My brain is spinning like a Mac’s color wheel. Too much new data to process.
Reading Wired magazine on the flight from Phx to ORD I learned that Amazon can access someone’s Kindle anytime they want. The connectivity that allows the downloading of a book also allows Amazon to alter that book. They have pledged not to do that barring a court order but those inclined to conspiracy theories might take to wrapping their Kindles in tin foil.
Or, it could be the coolest feature of all. Authors could upload rewrites to Amazon for immediate transmission to anyone who already owns the e-book. Embarrassing misspelling on page 147? Poorly disguised plagiarism in chapter six? How about updates reflecting the last week’s political developments in Outer Wazzooziland?
From the same issue of that magazine comes an explanation for a retail experience I had several months ago. I was installing a sound system in Gerta and needed some spade connectors for the electrical connections. I drove up the road to the new Radio Shack store in the parking lot of the K-Mart center. The first surprise was entering the store to be greeted by two employees who looked to be husband and wife and to have a combined age in the three digit range. I asked for spade connectors and got a very strange look from the man. It was a combination of “I have no idea what language you’re speaking” and “What’s wrong with you, asking for whatever-those-are in my store?” He took me over to a turnstile-type rack with a variety of audio cables but nothing even close to spade connectors. I said, “These aren’t connectors” only to get a dismissive, “Then we don’t carry them.” Huh??? This is Radio Shack. It’s not like spade connectors are on a list of high tech items tracked by the NSA.
I ended up going to Home Depot, of all places, where I bought an assortment of connectors, most of which I’ll never use. But the pack included a dozen spade connectors, half of which are now carrying 12v and tunes to and fro within Gerta. But whassup with Radio Shack?
Turns out the shift from “Radio Shack” to “The Shack” is more than just an updated moniker. They are changing from a supply source for electronic DIY-ers to a retail outlet for cell phones. Seriously! A corporate makeover. Now you go to The Shack to choose your cell phone and they’ll hook you up with the carrier of your choice. Their goal is a one-stop shopping option to the service provider’s store.
Years ago, at Celebration, I needed a way while preaching to communicate covertly with Marybeth back in the sound booth. I used Power Point slides for my sermon but had no way to advance to the next slide from the platform. So I bought a cheap wireless doorbell, which has a transmission range of about 100’. I opened up the unit that normally goes inside the house and replaced the little speaker with a LED I bought at Radio Shack. I even drilled a little hole in the case of the unit and glued the LED into that hole. I’d press the button up in front, the LED would light up back in the booth and Marybeth would advance the laptop to the next slide....if she hadn’t dozed off already.
Now they use a remote device with a receiver that plugs into the laptop’s USB port so the person up front can advance the slides without disturbing Marybeth’s slumber. Not nearly as cool as my McGyver solution, but with the demise of the real Radio Shack it’s the only thing available.
BREAK >
I’m at Norders’. We just had a great dinner and now we’re hanging out for a bit before I head over to my M-in-Law’s.
Alamo isn’t managing their rental car inventory real well. No Chevy Aveo’s. Instead I got a black Dodge Charger. But it’s a 6-cylinder. DAMHIK.
More tomorrow night. See you then.
No comments:
Post a Comment