Standing On Boxes

Will I lose my indie cred by watching the Emmys?

And I don’t mean Indiana Jones.

( Does anyone under the age of 50 even use that phrase anymore? Does using it = losing it?)

How about if I set my DVR to the Emmys, so my cable co. can pass it along to their advertisers ( we know they can do that kind thing, right?) but set my Tv to my PS3 and watch some old Emmy-snubbed shows I have on DVD? I’ve got a few choices.

Will that help?

Okay. See that “Doing” Widget/plugin to the right? The one that theoretically lists what I’m reading/listening/watching at the moment?

Yes, that one. A few comments.

1. It’s there because I find it amusing. It doesn’t update automatically. I have to change it manually. I’m sure there’s a WordPress plugin that COULD update based on what I’m listening to but I haven’t found it yet. Besides which, I usually listen to music using my iPad/iPod/iPhone, not my laptop, so that kind of auto-updating is a magnitude more complex.

2. When one of those ‘doing’ things has a link, it points to Amazon. That’s because that’s what the widget supports. Every Amazon item for sale has an id number called an ASIN and the widget uses that. There are drawbacks to that. And not just that I’m NOT an Amazon affiliate so I don’t get any money if someone clicks on one (For all I know, the widget designer DOES get credit.) – it only works with items in the US Amazon store and I don’t feel like hacking it to fix that.

3. Even though the widget links point to Amazon, I actually buy music from iTunes (but there’s no similar widget for that, that I can find. And I’m too lazy to fix that.). I do buy the occasional book and other object from Amazon but not ebooks since Amazon doesn’t do ePub.

1. The US Supreme Court didn’t have its own building until 1935. So Moses, and the Ten Commandments being in/on the building? A product of the 1930′s. Certainly not a reflection of the founding of the country like some fanatics claim. And Moses isn’t exactly by himself. He shares the friezes with other ancient lawgivers. One of whom happens to be Mohammed. Oops.
2. All those courts around the US with copies of the Ten Commandments on display? You can thank Cecile B. DeMille for that one. It was a promotional gimmick for his movie with Charlton Heston. (Okay, some might be from other sources but that isn’t the point.)

On FaceBook anyway.

I’ve been resisting Facebook for a while now.

I have my own blog/website (here), I have a (free) LiveJournal account I barely use, I have a Yahoo account, Flickr, and MobileMe. I even use AIM ( we use it at work). To say nothing of several Gmail accounts, and accounts on assorted fan fiction sites I post stories to. To say nothing of an assortment of accounts on numerous websites so I can participate in discussions.

I tried MySpace, wasn’t impressed and cancelled my account on it. I think.

Why add the uber social website, FaceBook? What got me to finally break down, stumble out of the hermitage, and sign up?

The T went off to college on Thursday. And she uses FaceBook. And now if she would just get back to her dorm from whatever orientation / party she’s at ( on a Saturday? Good Luck! ) and “friend” me ( I’m told all the cool kids do that – “friend” parents ) I won’t be completely, pathetically, friendless on FaceBook.

Note to the curious/compulsive “friender” : If you aren’t a close friend, SO, or family member, don’t expect me to be “friending” you on FaceBook. Though I might think about it if you’re a favorite writer or musician. Or favorite actress. Maybe . It’s an extremely exclusive list.

(Yeah! I’ve been friended! That was quicker than I thought. She must be between activities.)

Got my hands on the iPad Camera Connection Kit ($29 if you can find one) – two little dongles that plug into the iPad docking port. Really tiny. Slightly bigger than an SD card and thicker (approx. 3x for SD dongle, 4x for USB)

1. For SD, SDHC memory cards (also Mini/micro SD, MMC with an adapter apparently.).

   I have a couple things that take SD cards – broken Nikon point-n- shoot, netbook. My PSP takes something also, not sure if it’s one of the compatible ones.

   Plug in the dongle and nothing happens. Put an SD card in and the Photo app opens and lets you import/view/delete photos on the card. I think. The one SD card I could find this morning had nothing on it.

2. USB to iPad dongle

   Had to set my Canon DSLR to PTP mode before the iPad could see it but otherwise it works the same way. Of course, my Canon had a lot more pictures on its CF card and the iPad insisted on creating thumbnails for all of them. Oops.

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It’s possible to use the USB dongle to attach other things to an iPad, in an unsupported way, but I think the only one that doesn’t require jail breaking the device is using a USB keyboard, which I’ll try some other time. And iPhone and iPod touches aren’t supported ( yet?)

Hmm… at least one report that you can use a Lexar model USB card reader with the USB dongle if you have a type of memory card that the SD dongle doesn’t support (Like Compact Flash). Clever.

Couldn’t find any way to move pictures into an album other than the default ‘Last imported’. Maybe you have to use iTunes + iPhoto? Export thru iTunes and then back? Seems a bit awkward and clunky. And… digging thru the Apple Discussion boards… that’s how you do it right now. Can’t even create an album on the thing. Yuck!

I’ll have to check on the App store for non- Apple apps that use the dongles.

Set in the same story universe as my fic Portal Girl and the Science Lady. Guess I’ll have to make it a series?

Jenny Shepard doesn’t really die at the end of Season 5 of NCIS? This story would explain how and why she ends up working for the Council.

Note: New series – The RedHeaded League – and ‘Portal Girl’ has been moved there (for anyone who has it bookmarked – you might want to change it to point to the new location.)

Story spoilers below – in a rambling sort of way. Just thinking aloud…

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