How Do You Find Questions to Answer?

How Do You Find Questions to Answer?

When I first pondered this question, my initial answer was that ideas were always occurring to me pretty much automatically. They would just pop in out of nowhere. Then I realized that behind every question there is always a story something, somewhere spurred me on to first the question and then developing an answer. Nothing occurs in a vacuum 😀.

First and foremost regarding how to find questions to answer is the act of paying attention. Too many people have a tendency to go on autopilot during their busy days and forget to take the occasional break from the routine. Breaking away whatever you're doing is a critical step in finding new things to explore. But this breaking away must be done according to your timing. This is not to be confused as an interruption of your workflow which is always counterproductive when it occurs because it takes so much time to get your mental thought pattern back in gear. No, when you choose to break away and investigate something else it must be your own personal choice. This will usually have the great effect of improving your creativity and sense of freedom if done over a period of time let's say a month. This deliberate shifting of gears can be very refreshing indeed.

Another thing you can do to keep your mind inquisitive and finding questions to answer is deliberately seek something that is a little mentally challenging. I believe the human brain was built for a challenge something that stretches your boundaries a little bit and increases your understanding and knowledge base. What ever it is it needs to be done regularly. It is like a workout, the more you do the more you get back from the exercise.

That is actually one of the reasons this blog was originally started, to give myself the daily challenge of coming up with the new thought or idea. At first it seemed like a daunting undertaking because there is that much really occur in a person's life that there is enough to write about every day… The answer is if you pay attention yes there definitely is. An exercise you can undertake to prove this is:

Pick several days in a row in which you make a promise to yourself to notice the interactions you go through with people and events. I can guarantee that you will find something to either record or write about. This is one of those rare instances where things will actually come to you. Of course you are undertaking a deliberate decision to look for them. My own personal goal is to try to write something from now on every day. This doesn't always occur but it is usually because time or other activities prevent it. --You know, when life throws you a small curveball 😀. It is important when these curveballs get thrown at you that you don't become discouraged. Keep noticing your interactions.In the same way also, don't be afraid to take a break. I met people that actually have gone overboard with the above activity and they become mentally swamped. Their brain then does the biological equivalent of a computer crash and it takes them a while to get back up on their game.

The last take away from all of this is you are the boss. Take some of the ideas and remold them as necessary to fit your ecosystem, whatever that may be.

Enjoy Finding Questions to Answer!
Have a great day and take care. Patrick
 

One day closer to Friday!

 

"One day closer to Friday!"

It used to be when I was a child and in my early teens, that statement was my mantra. I liked school, and I still do if only I could find the time to take all those wonderful courses. I have yet to invent the Time Machine.

Now days that statement means I get to shift from volunteer and work mode to a more relaxed mode where I still get involved in a ton of things. I always seem to be able to find some new avenues to go down. Coming up with ideas and alternate angles of approaching things it's easy for me. As a matter of fact, I'm a little dumbfounded by people that don't do this. Frequently when I respond to someone with an answer like "You Can Do Whatever You Want." They come back with "Like What?" and they truly don't know what they would like to do. The human inbuilt idea factory was never turned on for them. I just can't wrap my head around this concept of no ideas or no inquisitiveness. But trust me there are a great number of people who are like this. They don't celebrate the fact that it's one day closer to Friday because for them every day is pretty similar to the previous one. They grumble about boredom but don't do anything to change their situation. Heck as I've said here before on the blog, I usually have too much to do and I really would like to be able to do it all. Not only do I have to get a Time Machine put together I guess I better start cloning myself :-).

Isn't that the whole point of life, to discover things?! When you can't discover things you can consider the things you already know from a variety of angles. I was once in a local hospital waiting to get transferred in my current residence, and rather than getting bored to death I fixed the local floors Internet. The problem was with the local cable provider and I just phoned up and started to explore the issue. At first they wouldn't tell me anything but as the staff got involved I slowly but surely opened up a discussion and it turned out that they had a flaky wireless access point in the ceiling. During this adventure I learned a little bit more about how large-scale networks work. Although I wasn't up to doing this every single day it did pass the time in a constructive way. The best part is of course also the weekend means a lot more to you. Not quite as much is Friday but it stops life from sliding into oblivion. I am so aware now days of how unique the experience of being alive is. I also know that it is a short event. Something which is not be taken for granted. I don't believe in the existence of life after death in any form so while I'm "here" I really want to make the most of it.

So if you enjoy your Fridays and indulge in your weekends, good for you! If you don't, it is time to get off your butt in a positive way and shake things up a bit.

Take care Patrick

Technology Is, Not What Technology Was. Changes in the very definition of technology.

 One thing has become very clear to me this year and to be honest I don't know why it is taken this long for the lightbulb to go off or turn on as the case may be 😀.

That is that the very definition of the word "technology" has changed dramatically between the generations of peoples. Up until the mid-20th century it was represented almost exclusively by physical machinery which you could visually understand. It was a thing, a one function device usually. Whatever you bought from the store never received an update. It was perceived to be as perfect as it could be when it was brand-new. It might fall apart later but whatever the item was it was fully functional. The idea of a bug was something that you swatted in the air and nothing more.

As the decades moved forward things began to change, quite subtly and without anyone really saying anything about it. Technology went from being something physical, to something for the most part quite abstract and malleable. Anyone born in the 1990s just assumes this to be the everlasting original definition of the word. You buy a device and the first thing you have to do is updated it, because if it's not updated it will almost certainly have bugs in it. Doesn't matter whether it cost one dollar or $10,000, if it's new and hasn't been updated it's going to have a flaw in it. Along with the ongoing updates of everything, which if you haven't noticed seem to look at just the moment you need to accomplish something efficiently and quickly. That's when you get hit with the following digital curse words: "Please Wait. This update may take a little while." I was hit with one of these this morning as I was trying to prepare for the day. And this one took for ever!

Now both definitions and both parties who subscribe to their individual definition, don't understand the other side. The people born in the 1990s subscribe to the new definition for the most part whereas the other party born before that date subscribe to the old definition, and each is completely confused by the other. No matter which group you talk to even if they understand the others definition, you can see the mental effort necessary kind of shorts out there brain and that they would rather retreat back into the definition they understand.

Things can get really crazy when you're trying to figure out how to explain things over the phone where you have to instruct the person on the appropriate steps to take. It is almost like preparing for a battle:

• Step #1: Ascertain the other sides values and perceptions.
• Step #2: Double check with yourself that you thoroughly understand step #1
• Step #3 Casually engage the other side briefly to test in the real world environment. This usually exposes an abyss of understanding between the parties. There is much work to do.

I think that one of the issues this exposes is that at least in North America we are not taught to consider other ways of thinking, much less ways of actually perceiving and processing information. When we are faced with a situation where these differences are exposed we make the mistake of trying to translate the other person's perceptions into our own and that doesn't work or at the best, it works poorly. -- You can't turn arose into a dandelion no matter how much you try.

The only way I have found to proceed in these situations involves verily long conversations allowing both sides to be exposed to the other in ways that feel nonthreatening. After a few rendezvous's usually there is a bridge built just barely sufficient enough to be useful for a small set of tasks.

Imagine if we did this much earlier in a person's life or did it as a whole society. Think of the grief and misunderstandings that could be averted. Simply by allowing room for the unknowing. Realizing that for everything you know and perceive there is always more and it will always be different.

Aside from survival, I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the reasons societies and cultures became towns and states originally. To avoid seeing the other side. Well the good news is I don't think that's an option anymore with the world getting ever more interconnected.

I wonder how strange it will look in 100 years when the then modern society looks back at the 20th and 21st centuries. For them they will have one big advantage (I hope) in that if our records survive and we don't change to some bizarre format. The new society will have pristine and detailed records.

Oh I would love to be around then. And I would be as curious as I am today. Which brings up another point but I think I'll make it another article… If you could live 300 years, how would you change in that time? (Presuming of course you were in good health)

Take care Patrick

The Pros and Cons of Social Rules

 (Updated: May 20, 2024)

Ever wondered what the world would be like if all the etiquette rules in society simply never existed? It is an interesting thought, because as I ponder this, I'm becoming aware that some of our perceived reactions to not having rules might only occur because our current rules suggest they should.

For example if anyone could say anything, in any format they wish, one may presume that the churchs of the world would have a field day. The jerks themselves may think this too. But then is that because of conditioning and perhaps repression. Once the person has said everything they wanted to say, would the"jerk" run out of steam? It would be interesting to see the resulting person. Kind of like peeling an onion, and as they peeled their way toward some emotional level, they might discover a great deal about themselves.

Now, to be clear social rules do have their place. They help define what is expected of us as a society. But in doing so, they take away some of the work which should be undertaken by every individual, and that is to get to know themselves. Blindly following any rule or edict without understanding its origins and purposes is never a good idea. To truly live, you have have a life where learning is always going on. I think this can only be explored effectively by going outside of the rules and evaluating if they work. This paragraph itself could turn into an entire lecture series .😀

If we were to remove all social rules for let's say six months, it is likely there would be several phases:

1. First everyone would say everything and presuming we didn't kill each other in this first step, this would go on for a bit. An outpouring of attitudes, reactions and proclamations. But after a while it would wear down as people ran out of steam.
   
   
2. The second phase would probably expose all lot of motivations and other hidden issues, which society and people individually could begin to consider. And maybe reevaluate.
   
   
3.  Coming out of this, and of course this is my own opinion, maybe society would find that it is not so much "the rule" that is important, it is the understanding of why it was put in place originally. Most importantly with this understanding comes the responsibility to make decisions about the " rule" and take action. Whether that be a decision not to follow the rule, or to modify it, or just to follow it.

I find that there is a tendency now days for people to adopt rules verbatim and not really understand the basis for them. It is not enough to outright rebel or outright acquiesce. The most important thing is to understand why the rule is there in the first place. And take full responsibility for whatever action is deemed necessary.

So yes there are Pros and Cons to social rules. But moving forward I think it is taking responsibility about the decisions made and not so much the label or the rule that must take precedence in all our decisions.

Have a great day everyone Patrick

** NOTE: Some of pictures in this article were generated by Ideogram AI.  As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public.  However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Aging and Disability: "The Magnifier"

There comes a time in everyone's life, although the exact age varies a lot, when the body gives the mind of a surprise. It usually happens this way:

You're doing something you've done many times before. It's an activity that takes a fair bit of effort, but not so much that you have to really focus. It has always been closer to an automatic activity in that you've never had to think about the details. It may be something like lifting a heavy box of books or moving in a certain way that requires some agility. Anyway on this particular day you get a message from your body saying "Hey, this is a strain on me and I'm going to let upstairs [the brain] know it!" You might get mildly sharp twinge or some other signal that wakes you up and brings you straight back to reality. For a moment you are really surprised… "What just happened, you ask yourself?". The body comes back with an immediate answer "We are getting old." The first time this happened the average person goes straight into denial. "Me?, I'm still in good shape… Etc." then, the following day, as though to emphasize the original point made by the body, you wake up and you are a stiff as a 2 x 4 piece of wood. There's no avoiding this message, you are indeed getting older.

I suspect for most people this comes as a dramatic shock. Over the next few months a person usually begins to notice other little things that confirm their age. Some people handle this transition well, some not so well. In either case it is something we all go through but it is an intensely personal experience. The world doesn't quite "fit as well as it used to" and as time passes you begin to look for alternate ways of doing things. Maybe for the first time in your life you actually walk up the wheelchair ramp to the entrance of your favourite store.

For people that are able-bodied it is not until later in life that they realize just how customized the modern world is toward the physically fit, or at least the physically mobile. Everything from tabletops to bank machines is designed around being able to walk up to them. The printing on the display screen is similarly sized for normal vision. The list of things goes on and on that are aimed toward the able-bodied "normal" people.

Now imagine you're disabled as a child and so your entire life is based upon adapting to this weird world made for "normal" people. You naturally have to put your brain in gear much earlier in life to figure out things. There is also a downside though sometimes you may rely on the parts of your body that work well beyond what is normally expected of them and so later in life those parts where out first. This is exactly what happened to me. So now we have a disability with age layered on top of that. I'll tell you one thing you are very protective of everything you can do. Even if it sometimes means putting yourself through a great amount of difficulty. But this isn't necessarily the way to go, common sense must take precedence over ego.

From my perspective, people with lifelong disabilities, provided they can come to terms with the various differences in their lives and the general dynamic of dealing with people, have an edge when it comes to aging. The change is not usually so big, at least not right away and we can also have a lifetime of insight which is not normally available to the able-bodied simply because they have never needed to deal with existence and life on a more granular level. The world and modern society are more or less billed for them automatically taking into account the average capabilities of the human being. So you never have to worry about getting into a movie theatre, you know you will be able to get in ahead of time and the seats as well as washrooms will be no difficulty. Then along comes old age and the poor able-bodied person has to take a crash course in disability. Though I suspect disabled people must temper their perceptions as well, because being able-bodied may not be a walk in the park either. You are pretty much on your own if you are able-bodied. Society expects you to figure everything out, and just in case you don't, the jails of the world can accommodate you.

Writing this short text has really got me appreciating how much each side of humanity can learn from the other. No one has a perfect and for every angle or door we see there are uncountable avenues which we don't perceive. Maybe that's the point of life just to discover and understand what you can?

Still though aging with disability is really a course in fine-tuning what you already know. Getting out that magnifying glass and looking at issues in never finer detail. Or occasionally feeling the impact of the arthritis and knowing that your limitations and abilities are in flux. This is the fine print which we all must ultimately pay attention to and with a little bit of work hopefully understand. Most of the time it is "Fascinating!… (Thank you Mr. Spock)"

As a sign thought with all the talk about artificial intelligence beginning to develop rapidly I wonder what an AI's interpretation of aging would be and including all that is been mentioned in this article?. Would an AI have the same perspective in regards to an earlier version of itself perhaps built on different equipment? At least for the human race nobody as far as I know has had a upgrade to their physiology at least not for the modern human being. We are all the same version hardware wise.

As I think about it and thoughts are just occurring to me randomly, I do believe that aging can teach us lessons which can only be learned by going through the process. We can however convey to our fellow species some semblance of what it is like. That is pretty remarkable in my book.

Take care Patrick

Knowledge: Who gets the big picture?

Are  people learning any given topic or experience as well as they used to, or are we becoming a society of  "knowledge snippets" machines?

Think about it. When was the last time you learned anything deeply, in great detail. Chances are you don't have the time and so like most of us you opt for the snippets of this topic. This has some profound implications, for one thing you need detail to have a true understanding of anything that is remotely complex. From that follows expertise and possibly new knowledge.

I often find it very frustrating when I open up manual for some program and find vague one sentence answers that don't give me enough to go on. This makes it very difficult to search for the content you need because frequently the function required is referred to only by a graph. It is one thing to create a document for Sonic was already familiar with the particular trade that is brief and to the point. It is quite another when someone is trying to learn something new and I mean really learn it. This morning before volunteer work I was trying to determine the best way to create a visual effect in my video package. After about 15 minutes of searching through various keywords I found this entry that was less than half a page long because in order to understand it you had to refer to other pages, and you guessed it the other pages then referred to yet another set. On the explanations combine to but put together on three pages under one heading and it would've been 10 times clearer and 100 times faster. My particular task in this case require that I have available to meet all the information. You really couldn't reduce this to snippets. Yet that was obviously what the authors were trying to do because they understand that no one in the modern world will probably have the patient to read three whole pages sequentially (if you haven't noticed I'm being sarcastic here).

Sometimes in order to gain full knowledge you must put in the work. But it would've been nice if the authors of the document and realized that instead of chopping it up into ridiculous chunks which slowed me down.

Some of the rationales I've heard for this abridged version of spreading information are that "The document must be usable on a phone or tablet." That isn't any kind of ration as a matter fact it doesn't make any sense because point to find information I was after this morning on a mobile device would be very difficult because of all the jumping around. Even though it would look much longer auto from putting it all together makes much more sense since the person would have everything they need right there.

 

Cross indexing insanity:

 

There's a time when you want to cross indexing topic or add a footnote but that doesn't mean you have to load the article with disruptive links that make it hard to read and often at the same instant unclear.

What is really beginning to concern me is the effect this will have over the long run. I don't think I'm being overreacted when I see down the road this could lead to, a shallower thinking society. After all if you don't exercise the brain and mind thoroughly regularly like everything else in nature with you don't use you lose. The act of truly understanding something is one of the greatest things about being alive. That absolutely great feeling of "I understand! Knowing that you get." because your horizons expand and chances are really good that the realization will lead you on to other realisations. (I get excited just thinking about the idea right now 😀) and it makes me want to build something! Or do something new.)

I may have to start an anti-knowledge snippet campaign! What do you think?

Patrick

A Star is Bright because its light is focused: Simplify, and Reduce Distraction

 

If you're anything like me, you are our natural problem solver who loves to figure things out 😀.

You will probably also have figured out, that you are a rather rare breed. People keep coming to you with various requests or asking you how to fix this or that... Or the most intoxicating, almost irresistible, situation occurs when you overhear someone talking about a problem and your brain instantaneously goes "I know how to fix that!" and you absolutely must help them out. This goes marvellously at first, and your ego is riding high on the knowledge that you have made a minor mark in the world and helped improve things.

This is great, but…

You have just run out of time in the day to do all the things you want or need to do. You have inadvertently signed yourself up for every repair job and are on a bunch of committees. To top it off you're also involved in a few projects in which you will also taken the lead and are in no position to hand it off to someone else in order to give yourself a break.-Your control freak has just introduced himself to you.

If that's you in a nutshell, fear not because that's also me. I have a feeling it describes a lot of people in the world whose goal it is to improve life in general. We just love to play and inadvertently become the repair shop, the support of friend, the problem solver etc. This isn't just ego either, we really do have a knack for understanding situations. The worst part is you (and I) know what to do, we just disdained the thought of doing it, and that is, it is necessary in order to do the best work possible, to stop trying to do everything. One must "Simplify, and Reduce Distraction" which means in practical terms something must be let go.

This sure is a difficult thing to do. To choose one of the many things we are doing and let someone else actually do it. Don't worry the world will live on. But one must make a commitment to oneself also do not take anything new up. Trading projects is not an option, it is necessary to give oneself some free time. You do remember what free time is don't you? -I'm not sure this moment if I do- Here it is 8:30 in the morning and I have to resist the urge to follow another idea for an article. I have to face the fact that I can't put out multiple articles and do the work that is expected of me later in the day as well as doing all the artwork and publicizing necessary in the time allotted. ...(Yes, believe it or not folks, blogs and websites do need publicizing. The traffic and visitors don't grow on trees and just show up. Internet myth busting fact #1: "A Website is not a substitute for an advertisement. It is the destination a visitor ends up at after seeing an ad about the site.")...

So I'm on a quest to reduce and simplify things. I can already feel my subconscious going nuts at just the thought... I think one of the first things to go will be a committee or two... To give myself a little more breathing room.  Because quantity is no substitute for quality and if you and I want to do good in the world we must become focused and allow other creative souls to take over certain things. The world has done well without us before head and will do well after us.

It is really necessary to focus on the quality of the goal and doing all you can do to assure that it comes out well. As I can older I really believe that the other people we see in our lives who appear to be doing everything so well have to face the same issues and the lessons they have learned is to focus and simplify. This also means using tools like delegating and allowing people to grow into positions.

The brightest stars in the heavens are bright because their light is focused.

Have a great day everyone.
Take care Patrick

Are You an Opportunity Hunter?

 

Opportunities always exist, but you need a few items in your mental toolkit to obtain them:

 (PS: After thinking about it I decided to make a video because this individual reaction to their situation does really get conveyed in written text.)

• You must be open to new experiences. This point is the most important and if you look through this site there are many articles that speak about this. This is all about welcoming change.
  
  
• You have to be proactive and engage in the hunt. Opportunities usually don't come to you, at least not often. Some clues that an opportunity may be lurking about are:

• If you're really lucky someone has just told you about a new event, program or some other activity that may make you feel a little uncertain as to whether you can accomplish what is being offered. Newsflash-This Is How Growth Occurs!
  
  
• You become aware of a project or some other activity which is going to require you to increase your knowledge level about something. You may have to take a course or do study. This is a really good indicator that what yours are seeking, that "opportunity". is nearby.

Once again life shows us a practical example:

This morning I was having breakfast with someone who because of a workplace injury was permanently in a wheelchair. Their condition is unique enough that during the initial convalescence the doctors asked them, "Would you mind participating in a study?" And this person's reply was absolutely inspiring, when they replied "Sign me up for everything!"

Now think about this for a moment. This person's life just drastically changed and yet they have the motivation and insight to take on something new and indicate that you want to do it on an ongoing basis even though they don't know what the other adventures will be. Talk about a great mindset.

Yes I am sure they went through a period of morning and adjustment, but they already knew intuitively or perhaps consciously that the true way to keep going is to keep working at it. To reach out. Most importantly to adopt and change as necessary as their life progresses. This person isn't someone who would stick out of a crowd but they have a great big dose of common sense. They are also quite curious. Willing to do whatever it takes for as long as they can.

These are the skills of an Opportunity Hunter.

 

Have a great day everyone!
Patrick 

To truly experience something, you must change.

 If the goal is to really understand another person or condition or even a perspective, you cannot remain the person you are right now. This is particularly important if the experience involves being overwhelmed or another extreme situation. In order to truly understand it you must become overwhelmed your self.

Many people when they are trying to grapple with a new situation especially if it's profound, don't understand that the business of living is to change and sometimes by holding on doggedly to who you are will only increase the distress. Mother nature does not believe in the concept of "noninvolvement". Changing and adapting are really one of the few things we all share in common. Think about it, are you today, the person you were 30 years ago? If all is gone right then the answer is "no". On the other hand if you're absolutely certain that you are the same person you were then I suggest evaluating whether that's working for you. I am quite certain you will find that it is not.

There are tons of positives you can experience when you understand that change on a fundamental level is necessary. It is the very heart of exploration and growth. It forces you to live in the world, not just alongside it. It is been my experience from dealing with many people in my volunteer work over the years that those who refused to change their perceptions often become frustrated and angry. Because they are putting all their energy into staying the same. This is not to say that you should always change, but what I am saying is that you need to be aware and accept decisions that you need to make. Then you are truly the master of your destiny. At least as much as is humanly possible.

So get out there and truly change!. Have a great day.
Patrick

A Simple List of All the Things That Have Gone Right in Your Life.

Sometimes you just have to go against the trend, and in this particular article which marks the 100th posting on this blog we are going to list some of the things which are right with the world and/or society in general.

In no particular order because this is coming to me randomly as I do other things… 😀

• We have more ways to communicate than ever before in human history.
  
  
• There are unbelievable research tools available to everyone. In their pocket.

People are beginning to wake up to the fact that we are all on one planet and perhaps the lines on the map are not what defines us. Come to think of it is the classic idea of culture even necessary at this point?… Talent and creativity really exist outside of frameworks. Finding out who you are, for yourself I think is the real point of life and the value you put on those discoveries is also up to you.

However, people and societies must be wary not to let automation do their work for them. You get the most out of life when you discover something for yourself and understand fundamentally the concept you are considering.

100 years is not very long at all. The world is at a place were enough people have sufficient resources to solve the large problems. Even Covid has a positive lesson. People who can now have the choice of working from home and that industry has moved forward at remarkable speed.

The potential to change the world is now really available. And like all things it's up to the individual which way you uniquely will go. I spent some time this morning looking through Wikipedia at photographs from 100 years ago. It was an unrecognizable world. So imagine if you can 100 years from this date whenever you are reading this article. All one has to do is undertake consistent effort and be sincere and clear about your goals.

Ultimately no one is truly disabled. If you see a disability or a handicap only. That is an indication that you need to change your perspective and your goal in life right now is to figure out how to do that. Many things can change one's perspective the trick is to realize when that change occurs and to benefit from it.

An example would be caffeine which many people used to wake up in the morning. Caffeine changes perspective and so does pretty much everything else. If you notice what changes you, the insights gained ultimately will be huge. But you will have to put energy into it. This also means that down the road your viewpoints may change and if you accept that word "change" itself becomes a synonym for opportunity.

Every situation can be looked upon as a chance to do something different. You are ultimately unique and were thinking and abilities belong only to you. The challenge is to utilize them. This may require some effort if the trajectory you are on is not particularly appealing. One of the things people often forget is that at any moment they can stop their current status quo existence and alter it. Indeed there is no such thing as a problem, it is only an interpretation inside your head and what and how that is is completely up to you. This can be pretty powerful stuff.

For a different perspective, try changing yourself for a few moments mentally into the exact opposite of who you are and consider for a little while how the world would appear different. What would you feel?… If you can do that then you have the tools necessary to begin finding what is going on right with your life and if it isn't at the moment what things you can make right. These don't have to be physical attributes, changing your mental perspectives only is often even more powerful. There is no need to change physical things, only your relationship to them.

This seems to be an appropriate article to Mark the 100th entry on this blog. Have a great day!

Patrick

Oh, for the Love of Manuals!

Photo by: Todd Ehlers License:  CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

First I must apologize for those of you that have noticed the site hasn't been updated in a few days. This was due to a software problem, and yes also to due to a lack of clearly written manuals. So this particular topic is very pertinent.

I won't mention any brand names but suffice to say two things conspired to keep me busy for the last 48 hours.

1. An error in one of my accounts cost of shutdown of some of my software, right after I paid a not a substantial amount of money to renew a subscription.
   
   
2. A good deal of my software is bought and paid for, and that act of buying something used to mean that you got a decent instruction manual. Well those days are long gone. It is one thing to abridge something is it is another thing to completely miss large chunks of information.

This is what caused my conundrum for the last two days. Instruction manuals have now been shortened and abridged to such a point that they give nope your understanding of what is going on. Nor do they provide the author of the document a clear understanding of what is going on or how to accomplish a task. This is a recipe for disaster and very time wasteful.

If I see one more book indicating that I should "click on a tiny icon" (not even bothering to give it a name) I made last go insane. The other thing that is sadly missing now days is detailed descriptions of features or if the information is included it is so broken up with hyperlinks and options as to make the text completely unreadable.

Then of course there is the most common problem. The software update you just received completely changes how the program operates and thereby makes the manual null and void.

The photo at the top of this post is of a 1973 Heathkit (Wikipedia article) manual, which while being brief were incredibly well written. They had to be, because you were assembling electronic kits. This just goes to prove that it is possible to be brief and get give sufficient information. Even the books in my elementary school gave more information about a given topic and what you find in most periodicals today.

Each morning I am rather astounded by what passes for newsworthy material. One problem I see is that in order to keep companies visible on the Internet they must produce material every day and unless you've got a staff of thousands, okay that was a bit of an overstatement, the quality will inevitably go down. This blog is a perfect example each day I miss publishing usually results in the loss of 50 views.

Still there must be some way to maintain quality. Because quality really is the cornerstone of knowledge. It is what enables you to go beyond the written or spoken word because the concept has been fully conveyed. To do that takes time and effort.

Anyway this is just very quick blurb. Just to get things back on track.

 I'll write more tomorrow. Patrick

PS:  It looks like Heathkit store is back in business! I don't know if they ship to Canada yet but I see they have the next generation of their famous "digital clock" which I built when I was a teenager. I have to find out if they ship the Canada and if they do. Well how can I not build another one.

Telephone adventures: What are you going to do today?

 

On the phone again😀

My volunteer job is rather unique in that because it deals with serving the public from an IT perspective (Information Technology) one never knows quite what issues are going to be faced during the day. It can go all the way from simply explaining how do basic tasks on the computer all the way to rather bizarre situations:

There was one person who called in which ultimately had the whole team scratching our heads. There laptop it started rebooting itself and getting stuck in a loop. That is, they would turn it on it would start up, in this particular case they would get the Microsoft windows logo then it would flash and restart over and over again. Every person on the team went through the appropriate list of culprits to no avail. Because we would doing this over the phone at one point it was arranged to use a second laptop with the camera to view the first that was stuck in the reboot cycle. Everyone at the office tried their best to solve this mystery… And then the answer casually was revealed by the owner… The investigation it reached the point where we ask the person to remove the hard drive from the laptop and were about to give them the appropriate instructions when they said: "Oh, I know how to do that, I do it all the time." What ultimately was revealed was that the owner of the laptop removed the hard drive any time there was any problem with the machine. Where normally someone would just unplug the machine this person had gone the extra step of taking the hard disk out. Most importantly, they had dropped the hard drive on the floor three times in total and this was a physical spinning hard drive. The problem had started soon after the third incident.

In the video on this page I talk a bit about this incident, feel free to watch it.

 

The owner of the laptop knew this wasn't a good thing to do under any circumstances and that is probably why they resisted telling us for such a long time. Anyway, we informed them that they needed to do hard drive and that they would need to reinstall the operating system. Unfortunately all the data was lost as the poor old drive had completely packed it in. Lesson learned, the hard way.

One of the trickiest things to do when you're working with people over the phone or remotely is to determine their level of competency with the equipment they're using. This can be a very tricky thing to do because different people uses vastly different terminologies and the configuration of their machines can be very different. Add to that the fact that there are many different ways to proceed with a computer and the Internet. Not everybody understands that the Internet is a truly two-way medium, that it is reacting to what you are doing with it. Many elderly people see the entire computer as a TV set essentially and they don't understand that there is actually much more going on. They can be very bright and aware but there are cultural upbringing started with the radio and later television and that is how they view things.

Other people don't differentiate between the various parts of a computer if you asked them about their monitor they get confused because they see the machine as a singular device. Some even referred to their machines as a brand name: "My Lenovo is acting up." If you get a phone call like this you know it's going to take some time to figure things out. People that are more comfortable with technology tend to have much for specific requests, like: "My USB ports are dead." These are "usually" relatively quick fixes. ( Personally, these fast ones aren't that much fun. I do like a challenge :-))

Then lastly, you get requests from what I will class as the "People that think they know more than you do and who won't tell you what they've done. But want you to fix it anyway." This group drives us all crazy, especially because they are set ups are usually complicated, overly so, and there is a tendency for them to do things on impulse. For example, one person we work with had USB hubs (Think a USB splitter, one chord in many connections out.) plugged into other USB hubs, it was a real rats nest and all from different brands. The main problem for them was everything was slow. The answer to the problem was that they just had too much plugged in and expected everything to run at full speed. They didn't like hearing that they had to simplify.

So that is what my volunteer days are like and that is what I'm going to do today most likely :-). It's a true adventure!

Patrick

Do you remember when… They said "Computers will make your life more efficient."

I'm running between tasks today and as I'm doing so the thought occurred to me from many years ago that it was touted by all the media: "Computers Will Make Your Life More Efficient!" And they even followed that statement with "it will be a paperless society." Boy if I could go back in time, would I have news for them....

Now don't get me wrong… Multitasking and technology can do wonderful things. But the one thing the daydreamers of yesteryear forgot was the concept of finite time and the tendency to fill everything up. The faster you can go, the more needs to be done, because essentially everything else is sped up as well.

I wonder if we could even handle going back 50 or 60 years. Think about it nothing you know would exist except for the very basic items. Cringe, if you went to the bank you would have to stand in line and wait as they tabulate the answer. Or be astonished by how quickly the representative could do the math in their head. The impulses we normally given to on an hourly basis to check our phones and do other things would drive us crazy, simply because there would be no way to do them. You would have to wait for that phone call or maybe drive all the way home to make it. And if you frequently now talk to your friends around the world, while you could do that you run the risk of one very nasty phone bill at the end of the month. No wonder our parents were terrified the moment they realized the children could reach the phone. In my case, thank goodness my grandmother lived in town because I do remember calling her rather frequently.

It would be the same thing for the news. Let me know in the comments if you've never read a physical newspaper. Top that off with the fact that the reading skills 60 years ago tended to be much higher. English was slightly different. I remember a few of my teachers who were rather tyrannical about the written word. Or at least I thought they were dictatorial. I live in Canada and I still remember in grade three and up having to put two spaces after a period before a sentence could start. The same rule applied to the start of paragraphs, you had to indent them.

The first time I visited a library card indexes were still in use. Years later I remember my joy of being able to log on to the bank were public library with the dial-up modem at 300 baud. That was so slow you could read faster. It was also very easy to overload the system with a complex search. Which I admit I love to do.

No doubt there is a ton of other things that happened which haven't occurred to me...

I was introduced to computers through work when I believe we were at Microsoft DOS 2.0, which came out in October 1983. That is when I heard that ultimately "Computers would make things more efficient". It became a mantra. There were no hard drives in site because they were expensive and very sensitive. When my boss did get one, I was read the riot act by the computer representative: "You must park the drive when you're done with the machine. Do not bump the table. This has a huge storage capacity of 20 MB." "Park" was an actual command you had to run when shutting down the machine. I think the drive itself cost around $600 that is without any of the cards you needed to run it. Well we also got a printer for the office the noisiest daisy wheel type machine I have ever heard. We used to do our printing at lunch while we were all out of the office.

Guess what, we ended up using tons of paper! I remember it was all fanfold and you had to take off the tractor holes on the side of the sheets. Here's an example of a Daisy wheel printer in action (I no doubt have found an example on YouTube )

Actually know that I think about it we probably have saved time and maybe even some paper. I do 90% of everything purchased wise online as well as bills etc. maybe we are getting there 😀.

Take care Patrick

Fractured Days

Photo by: Wenjie, Zhang License: CC BY 2.0

This article might turn into a rant.

Constant interruptions.

Yep, that's what I call the last few days. A collection of small, albeit not intended, disturbances. On a both personal and public level. I'm going to get a little X-Files here but I really am beginning to believe, at least a little bit, that my building and/or the inhabitants even though they are well intentioned go through cycles of disturbance. No sooner does one have a plan in place that there is something that happens. Could be a knock at the door or as it happened earlier today, one staff member ran in flew around my apartment counting of all things garbage cans. When I inquired with another staff member, because the first one it already flown the coop, as to what the heck was going on. The reply was "Last time we ordered garbage bags in masse the size was wrong. So this time, were going to fix that."  ... Yes indeed it was a garbage can audit. I'm guessing that it'd be dropped on the staff out of the blue because the "auditor" was running like mad.

The day went on like this with people running in and to checking the various things. Or wanting to make relatively small talk. Just important enough that I couldn't say "no" to them. There have been a few other days like this in the past week.

Minor chaos presides.

Something is going on with our flooring and painting redo of the building. It was started in a flourish of activity then all of a sudden it stopped before completion. About a week is gone by and I noticed the handyman is doing a lot of part on his own. No word as to what is going on when things will be completed.

Even my computer has gotten into the chaos act. The software I use to create videos for this site and other projects has decided to become rather unstable. Quirky might be a better word to describe it. 20 minute projects turn into an hour-long at least. When I finally finished one project I went uploaded to YouTube and I gotta very ambiguous message saying that it on no one error had occurred. Now fortunately you can go to YouTube and drag-and-drop your material in a standard browser. But the automated system is much nicer because it compiles the video into a finished product and then uploads it. If you do it the manual way you have to check back several times to see if the movie is ready for uploading. The process of compiling and converting the video to the right format is rather lengthy. And so this automation feature is very handy.

Mind you I have a few odd issues to deal with myself and am feeling a little bedraggled. I get this way whenever things don't progress. Where I live, although I love the staff and a general environment it is all very segmented. I really do miss the days when I can get into it six-hour stretch and just work on a project. Over here two hours is kind of the average. The days go by a little too fast for my liking. A friend of mine said to me the other day "Well at least you're not bored." I laughed and said "I am working now more than I ever did when I was younger." And that is true.

Tomorrow will be better I hope, and I'll get more done. I had planned today to get a package out for a board meeting I'm having with another organization next week. That didn't quite happen. So tomorrow's going to be another lightning finish to get it out the door. Because one of our members does not do email. Yes you read that right. Because of their condition they can't look at a monitor. Or any screen for that matter. It gives them a relatively quick migraine.

Okay that's enough for now.
I shall report more tomorrow. Take care everyone and thanks for stopping by.
Patrick

Is an afterlife really necessary?

"Leave room in your life for flexibility."

I am very grateful to be alive, and for me the fact that it is limited the accident of even more value. Knowing that the "spark" will only last so long ensures that it is appreciated and not squandered.

The following is only my opinion, this needs to be made clear because this article might ruffle some feathers. I am an agnostic and while I'm very glad that the world has diverse systems of belief, culture, with an ever-growing diversity it is problematic that some need to know there is an afterlife. From a very simple perspective, nothing else last forever why should the human race be any different.

When something has a limited span there is a tendency to appreciate it more, to pay more attention and indeed learn more from the experience. If the universe (God) said "You are life, but only for a short time." I wonder how that would've changed the world? I don't think the human race would see it is a limiting factor, I think perhaps we might have a tendency to make the most out of what we have. We would still have many issues, but we would have a different perspective for sure. The concept of an afterlife turns the world into an introductory course, because you know the real one comes next, the one that really matters. This can put physical humanity into kind of a throwaway realm. That is a real disservice to all that this world is which is: "A tremendous opportunity to discover and do good." (The reader can make up their own minds as to what the values in that phrase to them.)

Humanity would be better served if we didn't expect an afterlife, but if there is one thing that will be a gift. We can still ponder the many mysteries and ideas out there. But globally for the earth today I don't think we should hang our hat on the idea of an afterlife.

Take care, let me know what you think Patrick

Never Assume Anything. Cherish Everything.

Let the sunshine in!

 Boy if this isn't the perfect article for a sunny Sunday

One of those serendipitous moments when you suddenly realize your place in the world and how lucky one is to be alive and able to appreciate and interact with the world. Indeed just a joy in the realization of the serendipity 😃.

Once again I'm going to say what I've said many times earlier on this blog [paraphrasing myself] "I have seen too many people take too many things for granted…" I am going to add to that statement "and not appreciate what they have." I had to go downstairs earlier this morning to return a phone to someone and noticed that the dining room was full of people munching on food well before the normal lunch hour. Where I live they officially only serve lunch and dinner as well as a midday snack. The unofficial breakfast is because of some additional funding founded during Covid to bring in someone to handle small tasks not related to health care. At the end of this month we lose that wonderful person and will no doubt be going back to a normal schedule. Now, I only eat lunch and dinner so was pretty much unaware of this routine, even though it is been going on for a few years. My only defence for not noticing this is that I am such a nerd I have a tendency to discard what isn't immediately pertinent to whatever project I am undertaking.

 However some of the tenants just don't get it. How lucky we all are that we are for the most part still functioning and have a support staff that the rest of the world should be jealous of. (And they probably are). Yet there are ongoing grumblings about this and that. It kind of pisses me off so pardon me will I choose to stay in a more positive frame of mind. I think that about does it for this short post. I'll include a little video so you can see my general enthusiasms. (by the way: I uploaded a full-size version of the flower at the top of this post in PNG format it is  huge about 26 MB in size but you are more than welcome to download it.)

Have a great day everyone.

Patrick

Mental Sandboxing: The Mystifying Train of Thought

 Have you ever talked with someone whose train of thought or logic appears to be rather mystifying?

Once again, as I get older and reflect on things because I have so much experience to compare the present day to I find myself noticing all sorts of nuances in how people think. The very depth at which they consider a question or probe for an answer. It is fascinating.

I have friends in the computer field, one in particular, who if you give them a question related to technology will really dig in to the issue. They frequently surprise me because they come at the solutions from so many unique angles. This coincides with my own way of thinking although I "elementary school" compared to what this person knows and understands. They frequently leave me at the end of the Friday shift with a little mental teaser on the topic of technology. They know it's going to drive me pleasantly crazy over the weekend :-)

Then I know other people's thinking just doesn't go that deep. They may consider something and really work at it but you can see when you talk to them that they deal with concepts much more superficially. Their mind appears to be just configured differently. This is nothing to do with intelligence or disability of any kind, but both people appear to process the world in remarkably unique ways.-- I may do a video before this little article is finish because it is proving to be difficult to convey in words exactly what I mean. Yes, that is what I will do. A video is in order. But for those that don't have time for such visual stimuli, please consider the following points and/or questions:

What are some of the things that mould the mind?

• Is it just environmental and an early stage or are there actual "types" of minds, the design of which is settlement different?
  
  
• Diplomats are probably critically aware of the subtleties. After all if you didn't take them into account, communication would be a disaster.

 I also suspect, that cultures which incorporate such activities as meditation and ritual might be more aware of mental sandboxing. Human beings are so diverse, more diverse than I think we acknowledge most of the time.

As artificial intelligence develops I wonder how it will view our minds? It is an intriguing thought which at the pace of things it's probably going to be addressed in the not-too-distant future to some extent. I am glad to be around on earth to witness all of this :-). Although I think the human race is in for a wake-up call. Our egos are not going to like sharing the stage with an AI.

Over the next little while, observe your friends and colleagues to really get an understanding of what I've been talking about in regards to mental sandboxing. Let me know if you agree or disagree or have an entirely different angle which I haven't even thought about.

Have an excellent day. Take care,
Patrick

Why your computer slows down and Tips for avoiding bogus software

 Tips to improve PC performance

 One of the more frequent calls and requests I get at home as well as when volunteering is a person's computer being slow and/or pop-ups appearing on their desktop. Usually after a little investigation we find that "Optimization" software has been installed, sometimes repeatedly and from different companies.While no one can fault anyone for trying to keep their device running well it is important to understand that overall these optimization products which promise you greater speed, safety, and cleaning, on the whole don't work or can in some cases damage parts of the software the computer requires to operate properly. This is particularly true if the optimization product is free.

So here is a brief list of a few do's and don'ts as well as other tips to hopefully demystify why a computer might slow down in the first place. These are focused on Windows but the general concept can be applied to any computer or other electronic device. (For the purposes of this article "programs" and "apps" are the same, just different terminology for software.)

Reasons Your Computer Is Running Slow

1. The reason a computer slows down is usually due to one of three things. They can occur together or separately:

• Too many programs are running. Frequently when you download and install something, as a convenience, it sets itself up to start automatically when you turn the computer on. As more things are added to the computer chances are the list of programs starting up automatically grows. How you stop this from happening is different for each program. One thing to watch out for is when you first install the program if you have an option to choose a "custom install" that is the better way to go. If you choose the quicker option then there is no way to tell what really gets installed or how. If after you choose a custom install if the procedure looks too confusing I would personally recommend that you do not install the software.In my experience this is the most common problem

• .If the computer is about five years or older be aware that current apps often make the assumption that they will be installed on new hardware. As a result they use up too much memory or just expect the computer to do too many things at once. By "things at once" this may be something in the background which you don't see. Regardless be patient with older computers and realize they cannot do the latest and greatest things quickly, and sometimes not at all.

• Computers and their components do wear out. The hard drive may be reaching its end of life. One of the first things are hard drive will do regardless of its kind, mechanical or solid-state, is slow down. So if your computer is getting very slow make sure to backup all your material.

 

Free Software

2. Absolutely avoid all Free programs. Unless you are very clear about what the program is and does. Any program that calls itself a "Cleaner" or "Optimizer" should be treated as suspect. Cleaning a computer is a complex process which usually involves taking out software. Same goes for optimizing. There is no such thing as a quick fix. The problem with free programs is, they have to make money somehow and so they will be installing ads and other potentially unwanted programs. If you really must have a certain free piece of software then do diligent research. While there are many good free programs out there there are literally thousands of pieces of crap.

Be also aware that many free bogus programs masquerade as legitimate ones. This is especially true of virus checkers. The best way to spot something that is bogus is to look at the webpage address. All legitimate companies will have very clear names and usually a ".com" or ".org" suffix. Again as in other propaganda the fakes will probably be at the top of the list in search engines. Nefarious companies know how to manipulate the listings. Look down the list of results and check for several reviews. If you are unsure go to an actual physical store to buy or inquire about a product.

3. Sometimes despite all your best efforts after several years especially if the computer is used every day the machine will slow down because of all the changes made. Important note: only consider doing the following if you have made a backup of your documents and other important items.

In this case you may wish to have the operating system reinstalled. All modern computers and devices have this option and it will take the computer back to its original state when you first plugged it in after getting at home from the store. Be aware it will erase  everything, which is why you need to back your documents up before hand. Before doing this to make sure that it is not a physical issue like a hard drive going bad or other component in the computer wearing out. This should only be done by a technician or skilled person.

4. On most search engines the first few results in regards to apps or software downloads are advertisements. Go much farther down the list. Once you find the product page for the item you are considering getting to another search with your favourite search engine to find reviews of the product from several sources. Please be sceptical, because once something is downloaded and installed on your machine it can be more complicated to remove it if the product turns out to be a scam or useless.

5. The best way to keep the computer running properly is to use a minimum of software. If you are installing something new consider removing something old don't just let it hang around. If you are into free games then if you can I would suggest getting a separate computer just for that. Free games are notorious for including other unwanted programs. So if you got to go to the candy store make sure you're doing it on another machine. My own personal advice is avoid installing all games on any machine you use for work.

Finally if you absolutely need or want to download a free program or app, do so  only at the company website for the product. Do not go to third party download site. There is no guarantee that these sites have quality control and they may in some cases bundle additional software in with the product you are actually intending to get.

At the end of the day, please remember that it takes money to run a website or create a program. Companies need to generate revenue somehow and that includes ads and free programs. During the installation of any software there is always a section where they ask you to agree to a license or other document. It is worthwhile to read these. You will be surprised what a lot of them say in regards to extra software or advertising.

Stay save everyone, enjoy the Internet.
More tomorrow :-). Patrick

How aware are you of your thoughts?

If you think about it, when an idea occurs to you it's a moment of mental focus. You suddenly become aware that you have an "idea" and then proceed from there. Ever wondered what's going on in your head the rest of the time? Clearly, you are thinking and doing things, and hopefully not on too much mental autopilot (See related article: Presence of Mind ).

When I was in my 20s I went to a psychologist trying to deal with my spasms brought on by my Cerebral Palsy rather than using drugs. One of the things they had me do was in the morning carry with me a recorder and then during the next session with him we would review what was picked up. There was a little prep involves in that I was asked to not hold anything back just verbalize what ever occurred in my head. Boy was it an eye-opening experience. I could not imagine a 1/5 of the thoughts that went through my head. At the time it was very negative and very emotionally based.

Now, it is my belief that when you have Cerebral Palsy it is like being a biological biofeedback machine. There is a tendency for your body to react a little more obviously to every single stressor. It literally means that you get a clearer indication of what is affecting emotionally and environmentally. I suspect in an able-bodied individual these things might go unnoticed. But together the doctrine I turned a disability into a positive, combined with the awareness of what I had been saying to myself.

In a nutshell what came out of it was, it is not the grand big thoughts you have that effect your life to a great extent, it is the small ones, the ones in the background they fly underneath your radar which have a massive cumulative effect. If you're lucky and they're mostly positive and you are probably a great person to know right now. But in this crazy world you might have also taken on a lot of baggage or have avoided dealing with things and it is built up. So I suggest you grab your self a recorder and for the next few days pick a time every day when you record your conversations and thoughts.

The routine should go something like this:

1. Pick a time which you can consistently do this.
   
   
2. Make an agreement with yourself to verbalize everything that occurs to you. This may seem odd at first but after a day or two would become second nature and that's when things will get really interesting.
   
   
3. Let a few days pass before reviewing the recording. This is to give you some distance from whatever you were verbalizing so you can listen to it a little more objectively. If you have a trusted friend you can get them to sit in with this review. It can be very useful to have a second opinion.

You will be amazed at first what bubbles to the surface.( I sure was… To this day I still remember the first few recording review sessions with my psychologist, I was flabbergasted. ) Then of course the next step is to make a plan to move forward. It is likely he will find this recording ritual in itself not only revealing but it may help to lighten your load by getting these thoughts out in the open.

When I was doing this it was all on cassette tapes and I kept doing it for a long time, ending up with a closet shelf of stacked cassettes. I wish I had kept them because they would be very interesting to review right now. How often do any of us get to listen to ourselves 40 or more years ago in such fine detail. Heck I may start a audio archive and review it a few years from now. It would be an interesting the side project :-).

Have a great day everyone and thank you for visiting. I'll be putting up a video this weekend on some topic. As always if you have an idea just leave a comment.

Take care Patrick.