drunkencomputing

Hodge has always called the Fox News Channel “Fox Terror News.”  I knew why this was, because they predict nothing but doom and gloom if anything newsworthy is slightly skewed to the left.  But I didn’t know that this broadcasting method extended to all faucets of conservative media.  So imagine my surprise when I was forced to listen to right-wing talk radio for fucking HOURS yesterday.  I’d never heard such a bunch of garbage in my life.

For the record, I hate liberal media as well.  They are eccentric jerk-offs who irritate me with their whining.  I think that who ever started the political media machine way back when simply created an unspoken challenge between the two political parties to see who could out-whine and out-annoy each other more.

Anyway, driving back from Nebraska yesterday, the person who had the wheel was a very staunch Republican–the type that called in sick to work the day after the 2008 election because they were probably drinking away the McCain loss.  Since he was driving, he gets control of the radio (I’m very much for this rule in road trips).  It started with country music, which he gleefully whistled along with.  I wanted to slit my wrists just to see color, but opted insted to try and take a nap.  I knew that if the country music was any indication, by the time we hit the Twin Cities, the Terror News Network would be playing on the radio.  I was filled with dread.

Sure enough, we hit the Twin Cities metro and 100.3 KTALK came in with, who else?  Rush Limbaugh, blabbering like a moron.  I know that part of the time it was my left-leaning method that only heard whiny fat whale tears splashing on the microphone most of the time, so I simply made faces any time Rush took a “swing” at the liberals by calling them some sort of “risque” name like “wussies.”  This is what this man says to be the stand-in head of the Republican party?  I’m no genius, but I have some more creative name-calling techniques than that.  Elect me to that post.

Rush, at times, would have a good point or two, but he’d taint it immediately by not shutting up.  Two things I recall he said of certain honesty was that the media was in love with Obama.  This is true, they are.  Obama is a very charismatic person, very likeable, even to some right-wing individuals (I’m lookin your way, Mr. Arlen Spector!).  But instead of trying to figure out why the media is so in love with Obama–and what we listening folks as Republicans can do about it–he simply says that the American media has “drank the Kool-aid.”  End of discussion.  We’re just a bunch of sheep being led to the slaughter because we finally have a president who isn’t a tool bag.  Why not offer some things to criticize the president on, as a Republican media outlet, and try and build up your offensive to make America see that Obama isn’t all sugar cane and plumb cakes?  Instead you just generalize the American public–the American public that elected said man to office.  Way to rally your troops and make you sound like a complete idiot.  Idiot.

The other thing Rush said is that the Republican party, essentially, is weak.  He said that someone in the party needs to step up and take a few shots at the president, because the president is doing somethings wrong, and may continue to do them wrong in the future.  I agree completely, this is why there are two political parties, right?  Someone from the Republicans should step up and question the prez instead of sitting on their side of the aisle and whining to the media softly under their breath.  Someone over here take charge and, if you have to, be ostracized from the Republican party.  But aren’t you supposed to be doing stuff for your country, and not your party?  Instead, Rush doesn’t say this…he says that someone from the party should step up, take a few swipes at the President by saying that he’s single-handedly destroying the country.  Not that the Chrysler thing was a big oopsie-daisey, or that just throwing money we don’t have at a problem will fix it…no, just that Obama is one step away from shitting on the American flag and then shooting a bald eagle out of the sky.  Another typical fat-face mistake.  Rush, you had some great points going, but your stupid mouth got in the way again.

When the three-ring circus that is the Rush show ended, it was time for some cleverly placed ads that cemented conservative media as the Terror News Network for me.  The first ad was attempting to scare the shit out of people it was actually hilarious (and I apologize to the three people in the U.S. who have fallen victims to this act for saying that): forced home invasions.  The ad claimed we should protect ourselves from forced home invasions–where criminals come up and ring the doorbell, then force themselves inside your house and take your family hostage.  I’m not making this fucking shit up, I’m laughing as I type it.  To protect ourselves from a forced home invasion, the Terror News Network recommends buying a security system, creating a family emergency plan (this is actually the only good idea they had), and “even buying a dog.”  What kind of fucking fruitcake moron a) identified forced home invasion as a growing concern in America and b) recommended getting a dog as a method to curb such a problem?  The ad continued to say that forced home invasion tears apart families and is on the rise in the U.S.  I was completely dumb-founded by the ad, literally scaring people into a Brinks home security system and a coon hound to protect themselves from “forced home invasion,” as if this is one of the biggest threats to Americans nowadays.  Not buckling your seatbelt, drunk driving, or being fat and lazy and getting heart disease as something you should concern yourself with…nay, home invasions.  And by the way, it was WHEN you have your home forcely invaded, not IF you have it forcely invaded.  Hey, it’s the Terror News Network.

Then, as if a big slap in the face, the ad was brought to you by the Ad Council.  Sigh.

Next up was the one of the world’s largest radio-personality doofus, Sean Hannity.  Again, for the record, I think the largest doofus radio personality is whoever is on XM Radio’s America Left channel, who openly invites Republicans to call in to the show, but end up nursing their wounds as they get beat up by the leftists media.  As the slogan goes, “Republicans come calling, but they always end up crawling.”  Puh-leez, Jesus, do people buy this shit?  Sean Hannity’s topic of conversation for this first hour block of his 22-hour show was Swine Flu.  All my mind heard was “EVERYONE WILL DIE FROM SWINE FLU” in Hannity’s broadcast.  He brought in some guy from an organization that tracks pandemics–the guest doctor himself sounded like he had swine flu, as his voice was rasphy and wheezy–and continued to ask him one-sided questions about the new global pandemic that will eventually wipe out the earth.  Questions were like, “this is similiar to the 1918 virus that killed 40-50 million people.”  That’s not a questions, stupid, that’s a stupid-kid statement.  The doctor tried to reply by saying that we were better prepared nowadays since this *is* 2009 and 1918, and we don’t blood-let or use brutal tournaqets anymore.  Hannity wouldn’t hear it and continued to try and draw parallels between 1918 and the swine flu.  Eventually he wore down the doctor and he simply rasped slanted agreements without compromising his company’s position.  This continued for another 20 minutes, until Hannity told us if we didn’t by flowers from 1-800 PRO FLOWERS, we didn’t really love our moms.

By this time, I could change the radio station as the most bull-headed Republican left the vehicle and I had control over the radio.  I was completely dumb-founded and quickly dubbed the radio station the Terror News Network…here’s how you will die.  Only Republicans can save you.  Obama is the Anti-Christ.  We’re a bunch of wussies.  Yeah, I can all names too, Rush.  Maybe I can be the Democratic party leader.  I bet I can call Republicans cooler names.

I’m really warming up to Google’s idea of how the web should be, and I’m not talking the design or the conent, but moreso the delivery.  Instead of using client-side applications–that is, installing a program on your desktop computer–people should be moving into the client-LESS world.

In a client-less world, you don’t need to install an application on your PC…you can use everything web-based.  Instead of running Outlook or Thunderbird or–God, shudder–Eudora, you just open a web page to get your email.  There’s many, many benefits to using web-based applications, and I’m really coming around to it.  There are, however, many disadvantages to this way of thinking as well.

Just like water, electricity, and cell service, the web is becoming another always-on technology for many people.  Some people have SmartPhones even to extend that reach (like moi).  But it’s relatively easy to get on the web, and in a client-less world, all you need is the internet and a browser to get into your applications.  The flip side of this, of course, is that many people don’t have easy access to the internet.  My counterpoint to that is that if more services offered web-based (client-less) applications, more people could afford to have the internet available.  If individuals have to pay $1000 for a 2.3 GHz dual-core system with Blu-Ray drive because that’s the latest-and-greatest at their Best Buy/Wal-Mar/Buy More/electronics super center, then sure, they probably won’t make the move to get onto the internet.  But if they can get by with a smaller system system with nominal specs and without all the whiz-back new-fangled technology–and for a fraction of the cost–then people can afford to get on the internet more.  When you have client-less applications, spli-dow, you don’t need the Gigantor 5000 computer any more.  Reference the eee PC, netbook, One Laptop Per Chiled, etc. for this side of the argument.

So you have a computer, or even a lower-end computer.  To my knowledge, 70-80% of the average computer user (nay, probably more than that), only get on the computer to surf, email, and transfer music & pictures.  You don’t need the Gigantor 5000 computer with quad-core CPUs, a Blu-Ray drive with LightScribe and expandable media bay.  You don’t need to pay $1000 for it either.  You only need the basic computer to launch a web browser for all these features.  For email: you have your web-based email application, like Hotmail or Yahoo, and the far superior Gmail (from Google, SHOCK!).  For music, you have Amazon MP3, with it’s vastly superior DRM-less music library (and still, only $.99 a tune, SNAP).  And for pictures, you have Flick or Snapfish.  DONE.  No need for Outlook (for email), no need for iTunes (bleeeh), and no need for whatever ghetto application came with your Kodak EZ Share camera.  You don’t need to install these clients and piss away your precious CPU resources.  Additionally, most applications nowadays aren’t just stand-alone executables…they require installs, and even then, the install isn’t *just* for the application…they will install hooks into your other applications, into your OS (such as annoying system-tray applications).  All this crap wastes resources too.  The common user doesn’t know how to combat these applications from performing these actions (tip: just try “Custom install” sometimes during setup, that can help a lot!)

On top of all this, if you don’t have client software installed on your PC for these applications, you have a fringe benefit as well as saving money buy not requiring a schwanky computer system: security.  If you don’t have client software installed, you don’t have to keep it up-to-date with security patches.  Instead. patches or security updates are done by the application provider (!!!!).  The flip side to this point is that you open yourself up to greater security risks by keeping your private data on the servers that host the web-based application (such as email or calendar appointments).  To this, I say phooey.  Truth be told, many web-based application providers provide better security than most brick-and-mortar data storage places.  I trust Google with my email more than I would trust the Veterans Affairs office with my SSN, or the local clinic with that faded-ass personal file that they just hang all willy-nilly on the wall outside my office.  Plus, your email is already on a shit ton of other servers everywhere else, your credit card info in even more areas, and your personal information is scattered throughout so many countless random locations you would shit yourself if you found out how easy it is to get.  This isn’t an excuse for the insecurity of your current data; but rather a statement that starting off with something that is built with security somewhere in the forefront of it’s mind (like Gmail) is a better step than what we did 20 years ago.  Also, don’t be a complete fucking moron and use a 5-character password like your dog’s name or your initials.  You deserve to have your shit stolen if you’re this idiotic.  It’s the 21st century–we’re about to colonize mars–and the most blabbed about crime nowadays on the talky box is identify theft.  So get the net: get a good password, stoopid.

Client-less applications have replaced everything on my computer that I once had some piece of crap, system-resource-wasting software for.  I used to use Microsoft Outlook for my email, calendar, and contacts.  Now I use Gmail for email and contacts.  I also use Google Calendar for my calendar application.  I use Google Documents for my spreadsheets and document files.  I use Google Notebook for the notes I jot down when I’m on the run (thank you, Blackberry!).  And all of these client-less applications can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.  Shazam.  On top of that, if you have a SmartPhone–say, a Blackberry?–you can get that anywhere anywhere.  Anywhere.  That’s tits, my friend.  And that’s the beauty of a client-less world.

Now I could expound upon this conversation by introducing you further into the realm of client-less worlds, by adding in mentions and uses for Google Gears, bookmarklets, and browser extensions, but we’ll save that for another lesson, children.  Right now, grab yourself a good browser great browser and start experiencing the client-less lifestyle.  You may just learn to love it, like I did.

After watching the final season of “The Wire” recently (RIP, “The Wire”), I’ve been unknowingly more critical of the media. Before “The Wire” I was only hesitant about the media…due in no small part to Fox News. Although a registered Republican, I find myself aligning my ideals more with Democrats nowadays. And thank God, if you ask me. But even as a modestly-pro-Government federal employee, I still can’t bring myself to watch–and appreciate–Fox News.

There are people at my work who can. They take it as gospel. At one point, I was in the gym at work and a guy asked me if he could change the community radio from some terrible soft rock station. I didn’t care, and he changed it to the AM Fox News channel. Sean Hannity was on, and the guy slapped his hands together and said “man, Sean Hannity, what a smart guy, right?” I was appalled by the statement for one obvious reason (that is, Sean Hannity is NOT a smart guy), and for one non-obvious reason: that this guy actually thought I felt the same way. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Then there was a guy who’s cubicle at work was plastered with anti-John Kerry pictures. He had Fox News articles hanging up to “back up” the pictures. And the anti-Kerry pictures/articles weren’t about things that John Kerry actually does wrong…it was all minuscule things that Fox News (and other right wingers) blew up to cheapen his image. It was the adult equivilent of making fun of a kid’s thick glasses in grade school. And some of it wasn’t terribly appropriate for the openness that should be expected in a work environment, where individualism is silently and un-glamorously pushed on individuals as a form of motivation.

I also have a friend who’s overseas right now, who forwards some of the most crazy, bizarre right wing propaganda (yeah, I used THAT word) to me and Hodge. I don’t even read it any more, unless I want a reason to shake my head in disgust. Even the emotionless Hodge can’t believe some of the pure shit that he sends. And there’s no point in replying back to him with your views or own opinions for two reasons: one of them is that arguing over email is ineffective, and two, he’s completely brain-washed and if you raise a point, it will only devolve into finger-pointing and “un-American pussy” name-calling. Seriously. And when people say that Mormons and Scientologists are “cults,” I think of these people I just listed.

Anyway, I digress. Fox News is right wing biased, like doiy. And people say CNN is left wing biased. I don’t see it (maybe I’m brain-washed, my God!) as much as I do in Fox News. But that’s not the point. I’m smart enough not to be influenced by the media marketing machine and am able to parse political news stories for relevant information and form my own opinions. I’m not a sheep. But CNN reports on stories that actually aim to educate people and motivate them into action.

An example of this is the story about the Kentucky National Guard troops. For the record, if CNN was so left wing nutty, why would they run a story like this? Some Kentucky Army Guard troops were training in Wisconsin before being shipped off to Iraq. The Government wouldn’t pay to let them travel home one last time before leaving. CNN ran the article, and the viewers raised $50,000 to have them travel home before leaving. That’s a pretty big deal.

Then there’s the more popular story of the Iraqi boy that was burned alive. CNN reported on him months ago, and suddenly there was an outpouring of support. Turns out, a burn clinic in California offered to take him in and do skin grafts and what not to repair the damage from the burning. Then, to top it off, viewers contributed a whole bunch of cash to the effort. Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/19/youssif.update/index.html

Then there’s the fact that CNN actually follows up on stories. I’ve listened to CNN on the radio every morning on my way to work for 3-4 years now. I’ve heard most of the stories in that time, and the other day I heard two stories from 2005 and 2004. One involved an old lady that was shot 34 times and killed when police in some city raided her home on accident, thinking it was a drug factory. The people responsible for the botched raid are now going on trial for their screw-up. I think it’s important that a news agency be thorough, and follow up on stories they break, because it actually shows that they care and don’t just churn out the news for ratings only.

There’s other things CNN has done that makes a difference, too, and while they are just as quick as any news organization to toot their own horn when the accomplish something, there the only ones I really actually hear about doing anything. Just like in the old days, when newspapers and TV broadcasts were THE SOURCE for information, and when those same news outlets accomplished things like breaking Watergate of bringing the truth about the Iran-Contra affair or Agent Orange to light. That doesn’t really occur any more. So it’s nice to see that in some fashion, someone in the media still makes a difference.

Perhaps the perversion of the news media is due to politics or business influence, or even the internet. Whatever it is, it has destroyed most of the trust I once had for the media. Maybe CNN and local news are the last Bastion for news that makes a difference. I’d be willing for anyone to help me find somewhere else that may.

Brandon recently jumped on the Facebook bandwagon.  He was making some comments that I found interesting.  First of all, he asked me which I like better…Facebook or MySpace.  Until that moment, I never really thought of it in terms of that way.  The question hit me like the question “boxers or briefs” does.  I never thought of it as a choice between the two…just that they were separate entities.  I answered him truthfully…I never login to MySpace any more because it’s a dump…too much clutter, too much shit.  Plus, as Brandon pointed out, it’s practically always down.  Facebook, on the other hand, is relatively clean, and if you use AdBlock for Firefox, all you get is content…no fucking ads.  Also, Facebook is rarely down.

Then, in a bit of irony, Brandon linked me to his Goodreads profile.  Goodreads is another social-networking tool, allowing you to have friends and share your books and reading interests between people.  A cool idea, indeed (I think a tool in there to actually LOAN a book to someone would be awesome), because it builds a database of books you’ve read, generates quizzes on the authors & books, etc.  Neato stuff like that.

Then I found a widget for Goodreads that puts your Goodreads information on Facebook.  Motherfuck, I thought.  That’s the answer…Facebook is the one-stop social networking platform.  It’s open-ness to let other people build applications and widgets to use Facebook to share information from anything obviously puts it ahead of the seizure-inducing MySpace.

I use Facebook a lot.  Everything I have is tied to it: Netflix, this home page, Twitter, my Blackberry, my Wii, and now Goodreads.  I think we have a winner, Brandon.

I’m not a huge home theater nerd like SOME PEOPLE are, but I do enjoy quality entertainment.  I want high definition, booming bass, and surround sound.  My equipment is a little out of date, and the configuration is straight boo-ghetto, but it works.  So when I sold my HD DVD player because the fucking format sank faster than Andrew McCarthy’s career, I knew I was going to have to with Blu Ray.  (Side note: this was bound to happen…if I ever pick a side in something, I always lose, hence I don’t often pick sides).

After reviewing Blu Ray player options, I was convinced by a few people at work that the way to go is the Playstation 3.  Even though I’m not a huge gamer (I seldom play computer games, and I only play the Wii when I have friends over), it seemed like a good purchase: the PS3 can play games & Blu Ray, has a wireless connection, and costs as much as the entry-level stand-alone Blu Ray player.  So I went for it, thanks in part to the sales of my HD DVD player and HD DVDs, and a nice birthday present from Rachael and her parents.  I was pretty stoked to hook it up, as I always am with a new toy, but the PS3 sat unused for about four days until I got around to hooking it up.

And when I hooked it up, it didn’t work.

I couldn’t figure it out.  When I had everything else unhooked from my receiver, the picture was perfectly crisp, but if I hooked up even the Wii or the DVD player, the screen got scrambled.  I couldn’t figure it out…I had all my equipment going through the power filter.  Josh told me to pick up a component switch, so I did.  When I got it last night, it didn’t fix the issue.  I was perplexed, and per-pissed.  So I ripped everything apart, and started building from the ground up.

After completely stripping down the entertainment center and hooking everything back up, piece by piece, testing everything each step, the PS3 still hopped around the screen like Perry Ferrell in the 80s.  I took it all apart and almost started to weep.  What could the problem be?

Then it hit me…the only cable I didn’t unplug was the coax cable for the DVR.  I hadn’t unplugged it because the DVR was recording 30 Rock, Scrubs, and The Office.  I unplugged the coax, and noticed it wasn’t run through my power filter.  As if God was showing me a sign that I was correct in diagnosis, a big blue spark arched from the coax end to the metal TV stand.  I think I had found my problem.

I ran the coax through the power filter, and then jumped it back to the DVR.  The DVR came back up, and then I hooked up the PS3…things were working!  I nearly cried again, but this time, tears of joy.  I hooked up all the rest of the peripherals (most of them through the new component switch box) and tested everything out.  Amazingly, everything worked.

Not only did I learn a valuable lesson about grounding stuff, I also fixed a bunch of stuff.  Now, all my components are hooked up with SPDIF instead of some of them having RCA hook ups (like my DVR).  I also don’t have to switch cables when I wanted to play Wii.  Everything was coming up Richard.  I was fully expecting to get hit by a car the very next morning because of all this good fortune.

Now I have to setup my PC to be a media server so I can watch videos and music off of it and the internet.  That’s the next project, though, and if it took me this long to get my PS3 hooked up, God knows when this will get done.

So there you have it kids.  Spend the $100 and get a power filter to ground your shit for your home theater.  You might save yourself a lot of problems.