Thoughts and Things

Rise Against the Chinese Machine of Oppression, Fear and Murder

2009-12-22T17:09:00.001-05:00

I have read this article about Liu Xiaobo and as with all articles I read about Chinese oppression by the Chinese government, I get angry and I begin to think of horrible things. It's crazy to think that a government would want to silence its citizens about anything that the government does. It seems to me that if the Chinese government is so proud of its oppressive, communist rule, then it should be completely open about it. It should allow both those who praise and those who disagree with the government to write and speak. Human rights, equality and freedom need to be made universal. This quote from the first paragraph of Charter 08 is very powerful:

the Chinese people, who have endured human rights disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the fundamental framework for protecting these values.

The Chinese people--the oppressed, the imprisoned and the murdered--need to rise against the Chinese Machine of oppression, fear and murder and become the very force of bringing democracy and constitutional government to their country.

I believe strongly that the Chinese people, not only living in China but across the globe, need to rise up and crush the Chinese government. In fact I believe all people who believe in and defend the universal values of human rights and freedom need to help the Chinese people rise up out of oppression, conquer their oppressors and establish a new way of life, of freedom, liberty and equality.

Migraine Headaches

2009-11-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

I went to see my doctor today about my increasing frequency (and severity) of headaches. Now, I'm not insured because I am unemployed and cannot afford to pay for my own insurance. The doctor visit was supposed to be $75.00, but she was kind enough to charge me only $35.00, but I could only pay $20.00, which they happily took and said they would bill me for the rest. Anyway, after examining me and asking a bunch of questions, Dr. Cynthia Sainsbury (a plug for her; she's really good) diagnosed me with migraine headaches. I told her, too, about my memory which has been getting noticeably worse, but she said I needed to go to a neurologist, which is out of the question of course. I also saw her for horrible tendonitis (or bursitis) that I get in my shoulders. My left shoulder is so bad right now. She asked if I wanted a shot of cortizone but I had to decline because I couldn't afford the shot.

For my headache she prescribed for me the generic form of Imitrex, which is supposed to be a very good medicine. When I took it to the pharmacy and told them that I am uninsured and that I need a price, they said it would be almost $200.00! So I can't get that med., and my doctor won't prescribe any pain meds such as percocet because of my history of abuse (I am an addict). Taking over-the-counter pain medicine such as Excedrin Migraine or the tension headache one is bad for my liver because it contains the stuff in tylenol, and I have gastric varices (or something like that) and have a problem with ibuprofen. So I am screwed unless I can find someone in my family who has prescription pain medication and is willing to part with some.

I am luck at the moment because I haven't yet gotten a headache, but I've been getting one every day for the past two weeks so it's just a matter of time. I'll have to take my chances with the over-the-counter stuff and hope that my liver can take it.

It sucks very much being sick and having no insurance. For 19 years I have been working as a software engineer making great money and having great benefits, but I've not been able to find work on a year and a half and it is making me so depressed, and I don't know what I will do. I don't want to think about anything extreme at the moment. Oh well. This is life.

Some of My Artwork

2009-11-21T21:54:00.000-05:00

I have just uploaded some of my sketches and doodles to my art blog. Check it out.

Crappy Customer Support and Stupid Warranties

2009-11-19T10:08:00.001-05:00

On behalf of my wife's Dell XPS M1530, I have the unhappy task of calling Dell's crappy customer support whenever something goes wrong, and something is always going wrong with the thing. Last night we discovered once again that the AC power adapter burned out. I called Dell support of course, and after being bounced from one department to another I spoke to someone who told me that despite having the extended warranty, only a one year manufacturers covers "consumables", which of course means the AC power adapter--something I didn't know, but who the hell reads the warranty info? I screamed, yelled, pulled out a few strands of hair and just hung up. My wife was upset of course that Dell sucks so bad but also with me for failing to negotiate a free adapter. I had to call today to purchase one for over $90.00 because I wanted it shipped ASAP--we use it for our business.

Now compare this to Apple's customer support. Apple's support is far better. No stress, no hair pulling, no screaming and yelling. It's almost a pleasurable experience. Just make an appointment at any Apple store and stop in with your computer. Oh how happy I am that I bought a MacBook Pro instead of a piece of crap Dell. My wife will no longer be shopping at Dell...ever. But she will need a new laptop and so the question is what will we buy this time. Certainly not a Dell. No fucking way. Assholes.

The moral? Well, read the warranty info and then avoid Dell at all cost, unless you're okay with having to call customer support every four months when something on it breaks. And no, they won't replace it. They simply keep replacing parts until, in the end, you wind up with a mostly refurbished one anyway.

Watercolor Christmas Card

2009-10-24T14:37:00.002-04:00

My wife has tasked me with creating a watercolor Christmas scene so that we can create Christmas cards. The problem with this is that I've only begun exploring watercolor. A secondary problem, and one that has always plagued me, is that I have no idea what sort of Christmas scene I ought to create. But what's good about this is that I can at least write the verse for it (assuming she wants that as well).

I have been looking online for watercolor Christmas scenes and cards, as well as other media (e.g. pastel, acrylic, oil and even photographs. I'm sure I'll come up with something, but we'll see how well I create it. I'll post it here if it doesn't suck. Or maybe even if it does.

Huge Weekend Sale Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25 Only!

2009-10-24T14:25:00.001-04:00

This weekend only at Scrapbooker's Dream we have a huge sale going on.

First we have a great deal on select papers: Buy 20 Sheets for $5.00

Next we have a red ticket sale where all items marked with a red ticket are reduced 50%.

And last we have a color ticket sale. When you see the following colored stickers on select products you'll save:

So come on in this weekend and check out all the cool deals! How can you afford to miss it!

New Official Scrapbooker's Dream Apparel

2009-10-22T15:41:00.000-04:00

We have updated our official Scrapbooker's Dream apparel! Check it out:

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Harvest Dollars at Scrapbooker's Dream

2009-10-22T12:16:00.001-04:00

Our store, Scrapbooker's Dream, has something new this year: Harvest Dollars!

Starting Tuesday, October 20, 2009 to Sunday, November 22, 2009, stop in and for every $15.00 (pre-tax) you spend you'll get one Harvest Dollar. For example, spend $15.00 get 1 harvest dollar, $30.00 get 2 harvest dollars, etc. During the Thanksgiving Week (Monday, November 23 to Wednesday, November 25 and Friday, November 27) you can redeem your harvest dollars, each valued at $1.00. So come in, buy often and save!

New Blog: Software Architecture

2009-10-13T16:38:00.001-04:00

I am a software architect as well as a software engineer. I've created a few blogs about programming and java architecture, but Software Architecture, a new blog of mine, speaks generally about the design of software. It is programming language neutral, and that's what I like about it. So if you are a programmer and want to read about software architecture, just click on over and have a look.

Getting Comments

2009-10-07T09:08:00.000-04:00

I noticed that I have a large number of hits on this blog of mine, and I can see from where they originate. I have people from New York and the United Kingdom viewing this blog, but I wonder. How do I go about receiving comments from my readers? This blog of course is about nothing specific. I rant about KMart, put my entire resume online and write about my tiny little retail store a mile from my house. So does it make sense to have blogs that are specific to a topic?

I have a bunch of blogs that are about specific topics such as books and philosophy, programming and science, and even one of veganism. But I just haven't kept up with them. I have to be in a particular frame of mind (philosophical) to write about philosophy, or I have to be reading books to write in my book blog. But I am lazy and so I write crap in this blog. Perhaps I should write about controversy, really get into the reporter's mindset. At one point I did want to be a journalist, but I am (or was) too shy to speak to people, so how could I report on anything interesting?

I'd like to write more about nature and the sciences--I mean I get a lot of science emails and subscribe to a number of such RSS streams from such blogs. But the annoying thing about this is that I rarely launch my RSS reader, and I don't like google's reader thing. I tend to like desktop software anyway because web apps, which are cool of course, are not really ready for use. I hate that they are in a browser. I like the idea of Adobe AIR and JavaFX which provide a nice rich client that is web based. No longer are we stuck by the whims and confinement of the browser. Case in point. If I am in an online text editor or web site builder, if I forget that I am not using a desktop app I tend to press some keys that I use in my Mac editors that cause the browser window to go back to a prior page, and thus I lose my work.

(useless tangent(
One thing I find very annoying about Safari, which the browser I use, is that there are so few plugins, and a lot of them are not free whereas Firefox, which still has too many problems, has so many cool, free plugins. What comes to mind specifically is Zemanta. While it doesn't always show relevant information about what I am writing, there is always something useful, and often when I click on "related" links I get ideas for further research and writing.
))

I am a whiner, that's for certain, but do I ever try to change? No. So there it is.

How to Capitalize on My Software Development Experience

2009-10-06T12:32:00.000-04:00

I am unemployed (still), and I have a lot of experience designing and writing software, but I seem to have no idea on how to make money with my skills. I'm not sure if it's due to burnout or if I simply lack imagination or perhaps it's both. So I am pasting my resume in this post to see if anyone could use my services. I'll work remotely, on site, whatever. So if you know anyone who can use my exceptional talent, please let me know. Also, if you are a software developer and would like to create a startup, that would be awesome! Thank you.

-----

Thomas J. Clancy

SUMMARY:
Creative, motivated software engineer with a passion and drive for creating innovative, cutting-edge, user-driven, successful software applications and services.

SKILL SET:

Development Environments/IDEs
=============================
Eclipse, Netbeans, IntelliJ, Jbuilder, Visual Studio, MagicDraw, Poseidon

Java Development Tools
======================
JDK 5 and 6, Java Annotations, EJB 3.0, AOP, JMS, JDBC, SOAP, Apache Commons, Java 2D, Swing, Java Mail, JSP, Servlets

Other Computer Languages
========================
C and C++, C#, Javascript, PHP, HTML, XHTML, XML, Ruby, Python, SQL

QA Tools
========
JUnit, NUnit, Rational Pure Coverage, Clover, JStyle, SmallWorlds

Web and Enterprise Application Servers
======================================
JBoss, Glassfish, Tomcat, Sun Application Server, Apache Web Server

Database Development
====================
Oracle, MySQL 5, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Informix

Operating Systems
=================
Windows 2000/XP, Linux, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, SCO UNIX, Mac OS X

General Development Expertise
=============================
OO Analysis and Design, UML 2.x, BPM, Workflow Theory, AOP, GUI Programming, TCP/IP, Sockets, Multi-threading

ACCEPTED ARTICLES:
“A Tale of Two Endians”, accepted for publication by the C/C++ Users Journal

EDUCATION:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Thiel College, May 1991

MEMBERSHIPS:
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
IEEE Computer Society

PATENTS:
Co-inventor of a Complexity Management System (Patent Pending)

WORK EXPERIENCE:

Lead Software Engineer, Electronics for Imaging (EFI)
10/2007 to 6/23/2008
EFI develops MIS software for the Printing Industry.

ACHIEVMENTS

* Developed in Java a visual desktop server monitoring tool used to monitor status and licensing of EFI's traditional and digital printing MIS servers
* BDeveloped in Java EE5 a system-wide complex event and notification service utilizing JBoss remoting and EJB3
* Developed in Java and Java EE5 a generic command processing system used by various client applications to communicate with the MIS services.
* Researched Automated Planning and Scheduling theory for building a smart MIS that plans and schedules print jobs based on rules that infer the intent of partially specified orders

Lead Software Architect, TrueBaseline Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA
1/2006 to 6/2007
TrueBaseline develops application frameworks and products for the service management space and next generation networks.

ACHIEVMENTS

Helped establish standards and guidelines for the development staff
Promoted best practices in unit testing, code coverage analysis, code documentation and standardization
Designed the company's original flagship service management product, SOAComply, that provides compliance monitoring of networked hardware, software and SOA-based applications. This included the following:
Developed Web Service APIs, and GUI
Employed an Adaptive Object Model as the core architecture
Developed in C# an edge-node graph library for use in network analysis
Implemented breadth-first and depth-first algorithms
Implemented Dijkstra's Algorithm (single source shortest path)
Developed TrueSMS, a service management framework designed to fulfill the requirements of the IPsphere architecture.
Designed TrueOMF (True Object Modeling and Management Framework) that employs Complex Event Processing (CEP) techniques and an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) architecture for efficient distributed processing.
Designed the Message Exchange Framework (MEF) which is a type of Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)
Designed CEP framework for efficiently handling and routing business events.
Employed BPEL 2.0 as workflow language for orchestrating business processes
Employed Drools.NET as the basis for our declarative rule engine and policy control language
Designed TrueSDx, a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) Integration solution
Designed code generation tools for integration into native language applications (C#, C++, Java, Python)

Software Architect, Nationwide Appraisal Services Corporation (NASCO), Pittsburgh, PA
9/2004 to 1/2006
NASCO provides to over 2000 clients in all fifty states both title and appraisal services, and develops products to manage customers' title and appraisals and to match vendors (appraisers) to potential customers.

ACHIEVMENTS

Designed in J2EE the algorithms and software framework necessary to accomplish automated vendor assignment. This included:
The creation of a detailed and concise architecture using UML 2.0
The creation of the mathematical notation for the vendor ranking algorithm
Designed a J2EE validation framework that incorporates java annotations, introspection, reflection and AOP
Established a standard for the peer code review process.
Wrote several papers and tutorials on unit testing as a way of introducing the development team to good unit testing practices.
Trained the development team the proper use and best practices of exception handling
Designed a simplified in-house, web-based CMS as a replacement of an expensive third party CMS
Redesigned and prototyped the workflow management system (WfMS) using Java, J2EE and Drools. This included:
Full functional requirements and technical design documentation
A complete set of UML diagrams (class, sequence, activity, state chart and use-case)
Researched a number of commercial and open source workflow management system, taking parts from the best of breed
Developed an abstract business rule layer plugin architecture for third-party rule engine plug-ins
Built a process execution language based on JBoss jBMP which is used to specify and execute the workflows

Senior Software Engineer, Netspoke, Pittsburgh, PA
4/2003 to 3/12/2004
Netspoke develops integrated, web-based desktop and audio conferencing and recording software.

ACHIEVMENTS

Optimized the screen capturing software which is based on the open source QVT application
Designed in Qt and C++ an Archive Viewer used for interactive playback of recorded meetings
Developed a prototype plugin component of a collaborative white board
Integrated into the application various instant messaging applications for their presence functionality
Developed a C++ unit test library similar to JUnit

Team Lead/Software Architect/QA Specialist, SmartOps, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA.
5/2002 to 3/2003
SmartOps Corporation develops supply chain management and optimization software.

ACHIEVMENTS

Designed in Java the supply chain algorithms stress test software
Managed team of developers of the implementation of various in-house applications
Mentored junior developers during design, estimation and implementation of internal projects
Evaluated and recommended software development tools such as Together Control Center and Rational XDE
Developed an efficient, generic event management system used for the propagation of system messages and logging. This included:
Developed the Oracle database tables and SQL for queuing, retrieving and logging event messages
Created in MagicDraw the UML design documentation
Developed an efficient thread pool class that increased overall throughput performance
Developed in Java and Ascential DataStage ETL the third-party integration and data loading system
Specified the standards and managed the organization of the peer code review process. This included:
The integration of Jstyle for use as an initial, automated code review
The mediation and documentation of code reviews
Implemented and integrated into the build process Clover code coverage analysis and reporting
Integrated into the build process the SmallWorlds static code analysis
Specified the standard for code style and best-practices in engineering

Software Architect, Personity, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA
12/2000 to 4/2002
Personity, Inc., formerly Network Projects, Inc., and now defunct, developed IETF-standardized presence, availability and instant messaging technologies for telecom companies.

ACHIEVMENTS

Developed in C++ the WAP web gateway interface for connecting cellphones to our presence and instant messaging services
Assisted in the specification and design of more advanced presence and instant messaging protocols
Assisting in enhancing and performance tuning the middle-ware and server software
Rewrote platform-specific C++ code into cross-platform code (threads and mutexes) that enabled us to run servers in Windows, Linux, HP-UX and Sun Solaris
Developed web-based server management software for controlling and provisioning remote servers
Developed server software licensing using the SentinelLM licensing software
Developed stress testing and user simulation software
Authored white papers that introduced clients to our software
Researched and authored proposals for new directions and functionality in these technologies

Consultant, Independent Concepts, Inc., Beaver Falls, PA
5/2000 to 12/2000
Independent Concepts, Inc., develops cognitive prosthetic medical devices, called Jogger, for use by people who suffer from various degrees of traumatic brain injury.

ACHIEVMENTS

Analyzed their legacy software and hardware platform
Designed a new system based on new requirements
Research alternative hand-held devices such as the Casio Cassiopeia E-115 and the Compaq iPAQ H3600
Prototyped some early concepts of the software in Microsoft’s Embedded Visual Tools 3.0
Authored complete design specifications for all parts of the new system, which included:
The desktop Jogger patient user interface
The desktop therapist’s user interface
The server architecture connecting patients and therapists
Device synchronization software that enables a therapist to modify a patient's daily tasks
A statistical analysis and reporting system based on a user’s response to each task performed

Sr. Software Engineer/Systems Architect, XCEL Communications Corp., Bethel Park, PA
1/2000 to 12/2000
XCEL Communications Corporation provides free web-based email, web fax services, email to fax services, as well as a host of other web-based services for small to medium-sized businesses.

ACHIEVMENTS

Developed in C++ a POP3 based client library, email routing services and Oracle ODBC wrappers
Led the effort to port the software to Java running on Linux. This included:
Deploying and configuring Redhat Linux Servers
Deploying and configuring the Apache web server
Analysis and design of the new system
Development in Java of the new system that included:
Development of multi-threaded POP3 rover application that, on request, retrieves a user’s email from POP3 servers and stores them in a web-mail database
A multi-threaded POP3 server for allowing users to get their mailroom web-mail via a POP3 compatible client (e.g. Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, etc.)
A multi-threaded MDA (mail delivery agent) that routes incoming mail from sendmail to the intended user’s in-box within our database
Mail filtering rule engine that is used by the MDA for providing such things as user-configurable spam filtering, private mail, etc.

Team Leader/Senior Software Developer, E-Transport, Inc. Pittsburgh, PA
06/1997 to 12/1999
E-Transport (now part of Descartes Systems) develops document translation and workflow software systems for the ocean freight shipping industry

ACHIEVMENTS

Designed in C++ and Informix an object-based repository for storing, processing and retrieving documents that included
Enhancing an in-house C++ class library which wraps Informix’s ESQL/C library by providing it the ability to manage Blobs (binary large objects)
Implementing an LRU caching scheme for caching ESQL queries
Implementing a low-level, generic C++ library that stores, retrieves, indexes and otherwise manipulates attribute/value based objects regardless of the underlying database engine
Implementing a logical, session-based locking scheme for granting lock rights to clients for individual or groups of objects within the repository
Implementing a small SQL-like query language used by Mix’s repository search engine
Implementing the server layer which can act as a remote or compiled-in set of services for clients to easily store, retrieve and otherwise maintain objects in the Mix repository
Developed OO RPC client/server interface
Developed document and attribute level access services that controls access to all or parts of a document

Project Leader and Senior Software Engineer, Byers Engineering, Atlanta, Georgia
08/1995 to 06/1997
Byers Engineering develops CAD-based Automated Mapping, Facilities Management and Global Information Systems (AM/FM/GIS) software designed for in-field engineers of utility companies to plan and manage the installation of utilities such as telephone poles, coax cable, fiber optics and natural gas lines.

ACHIEVMENTS

Developed in C++ application components that included:
Spatial Query User Interface
Map-based connectivity
Renumbering of unique items of plant in a geographical exchange (area)
ACT (Administrator’s Configuration Tool)
Managed team of developers in porting software from OS/2 to Windows NT.
Established coding guidelines
Interviewed potential candidates
Debugged and maintained legacy C code
Redesigned and ported software written in C to C++
Developed graphical user interface enhancements and new GUI designs.
Tested and debugged core products such as ODBC class wrappers and the CAD engine

Manager of Software Development, Innovative Icons, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia
10/1993 to 08/1995
Innovative Icons developed Isabella, a greeting card, invitation and announcement ordering software for in-store kiosks.

ACHIEVMENTS

Wrote detailed requirements and design documentation as well as implementing in Borland
C++ under Windows 3.11 the following:
The Isabella order entry system
The back-end rendering, accounting and communications modules
A personal, CD-ROM based version for home office use
A multi-user version of Isabella for mall kiosks
Implemented software in Borland C++ and Visual C++ under Windows for Workgroups 3.11 that interfaced with Paradox databases using the Borland Database Engine for C++
Implemented back-end graphical interfaces to databases in Paradox 4.5 and 5.0
Managing the team of developers on the project
Interviewing and hiring new employees
Overseeing production of software and approving patch releases
Researching viability of an Internet-based Isabella system

INDEPENDENT EXPERIENCE:

Founder of MyBraynz.com, Canonsburg, PA
5/2002 to Present
MyBraynz develops open source web 2.0 applications and other software technologies that include concept modeling, complex event processing, collective intelligence and simulation.

ACHIEVMENTS

Currently developing
A web 2.0 social media platform using PHP, MySQL and jQuery
A blogging and publishing platform using PHP, MySQL and jQuery
Developed a Java-based discrete event simulation framework for exploring evolutionary processes. This software was donated to Duke University as open source
Developed in Java and C# an object oriented implementation of Charles L. Forgy's Rete algorithm
Developed in Java a rudimentary, generics-based edge-node graph algorithms package
Developed in Java a Swing Geometry exploration and drawing system
Developed in Java some fundamental matrix and vector math packages
Developed in Java and J2EE a Workflow Management System

REFERENCES:
References available by request.

Kmart Cares?

2009-09-25T18:22:00.001-04:00

My wife and I are hosting Scrap Pink, a national event hosted by independent retail scrapbooking stores, and we are seeking donations. An upscale restaurant, ATRIA'S, is donating dinner on both Saturday and Sunday. A local pizza place down the road, Ollie's Pizza, is donating lunch for each day, and Trax Farm, a huge farmers market, donated a gift card that we used to buy dessert.

In the McDowell shops in McMurray, PA (where our store is located) there is a large Kmart. I used to walk there to buy lunch and one day in the bag I found four of these pink, rubber bands (which we use as bracelets), and stamped on them is the phrase K Cares. The pink is for the cause to find a cure for breast cancer. Now, Scrap Pink is also about the cause. $10.00 from each person who signs up for the event goes directly to the Susan G. Komen foundation. So we thought it would be a good idea to talk to the manager of the local Kmart to see if we could get some kind of donation. We didn't want much. Perhaps just enough of those Kmart cares bracelets to hand out at our store's event. Alas, the manager is an asshole. He didn't bother to actually meet us in person. Over the in-store phone he told one of the employees who called his office that they save their donations for other, larger causes.

So does Kmart really care about anything? I tend to think not. And we used to buy all the soft drinks and candy for the store from this Kmart for our customers to enjoy when they come to crop. I say we used to because we're no longer associating ourselves with any Kmart and we'll be sure to tell our many customers about what happened. Maybe they'll think before they shop and, knowing Kmart doesn't care, decide to shop somewhere else.

Imagination

2009-09-20T19:12:00.001-04:00

I have been trying for months now to design a newsletter for Scrapbooker's Dream, and nothing has come to me. I think I no longer possess imagination, which for me is usually a horrible insult--the last person who said this to me wound up in an imaginary hospital after I imagined beating him senseless. But if someone were to say this to me now, I'd probably just agree and walk away because I'd probably not have the imagination to return a scathing retort.

Anyway, I use Apple's Pages '09 which is part of it's office suite, iWork '09. You can start a new document from scratch or use one of a number of different templates which including fourteen newsletter templates. Now I don't know if it's the title of these newsletter templates (e.g. Collector, Green Grocery, Real Estate, Extreme, etc.) that prohibits me from thinking beyond their 'intended' use. In fact I should be able to simply look at the structure while ignoring the content and imagine something crafty, but alas, my brain just doesn't seem to want to work.

Create one from scratch? Are you...I mean am I kidding? Well, maybe this ain't such a bad idea. I have no idea how to create one, and just trying to dissect and butcher one of the templates would just lead to a big mess and I would just get horrible frustration and depressed. Creating one from nothing, however, is more like me. I never bother to read manuals or instructions, and rarely do I start from an example. I usually just jump in head first (which in itself causes a whole mess of other problems), play around with the features and come up with something that doesn't resemble anything I had tried to imagine. Perhaps this is the best way. Maybe with nothing but a virtual, empty canvas on the screen my imagination will come back to me. Then again when I stare at an empty page in my sketch book trying to imagine what I might draw, nothing ever any good comes to mind and most of the time I just close it, put away my pencils and watch television. All day, in fact, until I just get too tired of watching and so then I go to bed, the dogs and I yawning and tossing about to find a comfortable spot, and sleep, dreamless and at peace.

Retail Theft: Shoplifting by Unexpected People: Women

2009-09-16T23:12:00.000-04:00

Owning a retail business is new to me--I've only owned the store since December--but I think I'm getting the hang of things. What I find appalling, however, is that we get the occasional shoplifter, and I find this very surprising given that our store caters almost exclusively to women; such is my naivete. From some reading I did way back, I learned that statistically the number of female criminals is far less than the number of males.

The stuff stolen, most of the time (and we don't have too many problems, really), is just petty, inexpensive things. So I wonder if people just get some kind of euphoric rush when they take something without paying for it. I mean people who aren't career criminals. Still, it annoys the hell out of me whenever my wife discovers that something has vanished. I so wish I could catch someone in the act.

Scrapbooker's Dream and the Scrap Pink Campaign

2009-09-10T15:21:00.001-04:00

Scrapbooker’s Dream joins nationwide Scrap Pink campaign to
benefit breast cancer research

McMurray, PA, September 1, 2009 - On Sept. 26 and 27, 2009, local scrapbooking enthusiasts will come together for the third annual Scrap Pink weekend, a fundraising event created by Scrapbooks etc.® to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. Scrap Pink has already donated over $200,000 to breast cancer research. Hosting a crop locally will be Scrapbooker's Dream, a scrapbooking shop located in McMurray, PA at 4067 Washington Road.

On Scrap Pink weekend, retailers will invite consumers to participate in an exciting in-store
crop, where scrapbookers will come together to make a difference. Consumers will pay to attend the crop, and $10 of this fee will be donated to support Komen's mission to find a cure for breast cancer through research, education, screening, and treatment. Sherri Clancy, owner of Scrapbooker's Dream, sees Scrap Pink as much more than just another fundraiser. "It is a chance to help make a huge difference to this cause." she says.

To ensure adequate space and supplies for participants, Clancy recommends that Scrapbookers call in advance of Scrap Pink weekend, although walk-ins are welcome, too.

To sign up for Scrap Pink or for more details about the local event, call 724-942-8951, or visit the store. Scrap Pink information is also available at scrappink.com.

Check Out Our Official Scrapbooker's Dream Novelty Items

2009-09-04T22:52:00.002-04:00

Our store is using this cool size (zazzle.com) to sell our official novelty items with our logo on them. Check it out:

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Rain and Thunder

2009-08-29T11:50:00.001-04:00

I'm pensive today. It's pouring and there will soon be flashes then thunder then sound of rain again, and clocks and the scratching and yawning of the dogs. A gloomy day, altogether. But it's my favorite sort of day. The kind of day for reflection and writing. The kind of day to solve a crossword, to create art and to read a book (oh the beautiful, dying pastime...I lament thee). Okay. This piece sucks. I'm out.

Testing Apture Editor Plugin in Safari

2009-08-25T18:58:00.000-04:00

So here I am trying out Apture. Seems interesting. But I was hoping to find a Safari browser-based blog editor similar to ScribeFire. Still on the search. Any suggestions anyone?

Strange Question #1

2009-08-25T18:36:00.001-04:00

I've been wondering about bars of soap. Does a bar of soap clean itself?

For Sale: A Sony DCR-TRV30 Handycam

2009-08-19T21:17:00.001-04:00

It's a little dated in that it records onto MiniDV Digital Video Cassettes, but the video is really good. Click here to go to the Amazon.com page where it is listed, used, for $225.00.

Here are some of the specs:

MiniDV camcorder
10x optical, 120x digital, zoom with Super SteadyShot image stabilization
3.5 inch color LCD and color EVF
Records digital stills at a resolution of 1360 X 1020 onto included 4 MB Memory Stick
MPEG movie mode

It didn't come with a case, but I think I bought one for it. I'll have to check.

Okay. So I want to sell it for $200.00. If you or someone you know are looking to buy a quality (and at one time $1,400.00) Sony camcorder, then let me know. We will work out the details of shipping, etc.

Identifying Trees - A Cool Idea

2009-08-16T15:35:00.002-04:00

Someone might already have done this but I'd like to share my idea anyway. I like trees and I like to identify them. I have field guides and books and I like spending time looking through them, but I thought it would be really cool if computers could identify them for you. I'm not sure if this is true of every laptop, but I see more laptops these days with built in web cams which sparked the idea. I've also seen software that uses the web cam to identify products from reading the bar codes on them.

Anyway, this might appeal only to those who, either professionally or as an amateur, study trees and other flora. So imagine taking a sample from a tree--a leaf and maybe some bark--and taking a snapshot of these samples via your web came. That image could be sent to a server somewhere with software that would analyze the photo to determine what kind of tree it is. This could also be used for flowers and fruits and flowering trees--which would be another way to identify the same kind of tree.

This could obviously be done by scanning the samples using a scanner or one of those all-in-one printers that have a built in scanner. The resolution would much better, but who wants to haul an image scanner around. I think that I read somewhere that more expensive SLR cameras have wireless networking capability (perhaps this is only a bluetooth connection), so imaging you have one of those mini laptops (not sure if this would work with an iPhone) that would capture the image from your camera as you snap photos, and then send it to a server for analysis and identification. Your mini laptop could chime in by saying in a text-to-speech app the outcome of the identification. Identification might probably at first do a best guess if it came up with more than one identity. The information for each tree (the kind you find in one of those field guides) would pop up and you would be able to finish the identification. You could also correct the program by telling it the correct tree of the set of trees it returned. It would then be a kind of "learning software".

Forming the ISDC (Interdisciplinary Software Development Collective)

2009-08-13T19:49:00.004-04:00

I am growing tired of my unemployment and I have decided (took me long enough) to form ISDC or the Interdisciplinary Software Development Collective. More than simply a technical or software consulting company where software engineers are bought and sold (veritable slaves), the ISDC is a software development and design collective that works with companies to build and/or improve their current software needs.

Rather than trying to find a consultant to fit the need of a client (it seems that a software engineer these days needs to know so much technology just to find some company to hire him/her), we create a virtual consultant made up of experts that can solve the problem in and interdisciplinary way. For example, if a project calls for developing a cool new Web 2.0 application--say for managing sales people or providing a multimedia platform targeted at the financial community--then this team will have at its disposal the experts needed to build or redesign a software product. Such experts might consist of a web 2.0 developer that is a javascript and ajax guru, a web designer who knows how to make the web application attractive and simple to use, a software engineer to build the server object model and a DBA to build the data model.

The collective part is that there is no centralized location. In fact there isn't an ISDC headquarters. Instead there is a decentralized network of experts each of which can review resumes and job specs, help advertise and find potential business, and tackle problems in a stealth-like team. And, we all share the profits--of course those who do more get more, but the idea is to keep the money coming in and providing good money to all.

This idea stems from this recession we're in. So many technical software experts are unemployed and trying to find work. I've been unemployed for more than a year! And I need to make money to provide for my family and to pay off enormous debt, and I know there are many people with my skills who are in the same situation.

Today, businesses that are hiring contractors and permanent staff are being so picky because they want to hire just the right person with a constrained set of skills rather than to look for thinkers, intellectuals and the kind of person that no matter the technology and level of experience with a specific technology, shouldn't be a factor. If a software engineer has 20 years of experience (me) and can learn on the fly, then I believe that person makes a better fit, not only for the project, but for the company as a whole. I believe that software engineers who are extremely intelligent--and you have to be to actually design and write software--could be useful in a number of ways.

So building this distributed development and design concept takes effort and time but I am willing to make it all happen. What we need is you to jump in and help out. We require no money from any ISDC member. Your intellect and experience are your currency. We just need talented, entrepreneurial, intelligent people like you, so join me in this. Just email me or leave comments and let's get this party started (sorry for the cliche).

Frustrating and Cruel

2009-08-12T16:11:00.001-04:00

Okay. Perhaps cruel is a little strong. But read this article and then watch what your credit card issuers might just do to you. They are riding themselves of customers so I say cancel all your cards, pay off the balance and rid yourselves of them--and creditors be damned! I guess my feelings might not be as strong had something like this not happened to us. We opened an account with one of the major credit cards and used it to purchase a few things (far less than our original credit limit). A few weeks later we learned that the credit card issuer had cut our limit to the amount we owed. We will pay it off, of course, then simply cancel it. You should do the same.

August Page Kits - Scrapbooker's Dream

2009-08-02T10:12:00.000-04:00

The August Page Kits are here at the store. These two are perfect for capturing your very favorite summer memories. Here's a peek:

Under the Sea

Always on the Go

Stop in today to get your page kits complete with instructions!

Traveling Through Space using Zero Point Fields

2009-07-30T08:03:00.001-04:00

I am a science geek and I especially love astronomy and physics. And of course anything to do with space travel. On space.com I found this cool video that explains the zero point field and how we can use it to propel a craft very swiftly to some distant point. Check it out.