Just upgraded my iPad to iOS5. Not sure what to think yet. I like that Apple has added an embedded ‘to do’ list. I have an app that does that well. The one Apple has added seems inherently easier. Plus, it’s built into the system. However, the upgrade disappeared four of my apps, including a golf game with an addicting ‘closest to the pin’ challenge. I’ll have to get those back. Apple TV has also updated. Did I mention I’m a big fan of Apple TV?

Moments like these, especially with the release of the iPhone 4S tomorrow, always make me cringe. Foot soldiers on both sides crawl into the virtual foxholes and begin firing round after round at one another. This is probably the product of good public relations work on both sides, however, there are enough polarized people with their own invented fury that don’t need prodding from PR laden info bombs and an Apple-biased big media machine. I suppose there’s money to be made doing this.

I owned an iPhone for two years. I loved it. However, for the last six months, I have used an Android-based phone, the HTC Desire HD. The phone itself is FANTASTIC and has a massive, beautiful screen. I love the camera. Accessories are hard to find. Still, a great phone. I switched because I wanted to try the Android experience. It’s been okay. Not fabulous. Just okay. It’s a bit disorganized, and the overall app quality leaves something to be desired. Android crashes more than iOS. There’s more upkeep required. I miss the ease of syncing music. Would I switch to 4S? Probably. It’s just not a part of my technology budget right now and, as mentioned, I do like the HTC phone.

About six months after I bought the Android phone, one of those people who is a bit too polarized against all things Apple asked me to write a review of my Android phone for his website. I declined. I didn’t want to “side” with one camp or the other — and that’s exactly what he wanted. In some circles, that’s called “propaganda.” Writing a review (which he probably wouldn’t have liked) would have done that. I’m a technology centrist and always have been. Plus, he wasn’t paying me.

All that said, to the people people choosing to polarize themselves and stand as rabid foot soldiers for either cause? Unless one or the other is paying you, go find something to do with hunger, disease, homelessness or some other cause that requires as great or more passion. Launch those tirades at real villains instead of fueling somebody else’s profit margin. Find a soup kitchen and dish up a few meals. Go hammer some nails into a habitat for humanity house. Write poetry. Read a child a book. Find a real cause that requires as much or more passion than this. Find something.

That other stuff is boring the rest of us.

The Friday Variety Plate is coming to you as I jet home from Budapest, Hungary. I’m still mourning a somewhat-legally watched Oakland Raiders loss. One of my fantasy football teams also got jobbed out of a win due to a BS technicality, but as Chris Tucker put it in “The Fifth Element, “Who cares?!” I owe you another Raiders prediction and a few links for your clicking pleasure. Let’s go:

• – I’m playing Out of the park Baseball 11 and have probably included you on my baseball team, as i like to name my players after friends and acquaintenances. It’s a great baseball simulation. Deep. Broad. It stands head and shoulders above almost any sports game I’ve played (save, perhaps, Madden 10). Warning: it’s almost totally text-based but still bunches of fun, especially if you’re a baseball fan.
• – If you need to think through an idea, then Freemind is probably the software for you. It’ll help you brainstorm your way through decisions, creative ideas or almost anything you can think of once you get the hang of it.
• – I should thank the Dan Patrick Show. I captioned a photo on the show’s website and won the NFL Sunday Ticket package from DirecTV Tuesday. Unfortunately, I’m overseas and can;t use the package. So, DirectTV has been good enough to transfer it to an Air Force Reservist who lives in California. I listen to the DP Show almost every day and will look into getting DirecTV when I get back. in any case, thanks to Dan Patrick and crew for picking my caption and thanks to DirecTV for working with me to transfer the prize.
• – One of my favorite iPad apps is Springpad. It helps me with tasks, shopping lists and other organization. There’s an online component that’s pretty cool as well. Also available for iPhone and iPod Touch.
• – I write for the Army of Ermas, so I should plug the blog here. My next column will be Sept. 30, about the adventure of buying my daughter a … turtle.
• – I’ve lived overseas for 1.5 years now and two years while serving in the military. American Forces Network tries to communicate timely messages. It hits the mark sometimes. Sometimes it misses. This Facebook group pays tribute to all the efforts.
• – This song is pretty big in Europe right now.  I suppose it points to the general disdain the continent has for Americans. Or it’s this year’s “Shaddap You Face.”

My prediction for the Raiders Game

Well. Where to begin. The Oakland Raiders were murdered in Tennessee thanks to an inept offense. The defense that held for about two quarters eventually got worn down. Darren McFadden looked surprisingly good. Jason Campbell did not, but it looked like we were short an offensive lineman or three. Campbell got beat up. Onthe other hand, Tennessee looked pretty good and Vince Young looked like the second coming of, well, Vince Young. All that said, week 1 is done. On to week 2 and the St. Louis Rams. Now, if the pundits are right, and if any of them are still on the bandwagon, then this is the game where the bandwagon rolls out of the gate and starts its fast ride down the hill. Sam Bradford looked good last week. But St. Louis needs many moving parts to work. So, we’ll go to St. Louis and, hopefully, we’ll right the ship. i think we can score this week. And (gulp) I’m also thinking we can eek out a win. So, let’s go with this: Raiders 17 Rams 10.

Who I’m starting on my fantasy football team

Won in two of three leagues. Got jobbed in the loss because of a dumb scoring rule. Even with the win, I left 46 points in the bench with Arian Foster. That won’t happen again. We move on. This lineup represents my local team:

Peyton Manning, Ray Rice, Ryan Mathews, Arian Foster, Marquis Colston, Wes Welker, Tony Gonzales, Mason Crosby, the Patriots.

The “App About Nothing” by my friend Chris Vadnais and Patelware is out. I created the illustration for the app. You can peek at the illustration on my DeviantArt page. Let me know if you download the app and what you think of the illustration.

Discussing the new iPhone application “Comics” by Comixology, I guest blogged over at The Furnace with my new good friend Damien Smith. The post offers a review if the product and discusses some upcoming challenges creators may have presenting comics to their readers via Kindles, iPhones or other mobile devices. So, go read. I linked it in the first sentence, but you’ll also find it here: http://www.lordshaper.com/?p=552