Tag Archives: Technology

What A Party!

Actually this isn’t intended (today anyway) as political or social commentary. It just seemed appropriate given that yesterday was my wife’s birthday, and I threw a surprise party for her. Given that gatherings of more than two people are not allowed in Germany in these days of pandemic and social distancing, it was a bit […]

A Unique Event

Today, the third Sunday before Easter is Weckensonntag in Sulzburg. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all events have been cancelled.  Which is a real shame, since this festival only happens once a year and only one place in the world. Now we have to wait until next year. And I missed it in 2019 because […]

A Piece of History

I discovered this tractor in a barn recently. Don’t ask what I was doing in a barn, it isn’t relevant. I was excited to discover a piece of Canadian industrial history in rural Germany. It was like running into someone from home. When you meet someone from home unexpectedly, you tell your friends. That’s why […]

Synapse

“Motives are a hard thing to pin down – especially when you’re talking about a mentally- deranged robot.” I wanted to post this a week ago so you could stick this book on your Christmas list. My apologies – but you could always treat yourself to Steven James new thriller, Synapse, for an end-of-year treat. […]

Safety and Privacy

I got an email from my credit card company telling me the lettuce I purchased may be affected with E. coli and I can return it for a full refund. I’m thankful not to have become sick. I am concerned that these sort of warnings seem to be increasing and what that says about our […]

Cell Phones And Schools

I have a confession to make. I managed to get through four years of high school without once using my cell phone during school hours. When I look back at that, it wasn’t difficult. There were no cell phones when I graduated in 1972, so there was no temptation to use one. From that experience, […]

Frustration Sets In

Allow me to vent for a minute. I was just in the kitchen, and killed at least a dozen flies. There were more when I finished than when I started. It is 31 degrees Celsius, so closing the windows isn’t really an option. I want to cook some food, but not myself. In Canada this […]

Simpler Times

  I saw this cash register at Uncharted Grounds, the coffee roastery in Kandern, Germany, where some friends work. It brought back memories. When I was a child cash registers looked very much like this one. There were no bar codes or scanners. Each item in a store had a price sticker, and at checkout […]

Frustration

What happens when you have a problem with your phone? Do you phone the company? My cell phone stopped working yesterday afternoon. Except it didn’t. The wi-fi worked fine. Emails continued to arrive, as did Twitter messages. Phone calls and SMS? Forget about it. The reason, my phone informed me, was “SIM card not provisioned.” […]

Technology Shock

It was the size that caught my attention. Do you notice these things? I was installing a new app for my phone, to better manage one of the loyalty programs I belong to. I gave the usual permissions and the download started. I noted it was 31.5 megabytes. That jogged my memory. Back in 1990 […]