“Cancel it,” he said. I didn’t understand what he meant. “Cancel it. Right there.” He pointed to the screen. “Click the X.” So I clicked the button with the red X on it, the button that said Cancel underneath. “No!” he said, but it was too late. I had cancelled it. I had click the […]
Tag Archives: computers
Unit and Nothingness
Sat, 23 Nov 2013, 03:15 PM (-06:00)
On a different note… 1. On Procedures and Functions In FORTRAN and Pascal and Ada, programming languages that I revelled in long ago, there is a distinction drawn between so-called procedures on the one hand and functions on the other. Both are software constructs for doing some work, but whereas a function calculates a tangible […]
He Liked It
Wed, 23 Nov 2011, 08:16 PM (-06:00)
“I am so in love with Facebook!” she announced as she walked down the hall. She stood in the doorway. “You were so wrong to close your account.” I looked up. “I just posted, ‘Pumpkin pie in the oven,’ and five seconds later your nephew liked it.” She turned to leave but then turned back […]
Being Consistent
Mon, 31 Oct 2011, 09:24 PM (-06:00)
I looked over at him sitting at the table next to me as he opened his laptop. It wasn’t his usual black monstrosity. It was silver and sleek and had a white bitten-out Apple on the cover. “You have a Mac!” He turned slowly and said, “That’s what you said three weeks ago.” Right. Credit for […]
Google Him
Tue, 11 Oct 2011, 07:42 PM (-06:00)
I said something about John Brown. I said it with an air of excitement so as to make others sit up. Later, I got a note that asked, “Who is John Brown?” My reply was terse: “Google him.” In an instant, my response was on its way. I’d had a long, bad day, and what […]
Thank You, Steve
Wed, 5 Oct 2011, 10:10 PM (-06:00)
The professor wheeled a cart into the room. There was a monitor and a keyboard on top and a computer on the lower shelf that had a computer inside. He showed us examples of programs that his students had been writing—small programs written to solve small problems, because they had to run on a small […]
Motel Wireless
Tue, 12 Jul 2011, 06:29 AM (-06:00)
So we finally managed to connect to the motel wireless in Cocoa Beach. It turned out that we just needed to sit outside by the picnic tables so that we were closer to the base station—too many brick walls in the way, otherwise. Mind you, it’s not that we were jittery without a fix or […]
Spilled Coffee
Sat, 30 Oct 2010, 07:18 PM (-06:00)
My cell phone rang, so I stepped out of the conference room to answer it. When I returned, the man sitting next to me (truth be known, he seemed just a kid) leaned over and whispered something. “I got up to get a bagel, and I spilled coffee on your laptop.” He pointed to the corner […]
Multiple Numbers
Wed, 7 Apr 2010, 07:37 PM (-06:00)
When I was walking out, I said something to the receptionist about checking my phone number in their database. I was puzzled why I never got a reminder call for the appointment. “You had my home number,” I said. “Let me give you my cell number, too.” “Oh we just call one number,” she started […]