The Tech series is coming along nicely. I am through all the back story and working on the capabilities of new tech and how to use them and the view to “the future”. I expect to finish it this weekend and begin releasing an episode a day on Monday, maybe sooner if i have enough time to write and edit. If you ever wonder what tech guys do, or why they think that watching videos of conferences and reading articles should qualify as paid work time, or what the heck a CIO/CTO does – you are about to find out!
The dogs are all doing well. The training continues and with few set backs, everyone is developing nicely. Last night we had another successful three dog romp on the beach and a leash free walk home for all three boys. They did super.
We have a slight delay on the Man Box Vocal booth project, but nothing can defeat the unified force of The Schmied and the Fro.
Lucas and I are preparing for a quick trip to PA to see my folks, acquire some fall appropriate clothing, collect my golf clubs to help me get in shape for a tournament on the 26th, and handle some life admin stuff like driver’s license renewal and fun letters from the IRS.
I hope you all are well and enjoy the break in the rain today!
The results of the latest informal poll are in: you guys like the serialized story approach.
I checked with my two original reviewers, Kelly and Karen, before releasing the dog tales as a serial and they were both all for it. The Fromminatrix, one of my regular readers, reported some specific advantages of the format: the shorter length episodes are easier to digest in traditional blog-sized bites and the innate cliffhanger nature of the format creates a bit of anticipation for the next chapter/conclusion. So I am going with serials for some of the longer tales I plan to share here.
There will be some shorter tales, and some chatty general info posts (kinda like this one), but I am moving towards telling and sharing some longer stories.
Right now, I am working on some Tech related material. I don’t have it all plotted out yet, so I don’t know how many episodes, or how the material will be sorted. A lot of issues come into the interconnected larger story. I think I am going to have to write it out some more before the shape reveals itself.
The goal is to tell a tale about how we use tech (specifically media – TV, audio/e-books, movies, music – though the same principles should apply to most if not all forms of downloadable content) and how this has been and continues to change. One end goal is to talk about the new innovations Apple has released recently and will be releasing throughout this Fall (including iOS5) and how these innovations can change the playing field.
Some of the things that come up along the way: a bit of backstory on how the way I use media has changed (not the whole history of that, just since about 2006 when I went sans TV), how living in India impacted this story, a few bits on regulations and poor global vision, the limitations of the law and regulation, a view (or maybe two or three) of what content delivery may look like “in the future”, and a bunch of cool gadgets.
Towards the end, I will share with you what has been my vision for how to continue to adapt my system to greater efficiency while carrying less crap on the road, and finally how Apple has (seemingly) decided to solve a lot of these problems for me.
That is a lot. We shall see how it comes out. But I think that it will be fun and interesting even for folks who don’t care a lot about tech. If you do care about tech, and if you have some content portability issues that you are trying to figure out, you just may find some solutions as the story unfolds.
As always, thanks for reading. Thanks for your support. Your suggestions, comments, and input are always welcome.
*I can’t believe i did not use any pictures of Fox in the story. It was the immediate bond and friendship between Fox and Lucas that brought my friends and I together.
Writing, editing, selecting pics, working on the layouts, and releasing this story over the past week has given me even more time to consider things. I don’t really have any sweeping conclusions, but there are a few things that come up that we might file in the Lessons Learned folder.
Change the things you can. Part of the reason i was able to not pass my frustration on to the dogs and the crazy lady was that i did have a grasp on how much of this scenario was not only my fault but my creation. I failed to tighten Mickey’s collar. I should have already purchased a better leash for training Mickey. I should have used the extra 6′ straight leash that i keep in the back of my car and not messed with the retracty leash. I should never have brought them to this place. There are lots of other places i could have taken them (like to the other end of their normal Holmes Run route). Whenever i get mad at something like this, a scene from Half Baked (scene probably not suitable for all viewers) comes to the front of my mind and helps me smile, relax, and deal. It is a quick subtle moment, but jumped off the screen at me from the first viewing.
Thurgood: So, you wanna get together?
Mary Jane: Okay. Sure. When?
Thurgood: How ’bout right now? Just meet me at the place you dropped us off at.
Mary Jane: Okay. Can you give me half an hour?
Thurgood: Yeah, half an hour’s cool.
Mary Jane: Great.
Thurgood: All right. Okay.
Mary Jane: I’ll see you there.
Thurgood: (voiceover – internal narration) The date couldn’t have come at a worse time.
end scene
I did this to myself. There is no point in getting mad at the dogs. There is a little point, but no purpose or benefit to getting mad at the crazy lady. There is not even a point in getting mad with myself. Keep the good parts and try to learn from the rest.
*It has been 6 or 7 days since the incidents described and we have made more progress. I checked the maps and found a better place to park to access the Shark Walk Trail without having to use the pool parking lot. I quit using the retracy leash and am using my spare 6′ straight leash on Mickey. If i need three leashes, M+M get the straight leashes and i put Lucas on the retracty thing, and everything is working out nicely.
I gave the boys a few nights off of the rigid schedule. They continue to perform well. Last night i took all three dogs on a shortened version of the nightly training walk and all three boys walked calmly in single file off leash all the way from the beach back to the house. There were so good i wanted to slaughter them a goat.
__
Any thoughts on the serialized release of this story vs. releasing it all at once as one long tale?
I did enjoy serializing it. While i wrote the whole thing at one time (August 27th), looking for how and where to chop it up (since it was not originally written as a serial), thinking about the layouts and which and how many pics to include, all gave me a chance to think more about how this information is presented. It also gave me a new window to view my own words. As stand alone chapters, each piece actually had its own character and central motif. Without doing it this way, there would have been far fewer pictures.
Thanks for reading. I may do a few more of my highly rigid reader polls to see what you folks might be interested in reading about next.
Stephen King is coming up soon.
I am taking notes (not meticulous) on a Buffy re-watch and will want to write about that.
I am excited about several current and pending tech issues and will write more on that. (Despite first appearances, i think iCloud is actually going to solve many of my problems!)
I don’t think any of the iCloud promo stuff will give you the level of detail that you will find here. I know, not a one-click solution. But downloading the podcast of this beats all the streaming versions i did find links to. I am directing you to the WWDC 2011, first video at the top of the list. Much of what i am excited about (including and beyond iCloud) is in this presentation.
(Free Tip: Watching the World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) every year is part of how i stay tech savvy. I started doing this in 2006, a few years before transitioning to Apple, and just dreamed and drooled over better made products and hardware and software that has actually been designed to work together.)
I am still toying with creating some kind of “Things i like” feature to collect lists and brief descriptions of podcasts, tech tricks, books and more.
There are some related brief essays about how i/we use/consume media.
And i am open to suggestions of other things not yet mentioned…
When i began this blog, there was a cool “publicize” feature that automatically threw up a message on my Facebook whenever i published a new post. It even automatically used the blog post title in the Facebook post. It was a seamless and convenient way to publicize.
Both of my readers would flock to the new posts and the other 8 or so regulars usually turned up by day’s end.
A few months ago, this broke. I don’t know why, but i thought it was related to my dedication to an ancient (and super fantastic) browser called Firefox 3.
I have talked about browsers on here before and may hustle you up some links. But the short version re-cap is that i have tried most all of them and have been happiest with Firefox.
Until Firefox 4. This took away/changed many things about the UI (user interface) experience that had been my main reason for sticking with the fox instead of moving full time to the Chrome.
But i found an old version 3 disk image, removed version 4 and went back to the bliss of the browser i prefer.
The GOOD NEWS! This facebook/wordpress publicize failure thingy is not related to Firefox 3! I did some tests with Chrome and Safari and have the same problem. Most excellent as i do not want to lose what i love about the Firefox UI.
The BAD NEWS! I still have this stupid problem. WordPress knows about it, but does not seem to know what caused it or how to fix it. The steps they have listed for how to try to fix it are the cyber equivalent of rebooting, and that does not do it for me.
Not a huge problem, but just annoying.
If the feature had never existed, i do not think i would have ever missed it or wanted it. But having had it and now having it be gone – i do miss it.
In part, the Facebook “security” (this could actually be the browser – i am not sure – but i think it is the Facebook) usually requests that i go slightly blind trying to read fuzzy letters whenever i want to manually add a post with a link to the new blog entries. It generally takes me three tries to find one of these images that i can see letters in clearly enough to try to start typing. I have tried the audio version of this feature and it is even worse (for me). I can’t even tell what you are supposed to be listening for.
One more thing we can thank the spammers, malware folks, and other black hats out there for. You guys are like a gross cyber combination of ambulance chasers and panhandlers.
Anyway, rant over. (For now…and there are always more…)
I decided to search again and I found the version of my favorite opera that I have been looking for on and off for years. I had one of those awesome “greatest moments from” $3.99 tapes from a bargain bin and I have wanted to get the full recording ever since. This is Verdi’s La Traviata – Pavarotti, Sutherland, Bonygne, New York Met Orchestra and Chorus.
iTunes and amazon US only have the version with the London Opera Chorus and Orchestra. That one is good too, but the recording is not as clear, and I came across the other one first and it simply moves me more both for its own sake and for associations I have with that version. Amazon UK has dispatched (which does not mean killed) this version right on out to me and it should be here in early April (for less money than the download of the version I did not want…)
Hiking Part I –
I have gone back through my gear the past week. Cleaning this, re-organizing that, and tightening up my list of required goods and desired goods. I got 2 new stuff sacks, a collapsible lightweight trowel, a tiny swiss army knife, and my first Nalgene bottle (and yes I did get the orange). After some mishaps and some advice from my hiker pals, I only use Sea to Summit stuff sacks. I generally buy the compression sacks, but the other models have their uses as well.
I am stoked about the knife and the Nalgene. I love knives. I have loved knives for as long as I can remember. But, I am trying to adapt and learn newer ways of being in the woods and carrying less weight. I came up in the climate of metal frame packs, hiking in with axes, canned goods and freakin’ potatoes – so I am definitely making progress. This allows me to have a knife, scissors, and tweezers – all of which are regularly useful, without carrying a giant leatherman or other assortment of tools.
The Nalegene is also great. I have never had one. I use Gatorade or Powerade 32 oz jugs in my daily life for water. For hiking, I take my 3 liter camelback, another 1 liter bladder and round out the supplies (when necessary) with my daily jugs (simmer down). Part of the whole “lightweight” hiking thing involves food and cooking. I don’t measure at home, but if you are on limited water and gas resources, you want to get your food right the first time, so I measure when I hike. I have used the Nalgene of my hiking companions to measure in the past, but now I have my own.
I also noted that many folks use their Nalgenes as a place to carry a few feet/meters of Duct tape. The folks at GSI noticed that too, and designed that into this bottle. Since I have already loaded mine up with about 2 meters I can tell you – it works great! The tape wraps in that recess (they call it a “dog-bone” design) and then you slide that mesh thingy overtop for added protection and grip. I am also pleased with the lid design. Easy to open even in gloves and uses nice (and replaceable) cord instead of plastic as a lanyard.
This is all exciting. It gets me excited to go out backpacking again. It also is exciting that I am nearing the goal I set that must be met before I get a new pack!
A good buddy and AT through-hiker advised me about pack replacement – if you want a new pack, first replace everything else that you think you might replace. Then take all that crap with you to the store and buy the smallest pack all that stuff will fit into.
Good rule of thumb I believe.
So I am close. I have to do some more experiments with stoves/cooking/eating gear. What I have now works great, but it is bulkier and heavier than I need, and difficult to gauge for fuel consumption.
Dragonfly in action at The Priest shelter
Also, I have given up coffee and not replaced it with other hot beverages since I last did a trip. My needs have simplified. I am thinking of moving into a self-made denatured alcohol stove (just one of many info sources out there, but I like the Pirsig reference)- but I am also looking at Jetboil, the pocket rocket (simmer down), and other stoves.
I have always been an “eat from the pot” guy in the woods. Without the need for hot beverages, I think I can get this down to a much simpler, more compact, and lighter system.
After that – it is time for the big three: bag, tent, pack.
Note – there are some better hiking and equipment pics coming in Hiking Part II – i can’t find them on my computer (grrr) and Facebook totally changed the image download rules and procedures (grrr) so i have to figure out how to use photo grabber or some such to get the darn pics back onto my computer. If you are burning with desire and cannot wait – check out my Facebook album “Little Sluice Mountain”.
Here is a relatively brief update given the preceding period of silence –
I had a little alone time here in PA as my folks and grandpa went to Florida for Spring Break! It was an up and down week for me. It should have started with a phone interview with “Big Consulting Firm”, but that did not happen, which made me less than positive feeling. I fell off of the regular exercise, I did not run for about a week, the weather went into the cold cold place again with touches of snow, and I got a little cold that I am still fighting off. I almost never get sick so I tend to fight sickness with denial!
Odd timing – my folks came home and I had the phone interview the next day. That went very well and has my spirits lifted. I am still pursuing some other leads, but I would really be pleased if this one worked out. I should know more within two weeks or so. I am still a bit under the weather, but I am doing my stretching and exercises and running again.
Running –
That week long break is going to disrupt my first set of goals, but I will keep going and simply make new ones after the 20th. It is now impractical to meet my frequency goal, and my distance goal, but I might still make the pace goal. The pace goal was simply 5 runs at or under 9’00/mile pace by 3/20. I got my first one on a two mile run about 11 days ago. Last night I ran 1.4 at a 9’00 pace. I did not quite make it up the hill after the break and with the sicky feeling, but it was awesome to get out there and run through the first wall of discomfort. But that gives me two runs towards the goal of 5 at that pace. I walked for awhile and then ran the last .5 back to my house when “For Whom the Bell Tolls” kicked in.
This allowed me to move all of my data off of the Seagates and reformat those. They were still formatted for Windows, and had some suspect sectors as well. Now all my data is not just stored, but actually backed-up. I have not gone to the next next level with off-site back-up but this is good enough for now.
In honor of the new drive, I decided to take the time to learn how to rip my dvds. I am not interested in piracy or anything like that – I just wanted to back-up my tv shows and movies as i already have several damaged disks, and I would like to be able to watch my collections without carrying the disks, and being able to watch on the iPhone and (one day) iPad is also a plus.
I knew that I had the software to do this as I have started this process several times, but got confused and quit. You need Handbrake, which is free (or something similar).
I finally found a decent enough step-by-step guide online to help me have the “Ah-Ha” moment. For me, the problem was looking at all the files on a dvd and trying to figure out “where is the movie, or episode”. Even in Handbrake, with a dvd inserted, then mashing “source” you get the same kind of view as in Finder or Windows Explorer – what files to choose?
The “Ah-Ha” moment came in realizing that all I had to do in the source window was select the DVD and click OK. Then Handbrake would read the DVD and give me new options. For movies, it is pretty simple, you select the longest unit. For TV shows, you have to do a little leg-work. Note the total time of the individual eps, then you can select them and get the right names or ep numbers with the right episodes.
Smart folks can probably do cool stuff with all the options, I just left the stock settings and mashed the iPod 5 support button and hit start. Voila!
These import into iTunes as movies and thus are under the movies tab instead of the TV tab (another good reason for giving your new files good names.) But that is a small issue and they move right on over to the iPhone – which is lovely.
I have not done my whole collection (much of it is still in India) but I did a few seasons of TV and some movies and some comedy shows. Not since the era of cassette tapes and Walkmen have I been able to listen to the comedy stylings of Chris Rock while out walking, but now I can – again!
Lil' Lacie playing with all her Apple buddies
The new iPad has been released and I did have to fight the urge to go get it. Several things made that simple to do. That’s a lot of loot to put on credit without a better paying job than the ones I have now. They two key elements I was most excited about did not materialize – the bigger 128 GB HD (which is still very small to me, but much better than 64GB, and a method to access a USB external drive to move data without needing a computer. That second part was not in the official plans, but I can’t be the only one who is excited about moving into a “Post-PC” world (to quote Steve Jobs). I can’t go on the road for very long with just a 64 GB HD. I can go longer with a 128, but it would be best if they just built/released/fixed the interface to allow something like Finder to work on the iPad to move stuff on and off via the USB kit.
And finally, the Otterbox defender case will not be ready for a while yet. As cool as the new little magnetic cover they built is – that is not enough protection to me. I am not sure for whom that would be enough protection. So, hopefully the universe will align and I will get a new job and Otterbox will release the defender case at about the same time!
I have uploaded the new version of the resume to RAI for view and download. Yesterday’s task – struggling with the one remaining “working” Windows system we have at RAI to review the MINDS and RAI websites.
The Last RAI Windows machine
I never use Internet Explorer, not even when i only had Windows computers, but loads of the people will view these sites that way, so it is potentially worthwhile to ensure that the sites do not look too bad.
Sadly, my old Dell died so i have to use my dad’s which has his customizations and the system hog Norton/Symantec suite and a bunch of other less than useful Windows garbage clogging up the works…
A terrible thought has been in the back of my mind for almost two years now, as the Dells began to die and we began to move to Apple. It is possible that i may have to buy another damn Windows computer just for checking out website designs! I know about some of the alternatives, but i am not putting Windows on my Mac, it is bad enough that i am forced to use Word and occasionally PowerPoint.
Pardon my frustration release but i fought with this half of the day. One of the little things that just pisses me off royally about Microsoft is their total lack of responsibility or acceptance of the issues they refuse to fix. Without getting into that whole can of worms, here is an example of the attitude to which i refer by way of a brief story.
The only reason i needed to do so much web work is because Internet Explorer does not display webpages/code the same way every other browser i am aware of does. I commonly check my work in at least three browsers – firefox, safari, opera and/or chrome. So far, things always look the same in each of these, but something is always off when i check IE. Granted, i am a much better developer than designer, but if i can make it look right in 3 or 4 others what’s the problem over in Microsoft town? So, i am reviewing lines of code trying to see if i can even figure out why things are mussed and i notice this little button on iE i have never seen before. I hover over it and it says something like “Compatibility mode – websites designed to look good in older browsers may not look right in IE.”
The balls on these frackin’ guys! Older Browsers! The other guys’ old products just can’t keep pace with the innovators over at Microsoft! I hear that the crack team of code monkeys over there are about to fix some of the security flaws in Windows 3.1!!! Seriously, IE is one of the oldest browsers on our planet. Sure, they do update it, but so does everyone else. Firefox, Chrome – older than IE? I don’t think so you bullet dodging, pass the buck, we hide our code so you can’t see how terrible it is…people.
I don’t bag on Microsoft just because it is easy, or because i am a Mac guy, or because it is popular, or anything like that. They have all the money in the world and still refuse – simply refuse – to make software and particularly Operating Systems that work. If you are one of the people who thinks vista or “7” is great and finally has Windows on-track – let me ask you this? Have you been able to replace the sound card on a one-year old system without fighting IRQ problems for hours or weeks? OK – i am done for now.
GRRRRRRRR!
Anyway – i finished (for now) with the RAI site. There are still some tweaks i would like to do (that list never ends) but i did clean things up a good deal and updated some info. It looks pretty good on “older browsers”.
The left-hand menu spacing is still fracked up in IE, but it does look better over there than it did before…
We have cold, rain, and snow in the local forecast this week. Yesterday was chilly, but sunny and i decided to sneak in another run. Three days in a row at this stage is probably not the best idea, but i did ok and feel fine. I did have to stop a little shy of the mark i hit the previous two runs, but all-in-all, a good run.
1.83 miles, pace 9’04” – these numbers mean i am making good progress towards the goals i set.
Techwise, i am up against a space crunch, an improper/incomplete back-up system, and a sincere desire to take advantage of the speed and capabilities offered by my Mac.
My 1TB external Seagate drive is full. My 500GB external Seagate drive is about half full. My 320 GB external Seagate drive is full (and still in India). The 1TB is all movies and tv shows, and it is not backed-up, it is simply storage. The 500GB does replicate critical stuff from my HD so it does serve as a backup. Both of these are USB 2.0 drives. Not the fastest things out there and they take 2 USB ports. While i do/have travel/ed with one or both of these, they are not the most portable things out there. I usually wrap them in towels inside my luggage.
I have never played with firewire before, but i do know a little about it and what has always been the most attractive feature to me – even more than the fast transfer speeds – is the ability to daisy chain the drives together. You plug your first firewire drive into your computer’s firewire port, and the next drive gets plugged into the first drive and so forth
After loads of research, i have this drive from iomega on the wish list. It got super reviews and survived amazing amounts of damage and still functioned. Seriously, watch the video on that link. The firewire 800 version is almost $200 for a 1TB model. That is a big chunk of change to throw down to not meet my back-up needs.
Which led me to the old stand-by – Lacie. After some interwebs research, and then a check on all the local stores, i made an online purchase last night that gives me great pleasure – the Lacie 2TB Quadra External Hard Disk Drive!
I will be able to back-up all my current files, and have a little room to grow as well. By the time i need more space, i should be able to get another 2TB for less than $100, or 4TB or more for about the same price. And hopefully, by the time i am in need of a small, portable, rugged external drive for travel, the iomega w/firewire will have a larger storage capacity. If not, 1TB to travel with should be fine, and it can plug into the Lacie Quadra!
I hope to transition into a true desktop system at home and an iPad on the road with no laptop. The jury (and the capability) is not yet in for how the iPad will be able to interact with portable external storage without recourse to another computer. Maybe that issue will be resolved before it comes up for me as well.
I will be listening for official news about the iPad2, which should come out today! (The official news, not the device)
The goodies from Emirates Air arrived today (Monday Feb 28)! The umbrella is surprisingly cool, but the highlight is definitely the two iPod Shuffles!
I showed my pop how to set his up and reviewed playlist creation best practices – manual and “smart”.
I went through the same thing with mine and tested it out on a dog walk. So far mixed feelings about the “voice over” feature. I guess tech has to start somewhere and it can’t know the names of all my playlists, but having a computer say to me “playlist 1, playlist 2…” and so forth, was less than helpful. This is my first iPod that does not have a visual interface for data selection, and I imagine that this “voice control” is the first way that “works” that they came up with to help you have any navigation options at all. I will probably stick with one giant “running” playlist and leave it on shuffle.
Dog walk you say? I could not let that stand. I went for a dark and damp run about 9 pm. Sweats, light rain jacket, headband thingy and headlamp – and the new shuffle.
The thing is so tiny you forget it is there. Once you get used to how to attach it to your clothes without mashing all the buttons, it is simple to use. Running hands-free was great and eliminated any unwanted cord movement problems as well. I really enjoyed this vs carrying my iPod classic. I got hit with a little Sabbath during my stretches, Pixies, back-to-back Ratt, RPG, and Nirvana for the cool-down.
I made it back into the neighborhood and a little further than yesterday. I did feel like i could easily make it to 2 miles+, but i was beginning to have some heat in my legs and i decided to hold back. Hopefully this means that tomorrow i will feel as awesome as i felt today and be able to run again instead of being laid out from overreaching…
1.89 miles, pace 9’12”
The Pretty Lil' Devil
Who Loves The Sandman? Me, me!
Lil’ Agnes (the new thermarest) is really super. I had some minor hesitation when i had to buy this instead of simply replacing Big Agnes. Yesterday before sleep-time i had a brief email chat with my dear bud (and personal AT through-hiker) Jake. Jake was excited that i was done with Big A and into the thermarest. How much more of an endorsement do you need than a vote of confidence from someone who walks most of the AT every summer? How about a second commendation from a professional caver?! Rene gave thermarest the big thumbs up and praised its endurance.
I not only felt great stretched out on it for some pre-sleep reading, i had fantastic dreams and woke up refreshed and excited.
One more piece of the puzzle may be the addition of one of these bad boys. This product is so simple, but what an awesome idea!
If you have a sleeping pad, or other inflatable gear, watch this demo!
