All of you know that i am not a big I-Products person. Tonight i found a few more funny Apple spoofs as well as some other funny stuff. I hope that you like them...
What is your opinion?
Friday, May 11, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
My Truck Fixed...YEAH!!
So i got a call today telling me that my truck was all ready for me to pick up. I was like WOW, already? So i went to get it today at around 3pm. They did a super job and it even came with a warrenty. It really did not look like much damage was done to my truck, but i am really happy that i got it fixed.
Here is the place that did the work.
"A" Autobody
10305 Hull Street Road
Midlothian, VA. 23112
Phone: (804) 674-1173
Fax: (804) 674-4909
So if you live in Richmond and need body work done, give them a call. I was really impressed.
What is your opinion?
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Step 8 and 9 and 10...Part 5 in the series.
Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Well, here it comes. I had to make a list of all the people that I had harmed and had to make nice with them. You mean to tell me that I have to go and apologize to them?? Yes I do and I did. This was a hard step to do as well. I had to humble myself to another person and admit that I was wrong and sorry for what I had done. But wait What if I was not willing to go and talk to them or to tell them I was sorry? What if they had moved on and lost touch? What if they were dead? What if they were alive and they did not know that I did something to harm them? That is where Step 9 comes in; Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 8 was part of it, but Step 9 was an action step. So say that you were dating a person and you cheated on them but they did not know about it. According to Step 8, you need to make amends to them. Step 9 says to do it, but not to harm or injure them. So would telling your girlfriend that you cheated harm her? Yes it would. So this is where a “Living Amends” comes in. The amends process in this instance was for you to not do the action anymore, to not cheat on her and thus, you make amends for the offending action.If someone had moved on or died, it would be impossible to talk to them, so you can write a letter, read it, and then destroy it. You have to make every possible means to contact that person, but this is a way of doing it.
One person that I held resentment to was a very close friend. I went to talk to this person and their reaction was very indifferent to me. Some people will not want to talk to you about what you did or they did, but you will have made the effort and that is the main objective. Some people will be glad that you wanted to talk to them and will be very receptive about the issue. But the main thing is that you will have made the effort on your part. Remember you can’t control other people’s actions, only your own with the help of God.
This process does not have a time limit set for it. It can take some time to complete, but it needs to be done to get all the mess that you have created in your life cleaned out. You have heard of Spring Cleaning? Just think of this like that. You are getting out all of the old BS that has built up over a period of time that has been eating at your soul. When you get some of this off your chest, you will feel so much better, I sure did.
After having done this step, you will move on to Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. You will have to become a more analytical person about your actions and become aware of how you interact with other people. If you come across like an asshole to a person, look at why that happened and then go to them and apologize for that act. I had to the other night at work. I offended a lady and she made mention to a coworker about it. I had to suck it up and go and talk to her and make amends or apologize for it. She was like thank you. So, it works.
I am going to stop here. I am not ready to discuss the next step with you as it is a very hard one to do and these last 2 steps are a mouthful to comprehend and work on. God Bless and have a wonderful evening or day depending where you live…
What is your opinion?
Well, here it comes. I had to make a list of all the people that I had harmed and had to make nice with them. You mean to tell me that I have to go and apologize to them?? Yes I do and I did. This was a hard step to do as well. I had to humble myself to another person and admit that I was wrong and sorry for what I had done. But wait What if I was not willing to go and talk to them or to tell them I was sorry? What if they had moved on and lost touch? What if they were dead? What if they were alive and they did not know that I did something to harm them? That is where Step 9 comes in; Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Step 8 was part of it, but Step 9 was an action step. So say that you were dating a person and you cheated on them but they did not know about it. According to Step 8, you need to make amends to them. Step 9 says to do it, but not to harm or injure them. So would telling your girlfriend that you cheated harm her? Yes it would. So this is where a “Living Amends” comes in. The amends process in this instance was for you to not do the action anymore, to not cheat on her and thus, you make amends for the offending action.If someone had moved on or died, it would be impossible to talk to them, so you can write a letter, read it, and then destroy it. You have to make every possible means to contact that person, but this is a way of doing it.
One person that I held resentment to was a very close friend. I went to talk to this person and their reaction was very indifferent to me. Some people will not want to talk to you about what you did or they did, but you will have made the effort and that is the main objective. Some people will be glad that you wanted to talk to them and will be very receptive about the issue. But the main thing is that you will have made the effort on your part. Remember you can’t control other people’s actions, only your own with the help of God.
This process does not have a time limit set for it. It can take some time to complete, but it needs to be done to get all the mess that you have created in your life cleaned out. You have heard of Spring Cleaning? Just think of this like that. You are getting out all of the old BS that has built up over a period of time that has been eating at your soul. When you get some of this off your chest, you will feel so much better, I sure did.
After having done this step, you will move on to Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. You will have to become a more analytical person about your actions and become aware of how you interact with other people. If you come across like an asshole to a person, look at why that happened and then go to them and apologize for that act. I had to the other night at work. I offended a lady and she made mention to a coworker about it. I had to suck it up and go and talk to her and make amends or apologize for it. She was like thank you. So, it works.
I am going to stop here. I am not ready to discuss the next step with you as it is a very hard one to do and these last 2 steps are a mouthful to comprehend and work on. God Bless and have a wonderful evening or day depending where you live…
What is your opinion?
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Type-O-Negative Set List Pic
Thankx for anakin032 that attended this show for granting me access to his pics. Here is the set list that was played!!!
My Truck
I put my Tacoma in the shop today to get fixed. If you remember, i got hit last week going to work. They gave me a "rent-a-car" loner to use. IT is a 2007 Ford F-150 Extended cab 4x4. It is not your usual rental. I guess they thought that i needed a truck, not really sure. i hope to have mine back by Friday.
This weekend we are going to Durham to see my Brother graduate. My Dad, Sister, Step-Mother are all flying in for the event. Due to my new work schedule, i will be able to stay Saturday night!!! It will be good to see all of them.
I am a bit jealous of my brother as he will be moving back to Austin in June. I will miss visiting with him and doing stuff as we were never able to do things like that when we were younger. On the same side, i am very happy for him to be able to go back to Austin and be a Youth Minister there. His girlfriend will also be going back to Texas...
Well, i ma out for the night. More over the next to nights as i have work.
What is your opinion?
This weekend we are going to Durham to see my Brother graduate. My Dad, Sister, Step-Mother are all flying in for the event. Due to my new work schedule, i will be able to stay Saturday night!!! It will be good to see all of them.
I am a bit jealous of my brother as he will be moving back to Austin in June. I will miss visiting with him and doing stuff as we were never able to do things like that when we were younger. On the same side, i am very happy for him to be able to go back to Austin and be a Youth Minister there. His girlfriend will also be going back to Texas...
Well, i ma out for the night. More over the next to nights as i have work.
What is your opinion?
Monday, May 07, 2007
Antivirus Software I Use is NOD32
How do you determine whether antivirus software works? The main purpose of antivirus software is to identify and block viruses and trojans that are circulating in the wild. It doesn't matter which virus software can recognize "the most" viruses, or whether it detects all viruses in a test collection consisting mostly of non-functional viruses, viruses that haven't been in circulation for years, or artifical viruses that were created solely for testing purposes. Neither does it matter how many copies the software has sold or how many companies are relying on its protection. Antivirus software only works if it can deal with real-life viruses that make their way into your inbox, your browser, or your network right now.
Virus Bulletin magazine is a technical journal on developments in the field of computer viruses and anti-virus products. VB test antivirus software on a monthly basis and awards products that that detect all "In the Wild" viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning in certain Virus Bulletin tests with its VB100% award. More details on what this award is all about can be found at http://www.virusbtn.com/100/whatis.html
The WildList - http://www.virusbtn.com/WildLists/ - that is used to test the antivirus programs is a cumulative list of viruses that are active and in circulation as reported by 64 virus information professionals, therefore representing a real-world environment of virus threats that any antivirus program should be able to deal with effortlessly.
What's really interesting are the comparative results of the VB 100 tests as you can see at http://www.virusbtn.com/100/vb100sum.html. This statistic shows how many times an antivirus program was submitted for testing, how many times it succeeded to detect all "In the Wild" viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning, and how many times it failed. To make the results easier to interpret, I created a small table with each program's stats, and calculated the success ratio of each software by figuring out the percentage of how much the program succeeded out of all the times it was tested. Check out the results:
What is your opinion?
Virus Bulletin magazine is a technical journal on developments in the field of computer viruses and anti-virus products. VB test antivirus software on a monthly basis and awards products that that detect all "In the Wild" viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning in certain Virus Bulletin tests with its VB100% award. More details on what this award is all about can be found at http://www.virusbtn.com/100/whatis.html
The WildList - http://www.virusbtn.com/WildLists/ - that is used to test the antivirus programs is a cumulative list of viruses that are active and in circulation as reported by 64 virus information professionals, therefore representing a real-world environment of virus threats that any antivirus program should be able to deal with effortlessly.
What's really interesting are the comparative results of the VB 100 tests as you can see at http://www.virusbtn.com/100/vb100sum.html. This statistic shows how many times an antivirus program was submitted for testing, how many times it succeeded to detect all "In the Wild" viruses during both on-demand and on-access scanning, and how many times it failed. To make the results easier to interpret, I created a small table with each program's stats, and calculated the success ratio of each software by figuring out the percentage of how much the program succeeded out of all the times it was tested. Check out the results:
It's interesting to see that not a single program was able to take care of all viruses any time it was tested. But the scary part is to see the success ratios of the programs tested. NOD32 stands out with a success ratio of 93%, failing only once in the 16 times it was tested, making it by far the most reliable antivirus software in this round-up. Other known software like PC-Cillin, AVG, Panda, McAfee, and InnoculateIT look pretty pathetic in comparison.
Of course this is only one possible test scenario of many, and it is not the ultimate test, but it is a very good and realistic representation and gives a good indication of antivirus software capabilities.
As far as virus detection is concerned, NOD32 so far has worked very well for me. All 3 components did reliably and consistently identify and block known viruses such as Sircam, Anset, and Badtrans, as well as the Eicar test virus that came in via Outlook 2000, were saved on my hard drive, or were attempted to be downloaded.
What is your opinion?
Concerts i Have Seen...
I am working on a list of shows that i have seen in my life time. I will post them soon.
What is your opinion?
What is your opinion?
Type-O Show...
The opening band was called Brand New Sin. They were good and i purchased their Cd set, 3 for $10!!! Not bad. They were very heavy, but listenable. The next band was called Celtic Frost.
They were the HEAVIEST BAND THAT I HAVE EVERY HEARD!!! It sounded like they never finished a song or started another one!! Drudge and more drudge followed by lyrics that you could not understand followed by more drudge!! Funny enough, some of the boys from Type-O came onstage and sang a few lyrics with them.
Around 10:12, the stage was clear and "Its A Small World" started playing??? Then it went black and the boys came out playing a cover of The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour in Type-o style of course. Followed by These Three Things, The profits of Doom, Hey Pete, Christian Woman, Love you to death, and a new Track called Anguish. Peter drank his Merlot during the show and there was the proverbial "mosh pit" as with most of these shows. Peter's vocals were on just like the album, but i have to agree with the article, his appearance has diminished with the abuse to his body with drugs and alcohol. The one 6'5'' steel used to be in superb shape, he now look like a middle aged man letting his body go.
The finished the show with Black #1 with the other members of the opening acts coming on stage and singing the chorus with Type-O. The show let out at around 12.00 midnight. I was back home around 3am this morning. Very happy that i saw them, but a little more deaf!! What did u say? i cant hear you...
The mix of the music was very strange to me, much like their new album. The drums on the album were very thin and wispy, in concert they were very overbearing and almost too loud. Because of this, they sometimes drowned out Seel's vocals He spoke to the crowd several times and the chant "You Suck" was shouted several times during the show. They had very strange intermissions during the set and would walk off stage and then come back on. To me, it looked Steel was on Coke as i would see him snort throughout the entire as like in trying to clear the drainage from the back of his nose from the coke drainage. He admitted in the article i posted about 2 weeks ago that he has had a cocaine problem. He might still have it, or his allergies were just acting up...
I am glad to finally go and see them in concert and especially glad that it was with my brother.
What is your opinion?
They were the HEAVIEST BAND THAT I HAVE EVERY HEARD!!! It sounded like they never finished a song or started another one!! Drudge and more drudge followed by lyrics that you could not understand followed by more drudge!! Funny enough, some of the boys from Type-O came onstage and sang a few lyrics with them.
Around 10:12, the stage was clear and "Its A Small World" started playing??? Then it went black and the boys came out playing a cover of The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour in Type-o style of course. Followed by These Three Things, The profits of Doom, Hey Pete, Christian Woman, Love you to death, and a new Track called Anguish. Peter drank his Merlot during the show and there was the proverbial "mosh pit" as with most of these shows. Peter's vocals were on just like the album, but i have to agree with the article, his appearance has diminished with the abuse to his body with drugs and alcohol. The one 6'5'' steel used to be in superb shape, he now look like a middle aged man letting his body go.
The finished the show with Black #1 with the other members of the opening acts coming on stage and singing the chorus with Type-O. The show let out at around 12.00 midnight. I was back home around 3am this morning. Very happy that i saw them, but a little more deaf!! What did u say? i cant hear you...
The mix of the music was very strange to me, much like their new album. The drums on the album were very thin and wispy, in concert they were very overbearing and almost too loud. Because of this, they sometimes drowned out Seel's vocals He spoke to the crowd several times and the chant "You Suck" was shouted several times during the show. They had very strange intermissions during the set and would walk off stage and then come back on. To me, it looked Steel was on Coke as i would see him snort throughout the entire as like in trying to clear the drainage from the back of his nose from the coke drainage. He admitted in the article i posted about 2 weeks ago that he has had a cocaine problem. He might still have it, or his allergies were just acting up...
I am glad to finally go and see them in concert and especially glad that it was with my brother.
What is your opinion?
Saturday, May 05, 2007
More Bike stuff.
I bought some more stuff for my bike. I got some nice gloves and a Lizard skin for my bike as well.
The Lizard Skin Chain Stay Protector is made from durable SuperTex Fabric! Wraps around your chainstay to protect from nicks and chips. Does not interfere with cable routing.
The Lizard Skin Chain Stay Protector is easy to install. This keeps the chain from hitting the frame and putting dings and scratches in it.
The Gloves are from Pearl Izumi.
Gel-Lite Race Glove
•Direct-Vent construction for superior palm ventilation
•U-Bridge pad placement protects the ulnar nerve while bridging the median nerve
•Shock absorbing Gel-Lite inserts eliminate road vibration
•Sublimated nylon/spandex back fabric provides great stretch and moisture transfer
•Silicone screened palm for a performance grip
•Direct inject graphics that won’t wear off over time
•Reflective piping for added visibility
•Content: Palm: 90% Polyurethane/10% GelBack: 80% Nylon/20% Spandex, Wiping Surface: 100% Polyester
Use simple detergents with no additives:Never use detergents with fabric softeners, perfumes or any additive type product. The general rule of thumb is the simpler the better. Many detergents with additives leave "surfactants" behind on a fabric's fibers that inhibit the technical performance. Typically the best detergents to use will have "Clear" or "Free" in their names. Don't pour the detergent directly onto the clothing, put it in the washer first, when you start the water. If something is not functionally working, but is not dirty, try rinsing it twice in warm to hot water. This will help get rid of the harmful surfactants. Read the care content label:On the inside of your garment, or on the hangcard, there are instructions for the care of that individual piece. On garments this will be on a side seam or back seam label. Follow those directions. On finer fabrics, use a "Gentle" cycle. Close all zippers, attach "hook and loop" closures on gloves You can use the dryer, carefully: If you use a dryer be sure to use a lower/ warm heat setting (Do NOT use a commercial dryer or a "Hot" setting). This will often restore the fabric and help the water and wind repellent qualities. If in doubt, hang the clothing to dry.
I would like to get me a set of the Lizard Skin Fork Boots. They help Keep Trail Grit and Moisture Out of Your Forks with Lizard Skin Fork Boots. Unlike Thin Stock Rubber Boots, Lizard Skins Won't Ride Up or Rip. The Lizard Skin Fork Boots are One Size Fits All.
What is your opinion?
Type-O-Negative...
THIS TIME TOMORROW...Baltimore MD, CLUB SONAR!! 7:00pm!!! CONCERT!!!!
What is your opinion?
More RSS stuff.
I found a website that has a FREE RSS reader!! I have used one for several years now, also if you use MS Outlook 2007, it has RSS feeds capabilities built inot the program as well. So does Internet Explorer 7. When you go to a site and you hear a little chirp, that tells you that the site has RSS feeds on it.
The page i found is RSSReader.com Also, here are links to download the RSS readers for free.
RSSReader.ZIP or RSSReader.exe The download page has some instructions on it, so here is that link as well: RSSReader Download Page
I hope that this helps you in getting set up with a reader and trying to look about more RSS feeds on many more websites.
What is your opinion?
The page i found is RSSReader.com Also, here are links to download the RSS readers for free.
RSSReader.ZIP or RSSReader.exe The download page has some instructions on it, so here is that link as well: RSSReader Download Page
I hope that this helps you in getting set up with a reader and trying to look about more RSS feeds on many more websites.
What is your opinion?
Moutain Bike Parts...
I am going to get a new set of pedals for my bike. They are called the Crank Brothers 5050 X Flat Pedals.
The Crank Brothers 5050 X Flat Pedals are an innovative new platform pedal design from Crank Brothers. Features removable, hardened plates on each side and multipl pin locations for easy customization. The Crank Brothers 5050 X Flat Pedals also feature removable plates allow access to the pins from the reverse side while retaining multiple useful pin locations.
The Loose ball bearing spindle is repackable. Innovative removable plates allows total customization of pedal. Sliding removeable plates allow access to traction pins Each pedal has 18 pin placement locations per side, allowing total customization Plates are replaceable and are made out of a heat treated 6061 Aluminum for durability Material (Spindle): CromoThread: 9/16"Weight: 634g
What is your opinion?
Crazy tag lines...
I am a member of www.Slashdot.org. There are some very funny taglines on there. Here are a few of them:
"I perceive the universe as a single equation, and it is so simple!" - Reginald Barclay
Linux: a more elegant weapon for a more civilized time.
Life was hell, then I discovered Linux...
"Best be the idiot that has learnt, than the genius who won't."
Eat the rich, the poor are tough and stringy
What is your opinion?
The other night I told my kid "Someday, you'll have children of your own." He said "So will you."
'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
You moved your mouse. Please restart Windows for changes to take effect."I perceive the universe as a single equation, and it is so simple!" - Reginald Barclay
Linux: a more elegant weapon for a more civilized time.
Life was hell, then I discovered Linux...
"Best be the idiot that has learnt, than the genius who won't."
Eat the rich, the poor are tough and stringy
What is your opinion?
Friday, May 04, 2007
RSS Readers
Here is a list of RSS Readers that one can use to subscribe to feeds from this blog or any number of sites that use and have RSS Subscriptions.
RSS Readers
RSS and Atom files provide news updates from a website in a simple form for your computer. You read these files in a program called an aggregator, which collects news from various websites and provides it to you in a simple form. But what aggregator to use? Here are some choices:
Top Picks
Web: feeds.redditCheck all your feeds from any web browser. Plus, vote on items and get recommendations about other feeds you'll like.
Mac OS X: NetNewsWireThis elegant Mac-like aggregator is easy to use and powerful.
Windows: SharpReaderSimple, but gets the job done.
Linux: StrawThe best aggregator for GNOME.
Runners-Up
AmphetaDeskA news aggregator you access through a web browser. (Mac/Win/Linux)
FeedDemonA more complicated aggregator for Windows. (Win)
FeedReaderLike SharpReader, but sporadically updated. (Win)
NewsGatorRead the news from within Microsoft Outlook. (Win)
NewsWatcherBased on Scopeware technology. (Win)
News Is FreeLets you create your own customized news page with feeds from the sites you're interested in. (Web)
NovobotA smart headline viewer and news ticker that can also process almost any website. (Win)
Radio UserLandA full-stregth news-reading application, on your desktop. (Mac/Win)
rss2emailReads RSS feeds and sends each new item to you as an email. (Unix)
dynamicobjects spacesDisplays RSS feeds in an Outlook-like interface. (Mac/Win/Lin)
What is your opinion?
RSS Readers
RSS and Atom files provide news updates from a website in a simple form for your computer. You read these files in a program called an aggregator, which collects news from various websites and provides it to you in a simple form. But what aggregator to use? Here are some choices:
Top Picks
Web: feeds.redditCheck all your feeds from any web browser. Plus, vote on items and get recommendations about other feeds you'll like.
Mac OS X: NetNewsWireThis elegant Mac-like aggregator is easy to use and powerful.
Windows: SharpReaderSimple, but gets the job done.
Linux: StrawThe best aggregator for GNOME.
Runners-Up
AmphetaDeskA news aggregator you access through a web browser. (Mac/Win/Linux)
FeedDemonA more complicated aggregator for Windows. (Win)
FeedReaderLike SharpReader, but sporadically updated. (Win)
NewsGatorRead the news from within Microsoft Outlook. (Win)
NewsWatcherBased on Scopeware technology. (Win)
News Is FreeLets you create your own customized news page with feeds from the sites you're interested in. (Web)
NovobotA smart headline viewer and news ticker that can also process almost any website. (Win)
Radio UserLandA full-stregth news-reading application, on your desktop. (Mac/Win)
rss2emailReads RSS feeds and sends each new item to you as an email. (Unix)
dynamicobjects spacesDisplays RSS feeds in an Outlook-like interface. (Mac/Win/Lin)
What is your opinion?
Mack's Survival School...
Mack Hall is a friend of mine, more than that, he was a school teacher of mine in 6th and 7th grades in Kirbyville Texas. This article is reprinted with his premission. He writes a column in the Jasper News Boy and The Beaumont Enterprise news papers.
Mack Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
Mack's Survival School
Last summer a fellow from New Jersey paid a survival school $3,175 to force-march, humiliate, starve, dehydrate, and kill him in a Utah desert. The school says they push folks "past those false limits your mind has set for your body."
Well, yes, dead is pretty much past any limits, false or otherwise.
This is from the school's 'net site:
Your destination on a BOSS Field Course is not a physical place; it can't be plotted on a topo map. Somewhere along the many miles of sagebrush flats, red rock canyons, and mesa tops of Southern Utah — somewhere between the thirst, the hunger and the sweat — you'll discover the real destination: yourself. (http://www.boss-inc.com/02front.html)
You'll surely want to travel a few thousand miles and pay a few thousand dollars to put your life in the hands of someone who writes turgid sell-o-babble like that.
A quick browse through the 'puter will dig up dozens of survival (if you survive) schools, each with its catalogue of cliches' appealing to the sort of geek who lives in a basement with his collection of shirtless-guys-wearing-headbands movies.
One school even advertises lessons on how to kill a sheep with a knife, a life-skill we've all desperately wanted to learn in case America is invaded by extremist ewes with blood-lust in their eyes and death on their little hooves.
There are entirely too many, um, men who suffer the pathetic need to join an organization where they will be bullied and humiliated, and where they can do secret handshakes and call each other Brother and Comrade. If your son wants to join a fraternity, ask him why he wants to pay money to some other idiots to strip him naked and beat him up so they'll be his friends.
But I have my own fantasy of a personal training school, one that can whup me into the shape I want. Indeed, I have sketched out a rudimentary curriculum for Mack's Survival School:
1. Sleep deprivation exercise: whenever the alarm sounds off in the morning a crack squad of ninja clock-assassins wearing discount-store camouflage knee-pants made in China will garrot it into silence with a length of piano wire so that you can sleep another hour or two. After all, what's really important in life: food, clothing, and shelter, or self-fulfilment, and, like, oneness with nature and stuff, pushing your personal envelope where no envelope has gone before?
2. Preparing clear fields-of-fire: whenever the yard needs mowing, your comrades will chant "No, it doesn't! No, it doesn't!" over and over, and will flash seductive pictures of reclining chairs before your weary eyes.
3. Man as hunter: intensive sessions on studying menus. Hey, if God meant for you to run down a sheep and cut its throat, He would not have invented restaurants.
4. Finding water in the desert: intensive preparation and practical exercises in asking wait-staff for a glass of water. Advanced course: turning the water-faucet the right way.
5. Staying dry in a thunderstorm: stay in the house.
6. Sleeping dry in a thunderstorm: go to bed. In the house.
7. Protection against predators, human and animal: lock the door. Sleep with a revolver by the bed. Memorize the secret code for 911.
8. Crossing the desert: drive your car.
9. Finding your way across country: stay on the road. Duh.
10. Signalling to your comrades: dial the telephone.
11. Primitive shelters: just wait for the next hurricane and score yourself a blue FEMA tarp.
12. Route hiking: from the couch to the refrigerator and back.
13. Discovering who you really are: look in the mirror.
14. Building a fire: strike a match.
15. Making a difference in the world: go get a job.
Now, then, folks, you'll find yourself and you will survive my course. Now just send me the money.
What is your opinion?
Mack Hall
mhall46184@aol.com
Mack's Survival School
Last summer a fellow from New Jersey paid a survival school $3,175 to force-march, humiliate, starve, dehydrate, and kill him in a Utah desert. The school says they push folks "past those false limits your mind has set for your body."
Well, yes, dead is pretty much past any limits, false or otherwise.
This is from the school's 'net site:
Your destination on a BOSS Field Course is not a physical place; it can't be plotted on a topo map. Somewhere along the many miles of sagebrush flats, red rock canyons, and mesa tops of Southern Utah — somewhere between the thirst, the hunger and the sweat — you'll discover the real destination: yourself. (http://www.boss-inc.com/02front.html)
You'll surely want to travel a few thousand miles and pay a few thousand dollars to put your life in the hands of someone who writes turgid sell-o-babble like that.
A quick browse through the 'puter will dig up dozens of survival (if you survive) schools, each with its catalogue of cliches' appealing to the sort of geek who lives in a basement with his collection of shirtless-guys-wearing-headbands movies.
One school even advertises lessons on how to kill a sheep with a knife, a life-skill we've all desperately wanted to learn in case America is invaded by extremist ewes with blood-lust in their eyes and death on their little hooves.
There are entirely too many, um, men who suffer the pathetic need to join an organization where they will be bullied and humiliated, and where they can do secret handshakes and call each other Brother and Comrade. If your son wants to join a fraternity, ask him why he wants to pay money to some other idiots to strip him naked and beat him up so they'll be his friends.
But I have my own fantasy of a personal training school, one that can whup me into the shape I want. Indeed, I have sketched out a rudimentary curriculum for Mack's Survival School:
1. Sleep deprivation exercise: whenever the alarm sounds off in the morning a crack squad of ninja clock-assassins wearing discount-store camouflage knee-pants made in China will garrot it into silence with a length of piano wire so that you can sleep another hour or two. After all, what's really important in life: food, clothing, and shelter, or self-fulfilment, and, like, oneness with nature and stuff, pushing your personal envelope where no envelope has gone before?
2. Preparing clear fields-of-fire: whenever the yard needs mowing, your comrades will chant "No, it doesn't! No, it doesn't!" over and over, and will flash seductive pictures of reclining chairs before your weary eyes.
3. Man as hunter: intensive sessions on studying menus. Hey, if God meant for you to run down a sheep and cut its throat, He would not have invented restaurants.
4. Finding water in the desert: intensive preparation and practical exercises in asking wait-staff for a glass of water. Advanced course: turning the water-faucet the right way.
5. Staying dry in a thunderstorm: stay in the house.
6. Sleeping dry in a thunderstorm: go to bed. In the house.
7. Protection against predators, human and animal: lock the door. Sleep with a revolver by the bed. Memorize the secret code for 911.
8. Crossing the desert: drive your car.
9. Finding your way across country: stay on the road. Duh.
10. Signalling to your comrades: dial the telephone.
11. Primitive shelters: just wait for the next hurricane and score yourself a blue FEMA tarp.
12. Route hiking: from the couch to the refrigerator and back.
13. Discovering who you really are: look in the mirror.
14. Building a fire: strike a match.
15. Making a difference in the world: go get a job.
Now, then, folks, you'll find yourself and you will survive my course. Now just send me the money.
What is your opinion?
Data Compression Tests
In this day and age of "High-Speed" internet and P2P programs where people can download entire collections of music and pictures, there are many choices in compression. What i mean by this is what program you can use. I am sure that many of use have used WINZIP. Another one is called WINRAR. I use Winrar and 7-zip on my personal computer as with both of those, i can open most any file that i encounter. Here is the link to the article that i read.
Compression Comparison Guide Rev. 2.0
There are many others as you can see on this table.
As you can see, the data compression software that was used to test are a selection of old stalwarts, as well as current popular formats. But instead of just testing them at the default settings, we are going to examine each data compressor at their fastest and best compression settings as well
Here are the data sets that were used in this test.
To obtain an accurate idea of how well each compressor will perform in real world, we have specially created a data compression benchmark. The fileset consists of 10 standard categories covering all the common file types as well as a special category. All categories have a size of at least 200,000,000 bytes. compressed by nature (e.g. MP3, MPEG, JPEG, etc.), we have only one thing to say - when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. As you will see later, the results of some of the newer compressors will surprise you. They can attain really amazing compression results even with files that are thought to be impossibly hard to compress. We wouldn't have discovered that if we did not test and merely assumed, would we?
Overall, WinRK was the champion at compressing the filesets. It had an average compression rate of 23.2%. It was 9% better at overall compression than its closest rival, SBC Archiver which had an average compression rate of 21.3%. The poorest compressors overall, at default settings, were the trio of WinZip, gzip and ARJ32. They only had average compression rates of about 13%.
However, gzip was the undisputed speed champion. It only took just over 121 seconds to completely process the complete fileset collection which weighed in at over 1.6GB. It was over a third faster than the runner-ups, ARJ32 and WinZip.
The other compressors were pretty slow at their normal compression settings. However, WinRK was extremely slow, compared to the others. It took almost 1.5 hours to compress the entire fileset collection
The compression efficiency rating is a simple way to evaluate the efficiency of each data compressor. This way, we can see which compressor can save the most space in the least time.
Please note that a higher efficiency rating does not mean the compressor is better. It just means the compressor has a better compression-to-speed ratio. A more efficient compressor is, of course, always more desirable than a less efficient one.
The most efficient data compressor for the aggregated results was gzip. Its super-fast compression speed, coupled with its average compression rate allowed it to become the undisputed overall efficiency champion. ARJ32 and WinZip were also very efficient compressors. They were more than twice as efficient as their nearest rivals, StuffIt and bzip2.
The other compressors may have been good at certain files, but overall, they were pretty inefficient. The most inefficient compressors overall was WinRK by a large margin . No matter how good it was at compressing files, its extremely slow compression speed totally killed its efficiency ratings.
Here is the conclusion from the Article:
WinRK was the best compressor in most filesets it encountered. So, it was not surprising that it was the overall compression champion. However, its performance was offset by its abysmally slow performance. Even with a really fast system, it still took ages to compress the filesets. On several occasions, it took more than 18 minutes to compress just 200MB of files. Thanks to this flaw, it had the dubious honour of being the most inefficient compressor as well.
SBC Archiver, which was just slightly poorer than WinRK at compression was much faster at the job. Although it was nowhere near the top of the speed rankings, its faster speed allowed it to attain a moderate efficiency ranking.
WinRAR, which is a favourite of many Internet users, displayed a surprisingly bland performance at default settings. Although it had a pretty good overall compression rate of just under 19%, it was very slow at its default settings. That made it the third most-inefficient compressor. Surprising, isn't it?
In contrast, another perennial favourite, WinZip which had a lower overall compression rate of 13% managed to attain a much higher efficiency rating because it was able to compress the filesets much faster than WinRAR. Quite surprising since many users have abandoned it for WinRAR in view of its rather dated compression algorithm.
StuffIt is a dark horse. It has a pretty good compression rate overall but with an unimpressive compression speed. However, its amazing performance with JPEG files cannot be denied. JPEG files is undeniably StuffIt's forte. No other compressor even comes within a light year of it.
gzip and ARJ32 are both the fastest and the worst compressors of the lot. They have unimpressive overall compression rates but more than make up for it with their tremendous compression speeds. Therefore, it isn't surprising to see them garner the top two spots in compressor efficiency. However, we would still recommend GUI alternatives like WinZip. It is almost as efficient as gzip and ARJ32 and far more user-friendly.
Based on our results, we can only come to one conclusion. If you do not like to change the settings of your data compressors and want a good, fast and user-friendly data compressor, then WinZip is the best one for the job.
What is your opinion?
Compression Comparison Guide Rev. 2.0
There are many others as you can see on this table.
As you can see, the data compression software that was used to test are a selection of old stalwarts, as well as current popular formats. But instead of just testing them at the default settings, we are going to examine each data compressor at their fastest and best compression settings as well
Here are the data sets that were used in this test.
To obtain an accurate idea of how well each compressor will perform in real world, we have specially created a data compression benchmark. The fileset consists of 10 standard categories covering all the common file types as well as a special category. All categories have a size of at least 200,000,000 bytes. compressed by nature (e.g. MP3, MPEG, JPEG, etc.), we have only one thing to say - when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. As you will see later, the results of some of the newer compressors will surprise you. They can attain really amazing compression results even with files that are thought to be impossibly hard to compress. We wouldn't have discovered that if we did not test and merely assumed, would we?
Overall, WinRK was the champion at compressing the filesets. It had an average compression rate of 23.2%. It was 9% better at overall compression than its closest rival, SBC Archiver which had an average compression rate of 21.3%. The poorest compressors overall, at default settings, were the trio of WinZip, gzip and ARJ32. They only had average compression rates of about 13%.
However, gzip was the undisputed speed champion. It only took just over 121 seconds to completely process the complete fileset collection which weighed in at over 1.6GB. It was over a third faster than the runner-ups, ARJ32 and WinZip.
The other compressors were pretty slow at their normal compression settings. However, WinRK was extremely slow, compared to the others. It took almost 1.5 hours to compress the entire fileset collection
The compression efficiency rating is a simple way to evaluate the efficiency of each data compressor. This way, we can see which compressor can save the most space in the least time.
Please note that a higher efficiency rating does not mean the compressor is better. It just means the compressor has a better compression-to-speed ratio. A more efficient compressor is, of course, always more desirable than a less efficient one.
The most efficient data compressor for the aggregated results was gzip. Its super-fast compression speed, coupled with its average compression rate allowed it to become the undisputed overall efficiency champion. ARJ32 and WinZip were also very efficient compressors. They were more than twice as efficient as their nearest rivals, StuffIt and bzip2.
The other compressors may have been good at certain files, but overall, they were pretty inefficient. The most inefficient compressors overall was WinRK by a large margin . No matter how good it was at compressing files, its extremely slow compression speed totally killed its efficiency ratings.
Here is the conclusion from the Article:
WinRK was the best compressor in most filesets it encountered. So, it was not surprising that it was the overall compression champion. However, its performance was offset by its abysmally slow performance. Even with a really fast system, it still took ages to compress the filesets. On several occasions, it took more than 18 minutes to compress just 200MB of files. Thanks to this flaw, it had the dubious honour of being the most inefficient compressor as well.
SBC Archiver, which was just slightly poorer than WinRK at compression was much faster at the job. Although it was nowhere near the top of the speed rankings, its faster speed allowed it to attain a moderate efficiency ranking.
WinRAR, which is a favourite of many Internet users, displayed a surprisingly bland performance at default settings. Although it had a pretty good overall compression rate of just under 19%, it was very slow at its default settings. That made it the third most-inefficient compressor. Surprising, isn't it?
In contrast, another perennial favourite, WinZip which had a lower overall compression rate of 13% managed to attain a much higher efficiency rating because it was able to compress the filesets much faster than WinRAR. Quite surprising since many users have abandoned it for WinRAR in view of its rather dated compression algorithm.
StuffIt is a dark horse. It has a pretty good compression rate overall but with an unimpressive compression speed. However, its amazing performance with JPEG files cannot be denied. JPEG files is undeniably StuffIt's forte. No other compressor even comes within a light year of it.
gzip and ARJ32 are both the fastest and the worst compressors of the lot. They have unimpressive overall compression rates but more than make up for it with their tremendous compression speeds. Therefore, it isn't surprising to see them garner the top two spots in compressor efficiency. However, we would still recommend GUI alternatives like WinZip. It is almost as efficient as gzip and ARJ32 and far more user-friendly.
Based on our results, we can only come to one conclusion. If you do not like to change the settings of your data compressors and want a good, fast and user-friendly data compressor, then WinZip is the best one for the job.
What is your opinion?
Childhood Memories...
I saw this the other day while I was reading on the net. When I lived in Kirbyville Texas and attended grade school there, we had a big slide like this on out playground. I remember a kid was on it and the little edges were not totally closed to the slide and when he was going down it, his fingers got caught in between the slide and edge and they got cut. I think that they made some changes to the slide after that, but I can’t remember. Below is a map of Kirbyville Elementary School and also the middle school. The one to the north is the elementary with the playground being to the northeast. I took this image off of Google Maps.
For people that read this site i aperciate it!!
What is your opinion?
Emails.
After this weekend, no more emails will be sent out to you. If you want to read the blog, you will have the address and know where to go to read posts. The address is http://renigade.blogspot.com
Also if you want to subscribe to the blog, you can use the RSS buttons on the right hand side. Here is the link to be able to subscribe to the posts if you wish. http://renigade.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
You will need a RSS reader to get this feed or use www.Rojo.com or some other site like that.
Thankx for helping me get my site up and running.
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RMSTringer
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RMSTringer
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Thursday, May 03, 2007
Today...
It has been a rainy, cool day here in Midlo. Very dull weather here and it is in fact raining now. I still have to grill steak tonight so it doesn't go bad. Well, night shift kicked my ass this week. I worked all weekend on days and then Monday and Tuesday nights. I was BEAT yesterday morning!!
We also went to Hayes Furniture and bought a new bedroom suit for Chel and a futon for our spare bedroom. All that will be brought here on Tuesday afternoon.
What is your opinion?
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
My Blog...
I enjoy writing this blog. It is sometimes hard to keep the contect good all the time. but i try.
I think that it is neat to see how many people i can get to read this site. I have signed up to many different blog services and when i post a new entry, i use some of the services to "ping" and say that a new post is ready to be read. I keep stats on my site to see how many hits and people have read it that day and also where in the world that live.
http://www2.clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?url=http://renigade.blogspot.com is the link to use to see where people have read my blog all over the world। Please take time to come to my site and read it, not just the emails or the RSS feeds that can be signed up to. I like to think that i keep interesting and neat topics on the site for all to enjoy and learn from.
Thank you.
What is your opinion?
What is your opinion?
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