Kinect, we art thy followers!

For over a month, Ive been trying to write a blog, and I've come to have a better understanding of why most books suck. It's hard to write something good and fun. Its harder to keep your (my) writing straightforward and simple. There's a little voice at the back of my head saying "put in a big word you barely know the meaning of here, and here, and here". Nope, sorry, that doesn't work.

Then some gadgety goodness happened, and thats something I always have something to say about :)

First up, its the Kinect:

The Kinect looks pretty damn cool. And if you've seen terminator, its going to give you all sorts of SKYNET nightmares.

But its just so cool!

Microsoft has done what Nintendo started and tried so very hard to do, ie take the electronic interface to a whole new level. They did something amazing when they launched the Surface too, but its not really a game changer if the average middle class Joe-ginder cant/ will never be able to afford it.

So, for a grand package of Rs 10k, I can make like Tom Cruise and play Minority Report in my house.

Didn't I say it was cool?

And it isn't a toy. Its bloody sophisticated. It very accurately mimics body movement. Some crazy people hacked the Kinect and released open source drivers to use the sensor with a pc. You wont feel like a god till you can close a pc window by clapping your hands!

I got to field test it on day 2. I had about 20 people over, comprising of around 15 singers (between 17-29, from Shillong, and with impeccable manners) and the rest were adults including a very talented pianist with a pretty good classical repertoire all stored in his head (no sheet music for any of the pieces I heard him play, classical or pop), Neil Nongkynrih. It took the all mighty Kinect 10 minutes to break ice and turn the slightly serious and formal gathering to an eight hour long party. Obviously, it wasn't all because of the Kinect, I'd like to give my charming personality some of the credit here :)

On to Numero Dos, the Amazon Kindle:

The Kindle (a recent acquisition) is a joy to read. I had been planning to choose between the Kindle and the Indian designed Adam, and, for now, the Kindle won (I still intend to get the Adam at some point, mostly because it has a whole different forte too)

The Kindle is awesomely compact to carry around. Yes, you tend to need to turn pages more oft, if you, like me, prefer a nice large font. But its as easy to snug with in bed as a book.

Im currently reading Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series on it. I started reading this series many years ago, but had to stop as the second half set of books weren't available here, in India. Now, I'm in heaven

Now all I want for Christmas is a fireplace!