Category: Observations Page 33 of 90

Home screens

On July 17, 2015

Sitting around the Water-Cooler this morning, talk turned to home screens. I uploaded a photo of mine to compare with others.

Home screen, iPhone 5

There was surprise at Settings being in my dock.

settings huh?
thats interesting – how often are you in there?
pretty often it seems.

I said:

I don’t know… my phone is all muscle memory. I have apps on my 3rd screen because that’s where they are mentally.

I had forgotten Settings was even in my dock. My phone is set up to match where things are in my brain. Ever since I got my first iPod touch, I’d guess not many of the things on the home screen have changed. I may have moved them around slowly, but there is a method to how my phone is set up.

My messages app live in the upper left. That’s where I look for it. And I access it daily. A browser lives next to that. It was Safari. Now it’s Chrome. Next to that is a Calendar. Currently Fantastical since it handles my unholy alliance of Gmail/iCloud/Office 365-pushed-to-the-web-as-an-ICS-file-so-I-can-access-it-on-my-phone. The top of my phone is rounded out with a camera. First was Camera. Then Camera+ and not VSCOCam.

The app changes, but the function stays the same.

Second screen, iPhone 5

My phone has always been about the same. ByWord used to be something else, but it was a writing app in that spot. Twitter has always been just right of mail. I keep track of where the important things are on my phone by muscle memory. For everything else, I search.

New Horizons almost at Pluto

By Carl

On July 13, 2015

In Observations

Ever since I learned of the New Horizons mission to Pluto a few days ago, I have been riveted. The sheer madness and engineering that went into planning and executing a probe that would travel for nearly a decade to reach its destination and return with more information than we’ve ever had about Pluto.

This was the best photo we had of Pluto before the New Horizons probe.

The New Horizon fly by is tomorrow morning. NASA TV will be showing coverage starting at 7:30am Eastern. I am excited to get up and watch tomorrow morning. It’s so cool to me to be able to see something for the very first time. It’s amazing to witness the new discovery of a ball of ice floating through space. To think that now, we only have big, blurry images of Pluto provided by the Hubble Space Telescope. But tomorrow, we will have hi-resolution photos.

VOX has a great, 3 minute video about the entire project.

The NY Times has a longer, 13 minute video with more in-depth coverage and an excellent article to go with it.

Reaching Pluto, and the End of an Era of Planetary Exploration – The New York Times

It’s hard to write these words and know what they might feel like 50 years from now. I never dreamed, when Apollo astronauts left the moon in 1972, that there might come a day when there was nobody still alive who had been to the moon. But now it seems that could come to pass. How heartbreaking is that?

The New Horizons Probe

The Washington Post has a nail-biting article on the moment when the team lost the probe and wasn’t sure if it would come back.

The inside story of New Horizons’ ‘Apollo 13’ moment on its way to Pluto – The Washington Post

The people in the Mission Operations Center — “the MOC” — had been tracking NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft for 9½ years as it journeyed the breadth of the solar system. It was just 10 days away from the dwarf planet Pluto when, at 1:55 p.m. on July 4, it vanished.

Gone.

“OUT OF LOCK,” a computer screen declared.

No more data, no connection at all. As if the spacecraft had plunged into a black hole. Or hit an asteroid and disintegrated.

The probe was OK. And tomorrow, it completes its historic flyby of Pluto. It will take as many photos as it can and take readings of the planets atmosphere. Then, turn its dish around and send all the data back to earth, at 1 kilobyte per second and it will take 4.5 hours for the data to start arriving on earth. That’s 56 times slower than dial-up across 4 billion miles of space.

Photo from the New Horizons project page.

Tech Writer

By Carl

On July 9, 2015

In Observations

I am terrible at covering technology. I don’t write reviews. I won’t tell you about the latest gadget and why it’s worth your money. I struggle to prove why anyone should more than one thing that serves the same purpose.

I won’t give you app recommendations nor phone preferences. Technology is a tool to use. It’s not a religion to go to war over. It’s not worth the words spent and tears shed over the cruelties of which brand our plastic and metal shells come from in China.

I won’t tell you Mac or PC. I won’t mention Linux or its variants. I won’t waste your time and mine debating something pointless.

There are a great many people who will tell you all about technology and how you’re using it wrong. They’ll tell you how to use it better, how to make it work for you, how to hack your life and what you need to buy.

I say use what you have. Use the tools you can afford. Use the tools that make you happy. If you don’t need a smart phone, don’t buy one. If you don’t need a Mac, a Chromebook or slim Windows laptops will serve you well.

Technology has become a lifestyle and a fashion symbol. But it’s all branding on the same plastic box. It’s a ruse to get more money from you every year.

To buy the latest and the newest. To have the best all the time.

If that’s what you want and what makes you happy, I’m very happy for you. But it’s not the way I feel. It’s a way to feel.

So many times I see people writing as if their way is The One True Way. Whether it be the writing application they use or the operating system their computer runs or telephone they carry.

Here is my great truth.

There is no One True Way.

There is no single answer. There is no right and wrong. There is only what works for you.

We’re all human

By Carl

On June 29, 2015

In Observations

We are all human.

I remember the first time I got to see a professional basketball game in person. We were way up in the nosebleed section. We watched the players race across the floor and it felt surreal.

These giants of athleticism smashing into each other. The speed they moved and the fluids movements were like a dance.

A finely choreographed ballet of baskets unfolded. It was a blast.

Later, I saw another game. This time I was closer. I could see the players better. They were closer and it was more real. And they were human.

From afar, these people were a mysterious persona a mile high standing billboard tall. Up close, they were human. Big, bulky humans but humans.

That’s why I’ve never had a sense of celebrity worship. They’re just people. They do a job. They do it well. But they still get up in the morning feeling sick. They still have to put gas in their car and shop for groceries.

They still eat and sleep. They’re flesh and blood.

I started thinking about this during the follow-up with Marc Maron after his interview with President Obama.

WTF with Marc Maron Podcast: 614 – The President Was Here

When I listened to his interview I was struck by the humanity. This was a carefully orchestrated press appearance. This was two guys sitting in a garage talking about their lives.

In the follow-up Maron talked about how human Obama was when he was there. He said, here I am sitting there looking at his mouth. Looking at his eyes. His face. He sat right across a desk from The President.

He is human.

When they took pictures afterward, they shook hands and wrapped their arms around each other. Just like you would with a friend or family member.

It’s worth your time to listen to the interview with President Obama. It’s a humanizing look at a man we often see and hear from in our best and worst times. But he’s an imperfect man full of fear and courage.

Photos are from MarcMeetsObama.com.

American Flag From Unsplash by Anthony Delanoix

Marriage

By Carl

On June 26, 2015

In Observations

I’m happy about today’s ruling. I’m happy friends of mine can not only be married, but can enjoy the legal and tax benefits of marriage. I’m happy they’ll be able to visit each other in hospital if they’re sick or injured.

I’m happy their marriage which may have been valid in DC is now valid in their home state.

But what about churches?

Churches should be able to act in their own belief. They should not be forced to carry out marriage they don’t recognize. If they choose to perform a ceremony, that’s great for the couple. If they refuse, that’s not something the church should be held accountable for. It’s their religion and their beliefs. I would not force something on the church that runs contrary to their views.

But think of the children?

Think about them. How many kids have expressed their concerns about marriage? Yours? Theirs? Anyones? If they’re too young to understand, leave it be. There’s time for that. If your kids ask and its something you don’t believe in, I leave it to you, the parent, how to handle that situation. It’s your right to pass your beliefs and values on to your kids.

Christians?

No one is changing your beliefs. No one is attacking your beliefs. You’re still welcome to live by the word of God and quote scripture. You may still attend church. You may still disagree with this ruling. This doesn’t affect your negatively. You’re still able to go about your life like nothing happened.

That’s why I intend to do. This doesn’t positively change my life at all. I’m a straight white man married to a wonderful woman. This changes nothing. And that’s the point. It changes nothing. The only thing that could get tougher is finding a non-church venue for a wedding this summer. Competition is about to get a lot more fierce!

Comments about pedophiles / marrying trees / bestiality /polygamy?

Pedophiles. Still bad. That doesn’t change.
Marrying livestock. Still not legal. If that’s your thing, move to a farm in Texas and do what you like. Nobody messes with Texas.
Marrying trees. The best you can do is tie yourself to one in the name of the environment.
Polygamy. It’s not had a great track record. But if you want it bad enough, start a movement. The door is open.

I am moving to Canada!

Sorry. You’re about a decade late. Canada legalized same-sex marriage in 2004.

But don’t worry, there are still plenty of countries you can move to. Mexico isn’t looking good for you either. You’re safest moving across an ocean.

What could have been…

The ruling was 5-4. This was not a clear-cut decision. It could have just as easily gone the other way. We are a country divided and it’s how to work and live with each other that makes or breaks us. I am happy the ruling went in the way I had hoped it would. But I’m also aware it was very close.

Congratulations! You all know who you are. I’m ecstatic for you. Enjoy it!