Back in 2008, I supported a Republican primary candidate by the name of Ron Paul. Unfortunately, Mr. Paul did not win the Republican party primary and instead, Sarah Palin and some old guy ran in his place, losing the election because the electorate realized that they were all more qualified to be vice president than the ditzy running mate they were given the choice of voting for. I imagine that the Republican party lost the election singly because of their choice of Sarah Palin for Vice President.
Now, Sarah is back, and she's touring the country speaking at rallies that use the term 'tea party'. Much of the rhetoric of this new tea party is not libertarian in nature. A lot of it is based on fear-mongering and hatred, and I just wanted to come out here today to tell you that I do not know these people. I do not wish to associate with these people.
Every time I hear a talking head on TV say the word 'teabagging', I can't help but giggle inside because I know what it means (and it has nothing to do with politics, I assure you).
The idiocracy is here, my friends. Do not embrace it. Do not merely be embarrassed and disgusted by it. Shore up your survival skills, because the world, it is going to hell in a hand-basket and it appears we cannot stop it with reason and logic.
May 22, 2010
May 02, 2010
FiOS Closed Captioning
Do you have FiOS? Do you like Closed Captioning? The default CC style on our FiOS box was annoying - black bordered - too big font, ugly font. And going into the FiOS Settings didn't help, because it doesn't allow you to set the style, like my cable box did. After some searching online, I found that there is a 'secret' menu on the FiOS box. To access it, press STB, and then get ready to press the following quickly, in order - Power, OK, Menu. With a little luck, you wait about 3-5 seconds and a black text on white background menu pops up, where you can change the CC font, background, color options. Make sure to change the CC Options to User while you're here. When you're done, just press the Menu button again.
The small font still isn't small enough for my big screen TV, but at least the annoying black background is off of the letters.
The small font still isn't small enough for my big screen TV, but at least the annoying black background is off of the letters.
March 30, 2010
PhotoRescue Data Recovery
Ok, this is going to sound like an ad....but it's not...It's advice:
This software:PhotoRescue just saved my bacon. I was downloading images from my camera card using Picasa, and something went wrong/funny. I had 497 photos, but I only got 380 or so photos, but it erased them all from the card anyway, as if it were done downloading. The missing photos included some family vacation photos, and I was understandably pissed off. I tried several packages to recover lost files, but each one ended up recovering corrupt jpg files, and I even tried jpg restoration software, which showed me the recovered files weren't even the right ones, much less complete images.
PhotoRescue worked - and by worked, I mean, it recovered the files, the CORRECT files, and they were images - the images I expected them to be, and it worked beautifully, giving me images to select from as to what I wanted restored (so I didn't have to restore the movie files and 380 photos I already had downloaded). The software was $29, a price I was glad to pay once I saw that the software did what I needed it to do. After trying about 5 or 6 other packages, I was happy to finally have something that worked.
This software:PhotoRescue just saved my bacon. I was downloading images from my camera card using Picasa, and something went wrong/funny. I had 497 photos, but I only got 380 or so photos, but it erased them all from the card anyway, as if it were done downloading. The missing photos included some family vacation photos, and I was understandably pissed off. I tried several packages to recover lost files, but each one ended up recovering corrupt jpg files, and I even tried jpg restoration software, which showed me the recovered files weren't even the right ones, much less complete images.
PhotoRescue worked - and by worked, I mean, it recovered the files, the CORRECT files, and they were images - the images I expected them to be, and it worked beautifully, giving me images to select from as to what I wanted restored (so I didn't have to restore the movie files and 380 photos I already had downloaded). The software was $29, a price I was glad to pay once I saw that the software did what I needed it to do. After trying about 5 or 6 other packages, I was happy to finally have something that worked.
March 23, 2010
Trying out Windows Live Writer
I’m trying out a third-party blog post composition software called Windows Live Writer – I want to see how it does, whether it posts accurately, how the plug-ins work, like this sample photo attachment (my breakfast on a flight to Dallas).
The options for word-wrapping and tilting the photo are interesting, but I want to see how they translate to the actual page. I don’t like that they’re not using CSS to tilt, but instead recreating the image, so that it’s rectangular. It doesn’t allow the text to tightly wrap around the image like I would expect or want. Of course, beggars can’t be choosers, and this is a free tool. Interestingly, Windows Live Writer did not pick up the last blog post in my blog when it imported them. Now that I’ve edited this post and re-published it, let’s see if those changes are implemented.
March 06, 2010
What would happen if you quit today?
This question occured to me the other day as part of a moment of self-reflection/analysis. It turns out that it's a very good question for self-criticism and thinking about yourself in terms of your career, both as far as options go and trying to understand how others see you.
To perform this exercise, imagine that you walked into your bosses office and handed him a letter of resignation. Don't even think about WHY you would do this, especially during a recession - just imagine it says "Effective immediately, I resign my position. Signed, You"
What would your bosses first reaction be? Try to be as truthful as possible with yourself. Now, if that honest answer doesn't include your boss asking what he can do to change your mind, you've got a problem..whether the problem is with you or your company's situation. See, if you're not someone he needs to try to keep, what's to stop him from getting rid of you all by himself.
If your honest evaluation is that he would try to keep you, then ask yourself why and go from there.
Each of us who are employees have a duty to bring value to the company we work for, and not just be some form of replaceable labor. Your value can come from anything, whether it be your personality, your dedication, your knowledge, your leadership, etc.... But note that it has to come from you, not the job you do. If you don't bring unique STUFF to your job, you can be replaced, and that's not a position you want to be in with your employer when times get rough.
I'd go so far to say that probably half of us are in this boat. A self-evaluation will help you think about and understand where you stand. If you were your boss, why would you keep you? If you wouldn't, what can you do to improve your position?
It's too easy to show up for work every day with the attitude that you just need to get through just one more week until Friday. Instead, you should be thinking about how you can bring new value to your company this week. If you attack your career in such a way, then success is all but guaranteed, for you and your employer (which cycles right back to you). As you improve others, you improve yourself, and others can tell the difference between those who are constantly adding value and those who just survive.
And as a last point...they won't tell you which they think of you until that moment that you resign or they have to lay you off. Don't let yourself be surprised - self-evaluate now.
To perform this exercise, imagine that you walked into your bosses office and handed him a letter of resignation. Don't even think about WHY you would do this, especially during a recession - just imagine it says "Effective immediately, I resign my position. Signed, You"
What would your bosses first reaction be? Try to be as truthful as possible with yourself. Now, if that honest answer doesn't include your boss asking what he can do to change your mind, you've got a problem..whether the problem is with you or your company's situation. See, if you're not someone he needs to try to keep, what's to stop him from getting rid of you all by himself.
If your honest evaluation is that he would try to keep you, then ask yourself why and go from there.
Each of us who are employees have a duty to bring value to the company we work for, and not just be some form of replaceable labor. Your value can come from anything, whether it be your personality, your dedication, your knowledge, your leadership, etc.... But note that it has to come from you, not the job you do. If you don't bring unique STUFF to your job, you can be replaced, and that's not a position you want to be in with your employer when times get rough.
I'd go so far to say that probably half of us are in this boat. A self-evaluation will help you think about and understand where you stand. If you were your boss, why would you keep you? If you wouldn't, what can you do to improve your position?
It's too easy to show up for work every day with the attitude that you just need to get through just one more week until Friday. Instead, you should be thinking about how you can bring new value to your company this week. If you attack your career in such a way, then success is all but guaranteed, for you and your employer (which cycles right back to you). As you improve others, you improve yourself, and others can tell the difference between those who are constantly adding value and those who just survive.
And as a last point...they won't tell you which they think of you until that moment that you resign or they have to lay you off. Don't let yourself be surprised - self-evaluate now.
February 19, 2010
What did he just say?!!! Assassination?!?!?!
Did Dr. Ron Paul just say that the government said they believe they have the right to assassinate American citizens who may be a threat to the Federal Government?
Where the hell did he get that from? Who said they believe they have that right? Where is this coming from? Why aren't more people pissed off about that?
Where the hell did he get that from? Who said they believe they have that right? Where is this coming from? Why aren't more people pissed off about that?
Food for Thought (Structured approach to the purpose of governance)
Hypothesis: The power of law is the power of armed control. Through law we, as a collective, decide under penalty of armed punishment, what actions for which we will use our collective armament and power to punish individuals or other ordered and targetable collectives. My hypothesis is that this power of law should not be used to regulate morality.
Second Hypothesis: Law, when properly implemented, should not impede upon the free will (which God himself has granted man) of the individual or the democratic will of targetable collectives.
Third Hypothesis: The purpose of law is to protect individuals and collectives from the individual application of force in violation of either of the first two premises. As such, the application of collective force should only be used to deter and prevent others from using force to prevent a part of that collective from going about their own business and exercising their own free will.
To be expounded upon at such time that I actually have time to discuss.
Second Hypothesis: Law, when properly implemented, should not impede upon the free will (which God himself has granted man) of the individual or the democratic will of targetable collectives.
Third Hypothesis: The purpose of law is to protect individuals and collectives from the individual application of force in violation of either of the first two premises. As such, the application of collective force should only be used to deter and prevent others from using force to prevent a part of that collective from going about their own business and exercising their own free will.
To be expounded upon at such time that I actually have time to discuss.
February 06, 2010
New Host
Ok - rehosting the blog with BlogSpot underneath - this should be interesting...everything will likely be messed up - let's see how this post goes...
See you on the other side
I'm going to attempt to convert my Blog over the next 2 days - it's going to be a challenge, I have to rework how everything operates, but I'll probably end up with a nicer looking blog in the end because I have to re-do the template.
If this works, my pages will be going from .asp to .htm.
I'll have less control over the information I log, but I'll also have a redirect to my old programmed content on something like custom.richgautier.com - I haven't worked out the details yet...
So....see you on the other side....
If this works, my pages will be going from .asp to .htm.
I'll have less control over the information I log, but I'll also have a redirect to my old programmed content on something like custom.richgautier.com - I haven't worked out the details yet...
So....see you on the other side....
February 03, 2010
Dear Google - Thanks A Lot For Leaving Me High and Dry
Dear Google:
I have used Blogger for 11+ years as the text content engine to my website. I used Blogger before Google owned Blogger, and the original product was so much better than what you have turned it into.
Blogger was originally designed as a content management tool, not just for vanilla blogs, but for people who needed a way to manage all kinds of published content.
I would have happily paid for such a service over the years, but you never asked for anything other than a link advertising Blogger at the bottom of my pages. At no time did you tell me that supporting a basic functionality of the Internet - FTP - was costing you more money than you made back from me.
All of my pages are indexed at Google, with .asp extensions - with a PageRank befitting my little piece of the web. Your replacement product will no longer support my website, its design and structure, or my purposes. Even if I migrate my content, all of my links will be changed, and I will no longer be able to customize my content programatically.
You've also given me less than two months to migrate to new tools, effectively freezing my content until I find a new content management tool.
Thank you so much for caring so much about your customers, especially those who have been with you since the beginning.
If you should happen to run into the fun guys who originally made Blogger, could you ask them kindly to come back and re-deploy their original product, maybe under a new umbrella? I could really use a customizable content management system right about now.
I have used Blogger for 11+ years as the text content engine to my website. I used Blogger before Google owned Blogger, and the original product was so much better than what you have turned it into.
Blogger was originally designed as a content management tool, not just for vanilla blogs, but for people who needed a way to manage all kinds of published content.
I would have happily paid for such a service over the years, but you never asked for anything other than a link advertising Blogger at the bottom of my pages. At no time did you tell me that supporting a basic functionality of the Internet - FTP - was costing you more money than you made back from me.
All of my pages are indexed at Google, with .asp extensions - with a PageRank befitting my little piece of the web. Your replacement product will no longer support my website, its design and structure, or my purposes. Even if I migrate my content, all of my links will be changed, and I will no longer be able to customize my content programatically.
You've also given me less than two months to migrate to new tools, effectively freezing my content until I find a new content management tool.
Thank you so much for caring so much about your customers, especially those who have been with you since the beginning.
If you should happen to run into the fun guys who originally made Blogger, could you ask them kindly to come back and re-deploy their original product, maybe under a new umbrella? I could really use a customizable content management system right about now.
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