Put simply on why I feel happy today, my Joy and Happiness is being able to create on an apple Mac a video clip from my heart for Su's birthday celebrated in US on 4th Oct as I celebrate mine a day later. Due to time zone differences between America and Asia, it's like both of us are having our birthday at the same time.
There is Joy and Happiness as I do this on my birthday for two reasons. One is that I'm over half a century old and it tickles me to be able to continue learning new systems as the Mac computer runs quite differently from the Microsoft Personal Computer that I've been using for years since it first came out in the early 80s. The other is that reflecting on Su's life on her birthday as her father is itself a heart warming and joyful experience. I am just glad I am able to do it on this day expressed in pics and music to share with her on her special day. So why didn't I publish the video clip right at the beginning of this post to wish her Happy Birthday? Here is the reason and it's really cool as it ties in with my thoughts this moment as I reflect them on this post!

I was rushing to get it done in time, well at least while it's still the 4th in the US. I hardly touch my Mac as in as much as it is a fun tool to work or play on, too much of my work stuff and routines have been built around the PC. However I did my first video clip on the Mac for Fei last year after her wedding in Logan in May and didn't do another since then. So when inspiration/motivation came to me to do another for Su on her birthday, I struggled a bit to remember how to do it and when I finally got it made to post in on YouTube for her ...... I got the message as per the above screen capture, "We are currently performing site maintenance. Be cool - we'll be back 100% in a bit. "
Be cool it said? Yes in as much as I was kind of anxious to get it to Su, I must say I was cool about it. Instead of reacting with frustration, I just quickly thought of alternative solutions to get it to her. So Su Min Liu, if you are reading this, Dad looked at the size of the video clip which was about 8.5mb and knew Gmail could handle the size and emailed it to you earlier! Google said they will be back 100% in a bit so let's see how long that is because as soon as what I uploaded appears on my YouTube account, I will embed the video clip in one of the next paragraphs here. I was ready to post the video clip when I started the post about 8:11am this morning so let's see how long "a bit" takes! Well it's about 11:30am now and I've been out and back to check if it's been published but not yet after 3 hrs plus. Oh well Su has got it on the email while the rest can perhaps check out this first video clip I did for Fei Wyatt on my Mac after her wedding last year!
After lunch I checked again at my 2.15pm and discovered that my upload was unsuccessful with the message, "Failed (upload aborted)"
So with patience and persistency, I attempted to upload again. After taking several minutes to see the progressive bar register full to indicate a 100% upload, suddenly another new message appeared, "We are currently in read-only mode. Your upload will continue but will not go live or be editable until read-only mode is over."
I'm wondering in my mind, why didn't they just stop the uploading function for the time being and give out a warning notice that it is non-functional due to maintenance, upgrading, updating etc... instead of letting the patient user proceed to spend the many minutes trying to get a negative result at the end. Hahaha!
It is interesting to note that they then put out another notice about a new feature, "New! Edit your videos on YouTube to make them shine. Learn More" The 'Learn More' is of course a hyper link to pages of new features to read about or videos to watch and learn if you are still in the mood to try it! This negative mood certainly is not desirable by adults or children as this next video will show. Han our oldest boy in the family had demonstrated this in the mid 90s when Computer Aided Learning (CAL) was a hot topic in the country but unfortunately local developers who had capable technical minds to do the programming did not have adequate EQ understanding to avoid the following negative emotional response from Han. Let's take a look :
I am glad that he has learnt to manage his EQ better growing up, to become a more rounded person as described in his personal family profile, though he is still a very unique person in his ways.
As a pioneer in the computer or Information Technology industry all the children were exposed early to the latest technology but I was careful not to create narrow minded children driven solely by technology. The youngest children in our family today are even more exposed to technology, gadgets and games while Mom and Dad are keeping a watchful eye. The future is definitely being strongly driven by technology but the human mind is not a robot and cannot expect to function like the lesser intelligent computers created by man that merely run repetitive tasks. The fact that we see more and more people walking around looking into their cell phones or watching a video on their large light weighted pads oblivious of their surroundings, sometimes as an escape from the real world should be of some concern by our society. While technology creates the stress, it is sad to see profit making companies use technology to control our freedom and our thinking via subtle programs that suck up the life of many youths and even adults included in the name of reducing stress! Relationships are being greatly challenged as love become some what elusive and often described as complicating. I came across this dialogue of installing love to the human computer from a Facebook Friend Evelyn Lim through her Abundance Tapestry website. It's fun to read with a subtle message for all :
A customer ran into some computer problems and called the help desk for assistance. Here was how the conversation went….
Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?
Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?
Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?
Tech Support: What programs are running ?
Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?
Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.” What should I do?
Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.
Customer: So, what should I do?
Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.
Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?
Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
Customer: Thank you, God.
God/Tech Support: You’re Welcome, Anytime.
— Anonymous
Ok YouTube is back and running normal about 6pm here so we did have to wait quite a bit since 8am in the morning to enjoy!
(Click this link if you don't see the video screen above.)
Happy Birthday Su Min LIU from everyone at Familylane! This video clip has been added to the post containing all the photos and videos of the trip to your wedding in the US found here.