Science? Chromebook! Nowhere?

No, the #ScienceMarch is not the reason RantWoman opted not to observe #EarthDay out east of the Cascades with opportunities for trees and hikes and maybe more sun than Seattle. Given many kinds of abuses perpetrated in the name of science, given that no more of a platform than “the current administration is a menace” has made it into Rantwoman’s consciousness, RantWoman was already not feeling highly motivated to participate.

 

Then RantWoman read the statements linked in this article:

 

https://southseattleemerald.com/2017/04/24/those-the-march-for-science-ignored/

 

RantWoman definitely is not sorry to miss the march.

 

 Aside from occasional conversations about particle physics, a long ago grammar and editing exercise related to the phrase “There is no such thing as a naked singularity,” RantWoman herself spends a lot of what might be #sciencemarch energy on the topic of “transportation models created without taking into account pedestrian traffic and pedestrian realities” are lousy science. Out of the box, perhaps! Mix in assorted mapping enthusiasms, support for AccessMap and the great work being done on how pedestrian routing really just involves maps that are clearly different from the routes used by cars, or, horrors, bicyclists. None of this ultimately is the reason RantWoman went nowhere out of town last weekend. Blame Chromebook?

 

 

Warning 1: For comparison with Chromebook, it took RantWoman 3 weeks to master dialing when she got a Smartphone. By master means reliably being able to make and answer calls, store, edit, and search contacts. So the fact that RantWoman is only now trying to edit a second email just gets noted.

 

RantWoman would like to:

 

--Figure out what is needed to work offline so she can take Chromebook along to destinations where the interwebs have only slightly penetrated.

 

--Reliably make Chromebook read things, move around to different sections of the screen…

RantWoman is making progress, slowly.  Among other things RantWoman’s slow progress makes her think it would be important for a schoolkid trying to learn Chromebook and Chromevox to have daily practice and feedback from a knowledgable adult. On the other hand RantWoman is sometimes a terrible teacher in the model of “I figured it out so I am sure you can /are supposed to too.”

 

--Know how to read Kindle content. RantWoman thinks she has the right extension, but…

 

--Know how to read BARD content: nope, not even tried to get the app. Wait! Considering that RantWoman’s talking book player is broken, in need of a trip for replacement, considering that RantWoman specifically bought Chromebook with USB ports, RantWoman really could bump making progress about this up on her to-do list

 

--Tweet: RantWoman thinks she has the right extension. RantWoman’s navigation skills are not yet such that RantWoman wants to add Chromebook mistakes to her Twitter presence. Sigh.

 

RantWoman started this post on Chromebook late in the evening. RantWoman and Chromebook have had a couple more encounters but RantWoman has opted to edit further in Windows.

 

No RantWoman will NOT digress further about keyboard issues. RantWoman IS still learning keyboard shortcuts. RantWoman also wants tactile cues on the 5^th and 9^th keys across the top. Saying more would mean absorbing the keyboard shortcuts and RantWoman’s psyche is too into jumping around for that just now.

 

Warning 2: Yes, the timelines and technical milestones jump all over the place.  Yes, RantWoman recognizes that her stumbling around would in no way be reasonable for teaching someone else. Cope.

 

 

The Actual Going Nowhere Tale

It was recently time for RantWoman to consider one of her semiannual trips east of the mountains, to the fringes of WA’s cellular and electric car charging networks. IN retrospect, the destination does have electricity so cars could be plugged in. This makes RantWoman wonder what was the problem needing a stop for a gasoline powered substitute on a previous trip, but never mind.

 

Advance publicity for this round indicates that a field where people sometimes camp is snowier and wetter than sometimes. This might mean more people vying for bottom bunks or floor space in the indoor sleeping options. RantWoman strives for good humor about “wake up and see who you are sleeping with.” RantWoman strives for good humor. Usually sunshine, fresh air, and great trees help. Usually.

 

This time, RantWoman has no responsibilities, a refrigerator full of long-neglected science projects to wrangle, and a stack of other to-do’s. RantWoman COULD still change her mind and connect with a ride, but travel is looking unlikely

 

The bigger problem is Chromebook, now set to a voice that is lower in pitch and faster than the default. Faster than the default may not be such a good idea. Who said RantWoman is all about good ideas?

 

RantWoman finds the voice amusing. If this were a human voice, RantWoman would be glad of the local custom in many places of requesting people specify their pronoun gender preference during event introductions. RantWoman is a frequently misgenderd she / her person who favors the singular they when the intent is not to assume anything about gender.  The foregoing undoubtedly would fry RantDad’s  English teacher soul. Enough said?

 

Chromebook came out to play the other day, at a restaurant, for one of RantWoman's actual go-to blind users, a neighbor whom RantWoman had not seen in awhile until the meeting far from home. Chrome biij made a good impression even though RantWoman had no clue how to work offline, Goto Resource’s ride arrived before RantWoman got to walk through tethering to one's phone as a wifi hotspot; RantWoman thinks  Goto Resource can probably figure it out too.

 

For RantWoman's trouble she got advised that smartphone is obsolete. RantWoman sort of knows this based on its refusal to update its operating system any further.

 

At the moment, aside from the wishlist above, RantWoman would like, without relying on the screeen, to

 

check battery charge

 

Power off

 

FIgure out what is needed to work offline.

 

But today RantWoman's first achievement was to find the tutorial she found the other day.

 

Interrupt for a QA moment: RantWoman found the tutorial again and started to play the video. RantWoman was tabbing around and found the control butttons. THen RantWoman wanted to share the video with one of her Blogger blogs. Again, RantWoman was tabbing around. Some of the time Chromevox will read the various destinations Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Sometimes it will not. Is RantWoman going to be public-spirited enough to report the problem in some channel more direct than her blog? Stay tuned.

 

RantWoman also needs to be able to pause the video, experiment a time or two, and then resume the video. RantWoman sort of got there. Now repeat it but not yet.

 

Remember the following shortcuts

Adjusted speech rate. 40 %  So interesting what works with different voices and volumes.  chromevox [

 

Now need to adjust pitch Chromwcos ] 44 % now one of those ambiguously gendered voices that makes one glad for the custom populat locally of asking people's pronoun gender preferences during introductions. Welcome to Seattle.

 

Enough for now; on to next adventures.