I just spent 2 hours +/- trying to figure out why my brand new all-in-one Canon printer, fax, scanner, copier, slicer, dicer etc. would not turn on when I flipped the switch. Instead, I was getting the alarm light.
A while later, I was sitting downstairs and wondering to myself how the alarm could be related to the long piece of orange tape that I had to man-handle out of the machine from one side… a side where there was no door, or other apparent opening.
After getting over the mad and frustrated phase, I was zoning out downstairs and listening to a portion of The Red Queen being read to me, when I realised the problem. My old HP 750 PSC could be lifted up at one point or another to reveal the guts so that one could change the ink cartridges. hmmmm… perhaps the red tape had been attached to some styrofoam down in that area of the machine?! Could it be? But how to lift it? There were no instructions talking about lifting the lid like that.
So, I stood up in the midst of a sentence on something or other and wondered upstairs and after a second or two of consideration of the design, figured out how to lift that lid and voilà… lots of red tape and styrofoam! Removed it. Closed lid; plugged it in; pressed on… and it’s just fine.
Phew.
then I turn to pg 23 about installing the software and the first thing it tells me? “connect your computer using a USB cable.” Fine… except it didn’t come with a USB cable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A fact which is covered (in small print) on p.g. 1 of the user guide.
so this is where I go to bed.
Technology… still not intuitive after all these years.
Well, the iPad was announced today and I’m in love with it already! OK, OK! I was in love with the iPhone and the iPod Touch forever and never bought either because I couldn’t decide which one was right for me. TRUE.
And, as you can imagine, I’ve already found a flaw with the iPad… no iSight!
(OK, and no built-in camera, either)
What the heck were they thinking?!
Not again! But, yes! Again… it seems that it is more than just bodily me who is taking sick leave today. Clevergirl is on the fritz, too. This time, I am zapping pretty much every older video, old blogs in my blogroll, and everything else, too. I may never embed a video, a photo, or a link again.
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Of the 199 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 10 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-08-04, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2009-08-04.
Malicious software includes 2 trojan(s), 2 exploit(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 4 new process(es) on the target machine.
Malicious software is hosted on 13 domain(s), including go00ogle.net/, openstat.ws/, ridmoyey.cn/.
5 domain(s) appear to be functioning as intermediaries for distributing malware to visitors of this site, including go00ogle.net/, trafing.net/, peskufex.cn/.
This site was hosted on 1 network(s) including AS26347 (DREAMHOST).
gosh darned technology… the smartphone is being given a work out in the negative in that link. I gotta admit, I am one of those people who considers being on the BB to be the height of rudeness.
Nothing at work can be so important that it can’t wait awhile!
NYT: 21st Century Librarian is a great video currently up on the NYT video site about the role librarians play in (primary) schools these days. The libarian in the video talks at length about teaching children, particularly ESL-speaking immigrant children, to use search engines and understand that not everything online is true.
Check it out.
I don’t know about this article from the NYT, which sings the praises of Apple and argues they should focus on the iPhone as it’s product with the greatest potential.
Why don’t I know about it? Well, yesterday I stopped by Future Shop to pick up an iPod Touch and they were completely sold out. The salesguy said, “We got some in yesterday but they are gone today.”
Somehow, I don’t think the sales of the iPhone are on the same level.
Mind you, I’m not really sure why the Touch has suddenly taken off like that. When I was in the same Future Shop 2-3 months ago, they had plenty of iPod Touches. I know, because I played with one. Is it that someone blogged about the fact that the Future shop price for the Touch is about $30 less than the Apple Store price?!
Most annoying part of this is that it means I need to fly away on Thur night without any music on me.
There is an interesting post over at The Education Policy Blog on Technology in Education: A ground map part a revision 2.
What are the implications therein for OLPC? The author refers to “old” vs. “new” technologies wherein “new” are the ones whose use is still being negotiated. I suppose that the OLPC fits there under the “new”. But the real question for me is “how is the negotiation of OLPC use going?” What is the process for adopting these “new” technologies in classrooms and why does it take so long? And where and why does it fail?
Then again, the post’s author goes on to state that the discussion is not *just* about “digital technologies”. Fine… & true. Here he evokes Schumacher’s appropriate technology and Donald Norman’s Design of Everyday Things.
Possibly the author needs to think about different uses within different cultural contexts — he gives a mention to socio-economic disparities between have and have-not schools, but could also go deeper into the implications there (OLPC fits here because it is aimed at have-nots and not haves… but many of the people using them in the West are haves). So, it is a good thing that this is what he plans to do next in this series of posts.
Just some thoughts of my own on this.
Well, the iPhone is finally on it’s way.. July 11th. And a hefty price tag to go with it. (You can read more about it with opinions here for e.g.) The petition mentioned in the first link is here
I want one, sure, but I’m not about to shell out that kind of $$ for it. As it is, the cell I currently have is hardly used (as anyone who’s ever tried to call me on it has discovered). Sure, I want the concept of the iPhone, but what do I really need it for when I’ve got an XO with viewfinder?! 
… but like all good leaders, retains his role as publisher.
Read about it here.
Do you know the history of Helvetica? Do you care? Does font strike up passion in you? Well, it does to the people in this documentary film, which I saw last night. I thought it dragged a bit in the middle, but otherwise, it was well worth watching.
Oh, and for those who remember my main observation about the movie My architect, you will be amused to hear that typeface masters all wear small thin-rimmed glasses… unless you are female or British… it seems from the people in Helvetica.
Perhaps the coolest part of Helvetica was realising that people in it actually design typefaces that I commonly use! Woah, I’d never really thought about it before.
P.S. This blog is brought to you in Helvetica. Of Course.
