With the uncertainty of iFamily’s future as an actively developed genealogy program becoming a greater possibility, I downloaded Reunion 9 as an option should I decide to make a change.  Reunion enjoys a large following of active and devoted users as well as being cited by many genealogists as the premier genealogy program for Mac.  The Reunion forums, at first glance, seem to be very active, responsive, and helpful both regarding the specifics of using Reunion and diverse topics involved in genealogy itself.  When technical issues need to be vetted the developers post on the forum as well.

While I am more than disappointed with the way progress on iFamily has unfolded, there are several reasons for not abandoning iFamily for Reunion 9 immediately.  I find iFamily’s interface more aesthetically pleasing to me than Reunion which may be attributed to the fact that I have used iFamily for a few years now.  I prefer iFamily’s generated HTML for web sites to the web cards that Reunion outputs.  I do find that Reunion’s documentation is a strength that iFamily would profit from if it were incorporated into its development regime, in fact, iFamily’s lack of adequate and readily available documentation is a glaring flaw despite the archived Q & A’s, and FAQ’s on its forum boards.  Price is another factor since Reunion 9 is three times as expensive as iFamily; however, if a program is no longer actively developed, the issue of price becomes moot.  I am not a seasoned genealogist so I found iFamily’s evolving nature to my own personal tastes; with Keith gone, that approach may no longer be possible or viable.

Reunion doesn’t offer limited GEDCOM file importing in its demo version which is very troubling as I would like to test the software with my own data rather than rely on the Royal Family or manually key in data.  I have discovered from Reunion’s various online forums that unlinked sources are not transferred into Reunion when a GEDCOM file is imported which has prompted me to recheck my iFamily data should I take the plunge and switch to Reunion 9.  Reunion has been around for a long time and its future as a Mac only genealogy program appears to be secure.  There is an old adage that a leopard cannot change its spots but I am willing to be patient for a little longer in hope that a snow leopard will–or at least until I can get a proper GEDCOM file prepared to export/import.

Perhaps it is unfair to assume that the best intentions cannot realistically be expected to translate into that which they intend.  Perhaps, but the development of iFamily has been stalled since Keith’s untimely passing and there are no tangible signs that development is ongoing, or, if it may ever be revived.  I had hoped that iFamily’s code base would be taken over by either another individual who was an avid genealogist or by a firm similarly committed to genealogy so that Keith’s efforts would continue to grow and flourish from the fertile foundation he had laid.  Unfortunately, in nearly nine months not one revision has been made to iFamily, not even the last revision Keith had scheduled for release around the end of October 2008.  I am not a software developer and I harbor no secret desire to become one although I had been a programmer for over 20 years (retired); however, there is an implicit professional mandate not to let a viable code base languish; it is not good for business and it certainly is not very considerate of customers who have purchased the product and spent long hours filling its database with genealogical data.  It would be kinder and wiser to announce the end of development for that software.  Situations arise when it becomes necessary to end product development; unfortunately, such casualties are not all uncommon in technology.

While I have hoped that I was mistaken and that my judgment was faulty, action or inaction seems to confirm my doubts.  On June 9 2009 I raised a query in the iFamily forum regarding Apple’s newest operating system, OS X 10.6, dubbed Snow Leopard, and compatibility issues, if any, with iFamily.  It was said that there were no expectations for any conflict or problems for iFamily running under Snow Leopard.  Sadly there are: iFamily does not run under SL.  Apparently, iFamily was never tested by the developer to confirm that it would or would not run under OS X 10.6.  The developers of Reunion 9 did test their software and issued a warning prior to the release of Snow Leopard so that the users would know in advance that upgrading the OS would cause Reunion to fail.  Meanwhile, they are working to release an upgrade to address the problems which they have identified.

My personal preference is to continue to use iFamily as my primary genealogy program and I am willing to be patient for the short term as long as there is a definite commitment made to the active development of iFamily and not long periods of inactivity and promises which go unmet.  One of the realities involving of computers is that operating systems will continue to improve and change.  Developers have an obligation to keep abreast of, and, in some cases, ahead of the sharp technology curve that these improvements promise if they want their products to remain viable.  I hope that coding issues with iFamily and Snow Leopard will be resolved in a reasonable time, on the other hand, I am beginning to take a closer look at Reunion 9 as it appears to have a solid user base and a track record for longevity–not a bad quality when one is involved with genealogy.

At the Oreck store we tried out the full line of vacuums as well as inquiring about the half-priced model listed in the advertisement.  As I expected, the vacuum on sale didn’t measure up to the various models I tested but that was due more to my specific requirements than the performance of the vacuum itself.  In the end I opted for the Oreck XL Platinum Plus which comes with a 15 year warranty that includes yearly maintenance on the vacuum and its parts as well as a canister vacuum–I chose the mid-line canister model for its combination of features and portability.  The initial outlay for the Oreck  that I chose was substantially more than I had considered spending for a vacuum; however, the life expectancy of the appliance and service contract added sufficient value to the primary feature of the product (its excellent performance as a vacuum) that it offset the cost.  Besides, there was a thirty day trial period which included a money back guarantee.

I did hold onto the old Panasonic while I put the XL through its paces and for one scary day I was beginning to think I would have to revert to my aging dust creator again.  The week we bought the Oreck an emergency arose and we had to make a quick trip north to see family so I didn’t have the opportunity to test our new vacuum thoroughly until we returned.  Shortly after I commenced vacuuming in earnest, an ear-piercing squeal  developed.  The sound only occurred during the backstroke, when one was pulling the machine back toward oneself; however, the effect of the squeal was almost nauseating.  It is probably an understatement to suggest that there are occasions when I tend to be more reactive than on other occasions.  I can tell you that each time that Oreck squealed at me it sounded as if dollar bills were being shredded in a modified trade of cash for toxic assets deal.  So I called the Oreck Store immediately.  When I finished my description of the problem, I was told that a shipment of vacs had come into the shop that had not been properly lubricated at the factory.  Apparently other customers had reported similar experiences as the Oreck representative was familiar with the problem.  I was told to bring the vacuum by the shop and it would be fixed/adjusted while I waited.  The vac was adjusted in a matter of minutes and we were on our way.

I don’t often go for the warranty gambit offered with most products these days as they do not appear to add enough value to the product for the cost.  I’ve read that engineering has become so refined that manufacturers can produce products with specific failure rates built in which are accurate to within a week of the projected point of failure, which, can conceivably allow the fees from warranty contracts to be applied directly to the bottom line.  Costs for certain replacement parts exceed the purchase price of a new item, e.g. one can buy a newer model laser printer for less than or equal to the cost of the old printer’s toner cartridge.  So why bother with a vacuum from a company that includes service as an integral part of its business model?  For starters, there is something appealing about resisting the waste produced by the throw-away attitude which is so prevalent today.  Caring for whatever one used–without consideration of ownership or value–had been an implicit code of conduct in general society; it certainly was drummed into me as a kid.  Of course, the notion of caring may have had its roots in everyday living where a certain frugality was necessitated by the limitations of one’s resources.  Until the recent global economic collapse consumption and not conservation was the dominant mindset of the average individual.  We became short-sighted in our estimation of value, misled by a faulty system of cost analysis where the constant churning of production was an insatiable maw that cannibalized itself.  Complicit with the unending cycle of producing was the concomitant drive for entrepreneurs, large and small, to create need where before only want stood day-dreaming about the imaginary world it was constructing.  I’m not implying that all novelty is a matter of ulterior motivation or that creativity is merely a process of deception; however, while both statements contain the seeds of truth, it is the growth and the yield which are often the source of ambiguity.

Of course, I am extremely pleased with the Oreck; it has performed as advertised.  I may not feel the same way in 2019 or 2024, two-thirds of the way into the service contract and at its end, respectively, which, returns us once again to the topics of obsolescence and longevity.  If the present climate has taught us anything it is that businesses, even those considered too big to fail, can in fact fail; and that obligations, promises, and contracts are as transitory as the organizations that offered, issued, or underwrote them.  Oreck, as a company, may not survive the bargain it has struck with me as a customer.  Fifteen years can be an eternity these days, besides, in a year or two some better product may (will) come along that will offer more for the same cost or less, or be more green, as we are inclined to say to show off our global view and environmental awareness.  It is both confusing and perplexing; it is even seductive, this surplice of green cloth which at once protects us and our environment and blinds us from our own self-centered ratiocination.  Perhaps the solution depends upon not what we have but how we have it; not what we do but how we do it.

Theory

I am what is around me.

Women understand this.
One is not duchess
A hundred yards from a carriage.
These, then are portraits:
A black vestibule;
A high bed sheltered by curtains.

These are merely instances.

—Wallace Stevens

As the specter of drought inches closer, it is difficult not to cast about and recognize similar periods of inactivity or diminished productivity in other areas.  For nearly the last year I have been disengaged from genealogy research which I had pursued with such single-minded zeal that I became the bane of relatives who tired of my litany of questions and who cringed at the thought that my next breath was merely a brief interlude in preparation for another extended family anecdote.  Although the intensity of my genealogical research had ebbed from its former state, I continued to follow the activity on the various forums I had joined and posted whenever I could contribute meaningfully in the on-going discussions.

One forum that I found quite enjoyable was associated with the genealogy software I purchased to maintain the data that I collected as a result of my research.  In fact, I bought the software for a variety of reasons: quality, price, and, perhaps more importantly, the developer of the software was a man with a vision, had extensive experience in genealogy, displayed a passion for the subject of his software, and had the vitality to enter into a vigorous discussion with any and all of his clients.

Sadly, Keith Wilson died in November of 2008.  The software that he created is a notable memorial to his talent and passion for genealogy; however, the vision that he embraced and expressed in the software he wrote is now languishing, inching nearer to a similar fate–nearly nine months have transpired since the most recent version was released.  While the loss of any individual is an incomparable tragedy, watching the monument carved from Keith’s fertile imagination slowly deteriorate from inattention is still painful.

While Cloud Computing has become all the buzz lately, the skies will clear abruptly if the cable companies pursue the current trend of putting caps on broadband internet usage.  Why would any user switch from desktop based programming to cloud based programming when access to those clouds will be metered so that best case scenarios result in far more cost to the consumer than any gain he or she might receive?  As Judy Collins sang:

Isn’t it rich?
Isn’t it queer?
Losing my timing this late in my career.
And where are the clouds?
There ought to be clouds…
Well, maybe next year.

Okay, I know, I know, Judy sang CLOWNS, Send In The Clowns.  Come to think of it, her choice of words was spot on because that seems to be more descriptive of the strategy behind this latest development from cable providers; of course, it may also be another example of unmitigated greed surfacing as our economy tumbles ever downward and reveals the machinations of these companies in sharper contrast.  Ed Cone offered a weak but later abandoned defense of the “last mile” gambit trotted out to justify the egregious actions of the capping broadband usage as the facts just don’t substantiate the claim and they vanish under scrutiny.  T-W does not include the amount of broadband usage in its cap for an internet phone if that phone is a part of T-W’s internet phone plan but it does if one uses Vonage!  Hmmm…  Same wire, same broadband, same last mile.  The same approach applies of any of T-W’s services which involve video transmission–there is plenty of bandwidth to deliver any of T-W’s video on demand features but not for Netflix or YouTube, etc.–because T-W lusts for another pound of flesh on top of the fixed rate it is already charging for unlimited internet access.  The difference is, of course, using monopolistic practices to control an already captive customer base and to gouge it with arbitrary fees with no chance of mitigation or amelioration.  Well, there is one way that a customer can make her voice heard:  cancel all T-W service!  The economy is in the pits, why not save a few bucks by canceling T-W service?  We can use the savings and I’m certain that T-W wouldn’t miss 10 or 20 thousand customers in this area.

There are alternatives to T-W’s internet access available even though they may not have been our first choice.  As the economic travails extend into 2009 and even 2010, the notion of self-reliance is reviving in a populace once jaded by unabashed consumption.  T-W may think that consumers must choose a lesser of two evils; that the choices are between a cable provider or a telco; that whatever we do we will not abandon some glutted form of delivery system which is a product of habit rather than careful consideration.  We could opt out altogether.  What Doc Searls and Steve Lewis have been saying all along is that business fails when it operates on the notion that customers are cattle that need only to be herded by top down business practices instead of an equitable partnership whereby needs are defined by those who have them and met by those who listen in order to satisfy the demands of a well conceived business:  customer satisfaction through customer involvement and profitability for the business.  The concept is simple but the proof is always dependent upon application, which of course translates into a dynamic process rather than a static, etched-in-stone business plan constructed to gain dominion once and for all over those whom they were designed to serve.

State and local government have a role in this since its raison d’etre is the electorate it serves and whose interests and well-being are the clauses in the compact that it is obligated to uphold.  Our United States Senators and members of House of Representatives presumably represent us in congress where the nation’s business is distilled from the reservoir of local needs and requirements.  So far elected officials on all levels have been relatively silent on this issue which means that T-W and similar businesses have powerful, well-financed lobbyists who represent their interests ahead of the average citizen.  Since Bob Dylan claimed in It’s Alright Ma(I’m Only Bleeding)–Money doesn’t talk , it swears–perhaps our representatives will remain mute rather than to reveal their allegiances with obscenities.

Don’t you love farce?
My fault, I fear.
I thought that you’d want what I want…
Sorry, my dear!
And where are the clowns
Send in the clowns
Don’t bother, they’re here.

Time Warner is using the Greensboro/Guilford County area as a test market simply because it has no competition; it is the only cable provider available in this area.  TW charges more for the same services than it does in regions where it has competitors.  The company can’t afford to throttle back on its services when it is forced to compete with similar businesses; however, without competition there is no incentive for the TW to improve its products.  The silence of city and county officials is even more disappointing; perhaps, the deals and/or concessions made by politicians ignore what is in the best interest of the constituents, until the next election, that is.  ISP’s such as AT&T, Verizon, Sprint stand to profit from TW’s wrong-headed strategy that management has proposed with tier pricing on broadband internet service.  The tactic could really backfire on TW, especially, when disgruntled customers cancel not only RoadRunner but decide to drop all cable access: Direct TV or Dish Network, anyone?

OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;

Anyone who has placed a support call, knowingly or not, to one of the vast call centers in Mumbai or Bangalore, or New Delhi is well aware that customer experience for American companies which, have their customer service contracted to one of these facilities, is actually more translucent or opaque than it is transparent despite company propaganda to the contrary.  I am not a software engineer but I am reasonably literate in general technology areas; however, after over two hours of interceding on my friends’ behalf with tech support and escalating through the pyramidal layers of expertise, the problem I reported was no closer to resolution than when the call was initiated.  I’ve worked at a support desk myself so I was familiar with the routine of discovery and the prescribed application of fixes, driven by the process of Q&A.  I am also familiar with the blame game that may become a useful foil when support has reached the end of its list of patented solutions and shifts responsibility from software to hardware or vice versa.  Suffice it to say that it was better to end the support call in favor of doing my own research to solve the problem then it was to explore the quixotic terrain of four-letter words and scatological epithets.

Searching the net for any information regarding the email problems associated with the partnership between AT&T and Yahoo produced a long lists of hits detailing the problem as well as providing the proper settings to send and retrieve email using a separate mail client such as Mail, Thunderbird, Outlook, Outlook Express, etc.  Piece of Cake, I thought!  So I applied the following to the mail client.

POP server address : pop.att.yahoo.com
POP username : your full email address
POP port : 995
POP uses SSL : True

SMTP server address : smtp.att.yahoo.com
SMTP Port : 465
SMTP uses SSL : True
SMTP username and password : Same as your POP username/password

Didn’t work.  Never worked!  I could ping both the pop and smtp servers so they were there, somewhere, but neither responded with the settings I found on the AT&T help page.  OK, more searching.  I found another variation.

POP server address : fpostoffice.isp.att.net
POP username : your full email address
POP port : 995
POP uses SSL : True

SMTP server address : fmailhost.isp.att.net
SMTP Port : 465
SMTP uses SSL : True
SMTP username and password : Same as your POP username/password

Didn’t work.  Never worked.  So what gives AT&T and Yahoo?  One is the chink in the iPhone’s armor and the other is apparently true to its cognomen.  If you are a BellSouth DSL customer be forewarned, you are in for some pain if you don’t want to be switched entirely to a web mail.  At least with Gmail one can configure different access methods including pop mail using one’s mail client of choice.

I have used PC’s for decades but several years ago I began migrating to Apple.  It was one of the best technology decisions I’ve made, thanks in part to my son’s urging but mostly to Apple’s move to OS X.  I watched as the operating system matured.  When Panther was released I was convinced that OS X was a very good operating system and so I took the plunge to purchase my first Mac weeks before Tiger was released.  I still run Windows XP on my Aluminum iMac using VMWare Fusion in order to use one Windows’ program, Quicken.  Unfortunately Steve Jobs can’t or doesn’t have the hutzpah to persuade the CEO of Intuit, who incidentally sits on Apple’s BOD, to produce an OS X version of Quicken comparable to the Windows version.  I had over 15 years of history in Quicken which could not be imported into the Mac version of Quicken, hence my choice to continue a minimal contact with the Windows world.  Of course when my friend enlisted my aid in finding a solution to his problem I said I would do my best with the caveat that I had not kept abreast of the workings of Windows.  

A quick internet search documented the malware which infected my friend’s computer and listed a couple of programs that would remove the malware automatically; there were also instructions for manual removal as well.  I downloaded the repair programs and the instructions for manual removal.  My friend resides with his wife in a retirement facility so I called to arrange a time for me to stop by and apply the remedy.  I spent several fruitless hours attempting to rid his computer of the malware.  Try as I might I could not get XP to boot into safe mode so that I could copy the repair program to his hard drive and take advantage of the automatic removal feature.  Nothing doing.  To make matters worse he could not find the original installation CD for the OS.  The computer was a gift from his son.  At first it seemed very likely to me that the son failed to include the operating system CD, after all his parents were in a retirement facility and their computer use was minimal at best.  What harm could they come to emailing and using a word processing program   A couple of telephone calls to the son who resides on the west coast confirmed that the son had indeed included an operating system CD when he brought the computer to his father.  My friend vaguely recalls seeing the CD in question but has not a clue where or if it now exists.

After hours of frustration I returned home to inventory the options which remained.  The best case scenario would involve no loss of data although under the present circumstances that might not be possible.  If my friend is unable to find the CD with the OS, he may have to purchase another copy while XP is still available.  The purchase of a new computer and the move to Vista would not only be unthinkable but unconscionable on all rational levels.  I still have my upgrade versions of XP, one of which is not in use on any PC, that I could give him to install on his computer.  I also have a full version of Windows 98 tucked away on a closet shelf  so that I can use the XP upgrade version.  I didn’t imagine that I would still be fooling with this around-your-elbow-to-get-to-your-thumb technique.  Who knows, it just might work, eventually.

Without meaning to be snide or condescending, those children who have parents in retirement facilities should reconsider when they decide to re-gift their folks with their old family computer.  Show mom and/or dad that you really do love them and give them a Mac instead.

The dark side’s callin’ now, nothing is real…
Ain’t nothin’ gonna save you from a love that’s blind
When you slip to the dark side you cross that line
On the dark side, oh yeah
On the dark side, oh yeah

Now that I’m on the dark side, over here doesn’t look very different from over there, although I’ve been pondering what would have become of poor old Keats if he had had such a distraction, not that tuberculosis and the popular method of treatment–regular blood letting, diets of nearing starvation–and unrequited love helped him focus any better.  The strobing titillation of information at the speed of light–theoretically, at least–probably wouldn’t have diminished his genius although his tragically brief light might not have burned as incandescently as it did if it were so self-absorbed and quixotic in documenting every breath and pulse and mood and fleeting thought and the empty contents of boredom.  Of course there are those who would state that is exactly what Keats did with his poetry, and while I might acquiesce to this characterization of the process the reality is quite again something else.  A word that comes to mind is magnificent, for example or the sonnet, When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be, might offer a clue.

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high piled books, in charact’ry,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripen’d grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love!—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

True genius accommodates its environment.  But it is certainly arguable that Keats might not have crafted that captivating end couplet in his Ode on a Grecian Urn, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,”—that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know, if he were hooked on Facebook diluting stanzas with pokes or answering life’s nagging question, What are you doing?  Oops, that was a Budweiser commercial!

The silver lining in this dark cloud may be that those of us who are less informed may have a chance to improve ourselves, if we don’t overexpose ourselves first.  On the bright side of the dark side, Sarah Palin could finally get to read all of the newspapers online and she wouldn’t have to worry about remembering their names–RSS!

Until recently genealogy has commandeered most of my spare time in the last year.  As is usually the case with my kaleidoscope of interests, once a particular subject comes into focus I tend to devote myself exclusively to its study. While genealogy research remains an important activity, I have concluded that it was better for me to control my enthusiasm or else risk alienating family and friends forever. Casting about for something to read that didn’t involve genealogy, I happened upon a book that I had purchased ten or fifteen years ago. As categories go, I am attracted to a variety of genres; however, I have found myself engaged on more than one occasion with science fiction, new age philosophy/religion/psychology, fantasy or fantastic realism as authors Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier referred to their book, The Morning of the Magicians–it remains a favorite of mine. I had just finished the last of Frank Herbert’s sagas about Dune and was curious about some of the other books that he had written. A trilogy that Herbert had coauthored with poet Bill Ransom with its intriguing titles caught my eye: The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor–all obvious allusions to Christian mythology or were they? By the time I decided to read the trilogy it was out of print; however, I was able to locate paperback editions in a local used bookstore where one of the three books was actually an unused copy.

Once I purchased the books I vaguely recall beginning the opening chapter of The Jesus Incident and just as promptly I put it aside. The books remained untouched and until recently, unread. Perhaps, I am able to exercise more patience now than I did when I was much younger, even then, only Romaine Rolland’s Jean-Christophe was the only novel I can honestly say that I was unable to finish: the descriptive passages seemed interminable at the time! I confess re-reading the opening chapter of The Jesus Incident made me question my selection of these particular books of Herbert, after all titles are little help in navigating either to understanding or enjoyment when the vehicle is as abstruse as the content to be delivered. Edgar Cayce was fond of the admonition found in the Bible from Luke, In patience possess ye your soul, when he warned against a hasty rush to judgment and so I patiently read on until my curiosity was sufficiently piqued, and my soul, well, it was coming along for the journey too. Persistence becomes a virtue when achievement is neither exclusive nor solitary, and if it’s also a possibility, so much the better.

One of the hallmarks of Herbert’s writing is his examination and presentation of a variety of societal issues: racism, religion, politics, genetics, science, technology, ecology, and specific subsets within all of the foregoing areas. The Jesus Incident certainly touches on many themes; it challenges the believer’s notion of God in a narrative terrain inhabited by means of the apparent achievements of artificial intelligence while retaining the element of mystery so many believers attach to the divine and to which they cling regardless of their own environment and circumstances. A clever but not so subtle interplay of words illustrates the evolution of meaning implied in religious, mystical terminology. The ship, a vessel used for space exploration is imbued with consciousness through an artificial intelligence program written by the inhabitants on board becomes, over an undisclosed span of time, Ship and defines Its desire to have a relationship with Its passengers as a ritual aptly called WorShip. Since The Jesus Incident is the first book in the trilogy and was preceded by a prequel, Destination: Void one will have to decide if, as the book’s title suggests, a pivotal incident, is fact, fiction or if either condition is necessary or relevant to a fundamental understanding of who we are, where we are going and how we should conduct ourselves on that journey.

Some of text appears dated and outmoded when juxtaposed to current descriptions of our technological advancements; most of the language and nuances of the concepts alluded to remain quite authentic and do not suffer from the conceptual deprecation so obvious in rebroadcast Star Trek episodes. The Jesus Incident does not approach the sheer elegance of imagination Herbert achieved with Dune but it does offer one a chance to evaluate persistent ideas and attitudes which affect our collective psyche today transposed to a nearly foreign context in a different time: one that is not only conceivable, but eminently plausible in light of current achievements in genetics, the state of health of our planet, the search to control and transform the use and source of energy, the global economic challenges, and the prosecution of war as a constant state of diplomacy.  If we are forunate, there may yet be a Kerro Panille among us, a poet who listens to Vata and sings its truth.