The iMentor® Hints and Rants bLog (webLog) is a weekly journal of Apple centric tech hints and personal rants.
Rick Thues (the iMentor®) began writing the bLog in 2009.
All of the past episodes are in the Archives.
For anything having to do with the Internet or computing you might find the answer or a question here.
Enjoy.
Episode #640 May 8, 2021 There is symmetry all around us. Our bodies have a right and left side that are reflected duplicates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTyBs9C8d5A A mirror shows us that what we see is merely a reflection. Computers are filled with symmetry. The nature of a For-Next loop is to repeat until perfectly matched. While: :Sleep For zzz = 1 To 3 Next zzz GoTo Sleep # by rickiT Most computer code is circular. A circle has infinite lines of symmetry. A line of symmetry is a line which reflects one side of an object to the other. A bisecting line...
Episode #639 May1, 2021 Music shaped my morality. It taught me the elements of my character and reminds me how to stay true. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMmbIdhP5NE i discovered girls in the 5th grade riding my Sting-Ray home from school singing “I want to hold your hand,” by the Beatles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jenWdylTtzs Later the Beatles taught me that “All You Need is Love,” “Love, Love Me Do,” and “Money Can’t Buy Me Love.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3WJiqc_bEs At the high school dance i learned that a dance could be a good time to get to know a girl because “Light My Fire” by the Doors was...
Episode #638 April 24, 2021 A computer is an instant gratification machine. It does not start out instantly gratifying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MznHdJReoeo Computers must be configured. This is especially apparent with a brand new computer. When i open a new Mac, iPod or iPhone box and turn on the device i am grateful that a setup routine is included. The computer will ask to be connected to the Internet. It will prompt you to restore applications and data from another device or backup. When i wish to use an account, such as email, online storage, synchronizing software or banking webpage, i am...
Episode #637 April 17, 2021 Loathing is an emotion that some of us have felt, but have not fully realized. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP4TP_YtAFA Loathing is an aversion to something, but is is more than that… it is disgust. When this distaste becomes horror the awfulness of how atrocious this dread feels is frightful. The grisly ghastliness is gruesome. The feeling is hideous, horrid and horrendous. The nausea, qualmishness and queasiness is a sickness. Loathing is so queer as to evoke repugnance, repulsion and revulsion. All these synonyms convince me that i have never truly felt Loathing. i am thankful for that. Let’s consider...
Episode #636 April 10, 2021 “… the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f8wAXDZ9D0 In my years of consulting the most common reaction to computers is fear. Fearful users do not understand the operating system interface. Application controls are unfamiliar and therefore frightening. Instruction helps. When the computer is explained as a metaphor for an office users relax from their fear. Most people know what a desk, paper and pencil, address book, calendar, copy machine and encyclopedia do. They are...
Episode #635 April, 3, 2021 Computers are inscrutable. They are so complex. They cannot be known in whole. Yet we interact with them in nearly every aspect of our lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebst8wY_320 With computer hardware there are certain scrutinies that assure that it is functioning as manufactured. Most of the time the hardware has not failed. Almost always a computer malfunctions due to software. Software malfunctions can be scrutinized for the following: Misconfigured settings. Damaged preference files. Incompatible applications. Demands of a too advanced operation system. Damaged source code. Incorrect permissions. Inscrutable problem Scrutinies of software are: Misconfigured settings. The settings...
