Maybe this year,
The economy completely recovers.
The $300 I loaned out is returned (after two years).
The go-ahead for that next big project is granted.
Family life stabilizes.
The kids turn into adventurous eaters.
Technology mastery is achieved.
The commute becomes milder.
Leisure time is prevalent.
Gas prices drop while the mpg triples.
The housing market normalizes.
Global warming reverses.
Then, I can,
Paint and draw.
Write and blog.
Discover new music, live music.
Read.
Garden and grow things.
Build and construct.
Travel and explore.
Cook new things.
The point is none of the Maybes are likely to happen. So, why wait on the stuff I really want make. Remember Rule number Six.
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
1.05.2011
10.12.2010
The Trees Have Spoken
"Mister!", he said with a sawdusty sneeze,Long gone are the days where the newspaper was picked up from the bottom of the driveway, de-dripped from the sprinkler overflow, and tucked under an arm to be dried out and leisurely perused during the hour-long work break for lunch. The romance of the paper is virtually gone. It now arrives on demand with a smart phone and free wi-fi.
"I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs" --
He was very upset as he shouted and puffed --
"What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?"
– The Lorax, Dr. Seuss (1971)
Newspaper racks slowly disappear much like the demise of the payphone booth. And the newspaper industry is rather worried, according to a friend in the industry. It is assumed the same goes for the book publishers and the countless magazines strewn in racks in the grocery store. Rumor has it they might seek an Obama bailout.
And yet, the old Once-ler knows ...
The news hasn’t gone away. Authors still write. Fashion, cooking, cars, and gossip thrive as always. The old Once-ler knows the ideas and images and writing still prevail. They may, in fact, routinely crank ‘em out today at record levels. The Lorax would be the first one to exclaim, “And, it is about time!”, as it is the cost of paper and their delivery that makes the economics of the newspaper/book/magazine difficult.
It is the trees that handcuff the publishing industries to the past. It is the paper that keeps them old world. Take away the paper from the mix and one is left with a less expensive way to deliver the same content. It is quicker and more accessible, and requires the producers to work with more urgency. That isn’t a bad thing.
There is more to worry about than the life expectancy of a paper product. The old guard resists change. That is obvious. The new world embraces it. That is less obvious.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,The good Dr. was wrong to certain degree. The majority does indeed care. A lot. Though they may not really know it. Most endorse change. They do care. A tree told me.
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
– The Lorax, Dr. Seuss (1971)
Now, where is that Barbaloot suit? There exists an urgency to find a creative Halloween costume.
2.23.2010
X
This is a story about Roberta.
Roberta is a gadget girl. She can’t live without ‘X’. Pick any ‘X’ as long as ‘X’ resembles a cell phone or laptop computer or an iPod. It could be a GPS system in her new car. It could be the ‘X’ in Xbox. Roberta gets a new camera or recording device every time new technology leaps forward. Roberta is a Mac, though she also owns a ThinkPad for work, a Kindle, and a Blackberry (as a backup to her iPhone). Roberta travels with an extra suitcase just to transport the miscellaneous devices and plethora of needed power cables. Even her cat has a micro-chip imbedded under its fur as a digital cat tag in case the animal gets lost or stuck in a tree someplace.
In the ‘70s, Roberta was the first girl on the block to get Pong. She had both Beta and VHS and an eight-track in her Camero. She was the first to jog with a clunky Sony Walkman. Roberta was cool (in her bell-bottom jeans and feathered Farah Fawcett hair). She had a lot of friends and admirers (and a daddy with a lot of cash).
Not much has changed for Roberta. She leads the charge in the digital age. She is a technological, Charles Darwin study in the flesh. She simply can’t live without the next ‘X’ today. She depends on it. It is her livelihood.
Roberta was at the local wine bar a few months ago. She was there on a stool at the bar, socially active and engaged in the scene, yet paying her bills electronically from her phone. She sent the transfer from her bank with a push of button on the tiny screen, twittered her location to her friends, and then casually sipped from her glass of Spanish Grenache. She talks, techs, and sips at the same time. Roberta is impressive.
On her way home she stopped by her neighborhood TJ’s to get a quick something to heat up for dinner. Given all her talents and good looks, Roberta doesn’t cook and her hyper-efficient refrigerator with the digital blue screen on the door houses little for actual sustenance inside. In the parking lot, for some unknown reason, she left her purse in the car, opting for a moment or two where she didn’t have to shoulder all that stuff in her bag. And, while she browsed the isles of packaged food with only her debit card in her back pocket, her car was stolen.
Imagine what might happen if one’s entire digital and electronic life vanished. What would you do? How does one repair the personal, albeit technical, violation of one’s life?
For Roberta it started out with a private moment on the curb next to the vacant car slot and a recently purchased bottle of beer. She didn’t panic, but she did start counting all the missing gadgets: both cell phones, her iPod, two laptop computers, her camera, numerous thumb drives with vital information (some classified), a Kindle, and one military grade Taser ( a gift). Oh, and the car. She did still have her debt card.
So, she trudged back inside the store and asked for help and a phone. The first call went to the police. The second call she placed to work, as she was at that very moment taking a two week vacation.
I’m sorry to say, there is no end to this story. Yet!
The car was never found. Her gadgets have never been recovered. And Roberta is still on vacation. The cat is still home. Somebody, I’m sure, is feeding it.
Last week, a small crowd of friends gathered around that neighborhood bar. They read from a postcard with a Mexican stamp. The postmark showed it was mailed from the Yucatan. All it said was, “Dear Friends, Life has improved. I miss you guys. But, I have to go. My next margarita has arrived and I want to finish the last chapter from my paperback before the sun sets. Take care.” And then it was signed with an ‘X’.
Roberta is not returning texts and emails. So, nobody can confirm if 'X' is Roberta.
Roberta is a gadget girl. She can’t live without ‘X’. Pick any ‘X’ as long as ‘X’ resembles a cell phone or laptop computer or an iPod. It could be a GPS system in her new car. It could be the ‘X’ in Xbox. Roberta gets a new camera or recording device every time new technology leaps forward. Roberta is a Mac, though she also owns a ThinkPad for work, a Kindle, and a Blackberry (as a backup to her iPhone). Roberta travels with an extra suitcase just to transport the miscellaneous devices and plethora of needed power cables. Even her cat has a micro-chip imbedded under its fur as a digital cat tag in case the animal gets lost or stuck in a tree someplace.
In the ‘70s, Roberta was the first girl on the block to get Pong. She had both Beta and VHS and an eight-track in her Camero. She was the first to jog with a clunky Sony Walkman. Roberta was cool (in her bell-bottom jeans and feathered Farah Fawcett hair). She had a lot of friends and admirers (and a daddy with a lot of cash).
Not much has changed for Roberta. She leads the charge in the digital age. She is a technological, Charles Darwin study in the flesh. She simply can’t live without the next ‘X’ today. She depends on it. It is her livelihood.
Roberta was at the local wine bar a few months ago. She was there on a stool at the bar, socially active and engaged in the scene, yet paying her bills electronically from her phone. She sent the transfer from her bank with a push of button on the tiny screen, twittered her location to her friends, and then casually sipped from her glass of Spanish Grenache. She talks, techs, and sips at the same time. Roberta is impressive.
On her way home she stopped by her neighborhood TJ’s to get a quick something to heat up for dinner. Given all her talents and good looks, Roberta doesn’t cook and her hyper-efficient refrigerator with the digital blue screen on the door houses little for actual sustenance inside. In the parking lot, for some unknown reason, she left her purse in the car, opting for a moment or two where she didn’t have to shoulder all that stuff in her bag. And, while she browsed the isles of packaged food with only her debit card in her back pocket, her car was stolen.
Imagine what might happen if one’s entire digital and electronic life vanished. What would you do? How does one repair the personal, albeit technical, violation of one’s life?
For Roberta it started out with a private moment on the curb next to the vacant car slot and a recently purchased bottle of beer. She didn’t panic, but she did start counting all the missing gadgets: both cell phones, her iPod, two laptop computers, her camera, numerous thumb drives with vital information (some classified), a Kindle, and one military grade Taser ( a gift). Oh, and the car. She did still have her debt card.
So, she trudged back inside the store and asked for help and a phone. The first call went to the police. The second call she placed to work, as she was at that very moment taking a two week vacation.
I’m sorry to say, there is no end to this story. Yet!
The car was never found. Her gadgets have never been recovered. And Roberta is still on vacation. The cat is still home. Somebody, I’m sure, is feeding it.
Last week, a small crowd of friends gathered around that neighborhood bar. They read from a postcard with a Mexican stamp. The postmark showed it was mailed from the Yucatan. All it said was, “Dear Friends, Life has improved. I miss you guys. But, I have to go. My next margarita has arrived and I want to finish the last chapter from my paperback before the sun sets. Take care.” And then it was signed with an ‘X’.
Roberta is not returning texts and emails. So, nobody can confirm if 'X' is Roberta.
1.06.2010
Transformation or Irritation
I had a long conversation with my father over the holidays. My mom and fiancee escaped to the other room as it sounded more like a squabble over computer issues. But, it wasn’t. It was just two men trying to make sure each other was understood or simply heard. It was really a discussion about the differences of our generations.
I’ve thought a lot about that conversation as the new decade begins and believe dad and I fall into two, distinct, generational directions or trends. Directions I don’t see easily turning around.
I call the first generational direction Transformation (or a change into something improved or useful). I’ll call the other direction Irritation (or impatient and exasperation).
Transformation happens. Growth happens. Change happens. Our technical infrastructure is simply massive today and getting bigger (and smaller). Take, for example, my phone. Cell phones that take videos/pictures, surf the internet, send text messages, calendar items, retrieve/send email, calculate, look up words, record grocery lists, store music, and play games are common place. The newest Generation Z kids (born from the mid 1990s to mid 2000s) fluently work technology without even needing a lesson (though they barely remember 911 or comprehend the historical perspective). They are now about to graduate high school and enter the work force. And I have to say, they understand the concepts of Transformation. And you know what? They embrace change because that is all they know. GenY and GenX (me) get it, too, although in distinctly different ways.
The alternative direction is Irritation. Frustration happens, too. It is only human to believe we’ll live and dream forever and that we can accomplish everything we want if we just work hard at it. However, as the Baby Boomers get older I fear the reality is they can’t keep up. Today’s tech world moves too fast. And whining about it doesn’t help because nobody can slow it down (though virus designers do try). To make matters worse, the Gen X, Y, and Zers blink unknowingly as teachers. There is no text book or manual anymore. If you have a question, there exists only a quick link to a help menu or a phone call to person in India (speaking of irritation). The best answer you can get from a GenXYZer is to just “figure it out”. That is what we do.
I guess the best answer to my dad is to draw an analogy. If one truly wants to learn a language, get into a total immersion program. If one wants to learn Spanish, go live in Spain.
Generationally speaking, we are all shaped by the events, leaders, developments and trends of our time. The GenXers like me, dubbed in part as the internet generation, are fairly comfortable with change and are naturally going to align ourselves with Transformation. The GenYers, having started the Facebook, MySpace, blogs, and instant communication technologies love “the next new thing”. So, they are going to chose Transformation. And these GenZ kids are simply amazing to watch “go”.
The Baby Boomers do have a choice. And being irritated about the ongoing transformations won't get you credit for doing both.
I’ve thought a lot about that conversation as the new decade begins and believe dad and I fall into two, distinct, generational directions or trends. Directions I don’t see easily turning around.
I call the first generational direction Transformation (or a change into something improved or useful). I’ll call the other direction Irritation (or impatient and exasperation).
Transformation happens. Growth happens. Change happens. Our technical infrastructure is simply massive today and getting bigger (and smaller). Take, for example, my phone. Cell phones that take videos/pictures, surf the internet, send text messages, calendar items, retrieve/send email, calculate, look up words, record grocery lists, store music, and play games are common place. The newest Generation Z kids (born from the mid 1990s to mid 2000s) fluently work technology without even needing a lesson (though they barely remember 911 or comprehend the historical perspective). They are now about to graduate high school and enter the work force. And I have to say, they understand the concepts of Transformation. And you know what? They embrace change because that is all they know. GenY and GenX (me) get it, too, although in distinctly different ways.
The alternative direction is Irritation. Frustration happens, too. It is only human to believe we’ll live and dream forever and that we can accomplish everything we want if we just work hard at it. However, as the Baby Boomers get older I fear the reality is they can’t keep up. Today’s tech world moves too fast. And whining about it doesn’t help because nobody can slow it down (though virus designers do try). To make matters worse, the Gen X, Y, and Zers blink unknowingly as teachers. There is no text book or manual anymore. If you have a question, there exists only a quick link to a help menu or a phone call to person in India (speaking of irritation). The best answer you can get from a GenXYZer is to just “figure it out”. That is what we do.
I guess the best answer to my dad is to draw an analogy. If one truly wants to learn a language, get into a total immersion program. If one wants to learn Spanish, go live in Spain.
Generationally speaking, we are all shaped by the events, leaders, developments and trends of our time. The GenXers like me, dubbed in part as the internet generation, are fairly comfortable with change and are naturally going to align ourselves with Transformation. The GenYers, having started the Facebook, MySpace, blogs, and instant communication technologies love “the next new thing”. So, they are going to chose Transformation. And these GenZ kids are simply amazing to watch “go”.
The Baby Boomers do have a choice. And being irritated about the ongoing transformations won't get you credit for doing both.
9.17.2008
Dead Time
My watch died. It could be the battery. It is one of those self-winding deals. So I'm not sure and will try to find some "time" to take it in.
In the meantime, I've been window shopping. This, from Crispin Jones, I really, really like.
The only thing is I'd like to be able to recreate the schedule to reflect my actual typical day.
In the meantime, I've been window shopping. This, from Crispin Jones, I really, really like.
The only thing is I'd like to be able to recreate the schedule to reflect my actual typical day.
8.12.2008
Kids of Tomorrow ... I Hope
I get comfortable, no doubt. I like my daily routine. But, then time does this all of a sudden thing and takes on jet propulsion and I’m suddenly transported into a new dawn. I like that, actually. I’m not afraid of change. I endorse change. However, there is always a period of adjustment and that can be both enlightening and frightening.
I watch my parents struggle with changing technology. I don't want to be them. I fear that frustration. So, I keep up with the now. Constantly. I think. I hope.
This is a simple concept really. And I’m sure to be slapped upside the forehead like the V-8 commercials, but this time thing continues to escape me and I hate the catch up mode. I’m not at the forefront, obviously. But it occurs to me, and illustrated rather simply, that by the time one finishes high school there is a completely different world out there.
My example ... I was talking today with a recent high school graduate who is a month away from embarking on his freshman year of college. He is the son of a co-worker and I’ve been asked to provide him with enough work to keep him busy through mid-September. In other words, I’m providing busy work so that he has some college spending money (aka, beer money). I relish that idea. He is my data base flunke and learning a whole new computer system in just a few weeks.
However, in our daily conversations it has occurred to me that today’s high school seniors were born prior to the internet. Now they master it. How mainstream has the internet and email become in our lives now? Come to think of it, wireless technology didn’t even exist when he was born. And I’m not sure I could deal with being chained to an outlet with my laptop at all. Cell phones, then, looked like walkie-talkies because they weren’t of the digital variety yet. Now, I can hold the world in my pocket.
Consider all the political changes since 1991 (which was yesterday, am I right?). Music was just becoming mainstream on CDs and leaving vinyl in the dust heap. Now we have MP3s. HD tvs on flat screen have just come about in the last quarter of their lives. Etcetera, etcetera, etc. And I think things are gaining speed exponentially, not just in a nice upward bar chart curve in a power-point presentation (and when are those going away?).
My point is meant to be simple, actually. None of us live in the world in which we were born. I’m not saying run out and endorse the 8-Track and Beta Video tapes of today. But, we shouldn’t raise our kids to think in the now. Technology is getting faster, again exponentially in form. They need to be educated in critical thinking. Math is good. That, thank goodness, is still a constant (for now). Music, or the arts in general, is essential. Creative thinking is today’s martial arts.
The concepts of tomorrow are no doubt complex. If, as a parent, I wait for the schools to catch up, it simply is not the education they require to succeed. So … I encourage to obtuse. Think differently. Artistically. Encourage the out of the box. Because. If I parent for today’s world, they might not be prepared for tomorrow.
I watch my parents struggle with changing technology. I don't want to be them. I fear that frustration. So, I keep up with the now. Constantly. I think. I hope.
This is a simple concept really. And I’m sure to be slapped upside the forehead like the V-8 commercials, but this time thing continues to escape me and I hate the catch up mode. I’m not at the forefront, obviously. But it occurs to me, and illustrated rather simply, that by the time one finishes high school there is a completely different world out there.
My example ... I was talking today with a recent high school graduate who is a month away from embarking on his freshman year of college. He is the son of a co-worker and I’ve been asked to provide him with enough work to keep him busy through mid-September. In other words, I’m providing busy work so that he has some college spending money (aka, beer money). I relish that idea. He is my data base flunke and learning a whole new computer system in just a few weeks.
However, in our daily conversations it has occurred to me that today’s high school seniors were born prior to the internet. Now they master it. How mainstream has the internet and email become in our lives now? Come to think of it, wireless technology didn’t even exist when he was born. And I’m not sure I could deal with being chained to an outlet with my laptop at all. Cell phones, then, looked like walkie-talkies because they weren’t of the digital variety yet. Now, I can hold the world in my pocket.
Consider all the political changes since 1991 (which was yesterday, am I right?). Music was just becoming mainstream on CDs and leaving vinyl in the dust heap. Now we have MP3s. HD tvs on flat screen have just come about in the last quarter of their lives. Etcetera, etcetera, etc. And I think things are gaining speed exponentially, not just in a nice upward bar chart curve in a power-point presentation (and when are those going away?).
My point is meant to be simple, actually. None of us live in the world in which we were born. I’m not saying run out and endorse the 8-Track and Beta Video tapes of today. But, we shouldn’t raise our kids to think in the now. Technology is getting faster, again exponentially in form. They need to be educated in critical thinking. Math is good. That, thank goodness, is still a constant (for now). Music, or the arts in general, is essential. Creative thinking is today’s martial arts.
The concepts of tomorrow are no doubt complex. If, as a parent, I wait for the schools to catch up, it simply is not the education they require to succeed. So … I encourage to obtuse. Think differently. Artistically. Encourage the out of the box. Because. If I parent for today’s world, they might not be prepared for tomorrow.
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