Horaay for fixing

Hey, I like buying shiny new tools as much as (or more) than the next guy. So when the rechargeable air mattress inflater started pooping out halfway through the job of giving me a place to sleep this season I had to take action. I took a trip to Home Depot where I found a cool Ryobi inflater that would use my 18v cordless drill batteries. Sweet! But at thirty something bucks...

I decided I had nothing to loose so I cracked open the old unit and found a battery. If course, it wasn't any kind of normal battery. That would be too easy. Fierce googling ensued and eventually I found something as close as I could and trusted to fate.

The battery arrived today and damn if it wasn't a perfect fit. I even managed to find all the screws to put it back together again. Total cost? $19. There is indeed something deeply satisfying about fixing something yourself. It would have been easier to just buy the new inflater or a new computer system but this was I saved a few bucks and learned a little bit in the process.

It's okay to lie to us...

So it seems one of the secret C.IA. black sites was set up near Vilnius in Lithuania in what was once a fancy horseback riding academy. This is one of those places we were told didn't exist that did things we said we wouldn't do.

Remember, Lithuania isn't exactly the desolate back woods of Afghanistan. They are our ally. And they are understandably pissed. Imagine Lithuania used a shell company to rent the old Higbees department store building in Cleveland. Then they build a torture facility in it and lie to you and the world about it. You might be upset with Lithuania for doing something like that. After all, this is our country. If you want to hold and torture terrorism suspects, you should do it in your own goddamn country.

But for some reason we are scared shitless of these guys. It's like they have some kind of superpowers. Conservatives are shaking in their boots at the thought of bringing any of these suspects to the U.S. for trial. Whether they should be tried by the military or the civilian courts is a worthy debate. I feels the military option had been pretty much tainted at this point. After all, look how the military (with the Whitehouse's direct permission) handled capturing, holding and interrogating them.

Actions have consequences. We will be cleaning up GW's shit for years to come.

iphone > Droid

I went to the mall the other day (shiver) to put my meaty paws on the new Droid smartphone from Verizon. Like any iphone owner, I would gladly pay a hefty fine and/or take hit to the nuts if I could switch from AT&T's craptastic network to Verizon's land of milk and honey.

And with the coming of Droid I thought that I might have found a reason to undergo the painful process of migration. After all, the phone is getting rave reviews. It uses the Android OS from Google which is far more open that Apple's. New apps appearing every day, free GPS navigation using google maps. What's not to love?

Well, the Droid IS good, but it's not awesome, at least in my opinion based on limited hands on experience.

It is well made. Solid. Nice looking. The screen is very sharp. But what they put on it is not nearly as polished as the iphone. It's cluttered. I know it can be configured however you want it but using it wasn't the simple process I'd hoped it would be.

The biggest drawback is the physical keyboard. It just isn't isn't made for my fingers. Period. They sit on a flat plain and one has to depress the center to activate them. The Sidekick had a much better keyboard for us big folk. The on-screen keyboard was okay, but not great. I am sure with practice I could be proficient with it. People have said the camera, while 5 MP, isn't all that great.

But for me, the biggest stumbling black was tapping on some kind of news bubble app and having it crash. Then I launched another app, and it crashed. Two crashes? Really? The Droid can run several programs at once, unlike the iphone. But it's rare that I'm listening to Pandora while IM'ing and uploading pics to my facebook account. And if I do try to do several things at once, the delay in starting an iphone app up is about a second. (Games do tend to take longer to launch). I was impressed, I just wasn't wow'ed.

It is on the network I crave. And with a little polish I am sure the usability will improve. But for now I am still happy with my iphone. It does what I need it to do without any fiddling or crashing. That's my 2 cents. Anyone got one out there who cares to share their experience?

In praise of beer...

No, not that kind. Most beer tastes awful to me. But Ginger Beer? Heaven! And the best maker of this nectar of the gods is an Australian company called Bundaberg. You can find this stuff at many World Market stores. While it doesn't have any alcohol, it is quite tasty. Give it a try.

I can be bribed with this

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse...

Truly I am not. Especially since the horse really isn't dead here. Although Gitmo will likely be closed conditions at Bahgram Airbase in Afghanistan are said to be business as usual (i.e. brutal).

But it is very important to look at the faces of those we unlawfully detained and tortured. It's important to listen to these guys. It is important to learn from this mistake. I am all for getting terrorists. But somewhere along the line here we monumentally fucked up and picked up these guys. And we KEPT them. For YEARS. We also tortured them. Now, one could argue that our torture wasn't as bad as other countries torture. Perhaps so. But it's still torture. And of course, there are those who died while in our custody. Those who committed suicide when they lost all hope of ever being free.

One could argue that there are always innocent casualties in war. One might argue that the ends justified the means. That through this treatment, we managed to keep America safe. But most reports I have read seem to indicate that this isn't the case. Most seasoned interrogators have stated that torture is not effective. So why did we do it? Did we, as a nation, go mad? I think so. And in this blind rage, in this quest to punish we ignored the core of what makes this country truly great. As always, I appreciate your thoughts.

I'm gonna write more than a letter...

Like many people I've been keen to upgrade my computer to the shiny new Windows 7 OS. I ran the beta on my laptop for a while at it really is how Vista SHOULD have been. Lot of fixes. Better usability. Clean. I did the install on the laptop without incident, going from Vista to Windows 7 allows for an 'in place' upgrade that keeps programs and files intact. While a clear slate is always best, my laptop wasn't loaded with crap and the results were good.

My desktop however, runs XP. You cannot upgrade XP to Vista. You have to do a clean install and then re-install ALL your programs. For me, thats a LOT of programs. But I was resigned to it. My system has been running slow, giving me plug and play errors. Nothing game stopping, but annoying. But just as I was getting ready to do the deed I came across a program from Laplink that promissed it could actually backup and move my XP programs to Windows 7. I did some research and it looked like a good deal. The software is about $20 or $9 if you download it from Amazon.com. I did the backup. Installed Windows 7 (which went quite fast) and then started the unpacking process. Bam! Sorry mate, you don't have enough room. But I'm just moving files around, why do I need gobs of space?

No answer from their website.

Actually, no website.

It seems that my wireless card wasn't working. No internet. Luckily I have my trusty laptop. I won't bore you with the gory research details. Suffice it to say I wasted about 4 hours downloading drivers, updates, software, more drivers. At one point I got my onboard soundcard working. Great! I didn't know it wasn't woking, but okay. (I use USB wireless headphones that bypass the sound card).

Eventually, out of desperation I went back to the Linksys support site. I did searched for Windows 7 info. I looked up my card again and carefully read the FAQ's. Funny thing, there's no info on Windows 7, but there IS info on Vista drivers. I click a link, download a 500k file, use a thumb drive to move it to the desktop system, clicky clicky and guess what... internets.

Really Linksys?

You've known about this OS for about a year, just like everyone else. It's not like it just sprung forth from the sea like Venus on the Half Shell. It's not like this hardware is old or from an obscure maker. It's f*cking Linksys! And you can't bother to build a driver for your product? Or ever put up a LINK to a blurd that sayd 'Hey, Windows 7 users, use there Vista drivers, they're just peachy" ???

This is the sort of thing that makes me want to buy a place ticket, fly to California to their corporate headquarters, wait patiently in the waiting roon and then, upon meeting the person responsible for not getting this driver in place, punch them squarely in the balls.

Repetitively.

Now that I've got my internets back I will call the Laplink people tomorrow to see if indeed I can do this in place upgrade. Computers... indestinguishable from evil pixies.

Happy Halloween all!

Le Commedia ist fini

Yesterday was the last day of the Ohio Renaissance faire, and in effect, the end of the 2009 sales season. Today,we packed up in weather so nice it seemed criminal not to just stand there and admire it, soak it in. A far cry from years when we pulled out as snowflakes began drifting from leaden skies.

I say this is the end of the season but in truth there never really IS an end. Just a lull. Ground work needs to be laid for the winter shows, contracts must be filled out etc etc...

But I feel compelled to draw a line, imaginary as it may be, in the sand and say "This is where this season ended." If only for my mental health. Early on I knew this was going to be a rough one and I created a mantra to deal with it "Just survive". This worked pretty well in keeping me from loosing my shit when the numbers started coming in. I knew that if I started to stress out I would not make it through the season. Although it would have saved me money I didn't get rid of my sales help at Michigan or Ohio. To do so would have put more pressure on me, more stress, worn me out much quicker. And it might not have generated significantly higher profits. My minions were a big help and I appreciate the work they did this year under tough circumstances. They helped keep me sane. Michele, Kendra, Dan, Lindsey, Jesse and Shy. Thanks for all your help.

I'm going to take a little time to catch my breath. Not too long. There's work to do. But while there are still a few nice days left I'd like to pay some much needed attention to the house and grounds. Get crap organized and put away a little. Maybe read a book in the hammock. Ohhh that's be nice....

I'm going... into the clouuuuuuuuuud...

Last week my desktop stopped working. Most likely the power supply is starting to go. Although my data was not damaged I couldn't get to it for a few days. Yes, I have a portable hard drive I use for backups but my most recent emails and most recently created files weren't available. I also couldn't write checks using my accounting program.

That sucked.

So I started working on ways to get my important and current data on the cloud (storing it on the internet). My upstream speed isn't fast enough to do total backups on line unless I want to leave my system on all night (I don't) and I don't need everything, just some important files that are constantly being updated. My first attempt? Dropbox. This is a nifty little app. You get 2GB free. Install it on two computers, save or drop any file in a special folder and BAM it gets synched. It also saves older versions in case you delete something at home. You can even have a public folder that anyone can see without a password. Cool.

So far, so good, but I like to keep minimal sensitive data on my laptop. I don't store passwords or important work files on it in case it gets stolen. Dropbox, however, is quite happy to copy important files right to my laptop including stuff I dont want everyone in the world to see.

There are two options;
1) don't install the app on my laptop and access my info through their website using a username and password.

2) Encryption. I can use TrueCrypt to encrypt any sensitive files so that even if they are on my laptop, they are protected.

The first option is easiest. Drawbacks? What if dropbox hands over my data to the gubment? (I'm looking at you phone companies, this has happened before) I also loose the helpful feature of simple synchronization. If I download an important file and alter it, I have to then upload it and then delete it locally. Annoying. With synch, if I am writing a story on one system, the latest version will automatically me available on the other, which is neat.

With encryption, I have to go through a setup process with TrueCrypt which basically creates a single size file. Down side? That whole file has to get synched each time I change it, even a small change. Upside? Available even if I don't have a net connection.

I am going to go for the second option for now. Test it and see how it works. Again, I can't store everything online, but in the event something goes very wrong, I will be able to get up and running on another system quickly. And of course, there's an iphone app that lets me access the non encrypted stuff as well. Sweet. I'm off... into the clouuuuuuuuud

Have any of you flirted with this idea? Anyone else getting rid of software installed on their computer and instead use web apps? Post in comments.

Shock the monkey...

Back in 1984 or so I picked up a cassette sitting on a table in the audio/video department at Bay High School. It belonged to a tech guy who worked part time for the school. It was marked "Peter Gabriel-Live". I popped it into a cheap cassette player, put on a pair of craptastic headphones and proceeded to have my mind absolutely blown.

The music was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It sure as hell wasn't Pink Floyd or pop music. It was something mesmerizing, haunting. From the first track (The Rhythm of the heat) to the desolate and sad "Biko". I listened to it over and over. One of the first CD's I ever owned was Peter Gabriel and when I got to hear his music on a semi-good system it blew my mind all over again.

You might know his more popular tunes Shock the Monkey, Salisbury Hill or Sledgehammer. But you owe it to yourself to listen to some of his other works. He did the soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ and is a central part of Real World studios.

A while back he provided the source track to some of his songs and invited to people to remix them as they wished. The results were pretty cool. You can listed to a warped but very cool version of Shock the Monkey here:

Watch this...

Eating Elizabethan for a week. Absolutely awesome.

Things that make you go hmmm...

An interesting collection of photos of what some death row inmates had for their last meal. No significance, just a curiosity.

Listening to words

The recent gathering in Washington D.C. was quite impressive. Sure, it didn't actually have 2 million participants. That apparently was a lie. But there were a LOT of angry (mostly white) people loudly venting their disapproval of our government and our President.

Good for them. That is their right. They apparently had a lot to complain about. For the moment, I'd like to set aside some of these people. The abortion protesters have an actual point in that abortion is still legal. They have a position and a stated goal. The Jesus freaks, well, they believe that the bible should run the show. Obama is a Muslim. They also have a position. It's crazy. but they are led by the book their invisible sky wizard gave them. Arguing with them is fruitless. In the immortal words of Dr. House "If you could reason with religious people, there wouldn't be any religious people.".

Then there are those who oppose a whole host of things the government is doing. You can tell this by the 10 second flashes shown on the news and the sound bites of people yelling. But what are these people actually saying? What do they actually believe? A young man apparently went through the crowd and talked to some of these people. And the results are so cringe worthy as to be physically painful.

These people traveled great distances, made signs, got up early and marched to protest things they have no fucking clue about. Seriously. These are dumb people. Now, it is possible that there were some well spoken people with well reasoned objections to certain government bills or policies. But I have never seen them. Where are they? Where are the ones who aren't screaming about death panels and socialism?

When I attended a war protest a few years ago there were certainly a wide range of opinions about our government. From reformers to anti-globalists to outright anarchists. But if you stopped and talked to them you would hear about why they wanted the war in Iraq ended. They knew about the bad intel, the lies, the smokescreen of Al Qaeda the torture of prisoners, warrantless wiretapping. I'm sure a few of them wanted the president overthrown because he secretly was a pawn of the Trilateral commission or the Freemasons, but they still KNEW THINGS based on FACTS. And the interesting thing was the makeup of the protest crowd. Young and old, white and black, Christian and Muslim. They were concerned about a people and a war that didn't affect many of them directly. After all, they weren't being bombed or rounded up and sent to CIA black sites. But the screaming heads on TV these days seem only to care about two things. Themselves and "their" America. To listen to them you'd think that is a brown shirted Obama Youth and FEMA camps for dissidents ready to materialize ANY SECOND. That their guns are already being taken away and government money is being spent right this second on free abortions for gay married couples. All over a burning Bible.

These are scared, stupid, people. And I have no idea how to counteract this level of stupidity. How can you have a discussion with them?

A few give lip service to the idea of making the world a better place for "the children". Hey Cletus, if you wanted a better world you might have spent less time breeding and more time educating yourselves and your offspring.

pant*pant*pant

Ok, I'm gonna go over to cuteoverload.com now and lower my blood pressure...

Sweet tee's

If you're looking for a nice t-shirt based on your fav movie take a click over to Last Exit to Nowhere. There are some nice designs there for logo junkies like myself.


Via BoingBoing.net

Mornin' sunshine

The guys who run the maze across from us are pretty fun. We share a
few quick words during the day when we can, a friendly bit of verbal
sparring. This morning one showed off some new plumes in his cavalier
hat.

"Nothing says pretentious asshole like an obnoxious collection of
plumage".
he said, jauntilly adjusting the half a pheasant stapled to his brim.

"Really? I dare say there are a great many things about you that
scream pretentious asshole. Those boots for instance ' or your
doublet, the effite walking stick you use or perhaps your mug. So many
things sir conspire within you to form a kind of macrocosm of
assholery!"

The young man was actually left momentarily speachless. He then shook
my hand and congratulated me on a job well done. I'm sure later on I
will be on the receiving end of one of these rants. This is how we
pass the hours sometimes.

Sent from my iPhone

The wheels of commerce...

On our way home from Michigan. I'm the one with the cold now but a
decent weekend of sales somewhat makes up for a head full of crap. But
no rest fir the wicked... We are off to Ohio ren shortly to work on
our roof and hopefully make a nice living space for our minions.

We are listening to a book on cd about the construction of St. Peters
bascillica. Facinating stuff. Horrifying in that it had so little to
do with Jesus and his teachings, but keen from political,
architectural and artistic point of view.

Sent from my iPhone