Notebook: DIY Perfect Binding, line numbers and page numbers

Sample pages with floating Table of Contents that also works as a book mark.

Notebooks. I write a lot. Keeps me off the streets, writing is one of the most noble excuses for not doing housework.

I usually write either on the computer or in a standard composition book. What I've found is that blank page composition books are either expensive or unobtainable. When you spend more than $1 for a notebook, you're paying for not having to write on thick annoying blue lines.

I like the grids, college ruled... but if you're like me you've noticed that most notebooks seem to have really fat dark blue lines....
I've also begun numbering the pages, 1-100 from the front, (right side facing pages only); then I flip the notebook over and number them 101-200 on the remaining pages. It's like having two notebooks, with two covers.  Writing will be right side up on the right, and upside down on the left. If I add an additional note on the facing page, it doesn't interfere when I'm  coming back through.
I don't like spiral notebooks. I've got a Moleskin, cost me nearly $20--I'm afraid to use it.

Being a Maker and a problem solver I wondered if 1. I could figure out how to make my own notebooks, 2. Number the pages using software, 3. make my own ideal line spacing.

I'm quite satisfied with my results. A4 (letter sized) paper, so it's standard, perfect binding using heat patch material for clothes and hot glue stick (which is probably the most valuable contribution of this particular project). The line spacing is still up in the air, open to change. Page and line numbering system I made are, I think wicked cool.

I would like to share this, add it to the blog, but it would be a 100 or 200 page PDF. Readers might not like my line spacing, or they might want and 80 (160) page notebook....

Here goes. I created a simple database in FileMaker Pro for the page numbering.
There are 100 records number 1-100--in the upper right corner.
Each record is the size of two pages. At the bottom of the second page is 101-200 in the lower left corner--upside down---so print "Two Sided" makes the first page, #1 on the face and #200 on the back.
Two Fields:
Number, (type 'number'): Auto Enter Serial number
Backside Number (type: 'calculation'):  = 201–Numbers
That's all it takes. Probably can do this in Open Office.

Here's a sample page from a screen capture of the Illustrator file:
Page number is Helvetica Neue Light 18 point,
lines are .5 pt, gray (40% black) .2131" (5.4 mm)  apart
I would prefer a faint blue line, but my cleanest printer is a Brother Black only.
The smaller line is .09 high. I use this to space lines. (A reasonable criticism is that this second line is unnecessary. A regularly rule page should work just as well. And I should work on my penmanship....)
Squint and look at the line numbers. I've numbered every 5th line Optima 8 pt.
Why it's different from the page number....No good reason. They're almost completely invisible unless you're looking for them.

Before I discuss binding, I'll explain my logic. Page numbers. When I used composition books, I used to just number each page, it took a few minutes and invariably I'd skip a page or some distraction would throw off my count.... Not a big deal.
What I then would do is to flip through a full notebook and make a quick Table of Contents. In about 150 pages of writing I'd usually come up with a maximum of 20-30 topics, that I thought I might want to find at a later date.
Giving a topic a notebook name (usually a date), a page number (or range) and line numbers, within 5 line numbers is not a big deal considering I probably have 30 notebooks from the past 8 years.
I find I'll write either on my word processor journal, personal or school (work) or in a hand written notebook. Being able to organize the information and entries, can be useful. (I also see how many times I've spent an hour complaining about minor annoyances like USB cables.... which helps me skip the subject the next time Apple comes out with a new one....).
 I've also made a FileMaker Pro database for my notebooks, it lists a title, again usually the date range, description (blue, red....) and a few key topics.
I'm fiddling around with writing stories, bits and pieces are scattered all over the place. This database keeps characters, events, writing fragments all sorted.

OK: Binding.
I've watched at least two dozen how to make your own notebook YouTube videos and DIY Makers pages. They're all neat, thank you.
There are two basic binding methods I considered, stitching--which is a traditional method, and Perfect Binding, which is really quite simple-you basically clamp all the pages together, roughen the spine edges of the paper with sandpaper and then smear it with glue.
I chose Perfect Binding, because I could simply use the A4 (letter sized) 8.5 x 11" laser printer paper I buy 10 reams at a time from Costco. It's not the best paper for writing on with a fountain pen, but it doesn't yellow, and works good enough. If I stitched then the edges of the pages would be uneven and need trimming--too much work (and paper cuts).
I made a simple clamp with two pieces of 1.5 x 1.5" wood. Hot glue spreads and sticks to the wood, so what I've figured out is to add a slip of paper on each side of the stack of pages. This then becomes part of the finished notebook.
Roughing up the edges is very important. I half made one without this step and it started coming apart. Use very rough sand paper. I've scored it with a utility knife, and even dragged a rasp (about grit 5 if it was sand paper) to roughen up the spine edge of the clamped notebook.
Next I dribble hot glue back and forth across the pages and spread it out a bit with a wide tongue depressor. At this point,  you are done. The pages will hold together quite well.
The next step I usually do is to take a manilla file folder; score and fold it at the size of the notebook. Using a clothes iron, Wool setting, I iron on a layer of Heat-N-Bond. You could skip the Heat-N-Bond. This flattens out the hot glue layer. Heat-N-Bond has a backing sheet that you now peel off.
Take your notebook out of the clamp, trim up the two folded slips that protected the clamp (but leave them). Put the notebook into the manilla file folder, back into the clamp and apply the heated iron to the outside of the folder. This makes an OK, but not great cover.  (My goal is to find a nice leather cover with pockets I can slip the manilla covers into.... )

I've used this for log books that had been kept in 3-ring binders. It makes them more compact and more archival (plastic, and especially vinyl office supplies turn to sticky goo after a few years).
I'll attach some more photos.
e-mail me if you'd like a pdf of my parts. There will be essentially two files, the front and back pages and the page numbers. You might want numbered blank pages, or a different line spacing.

An open question is could these notebooks be used as a Patent Notebook or official Science Notebook? Maybe. I don't think there's any magic to sewn patent notebooks that sell for $25. Anyone with an extra blank notebook, could with some effort, and motivation (a billion dollars?) take apart and modify one of these. A homemade perfect bound notebook like mine, would be very easy to fake, it's already non-standard. Of course forensic science will always know more than the criminally minded. 

Always interested in what you think, your solutions and ideas.
And of course, Moleskin and the other commercial notebook makers--don't hesitate to contact me... I believe these are the notebooks Archimedes and Abraham Lincoln used when they were young men in Paris.... Of course Archie used a grid pattern....

Kayak: Flush Deck Fittings

These are the best, strongest, most hassle free deck fittings ever.
(There seems to have been some interest in this so I'll try to improve it. 12 March 2016)

Dan Maroske came up with a method to make flush deck fittings for a kayak by using wire and tubing coated in releasing solution and then slipping on 1/2" fiberglass sleeve. It's a great idea.
I believe I've improved on his method. All the video I've shot so far is awful (In one of them I went fitting to fitting and popped out the mold material--spectacular--except none of it in the frame).
My primary contribution is that I used hot glue sticks for the mold, wrapping them several times with Teflon plumbing tape to keep them from getting stuck after the epoxy has set. Since then I've also used lithium grease as an additonal mold release.
Glue sticks being solid do not kink when you bend them. They are flexible and stretchy. When pulling them out stretching, even a little bit, decreases the diameter. 

The link below connects to the least bad video. If you're interested in making flush deck fittings, it'll be interesting-otherwise not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEidfGG5vGQ&feature=youtu.be

My variation solves a couple of problems. 
Problem #1 Kinking. Other method:Using tubing packed with wire. The bend is a tight 1" (25mm) diameter.  Hollow tubing will kink, this is why Dan Maroske packed his tubes with wire.
By using mini hot glue gun sticks, which are flexible and solid--they not only do not kink, but they make a nice smooth bend. (Full size glue sticks will also work, but their diameter is much larger than you'll need.)

Releasing from the mold: Epoxy does stick to glue sticks. (My epoxy skills are not great, I've often had problems with releasing wax and solutions.)  My work around is to wrap two layers of Teflon plumbing seal tape around the glue sticks. There is some adhesion to the epoxy, but it is only to the surface of the top layer of tape. Three layers would probably be even better. This tape is fairly cheap (Harbor Freight), and the glue sticks are still usable--both in your glue gun and as molds. The glue sticks will still retain a lot of the Teflon tape, so you won't have to re-wrap three layers. What you are after is when you pull on the glue stick after the epoxy sets, you want it to slide between the layers of tape. The issue is the mechanical hold of the surface area of your mold against the now solid surface going around a 180 degree bend.
Cutting board with some 'molds' inserted into the holes.

Problem #2 making the loop. I use cheap plastic cutting boards as a base. I drill a 3/8" hole 1 inch apart in the cutting board. Epoxy will stick to the boards, so I coat these with releasing agent (lithium grease).  I've got some delrin plastic (poor man's Teflon sheet) that should work even better. (The cheap plastic cutting board material isn't nearly as slick as delrin or teflon, but it's close and about 1/10th the price--I use it for a lot of things that need to slide).

After I've prepared (wrapped) a handful of sticks, I slide on the 1/2" fiberglass sleeve. When I have the sleeve on a stick, I loosely wrap the (roll) end of the fiberglass tape with blue masking tape. This accomplishes two things. (Fiberglass sleeve can be a bit of a chore opening up the end. I use a pencil. When you're using it for several pieces all the same diameter, once you've got the sleeve over the mold, wrap blue tape once around and then cut through the middle of the tape.)
1. It keeps it from unraveling and
2. It keeps the sleeve open to slide onto the next glue stick mold.
Wrap the tape,  then slide the sleeve off the mold a bit and cut in the middle of the tape. This leaves two taped ends.

Next I just bend them, poke them into the holes in the cutting board and epoxy them. You want to saturate the fiberglass sleeve. Bubbles may appear, use a heat gun to make your epoxy more viscous.
It's best to put on a second layer of epoxy. Tiny holes can remain after only one coating.

After it sets, pop them out of the cutting board. Leave the mold in.

The deck of your kayak should be completely fiberglassed. You don't want to apply a layer of glass over the fittings. You can add more coats of epoxy and varnish, I make little plugs for the holds so the holes don't fill up.

Preparing the deck of your kayak:
I usually drill 7/16 or 1/2 in holes in the deck and then insert the fitting from the inside. You want a gap for thickened epoxy to bond the fitting to the deck. For the extreme bow and stern ends--that I can't reach from the inside. I've drilled larger holes and fed the fittings from the outside. I've also loosely taped them to a stick and reached in from the inside.

When they're all installed, mix up some thickened epoxy, pull them up slightly. Make sure they're coated all the way round.  You already know how to do this.

When the epoxy has set: Next step is to remove the mold material,
Tools to have are a sharp knife and needle nose pliers. Some combination of cutting around the masking tape, the protruding sleeve and pulling on the glue stick with the pliers.
The great thing about the glue sticks is that when they are stretched they become narrower, this loosens them up inside the fittings. I find if I pull and wiggle on each side they will soon become loose.
When they pull out they slowly move and then pop!

This particular fitting I use for the rudder deployment lines. I'm testing it for strength. Next I'll sand it flush with the deck.

Trim anything sticking above the deck, and sand smooth.
Some Teflon tape may be left inside, but it won't show and it won't interfere with inserting line. I've easily pushed through cut but unwicked (frayed) line that is almost as big as the hole. The inside of the fittings using this method are usually very smooth.

There's always something else, but this and my video (the images here are screen captures) should give you all you'll need to know. I will never try to screw a loop to a deck of a kayak again.

For a commercially made kayak that doesn't have a wood core, a fiberglass epoxy 'plate' 2 inches by 1 inch, buttered up with thickened epoxy and inserted from the inside might be a good place to start.

Let me know what you think. Especially after you give it a try. (I got a lot of poopooing about this from guys who clearly hadn't tried it. Maybe I wasn't clear enough.)

Just rediscovered these two videos. Drilling holes, setting up the molds and mixing epoxy. Only interesting if you're going to make these fittings.

Maroske Nettles Deck Fittings.m4v

Maroske Nettles Deck Fittings TWO

 I'd like to do a strength test someday, but not on my kayak. I'm betting the line breaks before the fitting does.
Update: One of my fittings had a slight leak. Nearly impossible to tell exactly where. A light coating of epoxy dripped into the hole, then smeared around and cleaned out with a piece of line took care of the problem.
Has anyone else tried this method? What was your experience?
I always boast that I can learn or figure out 85% of just about anything--which is why I don't skydive. It's also why your thoughts, skills, experience are needed. Thanks. See you on the ocean.

Colby Fire Wildfire Los Angeles Glendora Photograph

Taken when the fire was about 46 minutes old.

Kayak: Electric Pump Whale SUPERSUB Submersible Auto Pump650 gph

Quick note:
I've installed a Whale Supersub Auto Pump 650 gph following the basic guidelines of Mark in CKF and Gnarlydog.

My battery box is almost exactly the same as Gnarlydog's but on top is a wireless receiver/relay unit (AGT 12V Waterproof Wireless Remote Control DC Universal 2-Channel Output)

At this point, YES to the remote Control, but MAYBE NO for the pump. 

The wireless remote set-up works flawlessly. I can turn the pump on from inside my house. It's in the back hatch of my kayak, there seem to be no signal issues. 

Also as the unit is rated for 5 amps 12 VDC, it's enough to run the pump. The pump has an automatic sensor feature that I don't use. 

The pump seems to have a priming problem. It appears that an air bubble gets trapped in the strumbox, propeller area and it just spins pumping nothing. Sometimes it takes a full minute before it starts pumping. 

I'll post photos and video and I'll contact Whale about the problem. There's a small air bleeder fitting on the strumbox, it's clear, but it may have some issue. 

Many if not most self-rescues for a kayaker results in water sloshing around the cockpit--destabilizing the craft with the standard method of bailing being the stick-pump. This has long concerned me. First is the reason why you flipped in the first place, rough seas? but now second, you have water sloshing around further destabilizing your 'yak, but now you have to use the hands you need on your paddle to operate the stick pump. 

For a few years I thought a foot pump was the answer. I designed and installed a footbrace, with a Guzzler pump in the middle and I added hinged peddles for the rudder and kite surfing foot hold downs. 

Another 'fix' I installed is a carbon fiber wrapped wood post on a thin piece of plywood, hotglued to the bottom of the hull. On the post I place weightlifting weights. Yesterday I paddled with 22 extra pounds. After I landed I reduced the weight to only 10 pounds, 5 fore and 5 in the aft hatch and that seemed more than enough. This is in a Guillemot Mystery, 20' long and about 18" wide--very tippy boat. The weights are like training wheels. 

More later.

Kayak: The Aleut Paddle (reference to a skinboat blog post by Wolfgang Brinck) IQYAX

None of what follows is meant to provoke an argument with anybody. 

When I learn how to do anything (I'm old and I can do many different skills)--I make every possible mistake, usually come up with new ones.
• When I was little my mother told me I used to jump up and run out of the room, and miss the hallway and run right into the wall.
• I just told a friend who backpacks that I only just found out that most of the weight is carried on the belt. I used to remove the belt. On none of the backpacks I have would the belts (re-installed) fit properly on my waist. Totally clueless about one of the basics. We both laughed (at me) for five minutes.
I wonder now if making every possible mistake actually facilitated learning all my skills (I'm currently working as a teacher, I'm still a professional photographer--specializing in photographing works of art (very technical, very low pay), I've been a carpenter, electrician, plumber, activist, consultant. I've done a lot of things. OK resume over.)

THE ALEUT QUESTIONS
Just how did they paddle at 10 knots? I'm passed the discussion that maybe they were fast, but not that fast.... George Dyson made a strong case in 1991, so I'm proceeding on the premise that the Aleuts did indeed paddle their iqyaxs over significant distances at 10 knots. Over 2000 meters (1.25 miles 1.1 nautical miles (Nmiles) is slightly slower than Olympic speeds which I think top out at 12 knots. but these guys apparently could do this for several miles.

The Aleut Question is how did they do this? broken down into 'questions' would be How exactly did their gear work? What was their technique? and Is the extent gear (iqyaxs, paddles etc) really representative of the 10 knot gear?
Until someone paddles a baidarka 10 knots for a significant distance, and can do this repeatably, we really don't understand.

 My goal is to figure out how the Aleuts made 10 knots. I think I've got some very solid ideas. My plan is to give myself a year to build at least one baidarka (properly called Iqyax--or so I'm advocating). I've given myself a year (which in boat building is actually an infinite amount of time...)  By the end of 2014 I will have either
•Proved my ideas, developed them into something at least interesting;
• Disproved my ideas and shared what I've learned here, or
• Failing to do as much as I hope--share the whole list, my hypothesis, conjectures, designs, here on this blog.

I've been reading about Aleut paddles, and Greenland Paddles 
So my first step:
I just made an 'Aleut' paddle, 96" long, completely flat face, ridge at the opposite side. It was almost impossible to use, fluttering too much. Used backwards--no problem.
(No loss I can make these paddles in a few hours and enjoy it).
I'll round the power face edge and laminate a slight double-concave center ridge (exactly what you think this means) on the face.
A flat paddle face is a mess, but my Euro paddles are concave--which should be worse. They do have  a slight center ridge. So I'm thinking that balancing a paddle face is a subtle but not very difficult art. What I could do is use clay to make a center ridge--so I could easily move it around. I could then make an asymmetrical paddle face (to exacerbate the problems) and move the ridge around to balance it.

There are two basic issues with the topic of discussing paddles.
1. Descriptions. language is limited. I think I know what's going on, but I've been reading this stuff for years. A good diagram with terms would be helpful.Break down the problem, quantify it. (Above is an example of this exact problem. I should have a picture and drawing of my paddle.)
2. I don't think we've even begun to understand what the Aleuts achieved. Always in kayak discussions, skinboats less so than the others, there are too many 'experts', too much conventional (limited) thinking, too much noise and not enough knowledge and experience.
I think it would be safe to say (admit) that we really haven't even begun to understand what the Aleuts accomplished as long as people are making baidarkas and paddling them slower than 'plastic' boats (epoxy, like my strip-builts, or the mold made epoxy/glass 'yaks).

We can't know about the tools (paddles, iqyax, etc) until we can use them. Until yesterday I hadn't been in the ocean in 4 months-I wasn't as strong or as skillful as I am when I've been paddling regularly. I think any discovery of what the Aleuts really did will require a lot of deliberate practice (E.Anders Ericsson) and a high skill level.
Take the issue of 'which is the power face?'  It's easier to paddle with the ridged side as the paddle face. Wolfgang Brinck has clear photographic evidence that the Aleuts paddled ridge forward.
So what's easier to us the first time or 100th time we try a paddle has limited value compared to Aleuts who were doing 10 knots actually did.

I tried to help someone make a GP paddle. He'd never done any woodworking--so he was struggling.  I use a wood plane like most of us use a pencil.
The Aleuts compared to most of us (but not all perhaps) is probably just like this; probably more so.
I've got some ideas that I've given a lot of thought to, and I have some pretty good basic paddling skills; but what I've often noticed is how much of the discussions I've seen seem confused at best. Take as an example the common comment about GP paddles being better for the shoulders. Shoulders shouldn't really be an issue with a good stroke technique. (Jen Keck of Aqua Adventures taught me to practice 'Frankenstein paddling' --arms straight out--it forces you to rotate your torso. (Granted there are a lot of shoulder problems that aren't solved by stroke technique, and too when I'm in shape and paddling a lot, I use my shoulders at the end of my rotation.)
I've seen instructors, people who are actually paid salaries to teach kayaking, paddling shoulders only. What about the This is the Sea DVD's are most of the 'stars' really mostly using their shoulders? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what I see. In This is the Sea number 5, a paddler hurt his wrist and yet was still trying to use a feathered paddle. (You could duct tape a paddle to your wrist, or put a hook on a plaster cast and still paddle--but you couldn't paddle feathered.)
This shoulder and feathered paddle stuff strikes me as a litmus test for blindly accepting conventional wisdom. (But here too, maybe I'm missing something. My friend who had trouble with the block plane, told me there are feathered Greenland paddles in the archeological collection.)

OK, I'm drifting into a rant here. I'm not too worried--as I don't think anybody is reading any of this stuff. If I pick up a few readers I'll edit more and watch what I say. (I'd rather paddle at 10 knots than argue about feathered paddles. Uh, I'd rather paddle at 4 knots than argue about anything.)
I'll try to add some photos of my 'funny' Aleut paddle before I tweak it.
I should also try to find or make a definitive drawing of paddle parts so we have a clear set of terms.
Will Nettles
always WillN2 (go)

Toggle Kayak Handle Design

Let's see if I can add a couple of images.
I've designed a kayak handle that I'll make when I get some time.

Most kayak handles are one of two configurations. 1. A luggage handle loop that has two ends attached to the deck -- these are dangerous, especially in the surf.
Kayaks a long and currents or waves can swing the far end around wrenching your wrist.  2. A 'T' or short piece of PVC on a rope. These won't twist your hand, but they're usually flopped over dragging in the water, or  tucked under a deck line making them inaccessible.

The one I've designed is like the best ones available, Gnarlydog has a good blog on this subject: http://gnarlydognews.blogspot.com/search/label/grab%20handles
and lists the best ones available.

About my design:
• It sticks up making it easy to grab, it's always in same place, and because it sticks up it can be grabbed by a boat hook or lasso'd by a tossed line. Handle at bow is sideways, Aft is in-line - so it doesn't interfere with my Featherlite rudder. It'll also have to stand taller (and might incorporate a rest for the rudder blade)
• It's flexible enough to not wrench your hand. (I plan to use hydraulic hose or something similar for the 'post' so there are still some mechanical issues to sort out. )
It also has other benefits. It's open on your dominant side making it easier to slip your hand in. (on the other side it's closed,  it's still no more difficult than the T-handles. Aft: opening abaft (I didn't read all those Patrick O'Brian novels without learning a thing or two.)

Nothing attached to the deck of a kayak should be rigidly attached. I made a prominent rudder rest that someone grabbed onto and ripped a large hole out of the deck. He felt bad, but actually did me a big favor. Bad design. My kayak is a strip built wood core--so it has one of the strongest decks on any kayak-yet a little leverage... (As I was already halfway to drowning, it wasn't a problem, but on another day...... Yikes)

Feel free to comment on the design, ask questions, make a set of your own. Same rules as Linux. 
Just don't commercially crank them out and sell them. I know a lot of sea lions and orcas...if you know what I mean.... f
Let's see how the photos feature works.... (I"m hoping clicking on them will make them full size to read the notes.... if not I'll reload them into another Post)

See you on the water. 

OK New post.
APPLE HEADACHES
I had tried to create a blog called Rotten Apples on GoDaddy, but could never figure out how to make it work. I called tech support, nice fellow sold me another $200 worth of stuff that still didn't work. Called him back. Left a message. No response.

Apple makes terrific stuff, but they have a few problems. Being better than Microsoft is no longer enough, Apple now has to be better than Apple. New Widgets are terrific, but they need to fix the old chronic headaches.
1. iTunes--Once you have a few thousand tracks, iTunes becomes a mess. I had all these ratings, lyrics, notes, custom lists, etc, etc... all the wonderful possibilities, then iTunes melted down a couple of years ago. AppleCare told me to reset or reinstall and I lost all that customization. So customizing iTunes is temporary.
2. Managing tracks. Through the mysterious workings of having multiple Macs, ipods and ipad, etc... I wound up with two iTunes accounts. I wasn't aware of this, until I discovered multiple tracks, the first ones I purchased from the iTunes Store--all those lifelong favorite tunes, began cutting out halfway through the song.
Dan Ariely did a study demonstrating that how an experience ends is more important than how it started, or how long it lasted. If it ends badly---it's bad no matter how good it was just before the end. He even cited the case of a Mozart symphony (I think) on vinyl that played almost all the way through, beautiful, uplifting, brilliant--but a scratch neat the end of the last movement caused the whole experience to be ruined.
Somehow Apple has engineered this into iTunes. AppleCare suggested deleting the tracks, then going back in Time Machine and reload the song from an uncorrupted original.
There's no way to find and pull out all the bad tracks. They lie in wait ready to smack you down. There's nothing  that sticks out. Then, how long ago were the good tracks? no way of knowing. Are these tracks all associated with the oldest iTunes account? I think so, but I'm not sure.
3. Syncing with my iPod and iPad. This has become almost random. The iPad never synced photos very well. Just the other day I wanted to show students some images I'd made. I dragged 3 jpegs into one of the files that is on my iPad. Then I sync'd, re-sync'd and re-sync'd.... it took about 4-5 attempts before it worked, instead of a few minutes, class was long ended when it finally worked.
I have a lot of Audible Books, periodically iTunes simply refuses to load them, then once they are loaded, it refuses to sync them to my iPod. It did this the other morning. So I did a reset iPod......an hour later I had to drive to work without an audio book. The first 20 minutes were lost because of the Screwed you! dialogue window that popped up long enough after I'd selected Reset.
DOES ANYONE IN THESE COMPANIES EVER SEE HOW REAL PEOPLE USE THESE PRODUCTS AND SOFTWARE???
4. Now my iPod won't scroll up and down. It could be caused by the cracked glass touch screen, but it scrolled just fine until I did the Reset, so I'm left wondering, and paranoid. (Are these problems engineered by Apple because they want everyone to immediately jump to IOS7? My son asked me if I was using iTunes 11. I said, I think so. He laughed.

Have you seen the South Park episode where Cartman is turned into a human centipede because he blythly selected 'accept terms' on an iTunes upgrade. Everyone, including his mom, is incredulous that he would agree to anything he hadn't read.  Are my hassles somehow connected to the cryptic box that appeared the other day announcing 'iTunes conditions (or something) have changed.'
How can these Agreements be legally binding? Does anyone ever read them? Is it possible to read, understand and alter them? I can't see these things being held up in a court. You have a product, the company tells you it needs to be upgraded, we trust them, then after they start the process (by downloading the file) up pops an agreement and nothing more will happen until you agree to it. It's not a business agreement, it's a shakedown.

So here's what I think (otherwise this is just a beef from someone who doesn't amount to a blip on the concerns of the manager of the Apple Care phone center guy in Bangalore....)
The day will come when people do most of their writing, designing, image and video editing on machines that are not connected to the internet, that use out of date software. Smartphones and pads will be how people will connect. Files from our Isolated Computers will be transferred to phones and then over the internet.
The dates on these Isolated Computers (Quarantined? I have an opportunity for a terrific neologism here.... don't blow it) will be 2009 or 2007, and just keep being set back every year.

I have the sneaking suspicion that most commercial software have time bombs written in, I suspect that many of these may be introduced with the last upgrades before a new version is offered for sale. How many times has an application started to act wonky and you think, 'Oh, well, I may as well pay a few bucks and upgrade....' Once computer code is compiled there is no way to find this stuff. I'm willing to bet that if I'm right that these bombs have cost us more money, and caused more hassle than all the spammers and virus makers combined.

There are two ways to uncover if this is happening. First, a whistle blower.  But hey, Silicon Valley is no NSA. Not likely. Second, scientific method. Techs with large numbers of computers can upgrade some but not all prior to a new version and then document what happens.  An alternative method would be if users all over the globe began sending bug reports to non-industry connected sites that can compile, sort and analyze the data.
Has anyone else suddenly experienced a scrolling problem on their 5 year old iPod after they updated to iTunes 11, but not yet to IOS7?  A lot of these might just be bugs, code is 10% writing 90% debugging, which means I'm probably just paranoid, but ah-ha! it makes it easy to dismiss Time Bombs as just another bug.

With the Adobe monthly rental fee, I asked myself, do I need to upgrade? I use Illustrator a lot, Photoshop some, Lightroom a lot, but not as much as Illustrator. Lightroom seems to continue to make improvements, but Illustrator and Photoshop (CS5) can do everything I can think of, no version in the past few years has really made that much of a difference--so I can see using these until I die or go blind. At some point however, all the system upgrades, HTML upgrades, etc will jam them up. (When I lost Rosetta I lost a lot of software I occasionally used, and had to upgrade a few others, like Nisus Writer. Microsoft Office that I had stopped working. The newer version of Office on my school computer was no different, and had the same dumb multi-step garbage MS is famous for, so there was no way I was going to pay for more of the same. Instead I found OpenOffice.)
So at some point, in the near future, I will need a 2012 computer running an old date, with the Network disconnected.

Oh last thing (I'm rambling, but no one's reading any of this so, ah so what, eh?)
The reason my iPod glass touch screen is cracked is there is no practical way to carry the thing. It either goes in a pants pocket, with keys, or when I lift a kayak instead of my leg I now have 75 pounds pressing in the middle of the glass. In a back pocket, you sit down on it. In a shirt pocket, it slides right out, or bounces out if you leap (I guess I leap more than most people.)
Every time it bounces off the floor I think two thoughts, 'That's amazing tough, and Steve Jobs must think that the way we are supposed to use his dingus is holding it in one hand while we sit on the floor in our living room (where there is no couch, but maybe ten bowls of strawberries and untreated pancreatic cancer) and do nothing else. I'm sure if he was asked, 'What are you supposed to do with it when you're doing something else?' he would've responded, 'You're not supposed to do something else.' with a few expletives.
A protective case? I've bought more than a few of these. They are bulky, an inch thick and seem designed for rugby players. The Apple Store always amazes me, 50 choices of iPod and iPhone holders, an amazing range of colors and patterns, and not one belt loop, not even a neck lanyard.
So far the best carrying option I have found and use is a DryCase (no case just a tough vinyl bag) and wider lanyard, but the lanyard not hanging on my neck, but hooked on to some gear on the back of my life jacket(PFD). The DryCase doesn't hang, it's tucked into the front of my life jacket. When it just hangs around my neck, it swings around and it's not very comfortable on my neck. 
The new iPods have the tiniest little wire connector. Sorry. That's not much of an improvement.
When the iTime, iWatch, comes out, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was a wrist watch without a watch band, or if it does have a band, it won't have a clasp.

I went on line to make the tentative steps of buying another iPod. Asked about engraving, I copied and pasted some Chinese characters. I know the thing will be engraved in Shenzhen, and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that in China Chinese purchasers can get Chinese characters, but apparently not yet here.

I'll try another iPod restore. And I'll write my next journal entry into a composition book. Funny how I still have 20 year old journals, but all the things I've written on a computer in the 90s are long gone.