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May 31, 2007

Mom, Me and Technology

For as long as I can remember, my mom has followed Microsoft and Bill Gates with an intensity that's always stupified me. Mom would telephone me at all hours wanting to discuss the latest Microsoft hoo-hah and "Billy." She'd say, "I want to talk about Billy" and I'd say, Billy WHO? as if I should know instinctively that she meant Bill Gates. As an Apple devotee, I'd roll my eyes at her obvious enthusiasm for Gates. When did this happen and who is this woman I thought was my mom? She's a PC and I'm a Mac. Commercial joke aside, that's the way it's always been with us.

Where mom gets her interest in tech is beyond me; she doesn't have a computer nor has she indicated any desire for one. Though she doesn't have the hardware and software readily available to her, she knows who does (that would be me) and it doesn't stop her from phoning in her requests -- Google searches, emails to family members, asking for a downloadable copy of something she saw on the news. Her first online experience was in the mid '90s when I was at her house one night with my laptop. Mom wanted to see how the Web worked. "Show me how it works. Take me to the Playboy Web site!" she demanded, having read something about that site and wanting to see it for herself. *shrug* Then there was the day in '05 when she signed up for a computer class at the local library. I asked her how it went and she replied, "I Googled!" LOL. She claimed she visited only a few sites, but I KNOW she spent all her time on MSN. I just know it. ;-)

Mom's Microsoft obsession popped into my head this morning while I watched the videos of the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates interview from the D Conference. There was something about listening to Jobs and Gates, seeing them both together side-by-side, something that jumped into my bloodstream that got me all hot and bothered about technology all over again. (Go figure!) With my enthusiasm at a full boil, I telephoned my mom to tell her all about it. After listening to me gush about the interview mom said, "Oh I saw that yesterday. Explain that table to me." I thought, Table? WHAT table? It took me a minute to realize that mom wasn't talking about the interview, she was talking about Surface, Microsoft’s first surface computer. [Insert image here of my jaw dropping to the floor.] She asked me to give her the details about it. After launching into a mega stutter, I replied, "uh... uh... uhm... I'll have to get back to you on that after I do some research., to which she replied, "Well what's wrong with you? You should KNOW about it. You like this stuff! Fire up that craptop and hop to it!"

Did she just say CRAPtop?

*chuckle*

My geek friends have always been curious about my interest in technology and where my passion for it came from (cuz you know girls just aren't into tech and geek stuff.) I'd always say I must have been a geek in a previous life, simply because I could never quite figure out where my interest in tech came from. (Right out of left field, never on my radar, whodathunkit.) Today's discussion with my mom had me thinking that maybe the geek in a previous life is my mom and not me. She was the geek and I was her offspring; mom gets worked up about Microsoft and I am prone to fits of passion over Mac stuff.

You know it's a funny thing. In the Q&A portion of the interview (Part 7, second to last question), both Jobs/Gates talk about seniors. (Mom would've loved it.) Had she seen/listened to the interview, mom would have opined that Jobs was a bit pompous, spent too much time doing product P.R. and talked too much. She would have given her Billy Gates high marks for eloquence, friendliness and humbleness. (I'd have to give him high marks too.) My mom may not have a computer (note: she doesn't want one) but she knows what's going on at Microsoft. I'll bet she knows what's going on at Apple too, though she'd NEVER mention it to me. Her marked interest in technology prompts a vision of her; she may claim she's outside doing gardening, but I can't help but think that she's really holed up in some super secret room in her house writing software programs for Microsoft.

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May 25, 2007

Friday Feathers - In the Zoo

What the sign says. :-)

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1983 Apple Keynote

Apple's "1984" commercial with introduction by Steve Jobs, who was 28 at the time.

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May 22, 2007

Snippets from the blogroll

And baby makes three...
Greg @ Reject Reality (who hasn't updated his blog since January as he's been busy awaiting fatherhood) and his lovely wife Vanessa welcomed Christopher Steven, who is now one week old. Congrats!!! (BTW, it wasn't an iguana.)

Also Down Under...
Belated happy birthday to Mike Macgirvin, who is still settling into his new digs in Australia. Note to Mike: I'd leave a comment or twenty but am somewhat put off by having to register to do so. *shrug*

Oz @ G'Day Mate is moving his blog here. I've a blog in beta over there also, but I've yet to figure out how to make it all work. *sigh*

Authors
Evidently the divine Ms. Zoe of MBIAT sent off her book (My Boyfriend is a Twat: A guide to recognising, dealing with and living with an utter Twat ) to the editor. Congrats, Petunia!

Developed from the hugely popular website My Boyfriend is a Twat, this book is a glorious celebration of living with a complete twat of a boyfriend.

Zoe McCarthy has been living in Belgium longer than she cares to remember, working part-time and spending the rest of her life trying to sort out her three children and partner, the Twat. She doesn't care for politics or religion but is an expert on how to raise children badly and kill off their goldfish.

And speaking of books, Pat aka The Gray Monk not only has a book out titled Out of Time but also has two eStories up -- A Tall Ship and the Wind's Song and Facing the Banshee -- on Amazon Shorts. Here's the book description for Out of Time:

"Out of time" is a story about three young men dragged by a freak accident from the early nineteenth century into the high tech world of the twenty-third. They are transported through time from the gundeck of the 74 gun ship of the line HMS Spartan and into the hangar decks of the huge new starship NECS Vanguard. They must now come to terms not only with the change of time, but with the gap in their understanding of the universe, science and technology - and do this in the midst of a power struggle between those who seek to take over the governments of the free world and those in the political process who through their own corruption and self interest seek to allow this - and those who must prevent it. The Fleet of starships and its dedicated crews must fight to save the freedom of their peoples - and of the aliens enslaved in the service of the plotters. The three are both a target for corrupt bureaucrats and scientists and a key factor in the frustration of these plans. Harry Heron, Ferghal O'Connor and Danny Gunn are taken out of their time and plunged head first into another where they find they have as much to contribute as they have to learn.

Belated congrats on the book Pat!

Heads had to Roll
Susan fires herself and replaces herself with a new version of her old/new self, or something like that. :-)

There was a definite need for some long overdue changes here at Spinning and to prevent restructuring or complete demolition, some heads had to roll. Therefore, a decision has been announced that Spinning will continue. Susan, however, has been canned.

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May 21, 2007

Which famous photographer are you?

Which famous photographer are you? Ansel Adams: Known for large scale silver gelatin landscapes especially of Yosemite National Park "Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

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May 20, 2007

Men in Trees

Apricot Nectar Cake makin', space software writin', Chronicle conflictin', clog clackin', topsider wearin' Jim Thompson decided to climb a tree.

Then he fell.

*Ouch*


Edited by request...

* * * * * * * * * * * OUUUUUCH!!! * * * * * * * * * * *

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May 18, 2007

Friday Feathers

A year-round resident of New York state, the Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) is a large gray goose with a black neck and head and a white chin or cheek strap.

Adults will mate for many years, but only start to breed in their third year. Males often act as sentinels, standing at the edge of their group and bobbing their heads up and down, becoming very aggressive to anybody who approaches. Will hiss as if displaying displeasure.

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May 11, 2007

Quote

The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public. - George Jessel

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Friday Feathers - the unsalted peanut test

I'd read in some bird book that the feathered ones love unsalted peanuts, so I decided to test that theory one day. A handful of peanuts placed in an open area and it wasn't long before the usual suspects (Tufted Titmice and Black-capped Chickadees) showed up.

The Tufted Titmouse in the photograph above kept coming back; it would take a peanut, fly away and repeat the process until all the nuts were gone. From a photography standpoint, the test provided many opportunities to catch the birds as they grabbed a meal or six. And there ya have it. :-)

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Last night I had the strangest dream...

... I sailed away to China, in a little rowboat to find ya,
and you said you had to get your laundry clean,
didn't want no one to hold you, what does that mean?
and you said...
ain't nothin' gonna break my stride, nobody gonna slow me down,
oh no, I've got to keep on movin'...

As I was trying to write before going off on the song that popped into my head, last night I had the strangest dream. I'd read some blogs before going to bed, and what I read stuck in my brain for awhile. One of the blogs that drifted into my REM sleep last night was Dwight Silverman's TechBlog, which he writes for The Houston Chronicle.

I love reading Dwight's blog. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of his (I've known Dwight since the mid '90s from early Web days when he contacted me and subsequently wrote about my Web site in a piece he did for the Chronicle.) The thing about Dwight's tech blogging is that it is all-encompassing; I used to think he was a Windows4Ever guy until he went out and bought a MacBook.

uh oh. -- insert look of disbelief here. --

Dwight blogged about the new Mac and he included photos of the packaging, the MacBook itself and a screenshot or 6. ;-) For a while there I thought Dwight morphed into an Apple-ite, he was gushing so much about the Mac. As an Apple user for many years now, this actually made me worry since a lot of Dwight's readers are Windows users and I'd read his Mac posts and think, oh no, he's gone bonkers for the Mac... this isn't good for your readership! His readers went so far as to comment about his Mac musings, but soon I realized that Dwight wasn't favoring Mac, he was simply reporting in the same manner as he did about Windows PCs. Don't misunderstand. Dwight doesn't limit his tech bloging to PCs and Macs; anything and everything that falls under technology appears on his blog. An equal opportunity blogger, that's what he is and why I so enjoy reading what he writes.
(Note: I could add a lot more links in this post pointing to many other topics he's written about, but let's not get ridiculous.)

Is there a point here? Well yeah, there is. I strongly urge you to add Dwight's TechBlog to your list of required daily blog reading. There will always be something in there you didn't know before or missed, and Dwight's style of writing makes it easy for you to comprehend what could be confusing or overwhelming. Run along now and go add his blog to your RSS reader. Oh and one more thing. Today is Friday, and that means open comments day on his blog, where his readers get to wax poetic about anything tech-related. If you've got something to say, stop by his blog, comment, and be sure to tell him I sent ya!

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May 10, 2007

Words in the Closet

Today's brain dust...

I could spend hours writing and typing, writing and typing, only to end up leaving stories and posts hanging up on my virtual clothesline. Eventually I return and take all those words, fold them up and put them away in a closet somewhere.

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May 4, 2007

Friday Feathers - Favorites

For years I've chased a Northern Cardinal around my mom's backyard. I could never quite manage to get a good photograph of it no matter how many shots I took. I became so obsessed with this particular bird that my mom would call out to me to grab my camera because the cardinal was in a tree nearby. I'd drop whatever I was doing and run off in hot pursuit.

I recently renewed my seemingly never-ending chase of the cardinal, and either my photographic skills have improved or it was pure luck, but I was nonetheless pleased with the result. :-)

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