WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS or LEARN TO LOVE TECH

Woe is me ! I seem to have lost my last post, I remember writing it, I remember previewing it, I though I uploaded it .............never mind, not a problem in the great scheme of things, but as I write from an idea and it develops on it's own, this replacement will not be the same............anyway enough housekeeping, on to the gripping and insightful content !

The thought that started this was what devices and other things that, at one time, would be a nice extra but not essential, have now moved into the "how could I manage without ?" category, of course there alternatives but .............

Let's start big in the field of robots, OK many domestic appliances have intelligence of a sort, though they would not pass the Turing test, as would not my two robots but they are much, much cleverer than the self defrost fridge.

Item 1 is my IRobots Roomba vacuum cleaner, remove any large discarded items on the floor, press go and come back to a clean floor, carpets and tile or wood all suitable, it gets in the corners and under beds, tables etc......it also goes back to it's charger.You do have to empty the bin, but I can manage that.

Item 2 is even more talented, it's a Robomow, it has a docking station on the lawn and once the lawn or lawns are set up, you can set times, durations etc currently at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, it comes out, does it work and then goes to it's home, no cuttings not to empty. It even knows when it is raining and delays it's program.

These may not be the universal robots of scifi, though perhaps in the future, but have enough intelligence to do their jobs efficiently and without much human interventions

On a more prosaic level, I would really miss my ice cube maker machine, no more warn cold drinks, I cannot imagine going back to a manual toothbrush or an electric razor that cleans itself. I guess once you have such devices your expectations change.

I have written before about the absolutely indispensable IPAD, on which I write this blog while waiting for a hospital appointment where the Doc is running at least 40 minutes late, which I now use to control my TV, Virgin box, Amplifier, DVD set up. I used to have a dedicated device but when it died, I found an app and a plug in IR sender. OK I could use the four separate remotes that came with kit, but it's so easy and somehow satisfying to use one which starts everything on, tunes the TV, amplifier to the right input and you can manage everything on the cable box.

Once again it was the withdrawal symptoms that set in when the Logitec died that made me make a very small investment think £30 rather than £300 and quite enjoyed the setting up process, but it's another "I can't live without it" or at least I don't want to. However I go not think I am total addicted............. I have just bought a new(ish) car and I will have to live without heated seats.......I think I will cope. The world keeps moving on, faster and faster, maybe the only message of this post is no matter your age, you should keep up..........after all new things stimulate the old and sometimes tired brain.

THE FREEDOM OF VOLUNTEERING

This is potentially a huge subject, but as is my want, I shall look at this from Malcolm’s point of view. The idea for this as title for a blog entry was prompted by the possibility that I may become Chair of the Nottingham Credit Union next month. This is to not ‘count chickens’ but I have expressed a wish, I believe I have some support, but it depends on what other candidates emerge and how my fellow Directors vote on the night. So a little muse about volunteering in general seemed in order.

Whatever happens then, I will still probably continue for two more years (after which I would need to get re-elected), but, and here’s the huge difference between voluntary activities and paid roles,.......... I can walk away whenever and for whatever reasons I choose.

Some people, maybe a lot of people, would like to leave their current role but are tied by the need to pay the mortgage or rent, eat, cloth etc themselves and their dependents, Freed from economic circumstances they would have similar choices. I wonder how some businesses and organisations would manage if they had no carrot and stick to retaining staff.

Much is said about the value of volunteers and statistics suggest millions of days of unpaid work helping organisations of all types. So why do people do it ?

In musing for this article I recalled my own history, which may or may not be typical. I have done voluntary stuff for many years. I was a Citizens Advice Bureau advisor, I was Treasurer of the Derby Branch of the now disappeared Institution of Training Officers , I was Chairman of Camblesforth Village Hall in North Yorkshire, a National Committee member and then briefly Chair of a national medical charity, a founder and then Chair of an alternative ‘break away’ charity.

I was a sort of ‘Secretary’ to an amateur drama group, the Newsletter Editor and then Vice Chair of Pines Park Archers, I was (and am again) a  Magistrate and more recently was a Director of the Nottingham Domestic Violence Forum, ................and some other stuff which I may well have forgotten.

I have settled at the moment for the Credit Union, being an  IT Tutor for over 50’s and a Magistrate again, but I do keep an eye on what is wanted elsewhere from time to time. This is perhaps the point, some people do ‘good works’ others just get roped into being a Committee member of the Playgroup, Scouts or a local club or society, others and I suspect quite a few, just drift into something, often because no one else wants to organise or do whatever is needed. 

People do this stuff sometimes from a sense of altruism, a wish to share their skills and knowledge, a personal connection with a cause or illness or at the other end of the spectrum. as a way of getting experience and confidence. Also perhaps, and some may not admit it, because they enjoy the ‘power and influence’ or of course for some they just want people to talk to and a routine in their week or day.

I freely admit that in many ways I have gained personal satisfaction from problem solving and setting things right, well as right as I think is right...........indeed if judging by comparisons with paid work, whilst I was a Senior Manager and Head of Department, I never became a Director until I retired ! 

But so what............. volunteers should get a payback, as there is no money involved, other motivators will come into play. Even if you got involved by accident or because everyone else took a sharp step backward, you do want the usual human factors recognition, achievement, satisfaction.

The ‘employers’ of volunteers have a difficult path to tread, attracting, keeping and organising volunteers whilst ensuring that their work is up to standard and consistent with other volunteers and paid staff alike. However the natural human situation is to want to be clear about what needs doing, to be confident in doing it well and of course to be appreciated. So perhaps it shouldn’t be too difficult to manage and motivate volunteers.

What is very reassuring as a volunteer is that if you don’t like the way things are going, if someone who is in some ways interacting with you, really gets on your wick, its easy, you can just leave..............and do something else.

So maybe that’s a clue for managers of volunteers,............. remembering that a volunteer’s tolerance for others’ stupidity, rudeness or incompetence is lower than paid staff.

THINGS THAT COST A LOT LESS AND DO MORE

It was always an assumption in my youth that you’ got what you paid for’ or ‘buy the most expensive you can afford’ and other folk sayings of that ilk.

Whilst many bemoan the increases in prices, petrol, electricity etc there is an area where value for money has gone in reverse........I speak of technology and gadgets.

The first Personal Computer made by IBM in the 80s cost as I recall about £7,000, probably nearer to £22,000 in today's money and only affordable by companies and organisations. Mr Sugar (he wasn’t a Lord then) broke the monopoly and introduced the Amstrad PC. It was still a major purchase, I believe from memory which is probably wrong, but Wikipedia confirms, .............. that the one I bought was c. £400, thats £900 in 2011 money, but the specification of todays £900 PC is so vastly better in all areas that comparisons are difficult. My Amstrad only had floppy disks, no hard drive, 512MB RAM and was in black & white, no one would buy that now at any price.

This line of thought was prompted by my buying a camcorder. I have actually never before owned one, but have many years experience in using video cameras in a professional manner to make ‘proper’ programs for training and communications mainly. This I did with Asda and later Derbyshire Constabulary where I established and managed in house video production units. Even in those days I saw the technologies get better frequently and accompanied by price stabilisation, if not drops.

But having spent some time researching available camcorders now, I was actually very surprised at what is available. There are really cheap units priced in tens of pounds, there are still semi pro kit in the thousands, but at the lower end of the scale. In between, where I settled in the hundreds, are a vast number of models, including the main manufacturers I was familiar with Sony, JVC, Panasonic.

I wanted some control over settings, as on cameras I was used to, things like focus, aperture to adjust depth of field, white balance etc. I got all that and more for £400.

However more surprises were in store, this shoots in full High Definition at 1080p, is completely solid state, no tapes ! storing this video on a memory card that costs £16 and it even has an optional 3D lens, so you can make your own ‘Avatar’.

It also has some fancy intelligent auto setting which means that the manual control I wanted is actually almost unnecessary.........and all of this is a small unit held in one hand and which records amazing quality images

That sort of kit, when I last was looking to spend someone else’s money on cameras, would have cost at least £6000 and probably nearer to £10,000 and that was only 5 years ago.

True the quality and value of the final output for a proper program still needs editing software, but then that is now available at £100 as opposed to £3,500.............and yes it does more as well.

I am doing a little project and now hope that my skills and experience in matters such as scripting, production planning, editing etc will still be relevant. We will see.

However my camcorder, only released in March has already been updated by several other models, which is one lesson of technology change. Yes you can probably save money by waiting but by the time you wait the world has moved on and whatever you buy will be obsolescent and will definitely be lacking in the features of today’s models.

This is also true in all sort of areas including cars, domestic appliances as well as computers and TVs and audio visual devices.

Now of course you don’t need to spend if you don’t need it, you don’t need to replace because its six months old, but there is some drive to have the best, specially when its price is beating inflation and going down. Not much else can do this, so maybe techie stuff can make you feel, just a little bit better off....................................or maybe its just me.

IS TIDINESS GENETIC ?

I spent a few hours recently organising my collection of cables, adaptors, plugs etc. Ones for computers , mobile phones and other devices, (some of which I no longer own), audio visual, lots of stuff to charge things in a car.........and surprised myself with what I had.

I now have 4 mains charger for Nokia Phones, not counting the two I already had out in active use. I found various mains adaptors, some for countries I cannot identify and every variety of USB, mini USB, Micro USB (apart from the one I will need next). Clearly some standardisation would be helpful but I suppose it keeps people in business making these, usually in China, and selling them usually on Ebay. Its so easy to find what you want for very cheap prices, apart from Apple connectors of course, so it was often easier to just buy new cables without thinking that I may have it already.

Now they are in a series of cardboard or plastic boxes and reside all together in my office so I can access them whenever required, I have however resisted the temptation to label each one or make a printed inventory to go in each box, but I have mused that the collection of recycled boxes might be best replaced with a series of uniform plastic containers.

That started the thought about tidiness. Have you every visited someone's office or home and been surprised, maybe even incredulous that they can manage their clutter that way .......that is they don't appear to manage it, it just exists. Every surface is covered in books, magazines and stuff but this may be logical and organised to them but unfathomable to others who have, what I propose to call the tidy gene.

Then of course there are those with an extreme version of the tidy gene who cannot stand to have anything out of place and will rearrange the ornaments, the kitchen cupboards etc until it makes sense to them. I once know a business colleague who had a completely empty desk, every night every single paper was put away, you could enter his empty office and assume that it was indeed unoccupied completely.

Now the question is does it matter, well not if you are living on your own, provided you don't worry about what visitors might think, or discourage any visitors at all or take a certain pride in being eccentric. Not perhaps if you are the boss or run your own business but if you live with others or work with others or in a place where the ethos is tidy, it could be an issue.

Do people from untidy families carry on being untidy when they move out ? or do they react and become very organised ? Nature vs Nurture in the raw, some sociologist could perhaps investigate. Here's the title for free - "Reaction to Clutter in home and work places - A Study"

Perhaps it doesn't matter, though people have fallen out for less, is there a test that those on line dating/matching services do that identifies tidiness? is tidying an excuse not to do anything new or does being tidy lift some people's minds and souls and for others do they rise above the triviality of sorting to have the time for greater thoughts and deeds ?

So many questions, so little time, I've still got cupboards to delve into and identify stuff that is broken, obsolete or surplus,.................oh happy day...........when I get around to it. I think my tidy gene has a time out in it, sometimes it works, sometime it doesn't, oh well...............

BUSY........QUIET............BUSY...........QUIET

One of the key changes from being employed to retired, but still doing things, is your time management changes. As the tile of this musing indicates, it seems to go through rapid swings and diary management becomes actually more of an issue than when at work.

Most workers, even senior executives have some standard pattern, times when they are available and times in meetings........I used to sometimes complain at the number of meetings I attended in my last real job with Derbyshire Constabulary, but I guess I have as many now.

The difference is that I am balancing demands, from in my case at least three separate and unconnected organisations, as well as the domestic and personal stuff of Doctors, Hospitals, car services, going out etc 

So unlike having one employer to whom you can say “I can’t make your meeting because I’m already booked with MrX (if Mr X is superior to the requestor, you know who has to adapt and change.)  .........................Oh come on you didn’t think that its anything to do with how important the subject of the meeting is, do you ?

But with a volunteering portfolio, the separate organisations do not connect, so I have to make my own decisions............. Do I agree to extra Magistrates sittings, or do some work with the Credit Union on staffing structures or train some more over 55 beginners in computers ? 

Well its a call I make but then something else pops up elsewhere that may be more important or time critical but can I really drop one set of people for another.............the stress of time management has become more complex. Thank goodness for electronic diaries and calendars but make sure you are synchronised  and don’t make a commitment from one diary which hasn’t been updated yet !

I think I have cracked that one, using the home computer and the ”must have it with me at all times” IPAD, I can access emails and reply from any email account I have, including an Exchange server one, just remembering to change the signature as necessary. (Well worth checking these very regularly, and just before you agree or decline something............. because another item may have been canceled or switched). 

Via ITunes I can sync the calendar, and using bluetooth, the to do lists. An "in the Cloud" solution might be even more effective but costs money ( I am a poor pensioner don’t forget) and none of my organisations are going to pay for it, but then maybe I can create the illusion of busyness by spending time, managing my time, rather than watching the telly.

I’m not complaining though, the ‘sort of routine’ is good, the days when there is nothing on means I need to do things like do the washing, take the bins out etc which whilst necessary are not mentally exerting.

The other problem is what you promised to do, or need to do before the next formal or informal appearance, but hey I can write a proposal on a Sunday or read minutes and agendas at 2 o’clock in the morning.

I guess if I really want to, I can stop doing some or all of my activities or of course even take up more ! So perhaps some time management juggling is worthwhile.

Just don’t anyway tell you that it must be easier now you are retired. Now I have to plan in my holidays, when can they all spare me for two weeks ??????????

RITES OF PASSAGE

I was prompted to write this piece after attending my daughter’s graduation where she received her Masters Degree in Human Resource Management. 

As an event it was well organised, well attended by families and friends of the graduates and had a ceremonial feel. Present on the platform, which they reached and after left via a procession (recession is the proper going out word) accompanied by organ music, were The Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire, the Queens’s representative in Derbyshire complete with his uniform and spurs, in contrast to the Duke of Devonshire in the very ornate, gold braided robes of the Chancellor of the University. (Some people may be confused that the actual running of the University is done by the Vice Chancellor in other walks of life he would be the Chief Executive.) The others were a selection of the academic great and good, the chairs of various University bodies, professors, heads of departments etc all in traditional academic costume with caps and gowns, but differing in various ways by colour etc.... it quite put the other people there, a brace or two of Mayors and Councillors, to shame, a business suit or smart dress even with a gold chain really didn’t cut it !

Handing over a certificate takes seconds, but the point of this musing was that the event, its costumes, well choreographed movements of people, speeches etc all gave an additional air of importance to the event and so I believe is the case with other significant life events, events which anthropologists call ‘rites of passage’ and delight in discovering new ones in obscure societies.

The most common are of course birth, coming of age, (no consensus when that is) marriage and death. These are traditionally accompanied by ceremony and the calling of people together to celebrate or mourn. Others less so might include first day at school, last day at work and the abundance of award presentations and events held by ........well almost anyone, various trade and other bodies, TV and Radio and film have a good collection etc

Again ritual and costumes play a major part, even a funeral has the expectation of black clothing, apart from the Chinese who I believe use white. Many have religious connotation such as baptisms, some religions doing this at the baby stage, others wait until an adult stage and despite the declining population of those who regularly attend church or similar on other days...........weddings seem, to some, to be ‘better’ in a white gown with page boys and a few hymns and of course vows to a God who the attendees may not even believe in. 

Likewise funerals, in this case the leading lady or man does not play any part being ......well ...dead and thus we might conclude that many of the rites are not for the main characters but for others left behind.

Why therefore is there this part of the human condition that needs to share events, to be comforted or more relaxed with set rituals? Of course some buck the trend, at the Graduation I counted two people who came to collect the degree but who had not chosen to wear the gown and cap. I cannot know why they felt that way but still wished to attend, rather than get the certificate in the post.

It may just be the social nature of mankind who like company and wish to share good and bad with others. It could be that we all like to dress up occasionally, it may be that we believe, maybe even unconsciously, that life’s progress is so difficult and fraught with danger, that we need to celebrate the good times and mark the bad in special ways. It could just be hope trying to overturn reality (oh sorry getting a bit pessimistic here).

Anyway next time you are invited to a rite of passage event think about why you are there and how important it is not just to the main actors, but also to the others attending..........and if at all possible get yourself in a role where you get the brightest and most sumptuous costume available, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Have a nice ritual soon.

BACK TO MUSIC

Well actually I never left it, but a this is a musing on my history with music and how a new piece of kit has changed my habits again.

Like others of a certain age, I started in music with records, vinyl mainly, though my grandfather had some old shellac 78s which I used to play on his radiogram. For the benefit of younger readers, a radio gram was a huge piece of furniture like a sideboard, containing a radio with exotic names on its dial like Hilversum, and a turntable with actual needles used in the tracking arm to play.

Anyway, I actually never had a record player, so never bought 45 rpm singles, in the days when the top twenty was a Sunday religious experience on the radio, rather I had a tape recorder, with reels of tape, this was long before cassettes, and I used to record the top twenty and other music off the radio or TV, often by sticking the microphone against the speaker ..........hifi this wasn’t.

I progressed via a proper hifi a very expensive at the time, Bang and Olfusen, (still with record deck but much slicker than Granddad’s) an early CD player and various makes and models of hifi separates. I made the transition from LPs to Cassettes, especially in the car and then to CDs. As I recall I spent most of my music listening using the car equipment, even back in the 70s and 80s, car audio systems were better than home ones a lot of the time, and the enclosed space made it all sound finer anyway.

At home my late wife used CDs for her music teaching, but we gradually seemed to not just sit down and listen for pleasure. Around this time of course the artistes of popular music gradually became unknown to me and after “top of the pops” on TV, finished I never really kept up.

Then came digital, I was given an IPOD by my daughter and converted my CDs to this new format, the sheer disbelief that you could have on a small metal device, days worth of music, gave way to regular use, again mainly through connectivity in the car or via headphones. Though an IPOD dock was added, it didn’t take mainstream place in the lounge for some reason.

Several generations of IPOD later and with a reasonable mastery of ITunes, I had also now bought both old and new music. Its so easy, one click and its yours there and then. No trotting down to the record shop and listening to a track in a sound proofed booth then.

What I bought was old stuff I had lost over the years but also new artistes on a fairly random basis but chosen because I just liked them. The ITunes ‘most popular’ section is not and never will be the same as the Top Twenty.

Another little piece of technology of aid to the music buyer, is an IOS app called Soundhound. You hear some music on the TV or on someone else's system, you kick in Soundhound which samples it and then tells you with reasonable accuracy what the track and artist is.......... and of course then offers a direct link to ITunes to buy it.


What Digital does especially, as well as quality, is however, to free you from playing albums, on records you couldn’t, on tapes, it was only fast forward, on CD you could skip or repeat tracks, but on a digital device you can construct your own playlist and mix up a selection to suit your mood or occasion.

In car use, via IPOD connectivity to the car system, continued to be my predominant channel though adding podcasts to the audio mix as well as music..........but then I bought myself an early Christmas present and invested in a Sonos digital music streaming system. (http://www.sonos.com/).

This connects the music on my computer, which already has some amplified monitor speakers so music can be played whilst doing other computery things but Sonos takes the music on the computer and streams it via wireless to, in my case two, Sonos units, ............many others can be added dependent on the size of your house.

Cleverly controlled from the computer and by a free app which runs on the IPad, (also working on IPhone and IPod Touch and I believe Android phones) , means I now listen to music and radio in the lounge and in the bedroom. The system can play the same on both units or on one only or different things in every location. I can set up a list, set the sleep timer and drift off with personally selected music or I can sit in comfort in the lounge and listen to an album or two or a podcast as I desire.

The sound is clear, bright and powerful even from a relatively small box containing amplifier, software and 5 speakers. However this is not an advert for Sonos, though I do recommend it, but merely to show how technological change makes things different, sometimes better, sometimes not, but music is something most people value, whether you are a folk, rock, jazz or classical aficionado, its about choice what you want where you want it. I’m glad I have rediscovered actually listening to music as well as just having it as a soundtrack to driving, cooking or cleaning.

The next steps are to further explore Internet Radio, there is something tantalisingly exotic in listening to a South American oe even Antarctica station.......... I wonder if Hilversum is still there ? ..........and to experiment with services like Spotify which means you don’t actually have the music on any device in your home or car, it just gets pushed down via the Internet to a computer, smart phone or IPad, you effectively rent it and have access to millions of tracks 24/7.

I just wonder whether not ‘owning’ music is a concept that I will have to learn, unlike the racks of LPs you can’t actually see and touch it...........who knows.