Poet Ponders the Digital

Hamerschlag Hall is one of the principal teaching facilities of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley July 8, 2013 Deadline August 2013 Issue Finding My Way: Four Flawed Navigation Apps Pittsburgh, like many older cities, was not designed on a grid. It wasn’t planned at all, according to one historian I’ve met. Instead, the roads were created as landowners divided and connected their properties. The hilly terrain complicated the hodgepodge streets, with some climbs steeper than those of San Francisco, resulted in winding roads that twist and turn so sharply a compact car can barely make the corners. Freeways start and stop with little warning, including Interstates 279 and 579. This fall, I will be teaching as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. This summer, I’ve managed to miss freeway exits and one-way city streets nearly every trip into the city. Th...

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley October 31, 2011 Deadline December 2011 Issue Have a Happy High-Tech Holiday Holidays are about faith, family, and friendships, with some gift giving as an added bonus. If you can be with loved ones for the holidays, that’s the most important gift. Still, giving that perfect gift is a challenge we all face. The best gifts reflect how well you know the recipients. Allow me to offer some ideas from the Virtual Valley. Idea 1: Earphones. If the music lover in your family is still using “buds” instead of headphones, consider the gift of high-fidelity sound. Yes, old-fashioned headphones. Until I tried a pair of Skullcandy Throwback headphones, I had no idea how great an iPod could sound. Skullcandy (skullcandy.com) sells “over the ear” headphones resembling the old padded ones my father used in the 1970s. They might look odd to young people, but the sound difference is astounding. Marshall headphones (marshallheadphones.com) are a great gift for a...