Life in the fastlane

I am thinking about upgrading (from dial-up) to a faster internet connection at home.  (And yes, the world may be coming to an end — I’ve resisted this for a long time!)

I absolutely do NOT want to use my cable provider for internet service — I don’t even want to use them for my TV but I don’t have choices (other than to cancel cable altogether, which I may do if I can get my two favorite cable shows over the internet instead).  I also don’t think I want to use my current ISP for a faster connection, though that is certainly an option (it just requires more equipment).

My preference at the moment would be to use the phone company’s service.  (The phone company starts with an A and has some T’s in it.  You know the one!)  They are offering high-speed internet service for free for six months right now (I like free!), and though I’m sure there are strings attached to the freeness (like you have to sign up for their service for 100 years), I was thinking of using them anyway, so free is just the icing.

Do any of you use the phone company for your internet service?  Any thoughts or warnings?

The internet is not a toy, Revisited

Several months ago, I wrote about how I joined two social networking sites (and quickly un-joined one of them) and I ranted at some length about how they are not for me.

I still think that…mostly.  But I have to say that there are a couple of things that I really enjoy about the one I stayed at, which I will call GraceLook.  The very, very best thing about it is that 9 of my 12 cousins on my Dad’s side of the family are on it, and I’m getting to know them much better than I ever did before!  Most of them update pretty often, and it’s fun to see what they are up to and to tease each other about things.  I have to think my aunts and uncles and my grandmother (who are also on the site) think it’s fun to watch us cousins interact too.  So for that reason alone, it’s worth keeping it up.

I’ve also reconnected with a group of my best college friends, which is wonderful.  When you’re friends as a group, but never see each other in a group anymore in real life, something like GraceLook is a nice re-creation of groupness, if you know what I mean.

I continue to avoid the bells and whistles of the site, not taking quizzes or linking to videos or becoming a fan of things.  But to the extent that the site improves relationships with some of my cousins and dear friends, I appreciate it a lot.  So, I’m not as ranty as I was before. 

The internet is not a toy (to me)

Years ago, during a post-op visit, I mentioned to my ob/gyn that I shouldn’t have watched “Will and Grace” while I was still recovering, as it hurt my incision to laugh so much!  She said, “You watch comedies?  They just seem like such silliness to me.”  This, from a 30-something woman with a great sense of humor!  It seemed like she was being such a fuddy duddy.

Well, now, I am going to be a fuddy duddy on another issue.  Within the past month, I joined two online communities that I swore I’d never join, but two people whose opinions and advice I value had encouraged it again (and they are persistent).  So, ok, fine.  I’ve got time (ha!), so I’ll give it a try.

The first online community was a total disaster, and I un-joined very quickly, and nobody (well, almost nobody) was ever the wiser.  We won’t discuss that.  The second online community, whose name rhymes with GraceLook, is not as much of a disaster but I don’t like it as much as the world seems to think one should.  I don’t like feeling like I’ve gone underground.  I don’t want to add another venue for communicating with groups of people, as I’ve found group talk takes time and intimacy away from individual relationships.  I don’t see myself joining groups, taking quizzes, becoming a “fan” of anything.  The only thing I do like is that it gives me access to people who have not been communicating much via their blogs or e-mails, and so I won’t worry that they’ve died or are suffering in some way when I don’t hear from them.  (It’s in my genes to worry and to assume the worst!)

And with all this, I’m realizing that my relationship with the internet is (and always has been) very business-like and purposeful.  I use the internet to the extent that it makes my normal everyday activities a little more efficient (e-mail is quick!).  But I’ve only very rarely sought entertainment from the internet (no music downloading, no YouTube watching), and I don’t browse or surf or participate in the “silliness” very much.  It just isn’t my thing.  My things are math and gymnastics and Disney and dancing!

So, to those who have friended me at GraceLook (*giggles*), don’t expect  a lot.  I’ll keep most of my business at wordpress and via e-mail.

Just called me Fuddy Duddy.

Reading, schmreading

I spent another weekend reading and reading, and I am again going into the week not having started the reading for one of my Tuesday classes.  Sigh.  Do I get any extra credit for the fact that I’ve already done the reading for one of next week’s classes (because I have to lead discussion on it)?  Of course, next weekend, I have to read an entire dissertation, separate from our usual required readings, so…

I actually have a Google account now.  For one of my classes, we have to create this huge spreadsheet and the only thing that made sense was to use Google Docs.  So, I gave in at long last.   It’s all downhill from here…  Next thing you know, I’ll be getting a cell phone or a Facebook account.  *scary music*

I had a small fit today about being treated like I’m invisible.  I think I’m crabby.

Only 17 minutes until Monday.  Woohoo?

Friday Firsts: First experience with e-mail

I graduated from high school in 1991, and a lot of my friends were math geeks.  One in particular, who we simply called T, was also a major computer geek and had many computers in his basement.  (He now works in computer geek land out west.)  In my yearbook at the end of senior year, he wrote a nice long note, and at the end he signed his name.  Under his name, he wrote this weird string of characters with an “at” sign in the middle.  I thought, What the heck…?, but didn’t pay much attention to it.  I thought it was just T being T.

Almost three years later, I had befriended another computer geek (imagine that!) and he was talking to me about electonic mail and how you can use a computer to send messages instantly.  Instantly!  You just have to know an address, written with an “at” in the middle, of the person to send it to.  At that time, commercial internet service providers tended to charge by the hour (remember those days?), and I had no funds to pay for something like that.  But this guy knew of some “freenets” and was able to hook me up with one in Traverse City, Michigan.  I could dial up locally and then telnet to Traverse City, and they gave me a goofy login that had nothing to do with my name.  But I was hooked up and ready to go, all at a rate of 2.4 kb per second.  Woohoo!

Those of you who ever telnetted know how hilarious that process was.  Because it was a live and slow connection, I’d often type and then wait for up to a minute or so for my words to appear on the screen.  I couldn’t figure out how to send or receive attachments, and I had no ability to format the text at all.  It was all very old school.

But I had e-mail!  And I knew T’s address (from my yearbook) and a couple of others, so I typed out some e-mails with the subject line of “Greetings!”  When I hit ctrl-X (the command to send), the system asked if I wanted to save the message.  I said no.  T wrote me back shortly and said he wondered if I might have something to say besides “Greetings!” — apparently when I said I didn’t want to save the messages, the messages were sent blank except for the subject line!  Lesson #1 in e-mailness.

I continued to telnet for nine years, though in 1998, my parents got a commercial account (by then the companies had wised up and offered unlimited dial-up for a low fee), so I was able to send and receive attachments through their account.  But until I got my own paid account in 2003, I lived with impossibly slow telnet connections because I was so attached to my beloved Traverse City freenet account.

It’s amazing to think back at how much e-mail changed my existence at that time, opening up instant (and free) communication to friends far away.  If I was having a bad day (which happened a lot in the 1990s), I could vent to friends and get virtual hugs in response right away.  I actually still appreciate that about e-mail today.

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Also participating in Friday Firsts this month are:  Jenn and Kathryn from my blogroll, and Denise (friend of Amie’s).  Did I forget anyone?

Wireless, baby!

My advisor’s grant purchased a laptop computer for me with all the latest bells and whistles, including of course, wireless access to the internet.  I was finally able to get the computer this morning.  So I’m coming to you live from a random table in a random building via wireless technology.  It’s a crazy world!

That wacky e-mail

I’ve been reminded several times this year that you need to be aware and sometimes careful of what you say in e-mail because the person receiving it can forward it to anyone they want.   Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes a bad thing, sometimes just a freaky thing.

On Thursday, during one of my orientation sessions, I was asked to talk about what my research interests are.  As I spoke, I could see one of the faculty members getting really excited about my ideas and he had a lot to say in response.  I wanted to continue our discussion by e-mail, so I sent him a message yesterday to expand on my thoughts.  I was pleased when I got a nice response from him, and I enjoyed reading his comments and feedback.  After I finished reading the message, I looked at the header of the message and noticed that he had cc’d my message and his response to the Dean of the college.  The DEAN?!!  Whatever happened to asking someone, hey, would you mind if I shared your thoughts with this all-powerful administrator [whom you should bow to and kiss his/her feet on every occasion possible...]?  There was neither enough bowing nor feet kissing in that message.

Home Base

I have had the same homepage in Internet Explorer since I got my computer in 2003.  It was the start-up page for my e-mail server, and I never actually read that page or use any of the links on it or anything.  So, about a month ago, I finally decided to change things so that my homepage is one of the sites I visit regularly anyway.  Seemed ideal.  Except now…I keep hitting that little house icon and expecting to get back to my old homepage (the one I never read or used for anything).

I keep hitting the button, hitting the button…trying to go home.