At Home with Tech

February 18, 2018

Use these 7 Tech Tricks to Free Up Time

Tick tock. That’s the sound of your day not being spent the way you want. Here are 7 ways to reverse that soul-sucking trend.

I don’t know about you, but there never seems to be quite enough time to get it all done. Sure, we’ve all got the typical obligations that come with 21st century life. But there are also so many “electives” to explore.

Time is still a finite commodity.
(As far as I know)

So, the trick is finding ways to be more efficient with it. Yes, there are countless folks talking about this very topic, but I’d like to just zero in on how technology can be your friend and help you squeeze some precious minutes back into your day.

Think you know it all? Well, to be sure…
Here are 7 tech tips to help you focus more of your life into your happy zone:

#1
Order Stamps Online
Why would you ever choose to waste a fraction of your existence in the post office buying stamps?
The lines are endless. It’s like Purgatory in there.
Even the stamp-dispensing square autobot will drain your life force.
Why not simply purchase your stamps from your home computer?
It’s wicked quick…

#2
Withdraw More Cash from the ATM
Yes, there was a time before time when there wasn’t easy money on almost every corner. But today’s 24/7 access to an ATM is a mixed blessing. Who wants to always be thinking about where the nearest one is when you need twenty bucks?

I know this idea may not appear like a fiscally responsible suggestion, but if you can control your spending urges, I think you should withdraw more cash than you think you want.

Here’s the trick:

For those of you who haven’t fully embraced our cashless society yet, try visiting your favorite ‘magic money box ‘ less frequently… say once a week. Take out enough cash to get you through this interval and pledge not to return for another seven days.
Rationing the use of this tech will save you time and can prevent you from going to the well more than your budget dictates.

#3
Shop for Your Groceries Online
I know… it goes against your hunting-gathering instincts.
And there’s a delivery fee.
But not having to go to the supermarket,
then not struggling with that damaged cart,
and not having to wait on a long line at the checkout…
Isn’t that worth a few bucks?

#4
Avoid Greeting Card Aisles
Stop feeling like you have to troll for greeting cards at the local CVS or Walgreens.
You know what I mean… searching up and down that forest of disorganized generic thoughts. Finding that perfect card, only to realize there’s no matching envelope, and having to start all over again.
It’s no longer a badge of honor to say to your loved one… “I spent an hour looking for the perfect card!”
(My mom used to like to say that.)
There’s got to be a better way!
Well, of course there is…

Go to Touchnote, Paper Culture, or even Hallmark online.
These websites contain virtually all the greeting cards you could ever want.
Plus they’ll mail them for you!
Whoah…. Now that’s really a paradigm shift.

#5
Don’t Wait On Line to Pay for Parking. Go Online!
Remember how you felt right after you missed that train, because you first had to wait online to pay for parking?
Let’s erase that recurring stomachache from your life.
Use an app and pay on your smartphone.

I use PayByPhone.
Brilliant…

#6
E-ZPass or Bust
All right, who here doesn’t have E-ZPass yet?
Please stand up and walk upstairs.
Now go to bed…. There’s no dinner for you.
And the rest of you should go get a good night’s sleep too!

Before you start your snooze, you should probably check in on your E-ZPass account just to make sure it’s current.
You don’t want E-ZPass to list the car you owned a decade ago.

#7
Greenlight Your Own Reruns
If you’re a blogger, repurpose ideas from older and underperforming posts for the other 7 billion people who didn’t read it the first time around.
(What? You hadn’t noticed?)

Now, you’ve suddenly got time to prepare to go skiing with your family!

See ya…!

February 11, 2018

My Life in 10 Seconds

We snap birthday pictures to celebrate the passage of time. So why not string together all of those birthday photos to create a visual story of your ongoing life? And then how about creating a fast video sequence that captures it all in 10 seconds? Would that actually work? I decided to find out…

I had this crazy idea a few decades back that I would pose for a photo on every birthday and hold up my fingers to identify each new age I was sporting. And then at some point, I would stitch together all of these pictures into a blistering fast video montage.

Decades of my life to date in 10 seconds. Whoa! How cool is that?!
Well, it’s my birthday. And this year, I’ve decided to give it a go…

Are you ready? Here it is…

So, first off… while collecting my photos for this sequence, I realized that I didn’t have access to many of my pictures from before Y2K. The ones I could locate were hidden in buried photo albums and photo boxes… in the attic… in the basement. Many more are still in my father’s apartment in New York City.

And if you think I’ve complained about digital photo organization, my jaw has been hanging open at the disarray of my analog-only photo prints.
(I switched to digital photography in 2000.)

Sure, my mom created some great photo albums when I was a kid, but I haven’t yet digitized most of those pics.
(That’s going to be quite the project!)

All this said, I feel somewhat satisfied that I was able to pull together all of my birthday pictures from 30 years old on and a few from my earlier years.

And I’ve come to the realization…
…that my little visual opus is actually not as interesting as I had anticipated.

Birthdays are for the Moment
Experiencing birthdays can be exhilarating, because they’re your special day. I remember how important those early parties that my parents threw for me felt. Even the birthdays I’ve had as an adult have been lots of fun.

But looking at this montage just doesn’t capture any of that energy.

Perhaps once I get all of the years together… Version 2 may take on a more time-travel-like quality. But the reality is many of my birthdays took place at home. Cozy, but hardly revealing of anything more.

At best, you get you see my aging process. And that I can count on my fingers.
(Actually in some years, I reversed the numbers on my hands.)

This sequence doesn’t tell the story of my life.
At all.

What’s the Background?
I thought a bit and realized that the missing ingredient is context. Each of these pics only represent me at the same moment year after year, but they don’t say much else.

A series of the photos that captures my various ‘adventures’ should reveal multiple chapters in a larger story.
(Where am I? What am I doing?)

So, I turned to my Adobe Lightroom photo library and poked around to pull together a separate set of pictures from my adult years, and this is what I came up with…

Well, this certainly provides a lot more visual depth, but which photos to choose can become a mind-boggling process, even if you had organized access to every photo ever taken of you.

And the time it takes to intentionally pick only a few from the hundreds of choices…
To do this thoroughly, it could take someone a whole lot of time to do.
(So, let’s regard this as an early draft.)

But before moving forward to properly complete this multi-decade project, I still felt the design was not complete. There was something else missing.

It’s Not Only About You
Anyone’s life is defined by the people around them. You need to include your own personal community to build out your visual story with any sense of authenticity!

So, I went back again to Lightroom and pulled together a third set of photos that didn’t really focus on me, but on some of the people in my life…

I know it’s mostly a blur with way too many faces to focus on.

At best this version provides just a feeling. An impression of a life to date. Of the many folks who’ve been on the journey with me at different points in time.
(And this version is absolutely incomplete with lots of missing family and friends)

But I think this third design has the most potential…

Which one do you like the best?
(Perhaps a combination of all three?)

Look Back Before Looking Forward
So clearly, I still have more work to do on my “life in photos” project.

But you might be asking yourself why you should also commit to such a complex archival endeavor.

Well, first off… I think a photo sequence housed in video or animated GIF form (especially if it’s slowed down a bit) can be an amazing way to organize and share your most important pictures.
(My 10-second exercise can easily be adapted into a more leisurely pace.)

If you want to find a way to tell your story, this is absolutely one method to use!
And if you’re not sure about your story, this can be a great process to figure it out.

The truth is anyone’s story is constantly evolving, and a little context is always helpful. And this type of project forces you to evaluate your journey on an ongoing basis.
(Or at least every year)

I think it’s always important as you look forward to take some time to look back.
You might remember a few things… a few people… a few moments.

It can help remind you who you really are.
…Who you’ve always been
And who you will be…

And isn’t that the best birthday present you can give to yourself?

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February 4, 2018

One Science Fiction Fan’s Bucket List

“Star Trek: Discovery” has created so many questions as it wraps its first season that you may need a 23rd century display panel to keep track of its complex plot. But that’s not entirely unique in the world of sci-fi storytelling…

So, I must admit I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the first season of “Star Trek: Discovery.” I know I had my doubts early on. But the CBS All Access streaming series came out of the gate strong, with its own fresh style, superior special effects, really interesting characters, and great acting (Sonequa Martin-Green, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp). It’s also displayed a whole bunch of plot twists and a compelling, gritty pace.
(And I’ve loved the extended stay in the Mirror Universe.)

“Discovery” has firmly established itself as a new and different Star Trek while not ignoring its own heritage.

Sure, the young series is not perfect, and all of our heroes aren’t exactly shining examples of the Federation’s finest. But that’s what makes the show all the more interesting.
(I still question the choice to drop the F-bomb.)

More Questions are Piling Up
As for what has sometimes been a confusing extended plotline and a threat to Star Trek canon, it’s evident that what doesn’t make total sense early on has been better explained in later episodes. That said, there are still lots of questions that need answering…
(What good TV series with ongoing mystery isn’t chock full of question marks?)

My one suggestion to the writers is to just be sure not to create too many loose ends. Because it can be difficult tying them all up. Now, I don’t expect everything onboard the Discovery to be all nice and tidy anytime soon, because season 2 has already been announced.

But plenty of other science fiction TV series and even some with extended runs have had difficulty wrapping up their major storylines.

So we don’t want history repeating itself.
(Unless it’s part of the space-time continuum)

No Conclusion
With all of the storytelling flexibility that sci-fi allows for, it’s amazing how much unfinished business remains.

Usually this frustrating problem for viewers crops up, because a TV series gets unexpectedly cancelled. Similarly, a movie may come out with important cliffhangers that don’t get resolved by a sequel that’s never made.

Now, I get that the economics often require the sudden end to a series that’s not cutting it in the ratings. But without a conclusion to the underlying story, that’s clearly an extremely unsatisfying situation for any fan.

So if there are any Hollywood producers out there trolling for reboot ideas…
Here’s my bucket list of marooned science fiction stories I’d love to see resolved. And I don’t mind that that we’d likely need to reimagine some of the content and hire new acting talent.

Maybe it’s not a whole new series. Perhaps, it’s just a one-off.
But just finish the story!

“Lost in Space” (1965-1968)
Do the Robinsons and Dr. Smith ever find their way back to Earth or to Alpha Centauri?
(Even the writers of the 1998 movie with William Hurt and Gary Oldman, hoping for a sequel… never answered that question!)

“The Starlost” (1973)
(This is the one with Keir Dullea from “2001: A Space Odyssey”)
What happens to the giant space station ark? Do they save it? Does it burn up?
(I think Seth MacFarlane may have already presented his own answer in “The Orville” episode “If the Stars Should Appear.”)

“Space: 1999” (1975-1977)
Do the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha ever find another planet to live on?
Or do they just putter about their Moonbase Alpha forever or until their resources run out?

“Sliders” (1995-2000)
Does the team ever get back to their universe and their own version of Earth?
(I know by the time the series was cancelled, no viewers in any universe cared anymore… The cast had almost completely been replaced by then, but come on… Getting back home was the whole point!)

“Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002)
Yeah, we lost Data in this final “Next Generation” movie, but there’s a big cliffhanger we’ll apparently never get to see resolved: Does B-4, Data’s earlier (and less evolved) android cousin ever grow to essentially become Data?
(Data shared his neural engrams with B-4.)

“Tron: Legacy” (2010)
What happens after Sam and Quorra escape the Grid and get back to the real world?
Now, this is a sequel the producers could easily do, because “Legacy” is so recent… if Disney decides to finally green-light it.

Any more to add to the list?

Those That Stuck the Landing
If it’s beginning to look like major loose ends are a natural byproduct of sci-fi storytelling, that’s not always true. Here are a few TV series that successfully finished their major narrative arcs…

And yes, except for the original “Star Trek,” all of the subsequent Trek series had their finales.
(But what really did happen to Deep Space Nine’s Captain Sisko?)

And I regard “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country” (1991) as the original crew’s wrap party.

So, with the exception of the TNG Data storyline… “Star Trek” as a whole has done just fine.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be so concerned about “Discovery?”

Infinite Possibilities
But the irony about “Star Trek: Discovery” is every narrative door that closes appears to reveal the existence of a new one. We’ve been introduced to the idea of parallel universes (in the plural) and (Spoiler Alert) time travel with the spore drive via the mycelium network. That opens up so much!

Now, since there are (Spoiler Alert) Mirror Universe character crossovers in this series, I want to go find Prime Lorca!

Make it so…

Just please keep track of it all.

#HappyTrekkie

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