Category: Life

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Life Technology

The Important Things

Here is a passage from Against the smart city (The city is here for you to use), a pamphlet by Adam Greenfield (thanks to Fraser Speirs for the recommendation):

Both history and whatever urban texture that history gave rise to were thought of as impediments, sources of friction, things that might safely be discarded.

You should read the whole of the pamphlet to get a better idea as to the context, but this single passage spoke to me on a professional level as well. So many times we want to discard everything of the past in some vain hope that “technology” will be able to fix all of the ills we perceive as holding us or an institution back.

What hogwash.

That same history is what sets apart a person or institution or city from everything else. In a “one-size-fits-all” society, with “one-size-fits-all” technology being peddled on every corner, it is the “oddballs” who are going to have an opportunity to thrive.

Don’t discard your history in some vain hope that technology will save you. You risk (or actively work to) give up your soul.

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Life

Open Source Desktop Rollout in France

I like reading stories about successful open source desktop rollouts no matter where they are … but reading about the possibility of over 72,000 Ubuntu desktops being used in France is a thing to think about!

As I’ve gone further and further down the Linux rat hole (said lovingly of course), I’m coming around to the idea that large-scale Linux deployments are not just feasible, but in many cases desirable for a great many companies, institutions, and governmental bodies. The savings in licenses alone would be huge and the possibility to more easily move from version to version could be a huge win in IT staff productivity.

While many might balk at the idea of re-training an entire workforce to use an open source desktop, I have to think the training would be no more severe than what is coming down the pipe with Windows 8/8.1. Training is painful regardless of why or how you are going to do it.

If a movement gets going, it might even force the hand of governmental bodies to start thinking about interoperability instead of putting out an Excel spreadsheet so that we can finish off our manure management plan for another three years. Is there a good reason this is a spreadsheet instead of a web app? I don’t know, all I know is that Excel of Mac can’t work with it … so I see the only purpose of this spreadsheet as being a way to prop up Microsoft.

THAT is frustrating for me. I don’t have any thing against a specific computing platform and I want people to be able to choose whichever they like.

I DO have a problem with the government supplying needed materials in a format that will only work with a single computing platform. Even worse, another expensive software package on top of that computing platform. Why!?

I like this rollout in France and I hope we see more of it in the future. A lot of good could be done if we would divert resources from license management to actual development.

Categories
Life Technology

Unsettled Computing

I am completely unsettled when it comes to my computing devices. Currently I use, or try to use, any number of the following devices and combinations:

  • iPhone 5
  • iPad mini
  • Early 2011 13″ MacBook Pro (512 GB SSD)
  • Late 2012 Mac mini (750 GB Fusion Drive)
  • Custom Built Desktop with openSUSE 12.3
  • Custom Built Desktop with Windows 7
  • Lenovo ThinkPad X220 with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP3

That doesn’t even hit the Wii U, Apple TVs, and other smaller devices I have around the house and office. Needless to say, I’m an unsettled computer user when it comes to platform and device.

I guess I’ve always been this way, migrating from OS to OS, device to device, never really settling down for too long on a single platform or system just because I’m curious about what is going on “over there” … even if I just switch again within a few months or so.

I don’t know if I gain anything from this sort of setup besides being comfortable with almost any computer or any computing platform to the point where I can move pretty fluidly between Mac/Windows/Linux without losing the ability to be able to get stuff done.

This does help when troubleshooting because I have a look and understanding of how many different platforms work, so I can bend my mind around how things MIGHT need to be in order to make them work on a different platform. I don’t really think this paragraph makes any sense, but it did inside my head before I typed it out.

I guess I’m really just stating that this is how it works for me and how it has worked for years. I’m wondering if other people do the same.

Categories
Life

An Audience of One

Patrick Rhone shared James Shelley’s In Praise of Private Correspondence over at App.net and I wanted to make sure I share it here.

Go and read the entire thing. This quote stuck out to me on the first read:

In this age that champions transparency, this confession may at first be scandalous: if you ask me a question on a public forum and then again during a private coffee date, you may very well receive two different answers from me.

I can speak only for myself, but this is entirely true. I censor myself and my thoughts in large open forums and a lot of it has to do with the mob mentality which seems to persist. Say something which a group might not agree with and be prepared to be shouted down by a large chorus of same-thought people.

Private conversations allow for disagreements and controversies without it needing to devolve into primal screams and survival instincts.

Great read.

Categories
Life Technology

Trimming the Fat

Mr. Scatterbrain

Looking at my account at DNSimple, I have something like 5 domain names that are just sitting idly by, not dong anything in particular, and a number of sites that are currently up-and-running but that I haven’t done anything new with in a while and probably won’t do anything with for a long time.

For some reason, this has been and is weighing heavily on my mind and my psyche. Having things perpetually “on the back burner” tends to bash around inside my head, popping up at inopportune times and causing all sorts of issues. I’ve had some issues sleeping, my mood has deteriorated, I’ve had problems focusing on projects … and the list goes on. I’m not going to blame the number of “balls in the air” solely for this, but it is something to be aware of.

So it is time to do a number of things to try to help myself out of this extended rut:

  1. Trim the number of extra projects I am a part of. This could be something as simple as disabling the auto-renewal of domain names I’m never going to use or as drastic as actually taking-offline sites which I know I will not have the time nor energy to really be a part of.
  2. Trim the number of social networks I am actively a part of an engaged in. As far back as a week ago that included Twitter, App.net, Facebook, and Google+. Yeah, not a good idea. I’ve already removed Google+ from my iOS devices so I’m done with that one, but I think I need to trim even more. I will also remove any native applications from my laptop/desktop computers (for Twitter and App.net) so that I can try to curb my usage when I am at my desk(s).
  3. Curb my news consumption. This might include unfollowing or unfriending (what a terrible term) people so that I am not as tempted to read news articles. I want to be informed, but currently “staying informed” usually results in “feeling like crud”.
  4. Do away with ebooks as primary reading material. As a “technology person” I’ve been trying to force myself to use ebooks as my primary reading medium … but as ME, it just doesn’t fit. I’ve found my comprehension is worse and my stamina tanks when I am reading an ebook. I’m not sure if I’m just crazy (quite possible) or if there is just something about dead-tree books that calls out and helps me. Either way, I’m back to using dead trees for information consumption for long periods of time.
  5. Get back into keeping track of what I have to do … somehow. Use a notebook, use Things, use blood on the wall.
  6. FINISH SOMETHING. This part happens after I trim things down … but actually get into the habit of finishing things. I have books half-read, apps half-started, ideas half-throught-through and I need to sit down and finish something.

Personally, as I sit here, I think that #6 is going to be the one hardest for me to accomplish and the one that will do the most good in the end. Everything above will have some sort of effect on me, but the last fine, actually finishing something, will get some momentum going again.