Sometimes it blows my mind the importance that some people put on having a fax. Faxes seem to be able to be used for legal purposes, but not email. The other day I was emailed some numbers by one party and had to send them to a second. So, I replied to the email requesting the numbers cutting and pasting them in. The replied that they couldn't accept them that way. They asked I print out the original email and fax it.
Huh. Print out an email... then fax it...
It's like something out of dilbert. It just blows my mind sometimes. Maybe lawyers and financial groups will be able to catch up to the 1990's in another 10 or 15 years. I really hope so.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Socialism is such a dirty word in the US
Being unable to get away from news of the upcoming election in the states, you end up hearing commentators or quick interviews of people in the streets. One of the things that I keep on hearing is the word "socialism". It seems to being used in the same context as "child molester" or "terrorist".
Maybe I'm getting socialism confused with social programs like universal healthcare, but it seems like in the US if anything even smells like a social run anything, then clearly it's communist and the voters will be forced to eat their own young.
I just don't get it. And maybe I don't have to. I just don't understand the arguments against some social programs, and by taking one, you'll have to convert everything. Life isn't that black and white. It's a choose your own adventure.
Maybe I'm getting socialism confused with social programs like universal healthcare, but it seems like in the US if anything even smells like a social run anything, then clearly it's communist and the voters will be forced to eat their own young.
I just don't get it. And maybe I don't have to. I just don't understand the arguments against some social programs, and by taking one, you'll have to convert everything. Life isn't that black and white. It's a choose your own adventure.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Burned and I should have known better
The drive on my mac totally died last Friday. I guess I should have seen it as there has been some weird behaviour on and off for a few months. I thought that it was something funny with firefox. Apparently not. :-(
The worse part? I don't have backups for some important-ish files, but I hope I will be able to get away with the loss. So far tonight I've re-installed the OS and some apps like firefox. I think that the one of the next things that I should do is set up time machine, but with my NAS drive at 86% full, I'm not sure if I'll have the room. Maybe it's time to set up another NAS drive as the "primary" drive and just use another one as a backup. Either way this has emphasized my need to set up multiple backups, including off site backups.
One benefit is that I have a bunch of services like mail "in the cloud" so those are not effected by this drive failure. Heaven help me if those services decide to shut down, but that's a different story.
This incident has brought my my interest in netbooks again. It would be nice to have a backup computer that I'd been able to do things like look at message boards for symptoms and issues, price shopping, and still being connected. But that's a thought for another day.
The worse part? I don't have backups for some important-ish files, but I hope I will be able to get away with the loss. So far tonight I've re-installed the OS and some apps like firefox. I think that the one of the next things that I should do is set up time machine, but with my NAS drive at 86% full, I'm not sure if I'll have the room. Maybe it's time to set up another NAS drive as the "primary" drive and just use another one as a backup. Either way this has emphasized my need to set up multiple backups, including off site backups.
One benefit is that I have a bunch of services like mail "in the cloud" so those are not effected by this drive failure. Heaven help me if those services decide to shut down, but that's a different story.
This incident has brought my my interest in netbooks again. It would be nice to have a backup computer that I'd been able to do things like look at message boards for symptoms and issues, price shopping, and still being connected. But that's a thought for another day.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Dobsonian telescope
Ever since I had first heard of a sonotube telescope, I've wanted to build one. I've since figured out that they are called Dobsonian telescopes - or Dob. All the harder to find that info since I can't spell sonotube... I thought that it was sona tube.
I'd love to use one and play around with taking some pictures of the stars and planets, but I would guess that all light pollution in Ottawa would have an adverse effect on it. I don't know if that would be pointless for around here.
Either way it seems like it would be fun to build. ;-)
I'd love to use one and play around with taking some pictures of the stars and planets, but I would guess that all light pollution in Ottawa would have an adverse effect on it. I don't know if that would be pointless for around here.
Either way it seems like it would be fun to build. ;-)
Monday, 6 October 2008
Brains over personality
Something that occurred to me tonight: when picking co-workers I'd rather trade social grace for smarts / efficiency at their job. Picture someone that might be really gruff or hard to deal with, but they are really good at their job. Of course there are limits to what would be acceptable, but if I had to choose.
The ideal co-worker would be great at both. And while we're at it, I want a pony too.
The ideal co-worker would be great at both. And while we're at it, I want a pony too.
Blogging about thinking about blogging
I find myself many times a day composing a blog post in my head. Figuring out how to present my thought / rant, how to structure the text to be both clear and entertaining. Then when I do have a chance to sit down to put some text to the screen: I draw a blank. It's annoying because I feel that I'm missing out on many chances for interesting (to me) brain dumps. *sigh*
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