Zunes: Back to life

Microsoft technology proves so supreme it fixes itself. (Did we really expect anything less?)

The world’s Zune users cursed the gods of Redmond, Wash. after every 30 GB unit across the globe went into a digital coma Dec. 31.

Zune users flooded forums with posts of the popular digital music/video player freezing up if in use or getting stuck on the start-up screen if turned on during anytime New Year’s eve. Some dubbed it Z2K or ZY29 after the the Y2K bug that never hit.

One owner apparently got so upset he took a sledgehammer to his Zune - the fiend! (see photo, courtesy of SeattlePI.com) Pity him, though. It appears the original Zunes, born in 2006, (of which my pretty in pink Glinda is one) have a software bug that freaked out when the clock hit the 366th day of the year – ’08 was a Leap Year.

Waking up Jan. 1 (cursing the light and in need of water, advil and teeth brushing) I stumbled to find my Glinda, turned her on and voila- she’s back! Yes! The music lives! It wasn’t a mass Zunicide after all. Our electronic babies just needed to nap through the extra day of the year.

The Microsoft gurus promise to have a fix before the next Leap Year in 2012. Though by then I should have a 120 GB version (hint, hint, husband) or whatever new-fangled gadget those techno geeks conjure up next.

Dec. 31, 2008: The day the Zunes stood still

I’m a little creeped out.
It appears my Zune is in a digital coma. It’s mass Zunicide. ZY29.
What’s a Zune? OK, for you apple losers, it’s the world’s best digital music player. Mine just happens to be taking a nap, along with hundreds of thousands of other Zunes worldwide.
Here are some of today’s headlines regarding the world’s 30 GB Microsoft Zunes freezing up at midnight Tuesday.

A worldwide Zune suicide
Zune plagued by massive freeze
Did the Y2K failure come to Zune 30 devices 9 years later?
Microsoft Zunes spontaneously dying all over the place
Zune 30s all freezing up at once. Ack! Aliens!
Microsoft Zunes hit by rash of lock-up bugs

(Above is a photo of my sleeping Glinda. She needs a software prince to kiss her and wake her from sleep!)

Maybe they went on strike. Never fear, the techno wizards in Redmond, Wash. are working on the issue. After users flooded Zune’s online forum with complaints, Microsoft posted this:
“We’re aware of the problem and are working to correct it. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!”
Now, I know many of you are thinking of using this as excuse to abandon Microsoft and I urge against it. We can ride this out. I have in faith in Microsoft, even if Bill Gates did retire.

See how smart those Microsoft guys are — they’ve played a worldwide practical joke. That’s not at all scary.
Hunker down folks; let’s wait for a fix from the mother ship.

Photo credit: Michael Clawson, West Valley View.

God Bless you, Mr. Yoon

A jet fell out of the sky and took away his wife, children, mother-in-law, home and almost everything he owned.
and he forgave.
Read the L.A. Times story here http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-jetcrash10-2008dec10,0,2049016.story

Of the U.S. Marine Corps pilot who ejected safely before the F/A-18D Hornet fighter jet crashed into his San Diego home, Mr. Dong Yun Yoon said he hoped he would not suffer and called him “one of the treasures for our country.”
And he did so as he faced a massive and unimaginable wreckage. His 2-month-old daughter Rachel and wife Young Mi were found the day of the crash.
The body of his 15-month-old daughter Grace the next day.
My eyes well with tears and my throat is full and tight. What a courageous man is Mr. Yoon.
"Nobody expected such a horrible thing to happen, especially right here, our house,” Mr. Yoon said.
He’s right - in so many, many ways. And, he has not placed blame, though many would. I wonder if I would.
In his grief and inconceivable pain, he is a man, he is an American.
Mr. Yoon is a naturalized citizen who emigrated from South Korea in 1989. He built a life, a home and a family. And it’s gone.
What he has left is his faith in humanity, in our country and in God. This man values what so many of us take for granted.
God bless you, Mr. Yoon.


Added 12/12/08
From USMS press release: Persons interested in making a donation or offering another type of support to the Yoon family can do so by contacting the Korean United Methodist Church of San Diego.The church has started a memorial fund for the Yoon family.
Korean United Methodist Church
3520 Mount Acadia Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 569-4069

Strange to find kindness

Unlike Blanche Dubois, I have rarely depended on the kindness of strangers. I suppose I didn’t realize it existed.
Now, I have proof.
As I trekked across a Safeway parking lot in Goodyear Tuesday evening, I saw a blur of white under a wiper on my Honda’s windshield. The first thought I had was, “Oh great, what are they selling.”
Then, as I got closer, I had to slap the cynic in me. The envelope under the blade held a handwritten note, scrawled in what looked like either black crayon or eyeliner.
“Your right side rear passenger tire is going flat.”
That floored me. Someone took the time to tell me what I didn’t know; something important; something that, technically, could have very well saved my life. (I rarely check my tires.)
I don’t know the identity of my Good Samaritan, but I send them many thanks. Not only for bringing it to my attention, but for being a good person.
And, for proving the existence of the kindness of strangers.

"Citizen McCaw" is the scariest film involving journalists since "Zodiac."

...is what the San Francisco Chronicle's John Diaz wrote about the new documentary "Citizen McGaw," read the article here "A fight for journalism"

I've followed the ruin of the Santa Barbara News-Press for years. While the film's producers wait to see if a smart network or PBS will pick it up, I plan to order the DVD at http://www.citizenmccaw.com/ as soon as its available. Right now you can go to the site and enter your email for a notice when the DVD goes on sale.

Scary stuff…link to the trailer: http://www.citizenmccaw.com/trailers.html

“The role [of the press] is to uncover the truth. And to have no sacred cows, there’s nobody that you can't write about it, and there’s no friend of the publisher.” —Ben Bradlee, editor emeritus, Washington Post

A very nice man

When I first met Mr. Sam Garcia Sr. he didn’t understand why a reporter would want to hear him talk him, much less write about him.
I’m blinking back tears as I write about this very nice man, who died today, at the age of 72. As a reporter, I meet a lot of people. Mr. Garcia was someone who touched my mind and heart.
I didn’t know him well. Last December a local group planned to honor Mr. Garcia and an editor asked me, as most do, to “write something up.”
After spending an hour with Mr. Garcia, I knew his story was special. I wanted more time with him. I wanted to follow him around for a day and watch him interact with the customers at the grocery store he’d grown up in and worked at for decades. I wanted to see more of him reaching into his big red apron to pull out a piece of candy for anyone who would flash him a smile. I wanted to see him spread his arms to hug his family and friends. I wanted more time with his easy smile, infectious laugh and sweet disposition. He was so touched that someone would honor him, truly humble. He believed people get what they give in this world, and even with all the years of playing Santa for the kids; giving his time and energy to countless charities and agencies; and offering store credit to people who could not afford groceries - he couldn’t fathom why a reporter would show up in his store to interview him, much less dedicate space in a newspaper to him.
Oh, but the Mr. Garcias of the world are a special breed of man. We need to write about more of them

Well, we’re in the news business, must get the story done. I wrote it up, planning to go back and see him again to spend that time with this longtime Avondale businessmen who had earned the respect and lov of so many in the Southwest Valley. I wanted to write a profile that would do him justice.
I waited too long.
Mr. Sam Garcia Sr. of Avondale was a very nice man. That’s what I’ve told people about him. It's the simplest and most honest terms. He’s the kind of man who put his family first, donated his time, energy and efforts to his community and church and took pride in his work. He seemed to love life, really. He smiled a lot when he spoke to me, he laughed, he brushed away tears when talking of his fellow businessmen honoring him with a little lunch and a golf tournament. He was truly humbled.

My thoughts and prayers are with those who knew and loved him. They lost someone truly special. We all did.

Here is link to Mr. Garcia’s obituary. Avondale businessman, Sam Garcia sr., died at 72


Here is link to story I wrote about him in December
Customers can still find Mr. Garcia at the market

(photo by Owen K. Martin, West Valley View)

The long rider

Posted March 30, 2008:

I met this great woman Bernice Ende, she’s riding a horse from Arizona to Montana. Her dog Claire is along for the ride too- literally, Claire rides horseback! here is link to the article:

The road less traveled

and a link to a slideshow: http://www.westvalleyview.com/ftp/visavis/longrider/longrider.html
Keep tabs on Bernice and Claire at http://www.endeofthetrail.com/

(photo by Owen K. Martin, West Valley View)

A life too short

From Jan. 29, 2008
A life too short
Posted 1/27/08
In December I met a wonderful little girl and her family. Sissy, age 6, was dying of an inoperable brain tumor. Some of the best doctors in the world said she had three months to live. I wrote an article about Sissy and her family Dec. 31, 2008, here is link:
A life too short

Not a day went by since I first met her Dec. 15 that I hadn't thought about this darling child with the sweet voice, radiant smile and joyful heart.
Sissy's mom Melanie is an inspiration. A woman I admire — yet do not want to trade places with. I think that if Melanie can get through this, if she has the faith in God to believe, to be certain — then I must have faith in all He does. If Melanie can understand and accept losing her child – there isn't anything in the world that I could not face. .The morning of Jan. 17, I got a text from Melanie saying the doctors gave Sissy just two days to two weeks to live. Tears blurred my vision as I read those words. I didn't realize how much it would hurt.
Melanie didn't get two weeks, or two days. Sissy died that night, in her mother's arms.I attended the funeral yesterday and wrote another article. Here is link to the article: Saying goodbye to Sissy, published Jan. 27, 2008.

Sissy reminded me of God's grace. And, how short a time we all have on Earth. That we do not know when God will call us home — and we should be ready.

(photo by Ray Thomas, West Valley View)