Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

Oh look, she's back. The lady with the Sponsored Facebook post that might be about Tesla and stabbing -- or not (DW) (LJ):



Same triple threat retreaded low information click bait info repeated three times. But it's a new picture. What IS that thing? At least the last time I recognized a portable generator.

Wait, this isn't the same person. Because further down in today's Facebook feed we get a rerun of the Sponsored FB post I displayed from Evelyn Hernandez on Monday:



Oh Christine Bishop, you're a copycat. If I'd had doubts that this wasn't a clickbait scam, they're gone now. And nice touch that both these "ladies" are blonds.

Sigh. I can see I'll be getting more of these "posts" in my feed for days now, maybe weeks.

I swear we need a better class of scammer.

Dr. Phil

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

Been updating my class websites the last two days, including the exciting new webpage on the FREE online Physics textbook we're adopting for PHYS-1070 from PHYS-1130/1150. It's not secret. Hell, I've included the URL in case any of y'all want to take a look at or download a nice introductory Physics textbook. On the campus WiFi last week, I was able to download the High Res PDF (102MB) onto my work Kindle Fire HD is about six seconds. Nice when the WiFi is the limiting speed and not the Internet connection. (grin)

With more and more online use, I once again tried to input additional information into the Course Description system. There are boxes for Class Webpage, Syllabus, Required Materials, etc. Textbook is handled by the bookstore, though -- and it leaves a blank for the Online textbook. And the Class Webpage line? I've put in URLs before, but I'm damned if I know where it displays that. Of course, I'm not a student, so I'm not entirely sure what display they get.

So I put all the information into Required Materials field, which does display.

Naturally it doesn't handle line breaks, so it stuffs three lines of information into one long line. It's 2015 guys, can't you handle a few basic editing tasks?

As for why we got an online FREE textbook -- from Rice University, no less -- I checked out what the bookstore said for the textbook for the University Physics II course for scientists and engineers:


They should all have the textbook already, if they've bought it. But $300? Geesh.

Another task I did today, as we're closing in on First Class Day, was to download the current class rosters. They'll change by the time we get to Week 1, but they should be 80% or more correct now. And then I looked at the Requests to Join on the closed Dr. Phil's New Physics Class on Facebook. Results were just about what I expected. 1 of the 10 new requests was registered. The other nine? They're from wherever -- mainly people who join all sorts of groups. One belonged to 1697 groups. They're trolls and scammers. Of course, I wasn't expecting anyone just yet -- you have to have found the class webpage first. And since that doesn't display on the course information page...

I could open up the Dr. Phil's New Physics Class on Facebook. Mostly what gets posted is reposts of stuff, to keep the site active. But we DO discuss problems and exam questions and other stuff, and it allows Messages from students, so I really don't want to open it up to the Wild West.

Lots of little details. All of which make for a semester start. I guess.

Dr. Phil

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

As I've said before, this blog is as much for my own journal as it is to inform and have fun and rant with y'all. So this entry is definitely in the You May Not Notice Or Care About This.

Back in December 2011 I added a Dreamwidth blog to my LiveJournal blog. They're the same, actually. But I write in Dreamwidth and crosspost to LiveJournal, because DW is easier and doesn't burden me with crap. I then put a link to Facebook. Originally, I kept linking to LJ and not DW, because Facebook/Dreamwidth was very irregular about including either icons or pictures with the link. But then I realized that if you don't have a LiveJournal account and you're not logged in or have a cookie set, then LJ is rather nutty about putting up pop-ups begging you to join LJ. And since I hate having to deal with crap like that myself -- I didn't see it normally because I have a permanent LJ account -- I switched to putting the Facebook link with Dreamwidth.

Whew.

Bottom line, I had changed my links because it was nicer to you guys.

You may also have noticed that at the bottom of posts for a while, there has been the following block -- this one taken from the previous post:

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

This serves three purposes: (1) It's consistent with a lot of other blogs, which list WordPress or LiveJournal or Dreamwidth or their own blog. And identifies the original source. (2) If you came to the entry on say Dreamwidth and wanted to make a comment where you have an account on LiveJournal, it's easy. (3) It means I have both LJ and DW links available to me ***, for when I want to link to...

Say the previous post (DW).

HOWEVER...

Effective with the previous post (DW) (LJ), I have now officially reversed the order and specifically label both links as DW and LJ respectively.

On the first of April LiveJournal suggested that you Invite your friends back to LiveJournal!. That this attempt to regain some of their eyeballs they've lost over a number of bonehead moves and updates, especially since LiveJournal Release 88 (see icon above), ON THE FIRST OF APRIL, tells you why I choose to help my three readers by directing them first to the Dreamwidth post, but still give them the LiveJournal option.

For those of you on LiveJournal, most of my (very few) comments I get on posts come on LJ. Or Facebook. Only a few on DW. So I am on LiveJournal checking Recent Comments and Friends Page daily. Rest assured, that's not going to change.

Whichever is convenient for you, the dear reader. But I did want to mention the change.

That is all.

Dr. Phil

*** NOTE: There is a small window of time where I have to post a new entry to DW and the following fields don't have the link addresses in them yet, because the post number isn't assigned until it's posted... And then I have to update it. Got it? (grin)

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

Dear LiveJournal,

Release 88, in a word, sucks. And you're hearing about it. The Release 88 post has over 8000 comments (120+ pages), and very few of them are saying "Good job!" And there are nearly a thousand comments in the Release 88, Paid time extension post.

Usability has been lost, some of the new "features" are distracting or even migraine inducing (!) and the readability of comments has been significantly degraded. Release 88 needs to be rolled back and Never Spoken Of Again.

I've never posted a comment in the LJ release postings before tonight. Or put in a complaint ticket. Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

And in case you're wondering, yes I have a paid Permanent Account. And Paid time extensions to compensate for service problems don't do me a bit of good.

But It's Not Just LJ

Google Gmail desperately wants me to switch to the New Look -- I've been getting a little box suggesting I Switch To The New Look before they even told me what the New Look was. And when they've gone ahead and switched me, I've so far been able to Temporarily Revert To Old Look. The fact that you even have such a feature suggests that you know there are problems.

Changing buttons from DELETE to icons -- shouldn't that be my choice?

And in case you're wondering, yes I'd probably pay for Gmail service at this point, if they offered me control.

For Free, Expect Less

The latest versions of ZoneAlarm seem to have gotten rid of the little meter that showed when data was inbound/outbound over the net. This was very useful for diagnosing problems and attacks.

And in case you're wondering, yes I use the Free version, because the paid versions offer duplication of services I already have or things that I do not want.

Even The Innocuous Can Be Bad

Facebook is soon supposed to be rolling out Timeline. Being able to read through all most posts and actually find things and links that I made? What's not to love? Except I read today that it may be that ads will be inserted in between your comments, rather than on the sides.

That strikes me as tacky and distracting, but worse, it makes it look like I'm endorsing whatever ads happen to be showing up. And I object to that. Somehow that doesn't seem to be social interacting.

I Don't Want To, But...

Because of the Release 88 debacle, Dreamwidth is apparently offering new accounts without invite codes. I really don't want to have to mess with crossposting or multiple semi-incompatible blogging systems -- just as I don't want to waste the time to roll my own or switch to WordPress -- but when I glanced over there I remembered why I hadn't done Dreamwidth in the past. Trying to figure out which paid points system would convert over my current LJ blog. Sigh.

Inheriting Windows 7

I brought home Wendy's laptop and desktop, which are both Windows 7 machines. Office 2010, or whatever it is, is incompatible with my files from Office 95 Professional. And to install Office 95 Professional, I have to create the Windows XP Penalty Box, either using Microsoft or other tools. And Windows 8 won't even have that option, as I understand.

Folks, it's 2011 and almost 2012. I shouldn't have to keep converting my file formats every couple of years and I surely shouldn't have to upgrade my word processor to add non-useful functions at the whim of MS or anyone else.

Upgrades Can Be A Force For Good

There are times when versions have to change, especially when the technology is young. Windows 1.04 anyone? (evil grin) But after a while, you get to a point where you can use something... for years. Change for change's sake. Arrogant upgrades to support someone else's contrary design ethic doesn't fall in the category of good customer relations.

What all these people seem to forget is that I use my computers. Me. I do not buy computers solely so that Anti-Virus can take over my machine at will to update. Or to switch from software which works to software which is either buggy or looks bad on the screen.

Software and service providers need to start consider that they have to be nice to me. Or I'll take my ball and go home.

Dr. Phil

Google Buzz Message

Huh. Just got a Google Buzz message on Gmail. You remember Google Buzz. It was supposed to be something like the Google version of Facebook? Or was it Twitter? See -- now I can't even remember. Maybe it was Facetwit.

I mention this because it is the 5th of April -- and the last Buzz message is dated January 30th. Does this mean that Google Buzz is really and truly dead now?

Not that I used it much, at least for initiating messages. I have LiveJournal, Facebook and a couple of closed message boards for that, along with Other People's Blogs. But I'd get a dozen or so messages a week, at least I did during 2010, and occasionally make a comment back. But really, only a handful of people ever seemed to use it.

Which Is Rather Remarkable In Itself

Facebook ain't perfect -- not by a long shot. But it has its billion users and I probably have linked to 100-150 people I know. So Facebook is convenient and it works, more or less. Now if they'd just leave well enough alone and not change how it operates every week -- and then not tell anyone about it! Aside: The one that really annoys me is that if you hit ENTER in a comment, you enter the comment, you don't get a carriage return/new line. For that you need to do Alt+Enter or something totally non-intuitively obvious. As in nobody types that way!

But Facebook is usable and Google, which has done so many things right in their endeavors, especially their search engine (Hell, Microsoft thinks it's good enough to power Bing.) and Gmail, has struck out at least twice now with FaceGoogled competitors.

There Is No Static Configuration Any More

Of course the rad new kids are no doubt using other things. And for all the twittering twits on Twitter, I don't have to use Twitter to get the feeds on Facebook or LiveJournal, so I get its benefits without its time suck. And whatever we all are using here in the 2011, in the future, like say 2016, we'll all be using something else which most of us aren't even aware about yet. (grin)

Or not. (double-grin)

Dr. Phil

Actually, These Are Pretty Good

Nick Mamatas posted this link on Facebook -- Five Star Wars Updates.

You're welcome.

Dr. Phil

More WindyCom To Come

... but right now I'm going to post about a few things that don't quite deserve their own individual postings.

November in West Michigan

You know I seem to recall a number of days of rain in a row, but that might have actually been in October. At any rate, the local weather people are commenting that if things continue as they have, then this will be the warmest and driest November on record. Hmm... well, I know I've commented that it seemed like we had November weather in October (minus any snow this far south, though they got some in Northern Michigan) and October weather in November (minus any real HOT Indian Summer -- like 80-100°F). They've also been looking at the weather patterns to the west and north to comment on when the earliest possible snow might come. At this point, they're now saying that the Sunday after Thanksgiving, 29 November 2009, is the earliest we might get some -- and if we did it could be a pile -- otherwise we'll get no snow in November at all and none til into December.

We're Free!

Apparently while I was off to Chicago, the big I-196 rebuild between 28th Street and 44th Street has begun to wind down and on Friday night they let the eastbound traffic onto the new pavement and have more than one lane. By today, Tuesday, all the barriers were gone so we had all the westbound lanes. Only annoying thing is that there weren't any speed limit signs anywhere in the former construction zone from where I got on at 28th Street, so is it still 60mph or have they let it back up to 70mph?

Other than the slowdown and the narrowness of the lanes, this hasn't been bad going west/south on my way to Kalamazoo. But the shift over to one lane on the east/north return leg has frequently been a bottleneck -- and heaven help everyone if there's a breakdown and everything comes to a crawl or a wreck where there's no shoulder and everything comes to a halt. Of course, NOW I don't have any 6pm commitments back home for the rest of the semester, where I have to race back from K-zoo. (grin)

A Slump

Today, Tuesday, I went to open my office door and it only opened maybe eight inches. One of my legendary piles of boxes had undergone a partial slump and was blocking the way. Fortunately, it did open up enough that I could get a hand in there and move boxes out of the way -- they're mostly Amazon boxes of papers and so not very large -- and I was able to get in on my own. With minimum swearing and grumping. (grin)

My office was probably a storage room when it was designed, but has been an office ever since I got down to WMU in like July 1992. However the door has still got its heavy duty closing spring, so I suspect that the janitors shove the door open hard to work against the spring and opened it too far. Wonder if they heard the landslide after the door shut? Or whether it mysteriously happened in the middle of the night.

We'll never know. But one can speculate. (Actually, I've already speculated some on the boxes in my office, having published a story called "Boxes" in the CrossTIME anthology Volume 5 -- grin.)

Facebooking

I seem to recall that the average number of Facebook "friends" that a person has is around 300. I have less than a hundred -- looks like 91 right now -- which is more than fine with me. Someone the other day was linking to an article which suggested that people can only keep track of about 150 friends in real life, and so since they had about 300 Facebook friends, they wondered which half they should keep and which half they could dump. (double-grin)

Some people are pretty prolific, including those who crosslink everything in Twitter and LJ. There was free WiFi in the hotel this weekend only in the restaurant (with some signal leakage into the lobby area), and when I went to look at Facebook late in the weekend, there were something like 314 new updates. Yeesh. I decided not to look at that until I got home. (triple-word-score-grin)

The thing about Facebook is that is just barelyacceptable to use. They upgrade things all the time, without warning, and just about when you get used to one way they display stuff, they change it. And everyone seems to hate the new versions... a lot! Which makes me wonder whether FB ever bothers to have anyone look at their update versions before inflicting them on people. Or whether there was ever a canonical version of Facebook that users actually liked.

For me FB is a time sink which still has some utility. I have a Facebook group for my Physics classes, and while there's not a lot of posting there, I do know that when I make updates that a lot of students do see my announcements, so it's still worth it. And the regular personal Facebook is a mashup of groups: NU alum, MTU alum, Grimsley HS alum, 2004 Clarion alum, WOTF XXIV alum, other SF/F writers and fans, other library people and, last but not least, family.

I set up a LinkedIn account recently, in order to be able to read someone's page, but so far I've not found it otherwise terribly useful, plus it's weirdly implemented. Wow, a social networking system that makes Facebook look good. (grin) Besides MySpace. (evil grin)

Dr. Phil

Don't Make Fun Of My Post Office

It all started off as just a comment on my Facebook page.

Philip Edward Kaldon
They were putting up the word "United" on the building that will become the new Allendale post office this morning.
Thu 5:34pm · Comment · LikeUnlike

Mrs. Dr. Phil at 6:18pm May 21
cool! I thought I saw something PO-box-like through the windows the other day!

Friend at 7:30pm May 21
i take it y'all are excited to be getting a post office... is that right? so you can stand in line and pay ever increasing amounts for stamps?

Another Friend at 10:30pm May 21
Awwwww!

Philip Edward Kaldon at 11:09pm May 21
We have a Post Office, but it is very small and the parking lot is physically dangerous. Right now Allendale Township is split over seven different zip codes and post offices. The hope is eventually the township could be unified.

Mrs. Dr. Phil at 11:30pm May 21
Neither of us has actually ever set foot, in 17 years, in the post office that is actually associated with our zip code... it's in the boonies somewhere the other direction from which we have any reason to travel most days.

It's not that we didn't have a post office, it was just small and at times difficult and even dangerous to access. And idiots would drive the wrong way into the tiny lot. And it was on a busy intersection, etc.


Coming Soon

The new post office is in the shopping center built just the other year for the Family Fare grocery store. Parking. Access from both M-45/Lake Michigan Drive and 64th Avenue. Central location. There's a lot to recommend about it.

Alas, I suspect based on some other newfangled post offices I've seen that there'll be a few issues. That glassed-in lobby with the P.O. boxes? I'm betting it'll get hot and stifling in the summertime. And I'm not sure they're going to move the old P.O. boxes. There's something about the old brass-and-glass box doors that I've always liked.

Progress. Like entropy, you can't deny it and you can't fight it. (grin)

Dr. Phil

Anniversaries in Internet Time

Thursday I got a notice that LiveJournal is 10 years old. So, was this news on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday? Nope, they noted that Facebook had turned 5 years old. Well isn't that special?

Actually, that LJ started in 1999 and Facebook in 2004 is kind of interesting. I'm not sure when I started running into LiveJournal entries while running web searches. But it was slithytove's reporting from the 2004 Clarion workshop -- I learned a lot about what was going on at Clarion and I was there and my room was across the hall from John's! -- that got me reading blogs and then in 2005 I started this LJ.

I avoided Facebook for the longest time, especially because you had to sign up to use it -- no, try it before you buy it. But then Mrs. Dr. Phil got involved and I decided to set up a Facebook group for my Physics classes. Though I've only had about 3 questions so far, I feel better for having an easily accessible place to interact -- the class webpage is terribly important to the class, but it pumps info only one-way.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Ol' LJ and newcomer Facebook.

Dr. Phil