Can't you trip like he did?

Aaaah, raise a glass friends and neighbors, and take what ever haluciogenic's you have, the father of gonzo journalism is dead, O Discordia! Hunter S. Thompson took his own life tragically at 5:30 pm Sunday in the kitchen of his Aspen home, and the world is a smaller place for it.

He asked that his ashes be fired from a cannon, and I hope his family is offered their choice of the biggest and loudest, because he was no slouch in life, and shouldn't be in death either... His son is quoted as saying that one of his frequent phrases was "I'm a road man for the Lords Of Karma" and if that is to be interpreted as he decided he was close to overstaying his welcome, well... he could have come stay with us... Anyway, We'll all miss you and never forget what you did for the world and bloging in general.

In case anyone else hasn't made the connection, a blog is little more than what HST started in his writing on the road with his trusty typewriter, and I hope that people never forget that... if you've never read either of the Fear and Loathing letters, stop this second, go get one of the books, at least, read it, and come back to see me. Trust me, it's important, I can wait.... anyway, I'll just let this trail off....

It's 2am, and I'm just about to head off to the great big bed, but I had to put at least one last note here before I passed out. So on this, I'll just say a few things...

First, going back over my posts, I've come to realize I need a email blocker that forwards everything I've written off to a review committee before it gets out of my sent items. I've lately sent a few pretty stupid emails, and actually find myself missing things like Groupwise and Notes, I want to take those back! Not that their intent was bad, just the wording looks like a man who's awake at 2 in the morning wrote them... oh wait...

So, since I've done my service to Hunter, it's tequila time... "Outside my new front door the street is full of leaves..."

Ta!

Where my War Dogs At Yo?

Just a few fun links for the free thinkerz in da HizOuse!

Mr Bush Goes for the Kill!
Get your War ON! (mutha frockers!)
Rumor Mill News Agency

Keep it real peeps, I'll catch-e-koo ya all on da fliped out sidez, sizzle, buzzle fo skize ho's and all that (man, does anyone actualy listen to these SD kids, they think they are all from the south side of Compton, or any getto in america, not the 100K suburb parks they are all being raised in... dude, they are all stupid fat fly monkey!)

Ta!

P.S. For reading this far, you get a prize... check out TeaGames for fun with physics!!

Morning update to a late night rant.

Update : Ok, with yesterday / last night's post in the channel, I thought I should make a few side bar notes... umm, when I do get new music, I use online stores if I'm only interested in purchasing the songs, but since I spent years and years working near a music department, I have plenty right now. As for the music stores I prefer, I WAS almost a convert to iTunes, but... well see these articles for my opinion on that....

http://slavedheart.blogspot.com/2005/01/itunes-blows-it.html
orhttp://americancomputersupport.blogspot.com/2005/01/ipod-mini.html

Otherwise, I'm going to try Walmart, or Real for a while... see how they handle the issues... can't be convinced to try the new Napster or Microsoft's sites... mostly issues with DRM in my case... can't be convinced that it's a good thing (even though these other two probably have some sort in place, you guys make it a mission to distribute DRM, not content.. please also see last article), and since you can get around it with a few simple hacks, it's not really that innovative for me, even as a musician... (line out line in, haven't tried it, but I'm guessing I could make it work with a second pc, or a tuner then a PC... but just not that interested in trying, anyone up for a "break the DRM" challenge with house hold items? I'll supply the laugh track?). But for the most part, I've given up on iTunes till they stop sending me spam ("your warranty's expired..." Wait, I just got my iPod in November, how is a year long warranty from November expiring in February?). so....

TO : iTunes Support - Answer the mail I sent repeatedly about 4.7.1 or I'm going to start e-blasting your product on every blog site and review site I can find.... the wrath of a man with a keyboard can be great if he's a reasonable man with a decent blog-cab-u-lairy... (joke there, get a sense of humor as well if you read that and want to make a snide comment)

Second update: If your a blogger.com user, please try putting the word "blog" in your post and then explain to me why spell check comes up with this word as incorrect? Just wondering google, I'm starting to turn my eyes to you.... Your BLOG software shouldn't have a hard time with the word BLOG, and I shouldn't have to teach it to the spell checker.

Here's the Skinny, fatty (and pass the Fatty, skinny)

Reading a couple articles tonight got the old brain going on an issue that seems to plague the internet like a flu with no vaccination... It's the P2P problem, there are companies popping up just to track what is considered infringement, retired folks trading songs, and the music industry suing a 12 year old boy... And all because they can't see the forest for the trees.

In the 80's, Atari, a household name loved by millions almost seemed to fight against the motto, "Innovate or Die". They allowed anyone to release games, but didn't give people any reason to sick with what they were offering. Yes, I know, the new Atari, bla bla bla, but the essence of the matter is that they just didn't get the point quickly enough. Now the music industry is about to suffer the same fate if they don't get the message pretty soon. Personally, I stopped using P2P years ago, too many virus / spyware / scamware problems for me to spend my time on when there was so much else to learn, but sharing music is now a way of life and needs to be addressed in a little more constructive manner.

See, the last album I bought (and recently this is) was a Weird Al CD. I didn't buy it because I couldn't possibly find the songs online, but instead because Al did something I've been seeing pop up in a few remote corners of the music industry. He innovated... He included photo's, videos, and more on that disc, and to me, that makes all the difference. When CD's first came out, I was recording music from the radio onto tape (for those of you who don't know what a tape is, please find an elder and ask them about these almost forgotten consumer products). I was getting all the music I like for free anyway, but CD's brought a new level of entertainment to the mix. Smaller size, no possibility of having to rewind by finger, and much better clarity on albums. I liken this to today, in so much as CD's no longer are the media event they once were. Now you can get that same level of quality off the internet, and we're back to listening to the DJ, hoping to release the pause button in time to capture the right song, with only a modicum of difference in the way you wait for the DJ.

But getting back to Al, he, like some other bands I love have decided that it's time to revive the industry again instead of just making a federal case of the whole thing (although I'm sure he's probably in the RIAA side of the ring, but that's not the point). He gave me some reason to buy the disc... Made it worth my while to search out the stuff in an old fashion store, instead of firing up torrent downloading software or Kazza or some such. That's where this needs to go. To the artists who are just putting music on DVD, well, maybe that's a little like Photo-Albums (you know, where their was art printed on the vinyl, again, see elder for info), but to the artist who is putting on a concert on that DVD, there is innovation working slowly to take away the file sharing system.

So to the RIAA, and the Artists who aren't willing to move out of the 80's and 90's, I say I may buy your stuff because I've got other things to do (and even that's unlikely since I discovered podcasting), but the rest of the world isn't, and that trend isn't likely to slow anytime soon. And to the people who are working on making the content more than just the music, well, thank you for putting art back into Artist, let me open the wallet...

Ta

Random Brain Stew (chunky beef flavor!)

After a long weekend, I'm finally back with some random thoughts and rants. First off, I've finally decided to go with a new font for the blog. I've long been a fan of the Ariel font, because of it's look and readability. Now, I'm sure there are all kinds of thoughts and studies out there on what is actualy the best or the worst, but I prefer the Ariel font family, so we're going to stick with this. Sitting here with my iPod playing out the daily source code, I don't have to lean in to read some of what I've written, so it's probaly better, at least for my neck. Nuff about the formating.

After a meeting with Mike's principal last week, I've started thinking about a "Scared Straight for Midwest kids" program. See, I was wandering around the school, and noticed that several of the kids were taking their school freedom's for granted. They are allowed to use their cell phones in the halls and grounds, just not in class (like that stops them), and listen to their cd or mp3 players as they walk from class to class... Is it just me ? I mean, in NY, you would walk almost regemented from one room to the next because they don't want any one causing any trouble, and MP3 players wouldn't be allowed so that there was nothing for another student to steal. Now I'm sure my lil brother will take some exception to this, especially since he lives in the Great Rich East, but these kids don't know just how good they have it. I'm wondering just how much they would appreciate school if they had to spend a day in a Buffalo NY school with 60+ kids to a class room, no heat in the winter, and teachers getting beaten up by students on a semi-regular basis? I would assume that they would start working a little harder and stop trying to be lil urban kids. I've said in the past that this area is 20 or more years in the past of the rest of the country, but after seeing the prevelance of the California Mullet (business in the front, party in the back), the old school CA sunglasses, red and blue gang bandana's (yeah, right blood, your street), and the exuberance of youth being displayed in a semi-disrepctful manor to the adults in the area, it might be time to take these kids for a little trip. The wife and I had to walk through a group of kids throwing shit back and forth (not literal skit, but crap and dirt) that didn't even more or stop as we walked past. I was about ready to stop them and take them all into the principals office, god I'm such a mid-westerner now. I'm sure they would change their tune when they saw a teacher or another student getting his head bounced off the concrete steps in front of the school for no good reason but over testerone or dad leaving because he can't be a playa anymore. Ok, if you make money off this idea folks, just send me a cut, but I had it first, thank you very much.

What's the problem with driving with your eyes on the road? Back in the east, it's illegal to drive with your cell phone to your ear, and finally, here in SD, it's now illegal for state employes to drive while using a cell phone without a hands free kit. So, how about the rest of the population? Sure, they would probaly revolt, but looking at some of them, they are revolding alredy (ba dum bump). Seriously though, today I was driving behind a woman weaving within her lane like she was swatting a bee.... and after passing her, I saw she was putting on makeup, drinking coffee, and talking on the cell. This my friends is an outrage! I once got away from a speeding ticket because of this very thing, minus the cell phone, because the cop noticed the same woman brushing her hair and putting on makeup on the 400, which for those of you in the know, is a almost totally rural connector highway. She never even slowed down to less than 60 the whole time, and when I had to do 70 to get by her weaving ass, I got pulled over (btw, the only ticket I've ever gotten for driving, generally I drive like someone's grandma who's been a taxi driver for 40 years). People, please, if it's that important of a call, make it before you leave the house, or after you arive at your destination... the time behind the wheel is for DRIVING, not doing your daily vanity.

I'd like to pump the blog of Jan Polet, the guy from the netherlands who does the hit-test for Adam Curry. it's at Janpolet.blogspot.com <-- [url updated, clicks now] and is quite interesting if you've missed any of the hit-tests during Adam's podcast. Check it out, although Jan isn't too artistic with his site or blog just yet (and if he stays that way, I'm going to try to get the account for setting up his site professionally).

Podsafe music, can't say much about this, but look for it on-line, support the underground artists, keep it real (bla bla bla). Just help out the little guy, I'm now looking for several CD's online because of things I've heard on some podcasts.

Lastly, I'm "Done with the Boing". For everyone out there, the Boing is a test noise that was used early in podcasting, and is now incorporated into the iPodder software. Yes, it was funny when it was first cropping up, but now everyone's boinging... and without me! Please, stop the boinging.... Think of the children, please god won't someone please think of the children!

Well, that's it for now, gotta get to work on my website. All this typing is wearing my fingers down a little, so I need to save some of this for my business.... and I've noticed that the thoughts in this post seem to ramble, so for now, have a good day all and talk to you later!

Ta!

Drawing the babes (and the dudes...)

Major scientific studies have been conducted so that we may understand a woman's personality based on what she drinks. The published results are condensed for you now.

Her Drink: Beer
Personality: Casual, low-maintenance; down to earth.
Your Approach: Challenge her to a game of pool.

Her Drink: Blender Drinks
Personality: Flaky, whiny, annoying, a pain in the ass.
Your Approach: Avoid her, unless you want to be her cabin boy.

Her Drink: Mixed Drinks
Personality: Older, more refined, high maintenance, has very picky taste; knows exactly what she wants.
Your Approach: You won't have to approach her, if she's interested, she'll send you a drink.

Her Drink: Wine - (does not include White Zinfandel, see below)
Personality: Conservative and classy; sophisticated yet sometimes she giggles.
Your Approach: Tell her you love to travel, walk on beaches and spend quiet evenings with friends.

Her Drink: White Zinfandel
Personality: Easy; thinks she is classy and sophisticated, actually has no clue.
Your approach: Make her feel smarter than she is.... this should be an easy target.

Her Drink: Shots of tequila, bourbon or peach schnapps
Personality: Likes to hang with frat-boy pals and looking to get totally drunk and naked.
Your Approach: Easiest hit in the joint. You have been blessed this evening. Nothing to do but wait.

Then there is the MALE addendum. The deal with guys is, as always, very simple and clear cut:

Domestic Beer: Limited resources but he wants to get laid.
Imported Beer: He likes good beer and he wants to get laid.
Wine: He's hoping that the wine thing will give him a sophisticated image and help him get laid.
Whiskey: He doesn't give a shit about anything but getting laid.
Tequila: He is thinking he has a chance of getting laid by the toothless waitress.
White Zinfandel: He's gay and he wants to get laid.

A little humor from the old days of the internet...

Ta

For Want of a Microphone, the Kingdom was Podcast

Ever want to do something, but lack that one essental part? Like drive, but have no gas? Or perhaps laugh, but have no joke? Well, that's what I'm feeling lately with the lack of a microphone. See, I've always had a big mouth, and with that, comes a neeeeeed to talk to just about anyone that will listen to me. Well, in comes my savior, Podcasting! Yes, with this, you can put out a daily, weekly, or "when-ever-the-heck"ly radio style show, pop it up on a server and let it bounce out to the stratosphere. I now have a good recording pc, plenty of samples and intro's, convincing recording software, everything EXCEPT a microphone. I used to have 4, but after the move, I can't seem to find even 1, and it's kind of buming me out.

I used to have omni directional drum mic's. Now this to me would be a good thing, not the same cartiod patern as a vocal mic, but I plan on talking to the mic, not around it. And I have a realllly deep voice, so lower frequency recording isn't necessarly a bad thing. But, with out a microphone, I'm stuck in the age of a Mono Creative Labs Mic that came with my first, second, third (you get the picture) sound card. After trying it, I tend to sound as if I'm plugging in a tin can and yelling into the string end to get an echo... doesn't work, you know? But all is not lost.

I'm going to try making two microphones out of one... ok, maybe not, but stay with me here. I'm of the mind that if I just wire the second input line to the right side of the input, I can make two act as one, even creating a sort of "aurial" field to record into. Now wouldn't that be grand! Then I realize... Umm... the soddering kit I have isn't made for this small a solder connection. Nope, made for working on car and truck wireing, or stero equiptment, but not board level stuff, and definatly not mini-jack plug size.

So, what to do? Well, beg my family would be my old course of action. Hope that someone, somewhere has old mic's or such laying around that I can play with and attempt to use. Not anymore though, everyone, cept my brother, seems to have gone to the four winds since last december, and now, well I'm searching for a mic to use.

So, if you have an old stero mic laying around, of any sort, I'd like to be your new best friend. Just mail em to rapid city, I'm sure someone will find me here. It's really that small...

Ta

Update, weekend wrap-up star entertainment today, TONIGHT!

As our mysterious "Toddwoo" has posted in a comment on "Money Killed the Internet Star", there is and has been a fabulous website, worldofends for a few years now... I first saw it probaly two if not more years ago (or at least it seems). This site gives a very basic overview of the ups and downs of internet life, and more importantly, how to view it properly and understand how it's been usurped. I really just wanted to promote this link to an article because of it's relevence. I re-read this about 4 times a year now because of it's importance in describing the intangable to people. Go there, read it yourself and come back and read the next little article.

Ta

Poor Poor Vint, cry for him, cry for him....

Money killed the Internet Star

From the top of Mt. Google, to the depths of milkandcookies.com, money is killing the internet, and most people are too uneducated to realize it.

I can still remember the early days of the pedestrian internet. When it took a tech savvy user to get his butt on-line, and everything you could look for was either free or in the works. In one year, I downloaded instructions on how to tune a drum, ream after ream of jokes, news posted pictures (of the non x rated variety if you must know) and dozens of things. If it had been up to me, I would have given each of these people a quarter or so for the one or two things I got from them, and hoped that they had enough information to put out there so they could make back some of their invested time. But the days of micro-payments are just now coming upon us.

Anyway, in those pre-historic days, you didn't need to subscribe to Slate to get entertainment news, it was free... Shockwave.com was totally supported by the user community behind director, and no-one was that interested in downloading music because it the speed wasn't there. No, I'm not going to say that speed killed the internet, because truly, I had speed at work, but the internet wasn't a medium for Deadhead like tape trading, it was a resource for information. For people to put their thoughts and dreams online for others to see, and for artists of every sort to show their creations to the world, Digital Blashphemy was a great place to get desktops, but no one would ever try to publish his work as their own.

Today, money is turning the internet into clique based groups. Maybe you have an account with Hallmark, so you never use any of the other good card-sending sights (like bluemountain), and never see the works put out by artists on those sites. You might have an account with the Washington Post, or Business 2.0, and never read any of the other thousands of writers poring their hearts out on countless other sites. No, you probably found the sights you see based on your friends these days, not a tech savvy friend either, but a pedestrian like yourself who found this or that site by accident, or more likely, another friend. So now your a clique. Because it costs more to find these other authors, you can't get out of the cycle your in... and worse still, you might have new and exciting problems, just like your friend does, because you use this or that software from this or that site. WeatherBug? Sure, why not? Sticking my head out the window is too hard, so I'll install crappy software instead. Oh, now they want me to pay for it? Sure, can't live with out my minute to minute weather report. (umm, if you were actually to do a little looking, you could find all this information up to the second at the national weather service, although I'm sure by now, that's corrupted too). Now I'm not saying that people who provide content don't deserve to be able to make a living off the internet, but the level of greed involved, and the "fake inflation" caused by one site setting a high price (such as AOL selling access for one price causes all the other providers to mimic or beat that price, but only slightly). But there needs to be a better way for these people to make a living at this than charging up the arse for access to this stuff.

Now I'm also on about Dating sights... I'm personally married and happy, so this really doesn't apply to me, but what about those two people who were destined for each other? What if they both join different sits? Each paying a subscription to their site, and never meeting and having that magical relationship because they can't afford to just join every "fly-by-night" site out there. Where's their happy ending, other than in a seedy bathhouse by some 60 year old Asian woman with bad teeth? What about the kid who needs to be able to find his research online, but winds up with second rate info because that's the site his parents joined as a substitute to old fashion encyclopedias? Perhaps the internet is even causing serious harm because the woman who wants to know more about the "guy" she is meeting for lunch can't afford to do a basic lookup on him without paying the $39.99 the research site is selling the service for.

Ok, I know that there are a lot of services out there that provide some of the functionality for free, but since the lawyers got online, even these are limited to providing only the basics.... So what do we do? What about blogging and podcasting and the likes? What about them Rick? Can't we just use them for our "free" information?

Well, in a word, No, even DawnandDrew are looking to charge for access to their site feed. I love these kids, and listen to them every day, but the first time they start charging for access, even if they still provide a free version, they have lost a loyal listener. Blog's? All you have to do is look to the google sidebar on this site to see that you have to purchase advanced features for this these days. Adam Curry is selling Sensaio, Gamespot requires membership to get the best demos, and some newspapers are only allowing you to get a small portion of the article before you have to shell out more cash. And the economy is burdened under the weight.

So perhaps it's time again to pull out the 'ol rally cry "Keep the Internet Free". Don't support these sites folks, if you have to pay to play, just stop playing and go outside. I'm not playing the one game I looked forward to for years, City Of Heros, Because it's a monthly charge, and everyone I know has dropped the StarWars MMORPG because of the mixture of over control and monthly fee. It's only a matter of time before Microsoft cuts their price for the next version of windows and makes updates a paid subscription.

Keep your eyes open people, it's time to get back our information, bring a little peace to the internet and use if for what it was intended for, the SHARING of information....

Vint Cerf would be weeping....

Ta... :(

One for my Peeps... is that right? Peeps is it now?

I was sitting here today surfing on the idea of Drunk-Dialing and found quite a few cool little articles... one girl was quoted as saying she never drunk-dialed anyone who hasn't seen her nude. Another told of a system in Australia where you dial 333 then the number of the person whom you don't wish to accidental dial that evening and you can't connect to them till 6am the next day. A last article extolled the benefits of the new Verizon plan of blocking outgoing numbers on your phone. All of these seem to be kinda interesting in their own ways, but I really waiting for some of these type of solutions to be put into place for other "medium".

First, I'd like to discuss a "chocolate-watching" code or lock for you home entertainment system. You know, when your wife/girlfriend/friend with benefits decides it's been a horrible week, and only wants to sit down with a gallon of rocky-road and some Julia Roberts Movies. I would think an emotional restrictor plate on the DVD player or TV could solve this. How many guys have come home to find their mate curled up on the couch with a tub of ice-cream and tears streaming down their face to wonder what they have done? Well, this could help those poor schmuck. Maybe encourage the stricken love to "read a good non-romance involved novel" or "extend extra shoe shopping credit" to the stricken one.

How about a "breakup-lock" for your email? I know you can already block emails from anyone you like, but I think a system where people are unable to SEND email to their former significant others once they enter a new relationship. For those of us who have thought they were just "sending mail to the wind" perhaps, so you never get caught when your new girlfriend or lover decides to get into your outlook to check the date and send you a covert "love letter" from yourself (which I think is kinda creepy in the first place). Instead, your mail goes to a central processing server that redelivers it with some low-grade internet porn to effectively change the subject.

Lastly, perhaps a "drive-by" control box for your car. To prevent that ever depressing event of taking a quick pass by the house of someone who's dumped / smitten / angered you. If you decide it's a good idea to give his or her home a pass by, the car instead goes straight to the local liquor store and orders two bottles of tequila before you arrive. This way, you go home and wallow or rant instead of embarrass yourself behind the wheel of your car. Or, if your of the truly stupid bent, get back in the car and go anyway, ending up with your car parked through the doors of the local Quickie-Mart and your dumb, depressed ass locked soundly in jail for 1 part stupidity, 15 parts alcohol. (I.E. Drinking then Driving is STUPID and ILLEGAL, QUIT IT PEOPLE!)

Hey folks, these are just thoughts...

Ta

Something to keep you occupied

The Bill of No Rights...
We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid any riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt-ridden, basically lazy people. We hold these truths to be self-evident:

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful. Do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big-screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job. All of us sure want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness, which, by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

Forgive me but...

Ok, I ask that if I ever do this again, someone put me in my place at that time, but I heard a comment on raising children today that I had to share...

"just because it tastes good, doesn't mean it's good for you"

Yes, this is an old quote, but using it in the context of bringing up junior is a huge step for some people. It essentially is a reprimand of all the people out there who don't want to raise their kids in the same way their parents raised them... You may not have enjoyed it, but if your parents used a proper level of discipline with proper levels of structure, you came out pretty good. If not, you may be attention seeking, or you may be over permissive, or one of a hundred personality problems that could have been resolved in your early childhood.

A friend of the family asked me during the "Super Bowl" why I make the boy walk to school. I said it's because he hasn't saved enough money for his own insurance yet (which is the truth, there's a car waiting for him to use) and she retorted with "that's what you are for". What? Did I hear that right? No, I'm here to help a boy become the best man he can possibly be. I'm not here to let him think that anything he wants will just be given over, as she does for her kids. I'm more interested in his ability to survive the real world, where you have to pay your way, or you starve. True to form, her 17 y/o daughter started to brag about how her dad had to get a ride to work because her car was in the shop... No, no no no... wrong... If your car is in the shop, you learn how to get to where you need to go... When your 30, there isn't going to be someone to just hand you a set of keys and say "here ya go... have a good time with it". Get a ride, take a bus, walk if you need to, but you can't always rely on having that kind of luxury available.

Raise your children as with all the tools they will need in later life, and you won't end up raising their kids for them when the time comes, or bailing them out of jail (more than once anyway) or even trying to help them through life as they wait for everything to be handed to them...

Remember, family isn't a democracy, it's a benevolent dictatorship.

Oh, and the person to use the quote? Bernie Mac, on "The View"... Now you know why I hope I never have to do that again...

Ta.

I just called to say I can't come to the phone right now

Ok, been sick for a bit again, caught a cold from somewhere, and it's kinda kicking my butt. So I'll keep this extremely short folks...

Today I had to make my way down to the school to pick up the boy, and on the way saw a cop giving tickets on my street... which supprisingly made me very happy. Not that I like to laugh at the misery of others, but that they are finally slowing the traffic on my street down again. It's 25 mph on our street and usually I clock people going about 35 or 40, just cruzing like there was no tomorrow. Well, there are kids on the street, deer, and I have to walk accross to pick up my mail, so I never enjoy it when I have to dodge speeding traffic like it was the Rapid City autobahn. How do I clock it you may ask? well, simple... the ol One mississippi trick works wonders when you know how long it takes you at certin speeds to pass distinct landmarks. So that being said, it was fairly easy to get the average speed with just the smallest bit of math. Hope this continues so I don't have to be frogger every time I want to go to the mailbox.

On to the world news, I'm convinced that like the internet, the lack of making money is what's going to shorten the list of podcasters in the world. I'm still working on my show and I've noticed that several people are reducing their ammount of feeds. Now we all know this is because of the lack of mony being made in podcasting, and also like the internet, those that survive will be either truely dedicated to the idea, or found an acceptable business model for cashing in on the success of podcasting. I'm waiting on my microphone personally, since recording with a Creative mono mic kinda sucks, and gets a weard hissing that I can't squelch to save my azz. The internet kinda burst because the large companies were taking over the good sights, making them pay for content, and as such, I think this is a bad thing. Not that anyone shouldn't be rewarded for their work, but remember the early days of the internet, when anything you wanted to know would be avaliable for free? You could go around all day finding information on tuning your drum kit to making baked alaskin and never encounter an add. Now just about everything is either membership sponsored or else it's got two dozen different ad's on the page. Same with podcasting, if they don't make money, they have to work their regular jobs as well, and that will cut down on the time avaliable to podcast. Adam Curry hasn't had a new cast today, and I'm starting to wonder if he also has encountered the necesisaty to reduce his frequency to allow him time to make money with which to live. Que Serah, guess that's how it goes, but like CB-Radio, it will survive with the die-hards involved in the project.

Well, nuff venting, have to go back to work on my webpage... I would like to make a call out to the friends of mine who have decent technical knowledge and would be interested in writing product reviews on stuff they have or are going to buy for the ACS website. There's a iPod review there now, and am always looking for good writing. Let me know? To everyone else, have a great week, I'll talk to ya all tomorrow night...

Ta

Who's Your (radio)Daddy?

Just a quick update again tonight... waiting on posts to a request I put in at RadioDaddy today for sweepers and station ID's at Radio Daddy... Hoping I don't get passed by because i'm a neophite (i.e. fancy way to say newbie). Still waiting on my new Mic to get my podcasts started, but it's looking good... new mic tomorrow hopefully and begin posting as soon as I have a decent handle on how to format the OPML file to agregate it. As well, have all the software and hardware I will need all in place, so we'll see just how much more I need. Also, since my site is kinda sparce on info, I'm probaly going to put it on a seperate site as soon as I can afford one. (sponsors welcome, working towards the $100 for a new host for a year with limited size, but huge bandwidth.... ya all know I've got the voice friends and neighbors!).

Past that, found the article on the 4 y.o. kid driving the car quite comical this morning, but I still kinda feel that his mother admiting that she put him on her lap and showing him how to drive was an admission of her guilt in negelance. That kid should have been belted in every time they drive. I know some people think it's cute or something, but this isn't Disney Land, where the cars all work on rails, this is real life folks... please, someone help that poor kid before he drives again!

Lastly, I'm a little upset with the Apple people... I loved their hardware years ago, but left them because of the propriarity setup and production methods they were using, and after Packard-Bell, that kind of single setup left a seriously bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps it's just me... Anyway, I've been having problem after problem with their new iTunes software, although if they had just fixed the single bug and left everything else alone, I would have been the worlds biggest fan, and had everyone I know downloading the software. Perhaps this isn't such a big deal to thouse of you out there who don't play a lot of MP3's, but to me, someone who works constantly with the player going, it's huge. They relly needed to respond to one of my first two mails, then I wouldn't have to keep rehashing this issue... come'on apple, get it together.

Nuff for now, gotta get back to work.. Ta!

Wake up and smell the bandwidth...

Just got off the phone with a couple of our best friends who now live in Chicago and gave them a bunch of links to stuff that I felt they might need. It got me thinking that I'm a little remiss on passing out those links here, but going back, I've noticed that there are a lot of them already available, just mixed into the text. So to make up for lost time I'm gonna go over some of them again with more to follow in future posts.

• Picasa 2 - Google picture software, makes your pictures about 10,000 times easier to work with
• Ipodder - You don't need an ipod to use this, and it's a wealth of shows that will keep you rolling with laughter, informed, and generally wearded out. Check out the lemon software if you have the time
• Squetch - This guy needs to win an award for his animation... click the picture of the bunny if you have the time to listen (takes a couple minutes)
• Popcap - go, play bewjewled, loose a few hours.
• AmericanComputerSupport - Our new website, it's not finished, so please don't bug us about it, but keep us in mind for all your IT needs
• kevinrose - thebroken - two websites for the hacker in you.

On another note, some of my friends have accused me of getting a little wordy. Well... try and tell me that you didn't know that about me from the word go. I've been talking nonstop for years and years now... without any signs of slowing. It's who I am... I've always got a story to tell, and usually a long one, or a joke (and usually a bad one) or just something that I need to communicate to the world. If this is a problem, please just scan my posts and find what you are looking for, but this is a Blog... It's for writing, or journalism, or just about anything. It's my way to communicate to the world.

Let's see... I subscribed to an Oragimi mailing list three days ago now, and have had my Gmail flooded with stuff... for those who aren't "in the know" a mailing list is a way for one person to tell lots of people what's on their mind. If you don't know how a mailing list works in a situation like this, avoid it like the plague. I've set up special filters and such to get my info into the right group, so I don't have to look at everything, but this is just a constant barrage. I've gotten 35 emails today with links to folds, page views, requests for fold help... Ok, I love doing a little paper folding, but this is too much. I'm not in it as a job, just a hobby.

Lastly, Sus and I finally went to Deadwood last night... If you haven't been or are coming to the area and are looking for something to do... definatly check it out... if your going to the ol' #10, get in line early, they stop letting people in at some point, and it's definatly packed. Don't expect Vegas, because it's not, but it's definatly a verrry interesting little mountain town, with a lot of history and culture that will keep you coming back. We spend much of our night in the GoldDust's "French Quarter" and the Star Saloon. Very nice places, and if I could remember the bartenders name, I would give him the obligatory "shout-out". This guy was probaly the best bartender I've had since the one I accidentally tipped a 20$... (ok, I didn't remember till the next day I had tipped so big, so I just thought he was REALLLLY attentive). But we gambled a small amount, had a few drinks and generally had a great night. I highly recommend Deadwood if you have a few days in South Dakota and are looking for some adult fun.

Well, that's it for me kids... you all have a great day.

Ta

Daily Quickie

Ok, not a lot of time to bang out some outrageously long entry today, so I'm gonna just leave a quickie and see if I get any response. I've got a few Gmail invites left, so open call folks, just comment on this post with your address and I'll send you one... First come / first served type of thing... If you don't get a reply, that means that I've used up my allotment... Check back here for info, I'll post when I've used em up.

Otherwise, working on website, trying to get out of the house for a little while, working on podcasts and looking for a good place to host 'em from, if you have any place that might work, has some decent space and unlimited bandwidth, let me know as well.

Lastly... I've been working on updating my photo's... Anyone who hasn't discovered Picasa 2 from google needs to go and get it... Works wonders and has some advanced features that make working with your pics a breeze. Check it out.

Ta

PoopCasting

Hey friends and neighbors...

Well, I just got email back from Chris Rockwell of the Daily Download... I had suggested to him that the one thing they were missing was a ranking of travel stop bathrooms on their site and podcast... well, ain't he about the kewelest guy going, he's tenatively going to go through with it! It's every travelers dream to know where to stop for a squat and when to keep on truckin, and now, hopefully with the assistance of yours truely, he's going to make that dream a reality. This man is a freking god for travelers and highway hounds alike!

See, I'm often traveling between my new home here in SD and my old home back in NY, and having as active a bottom as I do, I'm occasionally squishing my cheeks a little from point to point... Sometimes these travels have lead me to the most disturbing of places, where a man's afraid to expose his nether regions, and once in a while to places so magnificent, you almost expect to find reading material or a "jet blue"esque TV for the extended sessions. Between these two extremes are the standard hole in the wall water closets, which hopefully I'll ignore till I've filled the logs with tales of my logs. With this in mind, I think I'm uniquely qualified for the posistion of "field reporter and guest correspondent" and now I'll possibly have that chance.

Well, since the prince of poop and the duke of dookie probably have no place for a rambling fool singing their praises, I'll leave you with the immortal words of my grandfather...

"the true talent in farting isn't blaming the dog, but producing a high enough pitch and just the right odor to make it believable"

Ta

An Updated version for those who are going to squish it into a desktop... Hope it works, and thanks for the high honors!