My thoughts on eBooks VS real books

Posted by lemiffe under iPad, Literature

Let’s start by stating a fact: Some people love reading physical books, some people love eBooks, most people hate reading on a computer, quite a few love reading on a tablet.

I remember ten years ago reading a 600 page book on the computer, and it was a pain. But with the current revolution of iPads, Kindles, and Android tablets, more and more people are flocking towards digital book stores instead of real ones.

Some of my best friends are quite disturbed by this tendency. They argue that the smell of opening a new book, the feeling of turning a page, the texture of each sheet of paper, and the ease of grabbing (and tossing) a book, leaves a much nicer feeling than holding a device that you feel more “attached to” (e.g. you can’t just toss an iPad) while reading.

However, whilst I can’t say I’m a bookie, I have read my fair share or physical books. But lately I find it much more enjoyable to read on an iPad (for example) instead of an actual book. Why? Easy: Digital bookmarks, highlighting, notes, having all my books in one place, requiring just one (or two) taps on a screen to start reading where I left off.

I recently finished reading ‘STEVE JOBS’ by Walter Isaacson (great book by the way), and I read it on an iPad. What I really liked about the experience was that I could highlight sections I considered important, and I could share quotes on Twitter and Facebook right from the app. So when I was writing a Powerpoint presentation the other day, I remembered something I read in the book, so I just went straight to “notes”, and copied the text I needed into my presentation.

So, I guess it all comes down to one question: Do you read just for reading? I know I don’t. When I read I like to make notes and highlight interesting things. Somehow highlighting an actual book doesn’t seem right. I remember that I once had a book with over 30 bookmarks. It just seems much easier to use an eBook reader nowadays.

So, in my opinion, the inevitable will come to happen: eBooks will eventually prevail. And as much as I like the smell of opening a new book and flicking through the pages, ease of use always dominates. There are so many books out there, and those books won’t disappear, but eventually, all new books will be released only in eBook formats.

Shivering Cold

After two and a half years of work on my new album, I’ve finally released it. The album is about distance, living in a cold country, the violent situation in my home city, adjusting to changes, amongst other topics.

It’s going live on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, and other services in a few days.

Meanwhile, check out the first “single” below on SoundCloud (player below)… Comments appreciated!

NY trains VS Scottish trains

Posted by lemiffe under Life

I’m only in NY for a day, but I’ve had a chance to catch a few trains, so this is my first impression:

Platform:

Clean, but not as clean as Scottish train platforms. Trains seem to leave on time from GCT, but delays seem usual from many other stations. I’d say delays are on par with Scotrail.

I’ve not seen CCTV on the platforms here, and just a few in the stations. Scotrail platforms are plastered with CCTV… Including the trains themselves.

GCT beats any Scottish stn. Including Glasgow Central in looks.

Trains:

Quite clean, same as Scotrail trains. Some of them squeak a lot on the rails, and they seem much slower than trains in the UK (Virgin, cross-country, Scotrail). People seem friendlier, they actually ask if it would be alright to take the seat next to you… over there, most people just sit down.

In Scottish trains they check and sign your ticket, which you keep till you reach your destination, as they ask for it on your way out. In NY trains, sometimes they take your ticket away, and other times just clip it and give it back. It seems you never have to show it to leave the station.

All in all, I prefer Scottish trains… But I prefer Belgian “B” trains even more… They are the most silent ones I’ve ben on.

I won’t go into detail in the NY underground. I’ve heard it is filthy and full of rats. I even heard people play a game here… How many rats can you count. Doesn’t sound tempting so I’ll probably be avoiding the subway.

My initial experience with ASP.NET MVC3 and Razor

Posted by lemiffe under Companies, Computers, Microsoft, Programming, Technology, WebDesign

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to develop a mobile application with data access in ASP.NET.

Naturally, I did a bit of research, tried out a few things, and finally came to the conclusion that .NET framework 4.0 was the best choice.

So I got down straight to development, using Jquery Mobile Framework, ASP.NET with .NET 4.0, MVC3, ADO.NET Entity Framework 4.1, and ASPX (web forms).

It was easy enough to set up, but when it came down to implementing user controls, I found it a nightmare. Passing parameters to the user control whilst using a MultiView was giving me a headache.

The issue here is that web forms are not naturally set up to work via AJAX calls, and Jquery Mobile Framework relies entirely on AJAX calls. So I decided to try out the Razor layout engine instead of web forms.

I had no experience using the Razor layout engine, but after a couple of hours, I found it delicious to use. I could code up pages much faster than in web forms. And the integration with controllers and models in the MVC3 framework was just, natural, it all fit into place beautifully.

Naturally, I found a few issues learning the basics of the MVC3 framework, forms authentication, the Razor layout engine, and accessing data from a database. Tutorials seemed to be all over the place, but I came across a few good ones which I will share with you.

If you are getting started with MVC3 + Razor + Data access (using DBContext in MVC3), follow these tutorials, and you’ll be a ‘pro’ in a couple of days (providing you have enough experience).

Razor Layout Engine:

Learn the basics of the Razor layout syntax:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/gg618477

Learn how “sections” work in Razor:

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/12/30/asp-net-mvc-3-layouts-and-sections-with-razor.aspx

Learn how to implement partial views in Razor (which can be used as ‘user controls’):

http://rachelappel.com/razor/partial-views-in-asp-net-mvc-3-w-the-razor-view-engine/

MVC3:

Learn how a basic MVC3 application works in .NET:

http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/creating-a-mvc-3-application-with-razor-and-unobtrusive-javascript

Learn how to integrate data access (database first) using MVC3 and EF 4.1:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/gg685489

(If you want to create models, but use a MSSQL database that is not on your machine, and you don’t want to have it in the App_Data folder, just follow the steps, then delete the database from the app_data folder, and change the data source in the web.config to point to the correct location).

Writing your own queries to access the database instead of relying solely on those from the model:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/adonet/archive/2011/02/04/using-dbcontext-in-ef-feature-ctp5-part-10-raw-sql-queries.aspx

So that’s it for now, I thought it would be good to have a central location for these tutorials as they served me well whilst I learned the basics of MVC3 + EF4.1 + Razor, so I hope they are useful to you as well.

If you have any queries, please let me know in the comment section below.

The right fucking decisions

Posted by lemiffe under Life, Literature, Politics, Society

The right fucking decisions. That’s what people should learn to make.

If people made the right fucking decisions, the world would not only seem better, it would be better. Less car crashes, less time wasted, less unemployment, less abortions, less suicides, less disasters, less stupidity.

Action-reaction: you decide to marry the wrong person, you have a child, you divorce, the child grows up. The child either becomes l/g/b/t, kills someone, becomes a criminal, commits suicide, or in a few cases, lives a “normal” life.
Action-reaction: you are skilled in arts but pursue a career in finance to become an investment banker, your ego outshines your skill, you make bad choices, the market collapses, you lose everything, you kill yourself.
Action-reaction: you are bullied in school, you feel you are being bullied for life, you feel so much better than the rest inside, you feel powerful, you take a gun, you go to school, you shoot everybody.

It’s not hard to make the right decisions, just think before you act, measure your options, make the best choice.

When it doesn’t work out, you know you tried your best, and it will probably turn out better next time.

If you lose your money, break your mobile, crash your parents car, befriend the wrong person… think, measure, then act… Next time. Tomorrow never comes when tomorrow is all you wait for. Today is the only time, this moment.

Lets stop acting like mindless fools and get our act together, lets make the right fucking decisions, for the sake of humanity.