Concept of Self

I feel like the act of blogging is deeply personal.
Some folks manage to make it "all about the (food/art/sport/you-name-it)," but so often the author's personality intrudes, or in many cases a blog's entire existence is simply a shout into the void, "Ego sum!" or something like that... my Latin is pretty rusty.

It's been awhile since I've posted to this blog, although the technical wonders and parenting moments I tend to write about still abound. I'm working on an exhaustive list of automotive gas mileages (and electric ranges and efficiency ratings) that so far seems oddly lacking from the online world, but that's a pretty big project. My boy would like to think he's four years old already -- he snatched a candle saying as much out of the display while cutely pushing his shopping cart in our local grocery store (pic). Also, he knows more about engineering and the sciences than I probably did at ten, or twenty for some things. From cooking to simple levers and flying birds, I do what I can to coach the boy, and the rest he learns often as not from tearing things apart. 

Like father, like son I guess.

Obviously I think he's great.
OK, end ADDled cute kid moment (I'll restrain myself from including any pictures of good old Howie Dog) and back to talking about myself, which is the point of this post.

Anyone who's ever Googled themselves only to discover, to their horror, that DOPPELGANGERS HAVE STOLEN THEIR IDENTITIES probably knows what I'm talking about here. If you scope out the new "about me" bar on the right side of this page, you may notice that the current (7/20/2013) blurb is essentially a rant about people who aren't me.

According to the wonders of the internet, there's also a Matthew Wise in Colorado scamming single women for child support, the retired baseball player who spent just enough time in the show to snatch the Matt_Wise wikipedia entry, and even someone else who has the gall to participate in triathlons (although if you may note, I'm the one who's usually in the top ten percent of finishers ;) http://athlinks.com/racer/results/151486255).

Sorry to brag; it's just I feel so insecure. Honestly, I may not be the most important "me" out there -- maybe the Maryland psychologist has done some good work, or perhaps one of the people behind the 142 other hits on LinkedIn has done something of greater note than almost finish a Bachelor's degree in English.

It's kind of sobering; maybe I'll have to start that stand-up career or enter astronaut school after all.

Dinosaurs, Desktops, and Other Relics

I've already established that I might never buy a traditional TV or internal combustion engine ("ICE") car, and now find myself wondering about the venerable desktop computer. My school is leaning toward the "all-in-one" format for some computer labs, smartphones are on the rise, tablets are stealing marketshare from netbooks from laptops from desktops.

Even console computing is experiencing a resurgence in which a user has direct control over little more than a mouse, keyboard, and monitor, while storage and processing are largely handled over a network or by another remotely-connected device. Does "cloud computing" ring a bell for anyone?

Having fried my own little netbook, I recognize that desktops are still superior for flexibility and upgrade options, but wonder if they'll wind up dinosaurs maintained only by gamers and "power users" who need (or think they need) a half-dozen or more drives, or heavy-duty graphics cards.

I think that if a format other than desktop ever cracks the general business / commercial threshold, then desktops will certainly see downgraded prestige, but for now they're (barely) hanging in there.

The future makes a whirring sound.

It occurs to me that I might never buy an internal combustion engine car (hybrid maybe) or a TV (computer monitor with speakers maybe -- see poll in sidebar). This is somewhat shocking and mildly comforting. I mean, the zipper has been around for a hundred years (thanks, Statesman!), but not everything gets so good a run.