Well, at least I’m not orbiting the planet, trying to reboot the operating system in pitch blackness so I won’t die…
Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
Humbug
Sunday, June 18th, 2006this is a test… this is only a test
Saturday, June 17th, 2006Such a full yesterday resulted in a slow start today. Nic stopped by with a (god)Father’s Day gift—a bright orange Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine t-shirt.
I had high hopes that by this evening I could achieve a breakthrough and get past my computer woes, but no luck so far. I can understand hurdles when trying to do something complicated, but failure after failure when trying to do the simplest kinds of setup installations has me totally confounded.
I’ll keep trying…
Relentless Modernity Holds Sway
Thursday, June 15th, 2006Computer problems. Bah! Humbug!
Who built this kingdom of Babel?
I don’t have the developer’s disposition. For them, every glitch, bug, or snafu is a stimulus to enthusiasm, something new and challenging to solve. If I were the Maytag repairman, I’d be content to daydream my way through each blissful day.
“For every improvement there’s a commensurate level of frustration and confusion… With our intellectual assets more and more dependent on the Web, on networked computers, we seem as vulnerable as ever. Call this a pragmatist’s view of progress: All things change but our life experience remains essentially the same; everywhere there are new problems.”
Dale Dougherty wrote that in 1998, and it remains as true as ever.
Pixartopia
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006Spent most of the day reconfiguring computer setups in the studio, and it was not fun…
So we took Marty to see “Cars,” and it was FUN!
The people at Pixar must know how to have fun with computers. Why haven’t I figured it out yet?
Let’s just give all our money to Pixar and get it over with. Somebody has to take over the world and it might as well be them instead of Wal-Mart or Microsoft.
Only the good die Jung
Tuesday, April 25th, 2006Finished preparations for both of my events. The KBBC meets at Shaker Village from noon to noon, starting tomorrow, and then I have TSA dinner Thursday evening in Danville. Submitted two ideas for a souvenir pin to organizers of the GABBC, too.
So, I guess my existence has been taken over temporarily by my out-of-control volunteer projects.
There was a time in my life when I would’ve been a nervous wreck, but I was more tense today about Dana’s trip to Louisville to deal once again with getting a replacement for our defective monitor. Or perhaps I had a bit too much bean brew, or maybe it’s possible I’m transferring some of my apprehension about back-to-back, high-profile public exposures to our ongoing battle for satisfaction from ViewSonic and their miserable excuse for a local contractor.
I wasn’t certain I remembered the proper definition of “psychological transference,” so I checked the handy Wikipedia—
In The Psychology of the Transference, Carl Jung states that …. in love and in psychological growth, the key to success is the ability to endure the tension of the opposites without abandoning the process; and that, in essence, it is that tension that allows one to grow and to transform.
I’m not sure I got the concept exactly right, but I discovered another interesting kernel of thought.
Easter with Clan
Sunday, April 16th, 2006During Easter Mass I was noticing how much little Connor looks like his grandfather did at about that age, especially when my brother Jeffrey was soothing him. I was reminded of the old 8mm silent film that Mombo shot on another Easter, 45 years or more in the past. Little Jeffrey was so disappointed he didn’t find the biggest basket he cried and ran out of the picture. The technology used to document family images has come a long way over the years, to the point where Rita can now produce and present for holiday viewing an audio-visual DVD which archives a Clan event that took place just last month.
The torch has been passed in many ways…
A day of being present at each moment
Thursday, March 9th, 2006March experiment—day eight— Don’t have much graphic product to show for myself today, but my time sensitivity, efficiency, and focus were on track. Much of the day involved helping sort out the high-res PDF problems associated with software upgrades. I made decent progress on modifying the project schedule for IFP, plus I had enough energy to swim a 450-yard sprint in 8:05 (a personal record), run the vacuum cleaner, and make a get-well card for my Uncle Joe, too. Had my first look at Paul’s unfinished painting for the Brass Band Festival Poster. The letter I sent yesterday appeared on the Advocate’s opinion page, which helps my effort to organize the local bike-ped task force. Before the library closed I treated myself with “FLIGHT, Volume Two.”
Today’s sight bite— A colorful, plate-size Greek salad that Dana made me for lunch—c-l-i-c-k—a joy for the eye and a treat for the tummy.
Tomorrow— 28 years since my sweetheart and I went out on our first date…
Please tell me how he does it
Sunday, February 26th, 2006After watching Lamb’s interview, with Glenn Reynolds, I want to read his new book, “An Army of Davids.” It also makes me want to understand more about the blogosphere I’ve blasted myself into. I suppose I now qualify as a blogger, after a solid year of doing this, and yet I still know almost as little about the emerging trend as I did when I started. One thing I suspected from the beginning is certainly true—this practice is all about time management. There’s got to be something important to learn from a cool guy who manages to be a law professor, plus a husband and father, and stay highly informed on just about everything, including nanotechnology, publish articles, write books, present the most consulted blog in America, while still finding the time to do a podcast with Tim Minear and brew his own beer.
My predictions for 2006
Saturday, December 31st, 2005 • The issue of a nuclear Iran fully ignites as a major global crisis and precipitates some type of military action before the end of the year.
— reference
• Despite the conventional wisdom that Academy members won’t choose two portrayals of dead musicians back to back, long-shot Joaquin Phoenix takes home an Oscar for his Johnny Cash performance when Hoffman, Strathairn, and Ledger split the “progressive” votes.
— reference
• Voters, upset with a blatantly hypocritical broadening of investigations into the governor’s partisan supporters, cast ballots to further reduce the number of Democrats in the Kentucky House.
— reference
• Aggragetors and reading lists for RSS feeds will hit a tipping point of mass appeal in the same way that Web logs did in 2005, making blogs an even more popular “spectator sport.”
— reference
• Senator Clinton enters the autumn with such an insurmountable lead in funding over Kerry, Edwards, and her other opponents that the media acknowledges her inevitable nomination and shifts its attention to who might successfully challenge her on the Republican side, leaving the door open for Bayh to exploit her “frontrunner” status and surge in polls by the end of the year.
— reference
• Critics shower Tom Cruise with praise for finally “getting it right” with his decision to put the fate of his M:I franchise in the hands of “Alias” creator J.J. Abrams, and the partners follow their summer box-office smash with an announcement that Abrams will scrap “Alias” to develop a new “Mission: Impossible” television series starring Ving Rhames as the team leader, with “the voice” of the mission controller to be Cruise himself.
— reference
Check out Chicago’s proposed Fordham Spire
Thursday, December 22nd, 2005I rang the bell tonight during the last kettle hour at Wal-Mart, and I think it was the heaviest kettle I’ve ever held. I hope we make our $60,000 goal by Saturday. Marty showed up and came with me to our house for the night. After supper, he turned me on to a cool Website, if you like skyscrapers (and who doesn’t?).
The miserable fools
Thursday, November 17th, 2005If you happen to be following Brendan’s scoop war about Sony’s blunder, you’ll be interested in knowing that anyone who gives piracy a bad name will face the grim certainty of dealing with YOU KNOW WHO.
Me a warrior? I just play one on TV
Tuesday, October 18th, 2005One of the most interesting conversations I had at my recent high school reunion was with a classmate I knew as Terry. I once directed him in a one-act play co-written by my sister Joan. He later changed his name to Cliff, got a degree in aerospace engineering, and became an Air Force fighter pilot. He flew F-16 combat missions in the first Gulf War, even though he was probably too senior in rank.
I told him I couldn’t begin to imagine the level of information processing that would require. He replied, “You know, I’ve tried most of my adult life to find a way of explaining it to someone who has never done it, and the best thing I can come up with is that it’s like playing two video games at the same time while riding a roller coaster.”
“In addition to somebody trying to kill you,” I added.
“Yeah, that, too.”
Please restart your life
Tuesday, October 11th, 2005After crossing my fingers so hard I injured a hand, the state of my Macintosh troubleshooting took its most catastrophic turn, forcing us to buy a new computer we weren’t prepared to purchase.
Well, sometimes you just have to shift into survival mode and let the future take care of itself…
Various & Sundry, part twenty-five
Friday, October 7th, 2005— Dana and I began our day having coffee with Kristi, my niece whose family is temporarily displaced by Hurricane Katrina. What a lovely person! I’ve met few people in my life who exhibit such thoughtful striving. I’ve never been more impressed with her, and I was incredibly impressed with her the very first day I met her in 1977. Take care, sweet heart.
— Being with Kristi makes me think of Caitlan, my neice who’s off on her adventure in England. That first week can be quite lonely. I was there. I don’t mean England, although I was there, too. I mean alone in Europe, facing a long separation from family and friends. I was the same age. It was difficult at first. It was also one of the most important personal challenges I’ve ever surmounted, perhaps the most important one of all. Caitlan is a terrific young lady—one of the most gifted people I know. She’ll get through this. She’ll be ok. If you’re the type of person who gets homesick, it never completely goes away, but when she discovers the intellectual center of her universe in Oxford, she’ll do just fine.
— David the Mac Guru urged me to just “sit tight” and await the arrival of a new startup drive for our G4, so that’s what I’m doing, but trying to keep clients happy in this crippled state is gnawing at my nerves. Get a grip—I’m not experiencing anything that countless millions haven’t already dealt with over the centuries—since that first clever human who chose to link mental equilibrium and financial well-being to an infernal machine.
— I was just thinking about my recent stay in the U.P. and the extraordinary “moments” I manage to bring back (in spite of my frayed memory bank). Like observing that remarkable “cinematographer’s moon,” as translucent clouds swept a midnight sky above the dancing treetops, or crossing the brisk Moscoe Channel in full open-water gear—wet suit, cap, goggles, fins, and my treasured diving gloves (generous Jerome will never know how much good use I’ve gotten out of them). I recall those minutes of tense exhilaration when, after all the effort, a big king takes the hook, and all mental energy is directed to the goal of successfully boating the fish, working with the net handler, knowing you may not get a second chance… my annual rediscovery of the pleasures associated with simple industry—preparing a meal, washing dishes, maintaining the boat, butchering and freezing the day’s catch, or salvaging a rusty salmon smoker… the sense of comfort and belonging that has now replaced the former disbelief, when I arrive and first absorb the low-key majesty of the Les Cheneaux… and that elusive point of peak relaxation which occasionally comes with fishing, recognizing that consciousness has been emptied of all thought when mind floods back into the vacuum…
Don’t panic… yet
Friday, September 30th, 2005Our Macintosh instability was back with a vengeance today. With everything that’s taken a toll on our studio over the past six months, we can do without these maddening disruptions. I’m still trying to deduce my way out of it, fully aware of how dangerous that scenario can be. After hours of frustration I felt like I needed to either go run or find a Texas Margarita. (For the inquiring fans of Uncle John—he chose wisely.)
My friends are smarter and more creative than yours
Wednesday, September 28th, 2005The fixes I implemented (in my dubious capacity as studio “Mac Czar”) seem to be holding their own. Life doesn’t seem quite as surreal, and we were back at the HUB again for lunch (could become a nice habit)—this time with our friend Bob (the pie guy), who was on assignment in Danville. Darned if we didn’t solve most of the world’s problems, just like we did Sunday while sitting on the Simpson porch, out in the wilds of Marion County. Just as we got there we ran into Professor Weston and his wife (with nifty his-n-her iBooks), and they gave up their table in the crowded cafe so we could settle in. Beau is on sabbatical and has an interesting blog called Gruntled Center. I thought sociology was boring until I met Beau.
Microcomputer madness
Monday, September 26th, 2005…an entire day spent waging war against the inexplicable perplexities of technological limbo, and the sad thing is I don’t know if I’m winning, losing, or perpetuating a stalemate. I used to hate those days I spent cleaning out Rapidograph penpoints and scraping wax off the underneath side of my Mayline, but that was paradise compared to the slow torture of troubleshooting a stubborn machine that’s gripping my throat like Vaporware.
Preoccupied territory
Sunday, September 25th, 2005Biked out to Mack’s Cabin to hear Milton’s remarks about the “intelligent-design-vs-evolution” argument. My hip didn’t feel too tender. Dana and I spent most of the day at Simpson Farm relaxing with our friends, but the Macintosh Panic was hanging over my head throughout the visit. Why is it that my storytelling ability degrades dramatically whenever I realize I’m “telling a story?”
Here we go again
Saturday, September 24th, 2005Today had its ups and downs. I finished a 5-to-6-mile run to Millennium Park and back with a very sore hip (the downfall of Cap’n Lice haunts my soul, too.) I was impressed with Rita’s excellent photographic coverage of our Piratical Blowout earlier this month when Joan shared the CD with us while she and Mombo visited the studio. I was then dismayed to learn of my mother’s worsening muscular ailment. There’s a lot she can do from a dietary standpoint that will help her feel better, and I believe she’s prepared to make the commitment. Nevertheless, we still had an upbeat time at the new Hub Coffee Shop in downtown Danville. On our way out we saw Tony H on the street and he asked about Brendan. After we got home and settled back into the studio, we had a major computer malfunction, as bad as the setback that hit us last winter.
KK + G4 = gr8 Po10chL
Friday, September 23rd, 2005When Caitlan came to the studio today I got my first look at her new
Powerbook G4. They make a handsome couple.
Various & Sundry, part twenty-three
Thursday, September 1st, 2005— Month of August workout totals: Swim-7; Bike-5; Run-5; Lift-0; Yoga-0.
— In a display of auto-beneficence triggered by serendipity, I endorsed a mildly convoluted but brilliant scheme put forward by my pal Ernst for a double upgrade of our two-wheelers—he strips his bike of its components, replacing them with state-of-the-art, gizmotic sweetness and recycles the perfectly wonderful parts to my Peugeot. I end up with a virtually “new” bicycle—an entirely different shifter/gear-ratio setup that transforms a 12-speed to a more modern 16-speed, with superior rims, performance seat, new brakes, bars, and stem, plus a lighter alloy crank assembly. The deal was sealed when he uncovered a roll of rare, hot-yellow Benotto bar tape. My 29-mile, duel-knob ride test Wednesday night was dominated by even more joyous delight than I was expecting. The single item that didn’t fit was the rear brake caliper, and so the only former elements that remained, other than my classic steel frame, were the tires, front derailleur, rear brakes, and seat post. Thus, a small, self-centered part of my life as a fitness geek is ripe with satisfaction.
— There are a lot of Americans who are no fans of the Second Amendment, and I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard or read the question, “Why do people need that kind of a weapon to go hunting?” Too bad it could not remain an abstract quarrel, so we need not acknowledge the reality of a grim but eloquent visual checkmate—the wire photo of a New Orleans business owner standing his ground, holding a pump-action Mossberg with pistol grip.
— I’m still trying to process the recent knowledge that Marty will leave soon to live hundreds of miles away. Our relationship since he came to Kentucky has been good for both of us. I understand why it’s happening, but the realization hasn’t penetrated into my emotional body.
— Bruce is anticipating going home as soon as this weekend. This time it looks fairly solid, but there have been false starts before, so I’ll believe it when it actually happens. I hope it does soon, my son…