Linux fans, Mac users, other *nixers, unite.

I know that there's long been a big feud between Linux users and Mac users, or to be more accurate, other *nix users and Mac users, but this is sheer dumbassery. When will both communities wake up and realize that the enemy is not each other? When will both communities realize that the enemy lies in Redmond, WA, and goes by the name of Microsoft? It is Microsoft that has repeatedly abused their customers, violated IP laws, violated antimonopoly statutes, and produced defective products. Can both communities realize that they agree on this most fundamental topic, and instead focus our efforts towards improving our OS's and our other hardware, and either creating ports or analogues that can both read and record to Windoze proprietary formats? Can both communities agree that greater word-of-mouth and other forms of advertising should be done? Can both communities (okay, this means you, Mac users) agree that we need greater penetration in the enterprise market? What people use at work can greatly influence what they buy to use at home. Oh, and Mac users, can we both agree that we need to have OS's that can run on any hardware? Apple's step towards Intel chipsets was good, but they need to do more if we want to provide balance to Windows. Just my thoughts on the subject...

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

I'm sure all who read my blog are aware of my stance on the Duke Lacrosse case. However, if you're not, my opinion is that Durham D.A. Mike Nifong trumped up charges, without evidence and in a highly prejudicial manner, against three men who have now been proven innocent. Furthermore, he has refused to drop the charges. If he and other prosecutors are willing to do this to rich people to get elected, what can they be expected to do to those who cannot properly defend themselves? In light of this, I am posting two videos from YouTube. Please watch and... enjoy? The second one is my favorite.

New music and more of why I hate Windoze:

I know music and Windoze Vista, the latest release of crapware out of Redmond, are disparate topics, but if you don't like it, then oh well. :)

The first band I would like to mention is Die Mannequin. I've just listened to their song "Autumn Cannibalist", and they're definitely good. They're a very promising sleaze rock, and their punk influences are very noticeable. Definitely worth a listen.

The second band is an electropop band by the name of Dangerous Muse. As cheap a bastard as I am, I'm seriously considering buying their album. Maybe it's the age speaking, (bah, I'm probably younger than those most likely to view this blog. lol) but I can hear some of the various influences that led to the evolution of their sound, though they're very much their own band. If you like dance music but have been yearning for, I don't know, LYRICS, this is definitely who you've been looking for. Good shit.

Last, but certainly not least, there's Throw The Fight, a pleasantly aggressive melodic alternative rock band. I'm out of adjectives, so instead, at the end of this post, I have embedded the video to their song "Endless Struggle".

In the meantime, I've been trolling the ZDNet blogs of one Ed Bott. It seems that the old "Windows Genuine Advantage" snafu has spawned yet another bastard child, this time for the Windows Vista version of their alleged operating system. Now, you can even trigger the kill switch by installing the wrong program on your legal copy. Thank you, Redmond. No wonder I feel better in a Tux.

Now, with that little bit of unpleasantness out of the way, enjoy the show:

I felt this music video earlier:

No, I wasn't depressed, but I was in a bit of a pensive mood. The link is here:

Tell me if this idea is stupid:

I have an idea for an electric car, and someone who understands cars, please tell me if I'm being an idiot. So that I'm not accused of plagiarism of ideas, I admit that it was inspired by ideas shown on the show Futurecars on the Discovery Channel and affiliated networks. What I have is a wish list. A light, durable chassis is considered a given, so the rest of my proposal is as follows:

*To select a speed at which the car travels, I would like to have the option of a keypad entry and the traditional foot pedal accelerator. I know, it's geeky, but deal. lol

*Brake pedal operated normally, but as for the braking itself, I would like to see regenerative braking to extend the range on one charge, but this would mainly be effective in city driving.

*Triacs or SCRs instead of a traditional transmission to increase or decrease the power. This would have the dual benefits of a dramatic weight reduction while allowing for much finer control than in current vehicles. Plus, they can take a hell of a lot of abuse.

*Compressed air used instead of air conditioning, with an on-board air compressor that is disabled unless the car is plugged in. This would allow for the comfort of the passengers while adding far less to the weight of the vehicle than a standard air conditioner and the batteries required to operate it, not to mention the space that would be saved and could be better used for more batteries. I know this method is inefficient, but a slow dispersal of cooled air could eliminate one of the many barriers to the widespread adoption of purely electric vehicles. This could be based on the Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube effect.

*To avoid noise pollution problems during the compression of air for cooling, find a way to muffle the hell out of it without adversely affecting performance.

*An efficient on-board electronic control system, with a focus on reducing power consumption by the electronics without adversely affecting performance. Perhaps, this may be best achieved via FOSS software, but I'm certainly not wed to the idea of FOSS in this application.

As for the actual electric motor aspect of it, these ideas could be applied to a variety of platforms. At any rate, it's a thought. Let me know what you think.

The King is BACK!!! (part 2)

Now that I've had my fun ranting, I think I'll use my forum to assess the 2008 Presidential landscape. On the Democratic Party side, I'm really excited by Governor Richardson of New Mexico entering the race. He's a former Ambassador, a former Senator, and a sitting Governor. Also, by virtue of his location, he has become an expert on immigration and border security. In short, he's probably the single most experienced candidate for this nation's highest office, Democrat or Republican, in the last 50 years. Also, Senator Barack Obama bears a lot of watching. His candidacy speech was almost universally regarded as the most moving, eloquent speech since then-Senator John F. Kennedy announced his bid for the presidency. While I am still concerned with his lack of experience, I will be giving him a long, hard look before I announce my support, as insignificant as it is, for a candidate. With my computer being out, I haven't been able to do the research I have wanted to do on the candidates, their stances on the issues, and their record in actually following through on those principles. Based on my past record, I know this goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: There is absolutely no circumstance in which I would vote for Senator Clinton. I would rather vote for a presidential ticket of Bill O'Reilly and Roy Moore, two people I well and truly detest, than vote for any ticket that included the junior Senator from New York.

On the Republican side, I can only think of one candidate who would get my vote: Rudolph Giuliani. As the poll numbers for President Bush continue to plummet toward sub-Nixon numbers, I think he will also look increasingly attractive to Republicans who are interested in fielding a candidate who can win, and as it so happens, he also has a lot of crossover appeal. If the sum of his accomplishments were his reaction and spirit in the face of adversity during and immediately after the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on his city, the Pentagon, and Flight 93, that would be enough to earn my respect and garner him a serious look. However, his record leading up to that fateful day was at least as impressive. He inherited a city that was truly in crisis: Record deficits, rampant crime, high unemployment, and gross inefficiency and bloating in the city government. He fought many nasty battles with the Democrats in the New York city government at that time and was routinely crucified in the press... until they saw his ideas worked. Oh, they still fought, but the truth and results won out. He's certainly no Rockefeller Republican. Of all the candidates, he's actually the closest I've seen to a Goldwater Republican in the best sense of the term: limited government and a support of personal freedoms. Ideologically, he's the person whose views I find most acceptable, and he's also tough enough to stand by what he believes is right. Furthermore, he has the proven judgment and reasoning skills to typically make good choices while listening to differing viewpoints and acting on them when appropriate. If, in November 2008, Richardson ends up facing Giuliani for the presidency... it would be very interesting. Upon further review, I may also include Obama, but again, as of February 18, I don't know enough about him to say one way or the other.

The remainder of the Republican field is unacceptable for differing reasons: Senator McCain has become little more than a mouthpiece for the current President, and just a thousand times NO. Senator Brownback is way too far to the right, as is the stance being taken by former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. Romney is an interesting situation. When he was a governor, he was one in a line of moderate Republican governors elected by the people of Massachusetts, and he inherited a stable government. He made some good changes, and then went on his way. I'm sure he's an excellent father, friend, and husband, and he was a good governor. However, his expressed politics have shifted to the right, especially on the issues of abortion and stem cell research, and these are definitely non-starters. If he were running as a candidate based on his record and positions as a Massachusetts governor, it would be a difficult choice between him and Giuliani for the Republican Party nomination, though in that situation, I would still go with Giuliani simply because he has been tested by fire and proven that he simply will not crack under the pressure. Romney's religion is utterly irrelevant, though I must admit that I find it refreshing that he's not the one who first broached that subject. In virtually every other case I've seen, whenever a candidate has expressed his or her religious views or done a photo op at a church, it's either been in an attempt to get a quick bump in the polls or as a cynical attempt to hide his or her deep personal flaws. For the latter, who was the president between the Bushes?

On a deeper note, I feel the United States needs another Barry Goldwater, and the saddest part is that, in this time of need, there's no Barry Goldwater waiting in the wings. He said something that was oddly prophetic. I forget the exact wording, but he once said that in the future, conservatives of his ilk will one day be called “liberals”. He was right, and we need a man like him to bring the nation closer to the political center and correct the trend towards the political right that's been happening for about the last two or three decades. Both the modern conservatives and, to a much lesser extent, the modern libertarians claim Barry Goldwater as one of their ideological fathers, but from where I'm sitting, it is the modern libertarians who hold, by far, the greater and more valid claim. In closing, it's good to be back, and I'll see you soon.

The King IS BACK!!! (part 1)

As I start writing this, I am listening to the old Mortal Kombat soundtrack, track # 13 which is some pretty hard thrash metal. I chose it for inspiration, because, since I am finally back after a long absence from the Internet, I'm ready to kick some ass. I've been well, but my computer has not. Specifically, the motherboard died, so I chose instead to get a new tower, with a faster processor, a bigger hard drive, more memory, and a new operating system. It's the last one that's been a bit of a rub, since it turns out that dial-up ISP's don't like Linux all that much. Who knew? Well, to that question, the answer is pretty much everybody, but I'm a bit of a pigheaded asshole about some things. Since I had to get a new tower, I decided to make a clean break from Windows, and since I'm not a member of the Church of Steve Jobs, I chose Linux, specifically the Ubuntu “Edgy Eft” distribution. I've been playing on this machine for about a week now, and I can honestly say that the only things I'm missing from Windows is a bunch of crapware and some files that were on my old hard drive, but I'm in no rush to get that corrected... yet. Once I am, though, I have a geek friend who will help me out. I think I'm just going to install the old hard drive and have it for the few instances where I need some program that's compatible with the bloatware that Redmond, WA, passes off as an operating system. But since I'm already planning on a few upgrades to this computer, I think it can wait until then. Nevertheless, I'm probably going to be judiciously raiding the Debian and Ubuntu repositories for a few things I want, so I may not be visiting your blogs all that much for a while. The important thing is that I'll be online with my nice, shiny box, my beautiful OS, and my nice high-speed Internet connection. Since it may be a while before I blog again, I just want to say FUCK OFF, BILL GATES!!! And, in the immortal words of Howard Dean, “YEAAAAH!” I would be making that same gesture that Chuck Liddell makes after winning a bout, but for one, it would be a bit difficult to do that and type, and for another, I'm way too flabby and not flexible enough for that to even come close to looking as cool as he does. lol

My final post:

It has truly been a privilege and honor to know all of you. I wish all of you the best in life.

Comments on the controversial comments by Pope Benedict XVI:

I've read the text of the address, and what seems to be the problem is a few paragraphs. I have copied the relevant paragraphs below:

"In the seventh conversation ("diálesis" -- controversy) edited by professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that sura 2:256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion." It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under [threat]. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Koran, concerning holy war.

"Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels," he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

"The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably ("syn logo") is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats.... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...."

"The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practice idolatry.

"As far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we find ourselves faced with a dilemma which nowadays challenges us directly. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?

"I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in God. Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: "In the beginning was the 'logos.'"

"This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word -- a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God, says the Evangelist. The encounter between the biblical message and Greek thought did not happen by chance. "

While all of Islam is not reflected by their most radical leaders, they certainly are the most vocal at this time. From what I read, the Pope greatly condemned the use of violence to advance religious agendas, and called for more reasoned dialog between the Muslim and Christian worlds. The implied message was a call for their elders to take their youth in hand and set them straight. As a result of this, churches have been burned, a nun far greater than Mother Theresa was murdered, and worse may happen still. More analysis is here, but this should have been a tempest in a teapot. Instead, terrorists are using this as further "proof" of why a jihad is needed. Many of these same groups, if Pope Benedict XVI were to read the weather report, would cite this as a further example of his hatred of Islam. I'm no Catholic, but I think it would be far more accurate to say that Pope Benedict XVI abhors violence in the name of religion, and I'm sure this is a position with which most can agree. I may not always like or agree with Pope Benedict XVI, but I think he had a point.

Random food thoughts

I went out of town recently, just a short day trip, and needed to pick up something at the store, so, I went to this large grocery store that was on the way. One of my favorite areas of any grocery store is the ethnic food aisle, since that's just about the only part of any store I know I'll find something I probably haven't tried before. I saw this soda I'd never seen before: Sidral Mundet. Since I have a friend who has travelled abroad, I do know what the Spanish word "manzana" means, and even if I didn't, I know what a picture of an apple looks like. :P It was a 1.5 litre container for right around $2 or thereabouts, so I figured, why not take it home, get it nice and cold, and try it? I'm not a huge fan of apple juice, but it looked interesting, and besides, my friend had had something similar during his travels and had mentioned how good it was. I do, however, love a good cider, both plain and when used as part of wassail. I'm very glad I did. I learned later that "sidra" means "cider", something part of me figures should've known from the beginning, but I digress. I tried it, and the next time I'm out that way, I'll buy two or three of them. It's a much more interesting flavor than I was expecting: Definitely apple, but more like the cider upon which the name of this particular product was based. I should have also picked up the Sangria Señorial, but I didn't. Perhaps next time I'm out that way, I'll pick some up.

On a different note, I have two entries into the "What the HELL?!" column. First, I'd never heard of Lonelygirl15 on YouTube, and I may be one of only four people in the United States to have never even visited the YouTube website. Also, I'm almost 30, and that probably puts me above the age of the target audience. That said, I can't understand how anyone could be surprised by at least the possibility of this happening. This is a public website where people can post their videos of either real or creative content, and that includes the possibilty (in this case, realized) of acting. My opinion, therefore, is this: Ms. Rose is obviously a good actress, and my first instinct is that I hope some crazed fan doesn't decide to express their disappointment or anger in a direct manner. Bah.

And finally, for the entry into the "bullshit" column, there's the recent arrest of Duane "Dog" Chapman, Leland Chapman, and Timothy Chapman. They find and capture this serial rapist, and they're the ones arrested. Fucking bullshit. They should be given a medal, not bracelets. That's all for now.