Tag: technology

There is a Luddite in Me after all…

So while I was on a walk this afternoon (it was sunny and warmish – very pleasant for a walk), I saw a lady in her car waiting at a stop sign who decides, while waiting, to phone someone on her cell phone. And I got to thinking about how I prefer not to be “jacked in” to society all the time like so many people who use their phones 24/7. And that got me to thinking other tech that I haven’t embraced.

The big one that I pondered while continuing my walk, was the Skype/videophone bug that’s hit a large number of folks (including my dear chums, elsaf and judiang). Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool that I could defend my thesis via Skype, but using it to chat with my friends isn’t as much fun to me as AIM or the equivalent. The novelty of getting to see them (and their cute pets) lasts about 2 minutes into the call, and then I’m ready to return to text.

With text chatting, you can leave the room for a bit (nature loves to call when you want to chat with friends) and not miss any of the conversation since it’s there on the screen. With text chatting, you don’t have to be dressed. With text chatting, you don’t slow your laptop down to a crawl. Unless you are using headphones, you can’t really listen to music or TV when video chatting. And the part I like the least, you have to hear what people are saying. I dislike relying on my hearing to stay in conversation. (When I’m chatting in person, I have visual context clues to help.) Chatting is now getting more like phone calls, and I just don’t care for phone calls. (Still, friends are worth phone calls, as are immediate family. I hate all other phone calls.)

So the communicators and video phones from sci fi are here, but I really would have preferred if transporters and flying cars would have made it instead. Until one of these two transport systems come along, however, my best way to “see” my friends is with using Skype (or *sigh* AIM), so that’s how I’ll do it. I’m willing to put on my clothes (and my accessory kittens) and chat with the girls if that’s what they want to do. 🙂

Visual Stimuli

Oh my goodness! My new TV is fucking fabulous. Now I know I don’t swear a lot in print (though I do swear a lot in real life) but that’s what it is. I’ve been watching season 1 of the new Doctor Who series on DVD and wow – simply wow! It fills the TV with Doctory goodness! No idea if the sound on the TV is any good cuz I use a surround sound system. But visually, the picture is superb. And so big!

When I watch something in regular 4:3 mode (like Lovejoy) the image is only 2″ more either way than my old set. (Yes, I measured it.) But watching something widescreen like Doctor Who? Wow, simply wow! 🙂

I’m taking it slow. I won’t get to something Sylvester McCoy oriented until the newness wears off a little, or I’d probably just melt into a pool of gibbering fangurlishness. Heck, I might do that anyway.

Anyhoo, back to my lovely TV and World War III. (Heh, “would you mind not farting while I’m saving the world?”)

Keeping up with the Judis

It’s not always easy to keep up with judiang in technology. But I always do my best to try. 🙂 So today I took another step in Keeping up with Judi by getting myself a new flatscreen TV.

I’ve been doing a good job saving my money lately and decided I’d splurge on a new TV. My old one can go to mom & dad’s cottage at the Lake. I researched LCD & Plasma screen TVs because I knew very little about plasma. And it looked like LCD was the way to go. (Less fragile, lighter, similar response time & quality, etc.) So I visited the Evil Empire Club (AKA Sam’s Club) and checked out their offerings. They had a 37″ Vizio LCD Television for $999.99. Ooooooh! That was even under my price range. The TV is 10″ bigger (diagonally) than my old TV. And it’s so thin!

Getting it into the car was a breeze – two employees of the store put it in the trunk for me. (I’d measured the box & my trunk already to make sure it would fit.) Getting it out once I got home was a slow (and gentle) process. But I managed it just fine. And now I have a lovely 37″ LCD TV in my living room. Lovejoy & Co looked so BIG! The kitties liked it too. They sat and watched Lovejoy with me. (Lucy on the sofa back, Linus in my lap.) I think we’re going to enjoy this new piece of technology!