4 posts tagged “macbook”

Over on phoneboy.com, I decided to go into my personal computing history, at least with respect to PCs and Macs. Might be worth reading for some, or it might be a total bore. 

Once I started keeping a paper day planner, I decided I should go through the notes I wrote in my day planner once and highlight anything interesting in my blog. I probably should have done this a couple of weeks ago, but oh well.

Voxilla: Early in June, I officially "left" Voxilla. Interestingly enough, so did Carolyn Schuk. That being said, I still have a small ownership stake and have helped out with little things here and there, though interestingly Marcelo hasn't called me in several weeks. I haven't been watching the Voxilla Forums all that closely, but it looks like they are continuing to move forward. I've also tried to send business their way.

Match Game: While I wrote this down on 7 June, I recently had a recurring thought about it. I've been listening to The Daily Giz Wiz and because Dick DeBartolo and Leo Laporte seem to talk about Match Game quite often (Dick was the head writer on Match Game), I am frequently reminded how cool it would be if this were to come back. This could be done as a video podcast. It could even be done as an audio podcast and it would work. I wonder if such a thing happened if Dick would be kind enough to write the questions. (Of course there is the question of getting the rights to use the name and/or not upsetting the copyright holders)

A Clean Desk, Fewer Computers: Something I've been wanting for a while finally happened after I got my MacBook and generally cleaned my office. There's one corner of my office I haven't cleaned yet, but the parts I inhabit frequently are fairly picked up and orderly. Also I've removed my Linux laptop from my desk and so I am down to two computers: the MacBook and my work laptop.

Who Do I Serve?: My day job is backline technical support (i.e. the next step is development). In doing that job, I have to represent the customer's interests to my employer and my employer's interests to the customer. I like to think I am working for the customer, but really it's the employer that pays my check. Sometimes those "interests" are in conflict, and it is not always easy to resolve those conflicts. I'll have to elaborate more on this another time.

No Antihistamines: In June, I finally broke down and scheduled an appointment with an allergist. The actual appointment involved getting poked with a lot of sticks covered in a lot of different substances. What am I allergic to? Most grasses and a few trees. Explains why Hawaii was a good place for my allergies. :) Cat hair came up as an allergen for me, but I've had cats my whole life and tolerate cats pretty well most of the time. I'm now taking Allegra-D and Nasacort and all is well.

Ultrametabolism: This is a book I ended up purchasing electronically on amazon.com, though I realize I could have bought it in print. Remind me never to buy DRMed stuff again. That being said, this book is full of really interesting information about why most of us are not at a healthy weight and what we can do about it. What's interesting is that the author, Dr. Mark Hyman says he never tells his patients to lose weight. He just helps their bodies get back into balance and the weight comes off on it's own. Interesting idea. I'm still trying to find my balance, and I am eating healthier if nothing else.

How Do I Make Money Writing About What I Love?: I'm still trying to figure out the answer to this question, but it's a question I wrote down. Sure, Google gives me a few bucks, but it's enough to pay for an extra toy here and there, not enough to live on. I've tried to add some different ad networks to the site to see if that helps. What I'd really like is to make my full time living writing about what I love. Kind of like the folks from Dooce.

Shared Experience: I had written this down thinking how television has the concept of a "shared experience." Originally, I thought the Internet might not have that, but I am starting to think differently about that. While maybe there isn't a single place we all go to get our media online, what you do have online is the ability to "share" instantly. For example, if I see something really cool on the Internet, I can send it to my friends and they'll read/listen/watch it when they have a chance. Instant gratification. On television, radio, or a movie? Well if you weren't there to see it, or didn't tape/TiVo it, too bad. What it will be interesting to see is how people will "find" content on the Internet in the future. For me, right now, it's subscribing to Digg's Videos section in my RSS reader along with the blogs I normally read. That's more than enough video to keep me busy right now.

At least in the US, the third Sunday of each year is the day to honor and commemorate fathers. Other countries apparently celebrate this, at least if you believe the Wikipedia article on Fathers Day. My wife asked me what I wanted to do on Fathers Day. Huh?

Most weekends, I am taking my kids somewhere to entertain them for a few hours while my wife does whatever needs doing. Since my wife stays at home and has them during the week while I work, and can't easily get certain things done with kids, it's a fair trade. It's been especially hard the past few weeks since my son has been out of school and is trying to assert his independence in unpleasant ways. Fortunately he starts Summer School on Monday. So when my wife basically offered me a free day to do what I wanted, I really had to think. What do I want to do?

I thought of two tasks, somewhat related, but perhaps somewhat selfish. What I'd like to do is go out and buy one of those MacBooks. (According to my wife, my son wanted to get me a computer for Fathers Day. He knows me well.) It would be a bit of a trip to go to the Apple Store as I'd have to drive an hour or more to either Bellevue or Southcenter. It'd also be more expensive since I couldn't take advantage of my employer's discount, but I'd get instant gratification.

The second thing to do would be to essentially upgrade my son's computer, which would essentially involve giving him my old one, but I'd have to take it out of the rack-mount case I currently have it in. I might let him help me assemble the thing, or at least do it in front of him so I can explain the components. Call it a father-son bonding moment.

I had also thought about doing a Frys shopping trip, but I can't think of anything I really want bad enough to drive an hour plus to Renton except maybe a MacBook. Or some new components to build Jaden a new and different computer.

Eh. I don't know. I'll sleep on it. Maybe I will be inspired in the morning.

One thing I've been doing since I took the 7 Habits class is, after the kids have gone to bed and I have fed the cats and generally cleaned up the house is that I take my day planner, sit down on the couch, and, in addition to planning the next day (or week), I write down whatever is on my mind. It might be little observations. It might be a "shitty first draft" of something I need to write up. Call it a brain flush, but I just want to get the thoughts down in case they are useful later.

Once a month, it's a good idea to go through the notes from the previous month and see what ideas bear revisiting.

"The happiest part of my week is going out with my son to teeball." Not necessarily because it's time with my son, but I have so much fun with all of the kids out there.

"I like noodling with music. Few people. if any, know about that." My wife told me a while ago that she couldn't figure out how I was able to walk up to a piano and "work out" the notes to a song. That got me thinking back into my past. I did take piano lessons when I was about eight, and so I have some rudimentary skills in playing the piano. I can remember always having a fondness for the piano, even if I never followed through with the lessons. I got to explore my musical ideas with Garage Band recently, which I found quite interesting. I used it as the basis for one of the podcasts I submitted to T.W.A.T. recently.

"I want a MacBook for my birthday." I don't think this needs any explanation. :)

"I want to improve my marriage." I know I've had this thought before.

"If I knew I couldn't fail, what would I do? 1. Get down to 195 pounds. 2. Getting paid to blog for my employer. 3. Make an insanely great podcast. All of these are going to require planning.

"My body wants more sleep." Lately, I haven't been staying up as long as usual, choosing to go to bed at an earlier hour. This evening, I am at my more usual 2am or so. :)

"I've been spending less time online." I've actually been enjoying not sitting on the computer, which is what I do during that "planning" time and why I am keeping a paper day planner instead of using Outlook, et. al.

"Im finding the space between stimulus and response." At least more often, though I know I have a ways to go in this area.

"I need a quick meditation technique." When I was doing some research on the net about meditation, I ran across a technique that would require only a couple of minutes of meditation, but it would give your mind a quick refresh. I need to find that again any try it.

"Compass, not clock." The direction you are going is generally more important than how long it takes you to get there.

"Leo Laporte said on a podcast recently that you should do what you love and the rest will take care of itself." How true.

That covers about 10 days worth--I didn't actually start doing the brain dumps until a couple of weeks after I started with the day planner. We'll see what I come up with next month.