A Long Held Dream

More than 10 years ago, I bought a paper organizer. I did not have the money for a laptop, or even a PDA, but I wanted to get more organized. I used to print out pages for it, I bought special papers, and all sorts of stuff. It was the medium size, using pages that were approximately 6.75” x 4.25”. Overall, it is a little smaller than a hardback novel. I really enjoyed it.

It was at about this time that the first eBooks were coming out. I don’t even remember their names, and I am sure that they would seem terribly primitive today if compared to the Kindle or the Sony Reader. Thinking of these eReaders, and that paper organizer, an idea started to form for a combination electronic book and organizer.

I love the idea of an eBook, and I truly believe that they are the wave of the future. In another 50 years, paper books will be a luxury that most people will not be able to afford. Most of us will be reading off some sort of electronic screen. I am not saying that paper publishing will entirely disappear, but as more and more people read off a screen, books will sell less and less. Especially, if anyone ever figures out how to actually put a library online, where for some sort of nominal fee you will be able to check out a book onto your eReader.

But, I already have too many electronic devices. I have a cell phone, a PDA, a TABLET (Samsung Q), a portable (Dell XPS 1530) and a desktop. I do not believe that we will ever get it down to one, but I am already trying to figure out how to reduce the number of devices I have around. The first two to converge into one will be my cell phone and PDA. My next cell phone will be a smartphone, if I can figure out a way to pay for the data plan (I already pay too much for three cell phones in my family). I am not sure how many of the others I will be able to compress into one, but I intend to work on it.

So, I think that is a long enough aside, so let me get back to that device that I dreamed out 10 years ago (or it may have been closer to 12).

My paper organizer (though the organizer itself isn’t paper, you get the idea, I hope) is 8 ¾” x 5 ¾” x 1 ¾”. I felt, and still feel, that this is a very good size. Small enough to carry about, though it won’t fit in a pocket, small enough to hold in your hand and take notes on, and yet large enough that you can read easily.

My idea was that you open the organizer, and there are two LCD screens. When you want to read a book, it looks like a book, two pages at the same time. When you “flip” a page, you go from the bottom of the right screen to the top of the left screen to continue reading, just like a real book. At the time, I was fascinated with the version of Microsoft Encarta that came with Office 95, and I imagined reading through a encyclopedia article, clicking on a hyperlink and having it open on the opposite page of my electronic organizer. I imagined reading a book, and clicking on a word and being able to open a dictionary on the opposite page, or even write notes or add annotations. Imagine a book where the footnotes would be hyperlinks that would open on the opposite page.

It was a wonderful dream. Since them, I have owned three portables, two PDAs, and several desktops, but none has ever filled in completely for that electronic organizer that I dreamed of. I own a Samsung Q1U, which I like very much, but it does not do, or at least not easily, what I envisioned in that electronic organizer. I love my PDA, but the screen is really too small for a lot of what I would like to do. The Samsung Q is a little too clumsy. It is a little too large to wrap my hand around comfortably (I am a big guy, and I can do it, just not completely comfortably), and it is too clumsy to carry around all the time and jot down notes on.

Over the years, I had sort of forgotten that dream. I have looked at dozens of Tablets and Netbooks and they all have flaws. If I had the money, I might try one of the smaller tablets, like the Viliv S5, but I don’t really think I am going to have the money anytime soon. Some of the smaller Netbooks are a great size, and the folding design makes them a little easier to carry about, since you do not have to worry as much about damaging the screen, but they are just tiny laptops, and being a big guy, I prefer a big laptop. I would rather use a touchscreen then a tiny keyboard.

But, Tuesday everything changed, when Microsoft announced Courier. Go watch the video. The software involved is pretty cool, but it was the hardware design that got me excited. Here, more than 10 years later is what I dreamed of, and from the demo, they seem to understand the value of the device as an organizer.

I want one.

How I Found Funky

Monday is my TV night, but you might be surprised. Now, considering the time of year, you might think that Monday Night Football would be on the agenda, but no, that would be way too simple. Back many months ago, I discovered Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Now, across last summer, I began to follow it nearly religiously. I say nearly because I cannot get religious about anything on TV.

But, my Monday night goes beyond Triple D. The night starts off with Alton Brown’s Good Eats. Alton Brown’s take on a cooking show is unique. You do see him actually do see him cook, but cooking is only part of his show. Good Eats is about teaching. Most cooking shows show you how to make a recipe, but they don’t really teach. Alton Brown takes the time to teach you about cooking, while still teaching you several recipes. It is no accident that one of the lead-in teasers has Alton saying, “There’s a lesson here.”

Tonight’s episodes were pancakes and waffles. Now, most cooks would not bother with a show on pancakes, unless they had a signature pancake that they wanted to demonstrate. Alton Brown teaches us how to make simple, plain pancakes. Well, he does add blueberries to them. I had seen the pancake episode before, that is where I learned that a whisk is the right tool for mixing pancake batter. I still don’t bother with making pancake batter from scratch, but I carefully follow some of the things I learned on the show to make my pancakes come out better. Well, I actually prefer waffles.

After two episodes of Good Eats, we get two episodes of Unwrapped. Unwrapped is not one of my favorite shows, but it is sometimes fascinating. I often go off and fix dinner, or do something else for an hour. Tonight it was dinner, and then making my usually bowl of popcorn to eat during Triple D.

But, finally we come to the star of the evening. Let there be no mistake, Guy Fieri is the star of the show. The restaurants are merely his stage. Now, that is not to say that he steals the shows. He spends most of his time showing off the food and the cooks.

For those who have never seen the show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is a restaurant show, where Guy visits three restaurants during each half-hour episode, but there is always something different about that restaurant. What is different depends on the restaurant. They have done restaurants in auto body shops and gas stations. Often it is a restaurant where you can get something that you would not expect, based on the outside of the restaurant, like the fast food drive-in that serves prime rib. Sometimes, it is a type of restaurant in a location you would not expect, like the Mexican restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska or the Chili Parlor in Seattle, Washington. And sometimes, it is the owner or cook who is unusual enough to draw Guy to the restaurant, like the metal sculptor turned restaurateur, or the….I don’t know what to call any of the others.

The show has become so popular that they now get lots of suggestions, and recently they did a show where all three restaurants were from viewer suggestions. They have done shows all over the country, including some out of the way places that you would not normally associate with great dining, like Salt Lake City, Utah and Boise, Idaho. There are a few things that are common to all the restaurants. The cooks and owners are enjoying what they do. They prepare food from scratch, and it isn’t what you expect.

Tonight’s restaurants were…

LoBello’s in Pittsburg, where they are making many Italian classics from scratch.

Pizzeria Luigi in San Diego, where a native Italian who learned in Chicago is making the best pizza in San Diego, in the words of his customers.

Pasquale’s in Baltimore, another Italian restaurant.

As you can see, I was busy for a few minutes, and I did not take any notes about Pasquale’s. Sorry guys.

They show two Triple Ds back to back, but the second is always a repeat, but since I have not seen them all, I sometimes get two that are new to me.

Then, the evening finishes with another Good Eats, and then they start repeating with the earlier episodes of Unwrapped and then Triple D. I usually don’t sit to everything twice, but I did tonight while I wrote this. I enjoy my Monday night lineup, and I won’t miss it until my beloved 49ers appear on Monday Night Football sometime late in the season.

Come join me some Monday night for the best night on TV.

Oh, and the title, “How I Found Funky”? One of the catchphrases of Triple D is, “If it’s funky, we’ll find it.”

I'm Back

I have been keeping a journal since 1975. I have about a dozen journals filled with my writing up until 1996. That is when I first got a computer and started keeping my journal there. Though, to be honest, I have several bound journals that I started since then.

I have written thousands of pages that no one will ever read. I doubt that even my son will ever care to read all those words and why would anyone else want to. The chances that I will ever do anything to make future generations remember my name are slim to none.

That last sentence caused an epiphany of sorts.

“The chances that I will ever do anything to make future generations remember my name are slim to none.”

Is this the answer to my depression? I often feel that my life lacks meaning as much as it lacks purpose. Is part of the problem that I feel like my life doesn’t make a difference? That no one will remember me when I am gone? I certainly have reached the age where people start to consider their legacy. Is my problem that I don’t feel like I have one?

The more I sit here thinking about it, the more I think it might be.

Now, I add this blog to that body of work, and still I wonder if anyone will want to read it. Of course, with this blog I add the worry about whether or not anyone will want to read it now.

But, if I have any loyal readers, do not despair. I am not giving up on this blog anymore than I am giving up on my journal. So, I am back, and once again, I hope to post here a bit more often. Let me know if you ever read this.

Last Night’s Dream and Today’s Reality

Last night, I had a wonderful dream. I saved a child from a building that was about to collapse. Some of the details are a bit fuzzy, it was a dream after all, but I remember standing outside the building with a feeling of happiness and peace. Well, that is until my cat started scratching at the door to be let out…half an hour before I usually get up. Ah, the joys of cat ownership.

Well, the cat did not really ruin my morning, and neither did the chaos of getting ready, despite the best efforts of my wife, my son, and the new puppy. I was a little late for work, but that is fairly normal.

I work for a state agency, in the IT department, and ever morning from 8-10 I man the helpdesk. My first call of the morning?

“I can’t get my password changed.”

That’s an easy one, and a good way to start the day. Now, password changes are a common problem at our agency. There are only about a dozen places that employees have to log on to. Fortunately, most don’t have to log on to all of them. Unfortunately, almost no one can keep track of the half-dozen or so that they do have to log on to. We often get calls saying they cannot log on to their PC, when in fact, they have been logged on to their PC for hours, and now cannot get logged into the subsystem where they actually do their work.

Well, rather than ask a dozen questions trying to find out what they are trying to log in to, I just asked for the number that we use to connect remotely. Connecting in remotely allows us to do things on the user’s PC, rather than relying on the user to do what we tell them to. I used to work at Dell, and that was a major problem. Once I get connected, I quickly see that it is a problem with the mainframe password that is the problem, again, an easy one to start the day. I walk the user through changing their password and everything goes smoothly, until….

“Why does it work when you do, but not when I do it?”

I bite my tongue, hard, and answer politely, “I don’t know, technician’s luck.” Then I hang up, before my sarcastic nature gets me in trouble.

Boy, I just want to answer a question like that honestly sometime.

“It works when I do it, because I do it the right way.”

I can just imagine the conversation that follows that.

“Why does it work when you do, but not when I do it?”

“It works when I do it, because I do it the right way.”

“But I did it the same way you did.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did.”

“No, you didn’t, because if you had done it the way I did it, the right way, then it would have worked.”

Oh well, I can always dream, and maybe write about it in my blog.

Thinking Outside the Box

When I started Dell twelve years ago they kept hammering one idea into our heads.

Think outside the box.

At the time Dell management was convinced that thinking beyond the accepted limits would make us better support techs. It was a noble thought which they abandoned a few years later as they tried, with limited success...very limited success...to build scripted tools that would allow less-than-fluent-in-English foreigners to answer US tech support calls.

But, my purpose today is not to dwell on Dell's dismal failures in the field of customer support. My purpose is to bring up the dismal failure of the computer industry to think beyond the box.

What box?

This one!



I am just using Dell as an example, everyone who makes computer cases is guilty of the same crime. The most significant appearance change in computers is that the cases that house them have gone from boring beige to boring black and finally to a few colors.

But it is still just a box.

We have entered the 21st Century and yet most computers are less visually exciting than a model T. Okay, there a few that have taken baby steps away from the box.

Acer



Alienware



And even Dell (kudos where kudos are due).



The problem is that these are still just boxes, admittedly fancy boxes, but just boxes. There is no reason why the computer has to be a box. The parts don't have to be arranged in any specific shape. Yes, the motherboard is a certain size, and the CD or DVD drive cannot change size. You have to have a power supply and fans are going to be important, but it does not need to be a square edged box.

I have been looking for a new computer case lately, and all I find is boxes. The computer industry has less creativity than the average bricklayer. They seem to think that slapping a few geegaws on the outside creates style. There are very few variations on the layout of an automobile, but we are bombarded with an abundance of styles of cars, trucks and vans. I wish that as much thought were put into the computer case.

At this time, there is only one computer case that I consider to be truly stylish...



It may still be a box, but at least this is a Stutz Bearcat to the rest of the Model Ts on the market. I hope that the future will see someone put some thought into computer cases and see that it takes more than add-ons and paint to make a beautiful computer case.

And if you don't know what a Stutz Bearcat is.....

Personal Websites

What is the purpose of a personal website?

Now, don't go reading any tone into that. I am not asking a question made rhetorical by the tone of my voice. I am not saying that there is no purpose, not in the least. This is a question that I have been asking myself a lot lately. If you check the links to the right, you will find four webpages that are all mine, Dragonarmour, Aude Khatru, RW.Reid and Sir Conor. These are all on Earthlink, where I get 10MB for each email address, and yes, I have four. Together, I consider them my website, even though I don't have a unique domain name or anything like that.

I did have a domain name once, and you might be able to guess it. I had a dispute with the host, and they would not release the domain name, so....rather than getting it moved to another host, someone else snapped it up, probably in the hope that I would pay them for it. Fat Chance!! I doubt anyone else really wants it, at least, over the last 8 or so years, no one has ever put up a page.

Now, funny thing, but that thought distracted me. I went and checked out that old url of mine, and funny thing, there was a site. Of course it was a site by a company that sells domain names, and they were offering that name. Well, I offered them a dollar. We'll see what happens.

But, back to the personal website.

Some will have a specific reason for putting up a personal website. For me originally, it was as part of my business. I had hoped to increase sales by having a website. It did not really help, too little, too late, and so I tried to morph it into a personal website, since I had started using part of the business name as an online handle. But, I never really got the site off the ground. The problem is that I did not really know what to do with it, which brings me back to the original question.

What is the purpose of a personal website, or more personally, what should I do with my website. I have thought of a few ideas, but then I encountered problems...well, not so much problems, as excuses why I shouldn't bother. So, let me run through a few of the ideas.

• Information about my favorite band.
  Well, I probably will put up something, but my favorite band did it's best work over 30 years ago, and I don't really care that much about following the band now. What I really want to do is listen to the music.
  
• Monty Python info
  Yes, I am a big Pythonhead, but once again, I don't so much want to follow the members, as to just watch the shows.
  
• Looney Tunes
  More of the same, see above.
  
• Armor
  Well, I suppose that I could, and probably will put something together here. I have already put up some of the pictures of the armor I have made.
  Red Dragon Armoury
  I will put up more of my own, as I find more pictures, and time allows. I suppose I could look around for armor weblinks and include them on the site.

But, I keep thinking there should be more.

My New Toy

Well, it really isn't my new toy, so much as my wife's old toy. She bought this a while back, and never used it much. I always wanted one, as you can see from my last post, and so when she said she was thinking about listing it on Craig's List, I asked if I could use it long enough to figure out if I want it. I haven't finished that trial period, but considering that I was fairly sure I wanted one anyway, it seems pretty obvious to me.

Now I look like a true computer maniac at home, with my desktop, portable, umpc and pda all around me. I think I will try to take a picture of me surrounded by PCs. More computing power than a NASA moon launch. Too bad I don't really do anything with it.

It has a 600MHz processor and a 40GB hard drive. It only came with 1GB of RAM, but then I discovered something funny. I saw a video on how to upgrade the RAM, and when I went looking I found that it uses a standard SoDIMM (portable computer memory). When I checked the RAM on my Dell XPS M1530, I found that it used the same RAM (Samsung of course) only my XPS has two 4GB sticks. So, I popped one out of my Dell and into the Q, and put the Q memory into my Dell. Both still work fine, and now I just have to think if I want to actually purchase some RAM and get my portable back to 4GB.

I think that I am going to try Windows 7 on this Q. I am already running it on my XPS and on a test system at work.

Well, I think that is all for the moment, but watch for me to return here more often in the future.