Brown and Blue, and Sometimes Gray

The thud jolted me awake. We had landed, abruptly, on the snowy black runway of Logan International.

The last time I had looked out the window, we had been surrounded by a sky of white. The time before, a pale blue filled the air, the sun shimmering from just out of sight. Here it was dark, but white at the same time. The sky was paradoxically dull and bright, like the snow on the ground, piled high by plows and refrozen since its earlier debut. Everywhere, things were shades of gray: black pavement, white snow, and gray skies.

Gray, the in-between color. The color opposing opposites, blending day and night, coming and going, arrival and departure. Gray, indeed, was the mood of the landing. I had returned to Massachusetts, but was I ending my winter vacation, or rather beginning my second trip away from home? Had I returned home, or left it?

It was a time of transition, too; between Philadelphia and Boston, between computer work and school work, high school friends and university friends. But that moment was no more a transition than the entire day, the entire year, or my entire post-secondary experience. I was in a great period of transition.

I am in a great period of transition.

I'm beginning a new type of semester. "Spring" Semester they call it. Makes you think of green grass and chirping birds. Tell that to the thermometers. But at the end, there will be spring. The grass will start to grow. I won't be starting.

In times of transition, many things may not be as simple as black and white, but some things are still certain. For one, I'm back.

Do uShuffle?

While everyone else is scrambling over new and improved iTouch and iPod 4G, I'm more than satisfied with my  new  powder-blue iPod Shuffle. It's standing in for my iPod Classic 5G (which someone reading this will insist should be called the iPod Video), which, although it boasts a superior 30 GB of storage space, is often left unused. With a phone, wallet, keys, and who knows what else to carry around, I simply don't have pocket space for a bulky iPod.

Yes, it's really that small.

The fact is, when I'm listening to music alone, it's classical music, and I'm using it to study. If I wanted to listen to fun music, I'd be doing so with friends. It's called an iPod, after all; it's a very individual device. So what better type to have than one that weighs less than half an ounce (literally), and just plays a continuous loop of classical music? Sure, there's no screen, but that's okay; I don't care which piece of music is playing. Thanks to the screen-less-ness, the battery (at least according to Apple) lasts 15 hours, which sounds perfect to me.

So let's examine the device in a little more depth. It's really pretty cool.

iPod Shuffle 4G in five colors

The fourth generation Shuffle was released in September of 2010 in five colors (pink, blue, green, yellow, silver) and one storage capacity: 2 GB. The entire device weighs next to nothing (0.44 ounces) and measures roughly one square inch and one centimeter in depth. There are seven different buttons on the device; the face has two volume controls (+/-), two song selection controls (next/previous), and one play/pause button. The top features a VoiceOver button and a three-setting power slider.

Holding down play/pause "locks" the button controls, so that accidentally pressing them has no effect. Tapping the VoiceOver button announces the current song's name and artist in an automated voice, while double tapping announces battery status, and holding the button reads playlist options. The power options include off, play songs (in order), and play shuffled.

The 4G reverts to the 2G style, but better.

For input/output, the iPod has merely a single audio port, which connects both the headphones and the USB adapter (for charging and data transfer). On the back of the device is an aluminum clip and the Apple logo. The formatted capacity is roughly 1.84 GB (about 250 songs or 20 hours of music). Considering the battery is going to die before the playlist loops, I'm content.

So go ahead, iTouch/iPhone owners. Flaunt your app-filled, touch-screen, double-digit-gigabyte-capacity devices. My Apple product doesn't have a backlight to adjust, screen to scratch, or a hard drive to break. It's just pure music, as a music player should be.

And now, announcing the 2011 colors for Apple iPhone: Sour-Grapes Purple and Envy Green...

Hats Off to Tufts Startups

I knew from the beginning that it would be a real turn-off to use this Blog to self-promote my comprehensive computer repair and web design services, so I have yet to post on the topic. I do not, however, feel that the same modesty need be applied in discussing other people. It is from that logic that I now begin to kvell on behalf of the early successes and growth of BeaBug's Hats, started by my dear friend and fellow Tufts freshman, MayaBea.

Ever wonder what Tufts kids do in their free time? The answers are endless, but one surprisingly popular response is "run a business." Graphic design, dorm-brewed coffee, and, sure enough, crocheted hats can all be requested from Jumbos across campus. In the spirit of the effort not to focus on my extensive website portfolio or raving testimonials, let's talk about the hats. Or, rather, let's show them off:

Photo credit: MayaBea (BeaBug) of Etsy.com

Photo credit: MayaBea (BeaBug) of Etsy.com

Photo credit: MayaBea (BeaBug) of Etsy.com

That's right folks, those hats and many more are organically student-made, locally crocheted head-wear. The newest designs come with pom-poms, ear flaps, flowers, and more. (Want to see more? Shop around)

So whether your a prospective freshman wondering if Tufts students have awesome, creative, and marketable skills and hobbies, a Jumbo who has his or her own business to be proud of (or can be proud of his/her friend's), or anyone of any age who needs a hat, now you know.

Run a small business? Know someone who does? Comment below! We'd love to check out your stuff!