Is this world for real?
“My mom should look at me when I talk to her. She always only looks at her iPhone! It makes me mad!” This was the response of a ten year old, when asked: “What rules would you make for your parents regarding the use of technology?”
We’re quick to make rules for kids when it comes to the use of technology.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Monday, January 21st is probably going to be a bad day for you.
Well, maybe not that bad.
.... But maybe this bad:
At least according to some experts.
Back in 2005 (you know, when Brit and K-Fed were still together) Dr. Cliff Arnall developed a formula to determine the most depressing day of the year.
Warning, naughty language.
Behold :
On Sun, Dec 23, 2012 at 6:08 AM, Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@redhat.com> wrote: > > Are you saying that pulseaudio is entering on some weird loop if the > returned value is not -EINVAL? That seems a bug at pulseaudio. Mauro, SHUT THE FUCK UP! It's a bug alright - in the kernel. How long have you been a maintainer?
If you survived the Mayan Doomsday / Apocalypse / etc... etc... and want the rest of the world to know (you know, in case they're still stuck in bunkers and staring at you through the peephole), wear the proof of resolve on your sleeve. *Yes, this is totally a shameless plug.
Or if you like the original calendar and don't want any snark...
I have a confession to make. Yes, I love Christmas. I'm Pagan, and I love Christmas -- not just Yule or the Winter Solstice (although that is part of it) -- I love Christmas. We just brought in our live Christmas tree and I'm listening to "Silent Night" and "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" and Alvin and the Chipmunks' "Christmas Time is Here" on the radio.
For starters, this is a private blog – not some corporate shell of a blog masquerading as a real person’s blog. I am not affiliated with any corporate interests, nor am I employed by any corporation or entity responsible for the creation or commercial availability of any products mentioned in this post.
What I am is stubborn. I try to flow with change, and sometimes it’s easy, but sometimes these corporate sculptors of society just seem determined to move in directions somewhat cliffward if you ask me; somewhat in a direction not parallel to correct; the wrong damn way! is where I’m trying to say they?/we? are headed.
I have just returned from a trip to the (famed) Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan [linked to only to see if I can get anyone from Apple to pay attention to my grievances - not actually encouraging anyone to shop Apple - you shop where ever you want or not at all, for all I care. FAO Schwarz is nearby if Apple isn't your cup of tea]. Synchronously, (meaning with synchronicity, just to be clear in case I’m making up words here or using existing ones incorrectly) the main entrance was closed for some kind of maintenance (it was 2 in the morning – they have to do these things sometime!) and we had to use a bowel-like back entrance past the smelly toilets to enter the shop. I used to love visiting Apple stores. I’d head straight for the latest laptops and download Firefox. Then I’d tool around to my heart’s content and eventually convince myself I couldn’t live without it. Prime example of Apple’s genius, if you ask me. But that was in the past. This evening (morning, technically) I discovered that along with this newfangled Mountain Lion crap they’re pushing, all the computers are locked down. No more Firefox installs for me. [Although I did have fun setting several precisely timed (and aptly named) alarms with the new Clock feature on all the iPad minis in the store - more on that later.]
Now, here’s the actually semi-relevant part: I actually did want to acquire knowledge about the new operating system – I don’t want to Luddite my way through life, and I figured I’d open my mind with knowledge so that I could eventually open my heart to this new-yet-strangely-inferior operating system. One of my (admittedly minor) annoyances when playing with friend’s laptops is the loss of the comfortable three-finger swipe to go back when browsing online. I’ve read here and there about work-arounds, and, not wanting to be embarrassingly obstinate, figured maybe I’ll even learn to live with some new gestures… But I can’t even download Firefox in the store to have the otherwise helpful employees show me the ins and outs of the new system. The psychology experts Apple (formerly?) employed knew about letting grown children play in the stores – no better way to make the toy an indispensable part of one’s life. This trip felt like a trip to fascistLand – total lock-down, like Mommy and Daddy weren’t letting me have any fun at all. Not a great way to sell your toys. I left the store feeling completely frustrated and not at all like parting with several thousand dollars for a laptop that may very well end up giving me grief at every step. [I've left out a lot of grievances I have with Mountain Lion - just take my word for it: if Mountain Lion is fine for you, so would be iOS. If you truly utilize the Mac's capabilities and power, Snow Leopard is almost a thousand times better. No hyperbole;) ]
I asked about the no-Firefox thing and got some nonsense about competitor browsers blah yadda blah. No one in the history of Apple ever bought a Mac for Safari and Firefox is a free, open source browser unaffiliated with any particular platform, so where competition comes in is beyond me. Then something else was mentioned about Firefox add-ons being security hazards… Yeah right. Threats to corporate interests, maybe. Anyway, I can sort of see why you might not want members of the public randomly downloading and installing software on demo computers, but realistically speaking, the freedom and joy of unlimited access to the computers is what has always sold those computers to the otherwise unsure. They are only demo computers after all… and supposedly secure ones – what are you so afraid of, Apple? Set up the demos with permissions to download and install software like before – let us enjoy our computers!
The only bright spot was having my first hands on experience with the new iPad mini. It truly is impressive to behold. Perfect weight and size. Just a true joy.
Now, those of you who read my blog regularly know better than to actually expect any holiday gift review from me. Go buy your loved ones whatever the hell they want and don’t be stingy! It’s not about you – make them happy! Merry Happy Holidays and be well 
Around various pockets of the media one can hear the conservative call to action, the affirmation of a mandate to defend the American people against the government. It is as clear as an azure sky to me that this mandate is real. Consider the following:
For these reasons and others, I think it is time for Americans across the nation to accept the fact that this shrinking party of miserable, aged white men just knows what’s best for us, and we should let them have their destructive, self-defeating way. I for one am completely confident they have my best interests at heart as they attempt to allow corporate entities to destroy the very earth for short term profit which will surely trickle down to me eventually.
For those of you still reading, here’s a change of tempo. If you’re looking for more Republican bashing, sorry – I’ve shot my load. There’s plenty around the internet, much of it written by smarter and wittier folks than myself. Just open any recent article on the election results and read the comments section… And if any Republican-leaning readers haven’t given up yet, I’d like to offer next a serious assessment of an outsider’s (read independent voter’s) view of the current Republican party, because, seriously, and frankly, I’d like to someday see an election where I’m really not sure who to vote for, and not because I don’t particularly care for either candidate. But as long as the Republican party keeps putting one idiot-zoo-creature after another up for election, I don’t see much choice but to continue near-blind allegiance to the less-evil party (although I do vote for conservative judges – give people a fair chance to live free I say; if they screw it up: hang ‘em! Send ‘em to the chair!).
For starters, what does the Republican party really stand for? Freedom from government regulation? Then how to explain the abortion issue? Or gay marriage issue? Or, summing these up, the entire religious connection? As far as my public school education has instilled in me, these United States were founded on the principle of religious freedom, and the inherent separation of church and state required to maintain said freedom. So how did the party that eschews government interference with individual’s lives somehow become infested with the intolerant, insidious pestilence that is fundamentalist religion? The two are diametrically opposed, yet are somehow made to seem, at least in the media, like one unified field. [Speaking of unified fields, what's with the opposition to science? and knowledge in general? Oh yeah, that religion thing again...] Don’t get me wrong – I’m a very spiritual person, but it’s exactly because of my spiritual beliefs that I find the idea of pushing one’s religious beliefs on others to be so repugnant. Spirituality is a very personal thing, and if and when communities share a belief system and want to live within its confines together as a community, there is nothing more beautiful. But the key concept here is ‘want’. When it is a consensual gathering of like minded individuals, it is beautiful. When it is a bunch of power mongers trying to insert their beliefs into, say, a public school system’s policies or curriculum, something is woefully wrong – and this is where the call to remove government from people’s lives is just and necessary.
Then there is the Tea Party movement, which, as far as I can figure, basically wants to eliminate the federal government altogether. Somehow, I don’t see this working out too well. E.G. :
I like to ride trains. Interstate train travel is important to me. I kind of think there should be some kind of overseer in a thing like this. If not a federal government, who? A corporation? So eventually the whole network can be liquidated as the fat cats high-tail it out of Dodge with their ill-gotten gains? Don’t say that wouldn’t happen, because we all know it would sooner or later. No, a people’s railroad run by the people’s government. That’s the ideal.
I’ve got more to say on this issue, but I’ll save it for another post. To sum up, I’m a white guy who ain’t getting any younger, but I feel as if I’m being gypped out of a right of passage: namely to grow politically more conservative as I grow older. Who in their right mind can honestly say they think the nonsense coming out of the current Republican party is the best path forward? Not I. Where’s a good centrist candidate (who doesn’t want to enslave you to either the government or the local lord of the manor) when you need one? 
"Now think, ye rich men all, I pray
Of Goody Blake and Harry Gill!"
—Wordsworth (mostly), from Goody Blake and Harry Gill
You see that man, that billionaire who
Insists he knows the low-class woes?
That man, a more-than-millionaire who
Claims to know how hardship goes?
Do you believe that gold-fed man
—Who goes and poops a golden log,
Who claims that all are in his plan—
While it’s admittedly dated in relation to internet time, this recent Upworthy post resurrects a 2009 New Scientist article comparing the environmental footprints of household pets vs. those of various vehicles. Its soundbite takeaway? Your medium-sized dog has roughly twice the footprint of a Toyota Land Cruiser.
Guess it’s time to issue some formal letters of apology to the owners of plus-sized roadsters and start setting up euthanasia camps for our former furry friends and their silent agenda to destroy the earth, right?
