Really?? It’s Been FOUR YEARS??!!

Time to get back to work! I’ve been spending time wasting time. Not very productive, is it? Actually, I’ve become quite proficient playing Angry Birds™ (and it’s various iterations). Talk about “time suck”. Whew. These games can become addictive. Lost in time, that’s what I was: lost in time.

Hey! I’m back and this time I think I’ll stay around and publish more frequently. Ha! Anything I publish next, in less that a four year span, will be “more frequently”!

So, how do I spend my post-graduate time, you ask? Other than house-husbanding, I facilitate two pro bono symposia regarding today’s technology at an age-restricted (55+) community. All of the people who live in this community are Senior Citizens or Baby Boomers and some are less technically literate than others. The meetings I convene address developing technology and gaps therein in differing fashions:

1) is in its seventh year and is a TechTalk that addresses today’s technologies as they relate specifically to us; and,

2) is a ninth year computer users class for non-computer users.

TechTalk meets every other Tuesday for an hour and one half; while Computers Made Easy meets for an hour or so the first three Thursdays of each month. The folks who attend seem to enjoy themselves. They participate and, together, we entertain and enlighten each other.

Oh, I’m available for consulting. Here’s a link to my consulting site and another link to my (occasional) blog site.

That’s all for now. I’ll be back – and sooner than four years: I promise!

It’s official: “Degree awarded” !

Pepperdine Univ. “Doctor of Education in Educational Technology”: Confer date: 2014-10-15. YES!!

What do you use to connect to the Internet and/or friends?

Is there a DOCTOR (of educational technology) in the house?

 YES, there is! You may have noticed that I have been away for more than two years…I’ve been completing my doctoral work @ Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP). This past July, I successfully completed my Final Oral Examination (Dissertation Defense) and am now in the final stages of editing and publishing my manuscript. I AM an Ed.D. (Doctor of Education w/ emphasis in educational technology)!

My dissertation research studied Baby Boomers 

I do Windows (8 & RT) too!

  The day after it was released, I bought a Microsoft “Surface” and installed Windows 8 on my PC … I’ve been getting to know them a little bit better every day. The NEW Windows interface takes some time getting accustomed to and it challenges everything I thought I knew about Windows! It’s going to take some time learning to navigate in this new environment. I’ll write about my experiences as I progress. At the moment, I’d infatuated with it – so much so that I plan to add a Nokia 920 (Windows 8 phone) to the tools to use and compare with my iPhone, iPad & iMac. What fun!

A Thermostat that LEARNS ?? !!

  No, I do NOT sell these nor do I own any of their stock (WISHES!!) … I just installed NEST and it’s learning how I like my temperatures day AND night! It does SO much more than a thermostat:

Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac – more like uneven bars!

OK, so I decided to add an iMac to the office and want to also run some of my Windows stuff (articulate, eh?). I conducted a bit of due diligence and decided to migrate the files using Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac product. I bought it @ BestBuy from an Agent who answered my question about “is USB cable included?” by saying “any USB cable will work.” Foolish me. I believed him.

Mini Me (er, Mini Mine!)

  OK, as I indicated earlier, the BMW Electronaut wishes went away while I was “walking” w/o vehicle (returned lease and began waiting for release of Active-E; decided NOt to wait THAT long). Went back to Mini and, making a long story short (interesting, and L O N G), wound up with this cute little bugger! So, we’re now a two Mini family! (as opposed to a too many family!!).

Windows 8: Ready? (or NOT!)

  OK, I realize that’s it’s “beta” – but c’mon, folks (@MS), wouldn’t a better beta be better? Sure, the Metro interface is pretty cool and the   legacy interface is familiar HOWEVER, the features that one expects to function – even in beta – that simply DO NOT are numerous and disappointing. Care for a (short) list?

BMW Electro-NOT!

OK, I intended to wait for notification from BMW to secure a position on their list of Active-E driver hopefuls. I’ve been “walking” (no vehicle) since mid-December and I’ve walked enough already! Gotta’ get my ride on!

 So, it’s the not-so-Mini Countryman 4 door. Nice ride! And, while we’re at it, we added the Mini Connected technology package. “What’s that?”, you ask. It’s complicated to explain, so here’s a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zvp7D5KGtE

Sorry Active-E. Patience is not one of my virtues.

We’ll be learning the Mini Connected nuances and writing about them here from time to time so c’mon back, y’all!