Category: Computer

Brain Benders

3/24/2014

I might be the only person in the world that still prefers a laptop to a tablet. From a practicality standpoint, it just works better for me, and frankly I find it to be more useful and functional than tablets are. And those combination laptops/tablets – yea, I looked at those once and they still have some work to do on them before I’m impressed. I don’t rush after every new thing without considering what real use it has in my life. It took me until the iPhone 4S before I caved in and got a smartphone. I love it, true, but I had to be convinced that this was a device that would have daily in my life. Otherwise, the high cost wasn’t justified.

I know, it’s a weird quirk to have. Believe me, I blow more minds by thinking with logic instead of my feelings on a fairly regular basis. Girls don’t usually do that. You can tell me what’s popular, but you can’t make me want it. Nanny nanny boo boo!

Refusing to jump on trends isn’t the only way I bend brains. I’m also an usher at church during the month of March. Yes, you heard me right – an usher, not a greeter. I don’t do the “standing around and looking pretty” or the “welcome to church, visitors please sign the guess book” things well. I pass the offering plate, hand out bulletins, and help with communion. I found myself helping with these duties as a greeter more often than not in recent years, so this year I decided to call it what it is. You can call an apple an orange all day, but you aren’t fooling anybody. I still get occasional icy glares – mostly from other women in the congregation, ironically (or not) – but the show goes on and everybody walks out of there the same as they do every other month of the year.

I think I’m also the only person that doesn’t believe in the “name dropping” or “traveling in entourage” thing. I don’t need a whole bunch of people following me around, and I certainly don’t need to justify myself with others. Forget that crap. Big groups = big drama. No thanks! I don’t understand why so many people are afraid of themselves. What’s wrong with being unique? What’s wrong with stepping out on your own? Character isn’t built by blending in; it’s built by standing out. And sometimes, the truest test isn’t your ability to run blindly after the crowd, but to stand alone for what you know and believe in. Sadly, this test is failed too often.

Yes, I have a few rough edges on me, but perhaps they exist for a reason. There are plenty of conformists in the world. What we really need are people that stand out, and aren’t afraid of themselves or of what truly matters to them. But alas, that just doesn’t make enough noise or get enough attention, so people call it weird and turn their noses up at it. Well, it’s your loss. You aren’t cheating others by being exclusive – you’re cheating yourself by being fake. Us weirdoes lose nothing but your bad attitude, and we don’t have time for that.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a good week.

Bye!

The Shapeshifter Amongst Us

6/15/2013

In my last entry, I made the comment that it's impossible to know what the modern workplace is like because of the tremendous power of change. I'd like to expand on this comment in this entry, and muse over how this trend has the potential to leak out of the workplace and into other areas of life now.

It started with technology. Computers revolutionized the workplace, and there's no denying that it made drastic improvements. Frankly, I can't imagine how people of previous generations ran an effective office with things as archaic as file cabinets and typewriters. They managed, but now we're moving at the speed of light, at least in offices. I remember a colleague once saying "remember when we sent out notification letters? It would take a week or more for people to reply to them now. Now it's notification emails and thanks to smartphones, our own phones blow up within seconds of hitting "send." It's true. Things move faster now, and they have more ways in than ever. Is it a good thing? All in all, probably so. Things get done faster and have the potential to get done more efficiently. But notice the adjective that's more active than the actual verb in that sentence: potential. Because efficiency depends largely on effective and (most importantly) wise implementation. And this requires having people that make sound decisions and are willing to learn and grow with the changes this improvement brings.

Yes, technology is ever changing, and it requires people in the workforce to keep changing with it. Nothing stays the same, and now we're morphing with the speed of development. You always have to be willing to grow and learn, to embrace new things and let go of old things that might be comforting, but are no longer effective. The good new is that this change, when done with pure motives and right intentions, is the path to progress. You learn, you grow, and hopefully you take those lessons into your personal life and see what you gained continue to bless your life.

Ah, but there's another side to this, and here's the catch. This is where the shapeshifter comes into play, because the constant change in the workplace started with technology, but it oozed it's hand into other aspects of the workplace as well. Changes in how things are done require changes in management, changes in staff, changes in operations. It doesn't stop with the machines. Integrating the machines changes the people, and the way people operate. It means that we must not only adapt to how the machines help us to do our work better, but we also must embrace how the machines change the human element of the workplace. And this, folks, is where we run into issues, because machines don't have a mind and will of their own, but people do, and they aren't afraid to use it. For better or for worse, and sadly, the tendency to react rather than reflect and act in faith means that this element is subject to lots of rash decisions and acts that aren't always conductive to progress.

I've come to realize that there are two kinds of change. The first kind is the progressive kind that I discussed above. An opportunity opens and it's given thoughtful deliberation and consideration. People take advantage of that opportunity and more opportunities arise from it. Yes, it's hard and it requires change, learning new things, and forging into new areas, but the hard work is worth it and beyond the growning pains come progress that lead to a "golden age" of productivity and success. This is the kind of change we should always embrace, and that we shouldn't fear. Yes, it takes hard work to do new things, but the work of laying that solid foundation pays off when you build something that's stronger and better for a new day. Often, the things you learn from these "hard seasons of growth" can be implemented into other areas of life which spurs more growth and more blessing. It can have a chain reaction. One example of this: My office move 3 years ago gave me the courage and strength to start the process of becoming an independent author. The trials I went through getting those programs moved opened my eyes to every area of life, and I realized that I had spent a lot of years submitting my writing to traditional publishers in a sinking economy that had bolted their doors closed to new authors and weren't listening. "If they stop listening, stop talking," someone advised me around that time (of a different situation, but ...) and one day I stumbled upon a CNN article about how ebooks were outselling hardbacks and the light went off. I dug in to edit and revamp my approach, submitted to epublishers and mixed in some self publishing, and now 3 years and 7 books later, I finally have the foundation laid that I was waiting for someone else to do for far too long. I lost my fear of taking chances, I found the courage to make bold moves of faith on my own, and I finally got the ball rolling on the progress I had prayed for. That success gave me the courage to stand firm, to learn what I needed to learn, and to work with others to make the move successful, and it was. Progressive change at work had a 2 for 1 special in my life: the work move was successful despite setbacks and challenges along the way, and I got established as an independent author.

Ah, but there's another kind of change, and sadly I see it in my life now. It's change born of fear, and this is almost always detrimental. Sadly, progressive change usually gives way to this. Things move along well and people are happy with how it's going, but then something happens that changes some element that everybody was comfortable with. Usually, it has to do with setbacks, challenges, changes in leadership, or an unexpected loss of some sort. People get scared and react. Instead of asking "okay, what can we do to stabilize the situation and are there any opportunities from this, no matter how small, that we can seize and use to rebuild?" they ask "how do we protect ourselves." The motives shift from purity (doing better) to selfish (save me!), and that's the road to destruction. Change is not about progress, but about re-establishing control, protecting the "status quo," and preventing more damage. This is where you run into trouble, because damage control is never productive and that's looking at the situation from the wrong end. I think we all remember Yoda's logic in Star Wars Episode 1 - "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side." That's not fiction; it's face. People get scared and they react. Then they get mad because things aren't working out. Then the anger replaces all semblance of reason, and it becomes a battle. As Loki so eloquently put it in The Avengers, freedom leads to a mad scramble of power. Yep, he had a grain of truth there too. It's scary.

Take it from one that's seeing it unfold. There are changes afoot in an area of my life now, and I find myself surrounded by a lot of fear. It's disturbing. I find myself pondering a lot of things, but foremost amongst them is protecting the progress I've worked so hard to achieve over the past few years. An emerging culture of fear could well do that, at least in this one area, and that means that a fight is on. It might already be on, because these spiritual things are a whole different battlefield. That's one song I do not want to sing another verse of in my life. I pray over it a lot, because I don't want to become another soldier of fear. I'm determined to stand firm and to protect the progress I've made. Fear is the devil's best tool, and by the power of Christ I will stand. I pray such courage will spread to others as well. That's a good infection that we desperately need.

Change will happen, and it can be tough to discern whether you're seeing the progressive or the destructive kind. All change is scary because it usually means challenges, hard work, sacrifice, and learning. Growth is hard because it stretches us to new places, but in the end it's good. And destruction also hurts because, well, it's supposed to hurt. There's nothing good about it and being torn down is a catalyst to find some courage and fight against whatever is trying to undo the progress you've done. In the end, you have to keep your head about you and discern the motives for the change. Pray, meditate, dig deep, ask questions, ponder the situation, and find out if the motive is pure. If it is, then you're being called upon to grow and it's a challenge and an opportunity to accept. If it's born of fear, sharpen your sword and get ready to fight because it's on like Donkey Kong, and you better be ready to stand firm or you'll get smashed by barrels of defeat.

And with that dated and somewhat lame analogy, I will call the point made and the entry done. I hope you have a great weekend and that all of you dad's out there have a Happy Father's Day tomorrow.

Bye!

Beat and Busted

11/16/2012

Hi folks, sorry I haven't been around online much this week. Truthfully, it's been a tough week. After the Veteran's Day holiday, I had 2 all day meetings and spent yesterday and today trying to play catch up as much as I can, which hasn't been easy considering that EVERYBODY was ready to follow up on stuff this week. Add to that the fact that I'm trying to get the house cleaned for the holidays after work, and I'm beat and busted. It's a good thing I finished those book edits Monday, eh?

Being busy isn't the only reason I haven't been online. Frankly, I've been stuck behind a computer all day, and I just couldn't bear to do it again when I got home. I take my notes at meetings on my laptop, and then we do everything digitally at the office, so I'm behind a desktop the rest of the time. Don't get me wrong - I love computers. I can't imagine how we survived without them and I think that smartphones and laptops are the best thing since sliced bread, decongestants, and indoor plumbing. But after 8 hours or so, those pixels start to get to you. I just have to take a break.

So no, it's nothing that anybody has done. I've just been pretty busy between work and home and need a break from the computer every now and then.

Add to that the fact that Rick had a major assignment come to his school that required a massive amount of overtime, and we've both been beat and busted here. It seems they come up with some insanely huge project every year the week before Thanksgiving that requires them to work overtime. I don't know why they do that.

That's all today. I'm going to log off and try to relax some tonight. Happy Friday to you. I hope you have a great weekend. Maybe we can get some rest and be able to recover from this insanely busy week some over the next couple of days.

Bye!

Technology and Life

3/15/2012

Being a member of Generation X puts me in a unique position to see the divide between how the generations view and use technology. Having watched technology integrate into everyday life puts my generation right at the crossroads of the “I don’t do computer” Baby Boomer generation and the “what’s a record player?” Generation Y.

It’s an interesting place to be. I had a record player as a child, although they were replaced by cassette tapes and CD’s by the time I was in middle school. There were still chalkboards in my classrooms, although they were being abandoned for overhead projectors by high school. I hand wrote my papers until I started college in the fall of 1993, where professors required that all papers be typed and printed on at least a dot-matrix printer. And I heard my first cell phone go off in public when I was sitting in a class my senior year in college during the fall of 1996.

We have come a long way. It’s hard to believe there’s a device for everything, and they keep developing new things and coming up with improvements on the old. Now laptops are lighter and faster, and are being slowly replaced by tablets. Books now come on e-readers and phones are smart. I remember a conversation I had recently with a person in their 50’s that was lamenting on how complicated things are. “I don’t need a phone smarter than I am,” she griped, “just make and take calls. That’s it.”

“I don’t know,” I said, “sometimes I need for my phone to be smarter than me so it can keep me from looking stupid.”

She didn’t seem to understand that was the point of a smartphone – to keep you organized so you don’t look like a blithering idiot because you were late for a meeting (or worse yet, forgot about it), or because you didn’t get the e-mail that went out 2 minutes ago while you were dashing up the stairs. To her, it was all a pain in the rear.

Personally, I feel technology has made my life better. I long ago determined that the most crucial tools in my life are my laptop and my smartphone. The laptop because I deal with a lot of documents and it keeps them all in one place and makes them easier to access, and the smartphone because the multiple functions keep me organized and give me up to the minute news and information when I need it. I don’t have to dig through file cabinets or track down a newspaper or television to find what I need. And after years of juggling paper in school I can say from experience that the less paper I have taking up space and giving me papercuts all over my hands, the better. A 5 pound laptop is nothing to carry around when I’m used to handling 30+ pound bird cages anyway.

I do understand the concern that we’re getting too dependent on technology, and am glad I was raised in a generation that learned the “old way” and “new way” parallel to each other. I have nothing against file cabinets, calendars, or newspapers. The digital way just seems more efficient and easier to manage to me. In the end it’s a matter of personal preference.

The digital world isn’t going away – in fact, it will continue to grow – but using it is a personal preference. There will always be holdouts and that’s their choice. For all the talk of going paperless, I don’t think it’s going to happen, at least during my lifetime. There are too many holdouts that cling to the old ways. Heck, I know people my own age that don’t own a computer and refuse to use anything more than a very basic cell phone. But at least we have a choice, and choices are good. We just have to be patient with one another and respect those choices as the world continues to evolve in the digital age.

That’s all for today. Happy Friday to you tomorrow and I hope you have a great weekend.

Bye!

Technology in Writing - Good Idea or Bad Idea?

1/13/2012

Last month, an interviewer asked me how I deal with the issue of technology in my writing. Specifically, they asked if I had concerns that including computers, cell phones, and other technological advances would "date" my work too quickly. My answer to this question was that technology is such an integral part of our real day to day lives that we can't afford to ignore it. In fact, I believe that not including technology runs the risk of dating your work by making it seem more antiquitated than it really is from the start. So I choose to use it, and in fact it's such an integral part of my books that I hope readers will grant me the grace of being as patient with this evolving nature of our lives in fantasy as they are in reality.

That's well enough, but as I was working on an article for the Mystery Readers and Working Writers Newsletter, I began to look at the issue from the other end and wonder: Am I as understanding of this issue as a reader as I am as a writer? The truth is, I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, and only started reading mysteries myself in the past 3 years. Fantasy typically shuns technology in favor of magic, and sci-fi is so inventive that I can stretch my mind to imagine any number of advances for the setting. But I wonder how I'll fare as I continue to read in the mystery genre and find myself in that place as a reader where the characters are using devices that were updated last month. I'd like to say I'll be as patient as I hope my own readers would be but can't help but ponder when, say, I pick up Die Softly, by Christopher Pike, and wonder how that story would unfold now that cameras have gone digital and every home has a computer (or 2, or 3, and who knows how many mobile devices). Or Whisper of Death (also by Christopher Pike) and wonder how that story would have unfolded if they found those short stories foretelling their deaths on an e-reader instead of a notebook.I still love these books (and believe it or not, I pluck them off my shelf and re-read them typically once a year or so), but I can't help but ponder how those plots would have developed with some of our modern advances.

Maybe that's not a bad thing. In fact, it might be good for our imagination by helping writers imagine twists on some of those old plots, and readers to keep them interested not only in the new things coming out but the older things that inspired them. For example, I'm sure I noticed that I mentioned 2 Christopher Pike books in the last paragraph. He was my favorite YA writer when I was in my teens, and I credit his work for being a huge influence on the development of Blurry and even my upcoming book, Anywhere But Here (although that is an adult novel).

It's an interesting question to ponder and I'd like to pose it to readers. How do you feel about including technology in writing? Good idea? Bad idea? Or the unavoidable pink elephant in the room that each individual has to decide whether to address or ignore?

Happy Friday everybody, and I hope you have an outstanding weekend.

Bye!

In Other News ...

8/14/2011

Hi everybody; I hope you're having a good weekend. I apologize for not blogging sooner, but I had an unexpected surprise: My right wrist and hand started hurting terribly Thursday. Heavy computer use between work and the recently released book were no doubt to blame, and I'm sure the fact that I wrote 3 flash fiction pieces didn't help. I limited my computer use to what was necessary Thursday and Friday, and took yesterday off (thank goodness for my iPod touch, so I could check Facebook and Twitter without too much pain and suffering). It's better today, but still aching a bit - so this will probably be a short entry.

I know a lot of my entries and social media posts of late have revolved around my writing, so I thought I'd give you an update on what's going on in the rest of this corner of the world. Unfortunately, that would be not much. My work is in a (very) rare steady phase. I have a lot of meetings, it seems, but it's routine stuff and not major board meetings. I know exactly why this is: The legislature isn't in session, and with several items pending review in 2012 I'm sure we'll be off and running again when they reconvene in January. So I intended to enjoy this.

I've been lucky in that the church stuff has been pretty level. The evangelism committee is meeting tonight for the first time since May - summer is a slow time for them, and the chairwoman has been working out of state a lot lately, so she's petitioning to keep it simple. Rick has a church council meeting tonight. He was hoping it would be simple, but one of the Pastor's told him this morning that it will probably be a doozy. The July meeting was cancelled because of Bible School, so they have 2 months of work and updates to catch up on. So we both have to go back to church for meetings tonight.

The birds are doing well. Healthy and happy. They all got a bath yesterday and none of them were happy about it. We learned to bathe them before we go out for the day on Saturday so we don't have to get the evil glares until they dry off. It works out pretty good, and by the time we get home they forget how mad they are and are happy to see us again.

It's rained a lot the past few days, which is good because I just fertilized the roses, probably for the last time this season. I hope the rain will result in good late summer and fall blooms. They've done well this summer, which is good. I was worried about how the extreme heat would affect them, but they've done alright and kept right on blooming.

Yes, I'm still loving the new laptop!

That's really all - things have been kind of slow, and I'm grateful for that. Everybody needs that from time to time. I hope all is well in your world. Enjoy what's left of your weekend.

Bye!

Woefully Behind

7/24/2011

Hi all; I hope you're doing well and having a great weekend. It's been full
of the unexpected for me. My old Toshiba laptop bit the dust yesterday. Funny
thing is, I've been expecting this to happen all summer. I'm not sure why -
maybe because it's been running like crap - but I've suspected it was on it's
last days for a while now. People thought I was being paranoid, or just spoiled
and wanting a new laptop, but yesterday my fears proved true. We went to Best
Buy to get a new hard drive, but found a great deal on a Dell, so we got that
instead. We got the display model so they had to keep it until today to clean it
up and make sure it was alright for personal use. Today has been spent setting
it up.

I'm glad to have a new laptop, but the problem is that I had grand plans to
work on my writing this weekend. Well, the only thing I managed to squeeze out
was the website update I planned, as you can sere. Everything else - no. So I'm woefully behind.
Oh well. I hope you enjoy the redesign, and I hope to have a few more extras added later in the week, God willing.

So that's been my weekend. I hope you're doing well and that the new week
starts off well for you. Take care.

Bye!