Instant Gratification

We all love to stop at a fast food restaurant when we are hungry and in a hurry. We get our meal in under five minutes, gobble it down and our bodies fly off in another direction for new horizons for our next appointment or job interview,  or back to work on our lunch hour. Love that fast lane of service.

 

Our newer wizzy digital cameras provide fast accurate focusing, instant photographs that we can instantly download to our computers and upload to our own web sites. We have gazillions of instant moments as long as we can press that instant go button. Love this fast lane of instant gratification.

 

Our cellular phones provide us with instant caller text messages. Some of them which we return instantly, others not so fast. Love that instant message that we can’t seem to live without. But, in public we tell everyone around us our life story in five minutes on our cellular phones that they all overhear. None of which they wanted to know in the first place.

 

New digital televisions offer a menu that is almost instant for watchers, then we have to decide which tv show to see. As we click through the menu to find what might check into our brains the quickest there are instant decisions to make. Does that make us brainier? Do I really want to watch Desperate Housewives, World Wide Wrestling, Everybody Love Raymond, Dirtiest Jobs, Jay Leno, David letterman, The Science Guy, the NFL Football Game of the Week, or perhaps Animal Planet?

 

This all brings us to the need to know if a retail store has what we need instantly. Take the customer caller who asks “Do you have the washer and dryer that I just saw on Television?”

Telephone operator Well, Mam I’m not sure, what brand is it?

“I don’t know it sells for $499.00”

Telephone operator Mam, what is the name of it?

Customer “I don’t know I just saw it on TV”,

Telephone operator “Mam I need more information than that? Do you have  a Model number”?

“Well that is all I know about it.”

Telephone Operator “Mam I’ll look it up on my computer here at the store and see what we have that those items sell for at that price for you, just a moment please.”

Telephone operator  “Mam, we have a Maytag Washer and Dryer that are listed for $499.00 each. The washer is a 4.cu and the dryer is a 7.cu does that sound like what you saw?

Customer, “why yes, when is the sale over”?

Telephone operator “Tonight Mam at 7:00 p.m.”

Customer “Well, thank you very much for your help. You have been very helpful, I’ll be there this evening to look at them.

Now is that good customer service or what?

Terror in New Technology/Losing a Job

Fillipina Hamilton has lost her job. She was a model  for years for Ralph lauren. He decided he didn’t like the way she looked anymore so ordered her photos Photoshopped. Hence we see her in weird poses and  looks as if her body is contorted. He comment was “they said I was fat.”  So technology has its drawbacks for sure.

Now my question is can she sue  them? If people who are obese can claim discrimination, why can’t she? While these women look okay, and notice that I did not say healthy, or even good, they are not people I want my grandchildren to seek to imitate. At some point we need to really take the bull by the horns and say enough of your sadomachism  (Ralph Lauren) let these young girls look like young girls and clothe them appropriately, but healthy.

The fashion industry  has for years been insane and promoted unhealthy looks toward our youth. No wonder so many of our children  face insecurities we  can’t even fathom these days. It is everywhere, but always at the front of fashion. As parents we need to make sure we put positive images in front of our children.

I always turn my head to approve of a woman who has some curves. That is classic beauty at its best, and makes her more interesting. Photoshop can also make a persons face look thinner, and take out the famous red eyes for you as well. Too bad Ralph Lauren took the low road . Wonder what else he has done with technology in the past?, Oh that’s right there are some things you can’t fake.

The Computer World

Computers can be great as far as online marketing goes, and learning new facts, accessing the newest information that you need, or keeping up with friends and associates.

Computers and their programs totally change about every six months because of new ways of doing things, and new programs that are available to make things easier. Many of the programs are very expensive. Different types of computers are better suited for techies who really understand computers (Dell,IBM,SONY), or easier methods for non-techies (Apple Macintosh brand). There are differences in machines made for college students, artistic and design people, music, techies and non-techies. Just like any technical field it is an intense learning experience, but all the time, not just at the beginning. This field is not for the faint of heat, or those who never seem to be able to finish their projects.

New computers, a think pad can be purchased for approximately $700.00 more or less, but that depends on how much memory you need and what you want it to do for you and your own technical abilities, last but certainly not the least important factor to color your important purchase.

Prices from the Warehouse CDW.com

A Sony Vaio SR490PBB Notebook

SR490PBB – Core 2 Duo T6670 / 2.2 GHz – Centrino…

Sells for $1,099.99

An HP EliteBook 6930p – Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4 GHz – 14.1″ TFT Core 2 Duo P8600 / 2.4 GHz – Centrino 2 with vPro…

Sells for $1,149.99

Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz – 13.3″ TFT

Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz – RAM 2 GB – HDD 160 GB – DVD±RW (±R DL) – GF 9400M shared video memory (UMA) – Gigabit Ethernet – WLAN : 802.11 a/b/g/n (draft), Bluetooth 2.1 EDR – MacOS X 10.5 – 13.3″ Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) – camera

Sells for $998.00

Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz – 15.4″ TFT

Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz – RAM 4 GB – HDD 500 GB 7200rpm – DVD±RW (±R DL) – GF 9600M GT / GF 9400M – Gigabit Ethernet – WLAN : 802.11 a/b/g/n (draft), Bluetooth 2.1 EDR – MacOS X 10.5 – 15.4″ Widescreen TFT 1440 x 900 ( WXGA+ ) – camera

Sells for $2648.00

Top selling desktops- Apple Mac mini Core 2 Duo 2 GHz

DTS – 1 x Core 2 Duo 2 GHz – RAM 1 GB – HDD 1 x 120 GB – DVD±RW (+R DL) – GF 9400M shared video…

Sells for $598.00

HP Compaq Business Desktop dx2400 – P E2220 2.4 GHz

Micro tower – 1 x P E2220 / 2.4 GHz – RAM 1 GB -…

Sells for$406.99

Lenovo ThinkCentre A62 9935 – Athlon X2 5000B 2.6 GHz

Tower – 1 x Athlon X2 5000B / 2.6 GHz – RAM 2 GB…

Sells for $478.99

All of the information above is just the tiniest tip of the computer world as some of us know it.

Next begins the business side for business owners who need computers networked together, and new buildings prewired for lease and more. There are accessories like cameras and mouse pads, keyboards that need to be replaced and interconnections for conferences.

Power, data storage projects, computers for retail operations at your local grocery store, and shopping mall all serve their own specific specialty niche. Then of course there is the scientific world, internet security, governments, and health to mention a few other types of special needs that have to be prioritized and needs attuned to for effective use.

New Web site WWW.DIANEKNAUS.COM

In order to promote my photography and creative services more, I have produced a web site http:// www.dianeknaus.com. The site includes my over fifteen years in publishing, advertising, copyrighting, and photography services. Currently working on putting together a web gallery for the site. Working on the tech details parts of the whole gallery at the moment. So, stop on over for a preview. Leave some comments if you like. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Diane

Canon EOS30D New Camera

I have been using an AE1 Cannon camera since 1984. It has given me wonderful service. However, after buying a new EOSD30 I can see why the professionals like the digital technical advances. This model provides 8.2 Megapixels and 5 Frames per second, 9 focusing areas, an almost silent noise factor, great focusing even for moving objects or people. It is a seemless process to upload the photograhs to my Macintosh G5, with no problems.

So your question is probably will I give up my old AE1Canon? No, not on your life, it still works just as good as when it was new. The new EOS30D is a partner in quality. And I have used it with really good results in the past year.

Voting Booths

Oh how we change from one election to another. I distinctly remember being a judge at the voting booths in Maryland during the 70’s. We had a booth with a pull curtain and when we voted for something we had to pull a lever, and all of the levers were pulled at the same time, marking the ballots. Guess what, they worked like a charm. We will now have paper trail booths in Maryland again, but they are supposed to help us to track things better. It has been said that the other electronic booths we recently had were reliable and easy to use. Maybe the newer ones will work, but maybe not.One of my big issues is with who is to deliver the machines at this point. John Kane of The Kane Companies has been a Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party from 2002-2006.. It has been reported in the media that he has raised funds for Mitt Romney. For my money and vote, I do not want any political leader to deliver or have any contracts involving an election in any business deal.The vote in Maryland is next week, I for one want to know more about these machines, there is supposed to be a paper trail and can they be tampered with or not?  The state has dumped the electronic machines which cost us the taxpayers of Maryland approximately 65 Million dollars, yes I said 65 Milion dollars and they are not paid for as yet. Now the big political leaders  have spent 20 Million more dollars to buy these new machines, ho hum, it all comes out of all of our pockets you know. Yes, and .06 cents for taxes now, hmph!  Not much we can do about it now. Lets see just how well the machines work. I wonder if there is a money back guarantee?