Parting shot...

This is the last and final posting here at "Falling into it..."

It is time to give myself a permanent home on the internet and ask you to join me at www.jeffreytharp.com.

Site Admin...

One of the great regrets I have in terms of education is that I never learned the nuts and bolts side of computing. I can generally make them do what I want, but don’t have a clue when it comes to explaining why it actually happened. To be honest, the in depth details of why it works isn’t as important to me as knowing that it’s going to do what I expect each and every time. That said, I would like to know more about designing and managing my own website. I have photos hosted on one site, a blog hosted on another, email on a third, and a Facebook account that can take on a life of its own when I let it. I’ve integrated with Google for most of those services, but that doesn’t quite make it a seamless experience. In a perfect world I’d like to have all of my “outward facing” web presence integrated into a single space. I’ve been sitting on a handful of domain names for the last few years without really doing anything with them (of course the one I really want is already owned… and has been static since 2006… grrr). In the vast amount of free time that I have, maybe it’s time to teach myself a little about site development.

As always, if anyone has any suggestions as far as reading material for a complete noob, I’m all ears. It’s going to be a good, long while before anyone sees any results, but everything has to start somewhere.

Hot and cold...

After a day to consume the hands on reports, read as much as I could get my hands on, and look at the iPad from every possible angle I have to admit that my initial “must have” lust has run from hot to cold ever hour or so. I’m looking for a device that will let me eliminate the 8’’x10’’ folio I tote around from meeting to meeting to take notes on; something that will let me do basic Office editing, view pdf files, check in on Facebook, maybe drop a quick post to the blog, and keep my calendar and email at the tip of my fingers while doing those other things… and optimally, I wanted to be able to do more than one of those tasks at once.

As the iPhone has evolved over the last three years, many of the original missing features (read: cut-and-paste, mms, etc) have been added, but multi-tasking has remained elusive. Seeing the released details of the iPad seems to indicate that it remains a function that will be missing in action on this device as well. Working in a word document and having to close it in order to open the web browser or messenger is annoying on a phone… and it might just be a deal breaker in something I’m going to want to use as a quasi-laptop replacement.

Specs and details aside, the iPad is one sexy beast in terms of design and I can see how it could be a must-have device for pure consumption of media content. I won’t even complain (too much) about another Apple device tied to the anchor that is AT&T Mobility’s 3G network. Of course release day is still a long time off and that leaves a lot of time for more details, and updated iPhone OS, and for Steve to make an appearance to announce “one more thing…” So for now, I’m withholding judgment while leaning towards wanting the new toy despite its apparent limitations. Check back with me in April and I’m sure my lust will know no bounds.

Content...

I’m no special fan of the New York Times, I find most of their editorial content to be smug and arrogant… and those are traits I generally tend to value only in myself. Actually, I have no problem with smug if you have a reason to be, but from what I can see, the Times, like most other major newspaper publishers, is continuing to struggle to gain traction in an world that turns more and more towards the digital media for its news. I usually ignore news and commentary from the Times, but this article was special… it mentioned that the Gray Lady was trying to find a way to charge readers for its online content in an effort to stem the losses its taking in its print division.

Maybe some people will be willing to pay for an online subscription to the New York Times, or Washington Post, or Possumtown Gazette… but I’m pretty sure you’ve discovered a bad business model here boys. I can’t see how it is smart to start charging people for content that you have been giving away for years without substantially improving the product. It seems that to start charging, you would need to improve the service you are providing in some way… Otherwise, what’s to stop me from getting my highlights from Drudge, the AP, and the ten thousand or so other news sources that populated the interwebs?

This isn’t really a rant about the Times. I don’t want to see the end of good, independent journalism, but if a stalwart of print media like the Times can’t manage to survive the internet age, perhaps it should move aside and allow more responsive companies to take its place… or the government could give them a bailout. Either way.

People… People that need people…

I can’t help myself. When someone sends me a website like peopleofwalmart.com, I simply have to look… at all 45 pages. Some of the pictures were funny, some were stupid, and some were simply disgusting. The thing that really caught my attention, though, was the section where you can read the hate mail the site receives. Seriously, some of that stuff was better than the actual pictures. I guess people who complain about websites are the same type who complain about what’s on television. Sure, I don’t deny your right to complain at all… but wouldn’t just surfing on over to a different site be a better use of you time. I’m just sayin.

Adiós Comcast... almost

With DirecTV now beaming 500+ channels of goodness into the house, I thought for sure I could finally be rid of the devil called Comcast. Trying to find an reasonable alternative to their cable Internet service, however, has proven to be an exercise in futility. The DSL that is available here just doesn't stack up after a few speed tests. So, for now it's an uneasy truce with the devil I know as I wait impatiently for Memphis to slog its way into the 21st century.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]