Friday, March 20, 2009

Reid: Obama casino rule "nonsensical"

Snip of a letter from Sen. Harry Reid to President Obama
"A couple of specific examples are illustrative of the problems caused by the overly broad language. The Department of Justice-Office on Violence Against Women's Transition Housing Assistance Program offers funding to provide victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking supportive services such as short-term housing assistance. In many Nevada rural communities the only hotel rooms available are in casinos. The overly broad restriction deprives victims of a safe place away from their attackers."


Nevada rural communities is not specifically defined to a location, but the following maps.google.com search shows 4 pages of searches with "+hotels -casinos Las Vegas NV".

Link to Map

Why not have the funds go towards establishing better shelters - or new shelters - if there is THAT much of a need to support various activities that normally are only designated as "casino" activities.

Another snip...
"...which has created a unique environment in which hotel/casino complexes are often the most appropriate venue for certain activities, particularly holding public events such as community outreach events, Parent Teacher Association meetings, domestic violence trainings, and other workshops."

Can't these meetings be held in schools, churches, and the like.

Another search for "+meeting -casinos las vegas nv" (LINK) shows 5,000+ locations.

There are so many other options that don't require the involvement or intervention of the casinos. What would the supposed people he is looking after have done without this stimulus money? Keep the money that can be used for casino based meetings and subsidize additional meetings in non-casino venues.

Done. Everyone is happy.

Next topic.

Now I know what these guys feel like

Firefighters



PCLinuxOS 2009.1 - A Taste of an Old Friend

Much time has past since I ventured away from the *buntu namespace for my home Linux adventures. I converted to Linux from Windows XP/Vista/whatever about a year ago. The main stay for me moving to Ubuntu 8.10 was the inclusion of and easy configuration of:
  • Wireless for more than WEP, specifically WPA Enterprise
  • Dual-monitor support
  • DVD/CD burning software that REALLY worked for my two different types of burners
  • External media
  • Better USB support - this is specifically for my cell phones. I really (REALLY) require my computer to be able to natively charge my cell phone through my USB cable
  • Printing support - I love the fact that I connect my HP to Linux and the printer fully detects not only the printer, but the scanner as well

I have used, in the past, Kubuntu and Xubuntu. I have always fallen back to Ubuntu because the Gnome interface just makes more "sense" to me. The layout is, well, more intuitive and enjoyable (IMO). Although, I am not the biggest fan of the default panels at the bottom and top.

After checking out the details on the latest build of PCLinuxOS, I decided to play with the LiveCD of PCLinuxOS 2009.1. My goal was to check on what was new in this distro but not necessarily to fully replace my installation of Ubuntu 8.10.

Here is the link to the distro site:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/

After about 10 minutes in 2009.1, I could not double click the "Install" icon on the desktop fast enough.

Some key items that pushed me over:
  • I decided KDE may be ok to "push" through... force myself
  • Dual-monitor support was EASIER than Ubuntu
  • Wireless was EASIER to get setup than Ubuntu
  • Software packages were more up-to-date. An example is Open Office - 3.0 instead of 2.4
  • Flash was all set
  • Java as well
  • Wallpaper - I dig being able to select different wallpaper for each of my monitors... that adds to the cool factor
  • Konqueror - I am liking Konqueror more and more (I wish I could get this up and running on Windows)
I'll continue to post information about the distro and my experiences. Such as "this doesn't work" or "that". Things I find cool... whatever.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Save the newspapers?

I was reading through the following article and found myself curious about the intent and breadth of the nationalization of every industry unable to shift with the economic times and wondered, yet again, "Where's my bail-out?"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/16/MNIA16GCBO.DTL

I started with the understanding of how my wife and I started in our holy matrimony and what steps have resulted in a vast change to the way we use the newspaper.

WAAAYYY back in the day, my wife would buy multiple newspapers, specifically Wednesday and Sunday, in order to accumulate multiple coupon offerings.

As we moved forward with technology, we were no longer burdened with requiring an actual coupon to save $.25 on a box of mac-n-cheese. The grocery stores were able to move their sales to a key fob type setup where either through the off-shoot coupon or the key chain store card, we were able to save a bunch on the "sale" items.

Technology plays an important piece in the newspaper landscape. The main intent, from my understanding, is to provide the news in written form and report on events from the last 24 hours. The hard copy newspaper is simply outdated and archaic.

Until recently, I was limited to only MY COMPUTER to be able to log into any newspaper website and peruse the articles and see information about what is going on in that entities community - regardless of size. This can include national newspapers - like U.S. Today or the local scribe, the Star Tribune. All of that being said, even for the bus, I haven't bought a newspaper in over five years.

Why?

One reason is that cellular companies have migrated the need for paper news to bits and bytes. Also, the same stories on on the digital version of many newspapers and magazines. I now get PC World via a link from my email. I no longer receive a hard copy version... I am fine with that. It saves me cleaning the old copies off of the back of the toilet.

Speaking of bathroom reading: Now that I have swung over to the G1 from T-Mobile (friends say I am ADDICTED!!), what is the point of a printed newspaper. Worse yet... NAY, a better question... WHY attempt to save the newspaper if that newspaper is not able to create a 21st century business model that keeps them equitable and contemporary? What is the intent behind Pelosi's drive?

Oh wait - it's left wing... correct? And in her district?

2009 Newspapers Filing Bankruptcy


Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Daily News
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23philly.html

Star Tribune (in Minneapolis)
http://www.startribune.com/business/37685134.html

Now, the article starts "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, worried about the fate of The Chronicle and other financially struggling newspapers...", but never discusses what other entities SHE is worried about.

Can someone... anyone... provide what SHE is attempting to do for the greater good and position herself as a respected Speaker of the House? Outside of picking and choosing what hometown businesses to attempt to save by making use of her title and influence. I thought the left saved that for right wingers.

And yeah, I take my G1 to the shitter. Never know when you are going to be in there longer than the norm and need a little brick-breaker to pass the time. Go F^&$# yourself...

:)