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.
Friday, July 30, 2010
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.
Friday, May 21, 2010
From Windows to Linux
I took the plunge this afternoon. I double-copied most of my data to two disks, so they would be accessible from both (I did this because linux was having a little trouble with one of the Windows "dymnamic disks").
Once the data was copied I began the installation. I quickly encountered the large FAT-32 volume bug and had to disconnect all external drives. Once unplugged the installation went smoothly.
I decided to go with XFS as my file system and formatted 2 of my 3 large disks making the first a system disk, the second my /home disk. The third disk contents are being copied as I write and will become my /Work disk soon. I also have a 4th disk, smaller, FAT-32 formatted and I use that to store a lot of "junk."
I have managed to get Chrome installed, my email accounts plugged in, my chat accounts plugged in, etc. I did manage to get the Cisco AnyConnect client installed and to the point where it appears to work, but I had trouble with my work connection. I'll have to reboot and check that out later. The process of getting the Cisco client involves installing 32 bit libraries and copying firefox libraries into the Cisco client's lib folder.
Since work is my priority, I'll be focusing on that tonight. I need to get the connection squared away, then I need to rig ssh+svn so I can access our code. I also need to get a few extra apps installed, like the official version of Sun Java, altho' I might try to get JBOSS running with the OpenJDK version. We shall see. I also want to get JDeveloper and the Oracle client libraries installed if possible.
Once all the work stuff is squared away, I can focus on getting Wine installed and work on getting several of my games going. I was excited to read that Torchlight works very well under Wine and the Steam client should fare as well as the store-bought CD-ROM version of the game.
As I mentioned before, I will meet some limitations. I won't be able to watch my Netflix instant queue from my computer. I also had to export my iTunes music to non-DRM format. I wanted to wait to do the same for my video library, but I got antsy while waiting on the conversion company to help me out with an issue. So what I will have to do is copy my video library to my son's computer and run the software there. It will take a couple of days to complete. Perhaps I can get this started before we leave for vacation, then clean up when we get back.
Once the data was copied I began the installation. I quickly encountered the large FAT-32 volume bug and had to disconnect all external drives. Once unplugged the installation went smoothly.
I decided to go with XFS as my file system and formatted 2 of my 3 large disks making the first a system disk, the second my /home disk. The third disk contents are being copied as I write and will become my /Work disk soon. I also have a 4th disk, smaller, FAT-32 formatted and I use that to store a lot of "junk."
I have managed to get Chrome installed, my email accounts plugged in, my chat accounts plugged in, etc. I did manage to get the Cisco AnyConnect client installed and to the point where it appears to work, but I had trouble with my work connection. I'll have to reboot and check that out later. The process of getting the Cisco client involves installing 32 bit libraries and copying firefox libraries into the Cisco client's lib folder.
Since work is my priority, I'll be focusing on that tonight. I need to get the connection squared away, then I need to rig ssh+svn so I can access our code. I also need to get a few extra apps installed, like the official version of Sun Java, altho' I might try to get JBOSS running with the OpenJDK version. We shall see. I also want to get JDeveloper and the Oracle client libraries installed if possible.
Once all the work stuff is squared away, I can focus on getting Wine installed and work on getting several of my games going. I was excited to read that Torchlight works very well under Wine and the Steam client should fare as well as the store-bought CD-ROM version of the game.
As I mentioned before, I will meet some limitations. I won't be able to watch my Netflix instant queue from my computer. I also had to export my iTunes music to non-DRM format. I wanted to wait to do the same for my video library, but I got antsy while waiting on the conversion company to help me out with an issue. So what I will have to do is copy my video library to my son's computer and run the software there. It will take a couple of days to complete. Perhaps I can get this started before we leave for vacation, then clean up when we get back.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
From Windows 7 to Linux - Part 1
I've decided to give linux another shot. Windows 7 is solid, but I like the principles behind FOSS and similar ideas and want to support them.
There are pros and cons inherent in this decision. The pros are that there is a vast pool of free software to make use of, a modern high performance operating system and a large user base that is willing to share and help out when you encounter problems (for the most part). The cons take some swallowing.
I will not be able to view netflix movies online. I will not be able to play a large number of my games, and I can no longer make use of iTunes to purchase and manage my music. (Most people would not consider that to be a con). I also generate my tax documents with software that will not run on linux. I'll worry about that next April. Other cons include shaky graphics drivers and a willingness to get under the hood from time to time to make modifications to the OS. No problem, I like doing that.
The first step to moving to linux, which I have already begun, is to preserve my music and movies in such a way that I might continue to enjoy them. To do this I need to back my DRM-laden media up to non-DRM media. I am doing this with legally purchased software, and while I might be walking a thin line of legality, my thinking is that this is my music, my TV shows that I purchased and I'll be damned if someone is going to say "no you can't watch them anymore" because of the operating system I have chosen to use.
Once this process is completed I can begin copying files I wish to keep from one disk to another (backups of a sort) so that I can wipe at least two of my 3 disks for the purpose of creating my system and user disks in linux. After that, another copy so I can reformat (and alter my mount table) my third drive for my work files.
I have several shared drives that are formatted in FAT32... they can stay that way for now. Linux does fine with FAT32.
After that is all the tweaking and configuring that will need to happen so that I can work effectively and also play some of my games on Steam.
So to summarize:
1. back up important data and media (in progress)
2. initial install
3. restore data
4. tweak install
5. restore some semblance of a gaming environment
Once step three is complete, I'll post more about steps 1-3.
There are pros and cons inherent in this decision. The pros are that there is a vast pool of free software to make use of, a modern high performance operating system and a large user base that is willing to share and help out when you encounter problems (for the most part). The cons take some swallowing.
I will not be able to view netflix movies online. I will not be able to play a large number of my games, and I can no longer make use of iTunes to purchase and manage my music. (Most people would not consider that to be a con). I also generate my tax documents with software that will not run on linux. I'll worry about that next April. Other cons include shaky graphics drivers and a willingness to get under the hood from time to time to make modifications to the OS. No problem, I like doing that.
The first step to moving to linux, which I have already begun, is to preserve my music and movies in such a way that I might continue to enjoy them. To do this I need to back my DRM-laden media up to non-DRM media. I am doing this with legally purchased software, and while I might be walking a thin line of legality, my thinking is that this is my music, my TV shows that I purchased and I'll be damned if someone is going to say "no you can't watch them anymore" because of the operating system I have chosen to use.
Once this process is completed I can begin copying files I wish to keep from one disk to another (backups of a sort) so that I can wipe at least two of my 3 disks for the purpose of creating my system and user disks in linux. After that, another copy so I can reformat (and alter my mount table) my third drive for my work files.
I have several shared drives that are formatted in FAT32... they can stay that way for now. Linux does fine with FAT32.
After that is all the tweaking and configuring that will need to happen so that I can work effectively and also play some of my games on Steam.
So to summarize:
1. back up important data and media (in progress)
2. initial install
3. restore data
4. tweak install
5. restore some semblance of a gaming environment
Once step three is complete, I'll post more about steps 1-3.
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