It's news to me

Sayonara Blogger. Hello, WordPress

2005-10-31T09:30:00.000-05:00

I've been blogging here on Blogger for the past 3 and a half years. Now it's time to move on.

Why? Simply because I need more tools than Blogger provides.

Xeni Jardin, in an article on Wired News from October 27, 2005 comments that "When you invite the whole world to your party, inevitably someone pees in the beer." And to a degree that is what has happened here at this blog.

One unwelcome reader has insisted on posting comments that disparage and attack another reader often enough that I had to turn off anonymous posting, which in my opinion has diminished what I hoped to achieve with this blog. It restricted the comments on my posts to those who had Blogger accounts, and even though there are a lot of people who have Blogger accounts, many of my readers don't. And they aren't willing to create a Blogger account just to post a comment. I don't blame them.

What I needed was a blogging tool that permitted me to "moderate" comments before they become visible on the blog, so I went in search of a tool that gave me that ability. Blogger doesn't.

I found WordPress. And now I have moved my blogging to a new location. If you are a loyal reader, then please update your bookmarks to that location. I don't intend to delete this blog, because I may wish to refer back to it in the future, but this will be my last post here.

In the event that the folks at Blogger want some comments in a kind of exit interview, then I'd be happy to tell them that, for the most part, I have enjoyed the experience of using Blogger. It gave me the ability to get into blogging easily and to learn how to do it. I obviously enjoyed the exercise since I've been here for as long as I have. But, since moderation isn't possible here, it is no longer acceptable to me to use this service. Also since the public API for blogger makes it so easy for splogs to abound and since the reputation of Blogger has suffered so much from that, I'd just prefer to have my blog on a different, more respected service. And yes, I implemented the captcha test to prevent the splogging of my blog, but still I can't moderate comments of insensitive and cruel humans, who can circumvent the captcha system, and that is something I feel is necessary.

Thanks to those of you who have visited me here. You are welcome to migrate with me to the new location, if you wish, and if not, I appreciate your having been a part of the experience with me here.

So it's now, Sayonara Blogger. Hello, WordPress.

Bowen's Alaskan salmon fishing trip.

2005-10-26T17:54:00.000-04:00

100_0190
Originally uploaded by CaptQuirk.

In September of this year, Bowen Baxter (my cousin), made a trip that he related this way.

My son, Chuck, who lives in Newnan, GA and is a builder has a rather wealthy client and friend who happens to own a majority interest in a fishing lodge on Kodiak Island, Alaska. He offered Chuck three 3 day reservations at the Lodge and Chuck took my son-in-law, Joe Landrum and I with him. It was a great trip. We flew into Anchorage where Chuck's friend has a Condominium and an SUV. We were able to spend most of the day touring in and around Anchorage.

The next day we flew a small plane to Kodiak City where we boarded a still smaller plane for the flight to our destination, Old Harbor, AK where the Lodge is located. The only access to Old Harbor is by small plane or a one-and-a half hour boat trip. Old Harbor has a small gravel air strip, six miles of unpaved roads and a population of approximately 260 people, many of which are Alutiq Indians.

The fishing was great and the scenery magnificent. I was so taken with the scenery that I took 160 snapshots knowing that for me this was a once in my lifetime experience.

When I asked for more detail, he sent along this information from the Kodiak Sportsman's Lodge promotional sheet.

Kodiak Sportsman's Lodge in Old Harbor, Alaska is approximately 60 miles south of Kodiak City nestled on the protected shores of Kodiak Island on the Sitkalidak Straits. It is within the boundaries of the Kodiak National wildlife refuge and the Kodiak National Maritime refuge. Kodiak's tallest mountains provide a stunning backdrop to the village of Old Harbor, a small native village of 200 people. The native village has a fascinating history of Aluttiiq, Russian and Scandinavian influences. Sitkalidak Island sits across the strait from the Lodge and we fish and we fish within the strait. The north strait has 10 miles of fishing and the south strait has 12 miles of fishing. We never have to run into open seas and we rarely run more than 20 minutes before we drop lines. This allows us to fish in a comfortable setting.

David Steele's new blog

2005-10-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

David Steele, a long-time friend and former client (from my consulting days), has decided to take the plunge and start a blog. He's at the very beginning of his efforts, but I like the name he has conceived of for himself -- the "heartland storyteller." Here's the link to his blog, spelled out in case you want to make note of it, http://heartlandstoryteller.blogspot.com/.

Good luck, Dave. I'm looking forward to your first post and all the ones that follow. Have fun.

Link Sharing at CEOExpress

2005-10-22T00:44:00.000-04:00

Last night I received an email from Patricia Pomerleau who is the CEO of CEOExpress, my home page on the web. For a long time this site has permitted us users to create a page of links that we, and we only, can see so that we don't have to be at our own computer to access frequently used web sites from the list of bookmarks (or favorites) that are stored in our browsers. Just logging into our home page displays these so-called personal links, and I have found this feature to be quite useful through the years. Patricia's email was sent to announce they are now providing the ability to share these personal links selectively with others.

I spent the morning setting this up so that I could share links with my friends. However, when I sent out the first message inviting a slew of my friends to see the links, I unfortunately sent the wrong link. My thanks to Bowen Baxter for informing me of this. So I sent out a second email, noting the error, but again I sent the wrong link. Finally, I think I got it right with the third version.

This entry is to extend my apology to those of you who received that series of three emails. I didn't mean to spam you; it just took me three tries to get it right.

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error. -- John Kenneth Galbraith

Found by an old friend

2005-10-19T09:17:00.000-04:00

When you write on the Internet, you expect that some people, usually only a few, will read what you write. Some may even be so loyal to your postings that they'll come back time and again. However, one of the surprises for me is that occasionally someone I don't even know will leave a comment or write to say they found a post of mine interesting, and equally surprising (though it shouldn't be) is that sometimes an old friend will "find" you.

Last night I was pleased to receive an email from Robert McMillan with whom I worked at ClientLogic. Robert had found my blog while googling randomly. He pointed me to his own blog, which is located here. He confessed to having allowed a bit of time to pass since his last entry at his blog, and I had to acknowledge that it had been a while since I had posted an entry at mine. His message gave me something to comment on, so I appreciate the nudge that got me back into posting. Thanks, Robert.

A conversation with Bill Gates

2005-10-11T11:50:00.000-04:00

Robert Scoble on Channel 9 has a 16 plus minute interview with Bill Gates that is quite interesting. If you have a few minutes, I think you might find it as interesting as I did.

To open the video you must click on the "launch the streaming media" icon in the lower left hand corner of the picture. Doing that will open Windows Media Player and play the video.

A milestone

2005-10-11T09:24:00.000-04:00

Today is the 284th day of the year. I began my exercise program on the 194th day of the year, July 13th, and I've not missed a day since I began. That means that the walk that I have just completed is the 90th consecutive day of exercise I've gotten, a milestone.

Thanks to Juan's pointing me to this pedometer, I have calculated that my exercise route is between 1.5 and 2 miles around my neighborhood. This morning I completed that walk in 34 mins and 52 secs. Although I'm not setting any land speed records, I am walking at a pretty good clip, and I've noticed that my ability to negotiate the hills easily has improved and my legs aren't nearly as tired at the end of my walk as they were when I began all this. As I said at the outset, it is just a matter of one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. We'll see how long I can continue.

Yeah, FTC!

2005-10-06T09:17:00.000-04:00

In an article yesterday titled, "Spyware Purveyor in Cross Hairs," Wired News is reporting that the FTC has (finally) filed a complaint against a spyware producer from New Hampshire.

I can only say, "Thank God! It's about time."

The article also reveals one of the favorite tricks spyware makers use to sink their claws deeper into the system, which is that they provide what is purported to be a removal tool that turns out to be only another means to install other spyware on the user's computer. Sometimes they even have the audacity to charge a fee for the "removal tool."

A verbal scavenger hunt

2005-10-05T07:38:00.000-04:00

Here's a little educational game for you today.

Did you know that "Each of the letters in LASER actually stands for a word?" Click on this link and then follow each of the links you find there in succession and you'll learn something about lasers. Actually this is fairly fascinating, I think.

Continuing Education: Channel 9

2005-10-04T10:11:00.000-04:00

This post may well only appeal to my fellow, former tech support friends, though I would argue that not only they, but you too, whoever you are, would benefit from reading it and taking to heart what it contains. I think I have blogged before about Channel 9. However, today I want to reemphasize that I think this web site is a great way to "catch up, keep up, and maybe even stay ahead of the learning curve."

As we all know, and as some of us lament, technology is changing so fast that it is almost impossible to know everything you might wish to or think you need to know. A part of the problem, of course, is that most of us aren't programmers and though we may use computers, we don't really know what makes them tick. Yet I believe the only way to know about them is to plunge right in where we are now and try to assimilate as much as we can about how they function and where they are going. It requires a willingness to tolerate ambiguity, which is to say to allow yourself to read, listen to or watch (in the case of the Channel 9 site) even though you may not totally understand all that is being said. Using this approach, you may be surprised how much you do pick up from devoting the time, or at least this is my own experience.

You know, no doubt, that next year Microsoft is introducing the next version of their Windows operating system and that it is now called Vista. (Formerly it was known as Longhorn.) I have just finished watching one of the Channel 9 videos (about 40 minutes) dealing with the networking innovations that the new OS makes available. Robert Scoble interviews the Microsoft Vista networking team that consists of Abolade, Sanjay, and Ali, and the team illustrates how international the staff at Microsoft is. In it they refer to such things as IPv6, CTCP (which is compound tcp, or compound transfer control protocol), and network stacks. If you are already familiar with such terms as that, fine, but if not, then you may want to read those links to familiarize yourself with them after you've watched the video on networking innovations I've mentioned above.

I've been watching videos such as this for the last couple of years and I think they are a terrific way to be become familiar with some of the issues and to be informed of the directions that Microsoft is taking. Here is a 15 minute video, done at the beginning of the Channel 9 project that introduces the participants and some of the objectives they set out for themselves and their rationale for doing these attempts to communicate more directly with their customers and developers. (I highly recommend that 15 minute video because it helps to understand why they are doing these videos.) And here is the Channel 9 Doctrine, first published on March 25, 2004. I would encourage you to bookmark the Channel 9 link so that when your time permits you can watch the latest video that the team makes available. Most are very informal but also very informative.

One final point. You need to start the video by clicking on the launching icon in the lower left hand corner of the picture (which is actually an embedded version of the Windows Media Player), and because the volume varies in these videos, I recommend that you watch and listen while wearing headphones because it significantly improves the audio quality.

Publicity photo for my novel

2005-10-03T11:04:00.000-04:00

Yrrep Yddad
Originally uploaded by Dr Reelgood.

Mike took this photo of me yesterday (October 2, 2005) and suggests that it would be an appropriate picture to use on the black flap of my novel, which of course isn't even in the works. But he's right it does have the look of the kind of publicity photo that would appear in such a place. But I am reminded of this quote from my quotes file: "Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it." -- Russell Lynes

It's time to pay attention to your attention

2005-09-29T10:06:00.000-04:00

Jim Cuene points out that: "Your Attention is What You do On the Web," and that, he concludes is something valuable that you own and something for which you should be compensated.

In his post, he explains it like this:

"Think about, for example, the OPML file that contains your RSS feeds. Or, the list of tags you've generated at Delicio.us or Flickr. Or, your My.Yahoo page preferences. Or, your Google search history. Or, the emails you get in Gmail. Or, the list of recent MS Office documents you created on your desktop. You're leaving tracks all over the internet, sometimes intentionally (the sites you comment on, the ratings you give in Amazon), sometimes unintentionally (the headlines you click on CNN.com). All those tracks are evidence of your interests, what you are paying attention to."

This whole subject of the value of your attention has been under discussion for about the last year and is likely to be so for the coming year. However the thing that strikes me as interesting or significant is the thought that it is YOUR attention and that you should be bartering it rather than giving it away, as most of us are now.

Here are a couple of other links that relate to the subject that I found interesting:

AttentionTrust.org Explained Better

From that link comes this quote:

"As we use the web, we reveal lots of information about ourselves by what we pay attention to. Imagine if all of that information could be stored in a nice neat little xml file. And when we travel around the web, we can optionally share it with websites or other people. We can make them pay for it, lease it, scream for it "show me the money", barter for it, whatever."

And from August 20, 2004 here's a Podcast on the subject by the Gilmor Gang that is a little over one hour in length.

I find all of this interesting stuff and an example of how the rules are changing because of our increasingly connected and documented life in this new century.

The latest photo of me

2005-09-26T09:11:00.000-04:00

Daddy Perry
Originally uploaded by Dr Reelgood.

When I went over for Sunday dinner with Mike and Cheryl, he took this photo of me and just this morning he uploaded it to his Flickr site. I liked it a lot, so I thought I'd set aside all false modesty and post it here. This was taken on September 11, 2005.

Overwhelmed? Join the club

2005-09-24T09:30:00.000-04:00

This article, The Upgraded Digital Divide: Are We Developing New Technologies Faster than Consumers Can Use Them? from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania says: "Complexity among consumer technology products has never been greater -- a good thing if the complexity means product improvement. But Wharton experts say new bells and whistles pose challenges to businesses and consumers alike. Complexity -- along with choice -- can have a big impact on how firms make and market new and improved gizmos, and on the decision processes of the people expected to buy them."

Seventy Two Days

2005-09-23T08:04:00.000-04:00

What began as a nothing-better-to-do fill-in during my cable outage back in July has now continued for seventy two consecutive days without interruption. I've just come back from my morning walk around the neighborhood. I'm surprised that I haven't encountered heavy rains or some other weather phenomenon that would interfere with my walk, but I haven't. Perhaps it's because of the time of the year when this bit of exercise has occurred. The autumn and winter will be more of a weather challenge, I'm sure.

Although I've continued to exercise, I'll allowed my blogging to fall off during the last couple of weeks. In part that is accidental and in part it is intentional. I have some things brewing that I don't want to talk about until they are complete. Talking about what has already happened is always a safer strategy than talking about what is going to happen. When I have more to report, you'll hear it first right here. Stay tuned.

New Google Search Engine Boosts 'Blogging'

2005-09-14T19:25:00.000-04:00

Yahoo! News reports: "A new Google Inc. specialty search engine sifts through the Internet's millions of frequently updated personal journals, a long-anticipated development expected to help propel 'blogging' into the cultural mainstream.

The new tool, unveiled Wednesday at http://blogsearch.google.com, focuses exclusively on the material contained in the journals known as Web logs, or 'blogs.'"

Social Security application filed

2005-09-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

This morning I went for my appointment to file for Social Security at 10:30 am as scheduled, and the application process was relatively painless and even efficient. I had all the required documentation. I was called for my interview at about 10:40 am and by 11:10 am it was done. I should receive my first Social Security check the second week in October.

Blogging's uses and shortcomings

2005-09-10T11:40:00.000-04:00

The other day I had an email from my friend, Stan Herman, in which he asked me to give him my current take on blogging's "uses and shortcomings." He is thinking about starting to blog. Although I wrote him a response, his question has caused me to think about why I blog and what possible value there is in it. So I thought I'd use his question as a reason to think aloud about what I think about blogging after having done it now for over 3 years.

Blogging is first and foremost an egotistical activity. Anyone who posts his thoughts on the Internet for the whole world to read, if they should choose, has to be a bit audacious. One of the quotes in my tagline files says, "An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations." -- Charles de Montesquieu. I suppose the same could be said of a blogger. But as with books, blogs are just on the menu, one of billions of websites, that a surfer can choose to read or not read as he or she sees fit.

So I write, not for the reader so much, as for myself. And I like the discipline of attempting to say what I say in an intelligible manner. For almost as long as I can remember I have written for my own benefit as a way of sorting out what I think or how I feel. Someone once referred to it as bibliotherapy, I think. It's like lying on a couch and pouring out your soul to a therapist, except that there is no therapist there to hear you. But I have kept journals that were handwritten and then once I acquired a computer, I have kept individual text files in which I merely wrote down my thoughts, a diary of sorts, of the paths down which I strolled mentally. Occasionally I go back and read what I have written, but I don't spend much time doing that. Mostly I write to get things out, not to have them for posterity.

One of the uses of blogging, for Stan's benefit and for anyone else who may have an interest, is that it gives you a way of publishing what you have written instantly. No waiting for an editor's approval. No soliciting the input of collaborators. No waiting for the publication of the finished product. As such, of course, blogs suffer from one person's idea of what is acceptable and lose the benefits that most books have where there is an editorial board or team that keeps the author on the straight and narrow. So immediacy is one of the primary benefits of blogging.

And when they are done well, blogs provide one's immediate reaction to things that are happening in his life or in the world as he sees it. Usually for me that is about technological things that I notice or find interesting. Others, of course, comment on the political landscape, and though I have my own private thoughts about those things I choose not to participate in that discussion. Most of the blogs that have high visibility though are those that become a part of the "news" of the day by making such comments. That's just not a part of what I want to do, even if I could.

By way of example, one of the things that I have been playing with this morning is a set of tools on Flickr called Flickr Toys that permit one to create some interesting things like magazine covers, calendars, mosaics and slideshows of images that he has posted to Flickr. Here's an example of one I created this morning. And this example illustrates that I'm more into proving that I can do it than because I have a use for it. Like the digital photography I post on Flickr, I don't think of myself as a great writer here at my blog any more than I think of myself as a really good photographer. I do these things because I enjoy doing them, and for no other reason really.

So I use blogging and posting my digital photographs as a way of sharing what I do with my time with those who might choose to pay attention. When I learn that someone has chosen to pay attention, I am usually surprised ... and pleased, I must add, but I don't do it to see how many people I can draw to my site.

I also use this site to alert people to things I think they may need to know, such as in this post recently. And for those who rely on my "support" I will occasionally alert them to such posts, as I did recently about that post for my friend Paul Moor. So instead of sending a widely-broadcast email and imposing my messages on my friends, as I used to do when I first discovered that I could send an email to everyone on my contact list, I post instead to my blog and if they want to read it, they can. If they don't, then I haven't loaded down their inbox with things in which they have no interest.

As to blogging's shortcomings, I suppose there are many. One is, as I have said, that they are the product of one individual's point of view and aren't edited. However, perhaps the biggest shortcoming is that they are not a source of revenue, as many who come to them hope they will be. Oh, I know there are ad revenue schemes that one could employ, but I don't choose to participate in those either. I don't expect to become rich by blogging, so I am not disappointed when there is no compensation. My blog is a labor of love for me.

Another shortcoming of blogging is that, if you choose to allow comments, you occasionally have to deal with people posting comments that may be hurtful or offensive to some other readers. I've had to deal with that occasionally, and for a time I turned off comments because of it. Then I decided it would be easier to simply delete those comments that I find unacceptable for whatever reason I see them as such. Fortunately, I haven't been beset as some have by what is called "comment spam." However, now that I mention it, I suppose I may have to deal with it at some point in the future. Others have, so why should I be spared? But that's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it.

Fortunately for me blogging has been primarily a joyous experience. It gives me a way to post information on the Internet easily and for those few friends who choose to read my blog, it provides them a way of keeping up with what is going on in my life. I don't expect a lot from blogging and therefore I am seldom disappointed by it. I like having a place where people can go and find out what old Perry is saying these days. So that's why I blog and why I am likely to continue to do so as long as I have the ability.

Yahoo IM users get more than they bargained for ...

2005-09-05T07:53:00.000-04:00

Read this warning from CNET News.com: "If you're one of the tens of millions of Yahoo users asked to upgrade your instant-messaging software this week, be on your toes: The update can open the door to unwanted PC houseguests--and setting changes--by default."

Although this kind of marketing strategy is becoming increasingly common, I recommend that you either not install the upgrade or if you insist on installing it, at least do a custom install and elect not to have the more objectionable features installed on your computer.

Update on my exercise regimen

2005-09-05T06:55:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are interested, I have continued my morning routine of walking around the neighborhood since July 13th without interruption. I have just returned from today's morning walk, and since I retired recently my schedule has become a bit more predictable and regular. I have my radio set to come on at 6:00 am and after the usual required first activities of the day, I begin my walk by about 6:15 am each day. That means when I begin the walk it is still dark. As I walk, dawn begins to break and with each step more light is available to me. I have always enjoyed seeing the sun rise, so I really enjoy this time and this routine.

Perry's Podcast #2

2005-09-04T05:38:00.000-04:00

After much delay, Perry's Podcast #2 is now available for you to hear. Click on this link to listen.

In this podcast, Juan Gutierrez, who brought me to Knoxville in 1979, and I talk for about 45 minutes about his activities since he left Vernine and Associates in 1988 and his plans for the immediate and the long-term future. This podcast was recorded on September 1, 2005, but because of my problems in being connected to the Internet over the last several days, I've only now been able to get this podcast uploaded to BigFeeder.com.

As always, if you have feedback, you can write me at talktoperry (at) gmail.com. You are also welcome to send me an audio file (mp3) with your comments, and I may be able to use them in a future podcast.

Connection restored

2005-09-03T18:56:00.000-04:00

Today I took my old RCA modem back to Comcast and exchanged it for a new one, a Terayon modem, and when I came home and installed it using the installation software, it would not connect. So I called the tech support line and was told that it had to be provisioned before I would be able to use it. We attempted to do that via their standard process, but that didn't work. Therefore I had to wait for the issue to be escalated and provisioned remotely. I left the modem on and walked away to watch the football game.

I have just come back to test to see whether it had been done, and to my surprise and delight, it had. I'm now back to being connected again, I believe.

Flaky Internet Connection

2005-09-03T07:47:00.000-04:00

Since Thursday, the 1st, my connection to the Internet (Comcast) has been erratic. It appears that activities that don't place too much demand on the connection usually work, but if I call upon the service to do something that places a sustained load on the system, then the connection drops for a minute or two and then reconnects after "getting its breath." Therefore I've been unable to upload the podcast that Juan Gutierrez and I did on Thursday, though I've tried at least 10 times to do so, and I can't sustain a conversation with Skype because of the connection dropping. Even surfing to different web sites causes the connection to drop. Since I have my email program set to check for new mail every 10 minutes and since it only checks 3 accounts, that doesn't seem to cause the connection to drop but anything that requires sustained use does. In fact, I'm not sure this post will be successfully sent to Blogger, but I'll soon find out.

The bureaucracy delivers

2005-08-31T09:05:00.000-04:00

If you're going to criticize the bureaucracy when it is slow and obstructionist, you should praise it when it delivers, as it did yesterday in my case. I received the certified divorce decree from the State of Tennessee's Department of Health, the Vital Records division, and I received a notice from the SSA of my scheduled appointment for September 12th. Color me impressed.

Thanks

2005-08-30T08:42:00.000-04:00

To those of you who have written to offer your congratulations on my retirement and to offer your best wishes or to share your own experience and advice, let me say "thank you." I appreciate hearing from you for a couple of reasons. One is that your good wishes and advice are valued and appreciated, and another is that it means you are visiting here occasionally and checking in on me. It's about as close as one can come nowadays to living in a small town where friends and neighbors check in on you to make sure you are still around and kicking. For all of the disadvantages associated with "nosy neighbors" knowing your business in a small town, there was, and I suppose in some cases still is, a certain sense of comfort in knowing that someone else cares enough to pay attention to you and your activities.

Someone asked yesterday "how it feels" being retired. My answer was it felt like any other Monday morning before I left for work. It'll take a while I suppose before I realize that I don't have a scheduled time to be somewhere or an obligation to be ready to answer the phone at a scheduled hour.

My first encounter with the Social Security Administration's bureaucracy was not unexpected, but it only served to reinforce the stereotypical views. I looked in the phone book for an address for the SSA office here in Knoxville, but none was listed. The only thing available to me was an 800 number (800 772 1213), which I called. I had hoped to get the address of the local SSA office. So rather than encountering a person (people don't answer official telephones these days, only IVRs do), I began listening to the long-winded IVR message for a recognizable option that would lead to the answer to my question, and to my amazement, there was one! It said something like "For information about the hours of operation and the address of the Social Security office near you, press 2." Though surprised to find what I was looking for, I happily pressed 2. When I complied with the instructions to enter my zip code on the telephone keypad, I heard the message, "we're sorry but locator service is not provided for the zip code you entered." Now, before you jump to the conclusion that I, being an old fart, entered a non-existent zip code, I'd like to reassure you that I've just gone through the same procedure again paying particularly close attention to make sure to get the zip code right, only to get the same outcome. I didn't mis-key the zip code. Apparently I live in too remote a location for the SSA to acknowledge that I/we exist!

Frustrated by my first attempt to navigate the 800#-IVR swamp, I looked further down the page under the SSA listing and found a listing for "retirement," which offered some hope of relief. I called that number and reached a human being named Sheila. Ah, I thought, salvation at last. When I told Sheila that all I needed was the location of the local SS office, she asked was I a TVA employee to which I, of course, answered "no." She said that unfortunately the yellow pages had their number listed under the SSA listing, and that her office had nothing to do with the SSA. However, because she had received a number of such calls she offered to give me the correct number. It was, you guessed it, 800 772 1213. Sound familiar?

I plunged back into the swamp from which I had come. And this time I listened to more of the IVR commercial and went beyond that obvious choice (#2) on to option 6, "For additional services or to speak with a representative, press 6." After a wait, a human being, whom I'll call Joyce (I have actually forgotten her name), came on the line. I told her I'd like the address of the local SS office, and she gave it to me, 8530 Kingston Pike, but she told me, "you can't just go there without an appointment." (What was I thinking??!!) So she asked whether I'd like to schedule an appointment. "Well, yes," I said. She informed me that the first available appointment would be on September 12th at 10:30 AM. I said, "I'll take it." I learned I'll have to have a certified copy of my birth certificate (which I had expected and have available) and a copy of my W-2 from 2004 (which I have), but to my surprise, she also said I'd have to have a certified copy of my divorce decree (which I hadn't anticipated and don't have). She gave me a number to call where I can obtain a copy.

Off once again to a new IVR swamp, the Tennessee office of the Department of Health, the Vital Records section. There I found that their "representative" (notice the singular noun) was busy, but I was given a web site where I could make application for a copy of my divorce decree. Now here I quote accurately what the IVR gave as that address "ww2.state.tn.us/health/vr." If you type in that address to your web browser, you'll learn, as I did, that the "Page is not found."

Being a veteran user of the Internet and growing more determined by the minute, I turned, as I often do, to Google and entered the search term, "State of Tennessee." There I found a link to the Tennessee Department of Health and clicked on it. Under it, I found a link to "Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records." The address, it turns out, was actually, http://www2.state.tn.us/health/vr/index.htm. If you'll notice, there are 3 "w's" not 2. Once there, I was able to apply online for the divorce decree which will cost me $31.00, $12.00 for the search of the records, a $9.00 fee ("Please be advised that there is a $9.00 fee for using this service in addition to certificate costs and delivery options.") and $10.00 to have it sent by FedEx to make sure it arrives before my now-precious appointment on September 12, 2005 at 10:30 am.

So now, I await my appointment date to make application for my Social Security. I can only hope that the date arrives before the Social Security funds run out!

My advice to any of you who may be facing this task is a variation of that given to voters in Chicago, "Apply early and often."

Bookworms Corner

2005-08-29T17:30:00.000-04:00

Bookworms Corner: "Welcome to my weblog."

This initial post, by Gwen Kegley, on August 27th signals her beginning to experiment with blogging.

Congratulations, Gwen! I hope you have a lot of fun with this and enjoy learning to use this tool to make your voice heard on the Internet.

The first day of the rest of my life ...

2005-08-29T06:02:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, I initiated my retirement, so once again I can say "Thank God. It's Monday!," but this time for a different reason. This is the first day of the week that begins "the rest of my life."

Why now, some of you may ask.

My answer would be, "The time has come, and I am ready." My dad retired when he was 62, and unfortunately in 1978 at 67 he died. Although his health and habits were different than mine, the fact that he survived for only 5 years after his retirement has always had an impact on my thinking. In November of this year I turn 64, so if I should only live as long as my dad did, that would mean I had only about 3 more years to enjoy and achieve the things I want in my life. That's a sobering thought.

This morning, the first day of the rest of my life, I got up a bit after 5 AM and began my daily exercise, walking around my neighborhood, before the rains come. Thundershowers are expected throughout the day, so I wanted to make sure that I got in my exercise before they came. So far, I haven't missed a day since I began my exercise back on July 13th.

I'm out this morning to visit the local representatives of the Social Security Administration, and I look forward to seeing how complicated the process of getting my Social Security check is. That'll give me something to talk about here at my blog, and maybe my experience will prove beneficial to someone else. Also this morning I need to visit the local retail store for U. S. Cellular to initiate my cellphone plan. Fortunately, I at least know what plan I want because of my experience working as a customer service representative with them.

Life will be different, I'm sure, being retired. Friends who have retired have said to me that they can hardly believe how busy they are, now that they've retired, and I can believe it. I am hopeful that my own experience will provide me the time to do a few of the things I want to do without becoming overwhelmed by a "to do" list that only stresses me. I intend to enjoy my retirement, and that's the only objective I am willing to accept as a "gotta do."

Getting faster

2005-08-26T07:56:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago, I received a notice on my Comcast digital set-top box that there was a message waiting. This isn't too unusual since this is the means that Comcast uses to promote some of its programming and to announce changes in channel lineups. However, this notification was certainly welcomed news.

Comcast has increased the download speed of its Internet access to 6 Mbps, which is up from 4 Mbps. This increase means that web pages load faster and downloads are completed faster. And in case you haven't yet noticed it, speed is addictive. Once you've had a chance to use the Internet with a broadband connection, it is oh so difficult to go back to a slower connection as I routinely discover when I visit my son's home where they must use a dial up connection because they don't have access to broadband.

I'm pleased. Thank you Comcast.

Happy Birthday, David Steele

2005-08-19T08:43:00.000-04:00

David Steele
Originally uploaded by CaptQuirk.

Today is David Steele's birthday.

David and I met back in 1988 or 1989 when he was in charge of training for the Customer Services group at Citizens Gas and Coke Utility of Indianapolis, IN. While looking for vendors who had something to offer the employees for whom he was responsible, he contacted the company I worked for, Vernine and Associates, and spoke with me. He arranged a visit for me to Indianapolis to present what we had to offer, and from that somewhat formal and official beginning we began an acquaintance that evolved through the years into a friendship that has persisted until today.

And speaking of today, today is David's birthday. So I thought I'd take this occasion to send a birthday wish to him via my blog.

I hope you have a great time today, David, and that you do something uniquely enjoyable to celebrate. I'm thankful for our friendship, and I wish you many more years of success in your work life and happiness in your personal life.

How newspapers are changing

2005-08-18T08:49:00.000-04:00

The venerable newspaper is changing.

As we have all gotten more connected and become accustomed to being able to talk back to each other over the Internet and as newspapers have tended to lose circulation because more and more people turn to online sources for news, the newspapers themselves have begun to change. This link leads to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website listing all the RSS feeds that it now provides. With the aid of a news aggregator, you can have news delivered to your desktop each day. (Think of it as the virtual version of a paper boy.)

I'm pleased that the AJC recently (on August 16th) made its sports blogs free to the public instead of hiding them being a paid-content wall, because that decision permits me to subscribe to those that contain discussions about the fortunes of the Atlanta Braves, like this entry about Jeff Francoeur for instance.

More and more, I suspect we'll see an increasing number of information sources of all kinds making their content accessible in this way so that we can get and react to the information easily. This kind of change will make other things change too, it always does, but on the whole I think it is a positive move that will benefit society.

Topsy-turvey

2005-08-17T07:14:00.000-04:00

I've just come in from my routine morning walk, but that walk was anything but routine yesterday.

I awoke unusually late yesterday, around 10 AM, so I decided not to walk because by that time in the morning it is already unbearably hot. Not wanting to break my string of consecutive days exercising, I finally got in my daily walk last night between 10:30 and 11:15 PM. It was strange walking in the dark, but at least the streets on which I walk had less traffic than they usually do.

This morning's walk between 6:30 and 7:15 AM was the earliest I've gotten out and exercising, so this exercise bit has gotten juggled around a lot more in the last 24 hours that ever before, but I have still not missed a day since I began my morning walk more than a month ago.

Zotob: The latest worm affecting MS Windows systems

2005-08-15T11:59:00.000-04:00

F-Secure, an anti-virus maker, reported this newest threat to Windows systems recently.

ZD-Net offers this article explaining the threat. The Washington Post wrote about it here. And Heise Online reports it here.

Keeping your computer updated with the latest virus definition files and patched with the updates that Microsoft provides is what you can do to keep yourself safe.

Thirty days of exercise

2005-08-10T10:13:00.000-04:00

With this morning's walk, I have now completed 30 consecutive days of exercising. Although it is only walking at a fast clip around my neighborhood, I'm pleased that I have persisted through rain and heat for this long. I'm not dropping any weight, so far as I can tell, but I am being consistent in exercising, and that pleases me.

Lee National Denim Day and the Susan G. Komen Foundation

2005-08-06T09:44:00.000-04:00

My thanks to my friend, Gwen Kegley, for pointing out the link to this information about Lee's National Denim Day in support of Breast Cancer research. I present it here in the hope that any of you who may wish to encourage your organization to participate will do so.

My own interest in this cause is, of course, prompted by the fact that my ex-wife, Carole Green, is now waging her own battle with Breast Cancer.

Lee National Denim Day and the Susan G. Komen Foundation:

"Lee National Denim Day is the world's largest single-day fundraiser for breast cancer. On one Friday in October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Lee® Jeans encourages millions of people nationwide to slip into their favorite jeans and make a $5 donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Participating businesses and organizations allow employees and members to wear denim in exchange for a $5 donation to the Komen Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating breast cancer. Since 1996, Lee National Denim Day has raised more than $52 million for breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment programs."

Full Speed Ahead!

2005-08-05T09:28:00.000-04:00

From the Associated Press' "Today in History" comes this entry for Aug. 5th:

"On Aug. 5, 1864, during the Civil War, Union Admiral David G. Farragut is said to have ordered, 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!' as he led his fleet against Mobile Bay, Ala."

So in that spirit, I continued my exercise regimen this morning for the 25th day in a row.

Still walking but blogging lightly

2005-08-04T10:23:00.000-04:00

Just to update everybody who may occasionally check up on me on this blog, I'm still exercising and have now lost count of the number of days. It has become a part of my morning ritual to get up, drink a few sips of coffee and head out for my 30-40 minutes of exercise. I just checked the calendar and see that today's walk was the 24th day in a row that I've completed the exercise. Frankly, I'm surprised that there hasn't been a sufficiently heavy rain during that time to keep me from the routine, but I'm glad.

Do I feel any different? Well, no, to be honest. However, I do feel better about myself for keeping at it, and I suppose that might be considered different.

Still on track

2005-07-30T08:47:00.000-04:00

Although I got a later-than-usual start this morning, I'm still on my streak in exercising. Today is the 19th day in a row of exercising. I delayed my start today in part so that I would be accompanied on it by NPR's Weekend Edition. It's not that I can't walk to music, but I much prefer something that occupies my thinking more than just listening to music does.

Day 17

2005-07-28T08:22:00.000-04:00

This morning's walk was considerably cooler than the past several days have been.

I left the house at 7:24 AM and came back in the door at 8:00 AM, and although it was humid during my walk and I worked up a good sweat, it was noticeably cooler. My neighbor was right when she advised that it is better to walk between 7 - 8 AM than after 9 AM. That is, of course, easier to do on my days off or even on a day after my day off, such as today, because I can go to bed earlier and therefore get up earlier. I think the most important thing however is to walk, regardless of whether it is early or late.

On another note, I posted a series of pictures of various art works that my friend Diane Kegley has sent me over the last couple of years. To be clear, she sent me the pictures not the art works. Check them out over at my Flickr site if you have the time. She is quite talented and she works in a wide variety of different media. In her most recent job, she is learning to do by computer what she used to do by hand.

Streak still on

2005-07-27T08:11:00.000-04:00

For the last couple of days I've begun my walk at around 7:20 AM, so I'm back at home by 8 AM and have avoided a bit of the heat. Now at 16 days in the streak and counting.

A fortnight of exercise

2005-07-25T10:54:00.000-04:00

I now have 14 days in a row of morning walks through the Colonies.

As I passed one of my neighbors this morning, she chided me that it was too late to be walking. (It was about 9:35 AM.) She said she had walked at about 7:00 AM, and it was "almost unbearable then." As I told her, I'd prefer to walk at 7:00 AM too, but I have trouble being up at that hour.

Today, I added a new section to the morning walk making it a longer walk and also guaranteeing that get in about 40 minutes of exercise on each of my walks.

Also on this walk, I recalled an old rhyme that I used to repeat to myself when I was attempting to run this course. It went like this:

The hills are easy
The hills are fun
The hills are the reason
You came out to run.

My buddy Winston Baird used to feign irritation with me about such a Pollyanna philosophy, but despite his derision, I still believe such thinking helps to overcome the hills you encounter in your experience, whether it is when exercising or just when dealing with the difficulties you encounter in any endeavor.

Study: Some Internet Terms Unfamiliar

2005-07-24T13:11:00.000-04:00

From Yahoo! News:

"NEW YORK - Podcasting and RSS feeds may be the latest craze in high-tech circles but the general public is largely unfamiliar with the Internet terms.

A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project also finds that Internet users aren't all that familiar with 'phishing,' either.

Seventy percent of Internet users never heard of phishing or aren't sure that it refers to e-mail scams that try to trick users into revealing sensitive information by masquerading as a legitimate bank or credit card issuer.

Eighty-seven percent are unfamiliar with podcasting, which lets everyday users distribute audio files over the Internet for playback any time on computers or digital music players.

And 91 percent do not know about Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, a technology chiefly used to pull summaries of new entries on news sites and Web journals."

Next Version of Windows Named 'Vista'

2005-07-24T13:08:00.000-04:00

From Yahoo! News:

"REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. dropped the code name Longhorn on Friday, announcing the next version of its flagship Windows operating system will be called Windows Vista."

To do list, simple, easy, fast, sharable: Ta-da List

2005-07-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

This free web-based tool, Ta-da List, provides a way to keep track of your to-do lists and gives you access to them from anywhere.

"Make a list, check 'em off

How about a list of movies you want to see this year? Or all the stuff you need to get done before you go on your trip? Or a list of thank you notes you need to write? Or...

Ta-da List makes list making and tracking easy. And, since it's web-based, you can make a list at work and still get to it at home or anywhere else you have a computer or internet access (even on a mobile phone)."

There's even a video tutorial that explains how the whole thing works.

Exercise report: a baker's dozen

2005-07-24T10:56:00.000-04:00

Day 13 of my exercise regimen was completed successfully this morning. Fortunately, it wasn't quite so hot this morning as it was yesterday, but it was still plenty hot.

An even dozen

2005-07-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

Despite the sweltering heat, I completed the 12th consecutive day of a morning walk through my neighborhood. On these hot days, it would be far wiser to get up early and begin the walk before the sun beats down so much, but for some reason I'm not waking up until 8 AM or later, so the walks leave me pretty much drained. But in a positive way.

Today at the conclusion of my walk, I stopped by the house and picked up my camera and made a part of the walk again. I walked down to a valley that is a part of my usual route and took some pictures of the Kudzu that has overgrown that valley and most of the trees there. For those of you who read this blog from other parts of the country (or world, I suppose), you might find these four pictures interesting and perhaps shocking. As I say at my Flickr site where I've posted them, such scenes are quite commonplace here in the South.

Another day on my record

2005-07-22T10:04:00.000-04:00

Again this morning I got a late start on my walking, leaving my house about 9:30 am, and it was hot already. But then again it is the latter half of July and I am in Knoxville, TN, so what can I expect? I sweated profusely, but it was a pleasant walk nonetheless. To be absolutely sure I'd have to go back and count up the days, but I believe this is the eleventh day in a row that I have walked for the 30 to 40 minutes it takes to navigate around the neighborhood.

My thanks to all of you.

2005-07-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

The response to my first podcast has been very gratifying. Thank you to all of you who have commented both here at my blog and by email.

WARNING!! Be careful what you reinforce, because you may get more of it.

Just to document the fact, I have maintained my consecutive streak of daily exercise. I walked this morning a bit late because I had stupidly stayed up until about 2:30 AM on Wednesday night watching the movie, "Eyes Wide Shut." My review? Don't bother.

Perry's Podcast #1

2005-07-20T15:45:00.000-04:00

I've just recorded and uploaded the first of Perry's Podcasts. Although I've done a few before now, they were all experimental for the purpose of testing the software. With this podcast, I begin those that are essentially my conversation with the world.

Click here to listen to it. That will download a small file to your computer that will then stream the podcast to your installed media player. If you have an RSS reader, you can subscribe to my feed by clicking here.

If you'd like to provide feedback, you may send an email to talktoperry@gmail.com. In addition, I would encourage you to send an audio response, if you have the ability to record an MP3 file to that same address.

Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy this first effort.

'Star Trek' Star James Doohan Dies

2005-07-20T12:15:00.000-04:00

'Star Trek' Star James Doohan Dies - Yahoo! News: "James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original 'Star Trek' TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command 'Beam me up, Scotty,' died early Wednesday. He was 85."

Living in EULA land

2005-07-20T08:35:00.000-04:00

The EULA (End User License Agreement) is encountered by all of us when we install a piece of software on our computer, but for most people it passes by so quickly that we don't even recognize that we have seen it. It's that box where you must check "I agree" before continuing through the installation. If you don't click it, you can't go forward. So most people, it appears, just click it and move on.

There is another option, however.

You can pause and scroll through it and read what it says. I know that a high percentage of the verbiage is dense legalese that is difficult to understand and mind-numbingly dry. There are, however, two sections of it to examine closely before agreeing to it.

The first is the description of what information the software will gather about you and how that information will be used. In that section, look for the term "third parties," and pay particular attention to what is said about them. And the second is any reference the EULA makes to the privacy policy of the software company, which often appears as a link to a more in-depth explanation of what that privacy policy is. If only a small percentage of people read the EULA, still fewer of them ever follow the links in it to more in-depth explanations.

Why, you may ask, does all of this matter?

The answer is that by blindly agreeing to the EULA, you may be giving that software company the right to install other third party software along with the software you intend to install, and in doing so, in some cases you are giving permission to install spyware.

Even if no spyware is involved, there are some problems with EULAs, as has been pointed out by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this User's Guide to EULAs. I found it interesting to read this document, and by doing so I learned some things I didn't know. It might be worth your time to read it when you have a moment. The better informed you are about such things, the better decisions you'll make about what to install on your computer.

Still walking

2005-07-20T07:26:00.000-04:00

I awoke a bit after 6 am and got started on my walk, for the 8th day in a row, at about 6:40 am. The weather is quite humid, and this morning it was foggy throughout the walk, which ended at 7:15 am. I worked up a good sweat, but it feels good to continue my exercise. I've now settled in at my computer with my first cup of coffee to catch up on what is happening on the Internet and in the world.

Trial version of MixCast Live

2005-07-19T22:53:00.000-04:00

If you are an aspiring podcaster, there's a new trial version of MixCast Live available. It never expires, so you can take as long as you like to try it out. Thought it doesn't have all the features of the full version, it does have all the essentials, and it will enable you to get up and podcasting immediately. I recommend you check it out.

768 Mb and growing

2005-07-19T22:44:00.000-04:00

I went over this evening to visit Tom Wright, and while there I helped him install another 512 Mb of RAM in his computer. We also installed and ran Spybot Search and Destroy V 1.4 and Firefox V 1.0.6. Spybot helped to clean out some nasties from Tom's computer, and I demonstrated Firefox for him. He'll be using it for the next several days as he tests it out. I believe that once he has "driven" it for a while, he'll remain a dedicated fan.

I'm connected again!!

2005-07-19T16:34:00.000-04:00

This afternoon at about 2 pm my Knight in Shining Armor (aka the Comcast repairman) came to the house and strung a new cable from the cable box to the entry point at the side of my house and immediately restored my connection. I am therefore "back in the saddle again," as Gene Autry used to sing. The only downside of being connected again is that I received 498 messages from one of the mailing lists I'm on. In all, I was without my connection for five days. I feel as if I have come back into the land of the living at long last.

Still drumming my fingers ...

2005-07-18T11:32:00.000-04:00

When I went to bed last night, that song from the musical "Annie" kept running through my head, with slightly altered lyrics. I was hearing, "Oh, the 'net'll come up tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be mail." But ...

You guessed it! When I called Comcast this morning to confirm that they had an appointment for me, the agent with whom I spoke informed me there was no appointment in the system for me, and what's more, the earliest they could get someone out would be on Tuesday. She made a perfunctory apology and said she'd give me a credit for the time I was out (as if she were doing me a big favor by doing that), and I politely thanked her for that but told her that I certainly expected at least that much. When I asked what time the appointment was on Tuesday, she said it was an "all day" appointment "so they can get out there at the earliest time possible." The translation of that positive statement is that "I've put it on the schedule and they'll work you in as soon as they can."

I've survived this long, and I'm sure I'll survive until tomorrow or later if that is required, but this experience does underscore for me how much a part of my life is my connection to the world through the Internet.

On a more positive note, once again this morning I did my morning walk through the neighborhood, making this my sixth day in a row of that routine.

Another day without ...

2005-07-17T11:58:00.000-04:00

I'm into day 3 without access to the Internet. The walls at my house have fingernail marks on them, but I'm surviving with the occasional fix I get by visiting Mike's house and using his laptop and Internet connection to "get by" until the repairman comes out on Monday. Thanks to Darrell's comment (to my previous post), I've been alerted to make sure I request a credit from Comcast for the time I've been without service.

On the positive side of the news, I walked again this morning for about 40 minutes. Today I walked down to the entrance to the Colonies. That added a significant challenge because the entrance contains a steep hill, which doesn't see so steep in a car but when you are walking you realize how steep it is. I could feel the lactic acid build up in the muscles of my legs and the "good" burning that comes from extending yourself physically. I'm pleased that I've kept this up for these past several days, and I look forward to its becoming a regular part of my morning routine. Like chicken soup, it can't hurt.

Status Quo

2005-07-16T09:48:00.000-04:00

My Internet connection is still down and my exercise program is still on track, despite having had to walk in the rain this morning. I've now been walking for four days in a row for about 30 to 40 minutes each day. It helps, in a way, that I don't have the Internet to capture my attention when I first get up, because that leaves me free to go for the walk. Comcast tells me that they will be out on Monday to get me re-connected, and if they are successful, I will have been without access to either television or Internet service for four days. It seems more like 4 years!

I've lost my connection

2005-07-15T11:04:00.000-04:00

When I got home from work last night my cable service was out, and it remains so this morning. I am composing this entry from my son, Mike's, house, using his computer and his connection to the Internet. I'll post more once I regain access to the online world.

I'm on a roll

2005-07-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

Again this morning I took another stroll around the neighborhood to get my morning exercise. That's two days in a row. Hooray! for me.

I've posted some pictures on my Flickr site of the scenes from that walk. (You can click on the "View as a Slideshow" link to see a slideshow of them.)

As you will see, if you follow that link, trying to do two things at once doesn't always the result in the best of either task. I tried to take pictures while still walking and getting my exercise, so some of the shots are blurry. But I decided to post them anyway so the effort wasn't lost. The pictures where I stopped long enough to take the shot are much clearer than those I tried to shoot on the move, but hey! I'm just experimenting here, so not every effort is perfect.

One thing these photos do illustrate is how much greenery we have in the neighborhood. So for that I am grateful.

A good start to the day

2005-07-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

This morning I walked from 6:11 AM until 6:42 AM at a brisk pace around the neighborhood. It was a pleasant experience. To gauge the pace, I counted my steps for a minute and found it to be 115 steps per minute. I didn't take my pulse at the conclusion of the walk, but I could tell that I had gotten my heart rate up and my lungs were given a good workout. I don't have any idea how many days I can keep it up, but I have a string of one day in a row going, so maybe I can add to it. It's just about putting one foot in front of the other. One step at a time; one day at a time.

The thought occurred to me that as I walk the neighborhood, I should take the camera with me one morning so that I can publish the pictures on Flickr. Perhaps tomorrow morning.

Oh, I wore my SanDisk 1 GB MP3 player and FM radio as I walked. It gave me a sense of getting something done as I walked. I listened to NPR's Morning Edition, a very entertaining, in-depth daily news show.

Today is the day that Discovery is scheduled (around 3 pm this afternoon) to make the first shuttle flight since Columbia broke up over Texas in February of 2003.

Technology and breaking news

2005-07-08T09:46:00.000-04:00

This article in today's New York Times about the London bombings, Witnesses Post Instant Photos on the Web to Capture Drama, points out that ...

"Online photo-sharing sites and Web blogs began chronicling the attacks soon after they occurred, posting material often gathered before professional news organizations arrived on the scenes.

The BBC posted photographs and videos taken by witnesses, and The Guardian posted experiences that readers submitted on a running Web log.

The attacks were not the first recorded by witnesses with cellphone and other digital cameras. Online experts like operators of photography sites and photography agencies said the pictures of the explosions were posted in greater numbers and with greater speed than they had seen in other major events.

Not only has the technology for taking the photographs become more widespread in the last few years, the experts said, but posting photographs has also become easier.

Flickr.com, a site owned by Yahoo that lets people post photographs free, had more than 300 bombing photos posted within eight hours after the attacks."

MixCast Live 1.0 released

2005-07-05T15:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, James Prudente released version 1.0 of MixCast Live.

This excellent system combines the ability to easily record a podcast with the ability to upload it to a hosting service with just the click of a button. It couldn't be easier now to stream your point of view or even your antics to people around the world!

This morning I recorded a podcast to give James some feedback on the new version, which you can hear (if you wish) by clicking this link to have it play in your system's configured MP3 player.

Later today, or perhaps tomorrow, I'll be creating my first personal podcast that I'll point to from here.

The annual SPEBSQSA International Show

2005-07-04T12:50:00.000-04:00

This link: invites you to "check your computer and connection for 'webcast-readiness' with these preview files." All of this is in preparation for the upcoming webcast of the SPEBSQSA International Contest of Barbershop Quartets and Choruses that will take place in Salt Lake City between July 4th and July 9th. If you have a fast connection to the Internet, you can see and hear the contest ... for a fee. The fee for the broadband connection is $50.00, but I can promise you that it'll be worth it if you have any interest at all in this sort of thing. They've been doing these broadcasts for the last two or three years, and they are spectacular, and they are getting better each year. As with most things on the Internet, the faster your connection, the more you will be likely to enjoy it, simply because the webcast is so much better when it doesn't slow down or break up because of a slow connection.

If you only want to hear the audio, you can do that for free (for up to a 28.8 Kbps connection). If you are connecting at 56 Kbps (as most people are these days), you can see and hear the webcasts for $25.00 for the week. The schedule of events is contained in this link.

Independence Day

2005-07-04T10:27:00.000-04:00

old glory
Originally uploaded by Dr Reelgood.

Happy 4th of July, everyone.

The photo at the right of Old Glory was taken by my son, Mike, and uploaded to Flickr on June 10th. It seems appropriate to the day, so I decided to "borrow" it for this post.

I hope you all have a safe holiday celebration and that you enjoy being with family and friends on this national day of observance of the birth of our nation. You can see the fireworks here.

My bad. The fix IS on after all.

2005-07-02T08:20:00.000-04:00

It just occurred to me that I still had the temporary work around (the first one recommended by Blogger Buzz) in my Blogger template that I had implemented to eliminate the excess white space after the post headline. So I went back and removed that temporary work around code, and when I did, that made the new fix, just released yesterday, work. Hooray!!!!! Thank you, Blogger Support.

The "fix" is NOT on.

2005-07-02T08:07:00.000-04:00

First test of the Blogger Buzz solution mentioned in the previous post shows it doesn't resolve my issue. Drat!

The latest Blogger Buzz "fix"

2005-07-02T07:57:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you are as frustrated with the formatting problems I'm having as I am ... well, maybe not as frustrated, but at least frustrated nonetheless.

The Blogger support team has published this fix for the issue over at Blogger Buzz, and I have implemented it only to learn that it doesn't fix the previous posts. In part this post is designed to test whether the so-called fix resolves the issues for new posts. As is my customary style, this entry is sufficiently wordy to cause it to flow far enough to the right that if it is going to flow under the right sidebar it will be obvious, and that would signify to me the "fix" isn't working. We'll see after I post this. I'll withhold congratulations to the Blogger team until I see the results and experience any other unintended consequences of the cure. I just hope the cure isn't worse then the disease.

An evening of spyware, pizza and podcasting

2005-06-30T09:20:00.000-04:00

Tom and David
Originally uploaded by CaptQuirk.

Last night, I went over to Tom Wright's to help him rid his computer of spyware because his system had become so sluggish that he could hardly get anything done. David, shown here in November '04 photo with Tom, has recently rented a room from Tom (to help ease the general financial burden on both of them) and he was there as well. We had fun with the project, though much remains yet undone. I was able to help speed up the system a bit, but we ran out of time before I got everything accomplished.

I have always enjoyed visiting Tom's home because it so evidently reflects his interests and his personality. In an older section of Knoxville near the downtown area, it is neat and tastefully decorated and a tribute to his talent for making it his own.

We ordered pizza to be delivered (it's apparently an unwritten rule that geeks always have to eat pizza when they are working on such a project), and after we had devoured as much as we wanted, Jack (the cat) came in, pounced up on the counter and, in what Tom described as a "cat-off," the left-over pepperoni was the cat's choice.

It was a fun evening with friends on a sultry night in Knoxville. I was even able to rope them into listening to an example or two of my podcasts and thereby introduce them to podcasting. That experience evolved into a spontaneous kind of mini-focus-group about the names of software programs that intimidate the non-geek population and how they might be better named to make them more approachable for that segment of the computer-using world. I'll most certainly be sharing those observations with James Prudente, as he is nearing the release of MixCast Live 1.0.

Test post of image

2005-06-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

This post is simply a test to experiment with Blogger's addition of the ability to post an image.

This image illustrates the options available in Firefox.

This is the way I have my tabbed browsing set up.

Fandango.com

2005-06-29T15:07:00.000-04:00

This site has links to movie theater listings by zip code with show times, prices, and in some cases online ticket purchasing. Could be useful.

Oops, Jubilation a bit premature

2005-06-28T00:22:00.000-04:00

Although Blogger Support has given me a work around, it isn't perfect yet.

If you notice in the previous post, you'll see that the text goes under the sidebar to the right.

It's back to the drawing board.

Thank you, Blogger Support

2005-06-28T00:19:00.000-04:00

At long last, I heard from Blogger Support and they have posted a work-around for the "bug" I discovered in their handling of templates. They suggested that I insert some code into my template that seems to have resolved the problem I've had for the last three days. Hooray!!! My faith in Blogger is restored.

Day three, and still no Blogger support response

2005-06-27T10:59:00.000-04:00

To my consternation, I still haven't heard any response to my plea for help from Blogger support, aside from their automated acknowledgement of having received it. This post will reveal, no doubt, that the problem still persists.

Meanwhile on other fronts, I have recorded a 10-minute podcast response to James' efforts while attending Gnomedex over this past weekend. You can listen to it, if you wish, by clicking this link, and in this link, you can hear James' response. These podcasts are part of a series of podcasts in which those of us who are using MixCast Live and BigFeeder.com are participating in an audio discussion about the product/service and our use of it. To listen to any individual podcast in that series, just click on the M3U button beside the podcast you want to hear. It will download a small playlist that will start up your MP3 player, probably Windows Media Player, to stream the podcast to your system.

As James indicated toward the end of his comment in response to my podcast, I really need to produce a more general podcast for you, my loyal readers of this blog. Look for that real soon now, perhaps in the next couple of days. And thanks for continuing to tune into this blog, despite its currently unsightly appearance.

Still no personalize response from Blogger support

2005-06-26T08:33:00.000-04:00

This post will reveal whether yesterday's posting problem, in which the title of the text and the body of it are separated by an amount of white space that equals the height of the sidebar on the right, still persists.

I find it quite frustrating that the way this is displaying is not at all what I intend. I'm sure Blogger support has other fish to fry, but they need to reach the point they can respond to emails from individual users within a 24 hour period. An automated, canned response directing the user to answers to some of the more commonly occurring problems is certainly better than nothing, but it isn't sufficient.

I've got to believe that what I am seeing is something that has occurred before and that it can be fixed easily. But when and how?

The strangeness persists

2005-06-25T10:50:00.000-04:00

After having posted the previous entry, I now note that the formatting weirdness persists but primarily with the first entry on the page. I'll have to contact the Blogger support team and ask them to look at my blog and give me some help in fixing it.

Update. I've sent the plea for help to Blogger support and received a standard reply from them. As yet they haven't had the time to respond to this unique situation. 1:39 PM EDST

Blogger strangeness

2005-06-25T10:32:00.000-04:00

I haven't a clue about what is causing the entry prior to this one to display in such a weird way, but if you scroll down far enough, you'll seen the entry associated with the title. If I could fix it I would, but since I haven't changed anything, I don't know what to fix. In fact, I'm interested to see whether this additional entry shows the same strangeness.

From the first day at Gnomedex

2005-06-25T07:52:00.000-04:00

Aside from all the oo-ing and ah-ing over seeing the "celebrities of the blogosphere" in the halls of the Gnomedex conference, the major news from the first day seems to have been Microsoft's announcement that it is building RSS support into IE7 and Windows Longhorn, the next version of Windows due out at some as-yet-unspecified time in the future. In this entry at the IE Blog Dean Hachamovitch, who made the presentation that revealed the news, gives a one page summary of the significance, as he sees it, of what this development might mean to developers and users. And the 58 minute video, which was shot by Robert Scoble of the Channel 9 team, at this link shows some of the people involved in the project (including Dean) and provides a more in-depth explanation of it along with a few views of how it might look in IE7.

And James Prudente, our intrepid representative at the conference, doing his best impression of Kermit the Frog as the ace on-site reporter with microphone in hand (I don't know whether he's wearing a trench coat and frumpled hat with a press pass in the hat band, but I like the image) contributed five, count 'em, FIVE different podcasts from yesterday's session. In this one, just after the Microsoft announcement, James gives his impression and assessment of the news for about 9 minutes. Here's the link to the show notes he mentions in this podcast.

In this one-minute podcast, he captures the moment when Dave Winer and Adam Curry shake hands on stage, which elicited a round of applause from the audience because it seemed to signify a truce in their not-too-hidden "feud." (I'd explain what the feud is about, but it's not worth the effort, in my opinion.)

In a three-minute podcast about conversational podcasting, he gives a glimpse of where he sees podcasting going. In many ways this is one of the more important of the podcasts he has done from the conference so far, because it reveals a vision of what is possible but not yet being done in many podcasts.

This podcast recounts a hallway encounter with Adam Curry who, not realizing that James was the developer of MixCast Live, recommends his competitor's product.

Here, James interviews Spencer Nick, a recent convert to the Mac OS who runs a web site called TachyonXero, about podcasting and their experience at Gnomedex.

Listening to all these podcasts and watching the video at Channel 9 will occupy a considerable amount of your time, but doing so will also give you a sense of what it is like to attend one of these events. So if you have the time, watch and listen. I think you'll find it interesting. I know I did.

Podcasting from Gnomedex

2005-06-23T06:16:00.000-04:00

James Prudente, the developer of MixCast Live and BigFeeder.com, has made available his first podcast of several from the Gnomedex 5.0 conference that begins today in Seattle and runs through the 25th.

Over the next couple of days about 300 industry leaders will gather to explore the bleeding edge of technology and to rub shoulders as they cross-pollinate one another with ideas, many of which will be borne out of competitive envy, jealousy and greed, and maybe a few of which will spring from altruism, but the end result will be that they'll come away from the conference with a better understanding of what others have done, are doing or may do in the future. Such events often stimulate growth and progress, as developers see where their competitors are taking their products and are thus inspired to enhance their own product just to keep pace and in the hope of gaining market share.

If you use an RSS reader and wish to subscribe to James' reports from the event, here is the link that you need to copy into your RSS reader:

http://tinyscience.bigfeeder.com/rss/feed/gnomedex

I plan to follow along and participate vicariously as James podcasts from this event. Not only will he be reporting on events, conducting interviews and sharing impressions, he'll also be demonstrating the power of MixCast Live and the speed with which he can use it to get a podcast created and then uploaded to BigFeeder.com.

More about BigFeeder.com and MixCast Live

2005-06-20T08:11:00.000-04:00

Things are progressing nicely with MixCast Live and its associated podcast hosting service, BigFeeder.com. James recently produced a demo that illustrates how the program and the service work together. Click HERE to view it.

If you find this first introduction to this program / service goes by a bit too quickly for you to follow what is going on, not to worry. Just view it more than once. You'll find it includes a number of terms that may be new to you, such as "feed," "rss," "tags," "mp3 file" "xml," or "id3 tags" etc., but if you'll just not trouble yourself with your familiarity with those things for the moment and watch the demo to grasp the overall concept, it'll all become clearer as time goes on. If, on the other hand, you find this is a bit like watching the sausage being made, which is to say, something you'd rather not do, again don't worry. You can just relax and enjoy listening to the podcasts when they begin to appear here. However, I recommend watching James' demo at least once so you can "look behind the curtain" and appreciate how easy he has made it to create a podcast and make it available to listeners.

We are having a discussion about MixCast Live over at BigFeeder.com that may be interesting to some of you. Remember these individual podcasts are in reverse chronological order, similar to a blog, so it will make more sense to start at the oldest entry and listen to them in chronological order. To listen to any podcast at BigFeeder.com, just click on the M3U link for it, and the podcast will play in whatever application you have configured on your computer to handle *.mp3 files (which is what podcasts are).

Another development that will be of interest in the coming week is that James (Prudente), the developer of MixCast Live and BigFeeder.com, will be attending and podcasting from Gnomedex in coming days. Once the feed begins on BigFeeder.com, I'll post a link here so that you can follow those podcasts, as I plan to.

A special day at the park

2005-06-19T07:41:00.000-04:00

This story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports page recounts the story of the Atlanta Braves' father-son broadcasting team of Chip and Skip Carey. It's worth a read (and even enduring the requirement to register for free at the site) if you have any interest in the Atlanta Braves, in baseball or in the relationship between fathers and sons.

I hope all you sons and daughters remember, with me, your own father's best qualities and how much he loved you. I also hope you will, with me, take a moment to forgive him for being human. You can take solace in the fact that despite those moments when he might have been an embarrassment to you, he did the best he could at the time to be your father.

None of us fathers ever has enough experience, or is wise enough, or is quite as good as we'd like to be as a father, but all of us, I believe, feel at some point or other that the best thing we ever achieved in this life was to participate in the beginning of another life and to do what we could along the way to help that child become an adult.

Happy Father's Day to all of you who may read this, but especially to my two sons, who are themselves fathers, and to my own Dad, God rest his soul, to whom I never said quite sincerely and completely enough ... I love you.

Here is a link to a song that has, at times, been almost a theme song for my relationship with my children. The truth of its words is at times frightening.

Father's Day stories

2005-06-17T08:52:00.000-04:00

NPR's Morning Edition had a nice, heart-warming segment this morning featuring a father and son, John Heins and his son David, discussing their thoughts about being fathers that I think is well worth your time to listen to. You can find it at this link. The audio should be up later today or tomorrow, if it isn't yet available when you check the link.

It's an example of the two of them saying things to each other that each might wish they had said if one of them were suddenly taken away and the opportunity to say those things were eliminated. It caused me to think about the quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe in which she said, "The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone."

BigFeeder.com

2005-06-14T18:02:00.000-04:00

BigFeeder.com is James Prudente's hosting site that works in conjunction with MixCast Live, his podcast creation tool that makes creating podcasts and uploading them to the hosting site simple and easy. I'm sure I'll be saying more about this in coming days, but check it out. If you click on the M3U link beside any of the podcasts you see listed there, it will create a play list that will begin playing in the program you currently have configured to play *.mp3 files. In other words, one click and you can listen to a podcast. Experiment with it a bit; I think you'll like it.

Today I listened to "A Dirty Computer Show #3" and enjoyed it, because the two co-announcers do a nice job of interacting with each other in a high-energy, slightly off-beat report on computing. Check it out.

PC Magazine on using Firefox

2005-06-14T17:44:00.000-04:00

This article contains some useful tips about using Firefox. Recommended reading when you have the time.

RSS Feeds for Microsoft's Knowledge Base Articles

2005-06-12T08:54:00.000-04:00

In this entry, Scoble reports that Microsoft has now made hundreds of RSS feeds for Microsoft's knowledge base available. Here's the link to them. His link was first published on 5/26/05, but I'm just now getting caught up on his blog.

He says:
This is really huge. Now someone who is really passionate about one of our products and wants to keep up to date on all the problems and fixes for that product, can subscribe and instantly be warned when a new knowledge base article comes out.

Where I got my Internet start

2005-06-08T00:45:00.000-04:00

Calling all BBS'ers

Robert Scoble had this to say:

"OK, all you people who were nerds back in the 1980s, this site is for you -- BBS: The Documentary.

Yeah, I was one. I remember my friends who ran bulletin board systems out of their garages. I remember dreaming of the day when I would finally be able to afford a Hayes 9600baud modem like those that my friend had running in his garage. That's so slow in comparison to the Wifi network I'm typing to you on right now it isn't even funny."

For those of you who didn't participate in the BBS fad this link may make little sense, but if you were one of those who did, I'm sure it will bring back memories for you.

New Blogging Tool

2005-06-07T12:17:00.000-04:00

This post is an experiment with a new blogging tool called w.bloggar. One reason I am attracted to it is that it works with FeedDemon in a way that permits me to post items I read in FeedDemon more or less directly to my blog, and up until now I haven't been able to do that. Acquiring this ability, enables me to point to other bloggers' posts more easily, which is something that I'd very much like to do. Also it may simplify the process of blogging something and therefore increase the likelihood that I'll be able to post more frequently.

As it stands now, I can post easily from my Flickr site because they have built the interface into Flickr, but without w.bloggar, posting directly from FeedDemon didn't appear to be possible for me.

Build it and they will modify it!

2005-06-07T08:51:00.000-04:00

Hey Google, Map This!
Inventive web developers are taking Google's online map service to a new level, layering in house sales and apartment rentals, real-time traffic stats and Flickr photo tags. By Daniel Terdiman.

Mike's Flickr site

2005-06-02T09:43:00.000-04:00

Mike and Cheryl and their family are on vacation in Destin, FL, this week, and he has begun posting the pictures to his Flickr site. He's getting some excellent pictures, and the girls have already begun to strike poses like real models. I'm really enjoying seeing the vacation in almost real time. Hope you enjoy them too.

One down and fifteen to go

2005-06-01T22:03:00.000-04:00

Tonight I spoke with Betty, Carole's sister, because Carole was at a church function when I called. She said that the first chemotherapy treatment took about 2 hours and seemed to go by without incident. The chemo had some medication in it to prevent nausea, and Carole was given some additional medication that she would take every twelve hours to help to suppress the nausea in the future. So far, she hasn't experienced any adverse effects from the treatment.

She will go again in the morning to have a shot that is designed to help the chemo have maximum effect. Afterwards, she and Betty will go to the wig salon to pick out a wig for when her hair falls out or when her head is shaved.

Chemo begins today

2005-06-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

Today Carole goes in for her first of 16 chemotherapy sessions. Her sister, Betty, has come up to visit and will accompany her to the treatment. I don't know how quickly the side-effects of such treatment appear, but it is one of those things that has to be done no matter what the side-effects if one is to conquer the disease, so Carole is approaching it eagerly and with optimism. We've both wondered whether her legendary appetite will suffer as is common with chemotherapy. If anyone's can, her's will, I'm sure.

Back to technology for a moment ...

2005-05-30T08:28:00.000-04:00

This morning I awoke to find a question from my friend Paul Moor in my email. I was pleased to be able to answer it with what seemed to me remarkably little effort because of knowing how to search for such an answer. I realize many of you may be more adept at this than I, however for those few who might not be, I thought it might prove instructive to lay out the steps (6 of them) I took in finding and providing the answer.

Like many people do, I turned first to Google to find the file extension that Paul was asking about. I recalled from previous searches for this kind of information that there was a site somewhere on the Internet where you could search by file extension to learn what program had created it, but I didn't recall the URL for that site. So I simply typed in "file extensions" (with the quotes) into Google and allowed it to present me with the choices. As you'll see in this graphic, the first answer it provided was the one I wanted. So I followed the link.

At the link Google had provided, I used the search facility at that site to type in the extension in question, ZM9, and got these results. Then I followed the link in those results, which took me to the ZoneLabs site, where I used that site's search facility to look for "MailSafe" and saw this link. Following that link brought me to this page, where I noticed the link I've pointed to with the arrow. And that link yielded this clear explanation of what had changed the extension and why. (Here's the actual link to that explanation.)

Because the link to the page that had the answer was 81 characters long, I decided to convert it, using the very helpful TinyURL site, into a tiny URL, as illustrated by this screen shot, which I then used to send my answer to Paul. My reason for using the TinyURL site was that in some email programs, long URLs are wrapped onto another line which makes them not work when people click on them. As you can tell from the screen shot of the TinyURL site, this service does an excellent job of shortening an 81 character URL into one that is only 24 characters in length.

You may be surprised to learn (or maybe not) that the process I went through to help Paul find the answer to his question is used quite frequently by the employees on the technical support help desks for all kinds of services.

Learning how to search is one of the more important skills one can have in using the Internet.

Incredibly Good News

2005-05-27T10:37:00.000-04:00

I've just received a phone call from my son, Jeff, who went with Carole this morning to the visits with the doctors. They have just gotten out of the surgeon's consultation and the results of all this week's test are negative. They found no other sites that were cancerous.

They are about to begin their visit with the Oncologist who will discuss when we begin the chemotherapy treatments and perhaps provide other information. While it is wonderful news that none of the tests conducted this week have turned up any other cancers, we aren't out of the woods yet. There are still the debilitating treatments ahead and the concern about the possible delayed return of the disease, but it is certainly a relief to learn there isn't more bad news to have to deal with at the moment.

Report card day

2005-05-27T07:17:00.000-04:00

Do you remember how apprehensive you used to be as a child when you knew you were getting your report card? What? You weren't apprehensive? Well, lucky you! But if you were like most of us, you would approach that day with some degree of anxiety about finding out the results of the tests you had taken and be on edge to learn if you had passed.

Well, today is such a day. Carole has been taking tests all this week, MRIs, Xrays, etc., and today she goes in to see both the surgeon and the Oncologist for a report on what they found. Because in the initial surgery, during which they removed the lump from her breast, they also removed cancerous lymph nodes from under her left arm, this week has seen her take a battery of tests to determine whether there were other sites to which the cancer had spread. And today she gets some answers. The appointments with her doctors are early in the day, so along about noon or so we should have a better picture of what we are facing and the degree of involvement of other organs or other parts of her body.

When I have some answers, I'll share them here.

Variety's perfect headline

2005-05-24T00:07:00.000-04:00

This headline just about sums it up when it comes to the outrageous success of George Lucas' latest extravaganza, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."

Comments are back

2005-05-23T11:53:00.000-04:00

After reading this post at Mark Cuban's blog about blog spam, I have decided to re-enable your ability to comment on posts here. I'll just be more aggressive at deleting those comments I find offensive and see if that doesn't handle the situation that prompted me to remove them several weeks ago.

Carole's visit with the Oncologist

2005-05-19T23:54:00.000-04:00

I had a chance to speak with Carole tonight about her visit with the Oncologist, who, as it turns out, went to school with our sons in Stone Mountain many years ago. By the way, Carole said she liked him a lot.

So here's the schedule. No report yet on the findings from the lymph nodes, except what we had already learned that they were all cancerous. On Monday she goes for a CT Scan of her brain and a chest xray. Tuesday night she goes to a one-hour class for "radiation therapy (or was it chemotherapy) 101," a sort of introduction to what to expect from her treatment. She'll go back next Thursday for an examination of her liver and a bone marrow scan, for which she'll have to drink some kind of dye that will help to reveal whether the cancer has spread to the bone marrow.

She'll begin a series of 16 chemotherapy treatments soon. She has been advised that she will lose her hair, and she is already making arrangements to obtain a wig. It seems that the hospital also has a wig salon that will help her pick out a good wig to wear after she loses her hair. In fact, they say that they won't wait for the hair to fall out but will instead shave her head so that she can go ahead and begin wearing the wig.

After she has completed the chemotherapy, she'll begin a series of 33 radiation treatments, presumably aimed at the breast area where the lump was removed.

As is obvious, this course of treatment amounts to a very aggressive approach to treatments designed to discover what other areas of her body have become involved, if any, and to treat both the site of the original cancer and the systemic manifestations of the disease. Her spirits are good, and at this stage, she is holding up well under the obvious stress of the realization that she has to deal with a really aggressive and virulent enemy.

The latest on Carole's condition

2005-05-18T23:48:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, Carole met with her surgeon who removed the drainage tube from under her left arm. She also got a referral to an Oncologist with whom she will meet on Thursday. From there we'll begin to get an idea of the next phase of her treatment, so we are on pins and needles awaiting the word as to what is next. In all likelihood, it will include chemotherapy. Whether radiation therapy is needed too is not yet known. She is committed to an aggressive course of treatment and is bravely facing the next phase. Once I know what is happening, I'll post the information here.

New version of The Bat!

2005-05-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

For those of you who follow my passion for my email client, The Bat!, you'll find it of some interest to know that a new version (Version 3.5) has been released recently. It incorporates something we users have requested for a long time ... the ability to customize the interface. The Bat! is a power-user's email program with extensive filtering, macro and template capabilities, but anyone can use it, if they are interested in having an email program that is secure and powerful. I'd encourage you to consider downloading it and giving it a 30-day test drive to decide whether you'd like to register it and begin to explore its extensive capabilities. The best way to learn to use it is to sign up for TBUDL, The Bat! User Discussion List. Since I acquired The Bat! back in 2001, I have been subscribed to that discussion list and reading the discussions there, and I continue to learn new things almost every day as I read the messages others post there.

Saturday morning phone call with Carole

2005-05-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

I have just spoken to Carole by phone. She is feeling "fine" for the moment. Last night about 9 PM the doctor called and told her that the cancer is involved in the lymph nodes (about 15 of them) that he removed during the surgery on the 11th. She goes on Tuesday at 10 AM to meet with the doctor and discuss referral to an Oncologist and to find out what course of treatment is recommended. We are both assuming that because the cancer has extended to the lymph notes, she'll be taking both radiation treatment and chemotherapy, but of course, we'll have to await the word from the doctor about what specific treatment is recommended.

As before, I would appreciate your keeping her in your thoughts and prayers as she begins her treatment to battle the disease.

Long ago in a galaxy not so far away ...

2005-05-13T09:59:00.000-04:00

Carole and I on vacation
Originally uploaded by CaptQuirk.

This picture of Carole and me in the bow of a fishing boat taken while we were on vacation in Florida is one of my favorites of the two of us together. I don't recall exactly what year it was taken, but I believe this is the deep sea fishing trip when Jeff, who was probably only 6 or 7 years old, said he was afraid of the bait used on the fishing lines. The bait, as it turns out, was just small cubes of mackerel. I guess he just didn't like the feel of the fish flesh. What appeals to me about the photo is how comfortable we both look with dishevelled hair and grubby clothing. It is in such sharp contrast to my normally obsessive concern about my hair back then that I am delighted that we were captured in that moment. You can see a full sized image by clicking here.