WUGO | Greg Macek

Opinion

This is where you’ll find most of my posts on WUGO. These opinions are my own. Because I wrote them.

  • When the Clouds Break

    yay cloud Oh the almighty “Cloud”. How we love you and your convenient ways! You are there for us everywhere we go ready to serve us whatever we want, from social media updates to funny YouTube clips, filtered Instagram photos, and even useful stuff like email. You know what the best part about you is, Cloud? You offer so much of it for free. That makes us happy!

    Yet you anger us so when you decide to take away things we loved so dearly, like Google Reader, perhaps the most well known and best RSS reader. What made it worse is you didn’t ask us first if we were done using it. How dare you. I deserve free stuff for as long as I deem it something worthwhile to me.

    We’ve come to expect that whatever we currently use in the cloud will be there forever whenever we need it. The responsibility shift in computing and data storage is gradually moving from self to others. We don’t want to maintain or manage anything. Let someone else do the dirty work and figure out how to not lose my music, photos, documents, and email. Why should I have to keep track of all that? I’m clearly too important and busy to figure it out.

    This trending mentality sheds light on a couple things. 1) We don’t like to take responsibility for much as people and prefer someone else be in charge of keeping those servers that hold bytes that define much of who we think we are. 2) We demand a lot on stuff that we don’t pay for.

    In light of recent severe weather in the Chicago area, I was reminded that I need to create & maintain a better backup solution for my personal files. Thankfully I didn’t lose any data (or other valuable items) in my minor basement flooding. However, this has reignited my search for a solution including looking into external drives I store in the house along with cloud based options. And at the same time, I need to have a backup solution in place for all that important that’s only stored online.

    As I figure out my plans for saving everything in triplicate, I’ll share those details here.

  • Cloud Roots

    I’ve had something stuck in my head for a little while now that I’ve had a difficult time finding words to properly explain. Even this blog post’s title went through a number of revisions before landing where it did. All of this circles around expectations and shifts in perception.

    It is no secret we are in a significant shift culturally where users demand mobility and access everywhere. We want everything to be compatible with our smartphones or tablets because we’re all on the go. I personally benefit greatly from the technology available to me and I do feel like I can do more from wherever I’m at, whether that means phone calls, text messages, accessing Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, or any other number of “cloud” based services. But all this wireless access and freedom requires things few of us think about:

    Wires. Lots of fiber and T-1 lines. Cell towers. Huge data centers. 

    What do they all have in common? You guessed it, these things not very mobile. Yet they exist because we demand to be. Our very ability to be free to do what we want where we want is grounded, quite literally, in hardware that is a bit more of a permanent structure. Cell towers loom over our urban landscape so our phones can send and receive our critical tweets and Facebook status updates. Data centers house (probably way too much of) our personal info, with servers running around the clock just waiting for us to make them show us pictures of our friends or cats, or perhaps even something important like work email.

    Without all this, we’re unable to have that freedom we so badly desire.

    Part of what I’ve always found ironic about people is that we all need stability in our lives. Whether that manifests itself in faith, a community of friends, family, following a daily routine, or a long term job, it’s nearly impossible to exist for long periods of time without it. I don’t think our psyche can’t handle that much change without a pillar to go back to. We all crave a constant in some form.

    As we continue to become a more mobile society that has a difficult time settling down, perhaps more so in the realms of ideals and what we choose to define us, it’s important to recognize there is a much bigger hidden cost being our mobility and freedom. One, that from a technology perspective, we all rely on an incredibly huge backend infrastructure that, like a fence around a backyard, allows us to play to our heart’s content. And two, our own personal freedoms and exploration come out of the strength based on a strong base of support and consistency in our lives.

     

     

     

  • Is Talking on the Phone Really That Bad?

    As I broke from some blog cleanup and preparation for an article or two, I came across a Google+ post and discussion thread about phone calls. If you read these two threads, you’ll discover a sentiment that they may in fact be the worst thing mankind has ever had to deal with. Read the threads for yourselves:

     

    John's Phone - white

     

    (I want this phone. Image “borrowed” of johnsphones.com)

    It got me wondering: is talking on the phone really that bad? And if so, why?

    (more…)

  • Sabbatical flashback: Space to ponder

    One of my favorite things about sabbatical life was the unmatched amount of free time I had. Schedules didn’t exist except when I needed to travel between cities. I spent a lot of time hanging out in the parks of Prague and wandering around streets like those above. It gave me such an incredible amount of time to just… be. A few of you read results of that time to think on the blog a year ago. The rest of my thoughts made their way into a written journal I kept throughout the trip, the contents which I still read over to this day.

    I also found myself noticing everything around me from old architecture to how people interacted with each other in parks or restaurants to chalk sidewalk artwork (seen below). My lack of understanding the Czech language basically allowed me to watch everything around me without distraction of unavoidable eavesdropping. It was fun to watch life happen around me, at least for a while.

    I also thought I went over there waiting for the epic grand adventure one may assume you have when you travel overseas. I think the fact that I’m still processing ideas from a year ago and thinking about what I saw and how a month of travel alone opened up my eyes to who I am is part of that adventure. There’s still more to go… but that’s for another post.

  • Conversation and Scotch

     

    This weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying a variety of single malt Scotch from my collection, as seen on the left, with a friend after a long work week. You know it’s a good night when the Chivas 12 year blended Scotch is the one with the “most bite” of everything you’ve had. Standards were set high when you start with Royal Lachnagar Select Reserve.

    As my friend and I went from one Scotch to the next discussing nuances and characteristics of each bottle’s contents, our conversation flowed from the drinks before us to fun stories with our coworkers to more serious topics and things about ourselves we rarely have a chance to discuss in the midst of a work week at the office. But there was one thing we both agreed upon in the midst of our conversation: a lot of people today don’t do conversation right.

    I’ve touched upon this topic a few times in the past in various posts. In fact, I’m realizing the topics of relationship and interpersonal communication are a growing trend on this blog. The fact of the matter is still true and others are finding the same thing. Having an honest to goodness conversation where the other person actually hears what you’re saying and responds to it in a manner where you know they understood you is slowly becoming a lost skill. Instead, we have our response ready for when the other person stops talking and too frequently it’s not a response to what you just heard.

    There’s always something about a good drink, especially a nice single malt Scotch, that can fuel a good time and good conversation. I look forward to more of both in the near future.

    Pictured (Top: Lagavulin 16 year, Royal Lachnagar Select Reserve;Middle: Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams 2011, Glenfiddich 15 year; Bottom: Oban 14 year, MacAllan 18 year, Chivas Regal 12 year)

  • Negative Space

    I find myself with what we’ll call enough spare time between face to face social interactions. That time is certainly giving me a lot of time to think (perhaps too much) and occasionally do chores. In the midst of this, the term “negative space” kept popping up in my thoughts. As defined by Wikipedia, it’s “… the space around and between the subject(s) of an image”.

    While this is mainly used in the context of art, it’s still fitting for me. However, the subject of an image are life events, interactions, moments. The in-between, the downtime, the solitude is my negative space. It’s where I am able to process whatever it was I just experienced and took in. It lets me focus on those specific points and understand as much as I can about them. Too much “stuff” and it gets harder to appreciate everything I have around me. Like many art galleries, each piece needs its room to stand alone and be appreciated for what it is without being imposed on by its surrounding works.

    Yet all that space in between is anything but empty. The Japanese term “Ma” also fits in that its an “…experiential place understood with emphasis on interval”. It gives proper weight to the space between and how it shapes those intervals and moments. Reminds me of an early blog post that referenced Imogen Heap’s song “Wait it Out” that says “But what of the wretched hollow, the endless in between?Are we just going to wait it out?” Perhaps it isn’t about waiting it out, but about leaving time to be formed and changed.

    It’s a continuous challenge to not overbook myself and to also not take the negative space between moments for granted. They have their purpose, too. Let’s just hope that it is being put to good use.

     

     

  • What’s Your Ideal Space to Work In?

    I was rereading the chapter “When Collaboration Kills Creativity” in Quiet by Susan Cain and I wondered what readers thought their preferred work environment is. The chapter focuses on ideas like brainstorming sessions and open concept offices (don’t get me started on open concept and entertaining again) and their impact on our productivity. The fact is private space to work is beneficial to just about everybody, introverts and extroverts alike, regardless of our occupations.

    Lately, I’ve been finding enjoyment to get out of the house and find a new space to read, write, etc. I oftentimes still plug in my headphones and isolate myself from the audible distractions around me, but the separation from home is quite helpful in clearing my head lately. I don’t have dishes calling my name from the kitchen or a comfy couch begging me to lay down to take a nap on. But perhaps most importantly, no TV or movies to suck away my time.

    Even though I have had my own office at work for some years, for which I am grateful, there is still something about that time at the end of the day when just about everyone else has gone home and I’m finally able to spend time focusing on my tasks I’m truly productive. While I truly enjoy interacting with my coworkers, that space where I know I won’t be bothered is incredibly freeing. It’s that similar setting a coffee shop somehow provides for me by being away from home. I noticed this as well when I traveled on sabbatical last fall. Knowing you’re in a space that you won’t be intentionally interrupted gives the mind room to dive into subject matter it normally cannot properly give attention to.

    Where do you go to be your most productive? Where do you do your best thinking? Share in the comments below!

  • Look at the Pretty Pictures!

    GOTCHA!

    This post will not be filled with pictures, pretty, cute, or otherwise. Instead, I will be throwing words at your eyes.

    Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a growing trend that pictures are the way to go when you want to share just about anything online. From weekend party updates to jokes to that inspirational quote by the Dali Lama in a picture next to a picture of the Dali Lama (did that quote really become more powerful because it’s in JPEG format?), it’s quickly becoming the de facto method of information sharing on social networks. However, the trend cannot be overlooked by the fact that entire social networks like Instagram and Pinterest have been built around photo sharing. Sites and mobile applications are putting increasing focus and efforts into viewing beautiful photos. Everything we do must be photographed and shared with all the world. Right?

    Words are a distant second place to our eyes and minds. But why?

    Perhaps it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Yet for every image we share, I highly doubt it’s replacing 1000 words we would’ve written out instead. So why the enhanced focus on photo sharing in culture? Are words losing their power? Do photos better convey our message?  I’ve wondered if we’ve become too “busy” to mentally process sentences and ideas. A better way to say it is we’re becoming lazy. I fear we’re becoming dumber combined with laziness when it comes to how we process information. Are we unwilling to put in the time to understand the written word, especially when it’s longer than a few paragraphs? Will we (continue to) lose our ability to think critically if all we ever present ourselves with are images and short phrases overlayed on said images? Not all ideas can be expressed in short sentences and photos.

    I will confess part of my questioning and challenge of the Pretty Picture/Shiny Things Syndrome comes out of a time when the Internet was about sharing information in a textual format and when bandwidth was scarce and something to be used cautiously lest you sit and wait minutes or hours for your content to download (and you liked it!) I was raised to take in information in word format. Pictures and graphs were exciting things you found in your copy of Microsoft Encarta when you wrote high school papers.

    It is no secret the proliferation of higher speed Internet everywhere we go makes photo sharing more enticing that quick text status updates. It has also given us the ability to share images of whatever we’re eating whenever we want (guilty!) But do they tell a better story, particularly in the long term? Moreover, will the original message still be there years later? Maybe this is a small part of why I got back into more book reading in the past year and a half.

    Admittedly, I struggled with this whole topic and whether or not there’s any reason to argue against it. My enjoyment of humorous pics will not lessen anytime soon, nor will I likely slow down my own photo sharing. Sometimes words truly can’t capture the essence of nachos all over your car at 3AM on a Saturday night. However, trying to share your opinion through some political or inspirational image with a quote on it will not be telling me much about your own thoughts unless you provide it in your own words.