Unless you’re a horsey type, you may never have heard of this sport, though it’s now an Olympic event (in most countries it’s hard to get full TV coverage of equestrian events even at the Olympic level). Classic dressage is so quiet and dignified that you don’t realize how hard it is: the horse walks,… Continue reading Dressage
Author: Deirdre Straughan
Exact Change Required
One thing that baffles me about Italy is the inability of retail establishments – or anyone who has to take cash payment – to make change. This in a society where most store purchases are made in cash! Automatic teller machines give out 50,000 and 100,000 lire notes (NB: At current exchange rates, one US… Continue reading Exact Change Required
Unreliable Rewritable Media
I admit it: working in the CD-R industry spoiled me. For the last eight years, I’ve gotten all my recordable media – and recorders – for free. So I didn’t have a personal stake when software bugs or system problems caused me to burn “coasters” which went straight from the recorder into the trash (no, not all… Continue reading Unreliable Rewritable Media
National Self-Esteem
Can a country have an inferiority complex? Certainly the US strongly feels its own superiority, and this is reflected in its media. As pointed out in a Doonesbury cartoon years ago, a lot of American advertising uses the word “America” to sell products that have nothing to do with nationality. Mike Doonesbury asks: “Why are Americans so… Continue reading National Self-Esteem
“Brave” Opinions
I started out thinking that this newsletter would be technical, then realized that I am currently (maybe permanently) burned out on writing about my one great area of technical expertise, CD-R. So the thing took a travel-writing sort of turn, but then the events of and following Sept 11 made that seem trivial. My last edition got… Continue reading “Brave” Opinions