COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Tizer]

I've given up with the cordless battery mouse and got a USB one instead. The battery one was going through batteries like wildfire and the red light seemed to be always flashing, even during the night!

[Stanley]

So am I Pluggy, I love the absence of trailing wires and I don't see battery life as a problem. Tiz, my mouse battery lasts for ages but then I switch it off when I shut the computer down. Keyboard OK now...... I still remember Janet confessing to me that when Harry got a new mouse she used to swap the ball out of it for her own. Remember taking your balls out and washing them?

[Pluggy]

It wasn't so much the ball, as the rollers that needed cleaning in my experience, the ball picked up all the muck it rolled through and transferred it to rings around the rollers. i still have a couple of ball mice in a box. I'm something of a luddite with technology, i often favour the old way of doing something, but I don't mourn the passing of the ball mouse.

My daughter is considering buying a new laptop, because she's worn out the trackpad left click button on the one I bought her 3 years ago. She's strangley reluctant to plug a mouse into it.... Unlike keyboards for laptops, trackpads and their buttons are difficult to come by, the only cost effective option seems to be a case from a 'laptop breakers yard'( most of the buttons for trackpads are part of the main case) and the buttons could be very worn on those too.

[chinatyke]

I still have a couple of ball mice in a box. I'm something of a luddite with technology, I often favour the old way of doing something, but I don't mourn the passing of the ball mouse.

When I read that I turned over my mouse to look at the ball and there isn't one! Never noticed before you wrote that Stephen.

[Stanley]

You're right about the rollers Pluggy. China, when I got my first optical mouse it wasn't very efficient and I found that it was the serrated rubber mat I was using. They seem to like smooth mats....

[PanBiker]

Ball mice were a pain in the proverbial in a school environment. I had to Araldite all the trap doors on to stop the little beggars nicking them. Made it a bit more awkward for cleaning as you had to take a screwdriver to the beast to gain access. Concur, not the balls but the rollers were the stumbling block. I found a fibre tipped cleaning pen quite efficient at getting the crud off. If I had a quid....

[Pluggy]

Ideal for chucking through school windows.

[Stanley]

Ta liking about wireless keyboards and mice reminded me that in the old days I used to have to buy a new keyboard every year because the letters wore off the keys and I don't touch type. I can't remember how long I have had this black Logitech board but the letters are as good as the day it was made.

[Steven Chorkley]

So whats your point? You don't like phones?
I couldn't live without mine.

That is one of the saddest statements I have heard for quite a while.

Yes, Steven's saved us time by summing it up for us! I wonder what will happen if the day comes when he has to live without it?

I'm pretty certain that I could.... if we must get technical... the worst thing that i'm sure would happen if I didn't have a phone, is I would find classes harder and communication much more cumbersome. I don't really use it for much else, excluding tethering.

The point is... it makes things easier. If it didn't, why would we adopt it?
I honestly don't understand what you have against technology. A lot of people are relying on technology and just don't understand how basic things work. It's like anything, if something goes wrong and you don't know how to fix it, you go to a technician. It's the same if your car breaks down. If you feel that you can't trust it, don't use it!
If you don't think your bills are safe, get paper bills! If you have to pay the additional fee's, guess what! You would've paid 10 years ago, that cost would've just been included in the bill.

Computers are an easier and cheaper way of accessing and sharing information, if you want to be old school the original channels are there. Usenet groups, telnet servers, phones, email, post... they are all there you just choose to use a computer instead!
I'm not arguing as to you should use a phone or a computer, in fact i'm saying the complete opposite. It's your choice. Don't judge my generation however for using them. We don't have to use a phone, we never did. I actually purchased my own phone as my parents didn't like them either! I grew up with a landline into the house with a dial-up connection to a computer running Windows 95. I grew interest, and I bought my own smartphone.
Instead of obsessing over demeaning and negative stats based around technology, look at the positive impact it's having on peoples lives. Bank transactions are processed faster, stocks, information, communication, media consumption. It's the future, love it or loath it, it's simply the way it is!

I'm sorry for ranting, but I feel this way, dare I say it, so does the majority of the worlds population. It has it's disadvantages like anything, but what tech allows us to do outweighs every one of them.

[Stanley]

Stephen, what you seem to be missing is that a lot of us grew up with a lot more freedom than you have and one consequence is that we have a natural antipathy to over-reliance on anything. Take one example, I have just bought a dial calliper gauge for one simple reason, it doesn't have a battery and circuits to go wrong. It's simpler and more reliable and unless it is physically damaged it will be as good in 100 years as it is now.

[PanBiker]

My original comment stands Stephen. For the record I don't dislike technology, indeed I earned my living and as a result raised my family from working in the field and associated IT sectors. The difference of course is that like Stanley I have experienced life before the advent of the IC and large scale integration and all that has been brought as a result of the development. With that previous experience, if push came to shove I could get by without the technology. It would be considerably more difficult without doubt but I could get by whereas you might fail through lack of experience.

[Stanley]

Ian's right and here's an example. If something breaks or needs a repair I don't go straight online to buy a replacement. I go into the shed and see if it can be repaired. Ian is capable of doing this with electronics, I'm a mechanical man but the point is that we can share expertise and help each other. I made some stands for Kev not long ago. It gives us a freedom that too much reliance on technology can damage. Mind you, my putative son in law Mo will be a better engineer than me! I've infected him with lathe fever already.....

[Stanley]

Once again, thanks to Canonical for over 160mb of upgrades over the last two days. It looks as though the net result is a complete replacement OS. If previous experience is anything to go by upgrades for Firefox and Thunderbird will not be far away. Such good service, doesn't half give you confidence in the system!

[Marilyn]

That shed is truly a thing of beauty.
Glad you have started poking about in it again Stanley. I think it is a healthy thing to lose time in such a place...

[Pluggy]

That shed is truly a thing of beauty.

Agreed, Stanley's shed is magnificent. Something to be said for not co-habiting. I'd never get away with making the kitchen into a workshop.

[Stanley]

Thank you both.... And it is looking even better now that the chest of drawers is lined up with the edge of the bench. As for being a Singleton, not something that should be striven for, it is an accident of fate but you're right, there is much to be said for it if you discount a stroppy Patterdale! People often say it is too small but if it was twice the size it would still be full, bit like the Tardis, you'd be amazed at the stuff that's in there....
Another 'bourneagainshell' update this morning. Fine tuning the defences?

[Pluggy]

Thank you both.... And it is looking even better now that the chest of drawers is lined up with the edge of the bench. As for being a Singleton, not something that should be striven for, it is an accident of fate but you're right, there is much to be said for it if you discount a stroppy Patterdale! People often say it is too small but if it was twice the size it would still be full, bit like the Tardis, you'd be amazed at the stuff that's in there....
Another 'bourneagainshell' update this morning. Fine tuning the defences?

Jack, Stroppy ?, NAHHHH......

So far the fixes for BASH have been partial, its been there so long its become engrained I think.

[Stanley]

Jack.... Try telling him he can't do something and then make him do something different. You would be amazed! It's a constant contest of wills! Big Jack was just the same....

[Stanley]

Upgrade for Firefox arrived this morning. I expect Thunderbird to be close behind! Thanks to Canonical..... wonderful trouble free service.

[Stanley]

As predicted, Thunderbird arrived this morning......

[chinatyke]

New operating system for my Mac this morning. OSX Yosemite v 10.10. Free of charge. This how it should be done, you pay for the first copy of the operating system and subsequent upgrades are free. Good old Apple, take note Microsoft.

[Marilyn]

China, my last Apple (ipad) systems update a fortnight ago...grrrrr...left me quite irritated. I am rapidly losing my love for the product.

[Pluggy]

The last IOS update didn't go down very well at all, one of my other haunts has been making much of it. On the upside for Microsoft, an old XP machine from pre 2005 is still viable in this day and age (Microsoft have abandoned it, but the rest of the world haven't) . A Mac from 2005 or earlier was effectively scrap from about 2007 onwards. They decided to change the processor technology from PowerPC to Intel then, within 2 years Apple had written off the Power PC behaving as if it never existed. Once Apple had killed off the PowerPC, the rest of the world rapidly followed suit. So whereas an old XP Machine will still run a modern version of a web browser like Chrome or Firefox, you can only run old browsers (or any software) on a PowerPC Mac. You can't even run BBC iPlayer or any catch up telly, because you can't get a recent version of Flash for it.

[chinatyke]

Crapple vs Microsh-t?

Ubuntu rules.

[Stanley]

All I can say is thank God I got a divorce from the capitalists. My left wing Ubuntu 64bit just sits there and does what it says on the tin....