The world becomes a better place because people aren’t satisfied with the status quo and do something about it. If you notice any drudgery in your life, that is your opportunity to make the world a better place – even if only for yourself.
I’m testing out a plugin for easy inclusion of Flickr photos. If you pay attention (I’m not expecting you to) you may notice aspects of this post change over time as I experiment with various settings. 
This post is intended to make people think about what is “normal” and who amongst their friends and family may choose not to have the same definition of that. It is based on a minority view, but one which I believe is gaining wider acceptance. Slowly. I’ve begun writing this post many times in the last couple of years but never been happy to publish it as I’ve always ended up putting a negative spin on it which I feel could be controversial. This time, I think I have it about right, because I think I have it written about me. The comments are open if you disagree.
The title should be familiar to fans of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. For those who aren’t fans:
Ford: It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.
Arthur: What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
Ford: You ask a glass of water.
It shouldn’t be too hard to imagine that the language we use every day – English in my case – reflects the society we live in. And therein lies the clue to what I believe is one of humankind’s biggest problems.
This morning I have risen late and as I write this I am partaking in a liquid breakfast. While the phrase ‘liquid lunch’ is probably more familiar, you might guess I have an alcoholic beverage to hand. I don’t. I have a fruit smoothie that I made myself.
Yesterday, I got to thinking that if I didn’t have another drink soon I was going to feel bad about myself. Was I about to grab a beer to drown my sorrows? No. I need to drink water to avoid dehydration – otherwise I get headaches. For some reason I don’t feel the need to drink water as often as I should and I end up regretting my stupidity for not drinking it anyway.
I’ve only ever been stopped once at a Police drink-drive checkpoint. I was not asked “Have you been drinking?” on that occasion. It’s probably just as well, as I always imagine myself with some witty retort on the subject of water (or juice) and dehydration. It’s a silly question, really. Of course I have been drinking – or I would be in a bad way.
I’m reasonably often invited “for drinks” after work by various colleagues. I accept more and more often lately, because I am noting the reaction to my selection of orange juice or a Coke is often virtually nil, other than to order said beverage. Thankfully, the days of the quizzical look, the “are you sure?” or the occasional cajoling are largely gone. So yeah, drinks are appreciated. If you want alcohol in yours, that’s fine.
So, you’ve probably deduced by now that I don’t “drink”. Why? Because I don’t see the point and, in most cases, I simply don’t like the flavour!
I used to drink wine with a meal – that started when I was a teenager with the family Sunday roasts. These days, I don’t bother because the taste (I do sample every now and then) is not compelling. I used to drink a cold beer on a hot summer evening, maybe at a barbeque – but never if I was driving afterward. Some of the flavours were OK, but again never really compelling for me. I’ve never tried spirits and I don’t ever intend to. I’ve smelled some of them and I’m not compelled!
So I don’t like the flavour, but what about not seeing the point? It’s simple, really. I’m immune to alcohol. Actually, I’m abusing the language there. I’m immune to the allure of alcohol. It most certainly affects me.
On one overseas business trip I was ‘treated’ by my host to the “typical male pastime” of drinks at a strip club. I’m as red blooded as any straight male but the contrived nature of the place and the central role of alcohol meant I really didn’t enjoy the experience. But I was young and drinks were placed in front of me and – stupidly – I followed along and consumed two bottles of beer. I felt like shit that whole evening. Yup. Two whole bottles.
I see alcohol consumption as a type of religion. No child is born with a belief in things he or she cannot see or touch. Religion is something everyone is taught. I’m also unwilling to believe that anyone would develop a taste for alcoholic drinks if they didn’t have an expectation of their effect. Even in the movies you see screwed up faces after a shot of some potent spirit.
So I’m not a believer. I’ve lived 43 years so far without ever being inclined to ‘drown my sorrows’. Now, I will admit to a fairly lucky life, but depression can affect anyone and it is no stranger to me. I’ve dealt with family problems, hated jobs and redundancies and even self worth – all without alcohol. There is enough evidence in the society around me to clearly display it achieves nothing useful. So when things aren’t bad, I see even less reason to ‘lose myself’ in the effects of a mind altering drug. My mind is twisted enough as it is and I like it that way.
While we’re at it, I also don’t smoke. Never have. I’ve also never met anyone who can give me a good reason to start. I do understand that quitting can be a nightmare and I’ve helped someone close to me through that. But, again, why start? It’s that taught belief thing again. At least in the modern era when the effects of smoking have been well understood.
And for a closer, I don’t drink tea or coffee either. I can tell you that is the hardest of ‘societal norms’ to live without. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been somewhere and had nothing to drink because it’s tea, coffee or water! (Yes, I know, I should be drinking the water!)
So, I’m a freak, right? Yes, and I’m proud of it. I can see, often, the effects of alcohol and tobacco on our society and even of coffee. Yes, I know some of those people who can’t function without it – where’s the value in that? I see all this and I choose to be different because it’s who I am. I do have my vices, for sure, but that’s for another time.
Now I have just one request: Next time you want to invite someone “for a drink” or “for coffee”, stop and think what you’re actually asking, and what if that person is me?
Standard Podcast [ 16:31 ] It’s about time I pushed out a podcast.
Herein, please find enclosed three new artists to the podcast, including a brand new band from my home town of Wellington, New Zealand.
I recorded a podcast tonight, but don’t have the time to do show notes and figure out how I’m going to publish it back here on WordPress (the last one was on SquareSpace). Keep an eye out – I’m bound to figure it out soon.
As refreshing as it is to hold a spirited debate with a peer, so it is depressing to bang your head against the brick wall of a closed mind. Today, I’ve had both.
After writing that last post I continued to get the stream of spam comments arriving so I made my decision and started the process to migrate back to WordPress.
And here I am!
If you’re reading this, you’re looking at my WordPress site. I’ve simplified the look somewhat – in the interests of getting up and running quickly – but I may tweak and add and remove bits over the next week or two, so please don’t be alarmed if stuff moves.
I’m already enjoying the auto-saving post editor (including the fact it doesn’t have rendering issues!) and the simplicity of the back end compared to the endless pop-up, pop-over and pop-off “web too-point-oh!” shenanigans of SquareSpace.
And I’ve already canned my SquareSpace account which, I’m sure, is the main reason DNS propagation takes time – to allow such things.
Here’s the thing.
I still manage multiple WordPress blogs and, with the exception of one of them (on a unique host), I can generally upgrade to the latest release in under 5 minutes. As far as I recall, that was one of the reasons for switching to SquareSpace – get out of the maintenance job.
What were the other reasons? From memory (though I probably blogged about it at the time) one other reason was the “everything is drag and drop” aspect. But really, that’s only of any use when I’m changing the look and feel or basic structure of the site. Which is, frankly, not very often. In any case, I’ve found SquareSpace’s limitations to be quite constraining on a number of occasions.
There’s always the promised “Version 6″ engine from SquareSpace. Eventually. Goodness knows when it will actually be released. If I match the current marketing hype to the reality of Version 5, then I’m really not expecting much of value from Version 6.
To be honest, the biggest reason to stick with SquareSpace right now is the amount of effort it will take me to switch back to WordPress. It’s not even so much the migration of the posts – which will be more difficult going back the other way – as the mucking around with domain records.
So, to SquareSpace or not to SquareSpace? That is the question…
You know, I can’t be bothered with the silly post editor on SquareSpace for what I intended here, so I’m posting all the photos over on Google+. They’re public, so anyone can view them.
I’ve tried to refrain from writing this post for quite some time now, but the time has come.
Android is Linux. That is a very simple statement of fact because the Android OS is based on a Linux kernel. But I also mean it in another sense. Using Android is like using Linux.
Take a look around your friends and colleagues and see who is using Linux on a daily basis as their desktop OS. I’d wager they number very few. I know a lot of people who’ve tried Linux or use it in a secondary capacity. I know exacty two people who claim to use it daily. And that’s from all the people I know in real life and on the internet. Yet, if you go back 10 or even 15 years you’ll find numerous articles expounding Linux and how it is going to take over the world – on their desktops. But it didn’t. It hasn’t. Most likely, it never will. Why?
I’ll tell you why. Because computers have been promoted from toys to tools to appliances. Most people just want their computer to work and do not want to spend any time making sure they work. I know this because of lot of them come to me for help. And I have friends in similar situations.
Sticking with the desktop for a little longer, most people buy Windows PCs. The only reason they do this is because they are being marketed to. Give me a room full of computer users and I will find you a disgruntled Windows user. It’s not hard. I could tap myself on the shoulder as a fallback. However, most of these people get by.
Next up, I’ll give you a room of computer users and I’d like you to find me a Linux user. I’ll give you $10 if you can find one. I think my money is quite safe. The reason it’s quite safe is because Linux is not marketed, you might think. But the real reason you won’t find one in the average room full of computer users is that Linux requires geek credentials.
I’m a geek. I’ve tried Linux. My geek cred is not sufficient. I’ve tried Linux about four times from memory. Every time I’ve come unstuck on what should be a relatively simple task. The last time, I wanted to install a simple game and got stuck in an impossible loop of package dependencies. Therein lies the power and the Achilles Heel of Linux. If you know what you’re doing, and are prepared to invest the time, you can do just about anything.
This is how Android is the same. Every time I read an anti-Android comment the retort inevitably includes something like “you just install…” and often it includes “you just root the phone…” These are not the types of actions that normal users are likely to understand. Yes, Android is flexible, powerful (on the right hardware) and lets you do things your way. If you are a geek.
Up to this point, however, I’ve just been talking about pure Android. In the Linux desktop world you have choice. There are hundreds of different Linux variants. Even if we stick to “popular” there are several. There are even two popular and competing GUI frameworks to choose from in some. So it is in the Android world, also. Because with very few exceptions, any Android phone is not running pure Android.
This extra layer added by phone vendors complicates support and fractures the Android experience. If it were just bundled “crapware” it mightn’t be such an issue, but the vendors are skinning the OS and providing their own versions of key functionality. As a result, a new version of Android may not necessarily make it to any given handset even if the hardware is good enough to support it. If it does make it, there will inevitably be delays.
So do upgrades and updates matter to the average user? Maybe not. Should it? Yes! In today’s cyber-world, updates provide protection. If you’re not running the latest, then you are exposing yourself to exploitation through known vulnerabilities. All OSes have them.
And so to my conclusion. Android is a wonderful concept, just like desktop Linux. But unlike desktop Linux, Android is being marketed to ordinary people with typical “ooh, aah!” pizazz. Given the current state of affairs, this is disingenuous of Google and of the handset vendors. I guess we should expect it from the vendors but I do not believe Google is providing the experience they really intended to. Only Google can unify the experience for end users so that it is simple and staightforward to keep up to date (subject to hardware support) and ideally provide an experience that is near uniform across devices. I sincerely hope they do that.
Why? Because much like I hate supporting Windows users, I currently refuse to support Android users. Partly because I know very little about the innards of Android, but mostly because every darned phone is different. I’m not wasting my time gaining any knowledge because of the fractured landscape.
A final note. This is not “Android hate speech.” It is a plea for the many Android defenders to realise it is a platform with a fundamental issue given its widespread adoption (outside geekdom). It is an issue far more likely to be solved if there is uproar from the faithful.
There is a phrase often used in reference to open source: “Free, as in beer.” For the current state of Android, I have coined another: “Free, as in anarchy.”
Comments debunking my claims are welcome. Hate speech will be deleted. Anti-Apple sentiment (it’s fairly well known I’m an Apple fan) will be deleted – this post is about Android.