windows throughout my life. This gives me an inherant bias, just as a lot of Mac users have only used Mac their lives. I'm cool with that. While it's trendy to say Microsoft or Apple sucks, that really doesn't come into play here. What I am looking for is a good, asthetically pleasing, immenantly hackable portable media player. I like the Zune and I'm not going to change my mind on that. I don't want to line Steve Jobs' pockets with any more money. Other style-concious hipsters can do that. Also, I like to root for the underdog. The Zune only has about 7% of the total market share in portable media players if I'm not mistaken. I use Windows more often than Mac, even though I have no interest in both iTunes and the Zune Marketplace. I'd like to rip my CDs. I'd also like to share my songs with other people. That's capable with the Zune, (even as crippled as it is.) I feel they'll open that up.

BULLETIN: If pyou're looking to add some life to your aging media player check out Rockbox.com or .org. I forget which. It's an open-source firmware that adds a ton of features to said media player. Very cool stuff. Also available for the iPods, too!

So there ya go. I'm actually tired now. I think I'll have to go into work at my new job at the golf course tomorrow. Wish meh luck. I hope I get to talk to that guy, Ernie. He's supposed to be my boss or supervisor or something.

SO... this is Bagger #112 of the Fort Sill Commissary and Recreation Aide at the Cedar Lakes Golf Course signing of at 5:40 a.m. Hope you enjoyed my little tirade.