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Working With the Next Generation
Laptop Medium
Entering Portal of Old Age
Making the Gods Laugh!
Katrina
Yea! I'm A Webmaster!
Will This Journey Never End!
Today's the
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September 26, 2005
WORKING WITH THE NEXT GENERATION
One of the joys of participating in community theatre is
having the opportunity to work closely with the up-and-coming generations.
These last two months have been pretty hectic for me because I was finishing
up a production of an adaptation of Moliere's, The Miser, and going right
into rehearsals as a cast member in
Women's Minyan during
the final week of the run. Both productions are in Durham, North Carolina,
and quite a trek for me.
I really don't know how the gas prices are going to affect participating
in productions this far away from my home in the future, but I'm going to
work very hard at finding ways to cut corners so that I can continue to do
so. Although my exposure to young people today is minimal, there's still
plenty of time to observe and come to the conclusion that we will be in good
hands, once the reins of running the world are turned over to them.
Maybe it's just the environment of working on a full production with
these young people -- I really don't know -- but, they are sharp,
articulate, and socially conscious. I know they have more on their plates,
today, than we ever had and they take it in stride. They come to rehearsals
prepared to work, their lines memorized, ready to do whatever is asked of
them without complaint, and capable of offering well-thought-out suggestions
to the director. It is a symbiotic, symphonic, relationship that helps bring
the theatre alive for so many people.
And, of course, I must throw kudos to all the young female actors because
it is my heartfelt belief that they are expected to do so much more
physically than we ever were, back when stages had to be chiseled out of
rock. Tumbling, mock fights, and non-stop physical feats are a natural part
of their actor's handbag. This is a far cry from when we just had to stand
around and look pretty, whilst thrilling the audience with our words and
poses.
Theatre is ensemble work. There is no room for Divas because we're all
dependent upon each other for the success of the show. If you don't believe
that, try insulting a techie and then find out that their spouse is running
the spotlight, which means you spend all night trying to find yours! There
is a bonhommie to this particular type of venue that is not only inherent
within the preparation process but absolutely necessary to create the right
atmosphere. No one wants to fail and much is demanded from everyone in a
very short period of time.
Every production begins the process anew. Every year produces a new crop
of thespians, who will not only bring you great entertainment but will carry
that fervor over into their community lives. They come to their personal
lives with this knowledge of how to complete tasks in a relatively short
period of time by working intimately with others and maintaining a friendly,
creative atmosphere. These characteristics are essential in any enterprise
and, more importantly, in organizing and developing flourishing communities.
To paraphrase the old insurance advertisement, " we're in good hands."
September 12, 2005
LAPTOP MEDIUM
Is there such a thing as negative vibrations to prevent computers from
working properly? I pose this question because there seems to be one of my
friends who, no matter how many times I've tried to show him some new
feature on my laptop, anything and everything goes wrong. Not just some
small little glitch -- this is usually a problem that will take at least 20
to 30 minutes just to get to the next step.
On the same day, within the same hour, even, I can show the same thing to
any number of people and the laptop works fine. It only seems to have a
problem around him. Now, I will say that this person does not own a
computer, is proud of it, and doesn't mind being in the minority of people
still receiving snail mail and telephone calls for meeting notices and
updates. (That, in and of itself, can be a welcome relief in the 21st
century.) Now, not only are we bombarded with countless daily e-mails, but
we receive remonstration, if we don't respond to them within a 24-hour
period. At least with the snail mail, you had a few days to get back to
someone. Everyone has become the whining baby, wanting your attention, right
now.
But, back to my friend. In truth, this is getting a little embarrassing.
Part of it is my fault because I'm not always online using the laptop and,
because of the virus and firewall software, it immediately starts to upgrade
the moment I connect with my server. Miss more than a few weeks and the wait
can be almost a full twenty minutes. And, of course, I have become
completely spoiled by my high-speed cable connection. The old laptop still
uses the dial-up method of getting online, which makes it appear to take
even longer.
Not only does my friend not have a computer, he has no interest in ever
acquiring one. I sincerely believe that my laptop has the full capability of
understanding these feelings and demonstrates its own disdain by making it
even more difficult to show its user-friendly side. This behavior only
validates my friend's believe that he is right, that computers are the
devil's tool, and should be tossed through the nearest window. In my heart,
I know that if he ever discovered the joys of researching online, he would
become a devotee, almost immediately. And, that may be his fear, that he
would disappear from the world and lock himself away in a room, gleefully
researching everything, until reaching the end of the information highway.
So, to turn this lemon into lemonade, I am really doing the world a
service by maintaining his belief about computers, and my best ally is my
laptop. For my good deed, I definitely deserve a special treat at the local
Angus Barn.
September 8, 2005
ENTERING THE PORTAL OF OLD AGE
Nothing brings home to you how different your life will be faster than
applying for your Social Security benefits. In order to save time and
because I'm running a small business, I did all of my application work over
the phone with my local Social Security office. The last statement from the
administrator was a request for me to hand-carry my birth certificate copy
down to the local office, hand it to the clerk, and ask the clerk to pass it
on to the administrator. This is a simple procedure and one that should have
taken no longer than five minutes.
Unfortunately, I ran into what is probably occurring in every other
Social Security office in the nation -- bureaucratic procedures run amok. I
blithely walked into the office and located someone who appeared to be in
charge and began to hand them the envelope containing the copy of my birth
certificate. Without even waiting to hear what I had to say, I was told I
had to take a number and wait my turn. I informed the gentleman that I had
already filled out my application and I was simply bringing down a piece of
paper that could be handed over to the administrator to use whenever they
felt ready to use it.
"Do you have an appointment?" became his litany. It didn't matter that I
was simply handing over a piece of paper to be transferred to someone else
in charge, I got the same response, "Do you have an appointment?" I repeated
that, no, I didn't have an appointment because I was told I didn't need one,
that I simply had to hand in the paper and somebody would bring it to the
right party. He again intoned his mantra and told me to take a number and
wait to be called.
At this point, I do want to say I wasn't the only one getting this type
of treatment within the office. It was now 9:30 AM and I selected the next
number, 19. The office was still dealing with number eight. Without giving
you all the details of what transpired before I actually got in to see the
administrator, I will simply highlight a few. It was 12:45 PM when my number
was finally called. Since you are not, under any circumstances, allowed to
use a cell phone within the building, of course, my cell phone went off at
that precise moment. I chose not to answer it, to make sure that I didn't
lose my place.
With envelope in hand and a big smile on my face (because I was about to
leave), I hurried over to the window, only to be told that I would have to
wait until another window was opened because this clerk was going to lunch.
Now, I could have guessed that. At 1:35 PM, I was finally called to the
window and thanked very much for my envelope. No apologies. Nothing.
I'm sorry, but this is an outrageous way to treat anybody. There were
several other senior citizens who also simply wanted to hand in a document
and were required to take a number and sit on very uncomfortable seating,
while waiting more than three hours to have their number called, to hand
someone an envelope. No discussions; just, pass the envelope. There is no
excuse for this. If it is a pattern within the Social Security
Administration to ask citizens to simply drop off some piece of paper,
requiring nothing more than the transfer of that paper to the office, there
should be a specific drop-off counter or person available to handle the
transfer.
This is such an obvious and natural way of handling this type of
situation that it boggles the mind when first presented with the alternative
of sitting an interminable amount of time to hand someone a sheet of paper.
Documents that require no explanation should not require lengthy attendance.
I'm young enough to have not been as severely exhausted as some of the
others I saw come into the building.
The officer who could only respond with, "Take a number," spent much of
his time, outside of the litany, just passing the time visiting with the people as they came
through the door, and asking people to use their cell phones outside. It seems to me, that this person would be a perfect
delegate for the job of receiving document transfers, with perhaps a log to
show the time received and the initials of the person bringing the document
to the Social Security Administration. It is done all the time in the
corporate world and needs to become a part of government procedures.
When I receive my certified copy of my birth certificate, I will simply
use snail mail to forward it to my local Social Security Administration office.
(I saw the postman simply walk in, drop off the mail, and walk out -- all
within the space of three minutes. Wonder if I'll need a uniform. . .)
September 5, 2005
AUGUST 26th, THE DAY I MADE THE GODS
LAUGH!
There's an old saying, "To make the gods laugh, let them know your
plans!" And, that is exactly what I did, as you know, on August 26th, when I
declared myself a webmaster. It has been non-stop link tweaking, ever since.
All I wanted to do was add my friend Jil's magnetic jewelry to the site
and, in that small desire, created one of the most teeth-grating situations to come my way in some
time. What was so frustrating was that, regardless of what I did, my links
to almost everything in the Treasure Hold went anywhere but to where I had
actually linked them.
Thanks to the great team at
1and1.com, my IPS servers, and a lot of
midnight oil, things may be back to some semblance of order. At least, this
morning, I was able to get to where I wanted to when clicking on a link.
There are bound to be a few that I've missed and, to that end, I
apologize. It will probably take a few more days for me to locate all of the
redirected ones and, hopefully, everything should be going smoothly by the
middle of next week.
The lesson I have learned is to never shout "Eureka!" and, most
definitely, NEVER put it in print. I sincerely hope the gods are happy and
are more than willing to move on to another human for their humor. For those
of you who have had the patience to hang in there, I humbly thank you.
September 3, 2005
KATRINA
In the wake of Katrina's devastation, there is little that can be said
that will really make up for the losses of so many people. During times such
as these, language itself seems filled with trite clichés and, although
sounding hollow, are true sentiments given from the heart. A heart that is
numb from shock, along with the senses that have begun to compartmentalize
to protect us from the horror, in order to be able to help. Selective
thought seems to be one way of approaching unspeakable destruction to enable
us to carry on.
I hope that most of you who have come to visit will also take this
opportunity to click onto the
Red Cross banner and see if there's not some
way you can offer help to these people. It really doesn't take a lot but it
is important to make the effort. In the wake of Hugo, another
highly-destructive hurricane that battered the coasts of North Carolina,
there were many volunteers in the beginning but, as time passed, the numbers
dwindled. The need for help didn't dwindle but other tragedies came along
and cut into the ranks of the volunteers.
While there will always be those who are free to go wherever they feel
compelled to go, others are not so fortunate and are left behind to take
care of their obligations and responsibilities. Those who are left behind
can be generous with their pocketbooks, with preparing shelters and
dispersing foods, and helping communities assimilate the refugees. Offering
clothing, furnishings, and dry goods will always play an important part in
giving help. And, of course, any actual physical time that can be given is
welcome. The needs of caring for so many will not go away within the next
few months but will be something we have to continue for years, in some
cases. Let's be there.
August 26, 2005
YEA! I'M A WEBMASTER!
I have finally reached a major point in a mother's life. An accolade from
my daughter. She has reviewed my new site and declared that I am, in fact, a
Webmaster. And, she can say that, because that is what is done where she
works. After having spent a little bit of time going through all my hard
work, she declared me a success. I can die in peace. Well, actually,
according to the actuarials I found in an old file drawer, I should be
meeting my Maker within the next year or two. I actually prefer the new idea
that 50 is the new 40.
If I had known just how much work was going to be involved in revamping
the old web site, I think I would have simply poured some ground glass into
a cup, added two tablespoons of sugar, one half cup of water, and used it as
a breakfast wake-up drink. But, the most arduous
tasks are finally finished and I have even taken the plunge of broadcasting my web site url to all
those many people who have been sending me e-mails over the past eight or 10
years.
It really doesn't matter what you want to do, everything becomes a new
learning experience. One of the advantages of being part of a forum, you
invariably meet people with more skills than you have who are willing to
share their knowledge. I take it to heart that, the more you are open to new
experiences and knowledge, the longer you get to live an alert old age. I
have been an insatiable reader from childhood and
look forward to the time when I can sit back in my old rocking chair and do
nothing but catch up on all the books I have on my incredibly long list.
So far, I have been hearing back from the many that have received the
e-mail and comments have been favorable. Some have even been surprised
and totally unaware that I was now earning my living as a writer. That,
alone, was enough reason for me to create the web site. Almost all of my
work has come directly from people online looking for help. But, I wanted a
little more than just a single page web site advertising my skills. As a multipreneur, I felt it was only right to diversify. What the heck, if
Microsoft can do it, so can I.
By the way, I have dictated this entire blog using
NaturallySpeaking
and
have only had to make three corrections. I have dictated as if I had been
speaking at my normal speed of, roughly, 140 words a minute, standing and
pacing in front of my desk. Because I don't have to switch back and forth
between dictation and correction mode, I am able to dictate as they did in
the old days, dictating the grammatical changes and punctuation, knowing they
would be executed exactly as I wanted them to be done.
In truth, I'm actually a reborn NaturallySpeaking user. When it first
came out back in 1996, or thereabouts, it was a nightmare of constant
correction and misinterpreted dictation, creating almost unintelligible
paragraphs unless you watched it as each word was typed. I tried it again
when it had reached version 5 and was literally blown away by the changes
and improvements. The only drawback with version 5 was that, in "reading
back" what I had dictated, it was done in a "computer" voice. Version 7 and
above actually read back to you in your own voice, not necessarily more
pleasant but at least not as cold.
There's still quite a bit of work for me to finish for today so I best
get on with it. When I'm finished, I'm going to treat myself to a great big
glass of blackberry wine and some
Krispy Kreme's. Bletch!
August 16, 2005
WILL THIS JOURNEY NEVER END!
So much has happened in the last month, that it is hard to
put it into words. Now that the new web site is up, I have been using
the time to go back over all of my links and pages looking for any problems
visitors might have. One of the drawbacks of using voice recognition
software is that you can sometimes miss vocabulary errors because the
words are spelled correctly -- they just don't make any sense.
Just when I was afraid I wouldn't have anything to do for
the next month, I'm finding some very interesting grammatical choices made
by the VRI software that has been automatically included on computers in the
past three years. The differences between the Microsoft voice
recognition software and my old tried-and-true friend NaturallySpeaking (NS)
become very obvious, almost at once.
I don't want to turn this blog into a product review, so I
will keep it short and sweet. NS has been in the forefront of creating
software for the handicapped for many years and has refined it to the point
of being second nature to the user. This has brought untold benefits
to the general user, as well. Accuracy of dictation at speeds of 160
words a minute are a piece of cake and extremely comforting, when you're on
a deadline and cannot spend an inordinate amount of time making corrections.
The Microsoft voice recognition software is a real job to
use. In just the three paragraphs above, I have repeatedly had to make
corrections within almost every line of speech. It doesn't
seem to understand the difference between the beginning of a sentence and
the middle of a sentence. If you make a correction within a sentence,
it will automatically capitalize the first word. However, it doesn't
always capitalize the first word after you have ended a sentence with a
period. This becomes very annoying, after about the third time.
In addition, you have to manually switch back and forth
between dictation and correction functions, all of which are automatically
done through natural dictation with NS. I have done as many
practice sessions with the Microsoft product as I have done with the NS
product and it simply doesn't learn as quickly nor does it retain the
corrections as well as NS. The only real advantage is that the
Microsoft product is always present on your toolbar and very easy to click
on to get started. I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I
don't mind the extra few minutes it takes to upload NS to do my serious
dictation because of the frustrations with the Microsoft product. That isn't
to say that most people won't enjoy it, if they have never used NS, but I
don't think that the NS people have anything to fear so far as competition
is concerned.
Well, this did turn out to be a little mini product review
but only because getting through it has been so difficult. When using
NS, I can actually lean back, close my eyes, and dictate without fear of
being faced with total chaos on my pages when I'm ready to review them.
I have literally not been able to take my eyes off the page with the
Microsoft voice recognition software. Grrrrr. . .
August 7, 2005
TODAY'S THE DAY!
Sink or swim, I'm ready to go forward! With more
than 282 files and just over 100 pages, it's time to upload the new web
site. What I'm most proud of the is the way the pages have been streamlined. Most of
the work has been done at night, in between work
assignments, and it's good to put it to rest. It's going to be
interesting to see what kind of a mess I have made.
I'm really looking forward to being able to simply add
content to the website, for a while, and hope that any problems will be
minimal. If I were younger, I would actually believe that everything
would be fine as soon as I uploaded; but, age and reason has taught me that
there will probably still be some more tweaking to get done, before I can
rest.
As soon as I can catch my breath, I'm going to go back over
my list of articles to write and get started. Must learn to stop
having breakfast with my daughter. Whenever we get together, she comes
up with a great idea and, the next thing you know, I have another project.
In fact, she was the catalyst for my getting my breathing exercises up and
running on eBay. I might even consider giving her a percentage, this
time around.
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