I think I am being grown. I feel stretched. It's not terrible, but not great either. Many things are changing. I had dreams about dragons again, which seem to precede big changes for me that require growth. I also had deja vu today, which is another sign that something is happening.
I don't mean this in the way the words might sound to many people. It's not some spooky or flighty thing where I think of these things as special powers or whatever. I don't even know if it's real. But I know my experience. And dragons are sometimes a symbol of wisdom and reptiles can indicate change in dreams.
The deja vu is just a distinct impression that I've done something before. I don't know if I dreamed it in advance, or maybe it's just a feeling that occurs when I'm in a state of confusion and growth.
But it doesn't really matter, does it? The point is the significance to me. They are markers of something I should pay attention to.
Changes are immanent in work and life, and I've noticed a tendency toward less control and more dependence on God, which comes in the form of independence from other things. Hence it feels good and bad at the same time.
This may be an answer to prayer...in reality everything is an answer to prayer, isn't it though. In this case, I did pray for God to move me and for him to teach me to trust him more. So here goes.
The cool thing to me is that I am not so nervous as I once would have been about things like this. I'm hoping to find out if Uncle George's ideas that we have to move to see the results are true. That only in obedience to the requirements can we see the results, the lack of which we claim as disproof.
He also said that when we ask of God and it seems like no answer, it may be that God has answered immediately, but it is taking time, maybe years, for us to grow to the point that we can understand the answer. This seems consistent with my understanding of God. He would rather have us right and thoroughly good and so would not give us a half answer or no answer, as we sometimes think, but rather immediately begins the process of growing us, finishing us, to the point that we can hear. And hearing, can understand what he says. But we are not going unanswered.
To me, this is powerful. I always thought that we might be ignored for our own good sometimes, like a good parent will ignore their petulant child until they relent. But what if it isn't that at all?! What if God is a better parent than us? ...as if there is any question. Of course he'd be better. Necessarily better. To understand that way is to confirm my infantile perspective.
Or perhaps, I would think, we just couldn't understand so he doesn't explain, like a parent who resorts to, "because I said so." to the whining kid that won't accept the answer.
Or perhaps that's it: that we are just whining so he won't answer.
But just imagine instead, what it would mean to have a God who answers so immediately and powerfully that he would grow and shape a whole world of space and matter and experience around us in order that our hearing would begin developing to the point that we could first hear the answer and then our minds would be capable of understanding it.
It's supra-language, dark cloud, behind the veil stuff.
The thoughts are coming too fast now for my fingers to keep up. So I have to stop.
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning. Show all posts
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Maker
A friend recently made a relatively offhand comment about the current Maker fad. It struck me, since I make a lot of things myself. It's true, there is a current faddy popularity in "Making", as it is called. In typical fad fashion, it's got it's own jargon, etc. In short, it simply refers to people making things on their own. It's different from crafting, or carpentry, or DIY in that making usually refers to technological or machine types of things, but they're all related.
I think the fad is being fueled somewhat, at least in my friend's circles, by forward thinking librarians and teachers who are rightfully trying to adapt outdated institutions to a world of increasing technology, consumerism, and independent and instant access to information. It is a fallacy of our thinking to believe things will stay the same. But the truth is, many of our seemingly permanent institutions are not nearly as permanent as we think. For example, public school as we know it is only about a century old, and high school was not even common until the mid 20th century. So in short, these places and professionals are trying to adapt to changing conditions...and this is good, even if they jump on fad trends in the process.
So, back to Making. My friend comments that it's nothing new. And that is right. In fact, for me, this is part of the attraction. You see, every culture once had an era when people understood the things around them in a way that we don't. They crafted what they needed from the materials at hand. Many cultures still operate in this way. But our modern wealthy western culture has slowly distanced ourselves from this ability because of the unholy amount of readily available things to procure at great prices. In fact, many people have turned shopping into a skill in itself. But this falls far at the end of the chain of existence for these objects. Back at the beginning there is still a person creating, designing, building, innovating, all of the stuff we buy. Making is an attempt to back up to those earlier stages and understand manmade objects in a different way. It's called Maker's Knowledge.
It's not some mystic understanding, it's just the ability to look at something and perceive the steps to constructing it. For example, my Granddad was a Tarheel carpenter with no birth certificate and a 6th grade education. To make something out of wood, he just needed a pattern...by which he meant a picture...not an exploded step-by-step drawing. He could fathom the necessary steps to create it from just an image because he understood how woodwork was done. I'm looking right now at a table he made me from a notebook sketch of a Japanese design I saw in which the table top is removable so a blanket can be placed under the frame. (In this way when it's cold, people's body heat is shared while they have a firm surface to eat, drink, or play games on...very efficient and cozy. Some even put a small heater under the table to add warmth.)
Now, he's long dead, but I can do it with many things. I can see an object in a store or catalog and build it myself. Or even just dream it up and make it real. Most of the furniture in my house is stuff I've built or modified to suit my needs. Which leads to another aspect of Making: customization. But before I get into that, a bit more about Maker's Knowledge.
It isn't just about wood, as I said, Making refers more to technological or mechanically engineered sorts of items. With these items, people are given a certain level of access. A much smaller subset gains access to the 'repair and upgrade' parts of electronics. But only the smallest fraction of people actually understand how to build it. If it breaks, we just toss it and buy another one. But without Maker's Knowledge, what's going to happen when replacements are no longer so easily available? The objects will be lost along with the people who depend on them. Not to mention, that without this knowledge, we are at the mercy of whoever has it. We can only do what they allow us to do, for the fees they choose to charge us. We are slaves and not free people. We do not have access to the key means of production: the knowledge of how. I'm not saying there's some grand conspiracy that creates this dynamic...it's simply the unintended consequence of a rich society with ample resources...but that's a whole other topic. Here's an example closer to home.
Most people use a computer until it doesn't work. Then they go get a tour of the new features of the latest offerings and find out "what they can do with it". Then they buy it and adapt themselves to it's mode of operation until it again stops working. They may have the merest understanding of how it actually works inside and may think there is nothing else to do about it. That's just how it is, right? Without special tools and years of high-level training, you'll never be able to build your own machine. But this is entirely false. I learned to build computers on my own, with self-study of advice from other Makers. They are actually not so complicated at all. Even the software is not so difficult. With a little understanding, what was a black box which I simply had to expend funds on every few years has become a useful and beautiful machine that I can do anything with! Now granted, I'm not coding from scratch...but I could with more study. For my needs, I have found that components built by other Makers suit my needs just fine. So I partake of their knowledge and share mine. There's no threat in Makers sharing knowledge. We all make what we need for ourselves and are proud to share, even happy to since our skills arise from joy. Sharing knowledge is only threatening when our livelihood is tenuously built on others' lack. Bad career choice, sorry.
So once again, we are led to the customization aspect. Tools for the workers, not workers for the tools. How many features of your phone or computer or blender do you never use? How many times have you wished something did what it doesn't do? Part of Making is to be able to create what you need and nothing more, but exactly what you need and nothing less. It's a quest for harmony and balance. Whether that be a device to take digital pictures from far overhead, a bicycle that fits your body, ability, terrain, and use, or a piece of furniture that perfectly matches and nestles into the space available for it. You see, there was a time when most objects were like this. You only had one carriage throughout your life and it was altered to meet your needs as they changed. If you needed a table or a desk, you built it, or had someone build it, to fit the space and style and use. It would be unlike anyone elses', an expression of who you are. Making is an attempt to recapture this.
So granted, "making" and "makerspaces" and such are a fad. But at the heart is a real community and real ideals. Fads are often the vehicle by which ideals spread. Sure, no one needs a one-string electric cigar-box guitar or bicycle that rides backward. But in making them, people are learning new skills that apply elsewhere. They're exploring new ways of thinking, new ways of living, and new abilities. They are becoming more independent and whole, more connected to their roots, and to the roots of all people. They are improving their own chances of thriving and perhaps even of surviving.
I think a true story will illustrate. During hurricane Katrina, many people were trapped in attics and rooftops. Many of them also had cell phones and video cameras. One family videoed the devastation from their roof where they had barely been able to break through and now sat, the mother in total shock and nearly catatonic. The father bemoaning the impending death that awaited them and pleading to no one for help. Another family had gathered themselves and their neighbors into their finished attic with a full cooler of supplies and a full chest of tools. They had freed their boat to float from the trailer and moored it to the roof. Then they videoed as they called out to a fear-paralyzed family to get in an abandoned boat and float across to them. When they got no response they set about rigging up a harness and pull line which they boated over and proceeded to haul the entire family across with them. The first family thought they could always go get what they needed. Life would never change and they never thought about it. Until that illusion was shattered and they couldn't cope. The second family had Maker's Knowledge. They understood that they were capable and adaptable and they used those skills they had built. They were happy and thriving even in a one of the worst disasters the US has ever seen.
I'm not saying we're all going to face this kind of test. But Making is beneficial even up through this type of problem. At least, we get a custom life with unique and beautiful things, and develop some very healthy skills that keep body strong and mind sharp. At most, we use our skills to better the lives of people who can't do for themselves. There's no downside. So bring it on. Make, create, grow, innovate. These are virtues and the more the better.
I think the fad is being fueled somewhat, at least in my friend's circles, by forward thinking librarians and teachers who are rightfully trying to adapt outdated institutions to a world of increasing technology, consumerism, and independent and instant access to information. It is a fallacy of our thinking to believe things will stay the same. But the truth is, many of our seemingly permanent institutions are not nearly as permanent as we think. For example, public school as we know it is only about a century old, and high school was not even common until the mid 20th century. So in short, these places and professionals are trying to adapt to changing conditions...and this is good, even if they jump on fad trends in the process.
So, back to Making. My friend comments that it's nothing new. And that is right. In fact, for me, this is part of the attraction. You see, every culture once had an era when people understood the things around them in a way that we don't. They crafted what they needed from the materials at hand. Many cultures still operate in this way. But our modern wealthy western culture has slowly distanced ourselves from this ability because of the unholy amount of readily available things to procure at great prices. In fact, many people have turned shopping into a skill in itself. But this falls far at the end of the chain of existence for these objects. Back at the beginning there is still a person creating, designing, building, innovating, all of the stuff we buy. Making is an attempt to back up to those earlier stages and understand manmade objects in a different way. It's called Maker's Knowledge.
It's not some mystic understanding, it's just the ability to look at something and perceive the steps to constructing it. For example, my Granddad was a Tarheel carpenter with no birth certificate and a 6th grade education. To make something out of wood, he just needed a pattern...by which he meant a picture...not an exploded step-by-step drawing. He could fathom the necessary steps to create it from just an image because he understood how woodwork was done. I'm looking right now at a table he made me from a notebook sketch of a Japanese design I saw in which the table top is removable so a blanket can be placed under the frame. (In this way when it's cold, people's body heat is shared while they have a firm surface to eat, drink, or play games on...very efficient and cozy. Some even put a small heater under the table to add warmth.)
Now, he's long dead, but I can do it with many things. I can see an object in a store or catalog and build it myself. Or even just dream it up and make it real. Most of the furniture in my house is stuff I've built or modified to suit my needs. Which leads to another aspect of Making: customization. But before I get into that, a bit more about Maker's Knowledge.
It isn't just about wood, as I said, Making refers more to technological or mechanically engineered sorts of items. With these items, people are given a certain level of access. A much smaller subset gains access to the 'repair and upgrade' parts of electronics. But only the smallest fraction of people actually understand how to build it. If it breaks, we just toss it and buy another one. But without Maker's Knowledge, what's going to happen when replacements are no longer so easily available? The objects will be lost along with the people who depend on them. Not to mention, that without this knowledge, we are at the mercy of whoever has it. We can only do what they allow us to do, for the fees they choose to charge us. We are slaves and not free people. We do not have access to the key means of production: the knowledge of how. I'm not saying there's some grand conspiracy that creates this dynamic...it's simply the unintended consequence of a rich society with ample resources...but that's a whole other topic. Here's an example closer to home.
Most people use a computer until it doesn't work. Then they go get a tour of the new features of the latest offerings and find out "what they can do with it". Then they buy it and adapt themselves to it's mode of operation until it again stops working. They may have the merest understanding of how it actually works inside and may think there is nothing else to do about it. That's just how it is, right? Without special tools and years of high-level training, you'll never be able to build your own machine. But this is entirely false. I learned to build computers on my own, with self-study of advice from other Makers. They are actually not so complicated at all. Even the software is not so difficult. With a little understanding, what was a black box which I simply had to expend funds on every few years has become a useful and beautiful machine that I can do anything with! Now granted, I'm not coding from scratch...but I could with more study. For my needs, I have found that components built by other Makers suit my needs just fine. So I partake of their knowledge and share mine. There's no threat in Makers sharing knowledge. We all make what we need for ourselves and are proud to share, even happy to since our skills arise from joy. Sharing knowledge is only threatening when our livelihood is tenuously built on others' lack. Bad career choice, sorry.
So once again, we are led to the customization aspect. Tools for the workers, not workers for the tools. How many features of your phone or computer or blender do you never use? How many times have you wished something did what it doesn't do? Part of Making is to be able to create what you need and nothing more, but exactly what you need and nothing less. It's a quest for harmony and balance. Whether that be a device to take digital pictures from far overhead, a bicycle that fits your body, ability, terrain, and use, or a piece of furniture that perfectly matches and nestles into the space available for it. You see, there was a time when most objects were like this. You only had one carriage throughout your life and it was altered to meet your needs as they changed. If you needed a table or a desk, you built it, or had someone build it, to fit the space and style and use. It would be unlike anyone elses', an expression of who you are. Making is an attempt to recapture this.
So granted, "making" and "makerspaces" and such are a fad. But at the heart is a real community and real ideals. Fads are often the vehicle by which ideals spread. Sure, no one needs a one-string electric cigar-box guitar or bicycle that rides backward. But in making them, people are learning new skills that apply elsewhere. They're exploring new ways of thinking, new ways of living, and new abilities. They are becoming more independent and whole, more connected to their roots, and to the roots of all people. They are improving their own chances of thriving and perhaps even of surviving.
I think a true story will illustrate. During hurricane Katrina, many people were trapped in attics and rooftops. Many of them also had cell phones and video cameras. One family videoed the devastation from their roof where they had barely been able to break through and now sat, the mother in total shock and nearly catatonic. The father bemoaning the impending death that awaited them and pleading to no one for help. Another family had gathered themselves and their neighbors into their finished attic with a full cooler of supplies and a full chest of tools. They had freed their boat to float from the trailer and moored it to the roof. Then they videoed as they called out to a fear-paralyzed family to get in an abandoned boat and float across to them. When they got no response they set about rigging up a harness and pull line which they boated over and proceeded to haul the entire family across with them. The first family thought they could always go get what they needed. Life would never change and they never thought about it. Until that illusion was shattered and they couldn't cope. The second family had Maker's Knowledge. They understood that they were capable and adaptable and they used those skills they had built. They were happy and thriving even in a one of the worst disasters the US has ever seen.
I'm not saying we're all going to face this kind of test. But Making is beneficial even up through this type of problem. At least, we get a custom life with unique and beautiful things, and develop some very healthy skills that keep body strong and mind sharp. At most, we use our skills to better the lives of people who can't do for themselves. There's no downside. So bring it on. Make, create, grow, innovate. These are virtues and the more the better.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Heat
I have a passion, a fire. My temperament is this way. I control it well and don't lose my temper often, but I am excitable and quickly heat up about things, good and bad. I have a hard time letting an injustice go unaddressed.
I have in the past been quite angry...not in the uncontrolled anger management sense, but in the seething beneath the surface, fiery oratory sort of sense. I have been called a match: quick to fire up at the least abrasion, but short lived and relatively harmless. I would quickly pop off on people. Tell them what I thought. Call them out. Politely, but directly. In nicer times, I could frame it as a joke and lay some low with pointed humor that accomplished the same thing as the angry version, but with less direct confrontation. It has served me well and I took it as a gift.
Of course any gift can be perverted, and so I took my tendency to pop off or become quickly agitated. I even thought this heat inside was to be used to call crusade for good. To call out injustice and wrongness. I wouldn't stand for it and everyone needed to know that they couldn't get away with that junk around me because I'd call it right out in front of everyone.
But lately, I've begun to wonder if this is not such a gift. I'm not sure. Really. I have just begun to see that maybe there is virtue in quietly handling the wrongs, perhaps even letting people go their own way. Perhaps not always...there may well be a time to stand up and call it out. But maybe there is a time for noticing without mentioning.
Previously I viewed this as tolerating what shouldn't be tolerated. As a disservice to the one I refrained from speaking to. After all, Truth must shine forth, and we have a duty and calling to hack away at the darkness.
Don't get me wrong, I've never attacked people like many legalists do. My crusades are about grace and forgiveness. But fuelled with a blazing angry passion.
The thing is, it's really hard to win. I took this as confirmation that the world was corrupt. As in the Mission, I was DeNiro's reformed conquistador, ready to shed blood, even my own in defense of what was right. I'd rather stand up and take a blow to the face for speaking out than sit by and let a wrong go. It was not my job to win...just to fight.
But now, I'm seeing a lovely grace, an almost asian-master sort of goodness, in letting things flow. Perhaps speaking boldly out is not always the way to go. Perhaps there is collateral damage that could be spared. Perhaps there is something to a more pacific attitude. Perhaps this is not over-tolerance, a moopy spine. Certainly it could be, just as my passion could be perverted to plain anger and hate. But maybe this is a time for me to learn how to be meek in the truest sense.
Jesus did speak boldly. He did enrage and agitate and even physically overturn. But he also nurtured and helped and loved in a soft and tender way.
Perhaps the Greystokian animalistic nobility, the chivalric gentle warrior, is not God's ideal. Perhaps it is far less inspiring. Far more suffering (in the old sense). Far more humble (in the old sense of lowly).
Please teach me the answer, Jesus. What am I to learn from you in this yoke? Help me to be pliable and open to you. I fear I will lose my strength, my identity, and I don't know how else to be. But I must lose mine to gain yours and I will be what you make me.
I have in the past been quite angry...not in the uncontrolled anger management sense, but in the seething beneath the surface, fiery oratory sort of sense. I have been called a match: quick to fire up at the least abrasion, but short lived and relatively harmless. I would quickly pop off on people. Tell them what I thought. Call them out. Politely, but directly. In nicer times, I could frame it as a joke and lay some low with pointed humor that accomplished the same thing as the angry version, but with less direct confrontation. It has served me well and I took it as a gift.
Of course any gift can be perverted, and so I took my tendency to pop off or become quickly agitated. I even thought this heat inside was to be used to call crusade for good. To call out injustice and wrongness. I wouldn't stand for it and everyone needed to know that they couldn't get away with that junk around me because I'd call it right out in front of everyone.
But lately, I've begun to wonder if this is not such a gift. I'm not sure. Really. I have just begun to see that maybe there is virtue in quietly handling the wrongs, perhaps even letting people go their own way. Perhaps not always...there may well be a time to stand up and call it out. But maybe there is a time for noticing without mentioning.
Previously I viewed this as tolerating what shouldn't be tolerated. As a disservice to the one I refrained from speaking to. After all, Truth must shine forth, and we have a duty and calling to hack away at the darkness.
Don't get me wrong, I've never attacked people like many legalists do. My crusades are about grace and forgiveness. But fuelled with a blazing angry passion.
The thing is, it's really hard to win. I took this as confirmation that the world was corrupt. As in the Mission, I was DeNiro's reformed conquistador, ready to shed blood, even my own in defense of what was right. I'd rather stand up and take a blow to the face for speaking out than sit by and let a wrong go. It was not my job to win...just to fight.
But now, I'm seeing a lovely grace, an almost asian-master sort of goodness, in letting things flow. Perhaps speaking boldly out is not always the way to go. Perhaps there is collateral damage that could be spared. Perhaps there is something to a more pacific attitude. Perhaps this is not over-tolerance, a moopy spine. Certainly it could be, just as my passion could be perverted to plain anger and hate. But maybe this is a time for me to learn how to be meek in the truest sense.
Jesus did speak boldly. He did enrage and agitate and even physically overturn. But he also nurtured and helped and loved in a soft and tender way.
Perhaps the Greystokian animalistic nobility, the chivalric gentle warrior, is not God's ideal. Perhaps it is far less inspiring. Far more suffering (in the old sense). Far more humble (in the old sense of lowly).
Please teach me the answer, Jesus. What am I to learn from you in this yoke? Help me to be pliable and open to you. I fear I will lose my strength, my identity, and I don't know how else to be. But I must lose mine to gain yours and I will be what you make me.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Endless walls
This week I tackled a huge renovation. Replacing a bathtub. It's the last major interior renovation we need to do in my house. I've never done a bathtub and I hate tackling any major project without knowing what to do.
Every step of the way we've moved a little and ground to a halt as we puzzled over how to make the next step. First the tub drain broke off in the tub, pinning it to the ground. Then the tub wouldn't come out. Then the drain wouldn't match the new one. Then the tub spout needed to be moved. Then the surround wouldn't fit. Now the valve needs to be moved as well. It's a major train wreck that I can't solve except by moving forward. I feel like I've been chipping through brick walls only to find another wall 4 feet beyond, and another, and another. I hate it. I'm mentally exhausted.
For every problem there is usually a simple and elegant solution. Especially in the trades. The problem is, those tricks are often carefully guarded. They certainly aren't publicized. You really have to dig to find them out. I ought to be used to this though. It seems the same with everything I try to learn myself. Bikes, boats, computers. Why are these things so difficult to learn? No not to learn, but to find useful information on. To find teachers and help. Even the products don't contain the info you need to install them, or to even know if that is the right product. The crucial issue with a tub after size, is where the drain is located, yet none of the tubs I looked at said at all where it was positioned other than 'right' or 'left'.
I've talked to several people about tubs and they all say the same thing, "Yup, s'hard. I hated doin' it." But that is not helpful at all. You know what would be? Something more like this, "yeah, those are a pain, here's what I learned..." or "Watch out for this or that." Today a plumber that I had to call in gave me a simple and easy solution for a problem I had three days ago! I was looking for that and found not one reference to it! Instead I beat at it like a raging gorilla until it gave in!
Once I get done with this endless, vastly more difficult and expensive project, you can bet that I will be far more expressive about the challenges, tips, and pitfalls if anyone mentions it to me.
Every step of the way we've moved a little and ground to a halt as we puzzled over how to make the next step. First the tub drain broke off in the tub, pinning it to the ground. Then the tub wouldn't come out. Then the drain wouldn't match the new one. Then the tub spout needed to be moved. Then the surround wouldn't fit. Now the valve needs to be moved as well. It's a major train wreck that I can't solve except by moving forward. I feel like I've been chipping through brick walls only to find another wall 4 feet beyond, and another, and another. I hate it. I'm mentally exhausted.
For every problem there is usually a simple and elegant solution. Especially in the trades. The problem is, those tricks are often carefully guarded. They certainly aren't publicized. You really have to dig to find them out. I ought to be used to this though. It seems the same with everything I try to learn myself. Bikes, boats, computers. Why are these things so difficult to learn? No not to learn, but to find useful information on. To find teachers and help. Even the products don't contain the info you need to install them, or to even know if that is the right product. The crucial issue with a tub after size, is where the drain is located, yet none of the tubs I looked at said at all where it was positioned other than 'right' or 'left'.
I've talked to several people about tubs and they all say the same thing, "Yup, s'hard. I hated doin' it." But that is not helpful at all. You know what would be? Something more like this, "yeah, those are a pain, here's what I learned..." or "Watch out for this or that." Today a plumber that I had to call in gave me a simple and easy solution for a problem I had three days ago! I was looking for that and found not one reference to it! Instead I beat at it like a raging gorilla until it gave in!
Once I get done with this endless, vastly more difficult and expensive project, you can bet that I will be far more expressive about the challenges, tips, and pitfalls if anyone mentions it to me.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Linux Resolution
True to form, as soon as I finally publicly announced my frustration with Linux, a solution appeared. Not directly as a result of my announcement, but from an entirely different quarter altogether. Once again, proving that those who ask do receive in a Providential way tangled inseparably with the biochemical processes of the brain, etc.
So, how did this happen? Well, when stuck on any problem, it is wise to go back to the root, the last understandable portion and retry. So, I began thinking, about my approach. First, my problem was with the OS, i.e. Ubuntu or Mint. But that was built on Linux, and I was having trouble with the Linux commands...which are based in the Unix programming language. So, I searched for Unix guides and basic Linux guides apart from distributions, OS's, etc. Boom! There was exactly what I needed. The basic how-tos and instructions in the programming language and in how Linux works, etc. I still haven't figured out my problem with the wireless adapter, but I am not spinning helplessly among the jargon.
So armed with this new approach, I looked for more info on the way the OS's are built and what they support. Of course, they aren't built to support the adapter I have...now they tell me, right! But it can be patched to work if you understand the programming language properly. So it isn't a problem with the OS or the language at all. They both do what they were designed to do. It was a problem with my approach. Asking it to work in a way it wasn't designed to.
So that led me to take a fresh look at the OS itself. Would it connect to the internet through cable. No issue, right on. Would it download packages well, no problem. Was it easy to navigate and understand intuitively, yup. Today, I tried out the stuff Mint promised over Ubuntu. DVD's played right out of the box. CD's too. Software is great. The graphics and publishing stuff is similar to what I pay big bucks for at work.
Is it the answer to all the problems? no. Is it a valid option for getting out from under the thumb of microsoft and apple? I'm leaning strongly that way. Will I chuck out this Vista machine? No, of course not. But I might not buy another one. If Linux can make a computer last 10 more years (who even gets 10 years on a windows or mac), it will be worth the effort to reeducate myself.
And the moral? When stuck, step away, ask for help, and let it come. And of course don't forget that changing one's perspective, opinion, mind, etc. is a valid solution.
So, how did this happen? Well, when stuck on any problem, it is wise to go back to the root, the last understandable portion and retry. So, I began thinking, about my approach. First, my problem was with the OS, i.e. Ubuntu or Mint. But that was built on Linux, and I was having trouble with the Linux commands...which are based in the Unix programming language. So, I searched for Unix guides and basic Linux guides apart from distributions, OS's, etc. Boom! There was exactly what I needed. The basic how-tos and instructions in the programming language and in how Linux works, etc. I still haven't figured out my problem with the wireless adapter, but I am not spinning helplessly among the jargon.
So armed with this new approach, I looked for more info on the way the OS's are built and what they support. Of course, they aren't built to support the adapter I have...now they tell me, right! But it can be patched to work if you understand the programming language properly. So it isn't a problem with the OS or the language at all. They both do what they were designed to do. It was a problem with my approach. Asking it to work in a way it wasn't designed to.
So that led me to take a fresh look at the OS itself. Would it connect to the internet through cable. No issue, right on. Would it download packages well, no problem. Was it easy to navigate and understand intuitively, yup. Today, I tried out the stuff Mint promised over Ubuntu. DVD's played right out of the box. CD's too. Software is great. The graphics and publishing stuff is similar to what I pay big bucks for at work.
Is it the answer to all the problems? no. Is it a valid option for getting out from under the thumb of microsoft and apple? I'm leaning strongly that way. Will I chuck out this Vista machine? No, of course not. But I might not buy another one. If Linux can make a computer last 10 more years (who even gets 10 years on a windows or mac), it will be worth the effort to reeducate myself.
And the moral? When stuck, step away, ask for help, and let it come. And of course don't forget that changing one's perspective, opinion, mind, etc. is a valid solution.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
DIY
I've referenced this in other posts. It means Do It Yourself. Lots of people enjoy DIY, but for others it is a lifestyle. One of the tennants of punk ideology (yes there is such a thing) is DIY.
It suits me well. I prefer to do things myself. I get to learn new skills, see what I'm capable of, and make it just the way I like. I also become more and more self-sufficient with each new attempt. Though I know I'll never be fully self-sufficient. No one can be. It's more of a process of bettering myself. Lifelong learning, you might say.
Another important part of DIY is maker's knowledge. I know just how thick my walls are, and what's behind them. I understand how the floor is assembled. How the water moves into my house and out, and I understand exactly where and how much a seam needs to be wider or tighter to fit my body comfortably in a shirt or pants. Heck, I can even make shoes and books! I'm not bragging, only explaining how doing things myself helps me understand the intricacies, or simplicities of things. Some things are far harder to complete. Others far simpler. This is handy knowledge too. Just imagine.
But perhaps the best thing about DIY is the accomplishment. Something tangible has been done by my own hands. It is an expression of myself. Each is a unique piece of craftsmanship. From the t-shirts that say exactly what I want them to, instead of having to mold myself to the quips and images in the store, to the table that is precisely the right shape, size, color, and style instead of having to pay exorbitant amounts for something that won't really be what I was looking for.
In our mass-produced culture, we lose touch with reality as things just appear for us. If we need it, we go to the store...it is at best only a vague mental note that the stuff was designed and made by someone...even if it was reproduced 10 trillion times. Even in this culture, we can reclaim what it means to be a craftsman. To make something from our hearts with our hands is a great joy. And if those things are practical and useful, how much more joy is there in that!
It suits me well. I prefer to do things myself. I get to learn new skills, see what I'm capable of, and make it just the way I like. I also become more and more self-sufficient with each new attempt. Though I know I'll never be fully self-sufficient. No one can be. It's more of a process of bettering myself. Lifelong learning, you might say.
Another important part of DIY is maker's knowledge. I know just how thick my walls are, and what's behind them. I understand how the floor is assembled. How the water moves into my house and out, and I understand exactly where and how much a seam needs to be wider or tighter to fit my body comfortably in a shirt or pants. Heck, I can even make shoes and books! I'm not bragging, only explaining how doing things myself helps me understand the intricacies, or simplicities of things. Some things are far harder to complete. Others far simpler. This is handy knowledge too. Just imagine.
But perhaps the best thing about DIY is the accomplishment. Something tangible has been done by my own hands. It is an expression of myself. Each is a unique piece of craftsmanship. From the t-shirts that say exactly what I want them to, instead of having to mold myself to the quips and images in the store, to the table that is precisely the right shape, size, color, and style instead of having to pay exorbitant amounts for something that won't really be what I was looking for.
In our mass-produced culture, we lose touch with reality as things just appear for us. If we need it, we go to the store...it is at best only a vague mental note that the stuff was designed and made by someone...even if it was reproduced 10 trillion times. Even in this culture, we can reclaim what it means to be a craftsman. To make something from our hearts with our hands is a great joy. And if those things are practical and useful, how much more joy is there in that!
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