Just Plain Bill

I was “still” wondering…

I guess I was so concerned about just how transparent my Internet activities are, that I succeeded in repeating the post for another week. My bad!

I'm continually reminded of the pace of technological evolution continuing at a breakneck pace, threatening to overtake even the most skilled computer user, especially challenging for one who has learned how to use a computer in a self-taught approach, moving from a call-in Epson, through the blinking green images in DOS, and appreciating the gooey interface brought by Apple.

As my work on my Thrive at 65 project, this generation gap is a significant obstacle, as it's more than just learning a new application, but is grounded in a lack of the what I've called the technological aptitude deficit, an extremely difficult deficit to address.

More on this later!

Just Plain Bill

When you can’t do what you want to do

I’ve been so used to having plans I’ve made turn out, that when something comes up I can’t control, it’s a real test of my ability to consider alternatives – or just my ability to have to accept what can’t be changed.

This situation was experienced this week when Southwest Airlines, my favorite air carrier and the one I’ve used without a major problem for over 30 years, had a computer meltdown and prohibited me – and thousands of others – from completing a planned trip.

We had driven to the airport in plenty of time to check in, but I was greeted with the word “CANCELLLED” when checking on the gate for our departure. I was also greeted by over 200 people standing in line at the Southwest counter, with most of them in an acute stage of irritation.

For those waiting to talk with a Southwest agent, there would be no resolution of their concerns. None of Southwest’s computers were working. And, the one agent roving throughout the line was telling us all that the extremely rough estimate of when things might return to normal was early in the morning of the next day. (I didn’t know this problem had been building for at least 24 hours.)

The drive from our home to the airport is 60 miles. Our alternatives were to return home or look for a hotel room near the airport (most already sold out), attempt to contact Southwest early in the next morning, and hope to get the earliest flight out that next day.

We chose the airport option and upon checking Southwest news online, learned it was estimated that it would be at least 24 to 36 hours to resolve the technical problem and spend the necessary time getting planes and crews to where they could resume scheduled service.

(We did contact other airlines and found that flights to my destination were all sold out – except for two seats in first class for $1,500 each. Ouch!)

After a restless night with many unsuccessful attempts to contact Southwest by phone (including holding for 75 minutes), we went on their website at 5 AM, and found one flight scheduled to depart late the following evening – 48 hours after our expected departure.

This experience was a good learning opportunity to practice patience, and to make the best of a bad situation: nobody died, nothing was broken except for two additional days of missed work, and here we are, hopefully waiting on our new flight to depart – recognizing that I may have an opportunity to once again, look for alternatives if things don’t go my way.

Patience… and resisting the need to always be in control!

P.S. The experience ended at 1:15 AM with a successful flight home after a four-hour delay, and the newfound patience come in handy.

Just Plain Bill

Should I be concerned?

Lately, I’ve been wondering just how transparent my Internet activities are, especially the searches in which I engage as I either check out or purchase particular items.

Just last night, I was checking out the prices for a used motorhome, as my wife’s colleague had mentioned one that was available for sale. After about five minutes of searching various sites, I reverted back into my usual routine and opened Sports Illustrated and Huffington Post, sites I use for the latest breaking news. Much to my surprise, the side banners on those sites contained two sources for information on new and used motorhomes, neither of which were sites I had used earlier in the evening. Was I tempted to open them?

I’ve always known that the inner workings of my computer, namely cookies, were interested in keeping track of my search habits. Perhaps I’m being tracked for the creation or expansion of a data profile that may be of interest to various data mining sites. I know there’s always someone willing to sell me something, but for what other purposes not known to me might my profile be tracked? 

The convenience and ease of purchasing items has blinded me to the reality of just how public my computer usage is. Should I be concerned?

I do envision a way that a bad guy could influence most all of what I do on my computer, and wonder of ways the bad guy’s personal preferences may influence my thinking, my decision making process, or even possibly do me harm.

Should I be concerned?

Just Plain Bill

“I can do it myself!”

“I can do it myself!” That’s what Renee said to me when we were starting our computer skills class, after the first week of school. Renee was a tiny, four-year old, in a pre-K class at Atalaya Elementary School in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Last year, I was blessed with teaching 12 classes of elementary students, making good use of our 32 Apple desktops. It was one of the most enjoyable teaching opportunities I’ve had in my 35-plus years teaching children and adults, in a great variety of settings.

As most parents and teachers know, one reality faced by young computer users is having to wait for someone to help them log in or to get them to a site where they want to go - either to play a computer game or practice basic skills.

I found that even though many four-year olds can’t read too well, I could easily teach them to maneuver their cursor to the URL bar at the top of their screen, where clicking on the mouse would turn the bar blue, and from there they could type in PBS (or ABCYA), taking them to a site containing a variety of games. (A real value of the benefit of cookies.) It was such a case when Renee clicked on the URL line, made it blue, typed in PBS, and was taken to PBS Kids, a site where she could practice her keyboarding skills. 

Speaking of computer skills, I also served as a proctor during the 11^th grade common core testing process in high school. I was sorry to observe that far too many students were just clicking through many answers, just guessing, or maybe just unsure of the process to respond to the questions. Many of these teenagers hadn’t learned the basic keyboarding skills that Renee was well on her way to mastering.

Learning the simple skills of maneuvering the mouse and using keystrokes effectively are critical to everyone for establishing comfort working their way through commands and options on the computer screen.

P.S. As I also work with seniors interested in re-entering the job market, there is similar value in learning these basic skills of maneuvering around the screen and mastering the keyboard to “catch up” or “keep up” with the younger generations.