Mike Schoon

I love this philosophy…

I am going to study it and put it into every thought in my procrastinating little mind…

Poster by joshuarothhaas

The holidays are upon us again. Finally getting everything organized and finding the time to do stuff like blogging. Anyway, Toby has only had a couple run-ins with his new feline companions so far. I thought it would be worse, but thankfully, he’s made friends out of the deal.

I’ve been spending my days trying to figure out all this Android device modding. I think I need to find a few books that will help me a long the way. Once I understand the structure of the file system and how it all goes together, I should be ready for some happy experiments Don’t know that I’m ever going to try to develop apps, but I have some ideas stirring.

I’ve recently added several albums. Be sure to check them out at photos.mikeschoon.com

I recently received a Kindle Wifi and have spent the last month exploring the features of the device and how to incorporate it into my life. Planning is of course necessary and an understanding of how to to format documents became critical to avoid having to constantly zoom in to read.

This is a brief list of the uses I have come up for it:

Cooking – The Kindle is great to take the place of the netbook I use to read recipes while cooking. If not for the simple fact that I just reduced the chance of spilling hot liquid on a computer, it is more portable, lighter, and energy efficient. It made sense.

Relieving boredom – The simple fact that I have access to a huge library of books has made it easier to pass the time by learning instead of staring blankly at a TV or (ahem) Social Networking sites. I have turned my less productive times of day into reading about Irish History, keeping up on the news in my favorite parts of the world, and checking out new tech I wouldn’t normally learn about.

Bedtime stories – This has to be my favorite use. I ask my daughter what she wants to read tonight and it isn’t a scheduling project to go to the bookstore and pick out one title, which she may or may not like. We have been reading together before bedtime since she was two.

Avoiding paper – I will admit it: I hate paper. I think everyone does. It piles up. It takes over. The Kindle has reduced the amount of paper I have to keep around. I like being green and everything, but the fact that I don’t miss papers lying around is much more important in my mind than saving the world. The unclutter factor is huge with this device. It will be interesting to see if Amazon comes up with additional software to go after the mailbox. I could see a potential for secure documents that replace mail eventually.

This does not begin to scratch the surface of the potential for the Kindle. If you have a great idea that I missed, feel free to hit me up in the comments.