Legal

Well, it seems I’m a legal citizen again, even if its only for the time being. With yesterdays ruling on Prop 8, California inches one step closer to being the state I’ve come to love. Even better, the judge’s statement was incredibly well written and based on detailed facts. [1]I especially love how he removed religion from the argument in one fell swoop!

A recent in-depth study of the original Prop 8 vote has shown it was the outright lies and fear-mongering cloaked as an effort to “protect the children” that swayed the votes against us. [2]I said as much back then. Also, many people who originally voted for it have come out against it once they discovered how deeply they had been deceived. And frankly, we all knew when it passed it was a gross violation of the California constitution. I’m happy to see the judge agreed.

I love the reaction from the haters arguing about activist judges. How quickly they forget this judge was republican. Even better is the lame excuse ‘its the will of the people’. Yeah, well when slavery was abolished, it was also the will of the people to allow it. How about when we killed people who dared say the Earth was round? And while I agree, the majority should have their say, it should not be at the expense of discriminating against others seeking a fundamental human right.

So the fight continues. One hurdle is down with more to come. I am optimistic as ever that we will see equality under the law in my lifetime. Hope springs eternal…

References

References
↑1 I especially love how he removed religion from the argument in one fell swoop!
↑2 I said as much back then.

Direction

I’ve been weaning myself off Facebook and twitter as of late. Its just too time-consuming. And frankly, the energy invested is almost never returned. lol   If it wasn’t for my moto group, I think I would abandon FB all together. Filtering, while still possible, is way more complicated than it used to be and trying to sort thru the lists of people just gets old after awhile.

Access to social aspects is great but the onslaught of “friends” is often too much and/or eventually waters down the entire experience. I’m leaning toward leaving parts of my profile, normally restricted, open and just weeding down my friend list to people I actually interact with on a regular basis. This way people who are just dying to know what I’m up to can. Ok seriously though, I’m not a celebrity or social icon. One really doesn’t need thousands of friends that never interact w/you but feel slighted the moment you remove them. Seriously. It all becomes very high school-ish after awhile. Apple guy de-activated his account completely the other day.

Even my blogging has suffered. I still have plenty to say but my free time is limited and I have to pick and choose where I waste it. heehee  As often happens, by the time I actually get time to sit down and blog, I’ve already moved on to other topic or forgotten the topic I wanted to blather on about.

Shifting my priorities away from FB and twitter will give me more time to ramble incessantly on my blog anyway. This way I can feel validated and still get my online time in. [1]Yes, I’m being sarcastic here. duh!

References

References
↑1 Yes, I’m being sarcastic here. duh!

Deleted

I made a booboo and deleted my RSS feeds today. I was cleaning out some directories and got click happy. Naturally, I cleaned the recycle folder before I realized what I’d done.  ooops!

Oh well, I’d been thinking of starting over anyway. I guess it was a sign to start sooner than later. lol  Many of my old favorites have gone by the wayside anway. I guess with Facebook, twitter, etc it was bound to happen. This just gives me a good impetus to start fresh. But, this time it I’m sticking to blogs I actually read on a consistent basis. I got far too click-happy previously and added way too many over the years. This also gives me a good excuse to go blog hopping [1]randomly clicking from blogroll to blogroll, finding blogs you like again. Something I haven’t done in a very long time. hehehe

*

Speaking of, I still use twitter more than Facebook but both are loosing their appeal to me. Its fine when you have a few friends but after a few hundred, it becomes cumbersome and a pain in the butt. I don’t know how people with thousands of “friends” do it. [2]Well, I do but that’s another story. lol  Seriously, there is no way you can interact on a consistent basis with that many people. Hell, I don’t even interact w/half my list as it is.

References

References
↑1 randomly clicking from blogroll to blogroll, finding blogs you like
↑2 Well, I do but that’s another story. lol

Tattoo

I’m currently pondering ideas for next tattoo. As previously mentioned, I want one on my inner left forearm. I’m still thinking of doing a chemistry based one to match the physics and biology ones. That said, I’ve been throwing ideas around in my head and a few seem to be resonating so far.

The first being the Caduceus (pictured left). Many people incorrectly associate it with the medical profession. For the unknowing, the Caduceus first reared its head as the Staff of Iris, which if I remember my mythology, was later co-opted by Hermes.

Anyway, I’m thinking of this with a rougher more aggressive snake and wings. One of my coworkers said I should make the snakes bowed back as if about to strike each other. I kinda liked that idea. I also think the lines and curves would look good on my forearm and would go nicely with the flow of my muscle. The design itself isn’t too difficult so I’m confident it would translate well to a tattoo. If anything, I think I’ll end up adding more definition and character if I decide to go with this one. I might do something to the ball on top of the staff as well. As I said, I’m still tinkering with ideas so feedback is welcome (and expected lol).

My other idea was the Wand of Asclepius, which is the true symbol of healing from Greek mythology. [1]I didn’t know the difference between the two until my mythology class in college. Asclepios (as originally spelled) was the son of Apollo. He was also a healer and practiced medicine, hence the medical relationship. I never quite figured out how the two symbols got confused but that’s a post for another day. I’ve also seen it done on a cross. Not surprising considering most of christianity’s fables were taken from early cultures.

Of course, this one is a tad too detailed for my liking, as is. I’d probably clean it up and give it more of a surreal look. Again, I like the lines and curves. I think both would go well as a forearm tattoo. My idea for this one is to maybe have the snake looking outward or open mouth as well. I do love the realistic texture but its a tad rough compared to the vision in my head. The dimensions are off a bit for my liking as well. I’d want the wand and snake to both be thicker.

But wait, I’m not done yet! lol I’m also thinking of getting my name in binary code. [2]text converted to computer speak consisting of 1’s and 0’s.  I think it looks cool but one of the fall outs would be people constantly asking me what it means. A good way to get attention for a tattoo but not necessarily that much.

So those are my current ideas. Whaddya think?

References

References
↑1 I didn’t know the difference between the two until my mythology class in college.
↑2 text converted to computer speak consisting of 1’s and 0’s.

Frozen

Well, mark your calendars. Hell has officially frozen over….yours truly bought an iPad. Lol I’ve been tinkering with it for a couple weeks now and thought I’d give you MY review on it. For the record, I don’t hate Apple, I just never cared for how proprietary they are or the lack of compatible programs. The latter isn’t so much of an issue anymore so I thought I’d give it a whirl. And considering who the hubby worked for, it was inevitable. hehehe

Hardware: Basically, its a giant iPhone w/o the actual phone. The device is sleek, trim, and very stylish. It has a very solid feel to it, albeit an adjustment for carrying it around. Apple has always gotten high marks in this area. Simply put, they produce very aesthetically pleasing products. While adding to the overall appeal, the screen is glass and just begs to be broken if you drop it. I highly recommend you get a case or cover to protect it.

We ended up with the 16 gig version. By some standards that is considered tiny but I doubt I’ll ever use all of it. I use my phone as my mp3 player and while I can see using music once the multi-tasking update comes out, it will be more of a convenience than a required feature. If you plan to use the iPad as a laptop replacement you might opt for one with a bigger drive. It comes with Bluetooth and wifi built in; however, I have yet to get the bluethooth to work for file sharing. It works fine for using a keyboard though. Overall, the hardware is of the same impeccable quality you would expect from Apple.

Software: Apple is way ahead in this arena in terms of sheer numbers. Being on the market longer, that is no surprise. Anyway, the store has a good mix of free and paid apps. I downloaded several that were equivalent to mine (on Android) and had mixed reviews. Some were equal if not better and others outright sucked. I also hate the built in email app as it takes way too many clicks to switch between email accounts. These are all style issues of course but were of particular annoyance to me.

I don’t care much for the OS at all. Granted, again, this is mostly a style and comfort issue more than functionality. The OS is responsive and has yet to crash on me. [1]I was only able to get the browser to crash twice.  Currently, you can only run one app at a time. There are some very small exceptions on push services but overall a total failure there. The new OS v4 coming out soon is supposed to remedy that and I eagerly await it. [2]Apple guy hacked ours of course so I have limited multi-tasking already. My biggest complaint with the OS is the difference in activating submenus. In Windows, no matter the version, you know its a simple right click to activate a submenu in virtually any application. Even Android borrowed from this with its long hold tap on the screen to bring up submenus, regardless of the application. Apps on the iPad seem to randomly utilize their own version of activating submenus. It gets a bit annoying trying to figure out each apps implementation of the submenu process. Again, a style issue but my biggest annoyance. The copy/past functionality, which came as add-in after the fact, is a bit odd as well. It is not at all intuitive and completely alien to what you would expect. The OS is designed from a simplistic approach and while very aesthetically pleasing, I’d argue its a tad too simple and caused more work than necessary at times. On this area, I still give Android props for better implementation.

Summary: The iPad is a sleek usable device pushing the bar on convenience and portability in our ever increasing conversion of PDA’s, phones, netbooks, and laptops. Let’s face it, Apple sets the standard that others follow. Even Android takes queues from Apple’s UI.

If you are an Apple fanboy, you’ll be right at home. Everything will be familiar and easy. Over 95% of the iPhone apps work in various levels on the iPad. On the other hand, if you a more recent user like me, you might like it but you won’t be blown away. Apple might have set the bar but Google’s Android is catching up and fast. I’d love to port Android over to the iPad. I’d be happier than a pig in slop.

If you are a long time Windows/Linux user, you will definitely find Android a tad more user friendly. And speaking of, if Microsoft doesn’t get their act together soon, they may find themselves pushed completely out of the market. Apple & Google will be the dominate players regardless IMHO.

References

References
↑1 I was only able to get the browser to crash twice.
↑2 Apple guy hacked ours of course so I have limited multi-tasking already.

Picture Perfect

I have decided to abandon flickr for picasa. While flickr does offer quite a bit more in the way of editing, I already do most of that myself. The biggest selling point for me was Goog’le’s picasa gives you a full gig of storage for free vs Flirckr’s 200 megs. On top of that, flickr charges $24.95 for their ‘pro’ account. Google offers a whopping 20 gigs a year for only $5.00. Oh hell yeah! lol

The one thing I will miss the most is the ability to do subfolders within albums. [1]flickr refers to it as collections and sets.  For the cost savings, I’m willing to forgo the previous perks. Now comes the arduous task of physically moving the files. Sadly, I couldn’t find a direct transfer method. I did, however, find a nifty free program that downloads everything from flickr and allows to re-upload it to picasa. Actually, you can pick and choose from a whole list of different sites. Anyway, I opted to manually re-upload myself as the download process dumped everything into one big folder. It also gives me a chance to filter out duplicates, or so I’m hoping. That didn’t sound so bad until I realized how many pics I really have. lol I easy have almost 2 gigs worth of photos. Who knew?

Anyway, I’m still in the process of moving stuff around. Once I’m done, I plan on ditching flickr all together.

References

References
↑1 flickr refers to it as collections and sets.

Heave-Ho

Before I start let me say for the record, I love TiVo. It far exceeds the offerings from cable companies when it comes to DVR’s. That said, some of their choices when it comes to expanding your hardware border on draconian.

The low end HD model that I have came with an eSATA port for adding external hard drives. As my consumption of HD content has increased, I needed more storage space. Not to mention, I had several digital movies, via Amazon, I wanted to keep. The simplest choice was to just attach an external drive right? Wrong! Lol.

Allegedly, all you had to do was plug in your new drive and reboot the TiVo. The device was then supposed to detect the new hardware, format, and set everything up for you. NOT!

After 2 1/2 hours of tinkering, Googling, and several failed hacks, it was discovered my particular model only works with one specific external drive. [1]Naturally, this was not the drive I purchased. we then decided that the best approach would to simply replace the existing drive completely. Being a geek, I normally tackle such projects with gleeful exuberance. However, having no working knowledge of Linux, [2]TiVo is based on Linux I was leery of cracking open the case to attempt a drive transfer. If I were to brick the TiVo, I currently can’t afford a new one so I was more than a little perturbed.

Apple Guy, having run his own computer business for years, was less daunted and took over the task before I decided to chunk the whole pile out the window. Even with his knowledge and skill set, it took several more hours of tinkering and failed attempts before he managed to get it up and running. I couldn’t thank him enough for doing it for me. In the end, I did lose all my recorded content but retained all my licensing and settings. Fortunately, I was able to redownload all my Amazon movies so nothing of real value was lost. I’m now the proud owner of a ‘new and improved’ TiVo with a 1 terabyte drive of storage!

References

References
↑1 Naturally, this was not the drive I purchased.
↑2 TiVo is based on Linux

Flat

This is about how I felt over the weekend. LOL [1]I got a bronchial infection related to my allergies. Ugh! I’m still recovering but at least I’m back to being functional today.

Apple guy made me plenty of soup and all around helped take care of me. I rarely get sick but I’m such a baby when I do. Thankfully, I was only down and out for a couple days. I’ve been trying to get full nights sleep and taking it easy the last few days. So far, its helping.

I probably should have stayed home today as well but the boredom might have killed me sooner so here I am at work. Thankfully, its been slow so far.

References

References
↑1 I got a bronchial infection related to my allergies.

Wanted

Isn’t it funny how people who normally don’t give you the time of day when you are single suddenly wanna be all up in your grill when you aren’t? I mean don’t get me wrong, I know guys always want what they can’t have, but some bitches are down right home-wreckers. Apple guy and I have had conversations on several occasions about the subject. heehee

I originally thought it was kinda funny, but now its kinda getting old. I had the odd luck of being off work early tonight. I’m walking thru the ghaytto to pick up some dinner when a guy [1]We’ll call him Ralphie for simplicity. I have completely forgotten his real name but he looks like a Ralphie to me. I’ve seen around for years suddenly grabs my arm while I’m passing bearbucks. Said guy moved here 4-5 years ago. We met randomly thru different friends a few times. Each time I was summarily dismissed as if I barely existed. I mean literally, it was all he could do to acknowledge my presence. I thought it was hilarious and filed him away in my “bless his heart” file.

Imagine my surprise tonight when I turn around to find he is the guy grabbing my arm. I found it funny how hard he tried to establish a sense of rapport between us. I wasn’t biting and politely said as much. I mentioned I wasn’t really interested as I already had a partner. It was then he made the fatal mistake of saying, “what does he have that I don’t?”  I replied, “well for one manners, and two, me!” and walked away. I was tempted to turn and see the look on his face but I didn’t.

Yes, I know it was probably a bit immature of me to take joy in his humiliation, but I can’t help it. Good looks does not excuse one’s behavior, so yeah I took a little personal joy in his comeuppance. And anyone who knows me knows I can’t stand arrogance. Cockiness is hot but arrogance is so 80’s.

References

References
↑1 We’ll call him Ralphie for simplicity. I have completely forgotten his real name but he looks like a Ralphie to me.

Friction

Its been an interesting past week, to say the least.

Apparently, I live like a bachelor, or so Apple guy tells me. Ok, ok, its true, I do tend to live a bit sparse. Growing up the way I did, I never had a lot of things and it just isn’t natural for me to focus on such things. I don’t apply myself that way often and the skill set has grown weak. This is not to imply Apple guy is shallow, just the distinction between us. If anything, he is very hands-on and tackles challenges with a determined zest. In the last few years, I’ve gotten sort of complacent on doing stuff myself. [1]Ok, lazy I admit it.  He has taken to converting my sparse boring pad into a warm inviting home. Even better, he is the king of bargain shopping! lol The man has easily saved us over a grand in expenses with his efforts.

Sadly, Apple guy and the roomie have decided they hate each other. Oh yes, its not going well at all. I thought they would overcome eventually and settle down but its obvious now, that ain’t happening. The last few days have been interesting to say the least. This has also put me in an awkward position and I’m not faring it well. No matter how I approach it, someone is gonna end up hurt.

This has also caused some friction between Apple guy and myself. Besides his expected stress at being in a new place and struggling to gain his self-reliance, the bickering between him an the roomie has made him very uneasy about the move.

The upside is he and I are still able to talk things out. Time will tell but I’m not doubting my decision so far. I know he gets frustrated with me at times but at the end of the day, he still knows I love him and am willing to work on it.

Say a prayer for me to [insert deity of choice here], would ya?

References

References
↑1 Ok, lazy I admit it.