My 2 Cents

Ubuntu 9.10 - A Slightly Abrasive Take On Why Ubuntu Is Facing An Uphill Battle...

2009-10-29T12:42:00.000-05:00

Today is October 29th, 2009 and Canonical Ltd. has just released the latest version of it's computer operating system, Ubuntu 9.10 (nine point ten, not nine point one... meaning 20'09', 10th month), which has been given the code name, 'Karmic Koala'. There have been a number of very nice improvements from the 9.04 (2009 ,4th month) release. Ubuntu 9.04 is the first Linux-based system I have ever continued to use. What I mean by that is that I've run many 'Linux-based' operating systems based off debian, suse, fedora, etc... but as a friend of mine put it, I always ran into a serious 'deal-breaker' that caused me to pass on a 'Linux-based' system. That said, I find Ubuntu to be the first 'Linux-based' OS that is usable to a degree that I would expect. It is highly-configurable, which I personally love. I've used Apple's OS X as my main system, as well as most of Microsoft's Windows OS's (currently running Vista 32bit and have the beta of Windows 7 as well). I really like OS X because it's Unix style system allows for basic use by less technically adept users but also allows the more techy individual to have pretty good control. Windows falls short of this in my opinion because Microsoft seems to assume all end-users 'should' be Microsoft certified or at least have used a version since Windows 95. Microsoft's approach to it's expectations of it's user base to use Windows, while claiming 'it just works', is like Fox News claiming it is 'fair and balanced'... Neither should make those claims... actually Microsoft has more of a right because it could be that their saying "it just (barely) works" or "it just works (if the stars are aligned just right)". Back to Linux-based systems... The thing I've heard, as at times in the past have also believed, is that Linux (in the broad-generalized term that includes all Linux-based systems) is developed by pimply-faced teenagers or middle-aged perverts, both of which are unemployed or barely employed and while living in their parents basement, program this linux operating system as a hobby because they are angry at the establishment.... In fact, most of the people who contribute code to the development of the linux kernel, and other of the larger open-source projects like the Gnome Desktop Environment, and Open Office, are college graduates who have good paying jobs in IT for large corporations, many of which are Fortune 500 companies... Linux is NOT just for teenagers who need a hobby. A majority of the web-servers that host websites on the internet are running on Linux-based systems like Red Hat(the current 'leader in enterprise linux' which also distributes the Fedora OS, a derivitive of Red Hat), Solaris and Open Solaris (a linux-based derivitive from Sun Microsystems, the company responsible for Java as well as OpenOffice). In fact, even Microsoft's own Bing.com search engine relies on some sort of Linux Server to accomplish its prime-directive... Funny, as you'd think they'd prefer to use Windows Server 2008 for that job... huh... Anyway, the point of me writing this article is sadly that there are only a few things that are sadly keeping people from adopting a very solid Linux-based Desktop Operating System like Ubuntu in their homes. 1. People are generally lazy. Capitalism relies on the tried and true marketing techniques where a vendor is expected to reassure the consumer that 'we will think for you, you can trust us, this is what you're getting and this is why you should go with us...'. When it comes to Operating Systems and Computers in the home, Apple actually has a very competitively priced product but Windows PCs are marketed using a deceptive technique of deferring the cost of ownership over the lifetime of the machine... People are not encouraged to factor in the quality of the computer's parts, not to mention the way they are actually designed to work efficiently with eachother, nor are most people educated enough to sort through that information. Apple includes a lot more useful tools that come with the OS X operating system that is specifically designed to work seamlessly with the hardware that is also built to Apple's specifications... Because people are lazy, and therefore would rather trust a stranger who 'sounds legit' most people don't factor in the amount of trouble they have already dealt with when they have used their Windows based PC. People who actually switch to a Mac don't just switch and automatically know where everything is. They poke around. They Google stuff to find out 'how to do' whatever it is that they know their computer should be able to do. That leads to the second point... 2. Average computer users are afraid of the word Linux. Linux inspires thoughts of a system that only an uber-geek can use, made up of command-lines that use commands that you 'just have to know'. Linux inspires thoughts that 'I can't use Linux because I don't know any programming'... or I don't know how to compile source code... It's easy to predict, sad as it is, that most people who migrate to Linux-based systems feel so out of their element that it's like they even forget that Google exists... Okay, so you're wireless driver doesn't work... Oh God, the I guess Linux isn't ready for primetime... I've never had a driver issue on a Windows machine... (that's sarcasm) REALLY!? Bottom line, Ubuntu is a Linux-based system. Linux is only the Linux Kernel. All Linux-based OS's stem from a few derivitive Linux kernels. Ubuntu uses a derived Debian Linux Kernel. Ubuntu is only one of hundreds of other Linux distributions (or other Linux-based Operating Systems). Ubuntu is almost without a doubt the most mature of all the current 'distros' (distributions). It is very stable and very fast. It requires a user to grasp a couple concepts that are only slightly different than Windows. A lot of it is just knowing 'what button do I push to do this'. Concepts like drag and drop and browsers that connect to the internet and Word processors and media center software and mp3s and all of that stuff is all there. Can you use Windows software? I answer with a question, Can you use Mac software on a Windows machine? Ubuntu is not Windows... However, Ubuntu (and many other Linux-based systems) can run "WINE" which can run many Windows programs within a Linux-based system like Ubuntu. Ubuntu comes with WINE pre-installed. However before you use WINE to run Windows Programs in a emulated environment (since it can be slower and sometimes buggy because it's trying to mimic Windows' software architecture) you will come to find that there is most likely an equivilent to the Windows program within the Ubuntu Software Center. The Ubuntu Software Center (new in 9.10) gives you a straight forward interface to access thousands of free applications that you can add to your computer. Give it a try... You can download a 'liveCD' which runs Ubuntu from a CD without installing it on your computer giving you the ability to try it out before actually making any changes to your system. Keep in mind, you may not get the full experience of Ubuntu by running the LiveCD like you would when you actually install it. If you have a certain component like your ethernet or wireless card not being recognized while running the LiveCD, that DOES NOT necessarily mean that does not work with Ubuntu. It could be that it will be recognized flawlessly when the OS is installed. It could mean that you have to do a little Googling and might have to access the 'Terminal' and type in a couple command lines from a web page. The huge benefit of Ubuntu is the Open Source community... If you have an issue with a certain card, there is almost always someone who has already found a way to make it work and has documented it. If it's a driver issues, there may be a programmer who has been able to take the open-source code for another ethernet card and get it to work with the card you have. This is increasingly the exception. In most cases, installations of Ubuntu at this point can be quite painless. Good luck.

Opinionated and Judgmental

2009-09-10T18:36:00.000-05:00

I am opinionated and judgmental. That is typically what people who don't take the time to truly understand the meaning of what I (or others) say sometimes actually is. I can often be brash and if a given statement is taken even partly out of context, that meaning of the statement in question can be completely mis-taken and thus misunderstood. I think many people feel exactly this way. I think many people overlook the subtleties in communication. I think so often when someone says, "now you're just arguing semantics" that it's because "the argument is the semantics". Few seem to ever identify that as the point of contention. So, am I opinionated because I have opinions that I occasionally share? Am I opinionated just because I have opinions? Despite the actual definition of the word "opinionated", I have acquired the connotation of the word "opinionated" and integrating it as a negative word to with a definition which would better be defined by the word "over-opinionated". I embrace the fact that I have opinions and I will occasionally share them, especially when I have actually given some thought to the opinions that I have really earned, rather than just having opinions that I've heard others say that on the surface I might think I agree with. Now, am I judgmental? Occasionally, yes. Is it wrong to be judgemental? I'm not so sure... However, I also think there is a difference between making a judgment and being judgmental. Again, the argument is the semantics. I believe we are served by making informed judgments related to our part in things. We make judgments about whether to make one decision or another. Being judgmental is, I think, more of a generalized sweeping judgment that would border on a pre-judgment or being prejudiced (being essentially the correct word that is used to represent the concept I'm illustrating). The point I am getting at is lacking one more angle though, unlike the previous example. Is being judgmental also necessarily judging? I don't think so. I think it's the subtle understanding of the wording of the not so subtle concepts that surround making a judgment about how to judiciously excercise or not excercise the concepts presented here. I think from a strictly practical view it is important to not be a judging individual where as I think it might be alright occasionally to be judgmental about certain things. The thing that I think is important to maintain when being judgmental is an attitude of understanding, tolerance and acceptance that the actions of others or the situation you are being judgmental about may not be anything you actually have any right to have a judgment about, as it may not involve you at all. If that is the case than you have an opinion and if you express that opinion you may be called, "opinionated and judgmental". So, I guess this was a shorter post but I believe it is an important one. l8r, Chris

The grounds for dignity...

2009-09-09T16:44:00.000-05:00

There are some people in The United States Of America who irresponsibly vote, ignoring all the platforms of individual, save for one. These 'one issue voters' seem to most often be the anti-abortionists. However, there are other 'one issue voters' that only vote based on a candidates position on euthanasia or death-penalty. The three issues I'm going to focus on in this observation are primarily the three mentioned already. These issues are abortion, euthanasia and death-penalty. The contradiction that I often find insulting is that there are those who will vote on all three of these issues and argue that they are taking the position becuase of their religious beliefs. It is usually insulting because these same people often tend to argue that they are against abortion but then do little if anything to aid someone who needs help with raising a child. These people argue against end of life decisions for others but then never take steps themselves to aid these elderly people in any way. I have found that often the same people who argue 'right to life' are the same people who are 'pro-death penalty'. The hypocrisy is astounding really. The argument against my opinion usually comes from an angle of 'the person who deserves the death-penalty made a choice where as the unwanted unborn child that was the result of what these people judge to be immoral acts of fornication should have the right to life'. However the argument falls short because you really can't make that logic in that argument work for end of life rights. To be clear, there is a difference between 'end of life decisions and rights' and 'euthanasia'. Though you may debate the semantics, the two terms for the purposes of this commentary are to be deemed choice and no choice, respectively. In such a case I would be against euthanasia because there is no choice by the individual, which would mean that I would support the rights of individuals who want to make end of life decisions. The argument so often laid out by those who support capital punishment by death is partly that it serves society not to allow that person convicted of a capital offense to be a financial drain on society. I believe that the grounds for dignity are far more compelling in any debate where one would argue 'right to life'. I currently view 'right to dignity' as a better stance than 'right to life' or 'right to choice'. The idea of dignity means to me that if a child is unwanted and would struggle through his/her formative years as a child, with the proverbial 'deck stacked against' him or her, then why subject that child to a life that starts in such an undignified way. The fact is that when it comes to party platforms, the republican party typically stands in opposition to 'right to dignity' because they not only oppose abortion rights but also end of life rights but then they also oppose social programs that would be necessary. I never hear much about the 'christian left', only the 'christian right'. I know there is a 'christian left' because I've known many people who are democrats who also profess a christian faith. But the example here is that the same people who are claiming to be 'christian right' are the same people who would rather impose through governmental regulations ideas that they claim are backed by their beliefs but then refuse to allow those that would be affected by the imposed regulations the understanding and compassion they deserve as humans. Have you ever seen a die-hard 'christian' who grew up in the church and has lived an extremely sheltered life react to someone else saying they are going through a divorce? The look of complete disgust and judgment that crosses their face is sickening. You may think this is unfounded judgment on my part but I stand by it because I used to be like that. I was taught to value and respect life. I was also taught to think though and that is right to question and be curious. In respecting life, I learned it was important to live life in an experiential way. I have made mistakes and I have learned from mistakes. I am accountable for my mistakes and have claimed responsibility for my actions so that I won't repeat those mistakes which I've learned from. What is dignity to you? Do you think dignity is a right? To me, I see that a right to dignity is as much of a right as it is to have rights at all. I feel I've not been completely clear however, I feel I've been clear enough for you to understand the point actually embraces right to life when that life will be dignified or will continue to be dignified. I welcome your comments, as always.

Jesus has returned but he's a communist!!!

2009-09-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

I read a post on FoxNews.com today. I think Fox News is anything but 'fair and balanced'. It's more like 'crooked and biased'. To be fair, I will retract that blanket statement because I'm sure there is an intern who works there who is still 'fair and balanced'. Forgive me, I'm a little irritated. Today is a good example why it's hard not to get sucked into this insanity. I read an article, ironic as it is, about some 'controversy' over some comments made by Van Jones. I don't really care about the story itself other than it seems to detract from what that story really is about, at least as presented by FoxNews.com. I'll leave alone what the story really is though, to focus on the 'conspiratorial' actions taken by a lowly article comments moderator... After reading part of the completely off base comments regarding the the relatively off base article, I decided to post a comment. I wrote the comment, hit the 'add comment' button and having had an issue with the FoxNews.com website before, had made sure to copy my text before posting so I could repost if needed. Of course, I took note of the time and when that time passed in the comments cue and other people's comments started appearing that had been posted after mine, I reposted. And then needed to a third time. That's when I noticed the disclaimer below the 'fair and balanced' foxnews.com website comment box: " Disclaimer: Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. " Of course it was again, moderated out. I reposted in astonishment, reading the posts that were bluntly racist in some cases, as well as others that would clearly fall under the category of 'abusive'... Read for yourself: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/03/green-jobs-advisers-past-stir-trouble-white-house-critical-time/comments/ After realizing that my posts were not appearing because the were being selectively moderated out, I reposted my comment with the additional comment directed to the moderator... ================================= TO THE MODERATOR: Unforgivable... You're seriously going to moderate that logical perspective that is completely relevant while allowing racial hate speech that is nothing but abusive... I posted 4 comments and each one was 'moderated' because you chose to exclude me because I obviously do not fit your agenda... No matter, the truth will win. THE MODERATED UN-POSTED POST: I would be very interested to know how many of the people out there who profess to be Christian actually get that if they are waiting for Jesus to return to establish his kingdom on earth that it would likely be a socialist/communist society. I guess it's fine to pretend that is what you want on Sunday if you don't really believe it, so long as it makes you look good in front of others... Oh, and that whole love your neighbor thing, not to mention the 'green' co-exist in harmony with the planet so that we don't selfishly use it up or just ruin it for our children and their children... yah, that has nothing to do with capitalism. Capitalism, motivated by monetary gain, does nothing for society as a whole. Money doesn't even care about the individual. Capitalism reinforces greed and selfishness not caring and certainly not love. ================================================= Of course it was again not posted. I tried once more... nope. Denied 6 times, selective censorship of an opposing viewpoint. Just to make sure it wasn't a technology issue, I tried to post just the original portion of the comment using an alternate browser... no dice. It was not posted. As always, I invite comments. Oh, and by the way, I don't moderate them. l8r, Chris

Imagine

2009-09-01T11:50:00.000-05:00

Moses walked through the desert, led only by God. Jesus did the same. I'm not going to put myself on their level, however, like Moses and Jesus, I've come to the beliefs I have by setting aside all of my religious notions to walk through the desert of the unknown, resting upon the assurance that "God Is" and that if I seek the truth, I shall find it. John Lennon wrote a song called "Imagine" and so many people seem to not come close to seeing the vision that John was trying to relate. No country, no religion, no war... It's actually amazingly simple, in fact perhaps it's too simple for most people who expect that everything must be complex. I have come to understand the role that historical events and figures have played in religion enough that I can now look upon the Bible with new eyes. I see the truth within the Bible yet can now also see how historical events, even just the passage of time, has brought us the book that Christians hold dear. My journey through 'the desert of the unknown' has allowed me to lean upon 'God' without any need for defining what 'God' is other than trusting that whatever 'God' is, "God Is". In doing so I've been free to look into other beliefs and religions. It allowed me to give myself permission to question what I grew up believing and test it. I have found so far that my curiosity to understand the truth about God and spirituality and life in more practical ways has proven to be a grounding force in my life, so far. In attempting to live by the spiritual principles set forth in all religions, I have come to desire a greater understanding of other religions as well. I was raised as a Catholic, with some Protestant Christians in my extended family. I don't think I could call myself 'Catholic' at this point, nor could I likely call myself 'Christian', though I think of myself as Thomas Jefferson did, who regarded the non-religious philosophies presented by Jesus in the Gospels to be of immense value and guidance. Jefferson said that he felt he could likely consider himself as much or more of a 'Christian' than those who merely claim to be 'Christian' due to Jefferson actually trying to act as Jesus instructed unlike those who were just posturing. I have become more intrigued in learning about other religious faiths. I have begun reading an English translation of the Quran. I understand that Muslims expect a Muslim to read the Quran in Arabic as it has been for the past 1400+ years. Their reasoning as I understand it is that the Quran has remained the same for that entire period without revision and that the puntuation to stress the inflection of certain words is very important to understanding the meaning. Anyone who knows me and my love and respect of words will know I whole-heartedly respect that. That said, as much as I would like to begin learning Arabic, I feel my motivation for reading the Quran is not to become a Muslim but to draw upon the wisdom that would transcend the translation. I am seeking the truth and though I would like to one day learn not only Arabic but Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Latin and other more contemporary languages like Italian, French and German, I understand that I am mortal and have a limited time in which to do the things that I place value on. My interest in the spiritual aspects of religions is first and foremost a personal interest. I am not one who believes in an 'all or nothing' approach. I am at this point interested in continuing to uncover the path that I'm discovering. I know I am not the first to discover it but as I believe I've stated in a previous blog entry, I am no longer interested in divisive beliefs but inclusive ones. Ideas that unite are of infinitely greater benefit than those that divide. l8r, Chris

Banditos

2009-08-31T10:53:00.000-05:00

A number of years ago I heard a song that I really identified with. The song was called "Banditos" by a group called The Refreshments. Though I enjoy the whole song, the line in the song that I'd like to use to relate to today is part of the chorus, 'everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people'. I've been thinking about this over the weekend. I only started this blog last week and this is only my 4th post and I've already failed miserably to exude the type of attitude that I'd hoped. What I've found in posting these blog entries is that it's hard to not become outraged and sucked into the current day's argumentative banter that is ultimately unproductive. My last post, in particular, was almost completely reactive. Here I will try to do better. Having thought about it, I've decided that today I am going to try to focus more on solutions, instead of complaining about a world full of 'stupid people'. I checked out a book from the library the other day. I chose it from the other books on the shelf that dealt with the same topic because of the publisher mainly. The book had been published by the Harvard University Press. For the purpose of this post, neither the title nor the contents of that book are of any relevance. As I read through the preface, something occurred to me regarding knowledge. Having been someone who has in the past given in to believing there could be some kind of conspiratorial illuminati-type of group, I realized, reading just the preface of the 600 page text that I had checked out at the local library, that there is no reason for any sort of belief in any sort of illuminati per-sey. What occurred to me is that people who believe in such ideas like an elite ruling class that with-holds knowledge or keeps people in poverty, is not necessary(at the very least in the United States). The fact is that most people who buy into those kinds of conspiracy theories are keeping themselves down and it's easier to blame someone else for their situation than take any responsibility for their own actions or lack thereof. When it comes to certain ideas regarding the current health care reform, I actually tend to believe the following now: There is not enough emphasis placed on making sure the individual is taking responsibility for his/her own health care. Insurance companies ARE flawed and the fact that they can over-ride a doctor's order is insane just because the insurance companies don't want to cover what the licensed doctor has ordered/prescribed. There are those who don't have insurance because they have not personally made it a priority. There are those who can not afford it and actually need it and want it but don't qualify for coverage or don't have the availability. The issue of preventative health care does not receieve the amount of attention that it deserves. There is too much time and energy focused on 'putting out fires' instead of preventing them when it comes to health care and everyone suffers because of it. This last point especially is why I think the reform is neccessary. Personal accountability is something that many people need to take but don't because they want to rely on others, like the government to take care of it. However, there are those who need the assistance and at times the system needs some regulation. It has become important to me to take personal responsibility for my health, my well-fare and my general well-being. This has meant that I am personally accountable for the things I put in my body. I am responsible for educating myself about the foods I eat, the vitamins I may need, any medicines I might need and doing all I can personally to treat any ailments that I face. If I put a focus on healthful living, I will be encouraging my body to withstand illness that could detract from my quality of life. Today I take personal responsibility for the things that I can. But I recognize that there are things I cannot do by myself and that is occasionally neccessary for me to ask for outside help. In the same way with health care, I think it is important to encourage personal responsibility to pursue health while providing an opportunity to recieve help when it is needed and asked for. Have a good day.

Shameful acts

2009-08-28T01:37:00.000-05:00

Y'know, I walked by some guy standing on a corner by himself, holding a sign that was condemning homosexuality. I shrugged him off and walked by him, pitying the man for his lack of understanding. I walked a couple of blocks, and then it occurred to me that this idiot was claming he was Christian. I turned around and walked back to where he was standing. I asked, "Hey, I gotta question. That sign your holding that's condemning the sins of others there... ...could you remind me where it says in that book you're holding that it's your job to not only pass judgment on others but also condemn them? Because if I'm not mistaken, it was that 'savior' guy, y'know Jesus, who said 'let he without sin cast the first stone'. And didn't he also say something about 'judge not let ye be judged'?" Well of course he proceeded to tell me from his platform of false-pride that I hadn't read the Bible. He quoted some verses out of Romans as if the words of any of the apostles should be taken to superceed those words and actions of the one they had called Master. Just sayin'. I've been so apalled by society at large, especially recently. I think so much of it is the unconciounable amount of hypocrisy, ignorance, arrogance and just plain lunacy that so many people seem to suffer from. I've almost gotten to the point that I don't blame most people because they've been indoctrinated into this world and have been spoonfed their cultures, complete with their warped senses of patriotism, warped religious views(which often have little to actually do with what the religion actually teaches), etc. We in America are almost completely oblivious. We are so self-righteous, and we cling to delusional ideas that "we're number one". I want to be proud to be an American but honestly America and Americans disappoint me. Right now, we are occupying no less than 2 countries that we are actively fighting a 'war' that we waged, which can never be won. You can disagree and say we were attacked. Maybe we were or maybe it was a false-flag operation that we won't know about for a long time or ever. Either way, we had an opportunity to put aside our differences and we squandered it. Wake up people. There are something like 7 billion people on the planet and each and every one of them has a heart and a brain and yet we need to be divisive. Wake up! I heard a report that more money is being made through internet scams now that there is money being made through illegal drug trafficking. I know you've seen some of them. Either your 'dream girl' you get to chat with needs you to send $2500 for a plane ticket so you can 'be together' or some guy in Ethiopia has been given a large amount of money, some of which he will give to you if you just open an account at this bank by depositing this $1500 for a security deposit so that he can use the millions of imaginary money to organize a way to educate starving kids. Heartless, shameful acts that some governments, like the United States, claim that the 'terrorists' are using that money to carry out attacks with. The other day I read a report that the United States Navy is looking into a way of developing a 'biofuel' for jet fighters that is made through some process which extracts carbon dioxide from ocean water. Sounds good at first huh? Think it through though. First, the motivation is entirely wrong. Sure, the fish and sharks and whales and other animals in the ocean need oxygen but even as big as the ocean is how long will it be before we have moved from fueling war planes to go bomb other countries into submission so we can plunder their natural resources before we think 'hey, let's power cars and homes and our computers with this ocean water bio-fuel' and the next thing you know the oceanic ecosystem is completely turned upside down because we are extracting all the carbon-dioxide that the plant life needs to live, which the animals in the ocean need to live and then we have dead oceans, all because we wanted to pretend like we were being 'eco-friendly' when we go bomb the crap out of some country that doesn't even have freakin' jet fighters... Let's let the oil companies dictate the future of energy and let them just charge us more for something that burns a little cleaner instead of using existing technologies and developing those even further so that we have completely emission free means of grid-independent, self-contained and self-powered solutions. The energy companies' profits are more important to them then the environment. If that wasn't true, they would not be looking at bio-fuels. Shameful acts. Y'know that old Jesus fellow these 'christians' are always talking about, saying he's gonna come back and raise the dead... that's right, that when you die, you don't go straight to heaven, you have to wait, dead, for the J-man to come back and when he does he will wake up those he 'judges' to be worthy... Read the Bible? The key is wisdom which is laughable because mere common sense is so uncommon, let alone wisdom. Science proves, PROVES UNEQUIVOCALLY so many things, yet people still cling to their 2000 year old doctrine and dogma that even contradicts at times what the book they base the doctrine and dogma on, instead of looking at physical factual proof that removes certain mysteries. WAKE UP!

2009-08-27T09:40:00.000-05:00

I don't watch television much (I don't even own an idiot box) I had chosen not to focus a whole lot on following the news really closely. I am online a lot. I have focused quite a bit over recent months on more historical research, a lot of it centered around the Greco-Egyptian/Roman transition of power and the signifigance in those events upon the formation of the three major world religions within that relatively brief 1000 year period. The idea of being able to think, because we have been given brains, is key to all three of the world's major religions. Wisdom is not just knowing some facts, of course. I'm not a political science major. I'm not, nor have I ever been, a public servant in any capacity. My understanding of politics and government is limited but I tend to think that I might actually have a better understanding of politics and government than at least 80% of Americans, which I'd say gives me at least some room to have an opinion because I will try to make sure I understand at least something about the issues that I feel I deserve to opin about. Last November, following the conclusion of the presidential elecction, I was watching a certain 24 hour cable news station. I was impressed by a certain political commentator/pundint that had been active as a voice for the Republican party. I didn't agree with the commentator's politics or most of her arguments. At times, I sincerely thought, "how can she possibly believe the things she's saying?" It was only after the election, when I saw her making strides to encourage other Republicans to back the man who would be president, that I was impressed by her. Within the past two weeks I'd started paying a little more attention to the 'debate' that was heating up over the health-care bill. The 'dissent' that was being justified as free speech was not dissent at all and was only a thinly veiled attempt by some remarkably ignorant people to justify hate speech. I saw no rational arguments coming from those holding up a swastika in protest. It seemed amazingly hypocritical to see those holding up swastikas yelling about... whatever, I'm tired of attempting to justify or legitemize that type of lunacy. I saw the same pundint's blog and read a post that was insulting to my intelligence. It was off base and was little more than hard right propoganda. Right now I see that the democrats are trying to pretend like they are listening and are in fact only posturing and although it may be understandable it is a no more acceptable position to be approaching any sort of legislation than the way the republicans are right now. The republicans are fighting for changes in this bill and not a single one that I've heard of has indicated that they have any intention of ever actually voting for the bill. So, to clarify, they are 'wasting' time and money to work on adding amendments to a bill that they don't believe in. Yet at the same time, no one is proposing any other ideas. Don't like the bill, write a new one, but working for changes to make it work for everyone, as much as is realistically possible, should be the goal. Senators and Congressmen are public servants... Serve the people. You are there to represent the people who cannot represent themselves. I chastised the one pundint because I believed she was abusing her position to help other people understand the facts, not opinions without any basis. Today I was happy to see Andrea Tantaros take a stand and actually embrace facts and not just propogate the conservative republican propoganda that has been lacking any real argument. I don't agree with her continuing to encourage the devisive party loyalty but she did make what I view is a realistic and logical argument. George Washington in his Farewell Address (really just an open letter) talked about several things that we as a country should avoid to preserve the country. One of the biggest things he warned about was partisan politics. Get that?! By the time the FIRST PRESIDENT left office, he was already able to warn about the danger of partisan politics. I don't have a solution for that because I know people have different ideas but I also know that there are so many who claim to be something they are not and that we are all more similar than we are different, if only we could see that... I expect my posts to become more poignant as I continue to blog so I hope you will forgive me if this seems a little scattered. That said, now as always, I welcome your comments... l8r, Chris

My 2 Cents

2009-08-26T16:13:00.000-05:00

This blog is only my opinion. You are welcome to disagree or agree. I invite you to share your opinions. I will attempt to be open to your opinions and hope you will do the same by attempting to be open to my opinions. I believe we can only be right sometimes if we can be honest with ourselves and be humble enough to admit where we are wrong. Admitting we are wrong allows us to grow into greater understanding. Being 'wrong' is often just a matter of lacking a full understanding, or at least enough of one to make an informed decision. I will focus my energies on this blog in a variety of areas that interest me. These will not be limited to any one scope. Nothing is off limits as far as I'm concerned. Politics, religion, technology, history, science, health, movies, music... ...all of these and likely more are topics that I'll talk about. Hope you will enjoy my perspectives and help me hone my perspectives by sharing yours. l8r, Chris

Grandpa Johnson - This one is for you...

2009-06-16T17:25:00.002-05:00

Apparently my grandfather ran across this blog the other day and was impressed. I'd actually forgotten that I even had this blog. So, here's to you! l8r, Chris

Can you believe it?

2008-01-23T10:56:00.000-06:00

So, I was able to set up my Nokia 6103 cell phone, which has Bluetooth built in, to connect to the internet through my MacBook, which also has Bluetooth. I pay 5.99 for the T-Mobile MobileWeb service and I found a site ( http://www.webmasterlogs.com/gsm-phone-as-modem ) that helped me set up my phone as a wireless access point that I can use with my laptop. The two devices are paired and there are some settings that need to be configured but to my surprise, it works. So, now I can connect to the internet at any time in any location. And although the speeds are about the speed of 56k dial up, it’s a solid connection and that’s what’s important to me, not to mention the wirelessness of it. l8r, Chris

Writing...

2008-01-21T01:15:00.000-06:00

For Christmas, my Dad gave me a Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen Tablet. Since then, I’ve started to become more comfortable writing with the pen. I have found that there are several applications that I can use, besides Photoshop, Illustrator and Fireworks, such as MacJournal, VooDoo Pad and FontLab. In fact I created a new font that uses glyphs that were hand drawn with the pen tablet. I’ll be working on creating other fonts including a cypher that a friend of mine inspired me to develop, based on a simple replacement alphabet that he showed me. l8r, Chris

Waiting for Art...

2008-01-16T14:01:00.000-06:00

Well, I’m on my break between English and Art. I have been sort of out of it today and I don’t know quite why. I talked on Y! Messenger for a bit and have checked my email. I listened to some music on iTunes as well. anyway.... l8r, Chris

So Far So Good...

2008-01-14T08:29:00.000-06:00

Well, I just had my lunch during my break after my first two classes here on my first day at Penn Valley. I’m in the library right now and I’m loving this. I’m really excited now. My speech class went well and so did my English class. I like both of my teachers and think I’ll do alright. I was a little worried about the amount of work that I’ll have to do but I think that it will be do-able. I’ve got my art fundamentals class next followed by my computers in design class. They are in the same building so that’s nice. At any rate, I’ll write another post when I’m done for the day. l8r, Chris

My New MacBook

2008-01-13T12:49:00.000-06:00

So, I got a new MacBook almost a week ago and I’m really loving it. I previously had an iBook G4 with Tiger (OS X 10.4) but this is an Intel Core Duo 2.2GHz with a 13” display, 2GB of RAM, 120GB Hard Drive that is equipped with a SuperDrive (DVD-R/RW). I have yet to finish transferring much of my data from my external hard drive but will do so as I get more into using my MacBook.

Friendly Neighborhood Who?

2008-01-13T08:31:00.000-06:00

So, here is a new post from your one and only friendly neighborhood, Chris Johnson. I finally got a new laptop... I got a MacBook and I’m loving it. I’m starting school tomorrow and I’m very excited but a little nervous about whether I’ll be able to keep up. I have to keep reminding myself to just take things one step at a time. anyway, I’m about to call my dad on ichat and talk with him for a few... l8r, Chris

A Quick Comment Regarding Microsoft...

2007-01-23T16:57:00.000-06:00

It seems to me, and this is only my own speculative opinion and
nothing more but, when Bill Gates left Microsoft in April of 2006, I
laughed. I thought and told others, "...when the lead software
developer (who happened to found the company as well) decides to bail
out of the company, that's a bad sign for the future of the business..."

I still sort of feel the same way, despite the information that I've
come across since then but anyway...

l8r,
Chris Johnson
New Media Artisan
SPEKTRUM Creations

No Delay!!!

2005-01-22T02:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I've had a busy night. I've still had latency issues when using Garageband and even Protools but I came to the realization that the reason I was getting delay when recording real audio tracks was that I was running off battery power instead of using AC power. The power management for the battery is set to maximize the battery life, while the AC power settings use the processor to it's maximum capability. So as long as I've been plugged in when recording, I've had no latency or delay, which makes me very happy. I'm loving my Apple iBook. I just bought Quicktime Pro and also received iLife '05 in the mail yesterday, which includes Garageband 2. I've had a chance to play with it a little bit and I'm very pleased with the enhancements that were made to it. I'd like to get some more software instruments and loops but I'm just going to play with what I've got for the time being. I've recorded several tracks in the past couple weeks and am very, very happy with the results and most of all, the sound quality that I'm getting. I think that the companion CD, also entitled "<CodeBase />" will be a collection of songs that represent my best work to date. It's amazing how much difference it makes to be using this Mac. I don't know if it's just little things like not getting hum from the CRT, since the iBook uses an LCD monitor, or if it's just that the Core Audio is really that good. I think the Core Audio is really just that 'kick ass'. :) Anyway, I'll catch up with you all later. Take care. L8r Chris

Happy New Years

2005-01-02T01:57:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been working on several things while getting used to my new Apple iBook. One of the things that I've been trying to get a handle on is the new music set up that I have. I got a USB Midi Controller by Evolution that can be used in Garageband to control software instruments. The neatest thing for me is how much the instruments sound like what they're supposed to be. The Grand Piano is one instrument that just blew me away. I mean I guess it shouldn't because it's just a piano but the realism and clarity that comes from the instrument sounds as if I'm playing a Stienway or something. Another soft synth that I found was one of the rock organs. It sounds like a multi-thousand dollar rock organ that Led Zeppelin might have used. Here's a link to that song... click here I got Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac which I'll be using to write my next book. I'm not altogether sure what I'm gonna call it or even what it's gonna be about but I'll have the right tools to write it, that's for sure. Alright, I think that's all for now... L8r Chris

Setting Up My Apple iBook G4

2004-12-30T01:57:00.000-06:00

Alright, now I'm not so tired. I've been working on setting up my iBook and I'm very pleased so far. I got a gigabyte of RAM, so now I've got 1.25gb of RAM installed to match it's 1.25Ghz processor. I am still getting used to the keyboard though. I've done a very little bit of recording using Garageband, using my new microphone and guitar. It's a really nice microphone that my dad bought me for Christmas. I've even got some new monitor headphones that he got me too. I'm using an MBox which is an audio interface that connect through USB and I was having latency issues (delay when recording) with it before but now I think I've got the audio driver all sorted out so that shouldn't be an issue anymore. I'm still waiting for the external hard drive to be sent to the music store where I'm probably buying an amp too. The hard drive is a Glyph 160 GB drive that spins at 7200 RPM, which is faster than the 30 GB hard drive in the iBook. Basically the 7200 RPM Glyph is a recording drive for music (or video if I so wished). Anyway, I've not got much else going on other than that so... L8r, Chris

2004-12-29T01:56:00.000-06:00

Happy happy, joy joy! I just found a new blogging tool called MacJournal! Oh, and since it's only for Mac, I should tell you I got an Apple iBook also. I plan on using it to write with and also to record music with. Anyway, I haven't got a whole lot to say right now, mainly because I'm tired so... L8r, Chris

2004-12-17T01:55:00.000-06:00

Well, things have been going pretty well for me lately. At least it seems that way. I've been selling some books and I've been working on getting out my new CD. It's going to be a mixed mode CD that will include the Dylan VAIos 2005 program that I built. I'm still working out the track list for the CD and am torn on whether or not to include cover songs on the CD. I may release a CD of cover songs later on instead. I've been in touch with Dr. Richard Wallace of the A.I. Foundation at www.alicebot.org and we've been talking about possibly providing either copies of my book or copies of my CD (which includes an ebook version of my book, <CodeBase />). Anyway, I'll post more in a few days, I promise... (not that anyone is probably reading this blog but still, I will continue to write. L8r Chris

2004-11-20T01:53:00.000-06:00

Well, as I read through my previous post, and came to the end of it, I realize I've neglected my self-imposed duties of blogging. A lot has happened in the last couple months for me. The biggest event for me has been the publication of my book, as a final draft. I'll admit that I had previously published it, also with cafepress.com, but I didn't promote it past distributing a couple pdf copies of the 'first edition'. I doubt that anyone will ever be able to find a copy of this original version. Perhaps in the future, with the 'third edition' of the book, I will include a couple of the elements that I'd decided against publishing in the first 'real' final draft of the book. A big event that occured with the publication of so far has been the promotion by AIML creator and winner of the 2004 Loebner Prize and ChatterBot Challenge, Dr. Richard S. Wallace on his website, www.alicebot.org. I had talked to him through email several times before and after his third win in the competition. At any rate, here's a what he posted on the November 2004 main page of www.alicebot.org : * AIML Novel Published AIML fan Chris Johnson has written a science fiction novel that uses real-world ALICE and AIML as a starting point. The novel, CodeBase, takes us into a future in which a sentient A. I. has evolved from our own humble origins, thanks to the efforts of an introverted programmer obsessed with a pop star. Though I slightly disagree with the fact that the main character, Philip, is 'obsessed' with the pop star, Sally Stone, (at least at the beginning) I definitely would agree that there is some obsessive behaviour going on in various parts of the story. It has been great to feel a sense of acceptance from this plug from Dr. Rich, who to me embodies the soul of the A.I. movement among open source and hobbiest programmers. I'll be joining the site soon and perhaps... well, we'll see what happens in the future. Anyway, I have yet to actually purchase a copy of my book, but my father bought one of the first 'hard copy' 2nd edition paperbacks of my book and so I've been able to hold it and leaf through it. I really am impressed with the quality of the printing and think it's worth the $20 price tag (and that includes shipping and handling). I'll be offering the book for sale from my website in pdf format soon as well. I have to figure out the whole PayPal shopping cart and password protected pdf file. Dr. Rich suggested that and I think he may be right that a lot of people who use the internet regularly would be more apt to buy a $6.00 copy of the pdf file than buy a $20.00 hard copy paperback. One of the other things I'll be doing in the not to distant future is sending out copies of my book to publishers. My thinking is that if I can show them a finished product that perhaps they will get excited and want to release my book at a more reasonable price and perhaps even in a hard back version. Well, perhaps I'll have some more news soon. That's all for now.

2004-08-03T01:51:00.000-05:00

Alright... Well, last night I set about working on the program that I've been building. I added several new things, removing other things and setting up the program so it would be able to be run as bonus content on a mixed-mode CD, basically a music CD with a CD-ROM portion that contains the program, Dylan VAIos 2004. It's still very much a beta program and has earned the right to be called that as there a still many bugs to be worked out. Hopefully I'll finish the program soon but it's starting to look like the entire thing may be pushed back to early 2005, when I feel more comfortable with releasing it as a program that can run from the CD without the need for updates. Speaking of updates, I spent a couple hours last night helping my father get his computer up to date. It was in desperate need of the updates too. I don't think he'd ever done a windows update but even still, it took way less time to do the updates than expected, though we still have to add a couple more programs like an anti-virus program and Ad-Aware. I'm also going to have him install the .NET Framework 1.1 so that he can run the program I'm building on his computer. Hopefully he will see all the work I've been doing on it. It just occured to me I have to vote today. One of the propositions up for a vote today is one that is proposing the construction of a new arena in Kansas City. I'd already decided, despite my fathers forceful words that I vote in favor of it, that I was planning on voting for it anyway. It would be nice if the acoustics of the building were taken into consideration this time, unlike was done with the construction of Kemper Arena. I could care less about any basketball or hockey teams why might potentially get from the arena, but am very interested in the musical acts that would possibly play there in the future. Anyway, I'm making sure my vote counts. Too bad no one reads this blog... At least no one that I know of. Anyway, I'll try to write some more in a few days. L8r, Chris

2004-07-04T01:47:00.000-05:00

.NET Undocumented: Whidbey May Miss the Next Coding Revolution: "Text editors are going to go away (for source code, that is)! Don't get me wrong, source code will still be in text files. However, future code editors will parse the code directly from the text file and will be display in a concise, graphical and nicely presented view with each element in the view representing a parse tree node. (NOTE: I now the word graphical is misleading, so I explain it more in this newer post.)" - from http://wesnerm.blogs.com/net_undocumented/2004/06/whidbey_may_mis.html I found this while surfing today. It's officially July 4th, 2004. I have been using Whidbey Express, Visual C# 2005 Beta for the past few days and am thrilled with the direction that it's going. Only about a month ago did my curiousity in C# peak to the point that I was inspired to go out and get Chris Sell's "Windows Forms Programming in C#" (TODO: Add link). Most of the coding I did on my first app was done through trial and error. Coming from a web only background, I'd never really gotten into programming real programs for Windows, or any platform for that matter. I'd played with other languages and IDEs but couldn't get the hang of it. I'd been starting to focus on Javascript more when I picked up SharpDevelop, a free C# IDE that does some nice things with .NET 1.1 as the compiling language. Some of the cool features are the fact that it can convert to and from C# and VB.NET. I used the feature once and everything compiled fine. Now the issue that I first found when I started looking at .NET versus other languages was that you had to had a CLR (Common Language Runtime) on your machine in order to use the programs built with it. However, the promise of CLR and frameworks like .NET, DotGNU and Mono is that you can install one of these frameworks on any major platform. That said, I predict a slew of custom Operating systems based on the CLR. There may not be a slew but I'd suspect we can expect several more companies to enter the operating system market. Sun is one example of a company that will probably introduce a consumer level OS around the same time that longhorn comes out. Don't count Linux distros out either. IBM and their commercials hyping support of Linux and such factors as free software like Apache, MySQL and PHP, has really garnered a large user base for linux. Apple can be included as a platform that can use a CLR, though I'm not sure which one it uses. The point is that it doesn't matter what platform it is, the apps that I'm building, will work on machines that have the one of these frameworks. Right now, I'm developing with .NET 1.1 as well as .NET 2.0 Beta. The latter may change in it's capabilities over the next couple years but my app isn't currently so complicated that I won't be able to update it when I need to. I have plenty of time to develop this app as well considering Longhorn, which will use .NET 2.0, won't be out for another two to three years. I suspect that .NET 2.0 will be available for the windows platforms that the beta can be run on. What I'm still eager to see is sparkle. I've heard it uses Avalon and I suspect it will use vector graphics and tweening to perform animation in programs that are built to use it. I can see the option of using HTML as well as XAML, C#, VB.NET, C++.NET and ASP.NET to build windows forms. The paradigm I see is a blurring of what an application is. The fact that HTML, or I should say DHTML (though I hate that term in describing Dynamic HTML...), is so capable of achieving programmatic fuctions, using server-side as well as client-side scripting, makes it very powerful. Throw in some interoperability between the webpages and the program and you have a Rich Client that can be updated in areas as needed, such as a current "Update Program" link, XML feeds, Up to date help files, etc... Right now, I'm still playing around to see what I can program and evaluating what I need to program to build the application I want to build. I've got a beta of my first application with a few songs and a copy of the first edition of my book, in pdf format, at my site. Chris.

2001-12-04T00:11:00.000-06:00

I've taken some time away from these journals, mainly due to the fact that my former webpage at nbci.com pulled the plug on their hosting services. I finished up the joanpatterns.com website in August and then started figuring out where I was going to go from there. I wrote a little more of "Morning Star" and then the Sept. 11th tragedy occured. I found it so ironic with what I had written so far in my story. It's still on the back-burner but I hope to release it on Sept. 11, 2002. I've just registered the domain, spektrumcreations.com and am working on comiling the pages into a tight interface that is easy to navigate and that will be entertaining as well as informative. I'm also working on putting together a new set that I'll play live. I'm putting together the CD-ROM portion of my next release as well and plan to approach some record companies about it, when the time comes. That's basically it for now. cj

2001-07-04T05:36:00.000-05:00

Time for a break... I've just completed adding some new artists to my mp3.com radio station, Bartime. I'm going to create a new one within the month and I'm looking for new artists on mp3.com to add to that playlist. I talked to Eric today. I was told that he'd be visiting Kansas City in August so, maybe we'll get a chance to sit down and play a little before he goes back to San Diego. I've talked to him about adding messages to this journal eventually and he liked the idea. He's sending me a tape of some songs that I'm hoping to add to mp3.com so he'll get the attention he deserves. I'm going to call that my post for the early morning of Independence Day, 2001. cj

2001-07-03T00:40:00.000-05:00

I had a rather productive day working out the primary pages of the new website for my grandma's site. I'm really starting to like where it's going. As I suspected, I've started seeing that my grandpa has a lot of the knowledge that I wish I could have asked my grandma. It's funny how that works. Well, it's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. Later... cj

2001-07-02T05:43:00.000-05:00

Today I found a new channel on our digital cable subscription. It's called TechTV. It's totally dedicated to all things computer related. It's my new favorite channel. Yeah me! So, I'm in the beginning stages of creating a new website, joanpatterns.com. Joan Patterns was something that my grandma did with the help of my grandpa. They made a decent living off of this and other projects, as I understand. When my grandpa and I started talking about the possibilities for the site, he said to me, "Who would have thought ten years ago that Joan's grandson would be doing a website for her." I was moved by it. I started writing a new story from a dream that I had about a week ago. It was so dramatic and complete that I just started writing it without much thought of how to start it. I'm going to need to work out a few details because of the science-fiction elements involved. Some of the research that I'll need to look into is quantum astro-physics. It's not all that important that I follow the rules set forth in this area of study but, in order to tell the story, I'll need to have characters that are experts in the subject. At present, I'm only planning on it being a short story, maybe a hundred pages or so. If it is really good, then perhaps I'll write a screenplay of it to sell, or even publish it as a book. I'm tentatively titling it 'The Morning Star' or 'Bang II". I've written a few new songs in the last week and I'm expecting a tape of some new songs from Eric so with his permission, I might add them to a new D.A.M. CD on mp3.com. I sent him a copy of the songs from "For The Road" & "Good D.A.M. CD". I should hear from him in the next couple days and maybe I'll get a review from him. Alright, I think that's all I've got for now. Take care and love always... Chris Johnson