A Little Bird

Tweet Tweet

I first opened a Twitter account a few years ago because I could never remember what sorts of music I listened to. This was awkward when friend would ask me, "What sorts of music do you listen to?" So I got the Twitty Tunes application for Firefox. This included setting up a Twitter account to go with it.

I now could have a widget to put up on Social Networking Sites (SNS), Blogs, and Websites which would show either the current song or the past 10 that I had listened to. Well actually it was the Twitter postings I had made, but when I first started I thought Twitter was all about the music you were listening to -- a side effect of getting exposed to it through Foxy Tunes and TwittyTunes. I used it to post my current listening list onto MySpace on my profile I have there -- so if someone asked what music I liked, I could point them at my profile.

To keep it current I just click my twitter button and then click post when it asks me if what it is suggesting is okay... that is because it defaults to the last type of action it took. TwittyTunes automatically fills in the name of the song I am listening to -- regardless of the music or video player -- and a link on Foxy Tunes that tries to find that song, album, track performer and other information. Now an important part is that it always asks you to confirm as not only does TwittyTunes allow you to this easily post what you are listening to, it also would allow you to instead post the website you are viewing in the exact same way.

When it asks you to confirm the post there is a ribbon selector -- one of those boxes with the arrow that allows you to make a selection -- for a few different ways to present what you are listening to as well as options for what page you are viewing instead; or even a plain text window like what Twitter normally has.

It is that simple to post the music, video, or web page you are viewing or listening to -- or other information -- without leaving the web page you are on or opening another browser window.

Here are your choices from the TwittyTunes box¹:

Listening to:
Listening a lot lately to:
Listening to a song I love:
Now playing:
@Foxytunes_DJ:

Browsing:
At:
@:
Reading:
Looking at:
Watching:
Free Text
Free Text + URL

It is very simple to use and with Firefox, Foxytunes gives you a very easy way to post to Twitter as well as a nice way to control your music player from the bottom of your web browser.

But, you do have to be careful... You have to make sure that the last thing you put up wasn't "I'm browsing:" with the url for the current web page or it might be embarrassing if you were really planning on telling folks you were listening to Bach and you were looking at RacyWomenoftheSmithsonean.com.

Later!
~ Darrell

159.

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¹ I have discovered recently that posts starting with "@username" can be used to bring attention to the user whose name you include. The Twitter software will recognize it if you are looking for Twitter messages directed at you. I have noticed this being used on comment area of blogs and in forums as well lately. So on Twitter if I am following you and you start a message with "@Belgnorman" twitter will make it so that I can sort those posts out.

Too Real

When is it too much toy?

"Talk To Me Elmo" is an interesting toy. Now I have not seen one in action in person, but I have heard one in action over the phone being played with by my friend's 2-year-old and have seen the slightly more venerable "Tickle Me Elmo" which started that toy ball rolling. It was very interesting listening to "Elmo" chattering away with my "niece" while my friend was on the phone. My friend described how Elmo was flapping his arms and how my niece was flapping hers and later how she had set Elmo up at her drawing table expecting Elmo to do some drawing.

(image to left of "Talk To Me Elmo" from USA TODAY.com)

Now I don't think that "Talk To Me Elmo" is quite up to doing any drawing... yet ... but it did get me wondering about what people have said in the past about the effect of television on children. I was wondering about the effect of such life-like toys on children. There was always this controversy about how children might not understand the difference between reality and fiction, or reality and fantasy with the television offerings they had. That was combined with the large number of hours of TV viewing that children were starting to have.

Toys like the new Elmo might be bending that line further. Perhaps not too much problem with the current generation of Elmo toys, but what about the near future?

This Elmo can interact with the child at least by touch and "...remembers a child's name and habits..."¹ according the the 2005 article on USA TODAY.com. The current one I know does much and probably more than the 2005 edition.

I am not sure if we should be worried or at least be concerned over the direction toys might be taking in blurring the boundaries between toy and reality... or is it toy? These toys are small robots and computers and the children are becoming very comfortable with them.

Of course perhaps we have to watch about not the boundary between reality and illusion, fiction, or fantasy -- but rather the boundary between life and automation.

Later!
~ Darrell

153.

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¹ "New tech toys walk, talk and play tunes this Christmas" Sept 6 2005; Angela Moore; Reuters USATODAY.com -- Tech Products..

Mile i Pod

Watching What You Want to Watch Where You Want to When You Want to

Alright here is something perhaps new for you... Where do your rights start when it comes to where you can watch or surf something on the privacy of your own PED (Personal Electronic Device -- Notebook or Laptop computer; iPod; Portable DVD player; mp4 player; personal video player...)?

American Airlines has an in-flight Wi-Fi service now for passengers which started on some flights August 20th¹ and there are concerns voiced by flight attendants and passengers about people using the service to access porn sites while on flights. An article on Bloomberg.com mentions that there were "a lot of complaints"¹and that the Association of Professional Flight Attendants has brought up the issue with management  They recommend that American filter its Wi-Fi service -- blocking black-listed sites -- in order to block offensive content² as I believe there are plans to screen VoIP service as well³. VoIP is Voice over Internet Protocol which basically is the primary way of making telephone calls by way of your Internet connection. (image to left* from Image*After)

There are a number of issues involved. There are the worries that passengers will complain that their neighbouring passengers are watching objectionable material on their PED. Of course there are also worries that passengers might be disturbed that their ability to access any site they could from home would be blocked in a form of censorship. More seem to be accepting of this in the case of the VoIP¹. Perhaps they can see that is in direct competition with the telephone service the airlines already charge for on flights?

Flight Attendants in addition to not wanting to get an eyeful of something they'd rather not see on someone's PED also do not want to become "moral policemen"¹ and have one more area where they might have to lay down the law. They have their hands full with other aspects of the job and likely don't want to have to settle disputes between passengers -- which might be either "they've got something objectionable on their screen" or "the person behind me keeps looking over my shoulder". Another aspect is people doing lewd things while watching explicit content.

(image to right from Image*After)

This is not something that came up just with the introduction of WiFi and Internet connectivity on airliners. This issue also comes up with whether an airline can prohibit what sorts of DVD or other content a passenger is viewing on their PED. A person can have a DVD with nearly any sort of content imaginable and pop it into a player -- whether computer or not -- and play it with no Internet involved at all. Likewise for video podcasts or even audio ones -- remember the "faked orgasm scene" from "When Harry Met Sally".

Of course these things did not appear with digital electronics. The same problems can be said about explicit magazines. Anyone could flip open the magazine of their choice on the airplane and start "reading the articles". Things like this have been a part of life for quite a while and are not really new.

Anyone who is offering the service of an Internet hookup probably has the right to say what they want to provide or block -- perhaps other than the actual providers? If  coffee shop provides WiFi connection to its customers, they probably can block access to some sites with blocking programs. I know when I go to places that provide such services the first thing I get when I try to access the Web is a screen asking if I accept the limits and risks imposed on me and that I might be exposed to by connecting to the Internet there. I can just imagine someone suing a coffee shop for a virus they picked up on their computer when the were downloading pirated game software.

(Image to left from Image*After)

I am not sure if it is a "non-problem" really. I don't know that it has been a problem with people sitting in coffee shops drinking Latte and watching XXX. For the most part regular people behave themselves in public. The times they don't seem to tend to be the times when they are getting intoxicated or high... and that is an issue on its own whether on land, "see" or airline. Control the booze and you likely won't have to worry  about controlling the people.

(image to right from Notebook Review¹¹)

Of course if you control porn sites, then you'll want to control pirate software sites too. You'll want to screen out any site that would have illegal activity on it. But what about violent video games? ...music with violent lyrics? ...content that might be deemed offensive for racial, religious, or other sexual reasons? What if someone is watching news content from an enemy country? ...or news from a country that has opposing views to your own country? What if one person is offended that the person next to them is watching religious programming?

I think that often the answer given by peace officers is "then don't look" -- though sometimes it is hard when it is presented nearly on your own lap. Luckily nearly everyone has the decency to use headphones or earphones. I think that rather than blocking things, it perhaps should all be taken care of on a case by case basis.

I was remembering back when I was in university and calculators were a novel thing still, but becoming commonplace. There were worries about people cheating by seeing the numbers on someone else's calculator. I think that manufacturers foresaw this because it wasn't very long before calculators -- at least scientific and engineering calculators -- had recessed numbers so that you could only read the display from where you were using it. If you were to the side at all you couldn't read the numbers.

Anti-glare shields that came out for early computer monitors (image to left - image from Ergo in Demand) also had this function and it was considered to be a feature for offices where you wouldn't want confidential information seen by people nearby. With some older laptops it was difficult to see the screen unless you were in front of them. But because many people want to share what they show on their laptop screen, many consider it a bonus to have the screen viewable from a broad range of angles -- otherwise there would be less problem with neighbours seeing what you see.

But there are purposes for such a product for notebooks especially and perhaps there are such products out already... Yup There is a 3M PF14.1 - notebook privacy filter! (image to right - image from CDW Canada)

Perhaps though there might be a market for disposable/resusable "blinders" for computers? Perhaps the airlines might offer them for safe viewing? They could also double as glare shields from the cabin lighting.

Protection provided for your viewing pleasure.

Later!
~ Darrell

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¹ "American Air Attendants Urge Fiters to Bar Web Porn (Update3)" Mary Schlangenstein, Sept. 10, 2008; Bloomberg.com: News.

² "Porn on a plane: Flight attendants fret over inappropriate Web surfing" David Carnoy, Sept. 12, 2008; Crave, the gadget bog -- CNET, news.cnet.com.

³ "Airlines planning to filter, censor in-flight 'Net access" Jacqui Cheng, Dec. 24, 2007; From the News Desk -- ars technica.
"Porn on a plane! Concerns raised over naughty in-flight WiFi" Jacqui Cheng, Sept. 12 2008; From the News Desk -- ars technica.

¹¹ "Coffee Shop Laptop Zombies" Andrew, May 23, 2007; Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion - Notebook Review

* Images of airliners not intended to represent American Airlines or specific airline

A Different Perspective

Looking at Things From a New Angle

I think there has been a change in how many people look at things in the Western World. For much of the 20th Century -- up until the 1970's or 80's we were very much driven by paper. If we were doing a report or take notes we would write it on paper that was oriented vertically. Our TV's and movie screens however were oriented horizontally. The current terms used for these orientations -- at least in the world of the Internet, so far as I know -- are "Portrait" (image to left by DWP¹) and "Landscape" (image to right by DWP¹).

Where this comes important is when video digital terminals and later personal computer monitors came into common use. The terminals and monitors were nearly all in landscape orientation. There were a few notable exceptions I'll get to. This wasn't of great importance until people began to be able to compose documents on the computer or electronic word processor. The screen just didn't fit the printed word on paper. Paper of course normally in publication is in the portrait orientation.

To begin with there was little issue because people wrote on the computer and what they wrote was really not in the same format as what they expected to see printed on paper. Good "word processors" would have a tool for previewing what the printed document should look like and it was okay if this just took up a portion of the landscape oriented screen. Later word processing software and office suites -- to be joined with actual "Desktop Publishing" software -- actually was WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). That meant that what you saw on the screen more and more resembled what was actually going to be seen on paper and at full size. Of course the screen went one way and the paper the other. For the most part that has just been accepted and programs have included modes that let you see shrunken versions that will fit on the monitor screen or just let you see a part of the page. Sometimes it is nice to see a two page or even multi-page preview on screen to see how things fit together as a whole document.

Apple did take a step forward with their Portrait Display for the Macintosh²³ (image to right - image from "myoldmac.net"). It was monochrome like the original Macs and since so were printers at the time, black print on white screen was just fine. (or many shades of grey) There also was pride on very white screens if I recall the term "paper white screen. There were also monitors developed that would rotate from landscape to portrait orientation. I think that the portrait oriented monitors were/are mostly used by people who do a lot of desktop publishing.

With the ability to have multiple monitors hooked up to computers now and shared desktops and so forth, there is a resurgence in use of portrait oriented monitors. (image to left - image from "MacNN Forumsª")  Probably the new thin designed screens also makes it easier to design and implement considering the lighter components inside without the hefty cathode ray tube (CRT) and transformers.

Note how the second portrait monitor fits so nicely to the left of the main, quite large monitor.

Consider this though: will there be a bias when people design pages, for them to design to the landscape page more often now than the portrait? I got to thinking about that a few years ago when designing event posters for the museum I volunteer at. (The Port Moody Station Museumº) I was designing the posters to fit on regular "letter" sized paper and thought about how we orient such stuff on the paper. Often maps will go landscape while small posters go portrait. When people put together websites although the screen tends to be landscape, the pages tend to either be designed to fit one page landscape or extend portrait style.

I was wondering if people seeing more and more things in text on a landscape screen would be tending to design documents on that landscape orientation? I know some things just fit better one way or the other. Many people do read things more easily in narrower columns so a wide page is a problem. (Sorry but I can't cite a source at the moment on that, it is something told me by teachers and I have read in articles on learning disorders. It has to do with the eye skipping up or down a line more easily on long lines.) But a wide page can take multiple columns like the news papers have.

Still I think people are more used to scrolling down a long web page than across one. Though the trackpad on my Macbook and the MightyMouse I bought for it can scroll horizontally with equal ease, most mice I have come across are intended to scroll vertically. I wonder though if younger people have less bias against horizontal scrolling and horizontally presented pages? Of course... do people have any bias at all in either direction? .

Later!
~ Darrell

134.

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¹ "DWP" -- That's me.

² "myoldmac.net -- Apple Macintosh Portrait Display -- Buy it!"

³ "Apple Portrait Display" MonitorWorld.com.

ª "The New Power Mac Picture Thread -- Page 13" blakespot; Sept 29, 2006, 6:00 pm: MacNN Forums

º "The Port Moody Station Museum Blog" 2734 Murray Street Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada (604) 939-1648 run by the Port Moody Heritage Society

Biting the Apple: A Byte of Apps

Some Application Software That Might Be of Interest

The Apple comes with some pretty neat software already included and there are demo versions of a number of useful pieces of software that you might purchase as well. There are other Gems that you might want to bite into. I figured I'd mention some here.

First I was reminded by this when looking for an upgrade to a plug-in for one of the "Apps" or applications I am going to mention here. I saw a list of such programs on a page of his. He wrote a plug-in for a program called Adium that will tell you the time it is for other people who you are communicating with. So perhaps I shall start there... First off I just want to mention "Words by Patrick" which is a blog by "Patrick". He has a list of "Apps for First Time Max Users" which is what inspired me to create this article. I'll talk about "Adium" in a little bit.

Adium X

Internet Chat - Messenger Program - Handles Many/Most different sorts of messengers

Free for Use - By Donation

When I first started chatting on the Internet I was using ICQ, then another friend was using Yahoo! Instant Messenger, then another MSN Instant Messenger, then another on Netscape Instant Messenger, another on AOL Instant Messenger... It got a bit cluttered keeping track and so on Windows 98 someone introduced me to a program called "Trillian" which was capable of combining all of those into a single program. It worked great and behaved really nice without popping up annoying things and using a fairly unified system for controlling stuff. Like I could say I was away to do dishes in Trillian and all the messengers would get the message and so all my assorted friends would know I was up to my elbows...

Of course Trillian wasn't available for the Apple so when I got my MacBook I had to look for something else and after one other experience... I found "Adium X"! That's a neat little program that handles the many messengers and more all with a cute little ducky icon. You don't have to keep the cute ducky, but I did.

I have really been finding Adium to be useful and I sometimes forget about my days useing Trillian. It is especially useful in situations where I have more than one account on a service. Mostly it keeps my desktop easier to manage. If there is one thing I would change about Adium it would be to incorporate the audio and video capabilities of the various chat programs. There is no direct way to do that -- though there are some indirect ways. Eventually I hope Adium will include those capabilities.

I guess with all those chat programs --even ones like MySpace IM and FaceBook -- things can get messy, so Adium helps you keep all your ducks in a row!

Skype

Computer-Computer -- Computer-Telephone -- Telephone-Computer Chat

Computer-Computer use Free -- Computer-Telephone & Telephone-Computer by usage fee or with paid membership.

While on the topic of messengers and chatting online, there is one system that I think is worthy of mentioning that works great on the Apple. Skype is a communication program that works excellently for talking to friends with our without video connections. I find that audio works well with even dial-up connections. With a dial-up connection on one end and a broadband connection on the other audio is great but video, while it works sometimes will disconnect. Of course you can normally quickly reconnect. It is still good for keeping in touch if you are a long distance away from a loved one. If you have broadband connections on both ends then video chatting is very good and dependent on things like how good your camera is. The built in iSight camea and microphone in the MacBook is excellent. I haven't tried calling someone's telephone yet, but I think that if the quality is the same as with the computer to computer connection, it would be worth paying for to use. You do have to pay on a regular basis to keep a phone number through Skype and I believe that you must select a City for that phone number to determine local calls coming into it.

Skype Plug-in for Adium

Skype API protocol plug-in for Adium

There is a plug-in that allows you to access Skype using Adium. Unlike the other chat and messenger programs that you use with Adium you do have to have Skype installed and running. The plug-in basically allows you to control everything from the Adium interface. This is one of the indirect ways that you can use audio and video with Adium. You can do your text chatting with Adium and if you wish, right click on the user's name and select Call to call them. This will open a call window from Skype for the call which you make using a Skype window for audio and video. Skype does have to be running to use the Skype plug-in with Adium -- but it sure is handy for an Adium user.

They just finished an upgrade for Adium today and the Skype Plug-in is in the process of being upgraded to match it so doesn't work at the moment. But I was assured by the developer it is comming.

I think that I will leave this list of Apple Applications here for now and continue in future columns.

Later!
~ Darrell

126.

Surge's Up!

Look Ma! No Wires!

Something I have just come across on the technology news is something demonstrated by Intel -- a wireless power system!

Their demonstration involved a stand with a 60-Watt light bulb powered by their magnetic resonance technique. This technique uses a tuned coil to resonate with the same frequency as that of the oscillating magnetic field in the power source. (image to left -- image from Daily Tech¹)

Intel demonstrated the system August 22, 2008² with the 60-Watt bulb possibly because it "...uses more power than a typical laptop computer."² While transmitting power has been possible with different technologies since the times of Nikola Tesla -- back before power-lines crossed the countryside. ...Tesla came up with the technique of AC power.

Nikola Tesla was looking for ways to transmit power over long distances; thinking that nobody would be interested in laying grids of power lines across city and countryside. Of course we now now different with our cities and countrysides criss-crossed with networks of powerlines carrying Tesla's multi-phased AC current. Image to right of Nikola Tesla demostrating wireless power transmission. (image to right -- image from Serbia the Golden Apple³)

The Intel demonstration however was of shorter range and not intended for sending power across the city, rather its intent is to power devices within the home or office without wires. It might only mean not having to plug in your cell phone, but it charging whenever at home or in the office -- or perhaps being able to use your notebook computer anywhere in the house or office without draining the battery and without needing to plug in... ever.

Another area is peripherals for the computer. Consider wireless keyboard and mouse which will never need you to replace or recharge a battery. I have been writing about cell phones and computer stuff -- perhaps focusing on it because I am writing this article on a computer and that was what they talked about in the article. Perhaps this is also because Intel is aiming in this direction. There are likely many other applications that you and I can discover.

I wonder if there are medical possibilities for keeping artificial hearts and other devices charged and running? The main power-source kept outside transmitting power to the device - magnetically coupled to the source outside?

MIT team and their setup to power 60 Watt bulb. (image to left - image from MIT News Officeª)

The efficiency of the demonstration system with the light bulb was only 75% efficiency at around a metre distance so you might not want to think about tossing away every power-cord. On the other hand, you might be able to have power stations for certain tasks... like for instance your desk might have one and all the computer equipment and peripherals might be powered by a local station in the desk. That might include charging your PDA, cellphone, mp3 player, notebook computer, portable hard drive and similar equipment as well as powering the mouse, keyboard, and other equipment without any cords crisscrossing the desk.

Still I think you might have some resonant frequencies for the desk, kitchen, entertainment unit, and...

Of course... there are always the spectres of health issues. They say that the interaction at the frequencies used with biological materials is minimal... but how minimal is minimal and what effects might there be? People are starting to consider the growing background of microwave radiation we are being bathed with even if we don't use cellphones, cordless phones, or wireless networking. Perhaps those people who line their hats with tin foil might have a good idea.

Later!
~ Darrell

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¹ "Intel Demos Bizarre Tesla-esque Wireless Power Transmission System" Jason Mick (blog) August 22, 2008 - Daily Tech.

² "Intel demos wireless power system" AFP August 22, 2008 - Canada.com.

³ "Genius From Smiljan" Serbia the Golden Apple - Nikola Tesla (Serbia).

ª "Goodbye Wires... - MIT News Office" MIT news.

Other links: "Travelling magnetic field for homogeneous wireless power transmission"; "Technology Review: TR10: Wireless Power".

Button Button

Click On This, Drag That

While navigating my browser a moment ago I realized how used to pushing buttons on my computer I had gotten. It is bad enough with the mouse and with the track pad on my MacBook I feel even more like I am just moving my finger on the screen. I fully realize there are tablet PCs, iPhones, Ipod touch, PDA, and other devices with touch screens which are even more directly tactile for pressing and moving things in a virtual environment. I am not even going to get into the VR Visors, helmets, gloves, globes¹, touch tables, and performance art touch screens or the projected interaction advertising systems where you can touch an image projected on floor or wall... or the projected keyboards and screens experimented with that project keyboard and screen on any actual desk surface or tabletop. ...or did I just get into them?

The thing is we have gotten very used to manipulating virtual items. We are used to on-screen controls for things like the VCR and DVD or the Cable-box or... Even the monitors we use most often have on-screen controls even if not touch screen.

Have you ever wanted to use your remote control like a mouse on your TV screen to move things around, like to move a TV logo out of the way so you could read the important subtitle it is blocking? Perhaps you can do it right now and if not you might be able to in future. I am just making an observation about how some of the more technologically comfortable of us might be getting very comfortable with the idea of pushing virtual buttons on a web page or other piece of software. I really look forward to having an electronic desk top... not a desktop on my monitor, but a monitor surface as my desk's desk top. Of course there will be the issue of having real objects placed on top of the virtual objects and I would imagine coasters with felt bottoms would be a must. ...or coffee Verboten! Personally I think any tabletop surface intended for touchscreen monitor use, other than something for the drafts man or equivalent should be designed to cope with things like beverage or spaghetti spills.

...hmm I would imagine that a really good touch screen desk would work around things put on it. Can you imagine your information doing a word wrap around the coffee cup sitting on the desk at the moment so that none of the words end up under the cup? Well, maybe not, but the desktop software would avoid place documents under lamps or stacks of paper if possible... I can imagine the warning message:

*** Warning Desktop Is Dangerously Covered Some Documents Might Be Hidden Please Clean Desk ***

I am sure they could use one of the trademark "you done something naughty" Windows sounds for it.

Later!
~ Darrell

118.

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¹ I wrote about a virtual reality globe the Virtusphere July 20 2008.

Maybe Simpler Than It Looks

The Internet Might be Simpler Than it Looks

Okay, using the computer to write email might be simpler than you think. I am not just talking to teens and twenties, or adults or the middle aged. I mean for nearly anyone to be able to use a computer to do things like read and write email.

Granted some of this is just a wee bit dated since I don't have Windows Vista installed, but that should make things easier and not harder -- right Microsoft?

There actually is a point to that game "Solitaire" that all computers since the ones running Windows first came out have had installed on them. Sure that simple card game can be addictive to some and a time waster -- but if you can turn the computer on, turn on that game and play it, then turn the game off and turn the computer off -- you already know how to do most of the stuff you need to in order to do most anything on the Internet!

Nearly everything else you "need" can be known if you also know how to start up that utility called "Notepad" and write a note and save it so that you can later retrieve it.

I'm not really going to teach you all that here, but just a few things...

First you learn how to turn the thing on. There'll be a way that you are supposed to do it -- normally a button on the case-computer box if it is a desktop, but you can ask about it. (notebook-laptop computers have switches and buttons somewhere too) You might have to turn on the power bar-extension cord first and you might have to turn on the monitor-tv screen. Why not call it the computer's "tv screen"? I mean we know it isn't the TV, but that is what it looks like, right? Anyway you might have to use that mouse to choose your user name on the screen when it asks for it and then enter in a code. Probably it will be something easy for you to type but hard for someone to guess. (not your spouse's name or your name or birthday -- especially not your spouse's birthday!) It should be easy to type because the computer will not print the letters or numbers on the screen and you will be typing a bit blind. Then you sit back and let the computer turn itself on!

I think you can figure out when it has finished with that. The mouse pointer will look like a ponter rather than a rotating hour glass or whatever it looks like when the computer is busy thinking.

Now the hard part... finding out where they hid stuff. For now we look for Solitaire... This will be easier if you have someone who can point the way. Remember it is sort of like a maze on paper. Each time you click or double click on something you go to another page. When you get to solitaire have someone show you how to play. Have someone show you how to get there a couple times. Show them that you can do it too so that you might show someone else in future.

Everything you do in solitaire is something you do on the computer on the Internet.

• You click on things
• You double click on things
• You open menus and click on items
• You drag things and let go of them in the right place
• You might even learn to right click on things
• You learn about the menu bar and where the quit item is
• You learn where the options are like how to change the card backs or style of game

If you can do these things you have learned much.

Next you learn how to go to NotePad and how to type in messages and save them....

Now my telling you how to do these things makes them sound very complicated. If I showed you how, you might be amazed how easy it is.

One thing you might be interested in knowing is that nearly regardless of what type or age of computer you are running on, it is the page you go to that determines how it works. So when I go to Gmail using my MacBook using my Firefox web browser program it works exactly the same as if I were to use my Windows XP desktop computer using Internet Explorer or if I used other browsers such as Safari or Opera. I actually use Firefox on both my Windows XP desktop computer and my MacBook so the experience is identical.

Then what you need to do is have someone create you an email account and get you the email addresses of those you want to write. It is only a few more bits and pieces to be shown in order to correspond with your loved ones and others. I have a few tricks on writing letters for later!

Later!
~ Darrell

95.

Biting the Apple: How Do I Back Up Files to a DVD?

How Do I Burn Files to a DVD?

I might be more computer literate than your average bear, but I sometimes look upon new tasks with trepidation. It wasn't so hard to use my CD Burner -- I guess you would call that a CD Writer-ReWriter if you even still remember such things associated with computers. At least it wasn't so hard to use the CD Burner to create disks that I could essentially use as small removable hard drives or like very large "floppy disks".

Just a little Aside:

Now if CD Burners are alien to you, floppy disks will even be more so. Floppy disks were the medium of choice for transporting files from computer to computer long before Internet connection even by dial-up was common. While many offices had networks, smaller ones often had what was referred to as "sneaker-net" which basically meant you copied the files to a "floppy" and carried it to the other computer physically -- "sneaker" referring to your common ordinary running shoe. They started out being flimsy plastic discs permanently contained in slightly less flimsly plastic (vinyl?) envelopes with windows and notches cut into them. The first ones were around 8 inches across. Later they shrunk to 5 1/4 inches square or the 5 1/4" floppies. Tandys, Apples, Commodores, Ataris, and even the original XT's and all the way up to the 386's of the PCs had them. The Classic Mac went away from them as did the Amiga, though the Amiga I know had an available external one. The Macs and Amigas went to the more robust, faster, more powerful, bionic... well not bionic... 3 1/2 inch floppy. A lot of people don't realize that these 3 1/2" disks were still floppy disks because they came encased in a protective hard plastic shell with a sliding window that protected the disk inside. That disk inside was still very much like what was in the 8" and 5 1/4" floppy disks. Eventually they held typically a whole 1.44 Mb of data and that is what everyone got their software to install on their computer on. Windows 3.1 came on floppy disks for instance.

That worked well until I tried to take disks I created to other people's computers only to discover they didn't work as the system I was using was "proprietary" -- meaning does not play well with others -- and this was an issue. It was possible for me to create disks nearly anyone else could use, but it took more learning to do and for some reason I just never made many disks other than necessary backups.

The CD's were also limited to around 700MB and while at one time that was "HUGE", huge has a tendency to shrink very quickly in the computer world.

Well, one of the reasons I was upgrading to a newer system was to be able to work with DVDs. DVDs could hold more than the 700 MB that the CDs could. I am not sure how much the original DVD recordable media could hold, but the current DVD-R discs can now hold 4.7GB of Data. Considering that 700MB is not even 3/4 of 1GB, that is a large jump in size. I discovered actually that DVD players came way down in price and started saving for that. I wasn't sure how my cobbled together system -- I don't think it really has a "Powered by Frankenstein" sticker on it -- would handle a DVD player or Writer. But I realized when saving my birthday and Christmas money that I might consider saving for an actual new computer... That is how I got the cobbled together desktop computer in the first place really. My income did improve and rather than the low end notebook computer I was aiming for I realized I could aim for an Apple notebook. So I did.

The bottom of the end of the 13" MacBooks still had the CD Writer DVD Player combo -- I think that was called the Super Drive? -- and I wanted to be able to back things up in larger chunks than 700MB. Currently people buy multi-GB memory cards and card readers for some sorts of storage or memory sticks of multiple GB size. GB is Gigabyte or a thousand million bytes using binary numbers which means the actual numbers come out weird. MB is Megabyte or million bytes and KB is Kilobyte or thousand bytes.

So I got the middle of the line MacBook which I am fairly pleased with still after 7 months.

Getting back to backing up files to a DVD. Now I still don't know all the ins and outs, but one very simple way is to create a folder and give it the name you want the DVD to eventually have. Then copy all the files you want to go onto the DVD onto that folder. If you had already opened an Info window on that folder you could watch as the file size increased. I don't think you want to go much over 4.3GB though I am not 100% sure on the exact value. DVD recording material is not very expensive so I think that perhaps organization is more important than ramming every last byte you can onto the disc. Also I am not sure what happens if you go over. Also this is for DVD-R discs. I think DVD+R disks are the same and am not sure that there are other sizes or not?

Once you have the files in that folder you created and you have named and renamed them to your satisfaction and I figure if you have an obsessive nature you might want to sort the folders the way you want -- not sure it makes a difference -- then place a blank DVD into the drive. The Mac will spin up the drive and look to see what sort of disc it is. When it discovers that it is recordable and blank it will ask you what you want to do. In this case I click on "Ignore". There are other ways to do things, but this is how "I" am doing things at the moment and not an all inclusive manual. Once you have done that, Open up the folder you have created with the name you want on the DVD. It now has all the files you want to put on the DVD as well. If you have this folder open and it is the active folder, the "Finder" menu will be at the top of the screen. Click on "File" and when the menu drops down, towards the bottom will be a choice: Burn "DVDTitle" to disc

"DVDTitle" of course will be the title you gave to the folder you want to turn into a DVD. Conversely the computer is telling you that it is preparing to turn "DVDTitle" into a DVD. I left things as they were, It selected 8x for speed though I think my discs are rated for 16x. I think that is the maximum speed for the burner in the notebook. I clicked okay and the computer started creating my DVD. There was a progress indicator which showed how much had been done so far. Once the DVD had been written onto the DVD it then verified the data went on okay... I am not sure what would happen if it didn't -- would it be able to correct the error or just say "Sorry we have to try again, please insert another disc."

Simple -- the next thing I did was to eject the disc and use my permanent marker to label the disk. I do that right away now... I don't know how many of those darned floppy disks I have without labels...

Later!
~ Darrell

81.

Biting the Apple

Going For a Mac Instead

Perhaps a year and a half ago... maybe even two years ago I decided I was going to somehow get a new computer. I wanted a notebook - laptop - computer. My reasoning was that I wanted to be able to work on my writing whether I was at home here at my Gnomestead Apartment or at the Parental Homestead across the river. I also wanted the option to work at the museum where I volunteer at or the library. I also do some web management and have been known to do some other computer work where it would be handy to actually be able to show people stuff in their own home rather than scribble it on paper for them and then translate it to computer at home to then print off and show at home.

So I had reason to get a notebook computer. This decision was perhaps a greater one than for most as I am on a small fixed income with a bit of addition from those few outside jobs I mentioned - those jobs are not under the table. I considered going to a company like Dell or MDG to buy the computer on credit. They say that they will extend credit to almost anyone and talk about "a buck a day" on at least one of their advertisement themes. I did talk to a friend about it and she suggested that I instead wait and put the money aside and that a larger down payment might mean smaller payments or lower interest so I started adding a bit of money each month to the money I already had saved up. I had saved up a fair amount for a DVD player-recorder-re-recorder for my computer and I added to that sum for the new computer would have that built in. I looked to save up for a notebook which would have that and priced out the lower priced ones that would suite me.

After all I already had a functioning desktop model, I could wait and save money. I then got a bonus for some work I was already doing that added to my fixed income. I put half of that to savings. The savings for the computer could also be emergency money for... emergencies.

I realized that perhaps I might be able to get a nicer computer and started looking at tablet computers before I remembered discussions I had with my cousin about the Apple Mac. I knew about it of course. I have been around computers from before there were personal computers. But my cousin talked about things like how robust the Apple was in regards to things like viruses. My good friend's husband bought a Mac Power Book before they went to Japan and they liked it enough that when they came back, they bought an Apple desktop computer system.

I looked at the prices on the MacBooks - the entry level 13" ones - and compared the new OSX Leopard operating system with the new Windows Vista and with the Intel MacBooks being able to actually run Windows XP or Vista if I wanted as well as Leopard, I was sold. Eventually I had the money and the courage to spend it!

I bought the MacBook. (image to left - image from Apple Canada) It really seems to fit what I wanted. I am not sure if I should have gone for the 160 Gb hard drive instead of the 120 Gb one that I got, but I realized that I could get a 250 - 500 Gb external hard drive for the $200 price difference between the two models. I think if there was a choice in the stores locally I might have gone for the black one rather than the white one, but only the much more expensive 15 inch ones were available in the black.

I found it easy to move over to using the Apple and OSX Leopard after using Windows 98 and Windows XP. Granted I learned about computers in a rather organic manner. I grew up with them. I started learning on machines where you used punched cards with your program punched into them one line per card and fed into a card reader by a technician and graduated to using terminals both on campus or via modem with acoustic-couplers - you literally rested the telephone handset into a cradle with a speaker and microphone to connect the modem to the phone line. Directly connected modems were not common. Luckily at the time nearly all handsets were the same. Later the personal computers came out. Radio Shack's TRS-80, Apple II's, and Commodore Pets followed the earlier kits of Altair 80-80's and their like. then the Commodore VIC20 and Commodore 64 and... eventually the Compac, and other machines running CPM and then cam MSDOS and the IBM and IBM clones. I can't forget the Texas Instruments computers and Hewlett Packard ones as well. The XT and others ended up taking a large chunk of the market from the Mac, Amiga, and the Atari which ran on Motorola processors. Eventually, at least in America it was the PCs and the Macs that were left.

With learning the various operating systems as they were introduced and the various keyboards and other control devices - I used GUI's similar to windows using a Joystick because mice were very expensive and not something one casually bought when you were just getting used to a new system like GEOS. So I learned how to switch from one thing to another with minimal instruction. Perhaps that made transition easier?

On the other hand... I am mostly using EXACTLY the same software I use on my desktop PC for most of my usage with the exception of some new software I am learning. For instance, I am writing this blog entry using the ScribeFire Application for the Mozilla Firefox Browser here on my MacBook. It is identical in appearance, function, and capability to the same software that I use on my Windows XP Desktop computer. The biggest differences are that the screen is a bit difference in proportion and that the keyboard feels different and does not have a numeric keypad. I do have a mouse for the MacBook, but choose to use the trackpad by choice. If I were to shift down two screens and activate "Remote Desktop Connection" I would be able to access my PC via my wireless network and router and could run Firefox on my PC using my MacBook keyboard, trackpad, and monitor and there would be no difference.

For most of my office type work I use Open Office on the PC - it is a good alternative to the MS - Office line of software and even has some advantages. It is one of those pieces of software that you can pay for essentially by donation and it is worthy of donating to. I use Open Office on my PC and there is a variation for my Intel Mac called NeoOffice which is nearly 100% identical to the Windows version.

That takes care of 90% of my usage.

The other 10%... Well I am not 100% converted. I still use my old faithful venerable copy of "Adobe Online" on my Windows XP box - but I use it via Remote Desktop Connection from my MacBook so it feels like it is running there and I can use it anywhere in my apartment. I could experiment with accessing it via the internet, but so far... haven't felt too compelling a need for that possible security weakness. I still could install Windows XP or Vista on the MacBook. But I don't know about taking up room from my 120 Gb internal hard drive... that was where I was contemplating whether that decision to chose it over the 160 Gb drive was wise or not springs from. However if I get the right external drive... I would install Windows XP on it and then either used the built in "boot camp" utility in Leopard to boot up as a Windows computer or one of the available for purchase programs that would let me run Windows XP concurently while running Leopard. Then I could run the few programs I go back to the PC for.

I think I shall get back to this subject later and tell you more about the transition to working on an Apple. It isn't all apple blossums like some might lead you to believe.

Later!
~ Darrell.

71.

Long Distance Over Time

Message fer ya sir!

Communications has come far in a short while. Of course short is sort of hard to define. I keep thinking that I was a school kid not too long ago and here that was around 40 years ago.

In any case, when I was a kid in the 1960's way back in the 20th century people still got telegrams! Albeit we used phones and had long distance calling. We could call across oceans though even a call across a province or state wouldn't have the clarity of a call across the city. We also wouldn't need an operator for a call most places in the city. I think that for a while at least we did need the operator to call long distance. Definitely we were tied to the wall with wires. Some people more than others if they tended to stand and pivot while talking. Cordless phones didn't exist and while there were the very rare "radio telephones" the emphasis was on "radio" and not "telephone".

With the radio telephone ypu called a radio operator and they dialed the phone number and patched you through. You couldn't just talk into the telephone handset because you couldn't talk and listen at the same time - there was a switch to press to talk which turned off the earpiece. It also had limits to its range, though my uncle used it in pretty remote places... Come to think of it, I don't think there's cell phone coverage in those places yet.

Many home phones were actually built into cubbyholes in the wall in the kitchen because there only was one phone in the home and it was owned by "the" phone company. It was illegal to attach non-phone company property to the lines. There were other phones for office desks and affluent people had "princess" phones in their bedrooms. Most all phones had dials rather than pushbuttons. Only ten digits all in a circle.

Getting back to the telegrams - people still used them for a few reasons. I know that families dreaded them because a telegram almost always was bad news. Normally it told you that someone dear to you had died. It was used for important communication over long distances because - I guess - the long distance phone service was unreliable and might be misunderstood. Telex systems were around for business correspondence and there were computers in the truly major companies. They used punched cards, magnetic tapes, magnetic drums, and some even magnetic disks. When I learned programming in the mid 70's we still used punched cards, though terminals were around.

The other thing with long distance calling was that it was expensive. A call from Grandma and Grandpa in Manitoba was an event! We lived in Calgary, Alberta at the time - a distance of around 1000 miles away and few people flew. It almost seems that long distance calls back then were as common as flying is today - not quite but it felt like it.

Today, you can make long distance calls anywhere in Canada and the US for as little as 3 cents a minute or even - if you know how to subscribe - unlimited long distance for between $3 and $17 a month! Then there are the Cell phones which allow people to talk from nearly any halfway civilized place. Of course they are meaning the demise of the pay telephone just as very cheap long distance has meant the demise of the telegram. (Well there are other reasons too.) And then there is communication by computer: you can correspond with email; chat live via instant messenger; talk via messenger or VOIP; or even visit using Video and Audio. Virtual reality is nearly here if it isn't already on a limited level.

I already regularly have video conversations with friends in other hemispheres without any worry about costs. Sometimes we have conferences with more than just two of us.

So, from expensive poor quaity long distance telephone calls from phones hard wired to the wall to video calls without toll charges to other hemispheres... it has been quite a ride.

I joke sometimes with my friends about sneezes heard around the world.

Later!
~Darrell