Notice I said device, not “tablet computer” or “tablet PC.” That’s because most of these devices, while technically computers, are not suitable for most of the things people (and by people, I mean me; YMMV) use computers to do. I’ve experimented with these things before; taking one off a friend’s hand for a few minutes; and have always been unimpressed.  Not because I didn’t like them, but because for $500+ they weren’t worth it. My estimation of tablets to date has been “meh.”

Because: they are toys. Their usefulness is limited to doing things toys do. Yes, Apple iPad users, I think your tablet is a toy, too.

And that’s okay. There is nothing wrong with buying, owning, and using (playing with) toys. But let’s not be pretentious about them (*cough* Apple *cough*). And when it comes to toys, I don’t feel the need to get the first ones, especially when they cost too much.

Yesterday I opened a Kindle Fire. Tablets are ready for prime time.

This thing is great. And I figured out why: it’s not pretentious. The Fire doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It doesn’t bother to tell you what kind of processor its running, though you can find out if you care. It doesn’t have a camera because there is no reason to put a piece of junk light sensor on a tablet when we all know you already have a piece of junk light sensor on your cell phone. It doesn’t have a GPS because your tablet doesn’t need one. It doesn’t have 3G because you really don’t need it since you can download your books and a movie or two and you will probably have access to free WiFi where you are anyway. It only has 8 GB of on-device storage because that is enough and more costs more. It has a rubberized back because this isn’t a device made to be beholden; this is a utilitarian device made to be, well, utilized.

The people who made the Fire know I am not going to try to use this to do work, so they didn’t waste time and hardware putting things in there to make me think it might be useful for work. Instead, they made a solid device with which I can read books, browse some websites, check (but not really much else, unless you like to torture yourself with a non-keyboard) email, check facebook, listen to music, etc. And it does all these things well, while being the perfect size.

I’m not going to give an in-depth review because there are already a thousand reviews out there. But I will say this: The Kindle Fire is “worth it.” They got it right. It’s $200 and while it’s not an iPad, the fact that it is not an iPad is a good thing for me. If I wanted an iPad I would have bought one already. I didn’t, and I’m glad I waited for the Fire.

PS: thanks to my wife for not objecting to wrapping an empty box so I could use the Fire she got me as a gift.

So you ask, “can you post some new pictures of your Commodore 64?” Sure I can!

Several years ago I took a perfectly good “breadbin” C64 and painted it red. Then I drilled some holes in it and added some mods — a reset switch and a JiffyDOS switch (though you can’t see those here). Yesterday I felt like taking some pictures, so here they are:

The new SwordSearcher 6.1 supports integrating Alexander Scourby’s Bible narration right into the software. I made a video demonstrating this.

The Scourby recordings are quite old, so the quality isn’t exactly “digital master.” But they are still very easy to listen to. The AMG CD set (containing MP3 files) is the best quality you’re going to find. There is a more recently “re-mastered” MP3 set of the recordings, but the remastering is ham-fisted and clunky, so I don’t recommend anything other than the AMG CD set.  And again, it’s cheap!

But if you’re looking for an alternative to Scourby, Max McLean did an excellent job reading the Bible too. And you can integrate that into SwordSearcher as well!

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

New to this version is tight integration of audio Bibles. You can import your MP3 Bible so that it’s playable in the Bible panel (with scrolling text), and if you’re using the excellent AMG Publisher’s Scourby Narration, you’ll have verse-level playback (not just chapter-based), individual verse highlighting during playback, and you can also play verse lists. More info on audio Bible support here.

Also, as usual, there are a bunch of new library resources, including the often-requested Bullinger Companion Bible Notes and Appendixes.

Perhaps the most important library update, however, is the newly Expanded Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. A lot of work went into this “completion” of the TSK. Check out the link for details.

More information on the new version is available here and here.

A man who wrote the fourth amendment on his skin was arrested at an airport.

A Charlottesville man who stripped down to his underwear at Richmond International Airport to protest security-screening procedures was charged with disorderly conduct Thursday, airport police said.

So, just to be clear. If you…

• …are told to submit to groping and/or ogling by a TSA agent and don’t do so, you’re in trouble.
• …make ogling more efficient by stripping down to your underwear in line without being asked, you’re in trouble.
• …write the fourth amendment on your body, your first amendment rights will be violated and you’re in trouble.

Half the people behind this guy in line probably never saw the fourth amendment before this guy took his shirt off, so I say he’s just performing a public service.

Remember folks: Bureaucracy is the art of removing every last vestige of good judgment from every process involved. Don’t gum up the works by scrawling quotes from the nation’s fundamental legal document on your skin. You’re body belongs to the government, and they’ll have none of it, or didn’t you know that?

Happy new year!

Here’s a picture I took at Stonewood Coffee & Tea Co. Great coffee. Nice place.

Why?  Because the NRA is okay with negotiating away free speech.

I am a member of both organizations, but I will be thinking long and hard before renewing my NRA membership when it is due.

Hopefully, before then, the NRA will realize that it represents its members, not the organization itself. If the NRA is willing to make deals with an anti-First Amendment Congress in order to maintain itself as an institution, who is to say they won’t do the same for the Second Amendment?

Unlike the NRA, GOA is pro-Constitution, not merely pro-gun. So, if you are a member of the NRA, consider joining GOA as well, and perhaps letting your NRA membership lapse if they don’t clean up their act.

I welcome the name change. The word shareware has a positive ring to it for me, but I have come to realize that for most people, it only serves as an unnecessarily confusing moniker for what is now a normal means of software marketing — trying software before buying it.

Back before the Internet was ubiquitous, someone wanting to market their software without going through the normal retail channels could encourage their users to “share” the application with others, who would pay for the software if they liked what they tried.  These days, there is no need for “sharing” a disk or uploading to a BBS, since one can simply visit a website to download the program.  There is a lot of debate over what the “first” shareware program was or whether or not it was even “shareware” at all, but the point is, shareware described a software marketing method, not the software itself.

The distinction is lost, however.  Therefore, it is wise to discontinue using the term altogether.

Though I market my software with “try before you buy” download versions, I haven’t used the term “shareware” in many years, because I’d rather describe my software to someone instead of defining idiosyncratic marketing terms.  My company does what other software companies do: design and sell computer programs.

So, kudos to the ASP for getting this done and moving on.

I still have a bunch of these in a shrink wrapped box (just in case I ever want to save a new file on my Commodore 64) — but those are even more rare, because the Commodore drives use an older double-density format.

Remember those floppy disk cases that let you organize the disks like they were paper in file folders?

Interestingly (well, to me), I have old floppy disks from the eighties that have outlasted burned DVDs and CDs from the early 2000s.

When studying original languages of the Bible it makes sense to combine the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament with Ben Chayyim’s Masoretic Old Testament, so I combined the two into a single TR module for SwordSearcher 6. It’s convenient to be able to switch seamlessly between the Hebrew OT and the Greek NT.

The SwordSearcher Hebrew text includes vowel points, and the Bible search function of the program allows you to search either with or without them.  So, for example, you could do a search for יהוה (the Tetragrammaton) in the SwordSearcher TR with the Consonant search option selected and get results including יְהוִה יְהוָה יְהוִֹה יֱהוִֹה. Might be useful to someone.

The Hebrew portion of the TR module should be considered a work in progress and feedback is welcome.

For comparison, the Westminster Leningrad Codex is also available for SwordSearcher.