Internet

YouTube Snobbery

mikemjensen Internet, Useless Observations Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I’m not the most sophisticated guy by far. The things I don’t know outnumber the things that I do, by far.

Art. I really know nothing.

History. I can quote a few dates but nothing to impress.

Music. Unless it’s 80’s music, I’m pretty lacking.

But I know when I hear something that sounds substantial. Today I listened to part of Beethoven’s Symphony 9.

I didn’t know it was Beethoven. Other than the 5th, who of my ilk does? And it’s mostly because of the pop song from the 70’s. Look it up.

So today I saw this video, dug on the sound and found it odd that voices accompanied the orchestra. Apparently, this was a main accomplishment for its time. This accompaniment was the first time voices were used as part of the symphony. And not just any lyrics. The song is adapted from the poem Ode to Joy. I had never heard it before, but I had heard of it.

Armed with this little information, I rewatched the video.

I felt so smart, so informed, and so classically hip.

It’s amazing how YouTube and Wikipedia can make us all blueblood.

 

Post 3-103

United We Stand, Against You

mikemjensen Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Internet, Useless Observations Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

You only get one chance at first impressions.

I’ve never flown with United Airlines but seeing the now viral video of the bloodied man wrestled out of his seat and spending two days listening to the bad apologies, I’m pretty sure that won’t change anytime soon.

A quick scan through my G+ feed proved that the United-memes formed the majority. Here’s a few of them:

united

Everything is Awesome!

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united pillow

Good luck United. You may never be forgotten.

 

Post 3-102

In One’s Own Universe

mikemjensen Internet, star trek, Useless Observations Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Video on demand is today’s reality.

The days of waiting for your seasonal favorites is a thing of the past. You can watch nearly anything at any time. Binge watching is the thing to do. Don’t wait week by week to see your favorite show, wait till the season is over and watch all the episodes in a row. Or the entire series.

I recently discovered that one of my favorite series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is available on Amazon Prime. And I began watching a few episodes, from the beginning. I guarantee I’ll watch them all.deep-space-nine-concept-sheet-1

I do enjoy Star Trek and enjoy discussing warp cores, Enterprise captains, and space-time continuum at length with fellow Trekies. In fact, discussion such as these makes one feel kind of, well, smart.

However, when you start to watch these shows with a Star Trek Gentile, and you spend way too much time explaining Bajoran/Cardassian politics and how it relates to the Federation and the newly found worm hole; you end up feeling a little bit silly.

 

Post 3-076

Canyon by Video

mikemjensen Internet, Life's Truths, Utah Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

What a fantastic time we live in.

Sure there are some bad things that can’t be ignored. The political scene in the US is a joke that isn’t funny and the future may hold some unpleasant prospects.

But never has so much freedom of information ever been endowed upon the common person. For the cost of an internet connection and the device to connect to it, nearly anything is available to anyone.

“Just Google it.”

Or “You Tube it.”

I’ve been in and around the canyons of Utah’s canyon country. I look out at the landscape and find it unfathomable to imagine how that slow meandering river could’ve carved out the deep ravines and side canyons, and the cuts, and the cliffs.1797529_510846092361849_202623632_n

I understand erosion. I’ve seen canyons before. But the great canyons of the Colorado, especially the Grand Canyon of them all; I can’t put my head around it.

Until today.

While working at my desk, working numbers on an excel spreadsheet, I found, in my recommended videos, one to watch titled, “How the Grand Canyon was formed.” I watched/listened to it, some parts twice.

I understand it now.

Incredible.

 

Post 3-041

Making it Known

mikemjensen Fishing, Football, Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Internet, Life's Truths, Motorcycles, Sports, Useless Observations Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

It’s political times. 5508Everybody has an opinion and not always based on information, reason, or understanding. Here are some of my political beliefs:

For: American League, American Conference, and Western Conference.

Against: Fan voted All Stars.

For: Motorcycles. They don’t have to be Harleys either.

Against: Gold Wings. Just kidding, I’m for Gold Wings too.

For: Cheap gas and fast cars. Real ones. Classics.

Against: Smart Cars. Not kidding.

For: Buy low and sell high. I don’t do this much in practice, but I’m for it.

Against: Places that don’t have a Value Menu.

For: Lake Powell

Against: Anyone against Lake Powell

For: Fishing. Fly, bait, or lure. If there’s fish to catch, I’m in.

Against: People catching bigger or more fish than me.

For: Free speech.

Against: Long lists of “for and against”.

 

(Please note, I don’t always agree with everything that I say.)

 

Post 3-037

New Age Explorer

mikemjensen Internet, Life's Truths Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

The Internet delivers stories and pictures to me daily of different places and different adventures that exist elsewhere in the world. Some are near to my home and some are far; the computer doesn’t know the difference and brings them all. Years past, these stories would rarely reach my attention.

But they do now.age-of-exploration-image

I feel I know so many more of my family than I ever did before. Posts of their travels, their schools, their kids, their accomplishments, their struggles, and their adventures allow me to enjoy them, argue with them, and miss them. I used to not even know their names.

There are so many places that I want to visit, things I want to see, and people I want to meet in person. I take account of them all and I realize that there are too many places that interest me, that I can’t possibly see and do it all. I will never run out of new things to explore.

Isn’t that wonderful.

 

Post 3-035

To Vlog or Not To Vlog

mikemjensen Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Internet Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I really enjoy doing video.

I mean, I’ve always like watching stuff, but recently I’ve been learning how to edit video and make my own little videos.

I know I’m way behind the curve on this. In an age of YouTube celebrities, I can’t imagine what I could do that would be original or interesting. But I think I want to try. In doing this blog every day for the past 200+ days, I’ve learned how tough and how easy it is to just do something after deciding you want to.

I want to start vlogging. I’m not sure I can handle a daily vlog but I’ll decide on some regular interval. For my own sake.flat,550x550,075,f

A staff member recently posted on the workplace wall, “We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” It’s attributed to Aristotle.

Whatever we decide to do, it may not be perfect at first. Or ever. But once we commit to doing something on a continual basis, it’s bound to get better.

I think I’ll be a better video-er.

 

NaNoWriMo: 28,601/50,000

Day 267

A Good Time To Come Along

mikemjensen Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Internet, Vanity Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

You know what’s cool? Living in an age where almost any piece of information is available within minutes on the Internet. (Remember when we called it the “Web” or the Information Super Highway?)

I check the online weather radar on the days when we have storms moving though and try to skirt home between the downpours. It worked great today.

on-the-internet-nobody-knows-youre-a-dog-memeCan’t remember some name or factoid? Google what you know and you’re an instant genius.

TED talks. A bunch of them are full of crap, but I learn constantly by streaming them at my desk as I do data entry.

Today I heard about a WWII story that I had never heard before. Looked it up, found out some details, learned of a detailed book of the event, and pondered the thought of writing a future book about it. Without the internet, it would’ve been a passive story that I half-understood and most likely forgot before I had a chance to research.

I think some of the things from the past are sorely missed and I wonder how life passed in old west times. However, I’m thankful to live in this day and age where the world and all its wonders are right there on my screen.

And to think how cool I thought digital watches were when they first came out.

 

Day 74