Rants, Raves, & Other Rudeness

Facebook claims that some of your data is really their intelectual property.

2011-10-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

Off the cuff remarks regarding the following article:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111011/12190216306/facebook-says-some-your-personal-data-is-its-trade-secrets-intellectual-property.shtml
Really, my data is their intellectual property. I beg to differ.
I have read through a portion of the Google translation for the original post. I notice that there are a lot of comments saying that since Facebook is free, voluntary, and has a TOS that FB users agree to, one should not complain about Facebook's behavior.
That is flat out wrong. It is a mindless argument filled with pablum phrases. Here is the low down from my perspective. It is about transparency and boundaries, and the lack of meaningful laws.
Facebook declares:
"You are the owner of all content and information that you post on Facebook. In addition, you can use your privacy and application settings to control how that information is exchanged."
This seems to be a false assertion as evidenced by the fact that European users can ask for a copy of the information that Facebook holds concerning oneself, and yet they fail to disclose all that information. Ah, but herein lies the lies. You own what you post but not what they know. You don't actually post any comments when you click a "Like" button. You don't post anything when somebody else tags you in a photo. However, the European Privacy law that Facebook falls under due to its physical presence in Ireland, may not have such restrictive language, as it refers to one's data - not one's posts. Hence, it seems that FB is not being as transparent as the law seems to suggest.
What does that have to do with those who oppose the complaints regarding privacy? I liken it to a used car sales. A technique often employed is called bait and switch. It is founded on deception. Yes we know that FB acquires information and we assume that it is relatively benign info. But we really don't know what's under the hood. The privacy law is supposed to enforce transparency allowing us to make an informed decision as to the benefits and risks. Facebook clearly does not want that transparency.

But how can one make an informed decision if there is so much secrecy? How much data have they surreptitiously acquired about you? Would you be alarmed if there were some half truths or egregious assumptions made about you that were offensive? What if they knew more about you than you could possibly imagine? What if they routinely provide that information, however accurate or precise it may or may not be, to the authorities just for the asking?
So, you don't care what they know or think they know or that they earn money off that data and target marketing towards you that should meet your needs. All well and good. But your laissez-faire attitude need not extend to me. I don't mind them making a buck or two off of some of my data. I don't mind them complying with lawful requests for my data when they receive a warrant or subpoena. But I should be able to know what that data is. It is a matter of boundaries. My boundaries, your boundaries.

Just because they offer a service for free, doesn't allow them to run roughshod over your expectations. Take the used car sales as an analogy. Someone gives you a usable automobile and says it's yours to drive as you please. On the face of it, it's too good too be true. But hey - if you want transportation, why not. It so happens that the car is a GM product that comes with OnStar. You later find out that someone has listened in to your conversations, has logged all your travels, noted that you parked across the street from a message parlor, an adult bookstore and a gay bar. Perhaps they assume you were inclined to obtain services at each place rather than any other activity that could have occurred. They sold your itinerary to a third party and eventually you start getting flooded with solicitations that are inappropriate for your circumstances. Cops pull you over and decide that based on their information you may also be a person of interest and they sort through your smartphone and download all the data contained within. Do you expect to be treated with any dignity by the corporations or authorities? The thing is, I have a right to reasonable privacy and a right from improper search and seizure - from the government. But there are far too few targeted laws at what corporations can get away with. And they can get away with most anything regarding your data as long as its OK by you. But it could effect the price you pay for any kind of insurance, effect your medical benefits, your rights to vote (if you even bother with that), how friends and family perceive you, and for some, even one's very life may be sacrificed for these corporations profits. Then there are the data breaches. What a wonderful storehouse for identity theft victims. One pair of women in Ohio think that they will never be a victim of such a breach and even if they are it won't be much bother. But others who have experienced a loss of their identity have claimed it is very expensive, very labor intensive, very stressful and very long lived. A person's reputation can be utterly destroyed.

It boils down to this, stuff like the aforementioned can and does happen occasionally. Seemingly more often then most folks realize. I would like to limit what data of mine is being exploited. I don't mind trading a little, but I want to know what it is and where it's going. Facebook affirms that it is my data, so I believe they should start acting like it. In essence, it seems to be a breach of contract, if nothing else.

Sand In The Nostrils

2011-09-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that, one of the issues with music today is that nearly none of the lyrics are politically motivated, save a few misguided country songs about patriotism and bravado. I really miss songs that satirize political figures or call out the governments' bad behaviors. I wonder if there are any musicians left who care enough to sing such songs or if it is the record labels preventing such lyrics from seeing the light of day. It becomes more evident to me that our societies are falling apart at the seems and our infrastructure is in severe need of restoration. It took a youth movement that was either fueled by or reflected in the music of the day to effect the last real changes in our side of world. But that was a long, long time ago. When was the last time you heard a recent, relevant, protest song? Are there any?
Here's an open challenge to established musicians and to all the independents out there: Start writing and performing protest songs relevant to the news of today.
We need a new alphabet song - about the AT&T, CIA, DEA, DHS, DOJ, FBI, ICE, LEO's, MPAA, NSA, RIAA, SCOTUS, TSA, USG, etc. and their poor behaviors as of late.
We need to popularize the idea that there is a real need for changes in our governments, today - now. I think the current systems are broken and corrupted by all recognition.
By the way, the last protest song I remember hearing recently was Above The Law's Freedom Of Speech - as heard in soundtrack from Pump Up The Volume.
I think I really want to hear it.

Logitech 750e Outdoor Master Alert Monitor and Command Center

2011-04-11T16:59:00.000-07:00

One thing the Logitech 750e isn't short on is video quality, but that's about it.

The Logitech 750e Outdoor Master Alert Monitor and Command Center lacks command and control.

My personal experience so far is that the new 750e and other security cameras in this group from Logitech leaves me wanting.
For starters, these cameras do not have any internal batteries, cannot be used with uninterruptable power supplies, and can't even withstand a power strip.
What good is a security camera that can be shut down so easily?
When I first began doing my initial setup, the Command Center software could not detect my power line devices.
However, I went ahead and connected the three cameras, which all became detectable.
I fiddled with all the settings to get familiar with the software features and that only took a few minutes, as there are so few.
Then I went to mount my cameras.
I did not have one single power outlet outside, that's a minor problem, as the flat Ethernet cable can go through the window for now.
So then one has to mount the power line modems to the wall near an available socket.
Well, I unplugged the surge protector and stereo and plugged in one of the two boxes in the closest outlet.
I mounted the camera and it works - sort of (I'll explain in a moment).
I plugged in another camera near its final resting place, near power and no need to string the Ethernet cable through a window and it also sort of works.
And then the third camera (out of 4, eventually, when the last one gets here) had to go up.
Hmm, now what?
I had to unplug the microwave and its surge protector and plug in the camera’s power line adapter (and mount it) and the router's power line adapter.
Strung the Ethernet cable through another window and screen and mounted the camera and it works - sort of.

Here comes the good part. The video looks as good as any security camera I've seen and better than most.
Even their night-time view is fairly good, if somewhat flawed.
One of the three cameras has a wall and a ceiling in view and they both glow quite brightly from the infrared causing the field of concern to be darker than acceptable.
The other two cameras look good, but all three have the same limitations when it comes to the motion sensors.
The sensors parameters are difficult to adjust, because there aren't sufficient controls.
You get to create a rectangle for the motion detection zone and sensitivity control sliders.
But when the motion sensor triggers, what it triggered on is anybody's guess.
In my case, it was the shadows, the leaves, and even the grass waving.
Less sensitive alert means fewer moment of recording and fewer numbers of alert emails being sent to my phone.
Now, that's a mixed blessing if ever I had one.
Perhaps some of these issues are alleviated with the available firmware, if I could just apply the update, the data won't transfer.

More to the point regarding the video recording, it is inconsistent and uncontrollable.
If the cameras record at all, they seem to only record some random length of time that an alert is being triggered.
I had only moments of time that my cameras were recording when they should have been very actively recording.
I even set the sensitivity to maximum to try and get two of them to record anything, anything at all, to no avail.
So the cameras don't record on a schedule, they may not record on an alert, but you could get alerts all day long, every day, so long as your PC is on and the program is running.

Did you notice that? In order to save any video remote from the cameras themselves, the PC and program must be running.
It would not matter if your PC is on a UPS however, as the cameras won't send any signal.
If you reboot your computer, you lose any video being stored until the program is up and running again, unless you want to unscrew the back of each camera and import any video that might be on the micro-SD card.
The cameras don't have built in HTTPS services, or any FTPS services.
They don't have internal rechargeable batteries and they don't have Wi-Fi capabilities.
But they can be used with a POE Router or switch (got cash to burn?).

In fact, here are some other features that I think should be included in a security camera and software package that calls itself a Command Center:

Camera Overlay: Color (has), element corners (has), Date/Time Stamp on the video itself
Motion Detection: Polygon Zones, Alerting Item Indicator, such as an oval around the moving object, and the ability to adjust the size of an item that can cause an alert, like a small animal filter.
Schedules: Alert Time Filter, to schedule alerts on or off during certain hours. Manual Recording override, to record continuously or not record at all.
Recording Compression Adjustments: With the ability to record 24x7x365 one might want to compress a little.
Record Before/After Adjustment: Once an Alert is triggered, you should be able to say you always want X-Minutes before and X-Minutes after the trigger to remain recorded (since there is an onboard memory chip, this should be do-able)
FTP settings: The cameras should be able to store recordings to a NAS, send it via FTP/FTPS
HTTP Settings: The cameras should be able to server their video straight to a browser with encryption available (and defaulted)
Mac Compatibility

I would love to be able to say that the Logitech 750e Outdoor Master Security System was a good buy.
It isn't even an Eighty Percent-er product.
It isn't even half way there.
It is as immature as some news anchors - looks good, but there's not much between the ears.
Some of these features could be added by a firmware update to the cameras perhaps (if I could just transfer the data to the cameras).
Some of these features are already in other software packages and hence the software is sophomoric at best.
Most of this functionality should be included in my DVR or my Media Center, or the Apple iTV, or the ROKU+.
My point is that good security camera systems shouldn't be so difficult to come by, especially when one is paying these high retail prices.
These are IP cameras that can’t be used like any other IP camera.
These are security cameras that don't emanate security.
These are simple cameras that are featureless and anemic.
These are expensive toys, at the moment.
I expected better from Logitech.

The Background Check

2011-03-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to predict when one may become part of an ongoing investigation regarding some pet peeve of some self-righteous LEO or USG Agency. That being said, writing passionate email to ones' congressman with an unfavorable opinions and less then respectful language won't help one maintain their own anonymity.

However, Congressman Dan Lungren doesn't seem to be aware of all the evidence, is ignoring it or is in denial of it. However, EFF has recently posted nearly nine thousand pages of government documents to their site.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/EFF-Lets-the-Sun-Shine-In

EPIC.org has also chronicled much of the same or similar information.

I don't know how others define patriotism, but what ever your view on it is, it should not include the subversion of the principles of the Constitution and its deliberate use of plain, layman's English. The founding fathers of this country forewarned of us these tyrannies befalling us these days and too few are taking notice or understanding the long-term impact on our freedoms.

The Seven Nations Indians endeavor to consider the impact down to their 7th generation (a coincidence with the number of tribes versus the number of generations). I am not a chess player and have difficulty seeing so far in advance, but it seems nobody is looking beyond their own noses.

Can this change? Well, it won't change because I've ranted. It will only change when enough people are directly and egregiously effected personally, monetarily or physically. But then, it may be too late.

I hope more people take an effort sooner rather than later to express their concerns in a meaningful and passionate way. Perhaps, that's nothing more than a pipe-dream.

My belated response to Congressman Dan Lungren

2011-03-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Sir,

you seem to erroneously state that there isn't any evidence of abuse by government agencies with respect to the Patriot Act and other current laws (and possibly Executive Orders) passed by Congress as a result of fear and ignorance.

However, the timely folks at the Electronic Frontier Foundation found what I had been looking for.

https://www.eff.org/foia/intelligence-agencies-misconduct
https://www.eff.org/issues/foia/07656JDB

Aside from reports that FBI agents cheated on the tests designed to ensure that they know how to use these tools legally, there have been several credible reports from reputable news agencies and blogs affirming their misconduct.

Suffice it to say that I whole heartedly disagree that you can provide for my safety by annulling my Constitutional rights. Six years and six months, I upheld my oaths while serving in the US Air Force. The Gadsden flag is for me one of the most honorable flags and "Give me liberty or give me death" is one of the most honorable quotes. What has been your inspiration for serving the American citizens, perhaps, In Halliburton I Trust or Give Me Black Water Or Give Me Xe Services LLC?

The U.S. law enforcement agencies you are promoting do not need more intelligence toys, more legal wiggling room, or more oppressive laws. What they need is to start acting more intelligently, asking more intelligent questions, using old school first hand face to face information. They need to stop accumulating hay and straw to sift through to find the needles. They just need to focus on the needle - not the haystack. It is criminal to allow them to spy on every American citizen for their paranoid witch hunts.

The U.S. law enforcement agencies have become the terrorist. TSA, DEA, ICE, FBI, DHS - have become violent, coercive, villains destroying individual's properties, freedoms and rights that were once guaranteed by our Constitution. These agencies have lied to America, they have lied to Congress and they have double-crossed the world.

The 10th amendment of the US Constitution has been all but abolished, along with the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 14th amendments.

It is high time to start cleaning house and returning to being honorable people of integrity, governing on behalf of the good citizens of this country.

Please re-evaluate your stance and do what is right, not for the corporations, the self-expanding bureaucracies, your bank account, but for the citizens, their children, the people - for a nice change of pace.

Thank you for your continued efforts to do what is right and honorable in supporting your oath to stand up for principles of the Constitution of the United States of America - for liberty - for justice - with integrity (not fear) and openness.

Rojer W. Wisner

Congressman Lungren On the Patriot Act

2011-03-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

I had sent a letter to the Congressman urging him to support the sunset clauses of the Patriot act, allowing those provisions to expire. Here is his response.

Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the PATRIOT Act. I appreciate hearing of your views.

On February 28, 2011 three core provisions of the PATRIOT Act would have expired—roving wiretaps where multiple phones are used, the so-called business records provision, and the lone wolf provision concerning terrorists not connected with a specific country or group. I would point out that I authored the original sunset provision in the House version of the Act because it is my belief that Congressional oversight and review of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a solemn responsibility.

The primary responsibility of government is to protect the American people from attack. The Times Square bomber, Christmas Day bomber, and Fort Hood shooter are further evidence that there are those who remain committed to killing innocent Americans. The PATRIOT Act provisions are essential to reaching those actors who are agents of a foreign power or foreign terrorist organization who would use the open nature of our society to plot against innocents within our country. Our intelligence community must be given the same tools which law enforcement has had for years in order to stop terrorist plots before they are allowed to develop. Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert with the Rand Corporation puts it well:

In the terror attacks since 9-11 we have seen combinations of local conspiracies inspired by, assisted by, and guided by al Qaeda's central leadership...It is essential that while protecting the basic rights of American citizens, we find ways to facilitate the collection and exchange of intelligence across national and bureaucratic borders.

It is my view that while Congressional oversight of the PATRIOT Act should be vigorous and regular. In a hearing on the three provisions set to expire, there was no evidence of abuse. In fact, the only evidence of a problem arose from a General Accountability Office Report concerning National Security Letters (NSL's) on one occasion. Ironically, NSL's did not originate with the PATRIOT Act and have no bearing on any of the expiring provisions under consideration.

In light of the fact that the threat against our people continues, the Obama Administration was right to ask for reauthorization of the expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act. Although we must be diligent to ensure that the civil liberties of Americans are secure, the first such liberty is not to be killed. "The choice between security and liberty is a false choice, as nothing is more likely to endanger America's liberties than the success of a terrorist attack at home."

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your views with me.

If you would like to stay informed about federal legislation introduced in the 112th Congress, as well as local issues that may interest you, please take a moment to subscribe to my weekly e-newsletter at www.lungren.house.gov.

I look forward to discussing this or any other issue affecting our 3rd Congressional District with you in the future. For upcoming Town Hall meetings, or for information on issues or legislation pending before Congress, please visit my website at www.lungren.house.gov. If you need assistance with a federal agency, please call my Gold River office at (916) 859-9906. My staff and I are always available to address your concerns, answer your questions, and listen to your ideas.

Sincerely,

Daniel E. Lungren
Member of Congress

Note: Please do not respond directly to this e-mail. To better serve the constituents of the Third District I have established a Feedback Form on my website. If you wish to contact me with any concerns, I would ask that you please utilize the following link and I will respond shortly (https://forms.house.gov/lungren/forms/email.shtml).

Note to Capitol Hill - Regarding Son Of ACTA

2011-03-11T11:24:00.001-08:00

As a consumer and constituent, I am very concerned about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement currently being negotiated in secret by the Office of the United States Trade Representative and against consumer's best interests.

Previous free trade agreements have exported controversial aspects of U.S. copyright law, without the balancing exceptions and limitations in U.S. copyright law that enable freedom of expression and have allowed innovation to flourish. Reports indicate that the USTR tabled an intellectual property chapter that follows this approach at the most recent round of negotiations. I am concerned that this will lock-in controversial aspects of US law, restricting Congress' ability to craft laws that meet U.S. domestic priorities, and eliminate potential export markets for innovative U.S. consumer electronics and technology companies.

I am disturbed to discover that this agreement, which could have such wide-ranging effects on American citizens and the dynamic technology sector, is being conducted entirely behind closed doors in an opaque and profoundly undemocratic process.

U.S. copyright law includes a carefully crafted balance of public and private rights that encourages creation, while providing incentives for innovation, and access for education, libraries and other socially beneficial purposes. Balanced policy making that serves the needs of all stakeholders in the information economy requires transparency.

I urge you to bring transparency to this agreement and ensure that the TPP text reflects the interests of all U.S. industries and citizens.

I ask you please to:

* Call for a congressional hearing on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, so that Congress can hear from all affected stakeholders and provide meaningful input into the content.

* Call for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to release the text of the agreement and solicit public comments.

* Speak out against the increasing, continuing and shameful trend of secret negotiations conducted by the USTR.

Time To Fear Your Government?

2011-03-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a question for you. How many links does it take to get to the center of an ICE pickle? It may only take one, if it upsets the puppet masters, big media interests.
When will they come for your neighbor? When will they come for you?
What I really want to know is, who really is in charge, corporate Amerika or American citizens? - OH! - Never Mind - Seemingly, we've become the government on the sheeple, to the sheeple, and against the sheeple. Check it out:

http://act.demandprogress.org/act/dhscomplaint/?referring_akid=a1233513.19347.Ei_QvO&source=auto-e

NOT A DAMN THANG

2011-01-30T16:59:00.000-08:00

Even though, from time to time, I feel like I should write about something profound here on this waste of electrons, I always just let it go so that I don't go writing anything so witty as to draw attention to my self. However, today, I had absolutely nothing to write about. It worked for Seinfeld, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I am not go to write about the illegal behavior that the FBI harbors amongst its agents. I'm not going to write about the flagrant constitutional violations of the TSA's terrorizing activities. I'm not going to write about the myopic news, citizens, nor their disingenuous elected officials. I could complain for days and days, but it won't enlighten a single rational soul. Not even the two bit LEO reading this because they either pissed someone off or has a pretty poor plan to impress someone with the convoluted hypothesis they are about to come up with (any day now). Basically, I got nothing to say today.
;-)

Test

2010-12-28T13:19:00.001-08:00

Does this blogger email account really function?

Sent from my iPhone

Wouldn't It Be Nice?

2010-03-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know who, how, or when the application request was sent out for Google's Fiber-Optic ISP offering, but my market place would be a great zone. Sure West has a near monopoly in our area. That is, if you consider ComCast as competition. I don't.

The details listed in the article found at the following link (fair use) sound succulent and savory:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/03/google-fiber-apply/

I think our market area would fit their criteria admirably. Alas, I have no knowledge if anyone even submitted for our area. But it would be nice.

It's a Family!

2010-03-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how to tell this story safely. Suffice it to say that I have recently communicated with family members for the first time. I'm a full grown man. I'm old enough to have grandchildren. I don't, but could have had them if life was different. Now I have six more siblings, a handful more of nieces and nephews and I don't even know how many more grand-nieces and grand-nephews yet.
All I can say is that it is kinda weirdish.
Life can change in a heartbeat, over a weekend, or it might take a matter of a few weeks. Only time will tell what ones' tapestry will look like at the end of the road.

More on that later, maybe.
:-D

PAH-THETIC

2010-03-09T20:53:00.000-08:00

I believe that in California, it used to be a state law, that all gasoline stations had to have public restrooms. That's a good law. It makes good common sense, fill up one tank and empty the other.
Somewhere along the way, somebody failed the general public, I guess. It seems that it is no longer a state law, it isn't enforced, or that there are very lenient exceptions.
I think it is PATHETIC that a father can't pull in to a gas station so that his daughter, in disparate need of relief, can go to the restroom. Instead, only to hear a very unsympathetic voice stating coldly, we don't have public restrooms.
I have come across this three times now in the past few years. I can only hope that the legislators responsible for abolishing a health and safety law have been since fired from all public services. Probably not, but one can hope.
It seems that throughout this country, self-serving special interest groups are modifying laws at the expense of the common people.

I hope they poop their pants.

Two of the offending gas stations are Shell, Greenback Ln., in Orangevale, CA., across the street from a DQ - Dairy Queen. And an ARCO at Ethan Way & Alta Arden & Arden Lane. in Sacramento, CA.

I hope it becomes law once again and those two stations close down.
The third station was in Chico, Cal-I-Forn-I-A. Unfortunately, I don't know the fuel brand or the exact location. But all three had unsympathetic employees who didn't even offer the nearest alternative.

May the fleas of a few thousand feral cats and dogs invest each and every one of their crevices.

Hew, I feel better now. Not by much, but better.

UPDATE: I stand corrected, AB830 was not passed in 2004. There is not a California state law that requires gas stations to have public restrooms. It should have passed and become law (IMHO). I originally got my disinformation in 1990 or so. I was working for a guy who owned his own name brand gas station. Since he had to comply with all the federal, state and local laws, I took his word with some authority. But hey, anyone can have a misunderstanding of all the complicated rules of business, right. My sentiments remain the same. It should be the law. I believe it's common sense. So it should be a common law.

Law Enforcement & Judicuary Get Away With It

2010-01-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

I am not a lawyer, nor do I have any special knowledge of applicable laws. I do have a good sense of practical reasoning. So when I read about the seemingly obvious violations of the constitution and its amendments, I get a bit miffed.

Why is it, that those meant to enforce and uphold the law, themselves act as if they are above the law? I am speaking of recent reports that the FBI once again finds themselves on the wrong side of the law and a federal judge who seems to be ignoring judiciary rules.

In the case of the FBI, they get away with about 2,200 violations, because it was merely a technicality that they violated National Security Letter's guidelines, as reported on:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/18/AR2010011803982.html
"FBI broke law for years in phone record searches
By John Solomon and Carrie Johnson
Special to The Washington Post and Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 19, 2010"

And in the case of The Honorable Richard G. Seeborg, who is seemingly in violation of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as described by:
http://epic.org/2010/01/epic-privacy-groups-oppose-fac.html
and specifically: http://epic.org/privacy/facebook/EPIC_Beacon_Letter.pdf

"Pursuant to the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the representative parties must be “fairly and adequately protect[ing] the interests of the class.”1
1 Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)(4)."

What happens when the rule of law is meaningless to a large class of people? What will eventually happen? In the short term, some organizations and a few additional concerned folks will huff and puff and little will change. The biggest current trend for those who choose to be vocal seems to be to join the Tea Party's non-party. However, to confuse everyone is a new group claiming to be THE Florida Tea Party party, who seems to have nothing officially in common with the National Tea Party, a non-party.

What am I saying? I am saying that there is a National Cluster F*ck brewing. Our elected officials won't get their own houses in order, they won't ensure that the other departments of our governments get their houses in order, but they'll all scream at the top of the media that the many other nations need to get aligned with the global agenda on human rights, internal spying on their own citizens, and mandatory Internet policing for copywrite violations so Hollywood & music publisher fat-cats won't go broke.

What ever happened to the principles of the rights to privacy, fair use, and the ability purchase a product (rather than have only a license to use something under very narrow conditions) in our very own country even? (I contend that there is very little material that is actually intellectual property, so these folks shouldn't be getting away with perpetual income on every dang item they think is their personal cache-cow). We really need to get our own house in order, first and foremost.

Smoke and mirrors, finger pointing, diversions and denials. Why take the planks out of the eyes of the U.S.A. when there are so many other foreign governments behaving as badly or worse then our own?

This isn't supposed to be a professionally sounding rant, just another rant. But can't somebody, anybody, within politics, government agencies, commercial business, anywhere at all behave appropriately? Is integrity too much to ask for? Is honesty totally outmoded? I see there is no shortage of loyalty, but to whom do those loyalties reside with? When the governments aren't serving the citizens, they are merely self-serving. Is mankind truly basically evil? Look at how our authorities are behaving and give yourself an honest assessment of our current culture.

Maybe next time I will include the several atrocities of the DEA, but for now, I've probably already raised too many red flags for the NSA's servers to ignore. Let's just say that this may be a new era of discontent for informed Americans. If ignorance is bliss, most of the citizens of the U.S.A. must be quite content.

Dang it anyhow.
(Well, I feel better for having said it at any rate)

2009-11-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

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Perhaps Worth A Look

2009-11-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

2009-10-05T15:59:00.001-07:00

On the move to nowhere.

Just Curious

2009-10-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

Google crawls and tracks nearly everything from every user to every click and every social link. They probably know yours friends connectivity three, six, perhaps a dozen times deep. That's the fiends of friends of friends of friends of friends of friends of friends of friends of friends of friends of friends of your friend. Perhaps. They know what you buy online, what you search for, click on, linger on, how you got there and maybe more. Facebook collects some personal information and lots of public information. The sell the use of API's for advertisers can track you with the use of resistant cookies, super cookies, fingerprints (MAC & IP addresses), and who knows what else. They also know the same info about your friends, and the links you may not even know about. The Google API's mashed up with Facebook's, Twitter's, flickr's, etc., etc., etc. can match user names, groups, affiliations, with individual activity. It just takes the time and effort along with sufficient skills and motivation.

Google once proclaimed on their public blog that they were proud to have hired to top-level programmers away from the CIA. Really? There was a rumor that the CIA had an office on the same campus as the Google complex, and even shared a wall. Probably not true, but that was the rumor that I had heard in three different web sites at the time. Hard to believe. Even scary to think it could be true.

Is it possible that could could publicly fight tooth & nail against disclosing any personal data without a wiretap warrant and at the same time, perhaps unwittingly (denial is a powerful adversary), be providing detailed personal data to a government agency? Maybe the CIA is just a platinum class member of advertisers, who may have storefront websites set-up as a rouse. They can buy all the API's they want from the search engines and social websites or create their own API's to collect data with social engineering, advertising and super-persistent cookies. They may be able to garner information on perhaps 90% of all web users, with semi-publicly available computer codes and databases.

Just what is the worst case scenario possible today or next year? Assuming someone pulled all the resources available from the top five of each of the most populace social websites (via advertiser's tools) together, with advertisers access to Google data, and performed a remarkably efficient mash-up of scripted API's and created their own coherent database of records for individuals with links to all of their associations. How much information can they cull for each individual? What could they tell me about me? How scary is that?

Matt Cutts might not like what I have to say.

2009-10-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

I apologize in advance for the disjointedness of the following rant. I attempted to make two comments to Matt Cutts blog about "Studying a Study". The last that I saw was that my comments were waiting for "moderation." I cleaned up the spelling after the fact, but below are the two comments that I ranted about. He may feel they were a bit off topic or too revealing, or what ever. Don't know, yet anyway.

From an article I read in a personal blog of a Google employee, he raises the concern that a survey didn’t fully disclose the principle involvements of the survey presenter.
(From: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/studying-a-study/#comment-398801 )

The information regarding the survey:
This morning I saw an article in the New York Times with the headline Two-Thirds of Americans Object to Online Tracking:
ABOUT two-thirds of Americans object to online tracking by advertisers — and that number rises once they learn the different ways marketers are following their online movements, according to a new survey from professors at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley.
And the objection:
Studying a study
September 30, 2009
in Google/SEO

…”Most people know that the choice of questions in an study can make a huge difference to the outcome. To fully inform the people who read the study, do I wish Chris Jay Hoofnagle had mentioned his connection to EPIC in the paper’s bio section? Yeah, I kinda do.”

My submission of a comment (corrected for spelling now):

I don’t believe a well worded question requires the disclosure of who is asking it. Given that the current state of law is lagging so very far behind the technological advances, and the penchant for the government, businesses, and criminals to manipulate and misuse data, and completely disregard the fundamental constitutional right to privacy, it is abhorrent that Google, advertisers, social websites and others use extremely covert tactics to sell or provide the means to discover every shred of activity a specific user is involved with. IF, and only if, all this techno-voyeurism was benevolent, perhaps it wouldn’t matter so much. But we are on the verge of total information awareness of all activity by everybody except ourselves. And so, when Joe Agent says to Ad Agent, I would like to have all you got on Qpublic, we have them under investigation, the government has access to more information than they can understand, and so minimum wage Charlie says, I think we found a person of interest, lets start an assessment. My RIGHT to privacy has been usurped in the name of profitability. All of this, just because I allowed FarmLand to connect to my FaceBook. I didn’t need or want all those advertisers know that I also have a Flickr account, a boss with a foreign name, an old classmate that has gone ex-patriot, and a relative that likes pot-related music. We are demanding transparency from our governments, our social networks, and the businesses that are exploiting our habits. Answer the question on the face of it. Do you like mustard – yes or no? Who cares if I am the sole French’s mustard heir? The question would stands well on its own. (Sorry for the passionate ramble). I do not like all these API’s being used to uncover my every web encounter. For any reason. Period. It’s the same answer to anyone asking this question.

Did I go way off topic? I don’t think so. Matt’s objection was one regarding full disclosure. Yet he fails to mention that the average Joe, doesn’t know a darn thing about API’s. My understanding, which could be flawed, is that these can be hooks in to gaining access to the collected data of some host. Google collects and saves for posterity a plethora upon a plethora of data, from nearly every web page on every web site it can get its crawlers on. These sites may also collect a plethora of data on those who access their pages. What is this information and what is it used for and who gets to see it, sell it, measure it, and store it? What about laws protecting any of it? It will not be in the year 2525AD that everything you think, say, and do will be in the bills that are sent to you. Loosely speaking of course.

02/10/2009
Regarding the full disclosure of whom is asking the question and why, I believe a well worded question doesn't need such transparency. I don't care if CATO, EFF, EPIC, NSA, CIA, FBI, or Google asks if I object to online tracking. As it stands today, in general, yes, I object. The API's that provide this functionality are easily abused. The average Joe User simply doesn't have any clue as to how deeply these API's track data. They can effect data collection off family, friends and others with-out their knowledge that they have been assessed by these creepy crawlers. If Matt wants transparency, why didn't he mention that Google has publicly posted that they had hired top-level programmers who had previously been employed by the CIA? Does Matt know he works with these folks? Does anybody know if any former CIA agent every really quit the CIA? Yes, I agree that transparency and accountability are desirable, but it should be across the board, in every direction. We should all know who is doing what with whom. Total Information Awareness for everyone, about everything. Let's start with all of the various US government entities. Then work our way in to all the search engine companies and tele-communication entities; then let's open up the advertisers and their databases. Once everybody knows everything about everybody else, then we can have our customized content and advertisements too.

I did all of the above in haste, and haste makes waste. But that never stopped me before. Occasionally, I am a bit eccentric, just for the fun of it. I hope Matt Cutts considers posting my comments or sending me a thanks, but no thanks note.

Person of Intrest?

2009-10-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am not sure. I don't know for a fact. However, it appears that I may have inadvertently become a person of interest in an ongoing investigation regarding WMD. OK, maybe I am being a bit Chicken Little here, but I got visited this morning by some agency, not the local police force mind you, but somebody with big badges. I couldn't see which agency was on the ornate badges, they didn't offer their department name association, like "I'm agent Joe Friday, FBI, I carry a badge." or anything, and I was bit nervous about asking for a business card. I should have followed them to the street when they left, to see if their car gave it away. But I had other things to attend to.

"We're looking for Rojer." he said. "I am." I replied. "Do you drive a white Volkswagon?", "Yes." "Is it here?" "Yes." "Were you at Smart & Final this morning?" "No, I was yesturday." "Did you by Hydrogen Per Oxide, bleach and drain cleaner?" "I did." "Do you still have it?" "I do, it's still in the trunk of my car." "What's this about, drugs or bombs?" I asked. "Bombs, you know the guy who did the Oklahma City bombings used Hydrogen Per Oxide?" he replied. "He had fertalizer" I responded. "What are you using it for?" he asked.

I explained that I have a very long sewer line out to the street and that I have somekind of major clog that I thought was between the sinks and the street and that this was a cheaper way to clear such a long sewer line. They asked to see what I had left. I stepped inside to hit the garage door button, he was looking in to see how much he could gander upon. I opened the garage and let him see the few bottles left. Closed the door and they left. I went back in the house.

I saw on the news about the dude who was arrested for WMD's and thought to myself - they think I'm doing the same type of thing? All I want is a cleared sewer line, all 300 feet or so.

The lessons I could learn from this? Don't shop Smart & Final for bulk drain cleaner, Clorox, and Hydrogen per Oxide in the same trip. Ask for the officers' business cards. Watch the news more.

So, I know that I have an FBI file. I was in the military, worked in communications, was overseas. Now, I am curious what has been amended to that file that got the authorities at my doorstep less than 18 hours after my otherwise innocent purchase? I guess that's the power of the news media. Or perhaps Smart & Final is under somekind of mandate or guidlines to report such purchases. What will be in my file on Monday?

The scarry part is that they may choose to make me a target of one of their "assessments." See: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/09/prompted-eff-lawsuit-fbi-partially-releases-domest the third paragrah. And who knows what erroneous conclusions they might choose to drum up? After all, I am blogging about it.

A Letter From Beth?

2009-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

Aside from possibly being sappy and old, what do the following songs have in common?

Linda Ronstadt – Winter Light
Jackson Browne – Doctor My Eyes
Carole King – (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
Seals & Crofts – Summer Breeze (Album Version)
Firefall – You Are the Woman
Emmylou Harris – May This Be Love
Emmylou Harris – Goodbye
Faith Hill – Breathe
Orleans – Dance With Me
Carly Simon – When You Close Your Eyes
Judy Collins – Song For Sarajevo
Firefall – Just Remember I Love You
Jennifer Warnes – Coming Back to You
k.d. lang – Get Some
Nanci Griffith – Late Night Grande Hotel
Melissa Manchester – My Christmas Song For You
Crystal Gayle – Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue
Nicolette Larson – Lotta Love (LP Version)
Maria Muldaur – Three Dollar Bill
Alison Krauss – Down To The River To Pray
Jackson Browne – Ready Or Not

That is a partial song list from my Last.FM stream last night. I say partial, because somehow a few of songs got accidentally truncated while listening, and Last.FM won't keep a record of it up until the 10 seconds left mark. So I think there were three or four songs that got left off of the list. And there isn't any way I'll ever remember them. It seemed as if Beth had setup this play list just for me (for the most part). Some of these song, I would have never sought out to listen to on my own. Some of these songs are from artist Beth new I really enjoyed. A funny thing about this list, is that the artist's "Radio Station" that I requested was for Linda Ronstadt. But there was only one of her songs in the sequence. Beth was a bit jealous of my fondness for Linda's voice. I used to tease Beth about her singing ability, as she never seemed to demonstrate the expertise that she claimed to have. I, on the other hand, only pretend to sing. I enjoy pretending to sing. I know I don't have a very good voice and even less control of it, most of the time. I don't mind, I "sing" anyway.

Anyway, I think Beth had something to do with me hearing these songs. It seems there was a message here, or at least, it did last night. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (I'd post the lyrics, but that would be violating some stupid copyright laws).

Open Challenge for Real-3D or Developers.

2009-08-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

I would really like to see two iTunes Visualizer Plug-ins. Big deal, you may say. But here is the scenario pitch....

I am running Apple iTunes 8.2.1 (6) on OS-X 10.5.7 on a Mac-Mini, 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/4GB 1067MHz DDR3 RAM. I am listening to All Chilled @ 181.FM Radio. I am watching the iTunes Visualizer.

What's wrong with this picture?

I am missing an updated version of Real-3D for LCD or HD technologies.

I am trying to imagine the screen-saver's particle elements coming out of the screen in a fashion not unlike that experienced in "Monsters versus Aliens". software providing a full visual-field maximizing an optimized parallax. Maybe using an available webcam to auto-align maximum concise parallax. Projected both inwardly and outwardly as far as would seem most effective in a computationally, simple and quick fashion. That would be a blast.

Moreover, if I could also watch the music as interpreted in a new version, a Real-3D version, of a Lissijous* (x-y)z + (x+y)r or some exotic algorithm that offers a real-time 3-D spacial field.

I can only imagine myself sitting back and relaxing to the soothing sound & vision this advancement will be making soon.

Are YOU programer enough to make it happen for the release of Snow Leopard?

I was thinking that it may be possible to simulate the polarizing shutter system of Real 3D.

My guess is that if you processed the data in the same way as the primary film data is processed, then added two opaque masks, a mesh of rectangles aligned to the polarization of each of the two Real-3D lenses. And the masks would traverse the same path visually maintaining alignment for each lens. If the two masks open up the full video brilliance (mimicking the visual cues produced from the reflection of light off of the viewing-screen in a full Real-3D set-up) fast enough to not be uniquely perceived by the average human observer, then one should be able to replicate the full Real-3D experience in the home and w/o the need for special hardware, other than the requisite Real-3D Glasses.

* sic

Beth's Memorial

2009-08-05T11:35:00.001-07:00

Beth passed away about 7PM, Wednesday, July 15th.

I am told that she was asleep or unconscious at the time.
Unofficially, she died of heat stroke and possibly dehydration.

However, the root cause of her death was a symptom of her untreated alcoholism.
I guess, she ran out of energy to stay sober.
She was found behind a shopping center where she had been staying for quite sometime with others of the homeless community.
I am told she had been drinking heavily earlier that day and had passed out, never to awaken again.

However, Beth has been liberated.
Liberated from the tragic symptoms - of the horrendous disease of alcoholism.
Liberated from behaviors that the disease imposes upon the inflicted.
Liberated from consequences of those behaviors.
Liberated from any responsibilities she may have had.
Indeed, she has been set free.
She has been returned to our Creator.

Let me apologize right now in advance.
I hope not to sound irreverent, trite, or crass, but I am going to use lyrics of songs we liked and listened to.

Music played an important role in Beth's life and mine too.
Sometimes we have a tendency to adopt lyrics as being our own stories or place them in high regards within our own philosophies.
We romanticize our views with those of the singer or song writer.

One song Beth had adopted for herself, "By Your Side", by Sade on her Lovers Rock album, seemed to exemplify what Beth felt she should be for me.
And expected me to be for her.

SEE Lyrics: "By Your Side", Sade - Lovers Rock

"You Think I'd Leave Your Side Baby?
You Know Me Better Than That
You Think I'd Leave Down When Your Down On Your Knees?
I Wouldn't Do That

I'll Do You Right When Your Wrong
I-----Ohhh, Ohhh

If Only You Could See Into Me

Oh, When Your Cold
I'll Be There To Hold You Tight To Me
When Your On The Outside Baby And You Can't Get In
I Will Show You, Your So Much Better Than You Know
When Your Lost, When Your Alone And You Can't Get Back Again
I Will Find You Darling I'll Bring You Home

If You Want To Cry
I Am Here To Dry Your Eyes
And In No Time You'll Be Fine"

However, as Eric Clapton sings in "Promises":

SEE Lyrics: "Promises", Eric Clapton

"I got a problem
Can you relate?
I got a woman
Callin' love hate.
We made a vow
we'd always be friends.
How could we know that promises end."
As you may already know, Beth had little regard towards rules and even less respect for being told what to do.
She wanted to do things her way, by herself, when she wanted to.
It comes as no surprise that she reveled in Frank Sinatra's "My Way."
I think, Ana McGarrigle penned more appropriate lyrics that Linda Ronsdat sings:

SEE Lyrics: "You Tell Me That I'm Falling Down", Linda Ronstadt

"You tell me that I'm falling down
A drifter with no role
You tell me that I need a friend
To help me take control

Well let it be I'm not alone
I'm only lonely see
And you can't tell me where to go
Or what or who to be

I am exactly what I am
And not the way you'd like to see me be
I look outside long as I can
Then I close my eyes and watch my world unfold before me
"

About 3 years ago, Beth and I went to see a simul-cast of David Gilmour, the main voice of Pink Floyd.
One particular song struck a resonating chord with Beth.
She heard the song as if sung from her own perspective towards me.
It's about a couple in the midst of some disagreement.
Whilst one has fallen asleep, the other slips out for some time alone, in hopes of returning to a smile.
Recognizing that they are wasting days and days on the fight, the singer goes on to say:

SEE Lyrics: "Smile", David Gilmour - On An Island

"All alone
Though you're right here
Now it's time to go
From your sad stare

Make my getaway
Time on my own
Needing a better way
To find my way home
To your smile "

Over a year ago, I ran out of smiles.
I made difficult decisions.
I had to protect my daughter and myself from the insane behavior that alcoholism drove Beth in to doing.
They were merely symptoms of a disease that took control of Beth.
Beth wanted us all to hear David Gilmour's song.

Just as she romanticized the song, I tried to do so with the accompanying slideshow.

Here it is - SMILE
Play Smile

Alcoholism is genetic.
It is inherited from parents and passed down to children and grandchildren.
It is a family disease.
One of the symptoms is odd behavior.
Illogical, unusual, unthinkable behavior.
And the disease spills all over other family members.
And so too, the symptoms of crazy behavior begin pouring out from those who love an alcoholic.
We can't help it.
We don't know any better.
Many behaviors that are normal and common, or even expected in a normal relationship, get twisted, engorged, and unhealthy when dealing with an active alcoholic.
Early on in this type of a relationship, we may get stuck in the steps of grieving.
We unwittingly contribute to the care and feeding of the Monster of Alcoholism.
We often make bad situations worse.

Beth frequently pointed that out to me. She claimed I was sick.
She said she met a fellow in one of her rehab. aftercare A.A. meetings that said that I needed help.
That I needed Al-anon.
Naturally, I resisted that suggestion.
It's all her fault, her problem, her disease, not mine.
But Resistance is Futile.
Eventually, to help me cope with the spillage, the effects of of alcoholism on my life, I began going to Al-anon.
And that fellow who claimed I was sick became my sponsor.
I have asked him to say a few words.
Please welcome, David.
David speaks....
I'd like to thank you David and your wife, Beth, as well - Thanks

At this time, I would like us to share our happier memories, funny stories, or personal moments that we were luck enough to have experienced by having Beth in our lives.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

2009-07-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

Toys For Spooks

2009-06-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

Just imagine what toys the spooks must have. Those are the minions of the shadow government and I'm not speaking about the 4chan clan. I'm talking about the folks with the endless budget, beyond just the CIA, NSA, and the FBI.

What made me think of this is Shazam! That is the nifty little application and service available to any smart phone user. Shazam can listen to a snippet of a song and tell you the Artist, Album and title of the track, then show you if it is on the iTunes Music Store.

What does this have to do with the spooks? Think about it. We, the public, know that the FBI has the 10+GB/sec. data analyzing servers connected to the backbone of the various communication channels, Internet, land line phones, cell towers, satellites, 911 tapes, and police microphones. Shazam compares about 10 seconds of a song to all the songs in the Gracenotes database. Any 10 seconds. And in under a minute can identify the what, who, and when of the song and link one to a store for it's purchase and subsequent download.

I would be willing to bet that the spooks can do the same thing with you or I at any time. It will be much sooner than the year 2525AD before we are billed for everything we think, say and do. It will be in the bill they send to you. Well, taken directly from your bank account most likely. Zager and Evans had the idea right, they just could not have imagined how quickly we would be so close to the technological capabilities we would have become so soon. We may not need to rescue HAL9000 from the peril of Jupiter's atmosphere or have flying cars, but we do have people listening to and reading all our conversations. Too bad they can't mind their own business.

Think about it - or - not.

ClassMates W/O Faces

2009-04-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

GRRRR. What is it with people? I am not pleased with ClassMates dot Com anyway, but most of the people from my six or so schools won't post any pictures. OK - I can see not posting a "Now" picture, but for-crying-out-LOUD! - at least post a "Then" picture. It is tough enough just trying to remember the names or the faces that match them from 30~ years ago.

Give me a break, give me a clue. Yes, I know I wasn't the popular kid, but odds are, if your not posting a picture, neither were you.

Anyway - if your not going to identify yourselves, why be on ClassMates website anyway?

Oh well - just another thing I've no control over.

L8r

Mixed Blessings

2009-04-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick comment about converting older 8MM Hi-8 video tape in to computer files.

Why does it have to take so loooong? I mean - hours upon hours of the baby sleeping, the wedding reception that was on the hottest day of the year (over 100 degrees anyway), and a bunch of other things actually bogus. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Not to say that there wasn't a precious moment here and there, but you won't see any of this stuff on Funnest Home Video's.

13 tapes, thankfully not all filled full. But unfortunately, a few moments were taped over or mysteriously deleted. Reminds me of an episode from Home Improvements.

But I am nearly finished and I found what seems to be the best tape of the entire bunch. This tape has the day we brought my daughter home. Small amount of sleeping, me doing some feeding, mom doing a diaper change, Kitaro playing in the background. What a gem.

The ADS PYRO A/V Link has given me two issues this whole time. The picture is significantly dimmer, darker, flatter than what I see on the Sharp VL-H860 ViewCam's bright and crisp LCD display. And the lock slips in and out, some times the screen on the computer just pauses while the tape keeps slipping along. But considering so much of it is less then dribble, I don't think I lost much in the translation.

I am not looking forward to the next task. Somehow, I have to figure out how to make some of this stuff watchable. Fortunately, I have iMovie to help with this daunting task. The end product such give us a full 15 minutes of infamy among all who dare to watch (once I get something on disk, that is).

Wish me luck, I'll need all I can get.

TT4N!

Ain't Godda, Anymore

2009-03-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Are you one of those folks who try to correct someone when they use the word, "ain't?" Stop. Give it up. Let it go. Get over it. "Ain't" has tenure.

I've been around long enough to see thousands of new words added to the dictionary, and hundreds more dropped. I've seen the brand name Aspirin turned in to the generic term aspirin, such that if you look at the ingredients of an aspirin bottle, it says it contains aspirin, not acetylsalicylic acid. The brand name Google is now also used as a verb* (I'm going to google his name to see who he is). The English language is not dead, it is living, expanding, ever-changing. We no longer need to appease our grandparents. Ain't is de facto common American-English. Get over it.

Any argument against the usage of the word ain't is superfelous. The dogma that one is somehow less of a person for using it is insane. Unless one is using Microsoft Office, if one keeps doing the exact same thing over and over expecting different results, one is employing insane behavior. How many folks have been saying - how many time have you been saying - over the years "Ain't isn't proper English." Well neither is answering, "Who is it?" with, "It's me!", the rules would suggest saying, "It is I." I'd bet you've never said that in your life.

If you use the word ain't occasionally, don't feel guilty. If someone has the audacity to correct you, tell them to "Get over it - ain't has tenure." If their educated enough to figure that one out - they'll understand, and if not - oh well.

In my lifetime, I think the USA may have gone from the first or second in leading scores for math and science in K-12 to probably the dead last, even behind most third-world countries. Unless these teachers go to Dubai or China to teach English, I doubt they would find higher pay, or an apropriate audience anywhere else in the world for their less-than-pragmatisic views. Let's worry less about one using the word ain't and more about arthmatic, science, and telling time (on both analog and digital clocks). There certainly is more to fix in one's own life then to try to fix another's vocabulary.

You ain't got to tell anyone not to use ain't, anymore. You have my permission.

*see reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/dic?q=google&search=search

Facebook vs flickr

2009-03-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

Today, I tried an experiment. I created a new group on flickr.com called Rojer Rojer Rojer.
The other day I had noticed that there are nearly 400 FaceBook users who use the spelling of R•o•j•e•r. Looking through the listing, I noticed that they are a diverse group. So I figured it might be a neat mash-up if the FaceBook Rojers shared their photos and culture on Flickr.

Alas, not an easy task to promote the idea. FaceBook, and with good reason, poped up a warning to me that my efforts violated the terms of usage agreement, as I had tried to send the same message to a few of those folks. The warning stated that I may be engaging in abusive or offensive behavior, and was told that my behavior was anoying. It isn't the first time I had heard this, but this was an algorythm telling me so. Now, that is a first for me. Anyway, I understand. It is an unsolicited message, which is half-way to SPAM, which I understand to be unsolicited bulk messages.

So how do I promote or attract these other Rojers? I guess I'll just have to wait and see if anybody joins. However, in the meantime, I will post the message here, just so it might get picked-up by the spiders at Google and CUIL.

Hello.

I am Rojer, an admin for a photo-sharing group called Rojer Rojer Rojer at http://www.flickr.com/groups/imrojer/ .

Flickr is a service of Yahoo! You can have a free flickr account which allows you to share up to 200 photos for free, and you control the tags and copy-write, who gets to see, print, annotate, or comment on your pictures and even whether your pictures are searchable.

I am inviting you to join this public group simply because part of your name is "Rojer" and you are unique. The group is intended for sharing photos representing you, your family and friends, but most of all, your culture, style and talents.

I hope this message finds you well and if you are not interested - just delete and forget about. Otherwise, take a look at the group's or my photos and decide if you are willing to join and share.

I hope to see and hear from you soon.

Thanks.
Rojer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rojer/

Going to the group link from above takes you to the group's main page with the following description:

About Rojer Rojer Rojer

This group is for you if your first name (forename), your last name (surname), or any of your middle names is Rojer, regardless if you got it at birth, by marriage, by adoption, or changed it to this spelling.

This group is not for you if you are a "Rodger," a "Roger," or a Rajah, et cetera. I will remove you, not because you are not worthy or I don't like you, but because the first rule of this group is the spelling of your name. No offense intended.

I'd like to see photos of you, your family and friends, but mostly - your culture. Show off your ethnicity. Share the parties, food, music, style and your unique contributions to the world. Links are welcome.

This is a public group - I don't think I want to make it by invitation only, yet. As such - please post only family friendly photos and language. However, feel free to refer to moderate content or the occasional restricted content, but make sure you make it clear, that is the type of information you are referring to, we thank you for this in advance.

There are nearly 400 Rojers in Facebook, I haven't checked MySpace, but there is a growing number here on flickr as well. If you know of another Rojer, invite them, encourage them to become Flickr members and start the sharing.

So, on with the show, even if nobody's watching.

Sweet Dreams

2009-03-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

I just had to compare:

And:

With the original:

I have to say, that Marilyn Manson is entertaining in the most perverse way - I had to laugh through most of the song. That's some funny - if not truly weird - stuff.

I haven't found a full version of Britney Spears' cover, but she seems to be quite the soft-porn-star, from what I can tell. Not that that is a bad thing, mind you. But.

The Eurythmics made a classic tune that should hang out in various forms for years and years to come. Thank you Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.

Then I got to wondering - how many others did a cover. A quick look at Apple's iTunes Music Store showed nearly a dozen different covers of the Eurythmics' tune. Turns out that Sweet Dreams is a popular title to use and the Eurythmics' sub title (Are Made Of This) isn't always used by the bands doing the covers.

I found the artist in iTunes Music Store include:

Automatic (a trance - house version)

Axxis

Badi Assad, et. al.

Bebel Gilberto (a Brazilian-like style)

Countdown (a copycat version, in the K-Tel style)

ibiza Dance Party (can you say RAVE)

Krystal Meyers (another copycat. Any relation to Brystal Meyers?)

Marilynn Manson (Drama Metal, Theatrical Metal, Dusty Corners of Hell-Metal)

Mika

Overdub & Sophia (a few other techno, trance, rave versions)

Señor Coconut (A totaly different Brazilian?-like version, kind of cool)

Térez Montcalm (a sexier version)

and finally,

Wykked Wytch (a cover of Marilynn Manson's cover, only a more over-the-top, scream like a puking banshee version).

I am sure I could easily find a dozen more on e-music.com or elsewhere. Sufice it to say, it is a song worthy of imitation, modification and even obfuscation by a diverse group of talented (and not so talented) musicians.

I think I'll go back and give the two South American-style covers a serious listen. Señor Coconut (the name says enough) and Bebel Gilberto each had an interesting take on their cuts.

I may revisit Cover Tunes in subsequent posts. Hmm.

Of Gay Marriage, Didn't Jesus Say...

2009-03-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

If I remember correctly, Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's."
I think I believe it is Caesar's duty, our government's mandate, to provide equal security for all it's citizens, equal education for all its citizens, and to facilitate good business practices.

Perhaps it might behoove the "Anti-Gay Marriage" folks to be good dogmatists and practice minding their own business.

Let Caesar take care of its citizens in a fair and equal manor without freaking-out over semantics. No religious sect owns the word "marriage." The state issues the "marriage license" and should do so equally to its citizens. The only change made to that process might be perhaps to call it a "civil-union license" or similar phrase. But that is a superfluous argument at best.

I believe Jesus also said of God's blessings, "the greatest of these is love" and I don't think he said who gets to decide who got God's good blessings and who got God's bad blessings. We are under a new contract and the old law is completed - finished. We are supposed to judge ourselves, not others. That's God's job. And God is Love. Let Love rule. Let Caesar do his sworn duty, to protect all his citizens - equally.

The New Great Depression of 2010

2009-03-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

As we usher in a new era of unbelievable recession, let us not think that it will get better any time soon. Like the Great Empire of Rome, I think we are about to get burned. The fat, dumb and happy has grown too large, while the over-achievers have gotten quite easily too greedy.

It seems that economically, monetarily, emotionally, educationally and spiritually speaking, we are a nation, if not a world - out of balance.

It seems to me is that what we have here is a failure to govern intelligently. The ENTIRE system is broken and needs to be refurbished. Democrats - Republicans, what ever! They are both failures. We need a better balance of decision making. Perhaps we need a three to five party system - with honest, intelligent folks instead of self-righteous, self-serving bureaucrats. There aren't any quick, easy solutions, but we have to insist that our entire set of governments get their priorities straight. Let's start with Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, modify it for local, state, and federal issues, where personal security takes precedence over national security, where educating the young takes precedence over empowering incarcerated criminals, and facilitating business to help local and national needs. We MUST enforce honest, global, generational-minded ethics and ensure that rewards/punishments fit the benefits/crimes.

We need to start thinking 7 generations ahead rather than seven minutes until our next pleasure. We need to fix the voting system and start voting and start enacting and enforcing our votes.

But then, maybe it's too late.

iPhoto '09 (v.8.0)

2009-02-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

OK. No, better than OK.

Aside from a few caveats, the latest iPhoto from Apple has some fairly decent new features.

First: Faces. This is the initial implementation of face recognition software that helps to identify certain faces in one's photographs. It is far from perfect, but it is quite handy. There are a few tricks that seem to help, but more than a few shortcomings. This is an initial release of this feature, so be forgiving. It works best on straight on and straight up faces. It seems to have a hard time with heads cocked to one side and has an even harder time even noticing profile shots.

One thing I do find very frustrating, is that upon initial updating of an existing iPhoto Library, the face recognition begins building what looks like a list of pictures that it believes are pictures that have faces. At least, faces are displayed as the progress bar advances. However, when I clicked on "Faces" the corkboard had a default "How to begin" message instead of a listing of unknown faces. So then, one has to go to a photo that has a known face, either by going in to an Event and then on to a photo, or straight on in to the Photos listing. Pick a picture with a face, hope that it recognizes that there is a face or add the missing face selection to the person's face, and then identify the person.

Sounds cumbersome. It's not too bad, but it is less convenient then it will be in the next few updates, I hope. Anyway, once you ID a face, it seems quickest to let the program find what it thinks are matching faces and then confirm or deny them. You've got to keep doing this for as long as it takes to find as many faces as the software can find, by each new lesson. So you may have to do this a dozen times before iPhoto stops presenting you with new choices to evaluate.

Another thing I wish would be available is the index picture, which is the portion, the subset of the photo, which has the face. A photo could have any number of heads and faces in it, but when confirming a "Face", iPhoto presents just one of the faces it believes it sees. It zooms in to this face and presents it in a standard size at the best resolution it can muster-up.

Second: Places. This is an attempt at popularizing geo-tagging. Something that flickr has been doing for some time now. This implementation has a ways to go as well. However, it could be my first generation Mac-mini is feelings its oats drop with a thud, but it seems like a slow process.

I believe that many of my pictures have geo-data in their EXIF data file. I have an Eye•Fi card that I use in one of my cameras. When the library was updated, those pictures did not automatically show up on the iPhoto map. I have only done a small number of map placements so far, and they were to photos of our recent vacation. Many of these photos do not have geo-tags or necessarily correct info if they do. It's the nature of the Eye•Fi card in these instances. So I will reserve judgment on the functionality of the Places feature until I know more about it.

Third: Adjustments. Apple changed the way the photo editor window looks. Not a very big change, just a little better organization. However, change is change and I will need to get my hands dirty on this modification before I make further comment on it.

Most of my recent hours in iPhoto has been time spent in updating each of my various iPhoto '08 libraries and teaching each and everyone, the names of my family members and then pointing out who and where the are. Oh, this brings me back to one other oddity. When one has to add a face for recognition to the photo, the selection tool is a rectangle whose size and proportions varies on center. The handles work on axis from the center of the rectangle. Seems kind of clumsy if you were to ask me. I would suggest that the selection would be an oval with one handle for rotation (or orientation, if that makes more sense to say) and another or two for size and shape - o - 0 - O. That seems more face like and would allow you to cover an individual with a head cocked to one side.

I think the selection tool is a rectangle because it only uses the eyes-nose-mouth area for its calculations. But then, maybe the tool should have been a triangle. Anyway, it works as well as it works. The software misses what seems to be about 60% of all the faces available from all pictures, and all heads turned away (which makes sense). Hopefully, as they add profile algorithms to the software updates, this gap will diminish.

Overall, I am pleased with my $80 investment.

Note from the Yahoos

2008-12-22T00:11:00.000-08:00

Important Notice Regarding Discontinuation of LAUNCHcast Plus Service and Refund Program

Greetings,

Beginning in February 2009, CBS Radio will power LAUNCHcast Radio. LAUNCHcast Radio will still be accessible from the Yahoo! site. However, it will be hosted and operated by CBS Radio rather than by Yahoo!. As part of the transition to CBS Radio, the LAUNCHcast Plus premium service will be closing on February 12, 2009.

As a subscriber to LAUNCHcast Plus, you will continue to have access to your premium subscription features until February 12, 2009. If there is any time left on your subscription account after February 12, you will automatically receive a prorated refund for any remaining subscription time. To ensure proper delivery of any prorated refunds, we strongly encourage you to check your account information and make sure everything is accurate and up-to-date. You can access your LAUNCHcast Plus account information here: http://billing.yahoo.com

Even though the LAUNCHcast Plus subscription service will be discontinued, you will still have access to most of your favorite preprogrammed LAUNCHcast stations through the new CBS Radio-powered experience. The difference is that those radio stations will be supported by advertising and there will no longer be a commercial-free option.¹

With LAUNCHcast Radio powered by CBS Radio, you will also get access to some new features, including a new streaming radio player and CBS Radio's wide variety of local music, news, talk, and sports programming. The new radio player will also be compatible with Macintosh computers and Firefox and Safari browsers. Not all existing LAUNCHcast features will continue, however. Your custom "My Station" and "Moods" stations will no longer be available after February 12, 2009. Additionally, you will no longer be able to add "Influencers" to your personalized "My Station."

There is no need to cancel or do anything with your service to make the transition to CBS Radio. Yahoo! will not transfer any of your account information to CBS Radio. You will not have to pay for the new LAUNCHcast service since it will be supported by advertising.

We hope you will enjoy our new radio experience and the broader range of radio stations that it will bring.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about LAUNCHcast Radio and the changes to the service, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions.

¹Radio station line up is subject to change and we cannot guarantee that all stations will be available after the transition to CBS Radio.

LaunchCast to be MANGLED in February!

2008-12-21T23:51:00.000-08:00

GRRRRR!

CBS and Yahoo! have created the worst mash-up in internet history.

CBS will make LaunchCast Mac compatible, at the great expenses of adding commercials and dumping the personalizations.

And I bet I can't get ANY of MY old DATA!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Lissajous Visualizer for iTunes

2008-11-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

For years and years - I've been hoping for an iTunes visualizer or screensaver that displays either a Left/Right or Mid/Side Lissajous Waveform, with color. Seems so simple and yet - I can't find one.

What I don't like about so many of the visualizers are the phoniness and cyclic redundancy. I want a real waveform, where the stereo signals left channel = x-axis and right channel = y-axis or the stereo signals (left+right) channels = x-axis and (left-right) channels = y-axis. Throw in some relevant color somehow and Voila.

I think the colors need to be the reverse energy scale of the audio scale. That is, normally high pitch has high energy correlating with ultraviolet and low tones are lower frequencies correlating with infrared. But reverse that, as it feels right. It feels as if it takes less energy to hear high notes and more energy to feel low notes, so that is my thinking.

So the plug-in would need to analyze attack, sustain, delay, and reverberation along with frequencies. With different ADSR signals, display appropriate images within the standard Lissajous Waveform signal. The sounds of triangles tinging would be bright yellow, orange, and red stars. The sounds of brass would produce green, yellow, and orange doughnuts perhaps. and the bass sounds could be purple, blue, and green beach balls. It should have a whole variety of shapes for different ADSR envelopes.

I might even pay a few sheckles for a plug-in that could do this well without eating up all my CPU cycles.

SHAME on Yahoo!

2008-10-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

For shame, for shame, for shame.

Them yahoos at Yahoo! still do not have a Mac capable LaunchCast player. That is absolutely pathetic. I want my ratings and my playlists and my preferences - BUT No-oo-oo-oo. The bums need to get this fixed! Years after years and year in and year out I've sent kind words of encouragment in my letters to Yahoo! To no avail.

iPimp iMy iJetta iGLI - iOh-my!

2008-10-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

OK, MSN.com had a spot on new gadgets for ones' car. In the article was a link to a forum to discuss what gadgets you want on your car. However, I am not about to make another account for yet another Microsoft website. My plethora of Google and Yahoo! accounts are bad enough. So it is high time that I do a little rant about pimpin'-out my 2007 Jetta GLI.

I want cameras, all over the place recording a stream to an on board DVR that get's uploaded to a secure web page, perhaps in bursts or for emergencies, in real-time.

Two facing forward in the front windshield; one facing the opposite side window from the inside of the car (so that it records someone looking in to the car); two camera's in each side's rear view mirrors, one facing out and the other one facing back; and two in the rear windshield. Also, there should be two dashboard mounted cameras to get a clear view of the driver and passenger. Essentually, as close to 360 degrees a possible on the outside of the car and both sides of the car looking out from inside, ten cameras in all. I'd want about 24 hours of the video saved on a hard drive in the car. I'd want the video to have accurate date/time stamps, GPS data and be availble on a secured web page via wireless broadband and via the home wi-fi (or WayPoint, the same system used for the Eye-Fi SD memory cards).

I also want a Mac-Mini installed in the car. It should have the DVR software, FTP server, wireless broadband card, bluetooth, email server, Mac Lo-Jack, as well as the normal OS-X software. Connected to a touch screen monitor. The Apple computer should be able to send a fax, email JPEG pictures, and speak any one of several scripts on a voice call. The computer needs to be able to be accessed and controlled remotely and via automation and verbal commands from a valid user. The computer needs to function like a self-contained OnStar on steroids. I should be able to use an iPhone to locate my car, send photos to the cops, shut down the car safely, lock or unlock the doors and be able to use the video's in court.

The Mac and Monitor should function as a video and music juke-box, maybe an IP phone, GPS/map server, technical analyzer (interface with the engine) and everything else that you'd want in an automated vehicle.

Depending on additional cost, I would also want to have a HUD (heads up display on the windshield) as well.

I don't think I'd want to call my iJetta GLI "KIT" but it does not seem to be all that difficult or far fetched to these days.

The caveats are that none of the items can interfere with the safety equipment and most of the hardware could be housed in the trunk, which may need additional cooling. But if for some strange reason Xibit wants to pimp my ride, these are my first choice of modifications.

By the way - speaking of Yahoo!, like I did way up at the top there, Yahoo! needs to make launchcast Mac compatible!!!! I want my Yahoo! Radio in my Jetta via my boadband capable Mac, PLEASE! At least make it Mac compatible so that I can stream at home.

Argh - Why Entropy - Why?

2008-10-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

OK - I have decided to do a little rant. I think it was the last day of jury duty, because I didn't go anywhere the whole day Saturday, until later in the evening. But somehow there was a red and black scuff on the front left bumper of my nice - nearly new Jetta GLI. I've been avoiding it this past week - so many other things of actual importance, but it sure makes me sad to think that my car has been violated again. Yep, the first ding was my daughter's doing, she was wildly throwing a stone that flew past my head and hit the wing on the back, days after I bought it. Accidents will happen and I felt bad that she was afraid for her life (for a short moment). It is only a car and my daughter is my blessing for life. Then, some time ago, I believe a few young boys on skateboards that I saw near my car, may have lost control and scraped the driver's side. It didn't remove any paint, but it did put a 2' - 3' crease in the passenger door. And now - this. It is hard to keep nice things nice - just in the normal course of life - with out help from others. However - I ask myself - how important is it? It is only a car. Nothing broken. No one died (not even if I do find out who did it - the scoundrel!). It just makes me sad - along with all the other, less-then-wonderful things going on. It is what it is - and nothing more than that.

Finally - my jury duty is over

2008-09-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Jury Duty:
Federal District Court, Civil Court.
Not as bad as one might expect. It helped to have a good group of fellow jurors. The case was complex and lasted a few weeks. It was also the chance to meet some interesting folks. It offered an opportunity to do a few things downtown that I would not have taken the time to do otherwise. And yes, we reached a verdict. Lots of stuff came out from this event.

I gained weight.
I got neat aluminum Mountain Dew cans ( special paint jobs, I am working on a set of wind chimes or two).
I got to take pictures of downtown Sacramento, the state capital building (but not Arnold Schwarzenegger), Old Town Sacramento, West Sacramento, and the river.
Met 8 other interesting people.
Saw something like 8 sweaters get knit and assembled.
Saw a gal get empowered.
Saw a guy work through old resentments.
Saw lots a great cookies and candies go straight to my gut.
Saw a guy formulate his website.
Played with an iPhone.
Read a few magazines that I otherwise would not have.
Had a few laughs.
Heard a few tears.

All-in-all, not so bad.
So today, I failed to rant - to rave - or to be all that rude.
But I have rambled.
However, I don't think it's worth changing the name of my blog.
TTFN

Global Rebuild of PC's Day

2008-09-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Got to have it - a day, a week or a month - but every single PC on the face of the planet should be rebuilt, from the BIOS up and then rebuilt with protection installed, updated, and running.

Yep, back-up your data - format the hard drive(s) - update the BIOS, reinstall your OS, install the three best anti-malware programs with most recent definitions, scan and then restore your data (and rescan, reboot, and re-scan). shouldn't take more than a week for the entire world to accomplish this feat.

I say - September 2009 - should be the target date for this global month of restoration.

Why? Why? Why?

Bots, zombies, adware, spyware, malware, bugs, bytes, virus and flies.

OK, forget about the flies, but all the others apply.

Maybe, just to throw the black hats off - we just do this thing starting tomorrow. All the world kills their zombies and bots tomorow at 12 noon UTC!

Any questions?

If I Knew About Photography

2008-08-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

I think I have reinvented a philosophy of Quick and easy fix for better photography:

I'll frequently try to leave out what I don't want to see, which in turn leads to better photography.

I don't know much about photography, but I know what I would like to have.

If money weren't an issue, I would like to have a camera with the following special features well engineered:

A Clip-on hood for my camera, but versatile. It would fit mostly around the lens, and a draw string would snug fit. The clip has a triangular and a rectangular panel attached, making a four sided hood. Helps keep the sun out of your eyes while towards an overly light horizon.

A sophisticated camera with real-time processing. Enabling, if perhaps with an embedded host cpu chip, the ability to set specially focused and smartly blurred effects. The new enhanced special effects include: Blur Patterns; Doughnut hole, inner-shape, doughnut hole size, Blur-voids position, shape-rotation; % fuzziness, gradient inward/outward position, direction, and automated; HDR/Tone Mapping Menu Items; Dynamic Range min/max Exposer, Number of Shots per sequence (2~5), Fully Auto; RAW, TIFF, JPG, JP2 Quality: High, Med., Auto.; Smart Signature Styles: WiFi: Constant Connect Tether; PC File Edits: Rotation, all Analyzed creating an Ego Altered file, .xea. The file represents a profile called a Signature Style, represented by an icon/logo of a golden key. This custom profile saved to an .xea file is used by the PC'c and the camera's software for Automated Custom Styled Modification Templates. The camera can create and store 3 ~5 different auto-generated templates, customized from algorithms to the the most commonly used manual or automated tweaks to each shot, during and afterwards. Creating up to 5 "Golden Key" templates, a collection of Golden Keys becomes one's Signature Style, copy write worthy, trade-able, with commercial "Platinum Keys" available, like an Ansal Adams Signature Style, for a one-time fee.

Signature Style: Your common crop techniques, auto-magically analyzed, such as frequently used photo editing effects and retouching tracks, exposure, contrast, saturation, HDR/Tone Mapping: Delta-Exposure, n-Exposure; Vibrance, ToneMapping: Auto, GUI (Full LCD Screen Overlay and Real-Time Effects) 3-D cube, axis origin (no effect), Full kitty-corner is Automatic Mode, Z-axis is Effect Complexity, Y-axis is Density, X-axis is intensity.

I was also wondering if an Apple BBQ Sauce would taste good on chicken. Made from apple sauce and raw sugar and other secret spices.

These may not be the best ideas, but I'll never know until I see it in the store on the newest generation high dynamic range optical chip. Maybe called the RW- range of cameras.

Speak up or make me a very generous offer.

Parallel Universes & Alternate Realities

2008-08-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

They exists and you've experienced brushes with them. At least, in a philosophical sense. Do you know of anyone, including yourself, who has problems with drugs (including alcohol) or Alzheimer's or perhaps schizophrenia?

Some folks have such a twisted, distorted, extruded sense of our reality, that they must be outside of it. If reality is what is perceived, and they perceive some thing different, more than mere denial can account for, that they truly believe a completely different set of facts, they are living in an alternate reality.

I am coming to accept this as a viable explanation so that I can accept them in spite of their behavior. Not that I agree with or condone any specific behavior or misbehavior. It allows me to love the person and detach from the consequences of their behavior.

2008-08-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

Not that anyone is listening (except Google and Big Brother - aren't they step-brothers or something?), but I thought that I would give kudos to a few of the many great photographers on www.flickr.com.

slight clutter, hkvam, and soleá are among some of my consistently favorite folks.

Check out their work.

Not So News

2008-08-11T10:31:00.001-07:00

Another beginning of another day.
Wow.
I was tracking down AlienCaseBook.blogspot.com and discovered it was hosted by Google and that I could have my very own blogspot.

wow.

So, here it is - the beginning of yet another silly blog.