Since when is what a reporter or journalist thinks news? Really? I know some are very experienced and knowledgeable on their topics and issues they report on, but what happened to news being actual news of something real?
I just got through listening to MSNBC reporting New Year's Eve on the negotiations between the White House and Congress, namely Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell, respectively, for nearly 40 minutes and outside of the few minutes of commercials there was about 2-3 minutes of actual news and the rest was Chuck Todd and Kristen Welker just talking about what if's.
What if's aren't news! That's reporters bullshit story to make themselves sound smart and important. When MSNBC reports the "news"on the fiscal cliff negotiations, I expect news not reporters wasting time about what may or may not happen tomorrow, this week or even in 2 months.
Anyway, after the 40 minutes I hit the mute button on the TV until they switched out of that dumb reporting, and wrote this rant against it, like it's new or news either, but it sure made me feel better, venting a little anger at stupid pseudo-news shows.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
Change I Want to See
Mr. President,
Here are some of the issues I want to see change during your second term in office. I doubt my views will be read, let alone considered, as they are just the views of an average, ordindary American trying to live on a retirement annuity and get a new career and business going.
Just like many Americans I'm trying to survive the economy on an income that's decreasing in value and buying power as everything rises faster and the income is barely rising if at all, when two of the last three years you froze my annuity for political gain.
Gee, thanks there Mr. President, nice to know how little you care about retired federal employees. Anyway, outside of actually helping us do more than tread economic water for the next few years, here's some things you should do.
First, get significant gun reform through Congress. You know what needs to be done to provide for the safety and security of Americans in public places.
Second, shut down the war in Afghanistan this year, not next year or later. We can't win and it's draining our economy where the money could do more for Americans and jobs at home.
Third, restore personal liberties and rights over intelligence gathering, surveillence and eavesdropping. The American people aren't the enemy so don't treat like we are suspects and terrorists.
Fourth, cut the Defense Department budget by at 5-10% per year for the next 4 years. Make them do with less like 98% of Americans do. We don't need all the things the DOD wants.
Fifth, increase the Veterans Administration budets and veterans benefits. Enforce the law to get them the jobs they lost when they served or get new jobs.
Sixth, raise taxes on the top 2% with respect to income tax, estate tax, capital gains tax, dividend tax and so on. Make them pay back the 10 years of the Bush tax cuts, all of it over the next 10 years.
Seventh, solve immigration problem. If we can get the 10+ million people here illegally into citizenship with rights, they can add to paying taxes and Social Security.
Eightth, increase the ceiling and tax on the wealthy for Social Security to make it solvent for 40-50 years. It's easier done than said, some tweaks and it's solvent.
Ninth, improve the Affordable Care Act by going after the cost of healthcare which is the problem, not the people.
Tenth, everything else the American people want you to do. Yeah, lots, but that's why you're the President. We support and trust you to get it done. And oh, did I forget the highest priority?
Take care.
Here are some of the issues I want to see change during your second term in office. I doubt my views will be read, let alone considered, as they are just the views of an average, ordindary American trying to live on a retirement annuity and get a new career and business going.
Just like many Americans I'm trying to survive the economy on an income that's decreasing in value and buying power as everything rises faster and the income is barely rising if at all, when two of the last three years you froze my annuity for political gain.
Gee, thanks there Mr. President, nice to know how little you care about retired federal employees. Anyway, outside of actually helping us do more than tread economic water for the next few years, here's some things you should do.
First, get significant gun reform through Congress. You know what needs to be done to provide for the safety and security of Americans in public places.
Second, shut down the war in Afghanistan this year, not next year or later. We can't win and it's draining our economy where the money could do more for Americans and jobs at home.
Third, restore personal liberties and rights over intelligence gathering, surveillence and eavesdropping. The American people aren't the enemy so don't treat like we are suspects and terrorists.
Fourth, cut the Defense Department budget by at 5-10% per year for the next 4 years. Make them do with less like 98% of Americans do. We don't need all the things the DOD wants.
Fifth, increase the Veterans Administration budets and veterans benefits. Enforce the law to get them the jobs they lost when they served or get new jobs.
Sixth, raise taxes on the top 2% with respect to income tax, estate tax, capital gains tax, dividend tax and so on. Make them pay back the 10 years of the Bush tax cuts, all of it over the next 10 years.
Seventh, solve immigration problem. If we can get the 10+ million people here illegally into citizenship with rights, they can add to paying taxes and Social Security.
Eightth, increase the ceiling and tax on the wealthy for Social Security to make it solvent for 40-50 years. It's easier done than said, some tweaks and it's solvent.
Ninth, improve the Affordable Care Act by going after the cost of healthcare which is the problem, not the people.
Tenth, everything else the American people want you to do. Yeah, lots, but that's why you're the President. We support and trust you to get it done. And oh, did I forget the highest priority?
Help Americans to create jobs and the improve the economy!
Take care.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Gun Addiction
I wonder if the American Psychiatrist Association should add a new mental disorder to the Diagnostic Statistics Manual (DSM) for gun addiction and obsession for people, mostly young to middle aged white males, who have an abnormal affection with guns and gun violence.
Maybe? And then maybe demand anyone showing signs be required to undergo counseling before they can own more than a few guns and want to buy more guns just for the thrills? After all there's no difference in the symptoms and signs over guns than other expressions already in the DSM.
And then maybe require them to pass a test to ensure they understand they have a mental problem which needs to be treated. No? Really? Think about it.
If they called the people who killed all those people in Newton, CT, Aurora, CO, Tucson, AZ, Littleton, CO and Blacksburg, VA mentally ill because they acted out their anger and hate with guns, what's not to consider the potential mass shooters who are obsessed with guns and act out their anger and hate with guns which don't kill people?
Aren't they mentally ill too? I'm not talking hunters, sport shooters, etc. who understand guns and are responsible gun owners. I'm talking mostly the young white men in our country who obsess about guns to a degree it's abnormal.
Do they really have normal lives when everything is about guns? Ok, add semi-nude to nude women, porn and other fantasies along with video games, moves and TV shows about guns, sex and violence. Isn't this what Mr. LaPierre of the NRA was saying is the cause of mass shooters?
So why not identify these people beforehand and get them into counseling? Isn't that what Mr. LaPierre is suggesting we do, find and counsel these young, white, angry men? After all, we know the signs, he told us. So what's the problem finding them?
Why not call them mentally abnormal, even sick, and then restrict their access to own, buy and use guns? That's the NRA's position about the mass shooters. Let's say he's right and do what he wants, take away their guns because they're menally sick.
Solves two problems, stopping mass shooters and pleasing the NRA, with one shot. Figuratively, of course.
Maybe? And then maybe demand anyone showing signs be required to undergo counseling before they can own more than a few guns and want to buy more guns just for the thrills? After all there's no difference in the symptoms and signs over guns than other expressions already in the DSM.
And then maybe require them to pass a test to ensure they understand they have a mental problem which needs to be treated. No? Really? Think about it.
If they called the people who killed all those people in Newton, CT, Aurora, CO, Tucson, AZ, Littleton, CO and Blacksburg, VA mentally ill because they acted out their anger and hate with guns, what's not to consider the potential mass shooters who are obsessed with guns and act out their anger and hate with guns which don't kill people?
Aren't they mentally ill too? I'm not talking hunters, sport shooters, etc. who understand guns and are responsible gun owners. I'm talking mostly the young white men in our country who obsess about guns to a degree it's abnormal.
Do they really have normal lives when everything is about guns? Ok, add semi-nude to nude women, porn and other fantasies along with video games, moves and TV shows about guns, sex and violence. Isn't this what Mr. LaPierre of the NRA was saying is the cause of mass shooters?
So why not identify these people beforehand and get them into counseling? Isn't that what Mr. LaPierre is suggesting we do, find and counsel these young, white, angry men? After all, we know the signs, he told us. So what's the problem finding them?
Why not call them mentally abnormal, even sick, and then restrict their access to own, buy and use guns? That's the NRA's position about the mass shooters. Let's say he's right and do what he wants, take away their guns because they're menally sick.
Solves two problems, stopping mass shooters and pleasing the NRA, with one shot. Figuratively, of course.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Really Mr LaPierre
Putting guns in schools, meaning more guns is the answer to the excessive gun problem is like saying more cars helps traffic and commuting problems, like more people helps over population, like more energy consumption helps energy conservation, like more pollution helps clean air and water. And so on.
You get the picture, but to answer you seriously. The resources aren't there to put trained cops in every school in the US. And while folks say there already are "cops" in schools, no, they're security people of varying knowledge, training and experience, not cops.
And you can also bet a shooter going to a school will either know or look for the security people to shoot them first. Shooters aren't going to walk up to the front door obviously looking like a shooter. They're not stupid, so don't presume it.
The problem isn't schools, so don't put the blame on them to solve the gun problem. The problem isn't mental health issues when shootings committed by people with mental health problems is very small and overwhelmed by the many everyday killings by both criminals and legal, lawful gun owners.
And creating a national mental health registry is a violation of the right of people to privacy with the medical professionals. Yes, a doctor has to report some situations and conditions with people, but not openly to every law enforcement and justice departments.
You're also then pushing people out of mental health counseling and therapy if they know they could be in a national database for just talking with a medical professional knowing who they are and what they say will be shared, a violation of the hypocratic oath and legal rights of patients and medical professionals.
What don't you want to agree to is that it's a complex problem with complex solutions, not the least of which are guns of all types but really banning assault weapons, regulating guns sales, mandating background checks, banning large capacity ammution clips and certain ammunition, and improving inter/intragovernment cooperation and communications.
Everything has to be on the table to solve this national problem with comprehensive solutions, otherwise, the next shooting will blame the failures of the partial measures taken to show they didn't work when we know the measures were inadequate and insufficient.
But we know the problem is reallly one thing, the 300+ million guns in the US today, knowing only a modest percentage are used in crime, violence and shootings. That's the truth and reality and there are no measures which prevents all everyday killings and mass shootings.
And that's what we need to address, not adding to the problem with more guns. This isn't the wild west. We need to grow up about guns and address the problem with wisdom and foresight or the people in 50 years will look back to see what folks told us 50 years ago.
Nothing has changed except more guns and more violence with guns. When does that end Mr. LaPierre? What does it take for you to see the obvious? Besides, of course, the obvious.
You get the picture, but to answer you seriously. The resources aren't there to put trained cops in every school in the US. And while folks say there already are "cops" in schools, no, they're security people of varying knowledge, training and experience, not cops.
And you can also bet a shooter going to a school will either know or look for the security people to shoot them first. Shooters aren't going to walk up to the front door obviously looking like a shooter. They're not stupid, so don't presume it.
The problem isn't schools, so don't put the blame on them to solve the gun problem. The problem isn't mental health issues when shootings committed by people with mental health problems is very small and overwhelmed by the many everyday killings by both criminals and legal, lawful gun owners.
And creating a national mental health registry is a violation of the right of people to privacy with the medical professionals. Yes, a doctor has to report some situations and conditions with people, but not openly to every law enforcement and justice departments.
You're also then pushing people out of mental health counseling and therapy if they know they could be in a national database for just talking with a medical professional knowing who they are and what they say will be shared, a violation of the hypocratic oath and legal rights of patients and medical professionals.
What don't you want to agree to is that it's a complex problem with complex solutions, not the least of which are guns of all types but really banning assault weapons, regulating guns sales, mandating background checks, banning large capacity ammution clips and certain ammunition, and improving inter/intragovernment cooperation and communications.
Everything has to be on the table to solve this national problem with comprehensive solutions, otherwise, the next shooting will blame the failures of the partial measures taken to show they didn't work when we know the measures were inadequate and insufficient.
But we know the problem is reallly one thing, the 300+ million guns in the US today, knowing only a modest percentage are used in crime, violence and shootings. That's the truth and reality and there are no measures which prevents all everyday killings and mass shootings.
And that's what we need to address, not adding to the problem with more guns. This isn't the wild west. We need to grow up about guns and address the problem with wisdom and foresight or the people in 50 years will look back to see what folks told us 50 years ago.
Nothing has changed except more guns and more violence with guns. When does that end Mr. LaPierre? What does it take for you to see the obvious? Besides, of course, the obvious.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Tumblr
Well, I decided to have some fun and have a Tumblr account. I wander through a number of Tumblr accounts for fun, it's better than TV, and after seeing some possibilities, I decided to try one for a different aspect of my work, projects, life and myself.
If you have a Tumblr account, please let me know yours and you're welcome to comment on mine. It's nothing much but random ideas and thoughts, some repeated on my blogs where (see my profile for a list of them on different subjects - keeps me organized) and some not.
Anyway, that's it as we head for the Christmas holiday weekend where everyone goes nuts trying to figure out what's up and who's who. Take care. Good luck travelling. And most of all, share, with family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers you meet. You never know what you'll learn.
If you have a Tumblr account, please let me know yours and you're welcome to comment on mine. It's nothing much but random ideas and thoughts, some repeated on my blogs where (see my profile for a list of them on different subjects - keeps me organized) and some not.
Anyway, that's it as we head for the Christmas holiday weekend where everyone goes nuts trying to figure out what's up and who's who. Take care. Good luck travelling. And most of all, share, with family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers you meet. You never know what you'll learn.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Norquist & NRA
The NRA is on guns for Republican members of Congress as Grover Norquist is on taxes. Both strike fear in Republicans with just words. Maybe they should fear Americans and voters instead? All we have to do is stand up and speak, loudly and clearly so there is no mistaking what we want them to do for us.
We know they won't listen. They don't care. They're in the pocket of Grover Norquist and the NRA along with the wealthy and corporations. So, do you think in November 2014 we can teach them who they should have listened to all along?
Can we do that? Will we remember? If we don't, then who can we blame beside the person in the mirror? If we want a House of Representatives to actually do the work of the American people we had better remember. And not be mislead by the Republicans' political rhetoric.
We know they won't listen. They don't care. They're in the pocket of Grover Norquist and the NRA along with the wealthy and corporations. So, do you think in November 2014 we can teach them who they should have listened to all along?
Can we do that? Will we remember? If we don't, then who can we blame beside the person in the mirror? If we want a House of Representatives to actually do the work of the American people we had better remember. And not be mislead by the Republicans' political rhetoric.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Assault Weapons
There seems to be a lot of confusion and disagreement about the definition of an assualt weapon, either a rifle or handgun. While states have used the cosmetics of the weapon, some have a better definition which would be by the action of the weapon, namely how it fires the rounds.
To me, I agree with this definition, to include the capabilities of a basic gun, meaning the trigger action, the types of ammution and the speed of the round; options for the weapons, meaning flash suppression, scopes, and types of stocks, etc.; the options for the ammunition, meaning high capacity magazines/clips; and the ability to adapt or modify the weapon for greater capacity.
In short, the more the inclusion of weaspons, the better. This includes a lot of civilian style versions of military and law enforcement weapons, a lot of civilian style military and law enforcement handgun. All of these weapons aren't designed for personal safety, hunting, sport shooting, etc., but to kill people, which is the criteria of the reason for the weapon in the first place.
Yes, I'm extreme but it's time the pendulum swung to the opposite side for awhile and we exercise common sense than denying the reality of what weapons do to our country, our people, and now our children. What more reason do you need?
To me, I agree with this definition, to include the capabilities of a basic gun, meaning the trigger action, the types of ammution and the speed of the round; options for the weapons, meaning flash suppression, scopes, and types of stocks, etc.; the options for the ammunition, meaning high capacity magazines/clips; and the ability to adapt or modify the weapon for greater capacity.
In short, the more the inclusion of weaspons, the better. This includes a lot of civilian style versions of military and law enforcement weapons, a lot of civilian style military and law enforcement handgun. All of these weapons aren't designed for personal safety, hunting, sport shooting, etc., but to kill people, which is the criteria of the reason for the weapon in the first place.
Yes, I'm extreme but it's time the pendulum swung to the opposite side for awhile and we exercise common sense than denying the reality of what weapons do to our country, our people, and now our children. What more reason do you need?
Really Apple & iTunes
Why does Apple not consider the option to give users of iTunes the option to keep the album art work in active memory so it always displays when scrolling? I really hate that it after a few minutes iTunes moves the non-display album artwork to inactive memory so scrolling has to recover it, which means you have to scroll slowly so it displays.
This sucks. I can understand why they do this but there is no reason they can't have a setting or preference to always display the album artwork no matter which are displayed. This was the case with iTunes 10, so they made a management decison than a technical one, which sucks even more.
I won't argue keeping the album artwork takes memory, about 500 MB in my collection of about 1100 albums, but I have a Mac Pro with 16 GB of memory and only infrequently gets over 12 GB at any time and mostly is around 8 GB for most of my work.
Yes, I've maxed it out, either working on a project with lots of applications open, with some music or image files, or with some application which runs amuck and can't manage its memory. But none of those cases would interfer with keeping the album artwork in active memory.
So, please Apple, fix this like it was, at least with a preference or setting. You had it once, so give it back to the user. Or are you a application grinch?
This sucks. I can understand why they do this but there is no reason they can't have a setting or preference to always display the album artwork no matter which are displayed. This was the case with iTunes 10, so they made a management decison than a technical one, which sucks even more.
I won't argue keeping the album artwork takes memory, about 500 MB in my collection of about 1100 albums, but I have a Mac Pro with 16 GB of memory and only infrequently gets over 12 GB at any time and mostly is around 8 GB for most of my work.
Yes, I've maxed it out, either working on a project with lots of applications open, with some music or image files, or with some application which runs amuck and can't manage its memory. But none of those cases would interfer with keeping the album artwork in active memory.
So, please Apple, fix this like it was, at least with a preference or setting. You had it once, so give it back to the user. Or are you a application grinch?
Interesting Thoughts
I read an interesting post here on Tumblr about the Connecticut shooter, which you can read here, and while his first point is valid and really hasn't been emphasized enough that the most recent mass shootings were all done by young white men without criminal records and wasn't connected or described as terrorism but something else, I think he misses on his second point.
While making a distinction between mental illness and mental disturbance is an interesting point to illustrate the fine line in mental conditions between normal and clinically abnormal with the Diagnositic Statistics Manual (DSM) used to evaluate mental illnesses, I can't agree a person show signs long before they act on any violence.
Some do but many don't. And it's difficult for any therapist of any profession to determine the severity of anyone violent tendencies unless they are clearly and obviously demonstrated by the person's past behavoir. This isn't the case in the recent mass shootings and in the Connecticut shooting for them to make that determination.
I personally think that pushing the mental illness idea for gun control isn't the answer and is the proverbial slippery slope into people either being catagorized as mental unfit to buy, own or carry a gun or simply avoiding therapy altogether for the greater fear of being catagorized. And putting therapist in to being the one to decide who may or may not be qualified or fit to own a gun is beyond their job when it's the role of law enforcement and justice department people.
Pushing the problem of guns onto the schools, therapist, private security, etc. by politicians, pundits, etal is adbicating the difficult issue of meaningful gun laws for the protection of people in public places. It's changing the subject of the 300 million guns in a population of 330 million people where only ~110 million own guns and 25 million own 2/3rds of the guns.
What about the 220 million people who don't own guns? Don't they have rights too? Don't they, as the majority, get the right to say enough guns, enough killings, enough crime and violence with guns? Don't they get to demand our politicians stand up and speak for us, and then act on our behalf?
I have no doubt there will be a lot of words spoken by politicians, much of it repeated or rehashed from the aftermath of previous mass shootings; I have no doubt a lot of Congressional hearings will be held to allow all sides, or the sides the Republicans want in the House and the Democrats want in the Senate; and I have no doubt some type of compromise bill will be passed by each house, negotiated and presented to the President to pronounce victory on the war on guns.
But I have no doubt the bill won't be fully effective or productive to implement because there needs to be fundamental changes in our culture and society about guns any compromise can't fix and there needs to be a fundamental way the ATF and FBI document gun manufacturers, gun dealers, gun purchases, gun owners and guns and ammunition.
And it's the second point the Republicans have stood with the NRA to prohibit this from happening. Background checks on all guns sales are just one issue which needs implementing, but computerizing all the records of guns on a national level in a way for all law enforcement agencies to trace guns and ammuntion quickly is the real solution.
It is this last point which the NRA and Republicans have long opposed which needs to be fought against and won to get all guns traceable through a national system to help law enforcement agencies fight crime and justice department prosecute criminals. This has to be near the top of the list of things to do. Not in the future, but now. It's overdue.
It's time for Congress to act for the people of this country, for all Americans and others living here. No politics, no rhetoric, no small measures anymore. We want meaningful laws to protect all of us and meaningful laws to ensure law enforcement agencies and justice departments can trace guns and ammunition in background checks and criminal investigations.
We the people demand it and now.
While making a distinction between mental illness and mental disturbance is an interesting point to illustrate the fine line in mental conditions between normal and clinically abnormal with the Diagnositic Statistics Manual (DSM) used to evaluate mental illnesses, I can't agree a person show signs long before they act on any violence.
Some do but many don't. And it's difficult for any therapist of any profession to determine the severity of anyone violent tendencies unless they are clearly and obviously demonstrated by the person's past behavoir. This isn't the case in the recent mass shootings and in the Connecticut shooting for them to make that determination.
I personally think that pushing the mental illness idea for gun control isn't the answer and is the proverbial slippery slope into people either being catagorized as mental unfit to buy, own or carry a gun or simply avoiding therapy altogether for the greater fear of being catagorized. And putting therapist in to being the one to decide who may or may not be qualified or fit to own a gun is beyond their job when it's the role of law enforcement and justice department people.
Pushing the problem of guns onto the schools, therapist, private security, etc. by politicians, pundits, etal is adbicating the difficult issue of meaningful gun laws for the protection of people in public places. It's changing the subject of the 300 million guns in a population of 330 million people where only ~110 million own guns and 25 million own 2/3rds of the guns.
What about the 220 million people who don't own guns? Don't they have rights too? Don't they, as the majority, get the right to say enough guns, enough killings, enough crime and violence with guns? Don't they get to demand our politicians stand up and speak for us, and then act on our behalf?
I have no doubt there will be a lot of words spoken by politicians, much of it repeated or rehashed from the aftermath of previous mass shootings; I have no doubt a lot of Congressional hearings will be held to allow all sides, or the sides the Republicans want in the House and the Democrats want in the Senate; and I have no doubt some type of compromise bill will be passed by each house, negotiated and presented to the President to pronounce victory on the war on guns.
But I have no doubt the bill won't be fully effective or productive to implement because there needs to be fundamental changes in our culture and society about guns any compromise can't fix and there needs to be a fundamental way the ATF and FBI document gun manufacturers, gun dealers, gun purchases, gun owners and guns and ammunition.
And it's the second point the Republicans have stood with the NRA to prohibit this from happening. Background checks on all guns sales are just one issue which needs implementing, but computerizing all the records of guns on a national level in a way for all law enforcement agencies to trace guns and ammuntion quickly is the real solution.
It is this last point which the NRA and Republicans have long opposed which needs to be fought against and won to get all guns traceable through a national system to help law enforcement agencies fight crime and justice department prosecute criminals. This has to be near the top of the list of things to do. Not in the future, but now. It's overdue.
It's time for Congress to act for the people of this country, for all Americans and others living here. No politics, no rhetoric, no small measures anymore. We want meaningful laws to protect all of us and meaningful laws to ensure law enforcement agencies and justice departments can trace guns and ammunition in background checks and criminal investigations.
We the people demand it and now.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
A People & Gun Thought
People with mental conditions without guns are just people with mental conditions, treatable with proper professional care. People with mental conditions with guns, are just plain fucking dangerous. But let's not mistake where the problem is with this scenarios. To put is simply.
Yeah, no guns, no 20 dead children and no dead 6 adults, all shot with a civilian version of a military assault rifle which is solely made to do what this young person did with it, kill people.
We should be treating people with mental conditions, but we should also be ensuring the public can be safe in public places from people with guns, all people with guns because anyone with a gun can become a someone angry enough to shoot and kill people.
We've seen what legal, lawful gun owners have done in the last 3 years. As many people have asked, if we don't discuss it and pass some measure of control on guns now, when? How many more people will die at the hands of legal, lawful gun owners?
It's not people with mental conditions, it's guns stupid!
Yeah, no guns, no 20 dead children and no dead 6 adults, all shot with a civilian version of a military assault rifle which is solely made to do what this young person did with it, kill people.
We should be treating people with mental conditions, but we should also be ensuring the public can be safe in public places from people with guns, all people with guns because anyone with a gun can become a someone angry enough to shoot and kill people.
We've seen what legal, lawful gun owners have done in the last 3 years. As many people have asked, if we don't discuss it and pass some measure of control on guns now, when? How many more people will die at the hands of legal, lawful gun owners?
Saturday, December 15, 2012
SafariCacheExplorer
Update II (update I removed as incorrect).-- I finally got Safari to create the necessary Cache.db file this application reads. I discovered I had another application which also reads but then deletes the Cache.db file in the com.Apple.Safari folder, which left this application without a file to read. I could recreate the file but it was always deleted later by the other application.
Well, I bought the SafariCacheExplorer application which was advertised to separate all the individual parts and files of Web pages and to download them to your computer, especially if you want to retrieve images, videos, etc. embedded in Web pages and don't want to search through the HTML code, which is what I do.
I bought this application since Web(cache)Browser stopped working with Mountain Lion and Safari 6.0.x, but I didn't fully read the Web page for SafariCacheExplorer as it doesn't say it's compatible with Mountain Lion and especially Safari 6.0.x.
Update II.--The company sent me an e-mail confirming it is Mountain Lion and Safari 6.0.x compatible which I've proven to myself is and works. They need to update their Web page about this application, if they haven't already.
That's because it isn't compatible with Mountain Lion and Safair 6.0.x, so don't pay the $10 for it if you have Mountain Lion which uses Safari 6.0.x as part of the OS-X, no Safari 5.x available with Mountain Lion.
In short, save your money, at least until they release a new version for Mountain Lion. I'll test it then and report if it works or not. It's a cool idea as the other application was a great tool with Safari, and this one would be if it worked.
Well, I bought the SafariCacheExplorer application which was advertised to separate all the individual parts and files of Web pages and to download them to your computer, especially if you want to retrieve images, videos, etc. embedded in Web pages and don't want to search through the HTML code, which is what I do.
I bought this application since Web(cache)Browser stopped working with Mountain Lion and Safari 6.0.x, but I didn't fully read the Web page for SafariCacheExplorer as it doesn't say it's compatible with Mountain Lion and especially Safari 6.0.x.
Update II.--The company sent me an e-mail confirming it is Mountain Lion and Safari 6.0.x compatible which I've proven to myself is and works. They need to update their Web page about this application, if they haven't already.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Can We Now
Eighteen children and six adults killed at an elemetary school in Connecticut today, two children died at the hospital, and an adult was found dead at a home of the person suspected of the mass shooting, who also is dead.
Can we now have that discussion about guns? How many more people will be killed with guns today in America? How many more mass shootings does it take? How many more people needlessly need to die by guns?
Can we now have that discussion about guns? Can we now have reasonable laws which allows communities to govern access to guns and ammuntion in the name of public safety and security? In the name of our children? For the future of our children?
And when we have this discussion, there is one rule, only one rule to start.
Can we now have that discussion about guns? How many more people will be killed with guns today in America? How many more mass shootings does it take? How many more people needlessly need to die by guns?
Can we now have that discussion about guns? Can we now have reasonable laws which allows communities to govern access to guns and ammuntion in the name of public safety and security? In the name of our children? For the future of our children?
And when we have this discussion, there is one rule, only one rule to start.
To the NRA, sit down and shut up, or there's the exit.
You're not part of the discussion anymore. You've done the damage we've experienced all these years of threatening politicians if we even talk about guns. It's time for the majority to discuss, decide and act, and you're not invited to join us.
It's time for the majority to rule about guns.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Ambassador to the UN
The Republicans hate Susan Rice because she's is strongly outspoken about her views on issues. They criticize her because they just don't like a black woman being strong, intelligent, smart and perceptive, in other words, she is the exact opposite in terms of gender, race and views of someone they praised as the US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, for the same characteristics.
It's not her they're after, it's the President. It's not her they want out of the job, it's the President. It's not her they were against being the next Secretary of State, it's the right of the President to chose who he wants. It's not her, it's their blatant racism shown toward this president.
The Republicans just don't like this President not just because he's intelligent, smart and the President, but mostly because he's part black, and to them he's just black, and that's reason enough to them. The Republicans can couch their words however they choose, under it all, it's still the same, pure hate and racism.
All the fancy suits, polished shoes, and the smiles with the politically correct words doesn't change the truth of it, which is nothing else but contempt for his President for being black.
It's not her they're after, it's the President. It's not her they want out of the job, it's the President. It's not her they were against being the next Secretary of State, it's the right of the President to chose who he wants. It's not her, it's their blatant racism shown toward this president.
The Republicans just don't like this President not just because he's intelligent, smart and the President, but mostly because he's part black, and to them he's just black, and that's reason enough to them. The Republicans can couch their words however they choose, under it all, it's still the same, pure hate and racism.
All the fancy suits, polished shoes, and the smiles with the politically correct words doesn't change the truth of it, which is nothing else but contempt for his President for being black.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Gotta Love This
Tumbr is down this afternoon and the response from Tumblr on Twitter:
"We’re experiencing slow loading or intermittent errors on certain pages and are working quickly to restore performance.
Dude, your whole Website is down. You can't get worse than that and "working quickly to restore performance" is simply being up and working. It doesn't pay to spin the truth on the Internet with your followers.
They kinda' know being up from being down. Ya' know, they're not stupid.
"We’re experiencing slow loading or intermittent errors on certain pages and are working quickly to restore performance.
Dude, your whole Website is down. You can't get worse than that and "working quickly to restore performance" is simply being up and working. It doesn't pay to spin the truth on the Internet with your followers.
They kinda' know being up from being down. Ya' know, they're not stupid.
Shopping WTFs
What I hate about stores which have on-line catalogs and ordering are those who falsely adverstise brands they don't carry, not just in stock but at all. That really sucks in my book and only ensures they will never get my business every again.
I went to several on-line stores for either brick and mortar or on-line only shores which "advertised" the brand I was looking for (only sold in European countries) and all of them just inserted all the top name brands in their ads which they paid Google to put on the Web pages for search results for this brand.
None of them sold that brand I was looking for but they still had the brand in the Google ads. Only goes to show you Google will take your money, honesty in adverstising isn't in the rules for companies who write the checks. So much for Google paid ads.
Yeah, I know it's the reality of shopping on-line, they over advertise their stock to get you to their Website and hopefully you'll stay, browse and maybe buy there. My answer to them is simple, "Fuck you!" and I leave.
If I want to browse, I'll go to the on-lines stores for the name brand brick and mortar stores I know, and they too are not always honest and upfront, often advertising brands and models they don't stock in stores, but wait, they'll deliver it to the store nearest you or to your home.
This is common these days throughout the retail industry. My former always go to store, REI (been a member since 1982), is just like the rest of them, only the flagship stores carries most, but not all, of the stock they advertise on their Website.
And they don't always carry the range to fit all people. They stopped carrying my shoe size (men's 7 1/2) because as told to me "there wasn't enough customers" to stock the size, not even in their on-line store. I started buying direct from the companies or smaller local outdoor stores who does carry my size.
Anyway, I hate finding a really cool product to find you can't buy it. Not just in the US but on-line. Kinda' makes me wonder about the company's business model when this happens. Apparently an on-line and a worldwide market isn't their interest.
But it does raise the question, how many companies these days don't sell on-line and only sell in brick and mortar stores in one continent, who in turn don't have a on-line store to order products?
I went to several on-line stores for either brick and mortar or on-line only shores which "advertised" the brand I was looking for (only sold in European countries) and all of them just inserted all the top name brands in their ads which they paid Google to put on the Web pages for search results for this brand.
None of them sold that brand I was looking for but they still had the brand in the Google ads. Only goes to show you Google will take your money, honesty in adverstising isn't in the rules for companies who write the checks. So much for Google paid ads.
Yeah, I know it's the reality of shopping on-line, they over advertise their stock to get you to their Website and hopefully you'll stay, browse and maybe buy there. My answer to them is simple, "Fuck you!" and I leave.
If I want to browse, I'll go to the on-lines stores for the name brand brick and mortar stores I know, and they too are not always honest and upfront, often advertising brands and models they don't stock in stores, but wait, they'll deliver it to the store nearest you or to your home.
This is common these days throughout the retail industry. My former always go to store, REI (been a member since 1982), is just like the rest of them, only the flagship stores carries most, but not all, of the stock they advertise on their Website.
And they don't always carry the range to fit all people. They stopped carrying my shoe size (men's 7 1/2) because as told to me "there wasn't enough customers" to stock the size, not even in their on-line store. I started buying direct from the companies or smaller local outdoor stores who does carry my size.
Anyway, I hate finding a really cool product to find you can't buy it. Not just in the US but on-line. Kinda' makes me wonder about the company's business model when this happens. Apparently an on-line and a worldwide market isn't their interest.
But it does raise the question, how many companies these days don't sell on-line and only sell in brick and mortar stores in one continent, who in turn don't have a on-line store to order products?
Are We Becoming
Are we becoming a nation where anyone can express their anger, hate, personal views without words, without engagement in a discussion or debate, without even saying anything, but simply arming yourself and then targeting random people in public places before killing yourself in full public view?
With over 310 million guns for a population of 310+ million people, 40-45% of the homes having a gun and about a third of the adults with some type of gun, half of which are handguns, it's hard not to see people using them as we've seen last year and this year.
So, while we've had members of Congress shot and thousands of women and children shot every year in domestic violence disputes, and now public mass shootings seems the norm anymore. We yawn at the facts and accept the reality that guns rule this country.
Guns, gun owners, the NRA and people who like to shoot people for the whole host of reasons not related to crime. Bullets have replaced words. Guns have replaced discussion. That's America now.
But it is what we want? And why have we let the minority threaten the majority for reasonable gun control in the public interest and for public safety and security. When will we win for our children and their freedom and safety from guns in public places?
With over 310 million guns for a population of 310+ million people, 40-45% of the homes having a gun and about a third of the adults with some type of gun, half of which are handguns, it's hard not to see people using them as we've seen last year and this year.
So, while we've had members of Congress shot and thousands of women and children shot every year in domestic violence disputes, and now public mass shootings seems the norm anymore. We yawn at the facts and accept the reality that guns rule this country.
Guns, gun owners, the NRA and people who like to shoot people for the whole host of reasons not related to crime. Bullets have replaced words. Guns have replaced discussion. That's America now.
But it is what we want? And why have we let the minority threaten the majority for reasonable gun control in the public interest and for public safety and security. When will we win for our children and their freedom and safety from guns in public places?
How to Die Happy
The Bleeker St. double burger with tomato and lettuce. Add an order of large, crispy fries and a shake, and you can die happy.
Did You Hear the One
"Hey voter, did you hear the joke about Congress."
"Oh wait, they are the joke, but no one is laughing."
"Oh wait, they are the joke, but no one is laughing."
We have Congress
But oh, we have Congress with their verbal special effect and political rhetorical dance numbers. And yes, it's hard to tell if Congress is a tragedy or a farce, but they never lack for trying.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Thank You Apple
Now at least I can see something of the latest music they offer from Japan and Korea, which is just a thimbleful of what's released in those countries. That said, it's about the old adage, "It's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick."
Monday, December 10, 2012
Tumblr
Want great entertainment for an evening, or more evenings? Wander around Tumblr for a few hours and watch it dissolve into an evening. Don't pay attention to where you are, reblogging will always get back to a Tumblr site you've already visited somewhere or sometime in your journey.
That's the beauty of it, but more so for seeing the diversity of Tumblr sites, the owners' interests and the many different views and ideas about life. You get to see what a generation, you know the current youth and young adults generation, is thinking, looking at, and yes blogging and rebloggin.
Just wander. It will make you cry, laugh, be angry, be happy, and the whole gamut of emotions and feelings with the whole range of people. You will see a lot, some good and much not so good, but you can always just scroll on down or wander to another page.
Follow the links too, they'll take you to more places and people. You read a lot of opinions, ideas - many from books or famous people, creativity, animation, whatever, and you'll see the youth isn't what you read in the media.
The youth are diverse and interesting. And take heart, they're not evil or bad, just young people exploring life and the world. You'll even like it more than you think. Really. If only all this stuff was there when I was young. I can't imagine what we would have done or said with Tumblr.
That's the beauty of it, but more so for seeing the diversity of Tumblr sites, the owners' interests and the many different views and ideas about life. You get to see what a generation, you know the current youth and young adults generation, is thinking, looking at, and yes blogging and rebloggin.
Just wander. It will make you cry, laugh, be angry, be happy, and the whole gamut of emotions and feelings with the whole range of people. You will see a lot, some good and much not so good, but you can always just scroll on down or wander to another page.
Follow the links too, they'll take you to more places and people. You read a lot of opinions, ideas - many from books or famous people, creativity, animation, whatever, and you'll see the youth isn't what you read in the media.
The youth are diverse and interesting. And take heart, they're not evil or bad, just young people exploring life and the world. You'll even like it more than you think. Really. If only all this stuff was there when I was young. I can't imagine what we would have done or said with Tumblr.
Mountain Lion Bugs
Ever since updating my Mac Pro to Mountain Lion OS-X 10.8.2, I've had several reoccurring problems which seems to defy explanation or a solution, or at least to find someone who knows what causes them and how to resolve them.
I've asked folks on the Apple forum and got a few suggestions but nothing which works because I can't test one of the suggestions which I can't get an answer from Apple, yet anyway. And the problems are as follows.
First, it won't boot in safe mode. This is where you start the Mac, after shutting down for at least 10 seconds, and press the shift key when you hear the start tone from the Mac, and hold it down until you see the Apple logo and spinning gear.
A progress bar displays below the gear to show the progress of the safe mode boot, but in my case the bar gets about 30% of the way across and stops, and then stays there for hours. The normal safe mode boot is 3-5 minutes.
When someone suggested three sources which causes the safe mode boot to stop, none applied to my Mac. In short, I have to boot in normal mode which generates the error messages in the console log, from frequently, every 2-3 minutes to continuously.
The first of these are shortly after booting I get this:
com.apple.launchd, peruser.502: (com.apple.FolderActions.folders) Throttling respawn.
This goes for 2-3 lines per second for 10 seconds then repeats again, continuously until I issue the command in a terminal window.
launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.FolderActions.folders.plist
This is the Spotlight file which indexes the folders and files and changes to those folders and files for searching and the Time Macine backup.
The second and third errors also starts shortly after rebooting or starting.
PM kernel: Sandbox(1254) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
PM mdworker: Unable to talk to lsboxd
PM mdworker: Unable to talk to lsboxd
PM mdworker: Unable to talk to lsboxd
PM Sandboxd: ([1250]) mdworker(1250) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd
PM Sandboxd: ([1251]) mdworker(1251) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd
PM Sandboxd: ([1252]) mdworker(1252) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd
Over and over every 2-2 minutes, more often sometimes.
All I've heard to resolve the second and third messages is to reboot in safe mode, which I can't do. So, if anyone has suggestions or ideas to research and maybe resolve these, besided the obvious which has been suggested, boot in safe mode, which I can't do, then I'm open.
I've asked folks on the Apple forum and got a few suggestions but nothing which works because I can't test one of the suggestions which I can't get an answer from Apple, yet anyway. And the problems are as follows.
First, it won't boot in safe mode. This is where you start the Mac, after shutting down for at least 10 seconds, and press the shift key when you hear the start tone from the Mac, and hold it down until you see the Apple logo and spinning gear.
A progress bar displays below the gear to show the progress of the safe mode boot, but in my case the bar gets about 30% of the way across and stops, and then stays there for hours. The normal safe mode boot is 3-5 minutes.
When someone suggested three sources which causes the safe mode boot to stop, none applied to my Mac. In short, I have to boot in normal mode which generates the error messages in the console log, from frequently, every 2-3 minutes to continuously.
The first of these are shortly after booting I get this:
com.apple.launchd, peruser.502: (com.apple.FolderActions.folders) Throttling respawn.
This goes for 2-3 lines per second for 10 seconds then repeats again, continuously until I issue the command in a terminal window.
launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.FolderActions.folders.plist
This is the Spotlight file which indexes the folders and files and changes to those folders and files for searching and the Time Macine backup.
The second and third errors also starts shortly after rebooting or starting.
PM kernel: Sandbox(1254) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
PM mdworker: Unable to talk to lsboxd
PM mdworker: Unable to talk to lsboxd
PM mdworker: Unable to talk to lsboxd
PM Sandboxd: ([1250]) mdworker(1250) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd
PM Sandboxd: ([1251]) mdworker(1251) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd
PM Sandboxd: ([1252]) mdworker(1252) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd
Over and over every 2-2 minutes, more often sometimes.
All I've heard to resolve the second and third messages is to reboot in safe mode, which I can't do. So, if anyone has suggestions or ideas to research and maybe resolve these, besided the obvious which has been suggested, boot in safe mode, which I can't do, then I'm open.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Dear Congress
Let me put a simple idea to you, something I think you can easily understand, and having understood it can easily act accordingly. So, try this on for size.
We elected you to work for us. Not the lobbyist who pay for your vacations. Not the corporations and wealthy who line your campaign war chest. Not the specialist interests who frequent your office. Not your political friends and allies who sway your vote.
You work for the American People.
We elected you to work for us. Not the lobbyist who pay for your vacations. Not the corporations and wealthy who line your campaign war chest. Not the specialist interests who frequent your office. Not your political friends and allies who sway your vote.
You work for us. Now do that.
Or consider that reality we can pull a Donald Trump on you in Novemver 2014. After all the ways you've become wealthy at our expense and all the ways you've voted for all those people who has made you wealthy (above), we don't have to vote for you.
We own you because we pay your salary, your benefits, your official travel, your per-diem, your office and transportation, your staff, your office budget. We paid for you to do our work, so we're your boss. Is that clear enough?
So, now go do the work we want done. The work we need to create real jobs with real benefits, with real health insurance, with real retirement plans. The work to help our economy get better and grow with good jobs.
The work to improve and strengthen our education, to provide affordable college for all, to provide clean air and water, to provide safe working conditions, to ensure employee rights and benefits, to provide unemployment for those without a job, to provide what's needed to those less fortunate.
That's what government does, work for the people. And you, member of Congress are our government, not anyone else's government, ours. And as such:
We demand you do your damn job for us.
Now do that!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Political Fodder
Why don't the politicians in Washington D.C. get the idea the American people are tired of being political fodder in their political fights, both sides arrogantly holding to their agenda and perspective, and are tired of being blamed for the failures of the politicians for solving problems our country and government faces?
What don't they understand we don't care about their political fights? We don't want to hear their rhetoric.
What don't they understand we know they're so rich and isolated from the reality of the work and lives of the American people and the real cost of living we faced every day?
Do they really think we listen with any interest? Do they really think we live on their words? Do they really think we agree with them for not solving anything?
Do they really even understand or even care to understand? Yeah, the rhetorical question as is ours when we ask them, do you think we even care about you (politicans) anymore?
With a 10% approval rate, the answer is obvious, so what don't the politicians understand and why aren't they doing anything different than what they've already done and will continue to do, which is why we don't care.
What don't they understand we don't care about their political fights? We don't want to hear their rhetoric.
What don't they understand we know they're so rich and isolated from the reality of the work and lives of the American people and the real cost of living we faced every day?
Do they really think we listen with any interest? Do they really think we live on their words? Do they really think we agree with them for not solving anything?
Do they really even understand or even care to understand? Yeah, the rhetorical question as is ours when we ask them, do you think we even care about you (politicans) anymore?
With a 10% approval rate, the answer is obvious, so what don't the politicians understand and why aren't they doing anything different than what they've already done and will continue to do, which is why we don't care.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
More iTunes 11
If you scroll down to display the cover art, it loads it into active memory where it stays for awhile, after which it moves the nonvisible cover art into inactive memory, reducing the size of the active memory.
If you scroll again, it reloads the cover art back into active memory, increasing the size of that memory for the new visible cover art. After which it will transfer the nonvisible cover art back into inactive memory, but I haven't found the length of time for that or if it uses the same or creates new inactive memory.
Another thing I found is that the iTunes window seems made for Macbooks, meaning displaying it at full screen on a small monitor with laptop computers, and not larger monitors with iMacs or Mac Pros. The window is also larger than iTunes 10 to accommodate the same visible space.
The cover art is larger compared to iTunes 10 using the same window size. The Apps section is different displaying large images and organization of the apps, which is something I don't particularly like which requires scolling left-right and up-down.
In addition the iTunes store uses a wider window to show the whole screen, and again, something I don't really like, making everything bigger. I keep windows as small as they need to be so I can work in multiple open windows with all of them partially visible to click on a corner or edge to bring the window to the front.
The iTunes windows with the larger window, something Adobe's new Acrobat XI does too, hides the smaller windows where I have to use the display all windows button and select the window I want to the front. In short, not appreciated.
What I ended up doing is using a slightly wider and longer window, but still requiring scolling left-right to see the whole display. The size not to scroll is simply too wide for my use where users should be able to set the size of the images (small, medium/normal, and large mode).
Anyway, that's iTunes 11 so far. Maybe more to come if I find something or just want to vent some irritation or frustration with it.
Dreamweaver CS6
You set Dreamweaver CS4 and CS5 along with GoLive 9 to remember you last window size and files to alway reopen those files with the same window size and location on the screen. But you took this feature away in Dreamweaver CS6?
Why? Because, as I've read, you want users to have the full-screen performance of Dreamweaver? Really on a 27" monitor? Are they kidding anyone?
First, I work in source mode in about an 80 column width so all the files are scounched over to the left in the first 80 columns of the full-screen mode. I have to automatically resize the window to get the lines in front of me instead of the far left side.
Second, I restrict the size of the presentation of my Web pages to a 600 pixel width in a 800-900 wide browser window, so opening in design mode only puts a lot of empty space to the left and right of the Web in the middle of a very wide window.
This is dumb and clunky, so I always resize the window to 900x1024, like the browser window. And, as I've said, Dreamweaver CS4 and CS5 always remembers that. So why can't Dreamweaver CS6?
So, if anyone has any shortcuts or answer to resolve it, I'm open to trying them. Until then, that's the only part of Dreamweaver CS6 that sucks.
Emotions
Why is it that men say women are the emotional gender because they express their emotions more openly, and more often, honestly, while men just bury their emotions inside them, except for one, the one emotion which is more damaging, hurtful and dangerous than all of women's emotions combined?
That emotion is anger.
Why is it that this emotion is not considered by men to be an emotion but just their expression of themselves, who they are? Why do they treat anger differently, if not to discount it as emotion, except of course when women get angry, then it's an emotion?
Anger is the expression of all domestic violence and abuse. Anger is the expression of all rapes. Anger is the expression of all verbal, mental and emotional abuse inflicted on children and teenagers, when they're most vulnerable and both needing and wanting love from their parents and family.
Anger is the emotion men blame everyone else for their feelings, their thoughts, and more so their actions in anger. Anger is what they say isn't them, but caused by everyone else, and they're simply defending themselves.
Anger isn't that. It's an emotion, just as any emotion, but the most harmful and dangerous. It's the most insidious because it builds in men over time until is explodes inside them and they explode on everyone else and the world.
Anger is what it is, and try and they always do, men can't deny it is them, their emotion, expressed as a force to inflict the most harm on others. Women express their emotions in words, and while those words hurt, there often is a chance to heal from them with understanding and compassion.
Men express themselves in one emotion, anger, and then in action. Anger drives a lot of men's decisions and actions, always to the detriment of others, including loved one, family, friends, co-workers, and other people.
Men can't excuse it but always seem to deny it. When will men realize and admit their one emotion, anger, is their worst enemy?
That emotion is anger.
Why is it that this emotion is not considered by men to be an emotion but just their expression of themselves, who they are? Why do they treat anger differently, if not to discount it as emotion, except of course when women get angry, then it's an emotion?
Anger is the expression of all domestic violence and abuse. Anger is the expression of all rapes. Anger is the expression of all verbal, mental and emotional abuse inflicted on children and teenagers, when they're most vulnerable and both needing and wanting love from their parents and family.
Anger is the emotion men blame everyone else for their feelings, their thoughts, and more so their actions in anger. Anger is what they say isn't them, but caused by everyone else, and they're simply defending themselves.
Anger isn't that. It's an emotion, just as any emotion, but the most harmful and dangerous. It's the most insidious because it builds in men over time until is explodes inside them and they explode on everyone else and the world.
Anger is what it is, and try and they always do, men can't deny it is them, their emotion, expressed as a force to inflict the most harm on others. Women express their emotions in words, and while those words hurt, there often is a chance to heal from them with understanding and compassion.
Men express themselves in one emotion, anger, and then in action. Anger drives a lot of men's decisions and actions, always to the detriment of others, including loved one, family, friends, co-workers, and other people.
Men can't excuse it but always seem to deny it. When will men realize and admit their one emotion, anger, is their worst enemy?
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Mountain Lion & iTunes 11
Well, I reinstalled OS-X 10.8.2 this morning and it seems to have solved one problem with lsboxd error message, but didn't solve the worst problem, the endless error messages with com.apple.FolderAction.folders which can be killed with a command (terminal window).
I haven't checked the last problem, booting in safe mode, which hung at about 30% after an hour (tried several times between normal reboots. I was only using it to solve the problem which is now solved with the reinstall.
Anyway, in the end, I'm back to where I began with OS-X 10.8.2, so I'll see what happens, but after only about a month or so, this is not good for Apple. I never had these problems with all the versions of OS-X 10.4 through 10.7 having to reinstall the operating system to solve problems.
I can only guess Apple is trying to make the big computers look like iDevices (iPods, iPads, iPhones) which is both dumb and stupid. We don't own big Mac Pro's, or even iMac's to be like iDevices, we own them to be computers, really big, user-friendly, robust, never fail computers.
As for iTunes 11, yes, I still hate it, maybe a little less so as time goes by. I only open it now when I need to use it. I don't keep it hidden anymore until they issue an update to see if my complaints are fixed. But that said, Apple forgot the basic rule of making candy, ie. software.
I'm only angry I can't go back to iTunes 10 until iTunes 11 is better, as Apple doesn't allow restoring old versions of applications embedded with or a part of OS-X, and old versions aren't not forward compatible once upgraded (hmmm.... maybe?).
I haven't checked the last problem, booting in safe mode, which hung at about 30% after an hour (tried several times between normal reboots. I was only using it to solve the problem which is now solved with the reinstall.
Anyway, in the end, I'm back to where I began with OS-X 10.8.2, so I'll see what happens, but after only about a month or so, this is not good for Apple. I never had these problems with all the versions of OS-X 10.4 through 10.7 having to reinstall the operating system to solve problems.
I can only guess Apple is trying to make the big computers look like iDevices (iPods, iPads, iPhones) which is both dumb and stupid. We don't own big Mac Pro's, or even iMac's to be like iDevices, we own them to be computers, really big, user-friendly, robust, never fail computers.
As for iTunes 11, yes, I still hate it, maybe a little less so as time goes by. I only open it now when I need to use it. I don't keep it hidden anymore until they issue an update to see if my complaints are fixed. But that said, Apple forgot the basic rule of making candy, ie. software.
The product has to be both good and fancy,
iTunes 11 is just fancy.
iTunes 11 is just fancy.
I'm only angry I can't go back to iTunes 10 until iTunes 11 is better, as Apple doesn't allow restoring old versions of applications embedded with or a part of OS-X, and old versions aren't not forward compatible once upgraded (hmmm.... maybe?).
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
What We Know
We know one thing about the fight over the "fiscal cliff", if Representative Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, all the argument would be said and done. It would be history. It would be to the benefit of the 98% of Americans. It would be good for America.
That is what we know. So when you hear all the arguments from the Republicans about why it can't be done, remember them in November 2014, because we know one other thing, the Republican are only for the top 2% and screw the 98% of Americans. Us.
What we know is the truth, the simple truth between the Democrats and the Republicans.
That is what we know. So when you hear all the arguments from the Republicans about why it can't be done, remember them in November 2014, because we know one other thing, the Republican are only for the top 2% and screw the 98% of Americans. Us.
What we know is the truth, the simple truth between the Democrats and the Republicans.
Monday, December 3, 2012
iTunes 11 Bugs
I've found two bugs in iTunes 11 since loading it when it was available from Apple, and it is turning into a big mistake since I hate the new user function and style. But I've already vented or ranted on it already.
What I found today are bugs, real bugs which should have been caught by the Apple testers, unless they expect users to be testers now, which means we deserve to be paid.
Anyway, the bugs are as follows.
1. If you open iTunes, like I do, in album view, it only loads the cover art for the albums visible in the window. You have to scroll to load all the cover art, which I do everytime I open iTunes so I don't have to wait for the cover art to load when I do scroll later.
When I did this iTunes 10 or earlier it always kept the cover art visible when you scolled no matter how long you keep it open one set of albums or when you hid or unhid iTunes. But not iTunes 11. It will remove any cover art not in the display window if it sits in one place or your hide it.
You have to scroll again to reload the cover art for the albums, which leads to the second bug.
2. When you reload the cover art, it adds it to the active memory for iTunes on top of the previous active memory for the cover art. It doesn't use the existing memory for cover art. It reloads it for display and to active memory, increasing the memory that much again.
To say this is really stupid is an understatement, especially from Apple who should have tested and fixed it before it was released. I can't begin to wonder where their heads were at when they tested this.
3. Which is a suggestion. Can Apple please load all the album art when you open it? How hard is it to just load all the cover art so users don't have to scroll to load it. We want to see the album covers, not some stupid "no art" cover and have to wait while it loads.
So what I do now with iTunes 11 is open it, use it and close it. And yes, I scroll from top to bottom to load all the album cover art because I find albums by the cover. I do that while it's open. I don't hide it, at least I won't until they fix it. When I'm done, I close it.
Apple, I'm seriously disappointed with you and iTunes 11. Fortunately I have other music players on my Mac which reads iTunes folders and files. And they play the music better too.
What I found today are bugs, real bugs which should have been caught by the Apple testers, unless they expect users to be testers now, which means we deserve to be paid.
Anyway, the bugs are as follows.
1. If you open iTunes, like I do, in album view, it only loads the cover art for the albums visible in the window. You have to scroll to load all the cover art, which I do everytime I open iTunes so I don't have to wait for the cover art to load when I do scroll later.
When I did this iTunes 10 or earlier it always kept the cover art visible when you scolled no matter how long you keep it open one set of albums or when you hid or unhid iTunes. But not iTunes 11. It will remove any cover art not in the display window if it sits in one place or your hide it.
You have to scroll again to reload the cover art for the albums, which leads to the second bug.
2. When you reload the cover art, it adds it to the active memory for iTunes on top of the previous active memory for the cover art. It doesn't use the existing memory for cover art. It reloads it for display and to active memory, increasing the memory that much again.
To say this is really stupid is an understatement, especially from Apple who should have tested and fixed it before it was released. I can't begin to wonder where their heads were at when they tested this.
3. Which is a suggestion. Can Apple please load all the album art when you open it? How hard is it to just load all the cover art so users don't have to scroll to load it. We want to see the album covers, not some stupid "no art" cover and have to wait while it loads.
So what I do now with iTunes 11 is open it, use it and close it. And yes, I scroll from top to bottom to load all the album cover art because I find albums by the cover. I do that while it's open. I don't hide it, at least I won't until they fix it. When I'm done, I close it.
Apple, I'm seriously disappointed with you and iTunes 11. Fortunately I have other music players on my Mac which reads iTunes folders and files. And they play the music better too.
Really Republicans
First there was the Ryan Plan. Then there was the Romney Plan, the Ryan Plan redux, and now we have the Boehner Plan, the Romney Plan redux, all in a span of the last two years or less. The same plan with a different title.
Really Republicans? What don't you understand that come January 1st, if you don't agree to the President's proposal and Democrat's plan, you will lose. You know the old bet you make with some when you hold the coin?
Except the President and Democrats are holding the coin. That's your reality. Your plan won't fly. You tried twice and the third time only strikes out. We've heard, we know it, and we hate it. We voted for the President.
What don't you understand? Your pledge is to all of the American people, not the top 2%. And certainly not to Grover Norquist. If you don't believe it, we'll remind you in November 2014. That something we know and can do, vote your ass out of office.
Really Republicans? What don't you understand that come January 1st, if you don't agree to the President's proposal and Democrat's plan, you will lose. You know the old bet you make with some when you hold the coin?
Tails I win, Heads you lose.
Except the President and Democrats are holding the coin. That's your reality. Your plan won't fly. You tried twice and the third time only strikes out. We've heard, we know it, and we hate it. We voted for the President.
What don't you understand? Your pledge is to all of the American people, not the top 2%. And certainly not to Grover Norquist. If you don't believe it, we'll remind you in November 2014. That something we know and can do, vote your ass out of office.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Apple OS-X 10.8.2
I ran an interesting test just to see how much resource OS-X 10.8.2 eats over times. Eating meaning using resources it's using above what it used shortly after rebooting (using the purge command to clear unused active and inactive resources).
I ran the test right after rebooting with only three apps running, Activity Monitor, Console and Terminal windows. Then I ran it again after bringing up all my basic apps, iTunes, Adobe Bridge CS6, Safari and Mail along with 22 menu bar apps.
Right after rebooting, the Mac (Pro dual 2 x 2.4 GHz with 8 cards of 2 GB memory ECC for 16 GB of memory) uses the following:
Wired - 900 MB
Active - 914 MB
Inactive - 24.6 MB
Used - 1.80 GB
With all the apps opened but not used yet:
Wired - 1.02 GB
Active - 2.24 GB
Inactive - 53.2 MB
Used - 3.26 GB
After a week of running with just the same apps opened:
Wired - 1.32 GB
Active - 3.14 GB
Inactive - 110 Mb
Used - 4.46 GB
In all of these cases, the numbers were taken after the purge command. There was a gain of 900 MB for the active memory and 57 MB of inactive memory over the week. The wired memory seems to stablize quickly in a day or so with the kernal process taking most of the new memory.
Much of the additional active memory was taken by iTunes and especially Adobe Bridge, which is why I suggested in another post to close all Adobe apps you don't plan to use for awhile, they eat memory just sitting there open and hidden, especially the adobe crash daemon, often the latter taken most memory than the app itself.
Anyway, it's just an observation. About once a week or so close all the apps and reboot, especially after doing a lot of work with a few apps or having had a lot of apps opened for awhile. This isn't critical or really even important, but just to reset all the resources.
A note about rebooting. Close all apps before rebooting. It saves on the reboot. I only keep one app open when I reboot to open when I reboot, the Terminal window. This is because there is a bug which writes a lot of messages to the Console which I have to quickly stop after rebooting.
There's a bug somewhere in the com.apple.launchd.peruser file:
com.apple.FolderActions.folders.plist file
which won't stop writing messages about throttling. I've posted it on the Apple Mountain Lion forum but no one has replied with any word, let alone a solution. It's a known bug too.
That's the observation. And yes, I love my Mac Pro.
I ran the test right after rebooting with only three apps running, Activity Monitor, Console and Terminal windows. Then I ran it again after bringing up all my basic apps, iTunes, Adobe Bridge CS6, Safari and Mail along with 22 menu bar apps.
Right after rebooting, the Mac (Pro dual 2 x 2.4 GHz with 8 cards of 2 GB memory ECC for 16 GB of memory) uses the following:
Wired - 900 MB
Active - 914 MB
Inactive - 24.6 MB
Used - 1.80 GB
With all the apps opened but not used yet:
Wired - 1.02 GB
Active - 2.24 GB
Inactive - 53.2 MB
Used - 3.26 GB
After a week of running with just the same apps opened:
Wired - 1.32 GB
Active - 3.14 GB
Inactive - 110 Mb
Used - 4.46 GB
In all of these cases, the numbers were taken after the purge command. There was a gain of 900 MB for the active memory and 57 MB of inactive memory over the week. The wired memory seems to stablize quickly in a day or so with the kernal process taking most of the new memory.
Much of the additional active memory was taken by iTunes and especially Adobe Bridge, which is why I suggested in another post to close all Adobe apps you don't plan to use for awhile, they eat memory just sitting there open and hidden, especially the adobe crash daemon, often the latter taken most memory than the app itself.
Anyway, it's just an observation. About once a week or so close all the apps and reboot, especially after doing a lot of work with a few apps or having had a lot of apps opened for awhile. This isn't critical or really even important, but just to reset all the resources.
A note about rebooting. Close all apps before rebooting. It saves on the reboot. I only keep one app open when I reboot to open when I reboot, the Terminal window. This is because there is a bug which writes a lot of messages to the Console which I have to quickly stop after rebooting.
There's a bug somewhere in the com.apple.launchd.peruser file:
com.apple.FolderActions.folders.plist file
which won't stop writing messages about throttling. I've posted it on the Apple Mountain Lion forum but no one has replied with any word, let alone a solution. It's a known bug too.
That's the observation. And yes, I love my Mac Pro.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Mac Pros
With the latest upgrade to iTunes 11, why do I get the impression that Apple seems to be thinking Mac Pro's are merely larger iPhones or iPads? And exactly why does iTunes need a constant connection to iCloud when I don't put anything in iTunes in iCloud?
[Update.-- I found the setting to remove this in the window. In the user settings, under "Store", turn off sync with iTunes purchase in the iCloud. This stops iTunes from routinely checking iCloud for purchases and removes the iCloud icon.]
The more I tinker with the new iTunes, the more it's becoming a bigger nuisance to learn and remember all the stuff (I'd say shit but it's a public blog) to do simple things, like play the album. I like the old iTunes simplicity compared to the new iTunes.
And after playing some albums and playing with the user interface,
Why can't iTunes load all the albums covers when it opens? Why do I have to scroll the whole length of the album view to get all the cover images to load and display? Yes, I know, it saves cpu and memory resources, but hey, how much really would it take? Not a lot. At least have a user setting to load all images at opening.
I also noticed iTunes has more functions and features similar to third-party applications, such as CoverSutra. If I wanted CoverSutra in my iTunes I'd ask for it. Yes I have CoverSutra, but now it's useless as a separate application except I prefer it there than in iTunes.
When they upgraded Safari to 6, they changed some features more suited for iPhones and iPads than Mac's, especially Mac Pro's with large monitor (I have the 27" one), and they have added the function to change or disable those dumb things.
There are several things I dislike about Safari 6. The first is the lack of the old separate activity window which was great for users and Web designers/developers to see the components for each tab or window in one window outside of the browser.
The second is the tab width, really dumb change. They used to be fixed width and now they're variable width depending on the browser window size and the number of tabs open. This is easily controlled with user settings (enable/disable variable/fixed width tabs).
So Apple why can't you listen to users and restore some features Apple designers arbitarily removed when it wasn't necessary to remove them? You have the code to give users more control, but you seem to be acting more like Microsoft than Apple anymore.
Anyway, it's just a short rant against Apple's intentional neglect for Mac Pro's and their big brother attitude toward users. I still like them over PC and especially Microsoft, but they're beginning to try my patience at their corporate decisions about their computer and applications.
[Update.-- I found the setting to remove this in the window. In the user settings, under "Store", turn off sync with iTunes purchase in the iCloud. This stops iTunes from routinely checking iCloud for purchases and removes the iCloud icon.]
The more I tinker with the new iTunes, the more it's becoming a bigger nuisance to learn and remember all the stuff (I'd say shit but it's a public blog) to do simple things, like play the album. I like the old iTunes simplicity compared to the new iTunes.
And after playing some albums and playing with the user interface,
I really fucking hate the new style!
Why can't iTunes load all the albums covers when it opens? Why do I have to scroll the whole length of the album view to get all the cover images to load and display? Yes, I know, it saves cpu and memory resources, but hey, how much really would it take? Not a lot. At least have a user setting to load all images at opening.
I also noticed iTunes has more functions and features similar to third-party applications, such as CoverSutra. If I wanted CoverSutra in my iTunes I'd ask for it. Yes I have CoverSutra, but now it's useless as a separate application except I prefer it there than in iTunes.
When they upgraded Safari to 6, they changed some features more suited for iPhones and iPads than Mac's, especially Mac Pro's with large monitor (I have the 27" one), and they have added the function to change or disable those dumb things.
There are several things I dislike about Safari 6. The first is the lack of the old separate activity window which was great for users and Web designers/developers to see the components for each tab or window in one window outside of the browser.
The second is the tab width, really dumb change. They used to be fixed width and now they're variable width depending on the browser window size and the number of tabs open. This is easily controlled with user settings (enable/disable variable/fixed width tabs).
So Apple why can't you listen to users and restore some features Apple designers arbitarily removed when it wasn't necessary to remove them? You have the code to give users more control, but you seem to be acting more like Microsoft than Apple anymore.
Anyway, it's just a short rant against Apple's intentional neglect for Mac Pro's and their big brother attitude toward users. I still like them over PC and especially Microsoft, but they're beginning to try my patience at their corporate decisions about their computer and applications.
Really Century Link
At 4:40 this afternoon Century Link brought the Internet down for about 5 minutes. Really, in the late afternoon on a Saturday when there are how many users on-line at the time? Then when they tried to bring it back, it didn't come back (DSL modem lights) for another 5 minutes.
That's 10 minutes in the middle of the afternoon into evening when a lot of people are on-line doing a variety of things, and suddenly find their work interrupted and all their communications and connections to the world not working.
I know sometimes there are good reasons to do this, but it really is not just frustrating or irritating, especially if you're in the middle of buying something on-line (think about that and the confustion it brings), it's a WTF moment aimed at you.
Think about all the applications which now require an internet connection to work, like those cloud services, cloud applications, cloud file transfers, etc., all suddenly trying to reconnect and recover. Think about all the people watching videos, watching TV, listening to radio stations, calling or texing family or friends, etc.
But in the end it still is, "Really Century Link?"
That's 10 minutes in the middle of the afternoon into evening when a lot of people are on-line doing a variety of things, and suddenly find their work interrupted and all their communications and connections to the world not working.
I know sometimes there are good reasons to do this, but it really is not just frustrating or irritating, especially if you're in the middle of buying something on-line (think about that and the confustion it brings), it's a WTF moment aimed at you.
Think about all the applications which now require an internet connection to work, like those cloud services, cloud applications, cloud file transfers, etc., all suddenly trying to reconnect and recover. Think about all the people watching videos, watching TV, listening to radio stations, calling or texing family or friends, etc.
But in the end it still is, "Really Century Link?"
House 2013 Calendar
Remember this in 2014 when the members of the House of representatives are up for re-election, which is the 2013 schedule for the days (and some times) of the first sessioin of the 113th congress of the House of Representatives will be "in session", meaning conducting business of committees, office, debate and voting on legislation.
Remember it, they will be "working" 126 days and all the rest, all 259 days, including weekends, are days the members can do anything they want, such as travel, vacation, meet with constituents, etc., anything that fits their interests.
Remember it, as you can see here. Yes, your elected officials in the House of Representatives. We pay their salary, benefits, travel, per-diem, offices, staff (w/ the salary, benefits, travel, per-diem, etc.) and associated costs of being a representatives.
Remember it. The highlighted days. Wouldn't you like to have their work schedule? Wouldn't you like to have all those (non-highlighted) days off? Remember it. This is who you elected.
Remember it, they will be "working" 126 days and all the rest, all 259 days, including weekends, are days the members can do anything they want, such as travel, vacation, meet with constituents, etc., anything that fits their interests.
Remember it, as you can see here. Yes, your elected officials in the House of Representatives. We pay their salary, benefits, travel, per-diem, offices, staff (w/ the salary, benefits, travel, per-diem, etc.) and associated costs of being a representatives.
Remember it. The highlighted days. Wouldn't you like to have their work schedule? Wouldn't you like to have all those (non-highlighted) days off? Remember it. This is who you elected.
Republicans
Republicans in Congress,
If you're bitching and whining now about the issue on tax cuts for the middle class (< $250,000) now, what do you plan to say January 2nd when all the Bush tax cuts expire and you're standing there holding the blame, all of it?
What exactly will you tell the American people why you didn't agree to the President's proposal? What exactly don't you understand we get to say about your job in 2014 about what you think of the American people?
I'm listening, we're listening, but you should keep in mind we, the people, are tired of your stupid political rhetoric, it's old and irrelevant. We heard it in 2010 when the fight over the Bush tax cuts were extended to now.
We heard it last over the raising the debt ceiling. We heard it in 2012 throughout the election campaign, from the primaries through the election and debates. It's the Romney tax plan redux, and long proven to be a lie.
What don't you understand everyone sees it, everyone knows it, and we all see you as the idiots in the room on this issue. Stop the political dance for power over the public relations and start negotiating in good faith.
If you can actually do that since you've never done it. We've watched and heard what you've done through this session (2011-12) of Congress. We know it's all political cow pasture material. Americans know it and they're tired of it.
So, you'll do what you think is right, which it isn't, but remember we'll do what we think is right in November 2014. That you understand, being re-elected, or not. That's our decision then.
If you're bitching and whining now about the issue on tax cuts for the middle class (< $250,000) now, what do you plan to say January 2nd when all the Bush tax cuts expire and you're standing there holding the blame, all of it?
What exactly will you tell the American people why you didn't agree to the President's proposal? What exactly don't you understand we get to say about your job in 2014 about what you think of the American people?
I'm listening, we're listening, but you should keep in mind we, the people, are tired of your stupid political rhetoric, it's old and irrelevant. We heard it in 2010 when the fight over the Bush tax cuts were extended to now.
We heard it last over the raising the debt ceiling. We heard it in 2012 throughout the election campaign, from the primaries through the election and debates. It's the Romney tax plan redux, and long proven to be a lie.
What don't you understand everyone sees it, everyone knows it, and we all see you as the idiots in the room on this issue. Stop the political dance for power over the public relations and start negotiating in good faith.
If you can actually do that since you've never done it. We've watched and heard what you've done through this session (2011-12) of Congress. We know it's all political cow pasture material. Americans know it and they're tired of it.
So, you'll do what you think is right, which it isn't, but remember we'll do what we think is right in November 2014. That you understand, being re-elected, or not. That's our decision then.
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