Nightmares
I'm watching an old episode of Buffy (S2 E7) called Nightmares.
Cordelia has a nightmare about becoming a nerd. Buffy has a nightmare
about being buried alive and becoming a vampire. Zander has a dream
about a clown that scared him when he was a kid. Willow is stuck on
sage without knowing the words to her song (that is the worse one).
Every one has their own nightmare. My worse nightmare is dreaming that
I'm back in school. I'm in the classroom and for some reason I have to
go through school all over again. There is no test that I didn't study
for. There is no uncomfortable social situation. I'm not naked. I'm
just there. That is bad enough. School was an absolute nightmare for
the outcast kids. People on the inside have no idea how much pain flows
through us.
Syria again
Oh, come on. This
is a joke right? Basically Syria is getting the same treatment as
Cuba from the U. S. at the moment. They are not happy about it and want
to hit back at America. I bet if they would stop supporting the people
killing our citizens, we would play nice back. What do you think?
Blog Search
I went looking for some search engines for blogs. Searching the
Internet is hurt by the number
of blogs out there with no real content. Google may take blogs out
of the search results. I just got through complaining about the
results my blog messed up on Google. It looks like we are not the only
ones affected. I've read some of the blogs out there and they are just
people mashing the keyboard. Then you run across the lady with two
terminally ill children who just trys to make it through another day.
I've gotten where I hate reading random blogs.
Reality TV and Reality
I was watching this documentary called "Deadline Iraq
- Unseen Footage from War Reporters" and there was an interesting
quote. One of the female corespondents said something like "You would
get up in the morning and wonder who was getting voted off the island
today." One of the other female reporters freaked me out. She made
mention of her kids and I looked at her. She looked like the typical
mom next door, or a school teacher.
2004-06-20
2004-06-19
Two Faced
Powell says Stay, while the department he leads says get out. The American embassy has removed all but the most needed personnel from Saudi Arabia for "safety reasons." It upsets me when my government talks out of both sides of it's mouth. They say "if you leave, the terrorists win." Then they say "We are out of here." Come on guys. Maybe the problem is not that people concerned for the safety of their families are leaving the country. Perhaps it is because we are loosing that part of the war on terror.
The U. S. cannot take on the rest of the world. We just don't have the will or resources. Playing these war simulation games has given me a respect for solders. I a bit less willing to send people into a war zone. One thing that is sharply missing from all these games that I have played, civilians. There are no mobs of chanting protesters. The commuters just trying to get to the store and to work are missing. All the cities are evacuated. This adds to my respect for modern armed forces. maybe they should make senators play BF-V for a while.
Attacks Every Day
Half the news stories in international news are of attacks somewhere or other. Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and others around the world seem to have attacks daily if not hourly. It is depressing. I may forgo my news addiction and skip the international news for a bi. (We all know that will not happen.)
Lets find out who is reading
I now have a couple of friends blogging. A couple of them fear specific people reading the blog. Some fear their boss more than their family. Others fear their parents finding the link. I am willing to let any one read my blog. I refuse to worry about it. Let the chips fall where they may.
That said, I think a coworker who I had no idea was reading my blog found out I can't stand being around her (She is just too nice, It feels like she is hiding something.). It actually kind of worked. I've had a coworker ask me if something I complained about at work was for real. I've had a couple of incidents where my second job complained. They even said I was getting more hits on my blog than the main page for the company. (or something like that) because I had mentioned the company name and linked to the page. I bet they will find the mention of this weekend's plans (to play video games) and that will affect our relationship. Hey, it is the truth. That doesn't make it right.
This morning
I wake up to my down stairs neighbor listening to the news or something at 6:45 AM. I stomp around and take a shower. I play my video game. at 11:00 AM or so I call my buddy Adam to find out if we can go to lunch (we ended up at dinner). He is busy. I go back to the video game. My buddy Bryan calls around 12:20 AM and asks me if I want to go to lunch. I tell him no because I'm too into my video game. He is an avid player and understands.
Now, what have we learned from this?
* Kelly is fickle?
* Kelly likes Adam better than Bryan?
* Kelly was at a stopping point when calling Adam, but in the middle of the game when Bryan called?
I don't know or care. This is just some stuff that happened.
Keyboard
I give up. This is a nice little keyboard, but it is not going to work. I'm coming around to the fact that I am just going to need a full size keyboard. I might be able to use a laptop keyboard for emergencies, but my hands go numb after prolonged use. I will through the little keyboard in my laptop bag and hope I never have to rely on using it.
A buddy gave me a wireless keyboard and mouse combo. It is this funky gyroscopic mouse. I cannot use it. It is too oddly shaped and the gyroscopic part is counter intuitive. The keyboard is really nice though. I'm trying it right now and so far so good. It is just the placement of the backspace key that is killing me. It is little and further away than is appropriate really. There should be a standard for the size and placement of the enter, backspace, and other keys.
Papa's Burgers
This is a restaurant on Westhimer down by 610. They are just a burger joint. My friend Adam summed it up in one quick statement. "There is a lot of eh and too much uh at that place." He was right. First off, you walk in the place to a typical counter and order just like any other burger joint. The funny thing is, you then don't pay, you go straight to your seat and wait for your wait staff to take your ticket. They get your drinks. Anyway the place is too tight. The tables are too close together. It is too noisy. The food was just kind of boring. The best part of the whole evening was the bottle of beer. Even their shakes were just plane boring.
Powell says Stay, while the department he leads says get out. The American embassy has removed all but the most needed personnel from Saudi Arabia for "safety reasons." It upsets me when my government talks out of both sides of it's mouth. They say "if you leave, the terrorists win." Then they say "We are out of here." Come on guys. Maybe the problem is not that people concerned for the safety of their families are leaving the country. Perhaps it is because we are loosing that part of the war on terror.
The U. S. cannot take on the rest of the world. We just don't have the will or resources. Playing these war simulation games has given me a respect for solders. I a bit less willing to send people into a war zone. One thing that is sharply missing from all these games that I have played, civilians. There are no mobs of chanting protesters. The commuters just trying to get to the store and to work are missing. All the cities are evacuated. This adds to my respect for modern armed forces. maybe they should make senators play BF-V for a while.
Attacks Every Day
Half the news stories in international news are of attacks somewhere or other. Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and others around the world seem to have attacks daily if not hourly. It is depressing. I may forgo my news addiction and skip the international news for a bi. (We all know that will not happen.)
Lets find out who is reading
I now have a couple of friends blogging. A couple of them fear specific people reading the blog. Some fear their boss more than their family. Others fear their parents finding the link. I am willing to let any one read my blog. I refuse to worry about it. Let the chips fall where they may.
That said, I think a coworker who I had no idea was reading my blog found out I can't stand being around her (She is just too nice, It feels like she is hiding something.). It actually kind of worked. I've had a coworker ask me if something I complained about at work was for real. I've had a couple of incidents where my second job complained. They even said I was getting more hits on my blog than the main page for the company. (or something like that) because I had mentioned the company name and linked to the page. I bet they will find the mention of this weekend's plans (to play video games) and that will affect our relationship. Hey, it is the truth. That doesn't make it right.
This morning
I wake up to my down stairs neighbor listening to the news or something at 6:45 AM. I stomp around and take a shower. I play my video game. at 11:00 AM or so I call my buddy Adam to find out if we can go to lunch (we ended up at dinner). He is busy. I go back to the video game. My buddy Bryan calls around 12:20 AM and asks me if I want to go to lunch. I tell him no because I'm too into my video game. He is an avid player and understands.
Now, what have we learned from this?
* Kelly is fickle?
* Kelly likes Adam better than Bryan?
* Kelly was at a stopping point when calling Adam, but in the middle of the game when Bryan called?
I don't know or care. This is just some stuff that happened.
Keyboard
I give up. This is a nice little keyboard, but it is not going to work. I'm coming around to the fact that I am just going to need a full size keyboard. I might be able to use a laptop keyboard for emergencies, but my hands go numb after prolonged use. I will through the little keyboard in my laptop bag and hope I never have to rely on using it.
A buddy gave me a wireless keyboard and mouse combo. It is this funky gyroscopic mouse. I cannot use it. It is too oddly shaped and the gyroscopic part is counter intuitive. The keyboard is really nice though. I'm trying it right now and so far so good. It is just the placement of the backspace key that is killing me. It is little and further away than is appropriate really. There should be a standard for the size and placement of the enter, backspace, and other keys.
Papa's Burgers
This is a restaurant on Westhimer down by 610. They are just a burger joint. My friend Adam summed it up in one quick statement. "There is a lot of eh and too much uh at that place." He was right. First off, you walk in the place to a typical counter and order just like any other burger joint. The funny thing is, you then don't pay, you go straight to your seat and wait for your wait staff to take your ticket. They get your drinks. Anyway the place is too tight. The tables are too close together. It is too noisy. The food was just kind of boring. The best part of the whole evening was the bottle of beer. Even their shakes were just plane boring.
2004-06-18
New
video game
I'm liking Battlefield Vietnam. It is a great run. The graphics are not the most wonderful. The action, however, is awesome. The game allows for ducking behind weeds. Vietnam is full of thick undergrowth. You cannot take more than a nick or two before you go down for the count. it is all but impossible to see people at distance. I'm still playing with the gamma and other controls to get my notebook screen to work for me.
My Chosen lifestyle
I am a recluse. I was chatting with a friend over email this afternoon. She gave me her list for the weekend. She had so much to do that she had accidentally double booked her time. I don't have much trouble with that one. I told her that I intend to play my new video game (details above) for the entire weekend. We went back and forth several times. She was trying to convince me to get out and enjoy the day/evening. I told her that if I can tell whether it is day or night, I've failed in my total-immersion into cyber space..
I did make it out most of the afternoon with a friend of mine (Robin) for a late lunch and coffee. We ended up at CompUSA and Wal-Mart.. She got my old digital camera. She got home and had some pictures of her dogs emailed to me in no time. way to go Robin.
Anyway, I don't go out and party. I don't get much time in with other people. Work is the most interaction I have with humans. I'm better at communicating with computers. That is just what is special about me. If it means I'm not happy or that I'm alone, then so be it. I'm tired of complaining.
Outsourcing at home
There is an article on CNN's page that says the fast food market is finally going to automated ordering. It other words, no people. I have to admit, I'm sick of a shit-head behind the counter I wouldn't trust with a dead rat taking my food order. I have to admit, I would love to find robots making the food as well. There are already Mexicans in the back of the local Mcy-Dees. The people placing the order only know enough to barely get by (if that). I welcome the change. I can't wait to try it out. I remember the old skit "I want a cheese burger, large fries, and an orange drink." The answer comes back "moomonefomfoomfofoommofomomomfomoomofm?" Then the guy in the car says "No, an orange drink!!" The answer comes back "moomonefomfoomfofoommofomomomfomoomofm?". Now, you will just get a blue screen of death every time you order no pickles.
I keep reading that the total number of new jobs created in the U. S. includes fast food. Some of those jobs are English speaking American citizens taking the jobs of Mexicans in these kinds of jobs. This will not be an option in the near future. Who will be working in the U. S. in fifty years. I pity the next generation. How do you have a welfare state if no on is working? You don't. You have a revolution. I mean, think about it. Capitalism is equals, work, spend, work, spend, work, spend. Even if you are not the one working, some one has to make the money to keep the economy running No work, no spend. We are talking about the end of capitalism.
New Keyboard
I'm trying out a new keyboard It is a flexible type board with very close keys. You really have to pound the keys to get hem to register properly. Getting used to a new keyboard is a challenge. This keyboard has a condensed layout. It is little-bitty. Right now I have to watch every key to make sure it shows up properly. The old flexible keyboard I had hit double keys every couple of strokes. So far the only mess-ups are from me missing or fat-fingering keys. The arrow keys are funny too. I think this just might work.
I'm liking Battlefield Vietnam. It is a great run. The graphics are not the most wonderful. The action, however, is awesome. The game allows for ducking behind weeds. Vietnam is full of thick undergrowth. You cannot take more than a nick or two before you go down for the count. it is all but impossible to see people at distance. I'm still playing with the gamma and other controls to get my notebook screen to work for me.
My Chosen lifestyle
I am a recluse. I was chatting with a friend over email this afternoon. She gave me her list for the weekend. She had so much to do that she had accidentally double booked her time. I don't have much trouble with that one. I told her that I intend to play my new video game (details above) for the entire weekend. We went back and forth several times. She was trying to convince me to get out and enjoy the day/evening. I told her that if I can tell whether it is day or night, I've failed in my total-immersion into cyber space..
I did make it out most of the afternoon with a friend of mine (Robin) for a late lunch and coffee. We ended up at CompUSA and Wal-Mart.. She got my old digital camera. She got home and had some pictures of her dogs emailed to me in no time. way to go Robin.
Anyway, I don't go out and party. I don't get much time in with other people. Work is the most interaction I have with humans. I'm better at communicating with computers. That is just what is special about me. If it means I'm not happy or that I'm alone, then so be it. I'm tired of complaining.
Outsourcing at home
There is an article on CNN's page that says the fast food market is finally going to automated ordering. It other words, no people. I have to admit, I'm sick of a shit-head behind the counter I wouldn't trust with a dead rat taking my food order. I have to admit, I would love to find robots making the food as well. There are already Mexicans in the back of the local Mcy-Dees. The people placing the order only know enough to barely get by (if that). I welcome the change. I can't wait to try it out. I remember the old skit "I want a cheese burger, large fries, and an orange drink." The answer comes back "moomonefomfoomfofoommofomomomfomoomofm?" Then the guy in the car says "No, an orange drink!!" The answer comes back "moomonefomfoomfofoommofomomomfomoomofm?". Now, you will just get a blue screen of death every time you order no pickles.
I keep reading that the total number of new jobs created in the U. S. includes fast food. Some of those jobs are English speaking American citizens taking the jobs of Mexicans in these kinds of jobs. This will not be an option in the near future. Who will be working in the U. S. in fifty years. I pity the next generation. How do you have a welfare state if no on is working? You don't. You have a revolution. I mean, think about it. Capitalism is equals, work, spend, work, spend, work, spend. Even if you are not the one working, some one has to make the money to keep the economy running No work, no spend. We are talking about the end of capitalism.
New Keyboard
I'm trying out a new keyboard It is a flexible type board with very close keys. You really have to pound the keys to get hem to register properly. Getting used to a new keyboard is a challenge. This keyboard has a condensed layout. It is little-bitty. Right now I have to watch every key to make sure it shows up properly. The old flexible keyboard I had hit double keys every couple of strokes. So far the only mess-ups are from me missing or fat-fingering keys. The arrow keys are funny too. I think this just might work.
2004-06-16
Some days there just isn't anything going on. There are a bunch of news
stories, but I get board with just posting news up here. I 'm sure you
can go grab all the news you need, same as me. I'm trying to think if
there is anything in my personal life of interest. The only stuff that
comes to mind is boring stuff.
Productivity Tools
Some one should suggest that the company put in an internal web cam looking at the line in the cafeteria. This would prevent useless trips across the bridge (as we call it in this building) like the one I just took. It is a rainy day and every one eats at the company cafeteria. The lines are nuts. I even waited a half hour or so. I'll have to try again later. The web cam would work great in this situation.
Fight 93
Flight 93 is the one that crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11. The commission running in Washington this past month calls Flight 93 a failed part of the plan. The article says there was a bunch of bickering amongst the terrorists on targets and dates. It turns out the 9/11 plan was basically a SNAFU from the start. The terrorists still managed to kill a bunch of influential people. Those tours were full of very high level insurance and finance executives.
Productivity Tools
Some one should suggest that the company put in an internal web cam looking at the line in the cafeteria. This would prevent useless trips across the bridge (as we call it in this building) like the one I just took. It is a rainy day and every one eats at the company cafeteria. The lines are nuts. I even waited a half hour or so. I'll have to try again later. The web cam would work great in this situation.
Fight 93
Flight 93 is the one that crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11. The commission running in Washington this past month calls Flight 93 a failed part of the plan. The article says there was a bunch of bickering amongst the terrorists on targets and dates. It turns out the 9/11 plan was basically a SNAFU from the start. The terrorists still managed to kill a bunch of influential people. Those tours were full of very high level insurance and finance executives.
Lookout, here comes Iran
It looks like Iran is massing troops and preparing for an invasion of Iraq. I've often suspected that the minute the Iraqi government takes over they will tell the American forces to take a hike. I can only imagine that there will be a power vacuum. I don't know what kind of army the new Iraqi government will have, but they will need one to keep control. I thought for sure it would come from forces inside Iraq. One of those clerics or militants would time a revolution properly. Actually, I envision a mass run for Baghdad by every swinging turban in the country with a donkey and an AK. I suppose I should have seen Iran throw their hat in the ring. (past article on Iran)
It doesn't help that China is helping Iran get nuclear materials.
It looks like Iran is massing troops and preparing for an invasion of Iraq. I've often suspected that the minute the Iraqi government takes over they will tell the American forces to take a hike. I can only imagine that there will be a power vacuum. I don't know what kind of army the new Iraqi government will have, but they will need one to keep control. I thought for sure it would come from forces inside Iraq. One of those clerics or militants would time a revolution properly. Actually, I envision a mass run for Baghdad by every swinging turban in the country with a donkey and an AK. I suppose I should have seen Iran throw their hat in the ring. (past article on Iran)
It doesn't help that China is helping Iran get nuclear materials.
2004-06-15
Links
Here is another reason to get a digital camera. Read close to the bottom on how the British solder was nabbed.
Cool site shows you how to make you PC look like a Mac.
Relationships
My life is a conundrum. I want a relationship, but I don't want the pain of loss when things go wrong. I want sex, but I don't want the relationship around the sex because of the pain of loss. I can't bring myself to sleep around. I don't know why. I'm just old fashioned I suppose. Maybe I'm afraid it will lead to a relationship, and thus the pain of loss. I find myself hanging out with women who are taken. This is a bad, bad thing. If it were to lead to something, that is bad. I won't let it lead to anything because that might tern into a relationship, and I can't allow that because of the pain of loss. It's getting to the point where I don't want to hang out with my friends because they all have some one. All I want to do is go home and sleep or spend hours (and I mean hours) on the computer and disappear from the rest of the universe. When I'm on the computer it is like I don't exist. I become part of the network.
I'd tern queer, except I wouldn't be any better at that.
I would get into drugs or become an alcoholic, but I'm too cheap.
The worse pat is, I don't want to break out. Every time I think about the things that will get me out of this looping rut, I just end up back on the computer or asleep. The thought of using a dating service makes me think less of myself. Dating services are for people with an ear in the middle of their forehead. The 8 minute dating thing stresses me out just thinking about it. That is how brokers and TV personalities find each other.
Please don't send suggestions. I just want to vent.
Here is another reason to get a digital camera. Read close to the bottom on how the British solder was nabbed.
Cool site shows you how to make you PC look like a Mac.
Relationships
My life is a conundrum. I want a relationship, but I don't want the pain of loss when things go wrong. I want sex, but I don't want the relationship around the sex because of the pain of loss. I can't bring myself to sleep around. I don't know why. I'm just old fashioned I suppose. Maybe I'm afraid it will lead to a relationship, and thus the pain of loss. I find myself hanging out with women who are taken. This is a bad, bad thing. If it were to lead to something, that is bad. I won't let it lead to anything because that might tern into a relationship, and I can't allow that because of the pain of loss. It's getting to the point where I don't want to hang out with my friends because they all have some one. All I want to do is go home and sleep or spend hours (and I mean hours) on the computer and disappear from the rest of the universe. When I'm on the computer it is like I don't exist. I become part of the network.
I'd tern queer, except I wouldn't be any better at that.
I would get into drugs or become an alcoholic, but I'm too cheap.
The worse pat is, I don't want to break out. Every time I think about the things that will get me out of this looping rut, I just end up back on the computer or asleep. The thought of using a dating service makes me think less of myself. Dating services are for people with an ear in the middle of their forehead. The 8 minute dating thing stresses me out just thinking about it. That is how brokers and TV personalities find each other.
Please don't send suggestions. I just want to vent.
Software Fix
So there I was, I wrote a small program a million years ago to convert a VAX report (meant for a printer) to an Access database. The software works, but there are always foibles in the prints that make the data look funny. This time, some short tag names caused some dashes to show up funny in the database. I'm ran through the code and found where the problem was. What needed to happen is a re-write of a small section of code that handled the generation of these alleged tag numbers. Too bad, I don't have time for that. I added three lines of code that just fix the problem when it shows up. I bitch constantly when others do this. MS is known for patching output rather than fixing databases. It is just faster, and addresses the specific gripe of the boss looking over your shoulder at the moment.
Speaking of looking over my shoulder. I had both of my bosses come in and ask me how it was going on this one. There are two guys who are responsible for the data I manipulate. They both hung around waiting for the fix. It reminds me of Office Space "I have 8 bosses ..."
Let's see, I have S, my main boss whom I like to work for. Then there is R,S. and sometimes C, They are for packaging. T and J for Intools. I suppose that is about it at the moment. Every one else who gives me orders is either a one time thing, or goes through these people.
Whom to believe
I'm reading a book called The da Vincii code. It talks about how Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and how the Catholic church has covered it all up. It is a story I already heard. The book makes some compelling arguments. Honestly, I've wondered lately if I would see the fall of the Catholic church in my lifetime. It would kind of suck if the Vatican came out and said "We screwed up. We invented a male dominant religion for our own purposes. Everyone go back to Judaism. ... Sorry for the sixteen hundred years of lies." (read the book and you will get why it is sixteen hundred and not two thousand years) I've said many times that I believe in God very much, but I don't put much faith in religion. God made Earth and people. People made religion. That is my two cents anyway.
It all boils down to whom you believe.
Oh My Blog!
Writing
I enjoy writing. I enjoy just hitting the keys and stuff popping up on the screen. It is an instant gratification thing I suppose. The trouble is having something to say. Sometimes I will have an idea in my head screaming to get out and the words just poor out on the page like blood from a wound. You can't stop them .Then there is the blank page. that is more frightening than, dare I say it, public speaking, to a writer. The nice thing about a blog is the bouncing flow. You can jump from one subject to the other without a seg-way and no one seems to mind.
So there I was, I wrote a small program a million years ago to convert a VAX report (meant for a printer) to an Access database. The software works, but there are always foibles in the prints that make the data look funny. This time, some short tag names caused some dashes to show up funny in the database. I'm ran through the code and found where the problem was. What needed to happen is a re-write of a small section of code that handled the generation of these alleged tag numbers. Too bad, I don't have time for that. I added three lines of code that just fix the problem when it shows up. I bitch constantly when others do this. MS is known for patching output rather than fixing databases. It is just faster, and addresses the specific gripe of the boss looking over your shoulder at the moment.
Speaking of looking over my shoulder. I had both of my bosses come in and ask me how it was going on this one. There are two guys who are responsible for the data I manipulate. They both hung around waiting for the fix. It reminds me of Office Space "I have 8 bosses ..."
Let's see, I have S, my main boss whom I like to work for. Then there is R,S. and sometimes C, They are for packaging. T and J for Intools. I suppose that is about it at the moment. Every one else who gives me orders is either a one time thing, or goes through these people.
Whom to believe
I'm reading a book called The da Vincii code. It talks about how Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and how the Catholic church has covered it all up. It is a story I already heard. The book makes some compelling arguments. Honestly, I've wondered lately if I would see the fall of the Catholic church in my lifetime. It would kind of suck if the Vatican came out and said "We screwed up. We invented a male dominant religion for our own purposes. Everyone go back to Judaism. ... Sorry for the sixteen hundred years of lies." (read the book and you will get why it is sixteen hundred and not two thousand years) I've said many times that I believe in God very much, but I don't put much faith in religion. God made Earth and people. People made religion. That is my two cents anyway.
It all boils down to whom you believe.
Oh My Blog!
Writing
I enjoy writing. I enjoy just hitting the keys and stuff popping up on the screen. It is an instant gratification thing I suppose. The trouble is having something to say. Sometimes I will have an idea in my head screaming to get out and the words just poor out on the page like blood from a wound. You can't stop them .Then there is the blank page. that is more frightening than, dare I say it, public speaking, to a writer. The nice thing about a blog is the bouncing flow. You can jump from one subject to the other without a seg-way and no one seems to mind.
2004-06-14
Simpsons
I'm watching the Simpsons. The title of this episode is "Lesa's first word". They flash back to 1983. Bart is alive. and Lisa is about to be born. That would mean Bart is at least 21 now. Sheesh. What a baby-face. I think Bart is supposed to be ten years old. I think he has had about five birthdays though. Oh, well. It is a cartoon after all.
da Vinci Code
One of the things they little details in this book is that da Vinci wrote in reverse script that was indecipherable except in a mirror. I sit here thinking of digital cameras and computer ciphers. I've read about encryption. The math doesn't always make sense.
I'm watching the Simpsons. The title of this episode is "Lesa's first word". They flash back to 1983. Bart is alive. and Lisa is about to be born. That would mean Bart is at least 21 now. Sheesh. What a baby-face. I think Bart is supposed to be ten years old. I think he has had about five birthdays though. Oh, well. It is a cartoon after all.
da Vinci Code
One of the things they little details in this book is that da Vinci wrote in reverse script that was indecipherable except in a mirror. I sit here thinking of digital cameras and computer ciphers. I've read about encryption. The math doesn't always make sense.
2004-06-13
Clouds
and carbon based life forms
A buddy of mine was board on her way back from a family reunion in Louisiana. She decided to call me and get a science lesson. She asked what it meant that humans are carbon based life forms (clearly having herd this from a SciFi show). I explained that all life (possibly with the exception of virus) is made at an atomic level with carbon as a basis of it's chemical reactions. Chemical reactions are what keep us alive. Any imbalance can kill life. That is why cyanide kills with so little a dose, because it stops carbon and carbon based molecules from doing their job. She took this in stride. I left out the fact that at different temperatures carbon will not work. The next element that might support life is silicon. At higher temperatures the loose electrons on silicon will have nearly identical properties as carbon at our living temperature.
Somewhere in there was a discussion of clouds. She asked exactly what clouds are made from. I said water, dust, ice crystals and air. I almost wish I knew where the question came from. The car she was driving had her husband, child and mother in law.
Chemicals
I'm watching a Night Line or 20/20 talking about chemical plant security. I work at a chemical company. I know I cannot enter the office building without going through two card controlled gates and passing at least one guard. Green Peace jumped the back fence and blocked the entrances with a Ryder Truck last year. They had control of the place for an entire day. They showed up in gas masks and were nearly shot by the guard on duty. It was not that far after 9/11. No jury would have convicted him.
Resume
I have a first draft. It is ugly, but has most of the notes i want on it. There is a section at the top telling "my future employer" why I'm thinking of leaving the company I'm currently with, and what I can do for them. I want to expand that small paragraph, but the words don't come. I've sent the resume off to some friends for scrutiny. It is still a rough draft. I'll keep you informed.
A buddy of mine was board on her way back from a family reunion in Louisiana. She decided to call me and get a science lesson. She asked what it meant that humans are carbon based life forms (clearly having herd this from a SciFi show). I explained that all life (possibly with the exception of virus) is made at an atomic level with carbon as a basis of it's chemical reactions. Chemical reactions are what keep us alive. Any imbalance can kill life. That is why cyanide kills with so little a dose, because it stops carbon and carbon based molecules from doing their job. She took this in stride. I left out the fact that at different temperatures carbon will not work. The next element that might support life is silicon. At higher temperatures the loose electrons on silicon will have nearly identical properties as carbon at our living temperature.
Somewhere in there was a discussion of clouds. She asked exactly what clouds are made from. I said water, dust, ice crystals and air. I almost wish I knew where the question came from. The car she was driving had her husband, child and mother in law.
Chemicals
I'm watching a Night Line or 20/20 talking about chemical plant security. I work at a chemical company. I know I cannot enter the office building without going through two card controlled gates and passing at least one guard. Green Peace jumped the back fence and blocked the entrances with a Ryder Truck last year. They had control of the place for an entire day. They showed up in gas masks and were nearly shot by the guard on duty. It was not that far after 9/11. No jury would have convicted him.
Resume
I have a first draft. It is ugly, but has most of the notes i want on it. There is a section at the top telling "my future employer" why I'm thinking of leaving the company I'm currently with, and what I can do for them. I want to expand that small paragraph, but the words don't come. I've sent the resume off to some friends for scrutiny. It is still a rough draft. I'll keep you informed.
Resume
I'm trying to write my resume. How do you sit down and tell God knows who to hire you over every one else in the world? Every job I've ever gotten has been through networking, not a resume. All the jobs I've gotten, I've interviewed in genes and a t-shirt. They always said "Can you come right now?" I'm typing bits and removing bits. It is kind of fun. If I were writing some one else's resume it would be more fun. I realize how crappy my experience is. I know what I'm doing. I would be a handy addition to an IT or support firm. I'm not sure how to say it.
Overnet
Overnet is the P2P software I use to download stuff. I'm not interested in taking any money out of any one's pocket. I'm just board. You have to be careful if you try the software. You will find many trojan horses and fakes. A trojan horse is a program that inflicts a virus, or hacking software on your computer. A fake is a movie or other data file that is not what it says on the box (file name). Just typing in a search can return some scary results, most of which are false files. There is a better way to look for files. Some kind soles have put together web pages catering to people searching on Overnet. The most popular of all time was ShareReactor. Unfortunately, this page no longer exists. The kid who ran it got in trouble with his mom, and the Swiss authorities. The creator has a new forum page, but I can't get it to come up. There are other sites still running. ShareConnector has a list of files interface. ShareProvider has a list interface as well. FileDonkey has a search interface. The advantage of using these sites over the search in Overnet is the odds that a given file is a fake is pretty rare when obtained from the web pages. Overnet search just searches anything that comes along. The web pages allow for fake blocking.
I've found a couple of good videos on Overnet. Several are from war plane cameras. I keep running searches for war video. I don't know where this stuff comes from, but it it riveting. Pretty scary stuff. One thing that drives me nuts, is how young the solders sound on the videos.
Firearm information.
I stumbled across this site. It is basically everything you ever wanted to know about firearms. I thought I was a knowledgeable gun-nut. I'm learning all kinds of new stuff.
I'm trying to write my resume. How do you sit down and tell God knows who to hire you over every one else in the world? Every job I've ever gotten has been through networking, not a resume. All the jobs I've gotten, I've interviewed in genes and a t-shirt. They always said "Can you come right now?" I'm typing bits and removing bits. It is kind of fun. If I were writing some one else's resume it would be more fun. I realize how crappy my experience is. I know what I'm doing. I would be a handy addition to an IT or support firm. I'm not sure how to say it.
Overnet
Overnet is the P2P software I use to download stuff. I'm not interested in taking any money out of any one's pocket. I'm just board. You have to be careful if you try the software. You will find many trojan horses and fakes. A trojan horse is a program that inflicts a virus, or hacking software on your computer. A fake is a movie or other data file that is not what it says on the box (file name). Just typing in a search can return some scary results, most of which are false files. There is a better way to look for files. Some kind soles have put together web pages catering to people searching on Overnet. The most popular of all time was ShareReactor. Unfortunately, this page no longer exists. The kid who ran it got in trouble with his mom, and the Swiss authorities. The creator has a new forum page, but I can't get it to come up. There are other sites still running. ShareConnector has a list of files interface. ShareProvider has a list interface as well. FileDonkey has a search interface. The advantage of using these sites over the search in Overnet is the odds that a given file is a fake is pretty rare when obtained from the web pages. Overnet search just searches anything that comes along. The web pages allow for fake blocking.
I've found a couple of good videos on Overnet. Several are from war plane cameras. I keep running searches for war video. I don't know where this stuff comes from, but it it riveting. Pretty scary stuff. One thing that drives me nuts, is how young the solders sound on the videos.
Firearm information.
I stumbled across this site. It is basically everything you ever wanted to know about firearms. I thought I was a knowledgeable gun-nut. I'm learning all kinds of new stuff.
2004-06-11
Damn It
Hey Cynthia, I feel your pain. I typed up some entries for the blog on a break at work today. When I got home the file attached to the email was empty. Humph. I hate computers. It was just some rant about work.
Rant
There is a reason I'm not the one in charge. I have conservative views. There are times I want to hose the whole planet except for those parts of it that serve us. Then, I realize how evil that is and I tone it down a bit..There are times when I want to solve the problem. There is no solution to most of the worlds problems. I still say that the world would be better if all the people just dropped dead. Is that depressing or what? That qualifies as world peace. Right?
Bald
I've cut my hair pretty short in the past couple of months, but I just took it to grade. I laid a razer to my scalp for the first time. I always worried that I had a pointy head. It doesn't look that bad. It doesn't feel funny really. That might just be the razer burn though. The razer burn does look pretty bad. I figured there would be first time troubles. I'm worried I'll get those little bumps from ingrown hairs. I'm sure I'll complain about it in due time. I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought "I feel so . . . so . . . clean."
Now, I just need to drop about two inches around the middle.
Gmail
This is freaking me out.I've only had one bite on my Gmail offer. I thought people I knew would jump at the chance for a Gmail account. Perhaps I underestimate the coolness of Gmail. Perhaps I overestimate the geekyness of my friends. Eh.
Accenture
I remember griping that Accenture got the contract for the Homeland Security border tracking thing recently. I was upset because I had worked with Accenture in a lose manor and I was not impressed. Congress has a problem with the choice because Accenture uses a foreign flag to hide behind to avoid taxes. Some one has to do it. I have not made up my mind whether or not I should be afraid of the government holding all the information about me. There are stories about how people get their information messed up by the U. S. Government every day. It looks like things are going the biometric path. It looks like it will all happen in my life time. I've seen the movies. I know the fears. Face recognition does not work. Ires scans can be fooled. People with disabilities are not always considered. I start to feel helpless when I think of the subject.
My vision of the future is not bleak. I do not think we face Brazil, or The Jetsons, or Futurama (thought I think Futurama is the closest believe it or not). I think we will live in a future just like today, only with more contraptions and diseases with new names. I'm far too tired to continue. I need to write my resume tomorrow..
Hey Cynthia, I feel your pain. I typed up some entries for the blog on a break at work today. When I got home the file attached to the email was empty. Humph. I hate computers. It was just some rant about work.
Rant
There is a reason I'm not the one in charge. I have conservative views. There are times I want to hose the whole planet except for those parts of it that serve us. Then, I realize how evil that is and I tone it down a bit..There are times when I want to solve the problem. There is no solution to most of the worlds problems. I still say that the world would be better if all the people just dropped dead. Is that depressing or what? That qualifies as world peace. Right?
Bald
I've cut my hair pretty short in the past couple of months, but I just took it to grade. I laid a razer to my scalp for the first time. I always worried that I had a pointy head. It doesn't look that bad. It doesn't feel funny really. That might just be the razer burn though. The razer burn does look pretty bad. I figured there would be first time troubles. I'm worried I'll get those little bumps from ingrown hairs. I'm sure I'll complain about it in due time. I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought "I feel so . . . so . . . clean."
Now, I just need to drop about two inches around the middle.
Gmail
This is freaking me out.I've only had one bite on my Gmail offer. I thought people I knew would jump at the chance for a Gmail account. Perhaps I underestimate the coolness of Gmail. Perhaps I overestimate the geekyness of my friends. Eh.
Accenture
I remember griping that Accenture got the contract for the Homeland Security border tracking thing recently. I was upset because I had worked with Accenture in a lose manor and I was not impressed. Congress has a problem with the choice because Accenture uses a foreign flag to hide behind to avoid taxes. Some one has to do it. I have not made up my mind whether or not I should be afraid of the government holding all the information about me. There are stories about how people get their information messed up by the U. S. Government every day. It looks like things are going the biometric path. It looks like it will all happen in my life time. I've seen the movies. I know the fears. Face recognition does not work. Ires scans can be fooled. People with disabilities are not always considered. I start to feel helpless when I think of the subject.
My vision of the future is not bleak. I do not think we face Brazil, or The Jetsons, or Futurama (thought I think Futurama is the closest believe it or not). I think we will live in a future just like today, only with more contraptions and diseases with new names. I'm far too tired to continue. I need to write my resume tomorrow..
2004-06-10
Good date
We were heading from West Houston to a friend's house in Galveston. Julie needed to pick up a computer from her friend. We seemed to spend time in the truck quite a bit. We liked the time spent traveling together. We would talk while she drove. I cannot drive, so it is a good thing she enjoyed being the one behind the wheel. it was a beautiful day. The drive was nice. When we got to the friend's house we decided to go for a day at the Aquarium Restaurant. We made it down to the front and waited inside the lobby for a while. We were sitting down on a couch. Julie laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. We got that "cute couple" look from just about every one who walked by. When we were seated, we got a table right by the window overlooking the sea. It was a breezy day with a bright sun shining high. I don't remember what we had, but it was good. I remember looking at the stingray (I think it was a stingray) swimming up the glass. I remember looking at Julie and wanting so much to love her. When we left the restaurant, we went to a couple of shops then we went to some one's house and hung out for a while.
Julie and I broke up a couple of years ago. When I think of Julie, I remember her smile that day.
I've been asked to contribute to another blog about dating experience. I'm going to put in the above paragraph. Can you believe I've been asked to contribute to anything?
Something I learned today
The guy who did the voice for miss Piggy also did The Cookie Monster.
Work
I love it when a manager sends down an edict to use a batch file to get something done. This manager hasn't looked at a command prompt since Ronny Ray-Gun was in the white house. I know in my mind that a script works better for the need at hand. Scripts allow access to COM and far better error handling. At my day job they insist on using VB for everything. Some things are just not best solved with VB. Other languages have their place. I've heard it is because they want some one else to pick up where you leave off when you finally come too and get a better job. If I walked into my mechanics garage and said "Something is wrong with my car, but you can't use sockets to fix it, I forbid it!" The mechanic would give me the same look I gave the manager who said to use the batch file.
We were heading from West Houston to a friend's house in Galveston. Julie needed to pick up a computer from her friend. We seemed to spend time in the truck quite a bit. We liked the time spent traveling together. We would talk while she drove. I cannot drive, so it is a good thing she enjoyed being the one behind the wheel. it was a beautiful day. The drive was nice. When we got to the friend's house we decided to go for a day at the Aquarium Restaurant. We made it down to the front and waited inside the lobby for a while. We were sitting down on a couch. Julie laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep. We got that "cute couple" look from just about every one who walked by. When we were seated, we got a table right by the window overlooking the sea. It was a breezy day with a bright sun shining high. I don't remember what we had, but it was good. I remember looking at the stingray (I think it was a stingray) swimming up the glass. I remember looking at Julie and wanting so much to love her. When we left the restaurant, we went to a couple of shops then we went to some one's house and hung out for a while.
Julie and I broke up a couple of years ago. When I think of Julie, I remember her smile that day.
I've been asked to contribute to another blog about dating experience. I'm going to put in the above paragraph. Can you believe I've been asked to contribute to anything?
Something I learned today
The guy who did the voice for miss Piggy also did The Cookie Monster.
Work
I love it when a manager sends down an edict to use a batch file to get something done. This manager hasn't looked at a command prompt since Ronny Ray-Gun was in the white house. I know in my mind that a script works better for the need at hand. Scripts allow access to COM and far better error handling. At my day job they insist on using VB for everything. Some things are just not best solved with VB. Other languages have their place. I've heard it is because they want some one else to pick up where you leave off when you finally come too and get a better job. If I walked into my mechanics garage and said "Something is wrong with my car, but you can't use sockets to fix it, I forbid it!" The mechanic would give me the same look I gave the manager who said to use the batch file.
2004-06-09
Cynthia's blog
What happened to Cynthia has happened to me, and not just on Blogger. She was typing in a long entry in the Blogger web form when she hit the preview link. The preview came up fine. At this point there is a way back to edit the screen without loosing data. However, she wanted to test out a link she had put on her page. The instant her successful link popped up, all her work was gone. When she tried to go back to the edit screen, her effort had vanished.
This is highly discouraging. I have noticed similar methods all over the web. When entering data into a form on the Internet, it is pot luck whether your data will be there if there is a hiccup in the system. In the past two weeks I have had PayPal fail on me twice when trying to order items from TigerDirect. I ended up having to use a credit card both times.
When she sent me the email, I pulled the male thing and tried to offer her advice instead of sympathy. I just can't take my own advice. I've had this kind of thing happen to me so much, that I use Mozilla Composer to prepare my entries for Blogger before publishing. That and the lack of a spell checker in the Blogger editor make me use an external editor..
Gmail
I have a couple of invites for Gmail. I sent out an email for requests, but I have not received any responses. The first two guys I sent the invite too were obvious choices. I knew they would jump at the opportunity. Now, I'm down the list a bit. I sent out about 10 requests and only one person responded with a "what is Gmail?" email. That's fine. I don't want to send the request out to any one who doesn't want it. If you want it write me at zhsy00001 at Gmail.com. It is first come first serve. I think I have three to give. All I want in return is a promise that you will tell your mother you love her.
What happened to Cynthia has happened to me, and not just on Blogger. She was typing in a long entry in the Blogger web form when she hit the preview link. The preview came up fine. At this point there is a way back to edit the screen without loosing data. However, she wanted to test out a link she had put on her page. The instant her successful link popped up, all her work was gone. When she tried to go back to the edit screen, her effort had vanished.
This is highly discouraging. I have noticed similar methods all over the web. When entering data into a form on the Internet, it is pot luck whether your data will be there if there is a hiccup in the system. In the past two weeks I have had PayPal fail on me twice when trying to order items from TigerDirect. I ended up having to use a credit card both times.
When she sent me the email, I pulled the male thing and tried to offer her advice instead of sympathy. I just can't take my own advice. I've had this kind of thing happen to me so much, that I use Mozilla Composer to prepare my entries for Blogger before publishing. That and the lack of a spell checker in the Blogger editor make me use an external editor..
Gmail
I have a couple of invites for Gmail. I sent out an email for requests, but I have not received any responses. The first two guys I sent the invite too were obvious choices. I knew they would jump at the opportunity. Now, I'm down the list a bit. I sent out about 10 requests and only one person responded with a "what is Gmail?" email. That's fine. I don't want to send the request out to any one who doesn't want it. If you want it write me at zhsy00001 at Gmail.com. It is first come first serve. I think I have three to give. All I want in return is a promise that you will tell your mother you love her.
2004-06-08
OIL (God Help Us)
The BBC has a pretty scary article about the status of the world's oil supply. They say it is going to run out sooner rather than later. This article says most companies are lying about their reserves. That isn't the worse thing. Their article says it doesn't matter how much oil is in the ground, if you can't pump it out fast enough. As soon as supply can't keep up with demand the cost of oil will sky-rocket. The article continues saying the cost of oil is severely under priced right now. If left to it's own devices, oil would be at $182 a barrel instead of the $40 it's floating at now. There are other factors affecting the cost of oil. I think it is getting to that time where we as a species need to find a renewable means of generating energy. Between vegetable oils, geothermal, wind, waves, bicycles, solar, nuclear generators, and all the rest, we should figure something out. There is no silver bullet. We need to use the best device for each situation. People in the desert can't use wind, but they can probably use solar. People in Alaska might need some help from other states, or even Canada for heat in the winter. The trouble is, it is going to take changing the way we have done things for a long time.
I've read some unreliable speculation that by 2008 there will be a pivot in the energy world and the proverbial shit will hit the fan. Some people we might call crackpots today say, by then it won't matter if your car gets 100 miles to the gallon because you still won't be able to afford to drive to work. (I'm not going to link to the site)
Night Vision Monocular
I got a battery. I couldn't get it online, yet, so I stopped at Wallgreens on the way home. They had the CR2 batteries right up front, by the cameras. The monocular is cool, but it has to be dark for it to work. Go figure. I looked around my apartment complex last night and there are too many lights to get real use from the device. There is a little light on the front of the monocular that shines in infrared. You can just make out a faint glow looking into it, but it is almost too bright when looking through the monocular. The model I picked out has almost too much power (fixed zoom) for walking around in the dark. You will still trip over stuff. The street out front of my apartments is too well lit. You can see all the way down the street based on the street lights. In the monocular, you just get a bunch of glare. The alarm clock lights up my whole room. My buddy has a bayou behind his house. I want to try it out there in the rough. There is so much ambient light in Houston that the monocular should have no trouble looking even in the wooded aria. I'll try snapping a photo through it when I find a classic night vision shot of a creepy wood
Iran is next
I know I said Syria is next on the list, but here is a story that says the U. S. should have invaded Iran instead of Iraq. Iran really does have a nuclear program that is aimed toward WMD according to this article. I'm worried about Saudi Arabia. My day job has offices over there. This place works with Saudi Aramco and others in the region.
More on Phones
Some one was just saying the future of phones is to have a mobile of some kind you carry with you, one built in to the car, and another in the house. The difference is, they are all the same number. The car phone would work for whomever is driving/riding along. The one phone would ring for all occupants and allow multiple independent conversations based on what room you were standing in at the time. When you sit down at work, the phone next to you would ring with calls for you. The phones would need a answerer ID in addition to a caller ID to make sure the correct person answered the phone. They mentioned a bicycle helmet with a built in phone (that is already on the market in Japan).
The BBC has a pretty scary article about the status of the world's oil supply. They say it is going to run out sooner rather than later. This article says most companies are lying about their reserves. That isn't the worse thing. Their article says it doesn't matter how much oil is in the ground, if you can't pump it out fast enough. As soon as supply can't keep up with demand the cost of oil will sky-rocket. The article continues saying the cost of oil is severely under priced right now. If left to it's own devices, oil would be at $182 a barrel instead of the $40 it's floating at now. There are other factors affecting the cost of oil. I think it is getting to that time where we as a species need to find a renewable means of generating energy. Between vegetable oils, geothermal, wind, waves, bicycles, solar, nuclear generators, and all the rest, we should figure something out. There is no silver bullet. We need to use the best device for each situation. People in the desert can't use wind, but they can probably use solar. People in Alaska might need some help from other states, or even Canada for heat in the winter. The trouble is, it is going to take changing the way we have done things for a long time.
I've read some unreliable speculation that by 2008 there will be a pivot in the energy world and the proverbial shit will hit the fan. Some people we might call crackpots today say, by then it won't matter if your car gets 100 miles to the gallon because you still won't be able to afford to drive to work. (I'm not going to link to the site)
Night Vision Monocular
I got a battery. I couldn't get it online, yet, so I stopped at Wallgreens on the way home. They had the CR2 batteries right up front, by the cameras. The monocular is cool, but it has to be dark for it to work. Go figure. I looked around my apartment complex last night and there are too many lights to get real use from the device. There is a little light on the front of the monocular that shines in infrared. You can just make out a faint glow looking into it, but it is almost too bright when looking through the monocular. The model I picked out has almost too much power (fixed zoom) for walking around in the dark. You will still trip over stuff. The street out front of my apartments is too well lit. You can see all the way down the street based on the street lights. In the monocular, you just get a bunch of glare. The alarm clock lights up my whole room. My buddy has a bayou behind his house. I want to try it out there in the rough. There is so much ambient light in Houston that the monocular should have no trouble looking even in the wooded aria. I'll try snapping a photo through it when I find a classic night vision shot of a creepy wood
Iran is next
I know I said Syria is next on the list, but here is a story that says the U. S. should have invaded Iran instead of Iraq. Iran really does have a nuclear program that is aimed toward WMD according to this article. I'm worried about Saudi Arabia. My day job has offices over there. This place works with Saudi Aramco and others in the region.
More on Phones
Some one was just saying the future of phones is to have a mobile of some kind you carry with you, one built in to the car, and another in the house. The difference is, they are all the same number. The car phone would work for whomever is driving/riding along. The one phone would ring for all occupants and allow multiple independent conversations based on what room you were standing in at the time. When you sit down at work, the phone next to you would ring with calls for you. The phones would need a answerer ID in addition to a caller ID to make sure the correct person answered the phone. They mentioned a bicycle helmet with a built in phone (that is already on the market in Japan).
2004-06-07
Band in the UK
BT, British Telecom, is about to ban a bunch of child porn sites. Hey, I'm all for stringing sickos up by the short hairs. Next on the list are racial places or religious hatred sites I bet. I want to know where it stops. This activity is unpopular (Thank God). What else is unpopular? I'm sure you can follow a tail of thought that leads to political movements that are deemed unsafe like Al Quida, communism, buying tickets to Cuba. How about sites that show you how to do things like recognize suspicious behavior or defeat ires scans?
The whole freedom of speech thing is scary. To be honest, I want the ban in the U. S. too. RIAA will want to block sharing sites. The movie industry will want to block fan fiction sites. RIAA will not understand the difference between business and culture. They already want your fingerprints to buy music.
You know something I don't see is the credit card companies cutting off these places.
This past weekend
I went to training Saturday. I learned allot. I also learned my camera has a different color LED when the camera cannot focus properly. I sat in my apartment all day Sunday and didn't get much of anything accomplished. I still need a battery for my Night Vision Monocular. I can't wait to play with it. I didn't read any comics. I didn't write to my blog. I didn't order the batteries online.
Phones, Banks and Automobiles
T-Mobile is supposedly the winner in the AT&T Cingular merger. I use T-Mobile. I have to say their signal quality is bad. I used to have Cingular, but I had to get more minutes. I like the quote in that article. "People get used to leaning out their apartment windows to get a signal." I have to do that at work and home. I've looked all over the place for a better service provider. No one is better than the rest. AT&T sucks. Cingular doesn't care if you leave. T-Mobile only works six meters from a tower. All the smaller providers have to pay exorbitant fees to get any kind of coverage area.
I started out with VoiceStream. They were scooped up by T-Mobile. It reminds me of my bank in the late eighties and early nineties. First I was with a savings and lone that went under in that big debacle. Then that S&L closed I ended up switching to USAA. They are known for serving the military]. All I know is they are stable. Daimler Benz bought Chrysler to form Daimler Chrysler. I haven't heard of any improvement in Chrysler products. I know Chrysler had cars with many cup-holders and Daimler didn't seem to believe in cup-holders at all. I wonder what will come of that conflict.
Spelling
I remember one of my prerequisites for an HTML editor was a spell-checker. For this blog I now use Composer inside Mozilla. It has a spell-checker, but it is a bit lacking. It is still far better than nothing. The spell-checker just doesn't have a large dictionary. When it suggests words, the one you really need may not be there. I find myself using Google to track down the correct spelling. For example, "prerequisites". The word was misspelled and the spell-checker would not suggest anything. Google came up with the correct word on the first try. "Did you mean ..." I still remember looking for the Sweetish car called Koenigsegg. Can you imagine trying to spell that correctly? Google got it for me. The funny thing is, Google only offers one choice for "is this what you meant" and it has nearly always been right. There has got to be some fuzzy logic going on there.
BT, British Telecom, is about to ban a bunch of child porn sites. Hey, I'm all for stringing sickos up by the short hairs. Next on the list are racial places or religious hatred sites I bet. I want to know where it stops. This activity is unpopular (Thank God). What else is unpopular? I'm sure you can follow a tail of thought that leads to political movements that are deemed unsafe like Al Quida, communism, buying tickets to Cuba. How about sites that show you how to do things like recognize suspicious behavior or defeat ires scans?
The whole freedom of speech thing is scary. To be honest, I want the ban in the U. S. too. RIAA will want to block sharing sites. The movie industry will want to block fan fiction sites. RIAA will not understand the difference between business and culture. They already want your fingerprints to buy music.
You know something I don't see is the credit card companies cutting off these places.
This past weekend
I went to training Saturday. I learned allot. I also learned my camera has a different color LED when the camera cannot focus properly. I sat in my apartment all day Sunday and didn't get much of anything accomplished. I still need a battery for my Night Vision Monocular. I can't wait to play with it. I didn't read any comics. I didn't write to my blog. I didn't order the batteries online.
Phones, Banks and Automobiles
T-Mobile is supposedly the winner in the AT&T Cingular merger. I use T-Mobile. I have to say their signal quality is bad. I used to have Cingular, but I had to get more minutes. I like the quote in that article. "People get used to leaning out their apartment windows to get a signal." I have to do that at work and home. I've looked all over the place for a better service provider. No one is better than the rest. AT&T sucks. Cingular doesn't care if you leave. T-Mobile only works six meters from a tower. All the smaller providers have to pay exorbitant fees to get any kind of coverage area.
I started out with VoiceStream. They were scooped up by T-Mobile. It reminds me of my bank in the late eighties and early nineties. First I was with a savings and lone that went under in that big debacle. Then that S&L closed I ended up switching to USAA. They are known for serving the military]. All I know is they are stable. Daimler Benz bought Chrysler to form Daimler Chrysler. I haven't heard of any improvement in Chrysler products. I know Chrysler had cars with many cup-holders and Daimler didn't seem to believe in cup-holders at all. I wonder what will come of that conflict.
Spelling
I remember one of my prerequisites for an HTML editor was a spell-checker. For this blog I now use Composer inside Mozilla. It has a spell-checker, but it is a bit lacking. It is still far better than nothing. The spell-checker just doesn't have a large dictionary. When it suggests words, the one you really need may not be there. I find myself using Google to track down the correct spelling. For example, "prerequisites". The word was misspelled and the spell-checker would not suggest anything. Google came up with the correct word on the first try. "Did you mean ..." I still remember looking for the Sweetish car called Koenigsegg. Can you imagine trying to spell that correctly? Google got it for me. The funny thing is, Google only offers one choice for "is this what you meant" and it has nearly always been right. There has got to be some fuzzy logic going on there.
2004-06-05
Training
I just got back from training. We went over one of the products for the new company. It has plenty of issues, but there are no show stoppers. Most of the troubles we hit today were infrastructure, interface, and procedure. Those are all fixable. The products will help us provide a solution for document searching. MS wants to get into the search business. They want to add search to the operating system that will allow networks to access and track everything users do and produce. It doesn't sound too bad. The trouble is, they will not open up the technology to any one else. What I've seen of the new MS technology. it is lacking. MS is trying to mimic Google. However, Google is lacking too. The product we are developing is far superior. Google can be part of it. Ours is far more robust.
Higher Deffinition TV (UHDTV)
This article makes me sick. I read somewhere that the most connected country in the world is South Koria. This is because the dumpped a bunch of money into a brand new network in the last couple of deccaids. They didn't have an existing network to get in the way. We in the U. S. have to overcome the existing system to improve our phone and Internet. The network would spread faster if the old network was never built. The same thing is happening in th TV world. Between the TV loby and th e movie industry freaking out, we may never get HDTV. Did you know HDTV is 40 years old?
I just got back from training. We went over one of the products for the new company. It has plenty of issues, but there are no show stoppers. Most of the troubles we hit today were infrastructure, interface, and procedure. Those are all fixable. The products will help us provide a solution for document searching. MS wants to get into the search business. They want to add search to the operating system that will allow networks to access and track everything users do and produce. It doesn't sound too bad. The trouble is, they will not open up the technology to any one else. What I've seen of the new MS technology. it is lacking. MS is trying to mimic Google. However, Google is lacking too. The product we are developing is far superior. Google can be part of it. Ours is far more robust.
Higher Deffinition TV (UHDTV)
This article makes me sick. I read somewhere that the most connected country in the world is South Koria. This is because the dumpped a bunch of money into a brand new network in the last couple of deccaids. They didn't have an existing network to get in the way. We in the U. S. have to overcome the existing system to improve our phone and Internet. The network would spread faster if the old network was never built. The same thing is happening in th TV world. Between the TV loby and th e movie industry freaking out, we may never get HDTV. Did you know HDTV is 40 years old?
2004-06-04
Coffee
It isn't just caffeine. It isn't just the sugar. It is that, and the people who I share my addiction with. We walk to the coffee and chat. We fix our coffee the way we like it. We drink it down and talk about our day. We make plans for lunch. We exchange our thoughts one work and family. The world holds nothing we cannot conquer as long as we have coffee to sip while hashing out our plots and plans. It is not the people in the group. It is not the group of people. It is the comradery. It is the act of group. It is the fun in talking to one another. If there is not some enjoyment, even in labor, people will do something else.
Office
I have a thermostat in my office. It doesn't help me in any way because of the politics surrounding the whole temperature issue in an office. Some guy came through recently and opened up the vents. It seems there are two levels of temperature in my office now. Sweat my balls off, or hang meat. My mother reads this, but I'm not going to clean that one up. She used to work here and probably knows what I'm talking about. The politics enter in because the thermostat in my office controls about five offices. The whole little block of offices in my island are tethered to the little box on my wall. It is not like I'm a tyrant or anything. I suppose I should hang a sign with the names of those whom to consult before you jack with the numbers. Women are the worse. They complain no matter what the temperature is, or is not. "It's too hot." "It's too cold." "I can't feel my legs." Nothing but complaints. I don't care. Change the setting. If any one complains to me I'm giving them your name.
Night Vision Monocular
Well, I received the night vision monocular. I would tell you how cool it is, but it takes a funky CR2 battery. They are pretty common, but they are only sold as camera supplies. I found them online. It looks like Best Buy sells them for frigging $9.99. They average about $5 online. If I get a couple, the shipping won't be too bad each. It sure would be nice if I could run down the street and pick one up though. This is one of those times it sucks to not drive.
The Monocular is made in Russia. That is kind of cool in itself. I started looking the batteries up online and I found them all over the place in Europe. I bet they are like AAs over the pond.
It isn't just caffeine. It isn't just the sugar. It is that, and the people who I share my addiction with. We walk to the coffee and chat. We fix our coffee the way we like it. We drink it down and talk about our day. We make plans for lunch. We exchange our thoughts one work and family. The world holds nothing we cannot conquer as long as we have coffee to sip while hashing out our plots and plans. It is not the people in the group. It is not the group of people. It is the comradery. It is the act of group. It is the fun in talking to one another. If there is not some enjoyment, even in labor, people will do something else.
Office
I have a thermostat in my office. It doesn't help me in any way because of the politics surrounding the whole temperature issue in an office. Some guy came through recently and opened up the vents. It seems there are two levels of temperature in my office now. Sweat my balls off, or hang meat. My mother reads this, but I'm not going to clean that one up. She used to work here and probably knows what I'm talking about. The politics enter in because the thermostat in my office controls about five offices. The whole little block of offices in my island are tethered to the little box on my wall. It is not like I'm a tyrant or anything. I suppose I should hang a sign with the names of those whom to consult before you jack with the numbers. Women are the worse. They complain no matter what the temperature is, or is not. "It's too hot." "It's too cold." "I can't feel my legs." Nothing but complaints. I don't care. Change the setting. If any one complains to me I'm giving them your name.
Night Vision Monocular
Well, I received the night vision monocular. I would tell you how cool it is, but it takes a funky CR2 battery. They are pretty common, but they are only sold as camera supplies. I found them online. It looks like Best Buy sells them for frigging $9.99. They average about $5 online. If I get a couple, the shipping won't be too bad each. It sure would be nice if I could run down the street and pick one up though. This is one of those times it sucks to not drive.
The Monocular is made in Russia. That is kind of cool in itself. I started looking the batteries up online and I found them all over the place in Europe. I bet they are like AAs over the pond.
2004-06-03
This guy gets it.
He is a college drop out. He is Japanese. He has started several companies in Japan and he runs around the world talking up blogs. I like the outlet, the place to put my thoughts out there. I've only met one person through my blog. I've been doing it for over a year. My friends seem to read it sporadically. I hear them quote my blog every once in a while. That is so cool. The guy in the article seems to think blogs will revolutionize communication. I don't think it will go that far. I believe, as he says, that blogs are one of the things the Internet originally promised.
Work.
We have some test databases at my day job for a new project. We complain all the time how no one around here has a sense of humor or creativity. The databases are Starbucks and Guinness. I laughed when I read that and said the next one should be named Marlboro.
Speaking of testing, There is this project the department at my day job. The project is big for our department. This department is supposed to help develop a new software for Engineering and 3d modeling. We test software, and test databases, and tell about how we want to do things, and complain about fixes, and double check the fixes, and triple check fixes and complain to the vendor about the lack of fixes, and listen to excuses, and then the fixes don't fix anything, or they break something else, or they re-break old problems that other fixes tried to fix. Yeesh. I've been avoiding the meetings.
Iran code.
This story from The New York Times proves there is still cloak and dagger stuff going on every day. Here is what I believe happened. The guy in Iraq, Chalabi, really did tell a spy for Iran that the code they use for spy communications had been compromised. The Iran operative discussed it with his superiors. They decided to both test the story and burn the guy who told them by sending that very information through the compromised system and blowing the lid off the situation. Perhaps it is a complete fake. I would not put it past Iran to have staged the whole thing. Maybe Iran figured out the U. S. had the keys and just decided to incriminate Chalabi. Who knows?
One funny thing. No one is pissed that the U. S. was listening to encrypted communications from Iran. Iran won't even acknowledge it. I just plane expect the U. S. government to keep an eye on every one else in the world. That is arrogant, but the truth..
Of course, it may have been the following email that messed things up.
Operative says to superior:
"Comrade leader,:
It has come to my attention that our encryption system has become compromised and is vulnerable to the evil imperialistic Americans. This information comes from the guy next door. Please advise."
Then he clicks send. Then he sits back in his chair and says under his breath in Arabic, or Farci, "Wait a minute. ... Oh, shit!"
Now, I'm reading about the CIA chief resigning. It is scary that this happens on the same day. So, who was the drunk informant (mentioned in the first article above) who spilled the beans in the first place? The guy who is at the center of this is Ahmad Chalabi. I've heard this guy has been to the White House at some point. The U. S. has dumped $100,000,000 in support for this guy of one kind or another over the last two decades. He has been convicted of bank fraud in Jordan. It sounds like Chalabi is one of the big reasons the U. S. went into Iraq in th first place.
He is a college drop out. He is Japanese. He has started several companies in Japan and he runs around the world talking up blogs. I like the outlet, the place to put my thoughts out there. I've only met one person through my blog. I've been doing it for over a year. My friends seem to read it sporadically. I hear them quote my blog every once in a while. That is so cool. The guy in the article seems to think blogs will revolutionize communication. I don't think it will go that far. I believe, as he says, that blogs are one of the things the Internet originally promised.
Work.
We have some test databases at my day job for a new project. We complain all the time how no one around here has a sense of humor or creativity. The databases are Starbucks and Guinness. I laughed when I read that and said the next one should be named Marlboro.
Speaking of testing, There is this project the department at my day job. The project is big for our department. This department is supposed to help develop a new software for Engineering and 3d modeling. We test software, and test databases, and tell about how we want to do things, and complain about fixes, and double check the fixes, and triple check fixes and complain to the vendor about the lack of fixes, and listen to excuses, and then the fixes don't fix anything, or they break something else, or they re-break old problems that other fixes tried to fix. Yeesh. I've been avoiding the meetings.
Iran code.
This story from The New York Times proves there is still cloak and dagger stuff going on every day. Here is what I believe happened. The guy in Iraq, Chalabi, really did tell a spy for Iran that the code they use for spy communications had been compromised. The Iran operative discussed it with his superiors. They decided to both test the story and burn the guy who told them by sending that very information through the compromised system and blowing the lid off the situation. Perhaps it is a complete fake. I would not put it past Iran to have staged the whole thing. Maybe Iran figured out the U. S. had the keys and just decided to incriminate Chalabi. Who knows?
One funny thing. No one is pissed that the U. S. was listening to encrypted communications from Iran. Iran won't even acknowledge it. I just plane expect the U. S. government to keep an eye on every one else in the world. That is arrogant, but the truth..
Of course, it may have been the following email that messed things up.
Operative says to superior:
"Comrade leader,:
It has come to my attention that our encryption system has become compromised and is vulnerable to the evil imperialistic Americans. This information comes from the guy next door. Please advise."
Then he clicks send. Then he sits back in his chair and says under his breath in Arabic, or Farci, "Wait a minute. ... Oh, shit!"
Now, I'm reading about the CIA chief resigning. It is scary that this happens on the same day. So, who was the drunk informant (mentioned in the first article above) who spilled the beans in the first place? The guy who is at the center of this is Ahmad Chalabi. I've heard this guy has been to the White House at some point. The U. S. has dumped $100,000,000 in support for this guy of one kind or another over the last two decades. He has been convicted of bank fraud in Jordan. It sounds like Chalabi is one of the big reasons the U. S. went into Iraq in th first place.
2004-06-02
Home and Work
I spend allot of time on the computer. I remember my father and others asking me how in the world I can go home, after spending all day on a computer, and spend more time on a computer. I told them "It doesn't feel like work when I'm at home." I can tell you, It is like work when it is indeed work. It is frightfully difficult to do work all day, then go home and do more work. I need to take things one day at a time.
Dyslexia and Support
Support calls can be a chore when you have dyslexia. At my day job I have several folks I try to help for whom English is not their first language. They do allot better with English than I do with their language. Anyway, I'm trying to explain to this guy that telling the others to call me is not the best solution. Getting them to email me is best, because I can just reply to the email. I have dyslexia a bit and I know from past experience that is the way to go While giving him my user number (for the internal email) it takes us about five tries to get things right because of an "N" that sounds like an "M" and an "O" that is really a zero. Case and point. I cannot seem to get it across to him why I need the email though. I bet he thinks I'm being a jerk.
National ID Card
I just don't have a problem with a national ID card. They are one stop shopping for ID theft, but there are ways to make it more difficult to steel it. I say give every one an ID and if some one decides to steel another person's ID take their's away. They get a tattoo on their forehead "ID THIEF!" and they can't get a home. They can't get credit. They can't get a job. They can't get health care. They can't get married. They can't get a movie ticket. They can't report a crime. They have to go do good deeds for food and shelter. People should be scared to death of steeling some one's ID, not getting their ID stolen.
Metrosexual
I looked up an article on the term metrosexual. I herd it used to describe David Beckham. It turns out I'm an anti-metrosexual. A quick definition of a Metrosexual is a straight guy who acts gay. They care what they look like. They care about brand name shirts. They don't get caught with wrinkles. I know a couple of these. I thought about it. I know the brand name of boots I'm waring (Wolverine steel toe), the socks I'm waring (WickDry hiking socks), and the watch I'm waring (a Seiko that I bought myself when I started working about ten years ago). If I looked up I couldn't tell you what color shirt I'm waring.
The program I heard Beckham mentioned was complaining about how he has not hit it big in the U. S. Maybe it is because he looks like a fag, Oh, wait, that isn't PC. How about he looks look a straight guy acting like a gay guy. What is the difference again?
Intel and AMD
You know, I'm just board with new CPUs hitting the market. I wish they would stop putting up announcements in the news. I know they are going to improve things every couple of months. I expect better performance regularly. I know there is pseudo competition between chip makers. I don't care if my computer has one chip or the other until something doesn't work. The weight and ability to play video games is my primary concern when looking at a new notebook. I am only barely considering a new desktop (server) for testing web based utilities. MIPS, MFLOPs I just don't care until my browser takes five minutes to come up, or my MP3 skips, or my game lags. Then, however, there is hell to pay.
Accenture?
The Department of Homeland Security has given the contract to track everyone crossing our borders to Accenture. I cannot believe Accenture got the nod. I've worked with Accenture before. They are professional, but they are incorporated in the Bermuda for goodness sake. Apparently they still qualify as an American company.
I spend allot of time on the computer. I remember my father and others asking me how in the world I can go home, after spending all day on a computer, and spend more time on a computer. I told them "It doesn't feel like work when I'm at home." I can tell you, It is like work when it is indeed work. It is frightfully difficult to do work all day, then go home and do more work. I need to take things one day at a time.
Dyslexia and Support
Support calls can be a chore when you have dyslexia. At my day job I have several folks I try to help for whom English is not their first language. They do allot better with English than I do with their language. Anyway, I'm trying to explain to this guy that telling the others to call me is not the best solution. Getting them to email me is best, because I can just reply to the email. I have dyslexia a bit and I know from past experience that is the way to go While giving him my user number (for the internal email) it takes us about five tries to get things right because of an "N" that sounds like an "M" and an "O" that is really a zero. Case and point. I cannot seem to get it across to him why I need the email though. I bet he thinks I'm being a jerk.
National ID Card
I just don't have a problem with a national ID card. They are one stop shopping for ID theft, but there are ways to make it more difficult to steel it. I say give every one an ID and if some one decides to steel another person's ID take their's away. They get a tattoo on their forehead "ID THIEF!" and they can't get a home. They can't get credit. They can't get a job. They can't get health care. They can't get married. They can't get a movie ticket. They can't report a crime. They have to go do good deeds for food and shelter. People should be scared to death of steeling some one's ID, not getting their ID stolen.
Metrosexual
I looked up an article on the term metrosexual. I herd it used to describe David Beckham. It turns out I'm an anti-metrosexual. A quick definition of a Metrosexual is a straight guy who acts gay. They care what they look like. They care about brand name shirts. They don't get caught with wrinkles. I know a couple of these. I thought about it. I know the brand name of boots I'm waring (Wolverine steel toe), the socks I'm waring (WickDry hiking socks), and the watch I'm waring (a Seiko that I bought myself when I started working about ten years ago). If I looked up I couldn't tell you what color shirt I'm waring.
The program I heard Beckham mentioned was complaining about how he has not hit it big in the U. S. Maybe it is because he looks like a fag, Oh, wait, that isn't PC. How about he looks look a straight guy acting like a gay guy. What is the difference again?
Intel and AMD
You know, I'm just board with new CPUs hitting the market. I wish they would stop putting up announcements in the news. I know they are going to improve things every couple of months. I expect better performance regularly. I know there is pseudo competition between chip makers. I don't care if my computer has one chip or the other until something doesn't work. The weight and ability to play video games is my primary concern when looking at a new notebook. I am only barely considering a new desktop (server) for testing web based utilities. MIPS, MFLOPs I just don't care until my browser takes five minutes to come up, or my MP3 skips, or my game lags. Then, however, there is hell to pay.
Accenture?
The Department of Homeland Security has given the contract to track everyone crossing our borders to Accenture. I cannot believe Accenture got the nod. I've worked with Accenture before. They are professional, but they are incorporated in the Bermuda for goodness sake. Apparently they still qualify as an American company.
2004-06-01
Good radio.
I've been searching the net over and I finally found a good radio station. The trouble is, it is in Poland (I think). It is also in Polish (I think). They play allot of English (language) music. The comments are in Polish (I think). I can't even translate the web page wit Babel Fish. Every now and then I get sick of it and have to go back to something in English. I'm sure I'll get sick of it and move on to other stations. I doubt they will be in the States though .People here seem to like, and promote, crap.
Weekend.
Friday.
I worked all day of course. Then I went to the apartment ant got a new video game installed before I passed out from exhaustion.
Saturday.
I woke up around nine o clock in the morning and checked my email. I didn't get much done before going back to bed and taking a nap..I woke up sometime in the afternoon and walked down to the stop and rob for some soft drinks. I then plaid the new video game for a while. I tried to get some work done, but it just didn't work out that way. I'm working tens all week and I knew it Saturday. I don't remember when I went to bed Saturday.
Sunday.
I don't remember much Sunday. I think I may have taken a picture or two for fun.
Monday.
Monday was Memorial Day in the U. S. so I was home. I got hold of a buddy of mine and we ended up playing the same video game and watching some movies. Mostly I read.
That is it. I have a long week this week and training on Saturday. I will not have much of a weekend to recover. I hope I can keep it together for the long haul. I enjoyed the time I spent with my friends. I also enjoyed the time I spent writing in my blog.
First day of Summer.
I think of Summer in Houston as walking from the air conditioning to the heat/humidity and back again. Today I walked out of the office building where I work and my glasses fogged up from the temperature change. it is ironic that this happens for the first time of the year on June first. It takes some getting used to. I remember some one telling me, when they first came to Houston they turned on the water tap and warm water came out. They tried the other faucet and hot water came out. That is pretty typical for Summer in Houston.
I've been searching the net over and I finally found a good radio station. The trouble is, it is in Poland (I think). It is also in Polish (I think). They play allot of English (language) music. The comments are in Polish (I think). I can't even translate the web page wit Babel Fish. Every now and then I get sick of it and have to go back to something in English. I'm sure I'll get sick of it and move on to other stations. I doubt they will be in the States though .People here seem to like, and promote, crap.
Weekend.
Friday.
I worked all day of course. Then I went to the apartment ant got a new video game installed before I passed out from exhaustion.
Saturday.
I woke up around nine o clock in the morning and checked my email. I didn't get much done before going back to bed and taking a nap..I woke up sometime in the afternoon and walked down to the stop and rob for some soft drinks. I then plaid the new video game for a while. I tried to get some work done, but it just didn't work out that way. I'm working tens all week and I knew it Saturday. I don't remember when I went to bed Saturday.
Sunday.
I don't remember much Sunday. I think I may have taken a picture or two for fun.
Monday.
Monday was Memorial Day in the U. S. so I was home. I got hold of a buddy of mine and we ended up playing the same video game and watching some movies. Mostly I read.
That is it. I have a long week this week and training on Saturday. I will not have much of a weekend to recover. I hope I can keep it together for the long haul. I enjoyed the time I spent with my friends. I also enjoyed the time I spent writing in my blog.
First day of Summer.
I think of Summer in Houston as walking from the air conditioning to the heat/humidity and back again. Today I walked out of the office building where I work and my glasses fogged up from the temperature change. it is ironic that this happens for the first time of the year on June first. It takes some getting used to. I remember some one telling me, when they first came to Houston they turned on the water tap and warm water came out. They tried the other faucet and hot water came out. That is pretty typical for Summer in Houston.
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