Feeling Like An Idiot
December 28, 2008
As a pretty technical savvy guy, I am feeling like quite an idiot tonight. For the last year or two since we replaced our last HDTV with our current model, we have struggled with an issue on the TV that I have been unable to resolve. But, that’s not where the problem really lies.
This Samsung DLP TV has been a really good TV. I have set up a movie mode that is a series of settings optimized for TV viewing at night. However, whenever I would select this movie mode I had created and calibrated, the setting would revert back to default or dynamic mode after about 30 minutes.
It was really aggravating while watching a movie to have to change the settings back every 30 minutes during the movie. It definitely interrupted the flow of the movie.
I had scoured the manual and settings on the TV looking for a way to rid the TV of this cursed devil, but to no avail. Tonight, while watching Indiana Jone IV, it reached a breaking point. After the movie I vowed to find a solution to this problem. I searched the net once again for other folks with the same problem and came up pretty empty.
I sadly marched back into the room where Suzanne and Sean were watching special features and announced that “I was unsuccessful in finding a solution to the Toshiba TV switching modes automatically”. To which Suzanne calmly responded “That’s nice, but our TV is a Samsung”.
Have you ever had one of those “Oh Sh*t!” moments? Well, that was one of those moments Big Time. I promptly went back to the computer and searched again with the right brand of TV and instantly found thousands of hits with other folks having the same problem.
Turns out there is a Shop Mode on Samsung TVs for display in the showroom of stores. It reverts the TV settings back to default every 30 minutes to account for potential customers messing with the settings. Great for the store, but not great for the consumer. Luckily, armed with info from the net, I was able to get it out of shop mode in about 30 seconds and I am a happy camper now – except for still feeling pretty stupid over the whole internet searching deal.
PowerPoint Info Overload
August 10, 2008
Yesterday was the deadline for the kids to complete their summer reports on Barcelona, Malaga, Madeira, the Canary Islands, St. Maarten and San Juan. Those are all the destinations we’ll be visiting on our upcoming Trans-Atlantic Cruise. Since the kids will be missing two weeks of school for the trip, I required them to complete an extensive research project on the history, culture, and attractions of each destination. They put together the reports in the PowerPoint application, which also required them to learn specialized functions in that program like animation schemes and slide transitions.
Last night, Mr. Papa held a contest to see who put together the best presentation. The kids were judged on quality of research, knowledge of material, presentation skills, and utilization of the effects in the PowerPoint application. Both of the kids clearly demonstrated that they had learned a great deal about the history and culture of the destinations that we will be visiting. Clearly when we visit these interesting destinations they will have greater appreciation for what they are seeing and experiencing. However, they both need to learn to do a presentation without reading directly off the slide. Mr. Papa was so impressed with the presentations, that instead of awarding a single first place prize, he gave them both a cash award to spend on the trip.
After their presentations, it was time to get down to serious business: What are we going to actually do while in Barcelona and in our different cruise ports. We’ll be spending three days in Barcelona prior to the cruise. The city has so much to offer that is hardly enough time to fit in everything. The current weak Dollar against the Euro also presents some budgeting challenges. We also plan to avoid public transportation, which leaves us with some challenging walking distances if we want to try to get in everything that we want to see. Once we begin the cruise, we have to balance our desire to see some of the attractions with our desire not to over spend and also relax. With a family of four, a cruise excursion can cost over $400 for a day of sight seeing.
My job last night was to follow up the kids presentation with prices and schedules. Once everyone saw the prices it was clear to all that we are going to have to pick and choose our attractions and excursions carefully, focusing on our highest priorities and cutting less desirable options.
I still have a collection of travel videos that I’ve found on YouTube for everyone to watch. We also need to view the Celebrity Cruise tour options and see if they have some particularly affordable options that allow us to see some of our top attractions.
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