Religion, Politics, Culture: Defined & Explained

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

More Tax Dollars at Work

In other government news, I just got permission today to install Service Pack 3 on our Windows XP computers. This Service Pack was made available to the general public for download on May 6, 2008.

CalATERS Crawl

I work for an obscure part of the accounting department within the California Department of Corrections (CDCR). We have three computer systems used for various accounting functions. None of the computers can talk to each other. At best data from one system can be batch dumped into another system.

The mainframe system seems like it was state-of-the-art when Ronald Reagan was President. Much of accounting is done via a program from SAP. Travel expenses are done via a custom application designed for Windows XP. This program runs in a Java “sandbox.”

Recently, the “sandbox” has gotten filled. Hundreds of man-hours are wasted just trying to log-on to the system. This program is the primary application that people in my unit are supposed to be running. Lately, many in my office have gone a day or two at a time without being able to log-on or process travel claims.

The ultimate organization that controls this program is the State Controller’s Office (SCO). Unfortunately, SCO is caught with their cyber pants around their ankles and a look of bewilderment. Instead of being prepared for a department wide implementation of the program by CDCR, they have been caught unaware.

Now this program has been in its current form since 2001. Requiring all institutions to use the program was a deliberate decision and I’m confident that SCO said no problem when they heard CDCR would begin requiring the use of the program. Only about 26,000 people in the department are even registered users. That’s less than 1/3 of CDCR employees.

SCO supposedly upgraded their servers and maxed-out RAM in the system last week-end. It has resulted in no noticeable improvement in the functioning of the travel program. The bottom line is that there are too many users trying to connect simultaneously and the system--no doubt built will millions in tax dollars by the lowest bidder--is unable to handle the real world conditions.

It will be interesting to see how the long this situation persists.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Happy New Year

I haven’t blogged much laterly but plan to get back to it in 2010. I will finish my MBA from University of Phoenix in mid January.

Random Thoughts
Best Electronic Toy of 2009 is Google Android phone by Motorola.
Best Radio Talk Show host is Rush Limbaugh.
Avatar will win some awards from Oscar next time.
Most over-hyped show on SciFi Channel was Battlestar Galactica.
Worst first year term as US President goes to Barry Obama, I never thought I’d be missing Jimmy Carter.
Worst Republican in 2009 Dierdre Scozzafava in New York’s 23 Congressional Race
Worst Democrat move is following Harry Reid anywhere.
Dumbest environmental move of 2009 was decision by California Democrats to recycle Jerry Brown as the annointed candidate for Governor in 2010.

Monday, September 29, 2008

HP IPAQ 910

Review: HP IPAQ 910
Several weeks ago, I purchased the Hewlett-Packard IPAQ 910 phone.

This phone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and got great reviews from PC Magazine. In fact it was their Editor’s Choice.

The IPAQ is a business grade phone with full internet capability. As I found out, not all web browsing experiences are the same. It is much slower than my home DSL but faster than dial-up. Pages with fancy plug-ins or scripts don’t do well. I tried Opera’s mobile browser and it choked on the same websites. Hopefully the upgrades that Microsoft has in the pipeline for release will improve things. A new Internet Explorer should be out before Christmas and a major OS upgrade is planned for next year.

The Windows Media Player will play all my favorite songs on the 2 GB mini SD card.

The one thing I miss is my ability to listen to the radio. Many radio stations have websites and listen live buttons; however, these don’t work. Only the Salem Radio Network has an option to listen via Windows Media Player.  After many searches and frustration I found a solution. There is a site that plays AM and FM stations from a variety of markets. Even though my local stations have dropped Laura Ingraham, I can hear her live on several stations. I can listen to Rush Limbaugh or just about any other syndicated talk show. The website is http://radiotime.com/mobile/index.aspx Simply enter a zip code to see programming in that area. (You can enter any zip code in the US not just where you live.)I use this site more than any other one on my phone.

Interestingly, you can exit the media player application and it will continue to play until you restart it and hit the STOP button. It will pause if you get a phone call and resume playing when the call is completed.

The GPS feature works well in areas with faster internet speeds; however, it takes several minutes to acquire your location. The GPS feature must be able to access Windows Live or Google Maps in order to display your location. There is a program available at extra charge that will make the IPAQ an honest to goodness GPS device.

The Internet usage is a big drain on battery life. The phone needs almost daily charging or a phone charger in your car to keep it going. You don’t need to buy the $30 HP charger. You can get a Motorola compatible car adapter that fits the mini USB plug on the phone. I got mine for about ten dollars at Fry’s.

The camera is billed as 3MP. There is a big delay from the time you press the camera button and the time it takes to capture an image. Almost a second passes between pressing the button and the image being captured. Still photos can be done. Photos of moving things are difficult to capture. This seems to be the weakest feature on the phone.

Lastly, buy a case for this phone. The molded plastic body is soft and scratches easily should you drop it from your lap onto a hard floor.

Programs for the phone seem limited compared to others but look for Microsoft to beef-up both the Operating System and variety of software over the next year. With both Apple and Google in the smart phone market they have to get into gear. (The IPAQ is technically a Pocket PC not a Smartphone.)

The phone has no contract and requires a data plan with your carrier. Check HP or PGMag.com for more info on the phone.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Review: The Wiggles Live

There are a lot of creative ways that people have come up with to simultaneously market to young children and separate their parents from money. A pioneer in this field was Walt Disney. Walt entertained children and made a fortune doing it.

Much of the stuff geared to children finds its way into our homes via television. Some of this programming is entertaining to children but like constant fingernails scraping on chalkboards to their parents. Teletubbies and Barney come to mind in this category. Other programs are more like Pixar animation, geared for kids but with something there that adults can enjoy also. For me The Wiggles is in this more creative group.

Last night, my wife and I took our three-year-old son to see the 2008 version of their road show. The show entitled Pop Goes The Wiggles Live! was ninety minutes long and featured The Wiggles and all their friends: Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and Captain Feathersword. In addition there were many extras on the stage as well.

It was my first time to see Sam. He is the new Wiggle that replaced the ailing Greg. Sam was good. He knew his part and seemed comfortable with the other members of the group. His vocal range was close to Greg’s and he was able to sing and dance his way through the show.

What amazed me most was physical nature of the whole act. There was lots of running and jumping. In addition, The Wiggles exhibited limberness that would be expected more from Jackie Chan that a group of guys that sing silly children’s songs. Lets face it, the Wiggles are getting into middle age and yet they can do the splits and limbo! I would expect some of their moves from someone trained in ballet but not from some guys that majored in child development.

Some of the music they did was prerecorded but much of it was actually done live. Again, it was impressive. They did many of my favorite songs during the show. Can You Point Your Finger and Do the Twist, Fruit Salad and Rock-a-bye Your Bear. They also did an instrumental version of The Knack’s My Sharona. Big Red Car was the last number in the show.

Our seats were about forty feet from the stage. There was lots of audience singing and clapping. Many children brought roses for Dorothy (according to Wiggles lore, Dorothy eats roses) and there were a few bones for Wags the Dog. Some children brought handmade signs that they held-up during the show.

My wife and I enjoyed the show. However, it was a bit overwhelming for our three year old. He experienced sensory overload. He spent much of the show in my lap just playing with the Wiggles stickers that were in our seats when we arrived.

I would like to see The Wiggles again in about two years. By then I think my son will enjoy it more. If you have a chance go see them please borrow a kid and go. I think even my high school aged daughter would have enjoyed the show.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Gary S Paxton

Gary S Paxton may not be a household name but his work is widely known. He has produced a variety of musical hits since the 1960’s. His music hits span Top 40, Country and Gospel. Today, his best know hit is probably the Monster Mash, which was recorded in 1962.

He has won Grammy Awards and hits that he has produced have sold tens of millions of copies. He was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999.

His personal life has been a roller coaster of substance abuse. Paxton has a history of drug and alcohol abuse. In 1973, he converted to Christianity. In 1975 he started his own recording label and he did very well until 1985 when he lost the business due to bad business decisions and problems with drugs.

In 1980, he was shot five times in the head by hitmen hired by a country musician that Paxton was producing. Amazingly, he survived the attack.

Paxton has started his life over again in Branson Missouri.

Gary S Paxton sees the world differently than most folks. Like many artists, he can see the wonder of mundane everyday things and he also can glimpse into the future and see what’s lurking just over the horizon. Some of his songs are serious and sober and others are satirical and fun. Paxton’s music, like Bob Dylan, is and acquired taste. His songs will stick in your head and rattle around long after you’ve shut off the music.

What makes his music stand apart from that performed by others is that each song that he writes has a little piece of himself in it. From what I know of his life, it is safe to say there are two Gary S Paxtons. One is the partying hell raiser and the other is the saint touched by God. Much of his music is one Gary looking at the other.

There are pieces of Gary S Paxton all over the Internet but not in one central location. Even his entry on wikipedia is spotty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_S._Paxton

Gary has two different websites that each host unique content. Each is incomplete but overlapping.

The main page at http://www.GarySPaxton.net and http://www.GarySPaxton.org are the same but as you drill down each menu item you will find differences. The music link on each page goes to different music offerings. These choices are not duplicated.

If you follow this link and click of CD covers, you hear samples of songs offered on these CDs. http://www.garyspaxton.org/Music/index.htm

His new wife Vickie has two sites
http://www.TimeForJoy.com was used at one time but now just links to the .org site mentioned above. Paxton’s e-mail is listed as garyspaxton@timeforjoy.com
More recent activity and biographical information can be found at http://www.urban.ne.jp/home/koa7/newsletter.htm

Discography http://www.ymg.urban.ne.jp/home/koa7/garpax.htm
Discography of NewPax Records http://www.bsnpubs.com/word/newpax.html

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

China and Lead: Silent Epidemic

I am concerned about a silent epidemic that can be laid at the feet of Wal-Mart and globalization. We all know about the mercury threat from compact fluorescent light bulbs in our landfills but there is an even more insidious problem in our midst: lead.

That’s right, lead! Although outlawed from almost every segment of American life except fishing (where mercury in fish is a bigger problem than lead weights), lead is a growing menace in our landfills. The primary source of this lead is China! Yes, all the recalled toys and food products that Americans discard are going to our landfills and it is just a matter of time before this lead begins to be found in our ground water and domestically produced food.

China is trying to export their industrial waste by hiding it in products that it sells in the United States. This is obviously a prelude to their planned colonization of the good ole US of A. They are trying to pollute our nation to the point that it is just like theirs and then they will come.

Soon there will be a flood of Chinese movies, campaign donations, and clothing. Next they will corner the market on raw materials that should be going to the United States to build our economy. Oh, no they already did all that!

It is no coincidence that the heart of this conspiracy is in Arkansas. Both Bill Clinton and Wal-Mart are based in Arkansas. Hilary was on the Wal-Mart board until she had aspirations to be President. Obviously Bill didn’t finish the job in his eight years as President so his wife must pickup where he left off. While it is hard to conceive of any military secret the Chinese didn’t get during the first Clinton administration, there must be something more that they want.

Perhaps the answer is in a different direction. Look at the facts; we outlawed lead (and mercury) “for the children.” Hilary wants universal healthcare “for the children.” My doctor went to college and medical school in China. Medicine is one seventh of the US economy and one of the few economic areas were America can still excel in the global economy. Wal-Mart wants to corner the market on prescription drugs. The liberals see Cuba as a model for medical care and China as the most successful Communist country still in existence.

Given all the above facts, it is clear that the Chinese are purposely putting lead in children’s toys that it is selling at Wal-Mart to grow their economy while simultaneously offloading their industrial waste and increasing our government’s intrusion into our lives by trying to protect the children of greedy middleclass consumers from lead while simultaneously using its presence to make the case for universal healthcare and thus creating a need for Americans to elect Hilary Clinton so the Chinese can do to us what Bill did to Monica in the Oval Office.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Why I Hate the Recording Industry

As I approach the issue of why I have a gripe about the Recording Industry, let me say that I do agree to the concept of intellectual property and copyrights. The Good Book says a laborer is worth his hire; in other words, you should get paid for your hard work. However, the current system does not do that for most recording artists.

Most recording artists (groups, bands or whatever they call themselves) would sign with a label. Between the booking agency and the recording label, they would handle recording, production, marketing, distribution and publicity. This would free-up the musicians and performers to do what they do best and let others with more resources handle the business end of things. Everybody got a share of the success of the group. Sometimes the label would make lots of money and often they would not. In exchange for the risk involved the recording companies ended up owning the rights to the intellectual property of the artists that they represented.

My complaint is not with this initial arrangement but what happens in subsequent years. Because the recording companies own the songs, only they can control what is released and what is withheld from the public. In my case, I have many recordings on vinyl that were never released on compact disk. You can no longer buy them. Not in a brick and mortar store and not on the Internet. Even the recording companies don’t offer them for sale. I know they exist but nothing is happening with them. It is as if they never existed. If you are really lucky, a few tracks might end-up on a “best of” CD.

This system is stupid. Recording companies are sitting on literally millions of songs that they have no intention of ever releasing again. They won’t ever do anything with them. To me this is criminal.

The intent of copy protection enjoyed by the recording companies should not give them an automatic moratorium on all recorded works for 99 years or even longer. The recordings were intended to be enjoyed by the public and also to earn money for the recording artist. Neither of these interests is served by the current system.

I think that the recording companies should be required to release the complete works of any artist that they own every fifteen years. No not a “best of” but everything originally done on the LP or CD. If they fail to do this, then all rights revert to the artist or their estate. Should they fail to release the material at some regular interval then the recording becomes public domain.

The bottom line is that the recordings be made available and the copyright is only in force as long as the recording is making income for the recording company and/or the artist.

The availability of the recording should also be in a format that is technologically relevant. I have an example that I wish to offer on this point.

One of my favorite groups is DeGarmo and Key Band. They did a double album of a live concert during the era when vinyl was being replaced by CDs. The album was later released on a double CD set. So far, so good. However, it was discovered many years later that millions of CDs released during that period were defective. The film in the CDs was known to decay in just a matter of years. My disk two is so bad that it will not play.

About two years ago, I found the recording on a download site owned by Sony. I thought to myself, this is great; a large corporation bought the music company and is making all their stuff available for download on the Internet. What a visionary and enlightened view of corporate management. I signed-up for their service and gleefully downloaded a digital version of the album. Finally I could replace my defective disk 2 of the set. I pressed play and was shocked. They had simply ripped the CD and put it for sale online. No remastering or ripping from a master. Their CDs were defective also! There were gaps in the recording and the quality in some spots was terrible. It was better than my defective disk but it was still wrong. I sent them an email to complain and instead of fixing the problem, they gave me a credit for another download. I just want a clean copy of what they were selling. I went back to the site about a year later and the download is no longer offered. They too have slipped into digital oblivion.

There needs to be changes in the current system. It is broken. The recording companies are hurting. They need a 21st Century business model instead of one from the 1960s.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Next

Yet another movie based on a story by Phillip K. Dick. Nicolas Cage stars as a man that can see into the future. The catch, he can only see up to two minutes ahead. The movie is fast paced and action filled. Cage’s character, Cris Johnson, is sought by the FBI to assist them finding a nuclear bomb in southern California. This is a chase movie. If you liked the Fugitive then this movie is worth a look.

The movie is rated PG-13. I think it could have qualified for an R with a little less editing. Because Johnson (Cage) can see into the future, there are lots of “what if” scenes. Many of these are explosions and people getting shot. ** Spoiler alert ** One scene involves his love interest being strapped into a wheelchair wearing a bomb that is exploded by terrorists. This scene is very disturbing. My wife cried. Much of the movie is devoted to preventing this possible future.

Cage is better in this film than in Ghost Rider. He is likable and the opening scenes in the movie create believability in his power that makes the whole premise work. Unlike the television show Heroes, the directors are not trying to misdirect you as each possible future is explored. They simply show you the possible choices and consequences of each. While you are waiting for the lines to Spiderman to get shorter, consider this film to be your Next.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Mirror Site at Townhall.com

This blog has created a mirror site at http://www.reallyright.townhall.com to try and boost traffic and because of webserver issues beyond my control.

Current entries will be posted at both sites while some previous content will also appear at the townhall site.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Musings on the Ides of March

I have been wondering lately who has the worst public relations and marketing division. After a few seconds of thought I came up with the following list:

United States Department of Defense (especially the US Army) for its ongoing work in Iraq. Most Americans can name as many military victories by our Army in Iraq as New Yorkers can name political accomplishments by Hillary Clinton; namely, none.

The Republican Party whose specialty is the circular firing squad. Republicans spend so much time stabbing each other in the back that there is nothing left to oppose the Democrats. (Hence the appropriateness of this topic on this particular date.)

Microsoft After five years and at least as many billions of dollars in development markets Windows Vista with “Wow”. What a great slogan. You can even say it backwards.

Speaking of Vista, I will soon be installing my copy of Windows Vista Ultimate on my new super computer. Once I get it running I will post my review.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Ways to Know That You Have Lived a Long Life

You’re old enough to remember when France actually won a war.

Sears & Roebuck published the most entertaining material you could find in your neighbor’s outhouse.

Fireflies were the best nightlights a kid could have.

Milk was delivered in bottles or fresh from the cow.

The Three “R”s of education were reading, Writing and ‘rithmetic not Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Everyone in your neighborhood walked to school.

“Depression” was a word describing the economy not an excuse for selfish people to get drugs from their doctor.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Ten Questions That Deserve More Thought

These questions are things that I wish I had more time to write about on my blog.

Why is it that every time Governor Schwarzenegger announces a new policy initiative, the media—for the sake of reporting both sides of the story—then refers to the Republican response to the governor’s proposal?

Why do Border Patrol agents go to prison while drug smugglers get immunity?

If mankind is to blame for climate change, how did the Ice Age end?

How is mandating corn derivatives as additives in gasoline good public policy when it creates higher corn costs that result in economic hardship south of the border, higher fuel prices and no measurable energy savings?

Why does Nancy Pelosi need a taxpayer funded 757 jet to commute to work?

Can you name one accomplishment in her life that makes Hilary Clinton qualified to be the next President?

Who would make a better President candidate, a lapsed Catholic or a “good” Mormon?

Why is almost every CPU manufactured by Intel a Pentium when the name has no relationship to the function or capability of the chip? (Originally it was the successor to the 486 CPU hence 586 or Pentium, but that was twelve years ago.)

If men were not alive at the same time as dinosaurs, why do cultures around the world have stories of dragons and other similar creatures?

Why are institutions of higher learning the strongholds of diversity and multiculturalism when “University” conveys the assumption of universal Truth that can be known through study? 

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

DIRECTV, Samsung LCD and HDMI

Six months ago my wife and I finally brokedown and purchased a 42” Samsung LCD television. Like a good husband, I obeyed my wife and went to the local Comcast office and to get their high definition receiver with DVR. We hooked-up the composite cables and entered the world HD TV.

Shortly after we got everything hooked-up and running we began to encounter issues with what we called “pixelization.” Instead of the crystal clear image we had hoped to see we found many stations unwatchable. Many programs that we recorded for our small son from the PBS Sprout station were just a series of colored boxes that changed every few seconds. Many recordings had no audio. Some stations such as HBO just gave us a black screen with no picture. At other times these same stations seemed ok.

We finally quit relying on recordings of Thomas the perky little Tank Engine; opting instead to buy several DVDs just so the baby could have a morning visit with his friends from Great Britain.

After several months of really poor performance from Comcast and the obligatory visit from the repair guy, I finally decided to make the switch to satellite. First we switched our ISP to Frontier. This was a difficult decision because it is the only choice available to us in our area and Frontier has a checkered track record. It has been slower but more reliable than Comcast.

Next we chose DIRECTV. Why? Simple the children come first and DIRECTV is the only satellite provider to carry PBS Sprout.

We went to our local electronics store and paid for the installation and equipment. This part is strange on two accounts. First, although you pay for everything they only give you the DVR boxes not the dish or basic receiver units. Second they had no HD DVR units in stock. At the time of our purchase the DIRECTV website was placing folks on a waiting list. I had to drive to another store to get our HD DVR unit.

During this time I found-out that the DVR unit needs two feeds from the dish (ours has four) so that you can record one show while watching another. Once I learned this little nugget, I had the mental picture of a knuckle dragging guy with a staple gun in one hand tacking wires all over the side of our house and a drill in the other putting holes through our walls. To avoid this scenario, I chose to run coax cable from the point where the dish would be installed to the room with the HD TV.

I used a low voltage cutout and cover plate for the cable and as an added bonus I ran CAT 5 cable at the same time. All were purchased from the local Home Depot.

Next the installers came and installed the equipment; mostly. The only issue that they were unable to resolve was connecting the HD DVR unit to our HD TV. After an hour of messing with our HDMI cable connection, they gave-up. We were told the Receiver was defective. We were to contact the store and get a new unit. After talking to three different people at the store, we finally reserved another unit at another store. My wife and I went to the other store, picked up the unit and installed it with the same result; the TV flashing a No Sync Signal error in a blue box on the screen.

My wife went to Google and found the answer by looking-up the wrong model of Samsung television. The bottom line is that the Samsung units require a signal of 720i but the DVR unit defaults at installation to 480i.

I proved this by connecting the DVR unit with composite cables. I was then able to configure the DVR box and activate the service.

Then I set the unit to 1080i and connected my HDMI cable and I had a picture. However, to keep it that way, I needed to program the DVR unit to only use a resolution of 1080i. Oh, the composite cable and HDMI can both be connected at the same time.

Last, the dish installers never have contacted us to see if the TV is working. It’s been a week now.

Oh the picture with DIRECTV, I describe it this way: Comcast is like listening to a Salt Lake City AM radio station late at night and DIRECTV is like your favorite song on local radio in FM Stereo. In other words, satellite is far superior. IT ROCKS!!!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Zoo Review

Last month, my wife and I accompanied our two year old on his first trip to the Sacramento Zoo. It was fun to take him to see the animals. Most he did not recognize. The lion and tiger were just big cats to him. When he saw the giraffes we had a spirited discussion with him trying to explain that giraffes are not horses. We had as much trouble-explaining giraffes to our son as we have explaining to Liberals the reasons that we are in Iraq. Neither could accept any evidence contrary to their presuppositions. Some day our son will grow-up enough to know the difference. Liberals are much more intractable.

I was surprised how much the zoo had changed. It has probably been thirty years since my last visit. Many of the animals that I thought of as the barebones minimum for a zoo were nowhere to be seen. Among the animals absent from my youthful memories were elephants, hippos, rhinos, alligators, bears, gorillas and assorted reptiles. They don’t even have common animals found in the state of California; Raccoons, deer, bears, cougar, bobcat, and diamondback rattle snakes.

The environmental regulations that face such institutions must be tremendous. However, I think that they could do better. I don’t think that they should become State Fair Lite but given that many children have never seen many of the more common animals, I think they could do better.