Sometime in the late ’80s, at a managers conference in Colorado (Beaver Creek?), I suggested we all get Compuserve accounts so we could communicate by email. I was hooted from the room (you know who you are). Yesterday our company email server went down and people are roaming the halls (“Can you check email?”). Hey guys, you got phone and fax…what’s the problem?
Tag Archives: Digital Life
Photo Story
I really like this little add-on for Windows XP. Drop in a bunch of photos…put them in the order you want…add narration for any/all/none…lay some music under…and Photo Story squeezes it all down to a .wmv file that can be emailed. And my favorite part is the “Ken Burns” effect. Appears you’re panning or zooming the still images. Earlier this year a group from work toured Dallas Cowboys Stadium (or whatever the call it) and I took a wad of pictures. I did this little piece (2 minutes) in about half an hour. You’ll need latest version of Media Player to view (it’s a little over 2 meg). Part of the XP Digital Plus! package ($20)
RIAA is going after music pirates
So the RIAA is going after music pirates (they call them thieves). Our company produces original content and we get pissed when people rip us off. We’ve even gone to court a few times. What I don’t understand is why the tech world can’t beat this (forget right or wrong for a minute). When the CEO of one of the big record companies gets around to embezzling a few million bucks, he or she will have no problem tucking them away in some off-shore bank. Why doesn’t some Arab country set up secure severs for music swapping? I guess what I’m asking is, is this technically possible? I guess the RIAA would go after the ISP (and everyone else) that makes it possible us to connect to servers in other countries. I just don’t like thinking that Big Business can beat down the Internet.
Random thoughts
Tonight I backed up three of the (how many?) websites I’ve created. I find the very idea of “backing up” very… satisfying. The thing I liked least about what I used to do and most about what I do now is that at the end of the day (literally, not figuratively), something exists that didn’t before. Now, you might argue that web pages are a bit intangible by their very nature. But you can look at them and show them to others and…once you’ve burned them to a CD…hold them in your hand. A few hundred megabites that represents *hundreds* of hours of work and thought (and whatever creativity I could muster). My best efforts. Tomorrow I’ll stop by the bank and slide the CD’s into a safe deposit box. And if the servers at MyHosting.com or Learfield go up in smoke… I’ll upload my files to a new server and all those hours live on. KBOA: The Early Years, The Basement Diaries, Amberjack Landing, *this* blog… one day they didn’t exist, the next day they did. They do. They will.
My previous job was to persuade other people to do things they usually didn’t want to do. To talk them into it. To check to see if they did the things they were “supposed to do.” And agreed to do. Nothing new was created unless I was able to convince someone else that it should be. That’s why “managers” make more money than the people they manage. It’s a nearly impossible job that isn’t very satisfying, even if you do it really well. And –here’s the best part– the people you’re paid to manage resent you for trying to do it (as they should) and long for they day they get to be in charge and manage others. Talk about punishment fitting the crime. But I’ve escaped, like Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption. If there were a book, we might call it “Life After Management: Clawing My Way Back Down the Corporate Ladder.” A little long, maybe.
DSL at home
Did you know Tim Robbins was in Top Gun? I didn’t and I bet I’ve seen that movie (1986) ten times. I spotted him in a crowd scene on the carrier deck after Tom has spashed the four migs. Internet Movie Database lists his character as Merlin. I just don’t remember that being a speaking part. IMDB lists half a dozen earlier credits, including one of the assasins in Network.
What was I going to say? Oh, I finally got DSL (ADSL to be precise). For the past two years I’ve been paying $100 a month for an ISDN account (128kbps). The DSL is four times as fast for half as much. Life is good at 512kbps. For the last two days my digital life has been flashing through my head. 2400 baud modems. Logging on to my first BBS. 4800 baud modems. CompuServe. 9600 baud modems. Surfing the pre-graphic Web with something called Lynx (?). Mosaic (I thought the grey background was cool). 28.8 modems. Can a Neuromancer be far behind?
More than one Steve Mays
I recently received an email asking if we were still “on for lunch at 11:30.” Since I didn’t recognize the name or address of the sender, I replied something along the lines of: “…11:30 is good for me. Where are we going and who are you?” A couple of days later I received the following reply:
“Dear Mr. Mays: My most humble apologies. The email you received was meant for Steve A. Mays whom I was attempting to contact (in Monterey California). This particular Steve A. Mays’ email address is also at hotmail.com I spelled Steve’s given name incorrectly. The unfortunate part is you missed an excellent lunch in Monterey. (BBQ Tri-tip 3 kinds of BBQ Sausage, with all the fixins’ . I find it ironic because…….. I now know three (3) Steve Mays! Again, My apologies and I will still hold the offer of lunch, should you make your way to the San Francisco/Monterey/Fresno/Bakersfield area, guaranteed! With best regards, Les Winebarger – Madera, CA.”
I wrote back something about being pleased that one of my parallel universes was in Madera, California and included good BBQ. But it started me wondering about the other guys named Steve Mays. So I did a little ego surfing on Google to see what else Steve Mays was doing.
“One bleak day a hoodlum from Anaheim showed up at one of our Christian commune houses dressed in bib overalls and leathers, with a nine millimeter Baretta tucked in his back pocket. He had not bathed in six months and had literally slept in gutters while living as a fugitive from the law. He had not brushed his teeth in two years and, with his neo-barbarian hairstyle, he was a sight to behold. His name was Steve Mays and he was alienated from everybody- from his parents, who had tossed him out of their house years before, to the tough group of outlaw bikers he had been living with. He had been wanted by the FBI for attempted murder and draft dodging. There was also a contract out on his life.”
In 1995, Steve Mays hit .420 for the Cedarville University Yellow Jackets.
At the Berkeley-based startup Xamplify, programmer Steve Mays was one of several refugees from Industrial Light and Magic, which did the computer graphics for “Star Wars.” He also acted as Manager of Desktop Systems for the films Twister and Men In Black. Okay, now that’s pretty cool.
I found one Steve Mays that spent “nearly 25 years toiling in various communications endeavors” before going to law school. I started with (not quite a) semester of law school, followed by 30 years in radio.
On Daniel John Plonsey’s discography the list of “Ensembles in which I Play/have Played” includes The Benchers, a.k.a. The Coconut and the Lifeguard (88-90) (w/ Steve Mays, Joy Krinsky and Mark Dickinson)
“Anyone looking into the eyes of Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Steven Mays has a chance at seeing it the fire and determination to be No. 1, the commitment he makes to the sport of wrestling and the intimidating stare that warns his opponents that his 119 lbs. is not to be underestimated. Those who get that chance on the mat may only see it for a split second, though before they are picked up and taken down.”
Nuff said.
I found a Steve Mays that shared my interest in the theater but I was a little bothered by the “fifth-year student” reference.
“DePauw Little Theatre opens its 1997-1998 season this weekend with Sam Shepard’s play “True West,” a contemporary play about two brothers from very different worlds struggling with their conflicting views on life. Austin, played by freshman Jeff Elliott, is an aspiring screen writer living a conservative life. On the other hand, his brother Lee, played by fifth-year student Steve Mays, is a drifter who has no particular plan for his life. The excellent portrayals by Mays and Elliott make for many humorous and dramatic exchanges throughout the play.”
Near the end of my search (I got bored) I learned that Steve Mays was a co-founder of the Alabama Crimson Tide Yell Crew.
So what have we got here? Outlaw biker-turned-preacher; baseball player; wrestler; computer graphics programmer; broadcaster; actor; musician; and cheerleader. Steve, if you’re reading this… don’t be a stranger. Drop me a line.