:: My Divided Soul ::

One of the advantages of using a good hosting service for one’s website is that he can see the search terms that people type into places like Google that get them to the page. Sometimes, they make sense. Sometimes, they make you wonder how the search term got the person to your site. And sometimes, they make you lose faith in humanity, as people search for some very weird stuff. Let’s just have a look at some stats from August 2007:

In total 778 different phrases got people to my website. Given the widget’s popularity, I’m not surprised that the phrase “radar in motion” made up 23.1% of the month’s search keyphrases. That’s pretty typical every month. My Radar In Motion website is the second site that comes up when one searches for the phrase in Google, behind only the Apple website with a link to my website.

The first non-radar keyphrase to get people to my website is “divided clothes.” This one seems to come up ever month for some reason. Is this some kind of clothing company? If so, they need to do a better job, as my site comes up first for this phrase on Google. “New Sevendust” also tends to be a popular phrase. Unfortunately, the weblog entry leading people to my page for this search phrase is over a year old and refers to the band’s previous album.

My philosophical musings get some attention with search phrases like “do people really change?” and “what is an apology?” I can’t claim to be an authority on either topic, so I hope people haven’t used the information on this site for anything important.

I have also been very interested in parasites who steal pictures from other websites and use them as their own without any credit. Some people don’t seem to know what it is (”what is picture stealing”). Some people want to do it (”steal pics from profile”, “steal pictures of peoples websites”). Many people want to stop it like I did (”stop stealing my pics”, “how to stop picture stealing on internet”, and “find out who is stealing your photos”). Others are the parasites I’m talking about (”steal pictures of peoples websites” and “stealing photos from computer”). And others seem to have other intentions (”pictures of people stealing”, “pictures of not stealing”, “men stealing computers pictures”).

I have several song lyrics on my website from bands like lostprophets and Live. It seems the search for the artists of songs based on a line leads some people to my weblog postings: “i have no regrets standing on the rooftops song ,” “i look at my daughters and i believe lyrics.” Of course, this results in slightly misheard lyrics: “this is how we get now everybody scream now,” “standing on the rooftop everybody screams his long out,” “our love is like water beatin down and abused for being strange.” Some people just make mistakes: “our love is like water pearl jam.”

Then there are the search phrases that make me wonder what people were after:

• “pics of chance or kamal”: First prize, lottery ticket; runner-up prize, me!
• “immigrants have freedom of speech means what positive”: I wonder if he did the same thing replacing “positive” with “negative.”
• “request for putting mobile cell on silent mode”: Does it require a call to the cell phone company, perhaps?
• “stories of my death”: They apparently have internet in the afterlife.
• “cartoon video sex ferr”: Umm…..yeah.

I have recently been extremely intrigued by the ongoing competition between Airbus and Boeing. The two companies have taken decidedly different approaches in their next generation of passenger airplanes. In essence, the difference boils down to this: Is it better to take lots of passengers between large airport hubs and then have them fan out from there to destinations or is it better to fly people longer distances with the hopes of having more direct flights?

Airbus has taken the former approach with the development of the A380 Superjumbo, set to become the largest passenger airplane in the world. This mammoth jet requires airports to make some modifications to in order to handle its two levels of entries and gigantic wingspan. The project has fallen horribly behind schedule and already exceeded budget by billions. In fact, Airbus’ parent company has reports a substantial loss for the first time ever.

Boeing, on the other hand, is betting on the fact that people will want to take direct flights as much as possible, resulting in the development of the 787 Dreamliner. It’s designed to be extremely fuel efficient and carry people farther than any other plane. The first test flights are scheduled for later this year and delivery of the first completed aircraft will be in 2008.

Airbus has had no choice but to develop a competing aircraft, the A350. The plane is still five years away, and that’s assuming Airbus manages to stay on schedule despite the setbacks on the A380. It’s also worth mentioning that Airbus’ problems have led them to want to lay off people in their German plant, which has led to widespread strikes among their workers in France.

I have been following the developments very closely, especially now with the command “BA Equity CN” on The Bloomberg (yes, Bloomberg’s main product is called “The Bloomberg”). Every day there are new orders announce for the A380, A350, and the 787. However, as I watch the orders come in, I tend to see “Boeing wins plane order” and “company cancels order for delayed A380″ more and more. It would seem Boeing is going to beat out Airbus for the first time in quite a few years.

I’m not exactly sure why I find the story so interesting or feel a desire to write about it. Perhaps it is based in the fascination in airplanes my grandfather instilled in me many years ago. Perhaps it is because I find it intriguing when two completely different mentalities in design go up against one another. Whatever the reason, it is a story I will continue to follow closely.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I take apologies extremely seriously, both giving them and receiving them. An apology serves many purposes. Primarily, apologizing to someone indicates that you realize something you said hurt that person and you feel you were not right to do so. Ideally, an apology expresses sincere regret for hurting someone. However, there are times an apology is merely an attempt at receiving quick forgiveness for a trespass, whether one regrets his action or not.

Just as important as the apology is the reaction to the apology. I have found that there are three kinds:

• “Don’t worry about it.” It has been my experience that “don’t worry about it” rarely means that. What it actually means is, “yes, you hurt me, but I’m not ready to forgive you for it.” You use this phrase when you feel that the other person is looking for closure on the issue, but you aren’t ready for that; the apology is not truly accepted and it is possible that the issue will come up again.
• “I accept your apology.” This is the most powerful of the three responses. These four little words are saying quite a bit. They are saying that you did in fact feel hurt by the other person and you understand that person realizes he wronged you and is genuinely sorry. It’s not saying that what the other person did was okay. It is simply saying that you are willing to forgive the person for what he did. I find that an important part of accepting a person’s apology is not bringing up the issue again later in another argument. You know what I mean: “don’t you remember the time you really hurt me when you…” If you accept another’s apology, you are acknowledging that you will not hold the person’s actions against him in the future.
• “You have no reason to apologize.” Some people make it a habit of apologizing for everything, as though they think they are in a perpetual state of hurting others. However, sometimes you simply have not felt wronged or hurt and don’t see the need for an apology.

Hopefully, you never see me react in the first way. Instead, I’ll tend to say nothing at all. I think I tend to be a pretty forgiving person, but sometimes it does take time. If I’m going to say “I accept your apology,” I have to know that I truly do. This may take two seconds, two hours, or two days. If you apologize to me, you might find me accepting your apology in a random conversation a few days later. Even right after having been hurt and apologized to, I usually know that I will inevitably accept the apology, but sometimes I have to understand fully what I’m feeling and why I felt hurt in the first place.

Another interesting aspect is the other person’s reaction to your reaction to his apology. It can give you an indication of the sincerity of the apology. If the apology is genuine, the person is not going to be offended that you don’t accept it immediately. If it is not genuine, usually the person will become very irate quickly and put some blame on you for the situation. In the latter case, the other person isn’t concerned about you feeling better; he is only concerned about feeling better himself. Feeling better requires the knowledge that you aren’t going to act angry toward him.

Anyone else given a lot of thought to apologies?

I am currently in Manchester, UK to present my final two conference papers. My sleeping schedule is very messed up, as I am wide awake at 12:44 in the morning, probably at least in part to having slept 5:30-10 this evening. Of course, sleeping at that time is kind of strange, as it is the middle of the day both here and in California. I’m not sure what time zone my mind is on at all. Here is a list of some random thoughts, including some things I’ve meant to post for awhile. All of this will be short and some of it may make little sense.

• Skydiving is awesome. I have the pictures and a video to prove it. If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it.
• I’d rather have my laptop and camera with me on a plane and run the risk of it being blown up than have to worry about putting these things in my suitcase. Two weeks ago, I flew into London two hours after they arrested all of those people on suspicion of plotting to blow up some transatlantic flights. As a result, I was allowed only a plastic bag with my wallet, ticket, and passport for the return trip. That means I checked $7000 in equipment into my suitcase. Luckily, everything made it back in working condition, but I was not amused in having to expose it to baggage handlers and the elements of the cargo hold. Personally, I think such overreaction just allows the terrorists to succeed in their ultimate goals: instilling fear resulting in the loss of freedom.
• When there is nothing to take pictures of, at least there are flowers. My flight to London was so I could attend another conference. There wasn’t much to do in Wokingham and not much to photograph, but I did what I could.
• I’ve learned to sleep on airplanes. I couldn’t do it for the longest time, but now having been to Europe and back several times, I think I’m getting the hang of it.
• The summer is almost over. This is both really good and really bad. I’ve enjoyed my time in California, but it has felt like a temporary life. I’m eager to get back to my house and my drumset in Ithaca. It will be my last semester there and I’m not sure what life will bring my direction afterwards. I’d like to think everything will be fine, though.
• I cannot escape who I am and I’m destined to put myself in the same situations over and over.
• United is now my airline of choice. I have flown out of SFO using them three times now and each time it has gone smoothly and the people have been extremely friendly and good at what they do. The same cannot be said for US Air, my former airline of choice. I flew them for this trip to Manchester and they have been rude to me from start to finish. Also, whenever I call to ask questions, they never understand what I’m asking and they can’t answer well.
• My laptop is on its last leg. The hard drive makes funny noises at me now and again and slows down to a crawl. Once Merom-based Macbook Pros come out, I’m ordering one.
• It rains in other parts of the world. Having been in the bay area, where it has rained all of once since I’ve been there, I am spoiled with regard to weather. I didn’t bother to check the weather in Manchester, which was a mistake. It’s not very warm and it’s rained everyday. I probably should have brought a jacket, umbrella, or long-sleeve shirt.
• A 21-year-old boy who goes to school in smalltown, PA brings dynamite on a plane and it is obviously not terrorism, but a t-shirt in Arabic sparks concern. Maybe this is why last time I flew into SFO, I was asked the following questions: “Where is your family from?” “What is your father’s name?” “Have you ever been to Syria or Iran?” “Are you Muslim?”
• I’m looking forward to using a pirate voice during part of my conference presentation tomorrow.

I signed into my Orbitz account this morning to check the mileage on the flights I am taking to and from California this summer. I check on my flights for the family reunion and I see the following:

Anyone notice a problem with this particular flight schedule? Apparently, United is extremely optimistic and thinks the flight from DC to Chicago to be quite early; or, the airline expects me to master time travel. I, however, am a bit weary of such things being possible and think a -35 minute layover is not enough.

This is, of course, not the flight I booked. Apparently, United changed my flight without informing me. I called Orbitz and they corrected the problem very quickly, putting me on a direct flight from DC back to San Francisco. So a thank you to the kind people there who made the change and were extremely polite and friendly in the process.

As mentioned in my last post, I have recently decided that using a cell phone is in my best interest. It’s been nearly a week now that I have had my Motorola SLVR, so I thought I’d take the time to review it in the hopes it will benefit someone out there who is considering one. When I invest in a new piece of technology, I tend to investigate the options extremely thoroughly and the quest for a cell phone was no different.

I have been perfectly content using a landline for my voice conversations for the past four years. Therefore, I was searching for a phone, not a miniature computer, not a digital camera. I had four basic criteria, in order of importance:

1. Good phone call quality: This is a function not just of the phone, but of the service provider one is using. Cingular tends to have good reception in my home and office, so the phone needed to be able to take advantage of that reception. Thanks to years of drumming without earplugs, my hearing isn’t the best, so call quality and volume were that much more important.
2. The ability to use a headset easily: I see a headset as very useful for a couple reasons. First of all, having my hands free to do other things mean I’m much less likely to drop the phone. I broke one phone I had on my landline because I dropped it while holding it between my face and shoulder and wanted to avoid such situations. Secondly, I figured not having the phone next to my brain was not a bad thing. I’m not saying it’s proven that cell phones cause brain tumors, but I’m quite sure that holding the phone away from one’s head does not cause them. I wasn’t so concerned about having a Bluetooth headset, but I was not opposed to the idea.

   You might be saying, “every cell phone can use a headset, what is your issue here?” My research led me to discover that some flip phones require the phone to be open to talk, even if a headset was plugged in. This was unacceptable to me.

3. The ability to synchronize the address book on the phone and my computer: I use the Mac OS X Address Book to keep all my contacts. I find the integration with the rest of the computer’s applications to be beautiful and I wanted my phone to share in that beauty.
4. A good feel in the hand, particularly with respect to weight: This criteria is pretty obvious. However, my situation was a pit special in that having been used to a landline phone, I wanted a phone with a pretty good weight to it.

As I first stated, I didn’t want a miniature computer or a fancy camera. I had a PDA for awhile and found it was more trouble than it was worth. I toyed with the idea of a Treo or Blackberry, but decided to remain adamant in my wish to avoid such devices. This also meant I was not concerned about data transfer or internet access for the phone.

As for the camera, since I consider photography a hobby, I didn’t need a camera phone that boasted awesome 6x digital zoom. I doubt a camera phone could produce the images of my current digital camera nor the one that will be in my possession in the near future.

In my week with the SLVR, I have to say that it has met all of my criteria perfectly. Allow me to break it down based on the criteria set forth above.

1. Audio quality: Call quality is just fine. I dare say I’m starting to get used to the way calls sound despite it initially seeming horrible compared to my landline. I have seen complaints about the call volume being too quiet, including in the CNet review. When I purchased the phone, I made sure that they would allow me to return it if this were a problem. While finalizing my plan, I was required to give some information through a call on the phone via an automated system. My comment when I made this call: “Whoever complained about the lack of volume in phone calls must have been completely nuts.” The volume on this phone is just fine, even for someone like me who has lost some of his hearing.
2. Headset: For me, this is an area where the SLVR wins big. Because of the integrated iTunes player, the headset provided with the SLVR is stereo; they serve as the headphones for the player as well. This means that the voice of the person with whom I’m conversing comes through in both ears. That’s something I didn’t even have with my landline. I really like the fact that the phone comes with the stereo headset.
3. Address book syncing: I plugged the phone in via the provided USB cable, I opened up iSync, I told it to search for new devices, I clicked the Sync button. All of my contacts loaded into the phone without any problems. Some people have complained about the fact that the Motorola address book lists a contact several times, once for each phone number. You can easily turn this off by going to the address book, hitting the menu button, going to setup, and changing “View” from “All Contacts” to “Primary Contacts.” Then, each person is listed in the address book once, with alternate numbers for contacts accessible with the left and right buttons.

   Through the USB interface, one can also load custom wallpapers for the home screen and mp3s to use as ringtones. With the phone connected to the computer, you simply drag jpg images (mp3 files) to the mobile/picture (mobile/audio) directory on the card, disconnect from the computer, go to Pictures (Audio) under My Stuff, move the files to the phone, and then change the wallpaper (ring tone) in the appropriate Personalization options. I currently have the Skype classic call in sound as my ring tone and Alex Grey’s Dying as my wallpaper.

4. Size and weight: The SLVR is a nice and heavy phone, particularly for its size. I’m sure it’s not going to be too heavy for anyone to carry or use, but it is heavier than other phones. Nevertheless, it is a great size: less than half an inch thick and pretty tall. I held other phones in the Cingular store and found none had as comfortable a feel.

The SLVR has a built in camera and calendar functions, but I have not used these. The camera is only VGA, which some people see as a con for the phone. I see it as a plus; it means that more attention was paid to other more important phone features.

One of the major selling points for the SLVR from Cingular is the inclusion of iTunes. I wasn’t sure I’d ever use this feature of the phone much, but after having experimented with it, I am extremely impressed. One can synchronize a playlist of up to 100 songs from iTunes on his computer. The phone acts just like an iPod Shuffle, including the ability to auto fill and auto convert music to AAC format. Since I keep all of my music in Apple Lossless, this automatic transcoding is great.

Most noticeable is the incredible sound quality for song playback. The audio is crisp and clear, putting my third generation iPod to shame.

The iTunes interface on the phone is well done. It looks and acts like the menu on an iPod, minus the scroll wheel. Artwork and artist/song info appear on the screen when playing a song. A nice touch is that you can hide the iTunes interface and go back to the main page. In this state, the album artwork and track information show up on the home screen and the four buttons on the circle control iTunes.

iTunes interface	Song info on home screen

The phone has a couple setbacks. They are issues that do not make me regret the purchase of the phone at all, but they do leave some room for improvement. First of all, silent mode should mean that the phone is completely silent. With voice dialing set on the phone, whenever I enter the address book and select a contact with a voice name saved, the phone says the name, even when the phone is in silent mode. I wish I could turn off its repeating of the name completely, but there does not seem to be an option to do so. The only other problem I’ve had is that transferring songs can be a slow process. Because I had to transcode from Apple Lossless to AAC, putting 100 songs on the phone took 45 minutes. I believe if the files had been AAC to begin with, it would have done the transfer in around 10 minutes.

Overall, I am extremely happy with my choice of cell phone. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a phone with good audio quality and a useful set of features as a phone. It does carry a hefty price tag at $200 with a two-year contract, but I’m glad I spent the money.