by jphilo | Jul 15, 2009 | Daily Life
If you’re wondering what’s going on with this website, join the club. It has something to do with Mac’s launch of MobileMe: the newer, faster system designed to replace .mac, the system that posts my entries to this blog, along with your comments. The switch started July 12 and things aren’t going well. I was surprised to see yesterday’s post on my website. When I tried to publish the post, I received a message saying an error occurred. So I’ll be optimistic and hope I can publish again today, no matter what kind of message I get!
If you’ve tried posting a comment to previous entries, you already know that’s not working. The very nice and slightly overwhelmed Apple Support lady I spoke to on the phone said they don’t know when things will be working. So hang in there, and enjoy the picture of the pink fairy rose I took at my uncle’s Minnesota farm last weekend.
Also, I’m traveling from July 16 – August 4, and internet access will be poor at best. So keep checking in and look for a big update in early August. In the meantime, I’ll check in when I can.
by jphilo | Mar 19, 2009 | Daily Life
My latest technological leap forward has me wishing for simpler days, for some “old-timey radio music” performed by the Soggy Bottom Boys long before computers, laser printers, drivers and wireless routers made my life so much easier.
The leap began with the switch from an ink jet to laser printer, a good move my more technologically advanced friends said, considering how much printing of rough drafts I do these days. One look at the installation manuel, and I knew the double leap to a wireless laser printer was too much for me.
I spent most of last night confirming what I suspected: the quick and easy installation process was not what it claimed to be. Much of the morning was spent on the phone with a rather snippy, androgynous-sounding member of the Brother support system. By the end of the call, he/she had me feeling like a first grader on the way to the principal’s office (though he/she told me to have a great day), and the printer was still not hooked up.
At that point, I gave up on the wireless installation and followed the quick and easy directions for a USB cable hook-up instead. Those directions lived up to their name, and within seconds I was printing off the crisp, clear copies promised in the promotional literature.
So my leap forward has a happy ending, though the effort exhausted me. I want to take the afternoon off and watch one of my all time favorite movies Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?. But I can’t, because we only have the movie on VHS. At this particular moment, our VCR is disconnected because Hiram ran out of time to put things back together yesterday after he tore everything apart while trying to improve the reception on our TV. The reception’s been horrible since we installed our converter box to keep up with the HD technological leap forward.
Suddenly, I am very, very tired. Dapper Dan, where are you?
by jphilo | Jan 22, 2009 | Daily Life
I’m not sure when it happened but sometime in the last five years, technology invaded my office. I am now the owner of a MacBook, a snazzy digital camera, a telephoto lens, a fancy flash attachment, a tripod, a digital camcorder, a new fliptop cell phone, an external hard drive, an iPod Classic, a tape recorder and a gizmo that allows me to use it to record phone interviews, several carrying cases, multiple charger cords and more cables than you can shake a stick at.
If I knew how to “utilize new technology to the fullest,” these devices would make my life easier. But I know just enough to be dangerous, never efficient. My external hard drive, which I use to back up documents and pictures says it is full, and I have no idea how to get rid of its technoclutter. The manual to the fancy flash attachment says that to determine the correct flash bounce angle, I should check the camera’s ISO setting. What does that mean? My iPod is always syncronizing, the tripod sometimes collapses without notice, the new cell phone’s ring is unfamiliar, and my technology drawer is a mass of cables and chords that look an awful lot like the Canadian garter snake balls I saw in National Geographic once. Sometimes I hear things moving around in the drawer. I think they’re mating.
The situation will never get better, only worse. More technology will invade my house and breed behind closed drawers. So consider this your warning. I’m armed and dangerous. It’s time to lock the doors.
by jphilo | Nov 24, 2008 | Daily Life
I have a confession to make. I’m really, really good about taking photos and downloading them into iPhoto. And, I’m really, really good at telling myself I’ll label and organize them later. My strategy worked for two years until I used up most of my computer memory. So this weekend, when we had no commitments other than church, I yanked open the door to my electronic closet. The iPhoto iSkeleton I’ve been shoving to the very back for the past few years fell on my head. Ouch!
For two days I sorted photos into files and burned the files to disks. I reorganized, labeled and tagged he pictures I left on the computer. It was torture, even though I watched the third season of the first Bob Newhart show while on the rack. Though I’m not quite done organizing and backing up, I’m much closer to my goal. The computer is working faster now that it’s not overloaded, and I hope to finish labeling and tagging while we travel for Thanksgiving.
New Year’s Day is a month and a half away, but I already have my resolution for 2009. From now on, when I download, I will label and tag photos. I’ll burn them to CDs, which will also be labeled, when the files get full. I promise, I promise, I promise.
No way do I want another weekend like this past one. As a matter of fact, I need some iTylenol for the iHeadache I developed. So I’ll leave you with one word of warning – stand back when you open your electronic closet. Those iSkeletons hurt when they fall on your head.
by jphilo | Sep 3, 2008 | Daily Life
Right now my technological skills are as fuzzy as the cute little caterpillar I photographed a few days ago while possessed by a “seize the day” fury. I’m not moving any faster than the caterpillar as I crawl along, trying to figure out why some of you can post comments and view them on the internet while others (including me) can’t. I can see your comments when I get into my web folder, and I can delete nasty ones (something I’ve never had to do) but I can’t add my own comments.
Today, spurred on by my eighty-year-old aunt who has the mistaken impression that I know something about computers, I checked iWeb’s help pages. Then, I followed the instructions they said would fix the problem. This required a lot of calming, cleansing breaths as I tried to remember where I had stored the needed passwords and customer numbers. But I got it done, which is a miracle because I usually forget or lose the passwords and this time I didn’t.
So far, the problem is not fixed on this end, but the instructions said it could take 24 – 48 hours. I’m trying to be patient while I wait. For now, here is my reply to Janet and Mary: I will pass on your birthday greetings to Mom. She’ll be thrilled that you remember her. And Harriet, here’s a reply to the comment you tried to make: My knowledge of computers and Alaskan politics is pretty fuzzy. Don’t look for me to morph into a butterfly any time soon.
