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Archive for August, 2005
Google Sightseeing
Saturday, August 13th, 2005Kim Komando
Friday, August 12th, 2005On many Saturday mornings, I’ll listen to the Kim Komando radio show, where Kim fields calls from computer users with problems. Most of the callers are dealing with Windows problems, and I often get a good laugh out of some of the situations these people wrestle with, because on most occasions there would be no problem if they were using a Mac instead of a PC.
A large portion of the calls are from novice users with virus, worm, or ad-ware problems, or they just need help getting something simple done on their computer. Their Windows computer. And Kim will often end up talking way over their heads, giving some obscure string of commands to fix the problem, and promising to add the issue with thorough instructions to her newsletter.
When a question comes up about a Mac, she’ll often talk about how the issue would be handled on a Windows computer, but rarely gives a decent answer for the Mac user; she usually throws in some snide comment about Macs. When I turned the radio on last Saturday she was talking about Macs, and how one of her former employees — who had moved on to a new job using Macs — had stopped back for a visit. She said that he had told her that Macs aren’t really any easier to use than Windows machines; he said that the Macs that they used for her show worked well because they were well maintained, but the ones at his new job were not and they were anything but reliable. And she used that to back up her disagreement with a caller’s assertion that Macs are easier to use. The only ones who find Macs hard to use are hard-core Windows users. “Don’t throw anything new at me, I know all the ins and outs of Windows, and could care less if there’s an easier & better way!”
Now I don’t fault Kim for being Windows-centric. In fact in her line of work having more users on Windows machines is in her best interest, and it’s even better if they have problems with those Windows machines. It creates more demand for her books and drives more listeners to her show. Macs are a threat to that, plain and simple.
It still drives me just a little nuts listening to it all, and knowing there is a better way.
Wikipedia
Tuesday, August 9th, 2005Just to ensure that anybody visiting my site knows the facts, Wikipedia rocks.
I got to talking with a couple of the guys at work about encyclopedias today and mentioned Wikepedia; they had never heard of it. I was aghast. Everybody who wants to know about anything needs to know about Wikipedia. That’s all there is to it.
Then there’s also Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikispecies, Wikinews Meta-Wiki, & Commons.
Them’s some busy elves making all that magic.
The Aqueon Fireplace
Sunday, August 7th, 2005
This is pretty incredible; the Aqueon fireplace provides a homey flame using nothing but electricity and water. That’s right, water. No magic involved; the unit uses an electrolysis process to pull hydrogen out of the water, and burns the hydrogen.
I wrote a post on Gadgetopia about this, not knowing a lot about the electrolysis process, and conjectured that it may be possible in the future for the processes efficiencies to be refined to the point that the hydrogen produced could be used to drive the electrolysis process and perhaps produce a surplus of energy. Some bozos responded to my post, thinking I was suggesting some sort of perpetual motion machine. What the???
Am I really misunderstanding the potential of this technology that much?
I did a little digging around on the ‘net tonight & found that the only ones who think that it’s possible to use water to power anything but a pop bottle rocket are the guys hawking conversion kits so you can run your car on water. Great.
I guess it might be possible someday to use hydrogen extracted from water to supply our energy needs, but not real soon.
Too much to do…
Saturday, August 6th, 2005… so I sit around doing nothing. This seems to be a problem with me; my mental to-do list piles up mightily and my mind just goes into shutdown. I know what I need to do, and know that it will be quite satisfying to get those things done, but the getting started is the hard part.
Today is a gorgeous day in Sioux Falls… mid-60 degrees outside, light breezes & sunshine. No reason for me not to get outside & do some of the outdoors projects around the house.
I picked up the book Getting Things Done by David Allen, which has a great plan for, what else, getting things done. Essentially, it involves developing a system whereby you can keep track of things that need doing, and break those things down into specific tasks. Once broken down thusly, you deal with the specific tasks in bite-sized chunks that don’t overwhelm. The trick as I see it is developing the system to keep track of all that, and using it consistently. I guess I should get around to reading the rest of that book someday.
Also, why in the hey can’t you add categories to WordPress on the fly, like you can in Moveable Type? It’s so annoying to write something like this, and realize after you’re done that there isn’t a category that fits it well, have to save it, go to Manage / Categories, create the appropriate category, then go back to Manage… you get the picture. Such a hassle!
Update: I got off my duff and got some stuff done today — a few repairs to the camper mostly — and that felt pretty good. I do need to get more organized in determining what needs to be done, keeping track of it all so that the press of things to do doesn’t overwhelm me so much.
The Commonly Confused Words Test
Saturday, August 6th, 2005The Commonly Confused Words Test
English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 93% Expert!You did so extremely well, even I can’t find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don’t. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you’re not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!
I bet you say that to all the boys!
Jalopnik
Saturday, August 6th, 2005Speaking of Jalopnik, I think it’s only appropriate that I mention that site here after bringing up the post on the Dodge Shelbys. It’s another Gawker Media site that looks at all things automotive. The writers seem to have the same likes & dislikes as me, and do a great job of throwing in good humor.
the Shelby Dodge pages
Saturday, August 6th, 2005I just ran across this on Jalopnik; the Shelby Dodge pages. This brings back fond memories of the eighties, when Dodge hired Carroll Shelby to spiff up it’s otherwise dreary compact cars.
I once owned a 1980 Dodge Charger, which was little more than a two-door Omni with some body cladding, a fake hood scoop, fat Goodyear Eagle tires, and an overhead cam 2.2L four under the hood. But dang was it fun to drive!
After driving that car, the Shelby versions of the Omni’s were always drool material for me. Sigh.
Kiddie Records Weekly
Saturday, August 6th, 2005Kiddie Records Weekly hosts mp3 downloads of classic kids’ records, a new one every week.
Remember records? The things that look like big black CD’s with a too small hole in the middle? I still have a good-sized collection of albums at home (but no working turntable right now). Once I pulled an album out to play it, and Ian — who was 5 or 6 at the time — said, “Wow! That sure is a big CD!”
Noah’s Ark
Saturday, August 6th, 2005Noah’s Ark; just a fun little Memory-type game. I’ve played it twice and still haven’t got past the lightning and the sinking arks.