Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Holiday Jeer
Much like the roaming minions of Mephistopheles himself, the holiday crowd is out this year in full swing. But, unlike the years before, the mindless army of consumer drones seems to be growing ever smaller year by year. This doesn't make my life any easier on the road somehow despite their dwindling numbers surprisingly. I guess even a small amount of assholery is too much assholery.
I can only hope that the lessening enthusiasm over this holiday season is a sign of the end of its hustle and bustle and finally mark the end to this annoying and intrusive holiday season. And the signs are there. Advertisers are getting ever more desperate to suck people in to their stores, less and less people are willing to fall for those "holiday savings", and I get to sit behind less and less morons in traffic when I'm just trying to go get something to eat.
Much like the death throes of Halloween, Christmas is wheezing and hacking out its death rattle and not a moment too soon. This holiday season does not warm the hearts of people anymore other than fill the expectations of children who can't wait for their demands to be fulfilled under that tree in exchange for another year of tolerance of their parents.
This holiday season has worn out its welcome like that uncle at New Years who stays way too late after midnight pounding down bloody marys. Adults refuse to let go of this holiday though much like keeping their dying grandmother on life support refusing to accept the ugly truth that the end is nigh, clinging to the last shattered memories of their childhood in a week attempt to relive it.
I can only hope that the lessening enthusiasm over this holiday season is a sign of the end of its hustle and bustle and finally mark the end to this annoying and intrusive holiday season. And the signs are there. Advertisers are getting ever more desperate to suck people in to their stores, less and less people are willing to fall for those "holiday savings", and I get to sit behind less and less morons in traffic when I'm just trying to go get something to eat.
Much like the death throes of Halloween, Christmas is wheezing and hacking out its death rattle and not a moment too soon. This holiday season does not warm the hearts of people anymore other than fill the expectations of children who can't wait for their demands to be fulfilled under that tree in exchange for another year of tolerance of their parents.
This holiday season has worn out its welcome like that uncle at New Years who stays way too late after midnight pounding down bloody marys. Adults refuse to let go of this holiday though much like keeping their dying grandmother on life support refusing to accept the ugly truth that the end is nigh, clinging to the last shattered memories of their childhood in a week attempt to relive it.
Blue Jersey Sky
It's a big blue Jersey sky,
Lay on my back and watch clouds roll by.
I've got the time to wonder why,
She left me.
It's a slow sad Jersey song,
I knew the words but I sang them wrong.
The one I love has left and gone,
Without me.
Now she's gone, our world has changed.
Watching a blue sky, thinking of rain.
It's a slow sad Jersey song,
I knew the words but I sang them wrong.
The one that I love has left and gone,
Without me.
It's a big blue Jersey sky,
I Lay on my back and watch clouds roll by.
I only wish I could make you cry,
Like I do.
original lyrics by Chris Isaak, modified by yours truly
Lay on my back and watch clouds roll by.
I've got the time to wonder why,
She left me.
It's a slow sad Jersey song,
I knew the words but I sang them wrong.
The one I love has left and gone,
Without me.
Now she's gone, our world has changed.
Watching a blue sky, thinking of rain.
It's a slow sad Jersey song,
I knew the words but I sang them wrong.
The one that I love has left and gone,
Without me.
It's a big blue Jersey sky,
I Lay on my back and watch clouds roll by.
I only wish I could make you cry,
Like I do.
original lyrics by Chris Isaak, modified by yours truly
Monday, December 15, 2008
Stupid Things My Boss Says
"If we make the passwords too complicated, the users will just end up changing them."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Marketting Buzzwords
I am getting really fucking tired of people using the word 'solution' when they mean 'product'. Your company does not sell 'business solutions'. Knock it the fuck off! Stop trying to over-complicate what your company does by replacing words. If your company sells rubber dog shit, you do NOT sell synthetic canine waste solutions. Face it, you are a rubber dog shit company and sell rubber dog shit.
Companies that focus in computer products are guilty of this the most, espcially when what they sell isn't too clear. When you hear 'solutions' instead of 'product' in a company's sales pitch, be warned that you are most likely being sold something completely and utterly useless to you. It's meaningless! It's nothing more than a way to confuse and delude the customer while simultaneously artificially increasing the value of the product by one-hundred percent. If you were to buy a Resturant Website, you would expect to pay $500 to $1000 for it. If you were to buy a Culinary Enterprise Web Solution, you could expect to pay between $2500 and $5000. This kind of revolting language makes me want to slap a baby... or at least look into infant disciplinary solutions.
Companies that focus in computer products are guilty of this the most, espcially when what they sell isn't too clear. When you hear 'solutions' instead of 'product' in a company's sales pitch, be warned that you are most likely being sold something completely and utterly useless to you. It's meaningless! It's nothing more than a way to confuse and delude the customer while simultaneously artificially increasing the value of the product by one-hundred percent. If you were to buy a Resturant Website, you would expect to pay $500 to $1000 for it. If you were to buy a Culinary Enterprise Web Solution, you could expect to pay between $2500 and $5000. This kind of revolting language makes me want to slap a baby... or at least look into infant disciplinary solutions.
Hooray For Socialism!!
Get ready folks... Tonight marks a moment in our country's history where things can get messed up very badly. If people thought Bush was bad, just wait. Eggshells my friends, eggshells. Okay Obama, you won the office. Now, better make good on all of those promises you made that got you there and not just be the novelty black president you are right now.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Power Struggle
I live in an area that suffers from power outages quite often. Even in ideal conditions we seem to lose power. So, you can only imagine the fun that is to be had when some nippledick in his rice burner wraps himself around a telephone pole just down the street (this happens about twice a year on average). So, as you might have guessed, I lose power often. It's annoying, frustrating, and it makes me want to slap a baby.
This last time, however, finally did more than just inconvenience me. I was on the computer at the moment when the power went out. The power flickered on and off abruptly a few times until finally staying out until a couple hours later. I turned my computer back on and imagine my surprise when no sound came from my speakers. Odd? Yeah. But, hey... it could have just been that Windows reassigned my default sound settings. Well... no, that didn't happen. After a few hours of investigation, it turns out that the main output port on my built in sound card is fried. Get that? The BUILT IN sound card is FRIED. This means it's rendered useless. Now I ask you; shouldn't I be able to hold the power company responsible for surging computer? Before you get on your soap-box and start preaching to me about using a surge protector, I DO! In fact, it's on a redundant surge protection line. PSE&G (our local power company) bills you EVERY month whether you have service the whole month or not, charges you extra for additional power used, and then destroys your shit and doesn't feel as though they are responsible for it. In this particular case, they ARE responsible. No one hit a telephone pole and no tree was felled onto power lines. They shut the power off intentionally thus popping my amplifier in my computer and frying my sound card.
So... Now I have to haul off to the store tomorrow and pick up PCI sound card so that I don't have to use my jimmy-rigged USB headset adapater as a sound card (although it works surprisingly well).
On top of that, I got to sit in the dark for 3 hours suffering from cabin fever.
Today was just shitty.
This last time, however, finally did more than just inconvenience me. I was on the computer at the moment when the power went out. The power flickered on and off abruptly a few times until finally staying out until a couple hours later. I turned my computer back on and imagine my surprise when no sound came from my speakers. Odd? Yeah. But, hey... it could have just been that Windows reassigned my default sound settings. Well... no, that didn't happen. After a few hours of investigation, it turns out that the main output port on my built in sound card is fried. Get that? The BUILT IN sound card is FRIED. This means it's rendered useless. Now I ask you; shouldn't I be able to hold the power company responsible for surging computer? Before you get on your soap-box and start preaching to me about using a surge protector, I DO! In fact, it's on a redundant surge protection line. PSE&G (our local power company) bills you EVERY month whether you have service the whole month or not, charges you extra for additional power used, and then destroys your shit and doesn't feel as though they are responsible for it. In this particular case, they ARE responsible. No one hit a telephone pole and no tree was felled onto power lines. They shut the power off intentionally thus popping my amplifier in my computer and frying my sound card.
So... Now I have to haul off to the store tomorrow and pick up PCI sound card so that I don't have to use my jimmy-rigged USB headset adapater as a sound card (although it works surprisingly well).
On top of that, I got to sit in the dark for 3 hours suffering from cabin fever.
Today was just shitty.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Accustomed Living
It's amazing how many people today live by the "Accustomed Living" standard. Over-privileged, well-fed, wealthy men and women get very used to a certain way of living; privileged. However, when times get tough, they would rather leach more from those who depend on them to maintain their way of life.
The Government gives tax breaks to large business owners because the theory is that with all that extra money, business owners will be able to hire more people, thus creating more jobs. Unfortunately, this doesn't work. While this produces an environment that allows the payment of higher wages or more employees, most business owners tend to end up just pocketing the left overs and labeling it 'profit'. That's all well and good, but the second the economy takes a spin in the wrong direction and businesses start to lose profits, the owners of said companies would rather fire parts of their workforce (or at least make major cuts where possible) than dip into their pockets where all those profits gathered for all those years. After all, we can't have the life their accustomed to change, can we?
The problem with this whole set up is it relies too much on the willingness of the business to actually do with the money what was intended. Now, don't get my wrong. I in no way support the full Democratic Robin Hood philosophy of tax the rich, give to the poor because their definition of rich and poor is drastically screwed up. I think a fine line down the middle of helping businesses maintain profitability while taxing people evenly and fairly would work best. Taxes aren't a punishment. They are a necessary funding from the people to pay for things the government needs. So, all citizens, regardless of income level, should pay some form of tax. The amount to tax is the biggest concern. We're probably better off with just a flat percentage tax.
The wealthiest people in this country are too well protected and supported even for mistakes they make themselves. Recently, I accidentally overdrew too much from my checking account and was hit with a $600 overdraft charge. Now, ratio metrically, that $600 loss to me is the equivalent of $60,000,000.00 loss to a wealthy CEO of some huge company. On one hand, the CEO will most likely be able to retrieve most of it through clever tax deductions and government intervention. Me? I'm just screwed. Hell, the bank who took my money is the company who probably lost the 60 million and is getting it back by hitting me with larger surcharges.
In the end, I give a lot of credit to the middle class of this country. We have adapted and evolved from high on the ladder of success to the lowest rung of surivability; selling homes, budgeting money, and sacrificing luxuries. Meanwhile, the upper 1% of this country doesn't know the meaning of the word sacrifice... unless you mean he'll have to skip his golf game on Wednesday because he just might have to show up at the office for an hour...
The Government gives tax breaks to large business owners because the theory is that with all that extra money, business owners will be able to hire more people, thus creating more jobs. Unfortunately, this doesn't work. While this produces an environment that allows the payment of higher wages or more employees, most business owners tend to end up just pocketing the left overs and labeling it 'profit'. That's all well and good, but the second the economy takes a spin in the wrong direction and businesses start to lose profits, the owners of said companies would rather fire parts of their workforce (or at least make major cuts where possible) than dip into their pockets where all those profits gathered for all those years. After all, we can't have the life their accustomed to change, can we?
The problem with this whole set up is it relies too much on the willingness of the business to actually do with the money what was intended. Now, don't get my wrong. I in no way support the full Democratic Robin Hood philosophy of tax the rich, give to the poor because their definition of rich and poor is drastically screwed up. I think a fine line down the middle of helping businesses maintain profitability while taxing people evenly and fairly would work best. Taxes aren't a punishment. They are a necessary funding from the people to pay for things the government needs. So, all citizens, regardless of income level, should pay some form of tax. The amount to tax is the biggest concern. We're probably better off with just a flat percentage tax.
The wealthiest people in this country are too well protected and supported even for mistakes they make themselves. Recently, I accidentally overdrew too much from my checking account and was hit with a $600 overdraft charge. Now, ratio metrically, that $600 loss to me is the equivalent of $60,000,000.00 loss to a wealthy CEO of some huge company. On one hand, the CEO will most likely be able to retrieve most of it through clever tax deductions and government intervention. Me? I'm just screwed. Hell, the bank who took my money is the company who probably lost the 60 million and is getting it back by hitting me with larger surcharges.
In the end, I give a lot of credit to the middle class of this country. We have adapted and evolved from high on the ladder of success to the lowest rung of surivability; selling homes, budgeting money, and sacrificing luxuries. Meanwhile, the upper 1% of this country doesn't know the meaning of the word sacrifice... unless you mean he'll have to skip his golf game on Wednesday because he just might have to show up at the office for an hour...
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The "Just Make It Work" Philosophy
How many of you have a boss who's work philosophy is "Just make it work"? Well, I do. It drives me fucking nuts. I work for a company who deals with mobile technology creating web sites that work for computers and mobile phones alike. However, within this company, EVERYTHING they use is open source and they refuse to use any commercial product other than Exchange for the server and email, and I'm even skeptical that they paid for that.
When I'm working on a new script, or modifying an existing script, I try to take every precaution to ensure that it's done right; make sure the HTML and CSS are valid, double check the PHP to ensure it validates the forms properly, etc etc. You know, the normal everyday web development bullshit people do when working on a script.
Well, when it comes to this place, "Just make it work" rings loud and clear. Corners are cut, essential error checking is skipped, and user input sterilization is bypassed in order to meet some self-made deadline (a deadline that COULD be changed, but isn't because those who make the deadlines promise things that don't exist yet to people who've already paid for them).
Any company that utilizes the "Just make it work" philosophy deserves to go out of business.
When I'm working on a new script, or modifying an existing script, I try to take every precaution to ensure that it's done right; make sure the HTML and CSS are valid, double check the PHP to ensure it validates the forms properly, etc etc. You know, the normal everyday web development bullshit people do when working on a script.
Well, when it comes to this place, "Just make it work" rings loud and clear. Corners are cut, essential error checking is skipped, and user input sterilization is bypassed in order to meet some self-made deadline (a deadline that COULD be changed, but isn't because those who make the deadlines promise things that don't exist yet to people who've already paid for them).
Any company that utilizes the "Just make it work" philosophy deserves to go out of business.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Warlock IV
My newest ship in EVE Online. The Amarrian Omen Cruiser renamed Warlock IV. It's a big, slow hunk of metal... but I like it. It's still incredibly vulnerable to damage, but mostly because of my lack of character skills and equipment.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Warlock II
My Warlock II, an Amarrian Retribution Frigate. It's quick, but very underpowered. I do kind of like these smaller ships, but I think I'll revisit them once I can purchase the Tech II versions.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Book Project Part I
I have recently started working on a new project; a book. I am not going to go into any details as to the plot or setting. I have started building the outline and character development. As soon as I have something more solid to share, I will keep this updated with non-spoiling details.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Hurt
I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
Thursday, August 7, 2008
High Point, New Jersey
Here are a couple of shots I took while up at High Point in New Jersey last year; proof that New Jersey isn't all smoke stacks and mini malls.
Cape Cod
Here are a couple shots I took some time back on my last trip to Cape Cod. I actually have a ton of images similar to these all taken on the same day, but the crappiness of my camera and the constant overcast washed out the color in t
he photos.
he photos.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Halloween is Going to Suck
Get ready folks... It's coming... Be prepared for a million Jokers this Holloween. Oh shit. I can already imagine the annoyances of it all.Anyone remember when Brandon Lee's depiction of the Crow was bastardized all Halloween back in 1994? Yeah, for those of you old enough know exactly what I'm talking about, well here we are again 14 years later. Take a good look at this face, because you're about to see a million of them come October... sweet Jeebus. Can we make this a law or something? Disturbing the peace? Something? God damn... this is going to suck.
People... Just stop it!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Computer Repair cont.
Well it hasn't been a good few days. As you are already aware, I've been updating the hardware in my computer for the past few days with some bad results. I was attempting to replace my motherboard with a newer and "better" and more up-to-date model of what I was already using. So, I bought an MSI G33M, and frankly, it stinks. Nothing but problems from day one. Windows updates were littered with failures and errors. Even SP1 was not willing to make the trip into the hellhole that is my computer. I'm not sure if it was a compatability issue, or a defect in the board, but every thing I did produced nothing but errors. Now, I know what you're thinking; "But you're installing Vista! No wonder you have errors!"
Well, sorry, but try again. I took out the G33M and went back to my old MSI 945P Neo3 and, guess what? No problems. Vista went in smooth and flawlessly. Programs are getting installed with no errors. Everything is fine. But the question still remains; What the hell was wrong with that G33M?
Whatever the case, that is now two separate devices I purchased, both not working properly. The other was a new Seagate hard drive. Yeah, you guessed it. It did not work. I found it peculiar, almost impossible, that two different components, from two different manufacturers, both failed.
In case you are curious, the Seagate simply didn't want to spin up.
Well, at least I have a machine that runs now... still need a new hard drive though... damnit.
Well, sorry, but try again. I took out the G33M and went back to my old MSI 945P Neo3 and, guess what? No problems. Vista went in smooth and flawlessly. Programs are getting installed with no errors. Everything is fine. But the question still remains; What the hell was wrong with that G33M?
Whatever the case, that is now two separate devices I purchased, both not working properly. The other was a new Seagate hard drive. Yeah, you guessed it. It did not work. I found it peculiar, almost impossible, that two different components, from two different manufacturers, both failed.
In case you are curious, the Seagate simply didn't want to spin up.
Well, at least I have a machine that runs now... still need a new hard drive though... damnit.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Subject: A Motherboard, A Hard Drive, and World of Warcraft: A journey through the world of reinstallation and the woes associated with it
Well, after getting Windows reinstalled on my hard drive, and a series of updates later, I started the process of reinstalling my commonly used applications. However, one thing I did notice was the number of times a downloaded executable, upon running, was being marked as corrupted by their own installer, even when freshly downloaded from the web. After wrestling with those for a few hours, I decided it was time to reinstall World of Warcraft. Although I planned on keeping the old installation intact, for some reason it was dead.When I attempted to run the installation, I kept receiving an error from the Blizzard Installer telling me that my common.mpq file was faulty and that there might be a problem with my C: Drive. When I googled this error, I found that a lot of people seem to have this problem, even though this is the first time I've ever seen it in the many installations I've done. So... I ended up installing it to my external drive and then planned on moving it to C: manually. However, I'm beginning to believe the issue I had with that new SATA drive not working had nothing to do with my motherboard (seeing as how I got the same issues) but more to do with the old SATA drive itself as it is now causing Vista and all installed programs to act oddly. So, when I get home, I think I am going to do another reinstall of windows, but this time to my other SATA drive and remove the old one. I'm running out of options and I should hit on the cause of this anomoly soon.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Office Talking
Sometimes I think businesses spend more time talking about how to do a job, or how to talk about how to do a job, rather than just doing the job.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
No Point, Just Cool
This is a picture I took last winter just outside my job at the time. I say at the time because this was one of many jobs I worked at where after finishing a huge project, I was told I was being let go. As bad as being fired is, the worst of it is I didn't even get paid.When I was working here, I was employed through a consulting company on a temp-to-perm position. The deal was that I was to work for three months, and then at the end of those three months I would then be offered a chance to renegotiate for a full-time wage and position. Well, after eight business days, my time there came to an end and the consulting company I was employed through refused to pay me for my time.
This is too long a story to tell now... some other time.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Death of a Hero
As stunning as the news was, the truth is no less valid. George Carlin, a master wordsmith and comedic visionary, died at the age of 71 years old last night. While I was self-absorbed into my own rituals of surviving from day to day, the news reached my ears like a Boeing 747 smashing into my forehead. A man whom I admired as one our generations most overlooked and intelligent social analyzers shocked the world in a way I think not even he could have planned any better. His last jab at the country, and his fans, as a way of saying, "Gotcha, Fuckers!"In the words of the late, and beloved George Carlin, "If you haven't gotten where you're going, you aren't there yet."
Actually, I think a more fitting quote to summarize the end of a great legacy, a legacy only Mr. Carlin himself could have left behind would be, "Fuck you."
You will be missed, Sir.
"He was here just a minute ago." -- George Carlin on what his epitaph would read
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