Dead Six

I finished Dead Six while at the beach. I liked it. A lot. Even better than Larry's MHI series. I may not keep up with MHI, but, if there is another, and I think there will be, I'll grab it up. And reading it on the Android Nook was a nice experience.

Nook Color Android

So I've been playing with my Nook Color Android tablet. My reference points are an iPad2 (the gold standard for tablets) and my Droid Pro phone (running Android). My first impressions were favorable and that has not changed.

I like the 7" form factor. It is very usable and takes up less space in my bag than does the iPad.

The battery life doesn't seem to be as good as the iPad. I've not done any specific testing, but my gut says I'm charging it more often with roughly equivalent usage. I don't think this is a Nook issue - more of an Android problem. My Droid Pro has mysterious battery sucking apps running that fix themselves.

Unlike the Droid Pro, some applications (Google Reader for one) occasionally blow up and have to be restarted on the Nook Color Android. This doesn't happen very frequently, but I've almost never seen it on the Droid Pro.

Overall, a few hiccups but a great value at half the price of an iPad.

The Six Killer Apps of Prosperity

Another intereting TED Talk...

Niall Ferguson - The Six Killer Apps of Prosperity:

1. Competition
2. The Scientific Revolution
3. Property rights
4. Modern medicine
5. The consumer society
6. The work ethic

 

Definitely worth 15-20 minutes of your time to listen to his discussion of why some regions have been more prosperous over time and why they may be losing that advantage now. He suggests that "we" aren't paying attention. I submit that if would read half the blogs I follow, he would know that many of us are acutely aware of the decline.

Via The Simple Dollar

I like the commercial.

Via SaysUncle.

Coal Creek Armory in Kingston is now Open

According to this post on the CCA blog, the Kingston store is now open. Let the games begin!

Undercover Cop Car

They stole the idea from Running Scared.


Via ENDO

W.E.B. Griffin

Slim recommended W.E.B. Griffin to me before my first beach trip this year. I picked up The Lieutenants: Brotherhood of War and finally read it at home, since I can't read a ton of books on my vacations due to the preschooler factor. I really enjoyed it, so I ran over to McKay's before this trip to get the next book in the series, but McKay's is like a box of chocolates. I ended up getting the first and second book in his Presidential Agent series. I finished By Order of the President and liked it as well. Lovely... another author and several series that I'm going to spend lots of time reading.

 

eBook for Dead Six

So my complaint with the MHI series is that it involves plots to save the world/universe/the future/the past/etc. I bought the eBook for Dead Six. For six bucks and a good chance the change of genera will limit the scope of the adventure (or maybe not), I think it is worth the click to buy now! Also, I like that I can download it in any format I prefer (for example, ePub for my Android Nook). A quick on-line purchase, a download, copied to my Dropbox, and voila... there it appears in Aldiko.

The Pants

The Pants didn't pull out the victory in Florida, but they are still cool.

Go Gata

About a 10 point underdog, but I hope we beat them for a variety of reasons, including this: