Monthly Archives: April 2010
Nothin’ But A Good Time
How can I resist?
As for the last minute of the clip (obviously edited in by the video poster), I’ll just say this. CC may not be Steve Vai, but he’s making albums, up on stage, touring the world, getting all the groupies, and living the life. Meanwhile all the haters are sitting at home wishing they could be doing what he does. Rock on, CC.
You’re doing it wrong
I’ve got three kids. One of the worst things I can imagine for myself would be losing one, especially if that loss could have been prevented.
So the way to play is, I want my way. If I can’t have my way, I’ll get a law passed so I get my way. To hell if it tramples on the rights and freedoms of everyone else. And it just so happens I’m a legislator, so I’ll abuse the authority given to me by the people.
Wrong.
I think organ donation is A Good Thing™. I myself am a blood donor (and trying to get back to being more regular about it). That’s not what I have a problem with. Look folks… if people don’t like “opt out” policies for something as menial as websites signing us up for their mailing lists, do you really think we’re going to like “opt out” policies for something like our organs?
Stick to the basics, slow down
In the latest issue of the Tiger Valley newsletter, lead instructor T.J. Pilling recounts what should have been a routine SWAT execution of a warrant. Instead, it went wrong and had potential to go really wrong but thankfully did not.
I thought the final summary of the incident was worth repeating:
How did things go bad? The door was blocked, divert guy hesitated and adrenaline was pumping with everyone involved. The next thing is everyone wants to make up time, which, just like a match, can’t be done. Even the most basic of techniques, like checking your corners went out the window. It was lucky for everyone that the guy behind the door wasn’t armed, since he would have had the drop on the entry team, which missed him on the primary search. When things go bad, stick to the basics, slow down and do things by the book, you can’t catch up on time you already lost.
It’s hard to remember to stick to the basics and slow down, especially when the fur is flying. This is something I struggle with myself. But success comes in mastering and utilizing fundamentals, in all areas of life.
Metal or Hymn
Are these lyrics from a heavy metal song? or a good old church hymn?
Unless you know the specific lyric, it’s actually scary. And funny.
So… just how much is enough?
This is what happens when you go off the teleprompter… you put your foot in your mouth.
The article says it best, so I’ll just leave it at that.
We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.
Compare that to his remarks as prepared for delivery:
Now, we’re not doing this to punish these firms or begrudge success that’s fairly earned. We don’t want to stop them from fulfilling their responsibility to help grow our economy.
He should have stuck with the TelePrompter. The President doesn’t get to decide when people have “made enough money.” In fact, as the radio host notes, that’s a statist point of view. Furthermore, the responsibility of an entrepreneur isn’t to “grow our economy,” core or otherwise. It’s to grow his own economy. In a properly regulated capitalist system, the natural tension of self-interests create economic growth through innovation and efficient use of capital and resources.
Put simply, a free people work for themselves, not for the government. Barack Obama seems to have a problem understanding that.
Here’s why there’s no Flash on the iPhone/iPad/iPod
This is a detailed letter from Steve Jobs as to why Flash isn’t on the iPhone/iPad/iPod.
You really need to read the article to get all the details, but briefly:
- Flash is a closed system. Yes Apple admits to some level of being closed, but HTML5, CSS, JavaScript are open standards.
- The “full web”
- Reliabilty, security, and performance. Flash fails in all 3 areas.
- Battery life. Flash drains it heavily and quickly.
- Touch interfaces. Flash isn’t designed for that.
- Inserting a third-party into the user experience can yield less than optimal results.
Speaking as not only a consumer of these products but also as an Apple Developer for almost two decades, I can say Apple’s reasons are quite sound.
One very telling and modern reason?
Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. For example, many Flash websites rely on “rollovers”, which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot. Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?
This is quite true. Touch-based is where computing is headed, and Flash just doesn’t grok it. So yes, if you need to rewrite, might as well rewrite in more modern technology.
Anyway, instead of whining to get Flash, we should be encouraging web developers to move beyond Flash.
Always buy AppleCare
That’s all there is to say. Always buy AppleCare.
If you buy an Apple product, buy their extended warranty.
It pays for itself.
On my MacBook Pro, I’ve had a keyboard die and it was replaced. I’ve had a battery swell up, it was replaced. In fact, I just had a second battery swell up and it too is being replaced. I swear there was something else too, and all taken care of.
I think the AppleCare cost me $169? Something like that. Certainly got my money’s worth.
Of course, one could argue that it’d be better if the stuff worked solidly from the factory. I agree. I think Apple’s hardware was much more robust years ago, but as Apple changed to different standards (e.g. to IDE from SCSI, their own video to VGA and such) well… they had to lower costs, be more competitive, and that seems to also have affected quality to some degree. I still think Apple’s quality overall is good, just that well… shit happens.
I learned that with this latest battery swelling, they’re taking care of it but… my AppleCare runs out in just a matter of days. Gosh. I’m going to miss that, but am glad I got this one fixed under the wire.
Meantime yes. Buy AppleCare. Always. It pays off.
Deer and motorcycles just don’t mix
A motorcyclist survives a collision with a deer.
He hit the deer at 70 MPH and was thrown over his handlebars and slid 100 yards… a football field.
He wasn’t able to walk away — he fractured his ankle — but that’s really the worst of things for him. Why did he survive?
The back of his heavy duty protective jacket was completely shredded, while the road cut deep grooves into the side of his helmet.
He was wearing gear. Proper heavy jacket, and a full-face helmet. I don’t know if he was wearing any protective pants or gloves, but likely so.
This is why I’m a fan of ATGATT — All The Gear All The Time.
When you ride in a car, you’ve got a giant steel cage to protect you. When you ride on your motorcycle, you have nothing to protect you except for your riding gear.
I happened upon a motorcycle accident a couple of years ago, before police and EMT arrived. Guy and his girlfriend were thrown off their Harley when a car pulled out in front of them from a side-road. They were pretty messed up, I helped on the scene with first aid, and after EMTs arrived I left. I assume they survived. But based upon what I saw, if they had at least helmets on — even DOT-approved half-helmets — they would have fared a lot better.
I’ve gone down. I’m glad I had gear else I would have been hurting afterwards. The gear took the brunt and I had little more than sore muscles and a bruised ego.
I totally understand not wanting to wear gear. It’s a pain to suit up. It’s bulky. It’s not always comfortable. It can be restraining. And damnit, it’s just not as free! It feels awesome to ride without any gear. Especially here in Texas where there’s a long riding season, and it’s hot… very hot… and gear doesn’t always help with that. So I do understand.
And while the best way to avoid going down is to ride defensively and conservatively, sometimes things just come out at you and there’s nothing you can do… like hit a deer. There’s so many whitetails here in Texas that when I’m riding on the backroads in the mornings, I’m always nervous about deer. I’ve encountered a lot of deer as I’ve been riding, but thankfully no close calls. I’ve hit a couple of birds (they were in the road eating something, didn’t get off fast enough, one bounced off my knee and the other off my windshield). I had a very close encounter with a buzzard on the side of the road that decided taking off right in front of me would be smart… you don’t realize how big those guys are until they’re right upon you. Point is, shit happens.
How does the motorcycle saying go? There’s two kinds of riders: those who have gone down, and those who haven’t gone down yet. It’s not “if” you’ll go down, it’s “when”.
To wear gear or not is a personal choice. It can’t stop everything, but it can prevent a lot of things. My personal choice is ATGATT.
Bass Ackwards
Some Sprint employees stopped someone robbing an Apple store.
That’s not what’s bass-ackwards.
The Sprint employees were fired for having done so. Why? Policy, of course.
Last week Sprint HQ started asking questions, and shortly thereafter terminated their employment, citing a policy that “employees shouldn’t confront thieves” and classifying their actions as employee misconduct.
Utter bullshit. They do the right thing and this is the thanks they get?
LCP 1, Coyote 0
My Governor, Rick Perry, dispatched a coyote with his Ruger LCP. Apparently it was the coyote or Perry and his puppy.
So, .380 may be marginal for self-defense, but seems adequate for coyotes. 
Amusing from the article:
Perry said he carries his .380 Ruger pistol — loaded with hollow-point bullets — when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He’d also seen coyotes in the area.
We must emphasize the use of those evil hollow-point bullets!! Of course, amongst gunnies the debate is that with a .380 you may actually be better off using FMJ in order to get adequate penetration.
And honestly, for snakes? I mean, I understand and all, but a .380 against a snake? I’d rather use proper snake-loads for that.
But there’s no question folks. As we humans continue to develop land, the critters on that land won’t go away. Plus as “green friendly” as Austin is, there’s lots of undeveloped land. That land is prime spots for critters to live. While I’m in the city, I back up to a greenbelt that connects to hundreds of acres of land that will never be developed. I get deer, I’ve heard the coyotes (one neighbor has seen them), there’ve been rattlesnakes in my yard, and there’s the suspected bobcat.
“I holler, and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go,” [Gov. Perry] said.
Perry said the laser pointer helped make it a quick, clean kill.
I can see that. It’s not like you can aim that LCP that easily, so in case like this the laser had to be most helpful. I do wonder how long the shot was.
“It was not in a lot of pain,” he said. “It pretty much went down at that particular juncture.”
DRT. It’s nice to have a Gov. that knows how to shoot.
Texas law allows people to shoot coyotes if they are threatening livestock or domestic animals. The coyote never reached the dog, which was unharmed, Perry said.
Perry’s security detail was not required to file a report on the governor discharging a weapon, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said.
“People shoot coyotes all the time, snakes all the time,” Mange said. “We don’t write reports.”
It’s good to see that time and money isn’t wasted.
