One of the (many) things that ground my gears in Turkmenistan was the distinct lack of available bandwidth. It seems strange to gripe about something which didn't exist in any meaningful way just a few years ago, but it is amazing how quickly you both adapt and take things for granted. I came of age into adulthood roughly with the rise of the internet. I started to purchase my own air travel tickets and have always purchased online. Never used a travel agency, never called an airline (except for one unusual set of ticket change circumstances, but the point still stands). In my universe, basically everything can be done online. Banking, shopping, paying bills, writing nonsensical letters to the editor, getting movie tickets, booking hotels, renting cars, etc. Not only can i do these things, but i can do them quickly.
Turkmenistan was a different story. Things were slow and pokey. Very slow, very pokey. And also annoyingly censored. Not well censored, but annoyingly so to the point where it was a mix of comical and incomprehensible.
Sakhalin does much better. Much of it seems to be courtesy of the HSCS, which is short for Hokkaido-Sakhalin Cable System (opens as .pdf). (Prior to this discovery, my knowledge of Hokkaido was solely from the episode of The Simpsons where Homer thinks he is Mr. Sparkle from a strange detergent box found at the city dump.) The telecom cable even makes an appearance in this handy-dandy map of submarine cables. Suffice to say, I can go back to my more decadent internet ways with plenty of bandwidth now.
Showing posts with label internets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internets. Show all posts
Friday, February 14, 2014
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
tuesdays in turkmenistan: not a sham
My entry from last week was strange and rambling and did not end well. It simply ran out of steam and I had no further energy to invest in the increasingly nonsensical train wreck. Today (or the night before), I finish it off. I mentioned two ideas right near the end of last week's entry. First, the Dunning-Kruger effect. In short, it is the general tendency for unskilled individuals to overestimate their actual abilities. In very brusque terms, they are too stupid to realize that they are stupid. Conversely, there is also the opposite tendency whereby skilled individuals tend to underestimate their abilities and accomplishments. That phenomenon goes by the name of Impostor Syndrome. This feeling often plagues me at work (and in general) despite my awareness of this phenomenon. However, I am not a sham and I do in fact know what I'm doing (most of the time).
Last week, I held a review and training session with the other engineers I am responsible for. It was just an hour, but I wanted to cover some recent things that had either come up in other locations or general information it was important for them to possess. It went really well. It felt productive and useful and that I was imparting useful knowledge on them. I will be doing a follow-up later this week to address some of the points they raised that we did not have time for, but the asked good questions that led me to believe they were both paying attention and understood why the material was important. And while this did not dawn on me then and there as I have been aware of this for a while, it was a reassurance that I am some sort of expert on what I do. Now, what I do is perhaps a bit ambiguous as well, but that's not really the point. Also, perhaps I am not an "expert-expert" (especially not at using quotations correctly), but I do know what I'm talking about and I am able to help train and develop younger engineers. It's an almost strange thing for me to admit that experience counts for something. Not actually strange, but almost. I have long recognized the value of experience and the expertise to be gained from a lifetime in a specific field. However, I also believe that enough intellect and passion and verve and a little charm can also allow someone to carry the day. Perhaps on the edge of ideas that is more often true. The edge where new ideas and created and explored and tested and where experience can even hinder one's ability to try something that many might regard as impossible or never-been-done. In those areas, where no one was direct experience, it is the verve and risk-taking and intellect that need to lead the way. However, most of the world is not in that place. That place is the frontier and it is an exciting place and where new ideas come from. Most of the world is fixed in the interior and looking to grind out tried and true solutions to problems that are just as tried and true. Keep in mind that this is not anything against new ideas and risk taking. It is only an observation that the newest of the new is but a small (albeit very important) part of the world.
In this way, I am most certainly not a sham. Getting back to that review session, it was a reminder that while I will never have all the answers, I know a good portion of them in the field I am currently in. I know what I'm doing. This guy, not so much.
Last week, I held a review and training session with the other engineers I am responsible for. It was just an hour, but I wanted to cover some recent things that had either come up in other locations or general information it was important for them to possess. It went really well. It felt productive and useful and that I was imparting useful knowledge on them. I will be doing a follow-up later this week to address some of the points they raised that we did not have time for, but the asked good questions that led me to believe they were both paying attention and understood why the material was important. And while this did not dawn on me then and there as I have been aware of this for a while, it was a reassurance that I am some sort of expert on what I do. Now, what I do is perhaps a bit ambiguous as well, but that's not really the point. Also, perhaps I am not an "expert-expert" (especially not at using quotations correctly), but I do know what I'm talking about and I am able to help train and develop younger engineers. It's an almost strange thing for me to admit that experience counts for something. Not actually strange, but almost. I have long recognized the value of experience and the expertise to be gained from a lifetime in a specific field. However, I also believe that enough intellect and passion and verve and a little charm can also allow someone to carry the day. Perhaps on the edge of ideas that is more often true. The edge where new ideas and created and explored and tested and where experience can even hinder one's ability to try something that many might regard as impossible or never-been-done. In those areas, where no one was direct experience, it is the verve and risk-taking and intellect that need to lead the way. However, most of the world is not in that place. That place is the frontier and it is an exciting place and where new ideas come from. Most of the world is fixed in the interior and looking to grind out tried and true solutions to problems that are just as tried and true. Keep in mind that this is not anything against new ideas and risk taking. It is only an observation that the newest of the new is but a small (albeit very important) part of the world.
In this way, I am most certainly not a sham. Getting back to that review session, it was a reminder that while I will never have all the answers, I know a good portion of them in the field I am currently in. I know what I'm doing. This guy, not so much.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
kindle, soon
I’m really interested in Amazon’s new Kindle Fire. This is why I will probably get a Kindle e-reader instead. Nothing against the Fire, but like any first generation product, it seems to need a few refinements that would go a long way to improving the product. I am not sure when the second generation Fire will be released, possibly as late as this time next year, but I’m fine with that sort of timeline. After all, this doesn’t even come close to falling into the “need” category. That additional time will give Amazon time to fill in the app store (which is a generic term despite what Apple’s patent troll lawyers would have you believe), improve battery life, optimize the interface and performance, and either add an external memory card slot (unlikely) or increase the internal memory (more likely). As a user who would be away from meaningful bandwidth for long periods of time, I want the ability to load up a lot of content to consume at a later time. Also, they should even out the wider bezel on the fourth side which would drive me crazy. From the reviews I’ve seen, the Fire does most things ‘OK’, but not so incredibly well that it dominates the competition. Of course, at a $200 price point, there will be design compromises.
Instead of the Fire, a regular Kindle e-reader will be the first step in achieving two simple things. First, reading more. As a portable e-book, a Kindle will travel well and be far lighter and easier than lugging around actual books when I travel. I have one book here with me. It’s a long, dense tome that I can finish by the end of this rotation. Once I am done, I will bring it back Stateside and probably never bring another book here. Everything will go electronic after that. Second, it’s a step into Amazon’s world. A trial run in some ways before getting a Kindle Fire or Amazon Prime or generally giving Amazon the benefit of the full halo effect from my consumer purchases. This is where Apple failed me. While my brother went from iPod to MacBook to Time Capsule to MacBook Pro to iPad to iPhone, I went the other direction. I went from iPod to MacBook to screw this. I went back to Windows with my last laptop purchase and it suits my needs much better than the Apple-verse ever could. Are my Windows PC, Zune media player, and Android phone fragmented? Of course, but there are distinct advantages to that. Even with a possible entry into Amazon's deep realm of offerings, I will still maintain my silos.
At this point, the only real decision I am mulling is which Kindle e-reader to get. The third generation that has been re-branded as Kindle Keyboard? The low-cost, Wi-Fi only Kindle fourth generation? The new Kindle Touch with 3G? The price point is thankfully esoteric. The question is one of interface and usefulness for me. Amazon, soon.
Instead of the Fire, a regular Kindle e-reader will be the first step in achieving two simple things. First, reading more. As a portable e-book, a Kindle will travel well and be far lighter and easier than lugging around actual books when I travel. I have one book here with me. It’s a long, dense tome that I can finish by the end of this rotation. Once I am done, I will bring it back Stateside and probably never bring another book here. Everything will go electronic after that. Second, it’s a step into Amazon’s world. A trial run in some ways before getting a Kindle Fire or Amazon Prime or generally giving Amazon the benefit of the full halo effect from my consumer purchases. This is where Apple failed me. While my brother went from iPod to MacBook to Time Capsule to MacBook Pro to iPad to iPhone, I went the other direction. I went from iPod to MacBook to screw this. I went back to Windows with my last laptop purchase and it suits my needs much better than the Apple-verse ever could. Are my Windows PC, Zune media player, and Android phone fragmented? Of course, but there are distinct advantages to that. Even with a possible entry into Amazon's deep realm of offerings, I will still maintain my silos.
At this point, the only real decision I am mulling is which Kindle e-reader to get. The third generation that has been re-branded as Kindle Keyboard? The low-cost, Wi-Fi only Kindle fourth generation? The new Kindle Touch with 3G? The price point is thankfully esoteric. The question is one of interface and usefulness for me. Amazon, soon.
Friday, July 22, 2011
people not dumber, just faster
As I mused on how awful I thought The Sopranos program was a couple days ago, I revealed a frustration and concern that people might be just worse overall these days compared to prior generations. Again, this is just a concern that I can easily acknowledge is not well founded. What we have today, and increasingly so with each passing day, is speed. We can communicate faster today than ever before and that allows all of us, including those blissfully unaware of the Dunning-Kruger effect to blog, tweet, and 'like' their way into apparent relevance.
These platforms reveal what existed all along, which is that 10% of the people are less intelligent than 90% of the people. The internet does not portend an awakening of the era of ignorance. The ignorance has always been there, but it had previously lacked such free and accessible vehicles of dissemination. For example, let's talk about weekends.
This month started on a Friday and is also 31 days long, which means the last day of the month will be a Sunday. This makes for five Friday-to-Sunday weekends that will occur this month. If you recall, there was a thing that went around the internet last October marveling at how such an occurrence of five Friday-to-Sunday weekends in a single month was incredibly rare and had not happened for several hundred years. That is of course blindingly stupid since there are only 14 different calendars that could ever occur so to suggest that one of them had not happened for several hundred years is moronic. (A year can start on one of seven days and there are also leap year versions so any given year must come from one of those 14 calendars.) Nonetheless, many people believed this and posted it and forwarded it and were generally removed from my list of friends if they were so cognitively challenged. The great irony is that January 2010 also possessed the five Fri-to-Sun weekend property just nine months prior to the October idiocy fest. As platforms for spreading misinformation are more easily accessed, we see that many people will believe novel and interesting sounding "truths" regardless of their accuracy.
Despite this obvious downside to the internet's easy connectivity, the system makes me hopeful. Used properly, it possesses the powerful ability to spread knowledge, advance real truth, and give people access to information that would otherwise never reach them. It is also a place where nuance can exist in all its glory. The shades of gray that make up almost everything worth knowing can exist in true 64-bit rendering instead of a paltry 256 color scheme. The great risk is that this frontier of neutrality that the internet possesses will be taken away. We must continue to promote the openness and suffer the fools that come with it because that is a far superior trade to limiting what we can share and learn.
These platforms reveal what existed all along, which is that 10% of the people are less intelligent than 90% of the people. The internet does not portend an awakening of the era of ignorance. The ignorance has always been there, but it had previously lacked such free and accessible vehicles of dissemination. For example, let's talk about weekends.
This month started on a Friday and is also 31 days long, which means the last day of the month will be a Sunday. This makes for five Friday-to-Sunday weekends that will occur this month. If you recall, there was a thing that went around the internet last October marveling at how such an occurrence of five Friday-to-Sunday weekends in a single month was incredibly rare and had not happened for several hundred years. That is of course blindingly stupid since there are only 14 different calendars that could ever occur so to suggest that one of them had not happened for several hundred years is moronic. (A year can start on one of seven days and there are also leap year versions so any given year must come from one of those 14 calendars.) Nonetheless, many people believed this and posted it and forwarded it and were generally removed from my list of friends if they were so cognitively challenged. The great irony is that January 2010 also possessed the five Fri-to-Sun weekend property just nine months prior to the October idiocy fest. As platforms for spreading misinformation are more easily accessed, we see that many people will believe novel and interesting sounding "truths" regardless of their accuracy.
Despite this obvious downside to the internet's easy connectivity, the system makes me hopeful. Used properly, it possesses the powerful ability to spread knowledge, advance real truth, and give people access to information that would otherwise never reach them. It is also a place where nuance can exist in all its glory. The shades of gray that make up almost everything worth knowing can exist in true 64-bit rendering instead of a paltry 256 color scheme. The great risk is that this frontier of neutrality that the internet possesses will be taken away. We must continue to promote the openness and suffer the fools that come with it because that is a far superior trade to limiting what we can share and learn.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
queen, timeless
Ah yes, the timeless Queen Elizabeth II, now pictured with every U.S. President (excluding LBJ) since Truman. If you're wondering, QEII (not the ship nor monetary policy) simply never met LBJ.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
compromise?
What? You're saying I have to compromise? No optical drive? No ethernet plug? Limited upgrades possible in the future? Restricted platform? No keyboard? The computing device of my dreams has not yet been invented and/or the fundamental mind-reading technology that I asked for cannot ever exist? I'm shocked and appalled. Or possibly apathetic.
Compromise is inevitable. The eternal optimist part of me views compromise as a way of forcing you to decide what is truly important to your decision-making process. If you are purchasing some object, what features and specifications are desired, what is acceptable, what is unacceptable, what is the cost and how do you attach weight and significance to each of those variables? The always cynical pessimist part of me views compromise as a capitulation that you will not get what you want, but merely a (presumably) passable stop-gap until something better comes along. This is not entirely fair (of course) but merely an acknowledgment that what you want does not always exist. The pragmatist in me views compromise as the inevitable byproduct of form versus function, cost (in more than simple dollar terms) versus available resources, and uniqueness versus availability.
And is that why I am so ruthlessly judgmental about relationships, both of my own and those of others? Ideally, a nice lady-friend (yes, I like euphemisms) would be smarter than me yet without the arrogance I have about considering most people intellectual doormats, graceful and refined yet relaxed and casual in a folksy/charming sort of way, doesn't ever ask me to dance, independent and outgoing and yet able to just hang and relax, enthusiastic about life in general, optimistic with a twist of pragmatic cynicism, gives good back rubs, strong, tall with dark wavy hair, but simultaneously a touch of redhead in there and some light freckles yet not a propensity to sunburn (because that's just annoying), more patient than I have ever learned to be, and gets my absurd sense of humor and sarcasm without being offended. Easy, right? Like me, but way more awesome. And female.
Damn compromises.
Compromise is inevitable. The eternal optimist part of me views compromise as a way of forcing you to decide what is truly important to your decision-making process. If you are purchasing some object, what features and specifications are desired, what is acceptable, what is unacceptable, what is the cost and how do you attach weight and significance to each of those variables? The always cynical pessimist part of me views compromise as a capitulation that you will not get what you want, but merely a (presumably) passable stop-gap until something better comes along. This is not entirely fair (of course) but merely an acknowledgment that what you want does not always exist. The pragmatist in me views compromise as the inevitable byproduct of form versus function, cost (in more than simple dollar terms) versus available resources, and uniqueness versus availability.
And is that why I am so ruthlessly judgmental about relationships, both of my own and those of others? Ideally, a nice lady-friend (yes, I like euphemisms) would be smarter than me yet without the arrogance I have about considering most people intellectual doormats, graceful and refined yet relaxed and casual in a folksy/charming sort of way, doesn't ever ask me to dance, independent and outgoing and yet able to just hang and relax, enthusiastic about life in general, optimistic with a twist of pragmatic cynicism, gives good back rubs, strong, tall with dark wavy hair, but simultaneously a touch of redhead in there and some light freckles yet not a propensity to sunburn (because that's just annoying), more patient than I have ever learned to be, and gets my absurd sense of humor and sarcasm without being offended. Easy, right? Like me, but way more awesome. And female.
Damn compromises.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
new computer?
Should I get a new computer? Better put, should I get a new computing device, regardless of the form factor it has? Let's be clear though: iPad is not a computing device. It is a media consumption device.
Despite my previous protestations that I was not interested in another MacBook, I admit to being intrigued by the latest MacBook Airs with their portability, improved real-world processing power, and the sexy allure of no moving parts. However, it's still a Mac which means it has all the Mac-ness intact of crappy Quicken and other software issues, keyboard commands I never master, closed system world, and the smug attitude of Steve Jobs.
I am also intrigued by the HP Slate. Well, maybe not by that specific device, but perhaps by the second or third generation when it figures itself out. However, I do want to get my hands on one to assess how significant such a small screen (8.9 in) would have on daily use. Additionally, can I get behind a touchscreen keyboard and/or a separate keyboard? Maybe, but I have little sausage fingers that need room to work. (Note: I don't have little sausage fingers. They are pleasingly ordinary.)
So, what I'm asking is, who can recommend something that is highly portable, has a long battery life, extensive processing power, can run Windows applications, and employ the good aspects of Mac user experience and security? Oh, I also don't want to spend a lot of money.
Actually, price is not a compelling factor. In the end, I'm tentatively leaning towards a Windows-based laptop and portability and reasonable power are the most relevant factors. Who makes laptops that don't suck?
Despite my previous protestations that I was not interested in another MacBook, I admit to being intrigued by the latest MacBook Airs with their portability, improved real-world processing power, and the sexy allure of no moving parts. However, it's still a Mac which means it has all the Mac-ness intact of crappy Quicken and other software issues, keyboard commands I never master, closed system world, and the smug attitude of Steve Jobs.
I am also intrigued by the HP Slate. Well, maybe not by that specific device, but perhaps by the second or third generation when it figures itself out. However, I do want to get my hands on one to assess how significant such a small screen (8.9 in) would have on daily use. Additionally, can I get behind a touchscreen keyboard and/or a separate keyboard? Maybe, but I have little sausage fingers that need room to work. (Note: I don't have little sausage fingers. They are pleasingly ordinary.)
So, what I'm asking is, who can recommend something that is highly portable, has a long battery life, extensive processing power, can run Windows applications, and employ the good aspects of Mac user experience and security? Oh, I also don't want to spend a lot of money.
Actually, price is not a compelling factor. In the end, I'm tentatively leaning towards a Windows-based laptop and portability and reasonable power are the most relevant factors. Who makes laptops that don't suck?
Sunday, August 08, 2010
fb spam
Has anyone else been getting suspiciously spammy looking friend requests from young women? Again?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
will likely switch back to PC one day
I'm not a Mac person. This is my conclusion after having owned one for one-and-a-half years. I suppose my issue with Quicken is part of the issue, but I'm generally not very impressed with the whole package. I see myself going back to a PC the next time I buy a computer, probably in 12-18 months since this one isn't very old and is perfectly serviceable. It's just that I'm a PC guy and while I'm not much of a computer person in the end (I use them, but I don't tinker these days), I know what I like and I like PCs.
Perhaps my biggest reservation with my laptop has nothing to do with the Macbook itself, but rather the incredibly twatty commercials and the pretentious air that they constantly project. Yes, you make beautiful hardware and "user-friendly" software, but you don't need to be such wankers about it. (I'm not sure about the goofy references, perhaps it's some British comedy bender that I'm on.) Hey, Justin Long, no one likes you and your wretched romantic comedies.
I dislike how often Safari crashes, the weak software options (Quicken, MATLAB, CAD programs, etc), the one-button mouse, browsing through Finder and general folder searching/sorting/moving about, the non-games (even though I don't have time to play), and the overall anti-Flash stance Apple has taken. I'm still torn on iPhoto since it's a bit of a black hole. It's great for sorting photos, but I like to modify copies, move them about and deliberately save them in different places. Also, while every laptop is going this direction, Apple has fully embraced the widescreen trend that is sort of annoying. Most of my work flow is vertical, not horizontal.
It's not all bad. iTunes is better on a Mac, VLC is not too shabby, and after all, it is a nice looking computer. I'll also admit I have never invested the time to really get to know the Mac system and appreciate the benefits (whatever they are) of OS X. But in the end, I'm a PC guy and while that may change, it just doesn't seem likely.
Perhaps my biggest reservation with my laptop has nothing to do with the Macbook itself, but rather the incredibly twatty commercials and the pretentious air that they constantly project. Yes, you make beautiful hardware and "user-friendly" software, but you don't need to be such wankers about it. (I'm not sure about the goofy references, perhaps it's some British comedy bender that I'm on.) Hey, Justin Long, no one likes you and your wretched romantic comedies.
I dislike how often Safari crashes, the weak software options (Quicken, MATLAB, CAD programs, etc), the one-button mouse, browsing through Finder and general folder searching/sorting/moving about, the non-games (even though I don't have time to play), and the overall anti-Flash stance Apple has taken. I'm still torn on iPhoto since it's a bit of a black hole. It's great for sorting photos, but I like to modify copies, move them about and deliberately save them in different places. Also, while every laptop is going this direction, Apple has fully embraced the widescreen trend that is sort of annoying. Most of my work flow is vertical, not horizontal.
It's not all bad. iTunes is better on a Mac, VLC is not too shabby, and after all, it is a nice looking computer. I'll also admit I have never invested the time to really get to know the Mac system and appreciate the benefits (whatever they are) of OS X. But in the end, I'm a PC guy and while that may change, it just doesn't seem likely.
Monday, March 08, 2010
epic sea monster
If only I could buy this painting. Hey, I might not know great art, but I know what I like.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
keeping the number down
Before I left on vacation at the end of December, I tried (and mostly succeeded) in whittling down the number of e-mails in my inbox at work. Getting under 30 was a big success and probably half of that remaining 30 was lingering long-term items that I kept nearby for handy reference. Part of this will always have to do with Outlook, which I strongly dislike because it is simply such a poor program for organizing AND searching through past correspondence. As a result, I have developed the habit of CCing myself on most of the e-mails I send so that I have a convenient copy to file away instead of the mess that is the 'Sent' folder.
Since I have been back, I've made what I feel to be very acceptable progress and have stayed well below 100 inbox items (which is my general goal). Since you don't know how I organize, structure and prioritize correspondence, such a number may seem like a lot or a little. Suffice to say, I use my inbox as a holding area of sorts for open items so many of the e-mails are from myself which I leave in the inbox as a reminder until I get a reply. Reference items will also remain for extended periods of time simply for ease of access.
My e-mail experience changed today. After multiple e-mails from IT on the matter, I have grudgingly moved from Office 2003 to Office 2007. That move will be acceptable enough, though I already dislike Excel 2007 if only because I do basic things and liked what I had gotten used to using. I am a bit of luddite despite my apparent demographic. The greater difficulty lies with the changing of mail servers. The process is ongoing since I have now received nothing (not even from subscription lists) for six hours which is a sign of a problem somewhere. But I am getting e-mails from myself (from both internal and external sending addresses) which may simply indicate the bulletin boards are not working.
E-mail drives correspondence. Yesterday, I sent 39 e-mails. That's 39 (literally) hand-crafted pictures of prose so elegant that you would weep. Each one, a literary masterpiece greater than the one before. Or not. At least the spelling is better than in this blog since I proof what I write and run spell checker. (See, when it's not late at night, I actually try.) I don't even bother to count the number I receive since many of them are (or at least used to be until the program change) automatically filtered to various folders based on the subscription list rules I have (or had) set up. Twelve of these e-mails had attachments of some kind meaning work product, proposal, analysis, draft agreement, or whatever that had to be meticulously sculpted and balanced just so between form and function, between zesty excitement and useful information. It was simply one of those days, grinding away at everything.
Here's the problem. I write a lot of things most days. And I don't exactly come up with lots of energy to read and write more late at night most of the time when I get home. And that's assuming the other laptop isn't here with me. The end result (aside from the infrequent blogging) is that my personal e-mail account is an unmitigated disaster. Over 300 items in the inbox and 100+ are unread. I have only been replying to the most critical items. Maybe. I suppose I'll start into it all eventually, though I'm not sure when. And I'll start, not at the beginning, but at the end, and trudge through them in reverse chronological order. I'm sorry. Orders will not be processed in the order in which they were received.
Since I have been back, I've made what I feel to be very acceptable progress and have stayed well below 100 inbox items (which is my general goal). Since you don't know how I organize, structure and prioritize correspondence, such a number may seem like a lot or a little. Suffice to say, I use my inbox as a holding area of sorts for open items so many of the e-mails are from myself which I leave in the inbox as a reminder until I get a reply. Reference items will also remain for extended periods of time simply for ease of access.
My e-mail experience changed today. After multiple e-mails from IT on the matter, I have grudgingly moved from Office 2003 to Office 2007. That move will be acceptable enough, though I already dislike Excel 2007 if only because I do basic things and liked what I had gotten used to using. I am a bit of luddite despite my apparent demographic. The greater difficulty lies with the changing of mail servers. The process is ongoing since I have now received nothing (not even from subscription lists) for six hours which is a sign of a problem somewhere. But I am getting e-mails from myself (from both internal and external sending addresses) which may simply indicate the bulletin boards are not working.
E-mail drives correspondence. Yesterday, I sent 39 e-mails. That's 39 (literally) hand-crafted pictures of prose so elegant that you would weep. Each one, a literary masterpiece greater than the one before. Or not. At least the spelling is better than in this blog since I proof what I write and run spell checker. (See, when it's not late at night, I actually try.) I don't even bother to count the number I receive since many of them are (or at least used to be until the program change) automatically filtered to various folders based on the subscription list rules I have (or had) set up. Twelve of these e-mails had attachments of some kind meaning work product, proposal, analysis, draft agreement, or whatever that had to be meticulously sculpted and balanced just so between form and function, between zesty excitement and useful information. It was simply one of those days, grinding away at everything.
Here's the problem. I write a lot of things most days. And I don't exactly come up with lots of energy to read and write more late at night most of the time when I get home. And that's assuming the other laptop isn't here with me. The end result (aside from the infrequent blogging) is that my personal e-mail account is an unmitigated disaster. Over 300 items in the inbox and 100+ are unread. I have only been replying to the most critical items. Maybe. I suppose I'll start into it all eventually, though I'm not sure when. And I'll start, not at the beginning, but at the end, and trudge through them in reverse chronological order. I'm sorry. Orders will not be processed in the order in which they were received.
Friday, February 05, 2010
ad placement
Why did I just see an ad for UFC 109 at the USA Today crossword page? And while that may prompt you to ask what I was doing there, I really cannot say.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
photo-shopping the truth
I can no longer remember how I found this article (probably reddit) about a ridiculously bad Photoshop job in a Victoria's Secret picture. If you don't see the problem, look at her right hand. The article goes on to dissect the image using various tools and analysis to identify what other parts of the image have been modified (hint: all of them).
The article reminded of the now semi-recent uproar in the UK about a skin cream ad with Twiggy that had also been Photoshopped. People were upset that Twiggy's skin was not made better by the cream, but by computer enhancement. Perhaps I'm already jaded from the 34 gigabytes of information I consumer daily, but photoshopping seems to be the order of the day for advertisements.
And that made me think about food advertising. Ok, so Twiggy's face in the ad isn't really her face, not even her face done up with favorable lighting an d make-up. But food in print and television ads is almost never real food. Where's the uproar? Was there an uproar a long time ago when the wax-for-food substitution began? Give it time and people won't really care about the photoshopping either. It's almost automatic that no one really looks the way they are shown in advertisements. Just look past it all and we're all pretty goofy looking, especially the so-called celebrities.
The article reminded of the now semi-recent uproar in the UK about a skin cream ad with Twiggy that had also been Photoshopped. People were upset that Twiggy's skin was not made better by the cream, but by computer enhancement. Perhaps I'm already jaded from the 34 gigabytes of information I consumer daily, but photoshopping seems to be the order of the day for advertisements.
And that made me think about food advertising. Ok, so Twiggy's face in the ad isn't really her face, not even her face done up with favorable lighting an d make-up. But food in print and television ads is almost never real food. Where's the uproar? Was there an uproar a long time ago when the wax-for-food substitution began? Give it time and people won't really care about the photoshopping either. It's almost automatic that no one really looks the way they are shown in advertisements. Just look past it all and we're all pretty goofy looking, especially the so-called celebrities.
Monday, December 28, 2009
top gear hilarity
I recently rediscovered the awesomeness that is Top Gear, a British television show that is ostensibly about car reviews, though the hosts manage to have almost too much fun for their own good. Frankly, I'm not really sure how I ever discovered the show in the first place, but it was 3-4 (maybe 5?) years ago. Anyway, I stumbled across a video of their "sensible" car review of the new Ford Fiesta. Of course, they did some not-so-sensible things with the Fiesta like escape from "baddies" at the mall. You'll just have to watch the video, but if you're impatient, skip to about the 3:40 mark. They generally do reviews of more, um, exotic vehicles like the Bugatti Veyron racing a Eurofighter Typhoon.
I also got a kick out of their USA muscle car road test which is a "factual" documentary, or lat least that's what they told the highway patrol officers when they were pulled over.
I also got a kick out of their USA muscle car road test which is a "factual" documentary, or lat least that's what they told the highway patrol officers when they were pulled over.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
clever billboard and a non-musician
For anyone who has seen the movie American Psycho (no, not the train wreck of a sequel that got made), you should appreciate this billboard for the film. If you have a stern stomach, you might consider reading the book, but be warned that it's much more graphic than the movie.
Unrelated, tell me who in this group may have too broadly interpreted that What is Music? program from NOVA back in Mr. Miller's class. (Oh yeah, I just dropped a band class reference!)
Unrelated, tell me who in this group may have too broadly interpreted that What is Music? program from NOVA back in Mr. Miller's class. (Oh yeah, I just dropped a band class reference!)
Saturday, December 26, 2009
spam comments
Spam comments have been recently deleted. If you were an actual person, oh well, your comments sucked.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
sometimes you just need to laugh (and laugh and laugh)
Courtesy of reddit.com, I ended up laughing at this picture for about 30 straight seconds. And this other one is pretty good too. (It's supposed to be a website with a flash game for children.)
Edit: Yes, I really did laugh for 30 seconds. It was a long hearty laugh, that tailed off, then became hearty again, then tailed off again, then became hearty one last time, before tailing off with a professional amount of giggling. It was great. Laughter like that is a very good feeling.
Edit: Yes, I really did laugh for 30 seconds. It was a long hearty laugh, that tailed off, then became hearty again, then tailed off again, then became hearty one last time, before tailing off with a professional amount of giggling. It was great. Laughter like that is a very good feeling.
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