Sept 29, 2012 The skies finally cleared from the smoke, and I meant to take off earlier today, but I got snared with little problems of the internet kind – lost my email to an MSN snafu. Specifically I did a modest “mass” mailing regarding the Mark Rappaport/Ray Carney mess and the algorithms running Hotmail seem to have decided my address had been hijacked and was being used to spam. So I couldn’t access my email, and wasted the better part of yesterday trying to recover it – MSN makes it very hard to figure out how to communicate directly with them, so it took some dubious detours, including some places that promise help and then try to get in your computer for nefarious reasons. I should have known better since this happened once before. When I finally did get to the MS thing, I filled out a form trying to remember things my mind is not so good at remembering (like old passwords), and I sent in the filled-in form and it came back saying, “OK, you are you, now go to this URL to make a new password.” Except when one did this up came a note that the site is down, try later (how many times?), error 1080. There went the day. And a good part of today, during which I sent, I think, more or less the same info, and they told me this time they weren’t sure I was me. And said “try again.” At which point I rest now, waiting to see what new horrors are required to get my email back. True internet fun. Thanks a lot Microsoft!
The Cloud
And so, ensconced perhaps in Microsoft’s render farm in Quincy Wa., sits my 9 years of backed up emails, some of which I would really like to access. So while idea of “the cloud” seems rather ethereal and other worldly, it is in fact a huge energy sucking mess of computers all humming away, somewhere “out there.” Meaning in some place with “cheap” energy and land to plop these giant Big Box info storage systems. Perhaps it is time to return to the abacus.
Quincy, Washington, with Yahoo, MS, and Dell server farms
So I didn’t get along towards Yellowstone today, as I’d like to sort this out first. Meantime I re-organized my vehicle, shed a mess of stuff, and will be ready to roll in the morning, blessedly with smoke-cleared skies. Batteries are charged, and I’ve tidied up things so my traveling bed will be hopefully a bit more accommodating. I think I have figured out the GoPro cams, and have mounts on the side of the car for tracking shots. And Coming to Terms is all but finished – just awaiting the arrival of Jim Benning’s voice over, which should require another few hours of editing to slip it in, choose the images to go with it, and then render a final file to send along to the Sundance people. Frankly I am skeptical, since it is not at all an audience-pleaser, but I can never fathom the decisions of festivals. It is a dice-roll as far as I can see.
So, saddle ’em up, and tomorrow I’ll make Marshall a good breakfast, and hit the road. Rootin’ tootin’ shootin’!
Plain Songs: Essaying America 