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The February Frights Begin
 
Microsoft Office 2010 Coming to Our House
 
2010: You Say Two Thousand Ten, I Say Twenty Ten
 
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On Facebook: Just a Little Bit Pregnant
 
Mornings in the Temple of Perpetual Reconsideratio...
 
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Friday Cat Picture: The Return of Shmoo Cat
 
Productivity: This Is Not a Kanban
 
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The February Frights Begin

My computer infrastructure seems to be falling apart.  February is going to be the month in which I have to fix it.  I always fear infrastructure changes and computer upgrades and conversions.  And the price of procrastination is that pay-me-later comes due, with interest.   Here’s what it looks like:

1. The invalid, my web-development server, the vintage-1998 Dell Inspiron 7000 laptop, Compagno, is on its last legs.  I need to offload everything to the Windows Home Server, including Visual Source Safe (VSS) integrated with Internet Information Server (IIS) via FrontPage Extensions.  I have been avoiding that.  I can’t any longer.   (Hmm, I mean that my laptop is an invalid, not that it is invalid.  Tricky that.)
     
2. I need to migrate Vicki off her Dell desktop onto her new Inspiron 15 Laptop with docking for printer, LAN, keyboard+mouse, audio, and 24” widescreen monitor.  This also means moving Office 2003 from her XP SP3 configuration to the Laptop’s Windows 7, finding counterparts for the applications that currently work for her, including FrontPage 2002 (see 1, above).
     
3. My Tablet PC has been running Windows 7 RC1 and that is about to expire.  There is no reason to use one of my Windows 7 upgrades on that machine because the manufacturer stopped providing the needed drivers before Vista.   I could reinstall Vista (and play 3D chess again) maybe, or go back to Windows Tablet PC Edition 2005.  This is all a holding action until I figure out what is a decent Tablet PC upgrade path that doesn’t cost a fortune.
     
4. I have ambitions to replace my Desktop system with a hot multi-core Windows 7 64-bit kit.  I want to use virtual machines for other operating systems and multiple versions of office productivity software for exercising ODF and OOXML implementations and their inter-conversions.  I can also do better at development of software for multiple platforms this way.  This is not something I’m in a hurry for, because I have to deal with my critical peripherals (HP Scanjet 7400C and E-MU 1820m) being supported.  This should be on the end of the list.
     
5. TODAY, after not noticing all this time, I received this happy e-mail from Blogger:
     
   “[W]e will no longer support FTP publishing in Blogger after March 26, 2010. We realize that this will not necessarily be welcome news for some users, and we are committed to making the transition as seamless as possible.”
     
   Of course, all of the transitions are to Google hosting of one kind or another.  These all involve changing the domain name.  I use FTP publishing in Blogger because I already have the domain names for my blogs, and far more, and changing domain name and/or hosting is not the kind of transition that works for me.  What I need to do is disintermediate from Blogger.
     
   I desire a way to bring up some sort of blog publishing function, still usable with Windows Live Writer, alongside my existing blog directories on the servers where my blogs are now published via FTP from Blogger.  I can then make a side-by-side transition from using Blogger as the intermediary for publishing to using a more-or-less direct self-hosted publishing mechanism. 
     
   That is probably workable, and something I had always meant to do.  Now I have an incentive I can’t ignore.
     
   Of course, I have no idea what I am going to do about comments on those blogs.  I think about Disqus, but not real hard.  We’ll see.

And I still use Technorati tags despite every indication they are absolutely useless.

But hey, I am driving out yet-another change to my Blogger template with this post. 

Labels: computers and internet, confirmable experience, web site construction

 
Comments:

 
I've been whining about the gap between slates (such as the iPad) and Tablet PCs. Today I see that the Hewlett-Packard Touchsmart tx2t Notebook is approaching the $1000 price-point that I'm looking for (hat-tip to Sara Ford). I will keep my eye out for more action in this niche.

# posted by  orcmid: 02 February, 2010 16:23

 

 
I was using Blogger with ftp publishing to my own domain until last December. I then moved to WordPress. The migration process went very well. I was able to preserve all my posts and comments. There were a lot of URL mismatches initially, but there is a great plugin for WordPress called "Redirection" that logs all the 404 errors and allows you to turn them into 301 redirects with a couple mouse clicks. Now that I've moved over, I regret not doing it sooner. WordPress is far more flexible than Blogger was.

-Rob

# posted by  Rob Weir: 06 February, 2010 08:24

 

 
Thanks Rob, that's very encouraging. I only hear good things about WordPress and I am curious to know what the pain points are and how much I can preserve my existing blog pages. In-place if possible.

My hosting service has a one-click WordPress install setup, and your feedback is exactly what I'm looking for. They also have some others I've never heard of so I intend to look at WordPress first.

Fortunately, I have a developer-only test blog that I can experiment with first. I am intrigued that you were able to preserve comments. Do you have any specific tips for the migration process?

# posted by  orcmid: 06 February, 2010 09:58

 

 
I followed the guide here:
The New Ultimate Guide to Migrating from Blogger to WordPress

Essentially, Blogger has an export option, and WordPress has an import option. The only complication was that WordPress has a different naming convention for permalinks, but you can override that in WordPress before importing your Blogger posts. Even then some names will be off. Specifically, Blogger and WordPress differ in how they generate permalinks from post titles. Blogger strips out "stop words", while WordPress does not. But you can go in and manually rename those posts.

Other than that, I didn't run into any other issues. Even my draft posts came over intact.

I was already using FeedBurner for my feeds, so that was an easy central change. In your case you'll need to redirect your old feed URL to your new one, so you don't lose your existing subscribers.

Of course, your mileage may vary. It is worth setting up a temporary test WP blog to test the migration before doing it for real.

-Rob

# posted by  Rob Weir: 06 February, 2010 11:15

 

 
Great!

This sounds like the perfect job for Spanner Wingnut! It is time the lad earned his keep.

I am tempted to close off the existing ftp'd blogs and freeze them as an "archive" the way Bob Sutor appears to have done.

I will then need to do something constructive about the comment support being shut off (and Blogger will be denied access any longer in any case).

I have maintained the practice of not republishing the site even though I make template changes over time. I would like to preserve that.

I will look at the migration guide with great interest.

I'm not sure what to do about never-published drafts held in Blogger. I'll see what luck I have in sucking them back onto my desktop system under my Windows Live Writer drafts. I probably won't miss those drafts, since I haven't for at least 5 years now.

# posted by  orcmid: 06 February, 2010 11:56

 

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Microsoft Office 2010 Coming to Our House

I just noticed the reaction to the new Microsoft Office 2010 packaging and price structures in posts by Mary Jo Foley and Ed Bott.  Although I despair over being a Microsoft outlier-customer with the disappearance of some of my favorite products, the moves in Microsoft Office packaging and availability may be just the ticket for our household.  The announcement is particularly interesting because our Office 2003 installations are a little long in the tooth and it would be good to upgrade, especially as we move to Windows 7 64-bit configurations over the next several months.  (Our first Windows 7 64-bit machine is Vicki’s new laptop and it is clear that is the migration path throughout the household SOHO network, despite the need for at least two more hardware replacements.)

Our Long Microsoft Office Romance

I operate a Small-Office, Home-Office (SOHO) wired network.  Both Vicki and I are devoted to Office 2003 on our individual business desktop and laptop machines.  I obtained the two requisite Office 2003 Professional copies by adroitly paying $99 each with one-day workshops included.  (Actually, the software was given out as premiums for attendance at the two $99 workshops.  I doubt there will be such an opportunity again although I am on alert.) 

I happily install OO.o on family-member machines where there is limited need for Microsoft Office capability beyond occasional import/export of simple documents in the big-three formats, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.  That doesn’t work here because of personal preferences and, most of all, because of Outlook.  (We each rely on FrontPage too, and that is a more-difficult problem.)

Office 2010 Seductiveness

We are devoted users of Outlook and have no desire to change that.  There are Outlook 2007 features that I want and I’m sure Outlook 2010 will improve on that.  I was despairing of what it would take to have us both move up to a current Outlook, with or without upgrading the rest of Office.  (I also have technical reasons, in my work on the OOXML and ODF standards, to have multiple versions and beta releases of Microsoft Office and ODF-based office-productivity suites lying around, a challenge that is leading me to put a heavy-duty virtual-machine configuration in my near future.  That outlier requirement will also improve my ability to develop for multiple platforms.)

If there is reasonable $199 download-pricing for download editions of Office 2010 Home & Business, our SOHO computing needs will be satisfied by two copies, one for Vicki's business use, another for mine.  (I may have to go the $249 package route to have it on my laptop plus desktop, while Vicki consolidates into a laptop-only-plus-network computing life, something I should be considering as well, now that I look more closely.)  This will also go well with our finally upgrading to Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium (Windows 7 Ultimate for my technical needs) on all non-server machines.

An Appealing Starter Case for All

Although I probably won't run into it myself, the Microsoft Office 2010 Starter edition via OEM installations would also eliminate the need to install OO.o on new machines for relatives, except to the degree they prefer to have it for whatever reasons that matters to them.  It should now become unnecessary to purchase a richer version of Microsoft Office simply to handle occasional Word and Excel interchange plus and PowerPoint document interchange viewing.   Likewise, nothing more may be needed for modest ODF interchange needs down the road.

Goodbye Microsoft Works

It looks like the Microsoft Works and Office Home and Student trial-edition crapware can be gone for good.  (I am wistful about the disappearance of Works, because it was all I needed on MS-DOS and early versions of Windows.  I gave up on Microsoft Works when it became more important to have what employers and clients used along with some peculiar outlier importance of Microsoft Office in my support of document-management technology.)

Meanwhile, Vicki has no tolerance for Microsoft Works (and may be unhappy adjusting to the Office 2007-introduced user interface too).  I still have some old archives in Microsoft Works documents that I had better find out how to upgrade before they are no longer readable anywhere, too.

Hello OneNote

And finally, I note the prevalence of OneNote in the Office 2010 packaging.  I have withheld my use of OneNote on other than Tablet PC applications because of its narrower availability and the absence of a public standard for the format. 

I stopped using OneNote on the Tablet PC on realizing that I don't go through the extra effort of transferring OneNote-authored material to non-OneNote machines and the material I have is now locked-in on the Tablet.  Later Tablet PC note-taking was done with Windows Live Writer instead. With OneNote now a stock component of Microsoft Office, I can reconsider my use along with the SOHO upgrade to Office 2010 (perhaps including a Windows 7 Tablet PC if I can find a reliable and economical OEM source).

Update 2010-01-06T22:30: I was over-eagerly expecting the Office 2010 Starter to include some form of PowePoint.  That is not the case, but I presume viewers will still be available for download.

New Issues to Contemplate: It seems that affordable laptops don’t have provisions for easy swapping in as desktop machine by using an external monitor, closed cover, and external keyboard and mouse.  However, a tablet PC can operate flattened out in tablet mode while slide out of the way in an appropriate “docked” arrangement.  I must look into that.  Until I started writing this post, I hadn’t looked at having a laptop rather than desktop as my all-purpose machine.  This is really about having Outlook running in only one place and being able to travel with it.  

In non-Outlook work, server-mediated replication and synchronization is workable.  I need to explore that much more carefully.  Figuring in an eventual upgrade to a 30” monitor for desktop work may also create some conflicts with the most external monitor that a laptop/tablet is likely to support.  I will still need a desktop system so smooth choreography of any dance between desktop and laptop needs to be understood better.

Labels: computers and internet, interoperability

 
Comments:

 
I solve my laptop "docking" problem by only plugging it into two cords: power and network. I then use Remote Desktop from my machine with the big monitor, keyboard, and mouse to connect to the laptop.

With gigabit Ethernet now available everywhere, the only time I notice any slowdown with this configuration is when I try to play full-screen videos on the laptop.

But I spend all day at work and each evening at home with this setup.

# posted by  Tommy Williams: 06 January, 2010 14:32

 

 
Holy smokes. That is brilliant for my situation. It also means that I don't need my upgraded laptop/tablet-PC on my desk along with my desktop configuration and I don't have to care about laptop external-monitor limitations.

I can put the laptop in place of the venerable Compagno over on my drafting table and remote desktop into it instead of walking over to it. And unhooking for travel is easy.

I've learned to use Remote Desktop as part of managing my Windows Home Server and I am prepared to do more of that.

Thanks Tommy.

# posted by  orcmid: 06 January, 2010 14:43

 

 
Multi-Monitor, take a second look.

I found a standard VGA connector on my laptop. So I was able to use my desktop CRT from day one.

Failing that, check out Display Link. You install some software on computer and use a Display Link enabled monitor connected via USB cable. If you don't have a Display Link monitor, they sell a USB to DVI connector. Get a DVI to VGA converter and you can use any old monitor. Check out these links:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/157478/multimonitor_madness.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/150311-4/quadruple_your_fun_and_productivity_with_a_fourmonitor_system.html

As for Keyboard, that is even easier. Just plug in any USB enabled keyboard into your laptop. I've been using a full size MS Wave keyboard. My mouse is plugged into the USB port on the keyboard. If your favorite keyboard has a PS2 plug, you can buy a USB to PS2 connector for around $5.

# posted by  Ron: 08 January, 2010 08:14

 

 
Ron, thanks for the observations about "docking" a laptop to an external monitor and keyboard. That is what is happening with the new laptop for Vicki. We are removing her desktop machine and when her laptop is at home it will be connected to a dock that provides connection to a larger monitor, the SOHO wired LAN, great audio speakers, her printer, and a wireless keyboard and mouse. She will also have our Windows Home Server on the LAN for backup and off-laptop extended storage. This is in line with your suggestions and the necessary accessories are on their way to us.

My problem, and the one Tommy solves for me, is that I will continue to have a large desktop computer and a (Tablet PC) laptop. I don't want to deal with keyboard and monitor switching (been there, done that), and the laptop is unlikely to be able to drive a 30" monitor when I upgrade to one. In this case, remote desktopping into the laptop will be the easiest and smoothest solution when I want to use laptop resources while at my desktop system. This keeps Outlook and traveling materials on the laptop but I only need to plug it into an outlet and the SOHO LAN when its at home. The heavy duty work with virtual-machines and non-traveling writing -- I do a ton of that -- remains on the desktop. Synchronizing other materials between my laptop and other systems (and off-line storage) can happen by using the LAN-based Windows Home Server as a repository. I can even do version management and backup there.

# posted by  orcmid: 08 January, 2010 08:51

 

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2010: You Say Two Thousand Ten, I Say Twenty Ten

We all say Happy New Year!

This first post for 2010 brings more blog-template cleanup.  I need to post something to confirm that the template is working, and here it is.

1. I moved the change history of the template, a long comment, to the end of the template page so that it should not interfere with blog-page loading (so much).  You should not observe any evidence of this unless you View Source on the blog page.
     
2. The sidebar Atom Feed link stopped being filled in correctly by Blogger.  I have no idea how long that has been going on, although there are ways to check by looking at old posts.  I simply replaced the special template codes with the correct absolute links.
     
3. I added an Associated Sites list of links as a companion to the Associated Blogs list.  I removed Associated Blogs that I do not author.  I am not sure what to do for links to blogs of friends now.  Something else is called for.
     
4. I don’t know what happened with Technorati and I don’t know how to fix it.  But using Technorati tags doesn’t seem to be useful.  The Technorati insert on the blog sidebar has gone invisible and I have no idea if it has any function.  I am going to attempt to use de.licio.us tags and see what that accomplishes.

I am making these adjustments to this, my longest-standing blog, so that I can then ripple the same adjustments to other blogs.  That will induce my priming the pump with a new post on each of those as I proceed.

Update 2010-01-02T12:47: Well, I have no idea how making del.icio.us tags accomplishes anything.  Perhaps I need a place to “ping.”  What I do know is that although Windows Live Writer things comma-separated tag lists are sufficient, del.icio.us doesn’t deal with spaces or “+” as space at all.  That’s why you see the wonderful use of “_” characters in this repost.  I think I still don’t have it figured out.  I’ll settle for this serving as an example of system incoherence, for now.

Labels: system incoherence, web site construction

Annual Dusting and Cleaning

I am working at having everything of mine present on Facebook, but without Facebook having sole custody.

This is part of my desire to be present and reachable via Facebook without having my attention on Facebook.  Since everything I maintain outside of Facebook is entirely public, I don’t mind Facebook exposing that same materials.  I won’t be giving Facebook applications any way to modify any of my content (e.g., on my Flickr account), so I am not to nervous about this.

I am more nervous about my Facebook presence simply not working the way I would like.

Today I am tidying up the Orcmid’s Lair blog with some links to additional blogs recently added to the stable. 

I am also experimenting with a widget for Networked Blogs on Facebook.  I am not all that confident that it will provide an in-profile presence for my blogs.  That is why it is an experiment.

Here goes …

On Facebook: Just a Little Bit Pregnant

Grudging and Limited Acceptance of Facebook

I still don't like Facebook. 

• I don't like how it works.  For example, I just typed an 1883-character message that it didn’t tell me was over the 420-character limit until I had typed all of it and then attempted to “share” it.   Clearly, Windows LiveWriter, where I am now, is affordance for me, just as MediaWiki is my preferred vehicle for wiki-organized material.
    
• I don't like the way the Facebook organization stumbles blissfully into iffy business practices and remains indifferent to the uproar each new excess provokes.
    
• I don't like how I can't organize my attention very well.  I don’t want to keep my eye on Facebook.  I find the river incoherent and discordant.  (I am learning that Disqus comment streaming is more distracting but I solve that by shutting off e-mail tracking.  It is unfortunate that they make it an all-or-nothing choice.  OK, nothing it is.)

I first reactivated my account because I wanted to lock up “orcmid” as my name there.  Lately I have begun maintenance on the account because I have acquaintances who are devoted to Facebook as their social-connection point.  If I want to see their pictures, find a way to contact them, etc., I need to maintain a Facebook logon.  That is part of the viral nature of Facebook, of course.   I'm trying to stay just a little bit pregnant here and it is very awkward.

Having Presence Without Attention

Today I noticed that if I want to be social-network-visible the Facebook devotees among my acquaintances, I must maintain a Facebook presence by which folks can at least find where my attention really is.  I want to offer them Facebook presence and connection to where my attention and efforts are placed, without demanding that I also put much attention on Facebook itself.   Ideally, Facebook friends can see into my public world without leaving Facebook.

I started by figuring out how to disengage from Facebook applications and then look for ones that make my preferred locations available on Facebook too.  (That’s how I found out that I must de-authorize applications that I no longer care about, not just remove them from my Facebook page.  Another “there they go again” moment.)

My Twitter stream now appears on my Facebook stream.  My Pandora profile has been there all along.  Reviewing Pandora showed me how seldom I listen to Pandora these days: I didn’t realize the desktop Pandora fixture was an Adobe AIR application until it asked to update when I checked it just now.  It works better than my large random play list in Windows Media Player and I’m back.  Windows Media Player is still my favorite for album play and all of my AmazonMP3 downloads.

My Flickr Photostream, Photosets, and new Flickr Posts now show up on my Facebook profile page.  I used the My Flickr application because it works well enough with only read-access authorization to my Flickr account.  I had wanted to use Flickr Photosets but that one required authorization to updated Flickr; I am not prepared to risk so much.

I wanted to have my blogs appear on Facebook too.  I thought they had in the past, but I can’t find how I might have done it.  The most appealing application, NetworkedBlogs, has a complex authorization process requiring me to add a script to my blog-page template (just as Technorati does).  I wouldn’t mind updating the templates, but that immediately moved having blog presence to a back burner.

I suppose that I might want to find a connection between Facebook and LinkedIn as well, just to complete the picture.

FriendFeed is so far lost in my history that it’s of no interest whether I can have it visible on Facebook.  And now that not only I but Microsoft itself have abandoned Soapbox, I have some blog pages that deserve to be updated.  Orcmid’s Flying Kyte is still operating and available on my Facebook profile and I should make better use of it. 

I have nothing on Windows Live to connect to Facebook.  My Windows Live usage is entirely on the desktop applications.  I have abandoned Windows Live as a social presence and I should decommission Orcmid’s Live Hideout at some point.   The sharing of contacts is not something I want to do, probably because Microsoft Outlook remains my hub for connectivity with contacts and it is not a list I would share into the cloud.

That’s the status of my effort so far.

Oh yes, then there’s FishBowl client as an alternative interface (thanks to Wendy White).   Not sure I need an easier way to root around in Facebook, but I will check if it make my presence maintenance better.  Or is this indeed the road to perdition?  Stay tuned.

Dealing with Expectations of Facebook Friends

I have 11 friend requests and I don't want to connect them and establish an expectation that this is a place where my attention can be obtained.

I haven't found a good way to explain that, and I must remember to put whatever explanation I do use in a computer note that I can copy and paste instead of recreate each time.  For the form letter part.  Then I can add just whatever personal part I want.

In case you are wondering: If someone wants my attention or would like to be more connected, I recommend Twitter direct messages to orcmid.  Directs arrive in Twitter (if I'm online), in my e-mail (whether I am or not), and on my cellular phone (likewise).  E-mail is my preferred medium because of the asynchrony and absence of message-size limit.  Also, I am not paced by my inbox.  I check for new mail only when I am ready for it.

For folks who want to chat, Skype works best for me (and I am orcmid there too).  I can also do audio and video (see, I really am in my robe and pajamas) over Skype.  If you are the linked-in sort, you can find me there too.  I don’t multi-task all that well, and paying attention to open chat windows is not a strength for me.  I find asynchronous connectivity and the written word preferable, with Twitter being expedient, not immediate, for me.

Labels: social networking

 
Comments:

 
Yeah, I've not figured out what to bother doing with Facebook either. It may be politically incorrect with the Web X.0 crowd (whatever we're up to), but I'd rather that everyone just had one social media stream, to which I can choose to subscribe or not. The people whose technical/business opinions interest me tend to be the people whose hobbies and personalities I find interesting, and vice versa.

So I just use Twitter these days. A significant percentage of my regular contacts do the same, although I'm not sure whether it's a majority or not, and don't care in any event.

As for the notion of people who have multiple chat windows open all day being "good multitaskers," I feel a curmudgeon rant coming on ...

I don't feel like I see that in actual practice. It seems to me that many people (especially many young people) are quite willing to miss all sorts of nuances in their communications, or even miss the obvious central themes of those communications much of the time. Some folks seem to "keep score" by how many people they can have going at once, versus how accurately and completely they understand the conversation(s) ... but that's not a "skill" that I'd care to "develop."

The same people who said the web would make books obsolete, and then said that instant messaging would make email obsolete, are now saying that things like Google Wave will make all of the above obsolete. Yep, they'll be three for three soon. And I must say, I just *love* never receiving long emails any more, that's been one of the great things about recent years. ;-)

On a related note ... wake me up when the majority of award-winning books or screenplays are written by collaborative teams of people using high-tech tools, instead of individuals writing alone the old-fashioned way. I'm sure you'll understand why I won't be holding my breath.

# posted by  Doug: 06 December, 2009 19:48

 

 
Dennis I wrote this after reading your blog, but of course it wouldn't let me send it to you without an account! I rest my case. So here it is by e-mail.

Hi, Dennis, for those of us who are not as computer savy and don't actually know what we are doing, Facebook works fine. I generally go to your blog if I want to talk to you (like now only of course I have to have an account and password and i don't want to have either!!! for Goggle or any of the others they list). Not into Twitter as can't stand the constant streaming........

Amy is into it a bit more as she does it from her Blackberry and they are more of a techno family. Heck, I just got a personal cell phone so am really behind the times. Plus each bit added on of technology(Twitter etc.) costs
$$ and energy and I am into giving time and dollars to what helps families and children in these tough times. Just became a board member of the Central Minnesota Sustainable Project. That should keep me out of trouble,,,, (well, at least for a little bit) Carol H

# posted by  My sister Carol, via Email: 08 December, 2009 09:27

 

 
Carol, I thought you could make anonymous comments on my blog. I just used the Name/URL option to enter your e-mailed comment. I am sympathetic to the simplicity that Facebook affords for your use in staying connected with family and friends.

Now that I have my twitter tweets also going to Facebook, it will discourage my being friended on Facebook, I suppose!

(I don't normally tweet so often as when I was testing how Twitter on Facebook was working. On the other hand, my typical subject matter for tweets might not be of any use to those who do follow me on Facebook. Sorry.)

I know there is a way to have my blog(s) appear on Facebook too. That way, you could comment from Facebook (perhaps) or at least so it is seen on Facebook. I also think I would receive an e-mail from Facebook letting me know there is a comment there. This lets me not have to keep watching Facebook but I can still interact in response to communications from others among my Facebook friends.

We'll whether I become more accessible to you and others when I figure out how to hook up my blog(s) inside of Facebook.

# posted by  orcmid: 08 December, 2009 09:38

 

 
We'll see if it will post this now that I have clicked the Name/URL box. The problem with so much of this for those of us who are not into the workings of computers, is we don't know which box to check and they always ask for other information first such as your Google account. Plus the boxes aren't clear as to what they mean. Open ID has symbols and one needs to be part of one of those for it to work. Then statements like "choose an identity" probably means something all together different to me than to you. Since I am sceptical of what I might be getting into I tend to back away and close out.
A friend Judy Foster is an English lit prof here and her blog reference is on her facebook page. I can either go to her facebook page and comment or go to her blog from there. It is all so much simpler for those of us who don't want to spend so much time with just making contact! I am certain it seems simple for those of you in the know and are aware of the security options, but for some of us it is very frustrating. After all I didn't have to know how to take apart and put together a telephone to use it!!!!!

# posted by  Anonymous: 08 December, 2009 11:44

 

 
Now see it posted , but I got a message saying it could compromise the security of the entire system!!!! Makes me crazy!!

# posted by  Carol H: 08 December, 2009 11:46

 

 
Carol, I assure you that I find the interface for leaving comments to be as peculiar as you do. I suppose the difference is that I have found how to get it to do what I want (and as the author of this blog, I have a Google Account).

That I have to enter my UserName and Password every time is more frustrating than just commenting anonymously or with Name/URL myself. But I never learned to use those until now.

The error message is absurd, since there is nothing for you to do about it and it isn't true anyhow (or at least better not be).

Now, I want my blog to appear in Facebook and be commented just as easily as the blog of Judy Foster. I am not sure how it works from what you say. I'll look around.

When I was originally on Facebook, I am sure I found a way to have my blogs appear on Facebook. I haven't discovered the easiest way to accomplish that now. There are some things for me to try. Very geeky. My hope is that my friends who use Facebook as their avenue to the social internet will not have to lift the hood, ever.

# posted by  orcmid: 08 December, 2009 12:14

 

 
Dennis, I can see you are way ahead of me in the techy world, but I will try to at least keep up with Carol! I learned to comment on blogspot when my daughter had a blog. I've had several people try to post comments on my blog and fail. They tell me they posted but it doesn't show up. Too many steps to go through or something.

# posted by  Dr. Brain: 08 December, 2009 13:12

 

 
All my siblings were on Facebook so I caved. I've gotten back in touch with a couple of good friends from high school and college and am glad for that. I've had many, many hours of my life sucked away playing Bejeweled Blitz and several other games to prove to the sibs I can still stomp them most of the time. Well, I can still stomp them in all the word games. And I can keep an eye on my oldest niece and remotely embarrass the crap out of her in fromt of all her friends. What's not to like? As long as you discount half the interface, most of the privacy policy, poor search, and a few other things, it's great!

# posted by  Cherie: 15 December, 2009 23:23

 

 
I think there is an anecdotal lesson here about good-enough in social software. Enough of Facebook works for its viral appeal to overpower everything else. It reminds me of the time when Lotus 1-2-3 was the must-have spreadsheet software, except the social adoption angle is perhaps even more compelling.
For those of us who dislike silos, it will matter how we disintermediate our content from Facebook (and other public-facing places), but this is not an issue for most users who are quite satisfied with the service and its providing something that was never practicable for them before.

# posted by  orcmid: 16 December, 2009 07:49

 

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Mornings in the Temple of Perpetual Reconsideration

In a fit of governmental economy and limelight avoidance, King County in Washington State has gone to mail balloting exclusively.  For this election day, Tuesday, November 3, 2009, Vicki and I have already mailed in our ballots.  We waited for the televised debates for Seattle City Mayor and King County Executive to be held, considered that we then knew enough, and submitted our ballots.

Waiting for Election Day is Different Now

An odd peculiarity of mailing in our ballots is, now that we’ve voted, it doesn’t matter what happens between our mailing and the official end of voting on November 3 (although ballots with acceptable postmarks will continue to be accepted and processed).  What’s missing beside the ceremony of voting is the ceremony of knowing what the results are.  We have to wait.  We are lame-duck voters and there is no value in paying attention to the still-continuing campaigns for the various contested seats.

What’s not missing is the continued arrival of robocalls telling us how important our votes are and what scoundrels the opponents are.  There is also no letup in the delivered mail pieces that continue the bickering.  I assume this is all targeted to the large undecided numbers that are sufficient to sway the election one way or the other.  A just-arrived attack piece was surprising to me and I almost wanted to reconsider a vote already cast.  Anti-candidate material tends to lower my stock in the attacker, not the victim.  In this particular case, I rationalized that the attack piece was appropriate.

Stamping out the Party Line

The current election is the first one under a spanking new primary and election approach.  All of the positions up for election are supposed to be non-partisan.  However, there are certainly party endorsements, and the Governor, a Democrat, has made her preferences known in the election for Seattle Mayor and King County Executive.

The way the new system works here, until overturned by a court appeal as had our previous efforts at electoral reform, is that when there are fewer than three candidates at the primary election, they automatically advance to the general election.  If there are three or more candidates, the top two at the primary advance to the general election.  There is no party registration in Washington State, and any primary voter selects among all of the candidates.  This led to the incumbent Seattle Mayor failing to advance to the general election, the final contest being between two candidates who have never held public office.  As a referendum on  the mayor, this does say something.

This system can lead to a general election where the two candidates are aligned with the same political party.  That happened in one district here.

Reconsider This!

As part of our shared Western-States distrust in government, we have an initiative and referendum system that is designed to hamstring government as much as we want.  Fortunately, the legislature does have the power to declare a fiscal emergency and ignore some of the contradictory stuff that gets passed this way until it can be thrown out in the courts.

This election, we have an example of a way that the people can preempt the legislator without throwing the rascals out.  It is possible to petition that a passed legislative act be submitted to the voters for approval.  In the past legislature, a comprehensive civil union law was passed that provides all of the benefits accorded to married folks to civil unions among unmarried seniors, gays, lesbians, and other flavors.  This grants everything that civil law can grant short of calling it marriage.  The legislation is quite extensive in terms of all of the various laws that are adjusted.

Referendum R-71 to have the electorate affirm (or disapprove) this legislation was placed on the ballot by petition.  Although it is in the nature of this kind of referendum that it follow the wording of the law, so a yes vote will affirm the law, an no vote will repeal it.  The petitioners were interested in the repeal, but unlike Proposition 8 in California, it takes a win by the No Votes to accomplish that.  It will be close.

An interesting sidelight is that people in favor of the legislation demanded that the names of the petitioners be released to the public, with the clear intent of outing the signers of the petition as bigots.  This request and the refusal of authorities to comply has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court which has issued a stay on the release of the names.   I didn’t need R-71; I am happy to vote to affirm it.  However, I am not at all keen about releasing the names of petition signers.   To do this in the name of freedom-of-information is an indirect assault on the secrecy of the ballot, considering the chilling effect it can have on the petitioning for referendums and initiatives on controversial matters.  We do not have to account for how and why we vote a particular way on some measure, and it is frightening that we would have to do so as signers of petitions.  And the automatic presumption that the signers are bigots and they are to be hounded is itself a despicable act.  I’m against it.

One of the more common use of initiatives is the constant attempt to throttle government spending by denying the ability to raise taxes except in very difficult ways.   These are often passed concurrent with other initiatives that require additional spending for something people want, usually more bigger better highways in support of an unrepentent suburban lifestyle.  It would appear that the public is tiring of this game, since the tax-restriction measures haven’t been doing very well and at the local and regional level, Seattle voters seem quite willing to tax themselves for initiatives that are important to them.  This election will let us know if that is a sustained train trend despite the current economic difficulties.

The Institution of Reconsideration Reconsiderations Reconsidered

One problem with initiatives is the constant reconsideration of legislative action and of previously-approved initiatives.   There’s seemingly no bound on the number of times one can go to the polls to stop something that has been approved and re-affirmed any number of times before.   This happened with the Seattle Monorail Project where the voters had to constantly reapprove that which they’d approved before, over the same entrenched objectors.  The nay-sayers finally prevailed, and I confess the Monorail Project authority did break faith with the public in what allowed for its undoing.   In some sense, that was a victory for this process, but I fear it is simply institutionalized and we are unable to deal with major development issues because of it.

In many ways, the Seattle City Council and Mayor elections are a referendum on the now-funded and approved tunnel project for replacing the decrepit Alaskan Way Viaduct running above the Seattle waterfront area.   It is true that, when a preference poll was placed on the ballot, the voters indicated that they wanted a less-expensive non-tunnel solution and there were State funds in hand for that.  That was before the economy tanked last year.  Now we have an agreed tunnel replacement for the viaduct, and funds are committed for this too.  There are complicated arrangements between the State, with its responsibility for the tunnel as part of a State arterial highway, and the City and its responsibilities for surface and breakwater improvements related to the seismic vulnerability of the area.

We are, of course, nervous about the prospects of this project costing far more than the allowances provided for it, and that was made an election issue.   Here the Governor also stepped in, endorsing the candidate who favors getting on with it and making it work, not going into our pattern of never-decided decisions that have needed infrastructure development impeded at every turn. 

From my perspective, the nervous opposition is too strident and pays no heed to the strides made, within Washington State, in having major transportation projects come in on time and under budget, with the right scrutiny for intervening when a project seems headed off the rails.

Since it is the issue that some campaigner have staked their election on, I have obliged them.  No one who is negative about the current tunnel project has my vote.

Labels: civil society and democracy, neighborhood and Seattle, trustworthiness

Friday Cat Photo: Flying Cats

This image of flying cats came into our house on a paper bag from a local produce market.  We have no idea what’s behind this.

Labels: cats