About this time last weekend, I took a long hard look at my email account from the University of Someplace Else and decided that it was time I created an electronic archive of the various emails there, so I'd have my own record, just in case. I made it to about the 2007 emails before calling it quits, largely because of my own discomfort in learning that the archive was at this point 260 pages long and I had gone through less than a third of the total body of emails. I'll do the rest later, I told myself.
But I didn't know... just how little... time I had left.
This morning, I found out that some time between yesterday and now, the University had deleted my account. Which was fair enough--I mean, I haven't been a student there for five months now. But I wish they had the simple courtesy to have given me some sort of warning about it. I had to send out a half dozen "change your address book emails," which was annoying. (These were mostly people I had needed to contact between the transition from Someplace Else to Blank, which meant I didn't have my Blank email address yet when I contacted them. I really should have told them to go over to the new one, but there didn't seem to be any pressing need. Until now, when there was nothing but press.) And I'm sure I missed someone important, but I guess there's no way of knowing.
What really bugs me though is that the reason I started the archiving project to begin was because I wanted to preserve those emails, as a record of who I was. And all that information is gone into the internet ether. I saved a lot of it, I guess, but if I had just known what was coming, I could have kept it all. Sigh.
I guess there's two lessons here. First, a "carpe diem" sort of thing: don't put off archiving until tomorrow what you want to archive today. Second: in my digital media course last term, one of the motifs that kept coming in the scholarly papers was that people are unaware that the records they leave on the internet persist. Well, this case shows that the opposite is true as well--things you think are set in stone can disappear just as quickly. The whole incident has shown to me just how fragile my online records are. Facebook pictures, other email addresses, even this blog-- I don't "own" any of that, and it could disappear overnight and there'd be nothing I could do.
And given the ominous rumblings my computer's been making, even making stored copies may not be sufficient. Back it up, boys and girls, 'cause those eggs shoudn't be in one basket.
And for the record, yes, I do understand that I was naive to believe these emails would always be there in the first place. Still, nothing irretrievable was lost (so far as I know, knock on electrodes), and an Important Lesson was learned.
Later Days.
*UPDATE* As my brother pointed out, I should really mention that after I tried again an hour or so later, the email address was working again. But I maintain that *overall* point re: the tenuous nature of electronically stored information still stands.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
On the Lighter Side...
Now, I'm not sure what dinosaurs have to do with credit scores, but I think Mr. Tyrannosaurus is the victim of an ugly little thing known as "racial profiling."
Later Days.
I'm Being Punished for Something
My bike's rear axle is loose, which means that applying any weight causes the back tire to rub against the frame, thus preventing forward locomotion.
...we will see what will be done about this.
*UPDATE* I've determined the problem is the rear axle. Namely, it's in two pieces. I'd be exceptionally proud of my mechanical prowess in finding the problem at all, but I kept wanting to call it a crankshaft, so "prowess" may not be the right word.
Later Days.
...we will see what will be done about this.
*UPDATE* I've determined the problem is the rear axle. Namely, it's in two pieces. I'd be exceptionally proud of my mechanical prowess in finding the problem at all, but I kept wanting to call it a crankshaft, so "prowess" may not be the right word.
Later Days.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Today, I Became a Man...
Three Items to Discuss:
* ...because, after twenty-five long years, I finally opened my own bank account. Yes, I had one before, but it was back in my home province. So for the past five months, I've been using nothing but debit for all transactions, paying my bills online, and direct-depositing my earnings. That's worked fine, and it's a handy excuse for why I don't pay the tip, but as Michael Caine once said, a man should have more than a dollar in his wallet. The turning point came when the university decided to pay my teaching scholarship for the term in the form of a check, rather than a deposit. Since my own bank was, again, thousands of kilometers away, I opened a bank account. A few hours ago, in fact. A very young girl walked me through the steps, and suddenly, I was now pecuniarily matured.
Gender studies specialists in the crowd: feel free to speculate on the reasons for which I associate masculinity with financial savings.
* For those of you eagerly waiting the next installment in the ongoing love/hate relationship between me and my bicycle, I walked it into the shop on Saturday. The total cost was $50--15 for the actual tube change, and 35 for the new tire. As the clerk amply demonstrated, the tire was practically in shreds at this point, so a replacement was necessary. And frankly, it was worth it--I can't believe the difference in speed. It's shaving 10 minutes off my commute per day. Now, suppose my time was worth $10/h. (It could happen.) That means that after I make 21 trips on my bike to the university and back, it'll have paid for itself. (Fuzzy math is the best kind of math.)
* I confuse Burn Notice with Death Note. Fans of either are invited to berate me.
Later Days.
* ...because, after twenty-five long years, I finally opened my own bank account. Yes, I had one before, but it was back in my home province. So for the past five months, I've been using nothing but debit for all transactions, paying my bills online, and direct-depositing my earnings. That's worked fine, and it's a handy excuse for why I don't pay the tip, but as Michael Caine once said, a man should have more than a dollar in his wallet. The turning point came when the university decided to pay my teaching scholarship for the term in the form of a check, rather than a deposit. Since my own bank was, again, thousands of kilometers away, I opened a bank account. A few hours ago, in fact. A very young girl walked me through the steps, and suddenly, I was now pecuniarily matured.
Gender studies specialists in the crowd: feel free to speculate on the reasons for which I associate masculinity with financial savings.
* For those of you eagerly waiting the next installment in the ongoing love/hate relationship between me and my bicycle, I walked it into the shop on Saturday. The total cost was $50--15 for the actual tube change, and 35 for the new tire. As the clerk amply demonstrated, the tire was practically in shreds at this point, so a replacement was necessary. And frankly, it was worth it--I can't believe the difference in speed. It's shaving 10 minutes off my commute per day. Now, suppose my time was worth $10/h. (It could happen.) That means that after I make 21 trips on my bike to the university and back, it'll have paid for itself. (Fuzzy math is the best kind of math.)
* I confuse Burn Notice with Death Note. Fans of either are invited to berate me.
Later Days.
Friday, January 23, 2009
This one's a little flat
It seems like just yesterday I was complaining about bike troubles. Oh wait, it was eight days ago, right here. This time around, I was about a third of the way home when my back tire went flat, so there was a long, tedious walk from there, which wasn't really good for the bike or myself.
This is the second time I got a flat since moving to Blank, and it's interesting to compare the two incidents. The first time I got a flat, it was a week or two into my first term. I was feeling kind of floundering, and the flat came at just the right time to symbolize all that emotional angst in one single event.
It was so early in my tenure here that my internet wasn't even hooked up yet, so I had to drag out the yellow pages to find the local bike shop, then find it on my map, which managed to combine my frustration in:
a) my poor map-reading abilities,
b) my inability to find my way around Blank, and
c) the delay in getting my internet hooked up (which wasn't my own fault, but still very annoying)
Then there was walking the bike to the bike shop, and feeling guilty that I didn't know anyone around here well enough to ask them for a ride. (Yes, I felt guilty about that. Take it from an expert: with proper cultivation, you feel guilty about ANYTHING.) A fairly miserable experience, all around.
Now... it doesn't seem like a big deal. I know where two different bike repair shops are now, and I can go over tomorrow--unless the forecasted flurries finally hit, in which case I'll be equally willing to wait a day or two. Unlike last time, thanks to the last bicycle emergency, I know I can get by without one for a few days, so there's no hurry. I think I'll still walk it over though--I don't feel really comfortable imposing on most of my current friends to that degree, and the one I might feel comfortable with is out of town (so she dodged a bullet there).
So there you go. Even out of a fairly bad event, there's some good to be found, even if it's just realizing that you could have reacted much worse. A lesson for us all.
Now, if I was really on the ball, I would have either walked it to the bike shop that was actually nearby when the flat occurred, or I'd be walking it to the bike shop right now while the weather's great, but I didn't think of the first, and as for the second... eh. It's a Friday afternoon at the end of a long week. I feel entitled to slack it a bit, you know?
I suppose that's the other side with not being overly worried: the problem of being overly complacent. But hey, I found a problem, so that's a good start.
Anyway, I can afford to wait; it's not like the bike's going anywhere on me. Not on that flat, it ain't.
Later Days.
This is the second time I got a flat since moving to Blank, and it's interesting to compare the two incidents. The first time I got a flat, it was a week or two into my first term. I was feeling kind of floundering, and the flat came at just the right time to symbolize all that emotional angst in one single event.
It was so early in my tenure here that my internet wasn't even hooked up yet, so I had to drag out the yellow pages to find the local bike shop, then find it on my map, which managed to combine my frustration in:
a) my poor map-reading abilities,
b) my inability to find my way around Blank, and
c) the delay in getting my internet hooked up (which wasn't my own fault, but still very annoying)
Then there was walking the bike to the bike shop, and feeling guilty that I didn't know anyone around here well enough to ask them for a ride. (Yes, I felt guilty about that. Take it from an expert: with proper cultivation, you feel guilty about ANYTHING.) A fairly miserable experience, all around.
Now... it doesn't seem like a big deal. I know where two different bike repair shops are now, and I can go over tomorrow--unless the forecasted flurries finally hit, in which case I'll be equally willing to wait a day or two. Unlike last time, thanks to the last bicycle emergency, I know I can get by without one for a few days, so there's no hurry. I think I'll still walk it over though--I don't feel really comfortable imposing on most of my current friends to that degree, and the one I might feel comfortable with is out of town (so she dodged a bullet there).
So there you go. Even out of a fairly bad event, there's some good to be found, even if it's just realizing that you could have reacted much worse. A lesson for us all.
Now, if I was really on the ball, I would have either walked it to the bike shop that was actually nearby when the flat occurred, or I'd be walking it to the bike shop right now while the weather's great, but I didn't think of the first, and as for the second... eh. It's a Friday afternoon at the end of a long week. I feel entitled to slack it a bit, you know?
I suppose that's the other side with not being overly worried: the problem of being overly complacent. But hey, I found a problem, so that's a good start.
Anyway, I can afford to wait; it's not like the bike's going anywhere on me. Not on that flat, it ain't.
Later Days.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Comic Book Wednesday: X-Men, X-Men, and more Mutants
Uncanny X-Men Annual 2. By Matt Fraction & Mitch Breitweiser and Daniel Acuna. Emma Frost takes center stage, as she tries to convince fellow Dark Illuminati member Namor that they should make a private deal. The word "retcon" (rewriting past continuity) generally gets a bad wrap, but in the best case scenario, it makes a contriubtion to the story at hand without detracting from the past in any manner. This is a retcon of Frost's past, to include a romantic liason with another big Marvel character during her Hellfire Club days. The story slides back and forth between that story, and the present day. Each artist illustrates a different era, although to be honest, they're similar enough that I occasionally got confused as to which period I was looking at. Overall, Fraction and the artists deliver a compelling story and a telling character piece that adds some depth to the dynamics of Dark Reign.
Astonishing X-Men 28. Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi. I think the "previously" for this issue told me more on what's going on than actually reading the previous issues. The X-Men travel to a China base to investigate a possible war between artificial mutants and parallel world mutants. Once there, they split up and are attacked by both sides--and both sides are looking for an old friend of theirs... First the art: Bianchi's X-Men look good, but the action scenes seem disjointed--there's little flow between scenes. Storywise, Ellis seems to be going strong: the X-Men's voices are all distinctly their own, and he's quite impressively weaving the recent X-Men mythos into his own alternate world story. For example, Beast theorizes that M-Day wiped out most mutants in multiple realities, but with the birth of the mutant baby in Messiah Complex, realities full of mutants are coming back into being. (This doesn't match at all with what's been happening in the reality-hopping Exiles series, but it sounds so good, I want to believe it.)
Unfortunately, the exposition is a little clumsy. The identity of the "old friend" is choreographed fairly early, when two split parties of X-Men both start discussing him, for reasons that arise naturally, but just come off as blatant when taken together. It's not as bad as, say, the Human Torch announcing that they are safe from everything but an attack by Doctor Doom, and then the Doctor shows up on the next page, but if it's close enough that the comparison can even be made, it's too close. Ellis may have a good explanation for this in a later issue, but at the moment, it just seemed a little clumsier than I'd expect from him. But I'm overstating this--it was really a good issue, and it shows that Ellis can do good things with the X-Men and keep his own flair.
X-Men Legacy 220. By Mike Carey and Scot Eaton. Xavier convinces Gambit to follow him to Rogue, as Xavier wants to make up to her that whole "lying about being to help her in order to trick her into joining the X-Men" thing. Only thing is, someone else with a grudge against Xavier got to her first... Add a rogue Shi'ar salvage crew, and you got yourself a party---next issue. This issue is more about setting things up. And speaking of tying things in to the larger mythos, Carey continues doing his thing, this time taking elements from the recent Skrull Invasion and the events of Astonishing to tell his latest story--and for longtime fans, he even uses the old X-Men base in Australia as Rogue's hideaway.
It's extremely well-written, as per usual for this title-the only thing that really bothered me was the characters. In theory, I don't have anything wrong with Rogue, and I'd like to see her power issue get resolved, which this storyline is teasing us with. And I don't mind Gambit, in small doses. But it's been a long time since I've read either of them, and I've forgotten how annoying their respective verbal tics are. And I know her Southern drawl and his cajun meanderings are established character traits, but... mon cher dieux, they gets on the nerves.
That's it for now. Man, I can't believe I made it through reviewing three X-Men comics without mentioning Wolver--aw, shucks.
Later Days.
Astonishing X-Men 28. Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi. I think the "previously" for this issue told me more on what's going on than actually reading the previous issues. The X-Men travel to a China base to investigate a possible war between artificial mutants and parallel world mutants. Once there, they split up and are attacked by both sides--and both sides are looking for an old friend of theirs... First the art: Bianchi's X-Men look good, but the action scenes seem disjointed--there's little flow between scenes. Storywise, Ellis seems to be going strong: the X-Men's voices are all distinctly their own, and he's quite impressively weaving the recent X-Men mythos into his own alternate world story. For example, Beast theorizes that M-Day wiped out most mutants in multiple realities, but with the birth of the mutant baby in Messiah Complex, realities full of mutants are coming back into being. (This doesn't match at all with what's been happening in the reality-hopping Exiles series, but it sounds so good, I want to believe it.)
Unfortunately, the exposition is a little clumsy. The identity of the "old friend" is choreographed fairly early, when two split parties of X-Men both start discussing him, for reasons that arise naturally, but just come off as blatant when taken together. It's not as bad as, say, the Human Torch announcing that they are safe from everything but an attack by Doctor Doom, and then the Doctor shows up on the next page, but if it's close enough that the comparison can even be made, it's too close. Ellis may have a good explanation for this in a later issue, but at the moment, it just seemed a little clumsier than I'd expect from him. But I'm overstating this--it was really a good issue, and it shows that Ellis can do good things with the X-Men and keep his own flair.
X-Men Legacy 220. By Mike Carey and Scot Eaton. Xavier convinces Gambit to follow him to Rogue, as Xavier wants to make up to her that whole "lying about being to help her in order to trick her into joining the X-Men" thing. Only thing is, someone else with a grudge against Xavier got to her first... Add a rogue Shi'ar salvage crew, and you got yourself a party---next issue. This issue is more about setting things up. And speaking of tying things in to the larger mythos, Carey continues doing his thing, this time taking elements from the recent Skrull Invasion and the events of Astonishing to tell his latest story--and for longtime fans, he even uses the old X-Men base in Australia as Rogue's hideaway.
It's extremely well-written, as per usual for this title-the only thing that really bothered me was the characters. In theory, I don't have anything wrong with Rogue, and I'd like to see her power issue get resolved, which this storyline is teasing us with. And I don't mind Gambit, in small doses. But it's been a long time since I've read either of them, and I've forgotten how annoying their respective verbal tics are. And I know her Southern drawl and his cajun meanderings are established character traits, but... mon cher dieux, they gets on the nerves.
That's it for now. Man, I can't believe I made it through reviewing three X-Men comics without mentioning Wolver--aw, shucks.
Later Days.
Friendface gets its groove back
I'll post the regular comic stuff soon, but for now, I want to talk about a moment in history. A moment that gave us all something to believe in.
No, not THAT moment.
Once upon a time, Facebook had a lovely little application called Scrabbulous, which was an electronic version of the popular Scrabble. And it had all the benefits of an electronic version: you could play a round with friends separated by great distances, wait days between rounds, and check the online word creating sites to look for words (Ok, there was an honour system involved.). But it wasn't just an electronic version of Scrabble--it was an unauthorized electronic version of Scrabble. And so, one litigious event later, it disappeared.
Until today, when I received an email telling me that the troubles were over, and the new, improved, renamed and probably not as illegal Lexulous was available on Facebook again.
I wouldn't be bringing this up except for the number of sightings I've seen of the game since then. I got the email today, and I've already observed 4 people on the university's computers playing the new Lexulous. Assuming that I didn't see everyone, and that U of W's student population isn't for some reason composed of Scrabble fanatics, that means there's a huge level of support for this kind of thing--especially since it's free.
We could unpack this and come up with some interesting areas of discussion--the omnipresence of Facebook, the move to online gaming, the difficulties in capitalizing on internet products. And it's important to discuss these issues, rather than just charging blindly ahead. And I'd really love to talk about them, but... I have to go... and... play.... um, something. Something totally unrelated.
Later Days.
No, not THAT moment.
Once upon a time, Facebook had a lovely little application called Scrabbulous, which was an electronic version of the popular Scrabble. And it had all the benefits of an electronic version: you could play a round with friends separated by great distances, wait days between rounds, and check the online word creating sites to look for words (Ok, there was an honour system involved.). But it wasn't just an electronic version of Scrabble--it was an unauthorized electronic version of Scrabble. And so, one litigious event later, it disappeared.
Until today, when I received an email telling me that the troubles were over, and the new, improved, renamed and probably not as illegal Lexulous was available on Facebook again.
I wouldn't be bringing this up except for the number of sightings I've seen of the game since then. I got the email today, and I've already observed 4 people on the university's computers playing the new Lexulous. Assuming that I didn't see everyone, and that U of W's student population isn't for some reason composed of Scrabble fanatics, that means there's a huge level of support for this kind of thing--especially since it's free.
We could unpack this and come up with some interesting areas of discussion--the omnipresence of Facebook, the move to online gaming, the difficulties in capitalizing on internet products. And it's important to discuss these issues, rather than just charging blindly ahead. And I'd really love to talk about them, but... I have to go... and... play.... um, something. Something totally unrelated.
Later Days.
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