I have been tobacco free for 14 months now so I get the "we don't want smoking" blah blah blah. I enjoy going out to the bars with no smoking - no complaints from me. I DO NOT agree with the government edict making smoking in public places illegal. I am a free market kind of guy and feel commerce exchange will take care of pretty much everything in the public space where supply and demand come into play. I have always believed that government getting involved in such things would evolve (or it is devolve???) on a slippery slope and make cause for pundits in the anti-smoking establishment to take hold of any thing they can control.
Here is the next step:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=prnw.20080611.AQW030&show_article=1
I wish these folks would spend time on important things...like plastic that will actual breakdown in landfills or cat litter that actually absorbs the stink from my cats' butts.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Comcast...(not) again
I have been working on a video of my daughter's graduation. Zipping the file and breaking it into smaller chunks helps in getting it up to my server - all 400 MB.
The upload process has been taking forever - cruising a slow and steady pace of 44KB/s. My upload is rated higher according to Comcast, so I jumped over to dslreport's speed test to see what the various speed test engine's would report. My upload of ZIPped, binary data, to MY website hosting server ... is being compressed.
I have heard of such things in for torrents, but this is MY data, going to MY webhost server, and within the boundaries of MY upload rating (as presented by Comcast). My claim of upload rating is based on the following text: "Maximum upload speeds range between 384 Kbps and 2 Mbps depending on the service tier selected and can be even faster with PowerBoost®." taken from here at the very bottom of the page.
I use 15% of my rated upload bandwidth and I get compressed. Great timing for the Qwest packages that have been released. Faster download, upload, plus a free modem. I think I need to ponder if a contract is that big of a deal...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Glassbooth.org - survey to see how your beliefs align...
I started a Google search for "best presidential candidate" and found a couple of interesting links.
The first link is an article on ideamarketers.com and revolves around how the author suggests a way to determine your presidential selection: read AND understand the Constitution of the United States.
This is a great idea! From the article, "Read the rule book".
The second link provides some clarity around hot topics and how your selections match against the voting records and rhetoric of the candidates:
Check out the links and pages to see where you thoughts are leading you.
The first link is an article on ideamarketers.com and revolves around how the author suggests a way to determine your presidential selection: read AND understand the Constitution of the United States.
This is a great idea! From the article, "Read the rule book".
The second link provides some clarity around hot topics and how your selections match against the voting records and rhetoric of the candidates:
Check out the links and pages to see where you thoughts are leading you.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Now is the time to ask
Now is the time to ask does our government have our best interest at hand? Does our government actually represent the people of this great nation? I say no. I say this for numerous reasons and most of those reasons are quite obvious. We do not see our government moving to a position of oil independence. We do not see our government confronting nations that act in an irrational manner. We do not see our government actively finding ways to protect it's citizens.
So now is the time to question those that lead us. Now is the time to realize that many of our representatives are only it in for the money. Now is the time to hold people responsible for the their decisions.
We need to start demanding term limits. We need to make sure our judges understand that they are not in a position to legislate from the bench but to interpret law. We need to raise up and say, "We are the government of the people and the decisions that the government makes will be based on the will of the people and not for political expediency." That argument starts here and with the people.
So now is the time to question those that lead us. Now is the time to realize that many of our representatives are only it in for the money. Now is the time to hold people responsible for the their decisions.
We need to start demanding term limits. We need to make sure our judges understand that they are not in a position to legislate from the bench but to interpret law. We need to raise up and say, "We are the government of the people and the decisions that the government makes will be based on the will of the people and not for political expediency." That argument starts here and with the people.
Friday, May 9, 2008
My latest ordeal with Comcast - Video on Demand
Ugh...
So I had to call and speak to a person on the other end of the vast Comcast sponge of love they call "tech support". Don't get me wrong - the people themselves are usually decent enough. But I had to throw this out there...
I was having problems (errors) when attempting to access Video On Demand. This is the service provided with the Digital Cable packages through Comcast. My box could not access the service. Repeated attempts to reset the box through the automated service did not actually reset the box. Unplugging the box for 30 seconds was not hard resetting the box either. I finally decided to make the plunge and wait for an actual person. Wonderful...
After explaining my issue, the steps I had attempted, and the lack of positive results, I was told that the neighborhood is taking too much VOD bandwidth. That is why I was not able to connect to the service. The proposed recovery steps included an attempt to reset the box to ... ahem.... put me at the TOP OF THE VOD QUEUE! Since the reset to the box required a complete download of VOD and the channel guide, I would go to the top of the queue for all of that information and stay up high in order to connect to the VOD service.
I was then informed that the existing service is overburdened and out of date. Comcast is apparently looking into a new service (or maybe just building the service to match the VOD demand).
if this is the case, shouldn't there be some sort of prorate on the cable cost? If I am spending $70 (or whateve) for a service with the expectation of that service being there when I traverse one area over another, when the service fails me should I demand something back? If I don't use VOD AND the service is not available because the systems are overburdened, I want to opt out of that portion and save a buck or two!
I'm sure this is a horse is beaten to death (too soon?) but I like stirring the pot.
So I had to call and speak to a person on the other end of the vast Comcast sponge of love they call "tech support". Don't get me wrong - the people themselves are usually decent enough. But I had to throw this out there...
I was having problems (errors) when attempting to access Video On Demand. This is the service provided with the Digital Cable packages through Comcast. My box could not access the service. Repeated attempts to reset the box through the automated service did not actually reset the box. Unplugging the box for 30 seconds was not hard resetting the box either. I finally decided to make the plunge and wait for an actual person. Wonderful...
After explaining my issue, the steps I had attempted, and the lack of positive results, I was told that the neighborhood is taking too much VOD bandwidth. That is why I was not able to connect to the service. The proposed recovery steps included an attempt to reset the box to ... ahem.... put me at the TOP OF THE VOD QUEUE! Since the reset to the box required a complete download of VOD and the channel guide, I would go to the top of the queue for all of that information and stay up high in order to connect to the VOD service.
I was then informed that the existing service is overburdened and out of date. Comcast is apparently looking into a new service (or maybe just building the service to match the VOD demand).
if this is the case, shouldn't there be some sort of prorate on the cable cost? If I am spending $70 (or whateve) for a service with the expectation of that service being there when I traverse one area over another, when the service fails me should I demand something back? If I don't use VOD AND the service is not available because the systems are overburdened, I want to opt out of that portion and save a buck or two!
I'm sure this is a horse is beaten to death (too soon?) but I like stirring the pot.
Fuji FinePix S700
I am not a big fan of spending money on technology - at full retail. I just can't do it. The last camera purchase I made (this Fuji) was at a local discount retail outlet with a 'bullseye' for a logo. Between a couple of discount coupons, clearance pricing, and open-box-this-is-the-last-one pricing, I was able to pick this guy up for under 90.00 USD. i am still seeing this thing around for ~$200 USD.
I have purchased 2 digital cameras in my life - a Canon something-or-other point and shoot and this Fuji FinePix.
Now, the two cameras are not comparable. The Canon was a couple of years old but for the time, was full featured for a mid-to-low end point and shoot. But wow, this FinePix is extremely nice. More features than I thought I would really deal with - perhaps too many...?
Anyway, I recommend this camera if you are looking for something a little more than a basic point and shoot but not ready for the (D)SLR jump.
Pros:
I have purchased 2 digital cameras in my life - a Canon something-or-other point and shoot and this Fuji FinePix.
Now, the two cameras are not comparable. The Canon was a couple of years old but for the time, was full featured for a mid-to-low end point and shoot. But wow, this FinePix is extremely nice. More features than I thought I would really deal with - perhaps too many...?
Anyway, I recommend this camera if you are looking for something a little more than a basic point and shoot but not ready for the (D)SLR jump.
Pros:
- Fast shutter speed (for me)
- Auto mode takes care of you (for the most part)
- Ease of use with one hand (for me, again)
- LCD or eye view for display
Cons:
- Flash is built in
- USB connection is not USB "B"...yet another USB cable to worry about
- I have to show all files (including system files) in order to see the media when connected to my Windows XP - I will be trying this on my Ubuntu machine later
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