I have always been fascinated by magic.
Fascinated and a little creeped out.
Sitting at a magic show this summer I pestered my daughter to help me figure out how the very tall assistant was not cut in half with those shiny metal sheets. My daughter gave me a very teenage look and shushed me!
I was thinking of magic today as I helped a few teachers connect to their school's new Google domain.
For some it went seamlessly.
Type in the new password - start up Chrome and all is well.
For a few we were worried - they had problems earlier so we anticipated issues. So, we were pleasantly surprised when all went well.
And then we came to that one!
You know how it works.
We did everything just like the others - well we did add a bit of cocky banter about our new found skills just before we touched the keys.
And them WHAM!
There was an error message we had never seen before and nothing worked!
We backed out of that spot and tried the process again.
And again.
And the poor teacher had to keep coming up with new passwords.
My guess is her final password did not contain fluffy and sweet words! :)
We walked away and brainstormed yet another alternate solution.
And when we returned it worked - sort of. For now.
And that brings me back to magic.
I believe.
I know that technology has been grown in the scientific test tubes of Microsoft and MIT and Apple and Google.
And I believe that their algorithms are at work.
But - I believe there is a touch of magic as well.
For me, there is no other way to explain the capricious nature of technology.
It seems to be there one moment and the next things have mysteriously changed.
So - it is just easier to believe in magic and move along.
The longer I work in this field the more staunchly I hold on to this truth...
Don't ask why it worked - simply celebrate that it did!!
(and whisper abracadabra every now and then!)
~Beth Swantz, Technology Consultant
Fascinated and a little creeped out.
Sitting at a magic show this summer I pestered my daughter to help me figure out how the very tall assistant was not cut in half with those shiny metal sheets. My daughter gave me a very teenage look and shushed me!
I was thinking of magic today as I helped a few teachers connect to their school's new Google domain.
For some it went seamlessly.
Type in the new password - start up Chrome and all is well.
For a few we were worried - they had problems earlier so we anticipated issues. So, we were pleasantly surprised when all went well.
And then we came to that one!
You know how it works.
We did everything just like the others - well we did add a bit of cocky banter about our new found skills just before we touched the keys.
And them WHAM!
There was an error message we had never seen before and nothing worked!
We backed out of that spot and tried the process again.
And again.
And the poor teacher had to keep coming up with new passwords.
My guess is her final password did not contain fluffy and sweet words! :)
We walked away and brainstormed yet another alternate solution.
And when we returned it worked - sort of. For now.
And that brings me back to magic.
I believe.
I know that technology has been grown in the scientific test tubes of Microsoft and MIT and Apple and Google.
And I believe that their algorithms are at work.
But - I believe there is a touch of magic as well.
For me, there is no other way to explain the capricious nature of technology.
It seems to be there one moment and the next things have mysteriously changed.
So - it is just easier to believe in magic and move along.
The longer I work in this field the more staunchly I hold on to this truth...
Don't ask why it worked - simply celebrate that it did!!
(and whisper abracadabra every now and then!)
~Beth Swantz, Technology Consultant
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