Thursday, August 16, 2007
The IT Seduction
I've been gone from blogging for a couple of days. Tuesday evening saw a reception at my workplace that I planned and two of my kids were involved with, so I very well couldn't have skipped out on that. Last night my husband and I attended a birthday party for a new friend. Regardless of how chatty I appear to be here, I'm quite shy upon first meeting people and this party had lots of people I didn't know. As it turns out, I spoke in depth with four people I met at the party - a personal first for me and ever so cool.
In any case, due to the two evening events, I was simply too tired to blog. What's poopy about this is that I miss blogging, and ache to get back to it. Mind you, I've only been blogging for about a year. My evening computer routine goes something like this: When I can find a free computer (which is quite difficult in this household - two computers + a gamer + a college student + an IMing daughter + a Young Son who checks out YouTube = when does Mom get to blog?), I jump on and first check my emails and respond to those needing responses. I have several accounts to check. Then, if I have a blog post idea, I'll do that. It can take anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, depending on the topic and the post length. Next I'll check the blogs I'm following in Bloglines. Sometimes I leave comments, so that eats up some time. Then I'll check email again. By the time I've done these few online tasks, two-to-three hours have flashed by. Then I'm sick of looking at a computer screen.
Whatever did I do with my time before we had high-speed internet and I had a blog? I had to think about this because I don't really do less housework and I seem to be getting plenty of creative time. I think that I'm not watching as much television in the evening. I'm not much of a couch potato anyway. Even when the TV is on, I'm always flitting around the house. I catch a bunch of my news online now, whereas I used to watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and the local evening news. I've also noticed that I'm going to bed later, but that could just be summer in Minnesota.
I had to secretly cheer for Neil Gaiman's productivity when he lost power due to a storm this past weekend. Without the seduction of the computer, he was able to write. Pen, paper and candlelight, anyone?
In any case, due to the two evening events, I was simply too tired to blog. What's poopy about this is that I miss blogging, and ache to get back to it. Mind you, I've only been blogging for about a year. My evening computer routine goes something like this: When I can find a free computer (which is quite difficult in this household - two computers + a gamer + a college student + an IMing daughter + a Young Son who checks out YouTube = when does Mom get to blog?), I jump on and first check my emails and respond to those needing responses. I have several accounts to check. Then, if I have a blog post idea, I'll do that. It can take anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, depending on the topic and the post length. Next I'll check the blogs I'm following in Bloglines. Sometimes I leave comments, so that eats up some time. Then I'll check email again. By the time I've done these few online tasks, two-to-three hours have flashed by. Then I'm sick of looking at a computer screen.
Whatever did I do with my time before we had high-speed internet and I had a blog? I had to think about this because I don't really do less housework and I seem to be getting plenty of creative time. I think that I'm not watching as much television in the evening. I'm not much of a couch potato anyway. Even when the TV is on, I'm always flitting around the house. I catch a bunch of my news online now, whereas I used to watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert and the local evening news. I've also noticed that I'm going to bed later, but that could just be summer in Minnesota.
I had to secretly cheer for Neil Gaiman's productivity when he lost power due to a storm this past weekend. Without the seduction of the computer, he was able to write. Pen, paper and candlelight, anyone?
Labels: blogging, children, computer, creative, email, husband, neil gaiman, technology, television, time, work, writing
Friday, June 15, 2007
Miserable Hot Followed by T-storms
It's miserably hot today, muggy with a capital MUG. It was worse in the house than outside when I got home. Cranky-making weather. We've had a few thunderstorms this evening - in quick with the rain, sometimes dumping, and then it stops. Very mild thunder, so I'm still on the computer. Not a good idea because mild thunder can quickly become major.
Labels: computer, minnesota, rain, thunder, weather
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Major Tom
Last night, we were watching TV (the movie "Dodgeball," if you must know), and my husband was on the computer. I'm not sure what led to this, but he started singing, "Four . . . three . . . two . . . one," and then something else that I didn't quite catch, but I it pushed a memory button for me and I said, "What was that? Sing it again." The hubby did one better - he pulled the song up on YouTube. He was singing "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling. I loved this song as a young adult, but if you had put a gun to my head and said, "Name the singer," I would never have come up with Peter Schilling in a million years. The video was familiar, though.
Our kids wondered about this song and the Major Tom story. For those who don't know, Major Tom was a character in at least two songs by David Bowie - "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes". Major Tom is an astronaut who leaves his space craft and floats into space. Listeners are left to wonder what happens to him and what has to be going through his mind as he realizes he's a goner. (I'm admittedly not an expert on Bowie's music, so if Major Tom showed up in any of his other songs, let me know.)
In my opinion, Peter Schilling's Major Tom song is more melodic than Bowie's songs, although Bowie's leave me feeling infinitely more unsettled, which I think was the point. If Schilling had written his song in today's copyright climate, Bowie's music industry representatives would have slapped him with a cease-and-desist order or sued him. Thankfully, Bowie didn't get his undies in a twist and one of his characters led to further creative exploration. Does anyone know whether Major Tom has shown up in anyone else's creative work?
The only other song I can think of with this strange astronaut imagery is Peter Mayer's "Astronaut Dreams." (Sorry, I can't find a recording of this for you to listen to online.)
Our kids wondered about this song and the Major Tom story. For those who don't know, Major Tom was a character in at least two songs by David Bowie - "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes". Major Tom is an astronaut who leaves his space craft and floats into space. Listeners are left to wonder what happens to him and what has to be going through his mind as he realizes he's a goner. (I'm admittedly not an expert on Bowie's music, so if Major Tom showed up in any of his other songs, let me know.)
In my opinion, Peter Schilling's Major Tom song is more melodic than Bowie's songs, although Bowie's leave me feeling infinitely more unsettled, which I think was the point. If Schilling had written his song in today's copyright climate, Bowie's music industry representatives would have slapped him with a cease-and-desist order or sued him. Thankfully, Bowie didn't get his undies in a twist and one of his characters led to further creative exploration. Does anyone know whether Major Tom has shown up in anyone else's creative work?
The only other song I can think of with this strange astronaut imagery is Peter Mayer's "Astronaut Dreams." (Sorry, I can't find a recording of this for you to listen to online.)
Labels: astronaut, computer, copyright, creativity, david bowie, family, husband, major tom, music, peter mayer, peter schilling, songs, youtube
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
The IE Gremlin
I had something a little freaky happen on my computer last night. My son was closing out the program he was using and he said that the Mozilla Firefox icon was gone. In its place was an Internet Explorer (IE) icon. Strange, as the original IE icon was still on my desktop. I looked under my Start button and found the Firefox icon, but it said that the program was running in safe mode. I clicked it and got a message, which I didn't quite understand, so I cancelled it. I logged off and logged back on, thinking that would clear things up. Nope. I decided to drag the Firefox logo under the Start button onto the desktop to make a new icon. The new icon had a little number 2, which indicated it was the second one on the desktop, but the first was nowhere in sight. I dragged the new IE icon into the recycling bin. I looked in the bin and found that the IE icon had turned into a Firefox icon. I dragged it out to the desktop and it turned back into an IE icon. Back to the recycling bin, it became Firefox. Dragged it out again and it finally stayed Firefox. Does anyone know what caused this phenomenon? Is IE just messing with us?
Labels: computer, desktop, firefox, gremlin, icon, internet explorer, recycling, son, technology
Friday, December 29, 2006
Social Computing
For quite some time now, using a computer has been a solo experience. Sort of a personal productivity machine - one screen, one keyboard. As more interactive programs and websites have popped up and taken over, it is not uncommon to find several people huddled in front of a computer screen. While watching House Hunters on HGTV the other day, I saw a family of four sitting at a table, each with a laptop, looking for properties. My daughter joked that they were probably IMing each other. People have been predicting the demise of social activities because of computer technology and the Internet, but it's not happening. It may have been happening for a while, but human beings simply can't live without other human beings, so the pendulum is swinging back.
In a related story, there was a discussion on MPR today about the changes in media and news broadcasting brought about by the shift to digital media. The prediction was that people would only seek out the stuff they were interested in if there weren't newspapers or broader TV programs that gave people a well-rounded bunch of stories. While I could argue that much of what is presented as news today isn't particularly well-rounded, what strikes me about this is the lack of faith in the ability of humans to search for stuff outside their direct interests. People get bored really quickly, so once something gets old, it gets old, and we start looking for new stuff. Also, as mentioned above, we are social creatures. If I don't happen to hear a particular news story, there's a sure bet that my husband, my children, or my friends have heard it and will pass it along. We're talking the Internet, here, folks. We are not living in fully separated cardboard boxes with blinders on and earplugs in. The news will get through.
In a related story, there was a discussion on MPR today about the changes in media and news broadcasting brought about by the shift to digital media. The prediction was that people would only seek out the stuff they were interested in if there weren't newspapers or broader TV programs that gave people a well-rounded bunch of stories. While I could argue that much of what is presented as news today isn't particularly well-rounded, what strikes me about this is the lack of faith in the ability of humans to search for stuff outside their direct interests. People get bored really quickly, so once something gets old, it gets old, and we start looking for new stuff. Also, as mentioned above, we are social creatures. If I don't happen to hear a particular news story, there's a sure bet that my husband, my children, or my friends have heard it and will pass it along. We're talking the Internet, here, folks. We are not living in fully separated cardboard boxes with blinders on and earplugs in. The news will get through.
Labels: computer, daughter, family, house hunters, husband, media, mpr, news, technology
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Ergonomic Mice
When I used the term "ergonomic mice" with my husband, he looked askance at me. Seemed like a perfectly normal pairing of words to me. Especially considering this case of mouser shoulder I've been experiencing. "Mouser shoulder" - I coined the term recently to describe the pain in my shoulder and neck from over using a computer mouse. Only, it turns out that I didn't really coin it. I googled the term "mouser shoulder" and "mouser's shoulder" and came up with five hits, about three of which were actually relevant. Which just goes to show, if you think of something you consider to be truly original, odds are someone else beat you to it.
Anyway, I'm wondering how prevelant mouser shoulder is going to become given the amount of time kids now spend on the computer. I'm trying to find ways to alleviate the problem before it becomes permanent. Ergonomic mice, neck and shoulder braces, chiropractic treatments, and repositioning the mouse (left-hand use, lower the position) are possible solutions. In hopes of keeping the shoulders of my kids, along with the shoulders of kids around the world, from suffering the dreaded ache of mouser shoulder, here are some sites that might help. (Did you know they make mice that are foot operated? They're about $200. Go ahead! Squish that mouse!)
Ergonomic mice from ErgonomicResource.com
Ergonomic mice from Fentek Industries, Inc.
Clavicle support from SeniorShops.com (This was the least expensive shoulder brace I could find. The others appear to be for heavy-duty physical therapy and run between $50-$100.)
Neck collars and braces from PainReliever.com
Happy mousing!
Anyway, I'm wondering how prevelant mouser shoulder is going to become given the amount of time kids now spend on the computer. I'm trying to find ways to alleviate the problem before it becomes permanent. Ergonomic mice, neck and shoulder braces, chiropractic treatments, and repositioning the mouse (left-hand use, lower the position) are possible solutions. In hopes of keeping the shoulders of my kids, along with the shoulders of kids around the world, from suffering the dreaded ache of mouser shoulder, here are some sites that might help. (Did you know they make mice that are foot operated? They're about $200. Go ahead! Squish that mouse!)
Ergonomic mice from ErgonomicResource.com
Ergonomic mice from Fentek Industries, Inc.
Clavicle support from SeniorShops.com (This was the least expensive shoulder brace I could find. The others appear to be for heavy-duty physical therapy and run between $50-$100.)
Neck collars and braces from PainReliever.com
Happy mousing!
Labels: brace, computer, ergonomic, mice, mouse, neck, shoulder
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Fickle
The Washington Post published an article recently that makes me want to say, "Aha! Gotcha!" It's called "In Teens' Web World, MySpace Is So Last Year," and discusses how MySpace is losing popularity among teens. It never ceases to amaze me how companies fall all over their tongues in attempting to get to the 18-34 demographic, a group not known for its constancy. While this demographic as a whole may bring in some big bucks, its fickleness doesn't bode well for the long-term success of businesses that cater solely to it.
Even more than giving me a self-satisfied "I told you so" feeling, what struck me was a comment by high schooler Evan Hansen at the very end of the article:
Even more than giving me a self-satisfied "I told you so" feeling, what struck me was a comment by high schooler Evan Hansen at the very end of the article:
"Over time, people are going to get sick of talking to people on the computer," he said. "I just think people will want to spend more time with each other -- without the wall of technology."
Here, here! We can all spend our time rushing to adopt every ounce of technology thrown at us at the speed of light, completely eschewing physical reality, or we can relax and enjoy a balance of both the physical and digital worlds. I'm going for the latter. Who's with me?Labels: computer, fickle, myspace, physical, technology, teens
