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Thursday, February 21, 2013 | return to: news & features, local


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Local events embrace challenge to ‘unplug’ on Shabbat

by j. staff

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Reboot’s fourth annual National Day of Unplugging will begin at sunset on Friday, March 1 and end at sunset on Saturday, March 2, the conclusion of Shabbat.

Reboot developed the annual tech-detox day to remind adults and kids — and especially young, hyperconnected people — to take a 24-hour break from all things digital and a respite from their “unhealthy” dependence on technology.

 

Aviva Frank of Oakland
Aviva Frank of Oakland
In conjunction with the event, the Jewish nonprofit is asking individuals, organizations and schools to publicly share what they plan to do when they’re not using technology in the “I Unplug To …” campaign. For more information, visit http://www.nationaldayofunplugging.com.

 

“Over the past four years, people have confided that they are so connected to their devices they are now at a loss as to what to do when they unplug,” said Amelia Klein, associate director of Reboot. A website of options is available at http://www.theundolist.com.

In the Bay Area, where the Koret Foundation is sponsoring the National Day of Unplugging, Reboot is partnering with Digital Detox, a tech-free initiative, on a “device-free drinks” evening in San Francisco from

7 p.m. to midnight on March 1. The event at Inner Mission, 2050 Bryant St., will include typewriters, board games and a massage lounge. Admission is free, but attendees must leave their phones and other tech devices at home or check them at the door. For details, visit http://www.thedigitaldetox.org.

 

Jennah Craig of San Francisco
Jennah Craig of San Francisco
In addition, Berkeley Hillel is offering two weeks of programs focused on the question “Why do you unplug?” Events include a photo booth on Sproul Plaza, a discussion session, a chance to use graffiti to express personal thoughts on unplugging, and a device-free Shabbat service and dinner. For more information, visit http://www.berkeleyhillel.org.

 

In Silicon Valley, the Addison-Penzak JCC in Los Gatos is presenting a March 2 lecture by a visiting rabbi/scholar who will “talk about the National Day of Unplugging and the value of taking time to learn from each other,” said Rabbi James Greene, director of the JCC’s Center for Jewish Life and Learning. For details on this event, see page 2.

 

Leyna Bernstein of Alameda
Leyna Bernstein of Alameda
Farther south, Congregation Emeth in Morgan Hill will be holding “Shabbat in the Redwoods” from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 2 at Mount Madonna State Park. “It is a great fit with the National Day of Unplugging,” said Rabbi Debbie Israel. “We are out of the temple, we are out in nature. There is no wireless out there. It is a way to connect with one another, person to person, instead of with our various devices.” For more information, visit http://www.emeth.net.

 

Also on March 2, the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco is going to be handing out Reboot’s cellphone sleeping bags and encouraging patrons to use them in the museum — and beyond.

Founded in 2002, Reboot seeks to engage and inspire young adults in a Jewish context through creativity and innovation. Among other things, the agency has produced books, films, music, websites and large-scale projects such as Sukkah City, the Sabbath Manifesto and Beyond Bubbie. For more information, visit http://www.rebooters.net.


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For our gaming tests, we first loaded up “Alan Wake”, the newlyreleased thriller for PC. Being first developed as an Xbox 360 exclusive, Alan Wake finally made it to the PC nearly two years later and relies heavily on lighting and sound to create a nightmarish atmosphere, so a quality set of headphones or speakers really helps enhance the experience. The Kave did a good job of reproducing the atmospheric effects, with the weather effects and sound effects coming through clear and crisp. We could even detect some positional cues, with dialogue and sounds coming from behind the character sounding somewhat like they were coming from the appropriate direction. The flaws with the midrange production did affect our experience here, though. Many of the sounds suffered from the same tinny or muted sound in the midrange that we noticed during music playback before.
We next wanted to test the gaming capabilities of the Kave in stereo mode in a FPS, so we started up Battlefield 3. Battlefield 3 is still one of the most popular first person shooters on the market today, and being able to quickly detect the location of enemies becomes essential to survival in a game like this. So, we were particularly interested to see how the positional effects of a game like this would sound in the Kave in stereo mode. During an intense multiplayer battle, we really paid attention to how we could detect sounds around us, and we found that the Kave did an adequate job of recreating surround effects, but it was difficult at times to locate precisely where sounds were coming from. The sounds on the battlefield of gunfire, vehicles, and explosions were recreated with sufficient clarity and accuracy, but we did find the bass to be a bit lacking the satisfying punch that we want during a game.
Next, we tested Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The newest version of the Hot Pursuit franchise again places drivers in a variety of supercars and soupedup police cars, with both factions trying to control the roads of Seacrest County. This version of the game was released for PC in November, 2010 and features a builtin 5.1 audio engine. We jumped into a Dodge Charger and hit the streets. The sounds of the engine surrounded us and the spectrum of highs and lows were enjoyable, but the midrange lacked some clarity. It was difficult for us in this game to detect where car sounds were coming from when competing racers were behind us, however. The music soundtrack to this game is very energetic, and we did enjoy hearing the music while racing.
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Unfortunately, we found the stereo performance of this headset during music playback was lacking. Listening to “Anthology” by Thrice, the entire midrange spectrum sounded tinny and had a hollow texture that colored the entire experience with an unpleasant undertone. The highs came through quite well in this mode, with sounds like cymbals and higherpitched guitar riffs establishing a wellformed upper spectrum. But Dustin Kensrue’s vocals suffered from the muffled midrange, sounding as if he was singing into a tin can and losing much of the quality of his voice. The bass in this mode was also underwhelming, which can be a positive note for some purists, but I found the experience lacking the punch that I wanted when the harder portions of the song hit their stride.


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