Author: Shelley Powers

Categories
Technology

Floating computers

Like Don Park, I am less than impressed with the design of the new G5, even with the thought of a laptop with a 24 hour battery:

I can ducktape it to a small powerboat battery and use it as a laptop. Wow, a laptop with 24 hour battery life and replaceable keyboard. I am starting to like the idea.

Though an interesting design, the iMac G5 seems to ignore usability in favor of the “I’m so cool, and sexy, too” factor.

For instance, the monitor is firmly attached to the computer, which means you really can’t add or replace the monitor if you wish, as you can a traditional non-iMac desktop. You can’t do this with a laptop either, but a laptop you can take with you on the plane or to the coffee shop. I suppose you could swing this baby over your shoulder and take it with you, but I have a feeling this might trip security sensors. And probably revoke your warranty.

You could use it in your living room as a DVD movie player, but I would think a nice flat screen TV with DVD player would do better. Nothing says “floating in air’ like 50 inches on the wall.

I know the company is marketing to a new class of people with too much money to spend–the new generation iPod “Sex and the City” anti-geeks who drive heavily overpriced BMWs specifically because they’re compatible with their tunes devices–but no design, no matter how ‘enchanting’ is going to make up for overall capacity and cost effectiveness.

But then, I’m an old generation Ford Focus driver who hums under my breath as I drive.

Categories
Connecting

Slashdotted AKMA

AKMA’s recent flirtation with breaking the law by using the open WiFi outside of the library has been Slashdotted. Contrary to many Slashdot stories, this one is amazingly free of invective, and has some very thoughtful responses.

In particular, when the story was submitted, the writer made specific mention of AKMA’s profession:

A policeman approached him and asked that he only access the Internet from within the Library and hinted that Federal Laws against “signal theft” were applicable. Oh, and btw, we’re not talking about a person that looked like your stereotypical ‘hacker’; AKMA is an ordained priest.”

(Oh, I would love to see a Gary Turner morph of AKMA into a hacker.)

This sparked additional commentary above and in addition to that generated by the policeman’s actions, including the following:

Actually, that’s a good point. We’re thinking “jerk policeman picking on innocent geek”, but it might have undercurrents of “jerk policemen who hates priests picking on innocent geek who is a priest”. We probably need to get over the idea that certain occupations are automatically respected (priests, doctors, COBOL programmers, etc).

Categories
History

Our friends for freedom

I’ve developed a re-awakened interest in World War II history due to conversations that I’ve been following in weblogging. I went to the library to check out a couple of books on the Japanese internment, and found five books on women’s participation in the war effort intermixed on the same shelf. I checked out books on both subjects.

One of the books makes liberal use of WW II posters, as demonstration of the contradiction inherent with women’s roles during the war. Going online, I found digital images of almost all of them, and they are fascinating to look at; particularly since most encouraged behavior in war that the country, as a whole, discouraged during peace.

For instance, in one set of posters, each features a photo of a man representing a country who was ally in the war. All of the posters had words to the effect that these people were our friends in the fight for freedom. Among those so honored were the very proud, and very black, Ethiopians; ironic, when you consider that blacks in this country weren’t allowed to serve alongside the whites in most situations until later in the hostilities.

In fact, when a small group of black nurses were finally allowed to volunteer at war’s end, they were assigned to tend German patients; laws on the books prevented them from helping American or other allied white men.

Categories
Technology

Oh Horrors!

I wrote two posts related to politics and feminism, and another related to philosophy, with a few pictures thrown in. I must now write on technology.

Movable Type 3.1 did release today, right on schedule. Congratulations to the 6A group. When I mentioned doing the export for MT from WP last week, another person emailed me telling me he was already at work on it. And work he did — finishing it up in record time. When he publishes the script I’ll post a link to it. I’ve already tested it with my own weblog, porting from WordPress 1.2 to MT 3.1 and it worked a treat–and I have some odd data elements in my installation of WP.

So now once I get an official copy of Movable Type 3.1 (without signing up for TypeKey being the stubborn lady that I am) I’ll finish that section of the tutorial on tool independence, covering other aspects of moving from WordPress to Movable Type 3.1.

And vice versa. No worries on those wanting to go the other direction. I’ve already started porting three volunteer’s weblogs from Movable Type to WordPress (and other environs), in my space to cover that aspect of the writing. I’m holding on porting their actual sites until WordPress 1.3 releases — I’m using the alpha/beta code for my work, but would prefer using released code for other’s live weblogs. However, I don’t want to wait on the writing until 1.3 releases. I need to be finished quickly.

Oh, and I’ve decided to drop the style switcher, so next time you read this, your favorite style will probably be gone. I think I’ve found the look I can live with and that looks decent in all browsers. It has no rounded corners, and minimal shadowing and it doesn’t look anything like Kubrick — but at least it’s uniquely me. I hope that you can all live with what you see. If not, then I hope you all can lie very effectively. I will take either and be content.

Scott Hanson has posted a link to his WP export script and a write-up at his weblog.

If this gets easy enough, you could eventually switch weblogs weekly, just to keep everyone guessing. Become a true weblogging polygamist.

 

“Sure, some Movable Type users migrated to other tools. And, of course, it is sad to see them leave. However, we feel strongly that the Movable Type community (and Six Apart as a company) has only become stronger since these changes. And if those who migrated do want to come back, we always have that import button. That freedom is why we have also had export since almost day one.”

Deja vu, all over again. From Mena’s Corner.

Oh, and heads up folks: the dynamic PHP page feature only works with standard MT template tags — no plug-ins. Save yourself hassle and heartache trying to get this one to work.

Categories
Writing

Do not lose your desire to walk

On the bathroom wall at Shaw Nature Reserve, I saw a sign with these words:

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. . .but by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. . . Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be alright.”

Søren Kierkegaard, letter to Jette (1847)

One forgets at times how insightful Kierkegaard was, until reading the above. Or the following:

The essence of pleasure does not lie in the thing enjoyed, but in the accompanying consciousness. If I had a humble spirit in my service, who, when I asked for a glass of water, brought me the world’s costliest wines blended in a chalice, I should dismiss him, in order to teach him that pleasure consists not in what I enjoy, but in having my own way.

Or my favorite:

People hardly ever make use of the freedom which they have, for example, freedom of thought; instead they demand freedom of speech as compensation.

“His earliest published essay, for example, was a polemic against women’s liberation.” (Quote from this site.)

Well, even great thinkers screw up from time to time.

Yours in freedom.