You knew this was coming... but here it is anyway. I got a Kindle 2 last week. I like to think of it as the best day of my life. Wait, not your wedding day? Or graduation from your excruciating college (that merits further explanation, but it's really too involved for my current purposes)? Or moving away from Luck, Wisconsin... Rome, Georgia... Waco, Texas? Nope. The Kindle far outweighs any of them (my husband understands this completely, hence why he bought it for me. We have a very honest relationship - and by honest I mean blunt. At least on my end. I tend to throw things if he reciprocates and I'm in a bad mood...)
In a way, my reaction to the Kindle is nothing short of pathetic and I'm okay with that. Some people have babies. Others have pets. Some even have copious amounts of houseplants. And I salute all of them... even as their thousands of pictures cloud up my Facebook news feed. But, I have a wireless reading device. Haha! And I treat it like it's my baby... it has a sleek case that is lined with high quality padded leather (one may compare it to a car seat/baby carrier), it's constantly teaching me new things, and it never leaves my side. It also talks if I ask it to and goes to sleep when it's told. What could be better?
I am completely in love with it. Like the mothers who stare longingly at their new little feces machines, I can just stare at its sleek design for hours on end. I dream about opening it and reading all the hysterical memoirs I have loaded on to it by modern women with senses of humor much like my own. It truly has improved my life and gives me something to look forward to even on the most dull and ordinary day.
I am reminded of my childhood when I would beg my parents to buy me the new Babysitters' Club, Boxcar Children, or Saddle Club book or whatever other series I was reading at the time. The pure excitement and joy of reading that I have not had in almost 10 years. There were still hints of it in high school, but college destroyed my love of reading despite teaching me how to be a better reader. For that, I will always be grateful. However, it's great to be back.
This also leads me to my second new goal. I started this blog as a venue to essentially vent about politics and society. It was in the throngs of the 2008 election and the irrationality on both sides was staggering. So, I may decide to rename this... through writing this blog I think it's pretty evident that despite my total commitment to reason as a virtue and behaving reasonably... I often fail. Actually, more times than not. Maybe I'm still more reasonable that most. I like to think so. But, I think this will be a more interesting blog if it is more personal and less in the third-person abstract sense. One day - far in the future - I would like to write a comedic memoir much like the ones I am currently devouring. As much I enjoy discussing business, politics, and foreign affairs I enjoy real people's stories even more. After all, reality is often stranger than fiction, right?
So... this will be my experiment in personal writing (that ideally does not offend others or compromise myself.) I'll see how it goes. I'm guessing I won't post again for a month out of sheer anxiety...
In the meantime, you should buy a Kindle 2. It's an amazing way to change your life and improve the human experience without having to actually affect another living being. Thank you Amazon.com.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Advice of the Day
Learn Excel early on in your life. It's really not a hard program to use, but it's like learning a foreign language - if approached a young age it's incredibly easier to decipher and command.
Everyone should be required to have working knowledge of all basic Microsoft Office programs before graduating from college regardless of major. I distinctly remember only making one PowerPoint presentation and creating one Excel workbook in college. Meanwhile, I wrote nearly 200 papers. Those papers helped hone valuable skills that I use everyday. However, taking crash courses in PowerPoint and Excel on the job can lead to some interesting (often painful) results.
On a related note, props to Microsoft for planning to release free versions of its office suite with Windows 2007 (to be released in 2010.) The spokesperson did add a caveat about the online programs not functioning as well... as an explanation on how they plan to recover for any losses in the software revenue. They probably should have cleared that comment with Marketing, but they have nothing but time to develop and provide top quality products. As much as I trust Microsoft and its ability to innovate and adapt to meet the times (both in its business and technology), it always seems to drag its feet which is not beneficial to its image - especially to web-savvy clients who, for some reason, often favor Macs. Still, kudos for effort and for officially embracing Cloud Computing.
Everyone should be required to have working knowledge of all basic Microsoft Office programs before graduating from college regardless of major. I distinctly remember only making one PowerPoint presentation and creating one Excel workbook in college. Meanwhile, I wrote nearly 200 papers. Those papers helped hone valuable skills that I use everyday. However, taking crash courses in PowerPoint and Excel on the job can lead to some interesting (often painful) results.
On a related note, props to Microsoft for planning to release free versions of its office suite with Windows 2007 (to be released in 2010.) The spokesperson did add a caveat about the online programs not functioning as well... as an explanation on how they plan to recover for any losses in the software revenue. They probably should have cleared that comment with Marketing, but they have nothing but time to develop and provide top quality products. As much as I trust Microsoft and its ability to innovate and adapt to meet the times (both in its business and technology), it always seems to drag its feet which is not beneficial to its image - especially to web-savvy clients who, for some reason, often favor Macs. Still, kudos for effort and for officially embracing Cloud Computing.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
A Google or Mozilla Problem?
I used to be incredibly loyal to Internet Explorer. Mostly because I didn't know any better. Before the last 2 years, I didn't care much about what was going on in the technology space as long as I could access my gmail account, facebook, and Google search. And, part of me was very proud of this - Why care about technology when you can read about ancient Greeks? (albeit certainly not in the ancient Greek itself...)
Amazing how things change. Now, my job centers around me being technologically savvy. I still doubt that I will ever have any programming or computer science skills to speak of, but I have to stay on top of what's going on in the tech space so I can pass it along to my company's customers or potential customers. I also must possess a working tech literacy so I can translate techie's ideas into appealing English so that they can in turn sell their products and services (it's amazing how difficult this can be if you do not understand what the product or service is...)
However, my technological knowledge base shifted when I was introduced to Mozilla Firefox search browser about 3 years ago. At the time, it had a "tabbing" feature that IE did not and was generally faster at enabling Google searches. It also came with the snazzy Google toolbar. All great things. Of course, IE has since done just about everything to catch up with Mozilla since then, but I still prefer Mozilla because until recently IE often had more problem running applications I regularly use (except Webex... ) With the release of Mozilla 3.0, I seem to have nothing but problems with Mozilla. Or at least when it is trying to open Google applications.
This leads me to ask: Is Google sabotaging Mozilla's effectiveness because it released its own internet browser?
I would certainly hope not based on Google's goal of providing the Internet to the masses with ease at any possible location. If this is indeed the case, shame on Google. Google has gained its reputation by being the best (anyone remember the release of Cuil at the end of July?) and should go forward with the same approach. I'm certainly not going to cease using Google and its apps (since I'm obviously posting on Blogger), but will be hesitant to embrace new ones going forward. On the other hand, maybe it's simply a glitch in the new Mozilla browser. Regardless, this is a problem Google should be aware of since it's reflecting negatively on them, which never helps with user loyalty regardless of how cool a new app may be. And, Mozilla should be aware of the problems with Google apps as well if it wants to keep its nitch user-base happy.
On a slightly related note, if Apple tries to make me download Safari one more time when I'm updating iTunes I might have to buy a Zune when my old iPod finally stops working. This illustrates the beauty of technological innovation: there's always something new, better, and faster to keep all the tech company's on their toes thus creating better products for us mere users.
Amazing how things change. Now, my job centers around me being technologically savvy. I still doubt that I will ever have any programming or computer science skills to speak of, but I have to stay on top of what's going on in the tech space so I can pass it along to my company's customers or potential customers. I also must possess a working tech literacy so I can translate techie's ideas into appealing English so that they can in turn sell their products and services (it's amazing how difficult this can be if you do not understand what the product or service is...)
However, my technological knowledge base shifted when I was introduced to Mozilla Firefox search browser about 3 years ago. At the time, it had a "tabbing" feature that IE did not and was generally faster at enabling Google searches. It also came with the snazzy Google toolbar. All great things. Of course, IE has since done just about everything to catch up with Mozilla since then, but I still prefer Mozilla because until recently IE often had more problem running applications I regularly use (except Webex... ) With the release of Mozilla 3.0, I seem to have nothing but problems with Mozilla. Or at least when it is trying to open Google applications.
This leads me to ask: Is Google sabotaging Mozilla's effectiveness because it released its own internet browser?
I would certainly hope not based on Google's goal of providing the Internet to the masses with ease at any possible location. If this is indeed the case, shame on Google. Google has gained its reputation by being the best (anyone remember the release of Cuil at the end of July?) and should go forward with the same approach. I'm certainly not going to cease using Google and its apps (since I'm obviously posting on Blogger), but will be hesitant to embrace new ones going forward. On the other hand, maybe it's simply a glitch in the new Mozilla browser. Regardless, this is a problem Google should be aware of since it's reflecting negatively on them, which never helps with user loyalty regardless of how cool a new app may be. And, Mozilla should be aware of the problems with Google apps as well if it wants to keep its nitch user-base happy.
On a slightly related note, if Apple tries to make me download Safari one more time when I'm updating iTunes I might have to buy a Zune when my old iPod finally stops working. This illustrates the beauty of technological innovation: there's always something new, better, and faster to keep all the tech company's on their toes thus creating better products for us mere users.
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