Tuesday, February 27, 2007
thank you, ken holland.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
this is a picture danielle took at work.
Monday, February 12, 2007
it's broken.
At least a couple of times every week, we get a call here in the department - usually from a department secretary as relayed to them by a faculty member - stating that one of the ceiling projectors is "broken". Never do we actually get details as to how said projector is "broken" - won't turn on, input won't switch, etc. - just that it is, as said, "broken".
Now imagine that you're a mechanic and someone has brought in their car, simply saying, "My car's broken. Fix it." You might ask specifically what's broken, what's not working, what kind of strange sounds or behavior might be exhibited by the car and so on. That would be a relatively normal response. Now imagine the car's owner responding, "I dunno. It's broken." With that kind of information, do you think the mechanic is actually going to be able to do anything about the "broken" car?
Most of the time when we receive calls that a projector is "broken", it's often one of two things: the projector is on the incorrect input for the current use (video or computer) or one of the nuts on the wall port for securing the cable has come off.
Let's go back to that mechanic analogy. Here's a couple parallels to the "broken" projector.
First, the incorrect input:
"My car's broken."
"What's wrong with it?"
"I dunno. It's broken."
"Well, what exactly is the problem? It won't start? It's making a strange noise?"
"The engine won't start."
*mechanic turns key and engine starts right up*
"Did you turn the key all the way?"
"No...I didn't know I had to do that..."
Now, the lost nut:
"My car's broken."
"What's wrong with it?"
"I dunno. It's broken."
"Well, what exactly is the problem? It won't start? It's making a strange noise?"
"The screw came out of my passenger side visor."
"..."
When I think "broken", I think of something that is not working due to mechanical failure, not user error or cosmetic damage.
Is it just me?
Thursday, February 08, 2007
the nerve of some people...
Okay, let me introduce a *cough* hypothetical situation here.
You have two departments in a company that are somewhat related, but still separate. Let's call them "Dept. A" and "Dept. B". There are interactions here and there, but nothing even close to resembling regular contact. Within Dept. A, one of the workers finds another job and leaves the company.
Months later, someone from Dept. B calls Dept. A asking for the personal phone number of the employee that left Dept. A, claiming that they got a new phone and need to re-add the phone number. Dept. A employee tells Dept. B employee that the person in question no longer works here and as such, they are not in a position to give out his personal phone number (and honestly, even if he was still there, they wouldn't be in a position to give out his personal phone number without his permission anyway).
Dept. B employee protests, "But we worked together for years!" (see above mention of "regular contact" to see how misleading this statement is).
Dept. A employee still refuses to give out personal phone number of former Dept. A employee without his explicit permission. Dept. B employee still doesn't understand why Dept. A employee won't give out the phone number.
Which employee appears to be completely divorced from reality and the concept of privacy: Dept. A or Dept. B?
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
times change.
I think I went to high school with this person. Name sounds really familiar. She would have been a year ahead of me if that's the case.
Monday, February 05, 2007
pnc bank gets a gold star.
Over the weekend, Danielle and I went to Wendy's to each get a delicious Frosty. That was it and the total came to $3.83, for which I used my debit card to pay. Imagine my surprise when I arrived home and looked on my online banking statement to see two charges from Wendy's: one for $3.83 and a second for $38.33.
Wait a second. I think I'd remember if I ordered nearly $40.00 worth of food from Wendy's.
Keystroke error most likely and I assumed that Wendy's probably voided it, but that's still almost $40.00 that I didn't spend, so I called PNC Bank to make mention of the erroneous charge.
Here it is, Monday, and the charge is off my account. A resounding "w00t!" could be heard in my head. I'm pleased.
Yeah, I know, Mondays are pretty boring in these parts. That's what passes for excitement.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
new york, new york.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
someone i can respect.
You know, when on the road I have a tendency to complain about police officers who don't follow the very laws they're paid to enforce...but this guy has earned my respect, big time.
"KEWASKUM, Wis. - Police Chief Richard Knoebel says he wasn’t about to take the easy way out when he accidentally drove past a stopped school bus with its emergency lights flashing.
For violating traffic laws, Knoebel wrote himself a ticket for $235, docked himself four points on his driving record and paid the fine the next day."
Finally, an officer on the road who doesn't find himself above the law. That's something I can really respect.
Friday, February 02, 2007
citizen kane.
I'm one of those people that, despite being a film major, has never seen many of the films that people often assume everyone has seen. One of those films, I finally watched yesterday in my Contemporary Film Studies class: Citizen Kane. And from what I had heard of it, Citizen Kane was either the greatest film of all time...or unbearably boring. I expected to be on the latter end of that spectrum.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed it. I don't know if I could truly call it "the greatest film of all time" (especially given some of the glaring continuity/production errors), but I was interested in the film, even though I knew what "Rosebud" was the entire time (popular culture is a notorious spoiler). It even helped me realize where a couple homages to Kane (from episodes of Tiny Toons and The Simpsons, among others) fit into the film.
Next film I have to watch (to make up for missing my Monday evening class while out sick) is the original 1933 version of King Kong. I'm wondering how having already seen the newest Kong film will color my view of the original.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
and in response to boston's stupidity...
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