Death of an Icon

For someone rooted in the last half of the 20th century it seems somewhat inconceivable to me that Kodak is on its deathbed. Over the last 50 years it was a part of my personal and at times my professional life. Somehow the company didn't get that the magic it introduced into our lives during the 20th century would be inexorably replaced by the digital wizardry that unfolded in the 21st.

As a kid it was a milestone when you were allowed to take pictures. When I was given permission to get a roll of B&W film for my mom's old Brownie camera and take some shots I was on top of the world that afternoon. Friends were eager to mug for the camera, pets were coerced into poses, and before I knew it my 8 shots were done. And even the parental critique of my work ("Why did you take a picture of the sidewalk?") failed to dim the desire to get that next roll of film with my allowance. I was hooked on this new hobby.

Soon I graduated to one of Kodak's best innovations, the Instamatic camera with the revolutionary flash cube that could let you take four indoor shots in quick succession. That camera really epitomizes the genius of the company and its ability to remove the obstacles to anyone creating their own 'Kodak moments'. The film cartridge was idiot proof - it would only fit in the camera one way, and there were no worries as to whether you had engaged the film leader. Its fixed focus lens worked well, almost always giving you a picture in focus. The film advanced in such a way that you could not take a double exposure. The camera was a staple of prom night, Ocean City vacations, Christmas, and any other family occasion.

I got my first 'real' camera, a used Minolta 35mm, for Christmas of 1967. That was the same year that I got my first 'real' telescope. The synergy of the two things ignited my desire to master film and soon ASA ratings, Wratten filters, f/ stops, and more entered my vocabulary. The small closet in the basement became a dark room where I'd work for hours to tease out the best details from my shots of the Moon, Jupiter, and star fields. A trip to the camera store ignited an excitement in the soul as I'd contemplate what roll of film or what developer to use for my next round of celestial photography. And through all my endeavors Kodak was my trusted partner.

When I joined CareFirst's Document Management team I found Kodak was there as my partner as well, this time as the maker of high speed scanners that captured insurance claims for our workflow. The magic was still alive, creating a machine that could turn out in a split second a legible image of an insurance form which we could then electronically forward to the keyers. Even more importantly they were there as our workflow application vendor as Eastman. They gave us the tools to allow us to apply virtual post-it notes to a claim and forward it to someone for review.

I guess in the end Kodak did not understand just how much the dawn of the digital age was causing the earth to shift beneath their feet. The company clearly had competency in digital imaging but must not have had the conviction that it was where the future lie. They certainly also had the ability be an innovator in content management, but others took the lead away from them. In the end they instead become the most recent poster child for what happens to you when you cannot adapt to change.

Cold Stone Stupid

So I get a call last evening from my son, "Dad, you have to check out this photo that I just sent you - it's classic." The photo was indeed a classic snapshot of our continued descent into illiteracy. There was a time when we expected a certain amount proofreading to be exercised before something went public, whether it be a newspaper article or a store sign. It reflected poorly on you if you made gross errors in spelling or grammar. No longer true - today there's no shame in being careless about the English language, nor any effort to correct one's mistakes.

No, it's not that I secretly long to be an English teacher. I grew up in a time when students suffered through learning the difference between affect and effect, imply vs. infer, and understanding why it should have been Winston tastes good as a cigarette should. The purpose was to help keep us from embarrassing ourselves as we started our careers following graduation. What's happened?

I guess part of it is Bill Gates' fault. We expect Word to find all our spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. The sign does make a sentence without spelling errors and conveys meaning (i.e., we do not reject $50 or $100 bills - the opposite of the author's intent). So Word blesses it and away we go to the Signs Tomorrow shop. There's no proofreading skill by the writer to see if the statement really conveys what they are trying to say.

I think we also have to take some of the blame for not responding when we see the language being openly mugged. I'll bet that in today's PC world that very few - if any - customers have bothered to point out to the shop owner that the sign is fodder for Jay Leno.

As we continue down this path I guess this is what our future looks like for communication...

You Think We're What?

The History channel has been airing a multi-installment special "America -The Story Of Us" this week, and I happened to catch last evening's episode "Westward". I was anticipating a piece about how the west was settled, the challenges that were faced and overcome. I would not expect a sanitized Wagon Train story, and boy did I not get it.

We got to meet the Donner Party, a cursed group of people heading west who are caught in a savage snowstorm and marooned in the mountains for 5 months. Husband ends up eating wife's dead body to survive - you know, classic Americana. We revisit the Trail of Tears where Andrew Jackson and Congress ordered the Indian nations onto reservations out west, one of our darker moments. We get a recap of slavery, complete with scenes of children being torn from their moms, since its spread into the west was a contentious issue as the frontier opened up. We visit the factories up North where women work in textile factories for $2 a week to support their families since dad's a drunk or invalid (with a cameo commentary by that great historian Martha Stewart). We overan Mexican territory and forcibly took it from them, we built the Erie canal with drunk Irishmen who blew themselves up since there was no OSHA around, and - well, you get the picture by now - a film Michael Moore would just adore.

While I'm all for an awareness of our low points since such examinations allow us to become a better society, I somehow have to believe that characterizing America's real history as that of a bunch of druken, slave-owning, racist, misogynist cannibals misses that balance one needs to have an effective, accurate story about us.

Ambiguious Signs

So I'm heading back from a wonderful evening of observing at Tuckahoe State Park, traveling along 404 to the Bay Bridge. I get within reading distance of the box truck in front of me and I'm given the following warning: Caution! Show Flowers.

So what exactly does one do with this piece of information? Is this admonishment issued so that I will keep additional distance between me and the showy flowers? Are the flowers at risk of dropping their splendid petals if they sense that I'm getting too close?

Or perhaps we are talking about show as in Little Shop of Horrors show, and this is more of a disclaimer. Don't even think about trying to steal anything in this truck because you'll be lunch for our man-eating flowers.

This is somewhat like the "Caution - Show Dogs" or even the "Baby on Board!" stickers that you'll see on the back of a car. I've always kinda put those into the "My Child's an Honor Student" classification - the driver wants you to know about their special cargo of which they are very fond. If the intent of these rear end communications is a plea not to run into their vehicle then I have to wonder about the owner's grasp on reality.

Here's a suggestion to the box truck - put your logo and/or contact information on the back - that way you get some advertising out of the effort instead of puzzled looks.

Across the Finish Line

Well it was a long haul but my wife finally did it - she passed her ANCC exam this morning to become an 'advanced practice registered nurse in adult psychiatric and mental health'! You have to admire someone who returns to school and gets their BSN and MSN to achieve the goal of opening their own practice - especially when you commit to that journey in your fifty's. I know that her ability to provide effective treatment honed from experience, training, and natural talent will make her a success. If you want to know more drop by the website to learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and her office in Towson that will be open for business very soon!

Actually I Do Care If I Ever Get Back

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back!

Last evening David took me to the Oriole's game against the Indians as my Father's Day gift. It was a great idea and I was looking forward to it since we don't go to many games (partly the cost of a game nowadays, partly the fact that they're 20+ games out). We decided that it made sense to use the Lutherville Park & Ride for the light rail to get us down and back.

As we approached the ticket kiosk David asked if I had anything smaller than a $20 - not from a desire to escape paying for the fare but more out of the desire not to be toting around 14 Sagawagea coins as change dispensed from the machine. He needn't have worried - I fed the machine a $5 bill and we got back $1.80 in nickles and dimes. I guess this is a prelude to slots coming to Maryland - get you accustomed to hear the clink! clink! clunk! sounds of coins hitting the tray.

When he originally said he'd come by to get me at 5:15 for a 7 p.m. game I thought "this is his mother's doing - allowing 3x as much time as needed to get someplace." Ahh, but I was wrong. We boarded the first southbound train only to be unceremoniously ejected at North Avenue (that was the end of the line for that train), where we waited another 30 minutes for another train to take us the remaining way to Camden Yards. But no harm, no foul - we were in our seats at 6:58 p.m.

The game was fun, even though the O's lost to the Indians and we had to suffer through ~90 minute rain delay. Like getting a bushell of steamed crabs there is something quintessential about taking in a ball game with friends or loved ones - the way that it's as much about the social aspects than the supposed objective of eating crabs or riveting on a game. We opted to leave at the top of the 9^th and headed back to the light rail platform.

Once there we waited...and waited. Watched two trains pull up heading southbound, while we continued to peer down the track for the headlights of a northbound train. One inebriated gentleman proclaimed with certainty that there were no more northbound trains for the evening. But I figured that was improbable given that it was now after midnight, the game had ended, and we now had amassed about 70 people at the stop. Finally a train arrives - ominously displaying "North Avenue" as its destination. Assuming safety in numbers we figured we'd board it anyway, anticipating another wait for yet another train.

Sure enough, at North Avenue the driver tells everyone to get off. At this point Dave is having a severe case of deja vu since last Christmas he was stranded at this same stop at 2 a.m. in a business suit following their office party - despite assurances that the trains would be running. I run to the front of the train to ask the driver what the prospects of getting to the Lutherville Park & Ride are. You'd think he'd know the train schedule, or be able to call in to get, or in some way help resolve the fact that we have close to 100 people abandoned here. But you'd be wrong. You came here with your 5 year old grandson to catch a game? That's your problem grandpa - I'm off duty.

At this point a couple of officers appear on the scene - not sure whether it was in response to a distraught parent calling for assistance or just serendipidy. I guess they knew whom to call to deal with this as they soon announced that yes indeed, they had been able to summon a train to take us nothward - it just might take a while. Well dear reader, to cut to the chase on this odyssey, I finally arrived back home at 1:30 a.m., some two hours after leaving our stadium seats to begin the trek back home.

And just imagine - national health care being handled by the same sort of folks who provided this experience.

Learning LINQ

Well last evening was the season opener of CMAP's "Hands On" group, a session designed to take an interesting IT Development topic and explore it as a group. Christopher Steen is heading up the effort and had located some exercises designed to acquaint us with LINQ, and we had a pretty good turnout down at TEK Systems by BWI airport.

LINQ, which stands for Language Integrated Query, is one of those technologies that at first you may tend to place on the "down the road" list since it requires the .NET 3.5 framework and (I believe) C# 3.0 at a minimum. And for a lot of developers we are just now getting that platform go ahead from our workplaces. However, after last evening's review I am definitely looking to take this off of my roundtuit list and adding it to the ASAP list! A big plus is the ease with which it allows you to work with your objects, lists, and XML documents in addition to database objects. It allows you to retrieve the data in many ways, readily applying filters and sorting. It simply is one of those technologies that comes along and you get a nerd high because it's so cool!

And if that were not enough there is also a great (free!) tool to help demonstrate LINQ examples. LINQPad by Joseph Albahari is a compact utility that allows you to explore (and execute) sample LINQ syntax against his sample database or one of your own choosing. And what better way to learn a new language syntax than by examples?

If the next Hands On meeting is anything like this it's not going to be long before it'll be SRO at these gatherings!