Vista for President

I think John McCain should chose Microsoft Vista as his Vice President.

Strange and mystical forces outside the bounds of logic have put these two into positions of power. They are both trying to win the world over in order to control the earth. Let me compare their stories and show why they deserve each other.

1. We have to Upgrade: It is the law of the land as well as the law of computer advancement.

There will be an election, there will be new hardware and software. This is a fact that we can't avoid.

2. Neither Vista or McCain were chosen by a democratic process.

Microsoft decided what would be and not be included in Vista. Licensing contracts ensure that at least someone will have to use Vista. The primary process is anything but representative of what the country wants. We pick a candidate based on what a few states decide. That is just silly.

3. The other options are not really ready to be options.

Come on, we have to vote for McCain. There really is not an alternative. We will have to upgrade to Vista. There really is not an alternative. Mac is not interested in having anyone new try their OS. They are not interested in making business networks and they really do not care about the small business folks. They gun for the big money big head types. The Mac is like Clinton. Clinton appeals to a specific crowd but I don't see the majority of people will go that way.

Linux is the Obama in this race. Most people don't know enough about him to dislike him. There are many rumors and misunderstandings about both Linux and Obama. I don't see either of them ready to unseat the powers that are in place. Linux has given me hope in a future where Linux will be a force but that is mostly because of the money Ubuntu has put into making their product great. I really don't know much about Obama but I don't swing to the left so I really don't care anyway. I have a linux installation or two but I don't depend on them for anything.

4. McCain and Vista will have a short shelf life.

McCain would be the oldest president ever. That likely means one term. They could put in a pig's heart or a robotic colon or something to keep him going but the truth is that being president is a tough job. We will be doing this all over again in a few years.

Vista has had some problems to say the least. It is a minority that believe Vista has the lifespan that XP did/does. Vista will go the way of ME and Bob. The next version of Windows will happen in a year or two and people will forget Vista and big companies that hold out will say, man I am glad we waited for something better.

I wrote this thing out of frustration. I hate that cable news and a Baptist Preacher decided who will be the next president. I hate that Vista is so Mac like. I hate that out of 1 gig of RAM 823mb is used without any user applications running. I hate that after 14 minutes on a brand new install, brand new PC, Vista hung like a Iraqi leader.

PDA Addiction

I have been a user of some sort of PDA for years. I have had Casio electronic address books, the Xircom REX, a Sharp Zarrus, an Ipaq, and now I am currently using a Dell Axim X50. I am blogging with this Axim if you can believe.
There is no perfect PDA.

I know it sounds like I'm a gadget guy and just play with technology ,but I'm not. If a technology is cool but not useful then it had better be cheap if I am going to buy it.
I use my Axim daily even though I have an HTC StarTrek Windows Mobile phone.
I am looking for my next PDA. I am pretty picky.

1. Touch Screen
2. Cell Phone 3G
3. 802.11 b/g
4. SDIO
5. Bluetooth
6. Latest Windows OS
7. Full keyboard
8. Upgradable battery

Notice GPS is not on the list and neither is a camera. I am not interested in either.

If you know of any other than the "no camera" option Tilt, let me know.

Picked up by a Genie Part 1

Today I attempted to cut down a tree. It is a more difficult task than you may realize. The tree is up against a hurricane and cedar fence. It is also inbetween my house and my neighbor's. Every branch required some thought about where it would land. I am getting ahead of myself.

The big part of this is that I rented a man-lift. It is a Genie 34 foot tow-able model. It was a challenge getting it into my rain soaked yard. I had to remove the gate and a chunk of fence to get the thing in the back yard.

I tell you, being extended out over my house in a tiny bucket is a bad place to be. I used a reciprocating saw to get the little limbs. My father-in-law used the chainsaw to get to the bigger parts.

We are about half way through. It rained a little while ago so the morning should prove difficult.

On a personal note, my hands are swollen!!! I feel beat up.

Belly Blogging

I am laying in the floor on my belly, in my baby's room, listening to Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch singing I'll Fly Away for the 5th time now. Where do I start with this one. Well, the baby is sick. The Trifecta of double ear infections coupled with the chest congestion has us on another round of anti-biotics. This is the second in 2 months so we switched from one type to another. I say we but I mean the doctor switched us.

I am using my laptop in the baby's room because he will not go to sleep. Apparently the $4.40 generic anti-biotic that we have this month also causes jumpy little babys. A side effect that the $40 anti-biotic from last month did not have.

As I lay here listening the the one song that seems to calm him down I am reminded of my accute carpel tunnel syndrome. I used to laugh about that sort of made up ailment but I tell you my numb fingers and sharp pains in my right wrist is all the proof I need.

This leads me to my free idea. Attention all of you who have the American Dream of making a million dollars like the guy with the pet rock. This is no "Jump to Conclusions Mat" or anything but it will sell.

Here it is..... the free idea.

They sell little number key pads for laptops so you don't have to use the num lock feature on your laptop. I want to make a keyboard that is split down the middle. Use either side you want. I want the right hand version but you can order either one. Plug it in usb and there you go. My left hand could stay on the laptop and my right hand could be on the split keyboard off to the side.

Why you ask? Well, it is simple. The keyboard was designed for tiny shouldered women. I am neither tiny shouldered nor a woman so my shoulder width is at least twice that of a tiny secretary of days gone by. I have a hard time squeezing my wrists together type on laptop keyboards.

A Strange Season

It's hot!!! It is December and we are dealing with 80° leaf raking! I know this is the south and global warming is good for homeless people but this is nuts.
Saturday I did some spring cleaning while the fam was out of the house. Man o man, the dust was amazing! I even cleaned under the bed. I think we are going to go without a box springs for a while. I wonder if the trash service will pick that up.
I found a tv station I did not even know I had. It is called versus and it is basically MMA-WEC all the time. It used to be like hunting and fishing channel but now they don't suck.

Uneasy tilt

I have to admit that I have written many more blogs than actually appear on this site. I am told that I don't write enough but the truth is that I don't click publish enough.

I wonder if old people ever become comfortable watching young people ignore their advice and make painful or expensive mistakes.

Tap Out

Thanks mostly to the History Channel's show Human Weapon, I have started watching MMA. For the uninitiated MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts. I grew up watching boxing with my dad in the big days of Mike Tyson so boxing is nothing new but Ultimate Fighting Challenge is crazy. (or is it Champion? Who knows)

The flying kicks and jujitsu are fun to watch. While I will not likely ever punch, kick, or arm bar anyone I have a challenge for any of those MMA guys. Go countless rounds with my 4 month old. Each night I think it will be the night that I am going to have energy to do something productive after he is put to bed. Each night I am beat into being a dribbling idiot by a baby.

He is relentless! Just when you think you are doing well he starts screaming. By the time I get him to give up the awake game I have nothing left to offer. I am barely able to type this series of sentences out. I may reply to an email or check some of my RSS feeds but basically I am out. I tried writing the lunch money check tonight and had to use a calculator to do some subtraction. I wrote the date in the amount and almost started writing October on the, what do you call that line where you write out the numbers in words? I sometimes have to look up how to thirteen or is it nineteen? Oh, its nineteen. This always makes me think of that robot dancing guy on Star Search that danced to the song Nineteen by Paul Hardcastle. Na Na Na Nineteen.
Wow, I will check woot.com and go to bed.

Not even Survivorman would be able to focus after a few rounds with this baby. I can't wait until he is a teenager and I can wake him up in the morning so he can watch me drink coffee. My son that is, not Survivorman. That would be uncomfortable for both of us I am sure of it.