Grrrr...
Even Apple software can cause aggravation… I’m using the new Windows iTunes to organize my MP3 collection, but the autocomplete in the tag editor won’t even let me capitalize stuff correctly - it changes whatever I enter to the mis-capitalized entry found in some obscure song somewhere in the depths of my music folder.
Read more...There was a huge yellow hot air balloon over my neighborhood on the way home. It made for a really pretty scene what with the sunset. It was only after I passed it that I realized it had a huge Wendy’s logo on the side. :P
Read more...Hrmmm...
It occurred to me that this technology for “ultrasonic sound” might lead to a richer audio experience on PCs. This stuff produces directed sound that, no matter how loud it gets, cannot be heard outside a certain radius (as small as two or three feet).
One of the reasons our PCs make so little noise nowadays is that we’re afraid of what the office soundscape might turn into - a cacophony of computers clamoring for their owners’ attention. Video games, by contrast, provide excellent audio feedback - the particular type of “clank” you hear when you shoot a boss tells you whether you’ve hit him in his armor or his weak spot, for example.
If our PCs are capable of providing a similar “clank” when you’ve clicked outside an editable field, etc., that capability is usually turned off, for fear of disturbing others. But if those noises couldn’t be heard by the guy in the next cube, more users would leave them on, and consequently developers would have incentive to improve the quality of the feedback.
If every tool tip that comes up now is one day replaced with a voice explaining it, I’m probably going to turn that off to preserve my sanity. But “clanks” would definitely be useful in situations where visual feedback might not be noticed or would be too obtrusive. Maybe, someday soon…
Read more...I'm baaaaack...
OK, mr_mooph (among others) wants to know what the hell is going on in my life, so I’m gonna give this blogging thing another shot. Hopefully I’ll be able to update a bit more frequently this time.
OK, so to bring everyone up to speed: My company’s Omaha office closed in May, so that they had an excuse to fill their spiffy new Scottsdale, Arizona office with staff. (Scottsdale’s a Phoenix suburb.) Since the Omaha job market looked pretty bleak, I reluctantly transferred down to Scottsdale.
The intervening months have been a whirlwind. I realized I despise my new boss even more than I feared I would, and am currently doing double duty on a project with Product Development (programming) in an effort to get myself noticed by the head of that department. (How that will work out is still up in the air, since I know they would like to hire me, but don’t have the budget for any new people.)
My social life has been equally crazy. I did the dating circuit at work, until I exhausted the office’s supply of women whose IQ was bigger than their waist size. Finally met a girl named Monica online. We were really serious at first, and I still like her, but the relationship is kinda wavering. Not sure how that’s going to work out.
Unlike my old boss, I wouldn’t dare ask my new one to let me rearrange my schedule around school. I had this plan that I was going to take this big new salary and save until I could take a couple years off and go for my bachelor’s. Unfortunately, living in Scottsdale tends to eat through one’s cash pretty fast. A reworking of my finances is probably in order. Schedules in Product Development seem much more flexible, too, so if I can get hired there, I’ll be set.
Anyway, that’s the past 6 months in a nutshell. Further updates as events warrant.
Read more...