2/3 cubed, meet and eat, bending intentions

So I started going through some Rubik Cube tutorials.  I found some better than others in the way they explained the moves and logic behind them.  I can now get a scrambled cube and consistently get it to this point where one side, two “layers”  and the top “cross” is done.  Unfortunately getting the last four pieces in place is the most complicated part of the whole deal and is going to take some time to master.  I’ll get there.

Last night was another running club board meeting.  As usual there was a lot of ground to cover.  It seems that we consistently have a problem getting well out ahead of races with adequate planning.  I think the biggest reason is we have around 20 events and a group of people that mostly volunteer their time and energy to put them on.

Since I am one of the few people that are getting paid for their effort, albeit a fraction of what a a normal technical person would to fulfill the various responsibilities I assume, I sometimes forget that almost everyone else in the group is doing this gratis.  With that being the case it’s hard to be very demanding of people volunteering their time.  It leaves me in a tough spot.

Over the years I have been absorbing and incorporating more and more into my responsibilities for the club.  Even with what I oversee, it feels like there are always more areas that need to be addressed.  My nature is to try to handle those as well but the reality is I can only keep so many balls up in the air before some start to hit the ground.  The scary thing is I have no real solution to the problem short of other key people in the group starting to receive some sort of compensation so they feel as obligated as I do to get things right.

After last nights meeting I made my first trip to South Street in several months for a beer and a half chasing fish tacos.  It was nice to hang out with the just the guys for a bit, something that doesn’t happen often.  I didn’t get home until close to 10.

So I have been looking forward to getting an Iphone 6 although I absolutely refuse to be part of the lemming-fest associated with an Iphone launch.  Yes I like my Iphone, yes I want a 6, no I don’t crave one enough to be part of throngs of smart phone lusting people.  With this latest iteration Apple has now given us two options, a bigger (Iphone 6), and really big (Iphone 6 Plus).

My initial reaction was I would like a 6 + assuming I can comfortably get it in the front pocket of most of my pants.  Well even if it fits I now have other concerns, bending.  The internet is filled with people bitching that their brand new 6+ phones are becoming bent/warped being subjected to normal front pocket physics.

I found a video where a guy did a test on his new Iphone 6+, applying bending force with his hands.  The phone bent and stayed that way surprisingly easy. What the fck?  The same guy did a similar test to the Samsung Note 3, a phone that is actually slightly bigger than the 6+.  He applied much more pressure using as much strength as he had and the phone was basically unaffected. Damn.

This condition seems like a huge fail on Apple’s shoulders, similar to when they released a model that if you held it in a manner that any human being would, killed your reception.  I mean wtf, how do they spend millions upon millions of dollars developing the phone and not consider durability in real world conditions? Sure having a phone super thin and light is nice but if the tradeoff is you have to treat it like fine china then it negates the benefit.

I assume depending on the case you would wrap an Iphone 6 + in you could give it additional rigidity.  Unfortunately due to it’s size, adding any additional size or bulk with a case could make it unable to be stored in anything except cargo pant sized pockets.  I definitely will be on a holding pattern on my Iphone 6 purchase until this bending issue is determined to be a rare occurrence or rampant.    If it’s the latter I may have to go with the smaller 6 which is less likely to bend due to it’s smaller dimensions creating less pocket leverage..