Old Dogs, new tricks

[honda03842]

I've told my children on numerous occasions that the pace of electronics change is faster than a person my age can absorb. For a few days I've been posting a table of trailers and tow vehicle combinations.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post508604

Every time I change the table I re-post the new version. A member contacted me informing me of Google Spreadsheets that automatically updates with each change, a nice little ability.

Never to late to learn though I still feel the electronic/app world is outpacing me. Thanks Perry, another talented FRV member.

[padlin00]

I hear you Norm and Ginny,
I was in high tech for 40 years. What had been one of the best parts of my job, constantly changing, became very uncomfortable, towards the end I really felt I could not keep up. Either the changes were speeding up or my mind is slowing down, it was a very big part of the reasoning behind my retiring.

[honda03842]

Bob,

At least when working you were in the environment of change, in your work and in conversation with colleagues.

Though I no longer consider myself an expert, I do recognize how much electronic technology has made the RV lifestyle easier, this site a prime example.

I recently started writing a short story..."My Car is Smarter than Me" based upon our Honda Odyssey...it's technology is 10 years better than our previous vehicle.

[Ron Merritt]

That is why I like the Apple products so much. The user interface changes very slowly over time, but the tech inside is rapidly changing. I feel like I can keep up if I stick to this brand.

But it really is amazing what you can do now. Internet nearly everywhere, streaming media, thousands of books and music albums in your pocket.

[honda03842]

The operating systems don't seem to jump to much but the availability of new apps, the little nuances that provided increased ability and the amazing gains in computing power that allow simultaneous actions.... outstanding growth.

What I like best is all the items I've been able to leave home since we started traveling 14 years ago, clocks, camera, radio, banking, gps, ebooks and almost the computer.

[Perryb67]

I AM the tech department at our small school. I am responsible for three virtual servers with 14 servers on them, four data backup drives, 30 laptops, 70 Chromebooks, 90 netbooks, 110 workstations, 40 iPads, 2 PowerBooks, and a few Nexus 7's. There are about 25 projectors where there always seems to be a burnt out bulb and, of course, the wireless system. Let's not forget the ITV center, but I'd like to forget about all the testing. Oh yeah, there's all the BYOD's (bring your own device) that students and teachers expect me to know. This past week I gave four hours of Google training in my "spare" time. I also teach four classes a day! Can you say, "Multitask!"

I retire on May 31!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to throw out our personal Windows and Apple devices. I find Apple devices more a PITA than Windows and I came from the Apple world.

I'm a firm believer in the KISS philosophy. I'll have one Chromebook and a Nexus 7. Terry will have her Nook and Samsung Note. Those Android/Google devices are self healing, cheap, and all our data is stored in "The Cloud" on Google Drive and backed up on Dropbox.

Only twelve weeks to go!

Enjoy,

Perry

[Mike Magee]

If the spreadsheet link were inserted in the first post of a thread, the info would always be available there. Neat.

The only thing I'm wondering about is the possibility of losing the spreadsheet if the google account user who maintains the sheet discontinues his google account or something; the sheet would not be resident on the FGRV site. People who link to photos on a hosting site, for example, sometimes move on and their photos are lost (dead links); could the spreadsheet be similarly lost?

[Perryb67]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

If the spreadsheet link were inserted in the first post of a thread, the info would always be available there. Neat.

The only thing I'm wondering about is the possibility of losing the spreadsheet if the google account user who maintains the sheet discontinues his google account or something; the sheet would not be resident on the FGRV site. People who link to photos on a hosting site, for example, sometimes move on and their photos are lost (dead links); could the spreadsheet be similarly lost?

Good points!

Hopefully one of the forum administrators will include the link in the original post.

Norm should allow at least two others to have editing rights. Or, if Norm shared the document in Google Sheets (spreadsheet) format then any of us could make a copy occasionally and have a backup if needed. Plus, the spreadsheet can be sorted, but the master document remains in the original sort order. This is the best option.

I already have a backup of the document in Google Sheets format in my personal Google Drive for my own use (sort by Trailer) that I will manually update occasionally. If it was shared in Google Sheets format I wouldn't need to manually update.

The same could be done for "Trailer Weights in the Real World."

It's not near as complicated as I'm making it sound! Trust me!

Enjoy,

Perry

[honda03842]

Perry and Mike,

I'd be happy to open the file up to others so it can always be maintained. If it can become a sticky and have a few people with editing access that would be great. It looks like we've taken the first step to put it into a easy to use form. As to Trailer Weights, putting it into a different format would make it even more useful.

[Cathi]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

I AM the tech department at our small school. I am responsible for three virtual servers with 14 servers on them, four data backup drives, 30 laptops, 70 Chromebooks, 90 netbooks, 110 workstations, 40 iPads, 2 PowerBooks, and a few Nexus 7's. There are about 25 projectors where there always seems to be a burnt out bulb and, of course, the wireless system. Let's not forget the ITV center, but I'd like to forget about all the testing. Oh yeah, there's all the BYOD's (bring your own device) that students and teachers expect me to know. This past week I gave four hours of Google training in my "spare" time. I also teach four classes a day! Can you say, "Multitask!"

I retire on May 31!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to throw out our personal Windows and Apple devices. I find Apple devices more a PITA than Windows and I came from the Apple world.

I'm a firm believer in the KISS philosophy. I'll have one Chromebook and a Nexus 7. Terry will have her Nook and Samsung Note. Those Android/Google devices are self healing, cheap, and all our data is stored in "The Cloud" on Google Drive and backed up on Dropbox.

Only twelve weeks to go!

Enjoy,

Perry

Perry, Happy Retirement! Bet you will be glad to get away from all of that and able to get on the road more. Your 12 weeks will fly by. And you will still know much very valuable info that the rest of us can use.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

Good points!

Hopefully one of the forum administrators will include the link in the original post.

Norm should allow at least two others to have editing rights. Or, if Norm shared the document in Google Sheets (spreadsheet) format then any of us could make a copy occasionally and have a backup if needed. Plus, the spreadsheet can be sorted, but the master document remains in the original sort order. This is the best option.

I already have a backup of the document in Google Sheets format in my personal Google Drive for my own use (sort by Trailer) that I will manually update occasionally. If it was shared in Google Sheets format I wouldn't need to manually update.

The same could be done for "Trailer Weights in the Real World."

It's not near as complicated as I'm making it sound! Trust me!

Enjoy,

Perry

Backups are always good

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Perry and Mike,

I'd be happy to open the file up to others so it can always be maintained. If it can become a sticky and have a few people with editing access that would be great. It looks like we've taken the first step to put it into a easy to use form. As to Trailer Weights, putting it into a different format would make it even more useful.

Sounds fine to me!

[Perryb67]

Let's do it right. I'll contact a FGRV System Administrator and tell them my plans. During the week I"m just plain busy and sometimes just want to be away from computers. I will have a chance to contact those involved Thursday night and hopefully by Sunday we'll have things in place.

Enjoy,

Perry

[rgrugg]

Congratulations Perry. The best job you ever had is coming up in 12 weeks. I retired from teaching 25 years ago at age 53. Now enjoying the best job I ever had. How can you beat being paid for not working? Of course, if you look at how long it takes and how much money you had to pay into the system to get paid for not working...........

[Dudley]

Perry, I know your pain and welcome to the new life. I worked as a copier tech for 25 years and went from 10 page/minute analog copiers to 15' long 80 page/minute color digital with every darn option know to man. It wasn't the changes in the tech that got me it was the micromanaging and tracking and mistrust that got me. After 25 years I didn't need a monthly print out to tell me how I did that month!

I wish you a very happy retirement!