Maybe I am old. Maybe I just don’t get it. But I really don’t need “location based” apps and “social networking” apps on my phones. And I definitely don’t need “social networking location based” apps either.

I am talking about the apps currently available or soon-to-be-available on Google’s Android and iPhone’s Installer.app. Take a look (.pdf) at Android’s top-50 third party apps. I personally need zero of them. And while my iPhone is jailbroken, out of the 150+ binary apps currently available for it (no AppStore yet), I have only installed Terminal.app just in case in the future something shitty happens and I need to fix it manually. In other words, I see nothing that changes the way I do things in my life with these apps. Maybe because I don’t want to change my life. But I definitely need features that I take for granted on the desktop.

What I need is the kind of functionality that can’t be brought by third parties but require strong integration with the system and the hardware. I am not interested for example in a non-integrated random third party IM application, because that lack of integration would be more glaring in the mobile environment than an equivalent third party IM app on a desktop OS. Namely, on my phones I always need these:
* Multi-IM (ICQ/AIM/Jabber/Y!/MSN/GTalk) with full A/V support.
* VoIP SIP with A/V support (not Skype, preferably GizmoProject).
* A2DP/AVRCP/PAN/LAP/Obex Bluetooth support.
* Video recording and more still camera settings.
* Cut/Copy/Paste support and Text Select support.
* Adobe’s Flash Lite 3.0 browser plugin with video support.
* File manager/picker that system apps support automatically, e.g. Mail.
* T6 support like this one.
* UPnP server/client support and internet radio integration.
* Sound recorder (this can be done by third parties without integration repercussions).

The only third party app I am interested in seeing, and use only a few times a year, is possibly Skype. Nothing else. Ok, and a few games. But the BULK of what I need, they HAVE to be fully integrated with the system so they don’t behave like poor cousins, and therefore, it has to be Apple’s (or Google’s) job to implement and not the developer’s community.

The only phones that do a lot of what I need are Nokia’s Symbian S60 v3.1 phones and some of the newer Windows Mobile ones. Problem is, I am not willing to go back to a non-touchscreen phone environment (and the new touchscreen Nokia phones don’t inspire me at all), while Windows Mobile’s interface is The Suck.

So I am on “the waiting”.

Shot with an HV20, without a 35mm adapter from what I can tell. The director surely uses a lot of other tripod accessories though to pull through such moves with the camera. HD version here.

Sure, the Bay Area produced bands like the successful Metallica and Green Day, but there are some real gems in the unsigned harsh world of the music scene. These are my favorite bands in my local scene, at least so far, as I have listened to only about 70 of them. 300+ more to go (as you can see, I went as far as the letter “D”). Thankfully they all have mySpace pages to make it easy to preview their music.

#5. Dangermaker
I love their song “Need”. Review soon up at the OWL magazine.

#4. Dolorata
All-female hard rock band. Best song “The Keys”. I’d love to direct an R rated music video for that song.

#3. BellaVista
These are the most well known guys in the list. Good music, they sell well too.

#2. Cold Hot Crash
Great band, easy listening. Funny thing is that my favorite song of theirs is their rock cover for the Christmas song “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”.

#1. Drist
Second most well known band in the list. Each one of their songs are amazing. Very talented, if only they could put it together to release their third album…

There’s this new popular blog, the “Linux hater“. I have to say that I agree with most of what the guy writes. He ain’t no fool, in fact, the guy is a developer and had enough experience with the platform to criticize it in this fashion (it is obvious that he is knowledgeable when it comes to Linux-related happenings going back to 10 years and he is/was at least a power Linux user if not a developer). Neither I believe that he works for MS as some people accused him. I truly believe that he just writes his opinion, an opinion that most of the time is not far from the truth.

Reading him a bit more reveals EXACTLY how most developers feel and behave and think about consumers in the Silicon Valley (and elsewhere). Reading this is not too different than hearing our (engineer) friends talk at barbecue parties:

“Take a software product from some commercial company. If you ever get a chance to get through the marketing folks and talk to their devs, chances are that they know exactly all the ways concerning how their products suck. They’ll have a huge list of reasons of why they can’t implement some feature that you, non-paying, ass-hat, non-customer, wants. And then they’ll tell you what they should, “Show me the money, or bugger off. We’re working here.” And then they’ll talk shit behind your back about how you have no idea what it takes to ship reliable working complex software.”

His blurb about GNOME was 100% on the mark. Most of his other ones find me in agreement as well as to what’s wrong with Linux as a user-friendly desktop platform. His LSB post was on the mark too. The guy ain’t a troll, don’t try to downplay him. The guy tells it like it fucking is. That’s the kind of people I like.

For those who don’t have the time to watch “Lost”, here’s a simplified summarization:

Season 1: Are there others on this island?
Season 2: There are others on this island!
Season 3: Oh my God, the others on this island are nasty!
Season 4: Hell! There are other others too, and they are even nastier!

The RIAA/MPAA will — at last — solve the decades old problem of piracy: an implant behind the ear of each citizen.

When a person listens to a new song or watches a new movie and the implant detects cannabinoid and seratonin production in the brain (chemicals responsible for euphoria and happiness), they automatically charge the person $0.99 for a song, or $3.99 per movie. The implant is Bluetooth-based and so it can recognize the song/movie via the –also Bluetooth-based– source playback device, and can send usage and chemical response statistics back to RIAA/MPAA via the person’s cellphone.

Efforts to remove or mess with the implant’s chip can lead to permanent hearing and hair loss. On the positive side, the chip is able to induce the right hormones for guaranteed satisfaction during sex, and immediate sleep after going to bed, battling once and for all the age old problem of insomnia.

The “Pro” version of the implant, which adds support for reality shows and porn, comes with the first 25 music tracks free of charge. The pro version is also able to boost the hearing ability by 12%, so this model is certain to prove popular with the seniors.

The chips will be manufactured in China, and this was a point of concern in the US Congress last month as some feared that the implants might be compromised by the Chinese intelligence to do “more” than they are supposed to. A big chunk of money from RIAA/MPAA put these fears to rest and the President’s spokesperson promptly assured the population that any such fears are unwarranted.

The standard version of the implant costs just $49, while the pro version costs $79. Plantation is free of charge, albeit possible technical support might not come cheap — the RIAA/MPAA lawyers are still working hard trying to find a fair price, something that they have successfully achieved in the past numerous times.

Lost’s “Hurley”, Jorge Garcia, singing. Very nicely if I might add. He’s got a nice personal blog too (which gave quite a scare to ABC originally as the suits there were afraid that he would spill the beans about “Lost”). He’s funny too.

Again through The OWL Magazine I got to know the local rock band Dolorata. I love their album, and especially the song “The Keys“. That’s hard, modern, rock ‘n’ roll, performed by a five member all-female band, that don’t sound like stupid cheerleaders (e.g. Avril, Ashlee). That’s real girl/lesbian power, right there, not wimpy crap.

Havoc and Jono made some good blog posts about the future of Gnome. The problem is two fold: the older Gnome 2.x “celebrity” devs are not involved in coding anymore, and the newer ones can’t get past the celebrities. Havoc also correctly speaks of the fact that breaking compatibility with Gnome 2.x is not what most users would want.

If the community needs revolution instead of evolution stop looking at the pretty graphics and how to improve this or that. A revolution requires radical thinking. For example, artificial intelligence. If you don’t have the guts or knowledge to bring such big changes (that can take years to complete), then don’t. Simply improve what we already have little by little and don’t do changes that would upset users rather than completely change the way they work.

My first ever 35mm adapter arrived today. It is built by Worley, and I think I was the last person who got one, as he sadly — but understandably — closed the shop a few days ago.

The adapter has an achromat and it’s vibrated. I tried it with a 50/1.8 Canon EOS lens, but I must have assembled it wrong as the ground glass rotates when I turn the lens’ focus ring. I am waiting for my JBQ to come back from work and have a look for me.

And thanks to reader Josh for letting me know of these cheap rails designed specifically for the HV20/HV30, going for just $125 (with shipping). That’s dirt cheap if you think how much rails usually cost.