I cringe every time I see an ad for “high-speed” this-or-that cabling, such as USB(1) cables. I cringe because undoubtedly many people now believe that “speed” has something to do with the cabling. Trust me: it’s a piece of wire with some plastic wrapped around it. Properly crafted(2)(3) it has Read more…
I was helping a friend with her computer the other day and she went into Microsoft Word to show me something. Across the top of the screen was a message in dark red on light red background saying (more or less) “your version of Word is no longer supported. You Read more…
Dear Microsoft: On what planet does it possibly make sense to devolve your error messages and error handling from vague, cryptic but partially useful text to Something went wrong? That was not how to “fix” your systems. The way to fix them was to hire high-level computer folks with excellent Read more…
Hey Y’all CEO’s of the Computer Industry… I know (or it says so, at least, in the advertising) that you believe you have made all your toys and gadgets easy and “user friendly,” but some one needs to point out to you. They are not easy to use. I’ve been Read more…
I want to propose a word that almost perfectly describes the actions of government bureaus and most government officials and an increasing percentage of so-called professionals: Specious Apparently good or right though lacking any real merit. Superficially pleasing only; no true content. A marvelous word, really, though a shame that Read more…
Rant Mode: On Yeah, ok. I rant about Microsoft rather a lot. But that’s because (among other things) I am a long time technology professional. Computer designer. Software designer. Programmer of several sorts. Amateur futurist. Plus. I’ve been doing these things for over 40 years. When I see the “big Read more…
My iPad got into “voice over” mode the other day and started talking, explaining everything on the screen while taking no touch or voice commands from me. Took me a while to figure out how to get it shut the f*** up. After which I was wondering, if this software Read more…
I have long suspected that Technology has gone (and continues to go) beyond what people can handle, that “consumer electronics” is over (perhaps well over) the head of the typical consumer. There’s a lot to this observation / suspicion, and I’ll only cover a little here. Consider: In & around Read more…
Folks some times talk about how Windows is left-brained and OSX (Apple) is right-brained. I have never agreed with that assessment. Now I finally know why I don’t agree with it.(1) A couple days ago, as I was once again swearing at Windows for forcing me yet again to acknowledge Read more…
No, that’s not really a picture of the wings of a Giant Space Bat, taking aim on where his first bite will be. It’s a “selfie”(1) taken by the Planetary Society’s crowd-funded pure research space craft: Light Sail 2. Some of you know what the Planetary Society is, but Read more…
Dear Microsoft: Please stop trying to improve things. You don’t do it very well. Sincerely; A very frustrated Long Time User of Windows and Olden School Programmer & Software Designer. (So there) P.S. you see, the problem is that you take things that, well, while they were not perfect, Read more…
Okay… another Windows 10 rant. Be warned! So I was upgrading a laptop to Windows 10. (Yes, there are plenty of machines out there running Windows 7; many folks who are still not anxious to embrace the Beast.) Unfortunately, it was Windows 7 Home not Pro, so it upgraded to Read more…
So, I was about to write on another topic altogether, just to discover that an automatic update to one of the modules that make up this website had crashed the entire thing. All that would come up was an error message. This was not a small-time, off-brand add-on, either. It Read more…
How ridiculous can we get? So, I install an antivirus system on a Windows 10 laptop… it will be run once and then uninstalled, and then another one will be run, and then a third one. Then I’ll uninstall all of them except the built in antivirus Windows 10 comes Read more…
I just found out how to make even Microsoft’s software run like a champ. (Sometimes.) (That is, run fast; it is still full of bugs, and there’s no fix outside of Microsoft itself for that — but they seem uninterested in fixing bugs.) Buy a really fast computer. I’ve been a Read more…
A recent article from the New York Post declared that, while Elon Musk is just all about getting people to Mars, and getting the planet terraformed (made suitable for living without suits or artificial life support), NASA has concluded that terraforming Mars is impossible because there’s insufficient CO2 in the soil. Read more…
When most people speak of Artificial Intelligence (AI) they’re really meaning Artificial Consciousness (AC). Intelligence is considered a side-effect of consciousness. That’s not quite correct (consider a termite mound, for instance; very intelligent, sophisticated aspects to the design of any termite mound — ask a 3rd year architectural engineer — Read more…
I don’t get it. I just upgraded my edition of Microsoft Office, which I still use only because of Publisher for which, so far, there is no really good alternative, unless you go into the high-dollar range. Open Office and Libre Office are great alternatives to all the rest of Read more…
There is a long, long, long standing problem in the computer industry: the progress bar. They don’t work. Well, actually, sometimes they do, from some manufacturers. Others do not; they give you no real idea how long a thing will take. You may think this isn’t a problem; to a Read more…
About 3 years ago (as I write this) the European Union (EU) decided (for reasons that escape me) to require all websites who wish to do business with EU citizens to announce that they use cookies — assuming that they use cookies. Problem with this is: all websites use cookies Read more…