So now I'm dealing with BS!

So I haven't been able to do much of the writing that I've wanted to do (like stuff for this blog) because all of my time has been consumed by bullshit dealing with Park Bellevue Tower and its big fat asshole manager Mark Cherrington. He's an idiot, too, so it's not really that bad. But he's been on a power-trip as long as I've known him, and I'm tired of pretending that everything is okay.

But I thought I would share something very enlightening, an episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit on recycling. It's amazing, the lies that we've been fed and never questioned. Like, get this: (at least in the US) buying and using paper isn't killing our forests — we have more trees in the US now versus 100 years ago. Using paper might kill a tree, but a new tree is planted in its place! And recycling paper creates a nasty byproduct of sludgy bleach. Also, we aren't running out of space for our trash. Check out the video!

Recycle your aluminum cans, though. And make sure you get paid for it!

Hope to get back to the fun tech stuff soon.

Posted with Blogsy

The Connection Between Cats and Politics

Mimi & Kiki, my mom's cats. Images from @bradtastic on Instagram.

I have a bit of a feline allergy, but whenever I visit my parents, I can't help but play with these two, too cute furballs. Maybe I have toxoplasmosis. Pictures of cats always make me smile. Everything cute, really... baby-anythings — especially puppies and kittens. Tiny humans are adorable also, but a little less so.

My mom's cats really like hanging out in small boxes. It's a cat thing, like catnip — although the gray one, Mimi, likes eating it, while Kiki likes rolling around in it.

My Instagram is basically a collection of cat pictures and snapshots of my view of Oakland's skyline, with miscellaneous shots in between. It's a relaxing pastime.

Life gets a little chaotic and painful, and recent events have caused a fair amount of stress and anger.

I think that reading and writing about American politics is important — occasionally it's invigorating, learning about, discussing and debating serious, life-changing issues. It feels right... but it never really feels fun. Maybe it's not supposed to — that thought troubles me.

Video games are fun, writing about games is fun (at least for me)... politics is practically the opposite.

Both can be very time-consuming, but dealing with serious social issues takes a lot of energy and patience that I often don't have.

Perhaps the largest hinderance is hate; discussing politics draws a lot of strong emotions, spiteful remarks, blatant racism and prejudice. Opinions aren't always welcome, and free speech is often pricy. Friends lost — or rather, acquaintances — personal attacks, slander and ridicule... it's such a shame.

Often, it seems that people are incapable of even hearing a different or dissenting thought, irregardless of facts or evidence. People spend most of their time surrounded by like-minded men and women, constantly reinforcing their world view.

Political beliefs are often so deeply ingrained that challenging people infuriates and blinds them, creating a nearly insurmountable obstacle to honest, polite debate.

With few exceptions, each side hates the other, and the lack of civil dialogue creates more misconceptions and increased intolerance. So sometimes, I like to look at cute things, like cats.

Posted with Blogsy

Post-Independence Day Post!

Hey, everyone! Did you have a good holiday? The Fourth of July is a pretty exciting day. Not just for the fireworks — the United States of America is an amazing place, despite all of the crap that goes on.

I've been busy preparing a bunch of posts for Says Brad, controversial pieces, and spent the past few days confirming Squarespace Terms of Service with their wonderful support team to make sure that my content wasn't in violation of their ToS . It isn't, so soon I'll share thoughts on violence and video games, racism, race baiting and the parallels between the Oscar Grant and Trayvon Martin.

And of course, that's not all! More about the NSA and their spy capabilities, controversial laws and ways to protect your freedoms, and as always, app and game reviews, art and, well, whatever else I feel like sharing.

For more frequent updates, cool links/videos and artwork, check out my Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook page. (Also: 360/PSN/vita gamers, I'm currently playing Borderlands 2, Soul Sacrifice, and a few others — if you want to play, message rainfault and let me know who you are and how you found me! I'm also on Guild Wars 2, but less frequently this month: Bradtastic.1623)

Posted with Blogsy

Free 6

I feel like I'm caught in a loop; my thoughts, feelings, energy, ideas, all recycled — while time slips by. It's Thursday already?

I created this several days ago, but it still seems relevant. Dealing with disability and constant pain, I find myself absently pondering the struggles of all life against inevitable death. Perhaps it's because Stephanie has been watching a lot of Ancient Aliens juxtaposed with Nanny 911. I haven't given that a lot of thought.

I've also been thinking about what I'll leave behind, insofar as humanly possible. I know that nothing we leave on Earth is truly permanent, but what will remain into the near future?

Digital things are destined to disappear first. Many people seem to think that technology is a safer means of preservation, that the old ways are obsolete, but how many hard drives have crashed, how many dead hyperlinks exist? We've discovered several thousand year-old cave paintings and monuments scattered across our planet — where will my iPad be in 1000 years. Will it sit like a da Vinci or Stradivarius in a private collection or museum? Doubtful. Most likely, it'll end up recycled and repurposed, or sitting in a despicable landfill (I intend to avoid the latter).

Is life like a firework?

Like a good story; first launched, blazing a trail through darkness to reach climax, a brilliant explosion of color and energy, followed by a slow descent, existing as fragments and remnants to be discarded? Is it sparkle and fade?

What will remain? Facebook, Gmail, and free blogs, at least for awhile. Not this Squarespace blog. Who would pay for it, maintain it, after I'm gone?

I was thinking about this because Squarespace is offering a free Squarespace 6 blog to all Squarespace 5 users. I want to create something worth preserving… how often does that happen? Will the Wayback Machine care?

In the interim, I exist. Life: a culmination of grand achievements and seemingly irrelevant small moments. I wonder which comes next.

Brad uses Blogsy

Productivity App Reviews, Bad Morning iPad, games

I'm having one of those mornings. My body hurts really bad and it's making me oddly emotional. I tried to do a little art/design but my hand is shaking a bit and it's frustrating. So now I'm sharing some iPad/App Store stuff.

I really wish Blogsy worked (natively) with Squarespace. I also wish the Squarespace iOS app didn't suck. I can't edit pages or the layout with the app.

Sometimes progress on things is slow with a disability. I try, but I get tired quickly. I know that many people out there have disabilities both physical and mental much worse than mine, and I hope that they too have a solid support system and good friends. Those fortunate enough should try to get an iPad as a primary computer, it's completely doable. My goal is to help others to make the most of a bad situation, and use tools to the fullest.

So, here's a little Apple iOS App Store update, for Mac and iOS.

New apps & discounts

Paper by FiftyThree

There's an app called Paper by FiftyThree available for iPad. It's free to try... each tool beyond the first costs $1.99 — and it's not worth it. Some might argue that the limited color palette and brush options is cool and minimalist — not so.

• The custom ink engine is cool. The lines look nice and the tools are natural.

• Non-artists wont benefit from the coolness. For a casual user, $8 to unlock everything is pricy. Apps Sketch Club and Layers offer many basic and advanced features for $2.

• Artists will find the app too limiting. No layers, no wrist/palm rejection. Wide eraser. No variable widths; one-size, one-setting brushes, fixed diameter. No zoom.

Clibe

Clibe (App Store link) was free when it was released, and I suggested that people grab it... it's now $4.99 — here's their website. Is it worth it? For $5, I dunno.

Byword

Byword is an awesome word processor for Mac and iOS. It uses Dropbox or iCloud to sync between devices. If you write on at least a semi-regular basis, you will love Byword. It's an attractive, effective text solution, with great functionality and a low price.

iA Writer

Serious writers and web authors may want to look at iA Writer. This app is stellar, minimalistic and focused. This is distraction-free and usable. Focus Mode, formatting, and reading time make this app one of my all-time favorites.

I first found distraction-free writing with WriteRoom by Hog Bay Software. I think it's cool, and Jesse is a really nice guy. I happen to like iA Writer and Byword more now, but the original is still awesome.

GAMES — Some games worth looking at.

• Assassin's Creed Recollection (FREE) if you haven't downloaded it yet. Get it now. Seriously.

• The Bard's Tale ($1.99, usually $5.99) The hit Playstation 2/XBOX RPG plays great on iPad 2 and iPhone 4, and the cheeky humor is a nice change of pace. Get this while it's on sale for $2... if you like games like Baldur's Gate, Elder Scrolls, Diablo, and Dungeon Hunter, you'll thank me later.

• Combat Mission Touch ($4.99) announced on April 1st and so cool, people thought it was a Fool's Day prank. It isn't. Requires iPad 2 or new iPad to run! More info at battlefront.com (CMTOUCH site). If you like strategy games and WWII sims (and you have an iPad 2 or newer...) check it out.

There's also a game called Battle Academy for iPad, released recently. I don't have it, it's $19.99 presently. More information here; apparently, it's a port of a PC game.

Perhaps next post, some art.

I'm still finishing designs for Lance Barton (Fomola) CEO of the company behind Blogsy for iPad. It's been tough recently because of my migraines and nerve pain. Maybe I'll share some other doodles, however. Until then, take care!

Changes, says Brad

Things have been sort of static. Many changes this year; friends, people, politics, society, work, health. If I had more time during the day to do things, you'd probably be able to read all about it. As things are, I just can't keep up. Kim Jong Il is dead now, though. Merry Christmas.

So here's what's going on. I'm spending time on illustrations, science, physics and general design, and I've been looking into my disability, health and general well-being. Made some discoveries. I've gotten a lot of great ideas this year from Apple, Disney, console video games and iOS apps (and their developers).

I'm going to try to get out more, and use the iPhone's good-enough camera. Instagram, Hipstamatic, Camera+ and a number of photo editing apps make iPhotography really fun. I've been thinking about switching to 4S (8MP camera, Siri and Sprint — AT&T SUCKS), but I'm hesitant, because of the 3GS. I think the iPhone 5 isn't far away and will be a major upgrade over the 4S, and will share hardware with the iPad 3. Why wouldn't Apple do this? The iPhone 4 form factor isn't that great, and it'll soon be surpassed by Android alternatives (some think that this has already happened). I'm excited about a retina display iPad.

If you have an iPad and you like games, oh wow. Infinity Blade II, GTA3, Bard's Tale... how many hours of fun is that?! Enjoy it. This is an amazing time, despite the turmoil that the world is going through. If life outside is looking too bleak, step into Skyrim. It's great there — you can kill dragons!

I want to share more about health, fitness, self-defense (these are crazy times) and my disability, and this is probably the place to do that. I don't need Typepad. I've tried to like SAY's service, but I just don't, really. If I knew how to properly monetize my blog, it might be worth it, but I'm not sure that I'd want to do that. I wouldn't mind advertising on my blog, but I'd want to advertise Bradtastic Approved things, things I use and love. Maybe there's content there worth saving; I'll have to spend a few hours going through it and figuring out what to bring over here... maybe I'll setup a few pages with the best of the best content.

I've decided to change my diet and focus on super foods and micronutrients. Veggies, fruits (I love satsuma oranges) and some mercury-free fish every now and then. No more red meat. More brain foods.

There are a few people I'm interested in spending more time with... I'm going to change my schedule to accommodate this change. I think I need to. I had so much more energy in Disneyland because of the sheer number of people there... it was amazing. It felt like 2008; needing only a few hours of sleep, that sense of true clarity. And now that the weather is more to my liking, it's the perfect time to take advantage. Of everything.

Enjoy the holidays. Life is short.

Still here; Babolat Tennis Racquet for sale.

Hey everyone. I've decided to not let superfluous die off without glory, so here it is... to stay, at least for a few years. Unfortunately, I can't make it a priority anymore. This close to me have likely heard about my new idea for a fictional story — although the idea is still nebulous, I intend to see it through to some form of completion, be it a novel, comic, TV miniseries or movie. It's a world I feel compelled to share; it just doesn't feel optional.

Recently I've been reading and writing more, and have made some serious changes to my lifestyle. I'm taking diet and exercise a little more seriously. Recently, I tried hitting some tennis balls.

I've also given more thought to eBay and fb marketplace. I have a great condition 2007 Babolat Aeropro Drive+ #5 (4 5/8") (with case) and new Hurricane/Xcel strings that I'd like to sell. Initially, I was thinking eBay or Craigslost — err, list — but then I thought about all of those Facebook Marketplace listings that I've seen. I'd like to have a conversation with a more experienced online seller of second-hand knickknacks; I've never used CL or Marketplace to sell something.

If you're interested in such a racquet, I'm asking $110 plus shipping (or you can pick it up). I got the racquet as a potential replacement for the Pure Drive+ but it didn't fit my play style. Shortly thereafter, disability stopped me from playing tennis.

More info — including app and software reviews — coming soon.

Atypical Saturday Morning During Grand Slam Tennis

My "normal Saturday morning" would probably seem strange to many people, but today, right now, my morning seems strange to me.

First, I'm eating "Haw Flakes," a "product of China." This by itself is odd; I normally don't have any "haw," and certainly not in the morning. (insert a "haw haw" when appropriate.) One of my uncles (whom I haven't seen in decades) bought them for me; he gave them to my mom, and she gave them to me — from him. I'm thrilled.

By the way, if you feel like giving me a treat, and my Amazon wish list is too subtle (or expensive), you can buy me Haw Flakes! According to the Internet invented by Al Gore, Haw Flakes are ridiculously inexpensive (ten rolls per pack, fifty cents per pack) and are a medicine that's good at curing basically everything. I think you can find them in Chinatown — just a guess.

Second, I'm blogging from my iPhone 4 in my bathroom, bedroom, hallway, elevator and garage... while jogging backwards doing a handstand.

Well, not "literally," but after developing iPad keyboard muscle memory, typing on the tiny swype-less iPhone 'board feels like ninja gymnastics, thumb edition. Normally, I'd be writing this on my precious, my iPad 2, but it's charging at the moment because I'd spent a few hours playing Epic War TD HD while watching Wimbledon coverage on ESPN2 HD.

Last night, I'd wrote up a rant/proposal concerning drunk driving — "impaired driving," rather — and the laws/consequences regarding DUI/DWIs. I very proudly shared it with Stephanie while flexing my oratory prowess.

Totally flopped. "Not visceral enough," was the clear conclusion... "well written," but lacking that punch-in-the-gut, face-kick, "secret ancient-two-finger-ballslap" quality. I'd intended to post it today, but it needs rewriting.

Instead of creating flop-draft: number two, I started a dozen "Words With Friends" and Facebook Scrabble games. I'll try writing seriously later; at the moment, Wimbledon coverage is on, and I was watching Nadal, Del Potro, Fish and now Federer. I also want to play some more inFamous — that's a damned fun game — I'm referring to the first one, downloaded for free as part of Sony's "Welcome Back" aka "Sorry we got haxx0red and your privacy got totally screwed" program.

A second wind.

You probably know that I live in Oakland. Nearby, a fight just broke out — strange — no gunfire. But you know what's been really weird? The weather. Andy Murray, Scot Tennis player, said on Twitter that everyone is a "weather expert" during Wimbledon. I say, "yea, opposed to the 'real' experts, right?"

So some people will be gloomy because of the fog; me, I'm ecstatic, I hope it stays cold. So I enjoy the occasional smoke, big deal, apparently, so does most of America — 240 million people.

I was thinking about posting this entry without an image; that would be atypical, right? But also boring. Squarespace likes to keep things unpredictable; I'm writing this in their app on my iPhone, and I'm thinking that there's a 50/50 chance that I'll lose all of this text, and a 100% chance this won't post properly! Awesome!

(By the way, there's a link on my sidebar — in the form of a "Powered by Squarespace" image — that you can use to sign for your very own Squarespace blog. True 'tastic-ness.)

Squarespace says these issues will be fixed soon, but they said that one year ago as well. Maybe they mean "soon" like Obama does, when referring to getting our troops home. I've also read that a new UI is in the works. That actually looks cool.

Seriously, Squarespace isn't bad. Their customer support is quick, and I've had far more trouble with LiveJournal, WordPress and TypePad.

Back to the future aka 'now,' in a little bit.

As Bradtastic posts go, this one is truly odd. Earlier this week I watched the new "Through the Wormhole" with Morgan Freeman, and it was all about time, and if time really exists. According to the show, there are two main schools of thought, and a musician: time is an illusion, time is the only real thing, and nine spatial dimensions of string theory with two-dimensional time. Several things truly worthy of note: one mad genius talked about marijuana, and why it makes everything seem to take more time, and the other thing... well, I don't remember. That program was on a long time ago, and it felt like, nine hours long.

Kidding.

Normally, I'd now say to myself (and anyone still left listening) "all jokes aside..." presently, however, that wouldn't make any sense. I'd have to quit writing.

Perhaps that's for the best. Enjoy a weird weekend every once in a while. Enjoy life; this shit's short... I feel old already.

Negativity

Some not good luck and negativity.

I’m going to keep this short, because there are still a few other things that are pressing. I’ve been meaning to post for one week now, but haven’t been able to, due to a combination of being busy, tired, hurt and sick. I’m not sure what caused it, but I genuinely felt close to death several days ago. Blogging was on my mind, but I wasn’t about to endure more agony for it. 

Zen Brush art created on iPhone 4. (Bradtastic)

I wrote what I could, when I could—and I must say, Day One Journal (at App Store. currently for iPhone and Mac desktop) has been an amazing thing. Simple and straightforward, uncluttered and synced with Dropbox, Day One is a perfect tool for getting a little something jotted down from wherever. On the iPhone, tidbits, observations, random thoughts and “captain’s logs” can be quickly tapped out and saved. At the desktop, longer posts can be thoughtfully composed and edits can be made to shorthand, quick iPhone-made entries. (FMI: I need to remember to give TextExpander a look)

I should add that, although I really like the desktop app (and I really like the people behind Day One), I still think that the price is a little steep for what is currently offered. I’ve been told several times that features are being added for upcoming versions and that the price isn’t likely to change. Also, good news for iPad owners, the iOS app is going to be made universal. The combined benefits of these additions justifies the $9.99 price to me, but because I’m fairly sure the price of the Mac app won’t go up, it’s not unreasonable to wait if you think you’d have buyer’s remorse—or that the current lack of features would cause the app to somehow fall into disuse. Really, it’s too good for that.

I should also add: supporting the Day One app devs is worthy. The apps are worth using, as is. There’s not a lot wrong with either… I just wish there was a little more (like a separate title field, completely plain text export, password protection on the desktop app).

So—much of my writing has been private, and much of it isn’t bloggable for one reason or another. Some of it just isn’t likely to be interesting to anyone else, some of it isn’t likely to make sense to anyone else, and some of it… just isn’t appropriate.

Hopefully I’m over the worst of the physical problems and side effects caused by poison my medicine. Next week, I hope things are back to the new normal. This much I know—I’ll have plenty to share at Bradtastic Defined. I suppose that with Playstation Network still down, I’ll have stuff to share at Bradtastica as well. 

Maybe sometime soon I’ll share my new desk setup as well. It’s fairly kick-ass; enough-so that I’m going to take one of those artsy social-network-site-style camera-phone shots of it instead of using my SLR. If you have Netflix (watch instantly), get an overdose of Top Gear!

And you’ll have more from me soon.

Writing During Storms

I find it easier to write during traditional “bad weather.”

I love a gray sky — let a little rain fall and I’m thrilled. A day like today — sunny, early — sucks… if it stays like this all-day-long, I’ll be bummed.

Oakland, rated best weather in America.
[By both Rand McNally and Parade Magazine]

I find it easier to focus without fire in my eyes. I like staring out across the horizon and into the upper-atmosphere; there’s something soothing about low clouds and darker skies, a hint of relative-safety and a serene sensation.

I suppose, on a day like today, I’ll write a little blog post.

I finally shared some of my book-writing with my parents. If only I could honestly say that the project was “coming along nicely;” writing a book isn’t like math with an exact answer and repeatable solution, and unfortunately, it gets superseded by daily doings and goings-on. Real life often gets in the way — sometimes people get in the way.

Not that that’s always a bad thing. Life is filled with countless important people and things, and there just isn’t time for everyone and everything. Choices are made — sacrifices are made… and often, even important things get put-off.

On a day like today, I’ll battle the less-than-favorable weather with some down-and-dirty blogging!

WordPress versus Squarespace, part one.

I switched to Squarespace over one-year ago, and I’m quite satisfied with the service. The customer support is top-notch, and most modifications are a breeze. But it’s not all good — there are glaring and stunning issues making me reconsider the gargantuan beast, WordPress.

Because my blog is more than a hotspot for techies and not everyone reading this will know much about — or even care for — the specifications and details of the software and hardware involved, I’ll skip all of that and get to the meat.

The 500 pound giant.

Squarespace attempts to make their UI (user-interface) elegant, and they’ve succeeded in creating something elegant-looking. Unfortunately, a large-screen with high-resolution is required to really enjoy it. If the issue was only aesthetic, I couldn’t in good conscience complain; Squarespace’s clientele and prospects likely enjoy high-resolution displays, and I have one as well.

However, I also use a netbook (the iPad isn’t out yet!), and on it, Squarespace is practically unusable.

Critical functions are inaccessible on a small screen; Squarespace hasn’t built allowances into their main interface for low-res users, and there’s no backup. I could understand certain elements being off-limits — site-design (graphics) modification would be a good example, or adding new sidebars and widgets — but not being able to compose and post a new blog entry? Frankly, that’s pathetic.

At least Squarespace offers a free iPhone app, though composing an entire blog entry by thumb-tapping isn’t fun.

More to come soon, about WordPress, writing in general… and blogging.

Update on 2010-02-28 23:06 by Bradtastic

I’m having some formatting errors… I wrote this post outside of the browser editor and pasted it in, and it won’t display properly. I’m not in the mood to go through and manually recode the damned thing at the moment, so it’s going to stay as it is… for now, anyway.

Ugh… another reason I’m thinking about sticking with WordPress. Not to mention, Scribe looks pretty cool — it’s a SEO Optimization tool for WordPress.

Writing, In Progress

One and one-half weeks ago, I went to Sonora with Stephanie. The trip’s “main purpose” (if there was one) was to visit with her newlywed sister, however, it was also an opportunity for me to see Stephanie’s old hometown — where she grew up and “hung out.” The adventure had its own added perks; when I was younger, I went to Columbia to pan for gold and learn about “Gold Rush” California, and visiting the historical park was filled with nostalgia. I’ve always liked stories of the idealized “Wild West,” with outlaw gunslingers, long rifles, gold panning and prospecting.

I don’t want to rush my recollection, cheapen the trip, or exclude juicy details, however, I can’t yet make time for a full update. I really didn’t want to wait this long, but “real life” got in the way.

Soon, I will have a better story to share. We took a lot of pictures, too… I’m going to add to the gallery. I’ve recently finished my Montblanc journal cover-to-cover… so I’ll go through and grab the “greatest hits” out of it, create myself a “Cliff Notes” version, and share more superfluous information.

With many other writing projects, books to read and assignments to finish — I occasionally feel overwhelmed. Luckily, I have my outlets, games… one of them even makes money — Magic: (The Gathering) Online — I play Tournament Booster Drafts and Sealed Deck formats. More on games later, plus — an entire blog dedicated to growth and education through play!

Until next time… remember: my social-networking links are under “Network” in the right-side column. I set-straight what’s what at my Twitter.

Dissidia — If you’re a Final Fantasy fan with a PSP: Target is offering the game at standard MSRP, except the game came with a $10 Target Gift Card. Definitely worth it.

Bravo Echo Charlie!