Book vs. Droid

I have been reading Sherlock Holmes in a book and on a borrowed iPad. I’ve never read a book on an electronic device before and I have to say that overall I liked the iPad experience of reading, though the resolution of the iPad did bother me a bit as the anti-aliasing on the type is clearly visible. Out of curiosity I downloaded the Aldiko eBook app for my Droid to see what reading looks like on a small screen.

I was shocked – it actually works really well. I tweaked the font size so that it’s about the same size as the type in the book (17pt on the Droid), and with the higher resolution of the Droid screen the type is crystal clear. The Aldiko app allows you to flick the page to turn it (like the iPad), and also lets you use the volume rocker (conveniently under my right thumb when reading) to turn pages forward and back.

I was skeptical of the small number of words that would fit on a page, but the flow felt very natural and easy.

Overall, I have to admit I enjoyed the experience. And I don’t have to carry any more devices than I already do. Wow, what a surprise!

Le Ovo

We took a fieldtrip with our students to see Cirque du Soliel’s Ovo in San Jose. The show was entertaining, creepy, and wondrous all wrapped up into a big egg. I took this photo while people were entering and finding their seats, and right before one of the ushers told me photography wasn’t allowed inside the big top. I would have loved to have been able to shoot during the show – the characters, lighting and shadow play were fascinating. As it was, I had to just relax and let them take me on the journey. Sometimes I forget that not taking pictures can be rewarding, too.

Click for a bigger version

I love the Library of Congress’ flickr photostream. They are constantly adding interesting old copyright free images. I saw this one and wanted to add to the story. The two gentlemen in the second row seem concerned, but they are the only ones.

Here’s the original image:

Original image from the Library of Congress

Sometimes my most popular pictures on Flickr are the ones I’m not the most proud of.

Gopher Guest

Last time it was a shrew, tonight we had a gopher pay a visit. We need to keep our doors closed.

After we caught him and did our photo shoot, we released him in a wooded area at the far corner of our lot, far from the lawn and garden. Just a few minutes later he was scurrying across the patio back to where the gopher holes in the lawn are. I’m really not sure how he found his way – it was pretty far. We caught him again and took him for a ride to an empty field. We really don’t want him back in the lawn, and the gopher erradication guy is coming out this week. I didn’t have the heart to play whack-a-mole with him, so off he went.