software tips for the disenfranchised
Recently I’ve read a few things about Google w.r.t. the threat it poses to Microsoft, MS being focused on desktop-based software and Google on web-based applications. At M.P.o.W. (my place of work), stiffs like me don’t have our own designated computers, which is part of what’s driven me to become more web-based (the free nature of many online programs and lack of having to mess around with downloading software and purging it if I later don’t want it doesn’t hurt, either). I save my bookmarks on del.icio.us, read and save RSS items with Bloglines, share images with Flickr, and use Gmail as a file repository in a pinch. Obviously I blog on a free hosted site; at work I use a group blog as a communication tool for a project (thought it would be more effective than email in that all project-relevant info would be in a central location).
One of the primary and extremely important functions of M.P.o.W. is to serve as a computing center for the technologically disenfranchised, some of whom are very savvy and many of whom are not. It seems like the profusion of free web-based “Office 2.0” tools could be a great boon for this segment of the population. One especial need is for ways to save files since users can’t save anything to the desktops on the public computers (People’s frequent aversion to buying floppy disks puzzles me.), therefore can’t upload them to emails if the files aren’t stored somewhere in the first place. I have run across a few interesting sites so far. Cl1p.net lets you paste and retrieve text from an online clipboard. Google-owned writely is a web-based word processor that lets people share documents, set permissions for them, and convert to pdf format (I haven’t used it much. There are other services like this, but writely seems to be the most highly-touted. It’s free in beta right now but will have “premium features” once it’s not.) Yahoo has the “My Briefcase” area where one can store files, but the other day I tried to help some guy use it and there didn’t seem to be a way to attach files to emails from the briefcase (d’oh!), plus you still have to have it saved somewhere and upload it first. Yahoo does have a notepad feature that can save plain text versions of something the size of a resume. Yahoo and Google bother offer pretty good online calendar services.
All this free online functionality seems like it would really appeal to people with punk sensibilities and that they would try to share the information with others. I have not yet run across any sites or blogs specifically dedicated to computer tips for people who don’t own computers, but I would really like to. (I would also really like to know how people get around the filters on public access computers and make unauthorized changes to all kinds of defaults, etc.)
Google Sketchup
About a week and a half ago or so, Google Sketchup made its rounds in the "biblioblogosphere". In the future when I have time I will download and play around with the free version of the 3d modeling software. Phil Shapiro put together a guide linking to info on using Sketchup at http://learningmoreaboutsketchup.blogspot.com/
mag montage
Originally uploaded by mightyhammer.
Last week I started taking a collage class in the hopes that it might help pull me from my longstanding artless rut. I feel skeptical of the ROI for this course, though. I was hoping it would be, ah, more artsy.
I tried to talk art with my teacher. Learning that he hails from the Windy City, I commented on the high quality of the Art Institute of Chicago.
"Yeah, it is great." He replied "It has a lot of… what do you call it…
… armor."
Downward humor
I start to read many books, but I finish reading far fewer books. Thus I've decided to write about the par-read titles if the sections I read were good.
Laughter: A Scientific Investigation by Robert Provine, 2000
The beginning of this book was fairly interesting, covering the history of laughter theory and some basic terminology about the more recent scientific study of laughter.
The most interesting information I gleaned from the part of this book I read was about downward humor, an idea in which humor is associated with dominance and laughter with submission. The author discussed a study by Rose Coser (CTRL+F on this page for a very brief synopsis) of staff in a psychiatric institution that demonstrated the hierarchical nature of laughter. Another recorded phenomenon is the comments of men receiving far more laughs from both men and women than similarly humorous comments by women, which may indicate men's dominant role over women. The author conducted a study of personal ads and their comments relating to humor. Predictably, men were most likely to offer humor and women to express a desire for a funny partner. Provine suggested that these are masked status indicators; women asking for humorous men may really be asking for high-status men, unconsciously linking humor with rank.
I tried to read the rest of the book but drifted off when it started focusing on the physiology of the act laughter.
Ah By Clay Destroy Evil Forces, Golem, Help Israel: Justice!
Recently I finished reading the novel "Watch Your Mouth" (c. 2000) by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). Set mostly in my former home of Pittsburgh, the book is a weird Jewish-themed apparent allegory, roughly following an opera format. Much of the plotline pivots on illicit carnal behavior; the book is rather raunchier both than I expected and than what I prefer to take to my normal reading environment (a spot along a line of closely-grouped aerobic excercise machines). The protagonist is a sort of spineless college guy who spends a summer living with his girlfriend's family, experiencing highly disturbing and eventually ominously paranormal encounters. Handler's similes are really vivid/hilarious. He is a clever, compelling, and really quite funny writer, satisfying even in a book this twisted and potentially discomfitting.
I was bummed to note that I was apparently the first person to check this book out of my library's collection, even though it's >5 years old, but I see that there's a reprint edition, so at least someone must have read it.
el primer
I'm trying out WordPress to see if I like it better than LiveJournal and, if so, if that preference will result in a higher posting frequency.
Yesterday was my birthday. In honor of kicking around for years that number three to the third power, I've been thinking about getting myself a ukulele, which I expect would be portable, relatively cheap, fairly quiet, and moderately comical.
commonplacewebspace 