I fell to my knees and wept with joy.
[READER]( The Daily Reader The camera on my laptop shut down the other day. No warning or explanation—not there would be any. It’s not as if the laptop talks—like Hal, the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was just one day the camera worked and the next day it didn’t. Instantly, I did what I always do when the technology in my life breaks down. I sought assistance from a millennial, on the grounds that they know more than me (a broken-down Boomer) about tech. I base this assessment on years of watching millennials whisper into their phones until they’re purring like little kitty cats. The phones, that is—not the millennials. However, to my astonishment and disappointment, I can’t find a single millennial who knows how to fix the camera on my laptop. And I turned to a bunch of them. Don’t want to embarrass anyone by mentioning names. Though one’s named Dr. D and one’s named DJ Nate. Other than that, my lips are sealed. They gave me all kinds of advice. Like . . . “Turn it off and turn it on.” Didn’t work. And . . . “Bang the top.” Didn’t work either. And, my personal favorite . . . “Jiggle the wires.” Also, didn’t work. Probably cause there are no wires to jiggle. In desperation, I got off my lazy behind and headed over to Best Buy, where I’d purchased the laptop. Made a reservation with the Geek Squad and everything. They posted my name (“Ben J”) on the electronic sign they have that tells you when your geekster is ready to meet you. Took a picture of the sign and sent it to my wife—just to let her know I’d made it. At my appointed time, out from the back walks Jonathan, the Geek Squad guy, who happens to be a millennial. I’m telling you, Best Buy is swarming with them. He takes one look at my laptop and says . . . “It’s the shutter.” To which I say . . . “The shutter? This thing has a shutter?” And Jonathan said . . . “It does. And somehow you closed it.” He then opened it, and—presto—my camera worked. I fell to my knees and wept with joy. Not really. But I did start singing, “Oh, Happy Day!” Learned several things from this experience. One, laptop cameras have shutters. Two, you’d be surprised how many millennials have never heard of the song “Oh, Happy Day!” And, three, just because millennials are young doesn’t mean they know everything about laptops. That’s for sure. Anyway, thank you, Jonathan. You’ve done your generation proud.
Listen to [The Ben Joravsky Show](
[What Ben's Reading] - [Dolphin Junction]( a collection of short stories by Mick Herron. Been really into Herron since I read and reread [Slow Horses](. Dolphin Junction is wild. Like Edgar Allen Poe meets Gone Girl. Herron has range.
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[Peace, a Scientist, and electronica](
Things to do in Chicago for Tuesday 8/9/2022
by [Micco Caporale]( [Salem Collo-Julin]( and [Kerry Reid](
[Experimental metal trio Locrian break their seven-year silence with the exploratory New Catastrophism](
by [Luca Cimarusti]( 💞 Forget the apps. [Place a FREE Reader matches ad]( and try your luck at finding love the 90s way 📰
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August 7 - 17, 2022
Vol. 51, No.]( [Download Issue](
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