Strike!

Supporting the ‘right to strike’ - as I do - is an empty gesture if qualified with complaints about the timing; a strike has little point unless it inconveniences people. That’s not to say I’ve turned to the dark side, merely that the recent (and inaccurate) report suggesting ASLEF were considering action on the day of the royal wedding, seems designed to play on people’s prejudice, to encourage a negative attitude as opposed to healthy discussion. Like most, I can get irritated when personally affected, but it’s a reminder that if I fail to consider a judgement on the cause of the dispute I have no right to judge the effect.

And now for something completely diff… more or less the same.

The difference between an e-book and a real book: £3.04. Having recently watched the brilliant Any Human Heart I thought I’d buy the book; I considered the e-book but settled on the ‘real’ thing after discovering the electronic version was over 75% more expensive. I’m familiar with this kind of occasional discrepancy when it comes to music, but the music industry has at least matured to the point that when I download an album it’s free of DRM and in a format I can play using any brand of player. If I buy an e-book for my Kindle I am effectively bound to Amazon hardware. Yes, there are applications for reading your purchases on various LCD devices, but these aren’t suitable for extended reading; unless you’re OK with multiple breaks to recharge the battery and the (debatable) increased risk of eyestrain.

Ironically though, it’s the increased eyestrain that may make me choose an e-book over the physical form next time around; on opening the book I find I have to hold it at arm’s length. It’s either that or ‘upgrade’ my glasses.

Kindle

I have finished my first e-book on the Kindle, Jane Eyre; which may account for my more than usual downbeat mood for the time of year. As a device it’s great, it's still on its first battery charge and has plenty of charge left. I can’t imagine reading at that length on an LCD display, says the software developer who spends eight hours of every day slumped in front of two 19” LCD monitors. It’s as easy as reading from a book and in some ways better. The iPad, often touted as competition, is I’m sure as good a general content consumer as you can get, but if you’re looking for a device for the specific purpose of reading (for long periods of time) an e-book reader, the cost of which has been driven down because of the iPad, is the way to go.

On the hardware side I have only a couple of gripes. It has to be small but does the keypad have to be that difficult? Also, the Next Page/Previous page buttons situated on both the left and right sides of the Kindle are too low down; slightly heavier than I imagined, I tend to hold the Kindle further up the side – thus the buttons are partially obscured by my hand. These are small complaints; the keypad is rubbish but seldom used (for example a one-off set up for the Wi-Fi connection - there's a 3G version for an extra £40 - and registering the Kindle to my Amazon account) and the Next Page/Previous page criticism may just be an example of my general awkwardness.

The keypad has a purpose; there’s an experimental web-browser for example, useful functions such as search/annotate and not least the ability to search/purchase/download new e-books. But unless you want to risk dashing your new hardware against the wall in frustration I’d stay well clear, though it’s solidly enough built that it would probably survive the impact.

Leaving aside the contentious issue of DRM and the various publishing formats (Amazon use their own proprietary format), you can connect the Kindle using the USB lead provided and download a huge range of free e-books from sites such as Project Gutenberg. However, it’s the ability to purchase/download e-books, including a good range of those free e-books, from within the Amazon ecosystem where the Kindle scores. Use the built in keypad or use your computer, find the e-book on the Amazon website, click Purchase and… that’s it. There’s no download/synchronise option, it just happens; that’s a great user experience.

The day after tomorrow

Today is the day after tomorrow and all is well; well I know what I mean. We’re back at work and there’s no tidal wave, no earthquakes (not in this part of the UK anyway) and no... time to stop worrying about those events we can’t control. Whether it’s recession, bird flu or Manchester United winning the premiership; there’s little we can do, so it’s a good idea to think of those areas where we can make a difference. As to the rest we give our best, because whilst effort expended on lost causes may not be the smartest thing, it’s the human thing. And I’m happy with that.

That was the worst Christmas ever

That was the worst Christmas ever. My Mum followed up her Christmas day stay in hospital with another surprise visit, preceded by bleeding out in the hour leading up to New Year’s Day. If they time her eye operation right she could have a Christmas/New Year/Easter day triple - there should be a prize. Mrs R is still below par, there’s a mountain of washing waiting for me in the kitchen, another of ironing in the spare room and work starts on Tuesday, for which the outlook is uncertain.

With this in mind I concede it’s possible my review of 2010 may show a small amount of bias:

It was crap.

As might the prediction for 2011:

It will be crap.

On the plus side there’s a new coffee shop in town and they do a lovely chocolate muffin.

Flux

I wrote some time ago on the nature of faith and on the whole I was happy with the balance. It was at least a start, but unable to sleep last night I remembered another more earthly bound inspiration; the need to be of use. Perhaps this is a common denominator.

However I’m sure it’s a combination of sometimes competing factors that give us reason, though I suspect we are ill-suited to maintain our grasp on all those applicable; more likely the existence of one compensates for the lack of another. And that’s probably just as well. What of a future where mankind becomes extinct not through famine or war, but through reaching a zenith in securing the source of happiness and having nothing left to achieve.

The love of human beings

Helen says to Jane “you think too much of the love of human beings” and though I understand the context in which this is said it stays in the mind of this non-believer (I still find it difficult to say atheist), I suspect until long after I finish. On the Wikipedia page for Jane Eyre are listed numerous adaptations; missing the one of which I am most familiar and noting another being released next year. I’ve seen several and though the religious element is there I’ve never felt it forced; maybe I’m making allowances for the time or my psyche provides a natural filter, or perhaps such elements as they are have been downplayed for more modern sensibilities.

It contrasted with a scene in William Boyd’s recent adaptation of his own novel, Any Human Heart, in which an irritating member of the clergy who after having been earlier rebuffed by a declaration of atheism is finally told to “fuck off”. That jarred a little; I thought it at first a rather clumsy and unnecessary scene, a sop to atheists, since I’ve never met a religious practitioner quite as inept. Yet Logan Mountstuart was the antithesis to that ghastly picture of a perfect human being; it is what makes his story so interesting - it is why we care. His reaction demonstrated not superiority but his ability to strike out, his flawed humanity. Jane describes it well in a ‘victory’ of her own:

Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.