The Soapbox Archives:
When you change phones, ask the salesperson if it's possible to transfer pictures from your (new) cellphone with just a USB cable. I just found out that my Sanyo SCP-3810 (actually made by Kyocera) can not transfer pictures directly; I'd have to get on some plan that would allow me to mail the pictures to myself. I found some software driver that would allow my computer to recognize my phone but all I'd be able to do is charge my cellphone through my computer; it won't let my computer see the pictures (like I do with other cellphones or with my camera). I guess that if you get the low end phone, there's not much profit in going out of their way to write useful software for it.
So, if the salesperson says you can copy files onto a computer with just a USB cable (that is, without paying for any additional services), ask the salesperson to prove it in front of you.
One of the purposes of these editorials is to generate conversation among the dance organizers. Last week's editorial was intended to exactly that.
The original spark for that editorial came from a note complaining that a local venue should have deemphasized their offering during a major dance weekend. Their preference would have been that the local dance not hold their event that weekend and just encouraged everyone to go to the weekend; they would have settled for the local dance just keeping a low profile. The intend result was to show "respect" for the big dance weekend.
One local organizer pushed back and said that the dance weekend event(s) needed to show some respect for the local dance events that have been around for years. That's an interesting point. A problem occurs because just about every Friday and Saturday is claimed by some local event, and that's just in the Swing (ECS and WCS) world. We haven't even started talking about ballroom and tango.
Both local events and dance weekends organizers should be talking to each other more and try to see if there is some better arrangement of event dates or some way to make sure everyone gains from the exchange.
Let take a look at one example: Swingin' New England has been going against the Boston Swing Dance Network for the last 10 years.
It was fine when that dance weekend was down in Hyannis but now it's in Newton, about 5 miles away. When asked why the BSDN was going against Swingin' New England, the BSDN organizer responded that he had been running that dance for *25* years so he wasn't the one encroaching. And this year, Swingin' New England is going up against Uptown Swing instead (also around longer), but Uptown Swing always has a good band too so I don't know if that helps much.
In this example, I wished the respective organizers would consider other possibilities. How could that possibly happen? For the last few years, Swing City has been hosting the Friday night swing (ECS/Lindy) dance at Swingin' New England. Wouldn't it make sense to hold Swingin' New England on the *first* weekend of the month? Swing City was going to hold a dance that weekend anyway and this would open the opportunity for BSDN and Uptown Swing dancers to go to Swingin' New England or at least part of it. Hell, Swing City could run a ECS/Lindy dance on both of those weekend nights.
While the sentiment "I didn't know" is probably honest and honorable, I'd prefer not to hear that the organizers were not aware of the other events. Hallo? Sure, some of these organizers don't really like each other and won't talk to each other, but that's not much of an excuse. All they'd have to do is keep a browser window with my calendar displayed while they book their dates and bands to see what else is scheduled for those nights.
I was disappointed to find out that the StarMarket/Shaws in Cambridge didn't have the Senseo brand of coffee pods anymore (they're not available at Stop & Shop, either). Someone gave me a coffee maker that uses these special coffee packs that are really just a small filter bag filled with coffee. Whenever I feel like treating myself to a *good* cup of coffee, I use that one instead of my Mr. Coffee machine.
The more popular K-cup types of coffee pods seem to have taken over. They're convenient, I suppose, because you don't have to touch anything wet to throw out the old pod. But the container is plastic and the last thing we need is more plastic going into the landfill. I think the Senseo pods can be thrown directly into a compost pile.
FYI: The Senseo coffee packs are available at Marketbasket (there's one in Somerville).