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Hints & rants

This weB-LOG contains helpful hints and rants about your Macintosh, Apple products and your electronic life.

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Champions

October 12, 2021 Uncategorized No Comments
Episode #663 October 16, 2021 This week's bLog is another skydiving story. This time it is a tale of teamwork from the point of view of one of the players.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP808MiJUcM World record Today we are attempting a world record of skydiving. Assembled are 246 skydivers, 6 free fall photographers and 12 aircraft. The goal is for all 246 jumpers to join up in a free fall formation. All the grips between skydivers must be held for 3 seconds forming a planned pattern. After one minute all participants must fly away from each other, open their parachutes and land....
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Process

October 5, 2021 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Episode #662 October 9, 2021 My writer’s group asked me what my process was for writing a story. For a story to come alive it requires a process.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIWY8UyW9bw i use the same process for a fact or fiction story. It is the same process for a speech or a consultation. The process i use for a slide show or movie is the same. This bLog is written using this process. Think of a topic, moral or message. Write a list of events, key words, descriptive phrases, ideas and concepts regarding the topic, moral or message. Group the...
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Postscript Brain

September 30, 2021 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #661 October 2, 2021 In the beginning of computer graphics there were dots.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=506k3_V4z7o A computer screen lit a pixel and it was white. If a pixel was not lit, it was black. Thus, a pattern of black and white dots represented every graphic element. Letters in words in sentences were made of black and white dots. Any graphic was made of dots. By rearranging the dots over time, the screen could be animated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggufwGTM6N4 Since we lived in the age of paper, computer graphics had to be transferred to paper. The paper was already white, so the...
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The day i died

September 22, 2021 Uncategorized 6 Comments
Episode #660 September 25, 2021 i have told this story before. My writers group encouraged me to rewrite the story as a memoir (a slice of personal history). They suggested that i write it in first person with terminology that non skydivers will understand. i invite you to come along for the ride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A The Day I Died I convinced Sally to become a skydiver. She has made about 300 jumps. I have made 5000. Today I asked her to make a skydive with me. Normally, skydivers practice on the ground what they plan to do in free fall. It...
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Map in my Brain

September 15, 2021 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #659 September 18, 2021 My entire life i have been drawing a map in my brain.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMw9_ZMGvAQ It started when i was a small child. My father had me lie in the back of the station wagon and close my eyes. As he entered our neighborhood he said, “We are headed north. Each turn we make tell me what direction we are going.” When we turned left i yelled out “WEST.” Then left again, “SOUTH.” And so on zig zagging through the neighborhood streets. It did not take long before i had a mental map of my neighborhood,...
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Misunderstanding

September 8, 2021 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #658 September 11, 2021 Misunderstanding is easy to achieve. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXn1TonSmFc Sometimes conversation should be without nuance. Plain spoken, succinct comments often communicate most clearly. When communication is too subtle, misunderstanding occurs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjDDAucIj4 However, clarity is the vehicle of understanding. When forming a sentence more is often better than less. Sentences should, at a minimum, have a noun and a verb. Something is acting in some way. “He ran.” ...a perfectly correct sentence. But this sentence begs the questions: Who is “he”? How did he run? Where did he run to? Where did he run from? Why did he run...
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