where did the WOW, GEEWHIZZZZZZZZZ GO

Sunday, January 07, 2007
where did the WOW, GEEWHIZZZZZZZZZ GO
IN COMPUTING...

How many of you remember the first time you surfed the web, or the first time you created a graphic for a web page... or your first web site... or the time you sent your first e-mails... and recieved a reply... WOW!!!

well, I remember some of those firsts... specifically the first time I surfed the web outside of North America, was 1999, and St. Patrick's Day... someone had sent out e-mails with contacts to Irish web sites... up until then I didn't know it was possible to surf out of the North American (NA) area... for some reason I was locked into thinking that it was only NA that was available... but I remember clicking on the links with my P1-133mhz computer and finding a whole new world, I was in Ireland... I don't remember how I got them, but I think it was from the IT department head at the time, Ken from Southampton, UK, but I ended up surfing to Australia and around the world... for about an hour... just clicking through... it was WOW!!!!

I am getting ahead of myself a wee bit... I have been computing for about ummmmmm 20 years now... since 1986... long enough to have had a lot of firsts... and the WOW has always been there... but recently I had lost the WOW POW of computing... it has become another tool, another appliance, like the toaster or the TV, you turn it on and it works and life is good or doesn't work, and a dark cloud settles over the house, as the case may be... playing music and manipulating graphics, or sending e-mails to friends far away... seems common place now... nothing unusual...

But then this weekend, I was sitting in the downstairs TV room, with my used lap top, which is wireless capable.. and I had a WOW POW experience... I had finally figured out how to connect to my other computers, and there was this file of a Symphony Orchestra, playing The Russian Easter Overture... 150mb... huge to send in the old days... even over a wired system... but I thought ok, I'll give it a try, it was late, and I was relaxing... I had transferred small picture and document files... how about something this size... figured ok, I'll be here about half hour minimum... perhaps an hour... as it chugs away... imagine the awe, when it said it would take 6 minutes... that is 25mb per minute... at least it was awesome to moi... and there I was watching the Berlin Symphony Orchestra playing one of my fav pieces, in less time than it has taken to type this far... to me that was awe and wonder...

then yesterday my best friend, AJ came over and helped set up his film scanner, for still picture 35mm colour and BW film... and he did a picture with a bit of manipulation, equal to the developed one I got from the store... perhaps better, as the scan was high quality... this means that all the old film that I have saved over the years before getting a digital camera, can be directly archived... WOW...

it is getting to be more and more now that the possibilities are opening up... the imagination is being fired... if I can do this on a shoe string, with old computers, then what are people doing with lots of cash and new computers... or is it just a toaster in the corner to fire up when life gets boring... play a few games, check the bank balance and do a bit of online shopping...

right now it is 9:33pm and I am going to shut things down, and go fly around the world... head for Liverpool and over to South Africa and perhaps over the Andes... ;0

OOOOOOOOOOOOOSPEEEEEE! got distracted... called away before posting... went with the sis-in-law to fill up the car, it is now 10:12pm, and just fed the cats... and back here... but to talk about first time experiences, and WOW!! I used the electronic payment pumps... slip in the bank card or credit card, follow the prompts, and the person at the cash doesn't need to be there... the pump acts like a bank machine, records the transaction, and gives a reciept if needed... amazing eh!! ok, well I am off to go flying... bit late but perhaps do 20 minutes... cyall-l8er ;0