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CenturyLink; Getting the Job Done

CenturyLink is consistently providing above-average services to both residential and business customers. They've got a few awards to prove it too!

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CenturyLink; Getting the Job Done

CenturyLink, based out of Monroe, LA, has been consistently working hard to help both residential and business customers stay connected. The argument could be made that all internet service providers (ISPs) do this. That is, after all, their main job. Because an ISP who doesn’t keep their customers connected will not be around for long. Despite this, there are still the okay, the good, and the exceptional ISPs. The difference between the ISPs who are exceptional, and those who aren’t, is not defined by awards. Sure, awards are nice. And it’s easy to point to them and say “we won that because we did X really well.” In fact, CenturyLink earned Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Excellence Award for 2018. And earned their Top Hybrid Service Provider in the Asia-Pacific region for the fourth year in a row. And that’s just naming the awards won for this year. But it’s not about the awards. The mark of a good ISP is when they can deliver this service without anyone noticing. In the ISP industry, as with many others, customers are quick to point out when things go wrong. Even if it’s a minor detail, there is always that “one” customer who will make a fuss about it. This is where the bulk of customer complaints/reviews come from. While these are helpful in deducing quality, they’re to be taken with a grain of salt. Reviews are usually written by someone who’s upset and wants to vent about it. As the old saying goes “You only notice it when it goes wrong.”


When It’s Obvious

Think of a college football game. There’s the team you’re rooting for, most likely your alma mater. If not your alma mater, then you’re most likely rooting for the team that’s playing against your most hated rivals. Anyway, there are the offensive players, charging up and down the field as they work to score points. And then there are the defensive players. These guys are tasked with keeping the other team from scoring points as well. They battle each other on the field, scoring, intercepting, kicking, and this is where the main action is. Throughout all of this, what’s the one thing in the background you can count on? The marching band. Each team brings their band with them to play the school fight song, covers of current pop hits, and other tunes to get the crowd involved. These bands work hard to do this every week. And these efforts usually go unnoticed. That is until someone makes a mistake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFB7y5j8UWc


When It’s Not

CenturyLink is the band that’s not making mistakes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed_oZOiUwBM Go Warhawks! On a side note; I would have highlighted Texas A&M’s Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band. Not because it’s my alma mater, but because many of my in-laws went there. To keep peace in the family, I root for them when it’s appropriate. In this instance, however, priorities are different.


Back to CenturyLink…

CenturyLink, just like the Warhawk Band, consistently helping the team out on the field. And during halftime, they get to show off their stuff. But the “marching band” metaphor can only go so far. CenturyLink is not only working and earning awards for it, but they’re also helping their local communities. Back in June, they held a campaign benefiting Fight Hunger. By the end of the campaign, they’d raised over $2.4 Million for Fight Hunger. Beyond that, they helped during Hurricane Florence. CenturyLink offered free Emergency Call Forward to its North Carolina customers during the event. This service allows customers to forward calls to their wireless number to an alternate number. It’s a “just-in-case” plan for when residents need to evacuate or can’t get service to let their families know what’s happening. They may never use it, but it’s nice to have it for peace of mind. And CenturyLink provided this service for free.


By the Numbers

With a presence in 39 states and 7,339 zip codes, CenturyLink is one of the top ten largest ISPs in the nation. They’re working to expand that presence, hence, the recent merger with Level 3. CenturyLink is also expanding overseas. They have a presence in other countries and are looking to reach out into more. But let’s focus on just the United States for now. CenturyLink provides internet, cable, and voice services through three technologies. What they’re best known for is their DSL service, which is consistently ranked as one of the best in the nation. When it comes to fiber, CenturyLink has fiber connections in fifteen states, offering Gigabit Download speeds. Lastly, CenturyLink also offers fixed wireless. This service is available to both rural and urban customers. It’s a good option for those who don’t want a DSL connection, fiber is unavailable, and don’t want to go with satellite. Check out the best internet deals to find out CenturyLink’s availability in your area. The common complaint with ISPs is their speeds “as fast as” marketing. This means that the speed they’re advertising is not always the speed you get. When it comes to CenturyLink, they’re ranked in the top 60 ISPs when it comes to speed during peak hours. Peak hours are generally between 5 pm and 10 pm. This is when Netflix notices higher than average downloads through their service. They monitor each provider to see how fast they’re downloading during these times and post the results online. For CenturyLink, from August 2017 to August 2018, they averaged 3.31 Mbps for both their fiber and DSL services. This is a good score.


Businesses

On top of earning awards from Frost & Sullivan, CenturyLink was also named the top ethernet carrier in the US for 2017 by Vertical Systems Group. It was the first year that a network provider other than AT&T won the award. Thanks to a merger with Level 3, CenturyLink was able to vault from fifth in 2016 to first in 2017. By working with Level 3’s established connections and adding their own grit to the equation, CenturyLink came first over all. To earn this award, Century Link offers a wide range of business solutions to customers. Services like Networking, Hybrid IT & Cloud, UCaaS, Managed & IT Services, as well as security. For those small to medium-sized businesses, CenturyLink is a smart option. With an established ISP like CenturyLink providing a wide range of services, newer companies are in good hands as they work to grow.

Connect with CenturyLink

Even if you’re not a marching band fanatic, the fact remains- CenturyLink is working hard to help both residential and business customers.

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It is impressive, however, how drum corps’ work to choreograph and orchestrate these halftime shows. To do so takes a lot of time and effort to perfect the routine. Marching bands showcase this skill with yearly competitions, giving them an opportunity to shine. It’s too bad they don’t get as much attention as football does. CenturyLink, while not a marching band, is working hard to make multiple pieces move and work together with little or no issues involved. It’s not easy, nor should it be. And to earn awards means that someone’s watching. So if you’re in the market for a new ISP, be it for your home or your business, check out CenturyLink. It’ll be worth your time.

UTSA Creating Opportunities for Outliers

The University of Texas at San Antonio announced an expansion to their cybersecurity and data sciences programs. This creates opportunity for outliers.

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UTSA Creating Opportunities for Outliers
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) recently announced an expansion of their cybersecurity and data sciences programs. This ambitious project is aimed at fulfilling a need in the future- qualified cybersecurity specialists and data scientists. The University of Texas Board of Regents approved a $70 million investment in the program. Graham Weston, founder of Rackspace and a San Antonio-area investor, has also contributed $15 million. This new center will be creating thousands, possibly millions, of career opportunities in the cybersecurity industry. There is another opportunity, albeit indirectly, that UTSA is creating. An opportunity for an outlier.

Outliers

Back in 2011, Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the bestselling "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking", published "Outliers: The Story of Success". In "Outliers", Gladwell argues that successful people, though hardworking, were uniquely positioned in history to take advantage of a new opportunity.

NHL All-Stars

Within the first chapter, Gladwell breaks down the rosters of the NHL All-Star Team. These are the players who consistently outperform their teammates and rivals, the best-of-the-best. And Gladwell points out a commonality among most of them- their birthdays. Most of the NHL All-Stars have birthdays that fall within the first three months of the year. The reason for this is junior hockey leagues have the age cutoff on January 1st. All players born during that year end up on teams competing against each other. Gladwell points out that players of the same age are not all the same. Those born in January, February, and March will have a slight age advantage. Thanks to their early births, they develop a little bit more than those born in the latter part of the year. Thanks to this slight age advantage, these players perform just a little bit better than the rest. And when it comes time to pick the players to join the traveling teams, these are the ones who most likely make the cut. Thanks to this slight advantage, they find themselves on a team with dedicating coaching. Now the slight advantage becomes a more noticeable one. This doesn’t mean all NHL All-Stars are born between January and March. There are still All-Stars whose birthdays fall between April and December. Gladwell’s simply pointing out that they’re in the minority here. These players who have a slight advantage were able to turn into an even bigger one when the right opportunity came along. Gladwell goes on to identify other outliers who followed a similar path.

Bill Gates

Thanks to his enrollment in a private school, Bill Gates had access to technology few others had- the computer. He was part of a coding club at the time, and they were given a computer to work on during club meetings. They also were given a block of coding time at General Electric Computers. Thanks to this computer and the coding time, Gates and his fellow club members found coding interesting and fun. By learning to code at a young age, Gates already had a firm handle on the topic when he reached Harvard. When his friend Paul Allen approached him with a business idea, Gates seized on the opportunity. This would eventually lead to Microsoft and Gates status as creator of the personal computer. There was an opportunity and Gates jumped on it. At the time, coding wasn’t a well-known hobby, at least, not for kids. For Gates to have experience at such a young age, Gladwell marked him as an outlier. The remainder of Outliers is full of examples of people, or groups of people, who fit into a strange criterion identified by Gladwell. This set of criteria is mostly hindsight. Because who would know that computers would be such a hit? Or that coding would become so important? There is one thing Gladwell keeps circling back to- seizing opportunities.

What’s UTSA Doing?

The University of Texas at San Antonio has been aggressively expanding their programs and working to establish themselves as a top-tier school in the United States. On September 6th, UTSA announced plans to expand their cybersecurity and data science programs, as well as create two new facilities; The National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC), and the School of Data Science. A new facility will house these two new schools. This new facility will be part of an ongoing plan to expand UTSA’s campus in downtown San Antonio. According to Sean Attwood, the Senior Director of Workforce Management for SA Works, the new center will fill a widening gap in the cybersecurity industry. As the tech sector grows, there’s a need for more and more qualified specialists in this field. Some sources state that by 2019 there will be two million jobs in this field without qualified candidates to fill them. UTSA’s expansion will go a long way in filling that need.

The Silicon Valley of Cybersecurity and Data Science

The creation of the NSCC is only part of San Antonio’s potential. As more and more cybersecurity and data science jobs are required, UTSA is going to need to fill the classrooms first before they can offer qualified applicants. But plans are already in place to fill that need. UTSA, as well as school districts in and around San Antonio, has launched initiatives to help students get a jump start on the learning curve. Schools already have coding classes and specialized programs to promote interest in this growing field. A common practice among area schools is for students to pick a specific career track. Based on their choice, students will receive focused instruction for their chosen career path. Getting students to think about this choice earlier is part of a larger initiative to create quality enrollment for colleges. Especially UTSA. With quality enrollment, students are more likely to enter a field related to their degree. Thanks to these initiatives and efforts, San Antonio is poised to be the cybersecurity capital of the nation. The city already has the second largest concentration of cybersecurity and defense professionals after Washington DC and UTSA is first when comes to cybersecurity education.

Further Advantages

Having the 24th and 25th Air Force Wings within the city limits is also a huge plus. The 24th Wing concerns itself with the global cyberspace capabilities of the Air Force, specifically, cybersecurity. The 25th Wing of the Air Force provides security throughout the Air Force overall. With these two wings stationed in San Antonio, there’s an above-average number of trained professionals in cybersecurity, as well as data sciences, in that area. As a result, there is an abundance of cybersecurity companies and consultancy firms with headquarters here. According to Attwood, over 90% of those companies are working on government contracts. What about the commercial side? When commercial companies catch on to this, San Antonio will explode with potential.

Providing an Opportunity

As cyber security and data sciences grow in importance, the stage is set for another Bill Gates-like entrepreneur to rise in the ranks. It’s likely this person (could be either a woman or a man) has already been born and is in grade school right now. As they grow and see the need for innovations in cybersecurity, they’ll most likely think up the next big thing. One more point Gladwell made in his book- timing. Gates, NHL All-Stars, and other successful people were typically born at the right time to take advantage of a new opportunity. If they were born too early, they're following the “old ways." If they were born too late, they're too young to take advantage. The timing had to be just right. As UTSA builds the NSCC and expands their Data Sciences department, don't be surprised when an outlier appears. And it may not be one, but five, ten, possibly a hundred outliers who come through the San Antonio area and end up changing how we see cybersecurity and data sciences. Check out what’s happening with UTSA and the San Antonio area by getting the best internet deals. You can also find and download Gladwell’s Outliers to learn more about the opportunities that could lead to success and monumental change.

Moving In San Antonio; No Magic Needed

Moving into a new house is a stressful process. But with these tips and advice, you'll be able to smooth out the process and get into your new home faster.

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Moving In San Antonio; No Magic Needed

It’s no use lying, moving is difficult. More than difficult, it’s stressful. Changing addresses and physically moving from one location to another is one of the most stressful things that Americans can do. It’s the second one in fact. The first is losing a member within your immediate family and the third is losing your job. The good news is that unlike the first and third options, when you complete the process of buying a new house, it’s something to be happy about. You have succeeded! There’s a home and you have the key. This a place where you’ll find solace. A place to celebrate good times with your family and friends. And it’ll be attached to your name too. Getting into that house, however, is a challenging task.

A simple way would be to don a magical item and “will” your way into the house. Wave your fingers and create a mystical portal to take you from having no house into a house of your own. Sigh. That’d be nice. Even then, however, such trickery would be blocked by other forces. For example; Dr. Strange trying to move from one house to another, without getting killed by the bad guys. (Warning, there is a little language at the beginning of the clip)


House Hunting for Sorcerers

Dr. Strange, the 2016 sci-fi/action flick from Marvel, centers on Dr. Stephen Strange. He’s a gifted surgeon who loses the use of his hands. In his search to regain use of them, he gets involved in a rather confusing war between mystical forces. The good guys want to protect earth from entities that want to consume it. The bad guys want to offer up earth to these entities in hopes of gaining immortality. One of the main tools they use is the Sling Ring. To use this ring, the wearer needs to wave their hands and think of a destination. Abracadabra! There’s a portal taking you to your desired destination. This little ring becomes a plot point in the film, helping both Dr. Strange and his enemies to move freely in and out of structures. If one of these were to fall into the hands of a real estate agent, I can imagine the process of buying and selling real estate would be much, much, easier. Touring new homes would be much faster because you cut out traffic. And once the new home is selected, then abracadabra, you go to the office to sign papers. That’d be nice. But we’re not all sorcerers. Until such a thing is possible, the stress level of getting into a new house is reliant on how well you chose a real estate agent. And not just a singular real estate agent, but a team.

House Hunting for Real People

When you’re looking for a new home, it’s a wonderful time as you look at model homes and home pictures to determine what home is right for you.

Pre-Approval

To make those dreams a reality, the first step is often getting pre-approved for a home loan. If there’s no paperwork involved, then you’ll most likely do all of this online through your bank. You’ll most likely have to provide proof of employment with pay stubs. You’ll also have to declare any outstanding debts you have. This is stuff like your current mortgage (if you’re already living have a house), credit cards, your automobile loans, and any other significant purchases you’re still getting a bill for. After all, this is submitted, your bank, or the lending institution of your choice, will run a soft credit check. They’ll decide to approve you or not. Seasoned real estate agents caution, even after pre-approval, that you avoid large purchases. It might even help not to buy anything on credit. This is because once you’re pre-qualified for a loan, it’s based on your credit score on a particular date. It’s not set in stone. Throughout the purchasing process, more than one entity will be looking at your credit score. If it goes up or down too drastically, then this will hamper the closing process. This is not to say you can’t buy anything while you wait for your house to close. What you should do is avoid large purchases on credit. Speak with your real estate agent to get a better idea of how big “big” is.

HOAs

Another surprise to look out for is when it comes to selling your home. If you live in a neighborhood with a Home Owners Association (HOA), these can be especially problematic. First off, let me just say that HOA’s are helpful in many ways. But they can also incur strange and unseen costs. If the seller isn’t paying attention, then it’ll be a shock when the HOA demands a fee out of seemingly nowhere just as the house is about to close. A good real estate agent, backed by a good team, can help you avoid these types of problems. You’ll most likely deal with a lead real estate agent the entire time. But they’ll have others working behind them to make sure all the boxes are checked. A good real estate team could mean the difference between a smooth selling and buying experience or an incredibly stressful one.

Get a Home Security System

JJ Gorena, of The Trey Group based right here in San Antonio, TX, advises homeowners to get a home security system. There are a lot more home security options available these days. And some are very affordable. Furthermore, a home security system will help you save a lot more on homeowners’ insurance. ”It’s not as expensive as it used to be and as long as you don’t go overboard with the new technology, it almost washes itself with cost.” —JJ Gorena, CEO of The Trey Group

Be Honest

While there is no such thing as sorcery, buying a home has a way of revealing things you wouldn’t have expected. A real estate friend of mine relayed one such story; When it comes time to finalize the buying process, you get herded into an office with a stack of papers. There are pens galore. Real estate agents and other necessary specialists come in and they hand you paper after paper to sign. If you’ve got a good real estate agent, that person will explain each document to you, what it’s for, and most importantly, where to sign. Almost every one of those documents requires you to double check the information and ensure its correct. One such paper will have the names of the people buying the house. And not just the current names, but all previous aliases. In my case, it was my full name right underneath my wife’s full name, and her maiden name. My real estate agent told us about one such signing where the husband was handed this document first. He saw his name and signed on the appropriate space. Then he looked to the line below. There was his wife’s name. And then about three or four more aliases. When he asked wife why there were all those names, THAT is when the wife decided to tell her husband she’d been married before. And not just once, but about three times. My real estate agent recalled that the signing process stopped at that point and everyone had to leave the room while the “happy” couple had a discussion. The moral of the story- be honest!

Moving On

If you’re in the market for a new home, make sure you find a real estate agent who’s backed by a good team. If you’re in San Antonio, TX or the surrounding area, look into The Trey Group. They help both residential and business clients find a new home. You won’t be disappointed. For those who are just looking, or have just moved into a new home, make sure you get the best internet bundles and packages available. You’ll save some money to put towards that new home. And then you can kick back and relax while you watch Dr. Strange. It’s a good movie, trust me.

WOW is Stepping Up Their Game

The ISP industry is full of tough competition. The bigger players assume they'll win. But they're ignorant of challenger brands, like WOW.

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WOW is Stepping Up Their Game

Updated 02/26/2020

The ISP (internet service provider) industry is full of tough competition. Much like the fabled game of golf, being an ISP requires companies to read the landscape and adjust as necessary. Larger, more established companies are seen as the favorites, easy winners. But they're ignorant of the challengers. Challengers like WOW (Wide Open West). Coming up this weekend, the PGA is hosting the Ryder Cup in Paris, France, at Le Golf National Golf Course. It’s one of the many tour championships the PGA hosts throughout the year. And much like internet service providers, there are the well-known names, and then there are the challengers.

Golf is Golf

Golf is a difficult game to play. Some would argue it’s a difficult game to watch too. The golf enthusiast would argue differently though. Golf requires strategy and skill. It’s not an easy game to play. Anyone can pick up a golf club. But it takes training and commitment to play well. Talent will only get you so far. Professional golfers practice constantly to ensure they’re ready for the big games. If they don’t perform well, then they’re not going to get sponsored. Then they don’t have a job. To get an edge in the game, golfers need to know how to read the elements around them. This is why you usually see a golf player staring pensively at the horizon as they get ready to tee off. They’re calculating the slope of the ground, wind speed, and how much force they’ll need to put into their swing. If a professional golfer were writing this, they’d likely add a lot more detail, discuss the nuance, and explain the exact science behind evaluating a shot. To summarize- it’s a lot! Luckily for golfers, the only time they need worry about this is doing this during a game. Companies like WOW, on the other hand, have to worry about this constantly.

ISPs are Not Like a Game of Golf

While golf is a challenging game, it’s only during games that competition is stiff. ISPs are competing constantly. The larger brands, like AT&T and Verizon, are well-established and have huge budgets behind their marketing. It’s “easier” for them to expand and try out new technologies. Even though they are the fifth-largest ISP in the nation, WOW is a challenger brand. They have the skills to compete with the big brands, yet, they’re having to break into markets. WOW! isn’t small by any measure. It’s just that other companies are so huge. WOW! is using this to their advantage. As a challenger brand, they’re working harder to compete on price, service, and cutting-edge technology.

Whole-Home Wi-Fi

A common complaint with wi-fi is the loss of signal even when you’re inside your home. The router may be centrally located, but the signal is getting blocked by other materials and elements in the house. As the concept of mesh wi-fi gains in popularity, WOW! is taking part in the newest trend. A mesh wi-fi uses extra devices to connect to your wi-fi router. These little devices, dubbed satellites, are plugged in throughout the home and create a miniature wi-fi network within your home. WOW is partnering with EERO to provide mesh wi-fi to its customers. As part of their Whole Home Wi-Fi package, customers not only get wi-fi, but the mesh satellites are included with the service. Whole Home will help eliminate dead zones within the home. They also help when friends and family come over as well. All those extra devices on the network can bog down your speed. With a mesh wi-fi network, you’ll be able to handle the extra load.

Mesh Wi-Fi

With a mesh wi-fi, you’ll get to enjoy consistent speeds within your home. This will give you the speed you’re paying for and deliver it most of the time. Another perk of mesh wi-fi is you can move the satellites from room to room. These little satellites will work so long as they’re plugged in and within range of the router. If you want to expand your network to your garage so you can play your music while you work on your car…you can. Or say you have friends coming over and they want to hang out outside. You can move one of your satellites to an outdoor plug so you don’t have to sacrifice wi-fi coverage.

WOW! as a Challenger

Beyond mesh wi-fi, WOW! is already a solid ISP. Just ask Netflix. Netflix has a speed index rating system. They constantly check the download speeds during peak hours. These hours are generally between 5 and 10 pm at night. It’s during this time that most families are home. And when they’re home, they listening to music, watching TV, or surfing the web. To do that, they use up the wi-fi. Then there’s the house next door that’s full of people using their wi-fi too. ISPs generally see a dip in performance during this time. As everyone gets online and uses their bandwidth, the ISP compensates. This usually means slowing down to handle moving all that data at once. From August of 2017 to August of 2018, WOW! averaged 4.03 Mbps. Considering the best ranking on the index is 4.19, that’s not bad at all. WOW! is able to consistently deliver even during peak hours. So if you’re a golf enthusiast who has WOW! as your ISP, you’re in luck!

Competing 24/7

Unlike golf, WOW! is competing 24 hours a day, seven days a week with companies that are bigger and more established. This hasn’t seemed to be a problem. Back in August 2018, WOW! partnered with Breland Companies to provide fiber internet to Town Madison. Town Madison is a new housing development in Huntsville, AL. As more and more home features are going digital, WOW! getting in on the development of the homes themselves and installing the necessary equipment to make them “digital ready” when they’re finished. Fiber optic internet, the fastest internet connection available, is going to be installed in Town Madison. Residents will get to enjoy above-average speeds. This will be especially helpful as the community grows and smart home devices become more prevalent.

Check out WOW!

For those who enjoy golf, or any sport for that matter, make sure to check out coverage of the Ryder Cup this weekend. Better yet, make sure to check out WOW! internet deals and packages. By combining your internet, cable, and voice through WOW! you’ll be able to cut back on bills and save time. All your services will come through one provider. And for those who are not golf enthusiasts or have never been on a golf course in your life, there are plenty of other sports to watch and enjoy. Or movies, or music! Make sure you take advantage of the mesh wi-fi. You’ll be able to move freely about your home without worrying about stumbling into a dead spot.

Bigger Screens Are Not the Answer!

Nearly everyone has a smartphone these days. Or, advertisers want you to believe nearly everyone does- "smarter phones with bigger screens!" Is it true?

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Bigger Screens Are Not the Answer!
Nearly everyone has a smartphone these days. Or, advertisers want you to believe nearly everyone does- "smarter phones with bigger screens!" And when you do finally cave to peer pressure, they want you to buy a smartphone with the biggest screen available. There’s an obvious joke to play here; something about being bigger is better, and some sort of innuendo. But that’s not going to happen. What will happen, however, is that screens on smartphones will get bigger and bigger. But why?

The Space Race

Back in the 40s and 50s, computers were a new thing. They were bulky and crude compared to the technology we command today. Beyond that, they could compute equations only if the input was just right. The tubes involved in computers had to be moved just right, or they wouldn’t function properly. And then came the computers with the punch cards. To make the computer do exactly what you wanted, you had to have the right punch cards to make that happen. Those cards had to put in the right order as well. If you had a stack of punch cards for a computer, you had to make sure they stayed in the right order. If someone dropped them or moved just one card out of order, then the whole process was messed up. Computers, though helpful, were not as useful as they were meant to be. Organizations still relied on the time-tested and trusted source of computing numbers- the human mind. To do this, having a math degree came in handy. Once someone attained the appropriate degree and proved they could execute the right calculations with reasonable accuracy, they were handed stacks of equations to double-check. This is detailed in “Hidden Figures,” by Margot Lee Shetterly. The movie touches, briefly, on this skill. Therefore, you must read the book because it’ll show you so much more about what went into computing. In fact, that’s where the term “computer” came from; a person who computes equations.

A Computer is a Person

Back before NASA existed, there was the NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA was concerned with creating superior airplanes and missiles after World War I. Naturally, when the Second World War erupted, NACA was expanded to research and test new airplanes and aerodynamics. To do this, they needed help to compute the mountains of data that came with the researching, testing, and experimenting. So they hired people with math degrees to do the analysis. Entire buildings of “computers” were hired out. And with the draft invoked, NACA had to look beyond the typical male candidates they were so used to finding. This was part of the catalyst for women, both African-American and white, to find their way into the NACA, and soon, NASA.

The Moon

After World War II, there came another conflict the United States was intent on winning- The Cold War. Hence, NACA was still needed. But now they had to go beyond the skies- they needed to go to space. Then John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, gave his iconic speech on September 12, 1962. In it, he spoke these lines that would forever define space exploration; “We choose to go to the moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and others, too.” With that, the race to the moon was on. As exciting as it was to claim that we would make it to the moon first, there was a problem- they had to figure out a way to get up there. To do that, they needed to train pilots to be astronauts. And therein lay another problem- astronauts can only do so much. To pilot a craft out of our atmosphere, there needed to be a support staff capable of doing it. Constant communication was required. Data needed to be taken and analyzed rapidly. That’s why they started making computers smaller, faster, and lighter. You can read up on the speech through NASA’s site, or watch it on YouTube. Just make sure you’ve checked the best internet deals and packages first so you can save some cash before you do.

Then and Now

Think about this- the smartphones we now use have more computing power than all of NASA did when they put a man on the moon. And yet, we’re using them to play games and watch fail videos. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Fail videos are fun to watch. And setting a high score is great. What NASA inadvertently started in the late 60s—the miniaturization of the computer—has become an obsession. Now the latest trend is to pack more and more computing power into a smaller device. But there seems to be one drawback to all this- the screens are getting bigger.

The Screen Race

I currently use an iPhone SE. The screen is 4 inches. And it works for me. I don’t need a huge screen on my phone. The size of this thing is just right because I have to carry it with me and I don’t want to carry it in my hand all the time either. I also refuse to use a cradle or hustle of this thing. Call me vain, but I wouldn’t be caught dead with a smartphone holster on me. But fashion these days is taking a disturbing trend. Pants are coming with fewer pockets. They’re also becoming tighter and tighter.

Why This Trend?

This fascination with tight pants is beyond me. Then again, I was never on the cutting edge of fashion. I grew up in the age when baggy pants were “in.” And better yet, add in a couple extra pockets to make them cargo pants. At first, I didn’t want to buy into the trend. I was so thankful when I did. They were incredibly comfortable! It wasn’t the material that made them comfortable, but the room inside them. I was sealed into some denim torture device. No, I had room to breathe. My pants didn’t judge me, instead, they embraced me and said, “You’ll fit right in!” What could make these pants even better? Pockets! Who’d have thought? By adding an extra pair of pockets you could carry extra stuff on you, like a phone! Yet, as these phones get bigger and bigger, cargo pants are shunned from the fashion world. They’re ostracized and cast out. They’re not “fashionable.” And yet, I’m doomed to carry a massive phone on me without a pocket to carry it in. I ask you, why must we be condemned to this existence? Do we really need screens this big on our phones? And if so, why can’t we have pants that can carry them?

The Next Trend

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the one who refuses to switch trends. But that’s okay. I’m an outsider anyway, and always have been. Therefore, I’ll stick with my outdated sense of style. I do this because it’s comfortable. Beyond comfort, I know what looks good on me and what I like to be seen in. Therefore, it will be relaxed bootcut jeans, flannel, and a pair of tennis shoes. Even if they come out with a new phone to fit in every pocket, it won’t affect my sense of style. But I have heard of Samsung creating a foldable phone. That might be the new trend. I hope so because a phone that folds will make it easier to fit into a pocket. And when that happens, we’ll have the best of both worlds; big screens, and a pocket that can fit them.