The newest thing in computing?

I've been reading Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital, a book that's been recommended to me by several people, so I thought it was time to pick it up. I found the following passage interesting:

The general interface with personal computers has been treated as a physical design problem. But interface is not just about the look and feel of a computer. It is about the creation of personality, the design of intelligence, and building machines that can recognize human expression... The challenge for the next decade is not just to give people bigger screens, better sound quality, and easier-to-use graphical input devices. It is to make computers that know you, learn about your needs, and understand verbal and nonverbal languages... The burden of interaction today has been placed totally on the shoulders of the human party. Something as banal as printing a computer file can be a debilitating exercise that resembles voodoo more than respectable human behaviour.

Having recently purchased a replacement computer with Windows Vista (the only choice outside of going with Mac), this debilitation is making itself felt. For example, our (new!) printer does not have the drivers for Vista, meaning we cannot print directly from the new computer!

Sad thing is, Negroponte wrote that passage in 1995. We're now past the decade during which he proposed that we make computers more useful, and they've become more of a burden on the human user than ever before! At least with my C64, I knew exactly what I was getting and if I didn't know how to get it, I knew I had to go back to my BASIC code book and figure it out. Now? I haven't a clue. I can turn in on, then I usually just hope for the best!

Innocence and precocity

Answers provided by Grade 2 students:

What's the difference between moms & dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home & dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

CYA

So I had this long rant about my job that I - thank god - saved as a draft after writing because, well, that's what drafts are for - to let you cool down before posting or sending something disastrous. Now the post itself wasn't particularly disaster-causing and not even very caustic. It was even rather nicely constructed, and dare I say a tad witty... of course I can say that, you've never seen it so you have to take my word for it!... But I decided it prudent not to publish it.

Suffice it to say I've been busy... and not always in a good way.

Today I did something new. Do I dare admit it?

Sure, why not?

Today, I created a series of powerpoint slides. There. Now I've admitted I've never used powerpoint before. Yes, I know. Everyone has used powerpoint. Even little children know how to use powerpoint. Your dog probably scratches out his requests for walks and doggie treats using a powerpoint presentation complete with sound and graphics.

But I've never used it. That is, till today.

It's a pretty nifty program, though it is constraining in its formatting, regardless of how many choices you're offered. That's part of the reason I've never used it before. I've sat through too many powerpoint presentations that bored me out of my mind. I never wanted to inflict such boredom on others.

In an effort at full disclosure, I wasn't actually creating a presentation today. What I was doing was creating individual slides that I could then save as JPEGs so that they can be mated with the video and audio files we'll be producing for our latest project. So I didn't mess with slide transitions, or animations, or sound, or anything like that. But for a first time, it was kinda fun. Maybe I'll have to rethink my aversion to the program...

Fainting Goats

It was one of those 'you have to be there' moments, but these fainting goats came up in conversation at a party last night. So I thought I'd share them.

Snow is definitely worse than sand

Certainly as a vacation destination, I'll take sand over snow pretty much any day. But I suppose that's because I grew up in snowy climates.

But that's not what I was thinking about today. I was thinking that snow is definitely worse to run in than sand. Easier than in sand above the tide line, but definitely more difficult than sand below the tide line. Not only is the snow an obstacle and a shifting surface that you have to negotiate, the additional challenge of snow is that the snow we have now has been subjected to wind and sun since it fell, so it has a little bit of a crust on the top. But it's not thick enough that you can run on top of the snow. So when you run through it, the crust makes the slippage of your foot as you break it unpredictable. First you lurch to the left, then the right, then the heel, then the toe. It breaks your cadence and makes for a challenging run, that's for sure.

I was so excited about the possibility of running outside again. A chinook has finally blown in after some below seasonal temperatures, and the snow has stopped falling after a week of constant shovelling. The city here is really pretty good about clearing the walking trails, so I figured it would be the perfect day to go.

Alas, the city very efficiently cleared the snow several days ago, but the south end of the canals is all exposed land - housing developments are non-existent or just beginning - so there was a lot of drifting. At first I hopped over the drifts, actually enjoying myself, but then I turned a corner and the pathway was nothing but drifts! After ten minutes of slogging through them to come to a clear path again, I came to the conclusion that I'd rather run on the beach, than in snowdrifts!

Famous Puppet Death Scenes - Scene: The Feverish Heart

We spent our weekend pleasantly, celebrating the mid point between birthday and Valentine's day. This production was one of the activities for the weekend.

Yes, I realize this is the third time in the last half year that I've blogged about a puppet production. It's really just coincidence, since I'm not deliberately seeking out puppet productions. This one - Famous Puppet Death Scenes - is a hard one to describe however, so I leave you to just enjoy the clip. We were delighted with the show, but it is so unique that there's no frame of reference to use when describing it. I first heard about it through an article in the newspaper describing how it was a big hit when it played in NYC, and since it's a homegrown group, that seemed all the more impressive.

I really do wonder why it seems puppets are so attractive right now - perhaps it has something to do with their materiality, or with the presence of the puppeteer within the production. I don't have plans to see any more puppet shows though, so you should be spared further puppet talk at least.

Hiatus

I seem to be in an impromptu hiatus on this blog. It hasn't been intentional. Mostly it's a result of adjusting to the difference between working in the corporate world and the academic one. In the academy, I know exactly when my busy times will be, when I have to complete tasks, and what my weekly schedule will be like (give or take a meeting or two) at the beginning of every semester.

In the corporate world, even though I'm a contractor, I need to maintain a good relationship with my contractee, who is essentially my boss. I'm finding that he operates on a much more immediate basis than I do, often telling me only days ahead of time about a project deadline (like he did this week). That makes it difficult for me to calculate my workload more than a few days ahead of time, which is something I'm not used to. So it's a bit of an adjustment.

Since boss man is out of the country for the next three weeks, I will hopefully have a bit more control over my life and get back on track with my academic work as well as blog posting... but I suppose only time will tell.

So my apologies if you've been logging on and seeing the same thing over and over. It should improve over the next few weeks.

Stop right there!

Gene Police

You!!
Out of the pool!