For some reason, iTunes things the address I am entering for my credit card is not valid.
It hasn't changed for 5 years. My credit card information (number, etc.) has not changed for as long.
So I call Apple only to find out they NO LONGER OFFER PHONE SUPPORT FOR ACCOUNT ISSUES.
This is all very disappointing. Anyway, I submitted my email to them via the provided form and hope to hear back from them within the stated 48 hours.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Can't we all just get along?
I've been in a sort of on-going conversation in (of all places) a tech forum about the disrespect paid to Americans (or anyone).
It started with a post about the FM radio chip issue (if you are not aware, a couple organizations are lobbying to have legislation passed to have FM chips put in cell phones - sort of). The editor (one of a few, and a European one) tends toward the dramatic and in this case had to slam "Americans" for being panic-prone. But not in such kind words.
I protested in response and it began like this:
(I vote Libertarian, btw, and fully buy into Teddy Roosevelt's "walk softly and carry a big stick" idea. Our focus needs to be internal, not external).
The responses I got back (mostly from people from the Netherlands for some reason) were along the lines of "because Americans are always commenting unfavorably about Europeans!"
Really? There have been no (zero) posts by the American editors with inserted slander against any European country or person. None. Yet this is not the first time such posts have come from the European sector. I pointed this out. The response was "that's because your media never reports on European affairs and ours (European media) is constantly shoving American issues in our faces and paint Americans as "ignorant hicks."
Lovely. Really. So that means you should carry that tradition on by barraging Americans with insults at every opportunity?
I then proceeded to point out that the PEOPLE here are no different from the PEOPLE there. Sure there are some cultural differences but we all get up, brush our teeth, kiss our kids, go to work, come home and eat, hang with our families then go to bed. In other words we are all human, no one better than the next.
What I don't get is where these people are coming from. A new generation in Europe? I worked with Europeans (specifically Irish, French and German) for several years while at DEC. They were wonderful (the people I worked with). One even invited us to stay at his house if we ever planned on vacationing in France. So what is changing? Why the hate? Why do they despise a group of people... can they not separate our gov't from us? I don't know. I guess I don't really care except that it causes me to lose respect for THEM if they cannot see through all the rhetoric in the news and from politicians and roll individuals up into their opinions based on such tripe.
It started with a post about the FM radio chip issue (if you are not aware, a couple organizations are lobbying to have legislation passed to have FM chips put in cell phones - sort of). The editor (one of a few, and a European one) tends toward the dramatic and in this case had to slam "Americans" for being panic-prone. But not in such kind words.
I protested in response and it began like this:
Why do non-Americans find it necessary to comment (and not generally favorably) on purely American issues? (Surely you don't believe this issue will somehow affect Europe?)
Yeah I know, our government has its nose in everyone's business (which I don't agree with and vote against accordingly during elections). So that makes it O.K. to make glib comments about Americans in general?
(I vote Libertarian, btw, and fully buy into Teddy Roosevelt's "walk softly and carry a big stick" idea. Our focus needs to be internal, not external).
The responses I got back (mostly from people from the Netherlands for some reason) were along the lines of "because Americans are always commenting unfavorably about Europeans!"
Really? There have been no (zero) posts by the American editors with inserted slander against any European country or person. None. Yet this is not the first time such posts have come from the European sector. I pointed this out. The response was "that's because your media never reports on European affairs and ours (European media) is constantly shoving American issues in our faces and paint Americans as "ignorant hicks."
Lovely. Really. So that means you should carry that tradition on by barraging Americans with insults at every opportunity?
I then proceeded to point out that the PEOPLE here are no different from the PEOPLE there. Sure there are some cultural differences but we all get up, brush our teeth, kiss our kids, go to work, come home and eat, hang with our families then go to bed. In other words we are all human, no one better than the next.
What I don't get is where these people are coming from. A new generation in Europe? I worked with Europeans (specifically Irish, French and German) for several years while at DEC. They were wonderful (the people I worked with). One even invited us to stay at his house if we ever planned on vacationing in France. So what is changing? Why the hate? Why do they despise a group of people... can they not separate our gov't from us? I don't know. I guess I don't really care except that it causes me to lose respect for THEM if they cannot see through all the rhetoric in the news and from politicians and roll individuals up into their opinions based on such tripe.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Just a poem I wrote awhile back...
Dusty
I put on my sin, a dirty old coat
Comfortable, well-worn skin;
Everything is spotty today,
The world through scratched lenses
Moves in and out of focus.
That hard drive head crash wail
Assails my ears and
Discernment rails my fear
Toward the inevitable
Clear thought:
I am desert dusty,
Wrinkle-filled,
Crusty, lusty, musty -
Unwashed and unwashable
But for the bathing
Sin scathing light
Of truth.
I put on my sin, a dirty old coat
Comfortable, well-worn skin;
Everything is spotty today,
The world through scratched lenses
Moves in and out of focus.
That hard drive head crash wail
Assails my ears and
Discernment rails my fear
Toward the inevitable
Clear thought:
I am desert dusty,
Wrinkle-filled,
Crusty, lusty, musty -
Unwashed and unwashable
But for the bathing
Sin scathing light
Of truth.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
We sure are lucky!
Remember my last post? Watching another pop-science program. In one 5 minute segment the word "lucky" came up half of a dozen times. We sure are lucky our Earth is in the right spot in the solar system to support life! We sure are lucky the Earth as a moderate magnetic field that shields us from dangerous radiation! We sure are lucky conditions were right over a billion years ago to allow for the formation of complex, organic (carbon based) molecules! We sure are lucky those molecules somehow recombined to form a complex, self-replicating machine! We sure are lucky those complex, self-replicating machines could run other machinery to generate protein covers, organelles that produce a variety of proteins and chemicals enabling cellular reproduction, etc.
We sure are lucky!
We sure are lucky!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
It made me smile
Was watching a new series on National Geographic channel, "The Known Universe" I think it was called. I am please to say that I have been pleasantly surprised twice in the past few months, once by an article in Scientific American and now an episode of this series.
I fully expected the same pop-science rhetoric from this program, especially because the scientists ON the program were the same ones I've seen on other programs that glorify theories as tho' they are writ.
No. When this program ended I found myself smiling. Why? Simple. This episode dealt with the creation of the universe. While all the usual theories were covered, the show ended with one of the scientists saying this (paraphrase): We can never know how the universe was created. There is no scientist who can grasp any more than a small part of the current theories being put forth.
And there it was. The truth. We can never know - we can only guess based on observation and mathematical formulae trying to describe (and tie together) the effects of the forces we can see and feel.
-- begin rant --
I am not anti-science. I know it seems like I "pick on science" from time to time but that isn't the case. I pick on the idea that in our culture today science (and technology) is portrayed as the solution to all our problems, past, present and future. Scientific theory is taught unabashedly as fact in our schools, and portrayed in the media in the same light, when in FACT many of the theories taught are simply worth little more than guesswork. The origin of the universe? What I was taught 30 years ago is completely different now.
In a way that's O.K. Much science is about putting forward an idea that supports what we can observe. When we can observe more, what we put forth naturally changes. Science is a process, a method of understanding the world around us. But it seems as tho' kids aren't taught this today.
-- end rant --
You know, I really want my own children to be free-thinkers. I want them to be able to find truth for themselves. I don't want them weighted any which way, but instead be balanced. Sometimes I fear that they don't have a chance to be that way, since I weigh them down with my own concepts and feelings on both science and faith. I want them to understand that they have choices to make in life, and that they should be discerning and honest in how they go about making them - both to themselves and to anyone else their decisions might affect.
It's late, I am tired and rambling. Good night!
I fully expected the same pop-science rhetoric from this program, especially because the scientists ON the program were the same ones I've seen on other programs that glorify theories as tho' they are writ.
No. When this program ended I found myself smiling. Why? Simple. This episode dealt with the creation of the universe. While all the usual theories were covered, the show ended with one of the scientists saying this (paraphrase): We can never know how the universe was created. There is no scientist who can grasp any more than a small part of the current theories being put forth.
And there it was. The truth. We can never know - we can only guess based on observation and mathematical formulae trying to describe (and tie together) the effects of the forces we can see and feel.
-- begin rant --
I am not anti-science. I know it seems like I "pick on science" from time to time but that isn't the case. I pick on the idea that in our culture today science (and technology) is portrayed as the solution to all our problems, past, present and future. Scientific theory is taught unabashedly as fact in our schools, and portrayed in the media in the same light, when in FACT many of the theories taught are simply worth little more than guesswork. The origin of the universe? What I was taught 30 years ago is completely different now.
In a way that's O.K. Much science is about putting forward an idea that supports what we can observe. When we can observe more, what we put forth naturally changes. Science is a process, a method of understanding the world around us. But it seems as tho' kids aren't taught this today.
-- end rant --
You know, I really want my own children to be free-thinkers. I want them to be able to find truth for themselves. I don't want them weighted any which way, but instead be balanced. Sometimes I fear that they don't have a chance to be that way, since I weigh them down with my own concepts and feelings on both science and faith. I want them to understand that they have choices to make in life, and that they should be discerning and honest in how they go about making them - both to themselves and to anyone else their decisions might affect.
It's late, I am tired and rambling. Good night!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Does religion cause wars?
I believe a lot of people feel that since there is terrorism generated by muslims, and that something called "The Crusades" occurred centuries ago that religion is the cause of war. Some feel that if religion was abolished that we would be better off, fewer conflicts, etc.
I think that people who believe this are optimistic and have a very good outlook on humanity.
No. If religion was abolished, that is, if no one believed in the supernatural, everything was science, we would simply find something else to fight about; some other reason to invade someone else's soil. In fact, wars are NOT fought over religious beliefs, but religion IS used to control the masses. This is unfortunate. A small group of people who wield respect and authority use it to manipulate people eager to be led when in reality, the reason for aggression is quite simple:
I want something you have.
Sometimes the things "you have" are necessities, sometimes they are not. Water, food, oil, land, power... these are reasons to fight. There are no other.
Crusades were about power over the common folk. Extermination of Knights Templar was about money AND power (what's the difference, right?) as the Templars were basically the foreign exchange bankers of their time.
Terrorism isn't about religion. It is about anger, it is about individuals who feel repressed by society. It's about people who use those feelings to manipulate and control... for a sense of power over something/someone.
Don't be fooled. Just as lobbyists manipulate our politicians with money and FUD, leaders of terrorist organizations do the same to people who are willing to follow them. They use words like "JIHAD" to weakly cover their motives.
I'd love to be as optimistic about humanity as some people are... but it comes down to something we never shake from childhood: gimmee gimmee gimmee, I want I want I want, mine mine mine.
Oh, and I am in no way claiming that I am exempt from this.
That's all. Sorry for the rant.
I think that people who believe this are optimistic and have a very good outlook on humanity.
No. If religion was abolished, that is, if no one believed in the supernatural, everything was science, we would simply find something else to fight about; some other reason to invade someone else's soil. In fact, wars are NOT fought over religious beliefs, but religion IS used to control the masses. This is unfortunate. A small group of people who wield respect and authority use it to manipulate people eager to be led when in reality, the reason for aggression is quite simple:
I want something you have.
Sometimes the things "you have" are necessities, sometimes they are not. Water, food, oil, land, power... these are reasons to fight. There are no other.
Crusades were about power over the common folk. Extermination of Knights Templar was about money AND power (what's the difference, right?) as the Templars were basically the foreign exchange bankers of their time.
Terrorism isn't about religion. It is about anger, it is about individuals who feel repressed by society. It's about people who use those feelings to manipulate and control... for a sense of power over something/someone.
Don't be fooled. Just as lobbyists manipulate our politicians with money and FUD, leaders of terrorist organizations do the same to people who are willing to follow them. They use words like "JIHAD" to weakly cover their motives.
I'd love to be as optimistic about humanity as some people are... but it comes down to something we never shake from childhood: gimmee gimmee gimmee, I want I want I want, mine mine mine.
Oh, and I am in no way claiming that I am exempt from this.
That's all. Sorry for the rant.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
...And Back Again...
I'm not as adventurous as I'd like to think.
Sure, I just installed Meego onto my netbook, and that's fine. But my foray back into the world of FOSS has come to an end.
I was ready to give up Netflix. I was ready to listen to my DRM-stripped music library. I was ready to never play the top game titles ever again. It wasn't enough.
I got linux up and running, quite well actually. I was able to build and run my code, get my mail, browse the internet, even installed Hulu desktop to make up for Netflix. But after a week of using Linux I decided I wanted a more standard gnome appearance. I moved my task bar to the top, and went to add a new panel... that's where it went wrong. I clicked on add new panel and my UI hung. "Huh," I thought. So I tried switching to console mode, it did not work. "Huh," I thought again. I rebooted. All was well until the time came for XServer to start. It didn't. Now I wasn't saying "huh," but instead I was mumbling under my breath. After several tries I gave up. This was damn peculiar behavior for linux in my opinion. I merely used standard gnome configuration options. How can that cause the entire UI to lock up and never start again?!
I could have booted into command line mode and poked around. I could have actually tried several other install/restore options to fix the problem. But the point is I should not have to do that.
It irked me completely. So much so I wiped the system, re-installed Windows 7 and have been trying to restore my disks all week long. That's another story.
Sure, I just installed Meego onto my netbook, and that's fine. But my foray back into the world of FOSS has come to an end.
I was ready to give up Netflix. I was ready to listen to my DRM-stripped music library. I was ready to never play the top game titles ever again. It wasn't enough.
I got linux up and running, quite well actually. I was able to build and run my code, get my mail, browse the internet, even installed Hulu desktop to make up for Netflix. But after a week of using Linux I decided I wanted a more standard gnome appearance. I moved my task bar to the top, and went to add a new panel... that's where it went wrong. I clicked on add new panel and my UI hung. "Huh," I thought. So I tried switching to console mode, it did not work. "Huh," I thought again. I rebooted. All was well until the time came for XServer to start. It didn't. Now I wasn't saying "huh," but instead I was mumbling under my breath. After several tries I gave up. This was damn peculiar behavior for linux in my opinion. I merely used standard gnome configuration options. How can that cause the entire UI to lock up and never start again?!
I could have booted into command line mode and poked around. I could have actually tried several other install/restore options to fix the problem. But the point is I should not have to do that.
It irked me completely. So much so I wiped the system, re-installed Windows 7 and have been trying to restore my disks all week long. That's another story.
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