Technotrauma

Argh! Telecom woes continue, cranked up a notch. For some reason, my iPhone was locked up last night -- the phone stuff worked, but the Net stuff didn't. Not sure if it was solar flares, the labor issues, bad juju, or what, but between my computer being screwy, my cable being screwy, and my phone being screwy, it was like the technotrauma trifecta. Good lord. The phone's back on track, the television's still screwy (some channels no sound, some okay -- I had called Comcast and their robots told me service calls had already been made to the area, but clearly the problems they fixed weren't the problems I was having with my television). At this point, I'm thinking of just axing Comcast and finding another provider, maybe just for Internet. Just because there aren't that many shows I watch on television, anymore, anyway. The boys would miss PBS, of course, but most of those shows are reruns, anyway, and we've got a lot of DVDs that they tend to watch more. Screw it. I'm just tired of Comcast boning things up the way they seem to do so routinely. The only reason I'm on at the moment is because I got my computer running for the moment, using every bit of tech tactics I know. Sheesh.

So, Melanie should win SYTYCD. I think she's a shoe-in. If she doesn't win, I'll be very surprised. We'll see.

Cackle

Alright, this is amusing me. My newer computer (circa September 2010) has been on the fritz lately, plagued by some frickin' malware from Hell and/or virus that causes my browser to crash. No idea what the deal is. Anyway, I have done everything I could with that computer, still can't get it fixed, yet. Meantime, it occurred to me that I have my old computer laying around, which I'd kept because I hadn't migrated files to it. On a whim, I decided to hook it back up to the Net (the thing has been mothballed for years, as Exene and I had used an iMac, which she got when we split -- I let her have the fucking thing). Anyway, I'd not gotten rid of the old computer, as it still had all of my music on it, and I'd not gotten around to migrating my iTunes from the old machine to the new one. Anyway. voila -- back online for the moment, using the old machine. I can't even remember the last time I actually logged on with this sucker.

Looks like the last time this was used online was 8/26/2009. Bahah! I wonder if I have a blog entry back then. I should. I'll go check. Damned funny.

(moment later)

Alas, no. November and December 2009 are the earliest entries with this blog. Such dark times those were, I can hardly remember all of that. Lordy. Still, it is amusing to me to unearth this relic and run it again.

But I'm pleased that, even thought the thing is slow, it's not crashing on me like the other one. Funny thing -- after getting used to the wider screens that are common on the thinner monitors, the old, boxy monitor feels almost claustrophobic to me.

iKnow, Right?

I picked up an iPhone today; it's been about three years since I got my first cell phone (I held off for the longest time), decided that I should treat myself, get an iPhone. Like all Apple stuff, it's slick, cool, and incredibly obtuse -- it somehow manages to be easy to use while also stonewalling you. Maybe I'm just so used to PC-based computer tech that I run into a bit of culture shock with Apple products. It's like having a semi-helpful acquaintance who insists "No, really, it's so much better if you go THIS way." and you tell'em "But I want to go THAT way." and the "helper" is like "Well, you COULD do that, but why would you? THIS way is so much better." Seems like all Apple products are like that. I already miss my lil' old phone, although it had been dropped enough times that, while faithfully serving its purpose, it was showing wear and tear. Maybe I'll get used to it, or maybe not. I'm glad I gave the iMac we had to Exene, honestly. So much behind-the-curtain stuff with PCs is more accessible than the cryptic, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtains" mumbo-jumbo of Apple stuff. We'll see how it goes.