Penumbra and Robin Sloan

I'm almost done with this magical - big hearted novel of Robin Sloan - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour bookstore. 

One the book reviewers shared this heartfelt and warming review, which i totally hands-down recommend for you to read the book as well; especially if you're into IT and Literature.

a real tour-de-force, a beautiful fable that is given legs by the author’s bravado use of the real (Google is in there, for instance, the actual campus) to sell us on a shadow world of the unreal and the speculative. Robin Sloan comes across as so bighearted, so in love with the world — the ancient world, the contemporary world — so in love with love, in love with friendship, in love with the idea that our technical abilities can serve as conduits for beauty, that the reader is swept along by his enthusiasm. It’s a lot of fun — but it’s also a powerful reading experience with a wonderful undeniability. (review from Blip Magazine - George Saunders)

 I can't help but to convey that Robin is also promoting the book "House of Leaves" which i'm gonna buy later in the Apple bookstore.

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updates as of May 2024:

Going back to Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore, I'm planning to re-read it, then share to you guys the snips and epigrams lifted from the book.

 

By the way, if you don't read books now, when will you be?

- MAC

Text Expander for iOS6

Back in the days where text expander for iOS5 is kind of limited, i recently noticed this helpful change in the latest version of iOS - it is now allowed to include emoticons.

SETTINGS >
General >
Keyboard >
 Shortcuts >
Click the  + to add your keyboard shortcuts (text expanders)

If you're forehead is still wrinkled on what the heck is text expander, this is a feature where you can type a shortcut keyword and it will automatically expand in to the word or phrase. What are the benefits, it saves time; those frequently used phrases or sentences can be pre-programmed as a text expander, hence , decreasing typo errors and increasing productivity.

A Mom Breastfeeds a Dog

Newser has it that there's a mom who breastfeeds their dog-Spider. It was a pug she breastfeeds, she reasoned out that she never get to breastfeed her children before, and now, to fulfill her maternal desire, it was the pug which closed her circle of search for closure in the art of breastfeeding.

Check out the review from Huffington post after the break.

ALTO Mail

ALTO by AOL, is  this the next big thing for eMail?

Based on the premiere and write ups from TechCrunch, this is an eye candy email organization tool, it's a web based app and i so hope that there'd be an Offline mode feature in to it. It looks promising, as it can cater multiple accounts (Gmail, Yahoo, Aol, etc).

Read here for more details.

The 1-minute Rule

courtesy of Google images

On my way to the gym, i came across with a kid and his mom on the street, the Mom yelled "O wala pang 1 minute, kunin mo!". She was referring to the candy that came out from the mouth of his son which fell to the ground - the candy rolled on the sidewalk bouncing up and down. And the kid replied "Opo Mommy".

It dawned on me on the 1 minute rule which was prevalent when i was a kid, my playmates used to say "Go ahead, pick it up! it's not yet a minute!"

Germs. I was recently reading an article in health and sciences that it takes less than 5 seconds for these microbes to suck on and partake  on those droppings.

It's shuddering to note then, that most, if not more than 50 percent of our population believe in the above delusion. On the contrary, when did i stop believing on the 1 minutes rule? I guess when i got hospitalized back in 2009, by virtue of the compassionate doctor who lectured on viruses and bacteria; on eating healthy and living healthy.

If for some reason, you still abide by the 1 minute rule, it's time to open your eyes and unlearn the old habits. Remember this "The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat can influence your life by 30 to 50 years."


MAC