Private Messages

Does anyone remember the evolution of private messages? When computers first came out, the internet was not something intended for home and personal use. It was for businesses. When we started bringing computers home and using them to communicate with friends and family, the demand for private messages began. I remember when Yahoo introduced their “Yahoo Instant Messenger” as part of their platform. I used it extensively during competitive gaming and forums. I liked the way you could get a response to your question quickly, plus you could find out quickly if someone was even online at the time or not. Come to think of it, I still use the Facebook private messaging system for the same thing.

Keyboards

All these years of computing and I never really gave much thought to keyboards. I would just buy a computer and use whatever keyboard came with it. Most of the keyboards were laid out and intended to mimic a standard typewriter, with an added section  on the right for a number pad laid out like a 10-key calculator.  Then they added a row of function keys, cursor arrows, and now we have all kinds of shortcut buttons for muting sound, going to email and accessing the internet. It is amazing what options are right at our fingertips in today’s digital world.

New From Vince Gill

One of my favorite features of the free internet music service, Spotify, is the way they list a dozen or so brand new albums on their home page. They have a tab called, “What’s New.” I always look at those albums and artists to see what’s happening. Today, I found a new album from Vince Gill, called “Guitar Slinger.”

I just listened to the whole album for free on Spotify. I am no such a huge country music or bluegrass fan, but I have to say that I love this album. The songs are a nice variety of tempos and lyrics. Its not all about losers, cheaters and drunks like so many country songs are these days. I am going to listen to it again and probably download at least two of the songs, “Buttermilk John” and “True Love” which is a duet with his fabulous wife, singer Amy Grant.

Books vs Kindles

Last year the best selling item at Christmas on Amazon was the Kindle. I think that they are really cool, but this is so early in the development of the new electronics. My biggest objection to most of them is that they are mono displays. I want a full color screen and books with color illustrations and photos. So I am waiting a bit – there will be better models coming out.

Smooth Jazz

On the West Coast there are many radio stations that play jazz, smooth jazz and easy listening stations. Even classical stations. I find it really strange that here in Music City, the radio stations are either pop, country or classic rock. We don’t have a blues station, or a jazz station at all. When I feel like some soothing background music, I have to pop in my earbuds and listen to music that I’ve found on my own on the internet. So sad, and a really poor reflection what should be the very best of all music genres here.