Sunday 29 May 2016

Waffles & Waffling

In the great waffle vs pancake debate (lol), I've always taken the side of waffles simply because I love the crisp and any excuse to slurp maple syrup. So I've embarked on the thankless search for the best chicken and waffles in the country I'm currently based in, before I hightail it back to the Continent or maybe NY, depending on how (un)welcoming things get after the vote. Anyway, in the continuing search, I've had some meh, some seriously??, some huh?? experiences.


The worst of all was probably the place where I ended up getting takeout because the service staff got the orders wrong. I could have gotten better waffles if I had bought frozen and warmed it up - bleh. The wings were a lot better simply because of the sauce slathered all over them. Still the waffles were softer than pancakes, which was a no-no




The only thing that cheered me up was the wickedly funny Vanessa Waltz whose Dirty Prince was recommended by a friend. Hmm, a European prince who speaks like a southern England native (admittedly, he hails from a country Anglefell that hates to be mistaken for England - haha) and inspires tabloid headlines that would make Prince Harry blush which is an accomplishment all on its own. It's quite different from Waltz's other work though frankly I've only read two others. Still it made me laugh. And thinking back on the nobility and a prince I've had the (mis)fortune of encountering, if only they were so entertaining instead of being all poison ivy like, then again it takes all kinds to make the world right? Watch for the review next week.


Am gonna go brood over some writing that's driving me up the wall. Plus worry about a friend who's gone all quiet. Right now am hoping he's just busy or miffed because it's a lot better than something having happened to him. And my best friend's birthday is coming up too. Will the pace ever let up?

Sunday 22 May 2016

The Non Apology

I know the apologies and excuses aren't going to rock it so I'm not going to apologise. All I'll do is release excerpts from chapter 2 of DF on my other blog. I'm still hoping to release chapter 2 soon but I'm resisting the temptation to fo it just because I'm so tired of refining the story.

Exhaustion is getting to me and while the ideas are still popping up, I'm too tired and not feeling motivated. And I really don't want to lose the whole motivation for writing that got me started in the first place - enjoyment and inspiration.

Hope everyone's doing well. Here's some food porn as replacement for the severely delayed written erotica LOL






Sunday 15 May 2016

Review of The Thirteen Problems  

For some reason, I was inspired to take on a quick re-read of Agatha Christie's The Thirteen Problems. The collection of short stories based loosely on Miss Marple's mystery solving adventures. I like Christie's main sleuth characters, Poirot and Marple, who are both fascinating in different ways. Of course, Suchet's turn as the famous Belgian sleuth does help!


In some ways, I'm sure my fascination with Bones, Criminal Minds and Monk may be traced to Christie. Anyway, part of that fascination surely has something to do with the fact that Christie wasn't exactly recommended reading though it was a lot more fun than thumbing through Thackeray.    


Compared to the thriller /mystery books that I've read since those days, the plot twists may seem a little too simple. For critics with that view, all I can say is that doing simple is often the hardest thing. Not all crime and mysteries are headliners or hugely complex. Sometimes, the most horrific plots are silently and almost unobtrusively carried out amid the mundane routines of daily life. My favourite pieces in this collection are The Idol House of Astarte, Motive v. Opportunity, The Four Suspects and The Herb of Death. While there's some excitement in terms of the suggestion of the supernatural and the claustrophobic overhang of war time paranoia, it is the simple locked room mystery trope and the chillingly sharp look into human psychology on offer that provides the thrill. 


Ok, so I'm mild when it comes to thrillers. For that reason I loved Clancy and Ludlum. And yes, I'd rather like a weekend of barbecue wings and Bourne movie marathon - if only life could be so easy huh?! 


What created the meh : the character development of the Tuesday club members. Sorry, can't tell the difference between the doctor and the lawyer.

What puzzled: The plot development in The Bloodstained Pavement. Ok, so the image created a deep impression on the painter/artist but that was essentially a distraction. 

What thrilled: The psychological insight offered by The Four Suspects and The Herb of Death

Re-reading rating: 4*

                                                    This comes from Yale news


The only thing better than a good murder mystery?

                                                   This comes from food love!


Sunday 8 May 2016

The Problem With AU

I'm sure after airing my grouses about certain tech giants, I'll be branded a neo-Luddite or a rabid female who's had burning hatred of technopreneurs. To be honest, I love gadgets especially tech gadgets. So it ain't the rabid thing for sure. Do I dislike technopreneurs? No more than I dislike doctors or lawyers or any other professional. In general, I don't like arrogant male chauvinist asses, so unless the imdividual is an AMCA technopreneur, I'm basically neutral towards him or her.


In the interests of alphabetical order, let's deal with Apple first. Let me declare, I'm not an Apple fan. Have not been since a disastrous encounter with Apple aftersales service (aka Service? What's that? What's service Siri?) over an iMac which saw me, a devoted Mac user, become a non-Apple fan.


The long story short? Basically, I followed the instructions of the online technician and when things got stuck, the service manager insinuated I was trying to get a new product indirectly despite the fact that the item I was complaining about had been delivered less than a week earlier. So I completely agree with this article.  A brief guide to everything that’s annoying about Apple http://gu.com/p/4tkp2/stw


Apple sealed the dislike when it gradually implemented its information and tech lock-in policies. Sure, hackers have a harder time getting to your information (though recent years have shown no one is impervious, not even the Apple) but so do you. Ever tried to migrate your information across platforms outside the Apple mandated universe? Good luck!


And now for the ambitious ubermensch! Before anyone jumps to the defence of my next gripe, let me clarify that part of the following is logical speculation on the possibility of screwups. You know like on the scale of Ashley Madison.


As someone who doesn't try to drive in the urban jungle I'm currently based in nor thinks it's anywhere near sanity to drive in London, Uber should be a godsend of sorts. Yet I'm irritated. I'm probably one of those bitchy, vocal females that Uber (and other Silicon Valley tech frat community members) seem(s) to hate. I read this article How Uber conquered London http://gu.com/p/4tjk3/stw on Uber's conquest of London with some amusement since I've had the pre and post Uber experience travelling in said city.


Somehow, the stats and data, while seemingly convincing, are  missing an element - the element of the human individual. If anything, the anti-Uber complaints have one thing in common, they don't look at the drivers as individuals but rather an anonymised mass of labour that is expected to conform to and confirm the stats rather than have the stats reflect their experience. The proposed UberPool is based again on projections which lack the understanding of the human element.


Nothing is as simple as projections based on stats make them out to be. Largely because these stats and projections don't take into account the human element. Let's look at a mundane situation where some suits decide to schedule a ride from point x to z in the City and they use UberPool. Another group needs to get from y to z and y lies in the path of the route between x and z. The logical solution via UberPool is to share but imagine a scenario where both groups are actually working for rival interests and are arriving for a pitch/meeting at a potential client's place which happens to be z. Potential conflict of interests could arise without prior knowledge of which rivals are also pitching for the same project and destroys potential advantages of a pitch process that approaches double blind. If this could happen without malicious intentions in the mix, what would the inclusion of intentions bring?


It'll be even more interesting if it were a potential client and supplier scenario - so an elevator pitch becomes an Uber ride pitch - imagine the consequences if disputes were to arise? Will Uber be implicated in any suits related to privacy in future? Will Uber become a conduit for meetings that may be of interest to legal monitors and government agencies? Hard to tell. Could be worse. Imagine a married couple, each on the way to an extramarital assignment, each unwittingly exposed through the use of Uberpool? Doesn't take a hack the size of Ashley Madison to wreck marriages/bring the truth to light, just the fortuitous symmetry of a married couple's use of an app within a certain timeframe. Call me imaginative but it's not that far off in a Uberpooled future, no?


So do we mere humans have anything to be concerned about in the highly efficient tech-enabled/tech-dominated future? Will removing the human element/human inefficiency make things better? Perhaps reading Matthew Mather's Cyberstorm could give some answers.And no I ain't wearing no tinfoil hat.