What Could Be a Better Gift?

What Could Be a Better Gift?
Originally uploaded by sgtret.

A friend gave me this acrylic painting a few years ago.  I thought
then, what could be a better gift than something made for me by
another's hand.  Then I got the Amazon Kindle for Christmas from my
Brother-in-law...

To justify this judgment call, I said, the painting's lovely, I will
certainly cherish it for as long as it and I exist on the same planet,
but, I am a geek after all, and a Reader.  The Kindle is Heroin for
readers.  A symptom of heavy drug use is its taking you away from human
company.  The Kindle certainly does this.

More than a book in its raw, non digital form?  Yes.  You have to at
least go somewhere to get the book.  Even if  you have it delivered,
there is a person who brings the brown wrapped item to your doorstep. 
That interaction is removed by the unattached download the Kindle
performs.

A question was asked last week about browsing.  In a book store you can
pick up the book, open the pages, and then decide.  There is nothing
stopping you from still doing this and then, opening your Kindle and
absorbing the book from the cyberfed ether. The virtual browsing can be
accomplished by downloading a sample of the book.  This is usually the
prologue, introduction and first chapter.  I did that with Brave
Companions by David McCullough.

When you get to the end of the sample, a simple click will buy the book
for you.  As I've said before, this is what drug dealers call "a
taste..."
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Morning Reading Habits

LiveJournal Tags: Morning Reading

It has been a very long time since I sat at the table eating breakfast reading the local paper, or the NEW YORK TIMES. Within the last year I have changed my habit several times.  When the year started I was at My Yahoo! in the morning.  Then I went to the email sent to me around five a.m. by the NEW YORK TIMES.  I would click on the stories of interest and then read them individually on Firefox.

This lasted for a while.  Then I found Google Reader. 

At first I used it just to keep up on blogs.  Then I started first with the NEW YORK TIMES and then The Washington Post.  Soon this was followed by BBC TV News and The Scotsman.  Then International Herald Tribune.  Suffice to say there are now twenty eight news services subscribed on Google Reader.

Then the geek material started to creep in.  Software, Hardware, Life——.  Now, instead of reading it once in the morning and perhaps before bed, I keep it up in a tag on Firefox so the alerts pop up when the message is posted.  A service such as this would have cost the high level executive a fortune not that many years ago.  There was a time in my youth when my job was to peruse the morning papers from around the world and clip out those stories that were about the organization for which I worked.  Not stories that I felt may affect the organization, but only those with the organization's name or the names of one or more of its officers.  Now a kid can do that about the girls in his class at no extra cost.
 
Frightening, in some ways.
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The Rush is Over...Whew!

The month of January is not the busiest for our business, but the busiest for me.  It is the preparation for the new year as well as the justification for actions taken in the past year.  This division of years is artificial, as is the concept of time itself. However artificial, it is the reality of our existence if we choose for it to be.

This is now the weekend.  It is a time where the deadlines and barriers for the most part are self created; not created by the company but by the circumstances we have created for ourselves.  It is the time to socialize or sequester. I like to think a combination of the two is the healthiest selection.  In the century before the last there was a time when a person was "at home."

This meant it was a time when people could come to visit and they would be most welcome.  Sunday afternoon, between lunch and dinner was usually this time.  Then Sunday dinner was a meal to which you invited those with whom you wanted to spend more collective time, time where they, you and your household would interact.

This tradition carried over into the Twentieth Century but soon faded with the spread of radio, movies and television.  Now that time where people called and received was reserved for sitting in front of a box and listening to FDR talk, or Artie Shaw entertain.  The Sunday Dinner was replaced by the TV dinner.  The interaction became sitting in the same room with others watching The Show of Shows or Ed Sullivan.

Now, in the Twenty First Century, on a Sunday night, the family retreat to their various forms of electronic communication where they, in each individual way, collectively communicate with others. 

Oddly enough, it is all the same.  The Sunday Dinners, the TV Dinners, the microwaved meal next to the keyboard.  They are all remnants of sitting around the campfire, in the cave, telling each other how we avoided being eaten today by the big bad world outside of the cave.
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43 Things Tags: Socialization

Q-10

A complete screen editor.  What an interesting concept.  I need to change the color of the screen right away or I cannot continue.  Hold on....There that's better.

Oh, I like this.  Being one who learned to type on a manual typewriter, this feels so comfortable.  What the manual typewriter missed was the automatic spell checker and the ability to plug a set of noise canceling earphones into it. 

In the background I have a recording of Fats Waller singing Honeysuckle Rose with the sound of the keys clicking.  It is surreal.  But, then again, what isn't these days?

I like this so much, I may create all of my initial blog entries using this program.  It might be a good time to mention which program.  Q-10.
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Weekend, What's That?

This is the first full weekend I have had since vacation.  Tomorrow is all birthday.  Not mine, but that of son.  He is fourteen tomorrow. 

I remember being fourteen  very long-long ago.  It was a rough time for me for many reasons.  One was a lack of parentage.  At the time, I know I didn't think I minded it.  I was in control.  Yeah, right!!  I was in pure survival mode.

That is nothing I would wish on any one.  Perhaps now I am over-reacting by over parenting.  What do I know?  Really, what does anyone know about too little-too much parenting.  You get what you got when you walked in the door.
Not sure what the meaning of the last sentence has to do with anything.  It wasn't deleted, though. I liked the sound of it.
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Amber has gone dark!!!

Not CommandN, just the hair. I think it is great. Still working hard. Will get back into Blogging when the rush has settled down in February.
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Catching Up with Promised Comments

First, the name of the two books that weren't available for Kindle download.
Shakespeare The Thinker by A.D. Nuttall.
Criminal Reason by Michael Gregorio.

Both were available in print from Amazon. I will buy them when I am next in Brunswick ME. Bookstores have been my haven for more than half a century. Though I am enthusiastic for my Kindle, this will not stop me from buying books.

That's probably similar to something said by a person when they first bought manufactured cloth, "Though this cloth is sturdy and well made, I will still buy from the local weaver widow down the lane." Or, when first buying suits off the rack, "This won't stop me from visiting my custom tailor." Tempus Fugit.

Instead of the David McCullough book, I started with Believe, the beta digital book. It starts in the ER at Bellevue Hospital in NYC. I have been a customer there, so it seemed only right for this to be the first book I complete on the Kindle.

So far, so good.
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Amazon.com: Shakespeare the Thinker: Books: A. D. Nuttall

Amazon.com: Critique of Criminal Reason: A Mystery: Books: Michael Gregorio

LiveJournal Tags: Kindle Beta Books

How To Fill Your Brain in Three Easy Lessons

First, discover Google Reader, subscribe to all of your favorite blogs, news feeds and entertainment sites.

Second, discover RSSOwl and weed through the sites subscribed to with the default installation.

Third, have someone give you a Kindle for Christmas.

It is time for a visit to the dentist. Where I would normally thumb through the offered magazines in the waiting room, I will now read David McCullough's Brave Companions on my, MY, Kindle. Expect comments all day about my dentist.
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Technorati Tags: Kindle and RSS Readers

The Kindle She Come!

After all my B&M comments, I must say, it was worth the wait. 

It came in time for the weekend and a scheduled dentist appointment and children's party pickup.  As would be expected, I have already downloaded three books at little cost.  I bought one copy of the New York Times and Reader's Digest and signed on to do 14 day free trials of several blogs at no additional cost.

The best part so far is the almost instantaneous download.  By the time you drag yourself away from the on-line store, whatever you ordered is already loaded.  The next best thing, having only had in my hands for four hours, is the choice to download a sample of any book you may be interested in.  This takes the place of perusing the hardcopy volume in the book store.

I downloaded the introduction and first chapter of David McCullough's Brave Companions.  I sat on the couch and devoured it.  On the last page, a simple click brought the rest of the book into my lap. 

This could be like an addictive drug, where they give a "taste" for free to get you hooked and then quickly own your soul.

The bad part, so far, is I didn't buy two books in a bookstore over the weekend in Maine because I thought I could download them.  Not so, neither book was available.  I will mention the titles when I write further tomorrow when not utterly exhausted.
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Disgruntled Amazon User and Active Words.

It would seem there are more people out there disgruntled with the practices of Amazon.com. My grievance continues with the lack of delivery of the Kindle which was ordered last year on December 2nd.

Here is a link to an entry at Geeknewscentral.com. If you would like a virtual visit to CES, almost to the point where you can taste the shrimp and the "White Castle-like hamburgers, it is a good time to visit Geeknewscentral.com.

It was during one of the back-channel wanderings that I overheard a conversation regarding ActiveWords. The praise heaped upon this program was a wonder to me. I wasn't sure exactly what it did, but I had to at least load it and see.

So far, most of the actions are in the background and only noticeable, because I am looking for them. Once the marvel of it al fades, I will only notice it when it's not working.

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Technorati Tags: Kindle and Active Words

Midnight Software Rule

After listening to the live feed broadcast from CES on Geeknews.com, and overhearing veteran geeks recommend the Windows program ActiveWords, I had to go find it, download it and install it. 

This was done while simultaneously overfeeding on RSSOwl's feeds regarding CES.  Now that ActiveWords is installed the best place to put it to work was fire up Live Writer and make a blog entry. 

Then, too late, I discovered how utterly exhausted I am.   This will be posted with no links, RAW, like my new DSLR settings.
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One More Thing

No Kindle delivered yet!

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Kindle Update: Still Not Here!!!

In this morning's New York Times, in the technology section, in a column called Talking Business is an article praising Amazon.com to the high hills.  It tells of a wonderful Christmas story where an article, though it made it to his building and even perhaps to his front door, did not make it into the writer's hands.

He called Amazon Customer Service and miraculously the $500.00 item was replaced and in his hands by Christmas Eve.  Miracle of Miracles! 

That's the good news.

Now here's the bad news:

My brother-in-law, in conspiracy with my wife, ordered a Kindle for me on December 2, 2007.  It is now January 5, 2008 and the Kindle is yet to appear.  I wrote an Email to Amazon Customer Service.  The email contained all of the details, numbers, etc. related to the order.

Three days later, I received a template email obviously geared toward someone who very recently ordered the Kindle.  It was many paragraphs long.  The gist of it was, sorry, we stupidly did not predict the incredible number of orders that would come in for this electronic reader and didn't manufacture anywhere near enough of them to fulfill orders.  Don't hold your breath, but your Kindle will arrive one day, this year, maybe.

Near the end of the email, there was a satisfaction button.  I clicked NO, when asked did this answer your question.  This took me to a webpage the use of which would put me back into the loop of rubber stamp online customer service.

Bottom line, five WEEKS late, still no Kindle.  I will keep you up to date here and on all of the other Grazing related web sites.

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Amazon Toll Free Customer Service Line: (+1-800-201-7575)

BuzzNet Tags: kindle

Quicknote 5.4 Retro That Works

You can find information about Quicknote 5.4 at this site. There are many "postit" programs out there, I've tried many of the them and discarded them due to clumsy interface. This is because mostly by the authors attempt to recreate the manner of post-it notes, rather then the purpose.

Quicknote is intelligently compiled, with less emphasis on how it looks than how it works. There is a short learning curve easily surmounted by watching the videos available. Once I learned it and customized it, it has already become second nature for me to use it in creating this blog entry.

Take the time to find out all it does, because it is a modest interface with a powerful right click menu. The good news is the interface is easily modified to fit your taste. The green background and gray border have quickly been changed to dark blue with white print and a translucent border. I missed the blue background white print of the original DOS editors.

Five Stars in all reviews.
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Almanac Links of Great Interest

Each year, for the past thirty or so years, I have found a copy of The World Almanac and Book of Facts in my stocking.  The first section I go to always is the obituaries.  Each year, without fail, I am surprised to find people I thought either still alive, or long dead, on the list.

For the past few years, the second place I go is the Computers & Telecommunications section.

Besides some interesting facts, such as Yahoo sites combined got more hits in July of 2006 than Google sites, there is a list of what the editors believe to be useful webpages.

Each year they've become more selective, weeding out the popular for the interesting.  Now it's my turn to weed even more.  I have visited each of the recommended sites not already in my bookmarks, or Google Reader feeds. 

Using Thunderbird's option of Bookmarking All Tabs, I name the folder 2008Almanac.

Here is the list of sites that have made it through the weeder.

The first has to be The World Almanac Blog.  The feed from this delivers a daily dose of interesting facts to my reader.

The rest I will list without comment for you to explore on your own:

Resource Shelf

Newseum & Today's Front Page

American Memory & Exhibitions

The British Library

Internet Archive

NYPL Digital Gallery

Our Documents

Kayak.com

Library Thing

Though each of the sites listed above are of interest, the one that kept me the longest this morning was Our Documents.  Here are digital images of the actual documents in file at the National Archives.  See the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's handwriting, the hand corrected copy of FDR's December 8, 1941 speech  to a joint session of congress.  See the actual treaty completing the Louisiana Purchase... 100 documents going up to the Civil Rights Act.

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43 Things Tags: Links of Interest,Almanac

Hogmanay with Spam and Thunderbird

Again, happy New Year to all. 

There were many emails on my Thunderbird this morning, most from friends and family, and some from a millionaire in strife-torn Kenya that wants me to hold his money in my bank account for a while.

Not too many of these any more with the layers of SPAM protection, both at the provider level, GMail and Yahoo as well as ICQ and our own servers.

The problem with SPAM protection, much like spell checkers, is they are not perfect. A person most dear to me changed her email address for the New Year.  I knew she sent a message, but it wasn't showing up.  So, I went to the SPAM volume in Thunderbird, and there it was.

I de-SPAMed it by clicking on the NOT SPAM box, creating a filter so that all mail from this address will now go to a friendlier volume and be starred.  I gave it the additional layer of protection by adding the e-mail address to the address book. 

Now Thunderbird will welcome this email with open arms, treat it kindly and give it a welcome home until I can open it.

Though I have an add-on icon that deletes all SPAM without having to open it, I scan the list by sorting it by sender, scrolling down the list and then hitting the destructo icon.

As added protection, the SPAM doesn't disappear with that.  It goes into the trash folder.  Then, at the end of the day, when I scan the trash folder, if I missed something, here is my last "Are You Sure" opportunity.  If all is clear then I hit the SPAM icon once more and it is gone forever.

I have the Thunderbird default set to delete Trash when I close the program.  It doesn't close it that often, but this seems to work for me.  I have recovered more emails from the Trash folder than from the SPAM.

To manage the multitude of emails the blogs can produce, I use the Unread Folders, combined with the Threads with Unread settings.

Doing this only brings up only new mail with only their folders when I open Thunderbird.  If there is an ongoing conversation, where I may need to refer back, the thread with unread View option allows that.

If I need to find an email, I use the search option which narrows down the selection.  If you are like me and don't delete any email from certain sources, don't forget to set the compression option to start automatically at certain times.  This will save a lot of disk space without hampering your ability to retrieve old emails.

Most of the old emails I retrieve are in the RECEIPTS folder.  I find it a good idea to at least copy messages that you may need somewhere along the line to prove a point.  Doing this has saved me hundreds of dollars with PayPal this year.

What started out as a simple happy New Year message has turned into a tutorial.  Blame VideoJug for that.
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43 Things Tags: Thunderbird Management,SPAM

Hogmanay!

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