My wife and I returned from our Saturday foray down to the newly-re-opened Smithsonian’s American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. (I enjoyed the modern art; my wife enjoyed the portraits.) When we arrived home I walked downstairs to discover six inches of water in the basement with a variety of things floating above the concrete floor.
All in Home Sweet Home
Over the weekend I was again reminded why I keep old computers and computer parts around. (For example: I have two old Mac Pluses in the basement in storage along with the fax modem from a Newton Message Pad; you never know when they'll come in handy!)
Anyway, Number One Daughter's Acer laptop, purchased at Virginia Tech and the source of some misgivings this past years while she was away at school, refused to turn on here at the house.
Does Personal Technology Really Simplify Life?
I suppose many people would say that technology does help them stay organized and prioritized, especially if they are the ones who are inclined to use tools to support the organization process. In my case, as a former gadget freak, I have resisted the impulse to keep acquiring more gadgets and have actually tried to reduce the number of systems I have to maintain.
I've been using iTunes a lot to check out various audio streams using the "radio" feature in iTunes. I currently have a playlist of radio streams that include Bollywood and movie soundtracks, various "Ambient" and "Electronica" signals, a variety of Jazz, Latin, and Tropical channels, and all the Classical music I can find. It's quite an amazing variety. If I hadn't already given up CD's as an obsolete medum I'd be buying a lot more music.
Cisco has announced plans to buy Scientific Atlanta, and Microsoft has announced an agreement with the cable TV industry to include digital cable card support in the next version of Windows. So what, you say?
It’s all related to “convergence” where a Brave New World is heralded by the unification of the Internet and cable based home entertainment. That means more choice, more quality, more service, more innovation, and just plain more quality of life, right?
Maybe.
All I wanted was a cheapo stud finder, the old fashioned kind that contains a narrow cylindrical magnet, mounted on a central rotating axis, that wiggles in its mounting when it passes over a nail head buried below drywall in a stud.
While walking by the large mirrored bedroom cabinet that holds our sweaters and other garments, I spied the corner of an unfamiliar dark object on top. I reached up and pulled down an old framed picture that had been gathering dust for several years.