For Apple users, today is like mini-christmas

That is if you’ve got the cash…

I’ll admit Apple products are expensive, no argument there at all. 

But then again how many of you have computers that last 7 years? How many of you have computers or phones that work pretty much as advertised and are compatible with each new operating system that’s released?

With each of those operating system releases, you always get some new functionality, or basic improvement in the way the device works. 

Mr Cook will no doubt say something like, These are the fastest and most powerful (Insert device name) that Apple has ever produced.  He’ll be stating an obvious truth because the nature of electronics is that each successive generation is the fastest of its kind.

What’s not as obvious is that whatever device you’ve got, as long as it’s still being supported, will also have its life extended for another year. Sure it may not have all the lights, whistles, and bells, but it will be functional and possibly faster, instead of choked into uselessness by an operating system that it was never designed to run.

There may be exceptions, but if you’re using a 5 year old smartphone isn’t it time you considered an upgrade???

The thing that I’ve always found a little amusing is how many of the folks who jump on a new phone or new computer every year, are also folks that are bordering on rabidly ECO-Nazi. (That may be redundant, rabid & Nazi, I’ll have to think on that one) 

These folks will castigate you for using a plastic straw, or bottle but they’ll toss last years devices for this years devices instantly. I think I’m bad about such things, and I’m an every 2 or 3 year guy. 

I’d love to see Apple make some kind of reward for the oldest device in use. I think it would be cool if Apple announced the oldest serial number in use, and just sent that owner a brand new device, and a recycling box for the old one.

Apple will always have units that are replaced in the retail chain due to accident, theft, or damage. But it would be cool for Mr. Cook to show a picture of the old device at this yearly event as a testament to Apple’s reliability and value. Talk about a way to get all the “Green” folks in your camp.

It might have an impact on Apple’s sales long term, but short term, the demonstration of Apple’s commitment to the environment would be huge. Come on Android users don’t you want to have a product that lasts?

Alas, that’s not the way things work. We’re a consumer society and there’s at least 2 generations that always rush to the newest and shiniest hotness on the store shelves.

IMG 1021Here’s an example: This is an iPhone 5S. It’s still in use, and working just fine. Every once in a while it gets a little twitchy about connecting in weak cell areas but other than that, it’s been a reliable machine.  This isn’t even the oldest phone in operation that I personally know of. (You know who you are…)

I’d bet there are still “Daily Driver” iPhone 4’s out there. 

For me personally, I really like my iPhone X. That’s what I took this picture with. I can’t see spending the money on a new iPhone this year and possibly not next year. 

With 5G transmission on the horizon I may just wait until the advantage of 5G coverage outweighs the cost disadvantage of upgrading. 

My iPhone X is a world phone. If I were to do an extensive amount of traveling I’d stick a local SIM card in it and go prepaid in the countries that I was traveling in.

The single advantage for me to having a new iPhone Xs or iPhone 11 would be the ability to have dual SIMs. I could see it, if I was running a business so that I could have a business number and a private number on the same phone. 

Since I’m not in that particular situation my current iPhone X is serving me just fine and will probably continue to do so for the immediate future.

The announcements from Apple today are still a mini-christmas for me though. I’ll find out when the new operating systems will be released and there will probably be features added via the OS that I’ll use. 

I know there will be a new IOS, and that there’s going to be a new iPad OS. Then there’s also the new functionality of the Mac OS and all of those things have my attention.

So, Merry Apple Christmas. 

I’m off to make sure I can stream it live! 

Have a great day.

Huh, My winter cold has arrived early…

DawnofthedeadThus far it’s just annoying.

Hopefully it won’t get any worse than just annoying. I don’t actually feel too bad, just tired. I guess it’s not surprising now that the stresses are reducing some. The weather is changing here and between that, my body remembering the pollens from up here, and pretty much everything in my environment changing I’m bound to react a little.

It doesn’t make having the cold any better but it does at least explain why I might have been susceptible so dang early in the season.

Ahhh well, at least it’s not like I’m going to have to worry about calling out sick to some inhuman manager.

Nothing to do but rest and ride it out. There are things I can do that require only a digital presence. 

Thus far no drugs or anything have been necessary. But coffee is my best friend right now.

I do want to go take a walk later in the day just to be outside. It’s nice that it’s not blazing hot up here.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll take my computer with me up to the forest, find a nice rock and sit there writing. This new machine has a lot of battery life and if worse came to worse, I could always pull out the Goal Zero for additional power.

My walk is contingent on how much energy I have… 

Right at the moment, that is questionable this thing is accelerating. So it might be a very slow day.

Is CRAZY contagious?

HqdefaultFor years, there’s been a kinda crazy lady living within a block of my home in the mountains. 

This is a woman that has on more than one occasion been seen on her balcony bare breasted speaking fragments of half a dozen languages doing the Xena Warrior princess war cry or arguing with one or more of the voices in her head.

On at least one occasion she’s been out on the street lying naked having a full on temper tantrum.

It is not uncommon to hear her having these fits once a month or so, they go on for an hour or so then she gets bored and shuts up.

Crazy manHer immediate neighbor was a decent guy, But over the years he’s gone downhill. He’s on heavy medications and way too much “Medicinal” Pot. With him, the problem seems to be Tourette’s syndrome (after a fashion). Something will frustrate him and for the next 30 minutes there’s a stream of bellowing obscenities, punctuated by fuck in all it’s various forms.

Usually, the neighborhood only has to deal with one of them having a bad day at a time.

Since I’ve gotten back up to the mountain, both of them are having bad days every day sometimes all day, and well into the night. We’re talking about screaming at the top of human vocal ranges. Imagine the screams of the damned souls in Hell.

Needless to say, it’s making it tough for me to calm down. The very last thing I need is conflict or soul chilling screams right now. I really need peace and quiet. I’m thinking someplace away from all people, off grid – maybe camping someplace? 

The thing is, The Crazy is strong with these two. Do I have to deal with their shit and my own too. can’t I find a moment’s peace? What happens if in dealing with their shit and my own… I end up just like them. 

There’s a fragment of something about looking into the abyss and having the abyss look into you. I can’t remember all the quote right now. There’s something else about dealing with monsters.

I did find a few moments of not only peace, but joy, over the past few weeks, but that is over now I fucked it up. Now it’s back to just dealing with stupid shit.

Sigh, Time to go walkabout!

And So Labor day comes to a close…

Wasn’t a bad holiday.

Didn’t get as much done over the weekend as I’d hoped to but today was a nice day. 

labor-day.gifWent to lunch at a friends place, played in the pool and got some sun. Not too much, but I am slightly sunburned; To be expected after being a nocturnal creature for 3 years.

It felt good. My body was making it’s own Vitamin D and my skin warned me when it got to be time to go back into the shade.  Perhaps not as quickly as it should have but I think my body was enjoying the solar bombardment. I’ll have to be careful the next few days just to make sure I don’t overdo it accidentally.

I swam the length of the pool several times and realized how out of shape I am just because the endurance in the water wasn’t what it should have been.

Water and I are, and always have been friends. I’m no Aquaman, but I’m comfortable in the water and also found that due to the amount of fat I’m carrying around that I’m way more buoyant than I should be. I had to spend more effort staying under water than I used to.

Ahhh, the “fun” of aging! Damn it.

Fall is upon us, 9/23/2019 is the official day, Plants here in the mountains are already showing signs of the coming seasonal change.

I’m still trying  to figure out where / what I want to do for my “Walkabout” to clear my head. It looks like I’m finally finished with the former company. Just a few more things to do around the house, and I can be gone for a few days.

I don’t want to spend a fortune but I do need to get away. New vistas, new people, new adventures, that sort of thing. Nothing too strenuous, but something fun just for me.

That Adventure should start on the 11th of this month. In the mean time, there are chores here and one of those chores is the routine of looking for a job and all the crap that entails.

Hope that your short week is calm and mellow which is how I’m feeling right now.

Huh? Google contractors unionizing?

Google logoWell it’s about damn time!

Generally, I don’t go for Unions. But after decades of seeing the kinds of excesses those at the top of tech companies engage in, I can’t say I’m surprised.

Tech companies have gotten away with figurative murder for years. They’d hire people, work them into the ground, then fire them when they’d burned ‘em out. They’ve on more than one occasion, forced the worker they were going to fire to train their H1B1 replacements, knowing they could work the H1B1s like slaves, and have no repercussions. But during this time We had a president saying H1B1 workers and migrant workers were doing jobs that Americans wouldn’t do. That was bullshit then, and now it looks like the bullshit will be exposed.

For the worker it’s not just about the constant job hunt. For the laid off workers it’s about having resumes with a string of jobs that ultimately hurt their long term prospects to find gainful employment. As HR departments and “Talent Placement” agencies started making statements in interviews like, “You’ve had a lot of positions over the years,” without factoring in the context. It made reliable hard working people suddenly less employable.

Facebook emblemHR and Talent agents will deny that contract work or multiple layoffs have any bearing, but the reality of what they do, versus what they say couldn’t be more different.

Google’s motto used to be “Don’t be evil” I have no idea what their motto is now; “Be Super Evil?” It’s not just Google, it’s Facebook, Twitter, and the plethora of other tech companies whose sole aim is to use and control people in almost any way possible.

I welcome unions in the technical field today. Twenty years ago I would have been against them. In my most recent employment, in addition to the absolute control the supervisors had over each employee, many of them were fond of saying, “Do you want to keep your job?” or something similar.

The implied threat being that they’d find a way to fire you for no reason at all. It could be that they simply decided they didn’t like you.

management slavedriver.pngIt had nothing to so with your abilities or your performance. They’d find something. They’d rely on inaccurate metrics, write you up over 10 second late return to your desk from a break or lunch,  or say that you spent too much time with a customer. They’d find a way, then screw you. And you’d have no recourse. This was as an employee of the company. I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who was just a temp contractor.

Middle Management and above all drove Teslas, high end BMWs, Mercedes, Jaguars, or Audis. The average terrified worker came to work in some kind of beater that was barely running, belching oily smoke and obviously in need of significant repair for which they had neither the time or money.

Middle Management and above were always on vacations. The workers couldn’t get time off approved. My final paycheck included over a month of unused vacation time. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to take a vacation, it was because for 3 solid years every single vacation request was denied. “For Business Reasons“

I’m not into the bullshit philosophy that everyone should have the same everything… But when you have this kind of disparity and simultaneously the “upper class” delights in tormenting, terrorizing, and generally fucking with lower echelon workers, Well the next logical conclusion, aside from multiple lawsuits that the workers can’t afford to pursue, is an overarching protection mechanism like unions.

The Technology Industry has finally matured. Now they’ve reached the same point that the Steel & Textile industries reached 100 years ago. Yet for all their “Forward Thinking” they’ve made the same mistakes and committed the same atrocities. I guess it’s human nature, those in power will inevitably abuse that power, and eventually the subjects of that power will rise up against oppression.

Maybe I’m still steamed about the layoff. Maybe I’m pissed off that where I worked I was told I could move to another department after I learned the product (A lie). Maybe it’s just that I’ve had a belly full of abusive, arrogant, shitheads. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above. But today, right now, I say unionize the whole damn tech industry. That might change over the coming months or years. But for right now…

Google, Facebook, Tech companies etc… You assholes have made your beds. Now you’re going to get the dry angry vengeance ass fucking you so richly deserve.