You Phone Home, I Hang Up

Tonight, I removed Adobe’s Lightroom 1.3 from my computer. Maybe that makes me part of the so-called “tinfoil” hat crowd. I’m deeply concerned about Adobe collecting information, in apparently disguised fashion, from users of its products.

I don’t buy Adobe’s excuses. Creative Suite 3 isn’t freeware. People buying the software can pay as much as $1,800 (street price), depending on CS3 version. Adobe feels free to mine information from these customers, without even asking their permission? Shame on Adobe. I would remove Acrobat and Flash, if so many Websites didn’t use the software. I’m mad!

Society by Joe WilcoxDec 28, 200712:58 am

Environmental Question

I hear a whole lot of ruckus about global warming and carbon emissions spewed into the air. I have a question for the environmentalists—some of them extremists—pointing fingers of accusation: How much worse off is the planet because of you and your political maneuvering that ended US adoption of fission reactors in the 1970s?

Environmentalist FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) about radioactive waste disposal was a major factor halting nuclear power plant construction in the United States. Meanwhile, many electrical facilities resorted to coal and, gasp, oil—fossil fuels that produce carbon dioxide when burned.

Apple by Joe WilcoxDec 9, 20079:00 pm

There’s a Worm in Retail Apple

My wife suggested that I read Washington Post story, “The Elite Apple Corps: A Hundred Million Strong, Every One of Them Cool.” I live in California! I don’t read the Post anymore, which is why I didn’t see it. The story appears in today’s Style section.

Reporter Hank Stuever hits on what’s wrong with the Apple retail stores. They’re too busy, and so they’re no longer fun.

Living by Joe WilcoxNov 22, 20077:17 pm

Thanks Isn’t Enough

Thirty years ago, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I knuckled down for a lonely holiday with the mainly foreign students on the University of Maine campus. I had no way home but was ready to tough out the long weekend with the other students.

With a difference: Many of my companions came from countries with no Thanksgiving. They didn’t have the memory of family and feast for this particular holiday. I was a freshman, too. Some of the guys planned to hang out in the computer center and play keyboard games and read the print-out action on teletypes. I would join them.

Food by Joe WilcoxNov 12, 20078:13 pm

Tommy’s Chili Burgers

Yesterday, we drove up to Los Angeles for an exciting peace event, where my daughter sang with the local church choir. Earlier today, my buddy Andy took us to Tommy’s, which he described as “an […]

Events by Joe WilcoxNov 1, 200711:07 pm

Our First Halloween in San Diego

Little more than two weeks on the West Coast, we celebrated All Hallow’s Day. It was no Scary Perry, but my daughter had fun trick-or-treating with her church friends. She poses in her candy corn […]

Living by Joe WilcoxOct 25, 20075:54 pm

I’m in San Diego!

There is no way to succinctly describe the last couple weeks. So I won’t. We arrived in San Diego on the evening of Oct. 15. My father-in-law had stocked some food, plastic dishes, and two […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxOct 10, 200712:00 am

I’m DRM-free, Baby

Last week I achieved my goal of becoming DRM-free before the end of the year. I have purged all the DRM tracks from my music library and replaced what I could—thanks to the Amazon MP3 […]

Living by Joe WilcoxOct 2, 20077:55 pm

Long May You Run

I continue to mourn our two rabbits, which went to a new home on Sunday. We can’t take either of them with us to California. 🙁 I’ve been thinking about Daisy and her romps around the backyard; how happy she would be. For some reason, I find Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” coming to mind when I think of the bunny.

My basement office is a desolate place now, and the backyard is a field of dread. Something about the rabbits—and their simple tranquility—represents a lifestyle lived in this house. Their departure has taken away part of our home. I loathe coming down into the basement to work now. I count the remaining days to our departure. We can’t leave this place soon enough.

Critters by Joe WilcoxSep 30, 20077:40 pm

Bye Bye Bunnies

Today we sent our two beloved bunnies, Daisy and Mayflower, to a new home. I’ve referred to them on this Weblog as Bun Bun and Little Bun, respectively. Daisy was hardest for me to let go. She and I shared my basement office for more then four years. She was a delightful companion.

For weeks, we had been looking for a home but with no success. Last Monday, my wife posted to three home school lists, with no promising response from anyone. The week ahead would have been one of desperation, with the rabbits going to an animal shelter on Saturday if they had no takers. We didn’t want to put them in a shelter.

Critters by Joe WilcoxSep 15, 20076:50 pm

Daisy Days

Today was another cleaning day, as we prepare to move to another city. I took Daisy out in the backyard to chomp on clover. For years on this blog, I referred to her as Bun […]

Society by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 20075:51 pm

My Math Team Memory

One of my best friends (there were only two) from my senior year of high school tracked me down over the weekend. I had wondered about her for years. She’s back in Maine, although she […]