Tech-less In Verona

Some days it's just nice to stay away from the PC. If you don't open your email you won't see all the spam that clutters up the in-box.

Of course, you also could miss some interesting communications from family and friends. But they'll wait. Nothing urgent, thank goodness. Didn’t use my cell phone at all.

I did, however, notch a first. I scanned an item directly from my new four-in-one printer to my email outbox and send it on. Short of thrilling, but an advance nonetheless. Still haven't sent or received a fax, but that will happen eventually.

Every once in a while on a lazy day like today I think about going to the stores and looking at the latest gadgets, such as e-readers, the various versions of tablet computers, Roku boxes, Blu-rays, etc. But the sun was shining, the weather was dry, the air cool and a walk in the park seemed a better investment.

We'll get around to the other stuff whenever.

Had a nice day.

Something's Brewing

For a number of years my son Rob has wanted to brew his own beer. This is his year. And mine, too, since he invited me to join him in this venture.

Appropriately, we're doing it on Father's Day, June 19, at a place called The Brewer's Apprentice in Freehold, NJ. This is quite a process.

You have to select the type of beer you want to brew and it better be something you like because you make a lot of it. Of course you could give some of the bottles away (which I probably will do) but I suspect you'll have to warn the recipients of the nature of the gift. Psst...I made it myself. How that will go over is anyone's guess.

So we go to the brewery on the chosen date and they give us all the ingredients and instructions on how to mix it all together. Then it has to ferment for a couple of weeks. When it's ready, you get to bottle it. I think you get a choice of either a 12 or 22-ounce size. I'll go for the smaller size. I don't drink anything in a 22-ounce bottle.

So right now we are naming our beers. Sending emails back and forth suggesting just the right label for our respective products. I'm calling mine “Muddling Marv's Mellow Meld #13.” Rob is thinking of calling his “Gnatty Light Lager.”

Dueling distillers man your vats. Let the Battle of the Brews begin.

We Are All Muddlers (Except Those Who Aren't)

David Pogue's column in today's New York Times, (Ins and Outs of Using Gadgetry) describes me to a T. He even recognizes that most of us “muddle along, picking up scattershot techniques as we go.” That's me, all right.

He promises that today's column should be “the first installment of...The Big Book of Basic Technology Knowledge – the prerequisite for using electronics today's society.” I hope so.

The fact that my blog title is Muddling Marv in the Modern World is no accident. Although I try my best to turn off my cell phone during a performance, definitely a Pogue no-no, I find most of today's gadgetry either useless for my lifestyle or totally confusing. Sometimes both.

Since I'm retired I don't need to be connected 24/7. I don't have a smart phone so I don't deal with apps. I have a 10-year-old PC which for the most part serves my purposes. But I'm feeling the pressure to get some sort of tablet computer but I don't know which.

I'm still wrestling with the idea of switching from the Netflix mail DVD to some sort of streaming device, but I can't make up my mind. No one has convinced me as yet which might be preferable.

So while I found Pogue's tips for navigating more easily through Gadget World extremely interesting, very few of them apply to me. Is there an opt-out app?

However, I urged him to keep up the good work. I look forward to his column every week.

It keeps me grounded in simplicity.

The Rise of Tablets

It sounds like something out of science fiction and it is shaking the world of PC makers.

H.P. and Dell reported a drop in PC sales and the ubiquitous analysts (those guys who know everything) attribute the decline to “The Rise Of Tablets.” Drum roll, please.

In prehistoric times, when we used dictionaries instead of Google or Wikipedia, a tablet was defined as “a flat, thin piece of stone, wood, metal, etc. shaped for a specific purpose.” In today's world “tablet” means a tablet computer which, according to those same analysts, consumers are buying rather than PCs.

To me, a tablet is something I take every morning to help my digestion. I take other tablets, too, for other healthful reasons. None of my tablets send or receive email.

But I am heeding the call. I may need a new PC sooner rather than later and if I want to be trendy I may have to consider the tablet style. I've been riding a stationary bike at the gym lately and reading a hard cover book while pedaling. Not the most comfortable thing to do.

A tablet style reader might be more appropriate here. I'll think about it.

Meantime, I'll turn that page when I get to it.

I'm Stumped

I'm trying so hard to avoid becoming one of those bloggers who rant and rave about anything that displeases them. It's easy to write angry but it takes a lot of effort to think things through.

What worries me is that people who read the angry blasts tend to believe what they read because “it's on the internet” or in the newspaper. Question the source, I always say.

I refer you, specifically, to Mahmoud Abbas' fairy tale op-ed piece in today's New York Times. Here's a guy who, following in the footsteps of his predecessors as head of the PLO, has rejected every opportunity to negotiate a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

And now he's rewriting history by claiming seven Arab armies attacked Israel because the Israelis expelled their Arab citizens when Israel declared independence. Of course, just the opposite is true.

The Arabs attacked because they hated the idea of an Israeli state, which they still do. And the Arabs living in Israel at the time, including Mr. Abbas and his family, fled into the arms of their “brothers” who have kept them in squalid “refugee camps” ever since.

Not one of the warring countries embraced the Palestinians and welcomed them into their communities. The refugee camps made for better anti-Israel propaganda.

I don't want to be pessimistic but I just can't see a negotiated settlement between Israel and a formative Palestinian state which continues to preach hatred and vows the destruction of Israel.

A Week Without Golf...

is sometimes a welcome break. We've had such a wet Spring that when it was dry all last week, I played golf three times. Usually I'm satisfied with two days of hacking.

I had two more dates lined up for this week but then the rains came and it looks like they'll be here throughout the week. What's a duffer to do?

Well, this morning I went to the gym. But how many times can you do that without getting bored out of your skull. Two more at least. Then there's the library. I love browsing through the newer releases and sometimes I actually take one out to read.

The library is right next door to town hall. So I paid my water bill and taxes. But how many times can you do that? Too many.

Later in the day a good friend called and suggested we go out to dinner. Which we did and had a very nice time. The food was good, too.

I have a blank agenda for tomorrow but not to worry. Something will pop up to engage me physically or mentally. Perhaps both.

I should be so lucky.

Another Small Step

I recently learned that my granddaughter in Israel is now on Skype. So I signed up for it, too. The free version to start. Now we'll see how well it works for keeping in touch and receiving more up to date photos of our infant great-grandson.

I tried Skype once before but no one else I knew was on it at the time, so I let it go. I also recently discarded a microphone I had bought to use with Skype. It went into the recycle bin with all the other plastics on pickup day. Who knew?

So we'll get another one soon. Meanwhile I do have a Logitech camera plugged into my PC and that may help with video calls. As I said, I just installed Skype this evening and need to play around with it more to see what it can do. Or I can do with it.

So as I, a decidedly senior citizen, am slowly trying to learn how to use the internet more effectively, I see that certain parents are now enrolling their 2-year-olds into something called Junior Kumon, a sort of prep school for kindergarten. How crazed is that?

There is absolutely no evidence that this early plunge into education provides any benefit going forward. But peer pressure prevails and the mommies succumb.

Perhaps I can learn more about Skype from a Junior Kumonite. Or Kumonette. Whatever.