Thoughts.

I am sitting in the Jeep in the shopping center parking lot like I usually do at lunch time. It’s a fairly nice day for mid February and I’m doing my usual people watching as I play along on the iPad here.

On the end of the shopping center is a locally owned Italian restaurant that isn’t too bad. It’s a popular spot at lunch time, though the economy has noticeably slowed down customer traffic since I started this routine nearly two years ago.

Because the restaurant is in the shopping center, there is ample parking in the vicinity of the front door. Today I see four or five spots that are just one spot away from the end of the row closest to the door. One spot in from the end of a row means maybe six or seven extra steps to the front door.

Can someone please explain to me why a woman with the license plate BZX-4257 decided to park her car outside of all marked parking spots and instead opted to parallel park her car so that it blocked the thru-traffic lane?

I can find no logical reason for doing this. None at all. I can’t even come up with a way to imagine why she would do this. I know it’s a trivial thing and it in no way changes my life at all (other than this blog entry) but for the life of me I just can’t figure out the thought process behind this.

It’s like these people that are spotting UFOs. Now I fully believe in UFOs and I fully believe that they are visiting here and I fully believe all of that. I get that and I really hope to have positive proof of their existence someday, but on the other hand, why would beings from another planet travel trillions of miles to get here and then just float around and blink their lights. Why would they do that? “I know, I’ll invest faster-than-light travel so I can blink my red and blue lights.” I don’t get that. There must be something better than flicking a switch up and down to get the natives all worked up.

I swear I sometimes don’t know what planet I came from.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

8 February 2012 by Fun and Games Dept 2

Path.

A while back I talked about a new iPhone app called Path. It’s actually version 2 of Path, called, appropriately, Path 2, (wow that’s a lot of commas; I apologize to anyone that’s allergic) and it is a pretty nifty app in that it creates something like a hybrid twitter or Facebook stream/Foursquare check-in notification/Instagram photo sharing space for your closest friends. The idea behind Path2 is that you only connect with your closest friends and family so you can be a little more intimate with the details of your life. After all, there are some things in life that you shouldn’t share on Twitter. For example, I’ve seen people share the time, place and method of their latest sexual escapade on an unlocked Twitter stream and to me that’s just freaky. I know that I live my life pretty openly on the Internet but there is no way that I would ever proclaim to a random group of millions of people the specifics of how, when or where I just had sex. There a couple of reasons that might lead to that sort of proclamation, for example, if you want to share the boundaries of your creativity or if you want to advertise your abilities so you can get a higher rate.

I think I digressed.

Anyway, Path2’s design through it’s gorgeous app was to urge you to be a little more personable with a select group of people with your internet life. I used it and liked it for that reason; I only followed a half dozen or so people on there and it was kind of nifty. If I want to go for the full-on broadcast of details, I could by just telling the app to push my details to Twitter or whatever.

Now, the Path2 app and service is free. This always leads me to taking pause, because you can hardly ever get something for nothing so there has to be some sort of catch. Well, I haven’t figured out the mechanics to figure out how the folks at Path2 were making money. Actually, I didn’t invest enough time to figure out how, but when there’s little to no money involved there’s usually data-mining so that it can be sold to an advertiser. It’s kind of like my feelings about Google; as a Google user you’re not the customer, you are the product and the applications are the factory that build the product base. I figure I was just another Path2 product.

Now here’s where it gets wonky and it makes me angry. I read on Daring Fireball this morning that Path2 has been uploading the ENTIRE ADDRESSBOOK on your Android or iPhone to it’s servers, WITHOUT your consent. That’s right, data that can be linked back to you is being stored on Path2’s servers and nowhere did you agree to that sort of thing.

That’s bad.

Now, I know that Google and Facebook and a ton of other services and applications do the same thing, but they let you know that in the very, very small print of their Terms of Service. I completely abide by the “don’t put it on the network if you wouldn’t want it on the front page of the New York Times” rule I learned back in 1988 when I worked for DEC. When I put my address book on iCloud, I know that I am doing it and I know where my address book is being stored and I know the possible ramifications from doing so.

It is not cool when a company does it without my permission. Not only does that damage the reputation of the company in eyes, but it damages trust in Cloud computing in general. And that’s not good. Because we wouldn’t be able to do the millions of nifty things we do with our smartwhatevers if we didn’t have the power of cloud computing behind them.

Path2 was deleted off of my iDevices this morning at approximately 5:40 a.m. They’ve lost my trust. And getting back my trust would be damned near impossible unless they completely opened up the source code for their app so that the world can see what they’re doing.

In a world where honor and integrity seem to be less important, it’s unfortunate when elements of today’s technological niceties seem to reinforce that fact.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

8 February 2012 by Geek Ponderings and Musings Why. 3

Lucky.

I thought I’d give your mid-week a little kickstart with some Kylie.

From 1988, here’s “I Should Be So Lucky” (the alternate video) by Kylie Minogue.

8 February 2012 by DJ 0

Audience.

I enjoy reading blogs. Heck, I enjoy reading, period, and with the technological surge of the 21st century, there is always a blog right at my fingertips worth reading. I enjoy all sorts of blogs; I read techy blogs, political blogs, news blogs and personal blogs. Of course, I have my own personal blog here and one of the reasons I read the personal blogs of others is because I like to see how others are living their life, which is along the same reasoning as to why I write in this blog. I like to write and I like to share about life, so it makes sense to do both sides of this sort of thing.

It’s no secret that the likes of Twitter and Facebook and similar sites have taken over the personal blogosphere. It’s kind of like the way computers and email took over sitting down and writing a letter by long-hand, it’s a lot easier to belch out a witty one liner in 140 characters or less instead sitting down in front of a computer and actually composing something that involves multiple paragraphs, multiple sentences or even multiple syllables. Nevertheless, a 140 character tweet is not going to solicit the same level of emotional response as a well composed blog entry that utilizes descriptive prose, colorful phrases and the time and effort required to convey a complete thought. This is one of the reasons that I believe society now applauds mediocrity as if it was something brilliant. We expect less.

I have been slowly watching the personal blogs I follow fall by the wayside. I used to follow nearly four dozen blogs back in the middle of the ’00s. Occasionally I’ll see a blog entry from someone that hasn’t written in months and then I’ll realize that someone has hacked into their blog account and is sending out random nonsense. Occasionally non-Alphanumeric characters will be used. I don’t know why but I find a blog entry composed in Arabic characters to be whimsical looking. It’s probably because I have no idea how to read right to left or any way of knowing what the characters mean. Sometimes ignorance can be whimsical.

There are still a dozen or so personal blogs that I enjoy reading and that I have an interest in. I look forward to crossing paths with those that I haven’t met in person yet. A few years ago Earl and I went to a blogger gathering in New York; it gave us the opportunity to meet others that liked to write and more importantly, it let us experience Bear Hill in Central Park, complete with roller skating grandma. That was a cool experience. I really like connecting with others, though I can be shy about it at first. (Once I open my mouth, though, I’m hard pressed to shut up.) I have to admit that I would rather meet a regular reader of this blog in person instead of some random person that friended me on Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, I’ve been pulling back on my participation there again. It’s mostly because I’m more of a Twitter guy than a Facebook guy, but it’s also because of that SchoolFeed thingee. I’m suddenly getting notes from people that I don’t know that I didn’t go to school with. Some woman in Idaho sent me a box of chocolates through this SchoolFeed thing. This was disappointing because: a. I have never been in Idaho, b. the woman was in her 70s and c. there was no real box of chocolates, only the virtual kind. I don’t enjoy virtual chocolate. It’s like the way I like my men; I want to be able to lick them in person, I don’t want to have to settle for a lick of the screen and visualize something.

That’s just weird.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

7 February 2012 by Fun and Games Dept 8

Nap.

I just took a 15 minute nap in the Jeep during my lunch hour. I used the Pzizz “Energizer” app to do so; it’s an app designed to guide you through a quick, restful nap in the middle of your workday. It uses soothing noises, gentle voices and binaural beats to bring you to a restful, relaxing place quickly. It’s kind of like meditation with a technological twist.

I use the Pzizz “Sleep” app at night when I’m having a hard time sleeping naturally. This is the first time I’ve used the Pzizz Energizer app for an entire cycle; I usually don’t allow myself enough time to use it because I don’t slow down enough to have the 15 minutes or so to just relax. Other than the fact that one transition in the audio startled me and made me jump (and the Jeep jump as well, because I jumped so hard), I can say that I feel great, I don’t have a “nap headache” and I’m ready to tackle the rest of my workday.

I might have to incorporate this into my routine on a more regular basis.

For more information on Pzizz, visit their website here. Highly recommended.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

6 February 2012 by Fun and Games Dept 0

If.

So tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time the application that I have been writing for the past two months goes to production and loses its “BETA” status. Starting tomorrow every bug is now a feature and will perpetuate my need for continued employment with the organization.

I’m tired, but I feel like I have accomplished something.

The application in question is a project within a bigger project and that is coming along nicely. The authoring of the app has been my largest consumption of time, I am looking forward to getting back to a somewhat normal work routine by this time next week. In the meantime, I’m tired but I feel good. I was up at 4:30 this morning so I could get to work early and teach the overnight crew how to use the application. I’ve taught two more classes since then. I don’t have another class to teach until tomorrow; I’ll write reports and chase bugs in the code in the meantime.

Sometimes I wonder why people read my blog, mostly because entries like these are rather boring and I just ramble on about being tired but feeling a sense of accomplishment. This weekend Earl and I are going to mix it up a bit and do it up like we used to when we were young. We’ll be sure to share some pictures.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

6 February 2012 by Geek 3

Weekend.

This is my weekend. It’s not an entirely bad thing, but this is what I have been doing for most of my weekend.


$right_now = time();
if ((strftime('%F', $right_now) == '2011-02-04') ||
(strftime('%F', $right_now) == '2011-02-05))
{
echo 'I am working at home this weekend!';
}
exit();

5 February 2012 by Geek 3

Buffet.

Last night, upon my arrival at home, I carried on the time tested tradition of asking my husband what was going on with supper. I think I inherited this trait, but I like to know what’s going on with the evening meal within a few moments of arriving home from a day in the rat race. Call me old-fashioned but I want to smell something, taste something or be told something about the supper plans so that we’re not trying to make decisions that drag out to all hours of the night and I end up gnawing on the kitchen table trying in an effort to coax a few calories out of the woodgrain.

It’s not like I’m lacking calories, mind you, it’s just that I like to have that ‘security blanket’ feeling of knowing where and when my next meal will be. I learned early in my childhood not to question the “what” of supper.

Earlier this week Earl tried making a new dish that involved potatoes and ham. I knew this and was pleased to encounter the aroma of promise when I walked into the door. 45 minutes later I was informed that the dish was not going as well as planned and I was given two choices: pizza or Chinese.

I opted for Chinese and was subsequently punished for the next 48 hours. As God as my witness, for the approximately 642nd time in my life I am swearing off Chinese food.

We finally had the ham and potato dish the following night and it was delicious. I guess 24 hours in the oven can do that to even the most experimental of cooking endeavours.

Last night, I arrived home after being gone for an overnight and Earl did the same. There were no tempting aromas when I walked in so I was not surprised when Earl suggested that we go out. I was a little surprised by his suggestion of Ponderosa, a local chain restaurant that was recently reopened after being boarded up for five years.

The Ponderosa experience at this location was just as I remembered it from the last decade; placing the order at the register was clusterfuck at best. The buffet was a madhouse of people licking spoons, crusty plates and arguments over who got the last piece of blue jello, but overall it was sustenance and for that we are thankful. The chicken I ordered must have done quite well to have survived the boarded up period of this particular location and for that I must say “wow”.

I’m using this blog entry as a reminder that this is the 1st time in my life that I am swearing off Ponderosa. More importantly, I am hopeful that I will be greeted with the pleasant aromas of something delicious tonight. Or at the very least, news of something that doesn’t involve a buffet.

3 February 2012 by Fun and Games Dept 4

These Dreams.

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So last night I spent the night at the Holiday Inn closest to work. I didn’t get the best of night’s sleep, but I did manage to get enough to keep me productive throughout the day. Worried that I was going to sleep through my alarm, I woke up several times during the night. Because of this, I had quite a selection of dreams peppered through my slumber to keep things interesting. For the first time in quite a few nights, I didn’t dream about tornadoes (thanks for taking over that duty, Erik) but instead I had one of my “performance frustration dreams”. These dreams usually come up when I’m worried about not doing well at something and they frequently manifest themselves as something music or radio related; for example, I can’t get CDs into the players fast enough to avoid dead air on the radio or I can’t beat match a mix while DJing at a club, no matter how many times I have been able to mix the two records in question in the past.

Last night’s spin on my performance frustration dreams involved a live performance of the group Heart. In my dream I was one of their sound engineers for this comeback concert, and I was in charge of making sure the recorded music augmented their live performances perfectly. Because I had to make sure the tracks matched the instruments, I was challenged with playing vinyl records that had been recorded at home. And because it was a rowdy crowd, I had to spin the record on top of a beer bottle while holding the needle in place. I couldn’t let the record wobble in any way or else Nancy and Ann would sound all warped, and that would be bad. The record ended up falling off the top of the beer bottle and the whole show slowed down into a warbling, draggy sound. Just as everyone was looking at me for messing up this comeback tour, my dream morphed into something more interesting that didn’t involve frustration at all.

That all being said, because of last night’s dream, this track has been my ear bug, playing over and over. If you follow me on Rdio, you’ll notice that I have played this track several times today trying to get it to move back into my enjoyment category and out of my repetitive category.

So, out of respect for the Wilson sisters of Heart, and with my apologizes for wobbling the record that was spinning on top of the beer bottle, here they are with their 1987 hit, “There’s The Girl.”

Great track, by the way. I LOVE the backup vocals on this. Interesting, melodic backup vocals do a lot more for me than lead vocal acrobatics.

2 February 2012 by Deep. DJ Geek 0

Teaching.

Right out of high school I went to college with the intent on getting a degree in Music Education. At the time it seemed like the natural career path for me, because I did have an interest in teaching and I enjoyed my musical aspirations. My music performances (vocal and tuba) brought joy to others so wouldn’t it be a wonderful contribution to the world if I could teach others to do the same thing. However, my heart wasn’t into college that first time around and I abandoned the idea of becoming a music teacher after a while. I could get into a long discussion as to the reasons for this realization but we’ll save that for the next time we have a drink together.

The reason I bring this up is that although I didn’t pursue that education degree, there’s a part of me that still very much enjoys teaching and that is what I’ve been doing at work this latter half of the week. I’ve been working on writing software for the past eight weeks, now it’s time to instruct users on what it does, why it does it and how one goes about accomplishing what they’re destined to accomplish using the application I have written. The classes started last night. So far they have been well received.

I think because I am so passionate about technology and the fact that I like people to get what they can out of a technological experience is why I enjoy teaching others about it so much. Some people may not realize that I feel this way, because there is an IT geek part of me that does the stereotypical roll of the eyes, a big sigh and a click click click of the mouse to fix something that someone has messed up on their computer once in a while, but that’s usually reserved for something that I think the user should know in tandem with a cranky mood I might be having. I don’t respond as well to expected IT support (“make my screensaver do something nifty!”) as I do a genuine interest in how to accomplish something on a computer (“please show me how to change my screensaver).

I think it’s the passion and the belief in the subject that fuels my motivation to teach. And because of my eccentric ways, some might find that my passion might be in something that most find mundane, so I guess in a way it’s a win-win for all involved.

There’s a part of me that wants to pursue teaching technological stuff to others, or at the very least, writing about it and sharing with the world all the nifty things that one can do with the right geek tools when used properly.

Perhaps this is something that I need to put on the bucket list.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 February 2012 by Ponderings and Musings 1

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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