Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Other
Commentary on the Technology Poll here, including “other” if you chose it.
19 Responses to “Other”
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Commentary on the Technology Poll here, including “other” if you chose it.
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February 17th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
My “other” that immediately came to mind is my ancient iPod – I use the notes feature and put on it recipes, driving directions, movie schedules, basic Korean phrases, etc. I use it as a very limited PDA, even though that’s not what it is really intended to be.
And nail clippers. Never go anywhere without them.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
How did I forget iPod/mp3 player? Must amend!
February 17th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Erm. Lip balm? Was there a technological advance to it that I haven’t heard of? o.O
I carry a pen but no paper. It turns out I need something to write with far more often than I need something to write on – and when I do, usually I have an old restaurant receipt or something.
Aside from cell phone, I usually have my flash drive with me. Even though I rarely use either one…
February 17th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I voted for “Personal Cell Phone,” “Multi-purpose tool” and “PDA” because I count my smartphone as all of the above. :-)
February 17th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Only now I see you had Smartphone lumped in with Blackberry.
D’oh!
Sorry for being a dumbass and screwing up your poll. Guess I’m off to vote Buchannan now.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Of course there was–sunscreen! When in need, you can rub lip balm all over your face to keep from getting burned! :) Or… how about the new lip balms with the twisty bit in the middle so you don’t pull it out of your pocket to find it all mashed into the lid?
That’s it Eric, you’re now lumped in with the Nader voters.
And for multi-purpose tool, I was more thinking Leatherman. Of which I have an adorable mini-Leatherman as well as mini 4-screwdriver/wrench tool on my key chain.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
MWT, I started carrying a notebook when my notes started to need more than the back of an ATM receipt. My little notebook has story ideas, quotations, and notes from Grandmom doctor appointments. The later really looked kinda silly on the back of an Applebee’s receipt. ;)
February 17th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
No cell phone yet, but mini-multi-tool, pad & pen, flash drive, chapstick, watch and i-pod. I have started loading phone numbers in the i-pod contact feature my version has.
The other for me is an extra canvas tote bag that folds flat in the bottom of my everyday tote I carry on the bus. Plus BAND-AIDS!! (I know, low tech, but when ya need one, ya need one)
AND my digital camera, ya just never know when a cool shot will pop up.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Wendy, you get a good cell phone and it’ll have a half-decent camera in it.
I just have band-aid stashes everywhere I might go.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Michelle: I proudly voted for Nader in 2000. If I’d been psychic, of course I would have voted for Gore. But in 2000, what did I know then? No 9/11, no torture memos, no Iraq invasion; and the Al Gore who emerged after the 2000 election was an awesome guy who I would have voted for, but the Gore who ran in 2000 was a pretty terrible candidate lacking conviction.
For that matter, the Ralph Nader who ended up running in 2004–the egotistical, crazy one who allowed himself to be a running dog for Republicans trying to split the liberal vote–didn’t exist yet, either. The Nader of 2000 was still the guy responsible for safety features in vehicles and famous for standing up for the little guy.
In 2000, I voted to send a message to the Dems that they shouldn’t count on the liberal vote if they were going to be indistinguishable from moderate Republicans. And I voted for a guy I liked at the time. And I believed–though I later found out I was mistaken–that my vote would help the Green Party secure a ballot position and matching funds in future elections (the Greens’ weren’t officially on the ballot, so my vote didn’t actually help). And I also knew that my vote was effectively not going to count in a state that had gone “red” so many times previously–so if I’d been right about the Green Party’s situation vis-a-vis ballot eligibility, etc., my vote for Nader would have actually been more effective than a vote for the Dems anyway, weirdly enough.
I’m still proud of my Nader vote–in the context of when I cast it. Obviously, if I’d known what a travesty Bush would prove to be, I would have done differently–but so would a lot of Republicans, when you get right down to it. With what I knew then, it was one of the most-principled voted I’d ever cast in my lifetime, maybe the most-principled vote until ’08.
February 17th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
I dunno Michelle, I’ve been a camera geek all my life, I suppose I’ll end up with both. The camera I’ve got now is pretty small and light.
Plus, several friends have upgraded their crackberries, and I’m angling for one of the lonely rejected ones sitting in their desk drawers. I’ll give it a good home. And the rest I’m going to collect for one of the shelter projects down here.
February 17th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
My iPod is now part of my cell phone, but I checked iPod anyway, because it’s not just a plain cell phone. I keep a lot of notes in various forms, some very organized and some very free-form, on my cell phone, but I still carry pen and a small chunky notebook. Sometimes I have to write too fast while my boss is tossing out ideas. I usually have a pad of PostIt notes too.
My cell phone has some applications that are what I consider tools (one application alone contains various virtual measuring devices like a ruler, caliper, measuring tape, a wheel measure to measure distances on fields, a long “tape” measure that uses the phone’s camera to measure distances up to 25 meters, and yes, a compass. It also has a pedometer, but like most pedometer applications for this phone, they don’t have a reputation for being very accurate, so I use my Omron pedometer. Well, when I don’t have a broken ankle anyway. None of these will do me a danged bit of good if I need something like a screwdriver, as I did a week or so ago.Used to carry a Swiss army knife but lost my favorite one. Other “tools” on the phone are even farther from physical tools, but they’re really handy for me: calculators for making solutions, and well, just calculators, conversion tables, multiple lab timers.
I don’t carry a separate watch. I’m allergic to the metal parts of all but expensive ones, and I’d lose those. I don’t like plastic watches. I just use my phone.
I seldom carry a book, unless I’m on a plane trip or otherwise will have time to sit and read. If I’m reading a series I love, and can’t complete it with audiobooks, I’ll HAVE to get the missing ones, usually used paperbacks, and make time to read them. But I have gobs of time to LISTEN to books during the day, including at work. A habit I got into during grad school. I still spend a lot of time in situations where my mind is free to think, but my hands are in places (like sterile fields) where they can’t leave and write down all the things I think up. So I forget them. It’s very frustrating. So instead, I have listened to many books-on-tape, and now digital audiobooks and podcasts, on a cassette player, then on an iPod, and now on my phone. There are some e-books on the phone, but like paper books, I find it hard to sit still long enough to read them. It’s odd, because I used to be reading all the time, even when walking down the street.
I wish I had thought of nail clippers, too! I never leave my apartment without them.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:27 am
Because I’m geeky – smartphone, ipod, noise-reducing headphones, laptop & digicam. (The pic quality of my smartphone digicam is never good enough for me). Also lip balm and a watch. When I’m not flying, I add the multipurpose tool. My cars all have GPSs but I don’t carry one with me on foot. Most importantly, since my eyes have hit forty and forty has hit back, I carry reading glasses/progressive bifocals so I can read the screens on all these devices.
I don’t carry a paperback book, but should – they’re just too quickly consumed for me, I can’t keep a fresh one in my computer bag.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Jeri, one word (and a letter): e-books.
I don’t have a paperback book every time I leave the house because my smartphone currently has Someone Comes To Town, Someone Leaves Town and Three Men In A Boat open and active (King’s On Writing is on the memory card because I kinda like having it in my pocket, but normally I delete a book from the phone when I’m done with it). If I forget to grab a hardcopy (a hardback of Gaiman’s Fragile Things is in my lunch bag right now)–pow, I have book. Well, okay, it’s more like tap, tap, tap, I have book, but you get the idea. When I eventually dispatch those two, of course it’ll be something else on the phone.
While I often purchase from eReader.com, Doctorow released Town into the wild with a CC license attached and Jerome’s Three Men is public domain via Project Gutenberg. So these two were free ones. A lot of Gutenberg texts are formatted for Vade Mecum, which is free and easy to use–it’s a good way to catch up on those classics you meant to read but never did.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Funny that “pen/pencil and notebook” beat out all of the more high-tech items. Personally, I would love to have netbook to take everywhere with me, but I can’t justify the expense of one yet. Soon.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Wow, Eric, I had the exact same rationale in 2000, right down to the historically red state (not in 2008, however) and being disappointed in CampaignTrail! Gore. The logic still stands, because of the electoral college, but it’s nice to see someone agreed with me.
I voted for lip balm, a book, and cell phone. I should have voted for multi-purpose tool, since I have that in my purse, but it’s not a “do I have X” kind of thought. I also have other items on the list: netbook, mp3 player, PDA, but they are not must-haves.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Anne, I’m also happily in a red state that turned blue in ’08. There’s hope for us, y’know? :-)
February 18th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Eric, I still love you and all, but I don’t like Nader, and didn’t like him in ’00. The abilities that make one a good safety advocate do not make one a good politician.
What I always carry with me:
(organic) lip balm
cell phone
watch (I feel naked without my watch)
pen
pedometer
keys with two different multi-tools and a large (real) carabiner as key ring (someone else has to bring the rope)
What I add to that during the week:
paperback book
mp3 player/fm radio
small notebook
extra batteries
And tissues. Going out in the cold makes my nose run.
As an aside, I refuse to wear shoes I can’t run in. Because you just never know.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Huh. I guess I’m a total lip balm Luddite. It would never have occurred to me to smear it anywhere other than my lips – but then again, I’m not far enough south/high enough in altitude to need sunscreen, either. And all of mine still have the twisty bit on the bottom. (I don’t use lip balm as lip balm much either.)
I used to carry tissues when I lived in colder places, for the same reason.
I would’ve voted for Nader in 2000, for the same reasoning as Eric and Anne, except that I didn’t know what North Carolina’s voting history was. So I went with Gore to be on the safe side. (Not that that worked out well.)
As for story ideas and etc. – I have a good memory.