I miss you every year, little one. You would be nearly 12 now. I think of you every day, quietly. Thank you for the gift you gave me, so briefly, of knowing you.
December 2011Monthly Archives
Just your average family…living sort of like the Jetsons.
I think we are a pretty normal family. Well, probably more geeky than many, so put us about one or two years ahead of average joe, joette, and the little joelets, in their use of tech. And i have been noticing one of those changes in techland here surrounding my own test case family. Let me expound, explain, and expand. Or expostulate, even.
Currently, we share one internet connection at two houses, ie the modem at each house logins to the one account.
At house of much citrus tree goodness, there is 79years old but miles younger in attitude, the magic that is my dad, aka grandpa , who is tech Scrooge – computers are bah humbug, digital free to air is confusing enough for him, and this from a former engineer! He lives there with our no 2 daughter, the darkly delightful scarily smart and alliteratively amazing ms 19 – and her MacBook Pro. Youngest three visit frequently and have sleepovers, so that means usage is pretty consistent.
HRH gorgeous eldest daughter at 25 has her own place, but is welcome to cup o’bandwidth if needed – it isn’t – lovely lad she lives with works for an ISP, so all the bandwidth they can eat;)
So, here at casa de tractor (3 here so far – himself loves them), we have the youngest three –
Ms almost 17, the budding chef and creator of joy and delight wherever she goes. Linux laptop/family 27″ iMac(was mine, but ours is more accurate)/iPhone.
Ms 10, born performer, dancer of unique and stunning dances, actor of amazing stories, singer of magic songs, and dreamer of wonderful dreams, and her iPad 1/family 27″ iMac.
Master 8, only son, sunshine, intelligence, geeky dude++, full of beans, and the only child I have met who could find a way to get dirty in a clean room, and his Android tablet/family 27″ iMac.
And us -
The Bloke, aka himself, Gorgeous Man, engineer, tractor fiend, and go to man for all systems solutions. Linux laptop, Linux desktop, swears one day he will use the family 27″ iMac, Galaxy Samsung 2 phone.
And me, researcher, developer, engineer, user of wheelchair and delightful new scooter, (speed demon at over 9km/hr with it too!), and lover of all things geek. iPhone/13″ MacBook Air/iPad 2/family 27″ iMac.
Round off with -
Various ring in laptops and mobile phones and wireless devices needed for both The Bloke and I to use as part of our roles on The Serval Project. Storage of nearly 8tb now in just external hdds, a fee portable 500gbs are useful for my frequent traveling/work/sharing between households.
So, the tablets for kids are recent – the iPad 1 is a secondhand acquisition from a friend, the Android one is one I do some UI dev on for The Serval Project, and in between is perfect for Master 8. Introducing tablets to the smaller two was a recent tentative experiment that is now a gratefully embraced fixture. To our surprise, it has reduced fighting, and actually the two are often found harmoniously side by side, sharing games and sites. There is more socializing happening now than before! Let me enlarge on that with a discussion on how we use the tech.
They both have games and books and apps that we approve of only. ABC Australia has a wonderful app, IView which is a huge success (the Android tablet which shall not be named – stupid Acer – is lovely hw tech but awful version – Honeycomb blegh, and fails to play iView via its website, there being no native app. A Cyanogen Icecream Sandwich tablet version which is promised is LONGED for here). The BBC iPlayer is hammered by both Ms 9 and myself, documentary junkies we are. Both provide tv, both current and beloved in memory. I also stream through network from the storage mentioned above. The little ones and I grab a tablet, (and if more,when himself &/ ms 17, via the 27″ as a family together), curl up together to share viewing often. The tech is rarely isolating, and is more interactive shared than passive television.
I DO police their apps, and viewing permissions though, and take advantage of parental controls (again, sadly, Android sucks in that department too*). The two TVs lie gathering dust, himself occasionally lapsing back into older habits, not using devices for viewing programs beyond YouTube videos of restoring Jensen Interceptors (like the one half done in our shed), tractors and odd bulbs – he has such endearing and interesting hobbies! So, all in all, we are pretty switched on tech wise – but I foresee that we are just slightly ahead of an inevitable trend…
So the point of all this is how a slightly, ok hugely, geeky family is seeing the future now. I am fascinated by how this has all developed, and evolved, partly due to work requirements and demands, and partly due to my geek love of tech, but most of all by both the eager adoption and surprising rejection of different tools by the kids. Linux laptops were exciting but quickly discarded – the tablets proving to be the most intuitively used, and thus a hit with the small ones. Again, the iPad is clear winner in that*.
The most interesting thing, to return to bandwidth, has been usage. Two years ago, 100gb was heaps. Now, we have just upgraded from 600gb to a 1tb plan. We don’t have cable or anything like that, all our watching is based around free to air or streamed video via apps. So while we aren’t wealthy by any stretch, we are just a foreshadowing of what tech will be like for everyone – casual, ubiquitous, and above all, highly consumed!
*look, I want to ADORE Android. Open Source FTW!!! And I like the Galaxy s2 hardware, and some of the newer handsets are stunning, even nicer form factors by miles to the currently a tad blocky chocolate bar iPhone 4. But after using an iPhone and iPad, I realize, and have observed in others, (especially the agnostic to brand but not experience and usage kids), that no matter how good the hardware, (and some of it is very very good indeed), the core operating system doesn’t matter as much as the way you use it, the way it looks and feels and responds. And app availability – less than a third of what they have in the iPad could we find equal or similar options for on Android Marketplace.
I really want Android to succeed, to drive iOS into better product races – for both of them to have to constantly strive to make things better for consumers. But honestly, in tablet land there is no competition. And the Apple approach to an iEcosystem(tm no doubt) is second to none, though Amazon is attempting it. But only in the US for now, so from our pov, so what? apple is here, and now, and it just works, or close enough to. Google apps are seamless on Android, and I am a google girl through and through, but I can use my beloved apps perfectly well on iOS.
As I so often say to anyone who hasn’t been forewarned and can thus run away, the UI, the part it plays in the user experience (which is not JUST UI, but rather has UI as a core major component, ), is the key to the whole thing. Here Android is polished engineering, but not anywhere near polished User Experience. And fragmentation by desperately adding on vendor niceties just shows the flaws, not fixes them.
The TSA isn’t staffed by just bad guys
I was reading another article about how rude and power crazed the TSA (US Transport Security Authority, ie security at airport screenings etc). And I had been made really nervous as a result of stories like this. Now, I am about to add to the wealth of anecdote with my experience last trip – bearing in mind the plural of anecdote is NOT data, anecdote is not fact but a single experience recounted, fwiw.
So there I am, in wheelchair, and super worried, after a fifteen hour flight, jet lagged, and never travelled a distance on my own. Disabled and more than a tad freaked out is an excellent summary. I arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth, the largest airport in ghe US (if not the world, i was proudly told by staff). I then had to fly on to Atlanta.
I can only recount I met nothing but politeness, calm courtesy, and people bending over backwards to assist me, from airport staff AND the dreaded TSA. I have no doubt there are bad TSA staff – employ thousands of people dealing with stressed out travelers, and you will not have consistent good people skills at best, and genuine jerks at worst. Some people go power crazed with a small amount of authority (and a shiny badge and uniform), but I was fortunate enough not to encounter them, every single agent handled me with respect and courtesy, made the pat down as non obtrusive and invasive as they could, and kept me informed every step of the way.
So eager to assist me, that one accidentally broke the zippers on my (previously super carefully packed so everything fit just do) backpack, by packing it for me while I got a pat down, and pulling on the zippers too hard. So I needed to replace the bag, shrug, they were so heartbroken I couldn’t argue, and it wasn’t a hugely expensive bag – I could have claimed, but as an Australian traveling through, hassle wasn’t worth it for a clear accident through goodwill.
I only encountered a degree of indifference at Atlanta airport, when I finally arrived, and was led to luggage carousel then abandoned. Other passengers started to help me, when a lovely airport staffer arrived, and seeing me in wheelchair waiting for a bag, went and got luggage trolley, and assisted not only me, but the passenger near me who was also struggling. So that degree of feeling a tad lost lasted, at most, ten minutes. I can live with that:)
When I left, it was in reverse, Atlanta to Dallas/Fort Worth, where the lovely staffer who had met me last time made huge effort to greet me again, and made sure I was well taken care off. Atlanta TSA staff were, if possible, even kinder than DFW, and we’re delighted when I explained the mirrors used at Sydney to check under wheelchairs, and hoped they could introduce them to save back issues there. Glad I could help these lovely people.
All of the TSA staff were frantic busy. All of them showed courtesy, patience, sweet natured concern for my well being, and efficient processing.
Now, I may be posting prematurely, in that I travel to the US now every two months this year, and now with scooter, so may find more difficulty. And I may report back outrage and bad experience. But for this all important first nervous trip alone, I can only express my gratitude for the staff, who despite having many people to process, were so kind and considerate to me.
You wonder whether you have raised a child right…
SOmetimes, if you are lucky, they let you know that you have done at least SOMETHING right. Sent to me by my beloved first born, a young woman i could not be prouder of…and this is just one of uncountable reasons why. That she would send me something like this, to state this, this is something she agrees with fundamentally, that she groks…well, of course i am proud!
“Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve“.
via DATE A GIRL WHO READS by Rosemarie Urquico (In… – The Healthy Warrior.
Why Androids UI Is Laggy…
I have been wondering about this (and grumbling while developing) for sometime….
“Interesting technical look at the design of Android’s graphics and event processing by Andrew Munn, trying to explain why it feels so laggy compared to iOS and Windows Phone
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via Daring Fireball Linked List: Why Androids UI Is Laggy Compared to iOS and Windows Phone.
Related articles
- Android might always be jerkier than iOS (amanwithaphd.wordpress.com)
- Android Graphics Truth Facts (deallocatedobjects.com)
- Google engineer explains why Android UI will never be as fluid as iOS or WP7 (slashgear.com)
- Google intern: Android UI lags iPhone’s due to bad priority (electronista.com)
- Follow up to “Android graphics true facts”, or The Reason Android is Laggy (plus.google.com)
Angelina Jolie and her film on the Bosnian War
This film sounds like it evokes the horrors of war in a way that many films have not ever capture – the female horrors of rape, child loss. It is different from male horrors experienced. And as rending, heart breaking as it sounds, that is a valuable voice to hear.
[Jolie] took this focus and directness, this earnest approach to her new film, In the Land of Blood and Honey, which opens in the U.S. this month. She told me that when it came to the technicalities of making a film, “I wasn’t afraid to ask the DP [director of photography]. And I listened to my cast, most of whom lived through the war. I listened to their stories and tried to incorporate it into the work.” Against the backdrop of the war, she has created a moving and surprising love story of a Serbian soldier and the Bosnian woman he reencounters ambiguously during the war. It is difficult not to admire Jolie, particularly after watching her film.
via Angelina Jolie Directs a Film About the Bosnian War – The Daily Beast.
Disabled in Australia, 2011.
I can walk, but not much, or far, before a spinal injury incurred in an accident that was not my fault decides that no, one step too far – stop. Pain. Pain like you can’t imagine. Like you don’t want to imagine. Sometimes it means my leg doesn’t work, the sciatic nerve screaming in agony, the muscles of my lower back spasming beneath my hand as I desperately try to settle it somehow, supporting the aching expanse of pain that has become the lower right hand side of my torso.
So I am mobility impaired – as I believe is the current term. I will also say crippled, because I am. I am not differently abled. I use a walking stick for small distances – my current limit is halfway down my block - four houses – to the shop and back again. Then a lie down to settle the back a bit. But I keep trying. The rest of the time, a wheelchair. New in my arsenal, a scooter. Currently an old model, I am looking at buying a new one to replace the wheelchair. Because then – then I am independent. With the right model, and some clever ramps and devices, I can get it in and out of my power steering blessed automatic station wagon and get myself up that steep ramp, through the length and breadth of the shopping mall. Cope with the travel I do for work.
Because I have not let this stop me – as a matter of fact, I am doing far more than I could have dreamt of – starting my PhD studies, travelling overseas every two months Okinawa, Hong Kong, and Atlanta in the US under my belt in last three months already:) ) Working and studying and living. Like any normal person, I want to be able to strive, to work, to dream and dare, to live.
And when I use normal, it is different to many. Normal means anyone self aware. We all, as humans, wish to strive and work and attain and hope and dream and do, and most of all, to independently achieve, not rely on others helplessly, feel a burden.
But I have to say, society often makes it damned hard. Oh, it isn’t deliberate. The world isn’t made for us, really. So things like this register. And I know, I know. We are supposed to be grateful for any advance. We are so often voiceless, or disempowered or disenfranchised, that any advance is good, right? Hey, you people never had it so good.
Yeah. Thanks and all. Really. Thanks for thinking we might want access to entertainment. Or planes. Or taxis. Or doors we can open. Little things you tend to take for granted – unless you are disabled in some way.
I know I sound ungrateful. I just am not grateful. If you think about it for a while, you may understand why.
This week’s Angry Cripple column is written by Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes. It’s a celebration of all the great work done for, by and on behalf of the disability sector as well as a slap across the face for all those who could and should have done more for the cause.
via Disability 2011: The good, the bad and the patronising | Article | The Punch.
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