After half a semester at the U of A, Derek has decided he needs a break from school, so he has moved back home. He’s not sure if he will take any classes anywhere in the spring, but is looking out to next fall. In the mean time, he is (slowly!) looking for a job.
After a couple of weeks in Tucson, he commented to me, “I was sitting in class the other day and the thought hit me: This is going to be my life for the next 4 to 8 years.” He’s burned out on school and wants to do something else for a while.
I can’t be too disapproving. I took off a couple of years after high school, and then took classes part time for the next 6 years, before going back full time. It took me 10 years to finally get my BS. I hope it doesn’t take him that long, but I know for me the travel and real-world experience gave me a greater appreciation for the benefits of an education, and when I finally did go back to school I did so with enthusiasm and diligence.
As parents, we have our hopes and dreams for him, but he has to live out his own life. We will support him whatever path he takes.
I bought my 65″ HDTV about a month ago, and have been enjoying it. A few days ago, as the “free-return” time came near, I started feeling that the image, though excellent on HD, was deficient on SD (Standard Definition – normal TV).
The more I looked at it, the more I felt that there must be something wrong with it. Colors weren’t very accurate, and images didn’t look smooth. I remembered that my old 50″ SD TV was clearer with better color. If this was right, maybe I should return this new one before the time ran out.
But just to make sure, I first took my old 50″ and set it up right next to the new one, and fed it the same signal.
What a surprise! In every way, on every channel, with every picture, the new TV looked better than the old one. Colors were more natural, and images were smoother. The old TV was a tad brighter, but that wasn’t necessarily better.
Apparently, after a month of watching mostly HD images, my impression of what was acceptable had shifted up the scale. The sharp, clear picture on HD signals had colored my perspective so that when I viewed SD signals I felt there must be something wrong.
Just shows how your opinions and perspective are influenced by what you’re used to.
Those of you who run the free version of AVG virus scan software may have received notices lately that the version you have is about to expire, and that you have to upgrade to a new version. If you follow their links, you are taken to a page where they offer to sell you the new version.
They don’t make it obvious, but you can still get a free copy of the new version here.
I have had to reinstall Windows on my computer twice in the last 3 days. Something slimy must have infested it, because important system files kept disappearing.
Hopefully I have it cleaned out this time so it will stay up, but if I become unresponsive again, you’ll know why!
I’ve been running it for a couple of days now and it seems fine. Most of my extensions (including my beloved AdBlock) work fine with it. It has a new spell check, so when you are writing something like this blog on a web form you can check all the spelling in the form before you submit. Just right click in the form, and make sure that “Spell check this field” is checked.
A few other minor changes, but I feel right at home with it; it looks and feels just about the same.
If you remember, I bought the 60″ Sony SXRD rear projection LCOS last spring. After having it in my house for 3 weeks, I took it back. Since then I’ve been waiting for something better to come available in my price range.
Today I brought home a 65″ LCD TV. I think I like it a lot, but I have a month to make sure.
I’m testing putting a video clip into my blog.
I know there is text in the middle of the picture — it’s a trial version and I don’t know if I want to buy it yet.
What do you think? This was on our famous Peruvian bike ride.
If I buy it, would others be interested in using it?
When I walked into the house after spending the Labor Day weekend in Prescott, I heard a clicking noise coming from my office. Bad news — my computer’s hard drive had died.
Most of my important information and data was backed up, but I still had to reinstall Windows and reinstall all the programs I had been running.
Since I have to start over again, I have decided to try to live in the open source world as much as possible. Unfortunately, I can’t get along without Windows quite yet. But I don’t need MS Office; I’ll use Open Office exclusively instead.
I don’t need Outlook; Thunderbird is a better mail program.
And I don’t even have to synch my Palm phone with Outlook; I can use the Palm Desktop that came with the phone.
It’s kind of like moving Mom to a new apartment this weekend. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also an opportunity to get rid of stuff you don’t need and start fresh.
