Blogging
Glad The Blog is Still Here
Your dark’s too vivid, the light’s not there
My last post went up Dec. 10th but I had written it immediately after the election. The problem was, when I went to post it, I found that my website had been infected with malware. The infection took out several of my personal sites as well as one of my friend’s business sites which I maintain for him. So everything went dark for a bit.
It took several weeks of back and forth with my hosting provider (whom I’ve been with for over two decades) as well as some paid professional services to get everything cleaned up. Due to how things got infected and cleaned, my provider couldn’t figure out how the malware/hackers got in. It took quite a bit to get things all sorted, and the infection popped up a couple more times before we finally seemed to have it under control.
During that downtime, I faced the realization that I might lose two decades of posts here. Part of it was fairly liberating to be honest. But the other, more nagging part, was that I was going to miss all of that history. In addition, I would miss writing here, especially during the next four years.
No, I don’t plan on writing a bunch of political stuff (although it may happen from time to time) but rather I want to lean into art. I restarted my Flickr account, and have started to post on Bluesky. I plan on focusing quite a bit on photography, videography and other creative endeavors.
I have to admit this is all me trying to distract myself from the abject horrors that are sure to surface under the new regime. The last term almost broke me, so I’m going to go to try to insulate myself a bit better this time. Art, writing, and learning new technology will fuel me. I hope you can find the things you need to help you as well. Be kind to each other.
And today’s title is from Two Faced by Linkin Park, one of my albums of the year. My music post will get here soon but the line “your dark’s too vivid, the light’s not there” was a really powerful turn of phrase for me. Vivid darkness is a kick ass concept. Thanks LP.
The Death of Reality
When Eyes Wide Open Means Eyes Wide Shut
Remember the good old days when a photograph was a reliable capture of reality? You’d snap a picture, and there it was—a genuine representation of that moment in time. Fast forward to today, and it’s a whole different ballgame. Thanks to the wonders of digital manipulation, it’s getting harder and harder to trust that what we’re seeing is anywhere close to the truth.
Take Google’s feature that ensures no one’s eyes are shut in photos, for example. Sounds like a lifesaver, right? No more pictures ruined by that one person blinking at the wrong time. But here’s the kicker: the photo you end up with isn’t actually real. It’s a composite image, pieced together from various frames to create an “ideal” moment that never actually happened.
Now, don’t get me wrong—I appreciate not having to sift through dozens of shots to find one where everyone’s eyes are open. But at the same time, it’s a bit disconcerting to think that this “perfect” photo is, in reality, a fabrication. We’re no longer capturing moments as they are; we’re creating an illusion of perfection.
And it’s not just Google. Everywhere you look, digital manipulation is creeping into our photos and videos. From filters that smooth our skin and whiten our teeth to apps that can swap out backgrounds and even change our facial expressions, the line between what’s real and what’s fake is becoming increasingly blurred.
These edits shape our memories in ways we might not even realize. We look back at photos from a vacation and see sun-drenched beaches and smiling faces, but the truth might be that it rained the whole time and the kids were grumpy. Over time, the edited photos become our memories, replacing the less-than-perfect reality with a curated version of events.
It’s a weird time for digital photography, no doubt about it. On one hand, we have more control than ever over how we present ourselves and our lives to the world. On the other hand, we’re losing touch with authenticity. We’re creating a version of reality that’s more like a glossy magazine spread than a true reflection of our experiences.
So, where does that leave us? Are we witnessing the death of reality in photography? It’s hard to say. But one thing’s for sure: the next time you see a flawless photo or video, take it with a grain of salt. Because in this age of digital manipulation, what you see is rarely what you get.
In the end, maybe it’s not all bad. Maybe these edited photos can help us see the world—and ourselves—in a more positive light. But let’s not forget to appreciate the unedited, imperfect moments, too. After all, sometimes the most genuine moments are the ones where someone’s eyes are shut.
Lastly, I want to point out that everything before this paragraph was generated and written by AI. I told AI to adopt a persona of myself based on this blog, and prompted it to write this out with some themes and points that I had, and quite frankly, it did a damn good job. I left it fully unedited. My point for this whole exercise was that from now on, you will never be able to tell if any photo or video was reality at the time. It most certainly was not, and we will gaslight ourselves into thinking it was. I’m not quite sure how I feel about it yet. I’ll keep playing around and let you know.
Hello There Stranger
Or holy crap, how has it been a whole year?
I’ve sat down to write numerous times this past year, and just never felt like finishing anything. I just wasn’t mentally into documenting the crap I was going through. I won’t touch on it too much other than I’m happy 2023 is about done.
I will mention that nearly two and half years after we went into lockdowns and I started writing my COVID Diaries, my wife, youngest daughter, and I finally caught COVID. It hit us around the fourth of July holiday so we were stuck at home, and I was hit pretty hard. I can only imagine how bad it would have been had I not been immunized. But it was inevitable, and now that’s something else checked off the list. I just got my most recent booster, so hopefully I can avoid a winter strain.
The world is currently in chaos. We are around two years since Russia invaded Ukraine and there is no end in sight to that conflict. And now, Israel is trying to eradicate Hamas after its terrorist attack over a month ago. There are hate crimes rising against Jews and Muslims around the world. It’s like a holiday for racist white people. It just sucks, because I don’t want innocent people to die on either side. I’m against violence of any kind, especially when attacks have a blatant disregard for innocent life. There has been a recent pause in fighting while hostages have been traded. Hopefully that is a sign there can be some negotiation, even though the cease fires just ended.
So the world is a powder keg and there is a possible super volcano ready to erupt in Iceland. Yes, seriously. So we have that going for us.
One thing I wanted to touch on is that I lost one of my childhood best friends this past year to a heart attack. He was two years younger than myself, and in much better shape. It really hammered home how fragile life is and how quickly things can change. I hadn’t spoken to him in years, but we were inseparable during the summer months. Playing baseball, basketball and golf while riding around on our mopeds… It was a shock to my system at a time where I was very low myself. In fact, a couple week prior I had gone to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack, only to find out it was anxiety.
To recover from my episode to hear my old friend had died was fairly devastating, but it gave me a renewed sense of wanting to be healthier.
I finally got tests done at the doctor that showed I had been dealing with a stomach bacterial infection for the last couple years that was causing me a lot of issues. I felt sick a good portion of the last two years and this was probably the culprit. After finally getting the tests, we were able to attack it with antibiotics. In January I’ll get some additional tests to make sure it was fully eradicated. I’m already feeling a ton better, so I’m hopeful.
I’ve also closed my exercise rings on my Apple Watch every day this year. That is definitely having a positive impact as well. Even on my sickest days I made sure to at least shuffle along on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I’m feeling a lot better today than I have in a long time. And that’s good, because I want to be around a long time.
In other news, we passed a milestone in September. We marked 20 years of this blog. For the last 20 years, I have documented my life, shared technology, bitched about the state of the world, opined about music, gushed over gadgets and fell in love, and then out of of love, with social media. This blog was always written for me, to document what was going on in my life and to share it with the world. At times there were an unfathomable amount of people reading, and nowadays, maybe only a few. I hope I have enlightened, entertained, provoked or helped everyone reading this in some way. No matter whether we were close, or we never met, I hope this place has given you something.
Thanks for sticking around, and I don’t just mean the blog. I’m really glad you have. Keep fucking going.
COVID Diaries Pt. 29
The End?
The end of what you may ask? Well, I guess I will say it is the end of this series at least. No one in the States is paying ANY attention to COVID at all. Other than the immunocompromised that is.
Shortly after my last post, the CDC posted new guidelines that basically amounted to “Eh, we give up.” So, people basically did. You would be hard pressed to see many precautions any longer. Everything has basically eased back into what normal seems like. Which means people are catching and passing around COVID all the time, but if you aren’t testing, you might not even know. My mom had it for a second time during this period, and it was nothing more than a mild cold this time around.
At least one positive is the release of the Omicron focused booster shots. They are out now, which should hopefully help combat the most common variants that are still circulating. COVID isn’t over, but I’m sure it will end up becoming more of a yearly flu situation. As such, this morning I got my updated booster AND my flu shot. So hopefully I’m well protected for the fall.
Let’s see, what else happened since June? The war in the Ukraine is still raging on, Boris Johnson resigned and the Queen died in the UK, R. Kelly was sentenced to prison for the rest of his life, there was another mass shooting in Highland Park, IL, James Caan, Ivana Trump, Anne Heche and Oliva Newton John all died. Mar-a-Lago got raided due to improper storage and handling of classified documents, a childhood friend committed suicide, the NFL season began and a neighbor destroyed a privacy wall of trees on over 300 feet of my property. So yeah, it’s been a hectic couple of months, and most of the news kinda sucked.
On the good side, Biden got some legislation through that should help the economy and the middle class. He also is forgiving some student load debt, so that’s huge for a lot of people as well. Things are trending well going into the mid-terms. We’ll see if it makes any difference.
I’ve also been trying to buy a car for the last several months, and it has been a nightmare. I want a hybrid as my last two cars were also hybrids. I like being less reliant on gas and having the emissions better for the environment as well. The problem is, due to sky high gas prices, EVERYONE wants hybrids. I haven’t been able to see the model I want in person because they are all sold before they ever hit a dealer’s lot. I’ve had my name on waiting lists at several places, and even went to buy one, until they showed me the bill with a 20 percent markup of the price due to inventory scarcity. They also added another $1200 in “protective coating”. They added $7200 to the cost of the car. I, not so nicely, told them what they could do with their offer.
So, that is ongoing. I’m finally supposed to have a vehicle coming in October. I won’t believe it until I’m sitting behind the wheel though. Fingers crossed.
Lastly, this is a special day for the blog, as it is our 19th anniversary of posting here. Pretty wild that I’ve been writing down my thoughts on the interwebz for so long. I want to at least hit the twenty-year mark before I hang this up though, so you’ll have to hear from me a tad bit longer. Thanks for being a part of the ride.
Disconnecting
IBM Connect (formerly Lotusphere) starts next weekend in sunny Orlando, Florida. This is a tech conference I’ve attended every January for nearly the last 20 years. I’ve attended as a developer, an admin, a speaker, the press, a blogger, and as a pointy haired boss.
This past week has been filled with throwback photo apps showing me pictures of this day and that day in history, and every one has been brimming with pictures of this awesome yearly pilgrimage. So many memories of really wonderful times.
This conference has meant an awful lot to me all these years. I’ve met people from all over the world whom I will consider friends for the rest of my life. I’ve been able to hire and work with people who were part of this community. I’ve experienced bachelor parties, and cigar meet ups, and random dinners with folks who happened to be in the same town as me at the same time. It’s a special thing, this community. And I’ve been thrilled to be such a part of it over the last 20 years.
So why am I not officially attending this year? Well it really comes down to the technology. We’re moving to Outlook and Office 365. We will also be replacing our HR and ERP systems, and with it, some of our Domino development. Quite frankly a lot of the choices make sense, and we’ll probably have a better environment because of it.
So as IBM Technologies are fading within my place of business, so too are any valid reasons for attending Connect.
Unless I have an abrupt career change (which I’m not anticipating) I will be starting a relatively new chapter in my technology career. It’s going to be weird, but the yellow bubble is like Hotel California. I can check out, but I can never leave.
Nor do I want to. I’ll still be on Twitter, Facebook, and here and I’m even taking a family vacation during Connect this year so I can stop by and see everyone. I would miss you all if I couldn’t.
So, since my time in the bubble is coming to an end, I figure I’ll lay this out there for posterity. It kinda seems like tooting my own horn, but it’s more for me to remember all the stuff I’ve accomplished with this technology. I loved this tech, and it is what gave me an IT career and for that I will be forever grateful.
- I started as a trainer, training 1700 users of a bank how to use Lotus Notes (version 3 to 4 I believe)
- I became an admin and help desk for those 1700 users, supporting the software for everyone.
- I became a consultant and was trained as a developer, and did work on Fortune 500 accounts
- That same consultant gig lead me to admin work for a tech services company
- So I was back to being an admin, and doing some dev work, and helping run an IT org
- Then I went to my current company as an admin of all the collaboration services
- 4 years later I took over as Manager of IT
- The next year I became Director of IT and have been doing that for the last 7 years
In the same time span
- I wrote professionally for Intranet Journal for 3.5 years on how to use Lotus technologies in your intranet.
- I was a board member of Granite, the Chicago Lotus user group
- I’ve blogged here about IBM/Lotus for over a decade
- I had a white paper I wrote given away by a vendor at their booth at Lotusphere
- I had a picture I took appear in every Lotusphere giveaway bag
- I’ve spoken at Lotusphere
- I’ve spoken at IBM Edge
- I’ve been the official photographer of IAMLUG
- I helped our company become a member sponsor of OpenNTF
- I’ve been a part of several official IBM whitepapers, including writing one with John Head
- I was one of the customer interviews for the worldwide webcast launch of Notes 9
- I’ve had the privilege of managing and being teammates with the absolute best private company group of X-Pages developers on the market.
And as much as I have championed the technology, I wasn’t a total fanboy. I made sure to use software that was always best for the job, not just because it had IBM branding. A look back through my blog will attest to that. Workplace Services Express is a very good example 🙂
That said, I owe IBM and Lotus an immense debt of gratitude. Those companies are really responsible for me having a career and two decades full of wonderful memories and friendships.
So thank you IBM, thank you Lotus, and thanks to all of you reading. I hope everyone really enjoys IBM Connect this year, and I hope it goes on for decades to come. It’s time for other people to enjoy the kind of things I have.
Anyway, I’ll still be around. Don’t be a stranger.
A Decade of Meanderings
Ten years ago today I started my public-facing blog with the following wide-eyed post:
Wow, am I loving this blog software or what? It’s truly amazing what a great program this is, and what a tremendous amount of effort it has been to put together a killer blogging app. More to come as I tweak this damn thing.
That software was Blogsphere by Mr. Declan Lynch. It’s how I first got to meet Dec and become friends. That software also gave me a way to join a community of writers, friends and other technologists. In 2006, it helped me get paid for my writing with a gig that would last three years at Intranet Journal. It got me press credentials, blogger credentials, and it blazed a trail to do things I may never have otherwise.
My first daughter was nearly two back then and my second daughter was almost here. There was no iPhone or iPad or Android, and Blackberry was the only game in town. Mozilla was at version 1.5, and Chrome didn’t exist. I was planning a Domino 5.0.12 migration to Domino 6.5. I ended up migrating to Exchange. Ephedrine was still legal over the counter, Napster was a big deal, and HDTV didn’t really exist. I was a programmer, then an admin, and now I don the pointy hair. Things really have come a long way.
I’ve written over 1000 posts and interacted with over 2000 comments in those ten years. And even though my output has diminished over the years, I still love this medium. And despite the continual “Notes is Dead” proclamations and “Blogging is Dead” idiocy that we’ve had to endure over the years, I’m still working with IBM Notes and still blogging away.
This blog really has been a springboard for so many things. I’m grateful for that and grateful for every reader who has ever interacted here on Greyhawk’s Meanderings. This has been a big part of my online world, my online brand, and such an outlet for my writing. I would have done it if no one was reading, but I’m thankful that you did.
Ten years is a long time to do anything in this world, so I’m happy to have kept it going for so long. Here’s to doing it another ten. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Back in the Saddle
In order to get back into the rhythm of blogging, you have to actually sit down and write. That’s true of any writer, you just have to sometimes force yourself to put words to the page. I used to have the urge to write all the time, and that’s largely been satiated with various social media outlets, but I miss blogging.
So I refreshed the blog template with a new Parallax theme from Themify.me that I like quite a bit. It’s got some great ways to share photos, so that’s rekindled the desire to get out and focus on my photography a bit more too. Both of these are good for my creative outlets, and I need to be more creative. Lately the pointy hair of the day job has focused on long term goals and politics more than the joy I get from technology. It’s not all a bad thing, just an evolution. I just need to make sure that I don’t lose that joy, whether it be technology, writing or photography.
Out in the Man Cave tonight I put some old memories up on the wall. My old baseball jersey from the town I grew up in, the T-shirt I designed for our college radio station, and some awesome shirts from the LDC including the Lotus “Back in Blue” shirt. It’s really rekindled a lot of memories and stirred the muse. Some punk music on the Sonos and a cigar at my side and things feel right.
So as I’ve done on several occasions over the last decade, I’m declaring that I’m back folks. Let’s see if these are hollow words or if I follow through 🙂
IBM Connect 2013 Recap – The People
In my last post, I spoke of the IBM Connect show itself, and what it meant from a show and technology perspective for me. That’s only part of the story. The real value in Lotusphere for me has always been the people. The business networking is invaluable, but the enduring friendships are what truly stand out. These folks have become family over the years and this conference has always been our family reunion.
That’s what I would really miss most if I decided not to come. Not seeing these friends and colleagues in person would cast a definite sadness over my January. It’s obvious that other friends feel the same way. There were at least a half a dozen friends who no longer come to the conference who still traveled to Orlando to be able to hang out and see everyone. For some, like my good friend Tom Duff, it was a very sad experience to call it his final Lotusphere.
But like Tom referenced in his blog post, Volker nailed it:
“Let me tell you something: life is about people, not about technology. Your friends will be your friends. And you will see them again. And again, and again. Technology changes, friendship lasts. In change, there lies opportunity.”
And I know these friendships will endure. I can go all over Europe, or Australia, or pretty much anywhere in the US and I know someone I want to visit with, have a beer and a good meal with. You people are special, no matter what color you are wearing or what code compiler you are using, or how pointy my hair gets. I’m very happy to call you my friends.
I’ve always thought of us as a very welcoming group too. You can see it in the yearly Blogger photos growing in size year after year. We love to welcome new people in, and this year I was more encouraged by seeing some younger talent coming around.
It’s not a lot, and maybe not nearly enough, but I spoke with several people who were new to the IBM technologies in the last few years. That’s a great thing, and we need to encourage more to do the same. The only way our species can survive is if we breed more of us. 🙂
In addition, I was really touched by a post by a new blogger named Monica Mora who had always wanted to go to the conference, and this year she made it a reality. It’s a great post on the real power of “social” in our community. I’d love to hear more of these voices in the future.
Speaking of hearing voices, one of the best things to humanize Lotusphere are the Nerd Girl Spark Ideas talks. If you want to really get to know the kind, caring, artistic folks of our community, this is a wonderful place to start, and it’s not about our technology choices at all.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the week started with a tragedy to our Lotus family. A Danish gentlemen named Kenneth Kjærbye passed away after a freak accident during the annual motorcycle ride that many of my friends and a co-worker partake in. By all accounts, everyone from the police, to the motorcycle shop, to IBM were very supportive and responded warmly and wonderfully given the situation. I could only offer my condolences, hugs and support to all of my friends who were deeply affected. They carried on with brave faces, but I know how much they were hurting. Once again, this community came together to help however they could, and I’ve heard from the folks affected how much is was appreciated. My thoughts are with all of you, and especially Kenneth’s family.
These are the extremes of this family. We grieve together, and we enjoy life to the fullest together, and celebrate everything in between. These people, you people reading this, are what makes this conference and our community special. Big virtual hugs to you all until we meet again.