I thought it would be higher.

Posted 1 week ago at 2:06 pm. 0 comments

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Free Thought Held Hostage - UPDATED

Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago at 9:02 pm. 1 comment

Being politically conservative and an evangelical Christian, I often find myself the target of regurgitated verbal maligns regarding tolerance. Now, I by no means want to get into a theological discussion about the role and definition of Godly tolerance (there will be a place for that soon), but I would like to address a major qualm I have with the theory of “Free Thought”.

I am 100% for Free Thought. I firmly believe that individuals have the right find their own beliefs. Question everything!

The problem arises when Free Thought is taken hostage. There are multitudes of folks out in the world who love nothing more than to take your beliefs and hold them for ransom.

Example? Glad you asked. Whatever you feel about the morality/social appropriateness of Gay Marriage, you are forced to be “tolerant” of the act. Tolerant, aka AGREE WITH. Openly opposing Gay Marriage can be a death wish for a politician, or the cause of ousting in social circles. Soon, your tax money could be going to help gay couples with adoption cost, your health insurance group will be required to cover homosexual spouses. Regardless of your thoughts on the subject, you will be forced to legitimize the act, at the least with your wallet.

The biggest gripe I have with people/organizations that practice this mental act of terrorism concerns the double standard in practices.

Take this example from an Amazon “review” of George Bush pictorial book.

C’mon Amazon- you’re doing us a great disservice by not allowing the ZERO rating…
I work for the largest provider of books to university libraries in
the world. This book just ended up on our trash heap and will not be
profiled. That’s my professional opinion. It is nothing but a glossy stroke-fest… My personal opinion? George W. Bush is to leadership what Barry Fell is to archaeology. It’s very sad that there is even one person in the U.S. who is buying what he is selling.

How sick is that? How does this guy and his agenda get to determine what is available in a school library? How does this guy get to single-handedly corrupt and undermine the center of academia resources and taint the glory of what should be a bastion of “free thought”?

UPDATE:

After receiving a very encouraging and thought-provoking comment, I have decided to flesh this out a bit. I don’t want to be misunderstood. I am jumped to the example of the Bush review because of its overarching message. I am not speaking from or for the right’s agenda, at least not in this instance.

The message delivered by this reader’s review is completely perpendicular to the core values of Free Thought. If a person truly believes that Free Thought is the answer, it is necessary to examine all forms of information and decide what is truth for the individual.

Now you may be thinking, “Wait! Truth for the individual? But Free Thought is about FACT!”

What is fact? If everything must be reduced to “facts” there is not any room for argument. During the history of modern science, most of the things that were considered to be fact about our universe have been altered or discredited completely. The earth is round, light is a wave and a particle…these thoughts would have been heresy in the past. A heart transplant would have been considered witchcraft.

So, here it is:

• All “facts” require a certain amount of faith, regardless of political slant or religious preference.
• Most people screaming for tolerance and free thought really want conformity of thought and control of information.

And for anyone reading this thinking I am doing the same. I don’t need to control information and you don’t have to think like me. I encourage you to question everything. Especially pre-conceived notions!

Turtle Man

Posted 1 month ago at 3:59 pm. 0 comments

There are no words to explain this. (I shamelessly stole this from Nashvillest)

Rock the Vote 2008

Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 9:39 pm. 2 comments

Turn Any Site Into A Dedicated Desktop Application

Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago at 10:00 pm. 2 comments

The other day I stumbled upon a little application that I have been rather impressed with. Fluid lets you take any web site and turn it into a desktop application. The application can be loaded in the menu bar or run from you application window (complete with dock icon). Think Twitter, Gmail, Google Search, etc.

Need a better example? Try Lifehacker’s screencast. Video Demonstration: Put Any Site in Your Menu Bar

This technical term is Site Specific Browser. Its really just dedicating a web browser to access one site or web application. Still, the possibilities are endless. One example I thought of was creating an app of an online banking site. Think about the convenience. You can have 1-click access to your bank from an icon in your menu. (Obviously, you would still need an internet connection)

Speaking of internet connections, if you get a Starbucks card, register and use it at least once every 30 days, you are eligible for 2 hours per day of free WiFi at their participating locations.

Also, I got my limited beta login for Pogo. I hop to write a little review about it soon. The only thing I will say right now is that it’s a huge application. Huge meaning, recommend disk space is 0.5Gb.

P.S. - Don’t be alarmed by my system’s specs. Its small b/c it’s a VM install of XP on my mac.

That’s all for now kids! I hope to have a new surf report, a couple of music blogs, and some technical things soon.

Surf Report - 06-18-06

Posted 2 months ago at 8:33 pm. 0 comments

Hi there! And welcome to today’s Surf Report. What is the Surf Report? Well, I am glad you asked. I had started doing Tidbits a while back, but like most of my blogging initiatives, it never really got off the ground. So I have changed the name to the Surf Report and I will try to consistently post interesting/funny things I find lying around the interwebs.

Firefox 3
I love good software. This is a really amazing release. It’s slick. It’s quick. And it’s smarter and safer than ever. I had been using Flock, but started to have some buggy happenings lately. I loved the ability to connect Flock to every possible social site and my blog. However, thanks to some awesome Add-ons, I have most of the things I like about Flock working in FF3 (the only thing I miss is the Web Cliboard in Flock.)

Speaking of Add-ons, here are some of my fav’s:

• Firebug - a must have for any web developer.
• TwitterFox - Twitter in Firefox. Its pretty much awesome.
• Delicious Bookmarks - if you are not using Delicious, you should be. Here are mine!
• Scribefire - two words. Blog integration.

Matt Heaton gets it! Why doesn’t everyone else?
Matt Heaton, is the president of Bluehost.com and he has written a nice post about why Congress should not remove the tax breaks on the “richest 1%” in 2010.

I still love bathroom humor.
As a guest writer on Dooce’s blog, Jim Griffioen from Sweet Juniper, rants about public men’s restrooms, their overwhelming lack, when compared to women’s restrooms, and the adventures/concerns of taking his daughter into the forbidden realm that unholy realm.

And last but not least….

AL GORE IS DOUCHE BAG

I Will Possess Your Heart

Posted 2 months ago at 10:33 pm. 1 comment

You gotta spend some time, love/
You gotta spend some time with me/
And I know that you’ll find, love/
I will possess your heart.

Ben Gibbard is the man. Seriously, the guy is amazing. I have been a Death Cab For Cutie fan for a few years now. Ever since I heard the song “Styrofoam Plates”, in which Gibbard weaves the tale of a man dealing with the death of his deadbeat dad.

You’re a disgrace to the concept of family./
The priest won’t divulge that fact in his homily/
and I’ll stand up and scream if the mourning remain quiet,/
you can deck out a lie in a suit./
But I won’t buy it./

When it comes to music, there is one thing that will always move me … Authenticity. In my opinion, there is nothing better than when an artist is honest with emotion and seeks to explain it with unconventional word-choice, analogies, and metaphors. It’s the feeling you get when you hear a song and think, “I know exactly where he/she is coming from.” Now in my case, I don’t know “exactly” where Mr. Gibbard is coming from in every song (ie. I did NOT have a horrible father. I had one of the greatest). But, Ben uses familiar imagery to put the listener in the middle of the moment. He has a tremendous talent for describing love, hate, and all of life’s aesthtic surroundings.

In the Death Cab song “New Year”, Ben mentions a party on the front lawn where “30 dialogues bleed into one.” During “Title and Registration”, he accuses the glove compartment of being “inaccurately named” because no-one actually keeps gloves there.

In their latest release, Death Cab has put out an inspiring collection of songs, complete with an 8+min rock anthem, “I Will Possess You Heart.” The song is stunning in its simplicity, elegance, and down-right creepiness. Here, watch the performance from Bonaroo.

Death Cab for Cutie - Bonnaroo - I Will Possess Your Heart UPDATE 07/14/08 -The video was removed from YouTube. Stupid copyright laws. Big ups to Eric for letting me know.

Flash and the EVILS of AS3!

Posted 2 months, 1 week ago at 10:40 pm. 1 comment

Man.

Let me just be honest. I love challenges.

Whenever there is some seemingly unsolvable problem, be it programming or life in general, I get excited. Invigorated. Ecstatic!

Why?

I like finding the answer! It makes me feel intelligent, and frankly, I need that kind of affirmation. The question you are probably asking yourself is, what has prompted this post? The short answer is…. I am trying to learn Flash and ActionScript 3.0.

Right now, I am REALLY frustrated, but I am actually enjoying. I have always wanted to learn Flash and I finally have a reason (aka. work needs some flash stuff). I have found flash to be a stretch for my brain and, according to a recent anonymous poster, lately my brain isn’t as flexible as it used to be. Maybe it’s the nature of my profession. My brain never really shuts off because I am constantly writing and re-writing code in my mind. Maybe its the lack of sleep (I blame Hank for this one). Maybe its the nature of husband, trying to always be mindful (read “considerate”) of my wife and doing my best to cherish her. I’m not sure what the problem is, nor why my brain is suddenly the consistency of PlayDoh left out of its can for 6 years. Flash is interesting. It forces me to think as a designer and a programmer at the same time. I still aloof as to whether this is good or bad. I am just hoping it turns out okay (before the 20th, that’s my deadline).

So, if anyone reading this is feeling generous, feel free to pick this up for me. Or anything else on my Wish List (preferably the Kindle).

Anyway. This post needs for cowbell. Or at least more Playdoh cowbell.

Guaranteed Headache

Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago at 12:19 pm. 0 comments

Imagining the 10th Dimension.

Bring your migraine medicine.

Carbon Credits

Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago at 10:25 am. 3 comments

So a buddy of mine, Brad “not related to Oprah” Winfrey, sent me the most amazing website.

CarbonDeductions.com - Offsetting the Dangers of Carbon Credits

This site is dedicated to manufacturing a carbon debit for every carbon credit Al Gore and camp sell.

For an easy $20, you can purchase the following:

Or this amazing bumper sticker.

Now, I am sure that some of you are tear-eyed, rocking a full-fledged lip quiver, and gasping “Why?” What about the ice caps, and the Arizona prairie rat? How will they survive?

Come on people. You have been duped, suckered, hood-winked. The real “inconvenient truth” is that global warming alarmist care nothing about the earth, preservation, or conservation. They care about money. Global Warming/Environmental Alarmism is one of the biggest industries in America. It is a money making scam.

Maybe one day I will write more on the subject. But for now, I will let CarbonDeductions.com tell you in their own words.

Our goal is to completely wipe out every Carbon Credit ever bought by selling their nullifying opposite – the Carbon Debit. The guilt and shame that caused people to buy Carbon Credits in the first place will be placed back on them as we let them know that their actions caused us to nullify their credits. They are the cause of us killing trees; they need to face up to their guilt.

Pure poetry.