TechnoGeeking Out for a Day.
Posted: January 10, 2012 Filed under: Life | Tags: apps, Cloud, CloudOn, DocumentsToGo, DropBox, Excel, iPad, Microsoft, mobile workspace, Pages, PDF, teaching, Word, writer, writing Leave a comment »
In an effort to be even more productive, I’ve been experimenting with new software on the iPad and integration with my laptop. Who’d have thunk that my laptop would be considered the clunky, cumbersome, heavy thing to haul around?!
I digress.
I’ve customized PDF files to autocalculate my students’ speech scores in class so that when I’m listening to their speeches I can simply tap along my score sheet and their scores auto-tally. I can also add comments, etc. This is my protection in an extremely litigious society. I now have electronic records of each individual speech score sheet instead of just a final score in my gradebook. Awesome.
Still trying to figure out how to make that PDF thing into a paying app. :::sigh:::
However, when using Word and Excel I have stumbled.
I’ve been using Pages on my iPad to write and edit parts of the new book (and papers, etc…) but find the transfer back to Word cumbersome and annoying. I transfer back to Word because, quite simply, I hate Pages’ interface. I am not stoooopid. I hate software that makes me feel as if I am stoooopid.
In my explorations, I played today with something called “CoudOn” and it’s free.
It sync’s back automatically with DropBox (more on that below) and it’s a fantastic interface. Just like Word/Excel/PPT.
On the plus side, it’s JUST like Word/Excel/PPT. On the down side…see prior sentence. That means that the program is running on a computer somewhere (ie, not being run on my iPad). That means that my document is living somewhere ELSE while I’m working on it, kind of like my iPad is a slave machine to a remote “Master.” Brings up HUGE security considerations, but I’ve passworded everything, so…we’ll see.
Now, the syncing with DropBox is great except that in syncing it overwrites what’s in your dropbox! So if I have DocA in my DropBox folder, I open DocA on my iPad (through this mystery remote computer) and then edit directly on my iPad (as if I had Word on the iPad). When I close (or change windows), it saves right away. So it saves over what I have in my DropBox (as if you were at home and you opened, edited, saved, and closed the file.
Why is that bad? What if the connection drop? What if the file becomes corrupt? What if, what if, what if…? I don’t like it overwriting. I’d like it if it made a DocA_1 version and let me decide which to keep. To work around that I just create a new doc on the iPad and type, then choose to save it to my folder with a different name. When I’m home again later, I play.
Now…HUGE drawback. If you’re not connected (ie, to the InterWebz), you can. non. work.
Thus, I think I’m going to go with DocumentsToGo. Much better in the end, I think. I can work offline (and since at least one of my campuses has no wi-fi connectivity…).
So, that’s your tech blurb for the day.
Tonight: Reading. Playing. Perhaps some LEGOs. Yes, I am 9 again. Sweet.
Reviews: To Read or Not to Read, that is the Question
Posted: November 25, 2011 Filed under: Life | Tags: critic, criticism, critique, editor, GCLS, Golden Crown Literary Society, lambda literary, lesbian, Life, Olympics, review, writer, writing Comments Off(With apologies to THE Bard).
To read, or not to read–that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of overwhelming flattery
Or to take arms against a sea of critics
And by opposing, end them […] aye, there’s the rub.
I opened my email this morning to a note from a friend that was along the lines of, “It’s okay, don’t jump off the bridge.“ Now, a message like that is tantamount to picking up the phone and having the person on the other end say, “Before you say anything, let me begin by saying…everyone’s okay.“ This friend then continued the positive message by encouraging me and building me up, then at the end included a link and said, “I assume you have seen this review.”
I had not.
Oh, the dilemma: To click or not to click on that review.
I tend to lean toward the Georgia Beers school of book reviews in that I don’t like to read them. I am, despite my stocky build and “I can take anything” look, surprisingly sensitive. It’s a running joke in our house that of all of us, I am the one most likely to love flowery “gramma” fabrics, cry at Hallmark commercials, and generally react passionately to all things. (I am also, to most people’s surprise, a SERIOUS introvert, but that’s for another blog). So, knowing how emotionally impacted I can be by such things, I hesitated. Especially as this review apparently was strong enough to bring my friend to drop me a note; this is not someone who just casually emails me on a daily basis.
After a few minutes of waffling I decided, “What the hell, I’ll click and read the review.” The review, after all, was offered by Lambda Literary, an agency that carries a great deal of respect in our community.
I clicked.
I saw.
I read.
In all honesty, the reviewer did not say anything that I have not said to myself either during the process of writing or after the book’s publication. I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, and the reviewer pretty much nailed them as well.
The review was similar to a design I once submitted to an art director once. After meeting with the client, the art director, the client, the other designers, the client, more meetings with more people and yes, another meeting with the client, I came up with a design. A solid, workable design that incorporated notes from all of the above and my own input. The art director tipped his head this way and that, resembling a curious terrier, then paused. He rested his chin on his hand and said, “Well…it doesn’t suck.”
The entire meeting cracked up. I blew out a sigh of relief.
“It doesn’t suck” was pretty high praise from an art director in that shop (a multi-million dollar shop founded on an animated rodent).
My book got the equivalent of an “It doesn’t suck” from an agency who regularly reviews gay and lesbian writing. That means that it fell onto their radar, always a good thing. It was my first book—the first of many, I hope. Could it have “not sucked” less (i.e. been called “spectacular”)? Yes, indeed. On the other hand, it could have been called a “spectacular disaster,” so all-in-all, I’m good with what I got.
So, to Lamda Literary, I say thank you.
Even had you gone with option B above and said “spectacular disaster” instead, I would still have said thank you and meant it.
Can a review hurt? Yes.
Should it? No.
Reviews are not meant to be a feel-good “atta girl,”nor are they meant to shatter an artist’s dream or creativity, especially if the reviewer does not also create in that medium. They exist to give a reader a sense of the book. To tell us if we want to part with our hard-earned dollars to support an author and gain a few hours of mental freedom.
A good review is like a good report to a parent on student work, a “dirt sandwich,” if you will. Begin with the good, put the dirt in the middle, end with more good. You can always find good to say and there is always something good that can be said. A little good goes a long way. A savvy reader can pull what they need from a good review, especially one structured in that good/bad/good format.
That’s not to say that I am unaffected by what I read and/or hear about my work. If you stab me, do I not bleed? Which brings us back to the original question (and subsequent mauling of Will’s fine words).
One last thing. Even at the lowest points in my self-doubt, and like any creative person I am plagued with self-doubt, I go back to my manuscript. The one that was hand-marked by my editor, the redoubtable Katherine V. Forrest. In there are comments and pointers and, every so often, this little gem, “fine writing.”
And once in a while, this: “very find writing.”
That’s good enough for me.
Buy the Book.
Posted: November 17, 2011 Filed under: Life, Olympics, Stargate | Tags: Bella Books, books, ebooks, fanfic, lesbian, Olympics, Open Water, Stargate, Stargate SG1, writer, writing 2 Comments »I sure wish we could make money from fanfic, ’cause if that were the case I’d be sitting on a cool million by this point. One story alone has generated 180-thousand hits.
Alas, there’s that whole copyright infringement, yada, yada, yada.
Open Water from Bella Books.
But, that said, I do have a book published.
I am teaching my students “persuasion” at this point in the semester and the thing I emphasize most (after ‘ethical appeals’) is for them to not forget the “ask.” What is it you want your audience to think, do, or say at the end of their persuasive speech?
Then, in the shower this morning as I was trying to figure out which to pay: mortgage or hospital bills, it came to me.
I forgot the ask!
So, now I am asking.
If you have not done so, please buy my book, Open Water, available here: Bella Books. If you’ve already purchased a copy, consider buying another to give to a friend. Or two and donating one to either a local library or a local gay/lesbian center.
If you’re uncertain, you can read an excerpt on my web page, here: Open Water excerpt.
If you are at all concerned about the “lesbian-ness” of the book, let me assure you that this book is by no means a “how-to” manual. Believe me, I was absolutely aware that my younger cousins would be reading this (as would be my multitudes of parents). And one such parent, this one a very conservative (“I live in McCain Country,” Florida) step-mom, said, “Wow, this is quite good! I actually couldn’t put it down!” High praise indeed from a Obama-wasn’t-born-here conservative.
Thus, keeping in mind what I have often told my students on the think/do/say plan, I would like you to think about what you can afford, buy the book, and tell others to do the same.
If you buy the e-version, you can get it “Kindle-graphed,” or you can drop me a note via my Facebook page and I will send you a personalized book plate.
‘Nuf said.
For now.
Thank you.
An Update to the Warner Brothers, Flixster, Harry Potter 7 part 2 Saga…
Posted: November 15, 2011 Filed under: Life | Tags: digital copy, DVD, Harry Potter 7, JK Rowling, Jo Rowling, Movie, part 2, UltraViolet, Warner Brothers, warner brothers entertainment 1 Comment »I feel obligated to update you, my loyal blog readers (all, what, five of you?) on the status of my gripe with the WB and the latest Harry film.
Following advice from someone who commented on my previous blog, I logged onto Flixster support and opened a trouble-ticket. Within an hour I received this response (though with spelling errors, but we’ll not quibble about such things here):
Dear Polly:
Thank you for being one of our best customers [Really? I've never, ever heard of you before and likely will not want to again, thank you] and among the first to try UltraViolet Digital Copy.
While we have received a lot of positive reaction to UltraViolet [Huh. From where? From whom? I did a Google search and found NOT ONE single positive thing. Also, in the space of 72 hours, my blog had 1,4352 hits on it on 213 permutations of "Harry Potter 7," "Flixster," "digital copy" "iTunes" "download" and various other terms], we realize that with any new technology there is a learning curve for both creators and consumers, and this is especially true around new user experiences.
It’s important to us that you are fully satisfied with your purchase. We are issuing you an an iTunes code for your movie so that you can obtain an iOS-compatible download of this title immediately.
[CODE REDACTED]
To redeem your code, please follow these instructions:1. Open iTunes
2. Navigate to the iTunes Store
3. Locate the “Redeem” link in the right side of the Storefront in the Quick Links panel
4. Enter your Authorization Code
5. If the files do not show up in your Download queue, click “Store” > “Check for Available Downloads”
We also wanted to let you know that you can download your UltraViolet Digital Copy to a supported iOS or Android device. (For a list of supported iOS devices see this article. For a list of supported Android devices, please visit this link.)
We are excited by UltraViolet’s ability to offer you a digital locker copy of your purchased title. With UltraViolet today, you can download your title to a PC, Mac, Android or iOS compatible device for offline playback as well as stream it to your PC, Mac, or compatible iOS and Android devices. You can also add up to six members to your account, so that your whole family can enjoy it. And UltraViolet provides ongoing access to your titles from the cloud, meaning you will enjoy the benefit of future enhancements to the service, including the addition of new devices, download formats, and retailers.
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us. We’d like to keep the channels of communication open and look forward to hearing from you as we continue our rollout of UV-enabled titles.
Sincerely,
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and Flixster
You can access your UltraViolet movie collection at any time at ultraviolet.flixster.com.
For more information about UltraViolet, and to manage your UltraViolet account, go to www.UVVU.com.
I’ll just say a few things. First, I am not now, nor ever likely to be, “one of their best customers.” Not gonna happen.
Second, I resent like hell the fact that to use their “convenient” digital locker (which I do not at all want), I must then download still more software. I think I have discovered the secret impetus behind Apple’s iCloud, the PC’s Cloud, and now Flixster’s “digital locker.” They want to fill my computer so full of application crap that I’ll essentially have no room for my own crap!
I really wish, I really, really wish that software companies would stop generally assume that I am an incompetent boob who is incapable of managing my own files. Or data. Or digital media. That I am unable to safely have access to my computer’s “brain (ie, “Library” on Apple), that it must be hidden from me. Stop assuming that I want EVERY SINGLE THING THAT I PURCHASE to be traceable, trackable, and talk-about-able by some mysterious powers-that-be.
Or worse, by some bored-as-hell seven-year-old bound to hack into someone’s cloud/network/digital nebula.
I don’t let ordinary schmoe’s into my home to browse my bookshelves and/or DVD collections, why should I want the thin barrier of 0′s and 1′s to be the only thing keeping the schmoe’s out of my digital stuff?
I am not an idiot, thank you. I can and have managed to keep my shit organized and virus-free for years. As many years as I have owned a computer of some sort, and frankly, that’s a lot of years (almost as many as personal computers have been around, in fact).
Stop dumbing down my software! Stop dumbding down my purchases!
Stop dumbing us down and perhaps we’ll all be a bit better for it.
So, thank you to “Don’t Wanna Say” for giving me the pointer to “support” at Flixster. Thank you, too, to the many (over 100 now) who contacted me or commented here, or shared on Facebook and/or Twitter, or who spread the word in some way.
We may be few, but we are might, and damn it all, we have a voice that should be heard.
Warner Brothers, Harry Potter 7 part 2 and UltraViolet – #Fail
Posted: November 11, 2011 Filed under: Life | Tags: digital copy, DVD, Harry Potter 7, JK Rowling, Jo Rowling, Movie, part 2, UltraViolet, Warner Brothers, warner brothers entertainment 17 Comments »I’m pretty easy-going, mostly. I pay for things that I want and/or need, I expect value for my dollar(s), and I get angry when I feel as if I have been cheated.
Or lied to.
Or both.
In this case, I am pretty damned angry.
Like many of Jo Rowling’s fans, I have eagerly anticipated the DVD release of the eighth and final Harry Potter movie (second half of the seventh, in case you are not in the “know”). That movie came out today.
I always like the option of the digital copy as well for several reasons; in case of disaster, I have a backup. When I am out and about and want the movie available, it’s there, on my iPad (as are all seven prior movies).
I don’t cheat, I don’t download them for free, I don’t steal them from torrents. I buy what has been produced to support the artists, the actors, the franchise, and the possibility of future entertainment.
Now, however, I’m freakin’ mad as hell.
Why? See the email below that I sent to Warner Brothers “customer service because we care” link:
In an economy where every single penny counts, I cannot believe that Warner Brothers would treat their customers so callously and inconsiderately.
I purchased Harry Potter 7, part 2 today in part because it came with a “digital copy,” as have most of my other DVD’s of the franchise. Imagine my anger and disappointment to discover that the “digital copy” is tied to a platform which will not allow the movie to play on my iPad or iPhone.
I have spent hundreds of my hard-earned money on the Harry Potter movie franchise, let alone evangelized it to my countless students and friends. No more.
In an era of increasing choice and flexibility, you have chosen to limit both for me. Warner Brothers has lost a customer. You have traded in bad faith, you have falsely advertised what is for sale, and you have betrayed a customer’s trust. I am one, but I have a voice.
And a blog.
And Facebook.
Therefore I have a platform and I intend to use them.
Shame on you.
Let’s add one more ingredient to the mix. Not only did I discover that the movie is not compatible with my iPad/iPhone, when I tried to download the UltraViolet copy to my computer anyway, just ’cause, damn it I paid for it and I want it, I get this:
Warner Brothers Harry Potter 7 part 2 Fail...big time
Really? Because lying about it being a “digital copy I can use on my mobile devices” wasn’t enough, now I cannot even download said digital copy? And yes, before you ask, I tried multiple variations on the web address. Then I Googled it and discovered hundreds of other angry posts similar to mine.
Am I mad? Damned right I am.
Am I disgusted? Damned right…again.
Is it realistic to hope that Warner Brothers hears my tiny, single voice and does something? Absolutely not.
You, however, have a voice, too. Use it. Voice it. Share it.
Make some noise.
Occupy “Web street.”
Go.
What to do…
Posted: October 20, 2011 Filed under: Life, Uncategorized 2 Comments »So.
Here I am, plotting and writing and struggling, and I realize that what I have outlined for this next book is complete and utter rubbish.
Really, I had a *great* idea. Great. Super great. Even had some really exciting race scenes, some good dynamic stuff, etc… Then, the back surgery happened and I had even more good stuff to use.
However. (and there’s always a ‘however,’ isn’t there?)
Now the new stuff doesn’t work with the old stuff. My original idea, while still good, doesn’t seem as ‘great’ as it once did. And the new stuff, while good and well-written (okay, little horn toot there), just doesn’t…work…with the old stuff. Or any stuff.
Or even on its own.
:::sigh:::
So, should I sit back and wait for the writing fairy to hit? What to do? What to do?
I’m really struggling and forcing it is not making it better. At all.
In fact, I am more lost than before.
Crudbunnies.
Now’s the time for that writing mentor to come out of the woodwork.
Fans and Fan Mail…
Posted: October 11, 2011 Filed under: Life 5 Comments »It’s probably pretentious to say that I get fanmail, per se. I do get some comments on Facebook for my writing, mostly about my book, Open Water, but most of the “fan mail” I get right now relates to my fan fiction.
Yes, I still write it.
Yes, it’s hetero fanfic, I’ve never really written lesbian fanfic. Why not? I believe, and I did research this for my MA, that you have to really need to get something out of it in order to write fanfic. I wrote fanfic for The X-Files back in the day because I desperately needed closure for the characters. Or for an episode that just didn’t allow for all of the emotional elements to come together after an episode.
I write Stargate SG-1 fanfic for the same reason, though the show has been off the air for years now. I have a long-running series in that genre that’s over 200K words now. Scary numbers, that.
One thing I’ve always been diligent about is answering every single “review” (ie, fan comment) I receive, good or bad. I know that right now, that’s a fairly easy goal for me as I have far fewer fan letters arriving for me than, say, a Karin Kallmaker, or a Georgia Beers might receive–not that either of them write fanfic, I am referring to their actual for-profit writing endeavors. My only “fan mail” with regard to my book has been, as I said above, through Facebook (and I have responded each time).
So…what’s the point of this meandering stream-of-consciousness nonsense? I recently received a wonderful note from a man who’s been reading my SG-1 fanfic. He said (and I can share without telling tales out of school) that reading that long-running series I have going on and revisiting the episodes has allowed him to recapture the enjoyment he had while watching with his (now passed on) wife.
The most poignant thing he said was that my writing had in some way helped him through some of his grief.
Wow.
I wrote/write SG1 fanfic because I get something from it. I get the immense satisfaction of playing with someone else’s toys (characters/setting/space) and–I think–enhancing a depiction of a relationship on screen. But, to learn that something I did purely for the sake of my own pleasure brought some light into someone else’s life…that’s an amazing feeling.
It’s a gift.
I save all of my fanfic reviews, good and bad, but his is one of the few fan emails I have gotten that I have printed out to hang on my wall. On days when I feel as if I have nothing to offer as a writer, on days when I struggle to put a single coherent sentence together on the next book, I look at his note and believe again.
And the Discoveries Continue…
Posted: October 9, 2011 Filed under: Life 2 Comments »Let me first preface this by saying, I really can stop anytime I want. I am not addicted to ancestry.com. Really.
I’m not.
Much.
Okay, with that disclaimer aside, let me just share more fun discoveries. Check this out!
Alice Atwood (1574 – 1621)
is your 11th great grandmother
Richard Gale (1618 – 1679)
Son of Alice (Atwood) Mullens
Abraham S Gale (1643 – 1718)
Son of Richard
Abraham Gale II (1674 – 1718)
Son of Abraham S
Abraham Gale III (1700 – 1779)
Son of Abraham
Daniel Gale (1721 – 1796)
Son of Abraham
Noah Gale (1757 – 1806)
Son of Daniel
George Gale (1795 – 1819)
Son of Noah
George Winslow Gale (1817 – 1890)
Son of George
George Henry Goodwin Gale (1858 – 1920)
Son of George Winslow
Mary “Polly” Grafton Gale (1885 – 1973)
Daughter of George Henry Goodwin
George B.Sr. Robinson (xxxx – 1976)
Son of Mary “Polly” Grafton
George B. Robinson (xxxx – 2009)
*Dates removed to protect the innocent.
Son of George Blatchford Sr.
Polly Marie Robinson
You are the daughter of George B.
What’s the big deal? Well, at the top of the list is the lovely Alice (Atwood) Mullens. Who was the wife of “Master William Mullens” who came over on the Mayflower.
Seriously?
Nifty.
I know, I know. From the whole point of view of the colonial/imperialism sphere, I should not be proud, but…well, I can’t help it.
What’s super interesting to me is that also on the ship was a man named “Gilbert Winslow,” who turns out the be the great x6 grandfather of Alice’s greatx6 grandson; both of the 6x greats (one Winslow, one Gale (by that point)) are my great x 3 grandparents.
Anyway, that was my Sunday night activity while watching the Pack trounce the Falcons in a come-from-behind win.
You can find the Mayflower passenger list here.
Shame on Southwest Airlines.
Posted: September 26, 2011 Filed under: Life 5 Comments »Shame on Southwest airlines.
My email to Southwest. Feel free to copy and send to them as well:
You kicked a woman off of a flight for kissing her partner? What the hell is wrong with Southwest? “A flight attendant had told Hailey that Southwest “was a ‘family’ airline and kissing was not ok”, and that she and her companion were then “escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue.”
So…that means I will NEVER, EVER see men and women kissing because “kissing is not ok?”
I am a published author and let me tell you, I will post this and ask my readers, my publisher, my editors and those who read my blog that folks should boycott your homophobic, small-minded, small airline until you verify that ALL OF YOUR STAFF undergo “humanity” training. “Sensitivity” would be asking for too much.
Get out of the dark ages, Southwest. Oh, and here’s news for your idiot flight attendant. I’m guessing that a full 3/4′s of her “crew” colleagues, past and present, have been extraordinarily gay.
Suck on that, grow up, and move on.
Shame, shame, shame on you.
For the news article quoted above, go here.
So…you have your marching orders. Boycott a seriously homophobic airline.
If I get a response or learn anything new, I will update it.
