Introduction
print("Hello World")
So, this is where it all begins.
markdown: redcarpet
Okay, great, we’ve got a nicer syntax highlighter that I can use with my ``` syntax I’m so used to…
Github has got me too familiar with standard markdown syntax for Jekyll’s own good.
If you’re wondering why I’ve chosen such a theme for my blog, it’s because I think blogs should be lightweight and easy to read.
I’m a big fan of Medium blogs, but I’d rather host it myself so I know what’s going on.
That being said, the style and layout of medium blogs is beautiful, I’ll try to maintain some of that beauty in my blog here.
I guess another intent is to keep my page weight under 100KB if I can, so sorry if you were looking for fancy animations and funny pictures, I’ll be using them sparingly.
To avoid the senseless wall of text, I’ve provided a nice line to break up the content.
Remember, this blog is a space where I’ll be ranting, so please expect ranting.
Cool, now let’s start with the actual content
Quick side note, while I was writing this, I lost connection to my server that the blog is hosted on and had to stop in the middle of talking about how I was going to actually start talking about real content, I’m sure that bodes well for this blog post…
So, who am I? I guess a good way to start off a blog is to talk about myself, who I am, what I do, why I’m writing a blog, you know, the usual stuff.
Well, the most astute observers in the audience may have noticed by now that my name is Eric.
Hi.
It’s nice to meet you – well, not really, I don’t get to meet you, you just get to meet me, which I kinda feel is a crappy deal on my part. I’d love to meet you, alas this format writing really only allows me to talk and forces you to be the ever silent observer. Of course you could pursue me through other avenues of the internet and pester me by trying to get me to know you, but for now let’s just stick with this one-sided conversation.
I am a student.
I know, breathtakingly intriguing.
Yes, I’m a student. I study things. Particularly things related to computers. In fact, one might just say that I study Computer Science.
But Where? - You (probably).
Well, let’s just say I study in a big US city that happens to be the major crossroads of the North American internet at a school that is not particularly well known for it’s engineering programs.
Okay Eric, why am I reading the blog of some CS student? - You, again (probably)
Great question, I’d love to answer it, but as of now I’m pretty sure you’re the only one capable of answering that question.
This blog is currently empty and I don’t think I’m the most entertaining writer, so your being here is a great mystery to me.
Of course, you could be here because I’ve come to some sort of success in the future and the historians writing my biography (or probably in the future they’d be building some sort of virtual reality encounter with me) want to know what I was like when I started producing independent thoughts.
Okay, basically I’ll be writing here on occasion to share with you something I find interesting or just ranting in general about life, this blog, tech, or how much I hate some people.
Presently I don’t have any greviences to air here and so I may start the next part of this blog by talking about technology.
Some other header…
Technology, an amazing tool. It’s the lifeblood of me and many others in this world.
What’s new in technology?
I guess a lot of phones have been coming out lately, so let’s talk about that.
If you’ve had your head buried in the RSS feed of The Verge or Ars Technica or any other tech news publication these past few weeks, you’ll probably know that Apple and Google have released some interesting phones recently.
I tend to use “interesting” as a word to say nothing of note about a topic when I don’t just want to say the topic.
Yes, this means the phones aren’t super interesting.
Wait, if they’re not interesting then why are you talking about them? - You, again, again (probably)
Okay so they’re sorta interesting, I admit.
Well, Apple has basically decided that the 3.5mm audio standard is dead and that bluetooth audio will rule the world, or at least that headphones with built in DACs (digital to analog converters) are the way of the future.
This is, well, interesting. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless you’re anyone who has purchased an audio product in the past 66 years, and audio carried over lightning with a dedicated DAC on the other end does create opportunity for higher fidelity audio. So it’s neat… but really really really inconvenient.
I’m surprised, I mean I can’t remember the last time Apple ditched convenience for, I don’t know, shits and giggles I guess, on any of their products…
So the tradition of “passing the aux” is dead, boo hoo. Well, at least Google is keeping it alive.
Speaking of the Google Pixel, let’s segue to the Google Pixel!
Wow, that was easy.
So, what’s up with this new phone anyhow? It’s got a killer camera, some weird two tone back, a solid battery, and some vanilla Android 7.1 goodness.
Sounds nice, what’s the catch? Oh, it’s expensive, like, a lot more expensive than previous generations of Nexus devices. Though I guess the Pixel isn’t a Nexus device, cause they ditched that name too…
I mean, it’s a great phone, it comes in two sizes, but it’s just another lateral move Google is making to abandon an old product line for the sake of becoming a household name.
Nearly everything they released at their past press event has been named Google __, barring the Chromecast, though I think we’ll see a rebrand come in soon for that.
What’s the deal? Why is brand recognition so important?
Well, basically, Google wants to make things for real people now, instead of just the tech oriented mongrels.
That’s neat. They’re aiming at average consumers now, average consumers with 3.5mm headphones who love to take photos (gotta love that free full resolution photo backup).
Google’s taking a shot at Apple’s market share, and that’s a good thing. Competition is good. And of course, Google giving away for free what Apple tends to charge laughable prices for (i.e. iCloud storage for photos and iCloud Drive), and that’s what’s important.
As long as these firms are fighting at two fronts, their competitors and their suppliers, they’ll be forced to innovate their ways out of sticky situations resulting in better products and competitive prices.
So, what was the point of that? - You, again, again, again (probably)
I’m not sure, I just wanted to get my thoughts out concerning the recent developments in mobile computing, I’m not in the market for a phone, but I’m always talking to people who are.
Maybe I’ll pick up a Pixel in the next few months.
Thanks for reading.