Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Wireless Wednesday

I was going to post about Alien Detention. No not the Roswell white googly-eyed types but about the fact that Australia is finally going to release it's remaining detainees . . .but hey, it's Wednesday, hump day, 'Spicks and Specks' day . . it's meant to be happy, jolly, trivial so . . .

We were slow starters but we're catching up. I only bought mobile phones in 2000 because the Olympics was on and my 16 year old wanted to party hard in the city . . I didn't get Internet until 2002 because my 18 year old needed it to access her biology text . .weird how the worm has turned. I'm now an email communicator, Blog junkie, Facebook addict, MSN chatterbox, constant Skyper and Flickr fanatic (I've resisted Twitter because I don't think anyone's interested when I clean my teeth or take a dump or pour my first glass of wine or hit the sack).

My first Mac was an A4 screen . not just one of the first Mac's but one of the first PC's . . yeh I'm THAT old! We were talking about typewriters today and only one of my peers remembers being whacked across the knuckles on a manual typewriter for looking at the keyboard. Hey, life before backspacing was bloody hard not to mention the pain in the pinkey's learning how to type "j j j j :::: jjjj ::::" but being a QUERTY typist has helped me no end as far as the social networking scene is concerned. (Ahem . . it helped me type quickly!)

I'm not IT savvy but I'm quite proud that at the ripe old age of 51 I can download an upgrade, organise my PC, talk reasonably sound techyspeak with nerds (except the one that does our IT maintenance I don't understand a word he says). I'm among few in my social set who can insert a sound card or even know the difference between a USB and Ethernet cable. (Mattie would disagree but I actually only ask him to do things that I'm quite capable of doing because it gives me the chance to havachat!)

DrummerBoy in true form has spent his entire tax return on gadgets but then added "My stuff is your stuff mum!" Yayayaya! Soon I will be able to play with but not own one of these:



But I think I'll have more luck at actually getting a guernsey with one of these!

Ostensibly bought 'for the new business' his little Macbook 160G has a webcam so that Clare can remember what her mother looks like (however everyone else will have to put up with photoshopped pictures on Facebook and Skype!). Why he bought a white one, I'll never know . .the man's a LANDSCAPER! Hello!, filthy hands, filthy boots, filthy clothes! (And yes Bird Anonymous, I reckon our two boys could have a 'stink off' when it comes to feet!)

IT, of course has wireless capability . . the only problem *wild sobbing ensues* . . . the only wireless connection we can receive at home is to our printer! Sucks living in Brigadoon!

If I'm a good girl, a very good girl, and speak nicely and politely and make his favourite dinners, he might let me play with it off site one day while he's digging ditches and building retaining walls . . .I LOVE Mac's . . .erm but it's been a few years since I've properly used one . . . Crispy and BenchWarmer . . I may need a couple of tutorials!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Well, you are following the recent technical events. My dad don't use PC at all however he uses his mobile phone well. My mother is not so familiar with phones but she uses PC more. I think I am quite old fashioned compared to my peers because my PC is 8 years old, so I can't play on it and my phone is 6 years old (Nokia 3510i) so I use things as long as they work. I am not planning to replace any of these devices. They will serve me for some more years I hope and when my PC breaks down finally I think I will buy a Lap top for myself. I mean I will be quite independent by that time I hope and if I travel or if I move away from my parent's house then at least I don't have to bring that heavy computer. :D

Anonymous said...

I've resisted Twitter because I don't think anyone's interested when I clean my teeth or take a dump or pour my first glass of wine or hit the sack.

No! We must know every minute boring detail of your life! Tell us what you had for dinner and what you plan to do in the garden centre!

Anonymous said...

I've resisted Twitter too. I can't see how people would be interested in knowing what I do all day, and to be frank, knowing what time my friends take a coffee break and what they buy at the supermarket would bore me rigid. Maybe I'm doing it an injustice, but .. I don't think I need something else to keep up with.

I love Macs too, though it took some persuaded for me to try one. And I think I can beat your first computer. If you don't count the ZX Spectrum, ours was a Commodore Vic 20. Closely followed by a Tandy, which almost looked kosher! LOL!

Melissa said...

Eli started programming when he was eleven and his mother tells the story of how frustrated he got with his computer's capabilities. His ideas went far beyond what the thing could do (it had about as much brain power as today's keyboards do) and she'd hear him holler, "It won't do what I want it to do!!" :) I hope Drummerboy lets you play with all his new gadgets! I would be lost without Eli's computer knowledge ... I joke that we should make a life-sized cardboard cutout of him to stand behind me while I'm on the computer and then nothing will go wrong -- lol. It's only when he's not around that things blow up.

Unknown said...

You love Macs? Oh Baino, there is just no hope for you!

I am, however, totally with you on the twitter thing - Facebook status update is more than anyone needs, I figure.

As for IT speak, I kinda zone out when DMan gets going - my eyes glaze over and I view it akin to staring at a car's engine. I don't care how it works, just so long as it gets me where I want to go!

Anonymous said...

We had a Mac or should I say a family of Mac's living next door to us when I was growing up. That was lonnnnnnnnng before we heard of computers, mobile phones etc.

I don't have a laptop and I gave away my N95 yet I chat on MSN, Gmail, Woopra,Twitter, Skype and mobile phone as easily as I breathe.

Modern technology brought a whole new world to my livingroom.

Paddy in BA (Quickroute) said...

My first pc was an Amstrad 256K.
There's 100 times more processing power in my phone today!

Excellent Adventures said...

Damn, I was hoping you'd have the wireless up by the time I got home!!! Well you can play on my yu beaut 17" MacBook PRO (suck on that Drummer Boy!) when I get home, in case you haven't noticed there's a perfectly goof iMac sitting in my room - why don't you just appropriate that. Sure its a little lazy but if you hit her in the belly a few times I'm sure she'll give you a few hours of Skype

Excellent Adventures said...

Sorry I meant good, not goof. But Goof is also appropriate.

Baino said...

Ropi you're doing well. My old Dell is 6 years old too but it's suffering and my first phone was a 3610 but it died after 2 years. Only thing about laptops is the keyboard, I prefer a raised keyboard and a proper 'mouse'
He's a gadget boy my lad . . .loves all that stuff!

Twitter Spa . .you already know the minutia of my life so I don't need to twitter to anyone but you.

Jay .. it's been a while since I've used a Mac but I love that they dont crash or get viruses as easily as the old PC's.

Melissa: Handy to have a techy type on call. Fortunately, I have a barage of geeks who are only to willing to help if I come unstuck bless 'em. As for the looking over the shoulder thing, it's a bona fide helpdesk fix! Seriously, all you need is someone behind you and the problem solves itself!

C'mon AV . . they're lubly and so easy to navigate. I know EXACTLY what you mean only I have to bite my tongue when our IT guy starts banging on in techyspeak for fear I might lash out and whack him in the dongle.

GM: You're very 'connected' as they say! But I can't be bothered with the other chat networks. I'd never get out of my PC chair!

Quicky: SNAP, so was our home computer! DOS and all with a dot matrix printer! Then I was around before Microsoft I think!

Clare I'm not sure what the go is with Wireless, we can link to the printer but don't seem to have it for internet. Ads is on the case! Maybe we just need an adapter or something. As for the iMac, we've had to clean it off. Sean's coming to reload some software. The Skypout thing is due to the ADSL line unfortunately! We were online from 9 last night, where were you?

Megan said...

I get my new computer next week sometime, as soon as me bro finishes building it. Can't wait!

Anonymous said...

I remember visiting Dad at work and the whole room was filled with one computer!!! It's been over ten years since I've used a Mac but they are beautiful and what I remember as more 'logical'! How would Drummerboy know you've run off with his Macbook when he's deep in a ditch AND you were only trying to get wireless connection ... every day?

Excellent Adventures said...

Oooh, can I give you a list of software I need? Does he have CS4 or the new Macromedia Digital packages yet? See if he can give them to you cos my software is old and scabby. Gotta love geek friends!