This blog is just a grab bag of thoughts and useful links. However, as the name suggests it may be interpreted by some as a wee bit challenging, if not, activist. Hence the use of the term "Left" in the title.
The views expressed are strictly my own. The mention of any software or service is not to be taken as an endorsement or criticism.
Have you ever considered the nuances that make up your decision-making process? Particularly the subtler influences, mood, personal biases, and perhaps the time available to make the decision.
This idea occurred to me while I was working on some course material for of all things in computer science class. Some of the exercises I would solve an entirely different way and what was given as the official answer. This really got me thinking about all the factors that go into the thousands of decisions everyone makes each day. We all have our own. Background routines at run almost unconsciously as we approach each situation. Most of the time we are blissfully unaware of the machinery it gets us to the answer.
On those days when one feels exceptionally focused and together the quality of the decision-making process also improves. It is surprising that more emphasis on what goes in to a person's process isn't talked about early in school. Because after all one's decisions are the fundamental building blocks of one's life.
Being aware of what makes up your own decision-making processes is a very powerful thing indeed. Especially if you take control of the subtle emotions and biases. Fiat the next time you find yourself faced with a decision. Look at what is really being brought together in your mind. Have you ever had this happen to you:
You are put in a situation abruptly (usually something new and unexpected) and for whatever reason you feel that you cannot deal with it successfully and therefore a mental block is produced. It becomes a self-fulfilling situation. But if a similar circumstance occurs at a moment when you're feeling really good about the day somehow a solution is arrived at or at the very least you are not so negatively impacted by an unsuccessful outcome.
What are the differences in those two situations? I think basically the answer to it is understanding the influences particularly emotional ones. I do know that the more present you are in any given situation the better the outcome is. The other step to take is turning off your personal autopilot with familiar situations. Just because a particular situation is very familiar to you doesn't mean that you shouldn't review and be aware of your emotions and actions for that circumstance.
Just food for thought. As always let me know what you think in the comments. Patrick
In 12 months time what would you like to achieve, that is by the year 2026?
Many, many people and an equal number of articles are written every year in January regarding New Year's Eve resolutions, but have you ever thought of sitting a goal and a timeline to assist in achieving the objective? As well as a backup plan should something get in your way.
I learned many years ago that when something is difficult it is actually a good sign because it means that transformation of one sort or another is being achieved. Human beings I absolutely hate changing preferring to stay in their default mode no matter what it is. Even if that default situation is very unpleasant for them. So as you progress through 2025, if you find things uncomfortable recognize that there may be something from the event. Modify your plans as needed but do not give up, and if you have to put something on hold, then do that but do not see it as a defeat. Simply make a promise to yourself to revisit it when you can.
For myself I just started an introductory computer science course and my ongoing goal is to slowly learn a variety of languages. I am not holding myself to a strict schedule but deliberately keeping things very pliable only promising to myself that I will return to the course as many times as necessary in order to achieve success. Because as I have learned in the last few years and overly strict schedule simply does not work when one's life is complicated and very susceptible to interruptions. Therefore my approach is to literally say "The interruptions are not a negative. They simply need to be where they're occurring. I have a commitment to myself to move on when ever possible." I shall alter whatever needs to be altered in order to achieve this goal.
I think a great deal of life can be approached in a similar fashion and by that I mean, not to overly critique your self in pursuit of the goal. But do keep a timeline and a commitment adjusting things as necessary.
That's it for this very short post. It's the first one of 2025. Many more articles and ideas to come in the upcoming days. Stay tuned in 2025 and make your own adventurers be fruitful.
This article is about optimism of the individual, but the ideas can be applied to groups.
Have you ever considered that the way you feel at any given moment is the way you think you should feel in that situation?
Think about this situation: Unexpectedly a dear friend who you haven't seen in many years calls you up. Instantly there is a feeling of joy and excitement. Now when you think about it, that feeling of happiness is not occurring due, to the fact that your dear friend is calling you up. It has to do with the decision you made when you realized who it was on the phone. You decided it was a good time to feel joy. On the other hand, if a bill collector calls, you may feel the exact opposite and again it is not the bill collector's call, it's your decision on how to feel in that context.
It is amazing when one begins to realize how much control you really have over emotions. But we are not taught to think of it that way. Most people behave as though the reaction it's outside of their control. But the reaction and indeed the interpretation of any given situation is fully within your control. So why not promote optimism as you go through your daily life. It not only will improve your well-being, it will also deepen your understanding of other people and indeed society.
"The reaction and indeed the interpretation of any given situation is fully within your control."
You are the decision-maker of interpretations.
Consider "political correctness" movement and its variants, it is not the words that are the issue, it is the value and interpretation you give to the situation. So you might as well put a positive spin on it or simply ignore whatever words are used and look for the intent of the message. Society can either choose to promote positiveness or it can go down the other road. The choice is really up to the individual and the group they are involved with.
Promoting a state of being positive it's really about taking the time to get involved with your self on an intimate level. Turn off the autopilots and consider what attracts you or repels you in any given situation. Once you figure that out you might as well start selling an optimistic outlook to your self and others. I live in an assisted living building and many people here lament that they were once able-bodied and are no longer. I remind them that rather than focusing on what they lost they should when possible look at your new situation and embrace it. They may have lost mobility but they have gained support (Our building actually has a doctor who makes house calls) The staff here would do almost anything in support of the people they work with. I know this because they have moved heaven and earth when it comes to enabling me to do various projects like repair a computer. Physically I'm slow and my coordination is in great. One day I had a computer here the needed a new Bluetooth card. I was able to direct the staff on how to put the cart in the machine and everything turned out wonderfully.
The point is, you can choose your outlook and interpretation of almost everything. Promoting optimism seems like a very useful thing to do. In the next few moments it will probably be an opportunity for you to choose how to interpret a situation. Analyse the reaction or the decision made and decide with you can put a positive spin on it. These opportunities occur many times each day and often we are barely aware of them. Treat these events as opportunities to see the glass half full rather than half empty. It is an amazing and ongoing journey.
Don't you agree?… Let me know in the comments.
Patrick
N.B. Due to technical issues, this post was written literally live
online between December 29 to the 31st 2024 inclusive. The text was
subject to change between those dates.
First, let's define what I consider "patience" to me:
It is not just the willingness to wait for something to complete or happen.
It is about being comfortable and open to the passage of time.
It is about understanding that people and things occur at different rates.
It is also about understanding one's self and others around you.
That last point (number 4 ) is really interesting and important. If you find yourself in the state of being impatient. That means that something about the situation you are in is bothering you and it is not usually as apparent as you first may think.
When I was in my mid-20s even though due to a disability I was physically slower, I would frequently get angry at people who didn't understand concepts as quickly as I could. This was missed place frustration at the physical limitations imposed by my condition. It took a long time, but what I finally discovered was the key for me is that you must be willing to go beyond your personal perceptions and consider for a moment the larger picture. Once I properly understood my physical frustrations, the impatient situations began to decrease.
So when you feel impatient about something, take a moment to look at your bigger picture. I bet you will find that there is some other component not being addressed. This is actually a very big lesson to learn: To continually alter the way you look at things. It is actually a good habit and one worth developing.No one likes to go outside of their comfort zone, so this lesson did take me a long time to really "get".
Judgements about people can also manifest as impatiences. To cover the fact that we are judging someone we simply feel impatient. Here, the answer is to look inside oneself to see what is motivating any particular feeling.
Learn not to take things personally. You are not the centre of the universe. Adults and children are spending far less time with each other in social activities. So we get used to dramatic feedback in everything from games to YouTube and this can result in a very insecure personality. Emotionally such individuals develop a need to be focused upon all the time. This is a recipe for disaster. Conversely if one understands that they are part of a larger community and that communities go through various cycles and changes you will find that there is no need to get an "Attention-Hit". So turn off the computer and spent some time with your fellow human beings. The insecurity will disappear replaced by a healthy sense of balance.
The more you understand about your self, the more you will grow and the more you will learn. The ability to be patient will grow and grow. You will also know when on occasion to not be patient. The point is you will know what true patience is.
As with all things in life, cultivating "patience" takes effort and commitment. For some of you it will not come easily because it will inevitably involve challenging yourself and your belief systems on some level. To truly understand what patience is, is indeed a journey. I can guarantee you that as you go through life your definition will change. But it is well worth the ongoing undertaking.
As always, feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. Take care, Patrick
** NOTE: The pictures "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service 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.
This is going to be a very short post because it is essentially just a question which hints at an answer.
Literally, if you can appreciate it, is difficulty in itself the thing that keeps people going and engaged with the life?
It seems that whenever people make their lives easier or more convenient there is ultimately a long term loss either physically, mentally, or emotionally. On the other hand whenever healthy challenge is present the human being tends to stay engaged and be more resilient. To give you an example:
Before voice dictation existed I would happily spend days at the typewriter. However I made a decision at some point that in order to increase my output voice dictation would be a good idea so when it finally matured sufficiently to be useful I switched. Now I find myself being very uncomfortable whenever I have to physically write something even if it is typing. It feels like a rusty skill. The same goes with basic mathematics, we all use calculators of one sort or another now. As I look at the modern world I begin to wonder if in making things to easy we have lost much more than is apparent. I have also discovered that climbing back up the proverbial mountain is much harder once you let go of the skill.
I challenge you to spend the day doing math manually, or pick a skill of your choosing. I would really like to hear your thoughts on this. I don't know if I'll do a video for this because I think at this point the text says it all.
Feel free to write some comments on this one. I have a feeling we are about to find out that it is indeed worth keeping some difficulty in your life.
Patrick
** NOTE: The pictures "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service 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.
Okay I think I finally have a handle on this question: "How Is Your Brain handling the Internet in the 21st century?" But first some background...
A week ago I was watching an interview with psychiatrist Bandy Lee (1.The YouTube interview, 2. Her official bio, 3. Wikipedia article on her) regarding how . Donald Trump (1. His bio on Britannica encyclopedia 2.Wikipedia article on him ) perceives not only the world but his inner life as well. By the end of the interview I was shocked that someone could have such a dark dystopian inner world. It did however make sense when you look at his actions. It is clear that his got some mental condition but that is for others far more learned than I to discuss.
I began to wonder about the human experience as a whole. Who's to say my fundamental way of existing, of processing reality is anything similar to anyone else's. Could it be that the shared humanity of the human race is only an assumption? There is no way for any of us at this point in time to find out whether what is going on in our own head is an experience that it shared. To be clear I am talking about this on an extremely fundamental level. Maybe an analogy will help
If you take a Microsoft Windows computer and compare it to an iMac by Apple there are many things they do exactly the same. You can browse the Internet, spend money, check with your friends, create artwork and music. On the surface it looks like only certain design choices are different more of a stylistic change than a function change. But if you look at the hardware and the actual code that achieves this it is dramatically different. Literally two different worlds of programming and yet the outward result is very uniform between the two machines. If one didn't know better one could be forgiven for thinking they shared the same "machine experience". If that is true might it not also be true for human beings?
Now, let's bring in to this discussion the Internet. If my conjecture is correct that the underpinning of the human experience can be vastly different, then would not the effects of using the Internet result in a vastly different outcome for the individual?
Another example to illustrate:
I take public transit frequently and of always noticed that people are glued to their cell phones or other media devices. Why is it that I can take it or leave it and others can't. My phone frequently sits in my pocket sometimes for most of the day and if I have no reason to look at it I simply won't. I don't avoid it, I just don't need to check it. Yet I see people all the time scrolling aimlessly or texting pretty much all the time. So is there fundamental reality different. If so we should take this into account.
I firmly believe that a child should have limited access to technology in their early years. Their brain needs to learn how to work for itself. They must develop a sense of time over which things need to occur to be achieved. There problem-solving skills must be started up and if all goes well they consider an issue deeply. Willing to put in the time to find the answer and to deal with a positive as well as a negative outcome.
If they get their hands on technology too soon I fear they become addicted to a feedback loop instead of developing to the fullest there innate faculties. What will this rob them up in their later years? I am not sure whether it's just my own bias creeping in here. The technology may indeed unlock it thereto unexpected benefits. I don't know.
I would sure like to hear from you either here on the blog or on YouTube. This is proven to be a difficult topic to define and research. So do let me know what you think.
Take care Patrick, and here's the companion video which in a very indirect way goes down the same path. It wasn't until I did the video that I was actually able to write this article because it helped me define this topic to a larger degree. So while you watch the video you will see some of my own internal world.
Take care, Patrick.
** NOTE: The pictures "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service 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.
A special thanks to Paul Stenning at The Heathkit Schematic and Manual Archive, which is where I found the Heathkit material mentioned in both the article and video.
What Have We Done to the Written Word?
Have Articles, News Stories, Books and other documents become too brief and chopped up to be truly useful to anyone looking up information?
On March 11, 2023, I wrote a short blog post entitled "Oh, for the Love of Manuals!" regarding the decline in quality of manuals and the written word in general. Not only is it sad to see the discipline of writing go downhill, I am now of the opinion that the lack of good quality material whether it be factual or storytelling has an effect on the whole person.
A lack of explanation results in ambiguity.
Think about it, an abridged piece of writing demonstrates how the author's thought processes functions. Usually showing off lack of depth about the topic at hand. Sometimes the author's train of though can be fallowed, while at other times the lack of detail is frustrating for the reader. I was perusing a manual the other day and part way through the text they they showed a screen capture of an icon. Nowhere in the text did they define whet where this icon was in the program, much less give it a name and it was a bad screen capture to boot. How did this pass into the final printing of this book? I know people like to be able to zero in on snippets of a document now, but sometimes a little more detail would certainly help. Here's an example of the icon from the manual.(Now that the image has been enlarged by four times, I can just see enough detail to recognize the icon.)
Enlarged image of icon shown.
Nowhere in the book does it name the icon, it just says what it does, and really, can you tell what it is?--I can't.
Even if your preferred choice of format is audiobooks the same issue holds true. The difference in writing in the literature created only 30 years ago is astounding. Listen to this introduction from Carl Sagan's book "Pale Blue Dot" (or read it via the Open Library). The video below is hosted on YouTube and is part of the " carlsagandotcom" channel The wording used is eloquent and accessible, whether it is read or listened to this text is inspiring. Carl Sagan took the time to describe his vision. He didn't optimize the ideas for fast consumption, nor did he make any assumptions on what the reader already knew. This is why this three minute clip from YouTube is so widely appreciated. It is a story unto itself. When was the last time you heard or read something like this? This is writing,and it achieves its goal of informing fully and inspiring.
Imagine the textbooks Carl Sagan and others read when they were going through their various courses. Difficult to read perhaps by present-day standards, but well worth the effort. Even the illustrations would be well thought out in books and manuals, for example from a 1961 Heathkit: manual. In less than a page it describes clearly the technique for proper soldering. Click the picture to enlarge:
The writing and diagrams in this manual is simply marvellous. Dare I say it is bursting with well-written information.
So how did we get from concise written guidance to "blurry icons"? One thing is for sure, in the soldering example, it is not assumed that the reader knows anything. Whereas in the blurry icons scenario the text assumes that that the reader does. It is to the point where they don't even describe the blurry image. Clearly we have gone too far in the direction of making everything a snippet of knowledge... at least they could've provided a keyboard shortcut 😀.
This overly abbreviated trend in the media and knowledge industry also has a side effect on how people learn. Especially if they are only exposed to abbreviated documents as they are beginning to think critically. Indeed how as Google and other search engines affected the way people educate themselves and the depth to which that knowledge goes, or lack of thereof.
Here's a question: How much time do you think has been invested in creating this text so far? The answer is over two hours (and a good eight hours later I am still at it) . Why, because first the soldering example had to be found, checked for copyright, and edited graphically from two printed pages down to one graphic. So even though I use voice dictation which makes entering the text for the most part rather painless, there is a fair bit of work that goes into these kind of things. The Internet is not a place to just upload things without checking. Not if you want your content to last.
But this article really is about the thought processes that are going on, as related to the use of knowledge and actually how we think. The depth to which those thoughts go and the understanding that is the result.
I marvel at minds that can seemingly just absorb and understand information. For me it's a much more effort intensive thing. I may have to go over something several times in order to really grasp the concepts. I do this willingly because it is only then your horizons expand. The other reality that must be accounted for is that everything takes time. Even though we may want to get something completed quickly, quality must trump everything else even when we are on a deadline at least to some extent. Yep in other words quality takes work.
Which brings up another point: With the ability now days for people to, how shall I put this, " Copy and Paste " just about everything you really have to resist that urge, because it can make the quality of the final product go down the toilet if one is not careful. (Have you looked at YouTube lately 👀 . Somebody post something original and within hours there are legions of copycats). However the creators that do put in the work and I can think of a few that only post every few weeks, really do come out far ahead.
To sum up. In order for people to do better in their lives they should seek out more detailed explanations and experiences. Do your best to try to get away from the "brief answer" mindset. In the long run you will benefit greatly and the experience you gain will even make your own brief answers better than the rest when you need to use them. And at the end of the day your brain will thank you 🙏.
Have a great day Patrick....
PS: Wait! This article is about to get a little longer with an example of the downsides of the overly brief approach to writing.
As many of you know I usually try to produce a short video to go along with each article. It takes time but usually the process follows smoothly. This time around however I decided to use a new tool to create the end credits of the video. I like to include all of my sources and licensing information just to keep things transparent. I wanted to create a scroll of text which included still images. My video editor was not up to the task so I decided to use an add on which according to its brief description could do exactly what I want.
The documentation however is a disaster and that includes the video tutorials all except for a few which ultimately saved the day. Most of the documentation was overly segmented and again assumed the reader was fully versed in the philosophy of use for this particular software. A simple scroll with pictures took about a week to do, and I don't know how many articles and videos I watched and read. Fortunately once I found a good bunch of videos the project was completed within the hour.
The point this_so is that all of the information is segmented and fragmented. Did the company who created the software ever sit down and really consider who the product and documentation was aimed at.?… I don't think so, and even the official material is fragmented. I'm avoiding mentioning the product name simply because it is not about the product, it is about the information supporting the product. Perhaps though the most annoying aspect of this hunt for information was the fact that the online documentation does not mention what version the information applies to.,and like all software, there are different versions over time and between computers. So I'm begging anyone who reads this… If you write documentation, please indicate right off the bat the version numbers it applies to.
The other issue is that maybe it's more a case of a fault of the search engines. A friend last night was mentioning that now days in 2024 it is much harder to find the information you are looking for online.
Basic Image generated by Ideogram AI. Text added by me.
Thought I done an article on this topic before but it's not in my database, so here we go…
I am continually surprised by how many apparently angry people there are when I look around me where I live, which happens to be Surrey British Columbia. Individuals and what apparently appears to be a perpetual "bad mood" who when you ask them actually want to stay angry. They may put it in different words, but at the end of the day you can see by how they are framing things that they really want to stay upset.
Why the heck would people want to do that? It stalls any hope of personal growth or being able to benefit from life. They also apparently want to complicate everything. Small seemingly insignificant events become full one multiperson debates. I have seen arguments over the availability of coffee and/or its strength get to the point where of their staff in my assisted living building have to get advice from the administrator. To me that's just ridiculous. I'm not talking about big changes to the coffee situation it's more about things like 6 (178 ml) ounces versus 8 (236 ml) ounce cups. The results will want to projecting going on in these arguments and they all seem to like it in a very negative way.
To be honest, I live in a facility which is far above most others that I have seen. The staff here are kind, enthusiastic and just a bit quirky 💗. It's not perfect of course because the healthcare environment is just full of rules and regulation. Sometimes that can put a damper on things, but overall the staff does an excellent job of keeping the quality of life going.
Yet for a lot of the tenants there is a malaise. Yet when ideas are brought forward to break the pattern people are stuck in there is tremendous rationalization as to "why they can't" to whatever is being suggested. ...I just don't get it. There is so much opportunity to do what ever you want and the time to do it. That's a lot free most of the world doesn't have. Yes the cost of staying here is 70% of one's income but that covers everything aside from Internet and a landline if you want it. (the land line is only $20 a month). One cannot get kicked out unless something really insane happens. Essentially people have the time to take courses if they want; we have a few libraries nearby. Because everyone here is disabled in one way or another they all qualify for discount Internet plans. I get 150 Mb per month for $30 unlimited. I mean it's insane the amount of opportunity that you just sitting there for anyone to grasp.
So what is this negative hold over people? What are they getting out of it? There must be something. I really do find it fascinating and I admit I also find it very unsettling because it is wasted potential. Now I'm not perfect and I have my own issues that I deal with, but at 65 years old I am doing pretty darn well. Most people in this building are much younger than I am. One of the things I do to balance out the negativity and stay connected with the world at large it's write this very blog. I also volunteer five days a week via a remote connection to the office of the organization. Occasionally I going to Vancouver to attend meetings but 90% of my work and duties is done right from my very desk. Still it keeps me connected with people and events and drawing value from my life.
The place where I live could be a hive of activity. There actually is an organization in Vancouver British Columbia called "HiVE Vancouver Society". They rent out space and hardware for those needing to set up a small office for their entrepreneurial grassroots business. I've never been there but I heard it's quite something. I can see the place where I live doing something similar if only the tenants would avail themselves of the opportunities that exist. Yes many of them have been through accidents which brought them here but "here" is not a bad place at all. As I said earlier this particular facility is far ahead of others I have seen. The apartments by the way are huge, I intuitively want to say about 600 ft.² (55 m²). Far larger than other organizations provide.and like I say the staff is very, very "groovy"! 😀.
I think I just figured this topic out… Why people can be addicted to anger:
As long as you are angry, especially if it's your preferred state, the responsibility for everything tends to be placed on other things or people. -- It's a short term get out of jail free card! And it's easy. One gets to ignore everything else. The trouble is of course, you don't get anywhere. There was no benefit because you handed over mentally the responsibility for everything. In that mental state, you can't even change your self. Yikes!… The person's stuck until they break the routine.
Conversely, taking advantage of an opportunity frequently involves work and commitment. The benefits however are legion. First off, the opportunity allows the person to evolve and of course the evolution takes one in uncertain but often times incredibly beneficial directions. Speaking from personal experience, I think by getting to know your self and the opportunities around you, one's health overall is much better. Because you are looking at the various things in your life. Even though I have Cerebral Palsy and am 65 years old I take absolutely no drugs. Not because I'm a Puritan, because I don't have to. (I think I may be the only person in my building who can make that claim.)
This ties into something else, I wonder if society is making things a little too easy. (See Difficulty Has Its Advantages on this blog.) In order for people to grow they need challenge that is meaningful and they need to learn the skills to benefit from such situations.
With that I think I will end this positive rant and put together a quick video for it.
Have a great day everyone. Patrick. Thanks for stopping by.
** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service 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.
Basic Image generated by Ideogram AI. Text added by me.
Yesterday I had my second person visit with the elderly client in Vancouver who is trying to learn Windows 10 on their laptop. If you will recall, during the first visit it became apparent that the laptops trackpad would not work for them. He kept putting two fingers on the pad no matter what. I would correct him and for a few moments he would be fine but ultimately his hand would relax a bit and the other figure would get close enough to the trackpad that the on-screen pointer began to do all sorts of things. If you want to know more you can read the first article in this series here and it has its own accompanying video.
I thought about this for a while and it is suggested that we try a mouse the next time I visited. I really didn't feel certain that this would solve the problem. We weren't that lucky... A couple of interesting issues arose. Have you ever considered how smooth and uniform a modern physical computer mouse is, not to mention how little haptic feedback there is? Yes, I know that the user should be focused on the screen and and therefore be able to connect the actions of the hand what is happening in front of them. But if it is a new device or for whatever reason a person is focused on in this case a physical mouse they may not see the small changes. Or hear the soft click. This was the case so I try to make things a little more obvious by putting a little bit of tape on the left mouse button just to make the texture feel a little different. That did help a bit. He was able to click on a few items on the Windows desktop. I could tell however it was taking most of his concentration. The other thing was he would often try too hard and in the process either move the mouse off the target on the screen or accidentally touch the scroll wheel.
We kept that this for about an hour. Patiently trying to do various things like closing a window, opening a window, maximizing it, etc. . They are very determined to learn this computer and I really commend them for that. Just going through this very repetitive right and left clicking of objects over and over again is a testament to their patientce.
Up until doing this yesterday I never really thought about how social the movements are when using modern devices. Think about it, when you tap something on a screen it's a very gentle quick movement and there is very little physical feedback. Personally one of the things that drives me crazy on a phone is that for me I have to look at the numbers otherwise my own fingers stray off. This is actually quite new. 20 years ago, everything was for the most part mechanical in some fashion. The first cell phones, which weighed a ton by the way, and physical pushbuttons . I had one of the early Motorola "grey bricks" (The Motorola DynaTAC) after 20 minutes of holding that to your ear, your arm would begin to ache. It was also very expensive I think around $0.60-$0.75 a minute. But the bizarre thing was if you made a long-distance call those prices were governed by agreements outside of your carrier. It was actually cheaper for me in Vancouver to phone Toronto and it was to make a local call...
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I have been racking my brain on how to best proceed. Then a friend of mine told me that they have seen people in care facilities using mice that are especially designed with the buttons a few centimetres apart so you have to use your whole hand. I'm going to try to track one down and either borrow it or at least find out more.
If we can get around the mouse problem I think my elderly friend will actually be able to benefit from the laptop. Right now the plan is to go out every weekend and I will print up some posters indicating some of the stuff we've covered. He says that would be very helpful and so that is what I'm going to do.
So stay tuned for next weekend and part three of our adventure! Take care Patrick
** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service 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.
It is clear from the reviewing the blog statistics that the way to keep the numbers of visitors coming back is in a phrase: "Content, Content, And More New Content." However if I rush out short articles Google and the other search engines frown and send the blog down to the basement of the search listings, which is not a good thing.
Nevertheless, during 2023 I did attempt to put out an article every few days and while there were a few good ones, for example "Nurturing the Creative Soul" there were also some that made me want to cringe. But I made a commitment when I started the blog way back when never to delete an article, I may tweak it a bit if I find it glaring error but the article as a whole will stand as long as this site keeps running. The whole year taught me a lesson that it is better to aim for meaningful content rather than just cranking it out.
So how to pull this off is the question. In a way that I can sustain. The video production takes the longest to create even though I very much enjoy doing it. Then of course there's all the other related stuff:
Checking all the copyright information and making sure that it is included clearly in the video. I also want to make sure that in doing so you the viewer/reader can discover perhaps new resources in the process.
There is always a surprise somewhere in the production. I keep trying to get it down to a formula but things are always in flux.
And that's just what comes to mind at this very moment. My intent has never been to make money, although I would never say no to that. 😀. So rest assured I'm just going to keep on going.
There was a recent request to make a comparison between Linux and Windows video. However I am not going to reproduce the same "Geeky" production which is overly detailed. I'm thinking about a split screen approach where you accomplish a task. It could be as simple as watching a YouTube video Or using some graphics program to edit a photo. We shall see what I come up with.
There will be an update on the blog sometime Monday, September 2 when I have the next segment to the "Perception Throughout The Ages" series which deals with in a broad sense how a person's perceptions alter how they work with the world. Briefly I am working with someone who has a very different way of looking at reality and I am having to teach them the very fundamentals of using a computer. There is more information in the current article,.
I am heading out to see them on Saturday, August 31. Currently I'm trying to develop some sort of very informal lesson plan. The idea of small posters with key points on them of how to do very fundamental things had occurred to me but after seeing their room in the facility it became apparent that it is far too small to clutter up with things even on the wall. Well, I'm just going to have to be adaptable and make this work.
So this is my way of saying stay tuned and please bear with me as I discover and uncover all sorts of things as I go through each day 👍.
Take care Patrick
** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service 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.
