Author: Me

iPhone Touchscreen Dead Spot; What to do?

So I stood in line for the first iPhone back in June 2007.  In fact, my girlfriend did as well (me at the Apple Store and her at the AT&T store to ensure I got one; we reached the front of each line simultaneously).  I didn’t camp out.  In fact, I wanted to wait a couple weeks, but alas, we were leaving on a long trip the next day.  As it turns out, I was delighted to have the device with me on the trip.  I quickly fell in love with the phone (oh, and I married that girlfriend).

A year later, the 3G phone came out and I was planning to skip a generation.  I really didn’t have a compelling need for 3G or GPS, and besides, I could get Apps on my FirstGen following the firmware upgrade.  Which I did.  It didn’t take long, however, for my faith to get shaken in the whole franchise.

Suddenly, a patch of my touch screen stopped working (on travel mind you, not exactly convenient considering the island I was on didn’t have an Apple Store).  No matter what I did, from software resets to finger gymnastics, I couldn’t get it to respond.  And worse yet, it was the portion of the screen at the bottom where you swipe it to unlock it.

Note: This screenshot is from a 3G phone, my problematic device is a first generation Edge iPhone.

When I brought it in to the local Apple Store to seek repair, I was informed that my warranty expired one week prior and that my only option would be to purchase a new 3G phone.  Well, needless to say I wasn’t happy.  I was an early adopter (had my $100 credit to prove it) and sold countless others with demos of the phone in those first few months.  I’ve been a loyal Apple customer for decades (since my Mac Plus in 1986) and this is what I’m stuck with?  A defective phone after 53 weeks?

Well, I wasn’t happy but my only option was the new phone–which I bought, have loved, but handle gingerly (always clothed in rubber, screen protectors, you name it).  This screen better last!  Anyhow, I pitched the old one into a box and tried to forget about the whole fiasco.

It’s only recently I wondered if I could use the old one for anything, knowing I can’t swipe to unlock it or use the (fairly important) icons on the bottom strip.  I’m thinking that if I can reorder icons strategically, I might be able to have myself a 8GB video iPod, a 3.5" digital picture frame, or a $500 digital alarm clock.

Any suggestions?

It’s been 20 years, but I’ve returned to model rocketry with a successful mission (dubbed “Mercury 1’”) that included five launches, one rocket, two video cameras (one in HD), three still cameras, three GMRS radios, one fire extinguisher, and two dogs.  Total cost: $42.27.

The first test launch, with a small B motor, is captured in this video and includes footage in slow motion and from our “pad cam” (parachute deployment is discernable near apogee).

Time permitting, I will post the other launches (which triple the altitude and land much further downrange) and some good outtakes.

And for those who’d like participate in Mercury 2, I highly recommend Hobby People in Camarillo.  Stay tuned for mission updates.

IT for Baby Names

As an information technology practitioner in the corporate  world, I’m sometimes surprised and delighted when I encounter a fun and useful tool in my life outside of work.  It’s more often you see clumsy user interfaces or poorly integrated tools brought into stunning relief by your background—which makes finding something done well all the more glorious.

The first is a nifty data visualization tool called NameVoyager, which requires a java plug-in but otherwise runs well in your web browser.  The second was a pleasant surprise from Uncle Sam, the Social Security Administration’s Popular Baby Names Search, for those who prefer a more tabular presentation.

Even if you don’t have a bun in the oven, it’s fun to uncover how unoriginal your own parents were however many decades ago.  Oh and for those wondering about Jelly Bean, no spoilers here.

Reading: Anathem

It’s not since Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game that I’ve been so vocal about recommending a work of contemporary science fiction. This time, it’s Neal Stephenson’s Anathem. Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down–all 934 pages (if you include the ‘calca’ proofs in the back).

It is a thought provoking look into two different approaches to life: the monastic ‘avout’ who pursue scientific and philosophical knowledge in communities separated from the world for long periods of time (inspired in part by the Long Now Foundation’s 10,000 Year Clock), and the external world full of casinos, cell phones, and consumerism. The former is about as appealing as the latter is unfortunately familiar.

The novel is both intellectually satisfyingly (a pleasant surprise for fiction) and simply a ‘good yarn’. Drop me a line when you’ve finished it (and not before, I’d hate to accidentally spoil the plot).

You can watch the author speaking at Google both about the book and his writing practice.

Stephenson, Neal. Anathem.

Yosemite Creek, 2008

With the arrival of fall, I’m eagerly planning our next retreat to the Sierras where this year my fly rod will compete with both my camera and my season pass for attention.

The crisp air will energize the senses and the warm glow of the fireplace will fuel the nightly conversations with friends both new and old. It’s my favorite time of year.

This year has been a full one for my family and I, and my art has fared no better than my writing. My Yosemite Creek is first in a collection that pays homage to sharing your passion for the outdoors with people special to you. More will come as this project unfolds.

Thinker ! This ridiculous name – Yet it’s possible to find a man, neither philosopher nor poet, who can’t be defined by the object of his thought, nor by the quest for an external result, a book, a doctrine, a field of science, a truth… but who is a thinker in the way one is a dancer, making use of his mind as the latter uses his muscles and his nerves; someone who, perceiving his mental images and his expectations, his types of language and his possibilities, what he’s attentive to, his freedom of movement, his vagueness and precision, – perceives, predicts, specifies or abandons, gives himself free rein or denies it – circumscribing, outlining, possessing and losing himself… an artist not so much of knowledge as of his own self – which he prefers to all knowledge; for the latter is only ever the specific act which he himself can, in fact, always refine and make more true, more elegant, more astonishing, more universal or more singular – etc.

Paul Valéry

Reading: The Forgotten Man

It is rare that I recommend a book before finishing it, but the timeliness of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression could not be denied. With all the speculation about our nation’s economic future, what better can we do then learn from the past?

The book, written by a respected economic commentator I’ve followed for some time, opens with the following quote:

“As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine what C shall do for X, or in the better case, what A, B, and C shall do for X… What I want to do is to look up C. I want to show you what manner of man he is. I call him the Forgotten Man. Perhaps the appellation is not strictly correct. He is the man who never is thought of… He works, he votes, generally he prays–but he always pays…”

William Graham Sumner
Yale University, 1883

After observing our government’s response to the recent financial crisis, and listening closely to the economic proposals of both presidential tickets, it is obvious that more education about the consequences of government intervention (in this case the Great Depression and the New Deal) is critical for the engaged voter.

Shlaes, Amity. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression