I imagine a President picking a Supreme Court justice feels the same way that the head of admissions at Harvard feels picking the last admit for the year.
"I want someone smart"
"They are all smart"
"I want someone freaking brilliant"
"We've still got a ton of those"
"I want someone with a proven track record of working hard"
"Yeah, still too many left"
"I want someone firm in their convictions"
"Have you met a (teenager/judge) who isn't?"
So, you are left with the challenge of picking someone who has the ability to influence the (student/judicial) body in a meaningful and enriching way.
Fortunately, Obama didn't consult the former Harvard president working for him.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Don't underestimate a nerd
Here I am back on my laptop sitting in happy yuppie-ville next to my wife on her laptop. It took most of the afternoon, but I now have a new hard drive and Windows XP on my machine. I still have the task of restoring all my documents from the backup drive and re-installing the software I want. (Already have Firefox, of course.) The only thing that I am worried about is that the hard drive makes a low-pitched chirp (like the Barry White of crickets) every time it accesses something. I will email the company I bought it from to see if I should return it for a new one.
But it is nice to be booting up in a few minutes and able to surf the web with alacrity. Hopefully it will still be decent once I reinstall Office and the other necessities of modern life.
It was amusing to watch all of the Microsoft propaganda pop up on the screen as it installed. "Windows XP is the best version of Windows ever!" "Think of all the security, convenience and performance options" Given the bad reputation of Vista, that may still be true.
I should write more, but there are internets to read!
But it is nice to be booting up in a few minutes and able to surf the web with alacrity. Hopefully it will still be decent once I reinstall Office and the other necessities of modern life.
It was amusing to watch all of the Microsoft propaganda pop up on the screen as it installed. "Windows XP is the best version of Windows ever!" "Think of all the security, convenience and performance options" Given the bad reputation of Vista, that may still be true.
I should write more, but there are internets to read!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Technological Issues
My apologies to both people who occasionally read my blog. Besides the usual mumble-mumble about working hard, no time and such... my computer has become the technological equivalent of a toaster. Actually, the toaster not only heats bread much better than the computer, but might actually connect to the internet better. I would have to type in Morse code on the handle, but I'm willing to learn.
(Tip: You can use Google Reader or the Blogger subscription service to keep tabs on rarely updated pages like this.)
The computer has long been a little slow, as any student who watched me tap-dance for ten minutes in class as it rebooted could tell you. But it has firmly launched itself on the far side of slow. ("It's gone plaid!")
It is very depressing as a self-styled uber-geek to be faced with a device that I can't make work. No amount of virus scanning, spyware checking, defragging, registry cleaning, editing of startup processes or prayers to St. Babbage have decreased the boot time below 25 minutes or the web speed below 2 minutes a page. My final solution has been to purchase a new hard drive and I will be wiping the drive and starting over. ("Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure") If that doesn't work, I may have to hand over my nerd certificate to the authorities.
Until then, I am forced to beg for scraps on the SHW's computer. She is very nice about letting me borrow it, but schoolwork comes first.
It is frustrating how hard it is to fix things these days, even for the uber-geeky. The flash on our camera gave out after making popping noises for six months; it is impossible to replace. Time to buy a new camera. The fixture for mounting my light to my bicycle broke. It is now impossible to attach my perfectly working light to the bike. I emailed the company to see if I could get a replacement. "We are sorry, sir. We don't offer that." Rather than sell me a 5 cent part for $1.99, I may have to buy a new light. Guess what brand it won't be.
Computers are the worst, though. If I had gotten a new battery and extra RAM to go with the new hard drive, I would have been most of the way toward a new computer already. No wonder they get thrown away so quickly. I need to figure out how to disable the "Bill Gates Forced Obsolescence" chip that makes the computer run slower doing the exact same things it did quickly before.
Enough griping. I will try to keep up with this a little better.
(Tip: You can use Google Reader or the Blogger subscription service to keep tabs on rarely updated pages like this.)
The computer has long been a little slow, as any student who watched me tap-dance for ten minutes in class as it rebooted could tell you. But it has firmly launched itself on the far side of slow. ("It's gone plaid!")
It is very depressing as a self-styled uber-geek to be faced with a device that I can't make work. No amount of virus scanning, spyware checking, defragging, registry cleaning, editing of startup processes or prayers to St. Babbage have decreased the boot time below 25 minutes or the web speed below 2 minutes a page. My final solution has been to purchase a new hard drive and I will be wiping the drive and starting over. ("Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure") If that doesn't work, I may have to hand over my nerd certificate to the authorities.
Until then, I am forced to beg for scraps on the SHW's computer. She is very nice about letting me borrow it, but schoolwork comes first.
It is frustrating how hard it is to fix things these days, even for the uber-geeky. The flash on our camera gave out after making popping noises for six months; it is impossible to replace. Time to buy a new camera. The fixture for mounting my light to my bicycle broke. It is now impossible to attach my perfectly working light to the bike. I emailed the company to see if I could get a replacement. "We are sorry, sir. We don't offer that." Rather than sell me a 5 cent part for $1.99, I may have to buy a new light. Guess what brand it won't be.
Computers are the worst, though. If I had gotten a new battery and extra RAM to go with the new hard drive, I would have been most of the way toward a new computer already. No wonder they get thrown away so quickly. I need to figure out how to disable the "Bill Gates Forced Obsolescence" chip that makes the computer run slower doing the exact same things it did quickly before.
Enough griping. I will try to keep up with this a little better.
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