Welcome
- April 5, 2017
- Lessons from Oskar Schindler
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I just got through watching Schindler's List yet again. I know I must have seen it three or four times previously; and it's quite the lengthy drama ... but I watch it for those lessons it has provided me. Each time I learn a little more from it.
Oskar Schindler was a member of the Nazi party who spent his own considerable fortune saving a group of Jews from certain death at the hands of those working the Nazi concentration camps.
Afterward, having fled as a criminal his works during the war were chronicled and he was declared "Righteous Among the Nations" for saving some 1200 doomed people who otherwise would have certainly been murdered.
He lies in repose upon Mount Zion and holds the distinction of being the only member of the Nazi party to be interred there.
When I think of all he did and all that which I have done I am left feeling ashamed for my occasional utter lack of humanity. Unfortunately, having gotten my attitudes and predilections honestly as the results of how and where I was educated I fear that this remains all I know and therefore ... remains part of me.
It is what it is and I am what I am. In that clarity of retrospect I am afforded a fleeting glimpse at what I've done right and what I've done wrong and where I went wrong and why.
Few gain those insights of self awareness I've come to know in my travels upon the Earth. I think it's a function of advancing age and witness of the characteristics of those succeeding generations in my midst. My only issue remains my resistance to forgiveness on several fronts. It seems I neither want any nor find myself inclined to give it freely as I should.
That unworthy streak with which I contend is at once an honest attempt to be who I am — yet still I contemporaneously counter those forces which would drag me into the pit with each and every breath.
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- April 4, 2017
- US broadband privacy rules repealed
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I admit to being somewhat dismayed at the repeal of the broadband privacy rules adopted by the FCC last October whereby ISPs were charged with the protection of customer privacy instead of the websites accessed by their customers such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, etc.
Those rules were still pending and would have required consumer consent prior to the provision of geolocation, financials, health data, children information, and browser history for advertising and marketing.
Now inasmuch as I can selectively block advertising and scoff at the whiny sites that complain that I have an "ad blocker" when I don't ... I am also of the persuasion that more privacy is better.
This has been countered by the administration which contends that the Obama rules repealed woutld have unfairly given websites the ability to harvest more data than ISPs.
I see more anonymous proxies and add blocking in my future. Those sites which choose to deny me access can simply do so and be damned. I'm not one of these facebook addicts and other twits who cannot stand not to be online telling everything they (think they) know to anyone who happens to venture by.
Those who cannot implement anonymous proxies and block sites that collect ads for the ISPs and websites will fall prey to these dreaded "smart ads" so many encounter advertising search engine queries and stores nearby.
I remain on the fence regarding this particular repeal and will give the benefit of the doubt to the administration.
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- April 3, 2017
- Blast from my Past
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Back in the old days, you know, when I was actually a young man with hopes and dreams I worked with a number of what were at that time "cutting edge" examples of computing equipment.
Of those, The Osborne 1 hit the scene about in my third year working as a computer "professional" and was the first really successful example of portable microcomputing for the common person.
It had the characteristics of the old Compaq "luggable" like the tiny screen and dual floppy drives and was considerably less costly than my first IBM PC ... 1800$US compared to 5K$US for equally capable equipment !
It shipped with the CP/M operating system and a bundle of applications which made it exquisitely useful upon arrival and it represents a kinder, simpler time in technology with the cut throat nature of business only evolving with the success of Microsoft and their windoze product.
Alas, I found it to be rather quickly supplanted by the Kaypro which was a similar "cannister" configuration capped with a keyboard covering the drives and screen ... only the Kaypro's screen was larger (a FULL nine inches) and it was certainly a force with which to be reckoned with in those days when peripherals were the size of refrigerators and the bits were a mere 8 to 16.
Contrast this with the 64 and up we have today.
The Osborne 1 in all it's glory was unveiled to the world at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco on this day in 1981 and remains one of those hallmarks in the timeline of personal computing regardless of the trivial provisioning it possessed compared to nowadays.
It was a goodie and the portends of all the wonders to come back when coding was coding and not drag and drop "objects" in some IDE — monitors were large screen devices and not some LCD/LED thin film transistor monstrosity — and phones were not the primary computing devices owned by the masses who can't reallty fathom technological innovation unless it's something stolen from someone else and marketed as such.
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- April 2, 2017
- ICBD (International Children's Book Day)
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I've always had a love of books. I think my mom instilled that into me during my childhood when I devoured innumerable sets of encyclopedias from Golden Book, through Grollier's, and Funk and Wagnall's ...
and it all gave me an edge which has held me in good stead through now with my ability to work in highly technical environments with competence and productivity.
Today is International Children's Book Day.
It is marked annually and sponsored by sponsored by the International Board on Books for Young People, an international nonprofit and celebrated on (or about) the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen and features various composition competitions, awards, and events featuring the authorship of literature for juveniles.
My personal favorite author from my childhood is Beverly Cleary who is a hundred years old and one of those pillars of my youth. She was born on April 12, 1916 and thus will be 101 in 11 days.
So if you haven't done so I invite you to share the gift of books with a child. I tried to do so with my nephews and nieces back when they were young and I believe it did favorably impact a couple of them.
Happy International Children's Book Day to you and yours !
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- April 1, 2017
- Whole Lot of Mess
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I have so much to do today that I will likely run out of day prior to running out of chores.
I have the Saturday clean up routine where I run the robot a couple of times and try to wipe things down and tidy up. I was left feeling pretty good about the ceiling fans that I cleaned up last weekend and this has inspired me to further the cause.
I need to blow off the roof. Leaves have collected in the hips ... but I need a tarp first to go over the HVAC compressor.
Need to mulch leaves in the yard for the 4th time this season. Every time I mulch them up more fall from the trees. They look better ground up and quasi-scattered by the lawn tractor.
Then there's the new camera array. I've decided that the two oldest cameras are going to be taken out of the mix. This drops the array from 11 sources to 9 ...
but the two cameras being removed are in excess of 10 years old and the picture quality is less than the new ones replacing them.
I took everything down and cleared the router and cam server last night so all is ready for the new provisioning.
I need to do my "weekend bed linens. I do love fresh sheets and pillow cases along with turned mattresses and today is the day.
Food has to be bought. Thursday evening was my final trip to Bi-Lo and I need to start getting food items elsewhere so I thought I might hit the Aldi's and perhaps make a run to Costco. They don't weigh down a customer with a lot of trivial nonsense in exchange for lower prices like Bi-Lo does.
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- March 31, 2017
- Camera Array Update Saturday
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For those of you with access, the camera array will be updated on Saturday bringing the 8 source configuration up to 11.
I anticipate the festivities running several hours at least and during this time the array will be down as I remove the old and provision the new ...
I like being able to check on the place in my absence and the motion detection of the new server has already paid for itself in HD video evidence.
So ... bear with me and please stand by as I make a few improvements.
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- March 30, 2017
- Now is the Spring of my Discontent
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At once I am reminded of Dallas Buyer's Club, that movie about a man stricken with HIV who took the initiative to procure life extending medications and provide them to victims at reduced prices.
The character was Rayon's father, portrayed by James DuMont and I was struck with how similar his attitudes in the film were to mine in reality.
There is this notion that acceptance is warranted regardless of whether behaviors are considered abberant or repulsive or down right unnatural and our permissive society would rather allow a person to pursue perversion rather than call anything by realistic terms.
The same holds true for men who think they're women and women who think they're men. Rather than treat the misconstrued genotypical interpretation we simply embrace the fallacy and try to treat the phenotype which is an ineffective solution given the genotype remains both in existence and the determining factor.
Coming to grips with a populace who want to let their little boys grow up as girls and their little girls grow up as boys has left me thinking that the educations of these individuals are lacking in the fundamentals of reality, heredity, and meiosis.
All I can really do is attempt to cultivate tolerance for this psychosocial stupidity which is what society has become in all it's ambiguity.
I suppose I'm at fault for being heterosexual and living under the realization of what my XY genotype entails. So if I'm "normal" (whatever that is) just what are the rest of these people ?
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- March 29, 2017
- The Real Me
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I sometimes wonder about the real me. I don't fully understand the nature of that "authentic" person which resides herein. I know that I have certain attitudes and predispositions for various kinds of people, certain places, and spins on things. Then there are aspects which have become abundantly clear over the ensuing years.
But what does it all mean ?
Likely that I shouldn't be taking myself so seriously; inasmuch as the time that remains is so much less than the time already spent. It should be adequate to accept who I am and quit trying to evaluate and improve on those abstractions which constitute personality and motivations in favor of just sitting back and enjoying the ride at this point.
There is very little to which I look forward anymore. Much of that which is me is variation of past evolution ... and I see litle in the way of change in this for the future. However, it is said that change often comes when you're not looking for it.
Perhaps I am wrong and things will change and give me a wholly different focus. This, surprising though it would be is not what I would call unwelcome, however. A fresh perspective is something I always consider favorable in existence.
This being said, authenticity is sometimes elusive. Being real is something I've had to work on over the years. I wanted to try and grow as opposed to just "aging".
Keeping myself up has been a priority. I actually became a hygiene freak at some unknown point in the past. I'm not a "germophobe" by any stretch of the imagination but I don't allow the small stuff to get me ... like during cold and flu season I'm usually not a casualty.
I used to say "yes" to others in the work place to a fault. This resulted in predatory college administrators preying on me in an effort to have me do their bidding; regardless of how unreasonable the tasking was. Nowadays I at least check out the feasibility prior to going out on a limb. I don't like to enter into any agreement lightly anymore. This was another lengthy cultivation experience borne of necessity and experience with the preying moron educator.
Not following the crowd ... not doing things just because "everyone was doing it" came easily enough. Keeping agreements was sometimes challenging and problematic ... but I finally got there after several spates of people giving me a dose of that medicine on various projects.
Finally, I try to be an example and set a decent standard and demonstrate it as often as I can. If "what goes around comes around" one should be quite willing to practice those precepts they preach to others.
About the only thing which is derrogotory within me might be holding grudges. I have been known to remain angry over various things for too long many times. It's not something I'm particularly proud of — but something with which I contend as a facet of who I sometimes am. If you rile me to a sufficient degree we might never be on good terms again. I can't explain it either. But like the fine print in the yellow box above says I neither look for, nor run from trouble.
So there you have it. The crux of my "authentic self" surfacing yet again. You can catch glimpses of the "real Dave" periodically when you least expect it. Some of my antics have been the stuff of legend but all in all I'm a lot cooler headed and calmer than I ever was in my 20s.
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- March 28, 2017
- The Errors The Errors ... Ahhhhhhhhhhh !
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So at work we were going over a gigantic script and finding a bunch of table errors introduced by none other than ... ME.
It seems that it's not enough to have good code command structures, those structures containing those commands must also be viable for the control structures to work properly.
Bear in mind that this particular script has been in use for about 4 years now.
It seems that older versions of the middleware allowed the browser to "shore up" the code elements somewhat and as time progresses they have all become less forgiving.
In the final tally the table is better suited for less complex scripting. However, if it is to be used it must be used correctly. Suffice it to say that I must pay attention to the structure of tables if I continue to use them.
Then of course, if the number of post elements set in the server is far too low ... this is also problematic and erroneous !
Pa TOOEY !
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- March 27, 2017
- Arbitration Cop Out
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Uber is telling the courts that customers gave up the right to file suit against the company when they signed up for the ride service. I've heard that crap before. Time Warner pulled the same crap on me. It's so they can provide substandard mediocrity in the way of support and get away with it.
I don't see Uber getting away with it ... just like Time Warner won't be as soon as my contract comes up for renewal. When a company is unworthy of your continued business there comes a time when the ball is in your court and you call the shots.
So if you contract with Uber simply stop contracting with them then sue away. Just like I've stopped contracting with Time Warner as of the day they sent that insipid inbred southern puke to my job and allowed him to cut my cable and place a splitter in the line.
He did so without my informed consent or permission and at no time was that satisfactory with the stark reality being that he was NEVER in charge. I am.
I can do business with plenty of other companies who realize who the customer is in a business class relationship. It sure the hell isn't Spectrum either.
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- March 26, 2017
- Restocking the Crib
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Friday, I found myself with half a loaf of bread and a little bit of peanut butter, a can or two of soup, a few condiments, and that was it. The cleaning and maintenance items were about the same ... slim to none.
So yesterday I went out and stocked up on all those things I've allowed to run out as the result of arriving home and napping instead of maintaining working levels.
My costco run took care of most of it all with a smidge of walmart and STILL I don't have everything I need.
Ah, perhaps tomorrow I can get out there and finish taking care of those chores of domestic business I simply dread anymore.
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- March 25, 2017
- She waved at me today
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A girl at work waved to me today. I think it was the first time anyone has ever waved to me — perhaps not; but that's just how it felt at the moment.
People don't always get the solitude others may lead as a lifestyle. I'm not antisocial or anything. Just decidedly unsocial.
This is primarily due to quite a few bad choices in the past and the repetitive nature of others calling me to my fence looking for a "room mate".
Standing there holding two toddlers with another three all about your feet is really not conducive to the cultivation of a live in relationship. It's certainly not that I don't like kids.
My issues surround the predisposition of all too many others who want to have their children with one or more other men then decide I need to be the one to raise them ... all.
It's simply not practical to immerse one's self into a never ending barrage of dirty diapers, stacks of dishes, snotty noses, whining, crying, screaming, demanding, and inevitable accidents as well as other socially awkward moments a child may place upon you unless you are half of the contributing genetics ... or REALLY into it. And I'm not.
Perhaps 40 years ago. Selfish ? Maybe. I just want to be responsible for those things for which I am actually responsible.
So a girl at work waved at me today. A little blonde girl. In a fleeting moment all my hopes and dreams came crashing down and I got on with the work at hand. I often jokingly admonish people to "work on that mind reading". Today it might have proven somewhat embarassing.
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- March 24, 2017
- Snailmail Security
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The shred box is my snailmail security mechanism. Sending me a letter gets it to the postal system mail box out by the road in front of my house. There, I look it over for significance and should it fail that connotation it is tossed unopened into a box I got from Office Despot for that purpose.
Periodically we have these things called "shred events" where I take this box and empty it into the bin of a shredder truck and voila ... everything goes away into coffee ground size pieces.
My criteria for getting opened are by and large a business connection between the sender and I. If someone hangs a note on my door it goes straight into the box. If the communication has a "bulk mail" appearance it goes straight into the box. If the thing is not an active bill that I await each month or from some insurance company or mortgage refinance concern it likely goes straight into the box.
In other words, the vast bulk of that which I receive in the US Mail goes straight into the shred box unopened. I have been told that this is shameful and I should pay more attention to my personal affairs. My reply to this is "I do" and "I am".
Taking care of business implies some level of existing business. Nothing that goes into the box is relevant to anything I have going on at any business level and I'm not one to quibble over much otherwise.
That's why I have the box.
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- March 23, 2017
- Lots of Data Breached Lately
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I've been reading about a lot of tech companies and the like getting hacked and their data confiscated by cybercriminals. Apple. Three UK. Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services. New York in general. America's Job Link Alliance. The list goes on ...
There is this notion I have regarding accessibility and secure channels with authentication which seems to be escaping some others. Perhaps my employment has turned me in to the security crazy individual they are becoming before my very eyes.
Most likely it's because I maintain a personal cluster for my needs here at the crib.
Regardless, just letting any ole body into your stuff is fool hardy and access control is the name of the game ... one way or another.
For this reason, I firewall those who do not require access to the inner sanctum at the drop of a hat. Then I force those who do require access to cross the strong password entry threshold whereby they must provide me with a key generated from my server and provided to them in an encrypted signature file which is time stamped expires quickly.
Though this transpires in a scant few seconds I can at least ensure that my technology doesn't follow the herd and step on a turd like these clods are doing ... repeatedly.
I back all this up with intrustion detection hardware and several scripts of my own design just to keep the would-be breaching hounds at bay as well as I can. This, coupled with pouring over the access logs after they're crunched by a script written for that purpose lets me be somewhat assured that anyone sniffing too close gets nipped in the bud.
Barney Fife was a big proponent of 'bud nipping' as am I.
Where is the world failing to see that the internet isn't this warm and fuzzy place they obviously think it is. I'm prepared to raise shields at the drop of a hat. I leave open ports just waiting for someone to hit them so they can get firewalled.
Listen, and understand. I am out here. I can't be bargained with. I can't be reasoned with. I don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear ... and I absolutely will not stop ... ever, until you are blocked at each and every exploitable vantage.
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