Working from home

Yahoo's decision to curtail remote working among its employees has stirred dismay in the technology industry at a time when many companies are innovating new solutions to enable telecommuting. ... Foursquare Co-Founder Dennis Crowley also emphasized the need for balance: "It is great to offer employees the flexibility that If they need to be off for a day or so, or for an afternoon, that's totally fine. "We try to get as many people together in the office as possible because that's where stuff gets done. People hang out in the lunch room, and they hang out in the hallways and in different meeting rooms. You are more productive when people are all together, but I think you need to have a little bit of flexibility. CNN

I hope our company doesn’t get any ideas. I just came off a company that frowned on anything resembling working off site. They wanted us to fly at night so we could work both days on either side.

It sounds like the order at Yahoo is to people who only work from home. it sounds like people who are just plane out of the office for good need to make it into the office on a regular basis. I remember another story about all hands meetings on Friday at 14:30 to make sure people were not skipping out.

It almost sounds like Yahoo had adopted a French work ethic. I’ve heard people say that some French take pride in getting away with as little work as possible and thinking that “Working is for suckers.”

I do not have a place set up for working from home. I need to come up with a table, chair, connection and a clear working environment to get things done at home. My old computer desk would work. I just need to clear it off and prepare it for use as a homework station.

That article doesn’t talk about productivity. Some people work better in groups. Some not. Some professions probably lend themselves to working from home more than others. In IT, you cannot work from home. There are wires to be plugged and switches to be thrown. Automobile mechanics need a shop as well. Sales, however, seem like a good candidate for not needing an office visit every day.

Here is an NPR story on the subject.

Notes

Lately with Twitter, I’ve had to use the text message feature to post comments. I dumped the ap on my phone because it crashed so much. When I try to post something, the web page locks up my phone to the point I have to the point I have to pull the battery. That is all well and good. I can live with it.. Just kind of cracks me up how old technology keeps working beyond the new stuff.

We need to cut the president’s travel budget. The U,. S. taxpayer spends more on the office ot the presiedent than all the royal families of Europe combined. We cannot afford out elected royalty.

Had pizza with mushrooms and a bit of beef this weekend. Loved it. Every little tickle  in a joint sends me into panic whether or not I’m headed for a gout attack. This is no way to live. One of the vlogs I watch had a guy making steak with smother mushrooms. He washed it down with beer.  I was salivating and panicking at the same time. That would put me in a wheelchair.

Today something strange happened. I closed my last assigned ticket. I need to do a bunch of cleanup,but I’m off to software from IT next week. Interesting times in Kelly’s life.

I’m starting to hate people who do not show up for meetings. it is so freaking disruptive to just blow off a meeting you have something to say about. The rest of the people are there twiddling their thumbs and mer mering about how much you get paid while they wait. Admittedly, some folks are over taxed when it comes to meetings. I am not stupid. I know this happens. Still, they need to keep up with schedule.

Many people love Macintosh computers. Some try to get work done on them. I’ve noticed a trend. People who use Macintosh computers are not any more efficient than people who do not, but they do seem to be more opinionated.

For years I fought my old boss to allow us to have VPN access to the network. It is more secure than not allowing it because people don’t try to figure out ways around the security and it is encrypted seven ways from Sunday.. Now, I spend half my day making the bits and pieces for people to gain VPN access to our network. It seems like every other person at the big company wants to be part of our venture.

Of tires and a busy weekend

Field	Data
Title	Of tires and a busy weekend
Description	A quick vlog for the weekend. My Links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, dead mouse, laundry, chores, quick, tire, tire stor
Bullets
Link	Link

My parent’s side of the story

Field	Data
Title	My Parent’s side of the story
Description	This video is my Parent’s side of the story. Link to original below. Original story: http://youtu.be/MN9DXAvk4-A My Links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, parents, eighties, van, trip, family, travel, anecdote, story, road trip, history
Bullets	When I was a kid, I said my dad and I were out driving and found mom. Even sighted people can make visual mistakes Distracted people make mistakes Know where you are and where you are going Shoes, ID (phone) before you leave the car on a road trip
Link	Link

It’s never good when a cop knows your name

Field	Data
Title	It’s never good when a cop knows your name
Description	My dad leaving my mom at a gas station when I was a kid. The family is going to love this one. My parent's side of the story: http://youtu.be/EGbdLCPX9Mw My Links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, parents, eighties, van, trip, family, travel, anecdote, story, road trip, history
Bullets	When I was a kid, I said my dad and I were out driving and found mom. Even sighted people can make visual mistakes Distracted people make mistakes Know where you are and where you are going Shoes, ID (phone) before you leave the car on a road trip
Link	Link

The Mosquito’s Nose

Mosquitoes Beginning To Ignore DEET Repellent Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 21, @11:34PM from the we're-doomed dept. Copper Nikus writes"An article at the BBC makes a shocking claim about mosquitoes. It appears some individual insects in the wild have developed the ability to ignore the very popular DEET repellent after a first exposure. From the article: 'To investigate why this might be happening, the researchers attached electrodes to the insects' antenna. Dr Logan explained: "We were able to record the response of the receptors on the antenna to Deet, and what we found was the mosquitoes were no longer as sensitive to the chemical, so they weren't picking it up as well. "There is something about being exposed to the chemical that first time that changes their olfactory system - changes their sense of smell - and their ability to smell Deet, which makes it less effective."'"

Deet has been called the only thing that really works to get rid of mosquitos. This is frightening news to be sure. I’ve used this stuff many times. I’ve used 20% and 80% with noticeable difference. Hearing that it may fail in the future makes me worry. It will be beekeeper uniforms someday.

Notes

In Firefox, I have a difficult time using all the features in Google Drive. When I save a document as a  copy in Firefox, I have a hard time getting it in to the correct folder. The interface just ignores my commands in many cases. Once I switch to Chrome, things all start to work. Files end up in the correct folders and the interface seems to flow much better. Firefox just isn’t on the high priority test list for Google I suppose.

NPR put up a show touting that inflation died. Last month inflation was 0.0% according to many estimates. That is awesome for consumers. I would put forward that inflation is taking a nap. Inflation is a way for the government or establishment, the people who print the money, to steal from everyone who uses that money. Because, those folks running the world, they getting paid.

Dresden nuclear facility, Who the hell named a nuclear facility after a city that burned?

A nuclear (NRC) inspector named Roach. That guy is perfect for the job.

Last night I took my contacts out to clean them. This morning, they didn’t go in properly. My right eye had some kind of issue. The mayhem that is trying to get them straight lead toe the use of an open contact container getting bumped and both contacts flopping out onto the bedspread. They were not obvious which was right and which was left. I chose poorly. I lasted to 10:00. My prescription is pretty close between eyes, but no cigar.

I’ve noticed that I am more likely to text someone who has added a picture to Google Plus. This makes the image come up in the default address book and texting software.

Notes

In Finland, you pay a percentage of your pay for traffic violations. If you speed, it is 20% of your monthly take home pay. I guess, I if I made a lot of money, I would find ways to get paid outside the country or jam all that pay into things that didn’t count as take home pay.

One of the guys is visiting Mexico at work. He had the VPN password expire while he was there. His phone won't let him call toll free numbers from Mexico. He can’t get through to Mexico numbers for some reason. W could not find a non toll free version of the help desk number. The man is a mess. When I left off, someone was going to conference him in to a call and then call the support line here in the office. I wish him luck.

One of the guys I hadn't spoken to in a while popped up on the chat software. II said “Hadn't heard from you in a while.” He responded “I haven’t heard from me in a while.” Been that kind of eight or nine months.

Cats and Dogs

Field	Data
Title	Dogs vs cats
Description	My two pets on the subject of animals in the home. My Links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, dogs, cats, pets, family,
Bullets	How do pets eat the same food day in and day out without dying Dogs are pack animals, eager to please. Cats are social, but lone hunters, eager for you to service them. Cats and dogs are predators. Fish are just there. People who want to spend money without getting love get fish. They all smell, inside vs outside. My cat, Dusty
Link	Link

Day to day notes

I have some video ideas bouncing around in my head. They are at the top of my daily notes file. I use Google Drive to keep track of my life. The blog entries end up there first well before publishing. I never carried ideas forward until just recently. I’ve had two video ideas that I’ve been let slow boil now for over a week. It is a good thing. They are not the kind of vlog that is linked to a specific news entry or happening event. They are pretty generic. I’m just letting the ideas shake out for a bit before pulling the trigger.

Something I’ve learned about Google Drive the copy and paste functionality blows. When moving tables from one document  to another, the cell sizes get jacked. Same happens to the line spacing of bulleted lists. It is annoying, but not a show stopper. These kinds of bugs will never get fixed in Google Drive. I can work around this by opening yesterday’s entry and saving a copy. They do not want to deal with the editors. Google wants to abandon the office suite business.

Don’t get me wrong, I use Google Drive every day. It has become indispensable. I recently blogged about using the phone app even though my phone is not robust enough to handle big apps like that. It works and works pretty darn well. Just today, I should have stopped in my tracks and left myself a message or something containing a video idea. I didn’t and now I have lost the idea. I only remember having the idea and thinking I should write it down. I’m like that.

At some point I need to come up with a way to have private notes as well as public ones. I’ve tried to use separate documents, but apparently, having two documents open all day in Google Drive is beyond my ability to endure. If I put things in the same document, I fear that private will become public through failure to read before publishing. Tell me I’m wrong.

A while back Dr Karl said he tried to keep track of his dreams. he left a pen and paper next to the bed and when he woke up in the middle of the night after a dream, he trained himself to lean over and write down something about his dreams. All he ever got on the pads of paper were “Write it down.” over and over. That was what he trained himself to do. I believe sometimes that this was a message to himself. Dr Karl writes books, dozens of them, where he talks about cool things. I think that is the secret, at least for him. “Write it down.”

Notes

Are bobbleheads art? The courts need to know in order to force the money to the correct monopolies. This kind of thing makes me think of all the goofy shit that people want to make money off of. The courts have to decide. It makes me ill sometimes thinking about all the bullshit. The bullshit is getting sliced up and put in people’s pockets.

There are 40 million gun licenses in India. The black market is growing because it can take years to get a license. Some estimates say 85% of guns are illegal. due to the paperwork.

Antidepressants are making their way into the rivers and streams. Schooling fish are becoming more bold and getting caught out in the open more often. Carnivorous fish attack their prey more ferociously. This lead to a discussion of B movies about animals consuming drugs and malling school children.

Local News

Field	Data
Title	Local News
Description	My inquiring mind wants to know. My Links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, news, local news, Westheimer road, Houston, Texas,
Link	Link

Weekend in review

I got a ride Friday evening home from work. The guys were playing a quick game after work and I waited patiently. They finished up and jake and I ran to my house in a hurry because he had a tennis match to get to. I’ve never thought much of tennis probably because I can’t play it. I never have felt much for sports beyond distance. This is jealously fed I’m sure.

I do not remember walking in the door. I can reconstruct it, but it feels different than a memory.

Saturday has vanished from my memory. I know I didn’t get much done. We did go to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  Other than that, I cannot put it together in my head. I did edit and put up another video that I had shot the week before. That was about it.

Sunday was a work day. Elle’s closet rod broke the previous week sometime. Bill, her grandfather, came over and fixed it. I was doing yard work. I didn’t realize Bill was going to hang out the rest of the day and help Elle sort out her closet and room. They made a huge dent. It is going to take a lot of work.

the weather was absolutely amazing. Saturday evening got chilly. Mowing the yard was nice as far as weather. I probably should have used glasses for mowing in addition to safety glasses. I got a headache from all the bright sunlight. Nothing Excedrin couldn’t handle

Funny thing about Monday, seven or eight people locked their passwords out. Not sure what was going on this weekend besides some nice weather. it seemed to be a trend.

Back Yard

Field	Data
Title	Back Yard
Description	Couldn’t think of anything better than a time lapse in the back yard. Music: Mining by Moonlight Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ My Links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	time lapse, timelapse, sunday afternoon, back yard, pretty day, good weather, grass, house
Link	Link

Notes

Yesterday I shot two videos at lunch. Thought I was ahead of the game. I got home edited one of the videos was about to upload it when I noticed it was jacked. I had to render it again. This takes 45 minutes. Normally this is no big deal. I ended up going to bed. I got up this morning and thought about either uploading the video or copying the files to a drive and uploading them at a break, but Nat and Elle were both asleep in the living room and they have a very busy day today.

EEEEEEEE!!! one of the guys came up to me at work and said my chicken fried steak video is his new favorite video of mine. Awesome.

“If we had only done then with what we know now.” This came out of a radio commentator and people acted like they didn’t understand. I understand. People who work in radio are mostly idiots.

The number of people in China who live on less than $2 a day is larger than the entire population of the U. S. - NPR

Spent half the afternoon fighting user login rights on LDAP and Linux. This kind of crap has got to stop. Someone needs to make a login authentication that frigging works and doesn’t take a team of security gurus to make function on a daily basis. I can’t even explain what the reason was. Let’s just say the karma of the machine in question was out of balance with the authentication servers’ chi. That makes about as much sense.

Lunch conversation

No video shot at lunch today Yes, I went out to lunch for a second time in a week. I paid for myself this time. I have to admit that I didn’t look up from my baked potato very often. Nor, did I look up from the ice cream cone (included) after the potato.

• Set your root password
• Baked potatoes are just plain good
• Those of us with yards afe doing yard work
• Exorcising
• The work out place down stairs
• 24 hour fitness
• The wheel thing for your abs and how it turns your stomach to hamburger.
• Stairmasters
• Users are evil
• Computers are evil
• We are evil, but we know what we are doing.

It is important to note that we are all IT people at this lunch.

Was Apple really a smartphone innovator?

Field	Data
Title	Was Apple really a smartphone innovator?
Description	My opinion on Apple’s performance and direction. My Links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, apple corporation, apple computers, iPhone, smartphone, opinion, innovation, sunny day
Link	Link

UK horse meat

Field	Data
Title	UK horse meat scandal
Description	This is something in the news that caught my eye. News links * http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21464052 * http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/feb/14/horse-meat-1948-british-pathe-video Regular links * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, news, horse meat, scandal, opinion, sunny day, food, food supply, betrayal
Link	Link

Morning break conversation

• Guns
• Tech-9
• Lack of ammunition for sale
• Conceal carry licenses, rules of carry
• Local gun clubs and shooting ranges
• Family traditions involving firearms
• Small aircraft
• Short takeoff and landing
• using small aircraft instead of helicopters for news shows

Not sure what is going on, but I’m having some really good conversations with my coworkers lately  It seems the transition to working at a larger company has done some good on the social front for me at least.

Lunch and afternoon break conversations didn’t happen. At lunch, I shot two videos. Afternoon break was spent working. These things happen.
UK horse meat

Notes

I have to explain to engineers that you have to connect to a network connection first, then connect a VPN. This tells me that this stuff doesn’t make sense to anyone. It does not reflect on their capability as engineers.

People attribute smartphone innovations to Apple. Apple marketed the iPhone well. More of them sold than other smart phones. Apple pulled the technology and most of the software ideas off the shelf. If anything, Blackberry or Research in Motion deserves the nod. They made the investment well before Apple. The marketing was just better at Apple.

Why YouTube shows 300 views

Field	Data
Title	Why YouTube shows 300 views (as I heard it anyway)
Description	Sometimes you find a new video with 300 views and 2000 likes or dislikes. * Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/zhsy00001 * Google+ https://plus.google.com/110920679448216202152/posts/p/pub * Blog http://plastickelly.blogspot.com * YouTube RSS http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/zhsy00001/uploads
Tags	vlog, vlogging, youtube views, 300, view count on youtube
Link	Link

Video

CamCorder

These devices have altered how people document their lives. By today, we find ourselves watching boths sides of a war kill one another. We watch people talk about their lives. We watch the world recorded one person’s experience at a time.

In that Wikipedia article there is a picture down the right hand side of the page of a two piece Betamax system from the early eighties. My middle school had one. It was black and white. It was cool.  It weighed 35 pounds. We used it to video school events. I was in a class that got to just play with it. I remember seeing my face on the TV after the teacher aimed the camera at us explaining how it worked. She was recording without telling us.

My life has been changed by my blog and my vlog. They have different audiences. The blog is to the world and to prosperity. I have a feeling that the text at least will stick around for a very long time in archives somewhere. The vlog on the other hand will vanish when YouTube starts charging for posting and I refuse to pay the bill. I accept this.

There are things you just cannot project in text only. It is fun to shoot and edit the videos. it is fun to get some of the comments.  I’ve turned on approval on some of my videos due to the number of trolls on the net. That is another blog post.

The side effect of all this freedom is people wanting to limit your freedom. Not everyone who is shooting a video on the street is a terrorist or a pedefile. Some people are just shutterbugs who like to take video of stuff to help them relive good times and share the experience with people who are not there at the time. I believe that eventually all governing bodies will want to govern everything that can be governed and then they make up things to govern. We need a reset button.

Notes

I heard a love letter from Napoleon Bonaparte. It was sappy. It made him sound far too human.

There is a huge dustup in the U. K. over food safety. It turns out several stores and prepackaged frozen food vendors sold horse meat as beef. Most people are pissed, as I would be too, that the package description was not accurate, not that they may have eaten horse meat. What about hot dogs? What about fish? People don’t seem to be worried what kind of fish is in fish sticks or what is in hot dogs. They sell like mad.

Someone said that 90% of the betting on sports worldwide is on soccer. (football) I do not trust that number. Even the guy talking about sports betting didn’t buy it.

Phone companies can tell pretty accurately how much rainfall or snow is in the area by the drop in phone signal over a wide range. Water absorbs the signal. If you house is surrounded by trees that hold a large amount of water, you really will have worse reception. -Dr Karl

I wish I could link or embed Facebook and GPlus pictures and videos here better than I can now. There are ways of making it work,but they involve tricks that people may not be prepared to deal with.

People in Pakistan are complaining about how the country used to be more open than it is today. They have  an elected government. That government is highly conservative and religious based. Who’s fault is it? I blame external forces, but that is just my speculation.

Four digit numbers to avoid in a code situation
0000 1111 2222 3333 4444 5555 6666 7777 8888 9999
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
0001 0002 0003 0004 0005 0006 0007 0008 0009
1234 2345 3456 4567 5678 6789 7890
0987 9876 8765 7654 6543 5432 4321
That is 42 out of 10000. Which have I missed?

Notes

Resistance is ... measured in ohms.

I listened to a story first published in 1915. It was speculative fiction. “The Tigers Terrible”.

Decisions and consequences vs actions and consequences.

What are the rules

One of the vloggers I watch has a job working at a cemetery. He got yelled at for showing names of people on the stones. Someone didn’t like it. I believe he does not own the land. I believe he works and lives on the property that someone else owns.

If it is private property, the owner could give him permission. If it is public land with public access, I would argue that they have no expectation of privacy. I’m thinking of the inside of a mall.

Wish the laws were more clear. He is in Canada so that is another layer to add on top of things. Sometimes I think Canada Is more liberal than the states. Then I’m surprised on some very conservative thing they consider run of the mill. It is all a rich Tapestry.

he had to take down some videos. Something he did in the past that freaked me out was show names on paperwork. He would put things online that were more than the stones. I remember him showing how the plot selection paperwork was laid out. In the process, he showed someone’s records. I thought that was a bad idea when it happened.

I don’t know the details. I only know what he had to say in one of his videos. It is a subject that touches me. I know that if someone doesn’t like you publishing their license plate, they are pretty much out of luck. You cannot show their drivers license information even if you find their license laying on the ground. Thatt they can come after you for.

Lunch conversation

Oh, my God! today was a hell of a day for lunch conversation. I wish I had taken notes.

• Police
• Adam almost getting shot because the police thought I was a murderer.
• Local news stories about DNA clearing people who were convicted of bullshit.
• That cop in LA who has gotten normal cops to shoot innocent civilians.
• Couple stories about getting tickets for bullshit reasons.
• “Never get out of the car during a traffic stop.”
• News
• How bulllshit fact checking is and the different levels of bullshit on the different kinds of news reporting.
• How bullshit the internet is in general.
• Selection bias online news, but the net in general as well.
• How you can’t argue with people over childhood immunizations because they are religious about it even if they are atheists.
• Human brains are wired to believe rather than learn.
• YouTube
• My videos. One of the guys’s wives thinks he is nuts for watching my videos. I told him that is OK because my wife thinks I’m nuts for putting them up.
• Local news items are easier to find on YouTube than on local news.
• The story behind the 300 hits counter on YouTube.
• Home
• Deep Fried Popcorn (google it)
• The etymology of chicken fried steak
• Luby’s mack and cheese
• Mack and cheese in a box not being allowed to call it cheese over a lawsuit.
• Most of us guys have so dry skin we have to use hand cream or bleed.
• Gaming as in board games, not video games
• Kids experimenting with soap (ask Adam)

I’ve forgotten a bunch of stuff. There were a couple times conversations split across the table and I wanted to follow both ends.

Noticably absent

• TV shows
• Video games
• Weather, except as part of a bigger story.

Banner day for lunch conversation.

We went to Blackeyed Pea. I had Chicken fried chicken with jalapeno gravy and five biscuits with two corn bread squares. I had a glass of water.