Jun 18 2017

Radio silence due to crappy internet connection. Also: Signed up for Readercon.

Rosemary

Well, that was annoying.

I’ve been using an Xfinity hotspot for my internet connection at my office, largely because it was a) there, b) fairly cheap for a monthly pass, c) did not require me to buy an expensive package including TV just in order to get internet, and d) did not require me to sign a multi-year contract.

But alas, I’ve been having all sorts of trouble with it lately, with the connection being slow, dropping out more or lest constantly, and the signal strength being apparently miniscule at best.

Sparing you the blow-by-blow, after much back-and-forth and experimentation,  I’ve discovered that there’s nothing wrong with the hotspot at all — the problem is all in my desktop.  And my laptop has no problem with the connectons.

And interestingly, my crappy little laptop is actually exactly as powerful as my bottom-of-the-line desktop.  So….. obvious solution, wouldn’t you say?

Speed test. Little guy wins.

I spent far too much time dealing with this!  I have things to do !

Like signing up for panels at Readercon.   The convention takes place July 13 through 16 at the Quincy Marriot, in Quincy Massachusetts (just south of Boston).   If you’ve never been, you should consider coming — and the Thursday panels and events are actually all free.   You can test the waters before laying down any actual cash money.

Anyway: I made my selections for panels that I want to be on; let’s see if I get them.   When I know my final schedule, I’ll post it here.

In other news: A quick trip to visit pals in New Hampshire last weekend included a vist to Canobie Park, which I found utterly charming and fascinatingly retro.

As well as a collection of odd rides, the park has a musical stage.  While we were there, some rather mediocre big-band music was featured –  but when I wandered to the back of the hall, I discovered an absolute trove of musical history, with posters of shows from the Jazz Era all the way through rock and roll, to the present.

With life-size statues of some of the acts who played there.

Jerry Lee Lewis at the actual piano that the actual Jerry Lee actually played when he was at Canobie Park.

 

If, like me, you are one million years old, you know who these two are.

Ack.  Must go and catch up on all the stuff that I was unable to do because of messing around with computers instead of on computers.