Winter 2014 February 16 Sunday

39 degrees.  Still seems colder than that, I guess the continued cold has gradually seeped into my  body infrastructure.  Or more likely, the 85 degree weather I enjoyed last Sunday through Wednesday spoiled me!

I had a problem with my MacBook Air, basically concerning use of iMessage and FaceTime.  I called Apple and was amazed at the time and care the Apple representatives took to resolve the problem.  I started with one and was transferred to a more experienced specialist (I assume).  He kept working on the problem.  After I advised him I had an appointment at the local Apple Store "Genius Bar" he asked me to contact him and tell him what the problem was so he would recognize it in the future.  I don't think it was an act, he felt a real concern that he couldn't solve the problem and it bugged him!    I went to the "Genius Bar" where the "Genius" worked on it in a very dedicated matter until he found the problem, which was a fluke type of cause (my clock time was set incorrectly due to me traveling to another time zone and the program refused to work since the time showed as the future, which didn't compute, or something like that!.  I e-mailed the Apple representative and advised him of the solution.

This holiday will honor my favorite President and historical figure, Abraham Lincoln.  I actually have an extensive library on him and have read a lot of books on him.  While in Washington D.C. last year, I went to his "country house", where he spent a lot of time by himself, or with friends, to get away from the White House.  I never tire of reading about him.  Partially due to my being in Tennessee, partially my reading about Lincoln and partially due to a wonderful tour of Gettysburg, I have also read a lot about the Civil War.

My newspapers arrived "on time" Saturday and Sunday so hopefully Friday was a one-time glitch.

Winter 2014 February 1 Saturday

55 degrees this morning.  Actually the forecast is for colder weather, although it should reach 60 degrees today.  In my "second place"  (Starbucks) on a Saturday morning. Busy weekend and week of preparing for several events.  

While computers are wonderful, sometimes it is just easier to read printed material, so I got a new toner cartridge and printed out some material I need to review.  

Disappointed to learn the the lack of volume in my (less than six month old) MacBook Air has a defect that Apple Computer is ignoring.  I almost never use volume on my MacBook, so I didn't even realize it was a problem until this week.  On reviewing various Apple Computer sites, I learned it apparently is a defect in the computer. However, I am heading to the "genius bar" and will see what I can find out.  Of course, as usual, the Genius Bar appointments aren't available until next Tuesday (this is Saturday), so I'll see if I can get in for a no-show.  In addition, I found out that the ocassional problem in signing out of Gmail (which is an irritation) is ALSO an Apple Computer problem that they are trying to blame on Google.  I may need to rethink my loyalty to (premium priced) Apple products after my experience last week!  

Speaking of "trolls", I was surprised to find that Google/Youtube had blocked my music on a Youtube video (which is when I learned about the volume problem on my computer) because some "copyright troll" was claiming the copyright on the music.  However, it is totally original music (with some Garage Band music that is all in the public domain).  I went to protest this and of course received a threatening note from Google that they would cancel my account if I protested and they found in favor of the copyright troll!  Welcome to 1984, except big business is the villain. I will probably protest anyway, because it just isn't right that some troll company goes around claiming copyrights they don't have.  Probably try to extort some money of "grant" me use of my own music!  And of course, Google is there helping them along, I"m sure for a good sum of money.

Reminds me of some music outfit that kept trying (in my opinion) to extort "licensing fees" from the City.  I received numerous calls that were basically veiled threats that they would attack us legally if the City didn't pay "protection" fees (sounds like the Mafia!).  Of course, they had some fancy name for it (licensing fees" or something like that).  Even an attorney said it was "easier to pay", but I never paid and won't, since there is no way the City was using any music copyrights.  The tyranny of the computers and big tech companies and, like always, someone trying to find an easy way to get money.