Digital Wishes
Let me just say that I love all things that a computer can do --- on the internet and off. I’m a Mac user and love my Macs. I have Window’s machines in the house, so it’s not like I’m a total snob, but I am very passionate about Apple products.
But I tell you, if it can be done on a computer, I’d rather do it that way. Photos, video, writing, banking, shopping, communication. I get my news on the Net, rent my videos on the Net, listen to the radio on the Net. I’m an iTunes addict --- I love buying music that way. I get really miffed if some artist doesn’t have their CD on iTunes on the Tuesday of it’s release-- just forget about it, I'll buy something else. I’d rather send an email than call on the phone.
And can I just say that wireless internet is brilliant! Any where around the house I plop, I can fire up the Powerbook and I'm there---Live on the Net. Technology is so awsome.
But there are still things that I haven’t done in the digital realm that I think would be fun to try, but I just don’t have the time or cash to venture out.
LAN Parties: This one is severely geek. If you don’t know what these are, it’s where all your geek friends haul their computer gear over to one person's house or somewhere and they network them all together. Then they play some game all at the same time together with each player adding their participation from their own terminal.
Like if it was some sort of a battle game each person would have a soldier in the game and everyone would be on the same virtual playing field. They could battle each other, or a common enemy or form teams. It’s like a big paint ball battle with out the mess and bruises for days later.
MMOG: This is kinda like the ultimate LAN party over the internet. It stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming. World of Warcraft is one that I have been told is really excellent. You take on a character in a Lord of the Rings type world, and the people you are playing with, or against, are people from all over the country and the world. And you can chat outside the game world while you are playing.
iChat/AV: This is basically video chat. I have a Canon Optura that I can hook up through the firewire port and use Apple’s new video chat software---when I can afford to buy it. And I've gotten onto this website called iChatFinder that let’s people find other people around the world who are also looking to have a video chat. They post profiles and if you subscribe, then you can get peoples screen names so you can IM them and schedule times when you can get on the video. Sounds very exciting, and I’d love to get some experience with it so I could talk my out of town relatives into hooking up some video eqpt so we could talk over video instead of the phone all the time.
Email my Wife: I know what you’re thinking. “What?? Email your wife? You’ve done all this computer stuff and never emailed your wife? What kind of a pig are you?” Let me explain. My wife, by choice and assertion, is very nearly entirely computer illiterate. She has no desire to be online. She can’t even type, so the one time she did get online to try IMing with a friend she hadn’t seen in a while, she got frustrated at not being able to put in her comments fast enough. So I ended up typing for her and she dictated her comments. But then she got frustrated with me because I would add things or edit what she would say.
But I really would like to be able to send little sentimental notes to her through the day from work. But I can’t.
We did strike a deal though. She loves working in the garden and the yard and doing some landscaping and things, and me, not so much. So we made a deal that for every hour I work outside on things with her, she would spend a matching hour letting me give her computer lessons. And she agreed! That was very cool because I know I would have ended up working out side anyway, but she was being sweet and giving me some incentive to maybe enjoy it more. So she owes me a couple hours that I worked after we made the agreement (and before it got too cold--did she know it would get cold so fast after we shook on it?).
But we haven’t had time for her to sit down and play on the computer yet. So we’ll see. But a guy can dream.
But I tell you, if it can be done on a computer, I’d rather do it that way. Photos, video, writing, banking, shopping, communication. I get my news on the Net, rent my videos on the Net, listen to the radio on the Net. I’m an iTunes addict --- I love buying music that way. I get really miffed if some artist doesn’t have their CD on iTunes on the Tuesday of it’s release-- just forget about it, I'll buy something else. I’d rather send an email than call on the phone.
And can I just say that wireless internet is brilliant! Any where around the house I plop, I can fire up the Powerbook and I'm there---Live on the Net. Technology is so awsome.
But there are still things that I haven’t done in the digital realm that I think would be fun to try, but I just don’t have the time or cash to venture out.
LAN Parties: This one is severely geek. If you don’t know what these are, it’s where all your geek friends haul their computer gear over to one person's house or somewhere and they network them all together. Then they play some game all at the same time together with each player adding their participation from their own terminal.
Like if it was some sort of a battle game each person would have a soldier in the game and everyone would be on the same virtual playing field. They could battle each other, or a common enemy or form teams. It’s like a big paint ball battle with out the mess and bruises for days later.
MMOG: This is kinda like the ultimate LAN party over the internet. It stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming. World of Warcraft is one that I have been told is really excellent. You take on a character in a Lord of the Rings type world, and the people you are playing with, or against, are people from all over the country and the world. And you can chat outside the game world while you are playing.
iChat/AV: This is basically video chat. I have a Canon Optura that I can hook up through the firewire port and use Apple’s new video chat software---when I can afford to buy it. And I've gotten onto this website called iChatFinder that let’s people find other people around the world who are also looking to have a video chat. They post profiles and if you subscribe, then you can get peoples screen names so you can IM them and schedule times when you can get on the video. Sounds very exciting, and I’d love to get some experience with it so I could talk my out of town relatives into hooking up some video eqpt so we could talk over video instead of the phone all the time.
Email my Wife: I know what you’re thinking. “What?? Email your wife? You’ve done all this computer stuff and never emailed your wife? What kind of a pig are you?” Let me explain. My wife, by choice and assertion, is very nearly entirely computer illiterate. She has no desire to be online. She can’t even type, so the one time she did get online to try IMing with a friend she hadn’t seen in a while, she got frustrated at not being able to put in her comments fast enough. So I ended up typing for her and she dictated her comments. But then she got frustrated with me because I would add things or edit what she would say.
But I really would like to be able to send little sentimental notes to her through the day from work. But I can’t.
We did strike a deal though. She loves working in the garden and the yard and doing some landscaping and things, and me, not so much. So we made a deal that for every hour I work outside on things with her, she would spend a matching hour letting me give her computer lessons. And she agreed! That was very cool because I know I would have ended up working out side anyway, but she was being sweet and giving me some incentive to maybe enjoy it more. So she owes me a couple hours that I worked after we made the agreement (and before it got too cold--did she know it would get cold so fast after we shook on it?).
But we haven’t had time for her to sit down and play on the computer yet. So we’ll see. But a guy can dream.
posted by Will at 10:10 AM
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