In the 1950s and 60s, we all believed the space was upon us. Everything would change drastically. The same went on about the internet 15 years ago. However, seeing the world as it is, few things have really changed : we still need heat to cook food, water for plumbing, food to eat.
As much as smartphones have changed the way we use computers, that is dragging it around with us where ever we go, the smartwatch fad won't come to fruition. A standard hand watch has a lot more class than a digital one, and in most cases, does everything we need : check the time.
While some people became rich with smartphones, tablets etc. the fad will pass.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Why are you better off buying CDs than getting the songs off iTunes
Using a computer is great, however that mostly has to do with the fact that we are connected to the internet. Often enough, my connection is too slow for voice chat, let alone update some of my software.
While I do appreciate the low distribution costs of some digital software, when it comes to music or audio books, there is very little incentive to buy online : the price is almost the same and who knows what will happen to the online retailer in a few years... Unless you make copies of everything and put them hard drives, you may not be able to recover the purchased material.
While I do appreciate the low distribution costs of some digital software, when it comes to music or audio books, there is very little incentive to buy online : the price is almost the same and who knows what will happen to the online retailer in a few years... Unless you make copies of everything and put them hard drives, you may not be able to recover the purchased material.
The Tar Sands are Killing More Than Just Wildlife
The tar sands are not bad as such. Greed, corruption and incompetence of the Conservative Party which is ruling the Canadian Government is at fault. While natural resources are important to all of us for everything from electricity, to clay to metals to event to fuel for transportation, we cannot allow a single industry to control our lives. Under its current leadership, Canada is becoming a rogue state. Failing to ratify global agreements, insulting the UN by withdrawing from conventions and muzzling scientific research, there are no signs that the arrogance is going to stop.
Industry could develop and research improved extraction technology, but costs get in the way. The Keystone XL pipeline, or other pipelines which are several thousands of kilometres long do not make sense from an ecological perspective.
Industry could develop and research improved extraction technology, but costs get in the way. The Keystone XL pipeline, or other pipelines which are several thousands of kilometres long do not make sense from an ecological perspective.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Turning this blog into branded content...
I am listening to The Current on CBC, and I am imagining what it would be like to be a publisher, a site which takes pride in good writing and reporting.
For the longest time, I recall seeing reports on Global TV which were non-news : new tech products, car reviews, product trends etc. The majority of the entries on this site have demonstrated a preference for some brands over others. The expressions were genuine. Given I am not a reviewer, I did not have access to a plethora of products or did I ever claim to have a background in journalism to give a degree of credibility of my posts.
If advertising were to be part of this website as a legitimate post, I would have to doubt any integrity that I ever had.
For the longest time, I recall seeing reports on Global TV which were non-news : new tech products, car reviews, product trends etc. The majority of the entries on this site have demonstrated a preference for some brands over others. The expressions were genuine. Given I am not a reviewer, I did not have access to a plethora of products or did I ever claim to have a background in journalism to give a degree of credibility of my posts.
If advertising were to be part of this website as a legitimate post, I would have to doubt any integrity that I ever had.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Don't text me!
I understand that some people hate e-mail as it just piles up. However, I equally find texting a pain.
If it is something important, that needs to be done right away, fair enough, use a phone and call me. However do not expect that your message will be considered important if you text. It can equally be ignored like e-mail.
What are my rules for e-mail? Should I equally apply them to texting? Generally, I don't immediately answer my e-mails. I usually wait a day, and often wait a couple weeks before getting back to somebody for correspondence. As for business e-mails, that is a completely different matter. With regard to texting, I have a work colleague who has texted me on my days off for work related questions. Should I leave my work provided cell phone in the office? My line of work is not time critical, there is no reason to contact me outside of my work hours.
If it is something important, that needs to be done right away, fair enough, use a phone and call me. However do not expect that your message will be considered important if you text. It can equally be ignored like e-mail.
What are my rules for e-mail? Should I equally apply them to texting? Generally, I don't immediately answer my e-mails. I usually wait a day, and often wait a couple weeks before getting back to somebody for correspondence. As for business e-mails, that is a completely different matter. With regard to texting, I have a work colleague who has texted me on my days off for work related questions. Should I leave my work provided cell phone in the office? My line of work is not time critical, there is no reason to contact me outside of my work hours.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Why Steam's poor service encourages a return to piracy
No longer being a student, I finally had some money to spend on entertainment. The advent of digital downloads and the reasonable pricing, made the choice rather obvious. Why wait a couple weeks to receive a DVD when you can download the software?
It may be a straight forward question if you have a high speed connection with unlimited bandwidth, but less so if you are using the only telecommunication service available which has a cap and is very slow.
I don't mind not having a fast connection for most things. I prefer to read something rather than watch a video, I don't like to send or receive high definition image files. However, a connection is necessary for Steam. With regard to my title, I think I may continue to buy games on Steam, but will have to find a new way to get the games as the client is useless : backup and restore fails.
A few months ago, I purchased some titles which exceed 15GB. Given my connection wouldn't allow me to download the files at home, I went to the public library to update my library on my laptop. The latter is low powered and not my gaming machine. Nevertheless, I made a backup of the games that I downloaded through the Steam client and then tried to restore the games on my gaming desktop.
The restore function restored 6.5 GB out of 16 GB for one game, and 6.9GB out of 16.2GB out of the other. I wasted time trying to contact Steam Support, looking around on forums etc, but to no avail.
Thinking about the ease one can have in downloading pirated copies, I wonder if Steam is shooting itself in the foot not properly supporting their products.
It may be a straight forward question if you have a high speed connection with unlimited bandwidth, but less so if you are using the only telecommunication service available which has a cap and is very slow.
I don't mind not having a fast connection for most things. I prefer to read something rather than watch a video, I don't like to send or receive high definition image files. However, a connection is necessary for Steam. With regard to my title, I think I may continue to buy games on Steam, but will have to find a new way to get the games as the client is useless : backup and restore fails.
A few months ago, I purchased some titles which exceed 15GB. Given my connection wouldn't allow me to download the files at home, I went to the public library to update my library on my laptop. The latter is low powered and not my gaming machine. Nevertheless, I made a backup of the games that I downloaded through the Steam client and then tried to restore the games on my gaming desktop.
The restore function restored 6.5 GB out of 16 GB for one game, and 6.9GB out of 16.2GB out of the other. I wasted time trying to contact Steam Support, looking around on forums etc, but to no avail.
Thinking about the ease one can have in downloading pirated copies, I wonder if Steam is shooting itself in the foot not properly supporting their products.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Windows 8 - Cannot Repair, Refresh or Reset - Fix
When overclocking my system(settling for a 40% overclock would be reasonable, but not for me!), I pushed the settings that the system was unstable causing Windows 8 would crash and reboot before I could change settings in my BIOS. Well I thought that was the problem. Playing around with the settings through the command prompt, not restarting when instructed to, making other changes etc., caused Window 8 to fail. Although the OS was rock solid when installed and running for a couple months, I think I did something like rewire my car stereo through the electric window motors with a rail attached to the coil pack. In summary, I messed up my installation.
As you can assume, that is not good. It got to the point where I was no longer able to boot into Windows. These are some things that failed :
If you have alternate solutions (to a problem which isn't so well defined) you are welcome to make your contributions in the comments below.
I learnt that the word "app" replaces "application" or "program". Keep that in mind when you are restoring or refreshing Windows.
As you can assume, that is not good. It got to the point where I was no longer able to boot into Windows. These are some things that failed :
- System Restore
- System Reset
- System Refresh
- Boot in Safe Mode ( possible not, but not possible to repair booting problems )
If you have alternate solutions (to a problem which isn't so well defined) you are welcome to make your contributions in the comments below.
I learnt that the word "app" replaces "application" or "program". Keep that in mind when you are restoring or refreshing Windows.
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