Get stuffed. As I'm waffling back and forth between Crystal Bowersox and Lee Whatsisname, Lee sings Halelujiah (sp?) by Cohen.
Know what? Go eff yerself. And the judges get all 'wet in the panties' talking about how great it was. Fakk aff, that song has been exploited to no end by every second-rate sack of shit that ever sang a goddam note.
I call bullshit times 10 times one million - thats's what you use that gift for? Booo ...
I'd vote for a 4th grader playing a cocksucking kazoo to the theme of 'Gilligan's Island' after that, bitch.
Go Crystal. You ain't gonna win, but go hard anyway. It's a fakking crime ...
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Slightly confused musings
I have world views that most consider to be liberal. I ain’t no actual liberal, i.e. member of any party, and lots of times my views could be considered conservative (like when it comes to finance, family and big government). Here in red-neckville I’m usually quite alone when I say that I think the planet is actually warming, or that gays should have the right to be left alone by non-gays, or that women shouldn’t have to ask permission for an abortion. And I think your religion belongs in your church, your home and your heart – nowhere else. I even think that terrorists have the right to a fair trial and not to be tortured.
So I’m having a bit of trouble reconciling my feelings regarding our muslim brethren – not the terrorists, they’re delusional and murderous thugs – but the mainstream folks. I know muslims, I’ve worked beside and under muslims, I’ve broken bread on countless occasions with muslims, and so far I don’t see any reason to think they’re better, worse or unique in the human experience. This is the essence of politically correct thought, no?
But I think the mainstream, enlightened, peaceable muslim community is, in a word, cowed. They’re intimidated by the vocal and extreme factions of their faith, they apologize and/or distance themselves from the radical few, and point out that there’s no shortage of faith-based murder and mayhem outside of islam. Fair enough, but what I don’t get is a sense of ... outrage.
We don’t live in a society, for example, where a religious figure should be excused for issuing death threats against its detractors. Western muslims, immigrants, chose to come to a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed as a constitutional right. Cartoons depicting the prophet fall under the protection of free expression and free press, yet the reaction from the peaceable and respectable muslim community was ... ambivalent? Weak? Guarded?
Consider this headline that you never saw, and never will: “Outraged Western Muslims Publish Prophet Cartoons as Show of Respect for Basic Freedoms”; “ ‘We don’t like them either’, says leader, ‘but we won’t be bullied by misguided extremists making us all look bad.’ “
So I’m having a bit of trouble reconciling my feelings regarding our muslim brethren – not the terrorists, they’re delusional and murderous thugs – but the mainstream folks. I know muslims, I’ve worked beside and under muslims, I’ve broken bread on countless occasions with muslims, and so far I don’t see any reason to think they’re better, worse or unique in the human experience. This is the essence of politically correct thought, no?
But I think the mainstream, enlightened, peaceable muslim community is, in a word, cowed. They’re intimidated by the vocal and extreme factions of their faith, they apologize and/or distance themselves from the radical few, and point out that there’s no shortage of faith-based murder and mayhem outside of islam. Fair enough, but what I don’t get is a sense of ... outrage.
We don’t live in a society, for example, where a religious figure should be excused for issuing death threats against its detractors. Western muslims, immigrants, chose to come to a land where freedom of speech is guaranteed as a constitutional right. Cartoons depicting the prophet fall under the protection of free expression and free press, yet the reaction from the peaceable and respectable muslim community was ... ambivalent? Weak? Guarded?
Consider this headline that you never saw, and never will: “Outraged Western Muslims Publish Prophet Cartoons as Show of Respect for Basic Freedoms”; “ ‘We don’t like them either’, says leader, ‘but we won’t be bullied by misguided extremists making us all look bad.’ “
Friday, May 7, 2010
I guess everybody's weighing in on Hawking's alien encounter warning
Why not me?
Q. First off, why would aliens want to encounter us? If they can traverse the cosmos with unimaginable technology, what would we have on this 8,000 mile rock that would interest them? And that's presuming our little planet isn't toxic to them, which it would be, considering it's mostly toxic to us and we *evolved* here.
A. Curiosity. A species intelligent enough and cooperative enough to master space travel would be extremely unlikely to have conquistador-like intentions, and would more likely be on an altruistic, scientific mission to understand the universe. I suppose they might be accidentally toxic to us, like Europeans to Native Americans, but wouldn't they have thought about that already?
Q. What are the chances of intelligent life existing within, say, one berserkerkyjillion**12 miles of earth?
A. Slim and none, and I only say slim because I don't know how to express a number so close to zero that zero actually says "hey, I might amount to something one day". Here's why: evolution is the only true universal system, and it has been effectively providing life in these here parts for several billion years. In spite of this vast period of time, and over millions of species and billions of lifetimes, intelligence has occured exactly once. If you could talk to evolution, it would say, "sorry - didn't mean for that to happen, and believe me, it's unlikely to happen again. Intelligence is not an evolutionary advantage, at least not in the longer term, and as soon as y'all get busy and make yourselves extinct we'll get back to making this a decent place for the rest of the flora and fauna".
So there you have it. In the unlikely event that life exists within a cosmic stone's-throw of us, and in the much less likely event this life is intelligent, and in the much MUCH less likely event that intelligent life has advanced to the point of interstellar travel, and assuming they can find us, or give a fiddler's f*%k about us, I'm guessing they'd be more likely to be non-threatening than threatening.
Unless, of course, they intercepted a broadcast of "Earth Girls Are Easy". Nothing like a little interstellar ass ...
Q. First off, why would aliens want to encounter us? If they can traverse the cosmos with unimaginable technology, what would we have on this 8,000 mile rock that would interest them? And that's presuming our little planet isn't toxic to them, which it would be, considering it's mostly toxic to us and we *evolved* here.
A. Curiosity. A species intelligent enough and cooperative enough to master space travel would be extremely unlikely to have conquistador-like intentions, and would more likely be on an altruistic, scientific mission to understand the universe. I suppose they might be accidentally toxic to us, like Europeans to Native Americans, but wouldn't they have thought about that already?
Q. What are the chances of intelligent life existing within, say, one berserkerkyjillion**12 miles of earth?
A. Slim and none, and I only say slim because I don't know how to express a number so close to zero that zero actually says "hey, I might amount to something one day". Here's why: evolution is the only true universal system, and it has been effectively providing life in these here parts for several billion years. In spite of this vast period of time, and over millions of species and billions of lifetimes, intelligence has occured exactly once. If you could talk to evolution, it would say, "sorry - didn't mean for that to happen, and believe me, it's unlikely to happen again. Intelligence is not an evolutionary advantage, at least not in the longer term, and as soon as y'all get busy and make yourselves extinct we'll get back to making this a decent place for the rest of the flora and fauna".
So there you have it. In the unlikely event that life exists within a cosmic stone's-throw of us, and in the much less likely event this life is intelligent, and in the much MUCH less likely event that intelligent life has advanced to the point of interstellar travel, and assuming they can find us, or give a fiddler's f*%k about us, I'm guessing they'd be more likely to be non-threatening than threatening.
Unless, of course, they intercepted a broadcast of "Earth Girls Are Easy". Nothing like a little interstellar ass ...
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
"Make good decisions", my Dad used to say ...
... or others will make them for you. Are you listening Greece?
The "chicken in every pot and a 2-month bonus in every bank account" socialist ideology has bankrupted the country. Well, that and the purported underground economy which, by some estimates, is larger than the actual economy. Apparently the government that pays you a 17% premium on your wages for doing *nothing* is not entitiled to have any of it back by way of taxable transactions.
Well, at least the Greeks are taking the bull by the horns by ... going on a national strike! Yup, you read it properly. Before Germany, Europe and indeed the world agrees to a 150 Billion dollar bailout of this dysfunctional state, they asked for some 'austerity' measures (like please collect your legal taxes and stop paying people for doing nothing). This is making the natives restless I guess, but hey at least they're off their assess and doing *something*.
Fascinating. I'm dying to see what happens here. I hope the world says "not a plug nickel for your self-entitled crooked population until they develop a grade-school understanding of mathematics and get the hell out of bed and start working for a living".
The "chicken in every pot and a 2-month bonus in every bank account" socialist ideology has bankrupted the country. Well, that and the purported underground economy which, by some estimates, is larger than the actual economy. Apparently the government that pays you a 17% premium on your wages for doing *nothing* is not entitiled to have any of it back by way of taxable transactions.
Well, at least the Greeks are taking the bull by the horns by ... going on a national strike! Yup, you read it properly. Before Germany, Europe and indeed the world agrees to a 150 Billion dollar bailout of this dysfunctional state, they asked for some 'austerity' measures (like please collect your legal taxes and stop paying people for doing nothing). This is making the natives restless I guess, but hey at least they're off their assess and doing *something*.
Fascinating. I'm dying to see what happens here. I hope the world says "not a plug nickel for your self-entitled crooked population until they develop a grade-school understanding of mathematics and get the hell out of bed and start working for a living".
Monday, May 3, 2010
One has to be skeptical to claim an open mind
Seems counter-intuitive, no? But consider this: the skeptic is asking to be persuaded. He says "tell me how you came to that conclusion, I want to go there too. Let's find something concrete to agree upon and build from there". If there's no compelling evidence to support a conclusion, the skeptic remains rightfully unswayed.
[Brief trip to another panel to find out the opposite of skepticism]. Ahh. Wiki seems to think that the opposite of skepticism is "belief" or "credulity". Hmmm.
Well, I can go for that. A skeptic, when presented with evidence (or lack thereof) has no choice but to establish his position in consideration of what is before him. A believer, on the other hand, will take your word for it.
Therefore, when someone accuses me of not having an open mind about the supernatural, it's essentially a non-sequitur. "Persuade me", I say, "but not with second or even first-hand testimonials. I've heard all those. And the presence of a beautiful landscape is no more evidence of a god than the presence of a quarter under my pillow is evidence of a tooth fairy. Bring me the great pumpkin and I'll bow before him. Take me to the established halls of human science and show me a vampire, I will tremble in his presence. I promise you I will, because I have an open [enough] mind to be swayed by the facts."
The faithful, on the other hand, can reconcile the transformation of water to wine and the ressurection of a human corpse without a second thought. Having a chat with a burning bush or a suprisingly articulate snake is no stretch at all.
So I haven't ruled out the possibility of it, but listen - all I ask is ONE talking snake. Just one or two words even. Or, through the power of unselfish prayer, restore just ONE person back to health [caveat: that person has to be an amputee, and the limb needs to grow back]. Do that and you'll be standing behind me in line for your Sunday church service.
Until then, however, I will remain comfortably skeptical.
[Brief trip to another panel to find out the opposite of skepticism]. Ahh. Wiki seems to think that the opposite of skepticism is "belief" or "credulity". Hmmm.
Well, I can go for that. A skeptic, when presented with evidence (or lack thereof) has no choice but to establish his position in consideration of what is before him. A believer, on the other hand, will take your word for it.
Therefore, when someone accuses me of not having an open mind about the supernatural, it's essentially a non-sequitur. "Persuade me", I say, "but not with second or even first-hand testimonials. I've heard all those. And the presence of a beautiful landscape is no more evidence of a god than the presence of a quarter under my pillow is evidence of a tooth fairy. Bring me the great pumpkin and I'll bow before him. Take me to the established halls of human science and show me a vampire, I will tremble in his presence. I promise you I will, because I have an open [enough] mind to be swayed by the facts."
The faithful, on the other hand, can reconcile the transformation of water to wine and the ressurection of a human corpse without a second thought. Having a chat with a burning bush or a suprisingly articulate snake is no stretch at all.
So I haven't ruled out the possibility of it, but listen - all I ask is ONE talking snake. Just one or two words even. Or, through the power of unselfish prayer, restore just ONE person back to health [caveat: that person has to be an amputee, and the limb needs to grow back]. Do that and you'll be standing behind me in line for your Sunday church service.
Until then, however, I will remain comfortably skeptical.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Anyone watch "Breaking Bad"?
Impressive, dark, disturbing, apalling and .... funny. If you watch it, you know what I'm sayin. If you don't, well, you can go to AMC's website where they have an awesome 'catch up to date' link, and various video from past episodes.
Season 3, episode 2 trivia:
In a pathetic attemp to start a dialogue with his estranged wife Skylar, Walt shows up at the door at dinner time to drop off his son, carrying the biggest effin pizza I've ever seen. I thought he was delivering a high-def TV of above average size. The awkwardness of the moment was palpable as Skylar icily blows him off with every ugly weapon in a betrayed woman's arsenal (which is considerable). You couldn't a pulled a needle out of that woman's butt with a tractor.
Beaten, he turns away carrying the giant pizza back to his car. But, in a bitter outburst of frustration, he lets go with an angry cry and hurls the pizza toward the garage where, having shed the cardboard box entirely, it lands perfectly, rooftop, cheese-side up.
Walt's departure is filmed now via a roof-cam, with the pizza in the foreground.
Well folks, I like to pissed *and* shit my pants. The.funniest.moment.on.TV - this year if not longer. A 'nuthin but net' pizza three-pointer from a guy who's so white his last name *is* white.
And for the rest of the episode (which was coming to a very suspenseful conclusion), all persons approaching the house are viewed from the pizza cam - the private detective, the mexican assassins - all glance at the now-decaying pizza on the roof, as if to glean something meaningful from it's presence.
Brilliant.
Season 3, episode 2 trivia:
In a pathetic attemp to start a dialogue with his estranged wife Skylar, Walt shows up at the door at dinner time to drop off his son, carrying the biggest effin pizza I've ever seen. I thought he was delivering a high-def TV of above average size. The awkwardness of the moment was palpable as Skylar icily blows him off with every ugly weapon in a betrayed woman's arsenal (which is considerable). You couldn't a pulled a needle out of that woman's butt with a tractor.
Beaten, he turns away carrying the giant pizza back to his car. But, in a bitter outburst of frustration, he lets go with an angry cry and hurls the pizza toward the garage where, having shed the cardboard box entirely, it lands perfectly, rooftop, cheese-side up.
Walt's departure is filmed now via a roof-cam, with the pizza in the foreground.
Well folks, I like to pissed *and* shit my pants. The.funniest.moment.on.TV - this year if not longer. A 'nuthin but net' pizza three-pointer from a guy who's so white his last name *is* white.
And for the rest of the episode (which was coming to a very suspenseful conclusion), all persons approaching the house are viewed from the pizza cam - the private detective, the mexican assassins - all glance at the now-decaying pizza on the roof, as if to glean something meaningful from it's presence.
Brilliant.
Ann Coulter
Shite disturber extraordinaire. I feel sorry for people who take her seriously.
Ann Coulter is a persona, people. The only thing about her that makes her different than, say, Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert is that she's not funny. But she is a person who has gotten wealthy playing the role of the wicked witch, and she has a large following of simpletons who lap up the vitriol and hyperbole. The people who find her offensive (who are legion, methinks) think that loud and vocal opposition to her comments and ideas (whoa! giving her a lot of credit with the 'ideas' thing) will somehow shut her up or damage her are *precisely* wrong. They might as well start appending "ka - ching!" to every negative headline she garners, because that's the business model.
The locals she spoke to recently paid ten bucks to hear her off-the-wall comments for an hour. Ten bucks. I think about a couple hundred showed up. That's 2 grand - not exactly enough to make a living on the rubber chicken circuit is it? More promotion is required in order get larger crowds and jack up those ticket prices, ergo she starts fanning the flames. Like good little minions, we all start chipping in with our outrage, the press and the blogs go wild, and bingo!
I think we should all get a cut of the door for helping out the ungrateful bitch.
Ann Coulter is a persona, people. The only thing about her that makes her different than, say, Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert is that she's not funny. But she is a person who has gotten wealthy playing the role of the wicked witch, and she has a large following of simpletons who lap up the vitriol and hyperbole. The people who find her offensive (who are legion, methinks) think that loud and vocal opposition to her comments and ideas (whoa! giving her a lot of credit with the 'ideas' thing) will somehow shut her up or damage her are *precisely* wrong. They might as well start appending "ka - ching!" to every negative headline she garners, because that's the business model.
The locals she spoke to recently paid ten bucks to hear her off-the-wall comments for an hour. Ten bucks. I think about a couple hundred showed up. That's 2 grand - not exactly enough to make a living on the rubber chicken circuit is it? More promotion is required in order get larger crowds and jack up those ticket prices, ergo she starts fanning the flames. Like good little minions, we all start chipping in with our outrage, the press and the blogs go wild, and bingo!
I think we should all get a cut of the door for helping out the ungrateful bitch.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
I'm a songwriter. Really!
(notice I didn't use the words 'good', 'published' or 'prolific' before the word 'songwriter').
I gave it a good couple of years, and took the course and all. I even managed to have a local act pick one of my songs up and play it. As far as I know it is still in their repertoire (sp?), but alas, that's as far as it went.
So now I'm down to novelty stuff - I create a new song every year for our annual spring getaway with our drunken friends, and sometimes for our annual golf tournament (with the same crew of drunks). I don't bother with original melodies for these crappy tunes, I just steal something that's recognizable and half-decent, then write my own words. I then perform with my half-assed guitar playing and half-assed singing, and everyone seems to be half-assed happy about it.
So where are we going with this? [thinking] Oh ya, this year's song (due in about 10 days). I know the song I want to brutalize - an 80's hit that's burned deep into everyone's engrams - I just need to find it. Easy, as GW might say, with 'the google'.
Not one of my searches turned up anything. No partial string of lyrics that I thought I could remember, in spite of several dozen tries, would yield a thing. I was stumped. I know it goes something like "play it all right on a saturday morn", or some variation of that, as I replayed the slurred lyrics through my ash-can of a mind.
Yesterday, I found it!! How did I get it? By perfoming a literal search of the last thing I thought would work. Here's the search (in the double quotes I might add):
"Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh".
Yep. Count 'em - there has to be eight. Then and only then will you find the Break up Song. Damn you Greg Kihn, take an ESL class.
They just don't write 'em like that anymore indeed.
I gave it a good couple of years, and took the course and all. I even managed to have a local act pick one of my songs up and play it. As far as I know it is still in their repertoire (sp?), but alas, that's as far as it went.
So now I'm down to novelty stuff - I create a new song every year for our annual spring getaway with our drunken friends, and sometimes for our annual golf tournament (with the same crew of drunks). I don't bother with original melodies for these crappy tunes, I just steal something that's recognizable and half-decent, then write my own words. I then perform with my half-assed guitar playing and half-assed singing, and everyone seems to be half-assed happy about it.
So where are we going with this? [thinking] Oh ya, this year's song (due in about 10 days). I know the song I want to brutalize - an 80's hit that's burned deep into everyone's engrams - I just need to find it. Easy, as GW might say, with 'the google'.
Not one of my searches turned up anything. No partial string of lyrics that I thought I could remember, in spite of several dozen tries, would yield a thing. I was stumped. I know it goes something like "play it all right on a saturday morn", or some variation of that, as I replayed the slurred lyrics through my ash-can of a mind.
Yesterday, I found it!! How did I get it? By perfoming a literal search of the last thing I thought would work. Here's the search (in the double quotes I might add):
"Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh".
Yep. Count 'em - there has to be eight. Then and only then will you find the Break up Song. Damn you Greg Kihn, take an ESL class.
They just don't write 'em like that anymore indeed.
OK - I'm the worst blogger in the world
Hello, interweb: are you there?
I haven't even got a stray cat to visit this site. It's not a 'friends and family' kinda blog, it's a stealth panel. I guess I was in fact very good at the stealth thing, because so far not a single visitor has tripped over it.
When I use the 'next blog' button, I generally get family blogs - little Timmy has a new tooth / I'm an aerospace engineer and a full time mom, let's swap cookie recipes ! / We're back from our exciting trip to Omaha for the middle-school wresting tournament.
But they seem to have traffic.....
I think I'd get TOS'd if I posted a pic of mysef' in a leopardskin thong, so I just have to think of things that people might wanna read about. Or just treat it like a diary and assume no one will ever read it. Yeah.... that's it ... who needs readers anyway?
I haven't even got a stray cat to visit this site. It's not a 'friends and family' kinda blog, it's a stealth panel. I guess I was in fact very good at the stealth thing, because so far not a single visitor has tripped over it.
When I use the 'next blog' button, I generally get family blogs - little Timmy has a new tooth / I'm an aerospace engineer and a full time mom, let's swap cookie recipes ! / We're back from our exciting trip to Omaha for the middle-school wresting tournament.
But they seem to have traffic.....
I think I'd get TOS'd if I posted a pic of mysef' in a leopardskin thong, so I just have to think of things that people might wanna read about. Or just treat it like a diary and assume no one will ever read it. Yeah.... that's it ... who needs readers anyway?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
This Prius guy who was out of control
... for how long? Standing on the brakes didn't work, and he didn't want to turn the car off in case the steering wheel locked (I don't think it works that way, you have to have the car in park don't you?), and he was 'afraid' to put the car in neutral. What good fortune that he was on a clean and green expressway with light traffic at the time and not, say, at the farmer's market trying to find a parking space.
Even before Toyota tested this car and cast doubt on the story I thought it didn't pass the sniff test. I cannot imagine a an engine and drive train so powerful as to override 4 disc power brakes. My car is not a Prius - it has 270 horsepower - and if I stand on the brakes it goes nowhere, period. I also have a classic car with a monster V*8, 325 horse and *drum* brakes (technology developed by the Ford Horseless Carriage and Cattle Company), and there's no contest between the binders and the power train; the brakes win every time.
Having said that, one must ponder the notion of the mysterious ETS (Electronic Throttle System). My experiece in technology causes me to raise an eyebrow at the thought of software, *kaff kaff*, helpfully assisting me guide my car through the asphalt jungle. Plus, most of us now are familiar with and trusting of ABS, which is simple logic designed to keep your wheels turning even under maximum brake pedal force.
But I have a hard time believing that HAL is under the hood conjuring a perfect storm of maximum throttle and and minimum braking. Also why are these episodes never repeatable under the scrutiny of mechanics and engineers?
I really think the NTSB should get involved. These guys, the airplane crash tin-kicking detectives are pit-bulls when investigating for root cause, and the technology wouldn't intimidate them one whit.
Even before Toyota tested this car and cast doubt on the story I thought it didn't pass the sniff test. I cannot imagine a an engine and drive train so powerful as to override 4 disc power brakes. My car is not a Prius - it has 270 horsepower - and if I stand on the brakes it goes nowhere, period. I also have a classic car with a monster V*8, 325 horse and *drum* brakes (technology developed by the Ford Horseless Carriage and Cattle Company), and there's no contest between the binders and the power train; the brakes win every time.
Having said that, one must ponder the notion of the mysterious ETS (Electronic Throttle System). My experiece in technology causes me to raise an eyebrow at the thought of software, *kaff kaff*, helpfully assisting me guide my car through the asphalt jungle. Plus, most of us now are familiar with and trusting of ABS, which is simple logic designed to keep your wheels turning even under maximum brake pedal force.
But I have a hard time believing that HAL is under the hood conjuring a perfect storm of maximum throttle and and minimum braking. Also why are these episodes never repeatable under the scrutiny of mechanics and engineers?
I really think the NTSB should get involved. These guys, the airplane crash tin-kicking detectives are pit-bulls when investigating for root cause, and the technology wouldn't intimidate them one whit.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Error 1303: Installer has insufficient privileges (Adobe) Windows 7
After a dozen years of being a taker, not a giver, on these interwebs, I'm coming out.
The new supercyber HP laptop has been working well, and I'm collecting and re-installing stuff as I go along, like Adobe reader. So imagine my surprise when the wizard tells me that I don't have enough privilege to install in the programs/x86 folder.
I am the sole user account with full administrative access, according to control panel, so how can this be? After almost an hour on the web trying to sort out WTF might be the problem, I give in and call ... tech dude. Tech dude is actually a good guy, everybody knows a tech dude (in fact I used to be a tech dude, back in the Windows 3.1 / DOS 6 days). Tech dude ain't no dummy, and like a lot of tech dudes out there, he's a bit of a Microsoft apologist (why not? The littany of MS quirks and foibles feed his family and pay for his WRX) and knows most of the issues and solutions the minute they're on the web. Anyway, I'm making a short story long so let's cut to the chase.
The error is a red herring. You have all the access you can get, so don't be thinking you can go into user accounts and fix it. It's here:
1. Start / Control Panel
2. System and Security
3. Under the heading "Action Center" click Change security account settings
4. [slide that little bar down from 'notify' to 'never notify'
5. Ignore goofball warnings (like a some rogue malware is going to be foiled by Windows notification? Gimme a break. This just prevents proper software from installing).
6. Click OK
7. Re-boot
8. Roll a zoomer and find a spark - you need to chill
9. Install away, McDuff!
There. As far as I know, you won't find this on the web (in so many words anyway) for Windows 7. Impress tech guy by telling him you figured it out all by yo'sef.
The new supercyber HP laptop has been working well, and I'm collecting and re-installing stuff as I go along, like Adobe reader. So imagine my surprise when the wizard tells me that I don't have enough privilege to install in the programs/x86 folder.
I am the sole user account with full administrative access, according to control panel, so how can this be? After almost an hour on the web trying to sort out WTF might be the problem, I give in and call ... tech dude. Tech dude is actually a good guy, everybody knows a tech dude (in fact I used to be a tech dude, back in the Windows 3.1 / DOS 6 days). Tech dude ain't no dummy, and like a lot of tech dudes out there, he's a bit of a Microsoft apologist (why not? The littany of MS quirks and foibles feed his family and pay for his WRX) and knows most of the issues and solutions the minute they're on the web. Anyway, I'm making a short story long so let's cut to the chase.
The error is a red herring. You have all the access you can get, so don't be thinking you can go into user accounts and fix it. It's here:
1. Start / Control Panel
2. System and Security
3. Under the heading "Action Center" click Change security account settings
4. [slide that little bar down from 'notify' to 'never notify'
5. Ignore goofball warnings (like a some rogue malware is going to be foiled by Windows notification? Gimme a break. This just prevents proper software from installing).
6. Click OK
7. Re-boot
8. Roll a zoomer and find a spark - you need to chill
9. Install away, McDuff!
There. As far as I know, you won't find this on the web (in so many words anyway) for Windows 7. Impress tech guy by telling him you figured it out all by yo'sef.
Friday, March 12, 2010
The best case against Darwinism I can think of ...
An overwhelming number of grown, supposedly educated, adults who disbelieve in the Theory of Evolution have managed to survive long enough to procreate. Nuthin' but ressurection, miracles and the talking snake for these folks.
:-p
I guess that's why its 'survival of the fittest', not 'survival of the smartest'. But really, folks - if evolution can't weed these chuckleheads out, what good is it?
:-p
I guess that's why its 'survival of the fittest', not 'survival of the smartest'. But really, folks - if evolution can't weed these chuckleheads out, what good is it?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Things I learned from Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Author of the Black Swan.
- We think we're smarter than we are
- We think things are more organized than they are
- Luck plays a role in everything, and might be more of a factor in business success than any other variable
- The most significant socio-economic events of the last century were totally unanticipated
- It can be easier to predict the future than explain the past
- Beware of anyone calling themselves an expert - in some disciplines, expertise is not attainable
- Somehow, it has become allowable for executives to personalize gains and syndicate lossess
- Hang on for the ride: we've got some doozies coming our way in the next while, and we don't (can't) know what they are
Screwed, Blued and Tattooed: The last Trifecta
Ponderings of an idiot, I looked this up. What could it possibly mean?
There seems to be two camps: A) a Navy term relating to the rite of passage in becoming a sailor, with "screwed" and "tattooed" being obvious (no word on whether the sex is necessarily hetero), and "blued" having something to do with getting your uniform. Hmmm ... thought swabbies wore whites, and B) (from urban dictionary):
Let the mystery be ....
There seems to be two camps: A) a Navy term relating to the rite of passage in becoming a sailor, with "screwed" and "tattooed" being obvious (no word on whether the sex is necessarily hetero), and "blued" having something to do with getting your uniform. Hmmm ... thought swabbies wore whites, and B) (from urban dictionary):
Unlike the imaginative explanations given, the definition goes way back to early machinists. After inspecting a finished manufactured or repaired part, the Toolmaker/machinist would:I have to say the Navy explanation seems to be in the reverse order of how I'd imagine such a ritual, but I'm a landlubber. The manufacturing explanation seems like post-hoc theory.
1 tighten all parts and screws (Screwed)
2 Use Blueing a blue paint-like stain that stuck easaly to metal (blued) and
3 Put his inspectors mark through the blue paint with a sharp scriber (tattooed)
Let the mystery be ....
Monday, March 8, 2010
Intelligent, Funny and Hot: Trifecta #3
Not a real trifecta. There's much more at stake here, such as masking the all-too-common Snobby, Moody and Self-centered with the above.
I say go for the woman is upset (but not TOO upset) about her sick dog, has a dent in the fender of her car, has little CC debt, and considers wearing a bra to be optional.
And who's funny, intelligent and hot.
Problem is she has to like you, which narrows the field considerably.
I say go for the woman is upset (but not TOO upset) about her sick dog, has a dent in the fender of her car, has little CC debt, and considers wearing a bra to be optional.
And who's funny, intelligent and hot.
Problem is she has to like you, which narrows the field considerably.
Quality, Price and Service: Trifecta #2
Assign 100 points to each of the three categories (300 possible). Let's call it the CDT scale. Anyone claiming to offer a product that scores more than 200 in total is either lying, or has something spectacular and unheard of.
Conversely, it's remarkable how many examples we can find that score well below 100 CDTu (units). A friend of mine owned a Jag in the 1990's, and he felt the score would be below 50. He lamented the fact that he could have had a Lexus, plus money in the bank, had he not been such a brand-name snob. (Lexus = great car + great service + ouchy price = 200-ish CDTu. Honda = good car + adequate service + not bad price = 200 CDTu. (Just so's we don't appear to favor imports: Cobalt might be = adequate car + adequate service + great price = 200 CDTu)).
Other examples? Sony broke the north american TV market open in the 60's/70's with NO service network. Zero. If it broke you were farooked. They built them so they wouldn't break + charged a decent price + zero service = (close to ) 200 CDTu.
Yes, there are examples north of 200, like the Vietnamese guy who cleans up my yard in the spring. He's a superman, does a spectacular job, and charges me about 150 bucks for what would equate to 6 - 8 hours work for me. I give him 250 + CDTu. But there's far more examples of, say, a trendy restaurant charging too much for decent but unspectacular food, and making you feel like it was your honor to sit and wait for hours to get it.
The local auto parts store has really good prices on brand-name stuff. And they have an army of friendly energetic kids running around helping, but mostly they're ..... re-stocking the returns from angry customers who were sold the wrong thing. I spoke with the manager and he said his repeat business was from people who learned to figure out what exactly they need before-hand. Good product, good price, but we're effing dummies ....
Interesting way to get your 200 points, pal.
Conversely, it's remarkable how many examples we can find that score well below 100 CDTu (units). A friend of mine owned a Jag in the 1990's, and he felt the score would be below 50. He lamented the fact that he could have had a Lexus, plus money in the bank, had he not been such a brand-name snob. (Lexus = great car + great service + ouchy price = 200-ish CDTu. Honda = good car + adequate service + not bad price = 200 CDTu. (Just so's we don't appear to favor imports: Cobalt might be = adequate car + adequate service + great price = 200 CDTu)).
Other examples? Sony broke the north american TV market open in the 60's/70's with NO service network. Zero. If it broke you were farooked. They built them so they wouldn't break + charged a decent price + zero service = (close to ) 200 CDTu.
Yes, there are examples north of 200, like the Vietnamese guy who cleans up my yard in the spring. He's a superman, does a spectacular job, and charges me about 150 bucks for what would equate to 6 - 8 hours work for me. I give him 250 + CDTu. But there's far more examples of, say, a trendy restaurant charging too much for decent but unspectacular food, and making you feel like it was your honor to sit and wait for hours to get it.
The local auto parts store has really good prices on brand-name stuff. And they have an army of friendly energetic kids running around helping, but mostly they're ..... re-stocking the returns from angry customers who were sold the wrong thing. I spoke with the manager and he said his repeat business was from people who learned to figure out what exactly they need before-hand. Good product, good price, but we're effing dummies ....
Interesting way to get your 200 points, pal.
People, Process, Tools: Trifecta #1
That's all there is, folks. A poor team excels in zero or one of these. A good team can get away excelling in (any) two of them. An excellent team needs all three. There, I just saved you 1200 bucks for a seminar, or 30 bucks for a business book.
How many people know this? Shockingly few, especially the fine folks who dubbed the SWAT team SWAT. Special weapons (tools) and tactics (process). Really? You could dress me up in fatigues, give me an M16, teach me all the tactics and then send me out there? (you wouldn't want that, trust me).
A swat team is an example of a high-performing team becuase of the investment in special people, and the people don't even get credit in the branding.
How many people know this? Shockingly few, especially the fine folks who dubbed the SWAT team SWAT. Special weapons (tools) and tactics (process). Really? You could dress me up in fatigues, give me an M16, teach me all the tactics and then send me out there? (you wouldn't want that, trust me).
A swat team is an example of a high-performing team becuase of the investment in special people, and the people don't even get credit in the branding.
I've been voted off or banned from a few boards ...
for the simple reason that I don't 'fit in'. They're right, I don't. The trick to learn is, I suppose, don't be all upset about it.
Assholes .....
Assholes .....
The world is not square, nor plumb nor level.
Still, a man scribes a perfect arc.
What grander notions folly; A fool’s mission to hammer into submission for what?
… a minute?
A circle perfectly conceived in an imperfect mind: Nature’s true geometry, the middle finger, remains unimpressed.
My silent mentor shakes his head.
Still, a man scribes a perfect arc.
What grander notions folly; A fool’s mission to hammer into submission for what?
… a minute?
A circle perfectly conceived in an imperfect mind: Nature’s true geometry, the middle finger, remains unimpressed.
My silent mentor shakes his head.
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