New technologies

I don't think I am a technophobe at heart, but sometimes the pace of new technologies gets the better of me.  I was the first in my street to own a PC in 1987, an Amstrad with one of those tickertape printers (do you remember those?).  I had a personal web page in 1994  (it took hours to craftt).  And I thought then that the future of theworld began with the prefix www.

The integration of mobile phone technologies with computer power has completely bemused and frustrated me.  I delayed buying  a smart phone for years.  After I did it soon dawned on me that I was (am) not smart enough to use it.  Its taken me years to learn how to use GPS, partly based on the fear of raising huge mobile data charges).  I resist downloaded any apps because I don't want to use my google e-mail accounts (I have a dozen because I don't remembe the passwords figuring I'll never use them again).  I don't know how to load pictures directly fom my phone to my blog and it is too much hassle to plug the phone into my PC when I get home to uplaod them. When I tried to set my mobile to receive e mails from my e mail set up with domain name it corrupted my account  with my host provider, necessitating three hours of phone calls from  an edge the edge of reception area in Entre Deux Mers (which meant sitting in my car runing my laptop off of its battery close to a reception point)  and the provider in the Netherlands.  The tail is definitely wagging the dog.

Sometimes its good to go back to techologies you understand.  Like this one.  While Iwas cooking a mixed up a jar full of Gomasio.  The trick is to just up a crush a bit a time.  Pour two tablespoons of sesame seeds  into the mortar and sal to taste and grind to a coarse powder. The scent lets you when each batch is ready.  A technology that engages more of the senses.    

You'll need an adapter for that, sir

Do you live in one of the houses that don’t have electricity sockets to run the essentials of life – so you have snakes of five-way adaptors everywhere?  My laptop is getting like that – all the USB ports are occupied –mouse – printer – dondle- which means I have to unplug one of those to plug in a camera or a memory stick or my external hard drive.  And this model is only six months old!  I need the equivalent of a five way electrical extension to be running at full speed and not be unplugging and plugging in various bits of hardware….

I am proud that I got my dondle up and running last month – and even overcame the problem of resetting my SMTP (allowing me to send mail through my e mail handler rather through a web based facility).  While the later works OK it is less than optimal.  No spell check, only basic text formats (no highlights or italics etc., available) and slow upload and download procedures.  All these are quite important for an editor! So while using a web based e mail application can be OK if you are away for a few days it was good to get the e mail package fully functioning.

The great and really surprising thing about my dondle is it actually costing me less to use than a fixed internet line.  I get 20GB via a SIM for 10 Euro.  As long as I don’t stream movies or video clips this is substantially less than I would pay for a fixed internet cable.  I charged it almost three weeks go and it is still going strong – far less than the 30-35 E per month going rate charged by fixed line internet suppliers.  True it takes a minute or two to identify the device and connect and it sometimes has bad days when the connection breaks – but in general it seems like a rather good deal.  

Tom Tom turn around

The last few weeks I have been going out quite a lot with my tom tom. I found her (the voice is programmed as female) a great passenger: she never criticizes my driving ability and never complains if I question or overrule her navigational advice. Eventually I decided to take her on holiday with me: always a testing time for a new relationship, especially when it involves being cooped up together in a car for an eighteen hour drive. I learned a lot more about her temperament. Turns out she's a bit bipolar (yeah - I have a bit of history in that respect). Either she wants to go the fastest route or else she takes down the smallest roads imaginable. I had a hint at this side of her when we went to London together and when I turned off the motorway to avoid a long tailback she responded by taking us up some narrow twisty lanes that I never knew existed (although we were some 20KM from where I had grown up).
After twelve hours on the motorway to the south of France I decided I wanted a break on some A-roads (Routes Nationales) and she tried to take me along the most direct route which, on more than one occasion involved going up or down steep, dusty, lanes into what looked like people's backyards. Still we made it all the way to Aix-en-Provence without an argument- but once there my temper got frayed. I had some paintings to deliver to a gallery in the heart of the old city. Unbeknown to me there is just one access road for cars to that quarter. That Saturday it was closed for filming. All day. Every time I was diverted by the police and road blocks the tom tom, politely but insistently, tried to send me back the same way. I went to the same road block three times. Eventually the police explained that the road was the only access road and advised me to return after after 12. I tried again at 3 and the road was again closed. Eventually I returned at 6.30 and got to my destination- only to find out that the people at the gallery hadn't been told by their office (whom I had spoken to the previous week) to expect a delivery. So I was parked in a street wide enough for two horses, trying to resolve this problem in French while my parked car bought the entire centre of Aix to a a halt. The French - being French - were not slow to express their displeasure at having their streets blocked by a Dutch van. It was as if France had won the World cup (fat chance...). Eventually I resolved the problem and got my ass out of there but didn't want to speak to my tom tom for three days afterwards. Next week (this week now) I have a human passenger sharing my car for a week - I wonder whether the navigation will go as smoothly.