COX.net for San Diego - Local: "(San Diego, CA) -- For the second-consecutive day, heavy rains and gusty winds caused blackouts throughout San Diego County. SDG&E officials say most of the outages occurred between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., leaving a total of about 82 thousand homes and businesses without electricity. Hardest hit were Logan Heights, City Heights, Encanto and the College areas. The public is being urged to stay away from downed power lines. Crews are working as quickly as possible to restore service. For an update on outages in your area, visit www.sdge.com.
"
See, we do occasionally get real weather. Rain, winds, darkness...we'll be talking about this week for the next six months. Any weather outside the usual 50-70 degrees, light winds, sunny makes the news for ages afterwards. Of course our inches of water pales in comparison to the tsunami-affected areas of the world. Tidal waves are things of our nightmares. Living along the coast as we do, it's a frequent worry, and always a possibility. Even here I understand we had 8 foot waves as a result of that earthquake. Amazing.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Blog about a blog about blogging
Take a few minutes and read this Shovelware entry in which Mark Dery shares his thoughts on what constitutes an interesting blog. He even wonders if the term "blog" isn't just ugly and awkward enough to qualify for improvement. I would add that the term "blog" has now become a pejorative term in the general population, spoken with more than a little smirk in the tone. It makes me apologetic when I mention my blogs. "Journal" at least has maintained a bit dignity.
I agree with much of what Mark writes. I'm more a fan of the one-voice blog, even though bOING-bOING and Fark are two of my favorites. But they don't give me a sense that I know the person behind them. I'd still rather read Doc Searls, Joi Ito, Chris Pirillo, and even Mark Dory. I still enjoy a conversation, even when it's electronic. Dave Berry's blog gives you a very general view of what qualifies as interesting to him, but that's it. Doc shows you pictures out his window, then discusses the current state of online publishing, or his recent trip to England. Always interesting, always personal.
But I haven't gotten caught up in the "newsy" blogs much. I admire those with enough time and the proper connections to be able to practice electronic journalism that's as good or better than that provided in print or on television. -I like that major news services are having to credit bloggers with having broken a few important stories, or at least providing the flame that begets the fire. And I'm not surprised or bothered by the bias expressed in their coverage. It's that personal voice thing again. But I'm more philosophical than topical, so I simply don't read that many of them. I do like Andrew Sullivan, because he'll speak forth on esoteric and often unpopular themes.
I agree with much of what Mark writes. I'm more a fan of the one-voice blog, even though bOING-bOING and Fark are two of my favorites. But they don't give me a sense that I know the person behind them. I'd still rather read Doc Searls, Joi Ito, Chris Pirillo, and even Mark Dory. I still enjoy a conversation, even when it's electronic. Dave Berry's blog gives you a very general view of what qualifies as interesting to him, but that's it. Doc shows you pictures out his window, then discusses the current state of online publishing, or his recent trip to England. Always interesting, always personal.
But I haven't gotten caught up in the "newsy" blogs much. I admire those with enough time and the proper connections to be able to practice electronic journalism that's as good or better than that provided in print or
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Spreading the...joy?
Not exactly, unless you enjoy the effects of influenza.
Of course I haven't helped the situation any. I sit and complain about people that come to work with a cold or the flu in an environment in which we share confined spaces and headphones and wind up infecting me...while I too am at work. My excuse is that as a new employee I don't qualify for sick pay until after 90 days. But in truth, none of us is wealthy enough to be missing work very often. So this bug is sure to be going around for a while yet.
I now believe one of the worst jobs to have with an illness that causes you to sneeze and cough constantly and clogs your sinuses completely is one that requires you to talk to people on the phone 8 hours a day. It has to qualify as a form of torture. I'll bet I took half the number of calls last night that I usually do, simply because I had to pause after each one to blow my nose and pop a coughdrop in my mouth.
And my attitude really takes a dive when I don't feel well. I'm one of those cranky sick people. It takes all my 20+ years of customer service skills to remain pleasant and upbeat on the phone. I've noticed that it's also very difficult to troubleshoot a problem when your brain is fuzzy with antihistamines. Usually I try to think in a flow-chart fashion, from easy to hard, simple to complex. Hopped up on DayQuil, my mind seems to wander all over the place. "Oh shoot, let's go back to device manager for the third time and let's check another thing I should have had you check the last two times we were there." Blah...I hate doing that to people. At least they know I'm not following a script. No one would write a script that screwy.
Of course I haven't helped the situation any. I sit and complain about people that come to work with a cold or the flu in an environment in which we share confined spaces and headphones and wind up infecting me...while I too am at work. My excuse is that as a new employee I don't qualify for sick pay until after 90 days. But in truth, none of us is wealthy enough to be missing work very often. So this bug is sure to be going around for a while yet.
I now believe one of the worst jobs to have with an illness that causes you to sneeze and cough constantly and clogs your sinuses completely is one that requires you to talk to people on the phone 8 hours a day. It has to qualify as a form of torture. I'll bet I took half the number of calls last night that I usually do, simply because I had to pause after each one to blow my nose and pop a coughdrop in my mouth.
And my attitude really takes a dive when I don't feel well. I'm one of those cranky sick people. It takes all my 20+ years of customer service skills to remain pleasant and upbeat on the phone. I've noticed that it's also very difficult to troubleshoot a problem when your brain is fuzzy with antihistamines. Usually I try to think in a flow-chart fashion, from easy to hard, simple to complex. Hopped up on DayQuil, my mind seems to wander all over the place. "Oh shoot, let's go back to device manager for the third time and let's check another thing I should have had you check the last two times we were there." Blah...I hate doing that to people. At least they know I'm not following a script. No one would write a script that screwy.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
No, the crises ain't over
But I was getting tired of that online mid-life crises thing. It was one of those "good ideas at the time".
Instead I decided to give this blog a more general title, the name I would have given to my bar in the Bahamas had life taken me in that direction. But I never got to be another Jimmy Buffett. Hell, I never got to be another Warren Buffett. Just another cat in cyberspace.
My love for jazz is the inspiration for the Juke Joint subtitle. If I'd have been around in the 40's, I'd have had a juke joint downtown somewhere, a smokey place with live jazz and beer, conversation and marijuana. Basie and Mingus hanging out in the back room, while Peterson held the stage for a set or two. Red neon and Blue Moon.
Oh yeah...dig it
Instead I decided to give this blog a more general title, the name I would have given to my bar in the Bahamas had life taken me in that direction. But I never got to be another Jimmy Buffett. Hell, I never got to be another Warren Buffett. Just another cat in cyberspace.
My love for jazz is the inspiration for the Juke Joint subtitle. If I'd have been around in the 40's, I'd have had a juke joint downtown somewhere, a smokey place with live jazz and beer, conversation and marijuana. Basie and Mingus hanging out in the back room, while Peterson held the stage for a set or two. Red neon and Blue Moon.
Oh yeah...dig it
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Low man with totem pole
I've had a few jobs where I was able to move from new hire to management in six months. I even worked for a company in the '70s in which I was able to go from part-timer to Vice President within a year.
But I've never before now worked for a company that on my third day of employment invited me to sit down with the head of operations and several others to discuss the future developement of the company. And this was not a "welcome to the job" type meeting. This was a true working session, with input welcome and noted and good ideas incorporated into the planning documents as we talked.
I'm amazed, and impressed. To have the #2 man in the company (actually he's the #1 man, as the company's president is a woman) asking me direct questions and listening to my responses...not just listening but noting down and including in the planning documents my suggestions...made me realize that here is a medium-sized company (perhaps 300 people at this location) that doesn't just say they value their employees, but proves it by recognizing experience within it's employee pool and taking advantage of that experience, even when it involves someone they've only known for a few days. It has certainly given me a reason to try and make this opportunity work to not just my benefit, but the company's as well. I'm always willing to offer my loyalty to a company or group that is willing to reward it by showing loyalty in return. I hope that turns out to be the case here.
But I've never before now worked for a company that on my third day of employment invited me to sit down with the head of operations and several others to discuss the future developement of the company. And this was not a "welcome to the job" type meeting. This was a true working session, with input welcome and noted and good ideas incorporated into the planning documents as we talked.
I'm amazed, and impressed. To have the #2 man in the company (actually he's the #1 man, as the company's president is a woman) asking me direct questions and listening to my responses...not just listening but noting down and including in the planning documents my suggestions...made me realize that here is a medium-sized company (perhaps 300 people at this location) that doesn't just say they value their employees, but proves it by recognizing experience within it's employee pool and taking advantage of that experience, even when it involves someone they've only known for a few days. It has certainly given me a reason to try and make this opportunity work to not just my benefit, but the company's as well. I'm always willing to offer my loyalty to a company or group that is willing to reward it by showing loyalty in return. I hope that turns out to be the case here.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Amazing, I've survived two days...
...on this job and thus far no one has died or even been seriuosly injured. I think that's pretty good considering the circumstances.
Tomorrow's only my third day on the desk, and already I've been invited to a meeting being conducted on new directions the management wants to take the company in, particularly a pay-for-call help desk setup. Well, I do have a bit of experience at that, and have a few opinions on the concept, so I guess I'll attend and see how much my 2 cents are worth in the corporate world.
Tomorrow's only my third day on the desk, and already I've been invited to a meeting being conducted on new directions the management wants to take the company in, particularly a pay-for-call help desk setup. Well, I do have a bit of experience at that, and have a few opinions on the concept, so I guess I'll attend and see how much my 2 cents are worth in the corporate world.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
The fine print
Thank you so much, Alibris. Tonight I was able to locate and order two books I've been seeking for a couple of years. "I Had a Dog and a Cat" by Karel Capek, a book I read 15 years ago, was the hardest to locate. It's never been reprinted since 1947, and while I have a copy that's in good condition already, I wanted a reading copy. Capek, better known for writing "R.U.R." in 1920, and giving the term robot to the science fiction community, penned this lovely little story about the trials and joys of living with his dog and cat in 1940 that just makes me feel wonderful every time I read it. His use of the language, even when translated from the original Czech, is so tight that it nearly qualifies as poetry.
I was also able to pick up a copy of "Religion and the Rebel" by Colin Wilson. Wilson wrote the book that first woke me up in my twenties and made me start to think about my life and beliefs. That book, "The Outsider", says more about me than I'm usually comfortable having people know. "Religion and the Rebel" picks up where "The Outsider" left off, discussing in even more depth existentialism and the famous people who personified the "outsider" in society.
As I wrote in a review of "The Outsider" for Amazon in 2000, "For over 15 years this has been my favorite book. Wilson explicates a thesis - that much of great Western Literature is written by and concerns men who see and feel more deeply than their contemporaries. Perhaps one might regard them as more sensitive. At any rate, such men are alienated-hence outsiders. Such figures include: Hermann Hesse, Van Gogh, Hemmingway, Lawrence of Arabia, H.G. Wells, Albert Camus, Vaslav Nijinsky, Sartre, Tolstoy, and others.
Since existentialism is a philosophy and not a religion, many of those who read "The Outsider" thought that Wilson was selling out with "Religion and the Rebel" when they first saw the title. But what Wilson discusses is religion in the sense of a passion, a fascination with something beyond and grander than the individual. In that sense, you could describe my interest in the Internet as a religion, considering the role it plays in my life.
I've never owned a copy of this book, so I'm very pleased to have found a copy in good condition at a reasonable price so I can add it to my "special" bookcase. Those are the books I doubt I'll ever part with, and include the 3 volume set of H.L. Mencken"s "The American Language" and the science fiction novels of Stanislaw Lem, famous for "Solaris" (which has twice been made into terrible movies but was a brilliant book) but also the author of several amazing stories including my favorite "Memoirs Found In a Bathtub", which reminds me of my time at NSA (to quote a review, "A paranoid story from the year 3149 in a world without paper. The protagonist is given a mission so secret that nobody has a clearance to tell it to him. Spies, counter-spies and counter-courter-spies stand in his way as he attempts to solve the mystery of his mission")
So once I get tired of reading about routers and wireless access points for work, I can take my pick of two better works to distract myself from computers for a while.
I was also able to pick up a copy of "Religion and the Rebel" by Colin Wilson. Wilson wrote the book that first woke me up in my twenties and made me start to think about my life and beliefs. That book, "The Outsider", says more about me than I'm usually comfortable having people know. "Religion and the Rebel" picks up where "The Outsider" left off, discussing in even more depth existentialism and the famous people who personified the "outsider" in society.
As I wrote in a review of "The Outsider" for Amazon in 2000, "For over 15 years this has been my favorite book. Wilson explicates a thesis - that much of great Western Literature is written by and concerns men who see and feel more deeply than their contemporaries. Perhaps one might regard them as more sensitive. At any rate, such men are alienated-hence outsiders. Such figures include: Hermann Hesse, Van Gogh, Hemmingway, Lawrence of Arabia, H.G. Wells, Albert Camus, Vaslav Nijinsky, Sartre, Tolstoy, and others.
This book can be used in many ways: as a primer to existential philosophy, an introduction to religious mysticism, or as an introduction to the work and thoughts some of the greatest artists and writers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Understanding of this book is helped by familiarity with the works and artists Wilson discusses - but it's not necessary. Wilson's discussion of each work/artists is complete enough even without prior exposure. And, indeed, it would be hard to have exposure to all he includes. In a way that, too, is a plus. I used this book as a core curriculum for nearly everything I've studied. I read what Wilson had to say, and if I was interested, I'd then explore those artists myself."Since existentialism is a philosophy and not a religion, many of those who read "The Outsider" thought that Wilson was selling out with "Religion and the Rebel" when they first saw the title. But what Wilson discusses is religion in the sense of a passion, a fascination with something beyond and grander than the individual. In that sense, you could describe my interest in the Internet as a religion, considering the role it plays in my life.
I've never owned a copy of this book, so I'm very pleased to have found a copy in good condition at a reasonable price so I can add it to my "special" bookcase. Those are the books I doubt I'll ever part with, and include the 3 volume set of H.L. Mencken"s "The American Language" and the science fiction novels of Stanislaw Lem, famous for "Solaris" (which has twice been made into terrible movies but was a brilliant book) but also the author of several amazing stories including my favorite "Memoirs Found In a Bathtub", which reminds me of my time at NSA (to quote a review, "A paranoid story from the year 3149 in a world without paper. The protagonist is given a mission so secret that nobody has a clearance to tell it to him. Spies, counter-spies and counter-courter-spies stand in his way as he attempts to solve the mystery of his mission")
So once I get tired of reading about routers and wireless access points for work, I can take my pick of two better works to distract myself from computers for a while.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Welcome fellow LangaList readers
I'm pleased to see so many of you stopping by to see what's going on. I wish I knew.
But since you're here, and obviously in a "clicking" mood, why not click your way on over to my forum, Jeber's Help Desk. If you like what you see there, join up. Share your knowledge, your interests and your thoughts with me and my friends. It's a forum for the more mature computer user. No game cheats, no warez, no music downloads. Just a small group of us who realize there's more to life than a computing, or are at least trying to maintain a life beyond the keyboard. My main web page is at Jebers.com.
And thanks again for visiting.
But since you're here, and obviously in a "clicking" mood, why not click your way on over to my forum, Jeber's Help Desk. If you like what you see there, join up. Share your knowledge, your interests and your thoughts with me and my friends. It's a forum for the more mature computer user. No game cheats, no warez, no music downloads. Just a small group of us who realize there's more to life than a computing, or are at least trying to maintain a life beyond the keyboard. My main web page is at Jebers.com.
And thanks again for visiting.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
If you own a D-Link product...
...make damn sure that by Monday you've done all your firmware upgrades, read your manuals and asked all your necessary questions, because it looks like, due to some obvious breech in the fabric of space-time, or perhaps as a cruel joke perpetrated by the gods to amuse themselves, as of Monday, December 6th, 2004, a day that will live in infamy, I will be answering your networking questions at the call center that I'll be calling home until they finally catch on to the fact that I haven't the foggiest clue what I'm going to be talking about, since the very thing in the realm of computing I know the least about has to be networking, although I don't know much about how to add more blinky-lights to my laptop, either, but the odds of my learning how to add more blinky-lights to Gromet are much better than my really understanding networking, so I'l have a hundred little blinky-lights scattered in delightful patterns around my Toshiba's case long before I've managed to get your wireless notebook to connected through your wired router to your cable modem box and out onto the Internet while at the same time trying to DMZ your Xbox so you can get back to your online Halo game.
This should be interesting...
This should be interesting...
Friday, November 26, 2004
A little blogging humor
OK, yes...I wish I'd written this. Having confessed that, I can recommend this "Review of Blogs..." by Joe Lavin as a good, and I hope not entirely true, comment on the perils of blogging.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Ahhhhhhhhhhh...
That, my friends, is the sound of relief. 
I went to a job interview this morning, filled out the application and various other forms and took a test on networking support. I was quite concerned about my ability to pass a networking test. Networking is perhaps my weakest subject, having spent less than a week at school covering the subject. So the last few days I've been reading up on the OSI model, TCP/IP, wireless networking, routers, LANs, WANs, WENs... My eyeballs are swimming in acronyms. On top of that, I was told that I could only miss 5 questions on the test to qualify for an interview. Let's just say I wasn't planning on being interviewed.
Imagine my surprise when I was.
Then I was told that there weren't any more of the part-time positions that I had applied for, but since I was interested in full-time, they'd see if there were any available. "We'll call you" I was told. That's often not a good sign in my experience.
Less than an hour later, I got a call.
Starting Monday, I'll be attending a week of training for my new, full time position as a support technician for Aradiant Corporation, working on the D-Link support team.
I still don't know how well I did on the test...but you can bet I'm still studying my networking books. I'm taking notes now.
I went to a job interview this morning, filled out the application and various other forms and took a test on networking support. I was quite concerned about my ability to pass a networking test. Networking is perhaps my weakest subject, having spent less than a week at school covering the subject. So the last few days I've been reading up on the OSI model, TCP/IP, wireless networking, routers, LANs, WANs, WENs... My eyeballs are swimming in acronyms. On top of that, I was told that I could only miss 5 questions on the test to qualify for an interview. Let's just say I wasn't planning on being interviewed.
Imagine my surprise when I was.
Then I was told that there weren't any more of the part-time positions that I had applied for, but since I was interested in full-time, they'd see if there were any available. "We'll call you" I was told. That's often not a good sign in my experience.
Less than an hour later, I got a call.
Starting Monday, I'll be attending a week of training for my new, full time position as a support technician for Aradiant Corporation, working on the D-Link support team.
I still don't know how well I did on the test...but you can bet I'm still studying my networking books. I'm taking notes now.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
JHD-blog...R.I.P.
Well, it was ugly, and at times it looked like the little varmint would escape the fate in store for it, but last night I decided to kill off the blog attached to my Jebers.com website. It clung desperately to life, refusing to be deleted from my host as a unit, forcing me to go in and rip out its guts one file at a time.
I never read what I call "blah-blah" blogs. You know, the ones that are filled with entries that read, "Today I bought new shoes. They're really cool" or other topics that mark them as totally personal blogs. I don't mind them, or think they somehow devalue blogging, I just don't read them. I try hard to make my postings fun to read, and as I'm operating on just a few remaining brain cells (did I mention I'm getting older and should have taken better care of myself?) I'm finding it enough to try and maintain my four main blogs, two on Blogger and two on Type Pad. Each has its own purpose, but JHD-blog didn't. It consisted of entries better posted to my forum. Since I couldn't justify its existence, I knew it must die.
This incident made me aware of another reality. As much as I like and use WS_FTP, there are times that the FTP function built into Power Desk 6 functions so much better. Working with a folder on a remote site as if it were on your local drive is intuitive and easy.
I never read what I call "blah-blah" blogs. You know, the ones that are filled with entries that read, "Today I bought new shoes. They're really cool" or other topics that mark them as totally personal blogs. I don't mind them, or think they somehow devalue blogging, I just don't read them. I try hard to make my postings fun to read, and as I'm operating on just a few remaining brain cells (did I mention I'm getting older and should have taken better care of myself?) I'm finding it enough to try and maintain my four main blogs, two on Blogger and two on Type Pad. Each has its own purpose, but JHD-blog didn't. It consisted of entries better posted to my forum. Since I couldn't justify its existence, I knew it must die.
This incident made me aware of another reality. As much as I like and use WS_FTP, there are times that the FTP function built into Power Desk 6 functions so much better. Working with a folder on a remote site as if it were on your local drive is intuitive and easy.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Well, this is interesting...II
I think that is enough for a review. See the previous empty entry? That was a rather lengthy post all about how I was checking out this software to do remote blogging called BlogWeaver, and how I intended to review it once I'd used it a few times. Well, after the first usage I went to uninstall it, and found out it doesn't want to uninstall via add/remove programs , either. Read the full review here. I should have it published pretty soon. (Hint: don't waste your time)
Friday, November 19, 2004
Saturday, November 13, 2004
The merry month of December
Since I'm too old to move back home to Mom's house, I've decided to move her in with me. Actually, due to circumstances, Mom will be moving in with me next month, the very same month my current job comes to an end. You say coincidence, I say the stuff is all hitting the fan at the same time.
Not that I don't think her moving in here isn't a good idea. She can't really afford to rent her own house on her limited income and at 81, she needs someone who can check in on her on a daily basis. Neither one of us is a very social person, so it's not like our parties are going to disturb one another. And we both enjoy spending time on the computer. So I imagine we'll get along OK. But it is going to be very weird for a while. Despite the fact we're good friends, I haven't lived in her house since I was 16 years old, 34 years ago, and she's lived independently for those years as well. It's going to be quite an adjustment for us both. Meanwhile, I've rented a storage unit to fill with all our extra furniture and everything else that won't fit in the house with two people living here. There's a lot of work to be done between now and then. And a full-time job to think about as well. Then, come January, all that activity will be over. That's when I'm planning on having my nervous breakdown.
I need another cup...
Not that I don't think her moving in here isn't a good idea. She can't really afford to rent her own house on her limited income and at 81, she needs someone who can check in on her on a daily basis. Neither one of us is a very social person, so it's not like our parties are going to disturb one another. And we both enjoy spending time on the computer. So I imagine we'll get along OK. But it is going to be very weird for a while. Despite the fact we're good friends, I haven't lived in her house since I was 16 years old, 34 years ago, and she's lived independently for those years as well. It's going to be quite an adjustment for us both. Meanwhile, I've rented a storage unit to fill with all our extra furniture and everything else that won't fit in the house with two people living here. There's a lot of work to be done between now and then. And a full-time job to think about as well. Then, come January, all that activity will be over. That's when I'm planning on having my nervous breakdown.
I need another cup...
Saturday, October 09, 2004
Progress...
The development of Jebers.com is coming along, but the forum is already in place and ready for visitors. Please stop by, and if you feel so inclined, become a member. Let's talk about the topics of concern to all of us...how computers work and what impact they have on our lives. Do you have gardening questions, want to brag about your pets? Share with us. Jeber's Help Desk is all about the human in front of the keyboard as much as it is the machine on the other side. Come by and see for yourself.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
A perfect end to the week
OK, so it's my Friday night (I know it's only Wednesday, but I get the next two days off, thus...) and it's 10:00PM. I get off work at 10:30, and there are no calls waiting to be answered.
Usually, we hate this. It's too early to log out, but we dread that last call that may take us into overtime and earn us the displeasure of the payroll department. So about 2 minutes later I get a call. Uh-oh. And it's someone with a "yearly" pin number, meaning they get unlimited number of support calls for a year. But many of the yearly folk think that means they can talk for an unlimited amount of time on each call. They tend to like to chat. And that really messes up our que for other callers, who have to wait for us to get free of these.
So I reluctantly answered the call. The caller said, "I don't really have any issues, I just have a suggestion. This help desk should offer Linux support. I just wiped Windows off my computer and loaded SUSE 9.1 two days ago, and I love it." That cracked me up. My last call on a "Friday" night, and I get to talk Linux. What a perfect way to end the week.
Thanks, new friend, for letting me leave work this week with a smile on my face. I hope to meet you again in Scot's forum.
Usually, we hate this. It's too early to log out, but we dread that last call that may take us into overtime and earn us the displeasure of the payroll department. So about 2 minutes later I get a call. Uh-oh. And it's someone with a "yearly" pin number, meaning they get unlimited number of support calls for a year. But many of the yearly folk think that means they can talk for an unlimited amount of time on each call. They tend to like to chat. And that really messes up our que for other callers, who have to wait for us to get free of these.
So I reluctantly answered the call. The caller said, "I don't really have any issues, I just have a suggestion. This help desk should offer Linux support. I just wiped Windows off my computer and loaded SUSE 9.1 two days ago, and I love it." That cracked me up. My last call on a "Friday" night, and I get to talk Linux. What a perfect way to end the week.
Thanks, new friend, for letting me leave work this week with a smile on my face. I hope to meet you again in Scot's forum.
Sunday, October 03, 2004
It's alive!
I've posted my custom "place holder" page to Jebers.com. I hope it isn't there for long, that I'll soon have at least the main page ready to put up. I'll also be adding a fun little FAQ page to Jeber.net. I'm back to using Dreamweaver for most of the composing, but thanks to Josh's inspiration, I've been trying to make more use of CSS.
One tip you may find useful. SP2 breaks Dreamweaver if DW is already installed. But if you uninstall it, load SP2 then reinstall DW, it seems to work just fine. I have no idea why, or if this will work for you. But it's working fine for me. I do have DW in a separate partiton from Windows. Perhaps that makes the difference.
Keep Jeber's Help Desk in mind, and send me your ideas, tips and suggestions (jebers.help.desk "at" gmail.com). It's all appreciated. And a huge thanks to Scot, Chris, Josh and all my friends at Scot's and Lockergnome forums. You've all truly been an inspiration.
One tip you may find useful. SP2 breaks Dreamweaver if DW is already installed. But if you uninstall it, load SP2 then reinstall DW, it seems to work just fine. I have no idea why, or if this will work for you. But it's working fine for me. I do have DW in a separate partiton from Windows. Perhaps that makes the difference.
Keep Jeber's Help Desk in mind, and send me your ideas, tips and suggestions (jebers.help.desk "at"
Friday, October 01, 2004
Coming soon...
As of today, I'm the proud owner of the Jebers.com domain name. This is the first step in my determination to carve out my own little niche on the World Wide Web.
Those of you who know me as Jeber may wonder why Jebers. Once I have the site up, you'll see that I intend to use that in the possessive, and the site's name will be Jeber's Help Desk.
Lest you think I only intend to make the site computer-centric, I'll let you in on some of my thinking in regards to the planned content of Jebers.com. There certainly will be computer help offered, both for Windows and Linux. Now that I'm involved in offering computer help both for a living and as a pastime, I'm coming across information every day I want to pass along to others. At work I'm totally in a Windows environment, one that covers every operating system from 95 to XP, and eventually, if it ever gets released, Longhorn. At home, I'm using and learning about Linux. Both have their strengths, both have their weaknesses. Both are far more complex than the average user ever notices. While trying to stay focused on the everyday user, I'll also try to include content for the more advanced. But that's only half, perhaps three-quarters, of what I want to include on my new site.
There will also be humor. I intend to eventually incorporate my "Really Bad Computer Advice" page into the site, and open it for contributions from my friends. There will also be some of the lighter moments of life at a real-life help desk. I hope you'll get a chuckle out of some of the things we hear and situations we deal with on a daily basis. Humor is such a wonderful thing. It's gotten me through some very tough times, and I value the benefit it can bring into our lives. I really enjoy bringing humor into my life, and yours.
Finally, Jeber's Help Desk will offer personal help. This is an area I've been trying to figure out how to explore for many months. I am both a licensed minister in the state of California and an atheist. For those of you who may think you see a glaring inconsistency there, let me elaborate. I do believe humans are special creations, as are all living things on this planet. I do not believe we are the creations of a supernatural power. I do not believe we were created for some purpose known only to a select few. I believe all life is an amazing coincidence, something that could only occur one time out of a billion. That makes all life special and unique. If we were simply the good idea of a supernatural power, doesn't it make sense that power would have repeated that practice elsewhere? Yet we have thus far failed to detect any other life anywhere in the known universe. I accept that is because trillions of factors have to be "just right" to produce what we know as life. So I value all life very highly. Every living thing is like a fingerprint, never repeated exactly the same. And as a human myself, I have a special affection for my own species. I think humans are wonderfully complex, interesting and generally nice to know. But we are also social animals, and as such suffer many problems caused by our need to fit into a societies that often don't produce happiness in our lives. I want to do my small part to increase the happiness in the lives of those who stop by Jebers.com. In my 50 years, I've had my share of good times and bad, and I've learned a lot from those I've met along the road. I want to not only share what I've learned, but to provide a venue for others to share the wisdom they've gleaned over the years as well. I hope to set up a forum at some point to allow my friends (and anyone who visits with good intentions is a friend) to share their knowledge of computers as well as their knowledge of the human existence. My goal is to make everyone who visits smarter and happier by the time they leave.
Don't go racing over to Jebers.com just yet. It may be several days before I even have a chance to set up the general design of the place. Even then there will be frequent changes and tweaks until I get it into the shape I desire. Josh knows exactly what I mean (he's my secret source of all good web design advice...not that I follow his lead as often as I should). Meanwhile, enjoy my blogs and Jeber.net. I'll be adding content to all of them in the next day or two.
Be happy, compute...and stay tuned.
Those of you who know me as Jeber may wonder why Jebers. Once I have the site up, you'll see that I intend to use that in the possessive, and the site's name will be Jeber's Help Desk.
Lest you think I only intend to make the site computer-centric, I'll let you in on some of my thinking in regards to the planned content of Jebers.com. There certainly will be computer help offered, both for Windows and Linux. Now that I'm involved in offering computer help both for a living and as a pastime, I'm coming across information every day I want to pass along to others. At work I'm totally in a Windows environment, one that covers every operating system from 95 to XP, and eventually, if it ever gets released, Longhorn. At home, I'm using and learning about Linux. Both have their strengths, both have their weaknesses. Both are far more complex than the average user ever notices. While trying to stay focused on the everyday user, I'll also try to include content for the more advanced. But that's only half, perhaps three-quarters, of what I want to include on my new site.
There will also be humor. I intend to eventually incorporate my "Really Bad Computer Advice" page into the site, and open it for contributions from my friends. There will also be some of the lighter moments of life at a real-life help desk. I hope you'll get a chuckle out of some of the things we hear and situations we deal with on a daily basis. Humor is such a wonderful thing. It's gotten me through some very tough times, and I value the benefit it can bring into our lives. I really enjoy bringing humor into my life, and yours.
Finally, Jeber's Help Desk will offer personal help. This is an area I've been trying to figure out how to explore for many months. I am both a licensed minister in the state of California and an atheist. For those of you who may think you see a glaring inconsistency there, let me elaborate. I do believe humans are special creations, as are all living things on this planet. I do not believe we are the creations of a supernatural power. I do not believe we were created for some purpose known only to a select few. I believe all life is an amazing coincidence, something that could only occur one time out of a billion. That makes all life special and unique. If we were simply the good idea of a supernatural power, doesn't it make sense that power would have repeated that practice elsewhere? Yet we have thus far failed to detect any other life anywhere in the known universe. I accept that is because trillions of factors have to be "just right" to produce what we know as life. So I value all life very highly. Every living thing is like a fingerprint, never repeated exactly the same. And as a human myself, I have a special affection for my own species. I think humans are wonderfully complex, interesting and generally nice to know. But we are also social animals, and as such suffer many problems caused by our need to fit into a societies that often don't produce happiness in our lives. I want to do my small part to increase the happiness in the lives of those who stop by Jebers.com. In my 50 years, I've had my share of good times and bad, and I've learned a lot from those I've met along the road. I want to not only share what I've learned, but to provide a venue for others to share the wisdom they've gleaned over the years as well. I hope to set up a forum at some point to allow my friends (and anyone who visits with good intentions is a friend) to share their knowledge of computers as well as their knowledge of the human existence. My goal is to make everyone who visits smarter and happier by the time they leave.
Don't go racing over to Jebers.com just yet. It may be several days before I even have a chance to set up the general design of the place. Even then there will be frequent changes and tweaks until I get it into the shape I desire. Josh knows exactly what I mean (he's my secret source of all good web design advice...not that I follow his lead as often as I should). Meanwhile, enjoy my blogs and Jeber.net. I'll be adding content to all of them in the next day or two.
Be happy, compute...and stay tuned.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
How may I help you?
Hey, it's better than "Would you like fries with that". At least for my circumstances, anyway. So the week and a half of training is over, and tomorrow we "go live". Wednesday will be our first day on the phones by ourselves, each of us squirrelled away in our own little cubicle (mine is #35, if you're ever in the neighborhood stop by and say hi), with all our notes and cheat sheets of useful URLs. The facts of help desk operation are probably familiar to anyone who has ever had to call one. You call up and tell us your problem, we write up a trouble ticket and attempt to do our best to solve it. But did you ever realize that there's a good reason why the advice you usually get is "format and reinstall"?
I remember a couple of years ago hearing people complain that all techs ever advised was to "format and reinstall". It seemed like a cop-out. "I don't really want to take the time to really solve your problem, so let's just fdisk your hard drive and start all over." But having heard many calls now, I realize that often that's the best advice you will get. You've added and removed hardware to the point where there is no "original" system left for me to go by. You've done the same with software. I have no way to tell how, or how well, you removed all traces of that software. Then you failed to install, update, or even use anti-virus software. You don't have a firewall, or have never configured it to do its job. So finally you call me...with your system full of spyware , adware, viruses, leftovers of extinct software and a few new pieces of hardware that may or may not have been installed properly. And since you're paying by the minute, you expect to have a solution, and a pristine system, within ten minutes or so. In that amount of time, I can probably tell that the only way you are ever going to get a factory-fresh system again is to format and reinstall your OS. Anything less is going to leave you with a vulnerable system that may or may not be fully healed. And you should remember, you were the one who inflicted the damage, not the help desk tech trying to help you. Don't get irritated with me because I can't undo in ten minutes what you've had months, perhaps years, to do.
As we've often said in both Scot's forum and in Lockergnome, the best habit you can develope when it comes to owning a personal computer is BACK UP YOUR DATA ON A REGULAR BASIS!! If it's important to you, make sure you have a backup copy somewhere besides on your hard drive. Then when you've finally gunked up your system to the point where I have no better option to suggest than that you format your hard drive and reinstall your OS, you will have everything important already preserved, and perhaps we can get your problem solved in just a few minutes.
I remember a couple of years ago hearing people complain that all techs ever advised was to "format and reinstall". It seemed like a cop-out. "I don't really want to take the time to really solve your problem, so let's just fdisk your hard drive and start all over." But having heard many calls now, I realize that often that's the best advice you will get. You've added and removed hardware to the point where there is no "original" system left for me to go by. You've done the same with software. I have no way to tell how, or how well, you removed all traces of that software. Then you failed to install, update, or even use anti-virus software. You don't have a firewall, or have never configured it to do its job. So finally you call me...with your system full of spyware , adware, viruses, leftovers of extinct software and a few new pieces of hardware that may or may not have been installed properly. And since you're paying by the minute, you expect to have a solution, and a pristine system, within ten minutes or so. In that amount of time, I can probably tell that the only way you are ever going to get a factory-fresh system again is to format and reinstall your OS. Anything less is going to leave you with a vulnerable system that may or may not be fully healed. And you should remember, you were the one who inflicted the damage, not the help desk tech trying to help you. Don't get irritated with me because I can't undo in ten minutes what you've had months, perhaps years, to do.
As we've often said in both Scot's forum and in Lockergnome, the best habit you can develope when it comes to owning a personal computer is BACK UP YOUR DATA ON A REGULAR BASIS!! If it's important to you, make sure you have a backup copy somewhere besides on your hard drive. Then when you've finally gunked up your system to the point where I have no better option to suggest than that you format your hard drive and reinstall your OS, you will have everything important already preserved, and perhaps we can get your problem solved in just a few minutes.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Emotional Rollercoaster
This week has certainly taxed my emotional stability. Yesterday Sam and I said our final farewell (after he'd won about 8 more admirers at the Vet's office...I tell you, his eyes were magical) then today I received the phone call I've been waiting for over a year. An offer of a real, full-time job. It's a help desk position for Gateway Computers, and it's in the United States! 8-D The pay is half what I made at my last job, but I can live with that for the time being. I've never had a job where I stayed at my starting wage more than 3 months. Yes, I'm self-confident and aggressive in going after better positions. But I'm also more comfortable leading than following, and most of my former employers noticed that after a while. Considering the last two computers I've torn down to the motherboard and rebuilt have been Gateway's, I'm pretty familiar with their hardware. Now I've got to get back to boning up on my knowledge of Windows. I've been trying to learn Linux so much that I've somewhat neglected my Windows partition. No more. I've got 3 days to review my basic A+ stuff, then start on the really hard parts.
This is good for two reasons. I really did need a job, and a job in a field I'm already passionate about. More importantly, I needed a distraction from the empty porch...the missing bark of welcome...those eyes.
This is good for two reasons. I really did need a job, and a job in a field I'm already passionate about. More importantly, I needed a distraction from the empty porch...the missing bark of welcome...those eyes.
Friday, August 13, 2004
Sam's last week
Sam, my faithful Malamute mix, has passed his 14th, and last birthday. I adopted him as a two year old from an animal shelter in Idaho. I was helping out at the shelter in my free time. (I'd already learned how to avoid the temptation to adopt every unwanted cat that came through the place, going so far as to help with the process of euthanasia to cure my notion that every animal could be saved. Reality is often ugly, and I refuse to avoid the ugly parts. Without experiencing them, I can't fully appreciate the beautiful parts.) For more than two weeks this Mal-mix had sat in the shelter after being found running loose. When it became obvious no one would be coming to claim him, he was scheduled to be put down. But when I went into his enclosure to bring him out for the injection, I made the mistake of looking in his large brown eyes. Their was intelligence there, and a plea I couldn't ignore. That day he became Sam and joined my family.
As it always is with death, it can only be postponed, never avoided. For the last twelve years Sam has avoided his fate while being a wonderful and fun companion. Though most dogs his size are fortunate to live ten to twelve years, Sam has managed to hang on for a couple of extra. But now he's past the point of enjoying his existance. His rear legs can barely support him, his fur is starting to come out in clumps and he hardly moves. In short, his time is at an end. On the 18th, next Wednesday, we'll take one last road trip to the vets and he will cease having to endure the pain and disabilities that plague him now. Once more I'll be saying goodbye to a decade long friend. One of the saddest things about growing older is losing those close to you. Then one day, you are the one to leave your friends behind. It is an inescapeable fact of life. It begins, and it ends. I hope I leave with the grace and dignity Sam has shown. And as I've said many times, humans would be showing their true humanity if we allowed ourselves to bring a peaceful and quiet death to one another like we permit ourselves to do with our animal companions.
Sam and I will enjoy our last week together. Then he'll leave, yet live on in my memories and in my heart.
As it always is with death, it can only be postponed, never avoided. For the last twelve years Sam has avoided his fate while being a wonderful and fun companion. Though most dogs his size are fortunate to live ten to twelve years, Sam has managed to hang on for a couple of extra. But now he's past the point of enjoying his existance. His rear legs can barely support him, his fur is starting to come out in clumps and he hardly moves. In short, his time is at an end. On the 18th, next Wednesday, we'll take one last road trip to the vets and he will cease having to endure the pain and disabilities that plague him now. Once more I'll be saying goodbye to a decade long friend. One of the saddest things about growing older is losing those close to you. Then one day, you are the one to leave your friends behind. It is an inescapeable fact of life. It begins, and it ends. I hope I leave with the grace and dignity Sam has shown. And as I've said many times, humans would be showing their true humanity if we allowed ourselves to bring a peaceful and quiet death to one another like we permit ourselves to do with our animal companions.
Sam and I will enjoy our last week together. Then he'll leave, yet live on in my memories and in my heart.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
The rise of Technocracy
Chris Pirillo is going to kick off a new channel dealing with Technocracy soon, and he's going to allow me, Mike (my good buddy from Lockergnome), Georganna and David (fellow members of WebSanDiego) to be the initial contributors. So what the heck is a Technocracy channel? It's going to be a webblog and newsletter covering every aspect of the affect that the web has on our daily lives. We'll talk about how the Internet has impacted religion, government, business, education, the workplace, the schoolroom, even interpersonal relationships. If it's technology and it touches our lives, we'll dig up the stories and give you the links.
I'm excited about this because I've come to be quite interested in the future of technology in our lives. From the interactive home to the ability to communicate across physical borders, the Internet is going to have dramatic effects on our lives...so much more than it has already. Now that we have a vehicle that makes it possible for every person on the planet to have a voice, nothing will ever again be quite the same. Even the humble blog is becoming more than a way for anyone to share their thoughts and opinions with us all. It's becomming the "news source" of a wired generation. Stories will be blogged well before the major news outlets can get their stories written, polished and in the hands of their talking heads for the 6 o'clock broadcast. Blogs have become the new "Stars and Stripes" for our men and women in combat zones. We can now hear voices previously silenced by repressive governments.
Technocracy is the future. The Internet is the future. I think that's very kewl.
I'm excited about this because I've come to be quite interested in the future of technology in our lives. From the interactive home to the ability to communicate across physical borders, the Internet is going to have dramatic effects on our lives...so much more than it has already. Now that we have a vehicle that makes it possible for every person on the planet to have a voice, nothing will ever again be quite the same. Even the humble blog is becoming more than a way for anyone to share their thoughts and opinions with us all. It's becomming the "news source" of a wired generation. Stories will be blogged well before the major news outlets can get their stories written, polished and in the hands of their talking heads for the 6 o'clock broadcast. Blogs have become the new "Stars and Stripes" for our men and women in combat zones. We can now hear voices previously silenced by repressive governments.
Technocracy is the future. The Internet is the future. I think that's very kewl.
Friday, July 30, 2004
I'm looking under rocks now
This job search process is an exercise in futility at this point. If I wasn't depressed most of the time anyway, I'd be looking for high ledges with no guardrails about now. The cool thing about depression is, the longer you live with it (and I'm going on 21 years, so I know what I'm talking about), the better you learn to not only tolerate it, but actually make it work for you. Of course, that's on the good days, when things are going well. Not days like these.
When you're an atheist dealing with depression, every day can either be another pain in the butt to be dealt with as quickly and easily as possible, or a day when maybe, just maybe, the pieces will finally fall into place and the anxiety will disappear. No big-guy-in-the-sky is going to come down and make it all better. No motivation out of fear of eternal damnation...I'm getting a pretty good dose of that here. No reason to comb the yard for a four-leaf clover. Just me and the abilities that life has given me to face the big ugly monster of reality.
And the reality is, I need to find a job or in a very few months I'll be out there in your town with my laptop under my arm, Bob the cat trailing along behind...looking for an unoccupied freeway overpass.
When you're an atheist dealing with depression, every day can either be another pain in the butt to be dealt with as quickly and easily as possible, or a day when maybe, just maybe, the pieces will finally fall into place and the anxiety will disappear. No big-guy-in-the-sky is going to come down and make it all better. No motivation out of fear of eternal damnation...I'm getting a pretty good dose of that here. No reason to comb the yard for a four-leaf clover. Just me and the abilities that life has given me to face the big ugly monster of reality.
And the reality is, I need to find a job or in a very few months I'll be out there in your town with my laptop under my arm, Bob the cat trailing along behind...looking for an unoccupied freeway overpass.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Evil software
I've just spent nearly twelve hours spread over two days trying to get an AOL-DSL system back on its feet and Norton Internet Security 2004 loaded on the same system. I don't really know which is worse, AOL or Norton, but they both have top slots on my to-be-avoided-at-all-costs list.
At the beginning, the computer, running 98SE, had 126 viruses and 3 trojans to be dealt with. Protection amounted to a copy of Norton AV 2001whose latest virus definition was from February of this year. OK, only about two hours to get the AV updated and the viruses wiped out. The trojans took another hour or so. Meanwhile, the owner of this electronic waste dump had wandered off to attend to other matters, as unconcerned about what it was taking to repair all this damage as he was when doing the damage in the first place. Alone now, I decided to delete a few programs and see if I could somehow reclaim a bit more than the current 20% free disk space. I also deleted the outdated Norton. Cool, I'm up to 30% free space, run a quick defrag and I'm ready to install the new Norton. 45 minutes later and I'm still looking at only 40% defragmented. The sun is setting, the day is disappearing, my life is wasting away.
To hell with it. Cancel the defrag and start the Norton install. After the first install, I couldn't get online, all the desktop icons were dead and the system froze. All right, delete and reinstall. I have a rule of threes...installs and rebuilds will only work right after the 3rd attempt. Sure enough, the second install doesn't "take" either. Third install, nothing. Fourth, fifth and sixth the same. Screw this, it's staying uninstalled and I warn him not to go online until I figure this out.
Today I actually got Norton to install on the first attempt (of the day, anyway). Finally, AV is all in place and AOL actually goes online. I hate Norton. I hate AOL.
For all this I didn't get thanked or paid, but I did get to listen to the owner bitch about how frustrating all this was for him. (?)
Oh, did I mention this guy is family?
At the beginning, the computer, running 98SE, had 126 viruses and 3 trojans to be dealt with. Protection amounted to a copy of Norton AV 2001whose latest virus definition was from February of this year. OK, only about two hours to get the AV updated and the viruses wiped out. The trojans took another hour or so. Meanwhile, the owner of this electronic waste dump had wandered off to attend to other matters, as unconcerned about what it was taking to repair all this damage as he was when doing the damage in the first place. Alone now, I decided to delete a few programs and see if I could somehow reclaim a bit more than the current 20% free disk space. I also deleted the outdated Norton. Cool, I'm up to 30% free space, run a quick defrag and I'm ready to install the new Norton. 45 minutes later and I'm still looking at only 40% defragmented. The sun is setting, the day is disappearing, my life is wasting away.
To hell with it. Cancel the defrag and start the Norton install. After the first install, I couldn't get online, all the desktop icons were dead and the system froze. All right, delete and reinstall. I have a rule of threes...installs and rebuilds will only work right after the 3rd attempt. Sure enough, the second install doesn't "take" either. Third install, nothing. Fourth, fifth and sixth the same. Screw this, it's staying uninstalled and I warn him not to go online until I figure this out.
Today I actually got Norton to install on the first attempt (of the day, anyway). Finally, AV is all in place and AOL actually goes online. I hate Norton. I hate AOL.
For all this I didn't get thanked or paid, but I did get to listen to the owner bitch about how frustrating all this was for him. (?)
Oh, did I mention this guy is family?
Saturday, July 24, 2004
New friends
The other night the WebSanDiego bloggers had a meetup, and for the first time since becoming aware of the group, I was able to attend. Only 6 people showed up and we had a good time sharing our URLs with one another and discussing blogging in general. Perhaps the best part of the evening was making a new friend. Ali just moved here from Toronto, and originally hails from Persia. Ali is a very interesting man, with a great many interests and a profound knowledge of his home country's political and social issues. Talking to him for an hour or two was very enjoyable. I hope he can come to future meetings and I can learn more from him. If you read Persian, be sure to go by his blog and check it out. Even if you can't, you may enjoy the beauty of the Persian language as it's presented on his site.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Back in that sad hole, again
My apologies to Gene Autry and Ray Whitley.
So tomorrow is the last day of class. Set up Windows Server 2000 and a local network, a final exam...then it's all over, fini, done. Friday becomes another weekend day, then Monday I return to my latest occupation, professional resume submitter. At some point this weekend I'd like to get my resume posted to my website (www.jeber.net) so all you kind folk who are good enough to come by for a laugh or two can tell all your friends about my numerous talents and abilities and help me find gainful employment in this new arena I'm trying to enter, PC help desk or an entry level IT department. After years of management in the music, and before that, grocery industry...I'm eager to turn my passion for computers and the internet into a career. It's not an easy transition for me to make. I don't make a habit of jumping from job to job. My last two jobs lasted 8 and 13 years. so this is the first time in 9 years I've gone searching, and only the second time in 21 years. Obviously, I want to find the right job right away. Yet I know that in reality that's not likely to happen. As a former manager, I have a bit better idea of how companies function, and what elements of a job are the most important than many applicants. That might come in handy during future interviews. Humility aside, I really am a hard working, dedicated employee. And my time with both the forums I moderate and administer will give me an advantage when it comes to knowing what to expect from a customer service environment.
One way or the other, come Monday, I'll begin to get an idea of how well my hopes will be met. Wish me and all my fellow graduates good luck, won't you? 8-)
So tomorrow is the last day of class. Set up Windows Server 2000 and a local network, a final exam...then it's all over, fini, done. Friday becomes another weekend day, then Monday I return to my latest occupation, professional resume submitter. At some point this weekend I'd like to get my resume posted to my website (www.jeber.net) so all you kind folk who are good enough to come by for a laugh or two can tell all your friends about my numerous talents and abilities and help me find gainful employment in this new arena I'm trying to enter, PC help desk or an entry level IT department. After years of management in the music, and before that, grocery industry...I'm eager to turn my passion for computers and the internet into a career. It's not an easy transition for me to make. I don't make a habit of jumping from job to job. My last two jobs lasted 8 and 13 years. so this is the first time in 9 years I've gone searching, and only the second time in 21 years. Obviously, I want to find the right job right away. Yet I know that in reality that's not likely to happen. As a former manager, I have a bit better idea of how companies function, and what elements of a job are the most important than many applicants. That might come in handy during future interviews. Humility aside, I really am a hard working, dedicated employee. And my time with both the forums I moderate and administer will give me an advantage when it comes to knowing what to expect from a customer service environment.
One way or the other, come Monday, I'll begin to get an idea of how well my hopes will be met. Wish me and all my fellow graduates good luck, won't you? 8-)
Sunday, July 18, 2004
New Blogging tools and IM
Blogger is getting pretty fancy for a free publishing site. I have to give them a lot of credit for not restricting the new features to premium members only. Now you can write in bold letters, italics, color, add links within the body of your blog, adjust the layout, add bullets and blockquotes...just like a real word processor. They even offer a "remove formatting" tool. I'm truly impressed. Let's see if MT follows their lead.
It's too bad I don't have a lot to say tonight that would give me the chance to use all those goodies. But it's late and I'm pooped. We've been enjoying (?) a mini-heatwave here in Southern California, and there's nothing like moist heat to sap the energy right out of you.
One app I've been having fun with again the last couple of nights is instant messenging. I deleted every IM app from my computer over a year ago because that obnoxious little window would pop, up with a pointless conversation from someone I didn't really want to talk to anyway, at the most inconvenient times. It became such a distraction, I just eliminated the thing. Then recently, I began meeting people I really wanted to keep in touch with, and the easiest way turned out to be IM. But this time around I'm being more selective as to who can reach me. And another difference is that now I have Gaim, a great open source, cross-platform app. Last night I was chatting in real time with England on one tab, Illinois on another, and a friend about 8 blocks from here on a third. Tonight it was California, Illinois and Virginia. Ten years ago this either wouldn't have been possible, or would have racked up huge long distance bills. I've been rereading "Small Pieces Loosely Joined" by David Weinberger (highly recommended), and agree with him that at the core of the web is the hyperlink. But another worthy use is IM, if done politely and with content. This truly is a wired world, and communication has taken on a whole new meaning and dynamic. And I embrace it all.
It's too bad I don't have a lot to say tonight that would give me the chance to use all those goodies. But it's late and I'm pooped. We've been enjoying (?) a mini-heatwave here in Southern California, and there's nothing like moist heat to sap the energy right out of you.
One app I've been having fun with again the last couple of nights is instant messenging. I deleted every IM app from my computer over a year ago because that obnoxious little window would pop, up with a pointless conversation from someone I didn't really want to talk to anyway, at the most inconvenient times. It became such a distraction, I just eliminated the thing. Then recently, I began meeting people I really wanted to keep in touch with, and the easiest way turned out to be IM. But this time around I'm being more selective as to who can reach me. And another difference is that now I have Gaim, a great open source, cross-platform app. Last night I was chatting in real time with England on one tab, Illinois on another, and a friend about 8 blocks from here on a third. Tonight it was California, Illinois and Virginia. Ten years ago this either wouldn't have been possible, or would have racked up huge long distance bills. I've been rereading "Small Pieces Loosely Joined" by David Weinberger (highly recommended), and agree with him that at the core of the web is the hyperlink. But another worthy use is IM, if done politely and with content. This truly is a wired world, and communication has taken on a whole new meaning and dynamic. And I embrace it all.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Back to blogging
In my other blog today I quoted Kevin Marks' comments on what makes for an interesting blog, and as an editor at Technorati he should know. I also confessed that this blog doesn't meet the criteria of what even I would consider a worthwhile blog. Yet I persist in adding content to it, while refraining from recommending it as reading to anyone but my friends and family...and not even all of them.
At heart I am a writer. In high school I managed, until caught, to publish the first, and as far as I know only, underground newspaper ever distributed on that campus. I mimeographed copies of it in the teacher's lounge during lunch, passing them out freely the next day. In college I wrote both poetry and television screenplays. I'm the kind of guy who writes letters to the editors of local papers and gets them published. It's in my blood. The only thing I haven't tried is writing my elected representatives or the president. I like to know my writing, however poorly executed, will at least be seen. Writing to "The Hill" is an exercise in futility. I really don't need a machine-signed form-letter reply from the pres to hang on my wall, knowing damn well he never came within a mile of the computer screen my missive appeared on for its 5 seconds of life.
So I'll keep adding the occasional entry here, detailing my feelings about the oddities of life as I encounter them.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Obliged to blog?
Today at school we had one of those days that left me not even really wanting to get online once I got home. We were installing Windows NT then finding and downloading service packs and drivers then fdisking the rest of the drive in order to dual boot it with XP. NT was never the easiest OS to install, and today, with 12 other people all trying to accomplish the task with various degrees of success and frustration...just burned me out on anything to do with computers, at least for the day.
Yet, like a junkie, as soon as I had something to eat and a cup of coffee beside me, I couldn't resist the urge to log in and see what was happening. I found out...not much. So now I don't feel as bad as I type this out and prepare to power down and go read a book.
Ireally enjoy computing. I really enjoy Linux. But not every day. Not today.
Yet, like a junkie, as soon as I had something to eat and a cup of coffee beside me, I couldn't resist the urge to log in and see what was happening. I found out...not much. So now I don't feel as bad as I type this out and prepare to power down and go read a book.
Ireally enjoy computing. I really enjoy Linux. But not every day. Not today.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
My aim for this blog
My intention from this point on is to make this blog my more personal blog, while my other blog (http://jeberjabber.typepad.com) will be more geared toward comments on the news, ravings, and general jabberings. If by some chance I end up suffering from multiple personality disorder, I'll add more blogs as necessary.
Lack of Affection
One of those realizations that came to me only after getting a bit older is that I had a lot of misconceptions as a younger man. Among them was the notion that I just couldn't survive without sex. (Don't panic, I'm not going into details here.) When I was in my 20's, I couldn't imagine going for more than a week without having sex. I was sure I would never be able to live without it. Boy, was I wrong. And in being wrong, I learned a valuable lesson. It's not the sex you miss, it's the affection. Affection is an often ignored but vital part of our lives. While having a partner is perhaps the best source of affection, you can give and receive affection from almost everything around you. It's a state of mind that produces an emotion. An affectionate state of mind is one that appreciates the love and joy in life. It produces gentleness, kindness, peace of mind and caring. Not being affectionate makes a person mean, unhappy and unpleasant to be around. You can give affection to and receive affection from other people, animals, books, music, your job (believe it or not), a multitude of situations in your daily life.
So while I might be missing the sex I enjoyed as a youngster, I make sure that affection is present in every moment of my life. I was wrong about not being able to survive without sex, but I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy life half as much as I do without affection. It's something I don't want to do without.
So while I might be missing the sex I enjoyed as a youngster, I make sure that affection is present in every moment of my life. I was wrong about not being able to survive without sex, but I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy life half as much as I do without affection. It's something I don't want to do without.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Crises? What crises?
Even though I present this blog as thoughts on a cyber and real world mid-life crises, having reached the unplanned for age of 50 on my last birthday...it's even more the results of a life in turmoil. For the last 21 years, I've had two jobs (13 then 8 years) and lived in two places (Burley, ID and San Diego, CA). Now, for the first time in 21 years, I'm unemployed with no immediate prospects of another job in a city that's far too expensive to consider staying in unless something stable and well-paying comes along soon. A lot of the decisions I face these days are those I wouldn't be worrying about were I still employed. So it's less my age and more my economic situation that's causing me so much grief these days.
Add to that the fact I haven't been on a date, let alone enjoyed a solid relationship, in over 20 years, and you can understand why I keep my hair so short. I'd have pulled it all out by now otherwise. I used to say I was alone but not lonely. Well, screw that...now I'm lonely. Unfortunately, at the present time, I have little beyond my charming personality and my talent for imitating cartoon voices to recommend me. Oh well...life's been worse, and I'm sure it will be better. I just have to muddle through the present with high hopes for the future.
Add to that the fact I haven't been on a date, let alone enjoyed a solid relationship, in over 20 years, and you can understand why I keep my hair so short. I'd have pulled it all out by now otherwise. I used to say I was alone but not lonely. Well, screw that...now I'm lonely. Unfortunately, at the present time, I have little beyond my charming personality and my talent for imitating cartoon voices to recommend me. Oh well...life's been worse, and I'm sure it will be better. I just have to muddle through the present with high hopes for the future.
Saturday, June 26, 2004
Chaos theory
A friend has informed me that by moving the entries from my website blog over to this one and leaving the original posting dates intact, I've created chaos. I realize that the orinial post explaining the move has been pushed way down the page, so I thought perhaps I should explain again so I wouldn't create even more chaos, because I suspect I'm at my limit for chaos creation this week.
I had 3 blogs going, which was at least one too many. So I moved all the content from the blog I had associated with my webpage over here, but left the original dates on each entry so the relation of content to outside events would remain consistant. The date at the top of each entry is the original one, the date at the foot of the entry is the date/time I moved it over. There...clear as mud.
Now the only other blog I'm using is a 30 day trial of Blogware, which is associated with Lockergnome. I like the layout just fine, but I'm not sure with my current financial situation I can justify paying even $10 a month for a blog.
For what it's worth, I wouldn't recommend tacking a blog onto a website, unless you can afford Movable Type or something similar. Otherwise, like me, you'll have to wait until you're home, on your own computer, with access to your web authoring software (Dreamweaver, Front Page, Nvu, whatever) before you can make a blog entry. Not good. A real pain in the patoot. Stick with something that allows you to blog from anywhere, on any computer. Keep it all web based, and you'll never be locked out of your blog.
I had 3 blogs going, which was at least one too many. So I moved all the content from the blog I had associated with my webpage over here, but left the original dates on each entry so the relation of content to outside events would remain consistant. The date at the top of each entry is the original one, the date at the foot of the entry is the date/time I moved it over. There...clear as mud.
Now the only other blog I'm using is a 30 day trial of Blogware, which is associated with Lockergnome. I like the layout just fine, but I'm not sure with my current financial situation I can justify paying even $10 a month for a blog.
For what it's worth, I wouldn't recommend tacking a blog onto a website, unless you can afford Movable Type or something similar. Otherwise, like me, you'll have to wait until you're home, on your own computer, with access to your web authoring software (Dreamweaver, Front Page, Nvu, whatever) before you can make a blog entry. Not good. A real pain in the patoot. Stick with something that allows you to blog from anywhere, on any computer. Keep it all web based, and you'll never be locked out of your blog.
But is it worth it?
A lovely day...a truly beautiful day. A light breeze, 73°F and 65% humidity with light cloud cover. On days like this I know why so many people want to live here. But I still don't understand how most of us can continue to afford to live in San Diego. To rent a one bedroom apartment will usually set you back around $1000 a month. How does someone working in the service industry, like 7-11 or Burger King, manage to pay their rent, cover their ridiculously high utility bill, buy $2.50 a gallon gas to allow them to get to their lousy paying job and still have any money left to buy food? If all the service people were to move to Iowa tomorrow, would the rich and well-off in Rancho Bernardo and La Jolla starve to death from having to fix their own meals or walk themselves to death first because there wasn't anyone left to fix their $75000 cars? I suspect the rich around here don't realize that money can only provide a wonderful life if you can use some of it to pay the poorer folk to do the work you aren't capable of.
OK, I admit that I'm an idiot for allowing a train of thought like that to ruin a great day like today. But that's just the way my addled mind works.
OK, I admit that I'm an idiot for allowing a train of thought like that to ruin a great day like today. But that's just the way my addled mind works.
Friday, June 25, 2004
So much for that
That wasn't so difficult. Thank you for bearing with me while I organize my life.
We now return you to your regular programming...
We now return you to your regular programming...
The last of the blast from the past
June 17th, 2004
I'm sure you realize that not only am I new to blogging, but that I'm learning as I go. Well, one thing I've learned as I've gone along is how much it sucks to have a blog attached to your website, one that isn't being updated through Movable Type or some such software. I have to use web authoring software, like DreamWeaver or Nvu (the same apps I use to update my web page, which you may have noticed has become a frequent activity of late), and those apps are only available from my own computer. So when I'm at school, and there's a computer sitting there in front of me on a DSL network, all I can blog to is my Blogger site. Even though I often have Gromet with me, it's not always convenient to set it up in class. Nor does my wireless modem work very well inside a building like the Xerox building, with who knows how many wireless networks being broadcast above me. So if you're thinking of getting involved in this interesting world of blogging, go with Blogger, or pay the cash and get set up with a service that will allow you to blog from any computer you may have access to. With the Linux Fanatics site to keep fed, and my Blogger account available to me from anywhere, this blog is going to suffer I fear. I mean, come on, there's only 37 hours in a day, and I need at least 4 of those for sleep. Let's hear a cheer for caffeine!
I'm sure you realize that not only am I new to blogging, but that I'm learning as I go. Well, one thing I've learned as I've gone along is how much it sucks to have a blog attached to your website, one that isn't being updated through Movable Type or some such software. I have to use web authoring software, like DreamWeaver or Nvu (the same apps I use to update my web page, which you may have noticed has become a frequent activity of late), and those apps are only available from my own computer. So when I'm at school, and there's a computer sitting there in front of me on a DSL network, all I can blog to is my Blogger site. Even though I often have Gromet with me, it's not always convenient to set it up in class. Nor does my wireless modem work very well inside a building like the Xerox building, with who knows how many wireless networks being broadcast above me. So if you're thinking of getting involved in this interesting world of blogging, go with Blogger, or pay the cash and get set up with a service that will allow you to blog from any computer you may have access to. With the Linux Fanatics site to keep fed, and my Blogger account available to me from anywhere, this blog is going to suffer I fear. I mean, come on, there's only 37 hours in a day, and I need at least 4 of those for sleep. Let's hear a cheer for caffeine!
San Diego bloggers and RAW
June 16th, 2004
I just found out there's a web blog of fellow San Diego bloggers (http://sandiegoblog.com). How very cool. I'm starting to travel around more often with my laptop and wireless Ricochet modem, yet I often fail to stop and blog a thought or observation when I really should. By the time I get somewhere I do set up Gromet (the laptop), I've forgotten what I wanted to mention. Frustrating to the max. To capture the moment, I've got to be ready. It's good to know other's are catching the weirdness that is San Diego. Now I need to do my share. After all, I'm a native. I've seen this city grow from a collection of small neighborhoods into this large, overgrown metropolis that it is today. S.D., I hardly recognize ya.
Over on Boing Boing (http://boingboing.net/), David Pescovitz has a post regarding Robert Anton Wilson, who was evidently as much an inspiration to David as he was to me. If you've never read anything by RAW, and you love a good conspiracy theory, run out to your local bookstore right now and grab a copy of just about any book he's ever written. If you have read him, you'll understand why my own thinking is so twisted. RAW has the rare ability to take a subject already beyond rediculous and making it fantastically believable.
I just found out there's a web blog of fellow San Diego bloggers (http://sandiegoblog.com). How very cool. I'm starting to travel around more often with my laptop and wireless Ricochet modem, yet I often fail to stop and blog a thought or observation when I really should. By the time I get somewhere I do set up Gromet (the laptop), I've forgotten what I wanted to mention. Frustrating to the max. To capture the moment, I've got to be ready. It's good to know other's are catching the weirdness that is San Diego. Now I need to do my share. After all, I'm a native. I've seen this city grow from a collection of small neighborhoods into this large, overgrown metropolis that it is today. S.D., I hardly recognize ya.
Over on Boing Boing (http://boingboing.net/), David Pescovitz has a post regarding Robert Anton Wilson, who was evidently as much an inspiration to David as he was to me. If you've never read anything by RAW, and you love a good conspiracy theory, run out to your local bookstore right now and grab a copy of just about any book he's ever written. If you have read him, you'll understand why my own thinking is so twisted. RAW has the rare ability to take a subject already beyond rediculous and making it fantastically believable.
My berry-berry good month
June 5th, 2004
This last half of May and beginning of June have been "berry berry good to me". Ironically, while my opportunities to be involved with the internet and the web have increased, the additional responsibilities have left me less time to actually make use of my added accesses. In late May I was moved up to an administrator role in both the Lockergnome and Scot Finnie's Newsletter forums, and am now writing entries for the Lockergnome Linux Fanatics blog. I also changed the look and layout of most of the pages of jeber.net. Getting used to the admin control panels, setting up the Linux blog and finding additional writers for it and changing my site's layout has taken so much time that my own blog and really bad advice page have been totally ignored for too long. But I promise you, my loyal reader (you are still there, aren't you?), that will be corrected presently. I can't say the content will be any better, but there will be more of it.
I've also been suffering from philosophical depression. Thirty-five years ago I was a campus radical, protesting everything from the war to oppression of minorities. I had such high hopes for our country. It's so sad to see those same issues being debated still. The bigots, isolationists and racists are still with us, and thanks in part to the internet I love, have found a new soapbox from which to spout their hate and intolerance. In the meantime we have made strides toward moderation, inclusion and tolerance, but certainly not the great strides we should have been able to accomplish in over three decades. And war, as history teaches us, is always with us.
This last half of May and beginning of June have been "berry berry good to me". Ironically, while my opportunities to be involved with the internet and the web have increased, the additional responsibilities have left me less time to actually make use of my added accesses. In late May I was moved up to an administrator role in both the Lockergnome and Scot Finnie's Newsletter forums, and am now writing entries for the Lockergnome Linux Fanatics blog. I also changed the look and layout of most of the pages of jeber.net. Getting used to the admin control panels, setting up the Linux blog and finding additional writers for it and changing my site's layout has taken so much time that my own blog and really bad advice page have been totally ignored for too long. But I promise you, my loyal reader (you are still there, aren't you?), that will be corrected presently. I can't say the content will be any better, but there will be more of it.
I've also been suffering from philosophical depression. Thirty-five years ago I was a campus radical, protesting everything from the war to oppression of minorities. I had such high hopes for our country. It's so sad to see those same issues being debated still. The bigots, isolationists and racists are still with us, and thanks in part to the internet I love, have found a new soapbox from which to spout their hate and intolerance. In the meantime we have made strides toward moderation, inclusion and tolerance, but certainly not the great strides we should have been able to accomplish in over three decades. And war, as history teaches us, is always with us.
A military rant
May 10th, 2004
When I was in the Army Security Agency in the 1970's, we interacted with many of the agencies under fire now for failing to investigate the handling of POW's in Iraq in a timely manner. This seems to me to be the most difficult aspect of this whole affair for our government to explain. In this age of nearly instantaneous communication, why it would take three months for potentially explosive information to wind it's way through the government before it made it's way to the Commander in Chief is nearly impossible to imagine. In times of crises, the last thing you want is a breakdown in communications. Yet that seems to be exactly the situation here. I remember one time we were tracking a Soviet satellite that was re-entering the atmosphere. Because it had a radioactive power source aboard, we were very concerned about the possibilty it would come down in a populated area. For two days, our agency and several others were on around the clock high alert, with everyone from the President to the lowest ranking signal analyst fully informed and waiting for the next bit of tracking information. It can be done...and now it's the task of the current administration to give us a credible reason why it wasn't in this case.
When I was in the Army Security Agency in the 1970's, we interacted with many of the agencies under fire now for failing to investigate the handling of POW's in Iraq in a timely manner. This seems to me to be the most difficult aspect of this whole affair for our government to explain. In this age of nearly instantaneous communication, why it would take three months for potentially explosive information to wind it's way through the government before it made it's way to the Commander in Chief is nearly impossible to imagine. In times of crises, the last thing you want is a breakdown in communications. Yet that seems to be exactly the situation here. I remember one time we were tracking a Soviet satellite that was re-entering the atmosphere. Because it had a radioactive power source aboard, we were very concerned about the possibilty it would come down in a populated area. For two days, our agency and several others were on around the clock high alert, with everyone from the President to the lowest ranking signal analyst fully informed and waiting for the next bit of tracking information. It can be done...and now it's the task of the current administration to give us a credible reason why it wasn't in this case.
Happy Mom's Day, Mom
May 9th, 2004
Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and to all moms who may be reading this.
According to Computer Times, Microsoft is going to allow people with pirated versions of Windows XP tp install SP2. They feel the security gains outweigh the licensing issues. While I don't condone piracy, I have to agree with them in this case. The fewer unpatched computers out there, the better. Perhaps you can never totally eliminate piracy, but you can limit the damage they can do to the rest of the computing community. Thanks, MS, for putting your priorities in proper order.
5/27/2004 Update: It seems Microsoft has changed their position on this, and have determined a range of bogus activation codes that, if detected, will prevent SP2 from installing on pirated versions of XP. Sorry, pirates...you're out of luck. But then, I suspect security isn't a real big concern of yours anyway.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and to all moms who may be reading this.
According to Computer Times, Microsoft is going to allow people with pirated versions of Windows XP tp install SP2. They feel the security gains outweigh the licensing issues. While I don't condone piracy, I have to agree with them in this case. The fewer unpatched computers out there, the better. Perhaps you can never totally eliminate piracy, but you can limit the damage they can do to the rest of the computing community. Thanks, MS, for putting your priorities in proper order.
5/27/2004 Update: It seems Microsoft has changed their position on this, and have determined a range of bogus activation codes that, if detected, will prevent SP2 from installing on pirated versions of XP. Sorry, pirates...you're out of luck. But then, I suspect security isn't a real big concern of yours anyway.
Geek in paradise
May 6th, 2004
Yes, I live in paradise, but even paradise isn't free from Mother Nature's occasional bad moods. Earthquakes seem to have absent from the headlines for a couple of years, but we still have our wildfires. After three days of above 90° F temperatures, 72° feels like heaven. The fire crews are also thankful for the reduced temperatures. When we get Santa Ana winds, those that blow from East to West from the desert to the coast, our humidity drops to the single digits, and the threat of wildfires increases. The winds tend to be higher in velocity during these periods as well. So we have an area that is essentially desert brush-lined canyons, baked dry by high temperatures and low humidity, just waiting for the stray spark or carelessly discarded cigarette to turn into an inferno. Once a fire starts, the heat it generates further dries the brush, and the high winds help it spread at a very high rate of speed. This year could be especially bad, as drought conditions prevail all over the West. So if your vacation plans this summer include the Southern California area, be sure and pack the sunblock and bottled water...as well as marshmellows and hot dogs. Might as well get some use out of the wild fires.
Yes, I live in paradise, but even paradise isn't free from Mother Nature's occasional bad moods. Earthquakes seem to have absent from the headlines for a couple of years, but we still have our wildfires. After three days of above 90° F temperatures, 72° feels like heaven. The fire crews are also thankful for the reduced temperatures. When we get Santa Ana winds, those that blow from East to West from the desert to the coast, our humidity drops to the single digits, and the threat of wildfires increases. The winds tend to be higher in velocity during these periods as well. So we have an area that is essentially desert brush-lined canyons, baked dry by high temperatures and low humidity, just waiting for the stray spark or carelessly discarded cigarette to turn into an inferno. Once a fire starts, the heat it generates further dries the brush, and the high winds help it spread at a very high rate of speed. This year could be especially bad, as drought conditions prevail all over the West. So if your vacation plans this summer include the Southern California area, be sure and pack the sunblock and bottled water...as well as marshmellows and hot dogs. Might as well get some use out of the wild fires.
Wil Wheaton and communities
May 5th, 2004
In his blog yesterday, Wil Wheaton mentioned how impressed he was with the response to his story about the health problems his cat was having. I just had to reply with the following;
Quoteing Wil, "over the last few years, we've shared more than just information. We've shared kindness, and support, and love, and all sorts of that tree huggin' hippie crap that I wish there was more of in the world."
I replied, "I agree. Last year I couldn't have been more proud, or inspired. After a hurricane took the roof off the house of one of the admins on a forum I moderate, 5 of our members got together, drove to her house, and spent the weekend putting a new roof up. No one got paid, but everyone got fed, and a great time was had by all.
It's great every time we see a virtual community extend it's reach to become a positive force in the real world.
It really is an amazing thing. Usually you only hear about geeks getting out of the house to attend conferences or 'fests. Just goes to show we're not all glued to our computer chairs. Now if we could just get our local LUG's to get out in the real world and start showing those who don't show up at their monthly install-fest how functional a Linux computer can be. Yes, you can work on your tan while still supporting our virtual communities."
I got to thinking tonight about all the abandoned websites, blogs, forum posts and stray files out there on the web, in all the various domains...on all those servers...and couldn't help thinking of space junk. Nothing to be concerned with, it's only a small bolt, until you see it coming at you at several tens of thousands of miles per hour. We need a way to pick up this electronic trash, to dispose of all the cyber litter. I sure don't want to be surfing the web one day and encounter an unforseen "My First Website" tossed out into cyberspace like a half-smoked cigarette butt. I've got a mean machine here, and I'd hate to suck one of those "Last Updated in MS-DOS" sites into the intake at mach speed.
In his blog yesterday, Wil Wheaton mentioned how impressed he was with the response to his story about the health problems his cat was having. I just had to reply with the following;
Quoteing Wil, "over the last few years, we've shared more than just information. We've shared kindness, and support, and love, and all sorts of that tree huggin' hippie crap that I wish there was more of in the world."
I replied, "I agree. Last year I couldn't have been more proud, or inspired. After a hurricane took the roof off the house of one of the admins on a forum I moderate, 5 of our members got together, drove to her house, and spent the weekend putting a new roof up. No one got paid, but everyone got fed, and a great time was had by all.
It's great every time we see a virtual community extend it's reach to become a positive force in the real world.
It really is an amazing thing. Usually you only hear about geeks getting out of the house to attend conferences or 'fests. Just goes to show we're not all glued to our computer chairs. Now if we could just get our local LUG's to get out in the real world and start showing those who don't show up at their monthly install-fest how functional a Linux computer can be. Yes, you can work on your tan while still supporting our virtual communities."
I got to thinking tonight about all the abandoned websites, blogs, forum posts and stray files out there on the web, in all the various domains...on all those servers...and couldn't help thinking of space junk. Nothing to be concerned with, it's only a small bolt, until you see it coming at you at several tens of thousands of miles per hour. We need a way to pick up this electronic trash, to dispose of all the cyber litter. I sure don't want to be surfing the web one day and encounter an unforseen "My First Website" tossed out into cyberspace like a half-smoked cigarette butt. I've got a mean machine here, and I'd hate to suck one of those "Last Updated in MS-DOS" sites into the intake at mach speed.
One man's prison
May 4th, 2004
A "friend-of-mine" tale for you, ending with a question. A friend of mine, now middle-aged, has led a slightly-more-than-interesting life. He's had a number of fascinating jobs, and enjoyed many an adventure doing them. That all ended in 1983. That year, at the age of 29, he gave into greed and stupidity for the first time in his life. This guy, who had worked in the interest of local and national crime prevention for 10 years, decided to steal. The theft was of cash, in an amount to make the charge felony grand theft. He knew what he had to do. He entered a plea of guilty, and arrived at his last hearing fully prepared to go to prison, the thought of which he dreaded, but felt he honestly deserved. Instead, he was sentenced to 3 years probation, a fine, and community service. He lost the job he had when he was arrested, so community service gave him a reason to continue on, as he was working in a field he enjoyed, and was good at. Unfortunately, it was for the city, and at the end of his service obligation, he couldn't get hired on, as he and the agency both desired,
being a convicted felon. With permission, he moved out of state to get a fresh start. To get his next job, he had to lie on the application when it asked if he'd ever been convicted of a felony. Having been in law enforcement, he knew his home state wouldn't release his criminal history without a more formal request than a job application. He worked that job, moving up to middle management, for 13 years, and every day was sure that this would be the day he was found out and tossed out the door. And since he knew he deserved such treatment, he wouldn't have resisted.
This is the issue. The state felt he'd be better off serving probation than going to prison. But my friend sentenced himself to a prison of his own design, in his own mind. And he's still serving that sentence 21 years later. Once he was an outgoing, adventurous, chance-taking funster. Since 1983, he's become withdrawn, introverted, quiet, nervous, self-critical, unmotivated and self-destructive in many ways, none of them physical. He moved back home after 13 years elsewhere, and found a job on whose application he didn't need to lie. They asked if he'd commited a felony in the last 7 years, and to this he could answer "no" honestly. Yet he still worried. He told no one. Even most of the members of his family have never been told, some with whom he interacts on a daily basis. You can imagine the mental strain this causes. Even most of those closest to him don't really know him as well as they think they do. And he's aware of this. And it tears him up.
How long should someone keep themselves in prison? How do they go about releasing themselves? I'm not asking in a religious context, neither he or I are religious at all, and it's not going to be a consideration. But it seems to me that there ought to be a sort of pardon one can extend to themselves, a period of time after which one can let themselves off the hook. He took a small step in that direction today. For the first time since his arrest, he answered honestly when asked on an application if he'd ever been arrested. And the interviewer mentioned it. This was a moment he'd dreaded for 21 years. But once he explained, and took responsibility for his crime, all the interviewer said was that it would prevent him from accepting certain government jobs. He said he was well aware of that, being a veteran and former government employee for a time. But that was fine. And the interview went very well otherwise. The weight began to lift...just a little. It's not a monkey on his back, it's an elephant. Today, the elephant took a dump, and lightened the load by a few pounds.
A "friend-of-mine" tale for you, ending with a question. A friend of mine, now middle-aged, has led a slightly-more-than-interesting life. He's had a number of fascinating jobs, and enjoyed many an adventure doing them. That all ended in 1983. That year, at the age of 29, he gave into greed and stupidity for the first time in his life. This guy, who had worked in the interest of local and national crime prevention for 10 years, decided to steal. The theft was of cash, in an amount to make the charge felony grand theft. He knew what he had to do. He entered a plea of guilty, and arrived at his last hearing fully prepared to go to prison, the thought of which he dreaded, but felt he honestly deserved. Instead, he was sentenced to 3 years probation, a fine, and community service. He lost the job he had when he was arrested, so community service gave him a reason to continue on, as he was working in a field he enjoyed, and was good at. Unfortunately, it was for the city, and at the end of his service obligation, he couldn't get hired on, as he and the agency both desired,
being a convicted felon. With permission, he moved out of state to get a fresh start. To get his next job, he had to lie on the application when it asked if he'd ever been convicted of a felony. Having been in law enforcement, he knew his home state wouldn't release his criminal history without a more formal request than a job application. He worked that job, moving up to middle management, for 13 years, and every day was sure that this would be the day he was found out and tossed out the door. And since he knew he deserved such treatment, he wouldn't have resisted.
This is the issue. The state felt he'd be better off serving probation than going to prison. But my friend sentenced himself to a prison of his own design, in his own mind. And he's still serving that sentence 21 years later. Once he was an outgoing, adventurous, chance-taking funster. Since 1983, he's become withdrawn, introverted, quiet, nervous, self-critical, unmotivated and self-destructive in many ways, none of them physical. He moved back home after 13 years elsewhere, and found a job on whose application he didn't need to lie. They asked if he'd commited a felony in the last 7 years, and to this he could answer "no" honestly. Yet he still worried. He told no one. Even most of the members of his family have never been told, some with whom he interacts on a daily basis. You can imagine the mental strain this causes. Even most of those closest to him don't really know him as well as they think they do. And he's aware of this. And it tears him up.
How long should someone keep themselves in prison? How do they go about releasing themselves? I'm not asking in a religious context, neither he or I are religious at all, and it's not going to be a consideration. But it seems to me that there ought to be a sort of pardon one can extend to themselves, a period of time after which one can let themselves off the hook. He took a small step in that direction today. For the first time since his arrest, he answered honestly when asked on an application if he'd ever been arrested. And the interviewer mentioned it. This was a moment he'd dreaded for 21 years. But once he explained, and took responsibility for his crime, all the interviewer said was that it would prevent him from accepting certain government jobs. He said he was well aware of that, being a veteran and former government employee for a time. But that was fine. And the interview went very well otherwise. The weight began to lift...just a little. It's not a monkey on his back, it's an elephant. Today, the elephant took a dump, and lightened the load by a few pounds.
More GUI ideas and web-based apps
May 2nd, 2004
The concept is simple; every major technology that takes hold in this country and becomes a part of our daily lives, seems at some point to branch into a business model and a home-use model. Radio telecommunications, television, motor vehicles; all started as a single product or invention. After a period of time, as the technology became more accepted and useful, there began to spring up specialized applications of that product for business and other applications for home use. Delivery trucks were not very useful to the average citizen, nor were convertables very practical for most businessmen. Television was develped with the family at home in mind, while video cameras became a necessary piece of hardware in many stores and offices. Cell phones, a personal-use offshoot of the field phone used primarily by big business and the government, has evolved even further into seperate models for both pleasure and commerce.
So it should come as no surprise that computers are approaching that same divide. Once the playthings of universities and DARPA, over half the homes in the U.S. now have, or have access to, a computer. Now our thinking has to change in how we regard this machine. In the same way I don't need a tank to drive to work, I don't really need complete office applications and server software on my laptop that I use for basic web surfing and email. In the same way, most businesses would prefer not to have instant messenger software or even web access on their workstations.
So is the next major shift in computer software going to be the expansion of affordable and practical web-based applications that can be used as needed, but don't have to be stored on my hard drive? Perhaps. But as we've seen often in this field, it's equally likely that some new concept will arise to make the seperation of business and home computers complete.
We're also going to have to rethink the GUI. The desktop that works well in the home is often useless and confusing in the workplace. How can we make the home GUI even more useful in that environment? How could we redesign it to make it practical and adaptable for the business user? Isn't it time we divorced the desktop from it's Microsoft Bob appearance and develope it into a proper access panel to the programs and files on the computer?
The truth is that the computer is still an infant technology. We're proud of having reduced a room-sized calculator down to a unit that you can hold in the palm of your hand, while we still use a GUI that hasn't evolved past the general look of Windows 95 (and even recent Linux distributions follow the same, tired "look and feel" of Windows) and require me to store huge applications on my drive that I may need twice a year.
What do you see coming down the road? Are we going to continue to follow the path layed out by the major players, or are there worthwhile sideroads we should be exploring?
The concept is simple; every major technology that takes hold in this country and becomes a part of our daily lives, seems at some point to branch into a business model and a home-use model. Radio telecommunications, television, motor vehicles; all started as a single product or invention. After a period of time, as the technology became more accepted and useful, there began to spring up specialized applications of that product for business and other applications for home use. Delivery trucks were not very useful to the average citizen, nor were convertables very practical for most businessmen. Television was develped with the family at home in mind, while video cameras became a necessary piece of hardware in many stores and offices. Cell phones, a personal-use offshoot of the field phone used primarily by big business and the government, has evolved even further into seperate models for both pleasure and commerce.
So it should come as no surprise that computers are approaching that same divide. Once the playthings of universities and DARPA, over half the homes in the U.S. now have, or have access to, a computer. Now our thinking has to change in how we regard this machine. In the same way I don't need a tank to drive to work, I don't really need complete office applications and server software on my laptop that I use for basic web surfing and email. In the same way, most businesses would prefer not to have instant messenger software or even web access on their workstations.
So is the next major shift in computer software going to be the expansion of affordable and practical web-based applications that can be used as needed, but don't have to be stored on my hard drive? Perhaps. But as we've seen often in this field, it's equally likely that some new concept will arise to make the seperation of business and home computers complete.
We're also going to have to rethink the GUI. The desktop that works well in the home is often useless and confusing in the workplace. How can we make the home GUI even more useful in that environment? How could we redesign it to make it practical and adaptable for the business user? Isn't it time we divorced the desktop from it's Microsoft Bob appearance and develope it into a proper access panel to the programs and files on the computer?
The truth is that the computer is still an infant technology. We're proud of having reduced a room-sized calculator down to a unit that you can hold in the palm of your hand, while we still use a GUI that hasn't evolved past the general look of Windows 95 (and even recent Linux distributions follow the same, tired "look and feel" of Windows) and require me to store huge applications on my drive that I may need twice a year.
What do you see coming down the road? Are we going to continue to follow the path layed out by the major players, or are there worthwhile sideroads we should be exploring?
My GUI thoughts
April 30th, 2004
The more I read, the more I'm becoming interested in the concept of the user interface, regardless of the operating system. I'm rereading Neal Stephenson's excellent essay "In the Beginning Was the Command Line", and with the words of Jef Raskin and Doc Searls still echoing in my head, am rethinking my whole attitude toward the UI. As has been said before, for many, the UI is the computer. For a lot of computer users, both at home and in the corporate environment, what they see as they sit down at their computer to read their email, surf the web or do their work is all they know of their computer. I know some who can't even differentiate between the desktop, browser and internet. It's all the same to them. And these are the same people who rely the most on the UI. So the UI is important, but are those who use it being provided the best UI programmers can develope? I don't think so.
Meanwhile, a quick thought I had today over lunch regarding the most recent batch of virus writers. Many people I know have nothing good to say about new computer users. You've heard all the same rants against these clueless, hopeless, point-and-click addicted users who don't understand a thing about computers beyond email, browsing and how to turn the thing on and off. But it seems to me that those who are causing the greatest harm on the web these days are those who are at least somewhat familiar with how computers work, and how to gum them up. Your average clueless newbie isn't the person writing viruses. I'll take someone who needs help logging onto AOL over someone who wants to use my connection to launch a DDoS, or spread a worm, anyday.
The more I read, the more I'm becoming interested in the concept of the user interface, regardless of the operating system. I'm rereading Neal Stephenson's excellent essay "In the Beginning Was the Command Line", and with the words of Jef Raskin and Doc Searls still echoing in my head, am rethinking my whole attitude toward the UI. As has been said before, for many, the UI is the computer. For a lot of computer users, both at home and in the corporate environment, what they see as they sit down at their computer to read their email, surf the web or do their work is all they know of their computer. I know some who can't even differentiate between the desktop, browser and internet. It's all the same to them. And these are the same people who rely the most on the UI. So the UI is important, but are those who use it being provided the best UI programmers can develope? I don't think so.
Meanwhile, a quick thought I had today over lunch regarding the most recent batch of virus writers. Many people I know have nothing good to say about new computer users. You've heard all the same rants against these clueless, hopeless, point-and-click addicted users who don't understand a thing about computers beyond email, browsing and how to turn the thing on and off. But it seems to me that those who are causing the greatest harm on the web these days are those who are at least somewhat familiar with how computers work, and how to gum them up. Your average clueless newbie isn't the person writing viruses. I'll take someone who needs help logging onto AOL over someone who wants to use my connection to launch a DDoS, or spread a worm, anyday.
My summit report
April 27th, 2004
Following is an artcle I wrote on my overall impressions of the Desktop Linux Summit:
The 2nd annual Desktop Linux Summit was held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds north of San Diego on April 22nd and 23rd. The event was sponsored by Linspire (formerly Lindows) and featured 17 panels on such topics as “International Expansion of Desktop Linux”, “Desktop Linux at Play” and “Multimedia on Desktop Linux”.
Are you sensing the trend here? Every hour of both days one could hear references to “desktop Linux”, and yet, for most of the summit, there never was a concise and consistent definition given to that phrase.
Were we concerning ourselves with Linux on desktop computers, as opposed to laptops and handhelds? That wouldn't seem to be the case, as there was a panel entitled “Get Up and Go”. According to the event program, this panel would address the fact that “Linux is no longer limited to desktop computers:how mobile will it get?” We never did discover exactly how mobile Linux could get, unfortunately. Due to the unexplained absence of Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome fame (whose name was misspelled in the program as “Prillo”; could that be why he decided not to appear?) this panel was reduced to a discussion of Linux pre-installed laptops being sold on college campuses by Morgan Lim.
Were we there to discuss Linux on the home desktop. Not exclusively, as there were several discussions of Linux in the corporate environment. Brenno de Winter (Microcost) moderated the International Expansion panel mentioned before. Panel members spoke about their efforts to convince corporate IT managers to migrate their systems to a consolidated Linux platform. Mike Ferris (Red Hat) expounded on how an integrated, managed desktop Linux environment, like the one provided by Red Hat, will result in better productivity in the workplace. It was revealed that in May, a major unnamed British bank will announce their migration to the Red Hat desktop environment.
Perhaps the use of the term “desktop Linux” was meant to refer to the graphic user interface, slightly different in each version of Linux, and in the opinion of many, not truly user friendly in any of them. If so, coverage of the topic was practically non-existent. The keynote address was to be presented by Jef Raskin, best known as the creator of the Macintosh. Mr. Raskin's presentation was titled, “The Humane Environment”, a discussion of the user interface and it's affect on the overall user experience. However, due to a family emergency, Mr. Raskin was unable to attend. He did provide print-outs of his speech. I would have enjoyed hearing his impromptu remarks on this topic, and no doubt the question/answer period would have been lively. As it was, I had some insightful lunch-time reading, but felt robbed of the opportunity to explore this issue further.
On reflection, perhaps the use of “desktop Linux” was to set a goal; the need to increase the number of Linux distributions on desktops, any and all desktops, from the home to the office. If this is indeed the goal of those who attended the summit, it would seem we still have many hurdles to overcome. Perhaps the best summery of those hurdles was presented by Doc Searls (http://www.searls.com/) in a follow-up to his presentation at last year's Desktop Summit, “Crossing the Chasm”. This year's presentation, entitled “Inside the Tornado”, focused on what Mr. Searls sees as the solution to the many difficulties ahead in the effort to bring Linux to desktops everywhere, the lack of overall ease of use. His analogy was the car rental business. No matter which car you have in mind as you approach the rental counter, you will end up renting a Chevy Cavalier. When Mr. Searls asked for a show of hands to indicate how many owners of a Chevy Cavalier were present, no one raised their hand. He then opined that no one actually owned a Cavalier because it's a boringly basic car; no frills, no fancy controls, just a really fundamental car that anyone can get into and drive. This, he said, is how Linux distributions need to present themselves to computer users for Linux to succeed in the desktop market. It needs to be an operating system you can boot into and use, without months of preparation, training and angst. This sentiment was reflected in the speech that Mr. Raskin intended to present. “How about providing Linux with an interface that is blidingly fast to use yet easy to learn and understand? How about an interface that is tailored to the reality of today's computers and today's users both in the home and in the enterprise?” The bottom line, he insists, is that “Linux needs a user interface that is as good as Linux itself. It cannot be another GUI, they have outlived their usefulness. Remember that the interface IS the product from the user's point of view.”
I came away from this summit with new insights into the difficulties of realizing the goal of a worldwide migration to a Linux desktop, not the least of which is that many countries still lack the basic necessities of modern life, like sufficient food, water and electricity. A village that still generates electricity for lighting with a hand crank generator is not going to be very receptive to a pitch on which operating system they need on their computers. I also learned that many vendors anticipate an increase in the use of web-based applications, even for the home user. Storing office applications on the hard disk, for example, is a waste of space for those who don't use them daily. Applications like office suites, available on the web and scaled to be able to handle a multitude of users at the same time, is seen as the future by many of the vendors present. The summit also gave me an appreciation of the difficulty of convincing corporate IT folks in the United States that migration from a Windows environment, or mixed Windows-Linux environment, to a complete Linux one is in their best interest and cost effective. It seems our European counterparts have an easier time at this due to the lack of a 98% market share giant like Microsoft complicating their efforts.
But I did not come away from this summit with any idea how the average Linux user such as myself could have any impact on the growth of Linux on the desktop, or anywhere else for that matter. I had a great time, and met many interesting people, but didn't learn what I hoped to learn as I prepared to attend the summit. Perhaps just by using Linux everyday, as I do now, by wearing my “Tux” shirt every time I go shopping at the local computer store, and by encouraging my friends and family to adopt Linux I'm doing the most I can to spread the word. Once I become more proficient at Linux, I can contribute my efforts to providing applications, or adding to the kernal. One day perhaps I'll even by able to design my own Linux version, like Texstar (http://www.pclinuxonline.com/index.php) has recently. Meanwhile, I'll be saving my pennies so that I can attend next year's summit, where perhaps I'll not only find out how I can help computer users at every level discover the advantages of Linux, but also find out just what the heck we mean when we say “desktop Linux”. I just hope I don't have to get there in a Chevy Cavalier.
Following is an artcle I wrote on my overall impressions of the Desktop Linux Summit:
The 2nd annual Desktop Linux Summit was held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds north of San Diego on April 22nd and 23rd. The event was sponsored by Linspire (formerly Lindows) and featured 17 panels on such topics as “International Expansion of Desktop Linux”, “Desktop Linux at Play” and “Multimedia on Desktop Linux”.
Are you sensing the trend here? Every hour of both days one could hear references to “desktop Linux”, and yet, for most of the summit, there never was a concise and consistent definition given to that phrase.
Were we concerning ourselves with Linux on desktop computers, as opposed to laptops and handhelds? That wouldn't seem to be the case, as there was a panel entitled “Get Up and Go”. According to the event program, this panel would address the fact that “Linux is no longer limited to desktop computers:how mobile will it get?” We never did discover exactly how mobile Linux could get, unfortunately. Due to the unexplained absence of Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome fame (whose name was misspelled in the program as “Prillo”; could that be why he decided not to appear?) this panel was reduced to a discussion of Linux pre-installed laptops being sold on college campuses by Morgan Lim.
Were we there to discuss Linux on the home desktop. Not exclusively, as there were several discussions of Linux in the corporate environment. Brenno de Winter (Microcost) moderated the International Expansion panel mentioned before. Panel members spoke about their efforts to convince corporate IT managers to migrate their systems to a consolidated Linux platform. Mike Ferris (Red Hat) expounded on how an integrated, managed desktop Linux environment, like the one provided by Red Hat, will result in better productivity in the workplace. It was revealed that in May, a major unnamed British bank will announce their migration to the Red Hat desktop environment.
Perhaps the use of the term “desktop Linux” was meant to refer to the graphic user interface, slightly different in each version of Linux, and in the opinion of many, not truly user friendly in any of them. If so, coverage of the topic was practically non-existent. The keynote address was to be presented by Jef Raskin, best known as the creator of the Macintosh. Mr. Raskin's presentation was titled, “The Humane Environment”, a discussion of the user interface and it's affect on the overall user experience. However, due to a family emergency, Mr. Raskin was unable to attend. He did provide print-outs of his speech. I would have enjoyed hearing his impromptu remarks on this topic, and no doubt the question/answer period would have been lively. As it was, I had some insightful lunch-time reading, but felt robbed of the opportunity to explore this issue further.
On reflection, perhaps the use of “desktop Linux” was to set a goal; the need to increase the number of Linux distributions on desktops, any and all desktops, from the home to the office. If this is indeed the goal of those who attended the summit, it would seem we still have many hurdles to overcome. Perhaps the best summery of those hurdles was presented by Doc Searls (http://www.searls.com/) in a follow-up to his presentation at last year's Desktop Summit, “Crossing the Chasm”. This year's presentation, entitled “Inside the Tornado”, focused on what Mr. Searls sees as the solution to the many difficulties ahead in the effort to bring Linux to desktops everywhere, the lack of overall ease of use. His analogy was the car rental business. No matter which car you have in mind as you approach the rental counter, you will end up renting a Chevy Cavalier. When Mr. Searls asked for a show of hands to indicate how many owners of a Chevy Cavalier were present, no one raised their hand. He then opined that no one actually owned a Cavalier because it's a boringly basic car; no frills, no fancy controls, just a really fundamental car that anyone can get into and drive. This, he said, is how Linux distributions need to present themselves to computer users for Linux to succeed in the desktop market. It needs to be an operating system you can boot into and use, without months of preparation, training and angst. This sentiment was reflected in the speech that Mr. Raskin intended to present. “How about providing Linux with an interface that is blidingly fast to use yet easy to learn and understand? How about an interface that is tailored to the reality of today's computers and today's users both in the home and in the enterprise?” The bottom line, he insists, is that “Linux needs a user interface that is as good as Linux itself. It cannot be another GUI, they have outlived their usefulness. Remember that the interface IS the product from the user's point of view.”
I came away from this summit with new insights into the difficulties of realizing the goal of a worldwide migration to a Linux desktop, not the least of which is that many countries still lack the basic necessities of modern life, like sufficient food, water and electricity. A village that still generates electricity for lighting with a hand crank generator is not going to be very receptive to a pitch on which operating system they need on their computers. I also learned that many vendors anticipate an increase in the use of web-based applications, even for the home user. Storing office applications on the hard disk, for example, is a waste of space for those who don't use them daily. Applications like office suites, available on the web and scaled to be able to handle a multitude of users at the same time, is seen as the future by many of the vendors present. The summit also gave me an appreciation of the difficulty of convincing corporate IT folks in the United States that migration from a Windows environment, or mixed Windows-Linux environment, to a complete Linux one is in their best interest and cost effective. It seems our European counterparts have an easier time at this due to the lack of a 98% market share giant like Microsoft complicating their efforts.
But I did not come away from this summit with any idea how the average Linux user such as myself could have any impact on the growth of Linux on the desktop, or anywhere else for that matter. I had a great time, and met many interesting people, but didn't learn what I hoped to learn as I prepared to attend the summit. Perhaps just by using Linux everyday, as I do now, by wearing my “Tux” shirt every time I go shopping at the local computer store, and by encouraging my friends and family to adopt Linux I'm doing the most I can to spread the word. Once I become more proficient at Linux, I can contribute my efforts to providing applications, or adding to the kernal. One day perhaps I'll even by able to design my own Linux version, like Texstar (http://www.pclinuxonline.com/index.php) has recently. Meanwhile, I'll be saving my pennies so that I can attend next year's summit, where perhaps I'll not only find out how I can help computer users at every level discover the advantages of Linux, but also find out just what the heck we mean when we say “desktop Linux”. I just hope I don't have to get there in a Chevy Cavalier.
Summit redux
April 25th, 2004
I won't go into all the fuss it took for me to get this page uploaded and linked properly. Let's just say I'm no webmaster, in any sense of the term. Couple that with the fact I'm trying to learn how to use the tools available in Mandrake 9.2, instead of falling back on Dreamweaver in Windows XP, and you're lucky to be reading this at all.
The Linux summit was intended to address the issue of gaining acceptance for Linux on the corporate desktop. But an interesting sub-topic was raised by several speakers; shall we approach this from an anti-Microsoft viewpoint or a pro-Linux one? Will we achieve our aims better by bashing Bill Gates at every turn, or by presenting the positives of Linux? Not being a negative person at heart, I'm more inclined to take the second approach. I'm also convinced that it's a good thing to be honest about the things that still make Linux difficult for those new to the operating system. Linux is almost ready for the prime-time, but not quite yet. For someone who approaches Linux from Windows and is not prepared to make some major adjustments in their way of thinking and performing common tasks, Linux can still be a major disappointment.
One thing I've noticed is a lack of documentation outside of the distribution. I have yet to see a book on how to work with Mandrake, perhaps one of the most popular distributions for those new to Linux. I wish I knew enough to publish such a thing myself. Instead, I'll try to provide links to sites that address that need.
I won't go into all the fuss it took for me to get this page uploaded and linked properly. Let's just say I'm no webmaster, in any sense of the term. Couple that with the fact I'm trying to learn how to use the tools available in Mandrake 9.2, instead of falling back on Dreamweaver in Windows XP, and you're lucky to be reading this at all.
The Linux summit was intended to address the issue of gaining acceptance for Linux on the corporate desktop. But an interesting sub-topic was raised by several speakers; shall we approach this from an anti-Microsoft viewpoint or a pro-Linux one? Will we achieve our aims better by bashing Bill Gates at every turn, or by presenting the positives of Linux? Not being a negative person at heart, I'm more inclined to take the second approach. I'm also convinced that it's a good thing to be honest about the things that still make Linux difficult for those new to the operating system. Linux is almost ready for the prime-time, but not quite yet. For someone who approaches Linux from Windows and is not prepared to make some major adjustments in their way of thinking and performing common tasks, Linux can still be a major disappointment.
One thing I've noticed is a lack of documentation outside of the distribution. I have yet to see a book on how to work with Mandrake, perhaps one of the most popular distributions for those new to Linux. I wish I knew enough to publish such a thing myself. Instead, I'll try to provide links to sites that address that need.
The Linux Desktop Summit revisited
April 24th, 2004
I spent the last two days at the Desktop Linux Summit 2004, sponsored by Linspire at the Del Mar Fairgrounds just north of San Diego, California.
Those who know me may be asking why a fellow with less than a year's experience using Linux on a full-time basis would be interested in attending such a conference.
It's because, even after such a short time as a regular Linux user, I've come to appreciate the complaints and concerns of those who are far more involved in the user's experience with this operating system. As I am currently without a job, spending two days at a summit seemed like a chance to meet with other penguin-lovers and gain some insight I could pass along to my friends at the forums of Scot Finnie's Newsletter and Lockergnome.
The best presentation of the entire event, in my own opinion, was given by Doc Searls (http://doc.weblogs.com/) . It was a follow-up to his presentation at last year's summit, which I'm sorry I missed. The point of his talk was that Linux needs to become the Chevy Cavalier of the operating system world. If that confuses you, good. Because that means you'll come back to read my expanded comments on his talk, and the others, that I'll be posting over the next couple of days.
It's was a fun two days. I met several interesting people and made up my mind that if at all possible I will be at next year's summit.
Bookmark this page...more to come soon on topics far and wide.
I spent the last two days at the Desktop Linux Summit 2004, sponsored by Linspire at the Del Mar Fairgrounds just north of San Diego, California.
Those who know me may be asking why a fellow with less than a year's experience using Linux on a full-time basis would be interested in attending such a conference.
It's because, even after such a short time as a regular Linux user, I've come to appreciate the complaints and concerns of those who are far more involved in the user's experience with this operating system. As I am currently without a job, spending two days at a summit seemed like a chance to meet with other penguin-lovers and gain some insight I could pass along to my friends at the forums of Scot Finnie's Newsletter and Lockergnome.
The best presentation of the entire event, in my own opinion, was given by Doc Searls (http://doc.weblogs.com/) . It was a follow-up to his presentation at last year's summit, which I'm sorry I missed. The point of his talk was that Linux needs to become the Chevy Cavalier of the operating system world. If that confuses you, good. Because that means you'll come back to read my expanded comments on his talk, and the others, that I'll be posting over the next couple of days.
It's was a fun two days. I met several interesting people and made up my mind that if at all possible I will be at next year's summit.
Bookmark this page...more to come soon on topics far and wide.
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