Friday, November 2, 2012
The Polish
Lately I have been winning a lot of chess games with the Polish. I think I like it even better than the Grob. Seems like I'm often fighting just to stay in the game with the Grob. The Polish is much more forgiving, where the Grob is sharp. However, the Grob remains a useful surprise tactic, especially for speed chess where someone that knows the opening cold like me can get an advantage.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Patience
I've learned not to wrestle with ornery computer problems late at night, when my patience has ebbed. Just about blew a gasket yesterday trying to get my computers to talk with each other on the network. I'm much more patient about things like that in the morning and afternoon.
Yesterday around midnight, I was all set to kill my Linux Mint 13 Mate 64-bit install, sell the new motherboard, and fall back to my old motherboard and Windows XP 32-bit SP3. In fact, I had the case open and the old motherboard right there on the floor and a screwdriver in my hand, ready to take the new motherboard out. But oh, the thought of defeat, that rankled, the thought that I couldn't figure things out... call it nerd pride--I couldn't, I just couldn't. Besides, there were the forty hours I had already invested in configuring Linux and learning about it. In for a penny, in for a pound. One of the reasons I'm good at computers is I just don't give up, that's my ace in the hole, when every other sensible person would call it quits and cut their losses, I'm just too hard-headed, and I have confidence in my ability to see things through to a satisfactory solution. I'm not about taking it easy, I'm about maximum efficiency.
Today I learned more about Linux, and I think I do see light at the end of the tunnel, insofar as I'm getting better at things and there are fewer mysteries.
To be sure, Linux is much easier without a network to deal with. I would really rather not learn quite so much about networking as I am, but it looks like Linux is determined to give me a crash course. I find networking a bit boring, a matter of running around from hole to hole, knocking gophers on the head, and just when I think I've got them all another one pops up, and another.
Yesterday around midnight, I was all set to kill my Linux Mint 13 Mate 64-bit install, sell the new motherboard, and fall back to my old motherboard and Windows XP 32-bit SP3. In fact, I had the case open and the old motherboard right there on the floor and a screwdriver in my hand, ready to take the new motherboard out. But oh, the thought of defeat, that rankled, the thought that I couldn't figure things out... call it nerd pride--I couldn't, I just couldn't. Besides, there were the forty hours I had already invested in configuring Linux and learning about it. In for a penny, in for a pound. One of the reasons I'm good at computers is I just don't give up, that's my ace in the hole, when every other sensible person would call it quits and cut their losses, I'm just too hard-headed, and I have confidence in my ability to see things through to a satisfactory solution. I'm not about taking it easy, I'm about maximum efficiency.
Today I learned more about Linux, and I think I do see light at the end of the tunnel, insofar as I'm getting better at things and there are fewer mysteries.
To be sure, Linux is much easier without a network to deal with. I would really rather not learn quite so much about networking as I am, but it looks like Linux is determined to give me a crash course. I find networking a bit boring, a matter of running around from hole to hole, knocking gophers on the head, and just when I think I've got them all another one pops up, and another.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Cautionary Note on the ASUS E35M1-M
I flamed the ASUS E35M1-M yesterday in an online forum, but then had second thoughts and deleted my post, because I just don't feel enough certainty to flame, especially when I am unable to find any claims online to back up my own. After all, it is possible that I had two defective motherboards. Defects do happen. And besides, what do I know? I know how to build systems, but my knowledge of hardware is not deep. I could be mistaken, and I don't like slinging mud at one of the few low-energy offerings for desktops besides Intel's Atom.
But here is my hypothesis, to those who are interested, and somehow I do not think I will be the only one.
I have three ASUS E35M1-M motherboards installed in desktop systems, and they have eaten a USB stick containing the OpenElec install, which I referred to an earlier post, as well as a name-brand keyboard and mouse. By "eaten" I mean these devices are no longer operable, will not interact with any of my other computers, are dead, no lights come on, and they are not detected by the BIOS. The cause of their demise was plugging and unplugging these devices into various USB ports on the ASUS E35M1-M. The reason I am suspicious is that three devices is an awful lot to die in the span of twenty-four hours for a small household like mine, and these young devices had been operating without any problems before. The BIOS version on each of the motherboards was 1502, and I notice that ASUS has in September of 2012 released two BIOS updates, with 1602 being said to "improve system stability and improve USB compatibility." Again, I'm not completely sure of what happened, but I do think the motherboard is the most likely culprit here. Stupid ASUS forced me to use USB ports because they only included one lousy PS/2 port. I have PS/2 mice and keyboards, but no, they demand their customers use a USB port, to save a couple pennies on the manufacture of a $199 board.
Needless to mention, I am upgrading all of my BIOSes to 1602 this morning. The ASUS E35M1-M boasts of the new UEFI BIOS, but I did not know how to get either Windows or Linux to install with it. Meanwhile, the manufacturer apparently hadn't worked all the bugs out yet, and so I got the disadvantages without the benefits. I can't recommend this motherboard anymore, but does it matter? AMD discontinued the E-350 chip, so the motherboard has been orphaned.
I think my next motherboard is going to be an Intel motherboard running an Intel chip.
But here is my hypothesis, to those who are interested, and somehow I do not think I will be the only one.
I have three ASUS E35M1-M motherboards installed in desktop systems, and they have eaten a USB stick containing the OpenElec install, which I referred to an earlier post, as well as a name-brand keyboard and mouse. By "eaten" I mean these devices are no longer operable, will not interact with any of my other computers, are dead, no lights come on, and they are not detected by the BIOS. The cause of their demise was plugging and unplugging these devices into various USB ports on the ASUS E35M1-M. The reason I am suspicious is that three devices is an awful lot to die in the span of twenty-four hours for a small household like mine, and these young devices had been operating without any problems before. The BIOS version on each of the motherboards was 1502, and I notice that ASUS has in September of 2012 released two BIOS updates, with 1602 being said to "improve system stability and improve USB compatibility." Again, I'm not completely sure of what happened, but I do think the motherboard is the most likely culprit here. Stupid ASUS forced me to use USB ports because they only included one lousy PS/2 port. I have PS/2 mice and keyboards, but no, they demand their customers use a USB port, to save a couple pennies on the manufacture of a $199 board.
Needless to mention, I am upgrading all of my BIOSes to 1602 this morning. The ASUS E35M1-M boasts of the new UEFI BIOS, but I did not know how to get either Windows or Linux to install with it. Meanwhile, the manufacturer apparently hadn't worked all the bugs out yet, and so I got the disadvantages without the benefits. I can't recommend this motherboard anymore, but does it matter? AMD discontinued the E-350 chip, so the motherboard has been orphaned.
I think my next motherboard is going to be an Intel motherboard running an Intel chip.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Linux Mint 13 & OpenElec 2.0 & Windows 7
I've been engulfed in a whirlwind of Operating System (OS) storms of late that all began one night when I attempted to install a refurbished 2.5tb hard drive I had snagged for $100. Little did I suspect that Windows XP would throw a major hissy fit over the drive exceeding the arbitrary 2tb maximum decreed by Microsoft. Windows XP was impossible, there was a mathematical boundary based on sectors and MS-DOS and 32-bit, so said all the divines that I consulted.
I probed around the cyber underground and finally found what seemed like a suitable bootleg Windows 7, but it wouldn't handle the large drive either, nothin' doin'. The cracker clown had deleted the EFI boot driver, you see, which is required for Windows to recognize the drive properly. I assume that the EFI driver had been deleted so as not to interfere with the cracker's key-logging, virus and trojan horse programs, because Avast flagged three of the files in the bootleg as being Potentially Unwanted Programs, which is bad news, a headache I don't need. I probed a bit and found that some of the instructions were written in Russian, and that was all I needed to know quite frankly.
Long story short, I wound up returning to an old flame of mine, where OSes are concerned that is, an OS that I have flirted with in the past though our love was never consummated by an actual desktop install. No, we had only experimented together, fumbling under the sheets in a hotel room, this OS and me, and now she was a few years older and wiser, updated and better in every way, and to my surprise, this time we managed to pull it off and have a baby together.
Linux Mint, "Maya", is the lady I'm talking about, my latest excursion into the wild lands beyond the Windows continent. After a mind-boggling ordeal I have finally taught myself enough rudiments to get by in the not-quite-so-friendly-as-media-pundits-would-have-it Linux world. Pundits say Linux Mint is the friendliest flavor of Linux around, and they're probably right about that, but Linux itself is not quite so friendly as Windows XP, not quite as easy to get things done, and I found a number of glitches and hard-to-understand points even in 2012. I think part of the problem is that Linux developers preach to the chorus, the already converted, the sophisticated technorati who make up the Linux userbase, rather than designing with non-techie novices in mind, as Microsoft does.
The biggest problem with Linux as I see it is also considered among the biggest virtues by the Linux establishment so to speak. What I'm talking about is security, which seems to be spelled with a capital "S" and put in bold and underlined everywhere these days. I understand the necessity for some users. But I'm just a weed growing on the side of a rock in the Atlantic Ocean, and I'm not quite as concerned about Chinese spies hacking into my computer. Maybe I should be, I don't know, but so far I have not suffered undue consequences, at least that I'm aware of, from my supposedly "unsafe" habit of leaving my Windows XP computers without pervasive password protection. All right, throw rocks at me and call me a dinosaur, but that's the way I see it. I think it is ridiculous to have to type in a password every few minutes to get things done in the operating system. I counted one day when I was shifting files around and modifying configuration files, and I must have entered my password a dozen times. A password is required to do just about anything besides sneeze and cough. The usual retort from Linux fans is that this makes the OS secure from nefarious Internet hackers. Yes, but I love my Windows XP that lets me get things done in the blink of an eye without typing in the same password over and over. I think somebody needs to give thought to devising a method of security that does not involve constant password input. The truth is that nine out of ten users are going to write that password down on a piece of paper and tape it above their keyboard. How secure is that computer, again? I think the big danger is that it will become secure from the user, not that somebody will burglarize my house and slip a virus into the works, although that is a disturbing thought, and I guess I have rebutted my own argument here.
On a regular basis, Linux Mint 13 Mate 64-bit forgets the screen resolution, which means that it boots up at a resolution of 1600 x 1200, so that the letter "a" looks like a tiny dot on my 800x600 monitor. I have to rely upon memory to find the ATI Catalyst Configuration Manager in the menu, and it is not easy, because I cannot read the text. When I click on the Configuration Manager, the resolution resets itself without explanation. This problem seems to be intermittent without rhyme or reason, sometimes arising and sometimes not. Also on a daily basis, Linux Mint forgets the network permissions for shared folders, which means that I have to set the permissions manually, which requires entering my password from 10 to 20 times. I am now thinking that the price of Windows 7 would be cheap at $10,000, based upon my experience with Linux.
Second problem I had with Linux Mint is that the screensaver kicked in every time I tried to watch a video, and that was funny the first three times it happened, but after that I lost my appreciation of the humor. It took me about three hours to sort that problem out, and the solution isn't really perfect either, but I suspect my hardware configuration is to blame, of which more is to be said.
Third problem is the fault of AMD, I suppose. The ATI video driver for Linux seems to be defective or inadequate from what I have read in the forums. Too many users report that they have a better experience watching videos on Windows 7 than in Linux. I had to tweak and massage and dial down the settings in VLC Player for hours before I was able to play most video files right, and that doesn't count the number of hours I spent getting the sound to output to all of my speakers. There was a steep learning curve, but then again can I say that there wasn't one in Windows XP? I cannot. Windows XP can also be a bear to a beginner. Perhaps I've forgotten some of the banana peels Windows XP dropped on the floor for me to slip on back in the days when I was a Windows novice.
Despite these problems, for the moment I am enduring Linux Mint, because I have this faint hope that once you get past the initial learning curve, you're on easy street, and I've already paid my dues, which amounted to about forty hours glued to the computer experimenting and reading tutorials, many of them outdated, mistaken or partly true. It takes a lot of reading to learn a little bit about Linux, because most sources on the Internet just divulge a tiny secret here or there, almost never the whole enchilada, but one can't look a gift horse in the mouth, because they certainly aren't getting paid to teach me anything, nor have I yet paid for Linux Mint. To find an answer to a question, typically I have to read six or seven articles. Part of the reason is that the OS keeps changing, each new release bringing a tiny incremental improvement.
I think it would be logical for all the distros to merge and all the developers to join as a team to focus on a single distro, one Ring to Rule Them All and In the Darkness Bind Them, you see. In chess, I have learned that in order to win one must focus firepower upon a single point. Again and again this is the path to victory, and so it is in other areas. Focus is the key. When developers are scattered about in different houses reinventing the wheel or spinning their wheels, then of course the player with the focused firepower, that is to say Microsoft, carries the day. But this is obvious.
The payoff for me is that Linux is free, which really matters to me, not because I need to save a hundred bucks, but because it gives me the convenience and flexibility of being able to install an OS on any computer at any time for any reason. That matters when one supports a network of computers, as I do, and occasionally makes builds or upgrades for friends. I seldom keep a motherboard for over five years, but am always on the move where hardware is concerned. No longer do I have to fret about whether Windows is going to work or not, whether I have to buy another license or worry about viruses in a bootleg copy.
Also, Linux handles drives that are greater than 2tb without too much difficulty. I was only able to partition my drive with MBR, which only supports partitions < 2 tb, despite having a UEFI Bios that supports GPT and thus > 2 tb partitions. Linux only gave me the option of slicing my drive up into different partitions, each less than 2tb, rather than having one big partition, which is what I wanted, although I recognize the utility of having a small partition of 60gb or so for the /boot partition.
Linux can do many of the same things that Windows does, it just takes a little extra elbow grease sometimes, and I've got plenty of elbow grease at the moment. I do think it is true that Linux is more secure, although I've taken big chances by connecting to unauthenticated repositories in an attempt to fix some of the problems I encountered.
The Community in Linux appealed to me, and I'm afraid I became so enthusiastic at first that I was just gushing, sharing my little novice insights and observations, until I realized I was talking to myself. At any rate, enthusiasm has its uses, and it fueled my learning. Who cares what strangers think of my lightly-informed postings? I am but one of a crowd of Linux novices and am sure the Linux gurus will ignore igor. I'm a tiny little pipsqueak among the multitude.
For the record, if one is determined to learn the rudiments of Linux, and only if that is so, I do recommend Linux Mint 13 "Mate" 64-bit. Hopefully, you will not have a network, do not plan to watch any videos, do not play any sound files, and do not have a drive over 2tb, and do not have an ATI graphics processor, and if these things are so, you will have less difficulty with Linux Mint than I did. The reason I encountered some of my hassles was due to this odd desire to do something other than enter passwords and troubleshoot random problems all day. It's just a quirk of mine, I'm sure.
Right at the moment, I'm a little burned out after my self-imposed "boot camp," when I was spending just about every waking hour studying and experimenting. Why do we programmers do that to ourselves? It is some kind of sickness. Balance, that's what a body needs. I get tunnel vision sometimes, want to know everything, do everything, fix everything. Oh well, that's just me, I like to be fast, efficient, correct. But now I have everything sorted, I think. I'll probably regain my enthusiasm later.
I tried Open Elec 2.0, oh did I try! I really wanted it to work, because the developers had kindly produced a version specifically for my processor, an E-350 AMD APU. What more could one ask for? It was as though they had made it just for me.
Open Elec proved a waste of time. In the first place installing it absolutely requires a USB stick, and I did not fully realize that until too late. There is no way around that requirement, as far as I can tell, and that was a huge problem for me, because I only had 1 USB stick on hand, and when I attempted to make an install drive for Open Elec, my motherboard fried it, I mean it is junk now, and I threw it in the trash can. I don't know how or why that happened, but the USB stick was a cheap freebie from NewEgg, so there you go.
Next I tried making an install drive out of an actual hard drive, trying to fool Open Elec into thinking the hard drive was a USB drive, but that didn't work either, Open Elec was too smart and refused to cooperate with my nefarious plan. Bad igor! Trying to install OpenElec without a USB stick!
Burning a CD was out of the question, didn't work. Finally I resorted to attempting to make an install drive out of one of my MP3 players, which I recognized after some reflection, is actually nothing more than a glorified USB stick, with an earphone jack and a primitive interface. This was my last-ditch try, and I tried this twice, but it didn't work either, and I don't know why. When I tried to boot, it got a little ways and then halted with a numeric error, which I researched and could not find any information about.
So after five hours of researching and experimenting and hoping and a dead USB stick, I came up with exactly nothing in my attempt to try OpenElec. The developers have a nice web site though, and I can only wish I had their design skills. I like the cool blue, smooth fonts. They are just too cool for school. But I noticed that the comment features on the web site seem disabled. It is impossible to leave any discussion on the wiki and it is impossible to leave comments on the blog, and I think I have surmised the reason why and it is not ultimately a technical reason, although an error is reported. I don't think the developers want to hear from people like me that are having problems, because I think they know full well that their version 2.0 is actually more like 0.2 beta-ware, not quite ready for prime time yet. Enabling comments would likely bring on an avalanche of "how do I's" and "can you help..." and they're not getting paid for anything as far as I can see and have better things to do then spin their wheels assisting the clueless. I think their payday is going to come from preinstalled systems and from business clients. The most an end-user like me can do is help them test out their beta-ware and for that purpose, they are glad to share an .iso, if I have the know-how and the hardware to deal with it, because if I can pull off an install then it is likely I can supply them with valuable feedback rather than clueless novice feedback.
Windows 7 is the OS my brother swears by and with good reason I am sure. He doesn't know about Linux, but is open-minded about it, just as I am. He is dead-set against Windows XP, though. He has been campaigning for me to abandon Windows XP and accept the inevitable, and after a series of debates over the past two years, I plan to accept his proposed Christmas gift of Win 7 Professional 64-bit, because I need to know Windows 7 in order to remain proficient as a techie. I do realize that and I hate being perceived as a dinosaur, even if I am with my useless COBOL and BASIC and Batch knowledge. I'm an unemployed, unemployable dinosaur, a loser that chose the wrong programming languages and paid the price, and some people, like my Father, think I'm lazy because I don't have a computer job, and that point of view irritates me, because I'm anything but lazy. All computer programmers have jobs according to this point of view. I don't expect to persuade critics of the sobering facts in the marketplace. Unless they have been out there looking for computer jobs, they do not know what they are talking about, but are basing their opinions on the marketplace during the boom time, the Clinton years, before the Bush calamity. Some people refuse to update their opinions, but remain frozen in time, living in a different era.
Right now I feel that Linux will succumb to format c: in the near future. I doubt it will be of use to my friends or family due to the steep learning curve when attempting to do even the most mundane and ordinary computer task, such as access a file over a network. The thing is, it is possible to do everything in Windows via graphical user interface, one that is highly refined, consistent, relatively bug-free, and very well documented in numerous web sites including Microsoft's. With Linux, even with the elegant Linux Mint, it remains necessary to resort to the command-line interface in order to do much of anything in regards to OS tasks. I cannot imagine asking my non-techie friends to learn all of the things that I learned through dozens of hours of experimentation and research. So for the masses I believe Windows will remain the OS of choice, and now I have a better understanding of why this is so, although I do wish things were different and I do hope things are different some day.
I probed around the cyber underground and finally found what seemed like a suitable bootleg Windows 7, but it wouldn't handle the large drive either, nothin' doin'. The cracker clown had deleted the EFI boot driver, you see, which is required for Windows to recognize the drive properly. I assume that the EFI driver had been deleted so as not to interfere with the cracker's key-logging, virus and trojan horse programs, because Avast flagged three of the files in the bootleg as being Potentially Unwanted Programs, which is bad news, a headache I don't need. I probed a bit and found that some of the instructions were written in Russian, and that was all I needed to know quite frankly.
Long story short, I wound up returning to an old flame of mine, where OSes are concerned that is, an OS that I have flirted with in the past though our love was never consummated by an actual desktop install. No, we had only experimented together, fumbling under the sheets in a hotel room, this OS and me, and now she was a few years older and wiser, updated and better in every way, and to my surprise, this time we managed to pull it off and have a baby together.
Linux Mint, "Maya", is the lady I'm talking about, my latest excursion into the wild lands beyond the Windows continent. After a mind-boggling ordeal I have finally taught myself enough rudiments to get by in the not-quite-so-friendly-as-media-pundits-would-have-it Linux world. Pundits say Linux Mint is the friendliest flavor of Linux around, and they're probably right about that, but Linux itself is not quite so friendly as Windows XP, not quite as easy to get things done, and I found a number of glitches and hard-to-understand points even in 2012. I think part of the problem is that Linux developers preach to the chorus, the already converted, the sophisticated technorati who make up the Linux userbase, rather than designing with non-techie novices in mind, as Microsoft does.
The biggest problem with Linux as I see it is also considered among the biggest virtues by the Linux establishment so to speak. What I'm talking about is security, which seems to be spelled with a capital "S" and put in bold and underlined everywhere these days. I understand the necessity for some users. But I'm just a weed growing on the side of a rock in the Atlantic Ocean, and I'm not quite as concerned about Chinese spies hacking into my computer. Maybe I should be, I don't know, but so far I have not suffered undue consequences, at least that I'm aware of, from my supposedly "unsafe" habit of leaving my Windows XP computers without pervasive password protection. All right, throw rocks at me and call me a dinosaur, but that's the way I see it. I think it is ridiculous to have to type in a password every few minutes to get things done in the operating system. I counted one day when I was shifting files around and modifying configuration files, and I must have entered my password a dozen times. A password is required to do just about anything besides sneeze and cough. The usual retort from Linux fans is that this makes the OS secure from nefarious Internet hackers. Yes, but I love my Windows XP that lets me get things done in the blink of an eye without typing in the same password over and over. I think somebody needs to give thought to devising a method of security that does not involve constant password input. The truth is that nine out of ten users are going to write that password down on a piece of paper and tape it above their keyboard. How secure is that computer, again? I think the big danger is that it will become secure from the user, not that somebody will burglarize my house and slip a virus into the works, although that is a disturbing thought, and I guess I have rebutted my own argument here.
On a regular basis, Linux Mint 13 Mate 64-bit forgets the screen resolution, which means that it boots up at a resolution of 1600 x 1200, so that the letter "a" looks like a tiny dot on my 800x600 monitor. I have to rely upon memory to find the ATI Catalyst Configuration Manager in the menu, and it is not easy, because I cannot read the text. When I click on the Configuration Manager, the resolution resets itself without explanation. This problem seems to be intermittent without rhyme or reason, sometimes arising and sometimes not. Also on a daily basis, Linux Mint forgets the network permissions for shared folders, which means that I have to set the permissions manually, which requires entering my password from 10 to 20 times. I am now thinking that the price of Windows 7 would be cheap at $10,000, based upon my experience with Linux.
Second problem I had with Linux Mint is that the screensaver kicked in every time I tried to watch a video, and that was funny the first three times it happened, but after that I lost my appreciation of the humor. It took me about three hours to sort that problem out, and the solution isn't really perfect either, but I suspect my hardware configuration is to blame, of which more is to be said.
Third problem is the fault of AMD, I suppose. The ATI video driver for Linux seems to be defective or inadequate from what I have read in the forums. Too many users report that they have a better experience watching videos on Windows 7 than in Linux. I had to tweak and massage and dial down the settings in VLC Player for hours before I was able to play most video files right, and that doesn't count the number of hours I spent getting the sound to output to all of my speakers. There was a steep learning curve, but then again can I say that there wasn't one in Windows XP? I cannot. Windows XP can also be a bear to a beginner. Perhaps I've forgotten some of the banana peels Windows XP dropped on the floor for me to slip on back in the days when I was a Windows novice.
Despite these problems, for the moment I am enduring Linux Mint, because I have this faint hope that once you get past the initial learning curve, you're on easy street, and I've already paid my dues, which amounted to about forty hours glued to the computer experimenting and reading tutorials, many of them outdated, mistaken or partly true. It takes a lot of reading to learn a little bit about Linux, because most sources on the Internet just divulge a tiny secret here or there, almost never the whole enchilada, but one can't look a gift horse in the mouth, because they certainly aren't getting paid to teach me anything, nor have I yet paid for Linux Mint. To find an answer to a question, typically I have to read six or seven articles. Part of the reason is that the OS keeps changing, each new release bringing a tiny incremental improvement.
I think it would be logical for all the distros to merge and all the developers to join as a team to focus on a single distro, one Ring to Rule Them All and In the Darkness Bind Them, you see. In chess, I have learned that in order to win one must focus firepower upon a single point. Again and again this is the path to victory, and so it is in other areas. Focus is the key. When developers are scattered about in different houses reinventing the wheel or spinning their wheels, then of course the player with the focused firepower, that is to say Microsoft, carries the day. But this is obvious.
The payoff for me is that Linux is free, which really matters to me, not because I need to save a hundred bucks, but because it gives me the convenience and flexibility of being able to install an OS on any computer at any time for any reason. That matters when one supports a network of computers, as I do, and occasionally makes builds or upgrades for friends. I seldom keep a motherboard for over five years, but am always on the move where hardware is concerned. No longer do I have to fret about whether Windows is going to work or not, whether I have to buy another license or worry about viruses in a bootleg copy.
Also, Linux handles drives that are greater than 2tb without too much difficulty. I was only able to partition my drive with MBR, which only supports partitions < 2 tb, despite having a UEFI Bios that supports GPT and thus > 2 tb partitions. Linux only gave me the option of slicing my drive up into different partitions, each less than 2tb, rather than having one big partition, which is what I wanted, although I recognize the utility of having a small partition of 60gb or so for the /boot partition.
Linux can do many of the same things that Windows does, it just takes a little extra elbow grease sometimes, and I've got plenty of elbow grease at the moment. I do think it is true that Linux is more secure, although I've taken big chances by connecting to unauthenticated repositories in an attempt to fix some of the problems I encountered.
The Community in Linux appealed to me, and I'm afraid I became so enthusiastic at first that I was just gushing, sharing my little novice insights and observations, until I realized I was talking to myself. At any rate, enthusiasm has its uses, and it fueled my learning. Who cares what strangers think of my lightly-informed postings? I am but one of a crowd of Linux novices and am sure the Linux gurus will ignore igor. I'm a tiny little pipsqueak among the multitude.
For the record, if one is determined to learn the rudiments of Linux, and only if that is so, I do recommend Linux Mint 13 "Mate" 64-bit. Hopefully, you will not have a network, do not plan to watch any videos, do not play any sound files, and do not have a drive over 2tb, and do not have an ATI graphics processor, and if these things are so, you will have less difficulty with Linux Mint than I did. The reason I encountered some of my hassles was due to this odd desire to do something other than enter passwords and troubleshoot random problems all day. It's just a quirk of mine, I'm sure.
Right at the moment, I'm a little burned out after my self-imposed "boot camp," when I was spending just about every waking hour studying and experimenting. Why do we programmers do that to ourselves? It is some kind of sickness. Balance, that's what a body needs. I get tunnel vision sometimes, want to know everything, do everything, fix everything. Oh well, that's just me, I like to be fast, efficient, correct. But now I have everything sorted, I think. I'll probably regain my enthusiasm later.
I tried Open Elec 2.0, oh did I try! I really wanted it to work, because the developers had kindly produced a version specifically for my processor, an E-350 AMD APU. What more could one ask for? It was as though they had made it just for me.
Open Elec proved a waste of time. In the first place installing it absolutely requires a USB stick, and I did not fully realize that until too late. There is no way around that requirement, as far as I can tell, and that was a huge problem for me, because I only had 1 USB stick on hand, and when I attempted to make an install drive for Open Elec, my motherboard fried it, I mean it is junk now, and I threw it in the trash can. I don't know how or why that happened, but the USB stick was a cheap freebie from NewEgg, so there you go.
Next I tried making an install drive out of an actual hard drive, trying to fool Open Elec into thinking the hard drive was a USB drive, but that didn't work either, Open Elec was too smart and refused to cooperate with my nefarious plan. Bad igor! Trying to install OpenElec without a USB stick!
Burning a CD was out of the question, didn't work. Finally I resorted to attempting to make an install drive out of one of my MP3 players, which I recognized after some reflection, is actually nothing more than a glorified USB stick, with an earphone jack and a primitive interface. This was my last-ditch try, and I tried this twice, but it didn't work either, and I don't know why. When I tried to boot, it got a little ways and then halted with a numeric error, which I researched and could not find any information about.
So after five hours of researching and experimenting and hoping and a dead USB stick, I came up with exactly nothing in my attempt to try OpenElec. The developers have a nice web site though, and I can only wish I had their design skills. I like the cool blue, smooth fonts. They are just too cool for school. But I noticed that the comment features on the web site seem disabled. It is impossible to leave any discussion on the wiki and it is impossible to leave comments on the blog, and I think I have surmised the reason why and it is not ultimately a technical reason, although an error is reported. I don't think the developers want to hear from people like me that are having problems, because I think they know full well that their version 2.0 is actually more like 0.2 beta-ware, not quite ready for prime time yet. Enabling comments would likely bring on an avalanche of "how do I's" and "can you help..." and they're not getting paid for anything as far as I can see and have better things to do then spin their wheels assisting the clueless. I think their payday is going to come from preinstalled systems and from business clients. The most an end-user like me can do is help them test out their beta-ware and for that purpose, they are glad to share an .iso, if I have the know-how and the hardware to deal with it, because if I can pull off an install then it is likely I can supply them with valuable feedback rather than clueless novice feedback.
Windows 7 is the OS my brother swears by and with good reason I am sure. He doesn't know about Linux, but is open-minded about it, just as I am. He is dead-set against Windows XP, though. He has been campaigning for me to abandon Windows XP and accept the inevitable, and after a series of debates over the past two years, I plan to accept his proposed Christmas gift of Win 7 Professional 64-bit, because I need to know Windows 7 in order to remain proficient as a techie. I do realize that and I hate being perceived as a dinosaur, even if I am with my useless COBOL and BASIC and Batch knowledge. I'm an unemployed, unemployable dinosaur, a loser that chose the wrong programming languages and paid the price, and some people, like my Father, think I'm lazy because I don't have a computer job, and that point of view irritates me, because I'm anything but lazy. All computer programmers have jobs according to this point of view. I don't expect to persuade critics of the sobering facts in the marketplace. Unless they have been out there looking for computer jobs, they do not know what they are talking about, but are basing their opinions on the marketplace during the boom time, the Clinton years, before the Bush calamity. Some people refuse to update their opinions, but remain frozen in time, living in a different era.
Right now I feel that Linux will succumb to format c: in the near future. I doubt it will be of use to my friends or family due to the steep learning curve when attempting to do even the most mundane and ordinary computer task, such as access a file over a network. The thing is, it is possible to do everything in Windows via graphical user interface, one that is highly refined, consistent, relatively bug-free, and very well documented in numerous web sites including Microsoft's. With Linux, even with the elegant Linux Mint, it remains necessary to resort to the command-line interface in order to do much of anything in regards to OS tasks. I cannot imagine asking my non-techie friends to learn all of the things that I learned through dozens of hours of experimentation and research. So for the masses I believe Windows will remain the OS of choice, and now I have a better understanding of why this is so, although I do wish things were different and I do hope things are different some day.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
On Being Disinherited
I received a note card from my Father a few days ago. I knew it was going to be bad because his envelopes are usually long and thick, and this was thin and in a small envelope. Inside was a little 3" x 5" blue-lined notecard of the style he likes to use, handwritten.
He refers to our last phone conversation. How foolish it was of me to attempt communication through a medium that has an indefinite duration. A written letter can be set aside and at any rate has a finite number of pages. With the telephone, one cannot terminate the call until my Father has finished saying everything that is on his mind. He will go on for hours and hours. He never fatigues of talking. I remember once when I was a boy, he was driving me somewhere far away. I fell asleep while he was talking and woke up an hour later, and he was still talking. He had never noticed that I fell asleep. He never had the knack of paying any heed to his audience.
We began talking at about 23:00 and at 1:55 I said I was tired. He had spent the time complaining about my brother and my Mother, their evil ways, while I had listened and sometimes tried to explain to him their points of view, which I well understand. But I was tired after three hours talking on the phone. I had worked a twelve hour shift earlier that day. He is retired and stays up all night reading, brooding. At the time we were not arguing, but just when I said I needed to go, he brought up a new subject that displeased him and expected me to argue about it. He said that in my letter, mailed three weeks ago, which he had not replied to, there was a sentence that called into question the dignity of his father, deceased. I had asked whether a prominent politician, our cousin, had used his considerable influence to get my grandfather a job with the Civil Service. I had only asked whether this were so. I did not think this was insulting, but reasonable since it seems to have been a fairly common practice particularly in the past. It is well-known, to use an example, that Abraham Lincoln appointed friends and allies as postmasters, customs officials and judges. I did not see such speculation as insulting, and said so, but Father was determined to have his rage, because that is what keeps him going in his long hours brooding alone over perceived slights. He said it was Mother that put that idea into my head, evil Mother. I said no, Mother never talked about his father, which is true. So this is why I believe that I am a pawn in a larger battle.
I do not think I was ever important to my Father, only ever just a pawn between him and his wife, though at a tender age, something more, a surrogate. Now it is easy for him to discard me because I never mattered, was just an object. It makes me want to publish a book about him. I am not sure it is worth the effort however. If he lived to see it, he would feed off of the drama, with his love of anger and righteousness. Drama is what he likes. All his life was a battle with imaginary foes, just an arid desert where he plods along in his plate mail armor, shield and sword in hand, sweating and stumbling and cursing and swinging at djinn that are not there. Also it is likely he will be gone long before I am, and I am the one that must carry the name after he has passed. There is a certain freedom and privilege that comes with great age, the certain knowledge of imminent death rendering one immune to all risks. To cap it all, I always expected him to award his legacy to the last woman that whispers sweet flattery into his ear. He always placed the women he liked upon a pedestal, they were saints and goddesses, and he was their hero who knew what was best for them. The woman he currently places in this position is the girlfriend of my brother, who has no difficulty in saying whatever will soothe and please and coax and manipulate. She speaks to his loneliness and also his desire, something no grown man can do.
I've never been exceptional at social engineering. I assume that people are reasonable and fair-minded and speak to them as though this were so, or with the hope that this could become so with sufficient persuasion, but in the case of my father this is no longer so, and maybe it never was so to begin with. I have often wished I had more patience and interest and eagerness for cultivating others for my own advantage, as I see highly socially skilled women do, but then again with my genetics, I am doing about the best I can. When one considers what I came from and where I came from, it is remarkable what I have accomplished.
I do not know what do in response to the note card of my disinheritance, but I feel the best response is no response. My sense of justice wants to write a book, but that sense is so often wrong it seems to me. I want revenge, fairness, what's right, but maybe that is just my Father's blood in me and is not worthy. It may be that he was wicked or weak, two terms that seem sometimes the same thing, really. But I don't see that any of it matters or that anyone cares besides me. Sometimes I care, but sometimes I don't, sometimes I find the story dreadful and boring. There are things that can't be changed, that could only have been corrected long ago, but now are moot, gone, expired. One must live in the present and not the past. And so on and so forth. These are my thoughts now. Perhaps they will remain steadfast. I do think he is testing me, but perhaps I will be equal to the test. For now I choose silence.
22 Oct 2012 (M)I found this to be profoundly depressing but not surprising. Long ago I had foreseen being disinherited and I suspect my brother will be disinherited too. I am collateral damage, because he is currently at war with Mother, and having not allied myself explicitly to him, I am one of the enemy, the disloyal.
By once again insulting me by hanging up on me when I was trying to give you badly needed constructive criticism, you have ensured that I never will communicate with you again. In life as in my will, I am through with you. --Dad. Ω.
He refers to our last phone conversation. How foolish it was of me to attempt communication through a medium that has an indefinite duration. A written letter can be set aside and at any rate has a finite number of pages. With the telephone, one cannot terminate the call until my Father has finished saying everything that is on his mind. He will go on for hours and hours. He never fatigues of talking. I remember once when I was a boy, he was driving me somewhere far away. I fell asleep while he was talking and woke up an hour later, and he was still talking. He had never noticed that I fell asleep. He never had the knack of paying any heed to his audience.
We began talking at about 23:00 and at 1:55 I said I was tired. He had spent the time complaining about my brother and my Mother, their evil ways, while I had listened and sometimes tried to explain to him their points of view, which I well understand. But I was tired after three hours talking on the phone. I had worked a twelve hour shift earlier that day. He is retired and stays up all night reading, brooding. At the time we were not arguing, but just when I said I needed to go, he brought up a new subject that displeased him and expected me to argue about it. He said that in my letter, mailed three weeks ago, which he had not replied to, there was a sentence that called into question the dignity of his father, deceased. I had asked whether a prominent politician, our cousin, had used his considerable influence to get my grandfather a job with the Civil Service. I had only asked whether this were so. I did not think this was insulting, but reasonable since it seems to have been a fairly common practice particularly in the past. It is well-known, to use an example, that Abraham Lincoln appointed friends and allies as postmasters, customs officials and judges. I did not see such speculation as insulting, and said so, but Father was determined to have his rage, because that is what keeps him going in his long hours brooding alone over perceived slights. He said it was Mother that put that idea into my head, evil Mother. I said no, Mother never talked about his father, which is true. So this is why I believe that I am a pawn in a larger battle.
I do not think I was ever important to my Father, only ever just a pawn between him and his wife, though at a tender age, something more, a surrogate. Now it is easy for him to discard me because I never mattered, was just an object. It makes me want to publish a book about him. I am not sure it is worth the effort however. If he lived to see it, he would feed off of the drama, with his love of anger and righteousness. Drama is what he likes. All his life was a battle with imaginary foes, just an arid desert where he plods along in his plate mail armor, shield and sword in hand, sweating and stumbling and cursing and swinging at djinn that are not there. Also it is likely he will be gone long before I am, and I am the one that must carry the name after he has passed. There is a certain freedom and privilege that comes with great age, the certain knowledge of imminent death rendering one immune to all risks. To cap it all, I always expected him to award his legacy to the last woman that whispers sweet flattery into his ear. He always placed the women he liked upon a pedestal, they were saints and goddesses, and he was their hero who knew what was best for them. The woman he currently places in this position is the girlfriend of my brother, who has no difficulty in saying whatever will soothe and please and coax and manipulate. She speaks to his loneliness and also his desire, something no grown man can do.
I've never been exceptional at social engineering. I assume that people are reasonable and fair-minded and speak to them as though this were so, or with the hope that this could become so with sufficient persuasion, but in the case of my father this is no longer so, and maybe it never was so to begin with. I have often wished I had more patience and interest and eagerness for cultivating others for my own advantage, as I see highly socially skilled women do, but then again with my genetics, I am doing about the best I can. When one considers what I came from and where I came from, it is remarkable what I have accomplished.
I do not know what do in response to the note card of my disinheritance, but I feel the best response is no response. My sense of justice wants to write a book, but that sense is so often wrong it seems to me. I want revenge, fairness, what's right, but maybe that is just my Father's blood in me and is not worthy. It may be that he was wicked or weak, two terms that seem sometimes the same thing, really. But I don't see that any of it matters or that anyone cares besides me. Sometimes I care, but sometimes I don't, sometimes I find the story dreadful and boring. There are things that can't be changed, that could only have been corrected long ago, but now are moot, gone, expired. One must live in the present and not the past. And so on and so forth. These are my thoughts now. Perhaps they will remain steadfast. I do think he is testing me, but perhaps I will be equal to the test. For now I choose silence.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
I Voted Early and I Voted for Barack Obama
I never like to wait until the last minute to vote, because navigating through a long line of voters is no fun, although I'd do it if I had to in order to vote. Fortunately even my red state does support early voting--with voter ID required.
I voted for Barack Obama and any and all Democrats that were on the ticket. In cases where the only candidates were a Libertarian and a Republican, I voted for the Libertarian. I did vote for one Republican in a race where there were only four Republicans to choose from, no Democrats or Libertarians. He is an acquaintance of mine, and I feel that he is honest and good. Some people are Republican for reasons of pragmatism, family or friends, rather than anti-abortionism, Social Darwinism, homophobia, racism and xenophobia.
My vote for Barack Obama will not make any difference to the Electoral College result in my state, but I wanted it recorded at any rate. I believe the Electoral College is undemocratic in states where the Electors are appointed according to an "all or zero" mechanism, meaning whichever candidate gets the majority, gets all the Electors. This mechanism thwarts the will of the people. If in my state, forty-nine per cent of the people vote for Barack Obama, then forty-nine per cent of the people support him--not zero per cent as reflected by the Electoral College. My vote provides a tiny bit more evidence that this is so.
I did not vote for anybody from the Green Party because that would have truly been a wasted vote under our present system. Voting for Obama, at least there is a small chance he might actually carry the state.
I feel that Obama is more intelligent and mature and is wiser and kinder than Mitt Romney. Obama admits when he is mistaken, which is a rare quality in a politician, but reflects intellectual honesty. Obama is interested in finding the best way to achieve the optimal goal for the country as a whole and is not bound to any particular ideology, which frustrates some of his supporters. If one looks at results, the outcome of Obama's Presidency has been good for working people, as many people are now and will be covered under health insurance than were before him. (Mitt Romney will take health insurance away from people. He said so.) I counter liberal criticism of Obama with the observation that Obama is a pragmatist and can do only so much with a Republican Congress, and a Democratic Party that is middle-of-the-road, not liberal. Conservative criticism of Obama is so ridiculous that it does not deserve a moment's consideration. Birth certificate--radical negro--Islam--communism--socialism--yeah, whatever. The Republicans use lies to enlist the dim-witted into their ranks.
I have the sense that Mitt Romney is selfish and accustomed to dealing with ordinary working people with coldness and cruelty, as observed by his tenure at Bain Capital. Mitt Romney is loyal to his fellow rich and no one else. If one isn't rich, then one isn't Mitt Romney's people. I could not conceive of Mitt Romney ever for a moment considering the welfare of working people before doing whatever he calculated would bring him the most personal gain. He has never worked a day in his life, but made his fortune by preying like a vulture upon the ailing U.S. manufacturing sector, assisting in the transfer of jobs from the U.S. to China, which will cost our nation far into the future. The only curb on his speech is his calculation of the political costs, but much slips out that reveals his nature, and it is selfish, narrow and limited to self-promotion and self-enrichment and self-glorification, and much of what he says reflects his own delusions about himself and has little basis in reality. Mitt Romney does not know Mitt Romney, has never met him.
So that is why my vote is for Barack Obama.
I voted for Barack Obama and any and all Democrats that were on the ticket. In cases where the only candidates were a Libertarian and a Republican, I voted for the Libertarian. I did vote for one Republican in a race where there were only four Republicans to choose from, no Democrats or Libertarians. He is an acquaintance of mine, and I feel that he is honest and good. Some people are Republican for reasons of pragmatism, family or friends, rather than anti-abortionism, Social Darwinism, homophobia, racism and xenophobia.
My vote for Barack Obama will not make any difference to the Electoral College result in my state, but I wanted it recorded at any rate. I believe the Electoral College is undemocratic in states where the Electors are appointed according to an "all or zero" mechanism, meaning whichever candidate gets the majority, gets all the Electors. This mechanism thwarts the will of the people. If in my state, forty-nine per cent of the people vote for Barack Obama, then forty-nine per cent of the people support him--not zero per cent as reflected by the Electoral College. My vote provides a tiny bit more evidence that this is so.
I did not vote for anybody from the Green Party because that would have truly been a wasted vote under our present system. Voting for Obama, at least there is a small chance he might actually carry the state.
I feel that Obama is more intelligent and mature and is wiser and kinder than Mitt Romney. Obama admits when he is mistaken, which is a rare quality in a politician, but reflects intellectual honesty. Obama is interested in finding the best way to achieve the optimal goal for the country as a whole and is not bound to any particular ideology, which frustrates some of his supporters. If one looks at results, the outcome of Obama's Presidency has been good for working people, as many people are now and will be covered under health insurance than were before him. (Mitt Romney will take health insurance away from people. He said so.) I counter liberal criticism of Obama with the observation that Obama is a pragmatist and can do only so much with a Republican Congress, and a Democratic Party that is middle-of-the-road, not liberal. Conservative criticism of Obama is so ridiculous that it does not deserve a moment's consideration. Birth certificate--radical negro--Islam--communism--socialism--yeah, whatever. The Republicans use lies to enlist the dim-witted into their ranks.
I have the sense that Mitt Romney is selfish and accustomed to dealing with ordinary working people with coldness and cruelty, as observed by his tenure at Bain Capital. Mitt Romney is loyal to his fellow rich and no one else. If one isn't rich, then one isn't Mitt Romney's people. I could not conceive of Mitt Romney ever for a moment considering the welfare of working people before doing whatever he calculated would bring him the most personal gain. He has never worked a day in his life, but made his fortune by preying like a vulture upon the ailing U.S. manufacturing sector, assisting in the transfer of jobs from the U.S. to China, which will cost our nation far into the future. The only curb on his speech is his calculation of the political costs, but much slips out that reveals his nature, and it is selfish, narrow and limited to self-promotion and self-enrichment and self-glorification, and much of what he says reflects his own delusions about himself and has little basis in reality. Mitt Romney does not know Mitt Romney, has never met him.
So that is why my vote is for Barack Obama.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Another Way to Make Money
Of course, another way to make money is to save money. Maybe it is the computer programmer in me, always seeking greater efficiency, but I have become rather good at saving money over the years, although I made some mistakes along the way. My biggest mistake was buying a 46" Plasma television soon after it become available. I paid a whopping $1500, and the darn thing only has 800x600 resolution, which annoys me every time I watch Windows XP boot up. Today you can buy a 50" plasma with at least 1024x768 resolution for under $500. So clearly, enthusiasm has gotten the best of me where technology is concerned.
I made what I imagine to be wise purchases lately, replacing all of the motherboards and cpu's in my network for reasons that would have seemed strange to me a decade ago. My new motherboards and cpu's are not any faster. In fact, they are slower in most cases. Their chief virtue is low energy consumption. To put it in other words, they cost me less money. I know what I am talking about because I tested each of my computers with Kill-a-Watt, which has a .2w margin of error. Prior to the upgrade, my computers drained between 45 to 65 watts apiece, which may seem already low, but it is not low enough, so says Igor, when you are talking about a computer that stays on for eight, twelve, twenty-four hours a day. That wattage adds up over time and results in real monetary losses and for what? What purpose is being served by consuming excess electricity? Am I able to do more because the computer uses more power? No, not at all. The reality today is that more power does not mean a faster computer, not when one uses only the Internet browser and apps with similar modest requirements.
I have measured each of my computers after their latest upgrade. Their top power draw, including everything in the computer, is now just 24 to 28 watts apiece--much better, cutting electrical consumption by half or more. The next time I upgrade them, it will only be to cut their power consumption yet again. I would just like to add that motherboard and cpu are only part of the equation. The power supply is critical. Anyone using a ps that is not rated 80-plus or better is wasting money. I recommend Seasonic, although it annoys me that their stuff is manufactured in China, but everything is manufactured in China these days. How I would like to see "Made in America" stickers again!
The second benefit of my new computers is aesthetic. I like to exert control over sounds, colors and other sensory input (there is a fan in my room for a reason). My new computer is quieter. Not silent, but close. I think that is a good thing. The only noise producer in each of my computers is the little power supply fan. The cpu does not require a fan at all. A heat sink dissipates what little heat is generated by the cpu, and in combination with the power supply fan and generous case ventilation seems sufficient to maintain stability at around 50C.
I can tell you what I do with my old computer parts. No, I don't throw them in the garbage or donate them to Goodwill. I sell them on E-bay. In this way I recycle with maximum efficiency and offset the cost of my upgrade. My buyers tend to be happy, because most buyers just want the seller to be honest and reliable and are thrilled to find that this is the case. I never, ever lie in an auction, and I always allow returns. It is better to be painfully honest, and I will "tell it like it is" and get less money for something, than to ever, ever deceive. That is what the successful Ebay seller knows. In many cases I have gotten enough money to render my upgrade free or close to free. I don't know why, but the after-market for computer parts on Ebay is to the seller's advantage and has been for at least five years and I don't see this changing anytime soon. Therefore an easy way to make money for anyone that knows something about computer hardware is toupgrade downgrade their computers or at least their computers' electrical requirements. The savings will come every month in the form of a reduced utility bill, and the old parts can be sold on Ebay, because apparently not everyone has gotten the memo yet about energy efficiency.
Now wouldn't it be wonderful if we could sell old body parts on Ebay and replace them with new ones!
I made what I imagine to be wise purchases lately, replacing all of the motherboards and cpu's in my network for reasons that would have seemed strange to me a decade ago. My new motherboards and cpu's are not any faster. In fact, they are slower in most cases. Their chief virtue is low energy consumption. To put it in other words, they cost me less money. I know what I am talking about because I tested each of my computers with Kill-a-Watt, which has a .2w margin of error. Prior to the upgrade, my computers drained between 45 to 65 watts apiece, which may seem already low, but it is not low enough, so says Igor, when you are talking about a computer that stays on for eight, twelve, twenty-four hours a day. That wattage adds up over time and results in real monetary losses and for what? What purpose is being served by consuming excess electricity? Am I able to do more because the computer uses more power? No, not at all. The reality today is that more power does not mean a faster computer, not when one uses only the Internet browser and apps with similar modest requirements.
I have measured each of my computers after their latest upgrade. Their top power draw, including everything in the computer, is now just 24 to 28 watts apiece--much better, cutting electrical consumption by half or more. The next time I upgrade them, it will only be to cut their power consumption yet again. I would just like to add that motherboard and cpu are only part of the equation. The power supply is critical. Anyone using a ps that is not rated 80-plus or better is wasting money. I recommend Seasonic, although it annoys me that their stuff is manufactured in China, but everything is manufactured in China these days. How I would like to see "Made in America" stickers again!
The second benefit of my new computers is aesthetic. I like to exert control over sounds, colors and other sensory input (there is a fan in my room for a reason). My new computer is quieter. Not silent, but close. I think that is a good thing. The only noise producer in each of my computers is the little power supply fan. The cpu does not require a fan at all. A heat sink dissipates what little heat is generated by the cpu, and in combination with the power supply fan and generous case ventilation seems sufficient to maintain stability at around 50C.
I can tell you what I do with my old computer parts. No, I don't throw them in the garbage or donate them to Goodwill. I sell them on E-bay. In this way I recycle with maximum efficiency and offset the cost of my upgrade. My buyers tend to be happy, because most buyers just want the seller to be honest and reliable and are thrilled to find that this is the case. I never, ever lie in an auction, and I always allow returns. It is better to be painfully honest, and I will "tell it like it is" and get less money for something, than to ever, ever deceive. That is what the successful Ebay seller knows. In many cases I have gotten enough money to render my upgrade free or close to free. I don't know why, but the after-market for computer parts on Ebay is to the seller's advantage and has been for at least five years and I don't see this changing anytime soon. Therefore an easy way to make money for anyone that knows something about computer hardware is to
Now wouldn't it be wonderful if we could sell old body parts on Ebay and replace them with new ones!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
How to Customize Google News
news.google.com is my preferred source of news every morning. I customized Google News to have a black background with white text, first of all, by using Panos' Black Google Style in conjunction with the Stylish add-on for Firefox. If you haven't visited userstyles.org yet, you really should, because it rescues the Internet from clueless geeks.
On Google News, I filter out propaganda by clicking on the Settings button and adjusting the desired frequency from various news sources, as you can observe below.
Disingenuous news sources have a frequency of zero, meaning they should never appear on my Google News page. That would include the so-called Post-Christian. Xinhua is nothing more than soft-peddled and poorly written propaganda to make the Chinese tyranny look moderate. Fox News is the propaganda arm of the Republican Party. The only people who like Fox News are Republicans and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show. I think Jon would run out of material if Fox News ever found a conscience.
I like most of all the Guardian and the Washington Post, but read many others and am open to new sources, as long as they aren't right-wing propaganda machines.
On Google News, I filter out propaganda by clicking on the Settings button and adjusting the desired frequency from various news sources, as you can observe below.
Disingenuous news sources have a frequency of zero, meaning they should never appear on my Google News page. That would include the so-called Post-Christian. Xinhua is nothing more than soft-peddled and poorly written propaganda to make the Chinese tyranny look moderate. Fox News is the propaganda arm of the Republican Party. The only people who like Fox News are Republicans and Jon Stewart of the Daily Show. I think Jon would run out of material if Fox News ever found a conscience.
I like most of all the Guardian and the Washington Post, but read many others and am open to new sources, as long as they aren't right-wing propaganda machines.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Social Media Buttons
Social Media Buttons? Check.
Blogspot's native support of social media buttons does not work, so I found an alternative solution and customized it for my blog. I prefer the buttons to reside in my author and comment box, rather than in the post itself. I cut Twitter's button, because it takes up more real estate than it is worth. Not a big fan of Twitter. I saw no need for Pinterest, since I post few images. I'm not as visually-oriented as some, and my interest in photography has always been minimal. What I like, for better or worse, is working with words, and I say "or worse" because the zeitgeist favors visual presentation over verbal by about a million to one.
The implementation here is buggy at present, because each post shows the same stats beside the AddThis and Facebook buttons.
Update: I adjusted the buttons to remove the stats. Facebook's Like button insists upon displaying stats, no matter if they are accurate or not. There is no way to turn the stats off. Facebook is saying in effect, "my way or the highway." I solved that problem by deleting the Facebook Like button. I don't know why Facebook has to be pushy. Given the choice of "my way or the highway," I tend to choose the highway.
Blogspot's native support of social media buttons does not work, so I found an alternative solution and customized it for my blog. I prefer the buttons to reside in my author and comment box, rather than in the post itself. I cut Twitter's button, because it takes up more real estate than it is worth. Not a big fan of Twitter. I saw no need for Pinterest, since I post few images. I'm not as visually-oriented as some, and my interest in photography has always been minimal. What I like, for better or worse, is working with words, and I say "or worse" because the zeitgeist favors visual presentation over verbal by about a million to one.
The implementation here is buggy at present, because each post shows the same stats beside the AddThis and Facebook buttons.
Update: I adjusted the buttons to remove the stats. Facebook's Like button insists upon displaying stats, no matter if they are accurate or not. There is no way to turn the stats off. Facebook is saying in effect, "my way or the highway." I solved that problem by deleting the Facebook Like button. I don't know why Facebook has to be pushy. Given the choice of "my way or the highway," I tend to choose the highway.
The Telephone
Choice of communication medium is important. Some people really flourish on the telephone, and I find that good telephone manner indicates good manner in person as well. Others prefer email or text. Still others prefer letters, even handwritten letters, which may blow the mind of folks today, but they haven't met my father. Eighty-plus, he never used a computer and never will. He likes a good letter and also likes to talk on the phone. Phone calls and letters are therapeutic for him.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Brave
I think the bravest guy on television has to be Jon Stewart. He's incredibly fearless. He's what I always wished the other guys in TV News would be like, except he's even better than anything I would have imagined. He communicates with humor in a way that really appeals to many people. He doesn't even have great material, but I just like watching him.
I prefer watching a guy smiling and laughing, like Stewart, rather than getting uptight and upset like the guys on Fox News. They seem to have problems with anger management and are always making much ado about nothing. Fox panders to the middle-age rage that some guys experience. It's a biological thing, seems to me. If one just watches Fox all the time then I have to wonder about the judgment, whether such a person is gullible.
I thought Glenn Beck was a bit abnormal. Jon Stewart essentially stopped Beck's career with a satire that hit home somewhere in Fox News Headquarters. I think the chief executives over there got a load of Stewart's satire and took a closer look at Beck and were taken aBeck.
Pride
Being humbled by adversity can be an asset to the proud. Many mistakes are made due to pride. Accept, savor and learn from the minor setback, the harmless defeat, which reduces the overreaching of the ego, the striving to be that which one is not.
The fact of a mistake is not an indictment against the self, but an indictment against the human nature, which tends toward error due to its limitations in reasoning. I have yet to meet the person whose every act follows the dictates of reason. Human beings are deeply irrational and subject to whims, fancies, delusions. The best we can hope for is to follow the dictates of reason in at least some areas, preferably important ones, as much as possible.
Sometimes even friends and family fail to provide the right advice and guidance. They may offer advice that is well-suited to themselves only, not tailored to the individual. Very often the nature of an individual being given advice is not considered at all. People tend to have a "one size fits all" view of human nature, which is mistaken. Is not every human being different, an individual, or do we all share the same mind? I believe that we have different minds while we are alive. We feel separated in our individual egos, with our own limitations and weaknesses, and perfect union with the whole will not be achieved until death, when we become one with the earth, the water, the air. Therefore advice should be carefully tailored to an individual if it is to be worth anything. The people that can offer good and wise counsel are few and precious, and such people should be treasured.
The fact of a mistake is not an indictment against the self, but an indictment against the human nature, which tends toward error due to its limitations in reasoning. I have yet to meet the person whose every act follows the dictates of reason. Human beings are deeply irrational and subject to whims, fancies, delusions. The best we can hope for is to follow the dictates of reason in at least some areas, preferably important ones, as much as possible.
Sometimes even friends and family fail to provide the right advice and guidance. They may offer advice that is well-suited to themselves only, not tailored to the individual. Very often the nature of an individual being given advice is not considered at all. People tend to have a "one size fits all" view of human nature, which is mistaken. Is not every human being different, an individual, or do we all share the same mind? I believe that we have different minds while we are alive. We feel separated in our individual egos, with our own limitations and weaknesses, and perfect union with the whole will not be achieved until death, when we become one with the earth, the water, the air. Therefore advice should be carefully tailored to an individual if it is to be worth anything. The people that can offer good and wise counsel are few and precious, and such people should be treasured.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Way to Go
This is the way to go, unfettered by machines and nurses and doctors, just letting nature take its course at the very end of life when all of the bodily systems are shutting down.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Health Care
I read an article today about the eternally rising costs of health care in old age.
I've seen people who are very old, unwell, suffering and dependent upon others, and I am not sure I want to be sustained in such a dependent and vulnerable state. Of course one wants to live as long as possible, because life is sweet, but as with anything there comes a point of diminishing returns, and the difficulty lies in recognizing that point--neither too soon nor too late. When I drink life to the dregs, I'll tip the cup over, if I'm able.
My Disqualification from Public Office
I guess I'm disqualified to run for public office because I play Dungeon Crawl.
I'm tickled that a middle-aged candidate is a level 68 orc rogue that likes killing things in her fantasy world.
I'm tickled that a middle-aged candidate is a level 68 orc rogue that likes killing things in her fantasy world.
I Do Feel Sorry for Republicans
Republicans have money and power, but the downside is they have to deal with nuts in their own party. A recent case in point was a G.O.P. state senator in Arkansas who said slavery was beneficial and another who wants to deport all the Muslims. (I guess he might be considered a liberal by some Republicans, because he doesn't talk about deporting gays.) Now, many other Republicans disavowed these inflammatory statements and want nothing to do with them, which is to their credit. I am amused and a little horrified that people in power think such things in 2012, even after all of our education and culture and refinement and instant access to information in the modern age, but I am glad they are saying them because it is better that such thoughts come out into the open where they are exposed for public consumption.
In Georgia not long ago, a Republican state senator said he wanted to cane marijuana users, I imagine in addition to, rather than instead of, ten years' imprisonment and severing the fingers and gouging out the eyes. There certainly is a lunatic fringe in the Republican party that has let their hostility and resentment and anger get away with them. They seem driven by negative forces of darkness that lead them into hatred and violent thoughts directed towards others. The irony is that the very thing these conservative Republicans despise so much, marijuana, might be the best medicine for their souls to put them back in touch with the Mother.
Getting back to the Arkansas state senator who said slavery was okay, I would just like to add that I've heard that line before, but always from white people, never from black people. I don't think white folk should presume to know (or even if they presume, they should never say) what was good for another people, especially when it comes to an institution with horrible tortures and misery and abuse and death. I mean, one could argue starvation was good for Ireland and that would be equally offensive to the Irish, besides being heartless. Such thoughts lead one into error and are symptoms of erroneous thinking, of a lack of compassion to be specific.
It may be that black folks are pleased to live in North America today rather than in the coastal region of Western Africa, but it does not follow that they would ever feel good about slavery, which caused so many needless deaths and suffering. Anyone who has studied history knows that a large portion of the slaves died on the voyage from Africa to the New World due to the abominable conditions below deck. The slavers were cruel, lazy and stupid and simply accepted losses as part of their business expense because they were business criminals. I am proud that my father supported civil rights and helped blacks when and where he could in the times past when help was needed. For my part I do not see blacks as blacks but as people, and I know that each person is different, that skin color is superficial, and that inside is a unique personality and identity.
In Georgia not long ago, a Republican state senator said he wanted to cane marijuana users, I imagine in addition to, rather than instead of, ten years' imprisonment and severing the fingers and gouging out the eyes. There certainly is a lunatic fringe in the Republican party that has let their hostility and resentment and anger get away with them. They seem driven by negative forces of darkness that lead them into hatred and violent thoughts directed towards others. The irony is that the very thing these conservative Republicans despise so much, marijuana, might be the best medicine for their souls to put them back in touch with the Mother.
Getting back to the Arkansas state senator who said slavery was okay, I would just like to add that I've heard that line before, but always from white people, never from black people. I don't think white folk should presume to know (or even if they presume, they should never say) what was good for another people, especially when it comes to an institution with horrible tortures and misery and abuse and death. I mean, one could argue starvation was good for Ireland and that would be equally offensive to the Irish, besides being heartless. Such thoughts lead one into error and are symptoms of erroneous thinking, of a lack of compassion to be specific.
It may be that black folks are pleased to live in North America today rather than in the coastal region of Western Africa, but it does not follow that they would ever feel good about slavery, which caused so many needless deaths and suffering. Anyone who has studied history knows that a large portion of the slaves died on the voyage from Africa to the New World due to the abominable conditions below deck. The slavers were cruel, lazy and stupid and simply accepted losses as part of their business expense because they were business criminals. I am proud that my father supported civil rights and helped blacks when and where he could in the times past when help was needed. For my part I do not see blacks as blacks but as people, and I know that each person is different, that skin color is superficial, and that inside is a unique personality and identity.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Scalia's Inconsistency: Marijuana
I read a blurb about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's "textualist" interpretation of the Constitution, which he says makes it easy for him to vote against gays and women. The problem is that he is inconsistent. Abortion, gay rights--sure, Scalia, we know your reasoning, "textualism." What about marijuana prohibition? Antonin Scalia, unlike some of his conservative colleagues on the bench, has consistently voted in favor of the government harassing, arresting and prosecuting marijuana users and manufacturers. But the Constitution was written on marijuana, and many of the signers were themselves farmers and users of marijuana, and there were no laws against marijuana for over 100 years. It looks to me like Scalia is picking and choosing the laws to which he will apply his "textualist" interpretation. Perhaps "textualism" is a synonym for "homophobia." The bottom line is that if gay rights and abortion rights are nixed, then by the same logic so is Prohibition, or else Scalia's not telling the whole truth about his philosophy as a jurist.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Mitral Valve Prolapse
MVP in this instance stands for Most Vulnerable Player, or Mitral Valve Prolapse, a leaky heart valve, which is what my doctor said a while back after auscultating my chest and hearing a funny little sound. I intend to auscultate my own chest and double-check the Doc. I've been too busy or negligent or egoless or fearless to give much thought to MVP, which tends to be symptomless in most people, but lately I've been working very long hours on occasion and have noticed that after about nine hours or so, especially if I'm on my feet and interacting with people, my stamina drops like a stone and I get the feeling like I'm walking dead. Sometimes I get so tired, the world turns gray and quiet, things seem sketchy and unreal, like a dream and not a pleasant one. I don't like the feeling, and it doesn't seem like normal tiredness. I wonder whether there is a counter-measure I could take after eight hours, like popping an aspirin or drinking something with caffeine.
Suggestions from the online medical community are pretty pedestrian it seems to me. I haven't seen many recommendations on the web other than "aerobic exercise," which is recommended for everybody anyway, and the unusual "antibiotics prior to dental procedures," which I have no intention of doing because I hate antibiotics and think they are over-prescribed as it is. I consumed far too many antibiotics as a boy and it didn't do me any good and probably a fair amount of harm. I'd rather get the bacterial infection in most cases unless there is a serious threat. I never took antibiotics prior to dental procedures before, and I had plenty of dental procedures creating a mouth full of metal, but I'm still alive and sharing my opinions with the world, aren't I? Unless the MVP has done me in and I'm in blogger-Hell typing forever. Just kidding, MVP isn't supposed to be serious.
I read some of the characteristics of MVP sufferers, and they nailed me in several areas, so even without a electrocardiogram or whatever is supposed to be the definitive test, which I can't afford, I'm persuaded of the Doc's diagnosis. MVP isn't supposed to be a big deal for most people, only correlated with fatigue or headaches and only in some cases. The prognosis on most medical sites seems vague and optimistic, probably to get patients off the Doc's back, because there is so much that is unknown. "You'll be okay, just shut-up and don't bug me about it, because I don't know much more than you do," seems to be the line. I get it.
My Doc didn't seem concerned about it, telling me plenty of folks live a long time with MVP, but then again it isn't anything good or beneficial. A leaky heart valve, it seems pretty clear, means reduced efficiency at circulation, and that means less oxygen for Mr. Brain, hence "greater risk for stroke," and less oxygen to all bodily tissues. I mean, the ideal is a super-efficient heart with valves that do not leak. So doctors can say MVP is symptomless, but that just means human beings are not detecting unusual sensations, or if detecting them, are dismissing them or not connecting them to MVP or not reporting them to their primary care provider. I guess I can check my O2 saturation next chance I get alone with the machine. Sure, it may not be a big deal, but may just translate to a tiny reduction in efficiency, which would also suggest that one can compensate for it by exercising or diet--perhaps. I suppose time will tell, won't it, but that's true for everyone.
Suggestions from the online medical community are pretty pedestrian it seems to me. I haven't seen many recommendations on the web other than "aerobic exercise," which is recommended for everybody anyway, and the unusual "antibiotics prior to dental procedures," which I have no intention of doing because I hate antibiotics and think they are over-prescribed as it is. I consumed far too many antibiotics as a boy and it didn't do me any good and probably a fair amount of harm. I'd rather get the bacterial infection in most cases unless there is a serious threat. I never took antibiotics prior to dental procedures before, and I had plenty of dental procedures creating a mouth full of metal, but I'm still alive and sharing my opinions with the world, aren't I? Unless the MVP has done me in and I'm in blogger-Hell typing forever. Just kidding, MVP isn't supposed to be serious.
I read some of the characteristics of MVP sufferers, and they nailed me in several areas, so even without a electrocardiogram or whatever is supposed to be the definitive test, which I can't afford, I'm persuaded of the Doc's diagnosis. MVP isn't supposed to be a big deal for most people, only correlated with fatigue or headaches and only in some cases. The prognosis on most medical sites seems vague and optimistic, probably to get patients off the Doc's back, because there is so much that is unknown. "You'll be okay, just shut-up and don't bug me about it, because I don't know much more than you do," seems to be the line. I get it.
My Doc didn't seem concerned about it, telling me plenty of folks live a long time with MVP, but then again it isn't anything good or beneficial. A leaky heart valve, it seems pretty clear, means reduced efficiency at circulation, and that means less oxygen for Mr. Brain, hence "greater risk for stroke," and less oxygen to all bodily tissues. I mean, the ideal is a super-efficient heart with valves that do not leak. So doctors can say MVP is symptomless, but that just means human beings are not detecting unusual sensations, or if detecting them, are dismissing them or not connecting them to MVP or not reporting them to their primary care provider. I guess I can check my O2 saturation next chance I get alone with the machine. Sure, it may not be a big deal, but may just translate to a tiny reduction in efficiency, which would also suggest that one can compensate for it by exercising or diet--perhaps. I suppose time will tell, won't it, but that's true for everyone.
The Circle
My belief about existence can be summarized by an ancient symbol, a circle, which is echoed in the shape of our planet, our Sun, our Moon, and of our constituent atoms, and the most powerful locomotive tool, the wheel. The circle is the only geometric shape in which every point on the border is equidistant to the center. I suppose I could go on if I knew more geometry.
The circle implies the cycle, which has no end and no beginning, and that is how I view my own existence and others and all things in the Universe, all of which is united into a whole rather than being separate and distinct. In reality, we and all things are one. The separation is an illusion suggested by our animal nature which has needs and desires and an ego. Inanimate objects such as rocks do not feel the separation from the one, because they do not feel at all nor think. They do not have an ego. When we become inanimate, we will be like rocks, like water, like air.
Illusions are not without benefits. It may be that certain illusions are helpful for life, for survival, for well-being and happiness. Otherwise, what purpose would illusion serve? To see ultimate reality without filters could be distressing or even impossible for the human mind, which only evolved to handle a narrow set of parameters on Earth. One does what one can, what one needs to do. To say that certain concepts are illusions is not to imply they are useless and should be discarded, but only to point out that we are laboring under misconceptions that may not be well-suited to all questions, all situations.
What is death? Death is destruction of the ego, of our individual identity. When the ego is gone, then we rejoin the one, then there is no separation at all. Dead people have become soil and served as nitrogen-fuel for new crops, which were eaten by new generations of animals such as us. One day, the Universe will die, but that is not an end, or at least I don't think so, because I believe that the cycle we observe in a small scale on our planet is repeated at the larger scale of the Universe, and that all things will be renewed.
I believe that just as many things in our environment can be abstracted into formulae, so can all things in the Universe, and that reality could be very much like an enormous mass of computer code. Every human being can be defined by a mass of code with many variables. Remember that code can account for randomness, uncertainty, reactivity and evolution and unpredictability. There is no limit to things that can be defined by code. I have explained this idea to people who do not program, and they do not accept the theory because they see computers as being very limited, while the world is complex. But if a computer can beat a human being at the complicated game of chess, and if code is what allows it to do so, then it is easy for a chessplayer and a computer programmer such as myself to imagine a more advanced type of code that defines and controls everything in the Universe as well as the Universe itself.
God is not necessary, because in the beginning was the word, and the word was made flesh (John 1:1). Code can code itself. Although I want to explain the reasons for code and understand why everything is and how it all works, I always reach a mental block of some kind. I am frustrated because I cannot explain further. My mind aches trying to think beyond these things. I do not think I am capable of understanding anymore than what I have written here or at least not yet. My mental powers are limited, while the Universe is complicated, so I have to be humble and remain content with just understanding a little bit about a few simple things. To understand more would require a bigger, faster brain.
Could I be mistaken in my ideas? Possibly, but I don't think I'm making any wild leaps away from what we already know based upon scientific observations. Science has reduced many forces in nature to mathematical certainties and probabilities, so it seems reasonable to believe that it will continue to do so and that the code behind all things will gradually emerge as a result. I like to monitor the steady drip of scientific research, although it is disappointing to see results that are inconclusive, contradictory with earlier results, or based upon shaky premises. The human race advances slowly, step by step, but at least there is the sense of advancement in many areas, such as technology and most areas of knowledge.
The circle implies the cycle, which has no end and no beginning, and that is how I view my own existence and others and all things in the Universe, all of which is united into a whole rather than being separate and distinct. In reality, we and all things are one. The separation is an illusion suggested by our animal nature which has needs and desires and an ego. Inanimate objects such as rocks do not feel the separation from the one, because they do not feel at all nor think. They do not have an ego. When we become inanimate, we will be like rocks, like water, like air.
Illusions are not without benefits. It may be that certain illusions are helpful for life, for survival, for well-being and happiness. Otherwise, what purpose would illusion serve? To see ultimate reality without filters could be distressing or even impossible for the human mind, which only evolved to handle a narrow set of parameters on Earth. One does what one can, what one needs to do. To say that certain concepts are illusions is not to imply they are useless and should be discarded, but only to point out that we are laboring under misconceptions that may not be well-suited to all questions, all situations.
What is death? Death is destruction of the ego, of our individual identity. When the ego is gone, then we rejoin the one, then there is no separation at all. Dead people have become soil and served as nitrogen-fuel for new crops, which were eaten by new generations of animals such as us. One day, the Universe will die, but that is not an end, or at least I don't think so, because I believe that the cycle we observe in a small scale on our planet is repeated at the larger scale of the Universe, and that all things will be renewed.
I believe that just as many things in our environment can be abstracted into formulae, so can all things in the Universe, and that reality could be very much like an enormous mass of computer code. Every human being can be defined by a mass of code with many variables. Remember that code can account for randomness, uncertainty, reactivity and evolution and unpredictability. There is no limit to things that can be defined by code. I have explained this idea to people who do not program, and they do not accept the theory because they see computers as being very limited, while the world is complex. But if a computer can beat a human being at the complicated game of chess, and if code is what allows it to do so, then it is easy for a chessplayer and a computer programmer such as myself to imagine a more advanced type of code that defines and controls everything in the Universe as well as the Universe itself.
God is not necessary, because in the beginning was the word, and the word was made flesh (John 1:1). Code can code itself. Although I want to explain the reasons for code and understand why everything is and how it all works, I always reach a mental block of some kind. I am frustrated because I cannot explain further. My mind aches trying to think beyond these things. I do not think I am capable of understanding anymore than what I have written here or at least not yet. My mental powers are limited, while the Universe is complicated, so I have to be humble and remain content with just understanding a little bit about a few simple things. To understand more would require a bigger, faster brain.
Could I be mistaken in my ideas? Possibly, but I don't think I'm making any wild leaps away from what we already know based upon scientific observations. Science has reduced many forces in nature to mathematical certainties and probabilities, so it seems reasonable to believe that it will continue to do so and that the code behind all things will gradually emerge as a result. I like to monitor the steady drip of scientific research, although it is disappointing to see results that are inconclusive, contradictory with earlier results, or based upon shaky premises. The human race advances slowly, step by step, but at least there is the sense of advancement in many areas, such as technology and most areas of knowledge.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
What Should I Put on My 403 Page?
Your 403 page (Forbidden) should be reserved for bad actors trying to hack your web site or spambots. I suggest sending them to harvester hells around the web, as in the code below. Any spambot that goes to those places may absorb bogus email addresses, get identified by honeypots, or waste time spinning their wheels.
The above is a harsh message to display to humans, so you had better be sure that it is not possible for an innocent user to accidentally trigger the 403 page. I soften the text for most of my web sites and make it civil, because there is a chance that some kind of unforeseen event could trigger a 403. However, if your web site has received a lot of hacker abuse in the past, then this wad of sputum may very well be what you want. I composed the message after one of my sites got hacked, an event which also caused me to devote many hours to learning about web site security.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Amoeba
According to Buddhism, the current life is karmic retribution for misdeeds committed in the previous existence. In my former life, I was an amoeba in southern Ukraine for 271.1 seconds before being lysed by hydrogen peroxide released by a neighboring microorganism. In order to progress toward Nirvana, I must deploy my pseudopodia in accord with "The Middle Way."
Hardening Wordpress: An Explanation
Wordpress recommends hardening security by deploying the code below in your .htaccess file:
Let us examine the code line-by-line until everything unique is explained. In the first place, any line beginning with # is a comment or remark statement, to us old-school programmers that cut our teeth on BASIC. A remark statement is intended for human comprehension in order to assist our feeble brains and is ignored by the Apache server.
Rewrite Engine On tells Apache, "Hey, start the engine, we have some rules on the way." Apache allocates resources in order to handle the rules.
RewriteBase / causes any evaluations that follow to assume the url (e.g., techlorebyigor.blogspot.com), in order to avoid having to specify the url on each and every condition and rule that follows.
RewriteRule ^wp-admin/includes/ - [F,L] scans for anyone attempting to access anything beginning with (denoted by ^) wp-admin/includes/, and the reaction will be [F,L] which means "Forbidden, and skip [L] all remaining rules." Forbidden means the users get the 403 page instead of their request on this one instance.
RewriteRule !^wp-includes/ - [S=3] is a special command in two ways. First, it uses NOT logic, denoted by the ! symbol. It instructs Apache that if the user's request does not begin with (^) "wp-includes/" then [S=3], which means skip the next three rules. S is like a GOTO statement providing a primitive form of IF...THEN logic, such as I have to use in my batch files. The reason this line is included is for speed of execution. If "wp-includes/" is not present in the request, then clearly the three rules that follow will not apply and by avoiding them, time is saved.
The other lines should be self-explanatory. The main area that I did not understand this morning was [S=3], and I did a bit of digging to unearth that information. The [S] command is not often seen and certainly optional in the above code, but such concern over efficiency is the mark of a good programmer.
I wonder whether I can replace the RewriteRules with RewriteConds for improved efficiency, but the [S=3] line makes me doubt whether the Condition statements would be more efficient after all.
# Block the include-only files.These are good rules, and I include them in my .htaccess, but I noticed there was no explanation offered for their effects, which complicates combining these rules with other rules. I prefer to understand what is going on, so I performed some research that I will now share with others.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^wp-admin/includes/ - [F,L]
RewriteRule !^wp-includes/ - [S=3]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/[^/]+\.php$ - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/js/tinymce/langs/.+\.php - [F,L]
RewriteRule ^wp-includes/theme-compat/ - [F,L]
# BEGIN WordPress
Let us examine the code line-by-line until everything unique is explained. In the first place, any line beginning with # is a comment or remark statement, to us old-school programmers that cut our teeth on BASIC. A remark statement is intended for human comprehension in order to assist our feeble brains and is ignored by the Apache server.
Rewrite Engine On tells Apache, "Hey, start the engine, we have some rules on the way." Apache allocates resources in order to handle the rules.
RewriteBase / causes any evaluations that follow to assume the url (e.g., techlorebyigor.blogspot.com), in order to avoid having to specify the url on each and every condition and rule that follows.
RewriteRule ^wp-admin/includes/ - [F,L] scans for anyone attempting to access anything beginning with (denoted by ^) wp-admin/includes/, and the reaction will be [F,L] which means "Forbidden, and skip [L] all remaining rules." Forbidden means the users get the 403 page instead of their request on this one instance.
RewriteRule !^wp-includes/ - [S=3] is a special command in two ways. First, it uses NOT logic, denoted by the ! symbol. It instructs Apache that if the user's request does not begin with (^) "wp-includes/" then [S=3], which means skip the next three rules. S is like a GOTO statement providing a primitive form of IF...THEN logic, such as I have to use in my batch files. The reason this line is included is for speed of execution. If "wp-includes/" is not present in the request, then clearly the three rules that follow will not apply and by avoiding them, time is saved.
The other lines should be self-explanatory. The main area that I did not understand this morning was [S=3], and I did a bit of digging to unearth that information. The [S] command is not often seen and certainly optional in the above code, but such concern over efficiency is the mark of a good programmer.
I wonder whether I can replace the RewriteRules with RewriteConds for improved efficiency, but the [S=3] line makes me doubt whether the Condition statements would be more efficient after all.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tightening WordPress Security
I have developed a method to tighten Wordpress security for a scenario in which there is only one admin, and another admin will never be added.
Since my Wordpress blog only has 1 admin, there is no legitimate reason for any human being to ever access wp-signup.php. Anyone who does is hacking, so they should be banned forever.
Additional code, below, scans for common hack attacks against WordPress installations that I have observed firsthand in my server log. Again, because I do not permit registration, I ban it. Why permit something that no human being will ever use?
Other useful snippets, ubiquitous on the web and not original, follow:
#Ban WP attackersThis code in .htaccess will redirect anyone who attempts to sign-up to a bot-trap located in /kick/. An alternative for those who do not have a bot-trap installed would be to Redirect 403 /wp-signup.php. I recommend installing a bot-trap to allow your site to dynamically respond to attackers by banning their IP addresses. This will slow down hackers attempting to probe your site for vulnerabilities.
Redirect 301 /wp-signup.php /kick/
Additional code, below, scans for common hack attacks against WordPress installations that I have observed firsthand in my server log. Again, because I do not permit registration, I ban it. Why permit something that no human being will ever use?
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=register [NC,OR]The question mark at the end of the above RewriteRule truncates any query string that was used, avoiding potential complications if the bot-trap is activated. Those bots that attempt to find exploits in WordPress plug-ins timthumb, uploadify, or marketplace will be banned. I do not use those plug-ins, however if you do, then you had better not use the above code.
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/timthumb [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/uploadify [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/marketplace [NC]
RewriteRule \.* http://techlorebyigor.blogspot.com/kick/? [R=301,L]
Other useful snippets, ubiquitous on the web and not original, follow:
<files wp-config.php>Although my wp-config.php is already locked down tight with a security of 400, I decided to add an additional layer of security in .htaccess. Why? Just because. Perhaps it is unnecessary, but I like it. There is no such thing as redundant security.
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>
<FilesMatch "\.(htaccess|htpasswd|fla|psd|log|sh|gz|zip|tar)$">There is no legitimate reason for any human or bot to be reading any file with the above extensions. Although I won't ban any who do, I will show them my special 403 page which has many links to harvester-killers on other web sites.
Order Allow,Deny
Deny from all
</FilesMatch>
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Senkaku Islands
The dispute between Japan, China and Taiwan over sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands interests this American and pleases him, too, because the U.S. remains uninvolved in at least one global dispute, to our advantage.
Although it may seem that the islands belong to Taiwan due to the Potsdam Declaration, in which Japan relinquished control over many islands, I remain unconvinced, because the Declaration specifies Japan could retain control over "other minor islands as we determine."
I despise China's tyrants, but between Japan and Taiwan, I am not sure which I prefer. Japan committed many atrocities in WW2, and the only reason it is democratic is because it was conquered by the U.S. I think that the Japanese should send the U.S. a thank-you note every year on the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with a couple of billion dollars as a gift to help our economy along. We had to spend a lot of money building those atom bombs, but they were the best medicine for the Japanese to eliminate their infection by a morally bankrupt military dictatorship. It looks to me like Iran needs similar medicine.
I am glad the U.S. is not involved in the dispute.
Although it may seem that the islands belong to Taiwan due to the Potsdam Declaration, in which Japan relinquished control over many islands, I remain unconvinced, because the Declaration specifies Japan could retain control over "other minor islands as we determine."
I despise China's tyrants, but between Japan and Taiwan, I am not sure which I prefer. Japan committed many atrocities in WW2, and the only reason it is democratic is because it was conquered by the U.S. I think that the Japanese should send the U.S. a thank-you note every year on the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, along with a couple of billion dollars as a gift to help our economy along. We had to spend a lot of money building those atom bombs, but they were the best medicine for the Japanese to eliminate their infection by a morally bankrupt military dictatorship. It looks to me like Iran needs similar medicine.
I am glad the U.S. is not involved in the dispute.
A Good Programmer
A good programmer can find a needle in a haystack. That's my special ability, to find the exceptional evidence by absorbing details and focusing upon the problem. That's one of the qualities I like about myself and one of the things that distinguishes me from other people. The other quality I approve of is having thoughts predicated upon love and understanding. That which increases the love in a person's life has to be good. I am drawn to people that I judge to be good and honest and will usually do what I can to assist them, because I have some feeling of kinship with them.
I am glad I don't live in a madhouse like Syria, because I would not thrive in such an environment. I would try to survive somehow, but my true nature would become distorted as I did what is necessary rather than what I would prefer. Perhaps I would evolve into a ferocious dragon. It is possible. I think Syria needs dragons. It is funny that one never read about Syria before the war, and now Syria is in the headlines every day.
I remember back in my school days, one afternoon during recess, I moved from among the tall trees where we usually played and into the light, where I was enjoying the warmth and energy from the Sun. Something about the light appealed to me on many levels, I don't know just what. The weather was uncommonly good that day, and I thought it was foolish to remain in the shade playing War with the other boys like my best friend at the time was doing. He didn't understand my choice and thought it was stupid and started pulling me into a puddle because, he said, "If you need sunlight so much, then you're a plant, and so you also need water!" I think that illustrated better than anything else the difference between us. He did not remain my friend, but turned on me later. The light did remain my friend, true and steady, and I enjoy it to this day and would rather have the light than anything to do with people like him.
I am glad I don't live in a madhouse like Syria, because I would not thrive in such an environment. I would try to survive somehow, but my true nature would become distorted as I did what is necessary rather than what I would prefer. Perhaps I would evolve into a ferocious dragon. It is possible. I think Syria needs dragons. It is funny that one never read about Syria before the war, and now Syria is in the headlines every day.
I remember back in my school days, one afternoon during recess, I moved from among the tall trees where we usually played and into the light, where I was enjoying the warmth and energy from the Sun. Something about the light appealed to me on many levels, I don't know just what. The weather was uncommonly good that day, and I thought it was foolish to remain in the shade playing War with the other boys like my best friend at the time was doing. He didn't understand my choice and thought it was stupid and started pulling me into a puddle because, he said, "If you need sunlight so much, then you're a plant, and so you also need water!" I think that illustrated better than anything else the difference between us. He did not remain my friend, but turned on me later. The light did remain my friend, true and steady, and I enjoy it to this day and would rather have the light than anything to do with people like him.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Female Brain
I woke up this morning with a strange thought that felt right. No, nothing sexual--or not exactly. I don't blog about sexual matters for the most part, mostly because they are mundane and there is not much to say about them unless, I suppose, one has a particularly spicy sex life. Instead I was thinking about a recent hypothesis concerning homosexuality's origin.
Some researchers believe that sexuality is determined in the womb and is not a wholly genetic matter, but that a fetus is exposed to either too much or too little (or just right, according to your viewpoint) testosterone during a critical period of development. I have given this hypothesis much thought. For me, it would mean that I was exposed to more than the standard amount of testosterone while still a fetus, and that my brain therefore remained feminine (contra-intuitively) rather than turning masculine. I may have forgotten or misinterpreted certain aspects of the scientific rationale, but the gist is that a homosexual infant boy's brain is actually the brain of a baby girl at birth. Native testosterone will over time make this brain more masculine and increase the sex drive but to varying extents, resulting in gays being more or less feminine, and overall gays should be a bit more feminine, on average, than the norm.
Feminine qualities I expressed from the earliest ages were sensitivity, passivity, talkativeness and obedience. As I developed I was encouraged and pushed to express masculine qualities and suppress certain feminine qualities, such as sensitivity, but without much success. Bullies were always taking advantage of me because they could easily make me unhappy or afraid through an unkind word or even an attack. Being pressured to be something one is not is stressful and causes internal confusion, doubt and distress. I think growing up was difficult, because in those days nobody understood, or if they did understand a little bit they shut up about it and were of no help to me at all. I think I would have had a much better time if I had known at least one other person that was gay and not in the closet. I grew up thinking I was the only one in the world.
I pity the conservative Christians and Muslims that think gay is bad, because they are going to have a hard time with their gay kids. When Mom and Dad don't understand, the prognosis is poor for the family. I think the conservatives think that they are fighting against a tribe of gay outsiders, strangers, aliens. The reality is that they are fighting against their own family and their future children and grandchildren. Alienation and ostracism awaits, a disappointing outcome for an investment of eighteen-plus years in raising a child, but it is to be expected when Mom and Dad cannot understand what is plain before them. They are second-guessing God, to put things in their terms.
For me it is curious to think of my brain being a female brain. I have always thought of my thinker as a male brain because that is what everyone told me, and I based my self-concept on what I was told. Accepting gayness and femininity comes as something of a relief, because I fought against it for so long in the early years, thinking it was wrong, bad. I see now why I get along well with women and relate with them. I think my brain began female at birth, but is now a hybrid due to the influences of testosterone and peer socialization. I am between the genders, neither one nor the other, but mostly female, I think. I find many straight men to be less interesting than straight women and not very skilled at communication. If all one can talk about is the ball game, that is thin gruel indeed. Give me a woman any day.
Looking back on all my romantic adventures, it is clear that nothing ever worked out with women. So I ask myself why, and the reason may be that my brain was mostly female, and the straight women were looking for a mostly masculine brain. Pheromones also play a role. It is not likely a straight woman would remain attracted for more than a brief period to a gay man, because the spiritual element is contradictory. The gay man is eventually interpreted as a friend, much like other female friends. The woman would have to have a lesbian component in order to remain attracted to a gay man, but even that poses problems because the male has different equipment, contrary to the lesbian's fantasies and expectations.
I was involved with a lesbian at one time, but that did not work out well because she had a butch ex-girlfriend that reestablished control of her (she was a femme), but I think it would not have worked out anyway. She used me to assuage her Catholic guilt, nothing else, and I don't think she was ever genuine, but was pretending with me. I certainly did believe that I was in love, even if it was very foolish and sudden. She said she was bisexual, but was she? Was I? I think to me that love and being in love was more important than the sex. Love was ecstasy. It was a sweet delusion without much grounding in reality. I was looking for an intimate friend due to the female nature of my brain, which seeks intimacy. The sex was not important to me, and I wasn't aggressive in that area, which is the exact opposite of the masculine priority, because men want sex above all else. Sex to me was regarded as a symbol or verification of love and valued only for that purpose, not for the pleasure it might bring.
Sexuality goes to the physical, and there is nothing a male body has that a garden-variety lesbian wants. The same applies to gay men. There is nothing about the female body that I particularly desire, although I can appreciate it as a thing of beauty. I am not overawed at the sight of breasts, and I think that is the essential difference between myself and a straight man.
Much was all right with men, in fact I had an easy time with guys, and of course that is why in time I identified as gay and decided to abandon the pointless and painful pursuit of women. It took me a long time to accept being gay and self-acceptance came in gradual degrees. I think I accept myself more now than I ever did in the past.
Some researchers believe that sexuality is determined in the womb and is not a wholly genetic matter, but that a fetus is exposed to either too much or too little (or just right, according to your viewpoint) testosterone during a critical period of development. I have given this hypothesis much thought. For me, it would mean that I was exposed to more than the standard amount of testosterone while still a fetus, and that my brain therefore remained feminine (contra-intuitively) rather than turning masculine. I may have forgotten or misinterpreted certain aspects of the scientific rationale, but the gist is that a homosexual infant boy's brain is actually the brain of a baby girl at birth. Native testosterone will over time make this brain more masculine and increase the sex drive but to varying extents, resulting in gays being more or less feminine, and overall gays should be a bit more feminine, on average, than the norm.
Feminine qualities I expressed from the earliest ages were sensitivity, passivity, talkativeness and obedience. As I developed I was encouraged and pushed to express masculine qualities and suppress certain feminine qualities, such as sensitivity, but without much success. Bullies were always taking advantage of me because they could easily make me unhappy or afraid through an unkind word or even an attack. Being pressured to be something one is not is stressful and causes internal confusion, doubt and distress. I think growing up was difficult, because in those days nobody understood, or if they did understand a little bit they shut up about it and were of no help to me at all. I think I would have had a much better time if I had known at least one other person that was gay and not in the closet. I grew up thinking I was the only one in the world.
I pity the conservative Christians and Muslims that think gay is bad, because they are going to have a hard time with their gay kids. When Mom and Dad don't understand, the prognosis is poor for the family. I think the conservatives think that they are fighting against a tribe of gay outsiders, strangers, aliens. The reality is that they are fighting against their own family and their future children and grandchildren. Alienation and ostracism awaits, a disappointing outcome for an investment of eighteen-plus years in raising a child, but it is to be expected when Mom and Dad cannot understand what is plain before them. They are second-guessing God, to put things in their terms.
For me it is curious to think of my brain being a female brain. I have always thought of my thinker as a male brain because that is what everyone told me, and I based my self-concept on what I was told. Accepting gayness and femininity comes as something of a relief, because I fought against it for so long in the early years, thinking it was wrong, bad. I see now why I get along well with women and relate with them. I think my brain began female at birth, but is now a hybrid due to the influences of testosterone and peer socialization. I am between the genders, neither one nor the other, but mostly female, I think. I find many straight men to be less interesting than straight women and not very skilled at communication. If all one can talk about is the ball game, that is thin gruel indeed. Give me a woman any day.
Looking back on all my romantic adventures, it is clear that nothing ever worked out with women. So I ask myself why, and the reason may be that my brain was mostly female, and the straight women were looking for a mostly masculine brain. Pheromones also play a role. It is not likely a straight woman would remain attracted for more than a brief period to a gay man, because the spiritual element is contradictory. The gay man is eventually interpreted as a friend, much like other female friends. The woman would have to have a lesbian component in order to remain attracted to a gay man, but even that poses problems because the male has different equipment, contrary to the lesbian's fantasies and expectations.
I was involved with a lesbian at one time, but that did not work out well because she had a butch ex-girlfriend that reestablished control of her (she was a femme), but I think it would not have worked out anyway. She used me to assuage her Catholic guilt, nothing else, and I don't think she was ever genuine, but was pretending with me. I certainly did believe that I was in love, even if it was very foolish and sudden. She said she was bisexual, but was she? Was I? I think to me that love and being in love was more important than the sex. Love was ecstasy. It was a sweet delusion without much grounding in reality. I was looking for an intimate friend due to the female nature of my brain, which seeks intimacy. The sex was not important to me, and I wasn't aggressive in that area, which is the exact opposite of the masculine priority, because men want sex above all else. Sex to me was regarded as a symbol or verification of love and valued only for that purpose, not for the pleasure it might bring.
Sexuality goes to the physical, and there is nothing a male body has that a garden-variety lesbian wants. The same applies to gay men. There is nothing about the female body that I particularly desire, although I can appreciate it as a thing of beauty. I am not overawed at the sight of breasts, and I think that is the essential difference between myself and a straight man.
Much was all right with men, in fact I had an easy time with guys, and of course that is why in time I identified as gay and decided to abandon the pointless and painful pursuit of women. It took me a long time to accept being gay and self-acceptance came in gradual degrees. I think I accept myself more now than I ever did in the past.
Delusion
I had a brief and pleasant fantasy the other day that the actress who played Sophie on Peep Show had read and liked some old article on the blog. Of course I would have no way of knowing other than via psychic impulse, i.e. delusion. After about five seconds I dismissed this as ridiculous for any number of reasons. If I were in her position, the last thing I would be doing is sitting around reading blogs.
Part of the charm/thrill/danger of blogging is that one never knows who will be reading. There is nothing to prevent anyone from reading anything here except for the sheer odds of finding a needle in a haystack.
Part of the charm/thrill/danger of blogging is that one never knows who will be reading. There is nothing to prevent anyone from reading anything here except for the sheer odds of finding a needle in a haystack.
Epitaph
This blog would make a fair epitaph for me in this electronic age. Who has the budget for granite sculptures? Not me, I'm poor. I'd rather go the free route and just hope that Google continues hosting Blogspot for free in perpetuity.
It is a consoling thought that my feisty opinions, philosophy, technical lore and creative output will be around to torment unsuspecting readers long after I am gone.
Remember, hidden somewhere in the thousands of posts of fluff and nonsense is an emerald or three. Maybe. Or maybe a moonstone or iron pyrite.
One day if I see the end in sight due to, say, an unfavorable diagnosis, then I will apply the weed whacker to my blog and get rid of all the fluff until only the best posts remain. That might be a bit more dignified. But on the other hand, shouldn't I "keep it real?" Is every part of me worth preserving or only the finest or best expressed parts?
Remember, hidden somewhere in the thousands of posts of fluff and nonsense is an emerald or three. Maybe. Or maybe a moonstone or iron pyrite.
One day if I see the end in sight due to, say, an unfavorable diagnosis, then I will apply the weed whacker to my blog and get rid of all the fluff until only the best posts remain. That might be a bit more dignified. But on the other hand, shouldn't I "keep it real?" Is every part of me worth preserving or only the finest or best expressed parts?
Listen to Your Cat
Always listen to your cat. The better sort of cat makes good observations and sometimes has insight into things that elude human beings.
My cat detests the computer room. He will stand in the hallway and cry until I get up and out of there. I used to dislike this behavior but now I regard it as a useful reminder not to spend too much time on the computer. The cat is right that one needs to get up, move around, and get sunlight and fresh air. People tend to overdo computer time, just like they used to overdo television time.
My cat detests the computer room. He will stand in the hallway and cry until I get up and out of there. I used to dislike this behavior but now I regard it as a useful reminder not to spend too much time on the computer. The cat is right that one needs to get up, move around, and get sunlight and fresh air. People tend to overdo computer time, just like they used to overdo television time.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Republicans Not Enthused in 2012
I've noticed Republicans aren't too happy about the upcoming election. I get the feeling they are embarrassed about their candidate and holding their nose, even if they plan to vote for him November 6th.
I'm enthused and proud about Obama and I think he is the best President we have had in a long time. However, he deals with a Congress full of partisan Republican obstructionists, so there are limits on what he can do. The key is to vote Republicans out of office and get a Democratic Congress for Obama to work with, along with Democratic Governors and Mayors across this nation. The Republican party does not have any good ideas at all. What we really need is a Liberal party to compete against the Democratic party.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Body Parts
I do wish the human body were more like computers insofar as being able to replace failing body parts with new and improved ones off the shelf. My computer keeps getting better, year after year, and I keep getting worse!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Mistakes
In reflecting upon mistakes one made in one's past, it is a consolation to realize that other people made bigger and stupider mistakes. My thoughts turn to former friends and the reasons they are exes. It seems wasteful to build a relationship with another human being, spending months or even years getting to know them, only to sever contact due to some trivial misunderstanding. I am mild. If they couldn't abide by me then they could not abide by an African violet or a sunset or a cat. Some people are in too much of a hurry to get wherever they think that they are going. They place a greater value on status and power than upon friendship. I do not have much status or power. I have known too many selfish and immature people (of either gender, of all sexualities) who were interested only in sex or money/status/power. They did not place value upon relationships or friendships. In the modern and mobile age, people regard other people as disposable and cycle through a number of what they regard as replaceable peasants in the hopes of finding the King or Queen who can grant their every desire. All the insight I could have offered them about their past and present is committed to dust as they start over with bright new pretty acquaintances that may not care to understand them at all. What I offered was uncommon, and what they wanted was common. They opted for copper over gold. So I have hidden my gold away from the narrow eyes of my former, faithless friends, who will never see it, or if they had once caught a glimpse and did not recognize the metal for what it was, they will see it no more. The past was nothing more than a training ground of social experiments from which I built my store of wisdom. Forget the faithless friends of the past, those who taught me what not to do. I am here for my friends of today, people good and kind. I share my gold with my friends of today. I share with them my light.
Fever
I've always enjoyed a good fever. When a virus comes along, the body is diminished, and in the silence, if one listens, it is possible to hear some notes of the song of the universe.
Three Words
Three words the dying hermit taught to Mustafa were morda, a lesser ward that can be used at will, malcipiter, a greater ward with some risk, and ooshtah, which attracts attention like a beacon in the darkness. How these words are said is important. By themselves they are mere babble, but spoken in the right manner, they achieve substance.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Mitt Romney the Rich Boy
Mitt Romney thinks that 47% of Americans do not pay taxes and do not work and will not vote for him.
Well, Romney, they don't put their ill-gotten wealth from outsourcing American jobs in overseas Swiss bank accounts like you do, so they probably do pay some taxes, after all. I know Mitt Romney pays a smaller percentage of taxes than most anyone I know, because he has all these clever accountants working night and day to shuffle his fortune into all kinds of elaborate schemes and avoid contributing to America.
I think it's funny this rich boy who was given his fortune by Daddy flicks his thumb at poor working people and says, "They don't deserve to eat. If I'm President, I'm going to starve them all. Let the Chinese do all of the American jobs."
Well, Romney, they don't put their ill-gotten wealth from outsourcing American jobs in overseas Swiss bank accounts like you do, so they probably do pay some taxes, after all. I know Mitt Romney pays a smaller percentage of taxes than most anyone I know, because he has all these clever accountants working night and day to shuffle his fortune into all kinds of elaborate schemes and avoid contributing to America.
I think it's funny this rich boy who was given his fortune by Daddy flicks his thumb at poor working people and says, "They don't deserve to eat. If I'm President, I'm going to starve them all. Let the Chinese do all of the American jobs."
Daddy was a rich man, daddy was a rich man, daddy was a rich man, hey!
Romney got money, got money from daddy, and that's why he's where he is today!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Adios, Analytics
I think I'm going to remove the Google Analytics code from my blog, if I haven't already. It has been over a year since I've bothered checking my site statistics. I guess I just don't give a darn anymore about whether people are viewing or how many people are viewing. I have treated this blog since its inception as my personal playpen for opinions and ideas, my storage locker and alternative backup for technical information, and personal journal to deal with any philosophical or personal issues I might like to explore.
Surprise! Popularity was never one of my goals and to be honest, I prefer not to be popular, because popularity is pretty boring and I can't think of any celebrity I envy. The only thing about celebrity that I might envy is the money. Everything else that comes from celebrity just seems taxing, vain and mildly annoying.
I determined a long time ago that there is no money to be made with this sort of blogging or at least through my mediocre talents. I ran AdSense for a year or two as an experiment just to see how much revenue would be generated. I earned enough to buy a six-pack of cheap beer*. I never did request that check. Instead, I cancelled my account because the money was a joke and I felt bad about making my blog ugly with stupid ads for over a year. If one is going to sell out, then one should get a good price at least.
Oh by the way, Google Analytics consistently reported that a sizable chunk of my blog's readers are from Russia or nearby, which means that spambots, black hats, and related scum are frequent visitors. Russia is never good news in the server log.
* - I don't drink anymore, though. And I don't miss it.
Surprise! Popularity was never one of my goals and to be honest, I prefer not to be popular, because popularity is pretty boring and I can't think of any celebrity I envy. The only thing about celebrity that I might envy is the money. Everything else that comes from celebrity just seems taxing, vain and mildly annoying.
I determined a long time ago that there is no money to be made with this sort of blogging or at least through my mediocre talents. I ran AdSense for a year or two as an experiment just to see how much revenue would be generated. I earned enough to buy a six-pack of cheap beer*. I never did request that check. Instead, I cancelled my account because the money was a joke and I felt bad about making my blog ugly with stupid ads for over a year. If one is going to sell out, then one should get a good price at least.
Oh by the way, Google Analytics consistently reported that a sizable chunk of my blog's readers are from Russia or nearby, which means that spambots, black hats, and related scum are frequent visitors. Russia is never good news in the server log.
* - I don't drink anymore, though. And I don't miss it.
The Economy
The Economy and jobs should have been priority #1 beginning when Bush took office. Instead, Iraq and Afghanistan became the #1 priority. This is because American leaders are mentally challenged. They are uncertain as to where they live. They do not know what time of day it is or who they are or why they are where they are. I think that Congress and the White House should be run like an assisted living center. There should be nurses, doctors and orderlies on staff to help the decision-makers distinguish reality from fiction. On a daily basis, powerful medication should be administered to improve their mental functioning and prevent breaks with reality. The cost would be insignificant compared to the cost of business as usual. I think a couple of million dollars spent on nurses and doctors would be better in the long run than trillions of dollars wasted on pointless and endless wars in faraway places.
It is about time that an American President did something about the unfair trade practices of the Chinese. The reality is that the Chinese are waging economic war against America. I am glad that Obama is doing something, but I think that something should have been done on George Bush's watch, ten years ago, or maybe even earlier.
It is about time that an American President did something about the unfair trade practices of the Chinese. The reality is that the Chinese are waging economic war against America. I am glad that Obama is doing something, but I think that something should have been done on George Bush's watch, ten years ago, or maybe even earlier.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Why Firefox is Safer
Firefox is a safer browser than IE or Chrome primarily because of two add-ons, NoScript and AdBlock. NoScript uses a whitelisting strategy so that no script can run without the user explicitly allowing access from a specific site. AdBlock simply removes ads from view, which eliminates the possibility the user will accidentally click on an ad and be deposited on a malware or spyware site. I have installed these two add-ons on all of my desktops and consider them to be standard equipment for all computers that I provision.
I do not install Chrome on any machine. There is no reason to have two tools when one is better by every measure than the other.
There should never be one-click access to IE. Typing should be required. If I see IE on a machine, I delete the icon and remove it from the Start menu. IE should only be accessed by experienced users on an as-needed basis for updating Windows and nothing else. In Windows XP on my desktops, it can be accessed by choosing to run a program and then typing in "iexplore.exe". As soon as the necessary task is completed, IE is closed.
The reason IE is bad is an old one. It was true in the 1990s and it remains true today. IE is the browser with the largest market share, so it has "target" written on its forehead in bright red letters. Another problem is that it is the default browser in Windows, so the biggest number of clueless users will be using IE. Effort is required to install Firefox, though much less effort is required to install Chrome, because these days it is included by default in tons of applications from Avast antivirus to the kitchen sink. Google is paying software vendors to include Chrome in the installers. The result is that Chrome will be grabbing more of the clueless user population. The reason elite users stick with Firefox is they like customizing their browser and they have a deeper knowledge base that allows them to do so. All of these factors make Chrome and IE the top targets for black hats, who know quite well that clueless users make easier targets.
Among my friends, I have heard of many people getting hacked while using IE exclusively. They wind up spamming all their friends, losing money, losing their credit rating, or having to reinstall Windows altogether. I have not heard of many people getting hacked that use Firefox. Maybe it is because the people that use Firefox also take other precautions, or maybe there are other reasons involved, but I am sticking with Firefox until the bitter end.
I do not install Chrome on any machine. There is no reason to have two tools when one is better by every measure than the other.
There should never be one-click access to IE. Typing should be required. If I see IE on a machine, I delete the icon and remove it from the Start menu. IE should only be accessed by experienced users on an as-needed basis for updating Windows and nothing else. In Windows XP on my desktops, it can be accessed by choosing to run a program and then typing in "iexplore.exe". As soon as the necessary task is completed, IE is closed.
The reason IE is bad is an old one. It was true in the 1990s and it remains true today. IE is the browser with the largest market share, so it has "target" written on its forehead in bright red letters. Another problem is that it is the default browser in Windows, so the biggest number of clueless users will be using IE. Effort is required to install Firefox, though much less effort is required to install Chrome, because these days it is included by default in tons of applications from Avast antivirus to the kitchen sink. Google is paying software vendors to include Chrome in the installers. The result is that Chrome will be grabbing more of the clueless user population. The reason elite users stick with Firefox is they like customizing their browser and they have a deeper knowledge base that allows them to do so. All of these factors make Chrome and IE the top targets for black hats, who know quite well that clueless users make easier targets.
Among my friends, I have heard of many people getting hacked while using IE exclusively. They wind up spamming all their friends, losing money, losing their credit rating, or having to reinstall Windows altogether. I have not heard of many people getting hacked that use Firefox. Maybe it is because the people that use Firefox also take other precautions, or maybe there are other reasons involved, but I am sticking with Firefox until the bitter end.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Irate Egyptian Soccer Fans / Redneck Muslims
The reason Muslims take offense at films or cartoons, rather than books is because so many of them are illiterate or even if they do understand their own language they don't read much more than is required for daily living such as traffic signs and so on.
In Libya, it seems as though Muslim rednecks killed our envoy, although we may never know what really happened.
All this blood and rage over a little movie that I never heard of and probably will never watch! I think that Muslims like to be angry, are always looking for reasons to be angry, and that their religion is a religion of hate and anger. I don't recall Christians going on a killing spree when people made fun of Jesus, or Buddhists severing heads from bodies when people made fun of Buddha. Maybe those sorts of things happened in the Middle Ages, but not in modern times. One never hears about Islam except in the context of terrorism, war, killing, torture or assassination.
I was amused recently to read some spokesman for the Syrian rebels threatening the West if it does not cough up billions of dollars in aid. Apparently the rebels are going to turn extra-fanatical and anti-Western if we don't support them against the Syrian regime. I don't know whether the spokesman ever graduated from business school, but threatening the customer is not a good way to make a sale. Never mentioned is anything about repayment or any benefit that the West might derive, other than vague and halfhearted promises to avoid extremism.
I also believe that Muslims should get over Israel and let bygones be bygones over there, because Israel provides an example for how to run a government. The barbarian nations around Israel should be taking notes and learning by example instead of attacking the one decent nation in their midst. If certain nations such as Iran would just learn to leave Israel alone and focus upon their own issues then they would be a lot better off in the long run.
The slogan "there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet" is arrogant and wrong besides, because the deity described by the legal systems of Saudi Arabia and Iran is just a crude and barbaric tyrant with no education.
Freedom of speech has offered superb gifts to the human race, such as democracy, rule of law, science and technology and culture. For the most part, at least in modern times, the only thing the Muslims have given the human race is the oil extracted by Western oil companies that happened to exist beneath their feet, to their great good fortune. Iran exists today as a populated nation due to the benevolence of the philosophical West, which opted to renounce colonialism and renounce imperialism. That is why the U.S. pays for Iraqi oil instead of taking it. That is why the U.S. economy is in the pits today, because we donated vast sums of money to help the stupid Iraqis get rid of their stupid dictator without asking for a single dime in return. I don't know how many people understand what a monumental waste of money the two recent wars were for the U.S. It seems like many people around the world think that there is some diabolic plot or method by which we are profiteering. If only. The embarrassing truth is that George Bush did not have a brain in his head.
It is difficult to find Moslem countries that are not rife with injustice and barbarism, although there may be a handful around the world. A Moslem country would never be a place to which I would choose to go. I prefer civilized regions of the world. Give me Europe, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, or Asia (outside the Middle bEast) any day of the week and keep the rest. The irony about killing Americans who happen to venture into the Middle East on a peace-keeping or diplomatic mission is that the victims are probably the friendliest and most open-minded Muslim sympathizers that can be found, the ones most apt to see things from the Muslim point of view. They are the ones getting killed or kidnapped. People who view Islam in the same light that I do would not set foot over there in the first place, certainly not on any mission of peace or diplomacy.
I don't think tourism to Muslim countries is going to recover for the foreseeable future. There are too many fanatics over there that think violence is the way to handle their personal shortcomings in the intellectual department. I never did understand Americans who traveled to the Middle East on pilgrimages or vacations, but I know for sure I would not go, not in today's political climate, where so many think that it is okay to kill an American in order to register their disapproval over a movie.
You know what I do when I don't like a movie? I write a critical review. That is because I am civilized. The reason I call those Egyptian rednecks "barbarians" is that they do not know how to behave in a civilized fashion. They are just a bunch of thugs without the faintest grasp of morality. Probably no one would have even heard of the movie in the first place if these stupid rednecks had not given it free publicity.
Here's the link to the full movie, "Innocence of the Muslims."
It is quite obvious to me that no one would have watched the movie if those ignoramuses over there had not made such a fuss over it. But since they have, the movie is going to be watched about a thousand times more than would otherwise have been the case.
In Libya, it seems as though Muslim rednecks killed our envoy, although we may never know what really happened.
All this blood and rage over a little movie that I never heard of and probably will never watch! I think that Muslims like to be angry, are always looking for reasons to be angry, and that their religion is a religion of hate and anger. I don't recall Christians going on a killing spree when people made fun of Jesus, or Buddhists severing heads from bodies when people made fun of Buddha. Maybe those sorts of things happened in the Middle Ages, but not in modern times. One never hears about Islam except in the context of terrorism, war, killing, torture or assassination.
I was amused recently to read some spokesman for the Syrian rebels threatening the West if it does not cough up billions of dollars in aid. Apparently the rebels are going to turn extra-fanatical and anti-Western if we don't support them against the Syrian regime. I don't know whether the spokesman ever graduated from business school, but threatening the customer is not a good way to make a sale. Never mentioned is anything about repayment or any benefit that the West might derive, other than vague and halfhearted promises to avoid extremism.
I also believe that Muslims should get over Israel and let bygones be bygones over there, because Israel provides an example for how to run a government. The barbarian nations around Israel should be taking notes and learning by example instead of attacking the one decent nation in their midst. If certain nations such as Iran would just learn to leave Israel alone and focus upon their own issues then they would be a lot better off in the long run.
The slogan "there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet" is arrogant and wrong besides, because the deity described by the legal systems of Saudi Arabia and Iran is just a crude and barbaric tyrant with no education.
Freedom of speech has offered superb gifts to the human race, such as democracy, rule of law, science and technology and culture. For the most part, at least in modern times, the only thing the Muslims have given the human race is the oil extracted by Western oil companies that happened to exist beneath their feet, to their great good fortune. Iran exists today as a populated nation due to the benevolence of the philosophical West, which opted to renounce colonialism and renounce imperialism. That is why the U.S. pays for Iraqi oil instead of taking it. That is why the U.S. economy is in the pits today, because we donated vast sums of money to help the stupid Iraqis get rid of their stupid dictator without asking for a single dime in return. I don't know how many people understand what a monumental waste of money the two recent wars were for the U.S. It seems like many people around the world think that there is some diabolic plot or method by which we are profiteering. If only. The embarrassing truth is that George Bush did not have a brain in his head.
It is difficult to find Moslem countries that are not rife with injustice and barbarism, although there may be a handful around the world. A Moslem country would never be a place to which I would choose to go. I prefer civilized regions of the world. Give me Europe, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, or Asia (outside the Middle bEast) any day of the week and keep the rest. The irony about killing Americans who happen to venture into the Middle East on a peace-keeping or diplomatic mission is that the victims are probably the friendliest and most open-minded Muslim sympathizers that can be found, the ones most apt to see things from the Muslim point of view. They are the ones getting killed or kidnapped. People who view Islam in the same light that I do would not set foot over there in the first place, certainly not on any mission of peace or diplomacy.
I don't think tourism to Muslim countries is going to recover for the foreseeable future. There are too many fanatics over there that think violence is the way to handle their personal shortcomings in the intellectual department. I never did understand Americans who traveled to the Middle East on pilgrimages or vacations, but I know for sure I would not go, not in today's political climate, where so many think that it is okay to kill an American in order to register their disapproval over a movie.
You know what I do when I don't like a movie? I write a critical review. That is because I am civilized. The reason I call those Egyptian rednecks "barbarians" is that they do not know how to behave in a civilized fashion. They are just a bunch of thugs without the faintest grasp of morality. Probably no one would have even heard of the movie in the first place if these stupid rednecks had not given it free publicity.
Here's the link to the full movie, "Innocence of the Muslims."
It is quite obvious to me that no one would have watched the movie if those ignoramuses over there had not made such a fuss over it. But since they have, the movie is going to be watched about a thousand times more than would otherwise have been the case.
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