Topic Tuesday #46 2013/06/04 - "Book'em Dano"

Topic Tuesday #46 2013/06/04 - "Book'em Dano"

...And make sure you swab his mouth for a DNA sample.

Sounds a little more ominous now doesn't it? But why is that? First, the news: 

Supreme Court: DNA Samples Can Be Taken From Arrestees Without Warrant  http://goo.gl/Dc88p

Says all I really need to know in that sentence. It passed the high seat by a slim 5:4 margin with a strong dissenting opinion by Judge Scalia. As always, I encourage you to take a look and think about the issue for yourselves.

What I want to look at is what our normal baseline is right now for the "booking process" and the Fourth Amendment.

According to http://thecriminaldefensegroup.com/understanding_booking_process.htm:

While going through the booking process, the following should be expected:

• Mug Shots
• Fingerprints
• A search
• Routine questions on background information (name, address, etc.)

If your case begins with a court appearance and not an arrest, you may still be required to appear at the police station for a book-and-release procedure. 

Most jails will give out booking information (arrest date, bail, visiting information, the location, the court date, charges and booking number). Generally, you'll be asked for the defendant's full name and birth date. Keep the booking number for future reference. 

As you can see, once you are in police custody, very little is sacred. You can plead the Fifth Amendment and maintain your Miranda Rights, however, you are still subject to a physical search, up to cavity search...  

A note on Miranda rights, since they are thrown about so readily: 1966 Miranda v. Arizona. The ruling states:

...The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he/she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says will be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he/she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he/she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent him/her.

Further: On June 1, 2010, in deciding the Berghuis v. Thompkins case, the United States Supreme Court declared that criminal defendants who have been read the Miranda rights (and who have indicated they understand them and have not already waived them), must explicitly state during or before an interrogation begins that they wish to be silent and not speak to police for that protection against self-incrimination to apply. If they speak to police about the incident before invoking the Miranda right to remain silent, or afterwards at any point during the interrogation or detention, the words they speak may be used against them if they have not stated they do not want to speak to police.

The lesson here is say as little as possible until you see legal council, even if you are innocent. Don't be a jerk about it, but better safe than sorry.

OK enough about that, now on to the Constitution. For completeness:

Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

I imagine that the issue that is primarily irritating is "the right of the people to be secure in their persons". It's a fine line. You would already have your finger prints put on file, your picture taken (without make up in most cases), and... there is that search...

So what's the big deal about having another piece of data, that identifies you, even better than finger prints and mug shots, go into the database? Oh... there it is. The Database. Big brother is watching you and Hoover is keeping Tabs on you. Well yes. They are. This is a surprise? You get targeted advertisements all the time. Data is being harvested all the time, and the government happily buys it up. They might not know what to do with it, but they have it when they do figure something out. DNA, will just be another field in a growing database.

Lately, there has been an increasing stigma over "big data". Specifically how it is being used. The primary problem is a lack of understanding. I will save big data for another Tuesday. For now, be aware that more rapists, more criminals, more bodies, will be identified and thus be another step closer to justice - whatever that means today.

Think I'm off base? Good, tell me about your thoughts on the matter. Just remember, 'cavity search'. before thinking a DNA swab is illegal.

Topic Tuesday #45 2013/05/28 - "Family Matters"

Topic Tuesday #45 2013/05/28 - "Family Matters"

"...And then the roof collapsed..."
Things you don't want to hear, or say, usually start with issues involving parts of your home caving in around you. Of course our friends out in Oklahoma and the rest of the midwest have this trumped, and rightly so, but when a family member calls you up to tell you of a disaster that has befallen them, you do what you can. At least, that is what we have done. Currently my happy home has swelled with my displaced in-laws, their 2 pugs, and a cat. So far so good. The worst is just their stress over their living situation.  This post is about family, and keeping your family ties strong and being able to rely on the safety net that is afforded by them. I am proud that I am in a position that I can return the favor, and take care of our elders for once.  So often, in our interesting times, children are being forced to return to base, failing to launch. The safety net is critical for all of us.
I am writing this on Memorial Day here in the US. It is fitting to be focused on our families and the freedoms that we do enjoy that, despite whatever politics you follow, are paid for in the blood of our families and friends. Frankly, anyone that is willing to go out on the job and get shot at, they have my heartfelt appreciation.
That said, those that are not concerned with matters of that roof collapsing, can move on.
Still with me?
OK, the roof.
The in-laws live in a 4 unit townhome condo arrangement, that was built popularly in the 1980's. They have had some difficulty with leaks and had recently put a new roof on their unit. Here is where it gets complicated. That is only 1/4 of the area that keeps the building secure. One of the units next to them had what can only be called a series of unfortunate events befall its inhabitant and in turn the structure.
The veteran that lived there, had fallen on hard times. The economy had seen fit to remove him from gainful employment, and this in turn caused a relapse of some mental baggage he carried home with him from his service. He went a little nuts. He did what he could, but it seems more than 3 years ago, his own roof collapsed, and he did not have any money to repair the damage. He had been living in squaller by the time the bank decided that they were going to foreclose on him and kick him out, in spite of his trying to get payments arranged to be put on the end of the mortgage and get current. The bank in an effort to unload the property, had the audacity to request of a roofer to "tarp it and seal it over", which is illegal and unethical by any measure. So as they are repairing that unit, the long term damage that has been seeping through the shared beams and insulation, caused the ceiling above their stairwell, to collapse. This has revealed the nature and only pointed to the extent of the damage. Mold. Lots of mold. Enough mold that, myself as an asthmatic, I could not spend more than 15 minutes in the building BEFORE it was out of the walls. It is bad. So now, I have house guests while the insurance companies duke it out (which is days late due to the holiday weekend).
Family to the rescue! It's always good to know you have options in a situation like this. I hope all of you do.

Topic Tuesday #44 2013/05/21 - "The Finger of God"

Topic Tuesday #44 2013/05/21 - "The Finger of God"

The devastation in the heartland cannot be ignored. We will not go into the bloodshed and human damages imparted to us by the recent rash of twisters through Oklahoma. We must look ahead so I will talk about the power of nature and how we classify these storms.

The National Weather Service was instrumental in saving lives by having a tornado warning in effect 16 minutes before the 2 mile wide twister wrought havoc on the ground for over 40 minutes traveling 17 miles. This was the worst of a series of storms that devastated 16 counties in Oklahoma over the weekend.

Tornados are measured on a severity scale, similar to hurricanes. Let's be clear however. To equate the two would be like saying trench warfare in WWI was the same as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in WWII. Hurricanes are a slow burning bonfire; tornadoes are kegs of black powder and nitro thrown into a volcano.
In 1971, Dr. Tetsuya Fujita and Allen Pearson came up with a scale (F-Scale) for measuring the intensity of tornadoes by their damage path. 
In 2007, the scale was updated to its current form, the Enhanced Fugita Scale. 

Each damage level is associated with a wind speed however, the Fujita scale is effectively a damage scale, and the wind speeds associated with the damage listed aren't rigorously verified. 
Basically, rating the damage of a tornado is as much an art as it is a science.
For a write up on what is entailed in the EFScale, follow the link below. The reading is fascinating but dry.
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/weweb/Pubs/fscale/EFScale.pdf

What we are usually concerned with is the F0 - F5 range.

• F0 - Wind: 64-116 km/h - Damage Path Width: 10-50 meters - Damage: Light. Heavy storm style
• F1 - Wind: 117-180 km/h - Damage Path Width: 10-50 meters - Damage: Moderate. Hurricane force winds, roof surface damage, light structures damaged.
• F2 - Wind: 181-253 km/h - Damage Path Width: 10-50 meters - Damage: Significant.  Roofs sail away, trains overturn, large trees snap, highrise windows blow in.
• F3 - Wind: 254-332 km/h - Damage Path Width: 200-500 meters - Damage: Severe. More and worse, larger missiles, some cars leave the gound.
• F4 - Wind: 333-418 km/h - Damage Path Width: 400-900 meters (1/4 to 1/2 mile) - Damage: Devastating. Well constructed homes demolished. Cars take flight.
• F5 - Wind: 419-512 km/h - Damage Path Width: 1100 meters (3/4 of a mile) - Damage: Incredible Car size missiles hurled 100+ meters, bark on trees removed, steel reinforced concrete structures damaged

The storm in Oklahoma, would be beyond an EF5. It's damage path was over 1.5 miles wide.
No one every really classifies tornadoes beyond an EF5. But now, you know why storms of such magnitude are referred to as "The Finger of God".

If you wish to lend assistance to those in need, please visit http://newsok.com/how-to-help-several-nonprofits-are-collecting-donations/article/3828009 They have done a phenomenal job of collating a majority of the charities giving the real needed aide to those affected by these storms.
For government assistance Governor Mary Fallin and her staff have out together www.­okstrong.­ok.­gov

Topic Tuesday #42 2013/05/07 - "Disruptive Tech"

Topic Tuesday #42 2013/05/07 - "Disruptive Tech"

I love technology. I love history. I love science and science fiction (the inspiration for more of the former). The last few days have seen a turn in the direction of what was thought of just at the top of the year as pure science fiction. Well, when I say thought of, I mean all but those with their eyes on a gun manufacturer here in the United States. Defence Distributed, and its front man Cody Wilson, have dreamt up a cottage industry in disruption. Cody, over the last year, has designed and now succeeded in building a fully 3D printed firearm called the Liberator. It's designed as a homage to the single shot weapons that were air dropped over France during WWII. Besides that, the weapon is all plastic save the nail used as a firing pin. The plans have been released to the wild. Anyone can make one of these if they so desired.
And that is outstanding.
Don't think so? Let me explain my stance.
Freedom.
Oh... You probably want more of a platform than that. OK, look at it this way, this is a technology that cannot be stopped. It cannot be regulated to the governments liking and never will be without massive outrage. This is manufacturing in your garage. Dream it one day, make it the next. You don't need permission. You just need the know how, the raw materials and the tools to put them together. Cody made a gun. Will this gun be used to hurt someone? Almost certainly. This is a logical progression to this kind of device (3D printer). Think for a moment as I stroll down technology of years past lane. When Gutenberg and his movable type printing press came on the scene the scribes were out of a job, and it was revolution in the streets (Martin Luther ring a bell?). When the cassette tape was released and you could record onto it easily, the Recording Industry lost their minds. When the VCR came out the Motion Picture Industry went nuts. CD Burners, DVD Burners, BlueRay burners MP3, MP4, JPEG things that can make a copy of something without the originator getting their due, will always be disruptive. I recall that digital copiers were so good at color reproduction that they were used in counterfeiting operations. The Liberator is a statement and a loud extension of this phenomenon. This says, "You can't stop the future. This is the information age, and now we can make use of that information - whatever form it takes."
It is a shake up. It is a wake up call. What that call sounds like changes depending on who hears it, but really it's about freedom.

Personally, I knew this was coming, and making my own gun if just not my cup of tea. Personally, I would rather be the toy maker or make replacement parts and mockups for my own projects. But that is what most people will do. Again, take the internet as a case in point. When it was started, there was no security, no anti virus, no pictures... It was innocent, with innocent ideals. None of those early engineers considered that it would be used for terrorism, free speech, porn, dating, and social networking, or even voice and video. It proved to be disruptive. In a very short time, look how far it has come! Now, where will 3D printing go as the technology becomes less and less expensive?  In less than 10 years, I can see the personal 3D printer all over. Remember inkjet printers were very expensive when they first came on the scene; now they are practically disposable. The printer they used for the gun, was $10,000 on ebay second hand. You can get a MakerBot for considerably less. http://store.makerbot.com/ And I encourage you to go make something.

What will your imagination make next? Will regulation over these devices stifle creativity and rapid prototyping with red tape? Will it just be impossible to regulate, like desktop printing and copy machines?
What do you think?

Topic Tuesday #41 2013/04/30 - "Teach the Controversy?"

Topic Tuesday #41 2013/04/30 - "Teach the Controversy?" 

Ready to get mad? Ready to get fired up? Ready to take on a big bad taboo subject? Faith and science in schools; here we go.
In the United States, and around the world to varying degrees, there is a movement known as Intelligent Design. For those that are not familiar with what this is: ID, or Intelligent Design is the theory that life, or the universe, cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent entity. This is largely a Christian Fundamentalist backed position.
ID's asserts that:
It is a scientific field of research
Darwinian evolution by natural selection is wrong
There is an "design agent" working to fine tune the universe.

For the extreme positions asserted, one jumps to a stance known as "Young Earth Creationism" which asserts the following:
The Universe is, at most, 15,000 years old.
The planet Earth is, at most, 10,000 years old.
All of the book of Genesis is fact.
Noah and his ark were real
The flood compressed the plant life into our fossil fuel, covered the world with the observable sedimentary layers, carved out the Grand Canyon, the Norwegian and Icelandic fjords, and even continental separation and plate tectonics.
And lots of other items.

As you can tell this is a very religiously oriented world view.
ID arguments are somewhat acceptable and represent a Deistic view; the same view was held by most of the talked about Founding Fathers of the USA. Here is where we run off the rails and into the schools and "teaching the controversy".

It sounds great, on paper. From http://www.intelligentdesign.org/education.php, "Instead of mandating intelligent design, the major pro-ID organizations seek to increase the coverage of evolution in textbooks by teaching students about both scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolution.  Most school districts today teach only a one-sided version of evolution which presents only the facts which supposedly support the theory.  But most pro-ID organizations think evolution should be taught as a scientific theory that is open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can't be questioned."

The failure with their premise is that the evolution that we have been teaching in school for decades is not at fault, it just doesn't leave room for a designer, as it is the designer. There are no real gaps in the data, certainly less gaps than in an ID discussion that pleads to a supernatural agent for tweaking what we do not fully understand at the moment. The research and understanding are quite complete and there is no controversy except for what they "believe". As has been said before, the nice thing about science is that it doesn't care about your beliefs, it only cares about what is real.

This has come up because a few things have breezed past me to draw my attention to them. 

1) A copy of a test from an ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) school was trotted out on Reddit for all to see. Those involved are waiting to disclose all the details around it until the end of the school year to prevent any adverse reaction to the students, but it is amazingly awful what they were passing for science. check out Snopes for the dirt on it. http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/sciencetest.asp

2) the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its Central Florida chapter will be distributing secular documentation to 11 area high schools to balance a bible distribution done Wednesday, January 16, 2013. The initial Story - here http://goo.gl/WTxfU and here http://goo.gl/cRXpj - The FFRF response here -  http://goo.gl/2bbVH

The group responsible for the Bible outreach is World Changers of Florida, Inc. http://www.worldchangersfl.com/
I will let them to speak for themselves here:
"We should resist trying to force the Holy Scripture to fit with popular scientific consensus.  What would science tell us about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead?  How about Moses and parting the Red Sea?  What about a virgin conceiving without sexual relations?  How would science explain the resurrection of Jesus and his many appearances afterward?  Science says it can’t happen, but we know that with God, all things are possible, even a 6-day creation.  Do you trust man’s interpretation of events that were not witnessed and that cannot be duplicated in the laboratory?  Flawed suppositions supporting weak theories promoted by scientists who will not accept the possibility of a supernatural explanation for our existence.  I’ll trust God’s explanation because “the thirst for novelty and unrestrained freedom of thought make the danger of error most real and proximate.”"

What we have is a group, the defines themselves as YEC (Young Earth Creationists) touting the Intelligent Design arguments and trying desperately to get their view alongside hard science in the classroom as a possibility, rather than the science that works, and can be built upon.

That is the "teach the controversy" argument.
Their argument is that science is lacking this side of the debate. It's not up for debate. One is theology and mythology and the other is science, tried and true.
I am up for teaching about theology in school. It is a part of humanity, and part of our culture. Something that pervades our speech and habits. We should learn about it. We have classes for that. Mythology and Humanities and Social Studies. I highly recommend a comparative religions class too. But you see, that would not forward their position. These groups, and there are many more, have their built in proselytizing agenda to contend with. They venture forth with the banner of equality, but that only opens the door so they can sneak inside and start making changes.
I personally find it offensive and insidious. It is a danger to our future. Many students are in for a harsh wake up when they get to college or in the real world and "god did it" is not the answer to the real problem in front of them. To manage in the real world with these ideas, you have to have a dualistic view of reality, and you have to be comfortable with cognitive dissonance. You may believe that the world was created in 6 days, but the math you use to make the rocket fly to the outer reaches says it wasn't and could not have been. You may believe that man was fashioned out of clay, but if you cut one open you see the same organs as our cousins in the animal kingdom and all we become are animals made of meat, bone, and blood. Reality doesn't care about your beliefs.

Science works. If you water it down at all, you cause our future to be watered down too. This is a heated fight, because it damages the view people have of reality. People don't want to think they have been wrong for so many years, and potentially wasted their life in the pursuit of a fallacy. It's hard to swallow. But that doesn't mean that they should be coddled, especially when they adversely affect others. What you do at home, none of my concern. What you bring or force into the schools and the mind of our children, will always be my concern.

Teach the controversy? We would if there was one.

Topic Tuesday #40 2013/04/23 - "Life Interrupted: Injury"

Topic Tuesday #40 2013/04/23 - "Life Interrupted: Injury"

What better way to know about something than to experience it first hand? Walk a mile in the shoes, that sort of thing. If you read my last TT, #39, you may have remember I was on vacation over the weekend. It was marvelous. It was grand. The food was outstanding. Everyone was nice. The hotel smelled good. The bed was comfy. The companionship awesome. Then I rolled my ankle in front of the fountains at the Bellagio.

I was a stubborn ass and really didn't know the extent of the injury, and we walked quite a while before I was convinced that I needed a taxi.
By the way, awesome fountain show, I highly recommend it, just watch the seems in the pavement while crossing the streets. Some of the gaps are surprising.
Anyway, I ended up with quite the sprain. It was bad enough that after a night sleep, I couldn't put my weight on it and needed to rent a wheelchair from the hotel ($20, if you are curious). In retrospect, getting a scooter would have been much more enjoyable and less struggle to deal with in certain situations, but we had been granted an "upgrade" to a Mustang for our car rental, and a scooter was not going to be useful away from the Las Vegas strip - AND I WANTED TO SEE STUFF! I digress...

This was the first time I had been physically injured while traveling, much less on vacation. I have had other illnesses, but nothing that restricted my mobility. It's an eye opener, and I'm always ready to have a new experience. First, the chair. It was comfortable, like an old shoe, but it smelled a little like an old bowling shoe and was worn like one too. It had rather awful hand push rims (I'm sure there is a word for these, but I don't know what it is). They were plastic, and gouged and were like to rough up my hands, which were simply not used to this kind of action. No calluses. Muscle groups not accustomed to using it either. and the tires were smooth and did not give much traction. I did alright, all things considered. It would have been better for me if I had been able to elevate the leg as well, but that was not an option on this rental. My diminutive spouse had some issues pushing me on carpet and certainly on the weird inclines and curbs around the hotel and parking garages. It was also very difficult to load and unload the chair into the trunk of a sports car, but by the end, she was a pro, with only a few war wounds to go with mine.
Dining out while occupying the handicap place of honor, was quite enjoyable, once I figured out where to slot my foot comfortably under the tables. The serving staff and valets, and everyone we met along the way were really rather nice. However, we were very nice and unexpecting of different treatment; it was likely just a "you get what you give" scenario, one I hope happens often for everyone with a positive outlook.
The painkillers worked on and off, and we were able to tool around a bit, did some shopping and some gawking. There were plenty of people who were just self absorbed and not paying attention to anything but their own little world, so I got bumped a few times, but nothing serious and nothing worth further than acknowledgement that "it happens".
Obviously stairs are an issue, and at attractions it can be a huge hinderance. Thanks to the proliferation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (rather happy it's there btw) there were alternative ways to get to and fro. Micro elevators for just a wheel chair. Guided tours through some back secret path to get someplace. Really, it's not so bad, except for being confined to the chair and perhaps having less of a view.
The journey home was the real "treat". Airlines and airports have a pragmatic approach to those that have "special needs". Those in wheelchairs get amazing treatment. I know why too. It's that pragmatic approach I spoke of. These folks have to get to the terminal like any other, and they would be in the way, and possibly delay travel for the entire complex. So they are escorted from check-in to the gate. It certainly has the benefit of reducing stress on everyone concerned. It's a great service to all, including the folks that can walk through the system normally. It clears congestion.It's obvious when you think about it, and who would think about it, unless you go through it?
At any rate, they were very nice, and we were able to get to the plane on time, and were able to get a seat befitting my injury, which likely prevented me from developing a blood clot. (bullet dodged). The airline had arranged for a chair to be at the terminal we arrived at, making the entire trek much more streamlined than I could have hoped for. Also, the airport wheel chairs are enormous, except for the ones they use on the airplanes, which I did not need.When I say enormous, it was so wide it was difficult to use the hand wheel rail (which was a nicer chrome). Expect to be pushed in these chairs.

When I'm really confined, I'm gonna make it awesome.

When I got home, I was lent a set of crutches to get me through a couple doctor visits. This was also my first time with regular crutch use, and by the end of the day, my hands were killing me, and my armpits were in as much pain as my ankle. I chalk this up to no calluses; just not being up to the challenge right off the bat. It was a rough day. But educational. I learned what to do and not do on crutches.
[Quick run down, adjust them so you have stability, but you are not resting your body weight on the top. 1 or 2 inches from top to armpit. (you will injure the nerves in your arms and cause serious issues if you use them to support your body weight), Wear a good shoe. Your one good foot will be taking the entire strain of your body. If you slip, you will go down and hurt yourself more. If you have a bad fit, you will be in pain the rest of the day, and be miserable. Rest often. Do not push yourself. Your hands will be sore if you have done it right... Mine are killing me, and if I can avoid using crutches again, I will. Here is a link to help with crutches if you should need it. http://orthopedics.about.com/od/castsfracturetreatments/ht/crutches.htm ]
While in my home, it's an interesting situation, since it's not setup for easy access for those sitting. In fact, we have young children, so some things are very purposely out of reach. I caught myself thinking about how to remodel the bathroom when the time comes to make it handicap friendly, if not full on handicap accessible. As with many things in life, you don't miss something until it's gone. Eyesight, hearing, taste, mobility, etc.
Maybe as I age I will thank myself for having an injury or two so I will have planned ahead, just a little for when my knees fail me.
Now... Time to figure out how to take a shower, and not kill myself in the process! The adventure continues!

Topic Tuesday #39 2013/04/16 - "Work Life Balance"

Topic Tuesday #39 2013/04/16 - "Work Life Balance"

You may have heard the phrase "work life balance" from the internet, news, or propaganda given out at the top of the fiscal year by human resources. It's a great idea, on paper. In practice, in the real world, it generally falls flat on its face in the United States. There are many fascinating statistics about how Americans work more hours per year and generate less work than some of our peer nations. I won't go into them today, as I'm working towards a little more of that balance this week!
I'm headed on vacation with my spouse, alone, without the kids, for the first time since our honeymoon some 9 years ago. We've never been on a plane together in our 12 years together. It's going to be fun, no matter what we do since we will be together, and it is for nothing more than fun and companionship.
What I wanted to indicate is that although I am going to be a couple thousand miles away from work, I will still be in two places at once. I'll have my smart phone. I'll have my laptop. I'll invariably be called and emailed for work. I will invariably log in to take care of some emergency. This is the way it goes. People take calls on their vacation to chagrin of their partners and family. I know of very few that are capable of leaving work at work. I am in information technology, so my job and my own geek life have intermingled heavily. There's no clean extraction of me from work and vice versa. Sure we make efforts to divide, and normally this is just a poorly masked veil of time management. You can't clock out in your head when a deadline is approaching, or when your imagination pops up some exchange you have been mulling over for weeks. We are what we do. There is very little getting around this.

Can you hear me now?

Is this a problem? I would say more for some than others. Certain personality types thrive in this always connected environment with nothing but hustle and bustle. Others need to lead a more sedate existence filled with soothing sounds and incense.
Can there be a balance? Certainly, but it's not what you may think. I am not like my spouse. I can seemingly go on forever in the pattern of the hustle. They need to have a relaxation period that is much larger and more frequent than I. This does cause some stress all on its own. Let me straighten one thing out, I can't go flat out forever. I have brief spurts of "Me Time" where I do only what I want to do, and that is enough. I have a long commute that provides time for me to think, listen, and occasionally concoct notions for posts like this. I stay up later than anyone else in the house, and I am alone left to my own devices. This is all I need to renew myself. I liken it to using the cell phone while it's plugged in. It's doing its job while recharging.
I'm not alone in this and I see many people doing the same thing. Some are not as adapted to this always on existence and need longer periods of R&R to recharge the batteries. And that's ok, as long as they can get it!
Balance is not universal, so do what's right for you, and try not to drive your partner and family crazy in the process.

What are your plans for keeping sane? I'll check back next week. :-)

Topic Tuesday #38 2013/04/09 - "Are we alone?"

Topic Tuesday #38 2013/04/09 - "Are we alone?"

It's a classic question isn't it? It this planet the only one in the universe that has fostered life in many forms? Worse, perhaps, are Homosapien-sapiens the only "intelligent life" in the universe capable of asking the question?
There are a few facts that I am aware of that are amazing at giving a hint to an answer. Some of these facts do little more than to bend the mind and pose more query.

How many stars are in our home galaxy, the Milky Way?
(2×10^11 to 4×10^11) For those that don't like exponents, that's 200,000,000,000 to 400,000,000,000, or 200 billion to 400 billion stars. 

How many galaxies in the observable universe?
1.7×10^11 or 170,000,000,000 or 170 billion

How many stars in the observable universe?

3×10^23 or 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 300 sextillion or 300 thousand billion billion

(according to research by Pieter G. van Dokkum and Charlie Conroy published in December 2010)

This number is comparable more than the number of grains of sand on Earth.

When was the first optical telescope invented?
The year  was 1608, or 405 years ago.

When was the first radio telescope invented? 

The year was 1937, or 76 years ago.

What is the first known use of written language on Earth?
The Kish tablet dated to ca. 3500 BC is the oldest surviving example of proto-cuneiform signs.

This places evidence of language and recorded history being a time period of roughly 5500 years.

When was the first broadcast of a terrestrial radio signal?

The first experimentation with radio was done in the late 1800's. Marconi made the first radio transmission in 1895. This was 118 years ago.

What does all this amount to? What does this mean?

Every star observed could have planets. Statistically, some of those stars will have planets in the theorized "Goldilocks Zone" where the conditions are just right to promote the conditions to bear life. In short, to think that we are alone, could be attributed to egotism. The odds are not in favor of that conclusion. Then you might think of Martians and crop circles and cattle mutilations and  so on. There is a problem with that. It's the problem that we are dealing with every day as we keep looking up. The fundamental speed limit of the universe. The speed of light.

Effectively, looking into space is time travel. No really. Think of it this way, the light or radio signals that we are observing here on our planet, had to travel across space to get here. Radio and light, being energy waves, travel at the same speed. Our closest neighbor, Alpha Centauri, is 4.39 light years away. This is where your head may start to hurt, when you realize that whatever we observe from the 3 stars in the Alpha Centauri system, happened 4.39 years ago. The stars in Alpha Centauri could explode today, and we wouldn't notice until August 29, 2017. 

Our star, Sol (aka the Sun), is classified as a G2V main sequence star, roughly middle age at 4.57 billion years. We estimate it has another 4.5 billion years left before it expands to a sub giant, then  red giant, then a planetary nebula, and finally, a white dwarf. Our own solar system tells us much of our galactic neighbors. How many planets are possible, what types of planets are likely, the practical ages of stages of star systems. Basically, a wealth of information that builds upon itself to tell us what happened to stars thousands, millions,  and billions of light years away from us. 

The trick is time and distance. There are stars that we can observe that have already passed through their main sequence (where life is most likely to form). So then we can ponder, what could have happened. As we are aware at this point is that the world will go on without us. The solar system will change, but will go on for billions of years. We are a young species and just dipping our impatient toe in a vast ocean of the unknown. 

To reach out to a species on the other side of the galaxy, we will need to learn how to overcome the speed limit. Have other species done this? Impossible to confirm, until they stand here and show us. But it would be  unwise to underestimate any possibility. We don't know they would even be interested in talking to us, or eating us. 

We are young; our period of intelligence (based on written communication) being less than 6,000 years. The signals that are most likely to be noticed, to say that we are here, have been traveling into space for no more than 118 years. We need to take the long view and have patience.

Our culture has been shaped to be very self centered. For examples;

"The world was made for man."

"The Sun revolves around the Earth, and the Earth does not move."

"The stars revolve around us, if not Earth, certainly the Sun."

"Certainly we are at the center of the universe."

"Everything was made for us, for our time here. It all lead up to this moment."

Seeing stars explode and scatter their enriched guts across space to feed the creation of another world, I find it remarkably egotistical to think that; our small planet, in an average solar system, around an average star, in an equally unremarkable arm of one of 170 billion galaxies... could somehow be more special than any other. 

We are very lucky to have made it this far. It is doubtful we are alone, but it is even more doubtful that the other intelligent life has survived to make contact with us, or that they would have even noticed us yet. Should we stop looking? Never. There is still a chance, even if it is small. While we look, we learn. One day, when we take to the stars as a space faring race, escaping from an expanding star (or whatever else we may have done), we will need to have a destination. 

We need to survive long enough to do this, so smile and hug your fellow man. Know we are children. We will make mistakes. We just need to keep some perspective. We're only human.

Topic Tuesday #37 2013/04/02 - "To the Cloud! Part 2-Storage"

Topic Tuesday #37 2013/04/02 - "To the Cloud! Part 2-Storage"

Continuing from To the Cloud Part 1 #35, today we will delve lightly into cloud storage, specifically those that sync to multiple computers and devices.
Again, if I get too far in the jargon weeds and I lose you, let me know in the comments.

A number of cloud based storage providers have dove headfirst into the business of storage. Some are "better" than others. Some are more private than others. Some are just a better deal with many free-to an extent. Thus far, personally, I have not found a single solution more to my liking than any other.

Top Contenders I have become familiar with:

Google Drive (Collaborative Apps, Storage, Mail, Chrome browser sync).
Microsoft Skydrive (MS Office Apps, Storage, Mail).
Apple iCloud 
Dropbox
Box
Tonido (not the Tonido Plug)
PogoPlug (not the physical device, but the computer based software)
Jungle Disk
Carbonite
CrashPlan

If you have an iOS device or a MAC you are already in the iCloud. You have most likely enabled syncing of your devices, and that has made you pretty happy, if you were in that ecosystem already.
If you have a Gmail account, then you already have Google Drive and may be familiar with some of the features available.
If you have a Hotmail or Live.com account, similar to the iCloud and Google Drive, you are familiar with some cloud storage options and document editing features and perhaps still more.
Dropbox and Box have become the kleenex of cloud storage, Dropbox much more so. It's largely free to play up to a few GB and more if you publicise it for them. You can purchase, for a monthly fee, large quantities of storage.
Tonido and PogoPlug are special in they allow you to be your own cloud by attaching a drive or installing their software on your own, and accessing it from the internet or via their mobile apps. These also have drive mapping utilities so you can access the files as a drive letter on you computer. They also have pay to play versions where you can get online storage for a fee, but it is not necessary. The biggest benefit from these two is the option to not trust them. You hold your information on your own device. Your data can be secure in that it does not go through the companies hands, unless you bought storage from them. Great for the paranoids and the mistrustful, or the criminal.
Jungle Disk, Carbonite, and Crashplan are all essentially backup providers. They have a selling point of also having apps and the ability to access your files from anywhere and turning your backup in to cloud storage. This is the same as say Dropbox or Box, but the other side of the coin, and focused on the backup portion. This ability is only available if you "trust" the company with the key.  Let me explain very simply what that means.

If a storage provider can provide your saved data to you in an app or on the web, it is safe to say, they can access it at any time and not require your password to do so. Keep that in mind. If you don't want something to fall in to the wrong hands (melodrama intended) don't put it where people can read it.
Dropbox, Google, Microsoft, Box, Apple and any of the providers that can display your files in their interface, can and will comply with law enforcement and relinquish access to your files to them, with a court order. Crashplan, Carbonite, and Jungle Disk, if you setup the options to have a private key, all they store is the random bits and they don't know what they have. They can't access it, and are then free to tell law enforcement that they cannot comply. This makes them TNO, or Trust No One, compliant.

But there is a convenience that we enjoy with these cloud applications that is undeniable.

Google Drive, has very inexpensive storage. They have the Google Apps, as an office product replacement that has the single greatest feature to hit the web in a very long time; you can simultaneously edit documents with collaborators. You can see exactly what they do! It's quite the experience. There is also a desktop sync app, that allows for a folder on your computer to be replicated to the cloud and any other machines you install it on. We will label this feature as "Desktop Sync". Also, their cloud allow for backing up of your Android phone, which is indispensable. The Drive application is a little resource heavy and can bring system performance down.
SkyDrive has storage, backs up your Windows Phone, has a light version of MS Office (no simultaneous collaboration, yet), email, "Desktop Sync" once you have installed their Sky Drive "Desktop Sync" you can access all the files on your computer from the web. Convenient, and a little creepy when you think about what they CAN access. It's all about trust.
iCloud, honestly... Pretty useless except for those items that are Apple centric. It's not a catch all and there is no way to edit your documents in a browser. It is handy for recovering your cloud backed up phone or ipod.
Dropbox has become the ubiquitous cloud service. All the apps for your phone will be able to sync to it, if anything. It syncs well across all your devices, and you can earn free storage. The price tiers are a bit steep, It's usefulness is without question.
Box is very similar to Dropbox. Their software is very well executed and handles syncing with less resources than Dropbox. They have occasional promotions where you can get free storage. I ended up getting 50GB for free by simply signing up for service with the iPhone app. That is hard to beat, and hard to come by. They do have a fault in there is a file upload size limit of 250mb. This is raised on paid plans, but not removed as a restriction. Dropbox has a significantly higher restriction.

Tonido is a mashup of different things. There is a sync application and a drive mapping application. Inside he web interface there are options for calendars, Thots (a wiki of sorts), media streaming and you can send links to share your files directly with people (and even see when they downloaded it). Overall, since the desktop installation is free (with limitations of file syncing and such) it is well worth the look. If you want to shell out some cash, and have an extra laptop hard drive around, the Tonido Plug is a very handy home file server with all the features I highlighted above. The Sync and Drive applications can be flakey, but that may depend more on your own internet connection speed, so your mileage may vary.
PogoPlug is similar to Tonido, but their desktop application I found to be very resource hungry using lots of ram. A colleague of mine has the stand alone PogoPlug device, and he has been very pleased with its performance. Some things are better when they are dedicated, and somethings to do not scale well. I have several TB of data, and that may have been the limitation of my PogoPlug experience.
Carbontie and Crashplan I will lump together as they provide the same service. Crashplan was more economical for multiple computers for unlimited storage. Carbontie has a more friendly interface.  Bothe have applications and you can access files an stream media with them, unless you have the setup a private key. Having done this for security, my overall experience with using them as a cloud storage option is limited but mentioned as it has tremendous value for low risk material.
Jungledisk and many of its type that I have left unmentioned are very highly configurable and somewhat daunting to setup. Additionally you pay for the storage separately, and you would choose your own provider. This is a very finest of geeky solutions, but may not be your cup of tea. It is mentioned more to show the opposite extreme.

There is more to say about these, and each could warrant its own place of honor as a post here and in your life. Give them a try and let us know what you think.

Topic Tuesday #36 2013/03/26 - "Love And Marriage"

Topic Tuesday #36 2013/03/26 - "Love And Marriage"

It's a banner week for the Supreme Court in the USA. Today they begin reviewing 2 same sex marriage cases involving California Proposition 8 (whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry in a California.) and this will carry through Wednesday, 3/27/2013, as the high bench will be reviewing DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) as well. The cases presented:

Tuesday, March 26: Prop 8, Hollingsworth v. Perry, 60 minutes

Wednesday, March 27: DOMA, United States v. Windsor, 110 minutes

There are some interesting things happening on the periphery of these cases as they come to trial. I can best sum it up, with no malice intended, as rats fleeing the sinking ship.  California Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris have declined to defend Prop 8, leaving only it's staunch conservative backer Dennis Hollingsworth, the case's namesake defendant, of ProtectMarriage.com, to carry the ball. In 2011 many key legistaltors and the Obama administration turned on DOMA, as far as determining that section 3 was unconstitutional and the DOJ would not defend it. In its place the House General Counsel under directive from the Republican congressional leadership would defend the law. Senators. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., John “Jay” Rockefeller, D-W.V., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said 3/24 and 3/35 that they no longer support a federal law banning gay marriage.

PROP 8: If the court does not side with Hollingsworth, the ruling reverts to an earlier decision which struck down Prop 8. The case originated with Kristin Perry, who was denied a marriage license in Berkeley. Kristin and her partner, Sandra Stier, are mothers of 4 children. Perry has an interesting legal team, Theodore Olson and David Boies, who have a history of going at each other in high profile cases.
On the against side: Olson has 20 minutes to state his. They'll focus on arguing that "marriage is a fundamental right that has nothing to do with having children. … Because marriage is such a fundamental right, and gays and lesbians have traditionally been victims of discrimination, the challengers continue, the Court should apply a more demanding test – known as 'heightened scrutiny' – to determine whether Proposition 8 is constitutional.".  Then Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. will then have 10 minutes to explain why the Obama administration believes Prop 8 should go away. From the Times:

"The government will argue on grounds referred to as the "eight-state solution," which would apply only to states where gay marriage is banned, but same-sex civil unions are allowed (California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Rhode Island). Verrilli will argue that this violates the equal-protection clause of the Constitution. That case has been called "quite modest," while others have argued, "If the Court takes the President's argument seriously, the justices need not stop at just 8 states. The President's theory could invalidate all marriage discrimination against gays."

On the pro–Prop 8 side: Hollingsworth will have 30 minutes to make his case. If found to have standing, they will argue that "traditional" marriage should be preserved so that children "will be born and raised in stable and enduring family units by their own mothers and fathers."

Verdicts of this could be very little to very dramatic, if the court upholds the defeat of Prop 8, all bans on same sex marriage could be constitutionally challenged, or it could be that a narrow ruling that "once a right is given it cannot be taken away by the state." It bears remarking, "There is no possibility that the court would ban same-sex marriage in places that choose to permit it."

DOMA, enacted September 21, 1996 defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman for federal and inter-state recognition purposes.
Section 3 of DOMA has been found unconstitutional (as it violates the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment) in eight federal courts, including the First and Second Circuit Court of Appeals, on over 1,000 right issues that married couples enjoy. Such as bankruptcy, public employee benefits, estate taxes, and immigration. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in one of those cases, United States v. Windsor, and scheduled oral arguments for March 27, 2013. Edith Windsor was forced to pay $363,053 in estate taxes after her partner of more than 40 years died.
From the Times:"If the court is to establish a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, it will be in [the Prop 8 case] and not in a narrower one to be argued on Wednesday about the federal Defense of Marriage Act,"

Likely outcomes will be for DOMA to fall and Prop 8 to be more narrowly refined and not completely thrown out.
The judges have their work cut out for them and a nation of of men and women who love each other and want the natural right to express their love for whomever they want, will be watching and waiting. Final decisions are expected to be revealed in June.

Topic Tuesday #35 2013/03/19 - "To the Cloud! Part 1-Bookmarks"

Topic Tuesday #35 2013/03/19 - "To the Cloud! Part 1-Bookmarks"

OK, many of you out there are not IT professionals well versed in all the rhetoric and jargon in use in the biz. I try very hard to keep this in mind when framing these topics. That said, if I get too far in the weeds and I lose you, let me know.

Today I was busy working and like many IT geeks I said to myself, "There has to be an easier way..."
I was dealing with data synchronicity. I work with multiple machines doing a variety of tasks and sometimes need information available on all of them. The data could be spreadsheets, documents, multimedia, presentations, reference material, notes, book marks, even applications that don't have to be installed. It ends up being a bear of a problem, especially when dealing with multiple operating systems such as Mac, PC, and Linux. Or, what about just being away from your own devices and still need to access something? Many wrinkles to the problem, and no one fits all solution in sight.

A staggering number of cloud based solution providers have put an even more staggering range of products (many free-to a point) to market. This creates an à la carte smorgasbord of options to mix and match from. Personally I have not found single solution I like more than any other. They all have a unique feel and unique benefits and weaknesses.  This has led me to a series of talks about cloud based utilities.

Today: Bookmarks/Favorites and Browser Sync

What/How many browsers do you have? How many machines?

Depending on the website, your 1st choice browser could render it poorly, or break it all together. So I have multiples, and you likely do too. The ones we are going to explore are Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Safari.

For me, I was using Chrome very heavily for bookmark syncing. It's one of its strongest allures really. You sign in with your Google account (gmail or apps domains) and your add-ons and bookmarks/favorites just pull down from the cloud. factor in the mobile apps for android and iOS having access to the tabs and book marks from your desktop install, and life is a happy pretty place.

What about the others? 

Safari will sync with iCloud.***
Firefox has Sync system that is intended to be used with their mobile app. It can also be used to sync betwen existing installs, however my experience with it has been atrocious.***
IE has nothing - Unless you count some of their Skydrive options... It works after a fashion... It would be a long tutorial, involving a text message from Microsoft giving you a security code so you could browse your machine from skydrive.live.com. Not kidding... It's cool, but not user friendly.

So what is user friendly?
The simplest solution to the problem of interoperability is thankfully free. xmarks.com Just install the plug in from their page for the browsers you use. It works with the 4 I have listed. Once you get it setup, you will have your bookmarks in all of them, and changes will sync to each and every one you have. It's glorious. You can even login to their webpage and manage your bookmarks from there (or access them from another machine). They were acquired by another company I recommend, LastPass.com, and they specialize in single sign on password management. I will leave them for a future topic.

***Individual mileage may vary.

What do you do with your bookmarks and favorites? Do you have a big problem to solve?

Topic Tuesday #34 2013/03/12 - "Going Paperless"

Topic Tuesday #34 2013/03/12 - "Going Paperless"

The modern information age has presented a few problems our forebearers did not consider.
In a day (24 hour period):
If you read the newspapers you see around 30 headlines, with the attributing article.
If you then use the internet for news, you are likely to pass by over 300 news articles, with various links to other articles and source material and pictures and media and blah blah blah. 

Carry on to email and search and other various tasks; on average somewhere around 200 web pages will be encountered.
With all this, daily we encounter roughly 500,000 words. To put that in context; Leo Tulstoys's 'War & Peace' was only 460,000 words.
So we have a plethora of information at our fingertips and clouding our minds, our inboxes, and our desks.

What do we do with all this? How can we manage all this information?
The simplest way is filters. A way to index and search for what you want out of all your sources. The problem with this is that we can't index paper by much more than some basic keywords, like author, subject, date, etc. The full text remains hidden to us. Solution: Going paperless.

How do we do that?
It's a good question and one that is still very much in debate. I have seen in my daily work that most "paperless offices" actually generate MORE paper than they did before they were paperless. Doesn't make much sense, until you add the human quality of mistrust of new technology into the mix. In a few more years, the hard copies will start to become less and less. Until such time, they do have the advantage, at the end of the day, of being able to search all those papers virtually.

What does it take?
The Source Material, An imaging unit to make the source digital, A place to store the files it creates, A way to recognize the text and make it searchable and editable, Time, Effort, and An organizational plan.

You have the stuff you want to scan, that's easy to identify. Now what?
What will you use to make an image?
I have taken pictures with my phone, used a flatbed scanner, a digital copier, and sadly, hand transcription back into a document. Once you have the image then you need a program to turn the print into editable and searchable text. This is called OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Most scanners will come with one that will perform this task, like Abby Finereader. Some are better than others; you have been warned. Many also come with document management software, like PaperPort. Others will have complete package solutions that you will either love or hate, like NeatDesk. You need to be cognisant that you will be living with the imaging solutions for years to come. Many scanners outlive their computer counterparts by a decade. I recommend you select a manufacturer that has a good track record for updating drivers quickly and not abandoning products. Read the reviews. Think ahead. Think of what you would like to have the ability to do.

That said, I have some more genealogy documents to get scanned, and I'm going to buy one of these solutions and cross my fingers that the pile of papers I have, soon becomes a mass of easily indexed 1s and 0s.

What solution have you tried?

Fujitsu ScanSnap iX50

Epson WorkForce GTS50

Brother ADS2000

Xerox XDM1525-WU DocuMate 152

NeatDesk

Topic Tuesday #33 2013/03/05 - "Do not pass GO, Do not Collect $200 - Go directly to Privatization"

Topic Tuesday #33 2013/03/05 - "Do not pass GO. Do not Collect $200 - Go directly to Privatization"

The seed for today's topic. Florida Atlantic University in it's efforts to pay for a 30,000 seat football stadium found an unlikely backer. The Stadium will be christened the GEO Group Stadium, thanks to a $6 million dollar (over 12 years) donation to the public university. GEO Group is the nations second largest operator of for-profit privatized prisons. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/19/florida-atlantic-football-stadium_n_2720223.html?1361323728
This leads to a great many questions about what privatization really means. We have corporate prisons, corporate schools, corporate space programs, and some would say politicians should dress up like race car drives so we can see who is sponsoring them as well.

Today I want to look at prisons, specifically.

The United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails - a 500% increase over the past thirty years. These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding and state governments being overwhelmed by the burden of funding a rapidly expanding penal system. The original intent, some 200 years ago, when the penitentiary system (etymologically derived from "penance") was formed by the Quakers and other reformist groups, was to take sinners, lock them in a cell, make them read the Bible, and they would repent for their sins. This model of incarceration (which didn't have great success at rehabilitation and repentance) has not changed that much since the inception. What has changed is the perception, method, and value of incarceration.

Not all the privatizations for to Corporations, some just migrate jurisdiction from state to county. In Louisiana it works this way: County or parish sheriffs get about $25 a day for inmates that would have otherwise ended up in state prisons. Some of that money goes to house and feed the prisoners. What’s left over goes to the underfunded sheriffs’ departments to use for much needed equipment and for manpower. The sheriffs get their needed bullet proof vests, and somehow prisoners end up with longer sentences and jail remain at capacity to get their $25 a head. This narrows any funds left for an actual rehabilitation. Again in this example, the funds for those activities come from charity functions like rodeos and Church outreach.
This method is simple, the more you have the easier it is to take care of, and you end up with a more economical situation with more money left over. This is not as insidious as what the real private for profit prisons do. 

Slave Labor.

In the eyes of the corporation, inmate labor is a brilliant strategy in the eternal quest to maximize profit. By dipping into the prison labor pool, companies have their pick of workers who are not only cheap but easily controlled. Companies are free to avoid providing benefits like health insurance or sick days, while simultaneously paying little to no wages. They don’t need to worry about unions or demands for vacation time or raises. Inmates work full-time and are never late or absent because of family problems.
Under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), private-sector employers receive a tax credit of $2,400 for every work release inmate they employ as a reward for hiring “risky target groups” and they can "earn back up to 40 percent of the wages they pay annually to target group workers."

Companies can lease factory time in prisons. Lease prison work forces.
Noah Zatz of UCLA law school estimates that:
“Well over 600,000, and probably close to a million, inmates are working full-time in jails and prisons throughout the United States. Perhaps some of them built your desk chair: office furniture, especially in state universities and the federal government, is a major prison labor product. Inmates also take hotel reservations at corporate call centers, make body armor for the U.S. military, and manufacture prison chic fashion accessories, in addition to the iconic task of stamping license plates.”

Making stiffer penalties that lead to longer stays in the "big house" has proven a great way to get votes. Making other people responsible and shifting the financial burden is also a great slight of hand for policy makers. 

And thanks to all this, there is a dark economy of slavery in this country while record unemployment continues to plague the news, the government has it's armor and ammunition built by felons, and Corporate America hires prisoners for a few dollars a day to slice "Made in Honduras" tags off garments and replace them with "Made in America".

Is it ethical to incarcerate people for the sole purpose of making money? How can anyone think it is?

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/january-11-2013/prisons-for-profit/14485/

http://www.sentencingproject.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=1445

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/19/corporate-welfare-incarceration-industry

http://www.alternet.org/story/151732/21st-century_slaves%3A_how_corporations_exploit_prison_labor?page=0%2C0&paging=off

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-pentagon-and-slave-labor-in-u-s-prisons/25376

Topic Tuesday #32 2013/02/26 - "Yellow Journalism"

Topic Tuesday #32 2013/02/26 - "Yellow Journalism"

The term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.

Why do I want to talk about Yellow Journalism? As luck would have it I found out that CNN's Soledad O'Brien is being "bumped" from her spot in the morning to an ambiguous documentary production role. Soledad has been a veracious journalist. She asks hard questions where others ask the safe "softball" questions.She is doing her job, or at least, she is being a real journalist. She should be rewarded for it. She is not. She may have made some people rather uncomfortable. If you have ever faced an authority figure (like a parent) and had them ask you the questions that you really don't want to answer, you can get the feel of this uncomfortable feeling. So it's simple: Soledad wasn't doing her job the way the establishment wanted her to.

I am not going to put on my tin-foil hat and claim conspiracy, as I don't think I need to. It's obvious. What I am going to do is draw a parallel to Yellow Journalism. As the old timers will readily say, "it's to sell soap".

The organizations that deliver, and in some cases manufacture, our news are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They are in it to make money, by selling advertising time. The advertisers want to sell to you. Your senses are being sold to the highest bidder. They walk a fine line between validity and entertainment. Let's follow the money. 

1. Widget Maker wants to sell Widgets or Soap. They hire a-
2. Marketing Agency to make advertisements for widgets to the researched demographic group The Marketing Agency the buys airtime from-
3. Network Sales who claims their "Product" (TV Show, News Program, etc) reaches sufficient numbers in that target audience where consumer's eyeballs or ears are enticed to buy while consuming the product that the Network is presenting -
4. And you buy the widgets (or soap [where do you think Soap Operas came from?]) and thereby feed the Widget Maker money to continue supporting the Marketing Agency and they to continue to support the Product that you were passively enjoying anyway.

And the circle is complete. 

Here's where it breaks the last shred of integrity:

The Network Sales team must provide updated ratings of the number of people reached. If the "Product" (that will be supported by the advertising) does not maintain their ratings the Marketing Agency pulls the advertisement and goes elsewhere. Here is where the "Product" gets polished to make it more appealing to demographics. Make the hosts prettier. Make the topics gripping but not always negative. Keep the guests happy. Don't make enemies. Don't give other properties free advertising. And so on. This is why your favorite programs (Firefly) and personalities (Soledad) get cut, and why "Toddlers and Tiaras" gets great ratings. It's also why there are script writers and auditions for REALITY TV... It's a lie, to sell soap, or widgets, or home lobotomy kits.

So what we have is a structure that is not treating "news" reporting in a purely agnostic and ethical way, but a sensationalized way They are apt to pump the news up and parade it around in motley before the target demographic, to sell the the widgets. 

Special interest groups make requests, and in the interest of continuing to sell widget soap biscuits (now with added caffeine), they kowtow to those requests that are mutually beneficial. 

"Stevens, Keep in mind that the next political candidate should want to buy lots of ad time from us and they will be kind to the interests serving our company when elected. We better play it safe and not enrage a potential ally on the Hill. Stop saying negative things and pointing out the facts they don't want to make headlines. You'll loose percentage points for our 25-45 demographic in Boise."

This is how it happens. It happens all the time. 

So now that I've pointed it out, where do you get your news from?

Topic Tuesday #31 2013/02/19 - "Placebo"

Topic Tuesday #31 2013/02/19 - "Placebo"

Once upon a time a boy who loved a girl was driven to as a question of the object of his affections. He asked, "Should I worry?". The reply was a thoughtful, "Yes.". The boy, who had not been ill in many years, began to get sick. The act of worrying weakened his immune system and made him vulnerable to the ailments he had years before. In hindsight, perhaps some questions are left better unasked, but it did serve as a valuable lesson; your thoughts have an impact on your physical body.

At the heart of this example lies an effect derived from nothing more than thought. Essentially it's a Placebo, but without the pomp and circumstance of psychic surgery, homeopathy, sugar pills, or other chicanery. The mind on it's own is powerful enough without the props to do harm, or to heal.

You don't have to believe me, or the boy, who may or may not have any resemblance to myself...
I have a little trial for you to do. It's not too difficult but it will take some concentration. Perhaps a rubber band around your wrist or something to remind you.

Tomorrow, I want you to smile. Smile for no reason. Smile for every reason. Just smile. Watch the faces of the people you encounter. See what happens to them. Note your mood though the day.
If you slip, its fine, just do it again. And again. And again. You will know you have done well if your face hurts at the end of the day. Attitude is largely a choice. You can worry yourself sick over things that have little to no bearing on things (as I may or may not have in the past) or you can choose to be optimistic and happy.

If you don't believe in placebos, you aren't alone. They do, however, work. 

Check out the actual inspiration for this post; Fear and Faith by Derren Brown -  

FIRST BROADCAST: 9pm Fri 9 November 2012 C4 DURATION: 47:36

The first part of a two-part event, Fear and Faith is an extraordinary film looking at what happens when people have the experience of fear removed through the use of a powerful new drug. 

I acquired a copy, and I hope the BBC won't mind me sharing their fantastic program. - This would be your queue to watch it before I have to take it down.

Topic Tuesday #30 2013/02/12 - "A Big Fat Tuesday"

Topic Tuesday #30 2013/02/12 - "A Big Fat Tuesday"

MARDI GRAS!!! 
What is "Mardis gras" all about? Boiled down to brass tacks, le mardi gras (literally translated, "Fat Tuesday"), is the binge before the purge. Let me elaborate.

Believe it or not, this festival of mirth and merriment, and costumes and cocktails, are all because of Easter.

"Fat Tuesday" is the day before "Ash Wednesday" which marks the beginning of the 40 day fasting / prayer / penance of "Lent". The last week of "Lent" is called the "Holy Week" and contains the "Easter Triduum" and "Maundy Thursday". "Maundy Thursday" (or "Holy Thursday" if you're Catholic), commemorates the "Maundy" (Washing of the Feet) and the "Last Supper"; then followed by "Good Friday" (commemorating the crucifixion). Then of course, Easter Sunday (commemorating the resurrection) itself. Easter is the most important holiday, and moveable feast, for all of Christianity.

So it's all about getting it out of your system before paying penance for 46 days. It's become a fun, gluttonous celebration before the self denial known as Lent.

Celebrating is different in many countries, but for here in the US, we have adopted New Orleans and the French Creole Cajuns to serve as our mainstays of what to do. Beads and Booze, Food and Fun, Masks and Casks, Parades and Parties, and Kings and Queens.  The Colors  - Purple for justice, Gold for power, and Green for faith, decorate everything. Let the good times roll! (Laissez les bons temps rouler)

February 12th, not to be subjugated entirely by Mardis gras, is also the birthday of many famed individuals including; Abraham Lincoln (1809), Charles Darwin (1809), Arlen Specter (1930), and Christina Ricci (1980).
Some notable things occurred too;
1912: The last Emperor of China, Hsian-T'ung was forced to abdicate, ending 2,000 years of imperial rule.
1924: First radio address by a president (Calvin Coolidge),  First day commercials appeared in broadcasts.
1935: The last of the United States rigid frame airships, the USS Macon, crashed.
1958: Transatlantic jet service started between New York and London.
1973: The first US prisoners of war were released from North Vietnam.
2004: Defying a California law, San Francisco officials began performing weddings for same-sex couples.
2008: The Writers Guild of America screen writer strike ended (and TV viewing was restored)
2010: Winter Olympics opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
2011: The remains of the ship that inspired Moby Dick ("The Two Brothers") was discovered off the coast of Hawaii where it sank in 1823.

What did you do today? Or.. What can you tell us you did tonight?
"Laissez les bons temps rouler!" 

Topic Tuesday #29 2013/02/05 - "Meme Machine"

Topic Tuesday #29 2013/02/05 - "Meme Machine"

MEME (pron.: /ˈmiːm/ /mēm/ MEEM) Noun

1.) An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.
2.) An image, video, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another.

Culturally we have been inundated with memes in our information age. We should all have a general concept of what a meme looks like, but do you know what a meme actually is? What it stands for? What it's great purpose is? Perhaps, or perhaps not. Let's jump into some abbreviated back story.
In 1976 the book "The Selfish Gene" was published by author Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist. Dawkins was set about explaining how the genes in all living organisms could be analogous to a replicator. The gene has a simplistic purpose, to replicate itself as successfully as possible. That is the essential take away from the book on the topic of genes, however he coined a term to expand on the notion. When an idea or concept is replicated through a culture, he dubbed it a "meme". The Ancient Greek words; mimeme ("something imitated"), mimeisthai ("to imitate"), and mimos ("mime"). These Greek terms, combined with the concept of the 'gene' being a replicator, served as foundations for the concept. Thus modifying the word 'gene', become 'meme'.

We have seen many of these memes through our lives and mostly we just look over them. We are blissfully ignorant over their (memes) innate power to program us as a host to pass along the memes knowledge and concepts. You might think that a maddening prospect. That an inanimate, no... worse than inanimate, a figment, a concept at best - could be something that could do something like force you to know something and even to pass it along unwittingly. But it's true. Our brains are good at one thing in particular: Pattern Recognition.
Have you heard of a "mnemonic device"? Mnemonic devices are techniques to help remember something. It’s a memory technique to help your brain better encode and recall important information. It’s a simple shortcut that helps us associate the information we want to remember with an image, a sentence, or a word, etc, etc..
Mnemonic devices are very old, and virtually everybody uses them, even if they don’t know they are. It’s simply a way of memorizing information so that it “sticks” within our brain longer and can be recalled more easily in the future. This is the nature of a meme.

Have you ever been someplace and smelled something that reminded you of something from your childhood? Have you ever heard a word said in a particular way that caused you to have a melody or entire song to populate in your head, so strongly it was there the rest of the day? Perhaps an image that caused you to cry, for no apparent reason. These are all indicators of memory programming. You can call it "learning" if you like.  The result is the same.

So what can you do with this knowledge? Perhaps you can do something great. Program little life lessons into your own memes. A funny little picture, a few well phrased words, inserted in a simple shape (usually squarish), and presented in a way that gets lots of eyes to look at it. Memes spread like a virus. This is one reason for the term, "going viral", on the internet. The meme is so popular, so easy to remember, so catchy, that it spreads like wildfire and soon everyone knows it. Just don't take every meme you see on the internet as gospel. Just because somethings catchy, doesn't make it true or useful.
Propaganda spreads this way.
Misinformation spreads this way.
Songs, pop culture, politics, news, old wives tales, lies, truths, rumors, gossip, and occasionally educationally useful things are all apt to be replicated in the meme machine that is our own brains.

Soon I will be putting out some memes for CanWeFixIt.org. Let's put that 3lbs of pattern recognition meme machine to good use!

Topic Tuesday #28 2013/01/29 - "Inner Peace"

Topic Tuesday #28 2013/01/29 - "Inner Peace"

I can be described as an even keeled person. Generally calm and collected.  But beneath the smooth exterior, there is fast running water. Turbulent thoughts and tumultuous emotions, just like anyone else.  I just keep it to myself. I would like to say it is through some sort of a meditation process. A skill that can be acquired through practice. But alas, I cannot, as I have never been able to meditate. Why would I need to, some may ask. Because I sometimes have to calm myself down. You may never see it, but that is only because I have trained myself to hide it. I have found a few things that do help to ease the tension and relax.
*Exercise. Sometimes you just have to let it all out and vent your own internal frustrations with work. The effort will have the excellent effect of making you more fit, but will also tire you out, and force you to relax as you catch your breath, which happens to be the next one.
*Breathing. Just breathing. Concentrated effort on controlling your breathings will have a direct affect on your body. Taking active control over your autonomic functions gives you the psychological boost of being in control of yourself. The deep breathing will oxygenate your blood and naturally calm you as it also will increase dopamine production in the brain. As you are only focused on one thing, your body, you will naturally gain the benefits of that focus. The stress of the other items on your overwhelming agenda are on hold. You make yourself busy; engrossed with the most important thing to you, yourself.
*Just stop. Sometimes that's all you need to do to calm down. Just stop whatever you are doing and count to 10 (or higher).
*Alcohol (or other medicinal derivatives). It bears mentioning.  The best over the counter muscle relaxer available. Numerous side effects, the most critical is that of depressant. Sometimes that is what is needed. Many drugs have been prescribed for their side effects. Always use responsibly.
*Get away. Change your venue. Maybe the break room is the wrong place for your daily bread.  Walk outside. Sit in the grass. Change the air you breath and the sights you see and you may change what's in your mind and weighing on your shoulders. It doesn't take long, but could mean an enormous difference.
*Smile. The body and mind are amazingly complex in their interactions. We are also easy to deceive. So easy, that you can trick yourself. Smile, for no reason. Happiness will start to take hold as you (as my wife likes to call it) fake it, till you make it. It may sound dumb, but smile. Others will smile too.  Then you know that your simple artificial smile brings natural smiles to others, and then your smile is as real as theirs. Happiness is a choice, and everyone wants to be happy.

Lastly - Meditate. I can't-for some reason. BUT-I encourage you to try. In 2007 an associate of mine and I recorded a guided meditation session. I know that it works for some. His breathing exercise is certainly worth a try. Here it is for your pursuit of inner peace. Special thanks to CJ Sugita-Jackson and Healing Revolutions for continuing the long tradition of helping people find peace through whatever means necessary.

Topic Tuesday #27 2013/01/22 - "Dollars and $ense"

Topic Tuesday #27 2013/01/22 - "Dollars and $ense"

I remember buying my first car. I was excited as I saved up $1,500 over a summer and was going to buy it outright. It was going to be a hunk of junk, a clunker - but what does a 16 year old care really when the freedom of transportation is promised? I wrote the check... I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to retch at the thought of the exchange... All my hard earned coin was going to be gone in an instant. I did it anyway. I got the car and had my measure of freedom and responsibility. You never forget your first time, and that was my first car and also my first big check.

In the world of finance, money has no value. Keeping this in mind may change your view of the world. Let me explain:
In the USA, we have dollars as our agreed upon currency standard. But what is a dollar? Two "sawbucks"?Four Quarters? Ten Dimes? Twenty Nickels? A hundred Pennies? Yes but not at all. A dollar is a promissory note. That's all. It's true worth is that of 'paper' (Though it's actually a complex blend of fibers more akin to fabric for durability-but I digress). We use them as a token of perceived value for the purposes of the exchange of goods and services. the currency itself has no intrinsic value at all. In the end, it's worth is a lie. But a convenient one.

I am a big fan of the barter system. I often wonder what I could gain from exchanging my skills with those around me. How much is my effort worth? I need a roasting hen for supper, so I could fix a sink, or repair a computer. Maybe saving your files from a crash would be worth a large pig or a cow, or painting my house in return, or maybe the paint. Hard to say. Very hard to say. Can we exist on it alone? No. Not really. What would the power company ask you in trade for a Kilowatt Hour to run said computer? What would the city ask in return for protection and clean water? It's a slippery slope to a feudal system. A liege lord and his castle keep taking care of the main functions of society while you pledge your loyalty to them. Or worse even... The company store, where you pay back your wage of effort to be always a little behind and become an indentured servant, slave labor, deep in a coal mine.


We do need regulation and standardization in a modern day. But let's review just 2 generations ago. Your grandmother could go down to the corner store and buy a loaf of bread for a nickel. She thought that was expensive. Today, the same loaf, though likely much worse for us, costs around $2.  Over say 75 years, the cost of a loaf of bread inflated. It's a simple task to understand the real value of a loaf of bread. It feeds you. It provides nourishment. It is sustenance. You can't fill your belly with money alone and expect to live long. We go with the perceived value of money. The perceived worth of a loaf of bread, a liter of water or gas or milk and so on.

It's troubling to know that the money in your pocket is almost meaningless. What happens when the men behind the curtain, that decide how much money is in circulation and what interest rates to lend more promissory notes out with, decide to print more money and circulate it wildly? The money in you hand loses value. If the regulators pull money from circulation, and artificially constraining the economy, they make the money a more scarce resource and raise it's value, it's buying power. Supply and demand - on demand. When the economy can be manipulated in such a way as the $10 you have in savings is only able to be exchanged for a quarter of what it used to, when you earned it and traded your skill and effort for it, it makes you wonder if this is the right system.

Can we go back to a fixed system? One backed by gold (The Gold Standard). Would we want to? Commodities such as gold and oil and nearly everything else of value, are traded wildly on the stock exchanges of the world. Their value fluctuates wildly.  Though the value of a dollar also fluctuates it does so at the pace of the Federal Reserve. They choose the base interest rates for borrowing, and decide how much money should be in circulation. They do so at regular intervals, so the cost of things like bread does not sway wildly out of control. It's not an enviable job. Someone will always tell you it's wrong. The sad thing is they are right in that it's always wrong for someone.

I could go on, but I want the conversation to carry it forward. Good or bad, the economy work this way in a far more efficient manner than a barter system alone could enjoy. I'm terrible at pricing my services, and will always be taken advantage of, or be made to feel like I am robbing someone if I price competitively. How many chickens is a computer rebuild worth?

Topic Tuesday #26 2013/01/15 - "Keeping Your Sanity & Your Files"

Topic Tuesday #26 2013/01/15 - "Keeping Your Sanity & Your Files"

About two years ago I suffered a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) failure. This was a particularly large array, at 14TB, and I was grief stricken for quite some time. What really ate at me was that I wasn't even sure what I had lost. One might think that a blessing, but I am cursed with the unknown loss. I have grieved and moved on. I rebuilt my RAID and subsequently swore never to have such a catastrophe again. It was about this time that I was listening to one of the TWiT Podcasts, Macbreak Weekly and Alex Lindsey over at Pixel Corps was singing the praises of a Drobo disk array. That was nice and all, as Alex is known for buying the nicest and most expensive of toys, but there was a reason he was talking about backup. Photographers, in particular digital media artists, have a great deal of unique intellectual property that needs to be kept safe. Leo Laporte (of TWiT network, and of Screen Savers and Call for Help fame) mentioned the 3-2-1 backup strategy. Peter Krogh in his book The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers, came upon the notion and it goes like this:
3 – Your important files should exist in three different places. This could be your computer, your spouses computer, an external drive, a burned DVD, a remote backup, a friend’s house, whatever. Just three distinct copies of the files.
2 – Those files should be on at least two different types of media. Media can be hard drive, DVD, memory card or stick, or even original paper or film.
1 – At least one of those copies should be maintained off-site. That is away from the site of the original. Preferably in a different city or state. Think about common natural disasters. Off-site should be out of reach of those natural disasters.

Another way to look at it is, one copy of anything, might as well not exist.

FYI-Hard drive platters are made of glass.

So what do we do? Backing up is not as easy as we would like it to be. We don't want to think about it!
I took the approach of spending large amounts of money on a big expensive infrastructure of RAID drives and that still didn't help me. Anyone that backed up their data to an external hard drive and had it fail on them will feel my pain, to some degree. So I rebuilt my RAID, with better knowledge from the school of hard knocks under my belt. That takes care of some of it, since my RAID will survive drive failure.
My RAID will not survive a flood or other act of nature of vandalism or theft... So I need to have an offsite solution. In the old days we would burn copies of the important things on to optical storage (CD/DVD) or magnetic tape (DAT) and send them off to a friend or relative, safe deposit box, or secure storage facility like Iron Mountain or Recall.
Now thanks to high speed internet and cloud storage prices coming down we have more options, and new ones are popping up all the time. I looked at several, and the easiest to use is Carbonite.com. They have the simplest interface and reasonable rates, but they do not pass the Trust No One (TNO) security model. If you are not concerned with someone at the company being able to access your data for law enforcement, they are a great bet. I have many computers and wanted a more economical model to work with them. Crashplan.com has a family plan that will let you backup 10 computers for the same fee and works on Linux, Mac and PC. If you are not concerned with TNO, you can set the standard password and access your files on the go via your phones and tablets, just like Carbonite. If you are concerned, you can set a private key and then the data is encrypted before it leaves your computer, safe and sound. You can also backup to one of your other computers or a friend for free, which is a thing a beauty.
Another subscription based backup is Mozy. Mozy is cross platform, but I am not sure about its security model as I have no experience with it.
If you don't like to pay monthly for SaaS (Software as a Service), there are two that are buy once-use forever. On the Mac side there is ARQ Backup from Haystack software. On the PC side is Cloudberry. They both support Amazon S3 & Amazon's new very affordable Glacier long term storage product and are TNO compliant. They both have lots of other bells and whistles too so go check them out.
If security really is no concern, there are many more options. Google Drive, Microsoft Sky Drive, Box.com, Dropbox.com, and many more. These offer an amazing array of free and scalable storage sync option. Anything in one of their folders will go to their servers (which they have access to your files through) and whatever machines you choose to sync to. Great if you have low security things you want to work on in multiple places. Available in these services for affordable prices are things like undelete, multiple file versioning, and in the case of Google drive; simultaneous collaborative editing. The cloud is powerful, just watch your butt on the security you give up for all the cool features.

Bottom line, all of the services I mentioned will fix you up very well for a solid backup where your files are backed up automatically, off site and since you have a copy, and they have a copy (and a service level agreement to keep your files safe and backed up) you can consider their backup solutions for your data as part of your own. Just... Don't keep all those baby pictures on that portable drive on the edge of your desk and consider them "backed up" when the cat knocks it off onto the tile floor and it skids across the floor under the foot of someone that then trips and falls into the water cooler spilling 5 gallons of refreshing spring water all over your precious 1s and 0s. I want you to be able to buy me a beer when you remember that all of your eggs are not in that one soggy basket.