First lego League

I got the honor to volunteer today and help out with the FLL (First Lego League), in which teams of local kids competed with each other with their lego mindstorm robotic creations. A lot of fun, and seemed like even the kids were having fun too!

What We Need Is A Little Common Sense

Original Story Here

Why is it that there are so many people in this country that seem to WANT voter fraud? I have yet to hear a valid argument for why citizens of this country shouldn't have to provide a photo I.D. before casting a vote. If you don't have to prove who you are, then anyone can vote whether they are a citizen of this country, and can vote as many times as they like.

The NAACP, Civil Liberties Union and other organizations always spout the same arguments. Having to show a photo ID to vote is targeting minorities, the young and the old to keep them from voting. What is stopping any minority (who is a legal citizen of the US), or a young person, who is over the age of 18, or an elderly person from obtaining a state-issued photo ID? Nothing. I carry a photo ID with me every single time I leave the house, even if I'm just taking my daily walk for exercise. Everyone should, it's just common sense and good practice.

There are "elements" in this country that want to disrupt the system and cause anarchy, because it makes them money and gives them power. It's up to all of us to take that power away from them with the power of common sense, something that is sorely lacking in our world today!

NFL Stadiums Adopting New TSA-Like Restrictions

Well NFL fans, it was bound to happen sooner or later. get ready to welcome the TSA to your local NFL stadium! While the TSA will not actually screen you as you enter your local stadium this fall, NFL stadiums are adopting new strict rules which might as well have come from the controversial agency that has caused travelers to have nightmares!

Here is at least a partial list of items that you will no longer be ALLOWED to bring with you into YOUR stadium for the next over-priced NFL game you go to see:

• Purses larger than a clutch bag
• coolers
• briefcases
• backpacks
• fanny packs
• cinch bags
• seat cushions!
• luggage
• computer bags
• camera bags
• any bag larger than 12"x6"x12"(and made of clear plastic)

Says Jeffrey Miller, the NFL's chief security officer, "Our fans deserve to be in a safe and secure environment. Public safety is our top priority. This will make the job of checking items much more efficient and effective. We will be able to deliver a better and quicker experience at the gates and also provide a safer environment. We appreciate our fans' cooperation."

I truly doubt there is anyone out there who is a "fan" of NFL security! There certainly won't be after fans find out they can't bring in a seat cushion with them! We all know how comfortable those stadium seats are after all. On an up-note, you will still be allowed to bring in binoculars (so that you can see the game from your nose-bleed seats), cameras and smartphones.

Ghost In The Shirt!

     I swear we have a practical joking ghost in our house! For three weeks I've been looking for a particular favorite t-shirt I like to wear and have not been able to find it anywhere. I've done the laundry, and I mean all of our laundry at least three to four times over. I and my wife have both been looking for that shirt. I just did our laundry last night and threw the clothes in a basket that has been emptied out and re-filled several times. My wife grabbed the first shirt off the top of the pile of clothes and it was the shirt we haven't been able to find!

     I like a good joke just like the next guy,  but that shirt is my favorite for a hot day and I have really been wanting it. :-/

Obama Defends NSA Spying On American Citizens

     Here's a LINK to MercuryNews

     President Obama seems to think no American citizen should be upset that their government is spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to spy on their own. "For our own protection", no less. He goes on to say that the NSA only look at caller origination and the duration of the calls to route out terrorists. I'd like for someone to explain to me how looking only at those two things could possibly tell you who are terrorists. I seem to remember voting for a man who claimed he was all about constitutional rights, and making sure that those rights would be protected when he was installed in office...seems like Mr. Obama has forgotten those promises.

Senator Diane Feinstein on the NSA and Surveillance of American Citizens

What Is Race For The Cure Really Racing From?

     It's been reported earlier today on Fox News that the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure charity is pulling out of 7 cities in 2014, that's half the cities they are presently running their charity walks in. A spokesperson for the charity says that the cities they will no longer be doing charity walks in are Phoenix, Boston, Chicago, Tampa Bay, San Francisco and Washington. The cities the events will still be in are Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Michigan, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

     They site a 37% drop in participation in the cities they are leaving. It is unclear whether they are referring to the number of participants, or the amount of money raised. One has to wonder if there is really another reason they are leaving those cities though. The cities they are leaving are rather larger market cities than the ones they are staying in. I wonder if perhaps because of the Boston Marathon bombing incident, these larger cities have notified the charity that they will be required to help pay for broader security so that a similar incident doesn't happen during their event. Mind you, this is nothing but pure speculation on my part, but it seems like a probable scenario given the tighter budgets in most cities thanks to our economy and the increasing need for security during large events like this that span large areas and draw huge crowds.

Google Glass Bans Facial Recognition...What Good Is That?

   

     If you've been hiding under a rock for the last year and don't know what Google Glass is yet...Google it! Today, Google has announced that it is banning the development of facial recognition software apps for it's Google Glass hardware. They're doing this as a reaction to certain segments of the public which have decried Glass for it's privacy concerns. Banning facial recognition apps from the device will actually do more harm than good. All that means is that honest law abiding citizens who wouldn't use facial recognition software on Glass in a reprehensible or irresponsible way won't have access to it. Those who would use it in some way that would be morally or legally wrong will simply install that software on Glass through a hack.

     Gee, where have we heard of a scenario just like this before? Oh yeah, gun control. Gun control only keeps honest people from having guns, criminals will still get their hands on them. It's the same with banning facial recognition software, (which is everywhere already, most new computers bought today and a large number of smartphones come with facial recognition software pre-installed). There will be a hack out there allowing people to install facial recognition software onto Glass, and only hardcore geeks and those with criminal intent will install it. HERE'S a pair of glasses available for $75 that will secretly record video of anyone you're looking at, and I don't hear anyone making a big deal about them like they are Google Glass! Spy glasses like these have been available for several years, yet people are acting like Google is the first to ever do it, and they're taking all the heat for it.

     Every day you are probably being recorded by someone somewhere from the moment you step out of your home, particularly if you live in an urban area. See that guy who looks like he's trying to find something on his smartphone? There's a good chance he's really taking pictures of you, or recording video. How would you know? The days of privacy were nothing more than an illusion anyway. I can remember years before technology went digital all the ads in the back of magazines for spy cameras disguised as everyday objects like pens and tie clips. Who do you think were buying those things back then? Honest, everyday citizens? NO! it was pedophiles, rapists and perverts.

     Stop worrying about Google Glass and start thinking about the kind of empowerment that kind of technology can do for good in the right hands. Because whether you like it or not, that kind of technology is going to get into the wrong hands anyway!

The Debt of Dying

     Have you seen the commercials on TV that tell you the average funeral costs over $7,000? And that the government will only provide you with up to $255 to cover the cost? The actual cost of a funeral today in the United States will run the average family anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000! Who would have thought that in this day and age you would incur debt simply through the act of dying. Yes, when you die, you incur this debt, and you pass it on to the surviving members of your family. 

     It didn't used to be this way though. In the past, when a person died, their bodies were prepared by family members and others in the community and you were buried in a homemade coffin in a family plot. If there was a wake, or showing of the body, it was done in the parlor of the deceased persons home. This all pretty much started changing when the Civil War came along in the 1860's. So many men were dying far from home, and families wanted them to be buried nearby. This is when the practice of embalming started, to preserve the deceased for the long trip home by railroad. At this time, morticians started taking over the task of preparing bodies and arranging for funeral services. While this is admirable, and in most cases preferable during a stressful time for survivors, it has unfortunately become "big business". People are literally dying to give them the business! Since then, funeral directors have changed their status from "tradesman" to "professionals" and have helped through lobbying to justify what they do as a public health concern. Embalming is no more necessary than having a $3,000 casket made with inlaid pearl. Actually, embalming is even one of the least costly parts of a funeral, it generally only costs about $600 to be embalmed. The true expense of funerals today is all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the event, as well as the accompanying bureaucratic red-tape.     

     They say that the only things that are certain in this world are death and taxes, while you may have to worry about your taxes, you shouldn't have to worry about the what it's going to cost you or your family when you die.

The FDA Is Soooo On The Ball!

According to a story on Reuters, the FDA is re-opening an investigation into the effects of caffeine on children because of a new gum being marketed by Wrigley, although they don't name the gum specifically.

Yeah, FDA, it's caffeinated gum that's affecting children, not Red Bull, Monster or any of those other super-caffeinated soft drinks that are marketed directly at children and teens! The FDA must just be mad at Wrigley because they weren't willing to slip them a few million dollars under the table to ignore them like they do the soft drink manufacturers! I fail to understand how there could be any substantive difference between a caffeinated gum and a drink that provides more caffeine than a comparable sized coffee drink.

My First Truck

Bought my first truck in Euro Truck Simulator 2. Cost: 139,090 Euros. Now though I have to pay my own tolls, diesel and repairs! Lots of fun though just the same.

My New Obsession

Who would think that driving a tractor/trailer rig around Europe would make for a fun game?! I've been curious about the game European Truck Simulator 2 for awhile now, and decided the other day to get it from Steam, since it was on sale for 50% off. Wow! Am I glad I got this game. It is sooo much fun, and I'm not even sure why! Literally, you drive loads of cargo from one European city to another, making money and buying upgrades for your truck. It's sooo addictive though. And a truly beautiful game. I've got the graphics mostly turned up to high and am playing it at 1920x1080 resolution. I've already logged in 7 hours of play just since yesterday.

I've mostly been traveling around Germany and France, and have just stopped in at Geneve Switzerland to drop off a load of cargo. I've found that I hate driving in England, it's just so confusing trying to drive on the opposite side of the road, it just makes no sense! France and Germany drive on the proper side of the road at least! Well, gotta get back on the road, there's a smokie on my tail and I've gotta lose him!

Special Interests Pushing Distracted Driving For A Reason?

We've been hearing about "distracted drivers" for awhile now. First it was GPS devices under attack, then it blew up big with texting and driving. Now, according to an article on Engadget, a study has been conducted that has concluded that just using voice-only input for your smart-device while driving causes as much driver distraction as physically texting.

If using your voice to operate a device is distracting to a driver, why wouldn't just talking to someone in the car with you while driving be a distraction?! I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps there is an agenda behind all this "driver distraction" hoopla lately. Maybe there are special interest groups out there that see pushing driver distraction issues will in the future make "driver-less cars" more appealing to the general public. After all, if they've convinced everyone that unless a driver is completely cut off from every distraction possible, we'll always be unsafe on the road until we take the driving away from the human.

I'm all for the development of the driver-less car, but I don't think it's necessary to "dumb-down" people to get us there. Most adults are capable of doing multiple things at once, hence the term, multi-tasking. There are always going to be those that can't multi-task and could therefore be a problem when driving, maybe instead of tying everyone down with rules and regulations, we should instead concentrate on making sure that only competent people are issued licenses to drive!

It Would Seem the U.S. is Back on Track

According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who at this time lies in a Boston hospital recovering from wounds, will stand trial in a Federal courtroom for his crimes. This is a good thing. It's about time that our government shows a commitment to the ideals that it stands for. Unfortunately there are still several "vocal" members of the GOP who are advocating that Mr. Tsarnaev be tried as an enemy combatant. While I believe they certainly have a right to voice their opinion, it is saddening that leaders of our country would show so little care for the liberties and freedoms of their fellow citizens. 

LINK to the story at CBS.com

How Should the Marathon Bomber be Tried?

The (as far as we know) lone surviving Boston Marathon bomber has been captured. Soon he will have to be tried, the question is will he be tried as an American citizen in a criminal trial, or will he be tried as a "terrorist" in a military trial? I think this will be a watershed moment in American history as it will define how our country wishes to travel through the turbulent years ahead. Will we stand by our judicial system and trust it to give guidance to the future generations in our nation, or will we undermine it by intimating that it is not be trusted by turning this young man over to the military to be tried?

IF he is tried as a terrorist in a military trial, it means that he will not be allowed a defense lawyer, nor will the public likely be privy to what occurs during this "trial". Essentially, he will simply disappear, no doubt to the Guantanamo Bay facility where even now, there are an indeterminate number of "terrorists" languishing in a virtual purgatory. This will give very few people in the United States a sense of closure on what has become a national tragedy. No matter how he is put on trial, the dead will not come back to life, and the wounded will not miraculously recover. The American public though does deserve to see that justice is done for those who have suffered at this mans' hands.

IF our justice system in this country is sound and fair, there is no reason that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should not be able to be tried in a civilian criminal court setting. Timothy McVeigh was tried in a criminal court proceeding and I believe that by anyones account, he is presently serving a justified sentence for his crime, the bombing of the  Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. An attack that killed 168 people and injured over 800. So put in that perspective, the Boston Marathon bombing actually pales in comparison. There is no reason that a civilian court cannot try Mr Tsarnaev for his crime. 

Are Sequestration Cuts To Blame for Boston Marathon Bombings?

One has to wonder if the sequestration cuts are to blame for yesterday's Boston Marathon bombings. Have across the board budget cuts resulted in lower security standards which allowed the person or persons to plant bombs within a few hundred feet of the end of the Boston Marathon? How much security was in place for this years race, and how much security had been implemented for the race just last year? Were there bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling the area before or during the race?

With 3 dead and reports of wounded now over 140, Congress will soon be answering tough questions. Is balancing the budget as important as protecting American interests and lives within our own borders? There is no credible evidence at this time of who may have been behind this bombing, but it's becoming quite apparent that most fingers are starting to point at Arabic and Muslim suspects. If so, what have the last ten years or so been all about with the mass deportations and supposedly stricter controls on immigration? Has it all been a smoke-screen to make Americans feel safer when in actuality nothing is being done to make America anymore secure?

Many have complained about how after 9/11 the measures taken to protect America were nothing more than a ploy to instigate draconian laws which have done nothing more than limit constitutional freedoms in this country. Will this bombing now be used to roll out the Patriot Act II? We've had instances in the last few years where American children have been dragged in handcuffs out of their schools for offenses as small as hitting another student or bringing a pen-knife to school, yet we are apparently so lax in our security that not one but at least three bombs were planted in a public area where a huge event was being staged, and two of those bombs allowed to be detonated. Perhaps it's time to stop punishing the innocent and do a realistic assessment of how we can truly make this country safer.

Knife Attack Rampage in Texas

Yesterday, fourteen people were severely wounded by a knife-wielding maniac on a Texas college campus during a job fair. Twenty year old Dylan Quick, admitted to police after his capture that he'd always fantasized about stabbing people, and that he'd planned this attack for quite some time. Two of the victims were still in critical condition. LINK to the original story on CNN.

Obviously, this country needs to immediately enact "knife control legislation"! For far too long, citizens of the United States have had far too easy access to knives. Hunting knives, kitchen knives, utility blades like those used by terrorists on 9/11 even! Yet nothing is being done to make sure that knives are kept out of the hands of criminals.

A quick search of Youtube even yields a scarier fact. There are literally thousands of videos on the site showing people how to make their own knives, and even swords! How can we let this continue when we let the violence rage in our streets and in our homes! Strict knife control laws need to be enacted before even one more citizen falls victim to another senseless knife attack. After the Newton attack many in this country have advocated for strict gun control laws, even the banning of gun ownership completely. How many innocent lives have to be taken before our government takes the threat of knives seriously? No one will be safe as long as you can buy a set of Ginsu knives from your local Walmart!

Cyprus Banks Reopening Hi-light Why Our Government Wants to Take Our Guns

LINK to Cyprus Banks Story

If you are aware of what's going on in Cyprus right now, you'll realize that this is why there are those in our government that want to take our guns from us here in America. How would you like it if the government imposed limits on how much of YOUR money you can take from the bank? That's what they're doing in Cyprus right now. They've also made it illegal to have more than 1000 Euros on your person. That would be like saying that anyone in the U.S. with more than $1000 on them is breaking the law and the police would have the right to confiscate the money above $1000 that you have on you!

That's unlikely to happen in this country because the citizens still have the right to own and bear arms. Let's see what happens in this country if the government tries to take your money out of your bank account while we're armed. It would be easy to do when we're all running around with pitch forks and baseball bats, it's something else when we're armed with AR-15's and 9mm pistols.

Dr. Girlfriend from the Venture Brothers

A wallpaper for fans of Dr. Girlfriend from the Venture Brothers (1366 x 768)

For everyone looking forward to St. Patrick's Day!

Barnes & Noble Chairman wants to separate physical stores from Nook e-business

With the Nook e-reader turning into little more than a "niche" market for Barnes & Noble, the Chairman, Leonard Riggio wants to buy out the physical stores and spin off their e-reader business as a separate company. With disappointing sales of the nook reader and their e-book business also down this past Christmas season, one has to wonder if perhaps Mr. Riggio is trying to save a sinking ship by tossing a heavy anchor overboard?!

Link to Original Story

Winter Storm Q! Oh My!

Really? The National Weather Service is giving names to winter storms now? What's next? Are they going to start naming every thunderstorm that races across the US this year? "Thunderstorm Tobias is currently marching from the Mid-West to the Mid-Atlantic states!"

Does the National Weather Service have so little to do, or have they just decided that naming every freaking storm that crops up will make them seem more important? I can see the point of naming hurricanes and tropical storms, as they're large, long lasting dangerous weather systems that impact large populations. There is absolutely no sense in naming winter storms. I believe this is nothing more than an attempt at scaring the public and trying to make themselves seem more relevant than they are anymore. Get real folks, a few inches of snow and a little ice is nothing new or even noteworthy, it's called winter for a reason!

Cosmic Coincidence?

NASA is saying that without a doubt, the meteorite that hit the city of Chelyabinsk had nothing to do with the asteroid 2012 DA14, and that it was just a, "cosmic coincidence" that their arrivals were so close together. I'm sorry, but I find that a little hard to swallow. After all, it's the same scientists who are claiming that an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 only comes along about once every 1200 years. Even meteorites the size of a double-decker bus are said to be very uncommon. So what are the chances that both these space bodies happened to grace us with their presence within twelve hours or so of each other?

Here's my guess, and let me stress, these are just my "opinion", and not facts in any way. I believe that the meteorite that hit Chelyabinsk was either a piece of 2012 DA14, or at the very least was a piece of debris that's been flying along beside it. Because of it's nearness to the larger mass of the asteroid, scientists missed seeing it. I think this is highly plausible, and let's face it, no one wants to admit that they screwed up and missed seeing something the size of a bus that ends up hitting the earth!

My second theory is going waaaay out on a limb, but why the heck not?! What if 2012 DA14 was actually on a trajectory to hit the earth? I mean look at how much damage that "meteorite" did over the Ural mountains. It only weighed an estimated 10 tons. 2012 DA14 weighs in at a hefty 130,000 tons! The government most likely wouldn't have told us if it had been, for fear of widespread panic. Just a couple of days ago, the United States launched a "satellite" into orbit. What if there had been no satellite and in actuality we'd launched a missile at 2012 DA14 in attempt to make it veer away from the Earth? After the ensuing explosion, a piece of it ends up entering the atmosphere and causing havoc over the Urals. Yeah, it sounds like something right out of a SyFy channel movie, but the fact is we may never know even if that were the truth since the government wouldn't want to take credit for averting a major disaster since there was still collateral damage.

Russian City Hit By Meteorite

Just hours ago, the Russian city of Chelyabinsk was rocked when a meteorite estimated to weigh approximately 10 tons exploded in the air above them. This occurred as the largest asteroid to pass close to Earth is getting ready to make it's fly-by, we hope! Asteroid 2012-DA14 is 150 feet across and weighs in at an estimated 130,000 tons! Imagine what would happen to the Earth should it hit us instead of missing us. Over 500 people are reported injured in Russia after the impacts from the exploding 10 ton meteorite. If estimates of the relative sizes of the objects are correct, 2012-DA14 would have 13,000 times the impact potential of the relatively small meteorite that hit Chelyabinsk, Russia.

This incident hi-lights the need to have a much stronger presence in space than the human species does now. If an asteroid the size of 2012-DA14 were to hit the Earth, it could very well be the end of us as a species.

Emerging Market For Water...Hotter Than Oil

According to a new NASA study, the Mid-East is losing fresh water reserves at an alarming rate. Countries like Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran are losing groundwater due to mismanagement and a 2007 drought. I think we need to start shipping water by the barrel over there and I think it should be going for about a $100 per barrel, give or take. Of course, if there are tensions anywhere in the world, it will negatively affect the price of water, and of course at the change of every season we'll have to increase the price due to the cost of switching over from the winter blend to the summer blend and things like that. I mean, you have to take into account the logistics of this sort of thing, supply and demand can be a tricky thing!

Sexist CBS Takes A Stand

Has anyone out there been reading about the sexist attitude that CBS is taking towards female performers for this year's Grammy Awards Show? Here's a link to a story that details the "requirements" for female performers to comply with as far as dress is concerned. It's absolutely ridiculous how they are singling out female performers and dictating to them what is appropriate dress. In my opinion every male performer at the Grammy's should strut out on stage wearing nothing more than a thong! No requirements are being made of them, as if only women can offend by displaying their skin. I'd love to see Justin Timberlake walk out on the stage leaving little to the imagination. Let CBS executives choke on their hypocrisy then!

What The Hell Were They Thinking?!

I was just reading about the man-hunt for Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who worked for the Los Angeles police department from 2004 to 2008. Here's a link to the story at the New York Times. While the details behind this story are tragic, and I feel for all the police officers and their family members involved, who have either been killed or hurt, you have to wonder just what kind of training these officers have. According to the story, two women delivering newspapers who just happened to be driving the same model and color of truck that the suspect is supposedly driving, were shot and wounded when police officers opened fire on them "mistakenly".

I'm sorry, but since when is it okay for police officers to open fire on the first "vehicle" that matches the description of a suspect vehicle without making absolutely sure that the people inside it actually are the suspects. In this particular case, I don't see how two women can be mistaken for one black man. What if it were the suspect, and he had a hostage in the vehicle with him? Apparently that doesn't matter anymore and the police are free to open fire whenever they want to. I for one am hoping that the officer's involved in that, "case of mistaken identity", are on an unpaid leave of absence right now, and that an independent review board will be looking into the procedures they followed, or more likely, didn't follow!

The New "Porn App" For Kids

Is there anyone who didn't see this coming? A new app service has been making waves on the Iphone and Ipad called, "Vine". The service, an off-shoot of Twitter, allows users to upload six second long video clips. The idea being a kind of Youtube for the Twitter generation. You know, people with really, really short attention spans!

Originally the app claimed it was appropriate for anyone twelve years old and up, but apparently there have been several incidents in which clips of porn have been available on the service. They've now updated the app so that users will see a warning about possible adult content and have to click a button affirming that they are seventeen years or older in order to view the content. Yeah, it's real hard for a child to figure out if they just click that button that they can get access to all the six second porn they want.

You know, I never liked Steve Jobs, but at least when he was at the helm at Apple, an app like this would have been stripped from the I-store the second this problem cropped up. At least he ran a tight ship and worried about his brand's reputation. While I think most people in this country take porn way too seriously, and should be more worried about the violence that we let children see every day, it just seems to me that this app is just asking for trouble with a capital "T".

No Skeets Were Killed In The Making Of This...

For the last few days, it seems like you can't go to any news website without seeing something about how President Obama is anti-gun. That he's going to take everyone's guns away and curtail all American's "right to bear arms".

Saturday morning, White House Senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer tweeted out a picture of President Obama shooting skeet. Apparently in a recent interview, the President stated that he does indeed shoot guns, that he shoots skeet often at Camp David.

Now a skeptical public is wondering why we've never heard of President Obama partaking in the sport of skeet shooting before. Maybe he does, and maybe he doesn't. The fact is they probably have file photos of every sitting president for every possible occasion. I'm sure there are photos of the President kissing a baby, shaking hands with a veteran, posing with an openly gay person...etc. etc.

The fact is, President Obama has been taking a hailstorm of bad press over his need to do something to satisfy the public outcry from the Sandy Hook shooting, and now the White House is trying to spin out a little damage control to repair the holes in the sails!

Is The Justice Department Serious??

The U.S. Justice department is seeking to halt a merger between Anheuser-Busch InBev, brewer of Budweiser and Mexico's Grupo Modelo, brewer of Corona beer. They've stated that they fear this 20.1 billion dollar merger will put too many brands of beer in the hands of one company. Namely Anheuser-Busch.

Really? Is this something that is so important? With the huge banking and pharmaceutical conglomerates in this country, the Justice department wants to go after a beer company to make sure and keep the price of beer competetive? Give me a break Justice department, and grow a pair of balls!

Ouya Development In Full Swing

To the left is a screenshot of a game in development for the Ouya, by Australian Indie game developer Kactus Games. The game goes under the current name, Sea States, in which players will be able to build their own "micro-nations" in international waters. A sort of  "SimCity" on the high seas!

My son, Alex Wells, has been helping the Indie team as a freelance artist. It's his yacht in the screenshot that you see. The game certainly sounds like it could be a lot of fun. It's part of the CREATE game jam, sponsored by Killscreen and Ouya, an online contest challenging developers to make playable prototypes for the Ouya in just 10 days. Many world-class games have been developed in previous game jams, maybe this will be the next one!

Link to the original story on Killscreendaily.

Sticks And Stones...And Other Hard Things

     Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

     That's a saying I grew up hearing all the time. It's a saying I took to heart and feel I'm a better person for it. I learned to develop a "thick skin" and not let what people might say to me have any real meaning. My parents taught me this. I can remember coming home and telling my mom that someone at school had been calling me names and taunting me. She told me that saying and that was the end of it. My parents didn't fly out to the school in an hysterical rage demanding that children be expelled from school, or that new rules be implemented to "reduce bullying".
     There weren't congressional hearings to determine if bullying is a national problem or not. Classmates who got picked on didn't commit suicide or go home and get a gun and shoot people in the school randomly. If you got teased, you taunted back, you got in a shoving match on the playground, or you just let it go and went on with your life.

     It seems like today kids have just gotten too "thin skinned". Anytime they get teased or bullied it's a horrifying crime that needs to be trumpeted on the evening news. The next time your child comes home and says they've been bullied at school...tell them sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you, and if they get beaten with sticks and stones, tell them to fight back for GOD's sake!

Sluggish Windows 8 Raising It's Price...Really!?

Windows 8 upgrade price is set to go up starting February 1st. Really? Does Microsoft think that that it's, "slow to move off the shelves new operating system", is going to move any faster at $119 than it has been at $39.99? I don't think so. If anything, I think Microsoft will let it's upgrade price go up so that they can blame the slow adoption rate of Windows 8 on price, rather than quality.

By now, even Microsoft surely has to admit that with their Windows 8 user interface they've left desktop users behind. I've had the RC build of windows 8 on an old PC since it came out. It was a horrible experience which is why I've never even considered purchasing it. Now the RC build has entered it's phase where it shuts the PC down every hour and re-starts it, to basically make you upgrade or remove it from the PC. I'll be removing it and putting a Linux build back on it, thank you very much Microsoft! I have no interest in keeping a "touchscreen dependent" operating system on a desktop computer that has no touchscreen capabilities. All that Microsoft has to do to salvage Windows 8 is to make it a hybrid OS that will cater to both touchscreen devices and non-touchscreen devices. It would surely not be too hard to have the OS detect whether or not a touchscreen is available or not, and tailor the interface to match the capabilities of the machine it's installed on.

Beneath the hood, Windows 8 is little more than Windows 7 with a few new dressings. Unfortunately, it's those very "dressings" that make it such a horrible experience on a traditional desktop. The next iteration of Windows is going to have to address this problem, or there will be a very big reason for computer users to start adopting Linux. One of the main reasons keeping Linux from being adopted widely by computer users is the fact that gamers have needed a windows operating system to enjoy playing games. That may be changing soon though since Steam, a game store/service, provided by Valve is pushing it's service now on Linux. They are also actively encouraging game developers to port their existing games to Linux and to begin developing new games exclusively for the Linux operating system.

As long as the base of Linux users keeps growing, developing games for Linux could actually be a boon to game developers as there would be fewer licensing fees involved. The open source operating system may yet prove to be the underdog that swoops in and claims the huge desktop market that Microsoft seems so ready to drop like a hot potato!

To Lip-Sync, Or Not To Lip-Sync...

Has anyone been following the controversy over whether or not Beyonce Knowles lip-synced during the President's Inauguration? Does anyone out there really care one way or the other? I don't. There could be many reasons a singer may lip-sync at a live performance of their own music. Maybe she was having health issues, maybe there were equipment problems, or possibly the venue simply afforded poor quality for a live performance. The fact is, you're still seeing the performer making all their moves, (and who would complain about getting to see Beyonce's moves!), and you're still hearing the music your supposed to hear.

Last year I got the chance to go see Elton John perform live. Did he lip-sync during his performance? I'd have no way of knowing, I was so far up in the nose-bleed section that he looked like a tiny little doll. The performance was wonderful and the music beautiful to listen to. It wouldn't have mattered to me one iota if I'd found out later that he was lip-syncing to prerecorded tracks. People are going to need to get over this idea of what a "live" performance is, after all, It was just last year that Tu-Pac made his famous holographic appearance posthumously. The day is coming when all performances may be of that sort.

Ninth Anniversary Of The Mars Rover Opportunity, Still Going Strong

     Before Curiosity, there were two little droids that could...and no, I'm not talking about C-3PO and R2-D2. Back on January 25th, 2004, the rover Opportunity landed on Mars to begin a three month long mission. Nine years later and more than 22 miles traveled, Opportunity is still hard at work, making new discoveries. While Spirit succumbed in 2010 to loose Martian sand that trapped it, it's counter-part, the plucky Opportunity continues to trundle on, albeit backwards after suffering from a stuck front wheel that refuses to turn.

     Apparently Opportunity now suffers from an arthritic robotic arm as well, but it hasn't stopped the little rover from continuing on and doing more good science work. Both rovers have sent back thousands of images of the planet Mars that have amazed and dazzled us. For instance, on March 10th, 2005, Spirit caught the first ever video of a dust devil racing across the surface of Mars. See that historic footage HERE on Wikipedia.

Space Miners Wanted...Someday...Soon!

     The hype for the industrialization of space seems to be picking up speed lately. I've been seeing more than the usual amount of plans to make near-Earth and beyond-Earth space a profitable business, and the neat thing is there seems to be some actual meat on the bone now!

     Elon Musk and his company, Space-X, have successfully delivered cargo to the International Space Station, and are on schedule for more deliveries. Virgin Galactic is rounding the corner on actually starting their space tourism business and there are literally dozens of new companies springing up that have viable plans to begin business ventures beyond Earth orbit.

     Two of those new start-up companies are DSI, and Planetary Resources. Both companies have plans in the next couple of years to send out robotic probes that will survey and eventually collect asteroids to mine for resources. Here's a LINK to an article on POPSCI that goes into more details about what they plan to do. I'm excited to finally see Industry begin to move into the realm of space. A government initiative can only do so much, jump-starting space exploration. It's private industry that will really be what moves humanity beyond the confines of Earth.

Diversity, The Spice Of Life

     I'm often mystified when I see headlines like I did at ScienceDaily, "Photovoltaics beat biofuels at converting sun's energy to miles driven." Why does everyone on this planet seem to think that everything has to be about competition, and that there always has to be a winner and a loser? If you were going to invest money in the stock market, (would you really be silly enough to do that these days?), would you want to pour all of your money into one company? No, you'd "diversify", by buying stocks in many different companies to help you absorb losses when they happen. Or as I learned as a young child, never put all your eggs into one basket!

     When it comes to energy production, why does it always have to be Solar vs. Wind, Biofuels vs. Oil, Coal vs. Nuclear. Why can't we accept that having a diverse energy production scheme would be the best for everyone? Every type of energy production has it's advantages, and disadvantages. There's no reason that just because one type of energy production beats out another by a couple of percent that the "loser" should be left behind and forgotten about. No one wants a nuclear power plant in their backyard, and you wouldn't want to build a hydro-electric damn in the middle of the desert. Solar energy wouldn't make much sense in someplace like Washington state which sees so much cloud cover, and what's the point of a coal plant someplace where you'd have to transport the coal hundreds of miles to it?

     Like so many other things in life, it's time to dial back the competition and start thinking more about cooperation.

Photo courtesy of Daniel X O'Neil

Martin Luther King Jr Would Roll Over In His Grave...

     January 18th was, "Internet Freedom Day", something I didn't even know existed until 24 hours later. A celebration of the defeat of SOPA and PIPA. Propositions which would have regulated free speech on the internet. While this is a great thing that these initiatives were defeated, we're a long way from a truly free internet. As part of the celebration a website had posted Martin Luther King Jr's iconic "I have a dream" speech. Within hours though, that speech was taken down from the website Vimeo, presumably due to a "copyright" request from Mr. King's estate, (i.e. his family).

     Apparently it is very hard to find a full length version of his speech anywhere, unless you want to pay his estate $20 for it on DVD. It's my belief that Martin Luther King Jr. is rolling over in his grave right now, because of the way his descendants are prostituting his heritage. That speech was a milestone in civil rights in this country and should be available freely on something like the internet, which didn't even exist when that speech was made. Because of the greed of his family though, it is only available to those who want to pay for it. I've been a staunch advocate for rewriting the copyright laws in this country. They've been hi-jacked by corporations to "protect their intellectual property" and are now stifling true education and freedom of expression. Greed has become the over-riding factor in copyright law, and it needs to be rewritten so that important cultural landmarks don't disappear from the landscape.

Worker's Income Shrinking

     It's sad, as worker's paychecks in this country just got substantially smaller, none of the major news outlets thinks this is something that should be discussed. Looking over the major media outlets this morning showed a crop of stories about Lance Armstrong admitting to drug use, problems in foreign countries like England's Algeria hostage crisis and Serena Williams hitting herself in the face...yes, these and other stories are so much more important to the American public than why they are getting paid less now to do the same job they were doing last month...that is if they're lucky enough to have a job!

     The corporate controlled media are in full swing to keep America's attention on anything other than the fact that they're already small paychecks are getting even smaller. Not to mention the fact that gas prices spiked up twenty-nine cents per gallon this morning to boot. It's Republicans that have engineered the situation that we're in right now, and the thing is, most businesses are supposedly owned by Republicans. How do they expect to make any money when the average American no longer has any discretionary spending money?

A Long Way To Go And No Way To Get There

     NASA has announced that the Kepler telescope has found what may be the best candidate for an extra-solar planet that could contain life. The planet which has been designated KOI 172.02, is just slightly larger than the Earth, and sits inside the habitable zone deemed most likely to harbor a planet with liquid water on it's surface, if water is present.
     I have to wonder why scientists and the media get so excited over these finds like this, after all, how are ever going to confirm whether or not these planets are habitable, or if they actually have life on them? It's not like we're going to slap a nuclear engine on one of the mothballed space shuttles and fly over there and check it out! We can't put together a decent proposition to put men back on the moon, or to travel to Mars, so what good is it going to be even if we found an alien planet outside our solar system that could harbor life, it's not like we're going to get there anytime soon.

Time To Leave Broken Java Behind

     Why does any website still use Java in it's coding? With all the trouble that Java has been in and caused over the last couple of years, really, you'd think by now that websites would just eschew using it altogether. Maybe they do, I've had Java disabled in all our browsers for several months now, and frankly I can't say what it is that I'm missing. Every once in awhile I'll come across a website that tells me I'm, "not enjoying the full experience of their website because I have Java disabled". It's usually just some applet for playing some dumb game, or taking an online quiz. I can't say that I feel like I'm missing all that much. Surely there are better alternatives for these sorts of things, like HTML5. I think it's time for Java to be put out to pasture. I mean, Oracle themselves seem to make it difficult. The other day, I spent an hour trying to update my Java with the most recent patch. It was a laborious, frustrating process and I'm still not confident that I have the updated version on my computer without any of the older, compromised versions still on my hard-drive.

     Please Oracle, can you tell me why you can't make a simple updater that will install the latest version on my computer and "automatically" remove older versions from my computer? Why do I have to go in and manually remove the older versions of Java from my computer myself? Why do you STILL insist on trying to sneak the "Ask toolbar" onto my browsers whenever I try and update Java? I've still got Java disabled on all my browsers, and I suggest to everyone out there that you do it also. Java has become a playground littered with dirty needles and homeless pedophiles, it's time to find a new playground because this one has become a crime-ridden ghetto.

A Whole New Year!

     My blog has been looking pretty "political" lately, I know. I didn't mean for it to, but the world has been pretty political for the past few months, and my life has been somewhat embroiled in that so this blog has reflected that. Of course, I have no real direction that this blog goes in anyway.

     I'm now gearing up for my second semester in college. I'm getting into some more fun classes this semester...classes like "Intro to computer graphics" and "Fundamentals of design", also "digital imaging". I hope to keep up on this blog on a regular basis just the same, and maybe what I learn in class will be making it's way here as well. I've been using more of my own artwork on the blog lately, both to get more practice in and to become more confident in displaying what I create. With the added benefit being that if I create it myself, I know there's no question about my using it copyright-wise!

     

They're Here, So Let Them Pay Taxes Too!

     Although it seems like there are no clear lines when it comes to the debate over immigration, it does seem that Republicans are for the most part behind attempts to prevent immigrants from becoming United States citizens. You have to wonder why, when it's Republicans who want more revenue coming in from taxes and also want fewer illegal immigrants in this country. By making illegal immigrants legal U.S. citizens, they become a taxpayer, which helps to support the system.


     First off, let's define what an "illegal immigrant" is. Unfortunately, when many people in this country hear this term, their first impression is of an Hispanic that crosses the border in the middle of the night, most likely carrying drugs. That's not the case though, the majority of illegal immigrants in this country are people just like you and me that came into the United States legally and simply haven't left after their visa has expired. Usually because they've decided to make the U.S. their home, but unfortunately the laws and fees that are imposed on immigrants make it next to impossible for many to become U.S. citizens. For starters, it costs $675 to apply to become a U.S. citizen, imagine if you're a family of four, that's a total cost of $2700! Could you come up with $2700 today to pay for yourself and your three family members to become citizens if you had to? Probably not in today's economy, I know I wouldn't be able to.

     Before 1906, all it took for an immigrant to become a U.S. citizen was to take an oath. No fees or tests required. Why was this? Because the U.S. wanted immigrants to help build this nation. That's why our country is called the cultural melting pot. That's why the U.S. experienced such a boom in population and was able to carve a great nation out of the land. Today though, the rich, white elitists who benefited the most from the immigration wave of the late 1800's no longer want those immigrants in this country. They see them as a drain on their pocketbooks and their profit margins. What these people need to see also though is a dwindling population of taxpayers. Not wanting immigrants to become U.S. citizens doesn't keep them out of the country, it only keeps them out of the "system". Drop the fees and the tests required to become a U.S. citizen and you won't see any more rush to enter this country than you already do, you'll just see a growing tax base that will help fund this country into the next century!

Idiots Tweet And Vlog Their Way Into Court!

     How sick can some people of the younger generation be these days? Apparently sick enough and stupid enough to not only be aware of an under-age girl being gang-raped, and possibly being a participant of said tragedy, but to publish tweets and videos of yourself laughing about the event! LINK to the story on MailOnline. I'm so disgusted, I'm not going to go into any details of what goes on in this story out of Steubenville, OH. Suffice it to say that several young men, one in particular, Michael Nodianos, joke and laugh about a 16 year old girl who is "nearby" in an unconscious state being raped. Nodianos makes several jokes in an extract of a 12 minute long video, describing her as, "a dead girl", and comparing her to victims of famous crimes like Treyvon Martin and Caylee Anthony.

     It's not like things like this haven't been happening for decades, because unfortunately they have. I just find it mind-boggling that the young idiots in this story feel comfortable publishing their heinous comments on the internet. I hope that the young man in this video gets everything ten times over in jail that he seems to think is so funny happening to a 16 year old girl.