Wednesday, January 21, 2009
No, I can't
So the big day has come and gone. The dawning of the Age of Obama. I wanted to soak in all the inaugural pageantry, but, alas, I had to work. John Silver did have the coverage streaming onto his computer. Looking across the room, I was able to observe the swearing in. But then J.S. shut down the feed and we got back to business. (He later said that he had wanted to catch the inaugural speech, but got flustered because the boss and our business manager came in to watch the oath over his shoulder.) My plan was to later download the speech at work and then watch it in the comfort and privacy of my own home. Imagine my disappointment when I tried to do that yesterday afternoon. I found all sorts of sites that would stream the video to me, but a fat lot of good that would do me in the comfort and privacy of my own limited-to-dial-up home. I ended up having to settle for downloading the text and reading it.
So, is this what we are to expect from this new administration? Are the words of the 44th President of these United States meant only for the rich, for those who can afford either a fast internet connection or to take the morning off of work? (And don't go telling me that I could have set my VCR to tape it, because... well, I forgot to, darn it!) Is it too much to ask that somebody post a lousy little mpeg file in a place where one can find it? Hey, Mr. Commander-in-Chief, I want some change here! I voted for you, now I expect you to do something about it!
(Well, I suppose it would be okay if you closed down Guantanamo first. And ended the Iraq debacle. And jacked up the economy. And fixed some of those bridges. And maybe get that puppy housebroken. And...)
So, is this what we are to expect from this new administration? Are the words of the 44th President of these United States meant only for the rich, for those who can afford either a fast internet connection or to take the morning off of work? (And don't go telling me that I could have set my VCR to tape it, because... well, I forgot to, darn it!) Is it too much to ask that somebody post a lousy little mpeg file in a place where one can find it? Hey, Mr. Commander-in-Chief, I want some change here! I voted for you, now I expect you to do something about it!
(Well, I suppose it would be okay if you closed down Guantanamo first. And ended the Iraq debacle. And jacked up the economy. And fixed some of those bridges. And maybe get that puppy housebroken. And...)
Labels: computers, life, silliness
Progress
(Written on Saturday, posted on... Wednesday? I've gotta manage my time better.)
Heh. Yesterday at work I got to install Adobe Creative Suite 4 on my Mac. One of our customers has upgraded, hence it was time for us to do so as well. So at 7:30 am, when I determined that I could not open the mysterious InDesign file they had sent, I started the installation. Foolish lad that I am, I went and installed the entire suite instead of first installing only the application I needed. Over six hours later, it was done. I probably slowed the process up by continuing to do work on the computer while the installer ran in the background. For that reason, I suppose that I'm better off than years past, when I'd have to sit and swap floppy disks in order to install new software. But... six hours? Sheesh!
(Oh, and I began this post with a chuckle because once the installation had finished. I immediately opened the provided file. It was three lines of text destined for a one color label. If I had a pdf or even a hard copy or that file I could have typeset it scores of times in the time I was waiting. Gotta love it.)
Heh. Yesterday at work I got to install Adobe Creative Suite 4 on my Mac. One of our customers has upgraded, hence it was time for us to do so as well. So at 7:30 am, when I determined that I could not open the mysterious InDesign file they had sent, I started the installation. Foolish lad that I am, I went and installed the entire suite instead of first installing only the application I needed. Over six hours later, it was done. I probably slowed the process up by continuing to do work on the computer while the installer ran in the background. For that reason, I suppose that I'm better off than years past, when I'd have to sit and swap floppy disks in order to install new software. But... six hours? Sheesh!
(Oh, and I began this post with a chuckle because once the installation had finished. I immediately opened the provided file. It was three lines of text destined for a one color label. If I had a pdf or even a hard copy or that file I could have typeset it scores of times in the time I was waiting. Gotta love it.)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Rambling
Ah, whatever shall I write? I'm currently at the Library, downloading radio programs for Noodles. I can't afford a DSL connection, but with an AirPort card and free WiFi at the Seattle Public Library, I don't have to. The Library is quite busy this cool and rainy afternoon. There were so many kids running about that I thought there must have been a class having a field trip or something. I'm wondering how we ever fit this many people in the old library building. Or has patronage at this branch really picked up?
Hmmm, it seems that my Mac or Firefox or whatever has an efficient method to help me monitor my downloads. I start the file downloading, then switch to this window and start typing. When the file has finished downloading, my cursor mysteriously exits the text field and my keystrokes go straight into the ether. Wunnerful.
Not much on the agenda for tonight. Last night I went to the InDesign users group meeting where they demonstrated all the new wonders in the CS4 applications. I was dutifully impressed, but the skeptic in me wondered how much RAM and processing power those bells and whistles sucked up. I guess I'll find out in about ten years when I'll be buying the computers and software that are new today.
Ah, finished with the shows from 2005. That should keep her busy for a couple of days. Think I'll post this sucker and maybe browse the stacks a bit.
Hmmm, it seems that my Mac or Firefox or whatever has an efficient method to help me monitor my downloads. I start the file downloading, then switch to this window and start typing. When the file has finished downloading, my cursor mysteriously exits the text field and my keystrokes go straight into the ether. Wunnerful.
Not much on the agenda for tonight. Last night I went to the InDesign users group meeting where they demonstrated all the new wonders in the CS4 applications. I was dutifully impressed, but the skeptic in me wondered how much RAM and processing power those bells and whistles sucked up. I guess I'll find out in about ten years when I'll be buying the computers and software that are new today.
Ah, finished with the shows from 2005. That should keep her busy for a couple of days. Think I'll post this sucker and maybe browse the stacks a bit.
