Too Soon ...Aaron Swartz

I can't say I was on the forefront of Aaron Swartz' connection to internet freedom.  I do know, NOW, what he was.

Can you say, "government bullying" that results in "death by suicide?"

There is really no other explanation.  And just to say, this is not the only time our government's prosecution techniques resulted in a premature death by suicide. 

At 14, Mr. Swartz helped create RSS, the nearly ubiquitous tool that allows users to subscribe to online information. He later became an Internet folk hero, pushing to make many Web files free and open to the public. But in July 2011, he was indicted on federal charges of gaining illegal access to JSTOR, a subscription-only service for distributing scientific and literary journals, and downloading 4.8 million articles and documents, nearly the entire library.

Charges in the case, including wire fraud and computer fraud, were pending at the time of Mr. Swartz’s death, carrying potential penalties of up to 35 years in prison and $1 million in fines. 

Halloween Desktop Theme

Since I change my Desktop Theme with a turn of the seasons and holidays, here is a Halloween theme I have currently running:

Oooooh, spooky house!

Site Meter Went Down

I am not sure what the problem is, but Site Meter is not counting my hits all of a sudden. When I put in my account name and password, it says there is no such account (like I've had it since day one of this blog over seven years ago). Then when it asks you to put in your email address to retrieve and/or change the account name, it says no such email address exists. It's too early in the morning for me to try to corr3ct and/or change all of this and reset my meter, or even be able now to retrieve whatever data was lost. Of course, that is why I have to counters, Stat Counter and Site Meter. At least Stat Counter is up and working, and yes, I had many hits yesterday and even a few this morning. I'll deal with it tomorrow! Gotta go to work, ya know?

RIP Steve Jobs

Although I am not an Apple, IPod, Mac or whatever fan (PC only), your short life enriched a lot of people.



RIP Dude. Be sure to keep your I Phone connected from up above.

Update Re Puter Problems

I've barely got my computer operational. It's pissing me off that after all the recovery attempts, I now have stuff on here that is so unnecessary. For example, I partition my hard drive into C, D and E. E has my music, D has my secondary programs, and C of course, has my main programs. But the recovery process doubled and tripled the C, D and E drives, such that it is messing up the hard drive. So, I've decided rather than erase this shit and download my 2009 old hard drive, I will just buy a new one. Besides, I always replace the hard drives every two to three years anyway, so ... what is the point of erasing everything on this already two year old hard drive, right? Just erase it, keep it as an extra hard drive for my Santa's Elves project, and just buy a NEW one and install the data from my old 2009 hard drive. Yeah, that's the ticket!!!!

I also realized that I use a music site called DivShare where I upload music to the site where I can then imbed the songs and put them on my blog. About 1/2 of the songs that I "would" have lost based on what I uploaded since 2009 are already on the DivShare site, so I really won't even lose that many songs. Plus, like I already mentioned, I'm only going to lose about seven or eight months of pictures I took on my cell phone. I can live with that.

Ahhhhh, enjoying a rum and diet coke, feeling less stressed!

Been Out ... User Error - Don't Hit Delete, Damn It!

I am making up T-shirts that say "User Error" and under that is the computer "delete" key.

I deleted all of my hard drive. Don't ask me yet. The T-shirt says it all.

Thank god I've never upgraded a puter because I got a virus. I have all of my hard drives since 1996. Last one is 2009, so all I am losing is, at most, two years worth of data. After four solid days of utilizing recovery data programs, nothing is coming back, except corrupted files. Hell, I play Sinatra, and Lady Gaga comes up! So, losing two years (and really in some cases only 11 months) of data, I can live with that. But, I have to wipe out my entire hard drive, re-install Windows, and then copy my 2009 old drive to this computer.

I hope my grandson respects the fact he has my laptop with 4g wifi, at the expense of my stupid deleting of my own files (for five hours, no less ... someone really slap me, or buy my T-shirts!)

After Monday, or Tuesday, I should have stuff up and ready. I had a wonderful time with my grandson, and plenty of pictures of just he and I together. We went to see "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" and trust me, go see this movie. I NEVER go to movies. I always wait for the DVD, and even then, I sometimes wait and buy the rental used ones when they go on sale at 4/$20! Ha ha. I would pay money a second time to see this movie.

What Pieces Of Information Are You Leaving Behind?

I think it is fascinating to observe those that read my blog, especially since there was a lot of "attention" given to it during the dog days of court over my grandson.

In the screen capture for the day of the hearing that sent Zaire off to Chicago back in February, not only was someone reading everything on my blog, but they were downloading the links to all of MY links (like to MyDD, DailyKos, Pams House Blend, etc.) as well as to the comment section.

Hey, what is that old saying about when they stop talking about you ... ? LOL!

I just think it is hilarious that people do not realize the amount of information they leave behind just by visiting websites.

On the bright spot, thanks to the Googlebot web crawler, I now have a Google page ranking of 3! Yippee (1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest). For sure, I am not up there in the rankings, but hey, I am ranked, damn it! Not a whole lot of bloggers (and there are millions of us out there) can say that, right?

I am coming up on my 6th blogversary this month. Six years of blogging. Wow!

Found A Few Downloaded Videos Pre YouTube

Before easy access via YouTube to classics, many of us actually downloaded certain classics (tee hee, ah the good old days circa 2000, before internet police). I was cleaning up, and decided to put in the unnamed cds and see what was on them.

Found three that have a handful of cool videos that are not YouTube. Have to download them to puter, then upload them in some fashion and share ... or maybe it's even easier (LOL).

Anyway, stay tuned. Will be serving wings and beer at the video showings.

My First Post Using New E-Machine Computer

This thing is so tiny, smaller than an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper! What is cool is that it is portable and easier to transport than a laptop. I bought it for my trip to Seattle so I can stay in touch with my office and the rest of my internet world, as well as blog my trip. It has a built in microphone and web camera, so I can actually take it around on the train and show people where I am and what I am seeing.

It has a built in wireless remote, but for now I am using my home internet connection for fast speeds so I can download and equip this thing with all the things I need before I leave next week. I hate the mouse pad but there is a little tiny mouse you can buy at Best Buy, so I'm on it.

I do have some things to blog about, but I'll leave that for the weekend. For now, I'm busy in the "install" mode.

The Death Of IE6

I thought this piece was funny! I am one of those diehards that have used IE6 until recently, when I kept being informed by sites I tended to visit that they would no longer be supporting this version of Internet Explorer, and that I would need to update to IE8, change to Firefox or Goggle's web browser. I had already tried IE8 and uninstalled it after it first came out, as I hated the layout, and just about everything in it. I finally switched over to Firefox rather than use IE anymore. It took some getting used to, but now I kind of like it.

I hate change in my computer world. I still have Windows XP on all my computers, although my boss recently purchased a "cadillac" computer for me, and it came with Windows 7 (the computers we purchased two years ago for the office came with Vista, but I had them all changed to XP). I decided to just bite the bullet at the office and learn to use the new Windows 7, which is ok. I also put Firefox on my office computer as well.

More than 100 people, many of them dressed in black, are expected to gather around a coffin Thursday to say goodbye to an old friend.

The deceased? Internet Explorer 6.

The aging Web browser, survived by its descendants Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8, is being eulogized at a tongue-in-cheek "funeral" hosted by Aten Design Group, a design firm in Denver, Colorado.

The memorial service will feature a coffin holding a "body" that has an IE6 logo for a head. Attendees are expected to eulogize the Microsoft browser by sharing remembrances, some of which have already been posted on the company's online funeral invitation.

"I feel terrible admitting this, but ... I never really liked him," posted someone who gave his name as Eddie Escher. "He had so many hang-ups, and he looked awful -- especially in his later years. But... he was always there when you needed him. You have to give him that."

Give the piece a read. It's quite funny, and entertaining.

Too Many Computers

I am really old school when it comes to technology. I am there, ahead of my peers, but I tend to cling to earlier versions of things I like until I'm told (by the computer) that my program will not run until I upgrade!

In the years between 2001 and current, I started dabbling in the art of building computers. I have a better grasp of the hardware than I do of the software ... still have never installed Windows, always let my partner do the OS shit.

I've amassed a shitload of computer parts. My office is fully decked out, but ironically I have the only old computer, which none of the parts are compatible with the new stuff. But, hey, in the 9 years I've worked at my office, I've never had a virus, while everyone else has had to have stuff done to their systems because they got fucked up by some virus (laughs).

Well, for whatever reason, my boss brings in this top of the line HP quad processor puter with Windows 7 and says, "here, I got you the Cadillac version."

I've had the box on the floor for a week now going "holy shit" why me? I already upgraded at home and gave my 9 year old self-built puter (which had 1 gig of RAM 9 years ago, LOL) to the grandkid, now I have to look at wasting a perfectly good old school puter for this Windows 7 faster than shit puter. (I still have my first IBM XT bought in 1986, but it was a 1984 version ... still has WordPerfect 5.1 on it, and if I am in the mood to get an old school floppy, I can still use it in conjunction with my "Cadillac" new age computer ... how weird is that?).

So, I finally relented and installed it as the work puter for me. First off, it's wireless, and I had to change my home to office communication tools, plus I still don't know if the newer puter will accept my Desktop Themes program. But even if it doesn''t, I don't change the themes at work like I do at home (hell, I've got over400 themes to choose from so I have more than enough to change it every day, which I used to do ... but I'm not as anal about the themes these days).

Well, long story short, my office computer's parts are still compatible with my 9 year old home puter with the 1 gig RAM, which is currently having problems and showing its age. I brought the old office puter home, and it has three slots for the RAM, so I can actually boost it to 1.5 gigs, and all I have to do is take out the wireless card and the other new stuff I put on the 9 year old puter (new DVD/CD player/recorder) and put them in old office puter, and my grandson will have a faster old school puter than anyone around!

I've got to learn, though, to stop keeping these old computers. Next week will be an interesting test of "adapting" as I start to use the new HP Cadillac.

Hell, I've even decided to dump using my old Sidekick with T-Mobile and go with a Blackberry using Boost's $60 a month prepaid plan, that includes 3g technology, which I keep waiting for the prepaid T-mobile to offer. Funny, the BB is cheaper than my Sidekick, and has more to offer. I figure since I'm progressing into 2010 technology, might as well ditch the old school cell phone.

UPDATE: 5/29/10 - I still have my Sidekick. Never did buy he BlackBerry. Instead, I opted for a new netbook computer. But after using it for a long trip, I ended up giving it to my grandson to take home (since he no longer has his own computer at home and his mom hogs her computer and rarely lets him use it). It was funny ... he said to me, "grandma, you have THREE computers here, and I have none. Can't I have this little notebook, PLEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSSEEEE??????" How could I resist, especially when it mostly sat on top of the tower unused under my desk!

I still want the BlackBerry, but I'll wait a few months. Maybe buy it as an Xmas gift for myself. Better yet, make my daughter buy it for me!

Getting Political News Off Net Increases

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans dissatisfied with political sound bites are turning to the Internet for a more complete picture, a new study finds.

In a report Sunday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said that nearly 30% of adults have used the Internet to read or watch unfiltered campaign material — footage of debates, position papers, announcements and transcripts of speeches.

"They want to see the full-blown campaign event. They want to read the speech from beginning to end," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew group. "It's a push back from the sound-bite culture."

Google Inc.'s YouTube and other video sites have become more popular. Thirty-five percent of adults have watched a political video online during the primary season, compared with 13% during the entire 2004 presidential race.

It's about time, considering all the crap they try to pass off as news on traditional media.

Golly, Gee, Carrie's Gonna BUY A CD!

I haven't bought a CD in years. I download my music (cough, cough). I purchased a Diana Krall CD about 8 or 9 years ago, and when I actually spent over two years trying to download the album "Jack Jones Sings Michel Legrand" and came up with only three of the songs, I actually bought it, although I couldn't find it in a store; I purchased it off E-Bay. I am still trying to find a place to purchase one of the two albums recorded by Hula Joe & The Hutjumpers.

I don't listen to radio. And now that artists and the RIAA are going after public radio to finally start paying them royalties for the songs played, that will spell the end of radio as we know it.

Obviously, radio had it's importance for a good many years, and it was what drove popular music and sales. That's why so many "payola" scandals arose from radio and the music industry.

I stopped listening to it when radio stations were changing format every couple of months! You'd finally get a groove on with a station, and next thing you know, it's an all Spanish station, or a right wing talk show. When KZLA, the only country station in Los Angeles on FM radio just disappeared, which followed the earlier withdrawal of Los Angeles' only jazz station, it was the last straw for me.

At first, I just started streaming radio stations over the internet, but not from Los Angeles. I found it funny I could listen real time to stations in Hawai'i or NYC. Then somewhere around early 2000/2001, that changed, when the stations had to go dark (not stream) during commercial breaks, which made listening tough. Also, the lack of proper broadband space to actually deliver proper streams back then made the stations start and stop a lot during the "buffering" phase.

Then all the internet communication sites began offering music, like AOL and Yahoo. I started streaming music from Yahoo about two years ago, and was impressed that there was no buffering. I could actually listen to music from the net without any interruption, for hours at a time. When I checked Yahoo Music's catalogue, I just had to throw up my hands and admit defeat! I actually pay $36 a year to have access to the Yahoo Music catalogue and stream. At work, it is on all the time, with mostly jazz. At home, I play it a lot depending on the mood I am in, funky 70's disco/jazz/fusion or 80's head banging!

I watched the country music awards last month because I wanted to see Garth Brooks live. I ended up becoming a fan of the group Sugarland, after viewing their performance. They did a song that I YouTubed, but could not find on the internet. Finally, browsing their website, I realized the song hadn't even been released yet! Sugarland will be the third CD I will have purchased in the past 8 or 9 years.

Vista Sucks -- Long Live XP!

Windows XP refuses to die. When Vista was released last year, some users disliked it so much they loaded XP onto their new, Vista-loaded PCs. Microsoft had planned to stop selling XP to manufacturers this year, but now it appears the OS will live on in low-cost computers.

I hate Vista. I've put XP on all the newly purchased computers at my office.