Birdcage Liners Have Changed

As I sat here this morning booting up my laptop and HP Tablet, it struck me that times have changed. I'm just glad I've kept up with things, because I've changed too...maybe I'm just getting old... Naw, just learning new ways to keep in touch with the world.

I guess part of it is because I'm old enough to remember one of my first jobs, which was to hand-fold and hand deliver the Pittsburgh Press to my neighbors at the front door. Then once a month, ring the bell and ask them to pay me. I made sure to carry a box of dog treats in my heavy canvas bag so I could make doggy friends all over the neighborhood (and not get bit). Now remember, that was in the 80s so we didn't have iPods or MP3 players yet, but I wore out a LOT of cassette tapes in my Sony Walkman...

Now we fast forward to the early 2000s and a few of the changes I've noticed. Daily newspapers are delivered by adults in cars and put into the mailbox or the newspaper box out by the curb. My weekly free local newspaper is actually delivered by the US Post Office person in my mailbox with the junk mail and bills. Nobody rings a doorbell to collect, they send you a bill and you can pay it online. That must really cut down on the tips and Christmas bonuses that carriers get.

We have to jump to the next chapter of the Blu-Ray to bring us to today. My observation today was that I boot up my laptop and Firefox browser so my email, blog, and Facebook tabs open. I boot up the HP Tablet because my RSS Reader tab is there. All of them are prompting me for my ID and password, so I dutifully enter them so I can get access to my "news." I use the laptop to respond to the 5 email accounts, and "occasionally" log into Facebook. I use the HP Tablet to monitor my 15 subscriptions in Google Reader for my news. I use the tablet because I can walk around with it, sit on the porcelain throne with it, sit on the patio in front of a fire, and walk the dog with it. That is how I get news.

By using the Google Reader, it allows me to subscribe to news channels from all around the world and have one place to check for all of the blog entries that are made. It is efficient and allows me to see "at a glance" what is going on everywhere on Earth. While I strongly encourage you to learn about Reader and RSS subscriptions because it is more efficient, just keep in mind that you'll lose your newspaper.

500 Channels and Nothing Worth Watching

The Dick Van Dyke Show 
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'm old enough to remember when TV shows were mainly black and white (The Dick Van Dyke Show), I had to get up and manually turn the knob to go to the next channel, there was a difference between VHF and UHF, and tin foil made the picture better. Then we got cable and a "remote" to change the channel. Yeah, I remember the difference between Beta and VHS, now they call it "Blu-Ray." I keep up with the changes.

Mohu Leaf Indoor Antenna

Which is what leads me to the point of this entry. I've lived with cable TV for a LONG time so I could choose what I watched. But, as I look at my bank account and pay attention to the bills I pay every month, maybe it is time to discard my cable bill and pay attention to the "options" I have to watch what I want.  TV stations are now switching over from the old analog signal to the digital broadcast, and the top 20 shows on the tube are now available for free. I am considering switching to an HDTV antenna (like the Mohu Leaf) to receive the signals for my new 40" HD TV.

My neighbor got rid of his cable and has a similar antenna. He gets over 30 channels of the main networks. Click HERE to find what HDTV stations are available in your area. Combining that with Hulu and Netflix online, I can watch nearly everything that I already watch, but it won't drain my bank account as fast.  If I can't find anything to watch there, I can always go to the library and get DVDs (movies, TV shows, etc.) and keep them for 2 weeks at no charge.

Yeah, there are some changes in my future...maybe more gas in the car to travel more...

Portable Apps

A few years ago when I was traveling a LOT for work, I needed a way to easily check my personal emails, get my news/RSS feeds, update my personal calendar, and keep my contact list handy. I also wanted a way to do all of that (and more) by using an internet connected computer without having to lug my laptop around, boot it up, get connected. So, I started using portable applications on an USB drive.

What is a portable app? Well, rather than re-write the definition, I am going to quote the definition I got from Portable Apps:

Portable App Definition (permalink)

A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind.

• No Special Hardware - Use any USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod/MP3 player, etc
• No Additional Software - Just download, run the portable installer & go
• No Kidding - It's that easy

This made life a TON better for me because I could use a computer in whatever office I was visiting, at a local library in the city I was in, in the hotel business center where I was staying, and then when I had a chance, my own laptop. This helped me keep in contact and check everything I needed to do, and instantly kept it all synchronized electronically. Another KEY point made above is that none of your personal data is left behind. When using a public one or borrowing one from a co-worker, this helps insure that none of your personal info is retained on the computer.

I got my PC apps from Portable Apps because they had all the items I wanted (Firefox browser, Thunderbird email, Sunbird organizer, etc.). PLUS they had a lot that I used to entertain myself (VLC video player, Sudoku game, XnView graphic viewer). Okay, that was then, this is now. I switched from a PC to a MacBook, and guess what? There are portable apps for the Mac too. I get them at FreeSMUG. Yeah, there aren't as many public Macs out there, but that is what I use for most of my work now, so I had to switch over to the Mac portable apps.

Fortunately for me, the Portable Apps website [link] explains how you can make an USB drive work on BOTH a PC and a Mac...so I'll be doing it this week. I'll use the PC apps when I need to, the Mac ones at other times, but at least the info will all be on the same drive...happy computing...

Computers

Computers have come a LONG way in the last 40 years. I started playing with computers back in the late 70s. My first experiences were on a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model III/IV. That was when we had to use 5.25" floppy disks (and yes, they actually WERE floppy). I learned how to draw the flowchart of the programs I wrote and how to use an hole-punch to use both sides of the disks. I still have my disk carrying case with the old disks in them. Hmm... I wonder if they still work...

I was working as an apprentice to a master carpenter and saved my money to buy my first personal computer. I got a TI 99/4A even though a lot of my friends were going with the Commodore 64. I remember that I had to also purchase a small 13" black and white TV to use as a monitor and used an old Sears & Roebuck cassette tape recorder to store my data on. I actually think I still have that tucked away somewhere and all of the cassettes too. But, I don't have the TI99/4A anymore. It was chucked into the dumpster when I had to move, and didn't feel like carting it with me.

I went to college and actually minored in "computer technology" for a while. So, I lived through the 8086, 8088 and 80286 generations. And all of the chip mutations in between. I coded in PASCAL, COBOL, BASIC, and on the UNIX system. I drank a LOT of coffee back in those days. I relished when a meal consisted of a set of Pop-Tarts and a Jolt with a set of Vivarin in it. I miss Jolt...

Anyway... I spent nearly 20 years with a corporation working on an a PC system, and stuck in Windows. I still have the Windows 3.11 installation disks and several versions of DOS. I've suffered through all of the permutations that they've had, threw my last Toshiba against the wall and stomped on it in the driveway, and got a Mac. I'll never go back to PC.

I got to experience the Apple, the Apple II, the Apple IIc, and the Apple IIe... But they weren't "approved" at the company I was with. I currently own and use an Apple MacBook Pro, and will NEVER go back to PC.