Sorry this didn’t get posted yesterday, like it was supposed to; I looked at my calendar wrong when I was setting up my queue for this week, and set this to be posted next Wednesday.

Despite the fact that really don’t like teaching, I find myself doing a surprising amount of it. Usually, it’s in the form of helping older/less tech-savvy people learn how to use new (to them) technology. Most recently, I had to help my grandma figure out how to use a cellphone.

Now, my grandma is a pretty smart lady, and very active, but she’s also rather set in her ways. But, the basic phonecall functionality of cellphones isn’t overly complicated, so I didn’t think it’d be a big deal. I thought wrong.

Things started out rocky when the first thing I had to show her was how to unlock the keypad, since it’s not a flip-phone. This is a very simple concept; to keep keys from accidently being pressed, the phone locks itself after 30 seconds, and to unlock it, you have to press two specific keys in sequence. Not exactly rocket science. Yet, she spent the bulk of our conversation confused about this aspect of the phone. The display even says “Keypad Locked” when it’s locked, and displays exactly which keys to press to unlock it.

Speaking of reading the screen, another aspect that she had extreme difficulty with were the softkeys. Nearly every cellphone has these, they’re the unmarked buttons next to the screen that do whatever the screen labels them with. It’s a very handy concept used in all sorts of electronic devices now, and most people don’t even think about it. Grandma simply could not wrap her head around this. I swear she asked me a dozen times “What do those two buttons do?”, and I had to keep telling her “The screen shows you what they do”. Now, I can understand her difficulty with this a little better than the keypad lock, because I don’t think she owns anything else with softkeys, except her cordless phone. But still, is it really so difficult to understand? Especially for someone who spent the last 30-some years working with computers?

After awhile, she started taking notes. Notes. On the usage of a device that is easier to operate than the business desktop phone she’s been using for longer than I can remember.

Throughout this whole process, I noticed a common theme. From the start, when we first mentioned the word “cellphone”, she was absolutely, 100% convinced that it was a complicated, mysterious device that would take an semester of classes to learn how to use. And every time she actually did comprehend something (like, the power button), her reaction would be a very surprised “Oh, that was easy”.

In fact, any time I have to explain new technology to someone who’s not very tech-savvy, they usually approach the subject with the same perception of extreme, impenetrable complexity. They go into the subject already convinced that they’ll never be able to understand it. And, while some people (usually these same people) will insist that it doesn’t affect one’s ability to learn, I think the opposite. No one can force themselves to learn something, you have to want to learn it on some level. Hence why the average school student can’t find the city they live in on a map, but can tell you the entire cast, premise, and plot recap of their favourite TV show.

My experiences since high school have given me a unique perspective on this, in my opinion. After high school, I took one semester of classes at the local community college, barely pased them, and haven’t taken a real college class since. Certainly not a history I’m proud of, and something I struggle with on a constant basis in my search for employment, but in the years since, I’ve long since learned from my mistake. I’ve since started taking a new approach to new information, technology, and skills; for me, anything can be learned and understood. Whether it’s a new programming language, a new spoken language, or how to fix something on my car, I never let myself think that I can’t learn it. All I need is the interest. This approach has been instrumental in my web design career, and my training leading up to it, and while I have a natural skill for programming, that alone is not enough to build a career on. One must also have the ability to learn and evolve along with the industry.

They say that age affects one’s ability to learn, and while I agree that it can be a factor, it’s not a major one. My mom, who’s in her 40s, takes a similar approach to learning new things that I do, and she rarely has trouble picking up new skills. There are things she struggles with from time to time (like her new DVR), but in all such cases, her difficulty seems to stem from a preconceived idea that what she’s about to learn will be difficult and complicated, and she gets over it very quickly.

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a way to convince those who think that can’t learn that they can, in fact, learn new things. I guess if I figure that one out, I’ll have a new career in adult education.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I loathe text messaging via cellphones. I have a number of reasons for this, but one of my biggest reasons is the pricing scams used by cell providers for these things. And this article on DSL reports reminded me of it.

We’ve frequently discussed how SMS/MMS services are a cash cow for wireless carriers, the costs being marginally insane when compared to the actual bandwidth consumed. The New York Times has an interesting article on the high costs of text messages, 3.3 trillion of which are expected to be sent in 2009. With most carriers now charging twenty cents per message bi-directionally for each message, they’ve attracted the attention of some lawmakers, who’ve begun to inquire how much the services actually cost to deliver. While carriers try their best to keep this hidden, the Times notes that once carriers have storage covered, the costs to deliver small 140 byte messages is virtually nothing. Of course the market dictates what consumers will pay, and many consumers simply keep paying.

Text Messaging: Nice Profit Margin You’ve Got There on DSL Reports

Now, I’m already boycotting text messaging, but more people need to do it as well, especially teenagers whose parents are more than happy to keep paying out the nose for the most overpriced data-transfer service on the market. Hey, parents: If you quit buying into this tripe, the cellphone companies will stop raping you, and your kids will learn that there are better and cheaper ways to chat with their friends from their cellphones, if they absolutely must use a sophisticated voice communication device as an email terminal.

And yes, I’m aware that for the low-low-price of $10-20/month extra, a cell user can purchase unlimited text-messaging. But, it’s still a ripoff, because that’s just for SMS messages, and doesn’t cover anything else (except for “Pix” and “Video” messages, which are basically just emails with attachments). To get data service (a vastly more useful add-on), it’s an additional $15 on top of that. Which is fine, but can anyone explain why (beyond “to make money”) a cellphone-only email system costs as much as (or more than) a relatively unfettered internet connection over the same networks, using the same protocols?

On a personal note, part of my disdain for text messaging comes from my own family. My sister is addicted to texting to the point that she’ll probably have carpal tunnel in her thumbs when she’s my age, and this has caused all sorts of havoc every time she switches providers. My mom has received several cellphone bills costing almost a thousand dollars from both Verizon and Alltel at various points in the past, thanks to my sister, and just thinking about it makes me sick. If any other company pulled this crap, they’d be out of business in a month.

The cell providers have spent years trying to make themselves a vital utility in the eyes of the public, while still maintaining the pricing structures and billing policies of a luxury service (Internet providers don’t even require credit checks just to sign up). Now that they’ve succeeded in the former, they need to adjust their billing procedures accordingly, but it’s not going to happen if people keep supporting their current business methods.

I’ve never really given much thought to Thanksgiving. It’s a highly arbitrary holiday with pointless traditions and no real meaning. Coupled with the fact that our Thanksgiving dinner is usually indistinguishable from any other weekend dinner (my mom, sister, grandma, and I going out to the chain restaurant du jour), it’s always been difficult to see this as just another day.

But, I’ve had an extremely difficult time being positive about much of anything lately, so maybe I should give this a try.

I’m thankful for:

-My family. The only family member I can stand to be around anymore is my sister, but they’ve supported me for the last several years more than anyone without life-threatening injuries could ask for.

-My friends. I don’t live in the same area as any of them, and the loneliness literally hurts sometimes (I was in tears yesterday because I had to leave Pittsburgh), but they’re always there for me when I do have the opportunity to get away from my isolated town, even when I make stupid, insensitive mistakes.

-My job. It has a few downsides (10-99 = :-/ ), but compared with the side benefits, I couldn’t ask for anything better. It allows me the social freedom I’ve been terrified of losing, without sacrificing a good salary to do it, with a boss who’s open-minded and fun to talk to, and a co-worker/close friend who I love spending time with.

-My car. It’s a bit odd to be thankful for a vehicle that sounds like it’s about to shoot pistons through the hood, but it does run without major issues, and it transports me wherever I want to go without stranding me. It even still gets the “Wow, cool car!” reaction that I crave so much, for lack of anything else about me or that I own that consistantly gets praise from others. And, it’s almost paid off. I know friends who don’t have cars, friends who can’t afford the ones they do have, and friends whose cars don’t run at all, so yeah, I probably shouldn’t take mine for granted.

Tonight, I treated my mom to a nice Italian dinner at a restaurant we both love, that we haven’t been to in quite awhile. And apparently, she forgot how to act in a nice restaurant since the last time we were there. Not that I’m Ms. Manners, but it was just really embarassing tonight. It was fairly crowded, with the tables unusually close together due to a large party taking over half the place, so conversations were pretty easily overheard between tables. So, what did she insist on discussing for over 20 minutes? Her aching ligament in her foot, and the treatment of it, without sparing a single detail. The people next to us were visibly uncomfortable, and she was talking really loudly; and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise to change the subject until our entrees arrived.

Then, when the check came (which I was paying for, and she knew about), she made a huge deal about using a $1 discount coupon, in front of the waiter. It expired yesterday, but she absolutely insisted on using it, despite my reassurance that $1 wasn’t going to make a tiny bit of difference to me on a $45 bill. But, she refused to let up, practically making a scene, and the manager graciously let her use it. I gave our waiter an extra tip (he was awesome anyway).

I have no idea what had gotten into her, she’s usually never like that (my grandma, on the other hand…).

On a lighter note, I’ve discovered the joy of spending my shift curled up in bed with a family of wolf plushies and a fluffy comforter on a cold evening

I’m currently in New York City for a family trip. Hopefully, I’ll have some good photo opportunities!

I’m currently in Norfolk, VA for the day, touring Old Dominion University with my sister. It’s one of her top picks for college, does anyone have any information on it? Any current/former ODU students out there?

I’ll be back home later this evening.

Hi everyone! My sister is a senior in high school, and she’s working on college admissions (unlike me, she actually has the grades to go to a real university). So, to everyone who’s been to college, or is currently there, she was wondering if any of y’all had any helpful/useful advice for her.

Just reply to this thread, I’ll send her a link to it (not sure if she has an LJ account, which is why this is a public entry). Thanks so much!

My mom’s birthday is tomorrow (technically today, as I type this). I don’t normally do a lot for her birthday, I save the really “wow” gift ideas for Christmas. However, I couldn’t afford to do anything for her for mother’s day (I usually take her out for dinner at one of her favourite restaurants, and I didn’t even have the money for that), and I had a little extra cash this month, so I wanted to try to make it up to her.

Two nights ago, I had a brilliant idea. She always talks about how she’d like a particular picture of mine from Myrtle Beach (she loves the beach) framed so she can hang it in her office. And earlier this week, she showed me a small print of a picture my sister took of the beach, a very stunning sunrise shot over the ocean. Plus, we’re not going to be able to take family vacations forever, with my sister going to college next year and me planning to leave the state when I’m able. So, I decided to put the two aforementioned pictures together, along with a new one I took there that she likes, into a large frame with some nice matting and a little dedication. It’d be well-suited to hang on the huge blank wall in her living room that we can’t figure out how to decorate, and I know she’d love it.

So, after doing a bit of processing to get the pictures ready for significant enlargement, I started running the errands necessary to put this together. I went to my favourite photo lab to have the pictures blown up, which went smoother than I thought, then to the frame store while the prints were being printed. Since the enlargments alone were like $75 for all three, my grandma gave some much needed assistance in purchasing the frame and matting. All’s well so far.

After mom went to bed, my sister and I took over mom’s dining room table to assemble this project. She provided much-needed assistance, and aside from my usual measuring screwups (I have somewhat shaky hands, especially when concentrating on detail work, so measuring and marking things accurately is a big challenge for me), everything seemed to be going smoothly. At about 2am, we had been working on this for over an hour (just for measuring), and I didn’t really need her help for cutting, so she went on to bed. I took a half-hour break to rest my back, and proceeded to start cutting.

Now, I already knew that without fancy tools, I wouldn’t be able to cut the mat with that snazzy bevelled edge that’s always used on this stuff. But, I figured I’d be able to cut some nice straight edges, and use this mat as a template to cut a new one once I acquired the fancy tools to make this look professional. I’ve seen non-bevelled matting, and it looks just fine.

Unfortunately, nice straight edges were not on the agenda for the night. I don’t know what that stuff is made of, but even a brand-new Xacto blade couldn’t go straight through it at any angle. I tried a variety of different techniques, but nothing seemed to work quite right. On the plus side, the edges weren’t unredeemably screwed-up, so I figured I could find a way to fix it afterward. Then, I turned the board over. The front coating on photo mat varies, but in this case, it was just paper. Somehow, the paper had stretched out a bit around the cut, and was sticking out from it like plastic often does when it’s cut with a razor blade. Still, not unredeemable, but after two cuts (out of 12) that took 30 minutes to complete, I realized that I didn’t have time for this.

I took a quick trip to Wal-Mart’s craft section, hoping they’d have something - anything - that could cut a perfectly straight line without having to wrap around the work piece. And, they had something that looked quite promising, a handheld rotary cutter that’s designed to sit on the raised groove of a ruler model by the same company. Perfect! Unfortunately, after scouring the craft section, and taking up a half-hour of the night manager’s time researching this thing, I found out that they didn’t even carry any of the companion rulers for the tool, nor could they find any other Wal-Marts that had them. Oh well, I have miscellaneous materials, I’ll find something! $30 later, I left with the cutter, an extra blade (this mat seemed to be dulling my other blades unusually quickly), and some special double-sided tape strips that looked like they’d come in handy.

So, I started to work again, attempting to make my cuts with this mini-pizza-cutter, guided by a strip of aluminum angle-bracket I was using as a straight-edge. At first, everything seemed just peachy; the cutter was fast, and appeared to make a very nice edge. Unfortunately, appearances are deceiving, and when I flipped the board over, I saw that the outside of the cut wasn’t nearly as straight as the inside, making a wildly irregular wavy pattern. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, the utterly worthless “safety guard” on the cutter (a spring-loaded plastic piece that sits a full two milimeters from the blade) made a dent in the board in a couple places, on the non-waste part of the mat. In other words, my $15 mat was now trash.

At that point, I decided to say “fuck it” and call it a night, I’ll pick up a new mat on Monday and order a proper cutter (they’re not super-expensive, just impossible to find, and I originally didn’t have the time to order one online). But no, that would’ve let me off easy! In the process of cleaning up, I accidently kicked the glass panel for the frame (it was leaning on a chair, for lack of a safer location), and shattered the entire corner all over the carpet. Just to make things even more fun, most of the broken glass completely disintegrated for some reason.

After having a fit of irrational rage and kicking a chair across the room, I cleaned up the glass as best as I could without a vaccuum (I didn’t want to answer the question of “why are you vaccuuming at 4am?” when I never even do it in the first place), thanks to the magic of duck tape. I don’t know how much it’ll cost to replace the glass panel, but with the other costs involved in un-fucking this project, I’m on the verge of giving up and just giving her the prints to do what she wants with them.

I’m currently in the process of building a new computer for my sister (yay, I don’t have to support her 10-year-old frankenbox anymore!), and part of the process was to transfer her files from her old machine. She was especially concerned about her photos, and I was bored, so I took a quick glance through a folder with pictures she took of herself.

How many of you have seen the movie Zoolander? It’s about a male model who always takes pictures with the exact same facial expression, despite calling them different things. My sister’s photo collection is kinda like that. There are dozens of shots of herself, and while the clothing/accessories and backdrops change (with the file names reflecting this), every single photo is taken from the exact same angle (the famous Myspace Angle, an overhead shot from the subject’s left hand), with the exact same unnatural puckered lips/pouty face expression.

After determining that every single picture out of like 30 was like this, I had a little fun by flipping through all of them very rapidly in the photo previewer, like those weird photo-morph TV commercials. The effect was surreal, to say the least, because every photo was lined up very closely to the others. Like, to the point that it looks like she shot a sequence of photos in a studio with a tripod.

The photographer in me feels dirty now, and wants to go take pictures of trees.

Wee, family vacation. I’m not really sure what to say about it, though; Myrtle Beach was hot and humid the whole time, I didn’t get sunburn for a change, and we had an awesomely huge hotel room. My mom decided to get a two-bedroom suite for five people (my sister and a friend, mom, myself, and fox_cub), and it was bigger than some two-bedroom apartments I’ve seen. We even had a full kitchen with a decent assortment of dishes and cookware, despite not really eating any meals in our hotel room.

I think the highlight of the trip for me, aside from the awesome hotel room (definitely the nicest accomodations we’ve ever had on a family trip), was watching/helping fox_cub fly his new stunt kite. He says the strings were too short, but I think he did pretty damn good, and I had fun being the spotter/chaser when the thing came down. Unfortunately, it crashed really hard on the second day he had it, and blew out one of the strut pockets, but it’s fixable.

After we got back, Fox and I took a side trip to a river spot he really likes. Fun day

Photo posts coming soon!