Living Digitally

Review of the Apple aluminum keyboard

Apple's newest keyboards are very sexy. They are almost impossibly thin with Chiclet-like keys and an anodized aluminum housing. I bought the full-sized USB version (actually, I bought two -- one for the office and one for home), but there's also a smaller Bluetooth version available.

After several months of use, I've determined that Apple's emphasis was definitely on aesthetics when designing this keyboard rather than function. It's certainly the most beautiful keyboard I've ever used, but it's also one of the least comfortable and "accurate". By accurate, I don't mean that it literally makes mistakes, but there's something about its design that encourages me to make more mistakes than I typically make with other keyboards. In particular, I have problems with capitalization.

My other complaint is ergonomics. Even though Steve Jobs bragged about its good ergonomics during its world debut, I find it relatively uncomfortable to use. It probably isn't any less ergonomic than its predecessor, however it's much flatter which forces me to bend my wrists slightly further forward in order to meet it. According to Steve, this is a good thing, but occasionally, he and I don't see eye to eye.

The new aluminum Apple keyboard looks and sounds better than any keyboard Apple has ever created, but when it comes to comfort and pure WPM, I much prefer my big ugly Goldtouch.

Update: I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten on this article. In fact, I've decided to give the keyboard another chance. I'm really going to work on ergonomics and see if that makes a difference. I'll let you guys know what happens.

Review of "28 Weeks Later"

See it: Yes

I loved the movie 28 Days Later. I don't remember how I coaxed my wife into seeing it with me, but I somehow managed to, and we were really surprised by how good of a movie it was. I don't just mean how good of a horror movie it was, or how scary it was, or how gruesome it was — I mean it was genuinely a great movie with a great story, great actors, and amazing cinematography.

Plain and simple, 28 Weeks Later does it again. The story overlaps 28 Days Later slightly, then jumps 28 weeks ahead to a time when all the infected were thought to be gone, and the British government (with the help of the US military) was just beginning to repopulate London. I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say it was obvious that the repopulation wasn't going to go as planned, and somehow the virus was going to find its way back into the population. This I already knew. This everyone knew. What we didn't know was how clever, intriguing, and unbelievably tense the ride was going to be.

See 28 Weeks Later. If you haven't seen 28 Days Later, see it first. They will probably be the best (and most disturbing) horror movies you have ever seen. Be prepared for the fact that they will haunt you, but not in the way you might expect. You will remember them for the characters, plots, cinematography, and even the music as much as for the gore and terror they instill.

Who knew the zombie genre could reach these heights?

Review of the Amazon Kindle

I've been waiting roughly 10 years for a good eBook reader. In fact, I've even tried several times to make them myself out of ultra-mobile PCs, tablet PCs, various Linux-based devices, phones, and old disused laptops. Once I accepted that I would probably never come up with a solution that I could stick with for more than a few days, I started eyeing technology from Sony and Seiko. And then just as I came to the conclusion that the world simply wasn't ready for eBooks yet, Amazon launched the Kindle. I had one in my cart and scheduled for next day delivery before I even fully knew what it was.

The Kindle is Amazon's new wireless reading device. Interestingly, they don't call it an eBook reader. They use the term "wireless reading device" which is actually very accurate, and much more descriptive. All marketing and buzzwords aside, Kindle is a device for wirelessly downloading and reading eBooks, newspapers, magazines, and blogs. It uses electronic ink for a high-contrast and power-thrifty display, and it even hints at music and web browser functionality, as well.

I've only been using my Kindle for about four hours, and most of that time has been spent reading, but here's what I have to report so far: