Meet the ring tones

This post exposes the fact that I am neither hip nor am I a true gadget technophile. Although my work deals with technology, I am not the classic geek when it comes to tech gadgets. My personal life is probably more techie than the average person, but for the most part I am low-fi. I do have an iPod (nano). I do a good deal of personal work on the computer (finances, vacation planning, etc) and have a wireless network at home. But I don't have cable, a plasma tv, or a high tech stereo system. I can barely work a conference call on the office phone. I have a manual electric can opener. But enough with this long intro....

My two year Verizon cell phone planned expired, and just in time as my cell phone's LCD panel started to "bleed" and became unusable. I can't see a damn thing on the screen.

So, I got my new phone. I got an incoming call and some bizarro music started to play so I went to set my ring tone to some normal phone-sounding tone. However, I see that this new phone gives me like 10 options, half of which sound like robotic beeps and the other half calypso music.

Can't I get some basic ring? You know, that sounds like a phone?

Ok, so I've heard of ring tones and I've read about how they are all the rage. But I honestly don't know much about them or really imagined it would be worth shelling out even 2 dollars for a ring tone. But it appears to be that or "The Saints Come Marching In" for me.

So I look around some and I enter this strange world of 8 note versions of just about everything: pop songs, tv theme songs, sounds, and even the alien welcome music from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (which I would have gotten if I went through with this). But I also find there are subscription services, shady looking web sites, and are some technicalities to uncover.

So after about 10 minutes, I realize I am wasting my time. And, based on principle alone, I just can't see paying for this. So, I'll just set it to vibrate.

Finding iPods in California

About a month ago, I was in Santa Monica for some client work. I was still on East Coast time so went for an early run along the beach. There really are a lot of homeless people in Santa Monica, and apparently if you are out early, it is just you and the homeless. One man I saw, I swear had an iPod. He was obviously homeless, with all the indications of homelessness, but there hanging down from his ears dangled the white headphone cords of the iPod. I thought, "only in California would the homeless have iPods."

Water on the left, iPods on the bottom right.

Right now I am at the Sunnyvale Sheraton. I forgot my toothpaste, so went down to the lobby and I as I walked I saw a vending machine with some toiletries, as well as the normal vending machine items, like chips, snacks, and beverages. It didn't have any toothpaste, but it did have iPods. And iPod accessories. It is a vending machine with iPods. So I can buy my peanut M&Ms, a bottled water, and a iPod shuffle all in one. From the vending machine.

Only in California.

P.S. The Blogger spell check wanted to replace "iPods" with "aphids."

Or...YouSlide, Slider, pow.erpo.int

I ran across slideshare today and it made me laugh (or at least smirk).

It is a site for sharing slideshows. I like the concept. It puts slideshows in a nice little tiddy format instead of linking to a ppt file. And I guess if you are looking for some ideas, you could try to poke around. So I see some value there.

But what strikes me as funny is the language and presentation, with the Flickr, YouTube social software, web 2.0 spin.

The description says:

A neat way to share and discover slideshows.
Upload your slides! Share with a link, embed in a blog
Discover interesting slideshows.
Tag, comment, and have fun.

People, come on. They are slideshows!

I think I may start the Excel spreadsheet sharing social network site. Think of all of the fun you can have discovering Excel spreadsheets, tagging them, and all the fun people you can connect with! Coming soon to a .com near you.

Thirty-five

Today, I turn 35. I don't pay much attention to age and the only way I really remember my own age is to remember what year I was born and subtract it from the current year. So if you asked me in March, I would have said I was 35 already.

I was at a conference earlier this year and one of the speakers asked how many people in the room were over 35 and how many were under. Even though I was really 34 at the time, as I already said previously, I thought I was 35 when he asked. So I couldn't really raise my hand for either group, as I was in between.

He then made some point that those over 35 were old media people and those under were much more intuned to the digital age - the bloggers, the IMers, the people who will read their news online but not in a paper.

I don't know if his statement is true, but I certainly was "in between." I get the Sunday paper, but not a paper for every day of the week. I still print out articles and blog posts that I want to read but are longer than a page. I then collect them and read them while "offline." I use an iPod but if I like an entire album (well, that is the wrong name now isn't it!), I'd prefer to buy the CD and burn it then to purchase it all digitally (but I have purchased individual songs). So I guess in some ways I do sit "in between" the two groups the speaker talked about, using old media in some regards and new media in others. Or maybe that is just me.

And one last thing...it amazes me how time speeds up at 35. Time just goes faster. The day, the week, the month, the year...

A troubling piece of ice

It is official: Pluto is no longer a planet. I've been following this discussion to some degree over the past week. The best alternative resolution I heard was from Michael Brown, who discovered UB313 (a larger piece of ice out past Pluto), in an NPR Science Friday podcast. He interestingly compares this whole "what is a planet" debate to what we call continents. There really is no scientifically "pure" definition of a continent. Why is Europe a continent but India not? Why is Greenland not its own continent? It is somewhat arbitrary and based on culture.

But science doesn't like arbitrary things. Brown suggests we accept the cultural definition of the 9 planets and leave it at that. The term planet means "wanderer" and ancient astronomers called them that because their paths differed from the rest of the stars. Now they have to be round and have their own paths around the Earth or something like that.

I guess the decision makes sense and stops the squabbling over whether other small objects should be planets. Now everyone can now move on. Even Pluto. Just because it is not a planet, doesn't mean it no longer orbits the Sun.

The Planet Pluto, may you rest in peace (1930-2006).

10 miles of sand

I recently completed the Captain Bill Gallagher Island Run, a 10 mile run on the beach in Sea Isle City, NJ.

I am not much of a runner. I've toyed with running in the past here and there, but this was the first year I really tried to keep at it. I started in late Spring purely for exercise but when I saw this beach run coincided with my family's vacation, I figured I'd go for it.

My expectations were not high. For this run, my first official run, I had three goals:

1. Finish
2. Don't stop (keep running...)
   
3. Finish under 2 hours

I also had a "bonus" goal of running under an 11 minute mile. While running around my neighborhood I did some rough estimates with Google maps and the clock in my kitchen and figured my time was somewhere in the 10 1/2 minute range. I don't know exactly, but knowing the general range was good enough for me. In my "training" I never actually ran 10 miles, but did run 9 or so a few times and the 3 or 4 weeks heading up to the event, I generally ran between 7 and 9 miles. What is one more, right?

As I said, I never ran in an "official" race before...

When we cross the bridge into Sea Isle, I go to pick up the number. The piece of paper has my number, 538, and some info on the bottom with a perforation in between. On the bottom of the paper, it says "do not pin." Well, how am I supposed to attach this to me? My wife and I discuss it some.

Me: Hmm..that's odd. How do you think I get it to stay on me?
Wife: I don't know. Maybe you can use some string.
Me: I'm just going to pin it.
Wife: You can't do that! It says "do not pin" That's breaking the rules.

Fortunately my wife has some string (she is teaching our daughters to make those friendship bracelets) and ties the number onto my shirt somehow. Of course, as I walk up to the start of the race, everyone has it pinned to their shirts. Duh. You are not supposed to pin the perforated part - the part I later realize they tear off at the end of the race. Ok, I am an amatuer, and not too bright of one at that.

The run actually starts on Sea Isle's boardwalk, which is not very wide. So the 1200 people in the race fill up a block and a half. I go towards the end.

The race starts. Well, it starts for some. It takes a while for the mob to move forward. And then when it finally does, it moves slowly. Very slowly. Finally, probably a minute or more into it, we pick up our pace.

My wife's uncle and family cheered me on

About one mile into it I hear "Go Ed!" I think to myself, "Must be some guy named Ed near me." But then I see it is my wife's uncle and his family. I instinctly raise my hand to say hello and almost smack the person beside me.

For the first 6 miles or so, I am running about a 10 1/2 minute mile. I feel pretty good. The race starts in the middle, heads north on the the island, all the way back down to the southern end and then back to the middle. As I approach the mid way point, mile 5, I hear the winner is approaching the finish.

I still feel pretty good. Until somewhere after mile 6. Then it hits me. My legs feel like jelly and I move very slooowww the rest of the way. Running on the beach really is not that much harder than running on asphalt. But running on the beach behind 1000 other people who trample through the sand and leave it a choppy, muddy mess is hard. At least for me. At this point, many others start to pass me. It gets demoralizing. A small boy no older than 12 passes me. A group of 3 women chatting away trot by. An elderly gray-haired gentleman leaves me in his dust. At one point, I think a heavy set woman with one leg carrying a bag of cement might have passed me. I'm not sure.

My own kids, as well as a (large) number of nieces and nephews cheer me on at around 7 1/2 miles (and again a little past 7 1/2 - we are at the end of the island). Although I feel horrible, my wife later says I looked good, just slow. Very slow. But it is great to see the kids and pass out high fives as they cheer "Go Uncle Ed!"

But I finished. And I met my three goals (the bonus goal alluded me by 15 seconds/mile, but that is ok).

Here are the complete results of the race. You'll see me towards the end. I came in 1144 out of 1207 finishers and 77 out of 80 in my age group. But I ran 10 miles. In the sand.

How do I know where I am

I took the DC Metro today from Dupont Circle all the way out to Shady Grove. It is about a half hour ride and I was not fully prepared for my meeting, so I opened up the laptop to read through some documents. The train was relatively empty, so I had my back against the window and stretched out a bit.

I heard a man's voice talking further up the train. I wasn't really paying attention. He was one of those people who talks but not necessarily to anyone. You know what I mean.

But then I realized he was talking about me. He said, "Look at this guy. How does he know where he is. Why don't you look out the window. You should look out the window. How do you know where you are?" He sounded rather stressed about this situation.

But then he continued, "And look at those shoes. My God, are you serious? How do you know where you are?"

I wasn't sure why he didn't like my shoes, but I would agree with him, sometimes it is better to look out the window. Then you know where you are.

Design without intelligence

I receive National Geographic in print. I am not sure what their online policy is. I took a quick look through the web site and it looks like only small excerpts of articles are available, even for subscribers. I am not sure.

But recently, I was reading this article (the full one in print), and thought what a great argument this is against Intelligent Design. I would think if there was some intelligent force actively involved in the creation of our species, complicated process like child birth would be a bit easier, as well as simple things, like scratching one's own back.

The point is, evolution is not intelligent per se and is not meant to be. It is a trade of and balance of characteristics that make a best fit for the species. But sometimes there are negative consequences. This article discusses how man's evolution to walk upright greatly benefited humankind, although with it we get all sorts of back and foot ailments, as well as risky and difficult birth processes. It's not intelligent, but it works for us. And I would say, if it did have some direct and active intelligent control pushing it forward, we wouldn't have these downsides. (And lastly, it doesn't mean that you can't believe in God and evolution of course).

Here is an excerpt from the article (describing the author looking at a skeletal model of a child size skull passing through the birth canal) and the web link above:

Turn the little oval skull face-forward, and it drops neatly into the pelvic brim, the beginning of the birth canal. But then it jams against the protrusions of the ischial bones (those that bear the burden during a long car ride). More shoving and rotating, and it's quickly apparent that the skull must traverse a passage that seems smaller than itself, cramped not only by the ischial bones but also by the coccyx, the bottom of the tailbone, which pokes into the lower pelvic cavity. Only by maneuvering the skull to face sideways in the middle of the canal and then giving it a firm push, does it move a centimeter or two—before it gets hung up again. Twist it, jostle it: The thing won't budge. Rosenberg guides my hand to turn the skull around to face backward, and then, with a hard shove, the stubborn cranium finally exits the birth canal.

And here is a really funny parody of Intelligent Design from the Onion.

Good customer service: US Airways (at least Mike)

I've posted twice on customer service issues (here and here). Although I do encounter bad customer service like everyone else, I also, on occasion, experience some really exceptional customer service. When this happens, my wife and I both have tried to make a point to follow up to the company to point out the experience and commend the specific person involved. If you are going to take the time to point out bad customer service, we figure you better do the same for good service.

I recently did this with my bank and about a year ago did so to US Airways. I didn't want my two previous posts to be representative of my reaction to customer service. There really is sometimes good customer service out there. Unfortunately, I think good customer service is often representative of the individual and bad customer service often of lame brain company policy.

On that US Airways example, I had somehow switched my laptop with another person while going through security. Don't ask how. It is stupid, but it happened (and hey, someone else was just as dumb as I was). After the experience, I've taped my business card on the outside of my laptop (it was either that or paint it bright orange).

After I was greatly assisted by someone (Mike) in baggage claim, I sent the following letter the the Managing Director of Corporate and Consumer Affairs at US Airways. There are only two bad sides to this story. One, I never got Mike's last name (but I hoped the detail in the letter would help identify him) and two, although while filling out the feedback form on the US Airways web site, I checked an option to get confirmation the letter was received, I never did (but I should note I both mailed this letter and emailed it through the web site). [UPDATE: For some reason, I was searching for something in my gmail account and up popped the response from US Airways in the results (it is a few years old now). I don't know why I do not remember seeing this before, but Katrina Y. Brown of the Executive Staff of the US Airways Office of Consumer Affairs did confirm receipt of my letter]

Anyway, here is the letter and a story of great customer service:

Ms. Deborah Thompson
Managing Director, Corporate and Consumer Affairs
US Airways
P.O. Box 1501
Winston Salem, NC 27102-1501

Ms. Thompson:

I wanted to write to inform you of the excellent service provided by Mike in the New Orleans airport bagging handling area.

While going through security in Philadelphia, I inadvertently switched my laptop with another passenger. I did not notice this until on board the plane.

When I arrived in New Orleans, on Sunday 4/24 sometime around 9:30, I was sent to the baggage handling area for assistance. Mike in the baggage area (I did not get his last name) was very understanding of the problem. This was not my socks that were misplaced, but my laptop with all of my business and personal information. Luckily I was able to retrieve a name from the laptop and Mike was able to track him down and found he was arriving in Las Vegas. Mike then worked his way through to the arriving desk in Vegas so that the attendant there could flag down this other customer with my laptop. This was done an hour after I left the airport (Mike set a timer for himself to call when the plane arrived).

I feel Mike did an outstanding job in connecting me with the other passenger and felt he was prepared to help as much as possible to solve the problem. He probably could have gone through some standard procedure, asked me to fill out some form, and send me on my troubled way. But he went all out to make sure the problem was resolved.

In an era where very good customer service is hard to find, Mike really stands out.

The other customer and I shipped the laptops to each other and all is well.

Thanks,
Ed

So, anyway, the point is there is both good and bad customer service out there. Recognize both. And with that, hopefully those in charge of customer service operations will seek to make ever evolving improvements as well as reward those who do an exceptional job.

Bad (and good) customer service: Verizon

A day before my recent vacation, I experienced intermittent and slow connection speeds with my Verizon DSL. For the 8 months or so before that my service had been fine.

I called Verizon's DSL technical support and one question threw me for a loop: how long was my phone line from my computer to my wall jack. Well, I set up my office in my basement and ran the lines myself. There really is no wall jack (it is just running to my wireless router outside my office). I ran the line right from the main console and it is about 25 feet. So I said "25 feet." Seems Verizon says your line can't be more than 10 feet. But what is the difference if I was on, say a third floor, with a 2 foot line to my wall jack that had 30-40 feet running down to the main console? And why, all of a sudden, would my 25 foot line cause problems? The technical rep didn't want to hear anything else. She wouldn't go beyond this issue and refused to help me until I moved my set up closer to my non-existent wall jack.

I was frustrated but had a vacation in front of me. When I returned, I set up the modem right off the main console and called back. This time, the rep did not ask me this stupid question. But he did do a number of line tests, determined my modem is faulty, and said I will receive a new one in 2-3 days. Problem diagnosed in about 10 minutes and the solution on its way via mail.

Now, why couldn't the first person run the same test?

Thumbs up to Google Maps

I've really come to rely on Google Maps and find it an excellent tool. I know it has been around awhile and this praise is late, but it struck me the other day why I really like Google Maps.

Take away the ease of searching on addresses (isn't it nice that if it can't find your address it offers alternatives, that you don't always need a full address, and that you can type in landmarks, like "Fenway Park" to find a map?). Take away the API and the plethora of mashups, including the pedometer I use frequenlty to track my progress in running. Take away the cool, but really useful, satellite images. Take away the ability to save your route.

Take all of that away and what you still have are damn good maps. They are clean. They are easy to read. They are simple. They are actually enjoyable to use. Go back and compare them to MapQuest. They are soooo much better. A colleague recently said, "we didn't know we needed a better mapping tool until Google Maps came along." It's true and thankfully it did.

Bad customer service: Hertz

I am planning a family vacation for Disney World. I have never been there and neither have my children.

One of the more difficult choices is whether to stay in the park or in one of the nearby hotels outside the park. From some advice received by friends, we decided if we stay outside the park we should rent a car. So, I thought, "great, I have enough points with Amtrak to get a free rental through their reward program that partners with Hertz."

Now, my family has 6 people in it (my wife and four children), plus my mother-in-law is joining us. So we need a minivan. But the voucher from the Amtrak awards program allows for a mid-size car. I figure, that's fine, I'll just pay the difference.

So I call the Hertz agent to confirm all of this. Well, it turns out I cannot book the van. I can only book the mid-size and then when I get there, if vans are available, I can upgrade (and pay the difference). Upgrade? I am not asking for a convertible here. I have a big family. I can't chance it that a van will be available. The agent couldn't help me. I don't understand the logic.

So, if we rent a car, it certainly won't be with Hertz. So instead of getting some money for the "upgrade" they now get nothing.

And I think we will just stay in the park.

Writing letters, part 3

Since I've been blogging a bit about letters (here and here), I thought I'd add one more thought in this "series" based on two recent experiences.

First let me state the obvious: letters are really nice to get. Maybe it is because they are rare, or I am always impressed that someone actually took the time to write one. I don't know exactly, but sending a letter is a good gesture.

So my two experiences?

I recently moderated a panel discussion and presented at two different conferences. Afterwards, I received letters (typed, not hand-written, but at least it wasn't an email) from the organizers of each conference. The one was probably a form letter sent to all participants (but still nice to get). The writer of the other letter really personalized it, citing something I mentioned in my presentation. She not only appreciated my involvement, but showed she listened to the talk.

The other experience involves those rare hand-written letters. We discussed a staff position with someone for the company I work for and shortly thereafter he sent hand written letters to everyone involved thanking them for their time. First, I was really impressed to receive the note. I've interviewed plenty of people and not all of them send acknowledgements. And the letter being handwritten, really topped it off.

I hope I remember to identify and then take the time to write (or even type) letters for times that even only slightly warrant it.

The best tools solve many more problems than their inventors intended

....is the title of this slide on a presentation on RSS and Atom.

That is a really good statement. The author includes mostly technical "tools," like XML and the Internet, but throws duct tape in too. I'd add WD-40 and screwdrivers.

Writing letters, part 2

While looking for some other info this morning, I came across this article from EContent that opens with:

Parents: Ask your teenager to write a "get well" letter to Aunt Edith who is confined to a bed at a nursing home. They are probably looking at you like you just asked them to explain Kepler's Third Law. "C'mon mom, nobody writes letters anymore," they whine. "They're not cool."

While it may be a question of changing social mores, more than likely it is the way today's young people were raised in relation to technology. "The next generation was born digital," according R.J. Pittman, CEO, president, director, and co-founder of Groxis, Inc., who gave the opening keynote at the 2006 annual NFAIS Conference in Philadelphia. The "next generation," he describes, was raised communicating through cell phone, either voice or text messaging. The audacity you have to suggest they (gasp!) actually pick up a pen to communicate is nothing short of alarming. It simply isn't as natural for them to put their thoughts down on paper in a clearly written missive, get an envelope, address it, stamp it, and trudge out to a mail box than it is to (duh!) dash off a text message and hit Send. Better immediate information than perfectly penned, right?

which reminded me of my post (ironically published just a week before this EContent article) on writing letters inspired from reading an article in Newsweek about writing letters and an experience my wife and I had about...writing letters.

Amtrak internet connection, part 2

A week after recycling the power on Amtrak's wireless router in the D.C. Club Acela, I again was traveling and offline most of the day, before arriving a little early at the Amtrak station to send and receive email. This time 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper with the note "Sorry Internet Access is Down" were taped to the monitors in the computer room.

Just for kicks, I took out my own ethernet cable (I've learned to travel with my own) and plugged it into a wall jack (not the same one the router was plugged into). It worked.

I don'’t know what was wrong with the router or the other PCs. I had a train to board.

Amtrak, your welcome

I travel to Washington D.C. at least once a week for work, sometimes more. I use Amtrak so much, I have a card that gets me into Club Acela, the super secret club of the Amtrak elite. The D.C. Club Acela has free wireless access...most of the time. Yesterday, I was traveling "offline" most of the day and had a few minutes to download email before I boarded the train, but I couldn't connect. I asked someone at the counter, who said it was "out." So I went into the little computer room, unplugged the wireless router, waited 30 seconds, and plugged it back in. Everything is good now. I like when solutions are simple.

Sidenote: I travel to NYC less frequently, but stopped into the NYC Club Acela a few weeks ago to download email, but the NYC doesn't have free wireless.

Sidewalks and other things we need more of

I recently blogged about hand-written letters after reading a My Turn article in Newsweek. Well, the next My Turn article made some good points about connections through communities and prompted me to think of some things I think, we, the world, could use some more of.

Sidewalks
In the My Turn article mentioned above, Carolyn V. Egan reminisces about sidewalks. When my wife and I looked for a home, sidewalks was on my wish list (along with lots of windows and radiator heat, both of which we got). My wife didn't understand why at the time, but now that we moved in and have 4 kids but no sidewalk out front, she sees my point. My neighborhood has sidewalks for about 75% of the streets. So the neighborhood itself is a decent sidewalk-type neighborhood, or at least, there are always a good amount of people and kids walking about. But I agree with Ms. Egan. We certainly could use more of them.

Unorganized Sports
I played a good deal of street hockey growing up, starting around 4th grade and ending in high school. We had two primary places to play and had to make our own rules. Sometimes if we got bored with hockey, we'd make up some game, involving the ball, the net, or maybe a nearby wall. I think kids learn a great deal from that type of experience. Now it seems like sports are over-organized. Some of this may be a result of the fear that now exists that don't allow children out of our site as much. I used to walk to school in first grade. Not sure if many first graders do now. I still see kids in my neighborhood in what appears to be "pick up" games out on the street or at the local park, but my sense is that more of the sport played nowadays is in organized leagues. I am not sure how to promote more of the unorganized sport approach for my own kids, but would like to.

Unorganized Religion
Keeping the unorganized theme, I've never been much of a fan of organized religion. I grew up Catholic and have the same issues as probably thousands of other Catholics have with the Church. But I'd like to think I am somewhat spiritual and could embrace a religion with a little less formal organization.

Ice Cream
We can always use more ice cream. My kids would agree with me on this one.

There are probably a hundred other things more important than these that we could use more off. One thing we probably don't need more of is blogs.

Kids and technology

I am on a business trip in Alexandria, VA and read some of the USA Today someone kindly left outside my hotel room door this morning. I came across an article titled Life's connections aren't all plugged in by Bruce Kluger.

He gives an account of his daughter who corresponds with a pen-pal in Australia in actual written letters, not e-mails or IM. He goes on to say:

Among the many challenges facing parents today is the way in which we can help our kids reconcile new technology and old values. This isn't exactly easy for me, as I'm not one of those dads who distrust the electronic revolution.

I had my own internal debate on when to expose my own kids to computers. I didn't want the computer to be another screen for them to look at. I read some articles on the topic and one example that hit home with me is that a child learns more about shapes by touching and feeling a ball or a cube than by looking at them on a computer. We have a PC for the kids in the house now but I never felt rushed to get it for them. And I never felt they would be behind for not having one before the oldest was 6.

Kruger believes kids can switch back and forth from the online/connected/PC world to the real human world more easily than we think

And yet what I'm beginning to recognize is that kids will unplug from the wall and plug into the real world more readily than they'd like us to believe. Like adults, they are hard-wired to make the kinds of connections that don't require a modem, but the trick is in exposing them to both the crackle of technology and the warmth of human interaction, then letting them see the difference for themselves.

I hope he is right.

Writing letters

Although I read Newsweek to help me stay on top of current events, one of my favorite sections is the My Turn column, in which average people write some short article. The topics range from serious to not so serious, but they are generally good and sometimes insightful.

In the April 17, 2006 issue, William Shaw, in his article titled We Had the Love, But I Long for the Letters, remorses that he and his wife never wrote letters to each other. She is gone now and he has photos, but

The memories that pictures and souvenirs produce are marvelous, and I wouldn't part with them, but what I don't have, in black or blue on white, are her thoughts.

He makes an interesting connection to our modern technologies.

What I'm trying to say is that our lives have changed. That special something in a personal letter has disappeared with the advent of telephones, airplanes and now e-mail—which is impersonal and limited by the lack of what I shall call "personal ambience."

Recently, my wife and I wanted to write a letter to a physician who we felt provided us a great level of care during complications my wife had in our daughter Molly's birth. Although I work in a technology related field, my wife does not. She barely uses a computer. I went to pull out the laptop to compose this letter, and my wife looked at me puzzlingly. She couldn't put her thoughts down on a computer. She needed to take a pen in her hand and write it out on paper. I am just the opposite. Between my poor handwriting and the rarity of needing to write more than a few notes, I am almost physically incapable of writing a letter with pen and paper. The last time I did must have been 10 years ago. Now, I compose everything in front of a PC.

I am thankful I don't need to write out on paper, but I do agree with William's general sentiment. Think of it this way: pulling out an old typewritten letter doesn't have the same "feel" as one in the person's handwriting.

Most of the letters that I did write were in college. I'd be curious what college kids do today. Text message and IM I guess. You can't reminisce with that.

Blogger spell check

So I just spell checked my last post. And the Blogger spell checker didn't recognize the word "blog."

Good content trapped in old technology

Through the Web Ink Now blog, which I check on only occasionally, I found this post questioning whether advances in technology are a threat to great content wrapped up in older formats. The author, Andy Monfried, uses an example of a bootleg concert on DVD and asks ,

Does Technology own the content of the future?

Will future generations ONLY EVER get a chance to see, and witness things recorded in "High Definition" or HD quality - or some other futuristic format?

Will incredible content, NEVER GET SEEN, because it was recorded BEFORE TECHNOLOGY advances?

With IPODS....Home Theaters....and, new gadgets coming out, will anyone want to hear my AUDIENCE COPIES of bootlegs from the Grateful Dead? (Meaning, someone who recorded a DEAD show, with a microphone and was NOT plugged into the soundboard...)
Will, technology render them useless, and nothing more than garbage, to future generations, even though the content is TOPS?

Will old content NEVER GET A CHANCE, to become someone in the future's, favorite musical choice?

Now, I'll skip over the issue that these are bootlegs, because I do think this is an interesting question. But it is not a new one. How many cassette tapes do you have cluttering some drawer, never to be listened to again? You may have purchased (or "stole") that music again on CD or computer file (MP3, etc) but my bet would be that you didn't replace all of it. I went through some of my parents' old books and although I read a few, some of them were too musty to bother with. The format, or the technology, can certainly be a limitation for the content it carries.

On a related note, a former colleague of mine, defending the practice of copying MP3 files from Kazaa and other file-sharing sites a few years ago, made a good point about the number of times he bought the same song. He owned it on a record, then on cassette, and then bought it again on CD. He paid three times for the same content, just in different formats. Are we buying the content or the format?

Crappy technology

I was listening to a Slate Magazine podcast in my commute to work today (you know, because I am so hip) on auto-flushing toilets. That's right, toilets. There are examples of the poor, overuse of technology everywhere. Even in the bathroom. The podcast/article starts:

My office shares a men's room with everyone who works on our level. The bathroom sports three stalls, each of which is outfitted with the most uncivilized technology of the modern age—the hands-free, automatic-flush toilet bowl.

High-tech auto-flushing limits your ability to flush when you need to flush. The author, Nick Schulz, makes the point that the auto-flush toilet is incapable of doing three very important things: flush the toilet before you sit down, flush the toilet while you are seated, and give the ole' double flush if the first flush didn't do the job. After analyzing the pitfalls of the auto-flush, Schulz brings us back to what really works: a manual flush:

As it happens, there is an almost perfect technology already in existence: the foot-pedal flush toilet.

Here is the article on the web: The Crappiest Invention of All Time.

Spell with flickr fun

Check out Spell with flickr.

Here is my name, "Ed," from code generated from the site:

Welcoming big brother

So for the first time in several years, I was in a meeting that included a video-conference with another group half way across the world. It was really good quality, both in sound and video. Our host at the meeting had a nice and inexpensive set up. He told us how his entire office has moved into not just video-conferencing (a necessity for his business) but also nearly permanent remote video discussion with cameras that clip to laptops and other devices. Almost every remote conversation they have now is audio plus video, even if the other person is just down the hall. This led to some jokes about working from home and seeing each other - and sometimes spouses - in pajamas. But still, I nudged my boss that we need this at our company.

Before this meeting, I've been reading alot about the social web, Web 2.0, and all the other terms people use for the evolutions we are seeing in technology and people's personal interaction with it. And of course, I like to test things out and see for myself. When I posted photos to Flickr, I really thought for awhile about whether I really wanted to make pictures of my kids public. I don't imagine any harm would really come from it, but for now decided not too. But I've set up some family and friends to view them.

But so many people post their personal pictures. So many people blog about personal matters. A colleague at a client company went through marathon training and posted pictures of her swollen and bruised feet on her blog (which, besides the feet, provides interesting insights into her training for such a monumental event). But this would not have happened just 1 year ago. (Note the link above goes to her blog, not a picture of her feet. I've spared you that.)

Now, I have nothing against this openness. I think it is all widely fascinating. And I love the community spirit that these technologies help to foster. And of course I am writing this blog (but who knows if anyone is reading....). I just said I use Flickr. I've tested del.icio.us. . I've made the blogs I read public to the world. It's all good.

But I also find it interesting, how in some way, we have created and accepted some version of big brother. Ok, maybe it is not big brother when you voluntarily open up the view into your life. No one is forced to post pictures of their chilren or blog about their innermost feelings. But in any case, the tools exist for those who want to allow big brother to see and broadcast their world.

P.S. And because I believe that just about everything has already been thought about, I did some Google searches on this topic after I wrote the above.....

Here is an article full of menacing doom.

Just as Marx seduced a generation of European idealists with his fantasy of self-realization in a communist utopia, so the Web 2.0 cult of creative self-realization has seduced everyone in Silicon Valley.

This one mentions some video program you can pay for to be part of big brother.

You've read the book and seen the film. Now you too can oppress the proletariat - and for only £3.50 per week!

Ok, its been years since I read 1984, so maybe my depiction of big brother is wrong. This blog posts says all the authors are "mini big brothers" and has some quotes from Orwell's book:

The problem is that the Howard Rheingolds of Silicon Valley have the future back-to-front. The likely dystopia is not the ubiquitous eye of pervasive computing, but rather the way in which technology is making everyone into authors. The future is not to be feared because of the threat to individual self expression, but rather because of the threat of too much self expression. Digital technology is making all of us into mini Big Brothers with our own blogs, podcast and videocast shows. The concern is not the death of individual rights, but rather the demise of an authoritative broadcast media and the rise of what Christine Rosen calls egocasting.

Child's taste in music?

So one of my favorite bands from 10 years ago, They Might Be Giants, has recently become successful writing children's music, espcially with thier "Here Come the ABCs" album, which my kids enjoy.

Lately I've started to listen to Jack Johnson a good deal and now see he peformed the music for the Curious George movie sound track.

Not sure what this says about me.

Retiring "numbers"

I read in Sunday's paper (registration is required) that the Wachovia center in Philadelphia hung banners, usually reserved for retired numbers of sports figures, for Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and other entertainers. They used the number of sold-out shows in the city's arenas on the banner. A few weeks earlier, I was listening to the Wing Bowl (a wing eating contest) on 610 WIP (the local sports talk station) and they announced they "retired" Bill Simmon's, otherwise known as El Wingador, "number" with a banner in the rafters. I think they used the number of times he won the Wing Bowl as his "number."

Isn't it a bit sad, that we (Philly) have resorted to "retiring" numbers of aging rock stars and wing-eating fat men. Twenty-some years without a championship. The most recent Philadelphia athlete to have his number retired is Reggie White, who enjoyed his championship season elsewhere.