Friday, February 20th, 2009
I think this is going to be the second and last part of my “Complaining about the Internet” series. I just need to get this one out there.
Have you ever heard of Twitter? If so, you’ll know what I am talking about here. If not, I’ll explain what it is to you. Basically, Twitter is a website that allows you to post very short updates on the happenings of your life. It can go something like this…”I have my hand stuck in the toilet.” You can post as many updates as you would like all day long if you want to. People who follow your Twitter feed can stay updated on how many times you get your hand stuck in the toilet during the day. It’s marvelous.
I hope I am describing the service correctly; I have never actually used it.
Just because I haven’t used Twitter, doesn’t mean I can’t complain about it. Please, let me know if the following is annoying to you too.
The other day, I was watching the news or something like it. Maybe it was one of those news shows, I’m not sure. There was a fascinating story on about how a few surgeons were operating on someone and another doctor was Twittering the goings on of the operation. I didn’t think too much of it at the moment. Then, later that day, I started thinking more about it. I asked myself, “Self, why was a doctor Twittering about an operation as it was in progress?” I began having strange thoughts and my mind started to wander. I must confess, I got annoyed for a while. I finally calmed down and tried to look at the plus side of the whole thing.
Let’s look at the “goods” of Twittering during an operation:
1. Comfort – a family can sit around a computer or a mobile phone reading “Tweets” about their loved one’s operation.
2. Informed – The world can get a first hand look at what goes on during an operation.
3. Progress – The doctors and hospital can glow in the limelight of their cutting-edge technology.
4. Contact – Everyone can be proud of themselves that we no longer need to have any amount of human contact.
Today, I watched the White House press conference for a few minutes. I got to the part where the Press Secretary said, “I find it humorous how many press releases have gone out and how much Twitter activity has gone on about…” I had to stop watching. Are you serious?
Okay, I love technology just as much as the next guy, but at what point do we implant “Borg-like” cybernetic enhancements on the sides of our heads and call it a day?
I thought it was great when email arrived on the scene. What a time saver. Then, when I could read the news online, I was thrilled. When I could finally keep up with friends and families through their blogs, I just loved it. When people started broadcasting every heartbeat that occurs inside their chest cavities, I thought the line was crossed.
I tend to think that this modern computer age is a “tool” to assist us in our “real lives.” Did you read that? A “tool” to “assist” us in our “real lives.” I might be over-quoting here, but I believe we are headed towards a place that is quite the opposite of what I just said. It’s going to be like, “Oh man, I have to go out in the sunshine today? Can’t I just twist the knob on the side of my skull and relay all my thoughts to everyone who belongs to the collective? Well, if I must go outside, I am going to need some sunglasses.”
Exercise? Family time? Conversation? Hiking? Looking someone in the eyes? I don’t think so folks…I’ll just go to YouTube and watch a video of someone else exercising, email my family about what I did today, use Skype to have a face-to-face conversation, get a treadmill and call it a hike and email someone a picture of me. I think that about covers it.
As I am finishing up this post and re-reading it, I am seeing a theme among this post and my prior one about Facebook. It appears that I get most agitated at the constant updating of our lives. With my blog, I write every so often to give you folks some information about me. I do it with thought and care. I plan it, write it and then proof read it. I don’t do it randomly and I certainly don’t do it 30 times a day.
Let’s go back to the Tweet, “I have my hand stuck in the toilet.” I think many of us might ask, “Who cares?” Seriously, “W-h-o c-a-r-e-s?”
To think, I thought I was alone. This guy sums it up nicely.
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Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
I have been sitting back for some time now, watching and listening to people’s opinions of Facebook. They are wide and varied, but lately, I have been hearing some grumbling. I have heard it from friends and I even heard it on the radio this morning. That’s what prompted me to write today.
For those of you who don’t know what Facebook is, it’s a social networking tool intended to connect you with anyone and everyone from your past, present and future. It’s pretty powerful and pretty awful at the same time.
I am going to give you my experience with this website and let you draw your own conclusions.
A few months ago, I opened a Facebook account. I did this with the intention of placing my blog link on the “Info” page, to drive visitors. You know me, I am always trying to hook new readers. At the time, I had been reading so many articles online about the value of marketing your website, business or service on these social networking websites. I really didn’t think it was a bad idea. Now, being a few months later, I am seeing the value of it, but the good comes with the bad.
A few weeks after opening the account, I began getting friend requests. The friend requests were from people that I completely forgot about in my life. They were from all sorts of nooks and crannies…you know, like from that classmate who moved out of town during nursery school. It was remarkable. I started making friends. As time went on, and I made more and more friends, I started reading these little messages that my new friends would type in their profile. It went something like this – “John Doe’s is rubbing his foot” and “Jane Sue smells something weird in her apartment.” It was cute in the beginning, but then as time went on, I started feeling a little strange about reading things from people who I really didn’t know. I began to realize that I might be going down the wrong path by knowing too much about the guy who moved away when I was three years old. First, it was getting annoying and second, it was a little creepy.
I decided to take action. I logged into my Facebook account one night and decided to delete about 25 of my “friends.” I got rid of the people who I didn’t care for all that much, or never actually talked to in the first place. It was like a weight had been lifted off my chest. My life went on.
A few days later I started complaining to a good friend that I was beginning to feel uneasy about the whole Facebook experience. I knew that I was merely trying to market my websites and that I needed to “network” and gain “friends,” but the little voice in the back of my head started telling me that this whole experience was more difficult on the mind than it was worth.
Let me give you some background about my personality – I like to maintain a low profile. You might think that’s amusing because I write so much on this blog. You might ask, “Jay, if you like to keep a low profile, why do you put yourself out there so much?” I would answer, “Because I like you guys. I also get to choose what goes on here and there isn’t much that I don’t have control over.” Also, if there is someone reading this blog that I’m not necessarily fond of, I don’t know it. If I don’t know it, I don’t care about it.” You see, with Facebook, everyone is right in my face and I don’t like that.
I am fairly satisfied with where I have come in life. I’ll admit that when I re-connect with people who I sat next to in my elementary school lunchroom, it brings me back to the not-so-comfortable days of my existence. I’m sure we’ve all had them. It’s when the white milk cost five cents and the chocolate cost six. Those days were strange and hard to remember, but one thing is for sure, I don’t really want to relive them. One of the things Facebook is really good at is offering you the chance to relive your whole past. Since much of our experiences have to do with old friends and acquaintances, Facebook puts your past front and center.
If there is one thing I like about where I am now is that I put myself here. If I wanted to be back where I used to be, I would put myself there. Since I haven’t, I think I am saying something. I don’t want to relive my past. I would actually like to move on from it and never look back. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great childhood and met many fantastic people along the way, but I think there comes a time in life to move on from those relationships to form new ones. It’s called being mentally healthy. Maybe we should call it the “shedding of time.” It’s been going on for thousands of years and for it to stop now is wrong, in my opinion.
If you are a member of Facebook, you might have had some of the same thoughts. They might not be as prevalent as mine, because I am quite sensitive about these types of things, but they may have popped up from time to time. Admit it…you have winced at the computer screen at least once while seeing someone’s name pop up asking you to be their friend. You may have been tempted to write back telling them that, “No, you don’t wish to become their friend because you were actually hoping to never hear from them again. But thank you for the offer.”
For the past few weeks, I have been threatening to delete my Facebook account. I think it might be time for that to become reality. By dumping this reminder of my entire history, I can move on the way I had been for so many years. I mean seriously, if I wanted to be reminded of my life while growing up, I would go put an offer on the house I grew up in, buy it, put down some shaggy green carpet in my old bedroom and live like I had for 22 years. I think you’ll agree, that’s just not cool.
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Friday, February 13th, 2009
Yesterday, a little birdie told me about a fantastic place to listen to music online – Radio Paradise.
If you work on the computer a lot like I do, you know that good music can really make the day a heck of a lot better. I have been listening to a lot of MP3s, but that gets old after a while. After I heard the tidbit of advice yesterday about Radio Paradise, I decided to give it a try. I went over to their website, read about their “many styles and genres of music” on the homepage and then clicked on, “Listen.” I chose the “128k MP3″ link and clicked on it. A little “open” or “save” box appeared, and I chose “open.” From there, my Windows Media Player opened, the website disappeared and I have been listening to a pretty sweet variety of good music.
Strangely enough, this great, commercial free music is free to listen to. It’s pretty nice. Since these guys are giving me something for free (I may even contribute one day), I decided to give them some mad props over here at my wildly popular, attractive and globally active blog. I hope some of my visitors stop by the Radio Paradise to give these guys a try.
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Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
Obama wants to know: Why open source?
President Barack Obama is a smart guy. Where others zig, he zags. It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that he’s been asking around about the benefits of open source, according to Sun Chairman Scott McNealy, who has been asked by President Obama to author a white paper on the benefits the U.S. government can derive from open source.
10 Web Sites That Will Matter in 2009
You’ve probably never heard of many of them, but chances are you’ll be using some of these Web sites by the end of this year.
Obama inauguration marks new chapter for digital media
On March 4, 1901, a lone cameraman in the employ of Thomas A. Edison was dispatched to capture the swearing in of William McKinley. To posterity he delivered a total of 44 seconds of grainy footage showing a white-haired man on the Capitol steps solemnly, if indistinctly, raising his right hand.
Living free with Linux: 2 weeks without Windows
Can a dedicated Windows user make it for two weeks using only Linux? Preston Gralla tried it and lived to tell this tale.
10 Online Learning Tools for Students
Second semester has started and many students went back to college. If you are one of them check out this list of tools, it might help you with your studies. All applications are web based, simple to use and free.
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Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
When I got in the car this afternoon after playing tennis, I was surprised to read this coming from the car computer:
“Low tire pressure. Stop carefully. For Run Flat tires with “RSC” symbol, you can continue driving with max. 50mph (80km/h).”
Also, there were a few warnings near the gauges…
2008 BMW X5 3.0 gauges with low tire pressure warning
This caught me a little off guard, because I didn’t think anything was wrong with the tires. They looked fine. I drove a little bit and started to get concerned. After a mile or two, I pulled over and got out to check the tire again. Apparently, the computer was telling me the front, driver’s side was low. I looked at it and gave it a kick. It was fine. I chalked the reading up to the cold weather causing the lower pressure. I guess the computer is quite sensitive.
I drove for a few more miles and made a right into the first gas station I came across. I saw the big “Air” sign, so I pulled over close to the air machine. I hopped out and did my thing…unwound the air hose, pulled off all the air caps and put my 75 cents into the machine (did that go up?). I started to put air into the first tire, when I realized the gauge on the air filler upper thing was broken. Okay, I guess I wasn’t going to be able to check the pressure in the tires. I wound the hose back up, got back in the car and drove way, cursing the gas station. What’s the sense of filling the tires without checking the pressure in them?
For the remainder of the ride, I kept thinking that I should go to the store to get myself one of those small air compressors. I would also need to get an air gauge, because after looking everywhere in the car, I couldn’t find mine.
When I got back to the house, I found my air gauge and checked the tires. The air that I was able to put in the low tire had filled it up just enough and the others were fine. I decided against buying an air compressor because I am trying to be cheap again and I really don’t think I need more stuff. As long as I have my tire gauge, the gas station (working) air machine will be fine.
At this point, in front of me was the task of resetting the tire pressure warning system. I knew it was in the owner’s manual, but I looked online anyway. When I couldn’t find it there, I looked in the owner’s manual. I reset the system and it now works fine.
Since I couldn’t find out how to reset the tire pressure warning system online, I decided to place a snippet of the owner’s manual here for you, just in case you were looking.
Tire pressure reset - 2008 BMW X5
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Monday, January 12th, 2009
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to purchase a humidifier? Well, it’s not hard to purchase one, the difficulty lies in going over all the different selections online. Oh, and the reviews…THE REVIEWS. If there were no online reviews, things would be a heck of a lot easier. Trying to decifer between the real ones, the fake ones, the ones placed by the company itself and the ones placed by its competitors…it’s simply exhausting.
Okay, here is what has been happening: Lately, I have been finding it more challenging to feel the heat the pellet stove has been producing. It’s like I have to keep cranking it up more and more, just to get what we used to get out of it. The unit is running fine and is blowing out hot air, but I am finding myself getting cold easier and faster.
I know it’s colder outside than it has been, but that isn’t causing my little, “can’t get warm inside” dilemma. The temperature indoors has been remaining virtually the same as it has been over the past few weeks. I had a feeling I knew what the problem was, so I acted.
I did a little reading online and found that dryer air is more difficult to heat (or to feel the heat in). If moisture is added, the air feels warmer. If you know anything about this and I am sound strange, please correct me. I am merely a novice consumer and am always looking for more information on this type of stuff.
As a matter of fact, dry winter air does more than make you feel cold, it causes chapped lips, itchy skin and frequent nose bleeds. I also read somewhere that it dries out the wood in your house. That’s good enough reason for me to get going with the moisture. Oh yeah, one more thing…that good ol’ static. Can’t forget about that.
After getting all sorts of discouraged from looking at humidifiers online, I decided to go to Home Depot, close my eyes and grab one off the shelf. Good thing I grabbed the best one there.
For the uninitiated, there are all sorts of humidifiers; warm mist, cool mist and everything in between. Some cool mist humidifiers have spinners on the inside and shoot water in the air, otherwise known as vaporizing the water (vaporizers). Other cool mist humidifiers use “wicks” or filters to absorb the water in the holding tank. The fan in the unit basically evaporates the water from the wick. I really don’t like either of these types of humidifiers because I have had them both. The vaporizers leave “white dust” from the minerals in the water all over the place and the wick humidifiers have to have their filters changed relatively frequently. They get cruddy quite fast. The last type of cool mist humidifier I know of is the ionic mist humidifier. I have no idea how these work, but I do know many people are happy with this type and they cost more. That’s about it.
I favor the warm mist humidifiers. Simply put, these humidifiers boil the water and steam it out of the top of the unit. Some people don’t like these types of units because they cost more to run by using more electricity and leave the mineral trace in the unit, which requires cleaning every so often. Personally, I think that these types of humidifiers are the less of four evils, so I got one. If someone has other suggestions for me, I welcome them, because we will most likely need another unit.
I picked up the Honeywell HWM-450 4 Gallon Humidifier. The box says it can put four gallons of moisture in the air per day, which I found satisfactory. I was tempted to get the 14 gallon per day humidifier, but then again, my bubble was burst by looking at the $20 box of filters (or wicks) I would have to buy every few weeks. Here are some photos and a video of the unit I purchased today:
Honeywell HWM-450 4 Gallon Humidifier
Honeywell HWM-450 4 Gallon Humidifier
Honeywell HWM-450 4 Gallon Humidifier
After I brought this unit back to the house and ran it for a while, I decided to search for what people were saying about it online. I found one website where they had five reviews. Some people loved it, some people hated it. So far, I really like it, but then I have only had it for about three hours.
It does push a lot of moisture out into the air. The only way I figured I could show you, is to take a video of it in action. I know that I would have watched this video before I made the purchase, so maybe there are a few folks out there who would appreciate this like I would have.
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Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
If you have read any of my tennis posts, you would have seen me writing about this guy I play tennis with. You know the guy…if I tell him my leg is hurting, he hits me in the leg with the tennis ball. He is vicious on the court, a true competitor.
Well, as it turns out, he is also famous. I’m not sure if I ever told you this, but this fella (Mike) is in the golf business. He manufactures and sells all type of golf equipment out of his Hartford warehouse. He primarily sells online through Ebay and his online store called Linksman Golf.
Recently, Mike was on TV. How he gets all over the place and ends up on TV, I’ll never know. Some people just have it, I suppose. You gotta check him out by clicking here.
Michael Blair and Fox News reporter
Golf equipment at Linksman Golf
Linksman Golf online
Now, I wonder if I should post those videos I took of Mike’s tennis serve on YouTube. Hmmm…
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Friday, November 28th, 2008
As I was waiting to get going yesterday, I sat at my desk, kind of bored. I decided that playing some online games might pass the time a little faster.
I did an internet search for “online games” and came upon a pretty entertaining website called Motorcade.com. This website is full of very addictive 2 dimensional car games. You really have to give it a shot.
Car games online
I think these games give new meaning to the phrase, “Okay, I’ll give it just one more shot.”
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
It has been a busy day. I have been working at the computer for hours, but found time to squeeze in a trip to the transfer station (next post) and time to mow the lawn. I wasn’t planning on mowing the lawn, I kind of just found myself sitting on the lawnmower riding around.
I found a great new way to make working at the computer a little better. I now listen to Sirius through the computer. Since we have a subscription for Sirius in one of the cars, we get online listening included.
I like listening to the 80s channel -”Classic Rewind, ‘70S & ‘80S Classic Rock.” I also like drinking beer when I work. It makes things just a bit better. I have to admit, there is something to be said for listening to 80s music. It never disappoints. What’s even nicer, is when I talk to someone of my generation about 80s music, we both appreciate what we are talking about. The beer doesn’t help me write blog posts though.
80s music seems to be a little deeper than the music of today. It isn’t necessarily deeper in a thoughtful way, it just seems that the artists of yester-year weren’t in it for the money as much as artists are today. It seems like they were more into their music because it was a way of life for them. Just my opinion, of course.
Seriously, find me one song that comes close to “Mr. Roboto” by the band, “Styx.” If you are wondering what I am talking about, just say the following very quielty to yourself…”Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.”
I remember sitting on the school bus in 3rd grade listening to “Eye of the Tiger” by “Survivor.” Now, that’s a classic. Mr. Roboto and Eye of the Tiger are two of my more memorable songs of the 80s, followed closely by “You Might Think” by “The Cars.” I remember watching The Cars on Friday Night Videos with my brother. One time, we tried to stay up all night. It didn’t work. We thought that Friday Night Videos would help pass the time, but I was asleep less than a half-hour after the end of the show.
Ok, that’s it. Good bye.
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Friday, September 26th, 2008
I am talking about copyright infringement on your website here.
Say, one morning you wake up to find that someone has copy and pasted your homepage (among other pages) text onto their homepage. I am sure you would get rather peeved at the sight of that. I mean, it’s not a trivial matter here. Website copy costs good money. There are keywords you have to think about and research and many, many more variables that led you to place that copy on your web page. For someone to just steal it like that is very frustrating, to say the least.
So, what can you do to deal with the situation? Well, according to Wikipedia, there are a few things you need to do:
1. Establish ownership
2. Establish actual copying
3. Establish misappropriation
These are the items you need to get squared away before anything else. Again, I am just getting these things from Wikipedia.
There is something out there called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that kind of governs the whole online copyright issue. It was signed into law on October 28, 1998 and extends the reach of copyright to protect online assets as well.
With this new online protection, it makes handing the issue over to your attorney much easier and less expensive. They have something concrete to work with, and since we all know how attorneys get paid by the hour, that matters.
Once your attorney has the information they he/she needs, they can go ahead and send a notification claiming infringement to the website hosting provider of the website that copied your work. According to the attorney I work with, the hosting provider usually takes the site down rather quickly upon receiving a letter like this. I would think they don’t really want to get in the middle of this kind of thing.
The owner of the website can always go ahead and set up shop with a different hosting provider, but that shows a certain amount of audacity on their part and I would think you could go after someone like this personally. In my opinion, it is much easier to change the copy on their website than to fight you in court.
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