I am sending the following paper letter to Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.
Tim Cook
Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino CA 95014
Dear Mr. Cook,
It is 1984 and Apple is Big Brother!
I have been debugging software, my own and others’, for fifty-nine years. In 1983 I left corporate life to work on personal computers. Some of them were more difficult to program than the main-frames I had worked on.
Then came Apple and the Macintosh in 1984. By September I had my first Mac (and a Lisa). Pascal was a joy of simplicity, even if I had to do it through the Lisa. Every time a new Mac came out, I was eager to buy one as soon as possible. More storage, more speed. Hurray!
One of the standing jokes was that Mac owners didn’t need manuals because of WIMP. About the only thing I needed a manual for was how to use diacritical marks in text (åäéñ).
Then OS X came. I never did recover everything that I had on my on-the-floor box. For awhile, I did upgrade to a new OS X. But changes started making old stuff obsolete. Or changes were rather gratuitous. Did iPhoto really need new background colors? Did iPhoto need to change how photos were annotated? It seems that changes were made more to keep programmers busy than give the users truly better software.
I’ve been in that position before. I didn’t want to maintain the old mainframe software; I wanted to work on the new hardware.
I have a long list of peeves of how Apple software changed gratuitously from simple one-step operations to operations with a hidden second step. I got to the point that I would only change major levels of software when I bought a new computer.
Then, either deliberately or accidentally, I upgraded to Sierra on my lap top. Fortunately I was at a coffee shop with unlimited internet access instead of at home with a limited monthly access. One of the big surprises was that Sierra dumped all of my Document folder to iCloud!! It was lots of “fun” moving it back to my MacBook Air. I know lots of people who would have to go to Geek Squad or other help professionals to get through this.
My wife’s iMac is swiftly deteriorating. Again, we have to do a lot of fussing to move data to my old MacBook Pro. The disk drive no longer works. Fortunately, we have some large capacity thumb drives so we were able to move her Document folder to the MacBook Pro.
And thumb drives get me to another of my Apple peeves. If one pulls out a thumb drive without “deleting” it, all the data is lost. This is really a 1984 nightmare.
How many of “the rest of us” has Apple left behind?
Showing posts with label Apple Computer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple Computer. Show all posts
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Tuesday, November 07, 2017
Is the Internet overhyped?
Is
the Internet overhyped?
Melvyn D. Magree
Originally published in
Northland Reader
now
Reader Weekly
May 25, 2000
Melvyn D. Magree
Originally published in
Northland Reader
now
Reader Weekly
May 25, 2000
“We know we must connect all our classrooms to the Internet...” (Pres. William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 27, 2000) (1)
Really? The band room? The wood shop? The English class?
Does the band room need Internet access to provide music? Or would the money be better spent on buying sheet music and acquiring and maintaining instruments?
Does the wood shop need Internet access to provide project plans? Or would the money be better spent on acquiring and maintaining tools?
Does the English class need Internet access to provide copies of Shakespeare? Or would the money be better spent on buying hardcover copies of Shakespeare, Richard Wright, and Ursula K. Le Guin?
Clinton’s statement and similar statements by many others are indicative more of a mania to adopt the “latest and greatest” without thinking through all the consequences. This mania is seen both in government and private organizations. Sometimes it comes from the top down, sometimes from the bottom up.
“OK, Mr. Author, if the Internet is such a mania, how come you make so much use of it for your articles? And if you use it, shouldn’t school kids learn to use it?” Yes and no.
Yes, the Internet can be a wonderful tool, but it can also be a great waste of time. “A library is where you go to find facts. The web is more like a garage sale: it's possible you'll find what you want, but only with a lot of digging, searching, and wading through things that smell funny.” (2)
I found out just how true this was in researching this article. I’ll come back to this later.
No, school children can learn to use the Internet at anytime in their lives. I am active in the University for Seniors at UMD. Many of the members are using computers for a wide variety of tasks. Many of them first used a personal computer within the last ten years. The successful users among them have two common traits: a love of learning and an ability to type.
“Even some usually pro-technology types, like Apple Computer Co. founder Steven Jobs, have expressed doubts [about computers in schools], suggesting that what students need is more classroom focus on basics like writing and mathematics and higher-level skills such as critical thinking.” (3)
Because Frank James paraphrased Steve Jobs, I wanted to find Jobs’ own words. I did a search with Alta Vista for “critical thinking”, “steve jobs” “apple”, and “education”. Alta Vista found 39 web pages. The first page was an Apple page of “Hot News”. I searched it for “critical thinking”, but it had changed! It was the only Apple page of the thirty-nine.
I checked a few other pages, but most of them “smelled funny”. So, I decided to start with Apple’s home page and search within Apple’s own site. I did a search of “critical thinking, steve jobs”, but my browser (Internet Explorer 4.5 for the Macintosh) wouldn’t load the page! The URL (or address) that Apple’s search feature created was so long that it wouldn’t even fit in the error message window! I couldn’t even search for “Jobs”!!!
One of the Internet success stories is Amazon.com, a bookseller! In fact, if you do a search for something on the internet, you are quite likely to find reviews of books on the subject rather than the text as written by the original authors. Of course, you can search the Internet for free because the search site depends heavily on revenues from booksellers who want to sell you books on the subject of your choice.
One of the most optimistic works on the future of technology is Bill Gates’ The Road Ahead. It is available in good old-fashioned paper form. The only way to get the electronic form (a CD-ROM) is to buy the book. I searched for “the road ahead” on the internet, and no Microsoft page was in the first 10 pages of the 3,997 found. I went to Microsoft’s home page and did a search for “the road ahead”. The first 10 pages of the 67 found were not the text of the book. I did find that the CD-ROM might have an error! (However, on August 2, 2007, the page describing the error is no longer available.) (
Should computers be in schools at all? Of course computers should be in schools, in appropriate places. The first is in typing, sorry, keyboarding. Who wants to learn to type on a big heavy mechanical typewriter like I did over 40 years ago? But we don’t need to have the latest, biggest, fastest computers to teach typing. Even a Commodore 64 can do that. The second is in the library as an addition to a great, humongous collection of books.
For it is from books and great mentors that we learn writing, mathematics, and critical thinking. Let us make sure we have well-stocked libraries and highly-respected teachers. When we have achieved those two goals, then maybe we can think about adding computers.
(1)I accessed this quote May 4, 2000 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/SOTU00/sotu-text.html. That page is no longer available. I imagine each President deletes his predecessor's records after the National Archives has copied them. However, the Clinton library's copy of the speech does not have that phrase or any other mention of connecting classrooms to the Internet! After an exchange of emails with an archivist I learned that there is a briefing copy and a transcript. My search had only turned up the briefing copy. The archivist gave me the link to The American Presidency Project's copy. and the correct link in the Clinton library. I couldn't find the latter because I searched on the date of the speech, but the speech was indexed under the date of inclusion into the web site! Searching the web is not always a solo endeavour.
(2) “Kev's Collection of Cool Quotes”, Kevin Killion, accessed August 2, 2007. Kevin moved from the URL that I originally had.
(3) “Plan to wire all schools to Internet falls behind”, Chicago Tribune Online, Frank James, Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau, June 22, 1999, file available in Chicago Tribune paid archive.
©2000, 2007 Melvyn D. Magree
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Sashaying Along with More Clichés
Everybody says: “Everybody” generally is all the persons that agree with the speaker. Anyone with a contrary opinion is ignored. A similar expression is “Everybody knows”. I wonder if those who use this expression have asked everybody, at least in town, or just assume they can speak for “everybody”.
Unwritten law: This is often used as an excuse for using a gun to “defend” oneself, even against unarmed people. According to Robert Traver in Anatomy of a Murder there is no unwritten law. There are cases where killing another person are justified by written law. These deal with cases in which somebody is in grave danger.
We often read or hear of someone claiming their “2nd amendment rights”. If they are careful readers of the Amendments to the Constitution, they would see that the Second Amendment includes “the right of the people to bear arms”. If we forgive them the grammatical error of using a plural noun when the Amendment uses a singular noun, we still have to think about their using an individual noun when the Amendment clearly has a collective noun. Also, we should consider that the Southern States wanted this amendment to keep the Federal government from taking away their slaves. Being armed did not prevent the loss of their slaves.
Often used with “2nd amendment rights” is the phrase “law-abiding citizens”. How do we know that each and every “legitimate” gun owner is a “law-abiding citizen”? We don’t. How many “law-abiding citizens” go well over the speed limit, tail-gate, and run red lights? How many “law-abiding citizens” regularly cheat on their income taxes? Many of us will speed to pass an erratic driver or not bother to put some small item on our tax forms. But some “law-abiding citizens” make it a practice to ignore the rights of others on the roads and to have large amounts of unreported income.
Worse yet, when these “law-abiding citizens” have a gun in their hands, they ignore the law for their own advantage. Twice this bird-hunting season we found a shotgun shell by our gate, a gate with a no-trespassing sign, a drive that indicates it is private property, within 500 feet of two dwellings that can be seen from the road. This is not an isolated incident. We have had hunters shoot down the driveway with a red truck clearly visible, shoot into the brush by a no-trespassing sign across the road from a house with people outside, and many others who ignore the hunting regulations of knowing where they are hunting and to always ask permission. Law-abiding hunters I know have asked permission and have gracefully accepted my denial.
“Hard-earned dollars” is one of the most sweeping political phrases. How hard a person works to be paid can vary by job and by the task of the moment. Sometimes a job can be so enjoyable that we forget to even look at the clock. Sometimes a job can be so boring that we are constantly looking at the clock. Some jobs have a bit of both. One day everything goes great and seems like play; another day everything goes wrong. These descriptions can fit both jobs involving hard physical labor and jobs sitting at a desk.
Does Santa Claus get hard-earned dollars? Some Santas enjoy the job so much that getting paid is just icing on the cake. Others, like me, were bored and couldn’t wait for the day to end. I did do my best and was praised by management for my efforts and demeanor.
Does a bus driver get hard-earned dollars? Depends. Some drivers are people-oriented and the job is almost playing with a big toy. Other drivers may have difficult passengers who make the drivers look forward to the end of the day. I’ve been in both situations. I had enough unruly students and coaches that I felt every dollar was hard-earned and still not enough. On the other hand, I’ve been on charters where I napped in the bus, attended plays, or just sat around talking with others or reading.
Self-made man: show me a “self-made man” and I’ll see a self-deluded man. Did this person never have parents or other care-givers? Did this person teach himself to read? “If you can read this, thank a teacher!” is a great bumper sticker that too many ignore. Did this self-made man build all the widgets in his empire, staff all the stores in his domain, and make each and every decision needed? Hell no, he depended on the work and ideas of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of others. And sometimes even government grants.
Where would Google be without the government grant to work on a super search algorithm?
Where would Apple be without the likes of the team that worked on the first Macintosh? Where would it be today without a super factory manager in Fremont, California. Steve Jobs and Tim Cook may think of some themes to explore, but could they work out all the details of the user interface or write the thousands and thousands of lines of code? And they would not have made a dime if there hadn’t been the local dealers and the thousands of UPS and Fed-Ex drivers who put the computers in the hands of the end-users.
And where would all these entrepreneurs be without the government research that created the internet? By the way, the internet was not created to foster business, but to create a network with redundant routing for our “defense”.
Maybe we should stop electing lawyers and start electing English teachers. The latter know what words mean, not what they want them to mean.
Unwritten law: This is often used as an excuse for using a gun to “defend” oneself, even against unarmed people. According to Robert Traver in Anatomy of a Murder there is no unwritten law. There are cases where killing another person are justified by written law. These deal with cases in which somebody is in grave danger.
We often read or hear of someone claiming their “2nd amendment rights”. If they are careful readers of the Amendments to the Constitution, they would see that the Second Amendment includes “the right of the people to bear arms”. If we forgive them the grammatical error of using a plural noun when the Amendment uses a singular noun, we still have to think about their using an individual noun when the Amendment clearly has a collective noun. Also, we should consider that the Southern States wanted this amendment to keep the Federal government from taking away their slaves. Being armed did not prevent the loss of their slaves.
Often used with “2nd amendment rights” is the phrase “law-abiding citizens”. How do we know that each and every “legitimate” gun owner is a “law-abiding citizen”? We don’t. How many “law-abiding citizens” go well over the speed limit, tail-gate, and run red lights? How many “law-abiding citizens” regularly cheat on their income taxes? Many of us will speed to pass an erratic driver or not bother to put some small item on our tax forms. But some “law-abiding citizens” make it a practice to ignore the rights of others on the roads and to have large amounts of unreported income.
Worse yet, when these “law-abiding citizens” have a gun in their hands, they ignore the law for their own advantage. Twice this bird-hunting season we found a shotgun shell by our gate, a gate with a no-trespassing sign, a drive that indicates it is private property, within 500 feet of two dwellings that can be seen from the road. This is not an isolated incident. We have had hunters shoot down the driveway with a red truck clearly visible, shoot into the brush by a no-trespassing sign across the road from a house with people outside, and many others who ignore the hunting regulations of knowing where they are hunting and to always ask permission. Law-abiding hunters I know have asked permission and have gracefully accepted my denial.
“Hard-earned dollars” is one of the most sweeping political phrases. How hard a person works to be paid can vary by job and by the task of the moment. Sometimes a job can be so enjoyable that we forget to even look at the clock. Sometimes a job can be so boring that we are constantly looking at the clock. Some jobs have a bit of both. One day everything goes great and seems like play; another day everything goes wrong. These descriptions can fit both jobs involving hard physical labor and jobs sitting at a desk.
Does Santa Claus get hard-earned dollars? Some Santas enjoy the job so much that getting paid is just icing on the cake. Others, like me, were bored and couldn’t wait for the day to end. I did do my best and was praised by management for my efforts and demeanor.
Does a bus driver get hard-earned dollars? Depends. Some drivers are people-oriented and the job is almost playing with a big toy. Other drivers may have difficult passengers who make the drivers look forward to the end of the day. I’ve been in both situations. I had enough unruly students and coaches that I felt every dollar was hard-earned and still not enough. On the other hand, I’ve been on charters where I napped in the bus, attended plays, or just sat around talking with others or reading.
Self-made man: show me a “self-made man” and I’ll see a self-deluded man. Did this person never have parents or other care-givers? Did this person teach himself to read? “If you can read this, thank a teacher!” is a great bumper sticker that too many ignore. Did this self-made man build all the widgets in his empire, staff all the stores in his domain, and make each and every decision needed? Hell no, he depended on the work and ideas of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of others. And sometimes even government grants.
Where would Google be without the government grant to work on a super search algorithm?
Where would Apple be without the likes of the team that worked on the first Macintosh? Where would it be today without a super factory manager in Fremont, California. Steve Jobs and Tim Cook may think of some themes to explore, but could they work out all the details of the user interface or write the thousands and thousands of lines of code? And they would not have made a dime if there hadn’t been the local dealers and the thousands of UPS and Fed-Ex drivers who put the computers in the hands of the end-users.
And where would all these entrepreneurs be without the government research that created the internet? By the way, the internet was not created to foster business, but to create a network with redundant routing for our “defense”.
Maybe we should stop electing lawyers and start electing English teachers. The latter know what words mean, not what they want them to mean.
Monday, December 01, 2014
Apple Computer and Reliability
I sent the following as a letter to the Editor of Barron’s on 2003-05-27. Over eleven years later I’m still waiting for the reliability that I asked for in the letter. And the unanswered list in Apple’s Support Community gets longer and longer. At least Apple now offers system upgrades as a free download, even major upgrades like Mavericks to Yosemite. Still I will wait until I buy a new computer for the major upgrade. I still do believe “We ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
I have two other ideas for improving Apple than those given in “Beyond iTunes”.
First, Apple really needs to develop OS X as a super-reliable operating system. It is great that a problem application rarely crashes OS X, but there are many problems in OS X and applications written for OS X that can be very annoying to users, experienced or otherwise. This super-reliability needs to be in OS X off-the-shelf and in rapid solutions from Apple as problems arise.
Apple’s AppleCare support staff were unaware of problems connecting some Macintosh computers to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who deployed the latest modems (v.92). The first two I spoke to about my problems connecting or staying connected could only suggest that I completely reinstall the operating system! After a few weeks of frustration, I stumbled on the cause (the new modem type at my ISP) and the solution. The fix for my level of operating system (10.1.5) had been available from another unit of Apple before I even called the first time! The third support person to whom I angrily told the solution had been ignorant of the problem when I called.
Worse yet, Apple’s own discussion boards had dozens of messages about this problem both for my older level of the operating system and the latest level (10.2.6). The fix I found did not work for those with the latest level. Apple did not seem to be responding to any of these messages. This lack of response loses some business for Apple; I should pay $129.95 to upgrade to a system that may be useless to me?
This leads to my second thought. Apple should take a page from Microsoft’s customer-relations book. Microsoft has adopted the slogan “Trustworthy Computing”. Apple should have the slogan “Responsive Computing”. Not only must Apple provide a even more trouble-free operating system, but it must respond to customer complaints in a more timely fashion. It seems too often Apple treats its customers as ignoramuses who haven’t even checked if the computer is plugged in. It has too often pushed customers off on user groups in the expectation that these will have members who can solve all problems. User groups may have only five or six members who really delve into problems and then don’t use the same configuration in the same way as many other members. Apple should better monitor its support lines and its discussion boards to find out what problems its users have, seek to elicit more details from those with problems, correlate similar problems, and provide timely solutions to those problems that are widely available within Apple’s own organization and to its customers.
Whiz bang products may get the public’s attention, but it is great customer service that keeps people coming back.
Melvyn D. Magree
A former programmer who has spent forty-five years learning only a tiny bit about computers and who believes, “We ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” (Now fifty-six years!)
I have two other ideas for improving Apple than those given in “Beyond iTunes”.
First, Apple really needs to develop OS X as a super-reliable operating system. It is great that a problem application rarely crashes OS X, but there are many problems in OS X and applications written for OS X that can be very annoying to users, experienced or otherwise. This super-reliability needs to be in OS X off-the-shelf and in rapid solutions from Apple as problems arise.
Apple’s AppleCare support staff were unaware of problems connecting some Macintosh computers to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who deployed the latest modems (v.92). The first two I spoke to about my problems connecting or staying connected could only suggest that I completely reinstall the operating system! After a few weeks of frustration, I stumbled on the cause (the new modem type at my ISP) and the solution. The fix for my level of operating system (10.1.5) had been available from another unit of Apple before I even called the first time! The third support person to whom I angrily told the solution had been ignorant of the problem when I called.
Worse yet, Apple’s own discussion boards had dozens of messages about this problem both for my older level of the operating system and the latest level (10.2.6). The fix I found did not work for those with the latest level. Apple did not seem to be responding to any of these messages. This lack of response loses some business for Apple; I should pay $129.95 to upgrade to a system that may be useless to me?
This leads to my second thought. Apple should take a page from Microsoft’s customer-relations book. Microsoft has adopted the slogan “Trustworthy Computing”. Apple should have the slogan “Responsive Computing”. Not only must Apple provide a even more trouble-free operating system, but it must respond to customer complaints in a more timely fashion. It seems too often Apple treats its customers as ignoramuses who haven’t even checked if the computer is plugged in. It has too often pushed customers off on user groups in the expectation that these will have members who can solve all problems. User groups may have only five or six members who really delve into problems and then don’t use the same configuration in the same way as many other members. Apple should better monitor its support lines and its discussion boards to find out what problems its users have, seek to elicit more details from those with problems, correlate similar problems, and provide timely solutions to those problems that are widely available within Apple’s own organization and to its customers.
Whiz bang products may get the public’s attention, but it is great customer service that keeps people coming back.
Melvyn D. Magree
A former programmer who has spent forty-five years learning only a tiny bit about computers and who believes, “We ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” (Now fifty-six years!)
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Does the Apple of my eye have a black eye?
I've been using Macintoshes and other Apple products since September 1984. Maybe for the first 20 years I was eager to update to the latest releases. Especially when I was a Certified Apple Developer so that I could make sure my software ran on the new release.
Then I started getting "burned" by new releases. One time the migration from one computer to another crashed. Many times software that should have worked on the new release had new problems. Often it seemed like I was an unpaid debugger of software (not just Apple but Microsoft and other software publishers).
One of the latest was the introduction of iOS 6 followed by iOS 7. Many were the problems that I had with each, and Apple's "Community" web site was filled with similar complaints or others that often were never answered.
The latest was the new release of Pages, Apple's supposed challenger to Microsoft Word. As I would like to move away from Microsoft Word, I was interested in Pages. Especially so since the rumors are that Apple will be providing Microsoft "competitors" free, even for new versions, in the next year or so.
I looked up Pages in Apple's App store. Hoo boy! Many users were angry! Over half of those rating Pages gave it only one star. A representative comment is:
"But the fact remains that Apple removed so much functionality from what was once a decent, viable and affordable option for desk-top publishing for the Mac platform."
Oh, yes, on top of all those problems, Apple, which pioneered cut and paste, does not allow copy from its App Store! I had to retype the above comment.
This is another case of the "Corp giveth and the Corp taketh away".
Watch also for "Computer glitches? What's new?" that will appear in the Reader Weekly of Duluth later this week. It's about how computer problems are not limited to the software for the Affordable Care Act.
Then I started getting "burned" by new releases. One time the migration from one computer to another crashed. Many times software that should have worked on the new release had new problems. Often it seemed like I was an unpaid debugger of software (not just Apple but Microsoft and other software publishers).
One of the latest was the introduction of iOS 6 followed by iOS 7. Many were the problems that I had with each, and Apple's "Community" web site was filled with similar complaints or others that often were never answered.
The latest was the new release of Pages, Apple's supposed challenger to Microsoft Word. As I would like to move away from Microsoft Word, I was interested in Pages. Especially so since the rumors are that Apple will be providing Microsoft "competitors" free, even for new versions, in the next year or so.
I looked up Pages in Apple's App store. Hoo boy! Many users were angry! Over half of those rating Pages gave it only one star. A representative comment is:
"But the fact remains that Apple removed so much functionality from what was once a decent, viable and affordable option for desk-top publishing for the Mac platform."
Oh, yes, on top of all those problems, Apple, which pioneered cut and paste, does not allow copy from its App Store! I had to retype the above comment.
This is another case of the "Corp giveth and the Corp taketh away".
Watch also for "Computer glitches? What's new?" that will appear in the Reader Weekly of Duluth later this week. It's about how computer problems are not limited to the software for the Affordable Care Act.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
PANIC! My iPhone won't turn on!
Boy! All those complaining about the glitches about the Affordable Care Act should go to the discussion boards of almost any hardware or software company. Dozens and dozens of people complain about problems and the companies never respond directly.
This evening my iPhone would not turn on after my not having used it for an hour or so. I held and held the power button or the home button. Nada. I planned on going to Best Buy tomorrow about it, I have a two-year warranty contract. But first, why not try the Apple Community?
Ah ha! People have been complaining about this problem for over a year. I found at least four threads about the problem. The solution provided by other users is simple: hold the power button and the home button down at the same time. I think my screen came on within a few seconds. Some had to hold it even longer. Some had no success.
By the way, when I had my iPhone working again, I noticed I had an App update. The reason for the update? Bug fixes. When was that app updated last? About a week ago. The reasons? Bug fixes!
This evening my iPhone would not turn on after my not having used it for an hour or so. I held and held the power button or the home button. Nada. I planned on going to Best Buy tomorrow about it, I have a two-year warranty contract. But first, why not try the Apple Community?
Ah ha! People have been complaining about this problem for over a year. I found at least four threads about the problem. The solution provided by other users is simple: hold the power button and the home button down at the same time. I think my screen came on within a few seconds. Some had to hold it even longer. Some had no success.
By the way, when I had my iPhone working again, I noticed I had an App update. The reason for the update? Bug fixes. When was that app updated last? About a week ago. The reasons? Bug fixes!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Corporate bug fixes
I am ready to start the update on my iPhone from iOS 7.0.2 to iOS 7.0.3. The explanatory text is
"This update contains improvement and bug fixes."
Wasn't iOS 7 supposed to be this wonderful update? Frankly, I long for iOS 6 because a lot of things that used to work don't work as well with iOS 7.
"This update contains improvement and bug fixes."
Wasn't iOS 7 supposed to be this wonderful update? Frankly, I long for iOS 6 because a lot of things that used to work don't work as well with iOS 7.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Corporate Whimsy
Facebook, that time gobbler that so many can't do without and so many hate, is at it again changing the way it works.
Yesterday I posted a picture on Flickr and then wrote a note on Facebook with a link to the picture. When I clicked return, the picture was showing on my message list. A few friends commented on it and I saw the picture above their comments.
Today as I scrolled through my list of messages, the picture was gone but the text remained. I left a comment about it, and one friend said she hadn't seen it before and now she did.
One of the first rules of good human interface is consistency. If I do a certain thing in a certain set of circumstances, I should be able to get a similar result each and every time.
Facebook is not alone in inconsistent user interfaces. Microsoft, Apple, and many others confuse users time after time.
Through iTunes I download Wisconsin Public Radio's "To the Best of Our Knowledge" podcasts, receiving two each week. Suddenly, about four weeks ago I was getting only one. Last week I got none. This week I got one. With a little email help from the TTBOOK host, Jim Fleming, I figured out that iTunes or somebody has decided that I don't need podcasts that I've already downloaded, even if they were from two or more years ago. TTBOOK does rebroadcast programs and thus republishes the podcasts. But shouldn't I be the one to decide that I don't want to listen to an old program again?
Microsoft Office 2004 for the Mac had programmable macros with an extensive, easily used description for each available function. Microsoft decided to take macros out in Office 2008. They said users should write AppleScripts instead. I'll just say that AppleScript is a byzantine programming language. Microsoft decided to put macros back in Office 2011, but many old macros don't work or only work erratically. And the descriptions of the functions are often incomplete.
I'm sure many readers have their own tales of frustration about how software, computers, cars, and customer service departments work. So many of what we depend on may be produced efficiently, but do we get effective results using them?
Yesterday I posted a picture on Flickr and then wrote a note on Facebook with a link to the picture. When I clicked return, the picture was showing on my message list. A few friends commented on it and I saw the picture above their comments.
Today as I scrolled through my list of messages, the picture was gone but the text remained. I left a comment about it, and one friend said she hadn't seen it before and now she did.
One of the first rules of good human interface is consistency. If I do a certain thing in a certain set of circumstances, I should be able to get a similar result each and every time.
Facebook is not alone in inconsistent user interfaces. Microsoft, Apple, and many others confuse users time after time.
Through iTunes I download Wisconsin Public Radio's "To the Best of Our Knowledge" podcasts, receiving two each week. Suddenly, about four weeks ago I was getting only one. Last week I got none. This week I got one. With a little email help from the TTBOOK host, Jim Fleming, I figured out that iTunes or somebody has decided that I don't need podcasts that I've already downloaded, even if they were from two or more years ago. TTBOOK does rebroadcast programs and thus republishes the podcasts. But shouldn't I be the one to decide that I don't want to listen to an old program again?
Microsoft Office 2004 for the Mac had programmable macros with an extensive, easily used description for each available function. Microsoft decided to take macros out in Office 2008. They said users should write AppleScripts instead. I'll just say that AppleScript is a byzantine programming language. Microsoft decided to put macros back in Office 2011, but many old macros don't work or only work erratically. And the descriptions of the functions are often incomplete.
I'm sure many readers have their own tales of frustration about how software, computers, cars, and customer service departments work. So many of what we depend on may be produced efficiently, but do we get effective results using them?
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Publish or perish in the eBook world
Apple has recently updated iBook Author, software to create books to be read on iPads. Being in the greedy screechers union, I'm always looking for a way to make a buck (or even a few cents) from all my rantings and ravings. I thought I'd take a look at iBook Author.
Carrying on its tradition of making things more obtuse for the rest of us, Apple did make me jump through a lot of hoops before I was able to figure out how to download iBook Author. Among other things was a popup box that appeared twice asking me for an App to download descriptive material and then at least once again to download the actual application.
Finally I had iBook Author up and running and was given six templates to select from. I chose the "Basic Template", but basic it was not. Boxes jumped around when I was just a wee bit off from where I thought I should click. The template has two pages per view; is that a comfortable way to view a book on an iPad? I don't know, I'm not ready to buy one. I still haven't figured out how to remove frames that I don't want and add frames that I do. The table of contents is not organized the way I would like.
I did manage to get a cover organized and the text of one of my Reader Weekly columns in as the first story. The first story is "Bear Stories", originally published in the Northland Reader in September 1999. The cover is below:
Advanced orders welcome!
One of the little glitches is that I couldn't figure out how to get my name in upper and lower case. I guess I'm not supposed to according to this template.
My next project with iBook Author is just how to organize the template to my liking. Maybe I'll have to create my own.
My proposed content will be animal encounters, adventures in the fire dept., adventures in various projects, and other musings about life in the woods and on the water from my Reader Weekly (fka Northland Reader) and my blog.
I wonder how many months this will take me and what the price point should be on it - 99 cents or $3.49.
On the other hand, it might be simpler to do this project in Google Books or whatever first. iBook is limited only to iPad users. Google Books and other formats might have a greater number of potential readers. I certainly hope more than the 30 or so people that read this blog regularly. Thank you very much to those 30 people.
Carrying on its tradition of making things more obtuse for the rest of us, Apple did make me jump through a lot of hoops before I was able to figure out how to download iBook Author. Among other things was a popup box that appeared twice asking me for an App to download descriptive material and then at least once again to download the actual application.
Finally I had iBook Author up and running and was given six templates to select from. I chose the "Basic Template", but basic it was not. Boxes jumped around when I was just a wee bit off from where I thought I should click. The template has two pages per view; is that a comfortable way to view a book on an iPad? I don't know, I'm not ready to buy one. I still haven't figured out how to remove frames that I don't want and add frames that I do. The table of contents is not organized the way I would like.
I did manage to get a cover organized and the text of one of my Reader Weekly columns in as the first story. The first story is "Bear Stories", originally published in the Northland Reader in September 1999. The cover is below:
Advanced orders welcome!
One of the little glitches is that I couldn't figure out how to get my name in upper and lower case. I guess I'm not supposed to according to this template.
My next project with iBook Author is just how to organize the template to my liking. Maybe I'll have to create my own.
My proposed content will be animal encounters, adventures in the fire dept., adventures in various projects, and other musings about life in the woods and on the water from my Reader Weekly (fka Northland Reader) and my blog.
I wonder how many months this will take me and what the price point should be on it - 99 cents or $3.49.
On the other hand, it might be simpler to do this project in Google Books or whatever first. iBook is limited only to iPad users. Google Books and other formats might have a greater number of potential readers. I certainly hope more than the 30 or so people that read this blog regularly. Thank you very much to those 30 people.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Why I'm not a "full-blown liberal" and never will be
Given our polarized politics, many assume because somebody supports or refutes a given claim of one political party then that person must unconditionally refute or support the other party. Many assume because I criticize Republicans or "conservatives" so often then I must be a Democrat or a "liberal".
I find it very easy to find fault with current Republican, so-called "conservative" positions. There are so many inconsistencies and contradictions that it surprises me that any educated person would support the party. Unless he or she had some personal gain from the corporate line parroted by the current Republican Party. It is so ironic that Republicans and the Tea Party especially, claim to follow the intent of the "Founding Fathers". Well, the "Founding Fathers" were very much concerned about factions working against the common good. If you have a week or two or three, read the Federalist Papers. You can find it at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18 and choose your format.
On the other hand, I do not actively or even willingly embrace all "liberal" positions. I find many people who call themselves liberal rather "conservative", that is holding to a position without consideration of nuance or contradictions. For example, I have taken issue with the "Unfair" campaign. Although the proponents deny it, their campaign implies a sweeping generalization, just the kind of generalization that they are fighting against when directed against people who are not "white". Also, I think the "Occupy" movement confuses "freedom of assembly" with "freedom to camp out".
The latest ruckus that I have been skeptical of is the supposedly ill-treatment of workers at Foxconn plants in China. It was reminiscent of the know-nothings who claimed that Soviet and Chinese workers were "chained to their benches". Well, those who reported the claims against Foxconn are now having second thoughts about these claims. See "'Significant Fabrications': Apple Critic Mike Daisey Under Fire".
I find it very easy to find fault with current Republican, so-called "conservative" positions. There are so many inconsistencies and contradictions that it surprises me that any educated person would support the party. Unless he or she had some personal gain from the corporate line parroted by the current Republican Party. It is so ironic that Republicans and the Tea Party especially, claim to follow the intent of the "Founding Fathers". Well, the "Founding Fathers" were very much concerned about factions working against the common good. If you have a week or two or three, read the Federalist Papers. You can find it at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18 and choose your format.
On the other hand, I do not actively or even willingly embrace all "liberal" positions. I find many people who call themselves liberal rather "conservative", that is holding to a position without consideration of nuance or contradictions. For example, I have taken issue with the "Unfair" campaign. Although the proponents deny it, their campaign implies a sweeping generalization, just the kind of generalization that they are fighting against when directed against people who are not "white". Also, I think the "Occupy" movement confuses "freedom of assembly" with "freedom to camp out".
The latest ruckus that I have been skeptical of is the supposedly ill-treatment of workers at Foxconn plants in China. It was reminiscent of the know-nothings who claimed that Soviet and Chinese workers were "chained to their benches". Well, those who reported the claims against Foxconn are now having second thoughts about these claims. See "'Significant Fabrications': Apple Critic Mike Daisey Under Fire".
Monday, October 10, 2011
A great tribute to Steve Jobs
Guy Kawasaki, one of the original Apple Evangelists, wrote a great tribute to Steve Jobs, "What I learned from Steve Jobs".
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Back on the air
I took my MacBook Pro to Geek Squad in Best Buy this morning. The good news? I got to talk to someone within five minutes. The bad news? Within ten minutes the technician determined it was the mother board. She said it would cost $500 - $1000 and they would have to send it out.
Now comes dither time. Pay that and have something else go wrong in a few months. Buy a new one and have a warranty for another three years. Also, could my data be moved to a new computer? Yes, for $100. Would they recycle the computer? Yes. What about the security of my data on the hard-drive. They could take it out and I could get a case to make it a stand-alone hard-drive.
OK, I sprang for a new computer and put it into the Geek Squad's tender hands. The tech thought I could have it by Friday afternoon. I whipped out my credit card, paid up, and left.
More dithering on planning the weekend. We wanted to be at the cabin tomorrow. Did I want to wait to Sunday to pick up my computer? Dither, dither!
Mid-afternoon I got a call that my computer was ready. Jump in car and pick it up.
Now I am a happy camper. I just noticed that this one is a lot quieter and a lot cooler. I wonder if the heat of the other one destroyed the mother board over time. Could be.
I have also gotten back some data or features that stopped working for some reason on the other. Like Spotlight couldn't find anything anymore on my hard drive. The index just disappeared and the OS made no attempt to rebuild it, and I could find no magic button to do so. This afternoon this computer rebuilt the index in an hour or so.
But the worst thing of all were the withdrawal symptoms. All the writing and reading I do online was not available to me. I just couldn't get to deep into the newspapers. But I did read a couple more chapters of a book I've been reading. See "A word to the wise on compromise".
I still have to figure out which piggy bank to break to pay for all this.
Now comes dither time. Pay that and have something else go wrong in a few months. Buy a new one and have a warranty for another three years. Also, could my data be moved to a new computer? Yes, for $100. Would they recycle the computer? Yes. What about the security of my data on the hard-drive. They could take it out and I could get a case to make it a stand-alone hard-drive.
OK, I sprang for a new computer and put it into the Geek Squad's tender hands. The tech thought I could have it by Friday afternoon. I whipped out my credit card, paid up, and left.
More dithering on planning the weekend. We wanted to be at the cabin tomorrow. Did I want to wait to Sunday to pick up my computer? Dither, dither!
Mid-afternoon I got a call that my computer was ready. Jump in car and pick it up.
Now I am a happy camper. I just noticed that this one is a lot quieter and a lot cooler. I wonder if the heat of the other one destroyed the mother board over time. Could be.
I have also gotten back some data or features that stopped working for some reason on the other. Like Spotlight couldn't find anything anymore on my hard drive. The index just disappeared and the OS made no attempt to rebuild it, and I could find no magic button to do so. This afternoon this computer rebuilt the index in an hour or so.
But the worst thing of all were the withdrawal symptoms. All the writing and reading I do online was not available to me. I just couldn't get to deep into the newspapers. But I did read a couple more chapters of a book I've been reading. See "A word to the wise on compromise".
I still have to figure out which piggy bank to break to pay for all this.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Everybody knows that…
That was then, this is now: "Apple briefly passes Exxon as largest U.S. company", Reuters, 2011-08-09 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-briefly-passes-Exxon-as-rb-2945920188.html
BTW, I've noticed that more and more students have Mac notebooks rather than PCs. Three years ago it seemed to be the opposite.
BTW, I've noticed that more and more students have Mac notebooks rather than PCs. Three years ago it seemed to be the opposite.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
New and improved can be worse
Microsoft touted its new and improved Office 2011 for the Mac. It showed videos of programmers showing off all the cool new features. Apple touted its new and improved OS X Lion. It showed over 250 cool new features.
For me, the only cool thing about Office 2011 was that Microsoft put back in Excel the macro capability it took out in Office 2008. It was not so cool that some very simple macros wouldn't work, macros that had worked in Office 2004.
For me, the only cool thing about OS X Lion is that one now drags up to scroll up. It is taking a bit of getting used to, but if you think about it that is how you move paper. It was not cool because a couple of things stopped working.
I don't know what the relation between Office and Lion is, but after I installed Lion, all my tasks in Outlook disappeared. They are not gone because some will in Office Reminders. I was able to find a topic in Microsoft Support that brought this up, but the only answer didn't work. I added a reply, but I can't check if anybody added anything because…
I downloaded Lion at home with my nominal 7Mbps connection. Now I'm at our cabin with our 24kbps connection, and I can't get online. OS X Lion considers an Apple USB modem unsupported. What? It was supported in many previous versions. Am I supposed to drive 50+ miles from the cabin to buy a different modem?
OK, I gave Apple's 800 number a try, and had a pleasant but unfruitful talk with Jennifer in Apple Care. Lion is a 64-bit operating system and the USB modem has 32-bit firmware. Nobody seemed to think it was worth it making it work; after all, the only way you can get Lion currently is with a high-speed connection. In her enthusiasm to be helpful, Jennifer thought I should get online to look for a compatible modem. Oops, I can't get online. She also suggested having my ISP come to give me a hand. I pointed out that they are over 200 miles away and I am in the woods. She did do her best to make lemonade out of the lemon the developers gave her and me.
I'm glad that I didn't come to the cabin to do some big bucks work. That really would have ruined my weekend.
When we design complex systems, be they nuclear plants, computer operating systems, or legislation, we will never think of everything. A simple decision to put something in or take something out can have far greater consequences than we expect. Murphy's Law will always hold.
When I got back to Duluth and my DSL connection, I found that Apple had sent me email asking me to take a survey about my Apple Care Support Center Call. I normally don't take surveys, but I thought I could at least vent about product compatibility decisions. Jennifer did a great job with the tools given her; Apple did a lousy job of providing "seamless" migration to a new system.
My feedback was:
It's not what the Advisor could have done or not done. It's Apple's decision to unilaterally discontinue support in Lion of the Apple USB modem. I would not have purchased Lion at this time had I been able to easily find out that I would not be able to access the web from the dial-up at our cabin.
If I'd known that Lion would have cost me, not $29.99, but $79.99 or $129.99 or more (the difference being the cost of a new modem), I would have waited until 10.7.1 or whatever version Apple decided to be backwards compatible for many of its users.
One thing the Apple Care support person was not able to tell me was what USB modems are compatible with Lion.
For me, the only cool thing about Office 2011 was that Microsoft put back in Excel the macro capability it took out in Office 2008. It was not so cool that some very simple macros wouldn't work, macros that had worked in Office 2004.
For me, the only cool thing about OS X Lion is that one now drags up to scroll up. It is taking a bit of getting used to, but if you think about it that is how you move paper. It was not cool because a couple of things stopped working.
I don't know what the relation between Office and Lion is, but after I installed Lion, all my tasks in Outlook disappeared. They are not gone because some will in Office Reminders. I was able to find a topic in Microsoft Support that brought this up, but the only answer didn't work. I added a reply, but I can't check if anybody added anything because…
I downloaded Lion at home with my nominal 7Mbps connection. Now I'm at our cabin with our 24kbps connection, and I can't get online. OS X Lion considers an Apple USB modem unsupported. What? It was supported in many previous versions. Am I supposed to drive 50+ miles from the cabin to buy a different modem?
OK, I gave Apple's 800 number a try, and had a pleasant but unfruitful talk with Jennifer in Apple Care. Lion is a 64-bit operating system and the USB modem has 32-bit firmware. Nobody seemed to think it was worth it making it work; after all, the only way you can get Lion currently is with a high-speed connection. In her enthusiasm to be helpful, Jennifer thought I should get online to look for a compatible modem. Oops, I can't get online. She also suggested having my ISP come to give me a hand. I pointed out that they are over 200 miles away and I am in the woods. She did do her best to make lemonade out of the lemon the developers gave her and me.
I'm glad that I didn't come to the cabin to do some big bucks work. That really would have ruined my weekend.
When we design complex systems, be they nuclear plants, computer operating systems, or legislation, we will never think of everything. A simple decision to put something in or take something out can have far greater consequences than we expect. Murphy's Law will always hold.
When I got back to Duluth and my DSL connection, I found that Apple had sent me email asking me to take a survey about my Apple Care Support Center Call. I normally don't take surveys, but I thought I could at least vent about product compatibility decisions. Jennifer did a great job with the tools given her; Apple did a lousy job of providing "seamless" migration to a new system.
My feedback was:
It's not what the Advisor could have done or not done. It's Apple's decision to unilaterally discontinue support in Lion of the Apple USB modem. I would not have purchased Lion at this time had I been able to easily find out that I would not be able to access the web from the dial-up at our cabin.
If I'd known that Lion would have cost me, not $29.99, but $79.99 or $129.99 or more (the difference being the cost of a new modem), I would have waited until 10.7.1 or whatever version Apple decided to be backwards compatible for many of its users.
One thing the Apple Care support person was not able to tell me was what USB modems are compatible with Lion.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Corporate bureaucracies eat into other corporations' profits
I've often said that government has no corner on bureaucracy. Almost any large organization, for-profit, non-profit, government, has a large bureaucracy. They have to in order to look into many, many details that are needed to run the organization efficiently. You read that right, an organization needs a bureaucracy to be efficient.
Who is going to do the details of hiring and firing? Who is going to process the payroll for thousands of employees. Who is going to pay and collect the bills. Certainly not the executives. Certainly not the employees involved in developing new products. Certainly not the employees providing goods or services to customers.
The purpose of a bureaucracy is to take care of details that free other employees to do the primary work of the organization.
One corporate bureaucracy is customer support. These are the folks that process customer questions and complaints and attempt to find solutions. When run well, customer support provides satisfaction to the customers and feedback to the rest of the organization. When customer support is not given organization support, it devolves into an unresponsive bureaucracy. The result is less customer satisfaction, which in turn can lead to the demise of the organization.
A case study is the corporation many love to hate but many depend on for the functioning of their own organizations - Microsoft.
I mentioned my calendar problems in "Quote of the day - Ease of use" and "Misdirected ire".
Since then, I've been subscribing to a thread "Meetings disappearing" on Microsoft's Apple Support Discussions. Hoo Boy! Talk about non-responsiveness! This thread has been going on since February and there appears to be no resolution.
Well, maybe there was some resolution. Many report that if they set up a regular weekly appointment for a year and then change one, all subsequent appointments disappeared! How often are regular meetings changed in your organization? Sometimes changed meetings become the norm. What was the solution that one writer said Microsoft proposed? Set up 52 individual appointments for the year!! Wow! That certainly is a shining example of productivity improvement. Guess what? When the user changed one of the 52 individual appointments, the subsequent appointments disappeared.
What a way to run a railroad or any business! I've had better responsiveness from city, state, and federal bureaucracies.
Who is going to do the details of hiring and firing? Who is going to process the payroll for thousands of employees. Who is going to pay and collect the bills. Certainly not the executives. Certainly not the employees involved in developing new products. Certainly not the employees providing goods or services to customers.
The purpose of a bureaucracy is to take care of details that free other employees to do the primary work of the organization.
One corporate bureaucracy is customer support. These are the folks that process customer questions and complaints and attempt to find solutions. When run well, customer support provides satisfaction to the customers and feedback to the rest of the organization. When customer support is not given organization support, it devolves into an unresponsive bureaucracy. The result is less customer satisfaction, which in turn can lead to the demise of the organization.
A case study is the corporation many love to hate but many depend on for the functioning of their own organizations - Microsoft.
I mentioned my calendar problems in "Quote of the day - Ease of use" and "Misdirected ire".
Since then, I've been subscribing to a thread "Meetings disappearing" on Microsoft's Apple Support Discussions. Hoo Boy! Talk about non-responsiveness! This thread has been going on since February and there appears to be no resolution.
Well, maybe there was some resolution. Many report that if they set up a regular weekly appointment for a year and then change one, all subsequent appointments disappeared! How often are regular meetings changed in your organization? Sometimes changed meetings become the norm. What was the solution that one writer said Microsoft proposed? Set up 52 individual appointments for the year!! Wow! That certainly is a shining example of productivity improvement. Guess what? When the user changed one of the 52 individual appointments, the subsequent appointments disappeared.
What a way to run a railroad or any business! I've had better responsiveness from city, state, and federal bureaucracies.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Misdirected ire about buggy software
In "Quote of the day - Ease of use"
I berated Steve Jobs and Apple about his quote "Everything syncs without us having to think about it" because calendars in Microsoft Outlook, Apple's iCal, and my iPod were not synching properly.
Well, the problem was far worse than a few duplicated events. I had dozens and dozens that were duplicated over 100 times and one possibly over 500 times. That's a lot of shift-clicks followed by a delete. I've spent over a week now cleaning up at least three months a day.
Why delete duplicates from nine years ago? Because each item takes up space. For every three months cleaned up, I would back up the calendar. For 2004 it could take well over five minutes to backup. When I cleaned up into 2010, it started backing up in a minute. When I cleaned up into 2011, it backed up in less than a minute.
I also spent lots and lots of time looking at Microsoft's support pages. Hoo, boy! There ain't much praise there! Message after message complains about this and similar problems. The only posted responses are from MVPs (whatever that stands for), volunteers who try to direct users to relevant support pages.
Microsoft put out an update last week that I downloaded and installed. However, despite people complaining about sync problems since April 6, there was no mention of them in the notes for the update.
I wonder how much Microsoft is even screening any of these comments. I posted two comments on June 13, and they are still marked "Your comment is awaiting moderation."
This whole situation has the earmarks of upper management declaring something should be done by such and such date, middle management trying to figure out how to assign the work to too few people, and the programmers trying valiantly to put round pegs in square holes.
Shades of Dilbert!
Shades of the bad old days of mainframes! We felt lucky to get out a new system that crashed a few minutes less frequently than the previous version.
I berated Steve Jobs and Apple about his quote "Everything syncs without us having to think about it" because calendars in Microsoft Outlook, Apple's iCal, and my iPod were not synching properly.
Well, the problem was far worse than a few duplicated events. I had dozens and dozens that were duplicated over 100 times and one possibly over 500 times. That's a lot of shift-clicks followed by a delete. I've spent over a week now cleaning up at least three months a day.
Why delete duplicates from nine years ago? Because each item takes up space. For every three months cleaned up, I would back up the calendar. For 2004 it could take well over five minutes to backup. When I cleaned up into 2010, it started backing up in a minute. When I cleaned up into 2011, it backed up in less than a minute.
I also spent lots and lots of time looking at Microsoft's support pages. Hoo, boy! There ain't much praise there! Message after message complains about this and similar problems. The only posted responses are from MVPs (whatever that stands for), volunteers who try to direct users to relevant support pages.
Microsoft put out an update last week that I downloaded and installed. However, despite people complaining about sync problems since April 6, there was no mention of them in the notes for the update.
I wonder how much Microsoft is even screening any of these comments. I posted two comments on June 13, and they are still marked "Your comment is awaiting moderation."
This whole situation has the earmarks of upper management declaring something should be done by such and such date, middle management trying to figure out how to assign the work to too few people, and the programmers trying valiantly to put round pegs in square holes.
Shades of Dilbert!
Shades of the bad old days of mainframes! We felt lucky to get out a new system that crashed a few minutes less frequently than the previous version.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Quote of the day - Ease of use
"Everything syncs without us having to think about it." - Apple CEO Steve Jobs, 2011-06-06, on introducing iCloud
Hey Steve! How about coming to my house and think about syncing my iPod and MacBook Pro? I have spent I don't know how many hours trying to restore dropped calendars and contacts or remove duplicate entries in either.
Maybe it's Microsoft's fault. These problems seem to have started when I switched from Office 2008 to Office 2011. Microsoft replaced Entourage in the former with Outlook in the latter. Similar software, but as usual, the new improved version can be several steps backward.
I don't know how many times I've searched in Apple's and Microsoft's support pages. Lots and lots of people report the problem, but few people, if any, answer with a solid long term solution. I've tried some, and some have worked for a while. But like the infamous cat, it always comes back.
I've called AppleCare and got some advice that sort of helped. But the cat came back.
I looked in Apple's support pages and did find a more detailed solution. It sort of seems to have worked, but I had duplicates going back to 2002, like 20 Christmas days on the same day and six voice lessons on the same day. I've spent well over an hour eliminating the duplicates in 2002. At least for the holidays I won't have to delete duplicates in later years, but all those other activities, it remains to be seen.
Also, I don't know what the side effects of deleting ALL the files in the cache folder. There was stuff for TurboTax, Google Earth, Adobe, and I've forgotten what else. At least they are backed up on my Time Machine.
Ah! Time Machine, that marvelous hourly backup in the background. Background? Hah! When the backup is busy for over an hour, lots of other things slow down and certainly make me think about it.
No, I'm not going to go over to the dark side. Microsoft Office is enough.
But I certainly wish you would run a company that is more efficient than the IRS, which contrary to Republican doctrine, does a nice job of co-operating with private companies to make reporting and refunds quick.
P.S. Thanks to the messed up composing page in Google's Blogger, I couldn't post this right away. Or maybe it was because Apple's instructions to delete the cache. I fixed the problem by quitting and restarting Firefox.
Hey Steve! How about coming to my house and think about syncing my iPod and MacBook Pro? I have spent I don't know how many hours trying to restore dropped calendars and contacts or remove duplicate entries in either.
Maybe it's Microsoft's fault. These problems seem to have started when I switched from Office 2008 to Office 2011. Microsoft replaced Entourage in the former with Outlook in the latter. Similar software, but as usual, the new improved version can be several steps backward.
I don't know how many times I've searched in Apple's and Microsoft's support pages. Lots and lots of people report the problem, but few people, if any, answer with a solid long term solution. I've tried some, and some have worked for a while. But like the infamous cat, it always comes back.
I've called AppleCare and got some advice that sort of helped. But the cat came back.
I looked in Apple's support pages and did find a more detailed solution. It sort of seems to have worked, but I had duplicates going back to 2002, like 20 Christmas days on the same day and six voice lessons on the same day. I've spent well over an hour eliminating the duplicates in 2002. At least for the holidays I won't have to delete duplicates in later years, but all those other activities, it remains to be seen.
Also, I don't know what the side effects of deleting ALL the files in the cache folder. There was stuff for TurboTax, Google Earth, Adobe, and I've forgotten what else. At least they are backed up on my Time Machine.
Ah! Time Machine, that marvelous hourly backup in the background. Background? Hah! When the backup is busy for over an hour, lots of other things slow down and certainly make me think about it.
No, I'm not going to go over to the dark side. Microsoft Office is enough.
But I certainly wish you would run a company that is more efficient than the IRS, which contrary to Republican doctrine, does a nice job of co-operating with private companies to make reporting and refunds quick.
P.S. Thanks to the messed up composing page in Google's Blogger, I couldn't post this right away. Or maybe it was because Apple's instructions to delete the cache. I fixed the problem by quitting and restarting Firefox.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Why do we expect more from kids than adults?
Every day all across the country, we make kids sit still in classes of dozens for 40-45 minutes at a time, sometimes listening, sometimes participating. They are supposed to do this every weekday for over 30 weeks a year.
Now, go to any lecture or concert. Look around you about a half hour into the event. How many adults do you see (or hear) nodding off? How often do you yourself stay awake through a lecture without a cup of coffee in front of you? And we went because we were interested in the lecture or concert!
This little diatribe was inspired by "Apple co-founder Wozniak: computers can teach kids", Reuters, 2011-05-03. My favorite quote is:
"School in itself is pretty much a restrictive force on creativity," he said. "When you come to class, you do the exact same pages in the book, the same hours as everyone else in the class. You don't go off in your own little directions."
BTW, he secretly taught elementary school for eight years.
Now, go to any lecture or concert. Look around you about a half hour into the event. How many adults do you see (or hear) nodding off? How often do you yourself stay awake through a lecture without a cup of coffee in front of you? And we went because we were interested in the lecture or concert!
This little diatribe was inspired by "Apple co-founder Wozniak: computers can teach kids", Reuters, 2011-05-03. My favorite quote is:
"School in itself is pretty much a restrictive force on creativity," he said. "When you come to class, you do the exact same pages in the book, the same hours as everyone else in the class. You don't go off in your own little directions."
BTW, he secretly taught elementary school for eight years.
Monday, February 21, 2011
What a way to run a railroad!!
Given my reluctance to fly and my growing reluctance to drive long distances, my sister-in-law suggested that we take Amtrak to visit them in Colorado in May.
I checked Amtrak for schedules. The cost for two of us from Minneapolis-St. Paul would be $694, not too bad for two coach seats. But the trip leaves Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 15 at 11:15 p.m., arrives in Portland OR on May 17 at 10:10 a.m., leaves Portland on May 17 at 2:25 p.m, arrives in Sacramento CA on May 18 at 6:15 a.m, leaves Sacramento on May 18 at 11:09 a.m., and arrives in Denver CO on May 19 at 6:38 p.m. That is labeled as the "Shortest Trip".
That would be four days of sitting up day and night. A roomette from the Twin Cities to Portland would be $268 extra, rooms from Portland to Sacramento are already sold out for May 17, and a roomette from Sacramento to Denver would be $436.
I can drive from the Twin Cities to Denver in two days and sleep in a solid bed overnight for less than half the cost of a roomette on the cheapest leg.
Also, the $694 is for one-way. Even though I clicked Round-Trip, the web site only gives me one-way.
Looking at a route map, the alternative is to go to Chicago and then to Denver. So I gave that a go with scheduling, giving a round trip itinerary. The time would be much better with an eight hour and an eighteen hour leg. Unfortunately, there would be a 22 hour layover in Chicago on the way to Denver and a 23 hour layover on the way back. Plus, the web site wouldn't process this any further – "Problem with your itinerary". I gave up. I don't know the cost of this trip.
It seems that Amtrak has almost been designed to discourage train travel. I think that only two groups of people would be interested. First would be those who have time and are traveling between two cities on the same train. The sold out rooms on a May train between Portland and Sacramento may be an indicator that this group will support the current schedule. Second would be those who take trains just to take trains.
It doesn't have to be this way. I took trains as a kid out of Cleveland's Terminal and it was a busy place. Now the Cleveland stop isn't much more than a siding for a one train a day each way. I've taken trains all over Europe, both day trips and overnight, and I have ridden the bullet and regular trains in Japan.
Maybe Steve Jobs will start the train "for the rest of us"?
I checked Amtrak for schedules. The cost for two of us from Minneapolis-St. Paul would be $694, not too bad for two coach seats. But the trip leaves Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 15 at 11:15 p.m., arrives in Portland OR on May 17 at 10:10 a.m., leaves Portland on May 17 at 2:25 p.m, arrives in Sacramento CA on May 18 at 6:15 a.m, leaves Sacramento on May 18 at 11:09 a.m., and arrives in Denver CO on May 19 at 6:38 p.m. That is labeled as the "Shortest Trip".
That would be four days of sitting up day and night. A roomette from the Twin Cities to Portland would be $268 extra, rooms from Portland to Sacramento are already sold out for May 17, and a roomette from Sacramento to Denver would be $436.
I can drive from the Twin Cities to Denver in two days and sleep in a solid bed overnight for less than half the cost of a roomette on the cheapest leg.
Also, the $694 is for one-way. Even though I clicked Round-Trip, the web site only gives me one-way.
Looking at a route map, the alternative is to go to Chicago and then to Denver. So I gave that a go with scheduling, giving a round trip itinerary. The time would be much better with an eight hour and an eighteen hour leg. Unfortunately, there would be a 22 hour layover in Chicago on the way to Denver and a 23 hour layover on the way back. Plus, the web site wouldn't process this any further – "Problem with your itinerary". I gave up. I don't know the cost of this trip.
It seems that Amtrak has almost been designed to discourage train travel. I think that only two groups of people would be interested. First would be those who have time and are traveling between two cities on the same train. The sold out rooms on a May train between Portland and Sacramento may be an indicator that this group will support the current schedule. Second would be those who take trains just to take trains.
It doesn't have to be this way. I took trains as a kid out of Cleveland's Terminal and it was a busy place. Now the Cleveland stop isn't much more than a siding for a one train a day each way. I've taken trains all over Europe, both day trips and overnight, and I have ridden the bullet and regular trains in Japan.
Maybe Steve Jobs will start the train "for the rest of us"?
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
"A Grand Unified Theory of the Jobless Recovery"
The Atlantic Monthly published an article with the above title by Derek Thompson on 2010-07-26.
He gave some explanations that I was only vaguely aware of. One of course was high executive salaries, fewer employees, more money for the honchos. Thompson added that the pay in stock options increases the executive incentive to keep the price of the stock high, the less money going out to employees the happier stock traders will be (my spin about stock traders).
Quite a discussion follows.
One point was that "Reaganomics fostered the entrepreneurial activity that made the technology revolutions of the PC, cell phone, and internet happen." Let's see, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak established Apple Computer on 1976-04-01 before Jimmy Carter was even elected. A whole bunch of other computer manufacturers sprung up about the same time. The IBM PC was introduced on 1981-08-12, about seven months after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. That probably means that the plan to create and sell the IBM PC was well underway before Reagan was elected. Maybe we should credit Jimmy Carter with the IBM PC:)
What people who credit a president with the success or lack of success of the economy fail to recognize is that many creative people are going to go ahead with their ideas regardless of who is president and what the "economy" is like. Look at the success of the iPad and iPhone in this "slow economy".
He gave some explanations that I was only vaguely aware of. One of course was high executive salaries, fewer employees, more money for the honchos. Thompson added that the pay in stock options increases the executive incentive to keep the price of the stock high, the less money going out to employees the happier stock traders will be (my spin about stock traders).
Quite a discussion follows.
One point was that "Reaganomics fostered the entrepreneurial activity that made the technology revolutions of the PC, cell phone, and internet happen." Let's see, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak established Apple Computer on 1976-04-01 before Jimmy Carter was even elected. A whole bunch of other computer manufacturers sprung up about the same time. The IBM PC was introduced on 1981-08-12, about seven months after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. That probably means that the plan to create and sell the IBM PC was well underway before Reagan was elected. Maybe we should credit Jimmy Carter with the IBM PC:)
What people who credit a president with the success or lack of success of the economy fail to recognize is that many creative people are going to go ahead with their ideas regardless of who is president and what the "economy" is like. Look at the success of the iPad and iPhone in this "slow economy".
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