When is a flash drive not a flash drive? Today I bought an unusual device that converts a SD flash memory drive into a USB plug. I’ve been lugging my old non-functioning Jazz camera around for a couple months so as to use its memory for transfers. I was hunting for a new digital camera when I found this handy article costing just $4.29. You are reading from it right now.Like all products it is not perfect and with USB you can blame just about everyone who builds them. The plugs are not “universal” which is another story, but also, computer manufacturers tend to place the plugs right beside each other. Only narrow-throated connections can be made without hunting for a pigtail. That’s got geek-think written all over it.
Those with weak stomachs can skip today, I have two subjects that can kill an appetite but are otherwise harmless. Like any bicycle rider, I have my share of scrapes. Today one of them on my arm turned ugly although it was only a surface scratch. The clinic looked at and applied an antibiotic salve that put me right out of commission. An hour later it caused a puffy reaction (similar to hydrogen peroxide), weak knees and a considerable headache. This lasted all afternoon. Yet they tell me it was nothing serious. (Years later, the rough spot never healed.)
The second topic is a book I’m reading called “Bones To Ashes” by a writer of considerable talent named Kathy Reichs. I can’t decide if she is a writer or a forensic anthropologist because she is fantastic with both metaphors and gruesome, hideous details. Avoid this book ye of weakness and nausea, she really gets into detail. The back cover of the book is missing (so no bio) but she certainly is highly educated in medicine.
Something doesn’t add up, mind you. The book is full of short references to Canadian geography and French phrases. It is only a guess but I’ve seen this type of “education” before. There are provisions in the Canadian tax code that if your parents are already rich enough, you can perpetually go to school in the USA on the backs of the Canadian taxpayer. The book is great, don’t get me wrong, but like I said, this level of knowledge is usually reserved for those who went to school until they were like 35 or something.
[Author’s note: nothing destroys my respect for an author faster than having gotten a free ride, and that is what I smell. I am not saying fat-cat rich kids should not write books. I already said the book is great. But when one becomes an expert in several fields off daddy’s money, then merely great is not good enough. I’ll look into her past a bit more. I’m just saying for now I’m suspicious.
Ah, I found it. There is something that sticks in my craw about a lady who publishes a book in 2006 with her picture taken in 1971. That gets my goat.]
Another book I picked up was about teaching yourself to be a standup comic. I’ve known for years comics were trained, not born. Too much of their material conveys the same mentality. For years I’ve meant to read up on it to see what gives and this is my first chance. After all, I come from a family where everybody except me was well-adjusted, honest, minded their own business, respected the privacy and property of others, and had an incredible sense of humor. Just ask ‘em.
I’ve found the elusive listings of Morse code clubs. Of course, I will choose one with a paid membership. Having to cough up a little dough instantly weeds out the half-wits who are self-admittedly, you know, well-adjusted, honest and that type of thing. I took time to examine the offerings. There is plenty of clever code out there, including an application that lets you use the mouse button as a telegraph key and another that displays your output from the standpoint of the far (receiving) end.
That last one is interesting, if only as an eye-opener. The fact that this software even exists says a lot about people in general. Remember my true tale about the phone company rejecting voice-to-text products (such as Dragon Naturally Speaking). You see, when employees could read back what they had spoken, they complained constantly that the computer was making them sound boring and half-educated.
In the end, I could not find a decent digital camera in my price range, which is maximum $29.99. There is no need for anything more expensive if the goal is web publication. This blog is proof of that, if you’ll recall my trusted Argus, veteran of some 8,500 photos. Too bad they quit making that one. Now, in the pre-Christmas stretch, finding a bargain is going to be more than tough. Even Big Lots is displaying cameras that start at $49 and Office Depot at $99.
[Author’s note: if camera makers were not acting in collaboration, I estimate a camera with every feature I need should sell for $5 bucks. Megapixels do not result in a better picture on a computer. They simply make the picture appear larger, in many cases much larger than the standard computer screen. The world awaits a reputable camera maker who explains this instead of pushing ever higher pixel (picture element) counts on the unsuspecting public. And who markets a camera with a setting “for on-line use”.]
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