Lynx-like Lucidity

So, I’ve always been a bit funny about linux… Most of the major distros never sat quite right with me, and I ended up becoming OCD trying to make them work the way I wanted them to.

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx Beta 2 feels like a coherant desktop finally...

It seems that Lucid Lynx meets my approval because besides adding AWN for window management, I haven’t really wanted to customize things any more than that.

So, It’s been a while…

Melody got her permanent residency, something which I am absolutely chuffed about. I hope to be more frequent in updating this blog, as I now have a lovely little HP Mini 210 net book, which I am writing this post on.

We also adopted a wonderful kitten called Yogi… but he does have a fetish for chewing through cables.  This morning he at Melody’s iphone sync cable, and the power cable for her Dell net book.

Anyway, stay tuned for more updates.

Detailed Programmatic Specificity

We ordered a Dell Mini 10v from Dell last night, which is an uber-cool, uber-ickle little net-book that just so happens to have the correct hardware to run OSX pretty much out of the box.

Stay tuned for the adventures of getting OSX up and running on it…

Thoughts: Automating the social niceties

I’m not going to name names here (that would be rude), but I generally feel inclined to point out an apparent contradiction when I see it.  

It is not my intention to single out one person unnecessarily, this is merely the proverbial straw: –  

i ♥ my followers, thank you ☺if you are a new one, check out my twitter introduction video [link removed] and make me one 2cu!!! 24 minutes ago from Future Tweets

and 

I want to apologize if I didn’t reply to every tweet☹ I will always try, but sometimes I get so many!!! Just chat w/ me again!!!✌ about 4 hours ago from Future Tweets

Ok, on face value that looks ok doesn’t it? Very polite, and this individual cares that they are too busy to be able to catch up with everyone each day. The problem is, these messages have been appearing repeatedly over the past several days, and aren’t even coming directly from a person.

Look at the source of the message: “from Future Tweets”. One of the benefits of actually viewing the website directly once in the while is to see the tools people are using to send their tweets, and there are some wonderful clients out there, but that is a topic for another day.  I picked these two messages because they come from a site called “Future Tweets”.

Future Tweets, as the website describes, is for this: -

FutureTweets.com is a free service that lets you schedule your Twitter messages. Send it at a specific time in the future or send a reoccuring Tweet daily, weekly, monthly or yearly!

You’ll never forget the birthdays of your beloved Twitter friends again! Just schedule a nice Tweet on their birthday!

It also goes onto say: -

Most people use it because it’s fun to:

• Send status updates to Twitter even when your away from your phone or computer!
• Have an alibi…
• Automaticaly wish your friend a wonderfull day each morning
• Remind yourself each friday evening to quit work early and go for the friday evening drinks…
• ¡spɹɐʍʞɔɐq ƃuıʇǝǝʍʇ ʎq spuǝıɹɟ ɹnoʎ ʎouuɐ

Well, obviously (aside from the awful spelling), posting messages backwards is annoying.   I can’t see the benefit in annoying the people I call “friends”.  I also don’t need any help leaving work early.  Then comes the one I love the most: – “Automatically wish your friend a wonderful day each morning”. 

Imagine getting a phone call each day that played back the same recording from your friend saying how much they care about you and love you.   Now imagine that instead of it being a specific message, it has become a generic recording saying “Dear friend. I really care about you and love you very much.”.  As for the birthday example above, maybe we should all just hire an assistant to remember our loved ones birthdays and send them cards on our behalf.

It starts to lose its shine, doesn’t it.  One of the amazing things about Social Media (and I am by no means some kind of expert, self-proclaimed or otherwise), is that it allows us to communicate and share ideas with people we would not normally meet.  This can be a wonderful thing, but  it does require a certain investment in time.  

Accumulating followers can be a rewarding experience, especially if you are interested in sharing ideas with them.  But I have seen recently (and remember that I am new to Twitter myself), a number of people with huge numbers of followers who seem to have run into a problem.  That problem is that they now have so many connections in their network, that they don’t have enough time to keep track of them.  

It can be very tempting (and I understand it can come from not wanting to be seen to be ignoring people), to start sending automated messages to people when they follow you or message you.  I’ve replied to a few of these in my early days thinking “Wow! this person took the time to message me back”, but alas they had not. Handling massive numbers of followers almost seems to have become a business in itself, with sites and tools designed to automate our relationships with people.

Now, it is true that I can’t sit on twitter every hour of every day, and with around 100 or so followers, with my meagre time constraints I sometime find it hard to reply to people or keep in touch every day.  But I have this odd feeling that everyone is in that same boat, that we all have lives outside of twitter, and no-one really expects people to reply to every single thing that they tweet each day. No-one really expects an off-the-bat reply when they follow you.  It’s nice but we all deep down realize everyone else has a life too.

I would appreciate seeing messages less frequently from people knowing that they wanted to post them and did not feel somehow obligated, or took the time to say something meaningful.

There are so many sites about giving us a score, comparing us to other people on twitter in terms of followers, percentiles, how hot we are or how cold we are.  I’m not even going to mention them here, lest on the off chance someone actually reads this post (unlikely) and starts getting obsessed by them. 

One simple question remains.  When does it become less about ideas, friendships and interaction, and more about getting that perfect score – about being more this or more that than someone else? When does having a large number of followers become more important than the free flowing conversation.

There are some truly wonderful people out there with huge numbers of followers. The ones that really stand out are the ones that perhaps don’t reply very often, but when they do – you appreciate it all the more.

Remember: silence is better than an automated message or response.  People will appreciate you for what you say, not how frequently you tweet.  It it isn’t working that way, then perhaps we are all doing this for the wrong reasons.

Rant ends. We now resume your normal programming.

Quick and Dirty Javascript Date example

 

<html>

<head><title>QnD Copyright notice example</title>

<script language=”javascript”>

function writeYear() {

        var d = new Date();

        document.write( d.getYear()+1900 );

}

</script>

</head>

<body bgcolor=”#f0a0a0″>

This script copyright <script>writeYear();</script> StrawberryNose.

</body>

</html>

Pictures: NYE from our window

 

NYE fireworks from our 3rd floor apartment window

Happy New Year one and all!

Zune 3.x firmware Failures

There have been a lot of reports on twitter and other sites of users with 30Gb Zune music players failing en-masse as the clocks ticked over to New Years Eve (31st December, 2008).

Microsoft has acknowledged there is a problem and that they are working on a solution. Interestingly enough, it seems to only affect players with a 3.x firmware.

Source: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081231-30gb-zunes-prepare-for-new-year-by-locking-up.html

2008 – The year that was

I have been reflecting on 2008, and what it has brought both to myself and to Melody. 

This year saw us get approval for Melody to stay in Australia for the next two years, after which she should be granted permanent residency.  This time last year we had just submitted a our immigration application and were nervously awaiting feedback from them.  Another year, and my angel and I will hopefully be celebrating granting of our spousal visa.

This year, Melody was very productive, both finishing her first book, and getting a good way through her second one as well.  I am so very proud of her, and am looking forward to reading the finale of her latest book.

This year saw us adopt our two lovely guinea pigs: Gig and Molly, who bring us so much joy and we love dearly.

This year, we travelled back to Canada for a month to visit Melody’s family, and we also travelled across from British Columbia through to Alberta, and camped in Banff, one of Melody’s favourite places.  

It also saw one year in my job at ISP I work for.

I am grateful for the things that this year has brought us, and look forward to 2009 being another great year.

Happy New Years!

April.

Apple: “We are committed to diversity”, but what about its Resellers?

“We are committed to diversity. Apple is an Equal Opportunity Employer.”

These words grace the bottom of the jobs page on the Apple corporate website, and they are indeed committed to diversity.  It was Apple who stood up publicly and opposed proposition eight in the US, when the rest of the corporate world said nothing. It was a proud moment for Apple, when so many others only paid lip service to diversity, here they were trying to defend it.  Diversity means many things, freedom of religion, race, sexual orientation just to name a few.  Many companies would be hard pressed to live up to its example.   

However, Apple is not just its core business, its own stores and its own people.  It business was built on the backs of its resellers as well, companies representing Apple in the world at large, committed to delivering its products and services to people all around the globe.  Although Apples website proudly states that it is committed to diversity, what about its resellers?  Do they hold the same core principles to be true?

Sadly, my wife’s (we are married in Canada) recent experiences with a major Australian premium reseller leave us both with sour taste in our mouth, and wondering if resellers truly live up to the hype.  But the sad truth is that its resellers here in Australia that give people the most impression of what Apple is about.   Apple is in the process of opening more official Apple stores, but its reputation is really whatever the resellers convey.  In many respects for many communities, they are Apple.

But first, a little back story…

In Canada, my wife had over five years experience working with an Apple Authorized Reseller, had her ACTC, and several other certifications.  A couple of years ago, she came to Australia to be with me (we met online, and fell in love – another story for another day), and at the time it seemed natural that she would come here, as I was at the time in less of a position to reciprocate.  She is very good at what she does, has a good rapport with customers, is tech savvy, and was a valued technician and sales person at that store.

She recently interviewed for a permanent part time technical position with an Apple Premium Reseller, and after a brief phone interview with the recruiter for the parent company (who incidentally, was very excited about my partners certifications and experience) put her forward and arranged an interview with the Technical Manager for Victoria.  She was told several times during that interview that her qualifications were better than other people they had spoken to (in that no-one else so far had Apple certifications), and also that she seemed to understand the business.  You would think that after five plus years doing what she did and doing it well, that this would indeed be the case.

She came out of the interview feeling somewhat confident, however there were a few things nagging at her. During the course of the interview, they had joked about the fact they had a few “girls” around to do RMAs on iPods and such, and there seemed to be the implication that they seemed to think of “the girls” as they put it, only in terms of pretty faces to have around and do simple tasks.  In spite of this potentially chauvinistic attitude, my partner felt she interviewed well, and we were quietly hopeful, since she seemed a good fit for the position.  She has many years of experience dealing with customers, is Apple certified (both ACTC and APP), and was seeking what this role offered: a part-time semi technical position on the service desk.  My partner is an author and wants to ultimately pursue her writing, and the permanent part-time role gave her exactly that opportunity.  

At the end of the interview, she was given the impression that she was well suited to the position, and that she was a front-runner for the role.  The usual pleasantries were discussed, including when she could start, whether or not she had flexibility with hours.  All of which my partner replied to in the affirmative.  She had even stated that she would help out, when the service desk was idle, offered to get herself refreshed on the latest service manuals, and update her certifications to the most recent ones.  She parted with the interviewers on what she thought was good terms and was told that would be calling her early in the next week.

Time passed. No phone call.  Instead, an impersonal boiler-plate email arrived via the recruiter telling her that although she “interviewed well”, she was not considered “suitable” for the position.  The usual pleasantries and drivel that one comes to expect.  ”We will keep your details for future opportunities”. 

What is particularly galling in this case, is that my partner was an ideal fit for the position.  She was seeking a permanent part time position (which this was) – something that left enough hours in the day to do other things.  She has a great amount of technical expertise, is Apple certified, has five plus years experience in a both a sales, support and technical roles.  She has good references from her store in Canada, who have maintained that she is always welcome back there.  Not something that one says to everyone they have hired.  In fact, when we spent almost a year back in Canada in 2007, she was welcomed back with open arms there.

Now the puzzling part. We are faced with the inevitable question why they would choose another candidate in her place, after having stated that she was the most suitable candidate with certifications and experience.  Was it that I gave her a kiss goodbye before her interview?  Because we are gay?  Did they see that? (I kissed her and wished her luck near the store, not directly out the front of it.)  Or did they only interview her because they were amused by a woman with technical certifications? Or perhaps because they had to, for fear of causing an incident by rejecting her application outright.  Perhaps Steve Job’s nephew appeared in a puff of smoke, and needed a job desperately.  All we have is some vague platitudes, some non-existent feedback, and the nagging fear that, Australia, seems to be stuck in the 1950′s.

Sadly, I have observed more much more gender bias here regarding technical jobs than in Canada.  It seems like the glass ceiling still exists here, and it makes me very sad and angry.  It takes many applications submitted for suitable jobs for my wife to get an interview for a technical role.  I can’t help feeling that betrayed by this country, after all, she deserves much better than this after giving up so much to be here.  It makes me feel deeply ashamed to be an Australian.   

“Do I smell?”, she asks sadly. I assure her that she is skilled and talented, and wonderful.  But my words can do little to ease her hurt, when the world at large seems determined to deny her a “fair go”.

But now I come back to my original question, and some advice for Apple proper.  In Australia in particular, where Apples own stores are still being built, and the market is still in its infancy, are not its Resellers its corporate representatives? Apple needs to be aware and reminded that its resellers are in most respects its public face, that they carry a branding that is Apple, and indicates to the community at large its perceived core values by their behavior.  

Does Apple expect its resellers to follow its corporate policies?  I believe in Apple; that it does indeed represent diversity as it suggests.  Perhaps though it needs to look a little closer at its resellers, and decide for itself if they too, represent its ideals.  Ask a simple question – perhaps the resellers themselves should be asking… Are they in alignment with Apples core beliefs? Do they have a diverse workforce and do they value that diversity? Ask your local Apple reseller what proportion of their workforce is female. Do they have a diverse mix in technical roles? If not why not. 

We have given the reseller in question three days to provide clarification on why my partner was rejected for the role, in accordance with equal opportunity legislation and guidelines.   We are not going to take this lightly, as she has every right to understand why they said one thing, and acted in a completely different way.  It pains me to see her hurt this way; I expected and hoped that we were in a more enlightened society here in Australia. Sadly, that seems not to be the case.

All my wife wants to do is to contribute to society, be a part of something and utilize her skills.  Surely that isn’t too much to ask?

But as the old adage goes, a few rotten apples can spoil the bunch.

Red Dwarf and Massage

It’s taken us a while to catch the digital TV wave here.  Partly because we don’t actually have an antenna socket in the apartment we live in, and we only barely get a signal on analogue TV with the assistance of a booster box a co-worker kindly donated to us.

This morning, Melody and myself went and visited the local rotary market, as is our custom every so often, and found little of interest there.  To be honest, it can be very hit and miss, especially when people are asking more and more money for second hand goods.

We had intended to go to Chadstone later that day and have a look around for a massager that would help work out some of the discomfort that Melody deals with on a daily basis.  However, by the time we had been to Safeway to do the grocery shopping, we were a little tired, and it looked like we would not make it to Chadstone.  

I suggested to Melody that we visit Dick Smith Electronics and see if they had any massagers, as a quick google that morning turned up a few results on their site.  It was on our way home, and with little to lose, we decided to give them a chance.  

When we got there, we found they had several types of massagers, and acquired a couple.  One is a heavy duty one that I hope will give melody some relief and relaxation.  The other was smaller, but quite versatile.  All in all a good haul for a whim.

So how does this relate to digital TV? 

Our primary purpose served, Melody suggested we have a peek at digital set top boxes.  I must admit I was skeptical.  Our TV reception is all in all, quite terrible, and I didn’t have a high degree of confidence that we could get enough signal through the indoor antenna to get a clear digital signal.  

A salesperson directed us to the set top boxes, and we saw the cutest little box.  It measures all of about 6cm x 10cm x 2cm.  ”Is that it?”, I asked incredulously.  This thing was tiny, and looked like it could not decode its way out of a paper bag.  But the salesperson assured us, that it worked fine, and we bought it.  

 

Our ickle DVB decoder box.

 

 

The end result? We have a crystal clear digital picture on ABC and SBS (and their digital variants).  All the other channels are pretty much terrible, but to be honest there isn’t really anything worth watching on Ten, Seven and Nine, anyway. *

To cap it off, ABC2 was showing Red Dwarf one of our favorite British comedies.  Welcome to the digital age indeed. 

* Someone please feel free to correct me here, but I don’t count gritty Melbourne dramas that paint the city as a hotbed of crime worth watching.