Given that I’ll be graduating from BYU in a month and a half, people have begun to ask me what I plan to do following graduation. While nothing is 100% certain until it actually happens, it is extremely likely that I will be moving to Thailand in January to work in Unicity’s Bangkok office for two years. None of the details have been hammered out yet, so I really can’t say more than that at this time, but that is the plan currently in operation. Continue reading …
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Spotify currently three different subscription levels in the US: Free, Unlimited, and Premium. A Free subscription allows you to listen to up 20 hours of music a week from a desktop with the occasional ad. The Unlimited subscription ($5/month) removes the ads as well as well as the time limit (hence it’s aptly named.) Taking the jump to a Premium subscription ($10/month) adds the ability to listen on mobile device as well as store music on your desktop or mobile for offline playback. In addition, you have the option to stream the music at a higher bitrate (quality) than Free and Unlimited subscribers (160 kbps vs. 96 kbps.) For more details on the different subscription plans, refer to the Spotify site. Like Rhapsody, Napster, Zune Pass, and Thumbplay, Spotify allows you to chose exactly what artists, albums and or tracks you want to listen to. Unlike Pandora, you aren’t going to be provided with a playlist based on your past interests and recommendations, but are required to either create your own selections or use playlists created by others in the community. If you only know what type of music you like but not specific artists or albums, then a subscription service probably isn’t for you. You also probably aren’t forking out $10-$15/month for albums on iTunes or Amazon.com, so subscribing to any music service is unlikely to be in your budget. Continue reading … I cannot overstate the value of a good pancake recipe. This is a great one, melded from a variety of different recipes that I’ve experimented with over the years. Best used in combination with your favorite toppings. The standard recipe feeds 2-3 people, but it can easily be doubled to feed a larger group. Continue reading …
I’m gradually making my way through David Sedaris’s portfolio, and this is collection of essays is right on par with When You Are Engulfed in Flames. (In actuality, the reverse is more correct, as Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim was written prior to When You Are Engulfed in Flames.) Sedaris does an amazing job of honestly portraying his view of the world, and the often comical circumstances in which he finds himself. My favorite of all the essays in this collection is “Six to Eight Black Men,” Sedaris’s recounting of his introduction to the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas, which differs significantly from our own view of St. Nick or Santa Claus. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend listening to at least a portion of the essays on the self-narrated audiobook. There’s a reason Sedaris is able to book reading tours with every collection he publishes. YouTube has a healthy selection of many of his readings. Just be careful where you choose to read or listen to these essays, because you’ll inevitably start laughing and or crying. |
Devon Knowles I currently work in Bangkok, Thailand as an analyst for a US-based company. When I'm not crunching numbers or fighting traffic, I enjoy cycling, cooking, and even a little modern literature. My background is in computer science, which shows in my enthusiasm for Android development.
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© 2012 Devon Cutler Knowles |
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Written by David Mitchell, it is the narrative of multiple characters associated with a Dutch trading outpost in Nagasaki, Japan at the turn of the 19th century. Mitchell’s attention to detail shines throughout the book, as does the large amount of background research required for him to successfully weave together a tapestry of Dutch, English, and Japanese storylines.
