I never knew

Last year Alias was one of the best shows on tv. A minute ago the season premiere ended, it pretty much sucked. The requisite sexy scene while often somewhat baseless was this time totally for no reason whatsoever, they are redoing the whole series concepts for the second time and tried to do it in one episode, the way they are dumping the whole Rimbaldi thing is ludicrous and the re-arranging of Arvin Sloane is just as bad. And the thing that bothered me the most; they were always whispering for dramatic effect, so much so that the volume on my tv was at triple what it’s usually at and I still had to stuggle to hear. Not good. I’ll give them a couple more episodes to get better and if it doesn’t, I’ll be free to watch Law and Order Criminal Intent.

A couple of days ago I finished reading Vagabonding which I just loved. It’s probably a bit hippy, trippy, spiritual questy and candy coated but still, it’s well written and fun to read. It details “taking time from your normal life—from six weeks to four months to two years—to discover and experience the world on your own terms.” and to do it repeatedly. Rolf Potts gives examples of people who work only a few months a year and leave for longterm trips year after year, living a basic life at home so they can get enough money to then leave for months living on a shoestring in exotic countries.

For many people, myself included, it seems like a great way to live and that’s the candy coated aspect I mention, I dont think everyone can actually do that but everyone might feel they can after reading the book. That’s not really the author’s fault though, he does bring things into perspective time and again, includes tips security wise as he does for a host of other subjects but he just makes it look so great by all the travel accounts he gives that I’m not sure we pay attention. Not necessarily a bad thing.

One surefire method to keep travel from getting too predictable is to occasionnaly acquire or improvise your own tranportation. In Laos, I bought a local fishing boat with some other travelers and drove it down the Mekong River for three adrenaline-filled weeks. In Burma, I bought a Chinese-made one-speed bicycle in Mandalay and pedaled it south for then days before trading it for a fistful of pearls. In Lithuania, I stuck out my thumb on the side of the road in Vilnius, and found myself four countries away (in Hungary) three days later. In Israel I did away with transport altogether and walked acros Galilee, Jesus-style.

Now doesn’t that sound like fun? But how many people actually have the guts and capacity to do it? Great fun to read anyhow, he includes many other books and websites as reference and at the end of each chapter there is a short portrait of a well known, sometimes legendary, vagabonder as well as quotes from many travellers he has met throughout the world. Possibly motivating and certainly fun.

When announcing his company’s copy of the iPod Michael Dell says:

We are revolutionizing technology for our customers—again

Yeah… right. I was going to say that it’s new to their clients but that’s not even true! Dell sells iPods (or used to I guess)! How is that any kind of revolution??

As expected, already a few reactions to WeblogsInc’s announcement. First Nick Denton with 5 valid points. Then Jeff Jarvis also gives a detailed and intelligent opinion. Nothing more to add.

Nokia has announced some new phones and gadgets coming out next year and they look like props form Minority Report. I wouldn’t wear those necklaces but I think the simple fact that products like that are coming out is cool. The Imaging Phone doesn’t look anything like one, I think it might be the first phone (that I remember at least) that really looks like the normal way to use it is with headphones and not by speaking “to” it. And finally the Kaleidoscope which lets you carry and privately view a few images. A new spin on the wallet full of photos but why only 24, with the memory prices so low?