Category: Tech

Categories
Behavior Being Experience Interwebs Tech

Long Hiatus

I have not posted to this blog in years. A combination of factors complicated my ability to gain access, but I cannot deny that the true cause is my tendency to procrastinate due to my compulsion to make things perfect. My underlying fear: that my expressive writing skills have declined from lack of practice.

It is true that my closet webserver, that formerly hosted this blog, grew so old that it could not be upgraded without a full wipe. It is true that I needed to be able to backup–and be confident that I could restore–the database and files before attempting any software upgrades. Without a backup/restoration protocol in place, potential new posts ran the risk of being lost. It is also true that the deadlines of my past job were so demanding that the last thing I wanted to do after meeting them was spend more time in front of a computer monitor attempting to draft coherent thoughts. Lastly, it is true that I have gotten out of the habit of reflecting on events in my life that would make for interesting blog posts.

Well, I want this to change. I miss journaling and I see now that the process of recording events required careful reflection. The act of reflecting often enhanced my appreciation of life. Of course, I would like this enhanced appreciation to resume.

So, I moved this blog to a dedicated cloud host where I no longer assume the burden of hardware upgrades so that I can maintain the support software (e.g. MySQL, PHP, Apache, WordPress) more easily with less risk. I’ve setup automated backup to a different cloud provider and verified my ability to perform a restoration if need be. And most significantly, I’m in between jobs right now with the intention of getting my life back in order on my terms; blogging is one of them.

Now that I am well-positioned to blog, I declare here that I will write and post at least three posts a week–no matter how mundane the subject–to get “back in the habit” of reflecting on life events by writing about them. Previous obstacles that have contributed to my procrastination are now gone. Here, I make a commitment to getting back in the practice, so I can hold myself accountable without excuses to hide behind.

Categories
Culture History Mythology Tech

Techno-worship, American-style

Likely more prescient in 2022 than it was when first published in 2011, Morris Berman cites the argument of British philosopher John Gray to support his (taboo) thesis that our unwavering, unquestioning commitment to technological progress has been a crucial factor in the downfall of American society. Whether by slow-burn or sudden death-knell, our end is certain because, as Americans, we are unwilling to abandon a myth.

Theories of progress, says Gray1, are not scientific hypotheses but rather myths, which—like the Christian myths of redemption and the Second Coming—answer to the human need for meaning. This is why we refuse to let them go, regardless of what the evidence might suggest. It is also why, in the United States, the commitment to technology goes much deeper than fueling consumerism, lubricating the socioeconomic system, and keeping a lid on class conflict. Without this belief system, Americans would have literally nothing, for it lies at the heart of the American Dream and endlessly vaunted American way of life. Strip away the illusion of unlimited growth and the country would suffer a collective nervous breakdown. (This is key to why Jimmy Carter had to go: he was pushing the limits of American psychological tolerance, asking a nation of addicts to confront their dependency and change course.) Globalization, along with neoliberalism, according to Gray, is merely the latest incarnation of this illusion, and its deep religious roots account for the ferocity of its adherents, even after the crash of 2008 gave the lie to the notion of unlimited development through the free market economy. We want to believe that the future will be better than the past, but there isn’t a shred of evidence to back this up. In particular, as I shall discuss below, scientific progress doesn’t translate into moral progress; one could reasonably argue that just the opposite is the case. Truth be told, concludes Gray, we are even more superstitious than our medieval forebears; we just don’t recognize it. Nor is it likely that we shall abandon these beliefs. It’s utopia or bust, even if the odds are heavily weighted toward bust.

Berman M., Why America Failed: the roots of imperial decline, 2011/2014, pp. 82-83 quoting Gray, J., Black Mass, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007

Categories
Tech

Ringing Endorsements: User experiences with the LG L38C

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Amazon.com users gave this phone a mean average of 2.2 out of 5 stars!!!
Amazon.com users gave this phone a mean average of 2.2 out of 5 stars!!!

I composed this entire post using LG’s bottom-of-the-line assemblage of digital garbage that bears the model label L38C.  Please believe me, the word aggravating doesn’t adequately capture my experience.  My friends have endured months of my whining about the “PoSness” of this device.  It appears my experience aligns with the majority of users who have been unfortunate enough to encounter this Google-bloated, pseudo-functional monstrosity birthed from the shelves of Wal-Mart.

 

“At first I was really happy, then I tried to install apps. The first one went fine, then the second didn’t load. System memory low.  This would be a decent phone with more memory. It comes with a 4GB SD card that the phone doesn’t even try to use. I seriously question the reviewer who says they got 18 apps on the phone.“

-Hebert “mechanic and pilot”

“I wanted to like this phone. Really, I did. I have small hands, and this was the perfect size for me. I loved the shape and overall feel of this phone. I bought the white one and I loved the color. It was a great little phone, before I turned it on….

…Overall, I’d rate this phone as a poor piece of crap.  I got rid of it the same day I bought it…”

-A. Pearce “E.A. Pearce”

“I had this phone for a year and hated every minute of it. the memory space is crap. It lags if it downloads updates is full of useless apps you will never use and can’t ditch.”

-corina

“The storage is TERRIBLE, I have 4 apps, 4!! and it says my space is full and wouldn’t let me receive anymore texts if I didn’t delete something. I can’t even add all most contacts because there’s not enough storage, I’ve only got 10 contacts in the phone… Yes, I’ve tried clearing the cache AND moving the storage around, and most apps also won’t move. The phones memory capacity is 157 MB…”

-Leslie

“The camera is also pretty craptastic, even in outdoor lighting. I wouldn’t  recommend anyone buy this phone though, as you won’t be able to utilize it’s features to their full potential.”

-TishM

“Horrible phone! Won’t download ringtones, battery dies in a fraction of the stated time, etc, etc, etc. All sorts of little problems that add up to one big inconvenience. This is a phone that was definitely NOT designed to be used with the Tracfone service…”

-Dale

“Within hours of receiving and updating my phone, the system memory was full. I have spent days uninstalling apps trying to find ways to move things around, uninstall pre-loaded programs to free up space–which it won’t let you do, all to no avail.”

-Chris

“I would give this phone less stars in the review, but you have to give 1. I picked one of these up and this thing is a fixed bloating phone. By that I mean: it doubles up bloatware.

…The keyboard is trash and frequently stops functioning, as well as the phone dialer. And in order to properly use the phone: you can’t [let the] memory [get] too low or it will bug things out and lag so much it’s unusable.”

-rockinfilmmaker44

“This is without a doubt the worst phone that I have ever used…

…The proximity sensor is buggy and will frequently turn off the screen while you are trying to input numbers such as extensions or menu options on automated phone services. Do yourself a favor and stay far away from this PoS.”

-Randall Perot