On tackling technology

I know I'm dating myself, but I remember when, trying to fix a malfunctioning computer, running MS-DOS and Windows 3.1, tech support hardware people would claim the problem was software and software people would claim the problem was hardware. As a society and, using the term loosely, culture, we have now progressed to many pieces of daily life that aren't even covered by a "right to repair." Can you hear us Apple and John Deere?

This morning I encountered a bizarre, at least to me, situation when I discovered that a DVD I had purchased some time ago sent a "don't have permission to play" message when I inserted it in our BlueRay/DVD player. I wasn't pleased. Later, I tried the same disc in a different DVD player that was sitting on top of the first player. (Note to self: check with Daughter Person and Son-In-Law about why we have both players.) The disc played just fine. I have reservations about whether I'll live long enough to discover why the disc plays in one but not the other Sony DVD player. If you think you have an answer, please share in the comments.

[UPDATE: Learned from Daughter Person one of the DVD players is set to European regional code to accommodate Downton Abbey DVDs that were released "across the pond" before they were available here.]

Some time soon the laptop on which  this is being written will need replacement. While purging this morning some decades out-of-date books on designing and developing web sites, I saved a couple of books on Linux, Python, and Perl. Despite my growing dotage, I'm back at the maybe open source is really better stage. It's more consistent with my current values about too big to fail is too big and cooperation is needed and like matters. As the world gets more complicated and less stable, reliability and trustworthiness become more important. Knowing what's under the hood and how it works becomes part of the transparency we need more of too. Could it be that the opposite of good isn't bad but convenient?

how to build community

Photo by J. Harrington

The increasing contentiousness and friction we're experiencing in our politics and commerce don't bode well for an increasingly interdependent world. See COVID-19, vaccine, food supply, mask-wearing etc. One the one hand, I may well have walked on before things get much worse. On the other hand, I've children and a grandchild. Maybe more good reasons to think about "Not me, us!"

Trust

By Thomas R. Smith

It’s like so many other things in life   

to which you must say no or yes.                                    

So you take your car to the new mechanic.   

Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.   

The package left with the disreputable-looking   

clerk, the check gulped by the night deposit,   

the envelope passed by dozens of strangers—   

all show up at their intended destinations.   

The theft that could have happened doesn’t.   

Wind finally gets where it was going   

through the snowy trees, and the river, even               

when frozen, arrives at the right place.                        

And sometimes you sense how faithfully your life   

is delivered, even though you can’t read the address.

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