Geek

A couple of months ago I purchased new keycaps for the mechanical keyboard I use for work. I’m particular about the keyboards I use, much to the chagrin of my husband. My fussiness around keyboards comes from the fact that I’m a fast touch typist, averaging 100 words a minute and creeping higher on a good day. I’ve also been a touch typist for a long time, and I grew up with electric typewriters and the mechanical computer keyboards of the 1980s. I like to bang along when I’m working, and to keep things calm during my team meetings, I employ a quiet keyboard that I keep to the side when I’m taking notes. I don’t want folks thinking there’s machine gun fire in the office when there’s not.

I’m also particular about keycaps and the aesthetics of the keyboard. When I replaced the keycaps on my mechanical keyboard earlier this year, I went for the retro terminal look of the early 1980s. I have been quite pleased with the results, and the new keycaps provide the exact clackity-clack feel I enjoy on keyboards, especially when I’m writing long presentations, emails, or writing a lot of code.

The folks at Drop.com occasionally have a sale on keycaps sets, so I ordered another set of similarly styled keycaps for the Linux computer used for gaming, flight simulator, and the like. They are slated to arrive this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing how they hold up. I decided to step away from the Dasher terminal blue and went with an orange theme that will compliment the Starfleet accessories I have around the computer.

I’ll be sure to share a photo when I get things set up.

My husband and I celebrated my Christmas present. I had a gift certificate to visit the SkyCenter atop Mount Lemmon. One of the larger telescope installations in the U.S., we joined 26 other folks in using the largest telescope available to the public. Our guides showed us many nifty things, we talked stars and suns over a box dinner, and we saw a stunning sunset.

It was absolutely wonderful. We had a such a good time!

No photos from after dark! We didn’t want to ruin our night vision.

I don’t usually talk about my job here on the blog these days. I’ve been at the same company for eight years, as of this month, and things are going well. I lead a team of application developers scattered all over the country. As a people leader I am generally well liked by folks up and down the org chart and I feel that I’m a success in what I do. It’s funny, because when I shifted from radio to technology at the turn of the century, I thought I would just write code and do geek things. Now I lead a team of 22 people that do the tech things, though I still do a bit of code writing on a daily basis. I like my job.

Earlier this month I was informed that I had been promoted to a director level position and that the promotion was “very well deserved”. A director level position in a company this size (I work at one of the major telecoms in the U.S.) and once all the databases and other applications at the company adjusted themselves to my new title, I still look at the title “Associate Director” next to my grinning face and I can’t believe I have a director level position.

I’m in a great place in my career. The team is a really great group of people and the folks above me in the org chart are a great group of people as well. I am very fortunate, and I’ve gotten to this place with a lot of knowledge, determination, intuition, and a healthy dose of good fortune.

Being recognized for my achievements as a leader and this advancement has given me a much needed confidence boost. My plan is to continue onward and upward.

I don’t talk about work very much on my personal blog. I gripe about it once in a while, as at times work can be quite intense, but for the most part my career hums along and I’m in a relatively good place.

Today I celebrate eight years with the company. When I started in 2015 I traveled a lot, particularly to Greenville, S.C., where the team I worked with at the time was based. I really like Greenville, S.C., particularly the downtown area. I’d like to go back there some time.

There have been many reorganizations in the past eight years, some changes in focus, and for the most part I’ve grown in my career. It’s a good feeling. When I started with the company I was hired on as an individual contributor. Today I have a team of 20 or so folks reporting to me.

On Monday I was promoted to the new title of Associate Director-IT Engineering. A director level position in a company this size is something I didn’t think I would ever achieve, but here I am.

I wouldn’t say that I’m comfortable in the new role, but I’m very pleased with the new opportunity and I’m content with the company. At this age, contentment is very important. Yes, there are very stressful days, but that’s what keeps me awake.

Life is definitely not boring.

So today was Apple’s annual kickoff of WWDC, or World Wide Developers’ Conference. Folks far and wide look forward to the keynote that kicks things off, because folks far and wide, especially those in media, get wrapped up in the hype.

Admittedly, I blocked off two hours in my work calendar so I could tune in.

There’s a lot of good things coming, including incremental updates to MacOS, iOS, and iPadOS. The star of the show was a “One More Thing…” moment, and that’s the reveal of Apple Vision Pro.

I have an Oculus Quest, which was purchased at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s alright, but I don’t really use it that often and I don’t find the experience compelling.

I find Vision Pro to be absolutely compelling. Now, is it $3500 worth of compelling? I’m sure there’s lots of folks that will buy this at that price and I’m probably not among their number.

One of the things I really like about Vision Pro when compared to other VR headsets is that Vision Pro concentrates on AR, or augmented reality. Instead of taking the user completely out of the space and created a virtual space, a “Metaverse” if you will, Apple gives the user the opportunity to overlay the entire experience on the world around the user. You can tune the world out complete or you can navigate around the system, using your apps and playing games and watching cinematic experiences, while still being able to see everything going on around you.

A really interesting feature is that others can see you. An outfacing screen shows a representation of your eyes and your current expression. I like the thought, but there’s an uncanny valley / “something is off” about the eyes looking back at the world. Maybe it’s the obligatory single blink shown in all the marketing materials.

I really like where Apple is going with this type of experience versus all the other approaches we’ve seen thus far. As usual, Apple takes it in a direction that is as elegant as it can be, seamlessly integrates with their ecosystem, and seems to keep the user first and foremost in their design. Will it become the next iPhone? Hmmmm.

I look forward to a future generation of this technology when it’s only a pair of glasses I have to wear instead of goggles with a battery pack on my hip. But I really think this first generation experience is taking us in the direction of making Augmented Reality a thing.

I hope the glasses thing comes to fruition in my lifetime.

This telephone hung on the bathroom in last night’s hotel room. I immediately sensed a disturbance in the force.

Look closely.

The “0” button does not have “OPER”, because operator services are a thing of the past. Mom as an operator for New York Telephone before I was born. She was the one that taught us to not scream at the nice lady asking, “number, please” before completing our call to Grandma City.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear a dial tone when I picked up the receiver. It was generated by the in-house PBX system, but it was a dial tone nonetheless.